Lost With You (part 6 of 9)

I WAS LOOKING FOR YOU -

Well... it's time to read... it will be a long one guys!

"Here is your outward ticket, is flight 5186 and it'll board at gate 23 at ten o'clock." The clerk lent the ticket-envelope to the handsome customer.

"Thank you." The tall blonde took the envelope while the clerk was typing on her keyboard again, after a minute she looked up with an awkward expression on her face.

"I'm sorry, your previous reservation were in a roundtrip packet, Tenoh-san... so you had lost the backward seat too." Just like she had thought the tall blonde was less than happy for the news. She heard her cursing under her breath and she tried again to see if she could fix the situation someway. After 5 five minutes the blonde in front of her was fuming.

"This is ridiculous! That moron of a cab driver had made me loose two flights in just one day!" The tall blonde was furious, the handsome smooth face twisted in a mask of annoyance.

"I'm very sorry... But you have your outward ticket... I'm sure you'll find a ticket for you to return before the end of next week..."

"You're not getting it, are you? I have no intention of spending one damn night more than necessary in New York!" The blonde was yelling at the embarrassed clerk. Soon Haruka realized she had snapped badly at the helpless young woman. She calmed her demeanor though inside she was enraged and frustrated beyond limits.

"I'm sorry...?"

"Oh... Hiyama Manami, Tenoh-san."

"Hiyama-san, please excuse my behavior," Haruka decided to change strategy, she took off her dark sunglasses and shot an intense look with her penetrating teal eyes to the poor woman... "I'm unpardonable, treating a beautiful lady like you so rudely, I know..." ...a captivating smile... "...but I'm sure that if you want forgive me and search again you can find a little seat for me on a flight back to Tokyo before the end of this week." ...and

In the middle of the Ocean, 69 hours later.

Dawn was tingeing the horizon of gold, an insistent breeze was rippling the sea's surface and the waves broke to the shore relentlessly. Haruka was walking on the cool white sand after a long run. Everyone was still sleeping at the beach, the day has still to start and the night was about to finish. It had been a sleepless night – the third sleepless night, to be exact. She had tried to lay down – she felt so tired - but sleep came after hours and went away soon cause of a disturbing nightmare. In the end she had found herself running, like always. She had tried to calm down with a relieving run and had ended up in a secluded little beach where the dawn's scene was even more enchanting than it was where they had their camp.

Now the sun had broke out through the horizon line in all its red glory and she decided to return to the camp, they had planned another hunting session for the day and she wanted to participate at least it could have been a good way to keep herself occupied.

Returning to the camp with her shoes in her hand she noticed someone else was awake and judging by his fidgety movements and his bloodshot but sparkling eyes he had had a sleepless night too.

"Good morning Haruka-san." He smiled at the approaching woman.

"Good morning Furuhata-kun." She greeted him. Noticing his bad controlled excitement she smiled amused. "It seems a very good morning judging by your face." She pointed out with the result that the young man couldn't keep himself anymore and beamed.

"Yeah, it's going to be a very good morning!" He nodded.

"If you say so..." She smiled skeptic but amused and was about to walk on when Furuhata couldn't keep himself from telling Haruka the amazing news. "Haruka-san! Wait... you don't know what has happened last night after the service! It's wonderful!" Haruka had a questioning look at first then an annoying thought flashed through her mind.

'Please no... this is gonna be a bad blow if he had seen-...' She hadn't the time to finish her thought that the young technician explained enthusiastically why he was so excited.

"I saw a plane last night, flying over us!"

'Great! He had seen it!' Haruka's exterior behavior was one less cynic but inwardly it was otherwise cause during her life she had learned not to have too high expectations especially when it was up to others than herself to save the situation.

"I saw it too, actually, but I don't-..." He cut her off excited.

"Really? I can't wait to tell everyone the news-..." This time was Haruka who interrupted the joyous speech.

"Wait! Wait Furuhata-kun, do you think this is a good idea?" He looked at her with a very confused expression, "What if the plane hadn't noticed the fire? You don't want to delude all of those persons, do you?" The young man looked up at her thinking for a moment.

"But Haruka-san... they do need good news! They all were so sad after the service, yesterday..." His expression fell at the thought of the tears he had seen run down many cheeks the previous night and at the heavy silence that had followed the small ceremony.

"Yeah they were sad, but think how they'll be if no one comes." She reasoned, her dark-circled and bloodshot eyes pierced through him. Furuhata kept eye-contact with her until he had to admit first to himself then to her she was right.

Haruka thought he seemed truly disappointed and sorry about not being able to share his happiness and hope and even if his mind-attitude was so often completely different from hers she had already a soft spot for that man full of faith in people. Something she hadn't been able to have... faith.

At this thought her mind went back to the previous night and the whispered conversation she had had with Michiru. She lifted her hand to her neck and touched the smooth cold surface of the gold cross attached to the necklace.

"Open it, I guarantee you it doesn't bite." The gray-haired woman smiled and her wrinkled face lighten up. The serious looking, fifteen-years-old, blonde girl lifted the box's lid, inside there was a golden thin necklace with a smooth cross attached to it. She examined the item for a minute then lifted her head and looked at her grandmother questioningly.

"Did you really thought you could come here and say good-bye to your old granny this easily?" The old woman smiled knowingly to her precocious granddaughter.

"But Granny I-..." The teal-eyed woman cut her off.

"Oh, come on Haruka! I know what are you going to do, and I know it'll pass a long long time before I can see you again."

The blonde girl dropped her look guiltily, she had intended their encounter to be as normal as possible. She had decided not to tell her grandmother that she was about to leave New York to live in Tokyo, she had been sure the old woman couldn't bare the thought of loosing her only granddaughter after having lost her daughter just one year ago. And most of all Haruka hated moments of parting.

"Granny I..." But she couldn't finish her sentence, her voice trailed off. The older woman got up from her armchair and went beside her granddaughter. She circled her shoulders with a thin old arm, the teen was already taller than her grandmother and promised to become even taller, maybe taller then her own father.

"Hey... I'm not saying I won't miss you, honey, but I know you have to do it." The understanding words didn't quiet the storming feelings swirling inside her.

"Really you do?" The unsure tone made suddenly look the usually confident and mature girl like a kid needing reassurance... and after all she was just like that.

"Of course I do, Splinter. Still I can't understand why you have to change continent... but I'm sure you have your reasons."

"Are you going to accept my little present or not?" The old woman changed the subject trying to maintain a nonchalant demeanor.

"Ehm... you know I don't... ehm... I don't believe..." Haruka mumbled quite embarrassed. Her grandmother's religiousness had always made her feel weird, something always kept her from understanding such things, but she loved her very much and had always indulged. But that last year things had changed a lot and Haruka had found more and more difficult to come to terms to anything and anyone even her beloved Granny.

"Haruka honey, you have chosen a pretty hard path and God wasn't too soft on you either. Your life is going to be tough and someday you'll need some faith..." as Haruka tried to protest her grandmother squeezed softly her arm to silence her and continued, "I know, I know... honey, I don't care if you'll have faith in God, destiny or just in another human being, but I know for sure you'll need it, cause no one can be self-sufficient for ever."

GASP!

Heavy panting could be heard as a shadowed figure jumped up in a sitting position on a makeshift pallet.

Turning to both sides Rei could see how her grandfather and Yuiichiro were still asleep, seemingly undisturbed. Relieved by the fact that she wouldn't have to give explanations the young miko concentrated on her just interrupted dream.

The suffocating sensation of the bars against her chest was still vivid and a shiver run down her spine at the memory of the cries of terror behind her.

In her dream she was – all of them were, to be exact – locked in a big wide cage, she had been able to reach the railings and was gripping it pulling and pushing in a desperate and quite futile attempt to break it and escape. Meanwhile, behind her back, a dreadful roar became nearer and nearer. Then cries of pain and noise of ripping flesh joined other cries of pure terror.

Since she was a teenager Rei had learnt such dreams were something more than mere nightmares, something terrible was on that island and its evil nature was becoming harder and harder to deny and ignore for her. She had heard the tales about what had happened to the people in the cockpit and she had started to have weird visions since they had had the accident.

The sun was rising and her inner turmoil made sleeping again impossible so she got up as silently as possible. Tiptoeing between Yuiichiro and her grandfather's asleep figures she reached the pile of clothes they had picked up from the passengers' belongings and put on a white T-shirt and red shorts. She walked off heading to the shore in a secluded spot near the camp.

During her journey to the peaceful place she had chosen for her meditation she met Furuhata heading the opposite way. His 'good-morning' was joined by his usual kind smile which however faded abruptly. It had seemed like he had wanted to tell her something but had changed his mind all of a sudden. It had been weird, he had remained open-mouthed for a minute stopping in front of her then he had walked off without any other word.

Rei shrugged at the odd behavior and proceed her walk, after a minute or so she realized someone was on the shore in the distance. As she neared she noticed the figure was discarding their shoes and then run into the sea.

The black-haired girl realized what was going on and hurried to the shore, the insistent wind was making the sea choppy and they had already experienced how the currents were strong and unpredictable. They had seen debris pulled off the coast in just a couple of minutes.

When she reached the shore she entered the sea with her feet and started calling out for whoever was now swimming off among the chaotic, white-crested waves. Suddenly the figure stopped and turned around then they dived under the surface remerging after a couple of dozens of seconds. That happened several times and then it was clear that they were looking for something... or someone.

