Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Dear readers,

The theme of this story was inspired by the song "Everlasting my Love", which is sung by none other than Toru Furuya, the charismatic voice actor of Mamoru. He sings it as Tuxedo Mask for Sailor Moon.

Under the following link you can listen to the song including the english lyrics

https://youtu.be/dJEydBaVG3k

Around Mamoru's birthday I will publish the further chapters of this story. Happy b day, you gorgeous prince of earth!

I don't own Sailor Moon, but I love to write magical fanfiction about my absolute favorite series and share it with you.
Have fun with this story and leave me a heart, a recommendation, a favorite entry or a nice comment if you like it.

Love

Danni-Bunny

-----------

"A perfectly fair fight!"

Zoisite's cynical words were still echoing in Sailor Moon's ears as Tuxedo Mask lay unconscious in her arms. Just at that moment, Luna and Artemis, along with the Sailor soldiers, also arrived in the surveillance room of the top floor of Starlight Tower.

"We're too late." Sailor Mercury remarked, interrupting the eerie silence that had fallen after Mamoru closed his eyes.

Sailor Mars looked with dismay at the motionless superhero whose protective mask had fallen from his face

"Yes, our Tuxedo Mask is-"

Dead? No, he wasn't dead. Mamoru lay injured in Sailor Moon's arms. After transforming into his alter ego to fight Zoisite for the Rainbow Crystals.
And now? Had they lost?

"Tuxedo Mask."

was all Sailor Moon could whisper as a single tear ran down her cheek. Before it could fall to the ground, however, it materialized into a strange crystal, and as if from nowhere, the rainbow crystals appeared and coalesced into Usagi's tear.

A beautiful, sparkling crystal magically formed from these seven pieces and floated in the air

"Silver Crystal. This is the Imperium Silver Crystal."

Luna spoke the conjecture of everyone present with a mixture of awe and disbelief. Even Zoisite stared spellbound at the crystalline wonder before him.

Sailor Moon's moon staff appeared out of nowhere and connected with the magic crystal, landing gingerly on Tuxedo Masks wounded chest in the aftermath.

"What's happening?"

Sailor Moon gazed mesmerized at her Moon Staff and was about to pick it up when Zoisite awoke from his stupor and with an annoyed "Zoi!" attempted to nullify the magical moment with a volley of black energy.

However, before the attack could hit Sailor Moon with Tuxedo Mask in her arms, the crystal lit up in a pink glow, protecting the pair from the dark energy.

"No way, what are you doing?!"

Zoisite literally quivered in horror at the failed attack and clenched his teeth in despair. He was in a bad position; Five Sailor Warriors and the newly formed Silver Crystal were facing him. He wouldn't stand a chance with this new power, he knew all too well. To save himself from his impending doom, he retreated into the darkness, visibly sour.

"The fight isn't over yet!"

he was still heard hissing when his body had already vanished into thin air in front of the. soldiers

Immediately, the sailor team rushed to a stunned Sailor Moon and the injured, still unconscious Tuxedo Mask.

"Mamoru!" Rei was completely distraught and immediately tried to yank him out of Usagi's tight grip.

"Sailor Mars, you have to be careful. He's hurt very badly."

Sailor Mercury looked anxiously at her mini-computer, which she had pulled out in a flash. "You could cause him unnecessary harm by tugging on him like that."

"We need to get him and ourselves out of here immediately! The enemy could come back at any time!"

Artemis put on a very serious expression and immediately commanded the warriors

"You must use the Sailor Teletransport. I'm sure the Silver Crystal will help us do that."

"How do you know that?" Sailor Venus wanted to know, earning a curt explanation from her white cat in return

"Because he has done it before."

"Artemis, are you saying you can remember?" Luna looked at her companion in utter amazement.

"At least now I know for sure that Tuxedo Mask is not our enemy. He is far from it to be honest, and he will be able to help us in our fight against the Dark Kingdom. But first the Silver Crystal has to heal him and we can only do that if we get out of here as soon as possible."

"Girls!" Luna instructed the soldiers to stand around Mamoru and the cats, holding hands.

Reluctantly, Sailor Moon let Tuxedo Mask out of her arms and gently placed him on the ground.

He had protected her.

Mamoru.

No one but her in this room knew what exactly had happened. How they had gotten here, how they had run for their lives when Zoisite had tried to kill them both.
What he had told her in the elevator. How he had stared at her during her transformation. When he had understood all at once that she was Sailor Moon.

Usagi slowly stood up and completed the circle, holding Sailor Venus and Sailor Jupiter's hand. She cast one more worried glance at Tuxedo Mask before closing her eyes

"Sailor Teletransport!"

A warm, comforting energy filled the room and enveloped the Sailor warriors along with their companions. A few seconds later, this mysterious force ceased again and the Sailor Team found themselves in front of the Hikawa Temple with Tuxedo Mask and the Moon Scepter, as well as the Silver Crystal.

"Do you think we are safe now?"

Sailor Venus looked around attentively.

"Don't worry about it. The Silver Crystal has the power to protect us from Beryl and her minions. It makes Tuxedo Mask invisible to her eyes as long as it is with him, and the girls have fortunately not revealed their identities before Zoisite."

Artemis seemed to have clear informational advantages over his fellows since the appearance of the Silver Crystal.

"Artemis, what is actually going on here? If you know something, please enlighten us!"

Sailor Mars stared impatiently at the white cat and ordered Sailor Jupiter next to her "Please help me carry Tuxedo Mask inside. He needs to recover. Sailor Mercury!"

Sailor Mars ignored Sailor Moon completely and made her way to the Hikawa Temple along with Sailor Jupiter. Sailor Venus and Sailor Mercury followed them just like Luna and Artemis.

What the hell kind of day had that been? Mamoru-Baka was Tuxedo Mask. And he had protected her. Without hesitation.

'Sailor Moon... I would never leave you alone.'

Those had been his words. And then, somehow, it had all happened far too quickly.

"I hope he's okay." Usagi muttered under her breath as she let go off her transformation with a look of concern and followed the others into the temple.

The girls were back in their civilian identities as well and were now standing around Mamoru, who was still asleep in his disuise as Tuxedo Mask. The silver crystal did not seem to leave his side; rather, it looked as if a protective, transparent crystal now surrounded Mamoru.

"Mamoru will stay here for the time being, until he recovers completely."

Rei didn't tolerate any backtalk in her decision, and shortly after disappeared from the room to get all sorts of cloths and blankets for Mamoru.

"Now tell me Artemis, what do you know? Did the silver crystal bring something out in you?"

Luna was visibly miffed that she had apparently not been granted the opportunity to have her memories restored.

"It's honestly not much," Artemis admitted "but some things I have a certainty about, as if it all happened just yesterday."

Rei had arrived back in the room and was looking as expectantly at Artemis as the rest of the Sailor team. Briefly clearing his throat, the white tomcat then explained with a solemn expression

"Mamoru is not just Tuxedo Mask. He is a prince from a time long past. His real name is Endymion, he is the prince of the earth."

At the mention of that name, something stirred in Usagi. The silouhette of a man appeared to her completely blurred. So distant, so barely tangible.

"Endymion." repeated Makoto with a frown. " so what?"

"I seem to recall that he was the lover of our Moon Princess."

"Whaaaat, her lover?" Now everyone looked at Artemis more than surprised

"Yes, he is the prince from the Silver Millennium, that information has been firmly burned into my memory ever since the Imperium Silver Crystal appeared."

"If Mamoru is a prince, then he can also use the Silver Crystal, or why is the Moon Staff still lying on his chest along with the crystal?"

Artemis frowned at Minako's question.

"I have no idea why the crystal is with him. Maybe because it wants to protect him?"

"Tell me Artemis" Another thought just occurred to Ami as everyone looked at the crystal somewhat indecisively " you don't happen to know where the Moon Princess is either? I always thought she would appear once the silver crystal was in our hands?"

"I know one thing for certain. The Moon Princess clearly hasn't awakened yet, and I hope we can get Mamoru back to consciousness quickly. Because he will surely recognize her. After all, she is already in this room."

Everyone drew in their breath noticeably at Artemi's last sentence.

"Are you saying that the Moon Princess is one of the girls?"

Artemis looked at Luna with a serious face and then hesitantly nodded his head as if he could hardly believe it himself

"It's maddening. I know that the Moon Princess disguises herself as a warrior to deceive the enemy, all of this has come back for me because the Moon Queen explained this plan to me herself back then before she sent me and Luna into a long sleep with the power of the Silver Crystal, only.... for the life of me, I don't know which of you is the princess we are looking for!"

Artemi's explanation was so not met with approval right now.

"Great! So one of us is supposed to be a real princess! Artemis, what do you dream about at night?"

Makoto almost shook with laughter at the thought and Minako joined in.

"Yeah right, one of us is Mamoru's mistress from long ago, ahahaha!"

Rei seemed to find the whole situation rather less funny.

"Excuse me, but Mamoru is my boyfriend!"

"Says who?" it immediately came back in sync from Makoto and Minako. Rei seemed quite sure of herself now, as she declared with a matter-of-factness in her voice

"It's as clear as day, only I can be the Moon Princess, since he and I have dated several times!"

"Rei, I don't think you can necessarily pin it on that right now. Yes, you have met a few times. Quite obviously, though, the poor guy hasn't even gotten his memories of his past life yet, and won't even be able to recognize his true feelings for the princess until then."

"What nonsense, Minako. What gossip magazine did you take that from now? It's obvious that a princess combines dignity, decency, and loveliness, WHO else here but ME should be considered for that position?"

Now everyone's fighting spirit was aroused.

"Seriously, any one of us could be a princess, and as long as we don't know who exactly it is, I wouldn't go too far out on a limb. Princesses can usually sing very well - for example, EVERY Disney princess can do it - and now please tell me who can sing better than ME?"

Minako looked smugly at her opponent, who was angrily throwing the blankets she had gotten for Mamoru earlier onto the floor.

"I think yes, a princess should act smart and wise above all else. Logical thinking and clever negotiating skills would definitely be a princess's strong points, and that's where I think it might be that I-"

"Ami, I really appreciate you, you know that, but you would never want all this attention around you in your life. All this hype around you, I'd be much more predestined for the role. That suits me perfectly."

"Minako, have you ever considered that a princess should also be good at cooking and baking? After all, she is something of a palace manager. And besides, she needs a knack for all the beautiful flowers in her palace garden. You can hardly tell a rose from a carnation."

Makoto now seemed to be on fire for the role of the princess as well. Rei just looked around, smiling tiredly, and then finally declared

"Well, any one of us could be a princess. Except Usagi, of course. Absolutely no princess would be as dorky and clumsy as her. And besides-"

Usagi hadn't made a face so far and had been looking at the sleeping Tuxedo Mask rather worriedly and desperately searching in her mind the whole time. Now, however, she looked into the face of her supposed adversary, who spoke with supreme jealousy in her eyes

"Would she be an absolute disaster with Mamoru as a couple. After all, he hates Usagi's guts."

At that moment, Usagi would have preferred to burst into tears if something had not suddenly stirred from the bed. Instead of continuing their war of words, all the girls now turned their attention to Mamoru, who slowly but surely seemed to regain consciousness.

All the time he had heard a strange arguing, which he couldn't classify at all. Mixed with the pleading words of the princess, who had haunted him so many times before in his ever-teaching dreams.

'Silver crystal, please. Find the Imperium Silver Crystal.'

He would have loved to stand up and reach for her face from her that lay so deeply hidden in opaque shadows. Briefly, Usagi's determined look came before his inner eye as she had loudly exclaimed her transformation spell in front of him in the elevator of the Starlight Tower.

But he could not linger longer in this half-awake state, for he was suddenly jerked somewhat rudely out of his reverie

"Mamoru, say something, please please say something, can you hear us?"

Mamoru opened his eyes and looked into several faces. Two of them obviously belonged to cats. But none belonged to Sailor Moon.

To Usagi. No Odango Atama was there in front of him.

"But... what happened?" he brought out laboriously

"Oh my god, he's fine. Mamoru, do you remember?"

He felt pain yes, but at the same time he felt as if a magical healing process was underway within him. Astonished, he noticed that there was something heavy on him from which this strange energy seemed to emanate.

"The silver crystal."

Although he had never seen it before, Mamoru knew that it could only be the one that had saved him from death. When he had thrown himself in front of Sailor Moon so that she could not be hurt. Zoisite had played with unfair means. And never would he allow anything to happen to Sailor Moon. Never!

Slowly he rose and turned searchingly around the room until he looked directly into Usagi's sky-blue eyes. Something stirred within him at that moment, yet he had no idea what it meant.

"Mamoru" one of the cats seemed to be able to speak "No, Prince Endymion I mean. Please tell us if you can remember. Tell us if you know who the moon princess is."

The cat's name was Artemis. Wherever the hell he knew that all of a sudden. And Endymion was actually his name. Like crazy. But -

"Who the moon princess is?"

He looked from one girl to the other and finally spoke into the room

"I have no idea!"

Chapter Text

"What? You have no idea who the Moon Princess is?!"

"Is he even really awake yet?"

"I don't know, he still looks a little pale around the nose."

"Mamoru needs rest damn it, he has no idea what even happened!"

That was true, though.

There were five girls in a room in front of him that he more or less knew, though he had no clue how he got here, why he was still in his Tuxedo Mask transformation, and why both cats could talk. The second one, in fact, was just opening its mouth, looking at him insistently.

"Mamoru, do you remember that you are the Earth Prince Endymion?"

Mamoru narrowed his eyes. Of course he did!

"Luna," was his simple answer and realization to him at the same time.

Apparently that was enough for the black cat to have certainty that he must indeed know her from a past life.

"But if you recognize Luna, then why not your beloved Moon Princess?"

The tall brunette had asked a valid question. This was Makoto, after all! And quite obviously Sailor Jupiter, too. In general, it was now easy for Mamoru to assign all the girls gathered here in the room to their Sailor senshi alter egos. Now that he knew that Usagi was Sailor Moon. As before, this had deeply shaken Mamoru in a certain way, and at the same time.... infinitely relieved.

"Makoto," he began slowly "I don't understand exactly what you mean. Why should I recognize the Moon Princess?"

"Well simply because she is one of us."

Minako, meanwhile, was standing in the room with her arms crossed, somewhat annoyed, wildly blowing her bangs upward to dislodge a fly sitting on them.

By moon princess, they possibly meant the princess from his dreams?

"I'm sorry, but I have no memory of that. It's just a blurry image of her, and I really can't make out a face from it."

Indecisive, he looked around until his gaze caught on Artemis.

"Why are you so sure she's here, anyway?"

Artemis cleared his throat, slightly embarrassed.

"It is a distinct memory of mine that the Moon Princess was to be sent to Earth for camouflage in the next life. So that she could live her life here unmolested and fight under the cover of her transformation in case the enemy reappeared. But unfortunately, I don't know which Sailor senshi she is and we were hoping you could recognize her."

Mamoru became thoughtful at Artemi's words. Everything had moved so incredibly fast in just one day. He had only just found out who Sailor Moon really was. He had not yet been able to thank Usagi for having obviously saved his life.

Usagi.

Always she had moved something in him. Annoyance, belligerence, sparked his sarcasm. Stirred up a seething inside him, really brought him to life. And then she meets him on the street the day after he was injured by Zoisite in the shoulder and goes after him because she is worried about him. And then... before his eyes she turns into the girl he would never leave alone and would always protect, no matter what. But... Did she even need this transformation to be saved by him? Wouldn't he have protected her without batting an eye if she had only been Usagi?

Usagi's look was not to be interpreted, when he wanted to start an explanation. Before he could say anything, however, Rei took the opportunity and declared

"Guys, Mamoru is still totally messed up. Leave him alone so he can get some rest."

"No no, I'm fine." Mamoru had quickly realized that he clearly was at Rei's house, as eager as she was to keep him here. Right now, that was not at all where he was supposed to be or wanted to be. Artemis seemed to sense that Mamoru was visibly unhappy about this whole situation with this majority of women, and so hurried to explain to him

"You are safe, Mamoru. The Silver Crystal is protecting you with its magic. It bonded with the Moon rod in Starlight Tower and has not left your side since. The enemy will not see you as long as it is with you. With him, you can go back to your home without Zoisite being able to track you down."

"But, we can't leave Mamoru alone with the silver crystal." Luna looked visibly worried regarding Artemis' suggestion.

"I can go with him. That's okay, Minako, isn't it?"

The blonde girl quickly realized the real reason and then said with a wink to her cat

"Alright Artemis. If you need a guys' night out, go with Mamoru and stay with him as long as you think it's right. Maybe it's best if he rests at home. But we'll be back first thing in the morning!"

The last sentence sounded more like a threat than a kindly meant promise in Mamoru's ears. What the hell were the Sailor senshi up to? He couldn't remember the Moon Princess, he'd already said that, hadn't he?

Mamoru stood up and briefly checked his muscles a little. The silver crystal had done a remarkable job, for he felt almost as if he had been reborn. Except for the fact that he was surrounded by loud girls who obviously wanted to know from him who should be the moon princess of them and thus his lover.

He felt like he was in the wrong movie. Luna just rolled her eyes and recommended to the earth prince

"Okay, consult your pillow. I'll see you tomorrow."

Briefly, Mamoru glanced around until his gaze lingered on Usagi.

"Thank you."

The small word came out of his mouth full of sincerity, which twisted into a smile as he looked into the sky blue of her beautiful eyes.

She smiled. Usagi smiled back.

This was probably the first time she had ever given him that indescribably beautiful smile. Had he ever seen something so perfect before? Again something stirred in him, but he could not for the life of him understand what it was.

