Chapter seven: These wars
It was a lovely Sunday. The sun shone from a cloudless sky and it was a very hot day of a wonderful summer. Michiru rolled over to the ice cream shop and smiled as she read the menu. She wore a white summer dress and a summer hat covered her head.
"What do you want, love?" asked Haruka and came nearer. She wore her short blue jeans and a wide, sleeveless shirt. The first three bottoms were open and Michiru simply enjoyed to look at her girlfriend. Today she looked really sexy. She wore her sunglasses again, but today she didn't misuse them to hide her bruises. The scars disappeared during the last weeks and now nothing remembered anymore of the rude attack of her own father. Nothing but her nightmares and time by time her depressed mood. But Michiru was there every time she felt sad and she hindered her to try her dangerous starving again.
She convinced me that she loves me the way I am.
"I can't decide. It all sounds so delicious." Answered the smaller girl and sighed unsure.
"I wanna a chocolate ice cream." Demanded a high voice and Haruka felt how someone grabbed her right hand. She looked down at the redden cheeks of the little girl. Dark eyes looked pleading up into smiling green ones.
"Please, Haruka!" Hotaru blinked and pouted at her with that look in her purple eyes Haruka couldn't resist. The little girl wore a long black dress and Haruka wondered for the maybe tenth time why she didn't sweat a lot.
"You'll get one, princess." Laughed Haruka and saw that her girlfriend finally decided for an ice cream herself. It was lemon.
"Two." Hotaru ducked because she thought that she had been too cheeky, but Haruka only laughed harder. Then she nodded and ordered the ice creams. With a happy grin on her face Hotaru took the waffle and ran along the sandy way by the sea. On the one side there was the huge park of Tokyo and on the other side there was the wide ocean. Haruka loved that peaceful path and it wasn't too stony for Michiru's wheelchair. First they wanted to go on holidays but after they visited the ill girl they decided to stay at Mugen Gakkuen during their summer holidays. So they went out with Hotaru as many times as the girl was strong enough to leave her bed. Dr. Tomoe thanked them often that they cared about his daughter because he simply didn't have enough time to go out with her instead. Only Kaori glared at them each time they took the little girl and left the apartment.
"She's so different now." Whispered Haruka and watched Hotaru running over the sand and waving at the seabirds above.
"Hai, maybe she's ill, but she's still a little girl who wants to be free." Answered Michiru and smiled as the little girl turned around and waved at them. Then her face got paler as she saw how Hotaru gasped for breath. The ice cream fell upon the sandy ground and the little girl went into her knees. Her dark hair covered her face as she winced again. Silently she whimpered while she tried to catch enough breath to carry on.
"Princess..." The next minute Haruka was by her side and took her carefully into her strong arms. Hotaru raised her head and her face was very white. She looked as if she would faint and tears burned in her dark eyes.
"It's over in a minute..." groaned Hotaru and made such a sad face that it almost broke Haruka's heart. She felt how the little body in her arms trembled and could feel that it was too hot for Hotaru in her dark dress. Determinedly she opened the bottoms and tried to help the little girl out of her clothes.
"No..." whimpered Hotaru and tried to shake her head. The roundabout she seemed to be sitting in increased its speed and suddenly the little girl coughed. Haruka held her as she threw up her breakfast. The young racer didn't wince away. She simply supported her as she leaned back against her chest after it was over.
"You need to get out of your armor, princess. It's too hot and you can hardly breathe." Declared Haruka and looked up at Michiru who rolled next to her. The young violinist was very pale herself and looked very concerned down at the small girl.
"No..." declared Hotaru in a weak voice, but she couldn't defend herself as Haruka stripped her dress and freed her from her prison that took her breath away. "Don't look at my body. It's so ugly..." whispered the little girl and turned her head away. Tears burned in her eyes but she couldn't let them fall. She was simply to weak for even this small action.
Haruka stared in shock at the scars that covered the little body. A small, pale body. A fragile body... Shortly the young racer and Michiru exchanged glances. Then Haruka stood up with the girl in her arms and went over to the sparkling water. She knew about the accident Dr. Tomoe's daughter survived some years ago. But she hadn't known that Hotaru escaped death so tightly.
I didn't suspect that she already knows how cruel this world can be.
Slowly Haruka entered the water and forced herself to go deeper into it, because it was still cool and she wasn't the person who swam with every temperature. She wasn't a fish like her girlfriend.
