Thousand Letters Till Eternity

The ground was so dry that it had cracked, making it look like a terracotta version of the moon. Relentless, the sun shone on and on and on, banishing clouds and rain to another part of the world. There was only light and heat and dry air. Egypt was burning under the violent spring sun.

Sweeping some escaping strands of hair back under her hat, Minako sighed. The skin of her arms had already turned a glaring red, and she knew how impossible it would be to find some sleep tonight. Sunburn was a bitch. But the prospect of success kept her focused and made her ignore her body's pleas for a very cold cocktail, an air-conditioned room and some fresh fruit.

No-one in their expedition had expected to find themselves in Egypt because all the information they had assembled so far pointed to Italy as the centre of the long forgotten Golden Kingdom. But then a package reached them: a pendant that was at least 5000 years old, a map with a large circle drawn across the eastern end of the Sahara desert and an anonymous note that told them that the Golden Kingdom had been larger than they thought. They had no idea who had sent the package, and frankly, it drove Minako insane. Especially given the fact that they had already excavated the ruins of a large temple. For an archaeologist, this was as good as it got. It normally took weeks, months, years even, to find so much as a broken tea cup, but with the map, it had been only days and now they were standing in the middle of an excavation site as big as a football field. The temple had several stories hidden underneath the ground, that much they could tell already.

"Another entrance over here!"
She dropped her brush and hurried over to her colleague, reaching him long before the rest of the team did. Her supreme sense of orientation was something she prided herself on, but navigating herself within the ruins of the temple was a piece of cake. Of course, Minako Aino knew very well why she felt as at ease in the temple as she did in her own living-room back in Tokyo: she had been here before. Granted, it was in another life, but the memories were there and Kunzite himself had shown her around back when the Golden Kingdom was more than a surprising piece of history.

Noon came and with it another three degrees that made staying out in the sun unbearable. 46°C in the glaring sun were something none of them could deal with. The team retreated into tents and shadow, and Minako used her break to read and write letters. While she always travelled with her small laptop computer, there was no internet connection at this remote place and she would only be able to check her emails when they all returned to Cairo in a few weeks time.
There was a letter from Rei waiting for her; it had arrived earlier in the day with the grocery deliveries and now sat propped up against the pillow on her bed next to the bananas and bottle of vodka she had ordered.

Minako,
Tokyo is peaceful. Usagi and Mamoru have just moved into a new house.
We had to have the South wing of the temple renovated, the winter storms damaged part of the roof. It was a horrible mess, but it's all fixed now.
Love, Rei

Minako laughed. Rei was a horrible correspondent, only ever relating the most important news, which (in Rei's thinking) consisted of Usagi's well-being and the state of the shrine. There were probably a thousand things that Minako could have gleamed about her friend's life if she only had the miko in front of her for a minute. Rei was like an open book to her, one in which reading between the lines was a favourite past-times of Minako's. Reaching for her Hello Kitty stationary (because some things never change), Minako set out to compose an answer in bright pink ink.

Rei, Rei, Rei,
what aren't you telling me? Do you finally have a boyfriend? I'm all alone out here in the desert, I need entertainment! Provide it or I shall perish! Too bad about the roof though, did anyone get hurt when it crashed? Also, boo! Ami has already told me all about the new house, you old bore. You have to do better in your next letter, let me show you how it's done.
I've had a brief fling with one of my colleagues, his name is Casey, but everyone calls him Ace because he's wickedly talented. He's so, SO handsome! Those eyes, those arms! Now, don't fret, I won't come home married. But since my friends (read: YOU) suck at writing letters, I have to find entertainment elsewhere and I was always bad at resisting pretty men. See, my promiscuity is all your fault.
Seriously, write me again, write more, I miss you so much. By the looks of it, I'll be here for at least another three months and while the excavations are very exciting (especially for people like me wink wink nudge nudge), I miss you dreadfully. I said it again, twice in one paragraph, so you have to believe me now.
Showering you with kisses (don't frown, it'll give you wrinkles!),
Mi

Another two weeks raced by and by the end of them, they knew that a few kilometres from the temple, a palace lay waiting to be rediscovered. This time they hadn't even needed the map and the note, Minako's memory alone had lead them to the new building. Her colleagues put it down to her archaeological instincts, and Minako didn't correct them.

