Alone

Haruka's eyes flew open and sweat covered her face. She felt suddenly weak, and her head hurt like hell. What had happened? Where the hell was she?

Looking around, she noticed a young blonde struggling with her covers. A young woman who looked oddly familiar. But who could she be?

Breathing in a deep breath, she felt small wires on her nasal, in her nose constrict painfully. She coughed in annoyance. What the hell?

At the sound, the younger woman looked over towards her, completely stopping any attempts to remove herself. When those crystalline eyes looked at her, she felt something well up in her. Something tight, and unforgiving.

Those eyes looked so familiar.

"Haruka-san?"

She stared for a moment before it clicked. And almost doubled over when the thoughts all came rushing back at her.

The headlights. The loud noise signaling problems. The blood.

She felt fear well up in her at the thought. There had been so much blood, the air had almost tasted metallic, leaking over flowingly.

And this girl, this girl was her enemy...

She straightened instantly, her back going hard, and her heart racing quickly. She heard the beeps of a machine rise with her own pulse. Making certain all uncertainty and obvious annoyance was not in her voice. She looked stoically at the girl who was obviously not expecting this reaction. She wondered for a nanosecond why.

"What are you doing here?"

A look of shock and hurt overcame the woman before a large grin spread across her face. Giggles were soon erupting like an angry volcano, disrupting the atmosphere and such. She could only stare at what appeared to be a lunatic.

Blondes.

She ignored the fact that she was partially talking about herself because she never truly felt she belonged in that category. She was more of a dirty blonde, a more brunette than that ugly dishwasher yellow.

She hated the color yellow. Her Senshi sign, unfortunately.

"I-I-" she chocked out, her body doubled over as she wheezed pathetically, Haruka felt like being sick at the annoying reaction, "I thought you'd..."

Whatever the woman was about to say faded as she clutched her side in pain. The laughter abruptly stopping and for that Haruka was greatly thankful for. But the dose of familiar pain she felt destroyed all those thoughts. She felt as though her soul had been ripped from her body. It felt like the pain she'd felt in the light, Usagi's light...

Usagi...

"Usagi!"

Pulling herself up, she fell back in exhaustion and pain. Not at all certain why.

"Relax, Michiru-san is seeing to it. Usagi-chan will be fine."

Haruka turned once more to face the girl, her name drawing a blank as she looked on speechless. What in Caelus's¹ name was going on?

"What are you talking about?"

The heart-snatchers, the youma that steal people's heart crystals-"

"Daimonds, yes I'm aware of what they are..."

"Well, we believe one's after Usagi-chan. But Michiru-san will get there in plenty of time." She smiled a strained smile at this point, her eyes laced in pain. "Have faith."

Lying on the bed with her face towards the ceiling, she hoped, no she prayed, that this woman-child was right. She prayed hard.


Purple eyes felt the light leap out, so bright, so beautiful. She wondered how it had come, how it had found her darkness.

Those blue eyes within it took form this time, that of a young woman with golden hair, shimmering like the sun with its brilliance. She ran towards it and enveloped it in a hug. Glad to be away from the crushing darkness. How she hated the terrible darkness.

"Hotaru-chan?"

She stopped suddenly, how could the light speak? It had never done so before? Why was it so strong now? What was going on?

And best yet, how did she know her other form?

"How..."

The older woman enveloped her in a hug, crushing her, not like in the loneliness that came from the darkness, but in love. In brilliantly lit, passionate love she'd felt only from her mother back before she became an angel. She missed her mother so much...

"O Hotaru-chan!" she cried, the darkness could not even penetrate the unearthly glow that surrounded them now. Those tears like liquid stars, their luminosity never fading even with the sadness. She felt something she had not felt in so long, well up within her. Something strange and foreign to her.

She didn't understand how though...

Looking into those big blue eyes, she didn't care.


Sailor Neptune cursed at the brilliancy of the heart crystal shimmering before her. Praying to any deity listening, that it was not the one they needed. That she would not be forced to murder this child. She didn't- couldn't murder family. She just couldn't...

Such a pure person, how could she rid the world of such a beacon of light?

The noble of the seas of Neptune raced forward, her body gliding as she reached out towards the crystal. Almost there, just a little more...

A blast of fire threw her to the wall.

Crumpled she could only watch in surprise as a red head smirked down at her.

"Damn it all..."

A cackle escaped those ruby lips, and the princess could only glare. Damn it all...

Another blast of fire interrupted the beautifully shimmering crystal, only this time a small fireball from the martin.

She would have snickered behind her hand any other time at that thought. The dark haired priestess compared to a green bubbly headed midget with big black eyes and tinfoil pajamas.

