This fic is like, so old. Seriously. It's set during the attack on the Moon Kingdom of the Silver Millennium, and hints to the manga, in which the inner senshi are involved with Endymion's generals.

There are supposed to be four seperate parts, one for each of the senshi (starting with Mercury and concluding with Venus), but I never actually got around to the first three in the series. Please R/R.

Disclaimer: Sailormoon doesn't belong to me. I wish it did, but let's not get into my fantasies.

The Bright Horizons of Venus

The two blond girls huddled together in the dark alley, fearing for their lives. "Did you hear that?" Princess Serenity, the smaller of the two, whispered hoarsely.

"Hear what?" Minako replied, wiping a streak of dust from her cheek and adjusting her trademark red bow. Her hand sought the clammy hand of the other girl, knowing that the flow of warmth from her palm would be of comfort to her friend.

"A scream. I know I heard one." The princess's blue eyes filled with tears. "Minako-chan, I'm so scared!" she wailed, and began to weep into Minako's shoulder.

"Serenity..." Minako began. "Serenity, hush. Don't be afraid. You know we're always here for you. We will protect you if it costs us our lives. The legacy of the Moon Kingdom will live on, with or without us. But always with you." Although her words were grave, the teenager spoke them with no fear. It was her duty as a senshi.

"Minako-chan, I'm not afraid of death!" Serenity's eyes were pleading as she tried to get her friend to understand. "At least, not my own. Please don't fight. If you die...if any of the senshi die...it won't be worth it for me to live. You four are all I have."

"Serenity, don't talk such nonsense," Minako said coldly. "The future of the Moon Kingdom depends on you. We as individuals aren't important. Only the princess is. All of us fight for the greater good--the protection of our leader. You are that leader, Serenity. You are our savior, and we won't let them get to you."

"You hate me, don't you?" Serenity said, punctuating her comment with a sharp intake of breath. Beside her, Minako felt the princess's entire body quake with silent sobs.

Minako smiled warmly. "Never. We could never hate you, Serenity." She made a shooing motion with her hands. "Now go. Go to the throne room, where it's safe. Your mother and the other senshi are there."

Serenity got up but stopped when she realized that Minako wasn't following. "You're not coming?"

"I'm needed here, for now. Go."

"Minako-chan..."

"Serenity, I'm not kidding. Get moving."

"I..." Serenity said, then seemed to think better of it. "Good luck," she said, and turned down the corridor.

"I'll join you soon, Serenity," Minako said softly, watching her friend's retreating back. She got to her feet and started off in the opposite direction of Serenity. As she fumbled through the dark, narrow hallway, she began to hear a rustling. She glanced up, and saw a flash of gray. Two ice-blue beams of light sought her eyes.

"Venus Power, make UP!" she yelled, hurriedly transforming. She knew who it was, but she didn't trust him anymore. He was a traitor, not the man she had once loved.

"Minako-chan," his voice whispered, husky and low. The sexy, familiar sound bouncing off the narrow walls sent a shiver down her spine. But she ignored it purposefully. No more games.

"What do you want, Kunzite?" she asked coldly.

He stepped into the light, a small square of white filtering from one of the tiny, randomly placed windows. It reflected off his long, white cape and gray uniform, streaking highlights in his white hair. "I wanted to talk to you," he said, taking her gloved hand in his.

She jerked it free. "I have nothing to say to a traitor," she said, her voice filled with malice.

His face showed visible hurt, but Minako didn't believe --couldn't believe-- that her words had actually hurt him. "Minako...don't be so cold. It's me, Kunzite. Your lover."

"That Kunzite is dead," she said, her voice cold and unfeeling. "I don't love you. You are a liar and a traitor, and I can't wait for the powers of the Moon to turn you into the pile of ashes that you are."

"Such harsh words from such a little girl," Kunzite said, his tone mocking.

"Younger than you for sure, but far wiser," she said. "And at least I have loyalty to my name. I'm not a heartless, glory-hungry fool."

"Such passion," Kunzite said with an almost wistful smile. "You never showed me such passion, Minako-chan."

"Would it have mattered if I did?" she demanded. "Would you have left the queen? Would you have left the princess to die? And the prince. What about him? What could Beryl possibly have that would make you abandon us?"

"The price I am paid is none of your business," he said. "But even so, I do it out of my own free will. I ask nothing in return of my queen."

"Selenity is your queen!"

"Not anymore. I am tired of living under the Moon Kingdom's rule. But Minako-chan..." His voice grew soft, almost sensitive, his purple-blue eyes imploring as they searched hers for a sign of relent. "Please, join us. Under Selenity's rule, you are nothing. They don't care you live or die. You can be replaced. But Minako-chan, your strength is incredible. Under Beryl's reign, you would be an asset. And you would be with me."

"If you are so desperate for the two of us to be together," she whispered, not meeting his eyes, "then why don't you come back to our side? The good side?"

