rlm@0: This is my first Sailor Moon fic. Not sure exactly how good it is, but I rlm@0: figured I might as well submit it for being read. I took a few liberties rlm@0: with the characters, not very many though, IE giving the already sickly rlm@0: Hotaru asthma. Time frame is of normal, Hotaru being 12-13. You can email me rlm@0: at Saturn_Knight@hotmail.com with comments/questions. rlm@0: rlm@0: rlm@0: rlm@0: "Toujours" rlm@0: By Saturn Knight rlm@0: rlm@0: Forcing herself along the icy street, near midnight, fighting the cold, rlm@0: which gnawed at her with relentless force, Hotaru pulls the purple sweater rlm@0: around her tighter; though it did nothing to keep the bitter caress of the rlm@0: wind from violating her body. In the back of her mind, playing like a broken rlm@0: record, the question 'Why did I agree to come to America!?' made her think rlm@0: of her warm, safe bed back home. 'Home…' Hotaru said to herself, just as the rlm@0: first snow began to fall, fluttering gently from the sky and landing on her rlm@0: shoulder. Turning to look at it, her body shaking violently from the cold, rlm@0: she frowned, wondering where she was, where were the others, and why did bad rlm@0: things always happen to her? rlm@0: "Because you're the Soldier of Death…that's why," she mumbled to herself, rlm@0: turning her gaze to the sky as the snow picked up, now falling regularly. A rlm@0: shuddering breath trailed into the sky, mingling with the frigid air before rlm@0: finally succumbing to the relentless chill of the night. "God, it's rlm@0: beautiful…" The faint light seeping through the clouds backlit the scene to rlm@0: perfection, something no artist could ever replicate. Tearing her gaze from rlm@0: the sky, back down to the snow covered ground, Hotaru felt fear rising in rlm@0: the back of her throat…she had been walking for the good part of an hour, rlm@0: and had come across nothing more than bare trees, rocks, and now snow. rlm@0: "I wanna go home…" she said to herself, the simple act of talking causing rlm@0: another plume of vapor to rise from her lips. Though her hands were numb, rlm@0: the muscles ached under her skin with every movement. She was very glad now rlm@0: that had she listened to Haruka's advice, on wearing her snow boots when she rlm@0: went out into the cold, otherwise, she would have lost the ability, and the rlm@0: will, to walk long before. Then she sneezed… a single, violent sneeze. The rlm@0: sudden loss of breath began a coughing fit that drove her to the ground, the rlm@0: snow crunching under her weight as she went down to her knees … Reaching rlm@0: into her pocket for her inhaler, she shakily threw the top off it and took a rlm@0: breath as best as she could and tried to hold it. Forcing herself not to rlm@0: cough as the world spun, she exhaled quickly and repeated, her body giving rlm@0: violent spasms from her refusal to cough. rlm@0: Unable to hold her fit any longer, she surrendered to her body and began rlm@0: coughing violently, trying to stand only caused the world to black out for a rlm@0: moment. Staggering, fighting with all the strength she could muster, but she rlm@0: was at war with something she could never beat; no matter how hard she rlm@0: tried, no matter how strong her will. She was fighting herself. As her body rlm@0: hit the ground, her eyes looked up to the sky as the snow continued to fall, rlm@0: making her already-numb face sting anew with the ice that was now settling rlm@0: in. As her body gave into shock, she felt the world slowly start to slip rlm@0: away from her conscious mind. Her last coherent thought as she looked to the rlm@0: sky, and it's dangerous beauty, was "It's hard to believe something so rlm@0: beautiful could be so deadly…" then all was darkness. rlm@0: rlm@0: "I'm worried about Hotaru," Chibi Usa said to Usagi, as they sat in their rlm@0: hotel room in Maine. "She should have been back a long time ago." Chibi sat rlm@0: with her back against the bed, with Usagi behind her, brushing out her pink rlm@0: hair. "Do you think she's ok?" She twisted her body to look at Usagi, who rlm@0: was too busy watching the American soap opera on TV