The night wasn't easy for the girls. Both of them squeezed on the tiny hospital

 bed in the darkness of Hotaru's room; the rhythmic hissing of the respirator paired with

 the beat of the heart monitor made for a symphony of restlessness.

 	"UGH, that beeping is driving me crazy!" Usagi said in the darkness, "I can't

 sleep with it! I want to SLEEEEP!" She glared at the offending device, but was

 reprimanded by an angry Chibi.

 	"If that thing stops beeping, you'll get a few hours of sleep…. but Hotaru will

 never wake up…. now stop complaining and block it out." The tiny girl curled onto her

 side and tried to do the same, but was finding it very difficult. She sighed again,

 wondering what Hotaru is thinking, what she's seeing, what she's hearing, what she's

 feeling. Eyes glancing to the window, to the sky that was slowly losing it's inky

 blankness in favor of a mild purple as the sun was creeping up over the horizon, she

 stared at the slowly brightening sky for a time, before her eyes closed she didn't reopen

 them.

 	Chibi's sleep was tormented, torturous, and troubled. She had visions of a

 happy, almost mocking future of herself, around Usagi's age. Seeing herself at her sweet

 sixteen party surrounded by the other Senshi and her friends, as she was opening the

 presents from a large stack on a nearby table, and the others were standing around her,

 two were sitting on the sofa next to her: Hotaru to her right, and Usagi to her left. She

 was flanked by Haruka and Michi who stood behind the sofa, Michi against Haruka's

 chest, cradled in her arms, both of them smiling brightly.

 	The inners, too, were there. Ami, as always, was telling them to be sensible

 about what they're eating, her voice was as clear as always, "Minako! You shouldn't be

 eating so much cake!" Her lips pursed slightly as she looked at the senshi of love with a

 huge piece of chocolate cake in her hands, half of it in her mouth.

 	"Mmh! Mm-mm mmh!" Mina mumbled over the massive piece of cake in her

 mouth, narrowing her eyes at Ami, but with everyone laughing at her, she soon blushed.

 	"Why not just rub it on your thighs, Minako?" Makoto chimed from the

 armchair where she sat with a large glass of cherry soda. "That's where it's headed

 anyhow," the brown haired girl quipped to her friend before taking another drink from

 her cup.

 	Chibi glanced over a single, black velvet box sitting on the table near her.

 Blinking gently, she reached her hand out and picked it up, studying it carefully before

 spotting a tag on the bottom, "To my best friend. Love always, Hotaru." She grinned

 widely before opening the box, and gasping at the contents.

 	The other senshi all stared at her with piqued curiosity at what was in the box,

 including the outers, save Hotaru, who looked away with a smile. Reflecting the light

 back on Chibi's face was a small, silver locket in the shape of a heart, her name engraved

 across the surface in calligraphy. "Oh my…" was her only reaction at first, before her

 hand reached up and opened the locket. On one side of the locket was a picture of Hotaru,

 and on the other was a picture of Chibi. "Hotaru it's beautiful…thank you." She stood up

 and moved to her, "Put it on me, please?" Hotaru nodded quickly and reached her hands

 up to take it; she could feel the other senshi's eyes on her as she placed her arms around

 Chibi's neck. Chibi felt the warm, smooth touch of Hotaru's fingertips as she fumbled

 gently with the clasp, but as the clasp closed the sensation changed.

 

 	Trying to pull back to show the locket off, she caught some resistance, not

 physically restraining Chibi, but rather like something was hung around her neck heavier

 than it should be, as if Hotaru's limp hands were holding onto her.

 	"You ok, Hotaru?" Chibi asked, wondering if her friend had a fainting spell or

 something, but Chibi received no answer. Reaching up to pull Hotaru's hands away, to

 help her to a bed, Chibi stated aloud, "Someone help me here, I think Hotaru fainted…"

 but, again, silence 	was her answer.

 	Fingers curling around Hotaru's wrists, Chibi jumped at the sensation. They

 weren't as smooth and soft as they were before… they were dry and brittle, and as she

 pulled back, the hands cracked and slumped lifelessly to the side of the couch. The thick,

 tangible silence was shattered with Chibi's scream her eyes fell on Hotaru…or rather,

 what Hotaru had become laying lifelessly on the couch.

 	What once had been a beautiful, lively young woman, remained nothing more

 than a set of grayed, decaying bones dressed in the costume of the Saturn senshi.

