Mission to the Past
Chapter Six: A Musical Evening
Minako sat at her window, debating whether or not to call Duo and ask if he wanted to go to Michiru's concert. True, they were definitely "together" now, but even so, she wasn't sure if she should call him.
It wasn't particularly urgent. After all, she would see him tomorrow in school, and Michiru's concert wasn't until next weekend. So there was no need to risk giving him the wrong impression. Not that she knew what, exactly, that impression would be, but there was no need to risk anything.
Besides, maybe he didn't consider them an official item. Maybe he always kissed on the first date, but she doubted it. Something told her he wasn't that kind of guy. If she called him, his reaction would tell her where their relationship stood. Even if it was nowhere, it was still better to know. Wasn't it?
There was another reason to call him that was nagging at the back of her mind, and that was the strange feeling she had whenever she was around him. Something told her not to waste time, to enjoy every second. She felt that she wouldn't have him for very long. Why this was, she had no clue, but the feeling was there.
She made up her mind, picked up the phone, and dialed before she could lose her nerve. They had exchanged phone numbers in detention a few days ago. On Friday, she remembered.
"Hello? Who is this, please?"
Minako felt her heart thud. The voice on the other end was a light male voice, probably Duo's friend Quatre. "Hello, is Duo there? This is Minako," she added, wondering if her heart could be heard on the other line.
"Oh, hello, Minako," Quatre said, probably Quatre. "Yeah, he's here. Hold on a moment, I'll get him for you." Minako could hear Quatre(?) in the distance, yelling, "Duo, Minako's on the phone for you!"
A few seconds later, the anxious girl could hear Duo's tentative voice on the other line. "Hi, Minako?"
"Oh, hi, Duo," she said. She winced. Had Duo been able to hear her voice squeaking? She struggled to remain calm. "I'm calling because, well, this friend of mine, Michiru Kaioh, she's a violinist, and she's giving a concert next Saturday, and she's giving us some tickets, and I was wondering if you and your friends wanted to come." There. She'd said it.
"That sounds great!" Duo said enthusiastically. "I'll have to talk it over with them, but I'm sure they'd love to. Thank your friend for us, okay?"
"Yeah," she said, feeling relieved. "By the way, Duo, thank you again for last night."
"I should be the one thanking you," he said. "I love you, Minako."
She was filled with elation at those words. "I love you, too, Duo."
"I'll see you tomorrow in school, right?"
"Yeah. Bye, Duo."
"Bye, Minako."
They hung up. Minako lay back on her bed and sighed. She was almost dizzy with these overwhelming emotions. Had it been like this with Alan? No, because Alan hadn't loved her back, except as a kid sister. Besides, she'd been younger then, and less mature. Not that she was a model of maturity now, but she had grown up a little, at least. Well, sort of.
* * *
"Well?" Trowa pressed Duo. "What did she say? It must have been good, or you wouldn't have that stupid smile locked on your face."
"Well, she--" Duo began, but was cut off by a frustrated cry from upstairs.
"AARGH! I can't take this anymore!" Heero stormed downstairs. "I give up! Mission aborted! This is impossible!" He sat down angrily.
"What's wrong, Heero?" Quatre asked calmly.
Heero glared at him. "'What's wrong?'" he echoed. "What's wrong is that I have searched every single site devoted to the Sailor Senshi, and I have found not one clue as to who they really are! That's what's wrong!"
"That's too bad," Quatre said sympathetically.
"Well, it's not like it matters," Trowa reasoned. "Even if we found the Sailor Senshi, what would we do with them?"
"Bring them back to our time, according to Sailor Pluto," Wufei said.
"Oh, come on. Do you honestly think they'll be alive in our time?" Trowa scoffed. "It's not humanly possible."
"Neither is magic," Quatre pointed out. "Or time travel."
"True," Wufei agreed.
"Well, we can't do anything about it now, so we may as well give up worrying and enjoy our time here," Heero decided.
"That's out of character enough for you," Duo noted.
Heero rolled his eyes. "So is aborting a mission."
