Memories

Outer Senshi Series

Story: 2

Jackie Chiang

Author's Notes: WARNING. It's romantic, as I was in a sappy sort of mood

when I wrote this after watching the S Talisman episodes. It involves

Haruka and Michiru, so if you feel nauseous or are uncomfortable with

Lesbian relationships, it's not advisable that you read this. No, nothing

ecchi happens. [What kind of writer do you think I am?] For the record,

most of these characters were created by Takeuchi Naoko, and they belong to

her, Kodansha, Toei Animation, and all others associated with rights. They

are being used without her permission. January 1997.

"Haruka... Are you willing to sacrifice everything for your dream?" she

asked softly, wistfully, staring at her with thoughtful eyes.

"Ara, Haruka..." she laughed, softly, sweetly at the flowers that were given

to her.

"Trust me, I'll be fine, baka," she said teasingly, reassuringly. She

turned, smiling, walking away...

And out of her life forever...

No one could have thought that it would have ever happened. They had been

so close... closer than Usagi and Mamoru, with a deep understanding of

each other...

"Haruka-san, who would have thought that..."

"It's not your fault, Haruka-san... Michiru-san was always..."

"You can't blame yourself, Haruka-san..."

It's not your fault... Not your fault... not your fault...

The words hadn't helped. A few weeks later, she too was gone...

She cleared her throat impatiently, tapping her fingers quickly on the desk.

Great idea, coming to the sea... You should have picked someplace that

actually _had_ people... Not in the goddamn middle of nowhere...

"Hello?" she snapped finally. "Is anyone here?"

"Moshi moshi," a girl with brown hair, in twin braids, said, coming out

behind the register from a door. "Welcome, how may I help-"

"You could start by having faster service," the other cut in rudely. She

paused for a moment, as if waiting for someone to softly laugh at her

forwardness, her brash arrogance. But no one did.

"Gomen nasai, Mr. -" the girl waited for the other to fill in his name.

"Tenoh," she said after a second, "Tenoh Haruka. And I'm female."

"Ara, gomen!" the girl cried out in embarrassment, blushing profusely. The

redness to her cheeks clashed with the brown freckles on her face.

Haruka stared for a moment at the girl, but immediately shook herself

mentally. Relax, Haruka, she told herself. Everyone who speaks Japanese

uses 'ara'. Not just her... Even if it was one of her quaint habits...

You can't fall down every time someone says that... But she sounded so much

like her when she said that...

"It's ok," Haruka said, rather irritably. "I made reservations in this...

place." She hesitated to call this small, empty place, though cozy, warm,

and clean, a hotel. More like a cottage or something... a cottagetel, she

supposed.

"Hai," the girl said as she looked in the guest book, not meeting Haruka's

eyes. It was a rather good move, for Haruka rolled her eyes when the girl

spoke again. "Um... I can't seem to find your name... Uh, hold on for a

second."

"What can you expect from hicks here?" Haruka murmured to herself.

"Eh... You don't seem to be in here..." the girl said quickly.

"Great. So what do I do?" Her temper was near boiling point.

"I'll, uh, get you another room!" the girl almost shrieked. "Let me go find

a maid to fix one up for you!" She hurried away.

"You do that," Haruka murmured, sighing. Leaving the tiny room, which they

owners had the nerve to call a lobby, she went outside. The cottagetel was

directly on the shore, and miles of sand and water spread out on both sides

of it. "This is going to be an interesting weekend..."

Walking off the walk onto the sand, she went to the closest point to where

the water reached but never touched, and stood, watching the waves. She

would have liked it here... The thought came, regret and longing filling

her soul. The wind pushed her blond bangs around her face.

Instinctively, she reached into her jacket, pulling out the lovely, green

hand mirror. It was made of fine green jade and gold, and the glass was

very polished and reflected the purest light. Gold figures decoratively

covered the sides of the glass, holding it in place. Staring into the

mirror, she felt herself remembering all that had happened...

"So where are you taking Michiru-san, Haruka-san?" Minako sat down next to

me, staring at me with her cheerful, though often blank, gaze.

I coughed, choking on my tea. "Take her? What do you mean?"

"Don't tell me you forgot, Haruka-san," Rei admonished, moving into the seat

across from Minako and myself. Ami and Makoto scooted in next to her, and

Usagi remained standing.

