AN: Okay, I've got at least one reader. Yay, that makes me happy/grins/

Disclaimer: I don't own Sailor Moon. I bought some manga, but that doesn't give me any copyrights.

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TropicalRemix: What was Mamoru thinking? Ain't stress and life just horrible/grins/ I'm not spilling. As to her coming back… you'll see… eventually.

CHAPTER TWO

I'm failing math! Ami's helping me, but I just don't get it! I tried talking to Serenity today, to see if she could help me, but something seems to be wrong. Normally, I can feel her presence, dormant or waking, and I can contact her, ask questions and such. But today… it's almost like she's not there. Sure, I felt her presence, but I couldn't reach it. What's going on? Why won't Serenity talk to me anymore?

Yet again, Usagi had flipped through her diary after writing the newest entry. Sighing, the blonde ran her hand through the short-cropped hair and grinned as a memory hit her. Umino hadn't recognized her when he'd gotten home that afternoon, and had proceeded to stare at her until Naru snapped her fingers in front of her fiancée's face, while Usagi had been laughing so hard she'd had to grab the counter for support. Quickly she put that into her book before she forgot.

"What'cha doin' Usa-chan?" Naru asked, coming in and resting her elbows on her friend's shoulders.

"Nothing much," the blonde said quickly, forcing the words to come out normally. "Just writing."

"Diary?"

"Yep. Helps me remember." Even though I'd rather forget a good portion, Usagi added mentally.

"What'cha hiding this time?" Sometimes Usagi wished her best friend wasn't always so observant when it came to secrets.

"What do you mean?" the Champion of Justice protested. "I'm not hiding anything." Naru just stared at her.

"Okay fine," Usagi admitted, squirming under the intensity of that glare. "I am hiding something. But I'm not supposed to tell you. Gomen nasai. If it's still going on at Christmas, I'll tell you then, deal? I'll tell you everything."

"Okay…" agreed the redhead slowly. Usagi was definitely hiding something big and neither of the friends wanted Usagi to keep carrying the burden alone. But if Usagi wanted to wait until Christmas—now only a week away—then Naru would respect that. "But promise to tell me immediately if it gets any worse?"

The blonde nodded absently. Naru could tell by the glazed look that her best friend had gone off somewhere else the moment Naru had stopped moving her lips.

With a sigh, the redhead went back to the kitchen to fix dinner.

—

"Mamoru-san," Motoki sighed, cleaning a dirty glass. "You are a fool. Moping around here is not going to get Usagi-chan back. If you want her back so badly, go ask her family where she is. They'll tell you, and you can go hunt her down."

"I can't do that," Mamoru moaned, holding his head in his hands. "I broke up with her, and she changed overnight. The next month she vanished. Her leaving might be my fault."

"Talk to her parents and stop beating yourself up about it," the redhead suggested. "I've got to close up now, so go home."

With a sigh, Mamoru made his way back to his lonely apartment.

—

Tomoe Hotaru wandered the empty halls of Crossroads Junior High. Everything had been off for the past nine months, when Usagi had left.

Why didn't I listen to myself? The Senshi of Destruction berated herself for the umpteenth time. I knew something was wrong, but I figured Mamoru-san could protect Usagi-chan and we'd be called if they needed help. I never figured that he could be the danger. My instincts kept saying to stay, but I didn't. Now we've lost our princess. Our Light…

The thirteen-year-old girl finally began to head toward the front doors to go home. She'd been staying after every day so she could wander around the silent school and have some time to think without risk of interruption. Her excuse to her parents was 'afterschool help' which was true sometimes, when she really needed help in a subject.

"Damnit, Usagi-chan," the girl muttered, leaving the brick building behind and rejoining the real world. "You really screwed things up over here when you left, you know that? The Inners won't talk to us and only cooperate in a fight, and even avoid each other. They're supposed to be best friends, but you're the one that made and kept them that way. Mamoru-san just goes college, comes home maybe every other break, works, and sits in his apartment like a zombie. Even with us, things are getting tense. Haruka-papa got more drunk the week we found out you left than she had ever before, in either lifetime. And she's been doing it so often now… Setsuna-mama stays at the Time Gate, even though she still has a room in our place. At least she gave a Time Key so I can visit her. Michiru-mama can only paint sad things, when she can paint at all. Why don't you come back, princess? Our lives are becoming unbearable without you."

Looking up, she realized she had made it home without noticing. A crash and shouting from inside made her wince. This is the other reason I don't stay home, she realized.

Turning around, she headed toward Crown Arcade. Maybe some games could get her mind off this. So long as the Inners didn't act like the kids at school this time…

AN: I'm sorry, but that's it for this chapter. I'll try to get more up soon. Why'd the hit thing say over a hundred people read the first chapter, but I've only got one review? R&R people!