 Hollowed, dark sockets that stared blankly at Chibi's terrified form, the jaw still attached

 to her face causing the skull to grin knowingly at the pink haired woman who stood

 petrified in the center of the room. "What's the matter Chibi?" the former Hotaru said,

 her voice floating eerily on the chill air, sounding pained and distant. The head turned

 slowly, stomach-churning crack sounded before her eye sockets began glowing with a

 faint purple light.

 	Turning quickly to face the rest of the senshi, she was greeted only with a

 similar horror everywhere she looked. Each of the senshi in various states of decay and

 death, rotted flesh hung from dried bones in all directions. "What's wrong, Chibi-Usa?"

 Michi's voice too oozed over the still air, "Our daughter isn't good enough to be your

 friend any more? Don't you know she saved all her money to buy you that locket? And

 this is all you can do to repay her?!" Michi's sockets flared green a moment, then picked

 up in intensity.

 	"N- no…" Chibi managed to choke out, her voice shaking, until it climbed in

 urgency, "but…. what's going on here?!" she shrieked at the top of her lungs, but only

 got a cruel chuckle from the living corpses that started to close in around her. Their bony

 fingers began to grasp for her body, causing her to writhe and struggle, but this only

 leading her to slam into another…they had her trapped. Tears began to stream down her

 face as she tried desperately to fight her way out of the circle, only to be thrown harshly

 back in by inhuman strength.

 	"Aw…look at the little ingrate cry," Usagi said as she picked up the knife that

 was used to cut the cake, her grotesquely misshapen hands, deformed by decay, gripping

 the handle tightly. Holding the weapon high, Usagi grinned; metal blade reflected the

 light menacingly over the frosting covering the steel. "We'll give you a reason to cry!"

 the hiss of the blade carving through the air sliced the silence, caused Chibi's eyes to

 widen and cry out in vain.

 	The sound of the point slamming into her chest woke her with a start, causing

 her to fall off the bed and onto the cold, hard tile landing with a pronounced yelp that

 woke Usagi. Chibi's eyes darted around for any sign of something to prove her existence

 in this reality, where the senshi were alive and spotted Usagi yawning and staring down

 at her, "You ok?"

 	"Yes!" Chibi answered quickly, staring Usagi down hard. The blonde looked

 Chibi over for injury, and caught the glare from her. Chibi stood and began to back away

 from Usagi, all the way to the wall, "Just fine!"

 	"Uh…what's wrong with you? You look like you seen a ghost." Usagi stretched

 her slender arms and placed her feet onto the floor. By now the sun had fully risen, and

 shone down into the room brilliantly. Chibi checked herself over, and then quickly placed

 her hand to her chest, looking for the locket. Nothing. Her sigh of relief cut short as she

 noticed Hotaru's bed was gone.

 	"Where's Hotaru?!" Chibi immediately went to the call button and pressed it a

 several times before again having her hand removed once again by Usagi. She waited

 impatiently, moving to peek out the door, looking for a nurse. Just as her hand tightened

 around the handle with the intent to step outside, the door opened of its own accord,

 admitting a doctor… one whom Chibi recognized at a moment's glance to be different to

 the one from the previous night.  He was dressed the same however, green S.C.R.U.B.s

 under a white coat, roughly 35 or so.

 	"We have some news on your friend…" the man looked directly to Usagi, as

 she was older, before turning to Chibi. His eyes were a sea green; soft and delicate,

 paired with slightly graying brown hair, clean cut and well shaven. He paused for a

 moment glancing down at the chart with a sigh, "We've found an abnormality on the CT

 scan…"

 

 

 	The sweet, rich whisper of a flute woke Hotaru from a deep slumber. Her eyes

 fluttered gently as she glanced slowly around another torch-lit room. She was on a soft

 mattress in a wall-less, ceiling-less black room very similar to the place she had

 previously been. Rising to a sitting position, she saw a figure sitting on a chair adjacent to

 the bed, the man who had wielded her glaive before.

 The music stopped.

 	"So you're finally awake…" The man said, his voice as smooth as the flute was.

 His mask was still on, though his clothing was different from, black still, but it wasn't

 bloody. He was sitting close to the bed, his legs crossed, looking over her. He didn't

 speak after this, only watched her motions carefully, not cautiously, but he seemed

 curious about her.

 	"Who are you…?" Her voice was weak, it shook gently with a combination of

 fear, uncertainty, and exhaustion, "...and where am I?" The youth looked thoughtful for a

 moment, rubbing his chin through the thin cloth mask that shrouded his identity. He

 looked a bit like Mamoru, now that Hotaru thought about it.

