|
Post by Chiba Mamoru on Jan 21, 2009 0:15:14 GMT -5
Mamoru nodded in agreement to what she said about him moving. He would get his things moved to another part of the palace that very night, or at the very least in the morning. However, even if she was supposedly giving him time to move he knew that he couldn’t stay here for very long. This palace was filled with too many echoes of a broken future, their future together, and he didn’t think that he could handle staying here for too long. He would have to find some place else to live and soon, besides he really didn’t want to have to deal with running in to Usagi or senshi all over the place. If he lived in the palace he was bound to run into at least one of them at some point in time, but if he lived else where he wouldn’t have to worry about them.
He made his way to the door, hesitating before actually going out of it. He couldn’t just walk away without saying anything, he loved her too much for that. Mamoru gave her a sad smile and murmured, “For what it’s worth Usak ... Usagi, I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
I have to remember not to call her Usako, I don’t have that right anymore ...
“I guess we just weren’t destined to be together after all, the distances between us too great ...”
He continued on through the door. It took all of the strength he had to actually walk down the hall, resisting the urge to return and beg for forgiveness, beg for her to take him back. She had been the light that made everything worthwhile, but all he had managed to do was hurt her.
|
|
|
Post by Neo Queen Serenity on Jan 21, 2009 0:52:05 GMT -5
Usagi returned his mournful smile. "I believe that. It's your lack of regard after you did hurt me that enlarged this gulf between us." She held her expression steady at that hated word-- destiny. The more she went along in life, the less she believed in it.
"We forge our own destinies, Chiba-san, and build bridges across distances. We may not comprehend all of the consequences that will result from our choices, but they are still our decisions. Good night." She quietly shut the door behind him, and then leaned against it, heaving out a sigh. He believed that destiny and distance were what was responsible for driving them apart? YOU drove us apart, Mamo-chan! Your behavior, your actions, your arrogance! No, he didn't have the slightest abstract conception of personal responsibility. It was everyone else's fault, or destiny's fault! How very convenient! How could she have missed this in him before? How could this fatal part of his disposition eluded her?
She had to do this while she still had the nerve. Usagi stalked to the table, and picked up the phone, pressing in the extension.
"Hikari-san. This is Serenity. I want you to..." Suddenly there was a very large lump in her throat. Usagi cleared it, fidgeting for a moment. "The wedding is off," she declared, unable to keep the tremble out of her voice, especially as Hikari gasped on the other line. "It's totally off."
"Are you sure? It's not just some lover's spat? Seven years is a heck of a lot of history to throw away!" The worried voice of her Chief of Staff came through on the other line.
Usagi opened her mouth to reply, but found herself swallowing instead, trying to get her bearings and take the stress out of her vocal cords so when she spoke it wouldn't be so obvious that tears were now flooding her eyes. Instead, a sob choked out. "No, it's over... It's really over... " She sank to the floor, pulling her knees to her chest, her tears making a damp, dark spot on her jeans.
"I'll come find you," Hikari said immediately. "You shouldn't be alone right now." The poor woman sounded so worried. "Oh, honey, I'm so sorry... I'll take care of everything, I promise."
"No," Usagi sniffled, drawing sleeve over her face, swiping at her tears. "No, just... Do your job, please. I want to be alone right now." She hung up before Hikari could reply, and then typed the extension for the Secret Service, breathing through her nose several times and trying to calm down before she spoke.
"This is Serenity. I want the palace access codes for Chiba Mamoru downgraded to visitor status for all Ministry and Royal areas of the palace. Access to all areas requiring any level of security clearance is denied. Access to my quarters of the palace is set to permission levels-- if he wants in, it'll have to be cleared through me. His protective detail will have to be downgraded-- he is no longer a future King, but I still want him protected. He's famous now, there are lots of people who are still going to wish him harm, I'm sure." She waited for an affirmation of her orders before hanging up once more and dialing the Ministry of Intelligence.
"This is Serenity," she identified herself again. "Stop all intel briefings to Chiba Mamoru. He is denied all access to classified information. His provisional security clearances have been revoked."
And again, she hung up, looking at the very empty room, that seemed to get bigger and lonelier by the moment.
She had to keep moving, keep working, keep doing something, or she would break down completely. For some reason, she found herself on her private elevator, going down to the palace wine cellar. For the strangest reason this seemed like the perfect time to pick out a 1500 credit bottle of Merlot and take it back up to her room.
There was no way she was going to be able to sleep. Usagi watched some movies from her queue, drank glass after glass of the extraordinarily delicious and absurdly expensive 1998 Petrus Pomerol vintage, and worked on an upcoming speech on the netbook. She wanted to blast herself with as much stimulus as possible to keep her mind off of the incredible events of that night.
The credits to the film 'The Duchess' were rolling when the phone rang. Usagi glanced at the clock-- two in the morning? Not another crisis... She picked it up. "Serenity..." Yes, another crisis. This was big. "I'll be down to the Situation Room in just a few minutes. Just let me get dressed." Well, she got her wish, something was about to keep her very busy and she'd have no time to sleep and dream of her ex-fiancé, and at least she'd already be up and running for that senshi meeting. How were they going to react? In five hours she'd find out...
|
|