Minako's Retreat

Chapter One

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Minako sighed as she walked down the sidewalk. Cars rushed past her and the wind seemed more than happy to play with her hair. Minako's eyes remained downcast as she stared at the cement in front of her. Why was life so unfair? Or maybe it was destiny. Why was Destiny so unfair?

They were all gone, with the exception of one. Usagi. They had given up their lives for Usagi and Minako hadn't been there. She was supposed to be their leader and she hadn't there to help them. Usagi said she didn't blame her at all. In fact she said she was happy Minako hadn't been there, because at least now she had someone.

Things were becoming unstable for the planets. Once the death of the rulers of Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune were reported, leaders from all over the colonies and earth emerged to claim the planets. They were more than disappointed to find that next in line to rule those planets were none other than Venus and the moon. Unfortunately the same could not be said for earth, as a woman named Relena claimed them for her own. Relena. She seemed so innocent, but in truth, she wanted power more than anyone. It was because of her that the planets were unbalanced. She had practically declared war on the moon and Venus. She knew that once the leaders of the moon and Venus were disposed of, then the ruler of earth would by rights become the ruler of all the planets.

It wasn't hard to figure out her plan, Minako noted to herself. The power sucking little wrench was that predictable. Minako smiled to herself, she couldn't help but wish she could be there to see Relena's face when she found out that the rulers of the moon and Venus weren't even in their respective plants.

No, instead they were in earth. Hiding until the time finally came to strike. Usagi and Minako were now simply known as normal people. No one knew the difference, since no one had ever seen any of the princesses.

Suddenly something bumped into Minako's foot. Minako stopped and turned around to see a small pink ball resting beside her. She bent down and picked up the ball.

"Where did you go ball?" Came a hesitant little voice. Minako looked to up to see a small girl, no older than 6 looking around helplessly. And with no parents in sight. How irresponsible! Minako walked over to the small girl and smiled at her.

"Hello, is this your ball?" She asked as she bent down to the girls level. The girl nodded shyly looking first at the ball then at Minako. Minako smiled encouragingly at the girl and held it out to her.

"Oh well here you go, where is your mommy or daddy?" Minako inquired. Almost immediately she regreted it as the girls eyes welled up with tears.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to upset you! Oh please don't cry" Minako said urgently. The little girl used the back of her hand to wipe away the tears that fell from her cheeks.

"M-my mommy is on the colonies a-and daddy is out on another business trip!" The little girl let out a loud sob and knelt down to the ground, burying her had in her knees.

Minako looked at the girl helplessly. Why me! She asked herself.

"Er...are you here with anyone?" Minako tried. She couldn't just leave the little girl here by herself. Minako mentally sighed, why was it even just taking a simple walk became complicated?

"I-I'm here w-with Bruna." She said. Minako raised an eyebrow. Bruna? What a mean sounding name.

"Okay, lets go find Bruna... what was your name?" Minako asked in relief, happy that she had finally found out something to help this child get back to her family.

"NO! I don't want to go back to Bruna! S-she's gunna get mad at me!" The little girl cried. Minako looked up at the sky and began mentally cursing whoever felt like they had to make everything harder than it needed it to be.

"How about I talk to...Bruna.and tell her not to be mad?" Minako suggested. The little girl looked up. Her tear stained face broke Minako's heart.

"B-but what is she gets madder?"

Minako looked thoughtful for a second, "Do you know about the sailor scouts?" she asked the little girl and knew by the way the girls face light up, she did.

"oh yes!" She said.

Minako nodded, "Well if she doesn't listen to me and gets mad at you, I'll tell one of the sailor scouts and she'll come and talk to Bruna for you!" Minako said cheerfully. The girl looked very happy, and just seeing that was enough to brighten Minako up. It was odd, but for some reason the little girl's mood mattered very much to her.

"Now then, what was your name?" Minako asked as she helped the little girl up.

"My name's Itasha!" She said happily, her mood obviously getting better.

