Hotaru looked up from her chair as Makoto hobbled into the room. The only ones who hadn't arrived yet were Serenity and Endymion. Makoto plopped down next to Hotaru with a weary sigh, and propped her crutches up against the side of her chair. Hotaru wished that Usagi had sat next to her, but instead she was between Minako and the empty seat where her mother would sit.
Ami and Michiru and Rei were in good shape, but Makoto had taken a beating before she'd stopped fighting. Hotaru looked at her guiltily. She'd wanted to heal her, but most of her strength was taken up by keeping Setsuna going.
"Oh," groaned Makoto, "my aching head. . .and arm. . .and leg. . ."
Hotaru gave her a surprised stare, and Makoto winked. "Don't look so worried about me, Hotaru. I've been in fights before, and I didn't always come out on top." Hotaru blinked as Makoto's shoulder muscles bunched into tight knots and her upper lip curled into an angry snarl. "I just wish I'd been able to do more good."
Just then Serenity and Endymion entered the small room, and sat side by side at the head of the table. Serenity looked at Ami and Hotaru with worry in her eyes. "How is Setsuna?"
Ami shook her head. "With Hotaru's help I've stabilized her condition. We can keep her from dying, and she won't have any permanent damage if she ever wakes up, but she's in a very deep coma. The problem is, I don't know what caused it, and since Setsuna's never even allowed me to give her a check-up before, I can't compare her condition to old records to see if anything's changed." Ami's mouth was pulled thin with frustration. "There's nothing more I can do without more information."
Usagi brought her hands up to her lips. "Puu!"
Serenity nodded gravely. "Setsuna knew about the attack prior to it's happening, and she was obviously greatly distressed over it. I've never seen her taken so much by surprise." Serenity put her folded hands on the table, and Hotaru couldn't believe how tightly they were clenched together. "I fear there's a reason she has fallen. An enemy would want to get rid of her first. We're blind to his plans, and unless we can revive her, we're going to have to fight with a severe handicap now."
Endymion put his hand over hers and continued. "Attacks by single creatures occurred all over the city, but not outside it. Hotaru and Usagi stopped one, and the others disappeared at about the same time the large force in the palace was defeated." He looked down. "Five people died, and many were injured."
"We can't allow this to happen again!" Serenity's eyes were suspiciously bright. "I want all of you to be very careful. If the problem with Setsuna was a planned attack, then this new enemy of ours must be quite powerful. Rei?" The raven haired woman turned to Serenity. "Without Setsuna to help us see what the enemy is up to, I'm going to have to depend heavily on you."
Rei nodded, a serious look in her violet eyes. "Yes, your Majesty."
Michiru spoke up. "We all know that the future is fluid, but Setsuna would have seen this coming if it was very likely. Since it took Setsuna by surprise, I'd say something unlikely happened that radically changed the time stream."
Ami nodded. "That makes sense, but since none of us can see these sorts of things, I'm not so sure that helps us."
No one else ventured any suggestions for a few minutes, and finally Serenity spoke up again. "It seems that we can't do anything except keep watch and try to revive Setsuna until our enemy leaves us more information to work with." She stood slowly, and her husband followed suit. Just before she exited the room she turned around again. "I can't emphasize this enough--be careful, all of you."
As soon as the couple left Michiru and Haruka stood as well. "We're going to canvas the city, and question everyone who was attacked." Michiru shrugged. "Maybe we can find some information that was missed." Minako left, saying she was going to brief the guards on what was happening.
Rei cleared her throat and rose from her chair. "I'm going to go consult the fire, and see if I can find any information to bring to Serenity." Ami followed her, mumbling something about checking for anomalous energy fields. Makoto looked at Hotaru and Usagi, who were silently staring at each other across the room, both too uncomfortable to start a conversation. She quietly stood up, put her crutches under her arms and made her way toward the door.
