Sailor Neptune gasped for air after being unconscious for heavens knows how long. Her cobalt eyes snapped open, and for a second, she didn't feel the sting of cuts and bruises in her body.

Then the second passed, and she groaned, overwhelmed by the sudden pain running through her. Slowly, she turned on her stomach and moved her gloved hand near her chest. Her clothing was torn, blood stained the white and dark blue fabric of her Senshi uniform. She was able to push herself and gaze around her. Where were the rest? Where were the other senshis?

She managed to kneel, taking in the destruction around her. Everything was quiet. Too quiet compared to the screams and cries that she had experienced. Focusing her vision, she noticed that where the majestic Silver Millennium castle stood, now only broken stones and debris lay. Neptune swallowed hard. The castle… was gone.

Sailor Neptune took a couple of unsure trembling steps headed to nowhere. As she moved, the burning pain in her abdomen shot through her, making her bend over and sob. She looked down, cupped her side, and then noticed the deep bloody wound that stained her skirt.

She needed to find the others. She needed to make sure that the princess was safe, that she managed to escape…

Then, she heard a gasp far away from where she was standing. Sailor Neptune turned on her heels and stood unmoving, scared that if she walked, she wouldn't be able to listen and pinpoint the location of that gasp. Seconds later, she heard it again. Someone was calling for her. The voice was distant, weak, but deep.

'Neptune.'

"Where are you?" She limped her way through the debris, looking from side to side, ignoring the broken bodies around her. She didn't recognize them. She wouldn't pay them importance. She needed to find that voice…

"Neptune!"

"I am here! Where are you?"

A moving rock caught her eyes, and with difficulty and going as fast as she could, Neptune moved to the source of that voice.

Then she saw her— her lover, Sailor Uranus.

Neptune fell to her knees and frantically began to move the boulders and rocks off her body. Uranus was as injured, if not more than she was. She could already see the broken bone on her right leg, the bruises and blood on her arms, the injury at her eyebrow. Neptune shuddered and pulled Uranus to rest her head on her lap.

"I am here. I am here," Neptune said, her voice quivering as she continued her assessment of Uranus's state.

Uranus opened her green eye and stared up with adoring eyes at Neptune. Her hand moved and petted her lover's dirty cheek, managing to give her a soft smile. "You are alive." She whispered.

Neptune nodded, yet she didn't tell Uranus that she was bleeding from her flank, that she was feeling weaker by the minute, and that her vision was becoming hazy. "Where is everyone?

Uranus let her arm fall to her side as she closed her eyes. Neptune quickly cupped her cheek, slapping her slightly to keep her awake. She must stay awake, especially after taking a blow to her head. Uranus opened her eyes again, her breathing labored.

"Uranus, what happened?" Neptune asked, trying her hardest to sound strong, but her resolve was slipping, and so was Uranus.

"They are gone."

Neptune nodded; that's all she needed to know. "Stay with me, please."

Uranus fluttered her eyes open; they had closed for a second. "You are hurt."

"I will be fine," Neptune said, pushing strands of blonde hair away from Uranus's face and kissing the bloody forehead. "Stay with me."

Uranus didn't answer. She nodded and closed her eyes again, only to wake up seconds later. Neptune had grabbed hold of the bow on her chest and moved her closer. "There is no use." Her tone was broken, tired, and in pain.

"There is. We will be fine."

Uranus chuckled and moved her hand to place it over Neptune's. "Hey…"

"I won't say goodbye. Not now. So don't you dare start getting melodramatic on me."

"You are hurt too."

"I am fine."

"Neptune, love…"

That word broke her. Neptune let a ragged sob escape her chest and immediately winced as the pain surged through every fiber of her body. She pressed her chapped lips to Uranus's temple and held her tightly. "I am sorry."

"It's not your fault Beryl attacked," Uranus squeezed Neptune's hand tightly and shivered. "It's getting cold."

Neptune sighed. It was getting cold, and for the first time in her hundred years of existence, she was petrified of death, of what would happen then. Of… leaving her. "Were they—"

"I saw flickers of colored lights above me," Uranus began, and she shuddered. "I think they are being reborn as we speak. Maybe we will—"

"I don't want that. I want you here, now. I—" Neptune's desperation was evident, and Uranus could only lay in her arms, her fingers gently stroking the back of her hand.

