Uhm, I guess this is the same as all those other disclaimer thingies; none of these characters belong to me, they belong to Naoko Takeuchi, (if you didn't know that, you seriously need to get off this site and do some research,) if the idea of Haruka and Michiru together in any way offends you, don't read this fic, it's full o' the good stuff. Oh yeah, imagine Haruka with really long hair...O.o Yep, but she has it for most of the fic. Anywho! ^_^ …on with the fic…
"Oh, honestly! I even went to all this trouble to get it in blue! Ruka, darling, you can't wear pants to a ball. It simply isn't done!" Queen Uranus' face is a livid red, her voice holding a twinge of agony. Her daughter's body is pressed to the window; her fathomless eyes an evermoving ocean. She seems to be gazing to a horizon that she alone has passage to.
She blinks and turns towards her mother. She silently reaches forward and touches the silky fabric, putting it to her cheek and smiling at the smooth grain of satin. She drops the weave and looks up at her mother, her mouth remaining closed. There is no hint of anger on her face, just a passive answer to Lady Uranus' question: No.
Throwing up her hands in disgust, the queen throws the dress down upon the bed and storms out of the room, shooting her daughter a blistering look as the door slams behind her. Her voice follows her footsteps down the hall. "I can't believe her! The ungrateful wench! She isn't fit to be a princess…"
Curling her long legs up to her chin and hugging them to her, Haruka once again turns her face to the window. Silent tears course down her face in rivers as the world holds its breath.
I gaze out upon the coast beneath my window, pulling the sharp sea air into my lungs, filling myself with it. The breeze nips at my bare shoulders; I fold my arms and press them close to my stomach. Sighing, I recede into my room, leaving the window open. I want the wind to whisper to me.
Opening a worn velvet case, with greatest delicacy I draw out the violin. Placing it to my chin, I slowly pull the bow across the strings, closing my eyes, reaching in. Nothing else exists in that moment but the music, and the wind, and the wide, fathomless ocean…
And me; for I am Princess Neptune.
Haruka stands, silent, in front of her mirror. Her chest heaves, her eyes are full, but she does not cry. She won't give anyone the satisfaction. The light catches the yellow opals at her ears, making them dance. Her fingers itch to rip them off, to heave them into the winds that show no mercy, to flee from who everyone wants her to be.
The blue dress flows perfectly around her lanky frame, just reaching the floor, whispering when she walks. Her long blonde hair is curled into ringlets that embrace her shoulders. They bounce, indifferent, to the grief in her eyes.
"Haruka? Come right this instant!" Her mother calls from the corridor. The princess opens the door and stands, seemingly indifferent. She pushes the tears to the back of her heart to be dealt with later.
A slow smirk crosses her mother's pinched features, but she whirls around just in time for her daughter to be ignorant of the full strength of it. Too much satisfaction is not prudent.
"Come, Haruka."
Their footsteps echo recedingly down the sun drenched hall, mother and daughter, as deviant as the sky from the sea.
The glitter of the widespread ballroom fazes Haruka; she puts her hand to her brow and turns longingly to the small patch of starlight that is the door, but there is no retreat after assault. She stands tall and defiant, daring one of the young men gracing the dance floor to come over and take her hand. There is nothing to do but stand.
Haruka catches glimpse of yet another princess come to greet her. This time, she doesn't even play a smile. There is nothing different about the aqua-haired girl. She is just another pretty face. She smiles as she curtseys, and when she comes up, she looks into Haruka's eyes. Haruka is horrified. Is that pity, hiding beneath the shimmering green?
"I am Michiru, Princess of Neptune."
Haruka's gaze remains cold and defiant.
"Haruka. Uranus."
Michiru is suprised at the huskiness of the voice of so pretty a girl.
The girl Haruka makes no attempt at conversation, but stares blankly ahead of her. Michiru clears her throat and points out, "The girls of the Inner Planets seem to be very good friends." Haruka nods, but does not reply. Michiru bites her lip. What is going wrong?
