Disclaimer: I don't own Sailor Moon
Shadow of the Past
Prologue: A short ending to a beginning
".Nothing regrettable was said it just happened, so why does it hurt so
badly? Why?"
A cold bitter rain plopped silently against the window pain. It was dark and dreary outside as the gray clouds covered the once bright blue sky. The ground was soaked outside and the grass wet. The air was bitter and had harsh chill to it. But she couldn't feel that inside her warm home.
Mina sighed as she leaned her head against her arms that were folded nicely on her desk and gazed out the window the piece of furniture sat in front of. A smile spread across her face as she remembered, but then it faded. The memory was still too close for her to be able to fondly remember her friends. A frown replaced her usual cheery smile and it deepened as a new memory, unwanted and regretted, came to mind.
Artemis jumped up on the desk beside her and gazed out at the wet weather, a little too wet for him, and smiled.
"The rain drops on the window form a shape, Mina!" he said in attempt to cheer his owner up. As his gaze settled on her blank stare and saddened eyes he frowned heaving a great sigh.
Mina stared thoughtfully out the window her frown deepening even more. She felt warm, burning tears puddle up in her big blue eyes and she blinked them back. Why should she cry? None of the others did! They didn't even appear to care! She shouldn't either.
Mina felt stronger tears fill her eyes and one slipped down her cheek. A sob escaped her lips and she buried her blonde head in her folded arms.
Artemis placed his paw on her arm and sighed. "There, there. Let it all out," he said comfortingly.
Mina's shoulder shook as she sobbed, soaking the sleeves of her thick sweater. She sobbed freely now as her guardian cat, the only loyal friend she now had she thought, sat faithfully beside her purring. It was a comforting sound to her, and he knew this.
"It hurts, Artemis! It hurts so much!" she said through her tears and sobs. "Why does it hurt so? I never knew it could hurt so much! Nothing regrettable was said it just happened, so why does it hurt so badly? Why?"
Artemis frowned as he fumbled with his own thoughts. He honestly had no clue why it hurt, it just did. He sighed, and curled up into a ball against Mina's arm, increasing the sound of his purring. He gazed out the window submerging himself in thought.
It had been three long, miserable months for him and Mina; three long months since the brake up of the scouts. Since their last battle with Queen Neherenia everything had been peaceful. No more battles, no more monsters, no more bad guys, and no more sailor scouts. With no more need for the scouts, they began to drift apart for some reason. None of them knew why and they couldn't explain it. The people outside of them, who watched such as Darien, Andrew, Molly, Melvin, and the cats, could do just that; watch as they lost their relationship.
At first, since none of them desired to drift apart like they found themselves, they continued with their study meetings as they could. But they found less and less to talk about and it came to a point where mostly what they said was "hi" when they arrived, "bless you" if someone sneezed, "excuse me" if they yawned, burped or did something else of crude behavior, and "good-bye" when they left. Raye stopped picking on Serena, Amy stopped being the "homework drill sergeant", as Mina had nicknamed her, but would always help with a problem out of the kindness of her heart, and Lita stopped being Lita all in all. But they were still together. And then summer came and it all went to pieces.
Artemis sighed. The only way to find out how Serena was doing was to talk to Luna whom he saw very little now. Ever since the girls had stopped seeing each other the two moon cats found it hard to get together and talk, as they so wanted to do. Sometimes they wondered if they were drifting apart, but realized their yearning to see one another kept that from happening and kept them close.
Mina sniffed as her eyes burned with tears. They were now red and puffy from the crying she'd been doing. That's how they looked as of lately. And seemed that's how they stayed.
Mina sat up and wiped her tears away with the corner of her sleeve. She sniffed as she looked down at her hands, which she had just folded neatly in her lap. She picked at a nub on her gray skirt and found a flaw in her red sweater. She frowned down upon her black tights and her fuzzy pink slippers that clashed horribly with her outfit. But she didn't care. She wouldn't be seeing anybody anytime soon. And she wouldn't have any surprise visits from her friends. They'd all gone away.
Mina frowned and fresh tears filled her eyes. She still remembered that horrible day the girls had gotten together to study for their test. It was Raye who brought up the matter.
'Raye looked darkly around the room at all the faces of her friends. She pushed a lock of her dark hair over her shoulder and cleared her throat.
