This is an initial draft version which has not been pre-read at all.
Thus it has loads of grammar and other errors.

This chapter will be rewritten somewhat for proposed story changes.
I added it here at a request.

Read it at your own risk ^_^


Rumors of the Past
------------------

    Caradawc rolled over and looked at the full beauty that was
Setsuna lying stretched out on the bed just opposite him. A slow smile
spread across his face as he imagined doing this every day for the
next couple of thousand years and beyond. Gods, his fiancee was
beautiful, and the knowledge that he was the one that she had chosen
to be her husband filled him with almost a sense of elation. He
reached out a hand and tightly brushed the stray tendrils of hair that
had fallen over her face and ran a finger lightly across her lips. The
woman made a soft happy sound in response and stirred.

    "Good morning," Caradawc whispered as his beloved opened her large
rich eyes to look at him.

    "Gmmaa..." Setsuna mumbled something incomprehensible as sleep
still wrapped her mind in its dark embrace.

    Caradawc grinned and leaning forward kissed Setsuna full on the
lips. He lingered the kiss just enough for Setsuna to begin to respond
and then pulled away almost immediately. Getting energetically out of
bed he looked back and laughed when he saw the faint pout that had
descended on her face.

    "I'll be back," he said promisingly. "But first I'm going to put
on some coffee, so see if you can contain yourself until then, eh?"

    Setsuna growled and threw a pillow at the evilly grinning Avatar
just before he slid out the door. "Gmmaack!" she muttered sitting up
and rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. Gods, why did she have to fall
for such an evil little joker!

    Yawning, she pushed back the sheets and got to her feet. The faint
light of early dawn was spilling in through the window and from long
experience, Setsuna reckoned the time to be about 6ish - much too
early to get up. Especially after... Yes, well, enough of that...

    Turning away from the window, Setsuna smiled and gave a small
sigh. That sigh however caught in her throat and the smile turned to
ashes as Setsuna abruptly found herself looking at... herself.

    Standing just a few meters away from her in the middle of the room
was a Setsuna that Setsuna had never imagined she would see. That
Setsuna that was a tired, defeated shadow of her current self. A
Setsuna that from the very torment radiating from her listless eyes,
had seen a hell that could never be imagined. It was a Setsuna that
shook Setsuna to the core, and one that made her almost want to weep
in despair.

    "It has been a long time since I saw myself smile," the other Time
senshi said in a quiet voice. "A long time indeed."

    Setsuna swallowed and took a small step forward. "How..."

    The other Setsuna bowed her head. "The power of the Time Gates can
achieve more than you can imagine, Pluto... But the sacrifice..." her
voice cracked and a small sob escaped her lips. The show of emotion
however only lasted for a moment and the bowed head raised as a look
of fatal determination crossed the woman's face.

    "This is the last time I can come here, Pluto," the other woman
said in a calm voice that spoke of one who had accepted the
inevitable. "The barriers between the Universes have been cracked and
our world is contaminated with the madness of the corruption. Soon, it
will begin to spread. First the outer worlds, then the galaxy and
then..." she stopped as a visible shiver passed down her body, but
with a grim determination the woman continued. "It is too late for us,
Pluto, our time is over, but you still have a chance. You can put
things back on its proper course, Setsuna, and you _must_ - you
_must_! You cannot allow the future I have seen to come to pass! You
must stop it - at any cost!" The woman's whole body shook with the
passion of her speech as the tiredness fell from her eyes one last
time.

    "How?" was the only word Setsuna could think to say, although she
already knew some of the truth.

    "Love and hate are two sides of the same coin, Setsuna, as you
well know. And it only takes a small nudge for one to turn into the
reflection of the other. Just as it only takes one emotion to make a
saviour become a destroyer."

    "You said that before," Setsuna said. "But how does it affect
Hotaru and Rhiannon? I know that they are important, but how?"

    "The Assyia-Cthlia were masters of their arts, Setsuna, but they
were destroyed because they fell into the same trap as the Namers
before them. They gained great knowledge but lost the wisdom to use
that knowledge properly. The Avatar were the pinnacle of that folly.
Weapons with minds that were controlled by the bond known as
elin'rth."

    "I know of this already. What about Hotaru and Rhiannon?" Setsuna
pressed.

    "The elin'rth were flawed," the future Setsuna continued ignoring
Setsuna's comment. "And it was this that doomed the Assyia-Cthlia more
than anything. Hotaru and Rhiannon are elin'rth, they carry the same
flaw."

    "Flaw?"

    "Love and hate," the Time Senshi replied in a dead voice.
"Together, Hotaru and Rhiannon were able to protect us from the insane
corruption that broke into our world through the points of weakness in
the Great Barriers. They worked together with the others of the Avatar
and kept Crystal Tokyo safe for over four thousand years. But the
corruption did not always come in a form that could be fought, and
before we realized our mistake it had already infected the people."

    "I told you that I know of this already..."

    "You know nothing!" Setsuna yelled. "The Gates have only shown you
a part of what our people went through. I have seen it all! From the
beginning to the end! Don't tell me of what you know! Did you see the
dream you had put your entire life into building slowly rip itself
apart from within?! Did you see your own daughter kill the one she
used to love more than life itself?! Did you see your own Queen
sacrifice herself..."

    "Stop it!" the current Setsuna shouted as the other's voice began
to take on a mad, frenzied tone and she began to wondered if her
future self from the alternative timeline were totally sane. "Stop
it!" That seemed to do the trick as the other Setsuna fell completely
silent.

    "Tell me about Hotaru and Rhiannon," Setsuna said slowly. "Tell me
what it is I need to know. You mentioned a flaw, what flaw? Why is it
important for me to know it?"

    The other Setsuna looked at her. "Because it is that flaw which
made Hotaru kill Rhiannon. It was that flaw which turned love to hate
in less than a month, and doomed our world. That is why it is
important for you to know."

    "What?!" Setsuna exclaimed. "Why?!"

    "To achieve the power of the elin'rth, the bond forces the
heartstones and star seeds of those involved to join. As time passes
this bond becomes ever more closer, removing more and more barriers
between the personalities until each is left naked to the other. Can
you imagine what that would do? Unless those involved perfectly
trusted each other, they would end up hating each other in ways no one
else could hope to understand. And that was what happened to Hotaru
and Rhiannon. In the end, the corruption got to them too."

    "So why the hell did you..."

    "The corruption got to them because their relationship always had
an element of distrust in it. An element that despite the love that
developed between them always remained. That, Pluto, is the turning
point. It is that element of mistrust that must be removed, and the
only time that that can be done is here, at the beginning." The woman
held out her hand and a small ball of light appeared that then
solidified into an orb of what looked like glass. "Here," she said
sending the orb floating over to Setsuna with a small gesture.

    Setsuna wordlessly accepted it and gave the other woman a
questioning glance.

    "It is a copy of all the events, diaries, records and everything
else that I could think you be of aid to you in the years to come. It
might help, it might not - I don't know, but it is the best I can do
for you," the woman shrugged. "At the very least, it will be the last
testimony of a future I pray to the One will never come pass."

    A faint light began to surround her and the woman sagged. "Well,
it seems the Gates have almost reached their limit as have I. Remember
what I said, Pluto, Rhiannon and Hotaru are the key. But that key is
balanced on a knife edge that could go one way or the other. I only
hope you do better than I did when I came to tell you about all this
the last time. I really messed thi..." Her last words were cut off as
the light flared and with a soundless explosion her body was engulfed
totally in white flames. For a second, Setsuna could see the woman's
flesh melting in the heat of the flames that consumed her and their
eyes met. Setsuna could almost swear that she saw a expression of
immense relief pass across the dying woman's face, and then...

    "NO!" Setsuna bolted up in bed with a scream as that last imagine
seemed to burn itself into her mind. Caradawc lying in the bed next to
her gave a startled yelp and jumped out of bed, looking wildly around
for a danger that was not there.

    Setsuna's breathing came short and fast as she was still overcome
somewhat by the nightmare she had just experienced. Her eyes darted
this way and that as she sought to try and confirm where she was.
Caradawc, now cottoning onto the fact that everything was all right,
gave her a long stare before he once more climbed into bed.

    "Are you all right, love?" he finally asked when he saw how ashen
Setsuna's face was.

    Setsuna nodded and gave her fiance a rueful smile. "Sorry... I
just had one hell of a nightmare. It gave me a bit of a nasty jolt."

    Caradawc raised an eyebrow. "You?" he queried surprised.

    "Hey, I am entitled to have them as well, you know," Setsuna
returned grumpily as her regained control over her calm.

    Caradawc leaned over and gave her a brushing kiss on her naked
shoulder. "Sorry," he murmured nibbling at her ear. "Didn't mean it
quite like that."

    Setsuna arched her back and gave a sensuous sigh of delight at
Caradawc's attentions. Leaning back onto the bed, she wrapped her arms
around her husband to be and pulled him down next to her. Caradawc
needed no further encouragement and moving his hands over his
fiancee's body began elicit a series of soft moans as he played her
luscious frame like a finely tune instrument.

    Under the bed where it had rolled unseen, a small crystal orb
twinkled faintly like a glimmering star, and deep within its depths
countless images both fair and foul marched in a random progression
across its surface as the Time Orb responded to its Mistress's
passion.

                *           *           *           *

    Ami chewed thoughtfully on the end of her pencil as she considered
how the heck she could make something out of nothing. In the two and a
bit weeks since the attack in the shopping mall absolutely nothing had
happened. No youma attacks, no daemons, no monsters, no nothing. Even
she had difficulties trying to make connections when she had no
information to work with.

    "Ami," Mako called from the kitchen. "Dinner is ready."

    "Okay," Ami called back and put the pencil down next to the pad
she had been scribbling on. She got up and crossed over to the kitchen
were Mako was putting the finishing touches to the vegetable souffle
that she had been working on since earlier this evening. "Smells
delicious as usual," Ami flashed Mako a warm smile as she settled down
into her chair and waited for her partner to join her.

    "Thanks," Makoto replied sitting down opposite her and passing her
a plate. "So, how's your work on your thesis going?"

    "Badly," Ami sighed taking the warm plate from Mako. "I just can't
get by brain around it. I keep getting distracted by thinking about
all this 'Great War' business."

    "How so?" Makoto asked. "From what you said before you didn't have
enough information to try and predict if there were going to be any
further attacks, so, why worry about it? You can't do anything more
than you have already done surely?"

    Ami nodded. "I know, I know, but I keep on seeing those reports on
the people that that monster killed and wondering what the death toll
will be next time. Mako, it is our job... no, our calling to protect
the people of this world against horrors such as what happened in that
mall, and if I can't come up with something that will aid that
calling, then the next slaughter that happens will partially be my
fault for failing to..."

    "Ami, don't be silly, love," Makoto put down the wine glass she
was in the middle of filling and reached over to take her lover's hand
in her own. "You can't blame yourself for something that may never
happen. And even if something does, we are not gods, Ami. We can only
do the best that we can, ne?" She pulled her lover's captive hand up
to her lips and gave it a lingering kiss. "I believe in you, Ami. You
will do the very best that anyone could be expected to do. So, please,
believe in yourself as well - I do." She smiled and held Ami's hand up
to her cheek where she kissed the tip of each finger.

    Ami sighed in contentment at her lover's attentions and nodded.
"You're right as always, Mako, but I still feel that I have to do
_something_. All this sitting around waiting for something to
happen..."

    Mako giggled. "You've certainly changed, Ami-chan, from the shy
high-school girl I first started to date. You're almost beginning to
sound like Rei, you know."

    Ami pulled a face and stuck out her tongue. "It's all the time I
spent around you, Mako. You've corrupted me from the sweet innocent
person I used to be."

    "Innocent, you?" Makoto huffed. "I like that! And just who was it
who seduced who into bed, eh? If I remember correctly, I only came
over that time for some help with my exam revision. You had most of my
clothes off before I even had time to speak!"

    Ami reddened at the memory. "Well... I sort of wanted to express
how I felt, and that seemed the most... You didn't exactly complain,
Mako!"

    Makoto grinned. "I didn't exactly have a chance. You had me
creaming myself from the first moment your hands went to work. After
that, well..." she giggled. "After that, I don't remember much else
that clearly."

    Ami reddened even more and lowered her eyes. Then, after a moment,
she raised her head. "I grew up," she said, pulling her hand free much
to Makoto's disappointment. "We both did."

    Sensing the change in Ami's mood, Makoto did not fire back the re-
joiner that she had on the tip of her tongue, but continued in a more
serious tone. "So, do you think you have managed to make any progress
at all?"

    Ami shook her head. "No, the only thing that I can determine is
fairly obvious already, which is that Hotaru is the key to whatever is
happening. I'm sure that Pluto knows more, but..." she shrugged. "We
all know what she is like as far as information goes. So, I'm stuck
for the moment. The best we can do is watch and wait."

    "Which is exactly what you said over a week ago," Mako reminded
her filling the other girl's plate with the hot souffle. "So, you see
how useless it is worrying about things further. You might as well
make some use of your time and work on your thesis, Ami."

    "'Suppose," Ami muttered noncommittally, taking the offered plate
and filling up her own wine glass.

    "You don't sound convinced," Makoto said filling her own dish and
looking over at her lover.

    "Yeah, well..." Ami shrugged and Makoto left the subject alone.
Ami tended to get a bit moody when she was backed into a corner, and
her inability to do any constructive was obviously making her feel
frustrated.

    "Tell you what, Ami," Makoto offered. "Let's go out tomorrow, just
the two of us. We can go into the country or something. Get away from
all the nuttiness of this place and get a break. I don't have any
vital classes tomorrow that I can't miss, and you really look like you
need a breather."

    Ami pondered the offer and then regretfully shook her head. "I..."

    "I won't take no for an answer," Makoto broke in, laying down the
law. "You need a break, full stop."

    Ami raised an eyebrow, "The Master has spoken, has she?"

    Makoto nodded. "Most definitely."

    Ami rolled her eyes and a smile appeared back on her face. "And if
I refuse..."

    Makoto grinned. So much for dinner.

                *           *           *           *

    Arian sighed. The sun was shining brightly outside, a fresh wind
was blowing in from the east and the smell of freshly mown grass
filled the air. In short, it was a bad day, and the fact that she was
waiting for her mother to chew apart her ass was not making her look
forward to it at all.

    Surprisingly, when Lord Arawn had finally arrived and gotten the
truth out of Arian, he had laid into his consort and the other three
adult Avatar almost as viscously as Rhian had. In fact, in someways he
had been worst. His voice had never risen above that of a calm tone,
but the way his eyes had stared coldly at them had made Arian want to
run away and hide. Arawn was not a person who angered easily, but when
he did he could be very dangerous, and when he had finished hearing
what had happened the man had been furious.

    Fortunately for her, Arian had been told to leave soon after the
lord had begun on the other four and she had scrambled home as fast as
both her legs and her powers could take her. She had not learnt what
had happened after she had left, but her mother had not been a happy
person, and it was now that Arian was going to learn the price for her
actions.

    The open to her room opened and Arian looked up. "Bran..." she
said in a surprised voice as her friend walked in followed by Arian's
mother.

    The older woman gave her daughter a hard look for a moment and
then she made a dismissive motion with her head. "Go on, Arian-chan,
get yourself off to school. We'll discuss the events of yesterday when
you come back home."

    "Yes, mother," Arian acknowledged rising from the table and moving
over to stand by Bran.

    "Oh, Arian," Indeg smiled at her daughter. "I'm not going to eat
you, girl. From what you told me last night I think you were quite
entitled to do what you did. Rhiannon is the heir to the House of
Annwvyn. For Olwen to have behaved as she did was inexcusable.
Although, Rhiannon is not the kind of person who makes one
automatically treat her as royalty, she is Lord Arawn's only child,
and as such will inherit the power that is his. Olwen may be Lord
Arawn's consort but she has over stepped her authority by a mile. And
as for Owain..." Indeg shook her head. "He got from Lord Arawn what he
deserved."

    Her mother's words made Arian's eyes widen. This was not what she
had been expecting her mother to say. "Then you aren't angry with me?"

    "Well, I'm not happy about the way you lied to Lord Arawn when he
first arrived," Indeg said. "It would have been much better for all
concerned if you had just said straight off what had happened. Lord
Arawn is a fair man, and besides, do you know how precious you
children are to us, Arian? We would kill ourselves before we harmed
you, any of you. That is why Lord Arawn reacted as he did. He would
eliminate anyone who deliberately attacked any of you. So..."

    "Hold on, mother," Arian broke in confused. "What are you trying
to say? How did Lord Arawn react? When I left he was angry, yes,
but..."

    Indeg raised a hand and Arian fell silent. "Rhiannon was attacked
by Owain, deliberately struck. How do you think her father would react
to that, Arian? How would you react?"

    "He hit Rhian-chan!?" Bran butted in, her face angry. "That
bastard! How dare he! Rhian is our sis..."

    "Enough, Branwen," Indeg broke in. "I know how you youngsters feel
about each other so I understand. As I'm sure you understand how Lord
Arawn felt. Owain has been stripped of his rank and his power
enthralled to the House of Annwvyn. The man is little more than a
slave now, soul bound to serve the Lord of Annwvyn until the day the
thrall dies." Indeg shook her head. "It is a punishment of the kind
that has not been enforced since the old days when the Houses of
Annwvyn and Fferyllt still contended over the governance of the
remains of our kind. To think that I should live to see it..." her
voice fell silent and she gave a soft sigh. "Well, what is - is, such
issues are not my concern, but you, Arian, are. So, tonight we shall
have a talk, you, your father and I about what happens next. About the
proposed marriages and about you, Rhiannon and Branwen."

    Bran looked over at Arian and a shared expression of concern
passed between them. They had hoped that that subject would have
remained buried, or just a vague idea in their parents minds for many
years to come, but it seemed that that was not going to be the case.

    Arian drew herself up and turned to her mother. "I'm not doing
it," she said bluntly. "Neither me, Rhian or Bran will bow to dictates
from anyone regarding who we are to marry. And none of us will ever
consider having more than one husband. The very thought of it turns my
stomach. How could you..."

    "Arianrod," Indeg broke into her daughter's rising triad.

    "What?" Arian said back.

    "You're going to be late for school if you don't hurry and neither
of you need yet another tardy on your records," Indeg smiled and
added. "I also think that after the events of last night Rhian would
appreciate someone to talk to, and I doubt it will be either Pwyll or
Relnus..."

    Arian gave her smiling mother a look and then glanced over at
Bran. "This isn't over, mother," she said. "If you want to talk about
it then fine, but you will talk to all three of us. Period."

    Indeg said nothing but her smile faded at the icy tone in her
daughter's voice and she sighed, "You've grown up, Arian," she said
almost regretfully.

    The sad hint to her mother's voice made Arian almost regret the
way she had spoken, but she resisted the urge to apologize and kept
her expression the same. "It happens," she answered.

    "Yes, I suppose it does," Indeg replied with a wistful expression
on her face. "Very well, let me see what I can do. I cannot speak for
Lord Arawn but I will try and get Bran's parents and some of the
others over so we can discuss this openly. You are right in a way,
this involves all three of you and it would not be fair to discuss
this issue behind Rhian's or Brans' back."

    Bran shifted uneasily but she did not say anything. She just
wished that Pwyll and the others were here.

    "You should have done that from the very first, mother," Arian
went on. "It might have stopped things getting this far in the first
place."

    "Perhaps," Indeg agreed. "I think maybe our generation still has
difficulty accepting that you children are not children any more, or
that you have a completely different set of standards to ours."

    "What do you mean?" Arian asked. "Surely, you should have
recognized that just telling us one night that we were suddenly
expected to marry one that one person would have gotten..."

    "It did not even cross our minds," Indeg admitted. "Stupid really,
but we did not even consider the possibility."

    "But that's silly!" Arian exclaimed.

    "Yes, it is, and looking back on it now I would admit that we were
wrong." Indeg meet her daughter's eyes, "Sorry. We have handled this
badly but you have to look at things from our perspective as well. The
three of you are the only hope our race has, and that has been
weighing very heavily on every ones mind. That sort of concern tends
to put to flight all lesser considerations, and yes, by doing that we
were wrong. However, with all that being said, the problem of our
race's future still stands. No matter how you feel about what we have
done, the three of you must start to have children while you can. You
will only be capable of having babies for a few hundred years before
you become infertile like the rest of..."

    "A few hundred years?!" Arian choked. "Then why the fuc... hell do
we need to go through all this marriage stuff now, mother?! That is
plenty..."

    "It is no time at all, Arian," her mother corrected her. "Do you
know how many times I tried for a child before I managed to get
pregnant? Thirty years! That's how long! I lost that child in a
miscarriage, as I did the next. I and your father had almost given up
hope by the time I got pregnant with you, and even then it was a near
thing. You don't understand how hard it is for our kind to
successfully have children, Arian. That is why we are pushing..."
Indeg abruptly stopped herself and Arian frowned.

    "Pushing?" she asked.

    Indeg shook her head. "Now is not the time to continue this
conversation, we would be here all morning, and without Rhian here it
is not fair to her. So, I suggest that you two girls get going for
school and we can finish this discussion tonight when Rhian and the
others are here, all right?"

    Arian took a moment to consider and then nodded. "Very well,
mother. We'll do as you say and postpone this discussion until tonight
when Rhian... and perhaps Hotaru as well can be present."

    "The Senshi?" Indeg looked confused. "Why? What is she to all
this?"

    "Hotaru has managed to fall very much in love with Rhian," Arian
said in a matter of fact voice. "So much so that I think she will
react rather nastily at the news."

    Indeg looked incredulously at her daughter. "The Senshi's in love
with Rhiannon?!" she splutter.

    Bran nodded, "Yes, she is."

    "Oh..." Indeg fell silent as her mind worked furiously to try and
incorporate this rather startling tidbit of information. It was like
having a spanner thrown headlong into all their plans and Indeg was
uncertain how to handle it. Finally, she looked at her daughter very
hard. "And Rhiannon? How has she reacted to all this?"

    Bran shrugged, "I'm afraid I don't really know. Perhaps Arian
could..."

