A/N: A series of 3 short fics set after particular moments in Sailor Moon S. This one is set just after episode 102.

Purity and Pain

Haruka was spread out on Michiru's couch, her feet dangling off the armrests. Michiru sat in an armchair across from her, watching her snore.

It was so stupid Haruka wouldn't sleep in her bed.

"I can't kick you out," she'd protested. "The couch is fine for me."

"Don't be silly, you're injured," Michiru snapped.

"Look, if it's that big a deal, I can drive back to my place."

"I refuse to let you do that. You're dead on your feet and there's no reason to make you go home. If you're worried about kicking me out of bed, I could…it's a big bed, so we could just…share."

Haruka stared at her for a second. Michiru did her best to keep her face impassive.

"N-no… that's… I'm not going to impose…the couch is definitely a better plan."

Michiru shook her head as Haruka turned away. The woman would flirt with anything that moved, but the thought of a little intimacy turned her into a deer in headlights.

Of course, would Michiru have been able to restrain herself in the same bed with Haruka? Or would she have ended up "compromising the mission"?

Well, if Haruka refused to sleep comfortably, Michiru certainly wasn't going to either. She couldn't stand the thought of being all alone in her huge bed while Haruka slept just a few feet away. So she sat here, her eyes fastened on Haruka's bandaged arm.

It was the second time in a short period Haruka had been injured like this during combat. She was a failure. She had vowed to protect Haruka through everything, but she was letting her get hurt- over and over again.

There were different levels of pain, too. What if Tsukino Usagi's heart had really been a talisman? Would Haruka have gone through with it? Would she have been able to cause the death of that girl?

Michiru knew the answer.

She'd realized it today when they both watched Usagi Tsukino get her heart ripped out that second time. She had felt Haruka shaking beside her, and had looked over to see Haruka had closed her eyes, unable to watch, rejecting what was happening on every level.

Ah. Michiru had thought numbly. As soon as the talisman appears… I will have to kill the girl myself.

Haruka was so honest with her feelings. But it wasn't an honesty expressed in words. It was an honesty that showed on her face, the same face that Michiru gazed at now- a face with soft features, long beautiful eyelashes, pouting lips. A face, that was, in every way, the face of an innocent.

And Michiru would make sure that it stayed that way.

When they found the talisman, there would be no slow death for its bearer deprived of a heart. Michiru would kill them with her own hands, before Haruka could react. Haruka would just be a witness…an innocent bystander. The weight of sin would be entirely on Michiru. Haruka would abandon Michiru afterwards, unable to think of her the same way. But that did not matter. All that mattered was that Michiru preserved Haruka's purity. She had thrown her own away a long time ago, the second she had given into selfishness and loneliness…and dragged Haruka into this mess. This was her responsibility. She could not burden Haruka any more than she already had. She could not taint her.

Michiru slowly got up from the chair and walked over to Haruka sound asleep on the sofa. Haruka's face was beaded with perspiration. Perhaps she was feverish because of her wound. She moaned a little.

"Shhh," Michiru smoothed Haruka's sweatsoaked hair back. Haruka was too deep a sleeper to wake at her touch. Michiru bought two fingers to her lips, kissed them, and then lightly brushed those fingers on Haruka's forehead. She took Haruka's hand, which was trembling a little, even in her sleep.

"You don't have to worry anymore," Michiru whispered. "I'll take care of you."