Once her colleagues left for their midday breaks, Minako sat down in the middle of the room they had just recovered. letting the hot sun kiss her skin. Oh, she remembered this place even better than the temple. It used to have a glorious glass ceiling, but of course, that hadn't survived thousand and thousand years of sand attacking it from every angle. In another time, this room had been the ante-chamber of Endymion's quarters and she had spent almost as much time here as in her own bedroom up on the moon. Looking to her left she could almost see the recamier that stood there millennia ago. Of course in reality, there was only sand-covered marble, but her skin tingled anyway. It had been here, right in this spot where Kunzite had kissed her for the first time. Closing her eyes, she could see him in her mind: strong, tall, kind and with this wicked hidden sense of humour.

When she opened her eyes again, the ghosts of the past had disappeared and all that remained were ruins in the middle of the desert.

Dear Rei,
I'm lonely out here. I don't know, Ace is boring me, he's just not what I'm looking for, you know? And it's not as if he's head over heels with me, he's more infatuated with the city we're uncovering. It's so weird digging up rooms and corridors where they used to walk. Yesterday, I spent my whole lunch break lying on the floor of what used to be Endymion's ante-chamber and I almost lost myself in the memories. The longing is so strong sometimes and I'm afraid that no man will ever match up to the memories I have of him. Rei, did I make a mistake coming here? I know I said I wanted this career, wanted something to keep me grounded, something solid and tangible, but I think it would have been easier to be a supermodel or something. Hey, now don't laugh, I'm being serious. But maybe you're not laughing, maybe you're making sad eyes at this letter, and I have no way of knowing because you are a thousand miles away. Don't tell the others about this, please.
Mi

Room upon room followed. Ace was beside himself when he uncovered the throne room and a crown to boot, but Minako was barely able to stretch her dry lips into a smile. She had seen Kunzite put that crown on Endymion's head after the old king had passed away. It was only weeks before the massacre on the Moon, and the memories were as bitter as the cup of black coffee she held in her hands.

Luckily, Ace had enough enthusiasm for the both of them.

Mi,
come home.
Rei

Rei,
what a pathetic excuse for a letter. I'll try to come for a week once the month is over. The excavation site is getting bigger and bigger, we're always moving our camp further out because of it. Everyone is completely stunned, overwhelmed, me included. I didn't remember it being so big, but then we also never strayed far from the centre, did we? I dream about it every night, and about the moon palace and about us and them, about Serenity and Endymion, about the beginning and the end, and sometimes I don't even know which time I really belong to. We had this whole life before, well, before the final battle (because that's what I used to think about if I ever thought about our former lives), and we have this life now, but you know, it's all linked. I've never felt it as much as I do now, standing here in the ruins of what used to be the Golden Kingdom. Even the mere fact that people now know that there was a Golden Kingdom in the first place! Of course, nobody but us knows about the magic and moon, but they know that there used to be something. Actually, this might make the acceptance of Crystal Tokyo easier once it comes around, don't you think? Rei, write soon.
Mi

Two deliveries of groceries came and went before the delivery guy handed Minako another letter. This time, it was from Mamoru.

Dear Minako,
arrange for a holiday, we have to talk.
Best wishes,
Mamoru

Snorting, Minako tossed the letter on her camp bed. The man never knew how to say please.

The relationship between Minako and Mamoru had always been an awkward one. Maybe it was because they both thought they knew what was best for Usagi, maybe it was because he was socially inept and she was impatient and maybe they were simply not compatible as friends, but whenever Mamoru tried to pull rank on Minako, she would smile and do the opposite.

