She slept dreamlessly; no nightmares, no reenactments, no haunting thoughts or memories. She couldn't remember the last time she slept that good. Rei was there. There were no night-sweats. Nothing but sweet, lasting sleep.

Rei's gentle voice and touch lulled her from her dreamless state. A hand tenderly caressed her cheek, and her eyes fluttered open to see Rei's angelic figure hovering over her.
"Ami…It's morning…"

Was it? Had she heard the alarm go off? Confusedly, she blinked the sleepiness from her eyes but still no coherent thoughts came.

"You can stay here if you want to… You still seem really tired."

Ami fought hard for logic, lucidity and clarity. She gasped as the world came back into view, memories of the previous night washing over her.
"No…I have to go to school…"
She breathed again as she pushed herself up, Rei scooting back slightly to give her room.
"I can't miss."

Rei sighed.
"You can stay here. Sleep. Eat something, and rest… You need to rest.. You're-…"
The miko's voice drained away when Ami leveled her with a determined glance.
"You want breakfast?"

Ami sighed at the heavy tone of defeat in the raven's voice.
"I just… I can't miss school - especially now. Finals are coming. And besides…" shefrowned at her own empty excuse, "I hate makeup."

Rei leaned closer again, and planted a feather light kiss on her forehead, lingering for a moment.
"Okay, if that's what you want. I'll go get you some food. You go shower; I'll bring in your clothes. I hung them up last night."

The water was warm and soothing. It relaxed her tense muscles, woke her hot streams stung and needled at her injuries, but the thorough cleansing made her feel lighter, taller when she finally stepped out of the steaming stall. The blunette blinked at the fogged room, feeling infinitely better, the tiles cool beneath bare feet, wondering how much time had passed.

Her eyes swiveled across the room, searching, as she toweled herself idly. She smiled when her eyes landed on their intended target. There were her clothes, cleanly pressed, hanging next to the door and waiting for her to wear. Her eyes widened as she saw what laid with them. Actually, it would be quite challenging to get through her day with these kinds of distractions. On the hanger, with her uniform was a lacy set of bra and panties, both a deep shade of mauve.

As she picked up the silky material her mind reeled as thoughts of Rei wearing it flooded her mind, and the light scent of them wafted up to her; a whiff of incense and fiery ash.

She slipped the garments on quickly, as a knock on the door disrupted her thoughts.
"Hey Ami? It's getting late…"

Hissing a curse below her breath, she quickly finished buttoning her skirt, grabbed her shirt and rushed out the door.

Ami padded into Rei's room on light feet, fumbling with the shirt all the way. She'd been in such a sudden rush that she hadn't bothered to dry herself completely. She pulled the shirt over her head roughly, but it clung and stuck to the moist skin of her arms, shoulders and wet hair. She let out a huff, pulling at the adhered fabric, but it was wrapped and twisted in all the wrong ways. With a grunt, she pulled harder, and the fabric snapped down to cover her mauve clad chest. For a short second, she was relieved, but that quickly died away into frustration again as she realized the fabric had only bunched itself further along the way, her stomach and hips still vulnerable to the cool air.

Determined to be the master of her own clothing, she set to unroll the insubordinate fabric with more focused motions, as she realized the miko sitting at her desk, observing her hassle quietly. Ami blinked up at her, stopping her fiddling to take in the still that was Hino Rei: long, languid, crossed legs barely covered by her teasingly short school skirt; an elbow resting on the back of her chair, a single eyebrow arched elegantly above sparkling eyes, staring appreciatively and somewhat knowingly at her; an amused ghost of a smile - pulling at the corners of rosy lips.

Suddenly, the chair before her was empty, and Rei was standing, her dark eyes running across the tatami floor, her fingers straightening the hem of her skirt, a light blush coloring her cheeks. Rei straightened her throat with another fidget, the blush across her cheeks growing darker as she started towards the door.

"Sorry..."
Rei's body was unnaturally warm against her own as she brushed past, the breath of that word lingering on Ami's cheek. And then, Ami was left alone, blinking confusedly at the empty room, the sound of the door sliding back shut behind her.

Well, that was different...but nice, I think.

They weren't so late after all.

The two of them descended the shrine stairs to see the other girls waiting excitedly for them at the bottom. Whatever questions the others may have had, they thankfully held, even if their glances were leery and prying.

"Sooo... Have you heard? Yusuke Amade is releasing his new album."
Usagi grinned hopefully at the other girls.

