Gift of Perfect Love

My Haruka and Michiru Shrine

Contestant in Sera-myu Idol IV
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Depths of My Soul

Ten'ou Haruka/Sailor Uranus

     I knew I would like Sailor Uranus ever since I found out there was one; partly because I've always loved the planet Uranus, but also because I always love tomboy characters best :-) . I've had a crush on Haruka from the moment I saw her! By now I've seen every anime ep and movie she's in (subs, of course! dubs are not the real story, haven't got the real voices, and don't even portray the same characters at all! I only watch subs, exclusively!), but I still watch my sub vids to see her, and she's still just as perfect every time. I could rant about how wonderful she is for pages, but then I'd have no room to talk about Michiru or their beautiful relationship, so I'll just get the basics over for now.
    Haruka is a tall, beautiful, athletically-built girl with short sandy-blonde hair and eyes that look blue or green depending on pictures. She talks like a boy, dresses in boyish clothes, and wears her school's male uniform. Except in her first appearance (where they drew her like a boy on purpose to surprise us), I can always tell Haruka is a girl no matter how she's dressed, but most characters in the anime think she's a boy until told otherwise. When they first saw her, Usagi and Minako thought she was a cute boy and got crushes on her, and their reactions on finding out she was a girl were pretty funny. But even when they know she's a girl, the Inners still forget and get crushes sometimes, especially Mako.
    Haruka runs track and races both cars and motorcycles (all of which she wins often at), and is great at all sports. She owns at least two sports cars of her own, as well as her own motorcycle and helicopter. She apparently does all that without any help from her parents, probably due to race winnings and money she gets playing piano professionally.
    When Haruka becomes Sailor Uranus she wears a navy fuku with a yellow bow at the front. In her normal Uranus form she wears one gold hoop earring in her left ear, but in her Super form (with the star choker, heart brooch, and longer bows) she wears one in each ear. I like her better with one, because it helps her look almost like a pirate :-) . *loves pirates* Uranus' power is "World Shaking," in which she hurls a yellow ball of energy (some people say compressed wind) that shakes the ground. (Why "World Shaking" for the Senshi of the wind? My current theory is that since Uranus is a gas giant planet, with no real surface, shaking the world there would have more to do with the wind than dirt!) Her talisman is the Space Sword, which she uses with her "Space Sword Blaster" attack. Though the Space Sword can be used as a conventional sword, she doesn't need to touch the enemy to do damage with it--she can slice through the air and knock her enemy with a bolt of energy.
    Contrary to popular Internet rumour, Haruka has never been a man in any life, can not and does not change genders, and is not a hermaphrodite. She is a tomboyish lesbian girl who never shows romantic interest in any men. Haruka flirts with many other women, but I don't take that seriously; I think it's partly because she's a natural flirt, and partly because she enjoys their reactions so much when they find out she's not a real boy. In truth, Haruka is extremely loyal and devoted in her relationship with Michiru.

Kaiou Michiru/Sailor Neptune

     The first I heard about Sailor Neptune, it was that she was pretty and had nifty powers. When I saw her pictures, I was stunned at her beauty but didn't know if I would like her because I thought she might be vain. (That was largely due to her talisman being a mirror, I'm afraid :-P .) It wasn't until I saw Michiru on video that I decided I liked her despite her being very feminine (I very seldom like characters who are very feminine), because of her sweet personality and devotion to Haruka.
    Michiru is a bit shorter than Haruka (though still taller than tiny me :-( ) and has shoulder-length, curly, aqua-green hair that sometimes looks blue and big, exotically-shaped, deep-blue eyes. I think she's the most beautiful Senshi of all, but I haven't got a crush on her because she's very feminine and I'm only attracted to tomboyish girls. Michiru always wears dresses, often seems to co-ordinate her outfits to match with Haruka's so they look nice as a couple, and likes to collect make-up.
    Michiru can swim like a fish, paints professionally, and plays violin so well she can bounce a lemon on her violin easily without messing up her song or looking clumsy.   Apparently she does that a lot, since even though Usagi's mouth hung open at the sight of it, Haruka didn't seem surprised or anxious at all.
    When she's Sailor Neptune she wears a dark-green fuku with blue bows and a pretty cross-shaped charm on her choker. In her Super form the choker is just a star (the cross was better) and her fuku of course has the heart brooch and longer bows like the others'. Her power is "Deep Submerge," which involves a huge wave of water that crashes over the enemy. Neptune's talisman is the Aqua Mirror, which she can gaze into to see danger, or with her "Submarine Reflection" attack she can shoot a beam from it.
    A lot of people think Michiru is straight or bisexual because she's flirted with guys before, most notably Seiya (or does that really count as guy flirting, since the Lights are all really girls?), but if you pay attention you'll notice her flirting is never for real. Michiru's most common reason to flirt with a guy is because she's trying to get information from him, and flirting is how pretty girls generally get what they want from guys. But occasionally, she'll let Haruka think she's interested in a guy just to make her jealous (perhaps in retaliation for Haruka's rampant flirting?). In either case, it's important to note that I've never seen Michiru display real interest in any guy, or real feelings for anyone other than Haruka. Their relationship is completely monogamous :-) .

