Michiru pushed the door open quietly, sapphire eyes adjusting to the dim light. Haruka was stretched out on her bed, eyes closed, flat on her back. It seemed like she just fell asleep where she landed; Michiru knew that she was still in shock. Makoto was lying on her stomach beside her partner, arms wrapped around her waist, cheek pillowed on Haruka's chest. She stirred at the sound and looked up at Michiru. "Kaiou-san?" "Michiru," the duchess corrected. "Michiru-san, can you watch her for a while? When Haru-chan gets in one of these moods, all she needs is someone to hold her while she sleeps, until her nightmare passes." Michiru nodded, a bit confused, as Makoto slid out of bed and tried to smooth her dress. "I'm sorry, Michiru-san." "Don't worry about the dress, Makoto-san. Go call one of my servants to help you with a bath and to look at your bandages before you go to bed. They'll take care of the dress and give you something nice to sleep in." "What about you?" Michiru laughed, keeping the noise low for Haruka's sake. "There are some other dresses in here I can wear and a nightdress in the closet. I keep them for company. Go on now; I'll watch Haruka-kun." As Makoto turned to leave, Michiru touched her shoulder. "Why do you call her Haru-chan? Why that nickname?" Makoto shrugged. "Because it means ‘spring' and she always makes me feel more alive. She's the person I look up to, and she made me the fighter I am today. Why?" "I wouldn't think ‘Haru' fits her, that's all." Makoto smiled as she left, and Michiru slipped into the room. Silently, she pulled one of the blue bed dresses out of the closet and changed into it, hanging her dress in the closet. She turned to the sleeping woman and smiled, sensing that feeling of belonging once more. Haruka groaned, twitching in the clutches of her nightmare. Michiru sat on the bed, taking Haruka's clammy hands in hers. Haruka calmed considerably as Michiru stretched out beside the tall blonde, wrapping her strong, slender arms around the fighter's waist as Makoto had done earlier. Haruka, lost in her dark dreams, wrapped her arms around the woman by her side. *~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Haruka spun around, fists clenched, ready for battle. The noise came again, louder, and the tall blonde gasped, emerald eyes widening. "What?" "Silence," a voice whispered, dark and young. "Silence is coming, and you aren't ready to fight it. Not ready." Haruka looked at her hands, confused when she found gloves, white gloves, on her hands. She was wearing a uniform that included a navy skirt, yellow bow, and a tiara. She pulled the tiara off and looked at it. It was dark but the stone glowed dark blue. She looked up as the shaking sound increased, and a slender woman with aqua hair dressed in fuku similar to hers appeared in front of her. She smiled and Haruka knew without a doubt that the other woman, the senshi, was Michiru. "Sailor Uranus," the Senshi greeted. "I am? Who are you?" The woman giggled, exactly as Michiru had. "Sailor Neptune, of course. There are eight of us, destined to protect our princess, who is the ninth. You've already begun to awaken; the others will soon." "Michiru-san? Have you discovered your power?" Michiru, Sailor Neptune, didn't answer as the scene changed. They were standing on a planet Haruka did not recognize, and she gasped when she spotted the Earth hanging in the night sky. "Where are we? The Moon?" Michiru nodded as she pointed toward a beautiful palace sitting behind them. "Our past lives were here, in this kingdom. We have been reborn." "Reborn?" *~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Haruka gasped as she woke up, her head pounding, the sudden motion waking her companion. Michiru opened her eyes slowly, and Haruka saw Sailor Neptune for a moment. "Michiru-san?" "Good morning," Michiru whispered. "Are you feeling better?" Michiru had no idea who she was, and she knew nothing of the dream about the Silence Haruka had. Without having to ask, Haruka knew that fact. "A little. Where's Mako-chan?" "I made her go take a bath and go to bed. She was really worried about you." Haruka blushed as she realized that Michiru had slept with her all night. "Thank you for what you did. I was just having trouble trying to think about myself as a duchess. I don't think I'm ready for that." "You can do it, Haruka-kun; you just need a little help." "Help?" Haruka watched as Michiru stood up and walked to the closet, pulling out a simple yet elegant