Probably drawn by Rei's yelling Furuhata came back running, Rei explained him the situation and he told her it had to be Haruka cause he had just left her there a short while ago. Then the dark blonde man dived and swam off to where the figure was still searching. From the shore Rei watched as Furuhata reached the figure and seemed talking then he dived under the surface a couple of times too, then there was a quite animated discussion. After that the two seemed to swim back to the coast.

Once they reached the shore Rei helped them out mainly a seemingly exhausted and very agitated Haruka. The tall woman kept telling she had seen someone drowning and that it had seemed to be the blonde pigtailed American girl, Serena. On the other hand Furuhata said he had seen no one and that the current was very strong and that they had had to come back not to be pulled down and off by the undertow.

Rei was very confused, 'It isn't possible.' She had passed by Serena and her friends' place at the camp in her trip to the shore and the girl had been soundly asleep in her handsome boyfriend's arms. Then Rei noticed Haruka's feverish look and a shiver run down her spine at the same sensation she remembered from her dream.

For several minutes they kept scanning the waves to be sure nobody was there. Haruka couldn't get the image of the pigtailed girl floating helpless among the waves off her mind. She had been so sure of what she had seen just minutes before, but now, sat on the sand between Furuhata and Rei, regaining her breath after the run and the swim, it seemed all blurred and muddled in her head. She kept shaking her head in the vain attempt to clear her mind.

Rei watched the older woman for a moment as she shook her head and massaged absentmindedly her left shoulder.

"Haruka-san, are you alright?" She said in a low voice. The blonde car-racer turned to her and seemed to come back from her hazed state blinking.

"Oh... Yes, yes, of course." But Rei thought she seemed everything but alright, she was pale though the physical exertion just done, her eyes were blood-shot and she had started shivering badly.

"Come on, Haruka-san, the wind is cold and you have to take off those wet clothes... You too Furuhata-san." She gestured for them to get up and follow her to the camp.

They walked in silence at first on the sand, then through a small group of trees and bushes, Haruka was cold, very cold, her wet tank-top stuck against her thin frame, her own arms tightened around her torso to defend herself from the chilling wind. When they reemerged from the small wood at the West end of the beach where the camp was Haruka lifted her eyes and blinked at the now raised sun. Just then she had a glimpse of a dark clothed figure at the tree line, she didn't pay attention to it at first but when she realized it was someone she couldn't recognize as one of the survivors she looked at that spot again... it was empty. Wanting to scan the distance if she could locate it again she stopped abruptly with the result of Furuhata bumping into her and the two of them stumbling.

"Is something wrong, Haruka-san?" He asked but she didn't answer she was looking in the distance and seemed to not notice the technician's presence. She scanned along the whole tree line but no one was there and after a minute she hurried behind Rei. Furuhata shrugged and followed her in silence.

"Haruka, damn it come down!" She was upstairs in her room doing her homework after track training but she had been able to hear clearly him calling her. She was thinking what could have made him so mad at her when a timid knock on the door distracted her.

"Miss Tenoh, your father wants you downstairs." The timid voice from behind her room's door was the housemaid's and judging by the tremble in it her father had to be really pissed.

"I'm coming Miss Grossman, thank you." She closed her algebra book and got up still thinking.

'What have I done now?' Sure she had never been what they call 'an angelic child' but in the last month she hadn't been in any trouble in class nor at the track, her grades were good as always - with the exception of modern English, of course - so she couldn't understand her father's anger.

But as she was descending the big main stairs and could see the disgusted look in her father's dark eyes she thought she had understood why he was so mad.

'No... please no!' There was just one thing that could bring such expression on his face. She had seen it many times, whenever some 'fag or dyke' was implied... 'Please...' Her inner prayer became feebler and feebler as she descended the marble steps.

Her father's eyes were burning of barely restrained fury, he stood in the big foyer with his elegant dark suit and his briefcase at his feet, apparently dropped without much gentleness. He sure could look menacing, he was taller than the average of Japanese men and fairly well-built, but what made him slightly scaring was the hard expression on his face and the icy cold tone of his baritone voice.

"Henry Ryan came to my office today." His look was piercing through her.

'No...' The worst had happened, the one thing she had so scrupulously tried to hid from him had been found out and now she couldn't imagine what would have happened. Surely nothing good.

He didn't wait for an answer, he wasn't expecting one anyway. "He told me you've done something to her daughter-..." At this words Haruka couldn't hold herself, she had done a lot of things she was sure her father wouldn't be happy of but she had never done anything bad to Isabel Ryan, she couldn't have, no sir... she loved Isabel.

"Father, I di-..." Her forceful protest was cut off by the full raged voice of her parent.

"Don't dare interrupt me, girl!" He snapped.

Haruka knew better than disobey so she just descended the last two steps and stood there in front of him with her hands in her pockets and the head bowed down. When he spoke again his voice was low again but the tone was even scarier.

"He said that you seduced her and took advantage of her." He paused and his eyes pierced through her more intensely. "Is it the truth?"

The answer to that question was simple, 'Of course not!' She hadn't took advantage of Isabel, yes she had seduced her and she had been seduced by her too. But no one had took advantage of anyone. But she knew too well that wasn't the kind of answer her father wanted to hear.

"I asked you a question." His statement was menacing, he wasn't renowned for his big patience – in that they were so similar, her mother used to tell her all the time – and now it seemed about to fade anytime very soon.

"I..." She couldn't answer... couldn't. Her mother had thought her not to betray herself, but she had also told her there were things his father better not to know...

She hadn't had to decide about what answer give to him cause he didn't wait for one again...

The slap came unexpected, she stumbled and fell back at the foot of the stairs.

"I want you out of this house in one week. Tomorrow you'll choose a boarding-school. I don't care which one or where. I don't want people to say my daughter doesn't have an education." The cold rage in his voice felt like a blade cutting through her, it hurt more than the throbbing of her face. He had never hit her before. "Till then you're not allowed to see that girl again."

She was petrified, not by fear but cause of the implications of what he had just said. When she realized he wasn't going to say anything else she stood up. Her head spinning and crimson blood dripping from her nose to her shirt. As she got up he remained there staring at her, his eyes cold.

Subject A has to be put in the cage 5 days before putting in the guinea pigs to see if it feeds on the local fauna or if it starves. The cage has to contain means of sustenance for the guinea pigs to offer a fair competition for life. They have to be capable to represent a challenge to test the subject's strength and abilities...

'Why had he highlighted this passage? And why this numbers?' Setsuna thought as she re-read for the umpteenth time that page of dr. Tomoe's notes. She wanted to understand the meaning of the numbers written in red near the highlighted '5 days' words. She had understood a sizable portion of those notes, sure she wasn't a geneticist nor a biologist but she was a scientist nonetheless and the main part was someway intelligible for her, but those numbers...

'04... 16... and 04... 21... what's their meaning? And there's even an exclamation point near the 21...' She gave a moan of frustration, when she realized that she looked beside her to see if she had woken little Hotaru but fortunately the girl seemed still soundly asleep.

'Come on Setsuna maybe it's a code and there's no way to decipher it... or maybe it's just some kind of numerical cataloguing.' She reasoned with herself as she looked around. The sun was about to lighten the rest of the beach too and soon the daily life of their little community would begin. She stared for a moment at Haruka's empty pallet and thought how long the blonde could go on without sleep before falling apart. Right then she heard soft noise from behind her and when she turned she saw a dripping wet Haruka walking slowly. She could see the blonde shivering at the blowing breeze.

"Hey... what's happen-...?"

"Nothing!" The trembling car-racer cut off her question rudely.

"Ok..." Setsuna stood in silence, walked to their clothes and picked up a pair of jeans and a long-sleeved rugby shirt. She then lent them to the trembling blonde who mumbled a 'thank you' without bother to look her in the eyes. Haruka wore the dry clothes and sat down without a single word. Setsuna realized immediately she was in a very bad mood and though she had always managed to hold off the blonde's temper she didn't want to push her fortune, so she returned to Souchi Tomoe's notes while the stubborn car-racer sat in silence.

"Haruka-san, come with me... please?" She added at the questioning look by the car-racer.

Haruka turned and her eyes went to Hotaru's sleeping form, she looked back at Setsuna and the tanned woman smiled softly.

"She'll be ok." Haruka then got up and followed Setsuna towards the doctor's tent's rear where their rations were. When they were far enough to not risking waking little Hotaru Setsuna had to make up an excuse for having made Haruka go with her.

"I checked Dr. Tomoe's notes." She stated and watched as her plan succeeded cause Haruka's bloodshot eyes lighten with curiosity. "It looks like he was a geneticist and he was working on a project about some animal DNA manipulation..." Haruka started to protest about the point of all that so Setsuna explained, "But... in his notes there were specification about his previous tickets reservations... I know you don't think it's important but I feel something's terribly wrong... for instance why they haven't come to rescue us yet?" She said in a calm but firm tone.

At those words Haruka started for a second... and her attentive interlocutor didn't fail to notice it.

Inwardly the blonde was thinking Setsuna, though the calm and controlled demeanor, was trying to give some sort of sense to the entire situation in a sort of extremely rational delusion... Haruka knew why and wasn't some mysterious reason it was very simple... the pilot had told her and Furuhata.

'But you want to believe she's right, admit it!' The annoying inner voice had returned and she couldn't restrain a frustrated grunt that made Setsuna rise her eyebrows. 'Yes... you want to believe Furuhata is right even more...'