"I know, it is scary, but there is nothing else that can be done."

Neptune closed her eyes. She was so tired, so weak, her wound on her flank hadn't stopped its bleeding, and her energy was slowly leaving her.

"Neptune?"

She opened her blue eyes and noticed she was leaning over Uranus's body. With a pained groan, she straightened her back and petted Uranus's face again. "I doze off…"

"It's fine."

It's not fine. They were alone, probably the only survivors of the war…

"Neptune?"

She jerked again and dipped her gaze down at Uranus. "Yes, darling?"

Uranus smiled a sweet feminine smile, with messy hair, bloody forehead, and eyebrows. Her chin and cheek were dirty; her eyes glassy while tears drenched her temples. She looked beautiful even in her state. Neptune couldn't help but admire her.

"I will find you."

Neptune froze.

"I will find you again, I will woo you again in the next life, and the next one after that, and the next one..." Uranus took a deep breath, her body giving out. "I will find you and love you again and again."

"Please, stop talking."

"If I forget, please remember for both of us, love."

"Uranus, please—"

"I love you so much, Neptune."

Neptune parted her lips to talk, but that glassy shine on Uranus's eyes had darkened, her chest stopped moving, and all that remained was her beautiful smile and the lingering warmth of her skin.

"Uranus?" Neptune moved her hand and touched Uranus's still warm cheek. "Darling?" She patted her face. There was no response. Uranus was gone.

Neptune exhaled the breath she was holding, closed her lover's eyes, and slowly eased her body to the ground. She hurried to Uranus's side and lay down next to her. The blonde looked like she was sleeping, but Neptune knew better than that. As she turned her head to stare at her, she felt a cold wind travel through her. She felt heavy and incredibly tired. Neptune closed her eyes, laying on the ground amongst the ruins of the Silver Millenium Palace, and exhaled.

"Kaiou Michiru! A fangirl! Who would've thought?" Elza laughed as she slipped her arm inside her track and field jacket. "I don't want to sound prejudiced, but I never thought that you, of all people, were into girls." Elza stopped talking and let out a nervous chuckle. "I mean I—

"Elza, you do sound a bit prejudiced," Michiru said, brushing a persistent wrinkle off her skirt. "Where is she?"

Elza sneered and pulled the zipper of her tracksuit, and ran her fingers through her red hair. "You can't wait, can you? We just finished practicing. She must be outside getting her things. Let's go before we miss her."

Michiru nodded. She was thankful that her friend Elza told her she would introduce her to Haruka Tenoh…

Haruka Tenoh… Michiru shuddered as she said the name in her head. Her chest fluttered, her stomach jumped. She had never felt like that in her seventeen years of life. Yes, maybe to some people, she was still a child, but for some reason, she has always felt like she had lived much longer. An old soul. Some teachers have said, and Michiru believed it at some point. She was always quiet, watching, looking at things from a different perspective, minding her own business. Until she heard that name be mentioned during her P.E class. Someone had talked about track and field stars, about a runner that was breaking all the records. Michiru was curious, but as always, she paid no mind until she saw her.

It was around February; the school was getting ready for their competitive Sports Days. For an entire week, schools of the city would go head to head in different sports. Michiru, being a swimmer, participated and won a couple of medals and the recognition of college recruiters.

On Friday, her friend Elza told her to come to see her run, so she did. As she sat at the benches and waved at her friend from the starting line, something inside Michiru cried out. It was as if a part of her had been awakened. As if her very soul had found what it was missing.

Haruka Tenoh stood next to Elza, her arms akimbo, her eyes so concentrated and narrowed on that finish line. Her face contorted into an angry snarl. This girl was mad at something, and Michiru could only hope to know what it was. As the announcers called out the racers' names and people began to cheer and scream at their favorite racers, Michiru noticed that she was no longer rooting for Elza but this girl, with the old stare, angry face, with gorgeous blonde hair. Then, the race started, and Michiru kept her eyes glued to that girl until the race was over— until Haruka won. Haruka didn't celebrate; she didn't smile; she just waved her hand up at whoever cheered for her and left to change…

That was three months ago, and since that day, Michiru couldn't stop thinking about Haruka. About how her voice sounded, how she looked when she smiled. Michiru found herself sketching Haruka's determined green eyes in her class notebooks; she found herself painting Haruka's slender body in all her canvases during art class. She… she was obsessed.

