Disclaimer: Sailor Moon, its characters and universe were created by Naoko Takeuchi. I'm merely a fan of the series, writing stories as an attempt to maintain sanity while studying. I expect no profit from this. Except for the sanity, of course.

A.N.: This is as much a Minako/Yaten character study as some much needed closure in the form of a missing scene before the Starlights leave the Earth. Also, sometimes it is a bit confusing to write things when Yaten changes into Healer and along with it comes the gender change. ^^"

Understanding

Yaten Kou walked with his Princess and his comrades into the school building. It was quiet like it never was for the brief time he studied there. It really was amazing and quite fortunate that the day after (almost) the end of times was a Sunday.

Interestingly, Luna and Artemis led the way, with Kakyuu walking behind them next to Usagi, who was still attached to Mamoru's arm. It seemed impossible to pry those two apart for the time being. The two princesses talked animatedly as the large group made their way towards the roof. As they reached the stairs, they were separated into smaller groups. He watched ahead as Seiya talked with Rei and Makoto and a little ways behind them Taiki talked quietly with Ami. That left Yaten sharing companionable silence with Minako. It was unusual for the blonde to be so quiet, and the silver-haired Light found himself wondering about her, for perhaps the umpteenth time.

When he first met her, Yaten easily dismissed her as another airhead of an obsessive fan. One more of thousands of shallow people leading shallow lives, worried with those who had fame for whatever inane reason he wasn't bothered to wonder. He didn't have time or energy to deal with that, so he tried as much as he could to shut these people out. But somehow it wasn't as easy to do so with her.

He honestly could not understand why he took the seat next to her in the classroom when she pointed it out to him. Going in, he knew it was a bad idea, and honestly he'd prefer a seat at the back. Maybe he was just tired, after all being an idol and looking for their Princess was taking more effort and energy than he'd first imagined. Maybe he thought she'd be easy to shut out, as she seemed just like thousands of other fans he'd encountered so far.

Maybe it was fate.

Yaten had been born with a special ability. A gift, people would say. Most of the time he'd call it a curse. After all, who would consider themselves lucky to be able to sense a star dying? Or to be able to sense a person's feelings and moods? Honestly, most of the time he did not even want to know how he himself was feeling, let alone a bunch of other people he didn't care about. So from an early age he struggled and learned to control his sensory power. He attuned himself to sense star seeds being taken when they'd traveled to Earth after the Princess so they'd know if Galaxia was near. But most of the time he could downgrade other people's feelings to a soft background noise.

Minako's feelings were like rock music blaring into his ears. He found it especially hard to block her. Even the turmoil within Usagi he could ignore most of the time (she missed her boyfriend, English was hard, she worried about her friends, she was hungry, she found Seiya irritating yet she liked him, blablabla). But Minako was different: She put on a front, projecting so many things yet deep inside what she really felt could be the complete opposite of what she chose to show the world. That had him baffled and quite annoyed, at first. If there was one thing he really hated were people who pretended to be something they weren't. Usagi, for instance, could be annoying with all her feelings, but she was as honest as his Princess had always been. Minako was a well of contradictory emotions and moods, and for some reason he couldn't block her out. So it wasn't really a surprise when he was especially rude or short of patience when dealing with her.

She wanted to be a star. She craved attention and the spotlight like nothing else. She was a natural leader, and had all the qualities and abilities to follow her dreams. But she'd be content in being second in command, to leave the spotlight for someone else. In a way, she didn't think she deserved to be a star. It would be selfish. She had another, bigger dream that was more important to her, and she needed to focus on that first. Before Yaten found out she was Sailor Venus, the specifics of that bigger dream were always clouded for him. Afterwards, it became crystal clear. Like what his Princess meant to him, Usagi meant the world to her, and Minako would go to the deep end to protect her.

She so badly wanted a boyfriend. She thought of herself as Aphrodite reincarnated, and before he'd known she was Sailor Venus he just smirked to himself, thinking of how conceited she was. And so Minako craved love and romance and the fairytale ending. But she'd lived a fairytale, or part of one anyway. And life always managed to be harder, colder, infinitely more brutal than the fantasy. She'd been hurt and betrayed, and Fate seemed to point out that her love life was hopeless, always. Deep down, she thought she'd never find the man that was supposed to be with her. Yet that was okay, because she already had Love in her life, and someone for whom she'd lay her life on the line.

She projected an image of the ditzy airhead blonde who was always happy and laughing exuberantly at the smallest thing. But when Yaten finally learned of her secret identity, he could understand why she constantly worried that a new threat had come into her world, and how she desperately needed to be stronger and better so she could protect everyone. He could understand the worry that plagued her constantly that, as the Leader of her Princess' Guard, she needed to be ready for anything and one day she might need to make decisions she most dreaded about. It was the sort of thing that might drive people insane, so it was a small wonder that most of the time she behaved like one.

She put out an image filled with laughter and carelessness and so much energy because she died a little bit inside whenever she thought of the battlefield and decisions she'd once made and might have to make again.

She smiled when she wanted to scream.