    "No," Arian shook her head as both turned to look at her
expectantly. "What Hotaru and Rhian feel for each other, and what they
have told me about that is between me and them alone."

    "But..." Indeg began.

    "No."

    Indeg frowned, but said nothing else. The look on her daughter's
young face spoke of a fierce loyalty to her lavender haired friend
that would never be broken, even for her mother. In fact, the more
Indeg watched her daughter, the more the word fealty sprang to mind.
It was an astonishing thought and Indeg was not certain what to make
of it. She would never have expected her daughter to show such an
emotion, but it was there quite clearly on the girl's face and Indeg
knew that trying to argue around it would be an exercise in utter
futility.

    "All right, Arian," she finally stated. "If you think it is
necessary then bring the senshi along as well, and I will ensure that
the necessary people are present so that we can have a frank
discussion. How does that sound?"

    "Perfect," Arian said. "Absolutely perfect."

    "Look," Bran put in, "I hate to break in on this mother daughter
thing, but if we don't leave now, Arian, we are going to be late. I
want to see Rhian before homeroom starts."

    Both Arian and Indeg flashed the small brunette an annoyed look,
but Bran just stared back at them a determined look on her face.

    Arian smiled at the intensity on her younger friend's face. "Okay,
okay, Bran, keep your hair on. I coming now."

    Bran's lips twitched as she looked away slightly embarrassed by
her directness, but nodded in response to Arian. "I'll wait for you
outside then," she said bowing her head slightly to Indeg just before
she turned and left.

    Indeg whistled. "Well, that's something I thought I would never
see."

    "What?" Arian looked up at her mother.

    "Branwen telling me off. She's usually a lot more timid than
that."

    Arian nodded, slightly surprised by the way her friend had acted
as well. "I think Branwen is beginning to grow up too," was her reply.

    "Scary thought," Indeg murmured and Arian smiled.

    "Yes."

    It was about four hours later when a crouching Bran looked over at
the girl crouching down beside her, and both turned back to look
through the window at the two laughing figures sitting under the tree
together in playground below. "They certainty look cozy together,"
Bran remarked offhandedly as a certain lavender haired girl handed the
slender brunette sitting next to her a small lunch box and giggled.

    "Yeah..." Arian mumbled as she watched Hotaru picked up a rice
ball in her chopsticks and put it in a giggling Rhian's mouth. "They
certainly do don't they..."

    "Do you think something..." Bran's eyes widened and her face grew
faintly red.

    "Happened between them?" Arian finished. "Could be. Yesterday I
would have said that was impossible, but now..." she looked at the way
a happy Hotaru was slowly feeding her giggling companion, "...now I
don't know."

    ::You two are sure being nosey:: Pwyll's voice spoke into their
minds as he and Dylan walked into the entrance of the class.

    ::Humph!:: Bran sent back. ::And what might _you_ be doing here
then, eh?::

    "Why, I came to see you, poppet," Pwyll reached down and ruffled
Bran's hair causing the girl to go bright red as whispering voices
from the near by students speculated what was going on.

    "Stop that!" Bran brushed Pwyll's hand away in an embarrassed way
as she got to her feet looking angrily over at the grinning boy.

    "Of course, poppet," Pwyll bowed deeply to her much to Bran's
consternation. "Anything you say."

    "Rhian looks happy," Dylan commented coming over to stand by the
window.

    "Get down!" Arian whispered furiously and pulled the boy away from
the window. "She'll see you!"

    "So?" Dylan asked. "What if she does? I'm not committing any crime
or anything."

    Arian rolled her eyes and muttering under her breath something
about 'boys' returned to her sneaky vigilance. The sudden change in
Rhian's attitude since their talk yesterday smacked of something weird
and Arian intended to find out what it was. It was almost as if
something _had_ happened between the two girls sharing lunch under the
tree and Arian needed to know just what that 'something' was. She also
needed to ensure to herself at least, that Rhian had been a willing
accomplice, and not a victim of the elin'rth bond that lay between her
and Hotaru. Arian was not even sure that it was possible to tell the
difference, but until a way presented itself all she could do was
watch and wait.

    "So," Pwyll said coming over to lean on the wall next to Arian.
"Anything of interest to tell me? Or do you just like watching Hotaru-
san?"

    Arian shot the boy a look and got to her feet. "Aren't you
concerned by the sudden change in attitude?" she asked Pwyll. "I mean
only yesterday Rhian was saying that she was nearly afraid of Hotaru,
and now... Well, now she's acting like the two of them are..."

    "Maybe they are," Pwyll commented. "I heard a little about what
happened last night with Owain and Olwen. That sort of thing can be a
catalyst for making many things happen. Also, Rhian did sleep over at
Hotaru's house last night. May be the two of them..." he gestured
vaguely.

    "I find that difficult to believe," Arian flushed. "Rhian would
not change her mind so much in just one night."

    "Why not?" Pwyll said. "How else do you explain how the two of
them are acting now?"

    "The elin'rth," Arian said in a cold voice. "Hotaru could have..."

    "Don't be silly, Arian," Pwyll butted in harshly. "Hotaru isn't
like that! She would never make Rhian do something like that!"

    "How do you know?" Arian shot back. "How long have we know Hotaru
for anyway? Two weeks? How can you know what a person's character is
like after just such a short time? I don't want to think that she
would do something like that either, but I cannot be sure. All I can
be sure is that Rhian was confused and afraid of Hotaru merely hours
ago, and now the two of them are best friends. That sort of radical
change makes me concerned. I'm not saying that Hotaru has done
anything to Rhian, just that the possibility exists."

    Pwyll looked thoughtful for a moment. "Well, I suppose you have a
bit of a point. Now that you mention it, it does seem just a bit odd
that Rhian's attitude would change so abruptly, but then again after
the events of last night, it might be that the two them settled their
differences and reached an understanding. I heard that Hotaru really
stood up for Rhian."

    Arian's face warmed as she remembered the passionate kiss that
Hotaru had landed on Rhian's lips just before declaring her love. "You
could say that," she stated but Pwyll picked up something of the
images that flashed through Arian's mind and his eyes widened.

    "If what you are thinking about actually happened, then it was
certainly more than just saying it, Arian," he responded as he looked
out of the window. "A kiss, eh?" he shook his head. "Well, Hotaru
certainty moves fast, I'll give her that."

    "But what if..."

    "Arian," Pwyll interrupted her. "We don't know anything at this
stage and jumping to conclusions that have no foundation can be
dangerous. If you are worried then by all means keep an eye out, but
at least keep an open mind about things. You're beginning to sound as
if you think Hotaru is guilty of controlling Rhian when there is
absolutely nothing to support that. I mean look at them." He turned
back to the window. "All they are doing is being happy. That means
nothing. And even if Hotaru and Rhian did... do something last night,
then how can you be sure that it might not have been against Rhian's
will. Heck, apart from that argument last night the two of them have
been getting along like the best of friends for two entire weeks."

    "But..."

    "I know that you are concerned and that is good. I'm just saying
don't let the events of one argument color your thinking too much,
that's all," Pwyll finished, moving over to stand by Bran. "Hey, why
don't we go and join them and see how things really are? I don't think
either of them will mind and it will give you a chance to allay your
fears. eh?"

    Arian said nothing but Bran smiled and nodded her head
emphatically. "I haven't spoken to Rhian since yesterday. I want to
make sure she's fine. She seemed so unhappy last night, and besides,
we need to pass on your mother's message, Arian, remember?"

    "Message?" Pwyll glanced down at the small girl by his side. "What
message?"

    "Arian's mother wants to get Rhian, Arian and me together to talk
about that stupid marriage idea that our parents came up with two
weeks ago," Bran supplied. "We haven't told Rhian or Hotaru about it
yet because of the way they have been acting, but..." she shrugged.

    "The marriages..." Pwyll's face subtly changed as his lips grew
tighter. "What about them?"

    Bran flinched slightly at Pwyll's reaction. "She, ah, she wants to
discuss our opinion and how..."

    "We're coming too," Pwyll stated firmly. "Me, Relnus, everyone.
This is something that effects more than you and the girls alone,
Bran. And besides, with us there it is unlikely that they will be able
to pressure you into doing something that you might regret later."

    "What do you mean - regret later?" Bran asked still slightly
uncertain of the boy's cross reaction, but Pwyll simply waved her
comment away.

    "Don't worry, poppet, I'll make sure that they don't railway you
into a marriage you don't want." He smiled and either failed to
recognize the look of faint annoyance that crossed Bran's face or did
not acknowledge it.

    "Don't treat me like a child, Pwyll," Bran said. "I'm not going to
get talked into anything I don't want to be you know. Just because
it's us girls going doesn't automatically mean we need your
protection, Pwyll. We can take care of ourselves."

    "I didn't mean it like that," Pwyll protested. "I'm just want
to..."

    "Hotaru and Rhian are moving off," Dylan interrupted the brewing
argument between the two. "If we want to catch them, we had better get
down there now."

    Bran gave Pwyll one last angry look and then turning around
hurried off without a further word. Arian blinked a few times in
confusion at Bran's odd behavior but shooting a look out the window
rushed off after the disappearing girl with the two boys following on
rapidly behind.

    Hotaru was in heaven. Rhian was walking along side her with an
expression of happiness on her face that seemed to make the girl glow.
Starting at the baths, the two of them had had a long heart to heart
discussion that had lasted long into the night. The two of them had
covered many subjects - Hotaru's feelings, Rhian's misgivings about
the elin'rth and most importantly how they felt about each other. It
had been a talk that both girls had needed, clearing away both the
mistrust that had begun to build up between them and letting each know
precisely where they stood. As a result, the friendship that had begun
to form between them had now become more solid and each felt closer to
the other similar in the way to childhood friends. Although, it was
not fully the kind of relationship that Hotaru most wanted, Rhian was
happy with it, and as far as Hotaru was concerned, if Rhian was happy,
then that was all that really mattered. She loved her friend, and even
if Rhian did not feel exactly the same way back at the moment, Hotaru
did not care. Just to be able to share part of her beloved's life was
enough.

    "So," Hotaru asked as she looked over at the girl walking beside
her. "Would you like to do anything special tonight, Rhian? Go
clubbing or to a movie perhaps? Or just stay at home and study? I know
the mid terms are coming up, but they are still a while off and after
the events of yesterday I think the two of us could more than do with
a night off. Of course, it does not have to be just us. We could
invite Bran and Arian as well, have an all girls night or something."

    Rhian raised her eyebrows. "An all girls night?" she said
thoughtfully. "We've never had one of those. What exactly is it?"

    Hotaru stopped. "You're joking right?"

    "No," Rhian shook her head stopping as well. "I, um, all of us
don't exactly socialize much at all. We more or less just hang out
together or study. Our parents have never been that keen for us to get
involved with others outside our own race, so that sort of restricts
us."

    "But why?" Hotaru asked. "Seems a bit, well, xenophobic to me."

    Rhian shrugged. "It kind of makes sense when you consider that we
don't age at the same rate as humans do. I mean, think of all the
complications that might arise if we had human friends who turned into
adults while we remained exactly the same as we are. It would just
bring attention that we don't need."

    Hotaru considered that for a moment and then nodded. "'Suppose it
makes sense in a way, but surely, that is no reason to not go out.
It's not like you're going to make close friends at a night club or
something."

    A small smile crossed Rhian's face. "I think it's the 'something'
part that our parents worry about."

    "Eh?"

    "Well, while not trying to sound too boastful, the average Avatar
looks a great deal more physically pleasing to the eye than your usual
human, and I think our parents are concerned about where that might
lead." Rhian shrugged, "It's a bit silly, but that's parents for you."

    "No, I think I can understand how they feel," Hotaru started
walking forward again. "They just want to protect you from..."

    "Hey! Hotaru! Rhian! Hold on!"

    Hotaru looked up as the young voice called out her name and her
smile faded a bit as she saw Bran and the other young Avatar coming
over. It was not that she was unhappy to see them, just that they were
intruding on her time alone with Rhian. The lavender haired girl
however smiled brightly and waved her hand.

    "Bran! Arian! Where have you been? I haven't seen you all day."

    Bran was panting slightly by the time she came over but raised her
hand in a half salute. "Hi."

    "So, what's up?" Rhian asked smiling at her friends.

    "A number of things actually," Bran replied pushing her hair
behind an ear. "The most important is that Arian's mother wants to
talk to us tonight about the marriages the adults are trying to push
us into. She says she's going to try and get over those people who
were involved in the decision and listen to our point of view. She
says that..."

    "No."

    "...we should... Eh?" Bran came to a halt and looked at Rhian
startled.

    Rhian shook her head. "No. We will not go."

    Arian looked at Bran and then at Rhian. "Sorry? Rhian, this is the
chance..."

    "I said no, Arian," Rhian replied quite calmly. "We will not go -
none of us."

    Bran was slightly taken aback and she glanced over at Pwyll.

    "What do you mean, Rhian?" Pwyll said taking the hint and stepping
forward.

    Rhian glanced over at him and after a moment's silence said. "That
is my decision, Pwyll." Her voice was quiet but firm and Pwyll
frowned.

    "Are you all right, Rhian? This is not like you."

    "I'm fine, Pwyll," Rhian replied. "I'm just fed up of everyone
else assuming that they can push us into whatever mould they want us
in and I think it's time that we made that clear - that's all."

    Pwyll blinked, but Arian stepped forward. "This is about last
night, isn't it, Rhian?" she said quietly as she remembered the words
that Rhian had shouted at her stepmother.

    "In part," Rhian admitted with a nod, "but also because I've
finally realized how much I have let you all down in not performing my
duty as I should." She looked down unhappily at the ground. "I am
Rhiannon ap Annwvyn, heir to the House of Annwvyn, and Princess - or
at least that is who I should be..."

    "Rhian," Arian interrupted. "What are you talking about? That is
just an empty title. It..."

    "It is a title that has a responsibility, Arian," Rhian overrode
the other girl. "It is a title that has a duty that I have failed
miserably in performing. A duty to you - you who my friends and my
family. I should have..."

    "Oh, Rhian..." Arian shook her head, and coming over put an arm
around her smaller friend and gave her a sisterly hug. "You are one in
a million, you really are."

    Hotaru watched Arian carefully for a moment and then glanced over
at the others to gauge how they were reacting to Rhian's words. The
two of them had discussed this subject briefly last night when Rhian
had been talking about what had happened between her and her
stepmother. During that talk, Rhian had been quite wrathful about the
way Olwen had seemed to think that she had the right to treat the
seven youngsters as little more than pawns, and had resolved that from
now on things were going to be different. Personally, Hotaru thought
Rhian might be overreacting, but considering what had happened
yesterday, Hotaru could understand how Rhian felt.

    "Rhian," Hotaru said carefully so not to anger the sensitive girl.
"I think it might be better if we were to go and at least listen to
what they are saying."

    The girl turned and looked at her. "You too, Hotaru?"

    Hotaru took Rhian's hand in her own. "You don't have to agree with
what they say, Rhian-chan. Heck, you can even use this opportunity to
let your parents know how you all feel if that is what you want. But
simply refusing to go because you think you need to make a statement
is not the most sensible way of tackling this, Rhian. You..."

    "Hotaru is right, Rhian," Arian broke in, squeezing the girl's
shoulder. "If we go then at least we can put across our side of the
story. If we just stay away, then it looks bad for both us and does
not help our cause at all. I can understand how you feel, but..." Her
voice trailed off and she smiled. "Now is the time to show our parents
the adults we can be, not the other way around."

    Rhian sighed and held up her hands in defeat. "Okay, okay. We'll
do things your way. I know when I have been outvoted. But I still want
to make the point they just can't order us around all the time, and
assume that we will just jump in response."

    Arian nodded, "I think we all have got that axe to grind, and you
are right. In some ways, it is best that you make that point, but just
be careful _how_ you make it. That's all I'm worried about."

    Rhian's face fell into a slight pout. "I'm not a child you know,
Arian. I can be diplomatic when the need is called for."

    "Of course, you can," Hotaru said soothingly, giving her elin'rth
a quick cuddle, much to the girl's embarrassment. "Arian was not
saying anything other than just giving you some advice, that's all."

    "Hotaru..." the long haired girl complained, flushing as the
stares of her friends suddenly became a lot more intense, and knowing
smiles crept onto their faces.

    "So," Arian started off innocently, "I notice that the two of you
seem to have gotten very friendly since yesterday. Did you, ah, make-
up or something?"

    "We... ah..." Rhian started to say when Hotaru beat her to it.

    "I love Rhian," the senshi announced earnestly, snaking her hands
possessively around the long haired girl. "And I intend to win her
heart as well."

    At this blunt announcement, Rhian started to make strangled noises
and turn a color that was somewhere between red and purple. Arian's
smile turned triumphant and the others had reactions that ranged from
smiles to slight frowns. Pwyll opened his mouth to say something when
Rhian finally managed to find her wits.

    "Hotaru!" she spluttered out, breaking the lose grip that the
other's arms had on her and turned to glare evilly at the brunette,
who in reply simply smiled.

    "Have I ever told you how cute you look when you get flustered,
Rhian?" Hotaru said back still grinning at the indignation that
flowered on Rhian's face.

    "Stop it!" Rhian hid her face in her hands. "You're embarrassing
me!"

    "But you like it..."

    Arian looked away from the grinning Hotaru as she mercilessly
teased Rhian, and glanced over at Bran and then Pwyll. Bran just
smirked slightly, while Pwyll shrugged his shoulders and sighed
leaving Arian with no idea how he regarded this latest development.
"All right, you two lovebirds," she finally said. "Knock it off will
you?"

    Rhian's head shot up and she turned her evil eye to face her
'friend'. "What was that?" the girl growled softly.

    Arian resisted the temptation to grin at Rhian's reaction and
instead just stretched her hand over to ruffle the lavender fringe.
"Nothing, Rhian-chan, nothing. Just a little joke on my part - that's
all."

    "Mauuu..." Rhian bemoaned to herself. "Why is everyone picking on
me today?"

    "Because you look so cute when you're flustered," Arian and Hotaru
chorused together with a laugh, to which Rhian made a rude noise and
stomped off.

    "Hotaru?" Pwyll asked stepping forward, a more serious expression
on his face.

    The look of mirth on Hotaru's lips faded slightly as she looked
over at the boy. "Pwyll," she acknowledged him.

    "Is it true?" he asked, looking hard at her. "Do you really love
Rhian?"

    Hotaru met the boy's stare and held simply held it, until it was
Pwyll who unusually broke it, but still Hotaru's eyes bore down on
him. "Rhian is my elin'rth," was all she said, and with that, she
turned and strode purposefully away, following after Rhian leaving the
boy looking bemused.

    Dylan eyes followed the back of the departing girl and sighed.
"Well, I think that clears up that little mystery. Looks like our
little Rhian has got herself a would be lover, if she wants one or
not."

    "Yeah..." Arian drawled almost to herself as she mused on some of
the implications of what was going on between the two other girls. It
did not bode well for their parents carefully constructed plans, that
much was obvious, but there were other implications that were not
quite so obvious. What, for example, did this mean to the other senshi
themselves? So far, the contact between the Avatar and the others had
been limited to just one encounter, but if Hotaru and Rhian were going
to become "an item" so to say, then it would only be a matter of time
before the senshi became aware of the Avatar in a way that Pluto and
Arawn did not want to seem to happen. And then, what if...

    "Arian," a voice said as a hand gripped her arm. "Come on, the
bell has rung. We need to get back to class."

    Arian snapped herself back to the present and looked over at Bran.
"Sorry, sorry. Just coming." And chasing after the path that Rhian and
Hotaru had taken just moments before, the rest of them went for
afternoon classes.

                *           *           *           *

    "Gods, it hot..." Rei panted as she waited idling her car as she
waited for Michiru to return. The Outer senshi had abruptly rung her
out of nowhere earlier today and asked for a lift over to Hotaru's new
school so that she could pick the girl up when classes broke. Although
Rei had been slightly surprised at the request she had nothing much on
today so had assented to the request. Picking the woman up, the two of
them had a slow drive across the congested arteries of Tokyo until
they finally reached the well to do entrance of the private school
that Hotaru was now attending. They had arrived at least twenty
minutes before the high school was due to release it prisoners for the
day, and Michiru had taken the opportunity to go off and see Setsuna,
who seemed to be teaching here as well. This, of course, meant that
Rei was left twiddling her thumbs until either Hotaru or Michiru
showed up.

    Turning the air-conditioning onto full, Rei jerked her light
cotton tee-shirt in and out in an effort to cool down. Her car was not
exactly at the high end spec of the market, so the power of the
cooling system was limited and on a day like today that limitation
became annoying. The sun was merciless, and being stuck out in the
middle of it waiting for school to break up was something that Rei
would rather not be doing. She sighed, and drumming her fingers on the
steering wheel looked down at her watch.

    "Well, at least they should be coming out soon," she noted with a
faint sense of relief raising her head to look at main doors of the
building from which she assumed from which Hotaru would be exiting.
And almost as if some kind spirit had heard her words, a loud chiming
sounded and about a minute or so later a stream of lively young
figures in uniform started to trickle out of the building. Rei's eyes
darted back and forth over the numerous youthful faces as she sought
out the fair features of young Hotaru. Since Michiru had not yet
returned, Rei knew she might be the only one who could stop Hotaru
before the young teenager went on to do whatever it was she might have
already planned for today, and Rei did not think that the older woman
would appreciate that.

    The sea of dark haired boys and girls clumped closely together
made the task that Rei had set for herself seem almost impossible to
achieve. Some of the faces she could not even see and others were not
even leaving the school, but turning instead to follow other paths
that led to other buildings within the school precinct. Rei's mouth
tightened as she strained to catch sight of all the faces that she
could but...

    No! Wait! Rei's eyes widened as she caught sight of a flash of
seemingly impossible color and her attention was drawn to a number of
students who had just emerged from the main doors. A girl with long
hair the color of pale blue had just stepped out onto the main steps,
and Rei's eyes narrowed as she recognized the girl as being one of
those odd people that Hotaru had seemed to be hanging around with for
the last few weeks, and sure enough, walking along next to the girl
was the figure of the young senshi.

