Some sm_monthly goodness....at last!


The Kindness of Strangers
by papirini



Tick-tock, tick-tock. The clock struck two.

The pink-haired walker sighed as she padded down the stairs, careful not to awaken the other people in the house. With her was a teddy bear, her sole source of comfort after Luna P, who was also asleep. It was just as well. If any of her caretakers knew she was the only one awake, they would have marched her straight to bed.

But Chibi-Usa couldn't sleep. No matter how hard she tried, nothing could calm her down. Nothing could erase from her memory what happened that day.

"It's the little rabbit.....It's time to dispose of her!"

Most kids her age would have been asleep, having been tucked into bed by their parents in safe surroundings. She didn't even have that, simply strangers whom she had to force to love her. She had no bed to call her own, no city to call home.

All she had were four women coming after her, vowing that she would never see her beloved mother again if they had their way, no matter if she was just a kid. They somehow knew where she was, what she looked like, how she was dressed. Somehow, they knew how to find her, and she had nowhere to run. She was alone, and unable to fall asleep, lest the women who were after her came and did what they had promised to do to her. Night after night, she would wake up and think of what would happen to her, what had happened to her. How desperately alone she was without friends or family.

There was no one to protect her, and nothing she could do, except wait for the enemy to come and kill her.

"Who's there?"

Chibi-Usa's heart froze as she heard the voice come from behind her. She began to tremble as the footsteps started coming towards her; she clutched her teddy bear in the vain hope it would protect her.

"...Oh, it's you." Usagi's head suddenly came into view. "What are you doing up right now?!"
"...Me!" At this, Chibi-Usa brought her defenses back as she recognized the teenager, and she stuck her tongue out. "What about you?! Don't you have school in the morning?"
"I could say the same for you," Usagi huffed as she plopped down on the couch, holding a large bowl and chopsticks. "Plus, I'm not the one who ran off today after wetting my bed."
"Hmph."

Chibi-Usa turned away at this, her face red, as she heard Usagi turn the television on to an old Godzilla movie. It was and enough she was with strangers in a strange place; she also had to deal with a vain teenaged roommate who constantly belittled her and did things specifically to embarrass her. No matter how hard Chibi-Usa tried, the eldest Tsukino child was always meddling in her affairs, always threatening to spank her.

It was nerve-wracking, and the little girl sometimes wished she had picked another family to stay with. She was almost tempted to run off again, and not come back, if only to get away from Usagi, who clearly didn't like her. At one point she hadn't cared if it meant the the bad people would kill her, though to day she was a bit more grateful to be able to come back to the Tsukino house.

"I'll protect you."

Then she remembered Sailor Moon. Sailor Moon, the legendary beautiful warrior who protected Tokyo. Her father talked about how she was a kind and wonderful protector. And she had saved Chibi-Usa that day after she had run off.

Sailor Moon...

She turned to look at Usagi, who was shovelling the contents of the bowl into her mouth, and she frowned. Sailor Moon would have wanted Chibi-Usa to stay and tough it out while they took care of the bad guys, especially after what had happened with the sisters. And if Sailor Moon could handle that strange man who tried to kill them, Chibi-Usa could surely handle the slovenly, selfish Usagi.

"You want some?"
"Huh?" Chibi-Usa looked back at Usagi and blinked. "What?"
"Food." The bowl was shoved under Chibi-Usa's nose. "Hungry. Are you hungry? It's donburi."
"I...." Though Chibi-Usa's stomach was grumbling at the smell, as she hadn't eaten all day, she wasn't sure if she wanted anything Usagi had eaten from. "I'm, uh, not hungry."
"Mmm, ok."

As Usagi began to have some more food, Chibi-Usa looked confused. That was unlike Usagi to offer food to her. Usually, she would hoard it all and refuse to share. She wondered why Usagi was suddenly being so generous.

"Welp," Finally, Usagi put the bowl down onto the coffee table and tromped up the stairs. "Night!"

Hmph. Chibi-Usa looked at the bowl and frowned. Just like stupid Usagi to leave a mess....

When she looked in the bowl, however, she was startled to find that there was still a good amount of food in the bowl - just enough for Chibi-Usa to eat, At first, she hesitated; then, realizing she was simply too hungry to go without it, Chibi-Usa took up the bowl clumsily and began to eat.

Mmm.... Chibi-Usa's mind wandered as she ate the rest of the rice. How did stupid Usagi know I was so hungry...?

Soon after, Chibi-Usa suddenly felt her eyes hurt. It was hard to keep them open without feeling dizzy, and she began to see two televisions, two Godzillas. Quietly the little girl turned to TV off, only to find the feeling growing stronger as color dots of brown and red and yellow flashed in her eyes.

Stupid Usagi... As the feeling began to overwhelm her, Chibi-Usa lay down on the couch, clutching her teddy bear. I knew she put something in it...!


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Tick-tock. Two-forty five.

Usagi quietly sneaked back downastairs with a blanket. On the coffee table was the empty bowl of rice, and on the couch a sleeping little girl, clearly exhausted from the events of the previous day. She held her teddy bear tightly, but otherwise she was relaxed, her being completely at peace for the first time in many days.

"I'll protect you...I promise...."

Sailor Moon had promised to protect the little girl, and Usagi intended to do her best to keep that promise. She certainly had problems with the little girl, but no matter how much Chibi-Usa got on her nerves, it didn't change the fact that she was a little girl, in a place where she forced to live among strangers. And unknown to Chibi-Usa, Usagi had been up all night as well.

Someday....

Quietly, Usagi spread the blanket over the little girl's still body. Chibi-Usa didn't move; it was clear the food did its work. It was just as well; if anyone knew how a good eat could make anyone fall asleep almost instantly, it was Usagi, and she was glad to see it had worked on Chibi-Usa.

Someday....you'll finally be able to go home.

However, even knowing the little girl was asleep didn't diminish the fact that Usagi would get no sleep that night, food or no food. There was too much to think about, too many people after the little girl, to get a good sleep and not worry, even though Usagi and Chibi-Usa were not, in her mind, connected in any way but by accident, through the scheming of the enemy.

Nevertheless, as she started going back up the stairs with the empty bowl in her hand, Usagi couldn't help but think it would be well worth it in the end.

Good night, Chibi-Usa.

After all, it wasn't right for a little girl to be up past her bedtime with such terrible thoughts.