Chapter 12 - I Forgive You
"Rei!" screamed Makoto as the girl slipped from her arms and fell to the floor. The inners had finally managed to locate Sierra and Medea's base by a new algorithm that Ami used. Just as they had defeated the last of the youma the entire building began to collapse on itself. It took another five minutes to find Rei and dig her out from under the debris. She was either dead or unconscious. No one had checked to see which. Now they were trying desperately to get out of the blast range of the building. Two figures were standing atop they building, unmoving.
"I guess this is the end for us" said Sierra calmly as she enjoyed the view of the ocean.
"You don't have to stay here. Go" argued Medea, her plea falling to deaf ears. Once Sierra put her mind to something it was impossible to make her rethink her decision. It was what made her foolish and weak. "Don't try to be a martyr Sierra. It doesn't suit our kind"
Sierra ignored the other woman's useless attempts at trying to anger her into leaving. They'd known each other for too long and knew every trick the other might use. "Don't get your panties in a bunch Med. I'm not doing this for you. You're not the one I was in love with, remember?"
"Oh how could I forget all the nights I had to hear you pine for the monosyllabic Pluto. Why are you doing this?"
"Same reason you are"
The foundation of the building gave way and sent the two women plunging to the center of the building and burying them under slabs of concrete.
________________________________________________________________________________
"Hey! Wake up!" said Mars irritably while lightly slapping Rei's face. As soon as the senshi had returned from their little rescue mission they practically threw the girl at her. Apparently Usagi wanted nothing to do with a comatose Rei. "You either wake up or I'm telling these people about the time you"
"Don't you even dare" croaked Rei. She sat up with the help of Minako who had a painful looking wound through which gallons of blood seemed to be flowing out. "Minako-chan shouldn't you get that taken care of?" asked Rei starting to regain some of her sensory movements. Opening her eyes completely she saw herself looking back at her, only it wasn't her. It was someone else. It had to be. The aura was all wrong.
"It's me Rei" said Mars softly, stroking Rei's cheek as though she were but a child. Rei's eyes widened as she realized who this woman was. She opened her mouth to speak. "Shh. You don't have to say a word. I know you can't explain what happened over there even if you try to"
"Rei?" said Usagi as she edged closer, her worry overtaking her loathing for Mars. "Are you alright? Did they hurt you?" She came closer and unconsciously signaled Mars to move out of the way. She leaned down as close to Rei as she could without the others suspecting something. "Do you need anything?"
"Who's been taking care of the office while I've been gone?" asked Rei. It wasn't what she wanted to say.
"I told your secretary that you were in an accident. She said she'll take care of everything till you return" said Ami quietly from the other side of the room. She had not blinked since Mars had arrived. Watching her had been Ami's sole purpose for staying behind instead of going with the others. That and the fact that Venus had pulled her aside before going back to the future and warned her to beware of their guest.
"She needs to rest" said Mars looking at Makoto who was leaning against the window.
"I'll put her in bed" acquiesced Makoto and lifted the other girl up and into her bed. "Careful not to roll over Rei. You have some injuries on your sides" When no reply was forthcoming she looked up to see Rei fast asleep. The girl must have been exhausted after all that. "Now what?"
"Now you all go home. I'll take care of her" said Mars. She had looked nowhere except at Rei since Mako moved her to the bed. "Don't worry. Do you really think I'd harm myself if I were evil?"
Venus fiddled with the bandage on her leg that she'd just finished wrapping. "But you're not evil. You're crazy"
"Not yet" snapped Mars. "If I were to lose control the first thing I would do would be to go after Usagi or Chibiusa not my freaking past self"
"I think you'd go after Rei" said Ami quietly. "After all, she's the reason you are what you are"
"Tsk tsk Ami. Here I was under the impression that you had a Mercurian brain for logic. She is me. I *am* her. Killing her would be suicide and I've never been a fan of that and you know it"
"People change" said Makoto from the foot of Rei's bed.
"Ami-chan, Mako-chan, Mina" said Usagi glancing at each of the senshi as she spoke their names "you all should go and get cleaned up. I'll stay here with Rei"
"But Usagi, Neo Queen told us-" began Venus only to be cut off by Usagi.
