A/N: First off, thanks to everybody who reviewed, favorited, and/or followed this story! That really means more than you know. Thanks for taking the time to read a part of my little corner in the universe.

Secondly, I didn't anticipate this chapter coming out the way it did, it really just worked itself out. Actually this whole story is working itself out. I originally was just going for a one/two-shot deal. Then this long second chapter came out, with lots of additional plot lines being hinted at. Hopefully it's not too bad. Once again, criticism/comments are always welcome here.

Lastly, I will try to update every 7-10 days, but I can't make any promises. School is kicking into high gear down here. Which is why I'm glad I DID end up writing a longer second chapter. Hopefully it'll tide you over. Anyway, enjoy!

"Hey guys!" Minako plopped down on the bench Rei had been sitting on only minutes before. "Man, did I ever tell you how much I loathe planning this wedding? I know it's 8 months off, but shouldn't the stress get lighter as the date gets closer…?" Minako trailed off and finally ended with a blissfully exasperated sigh. The three women looked between themselves, unsure who should tell the news of Rei's unexpected return to a clearly oblivious Minako.

"I mean, how is it possible that I actually have more to do, when I thought I had been getting everything done leading up to this point? It makes no sense!" She threw her hands up and fell back further onto the bench with her head thrown back in feigned frustration.

Makoto sighed. Well, better to let it out now than let her find out later. "Minako, Rei's here." Haruka elbowed her and shot her a glare at her lack of tact. Makoto glared back at her sullenly while rubbing her side. Michiru subtly smacked both of them on the back of the head, her eyes trained on Minako the whole time.

Minako didn't react outwardly immediately, as her first thought was one of disbelief. Here? Now? She lifted her head to look at her friends, who were now all looking back at her expectantly, waiting for her to say something. She shook her head slowly with furrowed brows. "She can't be. She's on some moon out by Pluto. There's no way-"

Haruka cut her off quickly. "Wait a minute, you knew where she was this whole time?" She looked back and forth between a now bewildered Michiru and Makoto, who were wearing the same expression of mild shock that Haruka had.

The Venusian blonde just blinked. "Well…yeah."

"What…if you knew where she was, why didn't you tell someone? She just left without saying anything to any of us. Princess Serenity was in tears for days when she found out. "

Minako gave a matter-of-fact look before she opened her mouth. "Rei's a private person, and I've always respected her space. I didn't even know that she had disappeared until she was gone for a while."

"But−" Haruka sighed. "Minako, if you knew, why didn't you go after her?"

"Yeah," Makoto spoke. "I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm glad you're getting married and all now. But back then, it seemed like you really loved Rei. What happened?"

"Well." Minako paused in brief contemplation and continued on in a reminiscent tone. "The last time we…talked before she left, she kept saying she needed time to think and I shouldn't wait for her. I couldn't understand it, but honestly," Minako laughed lightly, "I've never really completely understood any of her actions or choices."

"You don't get it, Mina!"

They were in Minako's personal quarters for the first time in weeks since the war had been going on. It had finally ended, much to the relief and celebration of all the planets' and moon's armies and inhabitants. But Rei had been left extremely shaken. She had seen the death of herself, her fellow senshi, their princess. She had watched Beryl closing in on Queen Serenity, and seen the destructive power of the ginzuishou being wielded in a last resort effort to save them all. She had seen the nothingness that would follow until they were all reborn…somewhere. She had also seen Minako and herself slow-dancing at a victory celebration marking the defeat of Beryl and a new peace treaty between the earth and the celestial governments.

Rei couldn't understand the visions that seemed to be conjured up impossibly by her clairvoyant senses, or why they were so conflicting. But here she was standing with Minako, alive, and was supposed to be getting ready for a ball celebrating…the end of the war and the defeat of Beryl. "It doesn't make sense!"

Sitting in front of her vanity, Minako was frustrated, and it showed as she looked back at Rei, who was sitting on Minako's bed. "WHAT doesn't make sense? The fact that we're alive? The fact that we're still together?" She felt her heart clench a little and gripped the brush that she was stroking through her hair tighter. Why was Rei making this so difficult?

Feeling guilty, Rei's eyes fell to the floor. "No, no, not that! I'm glad we're together, that we're alive. I just don't…I need to understand what it all means…it must be still about to happen somehow…"

A pregnant pause filled the room before Rei heard Minako heave a heavy, tired sigh. She looked up from the golden-orange strands of Minako's sheets and watched as the blonde-haired beauty wearily got up from the vanity and walked across the room, stopping in front of Rei before she dropped down softly to her knees. She gently took hold of Rei's hands with her own and looked steadily into the violet eyes she had come to love so much. Her earnest blue orbs shimmered briefly before she spoke.

"Rei, listen to me. I know that before and throughout this whole thing you've been having dreams and visions non-stop. And I know it's been hard and confusing and draining. I get that this has affected you more than the rest of us. But have you stopped to consider that maybe, since we've won and defeated Beryl and her army, just maybe these visions of us all dying and being destroyed don't mean anything?" Rei's violet gaze wavered uncertainly, and Minako hesitated before continuing in a soft voice. "Maybe they were just flukes? I mean, King Endymion is on the throne of the Earth Kingdom now. We watched the shitennou turn on Beryl and cut her down during the last battle. We're all still alive, and the princess is safe." Minako slowly entwined their fingers and brought them up to her lips for a soft, chaste kiss. "We're still together, Reiko. Can't you just accept that and let all that other stuff go? Please?"

