Disclaimer: Sailor Moon, its characters and universe were created by Naoko Takeuchi. I'm merely a fan of the series, writing stories as an attempt to maintain sanity in a life occupied with working. I expect no profit from this. Except for the sanity, of course.

A.N.: I'm going back a little in time here, to the proverbial morning after when Minako leaves Seiya's apartment to go through his POV and elaborate a little more on what happened; I'm also filling in some blanks from the last episodes and chapters. Also, for those who've read my stories before, you know I like mixing up manga and original anime elements, and this chapter and the next delve a lot into that. For the final season/arc I like the Inners sacrificing themselves to save Sailor Moon and the Starlights like in the anime, but all the rest of the great battle against Galaxia I usually follow the manga─the Outers dying in their Castles by Galaxia herself, Kakyuu and the Starlights taking Sailor Moon to Sagittarius Zero Star and dying there, Sailor Moon battling her own Senshi at the Galactica Palace before facing Galaxia and Chaos in the Galaxy Cauldron.

Something in the Rain

Chapter Three: Decisions

It was very early in the morning when Seiya quietly sneaked Minako out of the penthouse apartment he shared with his friends. As they had agreed this would only be a one-night thing, there was no need to involve anyone else in this situation, so they'd kept quietly ensconced in Seiya's suite for the whole night. Well, not exactly too quiet if they were honest, but thanks to some rather thick walls no one had been none the wiser that Seiya hadn't spent the entire night alone in his room with a bad case of migraine, which is what he had told his friends in order to not be bothered.

After they had showered together (and enjoyed the last of their time together), Seiya stuck his head out of his door, peering into the dark corridor the led the apartment suites back to the living room. It shouldn't be any problem, as Taiki was a rather heavy sleeper and Yaten got very cranky unless he got all his required hours of sleep, so there was very little chance that they'd run into them this early in the morning.

Seeing as the coast was clear, Seiya quietly pulled Minako along by the hand as they tiptoed out into the deserted living room. He quietly led them out into the private foyer as he pressed the elevator button and he shut the front door behind him.

"Are you sure you don't want me to take you out for breakfast?" He asked with a smile as he looked at her.

"I'm sure," Minako replied with a smile as well. "Honestly, I'm knackered! I'm going to sneak into my room and catch a few hours of sleep before getting back up again. You should, too! You have the big concert this afternoon."

"Yeah, I will," he said, retrieving something from his pocket then. "Which reminds me, I got these for you. Take the girls with you, I figured you'd all like going, as it should be our last concert."

Seiya handed her a handful of tickets in the VIP section for the last show of the Three Lights. Her eyes lit up at this and she beamed a smile up at him. As she raised a playful eyebrow at him, she said, "If I had known this is what I needed to do to get VIP tickets, you should have just told me sooner."

He just shook his head good-humouredly at her, by now getting used to her sense of humour. "God, you're terrible," he said with laughter in his voice. As she grinned at him, his blue eyes kept softly trained on her. "But seriously, thank you. For ev─"

Minako quickly interrupted him, tiptoeing up and giving him a series of soft kisses as one of her hands delicately framed his face. His hands automatically encircled her at her waist and when she pulled back she gave him a dazzling smile. "Shut up," Minako said. "Stop thanking me. Besides, I should be the one thanking you for these, now." She added, motioning with her head to the tickets in her hand.

"Okay, okay," he laughed back at her.

"Are you going to be okay?" She asked, raising a concerned eyebrow at him then.

"Yes, I will," he said genuinely and she smiled at this. He didn't return the question, as he knew better than to treat her as this fragile girl. They had settled this before, so she didn't need any reassurances or any other words on what this night meant for the two of them.

Just then the elevator dinged and the doors opened in front of them. Minako gave him one last peck on the lips, then she hopped on and waved at him with a smile as she pressed the button for the lobby. He smiled and waved back as the doors closed. For a moment, he just stood alone in the foyer before he walked back into his penthouse apartment.

