A.N.: Yes, another story. I can't help it. I get the ideas, and if I don't get them down right away, I lose them. Don't flame me over it! (Actually, Sassy-Chan already lectured me on finishing my other stories before I post new ones, so it's covered.) This story isn't going to be very long, though—at least, I don't think it will be—so I'll get back to the others soon. Promise.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go run away from Sassy. I think she's honestly going to kill me over this!
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"A Different Venus"
She stormed through the halls of the Crystal Palace, blonde hair flying out behind her, perfect features twisted in a scowl fierce enough to send the servants scattering out of her path. The servants were wise, in their own way, and they knew that only something truly catastrophic could have put the ever-smiling Queen of Venus in such a foul mood. Whatever it was, whatever it would mean for their own lives, it was infinitely safer to simply stay out of the angry blonde's way until she either calmed down or the world ended yet again.
And the woman who had once been known as Aino Minako—occasionally as Mina Loveless—the woman who was now the ruler of an entire world and the current commander of a solar system's armies, couldn't have cared less that she was terrifying the servants. This was bigger than a few frightened maids, and if she tried to contain any more of her anger than she already was, she'd probably implode.
As swiftly as she was moving, it wasn't long before Venus stood before the suite of rooms set aside for her living quarters. Two heavily armed guards stood at either side of the doors, though since they'd also seen her expression as she approached, they were careful not to make any sudden movements or even to look her in the eye. She glared at them for a second anyway, then waved them aside and entered her quarters without a backward glance.
She waited until the doors shut behind her before she let the fury slip from her expression. The anger had been useful, until now, to hide her other emotions, but while the fury had been genuine enough, it wasn't the strongest thing she'd been feeling. Nor was it the most dangerous of her emotions.
She sighed, crossed the room to her insanely large bed, threw herself onto the mattress. She lay on her stomach, face pressed into the blankets as another long sigh escaped her. Things were getting too peaceful, I suppose. The gods probably decided I needed something to keep me from becoming complacent, and this is certainly that.
A few precious moments passed, but no matter how many duties Mina was shirking, she didn't exactly feel bad about hiding. She remained where she was, her body almost unnaturally motionless, her fingers clenching the covers. She somehow managed to wince even with her eyes closed, and the moan that she didn't even try to suppress held equal measures of frustration and despair. As many centuries as it's been since I saw him last, she found herself tiredly musing, you'd think this would be easier. She felt as though her heart had been ripped out of her chest, and she knew it would only get worse when he actually stood before her.
She stiffened at the thought. They'll expect me to smile when I see him, she realized, even welcome him with open arms. I trust Serena's judgment, but I can't do that. I never could control myself around him, and it'll only be worse now that the urge is to kill rather than to love.
She suddenly rolled over, folded her arms over her stomach and looked up at the ceiling with troubled blue eyes. I can't do this, she thought again, and this time it was a decision. I need a plan.
More minutes passed, and she continued to stare, almost without blinking, at the ceiling. Her perfect features twisted and eased, twisted again as she considered her dilemma and the choices before her. Then, after what could have been only seconds but felt like hours, the blonde queen settled on a course of action that would set Time itself on its ear.
"Pluto! I need you!"
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To say that Sailor Pluto hadn't been happy with Mina's plan would be to make an understatement of almost biblical proportions. The senshi of Time had paled as she learned of Mina's intentions, then retreated into a customary and slightly stony silence by way of answer.
"Well?" Mina finally asked anyway, allowing a little of her impatience to seep into her voice. "Are you going to help me or not?"
Setsuna frowned, but Mina's impatience had succeeded in drawing her out. "You don't know what you're asking."
Pluto's voice had been hard, deadly...threatening, but Mina neither flinched nor backed down. "No," she instantly disagreed, for once not trying to disguise the sharpness of her eyes, "I know exactly what I'm asking—of you, and of myself. I know the risks, Pluto, but I'm asking anyway."
She kept her eyes locked on Pluto's, tried to let the other senshi see the need in her gaze. It was hard, after so many years of keeping her emotions safely locked away, to let another know of her pain, but it had to be done. She forced herself to acknowledge that Pluto was one of the few she could trust with so much, if she could trust anyone at all, though that didn't make it any easier. "Please, Sets," she added softly, earnestly. "I have to do this."
