o0o0o0o here it is! the final chapter!! sorry I took a few days....I wanted it to be right (plus my internet was STRUGGLING!!) lol! so I hope you enjoy it!!

It had been four days since everything went down. He had ignored work to be here by her side every day. Doctors had said there was nothing physically wrong with her that they could find, and her body probably was stressed so it was doing the natural thing which was shutting down so that it could rest. It had eased his worries a bit but now as day four was drawing to an end he became worried again.

He had told Motoki to keep on working, and he'd call him the minute she awoke. Mamoru worked in the hospital so he came and sat with her at times. He left him alone with her on those occasions as he knew there were things he wanted to say in private even though she probably couldn't hear. "My version of Dutch courage." Mamoru had said.

Now as he sat by her side holding her hand he silently prayed that she would soon wake up. As she began to groan he mouthed a small thank you to the sky and watched with nervous excitement as she seemed to be waking up. Her eyes fluttered open as she turned on her side. Eyes fully open she looked into the face of her brother and smiled.

"Hey." That was all she got out before he crushed her with a hug. Now it was his turn to cry. No matter what the doctors said he wouldn't have been happy until she was awake and talking to him. Explaining to her where he was going, he made a quick exit to call Mamoru and Motoki. Lying back on the bed she stared at the ceiling. It was all finally over and she let all the unshed tears fall, this time the sobs shook her as she covered her face with her palms.

Upon entering the room Saphir quickly went to her side, and held her as she cried into his shirt. "Usa what's wrong? Come on baby girl tell me what's wrong?" No matter what he said or did, she continued to cry so he just held her. After a bit he let her go and signalled to Mamoru to take his place as he exited to take a stroll around the hospital. Figuring he'd leave her until she was ready to talk, he let her be. She had moved over a bit in the bed so he could sit comfortably. Realising her sobbing had subsided he decided to ask her why she was crying, but was surprised when she started talking.

"I thought he was going to kill me. I saw the scissors and froze. What if....what if you hadn't gotten to him in time? I knew he liked me but I didn't know he was a lunatic! This whole thing was all my fault; I should have just ended the relationship with him when I knew I didn't, couldn't feel anything for him. I put you all in so much danger without realising it."

Allowing her to continue the rant, he kept holding her. There wasn't a word of what she said that was true, but for her sanity and peace of mind he had to let her get it out of her system before reassuring her. As if to confirm what he thought, her breathing calmed drastically once she was finished. Moving from her side to sit in front of her on the bed, he held up her chin with his index finger so she would look him in the eye.

"Usako, he wasn't going to get to you; even if I didn't stop him Saphir was there and so were Motoki and my brothers. Don't blame yourself for what you had no control over. In fact I'll go as far as saying it was our fault; we didn't trust Seiya and either Saphir, Motoki or I should have stepped in and stopped the facade to get you out of the situation, especially when we figured out that Setsuna was actually Hino Rei. It would have been better for me to keep pretending with her until we had everything we wanted instead of keeping you with Seiya. We put you in danger so we should be asking your forgiveness Usako. I'll ask first: do you forgive me for putting you in harm's way?"

Giving a slight smile she nodded her acceptance of his apology and forgiveness for what he deemed to be their mistake. Hugging her as closely as possible, he buried his face in her hair hoping for a bit of relief from the emotions trying to take control. Not wanting to pull away, he rested his chin on her head and asked her: "Is that why you haven't been sleeping? This was eating at you the whole time?"

Her simple exhale and slight drooping of the shoulders told him what he needed to know; and it didn't make him feel any better. He should have recognised that she was uncomfortable despite continuing to go through with the plan. Taking a deep breath he apologised to her. "I'm sorry Usako." He was sorry for everything, right back to the beginning when he treated her like crap. She had apologised profusely for spilling her drink on his pants but after not having a good day he insulted her. Not backing down she insulted him back, and so began their tryst of sorts. 'Maybe, just maybe if I had been nice to her we would have been together and this whole thing would have been avoided.' Of all the emotions flying through his system, the strongest he felt was regret. He regretted treating her badly, he regretted meeting Rei, and he regretted letting this entire mess to escalate to a point where her life had been put in physical danger. For the first time in his life he felt unsure of what to do, so he went along with the dictates of his body and simply cried.

