Some Rise 2
by Sataan Kishi
saturn_knight@hotmail.com

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	“What the….?” Haruka mumbled under her breath as she stared at the emptiness of the night, the rain still coming down in sheets, soaking both her and her lover as they stood out in the cold. Neither of the two could understand what had just happened. Had they just not seen the man before? Had he just stepped back into the dark? That was impossible, he had vanished, she was sure of it. 
	“Come on, let’s get inside… standing out here will do no good. We’ll clean this mess up tomorrow.” Michiru spoke quietly to the blonde, idly taking her hand and giving it a very soft pull in the direction of the front door.
	“Yeah… inside…” she repeated, allowing herself to be guided out of the frigid night and into the warmth of their home. Once the door was shut, everyone dripping water onto the foyer floor, Haruka made sure that every lock was secured, just in case… “Who was that?” 
	“I… am not sure. I have not seen that person before… have either of you?” Michiru turned her gaze down at both of the girls in turn, getting a shake of her head from the pair. “Perhaps we should phone Usagi… this could be something serious.” Out of habit, and of course relation, all the three turned to look at Chibi-Usa who immediately turned her eyes down to the ground and gave a shake of her head.
	“What’s wrong?” Hotaru asked quietly, more whispering in her ear than speaking aloud, but before she could even get a response, she could tell by the look on her young friend’s face that something was very wrong.
	“Chibi-Usa?” Michiru spoke, stepping closer to the pink haired child before kneeling by her side, a hand setting on her shoulder in an attempt to comfort her if even just a bit. “What is it? We don’t have to call Usagi right now if you don’t want us to.” The enthusiastic nod that she received as a reply made her wonder just what the story was. 
	“They already know about us,” Hotaru whispered to her friend, low enough that only Chibi-Usa and Michiru could hear, though it wasn’t an attempt to leave Haruka out of the circle. “It’s ok… I promise…” the dark haired girl added quietly, arms tightly circling the smaller girl. 
	“They do?” the surprised Chibi questioned, a bit shocked to know that the normally very private Hotaru had already told her parents that the two were now in a relationship, what brought it about? 
	“Yes, we do,” Haruka responded for the pair, smirking lightly as both of the girls were too sheepish to look at her in the eye, a blush starting to glow on their cheeks. “We’re fine with it, but until you tell us what’s wrong, we can’t help you, can we?” The blonde leaned her back against the door frame next to her, arms crossing loosely over her chest while her lover returned to her side.  
	“Whatever it is, you can tell us. Hotaru felt comfortable enough to tell us that you and she were an item now,” Michiru’s smooth voice helped ease Chibi’s anxiety, the arms of her now girlfriend did even more to coax out the reason for her nervousness and tears. Hotaru could feel the small body in her embrace shivering and trembling, and she did all she could to try to calm her. Soft strokes of her fingertips ran along her back, and a gentle kiss planted on the smaller girl’s cheek. It was nothing new for the two to hug, as it was often a goodnight gesture, and even a kiss on the cheek was given on a birthday, or to stop one’s tears, but that was all in the name, or perhaps guise, of friendship. This was not. 
	Chibi stopped shaking almost immediately, a soft, final, sniffle was given and her dark red eyes raised to view the violet irises of her girlfriend, who offered a quiet smile and a nod, as well as a gentle, “It’s ok…”
	“I…. I was…. I was writing a letter on the computer,” Chibi-Usa began to confess, gaze cast down at her feet since she suddenly lacked the will to look any of the others in the eye. “And… it was a letter to Hotaru, telling her that… that I loved her…” she stuttered through her statement, licking her lips nervously, “And… Usagi snuck up on me and read it over my shoulder…” That was all she had to say, the others knew immediately the ramifications of that, Haruka more than the others, as she’s dealt with Usagi’s homophobia before. 
	That led to nothing but silence.

