Mercurial > moonlitnights
comparison old/stories/toujours.txt @ 2:fc00894c1d4a moonlitnights
[svn r3] moved all the bad stuff to 'old'
| author | rlm |
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| date | Fri, 19 Feb 2010 20:53:12 -0500 |
| parents | |
| children |
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| 1:dbe144217c71 | 2:fc00894c1d4a |
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| 1 This is my first Sailor Moon fic. Not sure exactly how good it is, but I | |
| 2 figured I might as well submit it for being read. I took a few liberties | |
| 3 with the characters, not very many though, IE giving the already sickly | |
| 4 Hotaru asthma. Time frame is of normal, Hotaru being 12-13. You can email me | |
| 5 at Saturn_Knight@hotmail.com with comments/questions. | |
| 6 | |
| 7 | |
| 8 | |
| 9 "Toujours" | |
| 10 By Saturn Knight | |
| 11 | |
| 12 Forcing herself along the icy street, near midnight, fighting the cold, | |
| 13 which gnawed at her with relentless force, Hotaru pulls the purple sweater | |
| 14 around her tighter; though it did nothing to keep the bitter caress of the | |
| 15 wind from violating her body. In the back of her mind, playing like a broken | |
| 16 record, the question 'Why did I agree to come to America!?' made her think | |
| 17 of her warm, safe bed back home. 'Home…' Hotaru said to herself, just as the | |
| 18 first snow began to fall, fluttering gently from the sky and landing on her | |
| 19 shoulder. Turning to look at it, her body shaking violently from the cold, | |
| 20 she frowned, wondering where she was, where were the others, and why did bad | |
| 21 things always happen to her? | |
| 22 "Because you're the Soldier of Death…that's why," she mumbled to herself, | |
| 23 turning her gaze to the sky as the snow picked up, now falling regularly. A | |
| 24 shuddering breath trailed into the sky, mingling with the frigid air before | |
| 25 finally succumbing to the relentless chill of the night. "God, it's | |
| 26 beautiful…" The faint light seeping through the clouds backlit the scene to | |
| 27 perfection, something no artist could ever replicate. Tearing her gaze from | |
| 28 the sky, back down to the snow covered ground, Hotaru felt fear rising in | |
| 29 the back of her throat…she had been walking for the good part of an hour, | |
| 30 and had come across nothing more than bare trees, rocks, and now snow. | |
| 31 "I wanna go home…" she said to herself, the simple act of talking causing | |
| 32 another plume of vapor to rise from her lips. Though her hands were numb, | |
| 33 the muscles ached under her skin with every movement. She was very glad now | |
| 34 that had she listened to Haruka's advice, on wearing her snow boots when she | |
| 35 went out into the cold, otherwise, she would have lost the ability, and the | |
| 36 will, to walk long before. Then she sneezed… a single, violent sneeze. The | |
| 37 sudden loss of breath began a coughing fit that drove her to the ground, the | |
| 38 snow crunching under her weight as she went down to her knees … Reaching | |
| 39 into her pocket for her inhaler, she shakily threw the top off it and took a | |
| 40 breath as best as she could and tried to hold it. Forcing herself not to | |
| 41 cough as the world spun, she exhaled quickly and repeated, her body giving | |
| 42 violent spasms from her refusal to cough. | |
| 43 Unable to hold her fit any longer, she surrendered to her body and began | |
| 44 coughing violently, trying to stand only caused the world to black out for a | |
| 45 moment. Staggering, fighting with all the strength she could muster, but she | |
| 46 was at war with something she could never beat; no matter how hard she | |
| 47 tried, no matter how strong her will. She was fighting herself. As her body | |
| 48 hit the ground, her eyes looked up to the sky as the snow continued to fall, | |
| 49 making her already-numb face sting anew with the ice that was now settling | |
| 50 in. As her body gave into shock, she felt the world slowly start to slip | |
| 51 away from her conscious mind. Her last coherent thought as she looked to the | |
| 52 sky, and it's dangerous beauty, was "It's hard to believe something so | |
| 53 beautiful could be so deadly…" then all was darkness. | |
| 54 | |
| 55 "I'm worried about Hotaru," Chibi Usa said to Usagi, as they sat in their | |
