I Give Up - Chapter 2
by Sereko
princess-serenity@rocketmail.com


It's speeding up a bit. Now I can get into the romance!
Yeah! My favorite part! There isn't too much in this chapter,
but I'll be sure to make some later on. Hehe. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon or any of the characters
associated with the story. I merely use Naoko Takeuchi's genius as a 
starting point for my own storytelling.




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Chapter 2
----------

	It is one thing to hope for your child to miraculously appear, 
but when your child does appear coming through the window, that's just 
too much. Ikuko had to cover her mouth from the gasp that would have 
come and revealed her location to the two intruders. Before her was a 
sight that she never thought she would see.
	Tuxedo Kamen was climbing through her daughter's window while 
holding a bleeding Sailor Moon. Her first instincts were to go help, 
but something kept her back in the dark corner of the room. Tuxedo 
Kamen brought the heroine inside cautiously and then placed her on the 
bed. To add to the list of weird occurrences, Usagi's black cat, Luna, 
jumped on top of the bed too. Supposedly, she had been awakened from 
her nap by the feel of a cape brushing over her fur. "Tuxedo Kamen? 
Wh-What happened?!?" Ikuko practically fainted when she witnessed the 
talking cat.
	"Huh?" Tuxedo Kamen looked towards the foot of the bed and 
noticed the pet. "Oh, it's you. You're her cat, right? The one that I 
always see at the battle sites?" A little black head nodded. "I'm not 
sure exactly what happened. I just found her walking home with this 
big gash on her side. When she fell totally limp, she told me how to 
get here so that I could take care of her wound. I don't remember her 
being hit like this in the battle, though..."
	Luna frowned, something didn't seem right. "Take care of her. 
I've got to go check something out with the other senshi."
	"Okay." Luna bounded out the window instantly. Tuxedo Kamen 
turned his attention back to Sailor Moon, as did Ikuko. "Sailor Moon...
wake up..." He pat her cheek slightly and she stirred. 
	Before waking up, however, her head moved from side to side. 
She kicked her feet and thrashed her arms while screaming out, "N-No! 
NO! It's not my fault! Please, just listen to me! NO!!!"
	Tuxedo Kamen looked at her as the nightmare continued and 
finally pinned down her shoulders. "Sailor Moon!!! WAKE UP! It's just 
a dream!!" She didn't obey, only kept kicking and screaming. Tuxedo 
Kamen looked about the room as if to see if there were any spies. Ikuko 
froze all breathing and movements when he stared directly at her. 
Luckily for her, he didn't seem to see anything and returned his 
attention back to Sailor Moon. His face softened and he whispered 
regretfully, "Forgive me..." Ikuko was left to wonder why he would 
need forgiveness until she saw him act. The young man leaned down and 
silenced Sailor Moon's screams with a kiss. Soft yet sweet, brief yet 
passionate, and perfect in every way. 
	Sailor Moon stopped. Her eyes flew open to see a white mask 
looking down upon her. The kiss had managed to clear up her vision 
(^_^  ahh the miracle of romance!). "Tux-xedo Kamen-sama?" He nodded. 
	"You were having a bad dream..." A slight blush crept up to 
his cheeks as he thought of his solution to that dream. He pulled his 
hand away from her shoulders and turned slightly. Coming to his senses, 
he spoke again, "I need you to de-transform."
	She looked puzzled. "Why?"
	"I need to fix up that wound you have...I can't do it when 
you're in your fuku." 
	"I'm sorry, but I can't. I brought you to my house...I just 
c-can't tell you who I am..." Tuxedo Kamen sighed. 
	"Please, Sailor Moon. You are trying to hide from me, but it 
won't work. Your smile can't conceal the very large, very painful, and 
very bad wound on your side. I need to fix it."
	"No, I just can't do it." She pushed herself into a sitting 
position with clenched teeth. "I can fix the wound myself anyway. I've 
done it before." Tuxedo Kamen cringed at the realization that she had 
been hurt before this. His protection hadn't been enough those times 
and it pained him to realize that he had failed her numerously. She 
swung her legs over the edge of the bed and he was brought out of his 
depression. With little force, he put a hand to her shoulder and pushed 
her back against the pillow. 
	He looked forlornly at her. "Sailor Moon." She glanced up when 
she heard his sad, soft voice. Tuxedo Kamen looked deeply into the 
crystal blue eyes that seemed to read his soul. She, in turn, was 
staring up at his face, greatly affected by his care and concern. 'If 
only I could see his eyes. I'm sure they're unbelievable.' Taking a 
hand from her side, she brought it to his face and ran it along his 
cheek. In the midst of caressing his strong face, Sailor Moon's hand 
stopped by the edge of his mask. Her fingers lightly brushed his temple 
while making contact with the pure white obstruction. She tugged a 
little at it and that was the end of the moment.  
	Tuxedo Kamen pulled back from her quickly. She smiled, 
knowingly, and spoke. "See? You don't want me to know who you are, why 
would I want you to know who I am?" He glanced sideways at her, his 
eyes still serious and filled with concern.
	"Would it help? If I show you who I am...will you change back?"
	For a second, Sailor Moon almost thought she saw tears coming 
from behind the mask, but they were gone as soon as they had come. 
"Yes. I know it's selfish but I think it would help." Tuxedo Kamen 
nodded, understandingly. 
	"I'm not sure if you know the real me...but if you do, then...
well, please..just don't be disappointed?" Sailor Moon looked shocked. 
	She raised a hand to his face again and brushed it soothingly 
against his skin. "Believe me." She stared at his mask, when suddenly 
she could see his eyes through his mask. They were entrancing, bringing 
her into a world of security. The depths of his azure orbs kept calling 
to her. She sighed at how caring he seemed. 'If only he knew who I was. 
No! NO! He-He can't know! In that life I'm 'Usagi the ditz'. The whiner 
who can't walk on two feet without tripping on something or someone. I 
don't want him to realize how stupid I am...how, when I'm not Sailor 
Moon, I have no good points what-so-ever. I may be a clutzy heroine, 
but at least I can do some good. I can dust something, but Usagi is 
nothing.'