    Rei paused for a moment as she watched the band of five slowly
descend the steps while being engaged in animated conversation about
something or other. The boy who was talking to one of the dark haired
girls, Rei recognized with a gasp as the one who had been responsible
for launching that attack against those chicken things that had
drained her, Makoto and the others down to the dregs. Pluto had never
explained who the hell that boy was and the fact that he was now here
with Hotaru made Rei slightly cautious in how she should be dealing
with this. It was obvious from what had happened that night that this
boy was not exactly human in the strictest sense of the word, and that
possibly implied that the others with Hotaru might also be
'different'. Rei did not want to go and jump into a situation where
she might put either herself or Hotaru at risk, but at the same time
she was anxious to know just who the hell this boy was, and just what
his connection to Hotaru could be.

    After a moment of consideration, Rei turned off her car engine and
got out. She drew a breath and putting a smile on her face called out,
"Hotaru-chan! Hotaru-chan!" waving her arm in an effort to catch the
girl's attention.

    The majority of the faces that Rei had been earnestly scanning a
few moments before suddenly turned to stare at her. Rei felt slightly
embarrassed by all the attention, but continued to wave as she saw
Hotaru spot her and wave back.

    "Rei-san!"

    Now the eyes turned instead to watch Hotaru as smiling she made
her way over to greet Rei. Still wearing a smile on her face, Rei kept
a watchful eye on the others the small brunette had been with. The
girl with the weird hair was following at a slow pace after Hotaru and
the others were trundling along after her.

    "Rei-san," Hotaru stopped with a happy expression on her face and
executed a small bow. "This is an unexpected pleasure. How have you
been doing?"

    Rei looked down at the happily smiling teenager and let her
expression warm. "Hello, Hotaru-chan. I'm fine thank you and how are
you? Settling into your new school I hope?"

    Hotaru nodded and gave a small laugh. "Oh, yes. I'm getting to
like it here quite a bit. The works hard, but it's enjoyable and I've
made quite a number of new friends. All in all..."

    "And it looks like those new friends have just arrived," Rei
remarked with a nod as the girl and the others that had been following
Hotaru slowed nervously to a halt, obviously not sure if they should
be intruding. Rei smiled at them and then glanced back at Hotaru. "Why
don't you introduce me to them, Hotaru-chan? I would like to meet
them..." Rei noticed that the warm expression on Hotaru's face sagged
slightly, "That's if you don't mind that of course..."

    "Ah... No, no, of course not," Hotaru said, recovering herself
from her little slip as fast as she could. "They aren't anything
special... Ah, I mean, they are just my friends..."

    ::Wonderful, Hotaru:: Rhian stated with a mental groan. ::Why not
just throw your entire foot in next time...::

    "Rhian!" Hotaru spun around to give the girl a piece of her mind
and then froze. "Rhian... Um... This is Rhian, Rei-san," and grabbing
Rhian's arm pulled her forward.

    ::Hotaru! Calm down will you!:: Rhian growled as she smiled up at
the taller brunette and inclined her head before lifting her eyes and
looking up.

    Rei found herself staring into two golden colored eyes that were
set in an attractive white face and framed by loose tressels of
lavender hair. The eyes glimmered with a color and life that was
nearly a perfect match for Hotaru's own recently inexplicably changed
orbs and Rei found herself wondering if there was a connection between
that. When Rei and the others had first seen in the shopping center
that Saturn's almost unique deep purple orbs had changed to a
burnished gold, they had been stunned. No explanation had been offered
and even when Usagi had rudely asked straight out what had happened,
neither Hotaru nor Setsuna had given any clue, and yet here now in
front of her was a possible hint.

    "Hello, Rhian-chan," Rei said politely offering the girl a hand.
"I'm Hino Rei, an old friend of Hotaru and her family."

    "Rhiannon Annwvyn," the girl replied taking the hand and giving it
a brief shake. "Pleased to met you, Hino-san."

    Annwyvn... An odd sounding name, Rei thought to herself trying to
decide which country it came from. "And you too, Rhian-chan."

    "And this is Bran," Hotaru moved swiftly on to the youngest
looking of the girls - an attractive brunette, with deep eyes and an
innocent look that drew guys like bees to nectar.

    "Bran-chan," Rei greeted the girl with a smile.

    "Hino-san," Bran bowed her head and then looked up, her face alive
with interest. "Have you know Hotaru-san for long, may I ask?"

    "A fair few years," Rei replied with a laugh. "We both have a
number of the same school friends."

    "Oh," the girl's brow creased in a thoughtful frown. "But you're
older than Hotaru-san by quite a few years. How could..."

    "And I'm Pwyll," the boy which Rei had felt rather anxious about
actually meeting said, holding out his hand. "Pleased to met you,
Hino-san."

    "You're rude, Pwyll," Bran spoke up. "You interrupted my
conversation with Hino-san and did not wait for Hotaru to introduce
you..."

    "That's all right, Bran-chan," Rei stepped in, taking the boy's
offered hand. "You have to remember that young men have different sets
of manners than that expected of us more refined ladies." She smiled,
and gave the cute brunette a wink. Bran responded with a small giggle
and giving the boy called Pwyll a _look_ stepped back.

    ::Your friend seems to have quite a way with words, Hotaru:: Rhian
chimed in as she watched the interaction between Rei and Bran.

    'Suppose... Hotaru mused back. But why is she here?

    ::She came with your mother I believe:: Rhian replied. ::Hino-san
does not know the reason for the visit but...::

    Are you reading her mind? Hotaru gasped, slightly shocked at the
lack of Rhian's ethics. You just can't go barging into someone's mind
and read their innermost thoughts, Rhian. It's... not right!

    ::I don't need to invade anyone's mind, Hotaru:: Rhian replied
rather testily. ::I can 'hear' most people's thoughts shouted loud
enough as it is, without going and looking for them::

    What do you mean? Hotaru queried.

    ::Telepathy is not usually about going out and actively reading
someone's mind, it is a skill which simply allows you to hear what is
already being said. Most people are actively broadcasting their
surface thoughts all the time, and as with speaking, all one has to do
is listen to what is being said:: Rhian paused. ::Do you understand,
Hotaru?::

    Err... I think so, Hotaru replied. You're saying that all you're
doing is just listening to the 'noise' that's already there so to
speak.

    ::Effectively, yes:: Rhian confirmed. ::I can do...::

    "Hotaru?" Rei queried yet again as her first attempt to get the
other's attention met with no success whatsoever. "Are you all right?"

    "Oh... Sorry, Rei-san, sorry," Hotaru temporized. "I was lost in
my own thoughts for a moment there. What were you saying?"

    "I was saying that your mother should be floating around
somewhere," Rei repeated, rubbing her sweating forehead. "She wanted
to come down and pick you up."

    Hotaru pulled a small face. "Ah... That's gonna be a bit tricky,
Rei-san. You see, I've already made plans for tonight and I'm not
really able to break them at this late stage."

    Rei shrugged, "It's not me you need to tell, Hotaru-chan, but your
mother. What were you going to do?"

    "We're having a dinner at my house," the last girl, who Rei had
not yet been introduced to, spoke up. "My parents invited Hotaru
around so that they could discuss some... matters with her."

    "Oh?" Rei cocked an eyebrow.

    "Arian's parents are on the school governors board," Rhian chipped
in with a friendly smile. "They like to get options of some of the new
students on how they are finding settling, and since Hotaru is our
friend..." she shrugged. "It's something that is convenient all
around."

    "Tricky..." Rei agreed, "But again it is Michiru that you will
have to talk to. I'm just acting as the driver, I afraid."

    "Do you know where she is?" Hotaru sighed, glancing over at Rhian.

    "Visiting a friend in the faculties office, I believe," Rei
offered. "She should be back soon though."

    "It's all right, Hotaru, we'll wait," Arian stated, lowering her
bag to the graveled ground.

    "Arian, tell you what, why don't you and Bran start off and I'll
wait here with Hotaru," Rhian said much to everyone's surprise.

    "Eh?" Arian gave Rhian a startled look. "Why?"

    Rhian just smiled cutely and clasping her hands in front of her
said nothing.

    "Rhian?" Arian asked, now looking a bit bemused.

    "Go on," Rhian made a shooing motion with her hand and Arian
shared a confused look with Pwyll.

    "But..." Arian tried to say but a look from Rhian made her swallow
her words and nod. "We'll see you later then," and with a jerk of her
head, she and Bran started off down the drive, occasionally looking
back and talking to each other. Pwyll made to follow them, but Rhian
spoke up again.

    "Pwyll."

    The boy halted, and turned around to look at the still innocently
smiling girl. "Rhian?"

    "I believe Bran said she would prefer it if you, Dylan and Relnus
sat this one out."

    "What do you mean? Where did you hear that?" Pwyll halted and gave
the younger girl a stare.

    Rhian brushed her fringe back from the front of her face and
crossed over to stand by the side of Rei's car. "Please, Pwyll," she
said, giving him a pleading look. "Just let us handle this one, okay?
Bran... well, she's not a child anymore. You're pushing her too hard,
and if you don't give her some space, then..." the girl gestured and
let her voice trail off.

    Pwyll said nothing, but looked at Rhian and then his eyes moved
over to Hotaru. The senshi blinked and stared back at him wondering
why he was so intent with his gaze.

    "Pwyll?" Rhian said again, her voice gentle and finally the boy
sighed.

    "As you wish, Rhian-hime, as you wish..." his head pulled up and
without a further word he turned and left, not even looking back once.

    Rei snuck a close look at the lavender haired girl and wondered
about some of the dynamics that had just taken place. Rhian was
currently leaning up against Rei's own car shading her eyes from the
sun and looking like she did not have a care in all the world. The
scene that had just taken place however hinted at some interesting
points about the hierarchy of the group. This Rhian seemed to be able
to pull weight in a way that was not usual for her apparent age or
social standing, and that suggested that...

    "Phew! It's hot today, isn't it, Hino-san?" the same said girl
suddenly announced looking over at her and Rei nodded her head in
agreement.

    "Yes, it is exceptionally hot for..."

    As Rei and Rhian talked congenially about the weather, Hotaru
remainder silent and wondered just what her young love was playing at.
Sending the others away and then talking to Pwyll like she had seemed
rather unusual, even for Rhian. Looking over at the girl, Hotaru fell
into a thoughtful stance and just watched as the two of them talk. Rei
seemed to be attentive and was nodding ever so often while Rhian
talked, while Rhian smiled warmly back and amicably asked Rei about
her life and things in general. Every so often the lavender head would
nod in interest and Rhian would give that cute little smile that
Hotaru liked so much.

    As she continued to watch Rhian, Hotaru felt the warmth of the day
hitting her, but it did not seem to be oppressive, rather simply warm
and pleasant. The brightness of the sun seemed to catch some of the
gold highlights in Rhian's hair and make them shine, so that to
Hotaru, they appeared like small streams of molten sunlight that
sparkled whenever the girl's head moved. The sight made Hotaru smile
and once more she marvelled at her beloved's beauty.

    Rhian's face burst into a bright smile at some jest or comment
that Rei made, and Hotaru felt herself go weak as she sunk deeper into
the enchantment that Rhian unknowing wove over her. Her eyes lovingly
caressed the curvatures of the girl's happy face, the up-raised quirk
in those refined lips, the way that her slender arms crossed in front
of her dress which fell just short of her knees, showing a tempting
expanse of white leg...

    Her elin'rth was perfect... Just so wonderfully perfect, that
Hotaru was utterly enthralled and could think of nothing else but her
beloved.

    Despite how friendly the girl was trying to be, Rei held back from
doing more than the superficial small talk that the girl was engaging
in. There was something about this lavender haired beauty that set
Rei's nerves on edge, even if she had no idea what it was. The girl
had a certain air about her, something that made Rei feel, well,
threatened. It was a completely weird sensation that Rei just could
not pin down. A sensation that made her watch the young girl very
carefully, as one might watch someone who is suspicious and yet has
given no cause for that suspicion. And the more Rei tried to pin down
the source of that sensation the more ridiculous it seemed to be, so
Rei continued with the small talk and suruptiously studied the girl as
carefully as she dared for a hint of what it was that so convinced the
fire senshi of the danger this Rhian presented.

    The most remarkable thing about the girl were her looks - Rhian
was stunning. In fact, the girl's features were so unusual that Rei
would have said that Rhian seemed to be more fey and ethereal than an
actually living human, and that impression only got stronger the more
Rei continued to look at her. High swept cheekbones and the girl's
large luminous eyes only served to heighten this feeling, and more
than once Rei found herself seemingly getting lost in that beauty,
being unable to focus her mind to a significant degree enough to go
much beyond the small talk that the two of them were currently
sharing. It was a strange feeling, and Rei gradually found herself not
trying to look at the girl at all, but rather to a point just over the
girl's left shoulder. A point where Rei began to increasingly stare at
in an effort to focus on the situation in hand and try and find out
more about the girl and the boy.

    "So, that was the..." Rei began but was interrupted by Hotaru,
who, mumbling to herself, walked half-stumbling over to stand in front
of the girl, rudely blocking off Rei's comment.

    "Hotaru?" Rhian's voice was concerned. "Is something wrong?"

    Rei only heard a snack of what Hotaru was murmuring, but it sound
like the small brunette was saying Rhian's name again and again. It
was...

    Hotaru suddenly yanked Rhian to her and gave the girl such a
passionate kiss that Rei's eyes boggled, and she wondered for a moment
if this was all some sort of insane dream. However, as Hotaru wrapped
her arms tightly around the long haired girl and pulled her in to
deepen the kiss yet more, Rei realized that this was really happening.
Hotaru was _kissing_ Rhian! And not just a friendly, sisterly kiss,
but one that should only have been shared by lovers in the privacy of
their own room. It was... impossible!

    Once more Rhian felt the hot kiss of Hotaru's lips press unsought
for against her own and the tight embrace of the brunette's arms
encircling her protectively as the other girl pulled her close. Like
before, the urgency communicated through Hotaru's lips scattered
Rhian's thoughts like a horse running full charge into a flock of
geese. Her knees went weak and Hotaru sagged slightly as she was
burdened by the sudden weight. Whereas before, Rhian had the pain and
indignation to give her the strength of will to push Hotaru off, now
there was nothing - just a warm sapping numbness that spread
throughout her body, draining the will to resist Hotaru's love and
this time simply accepting it, and even in part, reflecting it.

    Finally, as if Rhian's lips were a sustenance she had been
desperately thirsty for, the urgency of Hotaru's kiss diminished and
the young brunette seemed to come back to herself. Giving a noise that
was something between a startled gasp and a berated moan, she released
the lavender haired girl from her urgent embrace and simply held the
slack girl for her support. The expression on the brunette's face was
almost painful to watch both for Rei who knew Hotaru and for the crowd
of gawking faces that her abrupt action had drawn.

    It took Rhian a lot longer to return from the land of befuddlement
where Hotaru's kiss had once again sent her wits, and she slowly
reconnected with the reality about her. A strange sensation of warm
weakness filled her body and if it was not for the arms supporting
her, she doubted she would have had the strength to stand. As more
intelligence returned, Rhian turned her head to look at the aghast
face of the person who was holding her. The self-recrimation and guilt
that was pasted there touched Rhian's heart and gathering as much of
her still functioning wits as she could, Rhian spoke.

    "I... I thought you said you were going to try and stop this sort
of thing, Hotaru. My clothes just can't take it..."

    Hotaru looked like she was going to start to cry and Rhian once
more felt that surge of conflicting emotions storm the citadel of her
heart. Swallowing, she gently squeezed Hotaru back and gave the white
cheek a light brushing kiss. "I... lik... like you a lot, Hotaru...
I..." and at that point her voice faltered and she just let herself
rest against Hotaru's protective form, lost in her own confusion.

    At Rhian's words, Hotaru felt like a great weight had suddenly hit
her square between the eyes. Rhian was not mad... Rhian had said she
liked Hotaru... Rhian was currently resting in her arms without a
whimper of protest... Those three points floated through her mind like
a klaxon and Hotaru felt heady with emotion. Taking a few breaths to
get herself to a point where her heart was not beating in her chest
like a jack hammer, Hotaru just lightly held the girl and lost herself
in the fragrant scent that was emanating from the long lavender hair.
A dreamy smile descended over her face and closing her eyes, Hotaru
just let herself rest, lightly supporting the other girl in her arms.

    Rei was lost on how to react. Of all she had ever imagined of
Hotaru, this was something that was so completely unexpected and
insane that she had no idea what to say or do. She could only just
stand and stare, much like the others who had been drawn to watch the
spectacle as well. So, when Michiru and Setsuna came walking over, Rei
completely missed them until Michiru coughed and gave her a tap on the
shoulder.

    "Wha! Oh... Michiru, it's you..." Rei said, recovering from the
initial shock of being awoken from her revery. "I..." she started to
say, but glancing back in the direction of Hotaru her voice died away.

    Michiru followed her glance and Rei could hear the faint sigh that
emerged from the older woman. Then, she and Setsuna shared a pained
look that made Rei wondered what the two Outer senshi knew that made
them look like that, but before she said anything about it, Michiru
walked over to where the two girls where and gently tapped Hotaru on
the shoulder.

    At the sound of her mother's voice, Hotaru's head jerked up and
she pulled Rhian reflectively against her. "Mama..." she muttered as
her eyes met with those of the older woman.

    "Hotaru," Michiru returned the salutation, looking at the form of
Rhian still held protectively in the shelter of the brunette's arms.

    Hotaru followed Michiru's eyes and reluctantly she pushed Rhian
back. The golden eyes of the young Avatar opened and fixing themselves
on Hotaru, looked deeply thoughtful. Hotaru was uncertain what was
running through Rhian's mind at that moment, and quirked her lips in a
smile.

    "Rhian?"

    The girl flushed and lowering her eyes pulled back from Hotaru
altogether, and for the first time the two of them noticed the rather
numerous gathering of students that their actions had attracted.
Rhian's eyes widened and she felt her face burn as she glanced from
face to face of those students some of whom she even knew. The
expressions on those faces were varied. A few looked shocked, a few
looked bemused, and a few even had wide smiles of them, but to Rhian,
all of them made her want to curl up into a small ball and die. News
of this event would be all over the school by morning, growing and
becoming ever more distorted until both her and Hotaru would be
regarded as...

    Rhian swallowed, and once more turned her gaze to look at Hotaru.
She met the young brunette's eyes and saw that Hotaru too realized
something of what Rhian feared would happened. However, Hotaru smiled
just slightly, and nodded as if trying to reassure her everything
would be all right. It was not an act that convinced Rhian, but it was
a bit late for such thoughts now. What had happened, had happened and
Rhian knew the two of them would have to live with the consequences of
it, no matter what they were.

    Trying to ignore the faces still staring at the two of them, Rhian
looked rather guiltily up at Hotaru's mother and waited for what the
woman would say.

    "So, Rhian-chan," Michiru began, not really certain what it was
she should be saying anyway. "Has my daughter won your heart only
after such a short time already? She said she would, and it looks..."

    "No, no! It's nothing like that!" Rhian spluttered, her face
aflame. "It's... I mean..." her voice died away as her embarrassment
overcame her completely and she just shifted nervously about.

    Michiru sighed and sharing a look with Setsuna let the subject be.
Whatever happened between the two girls would happen in its own time,
but Michiru knew that she was now looking at the face of her
daughter's future companion no matter probably what happened. And
although young Rhian might not admit it yet, Michiru did not doubt
that it would only be a matter of time before Hotaru did indeed
succeed in her stated goal. When that moment finally came, then that
was when the difficulty began. As time went by, it would be impossible
to conceal Hotaru's position as a senshi from the young human that she
so passionately loved. Rhian would age and mature as did any human,
and while the two would probably have many years of happiness
together, Michiru felt a surge of great pity fill her heart for both
of the children. This was a love that no matter what happiness was
born from it, would ultimately be doomed to end in pain and tears.
However, much Hotaru might try to ignore it or fight it, the two girls
had completely different fates. Hotaru was a senshi, a girl who was
destined to be young and alive when Rhian was forgotten dust in a
nameless grave. Fate could not be changed, Rhian was human, she would
die.

    And when Rhian died, so would a vital piece of Hotaru - that was
something which would break Michiru's heart. Something, that for both
the young girls sakes, Michiru feverishly wished were it to any avail
that their love would never blossom. It may well be a hopeless wish,
but still Michiru desired it with all her heart, for in the end that
would be the only way that either girls could truly be happy.

    "Michiru?" Rei's soft, uncertain voice bought the older woman back
from her musings.

    "Ah... Rei, yes," Michiru said turning away from the two blushing
girls to look at the fire senshi. "Thanks for the lift down here, but
Setsuna has offered to take me and Hotaru out for..."

    "Mama... I can't..." Hotaru began looking at first Rhian and then
back at her mother. "Rhian and the others... I have to..." her voice
faded as uncertainty gripped at her throat.

    Michiru stared at her flustered daughter and her eyes narrowed.
"Hotaru?" she queried. "What are you trying to say?"

    "It's me, I'm afraid," Rhian spoke up, recovering herself from her
earlier embarrassment.

    "You?" Michiru's mouth tightened. "What do you mean, Rhian-chan?"

    Rhian's eyes dropped slightly at the faint tone behind the older
woman's voice, but she continued. "One of my friend's parents are
having a party tonight, and they invited both me and Hotaru along.
They... well... all of us were really looking forward to it..."

    "You never told me this, Hotaru," Michiru glanced back and forth
between her daughter and Rhian.

    Hotaru gave a small shrug. "I never thought it was important. Why?
Did you want to discuss something with me today, or was it that you
just wanted to go out? I'm really sorry I didn't tell you, but..."

    "No, no," Michiru sighed with a dismissive gesture. "It was
nothing important. I just... well... wanted to talk to you..." Her
eyes flittered briefly over to Rhian as she said this, and Hotaru
could well imagine what that talk was going to be about.

    Hotaru put an arm around her beloved's shoulder and gave both
Michiru and Setsuna a hard stare. "If you want to talk about Rhian,
mama, then we will only do it with her around. She is my beloved and
my partner. I will not have her pushed to one side in any business
that I am involved, and that includes business in which Usagi is..."

