Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon or any of its characters; that right belongs to the Goddess, Takeuchi Naoko. I'm merely using the characters' sadly fictitious existence to fuel my funny fantasies.

Fic warnings/key words: Shoujo-ai; UsagixRei, slightly pervy Usagi, slightly drabble-ish vignette, emotion-charged.
What I mean by all of these warnings is, if you have something against shoujo-ai, then simply don't read.
If you're offended by the thought of Usagi romantically with anyone other than Mamoru, or even thinking romantically about anyone other than Mamoru, then once again - do not read.
It's a drabble-ish vignette because it's focused more on emotions than plot, and there aren't exactly any scene transitions. Just these big, horizontal lines I'm going to insert randomly to alert you to a new scene...:P I listened to 2 different albums while writing this and if you're curious, those albums are Garbage (by Garbage) and CORE by GRAPEVINE.


Never Cut Your Hair

Tap-tap, tap-tap, is the rhythm the pink mechanical pencil metes out upon the unsuspecting notebook. The slender hand holding the instrument occasionally pauses in its symphony, hovering above the unread lines as if it wishes it could simply absorb all the information within merely by touching the print. The owner of said hand dips her head down, luminous eyes scanning the book with disinterest before returning to gazing at just about every other thing in the room. They're the kind of eyes that aren't meant to stay on any one thing for too long; the youthful kind of gaze that needs to take in all the life happening around it.

And studying for school was never Usagi's definition of life.

Tap-tap, tap-tap, Usagi's anxious music begins again. Her eyes fleetingly return to that offensive book sitting in her lap, before they're brought to the girl sitting opposite her by an almost nagging clear of the throat.

Usagi feigns innocence.

"Yes, Rei-chan?" The pencil is brought to a pair of slightly pouting lips; pink on pink. With her arms 'crossed about her chest, the miko merely drums her fingers against her right arm and crooks her lips in a half-smile.

"Uuu-saaa-giii!" She stretches the syllables out to show her serious, yet playful, exasperation. "You, of all people, call me up late in the night for a 'study session', and yet do my eyes deceive me when they see you've accomplished nothing but eat through half a gallon of my double fudge decadence and nearly tear off the tassels of jii-chan's rug?" The volume of Rei's voice steadily rises throughout her berating, as if she truly wasn't annoyed by Usagi's actions until she spoke them aloud.

Mustering her best sheepish look (the one even Mamoru could never deny - well there was that one time when she taped over his music with an anime soundtrack, but that was totally on accident!), Usagi brings her index fingers together and twiddles them, her pencil falling to the ground with a muted thud. "Rei-chan, you're so cruel! Look, I haven't been completely wasting time; I took notes!"

Beaming, the blonde hefts the English textbook and plops it unceremoniously into Rei's lap. "Taadaa!" she exclaims. Rei shuffles through the notebook pages arranged so neatly in Usagi's workbook, delicate brow raising higher and higher with the reading of each page.

"Notes, huh?"

Usagi bobs her head excitedly.

"This..." Rei brings a page closer to her face for examination, a strange twist gracing her lips halfway between a scowl and manic smile.

"This looks like some short-story manga you drew up!"

With more head-bobbing, Usagi scooches over to her friend, jabbing a finger at a particular panel. "And look! You're the rotten step-sister forcing the beautiful, faultless princess to scrub the floors and wash the clothes and -"

Rei's affects an aura of annoyance, but the easy smile on her face as Usagi voices the rest of the story out betrays her. But when Usagi comes to the part in the story with the prince, something a bit self-mocking finds its way in that smile, tainting the line of her lips. Cutting her off in mid-sentence, the miko thrusts the papers back into the textbook and snaps it shut.

"Nee, Rei-chan! What's the deal? You could have closed that on my fingers!" Rei merely shrugs, more a tired heave of the shoulders than anything, and scoots back a bit to better look Usagi in the eyes.

"Usagi-chan, why did you call me to study anyway? It's not as if we even go to the same school. Ami-chan would have been a much better choice, or even Minako-chan since I'm sure she needs to study the same things as you." Her tone mostly sounds exasperated but the other senshi can pick up an underlying trace of bitterness. A little confused, Usagi's natural reaction is to try and comfort her close friend. Her small hand reaches out to Rei's, which is resting on her bare right knee, and covers it.

