The characters in this story belong to their respective creators and rights
holders. Ranma 1/2 is the creation of Rumiko Takahashi. Sailor Moon is the
creation of Naoko Takeuchi. All original content is the creation of Samuel
Phoenix. Recognition is given to John Sanchez for a small kick of
inspiration that helped produce this story, and to Harold Ancell who has
been a near constant source of input, information, and ideas.

Awkward Consequences
Chapter 3: Truth
PsyckoSama (syp104@psu.edu)

Haruka gave Hotaru a harsh glare, "Oh, shit? Is that all you have to say for
yourself, young lady?"

Hotaru gulped. How would she keep her secret? What would they do? She was
not ready for this! Hotaru sniffed and looked down. What could she say
without damning herself immediately? "Err... I think so."

Haruka's eyes narrowed but she was silenced by a wave from Michiru. "Hotaru.
We're worried about you. You're to young too be having sex."

Hotaru scowled. "Mama, Papa, how old were you when you started having sex?"

Michiru sank back for a second. "Sixteen...."

Hotaru smirked. "Exactly! Who are you to talk? I'll be sixteen in a month.
How am I too young?"

Michiru lowered her head, "Hotaru, we're just trying to protect you..."

Hotaru narrowed her eyes. "Protect me from what?"

"Yourself!" cut in Haruka. "Let me guess: the reason why you went to Nerima
was so you could sneak off and fuck your boyfriend! Someone who is old
enough to have sex should have outgrown sneaking off and secret boyfriends."

"It was not like that!" cried Hotaru.

"Ok then, just what was it like?"

Hotaru sighed. I a dreamy voice she said, "It was great. He does this
wonderful thing with his tongue..." Hotaru eyes jetted open, and her hand
went to her mouth. Did she really say that out loud? Blushing, she looked
down, trying to hide her embarrassment.

Haruka screamed in exasperation. "Not that! I don't want the fucking
details! How did it come about?!"

Hotaru blushed. "It... It just kind of happened."

Haruka face stiffened and her glair started drilling into Hotaru. "Like you
'kind of' forgot to use protection?"

Hotaru gulped and looked at Haruka through pleading eyes. Please don't go
there, nothing good will come of it.

"That is why you are too immature for this. When your mama and I had sex,
when we were younger, there was never any threat of pregnancy. We're both
women, it does not work that way." Haruka walked toward her daughter and
looked down, towering over her. "You, on the other hand, are dating a boy.
You can get pregnant! How long have you known him anyways?"

Hotaru was frozen. Her stomach was twisting, she was light headed, and she
was doing her best to avoid bursting into tears. "Two... two months, Papa."

"Two months! Are you ready to marry this boy, cause that is what you'll have
to do if you get knocked up..."

Hotaru had decided that it was the best option. She hoped he would ask her,
their child deserved a father. She also had a purely selfish reason as well.
She did not want to be alone anymore. Ranma was so nice, a kind accepting
heart that didn't cast her away. It also did not hurt that he had a really
cute butt, no matter his form.

Without thinking, she blurted out, "If he asks." After a moment, she winced.
Considering the situation, it was not a bright thing to say.

Haruka growled in exasperation. "That's fucking wonderful! Girls now a
 days!"

Hotaru looked up. Now this was stupid. "Haruka-papa, you're less than five
years older then I am."

Haruka snarled at having her words thrown back in her face. "Well, Hotaru,
what if you get pregnant and he doesn't marry you? Your honor will be
ruined, that's what. Your only real choice would be an abortion!"

Hotaru froze and her hand unconsciously lowered to her stomach. No! She was
never going to get an abortion. She was not going to kill her baby! The
simple fact that Haruka had suggested it was a personal betrayal, but she
stood fast.

"Even if you got married you would have to drop out of school, and if he
didn't your reputation would be ruined. You would be thought of as no better
then those little sluts who whore themselves at the bars downtown! Well,
Hotaru, you want to end up like that?"

Hotaru could no longer hear what Haruka was saying. The shock was too great.
Tears started to stream from her eyes as she though about what Haruka had
said. Was she just a little whore who had ruined her life? Would she ever be
able to amount to something? Was she really that pathetic? Why would Ranma
ever want a girl like her?

