In the weeks after the battle and Princess Kakyuu and her Starlights left, Usagi, Mamoru, the Inner Guardians, and the Prince's Knights had been trying to figure out how exactly the Prince's Knights were going to accumulate into society. They did remember they had been reincarnated as well and had normal lives before Beryl and Metalia had kidnapped, brainwashed, and used them for their own devices. However, when Zoisite and Ami tried to find any information on the Prince's Knights, they couldn't find any information about any of them. One theory (that Luna had come up with) was Usagi's wish after Beryl and Metallia was defeated; even though it was a wish for normal lives it may have erased some records. It was the only theory that was the most plausible, and nobody knew how it could be reversed without undoing everything they had done.
Kunzite remembered he was twenty years old, and he was attending university studying law enforcement before the Dark Kingdom had kidnapped him. He had volunteered to go first, and he was able to provide an address where his parents and family had lived, but there wasn't any paperwork to backup the fact that was who had given him birth and loved him as he was growing up.
Jadeite remembered he was eighteen years old, and he too was attending university; however, he was studying communication to become a radio personality. He was an only child and had divorced parents who didn't care about him, and he was alright with the circumstances he was in. He was able to live on his own and work part-time at a restaurant that had been close to the university he went to.
Nephrite remembered he was nineteen years old, and like Kunzite and Jadeite, he too was also attending university and studying psychology. After thinking about it, he realized he had a gift for it because of his telepathic empathic ability. He worked part-time at a flower shop so close to where Mako lives. Even though Mako had gone to that shop quite a bit when he had worked there, they had never met. Like Mako, his family had died when he was a young age and had been living on his own when he had been kidnapped and brainwashed by the Dark Kingdom.
Zoisite, on the other hand, was the youngest of the Prince's Knights at sixteen years old. The Inner Guardians had realized they had caught up to him in age and was also in high school in the same year as him. Like Ami, he was a part of the computer club and had planned on going to university to become an engineer. He had gone to a different public high school, but he had told Ami it would be a simple thing to be a transfer student. Like Kunzite, he had a family, and like Kunzite, there weren't any records of him.
It took Ami and Zoisite a little bit of time to figure out how to create identities for them, and they had to create identities as close as possible without it looking suspicious. They had manipulated the data where they were brothers who were transfer students to the high school and university. There was an argument made that they should be roommates with Mamoru which he had okayed and was willing to move in with them, but the Knights had refused and used the argument they didn't want to invade his privacy especially if Usagi was with him. Kunzite had stated it would be easy enough to locate an apartment close to their prince. While they were in the process of doing so, Mamoru had told the two of them he no longer wanted to go overseas to study, and he wanted to stay.
While the Inner Guardians and the Princes' Knights were getting reacquainted with each, there had been several fights and misunderstandings between each couple. As leaders of each group, Usagi and Mamoru had felt like they were obligated to mediate and find a peaceful solution. Like each group, they too wanted to be reacquainted with each other. However, unlike each group, they knew how to talk to each other without trying to start an argument, but they aren't perfect and sometimes arguments will break out. One argument had broken out because they were both exhausted over finding peaceful solutions between the Inner Guardians and the Prince's Knights.
While they were in his apartment, Mamoru had let one comment he normally would've kept to himself slip, and on instinct and on old habit, Usagi fired back at him. It sounded like an argument when they first met and were always bickering, and they were never that bad since they had been together. The only way Mamoru knew how to diffuse that argument was to grab her, kiss her, and hold her close to him.
Usagi, again on instinct and habit, wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back. "Mamo-chan?" she said softly when he lifted his lips from hers. "Why are we letting this happen? We haven't argued like this in a very long time."
Mamoru's eyes softened knowing she had put it together. "I'm sorry, Usako," he said, conjuring a rose and passing it to her out of habit. He squeezed her middle. "We're both tired and stressed, and we can't keep mediating them and putting out their fires."
"It's hurting us," Usagi said as she twirled the rose in her hand. "Their squabbles are hurting our relationship, aren't they?" She laid a hand on his face and watched his eyes. "I'm sorry too, Mamo-chan. I love you."