dress. The aqua-haired beauty proceeded to strip out of her bed dress and pull the light purple one over her shoulders. Pulling her hair up, Michiru looked over her shoulder at the tall blonde. "Could you zip it up for me?" Hesitantly, Haruka walked up behind Michiru and slowly pulled the zipper up. Swallowing, Haruka pulled her hands away from the duchess's smooth skin. Michiru turned to Haruka and raised one eyebrow. "What?" "Nothing; I just think you look pretty in that." "Oh. Do you plan to keep wearing men's clothes?" Haruka nodded. "Very well. Then I will have new clothes made for when we return from our trip. Until then we have some things that should fit you." She pulled a suit out of the closet and gestured for Haruka to strip. The blonde pulled off her shirt and took the one Michiru offered, pausing for a moment to feel the soft material. "This is nice. What is it?" Michiru laughed and helped Haruka slip the white shirt up her arms and over her shoulders, ignoring the sudden attraction she felt to the very beautiful fighter. Haruka had quite a body and she really didn't understand why she went to so much trouble to hide it. "Most of us call it silk. It's very expensive; you'll like it." Haruka buttoned the shirt up and ran her fingers over the soft material, wondering at the light feel and smooth texture. "Silk? This stuff is nice." She reached over and let her fingers explore Michiru's purple dress. "Is this silk?" "Yes," Michiru smiled, amazed at how young Haruka seemed. She didn't seem to know what a common ten-year-old knew, and she was somewhere closer to twenty. "Put the pants on, Haruka-kun." Haruka finished dressing and followed Michiru out of the small bedroom, letting her fingers trail over the silk at every opportunity. Michiru and Haruka joined Makoto and Rei for breakfast, and all four began to pack for their journey, Rei complaining the entire time about not being able to see her Minako. Michiru let Rei talk, her eyes drifting to touch her tall guest often during the packing and loading process. When they finally made it onto the boat, Haruka walked to the top deck and watched the sea speed by, her jacket in a heap at her feet and her white shirt partly unbuttoned. She closed her eyes as the wind whipped around her. "Haruka?" Haruka looked down the stairs at Michiru's voice, not noticing that the woman had failed to add any honorific to her name. She wasn't yet accustomed enough to being kind to other people to remember to add one to Michiru's. "Michiru? What are you doing here?" Michiru smiled as she leaned against the railing beside the blonde, letting her hair swirl in the wind. "I come up here to think and to let my thoughts fly free." Haruka looked down at the woman by her side, the intense concentration on Michiru's face, her aqua locks streaming out behind her. Haruka reached out one hand and touched Michiru's soft cheek, closing her emerald eyes. They stood there, neither moving, until Haruka felt the wind speed up, crying her name, and the waves added their voice. Haruka opened her eyes underwater. Shocked, she reached for the surface, and a call sounded through the water, a call her body knew very well though she did not. Haruka looked, diving deeper, and she spotted a creature she had seen pictures of in some of the books she had stolen from her former master. A long, slender, graceful dolphin. Michiru. She knew it without a question, even as she had known that the Sailor Neptune in her dream was the beautiful sapphire-eyed woman. The dolphin called again and swam up beside Haruka's dolphin, rubbing her as she passed. Haruka, the eternal dolphin smile on her face, breached, leaping completely out of the water, watching as Michiru did the same. They played together for five or six more minutes before Haruka felt herself being pulled away, pulled back. She gasped as she fell to the wooden deck, Michiru sitting against the railing beside her. Both were breathing heavily, and Haruka shivered. "It's so cold," she whispered. Michiru nodded, handing Haruka the over shirt she had discarded earlier. "Put your shirt back on," she whispered. "It's always cold after you leave your body for any amount of time. You'll warm up soon enough." Haruka reached to take her jacket, stopping when she realized that Michiru was more slender and more finely built than she was, and the smaller woman was shaking. Scooting forward, Haruka wrapped her jacket around Michiru and held her while they both warmed up. "What was that?" "I'm