I do not own the characters Haruka Tenoh or Michiru Kaioh as they belong to Naoko Takeuchi. The rest are mine.
Hopefully I will still be able to update frequently. I'll be busy with my new position at work next week but I will try my best to wrap this story up within the next week, then devote my time to finishing my other story everyone keeps asking me about. :P
Home
~Five Years ago~
Haruka and Michiru had arrived in New York only a couple days ago. They had found a nice, little house away from the city in a small neighborhood. Within a couple more months they would be married. Both were overly excited to finally start their lives together. Haruka sat on the floor in their unfurnished living room and was flipping through a photo album they had been working on together.
"Haru." Michiru knelt down behind her and put her arms over her shoulders. "We should add that flower in the album sometime." She spoke of the flower they had agreed to bring with them from the garden.
"Don't worry. I already have a place for it." Haruka flipped a couple more pages and pointed at a spot. "It's a shame I don't have a picture of me proposing to you."
"It's something I don't need a picture to remember." Michiru placed a couple butterfly kisses on Haruka's neck. "I'll never forget." Haruka shivered from the kisses.
"Me either." Haruka closed the photo album and set it down. "Tomorrow our new furniture will arrive."
"At least we have a bed to sleep in." Michiru continued to kiss the neck of her lover.
Haruka chuckled to herself.
"What is it, love?" Michiru now began to nibble on Haruka's ear.
"We can do more than sleep in it."
"Is that all you think about?" Michiru joked playfully and shoved Haruka forward a bit.
"No." Haruka stood from the floor and quickly grabbed the shorter girl before she could run away. "Where do you think you're going?" She pulled her closer to her embrace and gave her a passionate kiss. "We have important things to do." The blonde whispered between kisses.
"Oh?" Michiru managed to say once she had control of her tongue again.
"You bet." Haruka picked her up and walked to the bedroom. "I think we should break this place in a bit." She dropped Michiru onto the bed and crawled on top of her.
"I'm not going to argue with that." Michiru began to pull Haruka's button up shirt open without second thought.
Xxxxxxxxx
~Present Time~
Haruka sat silently in the passenger's seat of Dr. Todd's car. She observed her surroundings in hopes she may remember something from her past. To her frustration, she did not. She sighed loudly and watched as a small droplet of water hit her window. The sky was covered in gray clouds.
"I wish I could remember more." Haruka mumbled just loud enough for the woman driving to hear.
"Some people get their memories back, some remember fragments and others never do. You're making a small bit of progress, at least you remember a few things. "The doctor replied. "Familiar things are good ways of helping. We're almost there."
"It probably won't look the same, it's been two years since we lived there. Someone else probably lives there now." Haruka watched as a couple more bits of rain dropped onto the glass.
"From what I read on her files, Michiru wasn't admitted for a couple of months after the accident. There's no telling what to expect."
Haruka did not reply. Whatever she owned two years ago was all gone. Her only home felt like the hospital she was forced into. The car slowly pulled up into a driveway. The house was small and the grass was unkempt. No cars were parked in the driveway. "It looks abandoned." Haruka's eyes darted around the exterior of the house. "I guess it was abandoned…" The house did not seem familiar at all. Haruka opened the car door and approached the door of the house and knocked on it. She was prepared for a stranger to open the door and ask what she was doing. No one came. The doctor joined her holding an umbrella. "Do you think it's possible our stuff is still in there?" Haruka walked to a window and peered in. The house was still furnished.
"Haruka?" A strange voice startled the blonde woman. "Is… that you?"
Haruka turned around to see an elderly woman. "I'm sorry, do I know you?"
"I thought you died?" The old woman continued walking in her direction. She held a small umbrella over her head.
"You're not the only one." Haruka shrugged.
"Where's Michiru?"
"She… she's not well. She's in a hospital right now. I'm sorry, I really don't remember who you are."
The woman gasped when she saw the scar over Haruka's face. "Was that from the car accident?" She questioned Haruka.
"Yeah…" Haruka's voice trailed off while she touched the scar on her face.
"After the accident, Michiru had a hard time. They told her you had died. She came over to my house often and told me she was seeing a shrink. He was evaluating her mental health. Then she was admitted."
"Yeah…" Haruka took a deep breath when she thought of her psychotic father. "She'll be out soon." Haruka clenched her fist tight.
"Why don't we get out of the rain? I had the water and electricity shut off after Michiru was admitted. I couldn't bring myself to empty the house. I hoped she would be better one day and return. Do you want to go in?"
"Are you our landlord?" Haruka's eyebrow perked slightly.
"Yes, dear. Let's go in."
"I'm sorry, I feel horrible. I'm suffering from memory loss." Haruka bowed her head in shame as she often did.
"All the more reason to go inside." The elderly woman led Haruka back to the doorstep where Dr. Todd was still standing. "Oh, hello." She squeaked at the doctor.
"Hello." Dr. Todd smiled at the woman. "I'm Dr. Todd." She reached out for a handshake.
"Bea." The old woman shook her hand. "I'm Haruka's landlord. I was going to let her in to look around." She fumbled with a few keys and unlocked the door.
Haruka peered inside from behind the old woman. Her eyes darted around the entrance of the house.
