Disclaimer: No matter what I try, I just can't seem to own Sailor Moon....hm....
La, la, la! Only four more chapters to go! I'm up to 79 reviews (as of the last time I checked before I started this chapter!) so I've only got 21 more to go to get to my goal of 100! I've never gotten so many reviews and I'm very, very happy.
....after I'm done this one (wah! Only this and three more chapters! ;_;) then I've got an idea for another Starlights fic (yay for the Sailor Starlights!!) that has to do with Chibiusa deciding to go meet the Starlights for herself and dragging Hotaru with her. It's complex, really, and a good idea! I can't wait to write it! ^_^ Am I my own cheerleader? Yes, I think I am....
Yosh, minna! I won my very first award! It (Best Starlights Fan Fic) was given to be by the Nagareboshi Project for my story "Walk A Mile"....there'll be more about this in the next chapter of that story, trust me. ^_^ I'm soooo happy about this!
Anyway....
Vibrant green eyes stared blankly at the worn grey-and-black flecked tiles of the floor as Yaten tried to keep his mind off events that had just passed. Across the cafeteria from where he was seated, Hotaru was quietly slicing an apple into quarters. The young, dark-haired girl was taking things very calmly, considering the situation they were in; much the same as Haruka or Michiru, or Setsuna would have taken things.
The way of Outer Senshi, it seemed.
He cast a glance in her direction, snorting at the unnerving serenity of her attitude. Not being stupid, however, he knew not to take her outward appearance at face value; one thing he knew for sure about the Outers was that they were more watchful than they almost EVER appeared to be.
Finished with the knife, Hotaru set it to the side and nibbled at a slice of apple, silently going over the situation. She and Yaten were currently located in the cafeteria of Mugen School, the highschool that she had attended before her rebirth.
After escaping the subway unharmed, the two of them- along with Luna, Mercury and Maker- had taken off in the hopes of distracting the Tsumetai from Sailor Moon and Fighter, whom they knew were still in the tunnel. The plan had worked, with the Dark Senshi racing after them through the streets of Tokyo....Usagi and Seiya were safe....assuming they were smart enough to run and hide when presented with the chance.
They're safe. If they weren't safe I would feel it.
Hotaru was one of the few Earth Senshi who had complete and unquestioning faith in Sailor Moon's abilities, and who didn't doubt the blonde Moon Child's intelligence.; she may have been a crybaby to begin with, but she had grown up. The senshi of Saturn looked up to her, really, as the kind of warmhearted and supremely compassionate person she strived to be.
The only other of the Earth Senshi who had, in the past, placed so much trust and faith on Sailor Moon was Pluto. But then, the Keeper of Time had seen the future and knew what kind of a Queen Usagi would grow to be over time.
Everyone else had their doubts....
Sighing, Hotaru continued to eat the apple she had sliced, even though she definitely wasn't hungry. How COULD she be? She had just seen Haruka....her 'father'....die at the hands of Setsuna....one of her 'mothers'....
My mother killing my father....Haruka-papa....Setsuna-mama....
But she had to keep her strength up, and so when they had reached the school and holed up in the basement-level cafeteria, she had immediately sought something to eat. Something that WASN'T rotted....that proved to be a difficult task in itself, as the power was gone so the refrigerator didn't work....most of the food had gone bad long ago. But then in the back of the walk-in-freezer, a bag of apples that had been tossed in and probably forgotten. They had been frozen, that much was obvious by the withered skin and slightly freezer-burnt taste, but had thawed long ago....
It wasn't much, but it would do under the circumstances.
Keeping strong for the battles that were sure to come was important, she knew, but the silver-haired boy that was sitting a few feet from her had refused to eat when she offered. Still, he needed SOMETHING....
"Yaten-san?"
Nothing. He ignored her. It wasn't a new occurrence at all, so she didn't concern herself with his silence. He hadn't said two words to her since they had separated from Mercury and Maker; the idea behind THAT being to separate the Tsumetai at the same time....
