Rising Darkness

By Sillabub 429

Chapter Thirteen - Reasons

“How can you tell me not to dwell on the past when that’s all you’ve been doing for
the past six years?” –Yaten Kou

*****

The snow was falling steadily a while later, and Minako found herself shivering 
where she sat on the swing set in the small, abandoned playground. Cold-reddened 
fingers tightened around the rope of the swing, and she sighed heavily, staring off 
into space as snowflakes whirled around her. The sound of shoes crunching against 
the snow brought her out of her reverie, and her eyes, which had been closed, slid 
open slowly.

“Minako.”

She looked up at him briefly before looking away.

“Yaten-kun,” she said quietly, staring down at her feet in order to avoid eye 
contact with him.

But Yaten would have none of it. Eyes burning with frustrated determination, Yaten 
marched up to her and roughly grabber her chin in his hand, wrenching her face 
upwards so he could stare directly at her. But then a strange feeling suddenly 
stirred in his stomach as Minako scrunched her eyes shut fearfully. Yaten paused, 
remembering Ami’s words from earlier, then loosened his grip on her chin slightly, 
but not enough for her to be able to turn away.

“Explain yourself” he hissed, eyes hard.

Slowly, almost fearfully, the blonde winked an eye open. “W-what do you mean?” she 
asked uneasily.

Yaten’s eyes narrowed. “Don’t play dumb with me,” he said lowly. “You know exactly 
what I’m talking about.”

Minako swallowed hard, opening both of her eyes to stare up at Yaten. Her glassy, 
frightened eyes met with his burning ones for a long, intense moment before she 
shook her head, a pleading expression on her face. “No . . . Yaten, please, don’t 
do this . . .”

“When were you planning on telling me?” he burst out, his fingers tightening on her 
chin involuntarily, but she didn’t even wince. “When?”

Her eyes began to fill with tears. “I . . . I didn’t know until after you were gone,” 
she whispered. “I-I couldn’t have known . . .”

“HOW COULD YOU NOT HAVE KNOWN?!”

A sob tore itself from Minako’s throat. “Yaten, please!” she cried desperately, 
trying to pull her chin from his grip.

“WHY THE HELL . . .” Yaten started angrily, but then he stopped. 

Minako was trembling, her beautiful eyes were full of tears, and the most miserable, 
self-reproaching look Yaten had ever seen in his life was on her face. Eyes widening,
he released her chin and took a step backwards, shaking his head and mumbling an 
apology. Minako’s head dropped as she hugged herself and began to cry, and Yaten 
turned away, expression clouded as his mind worked hard to recall the events of a 
night that took place six years ago . . .

*****

The idol audition had ended quite a few hours ago, but Yaten didn’t want to go home. 
His mind was so abuzz with mixed thoughts that he couldn’t find the peace of mind to 
relax, practice music, or even sleep, so he decided to take a walk. The city was 
surprisingly quiet, and gray, angry-looking clouds swirled through the darkening 
sky, hinting at rain. For no reason he could think of, Yaten found himself wanting 
to take a walk through Juuban Park, so he started down the sidewalk toward the park, 
kicking a pebble aside as he turned a corner.

He arrived moments later at his destination, and he was surprised to find none other 
than Aino Minako herself already there, seated upon a park bench and staring up at 
the cloudy sky with an unusually serious expression. He cleared his throat as he 
approached her, and as the blonde turned her head toward him, her eyes lit up.

“Yaten-kun!”

He nodded at her. “Hey.”

“What are you doing out here?”

“I should ask you the same thing.”

She smiled widely at him, then looked out at the abandoned park. “I just needed to 
think.”

A slight rumble of thunder in the distance could be heard, but Yaten ignored it, 
shrugging. “Me too.” He cleared his throat awkwardly as he glanced up at the sky, 
noticing a small flash of lightning miles away. “Um, are you thinking about the 
audition?” he asked quietly.

Minako turned back to him, looking slightly surprised. “Yeah. You?”

He shrugged his shoulders through his coat. “Uh . . . sort of.” It was the simplest 
answer.

Minako’s brilliant smile appeared again, and she scooted over on the park bench, 
offering him a place to sit. “Care to join me, then?”

Yaten paused, wrinkling his nose up. “It’s going to rain,” he said, gesturing toward 
the clouds overhead. “I’d rather not get caught in the middle of a storm.”

“It won’t rain,” she said confidently.

He raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”

Minako nodded. “It’ll pass.”

Yaten frowned for a moment, intrigued a bit despite himself, and he plopped down 
beside the blonde. “How do you know?”

She turned to him, opening her mouth to reply. Then she closed it, shrugging and 
looking a bit sheepish. “I lied. I don’t know.” Grinning again, Minako turned her 
face up to stare at the sky. “But it’s okay. I live nearby in case it rains. I don’t 
mind getting wet.”

He wrinkled his nose. “I do.”

A giggle came from the blonde as she leaned back against the bench. “A little rain 
never hurt anybody, Yaten-kun.”

Yaten shrugged as the thunder sounded again, louder this time. “If you say so,” he 
replied. “But if those clouds are any indication, I doubt we’ll be staying dry for 
long.”

She grinned. “Nah, the storm’s far away from here. We’ll be fine.”

“How do you know?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

Minako smirked and tapped a finger against her temple. “I just do," she said with 
childish confidence. "You know, ESPN.”

He snorted. “Or maybe ESP?”

“Oh. Right.” Her knowing look dissolved into an adorably embarrassed expression. 
“Whatever. I just know it won’t rain, okay?”

Yaten studied her face for a long moment before turning away, shaking his head. When 
she said it like that, he almost believed her. “You’re too optimistic for your own 
good, you know that?”

