Hiya! Haruka here to say something real quick about this story. I love this story! This is one of my best stories I've written (in my own opinion) and I wrote it for a special reason. For Michiru. This is dedicated to my Michiru. Aishiteru. These are not my characters (I believe we ALL know who created them) but I'm just bowrroing them for a short time and I promise to returned them unharmed after I'm finished, ok? Please let me know what you think of this story. E-mail me at SlrHaruka1@aol.com I dedicated it to my wife (SMichiru1@aol.com)Enjoy reading! ::fades into the wind:: * * * "Abstract Life" by: Haruka A flash of lightning streaked across the sky followed closely by crashing thunder. Haruka Tenoh sat quietly in the dark room, being illuminated occasionally by the blueish-white hue of the outside storm. Harsh winds blew wildly outside, rain clattered against the single window pane of the room, wet leaves and jumping tree limbs scratched loudly at the small house. If she were in any other emotional state, she wouldn't mind. But tonight, she couldn't hear the winds, she heard a voice. She didn't hear the pounding rain, she heard objects breaking. To her, the scratching of the tree limbs were claws trying to get to her. Another loud crash of thunder made her shreik in fright. She drew her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around them as if to sheild herself from some dangerous force. Salty tears ran uncontrollably from her eyes as she cried for the first time that she could remember. She rocked slowly on the bed of blankets she made earlier, before the storm, thinking wildly about anything but the storm. 'It sounds like Ares and Zeus having an enormous fight!' she thought. Lately, she had taken up learning Greek Mythology, especially Athena, the Greek Goddess of war and wisdom. She would never have had an intrest in any other countries old beliefs, unless her best friend didn't introduce her to it. She had known Michiru Kaioh less than two months and already she was changing Haruka's life. Michiru was the most elegant woman she knew that was her young age of fifteen years. She wrote poems, painted beautifully, swam like a mermaid, and played the violin so wonderfully that she could make music take on an emotional form. She had traveled the world, preformed for the most prestigeous people, yet lived in Japan alone in her family's mansion. Her parents, as far as Haruka knew, we're seperated and both worked hard at their high-class jobs so neither were ever around. But something was different between her and Haruka. Something changed and, now, Haruka felt more than friendship for the classy woman. She kept silent for the last few weeks, trying in vain to ignore these strange new feelings. She put more distance between herself and Michiru without explaining why. It hurt her to know that Michiru was probably upset with her, but Haruka's pride wouldn't allow her to confess these new emotions; though it was at the cost of making her a more dolor person than usual. So tonight she seeked help from her father. The man who raised her after her mother died in the process of delivering her to the world. Her father, though, didn't know how to raise a girl. He had six brothers but no sisters so he raised Haruka as best he knew how; he raised her like a boy. Her dusty blonde hair was always cut short and he'd buy men's clothes for her. She had the handsome features of a boy and most people just assumed she was. She grew up to have typical "boy" hobbies... She loved sports, machanics, and drove her father's Formula 1 white race car at the track he owned. They were close...until tonight. * * * "Pop," she said as she waled into the den where her dad sat in his recliner and was reading the newspaper while listening to the news "can I talk to you about something?" He looked up. "Sure. What's on your mind?" he asked. She sat down on the couch and clasped her hands together. She hated talking about her feelings, and she was even more nervous about the topic of discussion. She took a few deep breaths and started. "Well," she said "it's about Michiru..." * * * A close lightning bolt and almost simultanious thunder interrupted her train of thought. When the shock of the storm subsided, she was greatful it had. She forced herself not to remember the fight that broke out between him and herself. Seeking guidance from him resulted in both a verbal and physical fight. He grew so angry with her affection to Michiruhe rolled up the paper and smaked her across the face with it. Then she remembered hurling objects at him to protect herself and finally running to the deserted old lodge a mile from her house set deep in the woods. She opened her eyes to find herself not crying anymore. She was still scrunched up in a ball form on the blankets. But she felt like she was being watched. She senced another presence with her in the dark room. Suddenly, a warm hand placed itself on her shoulder. "What the hell?!" she cried as she jerked herself away from the person who grabbed her. She moved quickly to the closest wall and groped around wildly in the dark to try and find something to use as a weapon. Nothing. "Haruka, calm down!" a familiar voice said lightly. "I just came to check up on you..." Another flash of lightning struck once again and illuminated the room and the figure of the person with her. "Mi...Michiru? Why are you here?" Haruka asked suprised. She heard light footsteps coming toward her, stopping in front of her, and a tiny clicking sound as Michiru turned on her small flaslight to give a little light to the room. She set the light on the dusty floor and sat down beside her friend. "I called your house to talk to you and your father said you ran away. What happened to you?" she replied. Haruka covered her face and tried to wipe off her tears. She didn't want Michiru to see her in this weakend state. In a quivering voice, Haruka said "Pop and I got into a fight... he said either I leave or he'll leave so I ran away." Michiru silently looked at her. She heard the quiet choking sobs of her friend. "Haruka," she said quietly "what caused the fight?" After awhile with no answer, she tried again. "Have you been having family problems for awhile and were avoiding me because of it? Please talk to me." 