I didn't know that Hotaru went through the same bloody hell we experienced, too.
"You aren't ugly, princess. You're beautiful." Whispered Haruka and didn't even notice that her voice was suddenly very shaky.
Hotaru gasped, but a tiny smile appeared on her pale face as she felt the nice cool water on her hot skin. Suddenly she could breathe again and the dizziness disappeared partly from her mind.
"Better now?" asked Haruka and looked concerned down at the little girl in her strong arms.
"Hai..." whispered Hotaru and touched carefully the ocean's surface. Then her dark eyes grew wide. "But now you're wet all over and..."
"I wanted to take a bath this evening and so I did it now. Nothing to worry about, princess." Haruka laid her head in the neck and looked up to the endless sky. "Do you see the sea bird there?" asked the car racer and dark eyes followed her look. Hotaru nodded and suddenly wrapped her arms around Haruka's neck.
"It was also weak when it was young. But it got stronger with every day it grew up. One day you'll be as free as that bird out there, Hime-chan." said the young racer and stroked over velvet hair. The little girl watched silently the animal flying careless in the sea wind.
For a long time they stood in the waves and watched the animal. They simply enjoyed the presence of each other and Hotaru felt so safe and secure she had never felt with her father. Not after the terrible accident.
"Last night I had a strange dream." Declared Hotaru finally very quietly and Haruka almost missed her words. "I wasn't ill anymore and you called me your daughter." The little girl sighed and suddenly she sounded older than her eight years. "I wish you were my parents."
The young racer swallowed. She didn't know what to say.
What shall I reply? That I'd like to call you my daughter? That you're the only child I'd be able to love without fearing to become as rude and as ignorant as my father?
Haruka sighed slightly and shook her head without noticing.
She's too small. She wouldn't understand.
So the older girl only squeezed her little friend in her arms more tightly and together they watched the sea bird flying through heaven. Michiru sat in her wheelchair next to the water and glanced over to them. A thin smile laid on her face as she watched the two persons she loved more than anyone else in this world.
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"You'd be a fantastic mother." Said Michiru and drank from her ice cooled coke. They sat on a huge blanket in the park. It was already in the evening and they decided to make a picnic.
"Nani?" Haruka looked up in surprise. Michiru only pointed at the little girl laying on the blanket. She had laid her head into the young racer's lap and slept deep and tight. Thoughtlessly Haruka stroked through black hair. Now Hotaru wore Haruka's white shirt instead of her dark dress. Therefore Michiru could admire the black narrow top her girlfriend wore under it. Haruka looked really sexy and the young violinist smiled when she thought what she would do with the young racer as soon as they got home.
"I don't think that I'd be a fantastic mother. All my life I've hated children and I really can't imagine myself being pregnant. I never want to become like my father." Haruka sighed deeply but she cheered up and leaned herself against the trunk of a huge tree that covered them in a pleasant shadow.
"You'll never be like him, Ruka. And when I see you with Himme-chan, I can imagine you very good as a loving and caring parent." Michiru smiled tenderly at her girlfriend. Then she leaned forward and their noses met.
"It's a complete another thing with our princess. She isn't like the other children. She's not impatient, she doesn't scream at us and she's simply a nice little girl. She's something special." Haruka shrugged her shoulders and Michiru giggled happily.
"You should hear yourself! You sound like a proud mother talking about her daughter!" Before Haruka could reply anything Michiru had kissed her tenderly. The young racer smiled as she wrapped her right arm around Michiru's waist and pulled her closer. Then she closed her eyes and kissed her back with all her love. The kiss lasted for a very long time and as always they forgot everything around them.
"Do you wanna go back?" asked Michiru after the soft kiss ended slowly. She leaned her head against her girlfriend's shoulder and watched how the sun set behind the horizon.
Haruka first looked down at the sleeping Hotaru and then at the smiling Michiru and shook her head.
I don't wanna ever let you go. Here's were I belong.
The young racer frowned but her next thought was so naturally that it didn't really surprise her.
Here's my family.
"Nope, just a few more minutes." Whispered Haruka and stroked the soft skin of her lover's right arm. Michiru shivered slightly and giggled.
"Okay." She answered and her smile grew wider. She took her girlfriend's hand and held it tight. Both of them watched the sun set without saying a word. It wasn't necessary. They understood each other without big words. Sometimes it was enough jut to sit next to the other one and enjoy her presence.