"Good point," Duo said. "Well, speaking of enjoying our time here, Minako just called. A friend of hers, Michiru Kaioh, is having a concert next weekend, and Minako's got some extra tickets, so she asked if we wanted to come."
"Did you say Michiru Kaioh?" Quatre gasped.
"Yeah, why?" Duo said.
"I have all her CDs!" Quatre cried. "She was--er, is--incredible!"
"So, I take it you want to go?" Duo said. Quatre nodded excitedly. "That's two of us. What about you three?"
Trowa shrugged. "Why not?"
"Alright," Heero agreed.
"Well, it's got to be better than spending the evening here listening to Duo talk incessantly about his love life," Wufei decided.
Duo blushed, but ignored it. "It's unanimous, then. I'll tell Minako tomorrow in school."
"Why don't you just call her now?" Heero suggested.
"Or I could do that," Duo admitted. He walked over to the phone, picked it up and sarted to dial, but stopped when he realized his hands were shaking. He hung up and tried to steady his nerves. Get a grip, he ordered himself. Taking a deep breath, he picked up the reciever and dialed Minako's number.
It started to ring. Duo held his breath, hoping she would pick up before he lost his nerve.
"Hello?"
"Hi, Minako?" he said hesitantly. "It's me, Duo."
"Oh, hi, Duo," she said.
"I'm calling to say that we can make it next weekend," he said.
"You can?" she said. "That's good. See you tomorrow, right?"
"Yeah, see you. Bye."
"Bye."
CLICK! They hung up, each of their hearts beating a little faster than before.
* * *
"This isn't good," Hadesa spat, looking at the two remaining Daimons. "Another failure. We can't keep wasting time and resources if we intend to revive the Sovereign of Silence. We need to act quickly, and get the job done right."
* * *
Duo lay in bed, tossing and turning. It was around eleven-thirty on Sunday night, and he couldn't sleep. Normally, he never had this problem. But something was nagging at his mind.
Go to sleep, he ordered himself. Just think of something nice. Think of Minako. He did, and immediately wished he hadn't, because she was the source of his anxiety.
He loved Minako. He loved everything about her, her sweetness, her sense of humor, her persona, her outgoing personality. He loved her laugh, her warm, ice blue eyes, her smile, her everything. He wanted to stay with her for all eternity, but he couldn't. One day, he would have to go back home, to his own time, and with every passing moment, that day drew nearer. He was torn between dreading it and anticipating it impatiently.
Stop thinking about it, he told himself sternly. Just enjoy you time with her while you can. In a few minutes, he was asleep.
* * *
Wednesday, Crossroads High, Lunch Break
"Usagi?" called out a tentative voice.
The meatball-head looked around. "Luna? Is that you?"
"Yes," the miserable-sounding feline answered. "I'm up here."
Usagi looked up. There, in the highest branches of a nearby tree, was Luna. "How'd you get way up there?"
Luna rolled her red eyes. "I flew."
"Wow!" exclaimed Usagi. "You can fly?"
"I was being sarcastic," Luna said. "I climbed up here, of course."
"Why are you here, anyway?" Usagi wanted to know.
Luna looked a bit embarrassed. "Well, I was checking on you, but this atrocious dog came by, and, well, I guess I panicked. And now I can't get down."
"Well, I can't climb up there," Usagi said.
"Then find someone who can!" Luna cried desperately. "And hurry!"
"Okay," Usagi agreed. She ran off to get help. "Hey, Ami, Makoto, Luna's stuck up in a tree," she reported upon reaching her friends, who were sitting with Quatre, Trowa, Molly, and Melvin.
"Who's stuck up in a tree?" Quatre asked.
"My cat," explained Usagi. "She's really high and I can't get to her!"
"Oh, no!" cried Melvin. "This is awful! It's a real cat-astrophe!"
Molly rolled her eyes. "Your lame puns aren't helping, Melvin."
"Where's the tree?" Ami asked.
"Come on, I'll show you," Usagi said, running to where Luna was stranded, her friends following close behind. "See? That's it." She pointed to the branch where Luna was perched.
Squinting a bit, they could make out a black, furry speck among the foliage. The furry speck let out a piteous meow.
"So how're we going to get her down?" Molly wondered.
