Planet Bound: Venus
     by Marj

Notes:
	arigato - thank you
	atama - head
	hai - yes
	musume - daughter
	odango - some sort of round food on a stick (squid ball, maybe?)
	okaa-san - mother

Please e-mail your comments and constructive criticisms at 
.  Thanks!

Disclaimers: The characters of Bishoujo Senshi Sailormoon were created 
by Naoko Takeuchi-san, its copyright owned by Toei Animation, Kodansha, 
Nakayoshi, Sterling Animation Inc., and many other companies scattered 
throughout the world.  Meaning, I cannot claim the characters as my 
own, and am mearly borrowing them.  The character Ayukawa Himeru is
mine.  So please don't sue, as I don't earn anything from this other 
than the satisfaction of making a story.



Chapter Six:  Secret Revealed

The girls stayed up late, and hit the sack at ten o'clock in the 
evening.  The night was clear, and the moon was full.

Rei woke up.  She looked at her alarm clock.  "12:05 . . ." she 
mumbled.  Her throat was dry.  She needed a drink of water.

Careful not to step on the peacefully sleeping senshi, Rei worked her 
way to the kitchen, where she got herself a glass of water.  She 
started to walk back to bed when she heard voices coming from outside.

 Rei thought.  She 
slid open the door leading outside just a little bit, careful not to 
make any noise, and peeked through the opening.

Minako was standing outside, wearing the brown jacket that Rei hadn't 
seen in two years.  Beside her sat Artemis.

 Rei thought.  She didn't want to 
eavesdrop, but . . .

"Minako-chan . . . " she heard Artemis say.

Minako sighed.  "I can't keep secrets forever.  I found that out today, 
when I realized that I have to share my experiences with my friends.  
But . . . promise me you won't tell them what I'm going to tell you now 
. . . not just yet."

"If you don't want them to know, then . . . why are you telling me?"

"Because I'm worried about you."

Artemis cocked his head.  "What do you mean?"

Minako picked him up and stroked his fur.  "Your nightmares, Artemis.  
They've become so frequent . . . it scares me.  I know that it's 
wearing you out, and I know my secret is adding to your distress."

They were silent for a while.  Then, Rei heard Minako take a deep 
breath and start to speak again.

After Minako spoke, Rei wished she had never eavesdropped.  She quietly 
returned to her bed, but she couldn't sleep.  She was still awake when 
Minako and Artemis sneaked back into her room, but she pretended to be 
asleep.  She rolled over so that they wouldn't notice the tear that 
started to run down her cheek.  What she had overheard troubled her so 
much that even the nightmare she had that night reflected her feelings.

*****

A few days after the slumber party, Ami was helping her mother set the 
table back home.  It was rare that the two of them managed to find time 
to eat together, what with Mrs. Mizuno busy with her patients at the 
hospital and Ami constantly studying.  No doubt that was why Ami always 
enjoyed spending time with her mother.

She had been placing the two bowls and chopsticks she held on the table 
when her mother walked in, carrying their steaming food.  "Mmmm . . . 
smells good, okaa-san!" Ami complimented. 

Mrs. Mizuno smiled. "Arigato, musume.  Why don't you wash up for 
dinner?"

Minutes later, mother and daughter sat across from each other at the 
table, enjoying their meal.  Mrs. Mizuno asked Ami about high school, 
and Ami asked about how things were going in the hospital.

"That reminds me, Ami.  Do you know anyone named Aino Minako?" Mrs. 
Mizuno asked, gracefully eating her rice.

"Hai, okaa-san.  She's one of my best friends."

"Hmm.  I thought so.  The name sounded familiar when my friend told me 
about her . . . "

Ami fidgeted. "What about Minako, okaa-san?"

Mrs. Mizuno opened her mouth and hesitantly began to speak. "You see, 
Ami, it's like this . . ."

She listened intently to what her mother had to say.

*****

"So, is everybody ready to go shopping?" Makoto asked.

The girls were gathered at Hikawa Shrine, preparing to cause terror at 
the malls.

"Yup!  Wow, we never had fun like this when there were still plenty of 
youma around!" Usagi exclaimed happily.  She and Makoto looked very 
enthusiastic.  Their wide smiles and shining eyes competed with the 
brightness of the beautiful sunshine that day.

Rei, on the other hand, looked like she hadn't slept in weeks.  She had 
noticeable bags under her tired eyes, and she just stood at one corner 
of the shrine.  She didn't even feel like making fun of Usagi.