Rei stared at their interlaced hands in quiet thought. She finally looked up to meet Minako's gaze as she spoke softly. "Mina, I am glad that we're together. Waking up everyday not knowing whether it was our last was torture. But I'm still concerned-I need to know that everything is ok. I've never had such conflicting visions of the future like this. And I just can't risk overlooking them to focus on-"

"Focus on real life, real responsibilities? On what's happening now? Rei, please! You'll go insane if you keep chasing the wind-"

Rei stood up abruptly and looked down at Minako, hurt evident on her face. "No, Minako. I'd go insane if something happened to our princess, our world, to you, and I knew I could have stopped it. I have to be sure." She gave a tired sigh and put a hand to her temple. "I just need to go away, no distractions, and meditate."

Minako pulled back from her place at Rei's feet and stood up to face her. "So what are you saying? I'm distracting you?"

"No, Mina, that's not what I mean at all! I-"

"Good, then stay, please. We can figure this out together, we just have to..."

Rei shook her head slowly and gave a sad smile. "No, Minako. I need to be away from all of this, from the parties and the politics and just everything that has to do with this war. I need to be able to think and dream and see clearly without any possibility of it being because of what's around me. I have to do this; I have to be sure we're really safe. The princess…you."

They both gazed at each other, each searching the other's face intensely. Minako knew Rei wasn't going to back down from this, and there was no way she could convince her to do so. So she asked Rei instead in a small voice, "Will you at least tell me when and where you're going?"

Midnight locks shook back and forth. "No. Just know I'll be safe, and I WILL figure out what all this means, no matter how long it takes."

"Rei! You have to at least tell-"

She was cut off as Rei stepped closer and pulled Minako close to kiss her gently, intently. As they lingered on each others' lips with more soft kisses, Minako's arms rose up to circle around Rei's neck to pull her closer, and Rei hugged Minako's hips tightly. When they finally parted, Rei's eyes held a fiercely determined glint that barely concealed the wavering will she felt in her heart about the words she knew she had to say. She steadied her voice before she spoke. "I love you, Mina. But I don't know how long I'll be gone, and you deserve someone who-" her voice broke, choked up with tears. "Someone who can be here for you, with you."

Minako's arms tightened around the other woman's neck. The sky blue of her eyes began to darken to rainstorm slate as clouds of tears started to build up. "But I want you, Reiko. I need you. Can't you see that?"

Violet eyes glistened as they met cloudy ones steadfastly. "I can't see anything clearly right now, Mina. And I need to, for all of our sakes. Please, let me go. I know you don't understand fully. But don't wait around for me to-"

Minako stepped back quickly as if she had been stung. "How can you? How can you stand there and say that to me, after all we've been through, after all we've become to each other? You'd really choose trying to understand some false visions over living a real life, Rei?"

Crestfallen, Rei bowed her head. "No, Mina. But I would choose to protect you at all costs, even the cost of my own life."

Minako's bottom lip quivered briefly before she said, "What about mine, Rei? You are my life."

Rei felt a short-lived burst of doubt and hesitation before she crushed it with determination. "I'm sorry, Mina." With that, she slipped past Minako quickly and ran out the door.

"…And later that evening at the peace celebration, I only saw her in the dance hall for a minute. She was talking to Setsuna for a while before I noticed that they had disappeared. A good bit later, Setsuna came back in, but I didn't see Rei for the rest of the evening. Then I didn't see her the next day, the next week, the next month. I assumed maybe she just went back to Mars to be before the fire, but after receiving word that she wasn't there, I put two and two together." Minako smiled ruefully. "She always did say she wanted to visit those moons, if we made it out of the war alive."

Silence settled in the gazebo as the other three women absorbed everything they had just been told. Mundane sounds of the Moon Palace's courtyard filled the air around them. Haruka shifted uneasily, feeling somewhat uncomfortable as she remembered what she said to Rei earlier. Makoto sat in quiet thought, gears turning as she wondered what Rei might have discovered during her time away.

But Michiru spoke first. "And now?"

Minako looked at her. "Now what?"

Michiru's tone was soft as she continued, and she looked at Minako with caring eyes. "Well, what are you going to do now? She said she wouldn't return until she figured everything out, and she has. That means she's back to stay, right? So what are you going to do about it now?" Haruka and Makoto both pulled their attention back to Minako.

The avatar of Love simply gazed back at them as if it were the most obvious answer in the world. "Now I'm off to the tailor to make sure the dress is adjusted like it's supposed to be." A cheeky grin appeared on her face, which only moments before had been nostalgic, if not almost cheerless. "Gotta make sure everything's perfect, right? A girl only gets married once, you know!" She stood quickly. "Oh, and thanks for giving me a heads up about Mars! I'll have to make sure she gets an invitation so they'll let her in. See you guys later!" And with that, she was back off toward the palace as if no conversation beside wedding plans had just occurred.

The three senshi stared after her. Makoto scratched the back of her head. "Did I just miss something?"