A/N: The idea for this short story came to me quite literally in a dream, so if this story is slightly bizarre that's probably why. In case it's hard to follow, the parts of the story in italics are told in first-person.
Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon in part or in full.
I was back, stuck in that same instantaneous moment of limbo in between each journey through time. Everything is so surreal here: I feel as though I'm floating, yet completely stationary; the crimson and violet hues of my surroundings are both enveloping me and infinitely far away. There is nothing here but absolute silence—not even the sound of my own blood rushing through my ears is audible. I've grown more comfortable here over the years... No, that isn't right at all. Truthfully, I have no way to quantify the amount or number of times I've gone through this. Time is utterly frozen and meaningless in this place, serving as a sort of temporary purgatory as I transfer between the ages.
This wasn't the case for Hotaru-chan, though. She only recently started joining me as I travelled between timeframes. Like me, she undergoes the same stresses each time we get sucked in; she just hasn't done it enough to get used to it. As the void leading each of us toward our temporal destination starts to close in on us, I turn to look at her. Her gaze seems so distant, but I know that she is watching me too. With each passing instant, it feels more and more as though our very souls are being crushed as this darkness creeps over us. This pain, however, is nothing compared to the guilt and disgust I feel knowing that she chooses to go through this with me each and every time.
Chibiusa awoke with a start, the sound of someone knocking on a door slowly becoming evident to her. It took her a moment, but she realized she was lying in her bed. Her cheek was slightly plastered to her bedsheet from a small pool of dried blood, which she didn't notice until she began to sit up. The sheet tore away from her face, leaving behind a slight sting. She hastily rubbed her face in an effort to remove any remnants of blood.
"Small Lady," she heard from the other side of the door. "Are you awake?"
Quickly covering up the dried puddle with her pillow, Chibiusa called out, "Yeah, come in."
The door opened, and Pluto entered carrying a tray. "I'm glad to see you're up. You've been asleep for quite some time; I hope you are feeling okay." She set the tray on Chibiusa's lap; on it was a sandwich, sliced into triangles, and a glass of milk. Pluto then sat down on the side of the bed, turning her head to face the girl.
"I'm fine, Puu," muffled Chibiusa, who had stuffed an entire sandwich triangle in her mouth. "I can sleep in on weekends if I want!"
There was a small amount of irritation in Chibiusa's voice—one that Pluto had begun to notice lately. She suspected Chibiusa was hiding something, and the guilt she felt from keeping this secret was disrupting her sleep. Either that or she was doing something that kept her up until the early hours of the morning. Even Queen Serenity noticed the odd behavior coming from her daughter, though she wrote it off as just a byproduct of being a teenager.
Rather than pressing her, Pluto let out a small sigh and stood. "I feel like you've become more distant over the past few weeks. Your parents and I are worried that something is wrong." She walked toward the bedroom door and paused. When Chibiusa didn't respond, Pluto turned to her and said, "I'm more than willing to talk when you're ready". She then left the room, slowly closing the door behind her.
Chibiusa was, in all honesty, somewhat stunned. She hadn't expected anyone to notice her odd recent behavior; especially not Pluto. She would have figured her mother, or perhaps even her father, would have said something to her, but not for a little while more. But really, could she be that surprised that it was Pluto who came to her first? After all, Chibiusa had been abusing the Time Key lately, using it to travel back to the 21st century.
While she had elected to go back to her current time following the defeat of Queen Nehellenia, she didn't think how parting with her dearest friends was going to affect her long-term. She certainly missed Usagi and the other Inner Senshi, but she felt an overwhelming sense of sadness without Hotaru. Over time she had grown to love the girl and, to her surprise, Hotaru grew to love her back.
As the years passed, Chibiusa was finding it harder and harder to distract herself from dwelling on what she could have had with Hotaru and resigned herself to "borrow" the Time Key one evening and pay her friend a visit. After she had wished everyone a good night, she sat in her bed, a slight twinge of guilt initially preventing her from using the thing. What if she got caught sneaking around? This was worse than jumping out the window at night to discreetly meet with someone; at least then one of the other Guardians would eventually be sent out to fetch her and—God forbid—would see to it that Chibiusa had never felt so much embarrassment in her entire life.
That first rendezvous with Hotaru had been both wonderful and disastrous. Chibiusa had waited by the school gates all afternoon, and when she saw Hotaru she threw herself on her friend, nearly sending the two of them tumbling to the ground. Chibiusa had no idea, however, that Haruka was waiting nearby to pick up Hotaru—the older senshi thought Chibiusa was back yet again to prepare for another enemy, and virtually scolded the girl for leaving without her parents' knowledge when Chibiusa told her the real reason she was there. Haruka let the two of them have fun that afternoon anyway, but made sure to warn Chibiusa never to disobey her family like that again. Haruka was shaping up to be a pretty responsible parent after all.
