Sanc Kingdom, AC 195

"You know if you spend much more time in front of the mirror you're going to be late for class," the dark-haired girl remarked as she rose up from the bed where she'd been sitting. Her companion and roommate, a blond wearing an identical rose uniform, paid little attention to her as she continued to adjust the red bow tying her tresses away from her pretty face.

"Correction: we'll be late," the girl replied, tucking a stray hair back into place.

The darker one rolled her eyes. "I'm not waiting for you, Mina. I know we don't have to worry about Miss Relena chewing anyone out for being late, but honestly, does a woman of your rank always have to be so late for everything?" Opening the door, she stepped out of the dorm into the hall, never once looking back.

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" Minako cried, dashing after her friend. Catching up with her at the elevator, her bright blue eyes narrowed into a piercing glare. "You can be so mean sometimes, Rei-chan."

Rei shrugged. "It's not my concern."

The elevator was empty when it arrived, giving the girls room to lean back on the rail and stare out the clear shaft to the gorgeous landscape of the campus. Minako sighed. "Well, maybe if you were nicer, you'd have more friends."

A ding from the elevator announced their arrival, and again, Rei took little notice of the remark. "Like I said, it's not my concern. We're not here to make friends, Mina."

"Don't let Miss Relena hear you say that," Minako murmured as they entered the school. Walking down the hall to the large classroom where their thirty-something other classmates (all girls in the same dress and blazer as them) were milling about, gossiping about the war and all that went with it. Only when the bell rang and Relena arrived did they order themselves and take their seats.

But to their surprise, she wasn't alone. Beside her was a short girl with long blond pigtails wearing the school uniform, smiling to beat the band and acting as though she were in a theme park, not a private institution.

"Ladies, this is Miss Usagi Hisakata. She's just moved here from the colonies and will be joining our class. Miss Hisakata, is there anything you'd like to say about yourself?" Relena glanced at the girl who was surely no younger than her, but definitely looked out-of-place amongst the young aristocrats before her.

"Sure! Well, like Miss Relena said, I'm Usagi. I was actually born here in the Sanc Kingdom, but I've lived in the colonies since I was two. My dad is a contractor and my mom's a teacher, and I also have an older brother named Shingo," Tilting her head slightly, the girl scanned the faces in the room. "I really hope I can be friends with all of you!"

Relena was beaming. "I'm sure we'll all be friends, Miss Hisakata. Now, why don't you take the seat over there, between Miss Gyousei and Miss Taiyou, and we'll start our discussion for the day."

Considering Rei's attitude that morning, Minako was actually grateful that the new girl would be coming between them. Giving her a friendly smile, she held out her hand to her as she sat down. "Hi! I'm Minako! I love your hair!" she whispered.

Usagi smiled back. "Thanks!" Turning around, she glanced at the darker girl on her other side. "And what's your name?"

The addressed girl didn't even look at her. "Rei," she answered shortly, then moved her desk into the circle quickly forming in the middle of the room.

TWO:

Aphrodite

L4, AC 199

"In other entertainment news, the up-and-coming pop idol from the colonies, Aphrodite, is in the studio again working on her second album. Her breakout CD, Love Chain, went platinum last christmas, and after finishing up the Earth-leg of a sold-out tour over the summer--"

The TV clicked off with a groan. "God, do these people never shut up?" Minako groaned, reaching into the candy bowl for another handful of jelly beans.

"Come now, Mina. Don't pretend like you don't love the publicity. Your ego is always starved for stroking," her companion, a tall, attractive woman with long platinum blond hair remarked.

Minako hesitated. "Dorothy, is that an insult?" she asked, narrowing her eyes.

Dorothy only laughed, evoking an eye-roll from the other woman. "I swear, sometimes you're as bad as Rei," Minako grumbled. Standing up, she brushed herself off and looked in the mirror. With only a few minor adjustments, everything was in place. Turning around, she looked back at her friend. "And speaking of Rei, you'll be at her party over the weekend, right?"

"Hm..." Dorothy tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Most likely. It's been a while since I've reunited with my old school friends. Too bad Miss Relena can't join us." A pause, and a half-interested glance back at Minako. "She can't, can she?"

"How should I know? I'm not in contact with her or anything!" she snapped. "And anyways, I don't think Relena's really interested in the activities of her old students. Furthermore, you were the only one who ever hung around with her. Up until the invasion..."