 	"No…I'm not Mamoru." His voice sounded as soon as Hotaru had the thought

 manifested in her head, "My name is Seisen." He paused for a second regarding the latter

 question, thinking of how to answer her, while she sat dumbstruck at the way he detected

 her thoughts. "I suppose the best way to describe this place would be the astral plane."

 	"Astral plane…? Isn't that the out-of-body thing?" her violet eyes looked him

 over, not really buying this astral plane business, but…where else could she be? This

 wasn't like anywhere she's ever been before.

 	"Yes…something like that. However, there are some differences between the

 out-of-body and our existence here. You didn't come here from your own will, like I did,

 and you weren't brought here because you died in what you perceive as the 'real world.'

 You came here because something else brought you here. It wasn't me, I'm sure you'd

 thought that already," which, in actuality was the first thing that came to her mind as he

 suggest it. It was starting to frighten her that he could so easily read her mind. "That

 creature you witnessed earlier is what brought you here."

 	"Why would it want to… do that?" her eyes glanced away, her tone

 melancholy, and frightened. "I'm just a girl…" She glanced away, careful not to think of

 herself being a senshi, but instead thought of a lamp she owned at home, not wanting to

 give herself away. "Why would it want me?" She recalled in detail the base of the lamp.

 	"Very interesting lamp." The youth chuckled lightly, "You are very clever, but

 I already know who…or rather, what, you are; there is no use in trying to deceive me, but

 be certain I'm not here to harm you." Her mouth dropped open, and she sputtered a

 moment, trying to think of a way to explain that she wasn't something special. Her

 attempts at protest were cut short when he held up his hand. "Don't… you don't have to

 make excuses, or try to hide what you are."

 	"How do I know you're not here to hurt me…?" she edged carefully away from

 him, but couldn't get too far on her weak hands. He shook his head, glancing to his side

 then back to her.

 	"Here…" he reached down onto the floor and picked up something, then

 thought better of it as Hotaru tensed. "It's nothing to hurt you…trust me." She didn't ease

 any when he put his flute onto his lap and used both hands to lift the object. Her eyes

 narrowed onto the flash of silver from her glaive.

 	"That's-- she started, but stopped when he nodded to her.

 	"Your glaive…very nice, actually." His eyes wandered the weapon for a

 moment, before turning it in his hands, so the blade faced inwards toward himself

 "Here." His left hand extended the grip of the weapon to her, carefully aiming it away

 from her body due to the large spike at the end of it. "It's yours anyhow."

 	"Yes…" she reached her hand tentatively out to the weapon and placed it

 around the grip before sliding it onto the bed next to her since she couldn't lift it with her

 fatigued muscles. "Why did you have it?"

 	"A very good question," His eyes smiled, though his mouth couldn't be seen

 from behind the mask, "Well, when you don't have it with you, it does go somewhere

 you know. All the senshi's weapons reside here when not in use; this way no one can get

 their hands on them. The first breech happened today with that creature, but it will not be

 happening again. I have seen to that." His eyes wandered to a dark part of the room, then

 back to Hotaru.

 	"Are you some kind of security guard or something? And why did that creature

 want my weapon…?" She too, let her eyes then move to the blackness that cause his own

 attention before tearing her eyes it, to focus back on his eyes.

 	"Yes, and no. I am not required to guard the weapons, but I don't let anything

 near them. Not that it was a problem until today. "It wanted your weapon because that

 was the only certain way of calling you here; it was only a matter of time, having gotten

 its hands on the weapon, before you could be brought here…" His hands folded in his lap

 over his flute.

 	"Why would it want me here…?" This was starting to make some sense, but

 still a bit hard to believe, it made her head spin. She left her hand on her glaive, its

 presence making her feel much better than had she been alone.

 	"It wanted to kill you," Seisen told her dryly. "If it killed you here, it would

 have killed your spirit, thus preventing you from being reborn. When you are here, you

 are physical, tangible, much like you would be back home." His hand moved to his chest,

 patting it gently, "But I'm sure you saw that, anyhow."

 	"Why did you stop it?" Her eyes moved to his chest, where he touched. He

 should have been dead; that wound wouldn't have simply closed on it's own.

 "And…your wound…

 	"Would you rather I let it kill you?" he chuckled lightly, shaking his head.

 "And my wound is healed. You're not the only one with a healing power, Firefly."

 	"You can heal too?" He had her attention now, and she sat up straighter against

 the mass of pillows on her bed; it made her think he had gone a bit too far to make sure

 she was comfortable.