They both catch glimpse of the princesses of Pluto and Saturn. Pluto stands tall, her gloved hands hanging gracefully upon her black gown. Little Hotaru giggles and jumps about, hiding behind the deep black folds of Setsuna's dress. The taller woman smiles and places a hand upon the girl's head, stilling her.
"And to think they only met tonight," Michiru whispers softly.
Haruka moves to stand next to Setsuna, her one friend. In the begining Haruka had scorned her too, but it was so hard to hate the gentle, quiet way she had with people, the soothing voice she used with children.
The princess of Pluto smiles as she sees Haruka coming towards her, her long strides looking ridiculous with the elegant dress. She unknowingly trails the Princess of Neptune.
Setsuna and Haruka hug, and Haruka whispers something into Setsuna's ear. Michiru feels a pang of jealousy. What had Setsuna done to win Haruka's affection that Michiru had failed? What had she done wrong?
Setsuna takes Michiru's hand.
"Haruka, this is Michiru, Princess of Neptune."
Haruka nods curtly.
"We've met."
Michiru smiles.
"Excuse us." Setsuna pulls Haruka aside, frowning at her as he younger girl folds her arms accross her chest. "Out with it, Haruka. What's wrong with Michiru?"
"She's...shallow."
"You've known her five minutes."
"I can just...tell."
"Why are you being so selfish?"
"Selfish?"
"All Michiru wants is a friend, Haruka. She's a clever girl."
"Aren't we all."
"Haruka, just go out there and spend some time with her. For me?"
The tall girl nods, her golden girls springing upon her shoulders. They catch the light, shining as if to kiss the sun at its zenith.
She steps onto the skirt of the dance floor, and sidles up to Michiru. The aqua-haired girl starts, and smiles as she sees it is Haruka. They stand in silence a moment, Haruka with crossed arms, shooting sideways glances at Michiru. The shorter girl turns suddenly, and smiles.
"What is Uranus like?"
The soft voice pulls Haruka out of her reverie. She thinks a moment, then speaks softly.
"People say they notice the wind...they say that is speaks to them and swoops down from the stars, and sometimes it will stop for a time, but it is eternal. People tell me they feel the wind in me...they say its in my eyes..."
Michiru gazes up at the taller girl. Slowly, she nods.
"They speak the truth."
They stand in silence; companionable, not stony. Haruka clears her throat.
"And Neptune..."
"Its an ocean planet. The waves never stop breaking on the rocky crescent of the shore. I love Neptune so much...."
"And I Uranus."
A smile flits across the beautiful face of the princess of Neptune. "I think we are supposed to."
Haruka remembers being to the Moon Palace once before...wasn't there a music room? Yes...a piano!!
She politely bows to the girl opposite her. "Excuse me, Lady Michiru."
The keys have a little dust on them, but with one small breath it is gone.The girl sits down and closes her eyes. She knows every key by heart. She needs no music, no sight.
The notes float out from beneath her fingers and fill the air, sweet and perfect. She has played this piece a thousand times, and it sweeps inside her ears and fills the hollow, the gap. When it is done she plays it again, and again. She then moves on to something even slower, eyes still shut to the world around her.
She can't count the time. Perhaps an hour, perhaps a minute. What difference does it make? There is only her, and the music, and the wind that whistles through the cracks and crags in her soul.
Her eyes snap open. There is a new sound blending with hers; high, but smooth as the sea on a calm day. Lady Michiru is playing in perfect harmony. Haruka smiles but does not turn. They continue to blend; when the melody stops, they turn, both smiling. Wordlessly, Michiru begins a scherzo. Haruka joins in, not surprised that she knows the tune. Soon both are playing recklessly and laughing uncontrollably as the sound whips through the small room.
A pair of laughing red eyes appear in the doorway, soon followed by a long mass of shimmering green hair. A small smiling child skips in after her and the latter sweeps her up, lifting her skirts and swirling around the room. Laughter fills the room but the wind and the sky do not cease; faster the music goes, faster the dance goes, faster spin the stars above that span an eternity but seem within the reach of a hand...
