Chapter Text
Minako’s eyes snapped open, her entire body on high alert for whatever it was that Beryl had done. She pushed herself to stand up and took a fighting stance, looking around for any enemies.
But there was…nobody.
She was inside a bedroom of some sort, filled with warm colors but with a military sense of neatness. There wasn’t a single wrinkle and the few pictures that hung on the walls only showed the night sky with the frames at strict angles with the walls. It was nothing like Minako’s bedroom at home, with its chaotic order that she knew so well.
But this room felt familiar too and Minako was terrified of what the answer would be.
A knock on the door startled her from her thoughts.
“Princess? Are you awake?” Artemis’ familiar voice called from the other side. Minako felt her shoulders both relax and tense at the same time, leaving her in an odd frozen position. The familiarity of Artemis’ voice was ruined by the strangeness of how he addressed her. But Minako knew she had been silent for too long, so she called out to him.
“Ah, yes! Please, come in.”
The door opened and Artemis entered into his human form, which Minako had only seen a few times. It was still startling, seeing her familiar white cat suddenly replaced with a man with long white hair. Artemis blinked at her, seemingly surprised.
“Princess, why are you not dressed yet? We must leave soon for the Moon Kingdom,” he said. “We must not keep Her Majesty, Queen Serenity, waiting.”
“Of course,” Minako agreed, nodding even as she tried desperately to work the timeline out in her head. Her life in the Silver Millennium had been so long that her memories would mix up at times with her modern ones. When had she gone to the moon specifically to see the queen?
The only thing Minako could think of is when she had been presented to the queen and princess as the next Sailor Venus. Could this be that memory then? But why was she reliving this? What had Beryl done that sent her here? Could it be some sort of purgatory or a time loop? But how did Minako’s pen fit into all this?
Minako’s brain suddenly startled to a halt.
Her pen. Beryl had cast the spell on Minako’s pen, which Jadeite had said was what she had done to the Shitennou’s stones to separate their powers from their souls so that they would fight alongside her instead.
Minako felt her heart racing in her chest and she raised her hand to rest against it. Had Beryl stolen Sailor Venus from her and trapped Minako in her own memories?
“Oooh, so close, but a swing and a miss, sweetie.”
Minako startled at the sudden voice, which was identical to her own. She turned around only to find a different version of her sitting on the bed. Unlike Minako, who was wearing her middle school uniform, this girl wore a yellow gown fit for a princess with her hair up in a tight chignon.
“Who are you?” Minako demanded, glaring at the girl.
“Tsk, seriously? You’re the leader of the sailor guardians and you still can’t figure it out?” the girl scoffed. She leaned her chin against her hand and smirked, an idea glimmering in her pretty blue eyes. “Perhaps this will help?”
The girl raised her free hand lazily. Just as she did, everything around her and Minako seemed to dissolve into clouds that spun around the two in shades of orange, yellow and white. They were clouds that Minako knew all too well.
“You’re Venus,” Minako whispered, her fears coming true as she stared at the girl, the physical manifestation of her powers now separate from her.
“Wow! You figured it out!” Venus clapped her hands in a sarcastic manner. She had to move out of the way a second later, however, as Minako moved to grab hold of her. “Now, now, we can’t have the game end that quickly, can we?”
“What do you want?” Minako spat, clenching her fists at her sides.
“Simple really,” Venus smiled, shrugging lazily. “I want you to live your life out. Only then will you see me again.”
“And if I refuse?” Minako demanded. She wanted to scream and shout, to claw at Venus until she returned to where she belonged instead of reliving all of this again. The memories were already too much at times. Now she had to live it again?
“Oh honey, who said you got to choose?” Venus cooed, her voice sickly sweet. “Now then, we don’t want to keep your princess waiting, do we? Run along.”
Before Minako could say anything else, Venus vanished along with the clouds and Minako once more found herself in her past life’s bedroom. This time, however, her school uniform had been replaced with the gown that Venus had been wearing, complete with the chignon hairstyle.
“Princess? Are you ready?” Artemis questioned, his voice almost bland, as if he were asking out of obligation rather than care. Perhaps he was. This Artemis, after all, was the Moon Kingdom’s ambassador, not Minako’s cat.