To feel that I am not alone.
So it was this time.
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She sat there. Her eyes were closed while she listened to her music. The violin was a familiar weight on her shoulders. Her fingers moved over the strings and a soft melody filled the air. It evolved in her head some months ago and the more she played it the more it changed it's style. The more she loved it. It was kind of a love song and what once begun with a sad and desperate melody ended slowly in a sweet and tender one.
Michiru didn't open her eyes as she heard the familiar piano in the background. The player seemed to understand her music and the feelings in it. The second instrument followed her violin as if it had always been that way. Softly it accompanied the high melody and complemented it perfectly. These two parts fitted together in harmony.
The audience stood up as the song ended. It was the last song of her first concert she gave after the accident. Michiru opened her eyes and smiles into the bright arena's light. Flash lights danced through the air and she was sure that her picture would be on every newspaper the next day. At last, after a long year the daughter of the famous piano player Kaioh Gendo returned into the art's world. And it was a great come back. The halls were sold out and the people obviously seemed to love her music.
And no one ever felt unsure or even annoyed that I sit in a wheelchair.
Michiru turned slightly her head and looked over to her girlfriend. Haruka wore a white tuxedo and she looked really beautiful. Of course the young racer wanted to accompany her in her violin play. Haruka had always been very good with the piano and the audience seemed to like her play as well. But Michiru was, of course, the star of the evening.
Arigato. Michiru formed the words silently with her mouth. It had been Haruka's idea to give some concerts again. And now the young violinist knew that it had been the right decision.
I love you. A tender smile appeared on the tomboy's face and Michiru couldn't help but return the smile with all her strong feelings toward her girlfriend.
I love you, too.
Then she rolled nearer to the stage's rim, took the micro and thanked the audience for coming. Haruka watched her and enjoyed the smile on her lover's now redden face.
Maybe there's no cure for her paralysed legs. Maybe she will never be able to walk again.
Haruka sighed silently, but she knew that there was no reason for sadness anymore. Her girlfriend's deep blue eyes sparkled too happily.
Maybe she will be dependent of that wheelchair the rest of her life. But she won't mourn to death anymore. Now she's happy again. Maybe that's what all the doctors always wanted, although they couldn't repair her backbone. Maybe they simply wanted to heal her soul.
Slowly Haruka rose from her chair and came over to the young violinist as she winked for her.
With a strong soul everything is possible. Even with a weak body.
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The audience yelled excitedly as the winners splashed themselves with champagne on the huge race track's stage. The Grand Prix of Japan just started and this year all of the journalists were sure that only one person could win it:
Tenô Haruka. The son of the jailed business man Tenô Daisaku had finally returned to the race track with his fast Suzuki. With the red motor bike his opponents knew and feared too well.
It was a great comeback. He was very fast and of course he won the first race of this year's Grand Prix. And no one doubt that he wouldn't lose any race at all.
"You were great." Michiru smiled up to her girlfriend as a wet Haruka came laughing from the stage. She carried a heavy trophy in her hand and she looked really cute with the wet race suit and the messed blonde hair.
Haruka simply put the trophy down, then she took her girlfriend into her strong arms and swirled around with her without saying a word.
"Hey!" laughed Michiru in surprised and looked down into happily shinning green eyes.
"I love you." Whispered the young racer and smiled softly up to her. A smile only she knew. Especially here on the race track.
"I love you, too." Replied Michiru and they shared a long and loving kiss. Not noticing that the flash lights flew through the air again and that there would be other pictures on tomorrow's newspaper than simply a smiling winner up on the stage.
She simply needs love. heard the young violinist Yamado's voice inside her head. Michiru smiled while the kiss became more and more passionate.
She already has my heart. And I'll love her with all consequences.
The young violinist giggled as Haruka slowly finished the kiss and looked up with her with that dreamy look in her eyes that always remembered Michiru of a small child. And at the same time of a very cheeky young woman.
"Do you wanna take a shower with me? 'Cause now you're almost as wet as I." Whispered Haruka and Michiru laughed because there was no regret in her girlfriend's eyes. All she found were complete different feelings.
With that love we can reach every goal.
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The city around her fell apart. Darkness covered the sky and turned day into night. People ran around. Screaming. Crying. Bleeding. Some of them fell on the ground and she was suddenly certain that they would never stand up again.