| 56 hotel room in Maine. "She should have been back a long time ago." Chibi sat | |
| 57 with her back against the bed, with Usagi behind her, brushing out her pink | |
| 58 hair. "Do you think she's ok?" She twisted her body to look at Usagi, who | |
| 59 was too busy watching the American soap opera on TV to pay much attention. | |
| 60 "USAGI!" | |
| 61 "What?! Huh?" Usagi jumped, literally, as Chibi yelled, just about falling | |
| 62 off the bed and onto the floor. "What now?" she blushed light red, | |
| 63 embarrassed that she wasn't paying attention. Her own hair was let | |
| 64 completely down, not in the usual dual ponytails. "I'm sorry… What did you | |
| 65 say Chibi?" | |
| 66 "UGH, you never listen!" Chibi took the remote and promptly switched off | |
| 67 the TV, tossing the remote under the bed where she believed Usagi couldn't | |
| 68 get it. Turning her eyes to Usagi, who was already on all fours, halfway | |
| 69 under the bed attempting to fish the remote out, she shouted as loudly as | |
| 70 she could, "USAGI!!" This caused Usagi to jump again, hitting her head on | |
| 71 the under board of the bed, with a yelp and a wince, she quickly worm her | |
| 72 way out, with the remote of course. | |
| 73 "OW! What, Chibi Usa? WHAT?" Usagi's eyes were watering from the sting of | |
| 74 the pain. "What is so important?" Reaching out her right hand to gingerly | |
| 75 touch the fresh bump, her left hand extended with the remote to switch the | |
| 76 TV back on, but met with a slap from Chibi's hand, knocking the remote away. | |
| 77 "It's HOTARU! She's late! She said she'd be back 2 hours ago." Chibi | |
| 78 glanced at the clock over Usagi's shoulder, "I'm worried about her…she | |
| 79 doesn't know this place, WE don't even know this place…it's cold outside, | |
| 80 and snowing, and it's dark, and it's lonely, an--" | |
| 81 "…And you worry too much…" Usagi rolled her eyes and glanced longingly at | |
| 82 the remote. | |
| 83 "SOMEBODY around here has gotta worry. The only thing you worry about is | |
| 84 how you look to Mamou Chan, and your shows on the TV!" Chibi stood, being | |
| 85 short enough to look the sitting Usagi in the eye, "Hotaru is late…she's | |
| 86 normally on time, unlike some other senshi I could name… Aren't you | |
| 87 worried?" This struck a chord with Usagi, and she was about to protest, but | |
| 88 as she moved to grab the remote from the floor, her eyes wandered to the | |
| 89 window. There was roughly a foot of snow blanketing the ground, and the | |
| 90 dark, thick clouds had suffocated the faint light that the moon provided. | |
| 91 "Yeah, she's ok…" Usagi said, more in an effort to convince herself, rather | |
| 92 than Chibi Usa, who was now at the windowsill, on her tip-toes peeking out | |
| 93 from the 10th floor room. "Just stay off the phone in case she has to call | |
| 94 and ask for our help." Almost as if on cue the phone rang, and both girls | |
| 95 looked at each other. Before the end of the second ring, Chibi had vaulted | |
| 96 over the bed and tore the phone receiver off the hook and, placed it to her | |
| 97 ear. Usagi wasn't too far behind her, trying to maintain a bit of dignity, | |
| 98 rather than throwing herself on the bed she had recently been crawling | |
| 99 under. | |
| 100 "Hotaru?" Chibi said, hopefully, but was greeted with the voice of a man on | |
| 101 the other end. | |
| 102 "Uh…no, this is Lieutenant Grey of the Maine PD. We found a girl out in a | |
| 103 run down part of Oak Street, off the highway. She was unconscious, and | |
| 104 covered in snow. She had a card key to this hotel, and this room. Purple | |
| 105 hair, about five fe--" | |
| 106 "HOTARU!!" Chibi shrieked, dropping the phone on the floor, her face going | |
| 107 pale as she heard. Usagi quickly picked up the phone, placing it to her ear. | |
| 108 "Hotaru is that you?" Usagi said into the phone, not sure what she was | |
| 109 supposed to hear, but thought it would be bad news. She sighed, gazing to | |
| 110 Chibi was sitting on the floor with her knees to her chest crying like the | |
| 111 world was going to end. | |
| 112 "No….This is Lieutenant Grey, of the Maine PD. A patrol had located a girl | |
| 113 lying in the snow near the highway…we believe it's a friend of yours, since | |
| 114 she had the key to this room in her pocket." The voice paused a moment, | |
| 115 "She's currently at Memorial Hospital, south of Main Street." | |
