OCWaGH: Chapter 16

It was now noon here in the little town of Peach Creek. The meeting between the present Guardians and future Guardians finished about three hours ago, letting everyone finally have a break from the emergency meeting. At first, it was just a big 'meet and greet' situation that lasted a long time, but then they began to discuss why the future Guardians had come here, and about the enemy's motives that they had learned so far.

The present Guardians finally learned the name of the enemy group that had started all of this. They were called the 'Soul Breakers', whose main targets were people's emotions as a source of energy, as well as trying to find the queen of Crystal Tokyo, Neo Queen Serenity. Thankfully, it seemed like the enemy did not know that Sailor Moon WAS the future queen; the Guardians had to be careful in their investigation of the enemy so they would not figure out that Usagi/Sailor Moon and the future queen were the same person. As to the identities and leaders behind this group, they still had no clues that pointed to anyone.

The present Guardians were informed by the future Guardians that Chibiusa (who they called Lady Serenity) had stayed behind in the future (the year there was now 2053*) to guard it alongside her four personal Sailor Guardians (AKA: The Amazon Quartet from Season 4) and a seasoned Outer Guardian, along with a dear friend of Lady Serenity, whoever they were; no one said their names to them.

Prince Zachary had planned to stay in the future as well, but something happened that forced his older sister to take him to the present. According to Zack, earthquakes became a lot more frequent as dark clouds came rolling into Crystal Tokyo. That was when Zack's health became worse than it ever had been; his unstable existence was starting to affect him even more. They also explained that their parents were busy using their powers to defend the city, causing them to stay in a stasis that could not be broken until the threat was gone; this included both the king and queen. The stasis they were stuck in began about 9 months ago, and the future Guardians had not seen their parents since.

After the emergency meeting (and exchanging their contact information with the future Guardians), everyone decided to split up and spend the rest of the day doing various things. Some of them wanted to walk around to keep an eye out for any movements from the enemy while others wanted to relax and do something productive or fun.

Currently, Zack was with Ed and Usagi, hoping to see if by spending time with him he would begin to feel better; or at least try. They were hanging out near the playground near the Cul-De-Sac, with all three of them swinging back and forth on the swing set, all of them were out of sync.

As they were hanging out, a few of their neighbors began to pass by the playground; Kevin, Nazz, Rolf, Jonny 2x4, Sarah, and Jimmy. It was Jonny who noticed who was on the swing set, "… Whoa, Plank says he sees Ed over there with someone new."

The group perked up to see what he was talking about, only to see Ed with two people they did not recognize at all. Kevin and Nazz widened their eyes slightly, "Hey, it's that chick I saw hanging out with those three Dorks yesterday morning!" Kevin stated before making a small glare of suspicion.

The group turned to Kevin and Nazz, "Oh, that was around the time Nazz was attacked, right?" Jimmy asked.

"Yeah, I felt like an actual zombie for a few hours before feeling better," Nazz replied with a nod, "It was really weird."

Sarah looked at her brother and the people he was with, remembering what he said last night at the dinner table, "He said he's got a secret job now or something."

Rolf began to scratch underneath his chin to think, "Hmm… Rolf is now suspicious of new girl's odd arrival."

"You got that feeling too?" Kevin asked Rolf, "Thank god I'm not the only one that's been thinking that!"

The group of kids soon started to walk over to Ed, "Hey! ED!" Sarah called out to him.

Sarah's voice made Ed jolt up in surprise from the swing he was on, making him fall face-first into the dirt when he swung back downward. Usagi and Zack stopped swinging to see Ed quickly get up from where he fell.

"Yes, baby sister Sarah?" Ed asked as he turned to see the group walking over to him.

"Who are you hanging out with?" Sarah asked, "I've never seen you without Double D or Eddy around."

Ed paused for a moment before making a big smile, "Oh, these are some of my new friends! They just moved here, far down the street!"

"Well, it's nice to properly meet you," Nazz stated to Usagi, "Your name is Usagi, right? That's what Kevin told me yesterday," she then looked at Zack, "Is this your brother?"

Usagi widened her eyes before nodding her head, "Y-Yes!"

The group began to introduce themselves to Usagi and Zack. Kevin was still cautious with Usagi while Sarah kept staring at Zack; something about his appearance kept tugging at the back of her mind for some reason. It was when she noticed the color of his hair that it finally clicked; this kid looked a lot like her older brother!

"So, what kinda stuff do you like to do?" Jonny asked Usagi and Zack.

"I love eating a lot of good snacks and sweets, reading a ton of comic books, playing video games…" Usagi began to list a lot of her hobbies to them.

The group stared at each other before they all began to chuckle, "Wow, it's no wonder why you're hanging out with this dork," Kevin stated, gesturing to Ed as he laughed a little louder than the others.

