Disclaimer: I do not own any of the material appearing in this story. The OC's belong to their respective owners.

Mere Moments Before The Heroes Went To the Center of the Universe

"Hmmhmmhmm~" Gloria's mother happily chopped up vegetables in the kitchen. She would look up at a few paintings in the room and would see her daughter happily smiling and posing in the photos. In one such photo, she had Marnie, Hop and Bede with her. And in another, Gloria posing with Ruby. She let out a giggle. "I wonder what she's up to now? That silly girl is probably having fun with her friends again on some wild adventure."

She put the vegetables in the pot when her phone went off. "Hmm?" She wondered as she picked it up and discovered Marnie was calling her. "Huh? Now why on earth would Marnie call me?" She wondered and then answered it. "Hello?"

"Hey. Is Gloria alright?"

"I'm assuming so, why?"

"Something's up. She sent us the oddest text… something about loving us."

"Maybe it was a spur of the moment."

"I dunno… something felt off about it. Could you call her? I'd call her myself but… I'd rather give her space, ya know?"

She giggled. "Sure, I'll give my daughter a call." She said and then Marnie hung up. "…What's going on with Gloria? Did something happen to her?" Her mind raced furiously as she immediately typed up Gloria's phone number. She knew Gloria could handle herself just fine, especially when it comes to scraps… but something seemed to bug her. Come on, pick up… pick up…

"Hello?"

Success! She thought. "Gloria, honey, are you okay? Marnie just called me asking if you were alright."

BGM: Here With You (Mirai Nikki)

"Yeah, I'm fine…"

Concern was written all over her face. Her lovable doofus of a daughter didn't sound alright at all. "You don't sound okay. Something the matter?" She asked with concern.

"Yeah… I'm just… going through something at the moment. It's nothing serious."

Mother's intuition was kicking into full gear. She could tell it was serious, but didn't want to pry unless Gloria wanted to talk about it. She gave off a soft, yet concerned, smile. "Aww, my poor baby…" She said. Hmm… maybe I oughta cheer her up. She thought. "Well, you powered through the Darkest Day and stared at a massive creature in the face that would have killed you, but you caught it. Whatever it is that has gotten to you, make sure you scream at the top of your lungs and tell whatever it is that you are gonna, and I quote: 'Make it's fockin' day shitty'." She said, attempting to mimic her daughter. She heard Gloria giggling from the other side. It was enough to warm her heart. "You always were one hell of a fighter no matter what was thrown at you. You always laughed it off like no big deal."

"That's true… I did."

"You may be champion of Galar, but you're still my daughter… and if you feel the need to come home for a while, I'll be here. You know that, right?"

"Of course…"

"Glad to know everything's alright. Love you!"

"Love you too… oh… and mum?"

"Yes?"

"I…" The hesitation in her voice was enough to concern her. "…See you later." She could hear a slight tremble in her voice. Something in her mind told her that something was seriously wrong, but she held her tongue.

"I'll be here!" She said and then hung up. She stared at the phone once she put it down on the table. What happened to her? Whatever happened to her… she was pretty shaken up about it. She planted her hands on the table, staring at the phone. "Sweetie… are you truly okay?"

End BGM

"Munch…?"

She snapped out of her thoughts, looking directly at the Munchlax in the room. "Don't worry about her. I'm sure whatever's bugging Gloria will pass… after all, it's not like it hasn't stopped her before. She's fourteen after all. She's a big girl, she can handle herself just fine." She said and then giggled. "Definitely gets her spunkiness from me when I was her age." She said and stared at a picture. "Her Scottish tendencies, however… that's from her father." She said and then sighed. "Oh, honey… if only you weren't taken from us…"

"Munch Munch…"

She snapped out of it. "Yeah, I'm sure whatever's botherin' her… she'll get through it. I just know it." She said.

Some time later…

"Alright, the stew is ready~!" She said as she put some in a bowl and gave some to the Munchlax.

"Munch!"

"Eat up~!" She giggled as she fixed herself a bowl. As she sat down… everything started to suddenly distort. "Huh?!" She yelled in surprise as she looked around as she started to run outside and see the sky a dark purple as everything around her starting to distort around her as the Budew would start running around in a panic. Her eyes widened and looked up into the sky. "Gloria…?" She whispered, as tears swelled up in her eyes before everything went dark.

One universe restoration later… and with Gloria…

Gloria walked toward the front steps of her house. She hadn't seen her mother for a while… not after the whole universe blew up. She closed her eyes and recalled the conversation she had with her. She looked into her Rotom Phone and looked through her messages.