"Well... I don't have much to do all day so I can enjoy checking some dead scientist genius' ravings about plane reservations and bears' DNA." Her smile was knowing while she walked on the rapidly warming sand, Haruka was engaged in an inner debate with her conscience and didn't noticed it. "You didn't answer my question by the way, what's keeping them from rescuing us, in your opinion?" Setsuna's insistence was welcomed by Haruka who had to keep her mind busy searching for an answer, taking her mind away from the disturbing inner dialogue.

"I... I don't know... maybe they're going to come." She mumbled lacking a better convincing reply.

Setsuna smiled again, "Oh Haruka-san I didn't think you were one to have such faith in destiny." She noticed almost incredulous.

Haruka looked at her about to protest then she thought better not wanting to stress the subject further on, she felt she wasn't in the mental condition to engage in a risking conversation with that woman.

They reached the doctor's tent and entered after having announced their presence. Once inside they were greeted by Dr. Mizuno who was arranging all the stuff they had recovered from the plane, she had made them take all the oxygen masks cause she had said the tubes could be useful.

"Good morning Meioh-san, Haruka-san..." She bowed, frowning at Haruka, then she accompanied them out in the rear. "Please help yourself." She said in an exaggerated tone opening the water-box to show them the incredibly scarce number of little bottles still full. She already knew why they had come.

"So that's it then..." Was Setsuna's laconic comment. The blue-haired doctor nodded sighing in resignation. Meanwhile Haruka was staring at the tree line behind them, they realized that and turned to look what had captured her attention but they couldn't see anything. When turned back she had walked off without a single word. They kept watching her as her steps turned in a slight run. They were joined by Ami who had their same confused expression on her face having been just passed by a running Haruka who didn't even said a simple 'hello'.

Mother and daughter exchanged a worried look then the older woman turned to Setsuna who seemed equally if not more concerned.

"Has she managed to get some sleep...? She does not look good at all." The doctor asked. Setsuna shook her head remaining silent. Dr. Mizuno nodded knowingly, "I see..."

Ami had turned again watching Haruka disappearing through the first rows of trees.

She decided to clear things out, so she left the small group and walked to the mysterious figure at a steady pace. When her target turned to enter the wood she broke in a run. Soon she was where he had been just seconds before. She stopped not knowing where to go and looked around anxiously. There was no trace of the man, when she was about to loose her hope of finding him she had a glimpse of his dark suit on her right and soon run to him in a frenzy.

"Wait!" She yelled but he didn't look behind to her nor he stopped.

Haruka run and run and even if the mysterious man was just walking he seemed always to be ahead enough not to be reached.

"Wait!" She yelled again and redoubled her effort in her run.

She was already panting, her lungs hurt but she wasn't any closer to him. Her body was protesting in all ways possible but she seemed to have no intention in giving up.

"Wait, damn it!" She kept yelling. She wasn't even paying attention on where she was heading and soon she lost any idea of her own location.

But right then it didn't matter to her... nothing mattered to her. Nothing but that man who was stubbornly eluding her. No matter how fast she run, no matter how loud she yelled he was always ahead of her.

But suddenly she stopped, she stopped so abruptly that she stumbled, she steadied herself against a trunk shaking her head.

"I'm going crazy... I'm going crazy..." She murmured between heavy pants and looking straight forward where, a dozen of meters from her, stood her father.

They had thought it was better if the group was as small as possible to not have to use too much water, so they had previously decided just Yuiichiro, Seiya and Haruka to go. Particularly Seiya had insisted that same morning on going, he didn't want people – especially Haruka – to think he was afraid after the little misadventure he had had the last time.

Also, Michiru thought, he wanted to keep himself off the thought of what had happened between his brothers and him the previous day. The young violinist had objected it wasn't a rational thing, the wound in his leg was just starting to heal up but he had insisted and she had had to give up.

Now they had just joined the others, Michiru had her arm under Seiya's and he looked confident like always, though he had passed the main part of the night talking with Michiru about his problems in an intense and dramatic confession. The result had been that Michiru hadn't rejected him like he had feared... no, she had been very understanding and had offered him her support for then and for the future. When he had woken that morning he had felt a renewed energy in him, sure for the fact that he had the heavy burden off his shoulder and cause he felt he was closer to Michiru.

With his patented smile he greeted everyone starting with Serena and Mina who seemed very pleased of the attention. The polite 'good-morning' exchanged by the three Kou brothers was instead quite cold and awkward. This didn't seem to affect the dark-haired man's mood but Michiru thought it could be just a pose. Taiki seemed sorry about the situation though he didn't do anything to talk to Seiya. Yaten on the other hand seemed the more upset, he just mumbled his greeting and did not just ignored Seiya but Michiru too. She was sorry about that but she could understand him too. When Taiki noticed it he approached her and apologized for his brother's behavior.

In a couple of minutes they were ready except for Haruka who was nowhere to be seen. Michiru was slightly worried, it wasn't like Haruka at all to not fulfill a commitment taken on, or at least such thing had never happened the previous days. Michiru was sure Haruka was the kind of person who's too proud to neglect her promises, so she looked around expecting to see the tall blonde walking there, but it never happened. When they were deciding about waiting for her or not Michiru saw an odd look-exchange between Rei and Furuhata. She frowned and when Rei made eye-contact with her frown she looked away and made a step forward.

"Well... I think Haruka-san is not coming..." Everyone noticed her hesitation and curiosity spread among the group, at this point Furuhata had the spirit to intervene, he thought Haruka wouldn't have appreciate such intrusiveness by all of them.

"Yes, I met her this morning and asked her if she could help me with the radio, I convinced her cause we knew there were other volunteers for the hunt. She'll made an inspection for me so we can decide where to place the boosters..." When he realized a bunch of confused eyes were on him, he sweatdropped and scratching the back of his head in embarrassment quickly added, "Well... it's kinda of a complicated thing... I'll fill you in when we're ready..." Some of them sighed in relief and most of them seemed happy with Furuhata's explanation of Haruka's absence.

Michiru wasn't one of them. She was about to go to Rei to ask for a real explanation but Seiya pulled her arm slightly preventing her from disentangle.

"Hey, Michiru-chan where are you going?" He asked with a smile.

"I..." Michiru was taken aback, her mind was racing through possible explanations for Haruka's non-attendance she wasn't prepared for Seiya's simple question.

"Aren't you going to say good-bye to the hunters?" He joked, she recompose herself and smiled at him.

"Of course, in fact I was just about to come and wish good luck to Grandpa-san and Yuiichiro-kun..." She winked at him then giggled at his pouting.

"Oh, your words hurt!" He said in an exaggerated tone and lifted his hands to his heart like he had been stabbed, then laughed and Michiru laughed too. Then she put a hand on his shoulder in a sweet gesture and wished him good luck.

"Take care-..." She gasped when he leant forward and embraced her tightly, after the first seconds of surprise she get accustomed to his body's touch, relaxed and embraced him back.

"Thank you." He whispered and she never knew it was for her behavior the previous night or for the embrace.

As the three hunters had walked off Michiru headed to Rei but half-way she changed her mind catching sight of Setsuna walking with Dr. Mizuno. The tanned woman was the closest to Haruka, except for Hotaru of course, they shared the same spot on the beach, beside that woman seemed to know lots of things, even when she wasn't supposed to.

"Haruka Tenoh?" Asked a female voice in English.

"Yeah, it's Tenoh Haruka speaking, who are you?" Haruka's sleepily answered in the correct language after a moment of adjusting. It was 3.30 AM and she had been sleeping soundly after a tiring day of practice at the race track.

"Haruka..." At the other end there were few seconds of hesitation but Haruka hadn't to repeat the question, "Haruka, it's Isabel, Isabel Ryan."

Haruka remained silent, she was incredulous, after all those years... 'What does she want?' She thought.

"Haruka? Are you still there?" The voice from the other end seemed worried.

"Yes." Haruka's reply was laconic, she was still surprised of hearing her.

"Well..." The hesitation was so evident that Haruka thought she could hear the other pacing, "it's been a while, isn't it?" The words were spoken quickly, the awkwardness clear.

"Twelve years..." The car-racer answered automatically.

"Yeah... How are you? I watch your races all the time..." Isabel's voice turned from anxious to soft, but Haruka started to get suspicious, it wasn't normal such thing.

"Isabel... stop the small talk, it's nonsense. What do you want?" Now Haruka was fully awake and that phone call sounded like something was going on.

"Haruka..." But Isabel's voice trailed off without finishing her sentence.

"Come on Isabel, I don't believe you called me in the middle of the night just to catch up after a dozen of years..." She started to feel annoyed.

"I... I'm sorry..."

"It's a bit too late to feel sorry." Was the bitter reply.

"You're right, I know..." She paused again, Haruka was about to protest again when she continued more firmly, "I know, but I have something to tell you."

The serious and suddenly firm tone made Haruka sit up in bed and prompting Isabel to continue.

"I'm listening."

"I think of you all the time... and I know, since your grandmother had died, there's no one here you keep in contact with so... I thought I had to tell you..." She paused a moment to take a deep breath, "I didn't want a lawyer just wiring you... It's about your father-..."

"I don't want to know anything about him, thank you," Haruka cut her off coldly.

"Haruka wait!" Isabel protested, but the car-racer didn't want to listen.

"Isabel, I'm serious. And now... if you want to excuse me it's three AM here and tomorrow I have work to do..." Haruka was about to hung up when Isabel spoke.

"He's dead, Haruka." And then the world stopped for a moment...

...But just for a moment.

"I see, thank you for calling, Isabel." Haruka's voice was so cold that a shiver run down Isabel's spine.

