A/N: I thought for a long time about how Usagi's parents should handle this sort of announcement. I hope that I've done it right. Enjoy!
Mom looked pretty surprised when she opened up the door and saw me standing there. I'd given Chibi-Chibi to Taiki, figuring that having her with me might not be so helpful right now, so I was all alone. Before I even got the chance to speak, she gasped and reached out, dragging me inside. I squeaked as she wrapped her arms around me and squeezed me so hard I couldn't even bring my own arms up around her to return the hug. It felt good at first, but after a couple of minutes I realized that she was hugging me so tightly that it was actually starting to make it difficult to breathe. My mother did a lot of housework, and it had given her a lot more upper strength than I'd expected.
"Mom, I'm happy to see you too," I wheezed out after a couple of tries. "But... you have to let go or you're going to kill me."
"Oh! Sorry." Mom let go and I gasped for breath as she stepped back, though not so far that she couldn't keep her hands on my shoulders. She looked me over worriedly, clearly trying to find something physically wrong. I raised an eyebrow and she shrugged. "Can you blame me? You haven't visited since that night, and you showed up so suddenly that I thought maybe something had gone wrong."
"Nothing's wrong," I said, feeling guilty. I'd meant to come back and visit them. I really had. But then I'd gotten distracted with everything else, and somehow it just kept getting pushed to the back burner. "I'm sorry. I should've come back to see you before now."
She gave me a tight smile, which meant she was more upset than she wanted to admit. "Come on. Your father, Shingo and I were just sitting down to dinner. You can join us."
There was no need to ask if I'd eaten yet. Normally I was always hungry enough for a meal. Tonight, though, I was nervous enough that the thought of eating anything made me feel kind of sick. But I could already hear the lecture Taiki would give me if she knew I was skipping a meal. I'd lost a fair amount of weight since the fight with Galaxia, and that wasn't good for me or the baby. I needed a lot of calories because of how fast my metabolism worked, but food just didn't seem to be as interesting as it had before. I knew, though, that not eating would only make her even more worried. So I followed her to the table.
Shingo and Dad were already there waiting. Dad leapt up when he saw me, and I was treated to another hug that left me breathless. He kissed the top of my head before he let me go, and I noticed that he wouldn't look me in the eyes as he stepped away. At first I was confused and a little hurt, but then I realized that he was trying not to cry and I had to sit down fast and take a long drink of water to stop myself from doing the same. To his credit, Shingo realized that I was just barely holding it together. He reached out and gave my arm a quick squeeze, but other than that he didn't act like there was anything special about the fact that I'd turned up for dinner.
"Where's Seiya?" he asked me.
"At home," I replied without thinking. It was only when I saw Mom wince a little as she sat back down that it occurred to me that I probably shouldn't have referred to the apartment as "home". God, I was really batting a thousand tonight, wasn't I? This didn't bode well. I tried to keep going past the slip. "Um, we all had a really long day so Taiki walked me over and then had to do some errands. He, um, didn't think I should be out by myself."
"Well, I'm glad to hear that they're taking your safety seriously," said Dad. "They're right, Usagi. It's not safe for anyone to be out by themselves right now, not with that lunatic running around."
I had to bite down on my lip to keep myself from smirking. That lunatic. What an apt name for Rubeus! "I know. And before you ask, he's coming to pick me up again when I'm done."
"So you are leaving, then," said Mom.
"Oh. Well, yes," I said. Somehow I was surprised by that, even though I shouldn't have been. Of course she'd been hoping that I would have decided to come back home. She didn't know that I had decided I didn't really want to come back ever. And I didn't think that now would be the time for me to say as much. "I'm sorry, Mom. I know you guys miss me, but I... I just feel like I need to be with my friends right now."
"I know, and we do understand. I just miss you."
"I miss you too." Guilt made my throat tight, because honestly I hadn't really missed them at all. Life was just so much easier when I was around people who understood me the way the Starlights did, and I really couldn't imagine leaving the three of them behind. As long as they were willing to have me, I wanted to stay with them. But how could I say that to my parents without hurting their feelings? They would never understand.
An awkward silence fell that I didn't know how to break. I watched silently as Mom had dished me up a huge plate of food, and normally I would've had no problem eating it but there was way too much for me right then. I ate a little bit of it and spent the next few minutes pushing the rest of it around my plate, trying to make it look like I'd eaten more than I had, all the while wondering how I was going to start this discussion. It didn't seem right to just jump right in, but how did you start up a conversation like that?
