For Love of the Wind
Voiceless it cries
Wingless flutters
Toothless bites
Mouthless mutters
-unknown to me
"All right class. Listen up. This is Michiru Kaioh. Let's make her feel welcome," said Haruka Tenoh glaring at Serena who was deep in conversation with Mina. They smiled guiltily at her. "She just moved into town and it must be hard on her since it's her last year of high school in a new school." Ms. Tenoh motioned for the slender girl to take a seat. There was a scattered chorus of "hellos" as she sat down. "Amy, why don't you fill her in on the classroom expectations and activities? The rest of you can come up to the field with me. No, the rest of you will come up to the field with me," said Ms. Tenoh as she saw Jared raise his hand. He was always trying to find ways to get out of doing PE activities. "You two can follow when you're done." Amy gave Michiru a brief summary of the rules and expectations. Then she showed her the weight room and the recording sheets. During the whole time Michiru said very little. As they slowly made their way toward the field Amy asked, "Are you just quiet because it's your first day or are you always like this?" Michiru looked at her in surprise and then burst out laughing. "Sorry. I'm always like this." "I didn't mean…it's just…er…sorry. I didn't mean to say that," sputtered Amy. "No it's all right," answered Michiru. They stopped talking when they reached Ms. Tenoh. "If you two don't hate each other you can be partners," she told them distractedly watching where Rei and Aaron looked ready to kill each other. "Grab a football and start passing." Michiru watched Ms. Tenoh hurry toward the pair before throwing the football to Amy. "How old is Ms. Tenoh? She doesn't look much older than us," said Michiru as she went through the motions of throwing and catching. "She's pretty young for a teacher, about 23 or 24," answered Amy. "What sports teams do you have going now?" asked Michiru. "Um…let me think. There's softball, soccer, basketball. What am I forgetting? Oh yeah! Track. Do you do track?" asked Amy when she saw Michiru's eyes light up. "Yeah. Is it too late to be on the team? It is kind of late in the school year." "Don't worry about it. Just talk with Ms. Tenoh. Or should I say Coach Tenoh?" said Amy. "Really? She's the coach?" asked Michiru. Perfect fit. Even now she looks like she'd rather be running. "Yep," answered Amy. "Maybe I'll talk with her after school," said Michiru. Michiru managed to get through the rest of the day without too much of a hassle. It was easy to find the classrooms and lunchroom. Finally the last bell rang and she breathed a sigh of relief. Now all she had to do was talk to Ms. Tenoh. Easier said than done. She walked into the locker room and then toward Ms. Tenoh's office. It was locked. She searched the gym. Nobody was there. Finally she walked outside up to the track and spotted Ms. Tenoh putting equipment away. She stood there not sure of what to do. "Are you going to stand there staring or do you need something?" called Ms. Tenoh before she disappeared into the storage building. Michiru jumped and blushed struggling to calm down. Thankfully a breeze came by and tugged at her hair and clothes, which calmed her down a lot. Ms. Tenoh reappeared and walked over to Michiru. "What do you want to talk about?" she asked. "I was wondering if I could join the track team," Michiru said hesitantly. "Sure. We have practice Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 2:30 to 4:15," said Ms. Tenoh looking her up and down. "What events?" "Maybe the 100 meter dash and hurdles," replied Michiru. "All right. We'll start there. See you tomorrow." "See you," echoed Michiru as she walked away.
* * *
Amy was walking near the portables when she saw Michiru go around the corner of the school. "Hey Michiru!" she called out and ran around the same corner. She halted in surprise. There was no one there. "Amy!" she heard Lita shout. "Coming," she called back with one last glance around her. She never thought to look up, which was lucky for Michiru.
