Standard disclaimer: The characters aren't mine. This should come as no surprise. I am simply a teller of stories that occasionally claw their way desperately out of my head.

Notes: I was feeling restless one night so I asked for 'fic prompts on Tumblr. This one was for: Senshi, home, and a Christmas kiss. What can I say, I love being seasonal.

(14 December 2012)

Christmas Law

Usagi said it was important.

Rei had protested arriving any earlier than already planned; she had a daunting list of chores still left to do and already a truncated day in which to do them.

But it was important.

Not important enough to require immediate attention, Rei noted as she huddled into her coat against a particularly biting gust of wind. Chances of actual importance were steadily approaching zero. Still, she was on her way now, having either postponed what chores she could or delegated them to Yuuichiro. Mostly he had to tend the charms booth, as this Christmas was seeing a particular surge in business, but he could at least sweep up a bit.

She wondered briefly if she could get him to clean the gutters tomorrow. Rei hated cleaning gutters. If she had to do it though, better today than tomorrow, as it was supposed to be even colder.

But no gutters today. Because it was important.

This had better be good.

Rei soon found herself outside the Tsukino residence and lifted her hand to knock. She had planned on the traditional three quick raps but got out only one before the door was flung open and Rei was hauled inside by her arm.

"Hey, what the—" she managed to get out before a hand was roughly clamped over her mouth.

Usagi leaned in until their noses were nearly touching. "Shhhhhhhh," she hissed. Her eyes were slits as she jerked her head from side to side with the utmost suspicion.

Rei bore this with what she considered supreme grace, somehow resisting the urge to bat Usagi's hand away, particularly as it refused to move on its own despite her continued shhhhing. But there were limits and these were about them. She was drawing breath to demand answers when Minako materialized out of nowhere from over Rei's shoulder, causing her to jump.

"The coast is clear," Minako reported.

Usagi took this news as gravely as any battlefield situation report. "Good work, Minako-chan."

Minako nodded sharply and remained at attention.

And that was about enough as far as Rei was concerned. "Muusahfi," she said around her obstacle.

"What?"

Rei simply looked down her nose at Usagi's hand. Usagi also stared for a moment then moved it with a muttered, "Oh, yeah."

"I'm pretty sure I don't want an actual answer to this," said Rei, "but what's going on?"

"We have a mission," Minako informed her.

Usagi agreed wholeheartedly with this assessment. "I need—"

Rei thrust up her hand, cutting Usagi off in mid-explanation. "Stop. I was right. I don't want an answer."

She walked past them without a glance back.

"Oh, wait!" Usagi cried as she and Minako leapt forward, positioning themselves in front of Rei. She stopped and fixed them with a glare.

"We have a mission," Minako repeated, since it was obvious Rei hadn't heard her the first time.

"No, you have a mission." Rei crossed her arms. "And possibly brain damage. All I have is a need to get away quickly."

Usagi's bottom lip began to jut out. "I need a kiss."

"Don't look at me," Rei said, leaning away.

"What? Ewww, no." Usagi wrinkled her nose but brightened again almost immediately. "I need a Mamo-kiss."

"I'm pretty sure you've had one."

With a sound of pure frustration, Usagi threw her hands in the air. "Minako talk to her!"

Minako clasped her hands together as if in prayer and straightened her back. "A Christmas kiss, Rei!" She sounded every bit the learned teacher and devoted zealot. "That most special of all kisses. Filled with the magic and tenderness that only Christmas Law can demand! Behold!"

On cue, Usagi produced a spring of mistletoe suspended from a lengthy stick by a piece of string. She held it up for Rei to admire with an expectant grin, as though this was the only thing needed to bring Rei in line. Minako's hands went through a series of elaborate flourishes before coming to a rest by the stick. Her smile glowed like the world's most vapid game show presenter.

Rei stared at them both. "I don't get it."

Minako's face fell. "It's called romance, Rei, of course you don't."

It was time to break this down to its basic components. "Look," Usagi said in a flat no-nonsense voice, "it's Christmas, I want a Mamo-kiss under the mistletoe, and you're going to help me."

