Meanwhile, on another city across the continent, a young woman was giving birth to her second child…

"Push harder, mademoiselle!" Her doctor encouraged her further.

Miyuki Kaioh, at age 23 was a single mother, having lost her dear husband and first-born son to the 'Great War of Ruinen', an epic battle that claimed thousands of lives as a sacrifice for the safety of the future generation of Priston inhabitants.

The old physician, Bonnici, looked at her with pleading eyes. "Only a bit more, Kaioh-san."

She pushed hard, with all the strength left in her petite body. She was tired, her breath was coming to a slow pause every now and then, but she knew that she could not give up. This child was her only hope, her only family, the only link that tied her to her beloved Kenji.

Push. PUSH. PUSH!

She gave a solid thrust, and soon after, the room became drowned with the melodic voice of a very small baby with a few wavy strands of green covering her angelic face.

But Miyuki could only do so much. She felt it come for her. As swift as the speed of light, it came. Her life was coming to its end. She saw blood trickling from her mouth as she tried to turn her head towards the direction of the muffled crying of her daughter. She tried to plaster the best smile she could at her weak state when the doctor handed her the infant.

"She's so pretty," the nurses have all chimed in to voice out her thoughts.

Her sight was fast becoming blurry; her world was starting to get tainted with darkness. And as she felt the last ounce of her will leaving her body, she uttered three words that would forever be tormenting her damned soul.

"I'm sorry…Michiru…"

----

"What should we do to her, Monsieur Bonnici?" the oldest chambermaid, Ekhi, followed the doctor with her eyes as he paced back and forth in the living room of the Kaioh household.

He scratched his chin, deep in thought. He was an old man, and a single one, he might add. He did not know much about children, much more anything about raising one. Soon enough though, his stride halted as he turned around and met the attendant's inquiring glance.

"You've always wanted a child, right Hishiro-san?" He walked towards her with a small glee in his eyes. "I was thinking, that well, maybe you could be her guardian."

"This cute little one, here?" She held the sleeping bundle closer to her chest. Ekhi, having spent half of her life serving the Kaioh's, knew about the awful story of the perfect couple of Ricarten town. Kenji Kaioh, the youngest general had married Miyuki Umiko, the one said to have been blessed with a goddess' beauty.

They made a beautiful pair, they were rich, and they were famous. They made the very stars look dull with the bright smiles on their faces, with the love radiating in their eyes. In short, they were perfect. Everyone was envious of them. Until one fateful day when death claimed the life of Kenji including their son, Li, leaving a pregnant Miyuki, sad, depressed, and all alone in their big mansion.

Without thinking twice, the maid announced her decision. "Yes, I'll take care of her."

"Good. Now bring her to her room. Let me handle Kaioh-san's remains," Bonnici's voice faltered a bit upon seeing the deceased young woman. "What a tragic tale…" he uttered softly.

Such a tragic tale, indeed. The child lost her mother the very second she breathed her first air into her small lungs. Ekhi fought back tears. She couldn't turn back the hands of time and save the Kaioh's. She was just a lowly old maid. No, she could not do anything about it, except to raise the green-haired newborn and love her as if she was her own daughter. She hugged little Michiru for comfort before standing up from her chair to follow the old doctor's command.

Author's Notes:

I am not abandoning this fic! Seriously, I just need a little breather from all the stories I'm writing (not just from the ones I'm posting at ff dot net).

In case you're wondering about about the nationalities, well, Ekhi is japanese, while Dr. Bonnici is french. In the Priston land, racial walls cease to exist, and people come and go from different roots. Heh.

Disclaimer:

Haruka, Michiru, and the rest of the BSSM gang belong to Naoko Takeuchi. I'm just borrowing them for a little while.
The towns Ricarten and Ruinen are from the MMORPG Priston Tale.