* * *
The next month was pretty much uneventful. She and Amy became good friends. It turned out that Michiru's school track team was one of the better ones and she was one of the best runners. She was getting straight As and mostly stayed out of the center of attention. The only odd thing that happened was whenever she saw Ms. Tenoh unexpectedly she had a weird feeling in her stomach and her heart would beat faster. She couldn't figure out what was wrong with her. Lately she had been getting a little depressed. The last track meet was getting closer. It was a lot of fun to be on the team and she didn't want it to end. The day arrived at last. The only good thing about it was they got to leave school early. It wasn't too far away. Only about a half an hour drive. Michiru was thoroughly engrossed in her book and she was listening to a CD with the volume down low when she heard Ms. Tenoh speak. "Good book?" She jumped in surprise and bumped the volume on her CD player, which blasted words in her ears.
I looked at her, she looked at me
She's got me thinking about her constantly
But she don't know how I feel
And I'm crazy for this girl
Michiru fumbled with the volume and brought it down low again. "Yeah," she answered. As Ms. Tenoh walked away down the aisle Michiru thought to herself is it true? Am I in love for the first time in my life? No you're dreaming Michiru. Still I wonder.
After the track meet (which they won) Michiru wandered into the gym. "Wind come to me. Lift me up," she whispered. A minute later she was lying on her back a few feet above the ground. Michiru closed her eyes and sighed. The wind usually calmed her but not today. Her brain was cluttered with questions that she couldn't ask or answer. Then she heard something that made her sit up in a hurry. Oh no! I forgot that Ms. Tenoh had to store our uniforms in here! "Up please. Quickly," she whispered. Once she was almost touching the ceiling she relaxed and turned over in time to see Ms. Tenoh enter the gym. She hesitated in the doorway before continuing to the equipment room door. As Ms. Tenoh came out of the room Michiru felt the tension in the air. All of a sudden the ground began to shake and it threw Ms. Tenoh to the ground. The earthquake stopped as suddenly as it started. "To the ground," whispered Michiru. She had almost landed when she heard a snapping sound. Haruka Tenoh looked up in horror when she saw one of the big lights that swung above the gym fall towards her. She tried to scramble out of the way but something caught her foot and kept her where she was. "Help her!" screamed Michiru. The wind blew faster and faster toward the big glass light. They were about to meet when the ground under Michiru's feet shifted and threw her to her knees. She looked up just in time to the wind and light collide before the ground opened up and swallowed her. Ms. Tenoh ran to help her and skidded to a halt at the edge of the gaping abyss. "Bring her back," she cried out. Something inside of her felt like it was holding on to a struggling animal. She got control over it and was surprised to see the earth bringing Michiru back up. She was flat on her back and looked extremely weak. "Michiru," she said. Michiru opened her eyes. There was a scratch on her cheek and a gash in her side was bleeding. She was rapidly losing blood. The wind was a part of me. I don't know if it happened because my concentration broke or if the earth did it as I fell she thought. "What on earth…?" Ms. Tenoh seemed at loss for words. "I regained my lost memories," said Michiru in wonder. "Don't you remember Haruka?" she trained her sad eyes on her. "Michiru," said Haruka in confusion. "I hope this will help," said the younger girl as she propped herself up on her elbows. "You shouldn't move," began Haruka before she was cut off by Michiru's kiss. A tidal wave of emotions flooded her and her eyes widened in surprise as she remembered what Michiru knew. She remembered the Moon Kingdom and how they were reincarnated over and over again. This was the first time they were more than 3 years apart. Since the world had no need for Sailor Scouts they remembered nothing. Sailor Uranus and Neptune had more powers than the first 5 guardians did and the extra power had to go somewhere so they commanded the elements. "Oh Michiru. Don't leave me now that I've found you," whispered Haruka as tears slid down her cheeks. "I won't ever leave you. I'll always be with you. I am the wind," said Michiru in a slightly echoing voice as her body faded. As a last gift she gave Haruka her control over winds. Once Michiru left only Haruka truly remembered her although Amy, as her closest friend, felt something was missing. Haruka also mastered fire but water remained unmastered as it was destined for Michiru. Out of all the elements wind was Haruka's favorite and in all of her future reincarnations she felt a special affinity to the wind.