"Looks like you're getting help just fine," replied Rei, jutting her chin at Minako.

The note of superiority was slight, but present, "I already have an assignment." Minako took a friendly swipe at Rei's arm. "This is a multi-prong attack, girl! You can't leave something this important to chance."

"Ami then," Rei continued, unmoved.

Minako shook her head. "Ami's already in."

Rei sighed. "Let me guess, Makoto too?"

"Actually Mako-chan's ... busy." Usagi cast an apprehensive glance over her shoulder, and then gave Rei her full and undivided attention. "And that just leaves you and you have the most important part and I just need you do this Rei-chan!"

"No," Rei said without hesitation.

"Please?" asked Minako.

"No."

Usagi was aghast. "But it's Christmas!"

"I already bought you a present."

"I'd rather have this!"

"No," Rei threepeated.

There was nothing for it. Rei was leaving her no choice. Desperate times called for desperate measures. Usagi clasped her hands under her chin and opened her eyes as wide as they could go. She turned the full force of her most imploring gaze to bear on Rei. "Because you love me?" she asked in a sad but infinitely hopeful voice.

Rei buried her face in one palm. "Oh gods."

Minako appeared next to Usagi's, her expression a perfect mirror image. "Because you love both of us?"

"Fine! Whatever!" Rei caved with absolutely no good grace. "Just stop doing that."

Instantly their expressions reverted to normal. "Yay!" Minako cried, pumping her fist in the air.

"I still get my other present, right?" asked Usagi, suddenly concerned.

When it looked like Rei was about to snap Usagi into a million tiny pieces, Minako inserted herself between the two. She faced her Princess with an encouraging smile. "We could still really use Mako's help though. Why don't you see if you can pry her out of there?"

"Check!" said Usagi, unaware of her impending doom. She handed the mistletoe-on-a-stick to Minako and skipped out of the foyer.

Minako turned and pressed the stick into Rei's hands. Rei looked at it with a kind of defeated sadness. Minako beamed and patted her on the head.

...

The kitchen was a hub of activity. The air was thick with the heat and aroma of a half-dozen different dishes baking, roasting and simmering. Bowls, pots and utensils were scattered around the area, but it was the chaos of creation, not destruction. Good things were happening here.

Even if it didn't feel like it.

The tension in the room was almost overpowering. It was polite and cordial, but undeniable all the same. Ikuko Tsukino and Makoto Kino were sharing a space, and it was not going well.

Mako reached out and began to lift the lid of a pot on the back burner, not seeing how Ikuko's eyebrow twitched.

"Best not to disturb it, Mako dear," Ikuko said in a pleasant singsong as she unrelentingly pushed the lid back down to cover the pot.

Mako forced a smile but refused to remove her hand. "I'm pretty sure it needs more seasoning." Her voice was straining, it was so cordial. "A quick taste will tell us for sure."

Ikuko was forced to exert more pressure to keep the lid down firmly in place. "Oh this is an old family recipe. It has everything it needs!"

Caving first, Mako took a step back. Ikuko watched her with almost-disguised mistrust, and only when Mako had moved to a safe distance did she also release her grip on the lid.

"Hey!" Mako said brightly from between clenched teeth. "I know the perfect side for roast chicken! Why don't I whip it up?"

"Oh I think we'll have enough!" Ikuko replied, her jaw barely moving.

"Trust me, it'll be great."

Ikuko's voice was steadily climbing in pitch. "Besides, you're the guest! Can't have you in here with me all day now can we?"

"Totally can." Mako waved her hand dismissively as she began looking around the room, missing as Ikuko's pupils began to shrink to tiny aggravated pinpricks. "Now where's another pot...?"

Mako began poking through drawers and cabinets, not acknowledging as Ikuko stood in the center of the kitchen, a kindly, teeth-grating smile plastered on her face and a shaking fist clamped around a wooden spoon. Soon Mako emerged with all her necessary tools and she began to throw ingredients together, much to Ikuko's barely observable horror.

This was the scene to which Usagi entered, though neither noticed.

