Warning - Spoilers Ahead!

This story links into my earlier fanfic All the King's Horses and consequently contains major spoilers. For anyone who hasn't read the earlier fanfic and would like to, I strongly recommend doing that first.

Author's Note:

I started this by accident. I began writing it towards the end of 2014, by which point All the King's Horses had already been finished for a couple of years. I never really planned to add anything further to that universe, or to Haruka and Michiru's story in that fanfic, but … When I re-read the original fanfic back then in 2014, I found myself thinking a lot about that period of time when Haruka and Michiru first move back in together in Tokyo after coming back from the final battle with Metalia.

I'd always imagined that in that initial phase, those first few weeks and months, there'd still be some stuff for our couple to work through. But I didn't write it into All the King's Horses because I liked the idea of leaving it up to the readers to imagine exactly what that healing process looked like. I still kind of like that idea, and I've pondered a lot on whether any of what I've written here is really useful or necessary material to add to what I've already done.

In many ways, it's probably not necessary. But I found I still kept writing it anyway. It was kind of deliciously addictive and self-indulgent, though also probably the most difficult and troublesome fanfic I've ever worked on. I was hoping to finish the whole thing before posting it, but since it was taking so long I decided to change my mind and post what I have now. I am really not certain it is any good. It might be terrible. It's taken so long it's kind of hard for me to judge with any accuracy. But hopefully those of you who read it will get something out of it; I did my best (and I wanted) to have it keep the feel of the original story.

Title Note:

The title comes from the line "And you and I will keep the bed warm", which appears in some versions of the song Lavender's Blue. Folk singer Jackie Oates's beautiful take on this song was something of an inspiration for this fic, with her verse choices emphasising a romantic interpretation about two people who love each other very deeply and who want to live and work side by side until they die, and then be buried together in one grave in death so they'll never be apart. It very much put me in mind of Haruka and Michiru and the way they feel about their lives and each other.

Chapter One

Tokyo, June 30, 2002

They landed late at night, deeper shadows hidden beneath an indigo sky.

It had been a tense journey back from Adara; Uranus borne on a litter as she still wasn't strong enough to fly. The rest of the soldiers had taken turns carrying her in pairs of two whilst those currently unencumbered circled in tight formation, wary of attack.

But nothing had challenged them. They'd made it back to Earth unmolested, and Moon and Mercury and Jupiter had veered off when they reached the skies above Tokyo to check in with Mars and Venus and the cats.

By unspoken agreement, they left Neptune, Pluto and Saturn to see their injured fellow Outer soldier home. Unlikely as it seemed, Uranus had actually managed to fall asleep at some point, but she started awake as Neptune and Pluto placed her litter down, as gently as possible, on the generous balcony of her high-rise apartment.

Voice weak with exhaustion, Uranus said, "there's a key to the door under the pot plant."

"That's not very secure," Pluto chided, searching underneath the relevant potted palm as Neptune and Saturn helped Uranus to stand.

Uranus laughed with an edge of pride as Pluto straightened up and unlocked the sliding glass door. "This balcony is much too high for any normal person to make it up here."

"Wait there for a minute while I turn on the lights."

There was a slight delay as Pluto explored the unfamiliar interior of Haruka's bedroom, and by the time the lights went on inside all four soldiers had de-transformed.

Michiru could feel how stiff Haruka was as they stepped over the threshold. The tightness of the grip of her hand and the slight shortness of her breath was the only indication she hurt, but Michiru knew those small concessions alone hinted that her pain was greater, far greater, than probably either Hotaru or Setsuna guessed.

Looking towards Setsuna, Michiru saw a strange expression flit across her face before being quickly smoothed away. Automatically she followed her gaze, wondering what she had seen, and immediately felt a blush creep over her cheeks.

Oh. Oh that.

Now all four of them were staring at the unmade bed with its tangled sheets and dented pillows; a far too obvious clue as to what had happened here just a few weeks ago. It had completely slipped Michiru's mind, but of course the apartment would have been left like this, given that Haruka had gone rushing off to Adara right after Michiru did.

"Setsuna," said Hotaru, her voice a little higher than normal, "let's go downstairs and make some tea." She ducked out from under Haruka's arm, leaving her to lean more heavily on Michiru.

