~~After School~~
Usagi flew to Hotaru's school after school to pick her up while her friends flew to her house. They would have come with her except for the fact that they just couldn't wait to go to her house to see the puppy, which they hoped Hotaru's father would let stay at his house. He was still their only hope.
Hotaru uncomfortably waited for Usagi to come to her. She was debating on meeting her half-way for the fact that all of the kids in her school suddenly seemed overly interested in her. Instead of making fun of her, they seemed to want her to put on a show of her skills for them, which she responsibly refused. Even now as she waited for Usagi to come, kids were watching, from afar, hoping that they would be lucky enough to see her in action.
Every so often she would glare at them and they would scatter away for they didn't want to become her victim, but soon after they would come back just in case she decided to put on a show for them. She excitedly looked up to see her Sensei flying to her at full speed. She jumped to her feet with a giant smile. "Usagi!"
The kids, who were watching Usagi, jumped with interest. They hoped that the arrival of the new fighter would mean that they would get a fantastic show.
Usagi landed just in front of Hotaru and smirked at the group of spectators. "So you're having the same problem we did, huh? Why don't we really give them something be stunned about."
Surprised, Hotaru turned to Usagi. "You mean you really want to show them what we can do?"
Usagi giggled. "Of course. All we're going to do is fake fighting. We don't want to waste your energy because my dad is going to teach you how to use your weapon today, if you want that is."
Hotaru smiled brighter as she jumped with happiness. "Of course I want to learn. I've been waiting for a long time to be able to learn."
"Ok then. We'll do something quick here and then go back to your house to get it and then my house. Oh yeah, and I'll tell him to teach you how to use it first instead of attacking you first. I'll make him promise." She spread her feet apart and placed her hands out in front of her to ready herself for her fake fight.
Hotaru mimicked Usagi's movements as she looked over at the group of kids. "Watch this guys." She turned back to Usagi. "Thanks."
"No problem. Now, use your energy to control how hard you hit." Usagi made a fist and pulled it back. She jabbed at Hotaru, who easily dodged it due to the fact that she knew that it was coming. Hotaru performed a back-flip but was met by Usagi back on the ground, who caught her and then dropped her on the ground.
To her embarrassment, Hotaru's skirt lifted up. Now, Hotaru lay on her stomach on the ground. She was about to pull her skirt down until she saw that Usagi wasn't going to attack. She wondered why she wasn't attacking again. 'What's going on? The kids wanted a fight. Why did she stop?' She looked up to Usagi, who had a very pale face as if she had just seen a ghost. "Usagi?"
Usagi had her eyes fixed on Hotaru's waist where she spotted something very strange, yet, frightening familiar. Usagi was stunned speechless. She couldn't believe what she saw. She didn't want to believe what she saw. She hoped that it was fake. She didn't know what to think if it were real. Without even speaking to the younger fighter, Usagi cautiously went nearer, never taking her eyes off of the object wrapped to Hotaru's side.
She kneeled down next to a worried Hotaru and didn't say a single word to her. She just kept her mouth completely shut. She couldn't say anything even if she had wanted to. Usagi carefully reached out to the object and firmly grabbed a hold of it. She gently tugged on it and got resistance, proving beyond her doubt that it was completely real. "Oh wow."
Horror overcame Hotaru's face as she realized that her secret was finally out. Usagi knew and there was no way to go back. She would have to leave again. The first time she had friends and she would have to leave them because of her mother. And as much as she hated it, she knew that it was for the better that they left now, which only caused the tears to come out.
Without saying a single word to Usagi, she jumped to her feet and away from Usagi's grasp. She looked back at Usagi for the last time with blurred vision from her tears. That was how she would remember her, as much as she didn't want to. She would always remember her best friends shocked by finding out her secret. Hotaru gave a quick wave good-bye to Usagi and took to the air to fly home.
A stunned Usagi quickly recovered and leapt into the air after her. She didn't know what was going on, but she was going to find out. It was obviously something that neither Hotaru nor her father wanted anyone else to know, but now Usagi knew and she wasn't going to let them get away without an explanation. This wasn't one of those things that you just let go. It was much too important for that. "Hotaru wait up! It's ok!"
Hotaru ignored Usagi as she increased her speed. She didn't have anything to say to Usagi. Her mother had warned her the dangers of revealing herself to others around her, especially the Saiyans. Now that Usagi knew, she was in grave danger. Hotaru knew that Usagi told everything thing to her father and there was no doubt that Usagi would tell him this since it was so major. 'Why did this have to happen? I should have known better than to let myself become friends with a Saiyan. But she was so nice to me and I really wanted a friend.' Hotaru mentally beat herself up as she continued to fly home, where she would probably lock herself in her room until her father were to return.
"Hotaru! Wait! Can't we at least talk about this?!" 'Oh my gosh! How did this happen? Where did she come from? What will daddy think? What will Vejita think? What will EVERYONE think?' "Hotaru please!"
They were fast approaching Hotaru's home at speeds undetectable to the eye. Hotaru made a beeline to her front-door. She ripped it open, ran in, and then quickly slammed it behind her, locking it behind her. She wiped away a stream of tears from her face and ran up the stairs to her room.
Hotaru couldn't believe that this was happening. Right when things were going great. She had friends who accepted her, who actually wanted to be around her. And now this had to happen. Her life would be ruined forever.
Usagi landed on the front porch and banged on the door. "Hotaru! Let me in! You can't hide forever! We need to talk about this! Please? You're only hurting yourself by hiding in there!" Usagi could hardly blame Hotaru for hiding. She couldn't even begin to imagine the fear that was building up inside Hotaru. That was such a big secret and so far it seemed to be held quite nicely until now. Why did things have to change now? Everything was perfect until now.
