Disclaimer: I own nothing! I own nothing! (Sing along!)

The music was beautiful. She did not want to open her eyes, but a voice kept interrupting.

"Haruka! Can you hear me?"

Another voice joined, calling out another name. "Michiru! Where are you?"

She felt herself sinking again into that song. It sounded almost familiar, like a lullaby.

The voices jarred her again.

"Rei! Do you see them?"

"Iie! Do you think they're alright?"

A deep breath was taken from somewhere nearby. "They have to be."

Something shifted close to her head, and her eyes opened halfway. The moonlight looked lovely, and for a moment seemed to dance with the stars, waltzing to that song.

"Pretty," she muttered.

"Haruka?" The first voice rose excitedly. "Where are you?"

Haruka? Who is that? Oh, right. Me. And that voice is…

"Set—" She choked on a mouthful of dust, and began to cough. "Setsuna?"

"Haruka! Rei! I found her!"

Her eyes opened fully, then closed as she groaned. Her head pounded, her back ached, and one of her arms felt strange, numb. A glance through her lashes showed her a quick glimpse of the bathtub, before the pain forced her eyes closed again.

"Setsuna?" she called weakly. "Was I drinking?"

A loud crash made her groan, and lift the hand she could feel to her head.

"Drinking?" Setsuna's voice was high with worry. "What do you mean?"

"My head is killing me, I can't remember how I got here, and I'm in the bathroom."

"The… what?"

"The bathroom."

"Haruka, you are not in the bathroom!"

She frowned in thought. "Have to be. Can see the bathtub from here."

Light hit her face as something crashed again.

"Haruka, open your eyes!" Setsuna demanded. "Look around you!"

Groaning, Haruka did as her friend commanded. She looked around, and blinked. She blinked again. A third blink, and still nothing made sense.

She was lying on her back, staring up at the bathtub. The basin, in fact, seemed to be balancing precariously on a set of boards, which in turn appeared to be resting on Hotaru's bed. To the left she saw rubble and broken glass. To the right she saw a busted timber on top of a bloodied, severed arm.

"AAAAAAAAAAH!"

Boots appeared, then Setsuna's face. "Calm down! We'll get you out of here!"

"A hand!"

She looked over. "That's your hand," she said, in a voice lacking far too much interest in Haruka's mind.

"My hand's been cut off?" Haruka shouted.

"Iie, baka! You're fine, if I can get this wood off you. Now would you stop yelling?"

"What happened to our house?"

"I was hoping you could tell me," Setsuna replied. "Rei says she saw a bright flash of light, and then the house blew up. Was Michiru with you?"

Haruka froze, her mouth half opened, her mind a million miles away.

Knife. Blood. Light. And then…Gods above!

"Michiru!"

She tore at the beam on top of her arm wildly. Setsuna hurried to help her, levering it up just enough for Haruka to pull herself free. A quick glance showed the arm to be bruised and bleeding, still encased in the glove of a Sailor Senshi uniform, but not even broken. Already feeling was returning.

"What happened?" Setsuna asked, helping her to stand. "Be careful!"

"I don't know!" Haruka told her. She tried to climb over the rubble, but slid back down. "How did you get to me?"

"Over here!"

Holding her hand, Setsuna led her over a broken door, the busted remains of Michiru's wardrobe, and various other unidentifiable objects. Haruka stumbled and slipped, alternately cursing her weakness, ordering her legs to work properly, and praying Michiru was alright.

"Careful," Setsuna repeated as they struggled out into the open. "Rei! Have you found anything?"

Not far from them, in her Sailor uniform but barefoot, Rei flipped over a piece of wood, her face tense. "No sign of Michiru. Is Haruka okay?"

"I'm fine," Haruka snapped, heading towards her. "What are you doing? This isn't a safe place to go without shoes!"

"It also isn't a safe place for heels," Rei told her, shoving broken glass aside. "And a cut foot is better than a broken neck."

Haruka chose a different path, and Setsuna a third. All three girls hunted desperately through the wreckage, occasionally calling out. No answer came.

"Michiru!" Haruka snarled, throwing a board through the air.

"Watch it!" Rei shouted, catching the board and throwing it towards the grass. "Unbelievable. Not even an explosion can wake people up anymore! The Abyss has to be stopped."

"The Abyss can wait for Michiru!" Haruka shouted. "We don't need anyone else to interfere with Sailor Senshi business! Keep looking!"

