Disclaimer: I do not own Haruka and Michiru, for they are the sole property of the goddess of Sailor Moon. Easier to Run is the property of Linkin Park and I am in no way reaping any benefits or profits from this story. Enjoy!
It's easier to run
Replacing this pain with something numb
It's so much easier to go
Than face all this pain here all alone
Something has been taken from deep inside of me
The secret I've kept locked away no one can ever see
Wounds so deep they never show they never go away
Like moving pictures in my head for years and years they've played
Easier to Run: Linkin Park
Your thoughts are fast moving, just as you are. Always in a state of cognitive dissonance, which is what I desire. I crave, with every ounce of my being, the ability to slink further into the back of your mind, to allow myself to remain hidden until this life has passed. I was shamed, and I deserve a fate worse than death for my failure. You rarely grasp hints of your past, of my past because I keep such a tight hold on them. You do not need to know the pain, nor the suffering, that myself and Neptune endured. It is easier this way. You know your fleeing from something, that you can feel. There is nothing in your current life to make you feel the need to constantly run, to move so quickly that all thought about anything beyond the moment you reside in is forgotten. It was then that you are running from. You are attempting to shake off my feelings, which I'm afraid you can not do. I want you to. I want you to make this pain...this horrid shame disappear. Without her... Without Neptune by my side, I feel powerless. Incapable of withstanding my own shallow criticisms of my faults. She, though I would dare not have ever admitted it to her, was my pillar of strength. I would rather you run, to allow me the, however brief, reprieve from my own tormented thoughts.
You see her for the first time at a track meet. She does not come forward to greet you, no. She stands away, watching you, judging whether you are the one she is seeking. Of course you are. I can tell by the way her eyes follow your fluid like movements that she knows exactly who you are. At least, who you should be, though you are not me just yet. I would rather die again then allow Neptune to see me now. A glimpse of whom I used to be. If I could take back every wrong move I had made, sweet Serenity would I. The images of that night, they would forever haunt me, and in turn, they would haunt you. Neptune flips a page of her sketchbook and begins yet another drawing. She's drawing you again. I can almost see the picture in my head: wind swept locks dance in an unseen breeze, and your track uniform is bunched up with your movements. It's quickly done, yet it appeared to have taken days at how she has drawn it. She cares. Too much. She should hate me... She should, in turn, hate you. You look up, giving her a trademark smirk, which causes her to, uncharacteristically, drop her sketch pad. Always the charmer.
Darkness forms in the sky above the queens palace as Beryl and her minions attack. A scream. A sword is unsheathed, and the sound of a warrior dying is heard above the screams of everyone else. Neptune. The sound of boots rushing towards her scream, your breath is loud even to your ears. You watch as one of Beryl's soldiers takes Neptune's head and hoists it above his head calling in victory. Your eyes widen, your body tensing. From behind you, the sound of your queen's voice echoes in your ears.
You sit straight up in bed, a silent scream on your lips. It's the past. Our past. You fall back asleep, not remembering the nightmare in the morning. I remember. I always remember. You've had the nightmare before, always awakening drenched in a cold sweat, your heart pounding. I think of what you were shown again. It makes my skin crawl.
Your on the starting line, poised to begin your race when you get a flash of a seem-to-be vision. It's Neptune, speaking to you about the silence. You close your eyes to shake the scene away. A girl with cotton candy hued hair speaks to you about how she has heard about you. About how she is about to beat you. The race begins with the shot of the pistol, and you take off. The wind whistles in your ears, speaking to you. An easy win.
She approaches you as your packing your duffel bag. The girl with the cotton candy hair speaks first, introducing her. Michiru. I start. Her name is also the same as it had been. Michiru smiles nervously at you, and I can see Neptune gleaming back at me through her eyes. She asks politely if she'd be permitted to sketch you sometime. You begin to say yes, but I'm the one who stops you.
"I'll pass. I'm not into that kind of thing."
You turn at my suggestion and walk away. Little do the both of us know the look that has just crossed Michiru's face. I've allowed you to break her heart at your first meeting. After all...it's easier to run.
You go to the yacht performance against my will. You had seen the advertisement for the concert in the paper, and quickly snagged tickets. It wasn't me drawing you to Neptune, no, it was Michiru herself drawing you in. She was as talented now as she was then, and you are clearly impressed. I can see the piano part you've begun to dream up sliding through your mind. It would compliment her current piece perfectly. You get up to leave, stopping before a great painting of sheer death. It's painfully beautiful. When Michiru arrives, it's Neptune speaking. They are one in the same, not severed as we are by my shame. I take the helm, arguing with my once lover. She can sense my inner pain, perhaps better than I had previously anticipated. Her disappointment is apparent in her voice at my blatant disregard to the task at hand. How do I fight now when I failed so terribly then? It's easier to run, and run is what we do best.
It's a motor race, one you've been training endlessly for. You realize you've forgotten your lucky bandana and walk into the garage, only to be greeted by a boy who looks to be about twelve begging you for help. Suddenly, a great worm-like monster stands where the boy once stood. You begin to back away, not in fear, but in pure amazement. The worm lunges at you, knocking you to your butt without a thought. It raises itself above you, prepared to make the killing blow. I know what I must do. We must join forces, Tenou Haruka. It is time for you to know, and for you to see. It is time for me to stop running from my shame. Your henshin pen appears, and you reach for it. A voice, however, stops you.
Michiru stands in the doorway, watching the monster evenly, unafraid. She lifts her own henshin and transforms in front of you, your eyes wide. The monster lunges, and she throws herself in front of it, blocking it's attack with her body, shielding you. She cries out as the monster clawed her arm. Several more moments of intense fighting leaves her about to unleash her attack. You tell her not to, that she would be killing an innocent boy by doing such a thing. Without a thought, she turns to you. She stares past you and directly at me, telling me that she is willing to kill in order to prevent the silence. I take it to heart. What a coward I have been. You two have a heart to heart, Neptune lying in your arms near fainting. You don't think about it, and I am grateful that you choose to accept me. My memories surge forth so that you can finally see, those wounds that were so deep. It makes me grateful to share the darkness with you. I am so happy to finally move forward, with Neptune once again by my side.
A/N: And here's another one. This one was brought to my attention by the lovely fuseki RUNNING down the steps to inform me the Easier to Run by Linkin Park is in fact Haruka's theme song. Please, listen to it, it is a very good song, and is very much her song. This story, however, is different in many ways. I went with the idea that perhaps Sailor Uranus and Haruka weren't completely merged before Haruka accepts the henshin pen. That Uranus was there, but Haruka was unaware. The next difference is the POV. After reading "Assassins Tango" by LostWyrda, I've been itching to write a second-person POV story. So, this one is odd because it is both first AND second.
I hope you enjoyed this, and it is understandable. Reviews are love, and I appreciate each and every one of them. In fact, I do a little dance everytime I get one. :)
-lost