Chapter 23

After the meeting Makoto went straight to the boxing gym. She was very angry for Minako. Minako was such a sweet, giving person. She didn't deserve this. It also angered her that no one had protected Mina in this. Mako vowed not to let it happen again. Yes Mina had been leader of the senshi, but they still looked out for each other. It was their job as senshi, friends, and sisters.

When Makoto got to the warm up mats, Nephrite was already there, stretching. She was so angry she didn't return his smile. She grunted at him, and started to stretch. No sooner had she finished stretching that she went to the sparring mats, and waited for him. He shrugged, and met her on the mats. Within 10 minutes, he had her pinned down on her back, with his foot on her chest.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"Nothing. Why would you think anything is wrong?" She snapped.

"Because you're being sloppy, and you're distracted. I pinned you with the simplest of moves." Nephrite answered.

"I'm fine." Makoto snapped.

"No. You're not. When you're taken down by the sweep of a leg, it means you're not paying attention. That's not like you."

"I said I'm fine."

Makoto pushed his foot off of her, jumped up, and got into position. Nephrite crossed his arms over his chest, and just stood there, starring at her.

"Come on. Lets go." Makoto growled at him.

"No." Nephrite replied simply.

"No? What do you mean no? We're here to spar now lets get to it."

"And I said no."

"Why? I want to spar."

"Because, when you're like this, you are sloppy, and have no control. One or both of us could get hurt. I know you're angry about something. You don't want to talk about it fine, but I refuse to take part in you being reckless, and getting hurt."

"But."

"No Mako. I won't do it. Why don't we go over to the heavy bags. You can work out your anger there. You don't have to talk, just work out the anger physically. When you've calmed down, are less distracted, and less sloppy, we'll spar. Ok?"

"Fine." Mako growled.

The two of them walked to the heavy bags, wrapped their hands and feet, and started in on the bags. The only sounds heard from either of them were the sounds of the bags being hit, grunts, and groans from them as they connected with the bags. Makoto quickly saw what Nephrite had been saying about her being sloppy. Twice her bag came back at her to hit her. It would have if Nephrite hadn't grabbed the bag before it could.

It took awhile, but she finally calmed down enough to regain her control. She hadn't noticed Nephrite had stopped working on his bag, and was watching her. When she finally felt his eyes on her, she stopped, and turned to him.

"What?" Makoto asked.

"Ready to spar now?" Nephrite asked simply.

Makoto just nodded, and followed him back to the mats. They sparred for another hour. She kept losing, but she felt more focused, more in control. She was glad he had made her stop before. He had been right. If they had continued before, she would have been hurt. She imagined he would have felt guilty if she had been. When they finished, they agreed to go for their usual smoothies, but by the time she was ready to go, she decided she wanted to do something else so she asked if he was ok with the change in plans.

"Do you mind if we go back to my place instead? I feel like baking." Makoto said hesitantly.

"I am fine with that, as long as you're comfortable having me in your space." Nephrite answered.

"I don't mind. I need to stop at the store to get a few things first though."

"That's fine with me."

They left the boxing gym, stopped at the store then made their way to her apartment. Once inside he wandered around a bit, just checking things out. He looked at the pictures she had on the walls of her parents, the girls, even the flower shop manager and his family. Next he looked over her plants, and flowers while she unloaded the groceries in the kitchen. Her kitchen and living room were separated by an island so she could watch him as he wandered. Eventually he took a seat at the island.

"What are you making?" Nephrite asked as he watched her separate the ingredients.

"My Death by Chocolate Cake. It's Usa's favorite. If given a chance she'll eat half of it in one sitting. Makoto giggled.

"Sounds good." Nephrite said with a smile, swiping a chocolate chip. She slapped his fingers with a wooden spoon and giggled.

"It is. It is also the most involved."

"Do you want help?"

"Should I trust you in my kitchen?"

"No. Probably not." Nephrite snorted.

