History Repeats Itself Michiru floated on her back, the water lapping gently at her chin and face, the swell of her breasts, her kneecaps. Always in tune to her element, though her eyes were shut, she could sense the emptiness of her surroundings of the indoor pool. The slightest motion of the backstroke propelled her backwards, yet even as her limbs deftly slid in and out of the water, not a ripple was left on the liquid's smooth surface. She could have been a part of the element that surrounded her, a molecule of the calm waters she was composed of. Calm... were it not for the tumultuous emotions that raged within her mind, the intensity of which threatened to trigger a destructive tsunami across the collected composure that Michiru displayed. It had been a week since she had first met Haruka at her school's track race, a week since her would be partner had rejected her. In those seven days, her high hopes of finding the tall blonde had faded to the stress of school, violin rehearsals, and a couple of youma battles, their frequency and intensity seemingly increasing. Her hopes of again finding her cold and stoic shell of a lover from ages past had been relegated to the confines of the deepest reaches of her mind. Meanwhile, the forefront of her mind was laden with images of the impending silence which continued to ravage her dreams, sapping her much needed strength, stealing her breath as freezing tidal waves of ice cold water threatened to destroy the future... The muted sound of Michiru's cell phone filtered through the water to reach her ears. Her initial thought was to ignore the call and remain in her blessed solitude, but her intuition gripped her strongly. She knew the call would be important. With fluid speed and agility, Michiru's lithe body slid through the water, and with the grace of a sea nymph, she launched herself from her element to sit elegantly on the pool deck. Noting the call was from was her manager her hopeful expression fell. "This is Michiru." She said shortly. Apparently her intuition had been strangely wrong. The last thing she wanted was to be hounded about performing a concert in her busy and exhausted state. As her excitable manager launched into a furious proposal, she quickly cut him to the chase. "Pass." She said, preempting him. She raised an eyebrow, having realized that in this life, she had adopted Haruka's mannerisms as quickly as she had in her past one. "But Michiru-san, this is the third concert you've refused this week! You simply must think of your career, your fans are waiting for you!" The limp-willed man on the other end of the line almost begged. 'Career.' Michiru thought with a snort. Unlike Haruka, she had put her future on hold to embrace her past. The cobalt eyed girl sighed as she pushed wet strands of hair to the other side of her neck. She couldn't deny that she missed performing her music in front of a crowd... Her manager capitalized on his protégé's wavering resolve. "You simply must attend this gig, I'm sure you'll enjoy it. A formal midnight cruise to benefit some local charity or the other. But there'll be five star food, and from what I understand, a lot of celebrities." Michiru rolled her eyes, as if she were that kind of girl. After three years with her manager, she had expected more from him. She prepared to interrupt and refuse his offer as he rattled off celebrity names in a blur. "Listen," Michiru cut in, but then stopped short as she heard a familiar name. "Wait, who did you just say?" She asked with sharp curiosity. Her manager jumped, excitement in his voice. "I should have known you'd be interested in him! Tenoh Haruka, he and his sponsors will be there to promote-" "I'll go. I'll expect to see my limo at six, sharp." Michiru said curtly, and without another word, she ended the call abruptly. She set her cell back on the pool's edge before slipping back into the water's welcoming embrace. She dove deeper to escape the grating ring of her phone, no doubt her manager was attempting to call her back to discuss specifics she couldn't care less about. Finally sure of no further interruptions, Michiru again surfaced after trusting her lungs to the water for what might have seemed far too long for a mere human. Retreating to a motionless float on her back, her cobalt eyes stared unseeing at the monotonous ceiling above her. 'Tonight our paths will cross again.' Michiru found herself digging deep within her heart to find the hopes she had relied on after her first meeting with Haruka. Her hopes that, if she could somehow help Haruka to understand that destiny and duty were not the same, and that neither would bring her hardship, that the troubled woman would let down her heavily fortified defenses that the devastated Uranus had built around herself eight hundred years ago, where she was sure, her original, carefree personality still existed. Her mind began to wander as she wondered how she would approach the flighty woman this time, how she could try to convince her that she wasn't someone to be scared of. As she floated aimlessly, Michiru realized that she needed to understand how Haruka dealt with stress if she were to succeed in winning her over. She had certainly already found how not to