A/N: So... Funny story, I finished this a few weeks ago, but I forgot to post it... Haha, right, I know, hysterical... Don't kill me please... Okay, well, as you can guess from this chapter, this Part of the Story is told from Michiru's POV, unless something important is going on with Mina, then the chapter will be focused on her in 3rd person (again, not putting myself in her head). So, that means that we won't be seeing all of the emails between Mina and Serena, just some of them. Well, we only saw some of them to begin with. I imagine that they emailed each other a few times a week, but I only included the important ones.
So, review guys, that would be nice of y'all, even though I forgot to post this chapter... tehehe, so review, please, and welcome to my new readers, and welcome back old ones
Chapter II
Michelle (Michiru's POV)
I walked off the plane and sighed, my carryon clutched tightly in my hands. Shouldering the small bag, I quickly located my suitcase and violin case and pulled them off the carousel. I pulled the handle up on my suitcase and wheeled it along behind me while my violin case weighed down my other arm. It had been a long month in France, but rewarding in the end. I had been offered a job to play with a symphony in Paris, as well as being a visiting artist at one of the local universities, teaching the violin to budding musicians.
This opportunity would also give me the chance to play with one of the best musicians in my age range, Stella Parker. I sighed again, thinking I would have to turn down the job because of my duties to the Princess and my relationship with Haruka. I was broken out my thoughts by someone at the edge of my vision flagging me down just outside of the airport terminal. I turned in confusion and saw Minako standing waiting for me.
"Minako-chan," I greeted the blonde when I walked up to her.
"Michiru-san," she said, "I am so glad that I caught you before Haruka-san did."
"I took an earlier flight," I told the girl, looking at her in confusion, "How did you know when I was getting in?"
"Eh, well," Minako scratched her cheek, "I just remembered which day you were supposed to come in, so I've been camped out here since yesterday. For every flight coming from a European airport anyway."
"Why?"
"Artemis and I need to talk to you, I wanted to get to you before Haruka managed to twist everything around," Minako replied.
"Twist what around?"
"Just come with me, please, Artemis and I will tell you what's been happening. There's a lot that you need to know."
"Like what?" I asked, following the younger girl outside. I followed Minako towards the parking lot where she motioned me to the passenger seat of a bright orange VW bug.
"Artemis get in the back seat," the blonde yelled and I saw the white cat shuffle his way to the back. I smiled at the relationship between the girl and her advisor, and placed my bags in the trunk of the car.
Opening the passenger side door, I folded myself into the small car and sighed as the cool leather of the seats came in contact with the exposed portions of my skin. "Alright, what do you two need to tell me?" I asked again as soon as the blonde turned onto the road.
"Well, first thing you need to know is that Usagi is gone," Minako said, briefly turning her eyes towards me.
"What?!" I demanded, "What do you mean gone?" She couldn't be gone, she just couldn't be…
"No," the blonde yelled. "Not like, gone gone, just no longer in Japan. She left a while ago."
"You better start explaining things to me as to why the princess felt that she had to leave the country without any of her guards," I threatened the blonde. "And speaking of that, why didn't anyone go with her, or stop her?"
"Eh, well, the others, her parents, Queen Serenity, they're all kind of the reason why she left," Minako started. At my impatient look, which I'm sure she caught out of the corner of her eye, Minako proceeded to tell me about the events that occurred weeks ago, causing the Princess to flee the country.
By the time she had finished telling me of the events, we had reached the younger girl's house. "Do you want me to take you home instead?" Minako asked, concern present in her features.
I turned my still shocked face towards the younger. "No, it's alright Minako-chan," I told her. "I'm assuming this is your house?"
"Yeah, do you want to come in? I can order in some dinner, or call you a taxi…"
"Dinner would be great, thank you," I replied, giving the younger girl a small smile, "Would you mind if I stayed the night here? Since I didn't tell Haruka I caught an early flight, I wasn't supposed to come in until tomorrow so I won't be missed there."
"Yeah, sure you can stay," the blonde said, "You'll just have to excuse the mess, I've been packing."
"Packing?" I questioned, pulling my bags from the trunk of the car.
"Minako and I are moving," Artemis whispered, settling on my rolling bag. "We're moving back home."
"Back home? Back to England?" I asked as Minako unlocked the door of her house.
"Yup," Artemis answered, jumping off of my luggage, "Japan is nice and all, but I prefer England. Fog, fog is mysterious, good for my image."
"Plus my family is still all in England," Minako said, "My parents moved back there a while ago and my brother has been attending a university for a while now. And I've been accepted into a top of the line acting school."
"Well congratulations," I told her honestly, "But what about your duties as a senshi?"
