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Clarification: Haruka and Michiru are pseudo-identities that Princess Uranus and Princess Neptune created when they first met and introduced to each other. They haven't met officially in their real identities yet. Uranus acted as Haruka, the son of the commandant-general of Uranus, and Neptune acted as Michiru, the bodyguard of Princess Neptune. The pseudo-names are mentioned based on the princesses' perspective.
After fighting a brutal battle and risking her life to protect Uranian and Miranda Castle, what Uranus said over the communicator was the last thing Neptune expected to hear from her unmet senshi partner.
"W-what did I do to your castle?" Neptune questioned disbelievingly. "You are asking-"
"What happened here?!" Uranus interrupted sharply, "where are my people?"
What happened? Neptune thought to herself. She certainly had a lot to say and explain to Uranus, but she didn't even know where to begin. She tried her best to remain calm, understanding that the blonde princess had every right to be concerned about her own castle and folks.
"Calm down first, Uranus. I'll tell-"
Uranus interrupted her again.
"I came back here to a deserted castle, not seeing a glint of light or a sign of life, and you have the audacity of telling me to calm down?!"
"I know. It's a long story, but everything is fine now," Neptune tried to explain.
"Fine?! You called this mess fine? Where are my folks? I need an answer!" Uranus interrogated furiously. "I need to see them right now! Then I'll hold you accountable for what you have done."
"What I have done?!" Neptune couldn't hold back her calmness anymore after hearing her senshi partner's accusatory comment. She started raising her voice at the communicator, "What on Uranus are you talking about?!"
"Aren't you listening?! I need to see my folks right now!"
"They are at Cordelia Naval Station!" Neptune yelled back and huffed frustratingly.
The blonde princess headed down towards the naval station immediately. Knowing the whereabouts of her people was a bit more assuring, but she really needed to see them safe and well with her own eyes.
"They'd better be okay," Uranus continued on the communicator, her tone still cold, "look, I had to leave to assist Pluto. On the other hand, you declined to offer any help and decided to stay here. And that was fine. But you turned off your communicator, and I came back to my castle looking like this. How am I supposed to think?"
Uranus's attempt to justify her anger only resulted in exacerbating things. Neptune had already decided that reasoning with Uranus was a nonsensical thing to do.
"Just go and ask your people before you throw more vituperative accusations at me!" Neptune shouted. And before Uranus could respond, the aqua-haired princess promptly ended their call.
Cordelia Naval Station, Uranus
Uranus arrived at the naval station shortly.
Once she embarked her battleship and announced her return, Uranians were relieved to see their princess return to the planet safely.
"Welcome back, Your Highness."
"Is everyone safe?" The blonde princess asked in a concerning tone, glancing around the deck. "What was going on? Were there enemies?"
"Yes, everyone is safe and sound," The admiral assured and gestured a way for Uranus, "this way please, Your Highness."
He and a few higher ranks navy officers accompanied the blonde princess to the bridge for more detail briefing.
"There were indeed enemies - much more than anything we had encountered before," the admiral said. "The Dark Kingdom had sent an immoderate amount here that was enough to occupy the entire castle."
His answer shocked the blonde princess. no wonder Miranda Castle looked like a chaos.
"So you took everyone here for shelter?" Uranus inquired.
"No, Your Highness. It was actually Princess Neptune's order. She commanded all of us to vacate the castle and relocate here, and she stayed at the castle alone."
"Neptune?" Uranus asked, raising an eyebrow.
The admiral nodded. He went on to recount the details of the battle, from how Neptune planned for the evacuation and the things she requested for as preparations, to what he observed below the levitating citadel. As Uranus was debriefed, she found the way Neptune handled everything, from planning to devising strategies, astute and well-thought out.
The blonde princess also felt her anger towards her senshi partner quickly receded, replacing that feeling was respect and appreciation of Neptune's determination and cleverness. She was grateful that Neptune was able to cover her in her absence and protected her people.
