The days following Naraku's attack were strange. Lord Sesshomaru's mood had fouled, which was quite a feat considering it was never good to begin with. Jaken's gratitude towards Hotaru had waned, but he still remained oddly civil. He never complained about her anymore, and had stopped picking fights with her. She almost missed arguing with him. She still found him annoying, but it felt rude to dislike him simply because he was annoying. She preferred having justification for disliking him. Kohaku was still extremely guilt-ridden. No matter how many times Hotaru assured him she was fine, she could tell he was still having a hard time looking at her without thinking about what he did. Even Rin was more melancholy than usual.

Things slowly began to go back to normal, at least amongst the kids. Rin was the first to bounce back. It only took a day before she was back to making up nonsense songs and playing games. Hotaru was incredibly grateful for Rin's resilience. Soon Kohaku started coming around, smiling more and actually meeting Hotaru's eyes during conversations.

Unfortunately, it seemed like their group was attracting more and more attention. Hotaru was sure Naraku had survived her attack. As much as she wanted to believe she had killed him, her instincts told her that she had only weakened him. Soon it became clear that not only had he survived, but he had spread the knowledge of Kohaku's jewel shard around. They could hardly go a day without some demon coming out of the woodwork to make an attempt on Kohaku's life. Most of these demons were treated as mild annoyances by Lord Sesshomaru, who dispatched them quickly and effectively, as if he were swatting a fly. Still, Hotaru felt constantly on edge. She began transforming into Sailor Saturn at the beginning of each morning and remaining in her guardian form right up until she was ready to go to sleep each night. Spending so much time in her guardian form was terribly uncomfortable. She had to constantly monitor how much energy she was expending, but she felt much more confident having her weapon with her at all times.

There were still some moments where she could let her guard down, however. One night, they had the good fortune of making camp by a natural hot spring.

"Can we take a bath?" Rin asked excitedly, when she had made the discovery. She didn't wait for a reply. She quickly stripped out of her clothes and sank into the water. She let out a squeal of delight. "Hotaru, Kohaku, come on!"

Hotaru and Kohaku exchanged glances. Both of them turned red. They were technically both young enough that bathing together wasn't considered improper yet, but they were old enough for it to start getting awkward.

"I'll keep watch." Kohaku told her.

"Good idea." Hotaru agreed. She waited for him to disappear through the bushes before she reverted into her civilian form and began to undress. She hadn't had a proper bath since she was assaulted by the demon handmaidens at Lord Sesshomaru's mother's castle. She had accumulated a lot of sweat, dirt, and dried blood on her skin and in her hair since then.

She let out a sign as she sank into the hot water. It felt like stepping into a hot tub. She lay back and let her hair swirl around her.

"I forgot how much I missed bathing." Hotaru said.

"I know." Rin agreed. "My brothers and I used to swim in the river almost every day when I was younger. I miss it."

Hotaru lifted her head to look at her young friend.

"You had brothers?" Hotaru had never even considered the fact that Rin must have had a life prior to traveling with Lord Sesshomaru.

Rin's face darkened a little.

"They were killed by bandits, along with my parents." Rin replied. She clearly didn't want to talk anymore about it.

"I miss my parents, too." Hotaru told her. "They aren't dead, I just can't get to them."

"They're in the other world, right?" Rin asked. Hotaru blinked at Rin in surprise. How did Rin know Hotaru wasn't from this world? Hotaru had never told her. "I heard Kagome and the others talking the night you got hurt. They said you come from a different world. The world Kagome comes from."

Hotaru knew Rin wasn't stupid. Sometimes it was easy to write her off because of her age and innocence, but Rin was smart and quick witted. She listened and paid attention to everything around her.

It makes sense. Hotaru reflected, Even with Lord Sesshomaru looking out for her, she wouldn't have survived long with this kind of life if she wasn't observant.

"Yeah," Hotaru finally replied. "They're in the other world."

"What's it like?" Rin asked, her eyes were wide. "The other world."

"Well…" Hotaru said, kicking her feet near the surface of the water to make ripples. "For one thing, we have bathtubs in our houses that we can fill with hot water, which comes out of a spout on the wall. So we can take a bath every night if we want."

"Really?"

"Really. We live in cities instead of villages. With tall buildings called skyscrapers that are made out of metal and glass. There are a lot more people and a lot fewer demons. People move around a lot faster because we have trains and cars. Which are kind of like carts and wagons, but they aren't pulled by an animal and they go really fast. All kids go to school where we all learn how to read and write. Everything is a lot busier, a lot noisier."

"Wow." Rin said. "Do you miss it?"

Hotaru nodded. A pang of homesickness overwhelmed her. She missed more than she could have ever fathomed. Tiny things, like riding her bike and mint ice cream. She missed familiar things, like her bedroom and the park by her house. She missed convenient things, like instant noodles and air conditioning. She even missed things that she hated, like homework and gym class.

"More than anything else, I miss my parents," Hotaru said, an intense wave of loneliness crashed over her. "and my friends. I wonder where they are, what they're doing, whether they're worrying about me. I wish I could tell them that I'm okay."

"Kagome goes back and forth." Rin pointed out. "Maybe you'll learn how to go back and forth, too."

Hotaru didn't answer. Doubts racked Hotaru's mind. She watched a couple of fireflies dance past her in the air. Rin seemed to understand.

"I'm sorry that you miss your parents." Rin finally said. "But is it okay that I'm still glad to have you here with us?"

Hotaru gave a little smile.

"Yes, it's okay." Hotaru assured Rin.

Hotaru, herself, had been on the other end of a similar conversation not too long ago. Back at home, Chibiusa had once confessed to Hotaru the conflicted feelings she often had about spending time in the 21st century. She had talked about how much she missed Crystal Tokyo and her life as a princess, but how much she loved all of her friends and being a normal kid. Now Hotaru understood that split. Even if she could go home, it would break her heart to leave Rin and Kohaku behind. They had become so important to her. Hotaru wished she could ask for Chibiusa's advice now. It was ironic that the two friends now had more in common than ever before and they would never see each other again.

"Can you tell me more about your world?" Rin asked.

Hotaru nodded. She spent the remainder of their bath telling Rin about amusement parks, airplanes, art museums, race tracks, shopping malls, and everything else that seemed so ordinary in 2001. Rin listened with her eyes wide, asking constant questions. They ended up spending far too much time in the water and when they got out both of their skin was badly pruned.