"Mom?" Minako called down the hall as she entered her house. "I've got a friend coming over for dinner, is that okay?" After thinking about it carefully I decided that it's best if Adonis stays with Mamoru for the night… I don't want anyone to get the wrong idea. But is it wrong to want to spend as much time as possible with him? I feel like this won't last.

"Are you sure it will be alright?" Adonis asked, feeling uncomfortable standing outside the door.

"Yes, I'm sure!" Minako gleamed. "You may not be able to spend the night, but you can at least stay for dinner." It's not like he's never seen my house before…

"Minako?" her mother called from upstairs. "Did you say that we have company?"

Minako pulled the nervous Adonis inside just as her mother walked down the stairs. "Yes, we do! This is…"

"Ace Saijyo," Adonis spoke up with a smile. He bowed politely. "Pleased to meet you."

"Ace… where have I heard that name before?" her mother puzzled to herself, while smiling kindly. It didn't take long for her to make the connection. "Wait. The Ace Saijyo? The famous idol from a few years back? Minako… didn't you used to have a poster of him up in your room?"

"Mom!" Minako couldn't help but blush bright red.

"Yes, that was me. I was quite popular for a while, wasn't I?" Adonis responded effortlessly.

As Minako glanced at Adonis, she couldn't help but think back to when he really was Kaitou Ace. He's so smooth, so good at impressing people. Sometimes it's weird to think that he's the same person as he was back then…

"So how did you meet our Minako?" her mother continued, completely won over by his charms.

"My job got to be a bit… too much for me to take. I've been trying to experience all the things I missed out on because of it before. Minako has been a great support system for me," he smiled kindly, though his eyes suggested that his thoughts were really somewhere else, far away.

"Come on," Minako tugged at Adonis' sleeve. "Let's go up to my room while my mom finishes making dinner." For some reason I want him all to myself.

…

"I'm sorry if that was uncomfortable for you, Venus," Adonis spoke, his eyes cast downward. "I thought it best to introduce myself that way, in case she happened to recognize me."

"No, no! Don't worry! I'm not bothered," Minako laughed wildly. Artemis is spending the night with Luna to do research… it's just the two of us here. Why is my heart beating so fast? Why does this feel so different from before? "Do you… miss the life you had before?"

"Not really," he shook his head. "I meant what I said to your mother. I was leading a double life before—a popular idol, and the head of the Dark Agency, working under Kunzite. I feel as though I'm living much more now than I ever did then. Everything felt so… cold before." He reached out and gently touched Minako's cheek. "And now everything is warm."

Slowly, Minako brought her own hand up to her face and placed it over Adonis'. "I'm sorry I couldn't save you then."

"But you did save me. I'm here with you now. I'm alive again, and free of that curse. This is more than I could have ever asked for."

Minako inched closer to Adonis, not wanting the moment to end. Unfortunately, they were very soon interrupted.

"Minako!" they heard her mother call from outside the door. "There's someone here to see you. Says that she's known you for a very long time…"

Minako's eyes widened. Somehow, I just have this feeling… "Adonis, you stay here, and take care of my mom." She got up and ran out of the room swiftly, wasting no time at all.

When she reached the bottom of the stairs, her fears were confirmed.

"Hey, there, Minako!" a cheerful blonde girl waved excitedly. "Can you come out to play?"

"I'll be back in a minute," Minako said to her mother as she stepped out the door, making sure to close it behind her. "Psyche."

"Ooh, scary! Don't make that face at me!" Psyche teased.

"How did you find where I live? You know what, never mind. It doesn't matter how. How dare you threaten to bring my family into this," Minako spoke coldly. I left my communicator on the floor in my bedroom when I got up… what am I going to do now?

"Relax, I didn't plan on doing anything. I just wanted to have a little fun," Psyche giggled.

It seemed so strange to Minako to see her in normal clothes—a school uniform, in fact. It was from a school not so far from her old middle school. This makes it all so much more real. She has a real life here. She was reborn, with a whole story that I know nothing about. And yet she is still so full of hate. Why?

"Oh, are you surprised to see me as a normal girl? Yes, I suppose you never thought about that. Of course I would have as much of a life as you do. Why not? I have a name here, too, just like you, Minako. It's Kagami."

"Why are you so stuck in the past, then? You have a whole life here, and yet all you can think about is the pain you felt in your last life. We all felt pain then. But this is a chance to start anew. Not to carry on needless grudges," Minako tried to speak calmly. Really I'm just buying time while I think up a plan. Learning some more about her could be useful, too.

"Ah, yes. What a life I have lived here, indeed!" Psyche exclaimed. "I've grown up in foster homes, never knew my parents. Worked hard to keep my grades up and save enough money to go to a good school and live on my own… and then one day I started having these dreams. Of a boy who loved me. And of the person who took that away."

Minako stood there, gaping at Psyche, shocked by what she had just learned. She has had such a tough life… and her memories of the past only made it worse. Why could I not have remembered I had a sister? I should have been the one to take care of her, to help her. And instead, all she does is hate me.

….

Still in Minako's room, Adonis felt frantic, not knowing what he could do to help his Princess. "She asked me to keep her mother safe, which of course I will, but as long as she stays inside and away from Psyche she will be fine. It's Venus who I am worried about… She can't yet handle Psyche on her own…"

"Minako?" Adonis heard a staticky voice come out of the watch on the floor in front of him. "Minako are you there?"

He picked it up and opened it, finding Usagi, Luna, and Artemis staring back at him on the screen. "Princess Serenity! Thank goodness."

"Adonis? What's going on? Where's Minako?"

"She's in danger right now. Psyche came to the house. I can't help her, she's asked me to keep her mother safe…"

"We're on our way!"

Adonis slumped down to the ground, overwhelmed and relieved that he had been so lucky. "Please, Venus. Stay safe."