Allo minna! Wow, I've been really working on this fic, haven't I? I guess since I didn't go to sleep today I needed something to keep me entertained. I was going to skip ahead a few years, but I realized there were just too many details missing! So back to the 10 year-olds, heh. Well, hope you enjoy! ^_~ Oh, for like the first time, I put a suffix on one of the names. I've been trying to refrain from doing so (even though I'm using the Japanese names) but I just had to. Sorry! ^^ยบ
Disclaimer: *points to prolouge* Already wrote it!
The Unforgotten Son
By: Rei_Firestar
Chapter Two
Chibi-Usa and Tohru snuck quietly down the hallway hand in hand, but with Tohru trailing behind his newly aquired girlfriend. They had heard of Setsuna and Hotaru's return to the palace and planned to pay a visit to their best friend, even if she WAS asleep. For two ten year-olds, waking someone up was not difficult. As the two neared her bedroom door, Chibi-Usa looked over her shoulder at Tohru. She placed a finger from her free hand to her lips and let out a quiet "Shh!" at him. He nodded in acknowledgement.
The girl let go of Tohru's hand, in need of both hands. As she slowly turned the doorknob with one hand, she placed the other near the edge of the door and slowly eased it open. Once it was wide enough, she poked her head through the crack. She spotted her best friend lying face down, fully clothed, on her still made bed, one arm dangling carelessly over the edge of the matress. Chibi-Usa repressed a giggle. 'She must've been really tired,' she thought to herself.
"Well?" Tohru whispered as quietly as he could. Chibi-Usa looked back to him and nodded. The two slowly and quietly slipped through the door then closed it again behind them. Chibi-Usa couldn't help but smile when she saw the look Tohru got when he spotted Hotaru. His eyes softened and a small smile played his lips, making him look both caring and completely adorable at the exact same time. She gently tapped the boy's shoulder twice with the back of her hand. He looked at her questioningly.
Chibi-Usa began speaking with hand-motions so as not to make a noise to jar her friend awake. She made a running motion with her first two fingers at the bed, then curved her arm to look like the pair of finger-legs were jumping over - or in this case, on to - something. Tohru grinned and nodded. Chibi-Usa counted to three with her fingers and the two burst into a run at the bed. Once at the foot of it, the two sprung over the edge and landed heavily on the bed. Hotaru bolted awake and sprang up with a scream. Chibi-Usa and Tohru were laughing.
"Gah, you SCARED me!" the slightly older girl claimed. The two intruders sat on the bed, giggling. Hotaru grinned and enveloped them both in a big hug. "I missed you guys!"
"We missed you too, Taru!" Chibi-Usa squealed and hugged back.
"So, did you have fun?" Tohru asked as he too returned the friendly embrace.
"Oh yeah, it was a blast! I'm so glad Setsuna-mama took me on a vacation. I hadn't been on one in a while."
"I wish we coulda come," Chibi-Usa said a bit sadly. Tohru wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
"It was a family vacation, Usa. You know, a mother-daughter thing."
Chibi-Usa nodded. "Yeah I know, but that doesn't mean I didn't wanna go!"
Hotaru giggled. "What, you don't think I came back without presents for you two, did ya?"
"Presents? Ooo I love presents!" Chibi-Usa exclaimed. Tohru sighed and rolled his eyes, but Hotaru could tell her was excited too. She got up and went over to her bags, which she had somewhat thrown into the corner of the room when she came in. She sorted through her things until she found a dark duffle bag. She unzipped it and from within it pulled a plastic bag. She set the bag aside, zipped her duffle bag back up and shoved it back into the corner, then picked up the plastic one again and headed back to the bed where her two eager friends awaited. She took a seat next to them and began going through the bag.
"Let's see here, what do I have? Hmm..."
After a few seconds of rummaging, the girl pulled out a relatively small black box. She looked over it for a second as if trying to remember what was inside, then smiled and presented it to Chibi-Usa. "Here ya go," she said as she handed it to the happy young girl.