"What..." she whispered and heard the thunder roll above her. She ducked as flashes crossed the sky and in their lights she could see all of the destruction. The skyscrapers did not longer touch the horizon. Now they looked like broken teeth. The streets were full of people in panic. But they couldn't escape their destiny and many of them died before they could reach their cars. And some who did, died by an accident. Because no one drove normally at this time. At these wars.
"What..." whispered Michiru again and walked slowly through the chaos. Her whole body hurt but she didn't even notice that she could walk again. The wheelchair was nowhere and the costume she was wearing felt so strange and at the same time so familiar. It looked a little bit like her school uniform, but the colours were darker. Maybe a dark blue or a dark green. She couldn't define in the twilight. The skirt was very short and normally she had been ashamed about it. It showed all her legs and even almost her bottom.
Guess Ruka would love to see me that way.
Michiru grinned but her smile froze as she saw the figure suddenly appearing next to her. She kneeled on the ground and held a shadow in her strong arms. Her shoulders trembled and it seemed as if the person was crying. In silence. Suppressed, but obviously in great pain.
Michiru frowned as she stepped nearer. She knew the figure too well and she would have recognized that voice everywhere.
"Ruka?" she asked and shivered as her lover raised her head. Tears ran openly over her pale cheeks. Her dark green eyes stared up to her with so much despair in them Michiru hadn't seen during the last year at Mugen Gakkuen. So much sorrow she hadn't even seen when Mr. Tenô took his daughter home two years ago.
I've only seen her so desperate once.
Michiru swallowed as she stepped closer to look over to the shadow in her girlfriend's arms.
When Ruka thought I'd die and leave her forever...
The young violinist gasped as she saw the little girl laying there on the ground. Motionless. Lifeless. Her small face was whiter than the wall. Blood covered her dark dress and her dark eyes looked up to the sky with no expression, no life in them. Michiru felt hot tears burning in her eyes. Hotaru couldn't see her anymore. Now she looked into another world. Into a peaceful place beyond this life...
"What happened?" asked the young violinist with a shaky voice and noticed that Haruka wore a similar costume as her girlfriend silently shook her head. More tears ran down her cheeks while she squeezed the body in her arms tenderly. As if she would be able with that desperate gesture to keep the life that was long gone.
"I've never wanted..." cried the blonde and ignored the loud crash as another skyscraper exploded in the dark night. Then there was only the sobbing of the two girls left. All other sound seemed to die away.
"They've said that it's our mission to rescue this world. To find the talismans and to prevent... to prevent... to..." she swallowed hard and stared down at her hands that still held the little girl tightly. "I wanted to rescue, not to kill..."
"What happened to Hime-chan?" asked Michiru and sobbed shocked. She couldn't trust her lover's words.
"She was the messiah! The world could only win this battle when she's dead. When the messiah of silence would have never been born at all..."
Michiru shook her head and swallowed hard while she watched again the city around falling apart. No, not only the city, the entire world was falling apart.
"We've won the battle but lost the war." Whispered the young violinist and went slowly on her knees beside her girlfriend.
"So I've killed her..." whispered Haruka and her voice broke finally. Her sobbing increased and she buried her her face in the blood-stained velvet hair she loved to stroke so much. "This price wasn't worth it..."
Michiru leaned forward and embraced her lover and the dead girl from behind and grabbed them is if they were her only lifeline.
All this can't be true!
At that moment there was a loud sound like the exploding of a bomb.
Then there was only silence...
"NOOO!" Michiru rose from her bed and looked wild into her bedroom's darkness. After a long time during which she stared expressionless into the silent room she laid back and took a deep breath. Tears were burning in her eyes but she didn't want to let them fall. She didn't want to be weak. To remember that strange dream.
The dream I have had so often in the last weeks.
The young violinist reached over to the bed's other side and found the second pillow empty. At that moment she heard the shower and the loud music that filled the entire apartment. It was the sad song she had listen to for so many times during her darkest hours after her accident. When she thought she was weak and a burden. After Haruka convinced her from the opposite she took the CD away and swore never to listen to it again. It was a very sad love song and it ended in a tragedy.
"Ruka?" whispered Michiru and rolled over to her bed's edge. It took her all her powers to get into the wheelchair. She didn't care that she only wore her thin night skirt. The cloth pasted to her still trembling body and her hair felt sweaty. She took another deep breath and rolled over to the bathroom. This time she used the automatic. She was simply too exited and her hands trembled too much to use the wheelchair in the normal way.
