Past Loves And Current Problems

Short summary: Minako discovers greek mythology and Rei is the one suffering under it.

~ 3k words

written for the Reinako same prompt fic party. Prompt was 'Mythology'

Rei sighed and scribbled some notes on her worksheet.

The study group (or more like study-duo) had assembled at their normal hanging-out spot in Crown. Ever since they graduated, it were only really Ami and Rei who used it to for it's intended purpose since they were the one's to attend University.

Usually, the others wouldn't bother showing up since they knew the two students needed their peace and quiet, but from time to time Usagi, Mako, or Minako would grace them with their presence.

This time it was Minako, who was mostly preoccupied with her vanilla milk shake. She chewed on her straw, obviously bored out of her mind. She had already poked fun at Rei five times during this meeting and she feared if she did it once more, she would end up as fried shrimp, so she settled for something harmless and glanced on the table. There were books and scattered notes everywhere and she silently thanked the gods she never had to deal with this anymore.

Her eyes got hung up on one book in particular though.

"Ami, what's this?" She asked curiously, pulling one of them out of the pile. The cover was something Minako was surely interested in, after all there was a big picture of naked people in Renaissance art on it. Ami narrowly managed to keep her pile from collapsing as Minako flipped the stolen treasure to a random page.

"What the-" Minako murmured and flipped again. Rei looked up from her own notebook. Minako being interested in a book that wasn't about Idols or gossip or basically anything else having to do with music was a rarity.

"That's not Japanese, or English, that's…Ami what is this?" She held the open book directly in Ami's face, upside down. There were strange letters and signs printed all over the pages, next to pictures of sculptures and ancient temples.

Rei glanced at it briefly and looked at Ami in surprise and astonishment. "I didn't know you were studying greek."

"Greek?" Minako took the book back and studied it more carefully.

"I thought it was interesting, and the myths fascinate me." Ami explained and took another book out of the pile. "I also started Latin."

Rei was quite impressed with her studious friend. Her catholic school had forced all their students to take at least one course in Latin and even though Rei was very good in all her other subjects, she could never grasp the Materia of the dead language, but she had found it interesting nonetheless.

Minako, not being able to decipher a single word on the pages, turned her attention to the pictures instead. One in particular had caught her interest and she excitedly shoved the book in Rei's face, pointing at the image.

"Hey, that's Venus!" Minako was pretty proud of herself that she had recognized her mythological counterpart.

Rei wasn't even able to look at the picture because Minako pulled it back after a few seconds.

"Actually, that's Aphrodite. Venus is the roman-" Ami started to explain, but Minako waved her off.

"Eh, same thing. Wow, she's getting it on with that god. He looks quite handsome."

"That's…" Ami gave Rei a nervous glance. Rei paled. She did know some bits about roman and greek mythology, thanks to her Latin course. If Aphrodite was portrayed getting busy with a god, chances were high that that god was –

"My, what a coincidence." A flowing voice disrupted them and Rei was sure she had never been more thankful for Michiru and Haruka walking towards them, for once appearing without their usual swirl of rose petals. Rei breathed a sigh of relief. Mythology would soon be forgotten as soon as Minako and Haruka would start gushing about the latest Disney movies and-

"Ami, you're studying greek? I'm impressed." Michiru took the book out of Minako's hand who snapped an 'I wasn't finished yet' at the older woman.

"Ah the affair of Ares and Aphrodite, a true classic." Michiru commented and started reciting lines of the text in ancient greek. No one was surprised at Michiru being able to read it, they would've been surprised if she weren't able to, but Minako's attention was focussed on something else.

Her head turned around and looked towards Ami, starting to ask questions in an instant.

"Ares? As in Mars?"

Rei just wanted to die on the spot. She had feared thsi moment would come one day and now it had happened. Michiru handed Ami back the book and Minako immediately grabbed it again, observing the picture a bit more closely. Minako hastily looked at her, but Rei avoided her gaze.

"Rei and I had a love affair?"

"Ares and Aphrodite had one, not us." Rei grumbled and pointedly didn't look Minako in the eye.

With a curse Rei noticed that Michiru and Haruka had already left. Leave it to the Outers to show up, make a scene, start shit, and then leave without anyone noticing.

