But we're too human to see the way we'll agonize
-No Doubt, "Rock Steady"

With a grinding halt, the shuttle gave off horrific screams of metal twisting in its death wail. It was punctuated by the loud snaps of trees breaking, or maybe it was the hull itself. It was intercepted by that of glass breaking, that sound that everyone knew but could rarely truly describe. It all joined together for a symphony of roaring and panic, promising that if survival happened, it would be by the sheer grace of destruction. As things broke they flew by the windows that still existed, the sunlight casting shadows within over five huddled forms.

Five huddled forms, four of which were locked in their own form of stoic bracing. The fifth provided all the vocalizations needed, some never ending sound that tried to rival that of their crash.

It lurched and finally stopped. The smell of something foreign and likely not good filled the inside, silence resonating outside of the Princess. It wasn't even a growl to herald the action, a hand clamping over the mouth to cease the noise. She already had a headache and it likely wasn't going to go away. Screams were not going to help anyone.

"Is everyone alright?"

Three voices sounded back, a bit scattered about the already small area. She accepted that for what it was, releasing the Princess to fix her with a look, before taking the rest in.

The shattered windows were unhelpful to look out of, spiderwebs of cracks laced through most of them. The front was especially bad, if the branches of trees through it were any sort of indication. At once the shuttle gave a lurch, prompting more screaming wails from the Princess and the rest of them to quickly grasp hold of whatever they could. Her eyes moved quickly to the rest, finding missing windows and another with a branch clean through it. It missed someone when they crashed at the least, but it was not the sort of harrowing thought she wanted to have at the moment.

"We're in the trees, too high up to jump down." At the least Ami's voice was calm, the rest of them nodding. The shuttle seemed to stabilize for a moment, prompting a bit of a sigh of relief. The shuttle, for the most part at least inside, looked to have survived their landing. Thankfully Rei and Makoto had secured everything so nothing was scattered around that could cause additional problems.

"We-" Was as far as she got, the shuttle giving off a rather sickening lurch. Makoto instantly stopped in her tracks, eyes wide to mimic their own. Taking a slow step back to where she was at, the lurching stopped as the shuttle righted itself anew in the cradle of branches that held it for the time being.

Alright, this was going to be more than what anyone had expected. Taking in another breath her gaze went to Ami who remained studying out the window, despite the floor under all of their collective feet taking turns for which direction it wanted to sway. If anyone was going to figure out the best way, it would be her. It wasn't downplaying her own instincts or knowledge, it was more that she knew the Mercurian was already logically puzzling this out.

"We need a chain or rope, there's a tree we can brace the shuttle against. It's leaning to the left; we can counterbalance it to the right."

"We have that." Or did they really? She had only used that once, but was she going to be able to again? It didn't matter, if she dwelled on the notion it wouldn't work then it simply would not.

"Alright. The Princess and I will move there." Ami gestured towards the rear of the craft. "Makoto, you try the door. Rei, you'll be the counter measure if the shuttle starts to tilt."

She watched as the Martian instantly began to bristle, likely imagining it was some sort of slight against her weight. Which it hardly was, but would Rei realize that or not? She seemed to, if her begrudging sort of nod was any sort of indication. Later someone would explain, but right now was time for this minefield dance to begin.

Her hand reached to her belt, collecting the coiled chain that rested there. Whirling it for a moment in her grasp, she hoped this would work. Thrusting her hand forward she was more relieved than the rest of them should ever know as it formed back into that golden light, like it had been on Terra. Quickly it snaked about, wrapping around the tree that Ami had pointed out.

The dance continued, Makoto wrenching the door towards opening, Rei rushing back and forth to be a counterweight, even Ami joining in at times. The Princess was stock still in all of this at the very least. Her own job was simple in terms of not having to move, but as the seconds ticked on her arms felt like they were on fire. Closing her eyes might have helped, save she was far too engrossed in watching the tree that they were using as an anchor to keep the shuttle aloft in the trees as opposed to it falling to likely their deaths.

Otherwise, she would have missed that slowly, but truly so, the chain was cutting through the tree. Perhaps from its composition; it was magic, it just had to be, or the shear stress placed on the tree in their reliance for it to work. Her mouth opened to say something only for the sound of the shuttle hatch opening with a loud, grunting curse from Makoto.

"Gimme those bags, now!" The Jovian called out, followed by the sound of their packs being tossed overboard. Hopefully it was the supplies and not their clothes, but at this point saying something wasn't something she could do. The shuttle gave a lurch; something was protesting their actions. It prompted the Princess to start screaming anew, only for three other voices to instantly rise up with a sharp and resounding, "Shut up!"

