An Idol Practices (Closed)

Despite the craziness of the day, Makoto found herself in a good mood again. Minako was finally back from her tour. It had been so quiet around here, and it was a happy thought to know their little songstress was home again. She wasted no time seeking her out to give her a proper welcome.

She should have known this would be one of the first places Minako would visit. It was deathly quiet from the outside, but she could see that the lights were on in the studio. She slowly opened the door to the sound booth and saw Minako on the other side of the glass, belting her heart out. Mako tiptoed her way to a seat in the corner and just listened. What a beautiful song, and boy did the words seem to hit home. Well, most of the words at least. She definitely did not forsee falling in love with anyone in the near future. She was just too busy. She blinked herself back into reality as Minako finished the song and reached for a glass of water.

Makoto stood to cross over to the door to the recording studio and wound up tripping over a stray cable. She hit the floor none-too-gracefully and started laughing at herself. She heard Minako's voice call out and she pulled herself off the floor and waved through the glass to Minako.

"It's just me!" she said with a laugh as she waved with one hand and scratched her head with the other. She decided to try heading for the door again, watching her every step and managed to make it this time. "Apparently I've forgotten how to walk," she laughed again. She quickly made her way over to Minako and gave her the biggest hug she could. "Welcome home, girl. I missed you so much!"

Makoto only smiled more as Minako returned her hug just as strong. When she stepped back, she took in her friend's appearance. 'Ugh, she only gets more gorgeous every time I see her' she thought to herself.

"I can only imagine how crazy being on the road must be. We definitely have lots to catch up on!" She moved over to a stool and sat down. "Where do I start?" She tried to quickly think back to what had been going on when Minako had left. "Hm, well construction is just about finished. I think all that's left is Ami's medical wing, and the main kitchens. There's been rumors and gossip flying all over this place. The staff can be rather cruel when it comes to things like that. Sadly our Ami was the most recent target. She'd gone for a swim, Mamoru showed up, they chatted for a bit, and apparently someone saw him leave and noticed he'd been alone with Ami...and you see where I'm going with this, right?" She slightly frowned at that. "The poor girl still isn't over it."

"But enough about this place for now. Tell me all about your tour!! How were all the cities you visited? Meet anyone exciting?"

"Don't get me started on the staff!" Mako rolled her eyes. "Sometimes I really wonder if they're more harmful than helpful. You wouldn't believe the ridiculous rumors they spread. If you sneeze, everyone in the palace will know you have the plague before you even have the chance to grab a tissue!"

She watched as Minako took a seat on another stool. She'd definitely changed into quite the lady. 'I don't think I be that graceful even if I tried,' she thought to herself. 'I just proved my own klutzyness over in the sound booth.'

Makoto listend as Mina went on about her tour, all the places she'd been. She hoped to travel like that someday as well. She smiled as she gushed on about her travels. She loved hearing about all Mina had done, and slightly frowned as she trailed off. "Minako-chan, dreams are what you make them and they'll last as long as you let them. If you want to keep going, keep going. You know we all support you and would never ask you to quit doing what you love. Yes, there may be 'diplomatic emergencies' and bumps in the road, but all of that can be worked through. This is your career! Keep taking full advantage of this opportunity while you have the chance!" Mako's eyes gleamed as she continued, "Besides, why would you want to stick around here? If you're around too long, you may find yourself at the center of a juicy rumor about you and me and our lesbian tryst in the recording studio."

Makoto laughed along with Minako at her reminiscence of their days at Juuban. It had been nearly 10 years since they'd first attended school together, but it still felt like yesterday.

And then the lighthearted Minako reminded Mako why she was the leader. Duty comes first. It wasn't that Makoto didn't know or acknowledge that. Protecting and serving their princess was always first in her book. But things were finally falling into place. Crystal Tokyo had been established, Usagi was now queen, and while there were still Old and Middle Earth uprisings here and there, things were generally quiet. "Minako, I may not have been a senshi in this life as long as you, and I may not remember all of the Silver Millennium, but I do know that my duty and service belongs to Usagi. I will drop everything to protect her, no questions asked. BUt you're right. This is now. We have forever ahead of us, and there's no reason for us not to enjoy the current peace now that we've all worked so hard for."