She couldn't help but rethink her conversations with Neptune earlier. Not only it explained why Neptune insisted to stay put at the castle instead of joining her at Hydra, it also justified why Neptune was so upset when she was interrogated in a dubious way.
Just then, the admiral received a message from Princess Neptune, announcing that Miranda Castle was free of enemies again and giving her clearance for everyone to return to the castle.
"You Highness, we await your final order," the admiral said, waiting for a final confirmation from their own princess.
"Go ahead. I have no objection at all."
Uranus remained at the bridge of the battleship with her navy officers, discussing a few matters while watching everyone else getting ready to disembark and return to the castle. Suddenly, something seemed to be bothering her. Her glance at the deck became more of a scrutiny, and a frown appeared on her face.
"Your Highness, is everything okay?" The admiral asked as he noticed Uranus's change in facial expression.
"Didn't Princess Neptune send everyone here?" Uranus asked.
"She did indeed. I can ensure that everyone evacuated the castle promptly," the admiral answered carefully. He was aware of the way the princess asked the question.
"Where are her travel companions?"
The admiral looked around carefully, and pointed out a group of people for Uranus as he identified them.
Uranus's eyes lingered at the group for a while, but she still wasn't satisfied with what she saw.
"Is there anyone you are concerned with?" He asked.
"Wasn't there a girl with long wavy green hair?"
"You mean Princess Neptune?"
"No, but someone who looks just like her," Uranus tried to explain. She found herself lacking anything that could better describe Michiru the bodyguard, the princess's doppelgänger who was not supposed to have any physical attribute that would distinguish herself from the real princess.
The admiral shook his head, apparently confused by the princess's conundrum.
"But I can ask-"
Before the admiral could offer a suggestion, a cold chill ran down Uranus's back, and she took off briskly.
Miranda Castle
Neptune was already physically exhausted and mentally drained from the battle. She told herself that anger was probably the last thing she needed at this point. Heaving a deep sigh, she de-transformed and sat down at the lookout, giving her tired body a rest and trying to clear up her mind and collect herself. The cool crisp air and the gentle breeze seemed to help.
She stared blankly into the boundless space, facing the direction of Triton Castle and her own planet. Of course she could not possibly see them with her eyes as they are more than a billion miles away, but as she reminded herself this hard truth and recollected her unsuccessful attempts to meet up with Uranus and their troubled communications, she couldn't help but wonder whether she and Uranus were really meant to be partners and fight alongside each other.
Suddenly, a strong wind blew by her side and she shuddered and winced in pain. The wind reminded her of the injury inflicted during the fight. Since everything that happened succeeding the strikes was much more unimaginable, she almost forgot that the wound still hurt.
She looked at her arm where the two icy blades struck. It looked worse than it actually felt, but would probably take a day or two at most to heal with her senshi healing power. She could also use her Mirror as an instant fix if she wanted to.
Just when she was debating whether to summon her Mirror to perform a healing regimen, she overheard a voice yelling from afar.
Why was anyone here at this time? Neptune thought. She just gave her clearance to the naval station, but it would take some time for everyone to return, let alone making it all the way to the summit.
"Michiru!"
"Michiru! Where are you?!" The voice was a bit clearer now.
Neptune was shocked. Haruka? It had to be Haruka because only he knew about Michiru the bodyguard. But why was he here?
He didn't leave Miranda Castle, didn't he? That stubborn and arrogant teen.
Was he okay?
Neptune quickly got up on her feet and ran towards the source of the voice calling her pseudo name.
"Haruka? I'm here!" Neptune shouted in the open area.
"Where are you?" There were some echoes heard from the lower platform, making it hard to pinpoint where the voice was coming from.
"I'm on the trail!" Neptune answered.
After some running and pacing, soon the two teenagers found each other by the trail that led to the summit.
Their exchange stopped and their footsteps were halted promptly, but silence hadn't returned to the castle just yet. There were sounds of heavy panting and pounding hearts.
