Thanks

For the 30 Day Drabble Challenge on Tumblr - I am incapable of only writing 100 words, as you can see.

"You know, you never did tell me how you got here."

"That's not relevant, is it? Does it matter?"

"I'd like to know how you left Earth and got to Kinmoku, so yes!"

Yaten was silenced once Minako reached over and pressed her index finger against her lips. She put her hands on her hips and glared at the blonde; she was two seconds from moving away from her finger to respond, but couldn't do anything but smile when she saw the look on Minako's face. She was smiling brightly, practically beaming with joy. She looked relaxed and at ease, just like she did the last time Yaten saw her on the school rooftop.

Sensing that Yaten wasn't going to snap some witty comeback at her, Minako pulled her hand back, folding her arms across her chest. "I'm glad you're accepting that it's going to be my little secret!" She paused, laughing as Yaten rolled her eyes. "I stole you from your princess and your allies for the day. You don't have to be on guard or follow orders or anything, really! What do you do for fun? What do you want to do?"

"I want to know how you got here..." Yaten trailed off with a smile, unable to keep from laughing faintly once Minako began to giggle. She kept silent for a moment as soon as their laughter died down, wondering how to word her thoughts correctly. "I want you to sit down for a minute."

"Sit down?" Minako questioned, an eyebrow arching up in confusion. She unfolded her arms and shook her head, reaching out to grab one of Yaten's hands from her hip and hold it in her own. "I traveled really far! Really, really far! And there were these guards that were kind of cute but they didn't like me and, well, they should be ashamed! But they barely let me in. And I probably didn't have to beg, but I begged your Princess if I could borrow you. And I'm finally here, with you, and I want to see everything, and I want to catch up... Are you dating anyone? Are you happy? How are the men here? Are Seiya and your Princess dating, or..." Minako paused, playfully swatting her head as if she were pushing those thoughts aside through her actions. "And you want me to just sit down?!"

Yaten squeezed Minako's hand tightly before pulling her along to follow as she began to advance deeper in the garden. At first, Minako was all glares and pouts because of the fact that Yaten had yet to verbally respond to her, but that all changed the further they walked. She didn't recognize any of the plant-life; trees of all sizes, flowers of all colors, and grass so green it simply did not look real. It looked like the fake grass in the home improvement section of a department store.

There was a statue in the middle of the stone walkway that Yaten was guiding her through, and the blonde had only a moment to regard it. It was a large, black marble statue of a woman that looked like Kakyuu, but older. Her dress was fuller than Kakyuu's, but the style was identical. Minako could only assume that was the Queen, but she had no time to verify with a plaque or anything.

"Sit down," Yaten said again once they finally came to a stop a few feet away from the statue, at a stone bench that was overlooking the area they had just gone through.

Nodding, Minako cleared her throat and took a seat, watching her friend intently as she sat down as well, and she noticed that the silver haired girl was avoiding making eye contact at first.

"Yaten?" Her voice was soft, and she was surprised at how quiet she had spoken; she was almost unsure if Yaten heard it.

"Thank you."

The words caught her off guard, completely off guard. Minako felt a faint blush form across her face as she stared at the other girl, jaw slightly slack in surprise. "Th-thank you?"

Yaten simply laughed. "Yes. You probably never realized it..."

"...I know I never realized it..."

"...but you were a distraction for us back then." Yaten saw Minako's surprised face turn into one filled with guilt, and she was quick to continue and stop her from whatever she was thinking. "A distraction we didn't know we needed. What happened before we met you, I wouldn't wish that on anyone. Carrying that burden with us across the galaxy and having it sit there on our shoulders, weighing us down more and more every day... Well, it was much harder than I think any of us anticipated. However, you and the other girls distracted us from it, you helped us forget even if only for a few moments. I don't think we would've been able to last without that."

Minako was floored. She had always had a noisy voice inside of her that poked and prodded her to dig up information on the Starlights before they arrived on Earth, but that wasn't as easy as finding out information on the Three Lights. It wasn't something she could go through magazines for, or call a news reporter, or look up web archives; this was something she would have to flat out ask.

She scooted a tad closer to Yaten on the bench, her face forming a deeper blush as her fingers nervously played with the hem of her skirt. It was a fascinating distraction from Yaten's piercing green eyes.

"That time you were trying out to be a celebrity, you remember that?" Yaten asked, and Minako felt herself relax a bit at the memory. "You shined up there. You were real, you were you... You were almost doing the same thing I was. Trying to live your life and distracting yourself from what was to come. You're not just Venus, you're a person. You're Minako. I never understood how hard it was to be two people in one body until then."

"You guys are never anything but your soldier forms here, aren't you?" Minako asked timidly, licking her lips as Yaten nodded. "Whether or not you were transformed, you were always referred to as Healer. So...becoming the Three Lights was almost like having a split personality?"

"I suppose. I've always loved music, art and photography, that didn't start on Earth. But having a life like that that was completely separate from my duty, that started on Earth. That was new, and I hated you for being able to hop back and forth without a second thought."

Minako reached out suddenly, tapping the tip of Yaten's nose with her index finger. Her signature Minako smile was spread across her lips despite the blush that still remained on her face. "All work and no play makes people annoyed boys!"

Yaten stayed silent before she broke off into a laugh, reaching up to grab Minako's hand again. "I'm going to safely say that I'm sure that is not how it goes..." She trailed off, happy to see that Minako was still smiling, and that she blonde had finally raised her gaze to make eye contact. "It was stupid to hate you, but that's how I felt. Despite me feeling that way, you still shined, you still smiled, and you still tried for me, for us. It's something that I will probably never understand, but will always thank you for."

"Don't. You don't need to say thank you. That's what friends are for, right?" She gave Yaten's hand a squeeze, and her smile widened when she felt the other girl return the squeeze almost immediately after.

"Right."

At the confirmation, there was nothing to stop Minako from launching forward, her arms wrapping around Yaten's neck in a close hug. She tightened her hold the minute she felt the other girl's arms wrap around her waist in return.

There was plenty of time to explore Kinmoku and its male inhabitants, but Yaten had opened the door to something in Minako's mind that she just simply needed to know. She didn't let go or loosen her grip, but took a deep breath before she spoke.

"You had said you wouldn't wish what had happened to you three on anyone..." Minako trailed off, feeling Yaten tense in her hold. "What happened to you three? What exactly made you come to Earth?"

There wasn't a response, but the blonde was grateful that Yaten had at least kept the hug intact and wasn't moving. Her fingers started drawing random shapes along the silver haired girl's back, lines and circles and any small movement to try and get rid of the tension she could feel in her body.

"I don't even know where I'd begin telling you," was the faint response that barely made it to Minako's ears.

Minako narrowed her eyes, determined, then put her hands on Yaten's shoulders before easing back just enough to make eye contact.

"Start at the beginning."

Minako's gaze was full of compassion and Yaten could feel it; she was sure she would've sensed it without even catching her stare. Nodding, a tiny smile finally made it back across Yaten's lips, and she held that gaze, not wanting to break it for a second.

"The beginning, then."

Yes. Kinmoku and its male inhabitants could most certainly wait.