******

The place was dark and both persons seemed genuinely confused as to why.

"Oh come on Motoki, we have some place to be!" cried Mamoru. "He said he had your gift for you and he'd wait on us to get here."

"Don't worry Mamo – chan. I'm sure he forgot and headed home. We could pass by him on our way and still be on time."

Leaning against the door to think, Mamoru gave a slight yelp of surprise as the door budged under his weight, signalling that it wasn't locked. Both got a feeling in the pit of their stomachs that something wasn't right. Leaving Usagi outside alone with a possible threat afoot would have been foolish, so he held her hand as she walked in behind him, trying to keep as quiet as they could. Standing in one position so that their eyes could adjust to the darkness, the uneasiness increased when they heard something moving near the back of the room.

Fearing the worst, Usagi grabbed onto Mamoru's arm as he pulled her closer. 'Maybe Rei followed through on her threat. Maybe she is back.' Her thoughts were scaring her and she was thankful for Mamoru's calm demeanour which didn't allow her to freak out. The lights were flicked on and she screamed.

"Happy Birthday Usa!" the chorus went up. Scanning the room she saw her friends and family all smiling at her. Her eyes fell on Motoki and knew he had to be the one that planned it all; the grin on his face told her as much. Releasing Mamoru's arm she went over to him and started hitting his chest. "You nearly gave us a blasted heart attack you freak!"

Shielding himself from his attacker, he put up his hands in mock surrender. "Us? What do you mean scared us? This was Mamoru's idea! Attack him!"

Turning around she saw Mamoru with his lips pursed together in the attempts of stifling a laugh. "You did all this? Why didn't you tell me?" she asked as she started her attack on a new victim. During her attack he had started laughing while defending himself. Upon the end of her attack she launched herself into his arms. "Thank you Mamo – chan, it means a lot to me."

The others had watched the display with amusement, until Saphir started. "Ok come on you can do that later. It's our turn to have her Chiba. You're so selfish." At the comment the whole room laughed.

"Thank you guys. But please don't do it again! You know my heart can't take these things!" she said with mirth in her eyes. "Now come on let's enjoy ourselves."

******

"Thank you again Mamo – chan." She was snuggling more into his side as they got comfortable. They had come home spent the remainder of the night in bliss and were now settling to go to sleep. As she drifted off to sleep, Mamoru stayed awake and let his thoughts wander.

Wherever the mental wind took his mind he allowed it to go, until it ended up on his new found family. Weeks after Usagi had been released from the hospital they both had gone to Saphir's office. He had called them there, alerting them to the fact that he had sorted out all the legal hoopla surrounding his trust fund and newly found wealth. When they had entered the office the same men who he now knew were his brothers smiled at him and Usagi as they sat. Introducing themselves, they got to know each other before Saphir went through everything.

Saphir had gone over what he had explained already in exposing Rei and Seiya but in finer detail. His brothers, Kunzite and Nephrite, had been named executors of their mother's separate estate that she had set up for Mamoru, but his signature had to be on any documents which requested any funds to be released. It explained why Rei knew she had to keep with Mamoru even though she had found his brothers, since their signatures alone would have done nothing.

His father had passed away some time ago leaving his brothers in charge of the entire estate; they therefore intended to have Mamoru back as part of the family. Again he found himself unsure of what to do so he looked to Usagi who gave him a comforting smile. If he accepted it would he have to leave with them? That would mean he had to leave Usagi and they had definitely come too far for him to just leave her for wealth now.

