Haruka is lying flat on her back on top of her bed, with one hand behind her head and her legs crossed casually at the ankles. Beside her lies Michiru, with her head on Haruka's shoulder and one arm flung casually over her stomach.
"Great day today," says Haruka, running her free hand through Michiru's hair. "Think I might take the bike out for a ride, get a bit of practise… got a race coming up."
"Hm…" says Michiru, smiling sleepily.
"Got into another skirmish with Seiya yesterday," Haruka continues, sounding amused. "He can't so much as walk past me without picking a fight. He doesn't seem to like me very much… a shame, when I like him." Haruka laughs.
Michiru smiles again as Haruka talks on about the Three Lights. She closes her eyes, and thinks about a girl with long black hair and a smile that lights up the night…
……………
"You know what I like about you?" Sailor Mars stared angrily at the older senshi.
"No, but please, do inform me," Sailor Neptune replied coldly.
"Nothing. You two are so bloody stuck up! All that about you having a mission and stuff, and not being able to work with us, that was just so much bull. Turned out you could have profited from letting us in too, didn't it? I can't believe it's possible to have such swollen heads. What's your problem? Are you really willing to kill someone if it helps you achieve your mission? How can you call yourselves defenders of justice?" Mars took a step back, breathing in deeply. "I thought you and Haruka-san were good people, Michiru-san."
"Don't call me that."
"Why? Don't want to be associated with your true name while you're killing people?"
Neptune narrowed her eyes. "Just shut up, you nasty little bitch. Run off to your friends, they're probably in need of you right now."
"Since you're here they have at least one thing less to worry about," said Mars heatedly, spun on her heel and left.
………………
"Where did you go before?" asked Sailor Uranus when they met up later.
"Got waylaid by Mars, who wanted to give me a little friendly advice; namely, to stop being a murderous slag and start being nice to people," said Neptune, smiling sarcastically. "I love meeting those girls, they're always full of good morals to share with me."
"Yeah, but I think they're pretty OK, all things considered," smiled Uranus. "They're not much aware of what happens in the world, but they do their job. They just can't really grasp the big picture. And after it turned out we were the ones who held the talismans they seem to be taking our presence pretty good, too." She looked curiously at her companion. "It's strange that you and Mars have fallen out so badly though. She never seemed to like you, but after she found out our other identities she's been positively murderous."
"Trust me, the feeling is more than mutual." Neptune turned away from Uranus's surprised expression, clenching her teeth. She had felt a bond with Sailor Mars, Rei, for a while, because she was clearly more far seeing than her friends. She had the power to feel the shape of the world, just like Neptune herself. Uranus shared the ability as well, but not as fully. She could feel changes in the wind and the shadows of the future, but often she could not understand them. Neptune could, however, and so could Mars. And Mars was strong. She had dreamt of the Silence long before Neptune had first felt the unrest of the world.
But Mars had chosen not to embrace their kinship and had turned from her. And she could like no other unsettle Neptune. Like the thing she had said today; did she know that was precisely why Neptune didn't want to be called by her other name or had she just made a lucky guess? Michiru Kaioh was not someone capable of killing another human being, but Sailor Neptune could do whatever was needed to save the earth. Sailor Neptune could put the fate of humankind over the life of one measly individual. When Michiru became Sailor Neptune, she became another being. One with different morals. One that could look away from one person's pain if the alternative was causing grief for the entire earth.
Michiru Kaioh could not do that. And Michiru Kaioh despised Rei Hino for seeing this.
………………….
"Makoto-san."
Makoto turned and saw Michiru standing behind her, smiling. "Hi, Michiru- san! What are you doing – "
"Mako-chan, I'll see you at Ami's." Rei knocked on her friend's shoulder and then ran off quickly, leaving Makoto behind looked confused. Michiru sighed.
"Makoto-san, I'm sorry. It's my fault that Rei left you. I didn't want anything special, so run after her if you – "
"Call me Mako-chan," Makoto interrupted with a smile. "All my other friends do. And I'm actually glad that we met, for I've been wanting to talk to you. Come on."