With a glimmer of amusement in her eyes, Setsuna followed Hotaru downstairs, leaving Haruka and Michiru alone in the bedroom.

"Help me sit down?" Haruka asked. She tried to keep her voice normal but she gasped a little, and she was far too pale for Michiru's liking.

They hobbled over to the bed together, and apparently beyond caring about its less than clean state Haruka not only sat but lay down and stretched, her spine popping, sinking into the mattress with a sigh.

"Well," she said, frowning up at the ceiling. "So much for that secret."

"Was it a secret?" Michiru asked, perching beside her on the edge of the mattress.

"No. Not really. We've told them we're a couple again. Obviously. But they don't really need to know we did that on the night we spent here together."

"I think everyone probably guessed already."

Haruka rolled onto her side, burying her face in her pillow with a groan. "I'm so tired."

"You should get up and let me change the sheets."

"Tomorrow. Tell Setsuna she can take the corvette if she wants to. This time of night there's no other way for her and Hotaru to get home."

Michiru was about to renew her protests about the sheets, but between one breath and the next Haruka had fallen asleep again, blonde hair spilling into her eyes. With a shake of her head Michiru let her be, taking off her shoes and socks before pulling the covers over her. She closed and locked the balcony door, turned out the lights and went to find Setsuna and Hotaru downstairs.

They were sitting at Haruka's kitchen table, quietly murmuring over the pot of tea that Hotaru had apparently been serious about making.

"Haruka?" asked Setsuna, pouring out another cup of tea at Michiru's nod.

"Asleep already. She's exhausted." Michiru took the tea with a frown. "Maybe we should have stayed on at Adara until she was stronger."

"It's already been a month. She'll finish healing better at home."

"I hope so."

"Would you like us to stay the night? We can."

"No, that's okay. Go home and get some rest, both of you. Haruka said you could take the corvette, Setsuna. The keys are over there. You know which ones they are, right?" Michiru indicated the neatly arranged key rack hanging above the kitchen bench.

"These ones?" Setsuna checked, naturally picking the correct set of keys.

"Yes, those." It had been three years since Michiru had laid eyes on Haruka's extensive sets of car keys, but she found she still had no trouble telling them apart. There were a few she didn't recognise – new purchases, obviously – but the corvette had been with Haruka for a long time, and both she and Setsuna knew its keys well.

"Okay. We'll call you tomorrow and see how you're doing."

"Not too early," Michiru pleaded as she saw them to the door. "And…Thank you both. For everything."

With her voice and her eyes she let them know that she meant it, though she knew they knew it anyway. They were family, after all.

Hotaru gave her a sudden, impulsive hug. "You don't have to thank us, Michiru. We love you. And Haruka. Even if you are both monumental pains sometimes."

"Hotaru…" For a moment, Michiru fought to keep back ridiculously sentimental tears and stared at her adoptive daughter fiercely. "As soon as Haruka gets your room fixed up…" Michiru didn't finish what she'd been about to say, realising that this was technically still Haruka's space and she probably shouldn't yet be making invitations on Haruka's behalf.

Setsuna smiled at her softly and broke the awkwardness, saying smoothly, "I'm sure we'll see you both soon. Now we'd best go, Hotaru." She shifted her eyes to the younger girl. "It's three in the morning and I'm sure Michiru would like to get some sleep. And—" Something slightly threatening entered her tone, "don't think I don't know how behind you are in school because of all this. Tomorrow morning, we're going to sit down and make up a list of all the exams you missed while we were away on Adara, and you're going to take make-up tests for every single one of them."

Hotaru's protesting groan was the last thing Michiru heard before she closed the door.

Michiru stood in the lounge room for a while, just listening to the silence of Haruka's apartment. Her apartment now too, she supposed, though that thought still sat in her mind strangely, like a rivet slightly askew.

She gazed at the mangled grey sofa, remembering what had caused its destruction; the golden blast from Haruka's sword and the pain that had flared in her chest, intense enough to knock her out. Her scarred chest and Haruka's tainted sword. Between them, they'd nearly ended the world.