Of course, in the beginning he couldn't get a grasp of all these contradictory feelings and moods. It all just seemed quite insane, if he was honest. As he got to know her better, he thought it was a wonder how many times she'd put a brave front and act cheerful for the sake of her friends. When he finally knew her true identity and her true mission, he could start to understand all the things she hid behind her so many masks. But it just made it all the more painful to be around her. It was almost unbearable.

Still, even if he'd come far in understanding why she worked the way she did, nothing could have prepared him for the moment Healer watched Venus take the blast that was meant for her. Sailor Star Healer was dazed and uncomprehending as she asked why she and the others had done that, and she'd not been prepared for the answer to that either.

"Yes… Sailor Moon and the Starlights are important to us." That had been her words, what she'd answered. And what Healer could feel radiating off of Venus was, "You matter. You are important to me. I couldn't let you die."

Afterwards, it was rather incredible that Healer and her companions could keep on with that battle. For the briefest of moments, nothing made sense and it seemed infinitely easier to simply give up. But that was never the fate of a Sailor Senshi. Healer knew of sacrifice, and she'd honor it until the very end. Despite all the odds against them, Sailor Moon proved why every single one of her protectors deposited all their hope on her.

Smiling slightly at the memory, Yaten didn't realize what he was doing until he'd stopped in front of Minako, blocking her path. The blonde girl looked up curiously at him as their friends kept on their way to the roof. "Yaten?"

He looked at her then for a moment. He wasn't sure what he wanted to do or say, and that was unusual for him. Throwing all caution to the wind, he said, "I never got to thank you. For saving me."

Minako blinked her blue eyes up at him. Yaten could feel some internal struggle within her and a little bit of panic rise up, but on the outside she kept perfectly calm. "You don't need to thank me. It's what I had to do. It's my duty as a Sailor Senshi."

He frowned at her. "Your duty is to protect your Princess, not some stranger to your planet who'd almost never been nice to you."

She raised an eyebrow dryly at him. "You really think I'd let you die just because you were rude and insensitive?" It really seemed a ludicrous thought, but Yaten just shrugged one shoulder and threw a half smile in her way. "I know my duty," Minako continued, "Usagi is the most important thing in the world for us. I take my role as leader of the Senshi very seriously. I knew Rei would always be the one to get her, that's just the way things work. And even though I'm loath to admit it, you guys are more powerful than us. It made sense, strategically, to spare you for the battle ahead. And I do like you and I couldn't let you die."

Minako shrugged one shoulder of her own, and seemed to think the matter was settled as she moved past him to keep on after the others. Yaten then pulled her by the wrist to keep her where she was. Minako looked back at him and she could tell he was struggling with what to say.

"Hey," she said, softening up a bit. "I've died before. It's no big deal." She finished with a smile that was meant to be reassuring, but it turned out to be anything but to Yaten.

"Stop that!" He barked up at her, his green eyes blazing, and she was taken aback by this attitude. Sighing, he dropped his shoulders a bit as he closed his eyes, but his hand remained firmly around her wrist, keeping her in place. "You are a very maddening person, Minako."

She frowned at him and opened her mouth to say something, but she wasn't sure what. Yaten always seemed to have that effect on her. His moods and reactions seemed so wild that she never knew what to expect of him.

Smiling slightly, Yaten shook his head, mostly to himself, and in another moment he'd pulled her to him, snaking his arms around her still frame in a hug she'd never have expected in a million years. Minako kept frozen in place, locked in his embrace as she was too shocked to do anything else.

"You are one of the strongest and craziest persons I know," he told her as he kept a firm grip on her. "You feel so much yet you keep it all inside to protect those important to you."

As he said that, her eyes widened in understanding. In a flash, she knew that somehow he could see past her layers and her masks and her lies. She didn't know how. Maybe he was psychic, like Rei. If she'd known that, she would've tried to put up a barrier against him, like she'd learned to do with the Shinto priestess. (But then, maybe she couldn't have, even if she wanted to. After all, she could only fool Rei because she'd had so many years of experience of living with her back in the Silver Millennium. And sometimes, she slipped and Rei would feel her internal turmoil.)

"I do need to thank you," Yaten kept on speaking softly, unmindful of the revelations she was experiencing. "Because you are important to me, too. And it is a big deal."

Minako felt tears springing to her eyes, and she closed them to keep them from spilling over. She would not cry, not here, not now. But she finally moved and wrapped her arms around him, returning the hug as fiercely as she could.

They stood like that for a few minutes. When they parted, they exchanged a genuine smile.

"Thank you, for that." Minako blushed slightly as she said it, and Yaten looked a bit confused at that. "It's nice to know that someone gets it and… Just, thank you." Yaten nodded back in reply.

They didn't say anything else, for they didn't need words anymore. She wrapped her hand in his and tugged him forward as they mounted the final steps to the roof. When they reached the others, she let go of his hand and saw him off with a smile and warm, happy words.

Sailor Star Healer smiled back before parting, as she felt that Minako was being true and was at peace, for once. It was possible that they would never see each other again, but it was a small comfort to know that she'd helped that girl somehow. A brilliant girl who felt everything wholeheartedly, even if she chose to hide it from everyone else, and who cared deeply about her. Healer was sure she'd never forget her and these Senshi of the Earth.