	
	It was late the next morning before, just before noon, when Usagi phoned Haruka to ask if anyone there had seen Chibi-Usa. Deciding to try to get more information from Usagi about just what had went on, she delayed answering the question to pose one of her own.
	“She’s not with you? What happened?” Haruka asked, her eyes turning from the phone’s cradle to the couch in the living room where Hotaru and Chibi-Usa sat, one reading and one watching TV, on low volume, as to not disturb the other. This response got a bit of a sigh from Usagi, though it wasn’t one of sadness or helplessness, but rather of irritation as if she were annoyed that her daughter had disappeared. 
	“I caught her on the computer last night writing a love note to your kid.” Usagi had a snip in her voice, “This is your guys fault for making it seem like that life style is ok.” She refused to accept the fact that her daughter naturally felt that way; it had to be a result of spending too much time around a lesbian couple. They confused her as to what a real relationship was. That had to be the answer. 
	“Excuse me?” Haruka was shocked by Usagi’s accusation, knowing she was homophobic, but this was just too much. “You don’t CATCH lesbianism, or LEARN to become attracted to the same gender. If anything, you spend time trying to UNLEARN it, to try to fit in with society, and not have things that are beyond control to be blamed on you by close minded, arrogant, and ignorant people like YOU,” Haruka growled into the phone, hearing the receiver creaking under the increasing pressure of her grip.
	“Whatever,” Usagi hissed angrily, unable to think of an appropriate counter to the woman’s argument, instead demanding, “Have you seen her or not?” 
	“No,” Haruka replied before adding, “and you should have gone out and looked for her, not slept all damned morning. You’re more worried about her being in love with a girl rather than what could happen to her if she were lost, hit by a car, or some stranger picking her up and running off with her. So good to see you have your priorities straight, kid.” She purposely played on the age difference between them as an insult to the increasingly irritated Usagi on the other end of the line.
	“Then call me if you do!” the long haired blond yelled into the phone before slamming down the receiver and cutting off the line, too angry and flustered to be able to think of any retort to what she was told. She didn’t think of something bad happening to Chibi-Usa, she was too angry to think about something like that going on. But then, fear began to creep into the back of her throat as she thought about what Haruka had said to her. Trying her best to dismiss it with a shake of her head and another few thoughts of Chibi-Usa hiding from her just to be a pest, Usagi picked up her car keys and hurried to the door to look for her daughter, much like she should have done the night before.
	“My god…” Haruka mumbled to herself as she hit the talk button on the phone, shutting it off with a distasteful sigh. By this time, both of the girls had been looking up at the short haired blonde, wondering why she got angry with the person on the other end of the phone, They could guess by context who it was, even though Usagi’s name was not mentioned.
	“She’s still mad…” Chibi-Usa said while looking down at the floor, and added “But I can’t go home now...” The small pink haired girl seemed on the verge of tears, her arms wrapped around herself for comfort, and Haruka placed a hand on her shoulder for a moment before Hotaru’s arm’s slipped around her friend’s torso from behind. 
	“You can stay here with us,” Hotaru offered without even thinking of what her parents would say, nor if they even wanted her here at all. She doubted her parents would send her home to a mother who instead of immediately going out to look for her slept in all morning while she was missing. Rather than accept right away, Chibi’s bloodshot eyes rose from the well kept floor up to the blonde who had a hand on her shoulder. 
	“Of course you can stay with us,” Haruka replied before she really even thought about it. It’s not like she had much of a choice, but it still wasn’t a chore. “I’m going to go have a talk with Michi about all of this, you two get some lunch, it’s almost noon.” A hand set on each girl’s head and their hair was ruffled, both of them looking relieved. 
	“ ‘Kay,” The dark haired one answered, taking Chibi’s hand and leading her out of the living room, “Thanks Haruka-Papa,” she added quickly before making her way into the kitchen with her smaller friend in tow.
	“Yes, Thank you very much,” Chibi spoke quietly, not looking up at the blonde as she’s pulled out of the room, and out of earshot.
	“Here we go again,” Haruka sighed and shook her head, looking towards the kitchen sadly, wondering why they had to bear the brunt of Usagi’s close mindedness. And with that, she headed back into their bedroom to speak to Michiru while rubbing her temples with her fingertips.
							

(You know, when I started writing this last half of the “Star Crossed” trilogy, I had every intention of making it quite a bit longer. However, after the continued complete lack of feedback, even when I’ve specifically asked for it multiple times, I’ve decided that it’s not going to be finished. For all I know, I’m using my time to write something that no one even reads, when I could be using my energies elsewhere. For the, perhaps, three or four of you who have read and gave feedback like I asked, I apologize, but this is the last fic I’m going to write. -SK.)