Sailor Moon and its characters do not belong to me. Warnings: possibly non-canon pairings, possible OOC, minimal hints of shoujo ai Author's Note: I have reached the conclusion that this entire thing was probably spawned by me reading too much Marmalade Boy.

Plots and Consequences
By Rapunzel

Chapter 3: Mother and Daughter

"Setsuna-mama?"

Setsuna paused, her hairbrush frozen above her hair. "What is it, Hotaru?"

Closing the door quietly behind her, Hotaru shuffled quietly into the room and over to the bed where Setsuna was sitting. Sitting down next to her mother, she leaned gently against the older woman. Surprised, Setsuna accepted the offer and put her arms around the girl in a hug. Hotaru accepted displays of affection without much fuss, but she rarely initiated them.

"Hime-chan?" She let the questioning note enter her voice.

"Setsuna-mama," the child began, "why are you sticking with Seiya?"

Setsuna blinked. After having been interrogated by Haruka and Michiru already, she had not expected Hotaru to start too. "Why, Hotaru-chan, do you not like Seiya?"

"I think he's using you," she answered.

Stiffening slightly, Setsuna said cautiously, "What makes you say that?"

"Because I heard him talking to you the first day he came over."

Setsuna froze in horror.

Feeling her mother's reaction, Hotaru twisted her neck to peer up into Setsuna's face. "Setsuna-mama?"

"Have you mentioned this to anyone else?"

"No," Hotaru answered.

Setsuna let out a shaky breath of relief. She was more or less committed to the scheme now, and the thought of anyone, especially Usagi, finding out about it was a terrifying prospect.

"Setsuna-mama," Hotaru went on, "why are you doing this?"

Sighing heavily, she told her, "Because I'm lonely."

"I don't understand," Hotaru said. "You shouldn't be lonely. You have Haruka-papa and Michiru-mama and me."

"I know, Hime-chan," Setsuna said wearily. "But sometimes that's just not enough."

"I don't understand," Hotaru repeated.

"No, I know you don't." She sighed again. "It's a grow-up thing."

Hotaru made a face and Setsuna chuckled. "I know you hate it when we say that, but it really is."

"Try me," Hotaru said.

"Alright," Setsuna said. "Do you think that your Haruka-papa could be happy if Michiru were to go away? I mean really happy."

"No," Hotaru answered at once.

"Even if she still had you and me here to keep her company?"

"But Haruka-papa really loves Michiru-mama."

"Exactly," Setsuna said.

Hotaru considered that and all its implications for a moment. "But Usagi will be sad if Mamoru leaves her."

"I know," Setsuna said burying her face in her hands. "That's what stopped me before. I hoped that with Seiya... But I know it will make her sad."

Hotaru stared at her. The question hung unspoken in the air. If you know it will make her sad, then why are you doing it?

"I guess you thing I'm selfish," Setsuna said softly. "I am, I suppose."

Hotaru didn't answer, but continued to look at her surrogate mother, her gaze focused inward as though she were contemplating something.

"I won't ask you not to tell anyone," Setsuna said quietly. "That wouldn't be fair. Just because I've turned traitor doesn't mean you have to as well."

Nodding silently, Hotaru rose from her place and moved to the door. Opening it, she stood for a moment, silhouetted in the light from the hall, before closing the door and walking quietly to her room.

Behind her, Setsuna set down her hairbrush and drew her knees to her chest in a gesture of hopeless despair.

~*~*~

"Setsuna, are you feeling quite all right?"

Starting, Setsuna turned to face Michiru. "Yes, of course."

Michiru frown at her, but didn't press the issue. Instead, she turned to Haruka and began conversing with her in low tones.

They were all sitting at a long table in a small tea shop, and most of the other girls were chatting happily. It was another get-together proposed by Usagi, and everyone was there, including Seiya, who sat to her right. Incidentally, Usagi was sitting on his other side, and Mamoru right next to her. Setsuna thought that she was beginning to detect some tension in that quarter, but she wasn't sure. She herself was having trouble meeting anyone's eyes.

