Hold Me Once Again (part 2 of 3)

a Sailor Moon fanfiction by SushiQueen

Back to Part 1
Michiru sat in isolation, a look of envy and sadness glazed over her 
eyes. Energetic music filled the air. All the other couples at the ball 
were dancing joyously, laughing, smiling, showing happiness in every 
possible way. She came to attempt to take her mind off of one person in 
particular: Haruka. The one who broke her heart by showing more interest 
in sports than her. The one who she had moved away from into a cramped 
apartment only a mere week ago. The one, for reason unknown to herself, 
couldn't get her mind off of, no matter what she did.

She glanced over at the clock, a sigh following. Time was passing 
differently, or so it felt; she couldn't even remember how long she had 
been sulking by her lonesome in the place. Michiru wasn't sure which was 
worse: how painfully slow time had been running for the last week, or 
the pain she carried inside. Her head tilted down towards her lap, her 
aqua hair acting as a curtain that hid her face. Why couldn't she be 
happy like all those couples? Did she do something to not deserve love? 
If so, Michiru deeply regretted it. She held a glass of punch to her 
pale lips. A grimace crossed her face upon tasting the drink. Bitter 
punch, bitter life. What a suitable combination. Suddenly, the previous 
song faded, only to bring up another...

A hundred days had made me older

since the last time that I've saw your pretty face

Hundred days? That's how long Michiru felt the pain had lasted. If it 
were anyone but Haruka who had ignored her, the cut inside her heart 
wouldn't have felt so deep. Only proved your loved ones have the power 
to hurt you the most. Tears tried to slip from Michiru's sapphire orbs. 
The aqua-haired lady turned towards the window to prevent others from 
seeing her in pain. The last thing she currently needed was strangers 
trying to pry into her personal life.

A thousand lights had made me colder

and I don't think I can look at this the same

Nothing mattered any more. All the things Haruka said were but sour 
memories that were only salt in her wounds. Even sleeping was painful, 
often causing her to wake up in the middle of the night from nightmares. 
No matter what Michiru did, she could not avoid the agony. She wove her 
slender fingers through her smooth turquoise hair, tears still 
threatening her. Maybe she should go home and paint something to get her 
mind off of things. Then again. that hadn't worked two days ago, so most 
likely it wouldn't work today.

But all the miles had separate

They disappear now when I'm dreaming of your face

I'm here without you baby

but you're still on my lonely mind

Haruka's eyes held a plethora of emotion. When they had first met, they 
were hard with no sympathy, only caring about finding talismans, even at 
the risk of innocent people. Yet over time, they softened into amusement 
and sparks of happiness. Eventually that evolved into love and 
compassion. Not everyone could see it, but Michiru certainly could. They 
understood each other like no one else could.

At least, that's what Michiru grew to believe.

The Haruka she knew, the Haruka she loved, cared about her more than 
anything. But a week ago it was as if a demon possessed her into a 
selfish, cold-blooded creature. That couldn't have been her Haruka. It 
just couldn't have. Michiru tried to convince herself that to ease her 
anxiety, not that it helped much. Haruka, at least the one she loved 
with all her heart, had vanished. Gone. Forever, more than likely. 
Michiru winced. Her envy of the happy dancing couples deepened.

If she were optimistic, she would concentrate more on the good memories. 
The good memories that were the past. Back when Haruka would look at 
Michiru with her pair of fiesty yet passionate eyes. Back when Michiru 
would giggle and lean against Haruka's strong shoulders as they strolled 
together in the evening. Back when they laced their fingers together and 
saw into each other's eyes like open doors. Back when their arms 
encircled around each other and they whispered gently before drifting 
off to sleep.

But right now, she only wished to rid her mind off all memories of her 
formerly beloved. They were too painful to bear right now...Much too 
painful...

I think about you baby

and I dream about you all the time

I'm here without you baby

but your still with me in my dreams

And tonight it's only you and me

How can a heart continue to beat after being shattered into seemingly an 
infinite amount of microscopic shards? Maybe she was dying little by 
little, second by second, heartbreak. Death probably wasn't as fearsome 
as many made it out to be. Those who did probably hadn't experienced 
pain anyway. Not just any pain either, like a minor cut. More like an 
internal death that causes to search for the right word to describe your 
emotions, only to later come down to one: emptiness.

But she...if she still cared, anyway...She would come to her rescue by 
merely a flash of her charming grin, light caressing of her soft 
fingertips and a playful wink. In return, Michiru would fill the 
formerly silent atmosphere with a melodious giggle, which would spread 
to Haruka. She did always say her laugh was contagious yet elegant, 
adorable yet sophisticated. How that was possible, Michiru didn't know. 
Then again, Haruka often spoke her own language. A language Michiru 
couldn't help but love, despite usually spending a good chunk of time 
trying to decipher it in her head.

