Falling INTO Love Part 1/3 By Elisabeth James ejames000@ameritech.net Don’t ask me where I got this idea, I don’t even want to know. It was just begging to be written in my opinion. And who am I to deny a fic it’s right to be written? So here it is for your enjoyment! Disclaimer: I don’t own Sailor Moon and I have never been skydiving :) therefore I probably messed up on some lingo and stuff. Please don’t jump down my throat about it :) Any help would be appreciated so anyone who is a skydiving expert feel free to help me out by dropping me a line :) “Come on! It’ll be fun! You can picture it can’t you? Soaring gracefully through the air, seeing the world like birds do.” Makoto was preaching to a lost cause. Ami just sat there shaking her head and Minako was paging through a fashion magazine not paying an attention to Makoto’s pleads. “I have a test next week, I need to study if I even have a chance of getting a good grade.” she barely glanced up at her towering friend. “Minako-chan, please!” Makoto latched on Minako’s arm and stared up at her blond haired friend with pleading eyes. “The goddess of love and beauty does NOT sky dive!” she told Makoto sternly, her eyes lit up when she turned the page of her magazine, “Ami! Look at this great hairstyle, it would look absolutely perfect on you.” Ami peered over at the open magazine and nodded in agreement. Makoto shot to her feet, recognizing the signs of defeat surrounding her. She turned her attention to the raven haired girl sitting in the corner reading a manga. “I don’t want to sky dive by myself you guys! I know there’s a thrill seeker in you Rei, you’ll go with me right?” Tears were forming in the corners of her green eyes. Rei looked around for some other volunteers. “Well... I guess I could go with you. It does sound like fun. What about you Usagi-chan?” Usagi’s blue eyes got wide at the thought of jumping from an airplane. “I better not, with my luck my chute wouldn’t open and I would plummet to the ground.” she scratched the back of her head uncomfortably and tried to move the attention to someone else in their small group. “I really thought you would want to go, Motoki has already signed up for the same class as me. He was looking forward to seeing you there Usagi-chan.” “Motoki-chan really said that about me? Well then I can’t disappoint him now can I? I’ll go Mako-chan!” Usagi fought down the feelings of unrest that suddenly manifested themselves inside her. It was just a jump out of an airplane, how hard could it be? Ami and Mina remained silent still mulling over the fashion magazine, they both preferred to leave their feet planted firmly on the ground. **~**~**~**~** “I said no Motoki! Let’s leave at that.” Mamoru turned angrily away from his friend and started toward the door of the game center. Motoki quickly searched for a reason to make his best friend go with him. He suddenly had a revelation. “Mamoru-kun, I think Usagi-chan is coming. At least I think that’s what Makoto told me earlier today.” he grinned sadistically as his friend slowly started to turn around. Motoki quickly changed his evil expression to something more innocent before Mamoru could notice. “Odango Atama is going to jump from a moving airplane flying hundreds of miles above the earth?! This I have to see, count me in. When does this little excursion take place?” Hopefully on Saturday, in the morning. I’m picking up Makoto, Usagi and Rei around nine at Usagi’s. There’s a short lesson before the jump. Do you want me to pick you up too?” Mamoru shook his head, “No, I want to surprise Usagi. I can’t wait to see the look on her face when she sees me there.” Motoki only shook his head. “So I shouldn’t I tell her that you’re going?” the mischievous smile returned to Motoki’s face. “Exactly, this will be classic klutz action. At least I have a feeling it will be.” Mamoru glanced at his watch, “I should be going, I have a class early tomorrow.” with a short wave Mamoru disappeared out the sliding glass doors of the game center. “Okay, I’ll talk to you later.” Motoki called to his retreating back and went back to straightening up the counter. **~**~**~**~** “You’re awfully quiet back there Usagi, is everything okay?” Rei looked back at her friend sitting silent in the backseat of Motoki’s car. They sped along the highway toward the small airport where their plane would take off that afternoon. “I’m fine Rei, I think I’m just a little scared.” Makoto placed a comforting hand on Usagi’s shoulder. “Don’t worry Usagi-chan, everyone has a jumping partner. I’m sure whoever the instructor puts you with will make sure everything is fine.” she smiled brightly, trying to comfort Usagi. She too was a little scared but Makoto loved the feeling of adrenaline pumping through her bloodstream. Fear was the ultimate motivator for her. Usagi nodded slightly and went back to studying the car seat in front of her. Rei and Motoki were engrossed in their own conversation up front. “Mamoru is meeting us there, I just hope Usagi doesn’t leave at the sight of him.” Motoki told her softly. “She won’t, she’ll be upset that we didn’t tell her though. I just hope he decides to take some pity on her today. Everyone could use a break now and then.” Rei stared straight ahead focusing on the winding road. “I don’t know Rei, when I told him that Usagi was coming he saw it as an excuse to watch her klutz out all day long. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after all. I don’t want to see her get hurt.” Rei turned her attention to the attractive man sitting next to her. “Don’t worry Motoki-san, everything will be fine.” she snuck a glance over her shoulder at her sullen friend, “I wonder what is wrong with Usagi today though, I have never seen her so subdued. I don’t think this is just fear of jumping from the plane, something is seriously wrong.” He watched the blond girl in his rear view mirror for a few moments, “I agree, I’ll keep an eye on her. I’ll try to get Mamoru to leave her alone as well.” Makoto broke in suddenly, “Just look at that sky! It’s a beautiful day, I bet we can see for miles around once we get up into the sky.” Usagi cast her eyes to the blue sky and the sun that blazed overhead but remained silent. She leaned forward and placed her chin on Motoki’s shoulder, “Motoki, you’ll be my jumping partner right?” His face turned bright red, “Uhhh... Well the instructor makes the final decision but I can ask him if that would be okay. Sound good Usagi?” She didn’t say anything as she sat back, her face looked troubled, “Thanks Motoki.” she mumbled under her breath. She didn’t know what was so wrong with her, there was just this terrible omen that something bad was going to happen. She pushed back those thoughts and focused on the jump, she just hoped she was brave enough to go through with it. Motoki brightened up at the sight of the airport looming ahead of them, “We’re almost there! I can see the airport from here, this is going to be great you guys!” everyone in the car perked up except for Usagi. **~**~**~**~** “Mamoru! Imagine seeing you here!” Motoki glanced at Usagi as she spotted the dark haired man standing at the entrance to the classroom. Her eyes seemed to darken and her face seemed to get even more upset than before. She quickly hid her displeasure and looked at Rei and Makoto. There was no shock on their faces as they greeted Mamoru, everyone had known about him being here but her. “Odango.” his tone was playful, but Usagi was not in the mood. “Chiba-san.” she didn’t look at him as she walked past him into the classroom. She took a seat in the last row and the rest of her friends followed her lead. Mamoru took the seat to her right, still puzzled by attitude toward him. The instructor went over everything quickly, it was pretty basic. He showed them how to jump correctly and land. And what to do in case of an emergency. Usagi could feel Mamoru’s cool blue eyes looking at her all through the lesson, but she didn’t look at him. She could sense his concern for her, but she just didn’t care. She never should have told Mako-chan she was willing to do this. She was absolutely terrified that something was going to happen to her. “Now, everyone here needs to have a jumping partner. the purpose of this is so everyone has someone to turn to in case of trouble. It also helps some of our more afraid divers feel better about jumping. I’ll partner you up with someone I feel will balance nicely with you.” the instructor walked quickly around the room placing people in groups of two. “Remember what you said in the car Motoki-chan.” she turned around to look at him and he nodded. “I’ll try my hardest Usagi, I promise.” she turned around happy with the results. The instructor looked at her and narrowed his eyes. “I think you should be with this young man right here.” he pointed to Mamoru. Her eyes widened with fear, she thought that having a jumping partner was supposed to make her feel better about the whole thing not worse! She heard Motoki speak up behind her, “Excuse me sir, but I think that this young lady would feel much more comfortable with me instead of him.” “Sorry, I already have you partnered with this young lady right here.” he pointed to Rei, “I think that the blond girl should stay with this gentleman. If something goes wrong they would be a much more capable team than you and her.” Motoki nodded dejectedly. He squeezed Usagi’s shoulder in comfort. “I tried, I’m sorry. I’m sure Mamoru-kun wouldn’t do anything to put you in danger Usagi. He’s not that horrible.” he eyed his friend with a glare. Mamoru nodded, he knew that Usagi was scared enough without him doing anything to her. “Don’t worry Odango, I promise to make sure that everything is okay. I won’t let anything bad happen to you.” he smiled at her but her face remained blank in reply. “I trust you Mamoru-san, please don’t make me regret it.” she stood up and followed the rest of the class to the locker room to get changed into the wind suits they were to wear for the jump. **~**~**~**~** “It’s going to be okay Usagi-chan, Mamoru-san will make sure you end up on the ground okay. I know him, he would never do anything to hurt you up in that plane or on the way down.” Rei pulled on the red wind suit that had been given to her. She patted her friend’s arm. “This is going to be so much fun, I just know it.” “That’s because you get to jump with Motoki-chan. I would feel much better if I were jumping with him too.” Usagi grumbled while she struggled into her hot pink wind suit. “Well you are jumping with someone you know, I’m partnered with