Once it was apparent that Hotaru wouldn't respond by letting her in, Usagi sat down on the front step where she would await Professor Tomoe's arrival so she could get some answers, something which she would refuse to leave without. Her curiosity was just too high to let something of this magnitude slip out of her hands.
Even though her curiosity level was dangerously high, Usagi didn't want to break into the house, nor did she want to teleport. To her, it would have been breaking the trust of Hotaru as well as her father. Something that she treasured too much to ruin, or even want to think about violating.
Usagi didn't have to wait long before Professor Tomoe's Hover Car came flying into the driveway. She couldn't have been happier to see him home so many hours early. "Professor!" She jumped to her feet and dashed to the garage, where the Hover Car was flying into. "Professor!" Only one question went through her mind over and over. 'How?' As she tried to stop herself, she skidded into the car but didn't really pay attention to the newly created pain in her stomach. That was of no concern to her at that point. Instead, she looked up into Tomoe's fearful eyes.
The Professor took one look at the confused Usagi and realized that something was drastically wrong. He knew that it had to do with his daughter, there couldn't have been anything else at that point. "What is it? Is something wrong with Hotaru?"
Usagi roughly shook her head. "No, but we need to talk." There was no time to waste, especially since her own father was expecting them both back at home soon. If they didn't show up soon, she was certain that he would go looking for them, wondering what could have been holding them up.
Tomoe was somewhat relieved by the statement, yet he knew that something was definitely wrong. He couldn't remember a time when he had seen Usagi so fear-stricken outside of a fight. "Sure." As he walked to the front door he looked around for his daughter, but couldn't find her anywhere. 'Could they have had an argument?'
~*~*~
Hotaru had her face in her pillows as she cried. She perked her head a bit when she heard the door unlocking downstairs. She knew that it was her father. She had also heard his Hover Car pull into the garage. She would know that sound anywhere. But, she could feel Usagi's energy with her father, someone she didn't particularly want to face for the fear of being shunned once again.
~*~*~
Tomoe led Usagi into the study as he took his jacket off and set it over the back of a chair that sat at a wooden desk, where he did most of his work. "What happened?"
Before Usagi could reply, Hotaru walked slowly into the room. Her face was red with tears that still flowed down her frightened face. She didn't make any eye contact with Usagi. In fact, she wouldn't even look at her. She just kept her head lowered.
The Professor took one look at his upset daughter and ran to her. He bent over and scooped her up into his comforting arms. He held her as close to him as he could. He turned to Usagi with an angry frown. "I thought you said she wasn't hurt! She obviously is! What did you do to her?!" At that moment, he wasn't sure that he liked Usagi anymore. He thought that she was different, but it was turning out that she was just like all the other kids that had ever made fun of Usagi.
Usagi took a step back from the angry father, a little hurt that he would accuse her of doing anything. "I...I..." She didn't know the words to say. She was still trying to figure it out herself, let alone tell him what happened.
Hotaru dug her nails into her father's shoulders with fear as she leaned her head against him. "She knows, Papa."
Sheer Horror entered the Professor's face as he prayed that he had just heard his little girl wrong. He remembered back to what had happened the last time someone had found out her secret. He could barely even choke out his next sentence. "Wh...what?"
Hotaru pulled away from her father's protective grasp and let her feet drop to the ground. She could sense her father's worry. It was more than her own was for he had already lost his wife to this secret, he hoped that he wouldn't have to go through yet another loss. She slowly lifted up the skirt of her GI and unwrapped what Usagi had seen. Slowly, a long brown tail unfolded from behind. In it was little streaks purple, which was a mystery to even her parents. More tears began to stream down her scared face as her tail now wagged behind her.
Usagi stared at the tail with her mouth wide open. She didn't know what to say. She didn't even know what to think. There were really no words to be spoken at that point. It was just all too overwhelming for her to take in, but, she managed to get one sentence. One very important sentence. "You're half Saiyan...?"
The Professor knew that there was no other choice but to leave again. It wasn't safe to have his daughter's true identity out, especially with what happened to her mother. He glared at the confused Usagi as he began to answer. "Yes, she is. Now that you know, you must leave."
Completely horrified at his statement, Usagi looked up to him. She couldn't imagine why he would want her to leave. "Leave? Why?" She didn't know what to do.
"I won't let you hurt her. We will go where you can't find us. I won't let anyone hurt her like her mother was. Especially by a Saiyan." He cold-heartedly pointed to the door as he wrapped his arm around his daughter's shoulders. "Now please leave, Usagi."
"But, Professor..."
"No we're leaving. Get Out. NOW!" He pulled his daughter in closer to him as she started to cry again. He hated that things had to be that way for her, but it was just the facts of life. It seemed like they were running from everyone.
Usagi didn't leave, but she did take a step back just in case he wanted to get hostile. "Sir, I'm half Saiyan, you know that. I would never hurt her. None of the Saiyans here would."
Tomoe just looked down at his crying daughter, who didn't seem to be following any of the conversation that was taking place. He looked back up to Usagi, who looked like she was also ready to cry. "It may be worse that you're Saiyan."
Usagi scrunched her face in confusion. "What? Why? What's wrong with me being a Saiyan." 'This is just too weird. What's daddy gonna think when he hears about this?'
The Professor shouted at the child with anger. He was growing weary with her stubbornness. "That's none of your business. Now just leave."
Hurt, Usagi too another step closer to the door. She was somewhat afraid of him at that point. She wasn't afraid that he could do anything to her, but she was afraid of why HE feared letting Hotaru's secret out. "Please, sir. Can't we talk about this? This is kind if important. There weren't supposed to be any other Saiyans alive."
