Important Note: No, this chapter is not new, but I have made a VERY IMPORTANT change to it. Please skip to the bottom (if you've already read it) and read the very last sentence + my comments to understand the changes made. Thank you.

Minako's Retreat

Chapter Fifteen

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Even that one day could not quench the feelings of anxiety the now threatened to overcome Minako's entire being. Sleep evaded her, causing Minako to toss and turn, her mind firmly stuck on the war.

She had once read, that the wait before the battle was the worst part. And at the point, Minako couldn't have agreed more. Everything was so quiet it was almost painful.

It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that the war was dragging ever closer. Quatre's mood had become withdrawn; his eyes rarely met hers anymore. His guilt was evident on his stormy features.

Minako knew why he was guilty; his guilt came from the war. Unfortunately his guilt was nothing compared to hers. She knew she would have to break her promise to Quatre and it was killing her inside.

But she needed to be by Usagi's side. It was her duty not only as an ally, but also as her friend. No promise would keep Minako from Usagi's side in the long run; there was no more time for hesitation.

Minako stood staring at the large mirror. It seemed to be something she did too often. She often wondered if she was ready to take up the throne, if she was ready to put millions of people's lives in her hands.

A part of her wished she could just block the whole war out. Maybe she could stay here with Quatre and Itasha…

A wistful smile overcame her features. If only.

Itasha sat gravely on her bed; her thoughts were on things a child her age should never have to think about.

There was no more adventurous light in her eyes, no more bounce in her step.

Her room was dark, yet the shadows didn't scare her. Not anymore anyway.

Suddenly something caught her attention. It was the almost silent sound of flesh against carpet.

"Hello?" She said instinctively as she turned to face the window.

A large dark silhouette consumed by darkness prevented her from seeing the intruder. She noticed her window was open, the curtains just barely moving. There was never much wind here.

The intruder didn't say anything, instead choosing to step out of the shadows.

"Do you need something?" She tried again, ignoring the fear that rose in her as he revealed to her his masked face.

Itasha took a step backwards towards the door, "You must want to see my daddy, if you'll just hold on, and I'll get him for you. As she turned around though, the man jumped at her. A greasy cloth was shoved roughly against her face.

The drugs began to take effect immediately.

Itasha knew she needed something… anything to get her fathers attention. Her eyes began to droop and her muscles began to relax.

The she saw a small glimmer of hope. A small, yet tall side table held up a very delicate vase. With her last pathetic bit of strength, Itasha kicked out, just as her world went black.

Quatre paced the length of his room. Yet again he was faced with another sleepless night. It seemed like ever since this war had bore some connection to Minako, he hadn't gotten a decent night sleep.

For the first time in a long time, Quatre had considered abandoning the war entirely. Did he have the determination to see that though?

It was on a suddenly urge that Quatre decided to make sure Itasha was asleep. To be honest, he had been feeling bad about not spending so much time with her lately, but the she had also been spending a lot of time with Minako.

Only the soft brush of her feet against the carpet disturbed the eerie silence.

Crash!

Quatre jumped; surprised by the sound, but his soldier sense quickly forced him to focus. The crash had come from the floor almost directly underneath him, which meant either Minako's room, or Itasha's.

As he ran swiftly down the stairs, Quatre knew he had to make a decision, either Minako or Itasha. His hear pounded, knowing if he made the wrong decision, it might result in injury or even death to one or the other.

As he reached the bottom of the stairs, Quatre had made his decision. Minako would have been angry is he had chosen differently.

Grabbing a gun from the nearest table, Quatre kicked in the door to Itasha's room.

The silence that met him chilled his heart to the core. The side table had been knocked over, with the vase that it once held, shattered in a million places. A sure sign of struggle.

"Quatre?" Came a worried voice from inside the room.

Quatre knew this voice too well, "Minako," he replied hoarsely, "Where is she?"

Quatre was filled with a dumb sense of confusion. Could it have been Minako who had done this?

"What's going on?" Came the harsh voice of Wufei. Quatre didn't need to turn around to know everyone was standing there.

She was gone by the time I got here…" Minako trailed off, turning away from the open window.

"Quatre, you should have known better than to trust the enemy."

"What?" Minako asked in surprise, "You don't honestly think I –"

"Minako, you were the first one here, and Heero's right, you have the most evidence against you." Quatre said quietly, but as he spoke, he became angrier.

"And you have the most reason." Duo scowled.

"What would that be?" Minako snapped, anger getting the better of her.

"If you held Itasha hostage, you could force Quatre not only to let you go, but to tell you Earths strategy plans for the war.

