Chapter 21

They soon pulled into the parking lot, found a spot, unloaded the picnic basket and blanket, and found a spot to eat.

"I have peanut butter and jelly, hold the crust for ChibiUsa, and two of the same for Usagi. There are also chips, fruit, water, and juice." Mamoru said as he pulled everything out of the basket, and laid it out.

"How come Usagi gets two? She doesn't really need it." ChibiUsa said with a pout.

"There is a second one for you if you want it, but Usagi does need the extra sandwich." Mamoru responded, trying to remain calm.

"Mamo. Let me handle this." Usagi said gently, laying her hand on his arm. "ChibiUsa, do you know what a thyroid it?"

"No." ChibiUsa answered, confused.

"Let me see your hand please." With that Usagi ran ChibiUsa's fingers on her neck. "Do you feel that bump?"

"Yes."

"That's called a thyroid. Every one has them. They help our body process food and energy. For most people, they work fine. For other people they work too slow, which can make it take longer to process food, and energy. For me, it works too fast, making food and energy process too fast."

"What does that have to do with how much you eat?"

"Well you get your energy from the food you eat, and the calories in the food. Because my body processes food so fast, I run out energy fast. I have to eat more, and have more calories so I don't run out of energy too fast."

"What happens if you don't eat enough?"

"I get weak, sick, and can even pass out. I ended up in the hospital because of it. That's how we found out. I take medicine for it, but I still have to eat a lot of food to keep up with what my body needs. I actually have to eat twice what most people do to keep my energy, and stay healthy."

"Oh. Is that why you always drink milkshakes?"

"Yes. They are high in calories, and fat that my body needs. I get them after school because I can't eat in class, and by the end of the day I need to calories so I don't get weak or pass out."

"Oh."

ChibiUsa was quiet after that, but she watched Usagi closely. She seemed to be making sure Usagi ate everything. Once they were finished their picnic, they packed up, put the basket and blanket back in the car, and went into the zoo.

They had been walking around for about an hour when they got to the monkey house. ChibiUsa immediately pressed against the glass to watch the monkeys. She giggled as the monkeys played, and hung from tree branches and ropes. She spent twenty minutes just watching the monkeys. Usagi leaned over next to her.

"You really like the monkeys, don't you?" Usagi asked.

"Yeah." ChibiUsa answered not taking her eyes off the monkeys.

"Me too. They remind me a bit of you, actually."

"HEY! I AM NOT A MONKEY DUMMY!"

Mamoru was about to step in, when Usagi continued.

"Didn't say you were. You remind me of them. See how active they are? How curious they are? How much fun they are having?"

"Yeah."

"You're curious, active, and have fun a lot. Just like those monkeys."

"Oh. I'm sorry I yelled at you."

"It's ok. I should have said that differently. Ready to see more animals?"

"Yeah."

They moved on to the elephants. While ChibiUsa was feeding a giraffe from Mamoru's shoulders, Usagi disappeared. They were waiting to feed the giraffe again, when Usagi snuck up behind them, and wrapped something around ChibiUsa's neck. ChibiUsa was so surprised, she squealed in his ear, and dropped the giraffe feed she was holding. Mamoru turned for them to see a smiling Usagi behind them.

"Stupid Usagi! You scared me, and made me drop the giraffe food." ChibiUsa said angrily.

"ChibiUsa." Mamoru said sternly, as he put her back on the ground.

"What? She scared me." ChibiUsa stated.

"I understand that, but you don't call people stupid. Usagi was just trying to play with you."

"Yeah. But…"

"ChibiUsa. Think before you say anything more."

"ChibiUsa, I was just trying to surprise you with something special." Usagi said with a small smile.

"Oh. I'm sorry I called you stupid, but you really did scare me."

"I'm sorry I scared you, but you need to see what's hanging off your back." Usagi encouraged.