Tomoe pulled away from his daughter and walked towards Usagi with both annoyance and anger. "I don't want to have to do anything to you, Usagi. You've been great to Hotaru, but things have changed. Now, if you don't leave, I will be forced to call your parents and if they don't do anything I'll take this up with the authorities."
Usagi didn't need anymore convincing than that to leave. "I'm sorry..." She sadly dropped her head and turned around to leave. She wished that they would cooperate, but that obviously wasn't going to happen.
Before Usagi left, Hotaru raised her power level enough to establish a small link, one that only Usagi would be able to hear. 'Usagi, I'm part Saiyan Healer. That's why Papa doesn't want other Saiyans to know about me.'
Usagi stopped in mid-step and turned around to face the Professor again, who was getting ready to take action. "She's a healer? What's wrong with that?"
The Professor was dismayed that she found out, but there was no way to make her forget now. "You're a Saiyan and you don't mind that she's a healer?"
Usagi smiled as she felt the tension on the room lighten up. "Heck no! That's so cool! I didn't know that there WERE Saiyans that could heal."
Tomoe walked back to his desk and sat down in the chair that was with it. He reached out and pulled his daughter into his lap. "You didn't know?" Usagi shook her head. She was very interested in finding out, which was obvious to him. "I guess I should explain it to you since you're obviously wanting to know why we've been keeping this such a big secret. It's only fair to you." He sighed as he looked down to his daughter, who didn't seem to mind that he was going to explain. "Healers were hated and feared throughout the Saiyan race. They were seen as weak as they didn't have any fighting ability at all nor did they wish to fight. I guess you could say that they were the peaceful ones of the race."
Usagi sat down on the floor and sat with her legs crossed as she waited for him to proceed. 'Maybe that's why Hotaru said that her mom wasn't a fighter that one day after school. Maybe her mom was a healer. Wait, that would make her mom the Saiyan.'
"As soon as a Saiyan was discovered to be a healer, they were killed on the spot so they wouldn't take up space in the population. We don't know how her mother escaped being killed, only she knew that. That was one thing she never told for fear of getting us involved in her problem."
Usagi pondered over what she had just heard as she looked at Hotaru, who was having her own problem with listening about her mother. "That's awful."
Tomoe lifted his daughter out of his lap as he stood to his feet. "Yes. We would appreciate it if you left now. Saiyans will always be Saiyans. She may be safe with you, but not the others."
Usagi jumped to her feet. "Sir, they may have been hated there, but they won't be here. My dad, whose full Saiyan, has a lot of respect for doctors and has even told me that he met a few healers in his travels and wished that he had their skills. Actually, the guardian of earth, Dende, is a healer from Namek."
The Professor raised a brow in interest as well as slight relief. "Really?"
Hotaru looked hopeful as she stepped up to join her father. "She's not lying, Papa. I can tell. She wouldn't lie about something like this." She looked at Usagi with a smile, who responded in kind.
The Professor still had his doubts but he was willing to try to make things work, for Hotaru's sake. "Ok, we won't leave, if you wanted to find us we couldn't stop you anyway. But Usagi, I want you to promise me never to tell anyone about this."
Usagi quietly gasped with shock. She couldn't figure out why he didn't want her to tell anyone else. "But..."
"Usagi, my family has been hurt because of this too much to trust others just yet. Give it time."
"Ok, but I can't keep something this big from the girls, the link won't let it. Once we hook up with a touch link, our thoughts become one."
The Professor reluctantly agreed to let them know. He knew there really was no way to stop them from knowing. "Just make sure they promise not to tell anyone. Even your parents, Usagi. I'm counting on you for this."
Usagi nodded with pride. She wouldn't let the secret out for anything. "I promise, sir. You have my word."
Hotaru looked up at her father with a half-smile. "You mean we don't have to leave? We can stay? I can still be friends with the girls?"
Professor Tomoe chuckled as he picked up his daughter and hugged her. "Yes, Hotaru. That's exactly right. We don't have to leave." With his grandest smile, he turned to look at Usagi. " I think we finally found someone who we can trust with this." He set his relieved daughter back down on the ground. "Now go run along and do whatever you were going to do before any of this happens. You still have a full night of training left."
Hotaru smiled brighter than the sun as she ran to her room., wrapping her tail around her waist again as she went. "COME ON USAG!"
Usagi giggled as she began to follow Hotaru. 'This is strange. She's a Saiyan too? No wonder why she learned so quickly. No wonder why she's so strong. But man, where did her mother come from. How did she escape from being killed right away?'
Usagi walked into Hotaru's room, where she found her student getting her staff. "Sorry that I hurt you back there when I grabbed your tail." She walked to the bed, which had a light purple bedspread covering it, and sat down. She let herself bounce on it as she waited for Hotaru to get ready.
Hotaru looked away from what she was doing so she could look at Usagi. "You didn't hurt me, Usagi." She walked to her mirror and ran a brush through her hair.
Usagi stopped bouncing on the bed. She found it odd that Hotaru would reply in such a way. "But I grabbed your tail, that always hurts."
Hotaru giggled as she walked to her bed and sat down next to her friend. "My daddy didn't know everything that my mommy did. Mommy told me a lot more than she told daddy. I know I shouldn't tell you this because mommy told me not to, but I think I should tell you. Will my secret be safe with you?" Usagi nodded as she blankly stared at her young friend. "My mommy was a Saiyan healer, as you know. I'm part Saiyan healer, just like her."
Usagi became confused. "What do you mean by that? How can you be part?"
Hotaru thought about what her mother had told her, right before her death. "Mommy told me that I had the power of healing in me. But I also had the instinct of fighting, which could overpower my healing power. But she said that I had something about me that made me want to fight even more. Something that even she couldn't explain, but she could sense it in me. Right before she died, she showed me how to use my healing powers. The first thing we did was strengthen my tail with them, just like she did with hers. She said that it deadened the pain so that it didn't hurt more than my tail. But I can still feel other stuff with it." She became quiet as she dropped her head with obvious sorrow.