She wanted to believe that it was just a small teenage crush, that time would make her move on and get on with her life, but she couldn't. Not only was her academic life interrupted with constant images of Haruka, but her dreams too.

Michiru dreamt of Haruka night in, night out. All her dreams felt as real as being awake. One night she dreamt of meeting Haruka. She saw the young woman in a white dress with a tiara across her forehead. Her hands, large and callused, moved to touch Michiru's. Another night she dreamt of kissing her— her lips plump, soft, and delicious. She carried the smell of clean wind in her skin, and Michiru couldn't get enough of her. She couldn't tear her face away from her neck as she took her in, her arms wrapped around her Haruka's, their chest pressed intimately close. A third night she dreamt of Haruka, of her naked body above hers, of her hands touching her and taking her to the peak of pleasure, of her mouth undoing her, kissing her in the most intimate places where no one had been before…

Michiru dreamt of love, passion, lust, tenderness; she dreamt of anger, fear, blood… of death.

That last dream was a nightmare that made her wake up covered in sweat, with tears in her eyes and an ache in her heart. Haruka had died in her arms. That morning, Michiru skipped breakfast, she even faked being sick to stay home, but something called to her. Something told her that she needed to go to school that day.

Michiru was late but managed to eat lunch with Elza, who told her that some students from the neighboring school were using their track that afternoon to practice since theirs was being repaired. One of those students was Haruka.

Michiru almost begged Elza to introduce her to the blonde, and after a bullying session, Elza agreed.

And now, Michiru walked next to Elza, her eyes fixated on a particular blonde girl who was rubbing a towel against her sweaty neck.

"Oi! Haruka!" Eliza called out, and Michiru's stomach became alive with so many butterflies she felt they might just come out of her ears.

Haruka turned to them, and as her face became visible to Michiru, so did the stone-hard stare. Haruka looked unimpressed, tired as if she had been searching for something she had lost millennia ago. "Elza. What is it?"

Michiru stopped beside Elza, and she saw her friend move aside and point back at her with such casualty.

"Well, I have your number one fan at my school waiting to meet you."

Michiru's face contorted to a glare directed to Elza and only Elza. Smooth, Elza. Really smooth…

"This is Kaiou Michiru. Michiru, this is Tenoh Haruka." Elza said, and her presence disappeared as Haruka turned to look at Michiru.

As her blue eyes connected with dark green ones, Michiru felt as if she could hear for the first time. The wind was restless; the ocean waves called out to her, a soft murmur of reassurance from a distance. The heavens and sea collided in her mind, and this familiarity of long-lost lovers pierced her lonely heart like a stake; It pulled apart at the nightmares of solitude and deathly shadows that had consumed her mind. Michiru almost sobbed, as if her very essence was touched with soft loving hands. Her hands.

This sudden awakening of her senses was all because of her—of Haruka.

In the distance, the soft songs of spoken 'I love you' made Michiru see the blonde with her white dress, with her tiara. The glare was no longer there, instead replaced by an all-knowing, surprised gaze painted with the sudden realization that she had found that which was taken from her.

Haruka's shoulder quivered, and Michiru wanted to go to her side, touch her, kiss her, and feel her alive and well, young, beautiful, and perfect. She was perfect…

"I remember..." Haruka's deep voice dispersed the fog in Michiru's mind, and she found her hands gripping Haruka's callused fingers. She wasn't going to let go; she wouldn't. Not now.

Tears streamed down soft young skin; Michiru let them run freely; they were happy tears. She was home… Michiru was home.

She smiled and watched the blonde imitate her with her handsome smirk.

Taking a deep breath, Michiru's grip on Haruka eased as she found the strength to talk again.

"I found you, Uranus."