the instructor. I’m too tall to be with anyone else.” Makoto slid into her green wind suit with easy and helped Usagi zip hers up in the back. “Come on Usagi-chan! This is an adventure, lighten up a little. Nothing will happen, you’ll jump and you’ll see how much fun this can be. Don’t let mean old Mamoru ruin the experience!” Rei led Usagi and Makoto toward the door and out to the airplane. **~**~**~**~** “I don’t know about this anymore Motoki-kun, I have to jump with Odango. This is not a good combination.” he stood there waiting for Motoki to finish putting on the blue wind suit on over his clothes. “Grow up Mamoru-kun. So you have to jump with Usagi.” he placed extra emphasis on her real name, “You should have seen her in the car on the way here. She looked terrified, that’s why she asked me to be her partner. Please don’t make me regret inviting you to come.” his face was serious and Mamoru understood his concern. “I just don’t understand that girl sometimes, if she’s so scared why doesn’t she just back out?” he asked his friend softly. “I think she was going to until she saw you standing there. She’s scared you’re going to make fun of her about all of this. All that girl ever wanted was your approval, and yet you keep putting her down. She has asked me time and time again why you hate her so much and I don’t know what to tell her. I don’t even know why you despise her so much, she has never done anything to you.” Mamoru looked down at his shoes ashamed, he didn’t want the girl to think that he hated her. It was exactly the opposite, he really liked Usagi, but he didn’t know how act around her. “I will not let her down Motoki-kun, I promise. I will prove to her that I’m not a scumbag.” Motoki smiled and the two left the locker room. **~**~**~**~** “I need all the partners to sit next to one another and connect this 15 foot bungee cord onto the metal hooks on the side of your belts. This will help you stay together on the way down, as long as it’s pulled taut their should be enough space for you to stay together with open parachutes. If something should happen and you need to disconnect yourself from the other person just push in the metal clip and you’ll be free. Any other questions before we start the plane up and take off?” the plane remained silent and instructor gave the signal to start the engines. They roared to life, causing the plane to start taxing down the runway. Mamoru felt Usagi’s body stiffen beside him, a look of panic crossed her delicate features. He took the cord being offered by the instructor and fastened it to his belt. “Usagi.” he told her softly, she turned to him puzzled at the sound of him saying her real name. She took the other end of the cord and attached to her own belt. She clasped her hands together and wrung them nervously. Her breathing was steadily getting more strained. She was making soft wheezing sounds, Mamoru thought she was going to hyperventilate. He touched her shoulder gently and she jumped slightly. Her blue eyes were as wide as saucers. He almost wanted to just wrap her up in a hug and just tell her to stay here if she was so scared. Almost. “It’s okay Usagi. Everything will be fine, this is going to be fun. Just wait and when everything is over we will be free of each other once more.” he smiled at her hoping to lighten up the situation. “I’m really scared Mamoru-san, really really scared. I have a bad feeling about this whole thing, something is going to happen to us.” her voice was calm but her body shook with fear. “I will not let anything happen to us, I will protect you from anything. We’re partners, remember that okay?” “Promise me no matter what happens, that you won’t disconnect the cord.” she stared at him intently, begging silently for his word. He motioned agreement with his head, “I promise, we are joined until our feet touch the ground.” he took one of her hands and squeezed it gently. She looked at him, bewildered by his actions. “Thank you.” she whispered softly, enjoying the feeling of his hand holding hers so delicately. Suddenly the door flew open and cool air filled the cabin. The instructor started to shout over the wind. He numbered the teams off and started to call them forward. Motoki and Rei stepped forward. Rei waved to Usagi and Usagi absentmindedly waved back, her mind more focused on her own impending jump. In a flash of red and blue they disappeared. Three more teams jumped before it was Mamoru and Usagi’s turn. She stood up tentatively, her mind racing toward panic. Mamoru continued to pull her toward the open door. The instructor looked her face and pulled Mamoru aside quickly. “Hold her hand, that might make her feel better. She’s just a little scared right now, once she starts the jump she’ll be better.” “Okay.” he took Usagi’s hand tightly in his own and they jumped from the plane. Makoto and the instructor followed them out of the cabin. The wind caught them immediately and started to push them upward. Mamoru laughed, the feeling was exhilarating, the wind blew his jet black hair absently around his face, he gazed over at his partner who was clinging to his right arm. “Relax Usagi, enjoy the feeling of flying!” he gently pried his arm from her grip and slid her underneath him and spread her arms out wide. She opened her tightly