Here's Part 5b. Rated PG-13. READ!!!!
-Lianne (eclipse@ntplx.net)
*Sailor Moon and all its characters are copyright Naoko 
Takeuchi/Kodansha Ltd./Toei Animation, Co., Ltd. and the English 
adaptation is copyright 1995 DIC productions, LP. This story is 
copyright Lianne Sentar, August 1997.   
**DOWN WITH DUB-BASHING!!!

*Usagi and Mamoru's Love: Blossomings*
Part 5b
        
        "MAMO-CHAN!!!" Usagi cried as she saw the blast explode where 
he was. She squinted her eyes at the blinding light, unable to see 
anything. When at last she could, she saw a crater in the wall 
where Mamoru had been. "No," she whispered. "No...Mamo-chan..."
Tears streamed form her eyes, and she slipped to the ground,
sobbing. He was dead. She knew it. Totally vaporized. Her chest 
heaved and she cried brokenly, her face to the ground. "Mamo-chan,"
she whispered. "Please, you can't...leave me...oh, Mamo-chan..." She
didn't notice Arasei look on the crater with evil accomplishment in 
his one good eye. His gaze fell once more upon Heiko, and his eye 
filled with sadness and loss. "Heiko," he whispered as he floated 
over to her and knelt by her still body. He brushed away some
damp purple bangs from her face, his eye filling with pain. "Oh,
Heiko...I...can't believe you're gone..." He picked up her hand and 
brought it to his face, closing his eye as he felt its softness,
blood dripping from his punctured eye and onto her shirt, the 
pain of it unnoticed. "I...I'm sorry..." His voice was cracking. "You
don't...deserve this..."
        Mamoru gritted his teeth and grasped onto the rock face tighter.
About ten feet below Arasei, Mamoru held on to the side of the
level, which miraculously had some dentures in it for him to keep 
himself on it with. The sword was gripped tightly in his right hand,
his arms and legs spread to keep himself on the smooth surface.
"Usako," he whispered.
        "Heiko," Arasei whispered. "Oh, Heiko..." Usagi's sobbing made
him look up. Across the cavern, the young woman lay curled
on the floor, crying brokenly. "Mamo-chan," she sobbed.
        Arasei's eye hardened. "She...she's the one that did this to you,
my love," Arasei said harshly, his eye burning with hate. "She...
she will pay for what she did to you..." He began to build up more
power between his hands as he stood up slowly. His face
was frozen in a state of pure hatred as the cavern began to grow 
bright with his power. Usagi looked up, and gasped. "Pay for
what you have done..." his voice scraped as he pointed his 
outstretched palms at Usagi. Her large quivering eyes widened
as she saw her death reflected in his green pupil.
        A hand reached up from the edge of the floor and grabbed 
Arasei's ankle, yanking him. Arasei lost his balance and fell to
the floor, growling as he saw Mamoru pull himself over the 
edge and hold his sword. "Miss me?" Mamoru hissed. "I don't
die as easily as you may think."
        "Mamo-chan!" Usagi cried with relief. Arasei's eye burned. 
"You...will have a more painful death...than anything you can 
imagine..." The sword from the other end of the cavern levitated
and flew over into Arasei's hand. He gripped it, lowering his head
as his eye burned with internal fire. "You will beg for death
to save you from what I will do to you."
        Mamoru held his sword in a fighting stance, his blue eyes
clear and cold. "Not if I kill you first."
        Arasei swung at him full force. Mamoru parried with his own 
sword, the two weapons hitting each other with a crash. Mamoru
had both hands on the hilt, grimacing as his left arm flashed
with pain from his previous wounds. Arasei pulled back, his 
skewered eye dripping blood and puss onto his arm. Mamoru
quickly noted it as a disadvantage for the other man, who only
had one good eye. However, Mamoru realized, it was probably
not as much of a handicap as his hurt arm. Arasei attacked again,
growling and fighting aggressively. Mamoru blocked his blow 
again, but faltered back a step as they pushed against
each other's swords. Mamoru managed to push Arasei off and
attack offensively, Arasei moving out of his swing. Arasei
slashed at Mamoru, and he only barely managed to get out
of the way, although not without getting a long 
gash on his side. He pressed his hand against it, feeling the
warm blood pressing through the fabric of his raggedy shirt.
