Inevitable Route

Dedicated to the legendary warrior of justice

By Melody Wind

Summary: They met under the beautiful April cherry blossoms, and formed a strong bond of friendship. However, neither really understands the meaning of true friends. A hidden truth from one of them led them to a hard way of learning the deep philosophy of friendship.

"…" indicates conversation, italics indicate thoughts

-- Author's Note --

This one-shot was inspired by Naoko Takeuchi's manga series Codename: Sailor V and it was an original story before I turned it into a fanfiction. An AU, this story was set before Minako left London to join the rest of the Sailor Senshi (I took an anime plot for once ). And the narrator was an original character, and since she lived in London, I decided to use an English name… As for Minako's name, I used Venus instead. It's kinda reasonable for her to use an English name while in a English-speaking country. There're some references to the Sailor V manga, hope you can find them all. wink So enjoy!

- Wind

"Vivien, you want to come to that coffee shop beside the line of cherry trees again?" the clear voice of my friend Fleur rang through my ears.

"Sure, I'm bored anyway." I replied dully and hung up the phone.

Cherry blossoms, it's impossible to forget. On the road lined with cherry trees, where I first met her. The surroundings blurred, that beautiful image reappeared, long blond hair, sapphire eyes, and that familiar cheery smile. She was once my best friend, Venus.

Venus…such a beautiful name, the Roman goddess of love and beauty also the planet of Earth's sister star, that name fitted her so well.

It was seventh grade in junior high when I first met Venus. I was an only child, and that one fact seemed to determine my personality. Always alone, I didn't like company much. So I spent much of my time focused on my studies. While I'm not studying, I had the habit of walking around the crowded city alone, enjoying such a unique landscape.

It was at that very line of cherry tress when I first met Venus. It was one of my favorite walking spots, a road full of this rare species in this place. On those April days, the cherry blossoms were at their height. After that long first day of junior high, I decided to admire the blooms again. Guess I was too focused on the view, and I subconsciously bumped into someone.

"Oh I am so sorry! This is totally my fault!" the person who I bumped into apologized quickly, and bent down to help me to gather up my belongings.

"No, it's really my fault. I didn't pay attention…" when I looked up, it was her. Her friendly smile made me felt like that it was inevitable that she'll become a new friend.

"Hey, I know you! You are in my class, aren't you? I'm Venus. Please to meet you." She held out a hand.

"Andromeda, but I go by my middle name Vivien." I shook her hand and smiled as well.

That was how I came to know Venus. We shared so many similarities. Only child, alone a lot, loves to draw and write, and very obsessed with fictional characters. We got along so easily that we became best friends that very same day. Under the sky dyed pink by the sun, we talked for a long time.

I never expected that the life of junior high could become so eventful. Venus and I became more than just school friends, we pretty much did everything together. However, the place we came to the most was that coffee shop on the tree-lined road where we first met. We would spend endless time talking, topics ranging from the newest idols in town to the newest chapter of our favorite manga series, Aurora Wedding, and not to forget all the yummy treats to enjoy while chewing on our studies.

As I spent more time with Venus, I discovered her personality pretty quickly. Venus is a happy-go-lucky type of girl. She could hide her feeling pretty well sometimes, but she is very cheerful most of the times. One of the things that kept her all worked up was boy-hunting. She's a person that can easily get attracted, but she always put something other than love when time comes for her to choose between things. I guess that was the reason of her constant failures. I enjoyed teasing her, but I was always the shoulder that she can lean on when she need comfort with the rejection and her own choice. But her determination to love at the same time enjoying her duty was something that I always admired from her, even today.

It was that one afternoon at the coffee shop; the usually cheerful Venus sat there like a stone. Though I'm not really a mind reader, I sensed that something must be wrong. When I suggested such idea, Venus answered me with an odd question.

"Vivien, do you believe that the supernatural powers we read from our manga can be true?"