---

	Tuxedo Kamen watched at how her face seemed so fragile and 
happy when she saw his eyes. Relief passed through him. Maybe she 
could accept him as the heartless Chiba Mamoru. She was absolutely 
breathtaking with the pale moon casting its shadows upon her face. The 
action of letting her see his eyes through the mask was nothing when 
she brought a hand to his face. Her touch was so gentle that he felt 
like he hand been touched by an angel. Ahh...but she was an angel, his 
angel. 
	Without warning, her eyes filled with sad tears and her hand 
moved away from him. No! He couldn't let her pull away again. He needed 
her caresses to heal his lonely soul. In the blink of an eye, he 
caught her wrist. She seemed to be scared at the reaction and turned 
her head to the side, "Please..."
	"No. I can't, Sailor Moon. I care about you too much to let 
you hide from this. That wound can only get worse." Tears unwillingly 
fell from her eyes as she kept her head averted. 
	"But I'm nothing when I'm not Sailor Moon. I'm a but a girl...
no powers, no strength, no anything!" Tuxedo Kamen sighed sadly. 'Why 
can't she see it??'
	He took his hand, put it to her chin and moved her face to 
look at his. Using the same hand, he wiped away her tears and let his 
fingers linger on her smooth skin. "Sailor Moon, you are never but a 
girl. You are always an angel, no matter what form you're in. Here..." 
Closing his eyes, Tuxedo Kamen disappeared in a flurry of red sparkles. 
	What was left surprised Sailor Moon to no end. She brought a 
hand to her mouth to cover her gasp, but he heard it. Misinterpreting 
her reaction, he turned away and prepared to stand from the bed while 
saying, "I'm sorry if I have ruined your dream of me. I, too, am just 
a boy."
	He felt like the world had destroyed him when she did not 
approve of his normal form. He thought for sure that she, of all people,
 would be able to see past his icy exterior. He guessed wrong, it 
seemed. However, before he could rise from the bed, he got a reaction 
from her. Not the disdain he was sure he would receive but a warm hand 
to cover his own. 
	He didn't look at her. He didn't want to see what she truly 
thought of him. She forced his eyes to her, though. A small smile was 
on her face and she squeezed his hand for reassurance. "You, too, are 
not just a boy. You are my savior, my hope, and my strength. No matter 
if you're Tuxedo Kamen, the romantic hero, or Chiba Mamoru, the 
tainted youth. I always hoped that it would be you behind the mask." 
The hand resting on his moved to his back as her other arm came around 
his neck. 
	He was not expecting this, to say the least. Her hug was so 
gratifying that he hugged her back with full force. He let loose all 
of his loneliness, pain, hurt, and love with that hug. Sailor Moon 
could feel wetness on her shoulder and knew that he was crying, 
probably for the first time in many many years. She just held him 
tighter to make sure he knew that she was there for him. 
	The pain in her side brought her back to the true issues at 
hand. Without flinching and still in the hug, she de-transformed in a 
shimmer of silver stars. 'I love you, Mamoru-san. Please love me, too.'
	Mamoru felt the change in her along with a new weakness. The 
super strength that being Sailor Moon usually brought to her was now 
gone. He pulled back to see who she was and was as surprised as she 
had been with what he saw. "Odango?" Her eyes clouded with the use of 
the dreaded nickname. "I can't believe it's you!" 
	She wasn't sure if she was supposed to be happy or totally 
depressed at the way he was talking. Her answer came when he hugged 
her again. With his mouth next to her ear, he was able to whisper 
silently just how he was feeling. "You don't know how happy this makes 
me, Usagi. I thought I was losing my mind when I felt so strongly for 
two completely different people, but now, I find out that they are the 
same person!" Mamoru held her closer and, this time, he was the one who 
felt wetness upon his shoulder. "You will always be my angel, Usagi." 
This last sentence was whispered with more emotion, more feeling than 
she had ever heard him speak before.

