25/04/05 - I've almost forgotten it, but here you go, another chapter!
viximon: Don't worry, I'll never blame you for guessings and wonders ;)
Chapter 15: The Research of Pure Hearts
All around her was death, destruction, chaos... something she had grown accustomed to by now, but was no less disturbing... something she had seen many times in her dreams, her visions... something that always reminded her of her duty...
But this time there was something new. This time, along with those horrible scenes, there was a voice... a calm, wise, female voice... one that Haruka knew - she was sure of it - but couldn't remember to whom it belonged.
"The Silence is approaching. You have to stop it before it's too late."
'You'... Michiru and herself, of course... she knew that.
What she didn't know.. what she had wondered for so many nights after her visions was how. How could they stop it? Were their powers strong enough to fight back agaist the Silence itself?
The voice was probably able to read her thoughts (or maybe she had just spoken out loud in the dream), because it answered her questions: "To prevent the Silence, you have to find the three Talismans..."
'The three Talismans..?'
Again the voice seemed to read her mind: "They are contained in the pure hearts of three pure persons." as it continued on, Haruka could see three glowing crystals appear in front of her... the small things were shining like the morning sun, but their light was much more gentle and warm: "You have to find them before our enemies do, or we won't be able to summon the Sacred Cup and call forth the Messiah."
'And who is the Messiah?'
"The only one able to stop the Silence."
It was then that the glowing crystals disappeared, to be replaced by a human female figure with long flowing hair and colored wings (shaped like butterfly wings), surrounded by an aura of goodness... purity... and perfection...
This time Haruka didn't have to ask, she was sure of it: this woman was the Messiah.
Then the vision started to fade... soon the blonde would awake.
She had many other questions for the voice and of course, she tried to ask them, but she got no reply... the voice was gone...
Suddenly Haruka opened her eyes, scenes from her vision playing over and over again in her head, as she tried to calm down and make things clear in her confused mind.
The Silence... the Pure Hearts... the three Talismans... the Messiah...
Was it just a dream? No, that wasn't possible and she knew it. She couldn't put a name to the familiar voice she had heard, yet she believed it without hesitation.
At last, they had more information about their mission...
What could it mean? Was the Silence getting closer?
The tall blonde rubbed her tired eyes and rose from her bed. She was still too confused to think properly... a long, relaxing shower was what she needed right now...
Twenty minutes later, she had already stepped out of the bathroom and put on a clean t-shirt and shorts (what she used when it was too hot to wear pajamas). Her hair was still wet, but she didn't care as she sat on the bed and looked out the window...
She needed to talk with Michiru about the vision... had the smaller girl seen it too? What would she think about it?
The tall blonde looked at her alarm clock: 5:27 a.m.
Damn, it was still too early... she couldn't wake her friend up at such a hour, could she?
Besides, there was no reason for rushing... they would be able to discuss the matter later in the morning, at the table, while eating their breakfast... yes, waiting was the better thing to do.
But did you really think that Haruka would have enough patience to wait so long?
5:29 a.m.
"Michiru..?"
"..uhm..."
"Michiru, please.. wake up..."
"Haruka..?" the aqua-haired beauty turned to face her partner. She still looked rather sleepy, but as she sensed the nervousness in her partner's tone, she switched on the light and focused her full attention on the blonde: "What's wrong?"
"I had a nightmare.. but it wasn't the same..."
Hearing those soft yet grave words, the young violinist frowned and sat up straight, waiting for the taller girl to continue.
The more Haruka spoke, explaining what she had seen, the more Michiru's frown deepened: "So.. we have to look for the three Talismans..?"
"Hai."
"And how can we recognize them?"
"I think I've seen them in the dream... they're like small, shining stars... we have to find the people who have a pure heart to get them..."
"But how..?"
"I don't know... I tried to ask, but the voice didn't answer me..." the blonde slowly shook her head, distressed but also relieved, now that she had shared this burden with her always calm and controlled partner.
"Maybe we'll find out on our own.." the violinist offered thoughtfully.
"Maybe... if only we could know what the enemy is up to..."
Michiru kept silent, then in a grave tone: "We have already waited for too long... now it's time to act."
When Haruka nodded in reply, the aqua-haired beauty reached out to touch her hand and offered a warm smile, trying to dispel the tension of the moment. She was confident of their success, of course.
The tall blonde smiled right back, then she leaned in to gently kiss her smaller partner.
"We will stop the Silence." Haruka whispered when they parted slightly, just before they got closer again for another kiss.. more passionate, this time.
For once, the love, desire and longing they had always restrained for so many reasons, seemed to explode... overwhelmed by what they felt for each other, they got more and more involved in what was no longer a mere kiss... and now there was no way they could stop it.
Michiru took Haruka's face with both her hands and softly caressed her cheeks, while the taller girl passed an arm behind her waist and pushed her smaller partner down on the bed. The blonde paused only a moment to look at her beautiful, stunning partner, then she bent down and start to kiss Michiru's neck, while her hands moved upwards under the girl's night shirt...
Things were clearly heating up for the young couple, but then... stop.
Confused.. and annoyed.. and confused again, they looked at each other for a long time, before Michiru finally spoke: "The sea.. is getting nervous..."
There was something strange in the air... and now that they had lost the magic of that very special moment, all that was left was a slight uneasiness about what could have happened... but didn't.
"Hai.. a youma..." replied the blonde as she moved away from the aqua-haired beauty with embarrassment. Her mind, however, was still full of Michiru: her soft lips.. the delicate touch of her hands.. her warm body and scented skin... and Haruka was the one who had been 'tasting' all of this and couldn't help but wonder: what if the bad feeling hadn't interrupted them? Were they really going to make love? And then..?
As Haruka stood, forcing herself not to think about that, she offered a hand to help Michiru up and tried to dispel the awkwardness of the situation with a half smile: "We had better hurry..."
Again Fate had played one of its evil tricks on the poor blonde, who swore: sooner or later she would get her revenge and with interest!
5:48 a.m.
A time when most people were usually asleep... her partner and she were no exception, at least until that morning...
Their intimate moment was nothing more than memory as they were now running at top speed in their sailor fuku to solve the matter... usual senshi business.
"Don't youmas need to sleep like everyone else?" Uranus grumbled, causing her smaller partner to smile with amusement: "Don't blame them. How could they have known that it wasn't the 'right' moment?"
The senshi of the wind almost stumbled at the reference and then coughed, trying to cover her deep flush.
At such a reaction, Neptune couldn't stifle a laugh, but then, when she suddenly spotted their enemy, the senshi of the oceans was all business: "Over there."
They had arrived at the nearby ship port, a isolated, empty place at that hour, lucky for them...
"Let's end this quickly." with all her thoughts focused on the oncoming battle, Uranus moved to attack, Neptune was right behind her.
"World..." the senshi of the wind suddenly stopped as she noticed something she hadn't seen before, hidden behind the monster's body: it was a man, a dock worker perhaps.
Suddenly a dark ray of energy coming from the youma hit the man's chest, causing him to cry out in pain... what was going on?
Then they finally understood. A star-shaped crystal appeared in front of the worker, who then fell to the ground... unconscious? Dead? They couldn't say... but the gem.. they knew what it was: the enemy had just found a person with a pure heart.