After Mamoru had left or better, fled, a wild war of words broke out again among the Sailor senshi, until Luna finally intervened with a loud "SHHHHHH!" that almost shook the whole temple.

"This all leads to nothing here. We have to approach this in a completely different way."

The black cat was about to make constructive suggestions, when Minako beat her to it

"I've got it! We'll let Mamoru find out for himself who the princess is."

"And how is that supposed to work with his memory loss, please?"

Makoto's question to Minako was quite valid. The blonde senshi of love, however, just grinned broadly at her in return.

"It's simple. We write numbers on little pieces of paper. One to five. One by one, one of us draws a slip of paper and then we all make a date with him in the order we figured out."

"You're out of your mind!"

"That's the most harebrained idea I've ever heard."

"But... it might work."

Ami had listened carefully to Minako's suggestion, and probably didn't think it was that bad compared to Makoto, Rei, and Luna.

"We can collect probabilities and statistically underpin the whole thing to get closer to the truth per previously defined exclusion criteria."

"Okay, Ami is in charge of weird stuff like entry probabilities, Minako comes up with the date content, and.... what do we do?"

Rei obviously meant herself and Makoto first and foremost.

"Um, I would volunteer to provide support if one of you finds out she's not the Moon Princess and becomes very unhappy about it. I have a great anti depri chocolate cookie recipe."

"Excellent." Rei suddenly seemed downright excited about Minako's idea. "I would then think about everything I know about Mamoru. After all, we are very close and I definitely don't want my boyfriend to feel uncomfortable if he has to meet with the rest of you."

One look at the blonde girl in front of her made Rei feel a slight blush of jealousy rise to her face again. The fact that she had ridden in the Starlight Tower elevator with Mamoru had not slipped her mind

"Hey, Odango Atama. What's your input in all this, anyway?"

Usagi actually felt - just like Mamoru - like she had been in the wrong movie all day. Meanwhile, it had become late evening. Fortunately, her parents had taken her story over the phone that she had been studying with Rei at the temple until now and that Makoto would be escorting her home shortly. With all these events today, which were certainly written all over her face, she wouldn't have been able to face her family with any degree of decency.

Mamoru was Tuxedo Mask. She had only just half digested that. But now he was also an Earth prince from another millennium, and one of them had to be the Moon Princess? Maybe even her? No, that didn't fit her at all and... nevertheless she had such a quite strange feeling.

"Hello hello, knock knock! Earth to Odango, are you still there?"

Before Usagi could respond to Rei's impatient chatter, she had already given her a light smack on the back of the head.

"Ouch, hey, that hurt!"

"Okay, seems to be present after all!" Rei crossed her arms in annoyance and sighed once loudly "but clearly our Usagi is somewhere else entirely with her blockhead."

"Well Rei you are really so evil and mean! I don't feel like staying here any longer and being pestered by you. I'm going home now!"

Pissed off by Rei's snooty behavior, Usagi was about to turn on her heel when Ami called her back.

"Usagi, please stay. We have to decide the order of our dates for now, don't we?"

Reluctantly, the blonde girl nodded and stared at Minako's fist, which clutched five paper rolls protruding from it.

One by one, each senshi pulled out a snippet and then waited for Luna's order to unfold the slips of paper simultaneously

"Okay, let's see then."

A quick glance at the slips was enough for Luna, until she finally continued speaking

"Alright, so Ami will go first, followed by Makoto, then it's Minako's turn, after which Rei will take over. Usagi will be the last to meet with Mamoru."

"If it even gets that far, after all, it's our turn to go on our dates before that."

Rei seemed more than confident of victory with her battle announcement, which made Usagi seethe inside. Outwardly, too, of course

"I don't know if you could ever be a princess, they're supposed to be nice and friendly all the time, aren't they?"

"At least I'm not constantly crying around like you, airhead. You can't do anything, have you made any suggestions as to how you could be useful here in this whole mission?"

Before Usagi could reply to Rei's condescending comment, Ami came to her rescue with an unexpected suggestion

"Usagi could support all of us, couldn't she?"

"Huh? In what way, Ami?" it immediately came back from Rei in irritation. Minako and Makoto also looked slightly confused at Ami's interjection.

Ami pulled out her Mercury computer, tapped around on the keyboard a few times, and finally explained while pointing at the screen

"Well, we'd still need someone to run analysis during the - as Minako put it - "dates," as far as Mamoru, I mean Endymion, is concerned."

Now four uncomprehending girls and a black cat looked questioningly at Ami.

"So why would Usagi be watching Mamoru while he's dating one of us?"

"Well, if we rely only on Mamoru's feelings, then he might actually not recognize the Moon Princess through his new-age self after all. But by him being Endymion, I could run a gesture analysis program that evaluates his body language, his unconscious actions, so to speak. And to do that, Mamoru would have to be filmed briefly in each interaction with each of us. Or even a scan would be enough for me to feed the program with the appropriate data."

This suggestion did not seem to meet with Rei's approval at all. Quite the opposite.

"Can't Luna do that? Or how about Artemis?"

With an apologetic look at Luna, Ami replied to her

"Please don't take offense, but cats can't get in everywhere, so we definitely need a human for this task. And Usagi doesn't have anything yet, after all."

Makoto and Minako nodded simultaneously with the cats for understanding. Only Rei took issue with Ami's explanation, her frown line becoming a shade more noticeable on her face

"Well I don't know... Usagi is as inconspicuous as a pink elephant in a china store. Mamoru gets that she's there right away, doesn't he, and then ends up acting totally unnatural or starts another argument with the oaf on the spot?"

"Not if he doesn't perceive her as Usagi, Rei," Ami replied, her mouth twisting into a mischievous grin that was quite uncharacteristic for her.

It was all double Dutch for Usagi, so she looked at Ami uncomprehendingly.

"You want me to spy on Mamoru? And how am I supposed to do that, huh?"

The penny dropped for Luna when Ami gave her a quick glance.

"That'll be easier than you think, Usagi. After all, you have your Luna pen that you can use for special circumstances like this."

"Oh my goodness, I totally forgot about that!"

Briefly, Usagi's face brightened, but the blonde girl was then immediately brought back down to earth by Rei's remark

"Don't imagine that you can mess up my date with Mamoru with that, Usagi!"

"Who's actually saying you're the moon princess here, Rei? Maybe it's Ami?!"

Evilly, the two friends - or just at that moment, better adversaries - sparkled at each other, until they were interrupted by Luna

"That may very well be possible. We'll find out soon enough. Ami, can you manage to create the needed programs by tomorrow morning? I think we should start this programming as soon as possible, because the enemy will not stand idly by for long until we find the Moon Princess. Even if the silver crystal isn't in their hands, right now, unfortunately, it's of no use to us until we identify the one who can actually use the crystal."

"Yes, I should be able to do it by tomorrow if I get started right away."

Ami was clearly willing to be a part of this new mission. Minako was also on fire about the project

"Good, then I'll start thinking up some nice things for each of us for our dates with Mamoru."

"I'll make a meal plan for the next few days. Come on Usagi, it's getting late and we don't want to disturb the others in their plans any longer!"

Makoto grabbed a visibly puzzled Usagi and said goodbye to the girls and Luna.

On their way home, Usagi mused with Makoto about the current events.

"Mako, I don't understand this. In the elevator, Mamoru had explained to me that he needed the Silver Crystal to remember his past. And now that he has it, he still doesn't know who he really is. If Artemis hadn't told him everything, he would still be totally in the dark."

Makoto just shrugged his shoulders a bit helplessly

"Hm, we can only hope that Artemis is actually right. After all, Mamoru was able to hold the Moon rod, along with the Silver Crystal, in his hand without any problems."

"Problems? What do you mean, Mako-Chan?"

The tall brunette next to her now had to grin slightly

"Without it being tapped on his fingers. Don't ask me how I know this all of a sudden, but inhabitants of Earth are actually unable to hold this magic rod at all. That alone is proof enough for me that the Silver Crystal is sympathetic to him and will surely help him find the Moon Princess."

Usagi looked at Makoto with wide eyes.

"Still, this is really crap with the whole dating plan. I honestly can't imagine which one of us would be a princess. That doesn't fit us at all."

"I really don't know why she hasn't awakened in the light of the silver crystal as well, as Luna has so often predicted for us. But the day will come. And I hope with our new plan sooner than we thought."

"Well, if you say so."

Usagi replied lamely to her friend before walking through the front door of the Tsukino residence.

This day had been more than confusing. Actually, it had started as usual, but then she had met Mamoru by chance, followed him, and then fell into a trap of the Dark Kingdom together with him.
Never before had she spent so much time together with Mamoru, In fact, they had always met somewhere in public, and from that they had only once not argued with each other, when they both had to keep their mouths shut for a few hours to model Yumemi Yumeno.

But now she had transformed into Sailor Moon in front of him to save him. Then, just moments later, Mamoru had revealed his secret identity.... and protected her directly from Zoisite. He had almost paid for it with his life. The other members of her team had only come when Mamoru was seriously injured in her arms. They had not noticed how he had fought for her.

Would Mamoru have done the same for anyone else? As Tuxedo Mask, he had always saved her, after all. But was it only because she was by far the most inept Sailor senshi on their team? Usagi had so many questions, whose answers she would have liked to clarify as soon as possible.

In her dreams tonight, she was accompanied by this vague feeling, as if she had already harbored such feelings a long, long time ago, which had arisen today during her time with Mamoru and had enclosed her heart tightly all at once.

Chapter Text

After yesterday had already been unique for Mamoru in every respect, today was to take a turn that he simply would not have thought possible.

At first, Mamoru thought Artemis was just making a bad joke after sighing loudly when he finished his phone conversation with Minako. But clearly, the white tomcat in front of him really meant it.

"You want me to go on a date with the girls? Go on a date with each one, so I can find the true Moon Princess among them????"

Artemis shrugged innocently.

"Would that be so bad? You don't have to do anything except get to know them all a little better. That's really all there is to it. Luna's and my memories are simply too sketchy for us to say that the soldiers in today's life are as they were in the times of the silver millennium. If we were to determine the wrong one, it could have serious consequences for our entire planet."

At Artemi's last sentence, Mamoru became puzzled.

"Why is that?"

"If the Imperium Silver Crystal falls into the wrong hands, it could self-destruct, throwing everyone in the world into chaos. That's why we have to make this attempt; we don't really have any other choice. To speed up the whole thing, we have come up with a precise plan. Don't worry."

"We?" Mamoru now looked with a raised eyebrow at the white tomcat

"Artemis, on whose idea was it?"

"Well, actually it was a joint project between Minako and Ami and then it all kind of...took on a life of its own. Don't worry, it's all going to be harmless. You don't have to kiss each of them or anything."

"Did you just say KISSING?"

"Uh did I say that, yeah? Oh, just let yourself be surprised at what happens, Mamoru. Sailor Mercury, that is Ami, will be the first one you meet with by the way, and in less than five minutes we'll be on our way."

"Oh man, whew alright. Let the games begin then."

Mamoru looked thoughtfully at the moon scepter in his hand. The silver crystal could protect him from the eyes of the dark forces, so in that respect he was already reassured. But a date? With a total of five girls in the coming days? One of which would be his lover from thousands of years ago? If he would already be able to remember his former life, he would certainly be spared a lot. But it was apparently of no use, if he looked into the determining eyes of Artemis. Mamoru had to go through it and approach the whole thing professionally. It couldn't be that bad.

So Ami would be the first of the girls.

"What do you know about Ami, Artemis?"

The white tomcat looked at Mamoru, somewhat perplexed.

"Well, maybe I'm not the best to ask. Except for Minako, I met all the girls only two days ago.... Ami is calm, very smart and responsible for the strategic and analysis in the Sailor Team. But other than that, I don't really know anything about her."

"Well great, but at least it's something. Thank you, Artemis."

Before Artemis could say anything in reply, they both heard the buzzer of Mamoru's apartment door. He rose from his couch and walked to the genkan.

When he opened the door, standing in front of him was a blue-haired girl with a flushed face, who was most embarrassedly clasping her hands behind her back.

"Ami. Hi. Do you want to come in?"

Being polite was something Mamoru could do, however Ami probably had something else in mind for him than spending the day in his apartment.

"Oh, thanks for the offer, but we have something else planned for today. So..."

All at once, she pulled out a photo ID and held it out to Mamoru.

"The Seikei Library?"

Mamoru could hardly believe what was written there on the ID card in shiny black letters next to a picture of Ami. The blue-haired genius returned him with a brief nod of his head

"A small advantage to be one of the best students in the country."

Mamoru was flabbergasted. So far he had seen Ami a few times and hadn't taken much from those encounters. She was unassuming, quiet, and seemed almost a little coy. Next to Usagi's incredible radiance, he had actually hardly noticed her so far.

"I think you have to be a little more than one of the best students in the country to even get into that elite university library."

Amy smiled furtively and motioned Mamoru to walk with her toward the elevator. Suddenly, he wasn't so negative about this Sailor Warriors plan. Ami was nice and not pushy. And besides, he was now looking forward to this very special university library like a little child.

--------

They took the train to Musahino. On the way, many similarities came to light as the scenery flew past them on the bullet train.

Ami's mother was a doctor, and so it was also her dream to one day study medicine, to follow in her mother's footsteps. Both were outright bookworms and could quickly get excited about intricate relationships and complex technical topics. They also shared similar tastes in music and were both open to spending a semester abroad in another country one day. Mamoru really enjoyed the conversations with Ami. Rarely had he encountered someone who acted with such diligence and determination as Ami did, even at the age of fourteen.

When they finally entered the entrance hall of this futuristic Sekei University building, Mamoru paused for a moment. Even though he really enjoyed Ami's presence, there was just something missing. It was a very vague feeling. They understood each other perfectly and had so many things in common, but a spark could not and would not jump over. Ami also seemed in no way willing to meet Mamoru on any level other than friendly or intellectual.

Even as they stood in the middle of the medical department a little later, each armed with a neat stack of books, Mamoru came to this conclusion.

No, Ami certainly couldn't be the Moon Princess, if he looked at her a little closer and compared her to those blurry snippets of images from his recurring dreams; the princess in his dreams had a loveliness, a grace, she surrounded an aura, a certain... Radiance?

"Uhhh excuse me?"

Puzzled, Mamoru turned around. In front of him stood a young blond man with a moustache, maybe around thirty. Through his small round tinted glasses he looked at him somewhat skeptically

"Y-yes?"

Why the hell did this guy look so familiar to him!

"You've got some books in your hand there, I'll have to scan them for you first so you can walk around here with them."

As if out of nowhere, the strange little man - he was 5'5" at most and seemed almost more feminine in stature - had a pink scanner device in his hand and was now pointing it at Mamoru's head like a gun.

"Hey wait a minute, we have to get the books all the way to the.... oh."

came suddenly from Ami next to him, who paused in mid-sentence as if she'd just had an epiphany.

The little blond man didn't care about Mamoru's blue-haired companion, but plucked the topmost book from Mamoru's pile of books from his hands and looked at the book title with interest

"Aha, a very good choice.... Foresight of future genmami.... Genani...Gen... Ami... mupuptulation."

Mamoru now watched the man in front of him in disbelief as he frantically tried to read the barcode with his pink scanner device.

"Come on you stupid thing, come on!"

Obviously nothing was working on the scanner, so the weird guy started scanning Mamoru.

"Can I have a quick look? Somehow the thing doesn't work right now, but if I point it at people, it works after a while."

As if rooted to the spot, Mamoru stood there while the little man frantically scanned him from top to bottom with the electronic device.

"Beep beep beep!"

"There you go!"

Satisfied, the man now looked at Ami, who immediately turned bright red in the face.

"So everything is working again for you or what?"

Just as Mamoru was about to hold out the rest of the books for him to check out, the strange guy turned on his heel and was gone from the two visitors' field of vision in a few seconds.

"And I always thought that these crazy people only existed here in Tokyo and not in an elite library of a private university," Mamoru now murmured and looked into Ami's face. She looked almost a little disappointed.

"Mamoru, I" she was about to start, when he interrupted her with a slight smile.

"Ami, I really appreciate you. In such a short time, I've rarely met someone with whom I can exchange ideas as well as I do with you. Who knows, maybe we had similar conversations in the silver millennium as we do today, only in a more classical setting, but..."

"I'm not the Moon Princess, I know." The smile found its way back onto Ami's face.

"Honestly, I'm relieved. Please don't get me wrong, but I don't think we would work beyond a friendly level. They say the Moon Princess and you have something very special connected, a kind of soul mate. Some time ago I met someone with whom I got along really well. He even did better than me in an exam once."

Grinning, Ami looked into the depths of the futuristic library.

"His name is Ryo Urawa and he was one of the legendary seven devils. His gift was to see the future ahead. When I think of him, such a comforting warm feeling surrounds me. He's not perfect, you know. But... To me, he is."

Ami's words about Ryo had made Mamoru think. Until now, he had never really thought about what the woman he fell in love with should be like. The moon princess was so far actually a pure thought construct and for Mamoru not really from flesh and blood.

What was love? With whom did such a comforting warm feeling surround him as well?

Ami brought him back to reality.

"I think we can break off here and focus on your next rendezvous. After all, as we all know, the way to a man's heart is through his stomach, and who knows, maybe Sailor Jupiter is the one?"

Mamoru hadn't even thought that far ahead.

"Isn't that enough today?" he asked Ami with a slightly pleading expression on his face

"Don't worry, the date isn't scheduled until tomorrow. After all, we didn't know how long it would take for you to find out if I'm the Moon Princess or not. However, I'm sure that even without further analysis, we can assume that you'll have to continue your search tomorrow."

Mamoru was relieved to have some breathing space, so right after Ami and he arrived back in Tokyo, he ran straight to the Game Crown Center to his best friend Motoki.

