Despite the good impression they had left on her, three months passed before Hotaru ran into Takeshi's mom again. It was late December, but the weather was unusually warm, snow not having come for over a week.

At the mart to pick up groceries for Granny – whose knees always ached in the winter, Kawahira had explained – Hotaru paused at the sight of the woman, who was quietly laughing to herself as she picked through the selves.

She would have silently passed by her if Takeshi's mother hadn't noticed her first.

"Hotaru-chan?"

Hotaru ducked her head in a greeting. She didn't know what to call her.

Takeshi's mother noticed the source of her silence and smiled brightly. "You can call me Ameyuri," she offered. "Or Auntie."

She was a very open woman, unashamed and unafraid to hide herself from the world, and her nature was that of someone bright and strong like the sun. Hotaru didn't dislike people who were bright and open, not when they were sincere. "Hello, Ameyuri-san."

Ameyuri's eyes curved softly. "I see you're here at the mart alone." A grin crooked her mouth. "Did your family kick you out too?"

Bewildered, Hotaru stared with wide eyes. It was apparently an inside joke, because Ameyuri burst into stifled giggles. Some of the other customers in range shot her dirty looks, but she either didn't notice or didn't care.

"Sorry about that," she apologized once the outburst was over. "It's just – my husband and son – they kicked me out of the house under the pretense of needing me to pick things up from the mart."

Brandishing a shopping list in Hotaru's general direction, Takeshi's mother rolled her eyes. "As if I didn't notice them plotting something from a week ago."

"Plotting?" It sounded like something that wouldn't cause her harm, from the way she was laughing about it, but still.

Ameyuri's smile was mischievous. "It's my birthday today."

"Happy birthday," Hotaru said automatically. It was near the end of December, which made Ameyuri a Capricorn.

Under the protection of Saturn, said the part of her that missed her power dearly. Technically under her protection, too, not that she could really protect anyone these days.

"Thank you." Ameyuri beamed. "They're sweet, really. So now I'm just stalling my time because they told me I should take," she paused to giggle again. "At least thirty minutes. Which means I should give them two hours, really."

Hotaru smiled, having been involved in the preparation of a few 'surprise' parties before for the other guardians. Things always did have a terrible habit of going wrong at the last moment, and sometimes the results weren't what they were supposed to be.

But it was almost always worth it at the end. None of them had ever really been surprised, but they had always appreciated it.

"Do you want me to stay with you?" Granny didn't really need the groceries immediately. She had time to spare.

"If you're not busy." Ameyuri leaned in conspiratorially. "It's only been an hour and I'm so bored."

Hotaru giggled, because the woman was comical in her exaggerated expression. Ameyuri helped her pick out her groceries, offering her opinions on different brands and foods, and even tried to pay for it at the end. She would have if Hotaru hadn't been faster in getting the money from her wallet.

"Maybe you could recommend something for me to try at your restaurant," Hotaru offered when she looked so disappointed. In the short time she had known her, it just seemed wrong for Ameyuri to not be smiling.

"Absolutely," Ameyuri promised immediately. "We make the best sushi in town, you know. And it's not just because it's my family's that I'm saying that. All our customers say it, too."

She added a wink, and Hotaru had to smile because she was almost infectious with the amount of cheer she had in her.

The mart had a section where they sold snacks, like fish cakes, fried dough and hot dogs. Ameyuri ordered the fish cakes, speared on kebob sticks and resting in paper cups of the broth, and handed one to Hotaru.

"It's cold out," she insisted. "And a hot drink is always good for warming you right up."

Hotaru accepted and made a note to definitely drop by TakeSushi one of these days instead of forgetting like she had before. Maybe with Granny, so she could buy dinner as well. Selene knew she had the money to spare. Michiru had no understanding of the term 'limits to the budget', at least when it came to padding Hotaru's bank account. After the first two times, Hotaru had stopped checking how much money remained, because seeing the numbers increasing dramatically each time had been more than enough to assure her that she wouldn't be having financial problems during her stay in Namimori.

As they ate the hot oden carefully so as to not burn their mouths, Ameyuri launched into conversation. Takeshi had definitely inherited his social nature from his mother. Ameyuri had a way of engaging someone with her words as naturally as she breathed, and before she knew it Hotaru was sharing how she was living here for an unknown period of time due to health issues, and how before this she had lived in Juban, in Tokyo.

"From the city to a town like Namimori, huh?" Ameyuri sipped at her broth. She had already recounted how her husband usually wasn't one to do events, could be a little awkward about it sometimes but he loved her and that was what counted, and how their son had gotten it into their heads that she deserved a party, but she had also been an excellent listener. "As someone born and raised here, I can tell you right away that it might not seem impressive at first, but it's not a bad place."

Hotaru nodded. It really wasn't a bad place. There was a harmony, for a lack of a better word, in the energy of the town. A serenity to the air, something that accepted without asking questions.

But her reticence seemed to have come across as a reluctance to agree, and fired Ameyuri up immediately.

"Really, it is!" she exclaimed, and if there had been anything left in her cup she would have ended up spilling it because of how suddenly she leaned forwards. "If you ever need help from a local, you can always ask me."

Technically Hotaru already had a local willing to help her – and one that may not have been enthusiastic, but still would for whatever his reasons happened to be – but it was the thought she appreciated. "Thank you, Ameyuri-san. That's very kind of you to offer."

The woman beamed at her. Having spent most of her time around her fellow guardians, Hotaru had high standards of physical beauty. Ameyuri wasn't the radiant beauty many of the sailor scouts were, but there was an honesty to her countenance, a bright kindness that would give anyone a good impression.

"I have to admit, though, I have my reasons," she confessed suddenly.