"Ruka?" The music engulfed her as she slowly entered the bathroom. The shower was on and steam filled the air. Michiru turned the sad melody quieter and rolled over to the open cabin. Her girlfriend crouched on the ground of the shower and stared into nothing. She had wrapped her arms around her knees and she looked very alone. Water ran down her body and she still wore her wide shirt. It was now wet and pasted to her body. Haruka put on a some weight during the last weeks but now Michiru only saw the trembling that went through the body she loved so much.
"Ruka?" asked the young violinist and cursed her wheelchair. She wanted to get out of it, to enter the cabin and to embrace her lover. To hold her tight and to show her that she wasn't alone with her fears. With the strange nightmares.
Haruka slowly raised her head and seemed to wake from her trance as she saw her girlfriend sitting next to the shower. Looking down at her in concern.
Michi-chan's looks as shocked as I feel...
"You had that nightmare, too?" asked the young violinist and Haruka only nodded. The water was very hot and it almost burned her skin. But she didn't want to leave it. To go to that terrible world outside again.
"Come out, Ruka." Whispered Michiru and reached for her.
It's a cruel world out there.
Haruka blinked and turned off the shower. She reeled as her still trembling legs hardly supported her shaking body.
But there's my Michi-chan out there. With her I am able to face everything.
The taller girl left the shower. But she didn't reach for a towel. Instead she kneeled down before the wheelchair and laid her head on her lover's lap. She wrapped her arms around Michiru's waist and closed her eyes as the smaller girl started to stroke comfortingly through her short wet hair.
"I don't know what it all means." Whispered Michiru and sighed. Haruka only squeezed her harder and didn't even notice that she wetted her lover, too. The young violinist held her tight. She didn't move. She simply stroked her girlfriend's hair and tried to forget her own nightmares as well. Finally, after maybe an hour they had silently sat there in that position, Haruka spoke. Her voice was shaky and it was only a few words she managed to say. They sounded like a whispered sob only Michiru could hear.
"I'll never want to hurt you. Nor her."
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The morning light woke her up. It was maybe one hour after dawn and the cloudless sky promised a wonderful late summer day.
Michiru yawned and smiled as she felt the warm body beside her. They both laid on the living-room's couch and only a thin blanket covered their naked bodies. After a while they both started to freeze in the bathroom. Both of them took a towel and silently went over to the living-room. They sat down on the couch and watched some music videos without saying a word. They simply held each other tight. In a loving and comforting embrace. They didn't talk. They didn't need to. They could feel the other's fear. They understood it.
Sometime during the night Haruka fell asleep at last. Michiru switched off the TV-set, embraced her lover tightly and followed her into a dreamless, peaceful sleep.
Was it just a nightmare?
Michiru looked down in her girlfriend's now relaxed face. Her hair was now dry again but helpless messed. The young violinist giggled quietly. She loved those intimate moments. Only she was able to see the tomboy this way.
She really is cute!
Michiru didn't want to wake her girlfriend, but she simply couldn't resist. She leaned forward and kissed her lover slightly on her lips. Haruka smiled against her lips, tightened her embrace and pulled her nearer. Then she returned the kiss with all her love.
"And I thought you're a late riser." Teased Michiru and looked into sleepy green eyes.
"I'd stand up every day at five in the morning when you're the princess who's kissing me awake." Replied the young racer and Michiru was relieved as she saw the smile on her lover's still pale face. The young violinist grinned and her hand slipped under the blanket and touched Haruka's soft skin. The taller girl groaned. Then she closed her eyes and kissed her Michi-chan with all her strong feelings.
"I see, you've already discovered your love." Declared suddenly a high voice next to them. The two girls interrupted their kiss immediately and spun around in surprise.
A figure stood in the bright sunlight. She wore a white dress and long white hair covered her back and almost touched the ground. She held a strange staff in her hands and with the long sleeves of her dress she almost looked like an angel.
"Who the hell are you?" asked Haruka with an suddenly angry expression on her face. Quickly she left the bed and covered her nakedness with one of the towels which still laid on the carpet. Michiru grabbed the blanket tighter and looked at the young woman in surprise. Maybe she was twenty five. The young violinist couldn't define. But something was in those blue eyes that made her look a lot older. Her look was so wise, she could have been older than those twenty five years.
She's many centuries old...
Michiru blinked, but she didn't know where that strange thought came from.
