"Here's number 14," announced the taxi driver, pulling the tiny taxi to a stop. He set the car to park and turned towards the tired tandem. "Looks like you two are really tired,"
Usagi grinned tiredly and nodded. "I hate switching time zones," she responded in English, her Asian accent quite distinct. She paid the driver and began to exit the cab.
"From where you from miss?" as the old man, while pulling out Usagi's endless amount of luggage from the car's trunk.
"Tokyo, Japan," responded the blonde, while picking up her backpack. "It's been one hell of a flight,"
"Am not keen of flying around either," He chuckled as he pulled out the last of her bags. "You've got a lot of things here,"
Usagi grinned and balanced the sleeping baby on her hip. "That's not even half of my stuff. The rest would be shipped here in the coming days," She looked at her new house. "I believe the house is still pretty much empty,"
"You need help bringing your luggage in?" asked the old man, while already picking up two of her pink bags.
Usagi smiled. "Yes, that would be great. Thank you,"
The driver laughed. "It's no problem. Am always glad to help out a pretty little lady such as yourself," He heard the blonde laugh and followed her down the cobble stone path and into her house. He whistled.
True to Usagi's expectations, the house was pretty much empty. Safe for some spare furniture: a sofa, a coffee table and a telephone. She prayed that at the very least she would have beds upstairs.
"Looks like the house really didn't come with much furniture." Usagi sighed. She placed her slumbering baby on the couch and turned to the man. "You can just leave my stuff by the door. Thanks."
"No problem," he grinned and retrieved the last of her bags. After setting them all next to the door, he tipped his hat and smiled. "Have a great night. And welcome to England missy,"
Usagi smiled. "Thank you again. Bye," she watched the taxi pull out of her driveway and into the street. It left her sight a second later. Sighing loudly, the blonde closed the door and turned to the bare hallway. 'Well,' she thought, while walking back into her new living room. 'Home sweet home,'
She nearly tripped over one of her bags as she entered the living room. Rolling her eyes at her own clumsiness, she sat down next to Chibi-Usa and leaned back.
God. Her mind was utterly blank.
Having gotten no decent sleep throughout her travel last night – or today – or whatever (time zones confuse her), she decided that it was time for bed. Well, she hoped there was a bed anyway.
Picking Chibi-Usa up carefully, she silently trudged up the stairs in search for the master bedroom. After successfully finding the bathroom and her daughter's future room, Usagi stumbled into a rather spacious master bedroom. With a king-size bed.
'At least we got beds,' mused the blonde, while pulling out fresh sheets from one of the cabinets. It was a surprise there were sheets, Usagi settled that it was her company's doing. Her thoughts were confirmed when she saw a letter from her company on the bedside table. She'd read it tomorrow.
Crawling into the plush bed, Usagi pulled Chibi-Usa closer. The bed felt foreign. It was huge. The whole room was huge. The house was huge. The blonde felt her eyes water and she scooted towards the center of the bed. It felt less lonely that way.
That night, on their first night in their new home. Usagi cried.
The lights were on throughout the night.
"I'm fine Rei," Usagi spoke into the phone's mouthpiece while buttering herself yet another bagel. Breakfast, or now lunch since she woke up at around past 12 today, was a bit of a task. There was no food in the house and Chibi-Usa had to be feed. Thank God for home deliveries.
"I don't trust you," muttered Rei.
Usagi rolled her eyes and held Chibi's bottle. "Since when do you?" she retorted. "It's my first day here Rei," the blonde began between mouthfuls of bread and spaghetti. "The house is big and rather empty. It's a bit lonely, but the two of us can manage,"
"Just be careful over there,"
"Yes mother," Usagi grinned.
"Don't be smart," Rei paused. "That sounded weird."
"Hey!" Usagi whined. Her attention shifted momentarily back to Chibi-Usa who was busy sucking away on her bottle. "So how's everybody?"
