A/N: Okay, a bit of a warning here. In this chapter, Haruka and Michiru are going to try and socialize with other prople and be a little more open to others. just letting you know in case you were hoping for another angsty chapter. now on with the story!
Chapter 7: The Social Experiment...
To say that Haruka was in awe by what she was seeing would have been correct. The tall blond along with her lover and her cousin were now at one of the many military bases that were located in the San Diego area which was now being host to a massive car show and Haruka was excited to say the very least. The show, which was dubbed "The Festival of Speed" was actually apart of the annual"Fleet Week" celebrations that was being held within the city.
Alex had told the couple about Fleet Week, as well as the number of events that would be taking place during the coming week when they first arrived in the city. The couple were very much intrigued by this and were interested in seeing what the city had to offer during the week long event. Especially Haruka, who's interest was peaked when she heard Alex mention that there was going to be a some what large car show on one of the military bases within the city. Seeing that the senshi of the wind was a bit of a car buff herself.
The trio arrived at the event just after lunch and to say that Haruka was a bit overwhelmed would have been an understatement. Haruka was in awe by the amount cars, both vintage and late model, that were lined up outside and were waiting to enter the show grounds. "Wow..." the tall blond gasped out, beginning to wonder just if this was what heaven looked liked. Michiru giggled as the awe struck expression on Haruka's face, 'That's the same look she gives me when I wear that black number.' the aqua hair woman thought to herself.
"Hey, when you are done drooling you can meet us at the gate!" Alexander teased his cousin, a remark that caused the senshi of the wind to glare at the marine. Causing both him and Michiru to laugh a bit more. After a few minutes of walking the trio passed through the main gates and entered the show grounds. But as they entered, both Haruka's and Michiru's minds were awash with their own thoughts.
It was just the day before that the two lovers came to the realization that their lives did not have to revolve around the fact that they were senshi. They were human beings much like their princess and her inner court and as such, they needed to build social bonds with not only their fellow senshi, but with other people around them. A task easier said than considering their attitude and mind set they had in the past. They may have been able to deal with persons on a professional level but other than that, neither of them any clue on how just to socialize with any one on a casual level.
Haruka could remember what Alex had told her when the went jogging just the day before, 'Sooner or later you are going to have to open up to other people and let them into your life, or else you are going to be all alone in the end.' those words had so much weight to them when Alex first told her that and they still held weight today. The sad truth was tah they were really all alone in the world. They had no friends nor did they have family and thanks to certain events a month ago, the closest things they had to either were now gone.
But the two lovers were not about to let their overwhelming guilt get the better of them, they were determined to change no matter what. But it would still be no easy task considering that they were not in Japan, but the couple were still hopeful that they would still be able to socialize on a casual level.
"So what do you guys want to do?" Alexander spoke up, "Do you want me to show you around or do you feel that you can go it alone from here?"
"I think we can handle ourselves just for today." Haruka replied. Michiru nodded as well and said, " Yea Alex. You have already done enough for us already."
"Okay, if you insist." Alexander replied, " Just remember to meet me back at the main gate by Five o' clock, alright?" The two younger women nodded in agreement and with that, the trio broke up and went into the crowd. But as they did, they did not realize that their actions were being watched by a lone individual from a distance.
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As Michiru made her way through the crowds, her deep blue eyes caught sight of something that peaked her interest. She and Haruka were passing by some booths that had been set up, when the artist/violinist saw a couple car hoods that were out on display in front of one of them. Now normally the young woman would not care to much about car parts or accessories, but it was what was displayed on said car hoods that had her in awe. For painted on said hoods were nothing short but works of art.
One of the hoods and the image of a mountain range with what looked like storm clouds hovering over them, while the second hood had the image of white stallion rearing up on its hind legs and giving an impressive pose. The colors were so vivid and striking to the young artist, who ever did these works were not only a talented artist, but took great pride in their work.
"Ah, I see that you are interested in those air brush works that I did." a voice spoke up from behind her , startling the young woman a bit and when she looked, she saw a man that was possibly in his early fifties or sixties, with long gray hair that was done up in a pony tail and he was dressed in a very colorful shirt with matching 3ΒΌ pants. Regaining her composure a bit, the young artist nodded and replied, "Um.. yea. I was just passing by and I saw them. Did you do these?"
The old man nodded and replied, "Yep! I just brought these in today to advertise my business. I own a small paint and body shop in the city." and with that, the old man handed her a business card with the name "San Diego Body Works" printed on it. "My name is Flint." the old man said, as she stuck his hand out to sake hers.
"Nice to meet you, Flint." the young artist replied as she shook his hand"My name is Michiru Kaioh and I must say, I am very much impressed by what you have created. They should be hanging in a museum somewhere."
"Well thank you, but these here are just to help me advertise my business," Flint explained, "but I do have some works I did on display if you care to take a look at them."
That statement caught the young artist off guard, " Wait, you do paintings as well as paint vehicles?"
"Yea, it's kind of a hobby really." the older artist replied, "I actually use air brush to do them and I sell them to my customers if they like it enough."
To say that Michiru was surprised to meet another artist at an event such as this would have been correct, the young artist never thought she would meet such a person at an event that was outside the normal art world that she was use to. Sure he primarily painted his works on vehicles with an airbrush rather than the traditional Brush and canvas, but that did not stop this man from creating things that were truly works of art. So with a nod, the young woman agreed to see just what Flint had to offer as an fellow artist. Not realizing that she was about to make a very good friend out of the older man, a fact that was not lost to the dark skinned stranger who smiled at what she had just saw before heading off to find her other target.
