Usagi walked down the street, carrying a bundle and looking around nervously. She had a place to go to and a person to meet, but she was worried that the person had given her the wrong address. She held the bundle closer to her and turned down a main street, usually busy around this time of day, but was surprisingly empty today. It was a street lined with various popular shops, so this just made the emptiness eerier. Finally, Usagi found the store she was looking for, and smiled widely. She pulled open the painted-pink door and ran inside, taking a seat at a table close to the kitchen. Within minutes, the store's owner came over to her, her curly auburn hair pulled up into a tight bun. A lacy apron was carefully tied around her brown pantsuit.
"Usagi-chan! I didn't expect you to come here so early! How are you?" Makoto asked happily.
"I'm good, but please don't talk so loudly. I just got her to sleep only an hour ago." Usagi whispered, motioning to the bundle in her arms. Makoto lowered her voice and motioned to it.
"Could I look at her again? I know I visited you last week and saw her, but she is just so cute I can't resist!" She tried her best not to squeal. Usagi nodded and pulled some of the bundle away. It revealed a baby girl sleeping there quite soundly, with thin pink hair on her head. A tiny red bow was secured into her hair. "Oh, she's so beautiful, Usagi-chan. You and Mamoru-san did a really good job on her."
"Yeah, but she's a handful. She cries for no reason at all! I feed her, then put her to bed, then I try to sleep myself, only to have her cry! So I run over to her crib to see what's wrong, but there's nothing wrong! She's just crying so I won't sleep!" Usagi griped. Makoto giggled and slid into the chair across from her.
"Yup, that certainly does sound like the Chibiusa-chan we're all familiar with."
"I'd prefer for you to not use her nickname around her. She needs to grow up thinking her name is Usagi!"
"But she handled her nickname fine before."
"She was older then, she's just a baby right now." Usagi covered Chibiusa up again gently, kissing the tip of her forehead.
"Anyway, what exactly brings you here?" Makoto asked.
"To ask you if you can take her in for a while. She's starting to drive me crazy! I have no time for myself anymore!" Usagi cried. Makoto got up from her seat.
"Me? I have my hands full with this bakery. I can't handle a baby too! Besides, I wouldn't know how to take care of one, even if I did want to." She stated.
"What about Ami-chan?"
"She's in Russia right now on some sort of volunteer doctor work. She won't be back for another month."
"Rei-chan?"
"Can you imagine a baby at a shrine? Why don't you ask someone who's taken care of a baby, like Michiru-san?"
"She's still on her world tour. Stupid violin players." Usagi grumbled. She got up from her chair as well.
"Oh no, she just came back today." A customer came into the bakery at that point, and she went behind the counter and started politely taking their order.
"Does that mean Haruka-san is back from her racing tour?" Usagi asked hopefully, but Makoto shook her head at her. "Alright, then I'll just go ask Michiru-san. Hopefully she won't turn me down!" Makoto gave the customer their change back and pointed them to a table nearby.
"Why would she? It's been pretty boring for the Outer Senshi lately since Hotaru-chan has gotten older. I'm sure they'd appreciate the work." Usagi nodded in thanks, and the two girls waved at each other. She stepped outside the bakery and a cold wind rushed past her, blowing her dress and hair really hard. She held her baby closer to her and hoped she wouldn't wake up.
If the wind was going to be this strong on the walk, Usagi figured she was better off by just going back home. The walk to the Outer Senshis' mansion was a long one, and even in pleasant weather she would've been reluctant about taking it. None the less, she still walked that way, stopping occasionally whenever the wind gusted really hard. Chibiusa had woken up at some point as well, and Usagi quietly pointed out some things to her she thought might be interesting. This kept the baby's interest when they finally found themselves at the mansion. There weren't any cars parked outside of the garage, and there was only a teal-colored helicopter in the backyard. She softly knocked on the heavy door, not expecting anyone to hear it.
Hotaru heard it and opened it, her eyes growing wide at the sight of Usagi. "Usagi-san! I'm so glad to see you here! Come in!" She said enthusiastically. Usagi kicked her shoes off the best she could without disturbing the baby, then stood in the center of their living room. "Any particular reason why you're here today?" Hotaru asked.
