Chapter 4: Departure & Unbreakable Bonds
First Millennia of Queen Selene Serenity I's Reign 2478
Estoduin, Capital city of Pluto
Athena Castle, the Time Senshi's Permanent Residence
The departure
It was dawn on Pluto and the morning sun beat down upon them with extreme intensity. Pluto's climate was going to be raging hot this day, for at least the morning with no clue as to the afternoon climate. Jade had come out of the castle completely prepared for the morning heat, not wearing his Saturnarian traveling cloak, but instead cradling it on his shoulder as Michiru followed behind him. Haruka stood alone on the edge of the garden watching as Setsuna mulled over the final travel details with her brother while Michiru admired the flowers and dipped her hands in to the cooling water of the courtyard's fountain, watching as the water swirled comfortingly around her fingertips.
Feeling the weight of a hand on her shoulder, Michiru turned around to see Haruka standing behind her.
"Yes?" Michiru asked with a smile, just happy to see her Uranian companion again before her departure.
"I just wanted to…well…to wish you good health on your journey." Haruka stammered as her original reason for confronting her friend was forgotten and her cheeks turned an interesting shade of red as she coughed nervously.
Michiru smiled in complete understanding, "I have something for you, Haruka."
Haruka watched surprised, as Michiru reached behind her neck and lifted her hair so that she could unhook the clip which held the aquamarine pendant around her neck. She removed the silver necklace and reached out for Haruka's hand, dropping the necklace into the Uranian's palm and closing her fingers over it gently.
"Why are you giving this to me?" Haruka asked slightly miffed as to the meaning behind Michiru's action.
"This necklace was the treasure of my ancestors. Entarais was one of its many keepers, she wore it into battle against the Uranians and then after her demise, my grandfather offered the honored heirloom to my mother as a wedding gift when she married my father and my mother then offered it to me when I left home. It is the only piece of my home left in my keeping, to remind me of far off shores and crashing waves, when times become unbearable; but I have found that being away from my new companion would be more unbearable for me than being away from my home land. And so I give you this necklace, so that where ever we may be in this universe, we will never be separated for you will always have a piece of me with you." Michiru explained finding the bewildered Uranian's look of surprise truly amusing as a warm, fuzzy feeling flooded throughout her entire being at being close to Haruka.
Haruka appeared uncertain and studied where the silver necklace now rested in her small hands.
Then she gazed back up at the Neptunian princess whom had been so intently watching her.
"Thank you. I promise that from this day forward I will cherish this necklace because it came from you." Haruka said, smiling a rare, sad smile. She was unwilling to leave the comfort her companion's presence offered her.
"Michiru, we must make leave now if we are to get to Saturn by the time their morning dawns, and then it will be another two day journey to my home in Maxem." Jade said walking up behind Michiru with Setsuna at his side.
The Plutonian prince reached out and ruffled Haruka's hair slightly, before clapping her on the back in a friendly manner. The gesture that was intended to be slight and friendly, knocked the Uranian princess off of her feet and onto the rocky ground as Jade had forgotten what an affect his enhanced strength would have on the small child.
"Ow." Haruka groaned as she massaged her chin which she had fallen on; where a small yet deep cut was beginning to bleed. It was not a serious injury, but it would leave a slight and almost unrecognizable scar that she would carry for the rest of her life.
Setsuna reached down gently and helped the child to stand back up. Haruka brushed the dirt from her cloak and then glared up at Jade whom was looking sheepishly back down at her.
"Sorry." Jade apologized, "I guess I do not know my own strength."
A servant clad in brown garments walked towards them leading a black steed by its reigns. The saddle blanket was of amethyst while the saddle was a Neptunian saddle and the bridle the style used by Mercurian horsemen.
Haruka's teal eyes narrowed as one stray lock of her short sandy colored hair continued to fall in her face as she tried in vain to blow it off from in between her eyes. Michiru giggled and reached out tentatively to brush the stray lock of hair out of Haruka's face.
Jade settled his foot in the stirrup and mounted the horse. He reached down and grasped Michiru's small hand pulling her up to sit in front of him. "We must make haste, the docking station is a good two hours ride to Saturn. If we are to arrive in time we must depart now."
Haruka hurried up to the side of the horse and starred up into Michiru's eyes.
"We will see one another some day won't we?" She asked, fear in her eyes.
