A.N.:I was going to keep writing until Mina either met with Mal again or at least decided to go back to him, but it's going to take a little longer to get to that point, so I thought I'd just give you what I have. I hope all of you will forgive me for the lack of action and stick around for the third and final part…whenever I get around to finishing it, anyway.
Oh, and I also realize that this story isn't exactly humorous. If y'all want something that will make you laugh—at least a little—check out my original story, "I Blame the Llamas" on fictionpress. It's stupid, but…eh, it might be amusing.
And now I sound like I'm pimping my own story, so I'm gonna shut up.
My thanks to all who reviewed!
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PART TWO: Aftermath
Malachite's voice, when he finally broke the silence that had stretched out between them once again, was so soft that she could barely hear him. "Is this what you really want, Mina?"
She blinked at him, genuinely surprised that his response was so…quiet, passive. "Yes," she answered just as softly, the surprise immediately pushed away so that it wouldn't show on her perfect features.
He stared at her for another moment, his silver eyes piercing and suddenly cold, and then, with an equally sharp nod, he abruptly turned and walked away.
Mina watched him go, wondering why it hurt so much that he never looked back.
Mina's first impulse, once she was certain Malachite was gone, was to collapse against the wall, bury her face in her hands and burst into tears.
She didn't.
Her second impulse was to crawl back into bed, pull the covers tight around herself…and burst into tears.
She didn't do that, either.
Her third impulse, and the most tempting by far, was to hop on the first flight back to London, throw herself into Artemis' arms, and, of course, finally give vent to the emotions she'd locked inside herself for too long already.
Or at least go on a massive shopping spree.
Maybe both.
She didn't surrender to the impulse to go back to England, either, though she'd almost finished packing her bags before she came to her senses and realized what a mistake leaving would be. I can't be a coward any longer, she'd eventually decided. What kind of leader would I be if I kept running from my problems?
A poor one.
Worse, an unworthy one.
No, she'd thought as she unpacked for the second time in twenty-four hours, I won't be running. If Malachite does come back, I'll just send him away again. He'll get the hint eventually.
Not that she really expected him to come back. Her lies hadn't been nearly as harsh as she might have made them, but they'd been cruel, and he'd be insane to still want her after all she'd said.
And of all the things Malachite had ever been in any lifetime, insane had never been one of them.
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Mina never told the senshi that she'd seen Malachite. Speaking of their encounter would make her relive it, and when Malachite failed to make a second appearance, it just didn't seem necessary. She chose, instead, to force a smile on her face and dedicate all of herself to her sisters, to her time with them.
This, too, was easier than she'd expected…at least until the letter came.
It arrived the morning of Mina's last day in Tokyo. The blonde had secluded herself in the guest room while she repacked, wanting a little time to compose herself before she bid another farewell to the senshi. She'd wanted to brace herself for their tears and their goodbyes, but she soon found that without the distraction the senshi had provided all week, her thoughts kept turning to Malachite instead. She couldn't focus on anything but him—his words, his actions, the emotions she'd tried not to see when they'd spoken the other day.
She should have been stronger than this.
Raye's soft knock on the bedroom door was a welcome interruption. Mina pasted a falsely bright smile on her face, moved swiftly to the door and slid it aside, her eyes genuinely curious as Raye immediately handed her an envelope. "This came for you," Raye quietly informed the blonde, her voice strangely subdued and almost…guilty?
Mina didn't get a chance to question her friend. The priestess left without another word, and Mina watched her go, eyes narrowing slightly as she glanced down at the envelope in her hands.
And then her heart clenched, the color draining from her face as she took in the familiar scrawl forming her name. A letter, Mina guessed, but why would he…?
She abruptly sighed, squashed the futile hope that rose in her in spite of herself and allowed a faint irritation to take its place instead. What part of "Don't bother" did he not understand? And how did he get past Raye, in any case?
She suddenly understood how Malachite had known to come to the temple that day. Thrice-damned meddling priestess, she thought, though even in her mind, the words held more confusion than rancor. Why would Raye help Malachite, especially when hers was always the loudest voice raised against him?
Mina briefly considered throwing the envelope away, but the more human part of her had always wanted answers, and it was hard to ignore that part when the answers were probably literally at her fingertips. And so, allowing herself to be weak one last time, Mina tore the envelope open, slowly pulled out the simple sheet of paper it had contained.
Her moment of weakness would cost her.
The letter was…devastating, for all that it didn't contain any of the things she might have expected—hoped for, in spite of herself. Not a word of apology, not an expression of regret, not a plea for her return or her forgiveness. Nothing but the explanation she'd told him she hadn't wanted.
The explanation was more than enough to break her all over again.
Because he hadn't cheated.
Her heart ached.