Usagi couldn't empathize with Hotaru about the death of her mother for she had never suffered the death of anyone close to her, but she knew that it had to be an awful feeling. "You miss your mom, don't you?"
Hotaru nodded with a sniffle. "Daddy doesn't know how she died, but I do."
Usagi was a bit stunned by Hotaru's reply. 'What a strange family...' "What do you mean? I thought she was killed when you guys were gone."
Hotaru gulped as she remembered back to when her mother left her alone with her father. They were memories that she didn't want to think about, but she knew that it was for the better to tell Usagi. For some reason, it felt right to be telling her. "That might have been her body, but I don't think it was. After years of thinking about how mommy died and what she told me, I don't think that she died that way. I think she was either taken away and someone left a dummy behind or they really did kill her."
Usagi became more interested in what Hotaru's mother could have possibly told her. "Hotaru, what did your mom say? If you don't mind me asking, that is."
"It's ok. She knew that something was going to happen. She kept telling me over and over. She told me that she was running almost her whole life. She said that she was running away until she married Papa, then her threat finally ended. But then she sensed something big going down, when I was three."
Usagi's eyes widened with realization. 'Two years ago, I was eight. I went to the past...'
"That's when she started to teach me to heal. She also told me that because I was her daughter that I'm in danger too, but nothing has happened to me yet. But that's another reason why I wanted to learn how to fight. I wanted to be able to protect myself just in case something bad happened."
"Hotaru, who was your mom running from?" 'This is just too big to keep from daddy. How am I supposed to do it?'
"I don't remember. I was too little. I know there was more that she told me, but I can't really remember. All I know is that she was preparing me for when she left, which only made it harder on me." She tried to fake a smile as she looked up to Usagi, though there was some sincerity behind it. "It feels really good to be able to tell someone this. I haven't even been able to tell daddy because I didn't want to hurt him with the truth. Am I a liar now?"
Usagi reached out and hugged Hotaru as the tears began to spill again. "No. Of course not. This is one of those good lies. There's nothing wrong with that. You're keeping your dad safe." Usagi couldn't help but want to cry at Hotaru's misfortune. She didn't blame her for reacting to her death in the manner that she had. Hotaru had been keeping in a major secret to herself as she tried to get over her mother's disappearance, which she had been told was going to happen by the victim.
Usagi could tell that Hotaru was going to break down any moment so she decided that it was more than time to change the subject. "Hey, Hotaru? Can you show me how to heal?"
Hotaru pulled away from her friend as she tried to remember how her mother had taught her how to do it. "I think that only Saiyans with the power to heal can do it."
"Come on, it's worth a try, right? And I'll even do something for you. I'll show you that you don't need to be afraid to show what you are to the other Saiyans around."
Hotaru wasn't too stunned that Usagi would do that for her, in fact, she kind of expected her to be so kind as to help her. "Are you sure? You may get hurt by it though."
Usagi confidently nodded as she smiled. "Yep. I'm sure. My family will understand. I know for sure that they'll like your gift." 'I just hope that Vejita won't go crazy over this. I know that he still thinks he's the prince. I hope he doesn't try to kill Hotaru.'
Hotaru launched herself into Usagi's arms with excitement. The fear and dread that had clutched her heart for the past half hour had completely disappeared. She knew that Usagi would understand. "I'm glad I can trust you, Usagi. And yes, I'll try to teach you how to heal." She took a big breath of air in as she stood up and grabbed her staff. "I think we should get to your house, Usagi. Your daddy is waiting for us."
Usagi stood with a smile. "You're right Hotaru. Now that it's out, it's going to be harder for you to hide it from dad. Don't act like you've got your mind on other things, but if you do, just say you're thinking about your mom. He should believe that, I hope. Now when we get there, I'll tell the girls while you train. And act totally normal so he doesn't suspect anything. Don't be quick to answer questions but don't stall either. He has a habit of being able to detect nervousness and any type of lying. Believe me, I've never really be able to pass a lie through him once in my life. He also knows when you're hiding something. It's going to take a lot for us to pull this off, but we can give it the best we've got. Oh yeah, don't look him straight in the eye either."
"Why? I thought you were supposed to look adults in the eyes when you lied."
"Not with my dad. He knows that kids never look adults in the eyes when they talk. If you look him in the eyes then he knows that you're lying. Look at his face, just not his eyes. You can even act like you've got your attention on something else, but not all the time. He'll know that something's up if you never look at him."
"Wow, Usagi. You sure know a lot about fooling daddy."
Usagi giggled. "I've lived with him my whole life. I had to think up strategies to at least hide stuff from him if I couldn't lie."
"Sounds like a plan. I'll make sure I don't sound like something happened. What are you going to tell him when we get there? We're going to be late."
Usagi groaned as she stood up. "You're right! We would have to lie..." She evilly smirked as an idea flashed through her head. "We'll tell him the truth."
Hotaru widened her eyes with shock as well as fear. "What?! Usagi! We can't tell him yet!"
Usagi continued to smirk. "Hang in there with me. All we have to do is tell him that something came up so we had to stay at your house for a while." She giggled. "We're not lying then. Something came up, we had to stay here and that's the truth. And if he asks then we're in trouble." Usagi knew that that probably wouldn't work. He would be able to tell that it was something big. She knew him too well to think that that would work, but she needed to tell Hotaru something to ease her fears. "Come on. Let's go. I'm sure Lucky can't wait to see you again."