And now, after so long, it was still strange to Michiru that she no longer had the wound; that she could move freely without discomfort. She trailed her fingers down her chest meditatively and drew in a breath as deep as she could. Her body was as supple and strong as it had ever been, healed when Haruka had given everything back to her, ignoring her own grievous wounds at the time.

There was a control panel for the apartment's air conditioning on the wall. A low thrum started up obediently when Michiru switched it on, both to get some of the staleness out of the air and to try and cool the apartment down before the hot, sticky summer morning arrived.

Everywhere here were strange echoes of what had come before. More burns, another summer, the same enemy as before. Except that this time the enemy had been defeated and Michiru wasn't confined to solitary hell in a hospital bed, waiting for words she knew she was never going to hear.

Wandering into the kitchen, Michiru opened the fridge, making a face at its rotting contents. It would need to be cleaned out as soon as possible. And there were other more difficult matters needing attention too; a million neglected decisions to be made about their civilian lives. Michiru would have to decide whether she was going to continue as the lead violinist of the Tokyo Orchestra, given Haruka's condition. They'd have to figure out what to tell Haruka's agent. At some point, the public would have to know they were back together. Their break-up had been big news at the time, and their reconciliation would probably be even more so.

Right now, all of it felt too tiring to deal with.

Michiru made her way upstairs, turning out the lights as she went. She opened the door to Haruka's room and listened to her breathing, the familiar sound tugging painfully at her heart. If she thought about it, she could probably pinpoint the exact number of nights she'd been close enough to Haruka to hear her breathe since she got back from Vienna. It didn't seem fair that on almost every one of those nights Haruka's breaths had been jagged with pain, but at least Michiru could be with her this time. At least Haruka wanted her there.

Three years without Haruka was an eternity Michiru did not intend to repeat.

Shaking herself, she entered the bedroom and padded across the carpet, rifling shamelessly through Haruka's drawers until she found something she could sleep in. She was still wearing the same civilian outfit she had left in a month ago, deciding against the monkish temple robes she and the others had donned most of the time they were on Adara. Michiru had wanted to return home looking like herself.

In the bathroom, she turned on the shower and stood under the spray for a long time. Exhaustion, amazement and soaring happiness competed confusingly in her brain. All of this was going to take some getting used to. Honestly, when Michiru left this planet, she hadn't expected to come back alive, let alone in Haruka's company, let alone with the right to sleep in her bed again.

The last time she'd been in this apartment, Haruka had rejected her forcefully enough that even Michiru was convinced there was no coming back from it. She hadn't expected Haruka to follow her to her final battle. She hadn't expected to be saved.

Now she had everything she wanted, everything she'd hardly even dared to dream of when she first came back to Tokyo, and she was incredibly, indescribably happy about that, but it didn't mean she wasn't still nervous as hell.

Broadly, Michiru understood where she and Haruka were at. They'd acknowledged they still loved each other. They'd decided to live together again. But they hadn't really discussed much beyond that. Getting Haruka better had dominated most of their time on Adara, and it wasn't like they'd had much privacy anyway between the healers and their fellow senshi.

Now all kinds of thoughts were whirling through Michiru's mind, and she knew she couldn't afford to screw this up and scare Haruka off again. Before, she'd moved too quickly, seducing Haruka long before she was even ready to admit she still had feelings. And the fallout from that had been pretty ugly. True, it had also ultimately given Michiru what she wanted, but not without nearly claiming both their lives first.

With a sigh, she turned off the faucet. Wryly, she thought, well I suppose sex is one less complication I need to worry about this time round. Right now, it hurt Haruka every time Michiru touched her.

When Michiru went back into the bedroom, Haruka hadn't even moved. She was so still anxiety slammed through Michiru's heart for a few tense moments, until she forced herself to listen for the sound of Haruka's breaths, still strong and steady in the night. Her beloved sky senshi was still breathing; everything was fine.

Michiru got into bed with her, sliding between sheets still dirty from their hasty lovemaking a month before. The blinds cast striped blue and grey shadows across their bodies, lying so close together beneath the wrinkled covers.

For a while Michiru watched, still not certain coming back this soon had been a good idea. Unlike the others, she'd seen Haruka naked and knew that even after a month her injuries were less than half healed. The scars were like flames wrapped around Haruka's body, like long red tongues running all over her ravaged shiny skin. Two of the worst burns were still black and dead to Michiru's touch.

