Hi all! Before we start, I wanted to give what I affectionately call "The Hotaru Lecture". No, really, it’s okay. Come back! It shouldn’t be that painful. Since I’ve had a lot of requests for more Hotaru, I wanted to let everyone know why she isn’t in this fic very much. I do try to put her in where it works, and I will give her cameos (she was supposed to have another big one, as those who have been following my art will know, but it’s currently unfinished). But for the most part, this fic is about Haruka, Setsuna, and Michiru. Now for the reasoning behind it:
1. This fic is anime based for the most part, although some manga elements may show up. But for the most part, it follows the anime plot. I’m more fond of the manga (since I HATED the Galaxia anime battle for obvious reasons - It’s lucky I don‘t hate Uranus and Neptune completely after seeing that), but in this particular fic…anime. Therefore, Hotaru’s dad is alive. I know she lived with the Outers in the anime for a short time, but I think her father would have missed her. It just seems to me that she would have gone to live with him once the battle was over. Therefore, Hotaru is not Haruka and Michiru’s adopted daughter in this fic. She lives with her father who loved her so much in the S season. She’s not an orphan like she was in the manga. Just as a side note, I’m under the impression that she’s more *Setsuna’s* adopted daughter, rather than Haruka and Michiru’s, as they’re always together in the manga. Haruka and Michiru get enough attention. :) But I guess I’m off the issue here.
2. There are lots of other fanfictions that feature just Hotaru, or Hotaru with Haruka and Michiru, or Hotaru with the three older Outers as a family. I wanted to write a fanfiction that featured just the three older Outers as a family, as I’ve never seen it done. I was going for some originality. I do have three other stories where Hotaru plays a big role. This just isn’t one of them. In "Love And Death", there is a sweet Hotaru and Setsuna moment. In "Pluto On The Outside," Hotaru plays a large role, and in "Firefly In The Elysian Fields", she’s the main character! So if you’re looking for a good dose of Hotaru, you can always go to those fics, and still enjoy this one for what it is. And those are just my fics. I’m sure there must be a lot of Hotaru fics out there.
And actually, Hotaru is in this episode, so thanks for staying through "The Hotaru Lecture"!
All that said, I’m SO glad everyone is enjoying this fanfiction, even despite the lack of the senshi of death. I’m really enjoying writing it! I hope I can keep writing many adventures more for our heroine Haruka and her girls.
Thanks for reading, and on with the show!
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A Tantrum! Haruka Has A Doppelganger
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Pluto is said to be the oldest senshi, at about twenty-one. At least she is in terms of total years lived. Michiru and I just turned twenty-two, but Setsuna still outweighs us in lives lived and maturity.
"I HATE EVERYTHING!!!!"
Did I say maturity?
~*~
Setsuna had a bad day. Actually…she had a tantrum. I know what you’re thinking: Sailor Pluto? A tantrum? Apparently you haven’t actually met her.
We’re not talking a bit upset, either. She’s not fun to live with when she’s on her time of the month, and recently she shoved me in a cage, but this was an all-out blowout.
Setsuna had been doing quite well. She was the only one of us who had finally managed to secure a job. She always was better at that, for as much as she hated it. Since she had been battling social anxiety, she was only working a couple of nights a week at the local college as a receptionist. She had also signed up for three computer classes, as she seemed to be good at them. But for as proud as we were of her, things started to go downhill. First, she started to quit her classes one by one, and then she felt stupid at her job a couple of nights, and we couldn’t muster up enough money to go to Florida in America for her winter break from school. She still had the Time Gate to guard, and an exam looming ahead of her in her one remaining class. It was freezing cold and snowy outside. Basically, everything that could have possibly made her miserable was doing a good job of it.
She came home one night after work, mad about something. Someone had been cranky, or something to that effect. The girl just did not like people that much, and it hurt her feelings when people were jerks. You’d be amazed at just how sensitive Setsuna turned out to be, once we finally managed to break through all that ice.
