Notes: Episode 158: "The Secret of Pegasus! The Handsome Guardian of Dream World" (Or, "The one where Usagi and Chibi-Usa swap ages.")
Episode 158
The Senshi stared at tiny Sailor Moon and not-so-chibi Chibi-Moon.
Chibi-Moon and Sailor Moon stared back.
Everyone looked at Mercury.
Mercury was locked in a mixture of wonder and horror and didn't look anywhere else.
It did indeed appear, for all intents and purposes, as though Chibi Moon and Sailor Moon had switched places. Chibi-Usa had … grown. Dramatically. The similarities to Black Lady were unnerving, but Mercury noted the absence of Black Lady's harshness and cruelty. There was only confusion. Mercury could relate.
Venus remained unsure. "Is she...?"
Before Mercury could answer, Mars did. "It's her," she said, and there was no trace of doubt in her voice. "It's Chibi-Usa."
That was good enough for Jupiter. She visibly relaxed and offered a reassuring smile to a still bewildered Chibi-Moon. The smile she received was less certain.
Whatever problems the others were experiencing were completely lost on Sailor Moon. The initial shock had worn off and she was staring at her hands. She turned them over, then back again. A delighted giggle erupted when she verified they were, in fact, tiny child hands.
It sounded like an admission of guilt to Mars. "What did you do?" she demanded.
"It wasn't me!" Sailor Moon stomped her little foot and narrowed her eyes. The two of them glowered at each other, same as always, shiny new height and age differences be damned.
"You know, that's actually comforting," said Jupiter.
"It really wasn't her."
Mars turned to Chibi-Moon, and consequently missed Moon's triumphant expression.
Chibi-Moon had snapped out of her daze and was all business as she addressed the other Senshi. "It was one of those weird girls. One second we were fighting her—"
"Fighting each other," Sailor Moon corrected, and was summarily ignored.
"—and the next, this." Chibi-Moon gestured at herself. Her new, adult self. Her eyes glazed over again, and she quickly became lost in just how much of herself there was to see.
With a tap of her earring, Mercury's visor disappeared. "I'm not reading any trace of the enemy. I think it's safe to assume that she's gone for now."
"Works for me." Venus scanned the park one more time. Deserted. She allowed her transformation to fade, and the others quickly followed suit.
Since the fuku had adjusted to match the new physical requirements of its owner, the Senshi just kind of assumed the same would've happened for Usagi and Chibi-Usa's civilian clothes as well.
Twin gasps made it immediately apparent that this was not the case.
Chibi-Usa tried in vain to tug her outfit into some semblance of coverage. Meanwhile Usagi blushed furiously as she grabbed fistfuls of her shirt and fought to keep it around her shoulders.
Mako scratched the back of her head. "Didn't see that coming."
"Now I can't see anything else," said Minako.
... ... ...
"Are you feeling all right, Chibi-Usa-chan?"
She'd been quiet since leaving the Tsukino residence, and Ami was concerned. This entire situation was highly unusual, and there was no way of knowing what kind of side-effects she and Usagi could be suffering.
Ami's eyes tracked Usagi as she ran in front of her. Minako quickly followed. They were both circling the group with their arms flung back like airplanes. Or perhaps geese. Perfectly normal, in other words.
Side-effects that Chibi-Usa could be suffering, then.
But Chibi-Usa shook her head, sending her long pink pigtails flowing around her. "I'm okay," she replied, then tugged at her shirt for the hundredth time in the past few minutes. "A little uncomfortable, though."
Minako finished her last lap and fell into step on Mako's left. "I'm not surprised," she said, peering around her friend. "You're barely wearing that."
"Yeah," Mako agreed, her eyes narrowing to slits. Another person was openly staring at Chibi-Usa with a lecherous grin. The little girl was, thankfully, unaware of the attention she was receiving, and Mako planned to keep it that way. She stepped forward, breaking the man's line of sight. When he glanced at her, she glared. That was it. Just a glare. A special Mako Brand glare. It was enough. He all but ran in the opposite direction. Mako watched him go. "How about something new to wear for a little bit?" she asked, dragging her attention back to Chibi-Usa.
Chibi-Usa seemed unsure, but Minako had already scooped up the suggestion and made it part of her. "I've got just the thing! Let's swing by my place!"
Mako barked a laugh. "Look at her, Minako-chan. There's no way she'll fit in your clothes."
Minako's response was immediate, and far too high-pitched to be heard by human ears. Mako had her back to Minako, too, and so missed the parade of emotions stomping across Minako's face.
Not so for Ami. "Mako-chan," she cautioned nervously but ineffectively.
Throwing an arm around Chibi-Usa, Mako half-hugged her, completely oblivious to the many shades of red Minako was experiencing. "Let's go to my apartment. I'm sure we'll find something for you."
Minako and her voice reconnected. "What did you say?!" she shrieked, causing Mako, Chibi-Usa, and Ami to all stumble.
Rei and Usagi, meanwhile, were locked in their own struggles.
"I'm TIRED," little Usagi pouted in her little Usagi voice as she shuffled along on her little Usagi feet.
"You've done nothing but run around like an idiot for an hour, I'm not surprised," Rei replied with a stunning lack of caring.
This was a problem, and it was unacceptable.
"Carry me!" Usagi demanded, thrusting her arms at Rei.
Rei's eyebrow twitched. "You must be joking."