'How can I tell her the reason I've been away from her? She'd think I'm weird and leave me. I don't want to lose the friendship I already have with her, but I can't be around her without feeling this love and soon she'd realize it.' Haruka thought 'No... it's best for her if I push her away. She deserves to live a normal life... even if it kills me...' "Why would my life interfere with you? I came here to be alone so just leave!" she said harshly. Michiru's eyes grew wide and watery as she heard this. "Ha...Haruka... what did I do? Please tell me so I can fix this. Are you angry at me for some reason?" Haruka closed her eyes and lowered her hands. There was an awful silence. Both women tense as no words were spoken. Haruka sighed deeply and sank further against the wall. 'You idiot! She's trying to help you and your making her feel unwanted!' a nagging voice said in her head. It repeated over and over until she felt hot tears on her face. She heard rustling noises beside her and figured Michiru was deeply hurt and was going to leave her. She was wrong. The next thing she knew, Michiru wrapped her arms around her nad brought her close to her body. "Haruka," she whispered "I won't ever leave you when you are in pain." Haruka responded by embracing her in return. Her body shaking from an overwhelming sence of friendship and love. She held Michiru intimatly close, hoping this moment would never end. Her breathing became shallow as her heartbeat pounded against her chest. She knew this was wrong to Michiru, but if it was selfish to think this way, so be it. They stayed that way for a long, silent time. Just holding holding each other for suport. "You can stay at my house, Haruka." she offered lightly. Haruka moved away slightly, still close and holding her. "Michiru, I can't do that. You have your own home life and you don't need me coming in and messing it up." she replied half honestly. Yet another awkward silence set in. Haruka had conflicting feelings about the idea of moving in with Michru. 'This would give her more opertunities to figure out how I feel about her and she'd make me leave. But... on the other hand... I would get to spend more time with her.' she thought. Michiru stared deep into her eyes. "You wouldn't mess up my life... You'd make it better! With my parents always gone, I'm so alone... especially for the past few weeks when I've hardly seen you. I'd really like it you moved in..." her voice trailed off as she continued to stare at her friend. She gazed into her eyes; light green eyes that seemed to be gazing back at her. She saw something she'd never seen before; something that seemed to call her attention. She continued to stare at Haruka as she stared back. She felt connected, complete with Haruka's presence surrounding her all over. The tranquil feeling suddenly escaped both as another flash of bright white lightning struck somewhere near the place. The striking sound crashed loudly scaring both of them. Haruka heard a shrill scream intermixed with the thinder which was shaking the ground. With another scream, Michiru fell into Haruka's arms. Protectivly, she wrapped her arms around the frightened girl, sheilding and comforting her. "Michiru... it's just a bad storm..." she said lowly as she stroked the girls' wavy teal-colored hair. "Come on, now..." she said soothingly. Michiru slowly raised her head, her gaze fixated on Haruka's handsome face. "Haruka...?" she whispered. She was going to reply when Michiru brought up her hand and started tracing the paths of tears on Haruka's face. The blonde was confused by Michiru's actions. Silky fingers traced short patterns along her features, caressing her softly. "You felt alone... didn't you?" Michiru asked. Haruka just stared at her, unknowing of what to say or do. "I... I don't understand." she replied simply. "When I first got here, you were crying. You said it was over a fight and the end result was that you ran away from home. You knew that you could've come to me, but aparently you felt alone, so you came here. But one thing hasn't been answered..." Haruka looked down at her. "What?" she asked. "What caused the fight in the first place...?" Haruka closed her eyes slightly. "I can't tell you... I'm sorry." "Why not?" Michiru asked lightly. "You can tell me anything... you know I'll always be here for you--" "Not if you knew this!" Haruka interrupted harshly. "What could be so bad that you think I would leave?!" she shot back. "I want to help you and you seem to keep pushing me away whenever I get close!" She looked at Haruka intently, studying her reactions. "Is that what you're afraid of... of being close to someone?" Haruka firrmly brushed her hand off her face and stood in the darkness, knocking Michiru off of her and on to the floor. "I am not afraid of anything." she said as she walked over to the window to watch the fading storm. "Then why did you come here instead of to me or someone else? You were close to your father and you were rejected." Michiru said calmly as she stood. As she slowly walked to Haruka, she said "I think you are afraid of getting too close to me because you're afraid of me leaving you as well." Haruka kept her back to Michiru. Eyes wide, she suddenly became terrified as she realized that Michiru was too close to the real problem. "Tell me... I want to hear your problems through your own lips." she pushed further. 'What do I do? Lie to her? Make something up? Why is she so concerned for me? Could it be that she loves me too? No. She couldn't love me. Besides, Haruka, she deserves a normal life.' she thought as Michiru stood behind her. As if reading her mind, Michiru said "You've always been honest with me... now tell me. You can trust--" "Don't you ever give up?!" she interrupted and turned to face Michiru. "I'm trying to help you!" Michiru replied heatidly. "Why? Why do you want to help me with something I can't even deal with myself?!" "Maybe I can help you with whatever you're going through. Did you ever think of that? I can't stan d someone I care about being in pain and shutting themselves away!" 