After a few minutes, Mom got up to take the plates away. She frowned when she saw my plate and I knew I hadn't fooled her one bit, but she didn't comment. I stayed at the table while she brought out the dessert she'd made: cookies. I took one and bit into it, and the sweet taste of the chocolate made me feel a little bit better. I made quick work of it and caught her smiling at me, clearly pleased that I was enjoying the food she'd made. I smiled back and took a second one.
Eventually, Shingo cleared his throat. "Is there a special reason you came to visit, Nee-chan?" he asked, breaking the cookie he was holding into three smaller pieces. I could tell from the look on his face that he was worried I'd come to say that I was turning myself in to Rubeus. Technically, he wasn't too far off the mark.
"Actually, yes there was," I said, dusting my hands off. My heart was pounding suddenly, and I wished that Taiki had stayed with me after all. I could have used her support.
"You can't!" Shingo exclaimed, sounding horrified. "You can't give yourself up to him! He'll just turn around and destroy the city as soon as there's no one left to protect it."
"What?" Mom said.
"Shingo, relax!" I said at the same time, reaching across the table and grabbing his hand. "I'm not going to give in to what he wants, okay? That's not why I'm here. I told you before, I would never even think about sacrificing myself unless it was absolutely the last choice and we had done everything that we could to defeat him. Believe me, I know that Rubeus was lying through his teeth. There's no way he would just leave Earth alone if we weren't here to stop him."
Shingo looked relieved. "Okay. I'm sorry for assuming that's why you were here, but -"
"It's okay. I understand why you were thinking that," I told him, and I really did. Poor kid. This had probably been on his mind ever since we had talked.
"What on earth are you two talking about?" Mom said, looking back and forth between us like we had lost our minds. "Who is Rubeus and why would he be doing anything to the Earth?"
"And why would you be giving yourself up to him?" Dad chimed in, frowning.
"Rubeus is the name of the man who appeared above Tokyo a few nights ago. I'm sure you've heard about him. Maybe you even saw him. He's threatening to destroy the city unless Sailor Moon gives herself up," I told them, exchanging a look with Shingo. I saw the moment when he understood, and his eyes went wide. I squeezed his hand against to keep him quiet.
"Some of the people in my office were talking about that. I thought that they'd been indulging too much until I saw the papers saying the same thing." Dad had set down his cup of tea, and now both he and Mom were looking at me with identical expressions of confusion and worry. "Usagi, what is going on here?"
"Well," I said slowly, realizing that there was really no other way to do this, "the person that Rubeus wants is me. I'm Sailor Moon."
I didn't know what I had been expecting. Shock, maybe. Fear and concern, definitely. I'd even considered the possibility that they might just start laughing. After all, this wouldn't be the first time I had been confronted with someone who couldn't believe that klutzy Tsukino Usagi could be Sailor Moon. Even Chibi-Usa hadn't wanted to believe it. But that didn't happen. Mom and Dad just kept looking at me for a minute, like they were waiting for me to say that it had been a joke. When I didn't say anything, they glanced at each other and did that annoying thing where it was like they were having a private conversation with just their eyes.
"It's true," I went on, frustrated by the fact that I hadn't got any reaction. For a wild second, I thought they were going to tell me that they'd known along. It certainly seemed to be the running theme whenever I started talking to people about this. I looked over at Shingo, seeking more support, and he just shrugged. He didn't know why they hadn't spoken either.
"Oh Usagi," Mom said then, and she reached out and patted my free hand. "Honey, I realize that everything that has happened has been a terrible shock for you. And I know that losing your friends was very difficult. But pretending to be someone you're not isn't the answer. The police are searching for Sailor Moon, and if someone heard you talking like this and took you seriously you could get into a lot of trouble."
"Mom!" I couldn't believe it. She didn't believe me!
Dad sighed and finally picked up his cup of tea again. "Your mother is right, Usagi. I know that you're trying to use this as a coping mechanism, but -"
"It's not a coping mechanism! I don't even know what that means, but you're wrong. I am Sailor Moon. I have been for the past two years. It was me protecting the city all this time. Me and my friends." I could see that they didn't believe me. "I'm telling you the truth!"
"I'm sure that you think you're telling us the truth," Mom said. She kept patting my hand. "But I was watching this fascinating news documentary just the other day, and it was all about these young girls who are trying to come to terms with what's happened by taking control in some way. The ones in the show were talking about attending the police academy, but you - well. I can't remember what it was called, but I'm sure I could find it again and we could sit down and watch it together -"
"Show them," Shingo interrupted.
I looked at him, dazed. "What?"
"Show them." His green eyes were blazing. "They're not going to understand until you do. Show them, Usagi. Transform and prove that you're telling the truth."
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