Pride

Orange - Minako's Little Black Book

"Love was love. It wasn't a choice."

Minako flipped through her little black book. It time to get a new one.

Well, technically, it was a little orange book, but same difference. It was a list of names. A diary of all the crushes she'd ever had; all the romance she'd ever dreamed of.

Minako often flipped through her diary when her senshi duties became overwhelming. Sometimes she needed a reminder of who she was behind the mask. She had kept this book since she was 13. That was years ago, but the memories still seemed fresh.

The diary began the day she realized she had her first crush on someone. She was so excited by the idea of being in love that she'd run out to the shop to buy a journal. Such an important event needed to be documented . Her many adoring fans would want to know all about it when she grew up to be a famous idol after all.

The first entry was dedicated Higashi, a second year boy on the basketball team. It ended on a hopeful note.

'Dear Diary, I am going to give Higashi my love letter today. I'm so excited I feel like I could do anything at all. Wish me luck!"

She never did get around to giving him that letter, but that last statement still turned out to be surprisingly on point. She met Artemis instead and transformed into Sailor V for the first time. Magic was real. She really could do anything at all. It was the best feeling in the world.

The other shoe dropped soon after. Higashi turned out to be an agent of the dark kingdom. He was her first kill as well as her first crush.

Ugh. That was a morbid thought. Minako turned the page on that chapter in her life and found that things didn't get much better. Next few pages of the book were ripped out. Minako didn't need to read them to know what it was she'd tried to erase from her life.

Ace Kaitou. She was there for his last words too.

'You will be hopeless when it comes to love for all eternity. You'll always choose duty over love.'

Minako ran a finger over the fuzzy edges left behind. Ace made love sound so either/or. She didn't want to believe in that prediction, but then it really was a self fulfilling prophecy. Duty always came first. Minako wouldn't have it any other way.

The next few entries confirmed it.

She chose duty over Allan. He loved someone else, and Minako knew she had somewhere else to be.

She chose duty over Asai. A simple high school romance might have been nice, but Minako sadly decided that it wasn't wasn't for her.

She remembered thinking then that it was time to give up writing this silly little diary. Keeping diaries was for ordinary girls. Minako knew that she wasn't normal by any stretch of the imagination. She was doomed to her fate. She felt depressed enough at the time that she actually debated retiring as a senshi.

Lucky for her, the fate threw her a bone that night. Nothing like a diamon attack to put things in perspective.

Sure, her relationships might be doomed from the start, but Minako couldn't give up on love. She couldn't live with herself otherwise. Why fight to save the world when there was nothing to fight for? She refused to be defined by what she was. She wasn't Venus, or Sailor V. She was Aino Minako.

...and Aino Minako was going to find love, come hell or high water.

Her diary continued. The next entry was 'Tenoh Haruka'.

Tenoh Haruka had walked into her life in a twirl of cherry blossoms. He was perfect. Who the hell wouldn't have a crush on Tenoh Haruka? Cool, suave, and drop dead gorgeous. It didn't matter that he turned out to be a she. Minako didn't notice that at first and to her mild surprise, it didn't actually make a difference. Haruka was damn sexy either way. There was however, a much bigger issue. Michiru: the equally drop dead gorgeous girl Haurka was always with. Those two were in love. Capital letters L-O-V-E. Whether or not they acknowledged it was between them. Minako backed away from that hot mess in the making in a hurry.

Those were hectic times. Looking back at all the entries in her little orange book, Minako noticed a pattern. All her previous "romances" were all on her own terms. She loved them because she wanted to, and stopped when she wanted to move on. In the end, she always made a decision between love and duty.

That was all years ago.

She was with Rei now. Rei was the exception. Being with Rei was as natural as breathing, and frankly, just as vital. Minako learned that it wasn't love or duty, one or the other. Duty was duty. Love was love. It wasn't a choice.

Minako closed her journal. She didn't need it anymore. She knew exactly who she was.

She was Aino Minako and she was, without a doubt, madly in love with Hino Rei.

A.N.

Day 2 of our pride drabblefest focuses on the Goddess of Love herself.

Up next: Yellow - Walking on Sunshine