Setsuna stormed around the kitchen, trying to make herself something to eat, and she kept bumping into things and knocking stuff off the counters, her hands were shaking so badly. Michiru was in with her, trying to calm her, but after Setsuna screamed at her she decided to give the upset Time God some space. Setsuna finally stopped what she was doing, fell to the floor, and started screaming like a banshee.
I wasn’t sure whether to comfort her or sell tickets. It was really a moment that was meant for videotape just to get people to believe it.
Setsuna finally managed to get up to make a run for her bedroom. She slung open the door and then slammed it behind her, as we all so loved to do in our house. Then came a bloodcurdling scream.
"Ugh!" I said, covering my ears.
Michiru had her hands over her mouth. "Oh…the poor thing."
A big chunk of green-black hair was caught in the closed door. She had slammed it on her hair.
I winced. "Well, if she wasn’t pissed already…"
Michiru and I huddled together, watching Setsuna’s door cautiously. I think I’ve mentioned that odd things happen when Setsuna is mad. "No increment weather…" whispered Michiru, her eyes scanning the space above her.
"No Kinmokuians falling though the ceiling…" I added.
The chunk of hair suddenly fell limply from the door and landed on the floor in front of us. Michiru and I followed the loose hair with our eyes. "Uhhh…"
The distinct sound of snipping suddenly filled the air.
"NO! Her HAIR!" yelled Michiru, and dove at the door. Beautiful hair was very important to my lover.
Michiru fought to get in the door while I stood there dumbly, listening to the metallic sound of slicing scissors from the next room. "Well, it’s just hair, Michi," I said, trying to be helpful.
"But it’s Pluto’s!" she sobbed. "No one has hair like that!"
"I’ll say. Downright cumbersome, if you ask me."
"You’re not helping!"
We heard the woosh of a time portal and the lock on the door gave way, just as Michiru had taken a running start to break the door down (yeah, right). Instead of hitting wood, she went flying through the open door and landed flat on her stomach, her skirt flying up around her waist. Once again, the audience takes advantage of public nudity for a few chuckles.
After Michiru pulled her skirt down again, we surveyed the damage. Setsuna’s room was covered with thick dark hair. There were piles and piles of it. We were stunned. "She must have cut all of it off, and then some!" I remarked.
Michiru was sobbing. "She’s bald!"
"Honestly, she’s not bald." I planted my hands on my hips, wishing I hadn’t said anything. "Think about it. The girl has a lot of hair. This is probably just a trim for her."
Michiru started to push the hair around into little perfect piles. "I’ll save every bit."
I sulked. "It’s her own fault. She had a fit and butchered it. You’d think she was your lover or something." I narrowed my eyes. "You’re not sleeping with Setsuna, are you?"
Michiru looked at me. "Goodness, no! But if your kid suddenly cut all of her hair off with no warning, hair that took two thousand years to grow, wouldn’t you be sad?"
I shrugged. "Geeze, I don’t know. I just hope she’s okay out there. And that she doesn’t look too awful," I added to the side.
Michiru started to pack up the hair in ziplock baggies while I headed out to the living room to read the paper and wait for Miss Over-Dramatic to get the sense to come back home.
~*~
Some time later, I had started to doze off when my communicator beeped to life. I opened one eye and clicked the talk button. "Home of the Happy Outers. Go."
"Ruka?" Hotaru’s pale face was in the view screen.
"Go ahead, kiddo. Are you okay?"
"I’m fine…but I saw something you may want to know about."
"What’s that?"
"I saw a Sailor Soldier! One that I didn’t recognize."
I sat up. "A new Solider? What did she look like?"
Hotaru shrugged. "It was really dark and she was in silhouette. But I swear, she looked just like you. You have a doppelganger!"
"Huh? Where do you learn such big words?"
"Television." Hotaru appeared to be bouncing on her feet. "Do you want me to transform? We should really go and investigate! A new Soldier who looks just like you!"
