The Crying Ocean
This story is based on the anime version of Sailormoon, taking place shortly before the S season begins and is told from the point of view of Michiru Kaioh. The diolague at the end is from episode 106, translated by VKLL, everything else is written by me. Enjoy!

The city was silent, covered in shades of dark red.... Then a force came... people were frozen... I screamed, but they were muffled by the silence... one by one buildings crumbled & the people crumbled one by...
"Miss Kaioh?... Michiru, you're on!"
The vision stopped as suddenly as it began. I had been having them for quite a while but I usually would remember very little of it. But they were becoming so frequent & I would remember every detail....
"Michiru, are you ready?"
The bright lights beamed down on me & I stared into the audience. I clutched my violin tightly, suddenly remembering where I was.
"Yes, you may begin, I'm very sorry."
The conductor smiled back at me. "Don't be, it's a true honor having the privilege of having you as our solo!"
I smiled back, & held my violin up, ready to begin... it was my escape... .I could drown out the horrible visions in the sweet melodies of Bach & other talented composers of years gone by... even if it was for a little while...

I placed my violin back in the case. I had received wonderful reviews & compliments, as usual... but that wasn't on my mind now...
"Your heart wasn't in the performance."
I turned around scared, not realizing someone was in my dressing room. In the back was a tall woman with dark skin, long green hair & intense brown eyes.
"If you keep trying to drown out your visions with your music, it will never achieve the impact that it could have."
My visions.... how could she know?
"Excuse me, this is my private room, you...".
"I knew you saw it too," she said staring at me. "The silence covering our city, destroying all... but your visions don't have to become a reality."
"How so?"
The woman stared back at me. "You can stop it... you have the power within yourself, your destiny set long before, and you know it."
"I'm not interested in another destiny, it's already set the way I want it!" I yelled back. I knew about my past life as a senshi, but I didn't care... I would travel the world, my violin & my paintings & live life the way I wanted to, not by some predestined fate...
She glared at me with those deep brown eyes.
"It's not the way you want it, is it? You're lonely, aren't you? You use your music to drown out your dreams as well as your loneliness.."
I stood stunned, not knowing what to say.
"Miss Kaioh, is everything ok, I heard yelling?"
I turned around & saw one of the orchestra members in the doorway looking concerned.
"Everything's fine, thank you." I turned around but the woman was gone... as if she was never there...


I scanned the paper quickly, my hair still wet from my morning swim. I tried to forget the meeting with the strange woman the other day, keeping my mind on other things. I finally found what I had been searching for. The first article in the sports section, her picture gracing the page beautifully.
Haruka Tenoh had won her latest race, though I wasn't surprised. I grabbed a pair of scissors & carefully cut the article out. Ever since I saw her race I found out everything about her: where she lived, when she raced, the car she drives, even the food she likes... if I could only ride in that car with her by the shore, just once I .... I couldn't explain why I wanted to be with her so badly... she was nice to look upon, especially when she was racing... the way her hair flowed in the wind, the way her graceful legs raced along the pavement, just like the wind... but it was more than just that... But I was too shy... I could never bring myself to actually approach her, much less talk to her...
"...but you're lonely.."
Her damned words echoed in my mind... but it was the truth... I was lonely, a social outcast... I was hard to approach, a china doll in a glass case: admired from afar, but never approached because I might shatter. And part of me wanted it that way... far from the reality, of the approaching Silence... it was better this way... it was....

"The three talismans..."
"Michiru, what's wrong? You're not backing out on me now are you?"
The smell of the pool water brought me back to reality. The race....
"Sorry, I'm ready."
"Good, I've always wanted to see the the best in action!"
I kneeled down... but something was stirring....
"Ready..."
The ocean was rough....
"Set..."
Something was awakening...
"Go!"
The waters were tainted....

