I've never tried this before and i don't know how popular are this kind of stories ( HxM pairing)... but i've noticed that most of the fan fictions regarding Haruka and Michiru are AU... so i thought of writing something related to the original story.

So this fanfic proposes an alternative squeal to what happened between Haruka and Michiru after Galaxia was defeated I will try to keep the characters in their canon.

I'm not an native english speaker...so mistakes might appear.

Otherwise, enjoy!

- CHAPTER REVISED-

Dedicated to all the girls who are still waiting for a Haruka/ Michiru to appear in their lives.

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Between heart and ambition

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Prologue

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Haruka pulled over and stopped the car next to the sign indicating the end of the highway and the beginning of the coastline. Hotaru immediately got off, closely followed by Setsuna and as they both reached the seashore, they called cheerfully for the two remaining girls to join them. Before doing so, Michiru turned a second to Haruka. Her partner was awkwardly silent during the entire trip, so she tried to catch her eyes and see what was troubling her. Just as if she knew her intentions, Haruka got off before having her mind read.

"Here they are! Look!" Hotaru suddenly called out pointing at the sky where three shooting stars appeared.

"So they are truly gone..." Haruka said evenly.

"Nonetheless, they will live forever in our hearts. Friendship doesn't mind the distance..." Setsuna added.

"Friendship?" commented Haruka. "I wouldn't go that far. We fought together, but I wouldn't call myself friend with those. Michiru, though, had a thing for Seya. Right, Michiru? she added with a malicious grin while turning to her partner.

Michiru didn't answer.

"So I guess this is it!" Haruka added. "Galaxia is defeated, the Star Fighters are gone now, The Earth is safe and so is our princess. Our job appears to be done so i was wondering what are we going to do next?"

All of them instantly turned to Haruka, as if they were waiting for her decision, but the only gesture the blonde was able to make, was to turn to Michiru with the air of a genie in bottle at her disposal. Now that she had the whole time in the world, she was ready to fulfill her deepest wishes, even her most spoiled and girlish ones.

"I guess we will all return to our old lives." Setsuna finally answered. "I will resume my duty as guardian, Hotaru will be return to her father, while the two of you..."

But here she stopped, unable to continue the sentence. She knew nothing of the plans those two had made to the rest of their human lives, but she wished to think that they will continue on common paths.

"I'm thinking of college, Michiru? What's your opinion?" Haruka proposed cheerfully as she was heading back to the car.

"I guess it comes naturally. The question is what kind of college?" Michiru replied while following her.

"Maybe you could rediscover the dreams you had before you became senshis." Setsuna suddenly intervened. "Michiru, didn't you want to play the violin and you Haruka, didn't you want to become a racer?"

Haruka and Michiru stopped as they both remembered the persons they used to be before the outer space enemies could menace the Earth:

Once there was a tall and blond tomboy who was running faster than the wind. All the girls in her highschool were mistaking her for a boy and for that she kept receiving weekly confessions and love letters. She loved the look on those girls' faces when she was telling them that she is a woman and she loved it even more when some of them were replying"I don't mind that". She enjoyed acting charming and giving safe rides to those pretty girls on her car... but when she was alone, she loved driving with fast speed.

Once there was a delicate and feminine girl born and raised among the rich and the nobles ones. She fit perfectly into that world, but she had no friends and sometimes she felt like she wanted to escape from it. In those moments she was hiding herself under the water, because it was the water that never got her wet. She could paint beautifully, but all she wanted was to become a violinist. She wanted to sing the song of the little mermaid she was.

But then Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune killed those girls along with their dreams. In the beginning it was painful, but with time, it became their new nature. Today how could they pick up the leftovers of the lives they so long forgot? How could they return and be once more only Haruka and Michiru?

Were they ever Haruka and Michiru? Or just Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune? They have been partners in fight, but what about in ordinary, simple life? What kind of feeling were there left now that the fear and adrenaline was gone?

They couldn't say a single word, but they were both worried.

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Haruka drove to Hotaru's house and after they returned the girl to her father, Setsuna also gave her farewells and went back on guarding the gates of time. Before they knew, by the end of the day, Haruka and Michiru were alone in the apartment they have been renting for more than two years. They decided to move in together when they were entrusted with the duty of finding the talismans. Michiru came up with the idea, motivating that 'it would be more practical for the mission' and Haruka only nodded with a sober and thoughtful expression.

What Michiru never knew was that in fact, in that moment Haruka was shocked by the fact that she will get to share an apartment with such a gorgeous girl like Michiru.