Chibi-Usa half-snatched the box away from the older girl and removed the lid. Inside was a crystal statuette about four inches tall of a unicorn reared up on it's hind legs. It was breathtaking, and looked a mite expensive as well. Chibi-Usa gently lifted the little figure from the box and looked it over, awed.
"Wow...it's beautiful..."
"I thought you might like it," Hotaru stated with a satisfied smile. "I picked it out all by myself," she continued proudly.
Careful not to break her new gift, Chibi-Usa threw her arms around the other girl's neck and embraced her in a big bear hug.
"Thank you so much, Hotaru!"
"You're welcome," she said with a smile. As Chibi-Usa went back to marveling her present, Hotaru went back to the bag and sifted through it until her hand emerged again with yet another box. This one was a good bit larger. "This one's your's, Tohru."
The boy smiled, thanked her, and took the gift. He gasped as he lifted the top from the container. Inside was a really old looking copy of "Romeo and Juliet".
"I thought it'd be nice to go with your collection, and I know you like Shakespeare."
Tohru loved to read. Ever since he was old enough to talk, he would read. He really loved old books - "Classics" - from many years ago. He had a bunch of books in his collection - "Moby Dick", "A Tale of Two Cities", "The Three Musketeers", "Gone With The Wind", "The Time Machine", "Last of the Mohicans", "Little Women", "The Odyessy", "Treasure Island", "Lord of the Rings", "Pride and Prejudice", "Tom Sawyer", and that's just a start! - but of all of those books and all those writers, his favorite was William Shakespeare. He already had "MacBeth", "Othello", and "Hamlet" in his collection and had been searching everywhere for a copy of the famed "Romeo and Juliet". He looked to Hotaru teary-eyed then, following the example of his girlfriend, enveloped the girl in a tight hug.
"Oh thank you, Hotaru! I've been looking EVERWHERE for this!"
"You're welcome, Tohru," she said, smiling warmly to him. She watched as the boy picked up the book and thumbed through the pages, skimming a few of them lightly as he went. She smiled wider at the joy she had brought. With that, she returned to her plastic bag.
"I'm starting to feel like Santa Clause," she stated absently, provoking a giggle from both of her friends. She reached in her other hand as well, then lifted the bag at her friends in a silent plead for them to take the bag off. With another giggle, Chibi-Usa reached up and pulled the sack off of her friends hands. She revealed two teddy bears, one in each hand. One of them was pink and the other was black.
"They reminded me of you," she told the two. She looked at Tohru. "I know you're not into dolls much, but-"
"No, they're cute," he said, taking the black one. "This for me?" he asked, motioning with the bear. Hotaru nodded and he smiled, then began to examine it. Chibi-Usa practically pounced on the pink one and hugged it close to her chest.
"Awwww it's so cute!" she exclaimed loudly. "I'm gonna name it Tohru, so I can cuddle with it at night!"
Tohru blushed, but hid it with an insult. "Don't name that thing after me! It's pink!"
"Well too bad, RuRu, I'm naming him after you, so nyeh!" she said, sticking out her tongue. Tohru rolled his eyes, disgusted and indignant (or at least appearing that way).
"Did I miss something..?" Hotaru hesitantly asked the two. They looked at her confusedly (which was quite amusing since Chibi-Usa still had her tongue sticking out at Tohru).
"Miss what?" Tohru asked.
"That's what I'd like to know. Usa," she addressed the girl by the affectionate nickname she stole from Tohru. The girl stuck her tongue back in her mouth and paid attention. "Why did you say you were going to name your teddy bear Tohru so you could cuddle it at night?"
"Oh yeah! We didn't tell you! Tohru and I are going out!" Chibi-Usa said, snuggling up to the boy so that her back was pressed to his chest. He draped his arms around her shoulders and, since he was taller than his sweetheart, laid his chin atop her head.
"Really!?" she said looking from the girl to the boy and back. "Wow, that's so cool!"
Chibi-Usa nodded furiously. Tohru sported a small smile and very faint blush.
