**********
DISCLAIMER: Sailor Moon is copyrighted 1992 by Naoko 
Takeuchi.  All except the characters I created belong
to her.  I'm just borrowing them for awhile :-)
*********
How to Date a Sailor Senshi!
Part Four - Lessons and Rewards
by DQBunny

Any and all comments can be directed to dqbunny@juno.com.  
All flames shall be redirected to the little trash monster
on my laptop.

Rated PG13 for dealing with some sexual content.  Read it
with your parents!  You can learn some important lessons
in this little comedy!
**********

Ami stood at the bar, still frozen.  Her body refused to
relax, but she allowed her mind to take detailed note of
the scene.  It would be something she would have to write
about in her journal when she got home.

Minako had bounced into the place like a whirlwind, and
immediately started hitting on guys.  Rei simply shook her
head in response to that.

"That is remarkably shallow," she whispered to Makoto, who
nodded in reply.

The three of them had gone up to the bar, where Rei 
snatched Makoto's cell phone from her purse.  "I want to
call Usagi and see if she's getting anywhere yet," she
said, punching in the numbers for Mamoru's apartment.

"Don't you think that would be a little disruptive?"
Makoto asked.

"Nah, knowing Odango, she either leaped him right away, or
it'll be next Tuesday before she does something."  Rei held
the phone up to her ear, then her face turned red as 
Usagi's annoyed voice came on the line.  She quickly 
flipped the phone shut and handed it back to Makoto.  "Or,
she's actually doing something and I interrupted her."

"Told you so," Makoto muttered.  She gave Ami a sympathetic
look.  "You look too tense.  Why don't you have a Coke?"

Ami nodded in reply.  Makoto motioned to the bartender and
gave her order.  He moved to get the drink, and noticed 
Ami's stiffness.  Poor girl, he thought, reaching for a 
bottle of rum.  She needs to loosen up a bit.  He poured a
generous amount in the bottom of the glass, then filled the
rest with soda.  This ought to loosen her up some.

Ami accepted the drink, not knowing there was rum in it.  
She took a sip and made a face, but she was so stressed out
that her mind did not register that the strange taste was
alcohol.  So, she kept drinking.

Suddenly, Rei felt a tap on her shoulder.  She turned 
around to see a tall, red-haired man with freckles dotting
his nose.  Sugoi...she thought, appraising him.  Score one
for Hino Rei!

"I'm Gregory Beacham," the man said, holding out his hand.

"Hino Rei...er Rei Hino," Rei replied, guessing he was from
the United States from his looks and the way he said his 
name.

"Would you like to join me for a drink?"  Gregory blushed
looking at Rei.  "I mean...I understand if you don't want 
to, but..."

"Just a moment."  Rei whirled around and grabbed one of the
internet printouts from her purse.  She scanned down the 
page.  She glanced from the paper to Gregory, then back to
the paper.  She shoved the papers back in her purse and 
rewarded him with a big smile.  "Sure!  I'd love to join
you!"

Rei walked off to a nearby table with Gregory.  Makoto 
watched them go off with a smile.  Her cell phone suddenly
rang.  She answered it to find a hysterical Usagi on the
other end of the line, freaking out about her lack of
knowledge concerning the male anatomy.  She calmed her
down quickly and hung up.

Suddenly, she felt her arm being grabbed, and found herself
on the middle of the dance floor just as "Jailhouse Rock"
was starting up.  A man in his early 20's with green eyes
and his blond hair tied back in a ponytail grinned at her.

"Care to dance?"

"I love to dance," Makoto flashed a smile at him as they
whirled off into the night.

Meanwhile, Ami sat at the bar and ordered another Coke.


**********
Luck was on Usagi's side.

She held up the dress she wanted to change into the next 
day.  There was a huge stain on it.  There was no way she
could put that on now!  Which left...

The nightgown.

She picked up the pink lace gown.  Especially selected for
this occasion by Rei and Makoto.  Minako's taste had been
a little more...radical to say the least.  She put on the
gown and the matching robe, then balled all her clothes
together.  She was going to have to use the washing machine
and the dryer anyhow.

She set the clothes down on the toilet lid, and glanced in
the mirror.  Slowly, she took her odango down and brushed
out her hair.  Usagi glanced at her hand, and noticed how
bad it shook.  She quickly put her brush down on the sink.