"Michiru, are you okay? I was worried," Haruka asked, breathing heavily. He immediately stepped closer to Neptune.
"Of course I am! Are you?" Neptune asked instead. She was more concerned about the Uranian civilian. She checked Haruka carefully, hoping that she wouldn't find any injury on him. Confirming that Haruka was safe and well, Neptune unknowingly reached for Haruka's hand, with signs of worries in her eyes.
"I was concerned about you. I didn't-" Neptune quickly paused, "Princess Neptune told me that she didn't see you at the courtyard."
Haruka also paused for a little bit.
"Don't worry about me, I'm fine as well," the blonde teen assured.
Finally, smiles of joy and relief appeared on their faces. They were both happy to find each other unhurt.
"You were just reckless," Neptune scolded softly. "Where were you? Hiding out in the Oberon again?"
Haruka answered her with a silly giggle, and the aqua-haired princess shook her head.
"What about you, Michiru?" Haruka asked, giving Neptune's hand a squeeze as he offered her an amused smile, scolding softly too. "You lost your right to condemn me since you obviously didn't listen to your princess's command neither."
Hearing Haruka's rebuttal, Neptune let go of their hands and looked away.
"I'm different," Neptune said proudly.
"How are you any different? You and I are both civilians," Haruka said, trying to explore further on Michiru's response.
"But I'm her bodyguard," Neptune defended.
"That makes no sense at all-"
"Well it also makes no sense that Princess Neptune told everyone to leave and you stayed here."
"Didn't you do the same thing?!" Haruka argued.
"Then explain to me, why didn't you leave then?" Neptune tried to dodge that question.
Haruka grew quiet. He seemed to be analyzing what Neptune had said earlier.
"Wait, how did Princess Neptune know I didn't show up at the courtyard? She has never met me before," Haruka answered by asking another question.
Neptune thought for a moment, and then explained with a wry smile, "Of course I told her all about you, the Oberon guard who accused me of stealing flowers."
Neptune secretly giggled. She found herself losing composure quickly when arguing with Haruka, but it was strange because she actually enjoyed debating with the blonde teen like this. Unlike her normal calm and graceful poise in her princess identity, acting as Michiru allowed her to feel relaxed and carefree, and she could be as silly and playful as she wanted to be.
"I was joking with you!" Haruka countered. "But you actually tried to accuse me for being an intruder and stealing floral emblem to my-, I mean, to the garden guard!"
"You started it first!" Neptune defended.
"And what were you doing up there just now? Picking flowers again?"
"Fine, I'm not debating with you anymore," Neptune quickly tried to end that conversation. "I've got to go, and you have no right to stop me," she playfully said. She used the same line she said to Haruka when she pretended to be Princess Neptune.
She smiled and turned away from Haruka.
"We'll see about that," Haruka said with a smirk on his face. He held her by the elbow, preventing her from leaving.
"Aww!" Neptune cried. The blonde teen gripped onto the area tightly, right where the icy blades struck.
"Playing another trick again, Michiru? I won't be fooled this time," Haruka said confidently.
"No, I'm not," Neptune said with a painful expression, begging. "Please…let go."
Altar of Darkness
Queen Beryl was furious. A scouting unit from the battle at Miranda Castle had returned and provided her an update of the defeat.
"Whose idea was that to allow Neptune staying at Miranda castle?!" She shouted at her advisors.
"Our plan was to create distractions at the moons of Pluto," one of her advisors said, "hoping that both Uranus and Neptune would assist Pluto when we sent troops towards Miranda Castle. But-"
"But what?!" The fire-red haired queen demanded.
"But we didn't expect Neptune to uncover our plan and defended Miranda Castle. Somehow she was able to detect our troops well before we reached the moons of Uranus."
"How was that possible?"
"I speculate that it has something to do with her talisman. Perhaps it was one of the mystic powers of her Deep Aqua Mirror."