They ended up at a café, the one where another friend of Makoto's worked. Those girls knew people all over town, Michiru reflected – not surprising, since they were all very likeable. All with the possible exception of Rei Hino, she added sourly to herself.
"What did you want to talk to me about?" she asked, sipping her coffee. "If it's about Haruka, I'm afraid she is not interested. She has a tendency to flirt even when she doesn't mean it…"
"No! No, it's nothing like that." An embarrassed blush passed over Makoto's face but was quickly gone again as she looked seriously at the older girl. "No, it's about Rei-chan. Have you two had a fight or something? You seemed pretty good friends before we found out you are Sailor Soldiers as well, but now her mood turns completely black whenever we mention you. Did something happen between you?"
"Nothing special," said Michiru lightly. "I'm as confused as you are. Maybe she just doesn't like the fact that me and the other sailors of the outer solar system want to work by ourselves? She is strong, Sailor Mars. She might not like being left behind. Not that that is what we're doing," she added quickly, realizing that the other girl might take offence.
"I know." Makoto smiled. "And I know we're not like you. I, for one, can't understand everything that happens in the world. I'm not gifted with Sight. But I don't think that is why Rei-chan feels so strongly about this." She sighed again and looked out of the window, stirring her cup of hot chocolate with her spoon. "Her feeling for you… it's strange… hate so strong can't only be hate, I think."
"Well, I can't think of what else it could be." Michiru shook her head and took up her wallet. "I'm sorry…Mako-chan, but I have to leave. Haruka will be getting worried. I promised I'd be back quickly."
"Oh!" Makoto looked up quickly. "Thank you for listening to me, at least. I'll see you around. Give my regards to Haruka-san."
"I most certainly will," smiled Michiru.
………………………
Michiru walked homewards, frowning angrily to herself. Hate her, would Rei? Well then, she didn't exactly like the girl herself. Rude and obnoxious and not all that pretty anyway.
She ignored the hurt feeling inside.
"Home early, Michiru?" called Haruka as she got home, hanging up her coat just inside the door. She put her bag down by the shoe stand and walked in to join her girlfriend in the living room.
"Yes, I ran into a certain Rei Hino-san and lost all will to window-shop. She really isn't very nice." Michiru smiled, to take the edge of her words, although in reality she longed to call Rei all the bad words she had learned since kindergarten (this was quite a lot). She felt more hurt than she had in a long time. That Rei hated her so (the way Makoto had described it – it sounded as if Rei wished her dead or something!) made her wonder what she had done to deserve it.
And yet… whenever she saw Sailor Mars or Rei, words she did not mean seemed to tumble out of her mouth all by themselves. She was aware that she was acting like an idiot, but she couldn't help herself…
"Sheez, you two," said Haruka, shaking her head. "You're like two deadly enemies. That's some seriously weird shit. I mean, two fellow Sailors should not hate each other that much. That can't be right."
"Says who," Michiru replied mockingly. "Who used to pick a fight with Sailor Moon every time we met?"
"Well, that was before we found out we essentially work for the same thing," Haruka excused herself. Michiru raised an eyebrow, then smiled.
"You're lousy at excuses, Haruka. But you're pretty good at kissing. Plant one right here." She pointed to her cheek, and as Haruka was about to give her a kiss she turned her head at the last second, making the other girl kiss her lips instead. "Ha! Got you!"
"My, how embarrassing," said Haruka sarcastically. Michiru stuck her tongue out at her playfully.
"I'm going to the pool. Will you drive me?"
"No, you need the exercise."
"Oh, so now I'm fat. Nice."
"Just go on with you," Haruka laughed. Michiru picked up her swimming bag, blew her a kiss and walked out of the door.
……………………
Michiru swam quickly and forcefully, putting all her anger into her long, powerful strokes. It had been a long time now since they had revealed their other selves to Sailor Moon and her friends. For a while things had been pretty tense between them, but eventually they'd all gone back to being friends. All except Rei and Michiru. Lately Rei's dislike for her had been even more noticeable – it was as if it got worse day by day.
She surfaced for some air, and became aware of Ami sitting at the edge of the pool, gazing seriously at her.
"Why, Ami-chan! Are you here for – "
"Do you really hate Rei-chan so much?" asked Ami.