"Actually, there was. Is your mother home? I heard she was and I had a question for her." Usagi smiled at the young girl.
"She sure is! She's still cooking lunch. Hold on, I'll go get her for you!" Hotaru turned around to run into the kitchen, only to have Michiru come out of it herself, looking very much like she had glided out of there.
"There's no need to, little princess. I heard Usagi-san's voice and figured she was here to ask me something." She bent down and untangled the black jeweled amulet hanging from Hotaru's neck, then smoothed her hair. "Go be a good girl now and play outside, okay?"
"Alright!" Hotaru ran outside, leaving the two women alone. Michiru's expression turned serious, and she looked over at her.
"Is it anything urgent relating to Sailor business? If so, we're missing several of our team, so we'd most likely be at a disadvantage." She nervously twirled her diamond engagement ring around on her finger. She had two rings, that one and a wedding ring.
"It's not! You know there's been no threat to the city in three years!" Usagi announced. Michiru stopped playing with her ring and giggled.
"Well, you can never be too careful, you know. Did you want any tea? It's really lonely around here without Setsuana or Haruka. Sure, our princess keeps me entertained, but I need a little bit more interaction with women my own age, you know?"
"I'll say no to the tea, thank you. I came here to ask you if you would like to take little Usagi off my hands? She's becoming quite a handful!" Usagi motioned to the bundle in her arms.
"You mean Chibiusa-chan? While I'm sure Hotaru would be thrilled, I'm not sure I could with my busy schedule. Even when there's three of us here, we're usually busy doing our own things. We're lucky Hotaru can take care of herself now. Having a baby who's only a few months old would be too much of a hassle."
"Oh, I understand." Usagi said sadly.
"But we could babysit!" Michiru quickly offered. "Do you need a babysitter?"
"I guess not right now..." Usagi's feet had started to hurt from just standing around, so she quickly took a seat on the couch. "Can I hang around here for a little while? Mamo-chan's not back from work yet, and Usagi doesn't need anything right now since I fed her not too long ago. She slept too."
"I suppose there's no harm in that." Michiru went back into the kitchen for something, then came out holding a tea tray. "Are you sure you don't want any tea? There's lots of it!" She set the purple gilded tray onto the coffee table and poured herself a cup, then poured lots of cream into it. She sat next to Usagi and started drinking it. The two sat there quietly for a while, their peace interrupted only by Chibiusa reaching over with her tiny hand and trying to grab Michiru's hair, only to be dismayed that she couldn't reach. Instead of crying about it, though, she simply pouted. Michiru giggled.
"Sorry about that, she's becoming quite self-aware of herself and her surroundings. Part of me wonders if she retains some of her memories about us, because she usually tries to grab various parts of my friends." Usagi explained. She couldn't even count how many times the baby had gotten a hold of her hair and pulled it harshly for no apparent reason but to bother her.
"It's fine, Hotaru was a lot like that too. She wasn't very trusting of us at first and wouldn't let us come anywhere close to her. Her distrustfulness was reasonable, of course, but we wouldn't do anything bad to a newborn..." She trailed off.
"Hey, do you still have your wedding gown anywhere? I really want to see you in it." Usagi suggested, trying to lighten the mood. Michiru looked over at her in surprise.
"Didn't you see me in it on my wedding day?" She asked. Usagi shook her head.
"It was a few days before my nineteenth birthday, so Mamo-chan and I were really busy with getting everything ready. We were really excited for it, but on the actual day, the best present of all came-our daughter!" She giggled. "It's so strange, having a child born on your birthday. You know they're coming soon, but you never really know when."
Michiru stood up. "All right, I'll put it on for you. But it probably won't fit me very well anymore!"
"Your wedding was only a few months ago!"
"Yes, but in that amount of time, Haruka's been filling me up with desserts!" She giggled and put a hand on her stomach.
"If anyone in this room is out-of-shape, it's me! I haven't been taking very good care of myself since I had Usagi, mainly because she runs me ragged. Nobody told me having children would ruin your body!" Usagi cried.