She gripped the sides of the sink.  Who am I kidding, she
thought.  I'm not ready for this.  He doesn't want me in
that way, it's quite obvious.  Sure, there's the fate
factor and everything.  And there was Chibi-Usa's 
existence to consider.  Usagi picked up her clothes and
sighed.  She would just clean her clothes, then head over
to Rei's when they were dry.  

"Usako?  Are you okay?"  Mamoru's voice came through the
door.

"I'm fine, I'm coming out."  Usagi thrust the clothes under
one arm, and opened the door.  She stepped out into the 
bedroom.

Mamoru was sitting on the bed, reading the textbook he had
gone outside to get.  He looked up quickly when she walked
out of the bathroom, then promptly did a double take.  The
book slid out of his hands and hit the ground.  His jaw hit
there a moment later.

Usagi held out her clothes, too swallowed in her misery to
notice his reaction to what she was wearing.  "Can you wash
these for me?"

He opened his mouth several times, but no voice seemed to 
come out.  A croak eventually, then a little moan.  Then,
he simply took the clothes from her, glanced down at them,
up at her, and down at the clothes again.

"I know, I know, klutzy me spilled stuff all over my 
clothes again."  Usagi knelt down and picked up the book,
and realized it wasn't the shape of a textbook.  Probably
something on genetic engineering, she thought.  Or some
type of subject I can't understand.  She held it out to
him with a bright smile, drawing the thin material tight
across her chest.  "Here you go, Mamo-chan.  You dropped
your book."

Mamoru tried to get his mouth working again.  It failed.

Usagi noticed her hands were full and sighed.  She turned
around to put the book on the dresser.  "I'm sorry, you
must be uncomfortable with me wearing this stuff.  It's
all I had, unless you wanted me to walk around in a towel."

"I...uh...I..." His voice, no louder than a whisper, 
managed to reach her ears.

"Gomen nasai, I didn't mean to make you upset or anything."
Usagi laughed, hoping to ease the tension some.  "After 
all, I really don't think you want me anyhow.  Not after
all these years. She crossed her eyes.  Baka, baka, baka,
you were suppose to let him know that, she told herself. 
Now, your going to have to explain yourself.

Usagi heard a soft thump of something hitting the ground.
The bed creaked softly as Mamoru stood up.

"What makes you think I don't want you?" His voice sounded
as if he was in pain.

Usagi's eyes opened wide.  She whirled around to face him,
the book falling to join her clothing on the ground.


**********
Ami never felt so relaxed in her life.  She sipped at her
fifth soda of the evening.  Wow, Coke never tasted so good 
before, she realized.  Mako-chan was right!  But, things
in here seem like they're spinning now...

"Ano?  Would you like to dance?"

Ami turned around to see a man with blond hair pulled back
in a ponytail stretching a hand out to her.  I shouldn't do
this, she thought.  But, that's the old Mizuno Ami!  This
one's out to have fun!

"Sure!" Ami said, bouncing off the bar stool and crumpling
to the ground.  The man helped her up and onto the floor as
the band went into its 33rd rendition of "Jailhouse Rock."


**********
They stood facing each other.  Usagi felt her heartbeat
accelerate by at least 100 percent if not more.  She 
carefully took in his body, and her eyes grew large when
she noticed one part in particular.  Her mind went back to
the dating books and handouts she had in her satchel.  
Wasn't that what men were suppose to look like when they
wanted a woman?  Or just when they need to use the 
restroom?  AAUUGGH!!  Usagi felt like pulling her hair out.
Next time, I won't sleep through class, she told herself.
Or at least get Ami-chan to take notes for me.  Hmmm...I
like that option better.

In the time it had taken her to cross-examine her education
in areas concerning men's bodily function - or lack 
thereof, Mamoru had crossed over to her and placed one hand
on her shoulder.  The other, he cupped her chin with and 
tipped her head up so she was gazing into his eyes.  That
look was in them.  That look he got whenever he wanted to
kiss her.

Or, was he wanting to do much more?

"But...I...you never want to...like when Galaxia...and
when Hotaru-chan was reborn...you never seem to want to...," 
Usagi gulped.  Great, baka, now you seem to have the cat 
got tongue syndrome.  Gomen ne, Luna, she thought.  She 
tried to look away from him, but his gentle grip on her 
chin prevented that.  Instead, she closed her eyes.  There, 
that seemed to work.

