The Wind is Nothing Without the Sea...
Chapter 3
By Noa Okami

~~~~~~~~~~

Haruka sat wearily on the hood of her car. She had spent most of the
day driving around Tokyo, tears streaming down her cheeks, and
blaring music over her car stereo. She had finally pulled over at the
beach and watched the sunset into the ocean. There, she had let
herself break down and cry. The question that kept flitting through
her mind was 'Why? Why did this have to happen?' but neither the
ocean or the wind brought an answer to her anguished heart.
Now the moon started to rise and the stars revealed themselves,
twinkling out and offering a faint hope. Haruka didn't pay attention
to the wind that was getting steadily colder as the night deepened.
She
had slipped into deep thought and wasn't paying attention to her
surroundings. She was thinking of her past, of how she got to be where
she was now. Memories rose up to meet her. And slowly she began to
dream...

~~~~~~~~~~

Haruka had never been a feminine girl. She had always preferred the
more masculine way to dress and wear her hair, much to the dismay of
her mother.Haruka's mother believed that she should act more like a
girl and often they gotinto arguments that resulted in screaming
matches and tears. It especially irritated Haruka's mother that she
wouldn't even wear her hair in a feminine style. So it came that
Haruka resented her mother for her inability to accept her for who
she was and Haruka's mother resented her for not fitting the
image she had held for her precious only child. The relationship had
never been the same
and to this day, Haruka could hardly tolerate her mother, even over
the phone.
Haruka's father, on the other hand, was accepting of his daughter's
choice of fashion--much to the resentment of his wife. He felt that
Haruka should be respected for who she was, not by what she wore or
how she acted.
It had put him at odds with his wife several times, but he wouldn't
back down. Haruka loved her father for that. Haruka loved her father
for being the one to support her in everything, to stand up for her
to her mother. They shared a special bond that Haruka's mother just
couldn't understand and that fact irritated her all the more.
At school, ever since kindergarten, Haruka had been teased about the
way she dressed and acted. Alienated from the girls since she didn't
share the same tastes, alienated from the boys simply because of her
gender. Thus, it resulted in her being alone most of the time at
school. Haruka didn't care, though. She wasn't going to change
because people thought she should. Like her father said, it wasn't
what they thought that counted as long as you
respected yourself. She had stuck by that her whole life.
Another passion that grew by the day was racing and cars. She loved
them. She couldn't get enough of them. She loved the feeling of the
wind on her face. She had often exlclaimed to her father "I'm gonna
become the wind, Otousan!" His father would pick her up and swing her
through the air and make the wind fly through her hair. This love of
the wind is what encouraged Haruka to take up running. Her father
supported her in this and helped train her. Running provided an
escape for her. Running helped her escape from her mother ever
temporarily, as it offered an escape route when they got into an
argument.
But when Haruka turned 15, running proved to be an escape from more
than her mother. When she was 15, her father died when he got into a
car accident. Haruka would never forget the shock she felt when her
mother broke the news to her. Haruka had just lost the only ally she
had had in her life. She had closed herself off in her room till the
day of the funeral, which had dawned overcast and wet. Haruka hardly
felt like it was real, standing by the grave, dressed in black. It
had been surreal to see her father's coffin lowered into the ground.
And with the coffin, they also buried any happiness Haruka had ever
had.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Thus, her running was her escape from emotions, from life, from
memories, from her mother. Her mother had gotten even more resentful
toward Haruka, since there had been that bond she and her father
shared--Haruka's mother knew that there was never that bond between
them. There had hardly been love. Haruka's father had loved Haruka's
mother, but for Haruka's mother, it was an arranged marriage.
Haruka's mother only married him out of respect for her parents and
his. She had played the dutiful wife and mother. So when Haruka's
father died, she was rather...empathetic. This is what drove Haruka
to leave and finally seek a life of her own. She would never forget
the argument that had occurred when Haruka's mother had learned of
her intentions to leave.
Haruka had ignored her mother's angry words and had just fled. She
had never returned. She got an apartment and enrolled in Mugen
Gaukuen, where she attended high school. She had sat down in the
front row seat and had tried her best to not act interested. However,
she soon felt a pair of eyes on her and she looked as covertly as she
could toward the gaze. And saw the most beautiful woman she had ever
seen. Deep blue eyes, as blue as the sea. The girl had shoulder
length fluffy aquamarine hair and she looked kind. There was also a
feeling...of...familiarity? Haruka shook herself out of her thoughts.
She was being crazy! Recognizing a girl she never met before?
Ridiculous!