Dear Mamoru,
I'm tied up here, so it will be a while before I can come to Tokyo. Give my very, very best to Usagi.
Minako

As more and more rooms and even buildings were discovered, more and more archaeologists were needed. New colleagues arrived every day, ready to participate in what was hailed as the biggest find since the tomb of Tutankhamun in 1922. Soon, Minako was working alongside people whose names she didn't even know and while she would have normally thrived in this beehive of people, it only fuelled her loneliness.

That was until one more man joined their expedition.

He was standing at the edge of the excavation site, peering down at the people working below, a grin on his face. It took Minako a moment to realise that it was herself and not the ruins that were the centre of the man's attention, but then she diverted her eyes from the map she was holding to the silent observer and began to laugh.

"You're not really an archaeologist, are you?"
He grinned, showing pearly white teeth in a tan face. "No, not really. But when I heard what was found right here in the middle of nowhere, I had to come to take a look at it myself." There was a press pass dangling around his neck, and Minako reached for it and read the name. Jim Williams, Baton Rouge Today. So he was American, she thought, and resolved to ask him about his perfect command of the Japanese language.
Prying the pass from her dirt-stained hands, he gave her a curious look. "Didn't expect to find one of you here though."
Minako shrugged and stuffed the map she'd been working on in her satchel. "Well, I had to do something with my life, didn't I? Does Endymion know you're back?" She fished a bottle of water out of her bag and took a big gulp.
His reaction was that of incredulity. "Shouldn't you try to find out whether I'm evil before you ask me that?"
"Oh Jadeite," Minako whispered, a dangerous gleam in her eyes and a knowing smile on her lips, "if you were, I wouldn't have allowed you to come within ten feet of me."

Dear Rei,
the shitennou are coming back. Jadeite appeared here two days ago, and you can be relieved, they're the way they used to be before everything went to shit. He's a journalist, so he has some sort of pretext for skulking around, but really, all he wanted was to see was the place where he used to live.
What do you want me to do? Do you want me to give him your address?
Answer soon.
Mi

Rei's answer came within days and consisted of a single word scribbled on the back of a postcard showing the Hikawa Shrine.

Yes.

Jadeite, Jim now, Minako corrected herself, left almost the minute Minako told him about Rei and her whereabouts. He practically ripped the postcard from her hands, flipping it around, clearly not able to decide whether he wanted to stare at the picture of the place where Mars now lived or at her one-word proclamation of hope. Minako couldn't even ask him about the others before he had flashed her a wild smile and turned on the spot, ready to get back to the woman he had loved when the pillars of the palace had reached for the sky instead of being buried under the sand.

Minako,
you should have told me about Jadeite!
Mamoru

Dear Mamoru,
I figured Rei would do that. Btw: your palace is a mess. Horrible architecture all around.
Best, Minako

There was a reason why Endymion's realm had been called the Golden Kingdom and not the Golden Palace or the Golden Temple. It was huge and Minako suddenly realised that she could probably work on recovering this old world right up to the moment that Crystal Tokyo would arrive to turn the 21st century into an ancient and forgotten relic itself.

While Rei always send short letters, Ami and Makoto often wrote long letters together. The two friends had moved in with each other after high school, sharing the tidiest flat known to mankind. Sometimes, Minako wished that she could just move in with those two, have Makoto cook for her and Ami calm her. It had been months since she set foot into her friends' place, but she could conjure a vision of it in her mind without any sort of effort. Soft pastel colours, tons of plants, comfy couch with a hideous floral print, study full of bookshelves, plates of cookies on every flat surface. In short, a home.