“Yes, Lord Artemis,” Minako answered, stepping out into the hallway to follow the man. He nodded down at her, his gaze cold and distant.
Minako followed behind him, hating every moment of it.
When they arrived at the Moon Kingdom, Artemis handed Minako off as soon as he could and she was instantly led to the throne room. The attendant was silent, not explaining what she had to do since of course Princess Venus had been training for this since birth.
Minako, on the other hand, had no idea what would happen when she was before Serenity.
“Presenting the heir of Sailor Venus, Princess Venus,” the attendant announced, drawing the attention of the entire throne room.
Minako took a deep breath before she stepped out onto the familiar carpet. The throne room was even more beautiful than it had been in her memories, glimmering silver and white with every turn of her head. And right at the end, standing in front of the throne, was Queen Serenity and her daughter, Princess Serenity.
Once she reached the two, Minako took a deep curtsy, bowing her head.
“Please rise, Your Highness,” the queen implored gently, her voice like bells on the wind. Minako did so, meeting identical gazes. The queen smiled before she turned to her daughter. “Serenity, you know what comes next.”
“Sailor Venus, what is your name? That is…if you want to tell me,” the princess trailed off, her cheeks blushing in embarrassment. She seemed so young that Minako’s heart ached.
“Aphrodite,” Minako answered, knowing only the princess and her heard the name. “My name is Aphrodite, Your Highness.”
“Mine is Selene,” the princess smiled, practically sparkling as bright as the moon. Minako returned her smile before she stepped back. It seemed that even if she didn’t know what to do, her body did.
It was a bizarre experience and one Minako would really never experience again, feeling like her body wasn’t hers to control, even if the motions themselves were familiar.
“Venus Power Make-Up!”
And though she transformed just as she normally did, Minako could feel the lack of her powers within her. It made sense, given the fact that Venus was separated from her.
For everyone in this room, Sailor Venus’ power was real and awe inspiring.
But for Minako, it was just an illusion.
As the days passed, Minako was able to determine just what her limits were in this strange memory world. To start, her actions were limited by her own memories, preventing her from veering off course, such as by telling Princess Serenity about Prince Endymion before she runs to Terra the first time or heading there herself to see if Kalen ended up in the same situation. And while she could say what she wanted most of the time, if her words were too out of character for Princess Venus, they’d twist into something else between her brain and her mouth.
So Minako had fallen into the flow of her memories, training and getting to know her sisters all over again. She held tight to the fact that she was Minako though, using her name and her lack of powers to keep herself focused on what was important and out of Beryl’s hands. She absolutely did not want to know what would happen if she simply let herself accept these memories as reality, whether she’d be trapped here or absorbed into Venus but either way that meant Beryl won.
The days blended together with Minako acting out her memories as if she were a puppet on a string.
That is, until the day Princess Serenity ran away.
Minako ran to the Golden Kingdom’s garden as soon as her body allowed her to, not surprised to find Serenity and Endymion talking amongst the roses. Minako moved to interrupt them, just as she had in her memories, when a hand closed around her wrist and pulled her around a corner, pressing her into the wall.
“Minako.”
She knew that voice. It was a voice that had whispered through her dreams for her entire life, a voice that had called her true name what felt like months ago. And now that voice was calling her modern name.
She felt the puppet strings that bound her in the image of Princess Venus snap, fading away like a sunset to reveal Minako underneath, still clad in her middle school uniform and her hair free excluding a single red bow.
“Kalen,” Minako whispered, looking up to meet the silver gaze watching her. Kalen stared back at her, wearing his civilian clothing with the exception of the pink kunzite he wore on a necklace. He was Kunzite, but not the one of the past nor the one of the Dark Kingdom.
He was the modern Kunzite, her and Mamoru’s Kunzite.
Minako threw herself at him, wrapping her arms around his neck without a care for their physical age difference. He was here, he was calling her ‘Minako’ and she hadn’t known how much she needed that until he was here.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you,” Minako sobbed, tightening her grip. “I’ve been trying to remember, but it’s been months and I don’t know how I can keep going.”