"Maybe because the product is so much more nicer, long-lasting, and important?" Michiru suggested. She left the tea tray on the table and glided out of the room. Usagi had known her for almost five years and she wasn't entirely sure how she managed to do it. It would make sense for Haruka-san to do it since she controlled the wind, in a way, but Michiru-san didn't. She controlled the ocean, again in a way. Usagi checked on her baby, who was still awake and looking around the room. She figured Chibiusa was really warm inside her pink bunny blanket, so she pulled it off of her, revealing a red dress with a white blouse under it. She had lacy socks on, but no shoes. Usagi bunched the blanket up and tucked it under her, snuggling with her baby. Michiru came back in, dressed in a billowy gown.
"Wow, you look really gorgeous, Michiru-san!" Usagi said in awe. The gown was very flowy, despite it being so tight, and millions of pearls and lace were sewn into it. Her veil was surprisingly short, but it was made up for by her long necklace, which dropped down to her waist.
"Thank you. You can see why I have a wife." She giggled.
"No, I'm serious. Even though you're twenty, you're still the most beautiful princess I have ever seen." Usagi got up from her seat and smiled at her. Chibiusa quickly grew bored of their exchanges and grabbed Michiru's necklace, looking quite pleased with herself for getting it. She promptly put the necklace into her mouth and started sucking on it, so Usagi took it out and moved a bit further away. "I'm sorry! She also puts random things into her mouth!" The necklace was dripping with slobber, although it wasn't very much. Michiru groaned in disgust and quickly took it off.
"I have to practice my violin some more. It was nice talking to you though." She said, her tone suddenly turning cold. Usagi took that to mean she had overstayed her welcome, so she silently gathered up Chibiusa's blanket and hurried outside to the backyard, where Hotaru still was. She hadn't even put her shoes back on, instead she was playing in black tights. Her colorful wardrobe her parents had insisted on when she was younger had disappeared. Her dress was a low-cut black gown that was very light-weight with an ankle-long skirt and wrist-long sleeves. Part of her purple bra strap was visible because one of her sleeves had fallen down. She ran up to Usagi happily.
"Did you come to see me?" She asked happily, and Usagi nodded.
"Maybe you would like to play with Usagi now?" She held the baby out to the thirteen-year-old, and Hotaru's eyes got big.
"Won't she cry because I'm a stranger?" She asked nervously.
"I feel like she would still recognize her best friend." Usagi smiled. As if to further illustrate her point, Chibiusa giggled and held her hand out to Hotaru, trying to reach hers. Hotaru giggled and took the baby's hand, making her laugh again.
"She's so cute, Usagi. I'm sure everyone is jealous that you could find such happiness like this." Hotaru said quietly. She gently took Chibiusa from her mother and cradled her softly, although a bit awkwardly. Usagi guided her to hold her correctly.
"You have to make sure her head is balanced in your hand, like this." She said, demonstrating. Hotaru nodded and cuddled her best friend. They had a lot of catching-up to do, that was for sure. Hotaru took her over to her sandbox and started showing the baby all of her toys and started building a sand-castle for her. Usagi sat in the grass next to the box and watched them play with a smile on her face. Chibiusa couldn't grasp the idea of sand just yet, much preferring to chew on one of the shovels, but it was still a cute scene to witness. After several hours, Chibiusa grew bored and started crying, so Usagi had to pick her up.
"I'm sorry, I think she's hungry. I have to take her home, since all of her bottles are there. I hope you two had fun today though!" Usagi smiled and waved at Hotaru before running off, and Hotaru quickly waved back. Michiru came out into the garden, wearing the pink dress she was before.
"Michiru-mama, you should've seen me and Chibiusa-chan! We were having so much fun in the sand!" She grinned, standing up and brushing the sand off her dress. Michiru didn't say anything and instead watched her leave, a stern look on her face.
"She should hope no new threats come around, since there's no way she can be a good leader with a baby." Michiru said.
