Minako woke up in a dim room, sunlight slanting in from an open window. The Princess was slumped into an easy-chair nearby, snoring lightly. She had changed clothes. Instead of her white and gold Moon gown, she was in a heavy red brocade that seemed a little too tight around the bust and hips. Her hair was even taken from its traditional style and placed into a braided coronet on top of her head. Minako looked down at herself and found that her dress had become a loose white sleeping-gown.

She lay there, remembering what had happened for a long while. Finally, she attempted to stand but fell quickly to her knees. The noise awakened Serenity, who flitted to Minako's side.
"You shouldn't be out of bed!" Serenity scolded, pushing her guardian back under the covers and tucking them under her chin. Minako tried to protest, but Serenity shushed her. "You've taken care of me all my life; now I can finally repay you." The Princess was somewhat wan, and Minako, picking up on it instantly, questioned her about it. "Oh," Serenity blushed. "Artemis and I gave you some of our energy, and Endymion healed a few of your really bad injuries. That backlash was really terrible – we thought you were going to die. But you didn't and Endymion was nice, letting us stay in the castle as his guests."
"What?!" Minako tried to sit up, but Serenity pushed her back down.
"Don't worry, the only people who know who we are is Endymion and his guards. The king and queen think we're nothing more than a family traveling party Endy-chan took in because you were hurt so badly."
"Family?" Minako settled back and let this sink in. Her back was killing her – it had taken most of the blow when she hit the tree – and the forming headache wasn't helping.
"Yes, you, me and Artemis are brother and sisters. We look enough alike, I guess." Serenity smiled, warmth flowing into the room with her sunny countenance, and Minako felt a little of her pain melt away.
"Okay," Minako murmured, her eyes slipping closed. "Just don't let anybody stumble over you and 'Endy-chan' in one of your little embraces. Rumors fly about castles as quickly as flies on fresh refuse."
Serenity blushed and smiled. "Of course, Mina-chan. You just get better now." She kissed her guard on the forehead and slipped from the room, going to tell Endymion and Artemis that Minako had awoken.

Artemis was with Endymion's four guards, pacing back and forth as they talked in low tones.

"Do you think it's really safe to have the Moon Princess here?" the brown-haired man was asking.
"As long as no one finds out who she is," a blonde one replied.
"Shush, you two," the silvery blonde ordered, swirling the wine in his cup as he brooded. "Don't speak of who they are, even if we think we're alone. It's dangerous."
"Yes, sir," the men replied and fell silent because the door opened.
Serenity entered and Artemis stopped pacing to face her. Her smile was enough to lift most of the burden from his chest. "She's awake and wanting to get up and do things, but I made her go back to sleep. She'll probably be starving next time she wakes up, so we should get some food for her."
Artemis smiled. "Good, I'm glad she's alright."
"She's not alright," the silver-haired man said. "She'll be recuperating from that hit against the tree for a while, and there's still no guarantee that she'll be able to perform her duties as well as she used to."
Serenity looked worried and the man, Kunzite, eyed her briefly.
"If you like – what should I call you?" he broke off, frowning.
Serenity thought for a moment. 'Princess' and 'Serenity' were too obvious names for her stay on Earth. "Bunny, please."
"If you like, Miss Bunny, I know enough about injuries that I believe a small session with Miss Minako every day would help her heal faster and better."
"Hey, that's true!" one of the other guards, a man with short blonde hair, said. "Kunzite is the best at helping people work out their injuries! He's great – I broke my ankle once and thought I would have to drop from the Prince's guard until Kunzite helped me out."
Kunzite gave a small, amused smile. "Thank you, Jadeite."
"Okay, then," Serenity gave a sweet, charming smile and granted him permission to aide the Princess of Venus in her healing.

Kunzite went to see Minako when she had woken up again, to start the sessions. When he entered, she was doing admirable damage to her tray of assorted meats, cheeses, and breads. There was a vase with fresh flowers from the gardens, and the Moon Princess sat beside the bed, attending any of her friend's needs.