“I know,” Kalen whispered, rubbing her back gently. “I’ve been experiencing the same. But I know we can escape this.”
“Are you really sure about that?” Venus sneered as she appeared beside them. Minako clutched onto Kalen, fear unlike any she could remember feeling before rushing through her. “After all, this isn’t a punishment, it’s a gift for you both!”
“How on earth is this a gift?” Kalen demanded, his eyes narrow.
“Easy,” Venus smirked, curtsying far more elegantly than Minako ever could. There was an aura about her, however, that put both Minako and Kalen on edge. “Love.”
The world suddenly seemed to snap into place and Minako found herself scolding an apologetic Serenity as Endymion stared at her in shock. It was as if Kalen’s interruption had never happened and Minako had to fight to remember it, to trust it was real.
“It must be difficult to have such a rambunctious princess.”
Minako felt herself bristle and she turned to face Kalen, now dressed as Kunzite and smirking teasingly at her. She glared up at him.
“And what would a barbarian such as you know of protecting royalty?” she demanded, her hands on her hips. Kalen on bowed, a smile on his lips.
“I believe we have yet to be introduced, Sailor Venus. I am Lord Kunzite of the West, one of Prince Endymion’s Shitennou,” he introduced, “You will find that I am quite familiar with protecting royalty. Case in point, you and your princess currently stand on our territory.”
Minako growled, furious at being outwitted by such a lesser lifeform, before she turned to her princess and ordered her to return home.
As far as she was concerned, this would be the last time she ever interacted with him. But Minako knew she’d see him again, as surely as she knew her name.
It was only after they returned to the moon that Minako remembered how, even before Endymion and Serenity met, Terra was sending requests for diplomatic meetings, intent to join the celestial alliance the rest of the solar system had formed.
Minako felt the flush of shame, having assumed that Endymion had been intent only on being with Serenity when he requested such meetings. It wasn’t the first time her modern interpretation of her memories turned out to be wrong. And sometimes, she forgot things.
One such thing she forgot was the Venus Kingdom delegation who agreed to meet with Terra, the first of the celestial kingdoms to do so.
“Are you certain of this, Your Highness?” Adonis questioned as the delegation flew to Terra. Minako felt uneasy in his presence, memories of London still too fresh, but she hid it as well as she could, nodding firmly.
“Yes. As the leader of the sailor guardians, it is my duty to determine how genuine these talks of alliance may be,” Minako explained, crossing her arms. “If they prove to be as barbarous and dull as the last time such talks occurred, we can quite easily cut all contact.”
Adonis acquiesced and the rest of the flight was relatively peaceful. When they finally arrived and entered the throne room, Minako couldn’t help but compare it to the Moon Kingdom. Unlike the silver and white of the moon, Terra’s Golden Kingdom took a simpler approach. The walls were white and she saw blue banners representing the various areas of Terra, which contrasted against the red of the carpet. There were gold trimmings, but nothing too ostentatious.
Minako was unsure if her derision of how simple it was belonged to the modern her or the past her.
Once she reached the throne, Minako curtsied, bowing her head.
“Princess Venus, thank you for agreeing to our discussion of an alliance,” Endymion greeted her, bowing the same as Minako.
“Prince Endymion, thank you for such a kind invitation,” Minako smiled, well aware of the knife she was hiding behind it. Compared to the rest of the solar system, Terra was laughable in its overestimation of its importance.
“Please allow my Shitennou to show you to your quarters. Lords Kunzite, Nephrite Jadeite and Zoisite are my most trusted allies,” Endymion explained, gesturing to the four men who stood behind him. Minako’s face didn’t shift for an instant even as her gaze found Kalen’s right away.
The talks lasted for several weeks with neither the Terra delegation nor the Venus delegation willing to compromise. By the end of the first week, Minako found herself so frustrated with the whole thing that she hunted down the training yard and began working through her own training exercises.
She trained by herself for an hour, just warming up, when she felt his presence. When Minako turned to face him, she felt the puppet strings loosen around her and she smiled.
