~ CHAPTER FOUR ~

By the time the men returned, Haruka felt truly whole for the first time since waking up in her hospital bed, six years ago. It was a heart wrenching experience, but the moment she and Mitsuki had so desperately needed to share had come and gone. While their eyes were still red and moist with tears, their hearts and souls were bound once again. Their friendship was restored.f

They gathered around Mitsuki's bed, Haruka huddled to her left side, Takayuki to her right, and Shinji in his chair by the window. For the first time in more than a week, Mitsuki had asked to be propped up, and four of them were talking of old times, happier times, when they had been high school students with a world of wonder ahead of them. No one bothered speaking the truth, though they were all thinking about it, Haruka knew. The truth was they could not go back again. They could not start over. But this wasn't about starting over. This was about redemption of the heart, about healing the soul. They couldn't make up for time lost—for Mitsuki it was far too late—but they could be together when the end came, the way they were meant to be.

If she could go with Haruka's forgivenesfs, she could go without regrets. This was what Mitsuki needed so desperately. Takayuki knew her pain, and had been fighting to mend the shattered pieces of the past. He was willing to face that past, for her, the consequences be damned. He would fight for them all, for Mitsuki's sake. Haruka was determined to do no less.

It was against her nature not to give her all in everything she set out to do. It was how she managed to graduate from college with honors, earning a major in child psychology just as she planned to do all those years ago, in under three years. It was how she had managed to become one of Japan's top young authors of children's books in just under a year after graduation. It was how she lived her life day by day, the definition of her existence.

Six years ago, it was how she had managed to put her life back together, despite waking to a world she did not know, to friends she had at that time thought lost to her forever, and to a body that seemed determined to hold her back even though her spirit was dying to take wing. With only Akane, Mum, Pops, the dreams in her heart, and her own stalwart determination to press forward, Haruka had managed to clear every possible hurdle dealt her by the hand of fate, and in unprecedented fashion, she became a walking miracle.

Now, she was living her dreams.

What of Takayuki and Mitsuki? What of Shinji? From her point of view, she was the lucky one. She had faced the ultimate challenge. She had never once paused in moving toward her dreams, but while she was sleeping, the dreams of Takayuki and Mitsuki had been put on hold.

What had those dreams been, exactly? Mitsuki had been one of the top swimmers in the country at the time of Haruka's accident. Those dreams were quickly dashed as Mitsuki chose Takayuki, who so desperately needed her in the aftermath of the tragedy. As for Takayuki... he had been convinced that he wanted to follow her. He had even been planning to take the Hakuryou entrance exam, to be with her.

She had never really known what his plans were. She didn't think he did either.

After the accident, Takayuki had fallen so deeply into the pit of despair that he might as well have been in the bed next to her. Time stopped for three years for Haruka; Takayuki's fate had nearly been the same. He stumbled through the last few weeks of high school, managing to earn a degree, but from then on, nothing else mattered. He spent day after day at her bedside, morning til night. He didn't work, didn't bother to keep his apartment. All that mattered was rising from bed and stumbling to the hospital, to be with her.

It was Mitsuki who had pulled him out of the rut. She left her career in swimming to work a menial job and attempted to support Takayuki when he was in no state to support himself.

While he slowly recovered, somewhere along the way, his eyes met hers.

The two fell in love.

Mitsuki's dreams had been shattered for his sake, but she had won his heart, and Haruka's had been lost. In her comatose state, she could never have known.

She knew it wasn't Mitsuki's fault. When it all boiled down to it, Takayuki needed her. He had from the moment Haruka had slipped into her coma, and he needed her still, even now. She had given him his will to survive, a purpose to move forward with life. Haruka could give him nothing. She couldn't compete with Mitsuki, because they completed each other. Their hearts were one. In the end, what was Takayuki to Haruka, and Haruka to Takayuki? She wasn't sure, but if they were somehow meant to be something more, it would have to be in another life.

At the time of their parting, Haruka told him that she had once believed that no matter what happened between them, they would always remain friends, and that if anything had ever come between them it would work itself out. In the end, three years had proved to be too much. Takayuki was no longer the person she'd fallen in love with. He had changed, while Haruka's world had been swept away into oblivion. Everything had changed. When she awoke to find a world she did not know, the truth had been devastating for her.

She had lost him. While his grief had been for her, he had been lifted from that despair and owed his new life to Mitsuki. Haruka had let him go. A delightful dream had been swept away, and the truth set in. They parted with a smile and a few tears.

Haruka went on to restore her place in civilization. In the meantime, Takayuki fought to restore his place in Mitsuki's heart. In the end, they had all sacrificed.

