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     1.2 +++ b/old/stories/toujours.txt	Fri Feb 19 20:53:12 2010 -0500
     1.3 @@ -0,0 +1,231 @@
     1.4 +This is my first Sailor Moon fic. Not sure exactly how good it is, but I 
     1.5 +figured I might as well submit it for being read. I took a few liberties 
     1.6 +with the characters, not very many though, IE giving the already sickly 
     1.7 +Hotaru asthma. Time frame is of normal, Hotaru being 12-13. You can email me 
     1.8 +at Saturn_Knight@hotmail.com with comments/questions.
     1.9 +
    1.10 +	
    1.11 +
    1.12 +"Toujours"
    1.13 +By Saturn Knight
    1.14 +
    1.15 +Forcing herself along the icy street, near midnight, fighting the cold, 
    1.16 +which gnawed at her with relentless force, Hotaru pulls the purple sweater 
    1.17 +around her tighter; though it did nothing to keep the bitter caress of the 
    1.18 +wind from violating her body. In the back of her mind, playing like a broken 
    1.19 +record, the question 'Why did I agree to come to America!?' made her think 
    1.20 +of her warm, safe bed back home. 'Home…' Hotaru said to herself, just as the 
    1.21 +first snow began to fall, fluttering gently from the sky and landing on her 
    1.22 +shoulder. Turning to look at it, her body shaking violently from the cold, 
    1.23 +she frowned, wondering where she was, where were the others, and why did bad 
    1.24 +things always happen to her?
    1.25 +	"Because you're the Soldier of Death…that's why," she mumbled to herself, 
    1.26 +turning her gaze to the sky as the snow picked up, now falling regularly. A 
    1.27 +shuddering breath trailed into the sky, mingling with the frigid air before 
    1.28 +finally succumbing to the relentless chill of the night. "God, it's 
    1.29 +beautiful…" The faint light seeping through the clouds backlit the scene to 
    1.30 +perfection, something no artist could ever replicate. Tearing her gaze from 
    1.31 +the sky, back down to the snow covered ground, Hotaru felt fear rising in 
    1.32 +the back of her throat…she had been walking for the good part of an hour, 
    1.33 +and had come across nothing more than bare trees, rocks, and now snow.
    1.34 +	"I wanna go home…" she said to herself, the simple act of talking causing 
    1.35 +another plume of vapor to rise from her lips. Though her hands were numb, 
    1.36 +the muscles ached under her skin with every movement. She was very glad now 
    1.37 +that had she listened to Haruka's advice, on wearing her snow boots when she 
    1.38 +went out into the cold, otherwise, she would have lost the ability, and the 
    1.39 +will, to walk long before. Then she sneezed… a single, violent sneeze. The 
    1.40 +sudden loss of breath began a coughing fit that drove her to the ground, the 
    1.41 +snow crunching under her weight as she went down to her knees … Reaching 
    1.42 +into her pocket for her inhaler, she shakily threw the top off it and took a 
    1.43 +breath as best as she could and tried to hold it. Forcing herself not to 
    1.44 +cough as the world spun, she exhaled quickly and repeated, her body giving 
    1.45 +violent spasms from her refusal to cough.
    1.46 +	Unable to hold her fit any longer, she surrendered to her body and began 
    1.47 +coughing violently, trying to stand only caused the world to black out for a 
    1.48 +moment. Staggering, fighting with all the strength she could muster, but she 
    1.49 +was at war with something she could never beat; no matter how hard she 
    1.50 +tried, no matter how strong her will. She was fighting herself. As her body 
    1.51 +hit the ground, her eyes looked up to the sky as the snow continued to fall, 
    1.52 +making her already-numb face sting anew with the ice that was now settling 
    1.53 +in. As her body gave into shock, she felt the world slowly start to slip 
    1.54 +away from her conscious mind. Her last coherent thought as she looked to the 
    1.55 +sky, and it's dangerous beauty, was "It's hard to believe something so 
    1.56 +beautiful could be so deadly…" then all was darkness.
    1.57 +
    1.58 +	"I'm worried about Hotaru," Chibi Usa said to Usagi, as they sat in their 
    1.59 +hotel room in Maine. "She should have been back a long time ago." Chibi sat 
    1.60 +with her back against the bed, with Usagi behind her, brushing out her pink 
    1.61 +hair. "Do you think she's ok?"  She twisted her body to look at Usagi, who 
    1.62 +was too busy watching the American soap opera on TV to pay much attention. 
    1.63 +"USAGI!"
