A/N: Okay guys. This is actually it. This is the actual complete and total ending of this story. Admittedly, I struggled with this final, tiny epilogue more than I did with every other chapter. Because, well, I suck at no angst. I really do guys, and I had to rewrite this several times, as apparently I can't help myself? Anyways, I hope this is satisfying for you! Please be nice at my attempt at fluff!

For every single reviewer, favoriter, and follower, I know I did not respond to you all separately, but just know, I am truly grateful for every single one of you! I am so grateful for this piece of the fandom, and the super supportive readers that live in it! THANKS!

Also, Thanks to my darling, wonderful, beautiful bee eff effs. Ninjette Twitch and Revy679- like, I just love you guys, okay?

Okay, well... eek! Time to read the end. Please be kind? :)

Epilogue

Mamoru grunted, unkempt strands of black hair falling into his eyes, as he dropped the last box amidst the sea of boxes scattered and piled across the floor in the living room. He exhaled with relief, stretched the kink out of his neck as he scanned the apartment.

His eyes narrowed onto an oddly placed assortment of boxes stacked unusually high; the black duvet for his bed draped across the opposing stacks. His duvet that he knew for a fact had been neatly folded and packed in one of the boxes that he was sure he could now see placed at the very bottom of the towering structure.

He rolled his eyes, shook his head in exasperation, even as he couldn't help the way that the corners of his lips quirked up into a tender smile of amusement. "Usako," he began as he stepped through the cardboard maze towards where he knew she was currently hidden. "I know that there's no way that I was moving all of our boxes up three flights of stairs, while you have been in here, supposedly unpacking, but actually building a fort," he admonished, his tone lightly scolding as he stopped in front of the hastily crafted formation, that was actually more elaborate than he'd previously surmised.

Were those his sheets being used as a doorway?

Sure enough, the blonde in question popped her head through the fabric, and his breath caught in his throat like it always did at the sight of her. His smile involuntarily widened as she peered up at him from beneath lacy black lashes. Her eyes shone with an adorable look of playful innocence, and silken-blonde tendrils of hair escaped her long, thick braid, framing her heart-shaped face.

The ridiculously kissable, ample curve of her lips quirked up into a sheepish smile. "So, here is the thing, Mamo-chan," she began and blinked up at him sweetly. "I was totally unpacking. Just like I said! When I realized that we won't have anywhere to sleep tonight!" She exclaimed.

He raised an eyebrow in amusement. "I assumed that we would be sleeping in our bedroom, Usako," he replied, with a chuckle and a confused shake of his head.

Usagi nodded, her cheeks pink-tinged. "Right, yes. I see how you would think that, but let's be serious, Mamo-chan," she said with an adorably serious look on her face. "There is no way we're going to unpack the bedroom enough to put up the bed tonight, and we want to be cozy our first night in our new apartment, right?" She defended brightly.

He suppressed another chuckle and nodded slowly as he carefully considered his next words. "So… instead of unpacking, you spent all this time building a fort, so we'd have somewhere cozy to sleep because there wasn't going to be enough time to unpack the bedroom?" He tried to ask it seriously, but it was difficult to restrain the amusement in his tone.

Her brow furrowed into an indignant frown and her lips pursed into a sullen pout. "Well, I mean, if you say it that way," she sighed with contrived annoyance, as she leaned forward, and pressed her palms onto the floor to propel herself into a kneeling position.

With a dimpled smile, she held her hand up to him. "Help me up?" She asked brightly, a sweetly innocent inflection layered beneath her tone.

He should have expected it, and if he'd bothered to look closely, he would have seen the mischievous glint in her eyes. As it stood, he'd been too focused on her lips. So, when he leaned forward, an indulgent smile on his face, and clasped her arm, he was caught off guard when, instead of leveraging his arm to stand, she yanked him forward.

He gasped in surprise, and she giggled as he toppled right through the doorway of her makeshift fort. He barely had time to brace his weight, a flurry of intermingling limbs, and his face hovering just above hers, as he fell on top of her and pressed her lithe form into a sea of pillows.

The resulting sensuous smile that curled onto her lips took his breath away as she lifted her arms to wrap around his neck. Slender fingers tenderly weaving through the hair at the back of his head. "See?" She whispered with a come-hither smile as her breath warmly fanned across his face. "Didn't I say this was cozy?"

