I like this chapter. I like a lot of chapters though. So you know, that doesn't mean anything special is going to happen. Nope...nothing at all...just regular stuff. Do you think that I could possibly be anymore vague? I dunno…Well hope you like this chapter and I love everyone that reviews!!! I hope that this chapter, er, well you'll see.
Disclaimer: I don't own Sailor Moon.
Warnings: Cussing and violence! (Not really bad violence...just the usual.) Hey Teresa...what happens when you leave out a certain kind of soda too long? (Inside joke people.)
Second Chances
Chapter Seventeen: SUPRISE CHANSUUUUUUUUUU!!!
"I'll never let you down,
Even if I could,
I'd give up everything,
If only for your good,
So hold me when I'm here,
Love me when I'm wrong,
You can hold me when I'm scared,
You won't always be there,
So love me when I'm gone."
-When I'm Gone Three Doors Down
The bell had just rung for class to be over. Hotaru ran towards the door as she hoped to get away before anyone noticed her. She made a mental note to call and tell Mamoru she was at Kakyuu's house. Her plan was almost ruined though.
"Hey Hotaru!" Mamoru caught up with her. "Where are you going?"
"I have to get something from the library." Hotaru lied. "I'm going to Kakyuu's house to spend the night."
"Okay." Mamoru shrugged. "I don't know if I'll be at home when you come back tomorrow. It's Valentine's Day tomorrow and me and Usagi-"
"I understand. You don't have to tell me about your plans." Hotaru smiled. She was happy for Mamoru. On past years on this holiday they would do nothing but gorge themselves on gourmet chocolate. It had been fun but now Mamoru wouldn't be able to join in the pastime. Hotaru would probably end up by herself eating gourmet chocolate.
"Well I'll see you then." Mamoru walked off. Hotaru started to walk in the direction of where she was meeting Metallia. She stopped though. The hairs on the back of her neck had risen up and she felt that feeling that she was being followed again.
Hotaru turned to see if there was anyone behind her. Some students milling around but no one seemed to really notice her. Her brow furrowed and she turned back around. It was her imagination acting up again because she was sure that someone would catch her. Hotaru couldn't get rid of the feeling though as she approached Metallia.
"Hi Metallia." Hotaru greeted her.
"Hi Hotaru." Metallia's face broke into a smile. "Are you ready to go?"
"Yep!" Hotaru exclaimed and they set off to Metallia's house. Hotaru still wasn't able to shake the feeling that someone was following her. They got to Metallia's house and Hotaru thought the inside was normal looking.
What did you expect Hotaru? Big red flashing signs saying "Metallia Is Evil?"
"You want something to drink?" Metallia opened up her fridge and started to look around.
"Sure. What do you have?" Hotaru asked.
"Nothing really except milk and grape soda." Metallia smiled apologetically at Hotaru. "My mom always buys that kind because it's my favorite."
"I'll take a soda." Hotaru shrugged. "No big deal."
"Here." Metallia handed her a soda can. They opened them up before settling down in Metallia's room. Metallia's room was very neat and clean. There was a small bed and a desk. The walls were white and had no posters or pictures on them. There was also a small wooden dresser.
"This place is nice." Hotaru told Metallia.
"Erm...thanks..." Metallia trailed off looking a little embarrassed. They sat down on Metallia's bed drinking grape soda. "So are you going to do anything tomorrow?"
"Tomorrow? You mean for Valentine's Day?" Hotaru asked. "No..."
"Really? I've seen you hanging out with the Kous and I thought that you were going out with one of them..." Metallia trailed off. Hotaru had to laugh at this. One of the Starlights? And her?
"I'm not dating anyone." Hotaru explained.
"Oh sorry." Metallia made a sheepish looking face.
"Don't worry about it." Hotaru smiled. The weird thing was that she felt a slight pang in her chest. She decided she probably was drinking her soda to fast.
* * *
"Hello Mamoru." Kakyuu's voice caused Mamoru to turn around. He saw that Kakyuu was with Seiya and Taiki. Mamoru had been on his way to the apartment so he was surprised to see that Hotaru wasn't with them.
