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     1.4 +Hello! ^-^ This story stars ChibiUsa & Hotaru and is set in an
     1.5 +alternate reality. I’ve been wanting to write something about this
     1.6 +theme of a slave and her owner falling in love for quite a while now.
     1.7 +I’d like to thank Boco the Chokobo for all of the wonderful ideas
     1.8 +that went into making this fanfic. ^-^ This story deals with some
     1.9 +adult issues, so please read responsibly. The characters belong to
    1.10 +Naoko Takeuchi and I’m merely borrowing my favorite couple, though
    1.11 +I’m sure they wish I wasn’t with all the stuff I put them through. ^-
    1.12 +^;; All of the situations and this alternate reality are my own, so
    1.13 +please don’t take them without permission. I borrowed many other
    1.14 +characters for cameos, so if you can spot them all, drop me an e-
    1.15 +mail. ^-^ Or if you just like the story or have any comments about
    1.16 +it, I would love to hear them. ^-^
    1.17 +
    1.18 +
    1.19 +Finally Free
    1.20 +by Amazoness Duo
    1.21 +amazonessduo@hotmail.com
    1.22 +
    1.23 +
    1.24 +The large stone building was crowded with people. Bodies crammed
    1.25 +next to bodies as everyone struggled to get past, trying to peer into
    1.26 +the brightly lit cages at those trapped within. The smell of people
    1.27 +permeated the air, the sound of voices droning out other voices until
    1.28 +it became a nearly deafening roar. The new shipment had come in and
    1.29 +was on display for all to see. Girls and boys in cages all throughout
    1.30 +the building were being poked and prodded by the vast throng of
    1.31 +customers. All searching for something in particular. 
    1.32 +	It was organized chaos at its finest. Like some amalgamation of a
    1.33 +carnival freak show and a slave auction, people came and went in
    1.34 +densely packed lines, going from cage to cage. They would inspect the
    1.35 +creature before them for a bit, studying them for more than a few
    1.36 +seconds if they were interested. Then they would move on or get the
    1.37 +attention of one of the well dressed employees about buying one of
    1.38 +the half naked ‘animals’ in the cages. People came and went, cages
    1.39 +opening and closing as the employees went from one perspective
    1.40 +customer to another.
    1.41 +	There was a wave of fear for all of those in the cages. Most were
    1.42 +frightened out of their minds, hundreds of people looking them over
    1.43 +like furniture. Curiosity gnawed at each of them as their fates
    1.44 +seemed to hang in the balance. And there was nothing they could do
    1.45 +but wait. The small, steel cages were much too tiny to move freely,
    1.46 +much less turn around in their confines. And so they could do nothing
    1.47 +but watch and pray to whomever may be listening that things would
    1.48 +work out. That this nightmare would soon end. 
    1.49 +	In contrast to the frightened thoughts of those in the tiny cages,
    1.50 +those outside had a general sense of excitement. A certain electric
    1.51 +thrill ran through the air as they continued their inspection. This
    1.52 +was an altogether amazing event for most, the sheer amount of choices
    1.53 +mind boggling. Children giggled playfully as they stared into the
    1.54 +cages, poking in with stubby fingers and whatever else they may have
    1.55 +with them while absentminded adults paid little to no attention, too
    1.56 +busy with their own gawking at the prisoners. 
    1.57 +It was in this jumble of anarchy and confusion that a pink haired
    1.58 +girl made her way along the rows upon rows of cages. Rather petite of
    1.59 +stature, she didn’t stand out much in the crowd. Her long pink hair
    1.60 +was done up in two cones, the rest falling to either side and
    1.61 +reaching just above her shoulders. Her red party dress with gold trim
    1.62 +felt a little out of place next to the hardly clothed people in the
    1.63 +cages, but she didn’t seem to notice. She was just as ecstatic as any
    1.64 +of the others there, if not more so. Oh, how she had longed for this
    1.65 +for so long now. Having just turned sixteen, she was now given the
    1.66 +chance to pick out her birthday present. But what to pick? They all
    1.67 +looked so cute! It was difficult to decide what she wanted. 
    1.68 +	Peering into a cage, the pink haired girl’s crimson eyes followed
    1.69 +the movements of a small dark haired girl. Smiling sweetly, she moved
    1.70 +closer, trying to get a better look. Long, dark wings unfurled from
    1.71 +the dark haired girl’s back as she came closer. Her long, dark hair
    1.72 +fluttered behind her as her aquamarine eyes peered out fearfully. The
    1.73 +wings began beating faster as she tried to escape the small cage, but
    1.74 +she again failed. With each failure came the sickening revelation
    1.75 +that she would never be free again. ChibiUsa noted with some dismay
    1.76 +that her wings had been clipped. Even if she was free, she wouldn’t
    1.77 +be able to fly. 
    1.78 +	“Poor girl,” ChibiUsa whispered, holding onto one of the cold steel
    1.79 +bars. The girl inside continued to flutter her wings in agitation,
    1.80 +but their beating slowly began to diminish. Drawing her knees up to
    1.81 +her chest, she seemed to be giving in to the futility of it all. 
    1.82 +	It took ChibiUsa a moment to realize that someone was yelling at
    1.83 +her to get back. Glancing around, it took her a moment to spot the
    1.84 +man. He was behind the cage and pulling it back out of the way.
    1.85 +Watching it curiously, she spotted a slightly younger blue haired
    1.86 +girl, her long pigtails trailing behind her as she smiled into the
    1.87 +cage. 
    1.88 +	“Oh, she’s so cute! I’m going to name her Misao. You’re coming home
    1.89 +with me, aren’t you, Misao?” the blue haired girl asked happily. Of
    1.90 +course, asking the pet was pointless. It wasn’t up to her at all. But
    1.91 +the girl was obviously pleased with the bird girl that she had picked
    1.92 +out. 
    1.93 +	ChibiUsa smiled and continued on, glancing in cages as she did so.
    1.94 +She was glad that the bird girl had gotten an owner. But that still
    1.95 +didn’t help her decide who she should get for a pet. Her father was
    1.96 +somewhere around here, but she had lost him a while ago. It hadn’t
    1.97 +been hard, moving through the vast sea of people. She just wanted
    1.98 +some time to pick out a pet for herself without someone looking over
    1.99 +her shoulder. She wanted this pet to be all her own. 
   1.100 +	Brushing back pink bangs, the teenager walked alone through the
   1.101 +crowd, looking in cage after cage of pets for sale. She saw another
   1.102 +bird girl, with tan skin and coppery hair, long dark wings fluttering
   1.103 +uselessly. Next to her was an ice blue haired girl, but she couldn’t
   1.104 +quite figure out what type of animal she was supposed to be. It took
   1.105 +her a moment to realize that she was in a tank rather than a cage,
   1.106 +water surrounding her as she tried to swim in the enclosure. The
   1.107 +scales on her tail were all beautifully iridescent, reflecting the
   1.108 +bright lights of the building in rainbow colors. In the next two
   1.109 +cages were a leather clad cat and a white haired mouse, respectively.
   1.110 +The mouse was cowering in a corner of her cage as the cat hissed
   1.111 +loudly at her, raking long finger nail-like claws against the bars.
   1.112 +Next to the mouse in yet another cage was a green haired frog girl
   1.113 +who was dozing peacefully. And even further on was a simply gorgeous
   1.114 +woman with beautiful rainbow colored butterfly wings. She seemed to
   1.115 +be a little older than a good deal of the pets there. 
   1.116 +	Many had caught her interest, but none had really been the one that
   1.117 +ChibiUsa wanted. She wasn’t quite sure what she was looking for
   1.118 +herself, but she knew that she would find it if she only kept looking. 
   1.119 +	Passing by a butterfly boy and a pony boy, ChibiUsa paused for only
   1.120 +a moment before moving on. Someone already seemed interested in them,
   1.121 +a boy a little older than her, and she was looking for something else
   1.122 +anyway. She just couldn’t tell what exactly. 
   1.123 +	Fingers rolling along the edge of a cage, the crimson eyed girl
   1.124 +relished the cold feeling beneath her fingers. The room was almost
   1.125 +unbearably hot, the air humid. She could hear the loud sounds of the
   1.126 +air conditioning in the background, but it just didn’t work with all
   1.127 +of these bodies back so closely together. Deciding to ignore it, her
   1.128 +other hand wiped across her sweat drenched brow. 
   1.129 +	A low growl startled her out of her thoughts, drawing the young
   1.130 +consumer’s attention to the cage near her. With a quick motion, the
   1.131 +tiger that was in there lunged towards her fingers. Shock pumped
   1.132 +through her small body as her hand jerked back reflexively. A scaly
   1.133 +fish boy began laughing at her as she passed him and another hawk
   1.134 +boy. She resolved to be more careful, holding the hand that had been
   1.135 +lunged at protectively. 
   1.136 +	Just what was she looking for? What type of pet did she want? She
   1.137 +couldn’t tell. A smile graced soft lips as she walked past what
   1.138 +looked to be a family of cats. The parents looked to be a slender
   1.139 +female cat with long dark hair and a male cat with only slightly
   1.140 +shorter white hair. The kitten was adorable, with short, dark violet
   1.141 +hair done up in odangos near her ears. This one seemed a lot tamer
   1.142 +than the tiger. Large curious eyes looked up at her, as if they were
   1.143 +studying ChibiUsa in the same way she was being studied herself.
   1.144 +ChibiUsa giggled softly and scratched behind the kitten’s ear,
   1.145 +hearing a distinct purr in reply. “You’re just a sweetie, aren’t you?
   1.146 +I’m sure someone’s gonna get you soon.” She giggled again as the purr
   1.147 +grew louder. Slowly pulling her hand away, she took another step
   1.148 +forward, glancing back at the cage and smiling for a moment before
   1.149 +heading forward. 
   1.150 +	And suddenly, she spotted something moving near the back of what
   1.151 +she had thought was an empty cage. Taking a few steps closer, she
   1.152 +hunched over to try and get a better look inside the cage. In the
   1.153 +back, there was a scared looking girl, her skin as pale as a sheet of
   1.154 +paper. Her long black tail moved slowly, her knees drawn up to her
   1.155 +chest. The dark ears that jutted out of her raven hair twitched
   1.156 +occasionally. Large, violet eyes watched ChibiUsa cautiously. It
   1.157 +looked like she was trying to fade away into the shadows at the back
   1.158 +of the cage, the poor kitten looking helpless in the tiny steal cage.
   1.159 +Crimson eyes brightened as the newly christened sixteen year old girl
   1.160 +leaned forward to get a better look. The kitten didn’t make a sound,
   1.161 +only the movement of the dark tail and violet eyes showing that she
   1.162 +was awake. She looked so shy, holding herself like that. So lonely.
   1.163 +So cute.
   1.164 +	ChibiUsa smiled happily as an employee came by to see if she needed
   1.165 +help. “I want this one!!”
   1.166 +
   1.167 +	“So what are you going to name her?” ChibiUsa’s father asked
   1.168 +curiously as they drove home a short time later. His pink haired
   1.169 +daughter sat in back with her new pet, still holding the catgirl’s
   1.170 +leash. The catgirl really didn’t seem to be doing much, just watching
   1.171 +the events from her large, scared violet eyes.
   1.172 +	ChibiUsa tilted her head to the side thoughtfully, watching her
   1.173 +feline companion closely. She was still so excited to finally have
   1.174 +her birthday present. And what a birthday present at that! Her very
   1.175 +own catgirl... And such a cute one, too.  It was a thrilling
   1.176 +experience. 
   1.177 +	Pink hair flew around ChibiUsa’s head as she shook it, trying to
   1.178 +clear her thoughts. She couldn’t just let the catgirl run around
   1.179 +nameless. But she didn’t want to name her just anything. Those sad,
   1.180 +violet eyes and her beautiful ivory skin made her gorgeous to look
   1.181 +at. She needed a lovely name to go with it. But what would fit this
   1.182 +skittish kitten? And with such a lonely, haunting feel about her, it
   1.183 +was hard to find something suiting. “I think I’m going to name her
   1.184 +Hotaru,” she said at last. 
   1.185 +	Her father raised an eyebrow, looking back at his daughter through
   1.186 +the rearview mirror. “You’re going to name your pet cat ‘firefly’?”
   1.187 +	ChibiUsa pouted, scooting closer to the catgirl. Hotaru tried to
   1.188 +scoot away, but just managed to wedge herself against the door.
