Dreaming of Dreams
Chapter 5
Minako took a deep breath of relief as she finally sat down in her seat on the airplane. Rei and Makato took the seats on either side of her, while in the row in front of them, Ami, Usagi and Mamoru sat, with Usagi trying to talk Mamoru out of the window seat to no avail.
"Please, Mamo-chan?"
"Usako, wouldn't you rather sit next to Ami-chan?"
"She's boring!"
"That's not very nice, honey."
"Ami knows she's boring, right Ami-chan?"
Ami grumbled softly and tried desperately to concentrate on her book, burying her face deeper in the pages.
Usagi sighed and leaned back in her chair, pouting. Mamoru grinned and leaned over, planting a kiss on her jaw.
"You can have the window on the way back, okay?"
She looked up at him and smiled. "Promise?"
"Promise."
She grinned and hugged him. "Thank you, Mamo-chan!"
Makato rolled her eyes. "Kami-sama, they make me sick. Hey, Mina-chan, switch seats with me. You can take the window."
Minako nodded, and they switched seats so Minako could sit by the window and Makato could watch Rei's portable DVD player without straining her neck. Minako flipped idly through a gossipy magazine for several minutes, but sighed and put it down. She leaned up over the seat and looked down at Mamoru.
"Mamoru-kun, when is take-off?"
He looked straight up at her and grinned. "It should be in just a few minutes, Mina-chan. I suggest you relax…it's nearly a 14 hour flight."
She groaned and banged her head against the headrest. "So long! Sheesh, Paris had better be worth it!"
Usagi giggled and looked up. "Of course it'll be worth it, Mina-chan! We're going to have lots of fun!"
Minako nodded. "Hai, hai." She leaned back again and plopped in her seat. She glanced over at Makato and Rei, who were giggling at the movie they were watching. She looked out the window. Then she turned back to her lap. She frowned. "This is so darn boring!"
Usagi's pigtails could be seen flipping around from where Minako was sitting. Usagi jumped around and looked at Minako, her eyes wide and pleading. "Why don't you and Ami trade seats, Mina-chan? Ami's happy reading, Rei and Mako are no fun, and Mamo-chan's not paying any attention to me either; he's too darn busy with that laptop of his again. I could use some company!"
Minako smiled. "Is it okay with Ami-chan?"
Ami was already up, her blue head bobbing, and scooting past Rei towards Minako's seat. She leaned over and whispered to Minako. "Usagi-chan's so noisy. It's hard to concentrate sitting next to her!"
Minako giggled. "Then let's switch, okay?"
Mamoru looked up from his laptop when Minako sat down next to Usagi. "Sheesh, can't you girls just sit down and be happy? Please tell me you all won't be doing this the whole flight!"
Minako grinned while Usagi leaned over and grabbed a bag of cookies out of her pink carry-on bag. The pigtailed blonde turned towards her boyfriend with a pout. "We can't help it if we want to have the chance to sit next to ALL our friends. So we move a lot. It's going to be a long flight, you said it yourself."
Mamoru shook his head. "I will never understand…" He mumbled.
Usagi shrugged and turned away from him and back towards Minako. "So, Mina-chan, what did you bring along? I've got cookies, CDs, magazines, crossword puzzles, and lots of other games and stuff."
Minako smiled and opened her carry-on bag to show Usagi the many snacks and other items that were littered about. Usagi gasped in pleasure and grabbed the bag, rummaging through all the goodies. Minako leaned back, suddenly feeling very tired. She fastened her seatbelt, and slowly drifted into sleep.
Many happy couples twirled around the dance floor, the lively music keeping tempo perfectly to match their steps. Minako stood in the corner of the ballroom, clinging to a wide spiraling column. She gasped as she looked around her at the beautiful people and their stunningly ornamented clothing, and at the golden ballroom. She glanced at the column she was leaning against. Golden, it was, just like everything else in the room. She took a moment to look down at her own appearance. She frowned. She stood out among all the other people in the room, who were all in bright gold colors. She wore a long, shimmering silver dress trimmed delicately in gold lace. She pulled away from the column, and glanced down at her white gloved hands. Gulping, she swiftly walked away, searching desperately for a way out of the room. Just as she spotted a large, wide entryway, someone clasped onto her hand and pulled her back. She gasped and would have screamed if it wasn't for the small, delicate hand that covered her mouth. She whipped around. Her eyes grew large and wide, her mouth hung wide open, and she almost fell to the floor.
