ATTN: With summer vacation, I guess that comes with the territory of a lot of freetime. Which means a brand-spanking new fic! Disclaimer: I don't own Sailor Moon or these characters, the fabulous Naoko Takeuchi does. This story takes place post-Galaxia and takes elements from the live-action, anime and manga. I apologize in advance for any unintentional humor that slips into the serious parts... I can't help it. It's a slow start, but please, enjoy the new story!

Everything had been quiet at the temple. The raven-haired miko had felt no new disturbances in the past few weeks; the world as she knew it had been peaceful since then. She went outside to view the sky as it gradually turned from blue to purple. She had spent most of the day doing her chores, reflecting on the events that have happened to her and her group of friends. Their sacrafice, death and rebirth... and she was back to every day life as if none of it has happened, the outside world oblivious to what she knew. But she remembered. Her friends remembered. She felt pride swell up, knowing that she has done her duty to the world yet again. To her princess and future queen, yet again.

Speaking of her future queen, Rei noticed the time. She cleaned up what she was doing and went to her room. She began to pack clothes for the morning and she began to undress herself. She was, of course, getting ready for a sleepover. Tonight, they had the pleasure of staying at Ami's luxurious apartment. As she was noticiably without clothing, she began to search for something to wear. As she began to pick out her outfit, her sliding door slammed open.

"Ah Rei! There you are!" The future queen exclaimed. And then her eyes widened. They both froze, Rei caught in a compromising position. She probably wouldn't have been as embarassed about being fully exposed to her liege if it wasn't for the fact that she acted extremely childish about it. Rei pulled on her clothes as quickly as she could as a squeal was let out, "Eeeeeeep!" The sliding door was slammed shut. When Rei finished changing, she poked her head out of her room, holding her bag.

"Ne, Usagi, knock next time, will you?" Rei chastised the red-faced blonde. She simply nodded out of embarassment. "Why are you here, anyway?"

"Well, the temple is on the way to Ami's place, so I thought we could go walk over together." Usagi stated. Rei chuckled.

"Next time, call so I'm not startled, okay? Let's get going. Maybe if we leave now, you'll be on time." Rei teased. Usagi huffed as they left the temple.

When they arrived at Ami's place, they were greeted by familiar faces. Makoto was busy pulling cookies of the oven, while Ami and Minako sat on a comfortably squishy couch. Ami and Minako smiled at Rei and Usagi. Rei looked at the table in front of them; no textbooks, no homework, just silly, frilly magazines. She smirked, tonight was going to be about fun. And in Ami's apartment no less! Cookies were soon added to the table and they all began to settle in the area.

"Usagi! You're here early!" Makoto teased. The girls all chuckled and Usagi seemed pleased with herself.

"And Rei! You're here late," Minako added. The pleased look on Usagi's face turned into a pout and the other girls giggled.

'Ah, Minako...' Rei thought. Ever since the incident at her school happened, the two girls have inevitably gotten closer. They became even closer after dying together. Rei's mind drifted to what happened before that fateful moment. They never discussed the moment after it happened, but she had an aching feeling of wanting to. She remembered being on the roof of Minako's school. They were being confronted by the Starlights.

We don't need men. Got a problem with that?

Of course, she was referring to their duty to stay devoted to the princess, right? But, why would it matter othewise? Rei had devoted herself to a life of chastity in order to stay loyal in her duties. She looked towards her princess, who had turned her attention to the cookies. Rei shifted her attention to Minako, who was looking through a magazine with Makoto and Ami, ridiculing the outfit a current celebrity was caught wearing. The night went on and on. It was a different feeling, not studying for once, or having to worry about the next attack, and just having plain old fun.

However, sugar filled cookies wouldn't keep the girls up forever, and their eyelids began to feel heavy. One by one, they drifted off into sleep. Except for one girl. She felt restless, and it wasn't from the sugar at all. She got up from her sleeping bag and went to the kitchen to get a drink of water. She couldn't keep her mind off of the hot gaze she felt from time to time that night. Amidst the giggling and ridiculing, she would feel the gaze of the amethyst eyes fall on her. The blonde smiled to herself, knowing that the usually stoic raven was giving her attention.

She started to take a sip of water and stared at the window. The moon was glowing brightly, as usual. A tiny smile started to form. She then saw a bright star shining in the night sky. 'Mars,' the blonde thought to herself. Her smile grew wider, but immeadiately turned into a frown. The sapphire eyes held a secret, and whether the secret was obvious was up to the observation skills of her friends. The blonde has feigned interest in boys. No, that was a lie. She still liked boys, they just didn't captivate her like Mars did. Ever since their lips almost touched, even if a spirit had taken over her body, the blonde had seen Rei, and girls in general, in a completely new light. She just used men to help hide this fact. Of course, all of this was a useless game to her. Thinking of love, that is. She had been cursed to live a life without romance. Her duty would always come first. Always over love. The irony of being the Goddess of Love and not being able to fall in love... no, not that. She was already dangerously close to falling in love. It was not being able to act on these feelings that made her laugh.

"Can't sleep either, ne Minako?" the object of the blonde's thoughts seemed to appear out of nowhere. Minako observed the ever graceful Rei as she took a glass out of the cabinet. Even in baggy sweatpants and a too large t-shirt, Rei still managed to be beautiful. 'No, none of that tonight.' Minako scolded herself. She never let her romantic thoughts of Rei get too far, no matter how much she truly did like her.

There seemed to be an underlying tension in the quietness of the room. Minako, who stood still by the window, still observed Rei as she filled her glass with water. Rei could feel the eyes on her. She turned around to look at Minako, who was standing in the moonlight. As beautiful as this site was, Rei couldn't help but use this opprotunity to tease her best friend.

"You like what you see?" Rei teased. Minako, who suddenly became aware of how long she was staring at Rei, turned a nice shade of red. Rei chuckled. A tense silence fell over them once again. Rei moved towards where Minako was standing. Once Minako felt the heat from her face cool off, broke the silence.

"Look," Minako pointed out the window towards the bright star. "You're shining tonight." She gave a soft smile to Rei, and she felt a blush creep up her face. The tense spell was replaced with a comfortable silence, now. Although Rei had burning questions for Minako, and Minako had burning feelings for Rei, the two friends were just enjoying each others' presence. Minako finished her glass of water and started heading out the kitchen. Rei was still staring out the window when she head Minako retaliate to her previous statement. "You know, I wouldn't be one to talk about staring, Rei. It seemed like you couldn't get enough of me earlier."

Rei felt her face getting hot as she watched her leader leave the room. Butterflies started dancing in her stomach. It seems she wasn't as discreet as she hoped she was. But why was she staring? Minako was definitely a sight for sore eyes, Rei couldn't deny. But, then again, all of her friends weren't hard to look at. Was it because she couldn't keep her mind off her throughout the night? Rei played that thought off. Maybe it was just the way the girl acted that attracted her attention. 'Attracted... attract... attraction... to her...' Rei bit her lip as her face flushed, yet again. 'It is way too late to be thinking about these types of things.' She finished her glass of water and left the kitchen. As she tried to back to sleep, she felt a foreboding feeling about the weeks to come.

Meh... I know, a very slow start. But I think things will pick up speed in the next few chapters. Have faith in me, friends!