Okay, okay. Since chapter 8 was so short, and chapter 9 is so short, I decided to go ahead and post it.
Don't say I never gave you anything. ;)
You can repay me by giving me the rights to Sailor Moon. Cuz right now, I don't have them. Darn.
----------------
The days leading up to Michiru's recovery were slow. Like Haruka, she healed fast due to her senshi capabilities, but she had many gashes that needed tending to. Since the majority of the gashes had been given in the direction of her back, she spent her days lying on her stomach to give them time to heal. The paper hospital gown she'd been given was not a sufficient outfit to spend any length of time in, according to her, and as soon as possible she had instructed Ami to fetch her a pair of shorts and a lightweight undershirt.
Michiru felt more comfortable moving around and getting out of bed to use the bathroom in those clothes, and since she was confined to her hospital room, she felt comfort was a necessity.
She and Haruka had come to terms somewhat- she had gotten Haruka to apologize, which was all she'd really wanted to begin with. Now their friendship was there, but with it came something else- the knowledge that Michiru's feelings were now out in the open.
The aqua-haired girl tried her best to ignore that fact, and move on as if she had never mentioned it, but she couldn't deny that Haruka looked at her differently. There was a distinctive change, but Michiru could not quite figure out whether it was positive or negative. Reading her partner was something that she was quite skilled at. Truthfully, she did it better than anyone, including Tachi. But she wasn't sure she could trust herself not to make assumptions based off of her emotional hopes, and so she left it up to Haruka to take the initiative.
The blonde was in a constant state of tension. She had recognized the spark between them even before they had been introduced, from the moment she first laid eyes on the aqua-haired princess her first day on the Moon. However, now the spark had matured into a bonfire, to say the least, and it was a lot harder to deny its existence. She spent the days during Michiru's recovery with her partner. She made sure that she had everything she needed and that there was nothing she could get for her.
After all, it was the least she could do considering Michiru had taken the hit that was meant for her. She had started out with the intention of doing it because she felt obligated out of guilt, and because it was the right thing to do, but as the days passed, she found it was more out of a deep caring for the sensitive artist.
They spent many long nights immersed in deep conversations. Haruka was more apt to open up, and as the days passed, she felt the weight of Kayle's death slowly lifting, the pain not as burdensome as it had been before. Part of the reason it had been so hard to begin with was because Kayle had been all she'd had left… someone who cared about her equally in return, and then she had lost him. But now, she realized, Michiru offered that same care, perhaps more, and had from the start. She had just been too stubborn to see it.
"Stupid," Haruka muttered to herself as she reached Michiru's hospital door. She knocked lightly, heard Michiru's light response, and entered the room.
Her mouth went dry.
Michiru was lying on her stomach, flipping through a magazine, wearing nothing but those short, skintight cloth shorts and a thin undershirt. The artist casually looked back over her shoulder and her aqua hair cascaded over the bare skin of her shoulders. The blonde swallowed at the sight of Michiru's firm, round behind in such scant shorts.
Michiru smiled. "Haruka," she greeted. She frowned when she noticed the blonde's lack of a response, and suddenly caught the direction of her gaze. She began to blush furiously.
Haruka suddenly noticed Michiru's blush and realized that Michiru had caught her staring, which elicited a small blush from the blonde as well. She cleared her throat distractedly.
"Erm… I just forgot… something," she stammered nervously, and hastily left the room.
Outside in the hall, Haruka mentally smacked herself. 'Stupid!' she chided. 'Now she thinks you're a pervert.'
She sighed and began to wander aimlessly around the hospital wing, looking for time to kill. She definitely did not want to face Michiru anytime soon.
The next day, Michiru was released from the hospital wing and allowed to return to her quarters. Haruka assisted in gathering her few belongings that she had relocated during her recovery and moving them back to her room.
As she entered, Haruka realized it was the first time she had ever been to Michiru's room. It was incredibly tidy and kempt, and everything, down to her assortment of different make-ups, was organized.
She set down the armful of undead flowers that Michiru had insisted on taking on her desk. Most of them were past the healthy stage, but a few of them were still good. She glanced around the room, taking in the color, the slight scent of vanilla, and the various small objects and figurines that decorated the desk and dresser. Most of them were Neptunian in design but some of them had traces of Mercurian, even Venutian motif.
"It's good to be back," Michiru sighed. "That hospital wing was unmanageable."
Haruka gave her a wry smile. "I found it quite comfortable."
Michiru rolled her eyes. "As always, our planets offer different standards when it comes to those types of things."
"Always," Haruka laughed. Her expression turned suddenly serious as she felt Michiru wrap her arms around her.
"Thank you for taking such good care of me," the Neptunian princess breathed. Haruka swallowed as she felt the lithe body press close, her every curve seemingly melting into her. It was not an unchaste hug, but Haruka's enflamed senses could only breathe in the scent and feel of Michiru pressed against her. Had they ever hugged before? Haruka could not remember ever feeling the rush of blood and excitement she felt at that moment.
In a mere instance, Michiru had pulled away again and Haruka stood there, nearly speechless, but feeling somewhat troubled over the sudden lack of the aqua-haired girl's warmth.
"It was nothing," the blonde managed to choke out at last, hoping that her words sounded somewhat normal.
Michiru only smiled at her.
As more days passed and Michiru was fully assimilated back into training and Haruka's day-to-day life, both of the senshi found it difficult to concentrate on anything but each other. They went about their daily routines, but always in the back of their minds was their partner.
Since the accident, they had become better friends and partners in training. They were on an understood level with each other, and were more easily able to communicate….
…in most things. When it came to talking about their growing attraction, neither of them wanted to bring it up, and sometimes in the most peculiar situations, they were found speechless in each other's presence. It was an odd double-standard that did not go unnoticed by the rest of the senshi.
Truthfully, Haruka felt as though she could not take her eyes off her partner whenever she was around. Her stunning beauty and her gracefulness coupled with the fact that she knew her inside out were all factors in her intense desire for the Neptunian princess.
Michiru, too, was finding it harder to deny her increasing lust. In every movement or gesture by Haruka, Michiru found beauty. Whenever the blonde touched her, either through training, or in harmless, small, daily interactions, she felt as though her skin were on fire. Many times she found the blonde staring at her intensely from across the room, and when their gazes met it was almost like an electric current had formed, so powerful that neither could hold the gaze for long.
Within a week after her total recovery outside the hospital wing, Michiru received a letter from her father.
"It's to inform me that a party is being held in my honor," she had told Haruka as they were sparring. She had meant to bring it up casually, and sparring was a good time to discuss casual things in her mind. "It's taking place next week."
"So? Go," Haruka had said as she threw a punch towards Michiru's right shoulder. Michiru evaded and blocked another blow from the blonde. The artist was quiet for a few moments and returned to the task at hand, but Haruka sensed she wasn't finished and raised an eyebrow.
"Well, I was hoping you would come with me," the artist said finally.
Haruka stopped for a moment. "Go with you? To Neptune?"
"Yes," Michiru said carefully. "After all, you are my best friend, and it's supposed to be my birthday party…"
Haruka considered, relaxing her fighting stance. She wrinkled her face. "I guess so…"
Michiru grinned and without warning, tripped the blonde, who landed hard on her back. Michiru beamed down at her. "Great."
Haruka only stared in disbelief. "I've never been to Neptune."
Michiru's grin only widened. "Then this should be a unique experience for you."
--------------------
See? Told ya it was short. Don't worry, the next one will be the longest one yet. Get ready for it! It's a doozy. ;)
lol. See ya next time, pals. :D