Heya readers. Enjoying the story so far? This chapter, much like the last one, will use a small amount of material from "beginnings" but, like chapter three, will expand upon it. Oh, and Minako's sisters? They'll come into the picture later. My mentioning them in the last chapter wasn't so much introducing them, as letting you all know that they exist. Actually, they'll probably show up in the next chapter.

Like I've said before, I'm trying to keep a 1000 word goal in mind for each chapter. I've written plenty of stories with tiny, 2-3 hundred word chapters, but I realized that anything less than a thousand words isn't as worthy of a readers time as it should be.

Also, I'm foreseeing eight to ten chapters in this series. If I manage to keep to a 1000 word average, that's between 8 and 10 thousand words… not the longest thing I've ever written (see: Written among the stars) but certainly not the shortest (see: Blue).

Ok, nuff of this. On to the story!

P.S. Is the new way I've been formatting the stories prior to posting working out?

P.S.S. Id like to dedicate this chapter to Wolfsheim, and the nectar of the gods. I speak, of course, of coffee.

Loves icy journey

Chapter four: Rehabilitation

By Michael Treiber

                Minako was somewhat hesitant as she raised her hand to knock on the front door to Ami's house. Last time she had stopped by, the blue haired girl had been rather upset.

                But it had all worked out in the end, hadn't it?

                Her courage thus fortified, Minako raised her hand and rapped on the heavy wooden door.

                It wasn't a long wait before Ami's mother greeted her.

                "Good afternoon Mrs. Mizuno…" The blond was on her best behavior, and trying her best to pour on her not inconsiderable charm. She smiled brightly at the older woman. "Is Ami here?"

                Ami's mother shook her head.

                "I'm afraid that she's at cram school for the rest of the afternoon."

                As Minako's sunny smile slowly crumpled, and idea occurred to her.

                "I don't suppose you'd like to come in for a quick cup of tea?"

*****

                "So Minako," Mrs. Mizuno asked in a conversational tone of voice, "How have you been lately?"

                "All right I suppose." She answered carefully.

                "That's nice." The older woman told her. "And how are things between you and Ami?"

                "Well…" Minako started slowly. "They're…interesting."

                "How so?"

                "Ami is studying as hard as she can to go to a medical university. I don't hold much doubt that she's going to make it. And when that happens, we wont see each other very often anymore. At least until we're both done with school."

                Ami's mother took a slow sip of her tea.

                "Are you worried that you'll drift apart?"

                Minako looked down at the teacup cradled on her lap.

                "Not so much that well drift apart, as that we wont become close enough before she leaves to stand being that far apart."

                It was a few moments before Mrs. Mizuno could think of something to say. When she did, it still didn't seem enough.

                "I'm sure everything will work out."

*****

                "I'm not so sure about this anymore Haruka." Minako complained to the tall blond. "At first it was all fun and games, and I admit, a little curiosity. But now…"

                "But now it's starting to take some work, and you're getting cold feet."

                Minako shook her head.

                "That's not really it. You see, I'm…I'm not like you." She blushed deeply, unable to meet Haruka's eyes.

                "Ah…" Haruka said slowly, her voice calm. "You mean you're not a lesbian."

                The smaller girl slowly nodded.

                "I just… I like spending time with Ami, and I am lonely, but… I just don't know if I have any of those feelings for her."

                The two were sitting, once again, on the couch in Haruka's living room.

                "Minako, it doesn't really affect me either way, what kind of relationship you and Ami have. So can you trust me to be neutral?"

                Minako was hesitant, but agreed.

                "I suppose so…"

                "Alright. Your usual relationships fall apart more often because of senshi duty than anything else, correct?"

                "Yeah, its kind of hard to explain why I end up running away from every date…"

                "Ok," Haruka continued, "So you need someone that is in on your secret. That pretty much limits your choices to the senshi, Mamoru, and the cats. Mamoru is taken, and while I'm sure Artemis would be flattered, your parents would never understand."

                Minako giggled lightly at the joke, and then sighed deeply.

                "Not that they would approve of another girl any more. And besides all that… I'm not…" she blushed even deeper than before. "I'm not attracted to other girls."

                "Does the thought of being with another girl disgust you?"

                A long, thought filled moment before Minako responded.

                "No…" she answered slowly. "It doesn't disgust me… but there's not thrill to it, either."

                Haruka nodded.

                "Now, imagine Umino naked, walking toward you with open arms…"

                "Ugh…" Minako responded before she thought about it. When she realized what she said, her eyes grew large.