"Yeah, and we kissed too!"
Hotaru giggled childishly and looked at Tohru, who blushed a deeper shade of scarlet.
"Well I'm very happy for you both."
They smiled.
"Thanks, Hotaru."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sailor Pluto hurried through the fog surrounding her toward the Time Gate, all sorts of thoughts running through her head. Chibi-Usa and Tohru kissed? And now they're going out!? But they were brother and sister! Not like they knew that, but she did, and she didn't like this development one bit.
When she seperated the two siblings at birth, she knew she was taking a risk by giving one of them to Rei. She didn't think the consequences would be this immense, however. She figured they might become friends, but incest was definately far from her mind as far as the large problems that would ensue.
For the first time in her life, Sailor Pluto could honestly say she had made a mistake.
A big ass mistake.
It wasn't entirely her fault, or so she told herself. She had peered into the future to make certain of her decision and this was definately not in it.
"Ugh, how could this happen!?" she screamed aloud as she neared the Gate. "The future said nothing about THIS!"
"You, of all people, should know that the future is never set in stone."
Sailor Pluto whirled around and came face to face with a woman about her height with long, crimson colored hair and eyes almost just as red. She was clad in an outfit similar to Sailor Pluto's and held a staff in her hand almost an exact replica of the Time Key.
"Meikyu, you startled me."
Meikyu was the apprentice Time Gaurdian forementioned in a conversation between Rei, Serenity, and Sailor Pluto in her natural Setsuna form. She had been sent from another galaxy and from a higher order that only Sailor Pluto would know of. Needless to say, Meikyu's presence was not to be questioned. Meikyu's expression was that of a slate, which was quite unlike her. Normally when Pluto laid eyes on the girl she had a large smile on her face and her eyes were brimming with life. Now her image was unsmiling and her eyes were cold as ice. She also looked a little sad, and maybe just a little...mischievous?
"Meikyu..?" Sailor Pluto questioned.
"Sailor Pluto," the woman began, "when I was originally sent to you 6 months ago, I did not reveal to you my true purpose. I decided to wait until the right time, and I do believe that time has come."
"For what?" she asked, with an edge of both fear and annoyance.
"Sailor Pluto," she said, raising her staff. It began to glow with light the same color crimson as its owner's hair. The light then shot from the staff and engulfed Sailor Pluto's body, lifting her about a foot from the ground. "As of this moment, you are stripped of your ability to control time or anything of its likeness. Your banishment period is that of seven years. I will take over during those seven years, preforming your duties steadfastly."
The light that enveloped the senshi began to whirl around her and finally to bore into her. She could feel her power over the Time Gate being ripped away from her body in a quite painful fashion. They more of the power the light drained, the more excruciating the sensation became until finally Sailor Pluto could no longer stand it. She screamed with all her might just as the light faded away and she was dropped to the ground on her knees.
Sailor Pluto looked up to Meikyu. She had her pinky finger inside her ear and was shaking it around. She removed her hand from near her face and blinked a few times. Sailor Pluto could've sworn she heard the girl utter a quiet 'Damn' under her breath. Sailor Pluto blushed unconsciously. When Meikyu realized she was being watched, she quickly cleared her throat.
"You will now be sent back to the time from which you came. You will live the next seven years among your friends and fellow senshi." Meikyu grinned. "Think of it as a seven year vacation. In fact, maybe that's what you should tell them. I don't think they'd handle it too well if they knew you lost control over the Time Gate, and I really don't want to turn around one day and see a large group of senshi ready to kill me so you can have your position back. I don't think my king would like that much either."
Sailor Pluto nodded dumbly. She knew better than to cause a huge disturbance, especially with another galaxy. They were all at peace now and she hoped that it stayed that way.
The Gates of Time slowly began to open, revealing the bright light it always does. Meikyu nodded to it.
"Time to go, Setsuna," she addressed her by her real name. Taking the hint, Sailor Pluto stood and detransformed before slowly entering the time portal.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Setsuna wearily trudged through the hallways of the palace. Seven years!? This could not have come at a worse time. She could now easily rule out the possibility of going back in time and never giving the male sibling to Rei. There was another pitfall as well. Setsuna had never lived life without knowing what was going to happen.
