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Destiny or Duty
Title: Destiny or Duty
Author: kazeko [ginnokonekochan@yahoo.com]
Show: Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon
Rating: M15
Chapters: 15, finished
Timeline: “The Last Sacrifice: The End of the Silver Millennium”, “CAS 1: The Trouble with Love”, “CAS 2: To Defy Destiny”, “Every Cloud”, “Crystal Shards”, “CAS 3: Unwilling Accomplice”, “The Reason We Fight”, “CAS 4: Princess of Light”, “The Reason We Still Fight”, “The Reason We Fought”, “CAS 5: One Last Shining Star”, “In the Darkest Forest”, “Destiny or Duty”, “Desperately Searching”, “Kazeko”, “Chronicles of the Star Senshi”
OHC: #300
Couples: Haruka/Michiru, Rei/Usagi, Mamoru/Usagi, Makoto/Ami
Archives: SMStars, Neptune&Uranus
Lists: Moonlight Sonata & One Hour Challenges
Series: only as part of my timeline ;-)
Time: Immediately after episode 200
Summary: Haruka makes a wish she ends up regretting
Disclaimer: Takeuchi Naoko owns every character in this story.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Chapter 1: A Night of Tears
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Haruka sipped her cool drink, silently watching the stars dance past
Haruka laughed at the sudden thought, for the smaller senshi was not the wind. She was most definitely the sea, the waves, crashing and fierce when disturbed but calm, peaceful, and loving when so gently touched. How was it, then, that they worked so well together; why did Michiru stay with her, why did Michiru love her so very much? Was it fate . . . or the fight?
Haruka’s empty glass shattered in her hand and she blinked as she realized how very hard she had been gripping the cup. She stared at the dark blood welling up from the cuts on her palm and slowly, leisurely, dripping to the roof. The tiny pieces of glass embedded in the wound sparkled in the faint moonlight, and the magnified light reminded her of the Star Seeds she and Michiru had stolen from their friends and fellow senshi earlier that day. She saw Saturn and Pluto fade away; she watched as she and Michiru attacked their princess; she touched Michiru’s hand as both of them died, their efforts and deception utterly worthless. She squeezed her unhurt hand into a fist, tears welling up in emerald eyes unused to such moisture. She and her Michiru had done their best, tried everything they could, but Galaxia had been too powerful for them. As she had done so many times in the past, Sailor Moon, Tsukino Usagi, Princess Serenity, saved the world alone, by herself, with no help from the eight dead Sailor Senshi sworn to protect their princess, to die before she fell to the enemy. When she needed them most, her guardians had not been there. “Then she brought us back to life,” Ten’ou Haruka whispered to the cold, uncaring winds. “She forgave us, she still loves us, even though we almost killed her. Even Setsuna-san and Hotaru-chan forgave us, but we do not deserve such mercy. I do not deserve such mercy.”
“Haruka?”
The Uranian Senshi looked up at her name, startled. Michiru had been sleeping when she left the comfort of their shared bed for the questions posed by the cool night wind. The aqua-haired beauty walked into the pale moonlight, long, loose hair blowing in her partner’s gusting wind, silky nightdress revealing her long, shapely legs. “Why are you out here, Haruka?”
The blonde looked away, her short hair shadowing her deep emerald eyes. When her partner didn’t answer, Michiru moved closer, gasping when she caught sight of her lover’s injured hand. “Oh, Haruka,” she whispered, tears in her sapphire eyes as she bent down, white handkerchief in hand. “You shattered your glass.”
“It doesn’t hurt, Michiru.”
The Neptunian Senshi looked up at the taller woman, frowning at the tears sparkling on Haruka’s cheeks. “Why are you crying?”
“I’ve been thinking,” the blonde whispered, looking up at the stars.
Michiru knew that her lover would volunteer little else, so she let the silence stretch as she carefully removed the shards of glass from the senshi’s hand. “Let’s go inside so I can wrap this up,” Michiru whispered.
Haruka followed her partner mechanically, her will still lost to the swirling winds. “So tired,” she whispered softly, her voice dark and a little frightening. “So very tired.” Kaiou Michiru knew that something was dreadfully wrong with her partner, but she waited until Haruka was sitting on their bed, in the light, before she dared to ask.
“Why are you tired, beloved?”
“Why did they forgive us, Michiru?” Haruka countered, eyes still hidden by her short hair, her voice choked with unshed tears. “We killed them, we could have killed her, but they forgave us, anyway. We don’t deserve it; I don’t deserve it.”
“That’s how we fight, Haruka. Usagi-san understands that.” Michiru used a wet cloth to clean Haruka’s hand, thankful that there weren’t many cuts and none of the wounds were serious.
“Why does she always forgive us? I hate this fight, Michiru. I hate this war.”
“It’s our destiny, Haruka.”
“What if that’s the only reason we’re together?”
Michiru’s head shot up, tears in her round blue eyes, tears that her lover couldn’t see with her head hung. Fear and pain followed the first of the tears, the same emotions that filled Haruka’s distant green eyes. “What do you mean? Haruka, I love you. I really do.” Her tortured voice was little louder than a whisper, her hand on Haruka’s leg clenched into a fist.
“I know,” Haruka whispered, looking into her lover’s eyes, placing her uninjured hand on the kneeling woman’s soft cheek, wiping away the warm tears. “I love you, too, Michiru, but what if there was no fight? Would we still be together? Would we love each other, Michi? Would we stay together? Or would you be with some man, never knowing the racer you only met because of the approaching silence?”
Michiru, searching for something to say, covered Haruka’s hand with hers. “I don’t know, my love, but I think we would always be together. I hope we would.” She felt more tears run over her hand, responding to her lover’s pain, and she fought them back. “We’re together now, and that’s all that matters.”
Haruka leaned back and watched, silent, as Michiru wrapped a bandage around her injured hand, pausing often to wipe the obscuring tears away from her sapphire eyes. She wanted to help the young Neptunian princess, but the Uranian had no words of comfort or hope to offer. She had no idea how to make her lover stop crying.
Michiru finished silently, putting the remaining bandages away and slipping into bed beside Haruka, pushing the woman onto their bed and covered her up. “Go to sleep now, Ruka,” Michiru whispered. The blonde stared at the ceiling, lost in thought, as her partner princess pulled her lover’s arm around herself, needing comfort after their
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Chapter 2: A Planet’s Search for Absolution
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Haruka knocked on the door, thankful that Michiru was out and Hotaru was studying quietly in her room. She would have a chance to talk with Setsuna alone.
“Come in.”
Haruka entered Setsuna’s study, chasing all emotion from her face. The Guardian of Time looked up from the book she was reading, gesturing for her leader to sit. Haruka, a bit uneasy, cleared her throat, unable to meet the older woman’s eyes. “Setsuna-san, we’ve been friends for a very long time, since the Silver Millennium, and you’ve always been very helpful, even after what happened.” Setsuna inclined her head, a half-smile on her face. “I’ve come to ask for your help once more.”
“What do you need, Haruka-san? And, to be blunt, why aren’t you talking to Michiru-san?”
“She doesn’t understand, Setsuna-san, and she can’t answer. I’ve been wondering lately why she and I are together. Is it really fate, or is it just because we fight side-by-side as Sailor Senshi?”
Setsuna put her book down and turned her full attention on her leader, sensing that Haruka’s mood was far worse than any normal bout of depression. “Haruka-san! Why are you wondering such things? You love her, I can tell. Everybody can tell. You do love her, don’t you?”
“More than I can express in words. But why do I love her? If it isn’t for the right reasons, then I’m holding onto Michiru and preventing her from the living the life she’s destined for. In other words, what if the binding between the two of us is not the red string of fate at all but merely the strong attraction between our henshin sticks that brought us together?”
“I cannot answer that, my friend, but I do not think that you need an answer. Destiny or duty, you two are together and you love each other. That is all that really matters, Haruka-san. Any false love would have shattered by now.”
Haruka shook her head, dismissing the green-haired woman’s argument. “That’s what Michiru said, and I can’t believe either of you. Setsuna-san, you’ve been alive for a very long time as Sailor Pluto, and you’ve seen a lot of things. Isn’t there someway to test fate? I have to know. After what happened with Galaxia, I just have to know.”
Setsuna nodded, her dark red, mysterious and unnerving eyes thoughtful. “Go to the temple near Usagi-san’s house tomorrow morning. Your only chance for an answer will be there.”
“Thank you, Setsuna-san.”
“Don’t thank me, Haruka-san,” Pluto warned. “I do not think that you will like what you find. My friend does nothing the easy way.”
Haruka nodded. “Wakarimasu. Demo, shiranakucha. It isn’t fair to Michiru if we aren’t meant to be together. No matter the sacrifice, I have to discover the truth.”
“Very well. We’ll see what happens.”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“Excuse me?”
The head priest of the temple turned around, one eyebrow raised. “Yes?”
“Boku wa Ten’ou Haruka desu. I was told to come here.”
“Ah, Meiou Setsuna’s friend. The person she sent to meet you is in that room, though she asked me to warn you about what you will see and experience.”
“Thank you, but I’ve already been warned.” Haruka bowed and entered the indicated room, breathing in once before closing the door behind herself.
“Oshou-san?”
The priest, wondering at the sudden increase in visitors, turned again, smiling. “Ah, Rei-san!” The Shinto priestess bowed to her friend, smiling but clearly worried. “Hino Rei, what a surprise. I didn’t expect you to come down from your hill today.”
“I came with a couple of friends.” Rei introduced the blonde girl beside her as Tsukino Usagi and the tall, dark-haired man as Chiba Mamoru. “We came because we are worried about Ten’ou Haruka, our friend. Is she here yet?” A third woman, one with shoulder-length aquamarine hair and piercing sapphire eyes, joined the group, worried about the answer. She was clearly also a friend of Rei, Usagi, Mamoru, and Haruka.
“Why yes, she is. She came to see a friend of Setsuna-san, to ask for some help. I don’t know what her question is, but Setsuna-san seemed very worried about her.”
“I wish she would talk to me,” the sapphire-eyed girl whispered. “I’m pretty sure I know what her question is, and I already told her that everything would be okay. I really wish she would trust me or any of you.”
“Should we go see her, Michiru-san?”
“No, Usagi-san, that’s okay. If you would talk to her once she emerges, though, I’d be grateful. She respects you, and she only won’t listen to me because she knows I speak from love.”
“I’ll talk to her,” Usagi promised, looking up at her boyfriend. She knew what it was like for the person you loved not to speak to you even though there was something dreadfully wrong. She wouldn’t let anything like that happen to Haruka and Michiru. “I have a bad feeling about this,” she whispered.
“Me, too,” Rei replied, all eyes watching the door Haruka had disappeared through. The small group waited patiently, all knowing deep inside that Haruka would not be the same when she emerged. If she emerged.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Chapter 3: You Really Won’t Like This
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
A tall, willowy woman with silver hair and amethyst eyes, clothed in a flowing white dress trimmed in gold met Haruka, and, for just a moment, she swore that she saw white feathered wings folded sedately along the woman’s spine. But that was impossible. “Ten’ou Haruka, Sailor Uranus, Protector of Princess Serenity?” Haruka nodded, not in the least bit wary. Something about the woman seemed so familiar, so right, and Haruka instantly trusted her. “My name is Tenbano Tejina, and Meiou Setsuna sent me to help you. Call me Tejina.”
“Tejina-san?”
The woman, smiling in amusement, nodded. “Yes. What is your question?”
“I am in love with someone, and we’ve been together since Junior High, and we’ve been lovers for almost the entire time we’ve lived in
“You two have been through a lot together, Haruka-san, and that kind of closeness, being able to read each others’ minds in a fight as you do, can’t be just because you’re Senshi. After all, in the Silver Millennium your planets were forbidden to be together.”
“I remember. But we defied those orders.”
“So what’s wrong?”
“It was the fight back then, too,” Haruka whispered. “We died in each others’ arms in the final battle and we never really knew for sure back then.”
“And your child? Helios? Do you think he was a product of duty?”
Haruka, never stopping to wonder how this woman knew what her own princess did not, shook her head. “He may have come from our love, but it was our Senshi power that made him possible. I don’t want to ask Setsuna-san because I know she won’t answer.”
“Did you ever stop to wonder if Michiru-san thinks about this fight or fate thing?”
“We can wonder all we want, Tejina-san, but nothing is going to answer our question.”
Tejina sighed and clasped her hands together. She had tried everything, but nothing more than the most extreme demonstration could pierce a stubborn senshi’s heart. “I can. I have a way to answer your question, but I promise nothing. I can tell you that you will discover if you and Michiru-san would have been together anyway, but any change in one person’s life changes everything. I cannot promise that no one will be hurt or that any of you will even survive. If you are willing to take this risk, if you are willing to subject the people you love and the people who love you to this change, I can answer your question.”
“I’ll do anything,” Haruka whispered, emerald eyes fierce.
“Granted.”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Usagi gasped, hands clasping her heart, as she fell to the floor, blue eyes blank and empty. “Usako!” Mamoru cried, catching his girlfriend, gasping as blood began to drip from an unknown wound on his shoulder, covering the blonde girl in red.
“Usagi!” Rei fell down beside her best and closest friend, placing a hand on her belly as pain exploded out from her stomach. Her hand came away coated in blood and she whimpered.
Usagi’s brooch glowed red for an instant, exploding as the crystal shattered and she breathed her last breath. “Usako!”
“Usagi,” Rei gasped, falling to the ground, her blood pooling under her.
Michiru fell to the ground, the Aqua Mirror in her hand a mass of shards. Her sapphire eyes searched desperately for her lover as the life faded from her body. “Ruka . . . ”
Then reality shifted.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Chapter 4: And Reality Shifted
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Tsukino Usagi walked home slowly from school, her head pounding, another failed test in her hands. Maybe she should just give up. She couldn’t do school, and she was missing something very important. There was a new genius in her class, maybe she should ask her for tutoring. Lost in thought, wondering where her friends were, Usagi managed to wander into a part of town she had never visited before, facing the Hikawa Shrine. Usagi briefly congratulated herself for being able to read the kanji on the sign before heading to the top of the hill. She must have had some reason for wandering to a shrine.
The girl that greeted Usagi at the shrine was a black-haired girl about her age, gray-violet eyes kind and welcoming. Usagi couldn’t help but smile, and her headache eased somewhat. “Hi,” she whispered. “I’m Tsukino Usagi.”
“I’m Hino Rei, and I work at this shrine. Did you come here for a reason, Usagi-san?”
The blonde sat down on a nearby bench and sighed, her schoolbooks in front of her. “I was just wandering around and ended up here. I guess I was just lonely.”
“Lonely? A girl like you must have lots of friends.”
Usagi shook her head, touching her temples. Her head was beginning to throb again. “I don’t have the ones . . . there are others . . . someone is missing, Rei-san. My friends aren’t here.”
Rei touched Usagi’s forehead, and all of the pain vanished. Shocked, the blonde looked up at the priestess. “Better?”
“How did you do that?”
Rei shrugged, taking the test from Usagi’s hands. “I know a few tricks. Is this why you’re upset? I would be.”
Usagi, oddly enough, took no offense at the girl’s words. “Yeah, and those people that should be here but aren’t. I could get my grades up, but there’s nobody to care.”
“Then I’ll be your friend, Usagi-san. I care. Why don’t you come over here tomorrow after school and we’ll see what we can do for you?”