How Haruka and Michiru Met

     Ten'ou Haruka had terrible dreams, in which the sky had turned red, the streets were quiet, and everyone had turned into stone statues. Then a cyclone ripped up the buildings and smashed the people statues; she was dreaming the destruction of the world. Then there was a bright light, and when she looked around she saw a beautiful woman with curly aqua-green hair and a green sailor fuku with blue bows, who was glowing and floating in the air. The girl in the fuku told Haruka that the Silence was coming, and she had to help find the Messiah and stop it. That's why Haruka was frightened when she first met Michiru.
    Haruka had just won a track meet when her best track rival Elza Grey introduced Haruka to her artist friend, Kaiou Michiru. Haruka recognised Michiru as the girl from her dream and was surprised.   Michiru said she was interested in Haruka and wanted her to pose for a painting, but Haruka refused because she was too busy with her racing. I'm sure even then Haruka was attracted to Michiru; she was just afraid of the responsibility of saving the world. She didn't want to give up the things she loved, especially car racing, to look for the Messiah. Haruka didn't want responsibility. She just wanted to be the wind.
    The next time Haruka and Michiru met was on a cruise boat, where Michiru was performing on her violin. Haruka left the concert down the stairs, where there hung a painting Michiru had done about the end of the world. That was how Haruka knew Michiru had the same dreams she had. Michiru approached her on the stairs, and Haruka said it was weird that someone like Michiru could imagine something as terrible as that. Michiru said it wasn't her imagination, it was the future, and she knew Haruka had seen it too.   Haruka said she didn't want to deal with it, that she just wanted to race. She told Michiru to deal with it herself, and asked Michiru to stop following her. Michiru said she didn't want to do the mission, either, because she just wanted to play violin. Michiru in the dream

One day Haruka was at the racetrack when she saw an open garage and went in to see who was inside. A male Mugen Gakuen student was there, in obvious distress, and when Haruka approached him, he turned into a part-human/part-car monster. Haruka's henshin wand appeared in the air, but Michiru appeared and told Haruka not to take it or she'd never be able to live a normal life. Then Michiru became Sailor Neptune to fight the monster. Haruka told her not to kill it, because it used to be human, and Michiru said if she didn't there would be more victims. When Michiru's arm was cut during the fight with the monster, Haruka wondered why Michiru was protecting her, because if Michiru hurt her hand fighting she couldn't be a violinist. Michiru said she had been watching Haruka for a long time, even before she knew Haruka was a Sailor Senshi. Michiru said she'd watched Haruka racing, and confessed indirectly that she wanted to ride in Haruka's car by the seashore. She said she didn't want Haruka to choose the same path she had, but was glad when she found out Haruka was her partner. Michiru's words finally convinced Haruka, and she accepted both her henshin wand and her responsibility.

