The ground opened up in front of her and when Minako raised her head the boulder was towering over her surrounded by swirling veils of the flying sand. The entrance was dark and looked like a black hole drawing everything into its unknown depths. Mina didn't know why her heart was pounding as she looked at it, but there was no reason, so she stepped inside. She walked silently down the long dark passage way that led farther and farther into the ground. There had to be a cave soon, with a water source-

The passage seemed to end and Minako pressed her hand against the wall. It swung open and blinding light shot forth. The walls of the new room were gold and lined with weapons and offerings. It seemed to be a repository for the weapons. The door across the way was marked with the sign for purified. No weapons would be allowed through.

A small stream of water trickled out of the wall into a basin carved from the rock. Minako bent and caught some in her palm, then rinsed out her mouth and washed her palms, finally touching her damp fingers to her neck as she had been taught. A crevice next to it was filled with scented oil. Minako dipped a finger and touched her left wrist, then bringing it together with her right. She had no weapons. Only then did she open the door.

The hallway beyond it led towards a dark cave with a flickering light. From one side Minako could smell water. She headed that way. There was a bath. It was only a rock pool, but the water was hot and Minako hurriedly stripped out of her traveling gear and splashed into it. She soaked for an hour, washing her hair and the grime and sand off of her body. When she got out she found a chest full of white silk shifts. She dressed in it and wrung out her hair.

The cave in the back was enclosed and lit only by a flame that rose up out of the altar in the center. Arranged around the flame were strange objects, a bowl chipped from stone, a carved wooden bird, a gold ring, a blue silk cloth. Suddenly Minako stopped her distracted glancing and almost fell towards the altar, dropping onto her knees as her hands closed on a small bound book. She opened it and on each page were lush illustrations in colored ink, accompanied on the facing page by the poem. The style of drawing, the choice of motif, even the handwriting was too familiar, it was what her mother had left there when she had become one with the goddess. The thought of being curled up in her mother's lap while she told her the stories and recited the poems was too strong, and Minako started to cry.

There was a slight rustle of silk and a hand rested on her shoulder. Minako jerked her head up and looked into the face of the woman who was not her mother and yet was.

"Mom-"

The woman smiled at her, but her eyes were too sad.

"Is it true? Is it really true that when I die I can become part of the goddess? I can be with you?"

Her eyes were still so sad, and when she spoke she spoke with the voice of a thousand women, in words that reflected back upon themselves from the most modern to ancient dialects of Venusian that were not even remembered in the rituals.

"I'm sorry. But you have a fate that will pull you away from us for eight million years."

"What?"

"Even after death your soul is bound. My liniage will end with you. You will never return to Venus. I'm sorry that your future promises so much suffering, but I would not change it, I could not. How could I deny you your role in the protection of the universe? You aren't like us. You have the potential to do so much."

"How many people do I have to kill?"

The goddess stroked her cheek. "Make your own life. It is the only way to happiness for those trapped by fate."

"I'm going to die soon."

"Will it be with honor or in fear?"

Minako closed her eyes. "You're not supposed to do this. You're supposed to be my mom, you're supposed to make things better-"

The goddess brushed away the tears that ran from her eyes. "There is nothing that I want more."

Minako awoke cold and clammy on the floor of the fire room. She gave the altar one long lingering look, then shivered and left the cave. She went into the room opposite the bath where there were piles of pillows and silks and furs, but she didn't approach them. She sat in the corner and waited, waited for her fate to arrive.

Minako woke all of a sudden still in her spot in the corner where she had been sitting for far too long, it seemed like days, but there was no way she could tell in this cave deep under the ground. She had felt herself to be half waking and half dreaming, but now she was entirely awake and her stomach was clenched tight, her heart pounding. She ran, bursting through the door into the antechamber and running, running up the passage, out of the claustrophobic, dark, rabbit den of memories. When she reached the surface she remembered where she was, in the cutting sandstorm winds wearing only a white silk shift. But then she saw what she had been running for and darted out of the cover of the cave, ignoring the sand that ripped her arms raw, ignoring everything besides catching up the limp body and pulling her to her chest, then struggling back against the wind into that deep feminine womb of Venus.

No canteen, the robes she wore fastened poorly against the wind: how on earth had she made it this far? Minako scooped water from the basin and pressed it to her mouth.

"Come on, wake up. I can't have killed you for real this time."

Rei coughed a little and refused the water, obstinant as always.

"All right, sit up now." She bullied her into a sitting position, then brought more water. "You don't have to drink it. Just rinse your mouth out. Now spit."

What Rei spit out of her mouth was thick and black. Dehydration plus sand.

"Let's do that again." It was less thick this time, but still gritty. Rei's head was tilted up, but her eyes weren't open. Minako winced to see how the edges were caked with sand. She dipped her fingers in the oil and bathed Rei's eyes with the oil than the water, until everything ran clear of sand.

"You okay now?"