“Would you like to spar?” Kalen asked. It was close enough to the past that the illusion allowed it.
“I thought you’d never ask,” Minako grinned. A second later, she charged at him, throwing a punch at his face.
The two of them got lost in their sparring from there, meeting each other blow for blow until it felt more like they were dancing than fighting. Minako could feel herself glowing with the adrenaline running through her and for that precious amount of time, they were the only two people in the whole universe.
When they finished in a tie, Minako collapsed in the shadow of a quiet corner alongside Kalen, leaning her cheek against his shoulder. She could feel their memories of this conversation bleeding over through the point of contact and she relished in the familiar connection they shared.
Wait…
“Kalen…” Minako whispered, soft as she could and hopefully not intrusive enough for Venus to interrupt. “Our minds…”
“I know,” Kalen confirmed, his hand coming over to cover hers. And then, his lips stopped moving, but Minako could feel him in her mind. It felt like he was offering her a reprieve, a place to relax and just be herself. Minako melted into the feeling, allowing herself to just let it wash over her.
It only lasted for a few minutes before the illusion snapped the two of them back into place as a woman with dark hair entered the training yard. Minako was panting now, staring down Kalen, who was breathing just as heavily.
“Kunzite?” the woman called out, sounding surprised. “You did not come to the library, I was concerned.”
“My apologies, Helen,” Kalen sighed as he straightened from his stance. “Princess Venus proved to be far more suited as a sparring partner than anticipated.”
“Than anticipated?!” Minako cried, glaring at him as her cheeks flared red. “I’ll have you know, I am the strongest sailor guardian in every manner excluding physical strength!”
“And yet, neither of us has achieved victory,” Kalen smirked, infuriating her even more. He bowed, mockingly deferential. “Good day, Your Highness.”
Without another word, Kalen turned and left Minako behind.
The diplomatic meeting of the delegations began to move at a better pace, with both Venus and Terra agreeing to compromise rather than walk away. At the same time, Minako found herself spending more time sparring with Kalen and their meetings evolving into actual conversations.
Their conversations were Minako’s favorite part of the day, honestly, because while their minds supplied the conversation that had occurred in the past, they could speak freely. So while Venus and Kunzite learned of each other and began to fall in love, Minako and Kalen were able to use their time to breathe and speak of their situation.
“She hasn’t appeared again?” Kalen questioned. Minako shook her head, causing him to hum. “She must be planning something.”
“Does she really mean for us to live out the entire Silver Millennium?” Minako whispered, fear suffused in her voice. She couldn’t help it, she’d died in her twenties in the Silver Millennium, after becoming a widow as Kunzite died first.
“I don’t know,” Kalen admitted. He pulled her closer, gently kissing her forehead, and Minako shivered in his arms. “We’ll figure this out, I promise.”
Minako had never been a damsel in distress. She’d never needed to be rescued, never needed anyone to keep her hopes up about how a situation would turn out.
But she needed Kalen’s strength now more than ever, with her powers and autonomy stripped from her, only getting one back when she was alone with him. If Minako had been alone, she wasn’t sure she’d still be as clear headed as she was now. And that was a terrifying prospect to think about.
On the last day of the delegation, Minako knew exactly what she had to do. Luckily, it was the same thing she’d done in the past on this day when she first lived it too.
She stole Kalen away as soon as he entered their training yard, pulling him into the dark forests that surrounded the palace until the two of them were hidden from sight in the shadows. She practically pinned him against a tree, but her touch was gentle as she took his hands in hers, their fingers intertwining as she met his eyes.
“Marry me,” Minako requested point blank.
“Now why would you ask me that?” Kalen questioned, the words having so many meanings both in the past and their present. Minako couldn’t even begin to consider all the different ways she should address that.
“Because you are the only person I can be myself with, the one person I can rely on when I am not strong. Just like I know that I am the only person you are yourself with, the person you rely on when you are not strong. And I know your brothers fit that too, just as my sisters do for me, but I want to be more for you. I want to have an excuse to see you. I want you to be given the same respect I am given. I want to take back every time I called you a barbarian.” Minako felt short of breath, but she kept going, letting go of one of Kalen’s hands so she could rest her own against his cheek. He leaned into the touch. “I want my children to have your eyes. I want the chance to love you.”
