6/05/05 - This time it took me a bit too much to upload. There are so many things I have to think about... but I won't give in!
And here you go another chapter of Destined Souls! As always your reviews are more than welcome, also I would like to know what you think about the whole story so far... if it's getting better or just boring, that sort of things...
kandy1980 andKaro: See? This one is longer than chapter 15 :)
Kimmy: To go on with my own ideas, or to write till they meet the other Senshi? This is the question... ; b
Chapter 16: The Price of a Promise
"A talisman..?" asked an uncertain Neptune.
"No doubt." replied a more confident Uranus.
"Well, then.. you look after it, I'll take care of the youma." and without a second thought, the senshi of the oceans attacked the monster with a flying kick, preventing it from reaching out for the talisman.
The creature easily dodged the blow and started to fight with Neptune.
Not wanting to waste precious time, the senshi of the wind quickly reached the still man and with a gentle motion, she carefully took the pure heart into her hands... its light was so gentle, vibrant and alive...
"Is it a talisman?" Neptune asked again while still fighting with the youma.
Uranus looked at it closely, but.. no, this wasn't a talisman. She couldn't say exactly how she knew that, yet she did... "No, it isn't."
It was at that moment, when the blonde senshi looked down at the man, that she realized something was wrong: "He is... dying..?" she whispered to herself.
"Nani?" her smaller partner called distractedly, she was too busy with the enemy (a quite strong one...) to pay attention to Uranus.
The senshi of the wind knelt next to the weak, pale body, not knowing what she should do... but before she could start to panic, the crystal moved on its own will right back into the worker's chest, who then began to look healthy again.
As Uranus began to understand, she was shocked: "Without their pure hearts, people will die... then the owners of the three Talismans..?"
But she couldn't think about that right now... there was a fight still going on and her partner needed her help.
She turned her full attention to the battle and had an unpleasant surprise: the youma had somehow trapped the tired senshi of the oceans at the end of a dock and was now holding her by the neck.
When Neptune met her partner's gaze she somehow managed to say: "Now.. attack the monster.. now!"
Attack the monster? How could she while the youma was holding onto Neptune? If she used her power the smaller senshi would obviously be targeted as well... how could Uranus hurt her partner?
Her Michiru... the same girl Haruka had kissed so passionately only a few minutes before...
There was only one word needed to describe what Uranus was feeling at that moment and that word was panic.
She recklessly charged the enemy from behind, making the youma lose its hold on the senshi of the oceans.
Unfortunately she didn't yet know how to defeat the creature, so much stronger than herself in such a close fight...
Moving back while avoiding blows, the tall senshi had been able to lure the youma away from Neptune, giving her time to recover... but just when Uranus thought she could launch her own offensive, the monster suddenly charged her, knocking her hard against a container...
There was now blood sliding down her left temple, as Uranus fell to her knees. She had hit her head and was now rather confused... her mind whirling so quickly that she didn't even notice the youma towering over her, ready to deliver the final blow...
"Deep Submerge!" with all the power that was left in her sore body, the senshi of the oceans attacked the youma from behind and miraculously succeeded in defeating it.
Her relief, however, didn't last for long... as soon as she looked for her taller partner, she found the other girl collapsed on the ground.
While she sat outside in the waiting room, Michiru kept glancing at the door that separated her from her partner. She was feeling so many conflicting emotions, like guilt, anger, love, fear, sympathy... but those she felt the most when thinking about Haruka were anger and fear.
Why had she acted that way? Why didn't she just defeat the youma when Neptune had asked her to?
Of course, she already knew the answers... she could read the mind of her taller partner like an open book... Haruka had been worried about what her attack could have done to the young violinist.. what the World Shaking would... that's why Uranus had lost her self control and did the only thing she could think of to save Neptune: get the youma's attention.
While part of Michiru was glad to know how much Haruka cared for her, how much she wanted to protect her.. the other one could only think about how foolish the tall blonde had been...
What if the youma had killed Uranus and then the already weakened Neptune? What about the world and their mission? Who else would find the three Talismans to stop the Silence?
