Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon. And if there are typos in this story, I don't own those either. Damn…the hole in my pants is really bad. Sadly, I own that. Right on the crotch too…just my luck.
The Bitter and the Sweet
Chapter 1: There Is No Ordinary
As I expected; rain again. The moment I stepped off the plane it was overcast and rain. That's how I knew I was home. England. I walked into the main area of the airport to collect my luggage and I took in a deep breath of fresh air on the way. All around me, people of all ages were scattered while waiting for their own bags and items. I grabbed at my own two bags on the conveyor belt and began to exit the airport. Waiting for my father to arrive, I leant against a wall and fiddled with a few strands of my long blonde hair.
"Hey, are you that Aino Minako. I hear you're a real star."
I smiled, turned and was greeted by a single daisy. My father, Edward Aino, forty-five and still a perfect gentleman.
"In the flesh. I suppose you're my number one fan." I took the pretty flower from him.
"You bet."
He smiled and pulled me into a tight hug. I've never forgotten his scent; it was masculine, soothing and best of all: it was relaxing and reminded me it was safe here. After the divorce of my parents, my mother and I had left for Japan while my father had stayed in England. It broke my heart to tell him I would be leaving with mother, but Artemis had said the enemy had moved to Japan anyway. My duty as a leader was most important and it gave me a second home. Nevertheless, I missed him everyday.
"How about lunch?" He said.
"How about strawberry milkshakes?"
"Yuck, you haven't gotten over that strawberry phase yet?"
I grin and poke him in the side. "Strawberry is not a phase, it's a flavour. In fact, it's quite possibly the best and most misunderstood of all flavours. So before we get into this discussion, you have to ask yourself one question: Do you feel lucky?"
"Yes but more so in the mornings."
Our conversation continues along the lines of humour and catch-up talk as we begin to walk to his car. My father had become very successful a few years after the divorce. My mother had always believed he would never make it anywhere in life. That's why she pushed me to study even though I never did very well. When my family was together; we were never able to have polite conversation. I can't blame my mother for this because when she and I were alone, we would have our good times as well. When it was just me and my father; times were mostly humorous. My mother abhorred our inside jokes though.
It would be lunch, milkshakes and a short drive around England before we were back to his home, which should have felt like my home too had not so much of it changed. I would get used to it. It was late and all I could imagine was laying in my big, comfy bed. So it was up the stairs and down the hall, second door on the left. I changed into the pyjamas that Usagi had bought for me--they had little bunnies all over them; she didn't want me to forget her-- as quick as I could and just fell onto my bed.
I was almost asleep before I heard the knock at my door.
"Mina?"
My father came into my room, sat at the end of my bed and pulled the sheets up to my neck.
"I'm glad you're here with me, this summer."
"I'm really happy to be here, Papa."
"I know we lived lives in the past that may have been very different; possibly difficult to comprehend. I just want you to know that I loved you then and I love you now. Okay?"
"Mm. I love you too."
"Alright. Goodnight then." He kissed my forehead and quietly left.
I was out like a light.
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Day two was here quicker than lightning and the first thing I did after dinner was keep my promise to call home. I picked up the phone and dialled the numbers most familiar to me. The long-distance charge was something I would discuss later because right now, I was going to have way too much fun.
A few rings and I heard the click of a phone being picked up. There really wasn't any answer but a loud thump and pained groan instead. I giggled a little bit before my tired friend answered her phone.
"Hikawa Shrine…Moshi, moshi."
"Good morning, Sunshine. This is your 4:00AM wake up call."
There was a stunned silence on the other end of the line. But then a sigh.
"You sound like you miss me already." I said.
"We all do. "
"Ah, that's the way it should be." I joked. "So what have I missed?"
"Nothing much, really. The gang have been doing what they always have."
"Mm. Sounds very peaceful. And you?"
"Me? You know me."
"I do know you. I wish you would relax." I said.
"Oh…" I could imagine her frowning. "You know I can't do that, Mina-chan."
"I know."
The death of Rei's grandfather had been a huge loss to all of the senshi. After so many years of meetings at the shrine, you came to understand how important he was to Rei and suddenly he became important to all of us. I realize now that there was no way that he could not have known our secrets. Loyal to his Granddaughter and faithful to his beliefs; he was a very good man. Rei had taken it horribly. Of course, this was not a visual occurrence. Not many people live to see Hino Rei collapse on herself. She drowned herself in her duties to the shrine. Ignored all of us and we gave her the space we knew she wanted.