Seiya was turning to automatically go back to his suite when he glanced at the dining room and found Princess Kakyuu quietly sitting at the table, a hot cup of tea in front of her. The redheaded princess regarded him with a smile and an interested raised eyebrow as she said, "Good morning, Seiya. Would you like to join me for a cup of tea?"

Seiya could've face-palmed himself right then and there. While Yaten and Taiki weren't particularly early risers he had completely forgotten that Kakyuu rarely stayed in bed after the sun was up.

"Princess, hi," he said, in a sheepish tone as he shuffled over.

She quietly served him a cup of tea and kept watching him with the same soft smile as he sat beside her. She supported her chin with her hand, elbow leaning on the table in a relaxed manner completely unbefitting a princess as she turned to him and said, "So? I take it your migraine is cured, then."

He cringed at that, staring into his cup of tea and avoiding her eyes. He blushed as he stammered out, "Ah, y-yeah. L-listen, princess, I'm sorry for lying about that…"

"Don't worry about it," Kakyuu said easily, bringing her cup up to take a sip. "You're entitled to your privacy. I can understand how sharing a house and living in so close proximity with Taiki and Yaten may have been hard at times."

He nodded appreciatively at her as he also took a sip of his tea. "I don't know what to say," he said after a moment, as the silence stretched around them.

"You don't need to say anything you wouldn't want to," Kakyuu said kindly, as she reached a hand over and squeezed his hand. "I'm not judging you, as I'd never do that. I know you know that, too. But I'm also here for you, in case you'd like to talk about anything. Other than that I'm content to just share your company while we have a cup of morning tea."

He smiled gratefully at her, and before he knew it Seiya was pouring his heart out to his Princess about everything that had happened after they arrived on Earth. Kakyuu listened quietly and attentively, nodding at him and interjecting with appropriate comments or questions in a few parts, but mostly he talked while she listened.

"I can understand that you'd fall in love with Eternal Sailor Moon," Kakyuu said, as he finished his tale. "Usagi has a very gentle, warm light. It draws us in and she's simply enchanting."

"Yeah," Seiya nodded in agreement.

"Well, we'll need to make sure the two of you get some time alone to settle this," the redhead commented pensively, pressing a finger against her chin delicately. "I'm sure she must be disturbed about it as well, after your confession."

Once more Seiya nodded in agreement at her. "I will," he assured his princess. "I can't be weighing down in her mind when we face Galaxia. We all need to prepare for the final battle."

Kakyuu smiled in appreciation back at him. "And you're okay with all of this?" She asked concernedly.

"I am. She is a Princess, so her duty and destiny are always the heaviest on her shoulders," Seiya said after a moment with a bittersweet smile. "I can't help the way I feel about her, but there's also nothing I can do to change the situation. So I understand my love is one-sided and impossible, and it's okay."

Kakyuu smiled affectionately at him. She marveled at how much her Starlight protectors seemed to have grown in the short while they had been apart. Seiya had always been so free-spirited and easy-going, she'd been troubled to find him suffering for something she didn't completely understand, especially as he hadn't opened up to her. So she was glad that he was confiding in her now.

"What about Sailor Venus?" She asked then, drinking the last of her tea. "Minako, is it?"

"Yeah," Seiya said, blushing embarrassedly as he scratched with a hand at the back of his head. "Well, I'm not sure about that…"

"Is she just another one of your conquests?" Kakyuu asked with a raised teasing eyebrow. She knew all of her protectors very well, so she was aware of how Seiya Kou was a seemingly consummate playboy, always running after girls and getting tangled up in shortly lived torrid affairs.

"Ah, I wouldn't say that," he said after a moment as he frowned in thought. "To be honest, I really don't know. I like her, a lot. I had just never really thought about being involved with her before, well, last night."

Kakyuu nodded at that, not wanting to press him any more on an issue he was apparently still wrapping his head around. She took their empty cups of tea back to the kitchen sink and turned back to him. "I'm sure you'll figure it out, sooner or later. Now how about you get some rest? I can see you didn't sleep all that much this past night," she finished with a teasing smile.