ChibiUsa pulled the thing on her back only to discover it was stuck around her neck. She looked confused, and a bit angry, until she realized what ever it was, was velcored around her neck. After she got it undone, she pulled the thing from behind her. It was a light purple monkey, with the word CHIBIUSA with a heart stitched with pink thread on it's belly. ChibiUsa ran her fingers over the words, and appeared to tear up then looked up at Usagi.

"When we came into the zoo, there was a sign for an app for it. I had been playing with it for a bit when we went into the monkey house. I saw they had stuffed animals you could purchase, and have stuff stitched on it's belly. When I saw how much you loved the monkeys, I ordered one. It said it would take an hour to finish. I disappeared so I could go pick it up. Do you like it?"

ChibiUsa just nodded, and launched herself at Usagi. Usagi wrapped her arms around ChibiUsa, and held her tight. Despite being upset at first, Mamoru couldn't help, but snap a picture.

After a moment or two they pulled apart, he picked up ChibiUsa, put her back on his shoulders, took Usagi's hand, and they continued on. They had stopped at the rabbit enclosure when ChibiUsa leaned down, and whispered in his ear.

"I want to get something special for Usagi, but I don't have any money. Can you help me please?" She asked quietly.

"Sure. Do you know what you want to get her?" Mamoru asked just as quietly.

"No."

"Ok. We'll sneak to the gift shop, and see if you can find something. Otherwise I'll take you shopping some time."

"Ok. Thanks Mamo."

"Hey Usako, we'll be right back, ok?" Mamoru called to her.

"Ok." Usagi said, and went back to watching the bunnies.

"She really does love bunnies." ChibiUsa giggled.

"Yeah she really does. She's a bit like a bunny. Plus her name means rabbit on the moon." Mamoru informed her.

"I didn't know that."

"Yup. Here we go." Mamoru put ChibiUsa down, and they walked into the gift shop together.

They wandered for a few minutes before ChibiUsa stopped him, pointed to something, and started giggling. When he saw what was, he laughed. It was a small statue of Sailor Moon, doing her usual pose, standing in the back of an elephant. Next to it was a small model on Tuxedo Kamen hanging onto the back of a zebra.

"We have to show Usagi those before we leave. She'll laugh so hard." ChibiUsa said between giggles.

"Yes she will. Actually. I think I'll get these for her." Mamoru said, grabbing one of each.

"Those have to be from you though. They're funny, but not special enough to be from me." ChibiUsa said.

"Well excuse me." Mamoru joked.

ChibiUsa wandered off towards the stuffed animals, as Mamoru looked at picture frames. He found a silver one with different animals around the frame, he thought would be perfect for the picture of the three of them in front of the Art Center.

ChibiUsa came back up to him, holding two things in her hand, looking thoughtful.

"What do you have there ChibiUsa?" he asked kneeling down.

"They had two things I like for Usagi, but I can't decide which one." ChibiUsa held out the two items for him to look at.

One was a stuffed pink bunny, sleeping on a stuffed crescent moon. The second item was a light pink messenger bag with white bunny heads stitched all over it. They were both perfect.

"They are both perfect for her. She'll love the bunny, but she can get a lot of use out of the bag." Mamoru said.

"Which would you get her?"

"Well see, if it was a gift from me, I would probably consider what she would get more use out of. The bag she can use for school or for art supplies. Since it's a gift from you, it should be the one that speaks to you more. One that really says I saw this, and thought of you."

"That's the problem. They both say that to me. I gotta think about this."

"OK. You do that." Mamoru stood back up, looked at the frames again, and grabbed two more. One for each of them. He wanted ChibiUsa to be able to take the picture home with her when she returned to the future. He also grabbbed the Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Kamen statues for ChibiUsa.

"I think I'll get the bag. They can stitch a message in it, like she did with my monkey." ChibiUsa said, but she looked slightly disappointed.

"You want to get both, don't you?" Mamoru asked.

"Yeah, but that's too expensive. Plus you're already getting both those statues."

"Don't worry about it ChibiUsa. We'll get her both. Come on. Do you know what you want stitched on it?"

"Yeah. I want never stop believing."

"That's really sweet. Where did you come up with that?"

