MoonDragon: It's been like a month... sorry about that. I've been having a lot of computer problems. I got a new computer which is awesome, but it took a while to set it up. Then I had to transfer all of my old stuff onto the new one, and THAT took a while. Then I wrote this chapter a long time ago, but couldn't put it up because Fanfiction wouldn't accept the program which I wrote it on, so I had to get a Microsoft Word CD and load it up. NOW it's here; short, but here.

It's a little shorter than the other chapters, but that's because I'm going to switch it to Chibiusa's POV next chapter to build her friendship with Hotaru, and I thought it would just be best to split them into two chaps. Next update will definetely NOT be this late; promise. Sorry about this, and thanks for waiting :D

Unspoken Memories

Chapter 21

"I can't believe this! You shouldn't be at school, why are you here?!" Minako shouted running through the upper story of her high school. Her chest elevated with her breath as she pumped her legs in front of her for more speed. In her line of vision she could see Artemis's white tail flailing behind him as if taunting her. She growled feeling the adrenaline in her system hitch up a notch as he dared to challenge her now of all times.

Out of nowhere, while she was taking a test no less, he came frantically frisking into her classroom and begun to cause a commotion. In the process of whatever little plan he had conceded up in that furry brain of his he managed to ruin several test sheets, including hers, and ruined beyond repair the teacher's plan book. His face was raised in a smile as if this was all preplanned, and she felt as if she were looking at the Cheshire cat's grin from Alice and Wonderland.

As Minako shouted for him to behave himself the teacher found out he belonged to her and ordered her to get the problem under control… along with a zero on the ruined test. That was how this whole mess started.

"Do you know how much trouble your little stunt caused me?!" She hustled up the stairs into the greenhouse keeping track of him as best as she could. "Oh, when I get my hands on you I'll- ow!" In the blonde's fury she had slipped on a patch of fallen dirt lain recklessly on the ground and tumbled into an empty pot. Groaning in pain, holding her elbow where a bruise was sure to form, she growled out at the cause of all of this; "Artemis…"

Brushing her soiled uniform to get the dirt off for the most part she managed to stand holding onto the tables strewn with plants to stabilize her footsteps. The fall had left her uncoordinated and she had a limp in her new step; like a new born animal first learning to walk. Or maybe it was from overexerting herself with the high-speed chase which at least a third of the school had witnessed. Now she thought of the embarrassment she was sure to endure for days upon days, maybe even leaking into weeks. It only heightened her frustration.

From her crash she had lost sight of her feline, but by deducting the situation he had only one place to go; the school roof. Heading towards the open door she rested a hand on the archway even after realizing she could walk fine now. Her excuse this time was that she was out of breath and needed to recuperate for a moment. Not too mention she was dieing under the extreme humidity that the greenhouse required for its plethora of plants.

The glistening sunlight struck her corneas a bit too harshly causing her vision to blacken out for a bit, but even though she couldn't see she knew Artemis was in front of her. It was like she could feel the tension in the air of him being caught.

"There you are," Minako wheezed out triumphantly, a victory smirk plastered on her lips. "You are so in for it…" Her light blue eyes began to readjust to the light change and gradually her vision was returning.

The first thing that she realized was that part of the light which had blinded her was a glimmering rainbow sheen emitting from a girl sitting on an elevated patch of roof. Vision still a bit hazy, she curiously tried to look and discover what it could be. Seeing it brought out an emotion of nostalgia. Its small, warm light coated her like a second skin. It was as comforting as an embrace… yet it somehow felt melancholy and lonely. It was like a miniature heart with so much emotion it was practically smothering her.

'Wow, what is that?' she wondered trying to see clearly. 'So pretty… My body is acting strangely. That light is affecting me… I think I've felt like this before, but I can't remember where or why…'

As Minako's eyes cleared up and she had completely adapted to the brightness Artemis jumped in the mystery girl's lap. His white head veiled whatever was glowing, and in a single moment the rainbow light disappeared.

Blinking, as if imagining it, she stood up correctly walking over to her pet. First thing was first; punishment was in need of being carried out. She took satisfaction as his ears drooped and head tucked into her shoulders knowing the wrath she was going to set upon him. 'That's right! You better feel sorry!'