"Open your eyes, Usako."

Crap.  She almost always listened to him.  Her eyes slowly
fluttered open.  She was staring straight into his eyes.
They told her everything.  Her fears began to dissolve.

"I...umm...I've never been very good at this," he admitted
in a soft voice.  "Sometimes, when I want to show you how I
feel, I don't feel really comfortable...like I can't do it
right for you.  To be the prince you want.  Demo...I want
you very much."  He gave her a smile.  "Sometimes, I want
you so badly that I can't breathe.  That I have to get out
and run for miles and still not shake the feeling.  That I
can't touch you, because if I did, we would be on the 
ground making love so fast, I don't care if we were in here
or in the middle of the mall."  

His voice grew faster.  His hands started shaking.  "I 
don't know how to channel those feelings into something 
gentle.  So, I try to ignore them.  But, it's hard to 
ignore being a human being and to want this.  I want it to 
be perfect for you, not doing this because my hormones are
doing 100 kilometers an hour down the expressway.  I love
you so much, I'm afraid if I show it, I'll hurt you...or
you'll go away.  Like my parents.  Gomen ne, Usako.  I
didn't mean to hurt you."  

She didn't know what to say.  He dropped his hand from her
chin and closed his eyes.  She gasped.  Tears streamed 
down his cheeks.  His body shook from pent-up emotion.  She
threw herself into his arms and hugged him as tightly as 
she could, her head leaning against his chest.  

He really does need me, Usagi realized.  She thought back 
to all of the little things, such as a hand on her 
shoulder, or showing up in the thick of battle,  grasping 
her hand, or simply those corny speeches to try to comfort 
her.  Everyone's wrong, she realized looking up into 
Mamoru's eyes.  He won't go poof on me.  I don't need a 
stupid book to tell me what shape my relationship's in.  I 
know exactly the condition it's in.

Perfect.

"Aishiteru, Mamo-chan," Usagi whispered.  "Don't ever be
afraid to show me your feelings.  I'm your family now.
And I promise I will never leave you."

She closed her eyes, and he gently began kissing her.  It
turned passionate almost before she count to one.
Or two.  Was it three?  Usagi was quickly losing what 
little counting abilities she had as they sat, then laid
on the bed kissing each other.

You can stop this right now, Usagi, the little voice in her
head told her.  You don't need to do this now.  But, I want
to, she told the voice.  This is my decision to make.  Not
some book's or the other senshi.  Mine alone.  And I want
this now.  She initiated a hungrier kiss for a moment, then
broke it off.  She laid there for a moment catching her
breath, licked her lips, and drew in enough breath to ask
her question.

"Mamo-chan?"

"Hmm...?"  He moved down to kiss her neck.

"Promise me you'll never go 'poof' either."

Mamoru lifted his face back up, his eyes filled with
puzzlement.  "Poof?"

She nodded.  "Promise?"

He laughed.  "I promise you, I'll never go poof."  Then,
he moved in to kiss her again.  And again.  And again....


**********
Sugoi...

It was the only word Usagi could think of to describe what
had happened to her over the past few hours.  She stretched 
lazily and then turned on to her stomach.  Well, that 
certainly outdid her wildest dreams, not to mention those 
books she read.  The best part was...he really did want 
her.  She giggled into the pillow.  That was definitely 
apparent.

One hand dangled off the bed.  She could hear him moving
around in the kitchen, fixing some coffee.  Even though it
was a Sunday morning.  But, she didn't plan on moving for
a long time.  Her parents thought she was at Rei's.  
Everyone would cover for her.  Just a few more hours of
being here and enjoying this...Usagi closed her eyes and
smiled.  Her hand brushed across a book.

Usagi sat up and peered over the edge of the bed.  There
was that book Mamoru had been reading most of last night
prior to...well..."it."  But, oh what an "IT" it could be!

Out of sheer curiosity, Usagi picked up the book and read
the title.  "The Art of Intimacy...," she read the first
words of the title out loud, then opened it up to see what
the inside was like.  Her eyes widened.  Masaka...this is
just like the books we got from the bookstore!  Usagi 
looked out into the living room, where she could see the
light from the kitchen and a shadow moving around inside
it.  Mamo-chan...?  She glanced down at the book, and 
hugged it to her chest.  Looks like I wasn't the only one
worrying.