Her cheeks colored. “Am not.”

“You are,” he replied with an obvious frown. “All of you Earth senshi are too 
optimistic.”

Minako bristled at that, eyes narrowing. “I’d rather be an optimist than a 
pessimistic grouch.”

She was finally getting annoyed, and Yaten was seriously beginning to enjoy himself 
as a result. “Like me?”

“I didn’t say that.”

“But you implied it.”

“Well, okay, you’re a little pessimistic . . .”

“A little?”

“Fine. You’re downright gloomy.”

He chuckled. “At least you’re honest.”

Minako looked out at the park, crossing her ankles under the bench. “Well, I guess 
you have a right to be the way you are. I mean,” she paused, looking cautiously at 
him, “it’s not my business, but I know you’ve been through a lot.”

Yaten swallowed hard, willing himself not to look at her. The directness and 
sincerity of that statement caught him off-guard, but he didn’t want Minako to know 
that. “Yeah, so?” he asked as carelessly as he could, trying to turn the 
conversation away from himself. “Haven’t you too?”

“Not that much,” she replied, then she cocked a slightly amused smile that Yaten 
could detect pain behind. “Well, besides dying once or twice, but that’s nothing 
unusual.”

His eyes widened, and for a second he felt selfish for caring so much about his own 
problems. Here was this girl who had accepted him and all of his faults, and while 
he had been mean and distant, wallowing in self-pity, she had treated everyone 
around her with kindness and cheerfulness, despite the fact that her problems were 
just as difficult and dark as his own. Her tone was way too casual to be talking 
about something like death, and Yaten felt a shiver pass down his spine at the 
thought of Minako dying. “I’ve never died,” he replied quietly.

Her joking smile was gone, and in its place was a look of intense pity that made 
Yaten feel helpless as it focused on him. “But you’ve seen your home destroyed, 
haven’t you? And you’ve seen friends . . . maybe even family die, haven’t you?”

Yaten went silent then, looking down at the sidewalk and furrowing his brow. He 
didn’t reply for a long moment as he tried to block out all the memories that were 
being conjured at that question. Taking in a deep, slow breath, he requested softly, 
“Can we change the subject, please?”

He didn’t have to look at her to see the look of sympathy on Minako’s face. “I’m 
sorry,” he heard her whisper. “I didn’t mean to bring up anything upsetting.”

Yaten shook his head, sending a gentle smile that he normally wouldn’t let anyone 
see in her direction. It was the second time that day he had let her see such a 
smile. “It’s okay. Let’s just keep talking about . . . what was it that brought us 
to this? Oh, right, the weather.”

She blinked, cocking her head to the side. “What about it?” she asked, already 
having forgotten.

“It’s going to rain,” he reminded her.

Minako grinned childishly and shook her head. “It won’t rain.”

Neither of them noticed that it had been drizzling faintly for the past few seconds 
until a very loud crash of thunder rumbled through the air, making them both jump. 
Minako’s eyes were wide as she looked at Yaten.

“Fine. You were right. It’s going to rain.”

Yaten rolled his eyes as they got up from the bench. “It’s already raining.”

“No,” Minako said as they began to walk down the sidewalk to the park exit. “It’s 
drizzling.”

Lightning and thunder flashed and boomed around them at the same time, making Minako 
shriek and Yaten jump, and a sudden downpour of rain erupted from the clouds. As the 
rain came down in bucketfuls around them and Minako and Yaten sprinted out of the 
park, Minako managed to flash a grin over her shoulder at the silver haired Light. 
“NOW it’s raining.” Yaten couldn’t help shaking his head and letting out a short 
laugh as he ran after Minako. They arrived at her house moments later, and they 
burst through the door, breathless and dripping water everywhere. Minako was 
giggling between gasps of air, and Yaten couldn’t suppress the grin curving his 
lips as they fought to regain their breath.

“You were right . . .” said Minako, swiping water from her flushed cheeks and 
removing her wet coat. “I just didn’t want to believe you.”

Yaten glanced at her as he shook the water from his ponytail. “Honestly, have some 
faith in me,” he said, looking offended. “Just because I’m not from this planet 
doesn’t mean you can’t trust me.” He frowned after saying this, surprised at his own 
words, even if they were said jokingly. Did he want her to trust him?

Blue eyes widened, and Minako turned to Yaten. “I do trust you,” she said with 
enthusiasm, grinning widely. “I do. I always have.”

Feeling suddenly embarrassed, Yaten removed his shoes and followed Minako through 
the living room, dimly aware of the trail of water they were leaving on the floor 
behind them. “We don’t have to trust each other, though,” he said. “It’s only 
natural that we don’t.”

“I don’t see why,” she replied quickly, walking to a door that Yaten could only 
assume was the entrance to her bedroom as it bore a large sign with the word MINAKO 
sprawled across it in English. “We’re fighting the same battle, after all.”

He was watching her carefully, eyebrows furrowed. “I suppose so.”

Minako seemed satisfied with his response, and she opened her door and stepped into 
her room, gesturing for Yaten to follow. He hesitated.

“Mom’s out of town with Dad, Artemis is with Luna at Usagi-chan’s, and the press 
will never find you here,” she said, as if reading his thoughts. “Don’t worry, 
this’ll only take a second.”

Yaten shrugged and followed her into the cheerfully decorated bedroom. “Okay, but 
what are we doing?”

Minako had opened her closet door and was pushing aside the coat hangers and outfits 
that were dangling inside, obviously looking for something. “Hold on a sec, I’ll be 
quick.”