Haruka had always been popular among girls, so she was used with the idea of being a cocky and confident cassanova, but when she saw Michiru, her instantly thought: "she's obviously out of my league". It was like all her confidence was gone, so she didn't even dare to think about her in that way. Obviously Michiru never knew about this her, because Haruka took an extra care in order to not let her feelings transpire. Later she will have understood that playing tough in front of Michiru was the right choice, because her little mermaid appreciated only confident and strong persons on which she could rely on.

Even though nothing romantic happened in their little apartment, Haruka loved the relation she had with Michiru. As partners they were equal and worked exclusively on team. They were completing each other like two sides of the same coin. They knew each other's every movement and they could anticipate any reaction. They could even understand each other by only one look. There were married couples who didn't reach that performance and that thought made Haruka happy enough to not go beyond those casual flirts of accepting her request of helping her unzip a dress.

But Haruka did like her! There was no doubt! More than a friend, more than a partner, more than family! And it would have been hypocritical of her to deny that not once she wanted to at least kiss her. What she didn't have the courage of asking herself, though, was if Michiru was sharing the same torments.

She knew that every time they were alone in the same room, it was a strange tension between them, but Haruka considered that it was out of the question to mix pleasure with the task of saving the world. As Sailor Uranus she didn't allow herself any romantic feelings. She couldn't afford the weakness of depending on someone. When she and Michiru chose this path they promised each other that they do whatever it will takes to accomplish their mission even if that meant sacrificing themselves or the other one. The responsibility was already huge so she couldn't add to it the feelings she held for Michiru.

She couldn't!... But, oh! How much she loved her!

In the silence of the apartment, she suddenly heard the bathroom's door opening. She watched her as she stepped, dressed in that fluffy white bathrobe, with drops of water falling from her wet hair on the blue carpet. She loved to see her like this. No make-up, no fancy clothes... It gave her the feeling of familiarity and intimacy.

"I don't know if you're aware of it, but you're staring at me..." Michiru said.

"Am i?..." she replied casually and turned her eyes to the window. She was pretending to study the Tokyo nocturne panorama, when in fact she was looking at Michiru's reflection in the window. Apparently she was taking care of a bouquet of red roses. Those flowers were found in front of the door when they arrived. Apparently while some were trying to chase away the evil from the Earth, others were having romantic preoccupations.

Haruka frowned displeased. The flowers arrived with a note dedicated to Michiru which she didn't read out loud. The gesture made Haruka even more curious on its content:

"Those highschool boys... i guess they will never get tired of courting you." Haruka commented maliciously, still facing the window.

"This one, i'm afraid it's from college..." Michiru answered casually.

Haruka clenched her fists. She didn't mind the highschoolers, but college boys were always a tough competition.

"Who knows, maybe one of these days i'll say yes to this young man... now that i have all the time in the world to get my life back, i guess dating would do me good." Michiru added, while raising her eyes in Haruka's direction. The mermaid knew that her last words were bitter, but she threw them so she could test the waters. Were those flowers making her jealous? Did Haruka cared if she will get herself a boyfriend? She was waiting for Haruka's reaction, but unfortunately it never came. Haruka continued to look silently on the window so in the end, Michiru slowly approached her and put her head on the blonde's shoulder.

"So you want to date, huh?" Haruka finally said.

"Saving the world had been keeping me busy for the last two years so i miss having fun." Michiru answered.

Haruka cocked an eyebrow.

"I can entertain you, if that's what you wish..."

Michiru also cocked an eyebrow.

"Well that depends on what kind of entertaining you can perform." she replied.

Haruka smiled bitterly: That's how their innocent flirts were always beginning. She loved to play the game, but she knew that it wasn't leading anywhere. If until yesterday she didn't mind it because the apocalypse was giving her a hard time, today, as she had only Michiru to worry about, she didn't feel like getting into simple games anymore. Today, for the first time she able to admit that she wanted more. She wanted Michiru!

"Wrong, i think it depends more on what kind of fun you want to have... So name it, Michiru and maybe i can do something for you... and then, if my skills won't satisfy you, you could call that college boy of yours."

Michiru frowned and raised her head from Haruka's shoulder. The blonde's words were too straight. She didn't expect them... or if she did, she hoped they will be more subtle. She took a step back and sat on the windowsill in front of Haruka. She remained silent, choosing carefully the words she was about to say. She had other lines prepared and she kept repeating then in her mind ever since the fight with Galaxia was over. She thought of beautiful ways of confessing them, but the straight forwardness of her blonde cut off all her inspiration.

