Minako Aino made her way out of the Palace that afternoon
quietly, using skills that she had honed over centuries of undercover
work. She rode on the maglev rather than taking a car, knowing that
any personal vehicles could be easily traced, and also switched
compartments to throw off any possible pursuers.
It wasn't really necessary for her to do all of that, of
course. She wasn't on a mission, there wasn't anything at all covert
about what she was going out to do today, but she liked to keep in
practice none the less.
Minako passed the police center, smiling a bit at the bustle
of the place. It was a bit of a blessing and a curse that Crystal
Tokyo still needed a police force. It indicated that a outlaw spirit
still existed in humanity, and personally she thought that was a good
thing.
The monument wasn't far from the police station itself, a
garden of green, one of many in the city. It was deserted, like
always, and Minako felt a sudden flash of irritation at that. 'It was
a long time ago,' she reminded herself firmly, 'it's perfectly
understandable. Besides, this place is really just intended for those
of... a certain brotherhood.'
Minako followed the green path inward, past statues of events
over the past centuries. The Police memorial garden had quite a few
monuments, erected in honor of those who had fallen doing their duty.
What she was looking for stood in the center of the sprawling green, a
monument built in Mega-Tokyo hundreds of years ago and moved as Tokyo
itself moved.
A massive battle mover stood in behind the group, a plain
clothes officer on one side, a fully outfitted officer on the other.
And standing in the middle, an intense expression on her face, an
older woman stood proud and ready beside them.
The inscription was a simple one: "AD Police Headquarters,
2051."
"Hello Natsuna," Minako smiled up at her lover's likeness
sadly, "it's been awhile."
As she looked up at her face, Minako wondered what Natsuna
would have thought of the statue of her and the others. She thought
that Natsuna wouldn't have minded too much, being a police commander
had taught her that people needed things like this, symbols.
Minako sat down on a nearby bench, "I'm not even sure why I
came out here, today. I know that your body is long gone and your
spirit at rest."
There was a long stretch of silence as Minako sat back, "I've
gotten to know someone at work. She's tough, irreverent, and doesn't
let me get away with anything." A slight smile, "Even though she is
supposed to be working for me."
Minako could almost imagine the question, "Her name is Major
Motoko Kusanagi." A shaky breath, "I've asked her out to dinner
tonight, one of our first away from work." She got up, looking up at
the statue with a sad smile.
"I guess why I came here today," Minako said softly, "is to
tell you that I'm finally letting you go. I can't grieve for you
forever, I have to get on with my life." She wiped at a glittering
tear, "And I think you'd want me to be happy again."
As Minako left the memorial the breeze caressed her cheek, and
for a fanciful moment she thought of a farewell kiss to the cheek.
"Goodbye, Natsuna."
Motoko smiled slightly as she walked over to the Locket. She
was in her business woman look, sleekly dressed, auburn hair styled,
and a face like her usual but a bit more refined, somehow.
The Puma sisters were doing bouncer duty tonight, something
that stuck her as oddly amusing. With a smile Motoko asked, "Paying
off a bar tab again?"
"Yeah," Anna nodded, "and was that ever mean!"
Uni nodded agreement, "Leona wouldn't even pay off our tab for
us!"
"Considering all the hot lesbian sex we've been giving her,"
Anna pouted, "you'd think she'd be a bit more grateful."
"But we'll get her tonight," Uni and Anna exchanged devilish
looks.
Motoko gave them a wave as she went inside, "I don't think I
want to know." She had visited the Locket before with this face, and
was glad to be recognized. It would help her build up this cover
identity's background a bit.
Ruri wasn't on greeter duty tonight, she must have been on
space duty again. Instead, Yuri was there beaming happily. "Hi,
ma'am," she waved, "welcome to the Locket."
"You and Kei becoming regular employees?" Motoko raised an
eyebrow.
"I'm in tonight as a favor to Ruri," Yuri explained. She
nodded to the interior, "Mahoro is cooking tonight, so of course it's
great. Priss is filling in behind the bar, and it turn's out she's
pretty good at slinging drinks."
"And what's Urd doing?" Motoko asked, knowing that where Priss
went, Urd followed.
Yuri winced, "Right now, bad kareoke."
Motoko smiled to herself slightly at the warmth and
familiarity of the place. It was nice to have a bar around where you
could go away for nearly a hundred years and come back to find that
little had changed. The music was up to date, of course, and the bar
kept up on current drinks. The library was a mix of real books, reader
disks, old CD ROM's, memory crystal and every other kind of data
storage over the last thousand years. But the heart of the place, what
made it Arisugawa's Locket, never seemed to change.
"Hey, Priss," Motoko gave her a nod.
Smoothly Priss prepared a rum and synthetic oil for her, "Hey,
Major. How's it going?"
"Could you at least pretend not to recognize me?" Motoko
smiled wryly. She looked around, "Is Minako here yet?"
"Corner table," Priss nodded to a dark corner where the blonde
was sitting. She cleaned a glass casually, "You two are..?"
"I guess we'll have to see," Motoko answered cautiously. Drink
in hand she cut across the crowd, smiling slightly at Urd's singing.
'She's not that bad,' she admitted. "Good evening," Motoko smiled down
at Minako gently.
"I'm glad you made it," Minako nodded, having seen the Major
in this body before. As Motoko took a seat she took a sip of her
drink, "What should I call you?"
"Motoko is fine," she smiled. She looked across at Minako for
a moment, "You know, I think this is the first time we've met outside
of business."
"I guess I was worried that if we became friends, it might
develop into something more," Minako admitted quietly.
Motoko took a sip of her drink, "So what's changed?"
"I realized I can't live in the past forever," Minako smiled
slightly.
"Good," Motoko reached over to lay her warm hand over
Minako's, "because I've been trying to get you to notice me for ages."
Minako blushed, "Gee, thanks."
Characters in this Episode: Minako and Natsuna are from Sailor Moon.
Motoko Kusanagi is from the Ghost in the Shell manga. Anna, Uni and
Leona are from Dominion Tank Police. Kei and Yuri are from Dirty Pair.
Ruri is from Nadesico. Priss is from Bubblegum Crisis. And finally,
Urd is from Oh My Goddess.
Author's Notes: I first put Minako and Natsuna together in my Sailor
Moon fic, 'Love and Lightning.' The monument refers to a event in an
as yet unwritten Bubblegum Crisis crossover fic I'm planning called
Corporate Wars.
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