"Hey, Mako-chan?"

"Hey," Mako replied distractedly, not looking up.

"Remember that ... " Usagi cast a glance at her mother. Her mother, who could have been carved from stone, was it not for the trembling that ran through her hands and shoulders. "... thing we were talking about?"

Mako made a little non-committal noise which Usagi took for whole-hearted agreement. "We could still really use your help."

"That's nice," Mako mumbled as she concentrated on her dish, not hearing a word.

Ikuko, on the other hand, had heard all the words. "Yes, Usagi, you should just DRAG Mako out of here!" She was in motion, placing her hands on Mako's upper arms, much to the girl's surprise. Ikuko's voice was shrill and not entirely pleasant. "Honestly! Guests! Cooking! In my kitchen! She should be spending time with you!"

"Oh no, I'm—"

But Ikuko had completely dislodged Mako from her station and pushed her in Usagi's direction. "Go, go! Have fun!"

Usagi caught Mako's wrist and had dragged her nearly to the doorway when Mako dug in her heels and refused to go any further. "Are you in danger?"

"Quite possibly, yes!" Usagi replied in a hushed voice.

Mako regarded her dubiously. "Hmm, let's see." She squinted one eye and glanced toward the ceiling as though running an internal diagnosis. "Checking, checking ... Nope, magical forces say you are definitely not in danger."

"But Mako-chaaaaaaan ..."

"Okay now I'm sensing you're in danger."

Usagi waggled Mako's hand, which she still held between both of hers. "But we need you!"

"I trust the others. You're good." Mako assured her.

"But—"

"Shoo." Mako reclaimed her hand and returned to heart of the kitchen where Ikuko was in the process of removing Mako's dish from her sight. "This kitchen's not big enough for three people," she told Usagi.

"It's hardly big enough for two!" Ikuko's laugh was light and strained.

Mako plucked the pot from Ikuko's hands while Usagi slunk out.

...

A knock came from the front door, and Usagi immediately leapt to her feet, squealing "Mamo-chan!" Shingo made a point to wince like a foghorn had just gone off in his ear. Which was perhaps not too far from the truth. As Usagi ran out of the family room, Minako shot a meaningful look to Rei and Ami. Ami gnawed her bottom lip nervously; Rei rolled her eyes.

"Mamo-chan!" Usagi cried again, flinging the door open to reveal, sure enough, Mamoru.

While everyone else had seemed to agree that this dinner would be a casual affair, Mamoru had gone a step further. He was wearing a button-down shirt, slacks and a tie, all of which were perfectly coordinated. That fact, coupled with the knife-edge sharp creases that could only come from new clothes tended to suggest that he'd gone shopping and had some help.

Usagi didn't seem to notice however, as she wrapped herself around his arm and tugged. Pushing his bangs back nervously, Mamoru allowed himself to be dragged over the threshold.

"Hey Mamoru," Mako said, poking her head into the hallway. Mamoru nodded, but was quickly confronted by Ikuko, bustling her way out of the kitchen and coming straight for him.

Ikuko grabbed both of his hands warmly and treated him to a smile so like Usagi's it was almost eerie. 'Mamoru, welcome!"

"Th-Thank you, Tsukino-san," Mamoru said, thrown off for a moment by her enthusiastic greeting. "I'm honoured you invited me."

"Oh Ikuko, please! We're so happy you could come, aren't we Kenji dear?"

Kenji, however, did not look happy Mamoru could come. He regarded Mamoru with a stern, frosty expression. Which Ikuko summarily ignored.

"Please, come inside, make yourself at home!" she said, pushing the door closed behind him. "Dinner shouldn't be too much longer now!"

"Speaking of!" said Mako, ducking back into the kitchen. It was with no small amount of panic that Ikuko dashed after her.

Mamoru slipped off his shoes while exchanging greetings with the other girls. Usagi continued to cling to his arm, the very picture of delight. Kenji glared at Mamoru's Usagi-clad arm, then at Mamoru himself.

Shingo similarly took in the picture, but only looked disgustedly at Usagi before eyeing Mamoru with pity. "You could've been so cool."