    "Hotaru!" Michiru snapped in angrily, taking a small step forward.
"Watch your tongue!"

    "No, I won't!" Hotaru exclaimed back, her arm tightening around
Rhian as her voice rose. "Rhian will be my wife and my lover! Get used
to it!"

    As the rather loud words echoed around for anyone to hear, Rhian
prayed she could just die now and escape the fate that would be hers
for the rest of her school life. She had actually started today with
some hope that she might be over the worst of what the last two weeks
had conspired to throw at her, but now she knew that that had just
been a trick to give her a false sense of security. In the last ten
minutes, Hotaru had single handedly managed to turn the two of them
into social freaks, and while Rhian had never really been concerned
about what others had thought of her before, now...

    "Hotaru..." Rhian hissed in a pained voice, but the young senshi
was only getting started. The imagined slight that Michiru had made
set the brunette off down a slippery slope that made Rhian cringe with
every fresh sentence.

    "You and Haruka are lesbians, mama, and I've always known how much
you've loved each other, so what is wrong with me and Rhian doing the
same? She's kind, beautiful, fiery, passionate - all the things I
could possibly ever want in a girlfriend. When the two of us nearly
made love for the first time last night, it was the most wonderful
experience I could have ever imagined! Her mere kiss made me want to
pleasure her all over, and the way her breasts responded to my..."

    "Hotaru!" Rhian shrieked in disbelief, jabbing the girl in the
stomach with her elbow. "What do you think you are doing?!"

    "Ouch!" Hotaru exclaimed, rubbing her bruised mid-ribs as she
turned to stare at pair of wide golden eyes staring at her in shock.
Hotaru frowned, "Rhian, why did you do that? What's wrong?"

    At Hotaru's statement, Rhian's eyes widened even more as an
expression of incredulation settled onto her face. Her mouth moved as
she tried to think of the words she could say that would make Hotaru
realize what it was she had just said, but after seeing the hurt
confusion on the brunette's face, Rhian only gave a small sigh and
shook her head.

    "What, Rhian?" Hotaru asked again, but the lavender haired girl
just turned and started to stalk off. "Rhian!" Hotaru called out and
hurried off after her.

    "Hotaru! Wait!" Michiru called out and made to head the two girls
off, but Setsuna grabbed her arm.

    "Wait," was the only word the woman said and Michiru spun around
to confront her.

    "What is going on here, Setsuna?" she demanded, and the two Outer
senshi shared dark stares.

    Setsuna kept her light grip on Michiru's arm and responded.

    "That which must."

    "What the hell is that supposed to mean?!" Michiru shot back. "Do
you understand what is going on here? What Hotaru is getting herself
into?"

    "Of course..."

    Rei turned away from the arguing women and let her eyes follow the
two departing girls. What had just happened was something that she
would never have believed unless she had seen it with her own two
eyes, but now that she had she still had difficulty accepting that it
was real. Hotaru was in love with another girl! And from the sounds of
what the two of them had been up to, it seemed that the lavender
haired companion that Hotaru was still trying to mollify leaned the
same sort of way as well. Question was, what did this development
mean? Just who exactly was this Rhian? And how were her and her
friends involved with Hotaru and with what was happening?

    Ami had mentioned much the same questions in her musings with the
group before. These youngsters were somehow tied in with the current
situation, but in ways that were impossible to tell. It was almost
certain that Hotaru knew something, as probably did the Outers, but as
always Rei and her friends were just left to one side to flutter in
the wind, and that pissed Rei off. Did not the Inners deserve to be
let in on the secret as well? They had fought to protect the Earth as
well as anyone, and the fact that they seemed to be regarded as the
last who needed to be informed about anything made Rei grind her teeth
frustration. Enough was enough! And before Rei fully realized what she
was doing, she was hurrying after Hotaru and the girl the brunette had
seemingly attached herself to.

    "Hotaru-chan! Wait up!"

    At the sound of Rei's voice, Hotaru and Rhian stopped, turning to
face the source of the sound. Other students from those who had
stopped to watch Hotaru kiss Rhian also appeared to be trailing along
behind her, and the two girls exchanged a concerned look.

    "Rhian?" Hotaru asked. "What should we do? All these people..."

    Rhian held out her hand and caught Hotaru's. A small smile broke
on her face. "We run."

    The sudden smile made Hotaru wonder, but she nodded back and
holding their bags the two youngsters sped off as fast as their legs
would carry them. Rhian's long lavender hair streamed out as behind
her as laughing with the excitement of the chase, she was pulling
Hotaru behind her, but the small brunette was also now filled with an
excited energy and she ran with a speed that she would never imagined
her body previously capable of.

    Leaving the boundaries of the school, Rhian immediately turned
left, and with a excited laugh, ran down the street hand in hand with
Hotaru. Avoiding people as best they could, the two fled down another
side street paying no heed to the cries to stop that were yelling out
behind them. The sight of mischievous joy on Rhian's face as they ran
filled Hotaru with a bubbling energy that took away all tiredness that
her body felt. Gods! This was wonderful! She felt like she could run
like this alongside her beloved all today!

    Turning down yet another small street, Hotaru pointed at a set of
old worn stone steps someway down the street that led up to a small
temple shrine of some kind. "Let's head for that!" she exclaimed,
pulling Rhian towards the place of shelter. Running across the road,
the two of them took the stone steps two at a time and charged up them
to pass laughing under the rather small and dilapidated template gate
at the top. Here, the two of them halted.

    "That... That was fun!" Rhian panted out as she leaned against one
of the ancient wooden beams and fought to regain her breath, a huge
grin on her face.

    "Yes!" Hotaru agreed with a giggle as she rested next to Rhian,
marvelling in the mirth that animated her friend's face, and the way
her eyes shone with life. The exertion of their mad dash had bought a
red flush to Rhian's white face, and the happiness that floated there
made Hotaru want to sing.

    Rhian must have sensed Hotaru's intense stare, for the girl raised
her face and looked at Hotaru full on. Their eyes met and Rhian's
panting slowly stilled. The mood of happy excitement that were
brimming over in both girls began to perceptually change as the two of
them continued to stare deep into the pupils of the other.

    "Hotaru..." Rhian said in a faint voice that seemed somehow to
heighten the unspoken tension that was flowing between them.

    The named brunette took a small step forward and stood still,
waiting. Her tongue slid nervously over her lips and her breathing
became slower, more focused as she stared across at her companion.

    Rhian's pupils dilated slightly and her breathing became audible
in the tense silence that seemed to have settled down between them.
Time and the noise of the outside world vanished as each of the two
girls became just entirely focused on the presence of the other.
Seconds became hours as the silence dragged out, the whole world
seeming to be halted - waiting.

    "Kiss me."

    Later, neither of them were certain who had spoken those words,
but as both of the figures rushed to obey it hardly seemed to matter.
Two heads, one brunette and one lavender pressed against each other
with a fever which could not be denied. Arms locked around two slender
forms as the fire of passion burning within them sought to merge them
into one. Hands clutched, mouths touched, tongues explored, and sounds
of need emerged from both as the fury of the moment consumed them
both.

    Slowly, like a fire that had consumed the initial fuel that
started it, the urgent need to touch and explore mellowed into a warm
kiss that had more to do with tender gentleness, rather than straight
out passion and the two girls simply sought to express the love that
surged within each of them. Finally, in a state of sheer bliss, Hotaru
pulled her head back and looked at the beautiful face that belonged to
the girl she loved. It was so composed and happy that Hotaru felt she
could stare at it forever. Rhian's eye lids fluttered and then opened,
and the golden orbs that stared vulnerably up at her were moist and
filled with such sweet trust and love that Hotaru forgot to breathe.
Her hand somehow rose by itself and caressing the pale cheek, ended up
hesitantly cupping the soft chin of the other in a feather light grip.

    "I love you..." Hotaru whispered, and the effects of those words
on the pale face enclosed in her light touch was electrifying for the
senshi to behold. The large golden eyes seemed to suddenly grow in
size and the light that they held sparkled and glimmered like sunlight
on water. Tears started to stream from the corner of each eye, running
large silvery tracks down the sculptured cheeks until they finally met
Hotaru's fingers, tracking a warm track where the two pieces of flesh
touched.

    "I love you..." Hotaru whispered once more and inclining her head
gave each of Rhian's eyes a lingering kiss. "Rhian... I want you..."
Her voice was hoarse, and as the words slipped from her mouth, Hotaru
gave her beloved another deep kiss while trying to control the surging
emotion that was gripping at her heart.

    Rhian shivered in delight as Hotaru's lips pressed hard against
her's and when Hotaru moved onto brush her mouth across Rhian's cheek,
the girl gave a soft moan and melted into the brunette's arm. Her body
felt tense all over, like a coiled spring had taken residence up in
her stomach, and wherever Hotaru's fingers touched a riot of sensation
flooded her mind, driving her ever onward. "Hotaru..." she gasped and
pressed herself tighter against the soft form of the person she now
realized she loved too.

    Letting go of all her last doubts and fears, Rhian buried her head
in the nape of Hotaru's neck and wept with joy. There could be no
denying that any longer. She loved Hotaru! Loved her! And although her
mind still could not fully accept the sudden change in her heart, it
was not her mind that was ruling her at this moment. Her heart had
decided who it was that it would embrace, and that person was the
slender brunette holding her so warmly. She no longer cared about the
fact that Hotaru was a girl, or that the brunette was her elin'rth.
All that really mattered was that Hotaru loved her, loved her more
than anything or anyone else, and even if that sounded a bit selfish,
Rhian did not care. Her heart had chosen, and Rhian was lost in the
simple wonderment of it.

    "I love you..."

    The sound of Rhian's voice huskily whispering those words into her
ear, made Hotaru's heart palpitate with a joy that she could never
hope to physically express. Rhian loved her... Oh Gods... Rhian
_loved_ her! Those words bought tears to her eyes and she nuzzled the
long silky hair of her beloved, losing herself in the bliss of the
moment.

    Time uncounted passed as Hotaru and Rhian simply held onto each
other, lost in the presence of each other. However, as all things
must, the moments of bliss passed and Hotaru gently pushed Rhian back.
Looking down at the tear stained face of her beloved, Hotaru smiled,
and taking a finger, she wiped away the tears on first one side and
then the other. Rhian smiled back shyly and Hotaru felt her heart
flutter as the girl's beauty cut into her soul. "Rhian..." the
brunette whispered, her voice husky with desire. "Oh Gods, I want
you...  I love you so much, I want to be with you in every way I
can..." She swallowed hard in a effort to control the yearning that
was burning ever stronger in her. She loved Rhian, needed her, wanted
to give the girl everything that Hotaru had to share, and the most
intimate way the young senshi could think of showing her devotion, was
through the act of giving up her virginity to the only person she
would _ever_ want to share such a precious gift with.

    "Rhian," she whispered again, brushing her lips across the other's
pale cheeks. "Be with me. Make love to me. Please... I need you, you
are my life..." Her words faded and she gave Rhian a kiss in which she
tried to put everything she felt to the one she had chosen as her
beloved. I _need_ you, Rhian...

    The strength of longing and need in Hotaru's kiss shook Rhian
almost as much as had the senshi's words. The young brunette was
deadly serious, and from the hunger for her that Rhian could sense
burning in the other girl's mind, the Avatar was not certain how
Hotaru would react if she refused. Already the brunette's fingers had
slid unconsciously up the rear of her school uniform, caressing the
bare skin of her back with increasing boldness, even daring to slip
down and run light touches over her pants. The sensations that such
movements invoked in Rhian left her shivering with desire and fear.
Desire for Hotaru, and yet at the same time, a fear of committing the
act of ultimate intimacy that Hotaru seemed so much to need. The
uncertainty that she had about loving Hotaru returned in part to
shadow her heart, and the joy that she felt was lessened by it.

    For the second time in less than forty eight hours, Hotaru was
engrossed in the silky perfection of her lover's body. The physical
need that she had for Rhian was a painful ache that filled every part
of her being, and trying to hold it back was getting to be impossible.
Even the touch of the warm flesh that her hands were gliding over now
was driving on to seek ever more. She _loved_ Rhian, wanted to be with
her, in her, and that need was drowning out everything else. Her and
Rhian were bonded, meant to be one, and the hunger of filling that
aching void, of becoming one with her beloved was eclipsing all other
social imperatives.

    "Rhian..."

    The passion filled voice moaned in her ear and Rhian knew that she
was approaching the point of no return. If she did not do something
now, Hotaru might... A hand cupped her breast and slid gladly under
her bra making Rhian moan. Her hands clutched at Hotaru's back as
waves of pleasure erupted up her spine. Indecision gripped at her
heart, she loved Hotaru, but this was all too soon, too new. She
wanted more time, needed it to explore that love, to make certain that
Hotaru really was the _one_. The brunette was moving too fast for her
to truly be certain, and if she did not do something - it would be too
late.

    Fighting back the desires that wracked her body as well, Rhian
tried to push Hotaru away, but the brunette merely tightened her grip
and continued to kiss her, while the hand touching her chest pushed
her bra over her breasts un-cupping them completely. Rhian began to
feel a bit unnerved now, and with a twist of her head broke Hotaru's
passionate kiss. "Hotaru... Stop..." she tried to say, but the
yellowish eyes that were staring at her's were feverish and dilated,
as if the brunette were high on some drug, and her hand ran through
Rhian's long hair snagging it as once more the senshi's mouth captured
her's. The hand cupping her breasts started to tease her nipples, and
Rhian groaned as with an explosion of sensation they became rock hard
under Hotaru's ministrations. Coherent thought began to disintegrate
into a hormone induced daze as Hotaru's kiss became more demanding and
the second hand released it's grip on her hair to press against the
hem of her school uniform and run itself up and down her thigh.

    "No..." Rhian protested with what little sense she had left as the
roaming hand moved higher and higher, pushing her skirt out of the way
as it caressed the cheeks of her buttocks, pulling Rhian even tighter
against her first lover. Thought was now drowned out by physical
sensation and could only make hoarse sounds of pleasure as Hotaru
moved ever onward, her fingers slipping at last to lose themselves in
the moist heat that was Rhian's holy of holies. At the first light
playful touch, Rhian yipped with astonishment and reflectively
clutched onto Hotaru even tighter, burying her face in brunette's
shoulder as the eruption of sensation made her bite her lip in an
effort not to cry out. A feeling almost like a tight knot of muscular
pain formed in the depths of her body, and Rhian whimpered as the
stroking motions that Hotaru was using against her now wet and swollen
labia was simply driving her mad. The knot grew and grew, and as
Hotaru's slender fingers started to seek entry past her last defense,
Rhian gave a small cry of pain and her body suddenly spasm sending a
gush of warm liquid to cover the invader trying to push its way in.
The pain now caused by the that slender invader intensified and Rhian
gave a shuddering sob as both pain and pleasure assaulted her body,
making her hang onto Hotaru as if her life depended on it. Every so
often that slow invader would halt its progress as it would need to
apply yet more pressure to push against the tight muscles trying to
keep it out, and every time it did so, Rhian would utter a soft cry as
the alien intrusion once again began to move. Finally, the intruder
reached a barrier that seemed to be more resistant than any it had
encountered before, and Rhian shuddered in pain as the intruder
pressed against it. "No... Hurts..." she sobbed in Hotaru's soft hair
as the intruder pressed harder and yet harder in an attempt to break
through. "Stop... Please!"

    The gasp of pain in Rhian's voice finally peculated its way
through Hotaru's fog hazed brain and she felt the desperate hold her
beloved had around her neck and stopped. The other girl was sobbing
into her hair and this time all trace of passion was gone from it.
Hotaru felt a wave of self-disgust and anger wash over her at the
realization that she had caused her lavender haired angel to cry, and
as gently as she could she slowly pulled back from her aborted attempt
at making love to her precious.

    Sharp fresh sensations of pain assaulted Rhian's nerves as Hotaru
carefully withdrew her fingers and she clutched at Hotaru's neck until
with a mixture of pain as pleasure the invading sensation removed
itself utterly. Rhian gave a shuddering gasp and fell heavily into her
first lover's embrace, panting as if she had just run a mile. Her
whole body felt fey and throbbed with sensations both pleasurable and
painful. Hotaru held her close and crooned softly until the sensations
had faded enough for her at last to be able to simply rest in the
warmth of Hotaru's body.

    "I... Rhian..." Hotaru tried to apologize, but she could not find
the words. Once more she had hurt the one that was more precious to
her than anything and...

    "Love you, Hotaru..." a faint whisper came from the pale faced
girl in her arms, and Hotaru felt almost like crying.

    "Rhian!" she sobbed and burying her face in the other's hair cried
for all she was worth.

    How long the two of them remained like that was something of
neither of them could tell, but finally, Rhian pushed Hotaru back and
lifted her head to look into the other's eyes. A ghost of a smile
teased across her lips and she spoke. "You know we've probably late
for that meeting now, don't you?"

    Hotaru's eyes widened slightly and then she lowered her glance to
stare at the ground. "Oops..."

    The smile on Rhian's face materialized a bit more and she brushed
her lips over Hotaru's cheeks. "It doesn't matter..." she whispered.
"Nothing really matters now - except you..."

    At these words the lowered eyes of Hotaru raised themselves
sharply up and the two teenagers simply stood glazing into each other
eyes as the crazy feelings between them overcame everything else.

    "Rhian..." Hotaru spoke and once more kissed her beloved in a way
that she hoped would communicate everything that she felt. Rhian
melted into the kiss and responded with an equal passion that almost
triggered in Hotaru the desire that she had felt before, but this time
she maintained a firmer grip on her passion. When the kiss finally
broke, Hotaru rested Rhian's head against her shoulder and let the joy
she was feeling warm her like the sun. "I want to stay like this
forever," she whispered, kissing Rhian's soft hair.

    Rhian murmured back an affirmative, but added with a wistful sigh,
"And I want to get a shower. You always seemed to make me make a mess
of myself..."

    It took a second for Hotaru to understand what it was Rhian was
talking about, but then felt the now cooling stickiness on her own
hand and responded with a soft "Oh..."

    Rhian gave a soft giggle and closing her eyes, she pursed her
lips. "Kiss me," she said shyly, and Hotaru gladly complied, pushing
the girl's head back with the pressure of her kiss. Breaking it
slowly, Hotaru gave a sigh of contentment and pulled back. Looking
down at Rhian's smiling face, Hotaru stroked the girl's soft cheek and
spoke.

    "Do you want to take us home, or shall I?"

    Rhian grinned, "I'll do it. I still don't all together trust your
sense of direction with your teleportation skills yet."

    Hotaru put an expression of mock anger on her face before giggling
and letting her head rest on Rhian's shoulder closed her eyes. A brief
cold shiver passed over her and opening her eyes once more, Hotaru was
not surprised to see that the two of them were standing in the
bathroom of her house. "Impressive, my girl," Hotaru nodded. "Very
impressive..."

    Rhian smirked and pulling away from Hotaru made a small bowing
motion. "Why, thank you, kind lady, thank you."

    "Ah, shut up, Rhian," Hotaru replied, moving over to stand by the
door as the lavendar haired girl grinned in mischief. Then, reaching
down she undid her shoes and taking them off, put them to one side.
Hotaru's smile slipped slightly and straightening she stared as Rhian
started to unbutton her blouse. The girl had just finished unbuttoning
her top when she abruptly halted and turned to see Hotaru staring
avidly at her as if the brunette where entranced. Rhian blushed and
clutched at her flapping blouse.

    "Ah... Hotaru..." she said. "Would you mind leaving please? I want
to take a shower."

    Hotaru took a few steps towards the girl, and licking her lips
hesitantly asked, "Can... Can I join you?"

    "No!" Rhian burst out indignantly, and then she looked down. "I
mean... Oh, Hotaru, I'm not ready for that sort of relationship yet. I
love you, yes, but..." she squirmed and looked nervously about.

    Hotaru felt a surge of unquiet disappointment fill her, but
putting an unconcerned smile on her face, nodded. "Of course, I
understand what you are saying, Rhian. I'll wait outside."

    At the tang of bitter disappointment coloring Hotaru's thoughts,
Rhian almost took a step forward towards to other girl, but the small
brunette simply turned and left, leaving Rhian to wonder if she had
done the right thing. Swallowing, she removed her blouse and returned
to having a shower. For now, she had to be true to herself, only in
that way could she feel right about Hotaru when and if she truly felt
like taking their relationship to the next stage.

    Turning away from the door, she took of the rest of her clothes
and pulled a small face as she put the rather smelly articles to one
side. Opening the shower, she stepped inside and began to wash.

    ::Rhian?:: Arian's soft voice queried in her mind.

    ::Hmmm?:: Rhian replied as she began to lather her long hair.

    ::What happened? I thought you... Oh...:: Arian's voice faded into
embarrassment as she picked up from Rhian's mind the events of the
last thirty minutes.

    ::Hotaru and I'll be along in about twenty minutes:: Rhian
commented as if she had not heard the pained embarrassment in Arian's
voice. ::Can you wait until then?::

    ::We have little choice really:: Arian stated. ::Our parents are
here... and yours as well...:: At this point, Arian's tone turned
slightly tense and Rhian stopped washing her hair.

    ::My parents...:: she replied warily.

    ::Yes:: Arian confirmed. ::Although, your mother...::

    ::She is not my mother!:: Rhian said harshly.

    ::Stepmother:: Arian corrected. ::Is actually being more or less
silent. Rhian... I think she is afraid of you...::

    Rhian swallowed and returned to washing her hair. Olwen afraid of
her... That was not something she had...

    ::Rhian?:: Arian broke into her trail of thought. ::Are you still
listening?::

    ::Yes, yes. Just thinking...::

    ::Daughter::

    Rhian froze, as did Arian.

    ::Rhian:: her father's powerful voice spoke, and Rhian
instinctively made a move to cover herself.

    ::Father... I...::

    ::We have not spoken as we should have, have we, daughter?::
Arawn's apologetic tone caught Rhian slightly be surprise and she
faltered.