"Decide who you follow, Sailor Moon or Queen Serenity"
The three senshi looked at each other and silently left the shrine.
________________________________________________________
2 hours later
Usagi cleared her throat as she fidgeted some more on Rei's bed. She was sitting with her back to the wall leaning against it. For two hours she had tried to think of a way to start a conversation with Mars and failed. The other woman seemed to be amused.
"Why don't you just spit it out Usa" said Mars smirking as Usagi almost fell off the bed with surprise.
"Umm..why did you do it. Make love to me I mean"
Mars' grin turned lecherous as her eyes traveled the length of Usagi's body. Her eyes resting briefly at inappropriate areas and finally moving back to Usagi's eyes. "Why do you think?"
"I know it wasn't just sex to you. I know" said Usagi quietly as she looked down and fiddled with the bedcover. Rei's gentle breathing was the only noise heard for a few minutes. Mars' hand shook as she ran it through her hair. "Don't lie to me and say it was just a fuck because you were away from Crystal Tokyo since I know it wasn't. You consciously knew it was me and not Serenity you were kissing. You *wanted* it to be me and not her. We are the same person. I am her and she is me. Then why would you do this?"
"The two of you are completely different just like sleeping beauty here and me are two different beings. Life will change you" said Mars looking at her former self.
"So you wanted to recapture Serenity's youth or something like that?" asked Usagi, not completely sure whether to be outraged or flattered. She picked on being outraged as she saw Mars laugh.
"Serenity's 'youth' is still very intact my dear. Its not like she's gotten too old to take to bed or anything like that. She's just too wrapped up in business affairs to notice her life collapsing all around her. Did you know that just before I left for this mission Chibiusa cornered me in a passageway of the palace and asked me whether I was going to make Serenity leave Endymion? She's such a child even now. She doesn't understand that Serenity would never leave him. Not ever. She would rather destroy his heart piece by piece"
"What do you mean? Are you saying Endymion knows about you and her...me...whatever?" asked Usagi sitting up straight.
"The man has governed nations. Give him some credit will you. He's not stupid. He figured it out even before we ourselves knew. He knows it since the day you fought Galaxia. He knows even now. Right now at this minute he's in his apartment crying. Did you know that Usa?"
Usagi jumped off the bed. A part of her wanted to run over to Mamoru's place and comfort him. Another part wanted to stay by Rei. Yet another chunk, the one that couldn't pick between the previous two options, wanted her to clobber Mars. How dare she speak so callously about her? How dare she accuse her of hurting Mamo-chan? "Don't you dare. Don't you dare blame this on me. I know I would never do something like that. There must be a reason I'm not leaving Endymion. Did you ever ask me..her...why she wouldn't leave him?"
"Serenity and I don't talk much. We do other things" said Mars as she looked out the window. For the first time since Usagi had seen her there seemed to be some kind of emotion lurking behind those ice cold eyes. It flickered away in a few moments. Usagi sat down heavily on the bed. It finally hit her just what sort of relationship Mars and she shared in the future. It obviously wasn't a very healthy one judging by Mars' behaviour. "Don't get me wrong. You're wonderful even in the future. You do all the right things, make all the right choices, say all the right words. You even manage to juggle your royal duty to spend some quality time with your daughter. You take me out for little picnics and other such silly things. Its not even like we have a secret burden. Everyone in the palace knows about us. It's kind of obvious when the servants always find us in some isolated room of the palace naked underneath the sheets. The people have interesting rumours flying about us. There's one about how we're drawn to each other because of that time during the Yutian war when we did a cross blood-type transfusion"
"A what?" asked Usagi drawing her eyebrows together.
"A blood transfer even though our blood type is different. It's a fairly routine procedure if a donor of your blood type isn't readily available. I guess the rumour started because you refused to take blood from anyone else. Even your most loyal attendant was a little miffed when you refused to take her blood"
"So..is that why..." said Usagi trailing off as she saw Rei stir and murmur something in her sleep. She reached out and tucked the blanket closer to the sleeping girl. She looked pretty banged up.