"Because you're my number one girl, Rei. You're the first one I turn to, because I know I always can. No matter what time of day and whether I eat most of your ice cream or if you know I don't actually want to study. You always welcome me anyway. Do you understand?" And she smiles, her face softening around the edges of eyes and lips, and to Rei it's almost vulnerable: to Rei it says, "Here I am in all my glory. I have no masks to hide behind, never any false pretenses. I offer all of me to you; do you take me as I am?" And Rei sighs a word that she thinks is yes, but she isn't sure if the question she answered was spoken or unspoken.

She began to take fretful little steps across the cobble, side-stepping and weaving around the puddles that ran slick and black between the stones. "Just my luck", the senshi mutters while swinging her book bag up and over her head. Briefly, she wonders how such a sudden downpour would have gone unnoticed by she and Rei, then glances up at the massive canopy of tree leaves sheltering Rei's living quarters. The greenery shivers and sways underneath the staccato pelting of the rain, the only thing saving Usagi from becoming totally and immediately drenched.

It was a little past midnight when the girls had decided to part ways after some mild gossip over the remnants of Rei's ice cream. Usagi found Rei to be an almost reticent gossiping partner and after much wheedling and puppy-eye usage, Rei finally conceded with a small blush that she really had fallen behind in her studies and should probably get back to them.

And so here Usagi was, playing a game of tag with an invisible partner across the courtyard of Rei's shrine; first moving hesitantly towards the gates and then darting back towards her starting point like a wary rabbit. She had gone through this indecisive little dance for maybe a couple of minutes before she hears some rustling overhead, and Usagi can only hope against hope the sounds belong to Phobos and Deimos.

The rustling continues to get closer and closer and Usagi is torn between the decision of running shamelessly either out of the Shrine grounds, or straight back into the house, disrupting Rei's studying. Her decision is made for her when a gentle tap brushes her shoulder and Usagi belts out a shrill yelp, jumping away from the source with an almost preternatural speed. Her heart thumps wildly in her chest as she tries to gather up the resolve to turn around, but as deep and smoky laughter floats on the night's wind past her ears, all that pumping blood gathers to her cheeks, staining them a dark crimson. Usgagi already has her best scolding face on before she turns around to berate her friend, but the look quickly dissolves into one more of shocked appreciation.

Rei stood behind her, still clad in her pajama top and shorts, one hand dangling a woolen blanket out for Usagi to take while the other delicately clasped two steaming mugs of cocoa by their handles.

"It's cold out here, ne, Usagi-chan? We should get you back inside."

"But Rei! I'm just a distraction to your studies."

Even as Usagi protests and pouts, her hand is unconsciously reaching out for the warmth of the cocoa; a small tip of tongue darting out to lick her bottom lip. To Rei, the sight is as entrancing as watching her shrine fires, so she doesn't notice when Usagi quickly grabs one of the mugs held precariously in her fingers and begins greedily gulping the contents down.

"Ouch! Hot hot hot!" The younger girl thrusts the offending object away and pulls a face, breaking Rei's reverie and making her sigh.

The lead senshi stands before her; one leg crooked slightly behind the other in almost a "fight or flight" stance, and so the priestess approaches her much like she would a frightened or injured bird.

"Really, Usagi..." She clucks, gingerly stepping her barefoot-way through the mini rivers in the stones' crevices. "If I didn't want you to stay with me, you would know."

Wary cerulean orbs look up at her from underneath golden bangs, orbs made even more bright and intense from the rain's mist and the twilight's darkness surrounding her slight, sodden form. The blonde senshi licks at a little of the moisture that has formed on her top lip; drippings from her bangs, as Rei continues to slowly approach her.

"I-I really don't want to distract or get you in trouble, Rei-chan..." Her voice is tremulous, unsure, swallowed by the pitter-patter of rain that snuck through the leaves against the cobbles.

Stopping just a foot away from her goal, the ravenette stoops to set the cocoa mugs down, and stands back up once again, with the blanket stretched out between both hands, almost like a bird's net.

Usagi watches with curiosity as Rei closes the gap between the two and moves behind her, feeling warmth return to her numbed shoulders where Rei's hands touch her through the blanket she drapes around them. There is more warmth where Rei's chest is pressed against her blanket-clad back; the sort of warmth that instantly made her feel safe - protected - wanted. Gently but surely the fiery senshi pushed on Usagi's shoulders, steering her back towards the doors inside, back towards sanctuary. Usagi can feel Rei's frame shaking against hers, and belatedly, she realizes Rei was outside in pouring rain in the dead of night; barefoot, clad in skimpy pajamas, and blaket-less herself. All for her.