"Look, I'm travel-sized!" Usagi displayed herself like a prize on a game show. "So you should carry me."
"Absolutely not."
"I can't believe you'd make me suffer like this!"
Ami was doing her best to extricate herself from the Mako and Minako situation. One look at Usagi and Rei, however, and all of her experience as a Senshi told her that this was not the way out. Sighing the sigh of the deeply burdened, Ami pulled out a book. Books were great. Books rarely yelled about things.
Yelling about things was precisely what Mako was two seconds from doing as she yanked Chibi-Usa close. She still had a couple of inches on the younger girl, but there were several obvious similarities between them.
"Look at her!" Mako said, gesturing emphatically to Chibi-Usa's new emphatic gestures. "She'll pop whatever you squeeze her into! Obviously I'm the only one she can borrow clothes from."
"Are you saying your chest is bigger than mine?!" Minako growled. Her fist trembled at her side.
Mako smirked. "Do I really have to SAY it?"
The sound of Minako's screaming never penetrated the deadlock that was Rei and Usagi.
"I'm not your personal transport, Usagi!"
"But my legs are little! It takes me extra steps just to keep up with you!"
"Maybe you should've thought about that before you started chasing Minako all over the place!"
"Rei-chan, you're such a meanie!"
"I'm a meanie that doesn't have to carry YOU, so I'll live with it!"
It was, as far as Usagi and Rei were concerned, a perfectly normal conversation. They'd had hundreds over the years, and rarely seemed to attract more than a few sidelong glances and a wide berth.
What they'd both forgotten was that right now, Usagi looked to be about six years old.
Slowly, they both became aware of the crowd they had attracted. The angry crowd. The angry crowd who had, without question, picked a side.
"You should be ashamed of yourself," an elderly woman chastised Rei.
"Being so mean to your little sister!" The guy looked to be about college age, and near overflowing with his disappointment.
Rei and Usagi looked around them. All those judging eyes. Rei felt the blood rush to her face, and she reacted the only way she knew how.
She attacked.
"Are you blind!" she yelled at the college age guy, who immediately cowered behind the old woman. "She's not my sister! We look NOTHING alike!"
Usagi, however, detected an edge, and seized it in her tiny hands. Her eyes widened and filled with tears. Her lower lip jutted out and trembled just so. She took a deep breath and made her move.
"Onee-samaaaaa!" she wailed, and flung herself against Rei's legs.
Rei gaped at Usagi in horror and tried to back away, but was held firm. She glanced around for a stick or something to try and pry off her new attachment.
Unfortunately for Rei, her new attachment was quite getting into the role. "Usagi-chan only wants you to love her!" she said, and her words were drenched in longing and agony.
The crowd gasped, completely taken in by the cuteness.
Rei buried her face in her hands and repeated to herself that burning people was not an option.
Burning had never crossed Chibi-Usa's mind, which was really for the best as far as Mako and Minako were concerned. All Chibi-Usa wanted was to go somewhere safe and do some thinking, and maybe take a nap. "Guys, I appreciate the offer, but let's just figure out where to go, okay? I can get changed later."
Mako raised her eyebrow at Minako, who gave a terse nod in response. The Boob Wars would likely continue into the night – and if Minako really wanted to play that game then Mako wouldn't hold back – but for now, a truce. They had more important things to take care of.
"Well your place is out," Mako said.
"Definitely," agreed Minako. "Even Ikuko-mama might notice this one."
Once the fighting subsided, Ami had closed her book and rejoined the conversation. "The Shrine?"
"Definitely not."
They others turned toward Rei. She was holding Usagi's tiny hand, and while not dragging her along, the bunched muscles in her shoulders betrayed what a struggle that was. The crowd of onlookers they were leaving behind all wore adoring expressions at this apparent sisterly reconciliation.
"Grandpa would recognize her immediately," Rei explained. "Her size isn't hiding how aggravating she is AT ALL."
Usagi already didn't look at all content with this hand-holding compromise, and she bristled even more at this. "Let's go to Mamo-chan's," she said, then added directly at Rei, "I bet HE'LL carry me."
"So long as he carries you away from ME," Rei shot back.
Together, they looked over their shoulder. The audience lingered. Rei and Usagi held up their still-joined hands and smiled far too wide. The crowed "aww!"d again in appreciation and finally began to disperse.
"Mamoru-san's it is, then," Ami said. "Should we call him first?"
"Nah, let's just go!" Usagi grabbed Ami's hand and began to skip down the road, dragging her friends behind her. "Oh, I can't wait to see his face."
A thought occurred to Minako, and she started laughing. "I bet he'll ask if he's on Candid Camera."
Usagi shot her a look. "He's not that silly, Minako-chan."
"Bet you week's worth of allowance in ice cream."
"You're on!"
... ... ...
"So you just woke up the next morning and everything was fine, huh?" Minako asked, taking an exaggerated step over a crack in the sidewalk.
Usagi nodded and hopped over hers. "Yeah. No idea what happened. Weird, huh?"
"Welcome to our lives!"
They fell into a comfortable silence for a moment, each making sure to avoid all lines and breaks in their path. Then Minako said, "He totally asked if he was on Candid Camera, didn't he?"
Usagi groaned. "First words out of his mouth!"
"Yes!" Minako said, pumping her fist. She grabbed Usagi's arm and swung her around toward Crown. The day was young, and there was untold ice cream ahead.