Another pause, an awkward one this time. Minako and Rei both knew about what Dorothy had done after the school was closed, when the former had sought shelter writing songs in England and the latter had returned to space to protect her home. Neither one really compared with joining up with White Fang and trying to destroy the world. Oh Dorothy could argue all she liked about how she didn't want to do it, how she tried to stop Quinze and Milliardo Peacecraft, but no one really believed her. Not even Minako.

She shook her head and continued on, pulling on her jacket and reaching for her purse. "But anyways, knowing Relena, she's got some sort of bureaucratic whatever going on down on Earth. Personally, I think Usagi should come, but..."

"Usagi doesn't exactly fit in, does she?" Dorothy murmured. Minako sighed and nodded in agreement. Her friend raised an eyebrow. "Well for goodness sake, Mina, it's not like it's YOUR fault she's poor."

"She's not poor! She's working for Lady Une, after all..."

"Good point. Noveau riche then," Dorothy conceded. "Well, I always got the feeling that Rei never liked her that much anyways. Then again, Rei doesn't seem to like anyone that much. Not even Quatre Raberba Winner."

Minako winced a little at the name, and knowing Dorothy, that was probably the intended effect. Indeed, she thought she could see a wicked little smirk on the woman's face. "I gotta go, Dorothy. I'll be late for my meeting."

"All right. See you this weekend!" Minako was already down the hall at the elevator when she saw Dorothy poke her head out the penthouse door. "Hey!" she shouted. "Maybe you should grace us with a performance at the party, Aphrodite!"

She pretended not to hear the comment, only slipping on her sunglasses and stepping into the elevator. Minako told herself she wasn't living a double life, since her family and closest friends knew about her career as a musician. Even when others, specifically members of colonial high society, began putting two and two together upon seeing pictures of Aphrodite and Minako, she didn't bother denying it. But tabloids always started snooping around in the lives of heiresses when there weren't any juicy stories about idols, and if she wasn't careful, the totally-not-secret life of Minako Gyousei would explode into the SHAMEFUL DOUBLE LIFE OF APHRODITE REVEALED! To hell with whatever Dorothy said about publicity, Minako wanted to keep her dignity.

It wasn't a long walk to the studio from Dorothy's, and as usual in the colonies, the artificial weather was perfect. But Minako preferred bad weather on Earth to good weather in space, and spent most of her walk daydreaming about both her tour over the summer and her time in the Sanc Kingdom.

So engrossed was she, that she almost walked right past the studio, only to be grabbed by the collar and dragged towards the door.

"Minako, I swear to god, if you don't get your head out of the clouds I'm going to freakin' kill you one of these days!" Alice, her manager, snapped as she hauled her most ungraciously into the lobby. "You were supposed to be here twenty-minutes ago! We're lucky her schedule was free and she was in a good mood! Otherwise we would have no backup for you and we'd be losing out on all the money this next single is going to bring in, and--"

"Whoa, Alice! Slow down!" Minako gasped, wriggling free from the older woman's grasp. "What are you even talking about? I thought we were just supposed to be meeting about a name for the album...?"

Her manager stared at her, then thumped Minako's forehead with the heel of her hand. "You are a total idiot! What did I tell you when you hired me? I said, "I'll always send you an updated schedule every morning, Minako. Check your e-mail every morning." Have I, or have I not, told you that a MILLION TIMES?!?!?!?!"

Minako shrugged. "I don't count."

Alice looked like she was going to explode, then took a deep breath. Minako could see her silently counting backwards from five. "Well, my e-mail this morning said that we would be having a meeting with Michiru Unabara."

Her employer gave her a blank look. "Who?"

The manager looked one step away from suicide, but a clear laugh rang out and Minako felt a hand on her shoulder. Turning around, she saw a beautiful woman in her early twenties, with wavy blue-green hair and clear eyes of a similar shade. "Don't worry, if I were you, I wouldn't know me either," the woman remarked, holding out a hand. "Miss Gyousei, it's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Michiru Unabara, first violinist of the London Philharmonic."

"The pleasure's all mine," Minako replied with a smile. "And you can call me Mina."

"Well, ah, ladies," Alice remarked, trying to regain her senses. "Why don't we go into the conference room for some coffee and have a little chat. I think with a bit of brainstorming and an hour of experimentation, the colonies' most famous idol and Earth's most famous virtuoso should be able to come up with something..."

Indeed, as Minako clicked into business mode (after her second cup of coffee and third doughnut), she felt a good connection with the violinist. Although Alice had suggested that Michiru should provide core instrumentals for an already-written song, that idea was soon set aside when Minako asked for a demonstration.

