Chapter 2
He tossed the card at her.
"The ace of hearts..." Minako reached for it with her free hand, but just as it touched her fingers, it shattered into a billion pieces, each out of her reach forever.
"I'll tell your final fortune," The soldier said softly. His eyes locked onto hers, and she felt her love slipping away from her. Venus grabbed back with both hands, even tighter, struggling to maintain her grip. "Your love will be hopeless for all eternity."
Her eyes grew even wider and she stared down at him. The soldier's face was oddly serene, as if death no longer concerned him. But his eyes were tinged with the slightest bit of regret as Minako struggled to pull him back onto the roof. Crystalline tears fell from her eyes and a low moan exited her throat as a bit more of his hand slipped from her grasp. 'Stay with me, Ace. Kami-sama, stay with me!'
"What's wrong? You should look happier. Now you can go on living, without having to torment yourself over the ultimate choice, your love or your duty. Your fate is to continue fighting."
The soldier's eyes closed and he slowly disintegrated in her hands, intoning final words, "Your true battle begins now..."
More tears as she frantically grabbed at the empty air, struggling to touch him, hold him once more. And then, he was gone. Her eyes overflowed again, letting her broken dreams follow to him to the ground.
"Mina..."
--------------------
She jolted suddenly, clutching at her heart for a moment before sitting back. Her hands shook uncontrollably and she felt tears welling up in her eyes again. Artemis, ever the faithful companion, woke up immediately and strutted over to her.
"You were dreaming again, weren't you?"
"Yes, Artemis. I was." Minako wiped away a trace of sweat and then chuckled heavily, "Strange how these dreams come back to haunt me now, with no enemies in sight. You'd think that they would be more inconvenient than that."
Artemis snuggled up against her and purred. "Perhaps, but I think it's the lack of action this time which is causing you to dream again. I am sure that with time your mind will adjust to peace and we can all go back to appreciating a good night's sleep."
"I shall drink a toast to that day."
He licked at his paw, "Well, if you ever need to talk about it-"
"You are always right here. I know Artemis. You and the others are always here for me. But it's just something that I have to work out on my own."
He looked at the girl whom he considered a younger sister with a mixture of disbelief and concern. "It's nowhere as simple as vanquishing an enemy with a random Love and Beauty Shock. If there are problems, you have to air them out."
"I can't believe that you trust me to fight the Dark Agency on my own and won't even trust me to figure out petty personal issues. I can't believe you." Minako smiled warmly, "Trust me, cat. I can deal with it."
Unconvinced, Artemis curled up. "I hope so. It would not do for an enemy to show up while you are in this state."
Minako pretended to be shocked. "I am as ready as I ever have been."
The cat chuckled. "Trust me, you could be better."
Minako sighed and took her ultimate revenge by shoving the cat off the bed. "Never insult a lady whose bed you are sharing."
"I'll keep that in mind the next time I speak to Luna." Artemis curled up near a heat vent and was asleep within moments.
Minako giggled at her cat. 'So human...yet still a cat at heart.'
She lay back down, unwilling to sleep yet. Her features transformed from merriment to pain as she pictured those terrible final moments when she had struggled to hold onto him again. A terrible melancholy settled over her and she wiped away at a tear. Every time she closed her eyes, Mina saw the handsome face of Saijou Ace, in those dreadful moments when she could no longer hold him.
And then the anger at him, for deceiving her, and at herself, for falling for him. She could not pass it off as a momentary obsession, for deep in her heart, she pined for him now as much as she had the day she had lost him. Her blue eyes turned their attention to the window by her bed, striving to draw strength from the moon, her duty, her gifted powers. 'My curse.'
Minako flopped back and buried her head in the covers. Come what may, the morning might be better. She could only hope.
--------------------
Kevin fiddled with his pen, completely unable to concentrate on the task at hand. True, it was a final exam. But who could concentrate knowing that in less than a week one would be ten thousand miles away in foreign land, struggling to figure out what was going on. His former lack of focus had been replaced with a razor like fixation, one simply focused on the wrong things.