"Uh, forgot what?" I wasn't usually so dense, but I had no idea what they

were talking about.

"She did forget," Ami said, sighing.

"Ami-chan!" Makoto whispered, and Ami blushed.

"Are you kidding? Hotaru-chan has been going on for weeks to Chibi-Usa about

this weekend!" Usagi said confidentially to the others. Confidentially

meant that everyone in the coffee shop could hear her.

"Really?" Rei 'whispered' back excitedly.

I coughed discreetly. Ok, fine, so I slammed one fist on the table to get

them to be quiet. They all stared at me with minor shock.

"This weekend's your anniversary, Haruka-san," Makoto said excitedly.

"Hotaru-chan said that Michiru-san told her that it's when you first met."

"Really?" I said, perfectly calm and composed.

"You're nervous, aren't you, Haruka-san?" Minako said bluntly.

I choked again. Dammit, so the blond really wasn't that much of a ditz.

"How could you forget?" Rei said. "It's only the most important day of your

relationship."

"It's so romantic!" Usagi gushed out. "I remember when Mamo-chan and I-"

I laughed nervously, hoping to stop her before she started reminiscing too

much. "Not that romantic, odango."

"That's not what Hotaru-chan says," Ami said. Everyone stared at her, and

she turned red again. Becoming 17 had not changed that habit of always

saying such odd things at such odd times.

"Here she comes now," Minako said, leaning over me to stare out the window.

I almost spilled my tea in her hair.

"Oh, look. Chibi-Usa-chan is with her," Rei said, looking out the window as

well.

Sure enough, Hotaru and Chibi-Usa came bouncing into the coffee shop. Of

course all the other customers stopped them to tell them how cute they

were, how absolutely precious, and would they like a free cookie?

I sighed, slapping my hand to my face.

"I want a free cookie," Usagi said, and she almost started crying, except

that Rei leaned over and shoved one of my cookies into her mouth.

"Konnichi wa, Haruka-papa," Hotaru said, coming up to me. Minako leaned

back so that she could climb into my lap.

"Konnichi wa, Hime-chan," I said, smiling, to her. "So what's this I hear

about you telling everyone about this weekend?"

Hotaru looked at me, her large purple eyes surprised. "Ara, Haruka-papa,

don't tell me you forgot about your anniversary with Michiru-mama?"

"So I've been told," I muttered, noting that she was picking up Michiru's

habits. "When did Michiru tell you this?"

"She told me a while back, while we were cleaning out the attic.

Setsuna-mama helped us." She said this last bit proudly, while eating my

last cookie.

"What exactly did she say?" I asked. So I can know what she expects...

"She found her drawing book from high school, when we went to Mugen Gakuen

Academy." She seemed preoccupied, not giving much expression when she said

that she also went there. "Michiru-mama is a really good artist... Anyway,

Michiru-mama was talking about how you first met when I saw one of her

pictures of you. She had you running in a track meet, and she said that's

where you met. Then after a while, you became Sailor Uranus.

"Michiru-mama said that you'd probably take her to the place that she felt

the strongest for you..." Hotaru glanced up at me. "She said you would

know where that was."

I stared blankly out the window. She couldn't mean there... After all,

though it was where I had finally realized how much I cared for her, it was

also full of bad memories...

The mirror reflected the dimming sunlight into her eyes. She shook herself.

"Tenoh-san!" the voice said.

She turned around to see the freckled girl, waving at her.

"We have a room set up for you! I hope you aren't leaving..." Her voice

held a good deal of panic, and she smiled toothily. Haruka noticed without

interest that her front teeth were too forward, and that there was a space

between them.

"No," Haruka called back. "No... I'll be up in a minute. Take my things,

please."

The girl nodded, then ran back inside.

Turning back around, Haruka stared at the sea. "Michiru... I wish you

were here... with me..."

Tossing in her bed, she groaned as the nightmare taunted her. In her dream,

she was standing in the middle of nothingness... It was so cold...

"Haruka... Where are you?" Michiru's voice said, laughing softly. She

appeared in a white dress in the blackness. Her hair was tied back into a

ponytail, and her eyes were vibrant with life.

"Michiru!" Haruka cried out, frantically. "I'm right here!"

"Haruka? Haruka?" Michiru's voice became slightly uncertain as she looked

around. "Haruka, don't hide from me."

"Michiru!" Haruka ran towards her, reaching for her... and touched nothing.

