He'd sunk to his knees outside the barrier, staring in, realizing that all he could do was wait. So wait he did-- sometimes pacing, sometimes just standing and watching, sometimes sitting and hugging his knees to his chest, always worried out of his mind. Every moment of fear on her part, he could feel tugging on him, inside that wall he couldn't pass through; every moment she was transformed that he wasn't weighed on him like the blanket of the earth's crust, crushing and final and suffocating because she was in someplace like THAT and he KNEW the Senshi wouldn't have made it there in time.
And he had no idea who else might have. No idea who was in there with her. No idea who could help her.
The second the barrier dropped, he scrambled to his feet--
--now, running without looking, he heads for where it might have dropped her, heads for where he can feel that bright heart.
Sailor Moon is exhausted. Part of her wants to dehenshin and take a nap right here on the side walk. However, she has to Investigate!
After leaving the group, she circles back to near the area where she felt it coming from. Fortunately, there are alleys and corners once again, so it's easy to--
WHAM!
It's like bouncing off a stubborn, moving brick wall.
She totters back before she loses her footing, and fortunately the cement breaks her fall.
For a moment, she forgets she's in henshin. For a moment, she forgets she's been looking for him.
"Baka," she whines, rubbing her rear end as she stands because ow.
Then she remembers, and beams at Mamoru. "Oh, it was you!"
And that stubborn, moving brick wall tries to catch her and even fails at that, since she's in henshin and is something of a brick wall herself-- she's not the only one who bounces off and lands unceremoniously on the pavement.
He sees stars, and they have nothing to do with ribbons and everything to do with having the wind knocked out of him by judicious application of face to chest. "Watch where you're going!" he coughs out irritably, starting to pick himself up off the ground--
--and then all in a rush the context hits him like a ton of bricks and he scrambles a lot more quickly, then ducks down to pull her close in a really squishingly tight hug before she's even entirely upright. "I was so worried! Are you okay? I mean-- it's a good thing I couldn't get in because I'd only have distracted you-- but I didn't know who would have made it in with you, who was there-- you weren't alone, were you? Oh my god..."
Her mouth is open for a retort, and it's dead on her lips as soon as his arms are around her, nice and tight. It took a moment for her arms to not be frozen in shock. Okay, for a moment, all of her was frozen in shock as her heart does a thundering ballet in her chest and she has a stupid little shocked smile.
He's hugging me!
And she's not crying, dying, or both this time! Happy day!
The she is relaxing and hugging him back, and where his arms are tight and worried, hers are reassuring.
"I'm fine. And I wasn't alone, I promise!" Although she did not know if she would be or not going in... "I was a few blocks over buying a ru--something, and just...felt it. So I went."
She sighs, almost a happy one. "I'm glad you weren't in there, too. I don't think you would have distracted me, but I would have been worried."
Wait, isn't that the same thing?
When she's all tense from shock, his first instinct is that she's injured, and he reaches out with his energy -- but there's nothing really wrong, and she's already relaxing, and so he just holds her tighter for a moment as she begins to hug him back. He laughs a little, and it's an adrenalin laugh, breathless and hitched. "Worrying would have been distracting," he says, ever the pedant.
And then he's slowly letting go, and his eyes are bright. "You didn't even think about it, did you? And you thought you weren't brave. How's your stomach? Didn't pull anything? Muscles take time to rebuild..."
Without even thinking about it, his warm-- warm again, so warm-- hand is against her belly, right over where Apatite stabbed her a week ago. His face is writ large with concern, blue eyes seeking hers out.
She scoffs a little. Potato tomato! "Being worried about others is better than being worried about yourself. So there. Like with Rune! Well, I wasn't worried, but I helped her be...not afraid? I hope? Oh, we're friends now! We bonded over milkshakes and french fries. In case you hadn't heard."
Her cheeks warm, because she feels anything but brave. And then his hand is on her stomach and the red only grows brighter. "I-I'm fine. Tired and sore, maybe a few bruises, and will probably fall asleep on you if I...become not Sailor Moon, but I'm good. Promise."
She tries hard to think of something other than his very, very warm hand. And his very, very close blue eyes. "Did you see me? I didn't know you were in the area."
There was something odd about him being near where she bought something for him. Well, sort of for him. Maybe kinda?
It's kind of hard to look him straight on in the eyes, but when she does, there goes another little ballet number in her chest.
if I...become not Sailor Moon
"If you're about to fall asleep on your feet, you'd better go home, I won't keep you," Mamoru says regretfully. He seems to have forgotten to remove his hand, at least for the moment. He might be giving her a little energy, too, just enough to see her home; he hasn't a lot to spare at the moment, but she'll feel at least a bit refreshed when they part ways, and he'll console himself with that.
"I couldn't see you. I couldn't see anything, it's a different space in there, it's not part of this world. All I could do was wait. I didn't even know that's what you'd run into until I got here and saw the barrier," he says, a little ashamed; he finally lets his hand drop, and just hugs her one more time.