interact with the bitter, avoidant woman. Michiru had many memories of her interactions with the carefree Haruka of ages past, but how should she approach her if she were bitter and closed? She wondered if she and Haruka had ever had a misunderstanding, or even an argument during their past lives. Certainly they must have, but how would she have dealt with a fearful, retreating Haruka? Somehow, Michiru felt she had dealt with it poorly... flashback Pluto wore a mischievous smile on her lips as she led her fellow outer senshi through the inner chambers of the Moon Palace. "I don't see what you think is so funny, Pluto." Uranus grumbled. "You have to baby-sit with us too." "Ara?" Neptune exclaimed jokingly, raising her eyebrows at her partner as she recalled how she had found Haruka flirting with Princess Serenity the very first time she had met the hazel eyed woman. "Last I remember, you found yourself quite enamored with our young Princess." Uranus snorted in defiance, allowing the heels of her heavy boots to fill the silence. The tension between Neptune and herself had been at a stagnant breaking point for weeks. Their ritualistic flirting had reached a point of no return and had almost become their only form of communication. Uranus didn't know what had caused the change, she only knew that something had to be done about it, and soon. Neptune eyed her brooding partner warily, feeding off her irritated emotions while still trying to focus on the task at hand. For as much as her own thoughts of her partner and their precariously undefined relationship consumed her, currently they held a duty to the Princess of the Moon. It had been months since they had last seen the inner senshi or even the Moon Princess. The training regime of the outers had kept them fairly isolated from their younger counterparts, and although each group of senshi held some amount of respect for the other, there was not enough time for friendship, let alone any information sharing. The inners didn't even know of the recent birth of Saturn's would be senshi, that the child proclaimed to destroy their solar system had been living among them for months. The senshi of the ocean suspected that the inners were weary of leaving the Princess in the protection of the outers, even if only for one day's time while they traveled abroad for training of their own. Pluto stopped abruptly, her two brooding allies behind her almost falling on top of each other in a mess of limbs as she knocked on the door purposefully. The sound of excited footsteps rushed forward and the door quickly swung open, followed by the musical voice of the Moon Princess. "Pluto! Neptune! Uranus! It'll be so fun to spend the day together!" The three outer senshi bowed politely to Serenity II, feeling somewhat awkward in the exuberant girl's unbridled enthusiasm, her openness and purity somewhat alien to their more repressed nature. Pluto placed encouraging hands on the shoulders of her friends, pushing them forward into the young Serenity's chambers. "My regrets, my Princess, but I have a duty to the Time Gate which I must attend to first. Will you accept my deepest apologies?" Serenity didn't notice the cold stares of surprise that Uranus and Neptune gave to the green haired woman as her own challenging smile met Pluto's questioning gaze. "Only if you stop addressing me so formally." She stated bravely. The guardian of the Time Gate smiled genuinely. "You're just like your mother, Serenity-chan." The young blonde beamed with pride at Pluto's compliment. "I'll return just as soon as I can." The garnet eyed woman addressed the Queen's daughter kindly before turning back to her two allies. "Who knows, you two may learn something important today." She said enigmatically. Pluto smirked knowingly at the obviously stressed and suddenly seemingly deserted pair of Neptune and Uranus as she turned to retreat. Although they would be painful lessons, they'd each learn something important that day and though they were unaware of such a fact, it was not Pluto's role to interfere. Uranus cursed as she banged her knees on the bottom of the low table. She had long ago given up trying to drink the tea from the delicate cup, the giggles she received from Serenity and Neptune for her poor etiquette had been a deterrent enough. "Fuckingteaparty." She grumbled. Who had ever heard of a senshi at high tea, anyway? She glared at the decorative finger sandwiches in disdain. "Uranus, did you say something?" Cobalt eyes met stormy gray ones and Neptune could barely contain her laughter. The afternoon tea party with the Princess and the tomboy had been priceless. Pluto was missing out on a great show. The senshi of the wind glared at her partner, attempting anger, but knowing she was incapable of feeling that emotion for the other woman. She settled with looking away, only to be met with her Princess' large, shining blue eyes. Uranus' heart skipped a beat. She slipped into familiar territory and allowed her mouth to do the talking for her. Her eyes softened and her voice lowered, she barely realized she was flirting so shamelessly as she laid on the charm. Her golden bangs framed her face handsomely as she lowered her elbow to the table and propped her chin in her hands, her eyes taking in only her Princess. "Now, Serenity, wouldn't you say that Neptune here is being rather harsh? You wouldn't treat me so terribly, would you?" Neptune's insides twisted, her cobalt eyes narrowing as she watched her partner fawn over Serenity, her head in her hand, her eyes distant, her expression relaxed completely. Uranus was caught in the young Moon heir's beauty. 