"I never thought I'd say this," she said, her voice cracking and her eyes tearing. "But we're growing apart."
Everyone lowered their heads and gazed at their closed books before them. Artemis looked over at Luna with worry in his eye. The two had notices the uncomfortable silence that had grown between the girls and the large amount of space they each put between the other when placed beside one another.
Raye quickly wiped a tear from her eye. "We can't go on like this. It's uncomfortable and just plain."
"Wishful," Lita finished. Raye nodded her head. "That's all the past month has been. Wishful thinking and hoping things would change. I don't know if any of you see it, but we're not close at all."
Serena's eyes filled with tears and she burst into uncontrollable sobs. She covered her face with her hands and leaned on the table.
Mina felt an unfamiliar feeling foreignism as she sat there amongst her friends. Her heart reached out to Serena as she listened to the fellow blonde's sobs and felt tears in her own eyes. As she looked around the room she could see the others tearing as well.
Amy sniffed, tears rolling down her cheeks. "We can't go on like this. It's making it worse," she sobbed. "I hate to see us this way. I wish it could go back to the way it was, but that seems all but impossible."
Lita's shoulder shook and her bottom jaw quivered. "What a way to go, huh?" she asked, her voice cracking. "I mean, we've known each other for so long and been through so much together. It seems stupid to let peace brake us apart."
"It is stupid!" Mina cried, tears flowing down her cheeks. "Why did it have to end up like this?"
Raye looked up her face stained with tears. "It just did. Destiny you could call it," she muttered. She had a distant stare and a glazed look to her eyes. She cried silently and her body showed no sign that she was. But tears rolled constantly down her face, curved to her chin and then dropped off into her lap.
"I can't stand it anymore!" Serena wailed. "We don't talk anymore. Doesn't that bother you?" She looked across to Lita. "Doesn't it bother any of you?"
Lita sobbed. "It bothers us all, but what can we do?" she said, her voice shaky.
Amy sucked in a breath. She was brave for what she was about to suggest. But she looked as if she felt stupid. "We stop coming here," she said. Everyone turned to her in shock, but at the same time interest. "We stop seeing each other and sort out our thoughts. If we're alone we can think clearer and try to figure out what happened. And maybe in the future, once we've had time to think it through and draw a conclusion, we can get together and talk about it. Maybe."
Everyone dropped their heads in silence. They stared down at the table, their hands, or skirts. They all felt horribly about all of it, each blaming themselves for the brake up. The wore frowns on their faces and one never would have thought that they once were good friends who talked, laughed, and studied together.
The room was silent for the longest time each pondering Amy's words, and then, Raye broke it.
"I don't know what else to do. I guess, ok," she said. "Amy's right. We can think things through better if we're not feeling this awkwardness."
Lita nodded. "I agree," she said, sniffing. "So today will be our last day that we come together?"
Serena nodded. She couldn't say anything. She was hurting to badly.
Mina sniffed and her frown deepened. "I." her voice caught in her throat and she swallowed hard to find it again. "I- I don't. it sounds like the best thing for now," she said her voice dark.
"So it's settled," Amy said, a tear rolling down her pale cheek. She stood her things gathered in her arms. "We leave, and none of us come back. We don't see each other anymore, and we try to figure out what happened on our own."
Lita stood and picked up her things. "I agree," she said.
Soon, Serena and Mina stood as well after they had slowly gotten their things. Raye remained quietly at the table seated. She raised her head to look at them all and to speak one last final word.
"Bye," she said sniffing. At the word more tears burned her eyes.
Amy nodded. "Good-bye."
"Bye, guys. Take care," Serena said. She bent down and threw her arms around Raye's neck. The black haired girl hugged her back. Reluctantly, Serena stood. She went to Lita and hugged her. The two embraced each other in a fairwell hug and Serena moved on. She did the same to the other two, and they hugged her good-bye for the last time.
Serena ran from the room sobbing Luna close behind. Lita was the next one to go with tears flowing down her soft cheeks. Amy followed, her head bent in sobs and coughs from all the crying.
Mina walked to the door. There was a very dark shadow cast over the room. She looked down at Artemis her eyes stained with tears and sniffed. She looked back and Raye.