( Wow, I close one door and immediately open another one, don't I? Trust me with the Saiyan thing, k? You'll see what it's about sooner or later. Well, what did you think? Is it ok? Gotta go. Ja. )
Usagi flew to Hotaru's school after school to pick her up while her friends flew to her house. They would have come with her except for the fact that they just couldn't wait to go to her house to see the puppy, which they hoped Hotaru's father would let stay at his house. He was still their only hope.
Hotaru uncomfortably waited for Usagi to come to her. She was debating on meeting her half-way for the fact that all of the kids in her school suddenly seemed overly interested in her. Instead of making fun of her, they seemed to want her to put on a show of her skills for them, which she responsibly refused. Even now as she waited for Usagi to come, kids were watching, from afar, hoping that they would be lucky enough to see her in action.
Every so often she would glare at them and they would scatter away for they didn't want to become her victim, but soon after they would come back just in case she decided to put on a show for them. She excitedly looked up to see her Sensei flying to her at full speed. She jumped to her feet with a giant smile. "Usagi!"
The kids, who were watching Usagi, jumped with interest. They hoped that the arrival of the new fighter would mean that they would get a fantastic show.
Usagi landed just in front of Hotaru and smirked at the group of spectators. "So you're having the same problem we did, huh? Why don't we really give them something be stunned about."
Surprised, Hotaru turned to Usagi. "You mean you really want to show them what we can do?"
Usagi giggled. "Of course. All we're going to do is fake fighting. We don't want to waste your energy because my dad is going to teach you how to use your weapon today, if you want that is."
Hotaru smiled brighter as she jumped with happiness. "Of course I want to learn. I've been waiting for a long time to be able to learn."
"Ok then. We'll do something quick here and then go back to your house to get it and then my house. Oh yeah, and I'll tell him to teach you how to use it first instead of attacking you first. I'll make him promise." She spread her feet apart and placed her hands out in front of her to ready herself for her fake fight.
Hotaru mimicked Usagi's movements as she looked over at the group of kids. "Watch this guys." She turned back to Usagi. "Thanks."
"No problem. Now, use your energy to control how hard you hit." Usagi made a fist and pulled it back. She jabbed at Hotaru, who easily dodged it due to the fact that she knew that it was coming. Hotaru performed a back-flip but was met by Usagi back on the ground, who caught her and then dropped her on the ground.
To her embarrassment, Hotaru's skirt lifted up. Now, Hotaru lay on her stomach on the ground. She was about to pull her skirt down until she saw that Usagi wasn't going to attack. She wondered why she wasn't attacking again. 'What's going on? The kids wanted a fight. Why did she stop?' She looked up to Usagi, who had a very pale face as if she had just seen a ghost. "Usagi?"
Usagi had her eyes fixed on Hotaru's waist where she spotted something very strange, yet, frightening familiar. Usagi was stunned speechless. She couldn't believe what she saw. She didn't want to believe what she saw. She hoped that it was fake. She didn't know what to think if it were real. Without even speaking to the younger fighter, Usagi cautiously went nearer, never taking her eyes off of the object wrapped to Hotaru's side.
She kneeled down next to a worried Hotaru and didn't say a single word to her. She just kept her mouth completely shut. She couldn't say anything even if she had wanted to. Usagi carefully reached out to the object and firmly grabbed a hold of it. She gently tugged on it and got resistance, proving beyond her doubt that it was completely real. "Oh wow."
Horror overcame Hotaru's face as she realized that her secret was finally out. Usagi knew and there was no way to go back. She would have to leave again. The first time she had friends and she would have to leave them because of her mother. And as much as she hated it, she knew that it was for the better that they left now, which only caused the tears to come out.
Without saying a single word to Usagi, she jumped to her feet and away from Usagi's grasp. She looked back at Usagi for the last time with blurred vision from her tears. That was how she would remember her, as much as she didn't want to. She would always remember her best friends shocked by finding out her secret. Hotaru gave a quick wave good-bye to Usagi and took to the air to fly home.
A stunned Usagi quickly recovered and leapt into the air after her. She didn't know what was going on, but she was going to find out. It was obviously something that neither Hotaru nor her father wanted anyone else to know, but now Usagi knew and she wasn't going to let them get away without an explanation. This wasn't one of those things that you just let go. It was much too important for that. "Hotaru wait up! It's ok!"
Hotaru ignored Usagi as she increased her speed. She didn't have anything to say to Usagi. Her mother had warned her the dangers of revealing herself to others around her, especially the Saiyans. Now that Usagi knew, she was in grave danger. Hotaru knew that Usagi told everything thing to her father and there was no doubt that Usagi would tell him this since it was so major. 'Why did this have to happen? I should have known better than to let myself become friends with a Saiyan. But she was so nice to me and I really wanted a friend.' Hotaru mentally beat herself up as she continued to fly home, where she would probably lock herself in her room until her father were to return.
"Hotaru! Wait! Can't we at least talk about this?!" 'Oh my gosh! How did this happen? Where did she come from? What will daddy think? What will Vejita think? What will EVERYONE think?' "Hotaru please!"
They were fast approaching Hotaru's home at speeds undetectable to the eye. Hotaru made a beeline to her front-door. She ripped it open, ran in, and then quickly slammed it behind her, locking it behind her. She wiped away a stream of tears from her face and ran up the stairs to her room.
Hotaru couldn't believe that this was happening. Right when things were going great. She had friends who accepted her, who actually wanted to be around her. And now this had to happen. Her life would be ruined forever.
Usagi landed on the front porch and banged on the door. "Hotaru! Let me in! You can't hide forever! We need to talk about this! Please? You're only hurting yourself by hiding in there!" Usagi could hardly blame Hotaru for hiding. She couldn't even begin to imagine the fear that was building up inside Hotaru. That was such a big secret and so far it seemed to be held quite nicely until now. Why did things have to change now? Everything was perfect until now.