'This is all wrong. She's only supposed to look like that when she's talking to me.' The senshi of the ocean had seen Haruka flirt with others before, it was almost an every day occurrence, but the intensity in her partner's hazel eyes at that moment suddenly frightened Neptune. 'Only me.' She repeated to herself. Not sensing Neptune's inner turmoil, the young Princess giggled, inherently understanding that her older friend was merely teasing her and Uranus found a smile spreading across her own face. The Uranian had always been attracted to her Princess, it was hard not to be, the young woman simply radiated beauty. But staring into her azure depths, Uranus quickly found that her attraction to Serenity was neither physical nor mental, nor was it a romantic attraction at all. Finally, the realization slammed into her. It was a kinship she felt for the young woman. In Serenity, the senshi of the wind saw her own object of affection. She saw Michiru. She saw Neptune. In Serenity, Uranus saw gentle beauty, tender naivety, and a definite, albeit, hidden grace that just waited for the blue eyed blonde to mature. And Uranus realized that she wanted nothing more than to protect her Princess' innocence that reminded her so much of her own partner. The revelation gripped the edgy woman and her mind responded to her heart. After the three years she'd spent with her partner, all the flirting, the near misses, the depth of emotion she felt for the other woman, she had finally pinpointed why she loved her partner so deeply. Though her own soul had already known, her mind now buzzed with the striking knowledge. The senshi of the wind realized all too late the obvious blush that had crawled up her cheeks and that, though she was thinking of Neptune, she was staring at Serenity. "Uranus, are you okay?" The long haired blonde asked with endless concern. "You're all red, are you feeling hot?" "Hot?" Neptune proposed, making an effort to keep the sharp edge from her voice. The senshi of the ocean hid her irritation that grew as her partner refused to meet her gaze. She knew all too well that her relationship with Uranus was undefined, a friendship that bordered on something more. But Uranus had no real obligation to her. She was free to do what she wanted, no matter how much the Neptunian's heart might object. She painted a broad smile on her face and managed to wear it well. "She's fine, Serenity-chan, don't mind the staring idiot." Uranus winced. Her partner's voice was light and teasing, but she could detect a trace of annoyance that she had caused. She finally met Neptune's icy cobalt eyes, feeling like a deer caught in the headlights. She didn't need her partner's uncanny sense of intuition to detect jealousy. 'Why jealousy? We're only partners, nothing more.' Uranus told herself. Despite the constant innuendo between them, their flirting was only a game they played, right? Surely Neptune wouldn't consider otherwise. For all their closeness, the aqua haired woman had never suggested wanting anything more than friendship. 'But neither have I.' Uranus realized. Serenity giggled, oblivious to the growing tension between the two outer senshi. "Don't say that, Neptune! After all, Uranus and yourself are just like Endymion and I, aren't you?" A painful silence froze the room, though the Princess of the Moon didn't notice the numbing cold. Neptune and Uranus found they couldn't meet each other's gaze, both at an absolute loss for words. How could their Princess suggest that the feelings they shared for each other were as strong as the well known love of Endymion and Serenity? Young Serenity gasped, startled as she noticed the time. "I'm late for my lessons!" In a gangly mess of limbs, the forgetful long haired girl leapt from her chair, spilling her tea in the process as she apologized profusely. She threw hurried arms around her friends' shoulders, a quick hug of thanks accompanied with a genuine smile. "Will I see you after my lessons?" She asked hopefully. The outer senshi managed tentative nods to reassure her and the not so graceful blonde ran off to her tutoring, leaving the pair in an awkward silence in her wake. "That silly girl." Neptune said tersely, making an attempt to ease the mounting tension, though she noticed her voice had grown sharp. She began to wonder why Uranus still hadn't stood up for herself, it was unlike her bold friend to remain silent after such an accusation. The tall blonde swallowed audibly, feeling Neptune's eyes on her. Her partner was upset and she was the cause. Uranus only hoped that the Neptunian was upset with her shameless flirting over their Princess and not Serenity's implication that the two of them shared a romantic relationship. "I'm sorry." Uranus blurted out uncharacteristically, once again submerging the atmosphere into awkwardness. "For