"Good-bye, Raye!" she sobbed. Rushing over she threw herself to the floor and wrapped her arms around her friend's neck. "I love you so much! I don't know what happened to us!"
Raye put her comforting arms around the blonde and sobbed into her hair as she buried her face on her head. "I don't either," she said. She pushed Mina away and placed her hands on her shoulders. "Go, before you can't."
Mina stood and gathered her stuff. She walked gloomily back to the door and opened it. She turned her head back slightly but a sad voice called up to her from the floor.
"Don't look back, Mina," Artemis said. "It's the worst you could do."
Mina turned back and sniffed. She walked out, and shut the door behind her, never to open it again.'
(Author's Note: the paragraphs in '___' are what happened the day they split up.)
Mina gazed out her window and once again fixed her eyes on the rain outside. She sighed as her heart ached and longed to see her friends again. She wondered so often how they were doing and how they did in school. She found herself wondering how Amy and Serena were doing since they went to the same school. She wondered if they avoided each other or if they'd become friends again and cried about the others together. She wondered about a lot of things.
Artemis sat up on the desk and looked Mina square in the eyes. "Mina," he said softly. "You can't do this. You need to get outside. If you stay in here all day everyday, it'll only get worse, not better. You need to go out and seek new friends, or talk with some of the ones you have."
"I don't have any other friends, Artemis," Mina replied coldly. "That's the problem. They were my friends."
Artemis sighed. He looked back out the window. He wished he could make it all right again. If he had had that power he would have done so a long time ago.
"Have you figured out why you grew apart yet?" he asked.
Mina shook her head. "No, but I'm thinking about it," she said. Her voice was shaky and she was on the verge of tears again.
Artemis smiled. "Hey, when the rain stops, why don't you and I go out to the ice cream shop and get some ice cream! We can share a bowl like we used too."
Mina smiled. "That sounds nice," she said. She reached up and scratched her cat behind the ear. "I'd like that."
Artemis smiled. "Let's do it, ok?" he said, standing up. "We can forget all about our worries and cares for just this once. We can think about happier times, and I'll let you stop worrying about your sailor scout skills. Come on, what do you say."
Mina smiled. She loved her guardian cat so much and she felt like she could confide in him for anything. She had the perfect friend right before her and knew it with all her heart. But it still hurt her greatly to have lost all her other friends, the people she had held so dear to her heart and still did.
"Ok," Mina said. She stood from her seat and walked to her dresser. "I'll get ready and we'll go."
"When the rain stops?" Artemis asked, glanced out the window wearily.
Mina smiled and chuckled. "When the rain stops."
Artemis smiled. Just the sound of her laugh was wonderful. She hadn't done so in such a long time. Even though it had been short, it was still a melody to his ears.
Mina picked up her brush and brushed through her long blonde hair. She then pulled it back into its usual style and tied her red bow extra carefully. She went into the bathroom and wiped her face with a cool rag. She applied some powder to hide her pale cheeks and the dark circles that had formed under her eyes from endless nights of crying. She opened the medicine cabinet, pulled out a skin colored lipstick and applied it lightly to her lips.
After gazing at her reflection in the mirror for a while she sighed, deciding that was all she'd do. Retiring back to the comforts of her bedroom, she glanced down at her outfit. It was to old and tattered to wear out.
Mina walked to her closet and fetched a dark green, almost black, knee- length skirt, a burgundy sweater, and her black ankle high boots. As she pulled her change of cloths on she noticed her tights were all fuzzy and nubbed. She sighed and pulled a new pair of black tights from her chest of drawers. Slipping them on under her skirt she quickly put a white turtleneck on and pulled the sweater on over top of it. She slipped the boots on and looked herself over in her full-length mirror.
Satisfied with her appearance she turned around to see Artemis staring at her in amazement. She stifled a smile and spoke.
"I just felt like looking pretty today," she said, twirling around once. "What do you think?"
Artemis smiled. He glanced back over his shoulder out the window and turned back to his 'princess.' "It looks like the rain has stopped."
Mina smiled as she picked up her purse from the bed. "It did, didn't?" Slowly she crossed the room and scooped her cat up in her arms. Placing him on her shoulder she left the room and turned out the lights.