Once it was apparent that Hotaru wouldn't respond by letting her in, Usagi sat down on the front step where she would await Professor Tomoe's arrival so she could get some answers, something which she would refuse to leave without. Her curiosity was just too high to let something of this magnitude slip out of her hands.
Even though her curiosity level was dangerously high, Usagi didn't want to break into the house, nor did she want to teleport. To her, it would have been breaking the trust of Hotaru as well as her father. Something that she treasured too much to ruin, or even want to think about violating.
Usagi didn't have to wait long before Professor Tomoe's Hover Car came flying into the driveway. She couldn't have been happier to see him home so many hours early. "Professor!" She jumped to her feet and dashed to the garage, where the Hover Car was flying into. "Professor!" Only one question went through her mind over and over. 'How?' As she tried to stop herself, she skidded into the car but didn't really pay attention to the newly created pain in her stomach. That was of no concern to her at that point. Instead, she looked up into Tomoe's fearful eyes.
The Professor took one look at the confused Usagi and realized that something was drastically wrong. He knew that it had to do with his daughter, there couldn't have been anything else at that point. "What is it? Is something wrong with Hotaru?"
Usagi roughly shook her head. "No, but we need to talk." There was no time to waste, especially since her own father was expecting them both back at home soon. If they didn't show up soon, she was certain that he would go looking for them, wondering what could have been holding them up.
Tomoe was somewhat relieved by the statement, yet he knew that something was definitely wrong. He couldn't remember a time when he had seen Usagi so fear-stricken outside of a fight. "Sure." As he walked to the front door he looked around for his daughter, but couldn't find her anywhere. 'Could they have had an argument?'
~*~*~
Hotaru had her face in her pillows as she cried. She perked her head a bit when she heard the door unlocking downstairs. She knew that it was her father. She had also heard his Hover Car pull into the garage. She would know that sound anywhere. But, she could feel Usagi's energy with her father, someone she didn't particularly want to face for the fear of being shunned once again.
~*~*~
Tomoe led Usagi into the study as he took his jacket off and set it over the back of a chair that sat at a wooden desk, where he did most of his work. "What happened?"
Before Usagi could reply, Hotaru walked slowly into the room. Her face was red with tears that still flowed down her frightened face. She didn't make any eye contact with Usagi. In fact, she wouldn't even look at her. She just kept her head lowered.
The Professor took one look at his upset daughter and ran to her. He bent over and scooped her up into his comforting arms. He held her as close to him as he could. He turned to Usagi with an angry frown. "I thought you said she wasn't hurt! She obviously is! What did you do to her?!" At that moment, he wasn't sure that he liked Usagi anymore. He thought that she was different, but it was turning out that she was just like all the other kids that had ever made fun of Usagi.
Usagi took a step back from the angry father, a little hurt that he would accuse her of doing anything. "I...I..." She didn't know the words to say. She was still trying to figure it out herself, let alone tell him what happened.
Hotaru dug her nails into her father's shoulders with fear as she leaned her head against him. "She knows, Papa."
Sheer Horror entered the Professor's face as he prayed that he had just heard his little girl wrong. He remembered back to what had happened the last time someone had found out her secret. He could barely even choke out his next sentence. "Wh...what?"
Hotaru pulled away from her father's protective grasp and let her feet drop to the ground. She could sense her father's worry. It was more than her own was for he had already lost his wife to this secret, he hoped that he wouldn't have to go through yet another loss. She slowly lifted up the skirt of her GI and unwrapped what Usagi had seen. Slowly, a long brown tail unfolded from behind. In it was little streaks purple, which was a mystery to even her parents. More tears began to stream down her scared face as her tail now wagged behind her.
Usagi stared at the tail with her mouth wide open. She didn't know what to say. She didn't even know what to think. There were really no words to be spoken at that point. It was just all too overwhelming for her to take in, but, she managed to get one sentence. One very important sentence. "You're half Saiyan...?"
The Professor knew that there was no other choice but to leave again. It wasn't safe to have his daughter's true identity out, especially with what happened to her mother. He glared at the confused Usagi as he began to answer. "Yes, she is. Now that you know, you must leave."
Completely horrified at his statement, Usagi looked up to him. She couldn't imagine why he would want her to leave. "Leave? Why?" She didn't know what to do.
"I won't let you hurt her. We will go where you can't find us. I won't let anyone hurt her like her mother was. Especially by a Saiyan." He cold-heartedly pointed to the door as he wrapped his arm around his daughter's shoulders. "Now please leave, Usagi."
"But, Professor..."
"No we're leaving. Get Out. NOW!" He pulled his daughter in closer to him as she started to cry again. He hated that things had to be that way for her, but it was just the facts of life. It seemed like they were running from everyone.
Usagi didn't leave, but she did take a step back just in case he wanted to get hostile. "Sir, I'm half Saiyan, you know that. I would never hurt her. None of the Saiyans here would."
Tomoe just looked down at his crying daughter, who didn't seem to be following any of the conversation that was taking place. He looked back up to Usagi, who looked like she was also ready to cry. "It may be worse that you're Saiyan."
Usagi scrunched her face in confusion. "What? Why? What's wrong with me being a Saiyan." 'This is just too weird. What's daddy gonna think when he hears about this?'
The Professor shouted at the child with anger. He was growing weary with her stubbornness. "That's none of your business. Now just leave."
Hurt, Usagi too another step closer to the door. She was somewhat afraid of him at that point. She wasn't afraid that he could do anything to her, but she was afraid of why HE feared letting Hotaru's secret out. "Please, sir. Can't we talk about this? This is kind if important. There weren't supposed to be any other Saiyans alive."