Hotaru released a cry of bitter anguish and pushed her way past her parents.
Ignoring their calls, she ran out the door, into the night street.

------------------------

"It started about two months ago, when Mike, a friend from school, you know,
one of the American overseas students, invited me to a party at one of the
dorms."

Ryouga gave Ranma a feral grin and cracked his knuckles. "Yeah, Ranma, and
how does that make cheating on Akane and knockin' up some poor girl not your
fault?"

Ranma glared at Ryouga. Could the pig shut up for a second so he could
explain? "Hey, I was getting to that! So he invited me to this party. Okay,
at the party they had booze. Lots of booze."

Ryouga rolled his eyes, "What? You gonna tell me that you got drunk? You don
't drink, Ranma."

Ranma rolled his eyes and reached into his shirt. "I don't smoke, neither,"
he said as he lit up a cigarette with burst of Ki.

Ryouga gawked. "When the hell did you start smoking?"

Ranma shrugged and took a drag. "I'm not sure. I think it was before my
fight with that Akuma guy, but after I rescued Akane from the Squirrel
King... Anyways, I only smoke when it gets too stressful."

Ryouga raided an eyebrow. "Pack a day?"

"Sometimes," replied Ranma.

"That sucks. Those things'll kill ya."

Ranma groaned, "So will crazy Amazons, violent tomboys, obsessive chefs...
hey, why do you care?"

Ryouga gave Ranma a wide, predatory grin showing his fangs. "That's my job."

"Yeah, yeah. I hear it every damn day! So where was I?"

"You were getting drunk..."

Ranma laid down and continued his tale. "I was not getting drunk. At least
not yet. They tried to rope me into drinking with them, but after only two
or three of shots of some nasty crap they called 'Rotgut' I decided to give
that up. It was then that I saw a cute girl hanging around the punch bowl.
She looked lonely and out of place, so I went over to talk to her. You know,
cheer her up? Well, we were both glad to have someone who was not drinking
their ass off to talk to. We grabbed some punch and spent a while hanging
around. We talked, but eventually things start to blur out."

Ryouga gave Ranma a funny look. "Saotome, I though you said you stopped
drinking?"

Ranma chucked, and took a drag of his cigarette. "Remember the saying 'don't
drink the punch'?"

Ryouga nodded, "Yeah..."

"We drank the punch."

"Oh... then?"

Ranma rolled his eyes. "I woke up in bed with her. That's what!"

Ryouga sighed. In a regretful, but at the same time playful tone he said,
"Well... this sucks. It really ain't you fault. Now I can't kill ya."

Ranma plinked and placed his hand on Ryouga's forehead. "You sick man? I
thought I just hear you not blame me for something."

Ryouga growled and pulled Ranma's hand off of his head. "What, you want me
to blame you?" He paused for a moment then continued, "So, how do you know
she's pregnant?"

"I was getting to that. When we woke up she kinda freaked but, I calmed her
down. After that we talked for a little while, and told each other a little
bit about ourselves and I told her where to find me if she ever needs help.
Earlier today she showed up and told me she was gonna have my kid."

"So, what are you going to do about it?"

Ranma rubbed his temple, "I have no idea. Absolutely no idea. I want to do
the right thing but, what is it man? I still have three fianc�es, my life is
a train wreck, and chaos follows me where ever I go. How can I drag her into
it?"

Ryouga shook his head, "Don't be an idiot, Saotome. That is not your choice.
You're not going to chicken out on this one, cause if you do I WILL KILL
YOU!"


Ranma though about what Ryouga said. The fool was right. He could explain
things to her but beyond that it was her choice, not his. Ranma smiled at
his rival. "Thanks Ryouga."

Ryouga blinked. "Saotome, did you just thank me for something?"

Ranma nodded. "Yeah. Ya really helped me out." Ranma paused for a moment.
"So how is Akari?"

"Don't even ask..." growled Ryouga.

