Haruka's heart lightened as she pulled the blue Ferrari into the drive. In the passenger seat, some of the tension left Michiru's shoulders as she saw their home looking peaceful in the early afternoon sunlight. Even traveling first-class, the flight from Monaco had been long and stressful, and the traffic on the drive afterward frustrating. The problem wasn't so much the number of other cars as the grindingly slow speed, and the fact that she couldn't trust anyone to react sensibly the way she could another racer, which made the whole thing an exercise in nerve-wracking boredom. She stopped the car in front of the house and got out, stretching her arms over her head. Sometimes she missed the days when they would have just landed a helicopter on the lawn, before they came to value privacy more than convenience.
Michiru emerged, violin case in hand. Haruka moved around the hood of the car to put her arm around Michiru's shoulders. Michiru wearily rested her head against Haruka's chest for a moment and then disentangled herself to walk to the house.
Hotaru opened the door for them before they could knock, face covered in a broad smile. She looked about four this time, at most six months older than when they had left a week ago.
"Haruka-papa! Michiru-mama! I'm so happy you're home," she said. "I missed you awfully." Moments like this one were always bittersweet; joy in seeing her mixed with sorrow at how much she'd grown, how much of her abbreviated childhood they were missing. It wasn't that they wanted to travel (although, Haruka reflected wryly, sometimes the increased privacy of a hotel room was welcome), but they both had careers to maintain and duties as senshi to fulfill and neither were possible here in the country. Especially not with Hotaru's unpredictable growth spurts eliminating even the possibility of regular guests.
The house was large enough that a staff might have been welcome, especially since their frequent absences meant the duties fell mostly to Setsuna, both of whose jobs were less geographically demanding. After buying the property, Haruka had once suggested hiring a maid or two, raising her eyebrows suggestively at Michiru.
"If you're looking for that sort of thing, go to Anna Miller's," she had replied flatly. "Although, we could use a butler." Haruka had responded with a look of mock horror, and Michiru had finally lost her composure, dissolving into giggles.
Haruka grinned now at the memory, and scooped Hotaru up to sit on her shoulders as she moved down the hall to the living room.
"What did you and Setsuna do while we were gone?" she asked, unleashing a torrent of excited explanations from Hotaru. Most of it featured something she called the "Solar System Game," although Haruka couldn't quite gather what that meant from the description she offered. She kept Hotaru occupied, listening with half an ear to the murmur of Michiru and Setsuna catching up in the kitchen. Before long, the sounds of clattering pots and pans began to punctuate their conversation, confirming that Haruka really was better off staying out of the room. She'd have plenty of time to catch up with Setsuna at dinner, and the kitchen was small enough already with two cooks occupying it.
Dinner was, as always at home, boisterously informal, to Haruka's profound relief. As amusing as it could be to decorate Michiru's arm at receptions and watch people try to guess her gender, the dinners that accompanied them were deathly dull. Talking about mundanities with Setsuna was far more pleasant.
"There's a solar eclipse coming up next week. I'll need to be able to get to the observatory for it. Will you and Michiru be home to watch Hotaru?"
"We don't have anything scheduled for at least a month. It shouldn't be a problem. Setsuna, we're sorry we have to keep leaving like this."
Setsuna shrugged. "Even if it weren't for your careers, you guard the borders. You can't do that from an hour outside Tokyo. Watching over time is a little more geographically forgiving."
Michiru glanced over and smiled. "It will be a pleasure to have Hotaru for a day. With all this travel, I've had to neglect her violin lessons shamefully."
Hotaru groaned at the mention and Haruka laughed.
"Don't worry, I'll make sure Michiru leaves you some time to play."
"Will you take me driving with you? Please?"
"Not this time. I was thinking that Michiru and I should teach you to swim, now that the weather's so hot and you've grown up so much".
"Oh! Michiru-mama, will you"?
"Of course Hotaru. Haruka, that's a surprisingly excellent suggestion."
"'Surprisingly?' I like that!"
Michiru laughed. "It's not every day I hear you turn down someone asking you to drive."
"Well, true enough."
"Well, better you both than me. You love the water far more than I," Setsuna cut in.
"Which is why this is the perfect time. You won't have to come get wet with us."
Michiru glanced over at Hotaru's dishes. "Eat your somen, Hotaru. It's good for you."
"Setsuna-mama, do I have to?"
"Listen to Michiru."
"And I promise that if you finish, we can have watermelon together. I'll even let you split it."
"Haruka!"
"If you bribe her, you'll create a monster, you know."
"You always have to be the voice of reason, Setsuna. Fine. Finish up, Hotaru, and come help me with the dishes."
When the dishes were done, Michiru produced a watermelon after all, to Haruka's secret amusement. It only took a moment to locate a bat in the hall closet. (Baseball would be another thing Haruka could teach Hotaru this summer. Wonderful thought.) She handed it to Hotaru and then joined the other adults in sitting on the front steps, slipping an arm around Michiru's waist. They watched with growing hilarity as Hotaru stood in the drive, ineffectually attacking the melon.
"Haruka-papa, help me please?"
"Of course." Haruka walked over to Hotaru and arranged her hands on the bat, then took her own grip on the handle. "On three, swing as hard as you can, okay?"
Hotaru nodded, face serious.
"Okay, now, get ready. One… two… THREE!" Haruka threw her own strength into the swing as they brought the bat down, and the melon broke open. Hotaru cheered, and proceeded to stuff herself absolutely sick on it. Haruka returned to the porch steps and Michiru.
"Should we be stopping her?" Haruka asked.
"It won't do her any harm. At least you had enough sense not to offer shaved ice," Michiru responded.
"Eh, well. I even managed to save us pieces." She handed one to Setsuna and received a nod of thanks in return.
"None for me, then?"
Haruka blushed. "I, ah, thought we could share?"
Michiru smiled, a low flare of heat in her eyes. "That will be acceptable."
They traded off bites as the sun set, and watched Hotaru wear herself out chasing her namesakes in the gathering dusk.
That night, they put Hotaru to bed together, sitting with her to tell stories of goddesses who fell to Earth and found that mortality, far from a punishment, gave them their heart's desires. She fell asleep smiling.
Later, alone in their room and wakeful with inevitable jet-lag, they lay cuddled together despite the heat and humidity. Michiru tucked her head under Haruka's chin and Haruka' draped her arm over Michiru's waist. Neither of them spoke, too weary to find a post-mortem on the day appealing. Michiru pressed a kiss into the notch of Haruka's collarbone, and Haruka smiled with contentment. It was good to be home.