Yaten shrugged and sat back, watching warily as the blonde sifted through the 
clothes hanging in her closet. He wondered briefly how he got into this situation, 
then shook his head. Couldn’t be helped now. At least being in Minako’s company was 
taking his mind off of the thoughts that had been torturing him as of late.

“You’re so petite, you know,” he heard Minako’s voice say conversationally behind 
the door, “not that there’s anything wrong with that, not at all, at least I’ve 
never minded . . . and we’re about the same size, so this should work . . . if only 
I could find . . . I know I have and extra one somewhere . . . oh, here we are!” 

Her wet blonde head emerged from the closet, and she tossed Yaten a garment of 
clothing that was the most hideous shade of bright orange he had ever seen, and he 
caught it without thinking, wrinkling his nose as he peered down at it. 

“What’s this?”

Minako blinked at him. “It’s a robe, silly,” she replied, rummaging through her 
closet once more.

“For what?”

“For you to wear while your clothes dry. Boy, are you a dope. You didn’t think I’d 
let you go around with wet clothes and catch a cold, did you?”

Yaten frowned and held up the fuzzy robe, examining it in all of its florescent 
orange glory. “It’s . . . not really my color,” he said slowly.

Removing her own pink robe from the closet, Minako turned to him. “Sure, it is. 
Orange is pretty.”

“No one looks good in orange.”

“I bet you would.”

If possible, Yaten’s expression grew even more disgusted at the prospect of wearing 
the hideous robe, and his gaze was drawn instead to the other robe Minako held. 
“Give me that one.”

She blinked, clutching her fluffy pink robe to her protectively. “What?”

“I like that robe better. Give it to me.”

“But it’s pink!”

“I look good in pink.”

“But it’s mine!”

“So’s this one.”

“But . . . but it’s mine!”

“You might as well give me the one I like, Minako-chan. It’s your duty to treat an 
alien soldier with respect. We don’t want to start an intergalactic battle over this.”

Minako let out a short squeak of protest as he snatched the pink robe from her hands 
and carelessly flung the orange one at her. It sailed through the air before 
flopping over her head, effectively obscuring her face. “But . . . but . . . but . . .” 
she sputtered as her vision was assailed by yards of orange terrycloth.

Yaten grabbed the edge of the robe covering her face between two fingers, as if 
disgusted to touch it, and he lifted the corner up so he could peer at the blonde. 
He didn’t know what was prompting his strange actions this evening, and if the 
confusion on Minako’s face was any indication, neither did she. She was probably 
half-expecting him to say something ludicrous like “Peek-a-boo!” with the unusual 
playfulness he was exhibiting, but he only gazed at her and asked simply, “Where’s 
the washroom?”

Eyes huge, Minako pointed out the door. “First door on your left. You can hang your 
wet stuff up in there.”

He grinned at her. “Thank you.” Then he released the material clutched between his 
fingers, letting the edge of the orange robe flop down over Minako’s face once again. 
He then turned and walked away, and a smirk curved his lips as he heard Minako 
mumble, “My life is too weird for words.”

They met back up in Minako's room a few minutes later, both clothed in the warm 
robes. Yaten found himself watching Minako appraisingly when he saw her in the orange 
robe, his eyebrows furrowed in scrutiny. He noticed Minako flushing under his gaze 
as she sat down on her bed.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” she asked nervously.

“I was wrong,” he said quietly. “You actually look good in orange.”

He noticed her blush deepen, which made him realize that he had just given her a 
compliment. Minako then grinned at him. “And you look good in pink.”

Unlike her, though, Yaten didn’t blush. He only shrugged and flopped down beside her 
on the bed. “I know.”

Minako’s grin disappeared from her face, and in its place was an odd, serious look. 
“You don’t have to pretend to be arrogant and conceited around me, Yaten-kun.”

He frowned, looking offended. “Excuse me, but there’s no pretense here. I am 
genuinely arrogant and conceited.”

She shook her head. “No, you’re not,” she said softly. “Or you wouldn’t be so 
unhappy.”

Yaten’s eyes widened, and he turned to Minako in surprise, but she was looking away.

They sat together in silence for a long moment, and Yaten found himself wondering 
how this simple Earth girl whom he had known only for a few months had already 
managed to look beyond his facades and masks and see the true pain and fear that 
resided within him. Even Taiki and Seiya, his closest friends, had trouble 
understanding him, but this girl . . . something was different about her. A frown 
creased Yaten’s brow as he thought for a moment, and then he turned back to Minako.

“Hey, Yaten . . .”

“Minako, I . . .”

They stopped as they spoke at the same time.

“Go ahead,” Minako chuckled.

“No, no, it wasn’t important,” Yaten said. “What were you going to say?”

The blonde’s smile disappeared then, and she looked away. Yaten could feel 
nervousness radiating from her, but he patiently waited for her to speak.

“Do you really think I can do it?” she blurted.

He blinked, completely baffled by the question. “Do what?”

Minako flushed slightly. “You know. What we were talking about earlier.”

Yaten scratched his head, thinking back on their conversations from the day. There 
had been many, so he decided to begin with the most recent. “What, predict the 
weather?” he finally asked perplexedly. “Because if that’s what you’re talking 
about, I don’t think you’re cut out for . . .”

“No, the idol thing,” she interrupted, looking embarrassed. “I mean, am I really 
good enough? Should I even be trying?”

Yaten’s eyebrows knit together as he looked incredulously at her. “What the hell 
are you on? You were great at the audition. I told you already that you outshone 
everyone else.”

Her soft blue eyes were clouded as they turned to him. “But you were right before, 
you know. That I shouldn’t even be trying because . . . well, because I do have a 
duty, don’t I? And that duty holds no room for my dreams, right?”