Ranma blinked. Oh, well best not to get pig-boy started. "So... I'm headed
to my mom's. See ya Ryouga," said Ranma as he jumped to his feet but was
stopped by Ryouga's hand on his shoulder.

"No way Ranma. I will not be letting you out of my sight. I'm going to be
you conscience. You do something wrong and I'll send you to hell."

Ranma looked in Ryouga's eyes for a moment. The lost boy was serious. "Fine.
Just keep up. I'm not going to be waiting around for you." With that out of
the way, Ranma bound off the roof with a cry of, "You coming, P-chan?"

"Don't call me P-chan!" growled Ryouga as he pursued.

------------------------

Chibi-Usa smiled as she breathed in the crisp night air. She liked the past.
Everything was just so simple. She was free to just be Chibi-Usa, a normal
fourteen year old school girl, and not Neo-Princess Serenity. Here, she
could just lay back, have friends, and enjoy life.

Tonight she was visiting her best friend, Hotaru. While she was not exactly
fond of walking all the way to Hotaru's house, it was well worth it to see
her.

Chibi-Usa was knocked out of her train of thought and onto her ass as she
turned the corner onto Hotaru's street. She scowled as she got to her feet.
Whoever that was, is really going to get some lip.

"I'm sorry..." whimpered the crying girl who had knocked her over.

She froze. She knew that voice better then any other. In a flash, Chibi-Usa
was bent over helping the girl up. "Hotaru-chan? What's wrong?"

Hotaru looked up and threw herself into her friend's arms. She began sobbing
out everything that happened at home. Hotaru's voice was too fast and choked
up for Chibi-Usa to understand even a fraction of what she was saying. The
words she did hear, such as 'whore', 'baby', and 'abortion' really alarmed
her. She was getting a very, very bad feeling about this.

She gave her friend a tight hug then pushed her away so she could look her
in the eyes. "Hotaru, lets go to the park, okay?"

Hotaru nodded and spent the entire walk crying on her best friend's
shoulder. When they arrived, Chibi-Usa sat down on a bench and guided Hotaru
next to her

Hotaru nodded lightly and sat on the bench.

"Hotaru, could you please start from the beginning?"

She looked at her friend through tear-filled eyes and whispered something.
Chibi-Usa sighed, and gave her friend a hug. She looked like she needed
another one. "Hotaru, I'm sorry but I couldn't hear you."

Hotaru nodded and started to sob once more. After a few moments she spoke
again. Her voice was low and unsure, but Chibi-Usa was able to make it out.
It was not what she expected.

"I'm pregnant."

Her best friend was what?! Chibi-Usa felt her body go numb with shock.
Hotaru told her everything, and nothing she remembered had ever pointed
anywhere near this direction. "How?" Chibi-Usa managed to choke out.

Hotaru sighed, and looked toward her friend. "Remember that party, the one
two months ago?"

Chibi-Usa nodded. Hotaru had been so excited. One of the boys from her
school had asked her to come to a party with him. Though, afterwards, she
had uncharacteristically refused to say much about it.

"The reason he invited me was because it was a college party, he needed to
bring a girl to get in. He correctly guessed that I would jump at a chance
to go on a date. He... needed a girl that the college guys could get drunk
and...."

Chibi-Usa gasped. "Hotaru, you didn't!"

Hotaru sighed and nodded. "Yes, but not quite how you think. When we arrived
he left me at the punch bowl and walked off. I stood there for a while,
rejecting drunken college morons and being uncomfortable. That was until
Ranma came over. He was really sweet, and he did not fit in, either. We
talked for a while and had some snacks and punch. I think the punch must
have been spiked because I woke up the next morning in bed with him in one
of the dorm rooms."

Chibi-Usa scowled. "Sounds to me like he was just trying to get you to trust
him so he could take advantage of you."

Hotaru shook her head. "No, not Ranma. When we woke up he was so kind. I
freaked out when I woke up and he calmed me down. We talked for a while, and
he told me where to find him if I ever needed help with anything. Someone
looking for a one night stand would never do that."

Putting aside her skepticism, Chibi-usa inquired, "So, this 'Ranma' is the
father of your baby?"

Hotaru nodded.

