Dedication: This chapter is dedicated to three reviewers. First to kaze no kizu: for reminding me to be careful because I need my eyes to write. Second to animeprincess056: for reappearing and reviewing three chapters at once, and leaving me smiling with the Triton comment. And last but not least to tigon ookami: for getting me to laugh hard enough to forget my headache. I didn't expect any answer to what you can do involving a swimsuit and a rope but yours has to be a pretty unique thought. B-) All three of you, and everybody who reviewed, have made my week. On with the chapter!
Chapter 12: Uninvited Guests
"Are you sure about this?" Haruka looked at Thomas with some concern in her teal eyes as they stood in the crowded boarding area. "Last chance, I mean even I don't want to drop this much cash on a plane trip each week."
"Yeah, yeah." Thomas nodded and waved a hand to dismiss the remark his tall blonde friend had made. He smiled nervously as his hand fumbled with some hidden object in his pocket and his brown eyes seemed to lose just a bit of focus. "Thanks for all the trouble you already went through, but I think I have to finish this alone. Now just get on that plane and go make sure you have a nice tux or suit to go to my wedding when she says yes, okay?"
"Alright, but don't say I didn't offer to help." Haruka raised her hands before her in surrender and smiled widely at the man. She grinned a bit before glancing around the terminal, no one was paying the two any mind. With quick movements the blonde racer grabbed Thomas and pulled him into a tight hug, taking him by surprise. She winked at some startled passer-by over Thomas' shoulder as she whispered to her friend. "What else are best friends for if not to drive to a wedding chapel in the middle of the night, give up careers to each other, risk being beaten to open the one another's eyes or fly across an ocean at the drop of a hat, Tom?"
"Yeah, thanks Raider." Thomas laughed lightly as he returned the unusual hug. Haruka had hugged him before, but this time was just odd to the man. This wasn't a back slapping hug exchanged quickly but more like something family would exchange at Christmas. They each let the other go and he grinned happily at his friend before throwing in a smart remark. "You know, I don't think I should be thanked for meeting you at that chapel when you two tied the knot."
"I did it to myself." Haruka shook her head but didn't stop smiling. The loud speaker made a chiming sound and the next boarding number was called. Teal eyes glanced at her ticket before locking again onto the brown eyed gaze of the man before her. "That's me. Take care of yourself and I'll see you when you get all that wedding stuff straightened out."
"If she says yes." Thomas reminded, his confidence evaporating as he glanced off toward the windows and the plane beyond.
"When she says yes, Tom. When not if." Haruka patted his shoulder and smiled again, hoping to give him some confidence. "Think positive."
"Right, positive." Thomas held out his hand and Haruka raised an eyebrow as she shook it. Thomas didn't let go right away as he again glanced toward the plane as he pulled Haruka just a bit forward to whisper to her this time. "You know, you should take your own advice. The way you talk about her I'd swear she was a goddess if I didn't know better."
Thomas let go of her hand and quickly walked away as the blonde watched him. Haruka shook her head as the speaker announced the final boarding call. She had another long plane ride to think about, or sleep on, all of her thoughts. As she passed the flight attendant she threw the woman a fake, but believable smile and fished in her pocket. It didn't take long before Haruka was seated and looking through the pictures in her wallet. She wondered once why she'd never gotten rid of those containing Jill, but had dismissed the thought quickly. Now she noticed something, she'd taken out several only keeping two. The first showed Thomas, Jill and herself happily smiling after a race. The second photo was the one she had shown to Michiru when they first met, and oddly it was now next to one of the aqua haired artist herself.
Where did the other pictures go? Into an album that no one but Haruka knew about. Inside the album where photos of the blonde's long departed parents with her as a child, of the school friends she'd left behind years before, and most recently of Jill and herself. Haruka had begun to think of it as her album of the lost, something she never really looked at. Now she wondered if she kept it for those she'd lost, or if she kept it for the memories she'd shared with them.
Haruka had again woken to a flight attendant shaking her shoulder lightly, but this time it was after they were on the ground since Haruka had never unfastened the seat belt. After grabbing her suitcase at baggage claim the blonde walked over toward another area where a car rental place was. The owner of the business also rented parking for cars when the owners were going to be gone for varying amounts of time. A young woman stood behind the desk and happily handed Haruka back her keys with the small tag stating where the convertible was parked. After paying she walked out to her car and got the luggage loaded into the back. Haruka thought to herself that this all seemed incredible boring when she'd rather be somewhere else.
It was sunset as the yellow convertible slowly prowled up the drive of Michiru Kaioh's home, parking just behind an unfamiliar blue car. Haruka paused after she turned the motor off and pulled out her cell phone. She dialed easily and placed the phone to her ear, waiting through three rings before Michiru's voice answered. Triton was growling in the background, surprising the blonde as she'd never heard him growl before. Or more correctly she'd only heard him growl once, more than a year ago in Vegas.