He took a moment to soak in the sight of her, glossy curls, pink-tinged skin and a hooded look in her eyes that effectively made his heart hammer inside the cavity of his hardened chest that was currently nestled against the soft, enticing curve of hers. Sometimes, he still couldn't wrap his mind around the fact that they were together, and he could hold her like this.

He smiled softly, and her arms slipped from around his neck as he shifted his weight and leaned onto his side facing her. He propped himself up onto his elbow and perched his head into his open palm. His eyes were filled with tenderness as he gently traced the curve of her jaw with his free hand, and lovingly caressed the side of her face.

He chuckled softly when he felt her shudder beside him. "I see the appeal," he replied huskily, then bent his head down to press his lips onto the slender curve of her jaw, just below her ear.

There was a hitch in her breath as she arched into him, and curled her fingers into the fabric of his shirt; clutching tightly as she pulled him in closer. "Mamo-chan," she murmured and craned her head to the side to grant him better access. He eagerly complied by trailing kisses along the sensitive, exposed skin of her neck. "I'm so happy you're finally home," she confessed breathily, her body trembling enticingly against him.

He smiled against her skin, then lifted his head to gaze down into her upturned face. "Me too, Usa," he replied softly.

It had, admittedly, been the longest two years of his life. He'd never been more furious with himself, and his own stupidity, than he had the moment he'd torn himself from Usagi, and stepped onto the plane that would take him to America. How much time had he wasted by not admitting that he loved her sooner?

He'd vowed, after that, to make sure he was honest with her. Though old habits were hard to break as, in the beginning, they'd needed to adjust to a long distance relationship, a thirteen hour time difference, and the overwhelming workload that came hand in hand with being a student at an Ivy league school.

Since they were surviving solely on text messages, an hour-long conversation before he left for class, and she went to bed, communication had been vital in making this work. At first, it had been a challenge, especially for him, and it felt like it was almost impossible.

But, he'd spent most of his life desperately pining for her, and Usako was relentlessly persistent and filled with a bubbly optimism that persevered until, finally, he received the letter that he'd been accepted for a transfer to Keio University. So, two years later, during which time he'd only been able to make the trip back to see her three times (though they'd definitely made up for lost time during those trips), he was finally home. Where he should have stayed in the first place.

Usagi, though he admired how hard she'd worked, had barely managed to graduate high school, and had only been accepted into community college by the skin of her teeth. She was going to give it her best shot in child care, though her ultimate goal was to become a social worker for children in the foster care system. He was first-hand proof that she would excel in that field.

Motoki, who'd gone abroad with Reika (whom he was very serious about, after-all) had recommended that Usagi fill his part-time position at the Crowne arcade to his parents that had gratefully accepted.

He'd come home shortly after she graduated, and though he'd stayed at the Tsukino's for a short time, it only made sense that they would move in together.

Which was how he currently found himself curled up on the floor, in a ridiculous makeshift fort, with the love of his life. They had two weeks to settle in before he started up at Keio, and she started school.

Two blissful weeks that he intended to take full advantage of.

Her lips pressed against his, and her fingers fiddling with the buttons of his shirt effectively pulled him from his thoughts. With a groan, he resumed his gentle ministrations on her neck. His mouth, of its own accord, explored the dip of her collarbone, while his fingers interlaced into the strands of her glorious hair before hotly trailing down the soft, tender slopes of her body.

Things were escalating into a passionate frenzy, a fervent haze of hitched breathing, flushed skin, and tender kisses when one of them must have hit a box with their foot. It shook the foundation of Usagi's, admittedly poorly crafted fort, and he barely had time to shield her as the boxes tumbled on top of them.

Luckily, there were no injuries as, breathless and laughing, they dug their way out from beneath the mess, and he stood, grasped her wrist, and pulled her to her feet. Her braid was nearly completely undone now; her hair twisting and twirling around her. Her cheeks were flushed and her lips swollen. She was so damn beautiful, it almost hurt to look at her.

