Michiru parked her car in the driveway, along side Haruka's yellow convertible. She smiled softly as she got out of that car. Knowing Haruka, she would still be asleep in bed. She had had a late night, working on her bike. Michiru was going to spend the day with Usagi but Usagi cancelled, due to a slight cold. Instead of waiting around, Michiru had decided to go shopping. She grabbed the two bags from the back seat and walked up to the front door. Michiru remembered that Setsuna was at work and set one of the bags down. She got her keys out and unlocked the door. Any other day Hotaru would have come running up to see her mama. Today, however, the young girl was at school. Due to her slight shyness, the three women had decided to put Hotaru in pre-school. Michiru opened the door and grabbed the bag she had set down. She walked into the kitchen and set the bags on the counter. She started to pull the groceries out of the bags, one at a time. She pulled out a small cake. It was Haruka's birthday. She wanted to surprise her. She smiled at the cake softly.
Her and Haruka had decided to take a break from being together. It was mostly Haruka's idea. Things were getting hectic with new enemies for a while there. The relationship was getting hard. They decided to take a break so they could concentrate on their senshi duties. The two weren't seeing anyone new though. It was just a small break. Michiru had been staying in the guest bedroom to give Haruka some space. It was hard sleeping without her but she had survived. Michiru was hoping to patch things up and get back together soon. She wanted to feel Haruka's arms around her once more.
Oceanic eyes blinked as Michiru heard a strange noise. She thought it might be Haruka waking up. She giggled softly and walked down the hall. As she got closer to the bedroom Michiru heard more strange noises. It sounded like moaning. She thought maybe Haruka was having a nightmare. As she went to turn the handle she heard someone else in the room. Oceanic eyes widened. Michiru's trembling hand turned the handle and opened the door slightly. Oceanic eyes widened even more at what she saw.
There was Haruka having sex with another woman. Not just a random woman either. It was Minako. Michiru stared in disbelief. She couldn't move, nor could she make a sound. The one woman she loved more than anyone was making love to Minako. It was then that Minako noticed her standing there. Bright blue eyes widened.
"M-Michiru."
Haruka's eyes widened. She turned around to see Michiru standing there. Michiru's eyes filled with tears. She couldn't speak. She just turned and ran out of the apartment, almost knocking Setsuna down as she walked inside. Tears spilled out of her eyes as she threw the door of her car open and got in. Setsuna stood there, in shock, as she watched Michiru speed out of the driveway.
"What on earth?"
Setsuna turned and walked into the house. She saw the groceries still on the counters in the kitchen. Something was wrong. She saw that Haruka's door was opened and walked down the hall.
"Haruka what happened to-"
She stopped mid-sentence as she saw Haruka sitting on the bed with Minako beside her. The two sat there with wide eyes. They never expected Michiru to come home. Setsuna could not believe her eyes.
"What in the name of Pluto?! Haruka! Minako!"
Minako stood from the bed quickly and threw her clothes on, running out of the house, without a word. Haruka quickly dressed. Setsuna walked over and slapped her across the face.
"What were you thinking?! How could you do this?!"
Haruka said nothing. She had no excuse for what she did. She sat back down on the bed.
"I didn't mean for this to happen... She wasn't supposed to see this..."
Setsuna glared at Haruka.
"That is no excuse for this! Why?! Why would you do this?!"
Haruka sat there, unable to answer. She didn't know herself. Minako had just come over for help with her volleyball. One thing led to another. They ended up in the bed. Minako had never been with a woman. For Haruka it was exciting. She couldn't explain it.
On the other side of town, Michiru whipped the car into a parking spot near the beach. She turned the car off and tried to calm her breathing. Tears spilled from her eyes. She couldn't erase that image from her mind. She wrapped her arms over the top of the wheel and rested her head against the horn, sobbing uncontrollably. Her heart shattered into a million pieces.