Lessons of decorum be damned, it wasn't proper but she couldn't blame them either. Not everything in life warranted a scream.

Wisely, and really for their own santities, the Princess was escorted off the shuttle by way of clinging to Makoto's back as she climbed down the trees surrounding them. Rei was sent down next as they couldn't exactly leave her there alone. When it was just her and Ami left she spared the attention to look over at her, aware that they still needed to balance the ship.

The Mercurian's gaze was out the open hatch, waiting before she looked back. "They're safely away. There's a few branches above us-"

Everything else she had to say was lost, the branches that bore their shuttle had enough of it and would do so no more. She heard a yelp as Ami had no choice but to scramble out by way of the open hatch. Everything, as was normal for it, happened faster than she could consciously think, allowing her only to act.

As the window rushed to her she tried to maneuver through it before there wasn't anymore time to. Holding the chain for dear life; it was dear wasn't it, it belonged to her after all, she went close to flying through the air as the shuttle finished its crashing finale through the trees. Instinctively she raised her legs in an attempt to slow her oncoming collision, only for her body to twist, smacking harshly against the tree.

Screamshad started somewhere in the whole mess; the Princess, followed by her breath from her meeting so graciously with the tree, then her handhold on the chain that vanished in some sort of display of golden wisps. Fleeting thoughts followed her on the way down; she hated flying. This was another reason as to why.

Strong arms caught her, drawing her from her daze of free-falling. Blinking she looked up into the gaze of Makoto who gave her a wink then set her carefully on her feet. Shaken she didn't care at the moment, clinging to the taller woman's arm who at least understood and made no motion to make her feel weak for doing so.

"Are you alright?! I thought the branches were going to hold longer than they did." From around the view of their now obliterated shuttle came Ami, moving faster once she felt something wet against her skin.

The breastplate had helped yet again but did nothing for her arms that bore the scrapes and cuts from glass and metal on her way through. "I think so yeah… The Princess?" She thanked Makoto with a pat on her arm, leaning back heavily to the tree she had already been up close and personal with.

"Here." Her gaze snapped from Ami to Rei and the Princess. The latter looked about in amazement at everything, the former a conflict of just what emotion it was she wanted to let show.

All in all she would take it, breathing out with a nod. "Another happy landing."

They gathered a bit away from their crash site, the things collected left in a pile. It was a small clearing, heavily surrounded though by trees on all sides Grasses and flowers decorated the rest along with that occasional rock. The one that, try as you may to ensure it was not present, would end up against your back while you tried to sleep.

Wanting to sigh she turned instead to look at those she was responsible for. Ami was trying to do something on her computer before it looked like she gave up, stuffing it into one of the packs. "I sent a distress signal before we crashed. I can't tell you where we are though; it didn't survive the crash."

She nodded; it wasn't her fault. They were alive though and outside of cuts, marks that would become bruises, and a little blood, they made it. One less thing to worry about but with two more to take its place. What really had happened to them and to what limit would they be changed? They made things happen that probably should not be able to happen.

A glance to the sky said it was afternoon and rather clear skies, all things considering. If it were night, then they could navigate by way of the stars but that was likely hours off. The distress signal would have to be decoded perhaps, and a party sent forth. Having no idea at the moment where they were, there was no way to determine from what direction the rescue would be coming from.

She made up her mind.

"It's mid afternoon. As we don't know how long the rescue will last or how far away we are, we'll make camp close by. Come nightfall, we will have a better idea of things. Let's get away from the wreckage and find someplace that is decent. I doubt it will rain but shelter is important all the same. What did we manage to bring from the wreck?"

"Looks like Pyro's and my pack, the Princess', and the water from the freighter. Everythin' else is there." Makoto jabbed her thumb behind her at the crash. "I can find us somethin' to eat. The crash prolly disrupted thin's, but it will have driven some out."

At least she didn't make mention of the dead body that was still in it. She fought back the sigh with a nod. "Alright, see what you can get. Rei, find us some firewood. Ami, help me set up a camp. After we eat and catch our breaths, we'll rest until nightfall and go from there." She had no idea to the shuttle's stability so sending someone to go back was out of the question.

The Jovian left with a nod, her spear in hand. Rei hesitated for a moment or two before she finally seemed to get it, heading to the tree line for whatever could substitute for firewood scattered about on the ground. The Princess she directed to sit on a rock, Ami pulling out a shirt from Makoto's pack to wrap around her in the name of warmth, before withdrawing another in the name of bandages.