He gave her a sheepish and embarrassed smile once more, thanked her for listening to him and being so understanding, and then returned to his bedroom to catch a few hours of sleep before he had to be up for one more day in the hectic life of a pop idol/Sailor Senshi.

Little did he know that in only a few hours the final battle against Galaxia would be started right in the middle of the final concert for the Three Lights.

It happened in a second.

One moment Sailor Venus had been struggling to get up, her mind going a million different ways, trying to think up a strategy that they would be able to use against Galaxia and stop the megalomaniac Sailor Senshi. But nothing she thought up seemed feasible, this woman was just too powerful, even if they combined all of their most powerful attacks there was no guarantee it would work out.

And then she didn't have any more time to think; Galaxia had let loose four attacks aiming at Eternal Sailor Moon and the Starlights. Without conscious thought, she exchanged one rapid and desperate look with Mars, who'd also struggled up to her feet. They nodded at each other and both went forth, Mars helping Jupiter up and dragging her by the arm and Venus grabbing Mercury by the hand as she also got back up to her feet.

Someone watching the scene happening would marvel at their level of coordination. They hadn't needed to confer with each other to know what they'd do. Mars released Jupiter's arm and kept going forward, placing herself between Galaxia's attack and Eternal Sailor Moon. Venus had no doubt that would be Mars's move, she'd always be the one to make the ultimate sacrifice for their princess. They all would, of course, but ever since D-Point that had been Mars's place of honour. In the milliseconds left for her to decide her action plan, Venus momentarily struggled with what to do, then she pushed Mercury to the right, placing the blue-clad Senshi in front of Maker, while at same time she pulled Jupiter to the center, placing her in front of Healer, and Venus herself stood before Fighter.

In her rather short life as a Senshi, Sailor Venus had suffered countless attacks and injuries, she'd had her Pure Heart Crystal taken, her Dream Mirror invaded and she'd even lost her life in a wasteland of ice and fire─not to mention the memory of her death at the fall of the Silver Millennium. But none of the pain endured on those occasions compared to the impact of Galaxia's attack and having her Star Seed─her very Sailor Crystal─ripped away. It was like a combination of all those previous attacks, as she felt her soul being taken, her body left tingling and vanishing away in a swirl of lights, going back to join the stars where they'd come from.

Yet if asked if she'd ever hesitate to do this again, her answer would always be swift and certain.

"Why? Why for us?"

"Because Sailor Moon and the Starlights are important to us…"

She didn't know how much time she stayed dead. Predictably, she'd had no sense of time and no memories of what had happened after dying, of what was in the great beyond (if there was anything at all). Nothing remained upon being brought back to life. And much more cruelly, the one thing she did remember was being used to battle the one she'd always pledged to protect.

Galaxia's powers and bracelets had had complete control of her. Like in a true nightmare, she could see everything she was doing and saying, yet she'd had no say, no choice over it.

"This is the power of the greatest Sailor Senshi's Sailor Crystal in the Milky Way? It's like a gentle dancing breeze." She'd laughed viciously at Eternal Sailor Moon, acting as the Leader of the Senshi even in this horribly twisted version of herself as she commanded the others in their relentless attack against her princess and dearest friend.

Even if she'd felt her death all over again, she was glad when Eternal Sailor Moon was able to put a stop to that madness, using her incredible powers.

After that, the last thing she vaguely remembered was being reunited with Usagi and all the others, somewhere very warm and light, filled with all the love and happiness of being with those she cherished the most. And suddenly, as if it had all been a dream, she opened her eyes and found herself staring at a ceiling. Blinking her eyes a few times, she realized it was the ceiling of her own bedroom.

Sitting up bolt upright, her heart nearly beating out of her chest, Minako took a few deep breaths and pinched herself in the arm. Unless she was mistaken─she hoped to the Gods that she wasn't mistaken─this was real and she was very much alive.

"Minako!" She heard her mom calling outside her door. "I know it's Sunday and you came in late from yesterday's show, but come on! You need to get up at some point."

