A/N -Yo, once again no AD... BUT I am working on that. And this... and about three other things... but I had to get this one out there. This is beta-read once more by the amazing impersonal. So give her immense credit. Hope you enjoy this story. Read and enjoy!
CHAPTER 1 – WELCOME HOME!
It had been nine years since I had last seen her. Nine long years. And now, here we are; Haruka-papa, Michiru-mama and I, waiting for her to come through the arrivals gate. It's a little funny and odd, because I can vividly remember the scene at the departure gates here at the same airport nine years ago.
I was frantically rubbing my eyes to dry the tears, but they wouldn't stop falling out. It was the last day Setsuna-mama was with me…no, it was the last moment! But why can't the tears stop...it's all Michiru-mama's fault because she made me drink too much water this morning before we set off to the airport, and now the water's coming back out through my eyes! And it's Haruka-papa's fault too because she said it was good for me and didn't stop Michiru-mama!
"Hime-chan, it's alright, she will be back…" Haruka-papa tried to soothe me in her husky voice, as she holds me.
But I'm angry at her, so I don't want to reply. I just keep crying. But I want to stop crying! I can't see Setsuna-mama properly with all the tears!
"Hime-chan…" Michi-mama tried soothing me too as I feel her hand patting my back gently.
I'm angry at her too, why isn't anyone stopping Setsuna-mama from leaving me?! And now, I can't see Setsuna-mama properly because of the water-
"Hotaru-chan…"
Setsuna-mama! But I can't reply, I don't even know which direction she is! I can't see anything- eh? I was lifted into another soft pair of arms; she picked me up from Haruka-papa's embrace! I love her warmth… and now I could see her, though her face is a little blurred…
"You'll always be my Hime-chan, no matter what, you know that right?"
"D-D-Don't g-g-go..." I coughed out in the midst of my crying.
"It'll pass quickly, Hime-chan. I'll be back at the time when you need me the most." Setsuna-mama said in a soft and calming, yet firm voice.
The PA system then announced something, which I took it was for Setsuna-mama's flight departure call, because after the call, she gave a light nuzzle on my cheek and handed me back to Haruka-papa. The last thing I remember about the day is seeing a blurry figure dressed in light purple clothing with a tanned complexion walking further and further away from me until she disappeared from sight.
I was eight years old when I had last seen her, well, seen her up front, I had seen her in some fashion magazines and some news reports. She left nine years ago when she was offered a once in a lifetime opportunity to work as an assistant to the head of 'Chloe', the international fashion house. After two years there, she began working as a designer at Yves Saint Laurent before she was snapped up by Chanel to become their Head of Design. She had called us several times a week, always wanting to stay in touch with us, but her schedule meant I had not seen her in all these years. She did come home once though, but I was on a school trip in America and I missed her. I was so distraught that I missed her then, but she had told me on the phone not to worry.
Because when she did get to come home, she would make sure she made up for all the lost time.
So now, she was taking a break from fashion and she had told the media it was for a private amount of time. But it was eating at me not knowing her full answer. So, here we are. Haruka-papa, reading a magazine on motorsports while stealing glances at her wrist watch every few seconds, only to sigh loudly after looking at it. While Haruka-papa did this, Michiru-mama sat patiently in her chair and took in the atmosphere in the airport. Me? I was fidgeting, I couldn't help it…I was excited! She was such a big part of my life and to not actually have her here to share everything with me, as my other parents had, just made me eager to make sure she would experience the rest.
"Flight BA657 from Paris to Tokyo has arrived at Gate 19."
The announcement grabbed my attention and I stood up, almost falling over in my enthusiasm. I was quickly caught by my blonde haired parent, who smirked with an eyebrow raised. "Hime-chan, calm down, she's not going anywhere. We're here to pick her up for a reason, remember?"
Haruka-papa ruffled my hair and I laughed nervously. My parents allowed me to speedily race my way to Gate 19, we were at Gate 10 so my run wasn't for very long. As I arrived, I leaned against a wall to regain my breath, but my eyes were fixed on the arrival hall. I watched as over one hundred people walked past yet still not a single glint of green hair was in sight. I frowned in confusion. Taking a step forward, I stood by the seats in the arrivals lounge. There was still no sign of her.
Where was she?
My eyes darted around from person to person as they exited from the hallway connecting the plane to the airport, and still nothing. Then suddenly, my eyes were covered and darkness took over. Soft hands covered my face and I gasped out loud, but a familiar scent hit my nose. I grinned as I heard the voice of the person I had been looking forward to seeing all day.
"Guess who?"
I never let her finish her sentence. I turned around and was greeted with the biggest smile I had ever seen in my life. It was rare she ever smiled, but I knew today she'd make an exception. I hugged her without thinking, my arms wrapped easily around her shoulders; I remember when I was younger and I barely came to her waist and all my hugs were me on my tiptoes desperate to get my arms around her shoulders. But now, here I was; seventeen years old and standing proud at five feet and four inches and embracing the woman I had been missing sorely.
