I have nothing to give you if you sue me for using these wonderful characters
that are so not mine. Well, except for the bad guys, but no one ever really wants
them anyways. Aw look, now Domitric's pouting. See what you did? Anyways, enjoy the
chapter k? =)
*...* = thoughts
= flashbacks
Eternally Yours
By Ai-chan
Chapter 8- Continuity
Rehn limped into the room he shared with his sister, who was lazily throwing darts at
an image of Minako that she had projected onto the wall. Rehn concentrated on healing
his wounds, inflicted upon him by his master. Vega watched with a subdued interest and
then went back to her target practice. "You know you shouldn't be so blatant about your
dislike for her. You know how obsessed he is with her" said Rehn as he buttoned up
his shirt. Vega scowled in response. Rehn shrugged. Vega threw the last dart at
Minako then turned to her brother. "Did you do what I asked you to do?" "Yes, I
took the Tuxedo guy instead of her. It would have been so easy to just grab her
though" "NO!" said Vega harshly, "I need time. If we can delay his capture of her
long enough, I can convince him that he wants me, not her. Please Rehn" she begged.
"All right, but if puts me in charge of getting her again, I will do it. I can't take
another one of his 'discussions' with me, I'm not as a good of a healer as you" Vega
smiled as he assured her and went back to her own lustful fantasies.
"Eternal Sailor Mars" said Luna, smiling. "Wait...wait. THIS is the new soldier?"
said Artemis in disbelief. "Yes" said Luna harshly, glaring at Artemis. "Right,
never doubted you there sweetie" he said, shrinking back from her gaze and
tentatively smiling. "All right, so V-chan's power-up wasn't just a freak
occurrence. Can we all expect to sprout some wings and boots or...?" said Uranus
trailing off and looking to Luna for an explanation. Luna shook her head and looked
at Mercury. Mercury sighed. "I need to do some testing of the two in their Eternal
form and see what I come up with" said Mercury tiredly. "Not tonight Mercury-chan,
we've had a long night" said Venus, smiling. "Let's all get home and get some rest,
we can meet up tomorrow, okay?" said Mars. Not waiting for affirmation, she headed
off towards the shrine. Kunzite shrugged and followed her, shaking his head. "C'mon
Jade, let's get home" said Venus waving goodbye to everyone as she leapt to the
adjoining rooftops. Jade gave Mars' retreating back one last glance and set off
after his sister. The rest of the group hurried off, with promises to meet up later.
Ken sighed as he lay in his bed, unable to think of anything but Minako.
Murmurs and a few muffled laughs told him that Rei was still awake, relating
the story of her Senshi life to her grandfather. Not for the first time, he felt
utterly alone. Drifting off to sleep, a single tear rolled down his cheek.
Laying in the large guest bedroom, with Ami asleep beside her, Makoto wondered
about Nate. She knew why she felt so strongly for him, what wasn't there to like
about the charming man? Well, besides the fact that he had once tried to kill her
and her friends. But he had assured her that it had not been him. Makoto only
wished she knew the details, but Nate refused to divulge them to her. Sighing
furtively and cursing her lack of memories, she gently fell into dreams of a man
with chocolate eyes and his head in the stars.
Two rooms over, Zachery marveled at how awfully he and Ami were getting along.
Why did she hate him so much? *Well there was that whole you-killed-her-family-
burned-her-home-and-tried-to-behead-her-thing* replied his sarcastic inner
voice. "Right, that" he murmured in reply. But she didn't remember any of that.
Why couldn't he stroke her beautiful face and look into her lake blue eyes and
tell her he loved her and have her return such a proclamation? Why was he feeling
that, instead of doing that she'd rather throw a hot iron at his head. Zach
sighed in wonder and drifted off into dreamland, thoughtfully touching the bandages
around his arm that she had prepared.
"Why are you avoiding me?" asked Rei quietly, looking down at her hands,
"Don't you love me anymore?" she asked, looking up, her face sparkling with
tears. Deep within himself, Jade was crying too, in pain and frustration. But
to her lovely face he kept cold eyes. He wanted to hold her and assure her
everything was all right, but instead he just dismissed her love. He didn't
know why, he just knew he must. Behind his back he reached for his dagger, and
with his hand around the hilt he watched her sob uncontrollably as he prepared
to kill her. *NO* his thoughts screamed, but his body didn't want to obey. She
hung her head, her raven-black hair falling forward, exposing her neck.
Jared's knife, despite his screams of denial, headed straight towards her neck.
Just as he was about to strike her down in one fell stroke, the door creaked open
and she looked up quickly. "Why?" she said quietly as she stood up. Then, regaining
her composure she turned to Ami and said "I'll be with you in a minute." Turning
back to him she said harshly "I never want to see your filthy, betraying face
around here again you scum," and she turned on her heels and walked through the
heavy doors, slamming it behind her. "NO!" yelled Jared, waking up in fear,
sweat-drenched and shaking. *How many times?* he wondered, *How many times
must I relive those awful days* He quietly dressed and then leapt out the
window, and off a tree, walking slowly but purposefully wherever his feet
felt like taking him. Behind him, a pair of blue eyes watched curiously, and
then prowled behind snow-white tail twitching in curiosity.
Rei blearily blinked her eyes. A ray of light was shining directly in her
face. She moved her arm under the large blanket wrapped around her and smiled
at the kindness of her Grandfather. "Morning" said a sleepy male voice.
She quickly whipped her head around to see Jared sitting behind her,
his back to the fire. "What are you doing here?" she hissed. He flinched
visibly and shrugged. She softened a bit at his obvious pain. "How long have
you been here?" "All night I think" said Jared, looking out the window. "I
couldn't sleep" he continued, as if the totally natural thing to do for insomnia
was walk across town to a shrine and watch the priestess in training sleep.
Yawning, Rei stood up and stretched. "C'mon" she said motioning for him to
follow, "As long as you're here you might as well have some breakfast."
Jared smiled and followed her into the kitchen. He stopped quickly as he
heard footsteps behind him. Whipping around, energy orb in hand, he found himself
staring at space. "Down here doofus" said Artemis patiently. "Geesh, you nearly
gave me a heart attack." "If only" said Artemis under his breath. To Jared
he said "I need to talk to Rei" and walked past him into the kitchen. Jared
shook his head and followed.
Ami rubbed her eyes and got out of bed, grudgingly rubbing her leg where
the lively Makoto had kicked her, while murmuring "No, no not that door.
There's an alligator there Nate!" Quietly pulling on her yellow robe she
walked out to the kitchen to grab a cup of tea. As she opened the swinging
door, she looked at the ceiling where Sailor Moon had dangled only two days
before. A tear slipped down her cheek and she whispered "We'll find you Usagi-chan.
And we'll make them sorry." "That's the spirit" said a male voice cheerily.
Ami looked up into the wide-awake face of Zach as he emerged from the
cavernous pantry. Ami quickly wiped away her tears and grumbled a "Good
morning" to Zach. He just smiled back at her. Silently, Ami brewed her tea
while Zach poured some cereal. "Where's Makoto?" he asked her tentatively.
Ami rubbed her shins and said "Still sleeping." Oh" said Zach, nodding
awkwardly. "I...uh...wanted to thank you for bandaging up my arm. I...
well...thanks" He coughed and quickly hunched over his bowl, spooning in more
Frosted Flakes. Ami watched him. *He's kinda cute when he does that embarrassed
thing* she mused. She smiled and said "Your welcome" then busily immersed
herself in stirring her tea. Zach looked up at her, surprised and then smiled
back. Nate, walking into the kitchen, his hair tousled and a yawn stretching
across his face, was faced with two silent people sitting across each other
and smiling secretly to themselves. He blinked rapidly and then grinned and
went to make coffee.
"I've checked with Minako-chan already, I just wanted to verify this with
you" Artemis said, lapping up his cream. "Well, like she said, I just
got really really pissed off. I felt something inside me start to tremble
and I just let it go. I didn't control it, it just sort of happened" Rei
said as she buttered her toast. Jared was staring at her with rapt attention,
not noticing the egg that was slowly congealing in front of him. "So other
than this anger, you felt nothing else? No memories of your past came back.