to pay much attention. rlm@0: "USAGI!" rlm@0: "What?! Huh?" Usagi jumped, literally, as Chibi yelled, just about falling rlm@0: off the bed and onto the floor. "What now?" she blushed light red, rlm@0: embarrassed that she wasn't paying attention. Her own hair was let rlm@0: completely down, not in the usual dual ponytails. "I'm sorry… What did you rlm@0: say Chibi?" rlm@0: "UGH, you never listen!" Chibi took the remote and promptly switched off rlm@0: the TV, tossing the remote under the bed where she believed Usagi couldn't rlm@0: get it. Turning her eyes to Usagi, who was already on all fours, halfway rlm@0: under the bed attempting to fish the remote out, she shouted as loudly as rlm@0: she could, "USAGI!!" This caused Usagi to jump again, hitting her head on rlm@0: the under board of the bed, with a yelp and a wince, she quickly worm her rlm@0: way out, with the remote of course. rlm@0: "OW! What, Chibi Usa? WHAT?" Usagi's eyes were watering from the sting of rlm@0: the pain. "What is so important?" Reaching out her right hand to gingerly rlm@0: touch the fresh bump, her left hand extended with the remote to switch the rlm@0: TV back on, but met with a slap from Chibi's hand, knocking the remote away. rlm@0: "It's HOTARU! She's late! She said she'd be back 2 hours ago." Chibi rlm@0: glanced at the clock over Usagi's shoulder, "I'm worried about her…she rlm@0: doesn't know this place, WE don't even know this place…it's cold outside, rlm@0: and snowing, and it's dark, and it's lonely, an--" rlm@0: "…And you worry too much…" Usagi rolled her eyes and glanced longingly at rlm@0: the remote. rlm@0: "SOMEBODY around here has gotta worry. The only thing you worry about is rlm@0: how you look to Mamou Chan, and your shows on the TV!" Chibi stood, being rlm@0: short enough to look the sitting Usagi in the eye, "Hotaru is late…she's rlm@0: normally on time, unlike some other senshi I could name… Aren't you rlm@0: worried?" This struck a chord with Usagi, and she was about to protest, but rlm@0: as she moved to grab the remote from the floor, her eyes wandered to the rlm@0: window. There was roughly a foot of snow blanketing the ground, and the rlm@0: dark, thick clouds had suffocated the faint light that the moon provided. rlm@0: "Yeah, she's ok…" Usagi said, more in an effort to convince herself, rather rlm@0: than Chibi Usa, who was now at the windowsill, on her tip-toes peeking out rlm@0: from the 10th floor room. "Just stay off the phone in case she has to call rlm@0: and ask for our help." Almost as if on cue the phone rang, and both girls rlm@0: looked at each other. Before the end of the second ring, Chibi had vaulted rlm@0: over the bed and tore the phone receiver off the hook and, placed it to her rlm@0: ear. Usagi wasn't too far behind her, trying to maintain a bit of dignity, rlm@0: rather than throwing herself on the bed she had recently been crawling rlm@0: under. rlm@0: "Hotaru?" Chibi said, hopefully, but was greeted with the voice of a man on rlm@0: the other end. rlm@0: "Uh…no, this is Lieutenant Grey of the Maine PD. We found a girl out in a rlm@0: run down part of Oak Street, off the highway. She was unconscious, and rlm@0: covered in snow. She had a card key to this hotel, and this room. Purple rlm@0: hair, about five fe--" rlm@0: "HOTARU!!" Chibi shrieked, dropping the phone on the floor, her face going rlm@0: pale as she heard. Usagi quickly picked up the phone, placing it to her ear. rlm@0: "Hotaru is that you?" Usagi said into the phone, not sure what she was rlm@0: supposed to hear, but thought it would be bad news. She sighed, gazing to rlm@0: Chibi was sitting on the floor with her knees to her chest crying like the rlm@0: world was going to end. rlm@0: "No….This is Lieutenant Grey, of the Maine PD. A patrol had located a girl rlm@0: lying in the snow near the highway…we believe it's a friend of yours, since rlm@0: she had the key to this room in her pocket." The voice paused a moment, rlm@0: "She's currently at Memorial Hospital, south of Main Street." rlm@0: "Oh Hotaru…." Usagi reached down and placed her hand on Chibi's shoulder. rlm@0: "How do we get there from the hotel? The hotels