Arasei slashed again, and Mamoru dodged, kicking him roughly
as he let his side open. Arasei was pushed back slightly, but 
attacked viciously again, and Mamoru barely managed to get up
his sword in time. Arasei's eye flashed. "You are weak," he
spat. He pushed Mamoru backwards, and he fell to the floor.
Arasei chopped at him, but Mamoru rolled out of the way, 
another gash being inflicted on the back of his left 
shoulder. He rolled to a standing position, holding his sword 
in as good a fighting position as he could. Arasei held up a hand,
palm out, his eye flashing with hatred. "Die," he hissed
as he shot a power beam at Mamoru.
        Usagi cried out as she saw Mamoru drop to the ground,
out of the beam's path. She saw how many injuries 
Mamoru had sustained, and how he was slower than he normally
was. He seemed to be fighting a lost battle. Her eyes welled
up with tears. <Please, God,> she prayed. <Please, give him
strength. Please.>
        Mamoru rolled out of the way again as Arasei chopped at him.
He knew that he was weakening, and that Arasei was getting
an incredible lead over him. He jumped up and retreated back a 
few steps as Arasei spat. "You can't fight, Prince," he sneered.
His glittering green eye had an almost insane look to it.
        Arasei attacked again, swinging his sword madly. Mamoru 
narrowly dodged it, but saw Arasei had left a huge spot open. He 
slashed his own sword at the man, and Arasei cried out and 
faltered back a few steps, clutching a large gash across his abdomen 
and chest. The blood darkened his tunic, adding to the dark
blood on his clothing from his eye. 
        Mamoru attacked again, and Arasei barely blocked it in time.
Mamoru pressed his attack harder, cutting Arasei on the arm and
managing to dodge all of his counter attacks. Mamoru slammed
his sword against Arasei's when they locked blades again, and 
Arasei fell to the floor. Before Mamoru could react, Arasei 
growled and shot up his hand. "You will not win," Arasei hissed
as he shot a huge ball of lightning at Mamoru. It hit him full on,
and Mamoru was blown back. He flew across the cavern backwards
and slammed into the wall near Usagi. He made a weak cry and
slunk to the floor. "Mamo-chan?!" Usagi exclaimed. She tried
to crawl as best she could with her hands tied to where he was.
Arasei floated over the chasm and grabbed Usagi roughly before 
she reached him, and she screamed. It seemed to knock Mamoru
out of his dazed state, and he blinked dazedly and looked up
as he saw Arasei dragging Usagi over to one of the mine carts on
a track nearby. Arasei grabbed her and tossed her in one of the 
carts, jumping in after. "She dies," Arasei hissed as he released
the brake and the cart started to go down the track, picking up
speed. "Mamo-chan!" Usagi screamed.
        Mamoru breathed heavily as he stumbled up as best he could,
blinking spots out of his eyes and trying to keep from falling 
over with dizziness. He saw another cart, and he fumbled to 
get in it, throwing the brake so it would follow Arasei. He 
gripped the railing and looked out at Arasei in the cart 
ahead. The other man's eye narrowed, and he shot a fireball
at Mamoru. Mamoru dropped to the floor of the cart to dodge it 
as Arasei suddenly grabbed his abdomen wound and started keeling.
Usagi took in a breath. <He must be weaker from his wounds,> 
she thought. She kicked at him from the corner of the floor of
the cart, her sharp school shoes leaving deep bruises in his 
shins. He cried out and fell to the floor of the cart, holding his 
head and fighting nausea. He growled at her and clutched his 
sword. With a snarl he hit her across the face with the hilt, 
knocking her to the floor. He sat and tried to regain himself as
Usagi blinked painfully. 
        Mamoru got up and gripped his sword tighter, his eyes burning 
with anger when he saw Arasei hit Usagi. He didn't want to try to 
knock the cart off the track, because he could risk killing Usagi. 