The Perfect Romance of Haruka and Michiru

     Of the people who believe Haruka and Michiru are in love (and if you don't, you're definitely on the wrong page!), I think the popular opinion is their romance developed from friendship. Maybe I'm too much of a romantic, but I like to think of it as love at first sight. I think it was only her Senshi duty Haruka was rejecting at first, not Michiru herself. I'm convinced that Haruka was attracted to Michiru from the moment she saw her (she'd have to be blind not to be!), but was afraid to admit that at first because Michiru was the girl from her nightmare. It's bluntly stated, however, that Michiru was already interested in Haruka even before she knew she was a Senshi, and had been admiring Haruka from afar and learning about her for a long time. Maybe if Michiru had approached Haruka before the Senshi thing came up it would have been easier.
    Haruka and Michiru's relationship in the anime is subtle. They aren't shown kissing (which doesn't mean they don't kiss, only that apparently they don't do it in public), but they are rarely seen apart and are often seen holding one another, walking arm in arm, or holding hands.   They apparently live in the same apartment for at least part of the S series, and their sex life is hinted at several times in their teasing dialogue, even as blatantly as Haruka's famous "save the scolding for bed" line in Stars. Through much of the S series, however, the relationship seems ambiguous. In between the romantic scenes there are times when Michiru gets shy and denies the relationship, or Haruka has a hard time expressing her feelings, and for much of that series Uranus and Neptune act more like just partners than lovers.
    I think part of the reason Haruka and Michiru are reluctant to display their relationship at first is because they want to avoid the stigma attached to being an openly lesbian couple. Although homosexuality is a popular subject in fiction, it just isn't as well-accepted in daily life, so their caution is entirely understandable. I also think Michiru was cautious about the relationship at first because when she first approached Haruka she was rejected, and she didn't want to go through that again. Possibly, even after they'd obviously had a relationship for a while, Michiru was shy about admitting it to herself or others because she was still wounded from Haruka's earlier rejections and thought it could all fall apart at any moment. It may even be true that the reason they entered the love contest was for Haruka to prove her sincerity of love to Michiru, even though the games in the contest embarrassed Haruka terribly. But Haruka often has a hard time showing her feelings, anyway, like a man would. Although she seems to have no doubts about her relationship with Michiru, and can admit that she and Michiru are much more than friends, expressing those feelings is hard for her, especially in public. Most of Haruka's obvious statements and gestures of love towards Michiru come when it's just the two of them, and Michiru seems less shy about returning those affections when they're alone.
    In S, Uranus and Neptune seem to be only partners much of the time because their mission is first and foremost in their minds. They're determined to save the world no matter what it takes; even if one of them dies, the other must live to complete the mission. As Uranus and Neptune, they can't afford the same relationship they have as Haruka and Michiru. Uranus seems the easier one to keep up her end of that deal, because her emotions are more repressed already, and because her devotion to duty seems even greater. But just because they can't afford as close a relationship while Senshi, that doesn't mean there is no relationship. Sometimes their feelings and devotion for one another show up very well even then, especially when the other's life is at stake. After they almost lost one another in the cathedral, their relationship even as Senshi becomes more definite, because they realised that even the mission wasn't as important to them as one another. Haruka and Michiru at the love contest

The relationship gets more obvious, and they get less shy about expressing it, as time goes on. Michiru (debatably) risks the world by calling the dummy's bluff in the SuperS special, because she says a world without Haruka isn't worth saving. By Stars they're pretty open about their relationship whether as Senshi or humans, and even though they're not in that series a lot, it probably contains more, and more blatant, references to their love than anything else they appear in.
Though their devotion to one another is obvious, neither is above flirting with other people to make her girlfriend jealous. Haruka is a natural flirt who tries to charm just about every girl, including various Inner Senshi at times, Usagi more than the others. Even after they know she's a girl, they still aren't totally immune to her charms. Mako spends an entire episode obsessed with Haruka, despite knowing her gender and her friends' protests throughout the entire episode that it's not too late and she should still give men a chance. Usagi thinks that it's nice, like being held by a man, when Haruka protects her from biker thugs. The Inners even have janken games to decide who gets to dance with Haruka. Michiru usually doesn't seem to mind Haruka's flirting, except when Haruka is sick in bed with the flu during the SuperS special and flirts with the maid taking care of her. Maybe she only gets upset if Haruka flirts when she's not there to keep an eye on her? Michiru seems to flirt with Seiya in her dressing room, but I'm very sure that wasn't serious. I really think she was just trying to get information from him, not actually flirt. (And, for what it's worth, I don't think Seiya was seriously flirting with Michiru, either. I think they were both trying to get information out of the other, and flirtation is the most usual method used by both.) But I think Michiru enjoyed Haruka's jealousy on seeing her with Seiya anyway. Michiru also let Haruka think she had a boyfriend when Chibi-Usa's art classmate had a crush on her and gave her flowers. Obviously that wasn't serious--he was like ten years old! I think she just likes seeing Haruka jealous at times, which seems fair enough considering how much Haruka flirts. But no matter how much flirting goes on, Haruka and Michiru are completely devoted to each other and would never flirt with anyone else for real. It's that total devotion to one another that I think makes their relationship the most ideal I've ever seen. I wish I had such a perfect relationship for myself someday in real life!

