While You Were Gone

by Crawlspace

Notes

This is the third story in this series (A Bit of Mischief, That Night Beneath the Moon). I think it stands well on its own, since the main girls aren't a part of the previous two stories. Reading the others isn't entirely necessary (though it is always appreciated) beyond needing to know that Ami's mom, Minako's mom, and Setsuna met in the 70's and dealt with a Venusian Fortune Goddess who doesn't like being ignored. She has a familiar that looks like a red squirrel. And Setsuna hung around for awhile afterward because she rather unexpectedly fell in love with Ami's mom.

The bones of this story are the 90's anime. Events and technology will be built around that timeline.

I've had a few people ask, so want to clarify that this series isn't related to the Fate series. I've reused some names (most notably for Ami's mom because I'm attached to her) and concepts, but everything here is completely unrelated to what went on there.

Chapter 1 - A Small Venusian and Her Squirrel

She had an audience, and she was always at her best when she had an audience. Minako clung tightly to her orange microphone as her song built to its finale. Clear plastic sandals scooted into place on the gray pavers, the surface now her stage rather than just the back patio of her house. The small fire pit her audience sat around popped and sparked, and there was her big moment. Summoning everything she had in her five-year-old self, she belted out the last line of her song while executing a perfect double twirl.

The ruffled hem of her red polka-dotted dress flared out as the world spun around her. The applause were instant, whoops and wine glasses raised in appreciation for her performance. She beamed as she came to a stop, bowing several times as the red bow in her hair threatened to fall out, then ran over to her mother.

"Kaede, she is wonderful!" announced her Aunt Mai as Minako climbed into her mother's lap. She smiled playfully at the little girl, trying to sound conspiratorial. "I think maybe you've earned one."

Minako took a long sip from her juice box and looked wide-eyed up at her mother. What had she earned?

Swirling her wine glass, Kaede played along. "Maybe. I guess she has. Though her room is still a mess."

"Pffffft," intoned her Aunt Akane with a dismissive wave. The sharp angled ends of her red hair fell forward as she leaned onto her crossed knee. "Come here, Minako."

After a nod from her mother, Minako moved to stand in front of Akane. She bounced excitedly as a small, white box with a gold ribbon was held out to her.

"This is something very special," went on Akane.

"And very secret," her mother added with a crooked grin. "Do you think you can keep it a secret?"

"I can!" answered Minako earnestly, her expression very serious.

"Okay, then," said her mother, giving her the last bit of permission she needed to open the box.

With as much care as her eager little fingers could give, Minako untied the ribbon and lifted the lid. Laying in a bed of tissue paper was a ceramic disc glazed a creamy white with an orange sun and fox head etched into its center. She lifted it from the box by the short leather tie knotted in the hole at the top, easily recognizing the symbol on the homemade charm. It was on the old softball shirt her mommy sometimes wore and on the ball cap hanging in the living room next to the picture of all her aunts.

Holding the charm up for her mommy to see, she exclaimed through a wide smile, "Look, mommy! I'm a Solar Flare!"

Kaede chuckled. "You most certainly are."

Her Aunt Hana laughed, the sound light and easy, partly because she was one glass of wine ahead of everyone else. "Keep it safe, baby girl. If you're kind to it, it will bring you good luck. All you have to do is make a wish. And remember to say please and thank you."

This made her Aunt Mai chuckle. Taking a sip from her glass, she admonished, "You don't still believe in all that, do you?"

"Hey," answered Hana, putting down her glass and pulling her matching charm from the pocket of her slacks. She pointed it in Mai's direction. "You're looking at the youngest CFO in company history. You tell me."

Then it was Aunt Chika's turn to pull hers from where she wore it on a leather string around her neck. She raised her glass of orange juice. "Twins, and we weren't even trying this time."

"World Press Photo of the Year," added Akane with a smirk as she reached to refill her glass. "And Kaede still hasn't gotten arrested."

Minako shot a surprised look at her mother because she knew what those words meant and why was someone going to arrest her mommy?

"We do not speak of that. Ever," reminded Kaede sharply. But then her lips quirked. "Besides, I have no problem taking every one of you down with me."

"We should do the whole ceremony!" announced Hana suddenly.

Kaede rolled her eyes at the glee this idea lit in her teammates. In the back of her mind there was a little niggle reminding her she'd promised never to revisit any of this again. Primarily, though, it was just the silliness of it all. The little ceramic charms she'd made during her arts and crafts phase were nice trinkets to remember their college years, but the whole luck thing… There were perfectly logical reasons for why the others had made out as well as they had, and it certainly didn't feel like luck was following her with Jiro's career having basically stalled. Still, though, there was the whole not getting arrested thing…

Letting out a defeated sigh, Kaede gave in. "Fine." She emptied her glass, then stood and started walking inside. "Just let me grab another bottle as I try to remember how it goes. Minako, come with me," she called, and the child started skipping in her direction. "We need to find a good gift as an offering."

Surrounded by a warm, cozy bed of cloudy pillows, the small goddess blinked sleepily as far away voices tickled her ears. She scrubbed at her eyes with a fist, trying to wipe away the haze surrounding her thoughts. The voices and words sounded familiar.

The words.

Alandra sighed dramatically. The abysmal and entirely incorrect phrasing of her ceremony was painful, her high priestess so poorly trained it was an embarrassment. But they seemed to be putting some real effort into it.

She sat up, stretched, and yawned. A half grin touched her lips when her eyes landed on the sleeping, squirrel-like creature curled up at her feet. She gave her pet a nudge with the toe of her golden slipper and giggled when its head shot up, dazed and still half asleep. Then the kirkri focused on her and let out a happy trill. It crawled into her lap, purring contentedly as she stroked its reddish fur.

The little goddess pulled together the last pieces of her memory from before she'd fallen asleep. That horrid Time Guardian, she remembered. The Guardian had stolen the artifact she was bound to and somehow tricked the high priestess into performing the Sunset Ceremony. What an entirely awful thing to do, especially after everything she had done for her and that muddled Mercurian. Alandra huffed, and her kirkri repeated the sound, though it sounded more like a sneeze.

Alandra giggled, then gathered up her pet. She would deal with the Time Guardian later. For now, she needed to see what her priestesses were up to.

Stepping onto an invisible set of stairs, she climbed until she reached her desired location. Moving as though she were perching on a shelf, she laid on her stomach with her head propped on her hands and peered into the human realm. Her feet kicked lazily as she watched her priestesses sit around a fire pit. On a small table by the fire, two tall, tapered candles flanked a clear goblet of dark red liquid. The branch of pink blossoms and some pieces of chocolate made her smile, and Alandra nodded in approval. This was a definite step up in presentation. But what was that there in front of the goblet?

Squinting, she tried to get a good look at the small, white disc with the misshapen kirkri. She could feel the pull, knew this was the object she was bound to and that her high priestess was using it to call her forth. This was not, however, her medallion.

Alandra hung her head, her annoyance showing in the tick around her eye. The Guardian must have done something to the medallion, forcing them to bind her to this new object. An object that was just as lackluster as her priestesses' skills. She perked up, though, as her attention was suddenly drawn to the small child moving carefully toward the make-shift altar.

"Now what have we here?"

Before this new medallion, the child set a figure of a white cat in a pink dress. Then she bowed before scurrying back to the high priestess in a fit of giggles. There was something about the child… some aura around her. A Venusian? Not like the high priestess with her muddied bloodline, but a true one? Then she realized what it was and squealed in delight.

Fate had given her one of her aunt's Guardians.

Looking at her kirkri, she said happily, "Her training will be questionable, but isn't it wonderful to see our traditions continue in some way. And perhaps finding out she was mine first will torment my aunt just a bit."

The kirkri trilled in amused agreement.

Deciding she was pleased with their efforts and quite happy to be awakened, the small goddess reached forward and waved an invisible hand over each priestess to sprinkle just a bit of good fortune around them. Then, just because this one had pleased her in an especially good way tonight, she placed a kiss on her fingertips and laid them against the child's forehead. "For an extra bit of good fortune," she whispered as the girl laughed and twirled in a shower of golden glitter only she could see.