Michiru was gone.

"Michiru!" She awoke with a start, sweating. Breathing heavily, she looked

at the clock. 1 AM. Groaning, she held her face with her hands.

"It was just a dream..." she told herself. Groping for it, her hands came

upon the mirror on the night stand. Holding it to her, she closed her eyes,

her body shaking. Bits of wetness fell onto the mirror, slowly, splashing

silently then flowing down...

She finally got up, unable to sleep. Grabbing some clothes on, she went

out of her room. The hall was empty, and the soft snores of men and women

vaguely seeped through the cracks.

She went outside, to the refuge of the sea. The black waves shifted restlessly,

as if sensing her confusion, loneliness, and hurt...

I led her off the helicopter. She was blindfolded, and she was wearing a

white dress and her hair was in a ponytail. I wore a black tuxedo, one

which she had told me that suited me well. Waving at Setsuna, I held

Michiru's hand as we walked away. Setsuna smiled, and then the helicopter

flew off, leaving us alone.

"Ara, Haruka," she said, "where are you taking me?"

"Shh, it's a surprise," I said, ironically thinking that it wasn't such a

surprise, really. She knew where we were going, she could feel it.

She laughed. "I'm afraid that I'll trip soon."

"You won't," I promised. Not her... She was the graceful, elegant type that

wouldn't trip if she were blind and walking in a quarry. She instinctively

knew where to step and how to do it.

Opening the doors to the building, I took her inside. They swung silently

shut, and our isolation from everything else was complete.

Her lips curved into a smile. "Ara... I guess I had better stop hoping that

we were going to Hawaii, ne?"

I chuckled. "No, definitely not Hawaii... Maybe next year."

"All right," she said.

I could tell by her tone that she really didn't care if we went there or

not.

"As long as I'm with you..."

I almost stumbled myself. It was if she had read my mind, which really wasn't

surprising. She knew me better than I knew myself.

"We're here," I said. Standing behind her, I undid her blindfold.

"Ara, Haruka..." she whispered, putting her hands to her face. "It's

beautiful..."

We were there, of course... It wouldn't have been anyplace else... The

Marine Cathedral, where the Talismans were found... Where she, as

Neptune, had tried to protect me from Eudial... And had almost sacrificed

her life. It had been abandoned after nearby neighbors had reported

unusual events, labeling the project as spiritually disruptive- in other

words, the place was haunted. It was really amusing, really, since the

reports had came when we were battling Eudial here...

The Inner Senshi, Setsuna, Hotaru, and Mamoru had all helped me clean up

the room we were in now, the one that had the organ that Eudial had pretended

to play. Even the cats had leant a paw. In the center aisle was a small

table, with several lighted candles. Two chairs were next to the table,

which was draped in a white, silk cover. Behind the table was a piano.

To the side of the table was a small dish cart, on which were several

covered platters. Of course, the side panels on the wall were checked to

make sure they were empty of darts and other unpleasant surprises. Through

the stained glass windows came in white moonlight, which bathed the area

with a soft, gentle, romantic glow.

"Arigato, Haruka," she murmured. "It's wonderful..."

"Thank me later," I said, smiling. "We've just begun..."

"Do you love the sea too?" a voice said quietly from behind her.

Haruka turned around suddenly, surprised by the familiar gentleness that the

voice had.

She almost fainted for the first time in her life. The girl standing there

looked so much like Michiru... They could have been twins.

"Mi... Michiru?" Haruka said softly, intensely.

The girl stared at her with a confused look, stepping back. "I'm sorry,"

she said carefully. "Do I know you?"

It took her a moment to realize it wasn't Michiru... No. Her eyes were

dark green, not the blue that Michiru's were. And her hair was darker

than Michiru's, almost entirely dark blue... And her expression was one of

naive faith, naive love for the sea, naiveté itself, so different from the

worldly hope that Michiru had...

"Sorry," Haruka muttered, moving away from her, turning her attention back

to the waves. "I thought you were someone I knew..."

"Do you love the sea?" the other repeated, not commenting on her sudden

withdrawal.

"In a sense..." Haruka answered without thinking. "I loved someone who was

like the sea... She _was_ the sea, personified..."

"Loved?" The girl's tone was unknowingly rude, loud, prying.

"She's gone now..." she said abruptly, realizing she should have not said

anything. She didn't want to be next to this girl. She wanted to be alone.