| 116 "Oh Hotaru…." Usagi reached down and placed her hand on Chibi's shoulder. | |
| 117 "How do we get there from the hotel? The hotels on…" Usagi grabbed the pad | |
| 118 off the desk near the phone, with the little pencil they provide, "It's on | |
| 119 Greenway parkway." | |
| 120 | |
| 121 | |
| 122 Arriving at the hospital, via the car Usagi had rented for their vacation, | |
| 123 miraculously in one piece, in spite of the horrid driving conditions, the | |
| 124 two entered the warm hospital and headed directly for the information desk. | |
| 125 The sterile, cold feeling of the hospital sent chills down Chibi Usa's spine | |
| 126 as she looked over the sparkling white tile, and stoic white walls of the | |
| 127 entry way. The counter was vacant at the time they arrived, and Chibi Usa | |
| 128 began an incessant attack on the bell, before having her hand removed by | |
| 129 Usagi, who sternly shook her head. Removing her pink earmuffs, and staring | |
| 130 out a nearby window, Chibi's heart sank. It was still snowing badly, and | |
| 131 only grew more intense with every passing second. | |
| 132 Turning back to the counter, Chibi was about to hit the bell again, when a | |
| 133 woman emerged from the back area. Her white nurse's uniform was wrinkled, | |
| 134 and fit her a bit too tightly, and the blue knit sweater she wore was | |
| 135 stretched to its limit. "Yeah?" the red haired nurse asked. Usagi noted | |
| 136 immediately that the woman smelled sickeningly of cigarette smoke. | |
| 137 "Hi, we're looking for the girl who was found…" Usagi swallowed hard at | |
| 138 this. She was used to visiting Hotaru in hospitals, but never for something | |
| 139 like this. "She was found by the highwa--" The nurse cut her off with a | |
| 140 sigh, rolling her eyes. | |
| 141 "Room 415…fourth floor." The nurse then turned around and started back to | |
| 142 the back, but paused. Reaching to the counter and taking the bell off the | |
| 143 top, and placing it in her pocket, the woman gave Chibi Usa a steely glare. | |
| 144 "My, isn't she the friendly one?" Chibi asked, taking Usagi's hand and | |
| 145 pulling her towards the two massive steel doors of the elevator. Pushing the | |
| 146 button a few times, Chibi waited impatiently for the lift to arrive. Her | |
| 147 mind was cluttered with thoughts, assuming the worst…'I can't live without | |
| 148 my best friend,' Chibi thought, trembling and blinking back the tears that | |
| 149 made their way to eyes. 'If anything happens to Hotaru, I don't know what | |
| 150 I'll do…I...I want to see her…I want to see her now!' With a red-eyed glare | |
| 151 at the button, Chibi demanded, "What is TAKING this thing so long?!" | |
| 152 "I don't know…I guess they're busy or something?" Usagi too, was wondering | |
| 153 exactly what was keeping the lift from taking them to the fourth floor. She | |
| 154 looked to her left and viewed the staircase, but dismissed it; there was a | |
| 155 fire alarm on the door. Sighing, she pushed the button again…the elevator | |
| 156 sounded in the silence of the lobby and opened it's metal jaws. | |
| 157 | |
| 158 Entering the room was one of the hardest things Chibi had ever had to do in | |
| 159 her life. She and Usagi crept into the eerily quiet room, only to see their | |
| 160 friend laying there, hooked up to machines that kept her alive. Chibi gasped | |
| 161 and ran to her best friend, shakily reaching out and taking Hotaru's hand as | |
| 162 carefully as she could, afraid she was going to hurt the girl by her touch. | |
| 163 "Oh Hotaru…" Chibi whispered, as she felt Usagi's hand on her shoulder | |
| 164 giving it a gentle squeeze. The purple haired girl made no response to the | |
| 165 touch. Her eyes were closed, a tube in her mouth to keep her breathing, with | |
| 166 an IV in the back of her hand. Chibi Usa slowly reached out to move some of | |
| 167 the matted purple hair from over Hotaru's eyes, in a vain, almost sadistic | |
| 168 hope that the she would see violet orbs flicker to life. | |
| 169 "It'll be ok," Usagi said reassuringly, not only for Chibi's benefit, but | |
| 170 her own as well. It pained her to see Hotaru in this condition, as so often | |
| 171 seemed the case. Another gentle squeeze of Chibi's shoulder, before the door | |
| 172 opened and the doctor stepped into the room. He was dressed in green | |
