Some things never changed, Minako thought, watching her friend bustle perkily around her kitchen like it was eight o'clock in the morning instead of half past seven at night. It didn't matter if Makoto was cooking for a crowd at her high-tech culinary academy, or stewing fish over a rustic campfire, or simply pottering about in her own small kitchen. Makoto was always cheerier when she cooked.

And yet there was something different…

"You said you had something for me to give to Artemis?" asked Minako.

"Hai," Makoto agreed, wiping a hand on her ruffled apron. "One my neighbors, Mitsuru-san, is an older woman and a widow. Since her husband passed, her only real companion is her old cat, Kyo. Unfortunately, Kyo-neko recently developed an allergy to a fairly common preservative ingredient in canned cat food. So Mitsuru-san asked if I could come up with a recipe for cat food that didn't contain any preservatives. I've been experimenting with some success, but then it occurred to me that since I had friends with cats who could actually talk and give me real feedback…" She shrugged and smiled.

"Luna's already agreed to tell me what she thinks and Usagi-chan's picking her share up tomorrow. Do you think Artemis would mind helping me out with a taste test too?" Makoto asked hopefully and, as Minako nodded, she was suddenly struck by how radiant her friend looked.

"Of course not. He'll probably tap dance at the very prospect."

Yes, radiant was the only way to describe her, Minako thought, studying her friend as she went back to her stove, humming to herself. Radiant, as in glowing with inner happiness and total contentment from every pore. Radiant, as in the look of a woman utterly secure in being loved. That WAS new. As was, Minako's quick eyes noted, the handsome bracelet of dark green, heart-shaped jade beads that decorated Makoto's wrist.

"Gomen," Makoto chirped apologetically. "I'm sorry this wasn't done when you got here. I meant it to be, but I had to get up early to see Nephrite off on Mamoru-kun's Shitennou training trip, and then I swear, I only meant to sit down for a second, but when I woke up I discovered, to my horror, it was nearly two and a half hours I'd been napping. So I'm completely behindhand."

"That's okay," Minako murmured, though her stomach growled faintly. She wished Makoto would just give her the darned cat food so she could go and get some dinner someplace. After the all-day photo shoot, she was starving. In fact, she was so hungry she'd even have considered eating a shitake mushroom if there'd been any to eat. Well, assuming there was no other food anywhere.

Makoto's head snapped around at the sound. "There's some candy in the dish in the living room, Minako-chan. Why don't you have some to tide you over for the moment and we can go out to dinner when I'm done, my treat. I'd offer to make something, but there's just nothing in the pantry right now. I ate the last of the leftover onigiri for lunch as it was. It's just that with Nephrite around now, I have to go shopping so much more often and I simply didn't get to it today."

"Oh…that reminds me. Must get some of that pineapple Pocky he likes so well." Makoto scrawled a quick reminder note on the shopping list pad by the refrigerator, underlining the item boldly.

And that, Minako thought, really summed up the essence of the change. Uncomfortable with the affectionate ease with which the man's name rolled off her friend's tongue, Minako left the kitchen, feeling grateful that he was not present. She could not, however, escape the discomfiting sense of change. He had left his indelible stamp, even in his absence. It was all around her, from the large, grey and blue fleece man's jacket that hung casually on the door to Makoto's bedroom, to the change in bedding itself. Makoto's uber-feminine, rose print comforter had, she could see, been replaced by a crisp green and russet plaid suitable for a couple.

Turning away from the sight, Minako caught a glimpse of another more substantial change to the apartment. Amid multiple pots of flowers and ferns, a huge telescope now resided on the balcony, a testament to the presence of someone with hobbies other than Makoto's being now in residence."

"Where's that candy dish, Mako-chan?" Minako called, not spotting the thing as a faint hint of tears stung her azure eyes. All she could see was the multi-colored frenzy of cut flowers in a bowl on the low table and a well-thumbed text on astronomy.

"Oh…I forgot. I moved it. It's on the TV stand," was the answer from the kitchen. "By the photos."

"Okay." Minako forced herself to calm down, turning and searching for the small, lidded crystal box she knew Makoto used for candy. She found it just where Makoto had said it would be, atop the television cabinet…and right beside it, prominently displayed next to the prized picture of Makoto's parents, was a framed snapshot, obviously taken by an indulgent passerby at the Tokyo Arboretum, of a giggling Makoto perched precariously on the lap of a wickedly grinning Nephrite, who was tickling her.

Suddenly Minako didn't feel quite so much like having a candy. Especially when she noticed the small, suspiciously familiar slip of paper tucked reverently into the frame at the bottom.

The past has come full circle. Love will find you soon.

Minako moaned softly to herself at the phrase which had haunted her thoughts in recent weeks. It was that damned fortune cookie fortune again.