Immediately, Usagi was on the defensive. "Hey!" she shouted, keeping one hand on Mamoru's arm while shaking a fist at Shingo. "Mamo-chan's plenty cool!"

"How cool can he be if he likes you, stupid?" Shingo countered, throwing his arms behind his head and looking almost bored with the conversation.

"You take that back!" Usagi yelled.

"Exactly what do you mean by 'like'?" demanded Kenji, refusing to look away from Mamoru as he said it.

Things were spiraling out of control. Fast.

Which was Minako's cue. "Ami!" she said, shoving the girl toward Shingo while she herself went over to Kenji.

"Oh!" Ami exclaimed, thrown momentarily off-balance. She took a few stumbling steps while Shingo regarded her with the same vague contempt he held for most everything. But when Ami recovered and gave him a warm, gentle smile, it seemed to disarm him. "So Shingo, I heard you're taking an art class at school?"

Ami had apparently struck a chord with Shingo, and his face lit up with enthusiasm. "Yeah! We're using watercolours right now, but if we keep doing well, we'll get to try charcoal next!"

"How exciting!" Ami said sincerely. "What are you most looking forward to drawing with charcoal?"

Shingo began to chat happily about his artistic vision while Ami steered him toward the couch. Mamoru and Usagi had already been forgotten.

The same could not be said of Kenji. Despite Minako babbling away directly in front of him, Kenji kept trying to look around her to glare at Mamoru. Minako was unperturbed by this and simply leaned in the way whenever Kenji moved. All the while she never let up her stream of enthusiastic chatter.

"I'm telling you, it was the perfect serve. Two of their weakest players right next to each other, rookie mistake, So I lined it up, and saw it, you know? Visualized exactly where I wanted to put the ball and BAM!" Minako slapped her hands together with a loud crack, causing Kenji to start and, it seemed, snapping him out of his glaring trance. He blinked at Minako in confusion, but she continued talking. "Super fast, deadly precision, and we'd scored our first point!"

"I, uh ..." Kenji offered.

"Oh but wait, I get better!" Minako threaded her arm around his and lead him to the couch opposite Ami and Shingo. Kenji allowed her to lead him, completely and utterly out of his depth.

Mamoru watched Kenji trying to keep up with Minako and failing miserably. "Your poor dad. Maybe we should rescue him."

"Definitely not!" said Usagi.

"I think I should talk to him though," Mamoru persisted. "He doesn't like me much."

Usagi flicked the idea away with her hand. "He has plenty of time to get to like you!"

"Could he maybe start now?" Mamoru asked with a sad smile.

"Later," Usagi declared. "We've got things to do. Important things." With that, he tugged his arm and led him toward and up the stairs. All nosey, interfering parties were now suitably distracted and so no protests were lodged. As Usagi was partway up the stairs, she leaned over the banister to shoot a loaded glance at Rei and gestured with her head for Rei to follow. Rei massaged her forehead for a moment then dragged herself after them.

Once upstairs and into the hallway, Usagi stopped and turned to Mamoru.

He looked down at her questioningly. "What do you need?"

Usagi only smiled. "It's a surprise. Close your eyes, okay?"

Mamoru gave Usagi an odd look, but did as she asked.

"Don't move!"

"Okay ..."

Usagi gestured around Mamoru and Rei emerged from the stairwell, the mistletoe stick extended. She stood behind Mamoru and, without enthusiasm, held the stick up so the mistletoe was dangling over him. This prompted annoyance from Usagi, who shook her head and pointed at herself. Rei replied with a look somewhere between confusion and irritation. Usagi jabbed a finger at the mistletoe, then at the empty space over her own head.

Rei rolled her eyes but complied, stretching almost to her tip-toes right behind Mamoru to lift the stick over him and position the mistletoe above Usagi's head. Usagi looked at it critically, appraising it, then gestured for Rei to move the sprig to the left, which Rei did. Then just a liiittttle bit more right. Rei followed suit. Usagi took a step back, the master painter inspecting every nuance of her subject. Rei wordlessly shot Usagi a "WOULD YOU JUST" look, trying her best to not jam her elbow into Mamoru's back.