on…" Usagi grabbed the pad rlm@0: off the desk near the phone, with the little pencil they provide, "It's on rlm@0: Greenway parkway." rlm@0: rlm@0: rlm@0: Arriving at the hospital, via the car Usagi had rented for their vacation, rlm@0: miraculously in one piece, in spite of the horrid driving conditions, the rlm@0: two entered the warm hospital and headed directly for the information desk. rlm@0: The sterile, cold feeling of the hospital sent chills down Chibi Usa's spine rlm@0: as she looked over the sparkling white tile, and stoic white walls of the rlm@0: entry way. The counter was vacant at the time they arrived, and Chibi Usa rlm@0: began an incessant attack on the bell, before having her hand removed by rlm@0: Usagi, who sternly shook her head. Removing her pink earmuffs, and staring rlm@0: out a nearby window, Chibi's heart sank. It was still snowing badly, and rlm@0: only grew more intense with every passing second. rlm@0: Turning back to the counter, Chibi was about to hit the bell again, when a rlm@0: woman emerged from the back area. Her white nurse's uniform was wrinkled, rlm@0: and fit her a bit too tightly, and the blue knit sweater she wore was rlm@0: stretched to its limit. "Yeah?" the red haired nurse asked. Usagi noted rlm@0: immediately that the woman smelled sickeningly of cigarette smoke. rlm@0: "Hi, we're looking for the girl who was found…" Usagi swallowed hard at rlm@0: this. She was used to visiting Hotaru in hospitals, but never for something rlm@0: like this. "She was found by the highwa--" The nurse cut her off with a rlm@0: sigh, rolling her eyes. rlm@0: "Room 415…fourth floor." The nurse then turned around and started back to rlm@0: the back, but paused. Reaching to the counter and taking the bell off the rlm@0: top, and placing it in her pocket, the woman gave Chibi Usa a steely glare. rlm@0: "My, isn't she the friendly one?" Chibi asked, taking Usagi's hand and rlm@0: pulling her towards the two massive steel doors of the elevator. Pushing the rlm@0: button a few times, Chibi waited impatiently for the lift to arrive. Her rlm@0: mind was cluttered with thoughts, assuming the worst…'I can't live without rlm@0: my best friend,' Chibi thought, trembling and blinking back the tears that rlm@0: made their way to eyes. 'If anything happens to Hotaru, I don't know what rlm@0: I'll do…I...I want to see her…I want to see her now!' With a red-eyed glare rlm@0: at the button, Chibi demanded, "What is TAKING this thing so long?!" rlm@0: "I don't know…I guess they're busy or something?" Usagi too, was wondering rlm@0: exactly what was keeping the lift from taking them to the fourth floor. She rlm@0: looked to her left and viewed the staircase, but dismissed it; there was a rlm@0: fire alarm on the door. Sighing, she pushed the button again…the elevator rlm@0: sounded in the silence of the lobby and opened it's metal jaws. rlm@0: rlm@0: Entering the room was one of the hardest things Chibi had ever had to do in rlm@0: her life. She and Usagi crept into the eerily quiet room, only to see their rlm@0: friend laying there, hooked up to machines that kept her alive. Chibi gasped rlm@0: and ran to her best friend, shakily reaching out and taking Hotaru's hand as rlm@0: carefully as she could, afraid she was going to hurt the girl by her touch. rlm@0: "Oh Hotaru…" Chibi whispered, as she felt Usagi's hand on her shoulder rlm@0: giving it a gentle squeeze. The purple haired girl made no response to the rlm@0: touch. Her eyes were closed, a tube in her mouth to keep her breathing, with rlm@0: an IV in the back of her hand. Chibi Usa slowly reached out to move some of rlm@0: the matted purple hair from over Hotaru's eyes, in a vain, almost sadistic rlm@0: hope that the she would see violet orbs flicker to life. rlm@0: "It'll be ok," Usagi said reassuringly, not only for Chibi's benefit, but rlm@0: her own as well. It pained her to see Hotaru in this condition, as so often rlm@0: seemed the case. Another gentle squeeze of Chibi's shoulder, before the door rlm@0: opened and the doctor stepped into the room. He was dressed in green rlm@0: S.C.R.U.B.s, and had a stethoscope hanging around the collar