Not all love stories begin the same way. Some start like this:

On the outskirts of Tokyo, a small yellow house stood by itself on a hill. It was a cozy place, with a bright kitchen, a dining table that had been well used, and a warm living room with a big fireplace in the middle, and from the faint smell of burned wood, one could tell it more often in use then not. This was home that would host a big Christmas tree every year. That would be the place people went for Thanksgiving and gathered at New Years. This was a home filled with photos on the walls of a happy family. Albeit a strange one. The doorway to the home read: Tenou.

It had been an easy choice for the family of four, to choose Tenou as their collective name. Haruka and Michiru were as close to married as they could be without an actual exchange of rings. But they were young yet. Setsuna, well, she had liked the idea of having a sense of belonging. Of family. Of not being stranded alone at the gates of time.

For Hotaru changing her name had been easier than she'd thought. This strange little family had bene her first sense of true family since her earth mother had died. Especially after her father had been possessed, hell after she'd been possessed, the name Tomoe just had the ring of loss to it. Plus, there was the whole dying and being raised from an infant by Haruka, Michiru, and Setsuna thing. It had been a rapid growth, and within another year Hotaru had gone from a 10 year old back to 16 and aging normal.

Now, at 18, she appeared of an age to be a sister to the other Outers. Though it had ben an adjustment and taken her awhile to stop calling them Papa and Mama. Not that Haruka didn't actively petition to keep on calling her papa.

Two years had passed since the last battle for the sailor senshi, and peace had returned to the Earth. It had been odd at first, like they had all been holding their collective breath waiting for another enemy appear. But not had.

Now, it almost seemed like the world did not need the sailor senshi. And thus the senshi had gone back to their daily lives. Hotaru and the inner senshi had continued their education, finishing high school (or home schooling in Hotaru's case). Now, Hotaru was attending university along with Makoto and Ami. Rei was at the shrine and Mina had returned to acting – reprising her role as Sailor V. Usagi was planning her wedding. Setsuna was currently travelling for work, she was set to be gone for another month. So too were Michiru and Haruka gone, both overseas for a concern series. Michiru had been asked to tour in the U.S., and Haruka had gone along.

This left Hotaru alone in the Outer's home. Not that she was totally alone, as the Inner senshi were only a phone call or train ride away. But… it wasn't the same. Hotaru had gotten used to being surrounded by family. She did not enjoy the feeling of being lonely. She had spent to many years of her life (prior life?) being lonely.

Today was Sunday afternoon. Hotaru was sunk into the love seat in the living room of her home, cup of oolong tea in hand. She was bored, and lonely. It was just early enough that it was too early to go to bed, but too late to do anything as most stores were closed. Plus there was a rather impressive storm that had rolled in. Also, it didn't help that her two closest friend, Mina and Makoto had plans –

Dates. They had dates.

Hotaru did not. She felt a wave loneliness roll over her. This was a different type of loneliness than missing her family, no this was the type that comes when you think about your heart and how much you want love from another to fill it... Admittedly Hotaru's young life had been very disjointed, and between health issues, possession, being the ender of worlds, and all that, there had been little time for her to date. But this didn't mean she didn't want to date.

She very much did.

Sighing, Hotaru nestled further into the love seat. Music played softly from her cell phone, filling the place with at least some semblance of other humans. Although Hotaru generally preferred instrumental pieces, today she had chosen a pop channel. It gave her sense of false peppiness.

A pause in the music and an ad came one, something about an upcoming performance. Hotaru's ears perked up when the speaker mentioned the Three Lights. Hotaru quirked a brow, the Sailor Starlights were supposed to be off planet. Though, it had been long enough that they could technically be back for a visit. Mamoru and Haruka would be super thrilled if Seiya were here…. Not. Search for Your Love began to play, and Hotaru hummed along for a moment. She had little interaction with Starlights the last time they had been to Earth, and her impressions were currently colored by Haruka and Michiru, so she was interested in maybe actually forming her own impressions this time. Another song came on, one she that let her mind wander back to what she'd been doing, and her eyes flickering back to the book on lap.

She was lulled into the story of a dashing prince whose true love had been turned into a fish and lost at sea. The prince had disguised himself as a fisherman and had snuck aboard a vessel to find and win back the man of his dreams.

An hour passed, maybe two, before Hotaru was startled from her reading by a loud crash of thunder. The storm was clearly getting worse. As she'd allowed herself to get sucked into the story, the sky had darkened further, casting the house in shadows. At the next flash of lightning, the power wavered and then flickered out. Hotaru pulled out her cell and checked the weather. It appeared the storm had raged and grown until it overcast the whole city of Tokyo.

Hotaru was not a huge fan of storms, but neither was she a damsel in distress. Though she definitely felt distress upon noticing the battery level on her cell was nearing critical and with no power… well it would suck.

Placing her book to the side and her cell on power saving, Hotaru got up and wandered toward the kitchen to find the candles Setsuna had stashed under the counter. Setsuna had developed a thing for scented candles, and so she had plenty scattered around the house. But the matches were in the kitchen, and thus that is where Hotaru went.

She'd just struck the first match when a knock sounded on the door. Hotaru checked her cell, no calls, no texts. If it had been one of the girls, they'd have likely reached out first. Sighing, Hotaru headed toward the door, candle in hand. On tiptoe, Hotaru peered through the peephole but the grey evening obscured the person on the other side of the door – a dark silhouette haunting her front porch.

Setting the candle on the table by the door, Hotaru cracked open the door and tilted her head at the silver haired man on the other side. Yaten Kou. Speak of the devil, Hotaru thought.

The man narrowed his eyes at her, looking confused. "Where's Haruka and Michiru?" His tone was brisk, annoyed. The man stood on her porch, interrupted her day, but he had the audacity to seem annoyed that she was not a different person.

"Hello. How can I help you?" Manner had been drilled into her by Michiru.

"I'm looking for Haruka Tenou. I thought she lived her." His eyes flickered to the name plate.

"She does. So does Michiru. They're just not here right now." Her response was slightly brisker – Haruka had raised her too….

"Who are you?"

"Hotaru Tenou."

He scoffed, "Hotaru's like five."

As a bolt of lighting flashed, Hotaru noticed for the first time that Yaten was soaked and water was literally dripping off of him.

"Magic is weird. I was 15, then I was a baby, then I was 10, then I was 16 again. Welcome to being a senshi."

"Huh." He seemed momentarily surprised, as he took a moment to study what he could see of the aged Hotaru through the crack in the door. "I.. um. I was hoping to come in."

"I figured as much." Hotaru sighed, and opened the door, letting her strange visitor enter the house. As he passed her, she thought that she'd best be careful what she wished in the future – as maybe being lonely hadn't been such a bad thing after all.