“And who am I to deny such an ardent proposal?” Kalen smiled softly down at her. He leaned down, pressing his forehead to hers and his eyes never leaving her own. “My name is Byakko.”
Minako shivered as she felt the power in being freely given his name. It was a gift she would never take for granted.
“Byakko…” she whispered, watching him shiver. “My name is Aphrodite.”
“Aphrodite,” he whispered, practically breathing her name back into her mouth.
Like two magnets being drawn together, Minako and Kalen closed the gap between them. It was a gentle kiss, one fueled by lifetimes worth of love. Minako gasped at the feeling rushing through her body, the limited magic in her body singing as it intertwined with Kalen’s once more.
It was several minutes before the two managed to pull apart. Neither of them said much, instead they simply held each other and basked in their restored bond.
Later that evening, the Venus delegation returned to their home world with a new alliance written up between them and Terra. Minako was sad to go, to leave behind the world that was both her modern day home and Kalen’s home, but she gave nothing away.
She was, after all, far too aware of Adonis’ eyes on her.
“You chose duty over love, Venus. You always, always do. And that is why your love with him is doomed for eternity!”
Minako wasn’t sure if it was the illusion which sped up or her own mind locking itself away, but time seemed to pass by faster after that delegation. She never told anyone of her marriage, but she was far too aware as her sisters took their own turns to chase after Serenity, finding their own loves along the way.
She also saw a deeper insight into Terra, the stress that Kalen shouldered on a daily basis and his worry when the alliances began to form. The people were growing frustrated as the years went by, feeling Endymion was too focused on the celestial kingdoms. Both Minako and Kalen knew how this story ended and the tension that followed their conversations was one they very rarely could shake.
But at times, they managed to do that and their love flourished. And within a couple years, a miracle occurred.
Their daughter was born.
“What shall we name her?” Kalen questioned when Minako had finally had a chance to go to earth with the baby. It was the first time father and daughter had met and Minako was resisting the urge to sob, as well as mourn her lack of a camera to capture this moment forever. Kalen looked down at her with so much love, their identical silver eyes everything Minako ever wanted.
“You choose,” Minako insisted. Kalen stared down at her for several minutes, thinking, before he smiled.
“Isis,” he declared.
“Isis,” Minako repeated, not specifying any further. This wasn’t the time to debate what world Isis would call home. This was simply the time to celebrate their daughter. “I love it. I love you.”
“I love you too,” Kalen whispered, kissing her on the lips. But when their foreheads knocked together gently, Minako knew they were both still trying to find a way to escape this cycle, somehow.
After all, they only had a few years left before Kalen would die.
Isis grew up with her time divided between Terra, Venus and the moon, depending on where her parents were needed at. Most of the time, she was on Terra with her father and uncles, her mother always coming home every night. It wasn’t the most conventional of families, but Minako adored it.
She adored her family, as it grew with the children her sisters eventually had, none of them ever confessing the fathers’ identities even if they all knew.
But then, when Isis was five, the whispers of a rebellion began to swirl. The discontent of Terra that had been soothed by Endymion suddenly returned with a fierce vengeance and Minako found herself clutching Kalen and Isis closer to her, terrified of losing them.
Yet, the order for Jadeite to leave never came. Instead, the rebellion seemed to fade away and within a blink, everything was…perfect.
There was no war, Kalen was alive, Isis was still in their arms rather than hiding on Venus, and Minako was neither a widow nor dead. Her mother, Queen Astarte of Venus, even approved of Minako’s marriage to Kalen and her half-Terran grandchild. All of her sisters were happily with their partners and neither Serenity or Endymion was dead.
It was the life Minako had always childishly dreamed of living when she considered what she would do if she was given the chance to travel back in time as a kid. It was everything she ever wanted.
But…
“Mama, come play!” Isis called, interrupting her mother’s thoughts. Her daughter was grinning brightly and Minako wanted nothing more than to hold her close and squeeze her tight.