"I seem to remember you messing up a few of my recipes in the past." Makoto said with a giggle.

"Yeah. But it was fun."

"It was, but I only have me to clean up the mess so you keep your sexy ass sitting right there." Makoto said with a blush.

"You find my as sexy do you?" Nephrite asked smugly.

"Hush you." Makoto whacked him playful on the head with her spoon.

"Can I ask what made you so angry earlier?"

"We found out today that Minako's parents spent 3 years of her teen years screwing her over, and are trying to do it again now."

"What did they do?"

"Minako is the model and actress Sailor V. When she signed her contracts at almost 13, her parents became her managers, and took 70% of her earnings, while also having access to the rest of her earnings. When she was 16 she found out about it all, fired them, and moved out. She hadn't heard from them since. The day you 4 showed up, she was served with papers stating her parents are suing her for wrongful termination and lost wages. She's a mess."

"And us showing up has made it worse for her."

"Kind of, but only because she is dealing with the emotions tied to her parents and what they've done."

"I understand."

"I'm angry this is happening to her, but I'm also angry that no one protected her, and her interests. Her parents took advantage of her, and people let them. What they did couldn't have been right or legal."

"She should ask Kunzite. He is going into legal studies in college."

"Right now I think that would only open another can of worms. She needs to deal with one issue at a time. It's too much at once. She stepped down as our leader today because she doesn't feel she is in a good place mentally or emotionally to lead us if an enemy appears. Rei has stepped in, until Mina is ready to take back leadership."

"That's probably for the best."

"Yeah. Needless to say, I feel like I failed her."

"You didn't know."

"But I still should have seen that something was wrong."

"Mako, let me ask you something."

"Ok?"

"What was happening when all of this came about?"

"Usa had just defeated Galaxia, the Star Lights left, and Mamoru was finally back. We were all trying to get back to normal."

"So life was a mess at the time?"

"Well yeah."

"Don't you think that maybe, just maybe the events that were occurring made it easier for her to keep things a secret?"

"I guess, but I knew she was moving out of her parent's house, and would be living on her own. I should have offered her my spare room. She wouldn't have been alone. She would have had someone to rely on."

"Maybe she didn't want that." Nephrite leaned over the counter and grasped her hand holding the mixing spoon. "You're getting batter every where love. Calm down."

Makoto felt the jolt from where he touched her. It went straight to her heart. She looked up at him to see him smiling gently at her. She let go of the spoon, and entwined her fingers with his.

"Sometimes, people need to do things on their own. Sometimes, we need to let them. Sometimes we need to remember we can't protect those we love from everything. All we can do is be there for them when they're ready for us to be. It can be hard for us to watch it, or accept it when we realize we missed it, but we have to remember it is not our life." Nephrite said gently.

Makoto just nodded. The feel of his fingers thru hers felt so right, so perfect. She didn't want to let go. Before she knew what she was doing, she leaned forward, and pressed her forehead against his, closing her eyes.

"Thank you Nephrite." She said softly.

"Mako….Makoto…can I….can I kiss you?" Nephrite whispered. All she did was nod.

She felt his lips press firmly against hers, and she was floating. She brought her other hand up, and rested it against the side of his neck. When she felt his tongue brush against her bottom lip, she opened to him. He swept his tongue into her mouth, exploring her, battling with hers. It was a kiss she felt to her toes. It felt like home. It felt like peace, and love. It felt like everything. When he finally drew back, he rested his forehead against hers again, and starred into her eyes.

"I've missed you so." He whispered.

"And I you." She whispered back.

He finally sat back, reminded her to get back to her cake, and they began to talk. They spent the rest of the day talking, laughing, eating her cake, and kissing. It felt right, and so good. When he finally left for the evening, she thought of asking him to stay, but knew not to. They didn't need to rush this. They had all the time in the world, and they still had so much to discuss and learn. She knew though, in her heart, that all would be right, and he was it for her. She dreamed of Nephrite that night, and woke with a smile.