Chapter Twelve

The next week too was completely uneventful; Michiru was still avoiding me, so I was looking forward to the concert as an excuse to finally talk to her, to clear everything up, to tell her how I feel. Hotaru was right, I should follow my heart: after all, what did I have to loose by doing so?

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I arrived at Hotaru's house right on time to find that she was already ready and dressed. We were all formally dressed; that was the type of concert we were going to. Her dress was a deep violet whereas mine was burgundy red: a colour I had always been told suited me. Setsuna was going too and was dressed in a black dress that was a few shades darker than her hair.

We got into the car and drove there, none of us speaking much. It wasn't long until we arrived at Michiru's concert venue, a grand theatre in the upmost part of town. I felt rather out of place when we arrived; I was not used to such formal gatherings as this, though both Setsuna and Hotaru appeared to be quite at home.

Inside we took our seats at a table right near the front of the auditorium, right next to the stage. I spent a while glancing around as we waited for it to begin: it was then that I saw someone familiar in the crowd, someone too familiar for my liking.

"Oh look, Rei-chan, isn't that the politician?Shinzuku Keitaro?" Hotatru asked.

I nodded, "Yes, I know him?"

"Really, how?"

"That's a very long story," I replied, "And not something I want to go into right now."

I nodded to him as he passed and in return he gave me a glare that would have frozen over Hell itself. I was surprised I even got that much actually; I never wanted to see him again, ever. Hotaru seemed confused by it all, but Setsuna seemed to know a lot more about the situaton than she let on.

After a while the lights dimmed and Michiru walked out onto the stage, a goddess on Earth she seemed in her respelndent aqua dress that so perfectly matched her hair, which was tied back from her face. She sat down and took out a violin – a Stradavarius Setsuna called it –, then slowly began to play. The melodies seemed almost ethereal to me and she soon held the entire hall spellbound. Never had I heard such a beautiful sound; it seemed to come from her very soul itself. Soon all I was aware of was the music, all negative thoughts banished from my mind.

I don't know how long I felt like that for, but suddenly the music stopped and I felt pain again: people all around me were standing up, clapping and cheering; it was over, but with the finale would come a new beginning… I stood up and Hotaru turned to me.

"Come on, let's go," she said. We made out way through the crowd, but instead of leaving we made our way backstage, to Michiru's dressing rooms. It was there that security guards refused to allow us to see her.

"But we really do know her," Hotaru protested.

"That's what they all say, now move along."

"I'm being serious, we have some serious business to attend to!"

"What's all this noise?" a familiar melodic voice spoke as the door opened. "Rei-chan? Hotaru-chan? You came to see me play?"

Hotaru nodded, "Yes, it was amazing as usual. Now I believe Rei-chan has something extremely important to tell you. Bye-bye." With that she left and I walked into the dressing room, where Michiru shut the door behind us.

She turned to me with tears in her eyes, "I'm sorry, Rei-chan. I really am sorry; I know I've hurt you and I know that I never should have done what I did but…"

I didn't know what to say, so I didn't say anything, I just did. I leaned forward and kissed her softly on the lips: she stared at me, stunned.

"It's alright Michiru, it's alright," I said. "I love you, Kai'oh Michiru, I just… needed time to realise that."

I gently wiped the tears from her face as she smiled at me and fell into my arms, crying quitely all the while. I turned and saw not one but two figures in the shadows of the room. One was Minako, the other was a tall blond with dark blue eyes, Ten'oh Haruka. They were both smiling; it was time to move on. They disappeared forever; they could rest in peace. The beauty of the water had been realised and the tears of the flame had ceased: nothing ever dies, and new love and life will always come to you.

As she leant against me I realised that, and I knew that love had been born again. We had to move on, to follow our dreams, our hearts. Love always seems to come from an unlikely source, but I knew that this love would soon begin to play the most harmonius, beautiful music, just like the violin. And thus ends my tale, on a happier note than the one on which it started, though there will be many other tales to be told in time.

Owari

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(A.N. Well that's it. I hope you enjoyed. I will, however, have some more stories up that are related to this. A poem, 'Tainted Kisses' and aoneshot 'Of Fireflies andRabbits'are up now if anyone is interested. Thank you all for reading.)