"I might be, I've always been fascinated with all those ideas and theories, I heard they said stuff about it all the time on TV. And recently there's this new mysterious Sailor V that solve impossible cases that even the police can't handle…" I was babbling on about all the things that related to supernatural power that I knew, but I stopped at the middle of my sentences and realized that it's an odd question for Venus to ask, "Why do you ask?"

"I was wondering if you would ever believe that someone close to you have such power?"

"Are you saying that someone like you?" I raised an eyebrow.

Venus paused, and I took that as a "yes". I had once promised myself that I wouldn't panic if I get to know that supernatural power existed, but I guess I was caught up by the news for a minute.

There was a moment of silence between the two of us. There were very few people in the coffee shop that day because of the rainy season. All we could hear was the drops of the rain and the piano melody played at the piano of the coffee shop, "Midnight Bloom". It was a sad but lovely melody. I stared at the blurred window for a moment, trying to understand the event of the past few minutes.

"So, don't you just love what happened in the latest volume of Aurora Wedding? I was so happy for Linda!"

When I looked back, that silent Venus had returned to her normal cheerful state.

Maybe I have already realized from that moment, but Venus was slipping away from me. First she forgot to come to a few meetings at the amusement park, then she would skip cram school, and what saddened me the most was when she did not show up at our daily study group at the coffee shop. I felt so alone without her again.

Then fall came, the cherry blossoms have long faded out, but I would always collect many of them to put into jars at my room. I still walked around the tree-lined road often and could find some of the trees blooming out of season. It was one day that I discovered Venus keeling beside one of the cherry tress, crying. I rushed to her, but an uneasy feeling in my heart. Should I be mad at her for forgetting our meetings so many times? Or should I happy that I had finally got my best friend back? I stopped running when I got closer.

"Venus…" I called from a distance.

She looked up slowly. When she saw that it was me, a smile rose from her face. It was sad smile though. I felt at that moment that my best friend had changed, I don't really know her anymore.

"Vivien? Oh I am so glad to see you!" Her voice still hasn't changed a bit. It pained me to hear that same voice yet to face a completely different Venus.

"What happened?"

"You are probably going to laugh at me," Venus chuckled softly, "Another failure at boy-chasing. Can you believe it? He was the leader of the biggest gang around here, and I just found out that he loved our Home Economics teacher…"

"And what did you choose this time?" I asked plainly, not knowing that I was hurting her.

Venus was surprised at my response; she must have thought it would be another wave of teasing. She paused for a moment, and then lowered her eyes and let out a whisper.

"My other identity…"

It was at that moment that I reached my limit of bearing the fact that I don't feel like I have a friend anymore, it was the first time that I became mad, especially at Venus.

"I don't think I know you anymore Venus. I think maybe it's time for us to go our separate ways. Perhaps just like our name reflected, Andromeda and Venus are just too far away for a true friendship. Maybe one day when we could understand each other again, let's be friends again."

"But Violet, you don't understand! I want to be friends with you, always. But I can't control everything in my life, it's fate that I have a duty to fulfill!"

"Fate? Then perhaps it's also inevitable that we have to part from here. But remember this Venus, no matter how inevitable events in our life are, we are still the ones controlling how they take place. We are the ones changing them if we have the will to!"

"I-"

I did not let her finish and stormed away. I sat at home for the next three days, it was fall break. I regretted that I did not let Venus finish her explanation, but I supplied my own reason to myself, that after all she didn't even fulfill her duty as a friend to me…

I was a bit nervous the morning when we returned from full break, I didn't know what to say or do when I saw Venus again. But I never got the chance to. The teacher called me immediately after my arrival and informed me that Venus had moved overseas over the fall break, and she won't be back for a lone time. I was deeply saddened by the news, suddenly regretting my reactions during my last meeting with her.

"Oh, and before she left, she left this to you." The teacher handed me a jar.

And inside that jar I saw those beautiful petals of cherry blossoms, neatly cleaned with water. There were still droplets of fresh water when the teacher handed the jar to me. Cherry blossoms, the thing that bonded me and Venus together, she still remembered. I didn't know how to react; it was a mixture of regret and happiness inside me. Then I found that little note inside the shining jar:

Andromeda,

I'm sorry about the fact that I'm not a good friend at all and now for not telling you that I'm moving. Maybe you will believe me or maybe you won't, but I have a duty that I was born to fulfill. It's a hard thing to explain. But maybe one day, if you ever had to fulfill one those duties, then you will understand my feelings.

