Total Eclipse: Minako's Story
	Part Nine




	
	We stayed like that for a while, all very unsure what was
to happen now. The events of the day and night, were just a complete
overload on me. I was so confused, and utterly distraught. I'd never
seen any one act with such force...such pure strength. Kunzite had looked
so hurt, so angry...It scared me. I was so shakey. I didn't know who 
to worry about first, but it definately wasn't myself. I was so torn.  
I must have been pale. 
	"Minako, are you alright?!" Both Setsuna and Rei
asked at the same time. Rei looked cautiously at Setsuna,
both were ready to catch me if I fell. I nodded.
	"Yes...I'm fine...I guess." I hugged myself, trying to
calm my shot nerves. I felt so numb inside. 
	"For heaven's sake, Sets! Where's your concious, get
the poor girl sitting down or something!" Haruka brushed past 
Setsuna and picked me up. I stared at her dumbfounded. 
	"What are you doing?" I asked as she set me down on a couch. 
	"Whether you realize it or not, you're not in the shape
to be standing like that. It looks like you don't have any
blood left in you." I looked down. Ami was suddenly beside me. 
	"Did any of you notice what she ate in dinner?" 
She asked, an unusual tone in her voice. The Outers looked
confused. 
	"No....why do you ask?" Michiru said quietly, 
from her seat next to Haurka.  
	"Ami...I'm fine, just shaken..." I said, not admiting
that I was really woozy by this point. She looked at the group
next to me, a grave look on her face. She frowned. 
	"You're sure?" 
	"Yes...I don't normally watch what people
are eating, it's not polite, you know." Michiru said. 
	"She's..." I didn't hear much else after that.
I just felt so very cold...inside and out, even with all the 
people around me. Everything just seemed to fade into
the background. It was so strange, I could still see and 
hear them all...but it was like I was just watching the scene, 
like at a play. I stood up and walked past them all. I shook
my head to shake off the dizziness. 
	"I'm sorry guys...I'm going to my room...
I can't..." My voice trailed off. I shook my head and 
started on my way. I knew someone was following 
me. They wouldn't just let me go on my own. I was too
"unstable." Then a familliar grip grabbed my wrist. I 
turned to look at him. "Kunzite." I said quietly. I glanced
behind him, Endymion was standing behind him, leaning 
against the wall. I couldn't look him in the eyes. Kunzite 
scared me, he still seemed to have energy surging through him. 
	"Are you angry at me?" He asked. I walked a
bit, him resisting the entire way. "Minako I didn't mean it!"  
I wished he'd just drop my wrist, so I didn't have to feel all 
that energy. "Mia...don't...don't tell me. You don't actually?" I stopped
short. I turned barely. 
	"Don't what? Like him...no. Not at all!" My voice
was steadier than any other part of me. "But you didn't
have to do that. I'm not a child." I said bitterly. 
	"Mia, wait! I was just trying...I didn't want to hurt
him, but I didn't want to see him get his hands on you again!"
Kunzite's voice wavered. He was upset to the point where 
he wasn't picking up on my tone of voice. I heard him suck
in a deep breath. I think he might have been crying. I was torn
again, should I comfort him, or should I deal with my own
problems first...my mind was racing...I was so afraid
of them both at the moment. They were the same...yet 
strangely different. 
	"Kunzite..." I stood in the hall uncomfortably. I shook
my head. I was going to get this whole thing aside for the
moment, and gently at that, hopefully."I'm really not feeling
well." I started shaking again, he hadn't let go of my wrist yet.
"Kunzite, please let go of my wrist..." I pleaded. "You have 
so much negative energy running through you right now.
I can feel it...please..." He looked at me oddly as he let go,
then he stared at his hand. He looked like a frightened little boy. 
	"I- I didn't know....negative energy?" I nodded. 
I felt so weak. I stumbled a little bit as I continued to walk
to my room. "Minako...don't walk away from me. I didn't
realize..." I tripped on my dress. Of all the times to klutz 
out it had to be then. I landed hard on my right leg and 
began to cry. It wasn't that I was in pain...It was just a complete
rush of emotions whipped through me in a minute. All the 
events of the day were in that one single moment. Kunzite stared
at me, confused...he didn't know what to do. It was actually quite
strange, here I was in the middle of the hall way, sobbing. Kunzite
knelt next to me and hugged me to him. I needed something
to hold on to just as much as he did...I clasped a hand
on his shirt. I could hear someone walking up to Kunzite.
He looked up at Endymion, with a scared questioning
look. Endymion shrugged. 
	"Girls...get her out of the hall at least." He said. 
Kunzite deftly swept his arm under my knees. 
	"I haven't done this in years." He whispered.