She propped her hands onto her hips and offered him a sheepish smile as she scanned the scattered boxes of her things at their feet. "Probably a good thing that we didn't sleep in there," she admitted with a chiming giggle that made him smile.

He was about to sweep her back into his arms so that they could finish what they'd started on the sofa that was only a couple of feet away when her eyes lit up, and her grin widened, and she bent down to turn over one of the boxes that had torn partially open in the fall.

"Oh! My clothes! Thank God," she exclaimed excitedly as she leaned down and rummaged through the contents.

His brow creased into a frown suddenly, because he distinctly remembered bringing up four other boxes, huge boxes, labeled 'Usagi's clothes.' "How can there be another box, Usako?" he asked with disbelief. "You know we only have one closet, right?" he said with exasperation.

Her movements stilled, suddenly, and she glanced up at him over her shoulder. His frown deepened at the strangely mischievous look on her face. "Well," she sighed with contrived resignation. "I guess I can get rid of some of it," she said, with a long-suffering sigh of defeat, and there was a blur of black fabric clasped in her hand as she straightened, and twisted around to face him.

His eyes narrowed as they fixed onto her face. There was no way he was going to win that easily, and his suspicions were confirmed when her lips curled into a knowing smirk, and she held up the garment that she'd pulled from the box.

"Guess I'll just throw this out then," she said airily, with a nonchalant shrug. It took a moment before Mamoru recognized the black dress. It was the one she'd worn on her first date so long ago. His breath caught in his throat as the image of her wearing that dress popped into his head. He remembered that she'd been a heart-stopping, breathtaking vision of absolute perfection. His gaze snapped to her eyes, that were watching him with knowing amusement that almost made him groan.

She blinked up at him innocently, "I mean, when you told me what this dress did for you in that video chat, I made sure to get it back from Mina-chan," she said lightly, then crumpled it up into her hand, and twirled away from him. "But, if there's no room for it, then I guess-"

With a guttural groan, he leaned forward, and his fingers firmly curled around the slender curve of her waist. She squealed in surprise as, in one swift movement, he twisted her around, and placed his palms onto the small of her back. He urged her closer until she was intimately pressed against the hardened expanse of his chest, and he swept down and claimed her lips, slightly parted in shock, against his.

Once again, they were a flurry of tangled limbs, groans, and hitched breathing as they somehow found their way onto the sofa. She was pressed into the cushions of the leathered seats, perfectly splayed out beneath him, when they breathlessly pulled apart.

She laughed softly, the sound sultry, as she nipped at his jaw. "I take it you want me to keep the dress?" She questioned, her tone tinged with amusement and an alluring rasp that was driving him insane.

He rolled his eyes, his grin lopsided as he peered down at her. "What do you think?" he drawled, then leaned down and placed a playful kiss on the tip of her nose. "As long as you never wear it in public," he amended, his brow furrowing at the memory of her wearing it to go out. He inwardly grimaced as his overprotective, slightly jealous, tendencies surged forward and momentarily flashed through him.

She smiled, her eyes glinting with a forgiving understanding that made him sigh as she lifted her hand, tenderly swept the hair off his forehead, and tantalizingly caressed the side of his face. "I almost forgot, Mamo-chan," she murmured softly, and he inhaled sharply as she lifted her leg, and shifted beneath him. "Rei-chan texted me and invited us to go to the carnival tonight. I told her we'd go," she stated, and it took a moment for her words to pierce through the foggy haze of his need for her.

When they did though, his eyes widened in horror. "What?" he croaked, his gaze locked onto her face, and his lips parted in protest.

Before he could say anything, she snorted. "Kidding, Mamo-chan!" She chimed brightly. "I would much rather do this," she proclaimed fiercely and laced her fingers into the hair at the back of his head to pull him down for another breathtaking kiss so that they could finish what they'd started.

Though they only had a full two weeks to entirely devote to each other before they would need to face the harsh realities of opposing schedules, insurmountable school work, and less time to spend with each other, he wasn't in the least bit worried. He'd waited his whole life to be with Usagi Tsukino; the clumsy, whirlwind of brightness that expertly lit up the dull greys of his life. He was very aware that what he had with Usagi was rare, and he was infinitely grateful, and extremely elated, that he'd fallen in love with his best friend.

The end.

… for real this time.