Usagi nodded, a smile spreading across her face. “Okay.”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“Usagi! Rei-san is here!”
Usagi ran downstairs at her mother’s call, smiling at the sight of her friend. “Rei! Where are we going today?” Ikuko watched the pair leave, amazed at the change Rei had created in her daughter. Usagi had never been so happy before meeting Rei, and every day she saw the young priestess was a day when her smile lit the world. What power did Rei hold over Usagi?
Rei smiled and led Usagi down the street, watching her friend’s excitement and utter joy. She had never known anyone so full of energy and happiness. There was no one who could rival Usagi in a good mood, and when she cried everybody did everything they could to make her happy again. Rei was no exception.
“What’s in the basket?”
“Hm? This basket?” Rei held the basket out in front of her, stepping back when Usagi reached for it. “You mean this basket?”
“Rei-chan! Let me see!” Usagi finally caught Rei’s arm, opening the basket, and she gasped. A little black cat sat at the bottom, a crescent moon bald spot in the middle of her forehead.
“Mroww?”
“For me?”
“Yes, for you.”
Usagi pulled the cat out and tears gathered in the corners of her huge blue eyes. “Rei, she’s perfect. How did you know how much I wanted a cat?”
Rei couldn’t keep from smiling at the utter elation in Usagi’s eyes. “She followed me home last night, after I walked you home from the shrine. She looked so lonely and I can’t keep cats at the shrine because of my crows so I brought her to you. I hope you like her.”
Usagi hugged Rei, her tears dripping on the priestess’s shirt. “I love her, Rei.”
“I named her Luna because of that bald spot.”
Usagi pulled away and looked at the little black cat through her tears. “It’s perfect, Rei. I don’t deserve a friend like you.”
“You deserve more than one, Usagi. Let’s go to the park, shall we?”
Usagi nodded and followed her best friend, the little cat purring in her arms. “I don’t deserve you, Rei. I really don’t.”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Chapter 5: Is Destiny Even Paying Attention?
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“You were studying so hard just a month ago! What happened?”
Usagi looked away, clenching her fists. “I don’t know. It’s just not so easy anymore. It was easy a month ago, and now it’s hard.”
“So you stopped trying?! Usagi, are you trying to fail?”
Usagi winced at the steel in Rei’s voice. “It’s so hard, Rei. I’m not smart.”
“Yes you are,” Rei hissed, crumpling the failing test up and throwing it over her shoulder. An offended grunt spun both girls around, and Usagi gasped at the tall, black-haired man standing there, her test in his hands.
“I remember you! You’re Chiba Mamoru.”
Mamoru raised an eyebrow, his eyes fastened on the test. “And I remember these horrible test scores. You must be that Odango Atama.” He looked up as Rei snatched the paper away, already angry and ready for some sort of violence.
“Keep your nose out of our business,” she snapped. “Neither of us asked you to comment.”
“Sorry,” he apologized, hands held up defensively. “You really are protective of her. Are you her sister?”
“That’s none of your business!” Rei turned to Usagi, suddenly realizing how her young friend had greeted the unwelcome guest. “You know him, Usagi?”
“I met him a while ago. Also with a bad test. I don’t mind what he says, Rei; I am stupid.”
“No you’re not! Is she?”
Mamoru raised an eyebrow at the question, glancing significantly at the test in Rei’s hand. “I don’t have to say anything; her test scores tell the tale.”
He was on his back in five seconds flat.
Rei, a master of martial arts, knelt by the man’s head, hand on his throat, a fire in her eyes that Usagi had never seen. Rei was a fighter, but she rarely had a target. “What was that?” Mamoru knew better than to make her any angrier.
“Um, test scores aren’t anything. Even royals must do badly sometimes.”
“Princess,” Usagi whispered, eyes distant, hands clasped in front of her heart. “That sounds so familiar, Rei-chan.”
Mamoru looked up at the blonde girl, and something in her stance, the light pooling around her, reminded him of something from his past . . . she looked like a princess . . . the image vanished when Usagi reached her hand down to help Mamoru stand up. Taking her hand, unable to look away, he pushed himself to his feet. “Sorry, Odango Atama. I’m sure there’s someone at your school who can help you study. If you need, I could tutor you.”
Rei snorted at that offer, but she stayed silent as Chiba Mamoru walked away. Usagi watched him leave, hands clasped over her heart again. “I know him, Rei-chan, I’m sure of it. From some other place or time, I know him.”
“And?”
Usagi touched her lips, feeling warm hands on her neck and back. “So warm . . . he and I were very close, Rei-chan.”
Rei felt a surge of protectiveness, but she was afraid to frighten the younger girl. She rested an arm across Usagi’s shoulders, lending support without inhibiting. “Usagi, I don’t know what life you keep remembering, but here he’s a jerk. Let me take you home now, and you try to study a bit harder tonight than you did last night. Okay?”
“Okay.”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“Ten’ou Haruka-san?”
The tall blonde, packing her stuff after her race, turned at the sound, her short hair shifting in the breeze. One of her opponents in the race she just one, a dark-skinned, rose-haired girl named Elza Grey stood there, a smile on her face. She raised an eyebrow, and the other girl chuckled.
“I had heard that you were good; I never imagined that you were so very fast. There is someone here who wants to meet you.” Elza bowed and stepped back as an aqua-haired young woman no taller than five four took her place, a sketchpad held in front of her, light blue school uniform accenting the sapphire in her deep eyes. Haruka, easily four inches taller than the stranger, let a smile spread across her face, attracted instantly to the woman’s gentle beauty.
“Hello, Ten’ou Haruka. My name is Kaiou Michiru and I’ve heard a lot about you. I saw you race today, and your speed was unbelievable, almost like you were trying to merge with the wind. I know you can hear it calling you. Elza-san was very kind to introduce me to you.”
Haruka smiled and turned fully toward the young woman, turning on her charm. Attracting women was easy and quite an interesting game with which to pass the time, but Michiru wasn’t anything like any of the women Haruka had dated in the past. “Why did you want to meet me, Kaiou-san?”
“I wanted to ask you if you would be so kind as to pose for my next drawing.”
“You’re an artist?” Haruka caught herself and nodded imperceptibly. “Yes, I remember now. I went to one of your exhibits. You’re very good. Why me?”
“Because you look so . . . powerful out there. I want to try to capture that.”
Haruka bowed, feeling that she had some reason to be wary of this gorgeous woman, but she had no idea why. “I would be honored, Kaiou-san.”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Chapter 6: The Artist
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Haruka watched as Michiru painted, amazed at the intense concentration on the artist’s calm face. She watched the light play across Michiru’s face as the sun set and the artist’s brush moved faster and in shorter strokes. Michiru’s hair was pulled back into a ponytail to keep it out of the way while she painted, but one long strand had come free, playing across her face and caressing her cheek even as Haruka imagined doing. She let her imagination move from Michiru’s cheek to her neck and down further, but she caught it before it did something she would regret. Haruka very much wanted to touch Michiru’s soft skin, though.
Michiru looked up suddenly, as if sensing the direction the blonde’s thought were wandering. She locked eyes with Haruka for a moment, grinning as she looked away. “Come see.”
Haruka swung off the couch and sauntered over to stand behind the artist, who warned her not to touch the wet paint. It was Haruka, wearing a flowing blue dress and seemingly jumping into the wind. “It’s beautiful,” the blonde breathed. “I could never do something so wonderful. You drew the wind. What are you going to call it?”
“I drew the wind because it seems to be your power, or so I gathered after watching you race. I have named it ‘Kaze ni Naritai’. I hope you like it.”
“It’s perfect.” Haruka glanced at the artist beside her, amazed that she could produce such beauty. “I didn’t know anyone possessed such talent. Do you draw people often?”
“Never. I’ve been waiting for the perfect subject.”
“Who?”
Michiru looked at her creation and smiled as she put her paints away. “You, apparently. You’re perfect.”
“You’re not only a good artist, you also know how to boost the old ego.” Haruka smiled, a rarity for the lone racer, stepping away from the painting before she did some sort of damage. “I could never draw that well.”
“No? I don’t believe you. I think you’d do fine if you were only given the chance.”
“Impossible! You must have three or four art classes a week and I haven’t picked up a brush in years.” In her mind, she added, nor have I touched a piano. Not since my family died.
“You painted?”
“Once. Long ago.” This was not a subject she did not care to pursue, but she somehow didn’t mind when Michiru asked.
Michiru squealed in girlish delight as she moved her canvas and pulled a blank one in front of the chair. Pushing Haruka into the chair, she handed the tall blonde her brush and palette and stretched out on the couch opposite the stunned racer.
Haruka looked around, green eyes wide. “Michiru-san, what do you expect me to do?”
“Draw something. No one will ever see, so you don’t have to be afraid of how good you are or how bad you are, just draw whatever you want to. There’s plenty of stuff here in my studio, or you can go sit at the window as I do sometimes.”
Haruka bit her lip and thought for a moment, instantly trusting the woman in front of her. She didn’t have to be afraid around Michiru. Taking a deep breath, the blonde touched brush to the thick paper sitting on the easel. She wondered if she could really paint again after so long or if she would just ruin Michiru’s good canvas.
Michiru fell asleep, exhausted from the energy she put into every masterpiece, and Haruka let her rest as she finished her first work of art in years and quite possibly her best ever. She was surprised that all of her old skills returned so easily, and she briefly wondered if the same thing applied to her piano playing. Haruka put the finishing touches on the painting, smiling as she realized that it wasn’t all that bad. She put down her supplies and stretched her aching muscles, crouching down beside the couch where Michiru was sleeping. Smiling, she pushed a wayward strand of hair away from the aqua-haired woman’s cheek, the semi-caress waking the violinist.
“Are you done?”
“Yes. It’s not as good as yours, but you can come see if you’d like.”
Michiru stretched and followed Haruka around the canvas, gasping at the painting. Haruka had drawn her! The picture on the paper was of Michiru, sound asleep on the couch, but the couch had been changed into a huge seashell floating on foam in the ocean and she had transformed into a mermaid with a long blue tail, her breasts cleverly hidden by her sodden aqua locks. Her skin glistened in the light, tinged a slight blue-green to match her elegant tail. “Wow,” Michiru breathed. “It’s absolutely gorgeous! You’re a wonderful artist! How did you pick a mermaid, though?”
“I’m not sure, it just seemed to fit. Do you swim?”
“Religiously. You run, I swim. But I never told you.”
“I think I just knew.” She glanced at the paints, a new fire in her emerald eyes. “Could we, um, could you put on something else so I could try again?”
“Like what?”
“A dress, maybe. Those are fun to draw, though not fun to wear. Please? One that sparkles.”
“Fine, my overeager young apprentice. Come help me choose something appropriate.”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Chapter 7: Twisted Strings
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“What about this one?”
Haruka ran her fingers over the soft fabric, sighing as it shone in the light. “Perfect.”
The artists worked long into the night, both forgetting any other duty or obligation.
Haruka woke from a sleep she never remembered falling into, Michiru nestled in one of her arms, sitting in front of her painting. This one had been a collaboration, a drawing of her with wings and the aqua-haired woman as a mermaid, Haruka kneeling on a half-submerged rock, the curious mermaid reaching up to touch her golden feathered wings. The newly risen sun glistened on bare skin and cool water, embracing the pair and blessing their union. The colorful picture was beautiful, a duet so perfect that even Haruka was moved. “How did I do that?”
“Hmm?” Michiru stirred, sapphire eyes greeting her new partner. “The painting?”
“Yeah. I haven’t picked up a brush since my parents . . . since I lost my family.”
Michiru sat up. “Haruka, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bring up any bad memories.”
“No, that’s okay.” Haruka touched her likeness, smiling at the texture of the slender feathers. “I needed this. I needed to paint again. And maybe now I can play again.”
“Play? What, Haruka-san?”
“The piano,” she smiled. “I used to be a fairly decent player. You play the violin, right? We could do a duet or something.”
Michiru grinned.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“But Rei!”
“No, Usagi! Not this time! I’ve put up with too much from you already.” Rei snatched the test out of the blonde’s hands and threw it on the ground. “Another one, Usagi. Another failing grade. How could you do this? You promised me that you would try, that you cared.”
“I do care, Rei . . .”
“No you don’t! If you cared you would do as you promised. You would study, you would do your homework, you would PASS ONE BLOODY TEST!!! But you don’t! You don’t care, you don’t try, you don’t keep your promises!” Rei threw her broom on the ground and pointed at the stairs that led away from Hikawa Jinja, fury shaking her slender form. “Go away, Usagi-san. Until you can try, until our friendship means a damn to you, until I mean a damn to you, just go away.”
Usagi clutched her black cat closer, Luna’s eyes as wide as hers. “No, Rei, please.”
“I said go away!!”
With a sob, Usagi turned and ran, fleeing the shrine and her best friend, long hair flying behind her. Rei kept her back turned, knowing that she would give in if she watched, her heart breaking. It was for the best, it was all for the best. Usagi felt comfortable around her, and she would never amount to anything if she never tried. If Usagi cared about her half as much as she cared about the little blonde, she could pass just one test. That’s all she wanted. Just one.
“I’m so sorry,” she whispered. “Please forgive me, Usagi. I love you too damn much for my own good. Gods, I hope you can forgive me.”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Mamoru sighed as he walked through the park, even the beauty of the flowers doing nothing to alleviate his dark mood. There was something missing from his life, something terribly wrong, and he had no idea what it was. He shoved his hands deep into his pockets and turned away from the park, ready to head to his lonely apartment, when he thought he heard something. Turning, Mamoru identified the soft sound as brokenhearted weeping, something he did not usually hear in the park. Shrugging, he followed the sound to a bench beside the pond, shocked when he recognized the blonde girl sitting there.
“Odango Atama?”
Usagi looked up sharply, turning away when she recognized her visitor. “Go away, Mamoru-san. I don’t need your teasing right now.”
“I didn’t come to tease you, Odan—Usagi-san.” Mamoru sat down on the bench and glanced down at the blonde. “Why are you crying, Usagi-san?”
“It’s because . . . Rei told me that she won’t speak to me anymore until I get better grades.”
Mamoru looked out at the lake and considered his words carefully, for some reason unwilling to hurt the blonde. “Usagi-san, maybe she thinks that her relationship with you is making you have bad grades and that some time apart will help you.”
“But I’ve always made bad grades,” Usagi sniffed, glancing at her companion. “You remember that test that hit you on the head.”
Mamoru grinned. “Yeah, I do. But didn’t you tell her that you would try harder?”
Usagi jumped up from the bench, whirling on Mamoru in fury, tiny fists clenched at her sides. “You don’t understand! Neither of you can understand! Maybe school is easy for the two of you, but I will never be good at homework and grades. That’s just not my destiny.”
“Then what is your destiny?”
Usagi froze, blue eyes wide. “I remember . . . there was something long ago, but I can’t seem to remember what it was.”
Mamoru stood up and took Usagi’s hand. “Maybe in some other life grades did not matter, but here they do. Rei-san doesn’t want you to throw away your future for a few lazy moments now. She knows that it’s hard, but all she wants is a little effort. It can’t be that hard to do your homework, can it?”
“I don’t understand it half the time and my teachers don’t explain things very well. Then when the tests come I can’t do them and I get bad grades and Rei yells at me.”
“Then maybe you need a tutor. Someone in your class who does understand and gets good grades and can explain things to you. All Rei-san asked was for better grades, not stellar ones. Just pass, that’s all. Even I had a tutor when I was younger. Didn’t you say there was a student in your class, a genius? Surely she understands.”
