"Five minutes flat," Michiru said as she pressed the stop button on the black sports watch and smirked. Her partner made a face at the aqua-haired girl.
"Oh come on, you know I got 30 seconds faster," Haruka protested playfully, out of breath from the mile run. Michiru liked those moments with her. They made her enjoy life all the more with Haruka by her side.
"You know me too well, Haruka." Michiru smiled, which soon turned into a giggle. Haruka adored everything about Michiru--her eyes, her hair-geez, especially when she laughed, she thought to herself. The sandy-haired senshi took the hand towel gratefully from Michiru and wiped the back of her neck with it.
Michiru woke with a jerk. Yume…she thought. Disappointment, anger, and tears swelled up in her eyes as she clenched the bed sheets in her palms. If someone were there with her, she would not have done such a thing. But now that Haruka left…it was almost as if bits and pieces of her memories were completely erased from her life. Since the night she left to this very night, she would always ask, "Why?" to nobody in particular. But she knew that it was directed to the one that abandoned her. Setsuna and Hotaru, they knew too. They knew exactly what she was feeling, because they left as well.
It's been one month since the three's departure from her. Michiru couldn't recall it that vividly anymore, but the basic details were implanted into her mind, pressed into her heart, until she just couldn't forget it anymore. As the oceanic senshi dozed back to sleep in tears, she thought of that eventful night she just couldn't get out of her head. It all had become a routine…not allowing herself to forget, she couldn't erase the last glimpses she had of her loved ones.
Hotaru--Sailorsaturn--was taken away first. Or, at least it was her own choice to go. Michiru wasn't herself anymore…she was Sailorneptune, traveling back to the night that haunted her. From afar, the lone senshi watched the whole scene play out over again. It was too hard for her to watch…but she had to. She wouldn't forgive herself if she forgot the faces of the ones closest to her.
"No! Don't save me. Uranus…Neptune…Pluto…daijobu," the senshi of destruction stated reassuringly as she forced a smile. Knowing and raising Hotaru for years, they couldn't just let it slip by. They couldn't just stand where they were and let her die a slow and painful death. So, being naïve at the time, the three remaining soldiers continued to fight the powerful enemy that held Sailorsaturn captive. The present Michiru yelled at the senshi fighting the sorceress, shouting for them to stop. Of course, they didn't hear her because it was just a mere memory. Just another part of her usual routine, though she knew it wouldn't do any good. At this point, the evil woman encased the captive senshi into a grotesque shape of a crystal. The cold face of Sailorsaturn looked so serene and peaceful, yet the outer senshi all stopped attacking at the realization of the consequences. The two faded as the surroundings did the same.
When Michiru opened her eyes again, she was at another location, watching the senshi…except this time, without Hotaru. Sailorpluto's departure led Michiru to confusion. And so did Sailoruranus. It was at the brink of dawn, and they were battling a youma…nothing unusual about that. Then, they just…disappeared. Nobody knows how, or why, just that they left her to finish fighting the monster. The soldier of the sea, who once looked independent and strong, now looked helpless and fragile. Michiru collapsed to her knees as her sailorsenshi uniform faded into the everyday school uniform. "Doshite?" Michiru asked, at the verge of breaking down and crying.
An audible whisper suddenly woke Michiru again. Was it her hearing things again, or was this real? She couldn't tell the difference anymore.
There it was again. Michiru…
The blue eyed girl turned to face the window, and saw a figure standing there smirking back at her. Those eyes looked so familiar.
"Kaiou Michiru, ne? Good."
"Oh come on, you know I got 30 seconds faster," Haruka protested playfully, out of breath from the mile run. Michiru liked those moments with her. They made her enjoy life all the more with Haruka by her side.
"You know me too well, Haruka." Michiru smiled, which soon turned into a giggle. Haruka adored everything about Michiru--her eyes, her hair-geez, especially when she laughed, she thought to herself. The sandy-haired senshi took the hand towel gratefully from Michiru and wiped the back of her neck with it.
Michiru woke with a jerk. Yume…she thought. Disappointment, anger, and tears swelled up in her eyes as she clenched the bed sheets in her palms. If someone were there with her, she would not have done such a thing. But now that Haruka left…it was almost as if bits and pieces of her memories were completely erased from her life. Since the night she left to this very night, she would always ask, "Why?" to nobody in particular. But she knew that it was directed to the one that abandoned her. Setsuna and Hotaru, they knew too. They knew exactly what she was feeling, because they left as well.
It's been one month since the three's departure from her. Michiru couldn't recall it that vividly anymore, but the basic details were implanted into her mind, pressed into her heart, until she just couldn't forget it anymore. As the oceanic senshi dozed back to sleep in tears, she thought of that eventful night she just couldn't get out of her head. It all had become a routine…not allowing herself to forget, she couldn't erase the last glimpses she had of her loved ones.
Hotaru--Sailorsaturn--was taken away first. Or, at least it was her own choice to go. Michiru wasn't herself anymore…she was Sailorneptune, traveling back to the night that haunted her. From afar, the lone senshi watched the whole scene play out over again. It was too hard for her to watch…but she had to. She wouldn't forgive herself if she forgot the faces of the ones closest to her.
"No! Don't save me. Uranus…Neptune…Pluto…daijobu," the senshi of destruction stated reassuringly as she forced a smile. Knowing and raising Hotaru for years, they couldn't just let it slip by. They couldn't just stand where they were and let her die a slow and painful death. So, being naïve at the time, the three remaining soldiers continued to fight the powerful enemy that held Sailorsaturn captive. The present Michiru yelled at the senshi fighting the sorceress, shouting for them to stop. Of course, they didn't hear her because it was just a mere memory. Just another part of her usual routine, though she knew it wouldn't do any good. At this point, the evil woman encased the captive senshi into a grotesque shape of a crystal. The cold face of Sailorsaturn looked so serene and peaceful, yet the outer senshi all stopped attacking at the realization of the consequences. The two faded as the surroundings did the same.
When Michiru opened her eyes again, she was at another location, watching the senshi…except this time, without Hotaru. Sailorpluto's departure led Michiru to confusion. And so did Sailoruranus. It was at the brink of dawn, and they were battling a youma…nothing unusual about that. Then, they just…disappeared. Nobody knows how, or why, just that they left her to finish fighting the monster. The soldier of the sea, who once looked independent and strong, now looked helpless and fragile. Michiru collapsed to her knees as her sailorsenshi uniform faded into the everyday school uniform. "Doshite?" Michiru asked, at the verge of breaking down and crying.
An audible whisper suddenly woke Michiru again. Was it her hearing things again, or was this real? She couldn't tell the difference anymore.
There it was again. Michiru…
The blue eyed girl turned to face the window, and saw a figure standing there smirking back at her. Those eyes looked so familiar.
"Kaiou Michiru, ne? Good."