Minako was like a confused puppy on ecstasy, not knowing who to pay attention to. Her focus shifted from Rei to the picture and then to Ami and back to Rei again.

Ami tapped her pencil against her chin, deeply lost in thought.

"I had always thought a lot of the myths here on earth were inspired by the Silver Millennium. It could be that the two of you had-"

"Ami!" Rei blushed madly and the girl in question flinched and apologized.

"Geez, no reason to get so defensive." Minako growled and turned her attention back to her milk shake. The rest of the study session went pretty normal, except that Minako was much quieter than usual.

Rei casted a wary glance back at Minako every now and then. The girl was definitely plotting something. Rei could basically see the gears in her head grinding against each other. She didn't want to know what was going on in that head of hers, but she was sure she wouldn't like the outcome.

With a sigh she returned to her own studies, wishing to forget the awkwardness of the past love affair to pass as soon as possible.

The next morning, Rei was sweeping the steps of the shrine as usual. The peace and quiet did wonders for her mind and calmed her down, making her forget about everything that happened yesterday.

She was sure Minako had noticed that she had a rather interesting reaction to this myth, and she also knew that there was going to be a continuation of that conversation someday.

But right now, the only thing that existed for her was her shrine, the leaves on the ground, and the soft wind that occasionally swept through the trees and played with her hair, and-

"Alright where are they."

-and the very familiar voice that snapped her out of her peaceful trance. Rei blinked a few times before she could locate the origin of the disturbance. She sighed and turned around, facing Minako who was standing right behind her.

"who?" Rei asked in confusion, but Minako only crossed her arms.

"You know who."

"No I don't. I may be psychic but your mind is an enigma even to me." Rei huffed and was about to return to her work, but Minako didn't let her.

In a theatrical gesture, Minako whipped a sheet of paper from behind her back. There was something that looked like a genealogy scribbled on it. Rei had trouble deciphering the handwriting, but she could make out two distinctive names.

Rei looked at it a bit surprised before addressing the girl in front of her again.

"What do you want with Ares and Aphrodites genealogy?"

Minako eagerly pointed towards the two god's offspring.

"Phobos and Deimos, oh and Harmonia."

Rei narrowed her eyes in confusion.

"I don't understand, are you demanding custody over two crows? And I don't know a Harmonia."

This was getting ridiculous. Rei snatched the scroll out of Minako's hands and took a better look at the notes scribbled there. She turned towards Minako incredulously and addressed the younger woman in disbelief.

"Did you scan through all the greek myths and searched for Aphrodite's lovers?"

Minako looked back at her guiltily. Rei sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Of course that's the reason you'd actually read something for once." She murmured and examined the various notes Minako had scribbled down.

There were notes at the side about a lot of Aphrodite's myths, her birth from sea foam, when Ares lost her hand to Hephaistos, their love affair that was decorated with tiny little hearts…and the time Ares killed Adonis out of jealousy.

Rei knew Minako did all of this as prelude for an actual question. She raised her eyebrow at the blonde and waited for her to finally ask.

"So…" Minako began, noticing that Rei was expecting her to start.

"So?" Rei repeated and leaned on her broom. The blonde fidgeted around a bit, as if unsure how she should proceed. Rei was surprised that that topic actually seemed a bit touchy for her friend.

She observed her a while before she couldn't take it anymore.

"Minako, just ask the question." She demanded, and finally Minako seemed to step out of her brief uncertainty.

"Sooo…was there something between… you know." She awkwardly pointed between the two of them and Rei took in deep breath.

"Mars and Venus?" She finished the question for her friend and Minako nodded, curiously expecting her answer. Rei thought for a second and looked at the ground, nonchalantly picking up her duty again while trying to let the topic appear casual.

"I thought you were the one with the most memories." She swept a few leaves away, hoping that Minako didn't notice the tense way her hands clasped the broomstick to the point of hurting.

"I know about our missions, our duty, and all that stuff, but almost nothing about their private lives." Minako looked saddened while saying those words. Rei arched an eyebrow and continued sweeping.

"Why do you want to know?" She asked. "What does it matter? It doesn't change anything."

They hadn't talked about the Silver Milennium for a long time. Crystal Tokyo had been their main focus ever since Chibiusa and Galaxia and secretly, Rei wanted to leave the past in the past, but it seemed there were still things left unsaid.