Rei muttered something, but dug further into the debris. "Michiru? Please, answer us!"

Combing through the wreckage of their lives, Haruka's fingers hit something. She pulled free a snapshot, a silly photo from a printclub. The Senshi, in a silly mood, had discovered with a little luck and a lot of intimacy, it was possible to fit nine girls into a photo booth. Everyone was laughing, Hotaru's eyes were closed, and Minako was sticking her tongue out. Her face half turned from the camera, her eyes with that special wild look that no one but Haruka truly knew, Michiru held on to her lover's neck for balance. Seconds after the flash, half the group had tumbled out of the curtain and onto the sidewalk, followed by a stream of shrieks and giggles.

"We're a team. We're a family. We can't be us without all of us. We can't be us without her. We'll find her."

Haruka tucked the picture into her uniform, and smiled a little up at Rei. "Hai. So we'd better keep at."

The younger girl squeezed her shoulder, then turned back to her own search.

For the longest half hour of Haruka's life they hunted, their calls for Michiru softening to little pleas, begging her to just give them a clue, a sign, anything.

At last Setsuna sighed, hugging one of Hotaru's teddy bears to her chest. "I don't understand it. She has to be here!"

Haruka paused as well, kneeling, one hand over her face. She tried to keep the tears behind her lashes, to keep the hopelessness back. It couldn't end like this.

Behind her, she heard Rei shift something, and scream.

"I found her!"

Later, Haruka could not recall how she got to Rei's side, or how they got Michiru free. But she would always remember how pale Michiru's face looked, and how dark the blood at her hair line was. Trembling, she reached out a hand towards that beautiful face, and paused, just above her skin.

What if she doesn't answer? What if her eyes never open again? What will I do?

Pale lips moved, and Michiru sighed.

"Gods!"

Haruka collapsed, her face buried in Michiru's breast, her arms around her body. She did not care who saw her cry. She did not care about anything but the soft sound of air going into Michiru's lungs.

"What… where am I? Have we been drinking?"

Haruka raised her face to her lover's, and shook her head. "No. Can't you remember?"

Those beautiful aquamarine eyes stared at her in confusion for a long moment, then Michiru said slowly, "Did we… did we blow up the bathroom?"

"Actually, we blew up the house."

Michiru gasped, struggling to sit up. Haruka helped her, and Michiru leaned on her shoulder as she looked at the remains of their house.

And then she burst out laughing.

Haruka stared as Michiru fell over backwards, laughing and laughing, her whole body shaking. Tears streamed down her face, and she clutched a side that was probably bruised, but she continued to roar with laughter.

"What's so funny?" Haruka demanded.

Michiru gulped down a breath, trying to speak. "I, hehe! I went after you with a knife, and you tried to stab me with your sword, and I hit you with the mirror, and you called me a bitch, and I called you a whore, and I threw Deep Submerge at you, and you threw World Shaking at me, and then… and then we blew up the house!" She put her hands over her face to drown out the giggles.

Taking Michiru by the shoulders, Haruka shook her a little. Had the shock of what they had done destroyed her lover's mind?

"Michiru!"

The hands fell away, and Michiru grinned up at her. "And the whole time, neither of us meant any of it!"

Haruka stared at her, then fell beside her laughing. Michiru rolled across the grass to face her, and they lay there, holding hands and giggling together like little girls.

A choked sound brought their heads around, to see both Setsuna and Rei looking at the sky or ground respectively, grins pulling at their mouths. This sent the lovers back into hysterics, bringing their friends with them.

"Shut up!" Rei shouted, falling to her knees, her shoulders shaking with giggles. "We have to get back to Mamoru's apartment!"

"You go ahead!" Michiru called. "We'll catch up!"

Setsuna just sat down, her head back, tears rolling down her cheeks. "You two are awful!"

"That's not what you said fifteen minutes ago!" Michiru and Haruka chorused, breaking into another round of mirth.

"I am not going to ask," Rei announced, climbing to her feet. "Where are my shoes?"

As she went off to find her heels, and Setsuna tried to regain control of herself, Haruka stumbled to her feet, and took Michiru's hand to help her up.

"Can you walk to Mamoru's?" Haruka asked.

Michiru dropped her head onto Haruka's shoulder. "I'll go anywhere you go. You know that."

Haruka put her arm around her waist and hugged her. "You and me, forever and ever."