Brightness from the morning sun wakes me. I had forgotten to close the curtains to the large windows and the sun is reflecting off of the buildings. I lay in bed a moment collecting my thoughts, going over what I remember. My name is Michiru, I'm in the guest room of my apartment, my boyfriend – I pause is he my boyfriend, husband? I'll have to ask. Haruka is asleep in the room we should share. My daughter, Hotaru, is staying at Setsuna's house and today is her first day of school. I play the violin and paint. I remember. I crawl out of bed and open the closet realizing I'm still wearing the dress I left the hospital in. There are a few dresses to choose from and I grab the first I see, I slip into the bathroom connected to the guest room and turn the shower on, I step into the water letting it wash over me. I spend forever in the water running my hands over my body and through my hair. I feel at home in the water, alive. But soon the water turns from a lovely warm to a chilling cold and I turn the faucet off. Once dry and dressed I loop my hair into a tie and head down to the kitchen. Something smells divine as I curl into a chair at the kitchen table, Haruka is humming as he pours coffee for me. "Morning." He says setting the cup before me. I stare at him a moment examining.

"Do you remember things today?" he asks. I turn my head to look at him better. "Michiru?" he's dressed in a white tank top, his arms are muscular but fine, his collar bone is soft the neck of the top scoops at his lovely curved breast. I stare. His…breast?

"You're a girl!" I exclaim. Haruka looks down at her chest, where my eyes are focused.

"I am."
"You're a girl." I repeat.

"I guess we didn't really cover that. I'm sorry."

"Sorry. I'm just surprised."

"That happens a lot, I'm really very sorry I forget sometimes that people." She trailed off. "Sorry Michiru, yes I am a girl."

"But Hotaru?"

"Hotaru?"

"How did we have Hotaru, you're a girl." I stammer, confused. Haruka laughs.

"Hotaru isn't our daughter biologically. We are her parents, we care for her and she is our daughter but neither of us gave birth to her. Setsuna is also a surroget mother to her, that's why she time shares between us and Setsa's." I exhaled sharply as she told me this. I felt like the ground had just shifted. Haruka was a woman. "I'm really very sorry Michiru." She looks sorry, embarrassed and sad in a way. I swallow some coffee and stare at the floor trying to collect my thoughts. Of course they wouldn't spring something like this on me, of course they would assume I would notice Haruka was a woman or at least remember somewhere that I was a lesbian. And wouldn't I? But I didn't, hadn't this was a surprise. Haruka was attractive and my body did respond when she touched me, looked at me, or when her lips curled in that smile that seemed to…alright so I was perhaps in love with her beyond my memory, my body certainly knew I was in love with her.

"I'm sorry." I said. "I didn't, I shouldn't, I'm sorry I reacted that way. I was surprised."

"Are you alright? I can leave."

"No." I said quickly. "No don't leave, I'm fine." I put my hand over my heart trying to calm it's beating. My face burned with embarrassment. I drank the rest of my coffee in silence, poking at the breakfast Haruka had made. Haruka said nothing she read a newspaper and ate her food. I broke the silence finally. "Can you start at the beginning please."

"Of what?"

"Girl meets girl, they fall in love, girl gets hurt and I'm here today?"

"That about covers it." Haruka smiled, I melted a bit.

"Haruka I'm serious. Please." I frowned. "I look at the pictures on that wall and I recognize no one. You explain how we met and I can't piece the day together. I look at Hotaru and I don't remember a thing. Please."

"Alright Michiru, I'll start at the beginning." And she did. We moved into the living room, settled onto the large couch and she told me. She started at the track, where I sat in the bleachers watching her race, I was there most days but Haruka was sure it was for the senior that every other girl adored. She was amazed when I begged our mutual friend Eliza to introduce us, Haruka tried to play coy and hard to get but after weeks of my unfaultered stalking, I won. She told me about the recitals we would play, how people would come from all over the world to hear us, how we were well compensated and could afford the most luxurious condo in all of Japan. She told me how I loved the water and how she needed the wind, but wouldn't tell me more than that. She took me through each picture hung on our walls and introduced me to each of the people. Usagi was annoying but too sweet not to love, Rei had a mind of her own and wasn't afraid of anything save for being hurt, Mina was an actress living in the UK, Ami was finishing her doctorate in Germany, Makoto had a restaurant in downtown Japan that had rave reviews. Usagi came out of the accident pregnant and her family was not impressed she and Mamoru were married urgently. Chibi-usa was born exactly 13 days before Hotaru.

"I was asleep when Hotaru was born?"

"No, and yes."

"I don't understand."

"Time is a funny thing Michiru, for us things are repeated and lost. "

"I still don't understand."

"Think of it like a mirror, you see yourself in the mirror but what if the image reflected isn't just a copy, what if it's you, just in another time?"