Before she could go on a screaming rampage with him about all of the grief he had caused her, she stopped seeing him burrowing into the girls form. Minako paused taking a minute to examine the teen.

She was unlike anything Minako had ever seen before. Hair that sparkled in a mix of gold and silver. Skin as pale as moonlight but not at all unhealthy looking. Eyes a deeper blue than even the clearest sky. Eyes which were right then paralyzed in what seemed to be fear. They stared straight back at her as if locked into place. Mixtures of emotions were running through them, but fear was the most eminent one, and the blonde couldn't help but ponder over why she was so frightened.

Taking a further look at her eyes she could see how they were foggy with slight bags formed under them from maybe a lack of sleep. The golden haired girl's cheeks were also tinted red, and she overall looked really wiped out.

Examining the teenager beyond facial features she saw that her hands looked like they were holding something a ways out in front of her. They, too, were frozen making Minako believe that she was actually looking at a remarkably human-like wax dummy. The way they were placed in was the same area that she saw the mysterious glowing come from and she hoped the girl would know what that was earlier.

"Hey, did you see something shinning just now…?"

ooOoo

Minako walked closer to Usagi and she couldn't find the strength to move. So this was what Artemis meant by he was bringing her one part of something she really wanted to see; her friends. 'But why does his timing have to be so completely awful?! She can see the crystal, can't she? How am I supposed to explain this?'

Thankfully, Artemis leaped up into her lap concealing the light mouthing the words 'hurry' to her. When Minako made her way one foot in front of her it was safely secure back next to her heart. Even then she didn't move an inch as she furiously pondered over what the heck she should say.

Her old friend asked her something, but Usagi was too frozen to respond or even make out what it was she was asking. This was definitely not her favorite week. Everything seemed to be going wrong.

"Yoo-hoo?" Minako tried getting her attention by waving a hand in front of her face.

Shaking her head breaking free of her trance Usagi berated herself. She wasn't going to act strange and mess up like this scaring Minako off; she wanted her friends back. Truthfully, she still didn't have the answer to whether or not it was right to get close to them again after what she did, but if only for today she wanted to be by them. 'I can have that much, can't I?'

"I'm sorry, what? I must've been daydreaming," she giggled merrily poking her tongue out while shrugging her shoulders. Putting on a true, elated smile she looked straight at her. The former Sailor Venus seemed taken back from the sudden change, but it made her grin in return.

"Did you see that light just now? It was so strange, tell me I'm not hallucinating," she asked again. Thinking quick Usagi waved it off trying to get a believable excuse.

"Nope. Maybe you just… um… saw a… sun glare? Yeah, there's a lot of reflective stuff up here what with all of the glass! Maybe that's what you saw!" Usagi laughed nervously scratching the back of her head. 'Why is it that whenever I need to lie I can't do it smoothly?'

Minako gave her a skeptical look. Before opening her mouth she closed it suddenly getting a dangerously eager look in her eyes. The golden hair girl could've groaned. She was a very curious girl; she wasn't just going to let this go. This was going to be just like that time she accidentally ran into her at the park. Minako wouldn't rest until she had the answer.

"Oookay," she dragged out innocently hopping onto the roof to sit next to her implying she wouldn't ask further. Usagi grinned; Minako clearly wasn't convinced. She wasn't giving up, but was going to drop the subject for the meantime. Maybe it was that quality in her that made her such a fine leader.

Suddenly, the blonde's eyebrows furrowed as she glared down at Artemis. It was then that Usagi realized he had been trembling the entire time he was in her lap.

"Hey, you want to hand me that traitorous ball of fur?"

As if not knowing his relationship to her she inquired, "Is this your cat?"

"Well, I sure thought so until he suddenly turned into my enemy," she declared ticked off. Artemis squirmed in Usagi's lap trying to hold on as Minako plucked him into her grasp. With a look of apology she let him be taken.

"What did he do? You seemed pretty angry chasing him up all the way here," she asked grinning. Artemis had a habit of acting without thinking, and just like any other time it was sure to get him in trouble.

A stray yawn escaped Usagi as she rubbed at her eyes. Her weariness was catching up to her. With the crystal and Minako incident she had forgotten, but it returned. She had to fight to stay awake.

