Usagi has changed over the past year. Not noticeably, not at first. She's still late for everything, still cries at the slightest provocation, still brings home terrible grades. Except, Ikuko has noticed that if it's something truly important (which school apparently does not fit into), Usagi is always there when she needs to be; and she only cries at the little, inconsequential things – things that don't really matter. If it's something big, like when Shingo broke his leg, Usagi takes action. She called an ambulance, kept Shingo calm and stable, and didn't panic until after he was being taken care of.
Usagi has always been kind hearted, if a bit oblivious. Oh sure, if she noticed a problem, she'd help out, but you had to get her attention first. Now, she notices everything. Like when her father is tired and overworked, she's quieter and more helpful around the house. And when Ikuko herself was sick, Usagi picked Shingo up from school and made dinner for them (the food turned out to be inedible and they ended up calling for take-out, but that's not the point).
Somehow, someway, when she wasn't looking, her little girl grew up. Oh, she's still immature concerning manga and boys and studying, but sometimes, Ikuko will catch her daughter with a faraway look on her face, as if she's seeing and contemplating something no one else can understand. And sometimes, Usagi just seems so tired, as if the weight of the whole world is on her young, fourteen year old (I'm almost fifteen Mom!) shoulders. It's not that Ikuko is unhappy with Usagi growing up, it's just…she hadn't wanted her daughter to grow up quite so quickly. She remembers, they had been having family time (something they needed to have more of), and Shingo had chosen an old war movie. The look on Usagi's face when she saw the soldiers dying…it was as if she knew what they were going through, as if she could empathize with those war torn, broken men. Ikuko had never wanted to see her daughter look like that.
However, Usagi isn't the only one who notices things; things like how she has four new friends, and they haven't seen Naru-chan for a while; things like how Usagi has bloodstains in her clothes; things like a limp or wince, as if she's healing from a nasty wound. At first Ikuko didn't know what to think. And then she finally looked at one of those news broadcasts about Sailor Moon.
Usagi might seem like a stranger sometimes, but Ikuko carried her for 9 and a half months, held her, raised her, loved her, and she'd know her daughter anywhere. She doesn't ask though, because she knows that when Usagi is ready, she'll tell her. She'll come to her and cry, about wars and pain and a boy who keeps breaking her heart (mothers know these things), and Ikuko will finally get a chance to hold her daughter and rock her and tell her: shh, mama's here, it's ok, I'll take care of you, I'll take care of everything, you don't have to hold the burden of the world anymore (for a short time, while she holds her daughter in her arms, it will even be true. But Usagi's got powers and responsibilities now, and not even mothers can stop their daughters from growing up, no matter how much they wish it).
But for now, Ikuko keeps quiet. She takes care of the house, yells at Usagi about grades, and keeps her family together; she does the wash, making sure to get all the red stains out, leaves bandages and antiseptic around the house, and doesn't say a word when Usagi sneaks out late at night or (more often now) doesn't come home. And sometimes, on a quiet, peaceful night, she'll sit in her daughter's room and just watch her, (she's ok, she's alive, unhurt) because no matter how old or powerful Usagi gets, she'll always be Ikuko's little girl.