"Just…curious I guess." Minako crossed her arms before her chest and looked past Rei, up in the sky with an expression that made her seem so much older than she actually was. It was very unusual for them to see this thoughtful, adult side of Minako, for it was mostly overshadowed by her overwhelming enthusiasm for everything trivial, but when it came to the surface, it made Rei wonder if she actually knew her best friend at all.

"It doesn't have anything to do with-" she started, but a hand on her shoulder stopped her words.

Minako was looking at her again with those painful mature eyes that she both admired and was scared of. The grip she held on her shoulder was gentle, yet forceful enough to draw her in completely, focussing solely on her.

"Can you please just tell me?" Minako almost pleaded, and Rei stopped sweeping.

Rei sighed and lowered her head, looking anywhere but Minako. "Yes, they had something."

The hand on her shoulder dropped and went back to Minako's side. "Wow…were they in love?" She asked carefully.

Rei shut her eyes. Now that the cat was out of the bag, it didn't matter anyway. "I mean I can only speak for Mars but…yes."

The air was filled with tension as the words sunk in. Minako was deeply lost in thought and Rei tried to avoid her gaze as good as possible.

For Rei, the memory of their former incarnation's love affair wasn't easy to deal with, especially since it had forced her to come to terms with her own feelings for her friend. Even though Rei and Mars weren't the same and she was sure her feelings for Minako had been on the not-so-platonic side even before she remembered that particular part of their past lives. Under normal circumstances she would never have opened that can of worms, but in the end, Minako had a right to know.

The blonde in question stared at the ground.

"I'm sure Venus loved Mars as well." She said with a soft, yet sad tone in her voice. She seemed melancholic about the memories of a love she never experienced, a love that she had only gotten to know a mere minute ago.

Rei didn't like seeing her like this. Something else was troubling Mina and weighed heavily on her mind.

Rei finally put the broom aside and laid it down on the floor. Now it was her time to gently lay a hand on Minako's shoulder make her look at her. "What's up? I don't like that look on your face." She said and nudged her head towards a nearby bench.

Minako nodded and went with Rei.

"Promise me not to laugh." Minako asked of her as she sat down, Rei right next to her.

"Have I ever?" she tried to soothe Minako's worries. She didn't laugh about serious matters or when someone needed her, and this time, it was both.

Minako took in a deep breath and started explaining.

"It's just that…I mean I told you about Ace…Adonis I mean…" she quickly corrected herself and Rei nodded. Minako had mentioned him once when they had talked about her Sailor V days and how he tricked her and used her and-

"How he cursed you."

Minako nodded and leaned forward, resting her elbows on her thighs and clasping her hands together

"He told me that my love will be hopeless for all of eternity." she sighed and started fidgeting with her fingers.

"When Ami mentioned that maybe in my past life I was able to find love…and when you confirmed it…I guess it made me happy."

Rei knitted her eyebrows. "Why would that make you happy?"

"Because the past is all I have. Love is something I will never have in this life, so-"

Rei cut her short and asked sincerely. "What makes you think you'll never have love?"

Minako looked up and at her, quite incredulous and obviously not understanding what Rei was getting at. "Because he cursed me? We talked about that 3 seconds ago!" Her arm lashed out and vaguely gestured into the air.

"And let's face it, up until now all my attempts at love have ended up miserable." She added with a sour tone.

Rei thought about it for a moment. It was true that many of Minako's past crushes had ended up dead or had left her for someone else. Higashi, Toshio, Alan, Yaten… only a few names on the very long list of Minako's failures.

Rei crossed her arms and leaned back, sternly looking at the blonde.

"Technically he said you'll always choose duty over love, not that you will never have it." She scoffed and Minako sighed heavily.

"Yeah, but then duty and love have to be in some sort of relation and I won't date Usagi." Minako said, but Rei shook her head.

"I wasn't talking about Usagi." The shrine maiden clarified and Minako looked at her for a few seconds before her face brightened up. She grinned at Rei who tried to look unaffected and leaned back as well, stretching her arms and legs before settling down in a comfortable position.

"You mean I need someone who'd understand my situation as leader? Someone who would never make me question my devotion and would support me with my duties?" Minako grinned at Rei, noticing with a hint of amusement that the shrine maiden was fighting off a small blush.