My Fanfics

    I've read too many authors' fics where every story they write is set in an entirely different reality, which I find confusing, so I write all of mine in the same reality. I have my own personal Haruka and Michiru continuum running through all my fics. Even "Masquerade" can fit into that continuum, if you remember that Meliai and Amphitrite are just former lives of the Haruka and Michiru in my other fics. Perhaps the lives of Meliai and Amphitrite can even explain some things about their future as Haruka and Michiru.
    In my fanfics, Haruka was born to rich parents, Ten'ou Kazashi and Masato. Her mother, Kazashi, is a good person, but with a controlling personality and some old-fashioned ideas of what little girls should be like. She loves Haruka and treats her well, but for Haruka's whole childhood she either couldn't or wouldn't see her daughter's real personality. Even after Haruka fully reinvents herself the way she always wanted to be, Kazashi is slow to accept it and holds out hope for a long time that her daughter is just going through a phase and will revert to her old self eventually. She only gives up on that after Haruka brings home her girlfriend, Michiru, whom Kazashi adores and bonds with instantly. Michiru is like the daughter Kazashi always wanted Haruka to be, and as long as Michiru's around, Kazashi seems fine with all of Haruka's "shortcomings" and seldom complains about any of it anymore. Haruka's father, Masato, is a kind, friendly man who seldom raises his voice to anyone. He's known about his daughter's real self the whole time and is quick to support her in everything, even lesbianism, when the truth finally comes out. The only thing he can't condone is Haruka's constant secrecy; that's the only thing standing in the way of an otherwise perfect father-daughter relationship.   Masato also has a good relationship with his wife, although with his meek ways it often seems like overbearing Kazashi is the real master of the house. If Kazashi throws her weight around too much, Masato usually tries to reason with her rather than argue, and seldom really stands up to her except in his daughter's defence.
    Haruka's best friend since grade one is Kobayashi Urano, the "school nerd" who was the first kid in school to show young Haruka any kindness. He's unfailingly kind, shy, loyal, honest, helpful, and sincere, but his easygoing nature allows Haruka to control him too much at times. Urano is good at listening and great at giving advice, though Haruka seldom listens to any of it. More often he's relegated to the role of Haruka's "partner in crime," as she talks him into one strange, ill-advised scheme after another. She even talks him into helping her spend a day as a boy in an effort to find her real self, a plot he's perfectly happy to go along with if it makes his best friend happy. Urano gets on well with Haruka's parents, once he's finally allowed to meet them, and becomes as much like a son to them as he is like a brother to Haruka. He becomes friends with Michiru, as well, despite sometimes feeling jealous of her for monopolising all of Haruka's time with Senshi duties--and yes, he does deduce that's what they're up to, all on his own. Urano and Haruka remain friends even while she's a Senshi, but they'll probably never be the same best friends they were as young children.
    Michiru's family finally appeared in a fic! It seems she's the elder daughter of rich Christian parents, Hideyo and Umi. I'm not sure what her father did for a living (in the fic he died of a stroke), but I think her mother's always been a housewife. Even now Hideyo's passed, I don't think she'll have to work, though, since I'm pretty sure they're "old money". Michiru's parents did treat her well as a child, and filled all her needs and desires. They were still fond of her when she introduced them to Haruka, whom Michiru introduced without mentioning her gender, and they assumed by her looks she was a boyfriend. Michiru's parents liked Haruka and were happy their daughter was seeing such a "fine Christian boy", until they found out Haruka was a girl. They wanted nothing to do with her after that, even snubbing her on her commitment ceremony and on adopting a child. Michiru's younger (teen-aged) sister, Shihobu, was studying abroad at the time of the wedding and adoption, so couldn't be there, but seems very accepting of her sister's preferences, and gets along well with Nami. Shihobu is in a rebellious period now, sporting tattoos, piercings, and trendy clothes like an American teen, and Nami looks up to her for that. Hideyo was too incoherent to really meet Nami, but he did seem to smile when he saw her. Umi, too, seems to be trying to accept both her daughters' differences now that she knows how fleeting life is, and seems eager now to act the grandmother to Nami. I think they're all going to get along just fine :-) .
    Unabara Nami is an adorable blonde orphan girl Haruka and Michiru adopt to become more like a real family. For the first five years of her life, she was raised mostly by her mother, under whose influence Nami was a very ordinary girl who loved pink, princesses, Barbies, and faerie stories. When her mother died, she was left under care of her father, who was uncomfortable with pink, feminine things and influenced Nami to become a little tomboy. But in the grief over his wife's death, Nami's father became an abusive sot who mistreated her physically and sexually, and the only thing to stop him was the drunken driving wreck that left her an orphan. Nami is a kind, gentle, loving, cheerful, and very precocious little girl, who is adjusting well to her new life, and gets on well with her new Senshi friends and family (whom she does know as Senshi, having figured out their identities by herself, based mostly on resemblances). She's especially close with her Papa, Haruka, because they have so much in common, and Haruka is the only person Nami feels really understands her. Nami's best friend is Moroboshi Yuka, who plays the Sailor Neptune to Nami's Uranus in recess games of "Sailor Moon." Yuka is the only non-Senshi to know Nami's identity as Sailor Triton, because the first time Nami transformed was in front of Yuka, to rescue her from an undead monster. As Sailor Triton, she's a powerful but inexperienced young Senshi with a distinctive fuku, whose attack, "Hurricane Smite," creates a storm of violent wind and driving rain that can tear apart its undead opponents. Its effectiveness against living targets is yet to be seen.

