Wenn morgen die Welt unterginge,

würde ich heute noch mein Apfelbäumchen pflanzen.

Reinhard Mey

(If the world would end tomorrow,

I would plant my little apple-tree this very day.)

Note by the author:

The lines are taken from the album My little apple-tree by Reinhard Mey. I don't know if it is so well-known in Germany, but I've heard it when I was younger. The whole album is about the joy of having children. Mey says that a child is like a little apple-tree. It has to grow with our strength, our protection and all our love. Children are the most important persons in our life. They teach us to look at the world through different eyes. They show us to laugh about little things we've already forgotten. They help us to see our own lives the way they do. A way we've lost when we grew up. Mey also says that having children is the greatest adventure in life. I don't have children, but I believe him. And someday, maybe I'll have a little daughter, too.

This story is about Haruka and Michiru. They can't have children together. Naturally. So I had to change some rules. Please excuse me for wrong details, but I am not a doctor. I am just an author and I want to tell you a fairy tale (yes, you could name it this way).

The time of this story isn't really important. But it could be some years after the fifth season.

Disclaimer: Yes, I know that I don't own Sailor Moon, as I know that everyone else knows who actually created them. But I don't care. I just borrow the characters and write my own story.

For murder threats or declarations of love e-mail: aprileaglefreenet.de !

April 23rd 2000, about 23 o'clock: IT'S A BOY! Congratulations, my dear Sylvia...

Wanted Child By April Eagle

Prologue (March)

I love you.

The young woman paced through the long white corridors for the tenth time. Or the eleventh? She didn't know. She didn't count. She didn't think of anything at all. Of anything else than the weak voice she heard again and again in her mind.

I love you.

With every minute she got more and more nervous. Her dark green eyes looked for some seconds at the watch then she carried on. It was an aimless walk through the bright building. But she couldn't stay calm. It had been about an hour ago that they began to operate her lover. The person who meant everything to her. Who was all of her life. The young woman sighed and shuffled over to a big window where she could oversee a great park. What took them so long? Were there any complications? Was her lover fighting with death just this moment? And here she stood and couldn't help her! That was the hardest thing about it. Standing around, total helplessly! She was very strong, but all her powers couldn't save her life if the doctor did any mistakes. If he was wrong when he told her lover the truth about the illness.

They had to operate quickly to save her life. The longer her lover did wait the lower was the chance to survive. The young woman sighed as she remembered the sad look in pure blue eyes she loved so much. They both knew what it meant and it had been very hard for her to let her lover choose. The choice had been life.

I love you.

These were the last words of her lover before the anaesthesia did it's job. The young woman clenched her fists, looked straight over to a huge tree standing in front of the hospital. It stood in blossom like all trees did in Japan. Spring had just began and what would follow would be the hardest summer of their lives - and the saddest. She knew that her lover went through all this pain for her. For her and their daughter.

Because to save her life she gave up her greatest wish, her best dream.

The young woman hoped that she did the right thing. That she would never regret this step. But life was too worthy to been thrown away! And she didn't know how to carry on without her lover... She sighed again and rubbed her hand over her pale face. Her green eyes stared back at her from the window. They were full of tears. The young woman had to swallow. She couldn't remember the last time she cried.

Her fingers tore her short blond hair restlessly. They trembled.

"Miss Tenô?" A nurse walked over to the young woman holding a cell phone. "Here is a call for you."

"Thanks." She replied wondering how shaky her voice was. She watched the nurse disappear then listened to the exited voice in the telephone.

"I don't know. They started over an hour ago." Her voice was not more than a whisper. "I am frightened." Never before she had admitted it. However, she was afraid deep down. Afraid of losing the person who meant everything to her. Who was her future.

"And Hime-chan? Did she mention anything?" The young woman leaned against the white wall taking a deep breath. "No, that's good. Very good." Again a deep breath. It became harder and harder for her to fight back her tears. Suddenly she felt all alone.

I love you.

No, she had never been alone. Not after she had met that sweet person who understood her. Who loved her with all consequences. And now this illness happened. The young woman felt deep regret inside her heart. It was her fault that her lover couldn't make her greatest dream come true. Now it was too late.

"Tanks, Yaten. I don't know how..." She was interrupted by the voice and nodded thoughtfully. "And my best wishes to Setsuna. Yes, I will... you can..." The young woman wanted to say something more, but she forgot all the words in her mind when she saw the doctor coming toward her. She shivered and wondered if the air in the hospital had suddenly frozen. Her hand couldn't hold the cell phone any longer and it cracked as it hit the ground.

The young woman wanted to ask so many questions, but she couldn't say a word. She just stood there staring at the man in white. She stopped to move. To think. To hope.

I love you.

A smile appeared on the doctor's face when he saw the blank horror in the pale face of the young woman.

"Don't worry." He said in a calm steady voice. "Everything will be fine. She got through the operation very well. Of course there will be more medical examinations , but I don't think there will be any complications."

"Thanks heaven!" The young woman didn't realise that tears were running down her pale face.

I love you.

"Can I see her?"

The doctor watched her for a moment, then he nodded.

"Yes, but only shortly. She is still unconscious and it will take some more time until she awakes."

She looked so small in the bed, so fragile.

Her sea green hair laid on the pillow, her deep blue eyes were shut. The skin of her body was almost white.

The young woman took a chair and sat down next to the bed. She ignored the machines making regular noises. She also ignored the needles and the drips connected to her lover's body. All she could see was the younger woman lying under the blankets. Her eyes were shut, her face was pale, but her chest moved slightly.

She was still alive. Only that fact did count.

Carefully Haruka took the hand of her lover and held it tight. Michiru decided to live. For her and for Hotaru. Haruka hoped that Michiru would never regret her decision.

I love you.

Michiru's flat voice had been full of hope. She wanted to live. She wanted to have a future. She wanted to be with the persons she loved.

Haruka touched the blankets with every caution she could muster where she suspected the belly of her lover to be.

Michiru would be a great mother to Hotaru without ever given birth to an own child.

I love you.

"I love you too, Michi-chan." Haruka looked down at the small figure of her lover and pressed her hand gently.

Then she started to sob.

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