Reading his thoughts from his face, his brother Kunzite explained that both he and Nephrite would take care of the family business and it wasn't necessary for him to leave whatever he was doing. Being a part of the family meant they would grant him access to the entire family funds, whereby he would need his and either of their signatures; merely for security purposes he had added, in case another Rei comes along.

"Go ahead Mamo – chan. It'll be good for you to be involved with your family." She had said; and not thinking twice he agreed.

The reunited family spent all the time afterwards getting to know each other and found that they had a lot of things in common. A trip had been arranged for both he and Usagi to come and see the family estate, with his brothers telling him, "This will be yours one day so come and get used to it." It was a bittersweet feeling as he finally saw and knew where his navel string was buried, but understood that it wasn't in a place it was wanted. Usagi's presence at his side had made the trip even more enjoyable. He had voiced his fears over having to deal with being a person of wealth and the responsibilities it brought. Much like he had done for her when she was uncertain about a career path, she now stood behind him as he accepted his past and future.

When they left they all promised to visit each other, making sure that no more than 2 months had passed between seeing each other. His brothers had come back for Usagi's birthday so they'd have to prepare for a trip in a few weeks time, smiling at the thought that for the first time he'd have to travel to meet family. It gave him a sense of peace and satisfaction.

A leg being draped over his own brought him out of his trance. Allowing his eyes to trace her entire body he sighed in contentment, returned his head to the pillow and closed his eyes. A part of him had been rattled by the situation with Rei using him only for his money that even he didn't know about; but Usagi had known him without knowing of his wealth and he could therefore believe that she loved him and not his money.

A scene played in his mind of his future with her. They were still living in the apartment, married now, and with children. More and more the scenes of a happy family played as he saw them visiting his family for birthdays and holidays. His heart swelled with pride and a tear slid from his closed eyes.

Lips kissed away the lone, stray tear which made him open his eyes. "Why are you crying Mamo – chan? Is everything ok?"

Her gentle voice made him aware of how early in the morning it now was. Granted they had gone to bed around midnight, he didn't realise he had spent so much time deep in thought. "Nothing's wrong Usako; don't worry."

Rolling over on his side, he scooted down so they could be face to face. "You know, I made you a promise way back when we were in Greece; and I don't think I've ever followed it through." Brushing a few stray strands of hair out of her face, he ran a finger along the side of her face. "I love you Usako. I can't remember the day I fell in love with you and I don't think I need to remember. What's important is that I love you now and I plan on loving you forever." Her finger on his lips stopped him from saying anything further and he couldn't fathom why she would do it.

"You've already carried out your promise Mamo – chan. You've shown me you love me more than you can know, and your words won't begin to do your actions any justice. When I figured out that I loved you I promised myself I'd be happy for you and try to quell the love I have for you. The more I tried to do that, the more I loved you. But I'm grateful it's worked out this way. So I'll echo your words: what's important now is that I love you now and I plan on loving you forever."

Sealing their vow with a kiss, the couple snuggled together before they let sleep claim them. It was a time in their relationship they would never forget, and they planned to use it to make them stronger. As they lay in each other's arms the sun bathed the lovers with its rays, signifying a new dawn had come for them.

there you have it! my first story completed!! Thank you ALLLL for staying along for the ride and I hope you enjoyed it all....thank you for all the comments and feel free to drop any comments about where I can improve...

quick note: Coming from a legal background let me just say two things:

1. I am NOT affiliated with Sailor Moon in ANY WAY possible...this is my disclaimer and it doesn't matter where I put it, once it's there!

2. Some of the legal hoopla in this story isn't quite accurate since it is just for a story (much like how medical shows like House etc aren't medically correct on everything)...please, therefore, DO NOT use anything said in here as any sort of legal advice etc

just my 2 cents! lol you can always review this chapter and let me know if you like it....everyone, or least the majority of you need to like the ending! I love you all and God bless!! :)