Please accept this token as a symbol of our friendship and a sorry gift from me. I know cherry blossoms are your favorite.

And even if I'm named after the goddess of love and beauty, I'll always choose my duty over love, right?

I wish we could still be friends. And no, I think Andromeda and Venus are close enough to share a friendship that nothing else can compare to. One day, I'll prove it to you. I'll be praying for that!

Yours truly,

Venus

I could not control that mixed feelings of guilt and sadness anymore; tears came out for the first time of my life.

I haven't saw Venus again since she left for. Overtime, I recovered from the loss of my dearest friend. After all, it was completely my fault. I found companionship with other classmates, such as Fleur. However, I never felt the same way as when I was with Venus, it was the feeling of true friendship.

The most important thing that discovered during her absence though, was the meaning of an inevitable duty. I realized how I wronged Venus. Although I still believed that we still manipulate our inevitably planned-out life, with a special duty bond by us to fulfill, it's a gaining of responsibilities that neither Venus nor I could escape. After all it's an inevitable duty; we hold all the responsibility to fulfill the goals without breaking its special rules…

I always looked forward to reunite with Venus someday, and that time I would fully share the feelings she had when she left. The only thing that I wish for would be her forgiveness. I looked at that jar of cherry blossoms petals again; I had added more and more petals each year. This time it was not Venus's beautiful smile that appeared, but that sad but smooth melody of "Midnight Blooming"…

(A/N: I ended the original story here, but then I think this version could be ended with a happier ending…)

"Vivien? Snap out of it!" Fleur waved in front of me, but I was still unable to get over the events of years ago out of my head, which felt like that it happened minutes ago.

"Yeah, yeah… but what are we doing here in the coffee shop?" I looked at Fleur suspiciously; she has this weird grin on her face. Somehow I felt like that she's hiding something from me.

"To meet an old friend who has just returned." Fleur sang out as she led me to a table at the far corner of the shop.

There sat a long-haired blond about our age, she smiled brightly as she waved at us, the same smile she gave me the day I met her under the cherry trees.

"Venus! It's been a while since you left us! How are things going on with you?" Fleur hugged Venus as they chatted casually.

I stood there, a complete loss of words, but inside me, it was happiness.

"I'm glad to see you again after such a long time Vivien!" Venus started while Fleur was in the restroom.

"Of course," I smiled back, and wisely decided to add two more words, "Sailor Venus."

"How-" Venus's jar dropped while I grinned.

"It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure that out." I took out a compact shaped object and put it on the table.

"Masaka! You're a Sailor Senshi too?" Though I have no idea what Venus exclaimed since she switched to her native language, but I nodded.

"I was named after it, so guess it's inevitable, Princess of Planet Venus" I grinned.

Sudden realization came to her as I saw her eyes widened once more, and both of us smiled at the same time.

"Guess I did prove to you that Andromeda and Venus could share a strong bond despite the distance, so this trip was definitely not wasted. But I wonder how we can share this relationship also as Sailor Senshi, Sailor Andromeda?" Venus laughed.

"Guess this sure is an inevitable route that we took step on, en?" I laughed also along with Venus. When Fleur came back, she has no idea what happened to both of us. But I can see that she was quite happy at the situation.

"Yeah… the inevitable route…" I heard Venus whispered.

-- Fin --

-- Author's Note --

I altered the ending of the original story because I thought this version could have an even better effect. or so I though… I pick the name Andromeda because of its distance to planet Venus. Or I could have picked the opposite of Venus, but since nothing better came to my mind, I went along with the idea. Also, there's also the theme from xxxHolic of the inevitable in the story, I don't really know how it got in, but it sounded nice.

Comments and reviews are always welcomed and appreciated.

- Wind

Story word count: 2,449