8

"What happened, Haru?" Kunzite asked his sister.

They were both alone in the kitchen now. Nephrite had gone to take a look around, to make sure everything was in order, and Makoto had decided the siblings needed a time alone to catch up.

"I got knocked up" Haruka answered "I made the stupid mistake of dating that asshole, and he knocked me up!"

"I thought you liked him" he said, frowning.

"Well, I didn't, alright!" she exclaimed, hands up in the air "I only went out with him because he asked me, and I was trying to fit in. And then your father liked him, so I dated him"

"He was your father too" Kunzite said. He had already told his sister their father had died three years ago, on some stupid fight that had gone wrong on a bar.

"No, he wasn't" she said "My father was Banken Tenoh, and he was a great man!" she exclaimed "I was sixteen, two months pregnant and living on the streets, starving to death and freezing my ass off! And he took me in, got me to a hospital, and then he adopted me" her eyes started watering by now "He took care of me. And he loved me, and accepted me for who I am!"

"I love you too!" Kunzite exclaimed "Why didn't you tell me? Why did you run off like that?"

"Because he would have kill me!" Haruka answered, yelling and crying "He sent me to a hospital for two weeks over kissing a girl, for God's sake! You know that, you were there, remember? He called me a disgusting dyke, and then he beat me up so hard I couldn't even walk for a week! I still have the marks on my back!" she kept on yelling "And I am a disgusting dyke, I just didn't know that back then!"

A gasp got their attention, and Haruka's eyes went wide open as she looked at the aquamarine haired woman standing there "I... I'm sorry... I just came for... for some water..." she stuttered.

The tall blonde woman frowned "Where's Hikari?" she asked. She really didn't want her daughter hearing her yelling like that... there was never any yelling in her house, and she wanted to keep it that way. She wanted a peaceful, loving home for her daughter, and for Hotaru too.

"She's outside, playing with Hotaru and Minako" Michiru answered, and Haruka nodded her head at her, a nervous hand going through her short blonde hair.

"You could have told me" Kunzite said, completely ignoring the younger woman "All I know is that I just woke up one day, and I didn't have a sister anymore! It's been six years, Haruka! I thought you were dead, for God's sake!" he exclaimed "And why the hell did you date that asshole if you didn't even like him in the first place?"

"Because I was young and stupid!" she exclaimed "And I had to run away. That monster I had as a father beat the crap out of me right after he found out, Kunz" she answered, now in a softer voice, getting a glass and filling it with water "He kicked me so hard I thought I was going to lose my baby. And then he locked me up, and went out to get drunk again!" she exclaimed. And then she let out a sigh "So I just.... ran. I took my bag pack, jumped off the window and took off before he could come back and beat the life out of me..." she finished, in a low whisper.

"Kunz, I need you out here for a second" came Nephrite's voice from the kitchen's doorway, and the three occupants of the room looked up at him.

Kunzite nodded, and before following his partner, he went to his sister and held her close. He then smiled at her, rubbing her arms with his hands, and went after his partner.

Haruka rest her hands on the counter, taking a deep breath, and closing her eyes. She really didn't needed this right now. She had worked hard to get her life back in order, away from the nightmare she had lived in when she was a teenage girl. Away from her abusing father.

And she had promised herself she would never be weak again. And, most importantly, she had promised she would never, ever lie to herself again.

Because that's what Hikari's father had been. A lie. A big, fat lie she had made up for the world, trying to convinced herself that it was just a phase, that she truly liked men. That she liked him.

She had tried to pleased her father, and to do that, she had tried to pleased him. Only to ended up pregnant.

"I'm sorry" Michiru's soft voice got her out of her own thoughts "I didn't mean to come in like that..."

"It's ok" she told her "It doesn't even matter anymore"

"Yes, it does" she softly said, putting a hand on the blonde's shoulder "You still have nightmares about it"

Haruka looked at her, and blinked. "You just found out I'm a lesbian, my daughter's criminal father is hunting me down, and my long lost brother's here trying to get to him, but you're worried about me having nightmares?" she asked, frowning "Are you for real?"

Michiru shook her shoulders "Well, it's not exactly your fault he's a criminal, is it?" she said, smiling "And, yes, I do believe I'm real and very much alive, though I could be someone else's dream character..."

"Uh?"

"Just a stupid theory I heard once" Michiru said, shaking her head.

Again, the tall blonde woman blinked at her "You're weird" she finally said.

"I know" the younger woman said, still smiling up at the tall woman "People tell me that all the time"

Haruka chuckled, and Michiru giggled.

"Look, if you're freaked out about all this, and you want to leave, I understand..."

Michiru frowned at her "Why should I?" she asked "Ok, that guy does sound kind of creepy... was he like that when you dated him?"

"No, he was your typical popular guy" she answered, handing her the long forgotten glass of water "He was kind of demanding, though" she added, frowning.

"So why did you date him?" Michiru wanted to know.

The blonde let out a sigh "I was scared, and desperately trying to fit in, to be like everyone else" she answered "And for some reason, he liked me, so... I was just lying to myself. And then one night, at some stupid party, he got drunk and decided we should take our relationship to the next level"

Blue eyes got wide open upon noticing the dark look on those green eyes "Did he... forced you?" she asked, horrified. And a sudden fear pressed her chest when she saw the tall blonde woman lowering her eyes. "Haruka, that's rape!"

Haruka shook her head "It's not rape when you let it happen" she said, as she vaguely wondered why she was telling her all that....

She had never told anyone before. Not even her adoptive father. But there was something about the young woman she had right in front of her, that made the tall blonde woman trusted her.

Even if they barely knew each other.

"I... I'm sorry" Michiru finally said, hugging the tall blonde and surprising her "You went through so much... I had no idea"

Haruka blinked, surprised at the sudden movement, but then slowly returned the hug.

"It's ok" she said "Like I said, I was young and stupid, and I made a mistake"

"You're amazing, did you know that?" the younger woman said, looking at her green eyes, and still holding the tall woman.

She blushed lightly at the compliment. "No, I'm not" the blonde said "I just ran away. That doesn't make me amazing, that just makes me a coward"

Michiru looked up at her "That's not true" she argued back "You had the courage to walk away from that, and started a new life. You have a brilliant career as a car racer, you are about to open your own hotel, and you're a mother of three" she said the last part with a teasing smile, remembering the blonde's words a few nights before "I'm impressed!" she exclaimed.

The blonde chuckled, and Michiru smiled at her. They stayed like that for a moment, just looking at each others eyes, until blue eyes slowly drifted south, to the tall blonde's lips.

Haruka noticed this, and her throat went dry all of a sudden, as the small gap between their faces got smaller.

"Mommy, look!" Hikari's joyful voice made them jump apart "I'm a police man!" the little girl exclaimed, entering the kitchen and showing her mother a police badge "I'm a detactive!" she exclaimed, jumping around the kitchen.

Despite her embarrassment, Michiru giggled at the little girl.

Haruka cleared her throat, and smiled down at her daughter "It's detective, princess"

"Yeah, that!" the girl said, smiling.

Just for the record: Kunzite's last name, Kori, means Ice. Nephrite's (Hoshi) means star. Hikari means light (nice one, right?), and Banken means guardian