Dear Minako,
how are you doing? We are fine, Ami is working at the hospital with Mamoru day in, day out, and I have just started a new job as a chef in a French restaurant in the city centre. Mamoru is upset with you, but you probably know that already. Rei and Jim are dating, with flowers and movies and dinner and all! He's surprisingly old-fashioned.
I always thought that Rei would never forgive him for the past, but when I see the two of them together, it's just like Usagi and Mamoru. It's fate. There was not a moment of hesitation, she welcomed him as if he had never been gone, as if he had always been good. I don't think I've ever seen her this happy, she's practically glowing. She has already introduced him to her grandfather, can you believe it? I wonder whether we shouldn't be more careful, less trusting, but then (as naive as this is going to sound) I can feel that Jim is good just as I was able to feel when he (and the others) were not. When I see him with Rei, I don't see a former enemy, I see a former friend. What do you think? Of course, you wouldn't have ever let him to go Rei unless you believed him to be honourable, I know that.
Take care of yourself out there, and remember to always wear a hat, we don't want you to suffer a heatstroke. Take some pictures and send them via email the next time you have an internet connection, I'd love to see how everything looks now as opposed to then. We miss you here, but we're also very proud of you! Always told you your head was good for more than pretty hairstyles and experimental make-up.
Love,
Makoto

Minako smiled. Back when she had decided to become an archaeologist, everyone but Makoto had thought her insane, even Rei, who claimed that Minako was too impatient to deal with things that could be destroyed with a single touch. Ami had supported her, even though Minako knew that her friend had a bundle of brochures of colleges for dramatic arts stashed somewhere. Minako didn't mind, Ami just wanted to be able to give her something in case the career in archaeology didn't work out. Turning the letter around, she began to read the words Ami had put to paper. Wrinkling her nose, Minako realised that the work in the hospital had done horrible things to Ami's formerly tidy handwriting. The messy scrawls were barely decipherable, even worse than Mamoru's and his letters always looked as if he had spit the ink onto paper.

Dear Minako,
we miss you very much. Usagi has painted half the new house in a bright pink, I think you would love it. Mamoru is not too happy about the interior design, but he lets her be. Minako, what were you thinking not telling him about Jadeite? If the situation were reversed and Usagi had spent years looking for us, you would want her to know about a return immediately.

Minako sighed. Maybe Ami was right, but Mamoru just raised her hackles on principle. Maybe she could send him some pictures of the old rose garden once they found it, use those as a silent peace offer.

There are no signs of the other shitennou yet, but Mamoru has recently told us that he had their soul stones all those years and that up until a few months ago, he could summon the spirits of the shitennou to talk to him. I think he asked you to return to tell you this. Luna and Artemis said that if Jadeite is back and conscious of their past, the rest of the shitennou will return too. I'll keep you posted on this, but I think that it's very likely that they will come to Egypt first, use it as their starting point just as Jadeite did.

The letter went on for two more pages; Ami had written a detailed account of one of Michiru's concerts, down to which songs the violinist played (Minako didn't recognise half of them) and to the number of guests in attendance. It was Ami's way of making sure that Minako wasn't left out, and the blonde was grateful for it.

Putting the letter in the small shoebox under her camp bed, Minako wondered whether Ami was right. Would they come here? Would Kunzite appear near the excavation site just as Jadeite had? Putting the lid back on the box, she got up again. She had a job to do and it wasn't to wax poetic about her ex-lover's return from the dead.

It was a bad day all around. The delivery van had broken down somewhere on the way, leaving the whole team with only canned food to consume (and they all yearned for fruit, yoghurt and some fresh bread), without any news from their loved ones and in the case of Minako, without a single pencil. She had lost her last one on her way back to her tent last night. Try to find something in the desert seconds after losing it: it will have disappeared into sand and nothingness, no chance of retrieval. Pretty frustrating for everyone, let alone for an archaeologist who is trained to finds things lost centuries ago.