 	"Yes…you saw what other power I have. Does it look familiar to you? Only

 difference is that your power moves on the circle of life. Your revolution is meant to

 show that everything lives, and then it will die." He paused a moment, adjusting his

 sitting position by uncrossing his legs. "My power lies on a single side of that, either life,

 or death, never both.

 	"Why do you have the powers I do?" Her eyes narrowed in confusion, and she

 fidgeted, wanting to work out the stiffness that deadened her limbs.. Seisen studied her a

 moment, his black eyes softening as he looked over her face. She was so weak, so frail,

 but so completely powerful…after all Hotaru was both sides of the coin, much like her

 power.

 	"Well…" he paused a moment, reaching his hands behind his head to untie the

 mask's ribbon that held the dark mask to his face. He let the top of the mask fall to reveal

 his nose and mouth, running his hand through his dark black and purple hair.. His face

 was sharp, boasting well chiseled features, but still seemed very much innocent. "It's a

 long story, but it would be a bit odd that you have powers when your genetic copy

 doesn't."

 

 	"What do you mean you found an abnormality?" Usagi eyed the doctor warily

 as she spoke. Chibi stood looking up between two, not exactly sure how she should react.

 	"Well, it appears there some trauma as her head hit the ground, causing her

 brain to swell a bit. This could be completely harmless, or it could lead to possible brain

 damage. Amnesia, paralysis…death." He quickly looked away from them as he spoke the

 word "death", not wanting to watch their reaction. Usagi decided immediately that she

 didn't like this doctor.

 	"How can something range from nothing to death? It doesn't make sense."

 Usagi cried, narrowing her eyes at the doctor. "Just do whatever you have to do to make

 sure she'll be fine" Usagi narrowed her eyes at the doctor, who shifted uneasily under her

 glare.

 	The doctor shifted uneasily under her glare, shaking his head. "We can't…until

 the guardian decides what is best for the child, we simply cannot take any action,

 otherw—" Usagi's jaw dropped with disbelief that they would play God to simply await

 an order from the guardian. "If this was an emergency, or something of the sort, we

 could…" He began to stammer, sweat forming on his brow from the steadily-increasing

 heat of Usagi's glare.

 	"What do you mean IF this was an emergency? She could DIE! What does she

 have to do for you to consider it an emergency!? I don't believe this!" Her hands curled

 into fists as she began to advance on the doctor, her mind simply refusing to take what

 the doctor claimed to be as the only solution. Chibi, now fully understanding the gravity

 of the situation began to move on the doctor as well, on her mother's left side to block the

 doorway.

 	"Well….what I mean to say is that it-it has to be a trauma b-before we can do

 much…" the doctor's back hit the wall, and he swallowed hard as he was stared down by

 Usagi, and flanked by a pink haired child. The blonde girl's left eye twitched, and she

 stopped suddenly in her tracks, glancing away from the doctor to the ground, her mind

 giving her a possible solution.

 	"Well then," Ceasing her forward motion, Usagi grew eerily calm as she smiled

 knowingly up at the doctor…" Chibi stopped and looked up at her; the cool, steely

 manner of her mother made her remember her dream and caused her to shudder, but she

 didn't speak. "I guess I'll just have to let you have your way…I'll just go make a phone

 call." Usagi said to the doctor, who was more than a bit surprised at her sudden change in

 demeanor.

 	"If you're trying to call this Haruka person, the phone isn't being answered."

 The doctor stepped from the wall and straightened his coat nervously.

 	"Oh no…I'm not going to call Haruka." She placed her hand on Chibi's

 shoulder, but was taken slightly aback as Chibi stepped away from her. Usagi let it pass

 for now, but continued, "I'm going to call a lawyer. Do the phrases 'Malpractice,' and

 'wrongful death' mean anything to you, doc?"  She was now very glad Ami had a big

 mouth and insisted on babbling to Usagi and the others. The doctor's eyes went wide, and

 he opened his mouth to speak, only finding himself quickly silenced… "Should

 ANYTHING, God forbid, happen to Hotaru…you will be very, VERY sorry. And my

 first task as the owner of Hotaru Tomoe memorial hospital will be to fire you."

 	"Well…" the nervous man began to shake visibly, and Usagi began to wonder

 exactly how long he had been a doctor, and if this was the first bad news he'd delivered.