"What are you insinuating?" he said. "That I'm evil?"

"You are a traitor to the cause," she said.

"So you won't join me?"

"Quite the opposite. I will kill you, if it means the safety of our princess." Her eyes flashed dangerously. "Or I will damn well die trying. Crescent Beam!" The golden beam slashed his arm, and he winced in pain. She went on relentlessly, elbowing him in the stomach and then hitting him with a second "Crescent Beam" to the belly.

Clutching the gash on his torso, he glared at her and struck with his purple energy blades. They sliced her right wrist. A tiny bell went off in Minako's mind. My attacking wrist. He knows it. He's trying to kill me. It wasn't surprising, really. She knew who he worked for. She knew the Dark Kingdom's goal was to get to the Queen and Princess. Nothing would get in their way. But a small part of her hoped that Kunzite was lying to save his hide, and still cared for her.

And then she realized the truth. Kunzite didn't give a damn about her well-being. He wanted her dead. He was only messing with her head so he could get an in on Queen Selenity's whereabouts. Minako was merely a pawn in his game.

"Two can play at that game, Kunzite," she told him. Running forward, she performed a flying leap and kicked him in the stomach. He staggered and fell back, gasping for breath.

On the front steps of the castle, Serenity sat weeping over the bodies of her loved ones. Sailormars lay in a wrinkled heap on the ground, her raven hair making a sharp contrast against the pallor of her skin. Her left arm lay twisted and broken at her side. Sailormercury was on her stomach, cold and unmoving, her blue hair now stained with ash from the nearby fires. A horrific gash was engraved along the length of her body, her fuku hanging in sorry scraps around it. Sailorjupiter's hair had come loose from her trademark ponytail and was framing her once-beautiful face, which was now grotesque, streaked with crusty trails of blood. Prince Endymion --her Endymion-- was lying still, his bloodied sword at his side. His body was crumpled in what was no doubt a painful heap when he was still alive. Thankfully, he felt no more pain now.

"Where's Sailorvenus?" she whispered. Her voice grew shrill as she called into the darkness. "Minako-chan?"

"Ko-chan...chan...chan..." came the desolate echo. The princess's body slumped forward in a fresh bout of sobs. "Liar!" she wept bitterly. "You said you'd be here. You said you'd help. Where are you?"

It wasn't worth it without Minako there. It wasn't worth it without any of them there. Serenity spotted Endymion's sword. "To be killed by such a fine blade would be an honor," Serenity rationalized. "Mother, when you lay us to rest, please...don't forget Minako-chan." Glancing one more time at the sickening sight of her friends' corpses, she kissed her beloved Endymion's cold lips for the last time. And then, with a heavy heart, she took the stone blade and plunged it fatally into herself.

More energy blades raced towards her. She dodged and ducked, her right wrist aching under the handmade tourniquet, a tight knot formed by her left glove.

She shoved the knuckles of her left hand into his gelatin-like belly. It was agonizing, seeing him in pain. But he wanted her death. Hers and Serenity's. She had taken a vow to protect Serenity at all costs, and she wasn't going to give up now.

"Crescent Beam!" she shrieked, hitting him again. Every motion of her wrist was painful, like it was eating her alive. "Damn it, why won't you die?" she yelled in frustration, going into a flurry of left-handed punches.

"Ohhh..." he groaned, and finally fell down in a pitiful heap.

Hardly able to support her own weight, she stood over him. After a few silent moments, his ice-blue eyes opened, and probed into hers.

"Minako-chan..." he said, the words barely carrying up to Minako's ears.

She stared at him coldly, unwavering. "That's Sailorvenus to you," she told him. "Crescent Beam Shower!" was her final cry, and was about to strike him, but a painful sensation at her ankles caused her to collapse.

"Kunzite..." she moaned, willing herself to get up, but knowing all the same that it was fruitless. "Kunzite, I'm dying. And before I go, I have to tell you..."

"I know," he said, his voice hoarse. He struggled, but managed to climb slowly, painfully, to his feet. "You will never betray the princess. I've heard it a thousand times before."

"That's not it," she said, feeling vulnerable and exposed as he stood over her. How he must have felt only moments earlier, Minako thought with sickening dread. Her lover's last memories of her were going to be of her being evil to him. "I'm sorry, Kunzite. I...I never stopped loving you."

Her energy spent, her body stopped. She was dead.

He knelt beside her unmoving form. "Nor I you."

He leaned to kiss her one last time, while her body still retained warmth. But before his lips could touch hers, a protective white orb formed around her, lifting her into the air. He watched wordlessly as the orb drifted out of sight. His Minako was gone. He knew that he would never love again.

"Minako..." he said, feeling that the words would be his last as the energy drained from his body. "I'm sorry."

With those as his parting words, his body slumped over, dead. Sailorvenus had accomplished her goal. She had killed him.