"Mina-chan…you aren't leaving, are you? You can't! You haven't danced at all tonight, and someone over there is looking very unhappy at your abandonment of him…" Sounding very sad and dejected at the thought of a leaving Mina-chan, Princess Serenity stood in front of Minako, grasped tightly at Minako's arm as she pulled her hand away from the shocked girl's mouth.
Minako stumbled over her words as she uttered "Princess Serenity!", trying desperately to regain her composure.
The girl in front of her blinked several times, and then started to giggle, her long tresses of blonde hair sweeping around her as she shook with laughter. "Princess Serenity? Goodness, Mina-chan…you never call me that, not even in public. What's wrong, dear?"
Minako shook her head several times, clinging onto the princess's arm, scared that she would fall if she let go. "I'm quite sorry, Princess…but whoever you think I am, I am not. Yes, I am Minako, but…I am not the Minako you seek."
A wide pout that was so distinctively Usagi formed on the princess's face. "What on Venus are you talking about? Fine, then! If you're going to be mean and persist on calling me…THAT, then I will go and call you YOUR formal name…PRINCESS MINAKO…"
Minako blinked. "Princess…Minako…?"
Serenity frowned and skipped away, her heels clicking against the golden tiles. She went up to a tall man and started talking to him urgently. Minako watched them blankly, noticing it was the man with the white hair again. She frowned and turned back around to search out the exit she had spotted before the princess had interrupted her.
She started climbing a staircase that would lead up to the large door. She stopped halfway up the stairs and grasped onto a banister, her head suddenly becoming cloudy and her vision blurring. She shook her head violently, trying to rid herself of the dilemma. She knew exactly what was coming next. Her fears were confirmed when her hand was taken away from the banister and into someone else's hand. She looked up groggily to see the man with the white hair in front of her.
She groaned. "You again, I see."
"You fear my appearance?"
She sighed and tried to free herself of his grasp. Breaking her hand away from his, she turned and started her descent up the stairs again.
"I would not attempt that if I were you…"
She stopped and turned back to look at him, seeing that he was standing very calmly in the same spot. He obviously wasn't going to try chasing after her.
"…and why not?"
"If you leave this room, you will wake up."
"That's what I want to do! I want you to leave me alone!"
He walked up the few stairs that were separating them. She looked up into his gray eyes, her own blue ones wide and fearful.
"But why is that? Why can't you just look around you and just listen to yourself? Your true self is coming through…she's trying to show you who you really are, and you keep running away from it."
"I'm not running away from anything!"
He laughed. "Yes, you are. Do not think that I do not know you, Minako. I know you better than anyone else ever will…you run away from the thought of happiness, just because you are afraid that once you have it…that you will lose it. That is not the case…you will never lose me."
She gasped and tried backing away from him. Her heeled slipper hit the next stair, and she fell backwards. She looked up at him from her sitting position on the stair. "I don't even know who you are! I don't know if I would want to lose you or not, because I don't know you!"
He crouched down to her level to look her in the face. "Then listen to your heart. I cannot tell you everything. You have to figure this out for yourself, my love." He gently kissed her lips before standing up and turning away from her. He started to walk back down the stairs, but turned once more to her. She was standing up and getting ready to keep walking up the staircase.
He sighed. "The choice is yours, of course. If you want to leave, you may, and I will not stop you, and I will not pursue you any longer…but if you do leave, you will never be at rest with yourself, and you will never really understand who you are."
She looked down at the dancing people below her, up at the door, and back to him. "I'm afraid, though…what if I don't like what I find?" She whispered, staring into his eyes.
"You will just have to take that risk…"
She noticed his outstretched hand towards her. She stared at it for several moments. Slowly and very timidly, she reached out to him. She pulled back suddenly though and looked at him.
"Will I ever wake up? What about my friends and family? Will I ever see them again?"
"Do not worry about all that right now. You will not be here forever, I promise."
She nodded and placed her hand in his.
End Chapter Five.