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Mina missed her flight.
She wouldn't realize this until hours later, of course, though she admittedly hadn't cared when she finally did, either. What was the price of another plane ticket compared to everything else, after all? Mina had bigger things on her mind. Still, if the circumstances had been different, if she hadn't been so focused on the contents of Mal's letter, she might have been…amused by just how careful the senshi were to not remind her that she was supposed to be halfway to London by then.
Traitors, the lot of them.
Not that Mina really gave the senshi a chance to speak to her of anything. She hadn't wanted their questions any more than she'd once wanted their pity, and she'd essentially barricaded herself into "her" bedroom the moment she'd realized what the letter contained. She'd ignored their tentative knocks, their whispered, worried questions. She'd ignored everything but the letter clutched so tightly in her shaking fingers.
It hurt, this knowledge that she'd walked away for a reason that hadn't existed—for she believed him, even if she couldn't have explained why she did, even if it didn't change anything in the end.
Because she would have left him anyway.
Maybe it was even better this way, she decided as the hours continued to pass, as the sun set and the light eventually faded. As false as her reason for leaving had been, at least she'd had a reason. She'd left Malachite with something to blame, and though he would never realize this, it'd been the one mercy she'd been able to grant.
It still hurt.
Mina sighed, staring down at the letter she'd long since memorized. "Better this way," she whispered.
Better this way, the senshi within agreed.
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By the time her warriors decided to simply break down the door, Mina had gotten herself back under control. She'd wiped the pain from her features, straightened her clothes and concealed her pallor beneath some hastily applied makeup. Only the weariness in her eyes betrayed the turmoil she was still feeling, though even that was mostly hidden.
The door buckled and fell from its frame just as Mina was placing the last of her belongings in her suitcase. The blonde jumped, dropped the shirt she'd been folding, and turned to glare at the young women now stumbling over the wreckage. "Was that really necessary?" she demanded, one golden brow arching into her hairline as she stared at them. "You could have just knocked."
Concern had made Raye slightly more…irritated than she usually was. "We did," she snapped back, her glare considerably fiercer than Mina's. "You ignored us."
Mina deflated so suddenly that even she was surprised. I stayed, she thought tiredly, but does it matter when I still shut them out? Guilt danced briefly through her eyes. "Yes," she replied, her voice suddenly much softer. "I was…" She stopped, glanced up at them with a rather rueful smile. "I was hiding," she finally admitted. "It was easier."
The blonde didn't miss the quick, concerned glance Lita and Raye exchanged. Traitors,Mina thought again, this time with a sort of muted amusement. How many of them are in on this?
She didn't bother to confront them. "Did he ever tell you his side?" she asked instead, her expression turning wistful.
Lita took a step forward, a frown gathering in her eyes. "Mina…"
Mina only shook her head, held up a hand to stem Lita's words. "Really," she insisted, "it's all right." She forced herself to smile again, and if the smile wasn't genuine, she didn't think they'd call her on it. "It's obvious that you've been talking to him. How else would he have known to come that day?" She bit her lip, and while the smile hadn't lasted, she somehow managed to keep her expression relatively light. "I don't even mind," she continued gently. "I'm just wondering how he managed to win you over. You always hated him."
They winced, and she sighed again, knowing they were remembering all the times they'd fought over her relationship with Malachite. "I didn't mean it like that," she quickly muttered, hating what her relationship with them had become. More proof that I was right to end it, she found herself thinking. Nothing good came of my loving Malachite, and nothing ever will.
She blinked, pulled herself from her thoughts and slowly realized that they were all staring at her, guilt still lurking in their expressions. Mina stopped trying to smile. "What did he tell you?" she asked again, and while her voice remained quiet, they all knew she was no longer asking for answers.
Once again, Raye spoke first. "Everything," she muttered. "He's been practically living here since you left, Meens, waiting for you to come back." She gave a sudden, self-depreciating shrug. "I stopped trying to kill him after the first few months, and eventually…I started listening instead." She, too, bit her lip, looked down at her feet in a moment of uncharacteristic hesitance. "He's broken without you, Mina."
For her own sake, Mina had to ignore that. She only nodded, retrieved the shirt and began refolding it. "Did you believe him?"
The question had been abrupt, but of course they'd all been expecting it, and Lita's answering nod was almost eager. "Not at first," she admitted for all of them. "It's too easy for us to assume the worst when it comes to Malachite, but…" She grimaced, and she might have stopped had Mina not been so obviously waiting for more. "We tracked her down," she bluntly continued. "The woman he'd kissed…who'd kissed him. She told us the same story, took the blame." She hesitated, then added, "She's married now."