So Minako made her way to the excavation site in a spectacularly bad mood. She could borrow a pencil from Ace, but she didn't feel like asking favours from someone she had slept with. It also didn't help that Minako had finally realised that Ace, friendly, familiar, smart Ace, was another relict of her past. He had lived during the Silver Millenium, had lived again as a minion of the Dark Agency later on and had been reincarnated as this innocent man right in front of her eyes and she hadn't noticed that until she found him in an argument with his superior. The defiance in his eyes had brought back memories, a few flashes of him looking at Kunzite in the halls of Magellan castle with his chin raised and his morals low. Great, she thought, just was she needed.

Pencil-less and grumpy, she almost didn't notice the man that fell into step beside. He was barely taller than her, but his slim shadow feel onto her, shielding her from the merciless morning sun. It was a welcome reprieve and softened her mood.
"Hello," he said, shyer than she remembered. She stopped and her blue eyes met the green ones of the youngest shitennou.
"Hello," she answered, "can you lend me a pencil?"

After 13 weeks in the desert, Minako took a few days off to go to Cairo. She needed new boots, new underwear and most of all, a moment to check her emails. Logging onto yahoo as soon the internet connection was established (even though it would cost her an arm and a leg, the hotel charged a fortune for every minute spent online), she smiled.

CheeryBunny Subject: Miss you! 27th Jan, 2003
CheeryBunny Subject: Still miss you! 10th Feb, 2003
CheeryBunny Subject: Come home! 11th Feb, 2003
CheeryBunny Subject: New house! 17th Feb, 2003
CheeryBunny Subject: Pink walls? 24th Feb, 2003
CheeryBunny Subject: How much longer? 1st Mar, 2003
CheeryBunny Subject: Cut my hair! HORRIBLE! 15th Mar, 2003
CheeryBunny Subject: Rei has a BOYFRIEND! 19th Mar, 2003
CheeryBunny Subject: Rei's BF IS JADEITE, MAMO IS SO UPSET WITH U! 2nd April, 2003
CheeryBunny Subject: Ami's date with Z! 9th April, 2003

Usagi never ever wrote letters. She only wrote emails, plenty of them, all long and decorated with more emoticons than punctuation marks. Before opening a single one, Minako quickly began to type one of her own.

Usa, my love,
quick stint in Cairo. Need new undies, new booties, and new news from you. Silly girl, write me a letter! Think of me alone in the desert, no internet, waiting to hear from you. Can you picture it? Sad eyes and all? Good! Letter away! How is Rei doing, and Ami? Are they happy? Tell me they're happy. I so hope they're happy.
More emails to follow after a cold shower (oh, proper sanitation is bliss!).
Love love love,
Minako

The days in Cairo raced by, and while Minako enjoyed every minute of luxury the city had to offer, she could feel the desert calling her back. Her work was not done.

Nephrite never appeared in Egypt. Minako waited for him, but the days went by, the rediscovered palace continued to grow, and the tallest of the shitennou, her dear Makoto's former love, stayed away. It made Minako sad, the thought that the loneliest of her friends might not find her soulmate again. Makoto needed a companion, especially now that Ami had Zoisite. Walking around the temple, always careful to not stray from the paths she and colleagues had marked, Minako realised that she had few but happy memories of Jupiter and Nephrite. It was a well-known secret that the two of them had been married, a secret ceremony performed not far from where she was standing now, officiated by an uncharacteristically rule breaking Kunzite. Jupiter had worn white, defying Terran traditions (a bride was to be married in the colour of love) and sticking to those of her own kingdom. Nephrite had only laughed and told her that she looked beautiful no matter what she wore.

After a day as emotionally challenging as winning and losing your first ever Academy Award in two minutes (they found the chambers that belonged to the prince's guardians, everyone was in a flurry, Minako had a lump in her throat and could barely hold her brush), she returned to her tent, the beautiful sunset dancing over the sandy hills of the desert. The view lifted her spirits, it never failed to. A letter was waiting for her, propped up against the framed picture of the girls on the tiny desk.

