Home Is Where Your Heart Is

Rating: PG-13

Author's Notes:

This is my first Haruka and Michiru story so please be gentle with me.

Italics are random flashbacks for Haruka and Michiru.

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters from Sailor Moon. I'm just a fan writing a fanfic. Please don't sue me.

Part I: Homecoming

Haruka rode her convertible, letting all the things around pass her by. The sun seemed to burn her skin, but the summer breeze was soothing it. She breathed out, gripping on the steering wheel a little tighter.

She was on a vacation from the racing circuit. Often she could still hear Kameda-San hollering at her to finally give in to his offer. For the past ten years of her life, Haruka never cared, neither showed interest to anything other than the circuit. Most of the time, after a grueling competition, Haruka went straight home.

Home.

It was something Haruka neither knew nor hoped for. After the sudden death of her parents, she has closed herself from the world. Even though the people from the circuit, like Kameda-San engaged themselves to break her icy barrier, Haruka Tenou, 20, Japan's number one junior racer, was still emotionally remote and unreachable.

By now, Haruka could feel the wind drawing in more coolness on its breeze. She let out a small smile.

She was near her destination.

The endless highway road finally was put into a halt as Haruka reached a small town. Onlookers watched in amazement as her yellow Porsche slowly made its way through the town. Haruka neither turned nor muttered a decent greeting to the townspeople. Passing through a clearing, Haruka let out a breath. In truth, no one in these parts on Japan knew who she was, but she still wanted less attention. She turned to her left, her car running on a slow, steady pace. She looked towards the horizon and saw two houses. On her left was a well kept, western themed house with a veranda on the second floor. She smiled, and turned to the other house which was poorly dealt with. She sighed. She had a lot of things ahead of her.

"Haruka-San come down from the tree this instant!" Haruka's mother called out from the base of the tree shaking her head in frustration.

"But mother it's so cool up here. I can hear the ocean calling out to me." Little Haruka held on to the tree staring at the ocean that was right on the horizon.

"Haruka-San, you can visit the ocean later. For now it's time for your afternoon nap. I promise to take you so you can visit your fish friends together." Her mother let out a loving smile.

This was enough for little Haruka to go down from the tree and into her mother's loving arms.

Putting the car into a final halt, Haruka brought her fingers to the bridge of her nose, pressing it slightly. Her childhood memories were some of the few loving memories that were kept hidden in her heart. It was a promise her mother wasn't able to keep. She died the very same day.

Walking towards the old, worn out house, Haruka took one more glimpse at the old tree that was still standing just to the left of the house.

"Welcome back Haruka." She whispered to herself.

----

"I'll take two boxes of those." The green haired girl smiled at the baker as she picked some of her favorite chocolate chip cookies.

"You're early today Michiru-San. Out shopping today eh?" The old baker, Hamada, smiled handing Michiru the items she had ordered.

"Hai." Michiru gave out a sweet smile.

"I have forgotten to go shopping for groceries yesterday. I was too engrossed with the piece I was writing." The green haired girl added taking the bag from the counter.

"Ah… You shouldn't force yourself hime-chan. I'm sure the townspeople would already be happy if you play one of the pieces you have done before. Having you perform on the town's festival is already an honor." The old man replied giving Michiru a smile.

"I still want to play the new piece for everyone in town. It's the least I could do before my tour to the United States."

"Take this then." The old man took a bag seemingly containing tea.

"It's my special tea. Soothes not only the body but the soul." The old man gave Michiru a wink, handing her the bag.

"Arigatou." Michiru smiled back and went on her way.

Walking out of the store, Michiru hugged her grocery bags and walked through town with a smile on her face. Most people greeted her. Others were just too busy about the new buzz in town.

Arriving in the clearing, Michiru let the wind gently caressed her cheeks. She closed her eyes as she walked.

"I missed you." She smiled opening her eyes once more.

Turning left, an object, or someone seemed to have caught her attention.

"New neighbors eh?" She muttered to herself, her gaze not leaving the person.

She hugged her bags tighter when the features of the person, a blonde guy seem to clear up. She swallowed a lump on her throat as the guy carried bags of clothing with his bare-hands. Michiru felt a blush coming over her.

