Planet Bound: Venus
     by Marj

Note:
	baka - stupid

Ahh, only one note this time, so maybe I should include some warnings.  
This entire part is a recap of episode 42.  Also, I took in Kismet-
chan's suggestion about Rei hating television, so we placed it in 
Yuuichirou's room.  One last thing - I didn't bother writing about
how they got through their final exams for that year.  So when this 
chapter was made, they were all having summer vacation.  That's all!

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 Five:  A Sweet Romance in a Bitter Past

"Rei-chan!!!  We're here!!" Usagi exclaimed happily, interrupting Rei's 
deep meditation.

"Baka, Usagi!" Rei muttered.  She walked down the path leading to 
her room and roughly slid the door open.  "You didn't have to shout so 
loud, you know!" 

"She can't help it, Rei.  She's just too excited," Minako said happily.

"It has been a while since we last slept here."  Makoto grinned.

Rei couldn't help but smile.  They had been planning this event for 
days.  Finals were over - summer vacation had finally arrived, and they 
were all sleeping over at Rei's house for a couple days.  And since 
Rei’s grandfather and Yuuichirou were out on a "spiritual training" 
trip, they had the temple all to themselves.

Actually, the girls had planned to hold it on Makoto’s house, since 
they haven't yet held a slumber party there, but for some reason, 
Artemis strongly objected to the proposal.  He had even refused to let 
them have it at Ami's luxury apartment.  Ami wondered why he was 
suddenly afraid of heights, which was what both apartments had in 
common.

"Well, don't just stand there carrying all those bags, minna!  Let's 
get settled!" Rei exclaimed.  Everybody dropped their luggage at the 
same time then started to look for a place to lay their sleeping bags.

After the girls settled in, Usagi began rummaging though her bags and 
pulled out a few video tapes. "Okay!  Time to watch television!"

"Television?" Rei asked, shuddering.  

"Come on, Rei!  We know you hate television, but watch with us just 
this once," Makoto said, taking hold of her shoulders.

"Besides, you don’t have to tinker with it because we’re here, 
therefore you won’t have any problems regarding it," Ami reasoned.

"But the only television here is in Yuu . . . oh, no.  No, no, no, no, 
no, no, no!!"

"Let’s go!!" Makoto shouted, grinning.  Usagi and Ami led the way 
towards Yuuichirou’s room, while Makoto and Minako dragged a protesting 
Rei in front of them.

For the rest of the day, all the five girls and two cats did was watch 
television and chat.  Usagi had borrowed several movies for them to 
watch, one of which was a Sailor V movie.

As they watched the actress, who looked nothing like Minako, portray 
Sailor V, Usagi sighed.  "Gee, I'm starting to remember the three years 
we spent transforming into Sailor-suited warriors."

"Don't tell me you miss it.  I sure don't," Ami joked.

The moon princess nodded a bit.  "I guess I do miss it a little.  But, 
I'm glad that I have more time to myself now that I don't have to waste 
it fighting monsters."

"Not to mention spending more time with Mamoru," Makoto added.  Usagi 
blushed.

Rei smiled.  "Well, she and Mamoru-san just made up from an awful 
fight.  Not to mention that Mamoru-san just got back from America a few 
weeks ago.  It’s only natural for two people to spend most of their 
time together after that! "

"Speaking of relationships, how's yours doing, Minako-chan?" Luna 
asked.

"Wha - ?" Minako said weakly.  Luna frowned.  She had been staring at 
the television ever since the movie started and had pretty much 
remained silent after that.

"I asked how your relationship has been progressing," she repeated.

"What relationship?"

"Aw, don't hide it anymore, Minako.  We know about you and Himeru," Rei 
teased.  "Come on!  Spill it!"

"We're just friends!" she protested.

"Don't deny it, Minako-chan.  You're in love with Himeru, and he's in 
love with you," Makoto said bitterly.

She was quiet for a few moments.  “What about you, Mako-chan?  I know 
that you really like Himeru-san, too . . .”