"I'll do it," Trowa volunteered unexpectedly. He walked up to the trunk. "Can any of you give me a boost?"
"Sure," said Makoto. "I can."
"Are you sure?" he asked, a bit skeptically.
"Yeah," Makoto said. She crouched and held her hands out, palms up, fingers interlocked. "Come on."
Trowa put his foot on the tall girl's hands. "On three," he told her. "One, two, three!" He jumped at the same moment as she pushed up. She was stronger than he'd expected. He grabbed a branch and started to climb toward the frightened cat.
He soon reached her. "Here, little kitty," he called softly, sitting on the branch. "Come on, Luna," he added, remembering what Usagi had called her.
Luna studied the boy. He seemed trustworthy enough. She walked over to him gracefully and confidently, and let him pick her up.
"Alright, now, I'll take you down," Trowa said soothingly. Holding her gently, he started his descent. When they had reached a low enough height, Luna decided it was safe to jump. She meowed to let Trowa know, then leaped off his lap and into Usagi's arms.
Trowa decided to follow her example. Unable to resist showing off just a little, he did a triple back flip with a twist before landing securely.
"Thank you so much for saving Luna," Usagi said. "And that was a wicked cool flip you did. I haven't seen a move like that since the Amaz--uh, I mean," she stammered, stopping herself before blurting out "Amazoness Quartet," "this really, uh, amazing circus came to town!"
"Yeah," Molly agreed. "Where'd you learn to do that?"
"Oh, here and there," Trowa said vaguely.
Luna jumped out of Usagi's arms and rubbed against Trowa's leg, meowing happily.
"Aww, look," Usagi cried, pointing at the grateful cat. "She's thanking you!"
Troqa picked her up gently. She continued to meow happily, and began to purr as he scratched behind her ears. "What an adorable cat," he commented.
"She really likes you," Ami noticed. "That's pretty unusual for Luna. She tends to be wary of strangers."
"Yeah, I can't believe she's not scratching your face to shreds," Makoto added.
"Hey, that's not fair!" Usagi whined. "She's being nicer to you than she is to me!" Everyone laughed. "What's so funny?" she demanded.
"Oh, nothing," said Makoto.
* * *
Saturday
"So, Michiru," Haruka said. "Are you nervous?"
"Not really," Michiru answered truthfully. "I've done this so many times, I don't really get nervous anymore. What about you? You're accompanying me, aren't you?"
"Yeah," said Haruka. "I'm a little nervous. If I mess up, it'll ruin it for you."
"Don't be," Michiru said. "You'll be fine."
Haruka checked her watch. "We'd better get going if we want to be on time. We'll take the helicopter, okay?"
"Sounds good to me," Michiru agreed. "That way, my dress won't get messed up." She motioned to her sleeveless, open-back, blue-green dress.
The two took her elevator to the roof, where their helicopter was resting. They climbed in and took off.
* * *
"Wasn't it nice of Michiru togive us these tickets?" Ami said as she and the others walked toward the concert hall.
"Yeah," agreed Usagi, hanging on to Mamoru.
"I still can't believe you know Michiru Kaioh," Quatre said.
It was a brisk night. The sun had set not so long ago, so the sky was velvet blue, and the stars were just beginning to appear. A beautiful three-quarter moon shone like a pearl, being covered every few seconds by passing clouds.
Duo, Quatre, Heero, Trowa, Wufei, and Mamoru wore suits. Usagi was in an off-the-shoulder white dress. Ami wore a simple, modest, pale blue dress. Rei's dress was vibrant red, and she wore her trademark high heels. Makoto had on a velvet green gown. Minako wore a violet top and matching skirt.
They arrived at the concert hall and were ushered into their seats.
"Try to pay attention to something besides each other, okay, you two?" Heero said to Minako and Duo, who blushed furiously.
"Hey, that goes for you two as well," Rei said to Usagi and Mamoru.
"Well, I have no problem with that," Mamoru said. "Usagi, I'm not so sure about."
"Rei! Mamoru!" Usagi cried indignantly. "You guys are so mean!"
"If you start crying, they'll throw you out," Rei warned.