"Ok?"

"So while you slept, you still lived. Until 4 months ago, when we lost you completely."

"Alright." Haruka heaved a heavy sigh.

"What I'm about to tell you is, going to be hard to understand."

"Harder than a mirror?"

"Ok maybe not that hard." She laughed. "We're soldiers."

"Like the army?"

"No, more like the solar system."

"I don't understand." Haruka moved to the centre picture in the wall and lifted it, behind it was a small wall safe, she opened it and returned with a new picture I had not seen. There were ten of us in total, all wearing the same short skirt and gloves, Hotaru looked older and the girl next to her had to be Chibi-usa. I stood at the side, Haruka's arms around me.

"We were, are, sailor senshi. Warriors for the protection of the moon princess and all evil in the inner and outer solar system."

"Ok."

"Youre memory was lost after we defeated an evil called Galaxia."

"Galaxia."

"Yes. We tried to defeat her but you and I lost our lives, as did the rest of the senshi, but our princess, Sailor moon." She pointed to the girl in the centre, she had long blond hair tied into buns. "she defeated Galaxia, but time split then and while we were all being reborn in one way or another we were still living our lives. So while you were in a coma at the hospital, you were also adopting Hotaru with me. We were buying this home."

"Have you been assessed by a medical professional?" I asked wondering just how crazy Haruka was. She laughed.

"Trust me I know how it sounds."

"Do you?"

"Yes, because when you first came to me and told me we were soldiers and that I should choose to run rather than fight along side of you I though you had lost your mind." She laughed. "But then we fought together and slowly we remembered the lives we had before the wars. The years spent on Neptune."

"Neptune?" I sighed. Haruka was nuts.

"It's a lot to take in."

"You're crazy."

"Let's move on shall we."

"Insane." Haruka smiled at me, I was worried. Either she was totally crazy or telling the truth. By the look of the photo she was telling the truth.

"You remembered then, you'll remember again."

"Neptune."

"In the summer, Uranus in the winter."

"When was this?"

"Two lifetimes ago."

"Ah." I sighed. If you can't beat em, join em. "Alright then what?" I said.

"Then nothing, we're here. You'll remember and we'll be as we should be."

"A family with Hotaru?"

"Yes." Haruka smiled and again my stomach did cartwheels.

Our walk down memory lane took longer than I realized and when I looked out the large windows the sun was gone and darkness had settled in. Haruka ordered a pizza for our dinner and we ate while Hotaru discribed in detail her first day, over the phone.

"That's amazing Firefly, I'm glad you had a good day." Haruka smiled wiping pizza sauce from her lips.

"Do you remember more today Mama?" she asked me.

"Haruka's been telling me stories of warriors and princesses." I laughed.

"So you do remember? How we fought Galaxia and got reborn?"

"Not yet." I frowned, was I the only one who thought this was crazy?

"Ok Hotaru, time to hang up." Setsuna said in the background of Hotaru's call. We said goodbye and I felt sad when the phone clicked.

"I'm off to bed." Haruka announced stretching. I sat for a moment watching her clean up before meeting her at the bottom of the stairs.

"You too then?"

"Yes." I said. "With you."

"Michiru." Her tone sounded warning.

"You said yourself we've been together for lifetimes."

"Yes, I know that, you don't."

"Remind me." I said pressing my body against hers. My body filled with warmth and desire I recognized immediately. This I hadn't forgotten. Haruka stirred feelings inside me I didn't need to remember, they were unforgotten.

"I don't think it's a good idea."

"You don't want me?" I challenged feeling brave.

"Really Michiru!" She snaps at me. "You have no idea how badly I want you. How badly it hurts not to take you into my arms and kiss you like I've done a million times. But I'm trying, for you. This morning you found out I was a woman and nearly lost your mind, now you want to go to bed with me. I'm trying to be paitient and to understand but you have to help me too."

"I'm sorry." I say a bit shocked and feeling scolded. "I know this must be hard for you, you have lost the person you loved and I'm lucky enough to have the option of rediscovering why I love you. You want me to be able to share our secrets and know those private jokes and I don't. I'm sorry. I don't know where I'm supposed to fit here Haruka."

"Slowly." She said wrapping her arm around me. "We have to go slow. I don't want you to go to bed with me and wake up lost and confused tomorrow. That would be worse. Please just give yourself some time Michiru, I'm not going anywhere, I'll be here when you're really ready."

Haruka escorted me to the guest room her arm still around me as we stopped at the door. "When you're really ready." She said again placing her lips against my cheek. My body felt on fire with her body close to mine and her lips on my cheek. Once she leaves my side a chill goes through me and I feel alone. I close the door to my room and slip between the sheets. I've remembered to draw the shades and as I lay in the dark I try to imagine being a soilder, being a princess but mostly, I try to imagine making love to Haruka.