"Setsuna…mama."
I whispered her name softly, my lips were a few centimetres from her ear and I buried my face into the crook of her neck, taking in the rich scent of her emerald coloured hair. After a few moments, I felt her pull back. She put her hands on my shoulders and firmly pushed me back. She had me at arms' length and smiled warmly.
"It's so good to see you, hime-chan." Her eyes gazed into mine and I felt my cheeks flush.
"Arigatou." My answer was barely audible but she smiled, so I knew she heard me. Her eyes broke away from my own and they flitted over my appearance. I saw her eyes widen slightly, before she closed them, I was about to open my mouth to speak but instead heard the sound of Haruka-papa laughing from nearby.
"Sets! You look amazing! How are you?" Haruka enveloped her long time friend into a hug. As soon as Haruka let go, Michiru hugged Setsuna too, and I just stood there, pouting a little, waiting for them to be finished. I mean, I missed her the most! Michiru-ma took a step back and looked up and down at Setsuna,
"You do look great, Setsa." I took a moment while the adults were still talking to look over Setsuna's appearance. They were right, she did look great! Before she left, she was always in a skirt suit, with a frumpy looking shirt, but now? Now, she was standing in front of my, in form fitting black dress trousers, with a matching womens' blazer that had white piping (clearly a suit from her time at Chanel), and she was wearing a simple white cotton shirt underneath and she had high heeled boots underneath that. She was accentuating every single curve and every hint of her feminity and – and why the hell as I noticing her accentuated curves?! I shook my head from my reverie and glanced back up; only to be greeted by three familiar sets of eyes.
"Ready to go, hime-chan?" The voice of Setsuna caused me to smile again and i giddily followed them.
Fifteen minutes later we were inside Haruka-papa's convertible, Setsuna's suitcases had been stuffed into the trunk and now she was sitting beside me, and I was listening to her tell us a story about the Milan Fashion Show and how last minute she had to create a new jacket, and it turns out the top was there but one of the lesser gifted models thought it was a skirt! I giggled uncontrollably, not just because the story made me laugh but because Setsuna was here! I was out of control! She was here after nine years! Her garnet eyes glanced at me and she smiled gently.
"I missed you, Hota-chan." I looked away from her, my skin was burning up. What was wrong with me? I managed to clear my throat and smiled.
"I missed you too, Setsuna-mama." As soon as those words left my mouth, I saw warmth enter her eyes, and I began to swell with happiness.
"So, Setsa, how long you staying for?" Ah, Michiru-mama asked the question I had been dreading and I avoided looking at her. Setsuna was the most sought after designer at the moment, it was probably a month or two, tops till she would be taken from my life again. Before I could stop myself, I had sighed deeply.
"For good, Michiru." My eyes snapped up and I looked at the green-haired woman beside me. For good? She was home for good? Before I knew it the car had stopped and both my parents turned form their seats in the front of the car.
"For good? That's amazing Sets! Are you coming back to – " Setsuna cut off Haruka-papa.
"Yes, Haruka I am. I'll answer all your questions but for now can you keep driving? The light's green." A car horn beeped behind us and Haruka-papa instantly threw the car into gear, her ears tined slightly with pink. I slumped into my seat, enjoying the rush of air over my body as the convertible's top came down. My eyes were closed and I allowed a smile to grace my features and I crossed my arms. She was home for good.
We pulled up to our mansion and instantly the world seemed brighter. I helped Haruka-papa take the luggage from the car while Michiru-mama took Setsuna-mama into the house. As myself and Haruka-papa made our way into the house, the tomboy blonde I had come to love as my father laughed gently.
"Hime-chan, you sure are glad that Setsuna's back for good. I've not seen you this happy in years." I nodded absentmindedly. I was just happy she was back for good.
As soon as we got indoors, Michiru-mama and I went into the kitchen, the whole 'gang' were planning on coming over in about an hour, to greet the missing member of the group home. As I was placing some pastries in the oven, Setsuna came to the kitchen doorway and leaned against the doorframe.
"What you cooking there, hime?" My face brightened once more and I smiled back to her.
"Pastries. Your favourite ones." My face blushed... what the hell's going on with me? I don't think anyone knows the answer to that one! I looked up ready to talk to Setsuna-mama and my body froze. I wasn't sure what happened to me but I felt awkward as I looked at her; she had taken her blazer off and was stretching and yawning, and I- I couldn't move. I was staring at her in that way.