"I know those talismans would be troublesome," the malicious queen said. She rose from her throne and walked over to small burning pit.
"But the bigger threat is Neptune…" She closed her eyes and lifted one hand towards the flame, and it morphed into deep aqua hue.
Miranda Castle
"How would I know that you're not trying to trick me this time?" Uranus asked.
Michiru winced without answering her.
Uranus suspected that Michiru was playing games with her again, yet she worried that Michiru was indeed hurting.
"Fine," Uranus said. The blonde princess loosened her grip and said jokingly, "let's see if you got any more trick up your sleeve."
Uranus tried to roll up her sleeve instead. Michiru struggled to stop her to no avail. As the blonde princess took a closer look at the area where she had pressed on, her eyes grew wide instantly.
"What happened to you?" Uranus asked, looking shocked and perturbed by what she saw.
"It's nothing," Michiru said, quickly withdrawing her arm from Uranus. "Maybe I bumped into something earlier."
Apparently that answer wasn't convincing enough for the blonde princess. She didn't believe it would look like this from bumping into anything or even falling, especially considering how agile the bodyguard was. It looked rather serious.
"You need to get treated. Come on," the blonde princess said and took Michiru's hand.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm taking you to the apothecary."
"Haruka, it's really not that bad. It just looks worse than it is," Michiru said. "Plus, aren't you supposed to stay at the Oberon? How could you just walk away from your station?"
Uranus hesitated. The problem apparently wasn't the Oberon, but rather her princess identity would be revealed if they showed up at the apothecary. It shouldn't be an issue since she was ready to meet Neptune so Michiru would know anyway, but her real concern was that this was probably not best time to disclose her identity, since it was likely that Michiru knew about Uranus shouting at her princess.
But Uranus decided that regardless of her dispute with Neptune, Michiru should get treated. She felt contrite that the bodyguard was injured at her castle and her grip hurt her further, and wanted to do something about it.
"Because I can," Uranus said determinedly.
Uranus tried to lead their way towards Belinda Apothecary, but the aqua-haired girl stood firm at where she was. She could not grasp why Michiru would refuse to get helped.
"Why Michiru?" She looked at Michiru, puzzled.
"Haruka, don't worry about it. It'll be fine after a few days," Michiru insisted.
Knowing that Michiru's decision was firm, Uranus shook her head.
"Can I at least help you feel better?"
The aqua-haired girl hesitated, and then she nodded cautiously.
The blonde princess took out a tiny glass bottle from her pocket, uncorked it, and poured out a few drops of liquid onto her fingertips. She then applied them onto Michiru's elbow and rubbed the area gently in circular motions.
"What is this?" Michiru inquired curiously.
"It's a formula created from the essence of Windflowers," Uranus answered.
She carefully covered the area on Michiru's elbow with the liquid formula, and then asked the aqua-haired girl softly, "Does it help?"
"I almost don't feel the pain anymore," Michiru nodded, "it is indeed a great pain reliever. Thank you."
"You knew about this?" Uranus asked, surprised.
"I learned a lot about the two floral emblems from the gardener."
Uranus paused for a moment, and then she began.
"Oh so you do know what it means by giving someone Skyflowers!"
"What do you mean?" Michiru was confused. She tried to recollect her memory on what she learned about the flowers. Realizing that she handed over the golden flower to Uranus, Michiru almost jumped. "That was not my intention!"
"Well, too late for that," Uranus said grinning. "I got your message loud and clear." She then continued with a formal tone, "In case you didn't know, our people take that action very seriously. You don't give someone Skyflowers unless you are determined to persuade courtship with that person."
"Who wants to court you?!" The aqua-haired girl argued.
"Well, we shall see," Uranus teased with a smirk on her face, ignoring Michiru's comment. "One day when I'm ready to get married and if I still haven't met the right girl, then I might consider you."
The only response from Michiru was her gape. It seemed like she wanted to say something but at a loss of words. Uranus grinned seeing Michiru's reaction and decided to take her joke a bit further.
