*Somewhere there's speaking
*It's already coming in
*Oh and it's rising at the back of your mind
*You never could get it
*Unless you were fed it
*Now you're here and you don't know why

Michiru sat at her vanity brushing her hair, looking at her perfect
complexion.  On her hand, glinting in the dim lights of her room, was
a two-carat diamond resting on the third finger of her left hand.
Kanpeki Ichiro was her father's named successor since Michiru was his
only child.  Ichiro was the Vice-President of several of her father's
sub-companies and would inherit the Kataomoi Corporation upon her
father's retirement in 5 years.

She and Ichiro were engaged, arranged years before while Michiru was
still just a child.  Ichiro was 38 and had never been married.
Michiru had the ring placed on her finger three weeks ago, at her 14th
birthday celebration.  In two years she was to marry Ichiro in a
large, public wedding.  Michiru looked at the ring, feeling trapped by
her duty as her father's daughter.  Michiru let the brush softly fall
to her lap, bringing her left hand to meet her right.  Gently she
pulled the ring from her finger, looking at it closely.

In the light of her lamp the platinum and gold inlayed ring glittered
brightly, reminding her of the choices that had been made for her
years ago.  She had never understood what her mother had said to her
when she was nine, that she had been given to Ichiro.  She had asked
if she had to move out.  Her mother had looked at her funny and asked
what she meant.  Michiru, being the child she was, looked up into her
mother's clear blue eyes and said that if she was being *given* to
Ichiro-san...

Michiru chuckled at the memory.  Of a naive childhood she longed to
have again.  Now she was bound by honor, by her *father*, to marry
Ichiro.  Trapped.  Not that Ichiro was a bad man.  He was kind and
gentle toward her, giving her everything she wanted, saying everything
she needed to hear... he would be an ideal husband.

If a husband had been what she wanted.

Michiru had dreams of being a violinist and painter, not a wife and
mother.  Michiru sighed and placed Ichiro's brand back on her finger
and turned the light out, crawling into bed, hoping tomorrow would
dawn with a different destiny for her.

*But under skinned knees and the skid marks
*Past the places where you used to learn
*You howl and listen
*Listen and wait for the
*Echoes of angels who won't return

Her leg was numb.  She'd been sitting on it too long again.  Michiru
slowly opened her eyes and surveyed her surroundings.  Instead of her
eyes opening to the living room where she was sure she had fallen
asleep again, she saw a playground.  Filled with laughing children.

"Michiru-san!"

Michiru gasped at the voice that called her.  She turned and looked
over her shoulder and there was Sanae-san, dried tears on her cheeks
and chocolate milk drying on her uniform.  Sanae-san had been her best
friend in the schoolyard when she was... 9.  Chocolate stains...
Sanae-san, who had passed away in an accident a year ago... Michiru
looked down at herself.

She was in her elementary school uniform.  This was the day when she
would go home with the high grade on her test and be sat down and told
she had been given to Ichiro.  This was the afternoon recess.  Tears
stung Michiru's eyes as she looked on Sanae-san's face.  She had
missed her friend so much.  Michiru jumped up and ran to the brunette,
her arms wrapping around the chunky waist and laughing.

"Sanae-san!"

Laughing, not wanting to let her friend go, Michiru opened her eyes
again, glancing at the school.  She noticed the blocks of the school
building had a red tinge to them.  Like spilled punch seeping onto a
napkin, the red began to spread slowly.  It got dark and crept up the
building, engulfing it in maroon, dripping like blood.

Beside her, Sanae-san seemed stiff.  Michiru looked over and her
friend was frozen, solid like stone.  There was a deep rumbling far
away, and Michiru turned back to the building.  Buildings collapsed --
not a sound made as they fell.  Her friends and classmates were
frozen, as if stone, fear contorted their young faces.  Michiru's
eyes widened as the whirlwind of silence approached the school, the
schoolyard and her.

And she heard nothing.

-----

"Michiru."

Michiru gasped and sat up in bed, the sweat trickling slowly down her
back and between her breasts.  The cool air caused goose bumps to rise
on her damp skin.  Gulping down mouthfuls of air, Michiru scanned her
room for the voice that had called her from that dream.