"Wasn't that, like, last month?" Makoto raised an eyebrow at the smaller girl.

"Oh, you are talking about that movie soundtrack, right?!" The perkiness and excitement of Mina's voice was infectious. On Makoto's and Usagi's equally confused looks, Minako dug deeper into her tabloid database. "Ah, that really sweet movie? With the guy and the girl, that met at that place..."

The relief of burden was so great that Ami actually felt herself standing taller.. The others continued on with the conversation, leaving Rei and Ami to straggle along behind in relative peace.

Ami sighed to herself, realizing that Rei's point of departure was upon her. Suddenly, she felt flooded anew with questions and worries. Would she make it through the day, without Rei's gentle touch guiding her? What if the pain returned? What, if it never actually left...? What if she woke up from this pleasant dream?

A gentle touch whispered across her back. She risked a glance to the raven beside her; the fire soldier was not watching her, but the girls before them. Finding them still distracted by their own devices, Rei turned a set of intense eyes upon Ami.

Rei's breath was warm against her cheek, a whisper that only she could hear.
"You'll be okay. Just make it through the day, and I'll be waiting for you."

As quickly as the warmth and comfort had come, they were gone; leaving Ami with a light chill, as she watched Rei speeding her steps to approach the others for their ritual good-bye's.

She was left to stand, wordlessly watching Rei walk away, the strong profile of her; smiling and leaving her cold, desperate for warmth. She hugged her books against herself, against the chill and the solitude and the struggle, but Rei's form disappeared around the corner and she was gone.

She blinked. Suddenly, she was all alone. Alone but to fight the battles of her own day, to face her demons and her pain. The other girls, unaware of her inner torment continued in their trek without a glance back.

Ami sighed heavily to herself as she fell in step behind them. She had wished Rei had stayed. She wished, Rei had held her for a moment, so she could have had a chance to find a moment of bliss to help her through the day. She wished, she had realized Rei saying good bye to her sooner, so she could have held on to her, savored her, could have lingered in the proximity of Rei's scent for a bit longer...

For an instant, she wanted to chase her. To run after the bliss and the warmth and comfort and the safety that was her Rei.

"Ami, you okay?"

She blinked up, to see three pairs of eyes staring at her. Her head screamed, her body tensed. Her throat closed so tight that suddenly she found it hard to breathe. She forced a swallow - hard and thick and painful and bowed her head against the weight of it all.

She said she'd be waiting. She said you'd be fine.

A breath escaped her. One long, deep, cleansing breath and she felt the cool calm that was Mercury wash over her.

You are fine.

She nodded to the voice she knew so well. The voice that was hers and yet was not, and raised determined eyes to the faces waiting.
m"I'm fine."

They sat outside for lunch, in the cool shade of a tree. The sun glossed everything with a bright glint, a cool breeze licking happily at their clothes.

Mina stretched happily against the trunk behind her, enjoying the occasional sunbeams peaking through their protective canopy. She smiled at Usagi's not-so-sneaky thievery as the girl gradually ate half of Makoto's lunchbox. Makoto didn't seem to mind at all; she just munched away on her sandwich, idly letting her free hand stroke over the patch of grass next to her. A bit further away a pretty guy, whom Minako recognized as their soccer school-teams' left striker, waved at her and she casually waved back. Makoto raised a questioning eyebrow at her, but Mina just grinned and wiggled her eyebrows, before a motion to her right caught her attention. Ami had just set her book aside.

Wait.

Ami set a book aside? That was... new?

Wondering what kind of book would make Ami lose interest, she reached out to inspect it, as Usagi nearly toppled over some water bottles to get a better look herself.

"Whacha got there, Ami?"

Ami opened her mouth to speak, but Mina cut her off.
"Is it ecchi?"

Mako let out a snort, taking a crumb from the lunch the pigtailed blonde was relieving her of and let it fly into Mina's direction.
"That's you," she sneered good-humoredly between chews.

Minako scrunched her nose as the crumb bounced off her forehead and pebbled down her features, then stuck out a tongue at her offender.
"Hey, I'm furthering my education, thank you very much."

Makoto almost choked on her bite, swallowing it hastily before gaping wide-eyed at her. Next to Mina, the heat of Ami's full-body-blush almost singed her side, and Usagi busied herself, trying to prick the half-eaten sandwich from Mako's limp hand.

The revelational moment was cut short by a series of whistles and booty-calls not twenty feet behind them. A group of noisy punks walked by, hi-five'ing each other, attention directed intently at their group.