 "I suppose this can be treated as a trauma…"

 	"Yes…and if it isn't a trauma, it can become one…not hers, of course, but I

 think I can handle you." Usagi said with a smile and a tilt of her head, "Now run along

 and have the nurses get a real doctor in here, 'Kay?" Usagi surprised even herself,

 thinking that what she just did would be more suited for maybe Rei, or possibly Haruka,

 but never herself. It made her feel good. She brushed past the doctor on her way out, and

 Chibi looked up at the man a moment, before following her mother, leaving the

 dumbfounded man in the white coat glancing sheepishly at his feet.

 

 	"M…my genetic copy? A clone? You're a man, though." Hotaru looked over

 the face of the man who sat before her, his black eyes closed. "I don't understand…"

 	"I didn't expect you to…I'll explain in a moment. Would you like something to

 drink? I have some juice here if you'd like some." He said, and waited as Hotaru

 considered his offer. But as she shook her head in rejection, Seisen turned his head away

 from her, feeling a bit dejected. "Alright…well, I suppose I should start at the beginning,

 hmm?

 	"When you died in the lab explosion…you were not supposed to recover. It was

 no accident that the place was blown up. However, your father sold his soul to have you

 reborn, and thus placed a great evil in you, and in him. Now here's where I come in…"

 Pausing a moment to gather his thoughts, he allowed his rich black eyes to slowly move

 over the weakened girl in front of him. "You've heard the theory 'for every action, there

 is an equal and opposite reaction', right? Well, that's me. I'm your reaction. You were

 reanimated as per the agreement your father made, but you became Mistress 9."

 	"Yes…" Hotaru didn't like discussing the time period she was Mistress 9, it

 caused her to recall fuzzy memories that had no real place in her mind. It only tormented

 her and caused horrid nightmares.

 	"Fearing you were too powerful to be stopped by the senshi, I was created by

 another force to counter balance your existence." A shadow crossed his dark features as

 he glanced away, looking towards the sword that leaned against the chair near him. "I

 was created to kill you."

 	"To kill me?" Hotaru's fears returned as she increased the grip on her glaive,

 thinking she was a fool to have trusted him…to sit and talk. Seisen, upon sensing her

 discomfort and sudden mistrust, sighed deeply, shaking his head.

 	"Yes… I was created using your base DNA, but XY rather than XX…to receive

 your power plus increased physical strength due to being a man. You were raised as

 Mistress 9, and I was told that you were my enemy, that you were the plague of

 mankind…harsh I know, but I bought into it. I was brought up in the way of the

 warrior…trained daily to strengthen mind, body, and spirit so that one day I would be

 able to kill you with little difficulty. However…I did all of this knowing that you were

 my 'sister'. Since we are of basically the same DNA, there isn't another way to phrase

 it." Hotaru let her eyes fall away; that would explain why he was defending her, and the

 mass of pillows that was bigger than she was, but it still didn't make enough sense. "The

 day Usagi and the others encountered 9; I was there to make sure they succeeded. If they

 failed I was to finish the job. When it comes down to power, you can beat me out any

 day, since I'm just a copy. But, since I wasn't biologically produced, I don't have some

 of your…" thinking of the best way of phrasing it, but only finding himself able to

 express himself clinically, "your physical weaknesses."

 	Seisen looked her directly in the eye, his dark, but enchantingly innocent

 features growing even more distraught as she instantly turned away. "I'm not going to

 hurt you…" His voice was small, pained. His lack of tact and instant distress proved he

 wasn't used to dealing with people.

 	"You just said you were supposed to kill me." Hotaru frowned as she turned to

 her glaive once more, her fingertips gently moving over the smooth metal of the blade.

 "Now you say you won't hurt me. I don't know what to believe."

 	"I was created to kill Mistress 9. She doesn't exist anymore, so my existence is

 pretty much useless." Seisen shrugged and leaned back in his chair, closing his eyes with

 his hands behind his head. Hotaru glanced from him to the glaive by her side; his

 vulnerable position might let her wound him and flee to find some way to get back home.

 	"You can, if you like…you'd probably be doing me a favor," his eyes slowly

 opened to look at her, "I won't stop you if you try." With his hands still behind his head,

 he pulled the ribbon on the mask once more around his head and tied it into place, again

 concealing his features, his eyes again closed..

 	"What do you want from me? I don't understand all of this… You don't let it

 kill me, but you were supposed to kill me…you go out of your way to make me feel

 comfortable." Hotaru let her eyes move from him to the darkness of the room, looking for

 any possible exit, or a portal of some kind. "I just want to go home."

