21

She stood there, staring at the metal number and listening to the haunting, sorrowful cry of a piano that reached her from the other side of the closed door. It was heartbreaking, and it left a sense of surrendering sadness, of giving up hope, lingering in the air, so powerful, that it turned the player's sadness into her own. And she knew, without a doubt, that if she were Yaten, that haunting, lamenting melody would turn her into a small ball and she would be crying helplessly on the floor by now.

But she was not Yaten, and right now, she was incredibly thankful for that, and for her little fairy not being around to hear the lament. Though that old wound on her forearm was definitively driving her nuts.

Knowing her, that sad, mourning piano wasn't going to stop anytime soon. She knew she hadn't played in years; she had stop creating music with the black and white keys years ago.

Three, to be exact.

And now that she was once more in front of it, letting her heart, her feelings, her very soul go and mix with the music, she would just keep on playing.

She didn't know how long she's been at it already, and she didn't know how much longer she'd keep on streaming her sorrow into the music. What she did know, though, was that this melodic agony was better than her frozen silent.

She could still remember her lost, bloodshot eyes staring into nothing, her frozen hands, her pale face. That morning, when she had went to her, feeling like she should thank her for her gesture both towards Taiki, and towards a distraught Shinju, only to find her sitting on her balcony, wearing nothing but a white, wrinkled shirt and freezing to death, has been the very first time she had been seriously worried about the tall, proud racer.

Many more times would follow over the years. Disappearances, furtive phone calls in the middle of the night, her husky, low voice and the haunting memory of tearful green eyes. And then her tall, incredibly thin frame, bones sticking out and pronounced cheekbones, when the blonde finally came back home. Though only in part.

It had taken months, and quite a scare, for the blonde to find her way back to life and to health. But never fully. A part of her remained lost, still sitting on that damn balcony, frozen. She knew it, and so did Usagi. Setsuna knew. Everyone knew.

Even Mamoru, who always made it a point on not getting involved in any of the girl's heart problems unless he was truly needed -like the time Ami's ex boyfriend decided to stalk her and terrify her, and the earthen Prince had have no problem whatsoever on giving the guy a piece of his mind, along with a deadly serious warning to stay away from the bluenette genius-, had once confessed to her he was seriously concerned for their tall, blonde friend. Of course, there has been a point in time when they were all concerned about her and her health. But the Prince had confessed such worries quite recently, during a friendly hangout, when the sound of a violin coming from the radio brought that haunted, glassy look back upon green eyes.

"She's never coming back, is she?" the Prince had said to her, in private, noticing the worried look upon her own features. "She slipped away from the world, and never really came back."

Such simple, yet truthful words.

Words that haunted her now, as she listened to the piano. At least she was playing again... She didn't realize how much she missed to hear her playing, until now.

Taking a deep breath, gathering her courage, feeling bad for interrupting her but knowing she could just as easily stand there forever if she didn't, she raised up her hand, ringing the bell. The playing stopped right away, and nothing but deafening silence came from the inside of the apartment.

"Haruka, it's me, Seiya," she said into the closed door. "I know you're in there," she then added, when the light from under the door changed, and she knew the tall blonde was standing right behind it. "I just heard you playing," she pointed out.

A moment of silence followed, and she waited, until the sound of the keys turning reached her ears. She wasn't really sure of what to except, of what she would find on the other side of the door. But when she looked into clear green eyes, sadness dancing in them, but with no trace of tears, she blinked, actually surprised.

"I knew you'd come," the blonde said, shaking a shoulder. "Sooner or later."

She tilted her head to a side at that, letting out a long, tired sigh.

"So?"

She frowned. "So what?"

Haruka's shoulders shrunk, as she shoved her hands into her jean pockets. "Are you going to punch me or not?" Haruka asked, in such a done, tired tone, it made her cringed inwardly. "I know I deserve it..."

She knew exactly what she meant by that, and she let out a sigh, shaking her head. "I'm not here to punch you, Haruka," she said, with a sad frown upon her face. "Don't you know me at all?"

