Intermezzo

by Tim Nolan

Part 2 of a trilogy of stories centered on the Outer Senshi. These are manga based stories.

Intermezzo {1/1}


A Sailor Moon story by Tim Nolan
e-mail: nomad@cyberverse.com

Please see comments following the story.

This is part of a trilogy of stories about
the Outer Senshi. The correct order they
should be read in is
1. Aftermath
2. Intermezzo
3. Advent

These are based on the manga and not the anime.

*************




Intermezzo
part two of a trilogy of Outer Senshi stories




Silver cords linked the two combatants to machines
behind them that were far faster and less prone to errors
than their fickle human counterparts. Modern fencing was
so fast a sport that it was necessary. A touch would
complete an electrical circuit that would signal a
score to the judges, who were busy determining who had
the right of way and was able to attack.
The shorter of the two smiled behind her
wire-mesh mask. Her opponent was fast and skilled,
and was a good work-out for her today. It would still
take him a few more years to reach his prime, however.
His opening pattern of feints had been clever,
but he had yet to seriously challenge her defense
without opening himself to her. She had already scored
on him four times in the practice match. What seemed to
be an opening would appear in her guard, but by the time
he could react and attack, it was closed off and she
was scoring on him with her epee.
The last two had been more difficult than the
first. He had gotten wise to her tricks, but it was
not easy to resist the chance to even the
score. Typical, she thought to herself. Yet another
man who couldn't handle her being good at things they
considered to be their specialty and became angry, thus
losing any chance at victory.
Her own flash of anger got the better of her
before she could fully control it as she drove past
him with a speed that he could never match. The tip of
her epee dug into the light canvas of his jacket, the
force of the blow making the blade bow upwards. The
scoring system and the judges registered the touch and
awarded her the match.
She held out her left hand to him in a fencer's
handshake after saluting him with the blade in her
right and removing her helmet, as was customary. He
almost didn't take it, but thought better of it and
how it would reflect on his career with a dozen of
the country's best fencing coaches watching, and
perfunctorily shook it.
Theirs had been the last match of the
session. While the others talked or gathered their
things prior to leaving, she accepted a few words of
congratulations from some of the coaches or fencers
she knew before making her way to the relative quiet
at the far end of the room. She'd done something she
shouldn't have during the match. Time to do her
penance, she reprimanded herself.
Back to the basics, she decided, and began to work
her way across the room in series of practice thrusts
with exaggerated care. Every move was textbook
perfect. Back and forth she continued to go, even
after the others had left.
Baka. That was what she was. She was supposed
to be fitting in with them and doing nothing to draw
any unusual attention to herself. Thankfully, none of
the other fencers or judges noticed her slip earlier.
Fencers had some of the best reflexes of any
athletes. Her move earlier to win the match had been
just a little too fast to be humanly possible. If that
had been a regular person facing her on the mat, it
would have been readily apparent. Fortunately, these
people were used to watching people who were so fast
that she was only slightly faster in comparison. She
was safe this time, but she shouldn't have made the
mistake in the first place.
" Ten'ou-san?"
" Yes," she replied to the older man. He'd been
watching her earlier during the match, and had left
with one of the coaches she had studied with once. He
had also walked back into the gym about ten minutes
ago and had been analytically watching her.
" You were very impressive in the match
today. Congratulations on your victory."
" He'll be better with a few more years under his
belt," she replied as she turned to start moving in the
other direction again.
He smiled a little at that. " I don't have that
much time, I'm afraid."
She waited for him to make the first move and
shifted to a pattern of parries and ripostes. He tried
waiting a few moments to see if she would say anything
else, but she remained silent.
" Do you know why I am here?" he asked finally,
breaking the uneasy silence between them.
" I think so," she replied. " Why don't you tell
me firsthand, though? I've only heard the rumors."
" All right," he decided and sat on the bottom
seat of a row of bleachers. " I was just named to the
position of coach of Japan's fencing team for the
upcoming Olympics the year after next. I want to
field the best team possible, Ten'ou-san, but I need
to assemble it as quickly as possible.
" I can guarantee you a spot in the Internationals
later this year, and if you do well there you're
virtually guaranteed a spot on the Olympic team. I
want you on that Olympic team, Ten'ou-san. You're
the best prospect Japan has for winning a medal
that I've seen."
" Why me?" she responded casually and stopped
to face him, catching his eyes with her green
ones. " What makes me so special?"
" You're already well known, Ten'ou-san," he
said. " This could be a great help in building up a
public perception of fencing and sports in general."
" Publicity, you mean," she countered. " You
overestimate me. I don't have that much of a chance
of winning, I'm afraid. There are at least a dozen
Europeans who can beat me out there, and that does
not make for a good story."
There are at least a dozen who can beat you
within the narrow limits of the sport of fencing, she
added to herself. This was only a game; practice for
the conflicts that were to come. Those same fencers
couldn't touch her if it was a real fight.
" Are you that sure, Ten'ou-san?" he asked,
looking disappointed. " I've been teaching this for
a long time. I think that you have what it takes. Besides,
representing their country in the Olympics is every
athlete's dream."
" Their dream," she snapped but restrained
herself and kept her voice low and level for the rest
as she started to walk over to get her bag. He couldn't
see her looking at the ring on her left hand, which
was the only piece of jewelry that she wore. " Not mine."

*************************************************

Fingers danced over familiar strings as she
checked the tune of her violin for the lessons later
on in the day. The sunlight coming through the windows
caught the silver metal of the band of the only ring
she wore; a simple ring that she wouldn't have traded
for any other in the world.
After a few minutes, she had worked the slight
stiffness due to a lack of recent, regular practice
from her fingers and felt more alert and aware. Music
did that for her. It had always done that for her, she
reflected as she set down the instrument and readied
the others. Today was her beginner's class, and she
taught more than just the violin, even though most were
there for that.
Or, she smiled to herself, most of the parents
sent their children here to study the violin under her
tutelage. Few children displayed the love for the
difficult instrument that she had at an early age. In
all probability, some of those parents wished for a
portion of the riches and fame a gifted child could
earn.
Fortunately, most of the children quickly came
to like her and wanted the lessons to continue. She
didn't think that she could have gone on for too long
otherwise.
Unfortunately, this was not her class at the
public school that she volunteered to teach. At first,
it had been a ruse to give Setsuna easier access to the
public school system's records in order to set up
falsified records. Over time, however, she had grown
fond of those children. Also, the reason for her recent
worries was not a student at the local public school.
" A pegasus, Kaioh-sensei!"
She had heard the whisper from the back of the
room as she was showing a boy the right way to hold a
bow while Hotaru had played. It was the girl's second
time in a session with the children at their house, and
since the little girl now looked to be about five or
six, the three women thought it to be a good way to
let Hotaru interact with the others on a trial basis.
She had shown Hotaru the basics of the violin
earlier, but nobody expected her to take to it so
well. Her moves lacked the expertise and polish that
years of playing would give her, but Hotaru's raw
talent had shocked the other children.
Her pride had been like a parent discovering
her child was a prodigy. It lasted until that whisper
made her snap her head around in time to see the
ghostly form of a winged horse. Even what little she
could see told her that the animal was in great pain. A
moment later, the vision faded, but not before she
caught a flicker of movement in the vision.
A girl ran towards the horse. She was vague and
indistinct as she moved towards the pegasus, but every
line she could make out bespoke of sorrow. What made
her blood go cold, however, was that the girl's hair
was worn up in an all-too familiar style. They only
knew of two girls who wore their hair like that and
looked like it belonged.