Jade grimaced and threw a saddened glance towards his sister. Tearing two friends as close as this apart was not his cup of tea.
Michiru appeared uncertain, the same fear arising in her cerulean gaze, "I do not know."
Suddenly, Jade kicked the sides of his horse and they were off, galloping away at breakneck speed. Haruka was torn between decisions in her head and allowing fear to seize her, she began running after the horse as fast as her speedy legs could carry her.
"Haruka!" Setsuna called after her as she sped after her young charge, only able to reach half of the wind-born Uranian's speed.
Michiru turned her head only slightly to gaze back at Haruka, a pleading gaze that spoke volumes to her Uranian friend. Haruka stopped in her tracks, panting for air. She watched possibly her only true friend ride away, maybe never to see her again. Setsuna laid a comforting hand on Haruka's shoulder.
"He travels far, but my brother has never once broken a promise to me and he promised that as soon as her training is finished, she will be returned to us." Setsuna said comfortingly to Haruka as her teal gaze never wavered, searching the distance for the fleeting black speck. "If there is one characteristic that I have observed taking shape in the Neptunian royal family over the years, it is their resilience and determination to finish what was started and their stubbornness to do what they feel is right to benefit others. The women in her family have knacks for acquiring such attributes. He mother, the queen, was the same way in her youth, but they settle down in time. Do not fear, for it is not in her nature to abandon a friend she cares so deeply about. She will return one day."
Setsuna was all knowing, thanks impart not only to her power to follow the time stream, but also in part because of the experience of her many years of life. She knew the many possibilities of the future, she knew that Haruka and Michiru were bound to one another by a bond which could not be severed, and one day, if they survived their many battles; they would be reunited again.
Haruka felt the familiar pain of loss tearing at her soul, but no tears came to her eyes. She instead, felt this horrible emptiness that something important part of herself was gone; giving way to this lonely life of honor and duty.
"I am sorry for your pain, I know you two were becoming fast friends, but have courage. You must be strong now, if you are to endure the hardships which are to come. The old days of your life are now gone. You are the princess and heir to the throne of Uranus no longer."
Haruka turned to gaze up at Setsuna. She saw swimming in those timeless garnet eyes, so many emotions, but she was too inexperienced to divide each one out from the rest. What the most dominate emotion was, Haruka could not tell. There was fear, a great deal of it in fact and adoration, which out weighed all else in the feelings bursting from the kind soul beneath. There was love, sorrow, and could it be…remorse? Yes, out of all of the emotions constantly present in those eyes, remorse was the most frequently noticed by others.
"Now it is time to begin your training." Setsuna said turning her gaze away from the Uranian child, not wanting her to register any of the complicated emotions raging inside of her.
Haruka still at a loss, nodded her head numbly and followed Setsuna as she led her to the castle's training grounds which were situated just beyond the front gates. Haruka tried not to show her fear and anxiousness, but she could not restrain the intense emotions completely.
"Setsuna?"
"Yes?"
"W-will this training be very difficult to master?" Haruka asked feeling her stomach turning in her belly.
Setsuna smiled a bit at the tiny nervous lilt in the Uranian child's voice, "It will be the hardest training that you will ever endure in your lifetime."
Haruka tried to swallow the nervous lump in her throat, but with no success.
"I would not worry about that though, there is a leader in you yet, Haruka. You may be young, but I can see it in you." Setsuna reassured her young charge.
"You will train me well?" Haruka asked as Setsuna nodded the affirmative, "So that perhaps one day I may fight as well as Regelle did?"
Setsuna smiled knowingly, "You know the story of Regelle Tenous?"
Setsuna had to take a step back as the small, but very excited Uranian child almost jumped on her, "It is my most favorite of stories!"
"Is it now?" Setsuna smiled kindly and laughed lightly, "So you wish someday to be like Regelle?"
Haruka appeared sheepish as a small blush crept to her cheeks, "Yes. I used to run into the guard house and take out one of the wooden swords and a shield and run out to the backlands where I would play in the trees as if I were Regelle or a soldier fighting next to her. In my family, a princess who has not a standing may have a dream, and may always find a hero in Regelle; because she did the impossible because she was a woman of our family, not in spite of it. She is my hero and my wish is that someday I may be like her."
Setsuna smiled at the determination she could see in the child's eyes. "Someday you will be. Someday you will be."
Author's note: A sad departure and the beginning of an uncertain future. There shall be more. R & R!