   1.189 +“Yeah, because I think it fits her perfectly. She has a real gothic
   1.190 +beauty to her. And she looks so sad. So I like the name.” She smiled
   1.191 +sweetly at the catgirl, who looked down quickly. 
   1.192 +	Laughing, her father turned a corner. “That’ll change once you get
   1.193 +her home and well fed. Then she’ll be a much happier cat. She looks
   1.194 +pretty skinny, so that’s most likely the problem.”
   1.195 +	Nodding thoughtfully, ChibiUsa reached forward, smiling gently at
   1.196 +Hotaru. “It’s okay. I won’t hurt you. I’m taking you home. You’ll be
   1.197 +happy there.” Her fingers brushed through the catgirl’s soft hair.
   1.198 +Hotaru closed her eyes and tried to pull further away, but there was
   1.199 +nowhere to go. Her pointed cat ears twitched slightly. Seeing the
   1.200 +catgirl like this was a little disturbing. She had seen how happy
   1.201 +pets usually looked with their owners, but this catgirl looked
   1.202 +entirely withdrawn, afraid of the situation. It did make sense that
   1.203 +she would be scared. She was still young and probably hadn’t been
   1.204 +anywhere else before. But that just strengthened ChibiUsa’s resolve
   1.205 +to get closer to her new pet, to make it feel comfortable at home.
   1.206 +She was her kitten now, so she'd make sure she was happier. 
   1.207 +	Exuberance filled the genki pink haired girl as she watched her
   1.208 +pet. Finally having one, she was extremely pleased with her choice in
   1.209 +a birthday present. She was just so cute. And all hers. She had
   1.210 +promised to take good care of her before her parents would let her
   1.211 +have one. She was the perfect birthday present, a real live catgirl.
   1.212 +And to think that she hadn’t had any idea of what to ask for for her
   1.213 +birthday until a few weeks ago. 
   1.214 +
   1.215 +	Sitting in the park weeks earlier, ChibiUsa had been pondering the
   1.216 +same question over and over for the past few days. Her sixteenth
   1.217 +birthday was nearly upon her and she still didn’t know what she
   1.218 +wanted. It was a big stepping stone and her parents seemed pretty
   1.219 +thrilled. A big party was planned with all of her friends and family.
   1.220 +But she couldn’t think of a thing that she wanted. Little things that
   1.221 +didn’t matter, but nothing that seemed to fit the occasion. So she
   1.222 +had gone shopping with Ruruna and Naruru to clear her mind and wound
   1.223 +up broke. Again. They had gone on to another antique shop, but she
   1.224 +just wanted to rest her aching legs. They’d been shopping since they
   1.225 +had met up hours earlier. So she took her break to set her mind back
   1.226 +on the question at hand. 
   1.227 +	An elegant looking girl around ChibiUsa’s age with milky white skin
   1.228 +and long dark gray hair drew her attention. Not because of her
   1.229 +astonishing beauty, which was certainly evident in the midday light,
   1.230 +but because of what she was holding. A long, pink leash that was
   1.231 +linked to the collar around another girl’s neck. The other girl had
   1.232 +short brunette hair and was walking on all fours across the grass.
   1.233 +The pale girl seemed to be enjoying herself immensely, following
   1.234 +after the girl on the leash with a camcorder in her other hand. It
   1.235 +was a very peculiar sight to behold. 
   1.236 +	“Good girl, Sakura-chan! You’re such a sweet puppy. You just work
   1.237 +all of that energy out, darling. My cute, genki Sakura-chan can’t be
   1.238 +kept in a house all day,” the mistress said in a soft, melodious
   1.239 +voice. It wasn’t until then that ChibiUsa noticed the large, floppy
   1.240 +ears on the brunette’s head or the short furry tail just above her
   1.241 +tail bone. So that was a pet! She watched in astonishment as the
   1.242 +puppygirl continued to run around on the grass, the dark haired
   1.243 +heiress holding onto the leash and following the puppy’s motions with
   1.244 +her camcorder. “Fetch, Sakura-chan!” Pulling a small pink stick out
   1.245 +of her purse, the woman tossed it in front of her pet. Sakura hurried
   1.246 +to get it, biting down on it and bringing it back to her mistress.
   1.247 +The dark haired girl knelt down, scratching behind the puppy’s ears
   1.248 +and smiling delightedly. “Oh, you’re such a good girl.”
   1.249 +The brunette’s eyes closed, her tail wagging happily. 
   1.250 +	“Wow!” Getting to her still sore feet quickly, ChibiUsa approached
   1.251 +the two girls. “That’s amazing! Is she your pet? She’s so cute!”
   1.252 +Seeing the puppygirl up close, ChibiUsa marveled at the site. A mix
   1.253 +between a normal girl and a puppy, she made an adorable pet. 
   1.254 +	Stormy blue eyes shimmered as the woman nodded. A bright smile
   1.255 +crossed her face as she continued petting Sakura. “Hai, she is. Her
   1.256 +name is Sakura-chan. I’ve had her for years now. Her mother was a
   1.257 +show winner. Isn’t she sweet? She’s the sweetest puppy imaginable.” 
   1.258 +	Sakura was starting to blush from the praise, but her tail still
   1.259 +wagged happily as her mistress’s fingers continued playing through
   1.260 +her hair. “Hi,” She said, a little shyly. 
   1.261 +	ChibiUsa blinked in surprise, nearly falling back in the grass.
   1.262 +“She can talk, too? She must be really talented.”
   1.263 +	“Oh, she can talk really well. And about the cutest things. And
   1.264 +yes, she’s very talented. I have tapes and tapes full of all the cute
   1.265 +things Sakura-chan can do,” the woman said, still smiling her
   1.266 +trademark smile. 
   1.267 +The puppy girl was leaning against her by now and still blushing a
   1.268 +deep red. “Tomoyo-sama...” She looked like this happened often, but
   1.269 +that she still hadn’t really gotten used to it. Sighing, she started
   1.270 +licking at Tomoyo’s palm while her mistress continued talking with
   1.271 +the girl that looked like a bunny. She’d chase her, but Tomoyo
   1.272 +probably wouldn’t want her to. And besides, she really didn’t feel up
   1.273 +for a chase right now.
   1.274 +	“She’s so kawaii!! I bet she makes a terrific pet,” ChibiUsa said,
   1.275 +still amazed by the girl on the leash. What a wonderful idea. She had
   1.276 +no idea pets were so exciting. Her shoulders slumped slightly as a
   1.277 +sudden realization hit her. The pale girl did look remarkably
   1.278 +wealthy. “She probably cost a fortune, though.” There went that idea.
   1.279 +She’d have to find something else to get for her birthday. And it
   1.280 +seemed like such a good idea, too!
   1.281 +	Tomoyo shook her head, giggling softly at the ticklish feeling of
   1.282 +Sakura’s tongue. “No, not really. Sakura-chan was a gift from my
   1.283 +mother a few years ago, but I don’t believe they’re really that
   1.284 +expensive. It might take a while to save up, but with all of the
   1.285 +things you bought,” she motioned towards ChibiUsa’s bags back on the
   1.286 +bench, “you should be able to afford it after a while. I honestly
   1.287 +think you should. I’m so lucky to have my cute Sakura-chan.” Another
   1.288 +bright smile lit her face as she looked down at the puppy girl.
   1.289 +Sakura perked up, as if waiting for something, sniffing. A horn
   1.290 +honked in the distance, catching all of their attention. Tomoyo
   1.291 +looked back towards a waiting limousine. “Oh, I must be going. I hope
   1.292 +you can get a pet. They really are wonderful. I don’t know where I’d
   1.293 +be without Sakura-chan.” Standing up elegantly, she brushed down her
   1.294 +long skirt. “Come one, Sakura-chan. Let’s go home. I’ll give you a
   1.295 +nice bath.”
   1.296 +	Sakura waved and followed her mistress, standing up on two feet
   1.297 +this time, pulling alongside of her. Both girls disappeared into the
   1.298 +limousine. 
   1.299 +	Watching them drive off, ChibiUsa’s hair was tossed around by the
   1.300 +wind. She barely seemed to notice, too deep in thought to care. That
   1.301 +was what she wanted. A pet. A pet all of her own. Running back to the
   1.302 +bench, she grabbed her things and headed home. That’s what she would
   1.303 +ask for. Oh, it was perfect!
   1.304 +
   1.305 +	ChibiUsa brushed back some pink hair from her eyes, squinting in
   1.306 +the afternoon sun, her reverie fading. Her brand new pet was still
   1.307 +sitting sulkily in the car, dark eyes glistening in the shadows.
   1.308 +“C’mon, Hotaru-chan. We’re home now.” She smiled sweetly at the
   1.309 +catgirl, motioning for her to follow. The catgirl looked at her for a
   1.310 +second, but dropped her gaze just as quickly. ChibiUsa’s father
   1.311 +yelled for her to come in, grabbing her attention away from the shy
   1.312 +new pet. “Just a minute, papa!” Her crimson eyes returned to the
   1.313 +catgirl. Kneeling next to the open door, she reached in slowly. “It’s
   1.314 +okay, kitty. We’re home now. Home. I’m going to take good care of
   1.315 +you. I promise. There’s nothing to be scared of.” Her hand gently
   1.316 +stroked the catgirl’s side. Her pale skin was exquisitely soft to the
   1.317 +touch. ChibiUsa’s fingers continued to trail up and down as she
   1.318 +smiled. “Please?” Another request from her father to head in caught
   1.319 +her ears, Hotaru’s ears perking up at the same time. She sighed and
   1.320 +got back to her feet, smoothing down her skirt. “Well, we better get
   1.321 +going, Hotaru-chan. Come on.” She whistled, but the only reaction she
   1.322 +got from the catgirl were her ears perking up again. The pink haired
   1.323 +owner tugged lightly on the leash. This finally seemed to get the
   1.324 +catgirl’s attention. Pulling lightly, the pink haired girl led her
   1.325 +birthday present inside.
   1.326 +	Hotaru followed behind her owner slowly, taking no notice of her
   1.327 +surroundings. What was the difference between here and the pet shop?
   1.328 +At least she wasn’t in a cramped cage anymore. But now she was all
   1.329 +alone. Most of the others would have been thrilled to have been
   1.330 +bought like this. But being in this strange new place by herself was
   1.331 +scary. She should be grateful to have her own mistress now, but it
   1.332 +was all too new, too frightening. Everything was happening too fast.
   1.333 +At least her mistress was pretty. And she seemed nice. But who knew
   1.334 +what would happen? Not that it mattered. She was only a pet. Her life
   1.335 +was at the sole discretion of her mistress. It was why she lived.
   1.336 +	Pushing the door to her room open, the proud new owner could hardly
   1.337 +hide her excitement. This had to be her best birthday ever. Her
   1.338 +lovely pet was just perfect. Better than she could have dreamed.
   1.339 +“Well, here it is. This is my room.” She gestured broadly with her
   1.340 +free hand to their surroundings. The bed was along one wall, red and
   1.341 +white bedsheets topped with neatly placed bunny dolls. The room was a
   1.342 +little cluttered with little possessions here and there, but it
   1.343 +didn’t look messy. Long, frilly white curtains hung over the bedroom
   1.344 +window that overlooked the backyard. Some clothes from this morning
   1.345 +lay discarded in a corner. Several letters were arranged neatly on
   1.346 +her bedside, all sporting ‘Happy Birthday’ somewhere on them. Next to
   1.347 +the bed lay a large maroon fuzzy basket with some small cat toys in
   1.348 +it. Next to it were a food and water dish. 
   1.349 +	Grinning in excitement, ChibiUsa walked towards the bed. Resistance
   1.350 +tugged at the hand holding the leash. Turning back, she saw the
   1.351 +catgirl frozen in the doorway. “It’s okay. This is your room now,
   1.352 +too, Hotaru-chan. See? This bed is for you. And the toys and
   1.353 +everything. Isn’t it cute? We went and picked it out this morning.
   1.354 +It’s all for you.” She tugged lightly at the leash, pulling Hotaru
   1.355 +out of her stupor. The shy girl looked down, but slowly walked up
   1.356 +behind her owner.
   1.357 +	Hotaru’s catlike eyes took in the little things on the floor, even
   1.358 +in the dim light. It was all for her? She’d never had anything
   1.359 +before. Just another kitten at the pet store, she was lost in the
   1.360 +crowd. Usually afraid or lonely even amongst all the others. She was
   1.361 +a little overwhelmed to be given anything at all. Especially when she
   1.362 +herself was a birthday present. The thought seemed ludicrous. Like it
   1.363 +didn’t quite fit. She was a pet. Pets didn’t have anything. No, it
   1.364 +must have just been phrased wrong. That had to be it. Her eyes shut
   1.365 +quickly when ChibiUsa finally got to the light switch. 