"Where's Hotaru?" Mamoru asked the three. "She said she was spending the night at your house." Kakyuu blinked her large red eyes in confusion.
"No she isn't." Kakyuu corrected him.
"Maybe I heard her wrong..." Mamoru scratched his head in thought.
"Where is our ill-tempered friend?" Taiki looked around as if the silver-haired boy might be hiding behind them.
"Yaten? I dunno." Seiya shrugged. "I think he said something about having to do something at his apartment."
"Interesting." Taiki pulled out his notebook and began to write something down.
"What's interesting?" Kakyuu asked him curiously.
"Never mind." Taiki closed his notebook up, clicking the pen so the nib disappeared.
"Maybe Yaten's right. Maybe you are a dork." Seiya speculated.
"Seiya, please do not fill in for Yaten when he's not here." Kakyuu told the dark haired boy sternly.
"Sorry, sorry." Seiya sighed tiredly.
"I wonder where Hotaru is then?" Mamoru pondered outloud.
"Setsuna might know." Kakyuu supplied. "Maybe we should go ask her." They all agreed to this and set off to go find Setsuna.
* * *
Hotaru slowly opened her eyes. Her senses seemed to be flaring that there was a dark presence. Hotaru turned to the clock that was on Metallia's desk. The green numbers told her it was 3:27 A.M. They had gone to bed around eleven, after talking for a long time. Hotaru looked all around. There was nothing. Then Hotaru saw something that made her eyes grow wide.
It was subtle at first, the glowing. The dark blue started to get more and more intense around a person that was standing in the dark. Hotaru realized it was Metallia. The blue light lit up the room. Metallia's eyes were glittering mercilessly and she had a cruel smile on her lips.
"Empress Metallia I presume?" Hotaru asked her with narrowed purple eyes. She had to get out of there. If she didn't, no one would know where she had gone or that Metallia was indeed evil.
"The one and only." Metallia's smile widened slightly. "My, how easily you fall into a trap."
"I'm not the one who fell into a trap." Hotaru told Metallia defiantly. "I was trying to see if you were the enemy or not."
"You thought you could take on the Empress?" Metallia asked her before laughing. "You are sorely mistaken." Metallia cocked an eyebrow and some sort of ooze appeared behind her, it's arms suddenly appearing, wrapping around Hotaru's wrists and ankles.
"You think this is going to hold me?" Hotaru questioned, her tone suggesting that Metallia was two years old.
"Of course not. I'm going to kill you." Metallia said airily. Hotaru concentrated and felt her transformation came, complete with Silence Glaive in hand. The ooze seemed to be surprise because it accidentally loosened it's grip and Hotaru swung, cutting the ooze's arm in half. The ooze that was lying on the floor crawled back though, refusing with it's original.
"I am the melancholy warrior, Sailor Saturn!" Hotaru announced.
"I knew you were." Metallia had not lost any of her confidence. "When Kakyuu decided like an idiot to wear her fuku as a costume on Halloween, I realized who you must be."
"And you still invited me to your house?" Hotaru smirked a little. Okay so she felt a little cocky. Hotaru felt that she could take on Metallia.
"So I could get you alone and do the job my youmas seem unable to do. Kill the Sailor Senshi." Metallia told her viciously. A glow and crackle of power formed in Metallia's hands. "You will die!" She threw it at Hotaru.
"Silent Wall!" Hotaru yelled as the invisible force field took root, deflecting the attack of Metallia. The ooze behind Metallia shot it's arms out again. Hotaru cut threw one hand to have another bash the Silence Glaive out of her hands. It skidded out behind Hotaru. The ooze's hands grabbed her once more by the wrists and began to pull in opposite directions.
"How troublesome you Sailor Senshi are." Metallia commented haughtily. "This is almost too easy though. I guess without your weapon, your in trouble."
"Erghh..." Hotaru grunted in pain as she was pulled on a little more. She knew that the ooze would keep pulling until she came apart.
"I think it's time for you to die." Metallia began to laugh.