"Same old, same old," muttered Rei. "All is quiet now with you gone,"
Usagi continued to whine. "You're making it sound as if I was the noisiest of the bunch!"
"Duh,"
"Rei!" Usagi whined and then laughed. "Ah. You're mean,"
"Thank you," Rei chuckled. "Damnit Odango, I miss you,"
Usagi got tears in her eyes. "I miss you too," She looked around her rather empty house. "I miss all of you guys,"
"It's hard not to miss you," muttered Rei.
"Yeah well," Usagi grinned cheekily while standing up and grabbing her now empty plate. She motioned for Chibi-Usa to sit still while she headed to the sink. "You know I'm quite charming,"
"Right," answered Rei dryly. "Keep telling yourself that Meatball head,"
Usagi could practically see Rei roll her eyes. "C'mon Rei. You know I am,"
"Meatball head, you're pushing your luck,"
"Meany,"
"Meatball head,"
Usagi giggled and turned on the tap. "The company is just paying for the rent of the house, not my phone bill." Reminded the blonde, signaling that they should cut off their conversation. "I can't afford that many international calls,"
There was an audible sigh from the other line, followed by a pregnant pause. Usagi swore she heard Rei sniffle. "Damn you for leaving," mumbled the fire senshi. Usagi swore again she heard yet another distinct sniffle. "I miss you,"
"Oh Rei-chan," whispered Usagi.
Another pause.
The blonde turned the tap off and the whole house was quiet.
The two best friends lingered in each others silence. One trying to come to pass with her feelings while the other fought away the feelings for loneliness and fear.
Usagi whimpered into the mouthpiece. "I want to go home,"
"—so I've heard that the blood pudding is delicious," yammered on Makoto late in the afternoon the next day. The girls finally figured out cost efficient way of talking to Usagi, which was using their communicators instead of the phones. Something they only figured out, had Ami not pointed out the obvious.
Usagi frowned. 'Blood pudding?' She stopped pulling out her clothes from one of her bags. She turned towards the coffee table, where her pink communicator was mounted. "Blood pudding?" She visibly shuddered. "Blood?"
Makoto's tiny image on the screen grinned. "Yes. Blood. Interesting, ne?"
From her position on the living room floor, Usagi shuddered. "Not really," She pulled out yet another pile of clothes and set them next to her. "It sounds rather –"
"Disturbing? Grotesque? Barbaric?" Minako suddenly popped in, shoving Makoto out of the screen. There was a audible thumping sound, followed by loud cursing. Minako tried to survey the mess that lay around Usagi (or just half of the mess she could actually see) "What are you doing?"
Usagi scratched her head. "Unpacking?"
Minako sweatdropped. "Of course dumb-dumb,"
"Look who's talking," they all heard Rei whisper not-so-silently.
The blonde choose not to listen to the comment and eyed Usagi. "Why are you unpacking in your living room and not your bedroom?"
"The suitcases are too heavy to lug upstairs," whined Usagi. She grabbed the shampoo bottle Chibi-Usa was tinkering with. The pink haired baby was about to cry when Usagi pulled the Luna-P (1) doll out of her subspace pocket. Chibi-Usa giggled at the sight of the floating Luna head.
"Subspace pockets do come in handy," sighed the blonde. She slowly started to gather all her clothes into one pile and Chibi-Usa's into another. In the background, she continued to listen to Minako yammer about her clothes.
"—and what about that chemise? I told you to fold that –"
The door bell rang suddenly, drowning out Minako. Usagi looked up from the floor just as she was about to pull out her lingerie. "Who could that be?"
"Answer it!" Minako grinned, obviously excited.
Usagi rolled her eyes and stood up. "Bye guys, I'll talk to you all later," she turned towards the compact and snapped it shut. Its shiny pink surface glittered in the sun's rays that came through the window. Usagi sighed, her gaze shifted from the compact to her daughter, who was busy playing with the Luna-P doll.