"Haruka... please..."

"What?"

"He... he was your father..." Isabel felt her heart clenching at her former friend and lover's exterior coldness, she knew the hurt inside was even greater than the that. Sure Haruka and her father had issues unsolved and now... '...it'll all resurface full force.'

"I don't care. Now, thank you again." She said but she didn't hang up like Isabel expected and after a minute of silence Isabel spoke again.

"It was a heart attack, this morning..."

"I told you I don't care!" Haruka was now yelling, when she realized that she apologized. "Sorry... I-..."

"The funeral is-..."

"I'm not going to his funeral!" The car-racer hissed.

"..is the day after tomorrow, you can be here in time-..."

"Are you deaf! I'm not coming!"

"...if you can take a flight tomorrow." Isabel concluded ignoring Haruka's stubborn protests.

"I won't come to his damn funeral!" She said again, her voice reduced to a whisper.

"Don't do that to yourself, Haruka..." Isabel was almost pleading, "...you don't deserve such a burden on your heart. Please, come to his funeral or it will never end..." She didn't hear any word from the other end but she could clearly hear heavy breathing. "I'm sorry Haruka." Isabel concluded not knowing what else to say then she hung realizing Haruka would not say anything else.

Haruka remained there clenching the telephone with her hand for a couple of minutes, her knuckles turning white. Then she suddenly throw the unfortunate device against the wall.

"I'm not going to his damn funeral! I'm not going! Do you hear me! I WON'T COME TO YOUR FUCKING FUNERAL!" She shouted to the dark room.

Then she got up, turn on the reading lamp on her bedside table and when she had found the telephone on the floor she checked if it was still working. She dialed and after a couple of rings a male voice answered.

"Hello, I wanted to book a roundtrip journey to New York... in the morning as soon as possible... first class... thank you... Tenoh Haruka... yes... that too as soon as possible... the day after tomorrow... yes yes on 18th it's ok..."

She was panting heavily, her head spinning for the breakneck speed run, the trees were closely planted and the light filtering through the foliage was very scarce.

Haruka stood there leant against the rough trunk of a tree, she was staring at her father so intensely that her head throbbed.

"What are you doing here?" She then murmured, but just as she opened her mouth he turned and started walking away again. She didn't move surprised.

"Wait!" The blonde said, but when he didn't stop nor turn she moved away from the tree and resumed her run with great effort.

She couldn't tell if it was him who had sped up or she was slowing down but the fact was that he seemed farer and farer and soon she lost his tracks. Her confused mind was panicking, she stopped and started turning around feverishly. No trace.

Haruka then started running in random directions, she never thought she was entering deeper and deeper into the woods dangerously, nothing mattered anymore. She had to find her father. She had to find him.

After half an hour her legs were refusing to run anymore, she was exhausted, her lungs hurt, her shirt was ripped where she had collided with trunks and bramble's quills, her limbs ached for the exertion and her shoulder and head throbbed in dull pain. She collapsed, her back against a tree, and slumped down to the ground.

It was in such position that a passing-by Grandpa found her, he walked closer and crouched down even if it was hardly needed due to his short height.

"Good morning Haruka-san." The greeting could have sounded mocking seeing the poor state she was in, but she didn't thought such thing, she just turned her head and looked surprised at the old man beside her.

"Good morning." She answered then, like everything was perfectly normal. The old priest sat there beside her and began fumbling with his rucksack and soon took out a couple of bananas and a small bottle of water. He offered one fruit to Haruka and when she absently took it he peeled the other off and bit it.

Haruka was dumbfounded but nonetheless followed his example and soon she was munching just like him. Another half a hour passed and they remained there in complete silence, Haruka had calmed down enough to remember she had completely forgot about the hunt.

"I was supposed to be with you, wasn't I?" She asked. He laughed softly then answered with a smile, his small eyes reduced to slits.

"Oh no, Tenoh-san, I'm sure you're right where you should be."

The blonde looked at him frowning, but when she was about to ask for an explanation she saw him completely nonchalant and she decided otherwise.

"Actually I don't know exactly where am I..." She said massaging her shoulder distractedly.

"That doesn't matter... yet." His answer was puzzling, she was trying to understand it with the result she was becoming frustrated and started to think he was as annoying as Setsuna-san was. But before she could make a grunt of annoyance the old man exclaimed.

"Have you hear that?" He was smiling knowingly and was turning around to search something.

"No, I didn't hear anything..." She answered honestly, "What was that?" She was curious.

"Wait..." He gestured her to keep silent then, after a minute, he made a dismissive gesture and turned to her still smiling.

"Warthogs?" She asked standing worried, but the old man shook his head, then with a broader smile answered for her surprise.

"Ghosts." He whispered.

Haruka's puzzled look would have been something to treasure. How could he know? She looked at him gaping, he just smiled at her.

"These are their voices, can you hear them?" He asked, then seeing her frowning, "...or maybe you can see them." Haruka couldn't answer, it seemed all too crazy. She knew she had seen her dead father but she wasn't ready to admit such thing with a stranger, she wasn't ready to admit she had gone crazy.

"Everyone has their ghosts to chase, no point in letting them go... it's wise for once be the chaser instead of those who run away." He said finally standing up. He threw his sack on his shoulders and turned to face the tall blonde, a knowing look in his beady eyes.

"Where are we going?" She asked with faked enthusiasm.

The short man looked up at her and smiled again, "I'm going to place this traps," he said pointing at the sack on his shoulders, "you have a different hunt to do, I think."

"But-...!" She started to protest but he cut her off with a gesture of his hand.

"Every hunt or chase it's actually a quest... and it's not necessarily for the prey." He said that and walked off without giving her time to reply. Haruka remained there alone, without knowing where she was nor where to go.

The thirst was starting to get to the survivors, almost all of them were slumped under a tree trying not to tire themselves to limit their need for water.

"Actually it's supposed to rain just in the rainy season." Umino said gaining a nod of approval from Ami. "It should start any moment, fortunately."

"Well, I hope so..." Said Mina sighing. "... I think I'm starting to dry off."

Lita who had just finished to collect some coconuts with Taiki was trying to open them with a sharpened big stake. She had already noticed before Jade laying under the tent he had built up with some raincoats, ropes and debris of the plane. He had a lot of things there and Lita was starting to suspect he had collected them just for himself and had not shared. She was getting slightly annoyed and even more suspicious by the fact he used to spend his days laid down, without helping, but most important, never complaining. She continued to cast sharp glances to him as she was taking care of the stubbornly hard fruits.

Some meters away Hotaru was intent in writing something on a crumpled exercise book, Ami was taking a look every now and then while reading a book and sometimes taking attention to the conversation around her.

Serena stopped beside the kid while passing by quite bored.

"What are you doing, little one?" She asked, leaning down and actually shadowing the light of the sun. Hotaru lifted her head and stared at the pigtailed girl with a questioning look. Serena smiled waiting for an answer and when it didn't come she frowned mumbling something about the notorious Japanese politeness.

Suddenly she heard a giggle coming from her right and turned to see Ami with her hand in front of his mouth trying to stifle a laugh.

"What's so funny?" She asked quite offended, thinking that was an answer to her inner question about the reason Japanese were well-known for their courtesy, when it was clearly untrue.

"Oh, sorry Serena-san... it's just that I don't think she speaks any English yet..." She said giggling again.

Hotaru continued to stare but now she was staring at Ami too with a puzzled look who matched Serena's. The pigtailed girl sweatdropped and blushed with an embarrassed laugh.

"Oh... sorry... I forgot." Then Ami turned to Hotaru and repeated Serena's question in Japanese. The little girl's face lighten up when she was told what was happening and turning towards Serena she bowed slightly saying something incomprehensible.

"She said she's doing some homework." Ami translated for her.

"What! I can't believe someone does homework on a deserted island, it's pure masochism!" She exclaimed loudly. Hotaru looked at her puzzled by the tone she had used and Ami was giggling even more. All of the other turned to her due to her loud tone.

Darien walked close to her and peeped down on Hotaru's page and saw she was exercising her calligraphy.

"You should seize the opportunity to learn Japanese a little..." He said, but when he saw her eyes watering and her shocked face he knew she had not appreciate his suggestion.

"What! Are you crazy? Studying in a situation like this! I couldn't!"

"You wouldn't study even if you were chained to the desk!" Commented Mina provoking a general burst of laughter and Serena's already well-known crying.

They were still laughing when a scream silenced all of them, it was coming from the shore and was a woman's. They jumped up and run to the shore, Umino ahead of everybody having recognized Molly's voice and having already a soft spot for the cheerful pregnant girl.

There remained only Lita who made sure everyone was out of earshot and out of sight then picked up one of her cooking knives and headed along the tree line up to where Jade was laying comfortably reading, seemingly unaware of the scream. With the blade hidden in her belt behind her back she walked to the tent and stopped standing in the entrance.

"What do you want?" He said without lifting his eyes from his book.

"The water." She answered curtly.

"What water?" He asked, this time glancing at her from above the rim of the page.

"You know perfectly well what water!" She exclaimed starting to lose her patience.

"You're raving girl!" He replied and returned to his book.

Lita was determined to achieve her goal, she had suspected Jade to have a stored amount of any sort of items he didn't want to share with them, he had lots of clothes she had never seen in the common lot and he wasn't complaining about the shortage of water and hadn't tried to seize it like he had done with the food. She had watched him always with the blue rucksack on his shoulders even when he had been collecting medications for the doctor. She didn't trust him, he looked nothing good, he acted nothing good and he even talked like he was nothing good.

