OCWaGH: Chapter 14

Meanwhile, back with Ed and his group, we could see the four teens inside the candy store. Usagi was in awe at all the different kinds of candies on display. While it was true that Japan did import candies from other countries, she never went to a candy store that had most of these in their stocks.

She turned to Ed, who was looking toward the jawbreakers close by, 'Wow, those are so huge!' Usagi thought when she saw the jawbreakers, 'How do they expect anyone to eat them?'

Usagi saw Ed pick up a grape-flavored jawbreaker before he turned to her, noticing she was looking toward him, "Do you want one too? There's a lot of flavors!" he stated.

"Oh, sure!" Usagi replied with a smile. She walked over to grab the first one she saw, which was a watermelon-flavored jawbreaker.

Hotaru looked at Ed and Usagi before making a small smile, 'Usagi seems to be feeling better… I'm so glad. I was really worried about her because of Mamoru.'

Robin was standing near the exit of the store, not having any interest in getting any sort of candy today. Robin could see that Ed and Usagi were going up to the cashier to purchase what they wanted as Hotaru walked over to him.

"You're not getting anything either?" Robin asked Hotaru.

"Not today," Hotaru replied, "Maybe another time."

The two teens stood there for a short moment before someone outside caught Robin's attention. There was a thirteen-year-old boy who wore very thick glasses walking on the sidewalk outside the candy store. The boy had scruffy, light red hair and quite a few freckles across his cheeks. He looked like he was having a coughing fit from something, slowing down a little as he walked past the candy store.

Robin made a concerned face to the boy outside, "Oh… geez!" Robin gasped as he walked out of the store to get to the red-haired boy; Robin could see he was about to collapse, "Hey! Are you okay?" he asked.

Hotaru also walked outside with Robin to see what she could do to help. It was when she approached the boy that he opened his eyes to look at who was helping him; his eyes were a very familiar shade of red that Hotaru recognized instantly, even with the thick glasses he wore.

"I-I need to find my mom…" the boy stated before he coughed again, "My sister – S-She told me to find her…"

What he said struck a chord with Hotaru, "… Robin, can you help him get to the bench nearby? I'll go get the others."

Robin nodded his head as he helped the boy over to the bench near them. Hotaru went back inside the candy store to get Usagi and Ed, who had both finished purchasing what they wanted.

Usagi noticed Hotaru briskly walking up to them, "… Hotaru? What's wrong?" she asked.

"Y-You two need to follow me, but don't try to freak out," Hotaru whispered to Usagi, much to her confusion.

Hotaru dragged both Usagi and Ed outside and pushed them toward Robin and the boy on the bench, who was still coughing a lot.

Ed halted in his tracks when he saw the boy; something about his presence made him stop, 'H-Huh…?'

Usagi looked at Hotaru in confusion before realizing this was something serious but could not put her finger on why. She walked over to the boy, "Are you alright?" she asked.

The boy opened his eyes again to look at the girl in front of him; that was when Usagi noticed the color of his eyes was the same as Chibiusa's. The boy widened his eyes when he saw Usagi, his face growing even paler than before. He muttered something in a very low tone before passing out on the bench. Usagi gasped before slowly backing away to give him some space; she heard what he said before passing out.

'This kid… H-He just…'

"Sorry, I saw this kid walking down the sidewalk just now when he started coughing," Robin stated to the others, "I couldn't let him pass out on the ground, so I brought him over here to this bench."

"We should take him back to Usagi's apartment," Hotaru stated before looking at Ed, who still seemed a bit shellshocked, "Ed, do you think you can help take him there?"

Ed snapped out of his train of thought very quickly, "Oh, y-yeah! I can help."

Ed went over to the boy to pick him up and put him over his shoulder. Thankfully, the complex was not that far away, so it would not be a very long trek for Ed to handle something like this.

As they were jogging back to the complex, Hotaru gently tugged Usagi on her arm to get her attention, "Usagi… You noticed the color of his eyes too, didn't you…?"

"… I did."

"So, do you think he's Chibiusa's son?" Hotaru asked.

Usagi was silent for a moment, "… No, h-he called me his mom before passing out."

Hotaru widened her eyes in disbelief, "B-But… how is that possible?"