Tomoe pulled away from his daughter and walked towards Usagi with both annoyance and anger. "I don't want to have to do anything to you, Usagi. You've been great to Hotaru, but things have changed. Now, if you don't leave, I will be forced to call your parents and if they don't do anything I'll take this up with the authorities."
Usagi didn't need anymore convincing than that to leave. "I'm sorry..." She sadly dropped her head and turned around to leave. She wished that they would cooperate, but that obviously wasn't going to happen.
Before Usagi left, Hotaru raised her power level enough to establish a small link, one that only Usagi would be able to hear. 'Usagi, I'm part Saiyan Healer. That's why Papa doesn't want other Saiyans to know about me.'
Usagi stopped in mid-step and turned around to face the Professor again, who was getting ready to take action. "She's a healer? What's wrong with that?"
The Professor was dismayed that she found out, but there was no way to make her forget now. "You're a Saiyan and you don't mind that she's a healer?"
Usagi smiled as she felt the tension on the room lighten up. "Heck no! That's so cool! I didn't know that there WERE Saiyans that could heal."
Tomoe walked back to his desk and sat down in the chair that was with it. He reached out and pulled his daughter into his lap. "You didn't know?" Usagi shook her head. She was very interested in finding out, which was obvious to him. "I guess I should explain it to you since you're obviously wanting to know why we've been keeping this such a big secret. It's only fair to you." He sighed as he looked down to his daughter, who didn't seem to mind that he was going to explain. "Healers were hated and feared throughout the Saiyan race. They were seen as weak as they didn't have any fighting ability at all nor did they wish to fight. I guess you could say that they were the peaceful ones of the race."
Usagi sat down on the floor and sat with her legs crossed as she waited for him to proceed. 'Maybe that's why Hotaru said that her mom wasn't a fighter that one day after school. Maybe her mom was a healer. Wait, that would make her mom the Saiyan.'
"As soon as a Saiyan was discovered to be a healer, they were killed on the spot so they wouldn't take up space in the population. We don't know how her mother escaped being killed, only she knew that. That was one thing she never told for fear of getting us involved in her problem."
Usagi pondered over what she had just heard as she looked at Hotaru, who was having her own problem with listening about her mother. "That's awful."
Tomoe lifted his daughter out of his lap as he stood to his feet. "Yes. We would appreciate it if you left now. Saiyans will always be Saiyans. She may be safe with you, but not the others."
Usagi jumped to her feet. "Sir, they may have been hated there, but they won't be here. My dad, whose full Saiyan, has a lot of respect for doctors and has even told me that he met a few healers in his travels and wished that he had their skills. Actually, the guardian of earth, Dende, is a healer from Namek."
The Professor raised a brow in interest as well as slight relief. "Really?"
Hotaru looked hopeful as she stepped up to join her father. "She's not lying, Papa. I can tell. She wouldn't lie about something like this." She looked at Usagi with a smile, who responded in kind.
The Professor still had his doubts but he was willing to try to make things work, for Hotaru's sake. "Ok, we won't leave, if you wanted to find us we couldn't stop you anyway. But Usagi, I want you to promise me never to tell anyone about this."
Usagi quietly gasped with shock. She couldn't figure out why he didn't want her to tell anyone else. "But..."
"Usagi, my family has been hurt because of this too much to trust others just yet. Give it time."
"Ok, but I can't keep something this big from the girls, the link won't let it. Once we hook up with a touch link, our thoughts become one."
The Professor reluctantly agreed to let them know. He knew there really was no way to stop them from knowing. "Just make sure they promise not to tell anyone. Even your parents, Usagi. I'm counting on you for this."
Usagi nodded with pride. She wouldn't let the secret out for anything. "I promise, sir. You have my word."
Hotaru looked up at her father with a half-smile. "You mean we don't have to leave? We can stay? I can still be friends with the girls?"
Professor Tomoe chuckled as he picked up his daughter and hugged her. "Yes, Hotaru. That's exactly right. We don't have to leave." With his grandest smile, he turned to look at Usagi. " I think we finally found someone who we can trust with this." He set his relieved daughter back down on the ground. "Now go run along and do whatever you were going to do before any of this happens. You still have a full night of training left."
Hotaru smiled brighter than the sun as she ran to her room., wrapping her tail around her waist again as she went. "COME ON USAG!"
Usagi giggled as she began to follow Hotaru. 'This is strange. She's a Saiyan too? No wonder why she learned so quickly. No wonder why she's so strong. But man, where did her mother come from. How did she escape from being killed right away?'
Usagi walked into Hotaru's room, where she found her student getting her staff. "Sorry that I hurt you back there when I grabbed your tail." She walked to the bed, which had a light purple bedspread covering it, and sat down. She let herself bounce on it as she waited for Hotaru to get ready.
Hotaru looked away from what she was doing so she could look at Usagi. "You didn't hurt me, Usagi." She walked to her mirror and ran a brush through her hair.
Usagi stopped bouncing on the bed. She found it odd that Hotaru would reply in such a way. "But I grabbed your tail, that always hurts."
Hotaru giggled as she walked to her bed and sat down next to her friend. "My daddy didn't know everything that my mommy did. Mommy told me a lot more than she told daddy. I know I shouldn't tell you this because mommy told me not to, but I think I should tell you. Will my secret be safe with you?" Usagi nodded as she blankly stared at her young friend. "My mommy was a Saiyan healer, as you know. I'm part Saiyan healer, just like her."
Usagi became confused. "What do you mean by that? How can you be part?"
Hotaru thought about what her mother had told her, right before her death. "Mommy told me that I had the power of healing in me. But I also had the instinct of fighting, which could overpower my healing power. But she said that I had something about me that made me want to fight even more. Something that even she couldn't explain, but she could sense it in me. Right before she died, she showed me how to use my healing powers. The first thing we did was strengthen my tail with them, just like she did with hers. She said that it deadened the pain so that it didn't hurt more than my tail. But I can still feel other stuff with it." She became quiet as she dropped her head with obvious sorrow.