"Nice to met you Itasha, my name is Minako, Minako Aino." Minako said, "Now then, what does Bruna look like?"

The little girl giggled slightly, "Weeeeeell she reminds me of a boy! She has bushy eyebrows and she's always frowning like this!" Itasha pulled down the corners of her mouth causing her to frown in a very ridiculous manner. "and she smells funny! Kind of like a rotten...onion!" The girl seemed very proud of her crude description. Minako silently hoped the girl would never describe HER to anyone.

"Well then, lets go looking to her!" Minako said, not that she really had any clue as to what the woman looked like. The little girls description didn't help at all.

After an hour of searching Minako could tell Itasha was getting tired.

"How about we rest for a little while? We can get some Ice cream if you want." Minako suggested. This was met with an enthusiastic nod.

They sat down on a bench and licked their ice cream. Minako looked at the girl beside her. Her hair was a golden blond pulled back in two buns, each with a red ribbon that trailed down her back. Her eyes were an adorable shade of blue and her skin was olive coloured. She was wearing a yellow flowered sundress, which went to her knees.

Minako's own outfit was tanned Capri pants and a spaghetti strapped shirt, which bundled under her breasts then flowed freely. Her hair was pulled back by a red bow. She had never really lost her traditional hair do.

"Minako...it's okay that we can't find Bruna" Itasha said suddenly, staring at her ice cream. Minako looked over and her and cocked her head to the side.

"Eh? I thought you wanted to get home?"

Itasha slowly looked up at Minako, "Not anymore. No one at home really loves me. But I like being with you. You make everything okay. I don't want to go home. I want to stay with Minako!" She cried out the last part. Minako did a double take. She wanted to stay with her? But why? No, this wasn't right.

"Itasha. Please understand, I like you very much. In fact you've made my day much better, but your mother and father must be very worried!" Minako tried to reason with the girl.

Tears ran freely down the little girl's face. Minako felt a stronger urge to take the girl into her arms.

"No one wants me! I'll never have anyone to love me!" Itasha screamed and jumped off the bench and took off. Minako stared in shock for a second were the girl used to be. People were staring at her. She could feel it. Who cared? Suddenly a scream raked the air. Minako jumped up and took off to where she thought she heard the scream. She pushed past all the people who were running in the opposite direction as her.

Minako finally got to the spot everyone was running from. She found herself face to face with a large youma. But it wasn't the Youma that attracted Minako's attention. It was the little girl lying unconscious underneath it that held her gaze. Itasha..

Immediately Minako grabbed her wand and held it up into the air.

"Venus Crystal Power, Make up!" she yelled at the top of her lungs. She felt the warm light engulf her body and in a matter of seconds she stood fully transformed in front of the youma.

"Who are you?" it hissed in a hoarse voice.

Minako got into her pose, "I am Sailor V! Protector of Love, Beauty and all things innocent! How dare you attack a small defenceless child! For that I shall punish you!" Minako yelled out.

The Youma took a step forward, and prepared to attack, but Minako was quicker.

"Venus love and beauty shock!"

Minako poured everything she had into the attack. Millions of heart shaped chains emerged from her hands and encircled the offending beast. The Youma screeched in a high pitched manner until finally it feel to the ground and disappeared into ashes. Minako/Sailor Venus ran over to Itasha and picked her up.

"I'm so sorry Itasha," She said.

Suddenly the girl began to move. Her eyes fluttered open.

"S-sailor Venus?" She asked quietly. Minako smiled and placed a gloved finger on the girls head. In a way she was reading the girls mind. Finally what she was looking for appeared.

"Lets get you home," she muttered.

Minako followed the directions she had gotten from the girls head to lead her to an overly large mansion. Minako easily jumped onto the top of the gate. By this time everything was pitch black and seeing was normally hard. But Minako could see perfectly. She climbed up the vines the were latched onto the walls until finally she came to the one she was looking for. A large pink room filled with toys other little girls only dreamed of.