---

	Ikuko was near tears at the affectionate display that was 
taking place before her. It was so obvious for her to see how these 
two innocent children were shoved into a world they did not want. And 
now...now one of the most important people to the welfare of the city of 
Tokyo was horribly injured. 
	Through the quiet conversation, Ikuko was able to notice the 
seeping gash on the girl's side. The tuxedoed-man had mentioned it 
frequently, in reference to the girl needing to de-transform. Somehow, 
she knew she should be moving to help the two heroes, but again that 
strange feeling in the back of her mind was keeping her in the corner 
of the room.
	After more debates, the young man's costume disappeared. 'Oh 
my goodness! Did she just say 'Chiba Mamoru'??? Isn't that the one who 
constantly puts my girl to tears with his teasing?' She observed a 
little more at how Sailor Moon consoled him and stopped dead in her 
tracks at what she saw next. Her heart froze, her breathing ceased, 
there was nothing going on in the body of Tsukino Ikuko except for a 
little voice that kept repeating: 
	'Sailor Moon is Usagi. Sailor Moon is Usagi. Sailor Moon is 
Usagi.'
	Gaining her human functions, she took a step back. That was a 
bad choice of action. With her step back, Ikuko stepped upon Usagi's 
tennis racket. The plastic structure clattered against the wall because 
of the woman who accidentally shoved it out of place. The two other 
figures in the room sat stock-still. There was someone else in the 
room? Uh-oh...

