The Sailor Switch

Chapter 2: Motherly Love

TERMS: -san: Japanese honorific; shows respect  onee-san: older sister

     Usagi arrived at the kitchens, breathless both from running so fast and from the encounter with the strange man. 

"TSUKINO USAGI! You have some nerve, making me wait so long for you to finally stop daydreaming and get down here for chores! I ought to make you muck out the horses' stalls for a month!" shouts a tall woman with auburn hair and hazel-brown eyes. She is dressed in a plain dress with an apron on over it. Her name is Osaka Mizuki, and she is the head cook of the palace. 

"I'm so sorry, Mizuki-san! I was on the other side of the Wing, and-" Mizuki cuts her off quickly. 

"No more excuses, Usagi. You have been giving me excuses for 17 years," she says with a good-natured sigh. 

    You see, Osaka Mizuki was Usagi's adoptive mother. She adopted Usagi when she found her on her doorstep with a note attached with only the words 'Tsukino Usagi'. Her husband was a soldier in the Lunarian army, and he had left for Earth 3 months ago to maintain peace. What she had just found out a week ago was that she was pregnant. She didn't know the gender, but she wanted her baby to have a sibling. And so, Usagi was adopted into the Osaka family.

"I know Mizuki-san, but I ran into a very handsome young man. That's why I was very late." Usagi explains quickly before her 'mother' could start chiding her again.

"Well, you may have discovered 'love at first sight', but this laundry still needs washing, girl," Mizuki says, laughing to herself while she hands Usagi a basket of linens.

"Aww, but Mizuki-san, can't Naru do it?" Usagi pouts. Naru is Usagi's little sister. She was born 5 months after Osaka Mizuki found Usagi herself. Because of her premature birth, the midwife didn't think the baby would make it. But, as soon as baby Naru saw toddler Usagi, it was like she suddenly was determined to live, if only for Usagi's sake. Naru still adores her big sister and wants to be just like her. 

"Hey, onee-san! Can you show me how to do my hair like yours? I really like that style and my hair's boring!" is heard as Naru walks into the royal kitchens. She has shoulder-length hair, the same color as her mother's. However, her eyes are pure brown. She is wearing a silvery-blue maid's uniform. This uniform is also what Usagi is wearing, except hers is pure silver. Strangely, this color seems to suit Usagi especially well.

"Hey, Mizuki-san? If Naru wants to, she could come with me and help?" Usagi asked. She knew Naru wanted to spend any and all time possible with Usagi,so Mizuki said yes. After they left, she wondered to herself, I wonder who would give away such a nice girl. Lately, I have noticed Usagi is somehow different lately. Almost as if she was had the possibility to be a Sailor Soldier. But Usa isn't a princess, is she? Well, no matter her origins, she is my daughter now, and I will do my best to raise her right.