Well, one day I decided that I was sick of giving Rei her space…
That woman had it coming. As far as we all knew, she was dead. A month. A whole damn month and not a word from the Miko. I stalked up the steps to the ancient Hikawa Shrine; I knew exactly the direction to take. She would be at that fire again. Not eating. Not sleeping. Barely living.
I slid the door open and immediately hated being right.
"Hino Rei…There are no words to describe how angry I am right now."
The girl still sat kneeling in front of the sacred fire. The ends of her hair slightly singed by the blaze. I kneeled at her side and faced her. Watching her hands as she performed Kuji-In. This was always mesmerising but I had to put a stop to it.
"Rei-chan.." I whispered. "Stop now…"
I took her hands to catch her attention and she cast her fiery amethyst eyes towards me in what could have been a very frightening instant of rage. I pulled her towards me into a firm hug and gave her some time to disarm herself. In a few moments, she managed to feel every feeling under the sun but ended in tears against my shoulder.
This was the feeling of having so much strength but not having the right kind of power. She cursed everything, even me. But I let her and in the end she slept it all away. I was with her when she woke. Her apologies had spread quickly; her embarrassment at being seen so vulnerable was evident.
"Makoto said that she would be by to help you with the cleaning in the mornings."
Rei was already shaking her head and about to disagree but I shushed her.
"Ami has decided to work with you on issues of business. Usagi and I will work around the shrine as well."
I could tell she was already feeling inadequate about calling on her friends right now but there was simply too much to do for her to do it alone. She nodded, stood and retrieved the robes I had folded on her dresser.
"You're not worthless, Rei-chan. You're exhausted and it's making you sick."
"These are not reasons to abandon my duties."
"Ever-loyal, Mars. You're not understanding me then. Your duty is to protect the Princess. If you are not well enough to accompany my soldiers into battle at any time than you are abandoning your duties. I don't want to order you to rest."
It was the first time that I could tell someone truly hated me. There were reasons for putting it in those terms. Simply, it was because saying "Rei-chan, we're your friends and we want to help you" would not cut it. Of course she knew I was right but Rei's temper was always so short. She detested me for the whole month I took care of her. Rei had eventually recovered her health and she even got used to having the extra help at the shrine. Her anger towards me seemed to disintegrate and we apologized to each other with shopping and milkshakes.
"Well, how is England? You're going to send me a postcard right? Lots of nice-looking guys?"
"It's nice to be home but it feels a little odd to call it such. I miss the shrine."
"I never thought I would hear that from anyone of you." She said.
"Dreams do come true." I smiled at her tone of disbelief as I flipped through some of the postcards I picked up at the airport. "Anyway, Rei-chan. Tell the others I love them and that I'll be shipping some of these cards out really soon."
The conversation ended sooner than I had wanted it to and I was doomed to be bored again.
"Mina?" My father called from the kitchen. "Do you want to take a walk?"
I did mean to travel around the old neighbourhood sometime that week but as the boredom had begun to escalate I realized that there was no time better than the present.
The park we were going to was not far from my house. I used to play there with a few other children from my childhood. The play area with the swings and jungle gym had been updated to a newer look but everything else had stayed the same. The park wasn't too far from the elementary school I had used to attend so we began to walk towards it.
"So…you never told me about your friends in Japan." My father smiled down at me.
"They're a fantastic bunch. More like family really."
"I'm glad you could make some friends as good as them. What are their names?"
I described my best of friends to him, trying not to leave out too many details. I'm sure I was talking far too quickly. But he did pick out the names Kaioh Michiru and Tenoh Haruka and marvelled that I was friends with such world famous people. Which reminded me…
"Michiru-san is having a concert in London next week and I would really like to go. Would you like to come with me? I'm sure she wouldn't mind meeting you."
"Sure, darling. I'd love to go to her concert."
I was about to smile when the quiet night was shattered by screams not too far off in the distance. My father and I both looked back towards the jungle gym, which had just transformed itself into quite a large multi-coloured and misshapen beast. My mind reeled over all the possible enemies it could have been and I realized it was never that easy…
It was time to transform.
Author Notes:
If this isn't as good as anything else I've written (which isn't much) it's because I'm forcing myself to write. It's hard to do but I have to do it or else I'll have these ideas and images stuck in my head forever. That just hurts. All I can do is write to the best of my ability and hope that it's good enough to please. I do hope you enjoy this story though because I will truly enjoy getting it out of my mind. Right now though, I have to sleep. Thank you.