Pluto was silent for a small eternity, her berry-red eyes darkening with hesitation, her sculpted brows drawing together as the blonde's words sunk in. She was perfectly aware that the use of her nickname had been deliberate, that Mina was trying to use friendship where every other approach would fail, but they'd been through too much together for Pluto to be angry over that. Setsuna didn't—couldn't—take offense over Mina's attempts at manipulation, not when centuries of fighting had taught them all to use everything they had. In any case, it was rare enough for Mina to ask for a favor at all. She wasn't the type to rely on anyone else, even the other senshi, and Setsuna couldn't ignore the implied desperation any more than she could ignore their bond.
Still, this wasn't a small thing Mina was asking, and neither friendship nor this unexpected display of trust could really be factors in the end. "No," Setsuna finally answered. "I'm sorry, Mina, but the answer is no."
Mina allowed one of her own perfect eyebrows to arch towards her hairline. "That's it? Just 'no'? Don't I at least get a reason?"
Pluto scowled, noticing that Mina didn't seem angry or surprised by the answer. What game is Mina playing this time? "You already know the reason," the taller senshi immediately retorted, voice still hard. "The time line—"
"Isn't in any danger from me, not over this," Mina quickly interrupted. "I know better than to try and change anything, Pluto. How often have I done something like this, after all? Time travel is nothing new to me. You, of all people, shouldn't have to be reminded of that."
Setsuna's scowl deepened. "You've never done anything like this, Mina, and we both know it. Every time you've gone through the Gate, it was to a future already on the brink of apocalypse. We had nothing left to lose. And even if we had, it's much harder to change the past by visiting the future than it is to change the future through the past. One wrong move, Mina, and you could destroy everything we've built here." She shook her head. "I know you want some kind of closure, but you need to think of the consequences. We could lose everything."
Mina's eyes had narrowed sometime during Pluto's answer, but both her gaze and her resolve had yet to falter. "You're the senshi of Time," she bit back, undaunted. "You're the one who's supposed to know all, see all. Can't you keep me from mucking things up?"
Setsuna sighed. "It's not that easy, Mina. I don't see everything, and I can only control so much. Even if I were to watch you all of the time, take every step with you and guide your every word, it still wouldn't be enough. Futures change too easily and too often, and it's likely that I'd miss the one thing that makes a difference."
Mina's lips curled into the pale echo of a joyless smile. "Then watch what you can," she murmured, "and trust me to watch myself." She sighed, shook her head. "You can trust me, Setsuna," she told her friend. "I've lived through this once already—I know what has to happen, and I won't do anything to change it. I won't fight for them, won't tell them anything they don't already know. You have my word on that."
Silence met Mina's promise, and it was obvious that Setsuna either hadn't believed or wasn't willing to accept it. Mina bit her lip, decided to trust a little more. "It's not just about closure, Sets," she finally said, voice still soft. "I've had centuries to deal with what happened. Going back and watching it happen all over again, knowing I can't stop it…that won't change anything for me."
Mina paused suddenly, the rest of the explanation catching in her throat, the internal struggle clear on her features. Even after everything she'd already given, this was still more difficult than it should have been.
Setsuna waited in silence. It was in her nature to withhold judgment until she knew everything, though her eyes were heavy with a compassion she knew Mina wouldn't want. Venus didn't handle pity any better than she handled the offering of trust, but the compassion was there, all the same.
Though the blonde would never have enough trust in anyone to completely share her thoughts, the struggle with herself and her own instincts ended quickly. Mina looked up at her oldest friend, a shadow passing over her features, a frown curving her perfect lips. Then, in words that were curiously stilted, Mina finally gave the explanation for which Setsuna had been so patiently waiting.
The silence became deafening.
Then…
"Very well," Pluto eventually responded, "but there'll be conditions, Mina." She didn't wait for any sort of agreement from Mina, because this part wasn't negotiable. "I'll let you watch them, even speak with them, but they can't know who you are. And no matter what happens, Venus," she continued, voice becoming even more stern, "absolutely no fighting."
Mina's lips were pressed into a thin line, but she only nodded. She'd expected these 'conditions' of Setsuna's, after all, and she'd never had any intention of interfering in her younger self's battles anyway. As hard as they'd been, as much as they'd lost, she'd become stronger with every fight, every loss, and she'd needed that strength too often to risk it over a betrayal so far in the past. No matter how much it might hurt, Venus would do nothing more than watch.