"Are you alright, Michiru?" asked Haruka, noticing that her friend looked nervous and flustred.

Michiru lift her gaze and pierced Haruka's deep blue-green eyes. Haruka then understood that Michiru was about to say something important and she suddenly felt her throat dry. She wondered if she was ready for this.

"Haruka, the war and the fights are over..." Michiru began. "Now we are free to do whatever we feel like. But the question is what do we feel?"

Haruka looked in her deep aquamarine eyes and replied instantly:

"I know what i feel."

Michiru's eyes widened for a second. Again, that straight forwardness surprised her:

"And what is that you feel?" she asked.

Haruka smiled and turned her gaze to the Tokyo nocturne panorama.

"My feelings have many different names... some call it desire, others would call it fate... but i guess the simplest way to name it it's 'love'..."

Michiru lowered her gaze, as her heart begun to beat faster.

"Love... toward whom?" she asked with a low, almost whispered voice, which made Haruka turn to her with a mild smile and say:

"I thought it was obvious... Toward you. "

Michiru's eyes widened:

"You mean love, in the sense that a man loves a woman? In the sense that a man would want a woman to carry his children?"

And those words, brought upon Haruka a sadness, heavy beyond retrieval:

"I am no man, Michiru, you know that… and no one could ever bear my children, just like I could bear no man's."

And that was it! Just as she feared, Michiru couldn't trade her womanly nature and instinct, not even to be with her. Haruka knew that sooner or later, a day will come when her partner will wish for a family, man's arms around her and even children. This was something she could never offer. In her inner self she took a deep breath. It hurt, but at least now, she now the nature of their relation. They will remain … friends, close ones, but just friends. She got up from the windowsill, thinking that this was a good moment to take the car for a ride, but when she reached for the car keys, she felt Michiru's embracing her.

"Thank you Haruka!" she whispered.

The blonde responded to her embrace but her expression remained equally sad. Michiru was smart, Haruka thought. She must have known her feeling all this time:

"You don't have to thank me for letting you go. It's only natural for you to be with men and to wish for children. I am the twisted one in this picture and if I do love you, I have to let you go."

Michiru suddenly parted with a confused, almost annoyed air:

"Haruka!" she scolded. "I need no men or children! When I said 'thank you' I meant 'thank you for answering my feelings'!"

Haruka's eyes widened. First she thought it to be a joke, a misunderstanding, anything of a kind.

She leaned over Michiru and pierced her aquamarine eyes just to make sure that they were telling the truth. She frowned hurtfully: How could she doubt those beautiful eyes in which she had put all her trust? In her arms, the strong Sailor Neptune and the fine miss Kaioh, both looked so vulnerable and eager to do anything in order to keep her arms around her. That look almost made Haruka's heart stop.

"Oh, Michiru!" she involuntarily gasped and feeling that she could no longer bear that tension, she pressed her lips over Michiru's. After that, she didn't know when she took her in her arms and laid her on bed. She didn't know when her hands began to wander around her body, looking for ways to get rid that bathrobe. She didn't care if this was wrong. She just couldn't stop.

"You have no idea how much i dreamed of this..." she whispered, speaking her mind out loud.

"You have no idea how much i waited." she heard Michiru's reply.

And that made her heart stops for another second:

"Waited?" Haruka asked surprised. "You waited for me?'

Michiru tried to hide her eyes as she didn't want her blonde to dig anymore deeper into her secrets, but with Haruka's hands were around her, she felt so helpless.

"Yes... i waited for the war to end, so i could ..."

"Since when have you been waiting?" Haruka insisted.

Michiru tried to hide her eyes again.

"Tell me, since when?" Haruka repeated as she was slowly slipping her hand under the bathrobe.

"Since the first time i saw you... at the athletic competition..." Michiru finally confessed.

Haruka's eyes widened.

"It's from that day that i've been in love with you...and wished to make love to you..." she concluded.

Haruka threw the bathrobe on the floor and leaned over Michiru. From now on, there will no more secrets.

The last thing that slept through Michiru's mind, before she became one with Haruka, was that instead of getting back her old life she should better start a new one, together with Haruka. That thought lingered on the back of her mind during the entire time she made love to her. It appeared to her in that moment that this was her only change for a happy ending. Unfortunately, that night, Michiru will have learned for the second time that in life, that things do not always turn up the way people expect them.

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"On the way home, i kept asking myself what will be best for us to do..." Michiru said in the darkness of the room, as she put her head in Haruka's lap.

"Shouldn't we chase after our old dreams? Just like Setsuna said?" Haruka replied.

