Total Eclipse- Minako's story


	Part Eight
	By: Zellie





	"No more talk of darkness forget these wide-eyed 
fears, I'm here, nothing can harm you my words will warm and 
calm you, let me be your freedom, let day light dry your tears, I'm
here with you beside you, to guard you and to guide you...All I want
is freedom, a world with no more night, and you always beside me
to hold me and to hide me... "
			 - All I Ask of You from Phantom of the
Opera by: Andrew Lloyd Webber 





	The window in Kunzite's room was proped open
slightly. He still stared at me shocked. I shivered again. I didn't
care much. As long as he was there, I was happy...the only problem
was...I was the one who was there. He was grinning like the
cheshire cat. I smirked at him and asked quietly. "Why are you
smiling like that?" His smile grew broader.
	"You seem so small in this place. So does 
that dress." I looked down and blushed. "How long have you
had that dress? Years now?" I nodded sheepishly. He 
shook his head. "It's sleeveless, too." What a little pervet
he had grown in to! I stood up. 
	"Who taught you how to act like this?" I said 
authoritively. Then it hit me..."Jedite...Ooh! I'm going to teach
him a lesson! Wait until I get my hands on him..." My thoughts
were shifting. I knew what I would do...I'd knock him straight to
the floor, with my secret plan, that is. 
	"Hey now, Don't go too over board on him, he's
not tamed." Kunzite said as he stood up and wrapped his
hands around my waist and pulled me closer to him. I still felt
some what anxious with the way he was acting. Kunzite 
shrugged, and put his forehead to mine to look into my eyes.
"What are you planning to do to him?" Kunzite asked. I placed 
my hand on his lips. 
	"That's something you'll have to find out
when it happens. But keep this in mind. I don't mean what
I do." I smiled and turned towards the door. "By the way..." I said
as I was near the door that connected our rooms, "Nice apron." I 
smiled and slipped into my room, shuting the door behind me. I 
grabbed one of the sweaters off the bed. It was soft and bright red
Kunzite knocked on the door as I was slipping the sweater over my
head, he didn't wait for me to say anything. 
	"Oops." He said. I turned to look at him. I pulled
my hair out from under the sweater. I bit my lip nervously. 
	"It doesn't really match does it?" He shook his head. 
	"No, you're fine...but we're going to have to get you better
clothes...let's see what exactly did you bring?" He grabbed my bag
and started rifling through it. I snatched it back from him. 
	"Do you mind?" I said pointedly. He grinned again. 
	"No...I don't, quite frankly." I sighed and gave him a 
trange look. *Mental note: Kill Jedite AND Zoisite.*  As I thought this one,
I remembered that we would have to get to dinner soon. 
	"Oh no...dinner! I still have to find Makoto! I hope
she didn't go and steal the cooking rights from the chefs!" I 
brushed some hair from my face. I walked up to Kunzite, 
hurridly, gave him a quick kiss and went to leave, but he grabbed
my wrist. He asked me questions with his eyes. "Look, it would
look really weird if we came to dinner together. I know damn well
they're trying to get us back together, but let's not make them
too happy to soon." I winked and turned to leave. "See you at dinner!" 
*I just hope Makoto kept her big mouth shut...where am I going
to find her anyways?* I ran down the hall and made a sharp right
at the corner. I heard her humming down the hall. I smiled. That was
just like her, in one of her dreamy moods. I found her room and 
peeked into it. She was brushing her hair and staring at a 
bouquet of roses on her dresser-vanity thing. 
	"Mako-chan?" She turned quickly and I smiled. "Can 
I come in?" She set down her brush and nodded. I walked
in and sat on her bed. Her's was soft and feminine too...
now I began to wonder. She smiled. It looked like the entire 
universe was reflected in her eyes. 
	"Aren't they pretty?" She said, referring to the roses. I 
nodded and she picked one out and smelled it. "They're absolutely gorgeous!"
She sighed...Makoto was the classic example of a young 
woman in love, she rather reflected some of the things that writers
wrote, espically the poets. I couldn't help watching her and grinning.
I was happy for her. It was great to see her like this, her more feminie
qualities shining through more. I jumped off the bed, and checked my 
watch, which was still set to Lunarian time...that was pointless.  
	"Are you ready for dinner?" I asked quietly. 
	"Oh! I completely forgot!" She jumped up and grabbed her
hair tie and put her hair up fast. "How much time do we have?" She 
asked as she perfected her hair. 
	"About five minutes 'till we have to be there." I guessed. 
I was in a vengeful mood. I was getting a kick out of seeing her panic.   