I ignored the fact I had known this woman since I was a baby and she helped bring me up. All I saw right now was tanned skin glowing, taut muscles that peeped out from her shirt as it rose up her body when she stretched. My eyes took in every delicious inch of her on show. I gulped nervously and licked my lips without thinking as my gaze came to her face and I took in her features; eyes closed, her face looked at peace. She was beautiful; a very beautiful woman. And in that moment; she captivated me.
The sound of Michiru-mama moving behind me snapped me out of my daze and I turned me head away in shame. Good God, Hotaru, what's going on with you?!
"Are you okay, Setsa? You look exhausted!" Michiru-mama's voice was gently yet concerned as she spoke. I didn't look but I could hear Setsuna-mama laugh gently. Oh God... Setsuna-mama? Can I call her that after the way I just looked at her? I ignored that thought and kept my head down, before moving the trays that were beside me from one end of the kitchen to the other.
"The flight was a little tiresome but I'm fine, Michiru... you know me, the night owl. But, I'm just going to take a shower and change, I've been in these clothes since I left Paris and I think I should refresh myself." I heard Michiru-mama make a sound, as though acknowledging Setsuna-ma... – Setsuna-chan's words. God, it's so much easier to call her Setsuna-chan after that.
"Well, Setsa, your room is still here and everything is as it always was. I'll send Hota-chan up to get you when everyone gets here." My head jerked to attention when I heard my name and I wasn't sure if I was still blushing from earlier but I didn't care. I couldn't argue with Michiru-mama about sending me up, not right now anyway. I looked to Setsuna-chan and I nodded meekly. She smiled back to me.
"Okay then. See you in a bit." And with that, she left, and I breathed a huge sigh of relief... what was going on with me? I decided to talk to someone about it. But not Michiru-mama, she would know straight away and I couldn't handle something I wasn't sure about being thrown in my face. This was probably just some misplaced affection couple with out of control hormones. I read that in a book once, that sometimes this comes about between adolescents and older adults... but that was not so common between women. Ah, I need to talk to the expert on this!
"Michiru-mama, where is Haruka-papa?" My aqua-haired mother turned to me and replied with a smile.
"She's in the lounge setting up the balloons, Hota-chan. Why, what's wrong?" I shook my head,
"Nothing, I just wanted to talk to her quickly." Michiru smiled at me as I made my way to the lounge.
I watched Haruka-papa for a minute and I couldn't help but be completely amused by the fact she was balancing on a chair, her hand high up trying to stick some balloons from the ceiling to the floor as she was singing a song to herself. I cleared my throat and she wobbled on her chair for a moment, I stepped forward, steadying her leg and smiled up at her as she looked down and saw me. She stuck the balloons in place then smiled at me as she jumped off the chair.
"Yo, hime-chan, what's up?" I looked down at the floor and scuffed my foot along the carpet.
"Haru-papa... did you ever like someone you weren't supposed to?" I looked up and saw teal eyes had widened, and two blonde eyebrows had risen too.
"You mean... like like?" I nodded, she laughed gently, "Is it Chibiusa-chan, Hime-chan?" My eyes went wide and I spluttered ungraciously. She laughed at me gently again.
"Haha... I thought so, you two are pretty close and you spend a lot of time at her house – "I had to stop her before she went any further. God, what will Chibiusa say when I tell her about this.
"Whoa. Haruka-papa. It's not Chibiusa-chan! She is ONLY my best friend... what I meant was... did you ever have a crush on someone you weren't meant to... like a teacher or something." Haruka cocked her head at me and looked confused. Then she thought hard before blushing. She looked around and seemed to be 'checking that the coast was clear'. She leaned in close to me and grinned as she whispered.
"Before I met your Michiru-mama, I was at this athletics academy. I had this smoking hot teacher, I'm talking a body that would make you melt at your knees. Anyway, I was crushing on her. Bigtime. And I wanted to try some of that old Tenoh magic but I couldn't... she could have gotten in trouble. But she was super hot and used to wink at me... oh yeah she wanted me..." I could tell the blonde was trailing so I brought her back on topic.
"So, you didn't do anything? Like pursue her I mean?" Haruka shook her head instantly and I felt dumb, of course not baka, Michiru-mama's here isn't she?
"Course not, hime-chan. She would have lost her job! That's not worth it... why are you asking? You like your teacher? I met her didn't I? Isn't she like sixty?"
"I don't like my teacher Haru-papa!" I must have whined pretty loud because Michiru-mama appeared in the lounge a moment later, a curious look on her features. God, this could only get worse.
"What's going on, you two?" I turned to give Haru-papa the secret gesture not to say anything but it was too late.
"Hota-chan was just talking to me about love." My face paled and I saw Michiru-mama's face turn to one of genuine shock. Yeah, this was definitely getting worse.
"Love, Hota-chan?" I turned to Michiru-mama and opened my mouth to talk.
"Not love, Michiru-mama... just about... morals." Technically, it was morals! She gave me a look that said 'what do you mean? Explain!' So I took a deep breath.