"What?" Michiru halted, startled by the direct question, so very unlike Ami. Also, the question in itself made her stop up and think.
"Rei-chan came home to me today and was angry as usual, as she always is when she's met you. And she didn't use to dislike you that much, so I've thought the only explanation can be that you hate her." Ami did not look away, and there was none of the normally so shy demeanour in her now. This more than anything made Michiru think hard before she replied.
"No," she said finally, surprised over the answer herself. "No, I really don't." She swam to the pool edge and rested her arms on the tiled floor. "I've always liked all of you. I don't know why she suddenly hates me so. She acts like I'm a beast…"
"But you've not been very nice to Rei-chan either, have you?"
"No, but – " Michiru only stopped herself at the last second from saying "but she started it". Talk about childish… "I don't know why it always turns out that way, but she just goes out of her way to hurt me. And I guess you could say it's a form of self-defence… She just gets at what I'm most unsure about, and picks at it and picks at it until I think I'll go crazy if she doesn't stop. And I just want her to stop, and suddenly I'm saying even more hurtful things just to shut her up, and then she gets at me again… Why does she act like that?" Michiru looked up at Ami, then realized what she had just been saying. "Ah, sorry! That just came tumbling out… I don't know what you might think, but…"
"Do you want to know what I think?" Ami smiled. "I think that for someone as clever as you are, you can be unusually dense." Without another word she stood up and walked towards the changing rooms, leaving Michiru gaping stupidly. Just before Ami reached the door leading out of the room she found her voice and called out.
"Hey! What on earth are you – "
"Michiru-san, can I give you some advice? Lay off Rei-chan." Ami turned, giving her a look so serious that she stopped her outraged reply immediately. Ami sighed, shaking her head. "You are ocean, water, and Rei-chan is fire. It's natural that you would clash. But Michiru-san – I'm water as well. And I love Rei-chan very much. She is one of my dearest friends."
"What – "
"Yin and yang, like fire and water, are opposites, but they are also two parts of a whole. Without the one, the other is meaningless." Ami smiled again. "Think about that."
…………………………..
OK, that girl's got issues, Michiru thought as she dried her hair. Who's she trying to be, Miss Fortune-teller 2004? There's one who really needs to come back to earth… She tied her hair into a ponytail and put the towel back into her bag before swinging it over one shoulder. Glancing at her watch, she swore quietly and hastened out of the changing room. She had not realized how late it had become. She opened the front door, starting to walk out of it while waving a quick goodbye to the receptionist – and thus did not see Rei Hino until they had walked straight into each other.
"Oow…" Michiru took a step back, putting her hand to her forehead while Rei mimicked her action. "Christ, that hurt… watch where you're going, why don't you?"
"Watch where I'm… you've got a hell of a nerve!" Rei exclaimed, cheeks flaming red with anger. "I'm not the one who opened the door looking the other way!"
"Oh, so sorry," Michiru said snidely. "What are you doing here?"
"Sorry, I forgot I had to bring my passport and relay my every intention to you." Rei smiled sweetly, staring up at the older girl. "Why, you don't want to see me here? Come here to forget everything, and I remind you again, is that it? I'd understand if that were the case – being you I'd probably want to forget who I was now and again…"
Something snapped inside Michiru. Her swimming bag dropped to the ground with a loud crash as she grabbed Rei's wrists tight, pushing her up against the wall. "Just what is your problem with me?" she shouted, yelling into Rei's face. "Is this some kind of twisted inferiority complex or do you just get kicks from hurting people? And damn you, how do you know so fucking much about me??!"
"I know because I'm tied to you, don't you see it?" Rei spoke tightly, biting her lip before she continued. "I thought you knew. I thought you were one with Sight. I thought you were like me."
"What do you mean, 'tied'?" Michhiru asked carefully, loosening her grip around Rei's hands. She looked so serious, the younger girl, serious as if she was telling something of utmost importance.
"I mean that I need you." Rei looked away, her face burning.
"What – I don't understand." Michiru's mind felt blank. Rei "needed" her? Needed her to have someone to be mean to, or what? Or was she saying that she…
"How stupid are you?!" Rei looked back at her again, angrily and with narrowed eyes. "Do I have to fucking spell it out for you?"