Makoto hated that the conversation took a somewhat serious turn, but was happy as Minako once again smiled. Her ears perked up at the word "movie". "Really Minako-chan? A movie?? That's incredible!" She nearly jumped off the chair with delight. She was so proud of and happy for her good friend. "Can you give details or is it all super secret? Any super famous co-stars?" She leaned forward and rested her elbows on her knees and her head in her hands, her eyes and smile giving away the fact that she was completely star-struck over her friend's current success.

(edited a couple typos <_<)

"Even without knowing the big details, it still sounds awesome! I'm so happy for you for getting the starring role!" Makoto just gushed over even the simple details. "I don't know who he is, but I'm going to keep my fingers crossed that you get the co-star that you're hoping for. I don't want any creepy guys around my Minako-chan!" She winked with the last remark.

Makoto raised her eyebrows at Minako's inquiry. "Me? With all the excitement you've got going on, you really want to be bored to tears with the story of my life?" she chuckled. "Actually, to be honest, the restaurant is going great. I was able to get the kitchen running like a well-oiled machine. The owners are just beyond thrilled with my work and have pretty much given me leeway to do whatever I want. And I am so thankful for that. With things running as smoothly as they are, I've had more time to focus on getting the palace kitchens running. The smaller kitchens weren't so bad. The main kitchen...well that's another story. It's been a huge pain in my ass. The construction crew has been less than productive. Although I think they've finally got the idea that I'm not the type to play around and they're getting on track." She sighed, "They've got another week to completely finish before heads begin to roll. Although, I did strongly suggest this morning that their safest bet would be to find themselves ahead of schedule."

Then a great thought came to her and gave Minako a big smile. "Hey, you should stop by the restaurant sometime. I'll even make sure the chef's table is reserved just for you and whoever you want to bring. It's nice and private back there, you wouldn't have to worry at all about paparazzi or anything!"

Mako was thrilled that Minako had accepted her offer. While the restaurant had many returning guests, including celebrities, it wasn't often that her own friends would stop by for a meal. "Awesome! Just let me know when, and I'll be sure to greet and cook for you guys personally!" The gleam returned to her eyes. "So, who's this mystery person? Or am I not allowed to know yet?"

She furrowed her brows a bit at Minako's next question. "Why would Rei be mad at you?" Her eyes went wide as she realized what Minako had meant. She hadn't answered her communicator on purpose. "Oh! That! Well, I'm not sure if she even realizes yet that you were involved. She seemed to be pretty irritated at the situation overall and could have missed the part where you came in." Mako tapped her chin for for a moment while she thought back to what had happened. "Hm...The last time I saw her, she was storming out of the chambers after Haruka owned up to sneaking Usagi out." While nobody believed that excuse, they were at least relieved to know she was somewhere safe. "Anyways, you know how Rei can get when she's in one of her moods... maybe it's best to just not say anything to her yet. If she doesn't know already, maybe she doesn't need to know at all..."

About that time, Makoto heard a noise come from the sound booth. She looked up to see a maid emptying a smaller trash bin into a larger one held on a cart. Makoto squinted her eyes at the maid, obviously annoyed by the intrusion. The maid noted her scowl and quickly finished her work and rushed out of the room. Mako looked back at Minako with a frown. Then she flung her arms in the air and yelled towards the now empty booth "Is there NOWHERE in this goddamn place where two people can have some privacy?!?!?"

"You? With a baby bump? I can't even imagine!" Makoto let out a hearty laugh. She raised an eyebrow and with a smile she asked, "So who's the father?" and laughed again.

"I admire you, Minako, but I certainly don't envy you. I don't think I could handle being constantly harrassed by photographers and reporters, having my face plastered all over magazine covers." She said with a wink and a smile. And Mako was being completely honest. Sure, she'd love to be a world-famous chef and own restaurant chains and write autobiographical recipe books. But even the fame that comes from things like that would only be a drop in the bucket compared to real celebrities.

"So other than this great new movie, what other plans do you have while you're home? You know, Ami mentioned something about all of us girls getting together with Usagi sometime soon. I think it'd be great for all of us to hang out again. It'd be like old times!"