A/N: Somehow I'm beginning to like cracks in my life. So nice to see something so normal and usual in everyone's lives that signifies no one's perfect. ^^; Or so to my twisted thinking. ^^ If you've noticed it, most of my fics are done first with me feeling a certain feeling, and then I finish them up feeling something way different. This way you can blame the oddness of everything on . . . *drumroll* hormones! ^^
DISCLAIMER: Naoko Takeuchi owns Sailor Moon and has done an awesome job with coming up with all kinds of different characters that are so original and easy to connect with. I'm just-a borrowin' 'em to direct some restless energy here in a fic. ^^
Personally There
I've marked her as mine.
Mine,
And mine alone.
Minako Aino glared at the innocent crack in the dirt.
Somehow the stars had rearranged themselves and Venus was in a mood worthy of noting as 'dangerous'. That crack in the dirt was reminding her of a bad memory, a figure of darkness when she'd hurtled through all other obstacles.
Bitter anger swirled through her, the uncontrollable need to lash out at anything overwhelming.
She was in the park, darkness starting to come down as she stiffly shoved herself back and forth on the rusty swingset, the cold starting to get to her head and penetrate her hot emotions. Trees rustled around her, seemingly mocking her as they reached for freedom, finally settling down to plant their roots and grow. A lamplight flickered once, then died, leaving her alone and unwanted in the deserted park she'd once loved as a kid.
Back then, where her life was all not-fine-and-dandy daffodils and she could be alone without anyone worrying about her, only herself worrying about the blood that was undoubtedly dripping from her heart because her chest hurt so bad from being unloved. . .
This is bad, Minako thought, ripping her gaze away from the crack in the dirt and focusing it instead on a pair of dirty shoelaces, along with a new set of depressing thoughts.
Dirty shoelaces, huh?
They were like the perfect representations of her life, all mangled and strung in disorderly fashion among the two strings, the simple holes ignored, the ones predicting her life.
I must be out of it, thinking so deep like this. . .
Blonde bangs covered her eyes, blocking her view and presenting a stranded perspective on the world. Shoelaces. . .
They looked so familiar. . .
"Minako?"
That voice. . .
Her heart trembled, shaking with every beat as she registered WHY those shoelaces looked so familiar.
Rei. . .
". . ."
She felt no need to talk right now. The object of her angst was here, the desire and affection her heart beat for, yearned for. . .
Minako snorted, refocusing her glare on that same crack, cursing herslf for being a fool. Her desire was all wrapped up in a very pure shrine maiden, the miko her best friend of forever.
Rei Hino.
Minako loved her.
". . . I swear later I'm going to take my own Venus Love Me Chains and hire a sadistic whipper to skin my hide. Then I'll pull myself a bath of alcohol and drown in my stupidness. After that I'll-"
"Minako-"
"No. Let me finish, damn it. I can't take it anymore, I've practically gone crazy every blasted chained second of every shining puddle-damned day! Rei-chan, you can look all you want with those beautiful eyes at me, even if it means you think I'm crazy, but after I drown in my sins of alcohol I'm gonna come back from wherever I'm gonna go after I die, haunt you every day and night, and tell you I love you even when I'm dead!"
There was a silence, then.
A silence so loaded that when the light patter of rain came down and drenched them, Minako was glad of its presence in the secluded park's playground. Darkness had finally stole upon them, bringing the relative safety of shadows and flickering illusions.
Minako breathed heavily, regretting with every second passing that was not used by her to strangle herself with her own chains.
"*cackle*"
Glaring through her bangs at the shadowed figure, Minako growled.
It was only because she'd squeezed the chains of the swing so hard that it made iron-hot sparks fly and she could see Rei. But it was a Rei she didn't want to see right now. The shadows had parted, and it made Minako more angry than she already was humiliated.
Rei was smirking.
Which wasn't very pleasant, considering hairy furr was exploding from her bare arms and legs showing out from her school's uniform.
"Looks like you've wasted that great speech on confessing, girlie. Although a shapeshifter like me would LOVE to eat you out someti- YELP?"
"No need. I've got that pleasure in future's store, me and me alone, in bare person."
Minako watched as Sailor Mars stepped out of the shadows, a large volleyball pole hefted over a shoulder, the gleaming end a blood-blue, fading down to a dull gray and finally to normal color as the youma disintergrated into ashes.
A hot flame enveloped her entire being as she frowned, walking over to Minako, an uncharacteristically silent blonde on the still swing.
Heat swirled around them both even as Sailor Mars shifted back into Rei Hino, those same dark eyes a fierce black against perfect skin of sacred miko. There was a slight embarrassed cough from Rei as she smiled then, gently lowering herself down to both knees on the small bits of sawdust and gripping the chains a hand's width above Minako's white-knuckled grip.
"IF you'll personally attend the event yourself, Minako-chan?"
Minako felt her blood flow strengthen, delivering itself in plentiful bursts as she tried to accomodate the feelings threatening to burst from her. Rei was in front of her, REI, the one she'd confessed to without really doing so, the one she wanted to love, forever.
For. . . ever?
Looking into those hot caramel-coal eyes, Minako slowly edged her fingers up the chains, dragging her sweating palms and gently letting her Venus-Love-Me Chains flow from her hands to Rei's.
"Personally attending, or personally attending TO?"
Rei giggled, the sound soft and beautiful in the still night. Around them the rain evaporated, creating a gentle mist that bathed them in an ethereal glow, as the swing's chain a silken gold.
"Personally there is more than enough to pleasure me, Mina, sweetheart. Because, personally? I think I'll save you the pain of going through all that trouble you talked about. Here's the personal why: I love you, Aino Minako. I've fallen in love with my best friend."
Minako's heart clenched, tightened, squeezed, about collapsed in on itself, but then. . .
Rei's hands stole into hers just like the miko had stole into her heart, and the tightness in her chest exploded, like a flower blossoming for the first time in the precious morning's sun, readied the whole night with the nurturing carress of the bright loving moon.
Gently Rei untangled their fingers from the swing and drew them up chest-level.
Smiling, Rei tilted her head and Minako looked down. Gasping, blonde closed her eyes and blinked rapidly, peering through the golden haze of her tears and at their entertwined fingers. A fire-red warmth came with the golden glow shining within their joined palms and the evaporated mist enveloped them in its glistening heat.
Looking up, Minako gently pulled Rei closer, smiling herself.
With a soft whisper she detached two small bands from her Venus Love Me Chains and slowly took Rei's left hand in her right, sighing softly as Rei cross-held her own left hand.
"I love you."
Their two voices melted into one of union as their bond drifted up into the starry night sky and into their set places of Venus and Mars, up until the light dawning of morning and on, still forevermore to eternity.
"Yes, personally put, I love you, and I'll always be yours."
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A/N: . . . Nooooooooooooooo! XO While I'm glad I'm getting back into MinaRei, my phase of HaruMichi and MakoAmi are fading. . . *blasts all cracks in the world, even in the dirt!* I'm gonna get it back, REALLY, one o' these da-a-a-ays. . .! Thanks for reading, ja! ^^