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Love Hurts by AngelMoon Girl

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Love Hurts

Part 3: "Jumping the Gun"

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Usagi's heart seemed to fall plumb through her chest and land somewhere around her feet. Her breathing quickened, but every gulp could not bring enough air. She felt numb. She was hyperventilating. In denial.

This could not be happening.

Mamoru, her husband, could not be pointing a gun at her. At her daughter, frozen as her mother was and still in the former heroine's arms.

It had to be a dream.

Wake up, wake up, wake up. It'll all be over if you just open your eyes.

But her eyes - those intense azure depths that could forecast a furious storm or melt the coldest ice - were wide open.

The click of Mamoru cocking the weapon stirred the blonde into action; Senshi instincts kicked in and the twenty-one year old felt feeling return to her legs. They began shifting backward almost of their own accord - one small, subtle step at a time. Her eyes never left Mamoru's as he opened his mouth and began to perorate in a slur.

"I've had enough, Usagi. Enough of your damn lies and uselessness. You're weak. You're a nothing. And now you're trying to kill me. Starve me." His lips twitched into an insane and feral grin as Usagi continued lengthening the distance between them. Her whole body was tensed up; her senses acute. She was ready for flight at the slightest twitch of Mamoru's finger upon the trigger. The ebony-headed man lowered his voice until it was just a soft, caressing whisper.

"But you're too late. I'm about to kill you first."

"Mamoru, stop it, please," Usagi begged, afraid to make too haste a movement and end both her and her daughter's life. In this drunken state, there was no telling what would provoke Mamoru's hand. "Think about what you are doing!"

"I don't need to think; I've had enough of your deceit!" Mamoru snapped in a shout, waving the gun at her warningly.

"You might kill ChibiUsa!" Usagi pleaded loudly, hoping that in drawing attention to their daughter's presence, he would cease the threatening. Surely the man had some cogency left? Some dreg of human decency? He wouldn't dare to fire at risk of hitting his own child...?

"I don't care," Mamoru replied monotonously, narrowing his eyes. "She's just like you. A nuisance and a waste of money."

"Waste of... money? Mamoru, SHE'S YOUR DAUGHTER!" Usagi screamed, barely believing her own ears. She clenched her fingers tighter into the folds of ChibiUsa's pink nightshirt. It was terrifying how far gone her husband was. She hardly recognized him anymore. He looked like a deranged psychopath; a distorted reflection of the Adonis she once caved at the knees for.

"I have no daughter; no family. At least I won't anymore," Mamoru gasped feverishly, and with that he slammed down on the trigger.

Usagi launched herself behind the couch, shielding ChibiUsa's body with her own. The child was screaming; the noise of the bullet's ignition was defeaning; the crash of the bullet whizzing through the glass porch door and simultaneously shattering it was piercing. With din exploding all around them, Usagi wasted no time in taking advantage of Mamoru's surprise - clearly, he hadn't been expecting her to do anything but stand there, waiting for death.

What a fool.

The woman streaked to the door leading into the hallway and ran as hard as her legs could carry her over to the staircase. Another bullet streamed past, burrowing deep into the wood of the banister.

"GET THE FUCK BACK HERE, USAGI!" Mamoru roared in a booming voice. Usagi ignored him entirely, clambering up the stairs with her small, shaking burden hugged secure against her chest. She cursed her clumsiness as her feet stumbled over each other and she tripped up the last steps. ChibiUsa's door straight ahead was like a beacon amidst this darkly dangerous whirlwind of a night; it sang of salvation, of sanctuary, and the odangoed one wrenched it open, literally staggering into the room.

BANG!

A severe pain hit Usagi right in the arm and she screamed aloud as waves of nausea and agony coursed through her body. The bullet had found its mark.

Unsuspecting, the Moon Princess dropped ChibiUsa and the girl tumbled to the floor of her bedroom. Usagi didn't hesitate, though - she turned and slammed the bedroom door shut, but not before catching sight of Mamoru raising the handgun once more from the bottom of the stairs, his countenance livid.

There was a fourth fire, but the bullet didn't make it through the solid oak. It must have embedded itself into the front. Another resounding shot, and still no success. Usagi meanwhile had twisted the lock into place, but she knew that had only bought her a few precious moments. The key was easy to acquire.

No, she needed something heavy; something equally as... impenetrable. Usagi's eyes flickered over to the crib, frowning. A dresser would be preferable, but this was the biggest piece of furniture in the room.

In seconds, Usagi had strode over and shoved the crib across the floor, whimpering as the action sent a blaze of white hot flames down her injured arm. Don't think about it, don't think about it! She thrust the bed up against the door just as pounding footsteps began to echo upward. Mamoru's fulminating fell on deaf ears, however - Usagi was already scanning the room again. Plans were flashing through her brain in mimicry of the fusillade of lightning currently ripping across the heavens, their contents being weighed and measured within a matter of seconds.

She had to get out.

Now.

The window!

Usagi dashed over to the look-out where beneath ChibiUsa was crouched and pressed up against the wall, crying.

"Out of the way, ChibiUsa," she ordered with an inflection of gentleness, but the blonde could not suppress fear at just how pained and little her voice sounded. She had to be strong, for ChibiUsa!

The child scampered away dutifully, her wailing burgeoning as a powerful gunshot from just outside sent shockwaves through the house. The door shivered on its hinges. Usagi threw open the window and reached up to undo the hooks keeping the screen in. She knew they were a safety precaution, built to last, but what an unnecessary obstacle! The twenty-one year old finally managed to tear the damn thing out, and after haphazardly tossing the screen away, she stuck her golden crown out the window and looked down.

Her heart thrummed full force somewhere in the vicinity of her throat.

Be brave, be brave, be brave, Usagi!

It was a drop of about thirty feet. Such heights might have seemed risable when morphed into a Senshi with superpowers, but Usagi was woefully mortal, her magic seemingly run dry, and the perilous fall petrified her.

Could she do this?

"USAGI, OPEN THIS DOOR OR I SWEAR I WILL FIND SOME WAY TO BREAK IT DOWN!"

As if he wasn't already trying to do that, Usagi inwardly scoffed. She was surprised it had even held this long.

The gun rang out once more and Usagi started, reluctant realization overtaking her. She had to jump. It was the only way to leave - to escape - without dying.

Though the fall might just succeed where Mamoru failed, her brain supplied, in that so very vexingly sarcastic way it tended to during life or death situations such as these.

"ChibiUsa, come here," Usagi commanded, tone breeching no permission for disobedience. ChibiUsa complied, rushing over to her mother and clinging to the woman. The distress on her features was almost palpable.

"Mama, I'm scared!" the girl whined through a flood of tears.

"Shh, it'll be okay. We're leaving," Usagi reassured, climbing out onto the sill. "Get in my arms."

ChibiUsa pulled herself up into her mother's arms with Usagi's help, and the blonde tightened her hold around the child. The three year old moaned as Usagi shifted, so that they were facing the forest that grew wild just beyond the backyard. The sky was pitch black and only a dim crescent moon provided light over the grounds, its comforting presence mostly obscured by mighty gray clouds towering to the west. Thunder rumbled.

"Mama, Mama, I don't wanna! It's scary!"

"It'll be okay," Usagi repeated, trying to believe her own words. She took a deep breath, increased her vice-grip on ChibiUsa, then jumped to freedom.

TBC

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