The girl looked at the address on the paper in her hands. This was it. She walked up to the largest tent and went in. There was a man, no, scratch that, he was to young to be a man. He was playing with the lions in the middle of the rings. She smiled. They looked so fearsome, those playful lions. The were roaring and snapping, but she saw through it. They were happy to be around the person with them. He had a very good handle on the whip he was snapping. it didn't get anywhere near the lions, although it looked like it did. She raised an eyebrow and shrugged. She wasn't here to watch, she was here to see if she and the girls could get a job here or not.

She thought back to that day two years ago. Haruka had died in a race when Oz had attacked and Michiru hardly talked at all anymore. On top of that, the Gods had forbidden Setsuna to leave the Gates of Time for more than an hour at a time. Everything had gone down from there. Two months after Haruka's death, they found out that Momaru was part of Oz and that it was he who had scheduled the attack that killed Haruka. Usagi was extremely mad. She took the golden crystal back, much to Mamoru's anger. He got back at her by attacking her fathers work when her mother and brother had gone to visit him. She lived in Michiru's mansion with all the rest of the girls. Rei's grandfather had died of a heart attack, and she refused to have anything to do with her father. Minako had started dating older men that used her and beat her. She was on a path of self destructive dating. They had all beat the crap out of the last one, and were now careful with the girl. Apparently the men had abused her mentally as well as physically. All in all, there lives weren't going to well.

They had decided for a change, and they figured the best way was for all of them to leave and go somewhere else. They sold the mansion to someone with the last name of Winner. Makoto had made rude comments about that last name for a while. They had all changed. Michiru was still refined and beautiful, but she was a lot more quiet, and fiercely protective. Minako was still as bubbly as ever, but she tended to burst into tears if some one she didn't know well was mean to her. Kind of like Usagi used to, only not as loud. Ami was still reserved and self effacing, but she was a fully qualified MD. Makoto tended to lose her temper a lot more easily, and she wouldn't take anything from anybody. She had become everyone's protector. Rei was Rei. She was the same as always, only she didn't make fun of Usagi as much. She had become more mysterious than ever in the eyes of the men around her. Usagi was still the happy girl that seemed as innocent as a humming bird, but she was harder than she used to be. The girl frowned to herself. She wasn't sure how she herself had changed. She was stronger, that much she knew. The girls were a;ways saying that she got into weird moods where no one knew what she was going to do next. She shrugged to herself.

They had started a talent show of sorts, with all of the girls doing things that could bring in cash. They moved from one place to another every week or two. None of them liked sitting still, except for maybe Michiru and Ami. Ami kept the books, and did a few tricks every now and then. Michiru kept to wherever they were staying for the most part, but every now and then she played her Violin. Haruka had been her other half, her soul mate. All of the girls worried about her. Constantly moving also kept Mamoru from pinpointing their location. Usagi had pointed that out. So they kept moving to new places and new experiences. Then, one day last week, after a little over a year and a half of floating all over the place, the manager of a circus had seen them and wanted to know if he could hire them all to work at the circus. They had told him that they had to think it over so he had given them his name and number, plus the address of the circus. They had decided that they would do it. Hotaru was the one chosen to go and give him the news.

She turned her attention back to the boy with the Lions. He had stopped and was looking at her. She started in surprise.

"Yes?" he asked quietly. He had messy chocolate hair with long bangs that completely covered one eye. The eye that she could see was emerald green and there was no expression on his face.

"I was looking for the manager," She old him. He pointed to a trio of people by another entrance to the tent. She nodded and went over to them. She noticed that none of them were the manager.

(AN- I don't remember the names of any of the people in the Circus except Catherine so I'm going to make up Alias' and your just gonna have to live with it. Most are gonna be slightly strange, but that's ok. They also dress like Circus people. I think they have the coolest clothes . . . I'm rambling, sorry - Damia )

"Do you need some help?" Asked a girl that looked about twenty two or so and had short spiky blonde hair and green eyes.

"Um, the boy with the Lions told me to come over here when I told him that I was looking for the manager," She told them.