*************************************************

First she removed the ring from her left hand
ring finger and put it on a chain which went around
her neck. She wouldn't forgive herself for damaging
that particular ring. Then, she tied the apron strings
behind her back, took the vegetables out of the colander
they had been rinsed in and began to cut them. The
knife's movements were swift and confident as she cut
them into smaller pieces, which were then set aside
to be cooked a few minutes later. The whole point, she
reminded herself of the rules in one of the cookbooks
she had read, was to have everything cut and ready to
cook before you actually begin cooking.
The thought of her being so domestic made her
laugh aloud. She would have never though of herself
as being part of a family, let alone cooking like
this. Before, she never had the time due to her other
duties. When she did bother to eat, an act done more
out of the habit of keeping her disguise than hunger,
it was at some kind of restaurant. Sure, she had a
home to live in... well, several actually, but she
never bothered cooking.
" Setsuna-mama?" Hotaru called out as she came
into the room. " Are you all right?"
" Yes, I am, Hotaru-chan," she replied and smiled
at the girl. " I was just laughing because I'm happy
right now."
" You usually don't laugh like that, Setsuna-mama,"
the girl said and turned her large, violet eyes on the
woman. She hadn't asked a question, but it was there in
her eyes.
" I was thinking that I was happy being here with
you and Michiru and Haruka." the woman explained as she
began to mix up some flour and melted butter to form
the basis for a roux that would be the foundation of a
sauce to go over the meat that Haruka would cook on
the grill outside in a few minutes. " That's why I
laughed." Hotaru's reply was to run over to her and
throw her arms around the woman's waist in a fierce
hug.
" I'm glad that you're happy, Setsuna-mama."
" So am I, hime-chan, so am I," she smiled as
she put one arm around the girl.
" Can I help you?" Hotaru brightly asked, eager
to be involved with what the adults did.
" Yes," the woman laughed and pointed to the
other end of the counter and a stack of plates and
glasses. " You can set the table, but remember, only
one plate at a time."
" Okay," the girl nodded and started on ferrying
the items to the table. " I'm sorry about the plates
the other day, Setsuna-mama. I thought that I was
strong enough to carry all four at once. I wanted to
help, and it was getting close to dinner. All I wanted
to do was to surprise you by helping out."
" You are strong enough, little one, but you
don't have the control yet. That will come in
time. Remember, you're still a growing girl.
" And," she added, seeing the remorseful look
on the girl's face. " Michiru-mama is not mad at you
about the plates, Hotaru-chan. She understands that
it was an accident, and that you didn't mean to drop
that stack."
" But she was angry at first."
" Yes, but she was angry that the plates were
broken, and not at you for breaking them. She put in
a lot of time and work finding the ones in that
particular style, Hotaru-chan, and that was why she
was angry. Do you think that you understand the
difference?"
" I think so," the girl frowned slightly,
furrowing her brow as she thought.
" Well, why don't you think about it some more
if you aren't certain that you understand yet," she
said as she turned on the gas flame under a wok on
the stove. " Are you done with your studies for today?"
" Yes," the girl nodded and put the last of the
silverware on the table, and followed it up with the
glasses. The woman glanced out the window, seeing
Haruka slowly and methodically vacuuming the pool in
the back of the yard.
" Michiru-mama should be back soon. Why don't
you go and tell Haruka-papa that dinner will be ready
in fifteen minutes, and that I'll need her in about
five?"
" Hai!" the girl agreed and ran out of the
kitchen and down the hall. Setsuna heard the back
door open and close, and watched the girl run across
the yard and over to the blonde woman. Haruka laughed,
swept her up into a hug and spun her around a few times.
She is growing so quickly, Setsuna told herself
as she put some peanut oil into the wok and began
cooking. It has been only six months since they started
looking after the girl, and she seemed to have aged
almost the same number of years.
" Something is happening," she speculatively
informed the empty kitchen and fervently wished that
she knew what it was.

************************************************

A slightly wet, somewhat bedraggled, and thoroughly
smiling Michiru joined the other two women in the living
room about a half hour after dinner. Her hair was somewhat
damp, as was the white dressing gown in a few spots. The
clothes she had been wearing were now in the dryer.
" I take it that somebody was having fun?" Setsuna
teased her and smiled.
" Yes," she grinned back and sat next to
Haruka. " Hotaru-chan decided to splash some water
around for a little bit, but she did settle down
finally and take a proper bath."
" And you couldn't resist the challenge, ne?" the
blonde replied, her voice light and dry. Michiru simply
mock-glared at her for a moment before teasingly
smiling and nodded.
" Did anything happen at the lessons today,
Michiru?" Setsuna asked. They had refrained from
discussing business at the table, as was usual. It
was as much to keep Hotaru from hearing them as it
was an agreement. She and Michiru had outvoted Haruka,
and declared meals to be times of relaxation unless
it was a bona fide emergency.
" No," Michiru said. " Today it was quiet,
although a few children were whispering about what
had happened."
" Anything from any of the parents?"
" No," she replied to Setsuna. " None of them
said anything that would make me believe that the
children have told them anything and it was believed. So
far, we're safe."
" That makes it four visitations with Chibi-usa
in them at the end, then," Haruka commented. " I still
think that this means something, even if we haven't had
one for two weeks now."
" I believe you, Haruka," Setsuna replied, poured
herself a cup of tea and opened up her laptop
computer. " I was able to get into the university's
computer system last night and ran the test results
through it to confirm what I got."
" And?"
The older woman brought up a file and handed
the unit over. " There was nothing unusual. Her
medical information is all normal. Ours is as
well. According to virtually every test known to
the modern medical science of one of the best research
universities in the world, we are in perfect health,
and absolutely nothing is wrong with any of us."
It had been trickier to sneak the child into a
medical lab on a weekend, but she had managed by
changing the records so that it was not in use at the
time. The same had been done for the three women. After
the tests were done, Setsuna had removed the data and
any evidence leading to them from the computers and
bided her time until she could get to the main computer
to decipher the results.
" In other words," Michiru added. " There are
still no reasons that we know of for losing our powers
or why Hotaru-chan is growing so quickly."
" In other words, we're back to square
one. " Haruka bitterly added. " Damn."
" I'm afraid so," Setsuna agreed. " We have
something going on or shall be going on with Small
Lady, at least if we believe that Hotaru's visions
are accurate. Nor do we know if it is something
going on now or in the future if she happens to be
precognitive."
" And not a trace of our powers since the
eclipse," Michiru added with a sardonic smile. " One
hell of an April Fool's joke is being played on us."
" Joke or not, we still have a job to do," the
older woman replied. " And we have only a fraction of
the resources we expected to have. I still can't reach
my castle, but that itself isn't too surprising since
I may need to be a Senshi in order to be
recognized. What worries me is that my guardian
isn't responding. She's supposed to be the back-up
in case of emergencies like this."
" This talk of castles is weird," Haruka
chuckled. " I trust you, Setsuna, but it is still
weird. We've never felt them or remember being there."
" They are there, you two," Setsuna smiled. Uranus
and Neptune had been directly reincarnated like the Inner
Senshi and the princess. Her own path to this time and
existence was somewhat more convoluted than theirs, and
because of that she knew things that they did
not. " When we figure this out, I'll take you to
yours."
" And that kawaii little image of you was
Guardian Pluto, right?" Michiru smiled merrily
despite the gravity of the situation. She had
enjoyed teasing Pluto about the appearance of the
artificial intelligence that Pluto had summoned
once while they were trying to learn more about
the Deathbusters. It was only that they had seen
the apparition at all that they believed Setsuna
about the existence of these castles in orbit
around their respective planets.
" Yes, that was her," Setsuna replied with a
light grin of her own. Michiru had made her laugh as
well with the raised eyebrow that was her first
reaction to the spirited little apparition. " I don't
think that there is anything that she can add to
what I have found out, but I would like to make sure."
" So," Haruka added a few moments later. " The
only assets we can rely on are our wits and the
Talismans. At least they still work."
" Two of them are," Setsuna quietly reminded
them, glancing at Michiru.
" The Deep Aqua Mirror is just fine," Michiru
reassured them with a pointed glare behind her light
voice. Neither had agreed with her at first when she
gave the mirror to Chibi-usa before they left the
others. Now it was looking like a fortunate
decision. Michiru always knew where the mirror was
despite it not being in her possession, so they could
keep track of at least one of their former allies.
"The mirror is as much of a part of me as yours
are a part of you," she reassured them. " If I truly
need it, it will return to me."
" I believe you, Michiru," Haruka said as an
apology for her lack of faith, still trying to make
it up to her on this issue. Hotaru's voice called
out from upstairs and Michiru sighed.
" Once more, into the breach," she wryly
commented and stood. " Anything else, Setsuna?"
" No," she sighed as well. " We're just going
to have to figure out how to make it on our own, it
seems."