Looking at the cart, his eyes started to grow fuzzy. He blinked 
them and tried to keep them focused in the darkness. <Lost too
much blood,> he thought slowly as his head started to spin. <Got
to get Usako out of here. NOW.> 
        Arasei got up and saw Mamoru reeling. He took the opportunity 
to throw a small ball of lightning at the wheels of his cart. Usagi
screamed as Mamoru clutched the side of his cart, the whole
thing rocking madly and almost going off the track. He gritted
his teeth and threw himself against the other side of it,
shifting its weight. The cart teetered back into a safe position.
Arasei's eye flashed. "DIE," he hissed as he threw a ray beam at 
Mamoru. Mamoru dodged, but just barely, and it still managed to
hit his shoulder. It knocked him back in the cart, his head starting 
to throb, and his vision growing darker and fuzzy again. He shook
his head out of it and stumbled up. He saw Arasei holding his
head, nauseous again. Mamoru looked around his cart quickly, 
looking for any type of projectile. There were some fairly large
rock chunks along the floor of it, and he grabbed one and tried 
to focus his darkening eyes on Arasei. He threw it, and managed to
knock Arasei on the side of the head. Arasei fell to the floor of his
cart, grasping his head painfully. Usagi kicked at him again,
landing her blows. He stumbled up and lashed at her, knocking
her over again, as he saw the dripping blood on his hand where 
the rock had hit his head. He formed a dagger dizzyingly in his 
hand, and stumbled up, his good eye full of fury. He threw the 
dagger top speed, it flashing with his magic and giving it 
good aim. Mamoru didn't see it in time, and it buried deep in his
shoulder. He fell to the floor of the cart, eyes squinched shut 
as he clutched the dagger. Everything got very dark, but he blinked
it away, trying to use the pain to keep him awake. He clutched the
dagger, gritted his teeth, and slowly pulled it out. It squelched
as it came out of him, sliding in the soft tissue of his 
body. He dropped the bloody dagger and held the wound,
feeling the warm gush of blood flow over his hand. He blinked
and managed to sit up. His eyes saw the dagger, and his hand 
slowly clasped over it. His pained blue eyes suddenly grew 
very still and calm. They dilated until the pupils almost 
disappeared completely. And they grew crystal clear again.
        He stood up slowly. Arasei was in view, holding his head and
trying to keep conscious. He saw Mamoru, and he looked up. 
Mamoru's crystalline eyes narrowed calmly. "This," he said
softly and dangerously, "is for taking away the most important 
thing in my life." And he threw the dagger.
        Deep into Arasei's heart.
        The man made a choked gasp, clutching at the dagger in his chest
in shock. He gurgled, and coughed. Blood bubbled up from his
mouth, dripping over his shirt. His eye blinked a single time before
he fell over in the cart, next to a shocked Usagi. His glittering
green eye dulled, and closed for a final time. 
        Mamoru's eyes grew normal again, and he stumbled, grasping the
side of the cart to keep standing. His legs shuddered beneath him.
Usagi looked at Arasei's corpse and stumbled to push herself up.
She didn't notice that now the carts had gone onto a piece of track
that was elevated on its own, surrounded by the floor 15 feet below.
All she saw was her love fighting to stay conscious. "Mamo-chan!" she 
cried out worriedly.
        His dull eyes looked up. "Usako," he whispered, before his eyes 
darkened at the wall he saw coming up. Usagi seemed to sense 
something was wrong, and whipped her head around. The track
ended in a dead end shortly in a solid stone wall. Her eyes 
grew huge. There was no way for her to get out.
        Mamoru took a breath and put a foot on the front of his cart.
Struggling to keep his balance and his focus, he gripped the 
front. <One shot,> was all he thought. <One shot. And if I 
screw up, I lose her.> The sudden thought that he may never 
be with Usagi again, that any harm would come to her, both 
weakened and strengthened his heart. Weakened in that he thought
of the misery that anything should happen to his love, and
strengthened his determination to save her. His eyes grew hard.
And he jumped forward.