"No. I've always loved you" said Mars quietly and stood up. Her hands were trembling even worse than before. Usagi looked at them carefully. It didn't seem as though Mars was nervous. Then why were her hands shaking?
"Oh shit" said Usagi as Mars sunk to her knees unable to hold her weight any longer. "Are you losing control?" Mars only giggled.
"No. I just haven't eaten anything in nine days"
__________________________________________________
Crystal Tokyo - Before the advent
"Set-chan, come on. Stop working and get over here. I've made tea just the way you like it" coaxed the dark-haired woman teasingly. "Oh don't give me that 'I'll be there in a second' wave. That translates to one hour. Now come on"
Pluto smiled, stretched, and made her way to the living room. After hours of watching eight monitors that displayed information on the time gate, she was more than ready to take a break. "Hmmm...something smells wonderful"
"Oh yeah I made cookies" said Sierra as she was wrapped in Pluto's warm embrace. They held each other for a minute, losing account of time (which the senshi of time really should not). After an eternity and one minute they broke their hug and sat down on opposite sides of the kitchen table. Pluto sipped her tea.
"Sierra" began Pluto, the lack of suffix immediately snapping the other woman to attention. "The tea is perfect"
"Thank you" said Sierra and sipped.
"So are you" Pluto continued. *Sip*
*Gulp* "Pardon me?" the younger woman said when the sentence and its implication sank down her throat along with the tea.
"I said, you are perfect" said Pluto, patiently repeating her words assuming she had not been heard the first time.
"I know what you said. I want to know what it means"
"For now it means just that"
_________________________________________________
Crystal Tokyo - After the advent
Planet Uranus - Queen's Palace
The party was in full swing. All members of court were present and accounted for including the ever elusive couple who were, probably for the third time in their lives, playing host instead of hooky. They had a way of turning every party into a courting ritual. Perhaps that was the secret to their happily married life, their *really long* married life. Or perhaps it was their common love for the welfare of their people. Even at a state gala of this caliber, the courtyard doors had been thrown open to the general public. No one really knew the formula that not only kept these two individuals together but also allowed them to excel because of, and not in spite of, each other.
"Ladies and Gentleman" announced the blonde, tapping his glass to get everyone's attention. No, wait a minute. Her glass. "As you all know, this little gathering is to honour the lives that ended in the line of duty in the battles against the Epouser. We honour not only the lives of the Uranians and Neptunians which were lost but the lives of all beings in the kingdom that fought against them. This is a bittersweet time for most of us. We've lost friends and family but we've also sealed a threat that could have destroyed our very existence. In short, we should be glad we kicked their asses" Uranus waited for the light laughter to quiet down and continued. "Since the attack at Neshrel our forces have dwindled some but we are still strong. We shall continue to be so with the blessing of the Winds and the Tides"
After the party: The Queen's Chambers
"Michiru?"
"Hmm?"
"What are you thinking?"
Neptune smiled in the dark. "All this time and you still can't tell?"
Uranus mirrored her smile. "I can tell. I want you to talk about it though"
"There's nothing to talk about Ruka. My brother is missing, possibly dead, because of a signal I sent out to confuse the enemy."
"You know its not your fault. He chose to man that station. It was his choice. He wanted to make sure the plan worked. He was trying to protect you"
"Protect me" said Neptune distastefully, turning away so that her back faced Uranus. "Do you have any idea how many people died this past week so that I could be safe? So that we could be safe?"
"I have an idea" whispered Uranus. "I'm in charge of sending out the 'Your child is dead because of me' letters remember"
Neptune turned around and looked at the woman she had spent lifetimes with. "Ruka, don't say it like that"
"Its true though. Every war causes casualties. Only thing in this perfect world though, we have wars all the time. We have casualties all the time. We never stop fighting. Even after all we've done there is always more to do. I wonder if it'll ever end"
"It'll end Ruka. It has to."