....and after much running, Healer with Luna tucked under an arm, they had managed to evade their former-comrades. Then they had found themselves at Mugen, and, with it's many maze-like rooms and corridors- which Luna was in the process of investigating at the moment- it had seemed the ideal place to wait for word from the others.
Hotaru held only a faint hope that they would be contacted, though, until Mercury had managed to figure out a plan. She knew- and hoped to Kami-sama that the others all remembered as well- that, Tsumetai or not, the Dark Senshi had the same communicators as they. Any contact between them could be overheard and traced easily....
So we wait until Ami-san and Taiki-san manage to come up with a plan of some kind.
Waiting seemed like a good idea, but it wasn't terribly easy to do.
I wish there was a way to know that everyone was safe....
There was none as far as she could tell, and that bothered her.
And the fact that Yaten continued to ignore her, when she was trying to get him to eat something so he wouldn't pass out from exhaustion bothered her just as much. She may have been one of the quieter senshi, but his rudeness was something she had never appreciated and it was all she could do not to snap at him.
She simply couldn't bring herself to raise her voice at him, especially in the wake of what had happened to Minako....
"You loved her very much, didn't you Yaten-san?"
"Nani?!"
The simple, whispered question, had been enough to get a response. His head jerked up on her words and he glared at her harshly; his gaze was angry, but behind the anger was a haunting, pained expression of internal pain.
"I said," Hotaru repeated just as softly, meeting the intenseness of his glare calmly; "you loved Minako-san very much, didn't you Yaten-san?"
"That's none of your business!"
"We all loved her too." A pause, then; "she was such a wonderful person."
"Shimatta!" The silver-haired youth shot to his feet, hands clenched into fists. "I....I don't....I didn't-"
"It's okay, you know."
"Nani-?!"
"It's okay to love, to feel." The senshi of silence heaved a sad sigh, "and it's okay to cry." Ignoring Yaten's borderline rage, she picked up the knife she had been using before and fingered the edge thoughtfully. "I saw you when Minako-san....died....it's obvious how much you cared for her. You're hurting, Yaten-san, are you not? Why are you shutting yourself off, pushing people away? You've always done it, ne? Even before all of this...."
"What do you know?" Yaten snarled bitterly.
"I know that, despite attempts not to, you fell in love with Minako-san and it hurt you terribly to see her die. And I know what can happen if you shut out the world," Hotaru looked up and caught him watching her warily. She was perfectly aware of the fact that she sounded much older than her twelve 'years'. "I did it before....when I was here for the first time, before I was reborn. I had no friends, no one to love. Papa was....changed, different....and I had no one. I began to shut down, to bleed to death inside."
"So?" He snapped, the venom having receded from his voice.
"Yaten-san, I don't know you very well."
"No shit."
"But even though that is true," she continued, "I don't want to see you give up on people, on friends and family. On love. On LIFE." Giving a soft smile, she held her left hand in front of her and, using the knife she was holding in her right, nicked the tip of her index finger. A drop of blood welled, glistening, and she held it up for him to see. "A single drop of blood can be the beginning of a river if the bleeding is allowed to continue. Yaten-san, don't let your soul bleed to death."
"....you don't know what you're talking about."
"I think," she considered, "I think that shutting yourself away from people is the last thing that Minako-san would have wanted."
"Shut up!"
"And I don't doubt that she's watching us all from the Shining Place beyond, and wishing for you to heal."
Spinning, the silver-haired ex-idol slammed a fist into the nearest wall, cracking the plaster. After a moment, during which Hotaru remained silent, he winced and cursed quietly, bringing his hand back to cradle it against his chest. "Are you TRYING to piss me off?"
"Of course not." The girl flashed another smile and stuck her finger into her mouth, then inspected it. The bleeding had already stopped; it hadn't been a large cut at all. "Are you TRYING to break every bone in your hand?"
"N-nani?"
A soft giggle from the senshi of silence. "That was stupid, Yaten-san."