The window is open to the wind that never ceases on the yellow planet Uranus. Its daughter is perched on her windowsill, laughing as her hair is whipped about her face.
With a snap the window is shut. Startled, Haruka turns. Lady Uranus stands behind her, her face a calm, deadly mask.
"You left the ball last night." It isn't a question.
"Just for a bit..."
"And what were you doing?"
Beneath her mother's steely gaze, Haruka cannot lie.
"Playing the piano."
"Have you idea how many prospective husbands there were? We could have had you off and married, no longer a burden..."
Burden. Haruka bites her lip and clenches her nails into her palm.
"...You had better keep in line, young lady. Things can get very nasty, very fast."
I had no idea, Haruka thinks grimly. She is alone.
She nods assent and then goes back to her window, opening it once again.
"The little bitch." It is barely audible above the rustle of silks sweeping out the carved doorframe.
But Haruka hears it.
I smile sympathetically at Haruka as I curtsey to her mother. Formalities preformed, I am grabbed by the elbow and hustled off to her room, where she shuts the door and we sit a moment, her back slumped against the wall.
I am interrupted from gazing upon the spectacular view from the glass window when an odd sounds erupts from Haruka's corner.
She is sobbing.
In an instant, I am off the windowsill and upon the floor, my pale arms around her. I know what is wrong. But I don't know how to help it.
"...She said I was a burden. A burden! I'm her own daughter! Her own blood! How can she hate me?"
I have no answers. Finally, the tears stop and her chest heaves with a strangled sound. There is silence.
Haruka grabs a lock of hair and twirls it around her finger. "...I slit my wrists, once. It didn't go deep enough; I didn't even pass out. I wore long sleeved dresses for weeks until the cuts healed; no one ever noticed. I wonder what she would do if she found me dead..." A grim smile passes over her face. "Peace, Michiru. No cares, no worries, no screams....I'm so tired, Michiru..."
My head snaps to attention. I take her shoulders, shake them. "Life will get better, you hear me? Haruka, your life is worth something. You may not think it is, but you're wrong. And you will always be wrong until you believe that you have some worth in this universe." She puts her head on my shoulder, not speaking.
I put my hand to my chest.
I will give her something to live for.
"Oh, honestly! I even went to all this trouble to get it in blue! Ruka, darling, you can't wear pants to a ball. It simply isn't done!" Queen Uranus' face is a livid red, her voice holding a twinge of agony. Her daughter's body is pressed to the window; her fathomless eyes an evermoving ocean. She seems to be gazing to a horizon that she alone has passage to.
She blinks and turns towards her mother. She silently reaches forward and touches the silky fabric, putting it to her cheek and smiling at the smooth grain of satin. She drops the weave and looks up at her mother, her mouth remaining closed. There is no hint of anger on her face, just a passive answer to Lady Uranus' question: No.
Throwing up her hands in disgust, the queen throws the dress down upon the bed and storms out of the room, shooting her daughter a blistering look as the door slams behind her. Her voice follows her footsteps down the hall. "I can't believe her! The ungrateful wench! She isn't fit to be a princess…"
Curling her long legs up to her chin and hugging them to her, Haruka once again turns her face to the window. Silent tears course down her face in rivers as the world holds its breath.
I gaze out upon the coast beneath my window, pulling the sharp sea air into my lungs, filling myself with it. The breeze nips at my bare shoulders; I fold my arms and press them close to my stomach. Sighing, I recede into my room, leaving the window open. I want the wind to whisper to me.
Opening a worn velvet case, with greatest delicacy I draw out the violin. Placing it to my chin, I slowly pull the bow across the strings, closing my eyes, reaching in. Nothing else exists in that moment but the music, and the wind, and the wide, fathomless ocean…
And me; for I am Princess Neptune.
Haruka stands, silent, in front of her mirror. Her chest heaves, her eyes are full, but she does not cry. She won't give anyone the satisfaction. The light catches the yellow opals at her ears, making them dance. Her fingers itch to rip them off, to heave them into the winds that show no mercy, to flee from who everyone wants her to be.