"Oh really? If I'm raving you wouldn't mind me opening those pretty suitcases, would you?" She said getting close to three big suitcases. He jumped up abruptly and grabbed her hand right before she could lift the lid of the closer one.

"What the Hell do you think you're doing, girl?" He hissed, his eyes narrowed menacingly.

"Just taking a look, maybe I can find some water in there, you can never know." She answered glaring at him firmly and tried to disentangle her wrist from his painful grip, but he tightened his grasp and twisted her hand cruelly. She yelped in pain and instinctively grasped the knife from her belt with her other hand and put it in the face of the man who immediately let go of her hand and withdrew.

"Bitch!" He hissed, "Don't provoke me, it wouldn't be wise." After the first moment of fear he faced her straight and his look was so confident that it seemed he was the one brandishing a sharp blade.

"Lita-san what are you doing?" The voice behind her back made her turn to see Michiru and Setsuna walking their way questioning looks on their faces.

"She was being annoying." Jade stated. Lita glared at him, her green eyes like two slits.

"He could have stolen some water from the plane." She accused him bluntly. Michiru and Setsuna exchanged a look then Michiru tried to reason with the visibly enraged girl who was still holding the long knife.

"Lita-san, the doctor would have told us if some water was missing." She said eyeing the flashing blade worriedly.

"He had stolen it before we collected it for the common thermal-box." She continued to accuse him animatedly.

"Well, that we can't know..." Michiru didn't like the jailbird Jade, and right for that reason she didn't want him angry and in the nearness of some weapon, even if it was brandished by someone else.

"Come on Lita-san, it's not worth it." Setsuna said calmly, her knowing expression made Lita follow her advice and she put the knife back under her belt and glared a last time at him then with a grunt of disapproval turned following the two older women.

"Next time you want something from me you better bring something to give me in exchange. I'm a businessman!" He whispered to Lita's back loud enough to her alone to hear but if she had heard she didn't let out any sign.

Umino was the first reaching the pregnant girl and soon tried to walk her off the macabre view, he too wanted to be as far as possible from the poor corpse.

One by one the others arrived running, Serena burst out in tears when she saw the scene and buried herself in Darien's chest, Mina and Rei just looked away stifling a gasp, Yaten stared at the figure unable to move or just look away. After a minute of general confusion Dr. Mizuno had the spirit of taking control of the situation.

"Ami-chan, please help me." She said to her daughter who looked quite anguished but didn't give any sign of a breakdown, "We have to move... her away. We need a couple of strong person." She looked around and called Taiki, Darien and Umino, instructing about collecting the corpse and taking it to her tent.

Just then Furuhata arrived panting, he stopped just near the corpse and gasped, the expression of utter horror turned in a puzzled one, he looked from the corpse to the others and until his eyes stopped on Serena still sobbing loudly then again on the blond head laying on the sand. He searched Rei's eyes and saw realization in there, in fact the girl who had met such a horrible death was blonde and had two pigtails, though a lot shorter than Serena's. Furuhata admitted a minute later with Rei he had thought Haruka to see things that morning, after all she sure didn't look well. Rei couldn't admit it herself, but inside she knew she had thought the same.

The doctor, for the majority's shock had wanted to examine the corpse, or what it remained of it. With Ami's help she checked on her injuries and tried to establish the cause of death, the others had soon dismissed the subject saying it had obviously been a shark and sure that was the more reasonable explanation, but the doctor wasn't used to make suppositions and just be satisfied with them, usually she would have search for proofs and that was what she wanted to do this time too.

With the scanty set of instruments she managed to establish the poor girl wasn't already dead when her body had been slaughtered that way but her lung had no water in them, so she hadn't drowned, reasonable explanation was that she had died from the injuries to her lower extremities.

Ami was helping her mother efficiently, even if both weren't coroners they knew enough to perform a good enough autopsy. The younger woman was examining the injuries on the stumps of the girl's legs when something got her attention.

"Look at these wounds, Mom." She pointed to some circular wounds, the diameter of a pencil and quite deep. Her mother examined them and turned to Ami with a questioning expression. The short haired girl got the hint and explained, "They're round and deep and the distance between what I suppose are rows of teeth is barely 20 centimeters." She illustrated, "But... sharks have teeth with razor shape and should give wounds more like those given by a knife, not a icebreaker or a screwdriver."

"You're telling me it wasn't a shark, aren't you?" Dr. Mizuno asked. Ami nodded solemnly. "So what do you think made it?" She asked trusting deeply in her daughter's competence.

"Well, it was something who bit with great strength, so I think it was a big animal, but more like a feline or a... bear than a shark. And it can be plausible cause you ascertain she didn't die for the water. We can reasonably think that she could have died on solid ground, or anyway we can't rule it out."

"Ami-chan, you're telling me some animal did that to the poor girl on this island?" The blue-haired woman exclaimed suddenly scared.

"Think about it, mom, think about what they told us about the cockpit..." Unfortunately Kimiko Mizuno couldn't deny the logic in her extremely intelligent daughter's speech and admitting that a shiver run down her spine.

"Wait a minute!" Ami exclaimed suddenly lighten up with what her mother imagined being intuition. She quickly was looking intently at the dead girl's hands, more precisely her nails. "Of course! Look, there's sand under her nails, it's deep up to her flesh!"

"Like she'd been digging her fingers strongly in the sand... like she was trying to drag herself without the support of her legs..." she lighten up with realization too and so did the horror. "Like something was pulling her back by her legs... Kami-sama Ami, it's horrible." She concluded murmuring. Ami touched her mother's arm to give some sort of comfort.

When they had finished their post-mortem examination they exited the tent for a bit of fresh air, right outside there were two very anguished and worried Rei and Furuhata waiting for them.

"Rei-san, Furuhata-san, what are you doing here? Is something wrong?" Ami's mother saw the expression on their faces and got immediately into doctor/mom mode.

Furuhata fidgeted a little and when was clear he wasn't about to talk any minute Rei spoke in a serious and apparently cold tone.

"Doctor Mizuno-san, we would like to know if the girl died drowning." The doctor's questioning look prompted her to explain herself, "See... this morning we think we saw her in the water." She didn't explained the fact Furuhata and her had prevented Haruka from saving the poor girl thinking she was going crazy or just a little too stressed.

The doctor's face fell at the thought of the presumable death of the girl and her expression was immediately matched by Rei's who thought about the worst. When the older woman realized that she hurried in reassuring the miko about it.

"Rei-san, Furuhata-san, you couldn't do anything, she was already dead when she ended up into the water." Rei and Furuhata exchanged a look, though relieved, their expression never turned in a relieved one, they were both thinking about Haruka's anguish that morning and that would have been fair searching her and telling her... even if no one had seen her for hours.

She run and run, several times she lost tracks of him and stopped looking around feverishly with such momentum that her head spinned furiously. Often she had to got again on her feet after having tripped over some stone or emerging root. Soon she forgot about the camp, about Hotaru, Michiru, even about herself the only things she could see, feel even remember were her own anger and the dark suited figure ahead of her.

After what had felt like an entire lifetime to her she realized she was nearer and nearer until she could almost graze his shoulder with her outstretched hand.

"Stop!" She yelled, "Stop, you coward!"

Then it was just instinct to guide her... she leapt on him, fell headlong on the ground and lost her consciousness.

TICK!

TICK!

The fourth pebble wasn't necessary, the first floor window lit and after a few seconds the dormer slid up.

"Hey..." Haruka whispered from down in the backyard. She had snuck out of her house in the middle of the night, had 'borrowed' her father's Jaguar and had driven up there, then she had left the car far enough so it wouldn't have been seen or heard and finally was there in the dark Ryans house's backyard.

"Haruka!" The surprised voice was still a little sleepy. "What are you doing here?" Isabel whispered.

"I had to talk to you." Was Haruka's simple answer. She was fidgeting in the cold night breeze, it was starting to rain, some drops already staining her coat.

"Haruka, if my father sees you, he's gonna kill you!" Her whisper was becoming anxious.

"Then toss me the rope before he sees me!" The blonde whispered back. Up in her room Isabel was uncertain whether let her up or not. She already was in lots of troubles, her father was really pissed and she hadn't been allowed to leave her room except for school and it would have been so for an entire month, but she hadn't seen Haruka for four days now, not even in school... and no matter how much she tried to deny that even with herself, she missed her.

"Come on Isabel, I'm freezing!" It was now raining, almost pouring and the blonde wasn't moving. Isabel disappeared in her room for a moment then a thick rope was tossed and remained dangling one meter up the ground. Haruka grabbed it and with skill due to habit she climbed up the back of the house to the balcony out of Isabel's room window.

The brown-haired girl leant to the windowsill and when Haruka was in front of her she didn't move aside letting her in. She stood there looking her blonde friend intently, the blond wet hair plastered on her forehead, the confused look in her teal, charming eyes, the dark shadow under them, the tired feature on her handsome face.

"Look at you..." She murmured and with a trembling hand she caressed Haruka's cheek. The blonde was puzzled by her lover's behavior, she stood there for a minute, her cheek still cupped by the warm hand. Then a shiver shook her and the spell broke.

"Hey, how about letting me in? It's not like I'm not enjoying the rain but..." She said smiling, but the other's face didn't matched hers.

"I'm sorry... I can't..." Isabel's hand wouldn't stop caressing her cheek, even with her thumb, but her eyes couldn't look at hers.