Yaten tried his hardest not to get angry at her then, but he couldn’t keep the 
frustrated tone from creeping into his voice. “What happened to you all of the 
sudden?” he asked. “You were so confident earlier.”

“Well, I’ve been thinking about everything you said,” she replied. “And I’ve 
realized that maybe I should just give up on being an idol. Because maybe all it 
will ever be is just a dream. Maybe that’s all it’s meant to be.”

He was staring at her, wide-eyed as a pang of guilt seized him. He hadn’t meant to 
say those things earlier to make her doubt herself; he was only taking his anger 
out on her, trying to make himself feel better. In all honesty, he admired Minako 
for trying to achieve her dream; it was something he had never been brave enough 
to try himself, and he’d be damned if he was the cause of all her efforts going to 
waste.

“Listen,” he said, grasping her shoulders and leaning toward her to stare her in 
the eye. “There’s more for me to say now.”

Minako stared silently back, waiting for him to continue. Yaten took a deep breath.

“I . . . maybe was wrong earlier,” he began carefully. “I was wrong about you. You 
have too much talent to give up now, after all you’ve been through. And you have 
all the energy and ambition you need to achieve your dream and fulfill your duty, 
at the same time. You just can’t give up.”

He was dumbfounded to find her eyes were brimming with tears. Especially when she 
leaned forward and hesitantly brushed her fingertips against the exposed skin on his 
chest that the loosened top of his robe failed to cover. At that moment, Yaten was 
suddenly aware of their closeness and the blood that was rushing quickly to his head, 
coloring his cheeks pink, and he found himself thinking how pretty she looked with 
the dim light of the room casting shadows about her face.

“Do . . . do you really mean that, Yaten-kun?” she asked with a choking sound to her 
voice.

He hesitated, then nodded. “I wouldn’t lie to you,” he replied, his voice hushed. 
“You . . . you’re really something, and I . . .” he paused, feeling his face grow 
hot, “. . . I believe in you.”

She stared at him as if she couldn’t look away, and Yaten found himself in the same 
predicament, unable to take his eyes off of her. He wanted to say more, but at that 
moment as they stared at each other, words were unusually hard to come by, even for 
someone like Yaten who always seemed to have something to say. But he couldn’t think 
of anything. It was as if all logical though in his mind had been obscured by a 
thick layer of fog, and the only thing he was aware of was Minako, sitting across 
from him with her wide blue eyes glistening.

Finally, he managed a weak, “Minako,” but then he was cut off as Minako leaned 
forward and kissed him, right there in her bedroom.

To say he was surprised was an understatement. Especially when he found himself 
kissing her back.

It was innocent enough; the kiss only lasted a few seconds before Yaten began to 
panic and pushed her away roughly, his eyes wide in shock as she stared back at 
him. His heart was hammering away in his chest, and he was astounded to find that 
kissing her had somehow felt . . . right. And that feeling was both exhilarating 
and frightening at the same time.

“S-sorry,” Minako squeaked, going bright red.

Flushing himself, Yaten tried not to think of how attractive she looked with the 
blush staining her cheeks and her damp hair framing her face. He forced a glare as 
he stared at her and tried to fight back the desire to kiss her again. “Don’t do 
things like that,” he said, but his voice came out too shaky to sound threatening 
or convincing.

Minako shook her head quickly, eyes wide as she began to babble. “I’m sorry. I 
won’t do that again, I mean, I don’t even know why I . . .”

But then he grabbed the blonde and roughly pressed his lips against hers. Minako 
mumbled a half-hearted protest against his lips before melting into his embrace 
and kissing him back. For what may have been the first time in his life, Yaten 
found his actions being driven by pure, raw emotion, and he rather enjoyed the new 
sensations coursing through him. The kisses became deeper and more insistent, and 
before either soldier was fully aware of it, their robes had disappeared, leaving 
their pale bodies entwining together.

Yaten needed a way to escape from his pain, his doubt, his suffering, and he knew 
Minako felt the same way . . . but he never meant for it to go as far as it did. 
It was only later when Minako was lying in his arms that he realized what he had 
done, and by then it was too late. The damage had been done, and, mortified, he 
managed to sneak out without waking her.

From that moment on, Yaten avoided Minako completely. The Princess returned to 
them soon afterward, giving him a legitimate excuse for his absence, and a part of 
him just wanted to forget that night even happened. A larger, more insistent part 
wanted him to believe it hadn’t been a mistake, but by then, he and his companions 
were already making plans to go back to Kinmoku. Then the battle against Galaxia 
broke out, taking Minako’s life as she selflessly sacrificed herself and her 
dreams for Yaten’s sake.

And after the battle ended and everyone was resurrected, he didn’t even say 
goodbye to her when he, Taiki, Seiya, and Kakyuu left the Earth for good. Or so he 
thought.


*****

A soft question from Minako brought him back to the present, and he turned to her. 
“What?”

She looked nervously up at him, hands clasped tightly in her lap. “What do you 
know?” she repeated.

Yaten gulped. “I . . . I know that you . . . became pregnant,” he replied, his 
voice steady and quiet and detached as if the magnitude of the situation hadn’t 
quite hit him yet. He noticed Minako’s hands tighten into fists, then, choosing 
his words carefully, he added, “And I know that you had a miscarriage.”

Minako had to look away then. Tears were blurring her vision as she bit her teeth 
together and whispered, “So you know everything.”

Inhaling shakily, Yaten ran a hand through his snow-dampened bangs. “Not quite . . .”
he said, his voice hushed. “But I . . . I need to think. This is . . . hard to 
believe . . .” He stopped, his voice trailing off. Then, clearing his throat, he 
moved to sit in the vacant swing next to Minako.