“Yes, but why would she want to help me? And she’s so smart; she’d probably just laugh.”
“Then just offer to be her friend. You would be surprised how many smart people are very lonely and just want someone to talk to.”
“Like you, Mamoru-san?”
The black-haired man smiled and nodded. “Yes, like me. Why don’t you go home now and in the morning you can go say hello to that genius, okay?”
“Okay. Thanks, Mamoru-san!” Usagi smiled as she ran away, and Mamoru sighed.
“Why do I feel so strange?”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The next evening, Ami and Usagi were sitting in the Crown Arcade, the blue-haired genius patiently explaining the parts that the blonde did not understand. The newest student of Juuban Junior High also sat at their table, chestnut hair hiding her emerald eyes. The new girl was too tall for a Juuban uniform, so she wore hers from her old school, but the different uniforms did not detract from the cohesion of the small group. Motoki watched them, and he could tell that they belonged together. There were people missing, but those three belonged. Usagi’s little black cat, Luna, slept on the table, her bowl of milk empty. Motoki didn’t mind her, though he was normally against pets in the arcade.
Motoki finished cleaning the counter and reached over to start a new pot of coffee. Startled, he realized that Mamoru had not come in today. He always came to the Arcade after school. What happened to chase him away?
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“Rei-san?”
Rei’s grandfather opened the door and glanced at the tall, raven-haired man standing on the stairs of Hikawa Jinja. “Rei is in the back. Do you need to speak to her?”
“Yes, please. If you don’t mind, I’ll just walk around myself.”
“Very well.” Grandpa watched the man walk to the backyard, every fiber of his being vibrating. There was something very wrong. It was almost like someone had rearranged the red strings of fate, breaking some bindings and creating others. Someone was linked to that man, but she wasn’t there. An eternal bond that time could not break had been shredded by senseless power. Who could be that heartless?
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“Rei-san?”
Rei looked up from her meditations and sighed, wiping the tears from her purple eyes as she turned back to the fire. “Go away, Mamoru-san.”
“I don’t think so. Not until you tell me what you did to Usagi-san.”
Rei whirled on Mamoru, standing and stepping forward in one fluid motion, fury in her eyes as the fire flared in response. “What Usagi and I do and say is absolutely none of your business!”
“It is when she ends up sobbing by the pond!” Mamoru was overcome with a strange surge of protective instinct, and he clenched his fists. “You had no right to upset her like that! She’s fragile, can’t you see that?”
“Who are you to speak?! All you ever did was tease her! She thinks she and you were linked in some previous life and all she wants is for you to smile and be nice and you throw more and more insults! You have no right to chastise me!”
Mamoru threw his hands up. “Okay, I admit that I was cruel, but it was only because I felt the same thing about her. I feel this link and it scares me because I have never relied on anybody in my entire life. And there’s this power pulling me to her and I can’t give in. That’s why I push her away.”
“What about your family?” Rei’s voice was softer, some of the steel gone, fire calming, as she realized that she felt some sort of link to this man.
“My parents died when I was six,” he whispered, hanging his head. Why did he say that? Nobody knew except Motoki. But it just seemed right that Rei should know.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “My mother’s dead and I decided to live here with my grandfather rather than travel with my father. He’s a successful politician, and that’s just not who I am.”
“I don’t know who I am,” Mamoru admitted, sitting on the steps. Rei joined him, a new sense of belonging warming her. She got that same feeling when she was around Usagi. “I want to know—I need to know who I am, and the only people I feel any sort of connection to are you and Usagi-san.”
Rei nodded. “I know. Me, too. I think we must have known each other.” She sighed and pulled her knees to her chest, propping her head on her crossed arms. “I had to, Mamoru-kun. I had to push her away. She’ll waste her entire life being content if I let her. All I want her to do is pass one test—that’s not so hard, right? She needs to do her homework, she needs to study, and she needs to try. Entrance exams are coming up in a couple of years for her, and she won’t get into a good High School if she doesn’t try now. If she was your girl, you’d do the same thing.”
“Yeah, I would. I just don’t like seeing her hurt.”
“Gods, do you think it’s easy for me? I love her so much sometimes that I scare myself. But it’s for her own good.” She bit her lip and looked up at the tall man. “What did you say to her when you saw her?”
“I told her that you only had her best interest in mind and I suggested that she speak to that genius in her school. I’ve met Mizuno Ami; she’s a very nice girl and very lonely. She promised that she’d try. When I passed by the Arcade today, I saw them, studying together.”
Rei smiled. “That’s wonderful. I hope she makes it. She’s smart, she just doesn’t try very hard.”
“I think you finally gave her a reason.”
Rei looked up at Mamoru and felt a shiver work its way down her spine. Something was terribly, terribly wrong. Gods, what was it?
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Chapter 8: A Miracle
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Usagi carefully wrote the kanji for Hikawa Jinja, waiting patiently for Haruna-sensei to reach her desk. Another test, another failing grade. She wanted desperately to impress Rei, but another 30 wouldn’t do it. Her teacher stopped by her desk and Usagi looked up.
“I see you’re practicing your kanji. Very good, Tsukino-san.” Haruna-sensei handed Usagi her test, the smile never leaving her face. “I don’t know what happened, but you should keep it up. I’m very proud of you.”
“P-proud?” Usagi echoed, feeling incredibly stupid. She looked at the test, and her eyes grew wide. “Kami-sama . . . sensei, there must be some mistake. This can’t be mine.”
The other students were gathering closer, eager to see what had upset Usagi so much, Naru and Umino reaching her first. “But Usagi-chan, this is your handwriting. This is your test. And you got . . . a 90?!! Masaka . . .”
“Ninety percent?!” the class echoed. “Usagi-chan! Good job!”
Ami exchanged a startled glance with Makoto. Ninety? From an average test score of thirty? That wasn’t just good, it was a miracle.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
She waited at the corner, smiling as a familiar gold convertible pulled to a stop in front of her. A familiar blonde glanced over the seat and grinned in her roguish way, knowing that the schoolgirls walking past were staring. Michiru slipped into the car, placing her books in the back seat as the car sped away. “My, Haruka, you seem to be in a good mood today.”
“I am.”
“Why?”
“I realized that I’m in love.”
“Oh? With who?”
Haruka raised an eyebrow as she glanced at her passenger. “Who do you think, little violinist. I’m in love with you.”
“I’ve known that for weeks. What took you so long?”
“I don’t know. Tell me something, Michiru.”
“Hmm?”
“When were you going to tell me about the offer for the art expedition in Tokyo?”
Michiru glanced at her hands, gathering her thoughts. “I know you have races next week and I didn’t want you to miss them. I was going to call my manager and tell him to let my art be displayed but that I can’t make it.”
“Why not, Michiru?”
“Because I want to be here to cheer for you.”
Haruka smiled and pulled up to the apartment complex where she and Michiru lived, parking her car and walking over to help the aqua-haired woman out. “There’s just one problem, Michiru. I won’t be here for you to cheer on.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’ve been invited to an art expedition in Tokyo and told my manager that I would not be able to attend the races. It would be a shame if I had to go without you.”
“Oh, Haruka!” Michiru jumped into the blonde’s arms, her joy infecting the tall racer. “I didn’t want to ask you to go with me.”
“I figured you wouldn’t.” Haruka took Michiru’s arms and headed for the younger woman’s room. “Your manager told me that you were offered a job playing in one of the violin recitals and a smaller concert by yourself, if you would take it.”
“I’d like to, but that would mean staying longer, enrolling in school in Tokyo.”
“And why not? Any school would be honored to have the famous violinist and artist Kaiou Michiru as a student.”
“Stop it,” Michiru smiled, blushing as she led the blonde into her apartment. Haruka had rented the apartment next door and they had a door to connect the two so they could stay up late practicing or drawing without interruption. “Besides, I’m sure any school would take the famous racer and newly popular artist and pianist Ten’ou Haruka.”
The blonde smiled mischievously and reached into a drawer for one of the letters she had received the day before. It was actually a packet of papers and Michiru had assumed that it was racing forms or something like that. Haruka pulled out the top two pages and handed them to Michiru. “Too true, my dear. And they did.”
“What? Which school?”
Michiru scanned the papers, sapphire eyes wide, and Haruka grinned again. “I thought it best not to limit myself. All of the high schools accepted me.”
“Kami-sama . . .”
“And you.”
Michiru quickly turned the page, staring at her name on the top and all of the High Schools in Tokyo that had accepted her. “Haruka . . .”
“A few of them even offered scholarships, if we’d come. Five of them want me to be on their track team.”
“Let’s go to this one.”
“Which?”
“Juuban High. It just seems to fit.”
“Okay. Now, what about an apartment?”
“Only one?”
Haruka lifted one eyebrow. “Do you think we need two?”
Michiru smiled as she sat in Haruka’s lap, pulling the tall blonde’s arms around her waist. “Well, I don’t know, Haruka. Do we?”
Haruka pulled Michiru into her arms and kissed her, eyes closed. She never wanted that moment to end.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Chapter 9: But We’re Not Meant to Be
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Rei started at the sharp knock on the door, trying to ignore the sound, hoping that Yuuichirou or Grandpa would answer. When the sound was repeated, she sighed and abandoned her prayers, standing up from the fire and shuffling over to the door. Jerking it open, she stared at the visitor. Usagi, tears in her blue eyes, caught the door before Rei could close it, holding out a damp and slightly crumpled paper. The miko took it, her purple eyes widening. “Kami-sama,” she breathed. “Usagi, you got . . . Kami-sama.”
“I h-hope it’s good enough, Rei.”
“Are you kidding?” Rei looked up, tears filling her eyes as she pulled Usagi into her arms. “This is more that I ever hoped . . . I’m sorry, Usagi, for being so harsh.”
“You were right, Rei,” Usagi whispered, pulling back and resting her forehead on Rei’s. “I really did need to try harder. And it felt kinda good to get a passing grade for a change and to not be at the bottom of the list.”
“I promise I’ll never do that again,” Rei whispered. “I never wanted to yell at you. Mamoru-kun said he found you by the lake in the park.”
Usagi nodded as she followed Rei into her room and curled up on her bed. “He explained to me that there were reasons that you pushed me away. It’s because of him that I went to ask Ami-chan for help and she helped me study and get a better grade.”
Rei smiled as she leaned against the wall and pulled the slender blonde into her lap, idly stroking her silky hair. “Tell me about this new friend of yours.”
“She’s wonderful, Rei; you’d absolutely adore her! And Mako-chan is a little more hot-headed, but she’s very and nice and kinda lonely under that tough exterior. We all study together now because Ami-chan can explain anything. I wish you could be there, Rei.” Usagi’s blue eyes sparkled hopefully, and Rei smiled.
“I will be from now on. Why don’t I pick you up from school tomorrow and you can take me to meet these friends of yours?”
“Oh, Rei!!” Usagi squealed in delight as she jumped into Rei’s arms and kissed her cheek. “I missed you so much.”
“Not as much as I missed you.”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“And she’s coming here?!”
“Yes, Odango,” Rei purred as Makoto and Ami read the paper. “Aino Minako is going to be doing a concert in just a week and guess who got four tickets?”
If Usagi’s eyes could get any bigger, they did, her voice failing for a moment. The famous singer Aino Minako had been an obsession of Usagi’s since the little blonde first heard about her, but she had been touring in England for quite a while. The thought that she would see her idol so close . . . Usagi fell into Rei’s arms, her lips brushing the miko’s startled ones. “Thank you, Rei,” she whispered.
“Usagi-chan,” Makoto began delicately, “isn’t it getting a little late?”
“Oh no! I promised my parents I’d be home early! Bye, Ami-chan, Mako-chan, Rei!” Usagi grabbed her books and dashed out the door, a cloud of dust flaring up behind her once she reached the sidewalk. That girl could run!
Rei chuckled, absently running her fingers over her lips. She glanced up when Ami placed her small hand on the taller girl’s arm. “Rei-chan, Usagi-chan must love you a great deal to try so hard and even get our help just so she could see you again.”
“I don’t know how she feels,” Rei whispered, thinking back to the anomalies in her recent fire readings. “I think . . . I’m pretty sure I love her, but there’s something not quite right. It’s not something I can put my hand on, but this reality’s been changed or twisted or something like that. I don’t think Usagi is meant to be mine.”
“Rei-chan! Don’t think like that! We can never predict who the red strings of fate will bind us to or how, not even a miko like you.”
“I know, Mako-chan, but there’s something very strange.” She looked out the window and smiled at her new friends as she stood to leave. “I need to go talk to someone.”
Ami glanced at Makoto as the black-haired girl left. “I think she’s right, Mako-chan. I keep having this feeling that something is supposed to happen, something very important. I don’t know what it is, though.” She reached her hand out and flicked her wrist, staring at her empty palm. “That seemed like the right thing to do. I wonder what was supposed to happen.”
“I have no idea.”
From the other side of the arcade, a tall woman with dark green hair watched the entire exchange. “Haruka, I hope this is what you wanted.” Dropping a few bills on the counter to pay for her drink, Setsuna left, sighing. That senshi was going to be the death of her yet.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“Yes? Rei-san?”
“Hello, Mamoru-kun. I just wanted to thank you for helping with Usagi.”
Mamoru smiled as he gestured for Rei to enter his apartment. “So I see that Usagi-san showed you her test.”
“You know about that?”
“As usual, she ran into me. Is that the only reason you came?”
“No, not really.” Rei reached into her purse and pulled out a small envelope. “You know that Aino Minako is coming to Tokyo, right?”
“Yes.”
“Well, I managed to get five tickets and I wondered if you wanted to come to her concert with me, Usagi, Mako-chan, and Ami-chan.”
Mamoru smiled as he took the slip of paper. “I’d love to. Thank you.”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“Michiru? Are you ready yet?”
“No, Haruka. I have this last scene I want to paint. Go on without me and I’ll be at the racetrack in time to congratulate the winner.” Michiru grinned, knowing that her choice of words would agitate the blonde. Haruka snorted and leaned over Michiru’s painting, smiling at the sea-side scene.
“Well, you had better be ready to make this up to me. I like to have my support.”
“I will,” Michiru promised, her voice a half-purr. She reached up with her paint brush and dabbed a spot of blue on Haruka’s nose, laughing at the blonde’s cry of outrage.
“Do you mind?!” Haruka grabbed the nearest paper towel and furiously wiped at the end of her nose, eyes crossed as she tried to see if she got it all. Michiru laughed and took the paper towel, wetting it at the sink before gently cleaning the last of the blue paint off of her lover’s nose. Leaning closer, she kissed the racer gently, pushing her towards the door.
“Go win for me,” she whispered, returning to her painting. Haruka walked away, a chill running down her spine as she left her sea siren alone. She had a very bad feeling, and nothing would chase it away. She turned back, intent on staying and protecting her lover, but she knew that her girlfriend would never allow that. Sighing, knowing that she would regret the decision later, Haruka left for her race.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Michiru hummed to herself as she walked down the empty sidewalk, sketchpad clutched close to her chest. She felt strange, a chill enveloping her form, as she passed still alley after still alley. The darkness frightened her in a way it shouldn’t, a dread coming over her as she approached a particularly still area. She stopped still as a small group of teenage boys dressed in strange clothes exited from the dark alley, grinning when they saw that she was alone.
