With the return of her memories, there were a lot more things weighing on Aino Minako than ever before. When Artemis had first awakened her, he’d given her just enough to know what she was doing and what she needed to do. The rest was obscured by a thick fog. It remained that way until she’d revived after her death in the Arctic Circle. She wished it had stayed that way forever. There were some things she never wanted to remember.
Walking into the Princess’ chambers to see her and Endymion in a very intimate, very naked embrace was definitely one of them. Yes, he’d had a nice butt back then – still did, as a matter of fact – but it wasn’t something she wanted to remember.
She knew she was merely trying to distract herself, to turn her thoughts away from the things that disturbed her most, the ones that made her wake in the night covered in sweat and tears. She allowed herself that weakness, but she knew that it would not be long before even that would desert her and she would be left with nothing but what she most feared: him.
She dreaded that day. The knowledge of its eventual coming haunted her. What was worse was seeing that fear reflected in the eyes of those around her. Only Usagi was spared that, but even she had her own demons to fight, her own dark memories to haunt her. If she could but shake the feeling that he still lived, still existed in some form on this plane, she wouldn’t have quite so much dread, but there was the constant tingling down her spine that he was near, watching her, but when she would turn, there would be no one there.
She saw the same thing happening to her friends; the sudden turn, the darting eyes – the resigned sigh when the person they were searching for proved to be a figment of their imagination. Only Rei seemed to be immune. The miko would turn and fix her eyes on one spot, as though there were something there. Many times, Minako wanted to ask her what it was she saw with her spiritual vision, but she was afraid of the answer, afraid that she could not continue her façade if her suspicions were proved correct; if he still lived. Besides, Rei hated it when she asked questions to which she already knew the answers, and this was one of those.
He still lived, they all did, and she knew it. What she could see was not as important as what she could feel. And she could feel him, coming closer all the time, waiting on the edge of her life. But waiting for what, she couldn’t help but wonder. Was he waiting to strike, or was there some other purpose? Now that he was free of Metalia’s influence, did he remember who and what he had been? Would he try to atone for his sins? More importantly, could she ever forgive him? Trust him? She just didn’t know. Until she could figure that out, she couldn’t ask Rei to tell her what it was she saw when she turned around, what she sensed when she stared into the fire for long periods of time.
While she was musing on her worries in private, she discovered something that surprised her into speaking: Ami and Makoto had been discussing the same thing quite frequently, and they’d finally decided to bring it up one afternoon at the arcade when Usagi was at detention. Some things never changed, after all.
So they talked about it, the four of them. Their feelings, the possibility of their memories returning, the possibility of forgiving and trusting them again. They discovered that they were all of the same opinion: they wanted to trust them, but they weren’t sure if they could. Rei decided that she would read the fire at their next meeting, after Usagi rushed off to meet with Mamoru, as usual. And Minako was left to wonder what she would say to him, should she ever get the chance.
“If the Queen finds out, you’ll be executed,” she warned him as they walked through Jupiter’s prized gardens. In the dim Earthlight he looked like a god to her eyes, with his pale, white hair shimmering faintly blue in the darkness.
“How would she find out?” he asked sardonically, his deep voice sending shivers down her spine. “Your Senshi are even now bedded down with my men and your Princess is safely tucked away in her room with the Prince. Your guardians are even now exploring the Earth below; who could possibly give us away?”
“You’re right, of course,” she replied frostily. She hated it when he spoke in that sarcastic tone, as if she were the inferior of the two. Though they had never battled, his meager powers were certainly no match for the full strength of the planet Venus that she had at her command.
“Of course,” he answered, that infuriating tone still in his voice. “As always.” He paused, letting her ire rise, before speaking again. “I can think of much better things for us to be doing than arguing, Princess,” he said silkily, his arm snaking around her waist and pulling her towards him.
“As can I,” she taunted, tempted to pull the sword from his scabbard and slit his throat, even as she burned for the touch of his lips against her own. How fascinating this duality, she mused as they leaned ever closer.
“You’ll be the death of me,” he murmured in her ear as she slipped her hand beneath his tunic.
“At least twice tonight,” she said against his ear. “Maybe more.” She delighted in his shudder as his hands roamed her back, slipping down to cup her more intimately against him.