Both knew they had ears and undivided attention, so the conversation was kept to lighter topics. With Ami's help she freed herself from her breastplate, discarding her jacket that was streaked with sap, bark, blood, shards of glass, and still the faint linger of the Princess' tears and snot. Her arms maybe were worse, her skin making no bones about showing it.

Water retrieved, she sucked in a deep breath as water came in contact. It nearly prompted the Princess to begin to look like she was going to bawl, sighing. "Princess, do you know where we might be?" Better to make her feel useful than waterworks.

"N-no." A sniffle, "It's pretty here though!"

She knew Ami had just rolled her eyes but she kept at it. "Yeah? What looks the best here?"

"Well… I like these flowers, they are just like the ones at home but these ones seem bigger somehow. Or maybe it's 'cause there's not a lot of other flowers surrounding them. So you can actually see them." The Princess trailed off, perhaps out of uncertainty.

"Things can be rather crowded at the Palace. What else?"

"It's … really quiet here too. It's always noisy at home. It reminds me of Earth." Fuck, she hadn't meant for the conversation to go there but she waited for the continuation that was on its way. "Why did we have to leave?"

They were going to kill us, and while I promised to protect you, I am not ready to die yet. "They attacked us Princess. Our pilot went to prepare our arrival and they killed him. They were after you, and would have killed us to make that happen."

"But why?"

Ami answered in her stead, Makoto's spare shirt cut to bandages that almost felt like wearing a second shirt. Tied off, she didn't have to look to know they were nearly surgically done. "We don't know. It's something we want to find out, among other things." A hand patted her shoulder. "Sit here and rest Minako, you had more of an adventure than the rest of us. Princess, you can help me make a fire pit. We'll need to get some rocks."

She was thankful for that, nodding her thanks to the Mercurian before sinking back to lounge against Rei's pack. It allowed her the chance to actually breathe, to collect her thoughts on everything. By sheer luck they had all managed to escape, her especially. Not that she wanted to collect injuries but she felt it better her than the rest, more so the Princess. They would never hear the end of it, even for something like this.

It was one of those times she started to feel like this was all a mistake, even if it was brought on by the fact that she was shaken. It was scary really, everything. Being attacked, the lack of fuel, the crash landing. Anyone would have been scared and shaken and she wasn't above them to feel that way. She could have stayed home, on Venus, and lived her life. At some point she would have become Queen, likely married, and probably had children of her own. Then though, she never would have met her friends in Ami and Makoto, never developed that sense of camaraderie.

She never would have met Rei.

A frown was on her face as the subject of her thoughts set a pile of various sticks on the ground by her. "This is the first time you've frowned at my approach. You never did on Mars."

A blink cleared most of her face, looking up at the woman who was sorting out her collection. She tried a smile, even a small one, but it failed miserably and she knew Rei caught onto it.

Maybe she thought it was because of her injuries, her gaze picking out the makeshift bandages to her arms. "Is it bad?"

"No, no it's not it. I was just thinking, that's all."

"About?" Rei sat back on the ground, her tasking done for the moment as there was still a firepit missing from the equation.

"Well, you…"

"And that makes you frown now?" Up a singular eyebrow rose, the beginning of a fire sparking to life in the night sky.

She shook her head, letting a kept breath go. She'd have to get back to her appearances soon enough if just for the Princess' expectation that they were immune to that thing called life and emotions. "I was thinking about this, about what if I stayed instead. What if I never left Venus. I was thinking of everything that … I wouldn't know and have." Her gaze caught sign of movement; Ami and the Princess, she would have to cut this shorter than ideal. "You and I … we need to talk, somewhere privately … about … you and I."

"This is about my question on the shuttle." There it was, that Martian trait she adored and couldn't stand at times.

"Yeah, it is." There wasn't a point in denying it, much less lying about it. It had the expected reaction that nearly anyone would have; there began the clasm between them. She could see the rift start and grow; it was like viewing thousands of years of nature all at once, in scant seconds.

"Then why bother waiting until later." Rei's reply was far too cool for her emotions and nerves right now. Now with an audience of Ami and the Princess who walked into the much colder temperatures she had a choice. Hash it out now in front of them or bottle it up.

"What exactly is your problem then?" Goddess help her she didn't have the strength for this right now but fuck if that mattered.

The Martian shrugged, gesturing blankly. "Does it matter or am I just some notch to your belt." They had gotten to their feet at some point in time.

That … she knew she just heard a gasp, but her eyes didn't move from their locked target. They stayed, drawn, likely not out of adoration or wonderment, but something far more primal. Makoto probably picked the wrong time to return with a meal, but all of that didn't matter.

Not right now.