“Give us your money,” the leader growled, holding out his hand as his three followers surrounded the woman. Michiru shook her head, knowing that she had to fight; some old, deep instinct primed her instantly for battle as she couched into a defensive stance, dropping her book. The man moved and she countered instantly, her instincts, speed, and reflexes surprising even her. She knew, deep inside, that she should be able to fight five human men, but she lacked the strength and skill to augment her natural abilities. They were able to team up and defeat her, three of them pinning her against the wall in the small alley as the leader crossed his arms over his chest and considered the struggling girl.
“What should we do with her now, boss? She doesn’t have any money.”
“She’s got something a lot better,” the leader growled, leaning forward and running his fingers over the woman’s cheek. Michiru froze, eyes wide, as the man grinned again. “Yeah, a lot better.”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Chapter 10: She Promised Pain
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Haruka whistled as she sauntered down the street, hands buried deep in her pockets. She had won, of course, but Michiru hadn’t made it to the race. She was sure that the aqua-haired nymph would do something special to make it up to her, something . . . she purred, deep in her throat, feeling waves of heat roll through her frame. Just the thought of Michiru turned her on. Quickening her pace, Haruka turned down the street that led home, stopping still at the pack of policemen outside a dark alley, the area cordoned off. Curious, Haruka stopped beside the rope, glancing into the darkness of the empty alley. She could see that the ambulance had already been and gone, the atmosphere resembling the calm after the destruction of the storm. One of the cops, a woman with long black hair pulled into a bun at the base of her neck, tilted her head and smiled at the runner.
“Can I help you, sir?”
Haruka turned on the charm, inwardly pleased when the woman blushed. “I was hoping you could. You see, I live in one of the apartments around the corner, and nothing has ever happened here. Was it a beating or a robbery?”
The woman shook her head sadly. Her name tag read Matsumori Junko. “I’m afraid it was much worse than that. It was a woman, she had no identification that we could find, and we think a gang of four or five men attacked her. And they . . . hurt her. Badly. They took her to the hospital and they’re checking her for STDs and making sure she’s not pregnant.”
“Pregnant,” Haruka whispered, dread filling her frame. The poor woman had been raped. “I hope she wasn’t someone I knew.”
The cop shrugged as her partner nodded toward their car. The other policeman had already dispersed, only the last two had to wait for the detectives to come. “We caught four, but we think the ringleader got away. When the detectives get here, they may be able to find something . . .”
“You don’t seem too optimistic,” Haruka murmured, eyes half-lidded, smiling her best seductive smile. “I may be able to help. I know most of the people that live around here, and I have a pretty good memory. I may recognize something—a watch, a pin, a ribbon, a hairclip—that your people wouldn’t know to look for. I’d like to help you in every way I can, Matsumori-san.”
The police officer blushed, glancing at her partner. He was sipping his coffee, staring across the street, leaning on the other side of the car. “Just don’t touch anything,” she whispered. “If you find something, come out and tell me where it is so I can get it. If you know who it belongs to, that would be wonderful.”
“And if I can’t, I’d be glad to go to the hospital and have a look.” Haruka easily stepped over the rope and slipped into the alley, her sharp green eyes searching every corner for anything she recognized. A piece of cloth hiding under a crate caught her eye, and she bent down, staring at it. A hair ribbon, red. Haruka shrugged and continued her search. A lot of people wore hair ribbons. All that it proved was that the woman had long hair. The cops already knew that. She paused as she spotted what looked like a piece of paper in the back of the alley, almost completely hidden by the shadows. She only noticed it because the light had changed slightly since the police had searched. Leaning down, she stared at the light colored notebook, wondering if there was a name on it. Glancing over her shoulder at the cop, she reached down and picked up the notebook, realizing that it was a sketchpad. Brushing the dirt off the back, she turned it over. There was a name written in flowing gold, so she moved into the light to read it.
“Oh no . . .” she whispered, the sketchpad falling from her lifeless fingers. The police officers looked over at the sound, staring at the blonde as she leapt over the rope, green eyes wild. “Where is she?!”
“What?”
“Where did they take her?”
Junko pointed over her shoulder, and Haruka was gone, running faster than was humanly possible, pointed toward the hospital. “Ten’ou Haruka,” Junko whispered. “The famous racer.” Glancing at her partner, she reentered the crime scene and picked up the covered sketchpad, glancing at the English letters engraved on the front. “Michi . . . ru. Michiru? Oh no. I think she was Ten’ou Haruka’s girlfriend, the violinist and painter Kaiou Michiru. No wonder he ran off like that.”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Haruka skidded to a stop beside the counter in the hospital, fiery green eyes boring into the receptionist, freezing her to the spot. “Where is she?”
“Wh-who?”
“Kai—the woman who was attacked an hour ago.”
“Room 309, but sir, you can’t go see her . . .” The receptionist’s last words fell on empty ears as the blonde vanished, taking the stairs because she had no patience for the elevator.
Haruka stopped outside the door marked 309, tears gathering in her eyes as she carefully opened the door. Silently slipping into the room, Haruka stopped beside the bed and took Michiru’s limp hand, listening to the steady beeping. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered, tears choking her. “When I left, I had this feeling that I should stay with you, that you were in danger. Why didn’t I stay with you?”
“It’s not your fault,” Michiru whispered, eyes cracking open. “Haruka.”
Haruka knelt beside Michiru’s bed, running her fingers through her lover’s hair. “Of course it’s my fault. I was so worried about my race, my career, that I ignored your danger. I knew there was something wrong, Michi . . .”
“How did you know?”
“I found your sketchbook,” Haruka murmured, pulling Michiru’s hand to her cheek. The violinist’s fingers were cold, almost lifeless, trembling slightly. “How many were there, Michiru? They caught four . . .”
“There were five,” Michiru managed, closing her eyes. “It hurts, Haruka.”
“I know, baby. I’ll find a way to make it better.” Haruka pulled a chair up to the smaller woman’s bed and held her hand while she fell asleep, emerald eyes never leaving her face. “I’ll make it better,” she promised.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Matsumori Junko looked up, shocked, as a familiar blonde dragged a man twice her size into the police office, no marks on her at all. The man, though, was in pretty bad shape, shaking and glancing in fear at the woman, falling to his knees in front of Matsumori’s desk. “Ten’ou Haruka,” Junko realized. “Who . . . what . . ?”
“Tell her.”
“I did it,” the man whimpered, wringing his hands. There were bruises on his cheeks and arms, the way he was sitting indicating bruised ribs. “I raped that woman.”
Matsumori jumped to her feet, staring at the man. “You’re . . . confessing?”
“And I’ll be glad to name my accomplices!” The man held out his arms, glancing up fearfully at Haruka. “Anything to get away from her.”
Junko pulled out her handcuffs as her partner joined her. They took the man away as the green-eyed woman stormed away, the fury in her frame only slightly abated by the cuts and bruises on the rapist’s body. She looked like she would have preferred his death.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“Usagi? What’s wrong?”
The blonde shook her head, tears streaming down her cheeks as pain filled her young body. She fell to her knees, Rei wrapping her arms around the smaller girl, closing her eyes as the fire in the shrine flared up. She could see a woman with blue eyes and aqua hair . . . Usagi’s pain filled her, and she lost the vision, biting her lip as Makoto and Ami wrapped their arms around their friend. Usagi’s shaking slowly stopped as whatever link she had with that unlucky woman was severed, and Rei kissed the top of her head. “I felt . . . someone close to me was in pain and I couldn’t help her . . .”
“It’s okay now, Usagi-chan,” Makoto assured her. “Did you recognize her?”
“No. I’ve never seen her before in my life. But I have this feeling that I know her. I think we all know her. I want to ease her pain, Rei. Can we find her, make her feel better, make her forget all of her suffering?”
“We’ll try,” Rei whispered. “But right now you and I need to go back to your house and get ready for this concert tonight.”
“Okay. But I want to help her.”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Chapter 11: Goddess of Love
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Rei waited patiently as Usagi dressed, staring at the picture of the two of them that the blonde kept on her dresser. She stood and picked up the framed picture, sensing that something was very, very wrong. Glancing at the flowery candle Usagi had burning on the dresser, Rei closed her eyes and whispered a short prayer. She felt something flow through her, something powerful, and she opened her eyes, staring at the picture. It had changed. Now Chiba Mamoru was standing there, Usagi smiling in his arms, an aura surrounding both of them. She blinked, and they changed . . . Usagi was dressed in a white gown, a golden crescent moon on her forehead, and Mamoru was dressed as a prince. Her prince. Usagi’s prince.
Rei gasped and fell back, dropping the picture and watching it bounce on the carpet. The flame blew out, a thin whiff of smoke reaching for the ceiling as Usagi stepped out of the bathroom. “Rei? What’s wrong?”
“Something’s wrong,” Rei whispered, glancing out the window. A tall woman dressed in a black dress shining red in the tiny spots of sunlight that filtered through the leaves, was standing in the tree, long green hair waving in the wind, garnet eyes ancient and all-knowing. She bowed and vanished, leaving the miko staring blankly into an empty tree. “I think someone is messing with reality. My visions tell me things that I don’t see, that aren’t real, but I think they were real once. Something happened, someone changed our world, and I wish I could see who did it . . .”
“I know who did it,” Usagi whispered, reaching for the black cat sleeping on her bed. Luna mrrowed and curled up in her mistress’s arms, falling back to sleep. “I saw her, in my mind, when I felt that pain. I saw the woman with aqua hair, but I also saw Her.”
“Who? What does she look like?”
“There was a slender woman with purple eyes and silvery white hair. Her hair was long and feathery, and she seemed to have a gold star in the center of her forehead. Or maybe it was a slender horn. It was very indistinct. She was wearing a white dress that seemed to have markings on the hem. Priestess markings, prayers, symbols of power in gold. She had long fingers, fingernails painted gold, and I think she had wings. Feathered wings. There was someone else, behind her, a friend or a partner, I suppose. She was powerful and old, her red eyes the only indication of her age, and she had green hair.”
“I saw the woman with green hair,” Rei whispered. “We need to talk to her.”
“Right now we need to go to Aino Minako’s concert,” Usagi pointed out, placing Luna back on the bed. That cat had a crescent moon mark on her forehead. Rei looked up, banishing her vision from her mind as she smiled at Usagi’s dress. The blonde blushed. “What do you think?”
“You’re beautiful,” Rei whispered. “You don’t look only fifteen. I may have trouble keeping my eyes on the stage.” Usagi blushed as Rei wrapped her arms around the blonde’s waist, leading her out of the house. Luna looked up as they vanished, glancing out the window as a woman with silver hair and white wings appeared in the tree.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Tejina shook her head. “I’m sorry. I can’t do anything. I only have a limited amount of power. I was able to create this reality, but I don’t think I can undo it.”
“Damn you! Who the hell do you think you are, meddling with destiny like this?!” Cupid 334 Omicron clenched her fists, glancing at her former apprentice seated on the branch beside her. “Those girls are senshi, reborn princesses of the Silver Millennium, destined to fight the evil threatening this planet.”
“There is no evil,” Tejina pointed out. “I got rid of it for this reality. That was part of her wish. There is no evil, and there are no senshi.”
“And soulmates are separated! Do you know the damage you have done?! Certain things were mean to happen that haven’t! Usagi is dating Rei, Minako is singing songs about loneliness and love, Ami is still shy and frightened at a time when she should be more confident and knowledgeable about her own power, Makoto still has strength and power she does not yet understand, and Mamoru still lays in his bed at night and asks who he is and who he belongs with. Why would you do this? What possible reason could you have for thwarting the powers and the duties of the Cupid Alliance?”
“For my mother,” Tejina whispered. “Because she asked me to help.”
“You’re . . .” Cupid 334 looked up as a tall woman with long green hair and red eyes appeared beside Tejina, dressed in flowing black robes covered in red symbols that both Cupids recognized. “Se,” she whispered, all of her anger leaving her. “Why would you do this to them? You were one of them, you love them all, yet you took their power and their destiny away. Why?”
Se, called Meiou Setsuna on Earth, glanced at Rei and Usagi as they walked to the nearest bus stop and the concert. “Because I have seen what that power does. I have seen the pain and sacrifice and death. And because Haruka needed this. Michiru needed this. After betraying all that they held dear, neither of them are sure that anything in this life is real. Love, truth, trust, hope, loyalty . . . none of those words mean anything to them anymore. They’re scared and confused and they have doubts about their power and their mission. They need to see this.”
“Do they all have to suffer?”
Se hung her head at Cupid 557’s question. “She begged me for this chance. She begged me for an answer. This was the only answer I could give.”
“Se, can’t you see the damage you’re doing?”
“I was born to do damage,” she whispered, staring at her hands. “Haruka once saw blood on her hands, once recognized the destruction she had caused, but she had no idea what true damage, true pain was. I know what she’s going through because I went through it, too, but I lost my chosen love. I lost everyone and everything I ever cared about because I let them die, I let them suffer, I did nothing to stop the coming apocalypse. The greatest coalition of kingdoms that ever spanned this solar system was eliminated in an instant, and I did nothing to save them. I cannot go back and see if I made the correct choice, but I can give her this chance. Tejina has the power to alter reality, so I helped her rewind time and change destiny. Now we can do nothing but see how this turns out.”
“If all the senshi don’t die in the process.” Cupid 557 crossed his arms over his chest and glared at the goddess. “Se, I commend your love for these mortals, but Haruka and Michiru are the only two who were united as planned. And Michiru was never meant to be raped. Have you done more harm than good?”
“I never meant for that to happen,” Se whispered. “But I cannot stop this. None of us have the power to reset reality. Michiru will recover physically, and Haruka will help her heal emotionally. Until then, we can do nothing.”
557 shook his head. “I never thought I could doubt Hades’s daughter.” 374’s silence was the only indication of her disapproval. Tejina sighed and closed her purple eyes. She never wanted Michiru harmed, but Haruka’s wish was irreversible.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“Thank you so much,” Minako smiled, her energy transferred to her fans. “There’s just one more song I’d like to sing for you tonight. It’s dedicated to my soulmate, whenever I find him or her, and to all of my old girlfriends and boyfriends. It’s a song I wrote called “Setsunakute ii, and I hope you like it.”
The famous idol stepped back from the edge of the stage as her band began to play, the music fast and upbeat, a smile on the blonde’s face as she began.
Hey, as I sleep in the night, I can hear you,
And once more, I remember you . . .
Ah, opening the pale window
I lift my eyes to the sky, to the planet turning.
For you, I’ll be good
And I’ll wear a red ribbon.
From the distance, alone
I watch for someone to call my own.
How long till I exchange emptiness for love?
In case your spirit
Is alone, I’ll stand alone . . .
Hey, through the window, I want to be
With you and hold you in my slender arms . . .
And at once, if you’re ever threatened and cry
Surely, I’ll run to you and end it.
The suit of your spirit is in my heart
And in the distance I can see your profile.
My love will never change but
Becomes more like you and
Is in your name, I’ll stand in your name . . .
From the distance, I hold
And watch for someone to call my own.
How long till I exchange emptiness for love?
In case your spirit
Is alone, I’ll stand alone.
Minako replaced her microphone on its stand and bowed her head as the crowd cheered, one small section louder than the rest. Usagi knew that woman, and she cried out as loudly as she could, hoping that Minako would look at her. Rei also cried out, a sense of destiny pulling her toward the singer. She felt like the blonde belonged with them, was one of them, and she knew that Makoto and Ami felt it, too. Even Mamoru, who was silently watching Usagi, knew that Minako did not belong on that stage, a teen idol. She belonged in the crowd, with her friends, cheering for another famous singer.