She looked around her room frantically, searching for Artemis but the white cat was nowhere to be seen. Next she rummaged through her bedside table and released a breath of relief at finding her transformation pens and her Senshi communicator in the place she usually left them before going to sleep. With shaky fingers, she sent out a general call and once more felt relief washing over her as Rei answered and she heard the brunette's voice coming through. "Minako?"

"Rei," she said, an impossibly wide smile lighting up her whole face. "Oh my God, you're okay. Is this real?"

"Yeah, I think so," Rei said and her voice echoed the blonde's tone. "Where are you?"

"Home, in bed," Minako replied. "I'm sending out a general call. Meeting at the Crown Parlour?"

"See you in fifteen," Rei said, warmth in her voice, then she shut off the call and the screen of the communicator turned blank once more.

Minako just sat in bed for a minute, one hand still wrapped around the communicator and another pressing against her chest over her pounding heart. She was back, they were all back! That nightmare was over, the battle was finished and life was about to get back to normal, whatever the hell that may be from now on.

"Minako!" She startled at her mother's voice and the knocking on her door.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm up!" Her voice shook a little and she struggled to maintain her usually annoyed tone with her mother. She was so happy and so relieved that she might even run out and hug her, but the woman would think she'd gone insane or that she was on drugs or something, and she didn't have time to deal with that right now.

Getting dressed as quickly as possible and dodging her mother's questions about her late night or breakfast by saying she was meeting the girls for brunch, Minako was soon out of her house and following a familiar path to Crown Parlour. As she passed by the game arcade, she saw Luna and Artemis emerging out into the sidewalk and she gathered both cats in a crushing hug, all three of them sharing tears of joy at this reunion.

"I'm so glad to see you again," the blonde cried as she kneeled down on the sidewalk and regarded both of them. "Where were you? I woke up in my bed and I had no idea what had happened."

"We woke up in the Command Center below the arcade," Artemis explained. "We used our computer systems to see what happened. Eternal Sailor Moon managed to defeat Galaxia and seal Chaos in the Galaxy Cauldron."

As he and Luna explained what they could of what their systems had recorded, the main information Minako got from all of this was that her "dream" of being with Usagi and the others was real and they had all been sent back to Earth, miraculously waking up in their beds as if only one night had passed since Galaxia's initial attack at the Three Lights' concert. Thankfully as Eternal Sailor Moon took the fight away towards Galaxia to Sagittarius Zero Star and away from their planet, no one on Earth had any idea how close they had been to complete annihilation.

Soon their friends joined them inside Crown Parlour─Minako had managed to sneak in both cats with her. The staff at the cafe were a bit confused at the loud and joyful gathering, so many people walking in and giving each other tight hugs and heartfelt proclamations of love and friendship abounded all around them.

"What is going on?" Furuhata Unazuki asked with a confused smile to the crowd at large. She was used to serving the five girls at their usual corner booth, but in addition to them she could also see Usagi-chan's boyfriend (who she'd thought had been studying overseas until next year) and now the famous Tenoh Haruka and Kaioh Michiru joined them, along a younger girl who seemed to be in Junior High and an older woman, probably a college student.

"It's a celebration, Unazuki-chan," Minako grinned back at the waitress, as she jumped up from her seat and turned to her. "A long, overdue celebration. Bring forth the champagne!"

"She's joking," Rei added with a smile as she intervened, walking up to them and linking her arm through Minako's. "We are celebrating, but no need to go overboard with the champagne."

"Oh boo," Minako stuck her tongue out at the brunette, but her grin seemed impossible to be wiped off her face at the moment.

"Oh what's the occasion?" Unazuki asked with a smile, already accustomed to all the girls' antics.

"Mamoru-san's safe return to Japan," Minako proclaimed, improvising on the spot now second nature to her. "And his engagement to Usagi!"

"What?" Usagi turned around at hearing her name, her blue eyes going wide. "I'm engaged?"