Ami had her books with her.  One book was laid open in her hand, but 
she wasn't reading it.  She didn't seem to have the heart to.  Instead, 
she stared off into the distance, as though she was thinking deeply.

"And Artemis has never been as serious as this since we last fought 
Chaos . . ." Luna said worriedly.

Everyone's gaze turned to Artemis, who was sulking on the temple floor.  
 Rei thought.

"Where is Minako-chan, anyway?" Makoto asked.

"She stopped by my house earlier, and told me she has to go someplace 
again.  Then, she handed me Artemis and ran off," Usagi answered.

Mako turned to the cat. "Where is she going, Artemis?"

Artemis remained quiet. He didn't like being left behind since he 
already knew his secret, but Minako thought that he would relax a bit 
more if he had fun with the others. "You're so tense, you seem like a 
rock on my shoulder.  Maybe, I never should have told you," Minako had 
told him earlier.

Usagi looked concerned. "I think this is going far too much.  Did you 
and Minako had a fight that you don't want to tell us about?"

Artemis shook his head.

"Then what's with the two of you?  I mean, you're always glued to her 
side.  Why are you separated now?"

 Artemis thought.  
But he made no reply.  Usagi received only silence for an answer, so 
she gave up.

"Hey, isn't Minako's mom pregnant?" Luna asked.

Makoto nodded. "She mentioned that about three weeks ago.  Why'd you 
ask?"

"I saw Minako enter the hospital a few days ago.  Could something have 
happened to her mom?"

"Oh, yeah," Usagi said, snapping her fingers. "Aino-san couldn't really 
have a baby, right?  Maybe . . ."

"Nothing's wrong with Aino-san and the baby," Artemis informed them 
quietly.

"Then why is Minako going to the hospital?" Makoto asked.

Ami turned to look at her. "Why do people go to the hospital?"

Her friend shrugged. "Because they're sick . . . ?"

Ami nodded slowly.  "Right."

Usagi scratched her head. "You mean Minako-chan's sick?"

"Yes . . ." Ami answered, staring at the ground with sad eyes.

Artemis's head jerked up in disbelief that Ami knew, and Rei stared at 
her as well.

"How did you . . . ?" Artemis asked hesitantly.

"My mother told me last night.  I'm sorry, Artemis - I shouldn't have 
known, right?"

 Rei thought.  She wiped at her 
rising tears with the back of her hand.  

Makoto noticed her movement. "Rei-chan . . . you knew, too?"

"I . . . I overheard them during the first night of our slumber 
party," Rei admitted guiltily, blushing red.

But Usagi and Makoto didn't seem to understand the seriousness of the 
situation. "No matter!  We'll take care of her until she gets well.  I 
mean, she tried to take care of us once, remember?"  Usagi said.

"Usagi."

She looked at Artemis, a frown plastered on her face.   "What?"

"She can never recover."

His words struck Makoto hard.  "Wh . . . what?"  She smiled nervously. 
"Oh, come on, guys.  A joke's a joke, but this isn't funny anymore."

"It's true.  It's all true . . ." Ami said quietly, turning around so 
she wouldn't have to face her friends. "We're losing her."

"But . . . but . . ." Usagi stammered. "She'll be okay!  She'll 
recover!  I just know it!  All she needs is our support and . . . "

"Oh, just stop it, odango atama!" Rei cried. "She's dying!  Dying!  And 
there's nothing we could do! "  She couldn't hold back her tears 
anymore, and now they freely cascaded down her face.  Ami covered her 
face with her hands, but they could still hear her muffled sobs.

Luna looked sadly at Artemis.  < No wonder he looks miserable . . . > 
she thought.    She turned to Usagi and nuzzled her leg. "She's . . . right, 
however painful it may be.  There are some cases where not even the 
ginzuishou can help us." 

Makoto's clenched fist started to shiver in anger. "Why have you all 
given up hope?" she demanded. "The doctors could be wrong!  She could 
still live!  What's wrong with all of you?!"

"Face it, Makoto!  Do you think I like feeling helpless?  Do you think 
I like the thought that Minako's dying?" Artemis cried. "I don't like 
feeling this way!  But this is reality!  We have to face facts!"

Makoto closed her eyes and looked away, her fist still tightly 
clenched.   she thought.    She ran 
towards the nearest tree she could find and slammed her fist against 
the unyielding wood.  Then she let out a strangled sob and crumpled 
against it, her body contorted in anguish.

