Five days later, Haruka woke and went to the living room to find that Setsuna had left hours ago to finish last-minute preparations for the opening. Glancing to the clock, she realized that it was just under an hour until the opening, and Setsuna had asked that her friends be there a few minutes early. Giving a small curse underneath her breath, she grabbed an outfit from her bedroom and headed to take a quick shower before heading out. Twenty minutes later, after showering, dressing, and grabbing something small to eat, she made sure to grab her keys and lock the door before running down the stairs. Trying to figure out why she had slept in and missed her morning run and almost missed the opening. But, as she ran down the sidewalk, dodging other pedestrians with ease, she thought that at least she got to make up for it now.

She managed to arrive before the opening, but still after all of her friends. She went inside as a few customers came up to wait the few minutes until the shop opened. It wasn't anything near to a crowd, but, for a business just starting up, it was pretty good. The group of assembled friends told anyone that they knew about Setsuna's new business, and it appeared that many of them were ready and willing to lend their support. Haruka found herself drawn into a hug by a smiling Setsuna. "I thought you weren't going to make it, sleepy-head!" With no further comment beyond that, Setsuna went off to talk with the others, who had been double-checking over things for her.

Haruka looked after her with a small smile. She couldn't recall a time when she had ever seen Setsuna this happy. Not in all the time she had served with her on the outer reaches of the solar system as a soldier, fought by her side here on Earth, or just hung out with her during one of the breaks in between enemy threats had she seen her have any reason to smile so much.

She sighed and shook her head before heading down the hallway to look over things herself. She was a bit upset at the fact that she would miss the cut-off time for registering for the races, but there was no way that she would miss something so important to one of her friends. But she laughed as she came upon the large office. Apparently Setsuna had taken what she had said literally and had actually pushed the office furniture to the side and set up for a decent-sized party. She started to leave to go ask Setsuna about it when Setsuna opened the door at the end of the hallway. "There you are! If you hadn't noticed, I kind of set up for a small party back there - one just for us later on and a few of the customers... Usagi said that she had told Naru and Umino about the opening. Anyway, I hired a band and they just pulled up and are unloading their things. Do you think you could come up here and help, show them where to set up back there?"

"Uhm, sure." Haruka headed out to the main room, then immiediately felt like chasing after Setsuna. Standing there inside the doorway were the Three Lights. She looked over at Setsuna and gave a teasing glare. "You're going to be in so much trouble later, you know that, right?"

Setsuna grinned over at her as a response before going back to playing with Chibi-Usa. Taiki chuckled before taking on the task of finding an electrical outlet so they could play a little outside before going in for the party later before settling down to test his guitar. Seiya sat on the edge of Usagi's desk as Haruka walked over, shaking her head.

"So," he began with a small grin as he reached out and grabbed her tie, "what, are you not happy to see me?"

"I didn't say that... It just seems that ever since I came back, everyone's been purposely hiding things from me until the last possible minute."

"Ah... You'll get over it. So, long lines at registration? Setsuna told me you just managed to show up a few minutes ago after she left the apartment and you were still asleep..."

"Actually... I pretty much ran straight here after waking up. I've only been up for..." She looked up at a clock on the wall, "about forty-five minutes now."

"Ouch... I guess that means you're free for the next few months."

She lifted an eyebrow at the comment, trying to figure out what he was getting at before giving in and just asking. "What's your point?"

"Well... a couple of the places were stopping to play at are charity events. Playing mainly in concert halls and stadiums so far isn't working, so we're going to try a few things like this. Kakyuu-hime was always kind-hearted, so they're all likely places for her to show up. Anyway, a couple of them are actually marathons, and we talked to the people organizing the events, and they liked the idea of having some celebrities being in the actual race, so..."

Haruka chuckled, finally getting her tie out of his hands. "So instead of signing up yourself, you volunteered me without even knowing if I'd be able to make it."

"Pretty much... but Yaten also actually liked the idea of you coming along..."

"Are you waiting for me to have a heart attack or are you going to tell me the reason behind this bizarre occurence?"

"Well, he was sort of wondering if maybe he could teach you some of our songs so that he could go out into the audiences and see if he could spot Kakyuu-hime, just in case she's not recognizing us..."

The smile slipped off Haruka's face almost immediately at the suggestion.

"You don't have to if you don't want, of course... I know how you were at the music store, and -"

"Seiya, we need to get ready! Setsuna's about to open the doors!"

Seiya nodded at his taller brother before looking back to Haruka, who had managed to find a smile. "No, it's fine. Just try not to leave me with any singing parts."

He grinned before hopping down and heading over to his brothers. "No problem."

