Flight of the firefly of Earth.
Chapter 1: Goodbye Chibusa, my one true friend.
"I have to leave today".
Five words. Five simple words from the lips of my one true friend broke me utterly.
This couldn't be reality. Reality couldn't be this harsh and frightening.
This had to be some sort of terrible nightmare some demon or other cruel monster was pulling on me to try and hurt me.
In a moment I would surely wake up and everything would be set right again when Usagi and the other sailors brought whatever evil monster was creating this dreadful illusion down.
I even tried to slap myself as hard as I was able.
Maybe if I did that, then I would wake back up quicker to find this was not real.
My Masochistic gesture earned me nothing but a nasty red patch on the skin where my palm had collided with my face and a cringing shiver from my clearly concerned friend whose big pink eyes filled were now filled with terror at my inane reaction.
"Please. Don't do that Hotaru. Please." Her plea was barely above a whisper and yet every word she spoke seemed to echo inside my very soul.
"I don't want to go either. But I just have to. I can't stay in this time any longer or I could destroy the entire timeline. Mummy Pluto told me that…"
"You said we'd be together forever!" I uncontrollably shouted, cutting her off mid-sentence clenching my fists.
My loud and angry tone quickly shrank to a stuttering stammer. "You said you'd be here for me no matter what. You, you promised"
The innocent look in my friend's teary eyes made it impossible for me to stay angry for very long.
After all, how could I be angry with the one person who had treated me with respect and genuine affection in my entire life.
She had meant the world to me.
And now the world was ending, cracking into pieces as I desperately looked into the eyes of Chibiusa to find that there was no hint of triviality in her sad yet solemn expression.
For once in her life, the usually chipper little pink haired pre-schooler was being deadly serious.
Deadly, deadly serious.
I quickly turned my sight downwards to the floor. I had no right to look my best friend in the eye after that sudden violent outburst and I did not need to see what must have been a mask of utter shock and fear on her face.
"I'm so sorry Chibiusa. I didn't mean to blow up like that. I'm so sorry." Every word seemed to strain my now very hot and sore throat.
It took a while for my friend to reply to my barely coherent apology. I only hoped she did not hold anything against me.
Her next words were choked with sobs and I did not need to look up to see tears streaming from her eyes.
"And I'm sorry too Hotaru. I didn't want to do this either. But mummy Pluto has already told me, that this is the only way. I've already stayed here longer than I should, and if I don't go back to the future where I came from then the entire universe will have no future."
Lies, I said silently to myself knowing full well that I was simply being a spoiled brat who couldn't accept facts.
Sailor Pluto lied just so that she could tear my one source of happiness away from me and leave me to go back to being all alone again.
It was clear she didn't want me to have any joy in my life whatsoever and this is her way of destroying everything we, me and Chibusa had built up over the short time we had together.
How in the world could a girl as nice as Chibiusa staying here to keep a girl as unstable and lonely as me company be bad for the future in any way?
Setsuna may have been for lack of better words, a capricious and crafty puppet master knowing about the flow of time as only she did, but this was just going way too far. This illogical decision could not have come from anywhere, period.
"If I remain here then all those dear to me will die." Chibiusa continued sounding less and less like the carefree and cheery girl I had grown to know and love as if she was slowly falling apart.
"Am I not dear to you Chibiusa?" I could not help but blurt out quietly but angrily. This newfound anger steeled me enough to look her in the eye once again much to her clear fright despite her seriousness.
"Stay with me, and we can create the perfect future together." I declared sounding more like a strict and impatient professor than the naïve daughter of one.
It was clear that the burning passion in my gaze was searing into her and for a moment I thought I might have frightened her too much and that she'd keel right over.
But to my indescribable disbelief, she remained fully upright and her regretful but serious expression did not waiver.
"I'm sorry Hotaru, but this has to be done. Even you will die if I do not leave. I do this for you as much as I do this for my mommy, my daddy and everyone else."
The one thing that had remained consistent in my friend's tonality was its innocence. It's innocence which reminded a nearly completely insane me that she was not a demon pretending to be Chibiusa to lure me into a trap.
I sincerely wished she was so that I could strangle her and demand to be told where she was hiding the real Chibusa.
It took all my strength to restrain myself at this point as I stamped my feet with gritted teeth as moisture dampened my face before quickly spreading to my neck and then my body.
