Fighting With The Heart

Turles decided to finally place Haruka down, to catch his breath and to think his way out of the problem they were in. He could tell that the sun was about to set and things were starting to look rather grim for the three of them. All around him, where the shadows existed, he could see slithering movement and growls of hatred and murder. As he watched the shadows waiting to strike at them when the sun fell, he realized that maybe what he had been told as a child was not so false after all.

Mother's would often tell them of a race of shadow warriors to their cubs, saying that if they didn't become strong and powerful, the shadows would over power, tear them to pieces and pull them into the shadows. Judging from the wounds on Haruka and Makoto, that story wasn't such a rumor after all. Even half-healed, Haruka looked like she had been through hell with the shadows already.

Normally, Turles wouldn't have cared about saving anyone in his party, but after Haruka risking her life for a child that wasn't hers, caused him to go against that normal rule and pay her back. He would be damned if he owed anyone a debt and she had to be alive to repay. "Don't you dare die on me Haruka! I need you alive to help me fight these things." Haruka never responded as she lay on the ground, fighting to stay alive. Not all her wounds had closed up and she was bleeding steadily on the ground. Taking his shirt off, he began ripping it into shreds to dress the deep cuts on her arm, rib cage and leg. He had to rip her shirt open to get to the one on her ribs, but he didn't care if she tried to kill him for it. He was more interested in trying to keep his crew alive. Makoto continued to cry as the sun set and the shadows, became longer.

As he finished dressing Haruka's wounds he felt a stab in his lower back, and looked behind him to see shadows, moving in on himself. 'Dammit!" He grabbed Haruka and Makoto and flew into the sky to find that the shadows tried to connect with his shadow again, and he was desperate to lose them. With a will to live and to save his daughter, he flew directly in the path of the sun, to see that the shadows scream in pain and blood splattered on the ground. Surprise lit his face, as he realized that these creatures can be damaged and mortally wounded if hit right. The only problem was, the sun was setting fast and he had no light to protect himself after it did.

He started to feel cold and thought a nice hot fire would be nice right about now and then laughed. "If I want a fire, I have a whole forest to burn down." Everything in his path began to light on fire and he stayed within the light all night as he burned the forest down. "Only problem with burning a forest is, you run out of trees that don't grow back." When the first lights of sun came up the next day, Turles dropped in its path exhausted. 'I need sleep, but if I do, night will set and we will die.'

He forgot his shadow being on the ground, and something entered it and began expanding it, causing Turles to scream in agony as he dropped Haruka and Makoto to the ground. Cuts appeared all over him, his ribs cracked and not a part of his body didn't ache. 'Is this how a Saiya-jin is going to die? I can't believe I'm being beaten by a shadow.' Turles started to sink into unconsciousness as the pain took him over. "Makoto."

Dream

Haruka was in oblivion, feeling silence and comfort at last. 'Maybe I can finally be at peace now. I'm so alone. Am I dead yet?'

'No, and you're not alone. If you would only look in front of you, you would see that you love someone as much as he loves you.'

The voice sounded painfully familiar, but she didn't dare believe that it was her. It had been a year and a half since she had heard that voice, and it hurt her to think that she may have betrayed her. 'Who are you?'

'You know who I am, my dear Haruka.' A graceful figure walked closer as the blackness cleared to reveal the one person she had missed the most. 'It's good to see you again, Ruka.'

'Michi!' Haruka didn't know where she was at, but she ran to Michuru and hugged her with tears falling down her cheeks. 'God, I can't believe you're in front of me like this. How are you here? I thought there was no way we could get back to each other unless we defeated Dr. Gero in this time line?'

'As far as I know, this is a dream, and I don't know how it's possible that we're doing this. I think it has to do with the guilt we're feeling and a sense of wishing to tell each other a few things in case we never see each other again.'

'I won't betray you Michi! Not after everything you've done for me.'

'That's exactly why we need to talk. Are you doing this, because you really, truly love me that way still, or because of a promise we made to each other not to hurt one another?'

'What are you talking about? Of course I...,' A gentle set of fingers landed on her mouth and shook her head.

'Before you answer, look deep inside of yourself and tell me that you still love me the same way you did when we were teenagers. In the last year and a half, while we've been separated, we have both gone through a lot of trials and changes that have changed our hearts and minds. I'm not saying that I don't love you Haruka, but we need to make sure we're doing things for the right reasons, and not because of old promises that don't ring true any longer.'

Haruka stared into the eyes of her lover and best friend and wanted to scream that she still loved her the way she did before she left. 'Why can't I just say it?' Tears formed in Haruka's eyes as she tried to turn away from Michuru, afraid of what her friend would think of her. A gentle hand turned her face back towards her and smiled sadly, but kindly.

'Now that you know, what are you going to do about it?'