_________________________________________________
Minako's apartment - Present Time
"Shit" cursed Minako as she slumped against the door she had managed to close with great difficulty. Muttering a long string of expletives she made her way to the bathroom where she spent the next hour bandaging her wounds. She finally emerged showered, dressed and slightly more human. Obviously her mind was still in shock because she reached for the curtains and pulled them back only to be blinded by floodlights from the helicopter hovering at eye level to her penthouse. She immediately yanked them close.
"Oh great" she said dryly. Her phone rang and she picked up. The press did not have this number.
"Minako-chan?" came a questioning voice at the other end.
"Setsuna-chan" she said, breathing a sigh of relief at hearing a pleasant voice when she most needed it. "Calling me on a Thursday night to make a Friday date? Sorry no can do. The dating rule book clearly says that there should be a decent prior notice to the first date"
The voice at the other end laughed. "No Minako not a date. I wanted to ask if you got home in one piece"
"Yup. In one piece. All of me. No pieces left behind" said the blonde-haired woman, fervently hoping that her agent would clean the publicity mess she had just made.
"Oh really. Then why are you on the six o'clock news?"
"What!"
"The news anchor just reported that the idol Aino Minako is an alcoholic. Another channel says you're doing drugs. Yet another says a rabid fan stabbed you"
"Lovely. Leave it to the media to spice up my life. My agent will love me for this. He thinks controversy sells more than my voice"
"How are your wounds?" asked Setsuna
"They're fine"
"Did you eat something?"
"Not yet"
"Don't smoke"
"I'm not!" said Minako, hurriedly stubbing out the one she had just lighted.
"Don't stay up too late"
"I won't"
"Drink some milk before you sleep"
"I will"
"Don't try to work"
"I'm not!" said Minako, dejectedly putting away her script. She lit another cigarette.
"I told you not to smoke"
"Wha! don't do that Setsuna! Its creepy"
"Put it out"
"Come over to my place"
"I'll be there in an hour"
__________________________________________________________________________
Yay I actually finished this chapter. Only took me what...3 months? Thank you to all those who emailed me, encouraging me to actually finish what I start. I thank even those of you who directed thinly veiled threats of violence against me if I did not finish.
"Rei!" screamed Makoto as the girl slipped from her arms and fell to the floor. The inners had finally managed to locate Sierra and Medea's base by a new algorithm that Ami used. Just as they had defeated the last of the youma the entire building began to collapse on itself. It took another five minutes to find Rei and dig her out from under the debris. She was either dead or unconscious. No one had checked to see which. Now they were trying desperately to get out of the blast range of the building. Two figures were standing atop they building, unmoving.
"I guess this is the end for us" said Sierra calmly as she enjoyed the view of the ocean.
"You don't have to stay here. Go" argued Medea, her plea falling to deaf ears. Once Sierra put her mind to something it was impossible to make her rethink her decision. It was what made her foolish and weak. "Don't try to be a martyr Sierra. It doesn't suit our kind"
Sierra ignored the other woman's useless attempts at trying to anger her into leaving. They'd known each other for too long and knew every trick the other might use. "Don't get your panties in a bunch Med. I'm not doing this for you. You're not the one I was in love with, remember?"
"Oh how could I forget all the nights I had to hear you pine for the monosyllabic Pluto. Why are you doing this?"
"Same reason you are"
The foundation of the building gave way and sent the two women plunging to the center of the building and burying them under slabs of concrete.
________________________________________________________________________________
"Hey! Wake up!" said Mars irritably while lightly slapping Rei's face. As soon as the senshi had returned from their little rescue mission they practically threw the girl at her. Apparently Usagi wanted nothing to do with a comatose Rei. "You either wake up or I'm telling these people about the time you"
"Don't you even dare" croaked Rei. She sat up with the help of Minako who had a painful looking wound through which gallons of blood seemed to be flowing out. "Minako-chan shouldn't you get that taken care of?" asked Rei starting to regain some of her sensory movements. Opening her eyes completely she saw herself looking back at her, only it wasn't her. It was someone else. It had to be. The aura was all wrong.