Chibi-Usa sighed and slowly started to digest the information. It was hard
to chew. "When did you find out?"

Hotaru wiped her face with her shirt sleeve and continued, "The night before
last, but I have been suspecting for weeks."

"And you didn't tell me?"

"I... I was hoping that I was just sick... that my period was just late... I
didn't want to believe it.."

Chibi-Usa paused for a few moments then look towards Hotaru. "Does he know?"

Hotaru sighed, "Yes... that's how..." Hotaru looked down and started to cry.
"That's how I got into the mess I'm in now."

"What mess?"

Hotaru's wiped her eyes, but the tears continued to come. "When I went to
see him... he was so kind to me. He didn't reject me, he called me
beautiful." Hotaru blushed, but continued, "Chibi-Usa, I seduced him. I
didn't remember our night together, and wanted to know what being with a man
was like, so we made love. Please understand..."

Chibi-Usa shallowly nodded to her friend. While she could understand Hotaru'
s need for secrecy, she wished Hotaru had told her. They're best friends and
she wanted to be there for her. She blushed and looked at Hotaru, "So...
what was it like?"

Hotaru giggled, "It was like nothing I've ever done before. Ranma's amazing!
He knows the female body in a way no man ever could, and boy can you tell!"

Chibi-Usa cocked her head in confusion. "He knows the female body in a way
no man ever could? What do you mean by that?"

Hotaru looked at Chibi-Usa for a second, then spoke. "His life is... well...
not much different then ours. He has been forced to deal with a lot of chaos
and madness. One of the strange things about him is his curse."

"Curse?" inquired Chibi-Usa.

"He's kind of like the Starlights. He turns into a girl when he gets wet."

Now, it's getting really weird. Chibi-Usa gave Hotaru an incredulous look.
"Did he prove it to you?"

"Yes," replied Hotaru, "He dumped a glass of water on his head, and I
watched him shrink into a cute redhead with my own eyes!"

Chibi-Usa nodded. She had been through stranger. She could believe that
Hotaru's 'boyfriend' had that kind of curse. Such weirdness was probably a
requirement for having a relationship with a Senshi. One question was still
on her mind though. "Why are you so upset? Did your family find out?"

Hotaru looked down and started to cry again, "They found out about Ranma and
me. Haruka-papa was so cruel!"

Whatever Haruka had said really hit Hotaru hard. Chibi-Usa silently swore
that she would not let her get away with out a severe tongue lashing.

Chibi-Usa embraced her friend. She turned her head to Hotaru's ear and said.
"I love you Hotaru. You're the sister I never had. I'll always be there for
you and your baby."

"Thank you...," sniffed Hotaru. The Senshi of Saturn stood up and turned to
her friend. It was obvious that she was ready for more questions.

"How did they find out?"

"They... saw the stains on my panties. After we made love I didn't exactly
have a chance to take a bath before getting home. Somehow they knew to check
the hamper." Hotaru sighed. "So much for trust," she whispered to herself
more then anyone.

"Do they know... about the baby?"

Hotaru's tears began to flow once again. "No... and how could I tell them?
You didn't hear the things Haruka-papa said! Would they hate me? I want to
keep my baby, Chibi-Usa! I will never kill my child! But... the things
Haruka-papa said..."

Chibi-Usa shushed her friend with a raised hand. "Come on, Hotaru. You can
come to my place. I think we should talk to my mom about this. She might
know what to do. Tell her what you told me, okay?"

Hotaru smiled and nodded. "Okay. Thank you, Chibi-Usa. You're always there
for me."

Chibi-Usa giggled then started pulling her friend along. "That's what
friends are for!"  As they walked, her eyes narrowed, and her mouth twisted
into a perverted glance.  "So, exactly what was it like with Ranma?"

Hotaru smiled and blushed, "Well..."

------------------------

Ranma gulped as he pressed the doorbell of his childhood home. Now he had to
talk with his mother. While Ryouga gave him some ideas, and an 'incentive'
to do the right thing, it would be he mother who had the greatest say about
his fate. She would know what would preserve honor.