"I'm his wife, call me Lady," A round lady said with a smile. She looked friendly, and had light brown hair with gray streaks in it that was in a bun at the nape of her neck.

"Hello, I'm Hotaru, Can you tell me where your husband is?" She asked the lady.

"Right now he's in his office biting his nails over a group of girls that he wants to work here, unless your from that group, you can't see him at the moment, you'll have to deal with me instead," She said with a smile.

"I am from that group of girls. We decided that we would join," She said with a smile.

"Well aint that grand?" The last person said. He had tattoo's all over him. Not so that all of his skin was covered, but there was a lot of ink on the skin. He was about 6'8" and bald with a mustache He smiled at her and held out his hand. She shook it and smiled back. "I'm Ink," He told her with a grin.

"Don't worry, that's just a nick name he acquired a log time ago, he wont tell anyone his real name," The first one said, "I'm Dish," She told Hotaru.

"well, let's get you to my husband before all hell breaks loose," Lady told her with a deep chuckle. She led Hotaru out the tent they were in and into a large group of Trailers. Each of the trailers was painted differently, but Hotaru didn't have time to look at all of them, because the Managers 'office' was in a small trailer in the front of the group. It was black with bright red trimming. She went inside and saw the man she had met with Usagi.

The manager, also known as Georgio, was sitting behind a desk writing things down and counting things out.

"Hotaru, My dear, please tell me that you and your friends have decided to join us in traveling the colonies and earth," He said as he spotted her.

"Of course we did. If we had decided not to, we would have called instead," She said with a smile.

"Does that mean that you do not like to let people down, or does this mean that you do not like confrontation, I wonder," He said.

"It means we don't like being roped into something we don't want to do," Hotaru told him with a grin, "Which is exactly what you would have done,"

"Well, it is safer for you to be here with us than out on your own. A group of women is not safe in this day and age, not where you are performing," He told her seriously.

"We realize this. Trust me, we realize this more than you could imagine. That's part of the reason we agreed," Hotaru told him.

"Part?" He asked.

"It sounded fun as well. Not to mention that we wouldn't have to worry about a lot of the things we worry about now," She answered.

"So when are you going to come join us?" Georgio asked.

"We need to ask you a few questions first," She told him.

"Ask away," He told her, spreading his arms.

"First, where do we sleep?" She asked him.

"Trailers. If you cannot afford to get yourself one, you will be squeezed tight with a few others," She was told.

"We can afford that. Do we have days off?"

"Many, any days that we are not performing or traveling," He told her.

"Good, Do we supply our own food?"

"Only if you want something special. Everyone is required to clean up after themselves. My wife does the laundry with our daughter, you bring that to the wash trailer, I will show you that later,"

"I'll call the girls, when can we come,"

"Anytime," he told her.

"we'll get the trailers and be here by the end of the day," Hotaru told him. They shook hands and Hotaru left. She pulled a cell phone out of her pocket.

"Hello?" came a voice over the phone. It sounded tired.

"Hey Ami, What's going on over there?" hotaru asked.

"The people next door complained to the manager that Michiru was playing her Violin to loud, and the manager yelled at Minako, who burst into tears and Makoto got mad at him, Rei was stopping Makoto until the idiot said that a weak women like them wouldn't have to worry about hurting them ,and the only thing that stopped the two of them from ripping the bastards throat out was usagi, who came to the door just in time to tell them to stop. I had to calm down Minako and Michiru has locked the door and wont let anyone talk to her. Not to mention that the manager decided that he didn't want us to spend another night her. Did you talk to Georgio?"

'Yeah, It's a good thing to. he said we could come anytime. we just need to get some trailers. That's what everyone here uses to live in. I told him we'd be here by the end of the day. I'll be home in a few, K?" She asked.

"Alright, get here soon. Michiru is starting to scare us again," Ami said before hanging up. Hotaru closed her eyes and willed herself not to let the tears she felt, fall. She climbed onto the back of Haruka's old black Harley Davidson. She pulled on the helmet and roared off down the street to the motel they were in at the moment.