“Do you mind talking about it?” he asked softly. “I . . . I only know what your 
medical records show.”

She glanced at him, raising her eyebrows. “I take it you’ve been talking to Ami-chan.”

Yaten looked away. “I had to talk to someone,” he murmured, then he looked back up at 
the blonde. “But I had no idea . . .”

“It’s okay,” Minako said quietly, eyes downcast.

“No, it’s not!” he exclaimed. “Mina, I . . .”

“Stop it,” she whispered, biting her teeth together. “Please, Yaten, just stop. 
There’s nothing you can say now.”

He stared at her for a long moment, pale, unwavering green eyes focusing on her 
face as he realized there was, in fact, something he could say. Something that 
hadn’t been said long ago that needed to be said now.

“I . . .” he breathed, choking on the cold air, “. . . I’m sorry.”

Minako looked up, eyes wide. “What?”

Yaten swallowed, steadying his voice. “I’m sorry.”

She shook her head and let out a hoarse laugh. “You’re sorry?”

“I am,” he said softly, looking seriously at her. “I . . . I should have been there 
for you.”

She stared at him for a moment, eyes wide. Yaten detected a faint glimmer of hope 
shining briefly in those blue eyes, mixed within the self-loathing, misery, and 
confusion, but it was gone seconds later as Minako looked away. 

“How could you have been?” she whispered. “You had your own life, your own duty, 
your own world to go back to.”

“I know that . . . But still . . . I could have found a way to . . .”

“It doesn’t matter now,” Minako interrupted sharply, turning her suddenly narrow 
eyes in his direction. “The damage is already done. No use dwelling on the past.”

Her words caught him off-guard, and he gazed at her for a few long moments, 
expression unreadable. “Hypocrisy doesn’t suit you, Minako.”

Her narrowed eyes suddenly widened. “What?”

Feeling as if he had struck a nerve, Yaten stared intently at her. “How can you 
tell me not to dwell on the past when that’s all you’ve been doing for the past 
six years?”

Minako opened her mouth to say something, then stopped, looking very unsure of 
herself. “I haven’t . . .”

“You have.” Yaten stood up from the swing, leaving it swaying behind him, and he 
looked down at the blonde, who was now staring up at him through glassy eyes. 
“I’ve talked to them. Everyone. And they’ve all told me the same thing -- you’ve 
been a different person ever since we left Earth. For years you’ve been thinking 
of nothing but what happened, and now it’s tearing you up inside and making you 
miserable. Yet you still can’t let the past go, can you?” He paused, his 
expression growing grim. “Isn’t that right?”

She swallowed hard, face going pale as her hands gripped the swing so tightly that 
her knuckles were white. “Yes . . .”

“Then why?” he murmured earnestly. “Why are you punishing yourself like this?”

Minako’s lower lip trembled. “It’s not that simple. I can’t forget about it.”

“Tell me why.”

Wide blue eyes stared up at him for a long, silent moment, and Yaten could sense a 
deep inner conflict within them, but he waited patiently for a response. He didn’t 
have to wait long.

“Because it’s my fault,” Minako whispered, lowering her head.

Yaten’s eyes widened, and he barely had time to ask her what she meant because at 
that moment, Minako’s slender, trembling frame seemed to collapse inward. Her body 
gave a great shudder, then she slumped forward and began to cry. Yaten was at her 
side in an instant, wrapping his arms around her shaking shoulders as the blonde 
sobbed.

“It’s my fault,” she kept mumbling through her tears. “It’s my f-fault.”

Her face was buried in his chest, so Yaten couldn’t see her face. “What are you 
talking about?” he asked quietly. She shook her head, whimpering. “Look at me.”

Trembling, she lifted her head so he could see her mournful, tear-streaked face, 
and his heart broke a little bit at the sight. “I sh-should have been more careful,” 
she murmured, her chin quivering. “The miscarriage was my f-fault . . .”

“No,” he said fiercely, grabbing her by the shoulders. “It wasn’t.”

She shook his hands off, eyes wet and burning. “You don’t know!” she shouted 
suddenly, then she began to cry again. “I . . . I k-killed someone, Yaten. I did 
the one thing I thought I'd never do . . . I killed an innocent person! And not 
just any person . . . I killed my own child! What kind of senshi am I if I can’t 
keep something so precious safe?”

Yaten couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “Minako, you didn’t kill anyone,” he 
said. “It was an accident.”

“I-it wasn’t,” she hiccupped, shaking her head desperately. “I knew it . . . I let 
it happen . . .”

Yaten could feel a knot forming in his stomach. “No . . . you don’t mean that.”

“I d-do, too.” Minako took a deep, trembling breath and scrunched her eyes shut.  
“I recognized the signs . . . but I refused to believe I was p-pregnant, even 
though I had a feeling in the back of my mind that it was true. And I . . . I felt 
like such a horrible person after that youma attacked me, after I found out I lost 
the baby because . . . oh, God . . . I was actually grateful! I was GRATEFUL that 
my own child was dead!”

The knot in Yaten’s stomach pulled tighter at those words. He placed a slim hand 
tentatively on her shoulder. “Minako.”

A small whimper escaped her lips as her shouting died down to a low murmur, and 
Minako lowered her head. “I realized after that what a truly terrible person I 
was. And so I . . . I decided to give up on my dreams . . .”

“But that’s no reason to . . .”

“I gave up! I had to!” She looked back up at him, her pale eyes beautiful and 
shining with tears in the faint light of the street lamps. “Could you imagine what 
would happen if everyone else found out? No one could ever love someone like me, 
not after what happened. No one, not the public, not my friends, not you . . .”