Now she was going to have to.
'Damnit!' she screamed mentally. 'This is completely new to me! I don't like not knowing what's going to happen. It scares me. Has it really been that long?' She sighed aloud. 'Yes it has, hasn't it? But that's not the biggest concern here. I can't come clean about Tohru's past, at least not yet. I'd have to have the biological as well as the adoptive parent or parents consent first, and I think telling Serenity that her son and daughter are currently involved in a fling would have some negative effects on her mind.'
Setsuna then stopped dead in her tracks and snapped. 'That's it!' she thought. 'Please, no one can expect to find true love at age 10. This is all just a fling! I'm sure if I give it time, it will die out on it's own.' Setsuna nodded, pleased with herself. However, she knew this could take a while, and she really didn't look forward to watching those two be so close.
A faint giggle caught the woman's attention. She looked over and noticed she had stopped right outside Hotaru's door. Curious, Setsuna eased the door open and peered inside.
Hotaru, Chibi-Usa, and Tohru all sat on Hotaru's bed, giggling. Setsuna could see the gifts Hotaru had bought for the two lying about, a bit haphazardly perhaps but realtively safe from harm. Hotaru was chatting away happily toward the couple, not phased in the least of their current position. Tohru had his arms around his new girlfriend's shoulders as she leaned back into his embrace. Tohru's chin rested atop the girl's head.
'Well, at least his arms are around her shoulders and not-'
She stopped in mid-thought as Tohru's arms fell from the girl's shoulders to her waist. He also leaned down slightly so that his chin now rested on her right shoulder. Setsuna sweatdropped at how he practically read her mind. However, neither he nor Chibi-Usa took their eyes away from their chattering friend. It was like it was natural, and they'd only started going out a few hours ago!
Setsuna eased the door closed, then silently and swiftly headed toward her room. Once through the door she walked straight to her bed and fell face down on top of it. She groaned into the matress and pulled one of the pillows over her head. She needed to sleep. She needed to get away, even if just for a few hours.
A few hours escaping her problems was all she really needed.
Disclaimer: *points to prolouge* Already wrote it!
The Unforgotten Son
By: Rei_Firestar
Chapter Two
Chibi-Usa and Tohru snuck quietly down the hallway hand in hand, but with Tohru trailing behind his newly aquired girlfriend. They had heard of Setsuna and Hotaru's return to the palace and planned to pay a visit to their best friend, even if she WAS asleep. For two ten year-olds, waking someone up was not difficult. As the two neared her bedroom door, Chibi-Usa looked over her shoulder at Tohru. She placed a finger from her free hand to her lips and let out a quiet "Shh!" at him. He nodded in acknowledgement.
The girl let go of Tohru's hand, in need of both hands. As she slowly turned the doorknob with one hand, she placed the other near the edge of the door and slowly eased it open. Once it was wide enough, she poked her head through the crack. She spotted her best friend lying face down, fully clothed, on her still made bed, one arm dangling carelessly over the edge of the matress. Chibi-Usa repressed a giggle. 'She must've been really tired,' she thought to herself.
"Well?" Tohru whispered as quietly as he could. Chibi-Usa looked back to him and nodded. The two slowly and quietly slipped through the door then closed it again behind them. Chibi-Usa couldn't help but smile when she saw the look Tohru got when he spotted Hotaru. His eyes softened and a small smile played his lips, making him look both caring and completely adorable at the exact same time. She gently tapped the boy's shoulder twice with the back of her hand. He looked at her questioningly.
Chibi-Usa began speaking with hand-motions so as not to make a noise to jar her friend awake. She made a running motion with her first two fingers at the bed, then curved her arm to look like the pair of finger-legs were jumping over - or in this case, on to - something. Tohru grinned and nodded. Chibi-Usa counted to three with her fingers and the two burst into a run at the bed. Once at the foot of it, the two sprung over the edge and landed heavily on the bed. Hotaru bolted awake and sprang up with a scream. Chibi-Usa and Tohru were laughing.