Needless to say, the next couple of hours were hectic. Everyone's friends had been the first to show up and decided to hang out until the party began. Then as the Three Lights began playing, along with the promotion of giving out autographed CDs to customers, more and more people streamed in to drop off their clothing, then lingered outside to listen to the band. Rei, Ami, Makoto, and Minako had even ended up helping Usagi take down information, and Mamoru had been talked into carrying the things back to where they belonged. Hotaru had the task of helping to keep Chibi-Usa occupied while Setsuna was busily going back and forth between directing the others and greeting the customers as they entered, then handing them their promised CDs as they exited.

Minako managed to esape from her task for a few minutes to come over to talk with Haruka, who had been sullenly watching over things, occasionally forcing a smile as someone noticed her and waved. Minako's smile faded as she got to her friend, though. "Haruka? What's wrong?"

"Well, for one, I missed the registration cut off..."

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"It's fine. My fault anyway. But I told Seiya about it, and he asked if I would come along on tour with the Three Lights so that I could be in some of the charity marathons they were playing at the after parties for."

"No problem there, right?"

"No. I even joked with him about it. But then he asked if I would mind filling in for Yaten on a few of their songs so Yaten could go out into the audiences and see if he could spot their princess, just in case she wasn't recognizing them."

"Oh, Haruka... he's basically asking you to help him leave, isn't he?"

"Without realizing it, yes."

Minako gave a wistful smile. "I hadn't realized that you had started to feel so much for him."

"Neither had I. Before all of this started to happen... I would have done anything to help him to get out of here, even go on tour with him, no matter how much I hated him. But now..."

"You love him," Minako filled in for her. She smiled at the small scowl on Haruka's face. "Well, that's progress. Before the last time you disappeared, you would have argued with me about that until you ran out of breath... and that's saying a lot, considering how athletic you are."

"You're pushing it."

The pretty blond laughed. "Alright, alright. I'll stop. But don't let that keep you from admitting to yourself what you know to be the truth."

"Minako! Get your cute little butt back over here!"

She giggled and winked at Haruka before turning and running back over to Makoto's side, taking over a few customers for her.

Finally, a long while later, Setsuna was able to close the doors as the Three Lights brought their things in. She smiled over at them. "Sorry, you guys. I hadn't expected that you need to play that long. You can skip out on playing for the party, if you want to."

Seiya grinned and presented a CD player. "We were planning on it."

Laughing, everyone headed to the office as Seiya approached Haruka. "Something wrong? During a couple breaks, I sort of noticed that you were kind of hanging back by yourself."

Minako looked back from where she had been walking hand-in-hand with Makoto. She glanced over to Haruka, and it was pretty obvious she wouldn't tell Seiya what was bothering her, so she did. "It's about her filling in for Yaten, Seiya! Even I could figure out that you're pretty much asking her to help you leave even sooner!"

Haruka scowled at Minako before Makoto had the good sense to pull her away, Hotaru trailing behind with Chibi-Usa so that Seiya and Haruka would be left alone. Seiya looked back to her. "...Haruka?"

She sighed, crossing her arms and leaning back against the wall. "Look, I said that it was fine before, and that's what I meant. When you think about it, it makes more sense for me to help things along so you can leave sooner. I mean, less time for me to really start feeling something more than I do now, right? Don't worry about it."

"Haruka, I hadn't meant for it to sound like I'm trying to get out of here as soon as possible. If I had it my way, we would find her and still stay here..."

"But it won't be you way, and it will be your duty to leave. I can understand that, Seiya. You're not the only soldier here, you know. I've lived two lifetimes understanding the fact that my role as a senshi is more important that my personal life... I'm surprised that you've stayed around for this long, actually. On other planets, wouldn't you have moved on already?"

"I suppose we would have, but the population here is a lot more vast than on a lot of planets. Plus, Taiki and I both had personal reasons for staying. Again, I won't lie and say that it isn't a possibility that I'll have to leave at some point. My duty is to follow Kakyuu-hime. But it's also possible that if she's been here all this time, she might have come to accept this place as a second home, like Taiki and I have. And wherever Kakyuu-hime is happy to stay. Yaten will be happy too."

"Don't be mad if I say that I'd have to see that happen before I'll believe it."

"Pessimist."

"Hey, I am how I am. Given the last couple of years, I think I'm entitled to that."

"True. Just don't let it become so over-whelming that you see a shadow around everything you look at before you see the light."

"I think I can handle that."

"Good," he said before giving a smile, grabbing her tie and pulling her down so they their lips met. They parted a couple minutes later, Haruka grumbling good-naturedly as he took her hand and led her down the hall toward the party. "One of these days I'm going to get you back for using my tie like a leash."

Seiya grinned before they entered, looking back at her. "Promise?" He ducked as a hand came flying at his head, then escaped into the group of people dancing to the music on the radio.