"Usako?"

"Hmmm?" Usagi looked up to see Mamoru stick his head in the
door and hold up several books and sheets of paper.  

"What's this?" he asked her.  Usagi's face turned red when
she realized it was the dating guides Makoto and the others
had given her.  Mamoru's gaze shifted to the book she was
holding, and his face turned red as well.

Usagi grinned and held up the book.  "I'll tell you if 
you'll tell me what this is."

"That's umm...no fair!"

They both dissolved into laughter, and kept going until
a knock sounded on the door.  They looked at the clock on
the nightstand.  It was 5 a.m. in the morning.

"I wonder who that could be...," Usagi's voice died away,
and she gasped.  "Masaka!!!!  You don't think that's Papa,
do you?"

Mamoru's face suddenly turned white as a sheet.  Usagi 
jumped up, threw on her nightgown and robe, and ran to
stand beside him.  Another knock sounded on the door.
They gazed at each other.

"I think my life is flashing before my eyes," Mamoru
muttered, carefully approaching the door, with Usagi
on his heels.

"Look at it this way, at least you'll be reborn again,"
Usagi said, comfortingly.

A third knock sounded, then a thump.  Mamoru laid his
hand on the knob.  "I don't think that's your father,"
he said.  "He'd busted the door down by now."  He
turned the knob, opened the door, and Ami fell onto
his feet.

"Ami-chan!"  They cried, and knelt down beside the girl.
Her hair was disheveled, and her clothes were a mess.  Her
blouse sleeve was even torn at the hem.  Ami opened her
eyes and managed a smile at them.

"I'm okay," she said, trying to get up.  Usagi helped her
up, and kept an arm around her waist.  Mamoru peered into
Ami's eyes, his medical training quickly taking over.  An
odd look crossed his face, and he took a step back and bit
his lip to keep from laughing.

Usagi scowled at him.  "What's so funny?"

Mamoru walked over to Usagi and whispered in her ear, 
"I think she's drunk."

Usagi gasped and nearly dropped Ami.  Instead, she helped 
the girl over to the couch while he ran in the kitchen and
got some coffee for her. They helped her to sit up, and 
urged her to drink the scalding hot liquid.  Ami swallowed 
it, and clutched the cup tightly.

"I will never, EVER, do that again!  Do you hear me?"
Ami screamed at the top of her voice, causing her friends
to wince in reply.  

"What did you do last night?" Usagi asked.

"Well...oh, I have such a headache...we drank a little.
And danced.  I think.  I'm not sure.  But, that Coke I
was drinking tasted so horrid at first.  Then it tasted
really good."

"The Coke didn't have rum in it, did it?" Mamoru asked
her.  Ami shook her head, and it lolled into his shoulder.

"I don't think so.  I watched it very carefully, you see,"
she slurred her words together.  Mamoru looked over Ami's
head, caught Usagi's eye, and mouthed, "There's rum on her
breath," to her.  Usagi's eyes widened, and she patted
Ami's arm.

"But, I had fun, you know?" Ami's voice got even more 
slurred.  "Everyone expected old straight-laced Ami not
to unwind and have a good time.  Even I expected that.
I'm too much of a prude at times for my own good.  Maybe
I should have fun a little more often...but not at a 
place like that...never...never again...," Ami's voice
died away as she fell asleep.

"Poor Ami-chan," Usagi whispered.

Mamoru nodded.  "She's going to have a bigger headache
when she wakes up."  He eased her back down onto the sofa,
while Usagi got up and walked over to the hall closet.  She
pulled a blanket out of it, came back, and tucked it around
her friend.  They stood by the sofa watching Ami sleep 
peacefully.  His arm slowly came around Usagi's waist.  She
leaned into his embrace.  They stayed that way for a 
moment, watching Ami, then started walking together toward
the bedroom.

"I wonder...," Usagi said aloud, and Mamoru looked down at
her.  "Hmmm?"

"I wonder where everyone else is?" she asked him.  "I hope
they're okay."

"I'm sure whatever they're doing now, we'll hear about it
in a few hours."  He bent his head and gave her a lingering
kiss.  "Let's go back to bed."

"Un!"  She smiled and allowed him to lead her back to the
bedroom just as the sun was beginning to rise.