"No one's been in it for about two years now. We removed the perishables from the fridge." Bea took a step inside. "I brought a flashlight with me. Here, take it and look around, Haruka."
Haruka happily took the flashlight and set off into the house alone. Dust had settled over the entirety of the house. She sneezed a couple of times while she walked around. Nothing seemed familiar. She entered a room to the right of the living room. A large bed rested in the middle of the room with a beautiful dresser against the wall. She approached a nightstand and looked at a framed picture on it.
"Mich." She mumbled to herself and picked up the picture and blew some dust off of it. Michiru wore a beautiful wedding gown and next to her Haruka stood. Haruka's eyes in the picture glowed with joy. Michiru was looking dead at the camera while Haruka looked down at her wife. A wonderful feeling of pure happiness coursed through her body. She traced her fingers across the photo and then set it back down.
She then turned to the large bed in the center of the room. "Guess that's where the magic happened." She chuckled slightly to herself and walked to the dresser. A mirror was attached to the back of it. The entrance to the room was directly in front of the mirror. Haruka looked at the doorway through the mirror. Another small fragment of her memory surfaced…
Haruka stood in front of the mirror shuffling through a couple papers. Michiru stood in the doorway watching her for a moment. Their eyes met each other in the mirror and both smiled. Haruka remembered what the warm embrace of her lover felt like for a moment when Michiru approached her from behind in the memory and hugged her…
"I'll save you from that awful place, Mich." Haruka spoke once the memory ended. It saddened Haruka that she could not remember her past with Michiru. Sometimes Haruka wondered if she stayed faithful to Michiru, especially when she remembered how she was when she was younger. She shook the thought off. 'I would never cheat on her. After two years and no memory, I felt my love for her almost instantly.' That thought made Haruka smile and she continued to wonder through the small house.
The entrance of the house was the living room. It was divided by two sides. To the right was the room Haruka assumed she and Michiru shared. To the left was a guest room. The kitchen was in the back of the house and has a small door leading to a garage. There were no cars in the garage. Haruka wondered if the other car was repossessed due to missed payments.
"Alright." She walked back to the doctor and the old woman in the living room. "I think we have some more important things to take care of now." Haruka spoke to the doctor. She then turned her attention to the older woman. "Thank you for keeping everything intact. I hope to return here soon."
The old woman smiled and dug into her pocket. "Here, it's your home." She handed Haruka a key. "I also have all your mail at my house if you'd like to take it with you."
"I'm sorry we missed payments… I'll make it up to you."
"I understand the tragedy you went through. Maybe you can come over for some tea sometime and keep me entertained. Don't worry about the missed payments."
"No." Haruka said sternly. "I'll make it all up. But, we have something important to take care of now."
"Okay, dear. I'm in the house next to you. Take care."
Haruka joined the doctor in her car again. She instantly turned to the doctor and began to speak. "I'm going to sue my father for everything he owns." Her thoughts traveled back to a few things she remembered. She remembered a few things she had been taught while she went to Harvard.
"I have the perfect guy for you. Dr. Tenoh nearly wet himself at the mention of his name too. Also, from what I observed with Michiru, he'll lose his license and go to jail for quite a while. I'll begin the entire process. I also need to visit Michiru again and fix what prescriptions she's been put on." The way she spoke the last sentence bothered Haruka. She looked at the doctor questioningly. "The stuff he has her on isn't good. I fear the withdrawals might force the staff to put her into solitary confinement. More than likely, she will be in solitary confinement. I also hope what he's done to her won't permanently hurt her either." Dr. Todd turned to Haruka. "She won't be the same though. I'll do what I can to help her and help you."
"Thanks." Haruka still held onto the key the old woman had given her. She carefully took the three rings out of her pocket and looped them onto the key ring. Everything that she held of importance was on that key ring now. "When can I visit her? I miss her so much."
"I would love to take you there but I don't want her condition to upset you."
"That bad?" Haruka wiped a small tear from the corner of her eye. "I just miss her so much… the way we were pulled apart was awful. All I remember was watching her cry on the floor as they pulled me out of the room."
"Haruka, don't worry. You'll get her back."
Haruka looked up at the doctor. "You aren't disturbed that we're both women? Most people would usually shun us."
"I have a sister with the same preferences. I know what she went through and I know what she goes through every day. It's a shame even after all these years and all the laws that have been changed, that people can still find the hate in their hearts. That's why it upset me when I realized what was being done. And that it was your father. You'll win this battle, don't worry. What he is doing is completely illegal."
Dr. Todd drove Haruka back to the hospital and then made her way to Michiru's hospital. After a longer assessment of her files she decided she would slowly take her off the drugs in hopes it would do less damage. Unfortunately, within a few days Michiru was put into solitary confinement. Michiru began to believe Haruka was dead again and threatened to kill herself. Despite what the doctor tried to tell her, Michiru did not believe her.
On the other hand, Haruka noticed something strange in the hospital she was staying in. Dr. Tenoh no longer came into the hospital and it made her question if he had gone into hiding. Dr. Todd came back to see Haruka and let her know the lawsuit was in progress and they were gathering evidence. She also confirmed that Dr. Tenoh had disappeared and they were trying to locate the man. Haruka feared he would never be brought to justice.