'Guests maybe,' she reasoned, while making her way into the foyer. Somewhat anxious, she hoped that her English would not escape her. Sighing loudly, she answered the door.
"Hello," everybody greeted at once.
Usagi held onto the door, as she stared at the people on her doorstep. Two couples stood in front of her, they carried a basket filled with food and a bottle of wine. There was something odd about the four though, which made Usagi take a step back. (2)
"Hello," the pregnant woman repeated, smiling brightly at Usagi. "We live across the street and we just taught that maybe we ought to pay you a visit and—"
"welcome you to the neighborhood," finished the other woman, who was not pregnant but instead, possessed striking red hair. "So, uh, welcome!"
The redheaded man awkwardly held up the basket.
Usagi smiled brightly and opened the door wider. "Thank you," she began, her accent once again quite obvious. "That's very kind of you," She hesitated for just one second, trying to figure out if she should let them in or not. Eventually, she stepped aside and ushered them in.
"I'm Ginny Weasley," began the redheaded woman as Usagi closed the door. "This is Ron, my brother and his wife Hermione. And this is Harry Potter, a family friend," she pointed to each one of them respectively.
Usagi smiled and shook each other their hands. She frowned for one second, which was left unnoticed. "It's a pleasure to meet all of you." She grinned brightly. "My name is Usagi Ch—Tsukino," she faltered momentarily, which made her insides churn involuntarily. (3)
"How about we move into the living room and sit down?" suggested the blonde, while ushering them all towards the living room. "I apologize that it's all really messy, but I'm just unpacking." She laughed nervously.
"Yep, looks exactly like our place," Ron said as they entered the room.
"What do you expect? All houses in the neighborhood are built the same way," commented Hermione, while sitting down on the couch.
"This," continued Usagi, walking into the room and picking up Chibi-Usa. "Is my daughter. Usagi,"
Ron scratched his head. "I thought –"
Usagi laughed and patted the baby's head. "We share the same name. Though, her nickname is Chibi-Usa, small rabbit."
Chibi-Usa gurgled in response.
"How cute!" cooed Hermione and Ginny simultaneously.
Smiling, she gestured at the sofa. "Please," she said. "Sit down," She set Chibi-Usa into her pink playpen (which Usagi had setup earlier). "Would you like tea? Or coffee?"
"Just tea please," answered Harry – if she was not mistaken.
Nodding, Usagi set towards the kitchen. "I wont be long,"
Hermione grinned and turned towards the others. "She seems nice, doesn't she?"
Ron surveyed the mess in the living room. 4 open suitcases and two yet to be opened. "Rather messy,"
Ginny stopped leaning over the playpen and stared at Ron. "She arrived yesterday. She has to unpack,"
Harry blinked. "How do you pronounce her name again?"
"U-sa-gi," answered, well, Usagi, coming into the living room carrying a tray. She smiled as the group blushed. Setting down the tray without much of a mishap (or klutz attack), she slowly began to fill the tea cups with tea. "I'm from Japan, so our names are a bit difficult to pronounce,"
"You've traveled an awfully long way," commented Ginny, taking a cup and sitting down on the couch next to Harry. The four of them sat on the couch, it was a rather tight fit – with Hermione and all.
Usagi sat on one of her unopened suitcases. She had no other sets left, all her furniture had yet to be delivered. ('How embarrassing,') "Yeah," she took a sip from her cup. "It was a 16 hour plane ride. And a lot of time zones,"
Grabbing a biscuit, Harry eyed her for a moment. "So what brought you here to England?"
Usagi sighed. "My job," She made a face. "The office transferred me here, since the main office needed me. I'm a Senior Graphic Designer at Tatham Design, Ltd. (4). They needed more Japanese animators, so a couple of my fellow designers moved here." She sighed, somewhat annoyed. "Apparently, they weren't doing so well in terms of animation and needed us to 'spice things up' – that's what the boss said anyway,"
"Graphic Designer?" Ron blinked, obviously not understanding a word.
