Planet Bound: Venus by Marj Note: arigato - thank you Please e-mail your comments and constructive criticisms at . Thanks! Disclaimers: The characters of Bishoujo Senshi Sailormoon were created by Naoko Takeuchi-san, its copyright owned by Toei Animation, Kodansha, Nakayoshi, Sterling Animation Inc., and many other companies scattered throughout the world. Meaning, I cannot claim the characters as my own, and am mearly borrowing them. The character Ayukawa Himeru is mine. So please don't sue, as I don't earn anything from this other than the satisfaction of making a story. Chapter Ten: Rei and Artemis The girls were up in Makoto's apartment. Each senshi was doing what she usually did: Ami was studying, Makoto was cleaning, and Rei and Usagi were fighting. The cats were lying down on the sofa, with an unusually quiet Minako beside them. "It's kind of stuffy in here. Minako-chan, could you open the window for me?" Makoto asked. Minako looked hesitantly at the window, but she stood up and walked towards it anyway. Seconds later, they heard an explosion. When Makoto turned around, the section of wall where Minako had been standing in front of had disappeared. The girls rushed forward to the spot and looked down, seeing their friend hanging in mid-air, desperately clinging to a piece of metal jutting out of the side of the damaged building. Makoto reached out for her hand. "Minako-chan! Grab my hand!" Minako tried, but she began to lose her grip. She quickly retrieved her left hand and placed it back on the metal. Rei tried to help. Makoto grabbed her ankles and started lowering her down to Minako. "I'm almost there! Just a little more! Hang on, Minako!" Artemis looked down at his master. She returned the look and smiled reassuringly. The metal gave way. Minako plunged down to her doom. "MINAKO!!!" Artemis and the others screamed. Halfway to her death, a man in cape and armor jumped up and caught her. They both landed safely on the ground. Artemis ran down to the ground floor as quickly as he could. When he reached the sidewalks, the man still held Minako in his arms. She was unconscious, and Artemis couldn't tell if she was all right. The man was facing the remains of the youma that had caused the disaster. How he had defeated the thing while Artemis was rushing down the stairs, the cat had no idea. "Who are you?" Artemis asked. The man began to turn around . . . Artemis gasped . . . ***** He woke up. Artemis had only been able to get a glimpse of the man's face. It had seemed familiar as if it had been registered somewhere deep in the back of his mind. The face reminded him of someone. Someone from thousands of years ago. he thought. His dreams were finally becoming more vivid, but they had not yet reached past the point where the man began to turn around. He needed Rei's help. Artemis looked at the time. "11:11 PM. . . ." he murmured. He glanced over at his companion. She was sleeping peacefully, despite having difficulty breathing. Her chest was rising and falling with effort. Minako had been staying in bed, sick with fever, since she had first fainted. She was paler now from lack of sunshine, but she seemed to glow whenever her friends were around as if their presence made her stronger. Artemis decided. He settled down beside her again and tried to get some sleep. ***** "Rei-chan!" Rei looked up from her meditation and searched for the person who had called her name. What she saw was a white cat with a crescent moon on his forehead . . . "What is it, Artemis? Is it about Minako?" she asked, concerned. He shook his head as he walked towards Rei, who was sitting in front of the great fire. "No. Well, yes, in a way. I've been having this dream lately, and I hoped that you could help me out with it." Rei scooped him up in her arms. "When did it start?" "Before we found out that Minako-chan was sick." His human companion frowned. "Then why didn't you tell me sooner?" Artemis looked down. "It seemed like a normal nightmare . . . until things suddenly began to come together. It's telling me something that I can't make any sense of. Can you help me, Rei?" She looked at the temple floor, doubt shadowing her face. "I don’t know." She had never tried probing deep into the mind of another person before. But when she returned her gaze to Artemis, her heart ached for the forlorn cat that it willed her to at least try and make an effort for him. "But I’ll . . . I’ll see what I can do." The cat gave her a small smile. "Arigato." Rei took Artemis from the floor and laid him on her lap. "I’ll try to see what your dream is all about. I need you to sleep, so relax, okay?" She started stroking him until he fell into deep slumber. The raven-haired girl felt sorry for Artemis. He and Minako had gone through so many trials and adventures together, that the two of them could rarely be seen apart. Artemis's health had always been one of Minako's main concerns during a battle, and the cat had always been there to help her out of tight spots. Although it seemed as though they were always trying to find each other's faults and make fun of him or her for it, they understood each other's feelings and they knew each other better than anyone else. Rei knew that when Minako was gone, out of them all, the biggest blow would be to Artemis. She started to concentrate hard. She mumbled a few spells towards the huge flame that was in front of her. "Great fire, please help me see the vision that has given much distress to my friend . . . " A few moments later, the fire flickered in and out. Then, in response to Rei’s prayers, it enabled her to see what was in Artemis’ dream. She watched in horror as the nightmare took shape in the fire before her. Then, Rei saw the man who had rescued Minako. He began turning around . . . Although she could not see him clearly through the fire, the blue center of the flame stood as his eyes, and his built seemed very familiar. "Hi . . . Himeru-san . . . !!!" Rei whispered. But it wasn't Himeru. It was someone who bore a remarkable resemblance to him. The differences were so small that at first glance no one would have been able to tell that it was not Himeru. Rei thought. She saw Artemis fidget, and he started to wake up. "Well?" he asked sleepily. Rei shrugged. "I can't make heads or tails of it," she admitted, "but the guy who rescued Minako-chan looks familiar. He looks like Himeru, but it's not him." "Yes, he does look familiar, but I can't place him in my memory. I need something to trigger it," Artemis said. "You really want to find out who that guy is, don't you?" The cat sighed. "I . . . I can't help myself. This dream means something . . . I know it does. And that guy . . . it's all starting to make sense, but . . ." "We're both so frustrated over Minako that we can't set our minds straight," Rei finished for him. "Precisely . . ." They were quiet for a while. "Art . . . Artemis . . . what do you plan to do when . . ." "I don't know . . . I don't want to think about that now." "But you're going to have to, eventually!" Rei argued. "I don't want to!!!" Artemis cried angrily. Rei gawked. "I thought . . . I thought that you were the very first one to accept Minako's fate . . ." "That was only on the outside!" His human companion fell silent. Artemis's eyes brimmed over with tears. "You heard Minako-chan! 'Don't pity me,' she said. She didn't tell us earlier because she didn't want us to cry over her. So I'm putting on a brave face in front of everyone for her! But, the fact is that I never accepted the fact that she's dying! I never did! I . . . I've always wanted to scream in anger and frustration at the world that would let . . . but . . ." "I understand. Is there . . . is there anything I can do for you?" Rei asked. Artemis smiled sadly. "No . . . just let me . . . just let me cry here with you . . . please." So they cried, cat and girl, over their best friend. Only with each other were they were able to let out everything that they had been hiding. It wasn't normal for Rei to cry - she had always tried to act bravely in any situation that she faced. And Artemis, although a cat, was still very much a man inside. Men don't like to cry. It took them a long time, for the pain they felt was immense, but they soon stopped their tears from falling. "It felt good to get everything out in the open . . ." Rei said softly. Artemis agreed. "Rei-chan, please. Don't tell anyone." "Don't you tell anyone, either, or I'll be having roasted white cat on my plate tonight!" They laughed a little. The cat made as though to leave. "Umm . . . Artemis . . ." Rei began. He turned to look at her. "Yes?" She looked very awkward. The question she had was quite sensitive. "When . . . when the time comes, would you . . . would you like to stay here . . . with me?" Artemis stared at her seriously. "I'll think about it."