what?" Neptune asked rhetorically, though her voice was laced with accusation. Uranus frowned, knowing that even though she was trying to make amends, her partner was becoming confrontational. "For flirting with her!" "Ara!" Neptune blinked, finding herself at a loss. She had expected her partner to stand up for herself, not apologize. It was unlike Uranus to feel the need to prove herself to anyone, even to her. "It's in your nature to be an egotistical flirt, is it not?" Uranus opened her mouth, wanting to prove Neptune wrong, needing to tell her how she felt, needing to ease the terrible misunderstanding she had caused. She was on the verge of revealing her true feelings. "It's not like that, I just want to... protect her for some reason." Uranus ground out. Something inside Neptune snapped. Her calm, patient nature yielded to her sudden frustration, the jealousy she felt overcoming her far too easily. "Why should I care how you feel about her?" Neptune gasped, surprised at the venom in her voice. She hadn't meant to come across so harsh, yet she suddenly found she couldn't stop herself. Years spent containing her emotions for her partner culminating, her mouth continued, her brain struggling to catch up. "You'd bed any woman you'd come across, even the Princess! Right? Every woman except for me!" Both women froze in the wake of the strong words Neptune had flung. A blush tinted the cheeks of the aqua haired woman, but was overpowered by the one that dominated Uranus' own. The senshi of the wind's mind reeled. Did she detect regret from her partner? More jealousy? Was the prim and proper Neptune upset that she'd made no effort to get into her bed? 'Ridiculous! Neptune would never...' Icy cobalt eyes bore down on her and Uranus knew she needed to supply an answer. She longed to pull the smaller girl into her arms, tell her that the only woman she wanted to bed was none other than herself, but how would she react, was that really what she wanted to hear? 'Maybe it is. Maybe the past three years of flirting and teasing really wasn't a joke...' But could she lay it all on the line? Uranus' fists clenched tightly. "It's not about Serenity, Neptune, it's about-" Neptune was unhearing as she interrupted her partner, the two of them speaking at the same time. "Don't think I'm stopping you, Uranus. Last time I checked, there was nothing more than friendship between you and I. Or am I wrong?" Uranus' mouth clicked shut, Neptune's cobalt eyes boring into her, tantalizing her, begging her to prove her statement wrong as she desperately wanted to do... yet in the confrontational atmosphere, the tension so great, Uranus crumbled under the pressure, her desire to open up to her partner while being pushed so hard deflated. Was Neptune fishing for an honest answer or was she pushing her away? "Forget it!" Uranus spat, all thoughts of explaining to her partner how she felt scattering to the winds she longed to run into. "Just forget any of this ever happened." The senshi of the wind's clouded eyes dared Neptune to think otherwise. The conversation was over. Done. Never to be brought up again. Unable to read her stormy partner's intentions, Uranus turned and walked away, slamming the heavy door shut behind her, picking up her post outside of Serenity's chambers. Neptune stood on shaky legs, cursing herself for driving her partner away in her own frustration, realizing her mistake of pushing her tentative partner far too late, finally understanding that she had interrupted something terribly important. 'What have I done?' /flashback Michiru was drowning. Literally, her body was completely submerged, her element as upset as she was. Finally snapping back to reality, she broke the water's surface and lent her arms on the pool's edge for support. She had learned that, in her past, she had ruined what she was sure would have been Uranus' confession of her feelings for her. She had ruined it as a result of her jealous and impatient urges. Even knowing that her partner was apt to run from confrontation and that she did not like being placed on the spot, she had tried to force an answer from her, an answer that may have been what they had both been looking for, had she not crossed signals with her partner. She almost laughed at the irony as she pushed her wet bangs from her eyes. Very vaguely, Michiru could remember having gotten all worked up that day for nothing, for shortly after, they had confessed their love for one another. Not long after that very fight, Haruka had cleared up her feelings for Serenity, and once having learned that Haruka had only compared Serenity's beauty to her own and that her Princess had only served as a catalyst to Haruka's understanding of her love for Michiru, the aqua haired girl had felt rather foolish. She still did, eight hundred years later. Michiru pulled herself from the pool, droplets of water sliding from her skin. Now she was equipped with the knowledge of that which would drive Haruka away from her. After reliving that old memory, she knew how to better deal with a flighty Haruka. If she could keep herself from coming on too strongly or backing Haruka into a corner, Haruka was less likely to run from her. If only she could reign in her own emotions. 