"What are you doing in our apartment?" Haruka was now really angry. She took the remote control as a kind of weapon and stepped nearer to the figure. The appearance only smiled lovingly at her.
Like my mother...
Haruka frowned, but she concentrated on her attack. She jumped and landed hard on the ground as the young woman simply stepped aside.
"As wild as ever." Giggled the figure and shook her head. "But that's why you're part of the big mission I'll have to give you, Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune."
Haruka came to her feet again and shook her head. Protectively she stepped between the shinning woman and her girlfriend.
"Whatever you're telling us, it's nonsense. And now, leave our apartment. NOW!" she declared coldly and pointed at the door. She still held the remote control in her suddenly trembling hands.
"You've already had those nightmares. Hadn't you?"
Haruka and Michiru exchanged short glances and the young violinist pulled the blanket tighter around her suddenly freezing body.
"I don't know what you're talking about, but..."
"They're all true." Declared the young woman and her look was not longer amused. Now it was concerned and very serious.
Normally she doesn't look that serious.
Michiru frowned over her strange thought and saw how Haruka clenched her fists.
"No!" she shouted, but it was too late. Haruka had already attacked the strange person again. But without any effort. Again she landed on the carpet and she almost lost her towel.
"These wars can't be true!" whispered the young racer and shook her head as she looked up to the shinning woman with a hateful look in her green eyes. "I won't hurt Hime-chan!"
"Hime-chan?" asked the figure and raised one eyebrow. Then she sighed and sat down on the chair next to the couch. Suddenly the shinning woman looked very exhausted. "It's all starting again, isn't it? And I don't have the power to prevent it. And my daughter hasn't awaken now. It will take another two years until she'll know again that she's your Princess and your future Queen."
"What are you saying?" whispered Michiru and smiled shakily at Haruka who still laid on the soft carpet. Her body trembled and the young violinist saw that the nightmare was still alive in her lover's head.
"I am simply telling you about your destiny. You are Sailor Neptune... and you're Sailor Uranus." Declared the shinning woman and pointed over to the taller girl. "You have to find the three talismans to prevent that the messiah of silence will be reborn. Because he will destroy this world with all its living creatures. My daughter isn't strong enough to defeat the messiah by herself. She's too small now and still too weak. So I'll give you the task to search for the talismans. You're the strongest of all senshi and I know that you never betrayed the Moon Kingdom's family in the past. I know about your loyalty and about your great powers. And about your strong will to reach every goal."
Haruka stared speechlessly at the shinning woman. The imagination of a dead Hotaru in her arms was still very present in her mind and she didn't want to believe that this nightmare could become true. One day...
"Hai, we have a strong will." Declared Michiru and laughed a sad laugh Haruka had heard a lot during the last year. "Maybe we're even the senshi you're looking for." Michiru thought about the light that rescued Haruka and her before the deadly blade of Haruka's father. The young violinist could remember too well the strange uniform and the strange powers that helped Haruka to defeat her insane father.
She had screamed "Earth Shaking" and a huge golden light hit her father and he fainted. It looked like a big planet. Maybe Uranus? And then all these terrible nightmares... All these wars...
"Maybe this mission is our destiny. Maybe we have to fight in these wars. But Queen..." automatically she used that name without knowing why. "there's something you didn't notice at all. We aren't as strong as you might think we are. At least I am not that strong." Michiru smiled a sad smile and pointed over to the chair the shinning woman was sitting in. "How should I protect the world in such a thing?"
The Queen looked down at the chair, saw the wheels at both sides. Her blue eyes grew wide and she opened her mouth for several times and shut it again. Silently she stared at the now kneeling Haruka and at a Michiru who stared determinedly back.
"Oh my god..." whispered the shinning woman and left the wheelchair as quickly as possible. "Oh my god..." she repeated suddenly horrified. Without saying a word she came over to the couch and took the blanket away before Michiru could react. The young violinist blushed deeply but she couldn't escape.
"I am paralysed." Declared Michiru with a quiet voice and lowered her head. "My legs are too weak to carry my body any longer."
At the next moment Haruka was by her side and grabbed the blanket back from the shinning woman with a warning look on her now redden face. Carefully she covered her lover again with the linen and took her into her strong arms.
"What happened?" asked the Queen obviously shocked and shook her head again. Tears burned in her deep blue eyes and Michiru wondered where she knew that reaction so well from. However, she simply couldn't remember.