"Contrary to your popular belief Martian, for that matter, to everyone's popular belief, I am not a whore. I am a Venusian and I am proud of it. Whatever crawled in your mind to make you think I sleep around for giggles can go fuck off. I do not sleep around."

She knew the cause; the Princess' rather casual remark about why she was gone so long on Mars started it all. And Rei fell for the bait, hook, line, and sinker. Even when it wasn't said as a means to bait anything; the Princess was a fucking young girl for Goddess' sake who still was wrapped in her fantasies of what romance was! But Goddess help her, she was tired. Tired of the snickers in hallways, the snide remarks from others about whatever sexual act they wanted to do to her body, the utter lack of damned trust and fucking respect.

Home looked so damn good right now.

As the silence stretched and the wide eyes stayed that way, she continued. This was her path and fuck anyone her tried to detour her. "I am your Commander; it doesn't matter that you never swore to it. My job is to fucking make sure you, all of you, fucking make it through whatever shit this is alive and do your damndest to protect her." Her finger jabbed at the Princess; she took a step back from it with hands raising as though it would ward off the responsibility. "So whoever I fuck in my amazingly small amount of spare time is none of anyone's damn business. Especially when you, of all the damn people Rei, of all the damn people in the Cosmos, seemed to fucking get it. I have not slept with anyone since I arrived here save you and Goddess…" Her rage just sputtered out much like the shuttle had. It all hit her and she felt everything just fall to pieces. "...I thought you already knew that." In a thin whisper she finished, that broken feeling settling in more and more until it had a stranglehold on her being that she couldn't shake.

More silence followed. Wide eyes came from the Princess who was caught in the emotional crossfire. Blue eyes from Ami who was logically piecing together what prompted the outburst between them to begin with. A darting, green eyed Makoto trying to settle on something before finding Rei to be worthy of her ire.

And Rei's…

She couldn't look at her now, shaking her head to scrape together whatever decorum she had left that she could use. "Make sure you all eat something." That sounded like a proper Commander thing to say, turning on her heel she walked off towards the surrounding forest. It was probably viewed as running away but Goddess, she was so tired. Five years and a handful of months and days culminated to this very moment. It was too long to keep doing.

She did what she did, endured what she did, all because she valued her honor. A vow was made, more than a few of them it seemed like, promising that she would protect the Princess at the cost of her own life. Promising Ami that her intellect would not go to waste or be squandered. Promised Makoto she wouldn't be viewed as a dim witted Jovian and instead, as a person with skills that others were envious of.

She promised Rei to protect her as well, to defend her and guide her. That death wouldn't have her in her watch.

So very many vows and not one made back to her.

Where she walked it didn't matter. Maybe it was shirking her duties but the other three were capable in her stead. After a short while that walk became a limp. A bit more after that and she gave in, plopping down on the forest floor without fanfare. Her leg ached, spots of red appearing on her pant leg where she broke through the stitches. Likely from the tree or the escape out of the shuttle. Fuck, maybe it was just from being alive. It didn't really matter. There was a chill; just a shirt and bandages wasn't going to cut it for very long.

Unhooking her falchion she laid it across her lap, injured leg outstretched. The sounds of nature sounded off, insects and the occasional call of birds high above. It was silence she hadn't had since she first arrived on Mars. Silence was a rarity; the Princess was right about that. The Palace was an ever noisy place even in the dead of night.

Eyes slipped to a close as she took in a deep breath to center herself. She couldn't exactly commune with her Goddess; really she would have to be on Venus, but she could still feel that faint sort of connection that told her, if above all else, she still had Her favor. Talking to her would have been wonderful, but she was content right now to just sit, in the middle of nowhere, and be surrounded by silence.

In hindsight, it wasn't too long. At the moment though, with everything working as it did, it felt like an hour or maybe two but she kind of doubted it. That's likely how long it was before footfalls said she wasn't alone any longer. The sounds of small twigs breaking, of a soft scuffle of tree needles being stepped on, alerted her. The noise came from behind her but she didn't bother to turn around, lost to her blank mind and equally empty thoughts.

A jacket was draped across her shoulders carefully before the visitor stepped around towards her line of vision. Taking a knee first then a full on sit, Rei looked at her.

That black eye was almost becoming.

"That man, in the throne room." The Martian began, her voice soft, "taunted me the moment I awoke. Phobos and Deimos were still human but beaten within moments of their lives. He questioned where you were, about how ineffective you must be, and how you … just wanted to … lay me. A wizard was beckoned, and both Phobos and Deimos, people I knew for years, since before my Grandfather passed, were no longer the same."

