Hotaru walked away from Kohaku. There was nothing else for them to talk about right now. She needed time to think. She was sure he needed time to think as well. Setsuna had taught her that sometimes the best way to be there for someone was to give them their space. Hotaru went over to where Lady Kikyo was treating the injured man. Kohaku's sister was there as well.

"I can help," offered Hotaru. She wanted to help save this man's life, but more importantly, she wanted something to keep her mind off the conversation she had just had. She couldn't begrudge Kohaku or Kikyo for their decision to fight Naruku this way. After all, who was she to judge? Sailor Saturn, out of all people, understood that sometimes people had to make sacrifices for the greater good. But that didn't make the information hurt any less, and it didn't mean she was able to accept it just yet. She needed time to process the fact that the boy she had grown so close to over the past few weeks, the friend that she deeply cared about, would soon die. The thought of losing him was too much to handle all at once.

"Allow me to purify the miasma first." Kikyo told her. "Then you can heal the damage it inflicted."

Hotaru nodded. She looked over at Kohaku's sister. She looked just as strong, powerful, and kind as Kohaku had described her to be. She was very pretty, even with her features marred by grief and worry. She clearly loved the injured monk very much. Her eyes were trained on his slacken face, as if she were counting his breaths.

"Your name is Sango, right?" Hotaru asked.

The woman looked up and blinked in surprise. Tears still clung to her long lashes, and her eyes were still red and swollen, but she seemed to have stopped actively weeping.

"Yes…" replied Sango, "I'm sorry, who are you?"

"My name's Hotaru. Kohaku talks about you a lot."

"Oh." Sango still seemed too disorientated to properly engage in conversation.

"Lady Kikyo and I will save your friend." Hotaru promised.

"Thank you." Sango replied. She wiped her eyes and looked over to her brother across the clearing. "I need to talk to Kohaku." She looked down at the unconscious man again, running her fingers through his hair. She seemed torn between going to her brother or staying with the monk.

"This man is not going to die tonight." Hotaru said. "I promise you. I will let you know when he wakes up."

Sango met Hotaru's eyes for a moment. She must have trusted in Hotaru's certainty because she gave a small appreciative nod and stood up. When she left Hotaru looked back at the unconscious monk.

"So who is he? And what's wrong with him?"

"His name is Miroku." Lady Kikyo explained. "Naraku cursed his family generations ago. He has a wind tunnel in his hand that pulls in everything in its path. As you saw, he wields this curse as a powerful weapon. However, everything he pulls in taints his body, little by little until eventually it will tear him apart. Today he sucked in a lot of poisonous miasma."

Hotaru had sensed the man was hanging precariously on the edge of life and death. She wondered how far he would have pushed himself today had his friend not interfered.

"How is Kohaku?" Kikyo asked.

"He's alright." Hotaru replied.

"And you?"

Hotaru didn't respond right away. The priestess looked up at her momentarily.

"I did not wish for you to learn about our plan that way."

"Then you should have told me sooner." Hotaru tried her hardest not to snap, but it was difficult.

Kikyo dipped her head in shame. "We should have. For that I am sorry, Hotaru."

"Whose idea was it? Yours or his?"

"His. He came to me."

Hotaru nodded. Somehow she wasn't surprised. Of course this would be his idea. Stupid, noble idiot.

"And you agreed."

"Yes," Kikyo said. "I agreed."

There was silence for a few minutes.

Then Kikyo spoke again. "I do not wish for his death anymore than you do. If we lived in a kinder world, I would be trying to save him and heal his pain."

"I have never known any world to be kind." replied Hotaru darkly.

They sat in silence for a long time after that. The soft glow of Kikyo's healing hands and the light of the campfires casting long shadows through the clearing. Hotaru felt a chill deep in her bones that she knew had nothing to do with the cold night air.

Hotaru looked around the clearing. She found who she was looking for. The girl who had walked with them back from the mountains. Sango's friend. The friend "with the strange kimono" that Kohaku had told her about. Hotaru instantly recognised her. The shocking contrast of a 21st century school uniform in the 14th century was hard to miss. It was ironic that she should find a possible link to the future now. She had vowed that she would stay with Kohaku until the end, and she intended to honor that vow. However, she also knew she had to start planning for what she would do after Kohaku and Lady Kikyo were gone.

Hotaru let her transformation fade back into her school uniform and approached the girl in modern clothes. The modern girl was gathering mushrooms and berries with the help of a tiny child that looked like it could possibly be some sort of squirrel demon or maybe a very young fox demon.

"Oh, hello." The modern teenager said. She surveyed Hotaru's clothes for the first time. "Where did you find those clothes, if you don't mind me asking."

"A shopping mall in Tokyo." replied Hotaru.