Reunited with my bro! He's not sure what happened, but he's happy I'm safe. - Marnie

Mum, Leon and Sonia are happy I'm alive and well! - Hop

There was a picture message right after as it showed Bea and Nessa wrapping her arms over Bede as both of them were posing for the capture with the V Hand signs, both of them smiling with Bede looked absolutely annoyed.

We're just glad our fellow Gym Leader is still kickin' after that distortion! - Bea

Gloria let out a chuckle as she walked over to the front door. Please be here… please be here! She thought and opened the door. "Mum?" She called out, her voice echoing throughout the house. "Mum! Muuuuuum! Where are you?" She asked as she wandered around, but through each room… she couldn't find her mother anywhere. Backyard, the living room, the kitchen, the bathroom… she couldn't find her anywhere. And the more she looked, the more desperate she became.

"Not here… not here! Shite, where are you?!" She said, her voice trembling as there was panic in her eyes. "No no no no no… don't tell me not everyone made it out okay!" She said, tears appearing in the corners of her eyes. She walked into her own room, hoping she was in there… but she wasn't. "MUUUUM! WHERE ARE YOU?!" She yelled before collapsing on her knees. "No…" She whispered, hugging herself tightly.

Did she survive? Was she spared? Did Rosalina not bring everyone back? Was she truly alone while everyone else reunited with their loved ones?

"Mum…" Her voice trembled as Cinderace popped out of his Pokeball.

"Race Race?"

"She's gone, Cinderace… she's… gone!" She said as Cinderae immediately wrapped his arms around her as she sobbed quietly into his chest.

"Gloria?" A familiar voice called from downstairs. Gloria let out a gasp and looked into Cinderace's eyes. He let out a silent nod, telling her that he heard it too. "Gloria, are you here, honey?"

Gloria stood up, finding the strength to make it downstairs and when she came into view, she paused and saw her mother standing at the door.

BGM: Family (Super Mario Galaxy)

"Oh thank Arceus you're okay!" Her mother said with a smile, her hand over her chest. "I went to the grocery store to get something and-" Gloria would rush downstairs and glomped her tightly, her face buried into her chest. "Oh!" She said in surprise.

"You're alive… thank Arceus…!"

"Of course I'm alive… why wouldn't I-" She immediately, but gently, pushed Gloria away while closing the door. "Sweetie… what happened? Tell me everything… because after I called you, this whole distortion thing happened. So please… tell me. Your voice trembling in that phone call worried me." She said.

"O-okay." Gloria nodded, sniffling a bit as they moved into the living room where the two would sit down and explain everything.

"So that's why you did what you did…" She said. "You were having the time of your life in space and then you got hit with the fact that the universe was about to implode?"

"Yeah…"

"Why didn't you call me first?"

"I… I wasn't thinking straight… I was still tryin' to process it and…" She looked away, looking down on the floor. "I'm sorry…"

"Gloria…" She gently put her hand under her chin. "Honey, it's okay… if it were me, I probably wouldn't know who to text or call first either." She said. "Knowing you, you didn't want me to worry."

"You're right… I did… and I was trying to keep it together." She closed her eyes. "I don't get it! I've stared death in the face all these times and it's never bothered me at all… but this one… the one where a supermassive black hole would destroy everything… I don't know why it got to me…"

"Probably because you knew you wouldn't make it out and didn't have the chance to say goodbye in person?" She guessed, causing Gloria's eyes to widen as tears would appear in her eyes again.

"A-aye…"

Her mother wrapped her arms around her. "Well, we all made it out okay… and I know that you were franticly searching for me because you had a feeling that I didn't make it out because I wasn't home." She said and kissed her on the forehead. "Is that right?" She asked as Gloria would slowly nod. "I knew it… come here." She said and pulled her daughter close. "My brave strong daughter…"

"I… I didn't want to lose you like the way we lost him…"

"Your father was a strong man just like you… he went down a fighter… and most of all, he protected the both of us." She said and then looked at Gloria with a smile. "Come on, hon… I'll make you some food if you're hungry."

"I'd… I'd love that."

She smiled and pulled away from her. "Then I'll just that. Anything for my baby girl." She said and stood up, walking over to the kitchen.

"Oh… mum?"

"Hmm?" She turned to look at Gloria.

"…I love you."

"Aww, I love you too sweetheart." She smiled and walked into the kitchen as Gloria rested her head on the back of the couch, closing her eyes.

At least everything's back to the way it was…

So... I finally bit the bullet and finally watched the live action Mulan today. I want my two hours back. I even went and watched the far superior (and only) Mulan right after just to get that sour taste out of my mouth.

There's no going back after that, Disney.