--
A few days passed. No one heard from Michiru. Setsuna couldn't even get in contact with her. Hotaru sat in the living room, drawing. Haruka sat on the sofa, watching TV, her hands shaking. This was something she couldn't stop. It had started the night Michiru left. She was losing it. Her mind raced with worry for Michiru. She had looked all over Tokyo but had not found her. She did find her car near the beach, abandoned. That had only worried her more. She had not spoken to Minako since that day. She couldn't bare the thought of her being unfaithful to Michiru. She loathed herself. Setsuna sat on the loveseat nearby, watching over Hotaru. Hotaru looked at Haruka, then Setsuna. She was worried about her Michiru-mama. After a moment, she spoke up.
"Where is Michiru-mama? Why isn't she home?"
The two looked at the little girl, unable to answer her question. Setsuna thought to herself and placed a hand on Hotaru's shoulder.
"Michiru is out. She took a trip to help her think."
Hotaru blinked lavender eyes.
"Like meditation?"
Setsuna nodded, hating to lie to the young girl. Yet it was a partial truth. Michiru was out, trying to sort all this in her mind. After a moment, Setsuna's and Haruka's communicators went off. It was Usagi.
"Everyone meet at Rei's this afternoon. A new evil is approaching."
The two nodded to each other and stood. Setsuna helped Hotaru to clean up her drawings. They got into Haruka's car while Haruka locked up the house. She looked over at Michiru's car, pain filling her heart. Michiru would never forgive her for this. The thought that she may never see her smiling face again caused her great pain. She got into the car and drove to the shrine. Once they arrived, the three climbed the many steps. As they neared the top, they saw that all the inner senshi were already there. Haruka and Minako locked eyes for a moment, then looked away ashamed of themselves. Ami and Rei took notice and were quite confused. Usagi walked up, blinking a few times.
"Where is Michiru-san?"
Hotaru, oblivious to what was going on, chimed in with her answer.
"Michiru-mama is on a meditation trip."
Each of the inners blinked, baffled. Minako looked down, ashamed. She knew Michiru had not come home by what Hotaru had said. Usagi looked to Haruka, blinking even more. Setsuna held up a hand before Usagi could ask more.
"It's complicated. She probably won't be joining us for the meeting, however."
Haruka looked down, pain clearly filling her eyes. The echo of heels clicking against stone filled the air around the shrine. Each of the senshi turned to see who it was. A soft breeze tossed sea green hair about as Michiru ascended the stairs, eyes closed.
"My duties of a senshi are one of my highest priorities, Setsuna. I would never miss a meeting. You know me better than that."
Setsuna couldn't believe her eyes. Michiru was really there. She could see by Michiru's red cheeks that she had been crying. Haruka watched her, her heart stabbed with pain. She could see what she had done to Michiru. She could see Michiru's torn clothing. Her worry only intensified at the sight. Michiru walked right passed Haruka and up to Usagi, bowing.
"Forgive me, princess. I did not mean to be late."
Usagi blinked at Michiru's formalities. Before the moment could get any more awkward, Rei started the meeting. Each of the senshi was uneasy. Michiru had sat between Usagi and Hotaru, sitting as far from Haruka as possible. When the meeting was over, Michiru told Setsuna she was going to get a few things from the house. Setsuna nodded and Michiru left. Usagi blinked and got frustrated. She had noticed the glances between Haruka and Minako. She knew something was up. She marched up to Haruka and Minako.
"What the hell is going on?!"
Each of the senshi turned and blinked. Haruka and Minako looked at each other and turned away, shame in their eyes. This only intensified Usagi's anger.
"This is what I'm talking about! What the hell happened?! What happened to you two and Michiru?!"
Setsuna placed a hand on Usagi's shoulder to calm her. She shook her head and sighed.
"Haruka and Minako slept together..."
The girls' eyes widened. Rei was the first to speak, shouting.
"What?! How could you two do that?!"
Minako looked up quickly, trying to explain, quite frantic.
"It wasn't supposed to happen. I just wanted help with volleyball. We were working on my bump. I fell and Haruka caught me. When she pulled me up, she was closer than I thought. I don't know what came over me. We kissed... Then one thing led to another... I didn't want to hurt Michiru-san..."