***********************************************

Sea gulls wheeled about overhead, their strident
cries a sharp reminder to Michiru of how long it had
been since they had been to the beach. It was also
the cause of a pang of loss. Before she had lost her
powers, she always felt close to being able to
understand what they were crying about. It was as
if a few more minutes of listening would be the key
to unlocking the puzzle.
Now it was just noise without any pattern or
meaning to it.
" Haruka-papa!" Hotaru shrieked with laughter
and was splashed with a cascade of water as Haruka
came out of the sea behind her and crashed back down,
creating a deluge.
" Why don't you go join them?" Setsuna asked from
under the relative shelter of the umbrella at their
spot. It was still somewhat early, so the morning
sunlight wasn't too bad yet. Nor were the crowds,
although that would change in a few hours. " We've
been here a while, and you still haven't gone in the
water."
" You're one to talk," Michiru neatly deflected
the question, noticing the still dry swimsuit that
the other woman wore.
" I didn't come here for the water," Setsuna
countered with a sly smile, catching Michiru with
her own words from early that morning when the impromptu
trip had been decided upon. Michiru laughed, readily
acknowledging her defeat.
" So why are you here?"
" The sun, darling," Setsuna drawled, making
Michiru giggle despite herself at the change in the
woman's behavior. " My tan is fading horribly."
Despite ample evidence to the contrary over the
past several months, her mental image of Setsuna was
still someone who was too serious for her own good. The
seriousness was always there, but a dry wit often
lurked behind those red eyes, and sometimes it would
even escape.
" I've been spending too much time indoors
lately," Setsuna went on in a more normal tone of
voice. " We all have, really."
" There's three of us and we can barely keep
up with her," Michiru commented and stood up. " It
makes me wonder how a single parent like ever does
it, Setsuna."
Setsuna nodded in agreement as Michiru went down
and helped out Hotaru in her water splashing contest
with Haruka. The simple fact was that they did not
have a regular child to raise, she told herself as
she watched them for a while.
A little while later, after she put on some
sunscreen in order to avoid burning and calling Hotaru
over to get the same treatment, she joined them in the
water. The poor girl got ganged up on for a little while
at first and thoroughly enjoyed it before the fray
settled down to Haruka and Hotaru against Michiru and
herself.
" How about I start on a sand castle?" Haruka
asked Hotaru after seeing the fatigue beginning to show
in her eyes and her movements. She still didn't have the
endurance of a child of her apparent age, but was
beginning to catch up.
" Hai!" she agreed and then yelped in surprise
as Setsuna scooped her up and put her up on her shoulder.
" I need a cold drink, little one, and I think
you could do with the same," she said and carried Hotaru
back to their blankets. Michiru followed and took a
towel and some yen from her purse.
" There's a stand down the way that has good
bento," she told them. " Anybody want anything in
particular?"
" No natto," Haruka quickly offered as she took
the large, sturdy bucket she had used to carry some of
their odds and ends in from the car. She also grabbed
the small, folding shovel she had brought along since
she had a good idea of what was going to happen. Hotaru
liked to do things with her hands.
" Honestly, Haruka," Michiru sighed in
mock-exasperation and put her hands on her hips
while trying to look offended. The smile on her
face ruined the effect to some degree. " Do you
really think that I would have forgotten that after
all this time?"
The blonde blushed at the teasing and withdrew
in order to begin getting the sand for the castle's
foundation. Michiru laughed at the look on Haruka's
face before going to one of the showers on her way
to the bento stand.
" Here you go," the woman said while she opened
and handed the girl a can of chilled apple juice
while pouring herself some of the iced green tea
she had made that morning. She settled back in her
lounge chair and thought to herself that it was a
wonderful day, despite all their other problems.
" Setsuna-mama?" Hotaru spoke up right as the
woman was going to tell herself that they needed a
relaxing day like this. " What's that word for a person
that you told me that is sort of like Haruka-papa, but
they dress that way on purpose?"
Oh boy, she sighed to herself. She had almost
spoken too soon. " A transvestite," she replied, glad
that Hotaru knew the difference but still dreading what
was to come. This was Hotaru's version of asking about
the birds and the bees.
The girl had asked and been taught by them about
where babies came from, and understood the biological
mechanics. So far, she only felt that a couple would do
that if they wanted to have a child, however. She still
didn't understand or know about sexual desire, thank
goodness.
What confused Hotaru sometimes, however, was
perceived gender roles and how a few people blurred
them. It was almost understandable given how often she
had seen Haruka mistaken for being a man. Since her
father was no longer around, she didn't have a
conventional father figure to learn from like most
children. Nor had she several more years of time to
learn it in like a regular child.
" I think that he is one of them," Hotaru decided
and nodded towards a group of young men who were
probably high school or college students. The sight
of a head of pink hair in among them made Setsuna do
a double take as she looked in that direction.
Her hair was a shade paler than Chibi-usa's and
reached to the middle of her back, and she had long
bangs in front. He, Setsuna reminded herself. He looked
so much like a girl that it was surprising to not see
what she expected when he pulled off the dress shirt
he was wearing and put on a loose top in a floral
pattern. The other boys with him didn't even bat an
eyelash when this happened.
" He might be," Setsuna decided, losing herself
in the flood of memories the pink hair evoked, even if
the color was a bit off. She, unlike Michiru and Haruka,
had not seen the pegasus that Hotaru's violin playing
could summon up, nor the young girl who would run
towards it at the end of the vision.
" Haruka-papa isn't like that, right?"
" No, she isn't," Setsuna reassured her and closed
her eyes in an attempt to banish the old ghost she was
seeing. " She doesn't dress like a man on
purpose. People just think she is one sometimes."