        Usagi screamed and pushed against the back of the cart. The wall 
flew towards her at an alarming rate, and she knew it was only 
seconds until impact. She squinched her eyes as she screamed
and prepared herself for the impact. 
        Strong, protective arms picked her up and cradled her. Her eyes
popped open in surprise as she saw Mamoru was holding her.
She felt his weakened muscles tense and spring as he used the 
remnants of his strength to propel them out of the cart just as it 
impacted with the wall and smashed, breaking and knocking dust 
and chunks of rock out of the wall, before toppling over and 
crashing to the floor far below. Mamoru reached the floor,
squatting slightly to help break the fall. He was so weak he nearly
toppled when he did so, but he fell on one knee and quickly 
picked up Usagi into a standing position and pushed her against
the wall, pressing against her and holding her tightly as the 
remnants of the cart crashed down around them, rocks flying 
everywhere. Mamoru barely noticed the few rocks that did hit
his back, as he was so far out of his body he hardly could feel
anything.
        The dust settled, and Mamoru blinked tiredly. Usagi brought 
her head up to look at him, her eyes quivering. "Usako,"
he whispered weakly. "Are you...O.K.?" 
        "M...Mamo-chan!" she cried as tears streamed down her cheeks.
She buried her face in his damp chest crying as he fumbled with her
bonds, finally setting her free. She immediately threw her 
arms around him and sobbed. "Oh, Mamo-chan!"
        He suddenly collapsed to his knees, accidentally pulling Usagi 
with him. "Mamo-chan!" she exclaimed worriedly. She looked at 
her arms and clothing, and saw them to be covered in his warm
wet blood. His shirt was soaked with it.
        He blinked weakly as he took her hands. "Usako," he mumbled.
        "Oh, Mamo-chan! We need to get you help!" she cried. "You're
bleeding so much! Oh, Mamo-chan PLEASE don't die on me!"
        "Usako," he said quietly, pulling the lockets out of his pockets
and pressing them into her hands. His big hands closed over hers,
clasping her hands over the lockets as she looked at him with 
watery blue eyes. "Call...the senshi and take us home. It's all 
right...I shouldn't die from this. I have to...ask you something."
        "Mamo-chan," she sobbed. "What?"
        "Usako." He gently reached up and touched her blood-smeared
cheek softly. "I want you to know something. I...had a dream last
night. It made me...realize what...you've given me. I was so 
alone before I...met you. I never had...anyone to love. But
you gave me that, Usako. I...love you with...all my heart. More
than I've ever...remembered loving...anyone. And its something 
I've...always wanted more...than anything. And there's no woman...I'd 
rather spend the rest of my life with...than you."  He slowly reached 
into his pocket. This time pulling out a ring box. "Usako," he 
whispered softly as her eyes grew wide. "Will you marry me?"
        Usagi gasped. He pulled out the ring and slipped it on her 
ring finger. It was a diamond heart, surrounded by smaller 
diamonds in a band of gold. She stared at it then at him. "Please,"
he whispered. "Please, be my wife Usako. I'll never ask for
anything else in this world ever again if you'll just be with
me for the rest of eternity."
        Usagi stared him, and her eyes filled with tears. 
"Oh, Mamo-chan!" she cried as she threw her arms
around him. "I want nothing more! I love you more than
anything in the world!"
        "I...love you...Usako..." he whispered as he collapsed in her 
arms. 
        "Mamo-chan?!" she exclaimed worriedly as he went
limp. She struggled with him, and laid him
out on the ground, quickly checking for a pulse. It was shallow,
but there. "Oh, Mamo-chan," she sobbed. "I have to...get you
help..." She knew she needed to be calm to help him, but her 
emotions were too strong. Her head wasn't clear as she saw 
him lying, soaked in blood. Her body racked with sobs as
she tried to calm herself and help him. Her hands fumbled
with the buttons of his shirt as she tried to take it off to see 
his wounds. Tears ran down her cheeks, and she started to fall 
over with her sobbing.
        "Usagi-chan?" A worried voice. Kind arms pulling her away 
from him and turning her around. Her eyes shot open. "Mako-chan!" 
she cried, burying her face in her friend's shoulder. "Oh, Mako..."