I was momentarily unsure of what to do. "I guess so. If there’s a new Soldier, we have to find out who she is and what she wants. What was she doing, Hotaru?"
"She was kicking some guy’s butt in an alley. Chibi-Usa and I were walking by and we saw. He must have stolen a purse or something." Hotaru jumped around a little more, punching the air. "Bang! Zoom! Right in the kisser!"
"Right." I prepared to click off my communicator. "Oh, and Hotaru? If I can give you any advice as one of your stand-in moms, it’s this: don’t watch so much TV." I left the karate-chopping kid to go fill in Michiru.
~*~
At about nine o’clock that night, we, the Sailor Soldiers, were standing around in the park making a general spectacle of ourselves. Luckily, we were slowly coming on spring so it wasn’t terribly cold that night, but we were still in snow up to the tops of our boots. Our suits were specially designed to be able to handle some cold, due to the little layer of heat they sent off. (What? You thought we were just being stoic whenever we fought in the snow? How else are you going to stand around in a skimpy sleeveless outfit and not freeze? What do you think this is? Anime?) But we still shivered slightly. Sailor Moon was snuggled up in a blanket with Tuxedo Mask, and Chibi-Moon was trying desperately to get under too. Saturn stood next to Neptune, holding her hand, excitedly scanning the tops of the nearby buildings, and Jupiter and Mercury were bent over her computer, doing who knows what. Mars was hopping around miserably in wet high-heels (the snow was too deep for them), and Venus was signing autographs for the crowd nearby. Bald Pluto was not expected to attend. We figured she had shut herself up at the Time Gate, so we hadn’t bothered to call her. To spare her feelings, we had told the other girls that she was guarding the Gate and we would fill her in later.
"So why are we here exactly?" asked Mars, standing on one leg to better dump some snow out of her shoe.
Saturn spoke, as she (and Chibi-Moon) had carefully orchestrated this plan. "See all those people over there near Venus? They’re all waiting for free samples at The Tasty Chestnut. Chibi-Moon and I figured there’s usually some thug trying to pick pockets in any large group, so we’re hoping for the best."
"Can someone explain this to me in Japanese?" I asked.
"Give her a chance," chided Neptune.
Saturn shot me a death glare that made my knees weak. "What I’m trying to say is, we wait for someone’s pocket to be picked and that should lure the new Soldier here to help."
Everyone stared at her.
"Well that’s what she was doing in the alley when I saw her the first time. Trust me! It’ll work!" Saturn stomped her foot indignantly.
There was a chorus of ‘Awww…isn’t widdle Hotaru cute? Look at her widdle pale cheeks!’, but no one really believed the kids’ plan would work. However, since we really didn’t have anything else to do, or any further ideas, this was the best move at the present.
Suddenly, a cry went up from the crowd. "Help! My wallet’s been stolen!"
I looked sharply at Saturn, who gave me an adorable smirk.
"See?" challenged Chibi-Moon. Why was it that every one of Saturn’s plans always worked? The kid was just too important for her own good.
In the next moment a silhouette sailed by us, Tarzan-style, hanging onto what appeared to be a downed powerline. Venus had to duck to avoid being plowed over. The mysterious Sailor extended one leg in a practiced Sailor Kick and knocked the retreating thief right in the head. He keeled over, out cold. Stilettoed. The crowd cheered the new Sailor.
"That’s her!" exclaimed Saturn, who immediately went into Kung Fu mode again.
"She does look like you, Uranus," noted Neptune.
I shook my head, staring at the new girl. "No…I recognize those boots, and that strong kick..." I rubbed my chin, remembering a certain kick I received, given by a certain ornery Sailor. "But how…?"
Mars folded her arms. "That’s Pluto."
All attention was suddenly on Neptune, Saturn, and me. "Don’t you even recognize Pluto when you see her?" asked Jupiter.
"That’s not Pluto!" I insisted. "Yeah, her kick is very similar, but that girl looks exactly like me. Exactly."
