All I Have to Give

"Oh Artemis! It's awful! Raye-chan is going out with a boy! She's not even going to want to hear what I have to say!" Mina wailed to the white cat curled in her lap.

"Did you admit how you feel? Did you ask her how she felt about the guy?" the wise, often foolish, cat asked softly.

"I didn't even have to ask! She was gushing on and on about how awesome this boy was her friends from the academy had set her up with. The senshi didn't have a problem with her preferred choice, so we never really tried to set her up with anyone," Mina sniffled, wiping a tear from her eyes. "But her friends at school wouldn't hear of it and they convinced her to go out with this boy from the all boy's school. And she was so happy about it!"

"Mina-chan, you have to tell Raye how you feel. If you don't it's only going to hurt you in the end. It's only going to drive you insane. You know that, ne?"

"Hai, I know," she nodded. She tilted her head back, trying to keep the tears from falling anymore. With a sigh, she stretched her arms above her head and laid back on the bed. "Tomorrow, you wanna go with me as I go tell her about her mistake... even though it's my fault she made it?"

"Hai. Of course I will. I'm not your partner for nothing Mina-chan," Artemis smiled. Mina watched as he leaped from her lap and came to sit beside her head. She rolled over and snuggled against him. "Mina-chan, I love you as though you were my own daughter. I can't let you suffer. Especially if I know how to help you fix the problem."

"Arigato Artemis," she whispered softly.

With sharp eyes, Artemis watched as she slowly closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.

88

"Mina!" Artemis cried in an exasperated tone. It was the fourth time he'd tried to wake her up. To think, she could just go to sleep, in her street clothes, and still sleep like the dead!

"Na... nani?" she yawned, stretching delicately on the bed.

"You want to get up this decade? We're going back to the shrine today, remember?"

"Oh!" she blushed. "I'd almost... I can't believe I was going to oversleep!" she muttered, scratching the back of her neck in embarrassment.

"It's fine. Just, you want to get moving so that we can get this over with today?" Artemis asked, rolling his eyes.

"Hai, hai. I'm going to call Raye and ask if she minds us coming over and then I'm going to take a shower and we can go straight over, ne?"

"Good," he muttered. He leaped gracefully from the bed and walked out of the room, his body swaying with the perfect grace that only felines are capable of.

Rolling her vibrant eyes, Mina rolled out of bed and picked up the communicator on the bed table. "Raye-chan!" she asked as she pressed the button to call up the woman who had stolen her heart.

"Nani Minako?" Raye asked, her face appearing in the communicator.

"Do you mind if I come back over? We didn't exactly get to finish our conversation yesterday," Mina reminded her, a blush covering her cheeks.

"Ano... hold on a sec, let me think I have anything planned today.." Raye murmured. Mina watched as she closed her eyes and appeared to be deep in thought. "Yeah. You can come on over. I don't have anything to do. I'll be happy to see you again. To make sure everything is okay, ne?"

"Arigato Raye-chan!" Mina cried. She blew her a kiss and switched the communicator off. Jumping out of bed, she grabbed an orange and red sundress and clean underwear and ran to take a shower.

She sang in happiness as she moved quickly, trying to get everything taken care of before she left. She dressed and pulled on skin-colored stockings. With her hair pulled up into her usual half-ponytail, she checked her reflection and smiled at herself. She looked happy and ready to take the world by storm.

"I like that dress on you," Artemis commented softly, sitting in the doorway.

"Arigato," Mina murmured, bowing her head to hide her blush.

"Don't be so timid. You have to be more than ready to get what you want. You want love! Remember the goddess Aphrodite never backed down! When she wanted somebody, she went to them and made them hers! You are the goddess in human form! Take the one you want and be happy!" Artemis lectured enthusiastically.

"You practiced that, didn't you?" Mina laughed, kneeling before the feline guardian.

"Hai. I did. But it sounded so good, ne?"

"Hai. It was beautiful. Arigato," she whispered. "Come on, lets go!"

88

She got off of the bus and walked slowly to the shrine.

"Artemis, I'm nervous!" she murmured softly.

"Don't be nervous. I'm here. I won't let anything happen to you, ne?"

With a grateful look at the pearly feline, she began the ascent to the shrine. She looked up and saw the shrine maiden standing happily at the top of the staircase, her long black hair danced poetically in the wind.

"Minako!" Raye waved.

"Raye-chan!" Mina responded, running up the stairs. She quickly embraced the shrine maiden and pecked her softly on the cheek.

"What was that for?" Raye asked softly, dazedly as she cocked her head to the left and gently rubbed her cheek.

"Come inside. We have to talk. I have to tell you something."

"Nani?" Raye asked.

She nearly laughed out loud as Mina grabbed her smooth hand and pulled her into the small home. Raye quickly took charge and led the way to her bedroom. When they were in, she slid the door shut and knelt before the small table in her room. She gestured elegantly at Mina and indicated the spot next to her, her traditional spot during the senshi meetings.

"Mina, what's gotten into you?" Raye asked softly.

"Raye-chan... I don't know how to say this..." Mina broke off. She looked down at the impossibly wonderful feline that snuggled against her knees and looked back up, her eyes meeting Raye's. "Raye-chan, I'm in love with you."

a/n: gomen nasai for the long delay minna! i've been super busy with all kinds of other things and this story that won't leave me alone... -.-' i hope this update helps everyone out, it's not right of me to leave it alone for so long, but i'm afraid i'm only going to be able to update my stories about once a month. i'll try to do more, but school is a pain in the ass and it's hard to find the time i need to write! anyway, enough with my excuse making! now, for some responses...

balticbard: arigato! the compliments are always nice. here's part of the sequel! as to whether or not she gets a happy ending... have to wait and see, ne? thank you for the review!

whiro: sorry it's going to be long intervals between my updates! i hope you don't mind too much, but i'm not going to give up! i'm going to keep this story going! it's been in my head for what seems like an eternity, i just have to find the time to get it out... o.O thank you for the review!

ConservErie: i'm flattered that you enjoy my story so much and i hope you continue to enjoy the characterizations. unfortunately, i've never seen the anime and only know the manga... sad i know... so the characters seem a bit out of character from what i'm used to and i wasn't sure how that would be received. thank you for the review and helping to reassure me!

and...

thorn on a rose (here's the sequel!)
cookie
fan

thank you all for the reviews! as my first fanfic ever, i'm really excited about the response i've gotten! (glomps everyone) thank you so much!