The Early Moon Chronicles
by Michaela Wills
E-mail: Shelli982@aol.com
Story 7 - 'Night of the Firefly' or 'A Younger Sailor Saturn'

She gazed around at the cruel faces, the bitterness, the distaste in shock and horror. Did they really hate her so? She didn't remember the evils they spoke of, she didn't do them. Maybe some other part of her controlled her, forced her to be evil to them, but that was a different Tomoe Hotaru than the one standing there now. Couldn't they see it wasn't her, that this girl was different than the one yesterday? Couldn't they see how much they hurt her, saying those mean things to her? To someone who honestly hadn't done anything?

They could. Which is why they did so.

Time held still, the hatred in their eyes burning through her, engraved in her mind forever. She could never forget the things they said and did to her, it didn't seem right. The boy's injury was mortal, if they let her touch him, maybe she could heal it. But her injury was deeper in her soul. Her innocence and love stripped away painfully, they were destroying her, the good side of Tomoe Hotaru. They attacked the wrong her. Tears having long welled in her eyes, Hotaru did the only thing she could.

She ran.

The unshed tears blocked her vision as she ran, trying desperately to ignore the jeers and taunts being thrown at her retreating form. She brushed her eyes harshly, making things clearer as she ran. She didn't care where, she just needed to get away. To find solace from these people who hurt her.

She ran farther and longer than she'd thought possible, never stopping as she gasped for breath. It didn't matter, no one would care if she pushed herself beyond her limits. No one cared enough to stop her. So she pushed her limits, whether unconsciously or not. She strained those barriers with all her might, the physical ones that would free her of this life.

She finally collapsed to the ground in exhaustion, crying heavily in great breathy sobs that hindered her lungs as much as her running had. Was death worth it? Death was something she didn't fear, but why die if there was a reason to live? Did she have something that would keep her here? Friends?

She had none.

Family?

Her mother was gone already and her father? The professor loved her, she knew it was true, he was her father, after all, but . . . but he was never there. Always busy, never listening to her or her needs. He was there for her rarely, but not enough. He hadn't been there when she really needed him, like with those mean children. The ones who'd torn apart her soul for something she honestly was unaware of. Whatever had happened, it was caused by another Hotaru, not the one they'd hurt! Had her father been there then? No. He was never there, not anymore, there was a time that he was, but all he cared for now was his experiments. Not her and he was her only family.

A future?

Probably not. She'd be shunned and outcasted for being her forever. It was not something she could help. If she, Tomoe Hotaru, had really hurt that boy, how could anyone give her a chance to be anyone else? They'd shown her that. She'd not have a chance for redemption in their eyes.

So what did she have?

Hotaru pondered this, what did she have? There had to be something left for her, she was really too young to have nothing. She had to have something, but what? Did she examine her family wrong or her future, did she have one of those left?

She saw a blink of yellow light. Focusing on what was around her, the small girl found herself in a vast park in the early evening darkness. Her sobbing began to taper off as she stared at the place where the blink came from and the tiny light winked at her again. A firefly.

It was alone, like her, there were no others around at all. A tiny speck in the vastness of that park. She was breathing deeply, still recuperating from her running. She clutched the grass in her hands as an anchor for her breathlessness. She wanted to watch the firefly, but couldn't. She had to close her eyes and catch her breath.

In and out, in and out. One shaky, slow breath after another. Slowly, Hotaru loosened her death grip on the blades of crisp grass, wrapping her arms around her shoulders as she regained her breath. She looked up from her labors to see the park again. The little firefly winking at her in the darkness still. Her violet eyes widened in surprise. She'd expected to be alone again once catching her breath, the little lightning bug to have fluttered away, unaware of her plight. Yet it hung in the air around her. A tiny beacon of light in the bleakness of the moonless, starless, cloudy night.

Hotaru tilted her head to the side a little, catching the bug in her cupped hand, holding it carefully so not to hurt it. It glowed at her as it rested in her hands, making her pale skin glitter warm hues for a moment in time.