Nodoka quickly answered the door. Her face filled with joy the moment she
saw who her visitor. "Ranma! How are you, my son!" She quickly yanked Ranma
into the house, but paused when she saw Ryouga. She recognized him as one of
the boys who was always fighting with her son. "Ranma, isn't this one of
your adversaries?" she said in a stern voice.

"Yeah mom..." replied Ranma.

Nodoka looked over the fanged boy with a very stern, critical eye. She
remembered this boy. He and her son were always fighting, and they could
cause a great deal of damage. She did not want that in her home, especially
after the last time. "You may come into my home, young man. But you will not
lay a hand on my son or damage my house or its contents. If you can't
control yourself I will ask you to leave."

Ryouga gulped. He was obliviously unnerved by the severity of the look that
she was giving him. "I agree, Saotome-san."

Ranma quickly jumped to Ryouga's defense. It was obvious from his tone and
posture that he thought Nodoka was overestimating the problem. "Mom, give
Ryouga a break. We go a long ways back. To tell you the truth, me and
 him..."

"He and I," corrected Nodoka. "A manly man is one with proper grammar."

Ranma scratched the back of his head and continued, "Err... ok. Well, we're
rivals, Mom. We may kick the crap out of each other, but he's my friend."

Nodoka scowled. She hated it when he cursed, but really couldn't blame him.
He was raised by Genma and her husband could have a very foul mouth at
times.

Ryouga blinked for a moment but said nothing. Nodoka on the other hand
turned her head to Ryouga and smiled brightly. "You are my son's friend?"

Ryouga nodded. "I guess so, Saotome-san."

Nodoka smiled and shook her head. He was her son's friend, no need for such
formality. "Please call me Auntie Saotome."

Ryouga blinked and shook his head, like he was both flattered and confused.
"Okay... Auntie Saotome."

Nodoka smiled serenely and led the two to the living room. Moments later she
returned with tea and snacks. One of the most important things to Nodoka was
being a proper hostess.

Once she was seated, Nodoka asked her son, "Ranma, I am very happy to see
you. What can I do for you?"

Ranma gulped and looked down. "Mom, I'm in trouble..."

Ryouga glared at Ranma. "No kidding."

"What kind of trouble?" Nodoka's eye focused sharply on Ranma and after a
moment she took a guess. There were few things that could upset Ranma like
this. If Akane was kidnapped then he would be off rescuing her. If it was a
challenger then he would be fighting or training for a rematch. No, there
was only one thing that could distress her manly young man like this.
"Another fianc�e?"

"Something like that," replied the youth.

While Ranma was disturbed by his mess of fianc�es, most of them thanks
to her idiot husband, she was proud that he son could attract so many women.
Unfortunately his answer was far from sufficient. "Please explain."

"I... kinda... well..." Ranma gulped and looked down.

Nodoka frowned, whatever it was it really was hurting her boy. "Please
continue, Ranma."

Ranma sighed and just spit it out. "I kinda... knocked a girl up."

Nodoka just gawked. He mind raced with possibilities. As she stood there
blankly, Ranma began to get more and more nervous.

"Ranma..." said Nodoka, her voice low and contemplative.

"Yeah, Mom..." replied Ranma. He was obviously nervous and was sweating
heavily.

"You're so manly!" cried Nodoka as she jumped forward and embraced her son.

"Mom?"

Nodoka stepped back, her face glowing with happiness. "I'm going to be a
grandmother!"

Ranma blinked. This is not what he had been expecting. "Well, yeah...."

Nodoka began questioning him at almost mind numbing speeds. "Who's the
mother Ranma? Is it Akane-chan, or that boyish chef... It better not be that
silly Gaijin girl. She would never make a proper wife..."

"Mom...." interrupted Ranma.

Nodoka paid her son no heed and continued her rampant chatter. "Anyways,
while it was manly of you to pleasure a woman, it was irresponsible to
forget to use protection."

"Mom!" yelled Ranma. He really wanted her to listen to the rest of the
story.

"Yes, my oh-so-manly son?" Nodoka replied, her voice dripping with pride.

"Ranma, your mom's scary" Ryouga whispered in his rival's ear.