I'm going to die. No one will know where I am. No one will know what happened to me or that Metallia is the enemy. I don't want to die...someone...help me...please...
Hotaru's face clenched in pain as the ooze tugged harder on her and she tried to resist the pull.
"Star Sensitive Inferno!"
The yell rang like beautiful music in Hotaru's ears. Metallia was hit directly with the attack, obviously she had not seen it. The ooze seemed to be one with Metallia as it made some high pitch screeching noise, dropping Hotaru to the floor. That's when someone scooped up Hotaru quickly, before jumping out the window.
Hotaru looked up at her savior, in complete shock. There was no way. It wasn't even possible...
"We have to get away from Metallia." Yaten told her as she ran with Hotaru in her arms.
"Y-Yaten!" Hotaru stammered in surprise. Hotaru de-transformed, remembering that she had left the Silence Glaive. Once the transformation left, the Silence Glaive would disappear. Unfortunately Hotaru was only wearing a nightgown and it was cold out that night. She shivered. "How-"
"Not right now." Yaten shook her head. "Can you run?"
"Yeah." Hotaru nodded. Yaten stopped before carefully setting Hotaru on her feet. Yaten de-transformed too. He was wearing a big coat and the scarf that Hotaru had gotten for him at Christmas.
"Good." Yaten took off his coat and handed it to her. Hotaru tried to protest but before she could say anything, Yaten shook his head. "Just take it." Hotaru accepted it.
"Thanks." Hotaru smiled at him. Yaten looked down at his feet quickly.
"Hey, you don't have any shoes on." Yaten looked a little peeved.
"I can run, it's no big deal." Hotaru told him earnestly.
"Come on." Yaten made to pick her up.
"You don't have to carry me." Hotaru insisted. "I can transform or something." Yaten picked her up anyway.
"That'll take too much time." Yaten started to run again. "If Metallia catches up with us..." Hotaru thought of those dark glowing eyes and shivered a little, clutching her hand on Yaten's shirt. They ran for a long time before Yaten let her down, trying to catch his breath. Hotaru put a hand on his back.
"Are you okay?" Hotaru asked him. "I can walk from now on."
"My apartment is across the street." Yaten explained. "I figured Metallia probably won't catch up with us or try by now."
"Okay." Hotaru followed Yaten as he lead her across the street and up the stairs of a large apartment complex. Yaten opened the door. Hotaru stepped inside as he held the door open for her. "I guess we should be quiet so we don't wake your parents right?"
"Um, yeah." Yaten replied quickly as he shut the door. He flipped a switch and a moment later Hotaru had to blink as light shone on the small apartment. It was very clean and neat.
"This a nice place." Hotaru told him. Yaten merely nodded in response as he lead her into a bedroom.
"This is my room. You can sleep in here." Yaten gestured towards the bed. Hotaru sat down on it.
"I don't really feel much like sleeping at the moment." Hotaru shook her head remembering how not too long ago she had been sure she was going to die. "Yaten, how did you know where I was?"
"Well..." Yaten trailed off obviously taken aback by this comment. "I saw you talking to Metallia not too long ago. It wasn't hard to figure out what you were up to."
"Oh. Why didn't you tell the others?" Hotaru asked the silver-haired boy, leaning against the headboard of his bed. Yaten crossed his arms.
"I figured you obviously didn't want anyone to know." Yaten shrugged. "So I...erm..."
"You followed me didn't you?" Hotaru asked him making the sudden realization.
"Well someone had to make sure you didn't get yourself killed!" Yaten told her in an exasperated tone. He was just standing there with his arms crossed looking rather cross. Hotaru tried to think of a remedy for the situation. She smiled at him and made a gesture for him to sit down next to her. Yaten's mouth twisted slightly and he sat next to Hotaru.
"So, you followed me to Metallia's house..." Hotaru trailed off thoughtfully. "And then...what did you do? Wait all night?"
"You know you walked right into the freaking lion's den like an idiot. You could've been killed." Yaten seemed to want to change the subject.
"Thank you Yaten." Hotaru gave him a quick hug before he could protest. Yaten's face looked a little weird right then. He looked away from Hotaru. "I can't believe you did that though..."