The latter was cleaning his already sparkling counter with a devoted expression.

"A double espresso please!"

Startled, Motoki pulled up and then glanced at his wristwatch.

"What time are you going to snow by here today? Are you done with the lecture already?"

"I was off today, and I've been at the library all day. Do you have time later, Motoki?"

Even though under no circumstances could his best friend find out that Mamoru had a secret super identity, Mamoru did need to talk to someone about what was going on in his life right now.

So kind of.

"But of course, I always have time for my favorite customer. " Motoki winked back, but suddenly directed his attention towards the exit.

"Oh hello Usagi. Well, what a coincidence that my BOTH favorite guests are here today."

Slowly, Mamoru turned around and looked directly into the sky blue eyes of Usagi, who was sizing Mamoru up with a startled expression.

"Oh uh yeah, hehe, what a coincidence." she repeated Motoki's words and then quickly turned her attention to the blonde man "Listen Motoki, do you have the new Sailor V game yet?"

"Sorry Usagi, but it won't be released until next week. If you like, I can show you the updated version after my shift. I still have some work to do, but you can sit with Mamoru and watch me work a little while."

Again Motoki winked. What was going on with his eye today?

Indecisively, Usagi looked at the empty barstool next to Mamoru. Before he could really think about it, he had already spoken his next sentence aloud

"There's still a seat available here."

Okay.

Mamoru had seen her transform before his eyes in the Starlight Tower-

Okay, he had protected her from Zoisite's attack and nearly died in the process.

Okay, he was in an extraordinary dilemma regarding the search for the Moon Princess.... but somehow his subconscious had just told him that not only this barstool but also the free place in his heart was reserved for Usagi.

What the hell?!

Although they had been something like arch-enemies until recently (well, until the situation in the elevator), Usagi accepted the offer and dropped into the free seat to Mamoru's right with a small sigh. Motoki turned to her from the other side of the counter

"One double chocolate milkshake with extra cream like always?"

"Love it with a cherry on top, Motoki."

"Coming right up!" with that promise, the blond man turned to the shaker, leaving his two favorite guests alone at the bar.

Usagi's smile did not disappear from her face as she turned to Mamoru. Instead, a rosy blush now adorned her cheeks.

"Well?" it came out shyly from her sugary mouth.

Briefly, Mamoru remembered the warm feeling that Ami had described earlier, which surrounded his heart all at once. He had probably stared at her lips a little too long, because now Usagi cleared her throat and tried to start the conversation in a different way.

"Well, I... haven't... I haven't really thanked you yet, Mamoru."

His gaze lifted to her sky-blue eyes, which held a magic that he hadn't really noticed until now.

Or maybe he had, and he just hadn't wanted to admit it to himself until now, that she was.... was… breathtaking beautiful?

"That was crazy dangerous and something could have happened to you otherwise."

Usagi seemed honestly concerned, just as she had been before Starlight Tower when he had snapped at her so harshly. Mamoru was not supposed to put her in danger under any circumstances, and that was why he had reacted so harshly. Maybe he had been protecting her because it was his fault that she had gotten involved in the first place?

Yes, that had to be it, and it explained all that comforting warm feeling around his heart. Most definitely.

"It's okay, Usagi. I'm glad it turned out okay after all and we got out of there in one piece."

"Oh yeah, you're right about that."

Nervously, Usagi now fiddled with the hem of her school uniform and then started again just as Motoki returned to the counter with the two drinks he had ordered in his hand.

"How... how was your date today, anyway?"

"Your what?"

Now Motoki was all ears and looked questioningly from Usagi to Mamoru

"You said you were at the library all day, right?!"

Before Motoki could misunderstand the whole situation, Mamoru explained

"Yes, I was, and it wasn't a date now either. Ami has access to the Seikei library and kindly took me there."

Motoki whistled through his teeth, visibly impressed

"Oh wow, that's great. My goodness, Ami must be smart as a whip. Only the brightest minds in the country even get access to this library."

"Well, being filthy rich is enough."

Mamoru remarked succinctly, then turned apologetically over to Usagi

"Ami is a really nice and smart person.... I appreciate her, but surely there won't be anything between us beyond that."

Why the hell did Mamoru just feel like he had to justify himself to Usagi? Sure, she was part of the illustrious round of Moon Princess contestants, but Mamoru couldn't quite picture her as a royal highness sitting there, sipping her chocolate milkshake with a childlike glee.

As Sailor Moon she seemed a bit more mature, maybe that was another side of her? Had he just been looking at her far too superficially so far?

"Mamoru, Mamoru. I think you should go out on a date at times, and then preferably not in a setting like a library. Why don't you go out with Rei again, the poor thing has already complained to me that you don't call her back at all and she only communicates with you one-sidedly via answering machine."

Before Mamoru could retort anything to Motoki, he was interrupted by a very strange sound. Usagi had completely choked on the cherry of her milkshake and was now snorting convulsively. She almost threatened to choke next to him as her face turned blue, but Mamoru, ever living up to his name, reacted promptly, lifting Usagi from her seat and applying the Heimlich grip to her. Milliseconds later, a cherry pit flew out of her mouth in a high arc and landed on the blonde head of a rather stunned Motoki.

"It's always the same with you, Usagi. All the time I have to save you!"

Mamoru was honestly irritated and looked at the blonde girl in front of him, sighing loudly. She, in turn, now seemed to be able to breathe again in the best way possible and immediately clamored back blithely

"Oh yeah, well then maybe I'm a little scatterbrained, but still, there’s no need to treat me like I'm twelve! You know perfectly well by now what else I am able to do, so please just leave me alone!“

"Am I supposed to leave you to your fate next time and watch idly as you stumble blindly from one danger to the next?!"

Now Mamoru was literally yelling at her, after she had made her way to the exit, snubbed and stomping loudly. Just before the automatic doors opened, Usagi turned around in a rage.

"Have tons of fun on all your dates! And THANK YOU again you JERK !!!"

Pissed off, Usagi stormed off, leaving a stunned Motoki as well as a grumbling Mamoru in the Crown.

"Geez, what was that about just now?"

"Oh, she'll get over it." said Mamoru now sourly, rolling his eyes in annoyance. Motoki, however, was reading more than between the lines right now.

"Well, if I didn't know any better, I'd be inclined to think that Usagi was jealous."

"Jealous?" Mamoru was caught off guard. Thoughtfully, Motoki tapped his finger against his chin

"I don't know what's been going on between you two in the last few days, but you're not bickering like an old married couple. You do look a lot like a couple! Usagi reacts like you cheated on her. Really weird."

Mamoru looked toward the exit where the blonde girl had been standing a moment ago, highly annoyed.

Usagi was jealous?

"Motoki, I think you're right." Mamoru only answered his best friend, while his mouth twisted into a slight grin.

Somehow, it did fit together. His next date was scheduled for tomorrow, during which he was supposed to get to know Makoto better while putting her through her paces to see if she could be the Moon Princess. Usagi seemed not to like this whole dating thing at all.

Before Motoki could say anything to counter Mamoru, he had pulled out his wallet and was pointing at the two half-empty drinks in front of him.

"These are on me. I've got to go then, got things to do."

Realization downed on him. Mamoru had understood that today he had come a good deal closer on his new mission, and it would be up to him to now make up his own rules of the game to find out the real Moon Princess.

Chapter Text

Actually, it felt like just another morning of the week for Mamoru.

Actually. Because not actually a date of the special kind was settled today directly after the university. Last night, Makoto had sent him a text message with the location of their upcoming date. And this place was really remarkable. Mamoru had never eaten at Yagen Tei, but he had heard a lot of good things about this restaurant, where exactly one thing was served to the highest perfection according to good Japanese tradition:

"You want to take Makoto out for schnitzel today?"

Motoki looked at his best friend in slight surprise as they stood together in front of the Keio University entrance building. Mamoru shrugged his shoulders

"She won a voucher for the restaurant in the street lottery, and since all her friends are indisposed and the voucher expires tomorrow, she asked me."

"Now this isn't a date or anything like that?"

"Where are you thinking? I'm just doing her a favor, plus I've never been to this place before and I'm actually hungry right now just thinking about a juicy traditional Japanese-style schnitzel."

Somehow, Motoki looked like he didn't like the idea of his best friend meeting Makoto. Mamoru, on the other hand, was on a very important mission and needed to get as much information as possible about Makoto before the date

"Tell me Motoki. You've known Makoto for a while. What info do you have about her."

Motoki furrowed his brow and thought for a moment while tapping his chin

"Mhm, let's see. She goes to Juban Middle School and lives alone as far as I know. She's a really good cook, even made me Hayashi rice at home once, she likes playing Sailor V at least as much as passionately as Usagi, and she really likes flowers. Oh yes, and she has quite a cleaning mania because she once completely tidied up my... Ehhh never mind. And she does karate, so don't say anything wrong in her presence. Is that enough of an answer for your date with her tonight?"

"It's not a date!" Mamoru barked right back "we're just going out to dinner tonight."

"Well if I were you I'd be friendly but distant with her, otherwise the Usagi volcano will explode."

Mamoru was about to retort something when Motoki looked at his watch and hastily gestured Mamoru to go into the building with him.

"Oh my god, we've been talking ourselves into a mess. Come on, or we'll be late for class."

Mamoru followed his friend and sat in the lecture hall a little later. His mind wasn't really on what the professor was saying, though.

'Could Makoto be the moon princess?' She has quite a lot of power and even strangled me once in the open street because of Motoki. So far, I've always seen her in combination with Usagi, and I couldn't say I've noticed her in particular, except for her size.'

-----

A few hours later, Mamoru found himself standing outside the small, quaint-looking restaurant in the bustling Roppongi district, looking around searchingly on all sides.

He had not actually assumed of Makoto that she would be late. Such a character trait was more reserved for Usagi. Ever since she had transformed before his eyes in the elevator of the Starlight Tower, the blond, cheeky middle school girl had been on his mind. He almost felt as if he wanted to compare each of the Sailor warriors to her. Truly none reached Usagi's certain something.

"What the heck is wrong with me? Ever since that moment, nothing has really been the same."

But before Mamoru could try any further to assemble his fragmentary images from long ago into a meaningful story in his head, he was abruptly brought back to reality

"Ahh Mamoru, there you are. Come in quickly or you'll get wet."

Mamoru turned towards the entrance and immediately spotted Makoto, dressed in an apron, leaning in the doorway, waving cheerfully at him with a spatula in her hand.

"W-what?" he gave slightly perplexed.

"You're supposed to come in because there's a thunderstorm apparoaching, it's already raining."

He hadn't even noticed the thick drops on his shirt, so deep had he been lost in his thoughts. He quickly followed Makoto into the restaurant and, to his surprise, ended up in the kitchen of this small pub first.

"Uh, I thought you won a meal voucher?"

"Yeah, I did. But Mr. Nagano spontaneously offered me to give him culinary support for his tonkatsu creations and.... tadaaa... you get to do a little chopping, too!"

Beaming with delight, she held out to him a huge, sharp sword knife with which she could have effortlessly cut Mamoru into paper-thin slices. But his initial concern was completely unfounded as Makoto – instead of killing him - directed him to the countertop and began instructing him in the mysterious art of preparing tonkatsu.

Mamoru liked Makoto's easy-going, energetic nature, and she seemed very enthusiastic about cooking. He hadn't expected that this passion might spill over a little bit to him as well. With the delicious smell of deep-fried delicacies in his nose, it was very easy for him to start a conversation with Makoto and they even found some common ground while they were cooking happily; Makoto had lost her parents at a very early age just like him and was also an only child. She knew all too well growing up in an orphanage and had been forced to assert herself from an early age.

With this background knowledge, he could also forgive her for her strangulation action back then in front of the Crown. Makoto had learned no other way, but despite her gruff, masculine manner, possessed a certain grace and natural charm that Mamoru admired in her. But even if a lot of things about Makoto seemed quite perfect (not to mention that probably nobody else could blush so beautifully as Makoto when she got a compliment by the chef), and she was a really nice person... Emotionally, Mamoru didn't feel anything at all. Makoto didn't really seem to be able to do anything with Mamoru in this direction either, because during the hour in which they had prepared the meal together, Makoto had mentioned a total of ten different ex-boyfriends, all of whom had broken her heart and were completely different from Mamoru in terms of character, interests and appearance.

Makoto definitely deserved a great boyfriend by her side. But most definitely that friend was not Mamoru, and most definitely she was not the Moon Princess either.

"There, we're done so far. Well, swing on over to your seat and enjoy!"

With a strong slap on his back, Makoto, in the best of moods, hurled Mamoru barely a meter and a half further in the direction of the guest area. As he opened the door, a strange person immediately came into his view, sitting at the table that Mr. Nagano said was actually reserved for Makoto and for him.

This person was a small, older, somewhat chubby lady who was looking at him sternly with black sunglasses on her face.

"There you are at last with the food. This has been taking HOURS. I'm almost starving!"

she immediately shouted at Mamoru, who, armed with his plate, would have loved to pepper his delicious tonkatsu right into the arrogant face of the unfriendly person.

What did this stupid cow dare to sit here on HIS stool and to eat HIS feast prepared with the greatest effort?

"What do you think you're doing, sitting down at our table like that? Are you nuts?"

Makoto froze beside him, and it almost seemed to Mamoru that she was communicating nonverbally with the unspeakable old crone in front of him with her eyes over his shoulder. The dumb goat nodded briefly and immediately got into Mamoru's counterattack while crossing her chubby little arms and blithely continuing to salivate

"Showing up late with food and then getting sassy too, young man!"

Before Mamoru could verbally thunder something back at her again, Makoto held him back. She quickly leaned over and whispered into Mamoru's ear with her hand out in front of her

"Oh my, that's... uhh, Mikan Shiratori, the famous restaurant tester. You better make sure she doesn't give Mr. Nagano's little restaurant a bad review, or he can close up store."

In disbelief, Mamoru turned first to Makoto and then back toward this rebellious snipe who, with her two gray topknots on either side of her head, somehow reminded him of someone. A jolt went through Mamoru and he tried his best to put on a semi-neutral face. He really didn't want to spoil Nagano's soup with his hot-tempered manner.

How strange, normally only one could lighten up this fire in him.

The older lady lifted her black sunglasses at the sight of the Tonkatsu before her eyes and now grinned with thievish delight at Mamoru's cutlet.

"Yummy, that really looks fantastic!"

Before he knew it, the small corpulent woman already had the first, most likely super delicious bite of this culinary treat in her mouth. Smacking her lips loudly, she looked at an inwardly seething Mamoru

"For having such a big mouth, you sure can cook damn good!"

"Here, we can share."

Makoto offered him and sat down on the empty seat at the table. With a pained expression, Mamoru nodded briefly in response and inwardly sighed deeply. It was certainly not Makoto's fault that this evening had just turned into a pure disaster. Because besides her big appetite, the restaurant critic was also quite talkative, almost cheeky and quite pushy. While she was filming Mamoru and Makoto with her pink camera, she asked a lot of annoying questions

"How long have you been cooking?"

Smack smack

"Do you plan to open your own restaurant one day?"

Disgusted, Mamoru looked as she licked each finger with relish after picking the meat scraps out of her teeth.

"What about other skills, then. Are you good at baking too?"

Smack smack smack

"Are there any other variations of this delicious cutlet?"

And to top off all the questioning, she added with an innocent look through her dark glasses

"So you two here are an item now or what?"

"Us? Oh noon, we were just here to have dinner. He's a good friend, that's all there is to it."

Somehow Mamoru was quite grateful to Makoto for her honest answer, there was no trace of disappointment on her face. With a smile, he confirmed to the brunette

"I'm really glad to have found you as a new good friend. Thank you for this great meal." And with a sideways glance at the loudly smacking something next to him, he pointedly remarked "even if I hardly had any of it."

At that moment, said little piggy looked up in front of him and so immediately began to cough and snort horribly. Gasping loudly, the elderly lady grabbed her throat and turned blue. Without thinking, Mamoru got up from his chair, stood behind the gagging woman and immediately applied the Heimlich grip to her.

He had recently become routine at that. Strange.

Not even a second later, a piece of the delicious but now half-chewed Tonkatsu flew out of her mouth and landed unerringly on Makoto's plate. She in turn looked in disbelief alternately at Mamoru and at the deranged woman in his arms.

'It's really always the same. All the time I have to save you!'

This reproach, however, remained exclusively in Mamoru's mind, for at this most suspiciously familiar sight, Mamoru positively froze. He had somehow experienced all of this before yesterday, hadn't he? What are the odds?! In his arms was a woman around sixty, but still something seemed quite strange to Mamoru just now.

"Whew, uhh.... oh dear god."

Surprisingly the old woman quickly recovered and turned from Mamoru's strong arms. Around the three of them, several guests finally rose and spontaneously began to applaud Mamoru appreciatively for his rescue.

Before Mamoru knew it, the gruff woman was gone, leaving him alone at the table again with Makoto as he dropped into his seat, somewhat befuddled.

"I guess I can't eat that now either." Makoto said slightly disappointed as she stared at the spit out piece of cutlet that adorned her plate. In the next moment, however, she had reconsidered her plan and hungrily armed herself with her cutlery. "Oh never mind, I'll just cut around it."

Mamoru's stomach growled.

While he was glad the woman hadn't died on his dish, the evening was still more or less like a stone in his stomach. Makoto had assured him that she would be really glad not to be his chosen one, and had also admitted at the same time that she would definitely rather be a warrior than a moon princess. When they had said their goodbyes outside the store door, Mamoru was at first undecided about what to do with the rest of the evening. Finally, he opted to drift through the streets of Juban Azabu, his beloved neighborhood, looking for the next best ramen bar.
He had walked a few steps when he suddenly spotted a familiar silouhette on a corner.