Ranma gave Ryouga a quick nod then acknowledged his mother. "She is not one
of my fianc�es."

Nodoka scowled. It was obvious that she was still happy, but her
disappointment was obvious. "Ranma, while it is manly for you to seek the
company of women, you have placed this family in a very delicate situation."

"I know."

"It is a matter of family honor that a Saotome marry a Tendo," replied
Nodoka.

Ranma scowled, it was time to make a point. "Mother, what about the other
two or three dozen engagements that my Old Man made? What makes them any
different? Those were nothing but the Old Man's bullshit. What the hell do I
have to stick to this one?"

Nodoka nodded. "I know, my son. I would like to ask your friend to step out
for a moment." She turned to Ryouga, "I wish to speak to my son alone."

Ranma stood up and turned to his mother. "Can we talk outside mom?"

She nodded, "Very well, son."

"Ryouga, wait here. Don't go anywhere."

Ryouga growled but did as he was told.

Once the mother and son duo were outside, and sitting down, Nodoka began.
"Our family honor is in a very difficult situation thanks to your father. He
has run our name through the dirt for the last ten years. I do realize this.
I almost hate Genma for it, but I see little way out of it. I have to
preserve what little honor your father has left us with."

Ranma nodded, "And that is why you were so obsessed with that damn
 contract?"

Nodoka nodded. "Yes... we have to preserve what honor we have left, but it
is not easy! I never wanted to hold you to that contract, but it is all I
had left!"

Ranma thought as he looked at his mother. "Mom... what about the
engagements?"

Nodoka closed her eyes, "Tell me about the mother of my grandchild."

Ranma nodded, and told his mother the full story. Everything that happened
that night until he arrived at the Saotome home. He left out few details.
Unlike the abridged version he told Ryouga, he did fill her in on the
conversation and subsequent sex on the roof.

Nodoka stayed silent the entire time. Her son deserved that much, but when
he finished she started to chuckle. "Ranma, I can see only one way to deal
with this."

Ranma gulped. His mind was clouded with apprehension. His mother's words may
very well decide his fate.

------------------------

"...and that was when I ran into Chibi-Usa," finished Hotaru. For the third
time today she had repeated the story of how this all started. She hoped
Usagi would have some ideas. She was out.

On Usagi's face was a gentle, friendly smile. Pulling the younger girl into
a hug, she said, "Hotaru, this is a time for joy, not sadness. You're going
to me a mother. Congratulations, Hotaru-chan!"

Hotaru smiled, "Thank you, Usagi. It's just going so fast. I feel like I'm
being swept away!"

Usagi sighed and placed her hand on the younger Senshi's shoulder "I know
this is just so much in so little time. It must be very hard, especially
after what Haruka said."

Hotaru nodded. Usagi was right, it was hard.

"What about the father? Do you know what he plans on doing?"

Hotaru sighed and laid back onto Usage's bed. It felt so calming, so restful
after what she had been through. "I'm not sure," she replied.

Usagi nodded, "Do you trust him?"

Hotaru sighed and looked at her princess. She could tell that Usagi was
hoping for the best, as she was. "I do. I think he is going to ask me to
marry him."

Usagi smiled, "That's good, but is it what you want, Hotaru-chan?"

"I... think so, but I don't want him to marry me just because of
responsibility." Hotaru hoped Usagi would understand. If they married, then
they would have to raise a child together, maybe even children, and she did
not want to spend decades of her life with a man who resented her.

Usagi nodded, "I understand, Hotaru-chan. You don't want to be married to a
man who does not love you."

Hotaru sighed and looked down. He had said some wonderfully nice things
about her, but how could a man like him ever love a girl like her.

"Don't worry, Hotaru! Once he knows the real you, he wouldn't be able to
resist falling in love!" chirped in Chibi-Usa.

Hotaru smilled. Chibi-Usa always knew the right thing to say when she needed
cheering up.

After a moment, Hotaru's frown returned. What about her family? Would they
reject her once they knew the truth? "What about Haruka-papa and
Michiru-mama?"