of his white rlm@0: coat. rlm@0: "You must be the ones the officer called," the doctor said, picking up the rlm@0: chart from the door and giving it a glance over as he rubbed his slightly rlm@0: stubbled chin. "I guess we start off with the basic's, what's her name? We rlm@0: have Jane Do-" Chibi cut him off, looking up at the man who was at least rlm@0: twice her size. rlm@0: "Is she going to be ok?" her red eyes brimming with tears as she asks him rlm@0: the question, swallowing hard and waiting for the worst news. A faint hope rlm@0: whispered reassurance, but was swiftly drowned by the cackling of reality… rlm@0: Usagi was soon behind her, but cast a glance over her shoulder to Hotaru, rlm@0: who was lying as still as death. rlm@0: "We don't know, we don't have her medical history, insurance information, rlm@0: or any--" This time Usagi cut him off, stating the facts quickly. rlm@0: "Her name is Hotaru Tomoe… H-o-t-a-r-u T-o-m-o-e." Usagi paused as the rlm@0: doctor scribbled down the name then continued, "Look under Haruka Tenou for rlm@0: the insurance information, H-a-r-u-k-a T-e-n-o-u." She was now glad that rlm@0: Michi had insisted that they had health insurance for their trip; even if it rlm@0: was an expensive, and only temporary policy, it sure did come in handy right rlm@0: now. rlm@0: "Alright. I'll have my nurse check it out…" he turned to head away, but rlm@0: Chibi grabbed his shirt to keep him from going anywhere, and pushed the rlm@0: nurse's call buzzer a few times… not releasing her grip, she looked up at rlm@0: him, shaking her head. rlm@0: "Something else I can do for you?" the doctor asked, looking down at the rlm@0: short pink-haired girl. rlm@0: "What's wrong with Hotaru?" A single tear ran down Chibi Usa's face as she rlm@0: all the horrid possibilities floated through her head. rlm@0: "First off she's got hypothermia, secondly she was barely breathing when rlm@0: they brought her in. She's lucky she had her inhaler in her hand or she rlm@0: probably would have died." The doctor's cold tone caused Chibi to sob a rlm@0: single time. This was her FRIEND he was talking about, not just a patient!! rlm@0: The doctor sighed and looked toward the door, grateful that one of the rlm@0: nurses came to see why the buzzer was being rung. Stepping over to her, he rlm@0: handed her the paper with the names on it and whispered something, then rlm@0: looked back the two standing by the bed, and nodded curtly to the nurse. rlm@0: "Visiting hours are over. They have been for about 4 hours or so, but rlm@0: seeing as how this is an emergency, you can stay. Plus, all the roads are rlm@0: snowed in… unless you're walking, you're not going to be able to get home. rlm@0: I've arranged for another bed to be brought in. I'm afraid we can only spare rlm@0: up to two beds per room, and your friend has one…" He stopped turned to the rlm@0: door, "I'll be back as soon as I get the information. She'll be fine until rlm@0: then." And with that, he headed out to gather the records of the girl. rlm@0: "She'll be fine, Chibi…I promise," Usagi said, glancing at her watch. It rlm@0: was almost 1 in the morning now. "I'm going to get some hot chocolate for rlm@0: us, down at the cafeteria. You can stay here if you want." Usagi said, rlm@0: moving to the door as Chibi Usa headed directly for Hotaru's bed and took rlm@0: her hand again, letting that be Usagi's answer. "I'll be right back, ok?" rlm@0: Usagi watched the two for a moment, feeling a sharp stab of pain as she rlm@0: realized this really could be it. Shaking it off, she turned on her heal and rlm@0: walked out of the room. rlm@0: Staring at her friend, Chibi Usa reached out again, running the back of her rlm@0: fingers gently down Hotaru's cheek, ignoring the tears that fell from her rlm@0: eyes. "The soldier of death…" Chibi whispered softly, feeling her heart rlm@0: breaking as she saw Hotaru in such a horrid condition. "The one who can rlm@0: destroy the world…" the pink haired girl murmured as she leaned down and rlm@0: placed a kiss on Hotaru's cheek, saying to herself. "It's hard to believe rlm@0: that someone so beautiful could be so deadly…" rlm@0: