The festival was held in the capital of the kingdom – a bright and busy city that bustled through with life and laughter. It was a week's ride from Minako's present village, and they stayed with one of Maria's nephews, a polite man with thinning brown hair, a bushy mustache, and a round, rosy, dutiful wife. The couple was fairly well off, but had no children and thus were happy to have some new faces in the house.

"Jezibiah!" Minako gasped, her eyes brightening as she grabbed the young man's arm. "Look!" she cried breathlessly, and he looked.
And winced. "Pig wrestling," he affirmed. The rest of their party had gone their own ways, to booths and contests and shops.
"Look at what you get if you win," she smiled merrily, ignoring his pathetic attempts to steer her away from the attraction. Giving up, Jezibiah sighed and looked. There was a lovely silver hand-mirror on a velvet pillow, shining and glinting in the sunlight.
An idea had begun to form in Minako's mind as soon as she'd seen the mirror. It was a beautiful creation – something Serenity would definitely appreciate. She licked her lips in anticipation, wanting to get the mirror as a make-up gift for her Princess.
"Let's find something else, okay Janie?" Jezibiah begged, but she only patted his arm and told him to stay put.
"I'll be right back!" she told him brightly and hurried over to the man in charge of the contest, standing just behind him. It took a moment for him to notice her because he was watching the young man fighting the wild boar in the muddy pen – he wasn't looking too good.
"What?" the man asked gruffly, raising an eyebrow curiously at the pretty girl's cheerful smile.
"I want to beat your pig," she stated quite calmly, not seeming to realize how dangerous a wild boar could be.
The man laughed. "Honey, you go on home and cook or sew or whatever you little women-folk do, but leave the dangerous stuff to the men!"
Minako opened her mouth, frowning at the man, but Jezibiah pushed in front of her before she could say anything. "Of course she won't go in there, sir, I will. I'd like to try and win that mirror." He smiled and the man gave him a funny look, but shrugged and started explaining the terms of the contest. Kill the boar and win the mirror. Minako heard him and noticed that the last contestant was scrambling out of the pen.
Seeing that Jezibiah and the man were still talking, Minako shrugged and hopped lightly over the fence and into the mud. She frowned at her shoes, but kept half an eye on the suddenly wary boar.
This should be fun, she smiled and picked up her skirts.
The boar charged.
"Janie!" Jezibiah cried, terrified, and Minako noticed with alarm that he was coming into the pen to save her. His thoughts were on her -- on protecting her, saving her, from that wild beast. She was too delicate! She was going to be killed!
No! That idiot's going to get himself hurt! She frowned and concentrated on the boar, which was coming at her very fast. With one quick jerk of her skirts and a mild twist, she caught the boar in the head with her heel and knocked it into the mud, jerking her skirts again so that they wouldn't get dirty and grabbing the boar's tusks with both hands, twisting its head hard to the left and feeling its neck snap.
By the time Jezibiah reached her, the boar was quite dead.
As she stood, though, she didn't have time to register everyone's astonished faces because a glint of retreating silver in the crowd caught her eye.
"Pick up the mirror for me," she told a gaping Jezibiah as she started to move and then run after the flash of silver she had seen.
It couldn't have been . . . could it? It was Earth, after all, and he did live here . . .
Minako's mind went through all the stunned speculations, but her heart kept repeating one word as she ran, gaze darting into nooks and coves . . .
Kunzite.
Her heart was hammering, her knees shaking, but all she could think about was that he was there, in the same city, at the same festival as her. It wasn't that she wanted to see him – rather, she had to. It was some great, undeniable impulse that drew her after that flash of silver, and one that she, as the young Goddess of Love, could not deny.
How long had it been? A year? More?
Minako was startled from her thoughts as a rough, callused hand grabbed her arm and drew her into the small alcove beside an inn. She was pulled ungracefully up against a strong chest, but she did not fight. Somehow, through it all, she knew.
"It's been a while, princess," his dynamic voice rumbled.
"Yes," Minako flushed, looking up into his pale eyes.
"We need to talk." His gaze was hard and cold, but she couldn't look away from it.
"Yes."
Kunzite nodded and turned, keeping one hand firmly on her arm as he led her through a side door into the inn. Soon he had her in one of the rooms, barring the door behind them and closing the curtains to the only window. She sat on the bed and for a few moments neither said anything. Minako noted the bag in the corner and thought that this must be his room.
"What happened?" he finally asked, drawing a stool up for himself. His gaze didn't waver, but it was getting harder for her to meet it.
"I don't know what you mean," she started, but he only stood up and glared down at her.
"Something happened to you, Minako, but the Queen sent us home before I could hear anything, and I want to know if I have to kill that man now!"
"Don't you touch Artemis!" Minako cried wildly, the image of her mentor being harmed rising up before her and attacking her with pain. It brought back how she had to hurt him to keep him from her, and she felt the tears well up behind her eyes. "Please," she finally whispered, "please, let's not talk about it."
Kunzite's gaze fell and he stood there for a long, torturous moment. "Fine." His voice was clipped and she knew that the subject wasn't over with, only postponed.
Minako turned her face from him and clutched at the rough blanket beneath her.
"We miss you, Minako," he breathed, pain and longing laced beneath the honesty of his voice. She turned to look at him and they were just gazing at each other, her youthful cheer giving way to something much older and wiser, meeting his despair head-on and matching it, blue on blue with no insulating anger or pretense. Kunzite moved forward and bent, placing his hands on either side of her on the bed. "I miss you."
Minako looked at him, wide-eyed, and then allowed her eyes to close as his lips descended on hers.