"Stop!"
It was too late, she already was in the pool, determined to beat me at any cost. The creature underwater had grabbed hold of her leg. She screamed as she frantically tried to pull away, but she was no match. The monster surfaced, it's hands around her throat, both of them looking straight at me...
I have to do something, I have to save her.... this shouldn't happen.. heartless creatures like this shouldn't exist.... I have the power to save her, please bring that power here!
A bright light appeared in front of me, the demon moved back & a small stick appeared before me.... Neptune... Sailor Neptune, my destiny lay before me... I was reluctant to touch it, of what it might bring... what about my dreams, my violin, painting...
"Help, someone help!"
No, my dreams will have to be put on hold... vile creatures should not exisit, not here, a place I've been sworn to protect... it's my duty, my mission, as a senshi!
I grabbed the stick tightly... I felt the cool waves of a long silent ocean pour over me, freeing me from a long sleep... memories, clearer than from my dreams, of a past that I had been drowning out was filling up my mind....
I had awakened...
The young girl was passed out, as the monster was feeding off her energy, holding her close...
"Stop!"
The monster looked up.
"On behalf of my star, the sea star, I Sailor Neptune, I will not allow you to use the gentle water of this world for your evil!"
I prepared to attack, to destroy, but the girl was in the way... I stood, not exactly sure what to do.... the creature must be stopped, but I can't...
"There will be many sacrifices."
I turned quickly, recognizing the voice....
"To save this world from the Silence, many will have to be sacrificed, for the good of the rest of the world."
It was the woman from the other day, who knew about my past, my dreams, my loneliness... How could she possibly know so much? Who was...
She raised a small stick.... similar to mine...
"You're... no it can't..."
"Pluto Planet Power, Make Up!"
In a bright flash, she changed, the senshi of time now standing before me.
"Sailor Pluto!"
"Neptune, attack the creature, before it escapes!"
I looked back, the monster still holding the girl in front....
"But..."
"If the creature escapes, more people will be hurt! She must be scarified, so others can be spared! Don't let your feelings get in the way! It's your duty, your mission to stop this evil at any cost, even a life!"
Duty... mission...
I raised my hands, gathering energy...
This is the only way...
"Deep..."
Forgive me...
"Submerge!"

"You did well."
The girl was still passed out, most likely from shock, but breathing well as she lay on a bench.
"I almost killed her"
"But you killed the monster, that is what's important." She began to walk away.
"Wait, where are you going!?"
"My mission isn't here now, it's up to you to protect this world from the Silence, for now."
I looked at her stunned. "I can't do this by myself! How can..."
"You won't have to," she said as she kept walking, "there is another sleeping senshi, running from a fate she can't escape. Find her."
"But... I don't know where to begin!? Is she even here in Japan? Where.."
"You'll know her when you see her... like the turbulent winds of her planet, she's like the wind, graceful, yet powerful." Pluto stopped a moment, & smiled a bit. "You won't be lonely anymore."

I sat on the bleachers, watching the race, giving myself a much needed break from my search... Elsa didn't stand a chance, even though she proudly boasted to me that she could beat her.... although I should have been cheering on my friend, I was keeping my eye on Haruka... she was so graceful & beautiful... she seemed to be running not towards the finish line, but running away from something more... her heart wasn't in the race, it was distracted by something greater...
"...she's like the wind..."
My heart raced... was it wishful thinking, or were my instincts right? My palms sweated, & I took a deep breath...

"Damn I was so close!"
"You did well Elsa, Haruka is the one of the best."
"I know, I'll beat her one day, if I could only race her one more time!"
"She would be a great model..."
"For a painting?"
"Yes... do you think... you could..."
"I'd be happy be too."


"This is Michiru Kaioh. She is extremely intelligent and a brilliant painter. She really wants to meet you."
This was the closest I'd ever been to her... I wasn't scared like I would have been if this occurred before my reawakening ... it was more than fulfilling a school girl crush, it was to accept a destiny, to do something meaningful...
"You didn't break a sweat. I think you were holding back. Right?"
"What do you mean?"
"You can hear the wind rustling, can't you?"
She looked at me scared, & shocked... yes, she was the one, my instincts were right! I glared back knowingly, wishing I could tell her everything, her past, our mission... but no, this wasn't the time; she was still denying her fate, running, & telling her everything would make her push harder... but she knew, her fate & who I was...
"You're strange. So, what do you want of me?"
"Would you be a model for my painting?"
"Pass! I don't like that kind of thing."
She walked away, walking away from her fate, from me, denying it all. I looked down, hiding my tears, but filled with new determination, greater than before...
Harkua... you can't run forever... I will catch you....