    1.64 +	"What?! Huh?" Usagi jumped, literally, as Chibi yelled, just about falling 
    1.65 +off the bed and onto the floor. "What now?" she blushed light red, 
    1.66 +embarrassed that she wasn't paying attention. Her own hair was let 
    1.67 +completely down, not in the usual dual ponytails. "I'm sorry… What did you 
    1.68 +say Chibi?"
    1.69 +	"UGH, you never listen!" Chibi took the remote and promptly switched off 
    1.70 +the TV, tossing the remote under the bed where she believed Usagi couldn't 
    1.71 +get it. Turning her eyes to Usagi, who was already on all fours, halfway 
    1.72 +under the bed attempting to fish the remote out, she shouted as loudly as 
    1.73 +she could, "USAGI!!" This caused Usagi to jump again, hitting her head on 
    1.74 +the under board of the bed, with a yelp and a wince, she quickly worm her 
    1.75 +way out, with the remote of course.
    1.76 +	"OW! What, Chibi Usa? WHAT?" Usagi's eyes were watering from the sting of 
    1.77 +the pain. "What is so important?" Reaching out her right hand to gingerly 
    1.78 +touch the fresh bump, her left hand extended with the remote to switch the 
    1.79 +TV back on, but met with a slap from Chibi's hand, knocking the remote away.
    1.80 +	"It's HOTARU! She's late! She said she'd be back 2 hours ago." Chibi 
    1.81 +glanced at the clock over Usagi's shoulder, "I'm worried about her…she 
    1.82 +doesn't know this place, WE don't even know this place…it's cold outside, 
    1.83 +and snowing, and it's dark, and it's lonely, an--"
    1.84 +	"…And you worry too much…" Usagi rolled her eyes and glanced longingly at 
    1.85 +the remote.
    1.86 +	"SOMEBODY around here has gotta worry. The only thing you worry about is 
    1.87 +how you look to Mamou Chan, and your shows on the TV!" Chibi stood, being 
    1.88 +short enough to look the sitting Usagi in the eye, "Hotaru is late…she's 
    1.89 +normally on time, unlike some other senshi I could name… Aren't you 
    1.90 +worried?" This struck a chord with Usagi, and she was about to protest, but 
    1.91 +as she moved to grab the remote from the floor, her eyes wandered to the 
    1.92 +window. There was roughly a foot of snow blanketing the ground, and the 
    1.93 +dark, thick clouds had suffocated the faint light that the moon provided.
    1.94 +	"Yeah, she's ok…" Usagi said, more in an effort to convince herself, rather 
    1.95 +than Chibi Usa, who was now at the windowsill, on her tip-toes peeking out 
    1.96 +from the 10th floor room. "Just stay off the phone in case she has to call 
    1.97 +and ask for our help." Almost as if on cue the phone rang, and both girls 
    1.98 +looked at each other. Before the end of the second ring, Chibi had vaulted 
    1.99 +over the bed and tore the phone receiver off the hook and, placed it to her 
   1.100 +ear. Usagi wasn't too far behind her, trying to maintain a bit of dignity, 
   1.101 +rather than throwing herself on the bed she had recently been crawling 
   1.102 +under.
   1.103 +	"Hotaru?" Chibi said, hopefully, but was greeted with the voice of a man on 
   1.104 +the other end.
   1.105 +	"Uh…no, this is Lieutenant Grey of the Maine PD. We found a girl out in a 
   1.106 +run down part of Oak Street, off the highway. She was unconscious, and 
   1.107 +covered in snow. She had a card key to this hotel, and this room. Purple 
   1.108 +hair, about five fe--"
   1.109 +	"HOTARU!!" Chibi shrieked, dropping the phone on the floor, her face going 
   1.110 +pale as she heard. Usagi quickly picked up the phone, placing it to her ear.
   1.111 +	"Hotaru is that you?" Usagi said into the phone, not sure what she was 
   1.112 +supposed to hear, but thought it would be bad news. She sighed, gazing to 
   1.113 +Chibi was sitting on the floor with her knees to her chest crying like the 
   1.114 +world was going to end.
   1.115 +	"No….This is Lieutenant Grey, of the Maine PD. A patrol had located a girl 
   1.116 +lying in the snow near the highway…we believe it's a friend of yours, since 
   1.117 +she had the key to this room in her pocket." The voice paused a moment, 
   1.118 +"She's currently at Memorial Hospital, south of Main Street."
   1.119 +	"Oh Hotaru…." Usagi reached down and placed her hand on Chibi's shoulder. 
