The Ninth Planet

A/N: This is just pure humor with the outers in all their family glory. Short and sweet. Read, review, and enjoy!

As per their nightly ritual, Setsuna Meioh, Michiru Kaioh, and Haruka Tenoh all joined together to tuck their adopted daughter, Hotaru Tomoe, into bed. All three knew that the little girl was spoiled and that this certainly didn't help, but with all that Hotaru had gone through they agreed to make her life as normal as possible. Well, as normal as it could be.

Tonight was one of the nights where Hotaru felt restless. She had been constantly growing at a quicker rate than all the other children around her, but recently the growth spurts started to level out. This allowed Hotaru to go back to school. Everyone was on board with the idea but Setsuna. The latter had taken to teaching their daughter at home, and while she knew public school was good, Setsuna missed having Hotaru around. For being 10, she was quite a sensational learner.

"Setsuna-mama! Michiru-mama! Haruka-papa! I got to learn about the planets at school today!" Hotaru's violet eyes shimmered excitedly as she recalled the lesson from earlier.

"Oh, did you now, hime-chan?" Haruka asked earning a very vigorous nod from Hotaru.

"Would you like to tell us about it?" Michiru added. It was wishful thinking, but she hoped if they could get Hotaru to spew out all the information she could that maybe it would tire her out enough to sleep.

"I learned about all eight planets!" Hotaru practically shouted from her spot on the bed. Haruka and Michiru exchanged a worried glance between each other. They both had an idea about where this conversation might go, and it wasn't pretty.

Setsuna had been quiet the whole time, as she mostly was, but when she heard the mention of only eight planets, something had to be said. "There are nine planets." The eldest corrected her gently. Hotaru shook her head in disagreement.

"No Setsuna-mama, we learned that there are only eightplanets." Hotaru emphasized the number thinking that would help get her point across. The girl pointed at Michiru. "I learned about Michiru-mama's planet," her finger moved to Haruka, "and Haruka-papa's planet! Neptune and Uranus!" Hotaru beamed proudly up at her parents.

"Did you happen to learn about my planet?" Setsuna asked calmly. Too calmly. Actually, too calmly for Hotaru to realize that she should have considered how to approach this question. It was too late for Haruka and Michiru to stop what was coming.

"No Setsuna-mama! Pluto isn't a planet anymore." Hotaru thought that she was simply stating facts that she learned at school today. She didn't understand why her parents were acting so strange.

"Ah, I really think it's time you get some sleep, firefly." Haruka tried to push a blanket over Hotaru, but she just kicked it off.

"I'll play my violin to help sleep." Michiru quickly offered knowing Hotaru loved when she played soft music for her to fall asleep to. Of course, being raised by the three older women, Hotaru was stubborn.

"I want to tell you about the planets!" Hotaru pouted. "I even learned about Saturn!" the little girl rarely referred to herself having any connection with Sailor Saturn. This fact even surprised Setsuna enough to bring her out of her state of denial for a few moments.

"Then why don't you tell us." Setsuna would always encourage the girl to be in touch with her planetary roots. Before they had all been afraid of Sailor Saturn, but once Hotaru was reborn without any influence from Pharaoh 90 and Mistress 9 the threat was completely gone.

Hotaru smiled happily at Setsuna and clapped her hands together. "I learned that Saturn has a lot of pretty rings around it! And so does Neptune and Uranus. I also learned that Uranus has a funny wobble to it when it goes around the sun, which explains why Haruka-papa is so weird sometimes." Hotaru was innocent enough to not realize what she was saying. She didn't quite understand why Michiru and Setsuna laughed at that, but grown-ups laughed at things she didn't understand all the time.

"Anything else, little one?" Michiru prayed that Hotaru wasn't planning on stopping there. Setsuna got extremely defensive about her home planet not being recognized as anything more than a floating rock. Unfortunately, Hotaru didn't have anything to add.

"Did you talk about Pluto at all?" Setsuna almost snapped at the younger girl outraged by the fact the public could so easily turn their back on such an important planet.

"We did talk about a little bit!" All three women looked at Hotaru expectantly. "I learned it's not a planet anymore." Setsuna was absolutely done with all the nonsense. Haruka and Michiru were nervous with how the eldest senshi would act and prayed that she would take it out on the teacher and not Hotaru. But right when the Plutonian was about to start, Hotaru beat her. "Setsuna-mama, why does it matter than Pluto isn't a planet?"

Ah, the sweet innocence of a child. Hotaru tended to ask questions that many people couldn't answer without thinking for a moment, and this was one of those questions. Haruka and Michiru were just as curious to hear the answer. The couple figured it had been something about pride.

"We're soldiers of the outer planets, Hotaru. How can I be part of that label if my kingdom isn't considered a planet?" Setsuna countered Hotaru's question with one of her own, but of course she had a quick response.

"Usagi-san doesn't have a planet. Neither does Mamoru-san or Chibiusa-chan." Hotaru stated with a shrug. "They only have the moon, and the moon isn't a planet." The simplicity of the statement is what killed Setsuna. How could someone so young practically tell her how irrational her anger was over answering a simple question?

"You're right." Setsuna stated in defeat. Haruka was trying her hardest not to laugh at how quickly Hotaru had shut down Setsuna. Michiru glared at her partner although she was also having a hard time not feeling amused by the outcome.

"Well I'm tired now." Hotaru yawned right after she said this. Haruka ruffled her short black hair before the trio walked towards the bedroom door. "Goodnight Setsuna-mama! Goodnight Michiru-mama! Goodnight Haruka-papa!"

Later that evening after Hotaru had been asleep for a few hours, the older three outers were sitting together in the living room of their shared house. "I've never heard konecko-chan get mad about the moon not being a planet..." Haruka ventured with a smirk towards Setsuna.

"I don't want to hear it." Setsuna snapped back. No matter what anyone said, Pluto would always be a planet in her heart.