"Ser–Bunny, please!" Minako protested as the Princess moved to go fetch some more of the meat pies Minako had been enjoying so much. Minako laughed. "You don't have to do this! Really, I should be waiting on you."
"Nonsense," the Princess folded her arms and looked more determined than Kunzite thought she could. "You work too much already. Just sit back and enjoy the leisure time while you can, and pretty soon we'll be back home where you can fuss at me for running around in my good dresses and things like that."
Minako made a small grunt of compliance and nibbled a piece of cheese. "Who lent you those clothes?" she looked again at the long, too-tight gown.
"One of the ladies in court," Serenity looked absently at the skirt. "Endymion didn't really say who, exactly. It kind of hurts, but it's better than nothing. . . ." She trailed off because Minako's attention had been drawn to the man clearing his throat by the door. "Oh! Kunzite!" Serenity smiled.
Kunzite was feeling particularly uncomfortable with the Venusian's suspicious glare on him. It faded, however, as the Princess seemed to have been expecting him.
"Great! You're here for that thing we talked about, right?" He nodded and the Princess smiled, turning to Minako. "Kunzite has offered to help you feel better!"
Minako blinked and Kunzite blushed a little. That had sounded a little more personal than his intentions had been. "I know a lot about helping injuries," he clarified, stepping forward and bowing to her. "If you would permit me to put my knowledge to use, I believe it would help."
"Oh," Minako nodded, her cheeks cooling slightly. "Of course, then."
"I'll take the tray and leave you to work," Serenity smiled, a deep-rooted concern lingering behind her cheer.
He waited until the door had shut behind the Princess to speak. "Lie down on your stomach. I need to familiarize myself with your injuries."
Minako did as asked, a little self-conscious as he pulled back the covers and took off his gloves. She gasped a little when she felt his magic touch her back. It was not an unpleasant sensation, but rather a cool, silver light that caressed her, pausing on each of her aches and hurts for long moments before moving on. The magic missed no part of her body and Minako was feeling decidedly exposed when he had finished. She was flushing and would not look at him.
He did not speak for such a long time that she finally glanced up at him. He was sitting beside her on the bed, one leg drawn up under him, face glowing with perspiration as he breathed, eyes closed in strain. She dared not touch him, but it was scaring her that he did not move.
Finally, after long moments, he opened his eyes and breathed heavily. "I have it." He had memorized the severity of her injuries.
"Now what?" she whispered.
"Now?" he looked startled, as if he had forgotten she was even in the room. He blinked twice, then looked over her back again, biting his lip. His eyes were pale blue and analytical; Minako found herself enjoying watching them peruse her. "Now I give you medication and you sleep," he sighed. "You need rest tonight, and we can start for real tomorrow morning." He took a pill from a pouch at his belt and examined it, then, finding it good enough, put it in the cup of wine he had kept back for her. "You'll hurt like hell in the morning," he said as she drank the wine, "but I've done a little magic on your injuries that should speed their healing. The problem is that we need to keep them from healing wrong. Like those broken ribs, or the bone in your foot that got messed up."
Minako sighed, not looking forward to the next session at all. She handed him the wine glass and let him pull the covers back up over her. She trembled with pain and felt his eyes on her one last moment before the candle was blown out and the door clicked shut behind him.

They had sessions every morning, just before dawn, where Kunzite would come in and pay particular attention to each injury, stretching it, wrapping it, or using magic to melt away bruises or fix some unreachable problem, such as the smashed bone in her foot.

Both were thoroughly worn out after every session, as if after a major workout; yet she felt surprisingly better after each. Minako blushed at the thought that Kunzite probably knew her body better than she did.
After every session, the Moon Princess would come to help Minako into a warm bath to wash off all sweat and grime, and Artemis would come to talk with her. The rest of the castle, happily, left them all alone.
It so happened that after one particularly long session, the Princess failed to come. Kunzite usually stayed with Minako until Serenity came, but this day, for some reason, she did not.
"I guess I'll be dirty all day," Minako murmured placidly when Kunzite made this observation. She chuckled when he grimaced. "No, I'll just go in there myself. I don't really need Bunny's help anymore." She swung her legs over the side of the bed, but before she could stand Kunzite had caught her and lifted her.
"That foot is still not ready to be walked on, Minako," he warned, carrying her toward her bath.
"What--" she exclaimed, startled, as he pushed through the door and took her inside. "What are you doing?!" She clung to his neck and stared at the warm water, supplied earlier by a few castle attendants.
"Getting you in the water, what do you think?" he replied, setting her on a bench and working at the double-knotted bow keeping her night-dress closed in back. "Then I'm going to leave and fetch Miss Bunny to help you out again." He seemed to recognize her distress, as he added, "Don't worry."
"Don't worry," she repeated and rolled her eyes, flushing hotly in embarrassment as her dress suddenly fell from her shoulders. But Kunzite did not treat her like a lover, or even a woman, as he all too calmly slipped one arm around her bare waist and let the dress fall to the floor, preparing to carry her to the bath.
Artemis peeked in the open door.
"Mina-chan?" he pushed his head in farther. "Mina-chan!" Minako looked at Artemis in horror. She was in a very undignified position, but Kunzite kept his head and put her as calmly as ever into the warm water, where she could curl up and keep part of her now-tattered dignity.
Kunzite frowned at his sopping sleeves and shook them absently, flinging water over the floor.
"What the hell?" Artemis was saying, and Kunzite turned to look at him.
Artemis hit him. It was a blow to the jaw, packed with fury and inexperience, so that the emotional charge outweighed the pain.
They stood there, glaring at each other for a long while. Finally, Artemis spoke. "Bunny said she'll be late."
"Okay."
Minako wanted to die.