"Duh, what did you think that ring in your finger was all about?" Rei rolled her eyes dramatically at the oblivious blonde. "Now that Mamoru is back we can finally clear that issue and confirm it with him."

"Mamo-chan, is it true?" She rounded on her boyfriend then, so eager and confused. "I thought this was just a promise ring!"

"And what promise would that promise ring represent, exactly?" Rei interjected before Mamoru could properly reply, crossing her arms in exasperation at her friend.

"Well that he'd come back to Japan and that we'd be together again," Usagi replied, shrugging her shoulders matter-of-factly.

"And by being together again that would mean…?" Minako kept on, her teasing grin growing wider.

"Mamo-chan!" The blonde girl with the odangos exclaimed once more, blinking up her blue eyes.

"Well, I was trying to propose to you before I─left," Mamoru concluded, quickly fudging up the truth as to what had interrupted his untimely proposal attempt as Unazuki was still standing near them, curious to hear his answer. He couldn't exactly say he was killed, after all. "As that didn't go so well," he continued, suddenly dropping down on one knee and holding tenderly onto Usagi's hand that still held the ring he'd given her all those months ago. "Usa-ko, will you do me the greatest honour of being my wife?"

Sudden joyous tears sprang to her blue eyes as several of the girls around them squealed, Minako and Makoto jumping up and down as they held each other's hands. Usagi brought her free hand up to her lips to contain her sobs as she was now openly crying.

"Is that a no?" Mamoru asked with a teasing smile as he remained kneeling down before her.

"It's a yes!" Usagi then found her voice once more as she shouted the answer back at him, her arms wrapping around him as she also kneeled down in front of him. "Of course it's a yes! It's always a yes!"

The other patrons at the cafe had already been looking at the loud crowd curiously and they started applauding once they saw the scene taking place. Their friends clapped and cheered as well as the couple stood up and shared a loving, tender kiss.

As Usagi reluctantly pulled away from Mamoru, her cheeks stained pink and her eyes bright, the crowd that had been previously clapping quieted down, yet a certain buzzing of voices started permeating the atmosphere once more. She turned to the entrance of the cafe and was surprised to see three very well-known guys walking in, and in front of them stood a beautiful red-headed girl.

"Kakyuu!" Usagi exclaimed, running up to the princess of Kinmoku at once and enveloping her in a crushing hug. Fresh tears started running down her face then. "I'm so glad you're okay! I was afraid I'd never see you again."

"I'm happy to see you too, Usagi," Kakyuu replied tenderly, her red eyes also shining with unshed tears. "It seems the Galaxy Cauldron sent us back to Earth instead of straight to our recuperating planet," she whispered near her ear, so that only she would hear this part of the explanation. As they pulled apart and regarded each other, Kakyuu added, "And I'm glad, as we got to see each other again before we go back."

Usagi's grin shined brightly as she turned to the former members of the debanded Three Lights and also hugged them all fiercely and unabashedly. Yaten and Taiki were rather surprised at this display of affection and Seiya felt a bit awkward, yet after a moment of shock they all hugged her back as well. "You guys are okay, too! This is wonderful!" She turned back to Kakyuu and asked, "Are you leaving right now?"

"No, we thought we'd recover a little before going," the redhead said, smiling at the blonde's infectious enthusiasm. "We'll leave tomorrow at the end of the day."

"Then you have to stay and celebrate with us for today," Usagi replied, already dragging Kakyuu over back to their regular table where her friends were watching the exchange curiously.

As Unazuki left to bring more drinks to the new additions to their group, Usagi explained quietly how Kakyuu and the Starlights had guided her to Sagittarius Zero Star and aided her in her battle against Galaxia's underlings. "I could only do it because I had their help," Usagi said, her smile beaming affectionately at the four of them.

"Don't underestimate yourself," Kakyuu said with warmth in her voice. "I know we're all only standing here because of your efforts and undying faith and love."

The blonde girl blushed at her words, and soon they were all talking and laughing once more, as the celebratory atmosphere was so loving and contagious.