The blue dress flows perfectly around her lanky frame, just reaching the floor, whispering when she walks. Her long blonde hair is curled into ringlets that embrace her shoulders. They bounce, indifferent, to the grief in her eyes.
"Haruka? Come right this instant!" Her mother calls from the corridor. The princess opens the door and stands, seemingly indifferent. She pushes the tears to the back of her heart to be dealt with later.
A slow smirk crosses her mother's pinched features, but she whirls around just in time for her daughter to be ignorant of the full strength of it. Too much satisfaction is not prudent.
"Come, Haruka."
Their footsteps echo recedingly down the sun drenched hall, mother and daughter, as deviant as the sky from the sea.
The glitter of the widespread ballroom fazes Haruka; she puts her hand to her brow and turns longingly to the small patch of starlight that is the door, but there is no retreat after assault. She stands tall and defiant, daring one of the young men gracing the dance floor to come over and take her hand. There is nothing to do but stand.
Haruka catches glimpse of yet another princess come to greet her. This time, she doesn't even play a smile. There is nothing different about the aqua-haired girl. She is just another pretty face. She smiles as she curtseys, and when she comes up, she looks into Haruka's eyes. Haruka is horrified. Is that pity, hiding beneath the shimmering green?
"I am Michiru, Princess of Neptune."
Haruka's gaze remains cold and defiant.
"Haruka. Uranus."
Michiru is suprised at the huskiness of the voice of so pretty a girl.
The girl Haruka makes no attempt at conversation, but stares blankly ahead of her. Michiru clears her throat and points out, "The girls of the Inner Planets seem to be very good friends." Haruka nods, but does not reply. Michiru bites her lip. What is going wrong?
They both catch glimpse of the princesses of Pluto and Saturn. Pluto stands tall, her gloved hands hanging gracefully upon her black gown. Little Hotaru giggles and jumps about, hiding behind the deep black folds of Setsuna's dress. The taller woman smiles and places a hand upon the girl's head, stilling her.
"And to think they only met tonight," Michiru whispers softly.
Haruka moves to stand next to Setsuna, her one friend. In the begining Haruka had scorned her too, but it was so hard to hate the gentle, quiet way she had with people, the soothing voice she used with children.
The princess of Pluto smiles as she sees Haruka coming towards her, her long strides looking ridiculous with the elegant dress. She unknowingly trails the Princess of Neptune.
Setsuna and Haruka hug, and Haruka whispers something into Setsuna's ear. Michiru feels a pang of jealousy. What had Setsuna done to win Haruka's affection that Michiru had failed? What had she done wrong?
Setsuna takes Michiru's hand.
"Haruka, this is Michiru, Princess of Neptune."
Haruka nods curtly.
"We've met."
Michiru smiles.
"Excuse us." Setsuna pulls Haruka aside, frowning at her as he younger girl folds her arms accross her chest. "Out with it, Haruka. What's wrong with Michiru?"
"She's...shallow."
"You've known her five minutes."
"I can just...tell."
"Why are you being so selfish?"
"Selfish?"
"All Michiru wants is a friend, Haruka. She's a clever girl."
"Aren't we all."
"Haruka, just go out there and spend some time with her. For me?"
The tall girl nods, her golden girls springing upon her shoulders. They catch the light, shining as if to kiss the sun at its zenith.
She steps onto the skirt of the dance floor, and sidles up to Michiru. The aqua-haired girl starts, and smiles as she sees it is Haruka. They stand in silence a moment, Haruka with crossed arms, shooting sideways glances at Michiru. The shorter girl turns suddenly, and smiles.
"What is Uranus like?"
The soft voice pulls Haruka out of her reverie. She thinks a moment, then speaks softly.
"People say they notice the wind...they say that is speaks to them and swoops down from the stars, and sometimes it will stop for a time, but it is eternal. People tell me they feel the wind in me...they say its in my eyes..."
Michiru gazes up at the taller girl. Slowly, she nods.