Yaten’s heart skipped a beat. “Minako,” he whispered.

But then she was crying again, her body shaking with hard, hollow sobs. “I c-can’t 
be a leader to the others . . . I’m not even fit to protect Usagi-chan if I can’t 
keep my own child safe.”

Green eyes softened as he looked down at her. “Minako, if you weren’t a fit 
soldier, do you think the others would stand by you as they have all these years? 
Ami-chan . . . Mako-chan . . . all of them . . . They’re not stupid. There’s a 
reason why you’ve been called the leader. They believe in you.”

“But why?” she gasped out, snowflakes clinging to her hair. “Do you know how many 
times I’ve died . . . died saving Usagi-chan in battle and then been brought back 
after she won? And every single time . . . I’ve secretly wished that I just remain 
dead because I know the only reason I come back is because of my duty. I w-want my 
own life, but I know I’ll never have it, so I’m going to go on and do nothing but 
protect the people I love until one day I d-die and never wake up.”

“No . . .” said Yaten. “You don’t really mean that . . .”

“I do mean it. Every word,” she said fiercely, swiping at her eyes with her sleeve. 
“Now you know what an awful person I am.”

He was silent, staring at her.

“Y-you probably hate me,” she hiccupped, lowering her head. “I don’t blame you.”

Yaten looked at her for a long, quiet moment before pulling something from his 
pocket and moving to her side. “Come here,” he said softly. Minako looked up, and 
her eyes widened as Yaten gently used the handkerchief in his hand to wipe the 
tears and streaks of mascara from her face. She swallowed hard as she searched the 
Light’s face for any sign of what he was feeling or thinking, but Yaten’s 
expression remained impassive the whole time. Finally, he took his hand away from 
her face and shook his head.

“I could never hate you, Minako,” he said softly.

Minako stared at him silently, then looked away, eyes still full of tears. 
“But . . . I hate myself. And if I can’t love myself, who can?”

“Minako, don’t say things like that,” Yaten said quietly.

“Who can?!” she asked desperately, her shoulders shaking with the sobs she tried 
to hold back.

That was when Yaten grabbed her by the shoulders, pulled her to him, and crushed 
Minako in such a tight hug that for a moment, she lost her breath. But then she 
relaxed and buried her face into his chest, crying as if every miserable, pent-up 
emotion that had built up and festered within her over the years had suddenly 
surfaced, and she was in the process of crying every tear she had ever held back 
her whole life. After a few minutes, her sobs grew quieter and quieter until they 
became gentle whimpers, and Yaten held her trembling form against him and laced his 
fingers through her hair.

“Please don’t say thing like that,” he said softly, slim arms tightening around her 
as he hugged her. “Please . . . You’re so much better than that. You . . . you’re 
one if the best people I’ve ever known.”

She hiccupped and buried her face into his chest. “It’s not true . . .” Minako 
whispered. “I don’t deserve it . . . I . . . I’m not . . .” Her words became 
unintelligible then, and Yaten continued to hold her, comforting her in the only 
way he knew how.

Suddenly, both soldiers froze where they stood as a chilling voice echoed down 
from somewhere above them. 

“What a lovely spectacle . . .”

Yaten felt the blood drain from his face as he looked up to behold the sight of 
the winged woman hovering above them. “Hecate,” he started, but he never got to 
finish. 

Suddenly, acting on reflex, Minako shoved him away from her, and he fell heavily 
to the ground just as Hecate released a blast of crackling black energy that caused 
Minako to cry out in pain. Yaten looked up as she stumbled forward, wincing and 
clutching an arm that had blood streaming down it, staining the sleeve of her 
sweater red.

“Minako!” he exclaimed, leaping up so he could see her wound. “Are you okay?”

Ignoring him, Minako clutched her arm and fixed her hate-filled glare on the evil 
woman’s face. “What the hell do you want?” she growled, surprising Yaten with her 
vehemence.

Hecate’s thin red lips curved into a cruel smile which showed her fangs, and she 
let out a high, bone-chilling laugh. “Princess Venus,” she purred, her leathery 
wings flapping slowly as she descended slightly. “Can you not guess the reason I 
am here?”

“I don’t know,” Minako replied scathingly, blood streaming through the fingers of 
the hand holding her wounded arm. “It doesn’t by any chance have to do with a 
certain Princess Serenity, does it?”

The winged woman’s cold, cruel grin all but confirmed those suspicions, but still 
Hecate said, “Perhaps.”

Minako pulled her hand from her wound and wiped the blood on her pants, glaring 
defiantly up at Hecate. “I won’t let you kill her.”

“Oh, of course,” replied Hecate condescendingly. “But I have other plans. You see, 
once Princess Serenity’s guardians are dead, she will be miserable and alone, and 
then there will be no one left to protect her. I want to make her suffer, make her 
wish she was dead, and in order to do that, I must kill those who protect her, 
those she loves. And I think I’ve decided that the first to die will be . . .  the 
leader of the Sailor Senshi.” A cold, infuriating smirk curled on the edge of the 
woman’s lips as she turned to look at Minako. “Do you know who I am speaking of, 
Princess Venus?”

Minako stood shakily to her feet, ignoring the pain from her arm and the terror 
she felt inside as she looked impassively up at Hecate. “I have a hunch,” she said 
calmly. “But even without my powers, I plan on putting up a fight.”

“That’s perfect,” grinned the winged woman. “I do enjoy a battle in which my 
opponent struggles. It makes killing them so much more satisfying.”

“There’s no way I’m gonna let you do that!” Yaten burst out, clenching his fists 
as Hecate and Minako turned to him.

