New Year
Pairing: Rei/Minako
Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon or its characters.
Rei took a deep breath. Slowly, she let it out, watching her breath fade away into the cool night air. She closed her eyes, replaying the memories the night had given her in her mind. A small smile slowly made its way onto her face, her lips curling upwards just slightly.
This smile didn't go unnoticed by the person beside her. The blonde didn't know what was going on in Rei's mind, but she wasn't about to complain when Rei's smiles were as rare as Usagi-chan getting a good mark on a test. She couldn't help gazing affectionately at the raven-haired goddess beside her; beautiful pale skin, gorgeous eyes, long silky raven hair, a thin but athletic body, not to mention the kind heart that she often tried to hide. It was true, Minako had had more than enough time to get to know Rei, had spent more than enough time studying the object of her affection instead of books, had tried to deny her feelings, only to finally accept the undeniable truth – she was in love with Rei, had been in love from the moment they had met, though she didn't know at the time.
Rei's eyes opened slowly, seeing before her two beautiful and curious baby blue eyes, and the face of the owner of those eyes no more than a mere inch from her own nose. There was a time when she would have flinched or shouted and moved away instantly. There was a time when she would have pushed her away. There was a time when she would have blushed and slowly moved away. There was also a time when she would not have noticed how much her objections to this proximity hurt Minako. Now was not one of these times. Now was this moment, hers to remember, and hers to do with as she wished. Now was the last night of 2006. Now were the shouts of people around them counting down towards the New Year.
A light snow started to fall all around them. The shouts all around them should have deafened her sense of hearing. The breaths of people around them should have partially blocked her view of Minako. However, even as the countdown began, all she heard were the intakes of breath Minako made, all she saw was the face of a blonde goddess, all she felt were the arms of said goddess around her as if they were alone and not in a crowd of many thousands, and all she could think about was how lucky she was to have the chance to call Minako hers.
10…
9…
8…
7…
Only a few more seconds and she would be the first one to kiss Minako this year.
6…
Only a few more seconds and she could try to tell Minako how much she meant to her.
5…
Only a few more seconds and she would be engulfed in the world that only Minako could show her.
4…
Only a few more seconds and the world would completely fade away, leaving her and Minako gazing into each other's eyes.
3…
Only a few more seconds and the song "Auld Lang Syne" would be sung, whilst she would be the lucky girl to hear Minako herself sing for her.
2…
Only another second or so until another year would present itself to them, to fill with more memories, more fun, and more love than the year before.
1…
This would be the last second of the year 2006, and she wouldn't have wanted it any other way than with Minako in her arms.
Shouts of "happy new year" erupted all around them. And yet, for Rei, the shouts only registered as background noise, and all she was capable of hearing were the words meant solely for her from Minako. Minako's soft, sweet, melodic voice whispered in her ear, saying the three words she had longed to hear for so long, saying the words she had wanted to tell Minako herself all along. And she couldn't think of any other way to tell Minako than with a kiss in that moment.
The kiss was short, it was sweet, it was chaste, but it was enough. There was no giver and there was no receiver, there was no distinction to be made. And, just in case Minako didn't know just how she felt, Rei whispered an "I love you too" into her love's ear. This would be her first time saying these three words, and she feverishly wished against all else that she would always, always be able to tell Minako exactly how she loved her and cared about her, and always be able to show her just how much.
They held hands, gazing into the other's eyes as everything that had faded from their world returned to the one they were physically in. And as the snow slowly fell around them, the one thought occurring in the minds of both was it took long enough for this to finally happen…and now that I've got her, nothing will stand in my way of being with her, and nothing will stop me from loving her forever.