Side Story 1: Mina & Kunzite-- Part I
Rating: PG-13
Author: Alsepang Tyun
E-mail: alsepang@hotmail.com
Disclaimer: Original storyline by Alsepang. Names of
            characters Serenity, Kunzite, Artemis and
            Mina come from Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon.
            All other names and surnames conjured by Alsepang.
            This story not written for profit either commercial
            or otherwise. Court suits will result only in a paper
            judgement (no practical benefit) and incur the fury
            of fans across the globe. Learn lesson from Warner Bros
            in relation to Harry Potter fansites.

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[Some people live their dreams

Some people close their eyes

Some people's destiny

Passes by


There are no guarantees

There are no alibis

That's how our love must be

Don't ask why]


                Kunzite M. Kendall massaged the frown
lines between his eyebrows with two fingers. It would
not help much since he was frowning. With a deep, impatient
sigh, he ran his fingers through his long, white-blond hair,
piercing dark gray eyes narrowing in frustration as he did
his paperwork. It was already eight-thirty in the evening
and he had not had dinner, but it was the least of his worries.
Once upon a time, at this time, he would have been dining
with a gorgeous blond female supermodel nicknamed 'Venus'
in modelling circles for her beauty. His evenings would be
filled with laughter and the intimate conversation of two
people completely comfortable in their shared companionship
and love.

                Not now. Not anymore.

                Kunzite glanced up irritably as the
telephone on his desk started to ring. With an almost
vicious swipe, he snatched up the receiver. "Kendall,"
he said brusquely.

                "Good evening, Kunzite." The voice was
young, lovely and female, but he could not place it. In
any case, it was not *hers*. "I'm Serenity Houghton-West.
In case you don't remember me, let me just say that your
aunt Harriet married my cousin Peter."

                Oh, yes. Serenity Houghton-West, the
multi-millionaire heiress and businesswoman, owner of
Houghton-West Investments Inc. and of Palais Alse-pang
Modelling International. (how she had come up with that
odd name was a complete mystery to him). She was also a
very distant cousin, related by marriage, seeing that one
of her father's cousins, Lord Peter Somebody, had married
his mother's youngest sister, Harriet Someone.  Or did that
make her his aunt??? He had seen her once, about ten years
ago, when she was a beautiful girl of eighteen, as blond
and almost as lovely as-- as *her*.

                "I remember you. What can I do for you,
cousin?" he asked, a little stiffly. They had not spoken
in ten years.

                "I would like to see you." Serenity paused
before speaking more gently. "Someone fooled you, Kunzite,
and has been fooling you for four years. I have the proof."

                Kunzite frowned even more deeply. "Fooled me?
What does this concern?"

                "I can't tell you over the 'phone. Will
you let me come up?" she asked simply. "Where are you now?"

                "I'm on my way up to your office. Right
now, I'm stepping into the elevator with about seven other
people."

                Kunzite raised an eyebrow. "You're rather
confident that I'll see you."

                "I would have seen you in any case, with
or without your permission, Kunzite."

                "Ah, then this is merely a formality. Why
bother to ring me if you're so determined?"

                "I rang you out of consideration of our
very distant cousinship. I would have barged into your
office anyway, because you have to know the truth."

                Kunzite relented. "Come on in, then. You can't
miss my door." She certainly couldn't. It said, 'PRESIDENT'.

                When Serenity Houghton-West entered his office
five minutes later, Kunzite saw that she was accompanied by two
people, one blond woman and a dark-haired man. Kunzite flinched
painfully when he saw them, because they looked so much like *her*
and-- and the man she had taken as her secret lover. God help him,
could he ever forget what he had seen?

               "Kunzite, this is Jonathon Pac and this is Katrine
Soljkae. Jon, Katrine, this is Kunzite Kendall."

               Kunzite was not sure what they were doing there,
or what tree Serenity was barking up, but he politely asked them
to sit. Both Jonathon Pac and Katrine Soljkae looked uncomfortable
and ill at ease. Kunzite couldn't help feeling rather cold towards
Jonathon, who looked just like that-- that man. He looked at Serenity,
who was taking out some large envelopes from her soft leather briefcase.
She looked older and thinner from what he remembered. There were hollows
in her cheeks and she did not looked like she smiled easily or often.
Was it his imagination, or were her eyes shadowed somewhat? He frowned
slightly as she faced him again.

               "Kunzite," she began in her usual straightforward
fashion, her eyes as clear as day, "please listen without interrupting
me. Do you know who Beryl Ashleigh-Fainsworth is?"

               He looked surprised. "Wasn't she Edgar Fainsworth's
ex-wife?"

               Serenity nodded. "Yes. She's also my-- cousin." Kunzite
noticed that she nearly spat the last word out.  "And she is Titiane."

