Hourglass
By SMYGO4EVA
Baptismal waters trickled onto the pavement whilst the sky let the raindrops fall onto the Earth. It was peaceful and sublime for Tomoe Hotaru; the downpour suited her image. The rain cleared her head and let her mind wander through life's unanswered questions before she would come back to the simplest answers.
Watermarks spotted her school uniform as she stared at the stream before her. The heavenly tears of Paradise, a place Hotaru herself would join when the time was right, also dabbled upon the lake.
Speaking of which, she though that death would be best when she became the Messiah Of Silence, also known as her dark doppelganger Mistress 9, but she had a sudden change of heart when Sailor Moon had saved her from her untimely demise and took possession over the Holy Grail, an item that the now deceased Death Busters had desired to have, therefore destroying Mistress 9's sire Master Pharaoh 90.
Her fate was that of the Messiah of Silence, the individual chosen to wield the Glaive of Saturn and destroy everything that stood in its way. Somehow the Heavens smiled upon her and made her worthy of existing on Earth. Soon she was reborn as an infant, a wide-eyed, puzzled and newborn child. Now she returned to who she once was, the senshi of Saturn named Tomoe Hotaru, living life to its fullest and not willing to die.
"Hotaru? Hotaru-chan?"
"Hm?" The namesake twirled around and beguiled herself to see who spoke her name, feeling that she recognized the voice already.
There was Tsukino Usagi; the famous odango atama hairstyle and everlasting curiosity never ceased to amaze her. Even after all that she had been through, the de jure leader of the Sailor Senshi still kept the logic of friendship and justice. Though Hotaru was a threat towards humanity, Usagi accepted her and Chibi-Usa's companionship, believing that the senshi of Saturn would be saved. Usagi was in her school uniform and held an umbrella over her head, sapphire eyes twinkling at the sight of raindrops falling upon the violet-eyed girl.
"Hotaru-chan? What are you doing in the rain?" Usagi questioned, blinking momentarily.
"I'm…. just clearing my head. I've got a lot on my mind, Usagi-san." Hotaru stated cleanly, turning herself so she would face the senshi of the Moon.
"Oh! I…. I was…clearing my head too. Let's just say that I…uh…have a lot on my mind as well." The blonde then giggled nervously, trying in vain to think of a new conversation besides one of the rainwater.
Hotaru smiled slightly, moved by the Moon senshi's silliness. It was adorable, and it explained where Chibi-Usa got her wittiness, deny it or not. She looked down on the ground next to a tree, where raindrops fell onto a forming puddle and rippled through the water. She thinned her eyes, conspicuously remembering the wave pattern from another place and sense of touch.
"Usagi-san?"
The future Queen blinked and her focused her attention on the violet-eyed girl. "Hm?"
"Look over there. Next to the tree." The senshi of Saturn lifted her arm and used her index finger to point directly where the puddle was. The blonde turned and her pigtails swirled likewise to a flaxen wind. She looked down next to the tree and figuratively, a question mark popped over her head.
"A puddle?" The blonde asked, not following what the violet-eyed girl's intentions were.
Hotaru proceeded to walk up to her and the tree, kneeling down so she would continue to stare at the instantaneous drops of sky water to the pool of cold water. "See those waves?"
After hearing an "mm-hmm" from Usagi, who kneeled next to her and with the umbrella still in hand, Hotaru continued to speak with curiosity and wonder. "The waves are moving in a pattern likewise to the sand in an hourglass, creating undulations. Right now, when the rain drops from the tree up above us, the waves travel to the matter of the water."
"Oh…just like an hourglass…just like you said."
"Mm-hm, it's in a circular pattern, my dear Usagi-san." Hotaru smiled to herself, staring in wonder of the ripples traveling throughout the cold liquid from the firmament. "You know, Usagi-san, I just realized something – something you might've not expected…you and I are extremely alike."
At that statement, Usagi puzzled. In fact, if borrowing words from Dr. Seuss, she puzzled and puzzled till her puzzler was sore. For a short while, anyway.
"How do you know? What brought that up, Hotaru-chan?" Usagi finally spoke; still mystified about the conclusion the violet-eyed girl spoke of.
"Because I'm the darkness, the senshi of Saturn. I represent the darkness, while you, Usagi-san, you're the light. You're the senshi of the Moon, symbolizing light and goodness. Also, we together are an hourglass, the water drops from the dark sky and places itself within the lake of light, creating ever-changing ripples and passages."
Usagi nodded, fully understanding what Hotaru told her, her blue eyes iridescent even in the rain. The latter looked back at Usagi, her demure violet eyes shining. "So, in a way, we are alike. The light and the Moon are the same; the darkness and Saturn are the same. The fact that they are opposites, the light and the shadows, makes us the hourglass of life. Without the other, one wouldn't exist. We're the same."
"Wow. That's deep…. and you're right, Hotaru-chan. We are alike." Usagi smiled, looked left to right and a light bulb popped over her head, gleaming in brilliance upon the arrival of an idea.
"Hey! You want to come over to my house? So we could get out of the rain. It's getting cold," She proposed, lending out her hand. "My treat."
Hotaru's eyes increased and she looked down from Usagi's hand, a little surprised at the sudden invite, but it was getting wet and she didn't have any plans, so…
"Ok."
"Great!" With that, Usagi let Hotaru go under the umbrella, shielding both of them from the pouring colorless water and they proceeded to head towards the Tsukino household.
Just like an hourglass, the puddle continued to ripple through.
Owari