Tilting her head to a side for a moment, the blonde rested against the door, letting out a sigh herself. "You should be mad at me."

"Yeah, well..." she said, shaking her shoulder, "I'm not taking sides on this one."

And she wasn't.

If there was anyone to blame for all this mess, it was her. She should have stopped her brother from ever dating her. She should have punch the blonde back then, forcing some sense into her so that she wouldn't try to lie to herself. And to Kaito, along the way.

But she didn't. She never did or said much to stop this in the first place, except for her one and only initial warning to her brother when she first noticed his interest on the blonde racer. She knew better than to get in the middle, and she had simply stepped aside, letting the events unfold as they did, simply watching.

She had always known Haruka wasn't over Michiru, after all. She hid, and ran, and lied to everyone, desperately wanting to believe the lies herself, but never really got over her first, one true love. Seiya had wanted to believe she had, at some point, when things between the racer and Kaito started working out, and the blonde seemed to be herself again.

But that part of her she lost three years ago never came back. And Seiya knew, that missing part was a piece of Haruka's soul Michiru had taken away with her when they broke up.

She couldn't really blame her. Not really. She knew she wouldn't be able to survive if she were on Haruka's shoes. She would never be able to even take a peek out of the abyss the blonde had fallen into; she honestly didn't think she was that strong, and she would just drown in there...

Finally stepping away from the doorway, Haruka let her in, and she smiled to her, gently punching her shoulder with her own in camaraderie as she walked into the apartment. Her eyes landing on the black piano she had heard from the hallway, before turning to the coffee table; the old photographs scattered around getting her attention.

Frowning curiously, she took one of the pictures, contemplating the cheeky smile of a little girl that couldn't be older than five. Green eyes shining up to the camera, blonde soft hair tied up in a ponytail with a light blue ribbon that matched the one around her waist, on the otherwise completely white dress. Equally white Mary Jane shoes on her small feet, as she stood next to a farmyard, torn between smiling to the camera and feeding the lamb in there.

"Oh, I didn't know you have a sister."

"I don't," the blonde answered, frowning lightly.

"Then who's this?" she asked again, with a teasing smile playing on her lips when one blonde eyebrow went up at that, as she knew, the blonde didn't have any relatives, except an uncle. "'Cause there's no way you were ever this cute."

"Shut up," Haruka grunted, rolling her eyes, and then chuckling despite herself.

She chuckled too, looking at the picture again. A woman knelt behind the girl; one hand lovingly around her small waist, the other taking the girl's hand, encouraging her to feed the animals. Though she couldn't see the woman's eyes because of the angle she was facing the camera in, her blonde hair and her profile, pointy, small nose and the way her eyes seemed to reflect the smile on her lips, were clear hints.

A small, sad smile came to her lips then. "She was beautiful," she said, softly; pricks of jealousy making her stomach shrink, before she shook it away.

She wished she had a picture of her own parents...

The tall blonde let out a sigh, nodding her head, to then sit down on the couch, taking a bunch of pictures and piling them together. Either to put some sort of order over the coffee table, or to busy herself, Seiya wasn't sure.

"How is he?" came the low, barely whispered question, as green eyes kept on looking everywhere but her.

Taking a deep breath, she sat down on the single sofa, contemplating the blonde's face and posture.

She was feeling guilty. That much was obvious. The blonde knew their failed relationship had hurt him, even if that has never been her intention, and she felt guilty. And she was also concerned.

Funny how these two were so much alike. He had showed concern for her too…

But there was something else in her. As she contemplated the blonde, Seiya knew, there was something different about her. Yes, she wasn't exactly jumping up in excitement and happiness, but she wasn't devastated either. At least, she wasn't showing it. Again, it was surprising how much alike Kaito and Haruka were, for the blonde had seemed to come to accept reality as it was. And Seiya only wondered what aspect of reality the blonde had faced. What deal she had made with herself this time around. She only hoped it didn't include developing an almost allergic reaction to food in general and taking off from the face of the earth again…

"He'll live," she finally answered. "The question is, how are you?"