"Not loved ai?" Minako said out loud. She opened the window and climbed into the room. Minako walked over to the bed and laid the girl down on it.

Itasha was fast asleep by now. Minako didn't know why but she leaned over and gently kissed the girls forehead. Itasha smiled and cuddled in closer to the quilts. Minako took a step back. She could hear noise down stairs. Obviously Itasha's father was home. Minako needed make them come upstairs so they would know were she was. Minako Climbed out the window and slammed it forcefully. Good enough she thought happily.

Quatre was in a state of panic. He was in his limo on his way home when his cell rang. Quatre picked up the cell.

"Hello?" he asked into the phone.

"Uhhhh master Quatre, I have some bad news." Quatre immediately grew worried. The person on the phone was Itasha's Nanny Bruna.

"Were is Itasha?" he demanded.

"Well you see, I took her to the park and she ran away." The woman began. Quatre immediately hung up and turned on the intercom.

"Get back to the estate immediately! Don't worry about speeding, just hurry," He commanded. The driver nodded and increased speed. When he got home, Quatre didn't bother with all the excuses that Bruna was trying to give him.

Luckily the rest of the Gundam pilots were staying at his and they all seemed genuinely concerned. Quatre was about to scream with frustration at being so helpless when he heard something slam upstairs. Everything went quiet. Even Bruna stopped talking. Heero immediately had his gun out and all the Gundam pilots were alert. Quatre slowly walked up the stairs. When suddenly:

"Wait! Come back Sailor Venus! Please don't leave!"

Quatre dashed up the stairs and opened the door to Itasha's room. Itasha stood at the open window, still wearing her sundress.

"Oh god, Itasha! I was so worried," Quatre said as he scooped up his precious daughter. Itasha stared at him blankly.

"Itasha? What's wrong?" Quatre asked worriedly.

"Were's Minako?" She asked.

"Who? Itasha, who's Minako? Did she hurt you at all?" Quatre asked as he placed his daughter down.

Itasha gave him a funny look, "No, of course not! Minako's an angel! She helped me when I was lost! B-b-ut." Tears began to form in Itasha's eyes.

"But what?" Duo asked. Quatre hadn't been aware anyone had even followed. The Gundam pilots stood at the doorway watching.

Bruna came storming in.

"You gave me such a scare young lady!" The woman said furiously. Usually Itasha would have immediately apologized but instead:

"You cant get mad at me!" Itasha screamed. Quatre was taken back by how forcefully she said that. "Minako promised me she would talk to you so you wouldn't get mad! She said if you got mad at me then Sailormoon would talk to you!" She yelled again.

Bruna frowned, obviously annoyed by this.

"Please finish what you were saying Itasha," Quatre said kindly.

Itasha nodded. "Well...she helped me look for Bruna aaaaall day! But we couldn't find her. Then Minako bought me an ice cream. A-and.then..i asked her if I could live with her.but she said that you and mommy would miss me too much.a-and..i got mad at her a-and yelled at her and ran away." By this time the girl was crying.

"You asked if you could live with her?" Quatre asked, barely able to keep the hurt from his voice.

Itasha nodded.

"Are you not happy here?"

Itasha shook her head. "You're always working so I have to spend the day with Bruna and she's no fun. I never see you anymore cause your always working. But Minako didn't even know me and she spent the whole day with me cause I was lonely." She said as though it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Quatre winced, "I'm sorry I haven't been spending any time with you. Maybe tomorrow you, Duo, Heero, Trowa, Wufei and I will spend a whole day together. Would you like that?" Quatre asked.

Itasha smiled, "Oh yes! Then I can find Minako and apologize for yelling at her!"

Quatre nodded, "Indeed, I wouldn't mind meeting this Minako myself.."

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I was going over chapter one and decided I didn't like the format... so I began on the format, and when I started actually looking at the story, I was horrified by some of the mistakes in it. I've left in some things I didn't like, because I believe they need a bit more time to fix then I have. Once the entire story is complete i'll try and go back and fix it properly!

Thanks,

Ceso