Anger flooded through Minako like wildfire. She was hurt that Quatre would even consider this notion. She felt betrayed in more than one sense. Minako felt tears of frustration build up in her eyes. She wanted to find Itasha before anything back happened to her.

"Fine." Minako hissed, her body rigged, "Believe what you want."

"Minako, just tell us where my daughter is, and we can talk about this rationally."

Something inside Minako snapped at that moment. How dare they accuse her of kidnapping someone she had grown to love so much.

"I am not so pathetic that I would steal a child." Minako said in a dangerously quiet voice, "If I really wanted to leave, what makes you think you could have stopped me?" Minako stood, looking for all the world, the queen that she was.

"Minako, I'm afraid I'm going to have to insist upon confining you to your room until further notice." Quatre said stiffly, ignoring that pain that came with each word.

For the first time since Quatre had met Minako, he watched as a single tear rolled down her creamy cheek. It took all his strength not to take back everything he had just said and take her into his arms, but the need for his daughter over rode that.

"Fine." Minako said looking down. She felt exhausted, and more helpless than she had ever felt in her entire life.

Quatre nodded, "Rashid, take her to her room." And with a last smoldering look, Quatre stepped out of the room.

Rashid hesitantly took a step towards her.

"I can't believe he thought I did it." Minako whispered tearfully.

"Miss Aino?"

"I'm coming... just…" Minako suddenly on impulse clasped her hands together and prayed as she had never prayed before. She not only prayed to the latter Aphrodite, but to any of the other gods that would listen.

"Please forgive my absence and carelessness. It had been years since I last considered the throne of Venus, and for that, I am ashamed. But please, ignore that, at least for this moment and hear my desperate plea. Please watch over the small girl of whom I have grown to love as my own. I would gladly give my life for her..."

Minako bowed her head, muttered a few more words and swiftly walked out of the room.

If Rashid had heard anything she had just said, he gave no evidence of it.

When she walked into her room, she heard the unmistakable click of the door being locked. She didn't need to look to know there were probably people standing guard outside of it.

As means of distraction, Minako flicked the T.V. on. Unable to fall asleep, she watched it all night.

It was 10 in the morning and Quatre was at his wits end. The police had been searching all night and hadn't come up with anything. Even the Preventors had been searching.

It was at 10, that every T.V. all over the world turned, and the face of Relena, Queen of the world was everywhere.

"What the hell.." Duo muttered, leaning forward, "Quatre, come look at this.

Reluctantly Quatre and his fellow pilots filed into the room. The pilots remained quiet as their Queen delivered the most disturbing message in earth's History.

"People of Earth. It is with a heavy heart that I am forced to deliver this message. It has been brought to my attention that the Queen of Venus has secretly been residing here on Earth. She has been cunningly using her time here to spy on us and gather valuable information that would give Venus the upper hand in the war. Because of this I have been force to take drastic measures to flush out the spy.

Relena took a deep breath and began addressing the Queen of Venus

"If you are watching this right now, than I want you to know I wish to resolve this as quietly as possible. Turn yourself in as an innocent life is now rests in your hands."

The T.V. then went dark, leaving the world in a state of confusion, anger and suspicion.

Quatre stared in horror at the now blank T.V. He wasn't stupid; it was just too much of a coincidence not to be. Relena had Itasha.

"I can't believe she's doing this.." Duo said, staring at the screen with a sense of horrified awe.

"So what are we going to do?" Wufei asked, looking at Quatre expectantly.

"You're not going to do anything." Came a very familiar voice from behind them.

"Minako..." Quatre said in a apologetic manner.

"Save it." Minako snapped. The pain was still fresh in her heart.

"You should be in your room." Heero said, crossing his arms.

"Screw you." Minako scowled, "Like you could keep me in there at a time like this."

"You're probably one of the Queen's spies." Trowa accused.

"Don't you guys ever get tired of being wrong?" Minako growled, trying to mask the hurt their accusations caused. She stepped in front of them, "Your wrong on both accounts. One: I'm not a spy. Two: I don't belong to the Queen."

"So you lied about being a soldier from Venus?" Wufei said in a smug manner.

"Not at all. What makes this whole thing rather amusing, had the circumstances been different, that your daughter figured it out, and five grown men couldn't."

"What?"

Minako shook her head, "Now isn't the time. We need to get to Itasha. I'll explain later."

>

The pilots don't know that Minako is the Queen of venus! I'm really sorry to those who have read this story already. I've never felt right about the way I ended chapter 15. I felt it was rushed and it could have been better. My mistake was wanting to finish a story and not taking the time to make it decent.

I can't apologize enough for being impatient and idiotic.

Ceso