"Usagi?"

He hadn't seen her since their argument at the Crown. If he had to give a name to this feeling of emptiness inside him, it would have been "hunger for Usagi." Mamoru had actually missed her! He quickly closed the few meters to her and spoke to her from behind in a low voice

"What are you doing here?"

Slightly wincing, Usagi then wheeled around in surprise

"Ma-Mamoru. Is your date over already?"

"That's not the answer to my question, but if you want to know, yes, Makoto and I just said goodbye to each other and then each went our separate ways."

Mamoru couldn't interpret the expression on her face. Finally, she shrugged her small shoulders and replied

"Ah, okay. I'm hungry and was just about to order something to eat."

"That's just as well, I'll be there." Mamoru couldn't even shift gears that fast, he had already spoken aloud what he had been thinking about with his half-starved head just a moment ago. Astonished, Usagi placed her hand on Mamoru's forehead

"Are you sure you're alright, Mamoru? You want to have dinner with me? You just went out to eat I thought."

Now Mamoru had to smile slightly at the strange way the evening had gone so far

"Yes, I'm fine, very fine in fact. I clearly have an insatiable hunger today and an insane craving for.... Ramen and double chocolate milkshakes with extra cream and a cherry on top."

Where the hell did all this come from anyway? Why did he suddenly want to be near Usagi, to spend the evening with her? Why was there nothing he wanted more at that moment than to look into her bright, sky-blue eyes?

"And you're not still mad about that thing at the Crown yesterday?"

"Oh you know, somehow that's part of us always getting into each other's hair, I don't know what it is about that either." Mamoru admitted honestly

"Probably because we're fundamentally different."

Usagi's words were very close to the truth, Mamoru knew that. But even if they came from two different planets, somehow there was something between them that he had never experienced like this before. Usagi had always touched Mamoru. From the very first moment they met. And if she hadn't thrown him off with her lousy English test, he would have definitely classified Usagi as very charming from the first impression. But as it was, their encounters were always marked by heated emotional outbursts.

Even the fact that they were both superheroes in truth had changed little so far. Nevertheless. There was something about her that Mamoru very much wanted to get to know better.

As they both settled down on two barstools in the ramen bar, Usagi rested her chin on her palms and propped her elbows on the counter.

"So Makoto isn't the moon princess either?"

"No, she isn't. I don't need Ami's supercomputer to know that. And Makoto knows it, too."

"That doesn't leave many candidates, then." Usagi glanced at the card, called out a number to the chef, then turned back to Mamoru "Tomorrow is Minako's turn, she'd definitely have what it takes to be a Moon Princess."

Usagi's assessment gave Mamoru an unexpected stab in his heart.

"What makes you think it could be Minako?"

"Well, she's incredibly good-looking, she's dignified, and she's already much more mature than the rest of us. Besides, I'd rather she be the princess we're looking for and not-"

"Who, Rei?" Usagi raised her head in surprise and looked at Mamoru

"I'm sorry Mamoru. I'm sure all this isn't easy for you. You're supposed to track down the princess from a long time ago among us, all of whom we have no memories of, and yet you already have a girlfriend in this life."

"Says who?" came back from Mamoru as if shot out of a pistol. He knew full well that his dates with Rei had most likely been completely misconstrued by the other girls.

"Well, you guys did have that date in the park that time. And then Rei said she went to a classic doll show with you once. You would have loved that. And otherwise, you guys would meet regularly?"

A huge steaming bowl of ramen, including cutlery, was placed in front of Mamoru and Usagi.

"Well, you two ravenous lovebirds, enjoy!"

Mamoru didn't remotely think to correct the chef on his relationship status with Usagi, instead he looked at the blonde girl with steady eyes

"Let's get one thing straight, Usagi. Rei is not my girlfriend. We've been out a few times, but honestly, any suggestions to get together always came from her. Never once did I give her any indication that we were a couple."

Usagi just had to believe him. With her big, sky-blue eyes, she looked at Mamoru as something like realization formed between her two topknots.

"Oh. I see."

Blushing slightly around her cheeks, she then quickly turned her gaze to the large bowl before them. With a shrug of her shoulders, she remarked

"I guess the chef thought we'd share our food willingly."

Looking at the girl in front of him that so miraculously brought out feelings in him that he hadn't even thought he could feel until now, Mamoru allowed himself to be carried away into another sentence as he slurped his ramen noodles with relish

"Love is sharing not only feelings but food, Usagi... The way to a man's heart is through his stomach."

Chapter Text

"Ladies and gentlemen, the heart. A truly amazing organ that completes incredible tasks every day as our engine."

Oh yes, Mamoru could tell a thing or two about it. At least what his heart was doing at the moment was a bit more than pumping a lot of blood. Unaffected by Mamoru's thought processes, the professor in the lecture hall continued with his explanations.

"But quite apart from anatomy, what is inherent in the heart? What does your heart beat for?"

Until now, Mamoru had always assumed that his heart beat exclusively for his great dream of one day being a respected physician. But ever since he became Tuxedo Mask, ever since he first met Usagi, and ever since she transformed in front of him and he rescued her in Starlight Tower, Mamoru was no longer sure that his purpose in this world was not an entirely different one.

Unaware of his surroundings, Mamoru closed his eyes and listened within. He felt his heart beat faster, he only had to think of those beautiful sky-blue eyes.

Was Usagi the moon princess?

"And if you do just like our best student Mr. Chiba is doing right now and listen deep inside, you will realize what your heart is beating for."

The professor grinned mischievously at Mamoru as he widened his eyes in shock. In the next moment, however, the elderly gentleman had his gaze fixed on the green board again and continued with his lecture, elated.

So Mamoru could devote himself - instead of the lecture - to his new mission.

Tonight it would be Minako's turn. The girl of whom Usagi believed that she could be the moon princess.

Artemis had described Minako as very sensible, loving, caring and extremely responsible... which could also be due to the fact that Minako was his can opener and Artemis seemed to be quite under her thumb. Several times a day he talked to her on the phone and reported a detail of what he was up to all day, this henpecked hero. Mamoru had already been on two dates, which hadn't gone too badly, so he was in a positive mood for today.

In contrast to Ami and Makoto, Minako had decided against a quiet, cozy environment for their joint meeting and instead had dropped a concert ticket into Mamoru's mailbox this morning without comment.

With this ticket in his hand, Mamoru stood in front of the large Nippon Budokan concert hall after the lecture a few hours later, quite perplexed, waiting for his companion for this evening. She came - armed with a huge, obviously self-painted poster in the shape of a heart - marching straight towards him, looking exactly like the rest of the 10,000! female fans who were also standing in front of the concert hall, holding all kinds of stuffed animals, posters and (hopefully not used) underwear in their hands.

"Wahhhh Mamoru, there you are, it's about to start, oh man I'm thrilled to see the band, you have no idea how long I've been waiting to finally go to a concert of theirs!"

Before Mamoru could reply anything to her enthusiastic chatter, Minako had dug out two passports from her bag and held them out to Mamoru, grinning broadly.

"Surprise! I was able to organize backstage passes at very short notice through a buddy from the volleyball team. His dad works for the concert promoter, isn't that absolutely insane?"

Holding a VIP pass for a boy band concert in his hands wasn't exactly Mamoru's dream idea of a perfect evening, let alone a date, but at least he wouldn't have to stand crowded somewhere in the front rows, surrounded by all those lovesick, hormone-addled teenage girls who threatened to faint any second as soon as one of their equally blood-young idols so much as looked at them.

A good book, a relaxing visit to the movies, or a delicious dinner were definitely higher on his list of activities he would have liked to do today. Preferably alone. But it was no use, he had an important mission to accomplish after all, and Minako looked at him beaming with such joy with her oversized heart poster in hand that he couldn't help but smile politely back at her. About until he took a closer look at the poster's characters

"Kunzi, marry me? Kunzi, I want a child from you?"

Mamoru could not do anything at all with this statement on the self-made banner. Minako just looked at him in total disbelief.

"Geez, what world are you living in? Kunzi is one of the lead singers of the band my god! That's part and parcel of being a fan, wanting something like that from your idol."

Mamoru couldn't say anything back, because Minako had already grabbed him by the arm and dragged him past the long queue to a side entrance. Less than a couple of minutes later, they both found themselves in the still empty backstage area and sat down on a free bench.

"BTS..." read Mamoru on his backstage pass "what does that actually stand for?"

Minako looked at him again deeply shocked

"Now please don't tell me you don't know the world's hottest K-pop band?! You're really living in a different time, Mamoru... Maybe in the silver millennium BEHIND the moon?!"

"I have to admit that boy bands aren't really part of my musical taste." He admitted, giving Minako an innocent expression. The latter sighed and then explained to him

"Mhm well, officially it stands for "Bangtan Sonyeondan" which means "Bulletproof Scouts". But I once heard that the seven boys actually belong to a super secret organization called "Be The Shittennou"*. A whole conspiratorial community that wants to save the world from chaos. Or something like that. Some crazy sources even say that all of them are actually from the future. Four generals and three guys from such a clan. It's really interesting what the press puts in your head when you're rich and famous."

At Minako's explanation, Mamoru almost laughed.

"So they're like superheroes. Like us?"

"Nah, not exactly. But close. They can sing really well, by the way. My favorite song of theirs is 'Dynamite', but there are many others, like..."

Before Mamoru knew it, Minako got him involved into a technical discussion about boy bands. The blonde girl was obviously a proven expert, she had heard of this singing formation for the first time in England, a country in which she had recently lived and protected the world as Sailor V from the bad guys.

Mamoru had to admit that he found all her stories from that faraway continent all around exciting and interesting. Even if Minako was a bit chipper and a bit talkative, she seemed to have a good heart, just like her fellow Sailors. Which, however, didn't beat for Mamoru, but for a young man named Allan.

This wasn't a problem for Mamoru though, because just like with Ami and Makoto before, he felt that she could definitely become a good friend of his, but nothing else would go between them. Minako was very pretty and captivating, but she wasn't the one Mamoru had to think about incessantly again during this meeting. About those beautiful, sky-blue eyes. About that smile that resembled the rising sun... oh what, surpassed it! About her name, where he had quietly replaced the "gi" with a "ko". His bunny, his

"Usagi?"

"W-what?"

Had Mamoru been thinking out loud?

Minako shook briefly, as if she had seen a ghost, but she immediately regained her composure and beamed happily at Mamoru.

"Oh never mind, just forget it, I think I'm seeing ghosts already. Ahahaha!"

Mamoru was about to confess to Minako that she should hold on to her Allan rather than be interested in him, when suddenly they heard footsteps coming quickly towards them. Not even a second later, seven guys, some with heavily dyed hair, were standing in front of them in dazzling stage outfits, looking around somewhat listlessly

"I told you right away that this with a performance in the past is an absolute crackpot idea." grumbled the one with the bright pink hair loose

"I have talent and I want to use it. The Galaxy tour was a complete failure except for the gig at the Crystal Cherry Blossom Festival because YOUR boyfriend can remember ZERO lyrics. And also, we need to gain more experience as a group and grow together. Otherwise there won't be any future for us. Said Epheios plainly. Neither in the past, nor in our time."

"All right, Ava Max. Then please explain to the Sailor Moon fan club member No. 5 that stakes are good for this, so that you also sing exactly in the place!"

"Mimimi, it's Dynamite, by the way, not Diamond. You demon!"

"Get the hell away from my brother, you moron!"

Mamoru couldn't make any sense of the confused cackling in front of him. Minako, however, was blown away by her idols, who were going at it hammer and tongs

"Oh my, God, it's truly them in the flesh. I think I'm going to faint! Kunzi, here! Here I am!"

With her wild fidgeting, Minako immediately attracted the attention of the strange group. Puzzled, they looked to Mamoru and the blonde teenager. Mamoru wasn't sure what to make of the following sentence from one of the guys.

"Say, did we end up in a fake time loop or something? What's SHE doing with HIM?"

"Wahhhh, I'm your biggest fan, can I have your autograph? PLEEEAAASEEEE!"

"Oh no no no no, that's out of the question at all!"

Before Minako could rush towards the seven boys, another person loudly made his way towards them. A tall man in a red suit including a yellow tie and with short black hair suddenly stood between Minako, Mamoru and the boy group. If Mamoru had not known better, he could have sworn that he had met this guy somewhere before. Minako also seemed to have deja vu as she looked into this man's sky-blue eyes in shock.

"And you are please?" wanted Mamoru to know now rather than right away. It was on the tip of his tongue, so to speak!

"Um, I'm... uhh, I'm...well I um"

Minako came to the rescue of what must have been a slightly mentally confused man

"T-that's Sei...no, the um, famous singer of the group... um... One Light."

Eight pairs of eyes now gazed in utter amazement at Minako, who was now pointing at the black-haired man with a high red head. With his overlong, goofy ponytail, he looked more like a cheeky bugger to Mamoru, yet he couldn't shake the feeling that there was a certain secret surrounding this singing dandy.

"T-that's totally right, I'm part of the new opening band of the group BTS and I'd be happy to take a picture for you with your idols if you want."

Without asking further, Seyno grabbed Mamoru by the arm and dragged him towards the boy band. Together with Minako, he draped Mamoru between the boys and immediately pulled out a pink cell phone.

"Now, all of you, please smile. Say BUN-HEAD!"

The black-haired singer snapped a flurry of photos, seeming to have singled out Minako and Mamoru in particular as his favorite subjects. Mamoru was simply annoyed by the whole action.

'Why do I always meet such idiots in the last days? There is something very wrong!'

However, he could not be upset for long, because suddenly a small chubby man came running towards the illustrious round and grabbed the baffled temporary photographer by the arm.

"You don't have time to take pictures now, get up on stage, you furniture store housewarming singer!"

Confused, Seyno looked at the short stocky man, who with a headset on his head looked like he had something to coordinate here

"That's right, I'm talking to you, you conceited monkey. You just said you're in the opening act for BTS, so come on, hurry up. People want to hear something out there."

"Oh my gosh." Minako muttered next to Mamoru, slightly exasperated, as the manager pushed a panicked looking Seyno in front of him towards the concert hall.

Mamoru and Minako left the pompous boy band standing and followed the singer. Just before the stage, they finally took a seat at the edge of the backstage seating area.

The concert hall was completely filled to capacity with loud psyched girls who hysterically began to screech for all they were worth when Seyno entered the stage, visibly wobbly-legged and with his head on a high red and armed with a microphone. The spotlight fell directly on him and before he knew it, the band started playing a song in the background that didn't sound too bad to Mamoru's ears. His jaw dropped, however, when the singer jerked up, took aim at him with his sky-blue eyes, and began to sing the first lines of the song's lyrics into his mic

"You'd always shine so bright just like a little star I felt my heart at night every time you smiled… Memories I'll cherish forever (Like an eternal starlight)."

Mamoru could hardly believe what he was hearing.

This strange singer seemed to want to convey a very special message with his song. It seemed so infinitely familiar to him.

"I wasn't strong enough to be your shining star And when the days were tough, I hid myself from the world All that's left in my heart is pain (You'll always be my sweetheart)."

Was that an allusion?

To his former life that ended so tragically in the silver millennium? Where did all these images suddenly come from in his head? Of battles, loss, grief... and hope? And it got much, much stranger, because with the chorus, the man in front of him revealed a kind of mission that was frighteningly similar to his own.

"Search for your love! I call up to the heavens. Search for your love! To take away your sadness. Search for your love! Hurry back to me So I can keep you safe in my arms."

Something was very wrong here.

Mamoru closed his eyes as he had earlier in the lecture and continued to listen intently to the young man's voice

"You're looking with your heart, aren't you?" Minako remarked beside him, quite as if she knew exactly what Mamoru was up to.

"Yes, even if I don't really know why I'm doing that right now."

Everything seemed so perfectly right for Mamoru at that moment.

As if his heart was opening and he was realizing something that had been firmly closed to his eyes and ears until now. A small light of hope sprouted in him, to finally be able to get to the bottom of the matter and learn the truth. And then the words suddenly arrived directly in his heart

"Your scent remains, oh still it lingers… Hear my voice the words I sing to you… Tell me where are you right now… My Beloved… Mamoru!"

That wasn't a man there on stage, pouring out his whole heart to him right now...that was...

"Usagi!"

"Just answer me (Answer for me) I need you to (Answer for me) Please answer me (Answer for me) I need you to (Answer for me)."

At that moment, Mamoru felt all his longing that had been with him for millennia. The longing for her. His moon princess! The outer shell could not deceive Mamoru's heart. Why the hell ever, but it was for him Usagi, who stood there in front of him and sang this beautiful song on stage.

Only for him.

"One sees clearly only with the heart. What is essential is invisible to the eye."**

Minako looked at her companion mischievously

"Wrote a clever man once, Petit Prince."

Mamoru opened his eyes and turned to her with a sigh

"Minako, you are-"

"Unique, wonderful, intelligent, and super pretty, I know Mamoru... But I'm not the Moon Princess, nor am I the one for you. You can't fool your heart, no matter the time. And really, if you're honest with yourself, you already know the answer."

Mamoru only gave Minako a sincere smile in response.

"There, then you can get out of here too and let me indulge my fan lust in peace. The guys practically never give interviews, only put their studio recordings on the market and live concerts never happen with them. I finally want to see my favorite band play. Live! BTS, BTS, BTS !"

After the last sounds of the opening band had ended, the spotlight first went out, only to bathe the seven strange guys from the backstage area in glistening light only a few moments later on the other side of the stage. They still looked quite annoyed, but this time into the highly enthusiastic audience.