"They speak the truth."
They stand in silence; companionable, not stony. Haruka clears her throat.
"And Neptune..."
"Its an ocean planet. The waves never stop breaking on the rocky crescent of the shore. I love Neptune so much...."
"And I Uranus."
A smile flits across the beautiful face of the princess of Neptune. "I think we are supposed to."
Haruka remembers being to the Moon Palace once before...wasn't there a music room? Yes...a piano!!
She politely bows to the girl opposite her. "Excuse me, Lady Michiru."
The keys have a little dust on them, but with one small breath it is gone.The girl sits down and closes her eyes. She knows every key by heart. She needs no music, no sight.
The notes float out from beneath her fingers and fill the air, sweet and perfect. She has played this piece a thousand times, and it sweeps inside her ears and fills the hollow, the gap. When it is done she plays it again, and again. She then moves on to something even slower, eyes still shut to the world around her.
She can't count the time. Perhaps an hour, perhaps a minute. What difference does it make? There is only her, and the music, and the wind that whistles through the cracks and crags in her soul.
Her eyes snap open. There is a new sound blending with hers; high, but smooth as the sea on a calm day. Lady Michiru is playing in perfect harmony. Haruka smiles but does not turn. They continue to blend; when the melody stops, they turn, both smiling. Wordlessly, Michiru begins a scherzo. Haruka joins in, not surprised that she knows the tune. Soon both are playing recklessly and laughing uncontrollably as the sound whips through the small room.
A pair of laughing red eyes appear in the doorway, soon followed by a long mass of shimmering green hair. A small smiling child skips in after her and the latter sweeps her up, lifting her skirts and swirling around the room. Laughter fills the room but the wind and the sky do not cease; faster the music goes, faster the dance goes, faster spin the stars above that span an eternity but seem within the reach of a hand...
The window is open to the wind that never ceases on the yellow planet Uranus. Its daughter is perched on her windowsill, laughing as her hair is whipped about her face.
With a snap the window is shut. Startled, Haruka turns. Lady Uranus stands behind her, her face a calm, deadly mask.
"You left the ball last night." It isn't a question.
"Just for a bit..."
"And what were you doing?"
Beneath her mother's steely gaze, Haruka cannot lie.
"Playing the piano."
"Have you idea how many prospective husbands there were? We could have had you off and married, no longer a burden..."
Burden. Haruka bites her lip and clenches her nails into her palm.
"...You had better keep in line, young lady. Things can get very nasty, very fast."
I had no idea, Haruka thinks grimly. She is alone.
She nods assent and then goes back to her window, opening it once again.
"The little bitch." It is barely audible above the rustle of silks sweeping out the carved doorframe.
But Haruka hears it.
I smile sympathetically at Haruka as I curtsey to her mother. Formalities preformed, I am grabbed by the elbow and hustled off to her room, where she shuts the door and we sit a moment, her back slumped against the wall.
I am interrupted from gazing upon the spectacular view from the glass window when an odd sounds erupts from Haruka's corner.
She is sobbing.
In an instant, I am off the windowsill and upon the floor, my pale arms around her. I know what is wrong. But I don't know how to help it.
"...She said I was a burden. A burden! I'm her own daughter! Her own blood! How can she hate me?"
I have no answers. Finally, the tears stop and her chest heaves with a strangled sound. There is silence.
Haruka grabs a lock of hair and twirls it around her finger. "...I slit my wrists, once. It didn't go deep enough; I didn't even pass out. I wore long sleeved dresses for weeks until the cuts healed; no one ever noticed. I wonder what she would do if she found me dead..." A grim smile passes over her face. "Peace, Michiru. No cares, no worries, no screams....I'm so tired, Michiru..."
My head snaps to attention. I take her shoulders, shake them. "Life will get better, you hear me? Haruka, your life is worth something. You may not think it is, but you're wrong. And you will always be wrong until you believe that you have some worth in this universe." She puts her head on my shoulder, not speaking.
I put my hand to my chest.
I will give her something to live for.