    ::You have been going through so much, and I have not been there
to even listen to you, have I? I am sorry, Rhian. I have failed you as
a father and as a lord. Can you ever forgive me, my child? Give me a
second chance?:: The tone of Arawn's voice was almost held a hint of
pleading at this point and Rhian was shocked.

    ::Father... I... Oh, father! Of course, I do! I love you! How
could I not?!:: Rhian exclaimed back, her heart pounding madly as her
eyes began to stream with more than just soapy water.

    "Rhian! Are you all right?!" Hotaru suddenly cried out bursting in
the door. "I felt a surge of emotion down the link!"

    Rhian broke off the conversation with her father and hesitantly
poked her head through the shower door. She was frankly quite
surprised by the speed of Hotaru's reaction, and by the fact that
Hotaru had reacted at all. "Hotaru? I'm fine. What's wrong?"

    The brunette stopped and looked a bit sheepish. "I felt this
sudden change in your emotions, and I thought something was wrong...
Sorry... I did not mean..."

    Rhian smiled and a surge of love for the youngest of the senshi
filled her. "Oh, Hotaru..."

    The girl took a few steps forward and then came running over.
Pulling the shower door open, she threw her arms around the soapy
Rhian and dragged her into a tight embrace. "I love you, Rhian! I
can't think of anything else, I love you so much!" And having declared
this, broke down into tears.

    Rhian did not know how to react. This was all so new to her that
the depth of Hotaru's emotion constantly threw her. She had never had
this effect on anyone before and was still trying to cope with her own
feelings for soft form pressed so tightly against her. Trying to
comfort Hotaru and reassure the girl that she was fine, Rhian stood
half in and half out of the shower while Hotaru wept like a child in
her arms. By now, the school blouse that Hotaru was wearing was soaked
through, and Rhian was uncomfortable aware of her own body's reaction
to this fact.

    Kissing the top of Hotaru's head, Rhian tried to loosen the tight
embrace saying in a light tone, "You're getting soaked, Hotaru-chan."
The other girl did not react to this beyond tightening the embrace, as
if she were afraid that Rhian were going to escape from her. So, Rhian
tried again. "Come on, Hotaru-chan, ease up, eh? Remember, we have
a... Mmmm!"

    Hotaru suddenly straightened, and pushing the two of them
backwards into the still running shower, pressed Rhian up against the
opposite wall, kissing her for all she was worth. Rhian was too
startled by the abrupt move to do anything, and as Hotaru tightened
her hands, Rhian felt her mind begin to turn to jelly once more.

    The feeling of the slick, nubile form pressed up against her made
Hotaru almost lose her self-control totally, but the memory of the
pain that she had unknowingly caused her beloved less than twenty
minutes before, made her restraint herself as much as she could. The
emotions that Rhian made her feel were impossible to describe to
herself, let alone tell to Rhian, so the best she could do was express
them to her beloved physically. Rhian was like the most addictive drug
Hotaru could ever imagine. No matter how much she touched or kissed
the slender lavender haired girl, it was never enough. Hotaru just
wanted to spend all the time pressed up in the arms of her lover,
kissing, exploring, loving...

    "Hotaru!" a shocked voice called out, and due to reactions learnt
over the course of many years, Hotaru's head spun around automatically
to face the stunned form of Haruka.

    "What the heck are you two doing?!" the blond senshi spluttered as
her mind tried to deny what her eyes thought her was seeing. When she
had first heard the noises from upstairs Haruka had wondered who the
heck it was. She had not seen Hotaru enter, nor Michiru. So, heading
carefully upstairs, she had pulled open the bathroom door to see her
small daughter and Hotaru's new friend locked in an embrace that left
very little to the imagination. And not only that, the lavender haired
girl was naked and pressed against Hotaru in a way that struck Haruka
dumb.

    Hotaru was only a child! She could not be doing.... this! It
was... impossible!

    At the sight of the older woman glaring at the two of them, Rhian
gave a indignant squawk and breaking free from the now slack armed
Hotaru, ran for the cover of a towel. The words 'why me?' kept
circling around in her head and after all the events of today, she was
sorely pressed to resist the temptation to scream.

    Just as the pale form flashed by her, Haruka's hand shot out with
the speed of a striking snake and grabbed the girl's arm, yanking her
to a halt. "Oh, no you don't!" she exclaimed, using her height to spin
the smaller form around so that the two of them were staring face to
face. "I want to know what the hell is going on here!"

    Rhian winced at the strong grip being applied to her arm, but did
not make any move to try and break it. Although she was embarrassed as
hell by what was happening, this had to be bought out in the open, and
now was as good a time as any. Flashing a harried look over at Hotaru,
Rhian drew a breath. "Hotaru and I love each other," she finally said
in what she hoped was a reasonable sounding voice. "And Hotaru just
got a bit carried away in trying to tell me that, nothing much
really."

    Haruka was a bit taken aback by the girl's matter of fact way of
saying that she and Hotaru were now suddenly lovers, and it took a few
moments for her brain to kick itself into a suitable state to give a
coherent response. "Lovers?!" she blurted out. "You're lovers!?!"

    Rhian cringed. Why was everyone jumping to that same assumption?
She and Hotaru were _not_ lovers! Well... not yet... she amended with
a nervous glance over at the still silent brunette. Rhian knew that
with the intensity of emotion that Hotaru was feeling and from the
actions today, that it would more likely than not only be a matter of
time until that statement was true. That same thought made her feel...
well... she did not really know. It was a combination of nervousness,
anxiety and anticipation all at the same time. She did...

    "Release my elin'rth, Uranus," the small brunette suddenly
announced in a flat voice, taking a few steps forward.

    Haruka gasped at Hotaru's use of her title and almost totally
missed the cold look in the girl's eyes, but Rhian did not.

    "Hotaru!" Haruka exclaimed marching down on her daughter, still
with a firm grip on Rhian. "What do you think..."

    "Release my elin'rth now!" the brunette snapped, and this time not
even Haruka could miss the implicit threat in that voice. The woman
stopped, completely startled for the second time in so many minutes.
Rhian exerted some of her own strength and yanked her arm free, moving
over to join Hotaru before the young senshi did something stupid.

    "Hotaru..." Rhian cautiously said as she neared the other girl.
She recognized the change in Hotaru's behavior as akin to something
like that which had happened a few times in the past. This was the
same odd Hotaru who only seemed to materialize at strange moments, the
same Hotaru that made Rhian feel very nervous, so she took things very
carefully. "See? I'm all right, nothing's wrong..."

    The girl turned her gold eyes to look at her, and Rhian caught her
breath at the intensity of the girl's stare.

    "Rhiannon," the senshi said, holding out her hand which Rhian
hesitantly took. "You had better finish your shower so that we can
go."

    "Ah, right..." Rhian flashed a nervous smile and almost jumping
into the shower, pulled the door shut behind her relieved to be out of
what she saw as the line of fire. She did not turn start to wash the
rest of the suds out of her hair immediately though, but waited to
make sure that the argument she seemed to have sparked between Hotaru
and her 'father' did not explode. Slowly letting the water wash over
her, Rhian waited with bated breath to see what would happen next. For
a long moment there was nothing but silence, and then it began.

    "Are you going mad, Hotaru?!" Hakura's loud voice boomed out. "Do
you know what you just said to me?!"

    "Of course I do, Uranus," Hotaru's voice answered calmly back.
"And if you lay a hand on Rhiannon again, then I will do more than
just say it."

    "Are you threatening me?" Haruka asked, stunned.

    This time there was no answer, and Rhian just heard the soft fall
of feet as Hotaru apparently left the bathroom without saying a word.
Rhian held her breath to see how the older woman would react to this,
but Haruka just seemed to be so shocked by what had just happened,
that she only stood there. Long moments passed, until finally Rhian
could stand it no more and she opened the shower door a tad to poke
her head cautiously out and look at Haruka. The woman was just looking
out into space, a glazed expression on her face.

    "Err... Excuse me..." Rhian began. uncertain how the older woman
would respond. "Are you all right? She didn't really mean it you..."

    "You!" Haruka shouted, spinning on the girl. "This is your doing!
Hotaru was my little Hotaru-chan until you came! What have you done to
her?! Why her?! Why did you..."

    "I didn't do anything!" Rhian protested back. "I love Hot..."

    "Lair!" Haruka shouted, running over to the frosted glass shower
door and ripped it open. "This is your fault! Your doing! Give me my
Hotaru-chan back! Give me her back now!"

    Rhian jumped back as the muscular woman pushed her way into the
shower unit shouting angrily. Her abrupt movement caused Rhian to slip
on the wet floor and she tripped, falling backwards and smacking her
head against the tiled wall. The jolt of jarring pain that flooded her
head at the impact made her sway and for a moment her vision went a
bit fuzzy as she tasted blood in her mouth.

    "Rhian!" a voice shouted as if from far away and Rhian tried to
answer as she felt herself being held.

    "Rhian!" the voice exclaimed again, and this time Rhian was able
to focus on the worried face looking down at her.

    "Ho... Hotaru..."

    "Hold on, Rhian," the voice said again, and Rhian felt a hand
placed against her head and a moment later a warm soothing tingle
began to flow through her. A tingle that quickly vanquished away the
fuzziness caused by the impact and left her feeling more clear headed.

    "Hotaru?" Rhian tried again and this time her voice was clearer.

    "I'm here, love," Hotaru answered, giving the girl she cradled in
her arms a reassuring smile. "How do you feel? Are you all right?"

    Rhian gave a small smile in response and relaxed as the brunette
held her safe. "I've felt better," she said, trying to make a small
joke of it. The smile on Hotaru's face however faded at her words and
Rhian found herself looking into two very large tearful eyes.

    "Rhian..." Hotaru said, her voice ladened with emotion. "Don't you
ever worry me like that again, do you hear me?"

    "Hey, it's not my fault," Rhian complained, her eyes downcast. "It
was an accident."

    "That is debatable," Hotaru murmured, and Rhian looked up.

    "What do you mean by that, Hotaru?" she asked. "And where is your
papa?"

    Hotaru just smiled, "Are you able to get up?" she asked.

    "I think so," Rhian replied, and nodding, Hotaru slowly helped her
to her feet.

    ::Daughter?::

    ::Rhian?:: The voice of her father and Arian came through to her
and Rhian leaned up against the wall.

    ::Umm... Sorry about that:: she replied, choosing her words
carefully. ::Hotaru can be, ah, slightly over protective at times::

    ::She loves you:: Arian replied simply, much to Rhian's chagrin.

    ::Ah... Something like that:: Rhian replied, well aware that her
father was listening but not saying a word.

    ::Are you still planning on coming over here?:: Arian asked after
a period of silence.

    ::Well, I suppose so...:: Rhian began. ::That was the...::

    ::Elin'rth:: Arawn suddenly said, and Rhian jerked her head up,
causing Hotaru to flash her a worried look.

    "Rhian?"

    "I'm fine, Hotaru, fine," Rhian reassured her. "I would just like
to finish my shower in peace, okay?"

    Hotaru looked a bit hurt by Rhian's brusque tone, but nodded.
"Sure, sure. I'll leave you be." She turned to go, and Rhian grabbed
her hand.

    "I do love you, Hotaru," Rhian gave the girl a small smile. "I..."
The rest of her words were cut off as Hotaru gave a kiss that made her
feel all soft and mushy.

    "I know," the senshi giggled, pulling back as Rhian gripped the
wall in an effort to try and steady herself. "But I'd better leave
before I try start something that neither of us will want to finish,
eh?"

    "Ah... right..." Rhian shifted, pressing herself slightly further
against the wall and flashed a nervous grin.

    "Don't worry, Rhian," Hotaru pulled back. "I may not like it, but
I do understand how you feel about... that side of our relationship.
So, until you are ready..." she shrugged and standing up opened the
shower door. "If you need me, just call okay?"

    "I will," Rhian replied, not sure of what else she should say, and
with that Hotaru smiled and pulled the door to, leaving her alone.

    ::You have grown up, daughter, haven't you?:: Arawn's voice
commented and Rhian flushed.

    ::Father... please, will you just let me be? I need to get ready,
and your presence is, well, complicating things to be honest...::
Rhian was quite surprised that she was able to speak to her father
this way, but after the events of the last two weeks that she had been
through, it seemed to be much easier than she had imagined. Perhaps,
her father was right when he said that she was growing up, but then,
did it really matter?

    A brief silence followed her request and then Arawn withdrew
making only one more odd comment that Rhian did not quite understand.

    ::You are elin'rth, daughter::

    Rhian frowned at that, but did not call her father back. It would
do no good if she did anyway - Arawn would not say anything more on
the subject anyway, Rhian knew her father, and beyond that one cryptic
comment, that would be it. "Wonderful," she grumbled as she returned
finally to the task of finishing her wash. "As if I don't have enough
problems to deal with..."

    Approximately thirty minutes later, Rhian looked at herself in
Hotaru's mirror and sighed. "Are you sure about this?" she said
turning to the evilly grinning brunette in the white dress next to
her.

    "Oh, definitely," Hotaru replied, using her brush to put the last
of Rhian's fine hair into place with a hair pin. "I told you two weeks
ago when we first bought these dresses that I wanted to see how we
could set the guys drooling with envy." Her smile dropped a bit as she
remembered the tragic events that had accompanied that comment, but
trying not to dwell on it, returned to the task of making her beloved
look the best she could.

    "There," Hotaru finally declared, pulling back and standing next
to Rhian so that the image of the two of them were reflected in the
mirror. "Now, are we hot or not?"

    Rhian looked at the image of herself and the beautiful young woman
that stood beside her in white and nodded dumbly. "Hotaru..." was the
only word that she could say as she stared at the shapely vision in
white. "You're... Wow..."

    Hotaru felt a faint blush warm her face at the way Rhian was
looking at her, and in turn let her eyes wonder over the feast that
was right next to her. "Yes..." she said slowly as she moistened her
lips. "I think we will be successful..." Her hand moved up and
lovingly caressed Rhian's cheek, before moving down to trace the
girl's exposed slender neck and shoulders. Hotaru could sense the
slight tensing in Rhian's body as she did this, but other than that,
the lavender haired girl made no move to stop her.

    Rhian felt her heart begin to beat faster as Hotaru's fingers
lightly danced around her shoulders, tingling as they went. She took a
sharp intake of breath at the sensation it caused, but made no move to
stop it, She loved Hotaru, and although she was not yet ready to go to
the ultimate expression of that love, still she wanted to share with
Hotaru at least something. So, lifting her own hand, she slowly placed
it on Hotaru's own pale shoulders, and with a nervous feeling copied
the other girl's movement.

    When Rhian first touched her, Hotaru gave a small intake of breath
and her eyes shot up to lock on Rhian's pale face. The girl was
breathing slightly faster than she normally did, and when her wide
eyes met Hotaru's, the young senshi could see the uncertainty floating
in them. Hotaru caught the look in her own and just perceptibly smiled
and nodded her head to reassure the flustered girl that everything was
fine. Still holding Rhian's gaze locked in her own, Hotaru started to
slowly, ever so slowly, trace her finger down the small hint of
cleavage that the summer dress exposed. She moved her finger at a pace
that was hardly moving, lightly circling her around the silky skin
that was revealed rather than giving it any forward motion, and much
to her delight Rhian copied her movement, sending shivers of sensation
along her nerves. Hotaru however, did not let her fingers move any
further down, and just kept her touch contained to the areas that
would not freak Rhian too much. She already realized that although
Rhian did love her, that it would be quite a while before she felt
ready to move onto the next stage. Actions like this helped develop
their relationship, and in time Hotaru was sure Rhian would be ready,
but until she was, Hotaru would not make the same mistake as she had
earlier this afternoon.

    After a few minutes of each of them lightly touching the other,
Hotaru pulled back her finger and gave Rhian a loving kiss to thank
her. Rhian responded to the kiss with an equal passion and it was
Hotaru who finally had to end it. With a feeling of regret the
brunette released her hold on her beloved and said, "I think it's
going to be a warm night, but I'll get us a couple of coats just
incase."

    "But what of your parents, Hotaru?" Rhian asked, her face still
flushed from the arousal that her body was feeling.

    "Humph, what of them?" Hotaru replied dismissively and Rhian
blinked.

    "Sorry?" she said, startled at Hotaru's tone.

    Hotaru paused, and turned around. "I don't need my parents
permission to go out, Rhian, and frankly after the way Haruka treated
you, I'm not in the mood to really be civil to them at the moment."

    Haruka? Rhian swallowed. Hotaru never called her 'papa' just by
her first name before, at least not in Rhian's presence. "Ah... Just
where is your papa, Hotaru?" she asked cautiously. "I haven't seen her
ever since..."

    "She left," Hotaru replied dismissively, turning back to the door.
"I wasn't really in the temperament to ask her where she was going.
Now, I'll just be a sec..."

    Rhian watched the door as it closed shut behind Hotaru and
wondered about the girl's odd behavior. As far as Rhian knew Hotaru
loved her parents very much, so the brunette's strange attitude made
her pause. The Hotaru she thought she knew would not be so dismissive
without at least saying something as to why. Just saying that the
older woman had left and not caring anymore about it seemed... rather
excessive for Hotaru, and that made Rhian a bit concerned.

    "Rhian!" Hotaru's call came up from the bottom of the stairs and
Rhian walked out onto the landing.

    "Yes?" she said, looking down.

    "This do you?" the brunette smiled, holding up a darkish coat.

    "Fine, fine," Rhian replied still looking thoughtfully at the
brunette.

    "Great," Hotaru said as she draped it over the banister, and
turned to put on her own coat. "Shall we go then? I'm sure Arian and
the others have been waiting for us long enough by now."

    "But the lights? Your parents..."

    "Forget about it, Rhian," Hotaru held up the coat she had retrieve
for her beloved. "You worry too much. The lights will be fine, and my
parents have keys, and besides, Michiru knows we will be out late
anyway, so don't worry about it."

    "I'm not," Rhian said as she put on her coat thinking how Hotaru
had just called her mother 'Michiru'.

    "Good," Hotaru replied, opening the front door and looking out.
She smiled and took in a deep breath. "Ah... What a lovely night it is
going to be. It seems a shame that we have to go right to Arian's
first." She turned and looked at Rhian. "How about we take a little
walk first, eh, Rhian? We are already late enough as it is, so I don't
think another twenty or so minutes will make much difference."

    "Err... I don't suppose so," Rhian replied, joining Hotaru on the
doorstep looking out into the early evening dusk. A cool wind was
blowing up from the south and it ruffled their coats making Rhian
shiver.

    "Cold?" Hotaru asked as she closed and locked the door behind her.

    "A bit," Rhian admitted. "Light dresses are not exactly practical
at this time of day."

    "You'll thank me when we go clubbing," Hotaru commented with a
grin as she hooked her arm around Rhian's.

    Rhian halted and gave the brunette a stare. "Clubbing?" she asked,
almost dreading the answer Hotaru was going to give.

    "Well, you don't think I got us all dressed up just to see Arian's
parents, did you?" Hotaru said with an evil grin. "This is our first
time as a couple and I want our date to consist of more than just a
boring evening of chatter thank you very much."

    "Date!?" Rhian squawked. "Now, hold on, Hotaru. What exactly..."

    "Hush," Hotaru ordered, putting her index finger on Rhian's lips
and smiled. "Trust me."

    Rhian blinked. Hotaru had obviously been taken over by a demonic
entity, that was the only explanation that made any sense. That, or
taken over by one of those planty type things she remember from some
silly sci-fi movie she vaguely recalled watching last month.

    "Come on!" Hotaru laughed excitedly as she gave Rhian's arm a
pull. "Let's go!"

    Rhian rolled her eyes as she saw the gleam lighting up Hotaru's
face. "Why me..."

                *       *       *       *

    Makoto wrapped an arm lovingly around the sleepy Ami as the two
girls waited for the bus that would take them the twenty minute ride
back to their flat. Gods, what a wonder day, Makoto thought as she
looked down at the relaxed face nuzzled so trustingly against her. The
weather had been perfect, the company dreamy, and the time together
alone exactly what Ami had needed. In short, everything about today
had been made in heaven and Makoto was loathed to think that it was
coming to an end.

    "Mako..." the bundle in her arms murmured and Makoto broke of her
musings to look down at the sleepy warm blue eyes staring back up at
her.

    "Love?" Makoto queried with a half smile. "What is it?"

    One of the sides of Ami mouth quirked upwards and she whispered.
"I'm getting cold, Mako. When is that bus supposed to be due?"

    "A few minutes, love," Makoto replied, pulling her lover into a
warming embrace. "That's all and then we can get home."

    "'So good," Ami murmur red, snuggling up gratefully to the offered
warmth and falling silent as locked in the protective embrace of her
lover she fell into a sleepy half-doze.

    "Oh, Ami..." Makoto sighed as she kissed the mop of blue-black
hair. "I love you." She shifted her weight a bit as her bum threatened
to drift off to sleep, and just as she completed the movement, a
dreadful keening filled the air that sent shudders of fear up and down
Makoto's spine.

    Ami bolted up out of her half dreamy state and her eyes looked
wildly around as she tried to identify the source of the hideous sound
that had ripped her out of her sleep.

    "Ami, Ami," Makoto grabbed the wild eyed girl and pulled her down
protectively next to her. "Shh! Keep still. That sound came from not
far away, and if whatever is causing it is like that chicken-thing we
had to fight, then we are in serious shit."

    Ami gave a quick nod of her head and searched the gloom with her
eyes as she waited to see what would happen next. Once more that
hideous keening filled the air, and this time Makoto turned her head
to try and track the source of the sound. At the same time, Ami bought
out her small computer and following Mako's movements, tried to get a
better fix on the origin of the sound.

    "I think that whatever it is, it's coming this way," Makoto said
with a small curse as she turned to look at her lover, trying to keep
the concern out of her voice.

    "What do we do?" Ami replied, still examining the analysis of the
sound her computer was hurriedly running. "Fight?"

    Makoto chewed her lip thoughtfully for a moment, and then shook
her head. "If it's anything like the last thing Rei and I encountered,
then just attacking it by ourselves would accomplish nothing but our
own deaths."