   1.120 +"How do we get there from the hotel? The hotels on…" Usagi grabbed the pad 
   1.121 +off the desk near the phone, with the little pencil they provide, "It's on 
   1.122 +Greenway parkway."
   1.123 +
   1.124 +
   1.125 +	Arriving at the hospital, via the car Usagi had rented for their vacation, 
   1.126 +miraculously in one piece, in spite of the horrid driving conditions, the 
   1.127 +two entered the warm hospital and headed directly for the information desk. 
   1.128 +The sterile, cold feeling of the hospital sent chills down Chibi Usa's spine 
   1.129 +as she looked over the sparkling white tile, and stoic white walls of the 
   1.130 +entry way. The counter was vacant at the time they arrived, and Chibi Usa 
   1.131 +began an incessant attack on the bell, before having her hand removed by 
   1.132 +Usagi, who sternly shook her head. Removing her pink earmuffs, and staring 
   1.133 +out a nearby window, Chibi's heart sank. It was still snowing badly, and 
   1.134 +only grew more intense with every passing second.
   1.135 +	Turning back to the counter, Chibi was about to hit the bell again, when a 
   1.136 +woman emerged from the back area. Her white nurse's uniform was wrinkled, 
   1.137 +and fit her a bit too tightly, and the blue knit sweater she wore was 
   1.138 +stretched to its limit. "Yeah?" the red haired nurse asked. Usagi noted 
   1.139 +immediately that the woman smelled sickeningly of cigarette smoke.
   1.140 +	"Hi, we're looking for the girl who was found…" Usagi swallowed hard at 
   1.141 +this. She was used to visiting Hotaru in hospitals, but never for something 
   1.142 +like this. "She was found by the highwa--" The nurse cut her off with a 
   1.143 +sigh, rolling her eyes.
   1.144 +	"Room 415…fourth floor." The nurse then turned around and started back to 
   1.145 +the back, but paused. Reaching to the counter and taking the bell off the 
   1.146 +top, and placing it in her pocket, the woman gave Chibi Usa a steely glare.
   1.147 +	"My, isn't she the friendly one?" Chibi asked, taking Usagi's hand and 
   1.148 +pulling her towards the two massive steel doors of the elevator. Pushing the 
   1.149 +button a few times, Chibi waited impatiently for the lift to arrive. Her 
   1.150 +mind was cluttered with thoughts, assuming the worst…'I can't live without 
   1.151 +my best friend,' Chibi thought, trembling and blinking back the tears that 
   1.152 +made their way to eyes. 'If anything happens to Hotaru, I don't know what 
   1.153 +I'll do…I...I want to see her…I want to see her now!' With a red-eyed glare 
   1.154 +at the button, Chibi demanded, "What is TAKING this thing so long?!"
   1.155 +	"I don't know…I guess they're busy or something?" Usagi too, was wondering 
   1.156 +exactly what was keeping the lift from taking them to the fourth floor. She 
   1.157 +looked to her left and viewed the staircase, but dismissed it; there was a 
   1.158 +fire alarm on the door. Sighing, she pushed the button again…the elevator 
   1.159 +sounded in the silence of the lobby and opened it's metal jaws.
   1.160 +
   1.161 +	Entering the room was one of the hardest things Chibi had ever had to do in 
   1.162 +her life. She and Usagi crept into the eerily quiet room, only to see their 
   1.163 +friend laying there, hooked up to machines that kept her alive. Chibi gasped 
   1.164 +and ran to her best friend, shakily reaching out and taking Hotaru's hand as 
   1.165 +carefully as she could, afraid she was going to hurt the girl by her touch.
   1.166 +	"Oh Hotaru…" Chibi whispered, as she felt Usagi's hand on her shoulder 
   1.167 +giving it a gentle squeeze. The purple haired girl made no response to the 
   1.168 +touch. Her eyes were closed, a tube in her mouth to keep her breathing, with 
   1.169 +an IV in the back of her hand. Chibi Usa slowly reached out to move some of 
   1.170 +the matted purple hair from over Hotaru's eyes, in a vain, almost sadistic 
   1.171 +hope that the she would see violet orbs flicker to life.
   1.172 +	"It'll be ok," Usagi said reassuringly, not only for Chibi's benefit, but 
   1.173 +her own as well. It pained her to see Hotaru in this condition, as so often 
   1.174 +seemed the case. Another gentle squeeze of Chibi's shoulder, before the door 
   1.175 +opened and the doctor stepped into the room. He was dressed in green 
   1.176 +S.C.R.U.B.s, and had a stethoscope hanging around the collar of his white 
   1.177 +coat.