"I… I don't know," Usagi muttered.

Once they made it back to Usagi's apartment, they laid the boy down on the couch. Haruka and Michiru were also here, spending most of the day together doing various things to help everyone get settled into their new places; at least on everyone's finances.

"So then, I guess what Rei reported to us a moment ago was real after all," Haruka stated, "Seems like several kids from Crystal Tokyo are here to stay for a while; all of them are in training, or so they said."

"We should contact Setsuna," Michiru stated, "I'm guessing she was the one who brought them here."

Ed widened his eyes a little when Haruka mentioned the name of a city, scratching his chest once again around his heart. He could tell the place was somewhere important.

"… Crystal Tokyo?" Robin questioned with a small frown, "Can you elaborate more on what you're talking about?"

Michiru nodded her head, "Yes, but I think we need to hold another emergency meeting with everyone again before the day ends. We can explain everything then, I promise."

Hotaru could see Usagi sitting next to her. She was glancing over to Ed, almost like she was trying to avoid him. Hotaru realized why she was doing that, 'It's probably because of the boy we found… I don't blame her, having her future altered so drastically.'

'I don't know what to do…' Usagi began to think to herself, her mind swarming with many uncertain thoughts, 'If that boy is Chibiusa's younger brother, that would make me his mother… But I don't remember seeing him at all when I went to Crystal Tokyo. Where was he? And… his father can't be Mamoru! I…'

Thankfully, it did not take long for everyone to gather back up. Everyone was outside, standing around at the clearing where they were going to build the teleportation device that could warp them back at Rei's shrine. The only ones absent were Usagi and Ed, who decided to stay back at her apartment to keep an eye on the boy who was still out of commission. The two of them would get caught up with the details from the meeting later.

"Okay, what the heck is this all about?" Eddy asked in an irritated tone. He was very irritated by his earlier encounter with his brother and the fact he passed out from the stress he was under; he was NOT in a good mood.

"Patience, Eddy…" Double D sighed to his short friend, patting him on his back.

Ami and Rei already knew what the meeting would be about; with Rei knowing more about it than Ami. Ami knew it would be about the new kids that arrived from the future because of what she saw in Brooke's sketchbook, while Rei knew who the other kids could be because of her encounter with the twins earlier.

Rei glanced over at Eddy who was standing close to her, tapping his foot in impatience with his hands in his pockets. Rei began to think about Joshua and Vivian again and the fact she learned they were her kids… Her future kids with Eddy. She could see Joshua looked more like Eddy and Vivian looked more like her, despite being twins; they were fraternal and not identical.

'I don't know how he's going to feel about this…' Rei thought as she made an internal sigh, 'Guess we'll have to wait and see.'

Eventually, the group could see an older woman approaching them. She had long, dark green hair with a bit of it pulled up into a bun and magenta-red eyes. She was the only one they saw coming to them.

"Setsuna?!" gasped Makoto and Minako in surprise, "What are you doing here?" Minako asked.

"I'm the one who arranged this meeting, along with Haruka and Michiru," Setsuna stated.

Setsuna made a smile when she looked at everyone in the group, much to the newcomer's confusion. She then turned to the woods close by, "You can all come out now. You don't need to hide anymore."

"Yes, Ms. Meioh."

The group could see several young teenagers walk out of the woods, all of them seemed nervous about being near the older teens. Double D, Eddy, Ami, and Rei could see Brooke, Joshua, and Vivian in the group of young teens. The other older teens could sense what the others felt when they first met this morning; a tug to their hearts when they saw the younger group.

"Now that everyone besides Usagi and Edwin is here, I need to explain some things," Setsuna stated. She turned to the group of newcomers again, "My name is Setsuna Meioh. I am the guardian of time and space, Sailor Pluto."

"Whoa… really?" Scott gasped a little, "That means you can time travel, right?"

"Yes," Setsuna replied with a nod of her head.

The newcomers widened their eyes to her in disbelief at the mention of time travel. Eddy looked over to the twins before widening his eyes further in shock. He remembered what his older brother told him before arriving at the meetup…

"Hey, Pipsqueak. I gotta question I need to ask you before you leave," Evan stated before Eddy could walk out his front door.