Are they whistling at me? I don't even like them. And they don't like me either that much... yet.

"Gonna invite us to your bento, Kino-kun?"

"No, that's a lady's-only invite, I heard..."

Wait, what?
Her eyes swung around to the rest of her own group in confusion, but Makoto's emeralds had settled to a steely shade.

Another group-laugh echoed over the grounds as the gang wandered off. Mina's eyes furrowed as the calls faded into the distance, a question on her lips.
"Mako, what's going on?"

Makoto just shrugged.
"Some punks."

"...some punks that know your name? What happened?"

"He wouldn't take a no for an answer. I thought he had finally given up, but I guess it's his way of getting back."
Makoto shrugged, popping the solitary grape left in her lunchbox into her mouth as Mina let out a huff of disbelief and a bubble of laughter as realization hit her.

"...Wait. You're the new lesbian everyone's talking about?"

Makoto's eyes lightened up and a sly smile tugged on her lips.
"Apparently."

A fit of giggles erupted from the group. After a moment, Mina, wiping her eyes, managed to stifle out, "So, who's the lucky girl?"

The blond was met with a smirk as well as a winkthat took her by surprise.
"Any takers?"

The bell cut through the air sharply, making them all jump and effectively breaking the mood. There was a busy silence for a moment as everyone gathered up their things. Makoto threw her backpack over shoulder, leading them all back inside.
"Hey, did you guys know there's a new restaurant opening up by my place?"

Usagi was the first to respond.
"Did you want us to meet there, try it out together?"

"Ahhhhh, actually."
The brunette's steps slowed as her eyes fell to the ground, giving the others a chance to catch up with her longer stride.
"...I was thinking about picking up a job there."

There was a pause of stunned silence as the group processed this. They had a lot on their shoulders already; besides being regular teenagers with their school obligations, they were senshi as well, including erratic, date-ending, life- and future-of-the-entire-world-threatening fights. As if THAT wasn't more than enough to worry about, why add more to the pile?

Makoto's teeth worried over lip. Like all the senshi who faced a big decision, she wanted the approval from her, her leader. The rest of the group's eyes had fallen on Minako as well, waiting for her response. Having a rare moment, Minako paused, considering her words before she spoke.
"Is it-.. Do you need money?"How did Makoto even support herself?

Makoto shook her head definitely.
"No, it's not about money at all. I-... Got that taken care of..."

Sensing Mako's unease at the subject, Mina browsed her brain for other reasonings.
"So, then, are you bored?" She is incredibly strong, maybe the fighting doesn't wear her out as much..?

"No! ...I ...I just thought it'd be good... experience for me. Learn the ways, you know."

The two met eyes for a quick second, both questioning. Mina watched as Mako's eyes lit, as another, very important detail crossed her mind.
"And, if something... happened.. You know... a... youma... Of course...!"

Minako couldn't help but grin to herself. Yeah, always reliable Mako...
"Wouldn't expect any less of you."

The amazon's eyes darted to her.
"Really?"

"Yeah! I who am I-..." Minako smirked. This was it: Makoto, a fellow senshi, a close friend, asking her permission on a personal life decision. Well, it was all part of the job description, Leader of the Inner Senshi, wasn't it? Still, it didn't mean, she enjoyed that part. "I mean, if that's what you really want?"

Ami perked up, always the logical one.
"It'll be hard... balancing it all."

"Yeah, I think.. I think I can handle it. I'll never know if I don't try, right? And this.. maybe this is a good way to test it out."

Ami nodded back, settling behind her desk.
"Sure. Just let me know if you do need some extra tutoring, even off-hours, if we won't see you at the shrine. You don't need any right away?"

"No, I think I'm good for right now. I've been trying to keep ahead on my own... Since I saw that shop sprout up, I guess."

"You should do what's best for you, Makoto."

Makoto smiled, turning to Usagi behind her, but the sensei walked in, disrupting their conversation and she settled back into her seat. Minako let her eyes rest on Makoto for a little longer, before she noticed the teacher casting her glares for not even trying to pretend to follow his lecture. With a quiet sigh, she turned her gaze onto the empty sheet in front of her, letting a pen hover above it. Things are definitely starting to change...

Sailor Mars nocked her arrow and leveled it at the youma. She could feel its power course through her body. She smiled as the warmth engulfed her, licked over her and she felt the rush of impatient excitement that came along with it. The raging monster fell into her aim, and she smiled knowingly. Even before she released the heated projectile, she knew it would hit its mark.