"Gah, you SCARED me!" the slightly older girl claimed. The two intruders sat on the bed, giggling. Hotaru grinned and enveloped them both in a big hug. "I missed you guys!"
"We missed you too, Taru!" Chibi-Usa squealed and hugged back.
"So, did you have fun?" Tohru asked as he too returned the friendly embrace.
"Oh yeah, it was a blast! I'm so glad Setsuna-mama took me on a vacation. I hadn't been on one in a while."
"I wish we coulda come," Chibi-Usa said a bit sadly. Tohru wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
"It was a family vacation, Usa. You know, a mother-daughter thing."
Chibi-Usa nodded. "Yeah I know, but that doesn't mean I didn't wanna go!"
Hotaru giggled. "What, you don't think I came back without presents for you two, did ya?"
"Presents? Ooo I love presents!" Chibi-Usa exclaimed. Tohru sighed and rolled his eyes, but Hotaru could tell her was excited too. She got up and went over to her bags, which she had somewhat thrown into the corner of the room when she came in. She sorted through her things until she found a dark duffle bag. She unzipped it and from within it pulled a plastic bag. She set the bag aside, zipped her duffle bag back up and shoved it back into the corner, then picked up the plastic one again and headed back to the bed where her two eager friends awaited. She took a seat next to them and began going through the bag.
"Let's see here, what do I have? Hmm..."
After a few seconds of rummaging, the girl pulled out a relatively small black box. She looked over it for a second as if trying to remember what was inside, then smiled and presented it to Chibi-Usa. "Here ya go," she said as she handed it to the happy young girl.
Chibi-Usa half-snatched the box away from the older girl and removed the lid. Inside was a crystal statuette about four inches tall of a unicorn reared up on it's hind legs. It was breathtaking, and looked a mite expensive as well. Chibi-Usa gently lifted the little figure from the box and looked it over, awed.
"Wow...it's beautiful..."
"I thought you might like it," Hotaru stated with a satisfied smile. "I picked it out all by myself," she continued proudly.
Careful not to break her new gift, Chibi-Usa threw her arms around the other girl's neck and embraced her in a big bear hug.
"Thank you so much, Hotaru!"
"You're welcome," she said with a smile. As Chibi-Usa went back to marveling her present, Hotaru went back to the bag and sifted through it until her hand emerged again with yet another box. This one was a good bit larger. "This one's your's, Tohru."
The boy smiled, thanked her, and took the gift. He gasped as he lifted the top from the container. Inside was a really old looking copy of "Romeo and Juliet".
"I thought it'd be nice to go with your collection, and I know you like Shakespeare."
Tohru loved to read. Ever since he was old enough to talk, he would read. He really loved old books - "Classics" - from many years ago. He had a bunch of books in his collection - "Moby Dick", "A Tale of Two Cities", "The Three Musketeers", "Gone With The Wind", "The Time Machine", "Last of the Mohicans", "Little Women", "The Odyessy", "Treasure Island", "Lord of the Rings", "Pride and Prejudice", "Tom Sawyer", and that's just a start! - but of all of those books and all those writers, his favorite was William Shakespeare. He already had "MacBeth", "Othello", and "Hamlet" in his collection and had been searching everywhere for a copy of the famed "Romeo and Juliet". He looked to Hotaru teary-eyed then, following the example of his girlfriend, enveloped the girl in a tight hug.
"Oh thank you, Hotaru! I've been looking EVERWHERE for this!"
"You're welcome, Tohru," she said, smiling warmly to him. She watched as the boy picked up the book and thumbed through the pages, skimming a few of them lightly as he went. She smiled wider at the joy she had brought. With that, she returned to her plastic bag.