Rei exhaled and flared her nostrils. Minako took that as sign of approval and made herself more comfortable.

"One last question." Minako pulled out the sheet of paper again and handed it to Rei, pointing to the name of Adonis.

"Did Mars kill him in the past?"

Rei thought about it for a moment. Even though her memories of Venus were mostly clear, that didn't mean she was an expert on their past lives. She was sure she had some memory of Adonis crammed into her head somewhere, but it took her some time to remember. After she'd sorted out the memories, she began telling

"Yes, she did. He was one of Venus previous lovers and betrayed and hurt her. When Mars saw him on the battlefield, she took revenge."

Minako stayed silent after hearing this. Sure, it was a lot to take in that the past life of your best friend had also been your lover who had killed one of your previous lovers who also got reborn and cursed you in this life only to get killed by your own hand.

Rei let her think and order her thoughts. She also had some stuff to sort out regarding her past and her memories and how they relate to the present, so she would give Minako all the time she needed.

And so, the sudden silence between them wasn't awkward. It was comfortable and told so much more than a thousand words were able to do.

After a while, the blonde decided it was time to talk again. She leaped to her feet, snatching the paper out of Rei's hand and started pacing around in front of the bench while her friend observed her.

"So…" the blond started, her voice laced with a certain amount of mirth that made Rei tread carefully.

"So…?"

The blonde extended her hand and winked at Rei. "Do you want to start a torrid love affair, one so hot they'll talk about it millennia later?"

"Minako!" Rei shouted in feigned annoyance and swatted the offered hand away, standing up on her feet on her own. She tried to act offended, but it was hard to do so when she was mostly happy that Minako was back to her usual behaviour, even if it meant being a pain in the ass.

The blonde raised her hands in defence and laughed.

"Just a suggestion! Take a chill pill, Reiko."

"You're horrible." Rei scoffed, but Minako wasn't done yet. With that mischievous glimmer in her eye that Rei knew oh-so-well, she continued her teasing.

"If you won't join me in the throes of passion, then maybe for a movie?" She asked while holding out her hand again. Rei briefly looked at it, but crossed her arms instead.

"I am not going to watch Adult's Love XXX part 2 with you, Minako."

Minako's face twisted in feigned disappointment and she latched onto Rei's arm, playfully trying to drag her towards the exit.

"Oh come on, how about it? Us, the legendary lovers out on a movie night! To discover our long forgotten love and give in to our earthly- "

"Keep going and I'll say no." Rei growled and yanked her arm free, but then walked towards the shrine to change out of her robes and into something more casual fit for a movie.

"Alright, I get it. Something else then." Minako murmured and followed Rei, but stopped in her tracks and pulled out her cell phone as a sudden idea struck her. Rei noticed that Minako wasn't behind her anymore and turned around, raising an eyebrow in question at the blonde.

" Let me call Haruka first though." She said while quickly dialling the number.

Rei was confused. She doubted Minako wanted to have the packaged deal of Haruka and Michiru while watching a movie with her. Granted, she and Haruka were close, but Rei doubted that Minako wanted Michiru's company. "Why?"

Minako winked at her and handed her the paper with the genealogy again. Rei looked at her warily and when her eyes scanned the line of Aphrodite's parents, she had to suppress a groan.

Minako grinned and spoke into her phone. "Hey Dad, you owe me 20 birthday presents."

AN: About the joke on the ending…in greek mythology Aphrodite is born when Uranus dick got cut off and fell into the sea…so basically Aphrodite is the love child of Uranus and the sea and all I'm thinking about was Minako calling upon that myth in the future whenever she wants something from Haruka

the love affair between Ares and Aphrodite is something I don't have to explain I think

Phobos, Deimos, and Harmonia are the children of Ares and Aphrodite. Sometimes Eros is one as wel and sometimes not

In the myth about Aphrodite and Adonis, a jealous Ares kills Adonis in the form of a boar

I've also always wanted to write Rei and Minako talking about Ace's curse tbh

and as usual, please forgive grammatical errors etc. I'm still german and trying my best

I hope this counts for the prompt. It's not a rewritten myth,but mythology plays a large part in it