Suddenly, she stops allowing herself to be guided along and Rei's soft form presses up against hers as they both stumble a little. Hands slide off Usagi's shoulders almost in reluctance, and the blonde pouts as chills replace the tender warmth they provided.

But. She had to know.

"What's the matter Usagi-chan?" Rei's heady voice whispers past her ears, so close, so warm, and a different sort of chill racks Usagi's body; tingles that start at her neck and shoot like embers down her chest and through her navel.

"Nee, Rei-chan..." Usagi's voice sounds out, flighty and shaky like a newborn bird traveling on the night's wind. "Why are you...treating me the way you are?"

Rei's eyes widen in surprise, and a shaky smile graces her lips that Usagi cannot see. But she keeps her voice deep and strong in response, her mouth still poised near her companion's ear. "I'm afraid I don't know what you mean, Usagi-chan."

When Rei's voice once again whispers against her ear, that shaky bird that was her voice is now her heart, beating frantically against her ribcage, fluttering through her head and through her blood, making her feel as if her nerves are ultra-sensitive, but she keeps composure and though her voice is still quiet, it's assured.

"I-I'm not as...oblivious as everyone thinks I am. Most days we'd be bickering and you'd readily be agreeing with me that I'm being a nuisance towards your study time, and don't get me wrong, I know underneath that all we still care about each other strongly no matter what. But there's something...different, tonight. You're more...open...with me." Usagi presses her hands against her heart, trying to will it to stop its anxious dance. Why was she so anxious, anyway? She knew Rei would probably berate her, call her a silly odango-head, or something of the sort, and that would be that. And yet...she felt like she was waiting for something else...

A few moments of silence pass by and then Usagi truly does feel silly for even asking such a strange question. She is about to turn around and apologize to the ravenette, but hands on her shoulders settle themselves once again; their grip strong but somehow tender at the same time.

"Usagi."

And any control Usagi may have had regained over the beating of her heart is once again shattered, and she's sure her cheeks must be glowing red and as bright as a lighthouse's beacon in this storm.

"Usagi", Rei repeats without the usual affectionate suffix once again, somehow making it all the more intimate, "you are our Princess. But more than that, you are my Princess. And I will protect you for all of eternity, and I will do whatever is in my power and even beyond, to make you happy. Do you understand?" She threads her arms underneath her Princess', underneath and up to clasp her hands at Usagi's chest in a gesture that doesn't just say "I am protecting you", it says,

"Mine."

And Usagi shakily hums out a word she thinks is yes, yet she is unsure if she's answering a spoken question or a silent plea.

She watches the smoky eyes of the miko diligently scan the words of the textbook; eyes that speak of centuries of deep, sacred twilights, with the velvet sky suspending a silver moon in a protective, loving embrace. Eyes framed by thick, charcoal lashes that sweep against perfect porcelain. Her gaze travels lower, lower, to watch teeth pulling and gripping a plump bottom lip into the warm recesses of her mouth. It's a fascinatingly hypnotizing sight to Usagi, whom can surely say she has never spent this much time watching Rei's lips before.

.Those lips are suddenly replaced by a smaller, paler, and more firm pair, and when her eyes look back up into those mysterious orbs, they're now lighter and tinted with the blue of a winter's evening.

She shakes her head and a dagger of guilt twists at her heart; realizing her mind was trying to superimpose Mamoru's image upon Rei's face as she shamelessly, unabashedly, and totally was checking her friend out.

But...looking out of the corner of her own eyes to make sure Rei was still fully absorbed into her studies, Usagi notes a little curious piece of information.

Mamo-chan and Rei-chan really have a lot of similarities.

I mean, really...if Rei cut her hair, she could very well pass for Mamo-chan's long-lost brother. Like Mamo-chan, she has a very strong jawline, not that it doesn't suit her, of course!

And their eyes...though Rei's are a little larger, they have the same shape and when you look into them, all you see is determination...all you can think is...I'm safe. I'm protected. You can get so lost in Rei's - I mean, Rei-chan and Mamo-chan's eyes...

Yeah, like, if Rei-chan cut her hair, I could have a very hard time telling them apart...