Despite this, Chibiusa continued to visit Hotaru in private, oftentimes climbing through her bedroom window to chat and snuggle together in the middle of the night. After nearly getting caught several times—the last time this happened, the girls had been giggling loudly about something-or-other, and Chibiusa managed to escape through the window just moments before Haruka stormed in—Hotaru offered to go with Chibiusa to yet another time period, reasoning that they couldn't get spotted by someone they knew if they didn't know anyone there to begin with.
And so, it was one of these travels that Chibiusa had been up to the seconds before Pluto came to check up on her. The physical stresses of the time travelling had started to take their toll, giving Chibiusa minor nosebleeds upon her return. Once in a while these trips left her feeling very exhausted, and there were the occasional times she was momentarily knocked out upon her arrival. She hated to think how Hotaru, still seemingly so frail, was being affected by this. She let out a sigh as that thought played itself out in her mind, the sound of the now empty glass being placed on the tray bringing her back to the present.
I suppose now's as good a time as any, Chibiusa thought as she got up from her bed at last. She picked up her tray, the sandwich eaten and the milk drunk, and made her way out of her room.
She entered the kitchen, tray in hand, and found Pluto gazing out one of the windows overlooking Crystal Tokyo. It seemed obvious to Chibiusa that Pluto had been waiting for her when the taller woman turned to face her. Chibiusa set the tray down, and took in a deep breath.
"Actually, Puu," she said, nervously looking around the room. "There is kind of something I want to talk about..."
I had forgotten how cool and refreshing the air is here, and how nice the breeze feels on my face. And everything is so bright and blue! The sky and ocean seem to go on forever; the rhythmic crashing of the waves on the rocks down below could put even the most tortured mind at ease. There is nothing here but absolute tranquility—not even the loudest crack of thunder in the most turbulent storm could render my state anything less than serene.
I had been completely lost in the moment when Hotaru-chan stirs. Her back is to my chest, my arms around her waist and her hands wrapped around mine, but I guess she needed to adjust her position. We have been sitting together like this for what feels like hours, watching the ocean waves, enjoying the ambient sounds and the smell of the sea and, above all else, basking in the warmth that emanates due to our embrace.
I lean down, bringing my lips to her now-exposed ear. "Hey, Hotaru-chan," I whisper, my warm breath undoubtedly catching her attention more so than my words. I'm sure she can also feel my heart pounding away in my chest.
"Yes, Chibiusa-chan?" Her voice is, in all actuality, probably no louder than mine, but there isn't a sound in the world right now that could drown her out in this place. The softness in her voice almost makes me lose my nerve.
"I told Puu," I say, not even giving myself time to think about what's coming out. My voice is getting steadily louder, and my hold on Hotaru-chan tightens. "I told her about how I have been stealing the Time Key, and about how I come to see you every night because I love you so much. She told me she was worried about me, because I never make it back in time to get much sleep, and truthfully I felt bad about not telling her. She's my best friend back home, my only friend really, and if someone was going to know what I've been up to, I figure it's better to have it be Puu that knows than either of my parents." Despite how ashamed I should be at the childishness and immaturity of my last statement, I finish speaking with a grin plastered to my face.
Hotaru-chan turns her head and upper body toward me, causing my grip to loosen a bit. She looks into my eyes, her gaze filled not with alarm, but curiosity. "What did she say when you told her that?"
"Puu said she knew the whole time," I say, my voice almost the same volume as Usagi's when she's laughing her guts out. "Apparently 'the Gatekeeper of Time is always on the clock', or so she says anyway. She doesn't care that we meet up like this, though. What I thought was concern was actually her just wondering how long I was going to keep this up before the guilt ate me alive and I finally came clean." Giddy with relief, and also because of the slight play on words I didn't expect Puu to pull off, I begin laughing.
Hotaru-chan also giggles, and turns back around to face the ocean once again. She leans into me, this time lacing her fingers with my own. My laughter subsides, and I place my chin on her shoulder as I pull her close.
"I love you too, Chibiusa-chan," I hear her say after a few minutes, the softness in her voice restored. I wait a moment, stunned by the delight I feel upon hearing those words, then I lift my head from its resting place and kiss her gently on the neck. As relieved as I felt after confessing to Puu about Hotaru-chan, I have never felt so light and free as I do right now, spending this day holding the girl I love and knowing that she wouldn't want it any other way.