Michiru, took her hand and start to play with her long fingers.

"I think this is out of the question..." she replied.

"Why do you say that? Just because you haven't played your violin and i haven't drove in a circuit for a while, doesn't mean that we lost our..."

"Oh, Haruka!" Michiru interrupted with a delicate laugh. "I'm not going to give up on you, now that you are finally mine!"

Haurka frowned confused.

"Who said something of loosing me, Michiru? ... I was talking about you going to music college and..."

"And you becoming a racer." completed Michiru. "I know exactly what we were talking, but you don't seem to realize this implications of your ideas. If i will go to college and finish my studies in music, than i will also find a manager and i will have a lot of concerts. To be short, i'll be spending most of the time abroad. On the other side, as a racer, you will be in the situation. We'll both end up being so busy that we won't even have the time to talk on the phone..."

Haruka remained silent. She didn't want to admit that Michiru was right.

"You finally understand, don't you Haruka? We can't have it both. Therefore if i were to chose between you and the violin, i would chose you, Haruka."

Haruka's eyes widened. That answer melt and broke her heart at the same time . She couldn't stand the idea of being parted with Michiru, but at the same time she knew how much becoming a violonist meant for her friend. Unable to say something, she just held her tighter.

"But still... if you want to become a racer, i will support you... i will even accompany you on tournaments." Michiru added.

"Just like a good wife..." Haruka commented with a smile, but her voice sounded hurt.

"If that's how you wish me, than i'll be your good wife."

Haruka's eyes widened again. Michiru's words sounded like a dream for her and calling all this "a dream" , wasn't a total lie. Their feelings were true, but their words were delusional. There was no way for Michiru to play the "good wife" role. She was too smart and too independent for that. Maybe tonight she was in love with her, but after a couple of years, she might find out that she, Haruka, wasn't the right person for her. What if one day Michiru will go back on liking men? In that situation, she would say that she gave up her violinist dream for... nothing!

"Ok, wife," Haruka intoned. 'It's late, we had a long day and i think it's time for both of us to sleep..."

"Good night, Haruka" Michiru answered and got up from her lap, not before giving her another breathtaking kiss. After they parted, she asked her:

"Becoming a racer, won't detain you from getting into college, right?"

"No, i guess not..." Haruka answered.

"That's wonderful! Than maybe we could choose the same university... maybe even the same major..."

Haruka frowned worried.

"Such as?..."

"Perhaps management... or business..."

Haruka's frown became deeper.

"Michiru... the management is not your cup of tea!"

"Are you trying to insinuate that i won't be able to handle some economics studies?" Michiru replied slightly annoyed.

"That's not what i meant... you could do whatever you want but the management is not on the list of the things you like! You're an artist, Michiru, not a salesman!" Haruka snapped. "You should just continue with your violin!"

Michiru smiled gently.

"That's so thoughtful of you Haruka... but even if i wanted to continue my music studies, it's too late... the deadline for the music college is off."

In that moment, Haruka put a sheet around her and got off from the bed, heading to the computer. After a couple of minutes she said:

"The deadline is still on! It's been prolonged with another two weeks!"

Michiru immediately got up and approached Haruka.

"Unbelievable!" she said and Haruka noticed they way her aquamarine eyes sparkled. "But no! I've made up my mind Haruka, my final choice is to be with you!"

Haruka didn't say a thing. She softly kiss her lover on the cheek and took her back to bad. She kept her in her arms until she fell asleep and then she covered her with a blanket. She looked at her for another couple of minutes and then, as she grabbed all her strength, she silently got off from the bed.

That night, Haruka understood that she loved Michiru more she thought. More than she expected. More than she wanted. She had always been a selfish person, but the feelings she held for Michiru changed her in the end. She couldn't stand to see her little mermaid sacrificing all her dreams for her sake. Michiru was still young... maybe too young for a lifetime commitment with her. She loved her, but Michiru needed freedom in order to chase her dreams. Being around her will only hold her back.

After she grabbed a couple of clothes from the closet, she took the keys from her car and headed to the entrance door. This time she didn't take the keys with her.

All that Haruka left behind that night was the sound of the angry engine of her car, along with her transformation pen and a note on the kitchen table:

"You must promise me that you will follow your dreams. Don't be mad at me. It's not a forever good-bye. I'll leave my pen with you as a promise of the fact that one day we will meet again. One day... but until then become the most beautiful and the most talented violinist!

Haruka"

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Let me know what you think? Will they ever be together again? How Michiru felt when she woke up alone the same day? Review and i'll let you know more :)