"Why did you go on a suicide mission though?" Yaten asked her.
"Well..." Hotaru trailed off. "I figured that I could get away if I needed to. Plus everyone else is just so...happy. I mean we all found each other and I didn't want anyone else to have to do it. It's okay if it was me but I wouldn't want the others to put themselves in danger."
"But don't you think anyone would miss you?" Yaten questioned her in a serious tone.
"I'm sure they would but they could get on without me." Hotaru replied. She couldn't believe she was telling the silver-haired Starlight all this. She hadn't really shared these feelings with anyone.
"That's crap." Yaten's words made her whip her head up to look at him. "You don't even think about things, you just rush into them. You want to face all the danger by yourself so that no one else has to. You've got to realize that you can't do it by yourself."
"I know that." Hotaru looked down at her hands. "I guess I learned my lesson this time didn't I? You know, we could have gone to my apartment. Now you'll have to explain to your parents what I'm doing here."
"Actually..." Yaten trailed off, looking at her once more. "I won't."
"Are they out of town or something?" Hotaru asked curiously.
"No. The truth is..." Yaten trailed off. "The truth is I don't have any parents." Hotaru gasped in surprise.
"How come you never say anything? Me and Mamoru are orphans too. My parents died in a fire." Hotaru told him.
"I don't like to talk about it." Yaten sighed. "My parents aren't dead."
"What happened? I mean..." Hotaru flushed a little. "I don't mean to pry..."
"It's okay." Yaten said. "My parents decided they didn't want me. I was three years old and it was Christmas morning..."
"Mommy! Daddy!" Three year old Yaten called as he ran into the living room early on Christmas morning. He couldn't wait to start to dig into the pile of presents he had pictured in his mind waiting for him under a tree. He stopped as his wide green eyes focused on the silver decorated Christmas tree.
There were no presents. The young Yaten was confused by the lack of gifts waiting for him. His mother with her bright green eyes, so much like his own came into the living room. His father followed her. His father had his silver locks of hair that were down to Yaten's shoulders.
"Yaten, we have a surprise for you." His mother told him with a smile.
"What?" The little Yaten's mind was running through things already. Maybe they had gotten him the kitten that he begged for every time they passed the pet shop.
"You'll see." His father smiled the same odd smile as his mother. They lead him out to the car where they buckled him up. Yaten was happy that he was finally old enough not to have to be strapped in a car seat. He wondered where they were going.
Snowy landscape was all around as the car drove for a few hours. Young Yaten was looking about curiously, wondering what his parents had in store for him. They stopped in front of a large building. Yaten couldn't read yet, so he looked at the letters in confusion.
His parents took out a suitcase from the trunk, leading him inside. A woman was waiting.
"Hello. What is your name?" The woman asked Yaten.
"Yaten." Yaten answered shyly, trying to hide behind his mom. He wondered if his surprise was coming.
"We trust you have everything in order." His father said in a business like tone. The woman smiled.
"Of course." The woman nodded her head looking a little sadly at the small silver-haired boy.
"Mommy? Daddy?" Yaten said it questioningly. He didn't understand what was going on.
"Good-bye Yaten." His mother pushed him towards the woman. Then they handed the suitcase to the woman before walking towards the door.
"Mommy!" Yaten ran after them. "Where are you going?"
"Stay here." His mother told him. "Your not coming with us."
"When will you be back?" Yaten asked his mother with tears coming into his eyes.
"Never." His mother opened the door and followed his father outside. "We are never coming back." Before the door could close, young Yaten ran after his parents out in the snow.
"Mommy! Daddy!" Yaten called out. "I'll be good!" He tripped and fell face first into the snow. Tears were pouring out of his eyes. "I'll be good! I won't get in trouble!" He insisted. "I'll be...good..."
"Oh my..." Hotaru trailed off. "I'm sorry Yaten." Hotaru's eyes were tearing up just thinking about it. She patted his arm in a comforting fashion.