Even though Adaran medicine was more advanced than their own, none of their treatments had been enough to quite stop the pain that sometimes ripped through Haruka mercilessly. Night after night in the narrow bed not really meant for two Michiru had held her hand and heard her gasping, not able to offer any greater comfort than a brush of lips across her forehead or a murmured reassurance she was there.

She worried that without the Adarans' help things would get even worse now they were back on Earth, but Haruka had been desperate to come home and Michiru had understood too well how difficult it was for her to be injured and vulnerable on a strange planet, even with the other senshi there.

Of course, that didn't mean Michiru had given in easily. "What if you have a setback?" she'd said. "What if you get an infection? What if you need the Silver Crystal and it drains Usagi too much for her to use it?"

Haruka had smiled at her grimly as a corpse. "Don't worry. These injuries aren't as bad as last time. If I recovered from that, I'll recover from this too. And don't," she added, voice falling to a whisper as she stroked a long stray strand of aqua hair with wondering softness in her eyes, "don't you dare feel guilty about any of it. The price was worth it, to save your life."

"Haruka." Michiru tasted her name in the dark as she would Haruka's skin, slowly, softly, lovingly.

Without even twitching, Haruka slept on. Michiru reached out a hand to her and let it hover before finally drawing back, not wanting to disturb her and maybe not brave enough just yet to touch her in this bed again.

It wasn't long before her own exhaustion overcame her and she slept too, the sound of Haruka's breathing beside her the only lullaby she needed.

Michiru awoke suddenly the next morning at ten o'clock, vaguely panicked without being able to say why. The blinds were still closed, the room dim. The space beside her was empty. As stupid as it was, it made the anxiety in her gut coil tighter. The last time she'd woken up alone like this things hadn't gone well for either of them.

Haruka wandered back into the bedroom just then, and from the way she paused for a moment, surprise freezing her limbs, Michiru knew she had to have seen the panic in her eyes.

"Bathroom," she grunted, rolling her shoulders and acting like she hadn't noticed anything amiss. "God, I'm stiff. Travelling across the galaxy on a stretcher is even worse than flying in aeroplanes."

Relaxing, Michiru allowed herself a small smile. "Want me to run a shower for you?"

There was only the slightest hesitation before Haruka nodded. "Please. If you wouldn't mind." She watched Michiru get out of bed with a strange expression on her face, like she couldn't quite believe this was happening.

Pausing by her, Michiru clasped her hand. "Did you sleep well last night?"

"Yeah. I did. Sorry I collapsed as soon as we got here. I was really out of it. Did Setsuna and Hotaru leave okay?"

"They did. Setsuna took the corvette."

"Michiru…" Haruka huffed in frustration, frowning, and angled her dark teal eyes down to meet Michiru's. "I'm going to be pretty useless for the next couple of months, if not longer. I…After everything that's happened, it's worked out really unfair for you. This situation can't have been what you had in mind when you wanted to get back together with me. If it gets too much…"

"I wanted to be with you, and now I'm with you," Michiru said instantly, using her free hand to brush Haruka's cheek. "Do you really think I'd let anyone else be at your side right now?"

Mingled happiness and regret flickered across Haruka's face. "But last time, I wasn't there for you. And I made sure no one else was either. I don't deserve—"

"Haruka. Nothing productive will come of going down that road. Not for either of us. Just…Don't. I've forgiven you. You've forgiven me. It's enough."

Nearly shaking with the nearness of her presence, Michiru couldn't resist a kiss, keeping it chaste and gentle with aching inches separating her from the woman she wanted.

"Hey," said Haruka huskily, breaking away. "We agreed that stuff was off limits until I'm better."

"I can't even kiss you? That's mean, Haruka."

Unbelievably, Haruka laughed, the squall of worry clearing from her eyes. "You can kiss me," she allowed. She drew closer and whispered into Michiru's ear, and oh, she knew exactly what her voice did to Michiru when she used that low, throaty tone. "All the time. As much as you like."

"You!" Despite the very real hitch in her breath and the shiver she knew Haruka saw, Michiru was nearly laughing too for sheer happiness and relief, because Haruka was flirting with her like they were teenagers again and the warmth in her eyes was really there and that almost certainly meant they were going to be okay and they would get through this somehow, just like they did everything else.