At all?" said Artemis wearily. "Not a one. Sorry Artemis. Hey, why don't you
head back home and get some rest, you look like you need it" she said kindly,
scratching him behind his left ear. "I think I might just do that"
he said, purring a little. *Suck-up* thought Jade sourly. "Morning" said
Ken gruffly, as he wandered into the room, not at all phased by Jade or Artemis'
unexpected presence. As usual, he was wide-awake. Ken was always alert,
even when he was sleeping. No matter how tired he was, no one ever once caught
him looking it. Jared just blinked. "Morning" said Rei, her voice surprisingly
chirpy. Ken raised an eyebrow then went back to pouring his coffee. "Well" said
Artemis suddenly, "I'll be on my way" he looked pointedly at Rei and continued
"Unless that is you want me to stay..." here he trailed off. "No, no Artemis
it's alright. Get some rest." Artemis did a little kitty shrug and then leapt
off towards Minako's. Ken watched him and then hurriedly gulped his lukewarm
coffee. "Think I'll go take a little walk" he said mysteriously and, not waiting
for an answer got up and all but ran out the door. "Bye then!" said Jared happily,
thrilled at having Rei all to himself for a prospective day. He turned back
towards her and smiled charmingly at a now, Rei-free kitchen. Jared put his head
between his hands and moaned in frustration.
"Nate!" called out Makoto as she ran across the lawn towards him. He turned
and smiled at her, still in awe over his good fortune. "Yeah?" "Nothing" she
said, "Just wanted to be here with you". She smiled up at him as she nuzzled
herself into his arms. He leaned down and kissed her gently. "Oh get a room
already" said an irate female voice as Ami walked towards them on the lawn, Zach
trailing behind, shrugging apologetically. Nate and Makoto had the decency
to blush. "Mako-chan, I want you to help me do some scanning. We need to
meet up with Minako and Rei and do some scans on them in their Eternal forms
and then see if they can still become Super Sailor Senshi or not." "Umm..
okay" said Makoto, looking a bit crestfallen at having to leave Nathan. "Oh
stop looking like a wounded puppy" said Ami irritably, "we're dragging Tweedle
Dee and Tweedle Dumber here with us." Nathan raised an eyebrow at Zach who
just shrugged, shaking his head, thinking it best to just shut up and
follow her. Nate was more than happy to agree as they headed off on their way.
*So, Mr. Hasty what exactly do you plan on saying to Minako when you show up
at her door at 7 a.m.?* Ken stopped in mid sprint. "Hmm... good point" he
muttered, slowing to a stop in front of a small fountain. *I haven't really
given much thought to this I guess. Just kind of rushed out* Out loud he said
"Great, now what do I do? I can't go back to the shrine, Jade needs his 'bonding'
time. Way to go Ken" "Talk to yourself often?" said a teasing voice. Ken
peered around the other side of the fountain and saw Minako's serene face.
Her hair was pinned up in a messy bun and she was dressed in jeans and an
oversized sweatshirt, but Ken's breath was still taken away as the sun played
gently across her face and hair. Taking a big gulp he sat down next to her.
"Morning" he said stiffly. "What are you doing out here so early?" Minako
shrugged. "Thinking" she said, and offered no more. Ken just nodded and watched
her watching the sun. After a few minutes he said "About?" "Hmm...?" she said
as she turned from the rising sun. "Oh, I was just thinking
about us". Ken choked and started coughing rather violently.
"About.....us?" "Are you okay?" she asked rather concernedly. "Fine" he
gulped out, "About us what?" Minako looked up into his eyes and said very
simply "I remember" and then turned back to the rising sun. Not waiting for his
reply, she continued. "I went home last night and had a pretty turbulent
night. I was hearing all these voices in my head and I couldn't place them. At
some point or another I drifted off into sleep. I don't remember dreaming, but
when I woke up, I was sitting right here, just like this. Then, dawn came. I
looked up at the sun and suddenly all these pictures and sounds and
emotions (here she looked pointedly at Ken) came rushing at me out of
nowhere, all at once. It happened in such a short time, but it felt like a
lifetime. It was so...I can't explain what it
was, it just...was" Ken shook his head dazedly at the information.
"Minako...what?" he started. "I can see it so clearly..." she began.
~A young Minako stands on a balcony overlooking the Sea of Serenity. She is
dressed in an ornate golden gown that moves fluidly with her lithe body. Behind
her, inside the palace, another ball is in full swing, a ball to welcome the
Princess Serenity's betrothed, Prince Endymion. Only problem is, the princess is
nowhere to be found. Minako has taken the duty of finding the missing princess.
