A bit more on Ruka's past....

13

Makoto was sitting on one of the resting chairs at the porch, enjoying her tea. An amused smile was playing on her lips, as she contemplated the scene in front of her dark green eyes.

Michiru was sitting on the grass, some distance away from the house, her eyes closed, as she listened to a concentrated Hotaru playing the violin. She sounded somewhat rusty, but considering she had learned that one song less than a week ago, it was pretty impressive.

Behind the aquamarine haired woman, an equally concentrated Hikari was braiding the young woman's hair -and probably messing it up, but the talented violinist didn't seem to mind.

"They're so cute" Minako said, smiling too, as she shook her hands, trying to get her newly polished nails dry "And Hotaru is such a fast learner!" she exclaimed, admiring the soft music the young girl was playing.

Makoto was about to say something back to her, when two men walking out of the house and taking a seat next to them, got her attention.

Kunzite was still looking somewhat amused after his long verbal fight with his sister, earlier that morning. Nephrite, on the other hand, was looking frustrated, and probably bored out of his mind too.

The brunette turned to the silvery haired man "What happened?" she asked, but when the young man simply stared at her, she rolled her eyes "To Haruka, what happened? I've been living with her for over three years now, and it turns out, I know nothing about her"

The silvery haired man shook his shoulders "Have you considered the idea that, maybe, there's a reason for that?"

"I know!" Makoto exclaimed "But I'm worried about her. I never knew about you, or your father being so hard on her" she said "I mean, I always thought Banken was her dad. I only lived with him for half a year before he past away. But he always acted like such a proud, loving grandpa..."

"A lot of things happened" Kunzite answered her, after a long pause "I didn't even know about Hikari until I got here. And my father was an asshole" he stated "One big son of a bitch. He hated Haruka. His own daughter, and he hated her" he let out a frustrated sigh, resting his elbows on his knees "Our mother died right after we were born, and he blamed her for that... and she was never the perfect little princess. She always liked sports, and hanged out with me and my friends, like another one of the guys. She hated skirts and..."

"She's still like that" Makoto interrupted him, smiling at the last comment.

"I know" Kunzite agreed, nodding his head, his eyes looking at his niece as she played with Michiru's hair "And I love the fact that she's still the same, that he didn't break her. He sent her to a hospital for over a week once, you know?" he looked back at the brunette teenage girl "He would always find a reason to beat her. Always. But one time there was this... incident with a friend of hers, and he found out about it..."

Makoto frowned at that "What? He found her making out with her?" she asked, and when Kunzite, Minako and Nephrite looked back at her surprised, she blinked, embarrassed "I thought you knew... I mean, she's gay, it's not a secret or anything..."

"No, of course I knew" Kunzite said, nodding his head "I just didn't know you..."

The brunette teenage girl smiled at him "Hey, I live with her, remember?"

Nephrite looked at them, but didn't say anything. He simply rested his back against his chair, willing to listen to the story. If he was stuck there, he wanted to know all the dirty little details. He needed to know; he didn't want any nasty surprise when and if they came face to face with Asuke.

Kunzite nodded his head to the brunette girl "Yeah, well... he found out about it, and beat her up pretty bad. I remember coming home and hearing all the yelling. I actually thought he was going to kill her..."

He closed his eyes, remembering that day. He could see it perfectly. He remembered entering the house, to find his father gone completely mad, belt in hand, crushing it against his sister's already bloody back.

He had tried to stopped him, only to get pushed over and knocked out. Literally.

By the time he finally came to his senses again, his father was long gone, and he could hear a soft, broken whimper somewhere near him. He had found Haruka curled up, laying on the floor, completely covered in blood. Crying and trembling, hugging herself. Face swell up, dried blood on her cheek. Breathing hard, her entire body aching at every intake.

But worst of all had been her back. He could still see the multiple marks over the white skin; dried blood all over. But there was red, hot liquid still running down her body from a nasty wound, where their father had actually managed to rip the skin completely apart.

He had tried to help her out, to get her to the bathroom and clean her wounds. But she had screamed out in pain, unable to stand up at all. So he had called an ambulance.

"She had two broken ribs" he said, his voice a hollowed whisper "She couldn't breath, let alone walk, and she had to rest on her stomach for a week because of the wounds in her back"

"Why didn't you report him?" his partner asked.

"We were kids, Neph" he answered "Barely fourteen. And about an hour after we got to the hospital, he came and made up this story about some mugs getting in the house... he was the adult, and I had my share of bruises too, so they all believed him"

"God..." Minako whispered, scandalized "What a monster..."