"Everything alright? Triton doesn't sound happy." Haruka asked lightly even as she opened the car door, shutting it as quietly as possible before striding toward the door. She was standing just outside the door when Michiru answered.
"I have a bit of uninvited company again." Michiru sighed a bit as someone in the background made a snide comment, then tried to placate Triton who had barked loudly at the visitor. "He seems to think my soul needs to be saved. I don't think Triton agrees."
"Why don't you ask him to answer the door?" Haruka said as she rang the doorbell. Michiru's slightly confused voice asked Ryu to get the door. Haruka grinned slightly sadistically and said a last comment. "I have to go, talk to you in a little while dear."
Footsteps approached the door and Haruka ducked out of sight of the peephole. There was a moment's pause before the door slowly opened a fraction and Ryu stuck his head out to look around. Before the green-eyed man could blink Haruka grabbed his collar and pushed him back against the wall of the entrance hall. The door shut with a little more noise than intended as Haruka kicked it shut behind them. Intense teal eyes bored into green as the blonde held the man against the wall. Michiru appeared from the living room and froze, surprise clearly written on her face.
"Now Natsumoto-san, it isn't polite to keep bothering people with out warning." Haruka said in an oddly calm voice as she glared down at the man, who was not surprisingly just a bit shorter. "It's proper to call first. I believe you owe Kaioh-sama an apology."
"G gomen Kaioh-san." Ryu stammered out, clearly unnerved by the blonde's sudden appearance. He looked toward Michiru but then quickly looked back toward Haruka's blazing teal eyes. "Please forgive my rudeness."
"No." Michiru's polite voice came back and surprised both Haruka and Ryu, though the blonde hid it much better. After a pause the shorter woman continued. "I can forgive your lack of warning as Haruka called it, and I can forgive your lack tolerance for the way I choose to live. However I can't forgive your repeated slights against Ten'ou-san herself, whom you clearly know nothing about, or your judgments about my feelings which can never possible understand. As I was telling you before the phone rang I'd like it if you left and did not return this time."
Haruka glanced toward her girlfriend and surprised a shudder at the cold look, which had crept into the artist's deep blue eyes. She'd never seen those eyes hold any type of negative emotion before and it only made her less happy with the man she held pinned against a wall. Teal eyes turned back again to the man against the wall and regarded him with a look normally reserved for someone who'd just spat at an orphan or kicked a stray animal. Ryu's eyes were focused however on Michiru and he seemed to have regained a small amount of composure.
"Mich.." He trailed off at the blue-eyed glare he received and started again. "Kaioh-san, please listen. You are a beautiful young woman and I don't want to see you condemned to eternal hell. It isn't too late, there are many men who'd love just a chance with you."
"And I'm sure you are among them." Haruka muttered quietly but the other two both heard the remark. Green eyes became somewhat defiant as Ryu brought his hands up and tried unsuccessfully to knock the woman's hold free of his collar.
"So what if I am?" Ryu shot back with a glare aimed at the pianist. He gave his best defiant look as he spoke again. "What makes you think you can replace a man anyway? You should be looking for a husband yourself rather than playing house and dressing like something you aren't."
"I'm not trying to replace anything and I'll dress how I like." Haruka growled out, her grip tightening a bit in frustration. She calmed slightly as a gentle hand was placed on her shoulder and she looked over into two blue eyes.
"Please put him down Haruka." Michiru said calmly, a bit of warmth returning to her eyes as she spotted mild surprise in those teal orbs. Haruka hadn't realized she'd lifted the man a few inches from the floor. Silently the blonde released her grip on Ryu, the man just managing to stay on his feet as he came to the ground again. Michiru shook her head a bit but smiled softly. "Thank you, Ruka."
"Your welcome, Michi." Haruka said as she turned to fully face the shorter woman, back to Ryu. She winked one teal eye as she stepped just past Michiru and knelt to greet the previously unnoticed animals behind her. She heard movement as Ryu straightened his shirt but ignored it in favor of pulling out the treats she'd brought for the to fuzzy guards. She scratched each behind an ear and leaned in to whisper to them. "Thanks guys."
"Natsumoto-san you aren't going to save my soul, change my mind or win me over." Michiru spoke as Haruka came back to her feet behind her. The blonde leaned causally against a wall and watched as the violin player spoke. "Now, for all our sakes, please leave."
"Michiru." Ryu darted forward, grabbed the artist's arm and pulled her toward him. "Don't do this."