"I'm starting to feel like Santa Clause," she stated absently, provoking a giggle from both of her friends. She reached in her other hand as well, then lifted the bag at her friends in a silent plead for them to take the bag off. With another giggle, Chibi-Usa reached up and pulled the sack off of her friends hands. She revealed two teddy bears, one in each hand. One of them was pink and the other was black.
"They reminded me of you," she told the two. She looked at Tohru. "I know you're not into dolls much, but-"
"No, they're cute," he said, taking the black one. "This for me?" he asked, motioning with the bear. Hotaru nodded and he smiled, then began to examine it. Chibi-Usa practically pounced on the pink one and hugged it close to her chest.
"Awwww it's so cute!" she exclaimed loudly. "I'm gonna name it Tohru, so I can cuddle with it at night!"
Tohru blushed, but hid it with an insult. "Don't name that thing after me! It's pink!"
"Well too bad, RuRu, I'm naming him after you, so nyeh!" she said, sticking out her tongue. Tohru rolled his eyes, disgusted and indignant (or at least appearing that way).
"Did I miss something..?" Hotaru hesitantly asked the two. They looked at her confusedly (which was quite amusing since Chibi-Usa still had her tongue sticking out at Tohru).
"Miss what?" Tohru asked.
"That's what I'd like to know. Usa," she addressed the girl by the affectionate nickname she stole from Tohru. The girl stuck her tongue back in her mouth and paid attention. "Why did you say you were going to name your teddy bear Tohru so you could cuddle it at night?"
"Oh yeah! We didn't tell you! Tohru and I are going out!" Chibi-Usa said, snuggling up to the boy so that her back was pressed to his chest. He draped his arms around her shoulders and, since he was taller than his sweetheart, laid his chin atop her head.
"Really!?" she said looking from the girl to the boy and back. "Wow, that's so cool!"
Chibi-Usa nodded furiously. Tohru sported a small smile and very faint blush.
"Yeah, and we kissed too!"
Hotaru giggled childishly and looked at Tohru, who blushed a deeper shade of scarlet.
"Well I'm very happy for you both."
They smiled.
"Thanks, Hotaru."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sailor Pluto hurried through the fog surrounding her toward the Time Gate, all sorts of thoughts running through her head. Chibi-Usa and Tohru kissed? And now they're going out!? But they were brother and sister! Not like they knew that, but she did, and she didn't like this development one bit.
When she seperated the two siblings at birth, she knew she was taking a risk by giving one of them to Rei. She didn't think the consequences would be this immense, however. She figured they might become friends, but incest was definately far from her mind as far as the large problems that would ensue.
For the first time in her life, Sailor Pluto could honestly say she had made a mistake.
A big ass mistake.
It wasn't entirely her fault, or so she told herself. She had peered into the future to make certain of her decision and this was definately not in it.
"Ugh, how could this happen!?" she screamed aloud as she neared the Gate. "The future said nothing about THIS!"
"You, of all people, should know that the future is never set in stone."
Sailor Pluto whirled around and came face to face with a woman about her height with long, crimson colored hair and eyes almost just as red. She was clad in an outfit similar to Sailor Pluto's and held a staff in her hand almost an exact replica of the Time Key.
"Meikyu, you startled me."
Meikyu was the apprentice Time Gaurdian forementioned in a conversation between Rei, Serenity, and Sailor Pluto in her natural Setsuna form. She had been sent from another galaxy and from a higher order that only Sailor Pluto would know of. Needless to say, Meikyu's presence was not to be questioned. Meikyu's expression was that of a slate, which was quite unlike her. Normally when Pluto laid eyes on the girl she had a large smile on her face and her eyes were brimming with life. Now her image was unsmiling and her eyes were cold as ice. She also looked a little sad, and maybe just a little...mischievous?
"Meikyu..?" Sailor Pluto questioned.
"Sailor Pluto," the woman began, "when I was originally sent to you 6 months ago, I did not reveal to you my true purpose. I decided to wait until the right time, and I do believe that time has come."
"For what?" she asked, with an edge of both fear and annoyance.