Eddy made a small glare at him before making an internal sigh, deciding to play along, "What is it?"

"Something's been bothering me since I got here," Evan started to say, "You know those twins from earlier that were spying on us?"

"Uh, kinda? I met them earlier, but I don't know anything about them. Why?"

"They said they moved into a house somewhere nearby this morning, but… That purple-haired girl said their last name was McGee."

"… Wait, are you being serious? She really said that?" Eddy asked his brother in both confusion and disbelief.

"That's what the little girl said," his brother continued to say, "But I'm pretty sure they're not any sort of cousins or ours; our dad doesn't have a brother, you know."

"Huh… That's one heck of a coincidence."

"Yeah, that's what I thought at first. But then it got me to thinkin'," Evan paused what he was saying for a second before continuing, "Our last name isn't exactly a common one, so they gotta be directly related to us somehow."

Eddy stared at his brother before realizing what he was trying to say, "Wait a minute, are you saying that dad had an affair or something dumb like that?"

Evan shrugged his shoulders, "I don't think so. And THAT is what's bothering me! Nothing about those twins makes any sense," he put his right hand under his chin to think even deeper, "Also, that Joshua kid kinda LOOKS like you, but his sister looks like someone else. It's really weird."

"… No way," Eddy muttered to himself before narrowing his eyes in seriousness. Everyone noticed Eddy beginning to walk over to the twins, much to their shock.

Eddy stood in front of them; Vivian looked a little nervous at his sudden actions, but Joshua held his ground, "Who are you two?!" he asked in a stern tone, almost like a very low growl. Eddy had never made this tone of voice before.

"Eddy?!" Double D gasped at his tone and actions as he tried to walk over to him, but was stopped by Rei, much to his confusion.

Joshua could only stand there before making a sigh of defeat, "Sorry, I—"

Before he could say anything else, Vivian ran past Joshua to go over to Eddy to hug him, much to everyone's shock, "I'm sorry for keeping things a secret!" she cried, "I-I'm so sorry, Dad!"

That's when Ami, Makoto, and Minako realized who these younger teens were, much to their shock. Double D, Erik, Scott, and Robin looked on in confusion at the scene as Eddy could only stand there, stunned by what Vivian blurted out, "Wh – W-What did you…"

Eddy then felt a hand on his left shoulder, turning to see that Rei had walked over to them, "I'm sure they'll explain everything," she said before turning to Setsuna, "Right?"

"Right," Setsuna turned to the kids as Vivian was dragged back to them by Joshua, "These children are Crystal Tokyo's Guardians; the girls are Sailors while the boys are Knights. They've all inherited your powers because they are your kids."

The whole area became silent very quickly as a tense air started to weigh the group down.

"… You have got to be joking…" Erik muttered.

Double D looked like he was going to faint from the news as he clutched his chest with his right hand, "O-Oh… my god."

Scott and Robin stayed silent from the bombshell that was dropped, not knowing what to say. Eddy also stayed silent, not exactly processing this information well. He had the face of someone who was about to scream at the top of his lungs but held back from doing so. They could see that he was upset.

"Honestly, I told them that they should have been upfront about who they were, but they insisted on keeping their job a secret from you so they could train in this era and not get sidetracked," Setsuna continued to say, "But it seems something else is happening in the future while they were away. The prince and princess are both supposed to be back home, but it seems like Lady Serenity has forcefully sent her brother here for a reason… He's resting back at the complex right now."

Meanwhile, back at Usagi's apartment, we could see Ed and Usagi were here, still watching over the boy they found. They were both sitting on a loveseat that was close to the couch that the boy was resting on. Ed could sense something was wrong with Usagi when she got back here; she seemed nervous at first, but now she was sad again… He could not understand why.

'What can I do to help her?' Ed thought to himself, trying his best to think of something.

Ed fiddled with the jawbreaker he bought earlier; he had not had a chance to eat it yet since he got here. Usagi had already eaten hers because she was trying to get her mind off what was happening. Ed looked toward Usagi again before a thought popped into his head.

"Usagi?"