    "Do we call the others then?" Ami looked up, giving up in disgust
at the lack of results her machine was giving her. "We can't just run
and let that thing run riot, not like the last time."

    "No, of course not," Makoto hissed back, "But if that thing goes
on the rampage while the others are coming here, then there isn't much
the two of use can do about it." Makoto looked earnestly down at her
lover's face. "Believe me, Ami. You haven't seen these things in
action, I have. If it decides to go on the rampage, then the two of us
alone aren't going to have much hope of distracting it, much less
stopping it. We need help."

    "Then let's stop talking and start doing," Ami jumped to her feet,
snapping at Makoto in a sharper tone than she really meant. Glancing
back nervously once more in the direction that the sound had seemed to
be coming from, she struck up a pose that she had not taken up for
more than two years and cried out, "Mercury Star Power Make up!"

    Even given the current situation, Makoto could not help but feast
her eyes on the transformation sequence that her beloved went through.
The way the energy show seemed to hide just the right - or wrong parts
depending on how you looked at it - of Ami's slender body as she
changed into her senshi self, gave Makoto an all too brief peep show
that she could not have even paid for. So, when Sailor Mercury finally
stepped forward to start speaking very rapidly into her wrist
communicator, Makoto felt a faint tang of disappointment that it was
over so quickly. This feeling however, did not last for long.

    A earth-shattering howl sounded so close to their current position
that Makoto shuddered, and striking up her own pose, quickly changed
into Sailor Jupiter. "Mercury!" she exclaimed, anxiously running over
to join her lover. "Have you managed to raise the others? Are they
coming?"

    Mercury's piercing blue eyes locked onto her's and the senshi gave
a terse nod. "Mars and Venus are on their way now, but it will take
them quite a while to reach here. Neither of them lives near us now,
and I..."

    "Forget the explanations, Mercury!" Jupiter exclaimed, worriedly
glancing at the darkened street from which she was sure the latest
howl had come. "We don't have time! We have to move, and now!"

    "But what about..."

    "Damn it, Mercury! We can't fight that thing alone!" Jupiter
shouted, pulling the hesitant girl away. "We _need_ the others!
Please! I won't let you throw your life away in a useless gesture!
Come on!"

    Mercury looked doubtful, as if she were not convinced by the
strength of Jupiter's words and resisted the pull. "But..." she began
and Jupiter slapped her - hard.

    "Sorry, love," she apologized as she bent down and threw the
stunned girl over her shoulder. "But I'm not going to lose the girl I
love to an escapee from old McDonald's farm." She straightened, "I
have big plans on spending my life with you, Ami- chan, and letting
you die in some silly gesture, ain't one of them." And with that,
Jupiter tensed her legs and jumped.

    The cool rush of the evening air sped past her face as she landed
on a three story building across the street. Spinning around, she
looked about to see if she could spot any sign of the thing making the
ungodly sounds. From the vantage of her perch, Jupiter could just
about make out what appeared to be a shadowy mound, a story or so
high, that was moving or shambling along about two or three blocks
over. In the dim twilight of early evening, it was impossible for
Jupiter to make out exact details, but the mound seemed to be roughly
circular in shape and had what looked like pseudo-pods waving out from
its body which were pulling it along. Whatever it was, it did not look
like it was fast or hopefully, particularly dangerous.

    "Great..." Jupiter groaned. "Now we're fighting bloody animated
compost heaps. Simply wonderful."

    "Owww..." the slack form throw over her shoulder began to stir and
making a quick decision, Jupiter turned away from watching the
approaching enemy and in a series of small jumps, landed on a building
that was at a safer distance away. After the experience of the last
run-in she had had, Jupiter did not want to take any chances until the
others were here at least. She had learnt a long time ago that looks
can be deceptive, and with only her and her beloved able to fight this
thing, Jupiter was not willing to take any risks. Unless this thing
actually attacked someone, then she was quite content to leave it be
until reinforcements arrived.

    "Uuuuhh... I... don't feel too good..." the pair of white legs
slung over her left shoulder suddenly announced, and Jupiter winced as
she slowly let her unwilling passenger to the ground. She knew Mercury
was not going to easily forgive her for her actions, and Jupiter was
not looking forward to the time when the young woman finally gave vent
to her ire, but for now such concerns were second place. Her lover was
safe, that was all that mattered.

    Jupiter took a small breath and then slowly letting it out said,
"I'm sorry I had to hit you like that, Mercury, but I have absolutely
no intention of letting you jump into a battle without some kind of
backup, and if I have to get physical to enforce that, then I will."
Having stated this position quite firmly, Jupiter waited for Mercury
to explode, however, the young woman in question suddenly bent over
where she was standing and was noisily sick. Jupiter blinked, and as
her lover threw up the contents of her stomach onto the concrete roof,
just stood and watched, not sure of what else she should do.

    "Ami..." Jupiter finally said after the young woman had coughed up
virtually most of what she must have eaten today. "Are you all right?"

    Her stupid question earned her a foul look from the ashen faced
form of the other girl. "No..." the girl replied, spitting out the
rest of the acidic contents of her mouth. "Of course I'm not! You try
being lugged around over buildings like a sack of potatoes and see how
you like it..."

    Jupiter winced in understanding. "I'm sorry... I just don't want
to see you get hurt, that's all..."

    Mercury finished wiping her mouth of her now rather soiled hanky
and straightened up. "You've already made that quite clear, Jupiter,"
she said with a faint anger in her voice. "But I'm a senshi too, you
know. It is my job... my reason for being to protect this world. I
can't just..."

    "And what about me?" Jupiter broke in, grabbing the other girl's
hand. "Don't I count for something?"

    "Of course you do!" Mercury exclaimed back shocked. "I love you
more than anyone else in the whole world! How could you think I
don't?!"

    "Then, please, if you love me, trust me," Jupiter begged, getting
more emotional than she had originally intended. "Duty cannot be..."

    The rest of her statement was lost in the sound of another
unearthly howl, and both girls were driven to their knees as pain
suddenly flooded through their bodies. Jupiter threw her hands up over
her ears and with a supreme effort threw herself at Mercury,
determined to protect her lover against whatever it was that was
attacking them. As she gathered the smaller young woman into her arms
however, the sound ceased and the pain vanished with it, leaving only
a faint echo of its presence.

    Mercury moaned, and giving her head a small shake looked up.
"Shit," she swore. "That thing must be packing some kind of ultra-
sonics..."

    "But it is still at least a couple of blocks away," Jupiter said,
propping herself up on one arm while she tried to clear her head.

    "Doesn't make any difference," Mercury groggily got to her feet.
"But it means attacking the bastard will not be easy. If it can
manipulate ultrasonics, then it could easily disable or kill us before
we could even get into attack range."

    "Then, let's get the hell out of range!" Jupiter unsteadily got to
her feet as well.

    Mercury looked thoughtful as her visor suddenly appeared and she
started to work on her computer. "If I can..."

    "Gods, Ami!" Jupiter exclaimed, almost wanting to shake the girl.
"Not now! Let's get to safety first, then start on a plan! We have to
warn the others not to get too near it either!"

    "Oh... right..." Mercury looked sheepish, but nodded. "Let's put a
couple of blocks between it and us."

    Jupiter nodded, and then shook her head. "I just hope to God, that
no one else is down there with that thing until Rei and the others get
here."

    Mercury paused, and the visor came out again. "I can't see anyone
in the immediate area," she said as she panned her head around looking
at the read outs. "But that bus will be along soon, and there are
people in the buildings."

    "Still asleep?" Jupiter frowned. "What are they? Chronically deaf?
How the hell can they sleep through all that screaming?"

    Mercury shook her head. "I don't know. May be that thing is only
audible to us, or maybe everyone else is under a spell or something. I
can't tell. They are asleep, that is all I know."

    "Well, let's hope for now that they stay that way," Jupiter
stated, indicating that the two of them such move out. "If we can take
care of this thing without raising anyone, then all the better."

    "I just hope that things are that simple," Mercury put in before
the two of them leapt off to try and find the others and arrange a
more suitable plan of attack.

                *       *       *       *

    As the two of them stood outside the entrance to Arian's house,
Hotaru could not help but notice how tense Rhian seemed to be getting.
The girl was shifting around and looking about as if she were
expecting someone to jump out and yell 'BOO!'. Moving over to the
girl, Hotaru slid an arm around her slender waist and smiled
reassuringly at her. "Getting to be a bit nervous are you, Rhian?"

    "A bit," Rhian admitted, strangely grateful that Hotaru had
noticed.

    "Why? There's no reason to be," Hotaru replied. "We both know how
we feel and we just say so. I'm not going to let you go you know,
Rhian. I love you, you are mine."

    Rhian noted the use of the possessive, but let it pass. Hotaru
loved her, that was what mattered. And while she was still not one
hundred percent sure where the confusion of her emotions stood, she
did love Hotaru back. It might be a strange love, something that had
caught her completely unawares, but it was there - strong and healthy.
A deep, warm feeling that flooded her heart whenever Hotaru was near
her. A feeling that made her want to simply stand near the slender
brunette and just... be. That was the only way she could think of
describing it, and the thought of being torn away from Hotaru made
her...

    "I love you too, Hotaru," Rhian whispered, leaning towards her
partner. "I really do."

    Hotaru tensed as she felt the soft curves of Rhian press against
her. Her desire for this beautiful creature at her side had not
lessened, and the fact that Rhian was so close and yet still so far
away was tearing at her heart. So, when the door abruptly opened to
the form of Arawn and Arian, Hotaru was almost glad for the company.

    "Rhian..." the dark haired man said uncertainly, holding out his
hands.

    Hotaru could feel the body of her beloved that had started to
relax a bit suddenly tense, and the other girl pressed even closer to
her. Hotaru tightened her grip around Rhian's slender waist and gave
her a kiss on the top of her head. "Go on..." the senshi said, giving
the girl a light push, and that was all Rhian needed.

    "FATHER!" the girl sobbed, throwing herself into the older man's
embrace. "Oh, father!"

    Arawn held his only child close to him for the first time in many
long years. The last time he had done something like this, Rhian had
barely come up to his waist, and now the girl just fitted comfortably
under his chin. It had been far too long...

    "Father..." Rhian said in a voice that was full of love, and she
burst into tears, surprising both Arawn and Hotaru.

    "Rhian-chan..." Arawn pulled his crying daughter close to him and
held her while the storm of tears washed themselves out. As he did so,
Arawn was sadly reminded of how much his daughter reminded him of his
own beloved wife. Rhian had inherited from her mother more than she
ever realized. His daughter's looks, her hair, her height, even her
smell, they all reminded him uncomfortably of his first wife, and
holding the girl like this his mind could not help but picture
Caridwen the very first time he had ever seen her. Perhaps that
similarity was one of the reasons why he had never been as close to
his only child as he really should have. Every time he looked at
Rhian, he saw the face of his dead wife staring back at him, and no
matter how much he loved Olwen now, nothing could ever ease the pain
of losing Caridwen. Rhian only served to remind him of what he had
lost.

    Putting these thoughts to one side, Arawn turned his attention
fully back to the here and now. No matter what his past might be,
Rhian was his child, and at now more than any other time she needed
him. Lowering his head, Arawn kissed the girl on the top of her head
and gently pushed her back. "Rhian," he said in a soft voice. "Stop
crying, eh? We can't have the heir to the House of Annwvyn crying her
eyes out like a little child now, can we? I do have an image to
maintain you know..." He injected a small laugh into the statement,
and was rewarded by a light giggle coming from his wet faced daughter.
He smiled back and nodded, "That's better. Now, are the two of you
intending to stay out here all night, or are you wanting to come in?"

    Hotaru stepped forward and putting her hand on Rhian's shoulder
gave it a reassuring squeeze. "Come on, love," she smiled as Rhian
turned to look at her with those rich golden eyes. "Let's go in, eh?
I'm getting chilly standing out here."

    Rhian blushed and nodded. "Sorry," she said with a small sniff. "I
seem to be getting very emotional today for some reason."

    Hotaru giggled, "I sincerely hope so," she said with a merry
twinkle in her eye, and Rhian's blush grew even deeper making Hotaru's
smile widen.

    "Come on, you two lovebirds," Arian stepped in before things got
even more mushy then they already were. "We are here for a reason
remember, and the two of you have already kept us waiting long enough
as it is."

    Arawn gave the older girl a smile. "You are Indeg's daughter all
right, Arian," he said, and this time is was Arian who turned slightly
red before turning and heading back into the house. Arawn smirked and
putting one arm around Rhian's shoulders and one around Hotaru's, he
led the two girls into the hallway after her.

    Hotaru submitted to the touch of Rhian's father without a word but
kept her eyes locked on her beloved. Although she had made light of it
earlier, Hotaru knew that she was going to be facing a lot of
hostility to her relationship with Rhian. The Avatar saw Bran, Arian
and Rhian as the only hope for the continuance of their kind, and
given such circumstances expecting everyone to just happily accept her
and Rhian as a couple was, well, impossible was putting it mildly.
Because of this, Hotaru was very cautious about accepting the casual
way in how Rhian's father was treating her. This was not what she
would have expected from the man who was the leader of his kind. There
had to be something going on behind the scenes and Hotaru was sure
that she was not going to like it. However, no matter what happened,
she was not intending on budge on anything. Rhian was hers, and Hotaru
would not share her beloved with anyone.

    If either Rhian or Arawn picked up on her thoughts, neither of
them gave any clue. So, in silence the three of them walked down a
rather long hallway and into a wide dining room in which at least ten
people were seated, apart from Bran and Arian, whom Hotaru already
recognized. As her eyes quickly flitted over the assembled faces, she
tried to gauge from their expressions how they were feeling, but apart
from the look of smoldering anger on the face of Olwen, the others
seemed to be giving nothing away.

    After having entered the room, Arawn stood in silence for a long
time, and Hotaru wondered what was going on. However, as each of the
Avatar seemed to be staring at him, Hotaru surmised that they must be
talking directly mind to mind. This made Hotaru bristle. She was being
deliberately left out of something that concerned her greatly, and it
also meant that she was being sidelined when she should actually be
pushing in for the attack. So, taking a small breath to calm herself,
Hotaru bit the bullet and jumping in with both feet, went for it.

    "My name is Kaiou Hotaru. I am the elin'rth of Rhiannon Annwvyn,
who is also my lover. I have come here today to tell you that under no
circumstances will I allow my beloved to belong to anyone else but me.
I love Rhian, she loves me, and if anyone tries to interfere in that
love, then they will have to go through me first!" To emphasize her
point, Hotaru broke free of Arawn's lose hold and pulled Rhian to her.
Putting her arms around the startled girl, Hotaru _glared_ at the
faces looking over at her, and gave Rhian a passionate kiss that she
knew would turn her beloved to putty - which it did.

    Rhiannon is _mine_! Saturn finished, ending the kiss and looking
challengingly around, _dared_ them to say anything to the contrary.

    A long silence met her words, and then all hell broke lose.

    "ELIN'RTH?!"

    "THE ACCURSED?!"

    "HOW THE..."

    The words rang through the air like accusations, and Saturn
stiffened in rage. She was only glad that Rhian was still slightly
dazed by the kiss to fully understand what was being said about her.
As her anger grew, she waited to she if Arawn would step in and say
something, but the older man just stood where he was watching, as if
he were waiting for something to happen. This apparent indifference to
his daughter's fate made Saturn even madder, and opening her mouth she
prepared to give these fools a taste of her tongue.

    "SHUT UP! SHUT UP! LEAVE RHIAN ALONE!"

    Saturn head shot around in astonishment as did everyone else at
the sound of the alto voice which warbled with barely suppressed
emotion. From the seat where she had been sitting, Bran was on her
feet her hands clenched at her side and a red anger coloring her white
cheeks.

    "Shut up..." she said again, tears shining in her eyes.
"Please..."

    Silence reigned for a grand total of about ten seconds before a
woman with long raven hair strode across to the shaking Bran and quite
calmly slapped her. It was not a hard slap, but the sound of it was
shocking in the silence, and Bran stood like a statue, looking at the
woman with a face like a sheet before bursting into tears.

    Saturn felt a cold rage begin to fill her, a rage that was
targeted at not the woman, but at these Avatar in general. How could
they treat their own children like this? Forced into marriages they
did not want, made to...

    "Arian, Hotaru. Get up, we're leaving."

    Eh?

    The voice was so quiet that Saturn as well as everyone else in the
room nearly missed it, but it was spoken in such a way that it could
not have been more plain than if it had been shouted. Saturn looked
down surprised at the slender girl in her arms. Rhiannon's beautiful
face was set in an expression of cold rage that seemed totally out of
place on her. The long haired girl disentangled herself from Saturn's
arms and without a backward glance walked over towards Bran.

    "Now, wait..." the woman with the long raven hair attempted to
say, placing herself in front of the approaching girl, but Rhian just
glared at her and whatever the woman saw reflected in those yellow
eyes made her stumble back, letting Rhian pass unhindered.

    "Bran..." the girl said, holding out her hand take that of the
younger girl. "Don't cry... Please..."

    Bran raised her head and with a wail, threw herself into the
lavender haired girl's arms. "Rhian! Oh, Rhian! Why is everyone being
so mean all of a sudden?! What did we do? What did we do..." Her voice
broke into snivels as she started to cry once more, leaving Rhian with
the task of trying to comfort her.

    Arian glanced over at her mother, torn between the need to stay
and try and store all this out, and the need to do as Rhian had asked.
Her mother caught her glance and after a moment, smiled, nodding in
the direction of Rhian who was already being joined by a furious
looking brunette.

    ::Go to them, Arian:: Indeg sent. ::You need to show everyone that
you all stand together in this. It is time that Essyllt, Modron and
the others faced up to the reality that our children are no longer
just children. I was wrong in trying to arrange this so soon, I see
that now. We have been pinning all our hopes on the three of you
producing children for so long, that we lost sight of the fact that
you are real people too. Maybe something like this is needed to
redress that balance, to remind them that the three of you are more
than just brood mares::

    ::But...::

    ::GO::

    Breaking her eyes with her mother, Arian walked purposely over to
join Hotaru and Rhian. She met Rhian's eyes and nodded her head once
before crossing over to stand next to Hotaru.

    Rhian slowly panned her head around, meeting the gaze of each of
the adults assembled one after another. An unnatural light was
gleaming in her eyes, and her face was like a mask of polished marble,
cold and beautiful. Her hair started to shift with a life of its own
and the gold highlights shone.

    A smile of wonderment crossed Saturn's face as she beheld the
cold, haughty beauty of her beloved as the girl stood in front of her.
She could feel the sheer power of her elin'rth seething through the
girl's body like icy fire, and the sense of it was exhilarating.
_This_ was a foretaste of the Rhiannon that Saturn knew her beloved
would ultimately grow up to become. A figure of power and beauty who
would be more than a suitable partner for the bringer of Life and
Death, the senshi's smile curved, most suitable.

   "I am not one for words," Rhiannon said simply, "So I will put this
as plain as I can - we do not belong to you. The three of us will
write our own futures, and if you cannot cope with that, then you will
have no part in those futures. You are our parents and we love you,
but that love only goes so far, and at this moment, I'm sick of the
sight of you." So saying, she turned to look at Hotaru and the
expression of her face subtly changed, becoming somehow younger and
warmer. "An all girls night wasn't it, Hotaru?"

    For a second, Hotaru was confused by the sudden change in topic
and Rhian's demeanor, but then she remembered the conversation that
the two of them had had at lunch and she smiled. "It was indeed," she
confirmed. "And today is as good a night as any..."

    Up until this moment the other Avatar had been so startled by what
Rhiannon had said and her attitude that they had remained silent, but
as they heard Hotaru talking about clubbing this all changed.

    "Have you gone completely insane!" one of them exclaimed, jumping
to his feet. "Lord Arawn! You must put an end to this madness!"

    "We should never have agreed to this insanity with the Senshi in
the first place!" another shouted, joining the first. "These girls are
the only hope our race has! They _must_ be..."

    "I will not be _anything_!" Rhian screamed, releasing Bran and
turning on the two in fury. "I am the one who will decide how I..."

    "Who the hell do you think you are to decide such a thing?!" the
man shouted back. "Would you condemn our kind to extinction?!"

    "You have a duty to your people, Rhiannon ap Annwvyn," a golden
haired woman exclaimed, getting to her feet as well and staring at the
four girls. "As do you, Arianrod and Branwen. A duty to ensure..."

    "What?!" Rhian snapped back. "A duty to ensure that a new
generation is born? A duty to keep our kind hanging onto the last!?
Wake up! Our time is over! It was over the moment our forefathers
chose destruction rather than living under the curse of the Assyia-
Cthlia! I've studied the histories! I know the price that was paid for
our freedom! Our race has been finished for ages! So what if the three
of us have all the children we can? At best, this so called 'next-
generation' would only have six to eight people in it. You know the
statistics as well as I! Even if the three of us carried every child
we had to term and gave birth to it successfully, the most children we
could have would be three each..."

    "Ridiculous!" one of the men hissed. "You will be able to have
children for at least a couple of hundred years! Why should three
be..."

    "Idiot!" Rhian swore at him. "Don't you know anything?! With each
child, the chance of the mother being able to live through the process
drops. After having two children, the odds are even. After three
children, the chance of any of us living through the strain pregnancy
puts our bodies under would be miniscule! Hell, do you even know what
changes our bodies go through?! The danger it puts us in?!"

    At this point, the other female Avatars in the room were staring
at the man with anger radiating in their eyes as well. It appeared he
had struck some kind of cord that made him a general target. Under the
combined weigh of those stares, his mouth flapped but his argument was
broken.

    "None of us dispute what you are saying, Rhiannon," one of the
other women took up the argument again. "But to be frank, it does not
change anything. Yes, as a race we are finished, we have been for a
long time, but still every generation has tried its best to ensure
that something of our species continues. Do you think that you are the
first youngsters to be put under this pressure? That your position is
unique? Well, let me tell you - you aren't. I, Indeg, your mother, all
of our generation had to face exactly the same duty that you have too,
and do you think that we were happy about it? How do you think I felt
when my father virtually ordered me to..." she halted here and gave a
look around at some of the other woman gathered in the room. They
returned her glance and each quietly nodded.