Sitting at her vanity was the owner of the cool, soft voice that had
rescued her from the torment of the dream.  Long green hair, falling
to the floor, was what caught Michiru's attention first.  Then the
flashing crimson eyes.  In her hand was a long staff, topped with a
softly glowing orb.

"Who are you?" Michiru whispered, her throat rough and dry.

"I am Sailor Pluto, the guardian of Time.  Awaken, Neptune."  The
woman extended a glove clad arm that held a mirror, simple and
beautiful.  Michiru saw herself reflected, and blinked a few times
when her image shimmered.  Her image was replaced by the charming
looks of a sandy-haired man, and she watched him in the mirror.

"Who is he?"

The woman smirked slightly.  "She is the one you must find.  The dawn
brings your new destiny, Kaioh Michiru.  Find the one.  Find *her*."

-----

Michiru sat up suddenly, a feeling of deja vu.  She looked around the
room, the first rays of dawn dancing through her curtains and across
the foot of her bed.  All a dream.  The whole thing was a dream.  She
sighed and threw the covers back.  The blonde woman with the sad green
eyes was still vivid in her mind.  Too bad it was just a dream.  She
smiled and stretched, allowing the cobwebs of a restless night to be
swept away with the light of a new day.  She reached over for her
glass of water, and a soft cry left her lips.  There, laying on the
nightstand, was the mirror that Sailor Pluto had brought her.

It had not been a dream.

And she needed to find the woman with the sad eyes.

She was the one.

*He's everything you want
*He's everything you need
*He's everything inside of you
*That you wish you could be
*He says all the right things
*At exactly the right time
*But he means nothing to you
*And you don't know why

Ichiro put his napkin down, watching the green-haired woman he had
watched grow up.  She had become such a lovely woman and they would
have beautiful children.  But, tonight, she was so quiet and distant,
not truly eating what was before her.  She was constantly glancing
around the room, almost nervous.

"Kirei-chan.  What is wrong tonight?"

Michiru put her napkin down and smiled at Ichiro.  "Nothing,
Ichiro-san. I am just... tired... lately."

"Perhaps we should put our trip this summer aside for now so that you
can rest up and be healthy again.  You look pale and thin, Kirei-
chan."

Every time he said that name to her, Michiru wanted to twitch.
Looking at Ichiro, Michiru knew why her father had chosen him as his heir.  He
was 5'6, he had normal, straight hair, light brown, with deep, intense
brown eyes.  Ichiro was slight in build, unassuming but a quiet power
emanated from him.  Her father could not have chosen a more perfect
heir.

They made an elegant couple.  Very normal.  Very perfect.

Michiru sighed again.  "Ichiro-san, would you mind taking me home?  I
think I would like to rest."

Ichiro nodded, smiling as he stood and walked to her to help her up.
"Of course, Michiru."

The drive home was quiet.  He gave her space, asking her if she was
alright periodically.  He offered to stop by the house later in the
evening to check on her... he was the concerned fiancee and she felt
nothing for him.  That was what made her feel so ill.  This man she
was bound to be with, she felt no emotion toward.  And she felt
cheated.  Wronged.

She felt haunted, too.  Late at night she had taken to looking in the
mirror, spying on the woman she was to look for.  She had also found,
next to the mirror, a wand.  She didn't know what to do with it, but
she was sure she would find out soon enough.

*You're waiting for someone
*To put you together
*You're waiting for someone to push you away
*There's always another wound to discover
*There's always something more you wish he'd say

7:00 am.  The alarm went off.  Michiru's mother opened the blinds,
talking about the days activities, while the upstairs maid placed her
try of food on her night table.  Flipping out her napkin, Michiru
regarded the food.  The same meal every morning.  Had been that way
for the past 5 years.  Nutritionally balanced.  Michiru sipped the
soup, munched on the rice.

7:30 am.  Shower.  Slipped on her pale aqua robe and sat in front of
her vanity, brushing out her hair.  Make-up next.  Eye shadow,
lipstick, mascara.  She slipped on her panties, fastened her bra, and
slipped on her dress.  She tied the patent leather shoes and
checked herself in the mirror.  She was ready.