"Sailor Pluto," she said, raising her staff. It began to glow with light the same color crimson as its owner's hair. The light then shot from the staff and engulfed Sailor Pluto's body, lifting her about a foot from the ground. "As of this moment, you are stripped of your ability to control time or anything of its likeness. Your banishment period is that of seven years. I will take over during those seven years, preforming your duties steadfastly."
The light that enveloped the senshi began to whirl around her and finally to bore into her. She could feel her power over the Time Gate being ripped away from her body in a quite painful fashion. They more of the power the light drained, the more excruciating the sensation became until finally Sailor Pluto could no longer stand it. She screamed with all her might just as the light faded away and she was dropped to the ground on her knees.
Sailor Pluto looked up to Meikyu. She had her pinky finger inside her ear and was shaking it around. She removed her hand from near her face and blinked a few times. Sailor Pluto could've sworn she heard the girl utter a quiet 'Damn' under her breath. Sailor Pluto blushed unconsciously. When Meikyu realized she was being watched, she quickly cleared her throat.
"You will now be sent back to the time from which you came. You will live the next seven years among your friends and fellow senshi." Meikyu grinned. "Think of it as a seven year vacation. In fact, maybe that's what you should tell them. I don't think they'd handle it too well if they knew you lost control over the Time Gate, and I really don't want to turn around one day and see a large group of senshi ready to kill me so you can have your position back. I don't think my king would like that much either."
Sailor Pluto nodded dumbly. She knew better than to cause a huge disturbance, especially with another galaxy. They were all at peace now and she hoped that it stayed that way.
The Gates of Time slowly began to open, revealing the bright light it always does. Meikyu nodded to it.
"Time to go, Setsuna," she addressed her by her real name. Taking the hint, Sailor Pluto stood and detransformed before slowly entering the time portal.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Setsuna wearily trudged through the hallways of the palace. Seven years!? This could not have come at a worse time. She could now easily rule out the possibility of going back in time and never giving the male sibling to Rei. There was another pitfall as well. Setsuna had never lived life without knowing what was going to happen.
Now she was going to have to.
'Damnit!' she screamed mentally. 'This is completely new to me! I don't like not knowing what's going to happen. It scares me. Has it really been that long?' She sighed aloud. 'Yes it has, hasn't it? But that's not the biggest concern here. I can't come clean about Tohru's past, at least not yet. I'd have to have the biological as well as the adoptive parent or parents consent first, and I think telling Serenity that her son and daughter are currently involved in a fling would have some negative effects on her mind.'
Setsuna then stopped dead in her tracks and snapped. 'That's it!' she thought. 'Please, no one can expect to find true love at age 10. This is all just a fling! I'm sure if I give it time, it will die out on it's own.' Setsuna nodded, pleased with herself. However, she knew this could take a while, and she really didn't look forward to watching those two be so close.
A faint giggle caught the woman's attention. She looked over and noticed she had stopped right outside Hotaru's door. Curious, Setsuna eased the door open and peered inside.
Hotaru, Chibi-Usa, and Tohru all sat on Hotaru's bed, giggling. Setsuna could see the gifts Hotaru had bought for the two lying about, a bit haphazardly perhaps but realtively safe from harm. Hotaru was chatting away happily toward the couple, not phased in the least of their current position. Tohru had his arms around his new girlfriend's shoulders as she leaned back into his embrace. Tohru's chin rested atop the girl's head.
'Well, at least his arms are around her shoulders and not-'
She stopped in mid-thought as Tohru's arms fell from the girl's shoulders to her waist. He also leaned down slightly so that his chin now rested on her right shoulder. Setsuna sweatdropped at how he practically read her mind. However, neither he nor Chibi-Usa took their eyes away from their chattering friend. It was like it was natural, and they'd only started going out a few hours ago!
Setsuna eased the door closed, then silently and swiftly headed toward her room. Once through the door she walked straight to her bed and fell face down on top of it. She groaned into the matress and pulled one of the pillows over her head. She needed to sleep. She needed to get away, even if just for a few hours.
A few hours escaping her problems was all she really needed.