               "One of the world's best supermodels." Kunzite inclined
his head thoughtfully. Hadn't there been something about Titiane in the
news lately? Some scandal that had been eagerly scooped up by the
tabloids and that had made tongues wag? Now-- if only he could remember
what it had been about!

               "What has this to do with the news you say you have?"

               Serenity's face was grim. "I won't beat about the bush.
Titiane hates her greatest rival, the model they call Venus-- the woman
you know also as Mina Aylmerton. So she struck at Venus the only way
she could-- she broke the two of you up." Serenity began speaking
quickly, ignoring Kunzite's astonished expression. "Four years ago,
you broke up with Mina Aylmerton because you thought that she had
cheated on you with another man, made you the laughing stock of the
world and broke your heart. You were sent photographs in the mail
anonymously, photographs showing close-up shots of Mina kissing
another man-- no, don't interrupt me.

               "You couldn't believe it, so you went to the
Adirondacks, where the same anonymous informer had told you
that Mina was holidaying with her secret lover. You saw her.
You saw the man. You were wrong, Kunzite--"

               "Stop! Get out, Serenity!" Kunzite's breathing
was harsh and his face was turned away. "I stopped being fooled
four years ago!" His tone was harsh and bitter.

               "Wrong!" Opposite him, Serenity's eyes flashed
and she leaned forward, her gaze sharp and determined. "You
started being fooled the day you believed that it was Mina you
saw frolicking at the Adirondacks. It broke your heart and you
never confronted her that day. But it *wasn't* Mina you saw!
LISTEN TO ME, KUNZITE! You saw a  woman who bore a resemblance
to Mina--"

               "Mr. Kendall, please, I was that woman."

               Kunzite's head snapped up and he stared at the
nervous blonde in front of him. "Miss-- Miss, uh, Solsky?"

               "Soljkae," she corrected, swallowing. "And it was
Jon with me, not-- not anyone else."

               The dark-haired man sitting by her side took up
the thread of the tale. "Four years ago, we were approached by
a modelling agency called AF Agency, to take some photographs.
They paid us for some shoots which took place in Monaco, the
Bahamas and the Adirondacks." He hesitated, glancing at Serenity.
"The work was decent work, nothing nude or anything, although the
poses were...intimate...but you get that in modelling every day."

               "They said it was for a magazine, for a line of
clotheswear...we didn't know it would turn out this way," put in
Katrine. She looked upset and Jonathon reached across to clasp her
hand comfortingly in his. "Then a few weeks ago, Miss Houghton-West
came to us. She showed us the pictures and told us everything."

               Serenity spread some glossy photographs on the
table. From another envelope she pulled out two sets of documents.
"You'd better take a look at these."

               Like a man in a dream, Kunzite sifted slowly
through the photographs and the documents. They were photographs
he remembered. Four years ago, he had dumped them on Mina Aylmerton's
doorstep, together with everything she had left at his place, and
with a letter breaking off their engagement and all contact between
them. Then he had driven off on a crazy journey, trying to forget her.

               His fingers trembled as they handled the photographs.
They came in two identical sets, but one set was marked with dates
going back four years, and the other set had dates that were as
recent as a week ago. Vaguely he heard his cousin's soft voice
speaking quietly but firmly in the background.

               "I had a photographer take photographs of Katrine
and Jon in the same locations and the same poses. You can see for
yourself that they're the supposed Mina and her lover from those
earlier photographs. And the documents are the copies of the contracts
Katrine and Jon signed. I think you know what this means."

               He could not look up. His head was bowed and he was
trying to hold back the choked-up feelings in his throat.

               "We didn't know, Mr. Kendall. We-- we're sorry."

               "They're innocent, Kunzite, as innocent as Mina was.
The so-called agency was only in operation for a year, and Jon and
Katrine were their only contracts. The agency was run by Inez Ma, who
so happens to be Titiane's business manager."

               Kunzite's mind was whirling, his head dizzy. Mina-- his
darling, beautiful, laughing, bright-eyed Mina-- she had loved him-- it
hadn't been a game to her-- she had really loved him--

               "Go back to her, Kunzite, before it's too late."

               He jerked his head up sharply. "What do you mean? Is
she-- is there-- somebody--"

               Serenity looked at him. "She's alone, Kunzite.
And she's breaking. Go to her, for her sake. Please. She loves
you and-- and when a woman loves, she needs her love's comfort
and his promise of a lifetime to be kept. You promised to love
and protect her always, didn't you?"

               He nodded, his eyes damp.

               "Then please-- go to her and keep your promise. You
know the truth now-- what's keeping you from her...?"

               About two hours later, he was on a flight across the
Atlantic, *her* address clutched tightly in his fist.


(c) Copyright 2001 by Alsepang Tyun