clenched eyes and saw the ground miles below her. Mamoru’s warm body was right next to hers, her heart sped up even more at the thought of him being that close to him. She let out a excited cry, a grin plastered across her face. “Having more fun now?” their faces were cheek to cheek. Usagi was speechless, but only for a moment. “It’s wonderful! I have never felt more free!” she told him happily, their eyes meeting. His eyes were bluer than the sky that rushed around them at the moment and she was transfixed with him. “Thank you.” she told him softly, not sure if he would hear or not. His smile grew wider and his grip on her arms tightened in response. They flew down together for a few minutes in a companionable silence, just taking in the sights that surrounded them. Suddenly huge bursts of color exploded below them as the other jumpers started to open their parachutes. Usagi quickly got out from under Mamoru and swooped out next to him. He still held her hand. He held his other hand tight around the rip cord and pulled it quickly. The two of them shot upward again as the air caught the open fabric. Usagi pulled hers quickly and waiting for the small blast as the parachute shot free from the pack. Unfortunately she didn’t feel that sensation, only the one of her and Mamoru flying faster toward the ground. “Mamoru-san!” she screamed as the look of terror crossed his face just like it had hers. He pulled her closer, searching for the backup cord. Her eyes filled with tears, the ground was getting so close now. His hands ran quickly over her pack but found nothing. The one parachute wasn’t slowing them down, there was too much weight and not enough parachute. “Usagi, I can’t find up the back up cord!” he shouted at her, her mouth opened in shock. He felt her arms tighten around his waist and who could blame her. He wanted to hold her back, but if he didn’t find this backup cord quick it would mean both their deaths. “I’m going to die, I’m going to die.” she repeated it over and over. Tears cascaded down her cheeks as Mamoru frantically continued to search for the backup cord. Finally he spotted it and pushed her away. He let the cord rip and Usagi shot upward into the air. Her hand fell away from Mamoru’s strong grip and she held onto the ropes attaching her to her parachute for dear life. She slowly floated down to Mamoru and he looked at her with concern. Her face was bright red and her eyes were puffy from her tears. Her breathing was hurried and gasping and her heart was beating a million times a minute. The cord between them was pulled taut, so there was plenty of room between them. Neither of them said a word as they floated toward the ground. Mamoru looked around for an signs of the other jumpers, he spotted Rei and Motoki as they touched down. Their bright parachutes trailed behind them as they celebrated their successful jump and landing. He watched the others touch down without any problems, nothing like the horrible experience he had just gone through with Usagi. He was so focused on the others that he didn’t hear Usagi’s cries, or notice that they were getting awfully close to the ground. “Mamoru-san!” Usagi’s voice cut through this thoughts like a knife after the third time. He turned uninterested toward his partner. Her face held a look of fear once again. He followed the thin arm that pointed directly toward the tree they were about to crash into. “DAMN!” he swore without thinking. He grabbed onto the bungee cord and yanked Usagi over to him in an attempt to keep her away from the tree. Their chutes met in midair and twisted tightly together making it so no air could get trapped inside the fabric. They abruptly plunged toward the ground, the air whistled past their ears, the feeling for freefall taking over once again. Usagi quickly latched onto Mamoru for dear life, her arms wrapped around him tightly. Her mind didn’t even consider the fact that this was her hated enemy. He placed a sturdy arm around her waist and used the other to cradle her head against his chest. He tried to twist himself so that he would take the brunt of the impact. He felt something soft and giving under his feet but it only lasted a second. They slipped deftly into the maze of tree branches. Their chutes tangled and twisted hopelessly into the limbs of the tree, slowing their descent toward the earth. Branches and leaves scratched them both, the wind suits offered little protection from scrapes and cuts. With a sudden jolt they stopped falling, their plunge was interrupted with a sickening crack as the branches of the tree strained under the weight. Leaves and small twigs fell down around them. With a horrible feeling in the pit of her stomach Usagi opened her blue eyes. The ground was a good 30 feet below her. Mamoru looked at her the same time she looked at him, their eyes meeting without words. They were still clinging to one another, her arms entwined with his. They slowly let one another go, their eyes focused on the ground swinging below them. Neither of them dared to speak until the initial shock wore off. Usagi shook her head in disappointment. “I told you something bad was going to happen.” **~ To be continued... ~** BWHAHAHAHAHA!!!! I’m so good! EMSIT at your service! More tree hijinks in the next chapter! Liz-chan