"What about them? My loyalty was to Usagi, not the pink haired brat, the stupid prince or anyone else. Usagi bid me to pursue my dreams and find happiness, just like she is doing, and that's what I plan to do as well," Mina said with a determined tone.
Leaving my luggage by the door, I sat down on the couch with a thud. "I guess we really have been relieved of our duties then," I said, my voice distant and eyes unfocused. I huffed out a sigh and ran my hands through my teal colored hair.
"Oh hey, no need to look at it like that," Minako said, "I prefer to see it as Usagi giving us the opportunity to be who we want to be, just because we're no longer going to be protecting her, doesn't mean we can't be friends. And truthfully, I would much rather be her friend than her guardian. It's a little insulting really; although it doesn't seem like it, Usagi can take care of herself, fight her own battles. I mean, she was fighting monsters here long before anyone else was."
I sighed. "Much as I hate to admit it, you're right. Usagi really doesn't need guards, what she needs is friends. Though I'm not sure I even deserve that title, not after what Haruka and the others put her through, what her own family put her through… I can't believe I didn't see this…" I took out my mirror article and looked into it, hoping that the ocean would provide me the answers that I sought, would answer why I was so blind to the deceit present in those around me. The seas continued to churn but the answer to my blindness eluded me.
"Michiru," Minako's voice broke me out of my thoughts, "It's okay, Usagi will understand. She hid what kind of people her parents were very well, like she didn't want us to know what they were."
"Do you have any way to contact Usagi?" I asked after a moment.
"Yeah, I have her new email address, I can write it down for you. Are you going to email her?"
"Eventually," I said, "But not just yet, I'll need time to think. Maybe after I move I might…"
"Wait, you're moving? Since when are you moving?" The blonde asked me, her eyes wide.
I smiled at her, "I was offered a job in Paris while I was away. I originally wasn't going to take it because of everything I have going on here, but since Usagi is gone, well, I going to go for it."
"Wow, Paris, that'll be a big change," Artemis commented.
"Not really," I grinned, "My family is actually from England. Moving here a few years ago was a big change, but I felt I was called here. Now, like you, it is time for me to go home."
"What are you going to do about Haruka?" Minako asked.
I shrugged, "I don't know. I don't think this relationship is going anywhere. I know that we are destined for each other, or were together in the past or something, but it just feels forced somehow doesn't it? I don't want to be with someone because of the past, or future yet to come. I guess Usagi felt the same way, I didn't really understand it until now."
I saw Minako nod her head out of the corner of my eye. "It didn't feel right to me either," the blonde said, "And I should know, I am the goddess of love after all." She finished her statement with a wink and I stifled back a giggle.
"Now, onto different subjects, why have you been living here alone?" I asked, "Why didn't you tell anyone?"
"I did tell someone, Usagi," the blonde replied. " She came over all the time, pretty much every weekend come to think of it. I guess now I know why she was relieved to get away from her family. If I had told anyone else about having the house to myself, they would have taken advantage of that and invited themselves over all the time. Usagi wasn't like that. I mean, she stayed over a lot, but she didn't demand like wild parties or anything like that."
"What did the two of you do?"
"Eat take out, watch movies, try to do our homework, it really depended on what we were in the mood for. Speaking of take out, what do you want for dinner? Artemis has an aversion to Thai food that is quite funny if you want to get that, there is also a good Chinese food place and pizza place nearby," Minako stated, rifling through a stack of menus.
"Do you never cook your own food?" I asked amused as I took in the amount of menus Mina had.
"I do, just not anything people would want to eat, simple stuff really, noodles, vegetables, frozen food. Nothing too exciting. I don't have much food here now other than breakfast food and ramen since Artemis and I are leaving."
I laughed, "Sounds a little like my older brother, he is horrible at cooking, but luckily for him his girlfriend is an adequate cook. Not as good as her little sister from what I hear, but good enough to keep him coming back from seconds."
Mina stopped for a moment and stared at me, "Are we still talking food here?" I just rolled my eyes at the younger girl and told her that pizza was fine for dinner. She called into the pizza place and ordered two large pizzas, one with pineapple for her and green peppers for me. "Usagi and I love pineapple on pizza," Mina explained when I gave her a questioning look for her choices.
"I'm paying for my pizza, it's only fair," I said, waving away her protests.
She nodded in defeat before she set about pulling out glasses and filling them with water. "So I didn't know you had an older brother," she started, setting down my glass.
"I could say the same thing," I returned, referencing something that I caught earlier in the conversation.
"Touché," Mina laughed, "I guess we all kept something back from each other. Wonder if the others did the same thing?"
