Author's Notes: Part 3! Aren't you EXCITED? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sitting at the shrine later that evening, Ami turned from the group of girls to look at Makoto, who noticed the look and excused them. Rei, Minako, herself and Ami had all gone back to the shrine for the night (after much scolding by the staff of the hospital to get out of the waiting room), and Mamoru, Usagi and Haruka had stayed at the hospital in case something happened. Now Makoto felt her hand being enclosed by Ami's, the shorter girl immediately intertwining their fingers. For whatever reason, Ami was always very affectionate, and tonight was little to no exception. She led them to the outside of the shrine, sitting on the stairs and looking out onto the town. "Mako-chan, what you did for Haruka-san tonight was absolutely splendid," commented Ami, making it clear that this was what she had brought Makoto out to talk about. "It was nothing, really. I just told her what she needed to hear," explained the taller girl. Ami tapped her lightly on the nose. "Exactly! You have a real talent with people, Mako-chan. You saw Haruka-san break down and immediately knew what she needed to be told. You looked her directly in the eye and told her we loved her. That was what she needed to hear," she finished. Blushing lightly, she decided to lighten the serious atmosphere by making somewhat of a joke. She looked Ami in the eye and said, "I love you, Ami." Successfully making the shorter girl blush, she laughed. "See? All I ever do is look people in the eye and say I love them." The young doctor looked somewhat miffed. "Mako-chan, that's not what I meant and you know it," she scolded. "I know, but I meant it. I love you very much, Ami." She leaned foreword and kissed her, suddenly sullen again. "If anything happened to you, I don't know what I would do with myself. That's why I knew what Haruka-san needed to hear. It's what I would need to hear. But I don't think it would even comfort me that much. I'm not convinced that the poor girl feels any better after hearing it." A frown formed on Ami's face. "It's true. She must be in shambles, Mako-chan. In pieces. She's so strong not to show it for as long as she did." A pause, and then, "But foolish, too. She needs to have some of that weight lifted or she'll fall apart." Makoto smiled sadly at her, then. "But Michiru is the one who usually lifts that weight from her." Sighing in a mixture of sadness and defeat, the shorter leaned foreword and slumped against her lover, feeling her body give way to weariness. ------------------------------------------------------------ "I think we should tell the others," stated Minako bravely as Rei made up a bed in the guest room. She was leaning on the side of the doorframe, arms crossed over her stomach, watching the raven-haired girl work. "It's been almost three months and there's really no need for--" "I agree." "--All this secrecy." The blonde's eyes suddenly widened. "What?" "I agree, Mina-chan. I think they deserve to know. Besides, I feel so sinister about the whole thing. Especially now, when I know you are sad but I can't put my arms around you." Rei finished setting up the bed and walked up to Minako, placing her hands on the blonde's forearms. She could feel the muscles just under the skin. "Ami-chan and Mako-chan will only need one bed, right?" A laugh sounded from the blonde, and Rei smiled at the sound. It was like music. Like wind rustling the trees. "Probably. Just like us, ne?" Rei nodded. "Of course. I plan on holding you close tonight, Mina-chan." As Minako smiled at her, Rei moved one of her hands up to touch the other girl's cheek. "Mina-chan, you mean so much to me. You know that?" "I know," she replied, knowing that the remarks were deeply rooted in sorrow. As she tried not to imagine what it might be like to lose Rei for the umpteenth time that day, she felt another rush of respect for Haruka. "I bet Haruka-san already suspects about us," she chuckled. Trying to fend off the shadows that threatened to overtake their moods, the miko joked, "Yeah, I bet she knew before we did. Hell, she knew about Ami-chan and Mako-chan." "What about us?" inquired a voice from down the hall. The two girls jumped away from each other, turning to meet their friends outside the room. "We were talking about how Haruka-san and Michiru-san knew you two were having a relationship before you told them," laughed Minako. At this point, it seemed foolish to lie about such a thing. Ami and Makoto, who of course already knew about Rei and Minako but hadn't let on they