   1.178 +	"You must be the ones the officer called," the doctor said, picking up the 
   1.179 +chart from the door and giving it a glance over as he rubbed his slightly 
   1.180 +stubbled chin. "I guess we start off with the basic's, what's her name? We 
   1.181 +have Jane Do-" Chibi cut him off, looking up at the man who was at least 
   1.182 +twice her size.
   1.183 +	"Is she going to be ok?" her red eyes brimming with tears as she asks him 
   1.184 +the question, swallowing hard and waiting for the worst news. A faint hope 
   1.185 +whispered reassurance, but was swiftly drowned by the cackling of reality… 
   1.186 +Usagi was soon behind her, but cast a glance over her shoulder to Hotaru, 
   1.187 +who was lying as still as death.
   1.188 +	"We don't know, we don't have her medical history, insurance information, 
   1.189 +or any--" This time Usagi cut him off, stating the facts quickly.
   1.190 +	"Her name is Hotaru Tomoe… H-o-t-a-r-u   T-o-m-o-e." Usagi paused as the 
   1.191 +doctor scribbled down the name then continued, "Look under Haruka Tenou for 
   1.192 +the insurance information, H-a-r-u-k-a   T-e-n-o-u." She was now glad that 
   1.193 +Michi had insisted that they had health insurance for their trip; even if it 
   1.194 +was an expensive, and only temporary policy, it sure did come in handy right 
   1.195 +now.
   1.196 +	"Alright. I'll have my nurse check it out…" he turned to head away, but 
   1.197 +Chibi grabbed his shirt to keep him from going anywhere, and pushed the 
   1.198 +nurse's call buzzer a few times… not releasing her grip, she looked up at 
   1.199 +him, shaking her head.
   1.200 +"Something else I can do for you?" the doctor asked, looking down at the 
   1.201 +short pink-haired girl.
   1.202 +	"What's wrong with Hotaru?" A single tear ran down Chibi Usa's face as she 
   1.203 +all the horrid possibilities floated through her head.
   1.204 +	"First off she's got hypothermia, secondly she was barely breathing when 
   1.205 +they brought her in. She's lucky she had her inhaler in her hand or she 
   1.206 +probably would have died." The doctor's cold tone caused Chibi to sob a 
   1.207 +single time. This was her FRIEND he was talking about, not just a patient!! 
   1.208 +The doctor sighed and looked toward the door, grateful that one of the 
   1.209 +nurses came to see why the buzzer was being rung. Stepping over to her, he 
   1.210 +handed her the paper with the names on it and whispered something, then 
   1.211 +looked back the two standing by the bed, and nodded curtly to the nurse.
   1.212 +	"Visiting hours are over. They have been for about 4 hours or so, but 
   1.213 +seeing as how this is an emergency, you can stay. Plus, all the roads are 
   1.214 +snowed in… unless you're walking, you're not going to be able to get home. 
   1.215 +I've arranged for another bed to be brought in. I'm afraid we can only spare 
   1.216 +up to two beds per room, and your friend has one…" He stopped turned to the 
   1.217 +door, "I'll be back as soon as I get the information. She'll be fine until 
   1.218 +then." And with that, he headed out to gather the records of the girl.
   1.219 +	"She'll be fine, Chibi…I promise," Usagi said, glancing at her watch. It 
   1.220 +was almost 1 in the morning now. "I'm going to get some hot chocolate for 
   1.221 +us, down at the cafeteria. You can stay here if you want." Usagi said, 
   1.222 +moving to the door as Chibi Usa headed directly for Hotaru's bed and took 
   1.223 +her hand again, letting that be Usagi's answer. "I'll be right back, ok?" 
   1.224 +Usagi watched the two for a moment, feeling a sharp stab of pain as she 
   1.225 +realized this really could be it. Shaking it off, she turned on her heal and 
   1.226 +walked out of the room.
   1.227 +	Staring at her friend, Chibi Usa reached out again, running the back of her 
   1.228 +fingers gently down Hotaru's cheek, ignoring the tears that fell from her 
   1.229 +eyes. "The soldier of death…" Chibi whispered softly, feeling her heart 
   1.230 +breaking as she saw Hotaru in such a horrid condition. "The one who can 
   1.231 +destroy the world…" the pink haired girl murmured as she leaned down and 
   1.232 +placed a kiss on Hotaru's cheek, saying to herself. "It's hard to believe 
   1.233 +that someone so beautiful could be so deadly…"
   1.234 +