"I can't seem to do much right now, except recover," she said, "and maybe get the kitchen to turn out some decent meals." Both of the other girls watched her make her way out, then Hotaru brought her gaze back to Usagi. Usagi looked at her for a silent second, then opened her mouth to say something. She hesitated, then cleared her throat and began again.
"I-I'm going to go help Makoto." She forced a sickly smile to her face. "I'll see you around, Hotaru."
Usagi. Hotaru watched her go, then closed her eyes and lost herself in her own depressing loneliness.
Why did she have to be the one who had to be alone? She didn't have anyone, now that she'd pushed Usagi away. Why did she have to alone?
She slowly opened her eyes. Well? Why did she? Why couldn't she just leave the palace today and go find someone to be with?
As if that thought compelled her, she pushed herself back from the table and stood up. She simply walked through the palace out to the grounds, up to the front gate, and right on through. Then she kept going. She had to get out, away from everyone she knew. She hurried down the street, arms wrapped around herself in a forlorn hug as she noticed how even everyone outside seemed to have someone. Couples watched the sun set, gangs of children finished up various games of baseball and basketball, even little boys were walking their dogs. She watched cars drive by, the headlights illuminating her for a second, transfixing her like a startled deer, then passing on, giving her a brief glance of snuggling couples and rowdy families inside. Each car that passed seemed to leach a little more life and strength out of her as she trudged on.
She heard a different sound, and looked around uncertainly. She relaxed when she saw it was simply a car slowing down. It stopped a few feet in front of her, and the window rolled down as she approached.
"Do you need a ride?"
He had a quiet, but surprisingly deep voice. He spoke softly, as if unused to talking. For a second she wasn't going to answer, but then she remembered exactly what she had to go home to, and smiled with a little bit of recklessness. Why not?
"Sure." She reached out to open the car door.
"Where to?" he asked as she slipped into the seat. He had straight light hair, a blond that was almost white, and his skin was almost as pale as hers.
"Wherever," she shrugged, not caring where exactly she ended up. She just needed to go . The man gave her a surprised look, then simply nodded and pulled back on to the road. They rode in silence for awhile, then the man took a deep breath.
"So, what do you think of Crystal Tokyo?"
"What?" Hotaru asked, surprised.
"You look like you're new here. I was wondering what you think of the city."
"Oh." Hotaru looked out the window. "Sometimes it's so beautiful," she sighed, "and at other times it's just dead. Crystal may shine brightly in the sunset, but it's still only rock."
He laughed. "That's the oddest comment I've ever heard about the city." He gave her one hand. "My name's Mark. What's yours?"
"Hotaru."
"Pleased to meet you, Hotaru. So, you're a native of Japan. So many people want to live in fabled Crystal Tokyo that it's hard to find any Japanese here anymore."
"I wouldn't know." Hotaru replied softly. "I've been isolated for a while."
He didn't reply at first, then he looked at her while they were stopped at a red light. His eyes were a pale blue, and she was surprised that they didn't seem icy, but rather warm. "Would you like to stop someplace for dinner? I know it's a bit late. . ." He trailed off uncertainly.
Hotaru was grateful for that sign of nervousness. It made her feel a bit more confident. This wasn't within her experience--she'd been so withdrawn during her school years that no guy had ever bothered to approach her. "Sure. But--" she wanted to kick herself. She'd been taken care of by others for too long--she couldn't do anything by herself anymore. "but I don't have any cash on me. . ."
He smiled kindly. "Are you that hard up? Maybe I can help you."
"No!" Hotaru raised her hands in protest. "No, I'm fine, really. It's just--I needed to get away, to think, and I didn't even stop to get any cash." She chuckled with nervous embarrassment.
"Oh, well, then. That's fine. I don't think the rules have changed so much since the old days that a man isn't allowed to pay for a lady's meal." She smiled at his gallantry. Even if this was it--if she only had this one evening with this kind man--it would be something. Something she'd never had before. "I know this great restaurant just around the corner. . ." he continued as Hotaru settled back into her seat and listened to his quiet, deep voice as they drove down the dark city streets.
*****