Is She Lonely?
Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon. Any of it. Whatsoever.
Author's Note: Yes my story the Price of Love is deleted. I felt like it wasn't going to go anywhere. I will re-write it so it can fit and flow like The Cost of Love does. Not sure when that will start but to those of you who follow, please check every few days. Thank you in advance for your support and understanding. Here is a one shot to tie you over until then. Read and leave Reviews! Thank you.
It was a stormy night. So bad that hail was coming down the size of golf balls. The occupants of the house all sat in a peaceful silence. Peaceful mainly because of the fact that Usagi and Minako weren't there. Hotaru was sitting in a chair studying, Michiru was on the violin composing new music, not to tour with, but for fun, and Haruka was slouched over the couch snoring every so often. The last member of the household had gone out before the storm came out of nowhere. Thinking of her other parent Hotaru looked up at Michiru.
"Michiru-Mama?" The little on asked.
Michiru stopped playing and looked over at her daughter. "Yes hime?"
"Is Setsuna-Mama lonely?" Michiru knitted her brow. She wasn't sure where the question came from or why it was even asked. "Why do you ask?" Hotaru looked down and mumbled incoherently. Michiru put down her violin and bow and walked over to Hotaru. "Speak up Hotaru, what brought up this question?" Hotaru looked to her mother with sad eyes. "A lot of nights when I can't sleep I come down to fix myself a snack and I see her out on the porch deck sitting with a cup of coffee…just sitting there. She has that look in her eyes whenever she is in thought or remembering something or looking at the timeline. It's not exactly a sad look, but a look of tiredness, weariness, worn out, wear and tear, and weak in some cases. I mean you have Haruka-Papa, the princess has her prince, the inners have the generals, Chibi-Usa has Helios, even I have Peruru. But Setsuna-Mama, she has no one to call her own. She didn't die when the moon kingdom was attacked unlike us so while we adapted and have new personalities, she is who she is from so long ago. I don't like if she is sad and hurting or alone but I don't know what I can do." Hotaru reached the end of her speech and started to sob.
Michiru knelt down and pulled Hotaru in for a hug. She couldn't help the tears that formed in her eyes. Her daughter had such a big heart and she was happy to know she was raising her well. She took a moment to wipe her tears before looking at Hotaru. "My precious little one. You are such a caring person. I'm not going to stand her and say that Setsuna-Mama is not lonely because I'm sure she feels like it sometimes, but you also have to remember who she is. She is the Soldier of Solitude. She was given a task that would have limited, if any, interaction with other living beings. Setsuna knew that it would be a hard life and the responsibility as keeper of the gates would be for all time. In some ways my little hime-chan, she is the strongest senshi of us all, aside from our princess. Can you imagine any one of us having to know any and all outcomes but never say a word, no matter how much it could hurt one of us or all? To have all that power and not be selfish? I can honestly tell you Hotaru that I would be selfish. In that respect, your Setsuna-Mama is the strongest senshi because of the fact that she spent all that time alone, watching all of us be reborn. And I think that she is also a solitude type person. She likes being alone. Not that she likes it every day, but she does enjoy her time when no one else is around."
"Who are you two talking about? Setsuna?" Haruka's groggy voice interrupted.
Michiru nodded. "Yes, Hotaru was worried about her and asked if she was lonely." Haruka nodded. "I see. Looks like the storm is starting to let up, would you like some water hime-chan? Your eyes are red and puffy." Hotaru nodded towards her papa. Haruka walked into the kitchen and brought back water for all three.
"You have to remember one very important thing about Setsuna Hotaru." Hotaru looked at her papa. "What's that?"
Haruka shared a glance with Michiru before continuing. "For a while after the destruction of the moon kingdom and before our rebirths, she truly was alone, in ever sense of the word. She only had the memories to get her through all those countless Millenia, not years, not decades, not even centuries, but MILLINEA Hotaru. Like your Michiru-Mama said, the rest of us would have gone insane. But not Setsuna. She is indeed one of a kind. She has the weight of the future on her shoulders, and not just one future but endless futures and she holds her head high and doesn't complain. She accepts it for what it is. Her job and makes no apologies or excuses for why she does what she does even if we get mad at her when we ask questions she can not answer. If nothing else hime remember this, Setsuna-Mama may be lonely at times, but she can handle it. It might sound harsh and your mother and I don't want you to think we don't care about her because we do very much, but she recognized a very long time ago what curse and responsibility she had and she would not wish it upon any of us because we would crack under the weight of it all. As for if there was a significant other, I can honestly say that she was way too busy and boring for that matter to ever get-I mean have time-for someone." Haruka smiled weakly when Michiru glared at her.
Hotaru yawned. The storm had finally come down to normal showers. The three turned to the sound of the front door opening and seeing the woman of conversation walking through with her umbrella.
"This has to be the worst storm I was ever in aside from that one night on August 13 1492 while tyring to tell Christopher-" She stopped midsentence as she looked at three pairs of eyes staring back at her. One pair stared with sympathy, another with admiration, and a third that seemed to be happy but Setsuna wasn't too sure because it looked as if she had been crying.
"Is everything alright Hotaru?" Setsuna asked. Hotaru rushed to her other mama and hugged her tightly. Setsuna looked down at her and smiled. Hotaru spoke. "Thank you. Thank you for all you do and all you have done. I love you." With that said she headed upstairs to wash and get ready for bed. Setsuna looked at Michiru and Haruka. "What did I miss?" Michiru answered. "She felt that you were alone and she was sad that you felt that way and wanted to know how to make you happy and if you had that special someone in your life. Haruka and I explained it the best way we could since you weren't here to answer for yourself."
Setsuna nodded. "Well your answer is better than what I could have said. Although I was expecting her to ask another question first. Hmm. You win some, you lose some." She yawned. "I am off to bed. I think I'll take Hotaru out tomorrow to spend some quality time with my daughter. Goodnight to you both." She smiled and walked up to her room.
Haruka watched her leave. "Another question first? What does that mean? Do you think she knew that this was gonna happen and was waiting for it?" Michiru held up her hand. "Do not question it Haruka. Either she had no idea that the events that happened here tonight would, or she just put one over on us big time. Either way, Hotaru is happy and I wouldn't have it any other way."
Haruka looked back to where Setsuna disappeared upstairs. "I still feel like we are missing something big."
In her room Setsuna had changed and was lying down. "If only you were here my love."
She shed a tear, and smiled as she drifted off to sleep.