************************************************

The notes coming from the piano were a slow,
steady, and heartbreakingly sad testament to one woman's
grief.
" This will not do," Michiru softly told
herself. It was the night of their trip to the beach,
and she was currently leaning back up against a wall
in the hallway, right outside the door to the library
where they had placed one of their pianos. The grand
was downstairs in the room that was used for the
lessons she taught, but they also put in an upright
piano as well. The walls were soundproofed to some
degree, so the notes were whispers of what they
should be.
Haruka's improvisation was slowed down to the
point of being almost unrecognizable, but she had been
able to determine after listening for a few minutes
that it was not just random notes. It reminded her of
the melody they had heard in a movie where one of the
minor characters had died and the main ones reflected
upon her loss. As in that movie, it was just note after
note on an unaccompanied piano, and it was like your
heart was getting torn out.
The violin, someone had once said, was either
like the voice of the devil or that of an angel. It
could sound like either one; carrying the listener to
the heights of joy or the brink of despair. In her
opinion, the piano was far better at plumbing the
depths than the violin could ever be. There was just
something a piano on its own like that.
Normally, she might have tried joining the blonde
to cheer her up with a change of tempo and some different
music for them to play, but there was something else to
consider right now. She opened the door, stepped into
the room and waited a moment. Haruka realized she was
there and turned, her face flushing slightly in
embarrassment at being caught while indulging her
emotions.
She started to speak, but stopped when Michiru
put a finger to her lips and beckoned her forward. They
walked out of the room and past the bedrooms, being
careful to not wake the sleeping Hotaru in an adjoining
room. Michiru led her downstairs and to the doorway
leading to the covered porch overlooking the back
yard. Both had been silent the whole way, so they
did not disturb the woman sitting on the steps.
A wavering, shimmering and hazy view of something
hung in the air before Setsuna. The Garnet Rod rested
across her lap, and the Orb shone in the darkness and
let them see the white knuckles that were clenched as
she tightly gripped the haft of the weapon. A nearly
full wine bottle and an empty glass sat next to her. The
liquid looked black in the red-colored light.
" ... make you happy... ," they could barely hear
the phantasmal image of Sailor Pluto telling that of
the Small Lady. " ... raise your spirits... magic...
Abracadabra..."
" Pon," the real Setsuna muffled her sob, but
the other two woman could still hear the words. Out of
nowhere, a cascade of brightly colored flowers fell
around her, creating a living carpet on the steps like
it did to the little girl in the vision. The image
vanished with a pop like a soap bubble, but not before
the girl smiled radiantly. Setsuna began to cry.
Haruka made to move to her, but was
restrained. Michiru tugged her back deeper into the
house in order to give the other woman a modicum of
privacy. " She needs-" Haruka began to say, but was
interrupted.
" She needs to cry, Haruka," Michiru explained
in a soft whisper. " Do you know what she was looking
at?"
" The future, I gather."
" She was looking at our future, but it is her
past. She misses her friends in her future, Haruka. You
saw how Chibi-usa reacted when she saw Pluto here for
the first time. They had to have been very close to each
other. She's lonely and misses those people who were in
her life."
" Then why did you stop me?" she demanded. " She
shouldn't be alone, then. We can show her that we care
about her, too."
" I am going to her," Michiru corrected her. " If
it takes some wine and a vision of the future to break
down those walls, she won't want us to see her like
that. I'll give her a few minutes to work it out of her
system before I go talk to her. In the meantime, you are
going to go upstairs and keep an eye on somebody. You
know how poorly Hotaru took it when she saw me crying.
" You're to sit on Hotaru-chan to keep her up there
and away from Setsuna if necessary. She's never seen
Setsuna break down... " Michiru's voice trailed off as
both realized that they hadn't even seen the woman be
bothered by anything to such a degree.
Haruka smiled softly a moment later and pulled
Michiru into a hug with her. " I do remember," she said,
recalling how bad that one week had been. The pressures
of their life rarely bothered her love, but even she
could have bad days at times. Another thing came to her
mind as well. " Michiru?"
" Yes?"
" I'm sorry."
" Whatever for?" she lightly laughed. The blonde
imagined the look in Michiru's eyes right now. Mischievous
and flashing, despite the gravity of the situation.
" Taking you for granted sometimes," Haruka
replied. Her voice was light and even like she enjoyed
the jest, but it was also utterly sincere. " It is times
like these that make me realize how important you are to
us, and to me. Without you, I could never reach so high
or run so fast.
" I'm not as strong as everyone thinks, not without
you. I'm beginning to see that you're doing the same
thing for Setsuna, and even for Hotaru. If we are strong,
it is only because of you being our foundation. A deft
touch there, a caring word here, and we keep on going.
" You make it look so easy, Michiru. So easy that I
sometimes forget that you are even doing it, and I
wanted... no, needed to tell you that." she finished
and kissed Michiru on the forehead.
" Thank you, Haruka," she whispered and wiped away
a tear that was threatening to form. " I'm glad-"
" What? That I'm not too dense to recognize it
some times?" Haruka interrupted her with a smile. She
took hold of Michiru's shoulders and turned her around
so that she faced the back of the house. " She just
stopped crying. I'll keep Hotaru down for a couple of
hours, and then I'm going to go out for a little spin
to clear my head. Let me know if you need me here,
though. I'll be glad to stay for you.
" Or with you," she teased the shorter woman and
gave her a nudge.