"You don't mean that? I'm sure Usagi-san could handle it just fine!" Hotaru shot back. "Earlier you were gushing over her baby!"
"Yes, but she shouldn't get used to it. She's out-of-shape, and if her baby is breastfeeding, then it'll be even worse."
"I just don't understand, you have to be hostile towards every descion she makes! Don't you trust our princess?" Michiru looked down at Hotaru, her eyes slowly softening. She smoothed Hotaru's hair.
"Let's go inside. Do you want something to eat? I still have leftover lunch in the fridge." She offered. Hotaru looked away from her and went back inside.
##########
Usagi had fed Chibiusa and put her to sleep in her crib when her phone rang. She picked it up curiously, and brightened when she heard it was Minako on the other line.
"Hey, Minako-chan! How are you? How's show biz?" Usagi grinned. All the Inner Senshi knew how much Minako loved to gush over her literal overnight fame. Today was no exception, of course. Unlike some of the other girls, she was in Japan still, but she was performing in Kyoto.
"Oh, you know how it is. Wonderful! People are constantly wanting to take pictures of my amazing figure, and people are always wanting to talk to me! Right now, however, I'm not singing, I'm modeling the latest autumn fashions."
"Modeling? Rei-chan said you were singing over there." Usagi asked in confusion.
"Well, someone told a lie somewhere, since I'm modeling. But enough about me, what about you? How's Chibiusa-chan? It's a shame I couldn't come over to see her. I'll bet she's really adorable!"
"She is. Everyone over here is constantly gushing over her. It's ridiculous. She herself is a little handful though, and you can tell she basks in it." She recalled the incident with Michiru's necklace, making Minako laugh. "Still, though, part of me is glad I went through all that trouble in the first place. She'll make an amazing friend to us when she gets older. She even knew who Hotaru-chan was!" Usagi said in amazement.
"Wow, that's impressive! She must retain some of her memories about us!" Minako said in equal amazement.
"Yes, but I'm not sure why. Either way, it can't hurt her, so I would just leave it alone."
"Oh, I gotta get going. It's time for an interview!" Minako abruptly hung up, without even a goodbye. Usagi put her phone up and checked on Chibiusa, who was still asleep in her crib. Finding nothing else to do, she went over to her vanity and started making different shapes out of her hair. She had just braided it when she heard Mamoru come through the front door, and she eagerly ran over to him and threw herself into his arms.
"Mamo-chan! You're home!" She gushed happily. He hugged her back, then gently nudged her off.
"I am, but you shouldn't be so forward with hugs. I'm coming home from work and you act like I've just come home from a war!" He teased.
"Sometimes it feels that way with how long you're gone." Usagi confessed. "I didn't cook dinner tonight, so I'm hoping you brought something home?" She gave him a very sweet look, and he chuckled.
"No, but I can cook dinner. It's not a problem." He hung his coat up and went into the kitchen. "Have you given Usagi her bottle yet?"
"Yeah, I did that shortly before you came home. She's asleep right now, so don't bother her." Usagi explained. "Speaking of which, why did we even name her that?"
"Don't you remember? It was all your idea. You wanted to name her after the person who saved the world five separate times." He grinned.
"Wow, I can be really egotistical sometimes."
"It's the truth."
Usagi couldn't argue with that, and instead started helping him with the dinner, doing whatever he needed her to do. Sometimes they exchanged several kisses over a boiling pot or chopped vegetables. Overall, the stew they had cooked was very delicious, but they accidentally made too much of it.
"What should we do with these leftovers?" Usagi asked, clearing away their plates.
"We'll just put them in the fridge and eat them tomorrow. We usually just eat leftovers anyway." Mamoru said, opening up their fridge.
"Yeah, but sometimes I wish you could come home to a meal I've cooked. I'm not a very good housewife otherwise, am I?" She said sadly. She walked into the living room. Mamoru followed her and twirled her braid around.
"You take care of our baby, isn't that enough?" He asked.
"I bet Michiru-san makes a much better housewife than me." She grumbled. He spun her around.
"Don't compare yourself to your friends. You do what you do and that's the end of it. That personality is why I married you."
