Act 35
Scene 1
"I decided not to use my time in vein." Minako regarded her stuffed guardian with sympathy. She would never be able to understand how he was able to deal with all of this. "We have a mission passed down from our past life right? That's what I live for. So that the past doesn't repeat."
"Minako." Artemis shook his head and sighed. "You have more to live for than just the mission."
"I thought the mission was the only thing mattered." Minako regarded the cat suspiciously. "Where did your sudden change of heart come from?"
Artemis couldn't tell her. He had made a promise to Mars. But what if he could tell her? Artemis was reluctant to think of the possibility. He wasn't immune to reality, and as I continued to settle in and he was faced with the inevitability of losing his Minako his insistence on focusing solely on the mission began to fade. She could finally be happy in this life. And so maybe if he could tell her, she would want to fight to live in this life. No matter how hard he tried he would never be able to understand the reasoning for the suffering inflicted upon Minako. Happiness shouldn't be this difficult.
Maybe he could appeal to reason. He had always regarded his charge as a sensible girl. He would just conveniently forget the fact that those scorned by love are rarely reasonable, if ever. But still, it was worth a shot.
"But your life as Aino Minako matters too."
Minako laughed and laid her head back down on her pillow. She could hear the IV dripping in the background. She let the sound fill her being, her mind becoming lost in its rhythmic quality. She often thought, while she spent these nights alone with Artemis in the hospital, that if she could just cry maybe she would feel better. But try as she might, the release of grief was not something that had come very easily to her for some time now. Minako glanced sardonically over at the table across the room where her cell phone sat silently, exactly as it had been for the past five days. Without being able to find comfort in either grief or love, Minako was systematically convincing herself that this life was truly useful for nothing more than fulfilling her mission from the past.
"There is nothing that Aino Minako has in this life that is worth living for." Closing her eyes Minako focused on the soothing sound of the IV. "We saw to that when we decided it would be best for me to work alone. To distance myself from the others." Minako released a shaking breath. "When we decided I had to distance myself from Mars. Can you believe that I actually started to think that she might finally be remembering the past life?"
Artemis avoided looking at Minako. The guilt he felt at not being able to tell her about his conversation with Mars threatening to eat him alive. All he could do was watch while Minako denied herself a life in the present and therefore also any chance at the human comfort she longed for. And at the same time Mars continued to vehemently fight against the influence of the past life. In this life they lived in such stark contradiction to one another. Closing his eyes, Artemis wished that he could just knock their heads together and tell them both to stop being so emotionally inept and just do what they both wanted so much to do.
"Artemis?"
Artemis moved towards his charge. "Yes?"
Minako turned her head to look out the window of her room. "Can you leave me alone for a bit? Just until this treatment is done?" She couldn't bear to look at Artemis any longer. She was so angry at him for everything. And she was angry at herself for being angry at him, after all, they had at one point in time made those decisions together. What right did she have to exact judgement on Artemis when she had been just as guilty? Still solace is misery's most often kept companion and for the life of her all Minako wanted right now was to be truly and completely alone.
Artemis hopped down from the bed without a sound and pushed his way out of the slightly open door. Minako continued to stare out the window, watching as the clouds blocked out the moon and the stars one by one. By the lengthening of the time between the drips in her IV bag, Minako could tell that the nurse would be back shortly to do a final check-up and send her on her way. This hospital room was becoming the embodiment of the feelings she held within herself. Cold, sterile and so lonely it was unbearable. She wished that, just for a moment, time could slow down and she could remain here alone with her thoughts and the reality of her death until her heart could resign itself to the conclusion her head was coming to.
Aino Minako could no longer exist. There was only time for Venus and the mission. Nothing else in this world mattered.
Scene 2
"You love him so much." Minako couldn't stand it any longer. Standing there watching her Princess forget her truest love. She just couldn't do it. She knew all to well what it was like to be part of a forgotten love and she couldn't cause her Princess that kind of pain. Even for the sake of her mission. Giving in, Minako dropped the music box to the floor.
Scene 3
Minako smiled sadly to herself as she left her Princess and Endymion alone on the rooftop. For all her earlier bravado she had only proved that she was still just as much a slave to her emotions as she had always been. She was at the same time disgusted with her inability to go through with her mission as she was glad that she was still herself enough to stop.
"You couldn't go through with it." Turning around, Minako saw Artemis following her down the stairs. She waited until he was two steps above her so that she could pick him up and carry him in her arms.
"Who am I to deny her that kind of happiness? They are just like we were." Minako sighed and shook her head. "She's never going to remember is she?"
"I don't know." Artemis was waiting for the negative karmic feedback to hit him full force any second now.
"Well it doesn't matter anymore anyhow." Minako put on her best brave face. It was a face born from years of practice. She had fought countless youma and faced many other demons in her short life. And now it was time for her to accept that the sun did not come up because of one person. If she could leave behind the part of her that wanted more than just to save the world then she could meet her fate head on. And so she threw up her walls and did her best to lock the door on her memories.
Minako reached the car that was waiting outside for her. Placing Artemis down on the seat beside her she lead forward to speak to the driver.
"We have to hurry or we're going to be late for the concert." The driver nodded and pulled away from the curb while Venus glanced back at the place where she began leaving Aino Minako behind.
Author's Note: So this chapter ended up being much shorter than I had originally drafted it to be. I was going to include Act 36 in this one as well, but then I though of a different way to tackle Act 36 and it became such a long section on it's own that I needed to give it it's own chapter. But I'll talk more about that in that 'Author's Note.'
DavisJes: As far as wikipedia knows the part about the 'whole nine yards' is true. I often find myself using that statement, probably about once a week and when it found it's way out of my head and into this story I wanted to see if I could find out an origin on it. There were a couple other origins suggested in the wiki article, but this one seemed the most likely for someone to know as it dealt with actual topics that could, in theory, be discussed in a history class... I'm not sure what kind of history class, but some kind I'm sure! As for where this story is going... My plans see it going into the special act for sure. As for anything after that, well that all depends on how quickly these two can get their act together ;)