She perked her head up to look at Ed, only to see him extend his arm out to her. He was holding the jawbreaker he had in his hand, "Can this help you feel better again?" Ed asked.

Usagi stared at the jawbreaker before looking up at Ed; he was making a big smile at her. She could tell Ed was trying his best to cheer her up the whole time she was there. She began to tear up and, before she could realize what she was doing, grabbed onto his jacket sleeve to pull him closer to her, accidentally making him drop the jawbreaker in between them on the loveseat they were sitting on. Usagi started to cry into his jacket as she hugged his right arm.

Ed widened his eyes at the sudden turn of events, immediately panicking as he scratched the area of his chest around his heart again. He had no idea what to do to help Usagi, but he knew he had to do something! It was his job now! Without realizing it, Ed stopped scratching his chest to hug Usagi as she continued to hold onto his sleeve. This hug was very different than the previous ones he did; it was so much gentler than his usual full-on bear hug. They stayed like this for a minute before he could see that she had stopped crying.

"Did I fail my job?"

Usagi widened her eyes at what Ed said, looking up at him again as she still held onto his arm, "What…?"

"I-I made you cry a-and I don't know why…" Ed stated with sadness, "I don't know what to do!"

Usagi gasped, "It's okay! I-I feel a little better now."

"You do…?"

"Yeah… A good cry was what I needed, and…" Usagi began to say, sniffling a little, "I wanted t-to say thanks."

Ed stared at her for a moment, "… Oh! You're welcome!" he replied with a big, cheesy smile.

Usagi soon let go of Ed's arm as she picked up the jawbreaker he dropped in between them by accident, "You can keep the candy you bought. I don't need it now… but, umm, thank you."

Ed looked down at his jawbreaker in Usagi's hand before taking it from her and putting it into his mouth to finally eat it. Usagi watched him as he ate the piece of candy, smiling more and more as she did.

A few more minutes passed by the two teens. Ed had finished eating his jawbreaker while Usagi got up from where she was sitting. He looked to see where Usagi went, she had walked to the kitchen nearby to get a soda from the fridge.

Suddenly, a small cough could be heard coming from the couch. Both Ed and Usagi turned to see that the boy from earlier was beginning to wake back up.

Usagi gasped as she and Ed went over to the boy; his coughs sounded very visceral and harsh, "Are you okay?!" Ed asked.

The boy looked at the two teens, squinting at them because he was not wearing his glasses, "Y-Yeah, I… I'm okay," he replied as he looked around to see where his glasses were. The boy reached over to them on the side table to put them back on.

The boy looked at the two teens again before making a sad face, "I'm sorry that I caused such a big mess…"

"It's alright," Usagi replied to the boy before pausing at the question she wanted to ask. She already knew the answer he was going to say, but she still needed to know, "Umm, can you tell us your name…? Who are you?"

The red-haired boy sat there for a second with a scared look on his face before making a sigh of defeat, "My name… umm, it's Zachary, but a lot of my close friends call me Zack. I, uh…"

Zack began to glance away from them, "My older sister brought me here and told me to find you both."

Usagi could feel several emotions going through her, realizing what she felt was very similar to when she found out Chibiusa was her future daughter, "Your sister is Chibiusa, right?" she asked.

Zack looked back to Usagi with a sad expression, "Y-Yeah… But no one calls her that besides me and my parents."

Ed stared at both Usagi and Zack, feeling extremely confused about what they were talking about.

"Zack, I hate to ask you this, but it's very important," Usagi stated, "Who are your parents?"

"U-Umm…" Zack seemed scared to say any more things, but continued to do so, seeing there was no way to lie about this…

"It's the two of you."

A heavy silence filled the room from the news Zack dropped on them. The cogs in Ed's head began to turn more and more, "Huh…? Wait… I don't get it."

Ed felt Usagi put her arms around his, much to his confusion, "It'll be okay. I'm pretty sure everyone else can explain it better than I can," she said to him.

Ed could feel his heart begin to beat faster, scratching his chest once again because of it. He then looked at Zack, who began to cough again, but not as badly as before. He had no clue what was going on now, but he knew it was something very important to Usagi and her friends.

Author's Note (April 12th, 2024): Now a few more things are becoming clearer... I was never good about being subtle.