"It's me Rei" said Mars softly, stroking Rei's cheek as though she were but a child. Rei's eyes widened as she realized who this woman was. She opened her mouth to speak. "Shh. You don't have to say a word. I know you can't explain what happened over there even if you try to"
"Rei?" said Usagi as she edged closer, her worry overtaking her loathing for Mars. "Are you alright? Did they hurt you?" She came closer and unconsciously signaled Mars to move out of the way. She leaned down as close to Rei as she could without the others suspecting something. "Do you need anything?"
"Who's been taking care of the office while I've been gone?" asked Rei. It wasn't what she wanted to say.
"I told your secretary that you were in an accident. She said she'll take care of everything till you return" said Ami quietly from the other side of the room. She had not blinked since Mars had arrived. Watching her had been Ami's sole purpose for staying behind instead of going with the others. That and the fact that Venus had pulled her aside before going back to the future and warned her to beware of their guest.
"She needs to rest" said Mars looking at Makoto who was leaning against the window.
"I'll put her in bed" acquiesced Makoto and lifted the other girl up and into her bed. "Careful not to roll over Rei. You have some injuries on your sides" When no reply was forthcoming she looked up to see Rei fast asleep. The girl must have been exhausted after all that. "Now what?"
"Now you all go home. I'll take care of her" said Mars. She had looked nowhere except at Rei since Mako moved her to the bed. "Don't worry. Do you really think I'd harm myself if I were evil?"
Venus fiddled with the bandage on her leg that she'd just finished wrapping. "But you're not evil. You're crazy"
"Not yet" snapped Mars. "If I were to lose control the first thing I would do would be to go after Usagi or Chibiusa not my freaking past self"
"I think you'd go after Rei" said Ami quietly. "After all, she's the reason you are what you are"
"Tsk tsk Ami. Here I was under the impression that you had a Mercurian brain for logic. She is me. I *am* her. Killing her would be suicide and I've never been a fan of that and you know it"
"People change" said Makoto from the foot of Rei's bed.
"Ami-chan, Mako-chan, Mina" said Usagi glancing at each of the senshi as she spoke their names "you all should go and get cleaned up. I'll stay here with Rei"
"But Usagi, Neo Queen told us-" began Venus only to be cut off by Usagi.
"Decide who you follow, Sailor Moon or Queen Serenity"
The three senshi looked at each other and silently left the shrine.
________________________________________________________
2 hours later
Usagi cleared her throat as she fidgeted some more on Rei's bed. She was sitting with her back to the wall leaning against it. For two hours she had tried to think of a way to start a conversation with Mars and failed. The other woman seemed to be amused.
"Why don't you just spit it out Usa" said Mars smirking as Usagi almost fell off the bed with surprise.
"Umm..why did you do it. Make love to me I mean"
Mars' grin turned lecherous as her eyes traveled the length of Usagi's body. Her eyes resting briefly at inappropriate areas and finally moving back to Usagi's eyes. "Why do you think?"
"I know it wasn't just sex to you. I know" said Usagi quietly as she looked down and fiddled with the bedcover. Rei's gentle breathing was the only noise heard for a few minutes. Mars' hand shook as she ran it through her hair. "Don't lie to me and say it was just a fuck because you were away from Crystal Tokyo since I know it wasn't. You consciously knew it was me and not Serenity you were kissing. You *wanted* it to be me and not her. We are the same person. I am her and she is me. Then why would you do this?"
"The two of you are completely different just like sleeping beauty here and me are two different beings. Life will change you" said Mars looking at her former self.
"So you wanted to recapture Serenity's youth or something like that?" asked Usagi, not completely sure whether to be outraged or flattered. She picked on being outraged as she saw Mars laugh.
"Serenity's 'youth' is still very intact my dear. Its not like she's gotten too old to take to bed or anything like that. She's just too wrapped up in business affairs to notice her life collapsing all around her. Did you know that just before I left for this mission Chibiusa cornered me in a passageway of the palace and asked me whether I was going to make Serenity leave Endymion? She's such a child even now. She doesn't understand that Serenity would never leave him. Not ever. She would rather destroy his heart piece by piece"
"What do you mean? Are you saying Endymion knows about you and her...me...whatever?" asked Usagi sitting up straight.