Mamoru laid his forehead on hers with his eyes closed. "Usako, I love you too," he said. "We need to take a step back from them." He knew what he was asking of her, and it was hurting his heart to even ask her to do such a thing as she was such a part of all her Guardians lives. "At least for a little while."
Usagi lifted Mamoru's face so she could study his eyes. She could always watch his eyes and find what his true feelings were. She knew he hid his feelings from her all too often, but when she watched his eyes, she was able to get to the bottom of it. She saw the burden in his eyes and knew he didn't want to ask this of her. She knew this was the only solution he could think of. "Do you think it will work?" Usagi asked him.
"I don't know," Mamoru confessed. "It's the only thing I can think of. I just don't want this burden anymore, and I don't want to keep hurting you or pushing you away."
"I wouldn't have gone anywhere," Usagi promised him. "As long as I know you love me, I'm not going anywhere." She rose on to her toes and he leaned down to kiss her. "And you weren't hurting me on purpose. Let's do this." Usagi watched his eyes and saw them flood with relief when she accepted. She knew then he had worried about her answer. "How long?"
Mamoru knew she would ask that question. "Two weeks?" he asked.
Usagi gave him a look stating he should know better. "You need to have a little bit more faith in our friends," she told him. She shot back with, "A week. That's my final offer."
Mamoru smiled."Alright," he said. He wanted the one week anyway, but he knew if he had started at the week, Usagi would just haggle. "One week, it is." He felt a balance in their relationship he never thought they would have once when Usagi laid her head against his chest.
The next afternoon (after school on a Friday) they had called a meeting at Hikawa Shrine. Usagi and Mamoru told both the Inner Guardians and the Prince's Knights they needed to fix their relationships and told them exactly about the fight they had last night. Both groups stared at them because they had no idea what they were doing to their Princess and Prince or how much they were hurting them and making them hurt each other. The Inner Guardians had a better idea of what their bickering arguments used to sound like, and they had agreed if Usagi and Mamoru sounded like that in a very long time.
When they had told them their conditions, both groups didn't like their decision to do this. The Inner Guardians were more shocked that Usagi had agreed to this decision considering how central she is to their friend group. They understood however what exactly needs to be done. They didn't want to hurt Usagi or Mamoru anymore, so they agreed to not run to Usagi about their relationships. Since the Inner Guardians had agreed, the Prince's Knights had followed their decision and agreed to not go to Mamoru.
Even though Usagi saw the Inner Guardians and Zoisite at school during that week, they had kept their distance from her that week. However, Usagi saw a change in all of the girls, and it had been confirmed when she saw that Ami and Zoisite stood together more comfortably than they used to by the end of the week. Everyday that week after school, Usagi went to Mamoru's. She didn't know if she felt lonely, and he was the only one she could talk to because he understood. However, by the end of the week, she felt their relationship came out stronger on the other side because she felt that they both could rely on each other. To be there for each other.
Even though Usagi had complete faith in both groups, in all of their friends, it was Mamoru who had doubts. On more than one occasion that week, she found him on the balcony, and she could feel him faltering. She was the one that gave him hope. She had to remind him even though she wasn't talking to Minako, Ami, Makoto, or Zoisite, she still saw them everyday. She had told them there was a change. On that Thursday night, they had agreed they should have a picnic after school on that Friday.
When Usagi had come up to her friends on that Friday before school, all four of them freaked out. Usagi had to remind them the last day was yesterday, and she had suggested that the next day they have a picnic. She had told them it was Mamoru's idea, and they should invite everyone.
At the picnic, both groups were easier around each other, and each couple were also closer to each other. It was Kunzite who had the most trouble next to Minako who had a sense they should be always watching the Prince and Princess, but it was Kunzite who had thanked Usagi and Mamoru for taking this week away from them. He had commented on the fact not only was he more comfortable and easier and loved by Minako, he had also commented they had looked more steadier and not fragile or clingy when they had all been rescued from the cauldron. He thanked Usagi again for giving them all a second chance at love because all he wanted was his Minako, and he didn't want her any other way.