"AAAHHHH!!!" Hotaru screamed shooting up from her bed.
The Saturn symbol was glowing on her forehead and felt as if it were on fire. Hotaru breathed heavily as she tried to compose herself and remember the dream…and the nightmare.
She had seen her past life, and death. She also saw the awakening of…something. Hotaru couldn't remember what it had been, but she knew instinctively that it was evil. And that man had been there. She couldn't remember very much, but he had definitely been there.
After a few minutes, Hotaru slowly turned and looked at the clock. 2:37.
"Damn." She swore silently, "I'll never be able to get back to sleep now."
Hotaru got out of bed slowly, crossed her room to the door, and began making her way to the kitchen. She no sooner got into the living room when a pair of arms grabbed her from behind.
"Ah-ha! So I see we have a little thief in our midst. There can be only one punishment for such a crime."
Hotaru suddenly started laughing, as she was being tickled from the person behind her.
"Stop it, stop it, I can't take it!" Hotaru said in-between laughs, which only made the person tickle her more. "Stop it please. Haruka-papa! Stop before you wake up the whole neighborhood!"
Haruka stopped tickling her.
"Hey, you're the one making all the noise." Haruka said with a smile on her face.
"How come you're up?" Hotaru said while regaining herself from the attack.
"To check on you." Haruka replied. "I heard you in your room so I came to see what was wrong. Nightmare?"
"Yes." Hotaru answered her.
"Come into the kitchen and I'll fix you a little something."
They walked into the kitchen and Hotaru sat down while Haruka proceeded to the fridge.
"Let's see…" Haruka opened the door and began to look. "We could have some cookies and…milk!"
Hotaru's nose instantly wrinkled up and Haruka smiled at the intended reaction.
"What's the matter? Don't like milk?"
"I'm gonna tell on you Haruka-papa!"
"Alright, alright kitten. I'll make us some sandwiches. No milk, promise."
A few minutes later both were seated contently eating there sandwiches.
"Now tell me what's been bothering you Hotaru."
"Nothing really"
"Don't lie to your papa. You said the same thing at dinner. I didn't buy it then and I certainly don't buy it now."
Hotaru bit her lip nervously. She then began to tell Haruka the events of the past few days: The scout meeting, the mysterious voice, and the dreams.
"…and then I woke up with the Saturn symbol on my forehead. It felt like my head was gonna break apart. Anyway, that's the whole story." Hotaru ended with a sigh. A few minutes passed before Haruka spoke.
"How long has this been going on?"
"Only for these past couple of days, and tonight was the only time I've had that dream. Do you think the dream was real, Haruka-papa?" Hotaru asked.
"Yes, I do. All the senshi have had dreams about our past lives in the Silver Millennium. But they usually only come when something important is going to happen."
A few more minutes passed, and Hotaru spoke,
"Something bad's gonna happen, isn't it?"
"Now don't be silly, it was still just a dream. Not all of them lead to a catastrophe. The last dream I had like this is what lead me to Michiru. See, they can't all be bad."
"I hope you're right." Hotaru said, still not looking very convinced.
"I think it's time for you to get back to bed missy. If you don't get some sleep then you'll be overtired tomorrow and Michiru and Setsuna will have my head for it."
"All right Haruka-papa." Hotaru said with a smile.
Haruka walked Hotaru to her room and said goodnight before she went in. Then she went down the hall to her and Michiru's room and quietly closed the door behind her.
"Haruka, is Hotaru alright?" Michiru asked with a worried expression on her face.
"She had a bad dream. I gave her something to eat before sending her back to bed. I'm worried about this Michiru."
"I have been sensing something. I looked to my mirror, but there is something blocking its power. All I could see was black mist. Do you think this could be the arrival of a new enemy?"
"I wish I could say no. But I am more worried about Hotaru. All of this has something to do with her, I know it!"
Michiru watched Haruka as she walked over to the window and looked out. Michiru smiled.
"You sure have changed a lot over these past few years. I've never seen you care for someone like you do for Hotaru."
"Hotaru is as much my daughter as she is Dr. Tomoe's. I know I don't say or show it often, but I do love her very much. If anything ever happened to her I don't know what I'd do."
She turned around and sat on the bed next to Michiru.
"I think you make a wonderful father, Haruka-papa." Michiru added with a grin on her face.
"Well, you and Setsuna aren't at all bad mothers either. But, you're right, I am a much better parent." Haruka said with a gloating expression.
"Don't make me hurt you." Michiru said before they both started laughing.
However, their laughing was cut short by a loud explosion on the other side of the house, followed by a scream.
"That scream…"
"Hotaru!" Haruka screamed before she jumped up and ran toward the young girl's room.
~
"Goodnight Haruka-papa." Hotaru said before closing the door to her room.
She walked silently to her dresser and sat down, looking at her reflection in the mirror. Hotaru wished that she could believe what Haruka had said about her dream, but it was no use. Hotaru somehow knew that the dream had been real, and that she had known those people.
"It was like looking through a window to the past." Hotaru said to herself, "I was on Saturn, my home planet. I saw my people, my father, my mother, and…" Hotaru stopped and looked at herself in the mirror "…and him."
Hotaru was thinking about her dream, when a noise from outside startled her. She got up and went to the window to check it out. Nothing. Hotaru dismissed it and started to walk back to her dresser. About halfway there, Hotaru stopped, frozen to the spot. She could feel evil waves of energy building up behind her. Suddenly, the energy exploded, destroying the side of the house and throwing Hotaru into the wall in the process. Hotaru got up slowly, turned around…and screamed. There outside her room was a huge monster. The only way she could describe it was as a part plant, part octopus monster. From the middle, or 'plant' part of it, came these massive tentacles shooting out everywhere, some with green ooze covering it that burned holes wherever it landed.