Mamoru, for his part, had been the model of patience, but even he had limits. "Usako?"

This seemed to spur Usagi to deem everything perfect, and she quickly got into position. "Okay," she said with a dreamy sigh. "Open your—"

"Usagi!" Ikuko called from downstairs. "Come here!"

A surprised and frustrated noise escaped Usagi, and she held up her hands to both Mamoru (who couldn't see them) and Rei. "Okay, nobody move! Keep your eyes closed! Just— Just stay there!" Her footfalls thudded through the hallway as she ran down the stairs. "Mamaaa, what?" could be heard faintly. Then silence.

True to her command, neither Mamoru nor Rei moved. Rei continued stretching and trying to maintain her delicate balance. Mamoru similarly remained motionless with his eyes closed. The seconds were long however, and Rei couldn't keep herself from sighing heavily.

Mamoru's eyebrow twitched at the sound from right behind him. "Rei?" he asked

She hesitated for a second before decided there was no point in lying. "Yeah."

Mamoru cracked open one eye, then the other, and turned.

Rei still hadn't moved. "Hi," she said.

Curious, he took in her weird posture and followed the line of the stick over and above his head, finally coming to a rest on the sprig of mistletoe rotating slowly at the end of the string. He didn't offer any comment, simply looked back to Rei. "Do I want to know?

She shook her head. "Not really."

"Mm," he agreed, not pressing it further.

Everything had clearly become pointless, and it was pretty darned pointless to start in Rei's opinion. She sighed again and lowered the stick, rolling her shoulder to work out a cramp. "Usagi's decided she needs this mistletoe kiss. It's ... magic and a law or something? I wasn't really listening."

Mamoru didn't take the news well. "Here?" he said with a frown. "But her parents are here."

Rei shrugged. "It's not exactly like she asked my opinion."

"I'm trying to make a good impression. It's sweet that Usagi thinks they're just going to like me because she does, but I want to do this right." His dark expression lightened with a self-effacing smirk. "I don't think Tsukino-san finding me kissing his daughter outside of her bedroom will win me many points."

"You should probably tell her that, then maybe she'll drop this whole stupid thing," Rei suggested, absently twirling the stick in her hand. "I'm 99% sure Minako put the idea in her head anyway."

Mamoru nodded and began to go downstairs, but Rei lingered for a moment. He turned back and was surprised to see that she looked embarrassed.

"I'm sorry about my part. I didn't want to." She glanced away, disgruntled. "She gave me that look."

Mamoru's chuckle absolved her of all guilt. "I understand completely."

...

Usagi thundered downstairs. She'd been so close, SO CLOSE. "Mamaaa, what?"

She entered the kitchen, where a delicate and uneasy truce was underway. Ikuko wiped her hands on her apron, while on the other side of the stove, Mako was tending to her dish, which she had apparently wrestled into the "cooking" phase despite all objections.

Ikuko grinned happily – and not a bit unknowingly – at her daughter. "Are you and Mamoru having a nice time?"

"We were," Usagi grumbled.

"Don't worry about Papa too much, okay? He'll come around."

In the background, Mako stirred her dish and tasted it. She contemplated it for a moment, then added a pinch of something and resumed stirring.

"Of course he will!" Usagi said with supreme confidence. "Mamo-chan is the best!"

"Then it's only a matter of time before he sees that too," her mother said indulgently. "Now, dinner's just about ready, go get everyone seated."

Makoto risked a glance at Ikuko and noted that her attention was completely diverted. Slowly, she reached out to the lidded pot she'd been trying to investigate earlier.

Usagi, meanwhile, was huffing at being given things to do that were not kissing Mamoru things. Ikuko was unmoved. "Whatever you were doing, it'll wait," she said.

Without turning, Ikuko swatted Mako's hand with the back of her wooden spoon. Mako hissed sharply and retracted her hand, rubbing her stinging knuckles.