End Prologue. Watch for: Chapter 1: Mina's got the blues (will be longer than the prologue)
Shadow of the Past
Prologue: A short ending to a beginning
".Nothing regrettable was said it just happened, so why does it hurt so
badly? Why?"
A cold bitter rain plopped silently against the window pain. It was dark and dreary outside as the gray clouds covered the once bright blue sky. The ground was soaked outside and the grass wet. The air was bitter and had harsh chill to it. But she couldn't feel that inside her warm home.
Mina sighed as she leaned her head against her arms that were folded nicely on her desk and gazed out the window the piece of furniture sat in front of. A smile spread across her face as she remembered, but then it faded. The memory was still too close for her to be able to fondly remember her friends. A frown replaced her usual cheery smile and it deepened as a new memory, unwanted and regretted, came to mind.
Artemis jumped up on the desk beside her and gazed out at the wet weather, a little too wet for him, and smiled.
"The rain drops on the window form a shape, Mina!" he said in attempt to cheer his owner up. As his gaze settled on her blank stare and saddened eyes he frowned heaving a great sigh.
Mina stared thoughtfully out the window her frown deepening even more. She felt warm, burning tears puddle up in her big blue eyes and she blinked them back. Why should she cry? None of the others did! They didn't even appear to care! She shouldn't either.
Mina felt stronger tears fill her eyes and one slipped down her cheek. A sob escaped her lips and she buried her blonde head in her folded arms.
Artemis placed his paw on her arm and sighed. "There, there. Let it all out," he said comfortingly.
Mina's shoulder shook as she sobbed, soaking the sleeves of her thick sweater. She sobbed freely now as her guardian cat, the only loyal friend she now had she thought, sat faithfully beside her purring. It was a comforting sound to her, and he knew this.
"It hurts, Artemis! It hurts so much!" she said through her tears and sobs. "Why does it hurt so? I never knew it could hurt so much! Nothing regrettable was said it just happened, so why does it hurt so badly? Why?"
Artemis frowned as he fumbled with his own thoughts. He honestly had no clue why it hurt, it just did. He sighed, and curled up into a ball against Mina's arm, increasing the sound of his purring. He gazed out the window submerging himself in thought.
It had been three long, miserable months for him and Mina; three long months since the brake up of the scouts. Since their last battle with Queen Neherenia everything had been peaceful. No more battles, no more monsters, no more bad guys, and no more sailor scouts. With no more need for the scouts, they began to drift apart for some reason. None of them knew why and they couldn't explain it. The people outside of them, who watched such as Darien, Andrew, Molly, Melvin, and the cats, could do just that; watch as they lost their relationship.
At first, since none of them desired to drift apart like they found themselves, they continued with their study meetings as they could. But they found less and less to talk about and it came to a point where mostly what they said was "hi" when they arrived, "bless you" if someone sneezed, "excuse me" if they yawned, burped or did something else of crude behavior, and "good-bye" when they left. Raye stopped picking on Serena, Amy stopped being the "homework drill sergeant", as Mina had nicknamed her, but would always help with a problem out of the kindness of her heart, and Lita stopped being Lita all in all. But they were still together. And then summer came and it all went to pieces.
Artemis sighed. The only way to find out how Serena was doing was to talk to Luna whom he saw very little now. Ever since the girls had stopped seeing each other the two moon cats found it hard to get together and talk, as they so wanted to do. Sometimes they wondered if they were drifting apart, but realized their yearning to see one another kept that from happening and kept them close.
Mina sniffed as her eyes burned with tears. They were now red and puffy from the crying she'd been doing. That's how they looked as of lately. And seemed that's how they stayed.
Mina sat up and wiped her tears away with the corner of her sleeve. She sniffed as she looked down at her hands, which she had just folded neatly in her lap. She picked at a nub on her gray skirt and found a flaw in her red sweater. She frowned down upon her black tights and her fuzzy pink slippers that clashed horribly with her outfit. But she didn't care. She wouldn't be seeing anybody anytime soon. And she wouldn't have any surprise visits from her friends. They'd all gone away.
Mina frowned and fresh tears filled her eyes. She still remembered that horrible day the girls had gotten together to study for their test. It was Raye who brought up the matter.
'Raye looked darkly around the room at all the faces of her friends. She pushed a lock of her dark hair over her shoulder and cleared her throat.