She woke, sweating, her body straining towards something she knew she would not find. Though her body ached in frustration, she was grateful that the dream had taken that bent. Too often, she seemed to dream of unhappy memories. In some ways, though, the sensual memories of him were worse, for they made the sting of his betrayal far worse. They taunted her with things she was afraid she might never be able to have again, things she was afraid to have again. Could she really ever trust him not to betray her once more?
The fear of his future betrayal, should she ever be given the opportunity to love him again, haunted her.
It was four days before an opportunity arrived. Usagi cried off the meeting, claiming that she had a previous engagement with Mamoru. They all knew that was an excuse; Mamoru would never let their relationship ome before Senshi business unless he didn’t know she was blowing it off. Rei might call him a cold, unfeeling bastard, but he was responsible enough to force Usagi to come to meetings when he knew about them. Besides, they all knew Rei’s words were just sour grapes; she’d never quite forgiven him for choosing Usagi over her. That it was the second time he had done it didn’t help, but that was a fact that they hadn’t known about until recently. Minako giggled inadvertently at the memory of Sailor Mars attempting to seduce Prince Endymion even as he tried to avoid her. Had they had the time they should have, she would have never lived that one down.
They sat in a semi-circle before the ancient fire, Ami, Makoto, Rei and herself, willing their minds to focus on the task at hand. Minako mentally focused on his face, recalling the feeling of his presence at her back over the past few weeks, waiting for Rei to glean something from the fire before them. She tasted the tears before she realized that they were coursing down her cheeks, knowing that perhaps his betrayal wasn’t the best memory to recall for this purpose, but knowing that she had little control over it. Her mind went where it wanted to, and she had no choice but to follow it’s painful course.
“The four will return at the dawn of the Millennium, called forth by the power of the One.”
After several long minutes of silence, Rei startled out of her trance and blinked rapidly. Every eye in the room was on her as she breathed deeply and let it out on a sigh.
“Rei?” Minako whispered, drawing the miko’s attention towards herself. “Have you always made prophecies?” She shook her head.
“Well, you just made one,” Makoto said.
“What did I say?” she demanded and Ami repeated the words.
“The dawn of the Millennium?” she repeated, puzzling it out. “Usagi-chan is obviously the One that will call them forth, but the Millennium is several years from now, isn’t it?”
Minako nodded. “Why Usagi-chan? Mamoru-san is their Prince, after all. Wouldn’t he be the one to call them?”
“That’s a logical conclusion,” Ami added and Minako felt herself beaming. It was rare that she ever heard such things from Ami about herself.
“But Usagi-chan is the one with the power to bring people back from the dead,” Makoto reminded them.
“Not them,” Usagi’s voice came from just inside the door, and Minako spun to see her Princess staring at them with troubled eyes. “I tried to bring them back with the rest of us, and it didn’t work.”
“Maybe because it wasn’t time?” Makoto suggested and Usagi shrugged.
“I thought you had a date with Mamoru-san?” Rei snapped. “What are you doing here?”
“I – er – let it slip that you were here having a meeting and he walked out of the restaurant,” Usagi admitted quietly. “You know how he feels about me being here.” Minako nodded again. She seemed mute, and she was paying only scant attention to the conversation flowing around her. In her mind, she was replaying Rei’s words; he would come back at the dawn of the millennium. She had six years to decide if she wanted to forgive him or not. They trickled out of the shrine not long after and as she lay in her bed that night, she knew she would dream of blood.
“Princess!” she shouted, running towards the fallen young woman. “Serenity, no!” she sobbed. The wound was fatal, as it had been intended, and her princess was gone. Venus fell to her knees, weeping.
“She was weak,” snarled a contemptuous voice behind her. She didn’t need to turn around to see the sneer that accompanied his words. “But then, with you as an example, what else could one expect?”
She would not cry before him; she would not give him the satisfaction of seeing her break at his betrayal. He would not have that from her, at least.
“Good-bye, Sailor Venus,” he growled an instant before she felt the tip of his blade pierce her back.
“Kunzite,” she breathed as she felt her life flow out over the sands of the Moon. She knew that his betrayal would haunt her immortal soul.