    "Lord Arawn," another of the women said, looking up at the still
silent man. "I think that this matter would be better served if only a
few of us were involved rather than everyone. Would it be possible for
yourself and everyone except for Goewin, Blodeuwedd and myself to
leave?"

    "Why, Morvyth?" Arawn spoke for the first time since entering the
room.

    "Because things need to be said about the past, my lord. Things
that are not for the ears of all."

    Arawn's brows raised at this, but he said nothing other than, "If
you think it is necessary..."

    "It is," Morvyth stated. "Rhiannon and the others must want to
chose the same path that we did, and this will take time and effort on
both sides. It is a process that must start here, and part of that
process involves the sharing of past secrets, personal secrets that
they need to know. Please, my lord, let it rest at that."

    Hotaru followed the discussion that was happening with mixed
feelings. On the one hand, any suggestion that Rhian would have to
have a husband made her furious, but with that being said she did not
want to force Rhian into a relationship with her, unless it was what
the girl really wanted. Well, that was not strictly true, but where
Rhian was concerned Hotaru was a flood of mixing emotions and desires
that not even she understood. What she really wanted was just to be
out of here with Rhian, and having the girl's slender body pressed up
against her while the two of them danced the night away.
Unfortunately, that possibility seemed to be getting further and
further away, and while her head knew that this discussion was
important, was necessary, still the rest of her just wanted to be out
of here.

    "Rhian", she said finally, looking over at her love. "It's your
choice, love. Do you want to stay for this or go? My vote is go, but
this decision must really be yours." She tried to keep her tone
neutral, but it was more difficult than she thought and the still
angry girl nodded in agreement with the distaste that Hotaru spoke
with.

    "I don't want to be here either," the lavender haired girl stated
wavering, "But..."

    "Please, Rhiannon," Morvyth pleaded, "I know how you must all be
feeling at the moment, but one way or another this must be dealt with,
so please, stay and hea..."

    "I don't believe all this trash!" Olwen abruptly stated, unable to
contain her anger any longer. "Why are you talking like they have a
choice? They _must_ have children! Willing or no!"

    Morvyth spun around angrily to spear Olwen with a glare of rage,
but whatever words she was going to say was lost when Hotaru, seeing
Rhian's face whiten with anger, lost her temper completely.

    "Fuck all of you! I have had it! Rhian, Bran, Arian - we are
going!" And without any further words, Hotaru reached furiously down
her link to Rhian, and used the girl's power to whisk them out of the
house and deposit them in a small side street off the restaurant where
they had fought with those unnatural demon things nearly just over two
weeks ago.

    "Shit!" Hotaru exclaimed as she felt the need to swear once again.
"Just who the hell do those imbeciles think they are?! Gods?!"

    Rhian did not answer the hypothetical question, but instead reeled
off a string of adjectives that made her feelings perfectly clear as
well. Bran just looked shaken, while Arian made no comment whatsoever.
The young Avatar's eyes however, remained locked on Hotaru, and her
attractive face was set in a small frown.

    Letting off a few more choice words, Hotaru finally got her temper
down to a level where she did not feel like ripping something apart,
and looked over towards the still silent Bran. Walking towards the
younger looking girl, Hotaru hesitantly cleared her throat and asked
if the girl was all right. "Bran? How are you feeling now? That woman
did not hurt you did she?"

    Bran slowly met Hotaru's eyes, and after a moment of silence
sighed and shook her head. "No. It was more shock than anything else.
That was the first time that my mother ever hit me like that. I... I
was just so surprised..."

    Arian laid a hand on Bran's arm and smiled. "I'm sure she didn't
mean it quite like that, Bran. I know your mother, she loves you like
crazy. I just think that this marriage thing has everyone acting a bit
nuts, that's all."

    "I'm sorry, Arian..." Rhian said, coming over to stand next to
Hotaru. "I screwed up. I thought that I could handle this and I
screwed up. Some princess I am. I can't even..."

    "Stop talking like that, Rhian!" Arian stopped the girl sharply.
"You did the best that you could, and I'm proud of you. You made them
take notice of us, and I think given the circumstances that was the
best we could expect."

    "Don't fuss, love," Hotaru grabbed the girl's hand in her own and
gave it a squeeze. "If anything, I'm the one who was too aggressive,
but I think it would have taken a saint to remain calm in that room."

    Rhian sighed, "So, where do we go now? This isn't over. All we've
manage to do..."

    "Rhian, Rhian, Rhian," Hotaru looped an arm around her love's
slender waist and pulled her close. "You're such a worrier. Just let
it be for now. Let them make the first move, we've got problems enough
as it is without borrowing more."

    The lavender haired girl sighed once more and nodding, leaned
against her partner. "'Suppose..." she murmur red as she closed her
eyes, letting the warmth of Hotaru relax her.

    Arian watched as the two youngsters opposite her cuddled up
against each other and wordlessly shared feelings of comfort and
support. At a time such as now, Arian found it hard not to be slightly
envious of the mutual comfort that each of the two girls were able to
share with each other. She was not yet sure how she regarded this
relationship between Hotaru and the friend she loved like a sister. It
was obvious that Hotaru was madly in love, and if Rhian had not been
Hotaru's elin'rth, then Arian would have been joyously happy for both
of them, but the elin'rth bond made her uncertain. Was Rhian _truly_
in love with Hotaru, or just reflecting the unconscious desires that
the slender brunette had? Arian did not know, and it troubled her the
way Rhian had suddenly seemed to - as if my magic - fallen for Hotaru.
And the more Arian watched the two, the more her memory of the
discussion she and Rhian had had only a few nights before at Rhian's
house troubled her.

    If Rhian really loved Hotaru, then Arian was glad, but if this was
Hotaru's influence somehow clouding her near-sister's heart, then
Arian would do whatever she could to save Rhian - whatever she could.
And this was the heart of her dilemma - was Rhian's love real?

    "I don't feel like going home now after that," Bran said
miserably, breaking in on Arian's chain of thought. "I just wouldn't
feel comfortable."

    "Well... you can stay at my place if you want," Arian offered
looking at the girl. "I'm sure your mother would understand."

    "Thanks. I..."

    "Hey, stop being mopey, you two!" Hotaru suddenly put in, breaking
away from Rhian. "We still have half the evening to rock away!"

    "..." was Bran's reply.

    "Are you being serious, Hotaru?" Arian asked after a moment.

    The small brunette grinned and nodded her head. Putting an arm
around a not so enthusiastic looking Rhian, the young senshi said, "Me
and my pretty date here are going clubbing for the rest of tonight.
You are more than welcome to join us if you want."

    The 'pretty date' in question shifted and looked at the grinning
brunette. "Given what has happened, Hotaru, maybe it might be..."

    "No excuses this time, Rhian, my girl," Hotaru halted the girl's
protest before it even got started. "I told you tonight would be our
first official date, and by all the gods it will be! You are my
girlfriend, and I want to show you off."

    "..." Rhian mumbled something under her breath, and Hotaru smiled.

    "Same to you too," the brunette said, kissing the grumbling girl
on the nose. "Now, are you two coming along, or are you going to go
home and feel miserable?"

    Bran gave the grinning girl a long look and then shook her head.
"Ah... Thanks for the offer, but I'll think I will pass. Somehow, I
don't really feel like clubbing at the moment."

    Hotaru's grin faded a bit, but she shrugged and looked at Arian.
"Arian?"

    Arian raised her hand, "I'll pass too, I think. I've had more than
enough... excitement for one day."

    "Ba!" Hotaru exclaimed. "You two are wimps! Come on, it'll be
fun!"

    "Please come," Rhian begged, giving her two friends a pleading
look. ::Don't leave me alone with a hyperactive Hotaru. I don't think
I could take it all by myself::

    Rhian's silent mental cry made Arian smile and she glanced over
Bran. Taking a deep breath she sighed and shook her head. "Okay, okay,
we'll come - won't we, Bran?"

    Bran looked at each of the three pairs of eyes staring intently at
her and then reluctantly nodded.

    "Great!" said Hotaru, "Then we can all go and have some serious
fun for a change. After the events of today, I think we deserve it.
So, any place in particular you would like to go? Or shall we just
cruise around and see where we end up?"

    "Don't look at me," Rhian said shrugging her shoulders. "I have no
idea about any of the clubs around here."

    "Me neither," Arian said glancing over a Bran. "We've never really
done anything like this before."

    "Fine, then just leave everything to me," Hotaru said with a grin.
"There is a place that my classmates from my old school used to talk
about which is quite close. Although I have never actually been there
myself, it is supposed to be quite good."

    "All right with me," Arian shrugged. "Lead the way."

    Hotaru nodded, and still with her arm loosely snaked around
Rhian's waist, she moved off extolling the virtues of the club they
were heading for to Rhian as they did so. Arian sighed and held out a
hand to Bran.

    "Come on, let's get this over with." A comment to which Bran
smirked, and taking the offered hand, hurried off after the quickly
walking figures of Hotaru and Rhian.

    And unnoticed by any of them, a small patch of darkness detached
itself from the shadowed gloom of one of the buildings backing onto
the small street, and followed them.

                *       *       *       *

    "Hold on, let me get this straight," Michiru interrupted in an
effort to try and stop the stream of words flowing out of the phone.
"You're in Brazil?! Is that what you're trying to tell..." The voice
on the other end of the phone started to shout loudly again, and
Michiru was only able to make sense out of one word in three as Haruka
seemed to be inventing curses on the spot, but the little she was able
to make out seemed rather... difficult to believe.

    Impossible as it might seem, Haruka was currently in Brazil, and
from what her lover was ranting on about, it appeared that Hotaru was
to blame. Haruka had hurt Rhian, or somehow caused the girl to be
hurt, and from the mad tale the irate woman on the other end of the
phone was telling, Hotaru's response to this had been slightly
excessive to put it mildly.

    The angry stream of anatomically impossible curses pouring from
the phone paused as the woman on the other end drew breath, and
Michiru used the opportunity to leap in. "Look, Setsuna isn't here at
the moment, but I'll try my best to try and get in contact with her.
She should be able to get you back here without too much hassle...
Yes... Yes, I know it... No, I can't get Hotaru to bring you back. For
one, she is not here, and for seconds I don't know when she will be
back. Yes... Yes, of course I'll tell her... No, I won't do that.
Look, Haruka, I did try and warn you about how serious Hotaru is about
Rhi... No, that is not an excuse... Haruka, that is not what I am
saying..." The voice on the other end once more picked up in volume
and Michiru gave a small groan. Tonight was going to be a long night.

                *       *       *       *

    "It's a frigging compost heap!" Mars swore as the five young women
watched the mound of... whatever it was... just sit where it was
waving its pseudo pods in the air. It had been like that for over ten
minutes now, and still neither it or they had yet made any bold moves.
Mars turned to look at Mercury, "So, are we going to attack this thing
or just sit here are watch it?"

    Mercury looked up from her computer, and her face was uncertain,
even confused.

    "What is it, Ami-chan?" Moon asked, crossing over to stand by the
dark haired Mars.

    "That... thing... just can't exist," the blue haired girl said,
glancing back at her computer before facing her golden haired
princess. "It's impossible..."

    Moon took a step forward, a strangely reassuring smile on her
face. "What do you mean, Ami?" she asked. "What is it? What do you
think we should do?"

    Mercury took a grip on herself and met her leader's eyes. "I
can't... I mean, I don't know... That... thing defies any analysis I
try and run on it. Heck, my sensors can't even decide what it is made
of, much less what its strengths and weaknesses are."

    "Oh, wonderful," Mars growled, her frustration beginning to show.
"What the hell are we supposed to do then? Stand here and look at it
while you try and decide what the..."

    "Rei!" Jupiter snapped, moving over to stand by her lover. "Don't
talk to Ami like that! It's not her fault we are..."

    "Jupiter, Mars, please," Moon broke in quietly. "Arguing amongst
ourselves is not going to help now will it?" She met the eyes of the
two fighter senshi one after another, making them flush and look down
ashamed. "Ami-chan," the girl said again, turning her attention back
to her friend. "What do you think we should do?"

    Mercury meet the soft eyes of Moon and thrusting her uncertainty
to one side answered the girl's question as best she could. "I don't
know, Usagi, I honestly don't know. So far, all we have seen that
thing do is just sit there and occasionally move from place to place.
It does not seem to be attacking anything, or even waking up people
with its howling. It seems almost as if it is trying to scout out
where it is, rather than draw attention to itself..."

    "That's stupid!" Mars abruptly broke in, pointing back to the
enemy below. "How can something as big and as ugly as that possibly
not draw attention to itself? It's huge!"

    Mercury gave Mars a scathing look. "I know that, Rei, I'm merely
saying that this creature is not being overtly destructive, and
appears to be trying to determine where it is rather than anything
else. Now, you can take that to mean what you like, but it makes me
wonder if attacking it straight off is a good idea."

    Moon frowned, "What do you mean, Ami? Are you saying that we
should just leave it alone or something?"

    "No, I just saying that maybe we shouldn't jump to conclusions
about its intentions. We obviously can't just leave it alone to do as
it pleases, but at the same time it has given no sign that it wants to
harm anything. If we go jumping in, full guns blazing who knows how it
will react..." Ami shrugged, "You wanted my opinion, that is it."

    "But it did attack us earlier remember," Jupiter put in with a
frown, wondering what Ami was trying to get at.

    "Did it?" Mercury replied, giving Jupiter a thoughtful look. "Or
were we merely caught in its howl? I don't know."

    "So, are you proposing we try and talk to it or something?" Venus
finally spoke up for the first time, looking at Mercury with a bemused
look on her attractive face.

    Mercury opened her mouth to speak but Mars beat her to it.

    "Are you mad?!" the volatile senshi exclaimed. "You actually want
to try and talk to that thing?!"

    Venus drew a sharp breath at the tone in Mars' voice, but after a
moment she just smiled and let it out. "Maybe," she said with a shrug.

    "What!?"

    "BE SILENT!" Moon suddenly exclaimed, a white light blazing from
the jeweled circlet resting on her brow. Instantly, the four girls
fell silent, even dropping to their knees as their sovereign's
displeasure washed over them. Moon ran her hard eyes over each of her
senshi warriors and sighed. "Come on, guys. We never used to argue
like this, what's wrong?"

    Mars cleared her throat and apologetically met her Princess's
eyes. "Ah... Sorry, Usagi... I, well..."

    "What, Rei?" Moon looked at her best friend with an expression of
concern floating on her face. "What is wrong?"

    "I..."

    "Look, we don't really have time for all this," Minako broke in,
getting to her feet. "We still have a slight problem with regards to
this... whatever it is, remember?" She turned to Mercury. "Ami, were
you being serious? Do you really believe that we should try to talk to
that thing?"

    "I didn't say that, Minako," Ami corrected her friend. "I'm just
wondering about the creature's behavior. You can take my comments how
you like."

    "Ami," Venus put her hands on her hips. "Now is not the time to be
pedantic. Are you saying that we should try to talk or not?"

    Mercury looked the senshi of love in the eyes. "I'm just saying
that this creature may not be hostile, that's all."

    Mars spluttered and drew breath to say something, but she was
beaten once more by Venus. "Then how do you suggest we proceed, Ami?"

    The water senshi turned her head and looked back in the direction
that the creature lay. "If I knew that, Minako, then I would have told
you in the first place. My computer can't tell me anything about
that..."

    "Screw your computer," Minako interrupted the girl. "I asked you,
not your ZX80 impression."

    The reference bought a slight smile to the blue-black haired
girl's face, and she lowered her head thoughtfully for a moment. "If
it is intelligent, then communication on a basic level should be
possible."

    "How?" Jupiter spoke up, moving over to stand by her lover. "And
why? Why is it so important that we talk with it?"

    "And what do you prefer we do, Jupiter?" Venus spoke up. "Charge
in and fight an unknown enemy, with unknown powers, when it might not
even be necessary?"

    "No, of course not. But..."

    "If it proves useless then of course we must fight," Venus
continued, "but if by some miracle this creature is not hostile..."

    "And what if it isn't?" Mars broke in. "So what? How do we really
know we can believe what it says, even if we get to communicate with
it? Not only that, how..."

    "We will deal with that when the time comes," Moon interrupted the
young woman, bringing an end to the argument. "If trying to talk to it
fails, then we may indeed have to attack. But if we can convince it
not to fight us, then at the very least we might be able to learn
something more about how it got here and what its intentions may be.
That, to me, seems worthy of the attempt."

    Mars spluttered in disbelief and opened her mouth to say more, but
a piercing look from her princess made her rein in her temper, so she
resorted to just glowering instead. She could not believe what the
hell the other girls seemed to be saying! They _wanted_ to actually
try and talk to this... whatever it was... It beggared belief!

    "Well," Venus said taking a deep breath, "If that is what people
think is worth a try, then here goes nothing." And before anyone had a
chance to say anything more, the young woman tensed and with a swift
movement, sprang away.

    "Venus!" Mars cried out in shock that her friend _actually_ meant
to do this insane activity, and sprang forward to follow her. A slim
hand however stayed her.

    "Let her go, Rei," Moon said in a quiet but firm voice. "Let her
try."

    Rei's head whipped around to stare aghast at Usagi. "Are you all
mad!?" she exclaimed. "Venus is going out there alone to..."

    "I know," Moon replied calmly, her eyes a steely blue as they bore
into those of her best friend.

    Rei tried to pull her hand free, but found that her will to move
being drained by the look that was coming out of those two eyes. It
was the look of a ruler who, having come to a decision, would take no
gainsay - not even from her most trusted advisor's. A look that said
more about Usagi then Rei could ever put into words. "Your majesty..."
the words slipped from the Fire-senshi's lips before she could stop
them, and almost instinctively she dropped to one knee.

    "Have faith in me," was all Serenity said as she looked down on
her beloved friend and smiled.

    "Always..." Mars replied in little more than a whisper as she met
her princess's shining eyes. "Always."

    In the street below, Venus walked forward a little nervous and
uncertain about if what she was doing was utterly foolish or the right
thing that needed to be done. Although she had mellowed a lot in the
last four to five years, she was still in many ways the impetuous girl
she had been at fourteen. That was one aspect of her character that
she knew would probably never change, and while now at nineteen she
was - hopefully - slightly wiser, she was still someone who jumped
into a situation with everything that she was. This act however, was
no childish ploy, she trusted Mercury's judgment utterly, and even if
she herself was slightly unsure, she was committed now and would see
things through to the end. So, with a resolve that comes from pure
faith, Minako straightened and continued forward.

    She could see the thing quite clearly now looming just ahead of
her at the end of the street and for the first time got a true
appreciation for just how big and, well, alien the thing appeared to
be. And yet, despite its size and plain weird appearance, Minako did
not feel any... evil... for lack of a better word emanating from the
creature. She felt afraid and slightly overwhelmed by the thing's
appearance, but that... something... which usually tickled her senshi
senses into recognizing 'enemy' was just not there this time. She
halted and tried to analyze this feeling. It was as if the sight of
the creature invoked within a reaction of natural disgust, but beyond
that... nothing. The sense of menace, of oppression that usually
accompanied these sort of encounters was just not there, and Minako
began to understand what Mercury had been so hesitant about. This
creature, despite its looks, just did not _feel_ like a monster should
feel like. It was difficult to explain, but there it was. Feeling
slightly more reassured, Venus raised her head and with a graceful
movement, started forward once more. She would trust to her instincts
and her faith in her friends. That, after all, was what love was
supposed to be all about.

    A silence that could only be described as eerie descended around
her as she got closer to the place where the creature was resting. A
faint tingling, almost like static, brushed against her skin and Venus
realized the reason for the lack of panic associated with the
creature's appearance was because it was generating some sort of field
or something that was making everyone within its range sleep. Again,
this did not strike Venus as being the act of a creature out to cause
destruction and mayhem, but she did not let her feelings overwhelm her
caution and continued forward at a guarded pace.

    A fresh wind cool with the moist of approaching night stirred her
hair and made her mini-skirt tickle the tops of her legs.
Automatically, she used a hand to brush her hair from the front of her
face and took a deep breath of the crisp air. Oddly, just at this
moment, she felt strangely at calm and at peace, as if the creature's
field had cut the both of them off from all the world around them and
put just the two of them into a timeless zone. It was a weird feeling
and again it made her wonder about just what this creature's
intentions were. She was probably less than twenty meters away from
the creature now, but it still had not shown any response that Venus
could determine of it registering her presence. It simply sat where it
sat, a mass of... whatever it was, waving pseudo-pods in the air like
something of giant sea anenemi.

    Venus stopped. She did not want to get any closer to the creature
than this. At least at this distance, she would have a chance to react
if the creature suddenly turned out to be hostile, so, planting her
feet in what she hoped was a bold stance, she raised her hand and
pointed it at the creature.

    "In the name of the Moon, I demand that you declare yourself and
your intentions!" Not exactly original, yes, but now was not the time
for creativity.

    Her challenge rang out slightly louder than she had intended and
some effect of the strange field that the creature was generating made
it echo with far more resonance than was present in her nature voice.

    Silence.

    Venus waited with hand still outstretched for any reaction that
the creature might make.

    Silence.

    The seconds ticked passed and still Venus waited. The tension she
was feeling was now beginning to make her sweat slightly, despite the
coolness of the wind. The next moments would be critical and how she
dealt with them might very well determine if she or her friends would
have to fight this thing, and the pressure that came with that
responsibility was starting to tell.

    Silence.

    Venus frowned, and took a small step forward. For the life of her,
she could no see any difference in the way the creature was acting
before she had delivered her challenge to the way it was acting now.
It still seemed to be just sitting there, waving its tentacle things
in the air as if it had not a care in the world, and Venus had the
very distinct impression that the mound of whatever it was, was just
ignoring her.

    "Hey!" Venus exclaimed at the thing, taking another step forward.
"Didn't you hear me?! I demand that you declare who you are!"

    Again silence met her words and the creature carried on ignoring
her.