I had overheard before that my pink haired best friend was a time traveller from the future who had come to protect the supposedly utopian future she came from where the Sailors had won, and evil had practically been erased.
And I had always hoped that her noble quest would end in success so that whatever good future she was risking her life for could come to be after all and she could return in safety to her time.
Perhaps if I had known just how much heartbreak her leaving would cause me, I would have bitten those words back and slapped my stupid mouth shut.
No future however wonderful could be worth this much misery in the present.
Did Sailor Pluto never hear the phrase "Yesterday was history, Tomorrow was a mystery but today was a gift and that was why it was called the present"?
Well the next time we met, I would be sure to shout it loudly enough to give her earache.
We would see what kind of great future she could build with a broken ear.
Because Sailor Pluto, Setsuna was certainly stealing my present away from me like a mean grown-up taking sweets from a crying little kid.
In fact, this was what this whole fiasco felt like.
A mother who had promised her child a wonderful Christmas present if the child behaved well this year. Then after the child had been good as gold all throughout the twelve long months, pulling all night study sessions to get perfect marks on everything and doing every chore in the house making it squeaky clean Christmas day finally came.
The child runs down the stairs early in the morning to unwrap the promised reward for their hard work which is in a finely wrapped and beautifully decorated box under the glowing lights of the tree.
The box is completely empty.
"I, I have to go now." Chibiusa announces sadly breaking me from my panic induced hallucinations which I know will return as soon as she steps out the door.
"I've already stayed too long. But please Hotaru, don't blame yourself over this. Be happy. Find someone just as nice as me and keep making new friends. I will always live on in your memories Hotaru."
Memories mean nothing if you're not here Chibiusa. Even the sweetest memories of our time together will quickly turn sour in your absence.
"Time goes by quicker than you think, Hotaru. Just be patient and keep calm. Someday, you'll be able to meet me in my time where everything is perfect. And then we'll be able to play together again."
I don't think so Chibiusa. When you're not around me, I feel like the hours crawl by like years and all I can think about is when I'll next see you again.
I'm pretty sure I won't live to see that time. And even If I do, will you really be the same Chibusa I fell in love with?
"I came to say goodbye to you so that you wouldn't be surprised when you didn't see me again. And now, it's time for me to go. And so, goodbye Hotaru. Till we meet again (And we will meet again. I know we will)"
With a final pained expression, she slowly turned her back on me and stepped towards the door to my bedroom. I had to fight to resist the urge to rush to her and restrain her from leaving.
A good friend didn't take other friends as prisoners, Sailor Moon or Usagi had told me once.
And part of being on the side of good was that you could not interfere with free will.
I knew I was making the morally right choice in restraining myself to let my friend take her departure while preserving what little dignity I had left after how overboard my reaction to her news had been.
But a part of me deep down knew that I would never be able to forgive myself for not charging to the door to block her exit instead.
Sacrificing the happiness of one person to preserve the lives of the many was the act of a true hero and I did admire Chibusa's strength of resolve to pull off this farewell so calmly while staying so resolute about her decision all while I broke down and became a whiny brat.
"Goodbye Chibiusa. Good luck. I love you." I managed to weakly reply as she left the room with her back turned to me.
As much as I did not want to admit this to myself, I did know that Chibiusa had been telling the full truth in that her leaving was to save the several billions maybe more of innocent lives that would be lost with her staying.
The entire timeline hinged on her decision.
But did the sheer damage caused to this one life justify the lives of those many strangers I would probably never meet?
Did the few always have to give way to the many?
My moral code screamed yes
My selfishness shouted NO!
And as the two emotions continued to battle for control of my now very feeble body which was soaked head to toe in sweat and tears, I felt bile rising in my throat.
My vision swam and the room seemed to blur as I clutched my incredibly sore head.
I felt my feet under me give way as I fell to the floor, hitting my head against the wall I had been standing beside as I did.
Then darkness and silence became my world.
The way in which the once empty Universe no doubt began.
Authors notes: So Sailor Saturn was my favourite character and I always felt that she needed more screen time. I feel she is the most interesting character what with her dark past and her complex personality.
See the thing I most love about her is that because she's possessed by an evil spirit, she faces a thousand demons before she even goes to battle.
Whereas Sailor Moon only has to fight one demon, Saturn has to fight several which are inside her.
And from that viewpoint, I think she truly is the strongest Sailor, both physically and emotionally.
Will try to update soon, all reviews are welcome.
Thanks for reading and have a nice day everyone!