"Are you alone? Where are all the other little fireflies?" she asked the creature in a hushed whisper. It blinked in response, causing her to release a tiny hint of laughter. She quickly grew somber again.

"I'm alone too." The firefly blinked again. She smiled a genuine smile at the little lightning bug. They stayed that way, the girl and the bug, until she noticed the wind pulling at her hair, cooling her from her exhaustion.

She closed her violet eyes again, tipping her chin up and taking in the sensation of the breeze. The firefly seemed to notice too, taking leave from her hand and playing in the passing wind. She watched the blinking light in near fascination as it twirled through the air, circling her head. Smiling, Hotaru reached for it, but it flew away from her grasp.

Hotaru cocked her head to the side again, standing up and following the tiny burst of light as it flew. It weaved through the trees, beckoning Hotaru to follow it at it flew. Curiosity ebbed through her. Did the little bug understand her loneliness? Shrugging in submission, Hotaru following the firefly through the twisted paths of the park without further resignation.

The firefly finally alighted a low hedge, pausing for just a moment before flying over it in a burst of light. Hotaru studied the barricade before her. it wasn't quite a hedge, more like a series of very close chest-high bushes that continued in both directions. Carefully Hotaru pushed through one of the larger separations, gaining a number a scratches in the process. Pausing for a moment on the other side of the hedge line, she knelt down and healed a few of the larger scratches. She stood up to see one of the most beautiful sights of nature.

She stood in a small clearing, surrounded on all sides by brush and trees, moonlight streaming through a hole in the cloud cover made by the passing breezes. Yet the most spectacular thing was the hundreds of thousands of fireflies that danced around the clearing, her own little one blending with the others. They sparkled in the suddenly appearing moonlight like diamonds, floating through the branches of the trees and mingling in the breeze. She turned in a circle, dancing pulses of light surrounding her, enveloping her in the sight.

A small sound of awe and appreciation escaped her as she sank to the grass, watching the waltzing fireflies. Her own little one lost in the multitudes. Cupping her hands around a nearby one, she got the strange sensation that it was the same little bug that had lead her to the clearing.

"I see," she whispered, "I only thought that you were alone, but you really have alot of little friends here. All you had to do was go and find them."

She thought about her words. 'All you had to do was go and find them.'

Would that be true for her too? Were there people out there who would care for her as her father, but take the time to share it with her? Was there really a chance for her? Was there really hope for the small, dark haired, physically weak Tomoe Hotaru?

Looking at the firefly as it left her hand, she smiled. Yes, there were people out there. All she had to do was believe and hope. She did have a future, one always have a future, they just had to find it! She just had to find the people who would allow her to have a good one. She would wait, and she would look. She vowed silently, to never give up on those people, whoever they might be, who would be there someday. She would be there for them and help them, as they would someday help her.

Standing up and letting the firefly go, Hotaru brushed off her skirt to leave. Making her way back to the space in the hedgerow she examined the multitudes of light dashes around her. Turning her back to the hedge for a moment, hands clasped before her chest, she smiled at the natural beauty that she would never let herself forget. As she'd not forget the promises she'd made there.

"Thank you, little firefly. Thank you so much." She smiled as she spoke, seeing the hope in those tiny glimmers of yellow. Passing through the bush and into the vastness of the park beyond She looked up at the moon, once again being covered by the heavy blanket of clouds. As if to tell her this was their secret. The moon, the firefly's and Hotaru's. A smile, mixed in happiness and understanding played across her lips as she began to skip home.

The smile on her mouth and hope in her heart again.

And her little firefly flew higher in the sky, passing by the clouds as it looked for a leaf in the tree canopy to rest upon. Sitting on a leaf, it watched the dark little figure passing through the darkness. Transcending pain, loneliness and destruction. "Sweet dreams little girl, never forget what I've shown you. You're not alone." it whispered into the wind.

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