"Who knows, Haruka never really did talk about her family. I just always assumed that it was because they were ashamed of Haruka being a lesbian, but now I wonder," I answered, my mind running through the various conversations I've had with Haruka about her family. She always kept pretty quiet about her family, so I never offered up any information about my own family either. This lack of information sharing would help me disappear now, especially if I went back to performing under my given name, not the stage name I was using in Japan.
A little later the pizza came and Minako put in a movie to watch while we ate. I thoroughly enjoyed the series of comedies the younger girl had chosen, obviously trying to relieve the tense feelings now welling up within me. I felt intense feelings of anger and disbelief stirring deep within me, and I didn't need to use my mirror article to tell me towards whom those feelings were directed. I felt anger towards my fellow scouts, towards Queen Serenity, towards Usagi's parents… to myself for not being here, for not realizing.
We watched a few more movies before exhaustion from my trip finally caught up to me and I started dozing off. "I think it's time I go to bed," I said, my eyelids drooping.
"Oh right, I forgot you had a long flight today," Mina winced, "Do you want my bed or the couch? I'm afraid everything else is packed up already."
"It's alright, I can sleep on the couch, it is delightfully comfortable," I said, rubbing my neck. "More comfortable than an airplane seat anyway."
I dug my pajama bottoms and tank top out of my carryon and hygiene kit, and changed in the bathroom. By the time I came out after brushing my teeth and putting on my pajamas, Mina had tucked a blanket on the couch, another laying on top of it, and a pillow sitting in the crook of one of the arms. "Do you need anything else to sleep?" Mina asked as she walked back into the room.
"No, this is great, thank you," I said, slipping in between the blankets on the couch.
"Alright, cool, I'm going to head to bed now, so if you need anything, just wake me up."
"It's fine, I'll be alright, thank you Mina," I said as the younger girl went back to her room.
The lights flicked off down the hall and I was left in moderate darkness with only the minute light from outside and the dim light from the electronics inside to assist me with identifying shapes and objects in the dark.
My mind continued to whirl around thoughts of Haruka, Usagi and the road that I had chosen to go down. Despite the continued existence of the pink haired brat, I had no doubt that the future Crystal Tokyo no longer existed, or was no longer an option for existing. It didn't sadden me as much as losing a seemingly utopian society would, considering that I didn't think that a society built out of crystal was perfect. It seemed cold to me, lacking the warmth, life and happiness that Usagi radiated constantly. It was unnatural, almost as if it was a vision of another time that someone desired and pressed onto those living in the present. My brow furrowed as that thought crossed my mind. Wouldn't surprise me if it was Setsuna making decisions for everyone, the vengeful harpy…
My thoughts trailed off as exhaustion from the flight finally caught up to me, and I slipped off into the world of dreams.
The taxi pulled up to the apartment building where Haruka and I shared an apartment. "Do you mind staying for a while?" I asked the driver, "I just have to pack a few things before going back to where you picked me up from."
"Yeah, no problem, I'll have to keep the meter running through," the man replied.
"That's fine," I said, exiting the vehicle. Entering the building, I nodded at the doorman before taking the elevator up to the fifth floor where the apartment was located. Sighing, I took my keys out of my pocket and quietly unlocked the door.
I walked into the living room and took a look around. I didn't have many personal items in the apartment, none at all really, choosing instead to leave them at my parent's manor in England. I realize now that I was subconsciously deciding to withhold part of my life from those who I would meet in Japan as if I were already resolving that the move wouldn't be a permanent one.
"Ah Michiru," a voice came from the other room. Turning, I saw that Haruka had just gotten out of a shower. Water trailed down from her short hair, and a towel was wrapped around her boyish frame. Normally the sight would have left me breathless and aching with desire, but now the emotional response I felt at the sight was one of irritation while I still felt the slightest bit of physical attraction. I hadn't realized until this moment that Haruka often manipulated me with sex, keeping me compliant or distracted with physical pleasure. "I didn't realize you would be home this early," she grinned, approaching me, intent clear in her eyes.
I sidestepped her questing hands and continued into the bedroom. "I caught an earlier flight," I answered, pulling out the duffle bag I use for longer trips. I started filling the bag with my extra clothes and belongs I still had in the room.
"Going on another trip babe, you just got back," Haruka protested as she saw what I was doing.
"I am going on another trip," I confirmed, "But this one is different. I won't be coming back to Japan this time, or to you."
I thought Haruka would be outraged so I was shocked when she burst out laughing. "That was a good one," the sandy blonde said, wiping at her eyes, "Like you would endanger the future we've worked so hard for, that's rich. Now, where are you going this time?"