Whatever else he was going to say was cut off as Triton shot forward and finally bit the man. He yelped and let go of Michiru's arm, trying instead to swat at the angry dog, which had sunk its teeth into his pant leg. Michiru backed away and started to call Triton off even as the man's arm stopped in mid swing. He looked up to meet two very angry teal eyes as Haruka had a painful hold on his wrist. The blonde easily twisted his arm until it was behind his back and grabbed his other shoulder with her free hand.
"That's it Natsumoto." Haruka growled as she pushed him toward the door Michiru had already opened. Once outside Haruka walked the man over to his blue car before pushing him again the side. She leaned close and whispered threateningly to him. "Good night, come back when you have learned some manners and not before."
Finally Haruka released him and stepped back. She waited outside until Ryu drove away. After a long silent pause two arms came around the blonde's waist and she looked down into those deep blue eyes again.
"Sorry, I hope I didn't over step anything." Haruka spoke as her common sense began to catch up with her. She was somewhat relieved when Michiru shook her head and squeezed her lightly.
"Actually I'm glad you showed up when you did, I don't think Ryu wanted to take no for an answer." Michiru shook her head again, her blue eyes seeming to lighten as she felt Haruka's arms come around her. "I thought you were still in America."
"Tom didn't need my help any more so he sent me packing." Haruka grinned and glanced back toward her car. "I thought I'd surprise you so I just drove straight over here."
"Well it was certainly a surprise." Michiru admitted. She yelped as Haruka literally swept her off her feet and spun around once. Michiru hadn't realized the blonde could pick her up so easily. "Haruka, what are you doing?"
"I missed you." Was the only response the blonde gave as she kissed Michiru's forehead. The shorter woman smiled and leaned up to kiss Haruka's lips, if at a somewhat awkward angle.
"I missed you too." Michiru whispered as she ended the kiss and gazed deeply into the teal eyes she'd missed for two weeks. She just grinned more when Haruka walked back into the house with out setting her down. Haruka finally set her down on her bed before plopping unceremoniously next to her. Michiru giggled at the look of pure exhaustion on the blonde's face, even if it did seem to be faked. A question occurred to the artist so she propped herself up on an elbow and looked over at the blonde who seemed nearly asleep in her prone posistion.
"Haruka?" Michiru waited until she received an inquisitive sound in response before asking her question. "What did Tom decide to do?"
"Honestly?" One teal eye popped open and watched and aqua haired head nod. Haruka smiled evilly before she responded shortly. "I have no clue, he refused to tell me."
Michiru laughed and let herself fall back to lie next to the tall blonde. Haruka smiled next to her and sat up long enough to watch the other woman laugh. When Michiru had calmed down and was smiling up at her she leaned over. Haruka gently kissed the violin player before pulling away and standing up. She offered Michiru her hand with a smile.
"Have time to go to dinner with me?"
"Of course." Michiru happily placed her hand in the blonde's and stood. She poked the taller woman causing her to make a startled sound. "You're probably the only person I know that would spend two weeks in another country working on a problem and return happily with out knowing the answer."
"Would you prefer I stayed until Tom cracked and told me? I may have had to have stayed there for another two weeks." Haruka responded as she led Michiru down the staircase again.
"No, I think I much prefer your company to the answer any day." Michiru smiled as Haruka pulled her back into her arms at the bottom of the stairs. She draped her arms over the blonde's shoulders and enjoyed the content smile on the other's face.
"That's good, because I know I'd much rather be here with you then planning someone else's proposal." Haruka whispered a bit huskily as she leaned into to kiss Michiru again.
Wind-Chaser looked up from her new toy, a stuffed mouse, long enough to regard the couple standing in the entree way. The cat glanced over at Triton who just picked up his own new chew toy and meandered off into the living room, Wind following not far behind.
A few days later found Haruka jogging an indoor track at a local gym. The blonde had received a short message from Thomas on her machine. All it said was he hadn't asked yet and that he was going on a business trip first. Haruka was slightly eager for her friend to ask so that they would all know the answer already. At the same time she had some deep thoughts of her own to manage and at the moment this was the best place she could find to rid herself of the anxious energy that combination brought out.
As she circled the track Haruka kept her pace steady, breathing deeply in through her nose and releasing that air again through her mouth in a practiced pattern. Her arms moved in time with her legs as she kept the steady pace around the quarter mile track. The first quarter mile her body began to warm up, her cardiovascular system kicking in. The second quarter miles her breathing was becoming a bit more important and her old black sweats were beginning to feel heavy and warm. By the point she reached a mile around the track the blonde was no longer thinking about her breathing, it was habit, or her foot moment, that was just a rhyme in the background of her mind. Her thoughts began to tick away again.