-----

	Where would those senshi be? The first option was back at the 
battle site. Something had obviously happened to cause an injured Usagi 
to walk home alone and in pain. That something might have left the 
senshi in no rush to go much of anywhere. The second was at the temple. 
Maybe the bad vibes that were screaming at Luna were in no way related 
to her charge being abandoned. Luna thought quickly. 'No. Something 
big must have happened. None of the senshi would ever have let Usagi 
walk home alone in the condition she was in. So, off to the park it is.'
	Once the black cat had left her charge's house five minutes ago, 
she knew something was wrong. It's a rare occurrence when Tuxedo Kamen 
drops Sailor Moon off at her own home with a large wound. She slowed 
her pace when she saw the entrance of the park in view. A jump here, a 
leap there, duck under there, and *poof*, she was right in front of a 
group of girls.
	"Senshi? What are you doing here?"
	Mars looked down at her standing feet. "Oh, Luna. We just 
finished fighting. What are you doing here?"
	"I left right after I thought Sailor Moon dusted the youma...
but..." Her sentence trailed off when she noticed all of the senshi 
wearing guilty faces. "What happened?"
	Silence pervaded the park for a while and Luna began to truly 
worry about what had gone on, post-war. Mercury, as quiet as a mouse, 
spoke up first, "Uh..well, Luna...There is no more Sailor Moon."
	"What? I saw her in her room just a few minutes ago."
	Venus tried to clarify. "No, Luna. Mercury means that...Usagi 
gave up her power as a senshi."
	Black ears perked up. 'Did I just hear that right?' Catching 
up on Luna's lost face, Jupiter continued. "Look." Luna glanced at 
Jupiter's outstretched hand that was pointing to Venus' right hand. 
Within it was..was...no. 'She wouldn't do that...it's not possible...
wh-why?' The orange-handled crescent moon wand was reluctantly resting 
in the hand of an incorrect owner.
	"How did you get that?"
	"Sh-She gave it to us. Said something about putting all of her 
power in it, too." Mercury bowed her head in shame, the rest following. 
Luna's red eyes grew as she glanced around at all of them.
	"What happened tonight?!" The scream echoed throughout the 
park. It was almost amazing that the whole world didn't pick up on it.
	Mars, who had turned her back from the group long before, 
glanced sorrowfully at the guardian. "We're sorry Luna. We- I didn't 
mean for this to happen. It's just that, well she had been late to all 
of the battles for so long and well, we were getting really badly 
injured 'cause of it and...we...we kinda blew up at her."
	"Sh-She didn't argue back like she usually does...She...She 
just gave the wand to Mars and threw all of this silver light at it." 
Jupiter was unsuccessful in continuing her speech when her emotions 
caught in her throat.
	"Then she started talking about dreams that she had all her 
life and was informing us of the line of senshi that would be leader 
after her...Oh, Luna! We didn't mean for her to do this!" Venus fell 
to a seat on the fountain next to Mercury, who put an arm over her 
shoulders.
	Mercury finished up the speech. "She gave up being leader and 
being a senshi in one fluid motion. No second thoughts at all. She 
just told the princess that she was to look after the wand and then 
ran off. Therefore, as I said in the first place, there is no more 
Sailor Moon."
	Luna started to back up. Shaking her head, she spoke, "Bu-But 
if she gave you her power than she sh-should be dead."
	"No. She told us that she gave us as much power as she could, 
but she kept just enough to keep her life force stable. She also didn't 
give us the ginzuishou for the same reason."
	"Th-Then she can't heal herself...and that wound! Oh lord!" 
Within the blink of an eye, the guardian cat of the Moon was out of 
the park. She left four depressed, unmoving senshi in her wake.

-----

	"Who's there?! Who was that?" Sailor Moon frantically glanced 
around her room, zooming in on the corner where she heard the noise. 
Tuxedo Kamen stood up and she followed him. As cautiously as possible, 
they walked towards the shadows. 
	Ikuko fell to her knees when she saw them approaching her. She 
had scared them into transforming instantly and had put them on guard 
for a youma. Tears fell from her eyes when they got even closer. 'No, 
dear, please! Why didn't you tell me? No...no...I shouldn't have 
betrayed you like this...I...Oh lord, be merciful.'
	Sailor Moon crouched in front of her standing partner, 
squinting into the dark. "Who are you?" Ikuko didn't respond or move, 
from fear of what she had just found out. The heroine sighed, glanced 
over her shoulder and nodded to the hero. The hero, in response, 
walked to the door and flicked on the light switch. The heroine fell 
to the ground in shock.
	"Ma-Mama?" Ikuko nodded meekly. Her daughter reached out a 
hand to rest on her shoulder and calmly spoke up. "How much did you 
see?"
	"All of it. I'm sorry, Usagi-chan, I didn't mean to spy, but I 
woke up and came to check on you and..." Sailor Moon just smiled back 
at her and gave her mother a hug.
	"I suppose you would have found out sooner or later. But, 
please understand. Nobody else must know, not even Papa." Ikuko nodded. 
"Oh, Mama. You have to also understand that I could not tell you 
because that would have put you and our family in danger. I didn't 
want you to get hurt." Another nod and a tighter hug was response.
	"You don't have to worry anymore, though. I am not Sailor Moon 
any longer. So, you won't be in danger and you don't have to worry 
about me being in any danger." Ikuko quickly pulled away as if she 
just touched fire.
	"What?!" Tuxedo Kamen, still behind them, also had bugged-out 
eyes. He definitely missed a lot after that battle.
	Usagi de-transformed because of the lack of a threat and sighed.
She smiled up at her mother. "I gave it up, so you don't have to worry. 
I can transform, but only for tonight. By tomorrow, my power level 
will have adjusted itself to the lower setting and I'll just be 
Tsukino Usagi, your teenage daughter!" She giggled a little.
	This time, however, her cheerfulness did not spread to the 
others in the room. Ikuko thought she would be happy that her daughter 
would no longer be put in life-or-death situations, but she wasn't. 
'Don't the senshi need her? Isn't she their leader?' "I..uhh..this..
this doesn't seem right, Usagi-chan."
	The girl's smile didn't fade. Fake happiness was much easier 
to express than true pain. "Oh, forget about it, Mama! Now, you just 
go back to bed. I'll try and get up early tomorrow morning, k?" Ikuko 
rose stiffly. As she was pushed out of the room, she gave the man a 
warning glance filled with fear. She almost seemed to tell him, 'Fix 
this and fast!'
	The door shut, Usagi leaned against it, Mamoru fell onto the 
bed, and there were no words spoken for many long minutes.