Usagi frowned, surprised that he did not understand. "Let's just say we make designs. Mostly computer generated, websites and the like,"
"Comp—"
Hermione subtly hit him in the ribcage with her elbow. Ron was still an idiot when it came towards the muggle world. It was rather sad – since they lived in a muggle neighborhood. Well, half of the residents at Mellitus street were muggles anyway. "My husband has been living under a rock for quite some time. A bit caught up with his job,"
Usagi grinned. "I can relate," she scratched her chin. "My job eats a lot of my time. Sitting nearly all day in front of my computer – which still has to be delivered," She sighed, annoyed once more.
"How about your things? When are they coming in?" asked Ginny, looking around the rather bare place. "Surely you can't live like this forever,"
"It's rather depressing," Usagi looked around, with a frown. "My furniture is still crossing the ocean. The moving company said that all will arrive on Friday."
"I'd be glad to help you unpack and have you settled in," said Hermione. She cradled her tea cup and smiled at the blonde. "With my condition, I'm under house arrest, so I can always pop over and help you out,"
Usagi brightened. "That would be great," she smiled. "I could use a lot of help decorating. Though I can't have you move heavy furniture," Usagi stared at Hermione's belly.
"The guys will do that," Ginny said immediately.
Ron and Harry looked as if they were ready to protest, but a glare from Hermione shut them up.
"I'll see you tomorrow then, Hermione," said Usagi, as she lead the group towards the door. It was late, they all needed to go home. (She'd invite them over for dinner, but she had close to nothing to feed them.) "Thank you again for agreeing to watch over Chibi-Usa,"
Hermione patted the sleeping girl's head before turning to Usagi. "It's the least I can do. Us mothers have to stick together," She then patted her belly.
Usagi opened the front door, letting in the late afternoon breeze. "I'm glad I've meet you guys," she smiled. "I really could use all the help,"
Ginny grinned and hugged the short blonde. "We're happy to,"
"Bye," Ron blinked once, trying to think over her name. "U-sa-gi,"
Harry followed Ron and the others out the door. He turned to the blonde and gave her a awkward smile. "Thanks for the tea, Usagi," he said, stumbling slightly over her name. "Bye,"
Usagi smiled and bowed slightly (5). "Bye," She watched the group walk out of her lot and soon cross the street to their own house. Sighing loudly, she then closed the door and leaned against it. She never imagined that today would be so tiring.
Walking back into the living room, Usagi placed her baby back into her playpen. She'd let Chibi-Usa nap until dinner was ready. Turning on the baby monitor, she grabbed the other one before heading towards the kitchen.
Usagi stopped as she crossed the dinning area. She frowned softly, and thought back to today's events. 'That group was strange.' She mused, while looking out the window and getting a full view of the Weasley residence.
"Ne," Usagi began, turning towards the floating Luna-P doll. "I guess you'll go with Chibi-chan tomorrow and keep an eye on her,"
Luna-P's ears twitched.
She spared the house another glance before turning to Luna-P. "I guess I'll reheat the spaghetti,"
"What's this?" said Hermione early the next morning, while staring at the floating black ball with huge eyes. It looked like a cat's head.
Usagi laughed nervously and patted the cat's head. It in turn, bounced in the air – which made Chibi-Usa giggle. Her glance shifted momentarily to her daughter before going back to the bewildered pregnant woman. It was a question she did not prepare an answer for – so typical of her.
Hermione drew her face closer to the cat head, her eyes studying the odd ball. "It looks like a cat,"
Usagi shifted nervously. 'Cat – cat…Luna!' Usagi jumped slightly, somewhat giddily. "Luna-P!" she blurted out. Her new friend gave her a strange look.