"It was a car accident. My parents died and I survived. As a cripple..." she swallowed hard and felt how her lover embraced her more tightly.
"You're not a cripple, Michi-chan. And that woman's simply nuts." She growled and Michiru was sure that her Ruka would try to attack the Queen again if she tried to hurt her somehow.
"Paralysed? But you're Sailor Neptune! You can't be paralysed! That wasn't suppose to happen!" said the Queen with a tone in her voice that made Michiru very angry.
"No, it wasn't suppose to happen! Often I asked myself, why? Why me? But as time passed I started to accept my destiny. Maybe you're right and I am that Neptune, but then you'll have to accept a handicapped senshi!" she screamed and suddenly tears burned in her eyes. "Maybe I'll have to ask someone to help me into the building or where ever those talismans are, because there're a lot of steps. Maybe I can't run away when the messiah of silence will be reborn and maybe I'll awake every night screaming in my bed because of some strange nightmares. Maybe I'll have to fall out of the bed every night to take a shower afterwards, because my bloody wheelchairs rolls away from the edge! Well, but it all wasn't suppose to happen, was it?" Michiru started desperately to sob and buried her face in Haruka's shoulder.
"Okay, that's enough, Ayako. You can come out now." Declared the young racer and pressed her lips together. But no red haired girl stepped laughing out of the corner. Nor did anything else happen.
"I don't know about an Ayako. I am you future Princess's mother. It is my task to tell you about your destiny and about..." she shook her head and stepped nearer. Haruka looked wildly up to her. As wild as an animal. Ready for the big jump to defeat the shinning woman forever.
"You can't defeat me, because I am your Queen." Giggled the figure but her blue eyes were still very serious. "Trust me, Uranus. I won't ever do you any harm." The shinning woman leaned forward and stroked thoughtfully through long sea green hair. "That wasn't meant to happen. You have a hard mission and I can't risk of losing you because of that accident." She looked from a tear wet face into an angry one. She frowned and got paler as she saw the scars only she was able to see because of her powers. "And it wasn't meant that such a bad thing happens to you. But I didn't know..." The shinning woman sighed worn out and stroked over Haruka's pale cheeks. The young racer winced away but didn't defend herself. "I thought it would be better to leave you in your old lives as long as your mission hasn't started. But I didn't know about the hell you went through. If I had known about it, I..." suddenly she sobbed and bowed her head. "Gomen, Uranus and Neptune. I want to be a good Queen but I left you alone. So many things happened that shouldn't have happened at all!" As she raised her head again her cheeks were as wet as Michiru's. She reached again for the blanket and pulled it slowly away. Michiru lowered her head and felt how Haruka squeezed her harder. None of them dared to move nor to think. There was something in the shinning woman's voice that told them that they could trust her.
"I can't take away the scars from your soul, Uranus. And I can't bring back you parents, Neptune. I've got a lot of power but there're points when it's limited." She sighed worn out and raised her golden staff. A golden light filled the room and the two girls closed automatically their eyes. "But there are things I can change. Well, at least I can help you. It's your will to accept it."
Michiru could feel the pain that went through her body. She gasped and felt how her lover pulled her closer. Then the pain was gone and she felt very tired. She couldn't open her eyes again. She was too exhausted. She simply leaned her head against Haruka's shoulder and felt the blanket on her freezing skin again. Then she settled slowly into a deep but peaceful sleep.
"What have you done?" asked Haruka surprised and rocked her sleeping Michi-chan gently.
What kind of a strange bright light had that been? So strange but yet so known...
"I gave her new hope." Declared the shinning woman and lowered the staff a little bit. She looked as tired as the smaller girl felt and reeled a bit as she stepped back.
"Where are you going?"
"Where I belong to. But I'll come back as soon as you're ready to take your mission and complete it. Now isn't the right moment, Uranus. But we have to hurry up. The enemy's slowly awakening and we don't have much time left until the final battle." The young woman waved and automatically the young racer waved back. Suddenly she was sure that she had seen that strange person before. Somewhere. And that she could trust her.
"Queen?" An unsure smiled appeared on the tomboy's face.
"Hai?" The shinning woman turned for a last time before she vanished into the bright sunlight.
"Michi-chan and I... that wasn't supposed to happen, was it?"
The Queen smiled tenderly down at the sleeping face of the future Sailor Neptune and then at the concerned one of Sailor Uranus, and shook her head.
"Don't worry, Uranus. You're meant to be together."
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