| 173 S.C.R.U.B.s, and had a stethoscope hanging around the collar of his white | |
| 174 coat. | |
| 175 "You must be the ones the officer called," the doctor said, picking up the | |
| 176 chart from the door and giving it a glance over as he rubbed his slightly | |
| 177 stubbled chin. "I guess we start off with the basic's, what's her name? We | |
| 178 have Jane Do-" Chibi cut him off, looking up at the man who was at least | |
| 179 twice her size. | |
| 180 "Is she going to be ok?" her red eyes brimming with tears as she asks him | |
| 181 the question, swallowing hard and waiting for the worst news. A faint hope | |
| 182 whispered reassurance, but was swiftly drowned by the cackling of reality… | |
| 183 Usagi was soon behind her, but cast a glance over her shoulder to Hotaru, | |
| 184 who was lying as still as death. | |
| 185 "We don't know, we don't have her medical history, insurance information, | |
| 186 or any--" This time Usagi cut him off, stating the facts quickly. | |
| 187 "Her name is Hotaru Tomoe… H-o-t-a-r-u T-o-m-o-e." Usagi paused as the | |
| 188 doctor scribbled down the name then continued, "Look under Haruka Tenou for | |
| 189 the insurance information, H-a-r-u-k-a T-e-n-o-u." She was now glad that | |
| 190 Michi had insisted that they had health insurance for their trip; even if it | |
| 191 was an expensive, and only temporary policy, it sure did come in handy right | |
| 192 now. | |
| 193 "Alright. I'll have my nurse check it out…" he turned to head away, but | |
| 194 Chibi grabbed his shirt to keep him from going anywhere, and pushed the | |
| 195 nurse's call buzzer a few times… not releasing her grip, she looked up at | |
| 196 him, shaking her head. | |
| 197 "Something else I can do for you?" the doctor asked, looking down at the | |
| 198 short pink-haired girl. | |
| 199 "What's wrong with Hotaru?" A single tear ran down Chibi Usa's face as she | |
| 200 all the horrid possibilities floated through her head. | |
| 201 "First off she's got hypothermia, secondly she was barely breathing when | |
| 202 they brought her in. She's lucky she had her inhaler in her hand or she | |
| 203 probably would have died." The doctor's cold tone caused Chibi to sob a | |
| 204 single time. This was her FRIEND he was talking about, not just a patient!! | |
| 205 The doctor sighed and looked toward the door, grateful that one of the | |
| 206 nurses came to see why the buzzer was being rung. Stepping over to her, he | |
| 207 handed her the paper with the names on it and whispered something, then | |
| 208 looked back the two standing by the bed, and nodded curtly to the nurse. | |
| 209 "Visiting hours are over. They have been for about 4 hours or so, but | |
| 210 seeing as how this is an emergency, you can stay. Plus, all the roads are | |
| 211 snowed in… unless you're walking, you're not going to be able to get home. | |
| 212 I've arranged for another bed to be brought in. I'm afraid we can only spare | |
| 213 up to two beds per room, and your friend has one…" He stopped turned to the | |
| 214 door, "I'll be back as soon as I get the information. She'll be fine until | |
| 215 then." And with that, he headed out to gather the records of the girl. | |
| 216 "She'll be fine, Chibi…I promise," Usagi said, glancing at her watch. It | |
| 217 was almost 1 in the morning now. "I'm going to get some hot chocolate for | |
| 218 us, down at the cafeteria. You can stay here if you want." Usagi said, | |
| 219 moving to the door as Chibi Usa headed directly for Hotaru's bed and took | |
| 220 her hand again, letting that be Usagi's answer. "I'll be right back, ok?" | |
| 221 Usagi watched the two for a moment, feeling a sharp stab of pain as she | |
| 222 realized this really could be it. Shaking it off, she turned on her heal and | |
| 223 walked out of the room. | |
| 224 Staring at her friend, Chibi Usa reached out again, running the back of her | |
| 225 fingers gently down Hotaru's cheek, ignoring the tears that fell from her | |
| 226 eyes. "The soldier of death…" Chibi whispered softly, feeling her heart | |
| 227 breaking as she saw Hotaru in such a horrid condition. "The one who can | |
| 228 destroy the world…" the pink haired girl murmured as she leaned down and | |
| 229 placed a kiss on Hotaru's cheek, saying to herself. "It's hard to believe | |
| 230 that someone so beautiful could be so deadly…" | |
| 231 |