Title: Hotaru's Love

Chapter: 16

Author: Ice1taru

Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon. I do not own Kylie Minogue or the song Love at First Sight.

AN: Yeah, last chapter. Alright! It's funny that the duration of this story is like a week and in reality, it took me like two years to write it. Ha Ha.

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Hotaru's Love by Ice1taru

Hotaru drew the curtains aside and opened her balcony doors. She walked onto her balcony and leaned on the railing. The fresh morning breeze whipped her hair around and she hugged herself.

She felt secure arms surround her waist.

"You're up."

"I woke up and you weren't there," Shino mumbled, hurt.

"Sorry."

"It's alright. You can make it up to me."

"Yeah?"

"Come back to bed." Shino said, placing gentle kisses on her neck.

"Umm..."

He carried her back inside.

* * * * * * * *

"I wonder what they're doing," Amber said, concerned.

"Don't," Lina warned, "Last time I walked in on them, they were about to have their first kiss. What are so worried about anyway? Hotaru can take care of herself."

"Hmm," Amber said, not convinced.

Ry rolled her eyes and popped her gum.

Lina and Amber both looked at her.

After a moment's silence, Lina said, "What now?"

"Nothing," Ry sighed.

Lina rolled her eyes and changed the channel. Amber stared at Ry thoughtfully.

"Dude, there's nothing on!" Lina exclaimed.

"Duh, let's go do something," Amber suggested.

"What do you wanna do?" Lina asked.

"Let's go to the mall!" Amber jumped up excitedly.

"Yay," Ry mumbled, popping her gum again, "the mall."

"Killjoy," Lina muttered.

They all got dressed and headed to the mall for an all-day shopping spree.

* * * * * * * *

"Hotaru," Shino whined, "Don't leave me."

Hotaru rolled her eyes, and walked to her closet. "I'm just gonna change my clothes. I'm getting tired of this outfit."

"Are you saying you're gonna change in here?"

"Yeah."

"Like take off your clothes and stuff?"

"Yeah."

"Cool."

"Yeah. I can change as soon as you leave."

Shino sweat dropped.

* * * * * * * *

Amber walked out of the dressing room. "Well?"

"It's electric blue," Lina said, shocked.

"Yeah, and?" Amber countered.

"ELECTRIC BLUE!" Lina said, "I bet you'll glow in the dark!"

Amber rolled her eyes, "What do you think, Ry?"

"Huh?" Ry came out of her reverie, "yeah, I agree."

Amber sweat dropped and Lina rolled her eyes.

* * * * * * * *

"Hotaru," Shino said, "dammit, you've been in there forever."

"Relax, give me a minute," Hotaru called out.

She had finally picked an outfit and Sino was waiting outside her room for her. He was getting restless.

"Open the door, open the door," Shino muttered.

Hotaru opened the door and went back into her bathroom to fix her hair.

"Finally," Shino said and followed her inside.

"You're so impatient," Hotaru laughed.

Shino looked at Hotaru. Immediately, he admitted to himself that he had the most beautiful girlfriend in town. She wore a deep pink lace spaghetti strap top. And light blue boot-leg low-rise jeans with black Reeboks. She wore her hair up.

"Okay, let's go!" Hotaru exclaimed excitedly, grabbing her purse.

"Where are we going?" Shino asked.

"Oh, we're not going anywhere?" Hotaru pouted.

"Eh, well, if you wanna go somewhere that bad, I guess we'll go," Shino said right away, "uhh."

Hotaru sighed, "No, it's okay. I mean, whatever."

Shino laughed, "Can we get together tonight?"

"Um, sure."

"Cool, coz I gotta get home and change and take care of some business," Shino said, offhandedly.

"You're leaving?" Hotaru pouted again.

"Yeah, but only for a little while baby," Shino said and cupped her face in his hands, "We'll see each other tonight. Drop by at eight, okay?"

"Okay," Hotaru mumbled, reluctant.

They kissed and Shino departed.

* * * * * * * *

"We're baaaack," Lina called out as she and Amber walked in. Ry, sulking, followed shortly.

"Hey guys!" Hotaru got up, as they entered the living room.

"Where have you been?" She asked.

"Shopping!" Amber exclaimed, holding up shopping bags.

"Without me?" Hotaru asked, pretending to be upset.

"Well, you WERE busy," Ry pointed out, resentful.

"What's that suppose to mean?" Hotaru said.

"Locked door. Complete silence. In your room for like two hours. With a guy. I think you know what it means, Hotaru," Ry said.

"I thought you said you weren't going to be BITTER about Shino and I," Hotaru retorted.

"I'm not," Ry snapped.

"Doesn't sound like it," Hotaru mumbled, looking away.

"Whatever, I don't have to take this!" Ry stormed upstairs.

"What the hell was that?" Lina said, after a long silence.

Amber shrugged. Hotaru still looked upset.

Lina sighed. All this arguing was so petty and unnecessary. Couldn't Ry and Hotaru see that a guy wasn't worth all this trouble?

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Hotaru stood in front of Shino's door once more. She had changed again. This time, she wore a spaghetti-strap red dress that went four inches above her knees and black boots. Her hair was wavy this time, and she wore black hoop earrings. She also wore clear lip gloss and smoky blue mascara. She looked somewhat inadequately dressed for walking down the street alone at night. This was due to the fact that Lina had helped her pick out an outfit. But, just in case, Hotaru also wore a simple black leather jacket.

Finally, she knocked on the door. At once, the door opened to reveal a smiling Shino. He wore a simple wife beater and black pants. He stared in awe for a moment at her revealing outfit but caught himself and she rushed into his arms. They stood there awhile, just holding each other and enjoying each other's presence. Finally, Shino leaned down and kissed her gently on the lips. When they broke apart, He led her into the living room. It was brightly lit and there was a table set for two. There was a vase set in the middle of the table, with one single red rose in it. Hotaru gasped and looked at Shino, who smiled and told her that this was to make up for the dance that they had missed the night before.

They embraced once more before sitting down for a nice, quiet dinner. No words were exchanged for fear of ruining the moment.

After dinner, they watched Titanic and Hotaru debated spending the night with Shino. Alone.

"Hotaru?"

"Hmm?"

"Spend the night with me," Shino whispered into her ear and wrapped his arms around her.

"Ohh, here's my favorite part!" Hotaru exclaimed.

Shino smirked and turned off the tv, "Hotaru?"

"Umm, uhh. I.. Have to call Lina and tell her to uhh.. Cover for me," Hotaru stuttered and ran to the bathroom.

Shino sighed and reached into his pocket. He toyed with the small packet in his pocket and licked his lips anxiously.

THE END

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Just for this chapter, (and the story in general I guess) I want to draw attention to the following lyrics from the song Love at First Sight by Kylie Minogue:

"It was love at first sight

'cause baby when I heard you

For the first time I knew

We were meant to be as one"

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AN: Oh yeah... hell yeah. Finally I finished. The only thing I'm concerned about is the ending. I don't think I ended it well.. Damn insecurities...........

The One and Only *~Ice1taru~*