Shaking his head, Mamoru watched Minako ecstatically chanting the band's name with her oversized heart poster in hand. Finally, Mamoru rose from his chair and, with a jerk, spontaneously threw his VIP badge into the roaring teenage crowd. A few moments later, he was back in front of the hall, once again deep in thought.

"This can't all be imagination. All these wacky people on every date I've been on, and every time I could have sworn I'd met Usagi in a completely crazy way in them."

But how was she doing it? Or was Mamoru's head by now permanently occupied by the blonde middle school girl and he was already so obsessed with her that he saw her in everything and everyone?

"I'm starting to not believe in coincidences anymore, it must probably be fate."

He muttered as he walked the streets through his beloved neighborhood. Just as he was about to turn a corner, he collided with something, which immediately maneuvered him backwards onto the ground. Just then, he was able to cushion the impact to some extent with his body tension, while at the same time wrapping his arms protectively around the slender silhouette that had catapulted him onto the sidewalk with an unexpected force.

Mamoru didn't even need to open his eyes to see who he had in front of him. Or much better on top of him. Right on his heart. Her lovely scent of peach and vanilla had almost burned itself into his memory through their frequent encounters, her soft, warm skin just touching him in places that sent a real shiver down his spine.

Just one more little moment. Just one more millisecond he wanted to enjoy his Usagi, to feel her and breathe her. Everything in him called out a name he hadn't spoken aloud in millennia.

"Serenity."

Usagi lifted her head from his chest in confusion and looked at Mamoru in puzzlement

"What did you just say?"

"Oh nothing."

He had been looking for her for so long. So endlessly long.

"Um Mamoru, would you please let go of me so I can get up?"

He would have preferred to say "no." That feeling as soon as she was near him. Ever since the silver crystal had appeared, his emotions towards Usagi had intensified. Or had the crystal simply released within him what he had felt for her all along?

"I must have been blind." he spoke to himself, slightly perplexed, and finally reluctantly released the blonde girl from his tight embrace.

He missed her immensely already.

Usagi pulled herself up and looked up slightly furtively at Mamoru, who was now also standing on his two legs again.

"It's funny, as if fate would always bring the two of us together again."

Quietly, she had said it while they both stood somewhat awkwardly in front of each other on the sidewalk. Around them, passersby continued on their way completely unimpressed by the sight.

"So, is your date with Minako over again? Surely the concert is still in full swing?"

At Usagi's question, Mamoru couldn't help but think of the 'Kunzi, I want a child from you' saying.

"Minako preferred to cheer for her favorite boy band with her peers rather than me."

"I see. Wasn't really your music, I guess."

That wasn't even entirely true. Mamoru's lips twisted into an honest smile as he looked into Usagi's eyes

"Well you know, ONE singer I honestly quite liked."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah, he was in the opening band and sang a beautiful song, which pretty much sums up my whole situation. He's been searching for his prince in it for ages, hoping to meet him again someday."

Usagi's eyes widened at his explanation and finally asked

"So you're telling me that you haven't found your princess yet today?"

"If by that you mean Minako. No, she's not the princess. Even though she's a wonderful person just like Ami and Makoto, who I'm privileged to call a good friend within such a short period of time, what we have in common will never go beyond friendship."

"Oh." was all Usagi could say in response to Mamoru's honest explanation. She obviously didn't know whether to be happy or rather sad about it, as awkwardly as she chewed on her lower lip

"Then I guess there doesn't seem to be much choice for you anymore."

Right now would have been the right moment for Mamoru to tell her what he seemed rock-solidly convinced of by now. But Usagi put a spoke in his wheel, because she glanced at her wristwatch just at that moment and then spoke in artificial fright

"Huh geez, so late already, I really need to get home now, I have so much homework to do and I-"

"Usako!"

Thunderstruck, she paused in her movement and stared into Mamoru's eyes

"I... I don't know what will happen tomorrow, but..."

It's now or never, Mamoru!

"I want you to know that I'm searching for my Moon Princess with my heart. And I believe that I will find her very soon."

He noticed a barely perceptible nod from the blonde girl, who immediately turned and quickly disappeared in the direction of her home. Mamoru looked after her, and there was a deep longing in him as he spoke softly to himself

"Please forgive me, Serenity, for not being completely honest with you just now. My heart has long since recognized you, and it beats only for you… Usako."

------------------------------------------

*BTS… it's a weird boy group you should bear in mind since they will occur in other stories of mine again… and again :)

**By Antoine de Saint Exupéry

Chapter Text

It was a beautiful day, not too cold and not too hot, in this sometimes quite crazy metropolis of Tokyo.

In recent days Mamoru had made so many new experiences in his hometown, but this day was supposed to top everything he had experienced so far with the Sailor scouts during the search of the moon princess.

While the Prince of earth was still comfortably getting ready in his apartment on this early morning, there was a lively conversation outside the Hikawa Temple taking place.

"Why did we actually make such a big fuss about the search for the Moon Princess until now, when it was already crystal clear from the start that only I can be the princess?"

Rei looked challengingly into the round of the Sailor team, which had arrived at short notice. Everyone was there except Usagi.

"Nothing is that clear yet, Rei. Even if neither Ami, Minako, or I are the Moon Princess, it's still possible that Usagi could also be the royal highness we're looking for."

Makoto's point was supported by Ami, who looked up from her Mercury computer and said with a neutral expression

"I have created a very detailed profile of the three of us around our dates with Mamoru. Even though he could already rule us out from his feeling, Usagi's records and my evaluations now give us the hundred percent certainty we need. If the wrong one of us tries to use the Silver Crystal, it can have quite serious consequences. Only the members of the royal family can use this tremendous power, we know that from Artemis and Luna. In the worst case scenario, we could accidentally destroy our planet because the crystal, in the wrong hands, could release enough energy to nearly wipe out the entire galaxy."

Minako's face contorted in horror at Ami's head-scratching explanation.

"Urgg, the thought makes my stomach turn."

"There really is a decent responsibility on the shoulders of the Moon Princess. Geez, how glad I am that I don't have to carry that burden."

Rei actually had to swallow slightly at Makoto's words. Being Mamoru's chosen one had been at the forefront of her mind all along. She hadn't really thought about the consequences of actually being the princess they were looking for. She did not let this uncertainty show in front of the others, but continued to sneer against her current leader.

"Well, one more reason that Usagi is definitely NOT the princess, I don't even want to imagine what she'll do with the silver crystal first, if she's already been so sloppy with the moon rod."

"Where is she, anyway? She should be here by now, right?"

Artemis looked questioningly at Luna. The latter just shrugged her shoulders in perplexity.

"Don't ask me. I spent the night at Ami's place, it took us ages to get together all the information we needed for today."

"Who cares, I don't need her here. I need to get ready for my date with Mamoru now."

Leaving the three girls and their cats behind, Rei turned and walked straight to her room at the Hikawa Temple. She had thought of something especially romantic for today. Unlike the other Sailorsoldiers, she had a distinct advantage; she already knew Mamoru and had the opportunity to date him several times. She knew he was a big fan of classic dolls, comics were just the right reading material for him, he clearly enjoyed it when she clung to his arm in public, and shopping and romantic dates were the biggest thing for him anyway. Especially with her, Rei Hino.

Rei was a proven expert when it came to Mamoru Chiba. He was also a proper prince of the earth, filthy rich, beyond being handsome and therefore the perfect match for her. They shared the same humor when it came to teasing Usagi, they could laugh at the same things. So much they had in common and would also make a really good team in the fight for love and justice.

Just as Rei was putting on her cutest summer dress, she heard a tentative knock on her room door

"Come in?"

The tousled temple aspirant Yuichiro poked his head through the door and entered the room with a tray in his hand containing a steaming cup of tea.

"H-hello Rei-San, I swear I didn't mean to eavesdrop on your conversation, but is it true that you're seeing Mamoru Chiba again?"

Even if she didn't want to admit it, she already had a thing for the tousled blockhead in a very twisted way. After all, she had kissed him on the cheek on one occasion, but had been dumped by him most recently when Mamoru hadn't answered the phone yet again and she then wanted to meet up with the shaggy guy as a stopgap measure.

"Yeah, that's right. We have a date tonight." she remarked a touch too excitedly. Yuichiro, in her eyes, didn't deserve anything other than to be treated so gruffly. Even if, when her grandfather was stomping around wildly as a devil, he had defended her so fearlessly and bravely... Rei was altogether simply too focused on her destiny as a Sailor Warrior, and didn't want to see Yuichiro still laying his heart at her feet.

"Oh, well then. Here, a tea to fortify you that I put together especially for you. You've seemed quite taken and tense the past few days."

Surprised by this unexpected attention from him, Rei blushed slightly around the cheeks. Indeed. The events since the Starlight Tower had left their mark on Rei. It was only a matter of time that the enemy would strike again, and they had to spot the right Moon Princess among them at all costs and defeat the enemy as quickly as possible.

Rei possessed one thing above all; a sense of duty. And shall, in any case, she wanted to complete this mission with all her might.

"Thank you, Yuichiro. " she spoke, adopting a much milder tone. With a lowered gaze, Yuichiro disappeared from her room again, leaving her with a slight trace of uncertainty after all .

Meanwhile, the half-awakened Earth Prince found himself on the streets of Azabu on a very special mission. Mamoru had lain awake in his bed half the night, thinking a lot about the events of the last few days. Finally, he had come to the conclusion that Usagi must have shown up on each of his dates. Almost certainly, she had been magically transformed each time. She had used this magic before, for example when she had boarded the five o'clock bus disguised as a stewardess. Or when, as a radio announcer, she wanted to prevent at all costs that Jedite, disguised as Jack Dyte of Radio FM No10 , continued to distribute these energy-draining flower brooches among all the girls in love in Tokyo.

But in particular, he had a very specific transformation in mind, which had already helped him to a kind of memory flashback; back in the embassy, it must have been Usagi whom he had kissed there on the terrace under the light of the crescent moon. That beautiful princess could only have been her, even if a magical glamour had tried to cloud his senses at that time.

His heart could not be deceived even then.

Meanwhile, Mamoru had no doubts at all that only Usagi could be the Moon Princess they were looking for. Even if they had had a rather bumpy start in this new life. Even if she was scatterbrained, a little crybaby, much too loud and sometimes completely obtuse and quick-tempered.

She was the one.

Mamoru had looked at her with his heart last night when she was transformed on stage. She had touched him so deeply and awakened feelings in him that had been under lock and key for so long. Exactly this realization... this confession that he loved her with all his heart, he wanted to tell her now.

When Mamoru arrived in front of her house, however, he found that none of the Tsukinos were home. He also could not find Luna. Somewhat perplexed, he gazed around

"Where the heck did they all go this early in the morning?"

Just a few blocks away, Usagi stood yawning loudly with a large backpack on her shoulders at a bus stop, half-dreamily waiting for the approaching bus. She had overslept again and since Luna had not come home last night, she had completely forgotten about the Senshi meeting. Even though Ami had assured her that she didn't need to come anymore, Usagi was determined to be a part of this meeting as well. After all, she had to film Rei interacting with Mamoru, just like she had done on the other dates before with the help of her Luna Pen. And besides, today she was going to do everything in her power to spoil Rei's date with Mamoru. There was still a small hope, after all, that the Moon Princess might not be the temple priestess.

"And that's exactly why I have to go after Rei, because she made such a stupid secret out of her date and wouldn't tell us all what she was up to today with poor Mamoru. He could probably even be in a lot of danger."

Well, evil tongues could have now also claimed that Usagi was just jealous of the black-haired miko, but anyhow.

Less than ten minutes later, Usagi - by now dressed in a strange battle robe that roughly reminded of a dark pink ninja suit - stood in front of the Hikawa temple. She quickly bolted for the bushes when she heard footsteps. Rei sprinted down the stairs at breakneck speed, clearly making her way at a brisk pace towards Mamoru's apartment.

"After her!" Usagi clapped her hands resolutely, performing a somewhat unfortunate Ninja Turtles gesture afterwards, and finally took off in pursuit. Solely to protect Mamoru, of course.

Mamoru, in turn, came running in the opposite direction, still deep in thought about where Usagi could be. Usagi had unobtrusively followed Rei across the street and was now peering out from her observation post in an alcove between two storefronts at what was happening on the opposite side of the street.

Rei had caught sight of Mamoru first and seemed to be going over her date strategy in her mind, grinning thievishly, before clapping her hands together in a belligerent manner and then quickly turning the corner.

BOOM!

Just at that moment, a door opened with a neat swing, and Rei rammed into it full force, causing her to immediately fall backwards onto the ground.

"Oh, what a coincidence, hello Mamoru. How are you?" came from Makoto, who was just stepping out of Café Amigos together with Ami. Mamoru greeted the two Sailor warriors warmly, unaware that on the other side of the café door Rei was still lying on the floor, slightly woozy.

Usagi, on the other hand, couldn't help a wide, gleeful grin and continued to listen to the conversation between Ami, Makoto and Mamoru from her safe hiding place

"Not too bad, thanks. So how are your evaluations going so far?"

"We can at least say with one hundred percent certainty after last night that the three of us are not your lady of hearts for once." Makoto remarked perkily

"After all, it's Rei's turn today, so maybe we'll find out more shortly."

"Yeah, maybe." Mamoru confirmed curtly, then added a bit uncertainly "say, have you by any chance seen Usagi anywhere? I just went to her house, but she's not at home."

"Um, maybe she's out with Minako. We just had a meeting at Hikawa Temple, but she didn't show up then and Minako was going to see her anyway because she wanted to tell her something important."

"Mhm, can you maybe contact her on the communicator and tell her I'm looking for her? There's something I'd like to tell her."

Makoto and Ami exchanged furtive glances while Usagi across the street put her hands over her mouth in surprise.

"Awww, he's looking for me? He wants to tell me something? But what?"

Before she could leap out from her hiding place to ask Mamoru directly right away, Rei had halfway recovered and now came out from behind the open door with slightly wobbly legs towards the two Sailor warriors and Mamoru

"Oh, hello Rei... oh my god, you have blood all over your nose. What happened to you?"

Makoto looked genuinely concerned for the black-haired miko, who in turn didn't want to embarrass herself in front of Mamoru and quickly tried to minimize the neat puddle of blood under her cleavage

"Oh nothing, that's nothing, do either of you have a tissue maybe?"

Gratefully Rei took a blue tissue from Ami, who immediately held it out to her with a slightly confused look on her face

"Good you're here Mamoru, I was just on my way to pick you up for our date."

With the two strings of the handkerchiefs wrapped together in one nostril each, the black-haired miko smiled flirtatiously at Mamoru

"Oh, uh, do we have to do this now?"

Seeking for help, Mamoru looked to Ami and Makoto

"But of course. Mamoru, we're running out of time, and I need you to realize as soon as possible that I... uhh, I mean of course which one of us is the Moon Princess. I've thought of all sorts of great things for us to do, so come on!"

Before Mamoru could say anything in response, Rei had already grabbed onto his arm in her usual manner and dragged him along beside her. Ami and Makoto looked after the strange couple in astonishment.

"With me, he went along willingly," was all Ami had to say.

"Mamoru wanted to say something to Usagi? Do you think he can completely remember his former life again?"

"Mhm, that could be possible. We should definitely follow up on those two and keep an eye on the whole situation."

Not only did Ami and Makoto now form an observation duo, but a jealous Usagi also stomped after Mamoru and Rei at a safe distance until she finally found herself at the entrance of an amusement park.

"The dreamland? Haven't we been there before?" Usagi looked thoughtfully at the lettering until the penny dropped for her "But of course, that's where the two of them sort of met when we were on the kiddie train with the weird panda. Ohhhh wait, I'm going to spoil your soup, Rei Hino."

Rei didn't seem to notice the blonde pseudo ninja or the two Sailor warriors so far, as she only had eyes for Mamoru and wanted to impress him with her profound knowledge of all sorts of comics the whole way. Mamoru's stoic nodding of her head every now and then she interpreted as highly interested listening.

"Oh look, there's a fortune teller." enthusiastically Rei pointed to a small, dark blue tent whose entrance was closed by a heavy velvet curtain. Above it was emblazoned a sign with the auspicious text "Madame Fortuna tells your fortune. Learn all about love."

Mamoru inwardly heaved a deep sigh of relief. Actually, he didn't want to be here at all. Especially not with Rei. And even if Ami's evaluations ended up showing that Rei was the princess he was looking for, he wouldn't choose her. The place at his side had long since been given to Usagi.

"Mamoru, maybe we can find out about our future together here?" Rei was obviously still firmly convinced that he and she were meant for each other. To be polite and fair to all his other dates, Mamoru decided to give Rei a chance and at least get to know her a little better. So far, she seemed the most superficial of all the girls to him.

Inside the tent, it was initially quite dark and a bit dizzy. The scent of incense sticks immediately rose to Mamoru's nose. Once again Rei had hit the mark; he didn't like it at all in a place like this.

"Come, come," they both heard a croaky voice advance toward them from the darkness. Cloaked in a cowl, her face hidden in shadows, Madame Fortuna most likely sat before them, her hands not at all old for her estimated age mysteriously circling a glass sphere

Immediately Mamoru put two and two together.

This bizarre fortune teller in front of them fit into the picture of the other ominous figures she had transformed into so far. A grin briefly flitted across his face. Obviously, this date could take a completely different course than Rei had planned.

"With pleasure," Mamoru spoke an octave higher than normal and motioned Rei to sit on the bench in front of the small table with the glass ball on top. With an artificially serious expression, Mamoru took a seat as well and looked into the sky-blue eyes of the fortune teller, which were now quite visible from this perspective. Unlike Mamoru, Rei seemed to have no idea who was actually hiding behind Madame Fortuna and immediately held out her palm

"Can you make out anything? What do my palm lines say about my future?"