   1.366 +	“Well, here it is. I hope you like it,” ChibiUsa said with a smile,
   1.367 +twirling around on one foot to gesture to the room a last time before
   1.368 +plopping down on her bed. Her crimson eyes stayed on the catgirl with
   1.369 +a childlike enthusiasm. It was almost surreal to see one up close.
   1.370 +Her very own at that. And she was so pretty, too! Just wait until
   1.371 +Ruruna and Naruru found out. They would be so surprised. Hotaru
   1.372 +averted her gaze, shifting around uncomfortably, her tail swishing
   1.373 +slowly from side to side. “You’re soooo cute.” A giggle escaped the
   1.374 +pink haired girl as she pulled on the leash playfully. “You can come
   1.375 +closer. It’s okay. I won’t hurt you.” 
   1.376 +	Taking an awkward barefoot step forward, Hotaru inched closer to
   1.377 +her mistress. That warm smile managed to draw the dark haired catgirl
   1.378 +ever nearer. Feeling another gentle tug on the leash, she kneeled
   1.379 +down in front of her having nowhere else to go. Her hands and knees
   1.380 +on the floor, her tail continued moving nervously behind her as big
   1.381 +violet eyes looked up at her owner. The smile was still on that face
   1.382 +framed by pink, her hand moving down slowly. Hotaru flinched a bit
   1.383 +when ChibiUsa’s fingers touched the side of her face, trailing
   1.384 +upwards into her raven hair. What did she want? Not that it mattered.
   1.385 +She was her pet. Her mistress could do whatever she wanted with her.
   1.386 +Hotaru’s curiosity continued to grow as the fingers ran through her
   1.387 +hair. But suddenly it didn’t matter. Her eyes closed and she began to
   1.388 +purr. Quietly at first, but it began to grow louder. ChibiUsa’s
   1.389 +fingers were scratching right behind her ear. It felt very nice with
   1.390 +those gentle fingers in her hair. Her tail began to move more
   1.391 +happily, as if completely unaware of the previous nervousness of the
   1.392 +girl it was attached to.
   1.393 +	A musical giggle escaped ChibiUsa lips as she watched her new pet.
   1.394 +“I’m really glad I picked you, Hotaru-chan.” She continued to pet the
   1.395 +kitten for a few more minutes, enjoying the soft purring sound the
   1.396 +catgirl made. 
   1.397 +	“ChibiUsa-chan, dinner!” 
   1.398 +	“Coming!” Sighing, the pink haired girl petted the girl one last
   1.399 +time before standing up. The purring slowly came to a stop. Big,
   1.400 +violet eyes looked up at her in confusion. She smiled down
   1.401 +apologetically. “I have to go get dinner. You should probably eat,
   1.402 +too. I’ll be back in just a bit.” Scratching behind Hotaru’s ear
   1.403 +again, she quickly made her way to the door, glancing back in at the
   1.404 +solemn looking catgirl. ‘She looks so serious all the time,’ ChibiUsa
   1.405 +thought to herself. “Bye, kitty!”
   1.406 +	Hotaru watched as her mistress left the room, nervousness gnawing
   1.407 +at her again. It hadn’t been too bad when she had been there with
   1.408 +her, but now she was alone in this scary place. And she didn’t know
   1.409 +what to do. This was all new to her. This was home from now on.
   1.410 +Curling up into a ball, she began to cry.
   1.411 +
   1.412 +	Later that night, the catgirl was balled up in her basket, wide
   1.413 +awake. She couldn’t get to sleep in her strange new surroundings.
   1.414 +Every small sound startled her right when she started to fade away to
   1.415 +the land of dreams. She had finally given up trying to sleep a short
   1.416 +time ago. Lying there, staring at the wall, she contemplated her
   1.417 +existence. Sold like the animal she was, she was now property of her
   1.418 +mistress, the girl in the bed behind her. It was a dream for many to
   1.419 +get sold at the auctions. To have their own master or mistress. To
   1.420 +have a home. But she was still so afraid. No one had taught her what
   1.421 +to do once she was bought. Part of her had thought that she never
   1.422 +would be. Who wanted a lonely looking cat, anyway? Apparently, this
   1.423 +pink haired girl. She sat up slowly, her head peaking up across the
   1.424 +bed. She could see ChibiUsa’s feet sticking out from under her
   1.425 +blankets, the warm cloth tangled around the pink haired girl oddly.
   1.426 +In the darkness, her catlike eyes could still make out the nightgown
   1.427 +she was wearing, though the color looked faded. Her pink hair was let
   1.428 +down out of the odangos she had seen it in earlier. She really was
   1.429 +very pretty. And she was looking at her. Hotaru’s eyes widened in
   1.430 +surprise and she quickly ducked back down, pulling her knees to her
   1.431 +chest as she tried to pretend she was asleep.
   1.432 +	“Can’t sleep?” the sweet voice of her owner whispered. Hotaru
   1.433 +froze, unsure of how to respond. Creaking sounds came her way as
   1.434 +ChibiUsa crawled across the bed. The sound finally stopped and she
   1.435 +relaxed slightly. A hand brushing through her hair nearly made her
   1.436 +jump in shock. Turning around, she spotted her mistress’s head over
   1.437 +the edge of the bed, watching her with that warm smile again. “It’s
   1.438 +okay if you can’t sleep. I always have trouble in a new place, too.
   1.439 +You wanna sleep on the bed?” 
   1.440 +Hotaru nodded slowly, shyly. ChibiUsa smiled again and sat up,
   1.441 +gesturing for the catgirl to follow. Standing up, the dark haired pet
   1.442 +hesitantly crawled onto the edge of the bed, curling into a ball
   1.443 +there. She felt ChibiUsa’s feet brush against her side as her
   1.444 +mistress pulled the blankets around herself. Hotaru was a little
   1.445 +surprised. Wasn’t she supposed to be in her basket? Well, this was
   1.446 +nicer. It felt soft and the blankets underneath her were warm. And it
   1.447 +did feel more comfortable to be closer to her owner. She was very
   1.448 +sweet and managed to make this whole thing much easier for Hotaru to
   1.449 +handle. Lying there in silence, she tried not to move much lest she
   1.450 +disturb the pink haired girl. But it was still cold in the room
   1.451 +despite being on top of the blankets and she couldn’t help shivering
   1.452 +slightly. She was only lightly clothed.
   1.453 +	Giggling softly, ChibiUsa sat up again. “Still cold, huh? Here, get
   1.454 +in the blankets. It’s warmer.” She watched the quiet catgirl for a
   1.455 +long moment, holding up the blanket invitingly. “Come on. It’s okay.”
   1.456 +Smiling reassuringly, she scooted over and patted the bed next to
   1.457 +her. “Come here.” The violet eyed pet looked back at her hesitantly,
   1.458 +still sitting with her legs tucked under her at the foot of the bed.
   1.459 +She sure was a reluctant pet. She didn’t seem very open around
   1.460 +people. But she was ChibiUsa’s now so it didn’t matter. The pink
   1.461 +haired owner was just glad to have her. Sighing, she took her pet’s
   1.462 +arm. The pale skin was very soft and cold. “Oh, you poor thing. You
   1.463 +must be freezing. C’mere, Hotaru-chan.” Pulling lightly, the catgirl
   1.464 +slowly crawled up beside her. ChibiUsa smiled again and pulled the
   1.465 +blankets up. “Here you go.” Hotaru sat there, staring at her. The
   1.466 +young owner sweatdropped. Taking Hotaru’s arm again, she pulled her
   1.467 +closer and toward the head of the bed. “Okay, now lie down.” The
   1.468 +catgirl lay her body down on ChibiUsa’s pillow, her head to the side.
   1.469 +“No, not like that.” 
   1.470 +Hotaru winced, closing her eyes.  She didn’t know what she was doing
   1.471 +at all. Humans had never been around her very much so she just didn’t
   1.472 +understand what she was supposed to do to please her mistress. Now
   1.473 +she’d probably hate her for being disobedient. And she didn’t want
   1.474 +that at all. Her mistress seemed so nice. What was she to do now?
   1.475 +The fear etched on Hotaru’s face sent a chill through ChibiUsa. Her
   1.476 +catgirl looked so sad. She shook her head quickly. “No, I didn’t mean
   1.477 +it like that. It’s all right. Don’t be sad.” Another smile crossed
   1.478 +her face as she tried to reassure her new pet. This was getting to be
   1.479 +a lot of work. But still... She liked it. It was nice having her
   1.480 +here. Her cute catgirl. It was nice to have the responsibility of
   1.481 +her. To take care of her new pet. Placing her hands on Hotaru’s
   1.482 +shoulders, she positioned her on her back, pushing down until her
   1.483 +head was finally on the pillow. Dark hair formed a halo around the
   1.484 +catgirl’s head on the pillow, her kitten ears barely jutting out of
   1.485 +the hair. Hotaru looked at her in confusion but followed her
   1.486 +directions. Satisfied with her work, ChibiUsa pulled the blanket up
   1.487 +around the both of them. “There. See? Much warmer, Hotaru-chan.” She
   1.488 +smiled brightly as she hugged herself under the blanket, trying to
   1.489 +get warm again.
   1.490 +Shyly, Hotaru smiled back. “Thank you,” her soft voice whispered. 
   1.491 +	Giggling, ChibiUsa propped herself up on an elbow. “So you can
   1.492 +talk. I was wondering when you were gonna say something.” It had
   1.493 +almost been a surprise to hear Hotaru speak. She had started to think
   1.494 +that she wouldn’t. Hotaru’s voice was very soft, but lovely. It fit
   1.495 +the shy catgirl perfectly. “You have a very pretty voice, Hotaru-chan.”
   1.496 +	The dark haired pet blushed a cherry red, shifting slightly under
   1.497 +the blankets. It was already strange to be sleeping this way, like a
   1.498 +human girl, but now she was embarrassed as well. She hadn’t known
   1.499 +what to say earlier. And her owner’s comments were flattering. This
   1.500 +whole day had taken quite a toll on her. It just seemed to be one
   1.501 +surprise after another. “A.. arigato...” she whispered, quieter this
   1.502 +time. 
   1.503 +	Petting her catgirl gently, ChibiUsa smiled again. “Sleep well,
   1.504 +Hotaru-chan. I’ll see you in the morning.” Something brushing against
   1.505 +her side caught ChibiUsa's attention. It was warm and furry, moving
   1.506 +in quick motions. Reaching down, she grabbed a hold of the furry
   1.507 +intruder. Hotaru’s eyes went wide as ChibiUsa gripped it. “Oh...
   1.508 +Sorry.” She sweatdropped as she let go of Hotaru’s tail. Yawning, she
   1.509 +let her crimson eyes fall shut. “Sweet dreams, kitty.”
   1.510 +	Hotaru watched closely as ChibiUsa’s breathing steadied and she
   1.511 +drifted off to sleep. Her mistress looked so calm and peaceful. So
   1.512 +cute. She noticed that the pink haired girl was holding onto a white
   1.513 +stuffed bunny with a big red bow. Purring softly, she snuggled next
   1.514 +to her owner, yawning tiredly and showing her sharp teeth in the dim
   1.515 +light. It had been an exhausting day. Before long, she was passed out
   1.516 +beside her pink haired owner.
   1.517 +	
   1.518 +	J-pop meandered through ChibiUsa’s room as morning light filtered
   1.519 +through her window. Something about ‘my darling and my dentures’
   1.520 +played on the radio. ChibiUsa was still too tired to care. The pink
   1.521 +haired girl rolled over in bed, moaning about the unjustness of it
   1.522 +all. School was always such a tiresome thing. Sure, she got to see a
   1.523 +few friends, but was it really worth all of that pain of stuffy
   1.524 +teachers trying to force things upon you? Especially when she had her
   1.525 +own pet now. That’s right! ChibiUsa sat up in bed, suddenly awake.