The door opened.  Her mother walked in again.

"What are those?" her mother asked, looking at Michiru's feet.

"Shoes," Michiru responded weakly.

"No.  You need to wear the light brown ones with that outfit and they
should be the matte ones, not the patent."  And she walked out.
Michiru changed her shoes before heading downstairs.

8:30 am.  Violin practice.  This lasted 2 hours.  It was her first of
two sessions she had everyday.  And she had a third one today, since
today was special.  Today was Sunday.  Her father came home on
Sundays.  And she was expected to entertain him and his associates.
So, she practiced under her instructor and mother's watchful gazes.

10:45 am.  Late morning snack.  Michiru had a plate of 3 pieces of
sashimi placed before her and a bowl of mushroom soup served.  She
hated mushrooms.  The cook knew this.  But, Michiru swallowed the
horrid broth, saving the sweet sashimi for last.

11:00 am.  Michiru is walked upstairs by her mother and stripped by
the maid, her mother choosing a soft night gown for Michiru to wear.
The bed is turned down and Michiru is helped in, a glass of water
placed next to her on the night table.  Kaiou-san leaned down and
kissed her daughter, told her to rest, that she can awaken in 2
hours, refreshed.

*But you'll just sit tight
*And watch it unwind
*It's only what you're asking for
*And you'll be just fine
*With all of your time
*It's only what you're waiting for

11:15 am - 1:00 pm.  Michiru sat wide awake, staring in the mirror,
wondering when she had given up her life to all those around her.
What had she done today that was for her?  She smiled at the blonde in
the mirror, feeling an instant connection.  Michiru would bet her life
that no one told her what shoes to wear or when to take a *nap*.  A
knock at her door brought her out of her thoughts and she hid the
mirror away under the mattress quickly and pretended to be asleep.

1:00 pm - 3:00 pm.  Another 2 hours of practice.  Flawless.  No, not
quite.  The instruction reprimanded her about her fingering, not quite
perfect enough.  Then again, when *was* she perfect enough?

3:15 pm - 4:15 pm.  Sunday studies.  A review of the previous week in
school.  Overseen by the tutor hired to come to the house once a week,
she went over all the work she had done at school.  It was tedious and
she found it a draining hour.  She always had thought the studies
should happen *before* her nap.  But, it was not her decision to make.

4:30 pm - 5:00 pm.  She ate.  Alone in the dining room.  She had to
eat before everyone else.  After that, she knew she had to perform her
morning rituals all over again, but late in the evening so that she
would look her best for her father.

8:30 pm.  Practiced, clean and dressed up, 14 year-old Michiru stood
in the foyer, violin perched under her chin, starting the first piece
of her hour set.  Before her sat her father, Ichiro and 3 other
businessmen.  They were sipping sake and watching her.  She played as
she had been taught.  Dressed how her mother dressed her.  Engaged
to a man that had been chosen for her.  Her life was not hers.

10:00 pm.  Her father has her stand there for half an hour after her
set, smiling, standing between him and her mother.  The perfect
family.  Ichiro smiled at her, told her he hoped she'd feel better.
Michiru felt like her face would crack.

11:00 pm.  Michiru's mother closed the bedroom door and Michiru
cuddled under the blankets, exhausted.  Not a moment of her own.  Not
one moment of her day had she chosen.  She was lonely.  Her life was
dictated by her mother, her father, her fiancee, her tutors, her
teachers...  She had no control.  Well, did she ever?  Could she ever
live if she had complete control of her life?  So many questions.
Heavy on her mind.

Michiru stared into the mirror beside her on the bed, looking into the
blonde's eyes, Michiru wished the woman would come a rescue her from
this life.  Whatever it had become.  She did not want to marry Ichiro.
She wanted this woman in the mirror.  Her partner, Uranus.  How she
knew this, she couldn't say.  All she knew for certain was this person
was so important to her, that the world needed them, and she had to
find her.

She would not marry Ichiro.

Now she just had to tell her father.