Usagi was so shocked, she didn't even felt her knees scrape when she 
sank to the temple floor. "But the future . . . she was there . . . " 
She started to beat the ground stubbornly. "She was there!  Pluto took 
us to the future, and I saw her!  *We* saw her!!"

"Remember, Usagi-chan.  Pluto said that what we saw may or may not 
happen," Luna said softly.

"NO!  You're lying!  YOU'RE ALL LYING!!" Usagi screamed, crying 
hysterically. "You're not her friends!  You've abandoned her!  You all 
want her to die!!"

Ami and Artemis winced at the harshness of Usagi's words.  Rei leaned 
down and slapped Usagi.  Then, she grabbed her shoulders and shook her.  
"Usagi!  Please!"

Usagi stopped crying loudly and looked at Rei. "I lost her before, Rei 
. . ." she whispered sadly. "You know how it felt like to lose her.  
You were there with me . . . remember?"

Rei's memories returned to the events that had happened three years 
earlier, when they fought their final battle against the Dark Kingdom.  
She remembered Minako's screams and Usagi's endless wails.  She closed 
her eyes and tried to push the memory away.

"This would now be the fourth time I'm going to lose her.  First, in 
the Silver Millennium.  Second, back at the North Pole.  Third, when 
you all protected the Starlights.  And now . . . you understand how I 
feel, don't you?" Usagi asked.

 Rei thought, nodding her head at 
Usagi. "Yes, I understand . . ." she said quietly.

Usagi smiled sadly, her tears flowing like rivers down her cheeks. "I 
knew you would understand . . ." She looked at the temple floor. "I . . 
. I don't want to lose her again . . ." she said, her voice breaking 
down.  She couldn't hold her smile. "I don't want to lose her!!"

Rei hugged her tightly and let her cry on her shoulder.

"Please!  Don't tell me that you all want her to die!" Usagi cried.

"Nobody wants her to die.  But we can't do anything.  Anything . . ." 
Ami said, barely above a whisper.

Makoto looked up from the tree she had been crying on and turned to 
Ami. "What kind of disease does she have?" she asked, trying to show 
her distressed friend a brave face.  She failed miserably.

"Emphysema . . ." Ami said sadly. "My mom's friend told her that it had 
been developing for quite some time, but it only started to show 
symptoms now."

"What are the causes of emphysema?" Luna asked Ami.

"Smoking.  Environmental gases.  Toxic and chemical fumes.  Succesive 
cases of bronchitis . . ." Ami answered.

"She had a bad case of bronchitis weeks ago," Rei recalled.

"Yes.  The week before she started taking me to Usagi’s . . ." Artemis 
said.  “She had other small cases before that, but they didn’t require 
that much medical attention.  Or so we thought.”

"And chemical fumes . . . the factory!  She inhaled deadly fumes in the 
factory that exploded when she was in London!!!" Luna added.

Makoto nodded. "So it's been more than three years . . . and she never 
knew until now."

“And it’s too late,” Ami added quietly.

Nobody spoke afterwards.  All that could be heard were the sounds of 
the leaves of the trees above Hikawa Shrine rustling, and the few quiet 
sobs from the girls.  The shopping spree was all but forgotten.

"She . . . already accepted all of this.  Minako-chan . . ." Artemis 
informed them all, sadly.  He tried to smile bravely for his friend. "I 
. . . think it would comfort her a lot . . . if we could cherish her 
remaining days instead of crying over her.  She didn't want us to learn 
about her condition because she didn't want us worrying about and feel 
sorry for her . . . "

Rei laughed bitterly. "Typical of her."

Luna nodded. "This is the last thing Minako-chan would ask of us.  
She's given her life for service, and we owe a lot to her.  Let's make 
these last days memorable for her.  It will make her happy before she . 
. ."

No words were needed.  They already knew what Luna had been going to 
say next.

Usagi stood up from the ground, followed by Rei.  She dried her tears 
and nodded her head at Luna. "All right."  She started to walk away.

"Where are you going?" Makoto asked.

"Minako's house.  If we want her to be happy, then we have to start 
now, right?"

The other girls looked at each other, then nodded slowly. "Right."

Usagi smiled, her first genuine smile since the news had been 
announced. "Let's go then."  She looked up at the cloudless sky and 
thought of her friend.   she 
thought.  

    Source: geocities.com/tokyo/field/4723/stories