	"Drat!" She said. She looked around and sighed. "Fine...
let's go." I smiled. She stopped a little. Makoto went to grab my wrist,
I put it down quickly, she was catching on. She eyed me carefully.
"Are you sure?" I nodded. She eased up a little and looked out the 
door. "Alright, let's go." We hurried to the dinner hall. Yet again it was
drafty. Luckily for me, not every one was there yet, but lots of them
were. I stopped short and stared at the table. It was completely laden 
with covered dishes. This was at least three times bigger than the
meals we were used to back home. Even Makoto looked a bit 
taken aback. I counted the number of forks. Six-including dessert. 
That wasn't too bad...I guess. Makoto came up behind me. 
"Did you get the number?" She asked quietly. I leaned back a little. 
	"Six...forks...I didn't get the rest." She leaned forward. 
	"Is that all?" I nodded. 
	"Would you two quit gawking?" A voice from
behind us said. We both jumped and turned around. It was 
Endymion...I mentally hit myself in the head. "What's the big 
deal? It's just a couple of forks." I sighed and watched him.
	"You're not in a good mood tonight, are you?" He looked
me over. I stared back at him. He didn't phase me in the least. 
Growing up with tough boy didn't lend that he could control us, too.
I began to blush, though. "What exactly are you looking at?" 
	"You're wearing Kunzite's sweater..." He said. "And
that dress is awfully short, Minako." Now, he was getting to me. 
Makoto looked at him and tried to get him to shut up.  By now,
I was not only angry, but I was embarssed. 
	"You're supposed to be a gentleman?!" I took a step 
forward, he took a step back. "If you weren't so involved with
Usagi I'd slap you right now! But since you are, I can't touch you!
Your place isn't higher than mine is, Mamoru, and you know it! 
We're both of the same status and I won't let you get away with
you insulting me like this!" I was so angry now I was shaking.
Makoto came up behind me and grabbed my shoulder. I was
close to tears. 
	"Mina, stop...calm down you're making a scene." 
She said soothingly. She glared at Mamoru. "Why the hell did you
do that? You're going to make her cry...I thought the idea was 
to help her! Not make her more unstable!" I wrenched free from
Makoto's grip. I turned and faced them both. 
	"I'm not unstable!" I wanted out. Everyone was
there now. I saw Rei and Usagi standing in the corner of the 
door way. I glanced at them, then glared at Makoto and Mamoru.
"Who brought them here?" I asked accusingly. "You know what? 
This is ridiculous. I can't believe you guys, all of you." I walked past 
them to the door.  Every one was staring. "Next time...don't bother
trying. I'll work things out on my own. I don't need this on top 
of everything else!" I shot a glare at Usagi and Rei. I knew Ami
had to be there somewhere too. I felt so sick with the whole 
concept. Disgusted, I left. I stormed through the quiet halls back 
to my room. Immature I might have been, but they provoked 
me...unstable...was it really that obvious? Those words hurt. 
In the quiet dark of my room I found the bed and curled up 
on it. I was just not having a good time with men recently. 
	There was a quiet knock on my door. I got up and 
locked it. "What?" I snapped. From the noise that I heard in 
the hall, my guess was that they were all there. 
	"Minako..." It was Rei. Rei? Why did she care?
She was leaning against the door. "Mina, he didn't mean it. "
	"Rei, he was implying I was a slut." Talking
through the door was strange. 
	"I was not!" He said angrily.  "Look, it was the 
wrong thing to say. I'm sorry." Rei sighed and spoke again
as Usagi tried to calm Endymion down. 
	"Look...it wasn't my idea." I was calming
down. She sniffed. "In fact...they wouldn't listen to me
when I told them you'd react like this." I had Rei back...
somewhat. 
	"Is that why you were so distant?" I asked quietly. 
	"Yeah..." She admitted. "I didn't like it from
the start, but you were getting worse...and you wouldn't
talk. So every one kinda came up with this plan to try 
and fix things. It was just a misunderstanding. But I'll tell
you, you and your little boyfriend are both very stubborn
sometimes. You wouldn't talk, he wouldn't listen. Can you
believe we've been planning this stupid thing for two years?" 
She laughed. "Kinda silly, isn't it?" I unlocked the door. 
They all became quiet out side. 
	"Rei...I was willing to talk. I just didn't say 
anything to you because whenever I tried you seemed to
get angry. I just shut up eventually." I sat down with my
back to the door. 
	"Can we go back to dinner now?" Jedite
asked loudly. That irked me. 
	"That's completely fine with me." I said. 
	"Aren't you comming?" Rei asked. 
	"Are you kidding? I don't have an 
appitite or the nerve to go back in front of those
people today." 
