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It is lonely at the top.
Minako knows that all too well—she spent so much time with that loneliness, as the sole Senshi—and then even when she wasn’t, going it alone as she watched the others assemble into their team, waiting for just the right moment to reveal herself and join forces. Which she did, and she did such a good job of it! But all those months where she watched and waited…it was a lot. Being Sailor V had isolated her from the world she already had, having to turn down hang-outs and dates in order to save the world, and be so evasive about why… It was all the harder to see the other Senshi coalescing into their own tight-knit friend group, and know she couldn’t have that, not yet.
It was worth the wait. And as hard as it was at the time, she thinks Artemis was right to draw it out like that. It made it so much better when Minako finally got there, and found herself so easily and happily embraced by the whole group. She always wondered what they would think of her: assume she was cold, aloof, arrogant and above them all, for having kept herself apart from them for so long? It wasn’t because she personally thought she was better than them, although she could see why they might think that, because that was always what Artemis’ reasons sounded like to her.
“They need to find themselves as a team first,” he’d say.
“They can do that with me there too!” she’d cry out, pouting and leaning back against her pillows. (They’d always have this conversation alone in her room, of course.)
“No, you’ll only distract them. They all know you as the famous Sailor V. They even play your game together at the arcade.”
“Distract…?”
“They’ll think you’re better and rely on you too much. No, they need to find their own strength.”
You’ll know when the time is right, he always told her. When they’re down and out, when they need someone to swoop in and save them…
And even when she did that, she was worried she’d still be the odd one out. Like she’d always been, with every friendship and every boyfriend, because she always had to slip away at the end of things, go be Sailor V because the world needed saving and that was always more important than them, her bond with them… always more important than her feelings.
But of course, this is different. Because here, finally, are the friends who get it. Who’ve had to make their own sacrifices, trade up their own loves and friendships, hopes and dreams for this grander destiny they never asked for, who’ve had to sneak out of what they want because it’s time to save the world.
Minako has her own dynamic with each of them. Sweet, soft-spoken but insanely clever Ami; she loves watching her come alive when it’s time to share her knowledge, all of it rushing out in a stream of frustration because someone is wrong and that is not allowed! Makoto, such a big, soft, romantic heart under her tough shell, but always quick to use that to her advantage when it comes to standing up for her friends, and with her own quiet pain from years on her own. Rei, the one who took the longest for Minako to warm to, with her genuinely prickly, icy exterior—which makes it all the more fun to puncture it, to get her laughing or blushing or crying with the rest of them!
But none of them get her like Usagi.
In truth, Usagi was the one Minako had worried most about—and not just her, but Artemis, too. Usagi had been a Sailor V fan before she’d awakened as a Senshi herself, and continued to soak in the games and the merchandise even after… Artemis had wondered aloud if the girl ever really understood that they were one and the same. He was worried about Usagi’s hero worship of her, that she’d be so blushy and stammering in the presence of her long-time idol that it would get in the way of working together. Minako wondered sometimes if Usagi, more than any of them, was the reason that Artemis kept drawing things out, why he kept delaying when he thought it would be right for her to join the group. (She learned later about how he was in communication with Luna, who held her own doubts for the same reasons, sharpened by actual familiarity.) They knew they’d have to get there eventually, and soon enough Zoisite forced their hands. Artemis’ worries never really went away.
And yet when the moment came…. It all fell away like nothing. No—not quite. The jitters were still there. But they were mutual. Tough, seasoned Sailor V found herself blushing and stammering in front of Sailor Moon. She was so cute, and…. And then, it wasn’t so long before their memories of the Moon Kingdom came back. The first time it had been her who had been so nervous to meet the beautiful Princess Serenity, and the Princess who had accepted her nervous motormouth into her court with, quite literally, open arms.
Oh, how she had loved the feeling of Serenity’s arms around her then, loved being her closest and most loyal retainer, the only one who could soothe her—who knew just the right ways to make her smile and sigh and… to make her forget all her sorrow about the prince down on Earth…
But even before that fateful moment, it was like Minako and Usagi just understood each other. They were so similar that all the weird hero-worship… It just melted away. She’ll never forget that first moment, just smiling and embracing like old friends. Even then, before their memories came back, it was like their hearts knew they belonged together.
And so now she huddles in her room but it’s with Usagi by her side, giggling over boys and snacks and video games. But sometimes, their eyes catch just right, and the two of them lean into each other and…
Usagi’s kisses aren’t as practiced, as seamless as those from Princess Serenity. She doesn’t know as much what she’s doing. Minako can tell that before Mamoru, she didn’t have much practice (and is she so different!) but she also likes that, she likes the clumsiness and wetness of it and how often it stumbles into laughing again, laughing into each other’s arms. She almost likes Usagi shaking with giggles against her shoulder as much as the kisses. Almost.
Because sometimes when Usagi isn’t looking at her, Minako gets to thinking. She knows that as much as they draw them together, their destines will also come between them. It will always be Mamoru for Usagi first, just like it was always Endymion for her thousands of years ago. Minako will always come second. And even if she should accept it as her duty, know there will always be other boys for her, it’s still a little jab of pain in what should be happy moments of connection. Because of course, those boys, too, will always have to come second to Minako’s duty as a Senshi. Usagi alone gets a boy who folds so easily into all of this. The rest of them are soldiers first, always having to hide the truth of who they are and what they do even from their true loves…
It would be so much easier if Usagi could be her only one, this other girl who understands her so well and lives her same life. Where there are no secrets between them.
But Minako knows that just as before, she’ll take what she can. She’ll be happy with her sloppy but lingering kisses, and the sweet laughter that always accompanies them. She’ll find her solace in her princess’s arms.
Because after all, even if Usagi loves Mamoru more, they’ll always still love each other. They’ll always be here together, fighting by each other’s side. And she’ll always have the rest of them, too, and maybe even find another love among their ranks.
No matter, she’ll never have to be lonely again.