knew, just blushed lightly at the memory and chuckled. After an awkward silence, Ami yawned loudly and Makoto told her friends firmly that the two of them were going to bed. "Okay, we'll wake you up to get ready to go to the hospital at six." Visiting hours, Ami had informed them, were 7 A.M. to 9 P.M. But family could stay through the night. Rei was in charge of waking up her friends, since there was no clock in the guest room and Minako had magnets in her fingers that drew her to the "Sleep" button. "Good night, Ami-chan, Mako-chan." Rei nodded at Minako, who waved to her friends and followed the raven-haired girl out of the room. "They only gave us one bed," observed Makoto, watching Ami. Ami just shrugged and took off her over shirt. "We would only use one anyway." Both fell asleep as soon as they were curled up into each other. Rei and Minako had a bit more difficulty. As soon as they had gotten to Rei's room, Minako had been overcome with grief and started to cry again. Rei, too, started to cry, and the two of them cried each other to sleep. ------------------------------------------------------------ Though she tried to hide it, Haruka was still in as bad of a state as she was before. It had progressed to the point that she simply refused to leave Michiru's side, and on two separate occasions Rei had walked into the room to find Haruka running her hands lightly through the sleeping girl's hair. Even after she cleared her throat to announce her presence, Haruka's hand only hesitated a moment before reluctantly pulling away. "Haruka-san..." started Rei. "Gomen, I just feel like if I don't make an effort to reach out to her... She won't know I'm here." After a second of silence, she laughed weakly. "I must sound so foolish." Rei shook her head furiously and sat in the chair next to Haruka, placing a hand carefully on the other girl's shoulder. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she made a mental note to comment on the blonde's amazing biceps later. "I'm sure she knows you're here, Haruka-san. She always seems to know when you're around, and vice-versa." The miko searched her mind for an example. "Remember the time when we were having a slumber party at Usagi-chan's house and you knew exactly when Michiru-san was walking up the driveway? I remember she was late because she had practice, and Yaten was driving her to the house, and you were very jealous." Slowly but surely, Haruka's lips twitched into somewhat of a sad smile. "I wasn't jealous." The hand on her shoulder moved around to the other shoulder, enclosing the racer in a half-hug. "Haruka-san, I have something to tell you and the other girls, and I thought you should be the first to know. Because I've looked up to you from the moment I met you and thought you were a handsome boy." She stopped talking for a moment to chuckle and gather her courage. After a minute, she took a deep breath and said, carefully, "Minako and I are in love, and we've been dating for the past three months." "I know. Michiru and I saw you at a club two months ago. We also suspected you would get together long before that." Rei looked at her in astonishment, then shook her head and let out something between a laugh and a snort. "You two must have radar or something." "We like to call it 'gay-dar'." The miko would have laughed if not for the fact that the taller girl's green eyes were focused completely on her sleeping lover as they talked. "Well, listen. Mina-chan and I were going to go pick up some breakfast from the restaurant downstairs. Do you want anything?" All she recieved in reply was the shake of a head. "Haruka-san, you have to eat some time," implored Rei. Shaking her head again, the girl in question said quietly, "I don't think I could swallow anything right now, Rei-chan." Accepting this answer, Rei nodded, then stood and left the room, saying nothing else. ------------------------------------------------------------ Ever since she had woken up from her nap, Usagi had been acting very strangely. She had been acting even more ditzy than usual, actually forgetting to close the car door when she got out after their short outing to a luncheonette. Even at the diner she had acted oddly, deciding not to order anything and just sitting quietly, nursing a cup of black coffee. Just as Mamoru was finishing up his French toast, his little Bunny came clean. "Queen Serenity visited me while I was sleeping." She watched as her Mamo-chan choked on his breakfast. "What?!" he gasped. "She said that no matter how bad it got, I mustn't interfere. That if I got in the way of Fate, certain