He stared down at his final exam and chewed at the nib of his pen before scribbling down an answer he thought might be right. He smiled with a little regret. Had he studied more for the exam, he might have had the chance to break from a B grade perhaps into the A/A- range. 'C'est la vie. Lost opportunities.'
He continued on his academic drudgery, for the first time actually focusing on finishing the exam. He had another later in the day and then was free to start packing up his things for the flight to Japan. His parents had even promised to visit later to drop of the many things which he might need for his sojourn. He had never quite felt a thrill like this course through his veins. He could not explain it. Even when focused on his portfolio or myriad business schemes, he had never quite known the cocaine-like rush which accompanied this daring plunge into the unknown. That brought another smile to his face, 'Haven't lost it yet, old boy.'
It was a strange face. His hair was pure black and his eyes a dark brown as befitting his primarily Chinese heritage. Yet, within his eyes, lay tiny flecks of emerald green, hinting at perhaps some more exotic lineage.
The eyes were those of an older man, weary with the world and full of unabashed wisdom, contrasting terribly with the youthful, dimpled cheeks and almost naive smile.
It was not a particularly unique face. In its current state, it was tired, unmemorable, even homely. But with a twitch of an eyebrow and an unrestrained smile those impossibly bland features became elegant, even handsome, as if they belonged to an older, more refined age.
His emerald-flecked eyes focused again at the problems at hand as he began his dissertation on the influence of modern weaponry and fortifications on European history.
--------------------
"I am worried about her, Luna."
The black cat perked her head up. "Who again?"
Artemis swatted at her nose, causing Luna to jump back and hiss at him, "Who else?"
"Minako-chan? What could be possibly be wrong with her? She can't be worried about another villain popping up."
"No. It's not that." Artemis hesitated, "It's a little hard to explain."
"Try me." Luna lay her head down on her front legs and tried to look interested.
"She's been having nightmares. Before you and Sailor Moon arrived, Minako was alone in the fight. It was tougher on her than I realized at first."
"The Dark Kingdom was never a particularly forgiving enemy."
"Insidious is the word I would use to describe it. They corrupted so many good people. The generals would have been great allies to us, but Beryl twisted them too much."
"Is this what that's about?"
"I'm not sure. She's been having nightmares lately. Minako wakes up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat, gasping for air again and again. I keep on asking her what's wrong, but she keeps dodging the question."
"Well that can't be good."
"It most certainly isn't. I can't help believe that it has something to do with our battles as Sailor V. Minako hates discussing what happened before she met Usagi and the others. Whenever I bring it up, she changes the subject or just keeps silent. Something to do with fate...fortunes...those seem to be the words that affect her the most deeply."
Luna sighed. "That's not particularly helpful."
Artemis shrugged helplessly. "It's not much to work off of, but it's the only thing that I can think of. She talks during her nightmares, but I can't make out the words. I feel like I'm missing a piece of this puzzle."
Luna padded over and snuggled up next to him. "I'm sure you'll figure it out eventually. Minako is smart and strong. It'll all work out in the end."
He half smiled and let his tail brush over her back. "How is yours doing?"
"Not bad. Usagi's grades are up, strangely enough, although I believe a lot of that has to do with Ami's constant tutoring."
"Stranger things have happened, ne?"
"Well, I suppose that this isn't so strange. After all, she's grown up a lot." She paused to reflect. "They all have, really."
"Being in the middle of a warzone tends to do that to you."
"Too true. But with a little luck, we can all coast to a happy retirement, catnip and steak tartare for all."
Artemis rolled his eyes. "Don't tell me all their talk has gotten to you too?"
"It's been over two months. Nothing new has popped up. There aren't even the slightest indications of anything." She raised a paw to silence his protest. "Now I'm not saying that we should let
down our guards. But can't we just let them relax for a bit, live their lives as they deserve?"
He growled unhappily. "I'm not as trusting as you Luna. I can't shake this feeling that if we stop our watch, something is going to happen."
Luna gently chided him. "Some surprises are good. Just wait and see."