Usagi sighed. "I'll call them Hotaru. I'm going to tell them to come here so
we can... talk about this."

Hotaru nodded, "Are you going to tell them about the baby?"

Usagi nodded, "I really can't think of another way, but I won't tell them if
you don't want me to."

Hotaru curled up into a ball. She had not been this afraid since the night
she found out. Tears started to stream down her eyes. They would find out
tonight and she could only hope that she still had an intact family in the
morning. In a meek, fearful voice she said, "Tell them."

------------------------

"I hope Hotaru's okay..." grumbled Haruka. All three out the Outers were
waiting for Hotaru to return home. They knew there had been some harsh words
and both Michiru, and especially Haruka were looking for a chance to
apologize.

"You should Haruka. You went too far," growled Michiru.

Haruka sighed and looked at her lover. "I was just worried about Hotaru,
that's all. Someone had to be tough with the girl and I doubt you're willing
to... but I kind of went too far."

"Really?!" screamed Michiru. She was very angry about the situation.

"Hey, I was upset! I had a right to be angry. Our little girl was sleeping
around with some guy without even telling us, her family, that she had a
boyfriend, and to top it all off she was doing it without protection!"
replied Haruka in a fevered tone. She turned her head to Setsuna, who had
her nose in a book, and asked, "What do you think?"

"I agree with Michiru," said Setsuna, as she looked up from her favorite
copy of Machiavelli's 'The Prince'. They should really calm down. Everything
was going to plan.

Michiru took this to her advantage. "That's right! I wanted to sit her down
and talk about it, not scream at her until she ran off crying!"

Haruka growled, "That's total bullshit! You just short of ambushed me when I
got home, waved a pair of dirty underpants in my face, then demanded I do
something! Setsuna..."

"I want absolutely no part of this argument." grumbled Setsuna.

Haruka glared nastily at the outer-most Senshi, "For someone who claims to
be one of Hotaru's parental figures you don't do much."

Setsuna scowled and set down her book, "Exactly.... She is a big girl now.
She needs her independence. I'm giving her space and a shoulder to cry on
when she needs it. I do keep a look out for major personal events though. It
never hurts to double check."

Michiru scowled, "The ability to see the future is no replacement for good
parenting..."

"Would that be the same kind of parenting that sent her running out the door
crying?"

Michiru went silent while Haruka began to really fume. Setsuna took this as
an opportunity to continue reading. Moments later, the phone rang.

Setsuna looked to the side. Yet another distraction. She placed the book
down. "Fine. I'll get it." Without another word said she answered the phone.

"Hello, Usagi," said Setsuna moments after she lifted the phone.

A couple of seconds later she replied, "What about Hotaru?" This immediately
got the rapt attention of the other Outers.

The conversation only took a few moments, but both Michiru and Haruka were
confused when they saw Setsuna put down the phone. They had never seen her
look quite so animated. Her face was twisted into a strange little smirk and
her left eyebrow was twitching.

"What's up with her?" asked Haruka as Setsuna slowly walked to the kitchen.
Moments later she returned clasping a large glass and bottle, which Haruka
recognized as Setsuna's emergency bottle of something called 'Kentucky
Moonshine'.

"Setsuna, what's wrong with Hotaru-chan?" inquired Michiru, as Setsuna
filled the glass with the vile liquid.

"Congratulations, here is to the most idiotic action preformed in my recent
memory! Cheers!" said Setsuna raised as the glass to the two Outers, and
chugged the entire content.

Haruka winced. She had once been stupid enough to try that stuff. The
'liquor' made her go temporarily blind. "What the you talking about?"

Setsuna smiled. "Haruka, you really put you foot in your mouth this time!"

"What?"

Setsuna smiled twisted into a big comical grin. "It seems our child is with
child." Setsuna quickly thrust the bottle out to the other Outers. "Drink?"

Notes: Please comment. All C&C will be appreciated, applause will be happily
accepted, criticism will be considered, ideas would be useful, and flames
will be quickly discarded. Thank ye! ^_^

Thanks to everybody for their comments and help. :)

Chapter 4 will ben sent to the list later tonight or early tomarrow.


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