My dearest, dearest Minako,
he's back, I couldn't be any happier. Now I know how Rei felt, why she couldn't hold a grudge. I'm finally complete again. More to follow soon.
Love, your friend Makoto

Her response was composed within seconds: a big heart drawn across the Hello Kitty paper, shoved in an envelope and on its way to Tokyo the very next morning.

Minako prided herself on being a clever person. A really clever person. Not smart like Ami, but smarter than many other people. So when she sat on the dirty floor in the throne room Indian style, watching eager archaeologists (including Ace, who beamed at her every once in a while) uncover the throne itself, she munched on a sandwich quite unceremoniously and pondered recent events.

The expedition was going great, there was plenty to do and unlimited funding to support them. And of course, it was a very lucky coincidence that had led her here so that she could point Zoisite and Jadeite home. It was at this thought that both Minako's jaw and the sandwich dropped to the floor.

BEcause maybe, just maybe, it hadn't been a coincidence at all.

Sometimes, the smartest thing anyone can do when trying to find out how something is supposed to end is to go back to the beginning. In Minako's case, that meant re-reading the anonymous note over and over again. The locket was already in the museum, examined, encased in glass, and out of her reach.

The map with the large circle across the eastern Sahara still in her hand, Minako slowly sat down. And suddenly, there it was. The epiphany. She should have recognised that handwriting right from the start.

Mamoru,
when did he come back?
Minako

The answer was curt, no name, no greeting, no well wishes, nothing. Friendship doesn't grow just because you have people in common.

Last year.

I hate you. Where is he?
Minako

Her last letter went unanswered, not a surprise given the tone. Walking the ruins of the temple, Minako decided to leave. She wouldn't stay to uncover the lower levels of the palace, the hidden chambers and tombs underneath the temple, and more memories of man that had lured her here without ever showing himself.

The air-conditioning at the airport was supposed to make her feel comfortable, but instead, Minako found herself shivering in her thin green dress. She had grown used to the sun and the heat and suddenly, she realised that she needed it more than she needed Tokyo, more than she needed to leave Kunzite' scheme out of spite. Eyeing the ticket in her hands, she could feel the seconds ticking by, demanding a complicated decision. Rei would explode if she didn't come back soon.

Instead of making her way to the check-in counter, she sat down on one of the countless benches, the cool steel digging in her back. Minako had always found that thinking was easier when she was sitting down. Her suitcase, laden with old clothes and new presents, was placed beside her, her purse dumped on the floor. She crossed her legs, and began to tap her toes. Her feet, now sandal-clad, were still white thanks to boots and socks while the rest of her legs were tan and golden. She should have painted her nails, Minako thought, avoiding the issue at hand. To fly or not to fly, that was the question. Perhaps she should get a coffee? Or buy a book in the airport bookshop? A fictionalised account of Cleopatra's life perhaps. Red nail-polish would have matched the green dress and the tan sandals. Well, another time.

"You will miss your flight."

She didn't need to turn her head to know who it was. A beige linen jacket was placed around her shoulders, shielding her from the artificial coolness. Minako rolled her eyes. "You could have just asked me out. The whole ploy with the anonymous note and the locket was a bit over the top, don't you think?"
He chuckled and sat down beside her, stretching out his long legs and crossing them at the ankles, hands folded on his lap. He was the only man around not wearing sandals or flip flops. "Not everything is about you. There were other people who needed to find their way."
"Why the locket?"
"Because you and your superiors wouldn't have packed up in Italy and moved halfway across the world unless you had a veritable artefact to prove the note's claim. And those two graves you found there weren't news-worthy enough to attract the attention of the others."
"Good thinking." He acknowledged the compliment with a curt nod and she caught a whiff of his aftershave. Spicy. Dangerous, but no longer forbidden.

An arm was casually wrapped around her shoulders and Minako didn't know whether to smile or frown. He had never been one to ask for permission, not then, and apparently, not now. She used to liked that. She did not like being played with though.

