“No…”

Usagi stood frozen in place, in disbelief at the sight in front of her. It couldn’t be true. Mamoru loved her; he would never betray her with one of her closest and dearest friends. This had to be some kind of nightmare.

Yet when she pinched her left arm, her eyes began to water with unshed tears.

“Um… I’ll leave you two to talk,” Ami announced in a soft voice, buttoning up her silk blouse. Her eyes refused to meet Usagi’s. “I need to check on a patient.”

As she brushed past Usagi to leave the room, Ami mumbled an apology, but Usagi barely registered it, still in a state of shock. It wasn’t until Mamoru walked over and placed his hands on her shoulders that she managed to break through the fog.

“Usako, I --”

“Don’t touch me!” Usagi shouted, pushing him away. “And don’t call me that!”

Mamoru sighed, his hands dropping to his side. “We didn’t want you to find out like this,” he said. “We were going to tell you, but --”

“When? How long have you two been sneaking around behind my back?”

There was a brief pause before he answered, “About six months.”

“Six months?” She counted back. That meant the affair had started only a few weeks after Chibi-Usa’s birth.

“I know this isn’t an excuse, but you’ve been so wrapped up in taking care of the baby --”

“So because you’ve been feeling neglected, you think that gives you the right to find comfort with one of my best friends?”

“No, of course not! Things…just happened. We never meant to hurt you.”

“Do you love her? Well, do you?”

His silence was all the confirmation Usagi needed.

“When you come home tonight, Chibi-Usa and I won’t be there. We‘re through, Mamoru.”

DISCLAIMER: Sailor Moon is the property of Naoko Takeuchi.

AUTHOR’S NOTE: Any comments or criticisms can be sent to me at ElysionDream@aol.com. Written for the “Heartbreak Warfare” challenge at the “sailormoonland” community at Livejournal.