very important things wouldn't happen." Although she was clearly very sad about what this might imply, she seemed to be taking it quite well. "Well, what do you think about it, Usako? Do you think it means that Michiru-san...?" He never really finished his question. Usagi sighed softly. "I dunno, Mamo-chan. She didn't seem particularly sad when we spoke. In fact she seemed almost... amused." The expression on her face dropped, replaced by one of mild anger. "How could she laugh at such a situation? I know I can't feel bitterness towards her, but for some reason I'm still annoyed by it all." Clearly, his girlfriend had been thinking about this very deeply. He reached across the table and took her hand. "If Queen Serenity thinks that we shouldn't interfere, then we definitely should not interfere," he stated simply. After a hesitant, regretful pause, the girl sighed, "I know." Much to Mamoru's joy, her spirits lifted after that, and she ordered an extra-large plate of pancakes. ------------------------------------------------------------ Later, in the mid-afternoon, Hotaru and Setsuna arrived, looking absolutely liquid with weariness and worry. They entered the waiting room to lots of hugs from the Senshi. Trying not to intrude, they led the two women to the room where a sleeping Michiru and a distant Haruka waited quietly. The racer turned when her daughter and friend entered, standing to embrace them both warmly. Hotaru broke away to stand by her Michiru-mama, tears running silently down her face. Haruka led Setsuna out of the room to give the young girl some time alone. "How are you holding up?" asked Setsuna, brushing back the other girl's bangs. Though they did not share the same relationship as Haruka and Michiru, they still felt strong feelings toward each other and treated each other as something of a sisterly relationship. The lanky blonde let out a breath. "I'm fine now, thanks to the girls. They're so good with words, after a little reassuring from them I'm able to keep myself from falling apart." Capturing the Senshi of Time in another bone-crushing hug, she whispered, "But I suspect I'll be less lonely with you and Hotaru-chan here." "Oh, Haruka, you know you're never alone. Everyone around you is more than willing to give you support," remarked Setsuna, carefully returning the embrace, letting her head rest on her friend's shoulder. "Of course I'm hearing that now, but Michiru is my main support, Setsuna. Without her I feel lost, and subtract you from the equation and I'm completely alone." "...She's my main support too. I guess she's always drawn people to her with her mothering nature." Of course, that was a lie. Setsuna relied heavily on Hotaru for support, the two of them being the oldest Senshi. Sometimes when Setsuna was feeling bad about living on her own, without a lover, Sailor Saturn would make an appearance in the small body of her daughter, and the two of them would share their sorrows with each other during long talks. But of course, none of the other Senshi knew of any of this. "I never wanted her to take care of me. I always wanted to protect her. But I failed, Setsuna. I failed miserably. Why did I let her go on her own? I could have just as easily gone and--" Faster than Haruka could even have imagined her friend could move, Setsuna backed out of the embrace and slapped the racer across the face. Down the hall at her hiding spot, Ami gasped and clasped her hand over her mouth. "Don't blame yourself for this, Haruka," admonished Setsuna. "Do you think that Michiru would want you to feel like this was your fault? No! Of course not!" She shook her head, long green hair swishing against her shoulders and back. "You're more of a fool than I can believe, Haruka." Hotaru stepped out of the room, and Setsuna brushed past her, pausing momentarily to place a hand on the shorter girl's shoulder and look her in the eye. The young girl nodded, then walked out to confront her Haruka-papa while Setsuna visited her friend. Barely making eye contact with her daughter, Haruka mumbled, "She's got a mean right hook." "I've got a meaner one, Haruka-papa. If I catch you feeling guilty again, I'll have to demonstrate." She shook her fist in front of her papa's face. Feeling that this conversation would no longer serve a purpose, Ami walked out from behind the corner and approached the two women. "Haruka-san, the doctors want to see you," she informed her. "Thanks, Ami-chan." The blond shoved her hands into her pockets and walked off, cheek stinging and head spinning.
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