A Birthday Wish by Lady Aisheteru Email: lady_aisheteru@hotmail.com Website: http://www.oocities.org/anniemaniac_99/index.html Disclaimer: I don't own Sailor Moon.  Just this story. Do not sue me; I am poor. Usagi stalked out of Juuban high school, obviously upset.  That day had to be, hands down, the absolute WORST day of her life. ***** The day had started out normally enough, as if to sneak up on her before it rained its unpleasant surprises on her unsuspecting head. "Usagi!  Usagi!  Wake up!" "Mmmm?" she asked.  She had been in the middle of a most wonderful dream, the memory of it beginning to evaporate in her sleep glazed eyes.  Something about a prince, moonlight and a slow waltz under the stars... "You meatball head!  You're late!" "...." Usagi looked up at her cat, who had pounced on her spread eagled body.  Then she looked at her alarm clock. "OH MY GOD!" she exclaimed.  "Why didn't you wake me sooner?" "I did," Luna said defensively.  "You just rolled over and said you'd be up in a second." "And you believed me?" Usagi said incredulously. "I guess I'll never learn," said Luna, sighing.  She settled down at the foot of Usagi's bed and began to clean herself, which she did whenever she was upset.  It helped her to relax and calm her often frayed nerves. Usagi looked at the calendar and smiled a huge smile.  "Luna, guess what today is!" she sang. "I dunno," said Luna, who was in the process of curling herself up into a ball.  "All Saint's Day?" "No, baka.  It's my 16th birthday!" "Wonderful," Luna mumbled, then tucked her head in and began to sleep. "You know, for a talking cat, you sure do snore loud," quipped Usagi, brushing out her hair. Luna pointedly ignored Usagi as she finished dressing and headed eagerly down the stairs. Usagi practically floated into the kitchen.  'Oh boy!' Usagi thought. 'Mom's bound to have all KINDS of goodies out for me on my birthday!' But she was completely prepared for what she saw.  An EMPTY kitchen.  She muttered some choice four letter words and popped a sugar filled pastry into the toaster.  As soon as it was done, she grabbed it and began her daily marathon to Juuban High. ***** Usagi was barreling down Main Street at top speed, looking at her watch the whole time.  'I am SO late!  Mr. Remington's going to have my head on a platter!' Not paying any attention to where she was going, she rammed right into a tall, large object. "Gomen naisai!" she exclaimed, bowing over and over without looking up. "You know, we really have to stop meeting like this, odango," drawled the object. Usagi immediately looked up and into the eyes of her arch-enemy, all 6 foot 5 inches of Chiba Mamoru. "Oooh!  Of all the people to run into, it had to be YOU, baka!" she exclaimed angrily.  "I don't have TIME for this.  I am SOOOOO late!" she finished. "Relax, odango.  Why don't I give you a lift?" he offered. Usagi eyed him suspiciously.  "Who the hell are you and what have you done with Chiba Mamoru?" she snapped. "Nothing.  So do you want a ride to school or not?" he asked. Usagi pondered it a moment.  She looked down at her watch.  If she accepted Mamoru's offer, she would actually be 5 minutes early to homeroom.  It was 15 more minutes to Juuban High by foot, even at her usual pace.  But still, she was caught between enduring a ride with her worst enemy or facing the wrath of her sadistic teacher who gave out detention slips as though they were going out of style. She chose the latter.  "Get bent.  I'd rather kiss a porcupine than go anywhere with you, baka." she hissed.  She gathered up her things and continued her breakneck pace. Mamoru looked after her grinning, though inwardly he was hurt.  'Why does she doubt my motives?' he wondered mentally.  The answer soon came to him.  'Perhaps it's because you've never done anything NICE for her, baka.' He slapped his forehead.  As Tuxedo Mask, he was a smooth, sexy cassanova who was the king of turning a phrase.  But as Chiba Mamoru, he was a moron who was the proud owner of a chocolate foot. ***** "Late again, Ms. Tsukino?" asked Mr. Remington tentatively.  "Homeroom ended 10 minutes ago," he said, frowning. "Gomen, Remington-sensei," muttered Usagi under her breath. "Forgive me for doubting your sincerity, Tsukino.  