"I'm sorry," the girl said suddenly. "I didn't realize that she had-"

Haruka walked away, quickly, before the silly girl could say anything else.

She needed to be alone, in seclusion, away from everything...

She watched me with a tender expression on her face. It was a warm smile,

and I colored slightly. Her plate was empty, her napkin next to it. The

glass was half empty of the champagne that had once filled it entirely. Her

hands were folded underneath her chin, her eyes thoughtfully fixated on me.

"Done so soon?" I said softly.

She laughed, without taking her eyes off me. "Ara, Haruka, we're almost

done with all of the meal... It was all so delicious... Remind me to

thank Mako-chan."

"What makes you think it was her?" I demanded, mocking innocence.

She smiled. "Who else can cook this well in all of Tokyo?" She tilted

her head, still smiling at me with her gentle blue eyes.

Without warning, she took one of my hands into hers. "I love your hands,"

she murmured. "They're beautiful."

We stared at each for a few seconds... minutes... hours... Time was infinite

and undefined...

"I'm done," I said finally, putting my napkin down. I stood up.

She looked up, about to stand as well, but I shook my head. "Sit here," I

said.

I went to the piano and sat down. There were no music sheets, but I had

already long ago memorized the songs I would play for her. The piano had

been tuned the day before, under my watchful eyes, so its pitches were

perfect. Slowly, I began to play a lovely ballad, one that she liked so

much.

She smiled, closing her eyes, letting the music wash over her. I couldn't

take my eyes off her. It was a simple pleasure, watching her rest. After

several songs, I stopped.

She opened her eyes, her smile kind, and she stood up. I stood as well,

then put the stereo on the ground on top of the piano, after sliding the

cover down. Pressing the play button, soft waltzing music began. She

laughed.

"May I have this dance?" I said to her, bowing down.

"Of course," she answered.

She came into my arms, and I held her close to me. Lying her head on my

shoulder, we began to dance, thinking only of each other. It was as if time

had ceased to exist... and we were the only ones that existed.

"Haruka... I love you," she said softly into my ear.

I tightened my arms around her. "I love you, Michiru," I said quietly, as

if my declaration would break the barrier of protection around us.

She smiled, lifting her head. She kissed me softly on the cheek, then

rested her head back on my shoulder.

Morning had arrived. Haruka was surprised to find herself in her bed, in her

own room. I must have came back and not remembered, she thought. Taking

a shower, she got dressed and left the seclusion of her room.

She ate breakfast in the tiny dining area. Several other couples were there,

eating and drinking and talking. She opened a newspaper that was lying on

the table, folded up, all new and ready to read. She sipped her juice.

"Ohayo gozaimasu, Tenoh-san," a voice said uncertainly, though cheerily

enough.

She looked up. That freckled girl again... "Ohayo gozaimasu," she echoed,

though it didn't seem like such a good morning to her... Mornings had

ceased to be good after Michiru had gone...

"I have a letter for you," the freckled one said quickly. She smiled,

dropped a letter onto Haruka's plate, bowed, and left.

Haruka stared at the letter. No one knew that she was here... Only Michiru

had said that she would have wanted to come here one day, and she had

definitely not told anyone about their dreams...

Carefully, she opened it up.

"Tenoh Haruka:

Your presence is required at the beach house at 8 PM. Please attend.

Arigato"

No signature, the letter typed. Haruka frowned, leaving payment on the

table, more than sufficient, and went to find the freckled girl.

"Where is this beach house?" she demanded when she found her. "And who sent

me this letter?"

The girl blinked. "The beach house is a mile down the beach, still on our

property. Gomen, I don't know who sent it. It was in the mailbox this

morning when I checked."

"Can't you find out who's using the beach house?" Haruka snapped irritably.

"Uh, hai!" the girl said, blushing. She looked in the record book. "Ah,

gomen! It just says 'booked.' No name or contact number."

Haruka sighed. This place... she thought. Turning, she went out on to the

sand again, which was oddly empty. Should she follow the instructions...

or just forget it...

We sat on the sand, outside the church. I was leaning back on my elbows,

while she lay with her hands clasped behind her head.

"It's so lovely out," she whispered. "The waves are happy..."

"You love the sea..." I said.

"Not as much as I love you," she laughed, not noticing that I was surprised

by that.

"Haruka," she said after a moment. "Wouldn't you like to visit someplace

nice, near the sea sometime?"