************************************************

It had not been an easy night for her, but a
good talk and sleep had done wonders for restoring
her spirits. At Haruka's suggestion that morning,
she had left her Jaguar behind and taken one of
Haruka's old roadsters. The top was down, her hair
was streaming out behind her, and the dark sunglasses
completed the look. This was a definite change of
pace, and it had helped her more than she thought
it would have.
She cruised by one of the speed traps and even
waved at the two motorcycle officers there who were
monitoring the traffic that had left the freeway at
her exit. Keio University had enough affluent
students to warrant a number of drivers, and
college students always seemed to be in a hurry. That
meant speeding, and that led to tickets, but they
wouldn't get her today. Haruka would take them on
a race and challenge them, but her tactic was to
be precisely on the speed limit.
A number of the faculty took second looks at
her as she pulled into her parking spot near the
entrance. It was a selfish little perk, but she
didn't give herself that many of them. When asked,
she said that she was using the one assigned by the
school to her superior while he was in America. They
were not just looking at her in envy, though. The
different car and a bold and bright outfit of
Haruka's that Michiru suggested would look good
on her were a change of pace for her. She could
almost imagine the gossip that would be circulating
later on. A new lover would probably be at the top
of the list.
The idea made her laugh out loud as she got
out of the car and engaged the alarm systems. As
she made her way across the campus to her building,
she exchanged a few greetings and wove her hair into
a loose braid. A clip with a pastoral scene in
brightly colored enamels kept it from unraveling
and getting in her way.
Once in her office, the smile faded from her
face as she locked the door. The regular faculty
were going to have a short meeting before classes
got underway, and that would give her the few minutes
for some more unusual tests and measurements that
were the real reason she was here. It would be easier
to do them without the chance of being discovered.
According to the school records, she was part
of a physics project being run with an American
university. She was the research assistant and
liaison to the professor in America actually running
the project. That was her cover story, and it had
been carefully set up by her to avoid any possible
confusion or questions about her comings and
goings. The labs were not in the best or newest
of the science buildings, so no other instructors
became jealous of her project's status.
What was important to her was that her lab
was the one that was closest to the Mugen Delta. Four
kilometers away to the south and west was the remains
of Mugen Gakuen. At first she had been studying the
structure of space as a cover to investigate the
ways that the Deathbusters were infiltrating their
world while Michiru and Haruka went undercover at
the school itself.
There had been no more traces of their enemy
after Sailor Saturn had destroyed them and the
princess had healed up the damage done in the
process. That didn't stop her from checking up
on things, however. Their enemies had managed to
infiltrate this world without their noticing once
before, and they were very determined that it
would not happen again.
The equipment only took a few moments to
come on-line and signal that it was ready. She
inserted a removable hard drive into a slot on
the main computer, and tapped in a few unusual
commands and a series of passwords that answered
questions which only two other people in all of
existence could answer. Everything rebooted and
took on her own specifications. The irony here
threatened to break through the mask she kept
over her features while she worked. All of the
equipment had been designed by normal human
scientists. All of it had been dismissed as not
working, a hoax, or madness. She knew the truth of
the matter, however. This world's scientists were
far closer to their goal then they would ever believe.
What they did not have was a way to manipulate
time. They could perceive a significant disturbance
in it, assuming that they knew where to look. So far,
it had always been in the wrong place, and she was
not about to give them any hints. Her arrangement
of the way the machines interacted was the key. The
data she was about to get would probably earn
somebody a place in history or one on a cross.
She took out the Garnet Rod in order to hold
it in both hands. After a few minutes of calming her
mind and gathering the power of the Talisman, she
took a deep breath and opened her eyes onto another
world. In response to that power, her braided hair
floated up behind her like it was considering taking
on a life of its' own. The thought of how the
princess ever managed with her own hair was nudged
aside.
A faint pulse of the temporal energies in
the Orb was directed outward towards the grounds
of Mugen Gakuen. The dials and gauges began to dance
as they read the returning echoes of that energy,
and the monitors sprang into activity right after
that. Setsuna quickly put away her staff and peered
over the consoles. So far it looked like nothing had
changed. The final analysis would have to wait until
later, but for now it still looked like the
Deathbusters would never be heard from again.
After the data had been compiled, she loaded
all of it onto the heavily encrypted computer drive
which she then put back in her purse. It only took
her a few moments more to erase any trace of what she
had been doing and reset all of the equipment back to
normal. This equipment was like the ears in the old
riddle.
What is the sound of one hand clapping? While
even she didn't know the real answer to that one, she
was the one doing the clapping that three supposedly
secret research projects were trying to hear. She had
long since studied and memorized the reports they
would make in the near future detailing their
operations and the futility of any further temporal
research.
Now that her real work was done, she unlocked
the door and proceeded to engage in keeping up the
facade. She needed little time to do what her project
was supposed to do, so she would often help out with
some of the other professors and research assistants
on her floor. It was nice of her to help, and the
others appreciated it. It also helped her to feel
more accepted.
After surprising her friends there with fresh
tea after they got back from the meeting, she took on
a few stacks of papers to grade. She would
occasionally go back into her labs to ostensibly
check something or adjust a piece of equipment.
" Ah, Setsuna-san," the man's deep voice
boomed out as he poked his head into the common room
where she was grading papers. " Can I ask a favor of
you today?"
" Certainly," she smiled at the professor and
motioned for him to sit.
" I have some test data that I need taken over
to Dr. Shizuma this afternoon, and since you have
already been there... " he said after he sat. His
voice trailed off slightly in hopeful expectation.
" The mad scientist of Moto Azabu high
school?" she chuckled and nodded while her heart
skipped a beat. She grinned and tried to blush in
order to hide her reaction. Since the school was
on her way home she had done this before.
He joined in the mirth and laughed. " He likes
to teach at that level, Setsuna-san. It is his love,
but high energy physics runs a close second. I have
some results from the super collider project that
he's going to look at in order to try and prove
Minovski's Theorem."
" Is he still in the same classroom there,
Shima-sensei?" she asked and worked out the details
with him, along with a promise to drop off the
documentation later on. He'd sign her off as working
under him so she could leave early that day.
While her mind went on with grading papers, her
heart started hoping that he might be at the school
as well. The chances were slim, but he still did return
to his old school on occasion. He was currently taking
classes in the medical buildings at Keio University on
the other side of the campus, which she was careful to
avoid, but her heart wanted to see him.
She tried to stop thinking about it, but gave up
after a while and resolutely swore to have the offending
organ removed as soon as possible. It would probably
hurt less in the long run.

************************************************

The blue Ferrari gracefully swerved around a
stopped car, negotiated the tight turn into the
driveway and came to a smooth stop by the front
doors. Michiru got out of the car carrying the long,
narrow case that held the flute she was taking lessons
in. A careful observer could have seen the slight
tightness to her shoulders, and perhaps the slight
flutter of her hair that betrayed her quicker than
normal pace.
The hallway table received the flute case but
not her purse. She glanced around briefly and
listened. It was quiet. Not too quiet, however. A
trace of music betrayed Haruka's presence; a soft
outpouring of the sultry jazz of the radio program
she liked to listen to this time of the day. That
meant that Hotaru was not with her right this moment,
so she walked to the study next to the den where
Haruka was reading.
" Hi, Michiru," she heard her partner murmur,
but she kept on going.
" Hotaru-chan?" she asked as she went into room
to see what the girl was up to. A few books were neatly
arranged on the table as she worked her way through a
series of what looked to be math problems.
" Michiru-mama!" the girl greeted her and ran
over to get a quick hug. " You're back early today."
" Ogura-sensei had to leave early today, so I
got out early," the woman responded and smiled at the
girl. " Do you feel up to taking a break right now?"
" I'm almost done with tomorrow's problems," Hotaru
confided. " I like working with fractions like this. It's
easier now that Haruka-papa showed me where I was making
my mistakes."
" Well, since you're being such a good girl, how
does a quick trip to Lakeside Park sound? The other
children should be getting there soon."
" What's up, Michiru?" Haruka asked from behind
her as Hotaru eagerly nodded at the prospect of
playing with some other children. Due to her not
being in a regular school, she didn't get as much time
to be with children her own age as most kids.
" We're going to the park, Haruka-papa!" the girl
eagerly exclaimed and grabbed one of the blonde's
arms. She tried to playfully drag her towards the
front door, but the tall woman hesitated.
" I need to change-"
" You look fine, Haruka," Michiru quickly
interrupted her. Haruka was in a white shirt and
black pants that were a bit too nice for what Haruka
thought would be going on in a little bit. She didn't
know that they weren't going to the park. Only Hotaru
was.