Mina's face had gone distant, but she didn't ask for the woman's name, didn't ask how they'd known she wasn't lying. She simply sighed yet again, finished her packing and pulled the lid of her suitcase shut. "I'm going to try and catch the next flight out," she suddenly informed them. "It's going to cost me an arm and a leg, I know, but…"
She trailed off, but the sudden silence didn't last. The other senshi were staring at her, and this time, their eyes were incredulous.
"What?" Serena blurted, shock heavy in her voice. "You're still leaving?"
No, I packed my suitcase for the fun of it. Mina somehow managed to not roll her eyes, instead slid her luggage across the bed and onto the floor. She bent, busied herself with the straps and locks, finally straightened and met their eyes with open reluctance clear in her own. She didn't bother to answer.
Raye took a step towards Mina, her face intense enough to surprise even her blonde leader.
Is Raye…angry? Angry because I finally listened to her?
Now that is irony.
The priestess' hands were clenching into fists, and of course she was glaring. "That's it?" she snapped. "You're just going to go back to London, pretend none of this ever happened?"
Mina crossed her arms over her chest, no longer trying to hide her surprise. "What else did you think I'd do?" she asked, genuine curiosity coloring her words. "You do realize that this doesn't change anything, right? So he didn't cheat—I would have left him eventually anyway."
Serena's face had gone pale, though Mina could see the confusion still in those blue eyes. "Why?Is it because we gave you such a hard time before?"
Mina almost smiled at that, because while not all of the senshi had been as…vocalas Raye, Serena had been the only one who hadn't fought against Mina's relationship with Malachite. She'd supported her cousin, swallowed her own doubts and given encouragement when the others were at their worst.
And it was just like her to include herself in blame she didn't deserve. This,Mina thought absently, is why I follow her.
They were all waiting for an answer, and the blonde warrior sighed, wondering if there was any way she could get out of this explanation. It'd been difficult enough to accept it herself, especially when she'd fought so hard for him, and she still didn't know if she could voice it to others. "Do you remember," she finally asked, "what you told me when I first found him again?"
She hadn't needed to ask, probably shouldn't have. None of them could ever forget just how dark those days had been, or how close they'd come to destroying a bond they'd all thought was unbreakable.
And none of them could forget the horrible things they'd said, the predictions and accusations they'd made.
Mina's lips curved in a slightly bitter smile as she realized the senshi weren't going to reply. "You told me," she answered for them, her voice free of condemnation but not of guilt, "that if I let him in my life, he'd be the end of me. You told me that no matter how much I thought I loved him, we'd be unhappy because I'd always be waiting for him to betray me again, and because I could never trust him enough to tell him who I was." She shook her head, her eyes becoming almost blank. "You were right," she continued softly. "I knew you were, but I convinced myself that as long as I loved him enough, it wouldn't matter."
She sighed, briefly closed her eyes. "You were right," she said again, her words heavy even in her own ears, "because in the end, I could only give him the human part of myself, and how could that be enough when I've never really been human at all? I was always hiding my thoughts, lying to him, then lying again by pretending that everything was fine between us." Her sudden laugh was a little too bitter. "What chance did we really have, when I had to keep him at a distance? I tried to love him, but love can't exist without trust, and I just ended up hurting us both."
She glanced up at them, noting how pale they'd become, seeing the unshed tears in their eyes. They were grieving for her, she realized, and while she was touched by the love they clearly felt for her, it was only another source of pain. She'd never wanted sympathy, especially over something that was really her own fault. She didn't deserve it. "I'm sorry," she told them, her own eyes shadowed even as she drew a mask of flawless composure back over her features. "Maybe if I'd listened to you, I could have prevented all of this. As it is…I'm sorry for what I put you through."
She turned, picked up the jacket and purse she'd thrown onto the bed earlier and then bent and grasped the handle of her suitcase. "I have to go," she informed them, still quietly, and they all knew she wasn't just talking about catching her flight. "I'll call you when…I'll call you."
She slipped away without another word, and this time, they didn't try to stop her.
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Venus Smurf's Quotes of the Day:
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Tragedy is when I cut my finger. Comedy is when you fall down an open sewer and die.
Even if you fall flat on your face, at least you are moving forward!
The difference between Aussies, Brits, Canadians, and Americans:
Americans: Spell words differently, but still call it "English."
Brits: Pronounce their words differently, but still call it "English."
Canadians: Spell like Brits, pronounce like Americans.
Aussies: Add "G'day," "mate" and a heavy accent to everything they say in an attempt to get laid.
Brits: Shop at home and have goods imported because they live on an island.
Aussies: Shop at home and have goods imported because they live on an island.
Americans: Cross the southern border for cheap shopping, gas and liquor in a backwards country.
Canadians: Cross the southern border for cheap shopping, gas and liquor in a backwards country.