Usagi was already leaving the kitchen. "It's ready!" she yelled to everyone within earshot. "Come and—"

As they had done a hundred times before and would doubtless do a hundred times again, Usagi collided with Mamoru. The moment seemed to freeze in her mind and she took it all in: the twinkling of the Christmas lights, Mamoru's outfit looking all hot and coordinated, Rei with spontaneous but accurate mistletoe placement. She didn't think about it. This wasn't the time for thinking. This was the time for action.

Usagi reached out, grabbed Mamoru's tie and pulled. Surprised, Mamoru had no time to offer resistance, and he fell toward her lips.

Perfect.

"USAGI!?" Kenji's voice rang out, cracking noticeably on the third syllable.

Kenji, Minako, Ami and Shingo had become their audience, which some distant part of Usagi's mind complained was very much against the plan. Still the moment seemed to stretch. Tears were already beginning to well in Kenji's eyes as he bore witness to his beloved daughter's defilement and subsequent plunge into a life of delinquency and hedonism. Mamoru's face had begun to contort into an expression of panic as he realized he was but a fraction of second away from complete and eternal parental doom. It was a house of cards, and it was about to fall down around Usagi's ears. It was too late to stop. There would be no saving her this time.

Then Minako acted.

"Mistletoe!" Minako squealed in pure delight. Without hesitation she leapt forward, knocking Mamoru back a crucial step. She reached out, grabbed Rei's face between her hands and smooshed their lips together.

Rei's eyes widened more than eyes should physiologically be allowed to widen. Mamoru and Usagi wore expressions of complete astonishment, which Kenji was almost perfectly emulating; clearly Kenji was out of his depth in every possible way when it came to Minako. Ami had turned beet red and seemed to be trying to retract her head into her own body like a turtle. Unnoticed, there was a loud thud as Shingo passed out.

Then Mako appeared from the kitchen, a serving dish in her hands. "Dinner's read—" was all she got out before catching sight of Rei and Minako. The bowl slipped from her hands and only Ikuko's quick intervention saved it from shattering on the floor.

Minako broke away from Rei, who hadn't moved a single muscle and didn't appear inclined to start now. She favoured Rei with a bright smile which she turned on the others. "Great!" she said. "I'm starving!"

All eyes followed her as she marched into the dining room.

...

The table hadn't really been built for nine people in mind, but somehow they were making it work. Kenji and Ikuko sat at the heads with the others filling in the longer sides. Plates were being passed around in a circle ensuring everyone would get a sample of all the dishes. Kenji would begin by carving one of the chickens, then pass to Shingo on his right. From there to Ami, then Minako before reaching Ikuko, who would top off whatever seemed under-sampled so far. Then to Mako, Rei, and Mamoru, before reaching Usagi who was on Kenji's left.

As the plates made their circuit, Ikuko was talking animatedly to Minako.

"Well I think it's just wonderful that you girls found each other," she said earnestly.

Minako was all smiles. "Thank you, Ikuko-mama!"

"If you or Rei need anything from us, anything at all, you just ask, okay?"

Makoto looked at Rei with a mixture of sympathy and concern. Rei's hands were clenched into tight fists in her lap and her face was burning. Under her breath she was chanting a litany: "I'm going to kill her. I'm going to kill her. I'm going to kill her."

Mako put Rei's plate down in front of her and patted her shoulder reassuringly. Then she took in her own full plate, eyeing one dish in particular with skepticism. Still, she took a hearty mouthful and after a tentative chew her eyes lit up.

"Ikuko-san, this is fantastic!" she exclaimed.

Ikuko turned her sunny smile on Mako. "See, I told you!" Then it was Ikuko's turn to try something new, and her reaction was just as ecstatic. "Oh my goodness, so is this! Mako-chan, you must give me the recipe!"

"Only if you give me yours!" Mako said, and then the two were off in their own world, all previous tension completely forgotten.

Meanwhile, Ami was whispering harshly to her neighbor. "You shouldn't have done that, Minako! Poor Rei!"

Minako was unrepentant, and she shoveled food into her mouth as if to emphasize it. "Hey, our Princess was in trouble and I acted. Any one of us would've done the same thing."