And suddenly, she saw it. The same kind of recognition in the girl's
eyes. Haruka tore her gaze away and concentrated on the teacher as he
walked into the room.
"Class," the teacher began. "Class, we have a new student that's
joining us today." At this point, the teacher looked at Haruka.
"Would you like to introduce yourself?" Haruka, without responding,
had stood up and faced the class. "I'm Tenoh Haruka. I just moved
here and I'm 15 years old." And with that, Haruka had sat down and
tried to act nonchalant. Tried not to notice her staring at him.
And tried to dismiss the sense of destiny tugging at her heart...

~~~~~~~~~~~

Life went on with a sense of odd normality for Haruka. She had
joined the track team and was succeeding wonderfully. Then, one day,
after winning a race, she was wiping her face and taking a drink of
water when one of the runners of the race, Elsa Grey, approached her.
And right behind her was that girl... It took all of her self control
not to spit out her water right then as Elsa proceeded to introduce
the two. The girl's name was Kaioh Michiru. In her eyes, Haruka could
see...the sea on a calm summer morning.
"Tenoh-san, I was wondering if I could paint you... You intrigue me,
you see..." Michiru said and faded off as if embarrassed, yet her
gaze remained steady and her voice strong. She was just leaving the
opportunity open between them. Everything in Haruka tugged her to say
yes. But at the last minute, her cold, smooth persona slipped into
place and she assumed a look of cool disinterest. "No thanks. That's
not my type of thing." And with that, Haruka turned and left, her bag
slung over a shoulder. She could feel the hurt feelings coming from
Michiru, but Haruka couldn't bring herself to care. She had spent the
last few months acting like she didn't care for Michiru, that she had
no interest in her at all. The truth was, however, that Haruka had a
hard time controlling her emotions when Michiru was around. But
recently, she was having dreams. Weird dreams...of the end of the
world and a mysterious female soldier coming to her. And something
telling her to work on finding this soldier and helping her... And,
even though she didn't know why, she would cut herself off from
feeling any emotions toward Michiru, feeling her destiny lay with the
mysterious soldier. She didn't have any time for romance at the
moment. She had school, track, her job, and now this mission. That
demanded all the free time she could get.
And so, to keep herself from feeling anything, she cut herself off.
If Michiru talked to her, she would give a distracted or rude reply
and walk off, if Michiru approached her to sit by her in lunch, she
would move away. She would ignore Michiru whenever Michiru was
staring at her and trying to get her attention. She would return the
notes Michiru sent her unreplied and unread. Instead of hanging out
around school, she would go to Kameda-san's shop and help him work on
cars. And as such, she began racing cars and found herself to be
quite good at it.
One day, shortly after her 16th birthday, at a race, Haruka heard
some strange sounds coming from a garage. She walked over and,
looking in, saw a boy doubled over in pain. "Hoi," Haruka called out,
walking up to the boy. "Daijobu deska?" The boy looked up and
whimpered out, "Help me! Please, save me!" Then he was consumed and
turned into a monster. Haruka jumped back, eyes wide. "Nani?! she
shouted. The monster lunged for her and Haruka fell back. But before
the monster could make it to her, a flash of light stopped him. In
the light formed a wand, and on the top, emblazoned in the gold star,
was the symbol of Uranus. Haruka understood her destiny then, and
reached out for the wand, a look of awe and wonder on her face.
"Stop! Don't touch that!" a voice shouted at Haruka. Haruka yanked
her hand away and then wand dropped to the floor with a clatter.
Haruka looked over her shoulder and saw...Michiru, with a similar
looking wand in her hand. "Only touch that if you want to lose
control of your destiny, Tenoh Haruka." Michiru's eyes now reflected
a stormy sea. She held up the wand and in a flash of blue light, she
had transformed...into the mysterious soldier. Haruka's eyes widened
even more. "You are...?" And suddenly it came crashing down on her.
The feeling of recognition she always had around her. The tug to be
with her... The mysterious soldier had been right under her nose the
whole time and she had been rejecting her.
The monster lunged again and Michiru said, creating a ball of water
and energy in her hands, "Deep Submerge!" While the monster was
destroyed and the boy was returned back to normal, it wasn't before
it attacked Michiru and gashes appeared all over her body. Just to
protect Haruka. She lay gasping in Haruka's arms. "If you...touch
that...your whole destiny will be taken out of your hands..." Michiru
gasped out. But Haruka had already made her decision. She picked up
her wand and said, "If my destiny has to be taken out of my hands,
hopefully it'll follow the same road as yours. I'll never push you
away again." With that, Haruka kissed Michiru.
Michiru returned the kiss and said, "I love you, Haruka, and I
always will." Michiru wrapped her arms around Haruka's neck and
kissed her deeply.

~~~~~~~~~

Haruka sat looking up at the stars as the wind rustled her hair, the
sea crashing down on the shore not far away. And the ghosts of
memories surrounded her...

To be continued...