                "Interesting, eh?" Haruka pretended to study her fingernails, watching Minako out of the corner of her eye. "The thought of Ami, a girl, doesn't bother you… But Umino, a male, is a bit on the unpleasant side. Now, suppose that you and Ami do develop a relationship. Attraction grows through a lot of channels. Look at Naru… She seems perfectly happy with Umino, even though you don't consider him attractive. But she's fallen in love with him, and that changes things in her eyes."

                "So what you're saying," Minako asked, "Is that if I ended up in love with Ami, I might start to find her more attractive?"

                Haruka shrugged. "Maybe. Or maybe you never feel lust for her, but she wants to be physically intimate. Even if you're not attractive to someone, there's still the desire to please the one you love."

                "All right." Minako said, "I think we've beaten the subject of attraction into the ground. What if I simply never fall in love with her?"

                "Do you expect to fall in love with everyone you date?"

                "… Good point." Minako agreed. "But I still have this feeling as though… Almost as thought, because of the senshi duty, I have to take one of my fellow senshi as a partner. 'Settle for this, or settle for nothing'…"

                "No," Haruka told her, "Try 'Settle for a beautiful, intelligent friend, who will no doubt some day be a rich and famous doctor…or settle for nothing.'"

                "But…" Minako's voice was suddenly very small, and timid, "What is she never wants anything to do with me?"

                Haruka grinned roguishly.

                "Phase two," she bent forward to whisper conspiratorially in Minako's ear. "Involves showing her that the two of you can pleasantly spend time alone, without her feeling threatened."

Minako frowned in thought for a moment, and then smiled at the idea that bloomed in her mind.

*****

Minako didn't have to wait long. Ami's mother had been very willing, almost eager, to tell her exactly when and where Ami's cram class was. Thus, when Ami came out, looking a bit worn, Minako was there waiting.

"Hi Ami!" Minako's tone was warm, almost sunny.

"Oh... Minako. Hi. Um... what are you doing here?"

The blond smiled at her friend.

"You've been working so hard in this cram class that I though you could use a break. So how about some ice cream? My treat."

*****

Once again Haruka had loaned her the money. But why in the world did she want to know weather Minako thought of herself as more of a cat person, or a bunny person?

"Mmm... This is good..." Minako sighed in pleasure after taking a deep bite of her vanilla cone.

Ami just nodded, absorbed in the chocolate swirl standing before her.

"So," Minako asked, "What are you doing in this new class?"

She blinked once, surprised that Minako was interested, but Ami was enthralled by this new class, and eager to discuss it with someone.

Though she didn't understand half of what the other girl said, Minako maintained eye contact through the entire monologue, nodding and making appropriate noises as the situation called for them. This had been something that Haruka had stressed into the ground. Even if you had no idea what she was talking about, or if you didn't care, you had to pretend that something a woman you were interested in said was the most interesting thing you had ever heard. Not only did it make her feel special, but it also let her know that you were interested in her, as a whole person.

Half an hour later, Ami seemed much easier around Minako as the two left. It seemed that the stiffness between them caused my Minako's request had been eased away.

"Thanks Minako..." Ami said as they left. "I had a good time."

"So did I." Minako replied. She paused for a moment, amazed that it was true. Normally she would have been bored to tears listening to someone discuss a class on Meji era literature, but she had a good time just being in Ami's presence.

*****

Minako was still feeling good after her meeting with Ami when she opened up her front door…only to find someone waiting in the living room for her, glaring as she slowly stepped inside.

"Um… Kotori. Hi…"

"So," Her older sister said, standing with her hands on her hips, "Where have you been?"

OK, sorry on how long it took to get this chapter out. To tell the truth though… this series is starting to be less than fun to write. I have NEVER gotten as much crap from anything I've written as I have from this. It started with a couple of iffy reviews… which, while harsh criticism, at least didn't feel like personal attacks. Well, ok, so they did… but I got over them. But that was just the start. I've gotten half a dozen emails RIPPING this fic! And I have no idea why! I put yuri warnings in my descriptions, I don't think I'm going to far out of character, and I keep my fics so PG-13 strict, that a lot of them could pass as PG, or even G. So what's wrong with this series? If it sucks, then just don't read it. I don't need the kind of abuse I've received because of this fic. If it keeps up, even though I feel like Ill be giving in, Ill just take it down.

Now, on to happier topics. As you all know, the Haruka and Michiru series is done. I'm thinking about writing an uber-fic, using the material from that series, but with all the holes filled in, and all the timeline errors fixed. I also want to improve the last three chapters, and add some material into the beginning (before the first fic) and into the middle (stuff needs to be done between lots of the chapters).

What else… Dark moon rising is once again back on my writing desk… I just put up a new chapter of it, and the next chapter is in the works.

That's it for now… expect the next chapter within the next couple days.