The buzz of the apartment intercom suddenly jolted Minako from her reverie.

"Kino residence," Makoto said, answering the intercom from the kitchen.

"Hey, sweetheart," rumbled Nephrite's voice warmly through the speaker. "Can you hit the downstairs gate for me?"

"Ooooh…" Minako writhed as she heard Makoto squeal gleefully. "You're home early, darling. I wasn't expecting you until much, much later."

"Hai," her significant other replied dryly. "Well, we had to come back because Jadeite, the baka, managed somehow to fall in the lake and half drown himself. So the whole training's been postponed 'til next week." There was a snort of derision, then he recovered himself. "Oh…have you eaten yet, love?"

"No," Makoto said, trying to stifle her chuckle at Jadeite's mishap. "I was just about to go get something."

"Don't bother then. I brought carry-out Chinese. So if you could get the gate…" he hinted again.

"Can do." Makoto laughed out loud and depressed the button to trigger the downstairs gate and allow admittance to the stairs. "See you in few minutes, honey."

The smacking sound of a kiss was the man's final response before the intercom went dead.

"I think I'd better be going," Minako said uneasily as a smiling Makoto stuck her head out from the kitchen.

"Nonsense," Makoto informed her decisively, wagging a bamboo rice paddle at her. "I really need your help now. Left to his own devices Nephrite invariably orders enough food for an army. The man does love his Chinese food." She rolled her fern colored eyes heavenward in what Minako could only assume was a familiar motion. "So I'll need your help getting around all the chow fun and moo goo gai pan and whatnot. Please stay for dinner, Minako-chan. Pleeeease…"

Unable to think of a good enough excuse to bolt, Minako nodded, resigning herself to an uncomfortable dinner in the presence of her former enemy. Makoto ducked her head back into the kitchen to finish bagging up the sample containers of cat food for Artemis, get the china and chopsticks for a family-style meal, and start a pot of jasmine tea.

The sound of thumping at the front door make Minako jump faintly.

"See," Makoto called out. "He's probably got so much stuff, he can't even reach his keys. I swear, if I have to clean another boot print off that door…" She broke off from her muttering to ask, "Would you mind getting that, Minako-chan, while I finish putting this stuff in the fridge? Arigato."

"Hai, hai," answered Minako with a resigned sigh. "I got it." She flung open the door and stepped back out of the way so the man, whose face was completely hidden behind tall brown bags of carry out, could stumble in.

What shocked Minako was that the brunette man she was expecting, toting a small cooler, some damp clothing, and a pair of bokken, entered in right on the first man's heels, calling, "Mako, honey, I hope you don't mind, but we've got some company for dinner." When he caught sight of Minako's face, his own turned pale and he gaped like a fish.

"Oh," Makoto called back happily from the kitchen. "Then it'll be a regular dinner party, because Minako-chan's already here. How fun! Our first time hosting."

Nephrite groaned softly and winced, slipping past the other two and into the kitchen for an emergency conference. A few moments later there would be a shocked exclamation from within and the sound of a teapot smashing as it dropped from numbed fingertips to the floor. Both sounds would also go completely unnoticed.

With a growing sense of doom, Minako watched as the take-out bags were lowered to reveal a mane of glorious silver-white hair surrounding a heartbreakingly familiar face which wore what Minako knew to be a highly uncharacteristic expression of shock. He looked like he'd been pole-axed. Minako dazedly thought that she knew exactly how he felt.

"Mi…Minako?"

She swallowed hard and tried, to no avail, to speak.

Piercing silver-grey eyes locked with her wide-eyed gaze, turning tender and filling with a longing expression that the avatar of Venus couldn't hope to miss. She felt a warm, pretty blush heat her cheeks at his rapt look. He'd looked at her like that before.

Finally finding her voice, Minako nodded and managed a tentative smile as she shoved a silky tendril of honey-gold hair behind her shell-like ear. An intent gaze of molten silver followed her every motion, his pupils dilating visibly as she chewed on her full lower lip while she chose her words.

"Konbanwa, Kunzite. So…what's for supper?"

"Dim sum, Minako," he answered slowly, relaxing tense muscles as he realized she wasn't going to start screaming or hurling accusations at him. "Some dim sum."

Minako felt her heart begin to pound furiously in her chest as he smiled at her and realized that she was suddenly very hungry. Her mouth was even watering and she wondered idly if there were fortune cookies in the bags. "That sounds wonderful…"

(Author's note: Chinese dim sum: Literally meaning "to touch your heart," dim sum consists of a variety of different types of dumplings. Highly recommended by this author…especially the shrimp har gow. Yummy! And yes, I'm sure that Nephrite bought fortune cookies this time too… ;)