Later on Michiru also realized she missed someone other than her former 
lover. Hotaru. On a regular basis she'd waddle up to Michiru and tug on 
her clothing. If she wanted attention, she didn't have to say anything 
either. Just a brief meeting of her aquamarine orbs and the young lady's 
violet eyes was enough to motivate her to scoop the child into her arms. 
Of course, when she cooed, "Michiru-mama", a smile was almost impossible 
to prevent, no matter what kind of mood Michiru was in. Her eyes gleamed 
with a sense of innocence, a sense of wonder. Something all young 
children seemed to posses, like they were still trying to figure out the 
complex world surrounding them. The precious little girl, bless her.

The miles just keep rollin'

as the people leave their way to say hello

I've heard this life is overrated

but I hope that it gets better as we go

She also pondered what Setsuna must have thought of the whole thing. 
Being the Guardian of Time, of course she already knew the outcome, but 
kept her lips sealed. How she could keep secrets like that was a 
mystery; all Michiru knew was that it couldn't be easy whatsoever. She 
could have called her days ago to find out if everyone would have a 
happy ending. Even so, Michiru's instincts coaxed her into thinking that 
doing so would be taking the easy way out, which wouldn't be the best 
choice in the end. Nonetheless, it had tempted her for quite a while. 
Calling Setsuna and persuading her to reveal the future and knowing how 
to fix the problem, then going on with a happy life. It seemed so 
easy...But deep down, Michiru knew it wasn't. Nor was it the right thing 
to do. But still, she pondered doing so, just to end her own misery. 
That was selfish, but what person in their right mind would choose to 
continue suffering when knowing a far easier solution?

Michiru, apparently. She wasn't sure if she should hate herself or not. 
She searched for a gray area in her world of black and white, but it 
didn't seem to exist. Maybe Michiru was thinking too hard. Maybe some 
rest at home would help. At least, at her morose, empty excuse for a 
home. Honestly, it felt as far from a home as possible. All it was to 
Michiru was some place she threw herself into to escape her troubles. As 
if running would do her any good...

I'm here without you baby

but you're still on my lonely mind

I think about you baby and I dream about you all the time

I'm here without you baby

but you're still with me in my dreams

And tonight girl it's only you and me

She tried to move but felt her body frozen with agony. So she sat 
uncomfortably in her chair, being tortured by the sight of couples 
happily dancing together, laughing together, doing everything together. 
Just as she and Haruka would do when they were still a couple. She felt 
invisible, like a poor stranger on a cold street, peering into a 
building and craving its warmth. What did she do to deserve such misery? 
Furthermore, did anyone really deserve to go through this? Michiru 
leaned her head against her feeble arm and slowly inhaled as if trying 
to calm herself down. Not much luck with that. At this point Michiru 
released the smallest shard of hope she may have last possessed.

Everything I know, and anywhere I go it gets hard but it won't take away 
my love And when the last one falls, when it's all said and done it get 
hard but it won't take away my love

And despite all that she had been through, Michiru couldn't help but 
still love Haruka deep down. She still loved everything about her, 
except now she had to mask her emotions by pretending not to care about 
her formerly beloved. She missed Haruka though, and although she was too 
stubborn to admit so to anyone. she herself knew it deep down. She 
missed the way she would playfully smile at her, the way she would 
sporadically embrace Michiru in a tender hug, the way she would run her 
slender fingers through Michiru's aquamarine hair, the way she would 
whisper softly in her ear how she loved her. To Michiru, that was as 
vital for living as breathing. And now with it gone, she felt herself 
die internally. Slowly and painfully.

I'm here without you baby

but you're still on my lonely mind

I think about you baby

and I dream about you all the time

I'm here without you baby

but you're still with me in my dreams

And tonight girl it's only you and me

Little did the aqua-haired maiden know Haruka shared her feelings. But 
now that they weren't talking, they of course didn't know and woefully 
assumed the other had moved on. So in result both were sulking and down 
in the dumps. If only somehow fate could bring them back together so 
they could talk. Communication is key to solving such problems, and 
given they both still shared mutual feelings of love, their problems 
would most likely be solved after a talk. Except Michiru wouldn't feel 
right going back to Haruka's house for that reason or calling on the 
phone for that matter. She hopelessly wondered if Haruka would by chance 
end up here so they could hold each other again. Relive their happiness. 
But seldom was the chance of happening, or so Michiru thought.

But miracles happen. At that time, Haruka happened to be in her car, 
anxiously driving off speedily in search of one person. And one person 
only.

Onwards to Part 3


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