However, now was not the time for such thoughts.

She watched the delicate crystal fall forward, only to be caught by a masked man. She almost croaked in annoyance. Him again! What the hell was that flower flowing pansy doing here?

Standing on her feet, she felt like sending her attack at him, instead of the Daimonds to prevent his ugly, and probably dirty (who knew what he was doing before now), hands from touching that beautiful shine.

Releasing a grunt, she blasted the woman with her powers, to watch with satisfaction as she fell of a banister. Serves the slut right, she figured. She really, really hated that dress anyways.

"Bring the crystal here you moron, I need to give it back to her!"

The reluctance of the fool almost made her blow a large green bubble of power at the idiot. What was wrong with him? Did he want her to die?

The reluctance dissolved and the 'man' fell to the ground in a giant leap. The Neptarian almost screamed in fear. The blue eyed man gave her a look, but she pointedly ignored it. What was he thinking! What if he'd hit the ground to hard and broke something!

Realizing she was thinking of this... this thing's health. She abruptly stopped the train of thoughts. She wasn't worried about him. No, she was worried about the crystal! She really was!

Taking the outstretched rock, she held it within her grasp for a second, before giving a soft sigh of relief. It wasn't it...

It wasn't it...


Usagi felt the darkness die away, to be replaced by sunlight. Bright, might she add, very bright.

"Usagi-chan?"

She listened to the voice. Mumbling something incoherent under her breath. She wasn't even sure what she'd said, but apparently the person speaking to her did. For a quick giggle escaped, and she looked up to see teal eyes smiling down at her.

Teal...

"Michiru!"

Wrapping her arms around the older woman, she clasped on tightly, refusing to let go of the neck she leeched on. O how wonderful it felt to be back in the light.

"Princess?"

Looking behind the aqua hair that cascaded her vision and obscured all figures, she saw two Senshi. Her Senshi, standing dutifully together, their foreheads shinning with light. She felt a sudden wave of nausea overcome her. How she hated that name.

She hated it with a passion.

Bowing on their knees, they pulled an arm across their chest, a fist curled across the heart and heads bent. Usagi wondered for a moment what was going on. She didn't remember anything like this...

"We have failed you Princess,"

"We have failed our kingdom,"

"We have disgraced our people,"

"By the light of Solaria, we claim the ancient rituals."

Together, a sword appeared simultaneously in their hands, before they prepared to plunge it into their hearts.. Through their hands.

Usagi felt a scream rise up in her, through her throat and stop them before the sword reached the soft flesh.

"NO!"

Obviously, they had not expected this, she wondered momentarily why before dropping the thought. Her friends had been prepared to kill themselves... No, not her friends, these were their past selves. Their alter egos. Her Senshi.

"Princess?"

"What do you think your doing! You were going to kill yourselves because you failed to protect me once! Are you nuts! Have you lost your minds!"

Usagi watched the women bow their heads lower in shame. She felt sudden annoyance that they could even dare to think such things. She abandoned all thoughts that they might be crazy when she saw the feral glint staring at her.

It was official.

Ancient warrior Princesses were crazy.

She smiled and captured them in a hug. It was good thing she didn't care for such things.

The blades disappeared and Usagi felt laughter bubble up from her for once in a long time.

Stupid, foolish, annoyingly dependent friends.


Haruka smiled at the breath taking sight before her. It had been so long since she'd seen such a beautiful sight, such a lovely thing...

"Ruka-chan?"

She smirked and ignored the tubes still sticking in her nose to capture her princess in a soul searing kiss. O how she'd missed such things.

Her fingers twisted within the golden locks tied up high in those cute little buns, she was so innocent. So untouchable. So unreal.

And yet here she stood, their souls dancing together with love. And she loved this one so much.

She just wanted to blurt it out, to scream it to the world. To tell her how she could feel nothing but numbness without her, and yet fear swallowed her alive. To tell her she could think nothing but her, that even this close she wanted to be closer. She wanted to just fuse with her. Deeper than the bright core that lit the dark night, like the moon hanging high in the sky.

How she loved her little rabbit.

Her kitten.

Her koneko.

They parted before she could even whisper a grunt, the door swinging open to show a nurses entrance. A very flirty, nurse might she add.

The look on Usagi's face when she was told how handsome she was, was plainly hysterical.

How she loved her little koneko.

However, all thoughts of the moon rabbit disappeared at the sight of a certain young man, cold blue eyes staring at her deeply.

She felt all traces of laughter leave her body, only to stare at the young man, and the small white cat on his shoulder.

"What the hell do you want?"