"The man has governed nations. Give him some credit will you. He's not stupid. He figured it out even before we ourselves knew. He knows it since the day you fought Galaxia. He knows even now. Right now at this minute he's in his apartment crying. Did you know that Usa?"
Usagi jumped off the bed. A part of her wanted to run over to Mamoru's place and comfort him. Another part wanted to stay by Rei. Yet another chunk, the one that couldn't pick between the previous two options, wanted her to clobber Mars. How dare she speak so callously about her? How dare she accuse her of hurting Mamo-chan? "Don't you dare. Don't you dare blame this on me. I know I would never do something like that. There must be a reason I'm not leaving Endymion. Did you ever ask me..her...why she wouldn't leave him?"
"Serenity and I don't talk much. We do other things" said Mars as she looked out the window. For the first time since Usagi had seen her there seemed to be some kind of emotion lurking behind those ice cold eyes. It flickered away in a few moments. Usagi sat down heavily on the bed. It finally hit her just what sort of relationship Mars and she shared in the future. It obviously wasn't a very healthy one judging by Mars' behaviour. "Don't get me wrong. You're wonderful even in the future. You do all the right things, make all the right choices, say all the right words. You even manage to juggle your royal duty to spend some quality time with your daughter. You take me out for little picnics and other such silly things. Its not even like we have a secret burden. Everyone in the palace knows about us. It's kind of obvious when the servants always find us in some isolated room of the palace naked underneath the sheets. The people have interesting rumours flying about us. There's one about how we're drawn to each other because of that time during the Yutian war when we did a cross blood-type transfusion"
"A what?" asked Usagi drawing her eyebrows together.
"A blood transfer even though our blood type is different. It's a fairly routine procedure if a donor of your blood type isn't readily available. I guess the rumour started because you refused to take blood from anyone else. Even your most loyal attendant was a little miffed when you refused to take her blood"
"So..is that why..." said Usagi trailing off as she saw Rei stir and murmur something in her sleep. She reached out and tucked the blanket closer to the sleeping girl. She looked pretty banged up.
"No. I've always loved you" said Mars quietly and stood up. Her hands were trembling even worse than before. Usagi looked at them carefully. It didn't seem as though Mars was nervous. Then why were her hands shaking?
"Oh shit" said Usagi as Mars sunk to her knees unable to hold her weight any longer. "Are you losing control?" Mars only giggled.
"No. I just haven't eaten anything in nine days"
__________________________________________________
Crystal Tokyo - Before the advent
"Set-chan, come on. Stop working and get over here. I've made tea just the way you like it" coaxed the dark-haired woman teasingly. "Oh don't give me that 'I'll be there in a second' wave. That translates to one hour. Now come on"
Pluto smiled, stretched, and made her way to the living room. After hours of watching eight monitors that displayed information on the time gate, she was more than ready to take a break. "Hmmm...something smells wonderful"
"Oh yeah I made cookies" said Sierra as she was wrapped in Pluto's warm embrace. They held each other for a minute, losing account of time (which the senshi of time really should not). After an eternity and one minute they broke their hug and sat down on opposite sides of the kitchen table. Pluto sipped her tea.
"Sierra" began Pluto, the lack of suffix immediately snapping the other woman to attention. "The tea is perfect"
"Thank you" said Sierra and sipped.
"So are you" Pluto continued. *Sip*
*Gulp* "Pardon me?" the younger woman said when the sentence and its implication sank down her throat along with the tea.
"I said, you are perfect" said Pluto, patiently repeating her words assuming she had not been heard the first time.
"I know what you said. I want to know what it means"
"For now it means just that"
_________________________________________________
Crystal Tokyo - After the advent
Planet Uranus - Queen's Palace
The party was in full swing. All members of court were present and accounted for including the ever elusive couple who were, probably for the third time in their lives, playing host instead of hooky. They had a way of turning every party into a courting ritual. Perhaps that was the secret to their happily married life, their *really long* married life. Or perhaps it was their common love for the welfare of their people. Even at a state gala of this caliber, the courtyard doors had been thrown open to the general public. No one really knew the formula that not only kept these two individuals together but also allowed them to excel because of, and not in spite of, each other.