The blonde scratched the back of her neck and laughed uneasily. "It's name is Luna-P," she patted Luna-P's head rather roughly, thus causing it to bounce against the concrete floor of the patio's house. Usagi winced. "It's Chibi-Usa's favorite toy. We brought if over from Japan. You know how the Japanese are with their toys – always quite advanced in technology."
Smooth Usagi. Smooth.
Luna-P just floated there.
"Quite state of the art," commented Hermione, obviously buying the lie. She poked Luna-P between the eyes. It rolled back as expected. "Interesting,"
Usagi laughed. Chibi-Usa laughed as well.
"Well then," Usagi handed Chibi-Usa over to Hermione. It was a surprise that the baby did not protest. "You have my number, right? I'll come by and pick her up tonight," She leaned in and kissed Chibi-Usa on the cheek. "Ja Ne Chibi-chan,"
"See you later Usagi," Hermione waved at the blonde as she stepped into a taxi. Chibi-Usa shifted in her arms and watcher her mother go. "She'll be back tonight," said the brunette. "How about we go inside?"
Chibi-Usa gurgled.
Smiling, Hermione turned around and began to close the door. Behind her, Luna-P floated in. She stared at the cat's head with a perplexed expression. "Strange,"
Luna-P just floated there.
"What the bloody hell is that?" exclaimed Ron, pointing at the floating head next to Hermione as she stepped into the dinning area. As he spoke, bits of egg flew everywhere. Ginny glared at him, totally disgusted.
"Shut your mouth," Ginny frowned, flicking a piece of egg off her blouse. "You're getting egg everywhere,"
Hermione glared. "And don't use such language around a baby," She pulled out her wand from her pocket and waved it. The chair turned into a baby booster.
"Don't you think it's inappropriate to use magic around a muggle baby?" asked Harry, while staring at Chibi-Usa.
Hermione rolled her eyes. "She's a baby Harry. She can't tell the difference,"
Ginny stood up. "I have to go. I have a Health Care class to attend," she announced, while grabbing her bag. She hurried over to Chibi-Usa and kissed her cheek. "You cutie! I'll be back for you this afternoon and we'll play!"
Chibi-Usa giggled and patted Ginny's cheek.
"Cute," Ruffling the babies hair one last time, Ginny then apparated out of the house with an audible pop.
Harry stood up and grabbed his bag (which was stuffed with rolls of parchment). "We'll be off too," he said. "I've got reports to submit,"
"I've got to do rounds," added Ron, while adjusting his robe. "I'll be home late."
"I'm not sure what time I'll be back," said Harry. "I think I'll be early this time,"
Hermione nodded and bit into a doughnut. "Bring me back a couple of chocolate frogs," she instructed. "Each of you,"
The two nodded before disappearing with a pop.
Chibi-Usa laughed and clapped her hands at the display. This certainly was entertaining.
Turning to the baby (And Luna-P), Hermione smiled. "So, what do you want to play?"
"I never knew babies were so tiring," said Harry that evening. He looked at Hermione, who lay sprawled across the couch fast asleep. His gaze then turned back to the happy baby in his arms. Chibi-Usa took it upon herself to play with his glasses, which were now dangerously dangling on the tip of his nose.
"Oi," he exclaimed, as she tried to push them off his face. With his free hand, he pushed them back on his face. If they would fall, they might break – not that it mattered though. He could do magic.
He had been on baby duty ever since he came back home, which was four hours ago. Ginny sent an owl, saying that she would not come home tonight – for reasons he'd rather not think about (It made his insides churn). Ron was somewhere in the Ministry, dealing with his overdue paperwork.
Hermione obviously was no help either right now, since she was asleep.
"Man you're energetic," sighed the young man, while trying to make Chibi-Usa stop pulling his glasses off his face. To no avail really.
"Kyaaa!" Chibi-Usa patted his cheek.
Smiling slightly, he thought that was adorable. Then again, who wouldn't? "Cute," he breathed, while adjusting his hold the on the baby. Leaving the living room, which was now a bit of a mess with toys spread all over the floor, he headed to the kitchen set to make (conjure actually) a pot of tea.