***********************************************

" That makes all the work mean something, you
know?" Haruka mused as they watched Hotaru run over
to join a group of children by a set of swings. They
had been lucky to get a space for her in the day
care center at the park. Despite all their money or
fancy tricks, it had only been because the woman who
owned and operated the facility had taken such a
liking to Hotaru when they first brought her here a
few weeks ago that they were able to leave her here
at all.
At her current rate of growth, Setsuna guessed
that Hotaru only had a few more weeks here before
they would have to move her again in order to avoid
any suspicion. The girl never questioned this aspect
of her life, thankfully. If her 'parents' said that
she had to move around like this, she accepted that
the reasons were valid and did not complain.
" It does," Michiru agreed. " They'll keep an
eye on her for a few hours so we can go get something
to eat."
" We just ate a little while ago," Haruka offered.
" This is more than just eating, Haruka," she
replied in a firm voice that allowed no room for
disagreement. They went off to the car, and Haruka
was surprised again when Michiru took the keys from
her. " I'll drive."
A few minutes later they pulled into an almost
empty parking lot underneath a small restaurant
perched on the side of a low hill. " The sign said
that they're closed." Haruka observed.
" So?" was the reply as Michiru led her towards
the service entrance and through the side door. Inside,
after they passed through a storeroom, they entered
a long, narrow kitchen that was scrupulously
clean. Three men and two women were industriously
working at cutting boards and the stoves while
getting ready for the night's business.
" Catello!" Michiru warmly greeted the oldest
of the men there, who broadly smiled when he saw who
was there. He was a short, skinny, and jovial fellow
with a sparse, salt-and-pepper beard and mustache. He
briefly hugged her and they rapidly exchanged a few
words in something that sounded like Italian to Haruka
but she couldn't fully make it out. She was guessing
it was Latin, but her knowledge of Latin was mainly
related to two of the languages that had sprang from
it, Italian and French. She knew some racing terms in
Italian, a few operas and a smattering of French. His
accent was heavy and confused her, however.
" We'll be on the east patio, then," Michiru
switched back to Japanese, noticing her partner's
attempts to follow the conversation. " Just a light
lunch, Catello. Surprise us," she smiled and held out
a hand to Haruka.
" What was that about?" Haruka asked after they
made their way through the darkened dining room and
onto a small patio that offered a view of the lake
that was one boundary of the park that Hotaru was
at. " I know we used to come here now and then, but
you never mentioned knowing the owner."
" He was a friend of my parents," she replied
and graciously accepted a glass of sparkling water
from one of the cooks who had brought it out to them
along with place settings and silverware. " He just
got back here and bought this place recently."
" What is so important?" Haruka asked after the
other person left. She knew that something was
bothering Michiru, but not the source of the problem.
" Haruka," she carefully began. " You're very
good at dissembling when you have to be, but you have
never intentionally lied to me about anything important
before, and I don't want you to start now. Where were
you last night?"
" Michiru," she sighed. " Don't... "
" You went to see them, didn't you?" she gently
asked, but received no answer other than a guilty
look. " There's nothing wrong with missing them,
Haruka," she softly explained and took one of the
blonde's hands in hers and entwined their fingers.
" I shouldn't want to see them, not like this,
not when I have you and Setsuna and Hotaru. You're
my family now," the taller woman sighed and took a
sip of water. " But I can't get them out of my heart,
Michiru."
" We agreed not to see them anymore, Haruka. Not
until we were needed, or we had raised Hotaru."
" I didn't actually meet her," Haruka
admitted. " I wouldn't go that far without telling
you first. How did you know, anyway?"
" It was Usagi-chan, ne?" she teasingly smiled
before going on. " The odometer on the car tipped
me off. I happened to remember it was on three hundred
kilometers when I was done using it yesterday, and
when I took it this morning, the odometer read four
hundred and twenty. You also left it almost on empty,
which made me look at it in the first place. A
hundred and twenty kilometers is almost exactly
the distance from here to Juuban and back."
" Guilty as charged," she admitted. " I guess
seeing Setsuna break down like that affected me more
than I thought it would. She has always so steady that
if she could break, then I didn't have any chance
whatsoever of holding together through this."
" You'll be fine, Haruka, and I miss seeing
them, too," Michiru smiled again. " For all their
little foibles, it was nice to have allies, even if
it was only for a little while."
" Allies," Haruka mulled over the word and its'
implications for a few minutes. " Is that all you
think of them? They're closer to us than our own
families. We share a common past with them, Michiru,
and nobody else can ever replace that."
" That is true," Michiru conceded the point and
paused while the food was brought out to them.
" You little faker," Haruka chuckled after the
man left, but she carefully kept it free of any trace
of accusation. " You don't just miss them. There's
more. You're jealous, too."
" I never said I wasn't jealous of the
others, Haruka."
" But you never admitted it, either," Haruka
replied. Her voice dropped a bit and warmed up, a sure
sign of her concern. " I don't like it that they get to
go on as Sailor Senshi when we're stuck like this. It
isn't fair, Michiru."
" It hurts me as well," she responded. " I never
said it doesn't hurt to think about that part of our
life being over. I just hide it better, Haruka. That's
all."
The blonde sighed and took a bite of her pasta
in order to give herself a moment or two to
think. First she almost overlooked how her lover
kept them going despite all their problems, and
now she had nearly missed that Michiru was so
bothered by the loss of their old positions.
" Thank you for telling me that, Michiru," she
simply said and caught Michiru's gaze until she
finally smiled. " It's harder than I thought it would
be to give up the power and just be me. I mean, Uranus
is someone that only I can be, and I thought myself
special because of that."
" You're right," Michiru finally said a few
moments later. " It's not the fame or the career. I
miss the power, too. I can't even feel the ocean
like I used to, Haruka. I feel like I lost an arm or
a leg."
" That's what I feel, too," the taller woman
confirmed. " I hope that this isn't a sign of what is
to come, because I don't really want to spend the rest
of my life like this. We promised each other that we
would go on no matter what the cost, and we promised
the princess that we would protect her. I'd hate it
if this made us go back on our word.
" Still," she went on. " If this is the end, I'm
glad we are together. I remember the nightmares I used
to have about not seeing you for decades at a time."
" Nightmares or flashbacks," the woman with the
turquoise hair replied with a shiver as she remembered
her own dreams. Often one or the other would wake up
in a cold sweat, and the pain on the face of the person
they loved hurt both of them to see.
That was the thing about their past that scared
them the most. They both remembered the separation they
had to endure and knew that there was a chance that
they might have to go through it again.
" I hope that it never comes to that, Michiru,
but if it does, I can face it if I can face it along
with you. Whether it is just a normal life, or even
if we get called to service again. Besides," Haruka
grinned broadly this time, making the other woman smile
as well at its' infectious nature. " Usagi-chan is a
soft touch and a romantic. We can talk her into letting
us be together instead of apart."