"Not so hasty, not so hasty, young lady. I need to take a look inside my magic ball first."

Highly concentrated, the fortune teller circled her hands around the orb and then continued in a meaningful tone

"I see..."

"Yes?"

"I see... A young man."

"Oh. Good. So what?"

"He loves you with all his heart."

"Ah perfect, very good! Do you hear that Mamoru? The woman is right!"

Rei clapped her hands enthusiastically, but the fortune teller was far from finished, as she once again looked into the crystal ball in front of her with a serious expression

"Daily he is around you."

"Daily?" confused, Rei now looked into the sphere as well

"Oh yes, he serves your grandfather, he is something of a master to him."

Rei turned white as a sheet and Mamoru had to stifle a laugh. The shaggy Yuichiro immediately came to his mind, how he had heroically defended Rei from her transformed grandfather back then.

Yes, the boy fit pretty well to Rei. Usagi had obviously hit a sore spot with the black-haired temple priestess.

Incensed, Rei stood up and nagged at the woman in front of her

"Oh what do you know? You're an old fairground goon with no rhyme or reason! Come on Mamoru, let's go!"

With those words, Rei turned indignantly and stomped angrily out of the dark blue tent.

Mamoru, however, had one more question and leaned forward

"Madame Fortuna. I am looking for... a princess."

The fortune teller looked at him a bit puzzled and clasped her glass ball a bit tensely.

"Oh yeah, and how can I help you with that?"

Moving a little closer to her, he now struck an almost whispering tone.

"I admittedly don't have much in the way of clues, all I know is that she is waiting to be awakened by me. Her past life memories are buried deep within her and it's up to me to free her."

"So what am I supposed to do about it?"

The fortune teller still seemed perplexed as to Mamoru's request and now clung even tighter to her glass utensil, for Mamoru's face was now perhaps only a few inches from her lips.

"There's a girl I feel very strongly about. I've only really gotten to know her recently, though she's been buzzing around me for so long. Then yesterday I looked at her with my heart, and since that moment I've known that I love her."

Tensely, the fortune teller hung on his lips.

"Even if she were not the Moon Princess we were looking for, I would still choose her."

Deeply he looked into her eyes. Usagi would have liked to kiss him. Only a few millimeters separated the two, until suddenly a shrill voice shouted into the tent

"Mamoru, what keeps you in there!"

Mamoru contorted his face and it almost seemed as if he was cursing internally. Finally, he rose from his seat with a jerk and walked towards the exit.

"Hey wait a minute, you didn't ask me for any advice. What do you want now?"

Mamoru lifted the curtain aside and turned toward the supposed fortune teller.

"Maybe you could tell the girl something." was his short answer

"And what would that be?"

A smile played around Mamoru's lips as he confessed to her

"You have touched my heart, Usako. So deeply."

Chapter Text

Had Usagi understood that correctly? Mamoru had feelings for her? Were they that deep that they had touched his heart? But why the heck did he tell that to some fortune teller?!

The moment Mamoru had left the small room, the penny finally dropped for Usagi. Stunned, she jumped up from her chair.

"Oh my god, he recognized me!"

Just as she was about to pick up her legs and run after her Mamoru, a new customers entered the tent. In the form of a shaggy-haired temple contender.

"Yuichiro?"

Puzzled, the boy looked at Usagi through his much too long bangs

"Gosh, you really can foresee the future. You knew I'd come to you!"

Thrilled, Yuichiro leapt forward and, to Usagi's horror, joyfully settled into the chair in front of her. With his hand outstretched, he hastily spoke

"There's a girl I know that I think is insanely beautiful and amazing. She is the granddaughter of the temple priest of the Hikawa shrine and I would like to know from you if there is a chance that she will go out with me one day?"

Dismayed, Usagi looked the lovesick man in the face, but then immediately recovered.

"Um, uh, well... I'd have to take a sneak at my crystal ball right now. Hold on."

Usagi quickly settled into her seat. With obscure hand movements, she focused her gaze highly on the transparent sphere in front of her, and then spoke in a clear voice

"So, if I'm reading the information here correctly, there's no way you can let up and you have to wait for your chance. It may already come sooner than you suspect, because I sense that your beloved is close by right now."

Even if you could only guess it, but under the overlong bangs, a pair of eyes lit up Usagi most delightedly

"Perfect! Thank you, thank you Madame Fortuna! You have no idea how happy you make me with this. I'm also very happy to recommend you! Rei, Rei, I'm coming, I'm cooomiiing!"

With those words, Yuichiro jumped up and swept out of the tent elated, determined to find his lady of the heart as soon as possible. Usagi dissolved her fortune teller transformation and sighed deeply as she was once again dressed in her ninja suit.

"Well, hopefully he won't make a complete idiot of himself in front of Rei again. Right, now I have to dash and find the other two."

Hastily, the blonde girl pranced out of the tent and set off in search of Mamoru and Rei as well.

Not far from the fortune teller's tent, Ami and Makoto had earlier positioned themselves to closely observe today's couple from the semi-thicket of two accurately trimmed boxwoods.

"I wonder what happened in there that Rei stomped out so pissed off and Mamoru comes out not two minutes later looking like he's having the best day of his life?"

Makoto was a bit confused at the strange picture that had presented itself to them a moment ago. Ami quickly pulled out her Mercury computer and hastily began typing on it.

"Mhm, no matter what happened there, so far I'm not getting any new information from my computer. It seems to me that nothing at all has developed between Mamoru and Rei so far to suggest that they could have once shared a strong soul bond in a previous life. To be precise, the probability tends toward 0.025 percent."

The tall brunette had only been half listening, for the scene before them now took on almost grotesque features, demanding Makoto's full attention. Visibly startled, she tapped Ami on the shoulder to take her eyes off the computer.

"I just saw Rei Mamoru stuffing yellow cotton candy into her mouth with complete enthusiasm. There...they are at the kiosk up ahead. Poor guy, he explained to me on our date that he doesn't like sugar pure at all and at the very most eats desserts that have dark chocolate in them."

Ami followed Makoto's gaze and shook her head in slight wonder.

"Now she's standing in front of a slipcase with him, pushing loud comics into his hands. Mamoru hates that kind of thing, for him text has to make sense first and foremost, not be in speech bubbles and comic book font."

"So somehow I get the slight feeling that Rei is absolutely clueless about what Mamoru likes."

Makoto furrowed her brow and crossed her arms.

"Whatever makes Rei think that Mamoru could be her steady boyfriend. I really don't see any of that. So one-sided and unrequited everything just comes from Rei. Now let's be honest; Even if Mamoru and Usagi are constantly fighting with each other... there definitely IS something between them that sets them apart from all of us as a couple, don't you think? I mean, hidden deep down, like there's always a lot of tension between them. What do you think?"

Ami nodded in agreement and then closed her Mercury computer, sighing slightly.

"It's just strange why the Silver Crystal hasn't reacted at all so far, and our Princess is still hidden. As if it takes a very specific mechanism for it to reveal the truth."

"I think I know the answer!"

Surprised, Ami and Makoto wheeled around in their hiding place. Their blond friend just grinned mischievously at both of them while holding a huge ice cream cone in her hand and licking it briefly with relish.

"What are you doing here, Minako?"

"I could ask you the same thing."

Slightly caught, Ami and Makoto's faces turned red

"We? Um, well we're doing some important research."

At this answer, Minako just smiled tiredly and chewed contentedly on her chocolate wafer.

"I can see that. If you like, I'd be happy to help you solve the mystery of the Moon Princess."

The two warriors looked curiously at the blonde girl before them. She looked like she was already a good step ahead of Ami and Makoto.

"Do you have any idea how the silver crystal could reveal the truth to us?"

"Since last night, at least, I have a very strong hunch about how we can find out everything quickly, I-"

Before Minako could speak further, an excited yelp rang out, sounding suspiciously like the name of her black-haired temple priest friend. Suddenly, the shaggy-haired temple aspirant jumped out of the fortune-telling tent

"Yuichiro? Where did HE come from all of a sudden?"

"And just where is he going?"

The three allies followed with their gazes the crazed lovelorn, who was still dashing around the amusement park with loud "Rei!" exclaims, scaring some smaller children quite a bit with his wacky appearance. They couldn't watch him perform this spectacle for long, however, because shortly thereafter Usagi tiptoed out of the fortune teller's tent in her ninja costume and looked around quickly in a stooped position searching in all directions

"Usagi? What is SHE wearing, please?"

"Is she following Mamoru and Rei, too?"

"Looks like that. There's something going on here, though."

Rolling her eyes, Minako grabbed her head, stuffed the rest of her ice cream into her mouth, and then gestured for her two comrades to go after the ominous group as well.

"Come on, let's hang on to their fists. I'll explain everything on the way."

Mumbled done and one moment later three Sailor warriors took up the pursuit of the blonde warrior in incognito, who in turn spied on the mismatched pair in the form of Rei and Mamoru in their strange looking attire as well as the amorous slightly dorky Yuichiro.

But they were not alone, for four more pairs of curious eyes followed them at a safe distance, unaware of each other, however, that they were all pursuing the same goal.

Completely unaware of all the confused pursuers and the potential danger they posed to their date, Rei and her dinner companion for the day spent lunch time on the sunny terrace of a Dreamland Park restaurant.

Mamoru nearly gagged when he saw the plate of green pepperoni, peas, and Hayashi rice in front of him. There was NOTHING on it that he liked. The disgusting yellow cotton candy also had left a highly unpleasant taste in his mouth. Rei, on the other hand, looked at him happily and expectantly as she gleefully shoveled a portion of rice-beef combination into her mouth.

"I felt exactly that we have the same favorite dish. That's a sign, Mamoru."

She chewed happily to him with her mouth full. For this, she only earned an incredulous look from the Earth Prince.

"And then after that great meal, we'll go over to the lake, right? The dreamland amusement park was only the beginning, hihi. So, that's where we met for the very first time, don't you think that's crazy romantic? We're kind of walking in the footsteps of our shared past with tonight's date."

Mamoru rolled his eyes in annoyance, while Rei enthusiastically devoured one green bell pepper after another

"Do you have any other requests?" came suddenly from the side. Skeptically, Mamoru looked up and immediately froze.

The tall waiter with the rasp-short blond hair and sky-blue eyes looked suspiciously familiar. By now, Mamoru knew exactly what things to look for in their transformations. While height, gender, hair length and figure changed, certain gestures and features remained the same. First and foremost, her insanely beautiful blue eyes, which looked at him with such intensity that Mamoru would have loved to sink into them forever and ever.

Rei, on the other hand, was completely unaware of who was standing in front of her and wanted to serve her.

"Oh yes, I'd love a cup of tea with extra sugar, or better yet make it two. My boyfriend is a big fan of anything sweet."

Needless to say, Rei just pointed at herself at that moment, chuckling slightly. Before Mamoru could say anything back, waiter-Usagi had already replied.

"I'm afraid tea with sugar is out, we only have lukewarm water with herb bag. No sugar."

"Well then, that. I'm sweet enough anyway, ahahaha."

Rei must have thought she was particularly great today, much to Mamoru's chagrin, who grabbed his forehead in complete exasperation.

"Coming right up!" remarked Usagi pointedly in her transformation, turning around briefly and then - accidentally, of course - pouring half a pot of (luckily it was really lukewarm!) water over Rei's summer dress, which was already half-smeared from the nosebleeds anyway

"Ewwww, what are you doing? Have you gone completely insane?"

Rei jumped up in anger, looking at the extent of it from all sides with her eyes wide open. Mamoru, on the other hand, didn't move from the spot, but stared spellbound at the spectacle that had just presented itself before his eyes

"Oh sorry, that was really NOT intentional."

Only now did Rei seem to realize who she was actually looking at as a waiter. Evilly she sparkled at Usagi

"How stupid can you actually be, huh? Almost as dumb as my super dumb friend with the super dump AIRHEAD!" she remarked highly irritated and then stomped off pissed off in the direction of the ladies toilets.

"There will be repercussions, count on it" she sneered over her shoulder.

True joy at Rei's swift exit, on the other hand, was felt by Mamoru, who remarked appreciatively to the would-be waiter

"I didn't think you'd be so resourceful, Usagi."

Grinning broadly, the transformed girl settled down across from Mamoru on the now vacant chair and eyed the still brimming, untouched plate with interest

"I bet you would have preferred ramen noodles or tonkatsu, huh?"

"Usako." all of a sudden Mamoru became quite serious while looking at the blond man in front of him with a love-soaked gaze "whatever may happen today, I want you to know that I was completely serious about what I said back in the tent."

Usagi's cheeks flushed at his words and she looked down at her hands in wonder as Mamoru clasped them with his. That warmth, it was... so... familiar. Yes, he was Tuxedo Mask and he had held her in his strong arms so many times before. Protected her again and again from the attacks of the bad guys and encouraged her in almost hopeless situations. But this feeling she just felt came so deeply from his heart, almost from another time, that she couldn't help but smile at him full of love. A pleasant shiver ran down her spine as she did so.

"Awww, look at those two… that must be true love."

"There's a saying that true love only exists between men."

"Mhm, Usagi's in disguise, do you think Mamoru recognized her anyway or is he into men lately and doesn't care about the Moon Princess anymore?"

"I'm more than sure!" Minako looked at her two comrades, who in turn gave her a slightly confused look back at her statement "I mean that he has recognized her, not that he is averse to women lately. It would be a real pity... and now they only have to kiss each other and tadaa, the true moon princess will appear!"

"What?"

Before Minako could explain anything further, a furious Rei came stomping out of the restaurant onto the terrace and grabbed the perplexed Earth Prince by his arm.

"They don't even have paper towels here, just those dorky blow dryers to dry your hands. That took ages, but now I'm ready for a super romantic walk in the park which is right next to the amusement park, my dearest Mamoru."

And with narrowed eyes, she glared at the transformed Usagi waitress-waiter

"I've lost my appetite. In the park we we'll be at least ALONE!"

Mamoru couldn't even look that fast, Rei had already dragged him with her towards the exit of Dreamland.

"Dinner is so on the house with that sloppy waiter!"

Usagi looked after the mismatched couple with sagging shoulders. Mamoru wanted her and only her. No matter what would come. That had become more than clear to her now. But Rei could really be the Moon Princess. Just like the other three warriors before her, she had the right to find out during their date. And yet.

"There's no way that I can leave those two alone. Rei is capable of anything. And besides, I haven't done a scan of the two of them yet. That's my job, after all!"

Emblematically, Usagi rolled up her sleeves, dissolved her waiter transformation, and followed Rei and Mamoru back into the park in her ninja costume.

"So this is kind of like the fairy tale the Frog Prince, except Mamoru is the princess and Usagi is the frog?"

Makoto still didn't seem to make much sense of the whole thing Minako had explained to her and Ami for the third time. Unnoticed, however, the three girls had once again taken up the pursuit of the love triangle and were now walking quickly along a gravel path toward the beautiful Juban Park

"Something like that, the silver crystal obviously can't work its magic until the firm bond of true love is formed between the earth prince and the moon princess. In that case, a kiss would be absolutely obvious."

Ami entered the newly gained information into her mini computer while the three girls were almost running. A few moments later, they arrived at the entrance of the park and Ami was able to share the newfound knowledge with her fellow girls.

"When the silver crystal had formed, Mamoru was unconscious and in Usagi's arms. Had they kissed there, it could have actually awakened the true Moon Princess already in Starlight Tower. So Minako could be right. In any case, it's worth a try. By the way, I have to admit that even a blind man with a cane can rule out one hundred percent that Mamoru and Rei could ever be lovers. I don't need Usagi's scanner or my computer for that."

Instead of agreeing to Ami´s conclusions, Minako's eyes widened all at once and she pointed in the direction of the lake that stretched a few hundred yards in front of them

"Oh dear, Rei is marching at a brisk pace towards the boat rental shop by the lake with Mamoru in tow."

"What's she up to?"

"I have no idea, but we'll find out."

Before the girls could put their plan into action, they were abruptly stopped by a harsh voice.

"Wait! We really need to tell you something!"

Artemis came leaping from a tree directly onto Ami's shoulder, taking advantage of his lofty position to bear his news directly to the astonished girls.

"It seems that Luna's and my memories are coming back faster than expected after all. Luna in particular has discovered a problem, which may put us in direct danger if we don't act immediately."

Minako looked at her cat with a serious expression

"Artemis, tell me! What have you found out?"

Now Luna also came jumping down from a tall tree and joined the illustrious group. There was supreme concern in her voice as she explained to her allies

"It concerns Mamoru directly. If the wrong girl kisses him, then the firm bond of sentiment that once existed between the prince and princess will not be reactivated. Which would be tantamount to the downfall of them both."

Startled, the three girls held their hands in front of their mouths.

"Oh no, are you saying Mamoru will die if the wrong person kisses him?"

"Unfortunately, we have to assume that. We have to pull out all the stops to prevent that from happening."

Luna had now also found a place - on Makoto's shoulder - from which she could give further instructions to the warriors, when Ami stated in horror

"Oh dear, Rei has rowed out to the lake on a boat with Mamoru."

"What, we need to get after them as soon as possible and defuse the situation!"

A few moments earlier, Rei lulled herself into a false sense of security. On the water, neither a crazy fortune teller, nor a dorky waiter, and certainly not a jealous Usagi would be able to sabotage her date with Mamoru. There, in the middle of the lake, Rei could finally talk to Mamoru in peace about herself and him. About the moon princess and the prince of the earth. The truth had to finally come to light! Otherwise everything could still go wrong on the last meters.