"This… this… idiot just ran into my classroom and tore up everybody's test! And because of that the teacher gave me a zero for it! I was actually doing well on it, too! I want to know why you did that, Artemis!" she yelled shaking him up and down as if it would get him to spill his plan. His eyes became swirled from the motion and his head bobbed when she stopped from the momentum. "She gave me a zero and it's all your fault!"

"Way to go, Artemis, couldn't you do that at a more convenient time?" the golden haired teen mumbled disappointedly. Because he was trying to cheer her up Minako had to suffer by taking a blow to her scores. Usagi knew that her friend was right beside her grade-wise, so this really was a big deal compared to the average student. Wanting to cheer her up she patted her on the back.

"It's okay; maybe the teacher just said that in the spur of the moment! There might be some extra credit you could do…" She laughed looking at her. "And if she won't let you retake it we can TP her house tonight! You're teacher won't know what hit her! Waking up in the morning it'll be like 'Oh no, my house! I'll never recover; I've been scarred for life! If only I let her retake that test!!'"

Minako looked at her for a moment before bursting out in laughter.

"Hee hee, yeah, she'll see the error of her ways messing with me! We could be ninja and sneak out into the night on a mission! That would be so fun, we could dress up and everything!"

Usagi grinned toothily wishing they really could do that.

"I wish I could've seen it. It's not every day you see a cat going berserk in class. You'll be laughing about this in no time at all!"

"It was pretty funny," Minako confessed giggling. "When he got on the teacher's desk he spilled her coffee all over her lesson plan for the day! He also jumped on this one guy's head and he completely freaked out almost going into a seizure on the floor!" she said causing them both to snicker loudly.

"Ha ha, see? You're already laughing about it," Usagi pointed out suppressing another yawn. Her eyelids were getting heavy.

"Yeah… that's strange, I was so angry a minute ago…" She looked over at Usagi and smiled. "Thanks."

"Yep, no problem. Hee hee, I can imagine us doing the ninja thing."

"We'd be a deadly duo," Minako nodded in agreement. "We'd be ranked number one on the list of people the police need to catch."

"Definitely!"

"By the way, my name is Minako," she revealed holding out a hand. Shaking it they both smiled.

"I'm Usagi." 'This is great! I haven't laughed like this in a long time… I missed talking to my friends…'

"I really doubt my parents will like hearing about this…" Minako said distantly thinking in all seriousness now. "Oh well… I have a high A in that class… It won't be too hard of a blow, but still. Artemis is so not getting his belly rubbed tonight," she pouted and his ears fell like they were suddenly steel.

"You have a high A?!" Usagi exploded in disbelief. 'Minako-chan's grades are as horrible as mine! How can she have such a high grade?!'

"Yeah!" she said proudly. "My grades used to be sooo bad a few years ago, but suddenly I've been finding all of this time to study that I didn't have before. It's strange; I don't remember why I wouldn't have time to finish my homework back then. Since they're so great now, though, this test won't damage me too much."

Usagi felt extremely guilty learning this new piece of information. 'Her grades were so bad because of all of the work she had to do as Sailor V and Sailor Venus… I definitely can't bring the senshi back into battle. Grades are important to get a future job. I know first hand how the fighting interferes with school… Of all the times for the crystal to act up, why now?!'

"That's…" Usagi paused to yawn. Her eyes closed for at least half a minute before shakily opening up again as they talked. It's happened few times already. "That's good, then…" Minako offered a worried look.

"Are you okay? You look exhausted."

"What, me? No way, I'm fine!" she lied trying to smile widely. "Hey, we should be heading back to class now, right? Right now I'm actually supposed to be standing outside the door in punishment, and the teacher will probably come to check on me soon," she said leaping off the elevated patch of roof.

Once she landed on her feet she collapsed not being able to support her weight. Landing harshly on the ground Minako and Artemis rushed to her side.

"Usagi-chan, are you alright?!" Minako questioned placing a hand on her shoulder. The white cat gave her a worried look since he couldn't talk in front of his owner.

"Maybe… I'm not too okay right now…" she confessed closing her eyes.

"Hey, Usagi-chan, what's wrong? Stay with me! Usagi-chan!"

Before falling unconscious the golden haired teen smiled not realizing she whispered, "It's good to hear you calling me that again."