a/n: woot! I finally finished the whole story. I got tired of writing, then uploading. The last chapter will be number 16, so two more to go after this. Hope you enjoy! I'll try to post them within a few days of each other. Oh, and for the record, I do not think Haruka makes a smart decision in this chapter, but, well, let's face it, she's Haruka…

Chapter 14

The next morning, Haruka felt sick. Maybe that wasn't a good term for it. Disgusted, perhaps? Or just stupid.

The first wrong move was actually letting Seiya into her room at night. She had inquired, for the sake of curiosity, why he had not transformed the whole time they were here. He, in turn, had told her how he had given up his powers back on earth. And why.

It was sweet and flattering, and caught Haruka completely off guard. So she allowed him to stay. The whole entire night. Even this might not have been so bad if their conversation had taken a dangerous turn. She began to tease him about how it must be strange to be a guy all the time now, and he got back at her by asking for advice, since she knew so much about it. Here Haruka had blushed in irritation.

"In case you haven't noticed, genius, I'm a full-fledged woman."

"I don't know..."

"You want proof?"

That was how it started. At least it was the last thing Haruka remembered before both of them lost their clothes to the floor or the bed sheets. There was no doubt to be had, Seiya was a full-bodied male, and a marvelously good looking one at that. Nevertheless…

"I can't believe I actually did that," she said angrily to herself, hitting her head on the wall. It hurt. Haruka took a deep breath and tried to relax. The rest of the solar system senshi would be arriving today. All she had to do was just get through breakfast, they would show up, and she could attach herself to Michiru's hip for the rest of the time.

Even so, getting through breakfast was an ordeal all on its own. Taiki and Yaten retained their Starlight forms, which she assumed to be typical for being on their planet. Nothing much was growing except for a few fruit trees that had come back to life in their absence, so Healer's meal was… interesting, to say the least. Seiya sat on the opposite end of the table, avoiding eye contact and looking thoroughly embarrassed. And Maker… well, Haruka did not like the way Maker was looking at her. She couldn't have known what happened between her and Seiya. There just was no way...

Healer caught the look on Maker's face and began to smirk. What were they, telepaths or something?

"Honestly, you two, couldn't you have waited until you got back to earth before you did that?" Maker asked.

"Did what?" Haruka asked. Playing stupid usually did the trick, right? But Maker only sighed and shook her head.

"Honestly, you're far too obvious. So do you want to know if it's a boy or girl or shall I wait and tell you later?"

Haruka's blood ran cold. "Excuse me?"

"I said, do you want to know if it's a boy or a girl?"

"Who?" Haruka demanded. Knowing what she and Seiya did a few nights ago was one thing, but Maker's implications were a little much. There was no way she could be... Haruka eyes immediately turned on Seiya. "You said it couldn't happen!" she yelled. "You told me it couldn't!"

"I didn't think it could!" Seiya replied defensively. "I mean, I'm a Starlight and you're a human, so I figured..."

"Oh no, Seiya, you're quite human now," Princess Kakyu corrected. "I made sure of that when I took away your powers."

That did it. Normally cool and complaisant Haruka completely snapped. She ran up to Seiya and began mercilessly beating him over the head. Kakyu, who certainly didn't expect quite that strong a reaction, gasped in shock, which Maker and Healer quickly jumped up to try and pull the two of them apart.

"Haruka, calm down!" Maker yelled. "So you're a mother! It's not the end of the world!"

"Speak for yourself, Miss I-Attack-With-My-Uterus!" Haruka snapped. Maker was taken back, but decided that now was not the best time to try and devise a comeback or initiate an insult exchange.

"In either case, don't blame Seiya!" Healer added on. "You agreed to it as much as he did. No one orders children to be conceived or not conceived, it's just a matter of life."

Finally, Haruka stopped struggling, her body going limp in Healer's arms. She could feel hot tears rising to her face. How could she have been so foolish? It felt like love last night, and now she felt used and dirty, deprived of her strength and dignity. How could some baby have the gall to come along and do this to her. "I'm not ready for this," she said tearfully as Healer let her go.

"It'll be alright," said Kakyu.