Sitting down by the dinning table, with the baby on his lap, he waved his wand. He chuckled softly when Chibi-Usa made a noise as the tea pot appeared out of nowhere, along with a tea cup. The tea pot floated in the air and filled his cup.
"Thank you," he said to no one in particular, as he grabbed the cup and took a tentative sip. Setting the cup down, he glanced at the wall clock. It was well past 7. "I wonder where your mother is,"
As if on cue, the doorbell rang.
Smiling, he stood up and held Chibi-Usa. "That must be her now," he said to the little girl as the walked towards the front door.
"Good evening," Usagi greeted as the door opened. She smiled brightly upon seeing Chibi-Usa. "Hey Chibi-chan!" She pulled her daughter away from Harry and kissed her forehead. "I missed you,"
Harry smiled at the display, he remembered his own mother. "Good evening Usagi,"
She grinned and bowed slightly. "Thank you for looking after her. I hope she wasn't too much trouble," She hugged the baby.
Harry chuckled. "Hermione is out cold." He laughed. "Chibi-Usa sure has a lot of energy." He ruffled the baby's hair.
Usagi bounced on her heels and giggled. "I guess she got that from me," She blinked, suddenly remembering. "Where's Luna-P?"
"That doll? I'm not—"
As if on cue, Luna-P drifted out the door.
Usagi laughed nervously. "It's an odd toy. It follows commands and all…"
Harry nodded. "Quite interesting,"
The young woman adjusted the strap of her bag. "I think I'll be heading home right now. I'll have dinner and then sleep. I'm really tired,"
Harry shifted his weight. "Why don't you come in and have a cup of tea first?" He had to ask, it was the polite thing to do.
Usagi shook her head and spared a glance at Chibi-Usa, who now yawned. "It's getting late. Perhaps another time,"
"Okay, another time then," he said. "We'll see her again tomorrow?"
Usagi nodded before sending him a worried glance. "I hope it's alright?"
He smiled. "It'll keep Hermione busy and out of Ron's hair,"
The blonde smiled. "Thank you again,"
"No problem. Good night,"
"Good night."
Harry watched the two (three, including Luna-P) cross the street. She seemed nice. And Chibi-Usa was quite adorable, he had to say. His eyes landed on the floating cat head. Shaking his head, he slowly closed his own door. "Strange"
Footnotes:
1. Luna-P – I hope all Sailor Moon fans know who(what) Luna-P is. It's the Luna head doll owned by Chibi-Usa. Luna-P floats around and follows Chibi-Usa. I believe it sort of acts like a tiny guardian. Luna-P was introduced in the early acts of Sailor Moon.
2. There was something odd about the four though, which made Usagi take a step back. – no, it's not love. Just to get your brains out of the gutter.
3. "My name is Usagi Ch—Tsukino," she faltered momentarily, which made her insides churn involuntarily. – Mamoru died. As of the moment, Usagi is not yet willing to divulge much of her life to a couple of strangers, hence the maiden name.
4. Tatham Design, Ltd. – an actual design company located in the UK. As for Usagi's explanation for her coming here, I do believe that the Japanese are quite good with animation and computer generated images. Well, that's what I think anyway. I'm not sure if Tatham has a branch in Japan, but for the story's sake, it has.
5. Usagi smiled and bowed slightly – old habits die hard.
Author's notes:
Initially, I wanted Usagi to work as a translator. Doing translating assignments from Japanese to English or vice versa. However, I thought it over, that really didn't seem like a job Usagi would do. Not that it needed a huge grasp of the English language, because, as a graphic designer it is also vital to have a good grasp on the English language since they are needed in commands and in codes. I settled with the Graphic Designer job, because Usagi really liked mangas as a young girl – therefore it only seemed right that she ventured into a somewhat similar field.
