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“We can start here,” Haruka said enthusiastically. They were holding a parental control handle, attached behind the seat of a children’s bicycle. The bicycle itself was occupied by four-year-old Hotaru, who was looking uncertainly down at her mount.
A new bike had been purchased for her last week. It was mostly powdery pink with a white seat, wheels and grips, while beside the handlebar were plastic daisies attached. And most importantly- it was a two-wheeled model, for now with two smaller wheels tightened at the rear for safety reasons. So far, the girl had ridden a tricycle and when she had mastered it well enough, Haruka, Michiru and Setsuna had decided to buy her a more “mature” type.
Haruka, as a devotee of almost all kinds of road vehicles, had been selected from the very beginning by the three of them, to teach Hotaru to ride a bike. This Saturday was also Haruka’s turn to “exhaust” their step-daughter with some physical activity so at ten o’clock in the morning they both were already with the fresh acquisition in the park nearby. By the by, the blonde had never thought before that parents organise their kids' time in various ways, not only to show or teach them something or keep them entertained, but furthermore to make them tired so adults can have more peace after returning home. Haruka understood it perfectly- they themselves had a lot of energy, which had to find an outlet somewhere, let alone such a toddler.
“I specially chose a less frequented alley. We won’t have to worry about you bumping into someone.” Haruka smiled encouragingly.
“Haruka-papa, you won’t let go of the stick, right?” Hotaru asked with obvious distress in her voice. When she had begun learning to ride a tricycle, she had felt as insecure as she did at that moment.
“You don’t have to worry about it either! That’s why I screwed these wheels on the back so you can keep your balance. It simply protects you from falling over. In a second, I’ll release the stick and you’ll see for yourself, okay?” Hotaru nodded. “And you didn’t roll over, you see? It’s the same as with your tricycle. Someday, you’ll get practice in this too.”
Suddenly, a horrible suspicion hit Haruka.
“Hotaru, if you don’t want to, we don’t have to be here. Nobody has the right to force you to do anything you don’t like. Of course, I’m not talking about daily duties that you’ll have when you get older! No one likes them… Anyway, I just want you to be happy with the time we spend together. I’m sorry I…”
“Nah.” The girl interrupted them. “My point was not to land on the ground. Everything is fine now, Haruka-papa! I really like this new bike, it’s so cute!”
Haruka thought that they should probably scold her for interrupting someone’s utterance but somehow they couldn’t do it.
Before defeating the enemy residing in the Mugen Academy, they had never considered being themselves a parent. Hotaru’s rebirth had turned everything upside down. Haruka hoped that despite the fact that they hadn’t planned this role for themselves, they managed to be a good guardian for Hotaru.
…
Michiru had been taking Hotaru with her to the swimming pool for a long time.
The little brunette, in contrast to cycling, felt in the water… well, like a fish in the water. She loved to splash around, no matter where: ocean, pool or water in the bathtub were all excellent and were a pretext for having a great fun.
Hotaru probably would have been able to swim even better than she did presently, had it not been for the fact that they had commenced their common trips to the pool too late. The abrupt appearance of a small child in the lives of three Sailor Guardians had brought with it a whole lot of things to settle. Formalities related to adoption, move to a new home, change of jobs to ones close to their current place of residence and many more. When they had managed to deal with everything and finally had had time to think about future comprehensive education for Hotaru, she had become too big for classes in the pool for infants.
Michiru wondered if such lessons would even make sense for the rejuvenated Sailor Saturn. She was a teenager and then she went back to her baby’s stage. So most recently, she was in her mother’s womb many years ago and might not have the reflexes typical of infants, associated with being in the amniotic fluid. Or maybe it was otherwise and her body turned back in time more than it grew younger? They will probably never know it.
So now, Michiru was conducting their little swimming course for Hotaru. The girl usually took pool baths in the company of her favourite, large swimming ring- it had a pink flamingo head, while the ring itself was transparent with colourful glitter. But today, she relied only on purple swimming sleeves, matching the colour of her bathing suit.
“Sweetie, hips more up… Exactly like that!” Hotaru was floating on her back on the surface of the water. Michiru, standing opposite her side, was keeping her hands under Hotaru’s torso, in case the girl began to sink. The woman was wearing a light blue, one piece swimsuit.
“I’ll take my hands away in a moment. Are you ready? Great… And you float completely by yourself, without anyone’s help! Good job!”
Then, Hotaru started swinging her legs and, as result, moved about a metre on the water, before smoothly lowering her feet and returning to the upright position.
“Michiru-mama, did you see?! I was swimming on my back on my own!”
The Guardian of Neptune felt a wave of pride flooding her. She internally exclaimed “my genes!”, until she remembered that Hotaru wasn’t her biological daughter. Of course, blood ties had nothing to do with the bond they shared.
When the girl will grow up a bit, Michiru will commence teaching her to play the violin. But before that, Hotaru will learn how to swim without additional protection like sleeves or ring.
Michiru wanted very much to give Hotaru the best. She intended to introduce her to various interesting activities. Who knows, maybe one of them will occur to be her huge passion one day? Michiru’s biological relatives didn’t care about her so she swore to herself that if she became a mother, she would be the most superb parent in the world, always looking after her child - or at least she would do anything to make it happen. Fortunately, everything was going well in her life now and she actually had a real family.
Haruka, her great love. Setsuna, the older sister she always wished to have. And Hotaru, the most wonderful gift from fate.
…
Setsuna and Hotaru walked together on the sidewalk, holding hands.
It was a warm, sunny afternoon. Setsuna had recently returned from work and had noticed that there were some food products lacking in the refrigerator. As they were needed to make dinner, it became necessary to go to the store to replenish supplies.
The planned purchases weren’t extensive, so only the two of them could go for it and, in addition, on foot. Habitually, they rode Haruka’s large, family SUV to do bigger errands but this time it wasn’t a must.
Thus, Setsuna and Hotaru went to the minimarket in their neighbourhood. They were just halfway there when Hotaru looked up to one of her adoptive mothers, accompanying her and spoke.
“Setsuna-mama?” She said sweetly and a bit shyly.
“Yes Hotaru?”
“Could you count to one hundred aloud for me?”
This request might seem strange to someone who has never dealt with a young child. However, Setsuna was already so familiar with it at that point that she didn’t feel even the slightest surprise. Hotaru, like every toddler, regularly asked their three about more or less astonishing things: for example, Michiru all the time sang her opening theme of her favourite mahou shoujo anime and Haruka had to draw various internal parts of the car. In turn, Setsuna, whom Hotaru saw as a source of all kinds of wisdom, was questioned about everything that came to the mind of a small girl.
So today, Setsuna proved that she can count to a hundred. She began doing it, then she had to stop at the entrance to the store and later continued on the way home. Soon, Sailor Pluto ended and Hotaru appeared to be entirely pleased and satisfied.
“In the near future, we can try to teach you to count to more than ten,” Setsuna proposed. Since Hotaru started to be fascinated by numbers, maybe it was really the right time yet?
The girl visibly animated herself at that.
“Exquisitely!” She shouted. It was her new, favourite word. “That is, I would know digits like an utterly big kid!”
Setsuna smiled warmly. She adored watching this baby’s happiness. When Hotaru was happy, she also felt the same.
She set herself the goal of ensuring the girl the most advantageous possible development. Provide her with knowledge and skills that may be useful in adult life. But of course, the most important ingredient couldn’t be missing from it all. Namely, love.