   1.526 +Blinking the sleep from her eyes, she scoured the room for any trace
   1.527 +of her catgirl. But where was she? It couldn’t have been a dream,
   1.528 +could it? Her heart started to slow back down to it’s usual beat when
   1.529 +she saw Hotaru heading back into her room from the doorway on all
   1.530 +floors. ChibiUsa’s slippers were in her mouth. “Awww... How sweet of
   1.531 +you, Hotaru-chan. You’re such a good kitty.” Grinning happily,
   1.532 +ChibiUsa slipped out of bed, kneeling next to the catgirl and petting
   1.533 +her warmly. “My good little girl. Yes, you are.” Taking the slippers
   1.534 +from Hotaru’s mouth, she quickly slipped them on. “I wanna stay home
   1.535 +and play with you, Hotaru-chan. School doesn’t sound like any fun.”
   1.536 +Pouting sadly, she just watched her new pet for several moments.
   1.537 +Finally reaching forward, Hotaru tensed up under ChibiUsa’s warm hug.
   1.538 +“I’ll see you soon, Hotaru-chan. We can play when I get home.”
   1.539 +	Hotaru watched her mistress with inquisitive violet eyes as
   1.540 +ChibiUsa walked all over the room sticking things in her bookbag.
   1.541 +“Where are you going?” she asked curiously, trying to keep the
   1.542 +nervousness out of her voice. She didn’t want to be left alone again.
   1.543 +And why couldn’t she come with? She’d be good. She was well behaved.
   1.544 +Not like some of the pets she could remember back at the pet store.
   1.545 +“Skool?”
   1.546 +	Nodding quickly, ChibiUsa began getting dressed, tossing the
   1.547 +nightgown to the floor as she dug through her closet for her school
   1.548 +uniform. She stood in front of the closet clad in nothing but her
   1.549 +slippers and her white cotton panties, but didn’t seem to notice as
   1.550 +if she were alone. It was just her pet, after all. She nodded
   1.551 +absentmindedly as she pulled her blouse over her head, then paused
   1.552 +and pulled it off, looking for a bra. “Yeah, school. It’s this real
   1.553 +boring place where they try to force us to learn things.” She stopped
   1.554 +again, turning an anklet over in her fingers thoughtfully before
   1.555 +discarding it. “I’m doing pretty well this semester, though, so I
   1.556 +can’t blow it off and stay home with you. Even if I really want to.
   1.557 +If I do well enough, I’m thinking of going into government.” She took
   1.558 +out a black lavender ribbon and tied it in her hair on one of her
   1.559 +odangos after fixing it to her usual hair style. “Then when I get
   1.560 +older I could get a nice big house for us and you could have gourmet
   1.561 +cat food and all sorts of good stuff.” Checking the mirror, she
   1.562 +smiled and went back to the closet.
   1.563 +	Violet eyes followed her mistress back and forth across the room as
   1.564 +Hotaru sat on the floor. Her owner really was very pretty. She had
   1.565 +beautiful curves that fit her small frame wonderfully. A small sigh
   1.566 +escaped Hotaru’s soft lips. Too bad she wasn’t a catgirl. But she did
   1.567 +make a nice mistress nonetheless. “Will you be back soon?” Hotaru
   1.568 +asked hopefully.
   1.569 +	“You’re so sweet, Hotaru-chan,” ChibiUsa commented as she pulled
   1.570 +her skirt on. “Hai. Well, kinda. Sometimes it seems like a long time.
   1.571 +But I’ll be back this afternoon. I promise.” She smiled as she bent
   1.572 +down and scratched behind Hotaru’s left ear. A giddy feeling went
   1.573 +through her as she watched the dark haired pet’s eyes close and heard
   1.574 +her purring again. This whole pet thing was turning out to be great.
   1.575 +Hotaru really did seem like the perfect choice. It was even better
   1.576 +than what she’d thought when she’d met that rich girl and her puppy.
   1.577 +	Hotaru didn’t answer, just tilting her head to the side, her tail
   1.578 +moving back and forth as she watched her pink haired owner head for
   1.579 +the door. “Goodbye, mistress,” she said at last.
   1.580 +	Pausing for a moment, ChibiUsa stood in the doorway, fumbling with
   1.581 +her bow. That had sounded awkward. But thinking it over, it did make
   1.582 +sense. Hotaru was her pet at any rate. Smiling over her shoulder, she
   1.583 +waved cheerfully. “Bye, Hotaru-chan! See you this afternoon! I bet
   1.584 +you’ll have more fun than me.” And with that, she disappeared off to
   1.585 +the mysterious ‘skool’. 
   1.586 +	Sighing, Hotaru clasped her hands in front of her and watched the
   1.587 +empty doorway where her mistress had just been. “I doubt it, mistress.”
   1.588 +
   1.589 +	Many hours later, an exhausted student made her way home,
   1.590 +shouldering her bunny shaped bookbag on a weary shoulder. Opening the
   1.591 +door with the key she kept with her, ChibiUsa pushed the door open
   1.592 +with a sigh of relief. It was good to be back home again. A smile
   1.593 +crossed her lips as she remembered the catgirl waiting for her. She
   1.594 +had found it difficult to concentrate at school all day with the
   1.595 +knowledge that Hotaru was at home. School just seemed extraordinarily
   1.596 +mundane compared to her brand new pet. “Hotaru-chan?” she said as she
   1.597 +took off her shoes near the door. There was no answer. But then, she
   1.598 +was a quiet catgirl, so that shouldn’t be too strange. Pulling her
   1.599 +slippers back on, ChibiUsa walked back towards her room. The door was
   1.600 +still wide open as she’d left it. And there was Hotaru lying on the
   1.601 +floor. Reading a book. “Hotaru-chan?” ChibiUsa asked incredulously.
   1.602 +She knew that the catgirl was obviously smart. But that she could read?
   1.603 +	The book dropped from Hotaru’s hands as she scrambled to a sitting
   1.604 +position. Her violet eyes were wide with fear as she looked towards
   1.605 +her owner. ‘She saw me? She’s not supposed to know that. It’s my
   1.606 +little secret.’ She didn’t know what to say. Or what would happen to
   1.607 +her. Maybe she’d give her away. Hotaru knew that pets usually didn’t
   1.608 +read. Why would they need to? Tears began to well up in her eyes. It
   1.609 +was just the day after she’d been bought and already she had ruined
   1.610 +everything. She was really beginning to like her mistress, too. She
   1.611 +wanted to explain, to try to fix things, but nothing would come out
   1.612 +of her mouth. She felt helpless, trapped. She wanted to run away.
   1.613 +	“I... Hotaru-chan..” ChibiUsa shook her head and knelt next to her
   1.614 +kitten. She picked up the book that had dropped to the floor. It was
   1.615 +one that she had gotten for her birthday. A hand reached out and
   1.616 +gently stroked Hotaru’s shoulder. “It’s okay, Hotaru-chan. I’m just
   1.617 +surprised. You can read? I didn’t think pets could read.” She smiled
   1.618 +sweetly to show that she wasn’t angry, managing to calm the catgirl
   1.619 +slightly. 
   1.620 +	Hotaru nodded weakly, sniffling. “Hai...” She wasn’t angry at her?
   1.621 +Why not? Not that it wasn’t a good thing. But she had always been
   1.622 +afraid about someone finding that out. “My mother taught me... before
   1.623 +she died..” Hotaru said sadly. Reading always reminded her of her
   1.624 +mother, bringing back bittersweet memories of the kind woman and her
   1.625 +death that had left Hotaru all alone. So she liked to read when she
   1.626 +had the chance. It always felt like her mother was watching.
   1.627 +	“Oh...” ChibiUsa looked down at the book for a long moment. So that
   1.628 +was how. It hadn’t occurred to her that anything might have happened
   1.629 +to Hotaru’s family. She hadn’t thought about that sort of thing when
   1.630 +it came to pets. No wonder the poor catgirl looked so lonely. “I’m
   1.631 +really sorry, Hotaru-chan.” She smiled softly, handing the book back
   1.632 +to her pet. It took Hotaru a minute to slowly reach out and take it
   1.633 +cautiously. “If you really like to, you can go ahead and read any of
   1.634 +my books. I don’t read them all that much anyway with all I need to
   1.635 +read for school. And I’m more of a manga girl myself.”
   1.636 +	Holding the book against her chest, Hotaru kept her eyes on her
   1.637 +slightly shorter owner. “Really...? You’d let me?” she asked
   1.638 +curiously. All of this time she had been afraid of getting in
   1.639 +trouble. She was so surprised that ChibiUsa would allow her to. Her
   1.640 +mother had told her never to let a human see her read. Her owner
   1.641 +really was so kind. “Thank you, ChibiUsa-sama..” Smiling meekly, she
   1.642 +hugged the book tighter, still looking into the pink haired girl’s
   1.643 +pretty crimson eyes. She was so lucky to have a mistress like her.
   1.644 +	ChibiUsa watched the eager look in Hotaru’s eyes as she held the
   1.645 +book. The catgirl was so cute. The pink haired girl was really
   1.646 +beginning to enjoy learning all of these new things about her pet.
   1.647 +She really did have a lot of personality. Hotaru was becoming more
   1.648 +and more captivating. And she was all hers, which made the whole
   1.649 +thing even better. She didn’t have to share Hotaru with anyone. She
   1.650 +was like her very own personal friend. Gazing back into those violet
   1.651 +eyes, she began scratching absentmindedly behind Hotaru’s left ear
   1.652 +again, eliciting a soft purr from the catgirl. “You can read all you
   1.653 +want, Hotaru-chan. I want you to be happy here.”
   1.654 +	Hotaru blushed softly and nodded. “I am happy here with you,
   1.655 +ChibiUsa-sama.” She had been so lonely for so long. She was an
   1.656 +outcast back at the pet shop. And ever since she had lost her mother,
   1.657 +she had no one else to turn to. But this lovely girl had taken her in
   1.658 +and was being so sweet to her even though she was just a pet. It was
   1.659 +almost too good to be true. Her mother must have helped her get this
   1.660 +mistress.
   1.661 +	Giving Hotaru a hug that the catgirl slowly relaxed into, her tail
   1.662 +still moving behind her, ChibiUsa blushed a bit herself. Hotaru was
   1.663 +already figuring very prominently in her mind. The catgirl was just
   1.664 +so much more fun and fascinating that her friends at school who were
   1.665 +much more concerned with boys and certain fads. She couldn’t wait for
   1.666 +the times when she could be with her kitten. Everything else just
   1.667 +seemed to take a backseat to that in her mind. Smiling, she kept
   1.668 +petting Hotaru as she held onto her, enjoying the soft purr in her
   1.669 +ears. It was so much fun to be with her. And it felt very nice to
   1.670 +hold her. Actually, she could feel the barely clothed girl trough the
   1.671 +thin cloth as she held onto her, now that she thought about it. “I’m
   1.672 +gonna need to get you some clothes soon, Hotaru-chan,” she mentioned
   1.673 +thoughtfully, still holding her.
   1.674 +	Hotaru blinked, her face inches from ChibiUsa as she watched her.
   1.675 +“Why?”
   1.676 +	A giggle escaped ChibiUsa’s lips and she shook her head.
   1.677 +“Nevermind, Hotaru-chan. You just read your books and I’ll bother
   1.678 +with the rest. I have to take care of my pet, don’t I?”
   1.679 +	Still watching, Hotaru finally nodded when ChibiUsa seemed to be
   1.680 +waiting for her. “I.. uhh.. Yes, mistress.” It seemed to be the right
   1.681 +answer so she relaxed, looking into those beautiful scarlet pools
   1.682 +again. ChibiUsa smelled very nice. Just like her slippers had
   1.683 +earlier. And the bed. Yes, she was beginning to like that smell very
   1.684 +much. It was soothing and made her feel warm and safe inside. 
   1.685 +	ChibiUsa sweatdropped a little at the close proximity, but aside
   1.686 +from it seeming a little odd, it really didn’t bother her. In fact,
   1.687 +she was enjoying the chance to be so close to her pet, especially
   1.688 +with how shy the catgirl was. Reaching down, she stroked Hotaru’s
   1.689 +tails, playing with the swiftly moving pendulum. “Of course. My cute
   1.690 +little pet, Hotaru-chan.” She should start her homework. She should
   1.691 +feed the catgirl. But she just wanted to sit there.  
   1.692 +
   1.693 +	“ChibiUsa-chan, I love you,” the white haired boy whispered softly
   1.694 +as his fingers trailed through her cotton candy pink hair. A crimson
   1.695 +blush, the same color as her eyes, made it’s way across her cheeks.
