CHAPTER 6

A few seconds later, Usagi was at the front door. Rei stepped aside and let her in. The princess took a minute to look around. The place was luxurious!

"Wow..." Usagi slowly muttered.

"What are you doing here, Usagi? I'm sure you didn't come late at night just so you could check out my father's house. Are you here to offend me again? What you have said at the nightclub wasn't enough?" Rei definitely sounded hurt.

Usagi lowered her head. "No, Rei. I came here to apologize. I didn't want you to go to sleep being angry at me. I want you to know that I... I don't think you're a... a s-slut." Usagi stuttered at the last word.

"So why did you call me that?" Rei quickly turned her back to the moon princess. Her eyes were filled with tears and she didn't want Usagi to see her crying. But then Rei felt a couple of arms wrapping around her waist from behind and all her sorrow faded away immediately.

"Well, you left me aside because of that... that... groupie." Usagi grimaced when she mentioned Naomi. "I got angry, Rei, but I didn't mean that. I'm sorry for hurting you."

"'Groupie'?" The senshi of fire repeated and chuckled a little. Then she turned around to face her princess. Rei couldn't be mad at Usagi for too long. "Usa... I would never prefer anyone over you. You're my best friend and you know that." She said with a much softer tone.

Usagi hugged her affectionately. She placed her head on Rei's chest and closed her eyes. "So why did you spend all night by her side? I was anxious to be with you, Rei. We haven't seen each other lately. I'm feeling you so distant from me... and it makes me feel sad and alone." Usagi said under her breath.

Rei raised Usagi's chin with one hand. Their eyes were now locked together. "You should have said that to me. I never thought you would be so upset. You were with the others and-"

"But you weren't there, Rei! And you know that I feel alone when you are not around. I have said that before..." Usagi replied then she sighed.

Rei held her closer to her body, which made Usagi instantly feel better. Rei's embrace could ease any pain, any suffering, any angst, any... thing she might have.

"I'm sorry, Usa. I didn't mean to upset you either." The miko knew she was distant. She had decided to try and stay away from her princess, since being near her, without being able to kiss and hug her, was beginning to be unbearable.

"Rei-chan... Are you planning on seeing that groupie again?" Usagi asked unsteady.

"Well, yes. She invited me to join her band. You know I love singing, so I'm considering taking her offer. Being on the stage tonight was so wonderful! Singing always makes me feel so alive!" Rei said with a cute expression on her face.

Usagi smiled seeing the passion in her eyes. "You were so beautiful playing and singing, Rei. I was truly mesmerized." Usagi shyly confessed.

Rei blushed at the compliment. "Really, odango? So did you like it?"

"Yes. But I was not the only one who liked it..." Usagi grumped. "Anyway, I don't want to talk about that annoying girl right now." She paused and looked intently to those lovely amethyst eyes. "Can you forgive me, Rei-chan?"

Rei smiled. "You know I can't be mad at you for too long."

"Yay! What a relief!" Usagi cheered and wrapped her arms around her senshi's neck. They stood there for a moment, then the princess rubbed her nose on Rei's soft skin. "Wow, Rei... you smell so good." Usagi inhaled deeply next to Rei's neck, sending shivers all over the girl's body.

Rei closed her eyes and prayed to God to give her strength. If Usagi kept on doing that, she would probably do something rash.

But Usagi didn't stop what she was doing. Rei could feel her own body getting hotter, so she decided it was about time to step back. "Well, I think I should drive you home. It's late and I don't want you to walk-"

"Uh, Rei..." Usagi cut her off and looked at her shyly. "Would you mind if I spend the night here?"

The miko blinked a couple of times, clearly surprised. "Well, I... I suppose you can stay, if you want to. We have plenty of guest rooms and-"

Usagi interrupted her again. "No, Rei. I'd like to stay in your room... with you."

"In my... room?" Rei asked hesitantly.

"Yes. I want to be near you." The princess gave her a little smile. "I really miss spending some time with you."

Rei gulped. She opened her mouth to say that was a bad idea, but before she could do it, her princess spoke again.

"Please, Rei-chan?" Usagi said staring at her with those puppy eyes.

Rei could never resist those puppy eyes, so she silently cursed herself and nodded her head. "Alright, then..."

