A/N: This is not so much a prequel as it is a teaser of things to come, so I wouldn't say there's anything here that spoils too much of the plot for the rewrite. I have three more chapters planned for this, and once those are up and about I'll see where to go from there.

1.
- a passing glance -

They were walking down the street, through a crowd of men and women and children going about their day. The sky was a clear, aching blue dotted with the occasional puffy white cloud, the sun was riding high on its seat, and traffic was starting to build up in the lanes. Usagi, Ami, Rei and Makoto were grouped together, enjoying crepes and indulging in casual conversation while Minako lagged at the rear. Thumbs hooked in the pockets of her jeans and Artemis a comforting weight on one shoulder, she relished the warmth beating on her upturned face. She had already finished her treat and was content with simply enjoying the day with her friends.

"I hope the weather stays like this for the rest of the week," she told him.

"It's certainly gorgeous today," he agreed, "but I wouldn't mind having a bit of rain. Just listening to it helps me fall asleep."

"You always sleep; you're a cat."

"Correction: I'm a humanoid Mau alien that can transform into a cat. When we expend too much energy, we switch to that form to replenish it."

"…That's what cats do."

"At least we don't blow it all in five minutes!"

She tapped his pink nose and grinned. "Still a cat."

"Am not!" he went on to say, but the words dissolved into a large yawn and drew them out. His teeth clamped down on her finger and nibbled it.

She giggled. "Kitty-cat. Kitty, kitty, kitty!" Artemis growled in mock anger and threw a paw over her hand, his grip gentle and his bite applied with the slightest pressure.

They came upon a crosswalk thick with pedestrians, and as they arrived the signal switched between the universal symbols for WAIT to GO. They started moving, making their way across the street, and like a water skimmer Minako slipped seamlessly through them, past them, barely brushing up against them. Usagi and the others were not too far ahead; it looked like Rei and Mako were teasing her about something. Most likely about Mamoru, she assumed, judging by the luminescent blush on Usagi's face and the way she gesticulated wildly. Minako smirked, thinking of their escalating relationship, and picked up the pace.

Halfway across, she caught a flash of pink out of the corner of her eye. It was a very brief glance, something so ordinary it would be forgotten within minutes; but Minako stopped, nearly lost her footing and stumbled. She came to a stop and whirled around, searching through the shifting crowd.

She found her walking side by side with another girl, chatting away amicably as they stepped onto the sidewalk. Her long pink was tied in a high ponytail that fell down her back like a waterfall bathed in the light of a sunset, bouncing with each step she took. Her companion listened to her, dark head turned aside to reveal a pair of thick braids tied at the ends over her chest; Minako couldn't tell if she looked bored or tired.

She watched them go, drifting farther and farther away.

The world closed in on her, grew smaller, more confined. Her ears rang and her heart seized.

—I must ask you a favor—

What do you expect me to do? Find…and protect…from you?

—Teach her. Guide her. But do not let her get hurt, because if you do—

I know them, Minako thought, and instead of the street she saw a dilapidated building—fallen pillars, slabs of broken concrete, puddles of water pouring from ruptured mains. The howls of horrified citizens as they fled for their lives, the blood-curling war cries of demons as they marched across the trampled gardens and scorched husks of conquered outposts.

I know these two.

But…who am I supposed to find and protect? Did she mean Serena? She stared hard at the dark-haired girl and felt a stab of anger and regret in her chest. She reminds me of her.

"Mina! Hey, Mina!"

The memories shifted, went further back in time. Eternity Main was on its last vestiges of power, the All-Defense Shield flickering dangerously with spellfire and raining debris. The electricity was sputtering, the emergency klaxons blaring. With Mercury's help the Queen forced the computer's systems to open the doors to the underground tunnels and distribute the coordinates to Andromeda to all the spaceport's ships and escape pods.

Then the Shield collapsed, the lights went out. The Negaforce stormed through the defensive lines. The Sailor Guardians struggled to direct panicked nobles and servants beneath Millennium Hold while the Queen's soldiers rushed to their stations hastily erected within the halls and out in the courtyard. Armor was adjusted, weapons were primed, the ion cannons fully charged and the parameters on the turrets set, shield arrays humming with energy emitting from portable generators.

The memories blurred, mired in obscurity. Then, like a blow to the back of the head:

"The Princess!" one of the Guardians cried; it could've been Raye or Lita or even Amy. "Where's the Princess?!"

No one could find her, lost in the madness of the evacuation. But Mina—Venus—knew where. Knew who she would be with.

She pushed Artemis into the tunnel, nearly toppling him down the steps. "Go find the Queen and protect her!"

"M-Mina!" he gasped, sweating, chest heaving, and out of breath. "You can't! The Hold's—"

"That's my final order! GO!" Then she was off, Durandal's sheathe bouncing and jangling at her hip. Artemis called her name, called for her to stop, but she ignored him. Heart ramming up against its bony cage, she thought only of Serena and Endymion and where they might be.

And then she came across the girl. Under a stairway tucked away from madness she pet the black scales of a little salamander, uncaring of the collapse of the Grand Solar Alliance, of the lives lost to the fighting, of her own safety. Her eyes were a cold amethyst, and they glared at her as though she was an insect that wouldn't leave her alone.

"MINA!"

She started awake, feeling of Artemis's claws sinking into her shoulder. Blearily, as though she were looking at the world for the first time, Minako found herself standing in the middle of the crosswalk. Sandwiched in between by waiting cars, whose drivers were laying hard on their horns and yelling for her to move.

"Mi-na-ko~!" Usagi cried, and Minako turned to see her waving wildly above the heads of curious pedestrians staring at her. "What are you doing?"

"If you're going to have a blonde moment, save it for when you're not in the street!" Artemis hissed in her ear. "You're holding up traffic!"

She winced. "S-Sorry!" Blushing fierce with embarrassment, Minako hustled the rest of the way to the sidewalk and rejoined her friends.

"What was that all about?" Makoto asked.

"Yeah, are you alright?" Usagi persisted. "You completely spaced out back there!"

"I'm fine, I'm fine!" Minako insisted. "I just…I thought I…saw someone I knew. From school," she finished lamely, and resisted tugging an errant lock of hair.

"You need to be more careful, Mina," said Ami. "You could've gotten hurt."

"I said I'm fine," she grumbled.

Rei stared at her for a moment, face cool and expressionless like stone. Then she shrugged and turned away, focusing forward. "I agree," she said. "Do it where it's safe next time. Don't hurt yourself over someone you barely know."

"Alright, alright! I get it," said Minako, and jutted her lower lip in a pout. "Don't have to tell me twice."

"Just making sure!" said Usagi, give her wrist a playful shake before returning her attention to the conversation they were having before.

Minako lagged behind them, hands now stuffed into her pockets and feet dragging. They passed beneath the comforting shade of trees bordering the Four Guardians Park, where the foot traffic was noticeably thinner. Cars lined parallel the side of the street like erasers on a desk.

"What happened back there?" Artemis asked, his voice hushed and low. "You don't normally space out like that."

She shook her head. "I…I remembered something. From when the Silver Millennium ended. It was important."

"You mean going to find Serena and Endymion?"

"Not just that." Minako gingerly rubbed her temple as the pressure of the memories eased and the world spread out and wide once more. "There were others."

"Who?"

Minako frowned. "I…don't know." She stopped and looked back toward the street, the crosswalk, the two girls lost to the daytime crowd, unaware of what they had just triggered. "But they were very important…and very familiar."