Late that night, Hotaru stood by her window, staring out. She couldn't decide how to go about her impossible plan. She didn't even know where she was going. "Maybe I should get Ruka and Michi to help me." But as she looked around her room hopelessly, she knew that wouldn't work. Adults didn't always understand things the way children did, and they might try to stop her. "I'm a Sailor Soldier, and I'm old enough to make up my own mind!" she decided. She did, however, think it would be a nice gesture to leave a note. Otherwise, her family would worry. She pulled out a slip of paper and started a note to her adopted parents.

Dear Haruka-Papa and Michiru-Mama,

I've gone to find Setsuna-Mama. I'm not sure where I'm going or how I'll do it, but I promise I'll bring her home so we can all be a family again. Should be back before supper.

Much Love,

Taru

Hotaru nodded as she looked over her note. She was satisfied that anything could be accomplished before supper. But she figured she had better get a move on. Setsuna would be missing them and waiting for someone to come find her. What if she was lost and couldn't find her way home? She needed Hotaru.

Hotaru lifted Setsuna's Time Staff and pulled the Garnet Orb off the top. The red jewel twinkled merrily in the light from her firefly-shaped nightlight. "Even if she is dead," Hotaru whispered, blinking back tears, "there's always a way around it. I, as the soldier of death, should know this. And so do you, don't you? You know where Setsuna is. Please help me find her?" She dragged her schoolbag out of the closet and dropped the talisman inside it. She then reached out her hand and summoned her glaive to her grasp. "I may need this." She slipped on her shoes and her warm black and violet sweater and headed through the silent house.

Anyone driving down the street that night would have received a very strange picture - a young girl, small for her age, and oddly enough carrying a very large and dangerous looking scythe, walking down the street at two o'clock in the morning. Strange. Then again, this was Tokyo. Hotaru didn't take into account how funny she looked, as she was so focused on her objective. Upon leaving the house, she had decided to head in the direction of the park, as that seemed to be a supernatural breeding ground. Chibi-Usa often departed for the 30th Century from the park, so it seemed like a good starting place.

Once at the park, Hotaru stood in the very center and squatted down, pulling the Garnet Orb out of her bag. She hugged it, and rested her cheek against the globe, surprised that it was warm and not cold as she had expected. "Give me a clue, please!"

She suddenly felt a rough hand grasp her arm and she was spun around, causing her to loose her balance and land hard on her bottom. A large man hovered over her and he shook her by the arm. "Tell me where it is! Tell me!" he yelled at her. He smelled of alcohol and he was very unkempt as if he might have been homeless, and he was obviously quite confused. "TELL ME!"

Hotaru, terrified of the dark stranger, screamed loudly and thrashed. The man held onto her arm relentlessly, his nails digging through the material of her sweater. As she tried to pull away, the sign of Saturn flared up on her forehead and she closed her eyes hard, screaming at the top of her lungs. The man was hit by the resulting heavy power blast, which lifted him and sent him crashing into a heap some yards away. When he lifted his head again, he was confronted by a very vicious-looking little girl who was pointing a sharp scythe at him. He cowered in sudden terror. "LEAVE ME ALONE!" screamed Hotaru, before she disappeared in a flash of garnet light.