A/N: Hate angst, unless it makes me cry good, and I don't regret it later, since all the stress went away! ^^
DISCLAIMER: Naoko Takeuchi, sorry to say, but I'm using your characters to live out a VERY hard moment in their life in this short fic.
I'll Hear You
"Stop yelling, Haruka." Struck blond lowered her eyes to the floor, her hands stilling in her wild gestures. It hurt inside, so much, it hurt...
"But if I do..." Her voice was broken, soft, and Michiru unconsciously shifted closer in her sleep. It was so unlike the wind to be broken, spurting out in unhealthy gusts.
"I-If I do, then..." Her voice faded away, to silence, to feed the nightmares lurking around the darkened corners. Several moments later, it picked up again.
"If I do, then... no one will hear me."
Blue eyes slowly open, realization finally awakening in the sleepy orbs. Sitting up, aqua hair tumbled down around shoulders and bedsheets, and Haruka stared, mesmerized. Silently, Michiru pulled her closer, tucked the taller Senshi underneath her chin, right near her heart.
"If you do call, Haruka," Silenced darkness started to chirp with cicadas, night bullfrogs, and the stirrings of life at one o'clock on a very early, fine day.
"I'll hear you. Yes, love, I'll hear you."
ppppppppppppppppppppppppppppp
Haruka sobbed, her heart but a fragile memory as she recalled what today was.
It was the anniversary of her love's death, a wet, warm, red reality of spattered blood. A year ago, Michiru Kaioh, the sea, partner of the wind, the aqua nymph destined for her, only her, had taken the form of an addict- she was addicted to loving Haruka.
So addicted, that when a normal human came along, saw the two of them relaxing on a peaceful evening, arms entertwined and proffesing their love, that homophobic human turned tail and ran- but not before returning with a mass of his friends from a club.
And with a gun.
Michiru saw that gun, saw the unrestrained rage in their eyes, and turned to Haruka, her soft lips curling up into a smile. Sad, and somewhat overjoyed, knowing something she would never know. Taking her hands in hers, Michiru layed a kiss on Haruka's questioning lips, the sweet nectar so vividly hers, until she pulled away.
"I'll always be here for you, love. Now, run. Run, just like you used to. Run, run until you can forget, run until you can meet me, run, until the pain goes away."
Haruka knew something was up, knew Michiru was somehow saying goodbye, but she didn't know what to do, and the sun was setting, and they needed to get home, and Michiru was telling her to run, Michiru was standing up, drawing her to her and giving her another kiss...
And the wind was shrieking, it was crying, raging, in her ears, her very soul, and somehow, Haruka knew something was wrong, she didn't need to get back her old Senshi powers to know that...
"Hey, you two... Are you, uh... y'know... odd one out?"
Haruka turned, met the cold stare of the one resembling a snake's, the twisted leer of a smile underneath the healed, broken nose. She was never one to deny what she was, what she stood for, but now, she knew there would be trouble, knew there was going to be a price to pay...
"No, we're... cousins."
A deep scoff, then a hand on hers, reaching, sliding, up, and to her shoulder, then around to her neck, pulling her down, down, down, into waiting lips, eager and joyful, professing what they truly were to the world.
"If we're cousins, Ruka, then we're kissing cousins."
Suddenly, red seemed to be everywhere. Warm, wet, flowing red. Red, staining her hands, her clothes, her skin, the very center of her being, yet all in the middle of that, all Haruka could stare at was her love's blue eyes, smiling, twinkling, sparkling at her.
"M-Michi...ru..."
Her voice was something of a dull throbbing, and it refused to come out, refused to shatter then heavy silence, the thick sound of death's chortle. Rough and scratchy, it emerged, and Haruka was startled when she screamed, when she felt her lungs and throat just burn.
She didn't even know what she was screaming, all she knew, all she knew, was that Michiru was in her arms, she was still fighting, she was struggling, struggling to stand, weaving her hands in Haruka's hair, and Haruka was dying, not Michiru, not Michiru, never Michiru...
"I love you, Ha... ruka. And remember, I'll... always... hear.. yo- u."
And Michiru fell, limp.
And Haruka was dead.
"!"
She might as well have died, right there, might as well have blown her own head to pieces when she got her hands on that man and his damned gun. She was lifeless, burning, her eyes on fire and swimming with tears, her body cold, numb, and Haruka felt such perverse gladness when she turned the gun on the one who killed her love, killed her, no- she was still there...
"I- Go to hell, DAMN you!"
And Haruka pulled the trigger, firing all the rounds over her head and into the sky, into the wind, where, someday, she would remember, and the wind would soothe her as it once did before, when she had Michi by her side...
"Ruka... RUKA! No, no, don't, love!" Haruka had become a racer. Not in cars, she didn't deserve that anymore, she was racing her body, abusing it, making her race the hatred, not the wind, not her dreams...
Michi had told her to run, had told her to run until she forget, until she could come and meet her again... And Michi was always close to the ocean, she loved water, the beaches, the places where she could have that connection as a senshi.
So Haruka raced herself to the ocean, where she fell to her knees and rolled around, rolled, rolled, until she was drunk and sick. Staggering to her feet, Haruka Teno'h stared up at the sky, swore, SWORE, she could see and hear Michiru telling her to scream, she'd hear her, DAMN it...!
"!"
And Haruka slammed her feet to the ground, going forwards, not caring, not ever wishing, not wanting air, never, not even the wind, her intimate ally in fighting and life, no, never, not as she went out into the ocean, running deeper and deeper...
And she was in the water, going further, kicking herself out further...
And she was drowning, her feet thrashing, water invading her lungs, her body, urging her towards Michiru, and Haruka was so glad, SO glad, when she saw the waving of aqua hair, the loving eyes sparkling, and Haruka closed her eyes, she was being held, she was being HEARD...
"I'll hear you. Yes, love, I'll hear you."
And Haruka reunited with Michiru in the cocoon of their beings, wind and sea.
A/N: Oh, God, oh, God, hate me...! ARGH! I can't BELIEVE I made something like that! I was so mad and crying like crazy, that I was REALLY exceeding my typing limit- I must have been going 80 words per minute! (phew) Okay, I'm done ranting. NOW GET OUT OF HERE AND READ SOMETHING FUNNY! (that's what I'm gonna do.)