"What...? Isabel, come on, it's cold. I wanted to talk to you, you managed to elude me in school these days..." Haruka was starting to realize something was wrong, something more, cause she was already in troubles up to her ears.

"I can't let you in, Haruka... not anymore." The resolve Isabel had thought she could have had had disappeared the moment she had seen Haruka's soaked up with that pleading expression in her eyes.

"I know, my father 'filled me in'. With a couple of good blows just to underline the matter." She said but smiled not to get the other worried.

"Oh... I'm sorry. Are you ok?" Isabel asked suddenly forgetting everything else.

"I'm fine, no need to worry... but... he's also having me transferred to a boarding school." What Haruka saw passing through Isabel's brown eyes wasn't what she had expected. It wasn't sadness or concern, it had seemed rather... relief? No... it couldn't have been. "But... I'm going to chose one in the nearness and I'll manage to sneak out to see you, trust me." She said with the usual confidence and a wink that reminded Isabel why she had been helpless to the other girl's charm since she had winked and smiled at her the first time they had met over a year before. So she remained silent for a moment, her heart clenched.

"He's kicking you out, isn't he?" She asked.

"No... he just-..."

"Haruka." Isabel scolded softly.

"He's really pissed." Haruka admitted.

"I'm sorry, Haruka. I'm sorry for that... and... a-and I'm sorry cause I won't see you again... No!" She stopped the blonde's protest before it could reach her lips. "Haruka, I won't see you again, I won't call you and you... you won't call me."

"No! Isabel you can't-..."

"Of course I can Haruka, and I will. Please, don't make it harder..." She pleaded, tears running down her cheeks.

"No! It's your father's will, not yours. You don't want this, I... I... love you!" This time Haruka forgot to whisper and her words pierced Isabel like a shrill, even if they had been spoken in a hoarse tone.

Isabel lifted both her hands and cupped Haruka's cheeks, wet by the rain, then she leaned forward and kissed her. Haruka's lips were cold like her whole body while Isabel's were warm and salty cause of her tears. When she withdrew she saw Haruka's eyes watering too and that made her almost loose it, but soon she recomposed herself and looking the blonde right in the eyes she spoke.

"I love you Haruka, but this is what I want. Maybe you can bear leaving your family... after all your father isn't much of a family anyway, but I can't. He made me chose... and I have chosen them. I'm sorry." She watched as mixed emotions passed through teal eyes without any sound made, not even a small protest from pale lips. "I love you but I have to let you go nonetheless. I... I don't think I'll be able to forget you..." The last words seemed to move Haruka who turned icy cold-eyed.

TICK!

TICK!

TICK!

Haruka blinked a couple of times. She didn't know where she was, nor how she had ended up with her back on the ground. She knew it was raining.

'No wait! If it's raining... why it's doing it only on my forehead?' She got up and her head protested painfully. She searched her body but it was dry except for her forehead, but she could hear the noise... it was water downpouring. She looked around and finally she saw it, a small waterfall and a little pool. The car-racer soon passed a hand on her forehead and brought it to her mouth. It wasn't salty.

'Fresh water!' She stood up beaming. "Fresh water!" She exclaimed then out loud even if no one was there to hear her.

Then the blonde took her time to look around. She was in a small glade that ended against a rocky formation, the water spurted out of it and fell from a short height, gathering in a pool in the hollow stone. In front of the spring opened on a wide cave. Haruka walked into the cave, there was enough light to see several meters deep inside cause the entrance was tall and wide. An idea crept inside her head and she thought it could be a very comfortable place to settle, with water and shelter from sun and wind.

She was thrilled, the shortage of water had been something very alarming and a real threat for their lives. After these considerations she realized she was thirsty so she dived her hands in the cool water and began drinking avidly.

"Hey, are you alright?" He asked a little concerned.

"What?" She replied confused, then she realized she had spaced out seeing the expression on his face and smiled reassuringly. "Oh, gomen Seiya-kun, I'm fine... I'm fine."

"Mmm..." He was unconvinced.

They had had their lunch just as the 'hunters' had made their way back to the camp. He and Michiru had eaten their meal together after Seiya's insistence but right after lunch the young violinist had wanted to spend some time with little Hotaru. He had decided to join her, after all he had no one to be with since with his brothers things were too awkward, beside, he thought, spending as much as possible time with her could help bringing them closer. He wanted to be again Michiru's main company, he had already allowed too much time to Tenoh Haruka to spend with his Michiru-chan.

So he had joined Michiru and had spent a full hour with the little girl. Though his initial perplexity Hotaru proved to be a brilliant and lovable kid and not the spoiled brat he had thought. She had greeted and accepted him soon in her plays and it had been quite enjoyable watching her interacting with Michiru. It was sort of funny to see the always composed and detached – sometimes even cold – violinist looking so informal and unconstrained. It had happened only a few times before when was in a playful mood.

The only flaw had been that the little girl kept referring to the aqua-haired woman as 'Michiru-mama'. He had found it awfully annoying especially when she had started to ask about 'Haruka-papa''s whereabouts. Using a moment of solitude Michiru had explained to him, with a slight pink shade on her cheeks, about their nicknames and it would have been reasonable not to give too much meaning to it, after all it had been the compensating fantasy of a traumatized child... but he wasn't able to not feel annoyed.

He had tried to tell himself it wasn't jealousy, that it would have been foolish even thinking there could be any kind of challenge between Haruka and him about Michiru... but no matter how much he tried to rationalize he continued to feel something boiling deep inside him whenever the blonde car-racer was mentioned or involved personally.

Dismissing those thoughts he realized Michiru had spaced out again, he fought the urge to get her attention, instead he watched her intently. Though she was clearly tense she was as beautiful as ever, her face and her body were those of a goddess.

'Such perfection!' He thought then and he remembered doing the same thing the first time he had seen her. She was the woman he had always pictured beside him in all his dreams. A real lady, beautiful and talented, the perfect match for him. He had daydreamed several times about the two of them admired and even envied... as 'the perfect couple'. He liked her company, she was always controlled and had things under control all the time, 'She balances me for those times I go too far...'

"Michiru-chan... where are you?" He asked trying to tear her out of her thought.

"Uh?" She asked confused by the question. Seiya laughed softly. He encircled her shoulders with his arm.

"Where were you? You seemed miles away..." Michiru's blue eyes lingered for a moment on the wood.

"Gomen Seiya-kun, I'm being quite rude." She said with a smile that never reached her eyes.

"What's bothering you?" He asked concerned.

Michiru looked in his eyes for a long minute. He seemed honestly concerned and she wanted to confide him her worries, but she knew there was a subject he didn't like and was the one troubling her at the moment. She had realized Haruka and Seiya felt some sort of rivalry with each other and she couldn't consider herself completely out of it. She didn't know why Seiya was so worried about her spending time wit the blonde, she had found herself thinking more than once he was jealous but... why? She knew Seiya liked her in more than a friendly or professional way, but she barely knew Haruka and... and... she was... a woman. But she was also aware of the strange fascination Haruka exerted on her.

"It's..." She hesitated for a moment then she saw his clear eyes and decided to be honest, "It's Haruka-san, she's been in the wood all day and I think she's not too well. The fact is I'm pretty worried." She looked at him intently almost checking his reaction so the dark-haired singer tried to keep himself from blaming the blonde racer for making Michiru worry - and for being so damn attention-attracting – instead he tried to dismiss the thing as soon as possible.

"She is exploring the neighborhoods for Furuhata-kun, isn't she?" He tried to calm her. Michiru chuckled bitterly and he was quite surprised.

"Ara, no... that was just an excuse Furuhata made up this morning..." As she was speaking Michiru realized she had made a terrible mistake.

"I knew it!" Seiya exclaimed almost triumphantly.

"Seiya-kun!" She scolded and he soon apologized but the smug smile didn't leave his lips. "I'm serious, it's not safe out there, you know it!" Michiru seemed very upset and Seiya didn't want to blow his position just when he felt he was closer and closer to her.

"I know... I didn't see her, but maybe Yuiichiro-san or Grandpa-san did-..."

"Rei's grandfather told me he had met her and had had his lunch with her... and he told me not to worry that she'll be back soon..." She anticipated him.

Seiya then smiled at her reassuringly, "Good then! The old man is trustworthy, he knows what's what... beside he's some kind of Rambo... I know it seems crazy but I can tell you!" He exclaimed winking, then squeezed her shoulders affectionately. She wasn't reassured enough to relax but decided to concentrate on him for a while cause worrying about Haruka was quite tiring and distressing. She smiled at him to assure him she was calmer.

The dark-haired man smiled back then drew back his arm and straightened himself. He shifted anxiously on his seat and then took a deep breath.

"Michiru-chan, I have to talk to you..." He said softly but firmly.

Michiru looked at him questioningly, he seemed turned serious, and seemed also a bit nervous. "I'm listening..." She said smiling at him.

"How long have we known each other, Michiru-chan?" He asked gravely.

"Oh... almost three years, for what I can remember..." She answered puzzled by his quite rhetorical question.

"In fact you remember right... And during this years I've been able to know you, to know what a talented, intelligent and graceful person you are..."

"Oh, Seiya-kun you're-..." She said even more puzzled, but he cut her off.

"Please Michiru-chan, don't interrupt me or I'll never be able to continue." He pleaded her a little embarrassed. When she nodded he continued, "... ehm... I was saying... I could also see what a good heart you have, you're generous, kind and understanding and you can enchant people just with your music." He took her hand in his and squeezed it lightly, "I wanted to tell you that you are... just perfect and that you're the most important person in the world for me."