"I'll go anywhere that you want to," I said, smiling down at her.

She nodded. "I'm glad. I wouldn't want to go anyplace without you..."

She became silent, staring at the stars.

"Sometimes I have this urge to just go into the sea and swim forever...

Without turning back, not afraid of what comes ahead..."

"Without turning back?"

"Hai... Ara, that's so silly... I could never leave you, Hotaru-chan, or

Setsuna... and not the princess... I just want to try it some day..."

"I wouldn't want you to go," I admitted.

She turned her head, smiling. She leaned up, and kissed me on the cheek.

I held her, and we watched the sea together, content...

"Haruka, I'm going for a swim," she told me. It was a few weeks later after

our anniversary. We had become closer, if that was possible.

I glanced at the sky, feeling an odd sensation of revulsion towards her idea.

"Are you sure you want to go?" I said. "It is sort of late..."

"Trust me, I'll be fine, baka," she said, laughing. She smiled, turned, and headed

towards the water.

I smiled down at Hotaru, who was giving me an innocent glance, trying to tap

down the uncertainty that I felt about Michiru swimming. Haruka no baka

indeed. Michiru and the sea were connected; of course she'd be all right.

I reached down and patted Hotaru on the head. "Hime-chan no kawaii."

"You spoil her, Haruka," Setsuna said, laughing. She was in a chair, wearing

a black swimsuit. Hotaru was wearing a cute purple one. I wore a bikini

top, with an open shirt over it, and some shorts.

"That's what Haruka-papa said about you, Setsuna-mama," Hotaru said,

not looking up from her sand sculpture. She was making a castle, but it

wasn't like the type that other 8 year olds make. It was an elaborate copy

of the one on the Moon Kingdom. Hotaru was inheriting Michiru's skill

at art as well.

I laughed. "Hime-chan..."

Setsuna sniffed with mock disdain, than laughed too.

After about 10 minutes, I looked around for Michiru.

"Setsuna, do you see Michiru anywhere?" I asked, feeling uncomfortably uneasy.

Setsuna looked up, scanning the beach. "No... that's odd, I'd thought she'd

be back by now."

Hotaru stood up suddenly, her eyes flashing. "Michiru-mama!" she screamed,

then fell down, fainted. I caught her in my arms, shaking her.

"Hotaru-chan! Hotaru-chan!" I cried.

"Michiru-mama," Hotaru said instinctively, crying softly. "Michiru-mama..."

Setsuna was staring in horror at the water, which held no trace of Michiru.

"She's gone..."

Everyone thought her to be dead. Naturally, it was assumed so. Search

parties could find nothing, and Hotaru remained in a state of shock. Even

Chibi-Usa could not coax her to play or leave the house.

As for myself, I was mentally torn... She was the rational one, the part of

me that was irreplaceable. We were part of each other... And she was gone.

Gone, gone, gone...

"Sometimes I have this urge to just go into the sea and swim forever...

Without turning back, not afraid of what comes ahead..."

Is that what she did...? Swam forever, without turning back, just moving

forward?

"It's not your fault, Haruka-san," Usagi said.

"Hai, Michiru-san was always a strong swimmer..." Ami added.

"No one could have thought that she..." Minako fell silent.

"She's not dead," I whispered. "She can't be..."

"Haruka-papa," Hotaru said in a tiny voice.

"Hime-chan," I said, smiling weakly at her.

"I miss Michiru-mama," she said, climbing into my lap. "Is she dead?"

I could only hug her tightly, while Setsuna watched...

Haruka started, looking around. She was still outside on the sand, staring

at the waves. It was late, and the sun had already set. Had she been

sitting outside for that long?

Looking at her watch, she realized it was about 7:40 PM. She had twenty

minutes to answer the letter... or rather, twenty minutes to decide if she

should answer it or not. What did she have to lose... And she did want to

know what this was all about anyway...

Shimatta, she had wasted ten minutes deciding on the insignificant matter.

But at least she knew that she was going to go. Standing, she stretched for

a minute, then headed east of the cottagtel, towards the beach house.

As she neared it, she could see that it was fairly dark inside, with only a

few lights on, suggesting candlelight, not electric lights. She could also

hear the faint sounds of music that grew somewhat louder as she grew closer.

She paused outside two patio doors. That was... violin music? She opened

the door and went inside. As she had thought, it was dimly lit with candles.

