Keith was surprised to find Sailor Venus already sitting at a table in an alcove when he arrived at the Crystal Lantern ten minutes before seven, since Sailor Venus was notorious for always being late. She wore a red sheath dress that matched the bow in her hair.
Keith bowed. "Sailor Venus."
"Just call me Minako," she said.
"Tell me about yourself," Minako said after the waiter had taken their order.
"Well, I'm twenty-five. My parents are from Norway though I was born and raised here in Crystal Tokyo. I like to play soccer. How about you?"
"I'm eighty-nine," said Minako with a wry smile. "But you probably know the major details of my life from your history classes?"
Keith nodded.
"I like to play volleyball. My favorite flowers are dandelions and orchids."
The conversation continued nonstop throughout dinner. After dessert, Keith said, "There's something I want to ask you."
"Go ahead," said Minako.
Keith hesitated. "I need to explain something first. I have had visions or hallucinations for as long as I can remember. I used to black out from the visions. My parents took me to doctors, but they couldn't figure out what was wrong with me. When I was eight, one of the doctors referred me to see Dr. Mizuno, Sailor Mercury. Sailor Mercury examined me and said that I was in good physical health and referred me to see the head priestess, Sailor Mars, at the Temple.
"Sailor Mars made me stare into a fire for an hour. I didn't see anything but flames in the fire but afterward, Mars told me and my parents that the visions I'd been having were memories from my two previous lives and that this was my third reincarnation. She taught me some meditation techniques so I didn't black out from the visions anymore."
"There have been many instances of this sort of thing occurring during the past seventy years," said Minako. "The Silver Crystal, in addition to stopping aging, also restores memories of previous reincarnations."
"Sailor Mars did say I wasn't the first person who came to her for help with visions," said Keith.
"What are the two previous lifetimes you remember?"
"My visions never last long so it's hard to be sure of what I am remembering," said Keith. "They only last about five or ten seconds. And I always get double visions, with both visions occurring at the same time. Like, I once had a vision of myself playing soccer with a group of kids my age. At the same time, I was also having a vision of practicing sword-fighting with a group of boys. Anyway, I think that one of my previous lives was during the late twentieth century, judging by the clothes and cars I see. The other reincarnation is harder to pinpoint, but I think it's during the Silver Millennium."
Minako watched him intently.
"I've seen you in several of my Silver Millennium memories over the past year," Keith said. "Did you know me back then? Do you remember who I was?"
Minako hesitated, then finally said, "When Rei first met you seventeen years ago, she suspected you had lived one of your previous lives during the Silver Millennium During your meditation lessons with her, she became certain that was the case. Rei further suspected that you were one of our friends in the Silver Millennium We knew that four of our friends from that time had been reincarnated into the world about twenty-five years ago."
"Who am I?"
"Rei was never certain which of our friends you were. But when you gave me the speeding ticket the other day, I became fairly certain I knew who you were."
"Does it help if I tell you that I remember us being involved in a relationship? A romantic relationship?" said Keith stiffly.
Minako smiled at his discomfort. "That clarifies things then. I am now one-hundred percent certain I know who you were."
"Well, who am I?" Keith asked when she didn't say anything else.
"I'm not going to tell you." Minako held up a hand when Keith protested. "You are very close to regaining all of your memories. You'll remember everything on your own soon enough."
Keith narrowed his eyes and added up what Minako had just said and what Sailor Mars had told him years ago during one of his meditation lessons. "My memories of my past lives age as I age. When I was ten, I remembered being ten in both of my past lives. And when I was twenty, I remembered being twenty in my past lives. Sailor Mars said the visions will continue until I die in the past. Since you said that I'll soon remember everything, that means I will soon be remembering my death."
Minako winced. "Yes. You died young. In both of your past lives."
"We knew each other in the twentieth century also?"
"Not really. We … met very briefly once."
Keith nodded, wondering at what she was not saying.
Minako looked steadily at Keith. "When you do regain your memories, call me immediately."
Keith nodded slowly. "Alright."
Minako instantly turned from serious to flirtatious. "Excellent! So, how about dinner tomorrow night?"