Saturn looked at the Inners as if they were all crazy. "Pluto has really, really long hair, remember? Honestly!" Saturn was starting to take on that lofty Outer mentality.
Meanwhile, Neptune smacked her forehead. "Uranus! Pluto cut her hair off, remember?"
Saturn gawked at me. "Why don’t you people tell me these things?"
"And you’re just remembering this?" Mars asked incredulously.
"Watch it!" I growled. "I’ll believe this when I see it. There’s no way that girl can look that much like me and still be Pluto."
Venus suddenly galloped over. "She’s coming this way!" she squealed.
The dark silhouette headed over towards us, dragging her powerline behind her. The sparks coming from the end of it lit up her face from time to time, a face that was nearly identical to mine. Same hair, same narrowed eyes, same solemn expression.
She stopped several feet from us and looked at us. "What are you all staring at?"
I squinted. "Pluto?"
Neptune was hitting her head in frustration at forgetting that Pluto’s hair was now gone. "Of course it’s Pluto! Can’t we just go home yet?"
Mars lit a fire at the end of her fingers and held them up to shed some light on the situation. I gawked. The girl, who was obviously Pluto, looked just like me. I pointed at her like a dork. "How?"
She narrowed her – no, my – eyes. "I cut my hair off. It’s short now."
"But you look just like me!"
"It’s true," agreed Saturn. "You look amazingly like Ruka."
Neptune took a good look at her. "That is strange. If you dyed your hair blonde and colored your eyes blue, you would look just like her. To a tee. You have the exact same eyes, only they’re a different color. Why have I never noticed this before?"
"I don’t want a doppelganger!" I whined.
"It’ll grow out again," Pluto said evenly.
"I like it," said Jupiter.
"It’s stylish," noted Mercury.
"It’s so KAWAII!" Sailor Moon, Venus, and Chibi-Moon all cried at the same time.
Watching this, I could tell that the girls were all very much in love with Setsuna. I was being replaced in their hearts. I sniffled. "How fast does your hair grow?"
"Are you sure you’re not related?" asked Neptune.
~*~
Later on at home, I lounged on the couch and watched Setsuna open the love notes that had been pouring under the door all night. I had to agree that the short hair was really very cute on her. Apparently, she had been so horrified at what she had done to her hair, she had rocketed right to a hairdresser in Crystal Tokyo. Then, at the urgings of future Sailor Uranus, they had fixed her hair to look just like mine, hoping to get a rise out of me. Damn future Uranus, messing with my present. But at any rate, it was also kind of flattering.
Flattering, yes. Flattering until Michiru came into the room and pretended she couldn’t tell us apart. "Oh, Haruka! Look how adorable you are!" She then hugged Setsuna tightly and started to kiss her cheeks. Setsuna kept a straight face, but you could tell she loved it.
"That’ll be enough of that!" I stood up. "Do you think I could borrow the Garnet Orb?"
"How come?" asked Setsuna, who was still being hugged.
"Oh, I just know of a future Uranus who needs to be taught a lesson….."
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Another kind of silly one! This was written under the idea that really Haruka and Setsuna look amazingly alike. I figured, as Michiru noted, if Setsuna’s hair was cut to look just like Haruka’s, and their eyes were the same color, they would look exactly the same. I love that they have the same eyes, almost as if they were related somehow. But I guess we’ll never know. ;)
There will be a drawing for this one eventually. I’ll let you know in an upcoming installment.
Thanks a lot for reading!
Next time: Attack of the Tenoh-ites! But what does Michiru have to do with all this? Find out next time (with any luck! At least it’s already started!).
An accompanying illustration:
(Copy, paste, and take out the spaces)
www.angelfire.com / art2 / haruka_loves_setsuna / images / uranus_pluto_hair.gif
It’s just Uranus gawking at an irritated Pluto.
~Lady Grizabella
setsuna_haruka_michiru@yahoo.com