"Serenity!" she hisses, trying not to draw attention to herself, "Serenity, this
is soooo not funny!" Giving up on all conventional methods, Minako closes her
eyes and bring her fingers to her temples. She glows a soft gold as she reaches
out with her bond to her princess. The golden link that only she can see reaches
into the far corner of the balcony, where Minako can make out the princess'
dainty, silver-slippered feet. Minako creeps to the corner and rips back the
sheer curtains, intending to give the mischievous princess a piece
of her mind when she sees the sobbing girl. "Serenity?" she asks. "Mina-chan"
the Princess sobs out, "I can't do it, I don't even know him!" It takes Minako
a minute to figure out what Serenity is talking about. "Oh Serena!" she says,
dropping all formalities and reverting to their nickname for their princess,
"it's going to be all right." "No, it isn't!" starts Serenity, a bit
hysterically, "What if I don't love him, what if I don't like him, what if
I can't STAND him?" "You'll never know unless you meet him Serenity" says
Minako gently. Serenity mulls that over for a few seconds and then gives a
conceding little sniffle. "But what if I meet him and I still don't like him?"
"Princess, we'll take this one step at a time, but when the time comes and you
really can't see yourself marrying him, you won't. Your mother would never
force you to love someone you don't. But I'll tell you a secret" Minako leans
towards Serena and then whispers in her ear "You haven't met him, but you know
him, deep in your heart. Search that place out and you will find he's everything
you knew him to be. I sense a love so strong it unites everything
it encounters, and the Goddess of love never lies" Serenity gave a tearful
smile. Minako helped tidy her princess up and then sent her into the
ballroom as she herself stayed on the balcony, overlooking the Sea. She hears
a twig crack below. Her eyes narrow and she leaps over the edge
of the balcony, landing in the garden below. She hears another twig crack,
and then, with an explosion of moving leaves, cracking twigs, and shifted
earth, a huge form comes rushing at her from the hill above. Before she
can jump out of the way it has engulfed her and she is rolling
in a jumble of forest towards the shore. She hits a rock and is very
abruptly brought to a halt. As she fights to a stand she hears something
moving next her, fighting as well. Freeing herself from the last vine,
she flips away and faces her opponent, her chain of hearts already in her
hand, blood trickling from the cuts on her arms, chest, and head. A
bewildered man in the same condition as she, fights against the ever evil
vines. Finally stumbling to freedom he looks around, facing away from
Minako. "Okay, I'm guessing this is not the bathroom" he says irritably to
himself. "No, it's not" she says "and by order of the leader of the
Sailor Senshi, protectors of this planet, I ask you who are you who
would be seeking our bathrooms and for what purpose?" Running that over
in her head she realizes how stupid it sounds, but now it's too late so
she must stick by it like it makes complete sense, even though this handsome
man is looking at her like she is one fry short of a Happy Meal. "Well, to
answer the second question, I think that would be pretty obvious (here he
looked at her comically) and as for the first, I am Lord Kunzite leader
of Prince Endymion's Royal Guard." He
waited for her gasp of astonishment and words of awed praise. Instead she
looked at him, one eyebrow cocked and arms crossed. "I'm supposed to be
impressed? Oh, la di dah I'm a big general and I get to carry a sword and
wear a cape. Look at me, look at me." Kunzite's mouth dropped open.
Minako continued, "And you better have a good explanation for ruining those
plants with your gallivanting. You might have hurt someone. What were you
thinking, that you might impress someone with your incredible weed-whacking
talents?" "I tripped" he said rather defensively, still aghast at her obvious
un-awe. "Oh" she said, "well that's no excuse. I better escort you back to the
ball. Someone must be missing their hunk of muscles and metal and I don't
want you to stay here and destroy anymore of those evil hedge monsters."
Minako trudged back towards the palace, a speechless Kunzite trailing. Finally,
he stuttered back to life. "Now wait one minute!" he said angrily, "I deserve
some respect, I am a guest of honor." "And I could care less" said Minako,
brushing off his futile attempts for respect. "I don't have to take this
from you" he continued, unphased. "Oh me, oh my, I am so awed and respectful"
said Minako in a bored tone, "can we move along now?" "No" he said and
picked her up and threw her into the Sea. She surfaced, spluttering and
screaming in rage. "Now we can go" he said, turning to head back towards
the palace. Minako was definitely pissed. No one, treated her like that,
especially no arrogant bastards. She began to glow and float out of the sea.