Usagi was surprised for only a moment before realizing they were not laughing at her but at Ed, "What's so funny about that?" She asked.

Nazz was the first one to stop laughing so she could respond to Usagi, "Sorry, it kinda took us by surprise. Those are pretty much Ed's hobbies too."

Usagi widened her eyes, "R-Really? That's…"

Jimmy turned his attention to Zack, "What kind of hobbies do you like?"

"… Huh? Me?" Zack asked before becoming nervous, "I, umm… I like writing stories, and I tend to sleep a lot… Wait, sleeping isn't a real hobby though; it's because I-I get sick so often," he began to make a small smile, "Oh, I-I usually eat a lot of snacks with my family; both healthy and unhealthy," his smile grew bigger at the memories, "We try to find new snacks to eat from other countries every few months; it's a family tradition my mom and dad made for my sister and I when we were younger!"

Both Ed and Usagi widened their eyes at what Zack said, realizing he was talking about them.

"Wow, that's kinda cool!" Nazz stated, "Your mom and dad seem really chill."

Ed's whole body froze in shock at that statement, 'H-Huh…? But that's me! They really think I'm cool?!'

His shocked expression was noticed by Sarah, who only arched an eyebrow at her brother's behavior.

"Hey, when Ed said you moved in down the street, that means you're living in one of those new apartments, right?" Kevin started to ask Usagi, "What made you decide to move here?"

Usagi was silent at his question; she could tell that he still had suspicions about her because of what happened yesterday, "I'll be going to high school here as an exchange student with my friends," she finally replied.

"Ah, so Bunny-Girl-Usa is going to educate herself here this year?" Rolf stated before making a smile, "That is less than a week now."

Everyone stared at Rolf for a moment, "Uh, 'Bunny Girl' Usa?" Jonny questioned.

"… Did Rolf say something out of place again?" Rolf asked, "The pigtails look like ears to a hare."

Usagi chuckled at the comparison, "Well, my name does mean 'rabbit' in Japanese, so you are not wrong."

"Oooh, I didn't know that!" Ed gasped before making a laugh, "I'm glad I'm not allergic to you!"

"… Wait, you're actually allergic to rabbits, Ed?" Usagi asked.

"Yep, bumps and all! Learned about it the hard way one day…"

"… Huh, learned? Does Ed have a brain? That's big news to me," Kevin stated sarcastically before Nazz shoved her elbow into his side to make him quiet, "You know he's gotten better, don't be that way," Nazz hissed at Kevin.

Nazz turned back to the three, "The rest of us should get going. I guess we'll see you some other time, maybe at school!"

"Bye!" both Ed and Usagi said as the group of teens began to walk away.

As soon as the group was out of sight, the two teens began to hear Zack coughing again, but not as violently as before, "S-Sorry, I was trying my best to hold back that cough so I wouldn't do it around them…" Zack stated.

Zack could feel himself being picked up by Ed, who sat Zack on his left shoulder, "D'aww, it's gonna be okay, Zack!" Ed said with a big smile, "Are you hungry? I have some yummy food my mom bought that we can snack on back at my house if you want something!"

Zack looked at Ed before nodding his head, "O-Okay."

Ed began to walk back to his house with Zack on his shoulders and Usagi close behind them. Usagi looked at the two boys in front of her as a smile slowly started to form on her face.

After learning about her past as Princess Serenity, Usagi always knew one of the reasons that Mamoru stayed by her side was because that was what destiny had planned for him, especially since they saw how the future would go for them. They did grow to love each other as a couple over time, but there were a few points back then that she felt like she was becoming more and more disconnected from him, and vice versa.

The biggest moment of this was when Mamoru planned to go to college here in the United States about four months ago. That never ended up happening due to Sailor Galaxia and her plans at the time, but thankfully everything worked out in the end. Afterward, Mamoru decided to not study in the States, saying he wanted to stay by Usagi's side to protect both her and the future…

But now, Mamoru was gone, but both his powers and the legacy he left behind were still here… They were inside the tall boy walking in front of her along with Zack.

'It's still going to be tough to get used to, but now I know things will be okay,' Usagi thought to herself.

Author's Note (July 23rd, 2024): UGH, I finally got this chapter done! I felt like I had writer's block with this chapter... I'm glad it's finished, but now I need to work on the next chapter. Oof.

BY THE WAY!

I did what I said I would do the last chapter and updated it; adding a paragraph that I did not have there at first because I was not feeling up to making it then. But it's there now; it's right after the kids say, "Yes, Ms. Meioh." And then end at the line break.

Oh yeah, and the Crystal Tokyo era in this story is taking place in 2053 and NOT in the year 3000. Why? Because I was never a fan of that idea, to begin with (that it exists so far in the future) because of Chibiuas's real age despite looking so young, so I made it happen sooner rather than later; like in a normal time frame.