Hotaru pondered this. She hadn't felt suspicious. If there had been ill intent directed to her, resting or not Saturn's soul would have stirred to alert her of the danger.

Ameyuri continued to speak, solving her unasked question. "I've never seen Takeshi so open with another person before, outside of family," she admitted. "He really liked talking with you, that day."

She blinked, trying to match the cheerful boy she had met back in September with what Ameyuri said. Takeshi didn't seem the type to not have friends.

"It's not that he doesn't get along with his peers in school," Ameyuri added. "He does, really. No fights or anything at kindergarten, or anywhere else. It's just . . . he's always been a little astute, even for his age, and he finds it odd how children his age can't notice or realize what he does."

Ah, Hotaru thought, understanding a little better. It was a matter of being different.

Different could be a good thing. Being different was what had led her to her most important people, the path she would gladly walk.

But being different could also mean being isolated.

"When he got along so well with you that day," Ameyuri said with a shrug. "I thought maybe it had something to do with maturity. Honestly, he didn't stop talking about you for days! He was just so impressed with how you answered almost all his questions. You're a very smart girl, and you have a knack for explaining things in a way that keeps him interested."

She flushed a little at the praise. She had thought he would immediately forget about her when he got home.

"I think it had to do with how his father couldn't explain why the sky was blue like you could. He talked about that for days, even if he got confused about it himself halfway through and forgot your explanations. And oh, you wouldn't believe the color my husband turned when Takeshi asked him how babies were made. I wish I had taken a picture."

"Sorry?" Hotaru said, but her lips were already twitching into a smile at the thought.

"Please, don't be." Ameyuri waved her hands, grinning like mad. "It was the funniest thing ever, watching him try to explain."

The attempt failed, and a smile broke through. She had to wait till her own amusement calmed before she could speak again.

"He's still young," Hotaru said, offering what she knew from personal experience. She had been different, isolated once. Unlike her, Takeshi would not have to deal with a parasitic being within his own body trying to turn him into a vessel, and the pain that came with the process. He was by nature a social and friendly boy. He would not suffer from isolation, despite the difference. "And he'll grow, and change, hopefully in a good direction."

The amusement in Ameyuri was changed into a softer emotion, but by no means weaker. Affection. Love. Pure and sweet and true.

"Maybe he will. But at the same time I'm worried, I guess. He's like his father in some ways – he's social, but he doesn't let people in easily." Ameyuri sighed.

"I don't think you're telling me that he's let me in," Hotaru noted, hands keeping themselves busy by folding the paper cup up, bit by bit. Takeshi had been friendly, but it was hardly what Ameyuri described to her. She still remembered the assessing gaze she had received from him, the approval of her answer and her status as someone who spoke the truth, but not acceptance of her as a person of importance to him.

"He didn't, no," Ameyuri agreed. "But you came closer than anyone else he's met, except family."

Had she? She hadn't even done much. They threw away their cups and walked out of the vendor section. Ameyuri insisted on helping her with the groceries and on walking her back. Recognizing that she had more to say, Hotaru accepted her help.

"I just wanted to ask," Ameyuri said, as they walked through the streets mostly cleared of snow. "That you don't judge him for being different from other children."

"I would never," Hotaru swore, more emotion entering her voice than she had intended. She wouldn't. She couldn't.

"I thought you might say that." Takeshi's mother looked incredibly satisfied with her reply. "But it's still such a relief to hear."

A mother who loved her child dearly. She was suddenly struck with the faint memories of her own mother – the one who had given birth to her, the one that had died saving her from the fire without knowing what kind of a life her daughter would live for the next four years. What would she have done, had she survived and learned of how her daughter suffered from being 'different'?

"No child should be isolated because he or she is different," Hotaru whispered. How many times had she wondered why she even continued living? How much had she feared being in Namimori, away from the first people who had seen who she was, who she could be and still given her love unconditionally, just for being her? "No one."

Ameyuri looked at her carefully, and Hotaru hurried to change the subject. "I thought maybe you'd ask me to come over and spend time with him."

The woman with the kind face, thankfully, went along with her attempt. "I considered it, too," she admitted freely. "But he's a very active child, and I thought you might be pressured into it so I decided to hold back on asking."

Hotaru considered it. She studied, she practiced the violin so her hands wouldn't forget how to coax music from the stringed instruments, and she read books, but otherwise her life was a little stagnant. There was only so much amusement she could get from such a repetitive lifestyle, after all, and ennui had done more than begin to sink in.

"I don't mind," she said, a little impulsively. "I like kids."

She said this, and then realized that she was technically still a ten-year-old to anyone who saw her. Her physical age would always affect her mental age – would affect all their mental ages, because eternal youth reflected on the consciousness as well as the flesh – but she was mature, and she had memories up to being twelve years of age.

Which . . . still wasn't all that old.

Ameyuri didn't make fun of her for that. Rather, she beamed.

"You should definitely come over some time," she invited. "We'll give you a discount. And my husband might not be good at answering questions, but he's very good at making sushi."

They reached Kawahira Realtors, and Ameyuri looked at the place. "Oh, this place has been around forever," she mumbled.

It did look like it, Hotaru thought, as she got her bags back. "Thank you, Ameyuri-san."

"Thank you, Hotaru-chan." Ameyuri returned with an enthusiastic wave of her hands. "Take care, and don't be a stranger!"

AN: I read through chapter 5 and realized I accidentally left a part out which oops. A part of me wishes that there was a map for Namimori because I have no idea where places are. I just arbitrarily had TakeSushi be near 'the station', wherever that is (I am on par with Roronoa Zoro for my ability to get lost, do not ask for details or directions you will regret it and I will cry). Might be busy the next few days so have an update earlier than planned.

Sweet Dreams~