Maturity; A Sailor Moon fanfic:

Usagi hadn't known when she started feeling like this.

One moment she was carefree; eating cake and ice cream, and just enjoying herself at the arcade.

Next thing she knew, she was staring out the window of her home; worrying about the future.

Ever since Mamoru had left to go to school in America, everything had seemed to take a turn for the worst.

The Sailor Animamates were still persistent in their search for True Starseeds, hunting down any innocent civilian who may house one. Their efforts were pretty fruitless however, as most of them ended up being blanks, and they immediately ditched them after that.

That left Usagi and her friends to battle the Phage and clean up the mess.

It didn't help that the Starlights didn't appear to have any intention of forming an alliance with them. They were too busy looking for their "princess".

Usagi insisted that they could help each other, but the trio just wouldn't listen. And when she had come close to making peace with them, Uranus and Neptune had interfered. She knew they were just trying to protect her, but that didn't make it any less frustrating.

And what of her friends?

She wouldn't put it past Lead Crow or any of the others to start targeting them and trying to take their true Starseeds. It had happened many times before.

Putting her hand on the window, Usagi knew that her loved ones could be in danger. Mamoru, Ami, Rei, Makoto, Minako, Setsuna, Haruka, Michiru, Chibi-Usa, Hotaru, Ikuko-mama, Kenjii-papa, Shingo, Luna, Artemis, and even Seiya.

Her concern for all of them weighed heavily on her shoulders. But since when had she started caring so much about what happened to everyone else?

It could have been anytime in the last couple of years. So many things had happened.

She found out she was the destined Moon Princess in a star crossed romance with the Prince of Earth.

She found out she was queen of the planet in the future, ruling alongside with her loving husband, and future child.

She found out she was the Messiah; the bearer of the Purity Chalice, which gave her the power to save the world from destruction by Pharaoh 90.

She found out that her future daughter was the holder of the golden dream mirror; that housed Helios, the priest of the hidden sanctuary of Elysion.

She found out that she had the power to heal multitudes of people using the Millennium Silver Crystal; the most powerful crystal in the galaxy.

It was a lot to take in; to say the least. It hadn't necessarily come all at once, but it felt like it had.

As soon as she figured out one thing, another thing would come along; even bigger than the next.

Usagi tried hard to handle all, but it was difficult.

It was more complicated with Luna practically breathing down her neck about such things; criticizing her throughout the day. There was always something for Luna to criticize. She slept in too late, she ate too much, she didn't try hard enough at school, she was too clumsy, she was a crybaby, she was never on time, and she didn't seem to care about her Senshi duties.

Except for the last statement; it was all true. Truth be told, Usagi did all that to try and escape the constant responsibility of being the leader of the Sailor Soldiers. It depressed Usagi if she thought about it too much, so she tried her best not to. But all it did was get her in trouble with at school and with her friends and family.

But lately she hadn't been doing it as much. All she could think about was that the fate of the world rested in her hands, and frankly it scared her half death.

She was glad she had her friends to help her, she didn't know what she would do without them.

So this is what it's like being mature. Usagi thought solemnly, resting her head on her arms I wonder how people like Rei can stand doing it all the time, it's exhausting work.