    Venus dropped her hand and frowned as she considered what she
should do next. Either the creature was just so alien that it did not
even register her presence, or it was just that it was simply ignoring
her, but which ever it was it appeared that she would need to rethink
her plan. The problem was however, what alternatives was there? The
only things she could think of was either launching some kind of minor
attack at the thing to try and get its attention or get closer -
neither options which she particularly liked. Launching some form of
attack across the creature's bow so to speak, might indeed get its
attention, but it would also give completely the wrong kind of message
about her hopefully peaceful intentions. But at the same time, getting
even closer to the creature was not high on her list of wishes either.
Venus shifted nervously on the spot and licked her lips as she tried
to decide what it was she should do.

    Finally, after much internal debate, the senshi decided that the
only reasonable action that she could take was to either withdraw or
press forward. Firing an attack at the creature was too dangerous an
option to consider, doing so might very well start the fight that she
had come out here in the first place to avoid and as such was self
defeating. Of the other two, withdrawal was little better than
launching an attack. What was the point in trying to talk to the
creature only to fail miserably at the first attempt? No. Hate it as
much as she might, the only option that she could see was to move
forward and try and get the creature to react. It was a risky and
potentially dangerous strategy, but it was also the only one which she
could think of at the moment which might yield some sort of result.

    "Wonderful..." Minako whispered under her breath as she gave a
small shake of her head, but taking a step forward she began to slowly
walk even closer to the creature.

    "What the devil does she think she is doing?" Rei swore from her
vantage point as she and the others watched Venus walk even closer to
the alien menace.

    "Trying to communicate with it, Rei," Jupiter shot back, the
tension she felt fraying at her temper. "What does it..."

    "Shhh!!" Mercury gave both girls an icy look that hushed them
immediately. She turned her attention back to the information that her
visor was attempting to provide her with. So far, all she had been
able to determine was that the creature seemed to have the ability to
modify the way certain forms of energy behaved around it. Sound was
one very good example. Venus' shout had been distinctively modified
almost as soon as the blonde had uttered the words. Oh, they had begun
normal enough, but the output from her analysis showed a point where
somehow, _something_ had touched upon the sound energy and modified
the speed at which the vibrations had been travelling - increasing the
timbre and wave form, literally giving it more energy than it had
originally had. Her visor had picked up no magnetic displacement or
other such phenomena that might explain what had happened, it just
had, and frankly, Ami was a bit puzzled. Given more time, she could
probably figure out what had caused it, but time was not something
that she had, and the safety of her friend was dependent on what she
did.

    Venus was now less than ten meters away from the creature, and was
now definitely feeling nervous. The pseudo-pods had stopped moving
randomly and were now pointed at her, but other than that the creature
had made no other move in response to her presence. As with before,
Venus felt no sense of menace or evil in the creature's action, it
just seemed to be reacting to her presence. Swallowing, and using a
hand to rub her brow, Venus stopped.

    "Do you understand me?" she said in a soft voice, trying to not
appear to be a threat of any kind while at the same time maintaining
her guard.

    The pseudo-pods shifted and slowly, very slowly, one of the ones
nearest her started to move towards her. Venus took a small nervous
step back, and immediately the pod stopped and waited, almost as if it
had reacted to the nervous fear that Venus had felt. She frowned
slightly at this and trying to get the nerves under control, Minako
tried to calm herself down. "I'm sorry," she said in that same soft
voice, and with more bravery that she felt, took a step forward.

    There was a brief pause, and then once again the pod began to move
towards her. It moved in slow jerks, halting every so often as if it
were seeing how the nervous senshi would react, but this time, Venus
kept her rooted to the spot watching as the tentacle came ever closer.
Finally, it halted about a foot away from her face. It then began to
swell and the pod attached to the end of it shifted, changing color
and shape until moments later, Venus found herself looking at an exact
copy of her head. She could not help but gasping and jerking back, a
movement to which the copy of her head made a precise duplicate.

    Swiftly, Venus bought herself under control and put a friendly
expression on her face. Once again this expression was copied and
Minako found herself looking at her smiling face. A moment passed, and
then Minako tried to speaking. "Hello."

    The copy mouthed the word but did not seem to have the ability to
speak.

    "My name is Venus," she said tried again, pushing her head forward
slightly. "Who are you?"

    Again, the copy mouthed the words and the movement but did not
speak. Venus widened her smile and tilted her head to one side. The
copy did the same, but tilted its head to the left rather than to the
right almost as if it were trying to show that it was doing more than
just straight copying. The possibility made Venus stop fooling around
and consider how she could communicate with this being. She put her
chin in her hand and started to ponder what to do next. It was clear
to her now that this creature or whatever is was meant her no hostile
intent, at least not immediately. It had had more than enough
opportunity to attack her, and let all it had done so far was to copy
her facial expressions. It was also clear that the being was...

    A sharp prick of pain suddenly flashed up her right leg and Venus
looked down just in time to catch sight of a red smeared tentacle
being rapidly withdrawn back towards the larger mass of the creature.
She gasped and her hand went automatically down to touch her thigh and
winced as she encountered a small wound where the creature had just -
for lack of a better word - bitten her.

    "Hey!" she exclaimed angrily, looking up at the still smiling copy
of her face "What did you do that for?"

    The face just continued to keep smiling and the pushed forward a
bit. Venus rubbed at the wound and began to wonder if she had been
wrong. Had the creature just lulled her into a false sense of security
and then poisoned her or something? She backed away and kept a wary
eye on the creature. The speed of that tentacle had been amazing and
it gave her a better idea of what the creature seemed to be capable
of. She was not sure what she should do next. With the speed that the
creature had just shown, she was sure it could easily catch her if it
truly wanted to, but so far it made not move beyond that keep that
copy of her face still smiling. And this fact made her pause, she was
no longer smiling so why would that face be? Could it possibly be that
the creature had recognized something with the smile and was trying to
reassure her or something like that? She did not know. This was beyond
her experience as a...

    Suddenly the pseudo-pod with the smiling face shuddered, and with
a jerk shot back into the bulky mass from which it had originally
come. Convulsions started to run throughout the huge creature and
Venus backed rapidly away as the very ground began to tremble with the
violence of the creature's movements. The feeling of static
electricity that had been present ever since she had come near the
being suddenly flared and with a soundless explosion that threw Venus
violently to the ground, the whole night abruptly seemed to turn
blindly white. Venus gave a scream of pain as for an instant it felt
like her skin was being burnt alive, but the pain vanished almost the
very moment she smacked into the ground.

    The force of the impact knocked nearly all of the air out of her
lungs, and Minako saw pretty patterns and blotches of yellow light
pass before her eyes. All her coordination seemed to leave her body
and the best she could manage was to just hold onto herself as she
fought to remain conscious and drag into her lungs the air that the
force of the impact had stolen. Slowly, the world began to stop
spinning around like a top and tentatively, Minako opened her eyes.
The sight of the destruction immediately around her made her blink and
give a small gasp. It looked like she had been in the middle of a bomb
blast. The windows of the shop fronts and houses were smashed, a
nearby car was in flames and even the tarmac was scorched as if from a
great heat. Frankly, Minako was surprised that she was still alive.
The release of energy that could cause this amount of devastation
should have been enough to burn her like a crisp and yet...

    The sight of another girl lying just a short distance from the
burning car made Venus dismiss her musings and ran over to see if the
girl was all right. A burning car was one thing, but if that fire
reached the petrol...

    "Hey! Are you all right?" Venus exclaimed as she reached the girl
and knelt down. The girl was lying on her side and long blonde hair
covered her face and body from Venus' sight, but she could see that
the girl was naked. However, the reason for why this might be the case
was furthermost from Venus' mind as she knelt down and swept the girl
into her arms. This was not the time for such wondering, not
especially with that fire. So, bunching her muscles, Venus held the
unconscious girl to her and leapt upwards. The sound of the wind
whistling past her ears was drowned out by the blast of yet another
explosion and Venus knew she had performed her heroic act just in the
nick of time, so to speak.

    She landed with a small grunt, bending her legs to absorb the
impact caused by the extra weight of the girl. Straightening up, Venus
glanced hurriedly around her to see if she could spot any sign of the
creature who had just attacked her, but she could see nothing. The
being had vanished and Venus was amazed - both by the fact that the
creature had attacked her and by that it could vanish so quickly.
She...

    "Venus!"

    "Minako!"

    Venus heard the voices of her team mates shouting out her name and
turned to see them running up towards her. A smile of relief broke out
on her face as she saw them. They had all made it safely through yet
another encounter. She adjusted the unconscious girl in her grasp and
waved at her friends as best she could.

    "Minako, are you all right?" Moon was the first to ask as she
pulled up along side her friend.

    "What happened?" Mars added as she skidded to a stop just in front
of Jupiter and Mercury.

    "It didn't hurt you did it?" Jupiter put in, taking a moment to
regain her breath. "My heart almost stopped when I saw that
explosion..."

    Venus gave her concerned friends a reassuring smile and was about
to explain what had happened when she was rudely interrupted by a most
un-Ami like curse.

    "Minako!" the blue haired girl exclaimed with a loud squawk
pointing the girl that Venus had just saved. "Who.... Who the hell is
that?!" Her shock was evident in the way her voice rose a couple of
octaves about her norm, and everyone followed her accusing finger to
focus on the naked girl clutched in Minako's arms.

    Venus frowned as she wondered what all the fuss was about, and
turned her attention to look at the blonde girl as well. The girl's
long hair was now no longer covering her face and the features which
had been hidden before were now clearly visible. The girl was an
extremely attractive teenager who had a figure to match her looks.
Soft blonde hair framed a face that despite the smudges of dirt and
oil that marked it, was exceptionally beautiful and was as familiar to
Minako as her own - mainly because it _was_ her own.

    The girl cradled in her arms, the girl that she had just rescued,
was her!

                *       *       *       *

    Rhian pushed herself tighter into the shadowed nook that she had
managed to find for herself and wished that Hotaru and the others
would get back soon. She hated it here in this club, but had refrained
from saying anything because Hotaru seemed to be enjoying herself so
much. The noise and sheer vitality of the atmosphere seemed to be
releasing parts of the girl's character that Rhian would never
imagined the girl to have. It was as if the young senshi had decided
that she was going to let rip, and was going for it with all that she
was. The problem was that the brunette seemed to be under the
impression that she, Rhian, had the same desire as well. They had been
here for several hours, and while Hotaru had been quite content to let
Arian and Bran rest, she had not been so lucky. The brunette had
insisted that Rhian join for her on the dance floor for nearly the
entire time that they had been here, and that dancing always seemed to
end up with Hotaru pressing up against her in ways that made Rhian
feel weak at the knees, and bought the two of them more attention than
made Rhian comfortable.

    "Have the guys drooling over us, yeah right..." she grumbled as
she remembered the lust filled looks and thoughts that had plagued her
nearly every moment she and Hotaru had been dancing. The nature of
some of those thoughts had nearly made her want to throw up, and she
had tried to shield her mind as much as she could, but the roving
hands of Hotaru had made that difficult and given the crowded nature
of the place they were in the sheer press of thoughts bombarding on
her mind made the task virtually impossible. In the end, Rhian had
given up and just tried her best to ride it out. She just hoped that
soon Hotaru would get tired enough to leave so that they could go. The
sheer noise and press of people in this place was just too much for
her to bare for any great period of time.

    She gave a small sigh and reached out to play with her half empty
glass of coke. Hotaru had left about ten minutes ago with Bran to get
some fresh drinks, while Arian was dancing with some guy that she had
taken a shine to, with the end result that Rhian had been left to
amuse herself.

    Simply wonderful.

    Rhian took a small sip from her straw and fingered a lock of hair
while she tried to kill waiting for her... neo-lover to return. She
felt her heart quicken slightly as she ran that word once more through
her mind. Lover... She had a lover... It still all seemed so
impossible. In less than three weeks, the reality of her life that she
had know for the last decade or so had been fully upended, and here
she know was, embarking on a path that was both exciting and confusing
all at the same time. A path which she knew would bring her both great
happiness, but also great pain and sadness. She had seen something of
that tonight already with the way her parent's generation had reacted
to the fact that she and Hotaru were elin'rth. And she knew that this
would only be the beginning. Change was coming, not just for her but
for her people as well, and with change always came...

    A shadow abruptly fell across the table and she looked up, the
interruption disturbing her thoughts. Three young men in their mid to
late teens were standing at the end of the table, one of them looking
down at her with a pleasant smile on his face.

    "Ah... Can I help you?" Rhian asked with a sinking feeling. Odds
to even this was going to be another stupid attempt at a pick up.
Gods, she _hated_ this place.

    "Well... I..." the young man started.

    "Go on," one of his companions urged him on. "Ask her."

    The young man swallowed and then held out his hand. "I... That is,
I was wondering if you might like to dance with me? You seem to be
alone and I..."

    "Thanks for the offer," Rhian butted in before the young man could
get any further. "But I already have a date."

    "Oh. Sorry..." the young man pulled back his hand. "You have been
alone here for quite a while so I thought... Pardon me, I will leave
you in peace." And with that, he nodded his head and left with his two
companions.

    Rhian sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "Come on, Hotaru,
hurry up," she muttered as she watched the three young men leave.

    "You seem to be quite popular, Rhiannon-san," a voice said from
the direction opposite to the one she was looking.

    Rhian whipped her head around to see who it was who had spoken. It
was a young woman. "Sorry?" she asked, slightly confused. "Do I know
you?"

    The young woman smiled and walked over to stand by the table. Her
blue eyes swept over Rhian and for some reason the young Avatar felt a
small shiver pass through her body. She tensed slightly, and gave the
young woman a through look over. When her instincts twitched
themselves like this there was usually a good reason, and although
Rhian swore she did not know this woman, the woman obviously knew her.

    The woman looked to be a few years older than herself - late teens
or early twenties. And although her features seemed to have an
oriental caste to them, the woman's full red hair and deep blue eyes
hinted of something other than a pure blooded Japanese. The woman was
quite attractive and the expression on her face was open and friendly,
but something about her made Rhian uneasy. It was not something she
could put a word to, just something... odd.

    "Raina," the young woman stated holding out her hand. "Raina
Stingray. How do you do?"

    Rhian frowned. "How do you know my name, Stingray-san?"

    The young woman who called herself Raina Stingray took back her
hand. "You look just like your mother, Rhiannon-san," she said still
smiling. "Remarkably so, in fact. If I didn't know any better, I would
have said you were her."

    Rhian started, "My mother? You knew my mother?"

    "Caridwen and I were very good friends, Rhiannon-san," Raina said,
easing herself into the couch where Rhian was sitting. "We knew each
other for many years, and I was very sad when I heard that she had
died. She was quite an exceptional woman. Beautiful, intelligent,
passionate..." And as she said this, her blue eyes clouded over for a
moment and one side of her mouth pulled up as if she were recalling
some fond memory.

    Rhian had to almost fight the temptation to lean forward and start
bombarding the woman with questions right there and then, but she was
still confused about who this woman was. The facts did not add up. Her
mother had been dead for over fifty years, and yet this woman was
physically only a few years older than herself. If this woman was an
Avatar then that would have explained it, but Rhian had never seem her
before and besides, Rhian would have instinctively recognized the
woman as her race from the very first. So that meant that this Raina
was either lying or... was something else.

    "Who are you?" Rhian asked, pulling back so that she put some
distance between herself and this stranger. "What do you want with
me?"

    The young woman's smile deepened and she leaned forward. "I want
to be your friend, Rhiannon," she said softly. "Your mother was very
special to me, child, and yet I was unable to save her from what
happened. I don't want her daughter to suffer the same fate."

    "What... What do you mean?" Rhian asked, feeling confused and a
bit anxious now. What was this woman implying.

    The redhead's eyes locked with her own, and Rhian felt herself
being drawn into their icy depths. "Your mother's death was not what
it appeared to be, Rhiannon. I knew Caridwen. She was stronger than
anyone gave her credit for. Bearing a child for even that... your
father, should never have killed her, never."

    Rhian jerked back, her eyes wide. "What are you trying to say?!"
she hissed. "That my mother was murdered?!"

    "Rhian! Rhian!"

    The sound of Hotaru's worried shout made Rhian spin around and her
heart leapt as she saw her elin'rth coming hurriedly towards her.
"Hotaru!" she called back, getting to her feet. The presence of Hotaru
making her temporarily forget the other woman.

    "Rhian!" Hotaru exclaimed, throwing her arms around her elin'rth
and pulling her tightly to her. "Are you all right? I felt your
uncertainty and worry through the bond and came back as fast as I
could! Is anything wrong? You haven't be harassed or anything have
you?" She pulled back and looked worriedly down in her beloved's eyes.
"Rhian?"

    Rhian took a moment to recover herself. The strength of
protectiveness that Hotaru was projecting nearly overwhelmed her
senses and it was difficult to concentrate, but after a few seconds
she was able to smile and nod back. "I'm fine, Hotaru, really. I
just..."

    "Oh, Rhian!" the brunette declared and hugged the slender girl
tightly to her, kissing her soft hair. "I was so worried! I'm sorry I
left you for so long! I promise I won't do anything like that again!
I... Oh, Rhian!"

    Rhian winced slightly as Hotaru held her with a strength that
belayed her slender form and tried to reassure her partner that
everything was all right. "Hotaru, I'm fine. Please, ease up a bit
will you? You're stronger than you look."

    "Oh... Sorry..." Hotaru smiled a bit sheepishly and relaxed her
hold, but not letting the other girl go. The sensation of Rhian's body
pressed up so tightly against her's made her hot all over, and the
shared touch of their skin made Hotaru want to...

    "Hotaru..." Rhian whispered uncertainly as the senshi's desires
washed over her. "I can't... Please..." and she pushed the brunette
away. It was then that she remembered just what had been happening
before Hotaru had shown up, and she turned her head to see what the
other woman was doing, but the seat where the redhead had been sitting
was empty. Rhian looked around to see if she could spot any sign of
the woman, but Raina Stingray had vanished.

    Hotaru gave herself a mental shake and with an effort let her
elin'rth go. It was not easy. The desire that she had to be with Rhian
was getting ever more difficult to just put to one side, and the
longer she touched the Avatar, the more difficult it was getting to
be. But let the girl go she did and stood back. Rhian seemed not to
notice as she was preoccupied by something, looking around as if she
were trying to find someone. "Rhian?" the brunette asked, giving in
once more to the temptation to touch the arm of her elin'rth.

    "Did you just see a redheaded woman here?" Rhian queried, turning
to look at the brunette.

    "Eh?" Hotaru frowned.

    "Just now I was talking to a woman," the young Avatar replied
still looking around. "A redhead. But she seems to have disappeared."

    "So?" Hotaru stated, her eyes narrowing. "What of it?"

    "I have to find her. I've got to speak with her..."

    "What do you mean you have to see her?" Hotaru pressed, pulling
the lavender haired girl around so that they were looking eye to eye.
"What is she to you?"

    Rhian blinked at the slightly sharp tone of voice that Hotaru used
and gave the brunette a close look. "What's wrong, Hotaru?"

    Hotaru saw the questioning expression on her beloved's face and
moderated her tone. "What woman, Rhian? Who? Was someone bothering
you?"

    "She said she knew my mother," Rhian responded, dismissing the
brunette's odd attitude as she rather worried about what the woman had
said. "Hotaru, she made some pretty weird claims about my mother.
Horrid claims."

    "Horrid?"

    "She said that my mother was killed, Hotaru," Rhian looked
straight into Hotaru's golden eyes, her own eyes growing wide. "That
she did not die bearing me, but that she was killed..."

    Hotaru reached over and put her hands on her elin'rth's shoulders.
"Rhian, don't. Whoever that person was, she was just screwing with
your mind - forget it."

    "No," Rhian shook her head. "Hotaru, she knew who I was. She knew
my mother's name. She knew..."

    "Rhian," Hotaru took the girl's head in her hands. "Stop it. I
don't know who this woman was, but I want you to stop this."

    "But, Hotaru, she..."

    "_Stop_ it," and before Hotaru knew what she had done, her words
took on a certain warmth, a certain power.

    Rhian froze. Her eyes went wide and she started to shake.
"Hotaru... You..."

    It was a couple of seconds before Hotaru realized what is was she
had just done. "Oh, Christ..."

    "...promised..."

    "Rhian... Love, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry..." Hotaru reached out and
pulled the trembling girl to her. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she repeated
again and again into the Avatar's hair. She tightened her grip and
tried to communicate to the petite form in her arms everything that
she felt for the girl. "Please, Rhian, please. I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I
didn't mean it. It was a mistake, a mistake..."

    "You promised!" the girl suddenly cried out, pushing Hotaru away
and stumbling back. "You promised!"

    "Rhian... I..."

    "You promised!" the girl shrieked, and around them people were
standing to look.

    Hotaru was wracked with uncertainty about what to do. Over the
last few days, she had seen first hand what happened when Rhian lost
control and the events of the last few weeks had pushed the girl
through an emotional grinder. Her explosion with her mother and Owain
was the worse example yet, but Hotaru suspected that not even that had
fully released all the pent up turmoil that the young Avatar had
bubbling within her. Rhian had been run ragged with all that had
happened to her, and at the moment she was reacting like a loose
cannon to every knock that she had. And with the power that the girl
had at her command, that was not a good thing.

    "Rhian..." Hotaru tried to step forward and reassure the ashen
faced girl, but the look on the Avatar's face stopped her dead. It was
the look of one betrayed. Hotaru was stunned. She could not imagine
that Rhian would ever have reacted so strongly to her mistake. But the
emotions that she could feel flooding down the link only served to
confirm what was written on the girl's face. The use of the command
aspect of the bond between them had hit Rhian like a punch to the
stomach, bringing back all the fear and uncertainty that the Avatar
had been trying so hard to block out. She had opened her heart to the
brunette and had it thrown back into her face.

    "You promised!" the Avatar shrieked once more, and then she broke
and turning away ran away as fast as the crowds of people who would
let her.

    Hotaru was too shocked by what had happened to do anything other
than watch the small girl vanish into the crowd, and by the time she
regained enough of her senses to start to react, Rhian was gone.

    "Rhian!"

             *       *       *       *