Chapter Two

The landscape was red, as though someone had painted it with blood. A raven-haired girl stood at her window, watching everything before her crumble to dust. She could see a dark figure hiding in the bushes outside, but couldn't make out who it was. Suddenly, she heard a noise in the hall. She carefully crept across the room and peered around the corner, noticing a shattered vase on the floor.

"Who's there?" she shouted, trying to stop her voice from shaking.

"The end…" a voice hissed.

Rei sat up in her bed, panting heavily. Once she had calmed down, she wiped the sweat from her brow and pushed the blankets off her body. She swung her feet over the edge of the bed and sat there for a moment, trying to figure out what that dream was. She stood up and walked out of her room, going down the hall to her meditation room. Rei walked inside and slid the door shut behind her, then walked over to the fireplace. She started a fire, then knelt down before it and began to chant quietly, focusing all her energy on the dream she had.

The flames turned the same blood red color as the landscape in the dream, and there were dark, blurred figures flashing in the flames. All of them looked vaguely familiar, like silhouettes of people she had seen before. After meditating on them, she recognized them as the members of the Witches 5. She wondered why she was seeing them…hadn't they been defeated?

The silhouette of Eugeal appeared last, causing the flames to flare up intensely. Rei sat back to avoid being burned, and moved in again once the fire had calmed. She began to concentrate on the dream once again, now seeing something that worried her.

The senshi's planetary symbols began to appear in the flames one by one, each disappearing after a few seconds. When Haruka's symbol appeared, instead of fading like the others, it shattered, causing Rei to jump back in shock.

"What?" Rei said, covering her mouth with her hand. After this happened, the fames went out completely. Rei sat in silence, trying to figure out what this meant. Did something happen to Haruka? She wished there was some way to find out, but no one knew where Haruka and the others had gone off to after the battle with the Deathbusters ended. For the moment, Rei decided to shrug it off and worry later. It was time to get ready for the day, and meet Usagi and the others for lunch.

(Haruka and Michiru's)

"Hold still!" I said, mildly frustrated.

"But it hurts" Haruka protested, jerking away from my touch. I began to giggle slightly, setting the bottle of aloe vera on the table.

"I never thought that something like a little sunburn could take down one of the strongest Sailor Warriors" I teased. Haruka grumbled under her breath, letting out a defeated sigh.

"Oh, be quiet. I guess you can try the aloe again, just be careful, okay?" she pleaded.

"I promise I will" I said quietly, picking up the bottle and squeezing some of the contents into my hand. I carefully administered it to Haruka's shoulders, making sure not to press too hard. When I was finished, we decided to sit outside on the deck and enjoy some fresh air. Before we could make it outside, we heard a knock at the door. I curiously walked over and peered through the peephole before opening the door. There was a woman standing outside, smiling. I unlocked the door and opened it wide enough so I could see out, but not enough so she could get in.

"Can I help you?" I asked.

(Cafe)

"I'm so late! Rei's gonna have it in for me for sure, and I don't want to hear it!" Usagi screeched as she ran down the street, her long pigtails flying behind her. To her surprise, she arrived at the café with seconds to spare. The other girls were shocked, as this would go down in history as the first time Usagi was ever on time for anything. She leaned against the wall, wheezing and gasping for air before she regained enough strength to join the girls at their table.

"Well, well. Look who showed up on time" Rei teased. Usagi seated herself next to Makoto and began to pout.

"Even when I show up on time, you have to make fun of me" Usagi whined.

"Oh, lighten up" Minako said with a wink. "You know we're only teasing." Everyone began to giggle, then the waitress came over to take their orders. After she left, the group decided to go shopping after lunch. It looked like today was starting to turn out pretty good.

(Haruka and Michiru's)

Michiru stared out the crack in the door, waiting for the woman to speak.

"Sorry to bother you" she chirped. "I'm new here, and I thought I'd introduce myself. I'm Rita Smith." the woman said with a smile. I opened the door a little wider and extended my hand towards the woman. She took it, and we shook hands as I introduced myself to her.

"I'm Michiru Kaioh. It's nice to meet you, Rita. My partner Haruka is just out on the deck, let me get her. I'm sure she'd love to meet you." Rita nodded in response and waited as I went to get Haruka. There seemed to be something familiar about her, but I couldn't quite figure out what it was. Soon, I walked back to the door with Haruka, and she introduced herself.

"Hi, I'm Haruka Tenoh. It's nice to meet you. I hope we'll see you around sometime" she said, smiling. Rita smiled back, bowing her head slightly.

"I didn't mean to keep you two, so I'll be going now. It was nice meeting you both." she said as she turned to walk away. I closed the door behind her, turning to Haruka.

"There was something strange about her."

"What do you mean?" Haruka asked.

"I feel as though I've seen her before. Didn't you feel it too?" Haruka thought for a moment before answering.

"Now that you mention it, there was something about her. I just don't know what it was." We walked back out onto the deck to think about it more.

Down in the parking lot, Rita stood next to a flashy white car. She looked up in the direction of her new friend's apartment and chuckled to herself.

"You'll definitely be seeing me again" she muttered under her breath as she took her place in the drivers seat and backed out of the lot, speeding down the road.