"You said Usagi always believes in people. I don't want her to ever stop doing that."

"I like that, and she will too. What color thread are you going to get?"

"Purple. She got me a purple monkey with pink words so I want hers to be the same, but opposite."

"She'll love that."

They went up to the counter, Mamoru paid for everything while ChibiUsa did her words for the stitching. Mamoru decided to get a locker for their bags of gifts then went to find Usagi. What they found made them both laugh. Usagi was sitting in the middle of the bunny enclosure, with bunnies hoping all over her, giggling, while a zoo keeper stood watch near by. Mamoru snapped a quick picture.

"Look ChibiUsa. They let me come in, and pet the bunnies. Want to come in too?" Usagi asked happily.

"Can I?" ChibiUsa asked the zoo keeper.

"Sure, but you can't pick them up, only pet them. They don't like to be picked up." The brown haired man said.

"Ok." ChibiUsa walked over to the gate.

"Did you want to come too sir?" The man asked Mamoru.

"UH?" Mamoru sputtered.

"Come on Mamo." Two female voices singsonged.

"Ok." Mamoru answered, and followed ChibiUsa in.

The zoo keeper made them both stop at the sink by the gate to wash their hands then they joined Usagi. Within moments of ChibiUsa sitting down a bunny hopped into her lap, and she started giggling. Mamoru sat a little away from them, and started snapping pictures. He got the perfect shot of a brown bunny stretching up on his hinds legs to sniff Usagi's nose. She was cross eyed trying to look at it.

It didn't take long for Mamoru to find himself with a lap full of bunnies as well. When one put it's front paws on his chest, and started sniffing his chin, he ended up falling back from trying to keep his chin from being bitten. The girls howled with laughter at him, as Usagi grabbed his camera, and snapped a few pictures of him. Before they left the enclosure, the zoo keeper snapped a few pictures of the three of them together, surrounded by bunnies.

They continued walking around, looking at animals, when ChibiUsa saw an ice cream cart. She pulled on Mamoru's arm, when he looked at her, she pointed to the cart, and nodded her head at Usagi who was looking at a bear. He nodded back.

"Hey Usagi. Are you hungry?" ChibiUsa called out.

"Not really. Why?" Usagi answered, walking over to them.

"Not even for ice cream?" ChibiUsa said with a sly grin, pointing at the cart.

"Oh. Well I'm always hungry for ice cream." The two girls took off to the ice cream cart, giggling. Mamoru followed behind chuckling.

After they got their ice cream, the three of them found a bench to sit on, and eat. Without warning Usagi touched her ice cream to ChibiUsa's nose, and giggled.

"HEY! THAT WASN'T VERY NICE!" ChibiUsa yelled.

"No, but you gotta admit, it was funny." Usagi giggled.

"No, but this is." ChibiUsa smeared her ice cream down Usagi's check, and laughed.

"CHIBIUSA! YOU…. You're good with the come backs. I had that one coming." Usagi laughed.

Mamoru completely missed the devilish look the two girls gave each other. All he knew was he was sitting there, calmly eating his ice cream, when suddenly he felt something cold slide down both of his checks, and both girls laughing hysterically.

"HEY!" Mamoru yelled then laughed.

Once they finished their ice cream, and cleaned up, they decided it was time to head out. Mamoru stopped at the locker to grab the bags of gifts, and ChibiUsa ran into the gift shop to get the messenger bag for Usagi. He didn't know where Usagi disappeared to. He and ChibiUsa were looking for her, when she walked up to them. Without saying a word, she handed a bag to Mamoru. He opened it, and pulled out a photo album the had animals all over the cover, and the words FAMILY MEMORIES on the front.

"For all of the pictures you took today." Usagi said with a smile.

"Thank you Usako. It's perfect." Mamoru said smiling back. He handed ChibiUsa the bag with the stuffed bunny in it.

"Usagi. I got you gifts too." ChibiUsa said as she handed the bags over with her gifts in it.