	"Minako...you have to come. You will get
sick sometime. I'm serious, you're going to be 
malnourished." Ami pleaded.  
	"Ami-chan...I know you're worried." I said 
quiely. "But I'm still shaking so hard that I can't hold on to a leaf."
Leaf? Where'd that come from? I looked around the still dark room.
That was very strange. "I'd be a mess out there. I'll get something
later, promise. Save something for me, will you?" Ami sighed. 
	"Alright. If you're that shakey...take a nap or 
something." She said sternly. 
	"No. Don't let her do that. She has to come
out. I won't let her sit in there and sulk anymore." Setsuna 
was even there. 
	"What exactly is going on?" There was a new 
voice out there. It was soft and feminine, and soothing. She 
was pleasant to hear. She sounded nice.  
	"Can't you see it? There's a little Venusian throwing
a fit." The second voice was huskier, and almost manly. I thought
I knew who that was. Now, I was definately not comming out. 
	"I don't think she's throwing a fit. She's probably just
feeling guilty after that little performance." Lastly, the third new voice
sounded younger, almost child-like, yet at the same time intellectual
and adult. All these new voices...I could only imagine who
they were, being all women with Setsuna. Setsuna sighed
and came up to the door. 
	"Minako, what happened to you to make you act
like a little stuborn six year old? Are you making up for your 
lost childhood or something? You've never been this immature.
And do you want to know something else? I'm not going to let
you get away with it. Okay, I'll agree they bashed your trust. 
But you're supposed to be the one setting examples and being
forgiving of other people's faults because you're the leader! 
Now I'm not going to tell you again, stop being stupid and come
out here. You've upset enough people for the night, plus upset 
the dinner they were planning for...well that's not the point. 
Anyways, get up and come out here, and I want you to
appologize for everything you just did to these people who 
are obviously trying really hard for you and are very worried
about you." She sounded like an angry mother. I was not willing 
for any of this. I didn't know whether to lose dignity and listen to 
her or be prideful and make her angrier than she was. I hardly 
ever saw or heard Setsuna upset and when she was, it normally 
wasn't because of me. But I did know If I went out there, I would
have to be wearing something different. I didn't want to be seen
in this stupid dress ever again. I walked over to my bag and pulled
out the one really long dress I had brought. To my wonderful luck 
it was wrinkled. 
	"I can't win." I mumbled. I slipped it on anyways
and walked to the door. I opened it carefully, and just enough
for me to come out. Everybody had left except for Setsuna
and the people I didn't know. "What happened to everybody 
else?" I asked.  Setsuna looked at me, with dissaproval 
writen all over her face. I looked at the floor. Setsuna stood
off from the group a little. I was really ashamed, but...I did feel 
betrayed. They knew they messed up, too, or they wouldn't have 
come to my door like that. 
	"Gee, Sets...She's a lot different than I thought
she would be." The huskier voice spoke again. I looked up at
her...I didn't want to pick a fight but I didn't want to be spoken
about like I was an object, either. Setsuna looked at her and 
didn't say anything at first. 
	"Haruka, she picked up on a lot of Lunarian
traits. I know she's not what you expected...you expected
her to look like her mother, didn't you?" I stared at them. 
My mother? I had never looked like my mother. 
	"What?" I asked. They looked at me then.
	"But I do know that voice." The one with the 
soft voice spoke again. "She does have her mother's voice." 
I was bewildered...they knew my mother? 
	"How....what are you talking about?" I rephrased 
mid-sentence. Again they looked at me. Setsuna walked over
to me...I wasn't tiny compared to her anymore...I was starting 
to catch up to her. She set her hands on my shoulder. "You knew
my mother?" I was becoming interested in this. The child-like one giggled. 
	"Setsuna, you have to admit she does
have her mother's temper!" Setsuna looked at them all. 
	"Alright, alright. Michiru, Hotaru...Haruka...we better 
stop comparing her...Mia's a little sensetive...aren't you?" Setsuna
looked at me. I still didn't understand. 
	"What's going on here?" I asked. Setsuna sighed. 
	"Minako, this is Michuru Kaioh, Sailor Neptune, 
Haruka Tenoh, Sailor Uranus, and Hotaru Tomoe, Sailor Saturn.
They are my...well I work a lot closer with them." She was making
a little effort....obviously, she hadn't seen me in so long that
she didn't really know how to react to me. 
	"That doesn't explain why I'm being compared to 
my mother, Setsuna." I was a little defensive, I will admit. 
	"Hey chill, kid..."
	"Haruka! She's obviously not a child." Michuru 
interjected.
	"Maybe not physically...but mentally...I'd have
to disagree..."
	"Haruka...stop it. You're not being nice...first
impression's over..." Setsuna said. I moved from Setsuna's
grip on my shoulders...it was getting uncomfortable. If any
one was acting like my mother, it was them. They were starting
to get to me. I stood up a little taller. "Look...I only brought you here, 
ecause of your questions. If you want answers...Haruka...treat her
better, or I know she won't tell you anything. And you know, she's
the only one left with those answers." Setsuna had changed so
much. I shivered. She looked at me as I tried to stop. "No one told
you about the weather, did they?" She asked. I shook my head. Setsuna
sighed. "Figures." Michuru walked over to me. 
	"Minako...what do you remember about
your childhood?" She asked gently. I looked at her, confused. 
	"Not...much...each day was another day 
I didn't want to be living." I said. "I've tried to put it as far from my
mind as possible...it's not something glorious I wish to relive." I 
shivered again....thinking back to my father's hard hands and the
constant screaming. 
	"Really? I didn't know... no one told me..." 
She left off suddenly. "Is that why they moved her?" She asked
as she turned to Setsuna. Setsuna nodded. Michuru put a hand
to her face. "He didn't..." Setsuna looked away. 
	"What? My father...yes...I'm lucky I don't have scars from
him. I hate him more than anyone...even more than Beryl..." 
	"Beryl?" Haruka snapped to attention, then. Michuru
looked at Haruka, and she was quiet. I was getting anoyed with
this little game of charades. I'd had enough of it. 
	"What do you want me to tell you?"
	"After dinner...then...We'll all get together and 
discuss things, okay?" Setsuna spoke up and started walking
for the hall. "Here." She threw me a shall type thing. I put it on
and followed them. By the time we arrived in the dinner room,
I had found that there was only a few chairs in the back left and
the hall was a buzz with conversations and laughter. I was really
lucky to avoid everyone stopping and staring at me. We ate 
quickly to catch up with everyone else. Appeartently, we were
to have a meeting after dinner was finished.  I was uncomfortable
all throught dinner. I looked around me to all the "outers." They 
couldn't have been much older than me, so why were they
treating me like such a child? I was completely afraid as to 
the motives of the outers, and they scared me being 
surrounded by them. The rest of dinner went by in a flash.
Soon afterwards, all of us were gathered in the library, where
there was a tiny bit more warmth than the rest of the drafty 
castle. Even Nephlite, Zoisite, and Jedite were there. I was
kept by the outers, and stayed quiet for a while. 
	"Why did you bring us all here?" Makoto asked.
She was playing with her hair, wedged between Ami and 
Usagi. Mamoru was on the other side of Usagi, and Rei 
next to him. Haruka stood up and paced the little space in 
between the all of us. Setsuna was sitting next to me, and
kept a close watch on my movements. I was sitting as still
as possible. The "crew" was standing behind all the girls 
who were across from me. Michiru sat to my left, Hotaru next
to her. Haruka finaly decided on what to say. She 
stopped pacing and stood in the center, looking at all of
us in general. 
	"In years past, when most of us were little, 
the outer planets were attacked."
	"We know this." Usagi said plainly.  
	"Let me finish!" I cringed, Haruka was loud. 
"As I was saying. Our planets, our homes were tainted by an 
evil force that's greater than our knowledge." She certianly had
a way of brining out the bad things. "We have reason to believe
that this force is currently residing deep underground this planet
...and this is where it is concentrated mostly." 
	"That's impossible, I would have known about it
by now, don't you think?" Mamoru interrupted Haruka once again. 
	"Not necessairily." Michiru interjected. "This force
conceals itself very well. And I think...Prince, that you may 
even know the force's source, without the knowledge 
that you do." She was speaking softly so as not to upset
him to greatly, he was temporarily pacified. 
	"Now...one of our own...has seen this force...
but she's not talking." Haruka looked at me sternly. I shrunk.
Setsuna glanced at Haruka and she eaised off a little. Soon
everyone was staring at me. "Minako's mother did too, she 
also kept quiet." Haruka seemed to back off a little, and she
was even speaking quietly. "Minako, your mother passed this
information into you, but...you've never known." I looked at her,
not knowing what to think. 
	"Minako...you're father...he's not..."
	"Don't tell her now!" Kunzite stopped Setsuna 
before she got any farther. "She's barely capable of being
in this room with all of you at once. Don't force too much on her."
Haruka rolled her eyes. Everyone else looked at Kunzite questioningly.  
	"Minako, why do you think they started with you?"
I swallowed. What was she talking about? 
	"I don't know what you mean." I said. "I'm not following
you guys at all. I just know there's something weird going on.
Something about my family, I obviously don't know." I crossed
my arms defensively. Haruka nearly glared at Kunzite. I looked at him
myself, curious. "What is it that you want me to tell you? Stop
beating around the bush and just ask it already."
	"Tell us everything that happened when you
disappeared." I swallowed. And I got cold...very cold. It
felt as if there were icy hands running down the back of
my neck. Suddenly, I turned startled. It was him. Haruka
grabbed my wrist and pulled me behind her. "What do
you want?"  She said, narrowing her eyes. I stood behind 
her, staring at him. He had grown so. He was no longer
lanky and skinny, but a well trained, toned young man. He was
practically the mirror image of his brother, except his eyes held
a darker essence to them...an almost brooding look, and his hair
was cut short. 
	"Nothing in particular...I just want to join in on this 
little party here." Haruka stepped farther in front of me. I could
feel someone standing close behind me. "I just want to chat 
with your little shrew there." 
	"What?!" I felt a lot of people grab me back. I wanted
to throw them all off and hit his pretty little face so hard. "What do
you think you're doing here?" I cried, outraged. My emotions 
had just been running rampant that day. I felt so out of it. Kunzite
slowly walked up to his brother. Then I realized that Adonis was 
taller than him...by just a half inch. 
	"Adonis, I warned you once to stay away from
her...I won't warn you again. Go on...get back to your little 'snake
queen' and take your spying-traitor self out of here!" Kunzite relaxed
his hands...a habit he had established when we were little, training
so long ago...it helped him concentrate on his surroundings...the 
energy in the air.  
	"What would you care? She's not yours to claim
over anyways. She's not yours, she's not mine." Ace was moving
slowly closer to us. Kunzite hadn't noticed. "Besides, you ditched her.
Someone has to take your place." Haruka was watching Kunzite's 
reaction, as was everyone else. I shrunk back as he came slowly, 
painfully closer. "She's just a child, remember? She means nothing 
to you." That statement really hurt. Had Kunzite really said all this? 
Had he really thought like that? I wondered all this as Ace crept 
increasingly closer. Kunzite narrowed his eyes.  And then it happened.  
	"You'll never say that about her again! Do you
understand me? I won't let you hurt her again!"
	"I shouldn't have let you hurt her, brother." Ace said 
coldly. Kunzite grabbed him by the arm and threw him against 
the wall. Everyone flinched when he hit the stone, and there was
a sickening cracking sound. I covered my face with my hands. 
What had happened to them? They had been so close when they
were younger...and I had come between them. Kunzite was shaking...
Ace was lying unconcious against the wall, and the floor. It was too
much...Kunzite could have killed him.  The room fell silent except for
 Kunzite's quiet tears...along with mine. I started to shake my head. 
	"It's all my fault..." I whispered quietly. Setsuna put her arms 
around my shoulders and walked me out of the room. Mamoru had 
gone for Kunzite. Setsuna directed me slowly towards the hallway. 
I swallowed. "Suna..." That had really shaken me.  "He'll be alright,
won't he? Kunzite didn't kill him, right? Right?" I was shaking 
uncontrolably. "What's happened to them?" I wasn't handling
this well.  Setsuna hugged me, and Rei hurridly walked up. 
	"He's okay...for the most part...at least that's what 
Ami said. They took him to the infirmary." She looked around
nervously. Rei took my hand. "You never told me Kunzite was
that strong." She whispered. I looked down and shook my head. 
	"I didn't know myself." Setsuna looked at Rei. 
	"I did...I just hoped no one would bring that out of
him. I saw it even the first day I met him." Rei looked almost 
as shaken as I was. I hugged her. 
	"Thanks, Rei-chan..." Words began to fail me. "I know
he's a traitor...but...that's just...we can't just..." The hallway echoed
those words in a strange reflection of the past event. It was like 
the castle knew something bigger was going to happen. The walls
contained so many secrects they were just paining to get 
out of them...and they saw the future. Vicious scenes danced
throughout the halls like the glamourous parties they
once held. The secrets of lovers, of warriors, 
and hundreds of years past and present were
captured in a strange everlasting mirror-like painting. It gave
a whole new meaning to the saying, "if these walls could talk." 
The three of us just stood there, in complete shock...did we too
have that secret power within ourselves? We were just on the 
verge of finding out. 


	~Notes from Zellie~
	Sorry for the long interval in T.E. This chapter is 
long awaited, and long in writing...It took me a while to get ideas
for this one. Sorry to you faithfuls! Hope this one's a good one.
Hey, if you don't like it, keep me on my toes! Send comments/questions
to Lil_Venus@hotmail.com. Kisses! & more to come! 
                                                             ~Zellie