The crowd dispersed as Minako left the stage, the show over, many of them hoping for a glimpse of the famous singer. Usagi grabbed Rei’s hand and dragged her toward the door, stopping beside the largest tree beside the stage where they had agreed to meet after the concert. Makoto and Ami joined them a few minutes later, Mamoru hanging back as he sensed that something was keeping him out of the group.
“Mamoru-san, won’t you join us?”
“Thank you, Usagi-san.” Mamoru joined the group as a discrete cough sounded from behind the tree. The group of girls turned as a slender blonde in an expensive golden dress stepped into the soft moonlight and the harsh glow of the streetlights, her blue eyes locking with Usagi’s.
“I saw you five in the crowd,” she whispered. “I could feel this power calling me, coming from you. Do we know each other?”
“We know you,” Usagi answered, a strange maturity in her voice. “I think . . . you’re one of us, Aino Minako. Or you were, once. My name is Tsukino Usagi, and these are my friends. Hino Rei, Kino Makoto, Mizuno Ami, and Chiba Mamoru. You were amazing. Especially that last song.”
“Thanks. I wrote it myself and I wrote most of the music. I let my band add the second and third level instruments, but the idea was mine. I had a dream one night about a redhead princess and I had a feeling that she and I were destined. So I wrote the song. She had a fiery temper and the most amazing purple eyes . . . I want to find her in this life. I know that she’s the One.” She looked up at Rei, feeling a flash of something, shaking her head when the miko raised an eyebrow. “I feel like I know all of you already. Do you think we met in a previous life?”
“Perhaps. Aino-san, if you’re not busy right now, the five of us had planned to go to a restaurant for supper. We’d be honored if you would join us.”
“Please, Usagi-san, call me Minako. Aino-san is my mother, not me. Would you really let me join you?”
“Of course!” As the group walked away, Se watched them from the trees, twirling her Time Staff around and watching the light glint from deep inside the garnet stone. Three white feathers floated down from the sky and caught in her hair as two silent Cupids watched from the ground. They would not speak back to the goddess, but their anger colored the air and the ground, flowers wilting at their feet. The Cupid Alliance would file a formal complaint the next day, but it didn’t worry Se. Haruka and Michiru were her best friends in the entire world, and they deserved a chance to know for sure.
Even if her wish killed all of the other senshi.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Chapter 12: The Gods Aren’t Listening
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“Why are you looking through those old newspapers?”
“I’m not sure,” Rei murmured. Minako leaned over her shoulder, blue eyes scanning the bold headlines, trying to discern the miko’s purpose. “I had a strange vision while I was meditating this morning, about a little black-haired girl. It seemed to be old, and I got part of a date, so I thought there might be something about her in one of these newspapers. I don’t even know her name.”
“Why do you even have these papers?”
Rei shrugged. “I don’t know. Grandpa keeps them. Oh, here’s something. ‘Daughter of scientist Tomoe Souichi killed in lab accident.’ There’s even a picture.” Minako turned the page and both stared at the picture of the little girl with purple eyes and black hair, killed so tragically years earlier. “That’s her,” Rei whispered. “Tomoe Hotaru. I wonder who she was.”
Minako shrugged and fell back on Rei’s bed, staring at the ceiling. “Who really knows? She may have been one of us once. Where’s Usagi?”
“Oh, she went to the beach with her family. Some of her cousins came to town and they are entertaining them. Makoto and Ami are helping Motoki and Mamoru fix the damage to the Crown Arcade from the storm earlier this week. I would have helped, but I had to find out who the girl in my vision was.” Rei glanced over at the blonde sprawled in her bed, and she laughed. “You have no idea how much you act like Usagi sometimes.”
“Me?” Minako pushed herself up on her elbows and grinned, blue eyes sparkling with mischief. “I do not.”
“Take it from the person that has spent the most time with her. Yes, you do.” Rei smiled, staring at the idol stretched out on her bed, feeling a strange warmth fill her frame. Minako stared at her, intense blue eyes boring into the miko. “You’re a lot like her,” she whispered, reaching out her hand. Minako twined her fingers with the older girl’s, both freezing at the contact. They could feel something pulling them together, pulling them closer, and Rei jerked her hand free, falling against the door. “No,” she whispered. “I . . . I can’t. I can’t do that to Usagi. You’re a lot like her, and it’s confusing me.”
“I’m not confused,” Minako whispered, closing her eyes. “I’m sorry, Rei. I didn’t mean to hurt Usagi-chan. I know you love her. Maybe in another life . . .”
“Maybe,” Rei whispered, standing up. She walked over and pulled Minako to her feet, kissing her forehead gently. “Why don’t we go to the Arcade and see if Mako-chan and Ami-chan need any help?”
“Sounds like a plan.”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Rei and Minako were in no real hurry as they headed for downtown Tokyo. They walked from Hikawa Jinja, seeing no reason to take the bus, the picture of Hotaru in Rei’s pocket. She felt a strange connection to the girl and couldn’t leave it behind. They didn’t notice the crowd, their minds focused on more important things. Minako watched Rei as they walked, absorbing every image. Her beauty and grace, her fire and courage, her power and her fears; all were revealed to the blonde singer. In return, Rei watched Minako, deciding that she was only attracted to the parts of her that were like Usagi. She was a famous, responsible singer, mature and revered in more than one country, but she was still young in her mannerisms, her misuse of certain phrases, that sparkle in her eyes, the bounce in her step, and the way she bonded instantly with the group. She had problems with some of her classes, same as Usagi. She often failed exams because she couldn’t be bothered to study. She had a cat, too, a white one with a crescent moon on his forehead. His name was Artemis, and Luna beat him up every time they got together. He took it, knowing that the female was in control in their relationship, and Minako laughed every time that poor little male ran for the safety of her arms.
All of a sudden, the pair of them froze, looking up, staring at a couple standing on the other side of the doors to the Arcade. The man was tall, hair a dark blonde, protective eyes a dark green, his entire stance that of an athlete, a warrior. On his arm, shielded from the dangers of the street by the man, was a slender woman with wavy aqua hair and blue eyes that held a very deep fear. She looked at Rei and Minako, straightening almost imperceptibly, as did the blonde, in recognition. The four stared at each other, forgetting the world around them, forgetting their destinations, sensing the power that bound them. None of them moved until the doors to the Arcade opened and Mamoru stepped out, his presence physically separating the two pairs. He glanced at Rei and Minako, smiling, then he glanced at the strangers, and he stepped back. The aqua haired woman recoiled from his presence, trying to escape, and Minako realized that she was afraid of men. Then her partner . . . that fine bone structure, slender body shape, long fingers, stance . . . of course the blonde was a woman.
“Go back inside, Mamoru-kun,” Minako murmured, her voice taking on the timbre of command she barely remembered from another time, another life. He obeyed without question, leaving the four women to their introductions. “I’m sorry about what happened to you,” Minako whispered, stepping closer to the pair, blue eyes locked on the aqua-haired woman. “He’s a friend of ours, and he means no harm. He would never hurt you as they did.”
“How . . . how did you know?” The woman’s voice was soft and musical; if it was not so full of fear, it would have made any man tremble. She was a musician; she had to be.
“The way you reacted. I’ve seen it before. My cousin in England was . . . attacked, and I helped her afterwards. I feel like I know the two of you.”
The green-eyed woman glanced at her partner before answering. “I can sense something, as well.” Her voice was faintly masculine, husky and casually sensual, and she knew the effect she had on women. At the moment, her entire attention was focused on her mate, but Minako knew that if the stranger had directed that sexy voice at her, she would have swooned. “My name is Ten’ou Haruka.”
“Aino Minako. You’re that famous F-1 Racer, aren’t you? And a pianist and painter. I suppose you are Kaiou Michiru, then? Violinist, painter, and Ten’ou-san’s partner.” Michiru nodded, and Minako pulled Rei forward. “This is my friend Hino Rei, miko of Hikawa Jinja. The man was Chiba Mamoru, and he would never hurt anyone.”
Michiru nodded, trying to control her reaction. “I can’t help it. I’m sorry. Aino . . . the singer? From England?”
“Yeah, that’s me.”
“I didn’t know you were in Tokyo.”
“I didn’t know you were coming to Tokyo,” Minako countered.
“Your manager released a statement that you might not come at all for the exhibition or the concert,” Rei added, reaching into her pocket for the article she kept from the previous morning’s paper. As she held the paper out, the picture of Tomoe Hotaru fell to the pavement, and Haruka bent to pick it up.
Haruka and Michiru stared at the picture, both feeling a deep sense of loss wash over them. That little girl . . . who had she been that they missed her so? Michiru wiped a tear from her cheek, and Haruka struggled to keep her eyes dry. “Who is she?”
“We don’t know. I had a vision about her, but she’s been dead for years. It didn’t make any sense. It’s one of the many strange things that have been happening around us. I’d like for you to meet my girlfriend, Usagi, and our other friends, but if you’d rather not, that’s fine, too.”
Michiru shook her head, dropping the picture without noticing. “No, I think that we should go in. We aren’t sure what brought us here in the first place, but maybe you and your friends are the answer to that mystery.”
As the four women entered the Crown Arcade, a woman in a light purple suit reached down and picked up the newspaper article. Setsuna’s red eyes filled with tears, and she let the picture fall. “Hotaru-chan,” she whispered. “Kami-sama . . . I forgot. I forgot that evil gave you life so many years ago. Without the Senshi and their enemies, you were just the girl who died in a lab accident.”
She felt two strong arms surround her as Tejina, wings invisible, embraced the weeping goddess. “Be strong, Se. You knew that some of the senshi might die.”
“Did it have to be Hotaru?! She was my daughter, Tejina, the only child I was ever allowed to raise! To have her so cruelly taken before I even knew her . . . it’s not worth it. Haruka’s wish isn’t worth Hotaru’s death.”
“Maybe she was happier, dying as that innocent child and not having to serve evil, not having to fight and die as Sailor Saturn. Maybe she was happier.”
“How could it be right to lose someone so full of love and life? I don’t have the power to fix this, Tejina. I can’t bring her back.”
“I’m sorry, Se,” Tejina whispered, tears flowing from her purple eyes as the pair vanished. From the roof of the Crown Arcade, 374 and 557 watched the entire exchange, Urakaze breaking the arrow he had been holding.
“There has to be something, Asa-chan! Hotaru is dead because of Haruka! And even Se, daughter of the God of Death, cannot bring her back!!”
“We made our complaint to the Council,” Asakaze whispered. “Did you see Minako with Rei earlier? She loves that miko, but Rei loves Usagi. I can’t believe how fucked up this world has become. There’s something terribly wrong, something about one of the senshi making a wish, but the gods will not speak and only Se and Tejina know the whole truth. They’re from the correct reality, and only they know how to go back.”
“Se said that she doesn’t have the power,” Urakaze whispered. “I believe her. If she could fix this, she would. I sensed the love she had for the girl in the picture, for little Tomoe Hotaru, dead all these years. I sense the love she has for the women who should be senshi. Aren’t we supposed to be the ones in control? Aren’t we supposed to make them fall in love?”
“It’s not that simple, Ura-kun,” 374 whispered. “Sometimes events spiral out of our control. No matter how many arrows I shoot Usagi with, she will not fall in love with Mamoru because her heart isn’t ready. It missed its chance. And Rei might be able to fall in love with Minako, but she will not betray Usagi. Cupids may be powerful, but we are not all-powerful. Only the gods can really fix this.”
“And the gods aren’t listening right now.”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Haruka stood in the doorway and watched Michiru sleep, watched her toss and turn, plagued by nightmares she couldn’t escape. Haruka longed to comfort her lover, to chase the demons away, but there was nothing she could do. Sighing, she slipped into the bed, wearing only a tank top and boxers, feeling harsh flannel rub against her bare legs. There was a time when Michiru slept in silk negligees, showing off her beautiful body for Haruka alone, but now she covered her entire body except for her hands and head. She could not escape the men from the alley, and Haruka wondered if she would ever truly heal. Weeks ago, Michiru wouldn’t be able to sleep until her partner kissed her, caressed her with deft fingers, plunged deep inside and brought her to orgasm, at least once. Then they would curl up in each other’s loving arms, Michiru’s head pillowed on Haruka’s soft breasts, one of Michiru’s thighs wedged between Haruka’s. They had been so close, in more ways than one. But all of that had been shattered by five men in an alley.
Now Michiru only let Haruka hold her when they were on the street; she was too afraid of the men around her not to be protected. That’s all Haruka’s arm did, protect her. Alone in their apartment, Michiru kept her distance, furtive eyes following her partner’s every movement. She wouldn’t let Haruka do more than hug her briefly before she went to bed, touching only when absolutely necessary. They never kissed, barely talked, and Haruka’s hands had better stay well away from Michiru’s breasts, legs, or face. When they hugged, Michiru tensed, and it killed Haruka every time. Even Haruka’s sexual innuendos were too much, gone like their intimacy. Michiru refused to share a shower or bath with the racer, unwilling to see Haruka naked. She hated her own body, dressing and undressing in semi-darkness, even bathing with the lights dim. She never took baths anymore, unable to relax into the warmth, restricting herself to short showers. Gone was the sexy, carefree, graceful woman who had asked to paint Haruka years ago, to be replaced by a woman afraid even of her own shadow.
Haruka missed her Michiru. The new one never painted, could barely stand to look at her violin, had insisted that the piano be covered with a heavy cloth, took no pride in her makeup collection, and no longer wore even lipstick or perfume. Haruka couldn’t play music with her in the room, knew that she would never come to her races, and had no idea what to do. Michiru no longer swam, her bathing suit collection shoved to the back of her closet, never opened the blinds in their room, and only left the apartment with Haruka when she had to. She no longer cooked or cleaned, and mostly she just sat on the couch and watched the news. The worst part, though, was Michiru’s new celibacy.
Haruka was a very sexy woman, and she could never understand why someone would refuse to ever have sex. After all, masturbation could only be so satisfying. For true pleasure, the perfect partner was necessary. And Haruka found that partner in Michiru. For a little while. Now, she was no longer allowed to go to bed at the same time as her former lover. At first, she had been forced to sleep on the sofa, but now she could share Michiru’s bed as long as the younger woman was already asleep and she didn’t touch her. No more cuddling until growling stomachs or bright sunlight forced them out of bed; no more early-morning kisses; no more desperate kisses late at night when someone’s day had just been too much and she needed release; no more screams of purest pleasure and whimpers of incredible need; no more whispered pleas, talented lips wringing pleasure from all parts of her body; no more sexy grins and teasing; no more long fingers buried deep inside her, fingers curled and finding just the right spot to send her over the edge; no more talented tongue delving into her secret passage, bringing her to orgasm a second time; no more rolling her over and returning the favor, making her squirm and scream. Haruka missed her lover, and she wanted her back. It was so unfair that Michiru was right there, right in front of her, but a pain she could not heal kept them far apart. As Haruka fell asleep, her tears soaked the pillow under her head and she clenched her fists, pulling herself into a ball. Kaiou Michiru died in that alley, and the woman that remained might as well have never returned.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Michiru woke feeling completely safe and warm for the first time in weeks, two strong arms enveloping her from behind. She sighed as her mind tried to discover who her bedmate was, feeling the hands begin to move, their owner awake. She kept her blue eyes closed as the movement became a loving caress, fingers searching for the top of her pants. One hand slipped inside, searching for the source of her warmth, and Michiru’s mind filled with images form the alley. “No,” she cried, jerking free and spinning to face Haruka. The blonde, only half-awake, stared at her, confused. “I . . . I can’t, Haruka. I’m so sorry.”