************************************************

Setsuna kept up her steady pace towards the
high school, not that the traffic would allow any
speeding right now, anyway. It was mid-afternoon,
and the traffic was starting to thicken up. In about
an hour, the worst of the gridlock would start tying
up the city streets as people began to get out of work
for the day.
The black attaché case resting on the passenger
seat held the paperwork and discs she was to
deliver. Next to that was the remains of a bento
she had purchased after listening to her stomach growl
for attention. She'd skipped lunch today at her campus
in order to leave early enough to miss the worst of
the traffic.
She smiled at a memory that came to her as she
went by a market they had shopped at for a while when
they briefly lived closer to this area. In her mind,
she could remember it like it had just happened. A
frustrated Haruka, fully ready to go down and loudly
complain to the store manager that the diapers she had
just bought for Hotaru were not the same size as
indicated on the bag. Michiru was laughing and trying
to calm down the blonde. Then, her own startling
discovery. It was not that the diapers were the wrong
size. Almost overnight, the child was too large for
them. It happened again a few days later to the next
largest size.
That growth, and Hotaru's sudden increase in
appetite were their first clue that something unusual
was happening to the girl. She was eating about a half
again as much as she used to. Up until then, she had
been a very typical, good-natured infant that gave no
trace of her unusual past.
About a week later had come that fateful day when
they realized that they no longer had their powers. After
that, everything had changed, but contemplating the
changes was easier than thinking about where she was
going.
It had been a warm, sunny afternoon that she
first made this trip to the high school for
Shima-sensei. Setsuna fervently thanked everything
she held dear or divine, from the Neo-Queen all the
way back to her own long-forgotten mother that he
didn't notice her that day. She was walking up the
stairs to the one of the campus buildings when Chiba
Mamoru walked out of the door. He was laughing and
talking to one of his friends. His eyes were bright
and untroubled behind the glasses he wore.
Seeing him so relatively happy and carefree,
and above all else, not yet married to the Neo-Queen,
was like a knife to her heart. Memories of long
conversations burst into the front of her mind,
clamoring for her attention, and all of them were
focused on a kind-hearted visitor who always had a
moment of time to spare in order to check up on her
welfare.
The unusual conditions of the area around the
gates she guarded didn't bother him, or if it did, he
never let it show. While they were not frequent due to
other demands on the monarch's time, Endymion's visits
quickly became the focus of her life. She was well read,
but she had not seen the rest of the world for a very
long time. They talked about that, or his family and
friends.
She was not too surprised that she had fallen in
love with him. It was only natural, especially as he was
one of three people she saw on a regular basis. His wife
sometimes came to visit her. Also, their child, who was
born shortly after she took up her position at the
gates, would come as well. At first, Chibi-usa was
carried along, but soon was making her own way.
They were the only ones who could and would
approach the gates, after all. The other Senshi could,
but they are always uneasy around her. She valued the
fact that they would try to see her, at least, despite
their worries and the fact that they never became
close. It was the king who had a hold on her heart.
The urge to go to him, to make him hers, was
overpowering. It would have been easy for her, too. He
was vulnerable here, the incredible strength of the bond
to his love that kept her from having a chance in her
past was not yet fully formed until further in his
future. She knew much of what he liked and did not,
and how to capture his attention. She also knew the
woman he married, and what she was like, and their
respective strengths and weaknesses in regards to
his affections.
In the end, it was only the loyalty to those
friends who had made her a part of their lives for
hundreds of years that prevented her from acting
upon her desires. The royal family had been under
no obligation to do so, but they had, and if she made
this transgression, she never would have them as part
of her life.
She managed to keep herself from doing anything
other than a slight stumble, like her shoe had caught
on the pavement. He walked past without noticing her
and she breathed a sigh of relief. He had seen her
when he was in the future, after all. It was fortunate,
come to think of it. She was on a mission, she scolded
herself, hardened her treacherous heart and went on her
way. The interference of the princess and the other
Senshi would only get in their way here.
Afterwards, it had taken her many nights of
soul-searching to get over what she felt for Endymion,
and to realize that Chiba Mamoru was not yet the man
she was going to be in love with. She was almost ready
to believe that she was over him when the Inner Senshi
stumbled across their investigation of the Deathbusters,
and she was thrown into painful proximity to him. It
set back her efforts greatly, but the newfound family
she had in Michiru, Haruka and Hotaru helped fill
that void in her heart.

************************************************

" Hi, Hotaru-chan!" one of the girls who had
just gotten to the day care center happily exclaimed
upon seeing the new girl.
" Hi, Miwako-chan," Hotaru shyly smiled back,
still somewhat uncertain of how to react. Her
upbringing with her three adoptive parents was
very informal in comparison to the rigidly structured
Japanese society. While the other children weren't
very concerned about it yet, Hotaru was aware of the
levels to society that they knew nothing of, and
often caught herself doing something like this and
thinking before reacting.
" What'cha doin'?" another girl asked on her
way to the swings, giving Hotaru an idea of how
formal or informal to be.
" Making a sandcastle," Hotaru replied and
added a bit more sand to one of the small oblong
shapes she had made.
" It doesn't look much like a castle," the
second girl commented and moved towards the swings,
losing interest in the project.
" This is a real castle," Hotaru murmured in
reply and blushed slightly as the first girl asked
her what she meant. " We were at the beach yesterday,
and Haruka-papa and I built a sandcastle. I looked
through some books of real castles last night and I'm
trying to make these here look like one I think I saw."
" Oh," Miwako replied, puzzled but her expression
brightened. " Can I help?"
" Hai," Hotaru agreed, and indicated where a
long, straight wall was to go. The other girl began
to do as indicated, but soon became entranced by the
marks Hoataru was making by each building.
" What are those, Hotaru-chan?"
" These?" she replied, momentarily puzzled
until she realized that Miwaka mean the letters she
was drawing by each. " Kanji."
" You know Kanji?" Miwaka exclaimed in surprise,
making Hotaru blush. She already knew most of the kanji
that a junior high school student would have learned,
and showing that she was that far beyond the education
of a girl her apparent age was one of the things her
three parents had warned her not to do.
" I know a few," she smoothly lied, and Miwaka
seemed to accept her explanation without any more
questions. After a brief, inward sigh of relief, she
was able to get back to her work.
The idea and layout of the buildings had come
to her while she was working with Haruka-papa
yesterday. The two palaces there, the temple here
on the other side of a central square with a tall
tower, and a series of walls dividing the whole thing
from where a city should have been. She couldn't begin
to duplicate what she saw in her mind, not with the dry
sand here, but at least she could fix the rough
locations in her memory.
" Hotaru-chan?" the girl asked a while
later. " How come your daddy never comes to pick
you up?"
" Huh?" she softly exclaimed and looked over
at her companion. She followed the girl's gaze to the
parking lot and the sleek blue car that had pulled
into the entrance. Michiru and Haruka were getting
out of the vehicle and laughing together about
something.
" Oh," she went on a moment later after
remembering the rules she had painstakingly memorized
on the orders of her new parents. She knew that her
life had not been totally normal, and that it was
best to not get too close to anyone because they
would probably be moving again in a little
while. Still, Miwako had tried to be friends
with her, and that had to count for
something. " They're my parents now. My father
and mother died when I was very little."
She regretted the honesty as soon as she
said the words. The other girl began to loudly
cry. Remembering the times when she was feeling
bad or scared and how her three parents had comforted
her, she slid forward on her knees towards Miwako and
hugged her, accidentally wiping away her efforts with
the sand in the process.
" It's all right, Miwa-chan," she tried to
console the sobbing girl as one of the teachers
hurried towards them and was quickly passed by Michiru
and Haruka on a dead run. " My parents are in a better
place now, and they loved me just like my new ones do."