And demonstrate she did. Picking up her violin, Michiru began a slow and mournful song, which slowly picked up pace until the sadness turned to rage. Minako closed her eyes and listened, feeling blurry words coming to mind. But before she could figure out what they were, the song was over.

Opening her eyes, the singer stared at the violinist. "Wow...I can see why you're first chair," she remarked, earning another laugh from Michiru.

"What can I say, it pays the bills," she replied.

"Is that Mozart or something? Or did you..."

"I wrote it, yes. Not too long ago, in fact. It doesn't even have a name yet," Michiru explained. "I was thinking that perhaps it could use some tweaking by someone who has a background in more...popular...music."

"You do? Can I?" Minako gasped. She was dimly aware of Alice murmuring something about how she didn't have time to work on another song, not with the dozen she already needed to record for the new CD, but she shook it off.

"Sure, but..." As if on cue, Michiru's cell phone went off. She gave the idol a guilty smile. "I'm afraid I have to catch a flight to L3. Perhaps if you don't mind working over the weekend...?"

Minako's face fell. "Well, I do have plans to go to a party..."

Michiru nodded and laid the violin in its case. "Of course, I understand."

"But wait!" the younger woman cried, an idea suddenly coming into her head. "Come with me, as my guest! My...friend, he plays the violin as well. He's very good, and I'm sure he's heard of you and would love to meet you. And the party's right here in the colony. We could work in the studio during the day and then go to the party in the evening!"

Her would-be collaborator looked hesitant. "You're sure it would be all right?"

"Of course! The hostess, Rei Taiyou, is practically my best friend." A slight exaggeration. "Well, she's my oldest friend." That was true. Minako, Rei, and Quatre had known each other since they were in diapers, and though they had been separated over most of their teen years, they never stopped considering themselves friends.

Michiru broke into a smile. "Then I would be honored to join you, Miss Gyousei. I will certainly be in touch over the course of this week."

"Just make sure not to e-mail her," Alice grumbled, earning a dirty look from the young idol. All three of the women walked to the door. A cab was waiting outside. Turning around, Michiru smiled. "It was nice meeting both of you."

"Nice meeting you too, Miss Unabara," Minako replied.

"Please, just Michiru," she corrected, then climbed into the car. It pulled away from the curb, then rolled down the street and around the corner.

Once it was out of sight, Alice dropped the happy facade and glared at Minako. "Don't think you're not in trouble just because you somehow managed to schmooze classical music's biggest diva, Missy."

"Diva?" she answered confusedly. "I don't get it...Michiru seems really nice."

"Yes, well...they say Miss Unabara's temper is like the sea. Perfectly calm one moment, a raging typhoon of death and destruction the next. I would back off if I were you. Besides, you're supposed to be the idol here, not the drooling fangirl."

"I was not drooling!"

"Oh please. When she was playing..."

Minako folded her arms huffily. "For your information, I was getting into the music because I liked it. She's talented. And as a fellow musician, I can totally recognize stuff like that. I like, get into the feeling of it and I could feel the words coming. There's really good song waiting to be born between us, I just feel it," she finished thoughtfully, then glanced back at her manager. "But see, only people with imagination, who don't spend their time making stupid schedules and writing a billion e-mails a day know that."

Alice sighed. "Christ, I give up Minako. Go on, go do...Minako things. I'm gonna hit the bar."

Her face lit up, and Minako threw her arms around her manager. "I love you, Alice!" she remarked cheerfully, then slipped on her sunglasses and bounded out the door and down the sidewalk. Just as her head had been in the clouds on the way over to the studio, there it was again as she strolled through the colony's streets, which were growing busier and busier as rush hour progressed. When her phone started going off, it had already rung several times before opening it.

"Hello?"

"Mina?"

She tried not to gasp. "Quatre! Hi! What's up?"

"What are you doing?" the young man on the other end asked. Even the sound of his voice made her heart pick up. "It's really noisy..."

"Yeah, I'm walking home from the studio. Do you want me to call you back when I get home?" Minako asked, looking back and forth as she crossed the streets.

"Well, I was calling because Rei left a strange message on my voicemail. I'm going to be stuck in a meeting until later tonight so I was wondering if you could check on her..."

Her face fell. Of course, as Rei's best friend (scratch that, oldest friend...scratch that too, since Minako was probably Rei's only friend), she couldn't exactly say no to the request. "Yeah sure, no problem. But before you go, I've got some big news for you. About this weekend."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, you won't believe it. Today--"

A car horn cut off her words and the phone went flying across the pavement. Minako had just enough time to see a yellow sports car braking towards her when something slammed into her body, grazing her skin on the rough sidewalk.