Kunzite looked at her for a moment, before looking back at the tall brunette girl "But things got better after that. Or so I thought" he said "She changed, and then she started dating the school's star boy, the soccer team's captain..."

"Asuke?" Nephrite asked, frowning, and interrupting him.

The silvery haired man nodded his head again "She would always dressed up for him, and followed him around all the time. My father seemed happy with that" he said, rubbing his eyes with one hand "And then, one day I woke up, and she wasn't there anymore..."

"I already told you I'm sorry about that" came Haruka's voice from behind them, and they all turned to the entry door to look at her. She had changed from her training outfit, and was now wearing a black sweatshirt, and her cargo pants.

A childish laughed got everyone's attention, and they all saw Hikari running up to them, and then grabbing Minako's hand.

"Tell us a story!" the girl begged, dragging her all the way to where Hotaru and Michiru where sitting on the grass, not really giving the young blonde woman a moment to answer anything at all.

"She's a great kid" Kunzite said, looking at the little blonde girl as she laughed and jumped around.

The blonde woman nodded her head, smiling proudly. She saw her daughter taking a seat right at Michiru's lap, as the aquamarine haired woman hugged the little girl in her arms, ticking her playfully, and earning happy, loud set of giggles from her.

And Haruka's smile softened at that. That woman was really something...

"Is that why you had such a bad pregnancy?" Makoto's voice got her attention again, making the tall woman turned back to them "Because of your father's beating?"

Haruka let out a sigh, taking a seat on the chair Minako had emptied

"Not really. I'm sure my father's kicks did they trick on me, but that wasn't it" she answered, her green eyes back on her daughter's form "I was weak when Banken found me, sleeping on a bench one night. I had anemia, and they found there was a problem with my pregnancy, so I had to lay in bed until she was born" she explained.

"You? In bed?" Kunzite asked, an eyebrow going up.

The blonde woman chuckled "Yeah" she said "Those were the worst five months of my life"

Nephrite frowned "Five months? Isn't is suppose to last nine?" he asked.

Haruka shook her shoulders "The first month an a half I didn't know I was pregnant" she said "And by the time I entered the second month, Banken found me"

"But that makes it seven" Kunzite said.

"Yeah, well, she made it a point on not wanting to be in my womb any longer" Haruka said, smiling, and pointing at her daughter with her head.

A sad smile came to her face then "I was terrified" she said, her voice almost a whisper "I didn't know the first thing about babies, and I wasn't even sure I wanted to be a mother..."

Makoto went to sit by her, taking her hand in a comforting manner. She now understood so much about her tall blonde friend...

And she stayed like that, holding her hand, as the blonde woman told her brother about the complications during labor. She told them about how one day she simply started bleeding, no contractions whatsoever, and how Banken had taken her to the hospital immediately.

And as she told them that, she thought she could hear the doctors and nurses around her all over again, saying the baby was in danger, saying she was in danger. Something about the baby being stuck...

"I didn't understand what was going on. All I knew was that I simply didn't care anymore. I wanted to give up" she said, her green eyes looking at a smiling Hikari, as she clapped her hands at the story Minako was telling her.

Haruka closed her eyes for a moment "I know I'm a terrible person for saying this, but I swear, at that moment, I didn't care..."

Kunzite knelt in front of her, taking her free hand in his "You were young and scared" he softly said "That doesn't make you a horrible person, Haru"

She looked at him, her green eyes watering now "You don't understand" she said "I didn't care. I didn't care if she made it or not. I didn't care if I made it or not!" she exclaimed "I hated it! God, I hated it so much..." a single tear made it down her cheek, and she wiped it away. She looked back at her daughter "But then I saw her..." she whispered, smiling weakly now "You should have seen her, Kunz. She was this... tiny, crying, pink... ball"

Kunzite chuckled at the description, and Haruka smiled too. She could still remember that moment perfectly. That single moment in time, when she had seen her baby girl for the first time.

The sound of the loud cry, as the baby first faced the world, had scared her to death. And then the doctor had given the crying baby to a teenage girl that didn't even know how to hold her.

And Haruka fell immediately in love with the small, beautiful baby. Helplessly and completely.

"They put her on my chest, and she opened her eyes and looked at me, grabbing my finger with her tiny, little hands" she said "I swear, I think she recognized me, as if she knew who I was"

"Babies do that" Nephrite said "That's why they put them on their mother's chest when they're born. Something about hearing the heartbeat and their mother's scent, so they can recognize their mother" he explained. But when his partner looked at him arching an eyebrow, he shook his shoulders "What? My sister has three" he said "I learned a thing or two here..."

Makoto tilted her head to the side, frowning "Was that when she threw up on you?"