"It wouldn't be that bad," Yaten paused. "If they hadn't done the same thing in the last life. At least this time they set aside money for me. They made it clear that I would get all the money I needed to be provided for, so long as I never tried to find them. I guess no parents could ever really love me."
"No!" Hotaru cried. "That's not true! You deserve a pair of loving parents! Just because you haven't had any doesn't mean anything..." Yaten was staring at her with wide eyes as if he hadn't seen anything like her before.
"Your crying..." Yaten told her. "Your crying...for me?" His words were so soft that Hotaru barely heard them.
"Someone has to..." Hotaru explained. "Just like how someone had to save me..." Hotaru felt her breath catch as Yaten put a hand to her face. Hotaru's heart began to thump as he leaned in towards her.
Their lips met. Hotaru had of course never been kissed. It was so sweet and gentle that Hotaru couldn't think of anything to compare it to. He broke away from her, his eyes not meeting hers.
"Yaten..." Hotaru trailed off and the phone rang.
"Six A.M.? Who the hell is calling?" Yaten looked irritated to say the least. Hotaru reached for the phone, which was on her side of the bed anyway.
"I've got it." Hotaru picked it up. "Hello?"
"Hotaru?" The female voice asked in surprise.
"Kakyuu?" Hotaru recognized the voice immediately.
"What are you doing at Yaten's? Where were you? We couldn't find you!" Kakyuu's questions were pulled away with the receiver as Yaten took the phone from her.
"What the hell are you calling so early in the morning for?" Yaten snapped angrily at the phone. Hotaru could hear that Kakyuu was talking but not what she was saying. "No. Um, she got attacked by a youma. I was just out for a walk and found her in trouble, that's all. What? Oh...We'll be there." Yaten told the red-haired princess. "Bye."
"So what's going on?" Hotaru hung up the phone for him.
"They know what happened. Or at least part of what happened." Yaten told her. "Apparently Setsuna called a meeting for really early this morning. We have to get to your place." Yaten started to get up. Hotaru caught his arm before he stood up.
"Yaten, about-" Hotaru was cut off by a finger to her lips.
"Shhhh...don't say anything. I don't want to know if I'm going to end up like Seiya did." Yaten told her. Hotaru blinked her eyes before putting her small hands over his. She pulled his hand away so she could talk.
"I-I don't think you'll end up like Seiya did." Hotaru told him. Yaten looked shocked.
"You...you mean that?" Yaten wrapped his arms around her.
"Of course I do." Hotaru laid her head against his chest. Then she giggled. "I think the others will be surprised."
"Can we...not tell them?" Yaten asked her. "I know that seems kind of weird but I don't really..."
"I won't tell if you don't want me to. It'll be our secret." Hotaru smiled up at him. Had anyone told her that Yaten was going to hold her like this, she would have told them they were crazy. But now...now things were different. Yaten just kept holding her until they decided to depart for the meeting.
* * *
I am so done! I don't really have lots to say but I do hope everyone enjoyed this little thingy…gah, I hope it's okay. I hope it's not unbelievable or anything. I don't think it is…
Second Chances Akugis!
Take One!
Seiya: Drums...brass...wind...words...Ahem. There you see her, sitting there across the way.
(Shows Yaten and Hotaru facing each other.)
She don't got a lot to say but there's something about her. And you don't know why because your an obnoxious guy but you wanna kiss the Hotaru...Yeah you want her. Look at her you know you do. Possible she wants you to although I don't know why she would...
Yaten: Shut Star Dork Puppy Boy!
Take Two!
Metallia: I shall kill you.
Hotaru: Um, Metallia have you read my contract? I'm an Outer.
Metallia: Oh crap! My contract says I can only kill Inner senshi.
Take Three! (This was in my notebook.)
Mamoru: Where's Hotaru?
Kakyuu: I dunno.
Taiki: Where's Yaten?
Seiya: I dunno.
Taiki: You don't think the two of them...
All of them together: Nahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...
Take Four!
Hotaru: Won't everybody be surprised? Yaten? (Yaten is not paying any attention to her.)
Setsuna: And here's the legal document proving that your the biggest Sailor Saturn fan.
Yaten: FINALLY!!!!