'I don't know. It never dawned on me to act on impulse, because I never wished to harm you. I've always protected you and still would if I could.'

'I know, Ruka, but it's not me or you that need the protection any longer. Your heart was so fragile when I found you, that one blow from me would have torn you apart completely. You've found people here in this time lines that have mended the broken threads from so long ago. Can you honestly tell me that you don't care about any of the people you are with other than Usagi, Rei and Hotaru?'

'If you're talking about Turles, you're crazy! Why on Earth would I fall in love with him?'

'You already know the answer to that, but if you want me to spell it out then here goes. I've watched you two together for seven months taking care of Makoto. At first, you two could barely tolerate being around one another because of pride and stubbornness. Turles was being stubborn, because you weren't a Saiya-jin and couldn't understand the pain he was feeling. You changed his mind when you never judged him on his failure to protect the Queen of Jupiter, but looked at him with understanding. You've hated men all your life, for the very reason that they didn't do what Turles does for his own daughter. At the age of three, you were abandoned by your own parents, and left to die in a snow storm on the side of the road. After that, you traveled from orphanage to orphanage in and out of homes, because you were too much of a tom boy to want or love. At twelve you went to your last foster home, where you had the most painful experience that no child should have had to deal with. When I finally found you, you were a wreck and had no one to trust, and lashed out at anyone that tried to give you comfort. It took me two years to get you to trust me. I never intended for us to become lovers, but it happened, and I wasn't unhappy about it.'

'Michi, I don't want to hurt you. It would tear me apart to know that I've done you wrong.'

'You won't hurt someone that is setting you free. I will still be here for you when you need me, but I am not the one intended for you anymore. Times have changed things and there is someone that was destined just for you, even if it's now showing itself to you. He needs you too, because without each other's love, he will only meet his death. All three of you will die if you don't wake up and help him fight. This enemy is tearing him apart as you speak and about to rip Makoto apart. I know you care about the child at least, even if you deny your feelings for Turles. Stop worrying about me and worry about the here and now. If we see each other again, then it will be as best friends forever.'

'What about you? You'll be alone if I do as you say.'

'I won't be alone forever. There are things I wanted to tell you about and I've watched you every day in the time mirrors since we've come to the time stream. I'm proud of you for getting over the painful past that has plagued you all your life. I bet if you talk to Turles, he would be more understanding than you think.'

'Why do you always know the right things to say?'

'Because we're still kindred spirits. We know every secret about each other, and probably still will if we ever see each other again. Let the past go and build a happy future Haruka, starting right here, right now. You can't keep hoping that you may come back. Are you telling me, you would have been truly happy being alone for over thirteen years? I can ask you to do that, but that would be selfish and cruel of me and I'm not going to do that to my best friend.'

'Are you in love with someone Michuru? It would be easier to do this if you were and I knew you won't be alone.'

A soft smile came to her face and for a moment, Haruka thought she wasn't going to answer. 'I think I am, but it's too soon for me to give you an honest answer. He's afraid to let me know how he feels because of the relationship between yourself and I. What's so funny is he never even brings up the topic, because he doesn't want to put a wedge in between the friendship we've formed in the past year. I had to admit; that I was angry with him at first, but after awhile, I understand why he did the things he did even if I don't agree with them. His motives are in the right place and he follows his heart and what is right.'

'Hmmph. I don't know if I should be jealous or happy that you've found someone.'

Michuru laughed. 'Haruka, the only reason, I haven't followed through with my feelings for him is because of you. If I thought for a second you didn't love anyone else, I would have stayed silent about it. But, I also need you to let me go as well. If you told me that you still needed me, I would stay.'

For the first time, Haruka realized the sacrifice that Michuru was making and would make in the future if she asked her to. Her eyes softened and touched her best friend's cheek and pulled her into a hug that said everything she needed to say. 'Of course I set you free. I only want what is best for my Michi.'

Michuru placed a soft kiss on her friend's lips one last time before she pulled away and headed back into the mist. When their lips connected, they both knew they had made the right decisions and wished each other luck on the paths they chose in the future. 'Go and save them Haruka! Show them what you're made of and what happens when someone ticks you off.'

End Dream

Haruka woke with a start and felt lighter for the first time in a long time. She knew that her dream was more than that and she had really seen Michuru. 'Thank you Michuru. I will always be there for you even if it isn't in the same manner.'