“Minako-chan, can I talk to you for a minute?” She spun to see Mamoru standing behind her. She’d come to the arcade alone on Saturday morning in hopes of having a few minutes to herself where she could try to clear her dream from her mind.
“Sure, Mamoru-san,” she said, gesturing to the seat next to her. “What do you need?”
“I was wondering if you and the girls could come by later,” he said.
“Sure,” she replied, wondering what he was about. “Is something wrong?”
He shook his head. “Not at all. There’s just something I want to talk to you all about and it will be easier if I can show you what I mean,” he added mysteriously before standing and leaving the arcade. She picked up her communicator and called the other girls, asking them if they would meet her at the arcade. When they got there, she told them what Mamoru had said and they agreed to go to his apartment immediately. They descended on his building en masse, and he let them in with a smile.
“Hey girls,” he greeted, opening the door wider to allow them entrance. The followed him to the living room. He offered them drinks, but they all declined. “I’m sure you’re wondering what it is I want to talk to you about.” They nodded.
“Usa-ko told me what you guys were talking about the other night and I realized that I might be able to help,” he explained.
“How?” Minako demanded. Did he know where they were? Could he bring them back now?
“I’ll be right back,” he said, walking quickly towards a door in the back of the apartment and returning with a small box a short time later. He opened it slowly and looked at the contents fondly for a moment before walking towards Ami and handing her a roughly carved stone from it. He handed another to Makoto and one to Rei before stopping in front of her. Minako held her breath as he removed the final stone from the box and handed it to her.
“I don’t understand,” Makoto said, staring at the rock in her hand.
“Shitennou, come forth,” he said, and Minako stared as the stone in her hand glowed brilliantly for a moment before a figure emerged, shadowy and indistinct. As it clarified, she gasped in regonition and looked around the room, staring in wonder at the vague images of the four great kings of the Earth as they had been before their betrayal. She looked up at Mamoru in shock.
“You had them?” she whispered and he nodded.
“I know there are things the eight of you need to discuss; things that don’t need audiences,” he said softly, staring at each of his men in turn. “I’m granting you all leave,” he added with a smirk. “For the next week, you are in the possession of the Senshi and you are to serve them as you would me. Girls, I expect them back next weekend.” Minako nodded and stood, watching as the shadowy vision of Kunzite disappeared into the rock in her hand.
“Thank you, Mamoru-san,” she said, bowing low to the former Prince. When her week was up, perhaps she would ask Mamoru how he came to have them, but for now, she just wanted to go somewhere quiet and call him back, to see his face one more time and ask him why.
None of them would ever discuss what they had done during that week. They were grateful to Mamoru for the chance, but they would not talk about it. What was said was between them and the stones, and they knew that Mamoru would never ask. Minako remembered her own time fondly. Kunzite had managed to regain her trust during that time, and now, as he stood before her a full two years before she’d expected, she could think of nothing but him.
The Millennium that the prophecy had spoken of was not the turn of the century that they had prepared for, but rather the rebirth of the Silver Millennium in Crystal Tokyo. In the end, Rei had been right; Usagi was the one who had called them from their stones to help rebuild her Kingdom as recompense for their past crimes, and they were only too willing to help.
But before that could happen, before they could build a new world, the ten united as never before, there was something Sailor Venus knew she needed to do.
“Love and Beauty Shock!” she shouted, calling down the powers of her guardian planet and blasting Kunzite with the energy. As he lay twitching at her feet, she smiled down at him.
“Karma, love,” she smirked. “It’ll get you every time.”
“Play nice, Venus,” Neo-Queen Serenity said softly.
“And for the love of Selene, get him out of here,” King Endymion added. “All I can smell is burning hair and it’s making me sick.” She leaned down and helped the fallen man back to his feet.
“Oh, and Venus,” the King called as they walked out of the room. She turned, dragging the other man along with her. “Take care of him. I put him in your charge.” A lewd wink followed the statement, and she laughed.
Things were definitely far better than she could have expected. She had him back two years ahead of schedule and if his hands on her backside were any indication, he was as hungry for her as she was for him. It would be a long night, and the first of many, if she had her way.
And she nearly always did.
