First Truths

We'll Find

Mamoru's mind was a tangle of thoughts. Had she known? Did she know? How could this be? How could Odango Atama, of all people, be Sailor Moon? It just blew all his beliefs about her out of the water. It seemed singularly impossible that this infuriating, silly girl was the same warrior with so much sadness in her eyes.

And had she been playing him all along? Had she known he was Tuxedo Mask? His brain jeered that she must have found out, somehow, in order to have suddenly started treating him so differently. Suddenly her odd behavior of today had found an explanation.

He gripped her arm firmly and pulled her from the booth, deaf to her protests and sputtering. Right now, he wanted answers, and she was going to give them to him.

"Satan! What the heck do you think you are doing? Let go!" Usagi twisted and squirmed, panic rising up in waves. However warm she might have though his eyes could be, they were cold and ruthless now. He seemed intent on battle and she was very sure that she would lose. Why she would have to defend herself, she didn't know. Why is he so angry? What's wrong with him? Is he so disappointed to realize that I'm Sailor Moon? The fight in her crumpled at the thought. Was it that bad? She had been so busy trying to untangle the myriad feelings surging through her when she found out Mamoru might be Tuxedo Mask, she hadn't stopped to wonder what his reaction would be if he found out her secret, likewise.

She stumbled after him as he dragged her from the eating court, past booths and tables, looking for a more secluded area. She looked around desperately, wishing she had let the girls find her at the food court. She would much rather answer their questions than Mamoru's. No-Tuxedo Mask's. She shut her eyes tightly and reeled a bit from that. He IS Tuxedo Mask! Oh my god...

"Excuse me, miss. Do you need some assistance?"

Usagi's eyes flew open as Mamoru ground to a halt and brought her struggling feet to a stop beside him. Her gaze alighted on an earnest young man, around Mamoru's age, who was looking at Mamoru's grip on her arm suspiciously.

"W-what?" she squeaked.

"Do you need help?" he repeated politely. With a start, Usagi realized how the situation must look to him. Her face was flushed and strained, eyes unhappy, body struggling as Mamoru pulled her along. She fidgeted nervously, not sure if she should take this opportunity- which was surely offered from the very heavens above- or just face the lion now and get it over with.

She looked from Mamoru's closed, forbidding countenance to the stranger's worried face. She weighed her options. Mamoru's hand tightened around her wrist in warning and she fought down a shiver. His eyes promised bloody murder if she dared...

"Yes," she rushed, before she could change her mind. "Yes, I would most definitely appreciate some help." The irony to need saving from her savior!

The man's eyes hardened and he stepped forward threateningly. He wasn't as tall or built as Mamoru, but he seemed undaunted. "Now, see here. It's obvious the girl doesn't want to go with you. Why don't you let her go?"

Mamoru was counting slowly to one hundred, knowing it wasn't this man's fault for interfering. He would have done the same thing if he had thought some young woman was being manhandled. However, the poor idiot had no clue that this "young woman" could probably moondust both of them before they could even blink, if she so chose. And, he reasoned, he had no idea that Odango had been making him jump through hoops all morning.

Mamoru took a deep, calming breath. "It's not what you think," he said reasonably. "She-she stole my wallet."

Usagi and the mystery man gasped in unison. The man looked highly doubtful as he studied the petite blonde and the tall, dark-haired man. He had a hunch that this man wouldn't let ANYONE steal something that belonged to him.