Notes: Episode 114, "Crazy for Celebrities! Mimete, in Doubt". Or, "The one where Minako and Mimete are rivals in an idol contest".

Episode 114

What was she doing here? Venus didn't know. It had taken her almost three hours to cross the warzone that was now Tokyo. She could've gone faster, but had promised Jupiter she'd avoid any fights. Enough promises had been broken lately; slow it was, then. She'd managed to stay out of sight most of the way, and the one patrol that had spotted her? That had hardly been a fight. A scuffle, maybe, but not a FIGHT.

Now here she was, in her old room of her old home, wondering what the hell she was doing.

It actually didn't look too bad, from the inside. The windows were busted, of course, and part of one wall was missing along with a chunk of roof, but otherwise? If you could get past the ash making everything a sick grey, it almost looked normal.

It bothered her that normal wasn't comforting anymore.

Suddenly she just wanted to leave. Rei was right, this was a stupid idea.

But she'd come all this way. She needed … something.

Venus turned in a circle, her eyes raking the space that had once been her personal domain, her sanctuary. Endless stuffed animals stared back. A few books, some CDs. A Sailor V manga? The thought made her stomach lurch.

She was about to go when she spotted something poking out from under the bed. Her photo album. One of the explosions must've knocked it from the shelf.

Hand trembling (she willed it to steady and refused to move until it obeyed), she reached out and picked up the book. Her fingers stroked the cover, leaving trails behind in the dust and soot.

She flipped it open to a random page, and saw herself staring back through time. Venus recognized the moment instantly: the first day of their last year of high school. They were all there, all smiles, everything ahead of them.

So young.

The book snapped shut, but she didn't put it back. Rather, she tightened her grip and was preparing to leave when something else caught her eye.

Minako had bought plenty of CDs in her time. Even when she moved out for college, most of them remained here, still in the exact way she'd organized them (which made no sense to anyone else in the world, and was part of why she loved it so much). There were dozens and dozens of them, but one in particular stood out.

Jinta Araki.

Of all the idols that had come and gone (and there had been so many), he remained one of her favourites. She'd never forgotten meeting him, however briefly, and saving his life, though he'd never known it.

"Everyone will forget about me at some point."

She'd been star-struck and unable to respond, but his words had meant something. The sadness in them, the acceptance of inevitability. And Minako promised herself then and there that she'd never forget him.

So that was TWO promises kept today. She was on a roll.

Venus tucked the CD safely into the photo album. Maybe Ami could rig up some way to play it, she thought as she leapt through the hole in the wall and landed back on the rubble-strewn streets. "Blue Crisis Love" had always been her favourite.

It was not supposed to be this, but it seemed pretty adamant it wasn't going to be anything else.