He stood up quickly. I knew these moves so well. This
was almost a complete moment of deja-vu. 
	*"I'm okay...put me down."* I mumbled, drifting
inbetween reality and memories. 
	*"You can't stand..."* Kunzite said. Endymion
looked at him sternly. He told Kunzite to get me out of there, 
and fast. That wasn't part of my half reverie. 
	*"I'm sorry..." I whispered. 
	"I'm not angry at you...you don't need to be 
sorry..."* Was he going through the same thing? 
	*"I can see it in your eyes...something's 
wrong."* The entire conversation was welling up in me, 
and I responded to him every time. Kuznite set me down
on my bed, causing me to snap out of my state. 
	"Minako..." Kunzite sounded pained. He sat 
down on the bed and rubbed a hand over my hair. He was
the one that had tears in his eyes, now. "What has happened
to us, Ai-chan?" I shook my head and looked away. His gaze 
was so intense. Maybe I could get him to spill. "He would have 
done something to you...I didn't realize what I was doing...Minako,
I'm so sorry...I know you'll be upset...he didn't deserve that, 
niether did you for that matter." 
	"I..." I sat up and faced him. "Kunzite, I've never 
seen you do that before, not with that ammount of strength.
It scared me so...I know it's wrong...but I can't just let..." I
looked away again. "Kunzite...you know he's going to come
after you. Have you seen him? He looks like he's on steriods.
He's grown so much...it's not just a game anymore, now I'm not
the only thing he'll want...now it'll be blood. Can't you see it?
I can't let him get to you like that..." I looked at Kunzite...I was
so worried about him. I knew that this little fight would escalate
between the two of them. "Now that I have you back...I can't just
let it slip again." I whispered as I set my hand on his by accident.
I looked down startled. Why was I reacting this way?
	"Now his motives are increased two-fold."
Kunzite said, sarcastically. 
	"Gods..." I whispered. "What have we done?"
	"It's my fault."
	"It couldn't be helped."
	"Why'd it have to be you?" 
	"Would it have been someone else?" 
	"You shouldn't be involved."
	"I never should have..."
	"Don't say that!" Kunzite said sternly. 
He grabbed my arms and shook me a little. "Don't say
that...it's not your fault." I sighed. It was a very odd moment.
I was just so very tired.
	"Kunzite..." I mumbled. I had crawled up against 
him, and was drifting off to sleep. "Don't worry about it
for now, just get some rest." I didn't hear half of what I was
saying. If I had maybe I would have known why Kunzite reacted
the way he did. 
	"Rest? What are you thinking?" I had fallen
asleep in his arms. Kunzite sighed. "Alright...I get the picture.
Wake up..." He said quietly. I stirred enough for him to get up. 
In a haze he left me alone and I changed for bed, then crawled
under the covers and was imediately asleep.
	I must have slept in late, for when I awoke the next 
morning, It seemed later, but that might just have been the 
earth time. I crawled out of bed and looked outside...it was 
still frigid. Shivering, I pulled on a pair of socks and grabbed
another of Kunzite's sweaters, as I couldn't find the red 
one I had on last night. I quickly threw my hair up in a 
ponytail and scurried to Makoto's room. As I should have
guessed, she wasn't there. But I suddenly heard someone 
behind me. I peeked around and found Rei, much in the 
same state of freezing cold as I was. She yawned then saw me. 
She squeaked. 
	"Minako?!" I turned flat against the wall and looked at her. 
	"Yeah...?" She was acting strange. "Who'd you think
I was? The magical fairy or something?" Rei stared at me, confused. 
	"No, no...it's not that, it's just...I thought you'd be 
out longer than that. You nearly passed out a few
times, you know." I cringed. 
	"A lot happened yesterday." She nodded.
"Where's Mako-chan?" I asked, gesturing to the doorway 
that was just beyond me. Rei shrugged. 
	"I dunno. I haven't seen her." This entire 
conversation finally dawned on me. I looked at Rei with
a new curiosity. 
	"What are you doing here anyways, I thought it
was my misson." Rei smiled.    
               	"Mina-chan, you have more 
missions than you realize." She said in a mysterious tone.
"You see, Usagi flipped after you left. She *had* to 
know what was going to happen. So...with the added
curiosity of Ami, we snuck off and came here." Rei 
ended, feeling a bit sheepish. 
	"You mean...." I stood looking at her
shocked. "You're not supposed to be here, at all then,
right?" Rei nodded and I sighed. "The Queen's going 
to have my head... " I mumbled.*Yours too, for that matter.*
I thought silently. "Where's Usagi?" I asked quickly. 
	"Hiding." Rei answered. 
	"Where, Rei?" I asked her, exasperated. 
	"Take a guess." I froze. 
	"I hope she's paying attention to what
she's doing...We're all toast if..." I trailed off. Rei 
was begining to follow my thoughts. We both
simutainously ran to our rooms to get dressed. I 
had been running to fast when I turned the corner of
the hall to my room. I skidded hoping to stop before 
the door. Luckily, I ran into it first. "Ow..." I muttered as
I finally got the door open. I shut it fast and fled for my bag.
*It's only 10 in the morning! How can she have that much 
energy...she's not even normally up by noon!* I changed
quickly then met Rei at the corner of our two halls. Ami had
come with her, she looked like Rei had waken her up. 
	"Okay..." Rei said panting. "Two missing...one 
we have to find fast."Ami and I nodded. 
	"But where to start is the question." I said 
quietly. Ami nodded. 
	"Rei, you grew up here, didn't you?" Ami asked. 
Rei tensed.
	"I wouldn't say that, but, yeah I was here a lot." 
	"Then this is like one big game of Hide
and Seek. We find the hiding spots that they're in."
	"Or, we could go the easy way and just track
her down with the computer." I said. Ami looked at me
strangely, then realized what I was saying. 
	"I'll go get it." She was not gone for long, and
returned with the program already running. "Okay. Here's
us," She pointed to a little flashing icon,"and there's Usagi
...but she's alone...so far." Rei and I looked up at each
other, confused. 
	"Alone?" I questioned. Rei leaned over Ami's
shoulder a little more. "That's so unusual...she hates being
alone almost as much as I do." Rei looked up at me. I took in
a deep breath. "Let's find her anyways." We headed out. 
	"You know, five minutes after we get up, we have to
run after her. She's like a five year old." 
	"Rei, don't be so pessimistic." Ami rebuked. The
corridors were becoming colder and colder. 
	"It's really drafty in here." I said, as I rubbed
my arms. Finally we turned the hall where Usagi was
supposed to be. "I don't like this." I said. The castle walls
seemed to have black seeping up into their color from the
floor, and it was cold down there where you could see
your breath. "It's creepy." We had banded together into
one group and were walking close to each other, slowly
as to not disturb what was around us. Rei was slightly
behind me to my left. She stopped, suddenly. 
	"I don't remember this place at all."
	"Neither do I." Both Ami and I echoed. 
Ami glanced down at the screen. "I'm sure this is it though
...somewhere." She looked around the halls surrounding us. 
Our foot steps were beginig to echo in the silence. I always 
had the eerie feeling that there was somebody behind me.
I glanced backwards every once in a while. 
	"Cut that out, you're driving me nuts." Rei snapped. 
I looked down, then ahead of us again. "Well, Ami where
is she?" We turned a corner. 
	"Right there." Ami pointed straight infront of us.
Directly in front of us was what seemed to be a shrine. 
Everything around us was dark and foreboading, with the 
exception of Usagi. She turned to look at us, but didn't seem
to notice us. Her eyes seemed off. I recognized that look. I shivered.
Rei stood quietly behind me. Ami nudged me forward a little. "Get her
...and fast..." I swallowed. Trembling, I walked slowly towards
Usagi. The darkness enveloped me. I shuddered. It was
the same, all the same. The dark, the damp, all of it.
"Minako?" Ami asked quietly from behind. 
	"I'm okay." I whispered. Slowly I reached out for 
Usagi fearing that she wasn't really there. "Please, 
please..." I whispered under my breath. Finally, I got a 
hold of her arm. She felt fine. I gently pulled her forward. 
She came willingly. 
	"They're calling us...They need our help."
She said in a trance like voice. I continued to guide
her back to Rei and Ami. She was shaking my the
time we reached them. Rei smiled briefly, but it 
faded when she got a good look at Usagi's face. 
	"She's so pale..." I shook my head. 
	"She'll be fine." I said reasuringly. My mind 
drifted back to what she had said. I doubted any one
else had heard her. "I'm sure of it. But let's get out of 
here." We started our little journey back to the light. 
Rei had taken control of Usagi, trying to snap her out
of it. Eventually, Usagi started coming back as we 
walked. We conversed with her, avoiding the 
questions she asked.  When we finally got back
towards our rooms, we found the crew around our
rooms. Jedite looked up first. Usagi smiled. She
left us all standing there, quietly. We looked on at 
the boys. I subconciously started twisting a section
of hair around my finger. To this day, I don't
understand why in the world we were all just standing
there like that, as if we were all self concious of something.
I could sense the feeling of uneasiness around me, knowing
I wasn't the only one who felt that way. We watched, 
one small group as Usagi easily chatted with them, 
making it look like a sport, a game...all so easy. She 
made it seem like a professional dancer makes the stage
come alive with a grace and ease that is known cannot
be true, but still it seems to be that way. I shook my head 
and brushed past the group into my room, hoping to find
my book. I could hear the voices just outside...but it was
still so early. And that's what bothered me, it wasn't even ten
thirty. I sighed and there was a knock on my door. I opened
the door to find Makoto standing there. I gave her a
questioning look. 
	"Can I sneak in?" She asked quietly. The
voices were still echoing down the hall. I nodded and
opened the door wider. "I'm sorry." She said. "I didn't 
realize...She was just behind me then she disappeared!"
I looked at her, confused. 
	"What are you talking about?" She glanced
back at me. I had sat us down in the chairs by the door 
to Kunzite's room. She leaned back and rubbed her bangs
back out of her face. "Mako-chan?" She was upset, very
upset, and over what I couldn't tell. 
	"I don't know what happened." She said. 
	"About what?" I asked. 
	"Usa-" She cut off. Makoto was looking at
something behind me. Confused, I looked behind me
and didn't see anything out of the normal. Makoto shook
her head. 
	"What was that?" I asked turning back to her. 
	"Nothing." She replied. "I guess I'm just tired.
Anyways, Usagi woke me up this morning and told me
that she had to go see something, but she didn't want 
to get anybody else up because of her whole list of reasons. 
So I went with her...but then she was gone. I couldn't find
her...and...I couldn't find you...and..." Makoto looked
very upset. I then realized that something had happened 
to her that she either hadn't realized or wasn't about to talk 
about. Things were becoming very strange very early
in the morning, and I didn't like it, at all. 
	"Are you okay?" I asked, sincerely worried
about her. She nodded. "Alright..." I said, not wanting 
to believe her entirely. 
	"I better go. In fact, you should come 
with me. I'm going to get some breakfast. I'm 
starved." I smiled. Maybe she was alright. I hadn't
noticed until then, but I, too, was very hungry. 
	"Sure." So we went to get breakfast. Somehow, 
we managed to get by the now rowdy group with out their
noticing, other then Ami who soon joined us. She smiled. 
	"Pancakes?" We nodded, grinning. "Good." We 
snuck off to the kitchen and Makoto bugged the cook, who 
was a very sweet lady. Makoto offered for us to cook our own 
breakfast, but she insisted that she make the pancakes for us, 
and pretty much sent Makoto out of the kitchen. This made
us all laugh a little, Makoto was hardly ever out of the
kitchen. So, we sat down in the dining room in the three 
chairs closest to the kitchen.  Not much longer after 
we had settled down, we were served.  	
	"It's so nice to see the smiling faces of girls
once in a while around here. All those boys all the time
becomes boring more often than not, and they're all so
silent at their meals." The chef shook her head, smiling. 
"Well, girls, eat well. I heard that you've a busy day ahead
of you." We looked at her puzzled. "Ah! So you don't 
know about it, eh? Well, with all of you here it's a little 
different, I'm asuming." She shrugged and walked back
into the kitchen. "Call me if you need anything!" We 
nodded and dug into to the food. It was so delicious.
But something was still nagging at the back of my mind. 
I looked at Ami and Makoto. 
	"Hey. What do you think they were 
trying to get out of me last night before-" I stopped
my self suddenly, then swallowed. "Before all that happened."
I said more quietly. Ami and Makoto both looked down, 
as we all grew quiet. The events of last night were still
imprinted on my mind. 
	"Well, I think  that you have information 
that they want, you just don't know what it is. I mean,
you were after all kiddnapped..." Makoto said slowly. 
"I'm sure you've seen things-" Ami clamed her hand 
down on Makoto as I looked up at them. I gave Ami
a strange look.
	"You really think that's it?" I asked. 
	"Minako-chan," Ami released Makoto 
and she glared at her. "That might not be it, but it's
definately the best explaination we can give you
right now." Ami said simply.
 	"But why all the fuss over my 
mother then?" I asked quietly. Ami and Makoto
faltered. I was getting frustrated. "Gosh, I don't
even remember her well...I just know...a lot of 
people looked up to her, and my father loved 
her more than anything else. There's something
weird going on." I said more to myself than to
them. "And, I'm going to find out what it is." 
	*Notes From Zellie* 

	Hello all! Okay, I know this particular chapter 
sucks. Next chapter will be better I promise! Sorry to leave
off at such a weird place, but truthfully, I'm having a hard time
with this particular part which explains why we're still in the 
same place for about the third chapter in a row! Well, hopefully
I'll work on my ideas better and get these stinkin' characters
someplace else! Love you all! And yes, I didn't find a 
uote for this one, maybe next time. ~Zellie