"It's really strange you being here," Haruka mused quietly, eyes following Michiru as she turned the shower on.

The Adaran healers had given them strict instructions on the daily pattern to be followed until Haruka healed – a brief shower to cleanse her skin, followed by liberal applications of healing ointment and fresh bandages over her injuries.

"Not in a bad way," she added hastily as Michiru flicked her a questioning gaze. "It's just…There was this part of me that was always thinking about you and imagining you here with me. And then I'd catch myself and be so angry about it…"

"I feel a little strange about being here," Michiru admitted as she helped Haruka undress, privately worrying over the fact that the long journey seemed to have left her burns looking more aggravated than they'd been on Adara. "It doesn't quite seem real yet."

Michiru's communicator distracted her as it suddenly went off and she reluctantly moved away to answer it, leaving Haruka to test the temperature of the water and step under the spray.

"Hey Michiru." It was Hotaru. "Setsuna and I thought we'd go grocery shopping for the two of you. Would it be okay if we came over in a bit?"

After exchanging a quick affirmative glance with Haruka, Michiru relayed, "that would be much appreciated."

"How's Haruka?"

"I'm fine Firefly," Haruka called. "I'm taking a shower."

"Setsuna, they're having a shower together."

"Hey, I'm not with Haruka in the shower," Michiru defended herself.

"Well thank heavens for that," came Setsuna's slightly blurred reply. "We certainly don't want to expose Hotaru to immoral influences."

Hotaru gave a bark of laughter. "Is there anything in particular you want from the grocery store?"

"Just get everything you can think of," said Haruka. "I doubt there's much left here that's edible."

"There isn't," Michiru agreed. "I checked last night."

"Okay. We'll be over soon. Bye."

The call clicked off.

"Hey Michiru?"

"Mmm?"

"Why aren't you in the shower with me?"

"I already had one last night."

"Join me anyway," Haruka invited, reaching out to tug on Michiru's arm and leaving her sleeve wet. "Let me see you."

She didn't need to ask twice.

There were a lot of chores to get through at Haruka's apartment, and Setsuna and Hotaru ended up staying until late that evening. By offering a high enough fee, Setsuna found someone willing to come round right away and remove the wrecked couch as well as the detritus from Hotaru's bedroom. She and Michiru later discovered a fancy catalogue of Italian furniture in a drawer and ordered another sofa to match the one that got smashed and let Hotaru choose a new bedroom suite for herself.

Haruka spent most of the day slipping in and out of naps on the not-wrecked couch, her colour at least somewhat better than it had been the night before.

Thoughtfully, Setsuna had also brought some of Michiru's things over – her violin, her sheet music, a couple of suitcases of clothes. Taking everything upstairs with Setsuna's help and placing her possessions in Haruka's room, Michiru thought, shocked, I really am starting to have my life back. It seemed impossible. She couldn't believe that she'd actually succeeded and won back her honour and her family and Haruka and saved the world.

At about four o'clock she found herself just standing at the bottom of the stairs and watching Haruka, Setsuna and Hotaru playing cards in the living room, the ordinary sight bringing a lump to her throat. The last three years might never have happened.

Glancing up at her with softness in her eyes, Haruka noticed. "Michiru, come join us."

Setsuna and Haruka were already taking up most of the couch, so Michiru found a cushion and joined Hotaru on the floor, soon feeling the gentle touch of Haruka's fingers sliding into her hair.

"Shall we deal you in?" Haruka asked with a smile.

"Sure."

They were playing poker. As usual, Setsuna won.

The four of them had dinner together, which Hotaru and Setsuna insisted on making. They didn't move into the kitchen, both because there weren't enough chairs and because formal dining was probably beyond what Haruka could manage, given her body's restricted degree of movement. All of them could tell she was starting to tire, but slowed their pace to hers rather than draw attention to the fact that they noticed.

Even though Setsuna had driven the corvette over, intending to give it back, Haruka told her wryly she might as well keep it for a while.

"All my cars," she lamented. "They'll get so neglected while I can't drive them."