'I know, and if anyone hurts you, then I'm going to haunt their dreams.' Haruka groaned as she turned her head, to see shadows all over Turles, slashing him into pieces. He didn't have much life left to give and the last ray of light was about to move off of Makoto. Forcing herself to stand, she focused on the anger rising in her, which she always kept at bay. "NO ONE TOUCHES MY COMRADES AND LIVES TO TALK ABOUT IT!" Wind and light began to focus around the senshi of the winds, dirt rose from the ground with their own shadow, to slice the enemy with its own weapon, causing them to screech in anger and pain. Holding up her transformation stick for the first time in years, she screamed, "URANUS ETERNAL POWER!" As she transformed, the winds became hurricane levels, and enough to level the ground around her. Anger trembled all around Sailor Uranus as she watched the shadows try and kill a defenseless child and a father trying to defend her. "WIND STORM CRUSH!" The rocks that had been slicing with their shadows formed a rock wall that began to squash the shadows attacking her friends.

Turles was struggling to stay awake, when he felt the pain subside some and the attention directed off of him. 'What?' Weakly he opened his eyes to look at something that had him gasping in surprise and give a lot more respect. Standing over him and Makoto, was Haruka in some kind of skirt and attacking with the winds and the shadows somehow. "Haruka."

Sweat was forming on her as she tried to crush the shadows around her, but the more she tried to kill, the more that swarmed around her. Her body was trembling in exhaustion, but determination was set on her face as she bravely took her stance over both of them. Turles tried to move, but the pain in his body was so extreme that his vision blurred and he sank back to the ground. Sailor Uranus noticed him trying to get up and fight, but he had lost a lot of blood, and was surprised to even see him still awake.

For over an hour, she fought to keep the shadows at bay, but her power weakened in her already weakened condition from the shadows the day before. They converged on her faster and harder, finally breaking through her barrier and lashed out at her savagely and swiftly. "AHHH!" 'Michi, I tried to save them.' Uranus dropped her head to the side and faded into complete darkness, with death quickly approaching her. The shadows, moved onto Makoto next and was about to strike the finishing blows when a roar came from beside them.

Turles watched Haruka go down screaming and watched her dying in front of him. Makoto was his last straw, as the anger inside of him welled to extreme heights and all he saw was murderous rage and destroying this entire planet. Pain and vengeance ripped through his body as he stood back up and flared erratically in and out of a new transformation he wasn't familiar with completely. His hair turned blond, black, blond, while his eyes turned from black to green. For several seconds he was in between power stages, when he finally screamed in fury and let the power go. A golden light shown all around him, shining light on his shadow and those of Haruka and Makoto. Several of the shadows disappeared into the darkness, afraid of the transformed monster on their planet.

Turles ignored them for the moment and walked over to Makoto, to see that she was still alive, but needed medical attention fast. Haruka on the other hand, was barely breathing and blood poured everywhere. Kneeling down, he gently picked her up in his arms and brushed the blood stained hair from her face and watched the color going to a deathly white. A pain, he didn't think could get any worse, rose in his chest and felt like someone was stabbing him from the inside out. "Haruka, you stupid idiot! Please, don't give up on me now! You're the only reason I've made it this far and haven't given up on life before now." Tears welled up into his eyes, not wanted, and dropped on her pale face. Hugging her limp form close to his body, he began to scream and cry out to the heavens for a reason why he was cursed to fail two people that should have been his responsibility to protect. The anguish and pain consumed him, as he began to scream and the power around him exploded and sheaded the next ten miles into nothing but light.

Kakarot, Vegeta, Sailor Moon, Mars, and Saturn appeared on the planet to see a bright flash cross the heavens, but were more focused on the shadows that rushed him. Remembering about shedding some light on the dark points of the planet, Kakarot and Vegeta raised their power levels to magnify the light that was already forming in the skies. "Vegeta, there's still some light left to do an old trick!"

Vegeta nodded and they flew into the sky to take different positions in the sun's light and watched as their mates ran to positions as well and began to power up. Placing their hands in front of them, they shouted, "SOLAR FLARE!"

"MOON TWILIGHT FLASH!"

"MARS WALL OF INFERNO!"

"SATURN DEATH SHADOW ELLIMINATE!"

The monsters didn't last more than a second as the entire planet was bathed in a bright light of sun, crystal and fire, giving them the space they needed to get to Turles, Haruka and Makoto. When they got to them, they froze shocked at the amount of damage on all of them and Haruka being cradled in the general's arms. She was near death and Saturn quickly moved in before it was too late.

Turles was beyond recognizing anyone as he refused to let anymore harm come to Haruka and he lashed out in anger at Saturn throwing her back against Vegeta who growled. Vegeta was prepared to beat the idiot to a pulp when Usagi grabbed his arm. "No. He's lashing out right now and can't tell the difference between enemy and friend. Saturn groaned, but stood back up and slowly made her way back towards the devastated Saiya-jin. It was apparent he wanted to die if the one in his arms did and nothing was going to make him change his mind about that.

"Turles, let me help her!" Saturn yelled. "Before anymore shadows come! I'm begging you!"

"Leave me alone! What can you do to save her? She's as good as dead, and you're only stalling to stop me from blowing this accursed planet to hell!"