Once her feet were securely on the floor again, Uranus set Saturn down and pushed the girl behind her. "Stay back. I don't know what we'll find here."

Saturn took Neptune's hand and said softly, "It's dead. Everything here is dead."

Neptune shook with nerves as she peered through the heavy mists. "I hate this place. I've always hated it. I'd take a trip to hell and back if it would bring back Setsuna. And then I'd find a way to seal up this Gate for all eternity!"

Uranus nodded, showing that she agreed.

It was slow progress towards the door, which loomed ahead. Uranus kept one arm extended in front of Neptune, Saturn, and Sailor Moon, in case of a sudden blow or attack. Finally, they reached the front of the Gates and stopped. Everything was silent. "It's locked up tight," said Uranus, examining the door. "And I don't see Pluto anywhere."

"Something's sticky under my feet," Sailor Moon suddenly remarked, looking down. The mists concealed the ground from immediate view, but there was definitely a tacky substance.

Saturn covered her mouth with realization, and started to scream. Neptune immediately jerked Saturn practically off her feet as the mists cleared, and fell backwards with her, away from the puddles on the ground. "God!" screamed Neptune, "Blood!"

They had been standing in sticky, drying blood. The floor in front of the door was covered in it. Uranus leapt out of the way in horror, pulling Sailor Moon by one arm. "A bloodbath..." she muttered, shaking with horror.

"But where's her body?" cried Sailor Moon.

"We can't even have a funeral for her! We can't even grieve properly!" This came from Neptune.

Saturn let out shriek after shriek. Her calm had finally broken.

"Get her out of here!" yelled Uranus. "It was a mistake to bring her!"

Saturn scrambled to her feet and ran through the mists. "Bring her back! Please bring her back!" she cried, her words echoing oddly in the dead space. She ignored Neptune's cries for her to stop running. She ran through time, not caring where she ended up. She had lost one mother once, a mother she hardly remembered. She couldn't loose another. Saturn only stopped running when she tripped and fell onto the hard misty ground, and there she lay, wishing she could go wherever Setsuna was.

***

Hotaru woke up with a jerk and yelled out. "Shh..it's all right," spoke a familiar voice. Michiru was beside her in Hotaru's bed. They were at home.

"How did we get here?" Hotaru asked. "Where's Ruka, and Usagi?"

Michiru brushed Hotaru's bangs off her forehead. "Usagi is home. She's preparing to tell the other girls. And Haruka is sleeping. She was so afraid that she had driven you mad by taking you to the Gates, that she went a little mad herself. I'm letting her have some time alone. And I wanted to be with you."

"But I ran so far. How did you find me?" Hotaru curled up tight next to Michiru.

"We found this." Michiru lifted something from her side of the bed. It was Pluto's Time Staff. "This was all we could find of her..." She swallowed over the huge lump in her throat. "...But even in death she looks out for you. We took the Garnet Orb off the top and it floated right to you, leading us." Michiru hugged Hotaru tightly. "She loved you so much, Taru. She wouldn't have left you for anything in the world. You know, we could hardly keep her off you when you were a baby." Michiru laughed through tears. "She pretended to be inconvenienced when we left her alone to watch you, but we have so many pictures of her on her back with you balanced on her knees, bouncing you while you giggled. She played with you constantly once she figured out you wouldn't break. I think she loved you more than life itself."

Hotaru swallowed. "I know she did."

Michiru gave a shuddering sigh and sat up. "Would you like something to eat? You need to keep your strength up. I could make you some noodles."

"That sounds good." Once Michiru left the room, Hotaru sat up and hugged her pillow. She murmured, practically under her breath, "I know how much she loved me. That's why I can't just let her die. This isn't how the story ends."

By the time Michiru called her to eat, Hotaru had made a drastic and impossible decision: Somehow, she was going to find Setsuna.