'Pluto had been right.' Michiru realized with a smile. She had learned something important that day. If only she hadn't realized it eight hundred years after the fact! And so the question remained to be asked, could she learn from the mistakes of her past, or would history repeat itself once again? ---------- Haruka's tuxedo collar itched as she sat stiffly at a table on the deck of the yacht, nursing some alcoholic concoction, which was nothing if not orange. Sometimes her famous persona came in handy. Had they known she was underage, let alone female, she wouldn't have had half of what she had accomplished in her young life. 'Not that it amounts to anything in the end.' Her negativity reminded her. The quiet murmurings of the crowd breathed a collective gasp as the sound of a brilliant violin caught their attention. The spotlights turned to the stage where they illuminated an elegant, young, aqua haired woman. Resplendent in her ivory gown, her graceful fingers coaxed gentle music from her violin. It was music that Haruka didn't hear as her breath stuck in her throat. Caught between intensely warring emotions, the urge to run both to and from the cobalt eyed woman ravaged her. Fate had determined that they meet again. Fate had given her another chance to accept this woman who needed her so desperately. Fate was meddling in affairs that Haruka wanted no part of. The graceful woman stood on the stage as though she were the only person on the yacht. Her confident presence commanded respect and her calculated motions spoke with maturity. Though she didn't make eye contact with her captive audience, Haruka understood that her would-be partner knew that she was amongst the crowd. She would come for her. Soon. "That girl is Kaioh Michiru." "She doesn't seem like a junior high girl. She must be very popular at school." Haruka detected a conversation behind her and stirred her drink restlessly as she tried to ignore their rudeness. She eyed a lonely piano on the stage and felt drawn to it. The blonde's brow frowned. She hadn't touched the keys of a piano in years... was it the piano which called to her, or Michiru's infuriatingly beautiful music which spoke to her soul? flashback Her wake up call came in the form of slow, melancholic notes persuasively seduced from a violin. Haruka sighed softly and turned over groggily, still in the space between dreams and wakefulness. Grabbing at the comforter next to her, she was met with emptiness where she had expected to find her lover. "Michiru." She whispered. Sitting upright, she fought the pull of sleep. The pull of her partner's instrument was stronger. 'She's calling me.' Haruka realized. Readjusting her boxers and tank top, Haruka padded across the stone floor of her room and out through the open balcony. Tiptoeing past the piano, she trailed her fingers across its smooth surface, remembering her confession to Michiru not long ago. The predawn light cast a gray hue across the atmosphere of the moon as the cool morning air nipped at her warm skin. The mists were damp and chilly as she followed the path of music left by her lover. When Haruka finally found her, she had to pause at Michiru's beauty. Wearing nothing but one of Haruka's long shirts, the aqua haired woman stood with her back to her, her cobalt eyes closed as she faced the white mountains in the distance, the fog rolling down from its peaks as Michiru obliviously continued her sonata. Haruka stared on dumbly. The sun was trying to pierce the fogs as it crested the tops of the mountains on the horizon when Haruka broke free of her trance. The wind enabling her to remain undetected, she crept behind Michiru, gently lacing her arms around the smaller woman's waist. Michiru's cobalt eyes jolted open and her frame shook slightly from surprise, but her music never faltered. "Haruka, what-", she barely managed. Haruka smiled knowingly, tightening her hold around her lover. "You tell me, you're the one who called me out here." A smiled tugged at Michiru's mouth as Haruka's lips found the curve of her neck, exposed by her form required to play the violin. She quickly, yet flawlessly brought her song to an early close before turning in the strong arms that had captured her to face her lover. /flashback 'Again.' Haruka thought angrily at the memories of her past life that hounded her. No matter how far she ran, they would always find her. Though part of her wanted to embrace the tender emotions the memory had heralded, another part of her desperately wanted to push them away. Feeling a level gaze on her, Haruka's eyes darted back to the stage. She was met with a pair of cobalt eyes. The blonde swallowed audibly and quickly diverted her gaze, taking a sip of the bitter orange liquid in her glass, too diluted by melting ice cubes. Nothing would have been strong enough to dilute the memories which plagued her. "I heard she doesn't make many friends." Haruka's hazel eyes narrowed as the rumor mill began behind her again. Being at the center of rumors herself, gossip bothered her. But what bothered her more were those stuffy, middle aged sponsors who spoke like they knew her Michiru. 