THE END

Hmm?  What happened to Makoto, Minako, and Rei?  Well...

**********
"Gee, that was fun!"

"SHUT UP, MINAKO!" Rei and Makoto's voice rang across the
empty silence surrounding Hiwaka Shrine.

"What did I do?"  Minako wiped the makeup off her face.
"Didn't we have fun?"

Makoto was sitting at the table in Rei's room, her head
lying on it.  "I'm so tired...I never want to dance another
step."

"Come on, you enjoyed it, didn't you, Mako-chan?" Minako
plopped down on her sleeping bag.

"I enjoyed 'Jailhouse Rock' the first time Akira-san and I
danced to it, but by the sixtieth time, I was definitely
ready to stop."  Makoto lifted her head up to reveal her
eyes were still swirling.  "I can't seem to get my head
to stop spinning."

"What about you, Rei-chan?"  Minako shot a look over at
Rei, who was lying on her bed, arm thrown over her eyes.

"Well, no thanks to you, I spent the entire evening 
listening to that American guy, Gregory, go on and on and
on about his stupid ant collection.  Give me five hours
of Umino any day over him!"  Rei sighed.

"Well, at least Ami-chan appeared to be having fun.  Too
bad she went home early."  Minako grabbed a fingernail 
file and began filing her nails.  "I wonder how Usagi-chan
and Mamoru-san fared?"

"Hopefully a lot better than we did," Makoto replied.

"Hey, at least I have a date for this Friday!" Minako 
exclaimed.

"SHUT UP, MINAKO!"

"Okay, okay!"

"Well, I guess the moral of the story is that you don't
need to go to a bar to pick up guys because you'll never
find the guy you want there."  Rei sat up in bed.  "I'm
all for feeding those corny books to the fire myself."

"Works for me," Makoto agreed with her.

"Why?  They seem to work fine," Minako said.  In return,
Makoto and Rei threw their books at her.

Makoto crawled to her sleeping bag and laid down.  She
thought about Usagi and Mamoru and their relationship.
"Someday, our princes will come too.  Usagi-chan is very
lucky.  And she does prove that you don't need to have a
book in order to find love.  As long as you're a good 
person and remain hopeful, you will find him one day."

Minako and Rei nodded.  All was quiet for a moment as 
they tried to fall asleep.  Suddenly, Minako sprang up
in her sleeping bag.  "Say, minna, tell me again how
Usagi-chan and Mamoru-san met?"

"Usagi-baka hit him with one of her bad tests," Rei
muttered, turning on her side to go to sleep.  "She
threw it over her shoulder and it hit him."

"I've got it then!  We all do really bad on our tests
for the rest of the school year!  We save them up, and
then one by one, crumple them up and throw them over
our shoulders until it hits the man of your dreams!"
Minako threw off her sleeping bag.  "If it worked for
Usagi-chan, it's gotta work for us!"

Makoto and Rei sat up and threw their pillows at Minako.
She grabbed both of them and threw them back, starting a 
great pillow war.

Outside Rei's bedroom window, Luna and Artemis watched the
three fighting senshi.  Artemis sweatdropped.  "They'll 
never learn."

"On the contrary," Luna said, "They've learned more than 
you could ever imagine."

THE END - For Real!

**********
AUTHOR'S NOTES:
1) The book named in part one, and all of the information 
that the senshi quote from are either from actual books or
internet sites.  The book the girls find in part one really
does exist and I found it in my hometown Barnes and Noble.
I wanted it to be in parts 3 and 4 more, but we do not have
a Barnes and Noble in my college town, so I had to resort 
to internet sites.

2) The moral of the story?  Your dream man will come in its
own sweet time (not soon enough, I say!).  Don't do what is
unnatural for you.  Just be yourself and good things will 
come of it.  As for sex?  That is left up to the individual
couple.  Don't let your peers pressure you into something
you're not ready for.  Let the decision be made by you and
your boyfriend/girlfriend when the time is right for you.

3) The setting of the story is post-Galaxia.  But not that
long after the end of the series.  The characters here are
drawn from their anime roles, especially Mamoru, because in
the manga he is much warmer toward Usagi.

4) This story is dedicated to all of the men and women who
are waiting for their princes and princess to come.  Just be
yourself, and the time will soon come for you!