To the side of the room was a small table and two chairs.

In the center was a girl playing a violin. It was dark, and her face was

unrecognizable. She was wearing a dress that was billowing around her legs

from the breeze that came in through the open windows. Her hair was

blowing around her face. She gave no sign that she had seen Haruka come in.

Confused, and feeling a vaguely familiar feeling, Haruka sat down at the

table. Someone suddenly put a blindfold around her eyes, giggling. A

whispered, "Keep this on." That too sounded familiar... The person

scampered away, a door closing in the distance.

The violin music ceased after several minutes. Footsteps moved closer to

her and stopped next to the table.

"What's going on?" Haruka said to the darkness.

A hand closed over hers, and she felt her fingers being led in a sort of

gentle dance. A dance she knew from before...

"I love your hands," came a gentle voice, a voice that had haunted her from

so long ago.

"Michiru?!" Haruka exclaimed. The person removed her blindfold, and Haruka

found herself staring at the green haired girl, who was wearing a sad,

quiet smile on her lips. "You're alive?"

Haruka didn't wait for an answer. She hugged the girl tightly to her. "Is

this a dream?" she whispered to herself.

"Haruka..." Michiru murmured back, crying. "It's not a dream..."

"How did you... Everyone thought you were..." Haruka stumbled over her

words for the first time in her life.

"I was swimming when a large wave caught me off guard... I swallowed so much

water and then a rip current got me... But by the time I realized that I

had to get back, I was too far away..." Michiru's voice was soft, explaining

what had happened that fateful day. "I finally passed out, and I didn't

wonder whether I would drown or not... I awoke several days later, in

a hospital, and I didn't know who I was... That's why I didn't come

back after all that time... Several months later everything came back to

me, and I came back to Tokyo... But you were gone... Hotaru-chan and

Setsuna didn't know where you were... No one did... But I remembered

that we'd always talked about going to someplace near the sea... And after

searching for a while, we came here..."

"We?" Haruka murmured, feeling dizzy.

Michiru laughed. "Hotaru-chan, Setsuna, and myself... You don't think

they wouldn't have let me off again by myself... or missed a chance of

finding you..." She paused, then added softly, "They missed you... I

missed you..."

They stared at each other for an eternity.

"I don't suppose you know what today is?" Michiru smiled.

Haruka gazed at her with something akin to wonder. "I haven't been keeping

track..."

"Our anniversary."

"Has it really been a year...?"

"Much too long, Haruka... I'm glad we found you..." She gave a half-hearted

attempt at a smile. "We were almost afraid we'd never find you..."

"I..." Haruka cleared her throat. "I thought I'd never see you again,

Michiru..."

Michiru's hand tightened around hers. "I'm never going to leave

you again..."

"The day before... that day... I bought you something," Haruka said, her

voice low. "I was going to give it to you... I held onto it anyway... I

guess now is a good time to give it to you."

She reached into her pocket and drew out a box. She gave it to Michiru, who

looked at her questioningly, then opened it. She gave a little gasp.

Inside were two rings, obviously one for each of them. Both had an emerald

and a sapphire, entwined.

"They're beautiful," Michiru murmured.

Haruka took one out, then taking Michiru's hand put it on her left hand, the

ring finger, which was next to the other ring that she, Haruka, and Setsuna

all had.

Michiru in turn took the second ring and slid it on Haruka's ring finger.

"There," Haruka breathed, relieved. "Now we're really a part of each

other."

Michiru tilted her head, smiling. "We always were, Haruka... Through it

all, we always were." She leaned up and gave the other a hug.

She pulled back after a moment, holding onto Haruka's hand. Tugging

gently, she said, "I want to spend tonight with Hotaru-chan and Setsuna...

As a family again."

"That was Hotaru-chan in here, wasn't it?"

"Hai... She wanted to be part of this."

They stood up, Haruka's arm around Michiru's waist, and they left the beach

house together, towards where the sand and the waves met. And where Hotaru

smiled in delight, running towards Haruka, calling out, "Haruka-papa." And

where the four of them were together again... But most importantly, where

the dreams of all of them could be renewed and reborn...

"Happy anniversary, Haruka," Michiru whispered softly to her partner.

And feeling free and unchained, Haruka smiled down at her, thinking that her

memories would from then on be happy and full of laughter and would never

haunt her again.