Her voice was sweet, glass splinters hidden in candy. "Nephrite found Makoto and Mamoru without the world's largest archaeological expedition as a starting point."
Kunzite smirked and took his sunglasses of, stashing them into the the pocket of his crisp white shirt. "Of course he did. He has a certain advantage over other people."
"Right, the stars," she said, feeling like slapping her hand against her head. "I'd forgotten about that."
"So did he until they started speaking to him again."
"Must have been quite the shock." She moved her head just a fraction, curtain of sun-kissed hair shifting, and then they were looking at each other. To everyone else, they were just a pretty couple at an airport, sitting next to each other, waiting for their flight to board.
"I believe so."

"You could have joined me at the palace. Waited for them there. With me."
He checked his watch. "I was under the impression that you were busy." His voice was perfectly level, but his face was too smooth. Realisation hit her and she felt a blush creep over her skin. So he had been here, had come to see her. Right at the beginning. "You saw Ace."
"I did indeed. How long until you lost interest?"
She couldn't fight the grin, even though she wanted to. Being around him was so easy, so familiar. "Don't be cheeky." His green eyes crinkled at the corners, and her stomach flipped. Damn. It was one of those moments and she knew it: the kind that maps out a future, fills the white spots with bright colours and clear paths.
"How about dinner tonight? I heard Usagi learned to cook and we can still catch your flight."
"You want to fly to Tokyo to have dinner?" Hurry home to his precious prince, she thought and resumed tapping her toes.
"Why not?" Arching one of his eyebrows, he gave her a long look, and she promptly bristled.
"How very metropolitan of you." A flight attendant called her name over the speakers, loud and clear into the bustle of the airport. It was the last call, and she still had the ticket in hand. Should she go? Renegotiate whatever they had in the presence of everyone else?

She could see how he tried to categorise her behaviour. True to form, it didn't take him long. "You're upset," he said with an air of genuine surprise, eyes widening ever so slightly.
"You lured me into the desert with an anonymous note, while you and Mamoru were probably having the time of your lives, kicking back cocktails in Tokyo. And now that I did what you wanted me to, played my part, I'm allowed to go home again? Of course I'm upset. How could I not be?"
"You could have found out sooner if you hadn't insisted on staying here when he asked you to return." He sighed. "You're not going to make this easy, are you?"

"Do I ever?"

Not rising to the bait, he closed his eyes for a second. It was then that she noticed that he looked tired. "And we didn't only drink, we had to arrange for funding for the whole endeavour."
Anger and curiosity began to mix. "So you didn't pay for this little mission yourself?"
"My pockets aren't that deep," he admitted, and the smile was back. "But I do know a great many people with money and they were more than happy to subsidise the expedition."
"Ah, and there I went, feeling special for being manipulated by the master himself."
He had the decency to look contrite, smiling falling from his lips just as quickly as it had settled there before. Another name was called, and she wondered whether it was his new one. "You would have never given me another chance if I would have walked up to you on the street. You needed the palace and the memory of what transpired there– "
"Doesn't mean I like being manipulated," she shot back and he flinched.
"Let me make it up to you." It was so serious, the way he looked at her and Minako could feel a part of her soul relax. Makoto's last letter came to her mind, how her friend had said that she finally felt complete. Minako understood that now. She didn't resent him for the sins of life long gone, couldn't anymore. Forgiveness had grown from falling in love with the Golden Kingdom all over again, from the excavation of ruins and memories buried under the sand.

His eyes were precisely the shade of green she'd remembered. They were also very determined. Oh, she remembered what his determination could lead to. It lead to kisses in ante-chambers, to dances under the moonlight, to love-making in a castle on Venus and to the world's largest archaeological expedition to reunite long lost friends.
Her skin began to tingle, and she leaned her head back, letting it rest against his arm. The ticket fell out of her hands and onto the floor and the smile on her lips was a promise. "Maybe."

The End