When Setsuna awoke sometime later, she found that Mitsukake had also fallen asleep. She looked up at him, startled to notice that he really wasn't all that bad looking of a man. Certainly not as beautiful as Hotohori and Nuriko, but more masculine, she thought. She smiled slightly, remembering how Hotaru had sought out Hotohori as soon as she had made sure that she was all right. Who would have thought that the Sailor who brought death would find love? Her smile faded as she realized that she may soon lose her love. She looked over to find Hotaru and Hotohori rolled up in their blankets near each other, Chichiri on watch. She looked up at the night sky and found that it was approaching midnight. She leaned her head back on Mitsukake's shoulder, appreciating the stability he offered in what had become a tumultuous time. She would never have expected to have an adventure like this.
She closed her eyes and drew up the memory of speaking with her father. Chronos hadn't been much help, nor had he offered much hope He had told her that the only way to find peace and love was to die. Her shoulders shook slightly and she began to cry softly. Hotaru was going to lose her life and with it, her love.
"Do not cry, my little dark lady," Mitsukake said suddenly, caressing a tear away from her cheek. We are all here and well." She opened her eyes and looked up into his face, surprised by what she saw there. She had seen that look so often when Mamochan looked at Usagichan and more recently between Hotohori and Hotaru...but had never imagined that she would be the recipient of such a look. He leaned down slowly, turning his head to one side and gently kissed her. She felt her heart pounding in her ears and slid her arms around him hugging quietly. He lifted his head again and brushed her hair back from her face. "You have become my heart," he whispered quietly. "When I saw you under the tree, I felt as though I had died because I thought you had died I had a beloved once..." His voice broke off and he closed his eyes, looking away as pain crossed his face. "Only time can heal the pains of the heart, and now I find that Time has come to me and given me a new heart." He opened his eyes and looked at her again. Setsuna was in shock. She shouldn't, she knew. All she would have from this would be pain, and yet she couldn't seem to command her arms to let go of him. Instead, they pulled him closer and she found herself tucking her head under his chin, the tears falling fresh. Hotaru wasn't the only one who was going to lose her love through death. The sobs shook her shoulders and she tried to move even closer to Mitsukake, feeling the need for strength that she had never in her millenniums of existence imagined needing. "Please, my dark Sakura, do not cry. I love you as I never thought to love again and when my heart weeps my soul is in agony."
Setsuna looked back up at him, tears still falling. She reached up to brush his cheek. "It will only end in pain–please take back the words and tell me this is some cruel dream." She saw the shock on his face at her words and felt her entire body protest the words. Before he could say anything she threw her arms around his neck and buried her face against it. "I'm sorry...if this is some cruel dream, I hope never to awaken." Her voice broke and she fought the urge to scream her pain.
Mitsukake hugged her tightly and didn't let go, murmuring words of comfort against her hair and kissing the tope of her head. Setsuna cried herself back to sleep in the circle of his arms.