Today she, Rei Hino, would take the initiative. Yes! And on top of that, Mamoru would get back his memories of this great, eternal love!

In a good mood again, she headed for one of the rowboats that were at the dock. Reluctantly Mamoru followed her into the boat.

Inwardly he was honestly torn. Actually, he should tell Rei as soon as possible that, no matter what, he would always choose Usagi. And yet, at the same time, he was so sure that the princess from his dreams, that the name Serenity from his rudimentary memories, that all of this could only be Usagi.

His inner resolve firmly in place, Mamoru was about to launch into a solemn declaration, but was abruptly interrupted in his intention by an overzealous Rei.

"Oh Mamoru, it's just like our first date back then. I really feel like we've done boat trips like this before in our past lives... When I had a completely different name and title than I have now."

Those last few words now slightly confused Mamoru. Rei could remember? Their past? Motionless, he stared at her hands as she took the oars and joined him in setting herself off the dock.

"You remember? Seriously?!"

A slight blush flushed Rei's cheeks. As she lifted the paddles out of the water, she continued to speak in a lowered voice

"That's exactly why I chose our date like this. I had hopes that this deja vu would release a whole different set of memories in you... And I think it might actually work. Even if I might have to help it along a bit."

"Oh dear!" Mamoru could hardly believe what Rei was saying. Disappointment reflected in his eyes as he averted his gaze from her and stared at the water in complete confusion.

Was he allowed to put his feelings for Usagi above the good of the planet? After all, was Rei the rightful heir of the Silver Millennium and thus his lover from long ago? Yesterday he was more than sure to have found the real princess in Usagi. And now? Why? Why o why did the most important memories still lie tightly closed behind a thick veil? Being with Rei felt more than wrong, he knew that very well. But what if his heart showed him something different in the present than it might have felt in the past? What if he had been wrong after all?

Rei, on the other hand, hoped so much that Minako would be right in her assumption. More than that, in fact. Yesterday after their date, she had shown up at the temple and informed Rei of her latest discovery. One kiss for Mamoru from the Moon Princess and all her memories of her former life would be back. Only a few more strokes of the oars departed them from the middle of the lake. Then Rei would have to stop playing hide and seek and would use the element of surprise on Mamoru.

"I told you right away that three is one too many!"

Minako sat rather squashed half on top of Ami, where Artemis and Luna were already piled up, while Makoto rowed like a wild woman on the other side of the boat, presumably about to set a new world record in the 3-woman-with-two-cats-on-their-head boat race.

"And I told you right away that rowing across from the other side of the lake instead of just grabbing the next best boat on the dock and rowing after Rei and Mamoru would be like a suicide mission!"

Makoto gasped it more than she spoke it, but fell on deaf ears with Minako with her counter.

"If we had gone right after them, Rei would have recognized us immediately. We have to take advantage of the element of surprise with her, or she'll end up plunging us all into ruin when she kisses Mamoru out of spite rather than the true Moon Princess."

"Wait a minute, Rei is supposed to kiss the Moon Princess?" now Makoto was honestly confused.

"No no no! You guys are really turning my words today!"

"It's twisting, Minako, not turning!"

"Artemis, now just shut the fcuk up, I need to think here!"

"So by moon princess, we all mean Usagi, right? We can all get on that one now."

Ami had actually managed to consult her computer again on the small boat and had just finished calculating the probabilities of occurrence

"Luna. My computer tells me that only one can be the Moon Princess 100 percent of the time: Usagi."

Just as she uttered the name, all the occupants of the boat looked around in all directions, somewhat perplexed.

There was still something or better someone important in this whole interaction... and oviously missing.

"Usagi? Where the heck is she anyway?!"

Oh yes, where is Usagi? One more chapter to go!

Chapter Text

Rei still seemed careless and completely unaware of the impending danger, as she lifted the paddles out of the water and maneuvered the boat into the middle of the lake. Mamoru, in contrast to his companion, looked slightly distressed and gazed sadly at the shallow waves.

"Listen Mamoru, there is a way for you to regain your complete memories. We've known about it since yesterday, to be honest."

The Earth Prince lifted his gaze from the water and looked at his fellow inmate with a mixture of curiosity and unease

"Okay… and what would that be?"

"A kiss. Only the kiss of the princess will bring back the memories of everything to you and to her. It's the only way to release the power of the Silver Crystal. That's why I wanted to tell you now that-."

Blublublublublub

Before Rei could even get to her planned action, Mamoru's full attention was drawn to several bubbles on the surface of the water, along with a shadow in the water that was approaching their boat rather quickly. Mamoru frowned in confusion at the unusual sight

"What the heck is that?"

Rei now followed his gaze.

This "something" was moving slightly below the surface of the water. Only a kind of dorsal fin was now sticking out of the lake. It also could very well have been a... no, rather two greenish shimmering...balls act!

"Is that supposed to be a sea monster or what?"

Before the two recreational sailors knew it, the "thing" arrived at their boat and extended two graceful hands toward them. Followed by a frog-green full-body wetsuit, each with a cutout on the side of the head, the supposed sea monster tried to hoist itself somewhat awkwardly onto the small boat.

'Obviously these cutouts on the head are for odangos,' Mamoru muttered to himself as he pulled the snorkel and goggle-clad creature aboard. Rei, unlike Mamoru, looked rather miffed as the - frog/monster-hybrid pulled off its diving goggles to reveal sky-blue eyes

"You do realize that you're upsetting the endangered Onychodactylus tsukubaensis with all your pointless rowing around here?"

"Excuse me?" immediately came back from Mamoru and Rei uncomprehendingly. The neoprene girl ignored the exclamation of general astonishment and blithely continued to lecture her audience, now putting on a meaningful face

"Yes quite right, it is FOR-BID-DEN to row in this part of the lake. Explicitly! That's close to a major environmental sin. This caudate species of the angle-toothed newt family has only recently been discovered here and, of course, must be protected from such merrymakers as YOU."

"Now, you listen to me, you stupid head idiot toad! I've got a super-important date with a real prince here, and I'm certainly not going to let them stop me from paddling on this super romantic lake!"

Rei was clearly pissed. On the verge of bursting to be exact. And Mamoru was about to jump overboard. Species protection fanatic toad versus angry temple priestess was really not a combination he wanted to start something with. But chance would have it otherwise, because before the three of them knew it, another rowboat came roaring along at breakneck speed.

"Rei, I'm coming! Your salvation is near! Keep your hands off my bride-to-be, you hooligan !"

"Yuichiro?"

Puzzled, Rei looked in the direction of the approaching sound and was astonished to see the lovesick shaggy bear paddling wildly toward her. Closely followed by another rowboat with two cats and three Sailor warriors on board, some of them badly squeezed together, who in turn were shouting wildly in panic

"Rei, you absolutely must not kiss Mamoru!"

Mamoru grabbed his forehead, shaking his head, for the second time that day. It couldn't get any more crazy than that! Since you don't count chickens before they are hatched, it came of course weirder. In the form of another man who seemed to be on a rather confusing mission.

"Such a Casanova!"

Mamoru wheeled around, startled, when he heard his best friend's voice behind him

"Motoki?"

"Rei, don't get involved with Mamoru, he juggles too many balls at once and is only playing with you!"

Now the Odango frog was highly confused.

"Huh, what's going on? Ami, Makoto, Minako, Yuichiro, Motoki?. Why are they all here?"

Mamoru just shrugged helplessly at this more than justified question. Rei, on the other hand, was completely pissed off and snapped at the sailors in the other boats.

"All you all completely nuts? This is MY goddamn DATE!"

But before Rei could take flight with the Earth Prince and pick up the paddles, they found themselves surrounded by three boats, all of whose occupants seemed to have a destination.

Gasping loudly, they began chattering wildly at the same time in an attempt to dissuade Rei from their supposed plan.

"He really has a different one every day!"

"If you kiss him, he's dead!"

"Madame Fortuna said you love me!"

"And not only has he already dated three of your best friends this week, NO! He's into men lately too! At the shore in the restaurant he even hit on the waiter and grabbed him!"

"The world will sink into the abyss!"

"We're meant for each other, I know it!"

"He's not bi, he's desperate and he'll end up taking advantage of you!"

"We'll all go down!"

"Going out with me! Uhh, is that blood on your dress?"

SHUT UP! All of you!

Actually, this statement should have come from Rei... But it didn't, because directly above the boats hovered a powerful, completely unnerved, white-haired general from the Kingdom of the Dark. In time-tested Mamoru fashion, Kunzite grabbed his forehead, shaking his head and sighing loudly.

"It took me a lot of time AND nerves to track you all down, so please do me a favor now and pull yourselves together! And kindly hand over the silver crystal!"

"The WHAT?" came back a chorus of nine voices.

Kunzite was now fully annoyed about so much incompetence below him.

"Now you're going to be CHEEKY too! Well wait, I will avenge Zoisite on you. You are doomed!"

With those words, the last of the Dark Kingdom's four generals fired a black energy volley downward, smashing directly into the boat Rei, Mamoru, and Frog Usagi were in. The impact spun the occupants high into the air, dispersing them almost equally among the surrounding boats.

The black-haired miko landed unerringly in Yuichiro's arms, while Mamoru came down somewhat ungently on Motoki's boat. Usagi was less fortunate; she fell headfirst into the crowded boat of Minako, Makoto, Ami, Luna, and Artemis, which immediately began to sink under the heavy overweight.

"Wahhhh, we're going under!"

Desperately, Minako clung to a paddle while the two cats on Makoto and Ami's head searched for a dry spot to escape certain death by drowning.

Well, that was about twenty seven inches that the boat "sank" to the bottom of the lake, so that now four quite perplexed girls including cats stood in the water and looked somewhat indecisively up at Kunzite, who was now again high in the sky on the verge of completely losing his nerve.

"I just don't believe it. Now let's be honest; I didn't spend x hours spying on Endymion so that he finally! finds the Moon Princess and thus releases the full energy of the Silver Crystal, so that you now make a fool of me!"

Stunned, the crowd on boat and water stared at him. But Kunzite wasn't done yet. Completely miffed, he enumerated on his fingers one by one his alleged tale of woe over the past few days

"Thanks to you incompetent bunch, Queen Beryl has punished Zoisite with eternal sleep and entrusted me alone with this absolutely stupid mission; I've been in a library of an elite university full of goddamn nerds, I've watched Endymion cook dinner in the restaurant, Christ, I even put up with the untalented boy band! I'll say it for the very last time, give me that damn silver crystal!"

Unlike his peers, Yuichiro was completely clueless

"Wait a minute you old floaty man, what makes you think Mamoru is an Earth Prince and named Endymion? Okay, he's pretty damn good looking, really classy, and he always makes me feel so utterly unmanly and stupid next to him, but that doesn't make him a Roy-!"

BOING!

Before Yuichiro could add anything else, Rei had hit him from behind with the paddle. Sighing slightly, she looked down at the motionless body in the boat in front of her

"It's better he doesn't get any of this."

Motoki looked warningly at his best friend, who seemed to have just had a similar idea to Rei's

"Forget it, Mamoru. I've had a hunch for a while that there's something wrong with all of you, and with you in particular, there's something very wrong!"

Mamoru could only nod his head briefly in confirmation, as Kunzite was now becoming quite impatient.

"Would you all have the goodness to give me your attention, please?"

No one really listened to him, however, because at Luna's signal, four girls raised their transformation fillers high in the air

"Girls transform!"

Usagi grabbed her transformation brooch and, along with her warrior girls, loudly shouted out the magical transformation formulas right before Motoki's and Kunzite's eyes.

"Mercury Power..."

"Mars Power..."

"Jupiter Power..."

"Venus Power..."

"Moon Prism Power..."

"MAKE UP!"

The conjured spell bathed the beautiful Juban Park in pink, red, green, blue and yellow for several moments, until the transformed Sailor warriors found themselves face to face with a Dark Kingdom general still floating high in the air.

"How dare you chasing innocent people and spying on them anyway? We thought the Silver Crystal would protect Mamoru and he could work off his dates in peace! And besides: IT WAN'T MY TURN YET AT ALL! And you want to mess that up for me? I can't possibly let that happen!"

Sailor Moon stood up to her waist in the water and tried at a snail's pace - or better, in aqua-jogging mode, - to take her well-known trademark fighting position, which she failed duly, but she looked highly determined to knock off the evil general from his perch in the sky into the not real depths of the lake. The other Sailor warriors did it a little more elegantly and joined her in singing

"For love and justice! We are the Sailor Team... And in the name of the moon... we will punish you!"

"Pah, you stupid brats don't stand a chance against me. Give me the princess and the crystal!"

Kunzite was definitely not in the mood for jokes today and immediately fired another energy volley in a highly enraged manner. This time the dark weapon was supposed to hit the middle of the lake. But it didn't come to that, because suddenly a pink, shining light illuminated the water surface and successfully deflected the attack. The light of the silver crystal bundled as a lasso tied a stunned Kunzite in the air and immediately made him unable to fight

"Shame on you, fighting young ladies, you uncouth lump!"

Taken completely by surprise by this attack, Kunzite wheeled around in irritation and stared down at the blond man, who pointed with the wildest determination at the moon scepter that was in the boat with him and Mamoru. Kunzite now understood nothing at all and shouted at Motoki

"What are you doing? Who are you!"

"Well who am I supposed to be, you pin head?"

Everyone now looked more than confused at Motoki, who rose from his seat with the utmost grace and dramatically extolled himself to his audience with all the theatrics at his disposal

"I am... the Moon Princess!"

"What?!"

Kunzite wasn't the only one whose jaw dropped at that statement. The rest of the Sailor Team including Mamoru also looked at Motoki in utter disbelief. He, in turn, stood by his previously made statement, tossing his imaginary, drooping hair behind his shoulder like a model for emphasis

"Ohhh yes indeed! You heard quite right. I am the one and only, the never reached, beautiful, powerful, wanted princess... err"

"Serenity."

"Thank you, that's right, Mamoru. Serenity is my name. And in the name of the moon, I will now... uh wait a minute... what was that just now?"

"Serenity?"

As Mamoru spoke that name with a knowing smile on his face, something suddenly clicked for Usagi.

"Endymion."

Like a puzzle piece, the two names now interlocked. Joined together to form a story, filled with eternal love and hope. Serenity and Endymion. Yes. Serenity was the moon princess.

This name had obviously sparked something not only in her, because both Luna and Artemis narrowed their eyes and nodded knowingly at each other.

Kunzite, on the other hand, refused to believe what was going on in front of him and, still bound by the moon scepter and floating high above the lake, he continued to rant and rave.

"That's a damned lie! The moon princess isn't a guy at all!"

"That's right, Kunzite! The only true princess is ME, so hand over the moon rod so I can finish off that idiot up there!"

Now Kunzite was about to burst. With a flushed face, he yelled at Sailor Mars, who was wading through the water and about to grab the moon wand.

"Well then it's more likely to be that blond guy in the boat! There's no way it could be you, I've been following you for half the day and I really feel sorry for Endymion that he has to put up with your yakking and your snotty pandering all the time. Have you actually listened to the man? Queen Beryl has even more sensitivity and knowledge about his preferences than you do. He'd rather die than there'd be anything between you and Endymion!"

Woooooosh!

Just barely, Kunzite was able to duck in his magically bound state, as Sailor Mars, without batting an eye, had not fired a fireball in his direction, but instead peppered her trusty paddle towards him.

"Shut the FCUK UP!"

"Could we please calm down first and discuss the issue before we all get our knickers in a twist again, yeah? Can we do that? Thank you!"

Mamoru, unlike the warriors, had not uttered any magical incantation, but now used the silence to transform into his former self Endymion without much fanfare.

Pretty cool was this appearance, which finally even brought Kunzite down from the sky. With his arms crossed, the latter sulkily settled down on the opposite side of Motoki, who seemed ready to push the magically bound, white-haired general overboard at any moment.

"Then I'm more than eager to hear your explanations, Endymion."

Kunzite was definitely not alone in that, for now everyone - except for the knocked-out Yuichiro - looked to Mamoru, who by now was standing quite majestically in what was for him knee-deep water across from the Sailor warriors. His gaze found Artemis as he began to explain

"Unfortunately, the silver crystal in Starlight Tower did not give me back the memories of my former life. But even though my head couldn't immediately remember the past, it was my heart that gave me access to the true Moon Princess."

Mamoru's gaze now passed from Artemis to Luna

"I am more than happy that you have given me the opportunity to get to know all of you better. In the silver millennium, we were unfortunately forbidden this familial contact, and even in the present day, we had all mostly only run into each other by chance in passing. With some of you I had not even exchanged a word until recently. In retrospect, I am deeply ashamed of this, because you are all such wonderful, warm-hearted people. Each one in her own right. Rest assured that you have found a loyal friend in me who will always stand by your side and fight with you."

Three of the warrior women looked at Endymion deeply grateful and touched. Allies and true friends he had made, it could hardly get any better really, until the Earth Prince finally let his gaze slide to Rei.

"Sailor Mars. Unlike the others, we had a somewhat - let's say - different start with each other, and I'm honestly sorry if you thought that our meetings could develop into more than a very good friendship, but... my heart has been taken for so long."

Sailor Mars visibly drew in her breath and bit her lip. Endymion fully expected her to explode at any moment, but she finally waded through the water without a word, grabbed the moon scepter still in the boat next to Motoki, and turned to face her fellow members.

"I know you're of the opinion that being the Moon Princess was all I cared about all along... but... that's not true."