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Haruka made her way through the sea of humanity that was the Festival of Speed. The devout Ferrari fan walked by rows and rows of cars and trucks that were on display and even though she had to admit there were some very interesting in there own right, they were not as beautiful as the Ferrari convertible that she had in storage back in Japan and to her, none of these so called vehicles could ever measure up the greatness that was that particular Italian car maker. Or at least that was what she thought before one vehicle that was on display caught her eye and when it did, the tall blond was awe struck.
Unlike many of the vehicles that were there, this one was not done up with any flashy paint jobs nor was it sitting on rims that were almost as tall as she was. In fact it was not modified in any way, it was completely stock . It was bright yellow in color with black trim, was sitting on what looked like racing rims and it had a aggressive looking profile to it. It looked like it had some age to it, but what really caught the senshi's of the wind attention was the fact that it was a convertible and the top was down.
Haruka just had to see this vehicle close up, she just had to. The now eager young woman made a bee line toward the car and as soon as she came to the vehicle she was met by a woman in her mid thirties, with shoulder length brown hair, and she was dressed in white T-shrit and a pair of blue jeans. "Excuse me miss," Haruka asked the older woman, "but is this your car?"
The older woman nodded with a smile and replied, "Yep! And by the expression on your face, I am guessing that you like may car, right?"
"Um... yea.." the tall blond replied, embarrassed by the what she had just acted. "I saw it while I was passing by and I just had to get a closer look at it."
"Well, thank you for noticing. The name is Amara." the woman said, as she held out her her had to shake the younger woman's own. At first the tall blond was a bit hesitant to shake the hand of a person that she had just met, but she swallowed her pride and shook the woman's hand in return. "The name is Haruka.."
"Well it is nice to meet you, Haruka" the other woman replied as she shook the young woman's hand, "And this is my baby, a '70 Barracuda. But I like to call her Thrill."
"Why do you call your car 'Thrill'?" the tall blond asked, puzzled by her new friend's statement. "Because she is a thrill to drive, especially when her top is down and the wind is rushing through your hair." the brunet replied with a dreamy expression on her face.
The senshi of the wind could not help but to chuckle a bit when she saw the woman's expression, but she could not help but to understand just how this woman felt when she drove her car. As a matter a a fact, Haruka always got the same feeling when she would take her Ferrari out for a drive just for the fun of it. The wind whipping through the short, sandy blond hair as a overwhelming sense of freedom flowed over her. It was quite intoxicating to say the very least. "You know what, Amara? I think I can relate the feeling."
For the next couple hours, the two women began to every thing and anything about cars. Haruka was surprised to find out that Amara had actually found her car in a junk yard and had spent the last 4 years restoring the classic vehicle. Amara was equally surprised to find out that Haruka owned a Ferrari back in Japan and that she personally worked on it from time to time. The two of them even ended up giving each other advise on how to best tune up their vehicles to get the most out of them. But finally Haruka had to leave her new friend and meet back up with both her lover and cousin, but not before the two of them exchanged contact information and with one final goodbye, Haruka made her way back to the main entrance.
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"I am guessing that the two of you had a great time?" Alexander asked, as the met back up with his cousin and her lover at the main gate.
"Yea... it was okay... I guess..." Haruka replied, trying her best to sound as if she did not enjoy herself and ignoring the fact that she was wearing a cap on her head with the name "MOPAR" written up on it. A fact that was not lost to her cousin, who proceeded to chuckle a bit and say "Yea.. I can see you had a horrible time."
"Well, I actually had fun." Michiru replied with a smile, "I met an artist named Flint and he showed me how to paint using a air brush. I am surprised that there were even artist here."
"I'm surprised that you enjoyed yourself!" Haruka told her lover, knowing that Michiru was never the one to enjoy anything that was automotive related. Michiru for her part just glared at her lover for a bit , before giggling and planting a soft kiss on her lover's cheek. "There are other ways I can surprise you, Ruka dear."
"Um..." Alexander spoke up, trying to fight back the blush that was forming on his face. "Um... we should get going. If you want we can stop to get some dinner."
The two women just laughed a bit at Alexander's expression and agreed to his plan to stop and buy dinner on their way home and within a few minutes, the trio was off. But as the black Jeep left the base and drove off into the city, the occupants did not notice a woman with dark skin and long flowing green hair, watching them as they leave.
Setsuna could not be any more happier for her fellow team mates. She had spent the better part of that day following her friends at the show and she was very much liking what she was seeing. The senshi of time was happy to see that both Haruka and Michiru were finally willing to come out of their shells and were now making an attempt to socialize with the world and so far, they had been successful.
Michiru had made friends with a very talented artist, while the Haruka had managed to become friends with a woman who was just as passionate as she was when it came to cars in general. It was a great step in the right direction, to say the very least. But the time senshi knew that this was just only the first step for the two lovers.
Even though today had been a major milestone for the couple, it had only been a distraction from what really was needed to be done. If the couple were to have any chance to patch up their relationship with their princess and get her to forgive them, they were going to have to forgive the very same people that got them where they were now. They were going to have to try and forgive themselves, and their was only one what the senshi of time knew how to make it happen.
With a heavy sigh, the guardian entered the portal that she made and returned to her place at the gates of time. Soon she would would be needed again to ensure that the time streams flowed as they should, her only hope was that when that time came she would be ready.