************************************************

It was very late that night when the moaning
sound of a gust of wind woke the child from her
sleep. She looked around her, carefully trying to
make sure she was fully awake before trusting what
she saw was actually real. Her dreams often seemed
so real that sometimes she wasn't quite sure if she
was dreaming or awake at times.
The image of the a city seen from above came to
her mind again, and she furrowed her brow in
concentration, trying to remember where she had seen
it before.
" Analyze it, Hotaru," she whispered faintly as
a reminder to approach this rationally. It was too
small and there were not enough lights in what she saw
to make it a modern city, so it must be something she
had seen in a book somewhere.
As much as she tried after she lay back down to
sleep, the picture of it kept on crossing her mind. Each
time, she felt a jumbled rush of emotions that she
couldn't identify due to the complexity of there being
so many at once. Regret and sadness were the only ones
she could clearly make out, but there were others that
she very much wanted to find out what they were.
Finally she threw back the covers and stood up,
being careful not to make any noise whatsoever. She
had quickly learned that all three of her parents were
very light sleepers and she did not want to be disturbed
right now. That would make her lose the picture she was
trying to fix in her mind.
Hotaru silently slipped out of her room and down
the stairs on her way to her study, where her old toys
were stored. She didn't use many of them any more,
preferring books lately, but she still had them. A
box of Lego was chosen and carried outside so she
could work in some degree of freedom.
The gibbous moon and the starlight was enough
to see by as she walked to the backyard and stopped
at a place she liked on the far side of the pool. It
was cool, but not unbearably so. Her pajamas would be
enough to keep her warm.
What had happened earlier today had concerned
her in more than a few ways, but Miwako's reaction had
been the one to concern her the most. It took several
minutes to get her friend to stop crying after she
told Miwako that her parents had died, and that she
was now being raised by the three women. It wasn't
until later when she talked to Michiru-mama that she
realized why it had upset the other girl so much. To
her, it was just how things had happened, and while
she missed her real parents, she loved her new ones
and they loved her. What more was needed, she had
asked the crying girl.
While that was going on, however, she couldn't
help but see the remains of what she had done with the
sand. Several of the plastic blocks were snapped
together as she began to build rough shapes to use
as representatives of what she had seen. The palaces
and temple first, and the wall followed soon after
that. It still wasn't enough. She sighed and closed
her eyes, recalling every detail she could and mentally
painting a picture of what each object was.
Why was I looking down on it, she wondered and
suddenly opened her eyes in surprise as she realized
that she had looked down at that scene. Before her,
softly glowing copies of what she had seen stood over
each of the crude buildings she had made. Tiny shapes
lay unmoving about the plaza and a small fire had begun
to smolder in the Palace Major as a toppled candle
finally reached a drape that had been torn from one
wall.
" I must have been there," she whispered in
astonishment and suddenly froze as a shape moved in
the darkness.
The thing was about the size of a volleyball
and was shaped like one, but its edges were all short,
jagged spikes. It was blacker than the shadows themselves
and felt dark and malevolent, with cold eyes that spoke
of a hatred of life and the light. In response to that
hatred, and the fear in her own heart, the child was
rooted to the spot and could only watch as a purple
haze began to obscure her vision.
" Begone, lemure," something cold and ancient
spoke from deep inside the girl as her eyes glowed and
unseen forces ripped the creature apart. " Nightmares
have no place in this beautiful dream." It reached forth,
gently blurred the line between wakefulness and sleep,
and suggested to the child that this was only a bad
dream. It's time to go back to bed, it reminded her
and was pleased as Hotaru turned back towards the house,
but the presence was worried as well. New enemies had
appeared, and changes would have to be made.

************************************************

" Haruka," Michiru whispered, seeing that her
partner's eyes were still open.
" Hmm?"
" Still awake, huh?" she smiled softly at the
blonde, who nodded in reply.
" I'm thinking of what happened today," Haruka
said. " Or, more precisely, I'm still thinking of how
Hotaru reacted."
" Do you think that she shouldn't have said
anything to the other girl?" Michiru asked and scooted
back so that she was sitting up and leaning against the
headboard.
" Maybe it wasn't the best way to say it, but she
did follow our instructions to her to the letter. We
never said to not mention her parents."
" I'm still surprised at how well Hotaru takes
knowing that she lost her parents," Michiru
replied. " You would have expected her to have
been like her friend today, and not to have been
comforting her."
" Some children have a problem with relating
to death, and some don't. Remember when we went to
the graveyard and took Hotaru to pay her respects
to her father and mother?"
" Yes," she sighed, recalling that day when
they had a headstone made for Tomoe Keiko and
Souichi. Several other families were visiting
graves there, and there was a wide variety of
reactions among the children who had been there. Hotaru
had been well behaved at the ceremony for her parents.
" It certainly can't be easy for the poor
girl," Haruka went on. " She knows that she lost
them, but she doesn't let it bother her where most
kids would be crying their eyes out over being
alone like that."
" I know," Michiru agreed and then softly
snapped her fingers. " Oh, that reminds me. My recital
with Ogura-sensei for next month was changed back
to the morning session, so you'll have to pick me
up. I'll make a note on the calendar."
" You could always get your own car," Haruka
quipped while smiling.
" But I like having a world-class racer for a
chauffeur," Michiru giggled and put one of her hands
on Haruka's shoulder. " Just meet me at the music
store like you normally do, all right?" she added
just as Haruka had grabbed her hand and the door to
their room swung open.
" Michiru-mama? Haruka-papa?" Hotaru nervously
asked as she peered in.
" What is it, Hotaru-chan?" Michiru replied and
tightened her hand on Haruka's shoulder to keep her
from immediately going to the girl. Hotaru used to do
this to get attention right after she had seemingly
finished growing the last time, but it had been tougher
to train Haruka out of her instincts than to get Hotaru
to stop.
" I had a bad dream," the child softly replied,
her voice wavering. Haruka smiled softly, amused at the
situation despite her concern.
" Want to come up here with us?" she asked and
patted the bed next to her. The girl nodded and walked
over to get on the bed between them, making it rather
crowded with the three of them on it. There was no
sudden smile like they usually got from her when this
happened, however.
" What's wrong, Hotaru-chan?" Michiru asked and
checked her forehead for a temperature under the guise
of affectionately brushing back Hotaru's hair. There
wasn't a fever.
" A bad thing came for me," Hotaru explained in a
quiet voice. " It went away, but my head still hurts."
" A headache?" Michiru wondered and slid out of
the bed and walked into the bathroom, returning a few
moments later with a glass of water and two children's
aspirin.
" Thank you, Michiru-mama," the girl said after
taking the pills and snuggling down next to Michiru.
" Sweet dreams, little one," Haruka added as she
and Michiru traded concerned glances, unwilling to talk
about this with the girl there. In the morning, Michiru
silently mouthed the words and settled down to sleep,
knowing that it would calm the girl as well as
herself. Haruka tried to do the same, but soon gave up,
and was left the one to lay there and wonder about
what was happening and how she could keep from falling
out of bed.


The End.



************************************************************

All characters are copyrights of the respective holders.
Please send comments, etc. to the above e-mail address.

Special thanks to the following...

Naoko Takeuchi, of course.
incredible characters, and artwork that can
give rise to so many ideas from a few little
drawings.

Luna and Artemis for kind words, support, and being
good friends for so long. Through good times and
bad, they have been there.
check out their page at
http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/9897/
for the best Sailor Moon fan-fiction collection.

Greenbeans for being herself. all I need to say,
really.
check out her page at
http://www.kfalls.net/~gbeans

Jackie Chiang, sage advice, good fics and general
silliness that lightens the spirit.
check out her page at
http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/3741/

Alex Glover for his wonderful work on the manga
of Naoko Takeuchi. check out his page at
http://www.nwlink.com/~kurozuki/manga.htm

my wonderful betas, the real heroes

Erica
Shelley
Helen Szeto aka lennie
Pandora Diane Waldron
Nikki Purvis aka JetWolf







Intermezzo {1/1}