Haruka and Michiru Sounds

Mostly from various places around the Internet. A few of them I recorded myself, but I'll warn you already those suck :-P . I'll put up more of other types later if I can find/make them.
The sounds have now been moved to my sounds page. click here to visit them.

More Haruka and Michiru Stuff...

My SD Haruka KISS doll On and off project over the last few years. Finally finished, but she's primitive, gomen.
My Sailor Uranus Gallery
My adorable Uranus and Neptune plushies
My lovely Beauty Change Uranus dolly
My kawaii Uranus and Neptune keyrings
Part of the large Christmas gift box Jason sent :-) :
My sweet little SD Neptune pin
My little SD Neptune keyring
My lovely Beauty Change Neptune dolly Now I'll have a matched set! Yippee!
My kawaii Dream Pocket Neptune dolly
And that's not even all the box contents, just all the Neptune stuff. . .I always feel guilty when he sends so much. . .
My kawaii Dream Pocket Uranus dolly I got this for myself for another matched set :-)
My strange-looking IRWIN Uranus figurine I took it out of the package long ago, gomen.
My adorable little SD Uranus keyring
My adorable SD Uranus nuigurumi keyring It kind of looks like Nami-chan!
My kawaii SD Uranus capsule doll I'm afraid I never actually had the capsule, though.
My Haruka-sama watch
My small IRWIN 2001 Uranus doll Pretty, but kind of looks like Seiya instead. . . (apologies for the discoloured pic; it had an accident. . .)
The good thing about NA SM dolls is, they're cheap enough to modify, guilt-free! Her hair was so pretty at the front, but way too long everywhere else, so I cut it in a more Haruka-like style. See how much nicer she looks now?
My big IRWIN 2001 Uranus doll Even prettier than the small one, but looks exactly like Seiya in a Marilyn wig!
Unfortunately, her hair is rooted too fluffy to modify :-( . If I did, it would stick straight out for sure!
My Sailor Moon World Uranus Doll 2003 birthday gift I picked out myself. So kawaii and shiny! I wanted one for like a year, but never managed one before now.
My Beanie Uranus All floppy and kawaii!
My Uranus Petit Soldier Only a Chinese version, gomen, but still pretty, and she didn't cost much.
My Uranus nuigurumi with her sword Her tag was missing when I got her, but she's so kawaii nonetheless! Looks like she's left-handed, like me! Sugoi!
My SMW Uranus figurine She is so gorgeous! Maybe the best Haruka-sama item I own so far!
A little Haruka figurine I made out of clay
My fanarts page, includes my drawings with Haruka-sama and Nami-chan :-)
Visit Nami-chan's webpage
Read my Haruka and Michiru fanfics
Send Haruka and Michiru Fanmail

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© 1997-2005 Naia Zifu This probably is meant to be a scary shrine, considering my current growing obsession with these two
wonderful characters. If that bothers you in any way, you're probably at the wrong page.
The sounds and images contained herein are from various, mostly forgotten sources, and probably
taken without permission. Sorry if that steps on anyone's toes.
As always, I'm not trying to infringe on copyrights or make money off anyone's ideas.
Send questions and comments to: naia_zifu@bellsouth.net

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