Yaten snarled. One did not call him 'stupid' and get away with it. "Listen you-"
"Anyway," Hotaru stood from her seat at one of the many lunchroom tables and gathered the slices of apple, heading to the kitchen to discard of them and the knife. "I doubt that Minako-san would be happy with your behavior. You act like such a child sometimes- if she could, she'd probably come back and slap some sense into you, ne?"
He opened his mouth to say something in response-
"Here!" Hotaru reached up on her way past and stuffed a slice of apple into his open mouth, effectively silencing him before he could begin to rant at her for her observations and commentary. "Have some apple."
Yaten's eyes followed the little girl into the kitchen. What the hell was that? He grimaced and spat the apple out, wishing he had been smart enough not to open his mouth in the first place. No intimidating a senshi who controls death itself, obviously.
Ignoring the sounds of her rummaging in the kitchen, he turned his attention to his aching fist. Hitting the wall was possibly one of the dumbest things he had ever done. The LAST thing he needed was a broken bone or two....
....he flexed his fingers, wincing again.
"Shimatta."
Surprisingly, there was no blood. But by Kami-sama he was going to have one hell of a bruise....
"She's right, you know, that WAS stupid."
A familiar voice....one that didn't belong to Ami, Taiki, Usagi or Seiya....and certainly not Luna or Hotaru. Instantly his guard went up and he grasped his Star Yell, spinning toward the swinging double-doors at the end of the cafeteria; his eyes landed on who he had feared....Sailor Jupiter and Sailor Pluto....Tsumetai.
Kami-sama!
"How do you expect to fight with a broken-up hand?" Jupiter raised an eyebrow; "you should have thought before you did that."
"And YOU should have thought before following us here." Hotaru's voice said coldly from the doorway to the kitchen, the girl herself stepping out and into view. She had already transformed while out of sight, and not held her glaive defensively. "You know the power I command."
"True," Pluto nodded flatly, "but you won't use it."
"What makes you so sure?"
"You would destroy this planet for this dying Nagareboshi soul?"
Saturn's eyes narrowed. "Yaten-san is an important person, to all of us."
The statement surprised Yaten, making him look toward her. Her eyes flicked in his direction, assuring, before returning to the Tsumetai she faced. Raising the glaive above her head, she twirled it several times and lowered it to point toward Jupiter and Pluto.
Yaten watched tensely, still ready with his Star Yell.
"Leave." Saturn commanded. "Now."
A long pause as the two Dark Senshi contemplated the seriousness of her threat.
"I think not." Pluto said finally, preparing her Garnet Rod. Then; "DEAD SCREAM!"
Time slowed for the silver-haired boy at that point; he had his Yell out and had shouted his transformation command even before Pluto's attack phrase had been finished. As Healer, at least, there was a chance of fighting back.
"SILENT WALL!"
The Scream connected with Saturn's shield with a loud explosion-like sound, making the young senshi wince. The force behind the attack had Saturn's arms bending at the elbows....she would hold it for as long as she could.
But she had never expected to have to use her Silent Wall against her own 'mother'.
"SUPREME-"
"On no you don't! STAR SENSITIVE-"
"-THUNDER!"
"-INFERNO!"
Healer's arm instinctively went to her head, defending herself from the explosion of the two attacks colliding in midair. Thunder met Inferno and what came from the meeting was fire, light and then smoke. The explosion had been closer to the Tsumetai than herself, so she wasn't hurt by it. But Saturn had been right there....
Running forward, Healer searched the fog-darkened room for the smaller senshi; she found her where she had been standing, glaive still upraised, but coughing as smoke filled her lungs. Without thinking, Healer grabbed onto Saturn's wrist and dragged her away from the epicenter, "come on!"
"Nani-?"
"We're leaving!" Still dragging her, Healer made for the opposite doors.
Behind them, there was coughing and angry shouting from the Tsumetai....they couldn't see through the smoke any more than Healer or Saturn could, and being right in the center of it made them especially blind.
At least there's SOMETHING to our advantage! Luna'd better keep her kitty ass out of here for now!