Apathy wasn't her but she held to her indifferent visage.

"Then you came in, a mess. It didn't make sense to me, why parts of your clothing could be so … so not like your breastplate which looked pristine. At first, I thought you might have been trying at face paint from the streaks of blood across your face. Until I saw the faint remains of something black, like a powder, that you had tried to wipe away. You announced … who you were and … and I realized I wasn't any better than he was. All that time traveling in Mars, my commentary about Venusians… Gods, everyone who wasn't a Martian … and you just took it."

On cue she felt that familiar phantom pain in her breast. She didn't like that it was becoming a familiar sort of thing.

"I … I'm sorry, for … for what I said."

"I'm in love with you." Came her emotionless reply. She noted how wide Rei's eyes became, maybe from the words or because she said them even right after what happened. It mattered in that way that, while important, she just wasn't ready to give what was necessary to this moment. A woman through and through, even if it wasn't completely wise, her heart got its chances to lead. "When we return to the Palace I will arrange for transportation for you back to Mars."

"What?! Why?!"

"All I have done is love you. I didn't think this was how you would treat me in return."

"I didn't mean it! The Princess made it out to be like you secreted yourself off constantly."

"And you chose to believe her when, if you bothered to look beyond a fanciful girl's notions, you would know that it was only your bed I was in. Goddess, that you were the only one in mine. That you were the only one I was with, often forgoing simple sleep just to be with you. How could you say such a thing to me?"

"I …" Oh, Rei showed her shame well but it felt so … so… Goddess she didn't even have the word for it. Instead of trying to continue her sentence the Martian shook her head. "Makoto hit me, both her and Ami yelled at me for what I did."

Good for them.

"Minako please, I … I was foolish. I wasn't thinking. She acted like she knew you, like it was something commonly known. I fell into the trap that everyone did, that everyone does… we're all racist with preconceived notions about everyone else. I'm guilty, I'm sorry and I know it's not enough to make up for what I did. I care about-"

She cut her off with a raise of her hand. "I swear, if you say you care about me I am going to puke." Apparently that was what Rei had actually been planning to say, if the sudden snap of her mouth shut was any indication. "It's still hours until it will be dark and the rest of us can figure out where we are to get you back. Go hit Makoto if you think you can or yell at them back if you think like it is going to vindicate their actions against you." Done with the conversation she flopped back to the ground, not caring.

She heard movement but her gaze was fixated in that unseeing way on the sky above, or at least what could be seen through the branches. Feeling was far too painful and already her empathic tendencies were messing with her ability to control anything. Even in that fake sort of lying concept.

She felt hands, hands in her shirt and then her upper body was being wrenched up to meet with the rather angry Martian face that loomed over her. Snapped from her gaze she blinked more than a few times to force her mind back to the now and not to the nowhere it had headed to. Her hands scrambled to figure out what to do; shove the other away, brace herself, something.

It too, didn't matter.

"You're such an irritation and you're my irritation." Her voice was angry, lacing her words much like her robes seemed to to her body. That fire was there, the spark was burning strongly in the night sky and spoke that it wouldn't be burning out anytime remotely soon. "I love you Princess, and my promise to you is to ensure you never feel like that ever again."

It … the words were unexpected. That was easier to describe it all as.

"You said you wouldn't give me a reason to say no, so why the hell are you now?"

Painfully her gaze closed before it could open again. Fancy that, her words were being used. "I'm serious."

"And I said I would keep an eye on you, so fucking let me or I'll order you to!"

There came a smirk, "You don't have any authority over me. You've made it too well known that you simply never agreed to this and was just here for me. In the same breath you then accuse me of sleeping around. So which is it going to be Rei? I am not doing both. I am tired, I hurt, and I am not going to keep doing this just because I love you. Either make up your mind. Stay or don't, reciprocate my feelings or don't. If you want to leave, I will get you a damn transport the minute we are back."

Her response received was, in reality, the best sort of response that could be given. It wasn't words, actions instead, as she was drawn into a kiss that eradicated what remaining thoughts she had left.

A/N: hey Hookedonreading, seriously go register an account lol. Then you can find out when and what I posted and I can maybe answer your questions better. Nah, I'm not a professional writer by any means. I'm in accounting so blame that for my creativity. I keep track of all this because my deep dark secret is that I used to do text based roleplaying on AOL way back in the day (but no, never put on a robe and wizard hat because when I rped a caster, they never wore hats) and for a long time… Thank you though for checking out my writing scribbles and leaving commentary. It makes my day to get an email when a review has been left. Least then I know someone other than me is reading my stuff lol.