She earned astonished looks for this statement. Rei continued with a clarity in her eyes that reflected nothing but the truth of her words

"I owe you all an explanation for my behavior. I tipped the sticks and used my spiritual abilities to make sure that we handled the dates in the order that happened, because I felt the danger in the form of the Dark Kingdom hovering over us the whole time. It was therefore my own mission to keep the Moon Princess undetected for as long as possible so that she would be safe from the bad guys. And besides, I had to wait until Mamoru remembered his great love all by himself again. His Serenity. Please excuse my actions, but I tried my very best to protect our princess."

Endymion was thunderstruck. He would have expected anything, but that Rei had acted in such a way out of pure altruism would not have occurred to him. But she was completely serious!

Rei now turned her gaze to Usagi and held out the moon rod to her. With a slight shrug of her shoulders, she admitted bluntly

"From the beginning, it was crystal clear which of us could only be the moon princess. Last but not least, Mamoru had proven that he loves our Usagi with all his heart through his commitment in the Starlight Tower when he protected her and almost died in the process. There was no chance for anyone to conquer his heart. We didn't need calculations, statistics and analysis to see that with our own eyes... All that mattered was that Mamoru finally realized how much he loved Usagi."

"So Usagi is the princess we've been looking for so long?"

Makoto gazed questioningly at Rei, but the answer came from Endymion, who now had eyes solely for the most beautiful girl in the world, to whom he had irrevocably and forever lost his heart for an eternity.

"Yes. One hundred percent she is the princess. But she is so much more than that. She is Usagi... chaotic, joyful, sweeping, so endlessly loving, radiant, hilarious, scatterbrained, wonderful, she is the epitome of true love for me and nothing and no one will be able to stop me from doing what I'm about to do next."

With these words, the earth prince, determined to do anything, waded towards his designated princess, took the perplexed Sailor Moon into his arms and kissed the blonde girl with all the passion and desire that had been inherent in him for thousands of years. Usagi's knees immediately softened; had Mamoru not held her tightly in his strong arms, she would have fallen backwards into the water on the spot. But that kiss, his lips, they were the absolute most beautiful thing that had ever happened to her. That familiar warmth. So long ago, she had felt that special feeling of deep longing. Usagi wrapped her arms around Mamoru's neck and pulled him even tighter to deepen the kiss.

This union caused the moon rod to slip from Sailor Mars hands and magically swirl through the air until it found itself between a bewildered Usagi and a knowing Mamoru. Instead of her tiara, a golden crescent appeared on her forehead. Where a moment ago the uniform encased her transformation as Sailor Moon, a long white dress now adorned her slender body.

"Princess. Moon Princess!" Luna spoke in awe, and Artemis added with bliss

"You have finally awakened!"

Wide-eyed, Usagi took the wand in her hand. In all the colors of the rainbow, the silver crystal shone for her, set in the golden crescent of her moon rod.

"And even if you are the princess. To me, you remain Usagi."

Mamoru's words made her look up at her dream man. That look of realization in his eyes left no doubt at all

"You can remember everything. Mamoru."

"Yes, Usagi. Every single detail of our love. So don`t worry, everything's going to be all right now. We're together at last."

Firmly Mamoru wanted to take her in his arms, but instead the newly awakened princess with her moon rod in her hand jumped out of the water with joy and high into the air

"Hooray! I'm so happy!"

Mamoru's grin deepened at this rather unusual yet typical sight for Usagi, but as he was about to assure his deep love for her with another kiss, Usagi suddenly held her free hand in front of his mouth.

Clearly, there was something else she was desperate to get off her chest.

"And... will you go out with me sometime?"

At this question, Mamoru suddenly became aware of her audience.

"You mean on a date?"

"Of course Mamoru. Because I HAVE NOT BEEN ON A DATE YET!"

"Ohhh that sounds great! I have a fabulous idea of what you two could do!"

"Well, I went to a really great doll show with my ex-boyfriend once."

"We could all go right now!"

"What? Mamoru is MY boyfriend!"

"W-what happened, anyway? My head hurts like hell."

"But before that, Mamoru has to explain to me why he's been going out with the rest of you here all the time."

"I'm in. Should I take Kunzite with me? As a double date? He's actually kind of cute looking."

"Have you gone insane?"

"I just calculated the compatibility. You guys would even fit."

"Why is Usagi wearing that dress, and since when has Mamoru been wearing armor? And why are there all Sailor warriors here!"

"Yuichiro… you missed absolutely nothing."

And so they bickered and argued until the day was over. Now that they had found the princess, they would also be victorious against the remaining villains from the Dark Kingdom. But that is another story and shall not play any further role here. What you do get, however, is an epilogue to this story in which Usagi's fondest wish is granted.

A real date with her Mamo-Chan :)

Chapter Text

The air was filled with love, the birds chirped their sweetest songs and the sun shone more gloriously than ever before on this beautiful earth.

Because today, TODAY! Today was Usagi's big day.

At the crack of dawn, she had jumped out of bed, showered in no time at all, and then dressed up for her super romantic, intergalactic great, insane super-duper DATE with her beloved Mamoru.
Probably the most beautiful man on earth. Well, for sure he was because as a proper earth prince, there could be practically no more perfect man than him.

And Usagi? She was the moon princess.

So much had happened in the last time until today and while Usagi put her excessively long hair together to her iconic hairstyle, she thought about the events of the past months.

Kunzite had been freed from the evil forces, but unfortunately, Beryl had managed to pull Mamoru to the dark side with her devious ways and rob him of all his memories once again. With the Sailor Team, however, Usagi had succeeded in an epic battle to banish Beryl and Metalia from Earth once and for all.

As a price, they had to accept a collective loss of memory, which, however, could be quickly repaired thanks to Luna.

But only a short time later, dark forces in the form of the villains Ail and Anne had once again tried to attack the earth and its inhabitants.

Mamoru had been able to support Usagi during this difficult time only in the form of the Knight of Moonlight - a projection of himself, so to speak - because his memory loss had lasted until the final battle against Anne and Ail, but for a week now his memories of their former life had completely returned.

That, of course, had been the only - and perfectly understandable - reason why he hadn't been able to keep his promise for their date together sooner.

"The things that can get in the way when the day is long are crazy," Usagi muttered to herself, lost in thought, while she put the last hairpin into her left topknot.

Finally, there was peace on earth!

And now, Usagi was dying to finally meet Mamoru. There had been so much pain, sorrow, and suffering for both of them in the silver millennium. However, there should be no more place for such negative feelings in this life.

Now they were finally united.

"You know, Luna, I think after all the battles against all the bad guys, we all more than deserve to be happy, don't you think?"

Usagi now stood in the room beaming with joy in her date dress and put on a big grin.

"Maybe you could ask Artemis out sometime?"

"WHAT?"

Usagi had hit the bull's eye there, but couldn't ask the little cat any further when the front doorbell rang loudly

"Ohhhh, that must be him!"

Squealing happily, Usagi jumped out of her room, rumbled down the stairs, and yanked the front door wide open with a spirited jerk.

There he was. So wonderfully beautiful. So insanely handsome. So indescribably awesome.

"Mamo-Chan”, she breathed his pet name to him as he immediately pulled out a red, flawless rose out of thin air and handed it to her.

"Usako."

The perfect gentleman, after all.

With a beating heart, Usagi took the rose and beamed at her prince with sweetness and happiness.

" I think today will be the best day of my life, Mamo-Chan."

For this statement, she earned a small smile, followed by a tight hug, to which Mamoru let himself be carried away without thinking further and forgetting any etiquette

"Now you're exaggerating," he whispered in her ear and gave her a little kiss on the forehead.

"Alas, the two float in their very own world. Cloud nine is nothing compared to that."

Luna murmured dreamily to herself, standing at the top of the stairs, watching the couple in love prepare to step out of the Genkan and walk to Mamoru's car.

"I hope it works out this time. You more than deserve it after all the thousands of years of grief and suffering."

-------------------------------

The drive to the romantic park didn't take long. Even though Mamoru had first suggested to Usagi that it might be better if they didn't necessarily do anything together, which had happened before on all of Mamoru's other dates with the Sailor Warrior girls, Usagi insisted on a classic date.

"After all, this is my very first date. I've always dreamed of one day walking in this beautiful park with my boyfriend and taking a romantic boat ride."

Mamoru gave Usagi a slightly questioning look as he headed for a free parking spot in front of the park's entrance

"Well, actually, we did meet at the ramen bar that time. Wasn't that a date?"

Slightly snubbed, Usagi looked at her boyfriend

"Huh? That was just shoveling food down your throat and had absolutely nothing to do with romance, Mamoru."

Indignant, Usagi averted her gaze from him and looked slightly dejectedly toward the park

"Besides, we weren't an item back then but.... uhh, I don't know what."

"You don't know what?"

Now Mamoru became serious as he turned off the engine. Quickly, he grabbed Usagi's hands and looked into her puzzled face with a steady gaze

"The moment I protected you from Zoisite's attack in Starlight Tower, I was far from defining our relationship with each other as "I don't know what". And as Rei rightly said, when we were all standing there in knee-deep water, there has always been only one for me: and that was, is, and always will be you, Usako. Forever and ever."

Allowing no further protest, Mamoru leaned over to the surprised teenager beside him and kissed her passionately.

No doubt, the man could back up his words with action. At that moment, something of Endymion flashed through him as their lips met and Usagi grew hot and cold all at once. Longingly, she closed her eyes and willingly let Mamoru take her into this sweet world of love.

Slightly she opened her mouth so that he could deepen the kiss. In the protection of his car, Mamoru let himself be carried away too much more than he intended. Firmly he grasped her slender shoulders and pulled her even closer to him. Usagi tasted so sweet, like pure innocence. This girl was pure perfection for him. It almost drove him mad at that, because so much more of his alter ego Endymion suddenly stirred inside him that he could hardly longer be the gentleman he intended to be on their first date.

And Usagi wanted more. He sensed that in her every reaction to him.

The millennia of longing had done its part to make Usagi more than ready to feel Mamoru with all her senses now. Willingly, she wrapped her arms around his neck to deepen the kiss even more. Her tongue began to play with his as well, encouraging Usagi to press herself even harder against Mamoru in more places on her body.

This desire for this so beautiful perfect man almost drove her crazy. Feelings of the Moon Princess surfaced within her, who was endowed with so much more in the way of physical experience than she was. If something didn't happen right away, Usagi couldn't guarantee anything.

"Mamo... More," she brought out under his kisses and caresses.

Mamoru began to lose control entirely as his fingers slid along her arms. As he did so, he spread kisses on her neck that made Usagi groan.

"More!”

Usagi commanded him, and so Mamoru felt spurred to go much further as his hand quickly continued towards-.

"Krah krah krah...BOOM!!!"

Startled, they both flinched from the strange sound above them.

"Oh my god, what was that? Did something fall on the roof of the car?"

Usagi rolled down the window and stuck her neck out strained

"I'll go check."

Sighing slightly and somewhat hesitantly, Mamoru got out of the car.

Usagi started to pout inwardly. That had been so nice just now. All those butterflies in her stomach, all that passion that Mamoru had willingly thrown at her with his whole gorgeous body. God, he smelled so good!!! And now? Was he out of the car looking at what had dropped him on the roof?

"There I finally have my date and then something like this happens," she grumbled.

Mamoru, on the other hand, had come back to reality entirely.

"That seems like a young bird that still lacks flying experience. Come here, little one."

Curious, Usagi got out of the car too, and watched Mamoru hold a small black raven in his large hands.

"Oh dear, the poor little thing is shaking badly."

Gently, she stroked the bird's black feathers. Her disappointment was blown away and instead now gave way to genuine concern as she took it in her hands.

Mamoru looked searchingly into the air.

"How strange, it seems like it fell directly from the sky. I can't make out any nest in the trees here that he could have fallen from. I hope nothing serious has happened to him."

The little bird looked deeply into Usagi's eyes, almost as if he wanted to tell her something important. At the same time, it fluttered up and down weightily. At this sight, Usagi suddenly felt quite uneasy.
Did the raven have something like a message for her? Was it no coincidence that he had landed on her roof? Did he want to warn her of something?

"That was a violent impact, but I don't think it's anything serious, look."

Mamoru gently took the raven back in his hand and held it high in the air. The animal quickly recovered, spread its small wings, and flew up and away with a quick, still somewhat clumsy flap of its wings.

Smiling, Mamoru took his now free hand in front of his eyes to protect them from the blinding sun.

Usagi shook her head vehemently.

'Good God, I am imagining things. What will come next? Girls dropping from heaven. That’s ridiculous.'

"Have a good trip little friend and have a nice and long happy life!"

She exclaimed loudly, waving both arms enthusiastically. In return, she earned a light laugh from her boyfriend, coupled with a meaningful look.

"Come on Usako, let's finally go to the park and get something to eat. You're probably starving already, and before our date gets going, you'll need all the energy you can get."

Usagi's eyes grew wide at the thought of food.

"That’s great, are we going to that fancy restaurant where I've already served you such a wonderful menu as a waiter? That looked so fantastically delicious!"

A slight eye roll from Mamoru was enough, so Usagi grabbed his hand and quickly, determinedly walked down the aisle to the Mountain Stream Square Restaurant in the middle of Showa Memorial Park.

"Tonkatsu and waffles, maybe some ice cream and a milkshake with a sugar cherry on top, and I'll be on cloud nine!"

"As long as you're happy, Usako," came back a tired smile from Mamoru as he walked arm-in-arm with his lover toward the restaurant.

Mamoru knew Usagi's penchant for fast and unhealthy food from his numerous encounters with her at Game Crown Center, but after all, she was a true princess of the moon. How could he ever deny her a wish? Be it ever so fried and sugary.

Since getting back all his memories of his former life as Prince Endymion, Mamoru was more than surprised at how different Serenity and Usagi were in their personalities after all.

The Moon Princess had always seemed quite serious, sad, and worried. Even his love for her had not been able to completely conjure away this deep melancholy inside her.

The days of the silver millennium had been completely different and the challenges of the new world were not at all comparable to those of the distant past. But even if Usagi had gone through hell many times during the last months, especially after Beryl had managed to pull Mamoru to the dark side by a trick.

Mamoru had not been able to discover any hint of melancholy in her eyes.

She had touched him deeply with her immense power when she had knelt before him in the kingdom of the dark, begging him to remember them. When she had protected him against the tree of dark power.

So much suffering she had taken for him that she should have been as deeply sad as she had been in her former life.

But Usagi was still fundamentally optimistic, life-affirming, and full of joy, scatterbrainedness, incompetence, and belligerence that Mamoru could only love her from the bottom of his heart for these numerous qualities alone until the end of his days.

Nothing could ever shake this firm bond of sentiment he shared with her.

Absolutely nothing.

Mamoru felt like he was in Elysion when he ate what was probably the largest tonkatsu in the entire park with her in the small restaurant when he shared a huge ice cream sundae with her, and then a little later rowed off the excess calories on a boat.

Everything was perfect about this day and this date. Absolutely everything.

"Oh, Mamoru. Now we'll stay together forever, right?"

Taking a deep breath of the warm spring scent, he agreed with her

"Yes Usagi, forever."

Full of bliss, Usagi held her hands to her pink shimmering cheeks

"This IS the best day of my life."

At her saying, Mamoru had to laugh honestly as he was about to lift the paddles out of the water. Not whispering in her ear but laughing heartily this time, he repeated his friendly taunt

"Now you're exaggerating."

Or maybe not, because for Mamoru likewise there had never been a better day in his life than when he thought about it for a little longer.

Like this, their lives could go on. Everything looked to be peaceful from now on. A new, exciting time together lay ahead for them as a couple and of course, Mamoru wanted to continue as quickly as possible where he had left off with Usagi in the car before they were so rudely torn from their newly discovered world of sweet seduction.

A boat ride on this peaceful, almost enchanted lake in the middle of spring was the epitome of romance, so indeed, it was no surprise that Usagi fell right into Mamoru's strong arms when they got out of the boat.

Purely by chance, of course. Gosh, always these slippery jetties.

Her gaze spoke volumes, her lips, slightly parted and so ready to be occupied by his once again.

Yes, today was a perfect day and Mamoru wanted to enjoy it to the fullest with Usagi. Lovingly, he pulled her close to him and closed his eyes as he kissed the girl he loved endlessly.

Her lips tasted so sweet, so irresistible, so sensual... Mamoru sank into her enchanting aura and threatened to lose himself in her until the end of his days...when suddenly something roundish plopped him on the head from above.

Without releasing his lips from Usagi, Mamoru opened his eyes and gazed in wonder at the strange object lying on the ground in front of them a few feet away.

'A cat ball?!'

He couldn't make sense of the strange sight for much longer, when suddenly a strong rumbling sounded in the sky above them, and in a split second something pink with big red eyes had knocked him over and was now on top of him on the ground.
"OW!!! What the heck just fell on my head!!!"

With her face contorted in pain, Usagi rubbed her head while also lying on the ground and looked at least too dumbfounded at the little girl who was now in Mamoru's arms instead of her.

"Hey! That's MY boyfriend and MY date!"

Usagi's loud shouting didn't seem to interest the little girl with the Sailor Moon memorial hairdo in the least. Mamoru, on the other hand, swallowed hard, because from one moment to the next he had the strange feeling that this girl had not fallen from the sky by chance, but that the saying "All good things come from above" would mean nothing but trouble for him and Usagi in this case.

----------
Dear readers,

Maybe the end here may seem a bit abrupt to you, but I have planned from the very beginning to make this initially funny story about the search for the moon princess a multi-part story, which - especially in the upcoming second part - will be darker and loaded with angst. Because Sailor Moon is for me a mixture of laughing and crying, paired with the hope for a happy ending :) Be curious about what is still to come. Even if it takes me a lot of time, I never abandon any of my stories and want to finish every single one. Your comments give me a lot of motivation to continue and finish my fics.

Keep well and have fun in life!
Love

Danni-Bunny