"I wasn't going to cry," Usagi sniffed.
Wufei noticed a familiar name in the program: Haruka Tenoh. "Heero, wasn't Haruka the name of that girl that nearly ran you over?"
"Yeah, why?" Heero said.
"She's accompanying Michiru Kaioh on the piano," Wufei told him.
"Haruka didn't mention nearly running anyone over," Makoto said.
"Well, I doubt she'd want to advertise the fact that she was being careless," Ami reasoned. "Again."
"You know her, too?" Heero asked.
"Yep," said Usagi.
"Ssh, there she is," Quatre whispered.
A hush fell over the concert hall as the curtains parted to reveal Michiru standing with her violin. Haruka sat at a grand piano. "Good evening to all of you," Michiru greeted her audience. "I'm very happy to be able to be playing for you tonight. I'm going to start with a piece by Stravinsky." She lifted her violin to her chin and started to play, with Haruka accompanying her.
Instantly, the audience was captivated. It was as if she had cast a spell on them. In her talented hands, the music had a life of its own. She was truly amazing. When the piece was over, the audience applauded enthusiastically.
The concert lasted one and a half hours. It was pure magic. Haruka would often accompany Michiru, but the violinist also played several pieces alone. The last piece was one she did alone, and it was such a beautiful, sweet, lonely sound, a tune like a wave, that she received a standing ovation at the end.
People started to get up and leave. As Quatre was about to exit, he paused, hearing voices arguing backstage.
"But Haruka, I need you to accompany me."
"Michiru, I'm really sorry, but I have a race during the concert."
"Is it definitely on that date? There's no chance of it changing?"
"I'm afraid not. You'll have to find someone else. I'm sure there are plenty of pianists in Japan much more talented than I am."
"But I can't find one on such short notice."
"Excuse me," Quatre said tentatively. "I couldn't help overhearing your conversation, and I think that I may have an answer to your problem."
"If you do, that would be wonderful," Michiru said.
"Well," Quatre began. "I've been playing the piano for several years. If you like, I could do it."
"Oh, could you, please?" Michiru said, lookinjg very relieved.
"Yes, certainly," Quatre said.
"Thank you so much," Michiru said gratefully. "You're a life saver."
"It will be an honor to work with someone as talented as you, Miss Kaioh," he said honestly.
The violinist smiled. "Thank you. And call me Michiru. What's your name?"
"I'm Quatre," he introduced himself. "Quatre Raberba Winner."
"Alright, Quatre," she said. "Can you practice with me here, tomorrow at eight?"
"Sure," Quatre said.
"Great," said Michiru. "I'll see you then. Thank you again. Good-bye!"
"Good-bye," Quatre said. He walked off to join his friends.
"What was that all about?" Trowa asked him.
"I agreed to be her pianist.
"Wow," Trowa commented. "Sounds good."
"It is," Quatre assured him.
* * *
"Isn't Michiru awesome?" Minako said to Duo as they walked back to her house.
"Yeah," Duo agreed. "She really makes the music come alive."
Suddenly, Minako remembered something that Usagi had mentioned earlier. "Hey, do you know of anyone that can baby-sit? Usagi needs a baby-sitter for Chibi-Usa, her little cousin, tomorrow night. Usagi has a date with Mamoru, her parents have some outing or other, her little brother has a birthday party, Ami's got a computer class, Makoto's got a cooking club emergency meeting, Rei's got chores, I've got homework that my mom won't let me leave the house until I finish, and basically everyone Usagi knows has something, and she really wants to go on this date, so if you could find someone, it'd really be great," she finished, slightly out of breath.
"I'll ask around," Duo promised.
"Thanks," Minako said. They exchanged a good-night kiss and went their separate ways.
* * * * * * * *
Notes: Well, I blew another title. Keep reading, because you'll never guess who gets stuck baby-sitting Chibi-Usa. Heh-heh.:) E-mail me, but no flames! I apologize again to Duo/Hilde fans.
FYI: Uh, nothing, actually.
Disclaimer: As you probably know by now, I don't own Gundam Wing or Sailor Moon, and I'm not making money from this.