Short Intrude

Worlds away, through time and space laid another group of people, with their own troubles to deal with. Their troubles however were heavily entwined with those of Heero Yuy and his friends. For in the serene backdrop of a well kept temple were proceedings of the gravest importance. What an unusual picture to behold, for normally such senshi meetings would be followed by bickering between Rei and Usagi. Normally along would such meetings would be discussion about school and everyday life. Yet Usagi was uncharacteristically serious, and Minako, who was normally light-hearted, was unusually grim. The topic of discussion was two-fold; first, they must deal with this brutal new enemy. An enemy that was cowardly enough to attack an opponent who was harmless and surrounded by innocent bystanders. Second, they could no longer ignore the fact that Hotaru had become a dear loved one to Heero Yuy. Never in their dreams could they have imagined that Hotaru could be loved by someone more than them.

Usagi took control of the meeting for the first time, "She has gone too far, we either confront her soon, or wait till someone ends up seriously hurt or worse."

The normally air-headed girl's statement startled everyone. This was a side of Usagi people rarely (if ever) saw. Yet the attack that had injured Relena had badly shaken everyone. They looked at each other, before giving their own opinions on the next course of action.

I don't know what I have done

To deserve this little one.

There is blood on my hands,

That drips into the deep darkness.

While she lives as life's light.

She had been sleeping for hours now, and Heero had not moved from her side for even a second. If it weren't for the strong, steady beating of her heart he might have feared the worse. Despite this reassuring knowledge that her heart was strong there was still a bit of fear. Never in his dreams would he or his fellow pilots believe they were blessed with such an extraordinary little girl. Though they knew she was unusually bright, they themselves were unusually bright as children. Yet no one, no one would have believed that a child could heal. Logically speaking it made no sense, it was a paradox like everything else about Hotaru. Why create a soldier that could heal? Heero wondered, did he really want to know? They had tried to dig through Hotaru's mysterious origins in hopes of finding a way to help her. If they did find out about how she was created what would be gained? What would be lost? What Heero feared above all else, was losing his little girl.

Light shatters,

Like mirrors shards,

Reflecting all the dark,

Deeping fears

Of being lost again.

"The problem is we don't know where she is," Ami argued, "Unless she opens a big enough portal for us to detect."

"We have to try something," Haruka argued back heatedly, "Before she hurts Hotaru's family or worse yet Hotaru."

"Hotaru's family? Haruka, you cannot be really suggesting that Hotaru stays with them. What would become of Crystal Tokyo?" Setsuna asked softly.

"What would become of her family?" Michiru asked back.

What could be said? They were striving for the place they had all known as Crystal Tokyo, but was it fair to sacrifice another's happiness to do so? Hotaru had already lost so much and had been reborn more times than any other senshi alive. Would it be fair to her?

Angels in heaven looking,

Talking,

Arguing,

Discussing,

It is this father they are judging.

"What did Sally say?" Relena asked as she quietly walked into the room.

Heero looked up, "She seems fine, just sleeping. Sally can't come up with a real good reason for what had happened. Only that, it is a side effect of being created."

"But she'll be fine, that's all that matters."

"Yes…" Heero brushed strands of hair away from Hotaru's face.

He would do anything and everything to keep Hotaru safe and sound. Even if it meant going to hell and back again. It was so strange, Heero could not place exactly when this change had come over him. When did he take the role of a father so seriously? When did this little firefly steal away his heart? What thing was for certain, he would do anything for a chance to prove, whatever higher power blessed him with Hotaru that the right choice was made. That he would be the best provider, guardian, father to this child.

A prayer to you,

You, who might listen,

Listen to the prayer of a man:

Don't take my little girl away,

Let her stay another day.

"Setsuna," Usagi turned to the Guardian of Time, "You know best about time and space, see what can be done for Hotaru," her eyes soften, "I-I don't want anyone to be separated. I want no hearts broken."

"In the mean time we can see about this Queen," Rei said the title with some distaste in her mouth.

We make no promises,

We will give no hope,

And yet…

We will try to fulfil a prayer

We will try to fulfil a dream.

Author's Note:

Note to Self: One, posting after Thanksgiving does not mean half an hour before the day after Thanksgiving ends. Yes, that is what I am doing, I am very bad….

Two, never ever, ever write poetry again… That really cheesy bit done in between are lines of poetry I came up with on a lark, however it made scene switching far easier and I couldn't find a good song to go with it. Ironically, the next chapter also has a lot of scene switching too; I like to do that a lot for some strange reason.

Don't mind me, I like to experiment a lot.