Michiru was dumfounded for this confession, she had always known he had an infatuation for her but she had never thought he could confess his feeling so... easily and in such a situation. On the other hand the last days events had been quite traumatic, not just the crash and all those deaths but the fight with his brothers, too, so it was something to be expected.

"I don't know what to say, Seiya-kun..." She answered honestly.

"You don't have to say anything, I wanted to say it to you cause it's what I've been feeling for quite a while already." He held her hand tightly for a moment then let it go with a clear smile.

"Your words were beautiful..." She leaned forward, Seiya's heart skipped a bit seeing her face getting closer and closer to his, then a bit of disappointment when she shifted and planted a soft kiss on his cheek. "...Thank you." She whispered in his ear sending a shiver down his spine and not just there.

Michiru then stood and left him without any other word.

She observed her own image intently and dispassionately, her face was so tense that her skin seemed stretched over her cheekbones, her lips were reduced to a thin line and her jaw was stifling clenched. The sun of the previous days had tanned her skin but underneath it was visible an unhealthy pallor, the same sun had also shown off the handful of freckles spread on her nose and her usually sand-blond hair were way paler, but what got her attention were her own eyes.

She was conscious of her being handsome, she knew that was a big part of her charm, but she also knew her eyes had always been her best 'weapon', she was told more than once her look was magnetic and she was self-confident enough to believe that. But now she looked into the water and she saw her eyes like a weakness, not her strong point. They were bloodshot and had dark circles around them, they weren't a shield anymore, instead they had become a window open on her tormented soul. Every feeling, every fear... every single emotion pulsing inside her she could see it in her eyes too and that was... petrifying.

Knowing her eyes bared her soul, that anyone could read her inside was equal to confess it to the world: it was embarrassing... it was weak... and it was dangerous.

'Though there had been a time when you weren't scared of feeling...' Her inner voice said.

'I'm not scared of feeling!' She replied vehemently, her grip on the stony edge of the pool tightening.

'Oh, of course... you're right. You're not scared of feeling, you're just scared of people knowing you do.' Her conscience was right, she had tried but had found it impossible just stopping to feel, instead there had been something she could have done, she could have prevented people knowing it. She could act like she didn't care and she could keep herself distant so she wouldn't have to expose herself. Her soul and her heart were sore and battered, they had lost several battles... and she wanted to keep them as far away as possible from anything could hurt.

Haruka had loved her mother profoundly and she had died prematurely abandoning her daughter; Haruka had also relied on her grandmother but she too had died before her niece could say good-bye; then she had loved and trusted Isabel too and had been betrayed; finally she had loved her father, deeply, but he had rejected her and then she had ended hating him deeply just as much, like matching his hate with her own was a way to still be bound to him.

She looked intently in her own teal eyes, they were so strange not green nor blue, always shifting and intriguing. She liked them, they were her grandmother's and her mother's too. Haruka had always been proud whenever someone told her she had her mother's eyes, it made her feel closer to her, especially since her mother had died. Looking into the water, now, she saw a smirk growing on her face. The more she observed her own image the more she smirked, looking at her unmistakably western features she realized – not for the first time but with particular satisfaction – she didn't resemble her father if not faintly. It seemed her body had refused his features just like he had refused her as a daughter.

"I hope you were waiting for me..." She murmured still looking into the water. "D'you hear me! I hope you were wishing with all your dead heart of seeing me there!" She stood. "Yeah... I hope you've pictured me there crying cause - know what? - I never shed a tear for you, YOU FUCKING BASTARD!" She yelled to the empty air. "I hope you hurt..." This time it was just a whisper.

The blonde remained silent for a minute looking down to her feet. She didn't acknowledged the first drops of rain, big gray clouds had shadowed the sky quickly but she never noticed that. She stretched out her arms in an inviting gesture.

"Come on, where are you now?" She turned around slowly, a feverishly look in her eyes, "What's happened? You decided I wasn't even worth to be tormented by your damned ghost anymore, did you?" Her sarcasm was followed by a bitter laugh. "Come on!"

But nothing happened, no ghosts, no voices, just the rapid ticking of the heavy drops on the foliage, but the main noise she could hear was the roaring of her own blood rushing in her veins and the furious beating of her heart.

"You know... I'm glad I'm here." She paused turning around again, "Yes, I'm glad that bloody plane crashed down! CAUSE IT PREVENTED ME TO COME TO YOUR FUCKING FUNERAL!" She yelled so loud that ended up breathless falling on her knees exhausted, all the exertion of the day suddenly weighting on her. She panted, her head throbbing painfully for several minutes trying to regain her breath. When she lifted her head and looked up, realizing just then it was raining, she saw it.

There, stuck up amid the high branches, was another section of the plane, it seemed just part of the roof. She walked closer and noticed lots of things had fallen on the ground and were spread before her feet while others were hanging from the lower branches.

She didn't examined the assortment of things cause something had already got her attention. It was a black case, she collected it from inside of another silver security-case the lid of which had been broken in the impact. She opened it to check the contents, then took off her shirt, it was not too wet cause the lush foliage prevented the rain to pour down completely, and wrapped the case in it to protect it from the rain. Then she tried to remember the sun's position the last time she had seen it and decided to head southward – or towards what she presumed was South – cause the camp was on the southern coast and she hoped to reach it or at least reach the shore then, walking along it, to arrive to the camp.

After fifteen minutes of walking she noticed something red tied up on a tree around the lower part of the trunk. It was a strip of fabric hopefully placed by Rei's grandfather to mark the traps. She looked around and then she saw it, a rope hid under fallen leaves, she walked around it carefully and searched for other red strips, she found another one and followed on that path.

Furuhata was feverishly fumbling around his radio devices, looking up to the sky every now and then; Taiki and Yaten were checking on the wood under the tarpaulins they had made out of raincoats; Seiya was helping Grandpa, Yuiichiro and Darien making new hunts and fishing tools; Lita, Mina and Ami were counting fruits for their dinner while Rei and Serena seemed engrossed arguing about some trivial issue; Molly was resting a little enjoying the break from the hot sun after the rain and Umino was... watching over her; Jade was of course in his shelter reading a book; Setsuna was again reading Dr. Tomoe's notes sat near a lost-in-thought Michiru who was supposed to watch over Hotaru doing some kind of homework – the activity that seemed better keep the clever child's mind occupied.

"Is that right, Michiru-mama?" The little girl asked stretching her hand with the creased notebook in it showing her child-like handwriting. "Michiru-mama?" She called again to the apparently unaware aqua-haired woman. When the black-haired kid received no answer again she thought better than disturb the violinist and went to Setsuna who had raised her head hearing the repeated calling of Hotaru and noticing Michiru's impassiveness.

The older woman smiled at Michiru and then at the little girl and checked her work, when she made Hotaru noticing her mistakes she was about to return to her work when she realized the little girl was still looking at her with the expression of someone who wants to speak out loud but is still uncertain.

"What is it, Hotaru-chan?" She asked kindly. Hotaru looked to Michiru who was looking into space seemingly miles away. "Your Michiru-mama isn't giving you much attention, is she?"

Hotaru shook her head firmly, "Setsuna-mama, it isn't that, it's just that... do you... do you think she's worried about Haruka-papa?" The little girl asked, the last words spoken in one breath.

Setsuna smiled to the bright kid, she patted the sand beside her and gestured the child to sit down.

"Well... it could be so, little girl. Why are you asking, are you worried about Haruka-papa too?" She inquired. Hotaru seemed to think about her words before talking.

"A little..." She answered honestly. Setsuna hugged her with a comforting arm and noticed the child was still looking to Michiru.

"What is it?" She asked again knowingly. Hotaru seemed unworried about Setsuna's insightfulness, she shrugged and answered.

"I think she's thinking about Seiya-san." The child's statement

surprised Setsuna. The insight and intelligence of that child was challenging even for the mysterious woman.

"And why is that, Hotaru-chan?" She was curious now.

"Cause she looks sad." The child said confidently, Setsuna was again surprised by that explanation. Michiru indeed looked sad and thoughtful and sure she had spent lot of time with Seiya since he had returned to the camp. The two of them had seemed to talk seriously not long ago and since then the young woman had been thoughtful.

"And you think that thinking about Seiya-san is making Michiru-mama sad..." The garnet-eyed woman commented. Hotaru nodded, "And do you think that thinking about Haruka-papa wouldn't make her sad or worried?" Setsuna pushed.

Hotaru seemed pondering her words carefully then she turned and looked the older woman firmly in the eyes.

"Worried, yes, but not sad." Setsuna couldn't stifle a chuckle to the child's incredible insightfulness.

"I think you're a very bright girl, Hotaru-chan." She said patting the little black-haired head. Hotaru beamed proudly for the compliment.

"And..." Setsuna looked down to the little girl.

"What?"

"And... Michiru-mama is nicer when she's with Haruka-papa!" The little girl concluded suddenly being child-like again. Setsuna laughed softly at the last statement and couldn't help but agree with her.

'...but you're not in love with him...' Her inner voice stated.

'...but it isn't the right time.' She stressed her version. 'We're lost and in life-threatening danger...' It seemed like she was trying to convince herself.

'It isn't the right time or maybe it isn't the right... person?' A shiver run down her spine.

'Oh, nonsense!' Her inner dialogue was turning annoying, so she stood hoping that a walk could distract her a little. Without a word she walked off towards the shore in the chill of the evening breeze.