---

	Trying to ignore everything that was telling him to shake the 
hell out of the girl in front of him and yell at her for being so 
stupid, Mamoru walked over to the bedroom door. Usagi glanced up at 
him. "I still need to patch up that cut." She nodded and they went 
down to the kitchen.
	She opened one of the cupboards and took out a large first-aid 
kit. She handed it to him. Mamoru looked at her for a brief moment 
before setting the first aid kit on the counter and grabbing her into 
a hug.
	To say that Usagi was shocked by the action was an 
understatement. She did hug him back, though. "I don't know what 
happened to you after you killed that last youma, but I'm sorry that I 
couldn't help you."
	Usagi pat his back lightly and stepped away from the embrace. 
She nonchalantly turned to the counter and began to open the first-aid 
kit. "I don't need any help, Mamoru-san. Everything is fine." 
	"No!" The whispered scream caused Usagi to drop the ball of 
gauze that she was holding. She slowly looked over at Mamoru. He looked 
as if he was deciding whether to kill her, kiss her, or just walk out 
of the house. "Usagi...everything is not fine when the leader of a 
powerful group of superheroes just up-and-quits without worry."
	The blonde ignored his comment and grabbed the gauze off of 
the counter again. She looked at him, as if she hadn't heard a word 
that he just said. "I do believe that you are studying to become a 
doctor. With that in mind, I ask for your help in bandaging this wound. 
My amateur abilities will not be enough." He glanced at her as if she 
had just grown another head. 
	'Why won't you talk to me?!' Enraged, he blocked any rational 
thoughts from his mind and roughly grabbed materials from the first-aid
kit. He looked at Usagi, placed his hands under her arms and lifted her 
carefully onto the white-tiled counter. With one last glare into her 
eyes, he lifted her shirt just enough to fully view the wound and 
proceeded to 'operate' on her. 

-----

	What once was a cat was now just a black streak flying through 
Tokyo. The animal leapt with speed unheard off towards a nice two-story 
house. Catching sight of it, the animal slowed its pace and took one 
bound up to a balcony. It opened the sliding glass doors and stepped 
inside the house. Seeing what it wanted, it tiptoed to a figure on a 
bed.
	The figure did not budge, so the animal nudged harder. "Ahh...
no..wake..now..." The animal growled and bit the ear of the figure. 
"AHHHH!" The figure jumped up and stared at the intruder. "What'd ya 
do that for??"
	The animal sighed, its eyes focusing on the pattern of the 
comforter. "Usagi has done something horrible." The figure's ears 
perked up.
	"What?"
	"We can't talk here. Let's go back to the Tsukino's. Then I 
can ask her some of my own questions." Artemis didn't even try to cross 
his black companion. He just nodded his head and jumped out of the 
house, close behind the animal.





End Chapter 2
-------------

Better, right? Well, for me anyway. 
This is where I end for now. I haven't 
written anything past this in a year...
hopefully inspiration will strike and
I'll be able to finish this story...but 
I'll wait to hear any feedback first. 


Please send ANY comments to me, Sereko. My e-mail is: 
princess-serenity@rocketmail.com