Rei opened her eyes and looked at her suspiciously. "This world is shit." Her voice was hoarse and rough, but at least she didn't seem muddled by heat stroke or anything else.

Minako grinned. "Yeah, mostly."

She didn't move after that, just stayed kneeling there looking at Rei, looking at the one who had come through the storm and come first. "Come on, do you think you can stand up. I want to make sure you're all okay, and there's better places to do that than here."

Rei had trouble getting to her feet, but she glowered at Minako when ever she tried to help. Finally when Rei was on her knees and didn't look like she was getting anywhere from there Minako stepped in, impervious to all glares and picked her up again, carried her into the main cave complex and put her down by the bath.

"Are you really okay?" Minako traced her fingers along Rei's jaw line. Rei had her eyes scrunched shut and turned her head away. "God this is so stupid. I should never have made you do this."

She began unbuckling the straps that held Rei's armor on, and as she lifted off each piece she cringed. The sand had found its way inside the thick pickled leather and had worn her skin raw.

"God."

Rei was looking up at her now, with an expression that almost seemed ashamed. Minako bent her head. What was she supposed to do?

"Come on, lets get in the bath. We need to get the sand out before we can do anything about the sores."

Rei pulled off the rag she considered a shirt and then began to undo the bindings. At least they had served some protection from the sand. When they came loose Minako realized that she was watching too closely and jerked away, turning her head.

"I- I can't-"

She quickly jerked back to look at Rei, who had spoken. Rei met her eyes and jerked her head slightly, indicating her pants. Minako nodded and supported her as she shuffled them off. Minako tried to keep her focus on her hand, hooked around Rei's back and resting on her stomach, fingers brushing against the garish marks of a scar far too fresh. Rei's weight leaned back against her as Minako slowly lowered her into the bath. She was Rei's expression tighten to a supressed scream as the hot water aggravated her burning skin. Her fingers which lay on Minako's arm dug in so much she knew they would leave bruises. She was biting her lip as Minako rubbed her down with a sponge. Blood started to trickle from where her teeth dug in. Minako tried to move faster without missing anywhere.

"Just have to get it out. If there's any sand left it will just make it worse."

Rei only whimpered in response. Finally she was done, and Minako lent a shoulder to help Rei out of the pool. She led her over to a bench like area and helped her lie down. Then, from the basin cut into the wall, Minako dipped a cupful of oil and poured it onto Rei's back. She skimmed her hand across it to spread it across the afflicted areas and then lightly began rubbing it into her skin. The redness faded as the oil soaked in, only the particularly grated areas still leaving blood-colored red patches like a disease across her skin. She made Rei roll onto her back and continued on the other side, working her way down to her legs and checking to make sure there weren't any other injuries besides sand-blisters that made walking difficult.

Finally done, Minako gave her another shift and a beaker of cold water, which was gone in thirty seconds. Minako changed out of her own sopping wet clothes and refilled the beaker. After three Rei slowed down and lazily looked up at Minako who was sitting on the edge of the bench looking tired.

"I'm okay," Rei said quietly.

Minako glanced up, surprised at her perceptiveness. "Why is it always you who gets so hurt?"

Rei tipped her head and looked serious. "I'll die to protect you."

The memories of the dark room and the flame came back to Minako. I'll die soon, I'll die, please-

"Don't!"

Rei frowned.

"I- I don't want you to die for me."

Rei shook her head. "No other way. My choice."

Minako whispered to herself. "Your choice to die with honor or in fear."

Thinking about this, she moved automatically, taking Rei into the other room and settling into the piles of furs, silks, and cushions.

Rei's hair was still strung with delicate braids. Minako moved behind her and started unwinding them, then using her fingernails to flick the sand away from her scalp. Rei curled into her lap. She seemed calm and almost sleepy. It was unnerving at first- Rei and calm were not words Minako expected to appear in the same thought, except perhaps with the prefix of "dangerously" before calm. But the relaxation was infectious, and the fear faded from her mind as she focused on rubbing her fingers through Rei's hair to loosen the sand.

Minako remembered the first time she noticed Rei's hair, it had been mostly registering annoyance, that her sleek black hair hardly needed to be washed or brushed and it was still gorgeous. In retrospect that probably should have been some sort of clue… it had been a shock to come into that meeting and see her with her hair pinned up, twisted into a refined knot that looked utterly wrong- after her outing to go fetch Michiru it had fallen slightly and looked more appropriate. Minako's fingers slipped over the place where her collar had been, searching for some sign of it, an indentation, an inescapable feeling of shame-

Rei tipped her head back, her throat arched and her eyes closed. Minako leaned in, gently kissing the side of her neck. Rei's body swiveled snakelike in her lap. Her eyes opened and locked with Minako's, their darkness cutting deeply into her chest. Their mouths met, wet and hot, and as Minako, pushed Rei down into the cushions, holding her wrists in an attempt to maintain dominance, she wondered, that even though she could not ascend to the goddess whether this counted- whether it carried with it all the promise of her tradition, or if it meant enough all on its own.