The sunlight was creeping in through the curtains and Minako watched its play on the wall. She was stroking the tips of her fingers through Kunzite's hair, absently, languidly, ignoring the scratchiness of the blankets wrapped around her bare body.

"You'll come back with me now."
Minako turned, a little startled at the man beside her. He was looking up at her through drowsy lids, an indefinable expression of male satisfaction in his face as he surveyed the woman beside him. She had grown in their year apart, gaining curves where before there had been only the hints of approaching womanhood. Even now, he knew that she was not as developed as she would be in a few years, and he looked forward to the future with an eagerness surprising even to himself.
"What?" she asked, a little flustered.
"You'll come back with me. To my home, and . . ." he touched her arm lightly, stroking her hair in a way almost comparable to uncertainty, "perhaps we could marry?" He wouldn't meet her eyes and there was a peculiar inflection in his voice that left Minako breathless with its insecurity.
He finally looked up, but she didn't answer, only kissed him again, deeply, running her hands lightly over his shoulders.
"I love you," he murmured much later, covered in a light sheen of exhaustion, and went to sleep holding her close to his chest.
Once Minako heard his breathing even out, she untangled herself carefully and slipped her clothes on, tying up her hair as she sent him one last glance and let herself from the room.
It wasn't that she didn't want to go with him, or that his promises weren't enticing. She just wasn't ready to return to her life or one close to what she had left. She still had duties as a Senshi, and if she returned it would mean her reclaiming those responsibilities, despite the sweet lure of Kunzite's impossible bedtime words.
"Where have you been?!" Jezibiah ran up to her and demanded as she reached Maria's nephew's house. "The others are already gone, I've been waiting for you for hours!" He was upset.
Minako cringed – she didn't want to make Jezibiah feel bad, he'd always been so nice to her. "I'm sorry, I lost track of the time," she smiled apologetically, hoping he wouldn't ask any questions.
He didn't, he just sighed and brought her horse forward. "All right, come on. If we hurry, we can catch up with them."
"Hurry," she repeated softly, anxiety filling her. What if Kunzite woke up and caught her before she left the city? Yes, hurry hurry hurry. It became a chant in her, repeating and retracing, pounding through her mind and her blood. When Jezibiah looked at her in curiousity, she gave a wobbly smile and told him that they should probably go faster.