Haruka sat up, staring at her hands. “I don’t know what I did,” she whispered. “I don’t know why I went to my race that day, why I didn’t stay with you when I knew there was something wrong. I love you so much, but I killed you that day. There’s blood on my hands and it’s all my fault and I don’t know how to wash it away.”
Michiru swallowed her fear and sat on the bed in front of Haruka, taking the blonde’s hands in hers. “No, Haruka. There’s no blood here. You’re hands are clean. I should have gone with you when you left; I should know better than to walk alone in that part of town. Tokyo is much safer. I tried to fight them, Haruka, but I lacked the power and the training. Some part of me knew what to do, but I couldn’t reach it. I shouldn’t have been so damn confident. Please don’t blame yourself. I like your hands.”
Haruka looked up, tears streaming down her cheek. Michiru’s blue eyes were filled with love and remorse, regretting the choices she made that day. Haruka freed one hand and wiped Michiru’s tears away, shaking her head. “Neither of us knew, Michiru. We’ll make it through this, I’m sure. I just want us to be the way we were.”
“We will be, someday,” Michiru whispered. “But we have to take it slow. I’m not really in control of my body’s reactions yet. I don’t want to be afraid of you, but I am.”
Haruka carefully pulled Michiru into her arms, resting her head on top of the smaller woman’s. “We’ll get through this,” she whispered. “Somehow.”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Chapter 13: Sleepover
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Haruka rolled her eyes at the little blonde’s antics, amazed at how quickly the group of younger girls had become a part of her life. Usagi was glaring at Rei as the miko tossed a bag of candy over her head, Makoto catching it easily. Ami rolled her eyes at the torture of the blonde, returning to her studies. Mamoru, a more recent addition to the group, sat on the floor against the wall and discussed the lyrics of a new song with Minako. Earlier, Michiru and Haruka had helped her with the music. Michiru still wouldn’t touch her violin, but three months after that night, she was doing better. She let Haruka touch her and kiss her sometimes, no longer shying from Mamoru when he entered the large apartment she shared with Haruka, but she still couldn’t let her guard down enough to let Haruka make love to her. The blonde hoped that she would keep improving.
Haruka returned to her sketch as an argument broke out between Rei and Usagi, Makoto and Ami adding their own opinions as Minako moved closer. She tried to ignore it as Michiru peeked into the living room, a tray of snacks in her hands. She placed them on the table near the arguing girls and turned to leave as Usagi caught her hand. “Ne, Michiru-san?”
“Yes, Usagi-chan?”
“Where are all of your picture?”
Michiru froze, shocked, and the other girls moved back, amazed that Usagi would ask something like that. Haruka put her paper down and moved forward, reaching out toward her partner. Michiru raised a hand and closed her eyes, regaining her composure. “I haven’t drawn anything since we came to Tokyo, Usagi-chan. As for the rest . . . most of them are on display.”
“And the other ones? The ones you did with Haruka-san? The ones you did of Haruka-san? No one has seen them in a long time.”
“I put them away,” Michiru whispered, moving closer to Haruka.
“Maybe you should bring them back out,” Rei whispered. “I know that I would like to see them. It’s a shame to let talent die.”
Haruka rested her hand on Michiru’s shoulder. “You don’t have to . . . if you don’t want to, Michiru. It’s up to you.”
“No, Haruka; I want to. Let’s go find those paintings.” As the couple vanished deeper into their apartment, Minako and Makoto whirled on Usagi.
“Why would you ask her something like that? That was insensitive,” the idol hissed.
“I agree, Usagi-chan. If Michiru-san wanted us to see her paintings, she would have shown them to us.”
“No, Mako-chan. She wouldn’t. She was hurt and she’s healing very slowly. She put away her paints because it was her painting that kept her from going with Haruka-san that day. She blames her obsession for what happened.”
Mamoru shook his head. “You can’t know that, Usagi. She never told us what happened the day she was attacked. She won’t talk about it.”
“I didn’t have to be told, Mamo-chan,” Usagi whispered, closing her eyes as images filled her mind. She never even noticed her sudden use of ‘Mamo-chan’. “She was drawing the sea, but it was unfinished. She was dissatisfied with the painting when she left, realizing that she had to go or she would miss seeing Haruka-san win. Haruka-san always won, and Michiru-san liked to be there to congratulate her. She never finished that painting.”
“How do you know? How could you possibly know?”
“I just see things, sometimes, Ami-chan. And I saw this.”
Michiru and Haruka reentered the room, ending the conversation, and all eyes looked up as Michiru placed a covered canvas on the couch. She pulled the cloth away, sighing. “It’s not finished.”
“The sea looks lonely,” Minako whispered. “Maybe . . . maybe you weren’t meant to finish it then. Sometimes I can’t write and I have to take a break. When I return, I can finish those songs because the time is better.”
“I don’t think I can paint just now . . .”
“Then let Haruka-san help you,” Minako suggested. “I heard that your joint paintings were breathtaking.”
Haruka placed the picture she had carried on the floor in front of the couch, braced against the legs of the table. She removed the cover and the girls gasped. Even Mamoru was speechless. It was the first picture she and Michiru collaborated on, the picture of the angel and the mermaid meeting on a rock at the edge of the ocean. Usagi wiped a tear out of her eye and shook her head. “You’re work is so beautiful . . . but so sad, too. Their people will never let them be together.”
Haruka stared at the blonde, shocked. “I never . . . I never thought about that before. You really think this picture is sad?”
“Well, I mean it’s very beautiful, Haruka-san, and it’s so sweet that two people who are so very different can fall in love, and there’s a lot of hope, but their people will tear them apart. I don’t see a future.”
Haruka felt tears fill her eyes at Usagi’s words, taking a step back. ‘I don’t see a future.’ The words repeated over and over again in her mind, reminding her that she and Michiru might not make it. After all they’d been through, the rape might have been one straw too many. Michiru sensed the direction Haruka’s thoughts were wandering and placed a gentle hand on her partner’s arm.
“I think that they would find a way to show their people that love is stronger than any hatred that kept them apart and they would find a way to be together. Love is that strong. It can get us through the toughest times.” She moved backwards, letting Haruka wrap her arms around her waist, resting her smaller hands on her lover’s. “No matter what may happen, love will pull us through.” She looked around at the group, an idea filling her mind. “I know what’s missing from the picture,” she whispered, slipping free of her lover’s grasp and dashing into the bedroom where her paints were.
Michiru set the canvas on an easel, carefully mixing her paints as Haruka arranged the girls and Mamoru against the far wall. She joined them, sitting on the end of the row and leaving a space for Michiru beside her. After a little while—and a few complaints from Usagi—they took a break and had a snack, the artists switching places. As the light outside faded, Haruka and Michiru labored over the painting, finishing it as the girls napped, even Ami too tired to watch anymore. Smiling, the artists brought out a clean canvas and began another picture.
“Haruka,” Michiru whispered, pausing her hand. They had sketched the basic shape of Mamoru, the five girls, and themselves, but something seemed a little odd to the aqua-haired woman. “There’s someone missing.”
“I know.” Haruka took the pencil and added another tall woman, one with long hair and a strange staff in one hand. Michiru then added a small girl beside the woman, her hair short, a scythe in her hand. A few more pencil lines had a mirror in her hand and a sword in Haruka’s. Driven by a force and memories they did not understand, the pair painted the group, putting them in strange sailor fuku, tiaras on their heads, a black tuxedo suit and cape on Mamoru, hat on his head and a mask covering his eyes. Two cats sat silently at Usagi’s booted feet. Haruka never even complained when Michiru gave her a skirt, sensing that it fit, somehow. Hours later, finally finished, Haruka and Michiru woke their guests and showed them the painting.
“That’s us,” Usagi whispered, holding out her hand but not quite touching. “But . . . we look like super-heroes.
“Sailor fuku bishoujo senshi . . . that seems so familiar,” Rei whispered, staring at the figure that she had become. She was wearing red, high heels, gloves, a tiara . . . but it just seemed so right.
“Ai to seigi no Sailor fuku bishoujo senshi Sailor Moon,” Usagi whispered. “Tsukini kawatte, oshiokiyo.” She moved into a pose that seemed so very familiar, arms crossed in defense and defiance, feet spread apart. “Sailor Moon.”
“Tuxedo Kamen,” Mamoru murmured thoughtfully. He noticed something wrong, and he opened his mouth to speak, but the women beat him to it, seven voices crying out at once.
“The rose! He should be holding a rose!” Michiru took her green paint and slipped a thorn-free stem into Tuxedo Kamen’s fingers, red paint giving the flower a gentle bloom. She touched up a few more things, adding a crescent moon to each cat’s forehead, before she stepped back.
“But who are those two?”
“I don’t know who the woman is, Mako-chan, though it seems like I should know her. But the girl . . . she’s the one in your article, Rei-chan. That girl that died.”
“Tomoe Hotaru,” Rei whispered. “Something is very wrong.”
Minako shattered the moment with a huge yawn that she tried desperately to stifle, sending Usagi into a fit of giggles. Michiru glanced at the clock as she headed to the bathroom to wash the paint off her hands, Haruka following. Rei pulled Usagi to her feet and headed for the guest bedroom, Makoto, Ami, and Minako just behind them. Mamoru had agreed to sleep on the couch, fixing his bed as the girls went to fix theirs. Makoto helped Ami spread the large futon on the floor, the pair talking quietly as they slipped into their bed clothes. Usagi was singing some sort of song as she changed into her shirt and pajama pants, never noticing Minako staring at Rei. The miko did notice, trying her best to ignore the idol as they finished dressing. Minako rolled out her sleeping bag in the corner, joking about foregoing her idol life to sleep on the floor in someone else’s apartment.
Usagi jumped into bed, grinning, as Rei shook her head and glanced at Minako. “Usagi, Minako and I need to go talk for a minute. Can you wait for me?”
“Mochiron, Rei.” Makoto and Ami returned to the living room to help Michiru and Haruka clean up as Rei and Minako headed for the balcony. Usagi stared at the half-open door, wondering if she should go help, but it sounded like the others were doing fine. Besides, she was clumsy and would probably do more harm than good. Sighing in contentment, she curled up and prepared to go to sleep.
“Usagi?”
“Hai, Mamoru-san?” Usagi sat up as Mamoru sat on the edge of the bed, staring at his hands. “What’s wrong?”
“When I saw that picture, Usagi, I thought I could see another image. A princess.”
“I saw a prince,” Usagi admitted. “I didn’t want to say anything in front of Rei because I think it would have upset her. But I think that prince was my destiny, and I think he was you, Mamoru.” She looked up at him, tears in her eyes, carefree demeanor gone. “But it’s too late for us. Maybe if we had met sooner than we did or one of us had seen the possibility, but I’m with Rei now, and I do love her. I could never betray her like that.”
“I know,” Mamoru whispered. “I think, in another life, I would have been your prince. But here and now, in real life, I am destined to be alone.”
“I’m sorry, Mamoru.”
“It’s not your fault,” he whispered, cupping her cheek in his large hand. She covered his hand with her smaller one, tears filling her blue eyes. “I think I knew that I liked you from the instant that test fell on my head. But sometimes we ignore Cupid’s arrows and we never get a second chance. I was the stupid one. I just wanted . . . just once . . . can I kiss you?”
Usagi nodded, closing her eyes as Mamoru’s lips brushed hers, a spark of destiny, of true belonging passing between them. She stifled a sob as he pulled away, standing up and leaving her alone. Rolling over, she closed her eyes and dried her tears, unwilling to upset Rei with her despair. Mamoru could have been hers . . . but something went wrong. “How can I love them both?”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“Minako, you’re such a good friend, to all of us. You and Usagi are so much alike, and she’s needed someone to get into mischief with. The rest of us are too dedicated to our studies and other things for her. You gave up your carefree life to settle in Tokyo, go to school here, and be with us. I’m grateful for that.”
“It’s not only Usagi who keeps me here.”
Rei sighed and leaned on the balcony railing, staring out at the city lights, night in Tokyo. Michiru could be heard through the open balcony doors, scolding Haruka, Makoto and Ami laughing at the poor blonde. “I know, Minako. I know you think you love me . . .”
“I know I love you,” Minako hissed, grabbing Rei and spinning her around, trapping her against the railing. Her face was mere inches from the miko, the heat from her body washing over Rei. “Ever since the moment I first saw you in the crowd, I knew that you were my destiny. I sang that song to you, Rei, no one else. You know that, don’t you?”
“I know. I could tell.”
“And you’re the woman from my dream! Why can’t we be together?”
“Because my heart is not whole,” Rei whispered. “I love Usagi and I have since we met, I think. We had a wonderful relationship. Even Mamoru didn’t make her look twice, and I think he really cares for her. He’s not part of our group because of me, I know. But she’s so loyal to me, and she loves me so very much. No matter what feelings I may have for you, Minako, I loved Usagi first.”
“What feelings, Rei? What do you feel for me?”
Rei turned her head away. “I’m not sure.”
“Yes you are! Tell me!”
“Minako . . .”
“Tell me! Do you love me?!”
“Yes! Yes, damn it, I love you! But I can’t—” She was silenced by Minako’s sudden kiss, gasping at the forcefulness of the blonde’s attack, relaxing as the other woman’s tongue darted into her mouth, experimenting. Rei released her death-grip on the railing and slowly slipped her fingers into Minako’s soft hair. So much like Usagi’s . . .
“No!” Rei jerked away, shame coloring her face, as she clenched her fists. “This isn’t right, Minako. Please, go back in there. I won’t do this to my girlfriend.”
“I’m sorry,” Minako whispered.
Rei turned to her and placed a gentle hand on her cheek. “I’m sorry, too, Minako. I’m sorry that we couldn’t meet in a better place and time.”
“I’ll wait for you,” Minako whispered. “If you and Usagi-chan ever break up, I’ll be there to help you through it.”
“I know.” Rei kissed Minako’s forehead and pushed the blonde back into the apartment, staring out across the city one last time. “How can I love them both?”
Rei slipped back into the apartment and closed the balcony doors, heading for the guest room without anyone noticing. Ami put the last of her books away, smiling as Makoto reached out a hand and helped her to her feet. Makoto wrapped her arm around Ami’s waist and led the smaller girl into the bedroom, the tenderness in such a simple gesture amazing Haruka and Michiru. Haruka smiled as she wrapped her arm around Michiru’s waist, slowly heading for their bedroom.
“I’m glad you started painting again,” Haruka whispered. “Maybe tomorrow we could get your violin out.”
“Maybe,” Michiru agreed. “I think running into Rei-chan and Minako-chan is the best thing that ever happened to us.”
“I think you’re right.”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Minako squeezed her eyes shut, facing the wall, as Ami and Makoto slipped under their blanket, curled up in each other’s arms. Rei was still in the bathroom getting ready, and Minako knew that Usagi was crying in the bed. In the living room, she could hear Mamoru’s restless shuffling. He was having troubles sleeping, too. In the next room, she heard Michiru and Haruka go to bed, just that. They still didn’t do anything at night except sleep. Somehow, that seemed wrong. As Minako fell asleep, she dreamed of a very different world where Rei was single when Minako fell in love with her, Usagi was already taken by Mamoru, and they spent their free time wondering about Haruka and Michiru’s love life.