'I'm hurting her by doing this... By pushing her away...' Haruka thought, but Michiru kept pushing her questions. "Don't you see that I love you too much to see you hurt???" That's why I--" "Love?" Michiru gasped. 'Damn! Tell me I just didn't tell her... God _please_ tell me I didn't just tell her I loved her!' she pleaded with herself. "You love me...?" Michiru asked in a daze. Haruka couldn't look at Michiru, she felt ashamed and wanted to run far away from the only friend she had ever loved, but her cowardice wouldn't alow her to move. She covered her face with her hands and slid against the wall until she sat on the floor. "Why didn't you tell me to begin with?" Michiru asked, her voice solid with suprise. This time Michiru waited for an answer, but all she heard was mumbling. She kneeled beside her and took her firm, yet soft, hands from her face and held them in hers. "Why?" she asked again. The emotion had left Haruka's face as she coldly stared at Michiru, wondering why Michiru hadn't hit her for saying such a thing, why she hadn't called her any names, why she hadn't run away back to her safe world leaving Haruka alone to die. "Because I knew you'd be upset and leave..."Haruka said thoughtlessly. Michiru looked deeply at Haruka. "I'm still here. So that's the reason you've stayed away from me." Haruka noticed Michiru holding her hands, intertwining her fingers with her own. "I'm sorry if I hurt you... I never wanted to have this happen to you. I want you to have a normal life...not this." she said, closing her eyes and resting her head against the rough wooden wall. Again, she felt Michiru moving silently next to her. 'This time she's leaving...' she thought hopelessly. To her suprise, she soon felt sweet warm lips upon her own. At first, Haruka was startled and confused at what was happening. But she soon realized that it was a dream of her heart come true. She caressed the side of Michiru's face, her silky teal hair slipping lightly through her fingers as she kissed her back, her lips tight and swollen. But, almost as soon as it had started, it ended just as quickly. Haruka grasped Michiru's arm firmly and forced her away. "What are you doing?" she asked shocked. Michiru just stared at her in responce, a slight shade of red covering her face was apparent even in the darkness. "I'm sorry... I know I shouldn't have done that, but I couldn't help it... I thought it was what you wanted." Haruka looked at her, confused at her words. "What I want..." she repeated "What I want is for things to go back to the way they were before. I want you to have a normal life and--" "What about what I want...?" Michiru interrupted. Now Haruka was totally confused. "Who says that having a 'normal life' means that you and I can't have a closeness? I want to be happy... that's all I care about for me. Haruka... you make me happy..." "Michiru...?" she said quietly. "So... you felt...?" "From the first time we met, I've felt this way. Why do you think I tried so hard to become your friend when you thought I was some rich, stuck-up person?" she continued. For the first time that night, a smile appeared on Haruka's well-defined face. She looked deeply into Michiru's eyes, trying to say something, but not finding any words. "I...I... I never knew--" Haruka stuttered but was silenced as Michiru put her finger upon her lips. "Shhh... it's alright." she whispered as she stood on her knees, moving Haruka's hands around her so she held her at the small of her back. She looked down to see her face. Michiru was so close to her now. Haruka's heart pounded against her chest. This was so new, so bizarre; yet somehow, right. Thunder off in the distance sounded with a low rumble as Michiru leaned down her body tense under Haruka's trembling hands. "Haruka..." she whispered as she leaned closer. Both closed their eyes as their lips touched, kissing lightly and gently at first. But Haruka's nature of power soon overtook her and she became bolder. She tightened her arms around Michiru as she pressed her lips harder onto hers as well. She felt Michiru smile and her heart felt like it was about to stop so she could die happy. But the surge of power faded and the firey hot kisses turned into sweet, quivering one. She ended the kiss as she slowly pulled away. Haruka casually opened her eyes to see Michiru still standing on her knees above her. "Michiru..." Haruka whispered. Michiru blushed wildly as she smiled. She lowered herself from her knees so she was sitting in front of Haruka. "From the ocean..." Haruka whispered. "Huh?" she asked in return. "You love the ocean, the sea. You've told me so much about how you love the dark, mysterious waters. In some ways, you remind me of water. You eyes, your smooth and delicate skin... even your hair resembles the waves of the sea." she complimented. Michiru smiled as she took Haruka's hand and replied. "The way I resemble the sea is the same way you resemble the wind." she said. "What do you mean?" Haruka asked. "Well," she said "you're always looking for new challenges. Everything you want to do is somehow fast-paced. Racing, running track... when I watch you run, your feet don't even seem to touch the ground; like the wind is carrying you." String of golden light filtered into the room. They turned to face the window. They saw a dark and cloudy sky broken only partially by beams of the rising sun. They sat in silence for a long time, just staring out the window. Haruka moved around a bit and wrapped her arms around Michiru, pulling her close. Michiru relaxed in the strong and loving embrace and sighed. Haruka looked down at Michiru questionably and Michiru smiled. "The sea is nothing without the wind." The End... Or Begining.