La Guerrera del tiempo by Starsea

el perro de la luciérnaga

Theme: Abandon

"Setsuna-mama, look!"

Hotaru ran down the alley before Setsuna could call her back and disappeared behind a pile of boxes. Setsuna clicked her tongue and went after her. "Hotaru, you know that you're not supposed to run off," she began as she moved behind the boxes. The rest of the sentence disappeared.

Hotaru was holding a small akita puppy, probably only a month old. Its eyes were open, but that was its only advantage. Its fur, which should have been cream, was shaded from light to dark grey and it was painfully thin. Setsuna's heart contracted. "Hotaru..." she said.

"Even if I can't keep him, can I at least care for him at home while you ring the animal shelter?" Hotaru begged, holding the puppy close. It seemed too weak to protest at the closeness, or it would certainly have bitten her.

Setsuna hesitated, wondering if she could bear to take that puppy away from Hotaru, even if she did find a space at an animal shelter. Hotaru misread the silence.

"We can't just leave him here, Setsuna-mama! He'll die!" She blinked hard, holding back tears.

"We can take him home, but I don't know how Haruka-papa or Michiru-mama will react to him, Hotaru. That is out of my control. If they don't want him in the house, we will have to give him to a shelter."

"That's fine!" Hotaru cuddled the puppy closer, belying her words. "I just don't want to leave him here." The puppy turned around in her hands, snuggling closer to her warmth. Setsuna took a deep breath and told herself that she would not melt into a cooing mess.

"All right. You can take him home and keep him there while we decide what to do next."

Hotaru beamed at her. "Thank you, Setsuna-mama! I won't forget this!"

Setsuna nodded. She was more concerned with Haruka and Michiru's reactions. This was going to be interesting.


Title: The Firefly's Dog

DISCLAIMER: I own neither of these women, they belong to Naoko Takeuchi.

Back to Summary Page