Kunzite saw the glow and turned around curiously. He had just enough time for
his jaw to hit the floor in surprise and shock before Minako telepathically
picked him up and chucked him into the sea. She floated back down into the
water and laughed at him. Kunzite , dripping wet in all his state attire
was not pleased and grabbed Minako from behind, pulling her under. What
followed was a full out water war. Two hours later as they lay on the
beach, they had come to a truce and a flirtatious friendship that only
increased with his stay. Everyday they grew closer and soon it was a
love connection. They became inseparable, as did their lieges, and much
to their astonishment, their fellow Senshi and Generals. But Beryl took
the four men and warped their minds' to make them believe that they were
hated by the ones they loved. They were brainwashed and turned into her minions.
They took personal revenge on the Senshi, hurting their families and homes,
and finally, destroying the Moon Kingdom. Each Senshi died at her
lover's hands, unable to fight him. All except Minako. She faced off
against Kunzite, willing herself to turn her emotions against him. She
took the love she felt and warped it into anger, so she would not think,
just do. She fought with all her strength. As each of her comrades was
slain, she was weakened until, as Rei gave her last gasp, she was on her
knees, but still fighting, the emotional pain within her so turbulent,
it threatened to release at any second. Betrayal by her friends, her brother,
and her lover, the pain grew within her until it was almost bursting.
She held on to it until the other three general's had come to help
Kunzite finish her off. All four raised their swords at her, preparing to
end her wretched and betrayed existence. At that moment, she released all
her emotions, built up within her, in one gigantic wave of pain,
betrayal, love, grief, anger, and sorrow that obliterated everything
within a mile radius. The four generals swayed momentarily and then dropped
to the ground, their eyes unseeing, their hearts freed with a collective
sigh of thanks to Minako. But it wasn't enough to stop Beryl. She killed
Endymion, and Princess Serenity, in her grief, thrust his sword through
her heart. Minako, her energy low and hope diminished, said her goodbyes.
She crawled to her Senshi and tearfully closed their eyes. She closed the
eyes of Nephrite and Zoicite, thanking them for being so good to her
friends and her. She cradled Jadeite's head in her lap as she closed
his eyes and kissed his cheek. The she wrapped her arms around Kunzite and
she kissed him softly on the lips with such love and tenderness as only
the incarnation of love and beauty could have. And it was like this that the
not yet freed Kunzite used his remaining strength to stab Minako through her
heart with his sword. Her eyes looked at him as he died not with pain or surprise,
but with love and regret. As his soul was freed of Beryl's spell, he cursed
himself into loneliness and solitude for his sin. And it was like this that
Queen Serenity, Luna, and Artemis found them. Mercury, Mars, and Jupiter, bloody
and battered, lied out next to Zoicite, Jadeite, and Nephrite, who hadn't a
scratch on them, and Minako wrapped in Kunzite's arms, his hand still on the
knife he had thrust into her heart.~
Tears trickled down Kunzite's cheeks as he refused to look at Minako. He shook
his head in sorrow. Suddenly, he felt a soft hand on his cheek, wiping away the
tears. Looking up, he met Minako's teary eyes as she said "I forgave you. I
forgave you when you had done it, and I forgive you now." He looked at her in
total awe as she smiled beatifically at him. Then, tenderly, beautifully, he
kissed her. And all was right with the world.
"Umm..." said Rehn as Domitric stared at the scene before him. The screen
showed Minako and Kunzite still embracing. "Umm..." said Rehn again, trying
to discern just how pissed off his master was. A blast a green tinged with
white-hot rage obliterated the screen, spraying shards everywhere. Rehn
yelled and ducked for cover. "I. Want. Him. Dead" said Domitric, carefully
biting off each word. Rehn peeked his head up to look at Domitric's face. It
was not a pretty sight. "Ye-Ye-Yes mmmy liege" he stuttered and quickly
teleported as far away from Domitric as possible. "That is unforgivable,
General" Domitric growled, his eyes narrowing. "You *will* suffer."
*********************************************************************************** |