“Stay out of this,” hissed Minako, her eyes darkening. Yaten opened his mouth to 
protest, but Minako had already turned back to Hecate.

“You can’t harm him, though,” she said coolly, gesturing towards Yaten. “He is an 
outsider to this galaxy and was not affiliated with the Moon Kingdom in the past, 
so you have no reason to kill him.”

“You may think that,” grinned Hecate, “but how will you stop me once I kill you?”

Minako glared up at her for a moment, then looked at Yaten over her shoulder. 

“Leave.”

Yaten’s eyes widened. “Minako, wha . . .”

“This isn’t your battle,” she hissed at him. Blue eyes softened slightly as she 
smiled a little. “I’ll be alright.”

“How can you say that?” he protested. “Your powers are gone! What are you gonna 
do, have a fistfight with this witch?”

Hecate’s grin was one of wicked amusement as she watched them. “What’s the point? 
There’s nothing that can stop me from killing both of you.”

Minako glared up at her for a moment, then she turned back to Yaten. “Go.”

His expression was unchanging as he said softly, “I’m not leaving.”

The blonde spun around to glare at him, her eyes flashing angrily. “Now’s not the 
time to be brave, Yaten!” she shouted. “You have other people to protect!”

Emotion flickered through Yaten’s eyes for a moment as he stared at her. “Minako, 
I . . .”

“GO!”

“Enough talk,” hissed Hecate impatiently, throwing out a clawed hand. “You’re both 
as good as dead anyhow.”

Minako’s eyes widened as a small glimmer of black power began to grow in Hecate’s 
hand, and a sense of panic seized her as she realized it would only be a matter of 
moments before the evil woman decided to launch the deadly blast at one of them, 
and she’d be damned if it was Yaten. Minako gritted her teeth and turned to face 
the Light, who was still standing behind her, unmoving.

“Damn it, Yaten, don’t just stand there!” she shouted desperately, stepping towards 
him. “Leave! NOW!”

“NO!” yelled Yaten.

But he wasn’t yelling at her.

Minako spun around just as Hecate released the large, burning ball of black energy, 
and at that moment, she knew she was going to die. Aimed straight for her chest, 
the fatal blast of power streaked towards Minako with deadly accuracy, and for a 
moment, time stood still. As Minako closed her eyes, accepting the fact that her 
life as she knew it was about to end, an unusual feeling came over her. Perhaps it 
was because she didn’t care about her life anymore, or maybe because she felt she 
had served her purpose by protecting Usagi and was ready to die, but for some 
reason, a feeling of calm contentment swept through Minako, and for the first time 
in years, she felt at peace.

Then the pain came.

Only it wasn’t as bad as she expected. Instead of the unbearable, excruciating 
pain she thought would come with death, Minako only felt sharp, burning prickles 
of pain sear through her chest. For a moment, she wondered what the fuss was about, 
why she had feared death for so long even though she had lost her life in battle 
before. It took her a few moments to realize that the blood dripping down her chest 
wasn’t coming from her own wounds, and the pain-filled scream that rang through 
the air didn’t come from her throat.

Only then did Minako realize she wasn’t dead.

A panicked feeling seized her, and Minako’s eyes flew open just as Yaten’s body 
began to slump towards her, blood flowing freely from the gaping wound through his 
shoulder. A look of horror crossed the blonde’s face as her reflexes kicked in, and 
she dashed forward to catch him.

“YATEN!” she screamed.

The only thing Yaten could think of as he arched towards the ground, blood flowing 
in a stream down his shoulder, was that he was in a lot of pain and he was about to 
get a face full of snow. Time seemed to slow, and as he began to fall closer and 
closer towards the snowy ground, he closed his eyes and readied himself for the 
cold, uncomfortable feeling of snow in his face. But the snow never came, and 
instead Yaten found himself landing on something very soft and very warm. He winked 
open an eye and found himself in Minako’s arms, and he groaned softly. The blonde 
idiot had dashed forward and caught him before he fell, leaving herself completely 
open to attack. He would have scowled and yelled at her under other circumstances, 
but Yaten could only let out a soft moan of pain as the two senshi collapsed heavily 
onto the ground.

“Yaten . . .” Minako whimpered, holding his unmoving body in her arms. She gently 
turned him over so she could look at him, but his eyes were closed and his face was 
growing very pale. “Yaten, don’t . . .”

Yaten’s eyes fluttered open weakly, and his gaze was foggy as he peered up at her. 
Minako, looking relieved, brushed the tips of her fingers over his cheek gently. 
“Minako . . .”

Her gaze left his face to look at the gaping wound going through his shoulder, and 
she reached a hand towards it, then hesitated, looking frightened. “Yaten . . . why 
did you do that?” she whispered, her eyes glassy.

He smiled gently, but she could see how tightly his teeth were clenched together 
in pain. “Because,” he said weakly, “I couldn’t bear to watch you die again . . .”

A strangled groan escaped Yaten’s lips as the torn muscles in his shoulder 
suddenly began to spasm, causing blood to spurt erratically out of his wound. 
Minako’s eyes widened in panic, and, forgetting all modesty, she yanked her 
sweater off and quickly pressed it against Yaten’s injury to stop the flow of 
blood, ignoring the chill that passed over her from the sudden lack of warmth.

“You shouldn’t have done that,” she said shakily, applying pressure to the wound 
as tears began to sting the corners of her eyes. “I was supposed to die.”

He blinked up at her, wincing, but whether it was in pain, at her words, or both, 
Minako wasn’t sure. “Not without achieving your dream,” he said, swallowing hard. 
“You have to keep living.”

Minako bit her teeth together, looking at him furiously as a tear slid down her 
cheek. “Not without you!”