   1.696 +She had thought he’d never say that. Her crush on him had gone
   1.697 +unreturned for so long. As he leaned forward, she realized with
   1.698 +sudden shock ‘He’s going to kiss me...’ Closing her eyes, she waited
   1.699 +anxiously for the magical moment. “Elios...” She pursed her lips as
   1.700 +she waited, her heart pounding in her chest like a freight train.
   1.701 +Would he? She could feel warm breath against her lips, sending an
   1.702 +electric spark throughout her body. Frantic thoughts hurried through
   1.703 +her mind as seconds stretched out into infinity. Her body tensed as
   1.704 +she waited for the kiss that would seal her fate. Warmth washed over
   1.705 +her cheek, slightly wet and a little scratchy against her soft skin.
   1.706 +Confusion quickly shook her anxiety away. What was he doing? Kissing
   1.707 +her cheek? It sure didn’t feel like a kiss. Well, not quite. Shifting
   1.708 +a bit to the side, she felt the warm feeling continue on her left
   1.709 +cheek, moving up and closer to her lips. An unexpected giggle escaped
   1.710 +her as the unidentifiable feeling continued its journey forward,
   1.711 +tickling her cheek. Just what did he want? Wasn’t he going to kiss
   1.712 +her? “Elios?”
   1.713 +	Scarlet eyes fluttered open in curiosity, searching for the object
   1.714 +of her full attention. “Elios?” she asked again. Blinking in the
   1.715 +darkness, she tried to find the white haired boy. The warm feeling on
   1.716 +her cheek continued, closing ever closer to her lips. Her blush
   1.717 +deepened as she sleepily tried to spot her crush. Her eyes finally
   1.718 +found an ethereal figure leaning over her, a pale figure in the dim
   1.719 +moonlight offset by jet black hair that fell around the pale face
   1.720 +like a veil. Like some unearthly angel, the creature sat over her,
   1.721 +continuing the sweet caress of ChibiUsa’s cheek as if nothing had
   1.722 +changed. The pink haired girl shifted in bed, now utterly confused.
   1.723 +Where had Elios gone? What was happening? And what was that feeling?
   1.724 +It slowly dawned upon her that the warm feeling was her cheek being
   1.725 +licked. But why would Elios be licking her cheek? Her still sleep
   1.726 +addled mind clicked and whirred as it slowly put everything together.
   1.727 +Violet eyes sparkled in the dim light above her, watching her with
   1.728 +catlike intensity. “Hotaru-chan?” the young owner asked suddenly,
   1.729 +sitting up. 
   1.730 +The catgirl moved quickly and with agile grace disappeared into the
   1.731 +darkness. Straining to see the catgirl in the darkness, ChibiUsa’s
   1.732 +fingers reached up to her cheek. The soft flesh still had some saliva
   1.733 +on it from where Hotaru’s somewhat scratchy tongue had passed over
   1.734 +it. So it had all just been a dream? Well, the part about her crush
   1.735 +at the least. But if that was the case, then why was her heart still
   1.736 +beating so quickly? Her fingers traveled from her cheek over to her
   1.737 +lips, lingering there for a second. The warmth that had spread
   1.738 +through her cheek now felt like it was melting through her body,
   1.739 +coating every inch of her. She didn’t know quite how to explain it.
   1.740 +The excitement from the dream dared not dissipate into the night air
   1.741 +just yet. It held onto her, as if the dream wasn’t ready to depart.
   1.742 +Her mind drifted back to her pet’s insistent licking and the
   1.743 +beautiful silhouette that her eyes had awakened to above her. A
   1.744 +cherry red blush colored her cheeks as she sat on her bed, still
   1.745 +drenched in sweat from yet another of many absorbing dreams. The pink
   1.746 +haired girl had never kissed anyone yet, which made it very difficult
   1.747 +to listen to Ruruna and Naruru’s constant boasts. Her dreams often
   1.748 +led her up to what she had built up into her mind to be the
   1.749 +penultimate romantic moment, but had never crossed the threshold,
   1.750 +always leaving her curious as to what would have happened had she
   1.751 +been asleep only a brief moment longer. 
   1.752 +ChibiUsa finally caught sight of her pet in the darkness. Violet
   1.753 +eyes glinted in the shadows near the foot of her bed. As if she were
   1.754 +being drawn to those distant stars, the young owner began crawling
   1.755 +across the bed to the still mostly hidden catgirl. “Hotaru-chan?
   1.756 +Hotaru-chan, you don’t need to hide, kitty.” A soft giggle filled the
   1.757 +silent room. “You’re so shy. Come here.” Sitting in front of the
   1.758 +catgirl on the middle of the bed, ChibiUsa motioned for her to come
   1.759 +forward. “It’s okay. Come here, kitty.” Hotaru slowly complied,
   1.760 +crawling towards her pink haired owner. Her pale figure slowly came
   1.761 +into view, her tail moving slowly in the moonlight. ChibiUsa could
   1.762 +still feel her heart pounding in her chest, her mind furiously trying
   1.763 +to go in every direction at once. She remembered Hotaru’s tongue
   1.764 +along her cheek, so close to her own lips. The feeling was baffling.
   1.765 +It left her wondering about what would have happened had she waited.
   1.766 +She had to remind herself that Hotaru was a catgirl and that it was
   1.767 +probably just her licking her owner as she remembered the puppygirl
   1.768 +had done with the rich girl. But still she couldn’t banish the
   1.769 +thoughts from her mind. Hotaru moved a little closer at her
   1.770 +insistence, her hand still motioning her forward. 
   1.771 +Hotaru complied with her mistress, moving ever closer on all fours.
   1.772 +Her eyes burned with catlike curiosity as she watched the pink haired
   1.773 +woman before her, her hands stopping right before ChibiUsa’s knees.
   1.774 +She hadn’t slept, preferring instead to keep a silent vigil over her
   1.775 +beautiful owner. She had merely been cleaning ChibiUsa’s cheek when
   1.776 +the human girl had woken up, but her sudden movements had frightened
   1.777 +the skittish kitten. Her owner looked cute when she was asleep. Her
   1.778 +pink hair had framed her cute face beautifully in the dark room, her
   1.779 +hands resting on her pillow, her lips forming a sweet pout. She was
   1.780 +surprised to see her awaken so suddenly when it was her experience
   1.781 +that the pink haired girl slept all night long. She had been here for
   1.782 +weeks now and that pattern hadn’t changed in the least. Well, with
   1.783 +the exception of when ChibiUsa wound up staying up with her, but once
   1.784 +the crimson eyed owner was asleep, she generally stayed that way.
   1.785 +Hotaru moved closer still, smelling intently as she moved closer,
   1.786 +enjoying the comforting scent of her mistress.
   1.787 +Blushing, ChibiUsa watched as Hotaru’s angelic face came nearer, her
   1.788 +small nose twitching ever so slightly as she did. Violet eyes peaked
   1.789 +out from behind their shadowy veil at her. That face that had held an
   1.790 +almost constant fear or pain to it now held a gentle contentment.
   1.791 +Sometimes the fear and the pain returned, but ChibiUsa had been happy
   1.792 +to see it slowly ebb, the catgirl’s smile coming more easily as time
   1.793 +went by. The pink haired girl found herself spending more and more of
   1.794 +her time with her precious pet than with her best friends. They were
   1.795 +nice and all, but they didn’t captivate her the same way her gorgeous
   1.796 +kitten did. There was something about the girl’s shy nature and her
   1.797 +total devotion that had quickly snagged ChibiUsa’s attention. She had
   1.798 +even blown off Ruruna and Naruru when they were going to the movies
   1.799 +because of the jealous look she had seen in the catgirl’s deep pools
   1.800 +of violet. Part of that scared her, that she would rather stay home
   1.801 +with her pet than go hang out with her friends. But she had found it
   1.802 +much more enjoyable than gawking at passing boys and staring at
   1.803 +outfits that she could never hope to afford. They had passed the
   1.804 +night pleasantly, playing cards of all things. ChibiUsa had won every
   1.805 +game. She had begun to suspect afterwards that Hotaru had let her
   1.806 +win, but she had such an enjoyable time spending the night sitting on
   1.807 +her bed and playing the games that it hardly seemed to matter. 
   1.808 +It was really a curious situation she found herself in. She knew
   1.809 +that pets were really amazing to have simply from all of the stories
   1.810 +she had heard, but this was much more than she had expected. Unlike
   1.811 +the rest of her friends, ChibiUsa felt that she could really tell
   1.812 +Hotaru things, that she could talk to her about anything. The dark
   1.813 +haired catgirl didn’t judge her. She listened to whatever her
   1.814 +mistress had to say, her cute little cat ears moving along with the
   1.815 +words. She didn’t have to pretend around Hotaru. And that made her
   1.816 +feel so spectacularly free inside. It felt like the shackles that
   1.817 +held down her heart were suddenly released when they were all alone.
   1.818 +Hotaru had asked her why she pretended so much in front of people,
   1.819 +why she hid her feelings behind a veil of happiness and genki energy.
   1.820 +ChibiUsa had tried to explain, but none of her explanations sounded
   1.821 +good enough, even to herself. “Because I want people to see the
   1.822 +happy, smiling me. I want that to be who they remember. I don’t want
   1.823 +to burden others with my problems. I want them to like the genki me
   1.824 +that they see,” she had finally settled on.
   1.825 +“I like you,” Hotaru had said simply. “I don’t think you should have
   1.826 +to pretend for everyone else, ChibiUsa-sama. Even when you’re sad, I
   1.827 +like you. Especially when you’re sad. Because then I can really see
   1.828 +all of you. I know I can’t help much, but just being next to you,
   1.829 +seeing your sad eyes, it makes me wish that I could be with you
   1.830 +always.” Her quiet voice had spoken earnestly from her heart. It had
   1.831 +shaken the young owner. She had grown up hiding her pain and troubles
   1.832 +from others, always being the perky and bubbly girl she had thought
   1.833 +they wanted her to be, but the catgirl was content with who she was
   1.834 +even when that façade was nowhere in sight. 
   1.835 +And now ChibiUsa found herself staring deeply into Hotaru’s endless
   1.836 +violet orbs, breathing quickly as they sat in the darkness on her
   1.837 +ruffled sheets. The catgirl waited with endless patience, looking
   1.838 +back at her curiously as ChibiUsa’s mind wandered from memory to
   1.839 +memory. Laughing in embarrassment, ChibiUsa placed a hand behind her
   1.840 +head. “Goment nasai... I guess I’m still sleepy after all.”
   1.841 +Hotaru nodded slowly, still watching her mistress. A small smile
   1.842 +crossed her lips. She liked watching the pink bunny-looking girl
   1.843 +sleep. “I hope you sleep well, ChibiUsa-sama,” her soft voice prayed. 
   1.844 +	Shaking her head quickly, ChibiUsa tried to collect her thoughts.
   1.845 +Not thoughts exactly, because she couldn’t quite understand them all.
   1.846 +It was mostly a jumble of feelings, scattered throughout her heart
   1.847 +like flotsam. She collected them up, trying to make sense of them.
   1.848 +The burning sensation from earlier had only managed to grow more
   1.849 +intense as she watched the beautiful catgirl’s ivory skin nearly
   1.850 +sparkle in the moonlight. “No, that’s not what I meant. I don’t feel
   1.851 +like sleeping right now. Hotaru-chan, I...” She shook her head. Why
   1.852 +was this so difficult? What did she want to say? Whatever it was, it
   1.853 +certainly shouldn’t be this difficult. Hotaru was her pet. She had
   1.854 +gone out and picked her out. Hotaru was hers. So why was she having
   1.855 +such a hard time forcing out whatever it was that clung to her? A
   1.856 +frustrated sigh escaped her lips, causing Hotaru’s ears to twitch
   1.857 +noticeably. “Hotaru-chan, I want to kiss you,” she got out in a rough
   1.858 +whisper, her cheeks burning up. Was that it? Was that what she had
   1.859 +wanted to say? Well, not quite, but it was close enough. 
   1.860 +	The catgirl sat in silence for a long moment, her dark eyes
   1.861 +concentrating fully on her mistress. Her own pale cheeks had flushed
   1.862 +a deep red themselves, though it was hardly evident in the dim light.