Usagi blinked her eyes in surprise than opened the first bag. She pulled out the bunny on the crescent moon. Usagi broke into a huge grin, hugged it to her then opened the second bag. She looked at the messenger bag, in silence, and ran her fingers over the stitching. A few tears leaked down her checks before she sniffed, kneeled down, and pulled ChibiUsa in for a tight hug.

"Thank you ChibiUsa. I love them both." Usagi said softly.

Mamoru noticed there was more to the messenger than what ChibiUsa planned. It still said never stop believing, but she added in yourself with a heart. Mamoru smiled. They finally pulled apart, and Mamoru handed them each their bags. They both giggled at the pictures of the statues on the front of the boxes. He was quickly wrapped up in the arms of his girls.

The ride back to Usagi's house was pretty quiet. When he glanced into the back seat, he saw that ChibiUsa was fast asleep, holding her monkey close. Next to him, Usagi was awake, but looking very tired. He knew she would probably be asleep before he got them home.

He was right, by the time he parked in front of Usagi's house, she was fast asleep. He sat there for full minute, just watching both girls sleep. He smiled to himself at how adorable they both were. ChibiUsa was the first to stir, and look at him

"Thank you for today Mamo. It was a lot of fun." ChibiUsa said softly.

"I'm glad you had fun." Mamoru responded.

"Would you, maybe, be available to take me to the planetarium one day this week? We're doing constellations in science, and my teacher wants us to go. Usagi can come too. If you can't, I understand." ChibiUsa said hesitantly.

"I can take you on Wednesday, after school. As long as Kenji and Ikuko are ok with it." Mamoru answered.

"Ok. Thank you." She smiled at him then looked at Usagi. "Is she ok?"

"Yes. She's just tired."

"Did she not have enough to eat?"

"She did, but this is her medicine wearing off. She'll need to eat when she wakes up though."

"Does her medicine wear off at school?"

"Usually about that time. The nurse has crackers and stuff for her, but even though the teachers know her thyroid issue, they won't always let her leave to eat. Her afternoon teacher is older, and set in her ways. She believes Usagi will be fine until she gets home. Usagi actually passed out in her class one day because of it, and the teacher still believes she'll be fine. Ikuko has been to the school about it a few times, but nothing has changed."

"That's not right. If she's sick, the teacher should do what she needs to, to help."

"I agree."

"Can I ask what happened to make you guys find out?"

"After a battle one afternoon, I saw Usagi stumbling, and very shaky. I stopped Ami to check her out. I thought she was injured. When we couldn't find anything, we took Usagi to the hospital. She didn't have any injuries so they ran a bunch of blood tests. That's how it was caught."

"That sounds scary."

"It really was."

"My taking her milkshakes could have made her really sick, huh?"

"Yes it could have."

"I'm so sorry. I didn't know. I could have really hurt her."

"The only ones who did know, before last weekend, were me, Motoki, and Ami. Usagi didn't want anyone to know. She didn't want be treated different, and she didn't want anyone to treat her like she was weak in battle."

"How can she battle like that?"

"Usako is made of pretty tough stuff. What no knows, not even Ami, is that I always carry peanut butter crackers for her to eat as soon as it's over. It's not much, but it's calories, and protein until she can get a meal."

"It's good you do that for her. I'll make sure to stop taking her milkshakes."

"Thank you. We better get you two inside."

ChibiUsa got out of the car with their bags, as Mamoru picked up Usagi to carry her in the house. Mamoru laid Usagi on the couch, kissed her forehead, told Usagi's mom she would need to eat when she woke up, hugged ChibiUsa, and left.

On way home Mamoru stopped to get all of the pictures that he took printed. Once they were printed, he decided to frame the picture of the three of them in bunny enclosure, instead of the one in front of the Art Center. The picture taken with the bunnies was cuter, and both girls had bigger smiles. He hadn't realized one had gotten onto Usagi's shoulder, and was sniffing at her odango until he saw the picture. When he got home, he put all of the pictures in the album, chuckling as he did.

That night he reflected on the day, and was very happy about how it went. He hoped it stayed that way from now on.