"Oh, is that not good enough for you? Okay, how about 'I will consider you' then? Is that what you want to hear?"
"Don't flatter yourself!"
Uranus then teased Michiru again by taking her hand and stroking her palm in a light caress. The aqua haired girl tried to retrieve her hand but the blonde princess did not let go. Her action caused Michiru's cheeks to blush like cherries.
At the same time, Uranian had started returning to Miranda Castle. A few guards resumed patrolling the garden. Voices were heard saying Princess Uranus was probably at the garden.
"Your Highness! Are you there?" the guards yelled from afar.
The two teenagers were surprised by what they heard. Uranus knew that her identity would be revealed there instead, but she was prepared for it since she was ready to disclose it anyway when she decided to take Michiru to the apothecary. She wondered how the bodyguard would respond to that news.
To her surprise, Michiru suddenly drew back her hand and took a few steps back from her.
"I'm sorry, Haruka, I can't stay here anymore," the aqua haired girl said. "Haruka, I'm sorry if I caused any confusion, or misled you in anyway, but-"
"But what?" Uranus asked.
"I don't know if I will ever see you again," said Michiru. As the sounds of footsteps became louder, the aqua-haired girl said regretfully, "I really should get going now. Bye Haruka..."
"Michiru…"
Uranus wanted to stop her, but the aqua-haired girl ran away and disappeared from her sight briskly.
After Michiru left the garden, the blonde princess assured to her guards that she was well, before making her way back to the palace. As soon as she stepped into her residence, the butler informed her that Neptune and her travel companions had departed. Acknowledging the news, since it wasn't much of a surprise to her, Uranus grew silent and quietly went up to the deck.
Days, weeks, and months went by after Neptune's second visit at Miranda Castle, things had been quiet at the planets in the outer solar system. The battle had wiped out a substantial amount of enemy force in the Dark Kingdom and there was no response from Queen Beryl since then. There were some structural damages at Miranda Castle, but the citadel had since been mended and refortified.
However still left to be restored was the damage inflicted on Uranus and Neptune's partnership. Uranus had twice attempted to rearrange another meeting with Neptune, but both times she ran into schedule conflicts with the aqua-haired princess.
979, Moon Castle
Queen Serenity invited Neptune to Moon Castle for a retreat as her appreciation of another beautiful painting the Neptunian princess had done for her gallery. Princess Venus also came along since she asked the Queen to let her spend some time with her friend and Princess Serenity.
In one afternoon during the retreat, the Queen asked Neptune to meet her at her sitting room of the palace for a quick chat, a rare invitation from the Queen as she would only meet her guest in one of the drawing rooms.
"Your Majesty," Neptune announced her arrival before walking in. Queen Serenity was standing with her back facing the princess, admiring a painting.
"Neptune," the Queen turned around and offered an elegant smile. "It's great to see you here."
Neptune walked up to the silver-haired queen and gracefully bobbed a curtsey.
The Queen offered the aqua-haired princess a seat on the couch. The conversation started with Neptune thanking Queen Serenity for her generous offer and how much she was enjoying the retreat, she then briefly provided updates of the state of affairs on her planet as a formality.
Everything went on as usual. At some point the Queen offered Neptune a light snack as they continued to converse. There was nothing brought up that the Neptunian princess was not expecting to discuss. Queen Serenity also paused in between their conversations, and Neptune waited patiently until the Queen spoke again.
Neptune found it a bit unusual that her meeting would be at the sitting room and it seemed to carry on much longer over minuscule details.
Towards the end of their meeting, Neptune got up politely and bid her farewell. But before the Princess walked out of the sitting room, Queen Serenity began.
"Neptune."
"Yes, Your Majesty," said Neptune. She halted her footsteps and turned around.
"There's something I would like to know."
Feeling that something would be brought up when she least expected it, Neptune said, "I will say nothing but the truth."
The Queen gazed at the young princess for a few seconds, and then she asked, "Did you know why I invited you here?"