Tears filled Minako's eyes. She was telling the truth. Makoto turned her attention to Haruka. Those green eyes glared at her.
"I thought you were stronger than that Haruka. You could have stopped it."
Haruka glared right back, pissed at the accusation. Her tone was harsh and sharp.
"You think I don't know that? You think I wanted this to happen? You think I wanted to hurt Michiru? It wasn't supposed to happen. It was stupid. I was stupid. It still doesn't justify my actions. You think it's easy to look at her and see that pain I caused!?"
Haruka's voice was rising quickly. Tears filled her eyes. Each of the girls looked at Haruka in shock. No one knew what Michiru truly meant to Haruka. She hadn't even admitted it fully to herself. Tears spilled from her eyes as she yelled.
"I never wanted to hurt her! I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her! I don't know what happened! I didn't want to happen! I love Michiru more than anything! And now I've broken her heart! Do you have any idea how much that hurts?!"
At that point, Haruka finally lost it. She ran off, chasing after Michiru. She couldn't let Michiru go. She had to fight for her. She refused to give up. She ran the entire way home. She threw the door open and ran down the hall. She tried to open the door to the guest bedroom. It was locked. Haruka started to bang on the door. Michiru turned around quickly, staring at the door. Haruka shouted to Michiru.
"Michiru, I know you're in there! I know you're mad! I can't blame you for being mad! I'm begging for a second chance! If you could see these tears I'm crying! Touch these hands that can't stop shaking! Hear my heart that's barely beating!"
Michiru's eyes filled with tears once more. She walked over and placed a hand on the door. Haruka's hand rested against the door, still in a fist. She had stopped pounding on the door. Haruka rested her forehead against the door, as tears spilled from her eyes. Her tone was that of deep pain.
"I didn't mean to sleep with Minako, Michiru... I didn't mean for it to happen but it did. I can't excuse it... I can't erase it... I won't lie to you. You deserve the truth. It was exciting. It was exciting being her first. But it was nothing compared to the feeling I got each time you and I made love. No one makes me feel the way you do Michiru. I never told you... I never told you what you do to me every time you just look at me with those beautiful eyes. Just a look from you sends chills down my spine and races my heart. Your soft smile makes my heart almost stop. Your touch... Your touch calms me even in the darkest time. Your kiss... When you kiss me, I can feel a love so pure... It felt so pure... So pure that it scared me. I was scared of giving myself to you. I had never felt that way about anyone. You've done something to me, Michiru. You make me want to be a better person... I'm sorry for what I've done."
Michiru opened the door but said nothing. She stood there, looking at the floor.
"I'm sorry, Haruka... I could never forgive this how could you...Wake up."
Haruka blinked, not understanding Michiru. The images before her started to become blurry. Azure eyes fluttered open to find Michiru bent over her, shaking her slightly. Haruka blinked a few times, baffled.
"What the hell?"
Michiru's soft laughter filled the room.
"You fell asleep during the movie. I didn't want to wake you."
Haruka sat up, holding her head.
"I kinda wish you would have. I had a horrible nightmare."
Michiru blinked a few times as Haruka suddenly took her hand and looked up at her.
"Promise me you and I will never take a break from each other."
Michiru kept blinking. She smiled down at her softly.
"I promise. It must have been some nightmare."
Haruka nodded and told her about the dream. Michiru couldn't help but laugh at it all. Haruka pulled Michiru onto her lap and held onto her.
"It was horrible. I don't want to have sex with Minako. She scares me."
Michiru giggled softly as Haruka nuzzled her head into her shoulder. She wrapped her arms around Haruka's shoulders and smiled down at her softly.
"You probably just have a problem with her promiscuous nature. You know that sex in dreams doesn't really mean right?"
Haruka nodded but clung to Michiru.
"Yeah but sex with Minako is still scary."
Michiru laughed again softly and held Haruka, comforting her for a while.
THE END