Minako stepped off the bus in front of Juuban General Hospital and began walking towards the building.
There was Something Going On and she was bound and determined to get to the bottom of it.
Artemis was acting weirder than normal. He was asking questions about how much she remembered from the Silver Millennium and Mamoru's Shitennou.
When she had called Ami to talk about it, the other woman began stuttering and said she had a patient waiting and hung up. Ami had just said she was at home. After that, she wouldn't answer her phone.
Makoto also developed a stutter. And she had a plant in the oven.
She had carefully asked Usagi and Rei, but it was quickly clear that neither of them knew anything.
And Mamoru, that jerk, was letting all of her calls go to voice mail. Even the ones where she used a phone other than her own.
As she approached the entrance to the hospital, she saw Mikoto pushing a man in a wheelchair. Even sitting, he was clearly a tall man but he looked very thin and pale. She couldn't tell his hair color because his hair was cut close to his scalp. The pair were talking animatedly.
Then his voice echoed off the building.
Minako's heart seized. She lost the ability to breathe.
She had to lean against a column until she was able to regain control of herself.
Makoto was pushing Nephrite further away from her. Minako practically sprinted past the pair and spun around on one heel. Makoto's face was a study of shock then fear.
Nephrite simply looked at her.
Minako bowed then held out her hand. "Hi, I'm Makoto's friend, Aino Minako."
The thin face before her smiled. It was a shadow of what she remembered. "Hello, I'm Takaki Nobuyuki."
"Where is he?"
Makoto whispered, "You need to talk to Mamoru or Ami."
Minako tried to keep from snarling at her friend, but her words had a bite to them. "I would if they would answer my calls."
Nephrite carefully looked over his shoulder and looked up at Makoto. "Call them."
8888888
Minako wept.
Her Kunzite. So pale. So fragile.
Her heart was shattered.
Ami wrapped an arm around the blonde's waist. "Place your Crystal on his heart and remember."
Minako tried to breathe but the oxygen she tried to draw in pierced her lungs. Gasping for air, she did as she was told.
Her Crystal flared brightly, and its light sank into Kunzite's flesh.
Grey eyes opened and turned into melted silver.
"Aphrodite…"
Minako was able to breathe for the first time in a thousand years.