“You said that you wanted to speak to me, would you like to…?” they listened as her voice fell to silence.
    It moment of truth, they could only wished that they had practiced some type of tactility for something like this. “Well…” Usagi felt her throat dry up, and took another sip of tea, nudging Mamoru slightly.
    “Ms. Mizuno, your daughter, is part of a special group… of chosen people. She is… SailorMercury…” he waited for the information to sink in and was surprised to see that her reaction had been none at all, “and the rest of them are well… well, the rest of these girls.”
    She started at that, “them? We are entrusting our future with… I’m sorry, I’m a little shocked at this revelation, that is all.”
    Mamoru cleared his throat, “Usagi here, is SailorMoon, Rei SailorMars, Minako SailorVenus, and Makoto SailorJupiter, well, I… am Tuxedo Kamen”
    Calmly, she nodded her head, “I see.” Looking up, she noticed their wondering gapes and smiled, “is there something wrong.”
    “You are so calm.” Makoto said, while the rest remained speechless. “Did you know all along of our secret identities beforehand?”
    “No, not exactly, but I have always known I suppose, that Ami was destined for something greater than the human sciences, that there was something more for her mind to work for. Her connectability with the weak, her... I suppose, heart was more than saving a numbered amount of people. I felt something, but it was always a supposition, nothing more. Special powers I did not conceive of, but as a mother, I do know when she climbs out of the window at night. I am glad that she is able to do something, something to repair this wronged world of ours.”
    Minako breathed a sigh of relief to see her calm reaction, they had perhaps expected her to faint with disbelief, or at least something of that sort. “So does that mean that you won’t throw us into a mental hospital for this? You don’t think we are crazy? Nuts?”
    “Good heavens, no.” Mewagi Mizuno said, laughing slightly at the idea, she quickly lost the smile though, “but there is more to what you say, yes?”
    Rei rushed in, “they’ve taken her, I’m sorry, we were supposed to take care of her, make sure that she was safe… oh my god, it is all my fault!”  They all held their breaths while Rei said that, but expelled it when they saw another smile from her face.

    Mewagi had been sitting rigidly in her chair with her legs crossed, she found that she was gripping her hands together very tightly. Looking at them, she saw faces of anticipation, and anxiety, remembering the role of the perfect hostess and mother, she smiled at them with the face of tranquility, “I see. It is not your fault, I suppose that dangers are part of what she has agreed to do, and I trust that she will be able to take care of herself.” She stood up and nodded to them, “I mustn’t keep you then, thank you for coming to inform me of the news, I am grateful.” Then, wishing for some peace and thinking space, she stood up and  walked towards the front door to let them out of the house. She saw the five immediately get up from their chairs and stumbling towards her, each one smiling gently and expressing their sorrow while she merely shook her head and accepted their best wishes. There was nothing more that she could do, other than smile and hide her worse fears.

    “After twelve games, I have only managed to win twice, I humbly accept defeat, but that means that I shall need more practice, and you, if you do not mind, will have to be my teacher, Princess.”
    Ami smiled at him, her eyes twinkling from the triumphs, “opponent, I am only fit to be your opponent, after all, you did win me on more than once.  I am always glad to have such a worthy opponent, it is hard to find, maybe we can continue playing on another ocassion.”
    “I won twice, Princess, you have swept the table.”
    “Then perhaps you will hire me as the maid, to sweep the tables?” She smiled, “and please, call me by name.”
    “Ami, yes, perhaps I may now tempt you for dinner at my table?”
    Placing the tanzanite piece back on the table, she gratefully took his hand and whispered softly, “may I have your name?”
    He hesitated, “Takeuchi, my name is Takeuchi.”
    “Then your surname?”
    He shook his head as he realized that he did not know but he was too confused to admit it. “I’m afraid that… no one is told.”
    He saw in her face that she had picked up the hesitation and the confusion in his voice but chose did not question him any further. “Well then, Takeuchi, if you do not mind, I would like a tour of this palace before we are to eat.”
    “Very well, that would be my pleasure,” opening the doors, he pointed at a doorway that she remembered as her own room, “as you will notice, I have situated you close to the library, so that you can take full advantage of this room.”

    “Wow, she took it well, I mean, she had it all figured out practically. I was expecting, you know, some emotional, crying figure, fainting and screaming, hysterics everywhere if you know what I mean.” Usagi said happily, as she and Minako skipped down the streets.
    “Yeah, I didn’t expect that, she was so… calm.” Makoto said.
    “Some people are surprising, we cannot all be predictable, imagine what a boring world it would be, and not everyone is like you, Odango-dama.” Rei stated with her usual coolness. Then she turned at the intersection to head back to the shrine. “I’ll see you all later then.”
    The others soon split up for their respective homes, leaving only Mamoru to see Usagi back to her home. As they walked, she continued to chatter incessantly, happy about how her encounter with the cool doctor had not been as scary as she had anticipated. Mamoru nodded and made little noises to let her know that he was paying attention, somewhat, but did not really take part in the monologue. Once they reached the front door, he absently gave her a peck on the cheek, waited for her to walk into her house and left. Looking up to the sky and seeing the magnificent sunset, he began heading back to the same direction he had been walking from, sighing, he took a deep breath; “I wonder if she is taking it as well as she pretends to be.”
 
 

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