She didn't went far when she noticed someone was approaching her from behind. She could tell they were very close cause they were shielding the wind from her. She stopped and turned around ending face to face with a battered-looking - but smiling - Haruka.

"Hey..." The tall blonde greeted her.

The aqua-haired girl was short of words. The image in front of her was almost shocking. Haruka was soaking wet, in her undershirt and black slacks, her hair was plastered to her head, her eyes feverish and she was paler than usual. Her clothes were tore and dirty like she had crawled on the ground and she was trembling in the cold wind.

"Ara Haruka, look at you..." Finally she whispered caressing the blonde's cheek. Haruka frowned and Michiru thought she had seen fear flashing for a moment in the blonde's eyes. "Come on, you have to change your clothes." She took the taller woman's arm and pulled her towards her place.

"No." Michiru looked at the car-racer questioningly. "I... I have something to give you first." And it was then that she noticed the dirty bundle Haruka had under her arm. The blonde handed it to her smiling. "Come on... it's for you."

Michiru frowned, the blonde didn't seem herself, the anticipation clear in her eyes as she lent her the wrapped stuff with trembling hands. The violinist took it uncertain and carefully unfolded it realizing the dirty cloth was Haruka's - once white – shirt. It seemed even dirtier than her undershirt. But every other thought disappeared from her mind once she realized what was in her hands.

"Oh my God, Haruka..." Michiru was incredulous. She kept looking back and forth from the black case in her hand to the smiling face of the blonde.

"Open it." Haruka urged gently. Michiru didn't made herself be asked twice, she made click the little lock open and slowly lifted the lid. Inside, encased in blue velvet was an ancient-looking and neatly polished violin with its bow.

The aqua-haired woman's smile made Haruka's exertion and throbbing headache fade away in a glorious moment. Such happiness in those ocean-blue eyes was something she would have cherished all her life, she was sure of it. She wasn't even able to reprimand herself for letting another person affect her so much like she always did. Right then Haruka just knew she felt like she could die then and be happy, she felt like she had lived her entire life just to see those eyes in that right moment.

Before she could figure out what was happening Haruka felt a refreshing warmness against her freezing body and two equally warm arms encircling her gently. When she realized Michiru was embracing her she stifled and her heart started beating so hard and fast she feared the aqua-haired woman could hear it.

Michiru indeed heard Haruka's heart beating at a breakneck pace cause she had her head resting on the blonde's chest. She had just acted instinctively hugging the taller woman and she would have let go of her immediately if she hadn't felt the trembling subsiding and the emotion showing off in that heart-beating, suddenly Michiru felt like there wasn't a better thing to do at that moment, a better place to be.

After a long minute the young violinist finally let go a little and lifting herself on her tiptoes she kissed the dumbfounded blonde's cheek and – for the second time in a couple of hours - she found herself whispering a 'thank you' in someone's ear... even if her heart felt completely different.

In the distance several couple of eyes was locked to the hugging couple. Deep purple eyes were beaming happily and beside them garnet ones smiled knowingly; others were curious, surprised or just amused but in another corner two dark eyes were burning with jealousy.

"Nope..."

The camp was silent and the sea was so calm it seemed almost unmoving, Furuhata was contemplating the stars shining in the dark sky of the night, the moon was setting low on the horizon. Haruka laid beside him on the cool sand and they remained in silence for a while.

"You were right." The blond man exclaimed suddenly.

"Uh?" Haruka was confused.

"This morning you were right, there was indeed someone in the sea..." He explained.

"Oh, that... I know, Doctor Mizuno-san filled me in." Haruka replied somberly.

"I see..." Furuhata seemed at loss of words so more minutes passed in silence. Then he spoke again.

"Haruka-san, I finished assembling the aerial and the boosters... we can place it tomorrow." He exclaimed without the usual enthusiasm. Haruka raised an eyebrow surprised.

"What's the point in doing it? I thought we should be rescue anytime soon, shouldn't we?" She turned to him, she realized too late her sarcasm was gratuitous.

Furuhata looked at her sadly but he didn't tell anything until, "Haruka-san... what's the point in running away on an island? ...In the end you will always return at the starting point." Haruka was surprised, he had always been docile and she wasn't expecting such a retort, a wise and insightful retort indeed.

"Touché..." She admitted calmly, she was too exhausted and in a too good mood to protest.

"Have you ever felt completely abandoned? Like you were alone in the world?"

"..." The blonde didn't answered, she was petrified by his question.

"I think..." Furuhata continued like he had never expected an answer, "...that no one should ever feel completely alone. I think it's the worst feeling ever, loneliness... and helplessness." He stated. Haruka didn't answer again. She started to feel the weight of that conversation... and of that entire day. "That's why I'll never stop hoping and I'll never stop trying... cause I don't want to feel like I have nothing to lose. Everyone deserves some faith." He concluded, looking up to the dark sky.

Haruka was already lost in thoughts, she remembered her grandmother's words the last time she saw her. Her heart clenched in her chest, she missed her and she missed her mother. She missed her mother so much that she had had to force herself to banish every thought about her to not hurt too much. And then she has become so accustomed to that that she had just stopped thinking about her mother like she never had one. And she realized then she had did that with her grandmother too, even with Isabel. The one person she had never stopped thinking about was also the only one she had managed to hate: her father.

Her discomfort was growing, she didn't want to stay and let the oblivious Furuhata remind her of her lonely life. A life many would have wished to live but that – in that right moment – just some fans who didn't even know her and some sponsors worried about waste of money were missing.

So, she did what she was renowned all over the world for doing best: she run away. Not literally maybe, but she run away nonetheless standing and wishing Furuhata good-night, then walking slowly to the place where Setsuna and Hotaru were sleeping. She sat down beside the little girl and caressed the tiny black-haired head.

After several minutes Haruka was still there listening to the steady breathing of that innocent, fragile creature, she didn't know why she was so fond of her, but she knew she was ready to lay down her life for her. This wasn't like her, she always tried to not get attached to anyone, but that very time she realized she was failing miserably... twice.

'Oh no Haruka... let's pass for the little girl, but with her... you're gonna get hurt bad, really bad. You can't let that woma affecting you this way!' She thought to herself.

'It's too late...' Her annoying inner voice stated gloating. 'Think about how happy she was when-...'

"That's enough!" She hissed aloud. When she realized that she checked if Hotaru had woken up. Fortunately she hadn't, so Haruka guiltily stopped caressing her and laid down not knowing someone else had woken and was now looking at her with worried garnet eyes as she was about to spend her umpteenth sleepless night.

When she brought to an end the sonata she was playing a single clap resounded in the room, surprised she turned and saw Jonathan 'Johnny' Cox sat at the counter.

"Wow Tenoh, you sure are a surprising girl." He knew she did not like to be called 'girl' but in that occasion his comment wasn't as sarcastic as his remarks usually were. "What was that? Some movie soundtrack? I can't tell which one..." He sure wasn't an expert of classical music.

"It was Schubert, baka!" She said knowing he wouldn't be able to understand the last Japanese word. His smirk and reply let out he had at least realized it wasn't a compliment.

"Hey smart-ass, you're lucky I'm in a good mood..." He said winking at her, she smiled back. They didn't were close but he had always admired her skills and had a soft spot for that young racer, Haruka on the other hand liked his frankness and the fact that he, in the end, treated her just like every other – male – racer.

"Why the good mood? Are you happy to quit, Cox!" She asked quite incredulous. He smiled at her skepticism.

"Why are you surprised about it?" He had just announced he would have quit racing, he was already forty and his hair was turning gray. "It has to happen sooner or later... to everyone." He concluded significantly. "Enough talking about the old retired racer... Let's talk about the young world champion moping about alone in an empty bar the same night of her triumph..." He said, but she didn't answer, so he had to made her talk himself. "People would wonder what's bothering you, you're young, rich, famous, attractive, you have lots of girls willing to spend their nights – and days – with you... instead you're here... with me. It could seem weird..." She was about to protest but he stopped with a gesture, "Don't worry Tenoh, I was there years ago... I know how it feels."

Haruka looked at him intently like she had to decide if he was sincere or not.

"Do you know why you won today and did not?" He asked. She was perplexed but answered.

"Cause I was faster than you..." She stated the obvious. He nodded.

"Yeah... but... maybe not..." He answered.

"Cause I had more guts than you..." She then answered provocatively and smirked, but he remained calm and shook his head sighing. "What then?" She asked eventually with a grunt of impatience.

"Well... cause you think you have nothing to lose, while I know exactly that I have everything to lose." She glance at him confused, so he continued explaining himself. "I know oh so well those like you... it's obvious someone made you this way, always running away fast as the wind," He paused emphatically, "and only someone can stop your recklessness."

Haruka was getting angry, she couldn't tolerate such intrusiveness from someone who wanted to psychoanalyzing her.

"I know you're pissed, but I'm old enough to not care... Tenoh I like you, you're a very good racer and a smart girl – even if a little too arrogant – and I do hope, one day, you'll find someone for whom it'll be worth slow down a little." He concluded, then without waiting her comment he stood, when he was almost out of the room he turned and added, "You really don't look like the kind of person who play piano, but you're good at it." He smiled and was out of the room before she could anything.

So she remained there, shoulder slumped, the white dress shirt unbuttoned at her neck and thinking about who could made her 'slow down'.

'Such person... doesn't... exist.' Haruka thought laying sleepless on the sand, her eyes staring in the dark, in her mind a clear image of a bright smile and the physical feeling of a warm body against hers... 'I'm so cold...' No one saw her shivering in her pallet.

End of chapter 6.