Haruka's mind wandered over different subjects, sparing only a thought or two for Thomas and his dilemma back in Vegas. Instead she floated through memories and feelings. Her mind called up pictures of all the time spent since she left Vegas to join Michiru's tour. Her mind drifted over the past few days and the increasing amount of time she found herself spending at Michiru's house. Part of that time was due to concern that Ryu would again bother the violin player, but the vast majority of that time spent there simply because she enjoyed spending time in her company.
Haruka knew she was in love with Michiru. She knew, or at least believed when Michiru said she was in love with her as well. And once again Haruka knew she had been down this road before, had been wrong to some degree before, but this time felt different. Haruka still couldn't seem to decide if she should be afraid of this level of emotion or if she should just let herself go.
"Let it go." Called a voice into the blonde's thoughts. Haruka nearly jumped out of her skin as she noticed the tall women watching her from a near by bench. The woman's red eyes seemed to have an all knowing twinkle to them and her long, dark green hair was pulled half into a bun a top her head. Haruka slowed to a walk, placing her hands above her head out of habit but not allowing herself to stop. The mysterious woman smiled as she stood and joined the blonde on her cool down walk. "Whatever you're so worried about you should just let go, you'll find the answer when it's time."
"Um, thank you I think." Haruka responded in a puzzled voice, wondering if she should be worried about the strange woman who was now treating her like an old friend. Haruka was too surprised to even question the fact that they were both speaking English rather than Japanese. "And how do you know I'm worried about anything miss?"
"You were running around that track for three miles before I spoke." The woman held back a laugh at Haruka's look of shock. She held out her hand to the tall blonde woman, though they were both on eye level. "My name is Setsuna Meiou, sorry for disturbing your thoughts."
"Ten'ou Haruka." Haruka shook her hand gently and smiled back for the first time. "Actually I should probably thank you, there's no telling how long I would have kept that up if you hadn't said anything."
"I'm sure you would have run another few miles at least." Setsuna grinned, her eyes again taking on a slightly mysterious look. She turned and began to walk away as she called back over her shoulder. "Good day miss Ten'ou, I'll see you around."
That did stop Haruka in her tracks. As the door to the room shut Haruka realized she now had one more unanswered question to add to her pile. With a shake of her head she started off for the showers. She decided it was time to head back to her apartment and spend some time with Wind-Chaser.
Author's Note:
Okay, I had to write something with Setsuna. To be totally honest I almost brought her into play back in chapter seven but decided against it. I like Setsuna as well as any of the outers so I was bound to bring her in sometime. Just to remind you though, this is still alternate universe so don't expect me to bring in the Silence or Sailor Pluto. Hope you liked this chapter and thank you for reading.
Review responses:
Tigon ookami: I never heard the Deep Sea Queen translation before but it would make sense. I'll have to do a bit of digging sometime to find out. B-) I have to say you came up with an interesting answer for what a bathing suit and a rope can be used for. Hope this update was fast enough for you, and thank you for the review that has me smiling.
Animeprincess056: Chapter nine: As I said before, I left it to the imagination of each reader, it just felt better to let everyone decide in their own mind what did or did not happen. B-) Chapter ten: Oh lord; confessing feelings is more than a little hard. I don't think I personally have ever been anything but scared to even admit something like that in my head. If any time warranted "fight or flight" rushes I think that would. Chapter 11: Triton's actions in here were directly for your review. After reading that I had to have Ryu provoke Triton too far, I mean he's not a nice guy as you can see. Hope you liked this chapter and thank you again for the review.
Kaze no kizu: B-) I'll do my best to be more careful from now on. My face, especially my eye, still hurts a bit but there wasn't any serious damage. It scared me for a few minutes when I got in that car, but not I just have a little puncture wound and a steadily healing bruise. Hey, I haven't even missed work over it. Thank you for the review, it cheered me up.
Moonjava: Thank you for the review I am glad you took the time to leave it. I hope you feel better from what ever is wrong soon and I can more than understand Fan Fiction falling backward on the list. Hey I was writing stories about Star Wars back in 2002 but after I came back from a six-month break it took a long while before I got back into Fan Fiction itself. I'll be wishing you luck. Take care and thank you again for all the reviews you have left. B-)
Moon-Daisuki: I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter. B-) And it's good to know somebody got enjoyment from the Uranus comment. A friend told me it was double edged because originally it was just a reference to Haruka's planet in the series, but they said something similar to your comment and it was too funny for me to cut it out. Hope you this chapter as well; thank you again for the review.
Bahamut's king: Requests don't bother me I love the feedback. The only reason I omitted the notes words in the chapter it was in was because I was still contemplating what it should say. I had already thought out the reaction I wanted from Michiru but not the words that would trigger it. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and that you're doing okay with your own fic. Take care and thank you for the review.