The doors were only one obstacle in their way, and not much of one at that. The two senshi were through them and halfway up the stairs before the smoke began to clear from the cafeteria. They didn't look back at all as they ran, Saturn trying to keep a handle on the glaive; she couldn't afford to break it OR lose it at that point.
"Where are we going?"
"Anywhere away from them!"
"Let's go for the back science halls! They're complicated enough to get them confused!"
"We've got a plan, then?"
"Hai!"
Healer grimaced. "Which is?"
"Find somewhere to hide."
"That's not a plan. It's what you do when a plan fails!"
"Got a better idea, Yaten-SAN?"
"Shimatta!"
"That's what I thought!"
Saturn sped up, sending the glaive back into her own interdimentional pocket as she did; that way she could reach it if she needed to, but didn't have to hang onto it while she ran. And she got the feeling she WOULD need it....
"Here!" Skidding to a stop, the senshi of silence indicated a door; "go in here, there's another door to a secondary room-"
"Fine, fine! Go already!" Yanking open the door, Healer shoved the younger senshi though and dashed in after her, shutting the door behind them. Her empathy was already on overload, telling her something was coming.... "let's go!" Then her mind twinged; "shimatta! Get down and be QUIET!"
Saturn knew of Star Healer's empathic abilities. It had been one of the things she found fascinating about the Starlight since the beginning. Not questioning the order, she simply dropped down and held her breath.
Silence.
Then the clicking of heeled-boots on the linoleum floor.
Quiet....the Tsumetai are right out there....they're right outside! Her lung began to burn for air.... I never thought....I never thought I'd have to fight against them....Makoto-san and Setsuna-mama....
Since becoming Sailor Saturn for the second time, Hotaru hadn't cried.
Now she felt the beginnings of tears in her eyes....
Setsuna-mama....
Blinking the tears back, Saturn bit her lip harshly to keep from making noise. Beside her, Healer clutched her hands into fists and waited impatiently for the inevitable....either Jupiter and Pluto would pass by or....
The footsteps slowed down as they neared.
No, no, nothing here....
A moment's pause and the tension was so thick you could have cut it with a knife.
Come on, come on....
A few murmured words and the steps carried on past, echoing down the hallway and out of hearing range. Two sets, so they knew that both Tsumetai were gone. Still, they waited silently for several more long minutes.
"What are you two doing?"
"Ack!"
"Ahh!"
Both senshi spun at the unexpected voice, facing the inside-door that Saturn had mentioned before. Healer was on her feet in an instant and ready with a 'Star Sensitive Inferno' and Saturn was already mentally calling the glaive back to herself before they recognized Luna as the person who had spoken.
"Luna!"
"Hai," the Moon Cat said slowly, pacing toward them; "who did you think it was?"
"It's....a long story...." Healer slumped back to the ground with a sigh, trying to calm herself down.
"So?" Luna asked, blinking luminescent red eyes at them.
Saturn canceled the mental call for her glaive. "Nani?"
"What ARE you two doing?"
The senshi of silence gave her friend a soft smile. "We're hiding Luna, isn't it obvious?"
"Oh." Another blank blink. "Why?"
"For the fun of it." Healer replied sarcastically; "I mean duh! Shimatta. We're hiding from the damned Tsumetai!"
"I see." Luna accepted it silently, then sat down and curled her tail around herself; "how long are we planning on hiding here?"
Healer snorted. She still didn't appreciate having to hide at all....
"As long as it takes." Saturn told the cat, "as long as we have to."
"Hm...."
Please Ami-san! Find something soon! A glance to the side at Healer made Saturn
frown; I don't think she'll stay here in the dark for long, and if she decides to go out and
fight....we may have a problem. Hurry, Ami-san. Please, please hurry.
___________
Me: Oi, minna! Only 3 more chapters! This one was kind of boring, but....gomen ne. The next chapter is going to follow Ami and Taiki. See how it's working? ^_^ There's a method to my madness, I tell you, a METHOD! MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! ^.^;; Um, gomen....oh, and review minna-san! Arigato and ja ne!