She is there.
Trapped by the burning flames.
As my love was once.
When she was little.
The little blonde girl calls her mother.
She is terrified.
The flames are getting closer.
I walk towards her without saying a word.
My white hood hiding my face.
"Who are you?" she asks me. "Are you... Death?"
I don't say anything. I hold the child in my arms.
She buries her head in my chest.
The flames surround us.
As they begin to consume us, my hood rises.
She lifts her head.
She screams when she sees my face.
I scream with her as our bodies become completely engulfed in fire.
***
I scream as I abruptly get up from my bed.
I take off my nightgown, turn on the light in my room and look at my body in the mirror.
The body of a 30-year-old woman with long black hair.
A body with cyborg components on its arms and legs.
It is covered in burns. I hold back from screaming again.
The door of my room opens suddenly.
Haruka, Michiru and Setsuna enter the room.
"Hotaru!" Haruka exclaims, before feeling embarrassed at seeing me naked.
"Hotaru, what happened!?" Michiru said as she saw my burns.
"Did Ruvik have anything to do with...?"
"NO!" I said, interrupting Setsuna. "He wanted to help that little girl by taking her pain away!"
"A little girl? What little girl?" Haruka asks.
"A blonde girl. He felt her, surrounded by flames and even though he fears fire, he was..." I put my nightgown back on. "Never mind! He'll regenerate my body. The burns will go away."
"Hotaru..." Said Michiru sadly, while holding back from crying.
"I... We're fine."
I lie down again in my bed. Haruka screams in anger.
"NO! It won't be like this! Ruvik has no rights over you! You..."
"Ruben loves me, Haruka! Whether you like it or not!"
Haruka yells my name.
"I know you all hate him, that you want to kick me out of the house!"
"That's not true!" Setsuna retorted. "It's just..."
"...that he is dangerous, that he is a monster, that he has committed horrible crimes? I know that, I already know that! But he's inside me now and he's here to stay. Unless you would rather kill me?"
"Stop saying foolish things!" Michiru said, crying. "We love you, Hotaru. We raised you!"
I hold myself back from crying too.
Haruka, Michiru, Setsuna.
Why do they make things difficult?
"In that case..."
My voice becomes deeper.
"I beg you, leave her be."
Haruka, Michiru, Setsuna are stunned.
However, they clearly understood that Ruben speaks in my place.
He can control my body, after all, and project his mind like a ghost.
"I... She... My beautiful Hotaru... when I felt that little girl, she wanted to save her, but... She couldn't do anything so... so I accompanied her until the end. That’s what happened."
"Ruvik..." Michiru said softly.
"Leave! Please."
Michiru hesitates, then she leaves the room. Setsuna follows her, but Haruka stays where she is.
"You won't get off that easy." She said, before leaving in turn.
Haruka closed the door of my room behind her and turned off the light. Ruben/Ruvik gives me control over my voice and I start to cry. His voice echoes in my mind. He tries to comfort me. He says that he will always be there for me, that his love is eternal, that he'll protect me. In vain. I'm still crying.