Michiru is laughing, feet shifting on golden sand as she dances in the edge of the surf at the beach. It's just the two of them for now - Hotaru wanted to go to the zoo and Setsuna had offered to bring her over to the beach afterwards. For all that Haruka loves the company, enjoys having a family again, the chance for it to be just the two of them is a nice change.

Hands in the pocket of her suit, Haruka follows Michiru at a more leisurely pace, her jacket open and pushed back so she can feel the breeze. The wind's playful today, and it's a nice change from how it felt and sounded for so many years, when it had just been the two of them before. A nice change from whispers of invasion and threat and danger and your fault.

"Haruka," Michiru calls, one arm raised in a languid wave, "hurry up!" There's laughter in her voice. "You're going to fall behind again!"

Haruka smiles faintly, calls back a "Yeah", unhurried. She should hurry, she knows, should want to hurry, and is startled by the lack of urgency she feels. She has always feared falling behind, always feared others knowing her mind before she did. Her life is a race to stay one step ahead and she has failed many times.

She decides: It's all right, once in a while

Ahead of her, Michiru has begun to wade into the water, and there's a picture there. It's a shame, Haruka thinks, that Michiru can't see herself to draw herself, because it's an image to make a heart break. The water drags at her legs like silk, rising around her calves to her knees to her thighs and higher. Haruka finds herself thinking inanely of Aquarius with the waterjug.

She catches up, walks to the edge of the water where the foam curls over her bare toes, and can go no further; the hem of her pants are already wet and this is a good suit.

In the water, Michiru turns, skin glistening, hair dragging through the water and she's no Aquarius, she's a siren with a voice that could lure an innocent woman to her doom. "Sometimes," Michiru confides, words drifting over the surface of the water, "I think I could just swim out there until there's nothing left but me and it."

Damn the suit. Brine soaking her legs, Haruka goes to meet her.