   1.863 +She nodded slowly, her black hair fluttering a bit as she did so. Of
   1.864 +course, ChibiUsa was her owner. She had to do whatever was asked of
   1.865 +her, whatever her owner expected of her. But this was so much more
   1.866 +than normal obedience. This was something that she knew she wanted
   1.867 +herself. That she had wanted for some time now. That her mistress
   1.868 +would ask that of her... Her heart swooned at the thought. Her
   1.869 +mistress was such a kind and loving person, the first person who had
   1.870 +ever really cared about her. She treated her more like a friend than
   1.871 +an animal. She was so cute and funny to watch. Hotaru was completely
   1.872 +enamored with her sweet owner. The thought of being with her in such
   1.873 +a way was absolutely delicious. So as her pet, she must comply. But
   1.874 +all of Hotaru’s soul was fully behind the action. 
   1.875 +	Leaning forward a little awkwardly, ChibiUsa placed her hands on
   1.876 +Hotaru’s bare shoulders. Her heart felt like it was pounding between
   1.877 +her ears by now. The fact that she had never kissed anyone before
   1.878 +made itself painfully well known in her mind. But she did know that
   1.879 +she wanted this to be her first kiss. Licking her dry lips, ChibiUsa
   1.880 +moved forward slightly before pausing again. Moving her head to the
   1.881 +side, she tried to position herself better. The fact that Hotaru was
   1.882 +a girl hardly mattered in her mind and it probably hadn’t even
   1.883 +occurred to Hotaru with the blissful look on the angelic girl’s pale
   1.884 +face. Hotaru was also her pet, so such trivial things as what gender
   1.885 +she was hardly mattered at the moment. Moving forward once more,
   1.886 +ChibiUsa felt her lips press inexpertly against those of her devoted
   1.887 +catgirl. The soft petals of Hotaru’s lips parted briefly and she once
   1.888 +again felt that soft yet scratchy tongue press against her skin, but
   1.889 +this time it was on her own lips. The sensation was sweetly
   1.890 +overwhelming. ChibiUsa closed her eyes and kissed the dark haired
   1.891 +girl again, this time letting her own mouth part when the dark haired
   1.892 +girl’s tongue came out. Her lips moved around it, starting Hotaru at
   1.893 +first before her own tongue brushed against the scratchy one entering
   1.894 +her mouth. 
   1.895 +‘She’s your pet. You shouldn’t be doing this,’ ChibiUsa’s mind cried
   1.896 +out. ‘She’s your pet so of course you can do this,’ it retaliated.
   1.897 +‘Damn it, she’s Hotaru-chan and I want to do this,’ she concluded at
   1.898 +last. Her hand slowly moved up over Hotaru’s bare stomach, caressing
   1.899 +the satin soft skin as she made her way upwards. Her heartbeat
   1.900 +continued it’s maddening tempo as she continued higher. She was happy
   1.901 +to find that Hotaru’s heart was beating just as rapidly, thumping
   1.902 +rapidly in the raven haired catgirl’s chest. After what felt like an
   1.903 +endless pause as she worked up her determination, ChibiUsa’s hand
   1.904 +moved to the right under Hotaru’s simple nightshirt, cupping the
   1.905 +delicate skin of one of her small breasts. The catgirl let out a
   1.906 +startled cross between a purr and a moan as ChibiUsa’s hand caressed
   1.907 +the small mound. Hotaru’s arms wrapped around her mistress, pulling
   1.908 +her closer as they continued to kiss. By now, whatever arguments
   1.909 +ChibiUsa’s rational mind had tried were completely forgotten, lost in
   1.910 +the swirling storm that had overtaken whatever conscious thought was
   1.911 +left in her. There were wonderfully soft lips and piercing violet
   1.912 +eyes and warm skin that she could feel through the thin fabric of her
   1.913 +pajamas. And there was a joyous sense of relief, as if she had
   1.914 +finally found what she had spent an eternity searching the world over
   1.915 +for. “Hotaru-chan...” she whispered, her voice sounding different
   1.916 +than she had last remembered. It was her voice, but it wasn’t at all
   1.917 +controlled. It was only now that she had completely let go that she
   1.918 +could see.
   1.919 +Hotaru wasn’t completely aware of what was going on. Her mind had
   1.920 +become clouded over as the kiss had overtaken her. She was vaguely
   1.921 +aware of ChibiUsa’s hand in her blouse, of her fingers against her
   1.922 +skin. That sent a blush all the way down to her shoulders. The
   1.923 +thought that she was completely at her mistress’s mercy sent a shiver
   1.924 +through her ivory body. She didn’t know if she had quite expected
   1.925 +this or not. She knew that she belonged to the pink haired girl, but
   1.926 +this hadn’t really crossed her mind. She would do anything for her,
   1.927 +and she was only all too willing to follow along with her mistress’s
   1.928 +wishes. 
   1.929 +Slowly pulling away, ChibiUsa tried desperately to catch her breath.
   1.930 +She felt dizzy, her mind swirling in ecstasy as she sat back. Her pet
   1.931 +slowly opened her eyes, watching her closely. Swallowing, ChibiUsa’s
   1.932 +tongue moved around in her mouth, still used to the other’s presence
   1.933 +from moments before. This certainly hadn’t been one of the reasons
   1.934 +she had wanted a pet in the first place, but it was certainly a
   1.935 +wonderful surprise at the moment. The teenage girl was extremely
   1.936 +happy to have the closeness that her pet was all too willing to
   1.937 +provide her with. But just as she was an inexperienced kisser, so too
   1.938 +was she lost in exactly how to go about initiating anything sexual
   1.939 +between the two of them. The catgirl sat still, completely docile.
   1.940 +ChibiUsa sighed, her mind racing. Her mind finally settled on the
   1.941 +kiss. “Hotaru-chan, I want you to take off your clothes,” she said
   1.942 +quickly, trying to keep herself from blushing a deeper shade of
   1.943 +crimson than she already was. The dark haired catgirl complied shyly,
   1.944 +looking away from her mistress as she pulled the simple nightshirt
   1.945 +off, sliding off the plain white panties a moment later. The pink
   1.946 +haired owner watched all of this intently, taking in all of her
   1.947 +feline companion in the dim moonlight that sparkled over her body.
   1.948 +Reaching forward, ChibiUsa pulled the panties off of Hotaru’s foot,
   1.949 +pulling at them slightly as she held them up. They had an
   1.950 +intoxicating smell, and the knowledge of where they had just been
   1.951 +only served to entice her even more. 
   1.952 +Hotaru sat on her knees in front of her mistress, watching shyly as
   1.953 +she waited for whatever was to come next. This had certainly come as
   1.954 +a surprise to her, but not as much as it could have been. She had
   1.955 +known from the start that her mistress was completely in charge in
   1.956 +whatever she decided to do. Hotaru was only her pet. She was to go
   1.957 +along with whatever she wished. So she waited, nude in front of her
   1.958 +mistress, her body barred for her. Her tail moved quickly, betraying
   1.959 +the excitement that was building within her. Her animal instincts
   1.960 +wanted to come into play and they were very difficult to suppress at
   1.961 +the moment. She had the sudden urge to pounce the pink haired girl,
   1.962 +but through force of will she managed to push the thought deep down. 
   1.963 +If this had all been a dream, ChibiUsa would not have been at all
   1.964 +surprised. What did come as a surprise was the fact that she wasn’t
   1.965 +waking up from all of this. Part of her was expecting it all to come
   1.966 +to a close at any second. It had already gone much further than any
   1.967 +of her other dreams had dared. She had finally received that
   1.968 +intoxicating first kiss. Yet it was moving far beyond a simple kiss.
   1.969 +Hotaru was simply stunning in the moonlight, her gorgeous body on
   1.970 +display for ChibiUsa alone. Her fingers reached out slowly, brushing
   1.971 +some of the catgirl’s dark hair away from her violet eyes. “Hotaru-
   1.972 +chan... You’re so beautiful. Every inch of you,” she stated as her
   1.973 +fingers trailed down Hotaru’s bare shoulder. The catgirl shivered at
   1.974 +her touch, causing ChibiUsa to pull her hand away. Hotaru looked up
   1.975 +suddenly, disappointment evident in her eyes.
   1.976 +ChibiUsa held her hands in her lap, blushing deeper than she was
   1.977 +sure she ever had before. Her pink hair hung past her shoulders,
   1.978 +still messy from hours of sleep. The burning inside of her was now
   1.979 +almost unbearable. She swallowed nervously as she tried to think. Her
   1.980 +mind kept going to vivid images. Again, the feeling of Hotaru’s skin
   1.981 +against her, the feel of her warm and slightly scratchy tongue
   1.982 +entered her mind. “Hotaru-chan, I want you to... Umm…” Not being a
   1.983 +particularly vulgar girl or even an overly sexual one, ChibiUsa was
   1.984 +having a very difficult time describing what she meant to the catgirl
   1.985 +in front of her. “I want you to lick me again...” she finished at
   1.986 +last. She was about certain that she would pass out from blood loss
   1.987 +around then. If her mother ever heard her say anything like that...
   1.988 +She shook her head quickly, banishing the thought of her parents
   1.989 +having any idea of what she was currently engaged in. The catgirl
   1.990 +moved forward, her tongue brushing ChibiUsa’s cheek once more. The
   1.991 +pink hair giggled a bit at that, but the giggle was shortlived as
   1.992 +another blush overtook her. “No, I meant I want you to lick me
   1.993 +somewhere else, Hotaru-chan,” she said softly. 
   1.994 +Seeing the curious look that the catgirl gave her, ChibiUsa reached
   1.995 +down and pulled her pajama bottoms off. The cool air hit her bare
   1.996 +skin instantly, but it did little to quell the firey sensation within
   1.997 +her. Despite having watched Hotaru undress mere moments earlier,
   1.998 +ChibiUsa was still embarrassed about being seen in only her pajama
   1.999 +top and panties, even if she had undressed in front of her pet
  1.1000 +countless times. It took her a moment before she could work up the
  1.1001 +courage to pull her bunny stylized panties down her legs, leaving her
  1.1002 +bare skin to the scrutiny of the dark haired catgirl. She sat there
  1.1003 +for a long moment, her bare skin against the ruffled sheets that she
  1.1004 +had been sitting on. Her legs parted slowly, her eyes never leaving
  1.1005 +the catgirl sitting quietly in front of her. She swallowed nervously,
  1.1006 +part of her wondering just what the hell she was doing. Disregarding
  1.1007 +whatever part of her was protesting, ChibiUsa reached down past the
  1.1008 +soft pink hair that marked only a small patch of the bare skin from
  1.1009 +her waist down. Her crimson eyes remained on Hotaru as her fingers
  1.1010 +held herself open, her blush intensifying as she saw Hotaru’s violet
  1.1011 +eyes looking between her legs. Her first instinct was to close her
  1.1012 +legs tightly, to grab for the pajama bottoms that she knew were
  1.1013 +hopelessly out of her grasp. But she saw the Hotaru now understood
  1.1014 +what she meant. The nude catgirl moved forward on all fours, quickly
  1.1015 +moving between ChibiUsa’s spread legs. The pink haired girl’s heart
  1.1016 +crashed thunderously in her chest as she waited. She could see
  1.1017 +Hotaru’s midnight black hair and her equally dark ears followed by
  1.1018 +her beautiful ivory back that led all the way down to her dark tail
  1.1019 +that swished rapidly back and forth over Hotaru’s flank. That was the
  1.1020 +last thing she saw before she felt Hotaru’s hot breath on her, the
  1.1021 +catgirl having finally reached her destination. The pink haired girl
  1.1022 +rested her head back on her pillow, staring up at the roof as she
  1.1023 +felt Hotaru’s nose brush past her small patch of pink hair. 
  1.1024 +Hotaru was now running mostly on instinct, glad to let her animal
  1.1025 +side take charge of herself for the time being. Her nose pushed into
  1.1026 +her mistress’s soft pink hair, brushing the soft skin underneath. Her
  1.1027 +ears perked up at the soft moan that elicited from her owner. Her
  1.1028 +tail continued to dart back and forth as she leaned forward again,
  1.1029 +her nose trailing downward across the hot skin. She was entirely
  1.1030 +focussed on ChibiUsa, entranced by the situation she found herself
  1.1031 +in. Her rough tongue began to trail along ChibiUsa’s soft petals the
  1.1032 +same way she had trailed along her cheek not too long ago. She slowly
  1.1033 +began to lick at the sweet skin, garnering more moans and movement
  1.1034 +from the pink haired girl. She was so happy to be able to cause such
  1.1035 +sounds from her mistress. She continued licking, her tongue moving
  1.1036 +over ChibiUsa’s fingers as well as what lay between them. She
  1.1037 +wrinkled her nose at the strange taste that replaced the salty taste
  1.1038 +of ChibiUsa’s skin further up. After a moment, she began licking
  1.1039 +further between her mistress’s fingers, enjoying the interesting new
  1.1040 +taste. Her ears followed every moan, every sound that came from the
  1.1041 +pink haired girl. ChibiUsa continued to shift along the bed,
  1.1042 +squirming as Hotaru’s tongue continued along its path. Hotaru’s hands
  1.1043 +rested on ChibiUsa’s warm thighs so she wouldn’t have to move around
  1.1044 +as much to compensate for ChibiUsa’s movements. 