"Well, that and the fact we're destined to rule someday."
"That too." They passionately kissed each other.
#########
Meanwhile, in St. Petersburg, Ami had a very strange sense that something was going to go very, very wrong. She closed the book she was reading to a little girl and stood up.
"Is there something wrong?" The little girl asked worriedly. Ami smiled reassuringly at her.
"Don't worry, it's nothing you should concern yourself about. I just realized I forgot to make an important phone call to a friend of mine. If you don't mind..." The little girl nodded and Ami handed the book to her. "See if you can finish the story for me, alright?" The girl smiled, and Ami excused herself into the bathroom and pulled out her aqua cell phone. She quickly dialed a number and let it ring.
"Hello, this is Hino Rei. What sort of service do you request?" Rei asked on the other line, very formally. Ami introduced herself and the formal edge in her voice vanished. "Ami-chan? Is something wrong?"
"I'm not sure. At work today I got a strange feeling that maybe something could go wrong. I figured you'd be the person to call and put my thoughts at ease. Can you please check for me, really quickly? If I'm right, then we'll have to get all the other girls involved and I'd rather not since only a couple are left in Tokyo right now." Ami spilled. She had a bad habit of talking too much when she was nervous. Rei was silent for a while, but eventually agreed.
"I'm not going to take the phone in there with me, but I'll call you as soon as I see anything." She promised. The two girls hung up on each other, and Ami pocketed her phone and walked back into the girl's room. She sat back down next to her again with a smile.
"Sorry about that. Did you manage to finish your book?" She asked. The girl nodded happily.
"Yes! I was quite surprised, since you know my eyes aren't very good, but I did!" She exclaimed happily.
"That's fantastic news! Shall we read another one?"
"No, I should rest so I can have my examination tomorrow. But afterwards, we can, okay?" The girl snuggled up in her blankets. "Don't tell anybody, but you're my most favorite doctor here, Dr. Mizuno." She closed her eyes, and Ami figured she should leave so she could sleep in peace. She closed the curtain around her bed and slipped out of the room. Rei still hadn't called her, so she had time to check in on another one of her patients. This patient was recovering from an intestinal disease, and was close to a coma, but his oral therapy had been very helpful. Ami checked on him in bed, but he was asleep. She still rearranged his room, tidying some things up. As she was pushing his slippers under the bed, she heard her phone chime and quickly slipped into the bathroom again so she could be alone.
"Hello, Rei-chan? Have you found anything?" She asked nervously. Her heart skipped a beat when Rei said she had.
"There's a new enemy out there, all right. I couldn't see their face very well in the fire, but I could make out that they had twelve minions. Chances are we'll have to fight them before we even have a chance at their leader." She explained.
"I see. Could you make out what their minions looked like?"
"Not very well. I could tell they were far from being humans, however."
"Thank you. I'll keep my eyes peeled here."
"No, you should come back to Tokyo. So many of the other Senshi are gone, and we'll need all the help we can get. Right now, the only ones here are me, Makoto-chan, Usagi, Hotaru-chan, and Michiru-san. That's not enough."
"They're strong enough. Besides, I can't just leave! I have a job now!"
"We all have jobs now. Usagi has a kid now. Still, we're all going to accept our destinies and fight this new enemy. So, are you going to be with us?" She hung up before hearing Ami's answer, assuming it to be a yes.
Ami placed her phone in her pocket and gripped the sides of the sink nervously. True, they were all adults now, with their own lives, but they were still going to drop those lives at the very existence of evil. But on the other hand, they had a chance to choose, and Ami felt like she enjoyed her civilian life too much. If she chose the latter, however, she knew her friends would never forgive her. She'd been through too much with them anyway, there's no way they'd let her leave so early. With a deep breath, she stepped out of the bathroom and walked past the boy's bed, then took off running in the hospital's hallways. She eventually came to the lobby, with the volunteer sign-in sheet.
"Yes, is there some sort of problem, Dr. Mizuno?" The secretary asked boredly. Ami looked at her.
"Yes, something's come up. Cross my name off the list, I'm going back home to Tokyo."