Haruka had been very selfish not to think about her partner's feelings... didn't the tall girl know that Michiru could never stand to live with Uranus' sacrifice? Couldn't live without her?
The aqua-haired beauty couldn't even imagine a world where there wasn't a Tenoh Haruka to tease, laugh and talk with... couldn't think about not seeing her charming, mischievous smile... those caring, dark green eyes...
The door slowly opened interrupting Michiru's thoughts. A tall man in a white coat stepped out and looked at her with that unreadable expression you usually saw on all the doctors' face when they had to give you good news.. or sometimes bad...
"How is she?" Michiru asked, barely able to hide her worry.
"Well..." the doctor started with a serious expression: "She hit her head quite badly. We had to stitch up a little cut on the side, but it wasn't serious. We ran several tests and found nothing else wrong with her. These motorcycle injuries can be tricky, but there's no reason to worry. All she needs to do is rest."
"Arigatou." the relieved aqua-haired beauty bowed to the doctor, who just smiled blandly and left to go check on some other patients. When she got to the room, she found her taller partner sitting up on the bed, her emerald eyes staring at her feet. She looked quieter than usual, so sad and thoughtful...
As soon as the blonde saw the smaller girl, she gave Michiru a coy smile, acting like a five-year-old child guilty of something: "Hi."
"How are you feeling?" the young violinist asked, carefully observing the taller girl.
"Fine.. I only have an annoying headache, nothing to worry about."
The pensive Michiru said nothing, so Haruka spoke again in a cheerful tone: "Come on, let's go. I don't want to stay here any longer."
The ride in the taxi was a quiet one.
Haruka had expected the cold shoulder from her partner because what she had done had jeopardized the mission... things could have been even worse with the youma and it would have been all her fault. She had just been lucky...
But the young violinist didn't say anything about that.. well, she hadn't said anything at all since they had left the hospital.
When they finally arrived at home, Haruka knew she had to say something to explain her behaviour to Michiru, but when the smaller girl announced: "I'm going to swim for a while." the tall blonde found no pretext to stop her and just replied: "Okay.."
"See you later." and with a smile, the aqua-haired beauty was gone.
Haruka stood there a second longer, looking at the closed door, then she moved into the living room and switched on the TV just in time to see the start of the Monza F1 race.
As the doctor had told her, she needed to relax and of course she tried to, but there were too many thoughts in her head she couldn't just put aside...
The water had always comforted her and this day was no exception.
She swam for a while then she just lay there, supported by her natural element, eyes closed...
Their enemies were getting harder to defeat, Michiru had understood it that very morning, fighting with the youma.
It all made sense: Haruka's vision, the revelation of the Talismans, the stronger enemies... the Silence was near. Very near.
That's why they couldn't make any mistakes, couldn't hesitate, couldn't worry about each other...
Her mind went again to that early morning, when Haruka had woken her up and they had kissed and then... with a sigh, she opened her eyes again.
Why wasn't she able to ignore that sensation? Why couldn't she help but feel a pleasant warmness in her body everytime she thought about Haruka's gentle touch? If only they hadn't had to stop... but they did.
Their duty was more important than any other thing and it would always be that way. That's why Michiru had made a hard decision, hoping that Haruka would understand...
After a while, Haruka had switched off the TV - uninterested... her head still ached annoyingly.
She stood up and stretched, then moved to the window and looked outside. It wasn't raining (not yet, at least), but the sky was completely covered by dark clouds...
It was then that she heard the door being opened and then closed again, followed by soft footsteps coming right into the living room... but her mind refused to acknowledge that presence until someone spoke: "I've thought hard about it..."
Haruka blinked and turned around to face a serious looking Michiru...
"Many lives depend on the success of our mission. We must prevent the Silence and we're not supposed to fail... we're not allowed to."
"Hai." Haruka agreed readily.
"I took on the duty of a senshi with no regrets." the artist affirmed strongly.