Then he withdraws, for the most part, laughing a little as his eyes drop to the ground, to one side. A funny, thick laugh. "I'm sorry. You really do have enough to worry about," he says, and his other hand slides down her arm before falling to his side. "Get home safe, Sailor Moon. I'll text you later, let you know where I'm staying so that's one less thing."
Oh wait. He's going to leave? But she's not that tired!
"I like worrying about you!" It's a blurt and she blinks, and her hand is on his wrist. "I mean, it's...worrying about tests is bad. Worrying about fights is bad. But worrying about you isn't bad. And it's my choice to worry about you, so there."
She tries to think of things to say to keep him to stay just a little bit. "I used my tiara three times. Three! I even got it to come back to me twice." She tugs off her glove to show him the tender spot. It's not a bruise, but it's sore. "Like a boomerang."
"And when I got really scared, I felt..." She trails off and points to where he'd been. "You were right there and I wasn't as afraid after that."
And then she's feeling like a foolish girl and rubs her tender hand against her forearm, studying his shoulder and clearing her throat.
He just looks at her, and it's not a Look, it's a-- he's looking at her like that. That absurdly bright-eyed look of pride in her and awe of her and oceans and mountains of affection, unending and ancient.
It's almost bathos when he cough-laughs and glances away, too, then offers, "Well-- I can give you a ride home, if you want. I'm not parked far. I-- I'm glad you weren't as scared. When you knew I was there, even if your senshi weren't there with you, even if I wasn't able to help much-- I'm glad I could help at least a little."
She wants! Very much! But she's already met her quota of Stupidly Embarrassing Eager Bunny for about the next ten years in the span of five seconds.
So instead of bouncing out more than one 'yay!' she clasps her hands behind her back and rocks on her heals. She is cool, and obviously fake in her disinterest. "If you want to."
And she can't feign disinterest when talking about her girls! "I wish they'd been there, but it happened very fast and it's okay." And then she was feigning disinterest even more unbelievably than before, looking up at him as her head is turned somewhat away. "And it was more than a little."
The corner of Mamoru's mouth twitches up. He manages to mostly keep a straight face, but there's that little bit. "You know, I think Luna hates me now. She's only going to hate me more if she knows I took you home. Maybe you can get out a block away or something. She's terrifying. She might kill me in my sleep."
And then he starts walking past her, only to bump lightly into her side as she's sort of looking up at him and send a lopsided grin her way. "Come on, Moon-chan, think of all the sleeping in you'll get to do tomorrow."
Her jaw drops and she's scrambling to keep up. "Luna? Why? I can talk to her! If nothing else, threaten to cry all the time if she did." Still, though.
"A little bit away is probably best. Not because of Luna, I'll talk to her! But...well, it'd be awkward at home if Sailor Moon just randomly shows up."
And her eyes are full of stars as she grips her fingers on his sleeve. "So much sleep. I get to sleep past the ungodly hour of noon, you know."
"Eh, you can drop it on the way anyway. I don't mind if you fall asleep, as long as you wake up when I tell you it's time to get up," says Mamoru with a laugh, patting her hand on his arm, other hand hooked in his pocket as they go. "Apparently she thinks I'm the one who hurt you. She jumps to some weird conclusions sometimes, I guess."
His car's really NOT far, the absurdly expensive thing's parked maybe two hundred feet away. "You sleep past noon on Saturdays...?" he marvels, opening the car door for her with his handprint, because jfc it's a no-holds-barred imported Tesla. "I only sleep that late if I'm sick. Half the daylight's wasted! I usually get up around five, get a run in before I really get the day started..."
He could be teasing. He's probably not.
She's seen his car before. She's been in his car before. Heck, she even dripped water all over his car before. (Yay thunderstorms...)
This does not stop the deeply imprinted Mom Voice whispering in her head 'you touch anything you diiiiiie' as she used to in china shops.
She slides in the seat and looks up at him, eyebrows raised. "You jog outside of gym class? That's a thing? I thought people just did that on television."
She could be teasing. She's probably not.
Then she's bouncing a little, because she's come up with Things to Say when in his car next. And next is now. "If you go past eighty-eight, will you travel in time? Is there a replicator? Can we defeat the borg in it? Where are the transporters? Can we make it so? Does your ship have a cloak? Papa binge-watched Star Trek once."
"I was on the track team until recently," Mamoru tells Sailor Moon wryly, starting the car. "Also, you're being ridiculous." It's still okay, he's grinning as he pulls away from the curb. "It doesn't even drive itself, it's not like it's a Google car or something-- buckle up, Miss Moon: safety first, even for magical girls."
He does not do eighty-eight. He does gently suggest that she let the Senshi know she's okay, since Mercury undoubtedly picked up the disturbance in the force. He also suggests she not tell them who's giving her a ride home. If she does fall asleep on the way, he does let her fall asleep on his shoulder.
Running. For fun. How? This does not compute.
She buckles, contacts her friends, lightly pets his space ship in case she hurt its feelings, and keeps quiet on who is driving.
Then, as suggested, Sailor Moon fades into Usagi.
And then, also as promised, she falls asleep on him about two seconds later. His shoulder is a good pillow.