There was more—of course there was more. Pluto would never be a willing participant in this, but even so, it wasn't in her nature to leave anything to chance. She and Mina talked late into the night, planning, deciding, hammering details into Mina's rather vague plans. Venus agreed to every one of Setsuna's stipulations, though she continued to keep her thoughts to herself.
She always kept her thoughts to herself.
Even Setsuna had to be satisfied eventually, and the two not-quite-human women turned to part ways. They both had much to do before Mina's departure, and a great deal of it had to be done in secret. Still, before the older woman could take her leave from Mina's bedroom, the blonde glanced up, lips curling in something that could somehow pass for either a smile or a frown. "If you're the senshi of Time," Mina suddenly asked, "why didn't you already know what I planned to do? I'd have thought you'd have seen this coming."
Setsuna sighed, and if it was long-suffering, Venus chose not to notice. "I never see you coming, Mina," she all but groaned. "Nobody ever does."
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Mina left just before dawn. Setsuna came for her while even the servants slept, bearing both a frozen expression and Serena's old Luna Pen. Mina accepted the device with a slight smile, allowed its power to wash over her. Setsuna watched with hesitant approval as Mina became someone else, as features changed and a new person took the Queen's place. Blonde hair became reddish brown, the blue gaze turned to green, and perfect features lost both the perfection and the immortal agelessness that so characterized all of the senshi of this era. Her body thinned and grew, lost some of the curves for which she had always been famous, though of course she was still more beautiful than any other woman could ever be. Only the eyes remained close to what they had been, a sort of haunted wisdom glinting beneath the grim humor, and not even the change in shape and size and color could disguise that.
It was, Setsuna decided, a good thing that Mina wasn't allowed to reveal her identity to her past self. There was too much sorrow in Mina's eyes, and while Venus had accepted the burdens she carried, her more sheltered past self would naturally want to know the cause of such pain. She couldn't, of course, because it was one thing to accept pain when it couldn't be avoided, and another to know of it and still let it happen. It would be more than inhuman to ask that of Selenity's Mina, and not even Pluto could be so heartless. Mina's disguise would be as much a protection of the ancient senshi's innocence as it was a preservation of the timeline, though she didn't think Mina had realized that yet.
Wouldn't, until she looked her younger self in the eye and finally understood just what her battles had cost her.
The transformation complete, Mina bent to retrieve the bag at her feet. Along with everything else, she and Setsuna had created a cover for the blonde, a way to get into the palace and stay close to the senshi without making them suspect who she truly was. One of Pluto's preparations had been to go back in time herself, set up Mina's alibi, and the bag was part of that. It would look odd, they'd both realized, for one of Mina's fictional background to be traveling without any supplies or personal items at all; the bag solved that, and some of the items might even prove useful.
Mina slung the bag over one shoulder, glanced almost involuntarily towards the doors. She'd sent the guards away—they were mostly for show anyway—but it wasn't unusual for Mina's sleep to be interrupted by some crisis, and this would be a bad time for it. Still, whatever gods there were must have been on her side for once, and she thought they might be able to do this in peace.
Venus nodded at Pluto, and while the blonde had been the supplicant in this case, they both knew the nod was an order.
Pluto responded accordingly. She closed her eyes for an instant, called upon the power within. The orb on the top of her staff began to glow, the purple energy exploding outwards in a sort of summoning. The energy shot out, coalesced into the tall, imposing shape that was the Gate of Time. The Gate solidified, slowly creaked open at Pluto's command.
Setsuna looked to Mina. "Are you sure you want to do this?"
Stupid question, really, because while Mina was one of the more flexible senshi, she was also one of the most focused. Her path already decided, Venus would stick to it come hell or high water...or at least until something better came along, and in this case, everything had already been set in motion. It was too late for second thoughts.
Mina only nodded.
Pluto went through first, as was proper, leading a stony-faced not-Mina through the mists. Soon enough, they'd come to the matching Gate, and Setsuna's own face hardened as she unlocked the Doors. "Remember," she said before they could step through, "no fighting."
Mina rolled her eyes.
They entered the Gate.
And Mina's breath caught in her throat, because the woman standing on the other side, waiting to greet Pluto and her strange friend, was...herself.
Of course it is, Mina thought, and, almost as an afterthought: Crap.