Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon Crystal Tokyo

The Dreams of a Kitten

Minerva, for as long as she could remember, was a kitten. She looked like a kitten, acted like a kitten, and did things as a kitten.

So the idea of being human never even dawned on her feeble mind, still growing and learning, under the gentle tutelage of her mother and the emotional grasp of her father. When she first saw Diana as a human, her cornflower eyes grew huge upon her face as she looked upon her sister in a brand new light.

And then, she saw her parents come to their human forms, often when they needed to visit other places in place of the King and Queen. Slowly, Minerva began to think about what she was like as a human. Could she be human? What would she look like? What was special about her that made the others special too? She wanted to be human and this grew slowly as she grew up at Mamoru's side, his faithful and often clueless guide.

"Minniee…" Mamoru called out hastily. "I'm hungry! Let's go eat something!"

Minerva was caught under the blankets he had thrown over her, struggling in vain. Eventually, her mews took to the air as she became frightened and trapped. "Mama! Mama! MAAAMMMAA!"

Luna came bounding in and saw the heavy blankets and force-changed herself into the human Luna. She gently pulled the blankets off her daughter, who was curled tightly, crying sharply. Luna picked her up and comforted her as Mamoru, seeing that he could be in trouble, slowly slinked out of the room.

Her sniffling slowly died out as she peered up at her mother. "If I could do that, I wouldn't be stuck all the time." She sniffled at her mother. "Can't I do that?"

"Of course. In time, you can."

"But I wanna do it now!"

The soft wail of her daughter made her smile as she was very much like Artemis when she protested. Luna set her down gently. "It will happen when you are ready. You do not need to rush."

"What if you weren't around? I could have.. Suffocated!"

Luna sighed. "Mamoru would have dug you out."

"Really?!"

Luna looked around and sighed at the empty room. "I'm sure he would've. He just thinks he's in trouble."

"Why isn't he? He's always so insensitive! He throws me everywhere, traps me, and then runs off without even thinking of me!" Minerva began to cry again, her wails picking up as Luna winced and tried to think of something comforting to say. Mamoru was, after all, the clone of his mother, and she wasn't exactly known of her kindness when it dealt with being young and careless.

"Is something wrong?" Neo Queen Serenity came in, dragging Mamoru with her. "I came to get Mamoru and he was hiding."

"Minerva got stuck under some blankets and was stuck."

"Mamoru, you need to be more careful! She's not big like you, she could get hurt," His mother scolded him gently.

"I wanna be human!" Minerva lunged as Luna tried to grasp her as her daughter easily evaded her less then feline movement. She ran to the Queen, standing up on her hind legs as she rested on the Queen's dress. "Please make me human! I don't wanna be a kitty any more!"

Mamoru gasped and dropped his hold on his mother's dress himself. His eyes filled with tears. "You.. Don't wanna be my kitty anymore?"

"No! You're mean! You don't care about me at all!"

"Minerva!"

"Minnie!" Mamoru broke into sobs. He ran out of the room as Minerva looked to the Queen with unlimited hopes.

"Please! Please! I want to be human!"

"Oh, Minerva, it's not that easy. It must come to yourself, not something that I can do. I'm sorry, Minnie…"

Minerva slowly dropped from the Queen's dress, her eyes slowly falling down. "Then.. Then what I am supposed to do? Why can't I be like my sister, my mama and papa? I don't want to be different!"

She ran out of the room, unable to be near the two humans. Luna sighed tiredly. "I was wondering when this was going to happen. It doesn't help that we all gained our powers when your light either blessed us or summoned us.. Save for Artemis who was by Venus's light…"

"I'm sure it'll happen. She just needs to be patient. I'll talk to Mamoru about being more sensitive. He's so… so.."

"Like you?"

"I wasn't going to say that!"

"I'm sure you weren't because you were oh so perfect."

"I wasn't that bad," The Queen pouted.

Luna sighed at the classic Usagi pout. "You and I remember things very differently."

The day passed at the two companions spent their time apart. Mamoru ignored Minerva who finally entered the room and didn't say anything. Minerva struggled to jump onto the bed, claws digging into the side as she fell hard to the ground. She sniffled and called out to Mamoru. "Ru, can you help me up?"

She was met with silence. Then the light was pointedly clicked off.

On the ground, alone, and in the dark, she huddled to the ground. She was still a little child and she began to sniffle. "Mamoru! Don't be mean! Help me up!"

"Go away," She heard him say drowsily.

She began to cry and wander in the room. In the dark, so low to the ground, everything was frightening and suddenly new. "Mamoru.. Let me up!" She begged only to hear his snores.

She went to the door, head hitting hard as she cried out. She furiously scratched and suddenly was pelted by a pillow. She gasped and struggled to climb her way out. "Mama! Mama! Papa! Somebody! Please! Don't leave me alone! I'm scared!"

"Shut up!" Mamoru sat up and turned the light on, his jaw sticking out. He opened the bedroom door and pushed her out into more darkness and the sliver of light disappeared with the closed door.

Minerva looked around, the dull moonlight sending long, winding shadows around the large living room. She slowly walked around and it was the sudden sound of something loud and yet distantly. She still screamed as her crescent moon light up and she felt a sudden onslaught of violent energy. The lights were surged on by the increasing energy, turning the blackened room into a pillar of blinding hot white light.