Rei entered the bedroom as soon as she was sure that Makoto, Ami, and Minako were asleep. She slipped into bed beside Usagi, the drowsy blonde curling into her girlfriend’s arms automatically. Her cheeks were wet, and Rei knew that she had been crying. Resting her head on top of Usagi’s, Rei closed her eyes and tried to relax. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered. “I’ll never do that to you again.”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Chapter 14: Earthquake
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The next morning, conversation at breakfast was subdued, the group barely picking at their food. Michiru and Haruka knew that something had happened the night before, but they had no idea what. Mamoru wouldn’t look at Usagi or Rei; the little blonde bundle of energy was avoiding everyone’s eyes, silent for once; Rei was even more protective of Usagi than usual, making sure she was enjoying her food; Minako kept glancing up at Rei when the miko wasn’t looking, tears hovering in the corners of her blue eyes; and Makoto and Ami were sitting beside each other, trying not to flirt conspicuously. Only Haruka and Michiru could see the relationship developing between the brunette and the genius; everyone else was too preoccupied with their love problems.
Haruka suddenly stood up from the table, taking some of the plates and cups as Michiru took the rest, placing them beside the sink. “Why don’t you go into the living room?” Haruka suggested as she began to rinse the dishes. Mamoru nodded and left, the girls slowly shuffling after him. Haruka and Michiru silently cleaned the dishes and dried them, putting them away as Haruka glanced back into the living room. “They’re not moving or speaking,” she pointed out as Michiru placed her hand on the blonde’s shoulder. “Do you know what happened last night?”
“I don’t know, Haruka. I know that Rei-chan and Minako-chan spoke on the balcony before they went to bed. I think something happened between the two of them.”
Haruka glanced over her shoulder at her partner. “I hope not. I hope Rei-chan doesn’t hurt Usagi-chan just because Minako-chan is in love with her.”
“I think Rei-chan is in more danger from Mamoru-kun’s feelings for Usagi,” Michiru whispered. “He really loves her; you can tell.”
“Does he love her more than Rei does?”
“That’s not a fair question, Haruka love. They love her in different ways. We all love her in our own ways, even if some of us aren’t as demonstrative as Rei-chan. She may hug Usagi, kiss her when she gets a good grade, and hold her while they sleep, but Mako-chan makes her cookies, Ami-chan helps her study, and Minako-chan gives her music and volleyball lessons.”
“What about us?”
Michiru wrapped her arms around Haruka’s waist and rested her head on the blonde’s strong shoulder, feeling a burning deep inside that had been missing for a long time. “I have an idea, koibito.”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Usagi watched Rei’s fingers drawing invisible kanji on her arm, a prayer for true love. She knew that the miko thought she couldn’t read it. She winced at the pain that the symbols evoked, the ghostly feeling of Mamoru’s lips on hers, seeing the kanji transform into the word for traitor. She had betrayed the only woman that loved her, and she had to find a way to make it up to the miko. She sensed that Rei was shaking, but she had no idea why her girlfriend was so upset. Usagi reached up and placed a hand on Rei’s cheek, smiling kindly. “What’s wrong, Rei? Calm down.”
“I can’t, Usagi,” Rei whispered. “Something’s coming, something bad. My entire being is screaming at me to run far away, to draw the danger away from you, but I don’t know what that danger is.”
Usagi wrapped her arms around Rei’s waist and rested her head on the miko’s shoulder, never noticing the pained looked Minako shot Rei. “Don’t worry; I’ll protect you. I’ll protect you all.”
The silence that followed slowly melted away as the gentle chords of an unknown but achingly familiar melody filled the air, the violin whispering of times past, lives lost, loves gone forever. Usagi stood first, pulling Rei with her as the other girls also stood, staring as Michiru slowly exited the bedroom, playing the violin she hadn’t touched in months. Haruka slipped into the room from the other end, sitting down at her piano and waiting until Michiru hit that crucial chord before she joined in. Even Mamoru stood as the music filled the apartment, pain and shame washing away at the sound.
Michiru was shaking slightly as her bow touched the strings, not even sure if she still remembered how to play. She had her eyes closed as she left the bedroom, sensing the girls in the living room, their shock and amazement washing over her. None of them had ever heard her play. She felt it when her partner joined her on the piano, her ears already deaf as the sound of crashing waves filled her. She let her music follow the waters, her lover easily chasing her as the eager wind, their souls merging in an infinite dance as their music faded, two pairs of eyes opening to regard their small audience. Usagi wiped tears out of her eyes as she leapt forward and embraced Michiru, spinning to throw her arms around Haruka’s waist as the blonde joined her partner. Rei, Minako, Ami, and even Makoto echoed the little blonde’s action, Mamoru bowing his head.
“That was so beautiful,” Usagi whispered. “I didn’t know you could play so well.”
“Thank you,” Michiru whispered, the burning feeling inside having changed to the feeling of perfect comfort and utter content she remembered so well. The girls could see it in her posture, her smile, the light in her eyes. She was finally whole again. She glanced up at Haruka, and another light entered her eyes, one Haruka hadn’t seen in a very long time. The blonde shivered, reaching out to take Michiru’s hand.
“Will you guys excuse us for a minute? Michiru and I have something to discuss on the balcony.”
Rei giggled as she pulled Usagi away from the couple. “Of course, Haruka-san.”
Haruka led Michiru to the balcony, leaving the doors open to admit the warm breeze. The sun hung high overhead, covered by faint white clouds that promised only shade, no threat of rain. Michiru let Haruka pull her into her arms, resting her aqua-haired head on the blonde’s chest. “Michiru, she’s right. That was absolutely perfect.”
“I feel like these chains that I was carrying around from that day are all gone. It’s amazing, Haruka.” Michiru leaned up and kissed Haruka briefly, pulling away before the blonde’s agile tongue could slip into her mouth. She smiled at her pouting lover. “Later, koibito. I promise. For now, just feel the wind, okay?”
“I can do that.” Haruka closed her eyes and listened to the alternating rhythms of the gentle wind and her lover’s calm heartbeat. She wasn’t sure how long she stood there before a tremor shook the building, forcing her to open her eyes and grab onto the railing to keep herself and her lover upright. “What?”
“An earthquake?” Michiru slipped free and glanced out across the city. “It was only a very small tremor, Ruka.”
“Still, we should go check on the girls.” As Haruka turned to reenter the apartment, a single white feather shimmering silver in the light floated down from the roof, landing just inside the balcony railing. Curious, the blonde reached down and picked it up.
A racer . . . meeting Michiru after one particular race . . . a dream of death and silence . . . pushing Michiru away . . . a youma . . . Sailor Neptune throwing herself in harm’s way for Haruka’s sake . . . fighting the attraction as they battled youma after youma . . . going to Tokyo to stop the Silence . . . Sailor Moon . . . true identities revealed . . . Neptune’s death and the Aqua Mirror . . . Uranus’s death and the Space Sword . . . Sailor Pluto . . . the Holy Grail . . . Sailor Moon can’t be the Messiah! . . . the final battle . . . stupid Moon! Kill Hotaru to save the world! . . . fighting Sailor Moon . . . she is the Messiah . . . driving away from Tokyo with Michiru . . . returning only to fight a new enemy . . . strange new Senshi . . . Starlights . . . have to protect the princess . . . final battle . . . turning on Pluto and Saturn and killing them . . . fighting the princess . . . it doesn’t even matter! . . . dying, reaching for Michiru, the only person who really mattered . . . the forest and returning to the land of the living . . . how can they forgive us? . . . do I love her because of our duty to the princess? . . . Tejina . . . “Granted” . . .
Haruka fell against the balcony, staring at the feather clutched in her nerveless fingers. “Michiru . . . Hotaru . . . oh no . . . I did it again . . . how could I? How could I betray our princess a second time?”
“Princess? Ruka, what are you talking about?”
“And she was right! You were both right! You were all right! It was true love all along. Any false love would have shattered by now.” Haruka dropped her head into her shaking hands, tears filling her eyes and her voice. “We were finally happy, finally together, and I went and destroyed it! My wish killed Hotaru, separated Usagi and Mamoru, and got you raped! It’s all my fault . . .”
“Hotaru? Haruka, what are you talking about?”
“What have I done? What have I done?”
Michiru knelt beside Haruka and took the feather, gasping as images filled her mind, memories from another time, another life. She blinked, returning to reality as the building began to shake once more, a ferocious earthquake threatening to break Tokyo’s tallest buildings in half, grabbing the railing and her partner as the first, second, and third aftershocks threatened to throw them to the ground far below. A crashing sound filled the apartment, and Michiru’s eyes filled with fear at the sudden screams, quickly silenced. As soon as the building stilled, the woman who had once been Sailor Neptune grabbed her partner’s hand and dragged her back inside.
Makoto was crumpled in the corner, half covering Ami, the shattered table covering the pair. Minako was lying unconscious in the shattered remains of the large window, just barely having escaped critical injuries. Usagi, crouched in the center of the room, was shaking her head, trying to regain her senses, completely unharmed. A second later, Haruka and Michiru realized why. Rei and Mamoru were half-buried by pieces of the ceiling that hadn’t been reinforced enough to survive an earthquake that almost brought the apartment building to the ground, neither of them moving.
“Rei! Mamo-chan!” Usagi stumbled over to the pair and pushed the rubble aside, tears clouding her vision. “Rei! Mamo-chan! Why would you do that? Why would you push me out of the way like that?”
Rei coughed and opened her eyes a crack, touching the broken beam embedded in her belly, staring at the blood covering her hand. “Couldn’t . . . let this . . . happen . . . to you, Usagi. Couldn’t let you . . . get hurt.”
Michiru stifled a sob as Usagi reached for her girlfriend’s injury, knowing that she was powerless to save the miko. “Rei! Please don’t die!”
“Usagi . . . please let Mamoru take care of you . . . he loves you, too . . .” Rei closed her eyes, the pain overwhelming her as she slipped into unconsciousness, her blood pooling on the floor beneath her. Usagi shook her head as she glanced at Mamoru, sensing that he was as close to death as her girlfriend, one shoulder completely crushed by a piece of the ceiling that still covered his chest.
“NOOO!!! I won’t let you die! I have to save both of you!” Usagi took one of Rei’s blood-covered hands in hers, Mamoru’s hand in her other, blue eyes closed. “I will save you,” she whispered, concentrating. She whimpered as a golden crescent moon appeared on her forehead, a single tear falling from her eye. Haruka and Michiru watched in utter amazement as the tear began to glow, floating in midair, growing into a sparkling crystal. Usagi released Rei and Mamoru, cupping her hands around the stone. “Save them both,” she whispered. “Please don’t let them die.”
“The ginzuishou,” Michiru whispered. “Haruka, she’s not strong enough! She can’t possibly survive!”
“Princess! Machinasai!” Haruka lunged forward as silver light exploded from the tiny crystal, trying to follow the calling of Usagi’s heart. It touched Mamoru and Rei, trying to heal both, but there wasn’t enough power, she wasn’t strong enough, she was too young to understand her own strength. Usagi’s eyes shot open as the crystal turned red and shattered, staring at Haruka as she fell down beside Rei, eyes soulless and dark. She breathed her last as Rei gasped and went still, Mamoru’s life fading a second later.
“No,” Makoto whispered, staring at the blonde. Badly injured by the debris of the room, she erupted into a fit of coughs, Ami holding her. Makoto was so strong, but it wasn’t enough. She had failed. Her princess was dead. As she collapsed against the wall, blank eyes locked on Ami, all she knew was that Usagi should not have died. Ami wrapped her arms around Makoto’s limp form, a strange yet comforting cold invading her body. Her power. She knew how to use her power, just once.
“Freezing,” she whispered in a cloud of ice cold air, falling down beside Makoto, both following their princess into death. In the remains of the shattered window, Minako grabbed the nearest piece of glass and jabbed it into her wrists, eyes locked on Rei’s still form as her life faded, too, leaving Haruka and Michiru alone.
“No,” Haruka whispered. “NO! Tejina! Please! Fix this!”
“There is nothing I can do,” a sad voice whispered as Tenbano Tejina appeared in the center of the room, wings folded along her spine. “I told you that I could guarantee nothing in this reality. You wished for it. Aren’t you happy?”
“No! I didn’t want any of this! It should have been safe, without our powers and our enemies! How did all of this happen?”
“Haruka! You wished . . . for this?”
“She wanted to know if her love for you depended on your duty as senshi. This was the only way I could answer that question.” Tejina glanced around, tears in her purple eyes. “I never meant for this to happen, either, Haruka.”
“Please, do something. I can’t understand why they’re all dead without their powers or their enemies. I didn’t mean for this to happen!”
“Perhaps you should have thought about the consequences before betraying your princess. You should have had faith in your partner’s love. They died because they have no power. As senshi, they would have survived these injuries. In the original timeline, these four senshi all died twice. But they came back because of Usagi’s love, enhanced by her power as the princess. She loved you, too, but you betrayed her. Was it worth it?”
Haruka shrunk away from Tejina’s mocking voice. “Please,” she whispered, “I’ll do anything. Just undo all of this! Make everything the way it was!”
“I don’t have the power.”
“I do! Take my power! If Usagi still had the crystal, I still have my senshi power! Take my power and use it to fix this.”
“It would take all of your power, including your life force. Are you willing to sacrifice everything to fix your mistake?”
“Yes,” Haruka whispered, staring at Tejina. “I’m willing.”
“Haruka, no!”
Haruka turned and wrapped her arms around Michiru, kissing the distraught woman passionately before jerking away, tear-filled green eyes locking with Tejina’s purple ones. “I love you, Michiru, and I always will. I’m doing this for her, for them, and for you. Please remember that.” Closing her eyes and spreading her arms, Haruka whispered, “I’m ready, Tejina.”
“Haruka! NOOO!!”
“Granted.”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Chapter 15: Granted
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Usagi gasped, clutching at her broach, a red light enveloping her as her crystal screamed, a sound she had never heard before. Mamoru groaned, holding his head as he tried to comfort his girlfriend, relaxing slowly as the horrible sound faded, the ginzuishou slowly changing from an angry red to a steady white until the light faded altogether and it returned to its rest inside the golden broach. On Usagi’s other side, Rei slowly sat up, hand on her stomach, wondering what happened to her wound. She remembered intense pain . . . blood . . . Usagi screaming her name . . .
“Usagi,” Rei whispered, turning to her best friend, sitting on the floor of the temple. The blonde looked up, tears in her eyes, and moved away from Mamoru.
“Rei, you know that I can’t . . . one over the others . . .”
Rei smiled kindly, purple eyes full of the love Usagi knew so well and a new, incredible understanding. She understood. “I know, Usagi. I know that you love us all. I love you, but I don’t think I’m in love with you. There’s another, my soulmate, someone for me alone. You have Mamoru, and I know that you two are happy and will be happy for a very long time. It’s like a strange dream, a vision, something I only see in the fire.”
“It was real,” Mamoru whispered, holding out one hand. The faint ghostly outline of a very familiar golden crystal appeared briefly in his palm, vanishing as he closed his stormy dark blue eyes. “It was all real. Someone altered the timeline and everything we know as reality, but it’s all fixed now. It’s fading. Do you feel it? It’s fading like a dream. Good or bad, it’s all going away.”