"I'm quite certain none of us would have done that," Ami replied, still frowning at Minako with as much disapproval as she could muster which, as it turns out, was quite a lot.

Minako shrugged. "Well I guess some people are more dedicated to the mission than others." Then louder and without looking over, "If you don't stop staring at me, Shingo, I'll put my fork in your eye."

Shingo cut into his chicken, but didn't stop grinning to himself.

At the other end of the table, things were considerably cooler. Kenji hadn't stopped glaring at Mamoru for a moment, the excitement not erasing what very nearly happened in his own house with his own daughter. Mamoru, understandably, was squirming under the hostility and doing everything he could to not run away and never come back, destiny or no. Usagi was just becoming angrier by the second and shooting back Kenji's glare with equal intensity, though sadly without the same reaction.

Mamoru gave his food a token nibble, his appetite somewhere very far away. It was certain he could barely taste it, yet he spoke with great, if nervous, enthusiasm. "Dinner is fantastic, sir. Thank you again for having me."

Kenji just kind of grunted in response.

"Papa, stop it," Usagi growled.

But Kenji did the opposite of stop it. "Let's just have it, hm?" he said to Mamoru. "No point in not discussing it." He paused to gather together his sternest Father Glare yet and directed its full force onto Mamoru. "What are your intentions with my daughter?"

The room fell silent, all idle chatter forgotten in the mounting tension. All eyes were on their side of the table. Kenji put all he had into looking unyielding and intimidating, but for all that, Mamoru would not be cowed. Rather, he seemed to pull strength from the question and easily met Kenji's eyes. There was no more nervousness.

"To love her."

It was not what Kenji was expecting to hear.

"I've always loved her," Mamoru continued, "and every moment that passes I love her more. I want to earn your respect and approval, sir, and I hope one day I will. But whether I do or not, I won't stop loving her."

They weren't a lot of words, but they were from the heart. Usagi looked at Mamoru, her eyes shining. "Mamo-chan ..."

Mamoru gave her a warm gaze of his own, the stress of the moment temporarily forgotten.

Both were surprised by the loud sniffle coming from the head of the table and glanced over.

Kenji was staring at Ikuko, his own eyes brimming and his lip trembling. He was hanging on by the thinnest of threads. Ikuko smiled knowingly.

"I think I forgot something in the kitchen," she said, getting to her feet. "Will you help me, dear?"

Kenji mumbled something in the affirmative through his sniffs and wibbles. As Ikuko passed Minako she put something on the table, then took her husband by the hand and led him away. As soon as they had exited the room, the sounds of his crying were loud and unmistakable, but diminished as they got further away.

Mamoru and Usagi were themselves lost in each others eyes. Minako looked down to see that Ikuko had put the mistletoe next to her. She grabbed the stick and handed it to Ami. Ami nodded and passed it across the table to Rei, who smiled and put in the proper position, getting it right the first time.

Usagi looked up. "Hey," she said quietly. "Mistletoe."

"Imagine that," said Mamoru.

Still he hesitated, seeming unwilling to risk ruining whatever ground he may have gained with Usagi's father.

"Oh get on with it already," Mako grumbled good-naturedly. She reached past Rei and shoved Mamoru. Again he found himself falling toward those lips, but this time he stuck the landing and decided this was an okay place to be.

Shingo did not agree, and he let out a stream of gagging noises and violent retches. "OH GROSS SOME OF US ARE TRYING TO EA—"

Ami slapped her hand over Shingo's eyes, and Minako stretched across Ami to do the same to his mouth. The only sounds left were the muffled struggles as Shingo scrabbled unsuccessfully to escape.

Still holding the mistletoe stick, Rei used her other hand to spear a piece of chicken and bit into it. "Mm, tasty!" she declared.

The others followed suit, eagerly digging in and commenting on the deliciousness of the meal. Mako was the only one with both hands free, so she made it her duty to butter rolls for the others and pass them around. Usagi and Mamoru ignored all this and simply enjoyed the Christmas Law of mistletoe.