"Ladies and Gentleman" announced the blonde, tapping his glass to get everyone's attention. No, wait a minute. Her glass. "As you all know, this little gathering is to honour the lives that ended in the line of duty in the battles against the Epouser. We honour not only the lives of the Uranians and Neptunians which were lost but the lives of all beings in the kingdom that fought against them. This is a bittersweet time for most of us. We've lost friends and family but we've also sealed a threat that could have destroyed our very existence. In short, we should be glad we kicked their asses" Uranus waited for the light laughter to quiet down and continued. "Since the attack at Neshrel our forces have dwindled some but we are still strong. We shall continue to be so with the blessing of the Winds and the Tides"
After the party: The Queen's Chambers
"Michiru?"
"Hmm?"
"What are you thinking?"
Neptune smiled in the dark. "All this time and you still can't tell?"
Uranus mirrored her smile. "I can tell. I want you to talk about it though"
"There's nothing to talk about Ruka. My brother is missing, possibly dead, because of a signal I sent out to confuse the enemy."
"You know its not your fault. He chose to man that station. It was his choice. He wanted to make sure the plan worked. He was trying to protect you"
"Protect me" said Neptune distastefully, turning away so that her back faced Uranus. "Do you have any idea how many people died this past week so that I could be safe? So that we could be safe?"
"I have an idea" whispered Uranus. "I'm in charge of sending out the 'Your child is dead because of me' letters remember"
Neptune turned around and looked at the woman she had spent lifetimes with. "Ruka, don't say it like that"
"Its true though. Every war causes casualties. Only thing in this perfect world though, we have wars all the time. We have casualties all the time. We never stop fighting. Even after all we've done there is always more to do. I wonder if it'll ever end"
"It'll end Ruka. It has to."
_________________________________________________
Minako's apartment - Present Time
"Shit" cursed Minako as she slumped against the door she had managed to close with great difficulty. Muttering a long string of expletives she made her way to the bathroom where she spent the next hour bandaging her wounds. She finally emerged showered, dressed and slightly more human. Obviously her mind was still in shock because she reached for the curtains and pulled them back only to be blinded by floodlights from the helicopter hovering at eye level to her penthouse. She immediately yanked them close.
"Oh great" she said dryly. Her phone rang and she picked up. The press did not have this number.
"Minako-chan?" came a questioning voice at the other end.
"Setsuna-chan" she said, breathing a sigh of relief at hearing a pleasant voice when she most needed it. "Calling me on a Thursday night to make a Friday date? Sorry no can do. The dating rule book clearly says that there should be a decent prior notice to the first date"
The voice at the other end laughed. "No Minako not a date. I wanted to ask if you got home in one piece"
"Yup. In one piece. All of me. No pieces left behind" said the blonde-haired woman, fervently hoping that her agent would clean the publicity mess she had just made.
"Oh really. Then why are you on the six o'clock news?"
"What!"
"The news anchor just reported that the idol Aino Minako is an alcoholic. Another channel says you're doing drugs. Yet another says a rabid fan stabbed you"
"Lovely. Leave it to the media to spice up my life. My agent will love me for this. He thinks controversy sells more than my voice"
"How are your wounds?" asked Setsuna
"They're fine"
"Did you eat something?"
"Not yet"
"Don't smoke"
"I'm not!" said Minako, hurriedly stubbing out the one she had just lighted.
"Don't stay up too late"
"I won't"
"Drink some milk before you sleep"
"I will"
"Don't try to work"
"I'm not!" said Minako, dejectedly putting away her script. She lit another cigarette.
"I told you not to smoke"
"Wha! don't do that Setsuna! Its creepy"
"Put it out"
"Come over to my place"
"I'll be there in an hour"
__________________________________________________________________________
Yay I actually finished this chapter. Only took me what...3 months? Thank you to all those who emailed me, encouraging me to actually finish what I start. I thank even those of you who directed thinly veiled threats of violence against me if I did not finish.