"I never thought I'd say this," she said, her voice cracking and her eyes tearing. "But we're growing apart."
Everyone lowered their heads and gazed at their closed books before them. Artemis looked over at Luna with worry in his eye. The two had notices the uncomfortable silence that had grown between the girls and the large amount of space they each put between the other when placed beside one another.
Raye quickly wiped a tear from her eye. "We can't go on like this. It's uncomfortable and just plain."
"Wishful," Lita finished. Raye nodded her head. "That's all the past month has been. Wishful thinking and hoping things would change. I don't know if any of you see it, but we're not close at all."
Serena's eyes filled with tears and she burst into uncontrollable sobs. She covered her face with her hands and leaned on the table.
Mina felt an unfamiliar feeling foreignism as she sat there amongst her friends. Her heart reached out to Serena as she listened to the fellow blonde's sobs and felt tears in her own eyes. As she looked around the room she could see the others tearing as well.
Amy sniffed, tears rolling down her cheeks. "We can't go on like this. It's making it worse," she sobbed. "I hate to see us this way. I wish it could go back to the way it was, but that seems all but impossible."
Lita's shoulder shook and her bottom jaw quivered. "What a way to go, huh?" she asked, her voice cracking. "I mean, we've known each other for so long and been through so much together. It seems stupid to let peace brake us apart."
"It is stupid!" Mina cried, tears flowing down her cheeks. "Why did it have to end up like this?"
Raye looked up her face stained with tears. "It just did. Destiny you could call it," she muttered. She had a distant stare and a glazed look to her eyes. She cried silently and her body showed no sign that she was. But tears rolled constantly down her face, curved to her chin and then dropped off into her lap.
"I can't stand it anymore!" Serena wailed. "We don't talk anymore. Doesn't that bother you?" She looked across to Lita. "Doesn't it bother any of you?"
Lita sobbed. "It bothers us all, but what can we do?" she said, her voice shaky.
Amy sucked in a breath. She was brave for what she was about to suggest. But she looked as if she felt stupid. "We stop coming here," she said. Everyone turned to her in shock, but at the same time interest. "We stop seeing each other and sort out our thoughts. If we're alone we can think clearer and try to figure out what happened. And maybe in the future, once we've had time to think it through and draw a conclusion, we can get together and talk about it. Maybe."
Everyone dropped their heads in silence. They stared down at the table, their hands, or skirts. They all felt horribly about all of it, each blaming themselves for the brake up. The wore frowns on their faces and one never would have thought that they once were good friends who talked, laughed, and studied together.
The room was silent for the longest time each pondering Amy's words, and then, Raye broke it.
"I don't know what else to do. I guess, ok," she said. "Amy's right. We can think things through better if we're not feeling this awkwardness."
Lita nodded. "I agree," she said, sniffing. "So today will be our last day that we come together?"
Serena nodded. She couldn't say anything. She was hurting to badly.
Mina sniffed and her frown deepened. "I." her voice caught in her throat and she swallowed hard to find it again. "I- I don't. it sounds like the best thing for now," she said her voice dark.
"So it's settled," Amy said, a tear rolling down her pale cheek. She stood her things gathered in her arms. "We leave, and none of us come back. We don't see each other anymore, and we try to figure out what happened on our own."
Lita stood and picked up her things. "I agree," she said.
Soon, Serena and Mina stood as well after they had slowly gotten their things. Raye remained quietly at the table seated. She raised her head to look at them all and to speak one last final word.
"Bye," she said sniffing. At the word more tears burned her eyes.
Amy nodded. "Good-bye."
"Bye, guys. Take care," Serena said. She bent down and threw her arms around Raye's neck. The black haired girl hugged her back. Reluctantly, Serena stood. She went to Lita and hugged her. The two embraced each other in a fairwell hug and Serena moved on. She did the same to the other two, and they hugged her good-bye for the last time.
Serena ran from the room sobbing Luna close behind. Lita was the next one to go with tears flowing down her soft cheeks. Amy followed, her head bent in sobs and coughs from all the crying.
Mina walked to the door. There was a very dark shadow cast over the room. She looked down at Artemis her eyes stained with tears and sniffed. She looked back and Raye.