Groaning, she looked up and into the deep green eyes of a very pale man. White hair as long as her own covered them both, and as a strand of it lay across her cheek, Minako was shocked at its softness.

Slowly the man climbed off of her. "Are you all right?" he asked, his eyes never leaving her own.

She blinked, and was suddenly aware of the commotion around her. Other people were grabbing onto her, asking if she was all right. The yellow car was nowhere to be seen. As if in a dream, she nodded, then searched for her voice. "Yeah...a little skinned, but I'm okay," she answered, as it slowly lurched up into her mouth.

Bending down, the man picked up her phone, which was, amazingly, unbroken. "I'm glad," he answered.

From the earpiece, Minako could hear Quatre calling her name frantically. Raising it to her ear, she took a few deep breaths. "Quatre?" she asked.

"Mina! Thank God! I heard car horns, and then a crash...are you okay? Do you need to go to the hospital? Mina?"

"I'm here, Quatre," Minako answered. "I was saved...saved by...where...?"

The pale man was gone.

"Listen to me, Mina. Go home. I'll be there as soon as possible, okay? Don't worry about Rei, just go home and stay there. Please, Mina. I'll call your phone every five minutes until I get there."

"Yeah, okay." She felt numb. On any other occasion, the chance at spending personal, one-on-one time with Quatre would have made her flip out beyond all compare. But the events of the past few minutes (Minutes? They could have been years, for as long as they felt) had her in shock. She didn't even realize she had continued walking home until she was at the door of her building.

Sure enough, Quatre called just as she got in the elevator. And then he called again when she was laying on the couch in her penthouse living room. And once more when she was getting a drink of water. Finally, she heard the knock on her door, and called out that it was unlocked.

"I got here as fast as I could, Mina. Are you okay? How are you feeling?" he asked, removing his coat and scarf and taking her by the shoulders. Staring into her eyes to check for dilation, Minako suddenly remembered herself, and blushed when she realized how close she was to the object of her unrequited infatuation.

"I'm fine, Quatre, really," she replied, not removing his hands from her yet. "I wasn't looking where I was going, and I stepped out in front of a car. My phone went flying, so that's probably why it sounded so bad to you."

He looked at her thoughtfully. "And you said you were...saved?"

Minako shrugged nonchalantly. "Yeah, by some guy who just came out of nowhere. Went right back to nowhere too, after he asked if I was okay."

Quatre frowned. "Sounds strange to me..."

"No kidding. You weren't even there," she replied.

The young man cracked a smile. "Well, you seem okay now. Still though, just lay down and rest, okay? Are you hungry? I can make dinner for you if you want..."

Minako blinked in surprise, and felt her face growing hot again. "You're staying?"

"For a little while, yes. Just to make sure you're really okay, and not trying to fool me. That's okay, right?" Quatre asked, tilting his head slightly.

She turned away quickly. "Yeah, of course, That's...really sweet of you. But you don't have to make dinner for me. Just order some Indian or something. I'm going to go take a bath."

"Good idea," he agreed. "I'll let you know when the food gets here."

Giving him a quick smile, Minako fled into her bathroom. "This is so stupid," she muttered to herself. "You're acting like a fricken' high schooler, Mina! He's one of your best friends! He's dating your bes--your friend...well...sort of. Why should you be getting so flustered around him?" She looked in the mirror. "Because he's gorgeous," she answered herself, matter-of-factly. "And sweet, and rich, and a gentleman...that's why he came over tonight, right? Because he was worried about me. His friend. And a lady. He believes in chivalry, right?" Untying her bow (which was still crooked), she let her hair down and paused, letting the thoughts in her mind flow out of her mouth. "Unless...maybe I've had him pegged wrong all along. Maybe Rei's not the one he wants after all. Maybe...just maybe..."

She could hear him on the phone now, ordering the food. Or...wait...

"I'm really worried about you, Rei," Quatre said, his voice soft but seeming loud as a jet engine to Minako in her silent bathroom. "I'm sure Minako will be fine, she bounces back from things like this all the time. But you...you haven't been yourself lately. I wish you would tell me what's wrong...don't lie to me Rei! I know something's bothering you, I can feel it. You know what I mean!"

He was quiet for a while. "Yes...yes, I understand Rei. Well, I'll come over when I'm done here. Please wait for me." Quatre set down the phone. "Rei..." he murmured, just loud enough for Minako to hear.

The feeling dropped out of her again, and she turned on the tap in the bathtub, driving all silence from the room with the sound of scalding, rushing water.