…that she loved her?
Rei leaned forward and kissed her.
………………………….
"Does Haruka-san know about me?"
"No," said Michiru apologetically. She was sitting with her back to the prayer tree in Rei's shrine's yard. Rei was lying on the ground with her head resting in the older girl's knee, making a bracelet out of string and beads. She smiled, holding the bracelet up towards the sun to check the pattern.
"It's alright. I've got nothing against it. As long as you don't kiss her more often than you kiss me."
Michiru laughed, pulling the hair band out of Rei's braid and starting to undo it. "You know I don't want to kiss anyone but you… one day everyone will know that, too. But not now… They would probably not even believe us if we told. It's a strange turn of events, after we hated each other for so long."
"Can you blame me?" Rei tied another bead to the bracelet and turned her head, looking into Michiru's face. "I was so happy that I'd finally found someone like me. I felt from the beginning that you knew, like me, the turnings of the world. And then I found out that you were a Sailor Soldier, and one of those who had been working almost against us. Can't you imagine how betrayed I felt? You had smiled at me as Michiru, and then as Sailor Neptune you despised and spurned me."
"It wasn't like that!" Michiru protested. "I didn't know the other you either. And I never hated you."
"I know, but it felt like it. And yet I couldn't just ignore you. I always felt strongly for you. So I tried to wound you. I guess it's a form of self-defence, to turn the love you know might lead to you being hurt into hate instead."
"I know. That's what I did myself. Although I did not realize it like you did." Michiru smiled at herself. "I guess I am very stupid."
"Oh, you are a stupid girl alright," said Rei, sticking out her tongue in mockery. She held up her hands, showing the bracelet. "Give me your hand now, I have to check for size." Michiru obliged, stretching out her right hand to let Rei put the bracelet around her wrist. It was red and blue, a pattern of flames and breaking waves.
"A beautiful design," she said. Rei looked up at her and smiled.
"I thought it was fitting. Fire and water. It's us, isn't it? Two opposites, but without water, how would you know what fire is?" She grinned. "Wow, that was poetic. But it's true – without you I just don't feel like I'm whole."
The words recalled to Michiru the conversation with Ami. "Do any of your friends guess?" she asked. "Do they know what you are to me now?"
"No…" Rei frowned. "Yes, actually, now that I think about it. Ami, I think."
"Another with Sight," Michiru said thoughtfully. "It wouldn't surprise me if she knew even before you or I did."
"Me neither. But I don't think we need worry. Ami sees, but she doesn't speak when she shouldn't." Rei tied a final knot on the bracelet and let go of Michiru's hand. "There, it's done. What will you tell Haruka-san tonight when she sees it?"
"That it came from a dear friend." Michiru smiled mischievously. "And only you and I will know that I'm lying. Because I love you, more than any friend I'll ever have on this earth. Together with you I'm as whole as I'll ever be."
Rei smiled.
"Your smile could light up hell," said Michiru, and felt that it was completely true.
………………………………
"Michiru!"
"What?" Michiru starts guiltily and opens her eyes, only to find Haruka smiling at her.
"You went far, far away again," she says. "Where do you go? You were smiling just now. What are you thinking about?"
A girl who loves me. My opposite, my other half, someone who fills a part of me that's always been dead. A girl who could lift my spirits even if all else on earth withered away. If we were the only two left in life, I would still be happy – if only because I was with her.
The girl who can hurt me like no other. The girl who wounded me deeply, so deeply I thought I could never speak to her again. The girl who twisted her love into hate.
The girl whose smile makes me happy.
The girl I love.
Michiru smiles and closes her eyes again.
"Something very strange," she says.
The End
………………………….
And yes, I'm as surprised as you are. I have no idea where this came from. Or actually I do – I saw an anime music video with Rei, which contained a few sequences from an episode where Sailors Mars and Neptune worked together. That's what gave me the inspiration. I like Haruka and Michiru as a couple though (don't get me wrong – this is in no way because I disapprove of the pairing :P). Feels strange to be writing a story like this – poor Haruka… but what the hell, it's fanfiction.
Tally ho!