'My Michiru?' Haruka asked herself, immediately pushing away the wave of sudden protectiveness that had surged over her. "I heard she doesn't make many friends." "Why is that? She seems very nice." "They say she dislikes people." Haruka couldn't help but listen to their words. It seemed that Michiru and herself had much in common socially, but the thought struck her as odd. She remembered the Michiru of her past life as more friendly, always in tune to other's emotions. Yet in this life, she seemed less social, more subdued... 'Am I holding her back by not being by her side?' Haruka snorted as her anger flared. Nonsense. It was all nonsense. A brilliant crescendo of Michiru's violin captured the audience as Haruka stood from her seat and spun on the gossipy couple behind her. She eyed them dangerously, blaming them for making her think such thoughts. Their mouths clicked shut audibly and Haruka stormed away, needing an escape. Yet the hazel eyed woman didn't notice that a pair of cobalt eyes followed her departure and that her own lips mouthed Michiru's name breathlessly. ---------- Michiru took a bow to the subdued yet awed clapping of the audience. She quickly retreated backstage, her heart in her throat as she placed her violin in its case quickly. Utilizing the service exit, she took off in the direction Haruka had retreated. Her eyes wide, her breath panting, she dashed forward blindly. The long, narrow hallway emptied into a deserted stairwell and for all the fear and urgency Michiru felt, when she found herself looking up at Haruka, who stood several steps above her as she inspected one of her paintings, she somehow managed to regain her composure. How fitting that she would find her in front of her depiction of 'the End of the World', a painting she had composed after her first dream of the silence. She wondered if Haruka would be able to interpret the hidden message it harbored. The blonde inspected the painting before her critically, understanding its deadly message instantly. A shiver ran down her spine as she felt the terror encapsulated in the image. The silence had manifested in her dreams as a vortex of wind and heat. Had Michiru's manifested as freezing waves of impending doom? There was no doubt that her would-be partner had been the artist. Just as she had, ages ago, with her music, Michiru was searching for her through this painting. "How do you like it?" Michiru's voice shattered the silence, and although the other woman remained calm, she could sense Haruka's shock at being interrupted. When hazel eyes turned to hers of cobalt, Michiru sensed that the other woman felt trapped. The aqua haired girl did her best to reign herself in, to not push her reluctant lover of the Silver Millennium too far as she had once, long ago. "You are more than welcome here, genius racer Tenoh Haruka." Michiru tried to level the playing field, ease Haruka's sense of entrapment. "You know a lot about me, don't you?" An easy smile found Haruka's lips as she struggled to maintain her flippant indifference in the face of the woman she both liked and loathed. Inside, she was shaking as she pretended not to comprehend the woman across from her or the message in her painting. "Did you paint this?" Michiru cocked an eyebrow, knowing that the blonde had sensed that the painting was hers the moment she had laid eyes on it and that she had also both understood and subsequently refused the painting's message. Michiru decided to try another tactic, she could change subjects just as easily. Their game of aversion was becoming a choreographed dance. "You're famous, aren't you? In my school, there's lots of your fandom. One of them wants to ride along the coastline in your car, even though she's a girl!" A flip of Michiru's hair thinly veiled her admiration for the other woman as she tested the waters, feeling somewhat vulnerable knowing she was talking about herself. Haruka smirked. This girl knew her gender. 'But she still pursues me...' She pushed away her thoughts as her attention returned to the painting in front of her. Try as she might, she couldn't ignore the message Michiru had left in it. "The end of the world... how can such a pretty girl who wouldn't even hurt a fly paint such a horrible imaginary picture?" She asked detachedly. Michiru snapped, aqua eyebrows meeting dangerously, a frown marring her features. Her voice became accusatory. "It is not imaginary! I can see it clearly, as can you!" She almost backpedaled as she realized with dismay that she had once again placed Haruka on the defensive. She had pushed too far. She had repeated history. Hazel eyes darkened threateningly as Haruka retreated to her fallback excuse, using her refusal of her destiny and duty as a crutch. "Ridiculous! I'm Japan's first ever junior racer, Tenoh Haruka! Neither the memory of my previous life nor the end of the world is my business!" Haruka almost faltered at having revealed to Michiru her knowledge of her past existence, of the knowledge of that which she ran from. She had to fight herself not to avert her eyes from the irresistible woman who wouldn't stop pursuing her. The tension mounted as the two glared evenly at each other. "If it has to be done, why don't you do it?" Haruka's fingers closed into fists, her knuckles turning white as she continued to