        "Usagi-chan!" Venus exclaimed worriedly. "You're covered in 
blood!" She ran her hands over Usagi, trying to find any wounds. 
Usagi shook her head, sobbing. "No. It's not...my blood...it's
Mamo-chan's..."
        Mercury went over to him on the floor as Mars and the cats helped 
to comfort Usagi. Ami's eyes were cool as she looked him over. She 
grabbed his collar in both hands and ripped his shirt down the line 
of buttons, opening the blood-soaked, raggedy garment so she 
could see his injuries. Her eyes widened. "Oh my God. Minna, he's 
bleeding all over the place. He's lost TONS of blood. We gotta get 
him back to my place NOW so I can give him treatment."
        "Prepare Sailor Teleport," Luna said quickly. Rei handed Usagi her 
locket, and she shakily accepted it and transformed. They all 
held hands around Mamoru and the cats as Ami used her computer 
to set the coordinates of the portal. A minute later, they 
teleported out of the dark mine and into Ami's apartment.
        "Quick," Mercury instructed. "Get him in the bedroom. Be VERY 
careful moving him."
        "Hai." Makoto looked at Rei and Minako as she bent down and put 
her hands beneath Mamoru's shoulders. "You two each grab a leg 
and be CAREFUL." They hefted him up and gently brought him into 
the bedroom. Usagi was shaking and sobbing uncontrollably. Ami 
put a hand on her shoulder quickly. "Usagi-chan, calm down. I'm gonna 
take care of him, but I need to do a blood transfusion. Do you know 
his blood type?"
        "Blood type?" Usagi sobbed. "I...I think...A. Hai, he's...A. But
I'm O! 
I can't provide him with blood. Oh, Ami, Ami, what are we gonna
do?" She started crying uncontrollably again.
        "Usagi-chan, it's all right. I have blood type A."      
        "But Ami-chan," Usagi sobbed. "Why can't we bring him to a
hospital?"
        "They might ask questions. It's O.K., I have a first aid kit here 
to perform everything myself."
        "But you have to give blood!" Usagi exclaimed. "What -"
        "Rei will help me. She's skilled in healing arts. Don't worry, 
Usagi. He'll be O.K."
        The other senshi walked out of the room, and Ami walked over 
to them. She quickly explained some instructions to them, and 
she and Rei disappeared into the room as Minako went to get
the first aid kit. Makoto and Usagi powered down, and the two sat 
in the hallway, the taller girl hugging her quietly as she sobbed. 
Luna and Artemis sat worriedly nearby. "Oh, Mako," she sobbed. "It 
was so awful..."
        "Shhh. It's all right," Makoto soothed as she stroked her hair. 
"Everything's fine now. You're safe. Mamoru-san will be fine."
        Usagi sobbed quietly as Luna hopped onto her lap. "Usagi-chan," 
she said quietly. "What happened? How did this happen?"
        "Luna," Usagi sobbed.
        "It's O.K.," she reassured. "Why don't you just calm down and tell
us 
everything."
        Usagi sniffed and looked up. "H...Hai. O.K."
        Makoto patted her gently on the shoulder. "That's it Usagi. Just
relax. 
Why don't you just tell us the whole story." Something caught her
eye, and she blinked. "Usagi," she asked, puzzled. "Where did you get 
that ring?"

To be continued...

- One more part to go! That'll be my nice
ending. I think you can all guess why. ^_^    
Hope you liked this part - I was up till past
11:00 writing it on Wednsday. Good thing
I had Thursday off! If you're wondering 
about the engagement ring, I used the one from
the manga, although I don't know if that one
was made out of diamonds. But it looked like
that. By the way - I finally 
saw the Sailor Moon R movie last week! I've
been waiting to see it for 3/4 of a year! It's
fantastic! I saw it a quazillion times, and I'm
still not sick of it! If you never see another 
Sailor Moon movie, see this! It's the best
movie out of the three, in terms of cool
music and brilliant choreography. Get
it! Ja ne!
-Lianne (eclipse@ntplx.net)