The bulbs shattered as Minerva staggered and blacked out, her form falling down harder than she expected as she seemed to bounce.

There was noise, dull at first, then growing as the noise became voices, coming from a distance. "Mamoru! How could you have left her alone!? Would you've liked to have been left in the dark?" Usagi was snapping at him.

"But.."

"No buts! I can't wait until Papa comes! How dare you treat Minerva so carelessly! She's terrified of the dark, just like you, and you acted out of spite!"

"She made me mad!"

"Look at what you've done!" Usagi yelled over his own, standing furiously over him.

Minerva's eyes blinked groggily. Her head hurt as she struggled to sit up. Her body didn't work right as she couldn't figure out how to use herself for some reason. She felt different but was still clueless.

"What's.. happened..?" King Endymion looked down at Minerva who found she didn't have to crane her head as much as she usually did to look at the King. "Minerva?"

"My head hurts." Even her voice was different, no longer as tiny and kittenish. She blinked as she rubbed her head with wince. And then stared at her elbow.

"I have an arm?"

She looked down at herself and found herself wrapped in a blanket. She tugged it down, exposing her naked form of that of a very young girl. Curveless and a little pudgy, she nonetheless was quite curious.

King Endymion made a strangled noise as Usagi suddenly righted the blankets over her. "You're naked, Minerva!" Usagi told her softly.

"Naked? What's naked?"

"When you don't have anything on."

"But I have.. Skin, see?"

Usagi blinked at the clueless girl and then giggled. "Yea, that's true but humans aren't supposed to be naked."

"Oh…" At that, Minerva turned red. "I'm sorry."

"It's all right."

It then dawned on her. "I'm human?!"

"Minerva!" Luna barreled in in feline form. She stared at her youngest child. Minerva's hair was in round odango with big, fat fluffed up tails similar to Usagi's but even more pronounced over the buns and messy. She had the bangs of her father who had also followed his mate into the Prince's wing.

"Oh, wow! Look at our precious little thing! Isn't she beautiful!" Artemis couldn't help but beam. "Minnie! You're so cute!"

Luna dropped her head with a soft laugh. "Artemis, you're still such a cute fool!"

"I'm not a fool!"

Usagi tugged up Minerva. "Let's get you dressed." She pointed to Mamoru. "He needs a long talk about how to treat Minerva in a far better manner. He threw her out in the darkness! All alone and tiny! She had no choice but to revert to a human if she could escape the darkness."

As she lead Minerva out of the room, followed by Luna, Artemis sat as King Endymion crossed his arms. The door closed as the king's soft voice began to carefully explain what exactly Mamoru had done wrong.

Luna became human as Usagi left Minerva in her own living wing to look for something for the small girl to wear. Luna sat next to her daughter and examined her carefully. "That's some bump."

"My head hurts."

"Let me see about that.." Luna found where the bathroom was and retracted a healing spray from the mirror cabinet. "Turn around."

Minerva turned around dutifully as her mother spritzed the spray and the pain abated into nothing. She once more retreated to the bathroom and came back with a wet towel. She gently washed her daughter's hair, undoing the buns and examining the spot where it was red from the fall. "Nothing broken."

"Here you go, Minnie." Usagi handed her a cute and small pajama set, colored in hues of brown. Minerva took it and looked utterly helpless.

"Here, let Mama show you," Luna showed her how to dress in the outfit as afterwards, Minerva stood and turned in a dizzy, trying to see everything. She faltered and then yawned widely.

"Wanna stay with me?" Usagi asked warmly.

"I guess.." Minerva yawned again and started to stumble toward Usagi's bedroom. Luna stopped her and kissed her cheek warmly. "Night, Mama."

"Good night."

Minerva managed to the bed, her eyelids so heavy, she couldn't even think. Usagi carefully tucked her in and then readied her own self for bed. She yawned herself and fell asleep only a little while after Minerva did.

Morning came as Minerva cracked an eye. She shuffled and climbed out of the pajama top, and then poked her head out of the blankets, her ears flicking as she listened closely. She, in feline form, moved out and then sat. She was so tiny on the pillow and she felt for a moment bereft of her human form.

"I wonder what I looked like?" She asked herself. She went to the edge of the bed and gulped. "I can't jump down!"

"Minnie?"

Her ear flicked to the door as she glanced to the apologetic Mamoru. He shuffled, arms clasped behind his back. He was still in his pajamas, looking very sad. "I'm sorry."

"Do you really mean that?" Minerva tilted her nose pointedly away.

"I'm really sorry. I really am."

Minerva faltered and then shuffled. "Okay. But you can't throw me out!"

"You still wanna be my guide, right?"

"I never stopped wanting to," Minerva said honestly. "I'm sorry too. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings."

"I didn't mean to hurt yours, either."

They paused before Mamoru walked to her, holding his arms out. "Wanna go to our room? I'm hungry!"

Minerva's stomach growled as she jumped into his arms willingly. She settled with contentment in his pudgy grasp. "I'm hungry too! Let's go eat!"