  1.1045 +Breathing heavily, ChibiUsa’s fingers of her free hand buried into
  1.1046 +Hotaru’s soft dark hair, narrowly missing one of her ears. “Hotaru-
  1.1047 +chan!” she whimpered, her scarlet eyes closing tightly as she felt
  1.1048 +Hotaru’s warm tongue against her most sacred of treasures. Hotaru’s
  1.1049 +tongue continued to caress her, the catgirl eagerly sending the pink
  1.1050 +haired girl into the heights of some distant heaven. “Hotaru-chan...”
  1.1051 +Her toes curled up in the sheets underneath her, her bare skin still
  1.1052 +meeting Hotaru’s warm tongue. ChibiUsa moaned louder as the catgirl
  1.1053 +found her pearl, her tongue sending sparks through her entire body.
  1.1054 +Hotaru licked at it more intently at the sound of her moans, barring
  1.1055 +her sharp teeth against it. ChibiUsa’s hands gripped onto the sheets
  1.1056 +as she moaned one last time, her muscles tensing up as her whole body
  1.1057 +felt like it was on fire. She collapsed to the sheets a short time
  1.1058 +later, breathing heavily and even more disheveled than when she had
  1.1059 +first awakened. Hotaru crawled up next to her, still naked, and
  1.1060 +curled against her side. ChibiUsa smiled softly as she wrapped her
  1.1061 +arms around the catgirl. “Hotaru-chan...” she whispered softly,
  1.1062 +kissing her pet with what little strength she still had. Hotaru
  1.1063 +smiled back, watching her intently. ChibiUsa fell asleep to those
  1.1064 +endless violet eyes and Hotaru’s warm purr. 
  1.1065 +
  1.1066 +	ChibiUsa felt herself unable to concentrate at all during class
  1.1067 +several days later. Her head lay against her cold desk as she school
  1.1068 +day continued to drag on like molasses pouring slowly from a jar. Her
  1.1069 +mind was a jumble of thoughts, all struggling for dominance in her
  1.1070 +confused mind. The flurry of conflicting information was too much for
  1.1071 +her, but she didn’t no how to deal with it all. She had lost interest
  1.1072 +in Elios a short time ago, her crush disappearing as quickly as it
  1.1073 +had appeared. She blamed it at first on the fickleness of such
  1.1074 +things, but that didn’t exactly fit. Crushes had come and gone
  1.1075 +before, but usually not with such sudden surety. Maybe she was just
  1.1076 +becoming more mature, realizing when her feelings were merely the
  1.1077 +product of an overactive teenage mind. Which was true in some way,
  1.1078 +she now saw. Elios had been a nice guy and all, but not someone that
  1.1079 +she could spend an eternity with. 
  1.1080 +Which brought her to her next group of thoughts. Who did she want to
  1.1081 +spend eternity with? That question produced a rather clear image, but
  1.1082 +she quickly dismissed it, trying to keep her fear from overcoming her
  1.1083 +panicked heart. ChibiUsa hadn’t ever had any interest in girls in the
  1.1084 +first place, and this was infinitely more confusing than finding out
  1.1085 +she was in love with one of the female members of the species. They
  1.1086 +weren’t even of the same species. ‘How do you fall in love with your
  1.1087 +pet cat?’ her mind asked for what had to be the thousandth time. And
  1.1088 +once again she came up blank. 
  1.1089 +	Her mind had been consumed with thoughts of the pale catgirl as of
  1.1090 +late, drowning her in their intensity. She had tried to quell the
  1.1091 +rising feelings at first, but they quickly became too much for her to
  1.1092 +hold back. They bubbled up around the barriers she had set in place,
  1.1093 +knocking them down as if they had never been there at all. The
  1.1094 +growing warmth in her heart showed through in everything she did,
  1.1095 +pouring forth whenever she was with her pet. What had at first
  1.1096 +frightened her now merely confused her. She was trying to understand
  1.1097 +just what had happened, where the distinction had been made. When had
  1.1098 +friendship, the relationship between the pet and her mistress, turned
  1.1099 +to love? And what did she say to Hotaru about it? This would have
  1.1100 +been easier if she was younger. In her childlike innocence, she had
  1.1101 +quickly come to decisions regarding matters of the heart, moving on a
  1.1102 +pure and simple instinct that had always served her well. That same
  1.1103 +instinct that bothered her whenever Hotaru would call her mistress.
  1.1104 +She wasn’t just a pet. That’s what this all boiled down to. Hotaru
  1.1105 +was far more than some simple object of amusement. She was ChibiUsa’s
  1.1106 +best friend, something that she would have to be careful not to
  1.1107 +mention around the possessive Ruruna and Naruru. And it wasn’t the
  1.1108 +same as with Momoko. They could talk and she liked spending time with
  1.1109 +the peach girl, but it was nowhere near as captivating as the
  1.1110 +catgirl’s presence. 
  1.1111 +	ChibiUsa tried to cloak her true feelings behind a happy façade
  1.1112 +that dazzled most people. Hiding her feelings had always been second
  1.1113 +nature. Her father was an important politician. She couldn’t be going
  1.1114 +around like an open book. But often her heart would push off the
  1.1115 +boundaries and restrictions she laid on it, pulling her in all sorts
  1.1116 +of different directions. This had always been frustrating for her,
  1.1117 +this contradictory force pulling her in two directions at once. It
  1.1118 +sometimes left her feeling empty inside, struggling with the feelings
  1.1119 +in her heart and the painting she tried to portray to the world. Did
  1.1120 +any of her friends really know her at all? Hotaru did. Those sad eyes
  1.1121 +saw deep inside of her, as if she could see directly into ChibiUsa’s
  1.1122 +soul. The pink haired girl shuddered at the thought, remembering the
  1.1123 +feeling of those endless violet orbs on her, asking why she lied so
  1.1124 +much about how she felt. 
  1.1125 +	It was with this dual nature that ChibiUsa found herself struggling
  1.1126 +once again. The fact that Hotaru was her pet was becoming less and
  1.1127 +less important. It seemed silly to use that as an excuse. That she
  1.1128 +meant so much to her immediately nullified the little problem of
  1.1129 +Hotaru being a catgirl. Her heart was beginning to shred through the
  1.1130 +curtains that had hidden it, and it was difficult for her to maintain
  1.1131 +any semblance of a mask in Hotaru’s presence. Instinct and rational
  1.1132 +thought grappled in the recesses of her mind, struggling between
  1.1133 +suppressing her feelings and following her heart. As was so often the
  1.1134 +case, ChibiUsa’s instincts eventually came out on top. 
  1.1135 +	Pink hair bobbed as ChibiUsa heard the bell ring. Finally! Grabbing
  1.1136 +her bunny bookbag, she hurried out of class. She had things she
  1.1137 +needed to do. She left her confusion at her desk, determined to see
  1.1138 +where the path in her heart led.
  1.1139 +
  1.1140 +	Papers surrounded Hotaru’s barely clad form as she sat on the floor
  1.1141 +in ChibiUsa’s father’s room. She wasn’t supposed to be in there, but
  1.1142 +she had grown curious. And, as the saying goes, curiosity killed the
  1.1143 +cat. Hotaru had finally found it almost impossible to ignore the
  1.1144 +dark, almost imposing room that she had normally avoided. She had to
  1.1145 +find the answers. And there they were, in black and white in front of
  1.1146 +her.
  1.1147 +	It had started simply enough. That pleasant scent that signified
  1.1148 +her mistress always had a strong affect on her. All of her senses
  1.1149 +would come alert when it reached her nose, catlike instinct going
  1.1150 +crazy. It worked well with the rest of the pink haired girl’s
  1.1151 +presence to drive her completely crazy. It was something she enjoyed,
  1.1152 +but a small thought had begun to nag at the back of her mind. She
  1.1153 +knew that smell and that reaction from somewhere else. Well, not that
  1.1154 +exact smell and not that exact reaction. There was something in
  1.1155 +specific about ChibiUsa that got her heart pounding. But that tensing
  1.1156 +of her muscles and that almost maddening thought to pounce on the
  1.1157 +pink haired girl seemed familiar. She had finally come searching for
  1.1158 +answers.
  1.1159 +	The strange feelings weren’t the only reason she had gone looking
  1.1160 +for proof to her suspicions. She had to ashamedly admit that she had
  1.1161 +a more selfish reason. She was in love with her mistress. She knew
  1.1162 +that now. Denial had set in stubbornly at first. Hotaru’s broken
  1.1163 +heart had not wanted to allow herself to get hurt again after all of
  1.1164 +the pain her life had afforded her. It had tried to escape that by
  1.1165 +denying the feelings in her heart. ChibiUsa was her mistress, so of
  1.1166 +course she was the most important thing to her. She was supposed to
  1.1167 +feel strongly about her mistress. But that wasn’t the full truth.
  1.1168 +Watching the pink haired girl while she slept, waiting anxiously
  1.1169 +everyday for her to return home, wanting nothing more than to be with
  1.1170 +her constantly, it all burned too brightly in her heart. Nothing she
  1.1171 +had read could have prepared her for the tumultuous feelings that
  1.1172 +sent her heart reeling. It wasn’t a happy realization by any means.
  1.1173 +When she had discovered that she was in love with her mistress, she
  1.1174 +had cried for many hours until her tears had finally given up on her
  1.1175 +completely. Pain had wracked her lonely heart because she knew she
  1.1176 +could never be with her mistress. They could never be together. She
  1.1177 +would always be alone, watching her mistress from afar. She was only
  1.1178 +her pet, after all. She was nothing more than her plaything. This was
  1.1179 +her last hope, that perhaps she could prove that they could be
  1.1180 +together, that she could be with her mistress always. Of course, she
  1.1181 +wouldn’t be her mistress anymore if she was right, would she?
  1.1182 +	The answer she had been searching for lay written on the paper in
  1.1183 +front of her, painfully obvious yet carefully hidden. ChibiUsa was
  1.1184 +not the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Tsukino. She was, in fact, not human
  1.1185 +at all. She was a pet as well. Or at least, she had been. The
  1.1186 +Tsukino’s had been devastated when their first daughter had died
  1.1187 +during childbirth. Mrs. Tsukino couldn’t have any other children. The
  1.1188 +couple so wanted a child, but they couldn’t have one of their own. So
  1.1189 +they had purchased a very young pet, a pink haired bunnygirl. They
  1.1190 +had her tail and ears surgically removed while she was still a baby
  1.1191 +and had raised her as their own child. 
  1.1192 +	The truth hadn’t been entirely surprising to Hotaru, though she had
  1.1193 +wondered if she was hoping for the impossible. If ChibiUsa was a
  1.1194 +bunnygirl, then it meant that they could be together. It meant that
  1.1195 +if ChibiUsa did return her feelings as she suspected, it would be all
  1.1196 +right for them to be in love. There wouldn’t be any social stigmas to
  1.1197 +worry about if two pets were in love. She wasn’t just in love with
  1.1198 +ChibiUsa because she was her mistress. Their love wasn’t forbidden.
  1.1199 +This filled Hotaru with a profound sense of relief. The familiar
  1.1200 +feeling finally had a memory attached to it. She had first seen a
  1.1201 +bunnygirl back in a petshop. She had hissed at the girl and tried to
  1.1202 +pounce on her, but she hadn’t been able to get out of her cage. So
  1.1203 +part of ChibiUsa’s scent had alerted that catlike part of her mind to
  1.1204 +the bunny aspect of her mistress. Her bare toes curled happily in the
  1.1205 +carpet as she purred. Yes, she couldn’t wait to see ChibiUsa. She
  1.1206 +would tell her everything and they would be together forever. She
  1.1207 +hoped. Part of her was worried about the pink haired girl’s reaction
  1.1208 +to it. What would she think? Would her heritage frighten her?