She stared out at the veranda holding her violin on a summer afternoon. She felt the wind touch her cheek making her smile.

"Michiru-San your parents would arrive late. There was a delay on their flight."

"Arigatou." Little Michiru replied.

Suddenly a bunch of cars arrived at their neighbor's residence. She leaned towards the railings to gain a better look. Her servant moved closer, holding her by the waist making sure she does not fall over.

"What is the occasion? Why are there people on our neighbor's lot?" Little Michiru asked as a little blonde haired person caught her eye.

"The owners, Mr. and Mrs. Tenou were in a car accident. Pity because they were on their way back from the city, bearing gifts to for their only child. A truck suddenly swerved from the other side of the road, ramming itself to their vehicle head on. They died instantly."

Michiru felt a knife slicing through her heart. Even though she didn't know much about their neighbors, it hurt. Suddenly an angry rush of wind blew lifting all the dried leaves from below. Michiru's gaze turned to the blonde haired child that was being guided towards the house.

For a moment, the blonde child looked up to where she was, finally feeling warmth run throughout her body.

Puppy love.

"You've come back…" Michiru let out a smile.

She turned her gaze away and bowed her head. Finally, she mustered up all her strength to walk, heading towards her own home.

----

"Baka!" Haruka yelled out, feeling the sting of the old wooden floor scraping her ankle.

She had accidentally stepped on a soft part of the wooden floor that could not hold her weight.

Slowly she tried to take her feet out of the hole without scraping it more than it already had. But this was done to no avail. Scraping a few more deep scratches on Haruka's right foot, Haruka wailed in pain.

"SHIMATTA!" She cried out, grimacing as the surge of pain concentrated on her ankle.

Haruka brought her hands on to her head, seemingly trying to soothe the agony. She tried not to scream any louder. She was after all a grown up. And compared to her injuries while competing for motor-cross events, this was definitely just a scratch.

She slowly stood up leaning against the wall. She looked around and noted the lack of furniture.

"I should really have some things delivered. I can't live like this." She ran her hand through her hair.

Walking carefully this time, Haruka reached for the light switches. Turning them on, the lamp didn't seem to light up or even flicker.

"You have to be kidding me…"

There was no electricity yet. And Haruka was in no shape to go down the basement. She sighed leaning against the fireplace.

"Good thing you're here. I'll never get through without you." She mumbled seemingly talking to the fireplace which was in dire need of cleaning.

And firewood.

"Baka…" Haruka bowed her head in defeat.

She knew she was going to spend the night without any source of light.

At all.

----

Later that night, Michiru was once more standing on the veranda, staring at the star-filled sky. Her attention turned towards the dark house next to hers.

"I'm sure he's still there. The car is still parked right in front." Michiru mumbled to herself.

She bowed her head turning her gaze away from the old, dark house. She felt the wind pick up and gently kiss her cheek once more. She smiled closing her eyes.

"You have always been there my dear friend." She mumbled taking her violin, and then she started to play.

----

"I need them soon. Make sure you have them delivered here tomorrow. And make sure you bring the workers with you. This house needs remodeling."

"Do you need your architect to see through it Haruka-San?" Haruka's assistant asked over on the other end.

"Hai. Tell him I need this place cleaned up before the town festival. I want it to at least, be presentable."

"Hai."

"Goodbye." Haruka flipped her phone, ending the call.

She sighed and walked towards the porch. Sitting down on the steps, Haruka could only stare at the sky.

"I wonder what the sea looks like at this late hour." Haruka mumbled to herself as she began to hear the ocean.

No.

It wasn't the ocean.

It was music.

She turned to the house right next to hers and found a woman playing the violin all the way up the veranda in the second floor.

Her mouth was agape as she stared deeply in the figure under the moonlit sky. The woman's figure seemed like an angel, though Haruka hasn't seen real life angels as of present time. She looked like an angel, glowing under the moonlight. Her heart started to pound, a feeling she rarely gets even at high speeds on the race track. She stood up, neglecting she had a bad ankle as she jump down to the lawn, not tearing her gaze away from the woman in the veranda. She almost fell over, but she was fast enough to hold on to her car which was just parked right in front of her. She felt as if she was in a dream. Not only was the melody soothing, the woman on the veranda looked absolutely,

"Beautiful…"