"Good-bye, Raye!" she sobbed. Rushing over she threw herself to the floor and wrapped her arms around her friend's neck. "I love you so much! I don't know what happened to us!"
Raye put her comforting arms around the blonde and sobbed into her hair as she buried her face on her head. "I don't either," she said. She pushed Mina away and placed her hands on her shoulders. "Go, before you can't."
Mina stood and gathered her stuff. She walked gloomily back to the door and opened it. She turned her head back slightly but a sad voice called up to her from the floor.
"Don't look back, Mina," Artemis said. "It's the worst you could do."
Mina turned back and sniffed. She walked out, and shut the door behind her, never to open it again.'
(Author's Note: the paragraphs in '___' are what happened the day they split up.)
Mina gazed out her window and once again fixed her eyes on the rain outside. She sighed as her heart ached and longed to see her friends again. She wondered so often how they were doing and how they did in school. She found herself wondering how Amy and Serena were doing since they went to the same school. She wondered if they avoided each other or if they'd become friends again and cried about the others together. She wondered about a lot of things.
Artemis sat up on the desk and looked Mina square in the eyes. "Mina," he said softly. "You can't do this. You need to get outside. If you stay in here all day everyday, it'll only get worse, not better. You need to go out and seek new friends, or talk with some of the ones you have."
"I don't have any other friends, Artemis," Mina replied coldly. "That's the problem. They were my friends."
Artemis sighed. He looked back out the window. He wished he could make it all right again. If he had had that power he would have done so a long time ago.
"Have you figured out why you grew apart yet?" he asked.
Mina shook her head. "No, but I'm thinking about it," she said. Her voice was shaky and she was on the verge of tears again.
Artemis smiled. "Hey, when the rain stops, why don't you and I go out to the ice cream shop and get some ice cream! We can share a bowl like we used too."
Mina smiled. "That sounds nice," she said. She reached up and scratched her cat behind the ear. "I'd like that."
Artemis smiled. "Let's do it, ok?" he said, standing up. "We can forget all about our worries and cares for just this once. We can think about happier times, and I'll let you stop worrying about your sailor scout skills. Come on, what do you say."
Mina smiled. She loved her guardian cat so much and she felt like she could confide in him for anything. She had the perfect friend right before her and knew it with all her heart. But it still hurt her greatly to have lost all her other friends, the people she had held so dear to her heart and still did.
"Ok," Mina said. She stood from her seat and walked to her dresser. "I'll get ready and we'll go."
"When the rain stops?" Artemis asked, glanced out the window wearily.
Mina smiled and chuckled. "When the rain stops."
Artemis smiled. Just the sound of her laugh was wonderful. She hadn't done so in such a long time. Even though it had been short, it was still a melody to his ears.
Mina picked up her brush and brushed through her long blonde hair. She then pulled it back into its usual style and tied her red bow extra carefully. She went into the bathroom and wiped her face with a cool rag. She applied some powder to hide her pale cheeks and the dark circles that had formed under her eyes from endless nights of crying. She opened the medicine cabinet, pulled out a skin colored lipstick and applied it lightly to her lips.
After gazing at her reflection in the mirror for a while she sighed, deciding that was all she'd do. Retiring back to the comforts of her bedroom, she glanced down at her outfit. It was to old and tattered to wear out.
Mina walked to her closet and fetched a dark green, almost black, knee- length skirt, a burgundy sweater, and her black ankle high boots. As she pulled her change of cloths on she noticed her tights were all fuzzy and nubbed. She sighed and pulled a new pair of black tights from her chest of drawers. Slipping them on under her skirt she quickly put a white turtleneck on and pulled the sweater on over top of it. She slipped the boots on and looked herself over in her full-length mirror.
Satisfied with her appearance she turned around to see Artemis staring at her in amazement. She stifled a smile and spoke.
"I just felt like looking pretty today," she said, twirling around once. "What do you think?"
Artemis smiled. He glanced back over his shoulder out the window and turned back to his 'princess.' "It looks like the rain has stopped."
Mina smiled as she picked up her purse from the bed. "It did, didn't?" Slowly she crossed the room and scooped her cat up in her arms. Placing him on her shoulder she left the room and turned out the lights.
End Prologue. Watch for: Chapter 1: Mina's got the blues (will be longer than the prologue)