Even with the Queen's scrutinized look, Neptune held her composure and remained a still facial expression.
"Please enlighten me."
Queen Serenity smiled and took her hand instead.
"Neptune, I knew you are different. You must know that I invited you here not to chat about your state of affairs. Had I not brought this up, you would simply stay silent and bid farewell to me, wouldn't you?"
With Queen Serenity's words, Neptune smiled understandingly.
"Your Majesty, I have not the slightest intention of hiding anything from you."
"Very well," The Queen smiled, "then I'd like you to shed some lights on what's stopping you from meeting up with Princess Uranus."
Neptune had thought about the possibility of this being brought up, so she had an answer already.
"It's unfortunate that our partnership did not work out the way you had hoped."
"Neptune, I know that already," Queen Serenity's tone revealed a slight dissatisfaction in her answer, "and I also know about your last visit there and the battle you had fought. But I want to offer a chance for you to provide an elucidation."
The last sentence gave Neptune a pause. With that said, Uranus must have given her side of the story to the Queen already.
"Pardon me for the redundant details," Neptune said, "I regret that Princess Uranus and I missed each other a few times by chance and had several less than perfect conversations. I will work on improving that."
"You always have a proper and judicious answer," said the Queen. Her tone and slight smile displayed disappointment in her answer.
Hearing the Queen's feedback and seeing her facial expression, Neptune spoke no more.
"There were plenty of opportunities to rebuild that partnership in the past year, if that was a priority for you," Queen Serenity said calmly, but her words were sharp. "It would please me that you put more weighs on making yourself a better senshi partner, instead of a more capable senshi fighter, if that makes sense."
"Your Majesty, you're right. I had no excuse for not working on that."
"Neptune," the Queen looked into Neptune's blue eyes with a sincere concern, "there's no need to apologize. I know what you have done for Uranian and the outer solar system, and you deserve more recognition than what you received from everyone, especially Uranus."
"T-that was not my expectation. I was always glad to help."
"Did you know that Uranus actually helped you at the summit?"
"Uranus?"
"Her Space Sword sent power to your Mirror when you were surrounded by enemies."
Neptune startled. Her suspicion turned out to be correct. It was Uranus's Space Sword that became the turning point of the battle, which freed her from the droids' encirclement by sending powers to her Deep Aqua Mirror.
"I am repentant that my strategies and power weren't good or strong enough to defeat our enemies," the aqua-haired princess sounded remorseful.
"Neptune, that's not what I expected you to do. You had the best intention and you are a very capable fighter. But I wanted you to see that working as a team can be more effective and efficient than a strong fighter and an astute strategist like you, fighting alone."
Neptune remained quiet. Queen Serenity turned away from the princess and walked towards the windows, appreciating the view of earth from where she stood.
"I know about your conversation with Uranus too," the Queen informed.
"From Uranus?" The aqua-haired princess asked, "I'm sure she still holds a grudge against what I did." Since Uranus had the chance to tell her side of the story, Neptune speculated that the blonde princess did not have much good things to say about her, provided that the conversation over their communicators was poor at best.
Queen Serenity sighed slightly, "She actually claimed responsibilities for everything and said that she was solely reprehensible for how you feel about her. But I actually think that you both contributed to this. Neptune, It's not a partnership when you had to act alone without informing, or finding ways to communicate your plan with Uranus. Shutting off your communicator shouldn't be part of your strategy. When you did that you assumed too much risk on yourself and your collateral. I hope this goes into your considerations in your future strategies."
When the aqua-haired princess remained quiet, Queen Serenity proposed a new plan.
"I am actually starting to consider the option of having Uranus partnering with Pluto instead, since they work really well together. That way it can lift the burden from your shoulders so that you can continue to thrive individually."
Neptune was shocked by what she heard.
To be continued.
Note: I know that some of you are longing to see Uranus and Neptune meeting up officially. I promise it will happen!