not really sure. But those of us, those royals that have power, seem to have an element. And we can enter the creatures in that single element, or any creature we are close to for an extended period of time. Astral projection is more Rei-chan's specialty than mine, but I know how to do it. I can only merge with animals in the ocean, often very far away from here." "And you took me with you?" Michiru smiled, looking up at the woman holding her. "I guess so. I wasn't sure if it would work. Your element is most definitely not water, though." "What is my element, then?" Haruka smiled, letting her fingers caress the other woman's cheek. Michiru smiled, catching Haruka's errant hand as it slid down to her neck. "I don't know. Why don't you sit here and listen? I'm sure you can figure it out." Haruka closed her eyes, content to sit and hold Michiru, letting her thoughts wander. The wind seemed to swirl faster around the couple, and the waves crashed against the side of the ship. Haruka felt herself drawn upward, into the sky, and she opened her eyes high above the ground. Her arms were stretched wide, fingers spread, and she realized that the white under her was a thick bank of low-lying clouds. Startled, the eagle Haruka had claimed soaring high above the North American continent dove into the clouds, coming out above a forest, every creature in the trees visible to her extra-sensitive raptor eyes. She flapped her wings, watching the creatures but not interested in them. She—or, actually, he, since the eagle mind beside Haruka's was male—was after bigger, more satisfying prey. A scream not far away caught her attention. The scream sounded suspiciously like "Kyaaa! Too high! Too high!" Another eagle, her bronze-gold feathers shining in the afternoon sun, flew closer, and Haruka sensed recognition in the male's mind. He knew this female; she was his, the mother of many chicks raised successfully. Haruka lowered one wing and banked toward the female, the male eagle's sex drive beginning to work. He wanted that girl, and Haruka wasn't going to stop him. He reached the larger female and flew a circle around her, whistling softly. And Haruka recognized that eagle. She fell into her body, gasping and reaching a hand up to her pounding head. Michiru's gentle fingers added their mothering pressure to her aching temples, soothing the sharp stabbing pain. "Michiru," she whispered. "What happened?" "You found your element, the wind. Because you were holding me, I followed you just as you followed me when you touched my cheek earlier." "But my head didn't hurt last time," Haruka whispered. "You pulled out too fast. You have to be careful or you could seriously injure yourself." Haruka leaned against the railing, Michiru still enfolded in her arms. "Flying was fun. I want to do it again sometime." She suddenly remembered what the male eagle had heard and she sat up, looking down at Michiru. "Are you afraid of heights?" Michiru blushed. "Not afraid, just nervous. I don't particularly like heights; I was just a little unsettled. Don't tell me that an air person like you was happy to open her eyes underwater." "No, not really. I was a little afraid that I was going to drown." "You were fine. Besides, wouldn't it be so delightful to drown in my arms?" At Haruka's sharp gasp, Michiru laughed. "Wow! You think you're the only one who gets to talk like that? I would never endanger you, Haruka." "And you were perfectly safe in the air with me," the blonde whispered. They sat like that, letting the cool sea breeze wash over them, feeling complete for the first time in their lives. "I was just thinking, Haruka-san." "Hmm?" "If you and Makoto-san are really duchesses, which your recent activities have just about proved, you need to know how to read. I can teach one of you, but I've never had two pupils before. Mizuno Ami, Duchess of Chugoku Region, is very smart and she could tutor one of you." "Is she as smart as you?" Michiru blushed. "I'm not that smart Haruka; I've just had a lot of good tutors. I'll bet you're very smart, you just need to stretch your mental muscles." Haruka grinned, standing up and pulling the duchess to her feet. "Then I will learn how to write from you and Mizuno-san can teach Mako-chan. While you're teaching me how to read you can also teach me more about this power I have." Michiru smiled and held her right hand out in the American manner, shaking Haruka's hand once firmly. "Deal."
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