  1.1209 +	The front door opened, alerting Hotaru to the return of her
  1.1210 +mistress. Her heart pounded deafeningly in her chest as she held the
  1.1211 +paper to her chest. She still wasn’t sure what to do. But she knew
  1.1212 +she wanted to be with her mistress above all else. A strange scent
  1.1213 +startled her out of her thoughts as the steps grew closer. That
  1.1214 +didn’t smell like ChibiUsa. Her violet eyes shot towards the door as
  1.1215 +ChibiUsa’s father entered the room. Her heart practically stopped. 
  1.1216 +	“What the hell are you doing?” he asked in shock as he surveyed the
  1.1217 +room. His daughter’s pet catgirl was sitting in the middle of some of
  1.1218 +his most important papers, holding one tightly to a chest. Noticing
  1.1219 +ChibiUsa’s fake birth certificate lying next to her bare leg, he felt
  1.1220 +panic easing it’s way out from his stomach. He had gotten home early
  1.1221 +and had decided to hurry home and get some rest after the recent late
  1.1222 +nights he had been pulling. But he certainly hadn’t expected to see
  1.1223 +this. ‘Calm down,’ he commanded himself. ‘Be rational. She’s only a
  1.1224 +catgirl. She can’t read. She doesn’t know what any of it is. Just
  1.1225 +scold her and hide those papers somewhere else.’
  1.1226 +	Hotaru stared up at the graying politician with concern in her
  1.1227 +violet eyes. She held the paper even tighter as he came forward.
  1.1228 +Steeling her courage, the shy catgirl met his eyes. “She’s a
  1.1229 +bunnygirl, isn’t she?” her soft voice whispered. His forward advance
  1.1230 +stopped immediately. “She was a pet, wasn’t she?”
  1.1231 +	“Oh my God...” Panic began to pump quicker through his body as he
  1.1232 +stared at the catgirl, her deep violet eyes meeting his in curiosity.
  1.1233 +He idly wondered if he was about to have a heart attack as his heart
  1.1234 +beat furiously in his chest. “You can read..” This couldn’t happen.
  1.1235 +Some damned catgirl couldn’t have found out his daughter’s dark,
  1.1236 +dirty little secret. He would not let his entire career, his entire
  1.1237 +reputation, his happy family get torn apart by some loathsome animal.
  1.1238 +He could lose everything if this got out. His career would be hurt
  1.1239 +beyond repair if it got out that his daughter was a bunnygirl. 
  1.1240 +	Nodding slowly, Hotaru looked down at the paper in her arms. “You
  1.1241 +never told her. You hid it from her so she wouldn’t know. And you let
  1.1242 +her get a pet of her own. It’s almost ironic. A pet owning a pet.”
  1.1243 +She smiled weakly, showing her fangs. To ChibiUsa’s father, she
  1.1244 +looked like some hellish demon. “I understand. You just wanted to
  1.1245 +protect her. But I have to tell her. She has to know who she is.”
  1.1246 +	“Who.. Who the fuck are you to decide something like that..? You’re
  1.1247 +just some damned pet... I’m her fucking father.. You have no right
  1.1248 +telling her that.” His hands were shaking now, an irrational rage
  1.1249 +building inside. How dare this cat come in and try to ruin his life?
  1.1250 +How dare she exert power over him? She was only a pet. 
  1.1251 +	Hotaru shook her head quickly, dark hair flying just above her bare
  1.1252 +shoulders. “No, you don’t understand...” her quiet voice was barely
  1.1253 +above a whisper. “I... I have to tell her.. She needs to know...
  1.1254 +Because.. Because I love her. So she has to know that she’s a pet,
  1.1255 +too..” Her violet eyes grew more focused as she stood up. She felt a
  1.1256 +cold determination growing within her. She would be with the one she
  1.1257 +loved. She would give her whole heart to ChibiUsa. But the only way
  1.1258 +they could be together was if she told her who she really was. It was
  1.1259 +the only way that her mistress could love her back, if she knew that
  1.1260 +she was a pet.
  1.1261 +	Blinding pain erupted through Hotaru as an insanely loud noise
  1.1262 +filled her ears. An acrid smell filled her nostrils as she fell
  1.1263 +backwards. Her eyes barely caught a glimpse of the gleaming metal
  1.1264 +object in the man’s hands as she collapsed like a rag doll to the
  1.1265 +floor. She felt as if the air had all been forced out of her in a
  1.1266 +split second. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t catch her
  1.1267 +breath as she lay panting on the floor, gasping fruitlessly. A
  1.1268 +coppery taste invaded her mind as she began to cough uncontrollably.
  1.1269 +Tears spilt down her cheeks as she kept trying to catch her breath.
  1.1270 +What was happening? Why did her lungs burn so badly? She could dimly
  1.1271 +hear him over her, angry words laced with venom assaulting her as she
  1.1272 +lay helplessly on the floor. Her hand weakly grabbed at her chest
  1.1273 +only to find her simple blouse soaked with blood. It continued to
  1.1274 +poor out onto her shaking hand as her heart pumped desperately. He
  1.1275 +had shot her through the lung and she was rapidly bleeding to death.
  1.1276 +“ChibiUsa-sama...” her voice got out before breaking. Fire burnt
  1.1277 +through her side as she felt his foot kick her in the ribs. 
  1.1278 +	“You fucking bitch!! Do you think she’s going to save you? Do you
  1.1279 +think that I’d let you ruin my life?! My career?! That I’d let you
  1.1280 +come in and take my baby girl away from me?!” He ran a hand through
  1.1281 +his graying hair as he tried to catch his breath. She couldn’t hurt
  1.1282 +him anymore. The vicious demon lay dying on his bedroom floor. All he
  1.1283 +would have to do now would be to get rid of her and this whole
  1.1284 +painful episode would be over with. If ChibiUsa missed her pet cat,
  1.1285 +he would just go buy her a new one. Preferably a deaf and mute one
  1.1286 +this time. He heard the catgirl whimper his daughter’s name again on
  1.1287 +the floor and drove his foot into her stomach, shutting her up. 
  1.1288 +	Hotaru couldn’t see anymore, her vision finally fading out as she
  1.1289 +lay on the floor. Her body still ached horribly, but it was becoming
  1.1290 +distant, as if it were someone else’s pain. The room was gone, left
  1.1291 +far behind. Her body was slowly starting to slip away as she came to
  1.1292 +the dim realization that she was dying. Her heart cried out in
  1.1293 +anguish as she found that ChibiUsa could not come to her rescue. No!
  1.1294 +She didn’t want to die yet. She had wanted to die many other times in
  1.1295 +her life, praying to be with her mother again, but she had a reason
  1.1296 +to live this time. In her mind’s eye, she saw the pink haired girl,
  1.1297 +smiling serenely, her arms behind her back. She had to live. She had
  1.1298 +to see ChibiUsa again. Struggling to her knees, she coughed up more
  1.1299 +blood onto the already soiled carpet. Yes, she would be with her
  1.1300 +mistress. Forever. Despite the pain, she thought she might be able to
  1.1301 +make it to her feet after all. This man would not stand in the way of
  1.1302 +her heart. “Chi...” she got out weakly before another gunshot rang
  1.1303 +out. Hotaru’s lifeless body fell in a heap on the floor.
  1.1304 +	“Oh God!! Please no...” The politician turned at the sound of his
  1.1305 +daughter’s voice. The gun fell from cold fingers, clattering to the
  1.1306 +floor near the catgirl’s dead body. He reached out slowly, shaking
  1.1307 +his head. He realized dimly that his fingers were shaking. “ChibiUsa-
  1.1308 +chan, I... I had to... She was... She was going to destroy you, my
  1.1309 +little girl...” his words came out shakily as he watched his daughter
  1.1310 +hurry to Hotaru’s side.
  1.1311 +	“Hotaru-chan!!! Hotaru-chan!!” ChibiUsa cried out helplessly. She
  1.1312 +clutched onto the catgirl’s still warm body, holding it tightly
  1.1313 +against herself, praying that she would move in her grasp. “Please...
  1.1314 +Please say something.. Please do something... Anything!! Hotaru-
  1.1315 +chan!!! No!! Don’t leave me like this!!! Say something!!!” she
  1.1316 +demanded, shaking the girl in her arms. Hotaru lay limply against
  1.1317 +her, unmoving. ChibiUsa burst out into fresh tears, sobbing
  1.1318 +uncontrollably. “You can’t leave me... I.. I love you... I love you,
  1.1319 +Hotaru-chan.. I said it.. You mean everything to me... So open your
  1.1320 +eyes.. Oh please, just open your eyes.. I mean it.. I mean it with
  1.1321 +all my heart.. I love you...” Her fingers clutched desperately onto
  1.1322 +the pale girl’s skin as her body shook with each breath the pink
  1.1323 +haired girl managed between sobs. Her skirt and blouse were now
  1.1324 +soaked with blood, a stark contrast with how neat and clean they were
  1.1325 +mere moments before. The flowers she had bought Hotaru lay near the
  1.1326 +doorway, forgotten instantly as she had seen her fallen love. What
  1.1327 +had happened? What had gone so horrendously wrong? She had finally
  1.1328 +given in to the inevitable pull of her heart only to find the girl
  1.1329 +that lay at the center of her heart dead in her father’s bedroom. Why
  1.1330 +was this world so cruel? Why would it take such a gentle, shy spirit
  1.1331 +away? 
  1.1332 +Bitter tears fell down ChibiUsa’s cheeks, dripping onto Hotaru’s
  1.1333 +pale cheeks as ChibiUsa cupped her chin, looking into her lifeless
  1.1334 +violet eyes. “Hotaru-chan..” Her father was mumbling something, but
  1.1335 +she couldn’t hear him. Her thoughts were too dashed to concentrate on
  1.1336 +anything but the broken girl in front of her. “Hotaru-chan..?” she
  1.1337 +asked again, her pink lashes throwing tears as she blinked them
  1.1338 +furiously in an attempt to see through the burning veil they formed.
  1.1339 +Her lover looked back at her blankly, vacantly. She wasn’t there
  1.1340 +anymore. The spark inside of her that had been ChibiUsa’s pet catgirl
  1.1341 +was gone, already having fled to somewhere far away. “I love you..”
  1.1342 +ChibiUsa whispered as she began to cry hopelessly, hugging Hotaru
  1.1343 +with all of her strength. 
  1.1344 +“She was going to take you away from me, ChibiUsa-chan.. I had no
  1.1345 +choice. I couldn’t let her take you away.. I couldn’t let her ruin
  1.1346 +everything for us.. I’ll buy you a new catgirl.. I’ll let you get any
  1.1347 +pet that you want.. All right, honey? You can get whatever you want..
  1.1348 +She was just a pet anyway.. No big loss..” He turned to his daughter,
  1.1349 +trying to concentrate. He hadn’t expected her to get home. He was
  1.1350 +just going to tell her that Hotaru had run away, that she had simply
  1.1351 +left when he had accidentally left the door open. But this made
  1.1352 +things infinitely more complicated. His eyes caught on something
  1.1353 +shiny as ChibiUsa reached out and wrapped her fingers around it. It
  1.1354 +took a moment for it to click in his mind, the gun clicking back at
  1.1355 +the same moment. “No..” he whispered breathlessly. 
  1.1356 +The cold metal of the barrel pushed painfully past cotton candy pink
  1.1357 +hair as ChibiUsa felt it bite into her skin. Her tears still fell
  1.1358 +silently down her cheeks, but she wasn’t shaking anymore. She shifted
  1.1359 +her other arm, holding Hotaru warmly against her. This was it. It was
  1.1360 +over. She couldn’t live without Hotaru. That was part of what had
  1.1361 +made her realize that she loved the catgirl. Her life was incomplete
  1.1362 +without her. So she wouldn’t continue down life’s path alone. She
  1.1363 +couldn’t. Even if her body lived, she was already dead. This life was
  1.1364 +over. She felt the trigger tense under her finger as she pulled it.
  1.1365 +It kicked in her hand and fell to the floor as she slumped against
  1.1366 +Hotaru. She actually thought she heard the gunshot, but that couldn’t
  1.1367 +possibly be true. She died the second she pulled the trigger.
  1.1368 +Everything faded to black as she saw the roses lying discarded by the
  1.1369 +door, her lifeless body leaning against Hotaru’s.
  1.1370 +Hotaru’s smiling face and vibrant violet eyes greeted ChibiUsa as
  1.1371 +gun smoke filled the air and two girls lay dead and entangled
  1.1372 +together in a lover’s embrace back in a room far away.
  1.1373 +
  1.1374 +	
  1.1375 \ No newline at end of file