The blonde chuckled, shaking her head. "I'll live."

"Haruka…"

"I'm fine, Stitch," she said, now looking up and into her blue eyes, using that nickname she didn't particularly like -at all.

But she let it slide, ignoring it. Knowing her stubborn friend was not keen on sharing her own feelings, she wasn't just about to interrupt her once she had decided to share a little.

"You don't need to worry about me," Haruka said, in a husky, low tone, that wasn't exactly cheerful, but didn't set warning alarms in Seiya's head either.

"Easy for you to say," she said, snorting.

A flash of understanding and regret went through green eyes for a moment, and it was gone the next, as the blonde shook her head. "I'm not about to do anything stupid," she assured her. "I just need some time to put some things in order, that's all."

She wanted to know what those things were, but she refrained herself from asking. She knew better than to bombard her with questions; if Haruka wanted to share, she would. And if those old photographs on the coffee table were any indication at all, then she guessed Haruka was facing some old demons of hers. They had never really talked much about it, and it was precisely because of that that she knew, anything that had something to do with her parents was a rather sore subject to the blonde.

"Don't you have work today?" Haruka asked, suddenly.

She tilted her head to a side at that, frowning lightly.

Yes, she did have to work today. She couldn't exactly skip work altogether, no matter how good she was or how many contacts she had, both in the company and in the business. But taking advantage of her lunch break, knowing she wouldn't be into much trouble if she made it back to work a little later than expected since she didn't really had any scheduled record session or meeting, she had taken that time to come and see the tall racer.

But the way the blonde said that, completely changing the subject, made something quite obvious to her. "You don't wanna talk."

It wasn't a question, and Haruka knew it, though she still frowned for a moment, shrinking her shoulders. "Not really," she said. "Sorry."

"It's ok."

"I just… I need some time to myself, you know?"

The look on Haruka's face let her know she meant what she said. Yes, she was sad, with many regrets and sorrows pressing on her heart, chocking her. But she was not letting herself fall into darkness again, and for now, that was all Seiya needed to know.

She let out a sigh, nodding her head. "Alright then, I guess I'll go now," she said, standing up, "I'll let you go back to your piano."

Haruka frowned at that. "I'm rusty."

She chuckled. "No, you're not. It's like riding a bike," she argued, shaking her head. "And you still play like the wind."

The blonde chuckled lightly too, surely remembering the first time Seiya had said that to her, years ago. Though it felt like a lifetime away.

Haruka walked her to the door, and she smiled at her never dying chivalry, as she fished into her jacket's pocket and took her cellphone out, dialing a number. Seconds later, Haruka's cell rang, and one blonde eyebrow went up, a questioning look upon green eyes, when Seiya's name flashed on the racer's cellphone.

She flipped her phone and ended the call, smiling. "Just making sure you have my number," she said, shaking her shoulder. "Just in case."

She didn't explain any further, and she knew Haruka didn't need her to, as she just looked at her for a moment, before a small, thankful smile came to her lips, and she nodded her head.

That was all she needed; for Haruka to know she was there, that she'd listen. Whenever she needed to, whatever she wanted to talk about. She was still there for her.

.

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A.N.: this realtes to chap 20 on "Shattered hearts". And if you never read that story but are curious to know why Seiya is so concerned about Haruka, then you may wanna read chap 18 as well.

Manga based story. That "you play like the wind" line is something Seiya says to Haruka after their joined concert.

One more chap regarding the breakup, with a little Senshi parade-slash-dance and a fun moment or two, before keep going with the romance!
On a side note, I just realized this story is probably be longer than "Shattered hearts". I don't know if anyone's even liking this at all, but after starting it, I just need to get it done, and there's a few more things I want to add/explain about the past and such before drawing this to an end. Things I feel explain why the Starlights are the way they are right now and the like.

To anyone who's reading this: sorry for the big delays in between chaps. Life, college, other stories I'm working on, and my muse coming and going intermittently are making it hard for me to fully dedicate myself to finish this up.