Yaten’s lower lip quivered slightly as his vision blurred. “Minako . . .” he 
murmured. Then he closed his eyes, and his breathing began to grow shallow. 
“Don’t cry . . .”

But tears were spilling down her cheeks already, and she looked down at Yaten as 
he grew silent. Eyes wide, Minako grabbed him and shook him desperately. “Damn it, 
Yaten, don’t do this!” she sobbed. “Don’t die on me, please, you weren’t supposed 
to do this!”

Yaten’s eyes flew open, and he bit his lip and inhaled sharply. “Wasn’t supposed 
to . . . ?” he repeated incredulously. “Stop being so noble.”

“You shouldn’t have interfered!” the blonde shouted, pounding her fists into the 
snow.

“What was I supposed to do, sit back and watch you die?” Yaten asked with a fierce 
grimace. “I’ve done that before, or have you forgotten already?”

Minako’s chin quivered, tears spilling down her cheeks. “Leave it to you to argue 
with me when you’re mortally wounded.”

A smile crossed Yaten’s lips at that, then he swallowed hard and whispered, 
“Listen to me, Minako. No matter what happens . . . you have to go through with 
your dream. Can you promise me that?”

Gulping, Minako nodded. “Yes,” she said softly, wiping the tears from her eyes. 
“But . . . but . . . stop talking like you’re on your deathbed.” She stopped, 
sniffling. “You’ll be there to see it happen. You’re not gonna die.”

A soft, cool hand slowly reached up to cup her cheek, and Minako’s eyes widened as 
Yaten smiled slightly. “It’s okay if I do . . .” he murmured, “because this time, I 
. . . I got to protect you.”

Trembling, she whispered, “But you shouldn’t have done it . . . You have other 
people to protect, and I . . . I . . .”

“. . . Mina . . .” Yaten’s eyes began to droop closed again, and he said, in a 
voice so quiet she had to strain to hear it, “you would have been a wonderful 
mother.”

Minako’s chin quivered as his eyes shut completely and his hand slid from her 
face, and she leaned forward to stare down at him. “Y-Yaten?” she whispered, 
sniffling.

Yaten didn’t reply; his eyes remained closed, and he was very still.

Minako swallowed hard as her blood ran cold. “Yaten?” She reached out a hand to 
shake him. “Yaten?!” 

When the Light made no movement once again, a feeling of panic seized Minako, and 
she stopped shaking him and leaned forward to put her ear against Yaten’s chest. 
She listened very carefully for a moment before relaxing slightly as she detected 
a quiet heartbeat, and she sat back, her brow creased in worry. Even though he was 
still alive right now, Minako had very bad feeling that Yaten would die if she 
didn’t find some help very soon. Swallowing past the lump in her throat, the 
blonde forced her trembling legs to move so she could stand to her feet, wobbling 
a little as she looked around.

A flapping sound above her head caused Minako to freeze where she stood. Her fists 
clenched reflexively as she turned, slowly, and raised her head to behold the sight 
of Hecate hovering menacingly above her. A hot burst of anger surged through Minako 
at the victorious, gloating smirk on the winged woman’s face, as if she was terribly 
proud of herself and had greatly enjoyed watching the dramatic scene unfold before 
her.

“You . . .” Minako hissed, biting her teeth together.

“What a shame, Princess Venus,” said Hecate in a sickeningly sweet voice, and she 
grinned wickedly. “It looks like your efforts to protect that alien soldier were 
in vain.”

Minako’s face burned in anger as Hecate began to laugh, but she managed to contain 
her fury and stood her ground. The only outside sign of her efforts to remain calm 
were her fists, which were clenched tightly and shaking at her sides. “They weren’t 
in vain,” she replied, glaring defiantly up at the laughing creature. “Yaten’s not 
dead, and he’s not going to die, not now.”

“Oh?” chuckled Hecate, her wings flapping lazily. “But you have no way of stopping 
me from finishing him off, do you? I could kill you both right now.”

Even though she was filled with anger inside, Minako managed to look impassively up 
at Hecate. “You’re right,” she said calmly.

Hecate stopped laughing for a moment, narrowing her gleaming red eyes at the blonde, 
but she remained silent.

Minako stared up at her, her expression emotionless as she continued, knowing Hecate 
was becoming more unnerved with each word, “You’re right,” she repeated. “You can 
kill me, and you can kill Yaten. You can kill every single one of us, but you can 
never kill our faith in Usagi-chan. As long as that’s true, you can never win this 
battle.”

“Shut up . . .” growled Hecate, her white face taut and quivering in anger.

“And you know it, too, don’t you?”

“Shut up.”

The calm look on Minako’s face disappeared, and a small smirk curved her lips as she 
said, slowly and carefully, “Usagi-chan is going to kick your ass.”

“SHUT UP!”

Hecate’s cry of rage rang through the cold air as she flew with blinding speed 
toward the blonde soldier, and before Minako could blink, the winged creature’s 
clawed hand swiped across her blood-smeared face. A flash of pain struck the 
blonde, then everything went black, and she knew no more.

*****

AN: This was a long chapter that has been a long time coming, so I’m glad it’s done. 
I’ve had this particular subplot planned out for years, and I realize the situation 
posed in it may be a bit controversial, but things like that happen much more often 
than a lot of people think. It’s nothing earth-shattering, it’s not something I’m 
promoting, and even if I get flamed for it, I stand by this chapter because it’s an 
important part of this story. With that said, I’m going to go listen to Spring 
Awakening for a little mood music. Hey, at least I didn’t make Yaten and Minako’s 
situation as tragic as Melchior and Wedla’s, right? . . . Anyone?  . . . No? 
Alrighty then!