The words stung Haruka as she recalled her earlier reluctance. Michiru continued. "I will succeed in this mission no matter what the cost."
Blues eyes bored steadily into teal. "Some things are more important.."
"Than love?" the racer questioned.. "Than life?"
"Than anything." Michiru's voice had dropped from it's harsh note to almost a whisper. "Finding the Talismans can be the only thing we care about."
"The holders of the Talismans will die." Haruka revealed flatly and watched as her partner blanched.
"N-nani?"
"They can't survive without their pure hearts."
"Masaka." Michiru looked down, stunned by the gravity of the sacrifice they were supposed to ensure to collect the mystical objects. Because of them someone would die. She wrapped her arms around her middle, but the action gave her no comfort. However, without the Talisman's the world would be destroyed and a certain blonde racer with it. NO! The violinists features hardened. "We must continue searching then. We cannot fail. The enemy is getting stronger."
Haruka was looking down, her expression deeply troubled as again she struggled with the idea.
"So promise me."
"What?" The sandy head jerked up.
"Promise me that you won't act so foolishly in a fight again."
"Foolishly..?" the tall blonde could feel a pang right through the center her heart... was that it, then? Being worried for that special person... was to act foolishly?
"We don't have time to think about love, when it's clear that it is the main cause of our negligence in battle." Michiru pressed on not taking it easy. "If something happens to one of us, the other has to carry on our duty, it's the only way... we can't allow another accident like this morning... that's why I want you to promise me that whatever happens to one of us, that the other won't try to save them, but will only think about the completion of the mission."
A moment of stunned silence followed. Michiru could see in her partner's eyes the shock that those harsh words had caused, but - for the sake of both of them, for the world's sake - she couldn't avoid it: she knew this was the only way to convince the tall blonde.
"No time for love... eh? I guess you thought something different this morning..." Haruka remarked bitterly.
At that comment, Michiru had to look away to hide her inner turmoil, her strong feelings, her deep desire... "You guessed.. wrong."
"I see." the tall blonde had a sarcastic smile on her lips, even though smiling was the last thing she wanted to do right now. She wasn't even able to look her partner in the eyes... the young violinist's words had hurt her like a stab in the heart... her feelings, her pride, her.. love...
Then was a promise enough to put aside what they felt for each other?
What Haruka thought they had felt for each other...
She turned her back to the smaller girl.. "I'm going for a drive." she didn't even wait for a reply and left.
In the now quiet living room, Michiru moved to the spot were her partner had stood just a minute ago. She touched the window and leaned her forehead on it with closed eyes, trying hard to fight back her burning tears.. "Gomen ne, Haruka."
Time passed slowly, like in a never ending dream... or nightmare.
After Haruka left, it had started to rain outside and considering the tall blonde's injury, Michiru's worry had increased with every passing hour.
It was almost 10 p.m. and she was sitting at the table, unable to eat what she had cooked for their dinner.. her mind still focused on their previous quarrel... their only quarrel after the one on the cruise, when they were still studying each other...
Then she heard the sound of a key turning in the lock and the door opened. Not even thinking about what she was doing, Michiru stood up and walked quickly to the living room. There she found Haruka.
The girl's jacket was completely soaked, but it looked like she didn't care at all as she hung it up, removed her shoes and stepped in before finally looking at her smaller partner. There were dark circles under her eyes, but cool resolve marked her features. "I've thought about what you said and I just want to ask you one question..." she paused, then looking right into the aqua-haired beauty's eyes: "If something happened to me in a fight.. would you leave me behind?"
There wasn't hope or fear in the blonde's husky voice, but Michiru knew that her answer would be crucial. Never breaking eye contact with her partner, she spoke with absolute calm: "Yes, I would."
The young violinist waited for a reaction of the taller girl... but it didn't come. Her emerald eyes weren't angry or offended... she had just accepted the violinist's words as a matter of fact and her answer was equally controlled: "Fine. I promise. I'll do the same with you, Michiru. The Talismans are the key to the Messiah. We have to find the Messiah to save the world and for that I will sacrifice anything."