Usagi couldn't empathize with Hotaru about the death of her mother for she had never suffered the death of anyone close to her, but she knew that it had to be an awful feeling. "You miss your mom, don't you?"
Hotaru nodded with a sniffle. "Daddy doesn't know how she died, but I do."
Usagi was a bit stunned by Hotaru's reply. 'What a strange family...' "What do you mean? I thought she was killed when you guys were gone."
Hotaru gulped as she remembered back to when her mother left her alone with her father. They were memories that she didn't want to think about, but she knew that it was for the better to tell Usagi. For some reason, it felt right to be telling her. "That might have been her body, but I don't think it was. After years of thinking about how mommy died and what she told me, I don't think that she died that way. I think she was either taken away and someone left a dummy behind or they really did kill her."
Usagi became more interested in what Hotaru's mother could have possibly told her. "Hotaru, what did your mom say? If you don't mind me asking, that is."
"It's ok. She knew that something was going to happen. She kept telling me over and over. She told me that she was running almost her whole life. She said that she was running away until she married Papa, then her threat finally ended. But then she sensed something big going down, when I was three."
Usagi's eyes widened with realization. 'Two years ago, I was eight. I went to the past...'
"That's when she started to teach me to heal. She also told me that because I was her daughter that I'm in danger too, but nothing has happened to me yet. But that's another reason why I wanted to learn how to fight. I wanted to be able to protect myself just in case something bad happened."
"Hotaru, who was your mom running from?" 'This is just too big to keep from daddy. How am I supposed to do it?'
"I don't remember. I was too little. I know there was more that she told me, but I can't really remember. All I know is that she was preparing me for when she left, which only made it harder on me." She tried to fake a smile as she looked up to Usagi, though there was some sincerity behind it. "It feels really good to be able to tell someone this. I haven't even been able to tell daddy because I didn't want to hurt him with the truth. Am I a liar now?"
Usagi reached out and hugged Hotaru as the tears began to spill again. "No. Of course not. This is one of those good lies. There's nothing wrong with that. You're keeping your dad safe." Usagi couldn't help but want to cry at Hotaru's misfortune. She didn't blame her for reacting to her death in the manner that she had. Hotaru had been keeping in a major secret to herself as she tried to get over her mother's disappearance, which she had been told was going to happen by the victim.
Usagi could tell that Hotaru was going to break down any moment so she decided that it was more than time to change the subject. "Hey, Hotaru? Can you show me how to heal?"
Hotaru pulled away from her friend as she tried to remember how her mother had taught her how to do it. "I think that only Saiyans with the power to heal can do it."
"Come on, it's worth a try, right? And I'll even do something for you. I'll show you that you don't need to be afraid to show what you are to the other Saiyans around."
Hotaru wasn't too stunned that Usagi would do that for her, in fact, she kind of expected her to be so kind as to help her. "Are you sure? You may get hurt by it though."
Usagi confidently nodded as she smiled. "Yep. I'm sure. My family will understand. I know for sure that they'll like your gift." 'I just hope that Vejita won't go crazy over this. I know that he still thinks he's the prince. I hope he doesn't try to kill Hotaru.'
Hotaru launched herself into Usagi's arms with excitement. The fear and dread that had clutched her heart for the past half hour had completely disappeared. She knew that Usagi would understand. "I'm glad I can trust you, Usagi. And yes, I'll try to teach you how to heal." She took a big breath of air in as she stood up and grabbed her staff. "I think we should get to your house, Usagi. Your daddy is waiting for us."
Usagi stood with a smile. "You're right Hotaru. Now that it's out, it's going to be harder for you to hide it from dad. Don't act like you've got your mind on other things, but if you do, just say you're thinking about your mom. He should believe that, I hope. Now when we get there, I'll tell the girls while you train. And act totally normal so he doesn't suspect anything. Don't be quick to answer questions but don't stall either. He has a habit of being able to detect nervousness and any type of lying. Believe me, I've never really be able to pass a lie through him once in my life. He also knows when you're hiding something. It's going to take a lot for us to pull this off, but we can give it the best we've got. Oh yeah, don't look him straight in the eye either."
"Why? I thought you were supposed to look adults in the eyes when you lied."
"Not with my dad. He knows that kids never look adults in the eyes when they talk. If you look him in the eyes then he knows that you're lying. Look at his face, just not his eyes. You can even act like you've got your attention on something else, but not all the time. He'll know that something's up if you never look at him."
"Wow, Usagi. You sure know a lot about fooling daddy."
Usagi giggled. "I've lived with him my whole life. I had to think up strategies to at least hide stuff from him if I couldn't lie."
"Sounds like a plan. I'll make sure I don't sound like something happened. What are you going to tell him when we get there? We're going to be late."
Usagi groaned as she stood up. "You're right! We would have to lie..." She evilly smirked as an idea flashed through her head. "We'll tell him the truth."
Hotaru widened her eyes with shock as well as fear. "What?! Usagi! We can't tell him yet!"
Usagi continued to smirk. "Hang in there with me. All we have to do is tell him that something came up so we had to stay at your house for a while." She giggled. "We're not lying then. Something came up, we had to stay here and that's the truth. And if he asks then we're in trouble." Usagi knew that that probably wouldn't work. He would be able to tell that it was something big. She knew him too well to think that that would work, but she needed to tell Hotaru something to ease her fears. "Come on. Let's go. I'm sure Lucky can't wait to see you again."
( Wow, I close one door and immediately open another one, don't I? Trust me with the Saiyan thing, k? You'll see what it's about sooner or later. Well, what did you think? Is it ok? Gotta go. Ja. )