The lamp flickered against the darkness, barely pushing it back, but Usagi snuggled close to her friend, mesmerized by the dancing flame and feeling safe and protected. Suddenly a loud sigh disturbed her reverie.
"Usagi?"
She lifted her head a little. "What is it, Hotaru?"
Her friend's eyes were closed and she had a strangely transcendent look on her face. "You know, I think I know why Pluto returned you so late, Usagi."
Usagi sat up straight at that. "What do you mean? How could you figure it out? Puu never told anyone why, and now she's-" Usagi stopped. "She's gone," she finished lamely.
"She never told me either, but I think I understand now."
Usagi stood up and put her hands on her hips in a mock fit of temper. "Well then tell me! I don't have all night!"
Hotaru didn't open her eyes, but her smile widened a little. "How long did it seem like you were gone in the past for your training, Usagi?"
Her pink-haired friend shrugged. "Two years."
"And how long did you seem to be gone to us?"
Usagi's voice dropped to a barely audible whisper. "Three thousand years."
"Why do you think she returned you so late, Usagi-chan?"
"I don't know. I was so angry at her. But she insisted it was for the good of the kingdom." Usagi looked at her friend, wishing she'd open her eyes. "It took me almost three years to forgive her enough to speak to her again."
"It was for the good of the kingdom, Usagi, but don't forget how much Pluto loved you. She thought of you as the daughter that duty would never allow her to have."
Usagi's eyes flooded with tears and she sank back down to the bed to cuddle against Hotaru again. "She said that?" she whispered softly.
"We were quite close, back when she was Setsuna...she said a lot of things to me then that she never repeated to anyone else." Hotaru's voice still had that odd, dreamy tone about it. "She didn't do it just for the kingdom, Usagi. She did for you."
"Nani!? What do you mean?"
"Usagi-chan. . ." Hotaru's voice was fading. Usagi's eyebrows suddenly rose in alarm.
"Hotaru? Hotaru! What's happening?"
Hotaru finally cracked open her eyes. She reached out her hand and she suddenly transformed into Sailor Saturn as her Silence Glaive appeared in her hand. "Pluto knew that if you came back two years after you left, you would three thousand years old right now, instead of 20." Hotaru reached out to put her hand on Usagi's cheek. "I'm glad I managed to hold on long enough to see you again, Usagi-chan. I've become so very weary of this. But you're still young. Every day is still a joy to you...you'll make a good queen, a happy one."
Usagi's eyes widened as she realized where this was going. "Don't do it, Hotaru! Stay there! Don't move! I'll get Mother! She'll help you, Hotaru! She will!"
"Silence Wall!" A shield suddenly popped up around Saturn. It glowed bright with purple energy, thicker and stronger than any wall Saturn had ever put up before. Usagi had to squint to catch a glimpse of Saturn through the distortion it caused. "There's no purpose for the senshi of silence anymore, Usagi. No need for ultimate destruction. You won't need me." Her voice was barely audible. She raised her glaive into the air. While it was still poised above her head, ready to drop, the shield thinned for an instant. "Oh, Usagi," Hotaru's voice came through clearly again, "isn't my lamp beautiful? Look at the fire!" Usagi turned her head, startled at her friend's comment. Then she heard it. "Death Reborn Revolution!"
"NO! NO! Hotaru, what are you doing!" Usagi watched in choked horror as black ribbons swirled around inside the impossibly thick shield. The horrible destruction of Saturn's planet destroying power was encased within it. Suddenly the ribbons dissipated and the shield thinned away to nothing. Usagi stepped forward. "Hotaru? H-Hotaru!" Nothing. She stopped speaking, too distraught for sound to emerge from her mouth. She turned around to Hotaru's lamp, still burning, clinging to the last few drops of fuel in the bottom. Usagi quickly refilled it. She found her voice.
"I'll keep it burning, Hotaru. In memory of you."