“I’m sorry, Isis, but Mama has to go talk with Papa for a bit,” Minako apologized. Her daughter’s face fell and Minako instantly hugged her tightly. “We’ll see you soon, I promise, love.”
Isis nodded against her shoulder, but Minako knew she was too smart to believe that. Or perhaps she was too aware of just what was going on.
Slowly, Minako let Isis go and pushed her gently to go play with her grandmother. Once she was safely inside, Minako turned and joined Kalen on the balcony.
“Are you ready?” he asked. She shouldn’t be surprised, he always was equal to her.
“Of course I am,” Minako smirked, infusing the words with all the bravado she didn’t feel. Kalen didn’t say a word, instead taking her hand and squeezing it tightly as the two of them stepped out onto the field outside the palace. Minako looked up at the familiar swirling clouds, took a deep breath in, and screamed, “Venus!! Show yourself!!!!”
“No need to yell, sweetie, I’m right here.”
Minako whirled around, finding her other self standing there. Unlike last time, Venus now wore a sailor guardian uniform except hers was black as the main color, her skirt was blue and her ribbon orange, making her the opposite of Minako as Sailor Venus in every way.
“Let me out of here,” Minako snapped, glaring at her counterpart.
“Aw, but why?” Venus pouted, her eyes glittering darkly. “It’s everything you wanted, isn’t it? The love and happy ending you always desired. Why would you want to go back?”
“Because I have a duty!” Minako declared, fighting against the instinct in her that wanted to agree, to capitulate and stay here. “This isn’t what happened and I’m responsible for what reality’s become! I can’t abandon everyone there for a world like this, especially because there’s a chance, no matter how small, that Isis lived!”
“Duty…it’s always duty with you, isn’t it.” It wasn’t a question. Venus was snarling at her and her dark colored chain glowed. “You can’t ever give up or let your precious duty go. You’re a sorry excuse for a goddess of love!”
The chain suddenly shot forward and Minako refused to flinch back. She blinked as she waited for the blow to come…but none did.
“Luckily, she isn’t a goddess,” Kalen retorted. His sword was out and the chain had wrapped around it instead of attacking Minako. Kalen’s eyes narrowed and his sword seemed to glow before he threw the chain back at Venus, causing it to strike her. “And you are not going to manipulate us any further.”
“What are you gonna do, kill me?” Venus challenged. She didn’t give him a second to think, throwing her crescent boomerang his way. Kalen only summoned a shield of shadows, sending the weapon flying back.
“No. I’m going to bring you home,” Kalen declared.
That was all the time he gave Venus before he shot forward, his sword swinging out at her. This forced Venus to summon a sword of her own, returning Kalen’s attacks one for one. When he was close enough, however, he kicked out at Venus, catching her off guard. He began to utilize both those techniques, occasionally using his control of metal and shadows to throw Venus off, forcing her to stumble back lest she be cut down.
The entire time, Minako snuck alongside the perimeter of the makeshift battle field, looking for the opening she needed.
Venus stumbled and Minako took her chance. She ran forward as fast as she could, wrapping her arms around Venus’ waist, trapping her arms there.
“You…you will never succeed as you are!” Venus spat, glaring at Minako.
“Maybe not,” Minako conceded. “But I have the best family backing me up and the love of my life at my side. I think I can figure it out.” Minako grinned, flashing a Sailor V grin at Kalen. He only fondly rolled his eyes, smiling.
Venus was snarling something, but Minako never heard it as Kalen’s sword cut her neck.
Instantly, light and metal melted into Minako’s skin as Kalen’s arms wrapped around her waist. He smiled at her, as proud of her as she had been of him when he went through the same experience.
“I love you,” Minako smiled, unable to help herself. Kalen didn’t say a word, instead gently kissing her forehead.
And right before she vanished, Minako turned back to the palace of the Venus Kingdom. Isis stood on a balcony, watching them fade away.
She was smiling and waving goodbye.
After that, everything faded in a warm flash of light.
Hearts of metal, both light and shadow, broke through the illusory fog, but they did not return from whence they came.
Instead, one flew up to the moon.
And the other sunk into the earth.