*Out of the island
*Into the highway
*Past the places where you might have turned
*You never did notice
*But you still hide away
*The anger of angels who won't return

Another Sunday.  Quiet this time.  Michiru entered her father's study.
She had made her decision.  She also had come to terms with the
consequences.  Michiru had spent the last 4 weeks preparing for this
moment.  The door creaked open slowly, her throat closing slightly,
fear taking hold of her heart.  She had never taken anything in her
life, and when she *finally* decided to...

"Chichi?  May I speak with you?" she asked in a quiet voice.  She
cleared her throat and stepped into the office.

"Come, Michiru.  What do you need?"  He looked up from the mass of
papers on his desk to glance at her then back down to his work.  She
always knew she was a low rung on his priorities, it was just that she
never knew *how* low.

She stood in front of his desk, hands clasped tightly, and she looked
at the floor.  "Chichi, I..." she waited a moment and then placed
the engagement ring on her father's desk.  "I do not want to marry
Ichiro-san and I will not marry him.  I have other dreams and I want
to follow them, not be a wife with children to a man more than double
my age and with whom I am not in love."

She waited a moment.  Let out a deep breath, and looked up.  Her
father sat there, she could see the red creeping up his face.  Oh,
boy.

"Michiru, you will marry him.  You have been pledged to him for over 8
years!  You will marry him to preserve the honor of the Kaiou name!
You could grow to love him, Michiru, and dreams can wait for a later
time.  You are the perfect wife and I will not allow you to make such
a fool of me by making me take back my promise to this man!"  His hand
hit the desk in a hard rap and he stood up, glaring at her.

This was the moment.

Did she defend her independence or did she cave.

And she did what she had to do.

"It was not my pledge, and I have done nothing to bring dishonor to
my name.  You brought the dishonor, Chichi, and I will not bear your
guilt or your embarrassment.  I am of my own mind, with my own
desires, and none of them lead me to Ichiro-san!"

Her father stood there, stunned.  His quiet, unassuming daughter,
defying him... and in such a way.  And she continued.

"You can accept my decision, Chichi, or we can part ways.  I would
rather be your daughter than nothing, but I will be my own woman
and no one elses.  Not anymore," she finished quietly.

Kaiou-san sat at his desk, the rage boiling, thinking of what he would
say to Ichiro.  He glared at the ring.  And he loathed the woman
before him.  No daughter of his would dishonor him in such a way.

"Leave, Kaiou Michiru.  Make your own way in this world.  But, do not
come back here.  I have no daughter."  He rotated his chair and looked
out over the garden, fighting the tears as he heard his daughter
softly close the study door, knowing she would never come back.

And it was all her fault.

*I am everything you want
*I am everything you need
*I am everything inside of you
*That you wish you could be
*I say all the right things
*At exactly the right time
*But I mean nothing to you and I don't know why
*And I don't know why
*Why
*I don't know

It was raining.  How appropriate.  At her foot was a suitcase, filled
with necessary clothes.  Nothing too fancy, nothing too heavy.  She
only needed one.  Before she left the house, she had called a local
hotel and set herself up a room and called a taxi.  Lucky for her, she
had emptied her bank account that morning.  Plenty of money... but all
alone.  She was her own woman.

Standing in the rain.  No umbrella.  Looking at the massive gates of
her father's home.  It was just now that she realized that it
had always been her father's home, never hers.  She had been born to
fulfill his destiny, not her own.  All she had known, all the
protection and all the expectations, were left in that room on the
third floor, among the children's toys and sea foam paint.

A sniffle.  Her heart broke a bit.  She loved them.  She loved them
both so much.  Why couldn't he have just let her be herself?  She had
been everything he wanted, everything he needed... done everything he
asked and it had meant nothing in the end.  All that mattered was his
bruised pride.  And now, she had no family.

Michiru was her own woman.  In the rain.

Suddenly, the rain stopped beating on her... she looked over her
shoulder and met sad green eyes.

"You should not be out in the rain without an umbrella.  Are you
alright?"

The tears just sprung out of her eyes.  She wept.  The woman pulled
the soaking green-haired girl against her, offering her a dry
handkerchief.  In between sobs, Michiru said, "I... am just... waiting
for my... taxi."

The two women sat beside the road, huddled under the umbrella, in
silence, waiting for a taxi to arrive.

---- End Part One ----