Makoto sighed.  "I do, but he likes you more than me, right?  I mean, 
you can't just make love disappear when two people are already under 
its influence.  You should know.  You are the goddess of love, after 
all!"

"But I don’t like him!  And I don't want you to feel like I betrayed 
you!  After all, you were the one who introduced him to me!"

Makoto stared at Minako.  She laughed hoarsely, the irony of the whole 
situation evident in her voice.  "Betrayed me?  What made you say 
that?"

She stared at the ground.  "I . . . I know what you're feeling . . . I 
. . ."

Usagi, Luna and Artemis suddenly seemed interested in the wooden floor 
of Rei's room.  Ami noticed their sudden reaction.  "Do you guys . . . 
know something that we don't?" she asked.

The three of them looked at Minako hesitantly.  As for her, she was 
staring at the television again, watching the actress portraying her 
escape an explosion that took the monster she was fighting along with 
it.  The actress was barely even scraped or bleeding - actually, she 
escaped completely unharmed!  Minako leaned forward, rewound the tape 
back to part where the building exploded, and pressed the pause button.

 Usagi thought as she noticed Minako getting into a more 
comfortable position.

Artemis left his spot and curled up in Minako's lap.  Usagi looked at 
her gently, as did Luna.  Minako smiled softly at the silent support of 
the only three people in the world who knew her well-hidden secret.

"That wasn't exactly made up, you know . . ." she started, pointing at 
the television.  "Although the scriptwriter didn't know it that really 
happened only . . . I wasn't fortunate enough to escape unscathed."

The three girls who didn't know her story gasped.  "What . . . what 
happened to you back then?" Rei asked.

"I was in London, about four years ago as Sailor V.  It happened a few 
months before I met all of you."  Minako took a deep breath.  "I went 
there as an exchange student from Shibakouen Junior High.  At the time, 
Artemis and I thought this was an advantage, since there had been a 
number of youma attacks in England back then.  Besides, if the school 
hadn't arranged my departure, Artemis would have done it himself."

"I met a guy there.  His name . . . his name was . . ."

"Alan," Usagi said for her.  It had been a long time since she had last 
heard her say that name, and she didn't feel that Minako was up to 
saying it after burying it in the back of her mind for so long.

"Alan . . ." Makoto mumbled, the name being familiar to her.  “Isn’t he 
the same person you told me about that you liked but you never got 
together with?”

"Right.  Alan," Minako said softly, looking gratefully at Usagi.  "I . 
. . fell for him, as you all know, and he seemed to care for me too, 
even though he was several years older than I.  I loved him . . ." She 
stopped talking for a moment as she recollected her painful memories.

"One day, I saw a woman chasing after a suspect. It didn't look like 
senshi business since there were no monsters around, so I watched what 
happened next, having decided to help only if things took a turn for 
the worse.  It was only a matter of seconds before I saw the suspect 
sweep up a young girl from the sidewalk and hold her hostage.  Then he 
turned into a green monster.  The policewoman formerly chasing him 
stopped short in her tracks, and I saw my chance to make an entrance.  
Within a few seconds the monster was dust, the young girl was saying 
thank you, and the woman was looking gratefully at me."

"Her name was Katarina.  She was one of the best officers INTERPOL had 
to offer.  It wasn't long before she managed to find out on her own 
that I was Sailor V."

Rei raised her eyebrows.  "So . . . there's another person in this 
world who knows your secret identity, then."

Minako nodded.  "The Dark Kingdom found out, too, sometime later . . . 
but I'm straying a bit from my story.  Shall I continue?"

The others nodded.

"Katarina and I became the best of friends.  She taught me how to speak 
English, and she cheered me up whenever I was lonely or unhappy.  She 
was like the older sister that I never had, and she treated me like a 
younger sister. I loved her as much as I love all of you . . . I 
trusted her . . . I trusted . . ."

Tears started to flow down her cheeks.  Ami offered her a tissue, but 
Minako quickly wiped her burning eyes with the back of her sleeve.

"I introduced her to Alan.  We started going places together - all 
three of us.  Alan would take us out.  We'd go to carnivals together . 
. ."