 	"Then I'll take you home, but leave your glaive here. You can't take it with

 you, but it will be safe." He stood up, flute in hand, and stretched his body. He was tall, at

 least as tall as Mamoru, and his build was above average, which did fit his story to

 Hotaru. Picking up his sword, he slung the sheath around his body and latched it into

 place, where it was in reach of his right hand over his shoulder. "Come on," he said,

 placing the flute in a slot on the sheath's strap, which crossed his chest from right to left.

 "They should be happy to see you…"

 	Making their way along the darkness of the astral plane, Seisen guiding the way

 past the torches that lined each room, and crossed the paths of others like a roadway

 system. Hotaru was weak, and only shuffling along behind Seisen by will power. More

 than once collapsed under her own weight, only to be caught by a blinding motion of the

 ninja-dressed youth who offered he carry her, but she adamantly refused.

 	"We're almost there," the black-eyed man looked up at a portal that swirled in

 the darkness, purple spinning in a clockwise fashion, drawing in the very light that

 surrounded them. Gusts of wind began to pull at the two as they neared the portal. The

 long ribbons of Seisen's mask began to flutter around his face, just as Hotaru's hair did

 the same, but her weakness caused her to drop to her knees. Seisen turned to regard her

 for a moment, and shadow crossed his face as he drew his sword and faced the girl fully.

 The black blade of the sword shimmered with a crackle of purple electricity as Seisen flat

 out charged Hotaru, enough power and speed to physically counter the portal's pull,

 making the air still for a fraction of a second before his powerful sword thrust came

 hailing down just above Hotaru's head.

 	 She had long enough to think, "I'm dead," before the blade met flesh.

 

 	On the flight from Japan to the United States, Haruka and Michiru sat restlessly

 in the plane, hoping for the best, but fearing the worst. They had been in the air for what

 seemed like forever; the hospital had called them the night before and they had caught the

 first plane to anywhere in the US, which landed in New York in about 20 minutes.

 	"Sir?" the flight attendant regarded Haruka, her bright green eyes and sugary-

 sweet smile shone down on the shorthaired woman. Haruka played it off, not bothering to

 explain she was a woman, nor caring at the moment. "Would you like something to

 drink? A soda? A glass of wine maybe?"

 	"No, thank you. I'm alright." Haruka answered, and the woman, undaunted,

 inquired if Michi would like something. She likewise refused politely though she was

 being destroyed inside. She didn't want to have to do this again; she couldn't take things

 like this. Why Hotaru? kept going through her head.

 	"We land in 20 minutes," Michi checked her watch, "We can catch another

 plane to Maine, or we can just get a bullet ca- a cab, rather."

 	Haruka just closed her eyes and sighed, "We'll take a cab. We don't need to

 wait for another plane… I hope they can drive fast."

 

 	Usagi now stood impatiently at the nurse's station, her tautly-crossed arms and

 dangerous expression warning everyone she was not to be toyed with at the current time.

 Taking a lesson from her daughter, she began the same full on assault on the bell Chibi

 did only a few hours beforehand. "Hello! I need a doctor! A REAL doctor who CARES!"

 She turned to glare at Hotaru's room in time to see the man slipping out of the room like

 a weasel, and scurry into a lounge to avoid a confrontation with Usagi.

 	A nurse came to regard Usagi and looked to the pink haired girl. The whole

 floor knew what room they were from; it was not very often that you find a small midget

 girl with pink hair done in ondangos. "Yes? A doctor will be right with you, Doctor

 White just called and said he will no longer be on the trauma case, but to have someone

 look at her right away." Usagi nodded in triumph, feeling much better about herself, and

 the situation, though Chibi only regarded her with a wary glance, her dream still not

 shaken so easily.

 	"Where's Hotaru?" Usa finally managed to ask the nurse, standing on her tip

 toes to see over the counter.	And ensued a verbal exchange that must have broken the

 sound barrier at some point.

 	"Radiology,"

 	"What's she doing there?"

 	"Getting another cat scan."

 	"When will she be out,"

 	"When it's done."

 	"Don't you talk to her like that!"

 	"I don't know when she'll be out!"

 	"Then find out!"

 	"I would ma'am, but I can't just call and ask them to hurry!"

 	"No, but you can call and ask them how long it's going to take!"

 	"I'm busy right now,"

 	"Doing what? All I've seen you do is eat that nasty little salad."

 	"Maybe you should get a salad, it might improve your temper."

 	"Salads are not food! Vegetables are what food eat!"

 	"I have to go now, I'll have someone in her room shortly,"

 	"We'll be waiting."

 	"Don't hold your breath,"