run, every single word that came from her mouth the manifestation of both the utter truth and a complete lie, the product of her warring emotions. "I don't want you snooping around me anymore!" The damage already done, Michiru felt helpless. It was too late. Her emotions frayed, she lost her tightly laced control on the situation. "Stop talking that way! I have a dream to be a violinist! I can't keep on doing stupid things like saving the world from ruin!" Her words were lies, but as Haruka turned and retreated stormily, she would have said or done anything to make her would-be partner return to her side. ---------- The night was as warm as her elegant cocktail dress suggested, yet the aqua haired woman held her bare arms across her chest for warmth against a phantom chill. History had repeated itself at her own hands. Once again she had allowed her raw emotions to control her and she had pushed a tentative Haruka to the point of running away. She had run from her. Michiru sighed as her cobalt eyes found the churning ocean beneath her where the restless waters complimented her mood as she stood alone on the stern of the yacht. Night had long since fallen and the moon cast its reflection across the ocean largely. She could hear the sponsors milling about on the deck above, eating their expensive dinners and speaking of inconsequential topics while she, a mere fifteen year old girl, held the weight of the world on her shoulders below them. Her cobalt eyes narrowed in frustration. Perhaps, in this life, she was destined to bear that weight on her own, without a partner. A single tear slid down the curve of Michiru's cheek. Haruka herself had claimed to have rejected her past life and her obligation to duty. She had failed to help Haruka understand that destiny and duty were not the same, and that neither would bring her hardship as she so obviously believed. Haruka had rejected her. The slight girl considered the implications. Perhaps in this life, Haruka wasn't meant for the role she had fulfilled in her last. The stubborn woman certainly didn't want it. Michiru had given up her dreams of the future. Her ideals of becoming a prominent violinist and artist had paled once being called to duty to protect the Earth from demise once she had remembered her destiny to be reunited with Haruka. But Haruka hadn't. Haruka wanted her fame and glory, had refused to believe that she was to play any part in a future she wanted no part of. Michiru began to doubt her hope that any traces of the warm lover she had remembered from centuries past still existed inside her would-be partner. Instead, it seemed that the cold, scared woman that Uranus had become eight hundred years ago was all that was left alive in the Haruka of the present. And if Michiru were to push her further, she feared the result would yield her no change. Further pursuit of her rogue partner would only succeed to scare Haruka further, to ruin the young champion's chances of pursuing the future that she had chosen. A future without her. Michiru looked deep within herself and came to a saddening conclusion. Ever since she had realized that Tenoh Haruka was the reincarnation of her lover from her past life, she had given Haruka nothing but heartache once pursuing her. The bitter blonde had made it more than obvious that she wanted no part of Michiru, Sailor Neptune, or the future they were meant to share. Haruka had refused her. Michiru hung her head sadly. A gentle wind swept up from the ocean's stormy surface and caressed her aqua hair. She could almost believe it was pleading with her not to give up. She shook her head resolutely. "If you love something, you will set it free." Her voice a mere whisper, her heart simply cried. Even in her desperation, Michiru realized that she would rather face the pain and hardship of facing her duty alone and foregoing her destiny with Haruka than to try to force the woman she loved into doing something that she refused to do. She would spare her would be lover from that which she had refused, she would content herself with loving the memory of Haruka from afar. She frowned. She would never be content. But she would grant Haruka her wish and leave her in peace. The ocean was upset with her decision. It churned beneath her, rising into swells and slamming into the side of the yacht in anger. Several patrons on the deck above glanced over the railing, wondering what had caused the uneasiness of the seas. Below them, the night's most revered performer collapsed into tears. ---------- Preview, Chapter 10: In her exhaustion from battle, Neptune's power drained from her body like sand through her fingers. A quiet half-chuckle, half-sob escaped Michiru's lips as she was left kneeling in the deserted construction site. Even the powerful ripple that charged the atmosphere and heralded the arrival of an ally couldn't hope to raise her spirits. "You're a bit late." Michiru said, bitterness lacing her voice as she met her friend's garnet gaze. "You usually show up when I need you the most." Pluto frowned at her hopeless friend, caught off guard by the frustration in the small woman's voice. "That's precisely why I'm here right now."
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