This is the third time this week you've been late, and it's only Wednesday," he said. Usagi continued to stare at the floor. "Well, you can take this afternoon to think about it," he said, writing down something on a pink slip of paper.  Handing it to her, he said, "Detention, 3 pm sharp." Usagi took the slip and muttered something unintelligable. "Oh," he said, smiling.  "Happy Birthday!" At that moment, Usagi was VERY tempted to show him a choice finger, but she thought better of it and rushed off to her first class, already 15 minutes late. ***** Ami, Rei, Makoto and Minako sat at the counter of the Crown arcade, enjoying an afternoon snack. "So, I trust you haven't told Usagi of our plans?" asked Ami. "Nah.  My lips are sealed," said Makoto, between sips of her vanilla shake. "Good.  Uh oh, here she comes!" said Ami.  She hurredly hid a small sheet of paper behind her back. As if on cue, Usagi stalked into the Crown arcade, her head hanging down low.  Even the very air seemed to grow depressed around her. Minako frowned.  "Why so blue, Usagi?" she asked. "It's my birthday and nobody noticed or did anything except stupid Mr. Remington!" Minako slapped her forehead in fake surprise.  "Damn!" she said.  "I forgot all about your birthday!" "So, what did Mr. Remington give you for your birthday?" asked Rei, amused. "A detention!" she moaned. Rei snickered and soon broke into all out laughter.  Ami, Minako and Makoto joined in. "That's not funny!" growled Usagi, who sat down, put her head into her arms and set into a sulk. "What's the matter, odango, fail another test?" said a deep voice from behind her. Usagi lifted her head and turned to face her nemesis.  Her eyes brimmed with unshed tears.  "I do NOT need this from YOU, Mamoru!" she said.  "I've been yelled at, laughed at, rotted in detention, and on top of that, reminded how stupid I am!" she said, between sobs.  Mamoru's mouth opened and closed, as if he was going to say something. "Not another WORD!  I am OUT of here!" she said, tears streaming down her cheeks as she ran out of the arcade.  "Wow, you must have really let her have it," mused Motoki. "Not really," muttered Mamoru. "You must have said SOMTHING to set her off," said Motoki. "Actually, Mamoru's right," said Ami.  "She was depressed when she came in," said Rei. "I wonder why?" said Motoki.  "Today's her birthday," said Minako, sighing. "WHAAAT?" asked Mamoru. "Yep," said Makoto glumly. "Sweet sixteen." "And we're throwing her a surprise party at her house," said Ami. "Oh no!" said Rei.  "We'd better make sure she doesn't go home!" she exclaimed. "You're right!" said Makoto.  Each girl put a few yen on the counter and rushed out the door. All the while, Mamoru sat there, a glazed expression in his eyes and an idiotic grin on his face. "Uh...Mamoru?" Nothing.  He tried waving his hand in front of Mamoru's face.  Still nothing.  He then reached over the counter and shook his friend.  "Hello!  You're wanted on Planet Earth!" he snapped. "Huh?  What?" asked Mamoru. "Wow," mused Motoki.  "You were really out of it.  So who was it?" he asked. "Huh?" "The girl you were thinking about.  She must be pretty special," said Motoki. Mamoru slapped his forehead.  Motoki sure did know how to read him.  He was one of the few people who did. "She is," he said, smiling.  He put some yen on the counter and walked out the door. "I should have known," said Motoki, smiling after his deranged friend. ***** "Nooo you guys!  I'm tired!" protested Usagi. "Come on, one more store?" pleaded Rei. "All right," grumbled Usagi.  After she had run out of the arcade, her friends had caught up to her and insisted on taking her for a shopping trip to cheer her up.  But even two hours of strolling Juuban mall had failed to lift her spirits.  "Somthing on your mind, Usa?" asked Ami gently as she led Usagi and the others to a table in the food court. "Oh, it's nothing," said Usagi, smiling.  But the smile didn't reach her eyes. "Yeah, right," said Rei.  "You've always been a terrible liar, Usagi." "I have?" asked Usagi.  Then she covered her mouth, realizing her mistake.  "What makes you think I'm lying?" she said. "Give it up, hon, your cover's been blown," said Minako. "Oh all right," said Usagi, sighing.  "You want to know what's wrong?" "We're your friends, Usagi," said Rei.  "We're here for you." "It's silly, really.  Just a feeling I've been having," she said.  "You know that saying, Sweet Sixteen and Never Been Kissed?" asked Usagi. "Yeah," said Makoto. "I've been wondering.  What's it like to be kissed?  You know, REALLY kissed." "Search me," said Minako.  "I have no clue.  A youma saw to that." she said. "A youma?" "Yeah, during my days as Sailor V, a dying youma put a curse on me that I would never find true love.  And so far, it's proved true." "You should have told me," said Rei.  "Why?" said Minako. "I'm a Shinto priestess, remember?  I can remove the curse for you," she said. "So what's my excuse?" said Usagi. At this, the girls, including Usagi, burst into laughter. Mamoru, who had been hiding behind some fake shrubbery, smiled to himself.  Now he knew exactly what he would get her for her birthday. ***** The girls walked Usagi home, each carrying a bag of clothes.  After Usagi had cheered up, it was like she went into overdrive.  They had been into more stores in one hour than they could remember having ever visted in their lives.  But none of them minded.  All in all, they got a pretty nice haul.  And, with the exception of Makoto, who was taller than them, Rei, Minako, Ami and Usagi were all the same size, which meant that they could wear each other's clothes. "Wow, it's awfully quiet," said Usagi as she walked into the front door.  "Did Daddy forget to pay the electric bill?" "SURPRISE!" yelled dozens of voices as the lights went on.  Her mom, dad, Shingo, Molly, Umino, Reika, Motoki and her other dearest friends and family crowded the Tsukino living room.  And that was a lot of people, because Usagi was special to many. Usagi's eyes welled up with tears, but this time they were tears of joy.  "Ohmigosh!" she exclaimed.  "You guys!" "Now, you didn't REALLY think we could forget your birthday, did you?" asked her mom. "I dunno," said Minako.  "We really had her going for awhile." "You were in on this too?" said Usagi. "Yep," she said, all four girls nodding. "You're the BEST!" Usagi said, enveloping Rei, Ami, Minako and Makoto in a huge bear hug. "Well, now that the birthday girl's here, we can cut the cake," said Kenji Tsukino, Usagi's dad. "Yea!  Cake!"  said Usagi.  "I'm starving!" Everyone gathered around and sang happy birthday.  After their voices died down, Usagi paused over the cake, hesitating. "Come on!  Make a wish, girl!" said Minako. A thought came to Usagi's mind.  She knew exactly what to wish for.  She closed her eyes and blew out all sixteen candles. ***** Usagi really enjoyed her party.  She had received an astrology book from Rei, a desk lamp from Ami ("For all of your late night studying," she had said.  At this, Usagi had rolled her eyes.) a book of arcade gift certificates from Motoki, a diary from Makoto, a makeup kit from Minako and a yellow sundress from her parents.  Even Shingo had given Usagi a gift; his was a stuffed bunny. She sighed, exhausted from her revelries and surrounded by her bounty.  Something was missing, though.  Something Usagi couldn't quite put her finger on... She heard a rustling in the trees.  As she looked out the open window, she gasped.  Sitting on a branch was Chiba Mamoru. "Can I come in?" he asked. "Sure..." she said. Mamoru hopped from the branch onto her balcony, then climbed inside. "I know it's late," he said.  "But I wanted to give you your present in private," he said. "Present?" asked Usagi.  "How did you know it's my birthday?" "I have my ways," he said mysteriously.  He brought out a small black box and handed it to Usagi. Usagi opened it revealed a chocolate kiss.  She looked up at Mamoru, puzzled.  "What kind of present is this?" she asked, holding the kiss between her thumb and forefinger. "That's not your present," said Mamoru, smiling. "Wha..."Usagi began, but she was cut off by a pair of lips devouring her own hungrily.  Her hands reached up and played with his black hair, marvelling at how silky it felt in her fingertips.  Mamoru tilted their heads to the side, deepening the kiss.  Usagi moaned with pleasure as she reveled in the taste of his mouth, which was better than chocolate.  He trailed butterfly kisses down her neck and settled on the hollow of her throat.  He stepped back and whispered, "Aisheteru, Usako.  Happy birthday."  He leaped out of the window and into the night. "Aisheteru, Mamo-chan," she said to the cool night air.  She smiled. Her wish had come true after all.