Something wasn't right.
She could feel something off, tickling at her sixth sense; something that wasn't supposed to be there. It was rage - pure, blind rage and not an ounce of reason.

A flash of blue flew past in her peripheral. Rei flinched as a wave of secondary rage and determination hit her.

Mercury was headed in a full run toward the monster, her head bowed in determination, her fist already raised with an attack ready to blindside it.
"Mercury!"

Mars' arrow went flying, careening uselessly at the ground as she started after her. Jupiter barely dodged it in time, the heat of it leaving searing marks across the soles of her shoes. Mars was only a few steps behind Mercury, as the youma raised a clawed hand, roaring voraciously in anger, but Mercury wasn't stopping.

"Damnit!"

Her feet were pounding against the singed grass while she reached out to stop the smaller girl before her. She could feel the skin of her arm buzzing, crawling with a familiar electricity. Even as she took the last step and vaulted through the night's cool air, she heard the crackle as Jupiter summoned her attack.

The claws were glistening in the moonlight, razor sharp as they swept down toward Mercury's head, but the blunette was still running head-on as if asking for her own annihilation.

Mars hit Mercury like a rocket. She barreled into her form as hard as she could; the impact took the blunette off her feet, pushed the air out of them both and she felt Ami's head rock on her shoulders from the impact. As their bodies rushed through the air, she could feel the whisper of claws above them, so close that she felt their current brush sharply through her hair.

The relief flowed through her like a cool breeze. For a fleeting second, she thought she'd made it.

Then pain ripped through her like daggers. White-hot knives carved down her back. The fabric of her fuku gave way like paper, and even before the youma had finished its swipe she felt the warm flow of blood spout.

The world around her went quiet. She felt weightless, numb. She lost all sense of sound, gravity and time. All she felt was the white-hot pain and all she saw were the staggered, panicked blue eyes in front of her.

Then the world crashed back into her. The ground was unforgiving, unyielding. She fell prone against Mercury's form, and the hard, angry impact sent spots across her vision.
Mars heard herself groan, her back arched from the merciless pain.

"Ami."
Electricity crackled behind her, mixing into the white-noise of the ongoing battle. Her own gaze was desperate, pleading, the command plain in it to reach the recklessly acting girl.
"Stop. You have to stop."

The monster let out a pained roar, and she swore she felt the earth shake beneath her. She turned her head to see, framed by the night's city sky line, a bleary, giant shadow approach them.

She tried to raise her hand to the approaching figure, but her shoulder stayed disobediently, limp and useless at her side as she watched the dark form hover closer.

She felt more than heard the heavy steps of the creature against the battle-riven ground until it was so close that the rotten, decrepit stench of its heavy breathing and groaning covered them in an acid death-thread.
No. Ami.

Finally, her hand obeyed and she lifted it, shivering, jittering weakly before the creature.

It bowed low over them. Unsteady blazes flickered from her palm, and her whole body shook with the effort of it, sweat forming on her forehead.

Fire, damnit. FIRE.

She was helpless but to watch the dank, massive form encroach further... Something was raised above them, preparing to strike and she couldn't do anything to stop it.

Mars could barely breathe in her struggle for consciousness. The flame in her palm flickered, then died, as her inner flame ceased with it. The world started closing in on her, the thick, suffocating black swallowing her.

No...

And then, she felt it - a rushing, paramount, potent sea of blue.
Ami.

It flowed into her like a rising tide; felt like a sea, welling within her, but there was nothing calm about it. It was filling, flooding through her, spurring and pulling her own flames with it, breathing into her.

She gasped at the refreshing sensation and she realized Ami's hand had joined her own. With her own strength to hold it up gone, Mercury kept them both up. She sighed, thankfully, tiredly as her body relaxed and her own power rushed forward involuntarily to meet the call of the deep blue sea.

Then the world became white. She submitted to the vast, driving power as it rushed up through her, ran obediently to meet her Mercury's calling. She closed her eyes, surrendering to the glaring might of it; surrendering herself to Ami. The last thing she knew was the sweet soft smell of her and the intoxicating feel of their combined power lashing out in a deafening burst.

Finally, Rei sighed against the warm body below her and let the glaring white overtake her.

A/N:

I'm pretty sure Minako's description of ALL her movies are exactly the same:
'There's a guy and this girl, and they meet at that place.'