"I just wanted to know if Haruka-papa had ever liked someone she wasn't supposed to." My sentence was eerily quiet and met with the same response.
"As in like like? Is it Chibi – "
"NO! It's not her! Ah, you know what? Forget I said anything!" Annoyed, I walked back into the kitchen, intent on forgetting what was said. I put myself into all the kitchen tasks at hand, unaware of the time. I walked back into the lounge sometime later and both my parents were talking in hushed tones on the lounge. As I entered, they went silent and Michiru-mama looked at me, and gestured for me to sit beside her, so I did. What did they want? Please don't tell me they've arranged a marriage between me and Chibiusa-chan, I don't think I could handle that catastrophe!
"Hime-chan?" My mother's voice was so sweet and calm, I loved it, "You do know your teacher is four times your age, ne?" I looked at her and nodded my head – my teacher was ancient, everyone knew that. She seemed to sigh a breath of relief. "Thank God, don't think I could handle that parental drama just yet. Hime-chan, just stick to your own age group if you're going to have a crush... it's safer." I nodded once more, that answered my question. No, I'm not supposed to like her. Michiru-mama wasn't done though, she smiled once more, "You know, Chibiusa-chan is only one year younger than you." She winked, and once more I paled. I stood up, shaking my head in disbelief.
"Listen to me! Chibi and I are just friends! Ew, that would be like dating my sister!" 'Huh, yeah and dating your Setsuna-mama would be better huh?' Date? Where the hell did that come from?! "I can't stay around you two and I give it five minutes before you plan our wedding!" That got a giggle out of them and Michiru glanced over at the clock.
"Well, now we've cleared that up, can you go and do me a favour, hime-chan?" I nodded without thinking, "Go and get Setsa for us? The gang should be here soon."
I wanted to argue and say 'Hell, no you go and get that green-haired temptress' but then I thought that may be seen as somewhat suspicious. So I gave a weak smile nodded and made my way upstairs. I walked past Haruka-papa and Michiru-mama's bedroom, and my own before I stopped at the very last bedroom at the end of the hallway. There was no noise from within. I took a deep breath and knocked three times on the door.
"Come in." I took one more breath before opening the door; I opened my mouth to speak but then was stopped once again. She had changed. She was in a tight pair of jeans, dark denim and a light lilac top, that clung to the top half of her torso then just below her bust flowed elegantly. Oh god, I was staring at her chest and I think she noticed, because she just cleared her throat and she is now looking at me a clouded look in her eyes.
"Hotaru-chan, what is it?" She seemed cold to me right now. I smiled weakly.
"Michiru-mama wanted me to check you were okay, people should be arriving – " I was cut off by the sound of the doorbell and I laughed it off, "... right about now." She chuckled at the comedic timing of the 'gang' arriving. I turned to leave but heard her gentle voice calling out to me.
"Hotaru-chan?" I looked at her, my throat was dry and scratchy and my palms suddenly started to sweat. "Are you okay hime-chan? It's just that... you seem a little upset with me. In the kitchen you didn't even look at me," 'Oh if only she knew!'"I'm sorry if it's because you think I've neglected you or something these past few years but I plan to make it up to you now. We got nine years to catch up on!" She smiled once more to me and I grinned back. For some reason, the idea of nothing but quality time with my Setsuna-mama appealed to me.
"I'm not upset with you, Setsuna-... I just... I'm going through something weird right now, that's all. Bad timing, but it has nothing to do with you! I'm glad you're back... and I'd really like to catch up." Okay I was rambling... how pathetic am I? Like some schoolgirl in lo – whoa. No, no, no no!
"Okay Hota-chan, well, let me get finished up here and I'll see you downstairs. By the way who's going to be here?" She bent over her bed to her suitcase and my gaze was involuntarily drawn to her backside. I know I should be ashamed, but in this moment in time I can't be. I'm just staring at her. She seems to be someone completely different. She has more confidence, she's still quiet but she has something about her and as for her appearance... wow. Nine years and she looks better than she ever did. But I had taken too long to answer a simple question – time to speak, Hotaru!
"Er... Usako, Mamoru, Chibi, Rei, Mina, Ami, Mako, Seiya, Yaten, Taiki and Kakyuu." Her interest was piqued as I said the last couple of names.
"Taiki-kun's going to be here? Wow, I've not seen him in a decade." I don't know why but that comment flared up a feeling in me I had never felt with Setsuna. Not when she talked about men. But I knew the feeling. I was jealous. Okay, now there was no denying it; the staring, the thoughts about her and the jealousy all lead me to one conclusion; I liked her.
As in 'like' like.
A/N2 - So, there it is so far... thoughts? feelings? Where do you see this going? All comments welcome. Ja ne -VR