Takayuki laughed softly at a story Mitsuki shared, set prior to his meeting Haruka. She remembered the time well, regarding Mitsuki's push to bring her into her circle of friends, one further step toward bringing her shy friend together with Takayuki. But Haruka hadn't been ready for that particular meeting and had declined adamantly. Her excuse: she was getting her hair done.

Mitsuki had known very well that Haruka had loved her long hair, and that she was simply trying to avoid having to meet Takayuki for the first time. So instead of joining Takayuki and Shinji as planned for a New Year's celebration, Mitsuki went with Haruka.

Embarrassed but still determined to prove her excuse true, Haruka went through with a haircut that chopped off much of her long, beautiful, strawberry blonde hair. By the time Takayuki actually met her, he couldn't have recognized her by looks alone. Before her hair had gone down to her butt; when Takayuki finally took notice, she wore a much shorter style.

"You actually did that!" Takayuki exclaimed as he gawked pasted a grinning Mitsuki to a bright red Haruka. "I can't believe it. You really were that afraid of what I would think of you, weren't you?"

Mitsuki beamed. "Poor girl. Always so confident until it came to Takayuki." Her voice was still weak, still rough, but it was stronger than it had been before her cry. She was enjoying sharing these stories. Her tired eyes focused on Haruka, and then a frail hand slipped into her beautiful, silky smooth hair. It was nearly as long as it had been, way back then. "Afraid you'd be turned away. But how could he? You were so wonderful, in every way."

Haruka smiled sadly. "Oh, Mitsuki."

"It's hard for a girl. We're very self-conscious creatures."

Shinji grinned. "And us males are insensitive jackasses."

The group laughed, and Haruka's blush deepened.

"I did have a haircut that day. An actual appointment."

"At ten in the morning! We didn't have to meet the guys until almost three!"

They all laughed at the story. Mitsuki leaned into Haruka, who cradled her head gently to her breast. Takayuki touched Mitsuki, gazing lovingly at her, gently massaging her shoulder and upper back. He leaned forward and gently planted a kiss on the nape of her neck, whispering his oath of love. Haruka heard, and felt her heart constrict inside her. Tears threatening, she hugged Mitsuki close and rested her cheek atop her head.

How could she feel so jealous? She was living her dreams. Mitsuki was falling apart, quite literally. She had so little time left in this life, yet Haruka felt jealous. She knew her feelings were spawned from Mitsuki's union with Takayuki, and the connection the two shared even as their time together in the world of the living was drawing to a close. At the same time, in Mitsuki's brief life she had experienced something that Haruka would never personally be able to understand.

She kissed Mitsuki's forehead once again. "I love you so much." She gently separated herself from her friend and rose out of bed. Mitsuki snatched her hand and held on tight, and smiled weakly. "I need to go, hon. I really ought to go get myself a room for the time being."

"A room?" Takayuki glanced up in surprise.

"Of course. You guys need me here right now. I'll be staying."

Shinji started to rise. "I'll go with you."

Before another word could be spoken, the door slid open and a nurse Haruka recognized slipped into the room, followed immediately by little Haruka, who made a mad dash to the bed.

"Fumio!" Haruka gasped. She shook her head in disbelief.

The red-headed nurse gaped back at her, and then she smiled. "Well, well! If it isn't our precious Haruka. How are you doing, sweetheart?"

Haruka glanced to Mitsuki and little Haruka as the girl dashed past her and crawled up into her mother's bed. "These aren't the best of circumstances. Still… to be in this room surrounded by the most important people in my life outside of my family, I couldn't be happier."

Fumio looked relieved to hear those words. She approached the bed, pausing next to Haruka to place a hand on her shoulder, offering a warm smile. "Good for you, honey." She gave her shoulder a squeeze. "It's great to see you again, Haruka." She offered her a big smile before she slipped past to check Mitsuki's IV. "Hey there, Tiger. How ya feelin' this afternoon?"

Little Haruka cuddled close to her mother, both watching closely as Fumio worked, injecting a clear fluid into the IV. The elder Haruka could only stare at mother and child for a long time, marveling. Takayuki lay close to Mitsuki's other side, an arm draped over both the two precious girls in his life, his family. Haruka smiled for them. For a brief moment the jealousy evaporated as she recalled the pure love she still held in her heart for her two dearest friends in life.

"Let's go, Haruka. They need some space right now." She glanced up at Shinji as he started past, toward the door.

"Sure." She looked to Mitsuki and Takayuki. "See you guys tonight, maybe?"

Mitsuki smiled. "We'll be here, sweetheart."