On her left, where Michiru sat between her and Haruka, she heard the murmuring end in curses and a mutter that sounded like "That jerk!" She had no doubt that they were talking about Seiya. They were putting her despondency down to jealousy because Seiya was still focused on Usagi, and had been for over a half an hour.

In reality, her listlessness had much more to do with the dark haired child sitting next to Haruka at the end of the table. Hotaru hadn't said anything to Usagi yet, but Setsuna figured that it was only a matter of time. She didn't feel anger, only a sick sense of helpless dread. After all, who could fault the child for being more loyal to her princess than her mother was?

"...ne, Setsuna-san?"

"Huh?" Setsuna quickly brought her thoughts back to earth with a bump.

"I said," Usagi repeated, "that it's great that Seiya-kun will be spending so much time on Earth with us."

"Oh, yes, of course." Setsuna agreed politely. Her thoughts, however, ran along quite a different line. /Oh, I wish that creep had never come back to Earth at all!/

Usagi, perhaps sensing the insincerity of her reply, sent her a worried look. "Setsuna-san, are you feeling all right?"

"Fine," Setsuna said dully, swirling her tea in its cup and watching the effect absentmindedly.

In reality, she was not fine. The afternoon was beginning to seem tortuously long. She almost wished that Hotaru would just tell Usagi already and get it over with. At the same time, she wished that she wouldn't. She didn't want to face the shame, the rebuke from her fellow soldiers, and Usagi's reaction. Usagi wouldn't hate her, she was fairly sure of that. But she would give her that sad, disappointed look... Setsuna shuddered. She'd give anything to avoid seeing that look.

For someone who was supposed to keep track of time, she had a lot of trouble that afternoon. Minutes seemed to stretch on forever, but when she considered that each one might be her last moment of grace, they flew through her fingers. Conversations went on around her, tea cups were emptied and refilled, and she let it all go by, waiting for Hotaru to speak.

But Hotaru did not speak.

The afternoon progressed, and still the child sat and said nothing. Finally, everyone got ready to leave. Setsuna kept waiting for Hotaru to go up to Usagi, or ask to speak to her alone, but she didn't. Instead, she simply said goodbye to everyone in turn, including Seiya. Haruka and Michiru were not so polite; they both openly snubbed him.

As she sat in the backseat of Haruka's car on the drive back to the house, Setsuna found herself sending frequent glances in Hotaru's direction. She was thoroughly confused.

~*~*~

Knocking on the door, she waited for Hotaru's quiet call of "Come in," before entering the bedroom. As she closed the door behind her, she turned to face the child.

"Hotaru-chan, you didn't say anything to Usagi."

"No, I didn't," Hotaru agreed.

"But why?" Setsuna asked. "I didn't ask you to keep silent for me..."

"Oh, Setsuna-mama," Hotaru said, making it sound as though Setsuna were the silliest person alive. "You don't have to ask me."

Setsuna stared at the girl, dumbfounded. Hotaru seemed to be displaying more loyalty to her than she was to the princess. Setsuna shook her head dismissively; that was impossible. While she was certain the girl loved her, duty was duty, and Hotaru recognized that.

"Why..." she began, but stopped. She wasn't entirely sure what she wanted to ask.

Hotaru took advantage of her confusion by walking up and throwing her arms around Setsuna's waist. "It's okay," she said. "I have a plan.

"Oh no. Not another plot." Still, Setsuna returned the hug, wondering what in the world Hotaru was up to.

Hotaru made a face at her. "I'm not going to tell you what it is," she said. "But don't worry, Setsuna-mama. Everything will turn out okay. You'll see."

As she stood hugging her daughter close to her, Setsuna could almost believe it.

Tbc

Author's ramblings: For those of you who are actually following this piece of insanity, don't expect another chapter any time soon. I'm going on vacation for a couple of weeks, and I probably won't post the next chapter until I get back. Don't worry, though; I'm not going to abandon it any time soon.