Pressing her hand discreetly, Michiru offered, "I'll take you out in your cars, Haruka. Any time."

"Really?" said Haruka, perking up. "You haven't forgotten…"

Michiru giggled, her voice lightly flirtatious. "I know how to handle your cars. I haven't forgotten."

"Setsuna," Hotaru said behind her hand, speaking in a stage whisper, "I don't think Michiru is talking about cars anymore."

"It might explain why Haruka always liked driving so much, though," Setsuna deadpanned.

"Oi, stop teasing us!" Haruka grouched, a flush creeping up her neck.

Hotaru sat back happily, observing Haruka and Michiru with a rather starry-eyed smile. "I missed you guys being together so much," she sighed. "Haruka-papa, I swear, if you ever break up with Michiru-mama again—"

"Not going to happen," said Haruka tightly. "Believe me," she added in a quiet tone, her eyes wandering over to Michiru. "Even I'm not that much of an idiot."

Michiru smiled at her, rather liking that nearly reverent look. It reminded her of how Haruka used to look at her long ago when they first got together; like it was beyond the bounds of what she could comprehend that Michiru was actually choosing to be with her.

"Moving on to other things…" Setsuna began. "Michiru, I hate to be a pain, but your agent has left about a million messages for you on the house phone. And the poor conductor of your orchestra keeps calling and begging you to come back to rehearsals. I know you've only just got back; I know it's probably the last thing you want to think about, but…"

"It's okay, Setsuna. I'll call them both tomorrow and give them Haruka's number and tell them I've moved. And…Well, I don't really know what I'm going to do yet, but at least I'll talk to them."

"I suppose I should call my people too," said Haruka reluctantly. "My work won't be happy. I had a busy season of driving lined up. In this condition, though, it's just not possible."

"Have you thought about what to tell them?" asked Michiru.

"Light plane crash? Stranded on a burning ship and lost at sea? It doesn't really matter. The excuses we give almost always work. We know it's probably part of the magic that helps to conceal our identities."

"Do ships even get lost at sea anymore?" Michiru wondered.

"Hmm, maybe not. Not often, anyway. All right. Light plane crash in a strange country and this whole past month I was unconscious in hospital and no one knew who I was. The pilot survived but was found wandering with amnesia and didn't remember what happened."

"People are not going to believe that," said Hotaru flatly. "It sounds like a mash-up of every terrible movie ever made."

"They will believe it, Hotaru." Haruka almost said it with a sigh. "Remember how many crazy lies we had to tell about you? Weren't those always believed?"

Setsuna added, "if that's what you're going with, Haruka, I can create the appropriate online records to back it up – news reports, medical evidence – the usual."

"Thanks, Setsuna. And yeah, I might as well go with it. It's still less outlandish than the truth, anyway."

Dinner was long finished by now, and Hotaru helped Michiru clear up and stack the dishwasher while Setsuna and Haruka thrashed out the finer details of Haruka's miraculous story of survival. Once that was out of the way, Setsuna and Hotaru decided they'd better be heading home, and this time, both Michiru and Haruka saw their guests to the door.

Once they were alone, Haruka drew her hand down Michiru's arm in a soft, thoughtful caress. "Thank you."

"For what?"

"For being here with me."

Lacing her fingers into Haruka's, Michiru smiled, tight bands of bliss constricting her heart. "It's all I want, Haruka. I'm not going anywhere."

Haruka gave a low laugh, and waggled her eyebrows. "Well that's good, because I was planning on asking if you wanted to go to bed. The sheets even got washed today."

"I know. I cleaned them!"

Voice dropping as she pulled Michiru towards the stairs, Haruka whispered, "so come with me, then. I want your scent back in my bed." Realising her choice of words, she quickly rephrased, "I mean our bed. Ours."

Michiru met Haruka's eyes; her words falling into an unsteady cadence as she replied. "To be honest, Haruka, any bed is fine as long as we're together. I…I always hated the nights without you."

"I hated being alone, too," Haruka admitted, regret flickering across her face before she gave a small smile, wordlessly apologizing for the past.

A short time later, the apartment was dark and quiet. Haruka slept with her hand still in Michiru's, and Michiru watched as she had the previous night until her eyes wouldn't stay open any longer.