The monster quickly advanced toward Hotaru. She jumped out of the way just before it lunged at her, throwing all the debris from the explosion in front of the door. With the exit blocked, Hotaru ran to the window (Now a big hole in the wall.) to escape. She was about to jump out when one of the monster's tentacles grabbed her by the ankle. It wrapped itself around her waist, pinning her arms to her side. Hotaru could hear Setsuna, Michiru, and Haruka banging on the door, trying to get in. She tried to call out, but the monster had wrapped its tentacles around her neck. The tentacle tightened, squeezing the life out of Hotaru.
"Somebody, please help me!" Hotaru's mind screamed, "I don't want to die, not here, not like this!"
As if answering her plea, a voice rang out in the night.
"Saturn Rings Surround!"
Purple rings of energy shot toward the monster, and sliced through the tentacles that held Hotaru. No sooner than she was free, Hotaru felt a pair of strong arms catch her and stop her from falling. The monster seemed to scream out in pain, and hurdled itself towards them for another attack. Hotaru's savior jumped out of the way, and ran in the opposite direction, with Hotaru still in his arms. After running to a safe distance, he stopped and put Hotaru down, his arm still around her protectively.
"Are you alright, Hotaru?" He asked.
Hotaru looked at him for the first time. He was wearing black armor with a purple cape. Blond hair almost reached his shoulders, and his blue eyes looked deeply into Hotaru's full of love and concern.
"I'm…I'm ok." Hotaru answered, trying to control her blushing.
"I'm glad." He said with a smile of relief.
"That voice." Hotaru said, "It was your voice I heard!"
Hotaru looked at him for a moment, and then her eyes opened wide in shock. Her hand went up and touched his face.
"Adrian?" Hotaru said, tears forming in her eyes.
A noise in the background made the couple jump, and before they could react, a tentacle shot out of the bushes, heading for Hotaru. Hotaru froze as the tentacle came toward her. Right before it struck, Hotaru was pushed out of the way by Adrian, and the tentacle meant for her pierced through his shoulder. He jumped out of the way, but it was too late, the damage had been done. He grimaced in pain as blood began to flow from his open wound.
"Adrian!" Hotaru screamed. She then turned to the monster, "That's it! I've had enough with you! Saturn Star Power, make up!"
Warm, purple energy gently engulfed Hotaru. When the light cleared, where Hotaru Tomoe stood before now stood Sailor Saturn.
"That's new." Adrian said, looking at Hotaru in awe.
"Protected by Saturn, Planet of Silence, I am the Soldier of destruction and rebirth, I am Sailor Saturn!"
The monster ignored her introduction (or just didn't seem to care.) and instead started to attack again. But Saturn was ready. As the attack came, she shouted:
"Silence Wall!"
A barrier was formed between the monster and Saturn and Adrian.
"Adrian! Can you still fight?"
"Yes, I think I can. What do you have in mind?"
"I'm going to attack this thing head on. While I'm distracting it, you attack it from behind."
"Will you be ok?" Adrian asked, the concern evident in his voice.
"I'll be fine." Saturn answered, giving him a reassuring smile. "Alright let's go!"
Saturn broke the barrier and attacked.
"Silence Glaive Enhance!" She shouted, hurting the monster with her weapon.
The monster was so preoccupied with Saturn that it didn't see Adrian sneak up behind it. He focused his energy, and using his sword, shouted
"Destruction Wave!"
He thrust his sword into the center of the monster. A piercing scream came from it as the energy ripped through its body, completely destroying it.
Adrian put his sword down then collapsed to the ground. Hotaru de-transformed and ran over to him.
"Hold on Adrian! I'll heal you."
She put her hands to his injured shoulder and bright violet light began pouring out. Adrian's tension eased as Hotaru used her powers to heal him. After a few minutes, Hotaru stopped, with Adrian's shoulder completely healed.
"You're just full of surprises tonight." Adrian said smiling.
Hotaru smiled back at him, and then seized up and collapsed into his arms.
"Hotaru! What's wrong?!"
"It's alright, I'm just a little tired. I guess that took a little too much energy out of me."
Hotaru closed her eyes and leaned against his chest as Adrian drew her closer. A few minutes passed by without a word being said. Then, voices in the distance were heard.
"Hotaru!"
"Hotaru! Are you there?"
"Hotaru! Please answer us! Hotaru!!"
"That last voice was Haruka's." Hotaru said.
"Looks like the calvary's arrived, late, as usual. Well, I guess it's safe to leave you with them for now." Adrian said.
"What?! You're leaving?" Hotaru said jumping up.
"Don't worry, I won't leave you for long."
Adrian tilted Hotaru's head with his hand, and kissed her full on the lips. After a moment they broke apart, both blushing a great deal.
"Oh, before I go." Adrian said, stopping.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a gold chain with a star pendant on it. He put it gently onto Hotaru.
"This belongs to you. I'll see you again soon, my firefly."
Adrian gave her one last kiss and disappeared into the forest.
"Hotaru!" Setsuna, Michiru, and Haruka yelled as they came into the clearing.
Hotaru just continued to sit there, staring where Adrian had gone, her face as red as a cherry.
Author's Note: I just want to thank all the people that have reviewed my story. I can't believe how many people like this! I hope that you all will enjoy the rest of the story, and any more reviews are always welcomed. Thanks to everyone again! ~ Hotaru Tomoe.