“I think that’s a good thing, Mamo-chan.” Usagi stood, holding out her hand to the black-haired miko as Mamoru also stood. “It’s just a dream. That’s all it needs to ever be. Tonight we’ll invite Mako-chan, Ami-chan, and Minako-chan to the shrine and have a little party. It’ll make us forget it faster.”
“And the others?”
“They’re always welcome.”
Not far from the trio, Michiru sat up slowly, shaking her head, mirror clutched tightly in one hand. She put the Aqua Mirror away, wondering where she was, unable to even focus her eyes. Coughing, Michiru pulled herself into a standing position, glancing around as her blue eyes slowly cleared. Haruka. Where was Haruka? Michiru looked over at her princess and prince, the image of Rei and Usagi standing together stirring something, some memory, some fear . . . on the ground at her feet was a single white feather, long shaft, thin and delicate, shining slightly silver in the light. It looked ephemeral, magical, otherworldly. Confused, drawn, scared to death, Michiru reached down and picked it up.
And it hit her. All of the memories, the pain, the fear, and Haruka . . . Wide, frightened blue eyes turned to the doorway Haruka had entered an hour, three years, and two lifetimes ago, and she dropped the feather. “HARUKAAAAA!!!!!”
Usagi, Rei, and Mamoru spun at the scream so full of agony, fear, and love as Michiru vanished, moving faster than they thought possible, slamming through the door at the end of the room, running so fast that Haruka might have trouble keeping up. Usagi took Mamoru’s hand and followed her senshi, Rei whispering prayers as she brought up the end of the group.
Michiru fell through the door of the small room and landed beside her limp partner, pulling Haruka into her loving arms. “No,” she whispered, shaking her head in utter disbelief. “It’s not fair. Haruka! Please come back to me.”
“She cannot,” a soft voice whispered from above, Tejina spreading her wings as she knelt beside the pair. “Her life is gone, to save you. It was her choice.”
“She had no right to make that choice! I love her—we all love her—and we need her so very much! She can’t leave! She can’t! We’ve survived so much . . . why not this one last test?”
“Because this test arose from choice. She has free will, she used it.”
Michiru tried to hold back her tears as she ran her fingers lightly over Haruka’s cool cheek, brushing blonde bangs out of eyes that would never see again. She reached down and twined her fingers with her lover’s longer ones, watching as they stayed still, not curling around her fingers as they usually did. She would never hold Haruka’s hand again. “But we are destined, Haruka. You know that now. And destined lovers are not meant to be separated. I think you knew that.” Smiling, the expression determined, pained, and resigned, Michiru pulled Haruka close to her breast and closed her eyes. “There was a time when I was alone, when I needed nothing, trusted no one, and I never thought that I would find my soulmate. I didn’t really believe in true love, either. But then I met you, queen of the winds, and you took my breath away. You stole my heart before I could blink, and I never wanted it back. I would follow you anywhere, Haruka, and death is just the last great adventure. I love you, Ruka, and I won’t live without you; I can’t.”
“NO! Michiru-san, you cannot kill yourself! She did all of this to give you a life, to save you, to save you all.”
“Maybe you misunderstand. A life without Haruka isn’t worth living. And it never has been. You did this to her, and you must have known that I love her too much to keep living alone.”
The winged woman knelt down beside Haruka and Michiru, touching the blonde’s cold cheek. “I never meant for her to die. But I had to grant her wish.”
“Why?” Michiru glanced at the knife Haruka was wearing on her belt, a smaller version of her deadly sword, sharp enough. She pulled it free, glancing at the silver surface, ignoring Tejina’s shocked expression.
“I had to! Michiru-san, please understand that I had no choice. I had to do what she asked me to do.”
“I don’t really need a straight answer, anyway,” Michiru whispered, flipping the knife in her hand and pointing it toward her wrist. “I only need this.”
“How could I not obey my mother?!”
Michiru froze, staring at the woman, knife point an inch from her wrist. “Wh-what?”
Tejina closed her eyes and wrapped her huge white wings around her body, opening them to reveal a pegasus priest Michiru knew very well, wings fading. Helios shook his head, closing his purple eyes in pain. “Mother . . . please forgive me.”
“Helios . . . you?! Why the disguise?”
“Haruka-papa would never confide in someone she knew; Setsuna-mama asked me to intervene, to grant a wish. I did not have the power to reverse it. Please do not die again as you did before I was born. I wish I had the power.”
“I think . . . I think I know someone who can help.”
“Serenity-hime?”
“No. I do not want Usagi-chan to use all of her power for Haruka. She, at least, must live to see the future.” Michiru dropped the knife and pulled out her mirror, closing her eyes. “Show me those who are unseen,” she whispered, turning her mirror out as a blue light shot out from it. A groan answered the summons as two Cupids she remembered very well from years earlier and in the forest appeared, bathed in the blue light of the mirror. Michiru glanced at Haruka as she put her mirror away. “Can you two help?”
Asakaze shook her head sadly, redhead lover by her side. “We are agents of love; our power is minor compared to yours.”
“We can only guide in this case,” Rikuriko added. “Remember that you are senshi; her power can save her.”
“But she’s already dead! What power?”
“A Senshi always has power, Michiru. Do not forget that.” Asakaze pointed at the mirror with the point of her bow. “And don’t do that again. It’s impolite.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Just save her. Our power depends on the lives, loves, and happiness of our charges. You two cannot die.”
As the Cupids vanished, Michiru turned her mirror on Haruka’s body, watching as it glinted off of a very familiar sword, case covered in gems. Curious, Michiru pulled the Space Sword into the mundane reality, holding the metal implement before her, parallel to the ground, as she placed her mirror on the ground. Grasping the strangely-shaped grip, Michiru drew the sword and watched as it began to glow golden. Holding it up to the sky, Michiru closed her eyes, free hand resting on Haruka’s breast.
“Long ago, as our world fell around us, I called on your power to summon Pluto and save my son as I followed Haruka into death.” Helios faded back into his reality as gold filled the room and Usagi, Mamoru, and Rei peeked through the open door. Makoto, Ami, and Minako appeared behind them, Setsuna standing further back, Hotaru squeezing to the front. They watched, knowing that only Michiru could save Haruka. Their senshi senses mourned the loss of a fellow, all of their power and prayers turned toward Haruka’s return. “I used you to fight the enemies that destroyed our kingdom, and I only ask for one favor. You can help me save her. I cannot live without her, and you are my last hope. Uranus, God of the Skies, I call on your power! Save your daughter, your avatar, your chosen senshi! She never needed you before, but now she does. Please, hear my prayers! Send me your power!”
For a long moment, nothing seemed to happen, then the faint golden aura around the sword changed, darkening as a strange breeze flowed through the room, becoming a powerful gale swirling around Michiru and her sword as the golden glow enveloped the woman and her dead lover. The other Senshi pulled back as the winds coalesced, joining the gold as power filled the sword, flowing through Michiru’s hand and into Haruka, trying desperately to pull her back from the dead.
Unseen, in the shadows in the corner, Hades glanced over Michiru at his daughter. Se, Setsuna, nodded, closing her eyes. Hades waved his staff and vanished, smiling as Haruka gasped, body arching off the ground, emerald eyes wide, hands wrapping around her glowing sword. Blood flowed down the sharp blade, absorbed by the talisman before it could drip on the senshi. Haruka slowly released the blade, hands falling to the floor, hazed green eyes searching desperately for something, anything she recognized. “Where am I?”
“She’s blind,” Usagi whispered, tears in her blue eyes as Michiru embraced her lover, sword falling to the floor beside her mirror.
“It will fade in a moment,” Setsuna whispered. “Coming back . . . is never easy.”
“Michi? Is that you?”
“Of course it is,” Michiru whispered, pulling Haruka into her lap, kissing her forehead. “I wasn’t sure that would work.”
“I died. I’m dead. I remember that.”
“You’re not dead anymore. Uranus brought you back, somehow. Once a Senshi, always a Senshi, and our power never abandons us.”
“Even when we abandon it?” Haruka blinked, rubbing her eyes as her eyes began to clear, shadows and light playing across her retina. She sensed Michiru’s presence right beside her, their lovers bond having never failed her, and a brighter presence, a group, shone from a little further away. “Princess?”
“You abandoned nothing, Haruka-san,” Usagi whispered as she knelt down beside the trembling woman, taking her bloody hands. “You never abandoned Uranus and you have never abandoned us. You had no idea that any of that was going to happen; none of us would have anticipated it. I know that the final battle with Galaxia taxed all of us, you most of all. You had to make a decision to betray your fellow senshi and attack her with her own power. I know that it was not easy for you. But none of us blame you for that, and this wish was because you cannot understand why.”
“No,” Haruka whispered, really smiling for the first time since Usagi met her. “I understand now, at last.” She turned her hands over, staring at her bloody palms, and Usagi carefully touched her senshi’s palms. Haruka watched as the long gashes her sword had given her slowly closed, the blood vanishing. Usagi pulled her hands away, touching the faint white scars left behind.
“I can fix those.”
“No, Usagi-chan. Leave them. I don’t want to forget what I’ve learned. When I first came to you so long ago, there was blood on my hands already, and I thought that it could never go away, that I would never be pure.”
“You thought that you weren’t good enough for Michiru-san.”
Haruka nodded, ignoring her lover’s gasp. “Yes. But look, there’s no more blood. You healed me, you made it go away, you cleaned the blood for the first time. And you have always forgiven me, no matter how I hurt you. I can never repay you, princess, but know that I will never leave you and I will never do this to you again.”
“I know,” Usagi whispered, kissing Haruka’s forehead before rising and returning to her boyfriend’s arms. “I know. We’re having a party tomorrow to celebrate Galaxia’s defeat. It’ll be at Hikawa Jinja, if you want to come.” If you want to be a part of our lives. Usagi was letting them in, truly including the Outers for the first time, and Haruka finally realized that she had been looking for that kind of acceptance from her princess for a very long time. Michiru chuckled, the sound vibrating along Haruka’s spine. The Sea Senshi had known all along what Haruka really wanted.
“Yes, we’ll come. Thank you, princess.”
Usagi smiled as she pulled Mamoru out of the doorway. “I may be your princess by birth, Haruka-san, but I am your friend by choice. You don’t have to call me princess anymore. Please remember.”
“I will.” Rei followed Mamoru and Usagi out of the temple, Minako, Ami, and Makoto on her heels. For them, the alternate reality was just an old, fading dream, small pieces and feelings stuck in their mind as the rest vanished. For Usagi, her power so much greater than theirs, the dream would be strong for a very long time, and she would never truly forget. But she didn’t need to. It gave her a measure of satisfaction to know that she and her friends would have met regardless of their status as senshi.
Setsuna and Hotaru remained, watching as Michiru pulled Haruka to her feet, returning the Space Sword to its owner as she picked up the mirror. Haruka let her sword vanish, to be called on when she transformed, and turned to Michiru as her lover put the mirror away. “Michi . . . I’m sorry. Everything else Usagi can forgive me for, except the rape. I never would have let that happen to you.”
“I know, koibito,” Michiru whispered, embracing Haruka and resting her head on the blonde’s chest. “I know. It’s not so bad now. It’s like a bad film I watched. It touched me, but it no longer feels like it happened to me. There is no more pain. I think Tejina took care of it.”
“Tejina,” Haruka whispered. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a white feather, smiling. “Thank you, Tejina.”
“You’re welcome, Haruka-papa.”
“I had wondered about that,” the blonde smiled. “Next time, you need no disguise.” She glanced down as a little girl with black hair latched onto her leg, Hotaru smiling.
“Welcome back, Haruka-papa, Michiru-mama. Can we go home now?”
“Yes, Hime-chan, we can go home.” Haruka reached out and took Setsuna’s hand, kissing it and grinning at the older woman’s shock. “You were right all along. I must remember to listen to my elders.”
Setsuna smiled and nodded. “Of course. Now, I have supper cooking at home, and if you drive fast we should get there before it burns. I know you drove here.”
“Mochiron. Michiru, Hime-chan, Setsuna-san; it’s time to go home.”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Haruka smiled as she followed Michiru into their bedroom, the sounds of Setsuna putting a reluctant Hotaru to bed filling the hallway, as usual. Hotaru wanted Haruka and Michiru to play her one more song before bed, but Haruka’s hands were cramping and Michiru doubted she could hold the bow much longer, so they had ended the impromptu concert. Michiru turned on the lights, and both Senshi gasped at the picture sitting calmly on an easel in the corner. An angel and a mermaid.
“Helios let us keep it,” Haruka whispered. “The only good thing to come out of that reality. Michi, what would you say if I told you that I wanted to start painting?”
“I’d say that you should go back to High School when the term starts so you can graduate and get into an art and music college, like me.”
“Go back to High School?! Michiru . . .”
Michiru whirled on a whining Haruka, hands on her hips. “Now! None of that! You only have to do one year before you can enter college, and I expect you to complete it. We only stopped because we had to save the princess. Now we don’t need to. Please?”
Haruka grinned as she closed the door and moved closer to Michiru, wrapping her long arms around the other woman’s waist as she leaned so close that their noses touched. “Can you make it worth my while?”
“Ara! Someone’s in quite a mood.”
“I can’t help it,” Haruka purred, reached up to cup Michiru’s cheek in her hand. “You know that I’m not complete without you.”
“We really haven’t had a chance to unwind and relax lately, since Galaxia. Maybe you do deserve something. Some candy maybe? Or a cookie?”
Haruka glared as her hands found the hem of Michiru’s shirt and quickly tossed it across the room. “I had sugar of a different kind in mind.”
“Your sweet tooth is insatiable!”
“Something like that,” Haruka murmured, fingers searching for the clasp of Michiru’s bra as she pushed the woman backwards. Michiru gasped as she fell backwards, the sound muffled by her lover’s eager tongue. Michiru’s bra followed her shirt to the other side of the room, and the aqua-haired woman responded, hands running up Haruka’s back as her leg squeezed between Haruka’s thighs. She was no longer afraid, no longer hesitant, no longer scarred, and Haruka noticed the difference at once. Her lover, her beloved Kaiou Michiru, was back at last.
“Aishiteru, Michiru. Never leave me, koishii.”
“Never, Haruka. Never. Mmmhhhhh . . . .”
Outside their door, Setsuna smiled as Michiru’s moans filled the hallway. They were together, they were whole, they were complete. “You belong together. You always have. Oyasuminasai, Haruka-san, Michiru-san.”
“Oyasumi,” the combined voices of the pair inside replied. Setsuna grinned and walked away, glancing at the painting in the hallway that Haruka and Michiru had not yet seen. Eight Senshi in fuku they had yet to evolve into stood bravely on a cliff overlooking Crystal Tokyo, their Queen and King standing a little higher behind them, tiny pink-haired princess in her mother’s arms. The future . . . there was no doubt now that it would come to pass.
On the left hand of every one of the eight senshi sparkled a beautiful golden band, the one detail Haruka and Michiru had not originally added, a detail Setsuna never noticed. Watching, invisible, a pair of married godlings, no longer Cupids, raised their glasses, smiling at their companion. The Pegasus priest nodded and raised his cup, toasting the future evident in that painting. And toasting the wedding bands they had added to the painting before hanging it in the hallway.
“How long?”
“Years,” Helios whispered. “But that is soon enough. It will happen just in time.”
“Everything happens just in time.”
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The End!!
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