The older girl's eyes immediately sparked with interest and curiosity, but most importantly, recognition. The child looked from Hotaru to the older girl and back again.

"My name's Kagome Higurashi." The older girl said.

"Mine's Hotaru Tomoe. When are you from?"

"2001." Kagome replied.

Hotaru's knees felt weak, in spite of everything that had transpired today she had found someone who might be able to provide her with a way home. The exhaustion of the day finally hit her. She felt faint.

"Are you okay?" The squirrel child asked in concern.

"I'm fine." Hotaru managed to say. She sat down before she fell down. "I just was starting to think I would never see another person from my time again." She tried to keep her excitement at bay, for all she knew Kagome was trapped just as she was. "How did you get here?"

"There's a well at my family's shrine. It exists at this time, too. It connects the two times. Is that how you got here?"

Hotaru shook her head.

"I don't know anything about a well." She said. "But you're saying you use it to go back and forth whenever you want?"

"Yes." Kagome replied. "If you didn't come through the well, how did you get here?"

"I don't know." said Hotaru. She decided it was best not to try and explain the Sailor Guardians or her mother's position as protector of time. "And I don't know how to get home."

"Wow…" the demon child said in awe. "This is the first time I've ever met someone else from Kagome's world!"

"So far, only Inuyasha and myself have managed to travel through the well, but if you belong in 2001 then it will probably let you through. I will be heading home again in a few days, we can try going through together."

Hotaru could have cried at the offer. For the first time she had a hope of going home. Real, tangible hope. There was a real chance she would see her parents again. As terrible as this day had been, there was now a sign of a life after.

"I can't go home yet." Hotaru told Kagome. "I promised Kohaku I would stay with him until he gave up his shard. I can't let him face that alone."

"You can't let him give up his shard at all!" Kagome replied.

"It's not my decision."

"But…"

"It's not my decision." Hotaru repeated. "I wish it were. But I'm not going to fight him. He's scared enough, even if he doesn't show it, but he's at peace with the path he has chosen. I'm not going to take that from him."

"Inuyasha has been training like crazy to defeat Naraku without having to take Kohaku's life. He just needs a little more time." Kagome's eyes were pleading. She didn't understand. Hotaru could tell this girl had a good heart, but she didn't understand the world the same way people like Hotaru did. She was naive. She reminded Hotaru of Usagi. Homesickness hit her harder than ever.

"I hope he succeeds." Hotaru said. "But I have seen what Naraku can do. Everyday he lives this world is in danger. I can't put my faith in someone I don't know."

"Kohaku will die!" It was the young demon that piped up this time. "You two looked so close. Don't you care at all?"

"Of course I care. But you seem to think death is the worst thing that can happen to someone. It isn't. Kohaku knows that."

Kagome looked like she was going to argue some more, but Hotaru was done. She had gotten the information she needed. There was a way home. The specifics could be worked out later. Now the conversation was starting to take up energy Hotaru didn't have. She stood up and returned to Lady Kikyo.

"Did you find what you were looking for?" The priestess asked.

"Yes." Hotaru replied.

Hours passed. The others seemed to have settled into sleep. Hotaru sat diligently by Lady Kikyo's side as the priestess purified the monk's body of Naraku's poison. Finally, the man let out a moan of pain and his eyes fluttered open. "Lady Kikyo..." He said.

The glow left Kikyo's hands. "Be still. You have taken in a lot of miasma. I purified it the best that I could, but the damage it did was extensive."

"I can heal him now that the miasma has been purified." Hotaru said.

"Who are you?" Miroku asked.

"A friend." said Hotaru simply. She placed her hands on the man's chest. She could feel the damage in his muscles, a steady line of decay crawling up his arm and creeping into his lungs. It nearly touched his heart. He had probably escaped death by mere seconds. The corrosion was set deep into the tissues, it felt unlike anything Hotaru had ever healed.

Miroku looked over at the group by the fire, Hotaru could guess who he was looking for. "Sango's alright." Hotaru told him as she guided her energy through his body. "She's just worried about you. She cares about you very much."

"I care about her, too."

Hotaru finished repairing the damage. "There. I've healed your wind tunnel as much as I could. It won't prevent it from killing you eventually, but it should give you a few more years."

Miroku sat up and looked at his hand in amazement. "How did you...?"

"You should get some rest, Hotaru." Lady Kikyo said. "We will leave in a few hours."

Hotaru nodded and went to find a place to sleep. Kohaku was asleep near the bonfire, leaning against his sister who had her arm wrapped protectively around him. Kagome was nearby sleeping in a sleeping bag with the little fluffy tailed demon curled up in her arms. Hotaru found her own patch of ground near the fire and fell asleep almost immediately.

Author's Note: Hope you're all still staying safe and healthy. Please review.