A/N: Title taken from a Prime Circle song of the same name.

Breathing

"I know it's been a while, but I keep expecting to wake up from this dream. For someone to come to me and say, 'You're just lying to yourself if you think you can protect everyone without dirtying your hands.'"

Her fingers tremble where they grasp her knees. Michiru covers one hand with her own, squeezing gently.

Voice also gentle, she replies, "We made up our minds long ago, did we not? No matter what happens, we will see this through. Sacrificing everything, even each other."

Haruka flips over her hand, squeezing back with significantly more force, and barks a short laugh.

"That's bullshit and you know it, Michiru. We were never capable of abandoning each other. The cathedral taught me that you would never even try."

Michiru's eyes widen slightly, the most surprised she's been in years. She is used to Haruka running, deflecting, denying, going with the flow. This direct (attack? admission?) statement is completely unlike her.

Haruka continues when Michiru doesn't answer. It's as if, now that she has spoken their unspeakable, she has to see this through. "I could never kill you," she says, "or let you die. I'm afraid one day we will cost the world its lives for our selfishness."

For some reason, Michiru laughs at this, a light sound incongruous with their topic.

"I don't care," she says.

Haruka stares at her in shock.

"If this world is so fragile that one of us must die without the other to protect it - let it break. After everything we have been through, I should think we have already paid any debts to it, in full. Any further effort on our parts is a labor of love. I have no love for a world that would ask me to live without you."

She stares absently at their clasped hands as she speaks, starting slightly in surprise when Haruka's unseen other hand rises to cup her cheek.

"You are a bad person," Haruka intones seriously, but her eyes are dancing.

"I blame you," unrepentant.

This, Haruka reflects, is one of the many reasons they work so well together. They draw on Uranus's strength when they need to move, and Neptune's strength when they need to be still.

Haruka doesn't say anything out loud, but when Michiru reaches for her too, she smiles into their kiss. Michiru smiles back, understanding, as she always does.