"I'm not joking Haruka," I repeated, moving around her to continue packing my things.
Haruka's mouth dropped open in shock and her eyes stared at me in disbelief. "How- why? Why are you doing this?"
"For a number of reasons," I said with finality. "I was offered a job while I was gone, a really good job that I will no doubt love. I wasn't going to take it but imagine my surprise when I found out what happened to the princess while I was gone, what you all did to her."
"How did you- Minako, that traitorous brat. Look Michiru, I don't know what that brat told you, but we were trying to-"
"I know what you were trying to you," I interrupted her. "You were trying to destroy a beautiful young woman and make her into what you all wanted her to be."
"She didn't behave like a proper princess, she was a terrible scout and if she continued down the path she was on, she would have brought destruction down on us before making Crystal Tokyo," Haruka protested, "What we were doing was trying to push her into becoming who she was in the past and who she was meant to be in the future."
"The future changes Haruka!" I yelled, "And we can't truly live in the present by being ruled by the past that was lifetimes ago. Usagi grew up in this lifetime; she behaved as a normal teenager in this time would. And instead of helping her become better in areas that she was weak, you all belittled her, degraded her and continuously tore her down when all she wanted was to meet your ridiculously high expectations." I let out a slight scream of frustration as waves upon waves of memories hit me. Snapshots of memories from this lifetime rolled through my head. Every time Usagi tried to do better in school, in fighting, in cooking, everything that she was told she was terrible at, they continued to laugh and scorn the girl.
I nearly hissed when I realized that I had seen it all and not done anything to help the girl, nothing substantial. I talked to her sure, but I never stood up for her to the others. I was broken out of my thoughts by Haruka grabbing my arm. Whirling around to face the other woman, I jerked my arm out of her grip. "Do not touch me!" I growled, shoving the last of my things in my duffle bag.
"Michiru! You can't do this, we were together in the past, we're going to be together in the future. You can't ruin that!" Haruka yelled.
"And yet, despite all of that, I still feel as though this relationship was forced," I said, closing my bag and hefting it on my shoulder. I saw her hand whirl around to hit me out of the corner of my eye and I dodged, causing her to fall on the floor. "Goodbye Haruka, pray to whatever deity you believe in that we will never meet again, because if you try to hit me again like you just did, you will regret it." I stepped over the prone form of my now ex-girlfriend and strode out the door.
I left my apartment key with the doorman of the building with a note to my landlord telling him that I will continue to pay rent and utilities until my lease runs out at the end of the month. After that, Haruka is on her own. When I exited the building, I found my taxi waiting for me where I left it earlier. "Is that all you have?" The man asked as he climbed out and took my bag, placing it in the back.
"Yes, I answered, truthfully I never had much stuff here to begin with."
"Well then Lady, doesn't sound like you ever really lived here," he said, opening the back door for me.
"Yeah, you're probably right," I answered him, sliding into the car. I refused to look behind me as the taxi drove away, instead focusing on what was in front of me. About an hour later due to traffic caused by a few minor road accidents, I was back and Minako's place. Knocking on the door, I heard a few thumps and a loud smashing sound before the door opened. "You don't have to knock," Minako said breathlessly, "You're basically going to be living here until you can arrange for a flight to England or Paris or wherever. I'm not leaving for a few days, so you're good."
I laughed as I followed Minako into the house and saw shoes scattered around an ironing board on the floor. "You working on building a maze?" I asked, kicking the shoes away to clear a path towards the living room.
"Attempting to clean and finish packing up the house," Minako moaned, "My parents hired movers and stuff for the furniture and my car, but I needed to get the rest of the house boxed up for them and all the perishables gone. It's not working to well."
"Why don't you let it wait and I'll help you later," I told the girl before sitting down. "And I did get a flight, to London actually. I'm flying back on the same flight with you. It's booked under my real name, since that is the one on my passport. I never told Haruka my real name so we don't have to worry about her finding me, what about you?"
"I didn't tell anyone I was leaving except for Mokoti and the school to transfer my records. They won't come looking for me for a while since I blew up at them a few days ago, no worries," the blonde replied, sinking into the recliner. "What do you mean by real name?"
"Michiru is really just my stage name, you'll find out my real name once we're out of the country," I replied. "So we have three days until our flight, plenty of time to finish packing up the house. Why don't you order some food and I'll start doing some laundry. Then we can pack what you'll need as luggage on the plane, and maybe start some organized packing."
"Food!" Minako cried, bolting out of the chair. "I'm ordering Chinese!"
I shook my head and pulled my dirty laundry out of my bags and dumped them in the dirty clothes bin in the laundry room. "Work, work, work…"
A/N: Review!