Usagi knew what was coming next.  And, even though she has already 
heard the story, she still felt her own tears rolling down her cheeks 
like they had when she and Minako had been inside the huge ferry. Luna 
laid her head down on Usagi's lap.

"One day, we got a lead on one of the suspects Katarina had been 
chasing.  I tagged along - I had become a common figure among INTERPOL 
lately, so it wasn't that surprising.  We went to a factory building . 
. ."

Minako took another deep breath.  "We went to a factory building near 
the pier.  I went in first, so I could give Katarina the all clear 
signal if it was safe.  We had no back up, but I went in, anyway.  
There was a man standing near the back door.  He threw something . . . 
it was too dark to see what . . . until the moonlight shining through 
the small window illuminated it.  It . . . it was a grenade . . ."

Everybody was listening to her, and all was quiet.  Minako stayed 
silent for a few minutes, until Artemis nuzzled her, encouraging her to 
go on.

"I tried to get out . . . to scream and tell Katarina of the danger 
since she was so close to the factory . . . but I . . . it was too 
late.  The building exploded, and I was thrown into the wall.  Almost 
all of the splintered wood and flying debris struck me.  The pain I 
felt was intolerable . . ."  Minako shuddered as she remembered.  

"I survived, somehow, battered, bruised, bloodied.  I leaned against a 
wall in a dark alley, trying to get my bearings.  But Katarina . . . 
she thought . . . she thought that I was dead."  Tears now flowed 
freely down her cheeks.  She made no move to stop them.  "And I saw 
them . . . Katarina and Alan . . . they were already deeply in love.  I 
didn’t even know . . . only then was I able to realize after so long . 
. . how they felt for each other ever since the day I introduced Alan 
to Katarina . . .

"I loved them both so much, but I was so hurt.  I secretly returned to 
Japan - nobody I knew in England knew that I was still alive.  I let 
them all think that I was dead . . ." she said, through her sobs.  She 
buried her face in her hands and cried even harder, her lungs burned.  
She felt bitter after recalling the memories that she had tried so 
carefully to forget, and yet, at the same time, she felt so free after 
relieving her burden to her friends.

It wasn't long before she felt Makoto's strong hand on her shoulder, 
and saw that she was crying, too.  They cried on each other's shoulder.  
"I'm sorry, Minako-chan.  I didn't know . . . You’ve mentioned him 
years ago, but I never thought that he was the one who . . ."

"No, I'm sorry, Mako-chan!  I shouldn't have let down my guard and let 
Himeru place me in his heart . . ."

Makoto shook her head.  "And I shouldn't have been so selfish.  What 
man could resist your charm, anyway?  I should have known.  You have to 
share your technique with me sometime!"

Minako smiled through her tears.  "We were both at fault about Himeru.  
I guess it's up to him to choose between us, right?"

"Right!"

Usagi looked at Minako.  "Would you mind if I mentioned something about 
. . ."

Her friend shook her head.  "I think I need to talk about it, now, even 
though it's still painful.  I've realized that bad memories can't be 
kept buried forever . . ."

"Good.  You know, I still can't believe that you didn't let me punish 
Katarina for what she did to you!  How could you forgive her just like 
that?!"

Rei reached out and held Minako's hand, another silent sign of support.  
They looked each other in the eye and smiled.

"Usagi, I loved Katarina, and I still do.  I'm willing to sacrifice 
anything for her and . . . Alan . . . if it would make them happy."

"What about you?" Ami asked curiously.  "What about your own 
happiness?"

"As a Sailor senshi, I've learned to sacrifice things that are 
important to me for the sake of others.  Although it can hurt . . . I'm 
already getting used to it."

Makoto reached for the VCR, pressed the stop button, and turned off the 
TV.  "After hearing Minako's story, I'm starting to think that these 
Sailor V movies don't have a decent scriptwriter."

Minako laughed.  "I do think that the movie role is nothing compared to 
the real one, but I sure do envy the life of that on-screen Sailor V!"

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