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“So much for staying up to watch the first sunrise, huh?”
Haruka nodded toward the armchair, where their adopted daughter Hotaru was curled up underneath a lavender throw blanket, her eyes closed to the world.
“Ara, ara. Should we wake her?” Michiru asked. A quick glance at the clock sitting on the fireplace mantle showed that it was only twenty minutes until midnight, the official start of the new year – and, more importantly, a new millennium.
“Nah. She’s been fighting the Sandman for the past two hours; I say let her sleep,” Haruka said with a shake of her head. “I told her there was no way she was going to last until morning, especially with all the cleaning we did earlier.”
“Well, it was a valiant attempt.” Hotaru had held out for much longer than Michiru thought she would, to be honest, having expected her to pass out around ten or so, an hour after her usual bedtime. Reaching for the remote, she turned off the video of Mulan they had been watching, seeing little reason to keep watching it for the fifth time that week when Hotaru wasn’t even awake to enjoy it, and switched channels to watch the end of Kōhaku Uta Gassen. “We’ll wake her early in the morning. That way she can still watch the first sunrise, at least.”
“Sounds like a plan.” Haruka disengaged her arm from around Michiru’s shoulders and stretched as she stood from the couch. “In the meantime, I better take her up to bed. That chair can’t be comfortable.”
Haruka set Hotaru’s throw blanket aside and gently lifted her up from the chair, supporting her behind her back and knees. Hotaru mumbled something that sounded like “’m not sleepy,” but her violet eyes remained closed, so Haruka ignored it and carried her upstairs to her bedroom.
While Haruka was doing that, Michiru began cleaning up the mess they – well, more specifically, Haruka – had made. They had finished the traditional year-end cleaning of the cottage earlier that morning, but one could be forgiven for doubting that claim when there were empty soda cans, candy wrappers, and popcorn kernels littering almost every surface of the family room. Michiru rolled her eyes as she brushed some of the kernels off the couch and back into the bowl, swearing to herself that she was never going to allow them to eat in front of the TV ever again – a promise she was almost certain to forget the next time Haruka and Hotaru bombarded her with those “puppy dog” eyes they knew full well were almost impossible for her to say “no” to.
When she finished cleaning and putting the family room back in some semblance of order, Michiru headed to the kitchen and pulled down a couple of champagne flutes from the cabinet. They had been saving the champagne until the clock struck twelve, but she supposed there was no harm in opening it a few minutes early. She was filling up the second glass when Haruka returned downstairs, fighting back a yawn herself.
“Everything okay? She didn’t wake up, did she?”
“No, she’s out like a log,” Haruka said, her eyes lighting up when she saw the bubbly liquid in Michiru’s glass. “Oh, champagne! Don’t mind if I do.” She took the other glass for herself and leaned back against the marble counters. “You know, it’s a shame Setsuna wasn’t able to stay and celebrate with us.”
“It is,” Michiru agreed, missing their friend as well, “but, like she said, the dawning of a new millennium is an important moment in time. She needed to check on the Gates and make certain everything went as scheduled.”
“A new millennium…” Haruka twirled the stem of her champagne flute between her thumb and pointer finger, eyes unfocused. “I wonder what it will bring.”
Michiru had been wondering the same over the past few days. Based on what Usagi and the others had told them about their journey to the 30th century, it wouldn’t be long before Crystal Tokyo was established and Usagi and Mamoru took their destined place on the throne as Neo-Queen Serenity and King Endymion, rulers of Earth, but as of yet, there was no sign of that happening. The past few years since Galaxia’s defeat had been peaceful, everyone happy, healthy, and working toward their dreams – dreams that they had possessed long before they had learned of their duty as Sailor Guardians, dreams that Usagi had encouraged them to pursue despite knowing what was to come (or perhaps because of it).
She had tried asking Setsuna about it before she left for the Gates of Time a couple of days ago, but the time guardian would only answer with a cryptic smile and a reminder that the future was not set in stone.
“Michiru? Earth to Michiru?”
Michiru blinked, realizing that Haruka was calling her name – had been for quite a while, by the tone of her voice. “Oh, sorry,” she said with a shake of her head. “You were saying something?”
“It’s nothing important.” Coming up behind her, Haruka wrapped her arms around Michiru’s waist and kissed her temple. “Something on your mind? It’s not like you to space out.”
“I was thinking about the future,” Michiru admitted, leaning back against Haruka. As usual, she found a sense of security in Haruka’s arms, the place she felt most at home. “Does it ever bother you that Usagi and the others never heard anything about us when they visited 30th century Crystal Tokyo? Where do you think we were when the Black Moon attacked?”
Haruka let out a sigh. “I don’t know. I can’t imagine us not being there if the threat was so dire. Maybe we were already…?”
She let the rest of the thought drift off.
Maybe we were already dead. It was certainly a possibility. A thousand years was a long time. Usagi’s Silver Crystal had the power to grant expanded lifetimes, but they would not be immortal.
On the other hand, Hotaru had been fated to die in the same laboratory accident that had killed her mother. The fact that Dr. Tomoe had “saved” her life by making a deal with a devil and turning her into a cyborg meant the timeline must have changed in at least one major way – and for the better, in Michiru’s opinion. Their original mission may have been to kill Hotaru in order to prevent Sailor Saturn from awakening and destroying the world, but Michiru would be forever grateful that they hadn’t succeeded in their goal. Hotaru may not have been related to them by blood, but she had become their daughter in heart, the four of them forming a happy, if somewhat unconventional, family. She found it difficult to imagine a future without Hotaru and Setsuna in it.
(Haruka was a given. Without Haruka, there simply was no future, as far as Michiru was concerned.)
“The future is not set in stone…” she murmured.
“Hmm?”
“It’s something Setsuna said to me, before she left.” Michiru set her glass on the counter, then turned around to face Haruka. “I think she was trying to tell me that nothing has been decided for certain yet, that we still have the power to change and shape our future. We can make it a better future – a happier one – for everybody.”
Haruka smiled. “I like the sound of that,” she said, tenderly brushing a lock of Michiru’s hair out of her eyes. “But any future would be a happy one, as long as I got to spend it with you.”
Michiru felt exactly the same.
By that time, it was nearing midnight, the countdown beginning. Taking Haruka’s hand, Michiru grabbed her champagne glass and led her back to the living room to watch, the two of them softly counting along with the crowd on TV. When the clock finally struck midnight and the 108 bells began to chime in celebration, they turned to face each other and held up their flutes of champagne.
“To a new millennium,” Haruka said. “May it be filled with love, hope, and peace.”
“And to a new future,” Michiru added. “No matter what trials may lie ahead, as long as we’re together, I believe happiness will be sure to follow.”
“Happy new year, Michiru.”
“Happy new year.”
Smiling, they clinked their glasses together and took a sip of the champagne to complete the toast, then shared their first kiss of the new millennium – the first of hopefully many more to come.