The daydreaming senshi brings her pencil up to her mouth, unconsciously beginning to nibble on its end as she rests her chin in the palm of her left hand, and her left elbow upon her knee.

Of course, her train of observations begins anew as her wandering gaze once again travels down the form of the miko, if I were to hug Rei-chan like Mamo-chan, I'd have to ignore those soft curves pressed up against my own, and pretend she must have really soft, delicate hands for a man...really smooth...but maybe, maybe I could just embrace those curves, revel in the feel of such strong femininity sliding and pillowing against my own and -

Usagi swallows a lump in her throat and loses the weak grip on her pencil. It falls to hit the rug, forgotten, with a soft "thump". The noise breaks Rei out of her concentration and upon noticing the dreamy gaze Usagi has affixed her with, a flush tinges her cheeks; looking to Usagi like a splattering of pure passion against those pale canvases.

Too overwhelmed with curiosity, however, Rei pretends to remain engrossed in the work in front of her, all the while intensely more aware of her distracted friend.

Rei's eyes are narrowed almost suspiciously and Usagi briefly entertains the thought she looks like some Japanese-Egyptian Goddess. Yeah. And maybe she doesn't even need to cut her hair. It would be wondrous to run her fingers through that dark, silken curtain of heaven on Earth, of dusk-incarnate, to gently bundle it between her own fingers and trail it against her own pale collarbone, down down, until -

Usagi is finally brought out of her reverie as she notices Rei is openly watching her watch her. Usagi's face blazes in reciprocation. The two lock gazes; the darker wavering in confusion, curiosity, but blazing with the deepest fires of passion; the other shifting from embarrassment to determination in a the blink of an eye, glittering with a color so blue it evokes memories in Rei of innocence and laughter on a summer's afternoon.

Without any words, any pretenses, and without removing her eyes from Rei's, Usagi crawls on all fours over to the frozen fire maiden, delicate hands reaching out for the cascade of hair in front of her. She settles herself in, head resting on the crook of Rei's shoulder and neck, Rei's mass of black melting into Usagi's own golden as her hands run those tresses through her fingers like a stream of black water through the fingers of a curious child.

"Nee..." Usagi's voice cuts through after a pregnant silence.

"Y-yes, Usagi-chan...?" Rei tumultuously responds, for once almost at a loss in words to her Princess.

The blonde shifts her head upwards so that her mouth is nearly touching Rei's ear, and after licking her lips in a moment that is agonizingly slow to the miko, she whispers...

It was one of those moments, again. Sometimes Usagi just dazes off and stares at you, and not like her normal space-cadet-ditzy stares she gives you when she's totally not paying attention to you. No, she's really staring at you, looking at you, looking through you.

Her innocent orbs strip you down to your naked soul. The difference, this time, is that when she realizes she's been caught, she doesn't shake her head wildly and whip your cheeks with the ribbons of her hair, no. Nor does she make a silly face by pulling down her bottom eyelid and sticking out her tongue and you're left dumbfounded, effectively ruining the intense moment.

This time...she gets down to her hands and knees and crawls across the floor to me like a predatory cat; the glint in her eyes not-so-innocent but it steals my breath away all the same. This time, she snuggles up to me, into my hair, placing her head gently upon my shoulder and tugs and plays with my hair. Immediately I feel warm, and subtly pull at my pajama top to try and gain any sort of reprieve from the heat. It does nothing, of course.

"Nee..." Her voice whispers against my collarbone, cooling and yet searing the skin at the same time.

"Y-yes, Usagi-chan...?"

A lump in my throat prevents me from sounding anything other than shaky and trembling, and I can't help but slide my eyes to a close at my own weakness around this strange, beautiful creature. That creature shifts, maneuvering her lips to a position near the lobe of my ear and whispers almost seductively (if only I knew it weren't Usagi, then I would think this strange, beautiful creature was tryi - no, Usagi is seducing me).

"Never cut your hair, Rei."

~ End ~

Super-optional author's notes: Wow! Look when I last posted something: 3 months ago!! WOW! That's a freakin' record for me!! Now, if only I were actually working on something I'd already started...

I feel a little less rusty between my last fic and this one, but still quite a bit unsure of myself. With that said, if you read this all the way through and have ANYthing to say, anything at all, please review and tell me ^.^ This is my first UsagixRei attempt and I gladly take constructive criticism in stride, and use flames to cook mah food =D