This story took me by surprise. I was listening to music and all of a sudden this song came on and of course I was conveniently browsing the site and then boom, story. Oh, I don't own anything relating to Sailor Moon other than this story.

Save Me:

You're the only one who matters

And the only one for me

Now I'm lonelier than ever

Only your love can save me

~Save Me by My Darkest Days

It was a long time ago when she'd loved Minako. Now she didn't know any emotion but pain and depression. The guardian senshi of Venus had held her heart and been her whole world. Rei had always known that she would die, all of them would eventually, but not after seeing all of her friends and the ones she loved die first. She hadn't expected to see the looks of pure agony on their faces and hear their tortured screams, calling out to her to help them as she stood there, frozen in fear.

Galaxia had taken everything from her and cast her into her own personal hell, making her relive her friends' gruesome deaths over and over again, sometimes making them worse. Galaxia would grin and laugh as she cried out and screamed their names until she could scream no more. Then Galaxia grew tired of her toy so with one simple flick of her wrist she ended the fire senshi's pain and cast her into an entirely different hell, one the stoic girl welcomed as salvation.

When eventually they all came back to their princess' waiting arms and overjoyed smile they celebrated. Well all but Rei. She tried to seem happy for all of them, so they wouldn't worry for her but as time wore on it became harder for her to sustain even the slightest of smiles. Granted she'd never been one to smile much but even the things that used to bring happiness to her failed to even spike so much as even the twitch of her lips.

Eventually the others began to notice her slowly drowning in an endless pit of depression but they would never understand completely. Usagi especially. Her mark as the heiress of the Moon Kingdom gave her a purity they could never have, she would never know hell. Despite their close bonds to the purity princess her guardian senshi were given no such mercy and they were cast into nothingness like children's toys.

Their sins bore down on them like ravenous beasts, consuming each of them with overwhelming guilt. Guilt that they had failed to protect their princess and their kingdom. Rei more than any of them. She'd stood there, chained to a pole like a dog, pure terror written across her face, and watched them all die.

Ami had been beheaded by one ill-fated sword strike, Makoto had been sliced through and then torn limb from limb by one of Galaxia's monsters. Michiru had been turned into a statue and shattered into a million pieces by her own lover who then hurled herself at Galaxia, only to be thrown into the endless white abyss. Hotaru surrounded herself with monsters and taken them all down as they practically ate her alive and Setsuna had been run through and tossed into the abyss like Haruka.

A strangled cry had escaped Rei's parched throat then as Minako rushed towards her, intending to free her from her chains. It had been a warning but Minako hadn't realized it until too late. Archers surrounded her and she had one moment to mouth I'm sorry to Rei before she was shot full of arrows and covered in flesh eating parasites.

Rei would have thrown up but she hadn't eaten in days and she was on the brink of insanity and death as it was. Galaxia had laughed her heart out as her friends died and then images had flashed through Rei's mind, those terrible sights replaying themselves in her head. She'd been too weak to even scream, just collapse in silent torture, her mouth forming a silent wail and her head pounding. Her body convulsed and Galaxia grinned maliciously. Striding casually up to the fire senshi, Galaxia placed a hand over her heart, her star crystal and pulled.

Rei made some kind of guttural sound as her life force was slowly ripped out and her blood stopped flowing. So painful. She looked into Galaxia's cold silver gaze and her hand began to heat up. As futile as it was, she thrust it into Galaxia's abdomen and continued to let the last of her fire stream into the monster that had murdered her friends. Then her crystal was wrenched out from her body and her heart moved so it was no longer connected to her veins. Her brain slowed down and her breathing stopped.

Rei shook off the devastating memory but the flashes and visions of the deaths remained somewhere in the back of her mind, occasionally surfacing to once again remind her that she would never be free. Still, despite the monster that was slowly destroying them inside out, Minako and Rei found something. A passion between them that they'd finally recognized. Ami and Makoto too. If they'd discovered it earlier, maybe their deaths would have been more bearable but they hadn't. But their bonds now helped them bring each other up, fighting the monster together.

I've wanted this forever

but I want you all to me

you can put me back together

only your love can save me

Rei sat silently next to Minako on the bed in her room. Her head was hurting. Minako's eyes were glazed, as if she were remembering her own death. Pain flashed across haunted cerulean eyes. Sorrow sliced through the stricken former miko's heart at seeing those once joyous and teasing blue eyes filled with such agony.

"Rei," she whispered hoarsely "what happened to us?" She turned broken eyes to the equally broken raven. "We died." she stated simply but her eyes clouded and she flinched away as Minako reached out to touch her. "We failed. We failed to protect the princess and the world so we were destroyed and cast into hell." Blonde eyebrows furrowed and the senshi of love frowned. "But we're ok now right?"

"No Minako," Rei murmured "we're not ok, we'll never be ok again."

"But we used to be, so why can't we now?" Minako asked, she was trying to reassure herself as much as Rei. The raven shook her head miserably and amethyst eyes flashed with a deep agony that Minako couldn't even begin to imagine. Slowly, gently, Minako tucked a loose strand of raven hair behind Rei's ear. The other girl glanced at her fleetingly before looking away.

Minako gulped and waited for her response, a lone tear trickling down her face. Then Rei gently cupped her cheek and wiped the tear away with the soft pad of her thumb. Minako covered the cold hand with her own and pressed it between her cheek and hand, willing it to be warm. She expected Rei to draw away from her like she usually did but instead the former miko drew her closer into a tight embrace.

Minako buried her face into the waiting shoulder. "Do you remember the party we threw after we defeated Berryl?" Rei asked quietly. Minako nodded hesitantly. "Remember when we danced on the beach together?" Minako let a small smile form. Rei felt her lips move into her shoulder and urged herself on.

"I remember then that I realized my feelings for you," she continued softly "I realized that I loved you more than anything in the world."

Minako tightened her grip around Rei's waist. "Funny because I knew you loved me even before that." she attempted at her old humor towards the stoic girl. Something flashed behind guarded amethyst eyes and ruby red lips quirked into the ghost of a smile.

"I remember that night Rei, you saved me." she smiled up at fire senshi. Rei's hand came up to touch her cheek and she leaned into the caress. Her eyes closed and a gentle sweet smile graced her features. Rei's heart skipped a beat at the stunning beauty she hadn't seen in so long, revealing itself for the first time in a year.

Rei cautiously leaned forward and brushed her lips against Minako's. The blonde's eyes opened in surprise as she gazed shyly at the indifferent raven. "I need you to do something for me." Rei started quietly while leaning forward to rest their foreheads together. Minako closed her eyes again. "Yes Reiko?" she asked. Rei hesitated and took a deep breath. The faint scent of strawberries reached her nose and she basked for a moment in Minako's scent.

"I need you to save me." she whispered, her mask cracking and her voice faltering. Tears streamed down her cheeks and their steady drip on the bed echoed loudly throughout the room.

Minako wrapped her arms around the girl who had stolen her heart and won her soul. She planted a soft kiss on her lips and then another, longer, harder, more passionate one.

"I promise I'll save you Rei, I always will. I love you, forever and always."

"I love you too Mina," Rei sniffled "in heaven and in hell."

"Only you're love can save me."