Haruka slept in a separate bed that night. Actually, on her insistence, she slept in a separate room. she wasn't sure if Seiya was resting in the room next to her or completely on the other side of the building, but she hoped for the latter. Her first time… how could she let it get to this? She had been flirtatious in the past, she would admit that much. But she had never fully given herself to someone before. Now she remembered why. She tried to picture the ways she would explain things to Usagi and the girls when they got back. Nothing brilliant came to mind. In her exhaustion and sadness, Haruka finally fell asleep.

Haruka spent the next few days counting the hours before the other senshi would arrive. Mostly, she tried to hang around Kakyu and do as much physical labor as possible. She moved rocks, cleared out rubble, and even started laying the foundation for rebuilding Kakyu's palace, where the children would be raised. Keeping her muscles busy was always a good way to keep her mind at bay.

Nevertheless, in particularly warm afternoon air, even Haruka couldn't resist taking a break. She looked over at Maker's garden, lush and full of life. For a brief moment, she imagined one of the tiny children in the flowers growing inside of her. Then she shook her head. Perhaps a short walk wouldn't hurt…

She paced around the border of Maker's garden, admiring the petals. For a moment, she thought she saw one of the flowers moving. Curiously, she stepped forward. There was a snap. Haruka's pulse stopped. She couldn't have heard it. Quickly, she tried to calm herself down. She did hear it, the breaking of something under the weight of her foot. But she could've stepped on anything. A stray branch, a dead leaf, anything at all. Slowly Haruka turned her body to see the inevitable. Part of the vine that lead to one of Star Maker's precious flowers was severed in two.

What had she done, Haruka asked herself. This wasn't like breaking a vase, or even losing a family pet. This was like... no, it couldn't be as if Haruka had really killed Maker's child. Even as the word passed through her mind, her body began to shudder. It wasn't like that - it couldn't have been. All she did was accidentally step on a small vine. How could that be killing? Unfortunately, before she had time to consider the matter, she saw Star Maker and Healer running frantically right towards the garden. This was not good.

"What happened?" Maker asked fearfully, looking around. "Is everyone alright?"

"Um, I'm fine," Haruka muttered. How could she be so stupid, she asked herself?

"Not you, the children," Healer informed her. "Maker said she felt something." As they spoke, Seiya noticed the commotion and hurried over as well. At the sight of him, Haruka blushed madly, lightly touching her womb and turning her face away in shame. She couldn't see his face; not now. Her movement allowed for Maker to catch sight of exactly what Haruka wanted to hide. The vine that had broken sat with the lifeless blossom on the ground. Maker felt her heart nearly rip in two.

"What did you do?" she asked softly. When Haruka did reply, she screamed at the top of her lungs, "You idiot! What did you do!?" Healer quickly grabbed Maker's arm so that she did not venture any further into the garden. In her frenzied state, she was just as likely to do damage to the children as Haruka was.

"Get out of there!" she shrieked, trying to get loose. Haruka quickly obeyed. "I should've known we couldn't let you in there! Murderer!"

At those words, Haruka's emotions of sadness quickly poured over into defensive anger. She had felt the stain of innocent blood heavy on her hands too many times before. She would not have this too, especially when she had only come out here to admire.

"Shut your mouth!" she snapped back, trying to keep the tears at bay. "I didn't murder anybody!"

"You cut off one of my children's lifelines, causing them to die of starvation. How isn't that murder?"

"I didn't do it on purpose!" Haruka screamed, her emotions building with each second. The burden of guilt was heavy as it was, why did Maker have to try and increase it? She couldn't take this now, she couldn't. And so, she said the worst thing she possibly could. "It's not like they were even real children yet anyway."

The hush that fell over the group was excruciating. In that moment, Haruka probably would have given anything to take the words back. But it was too late.

"Not real?" Maker asked softly, with a forced laugh. "I've got a great idea, Tenou, how about I rip that child from your womb and let you watch her last few precious moments and then tell you it isn't real? How about that?"

Haruka held her hand defensively in front of her womb. "How dare you..." she hissed.

"For the final time, get out of there!" Maker yelled. It was finally Seiya who stepped in to avoid further confrontation. As Healer held her partner firm, Seiya carefully stepped around the delicate garden, took Haruka firmly by the arm and led her out. Haruka allowed him to lead until they were safely away from the rest of the flowers, at which point she sharply pulled her arm away from him.

"Don't touch me!"