Usagi had the biggest of smiles. The senshi of fire rolled her eyes and motioned to the stairs. Usagi climbed them cheerfully, while Rei was thinking how she would get through the night with Usagi lying next to her.

It was 4:16 AM when Mamoru woke up in the middle of the night all covered in sweat. He had just had another nightmare about his past live as prince Endymion. Those nightmares were definitely getting worse lately.

"Usako..." He muttered. The moon princess was in his dreams again. The vivid memory of her screams of pain and her expression of agony were still burning inside his mind. "My fault... my damn fault!"

Then Mamoru rose from his bed and grabbed a bottle of water. He stared at the window, watching the city that looked so peaceful from where he stood. "I wish I could also be at peace. I feel like my head is about to explode." The prince sighed.

It was not your fault. It was *her* fault. You did nothing wrong. You should not blame yourself.

He was hearing that voice again, whispering inside his mind. "No! I should have stopped that tragedy! I could have stopped it!" Mamoru screamed, although he was alone at home. But he knew that mysterious person could hear him.

She's the one who got in *your* way.

"No, it was not like that. But I will make things right this time." The prince muttered. "I'm gonna repair my mistake."

No. It's about time you fulfill your destiny. You are meant to be the King. And you *will be* the King. The Moon Princess is yours. And this time no one will stop us.

"This destiny is cursed!" Mamoru's voice was full with rage as he protested. "And I'm the one to blame! Leave her alone!"

Shut up. You have no say in this. You'll do as I say.

"No!" Mamoru cried out with agony as he felt a wicked energy taking over his body.

Rei noticed Usagi was impressed with her room. It was impeccably decorated and bigger than all the second floor of the blonde's house. Rei had gotten used to it, but she knew that her father's house was magnificent.

The princess's blue eyes were all over the place and she let out a sigh. "Wow... this is *so* different from your grandfather's jinja, Rei." Usagi stated and then looked to Rei again with a cute expression. "I think it's amazing that you are a miko, despite of being so rich. I mean... who else would spend their spare time sweeping a temple and doing all those chores, if they could be *here*?!"

There was a slight smile on Rei's lips. "My mother was a miko too. I feel closer to her when I'm at the jinja, when I'm wearing those clothes and doing those chores. Besides my father is never at home, so I like being there with my grandfather."

The blonde girl nodded her head. Indeed, being in a huge house alone didn't seem much fun. "Do you have a picture of your mother?" Usagi asked out of the blue. "I'd like to see if you two look alike..."

Rei walked over her room and took a picture from her desk. Usagi looked at it amazed. There was a beautiful young woman with long raven-hair, hazel eyes and a little girl in her arms. The raven-haired child was smiling brightly while hugging her mother, both of them wearing miko's outfits.

Usagi had a sad smile on her face. They looked so happy in that picture. Rei was such a cute little girl, with big amethyst eyes sparkling with joy. "You turned out to be exactly like her, Rei." The princess said softly. "Except for the eye color."

Rei whispered. "I miss her so much... I wish she were here with me."

The princess felt her heart break. Slowly she got closer to Rei and hugged her. "I'm sorry she's not here with you." Then Usagi looked at her senshi lovingly. "But I am. And I will never leave you, Rei. You'll never feel alone anymore. I promise you."

Rei had to hold back her tears. "Thank you, Usa. This means a lot to me." She forced a smile to her princess and decided to change the subject. "Would you like to take a shower now?"

Usagi nodded her head 'yes'. She had run from the temple to the Hino's Mansion and it was enough to make her sweat.

After Rei handled her some towels and a pajama, Usagi went to the bathroom and closed the door.

"Oh, Kami-sama, please don't let me lose my self-control..." Rei mutter once she heard the sound of water running. She was thinking at that very time, Usagi was naked in her bathroom. And since her bathroom was inside her room, that meant that Usagi was naked... *in her room*.

Rei imagined what Usagi would do if she got inside that bathroom. It would be so nice if the princess invited her to join her in the shower. First, Rei would kiss her with all the passion she was holding inside. Then she would soap Usagi's wonderful body, feeling her soft white skin under her fingertips. After that, Rei would take Usagi to the bed and they would make love all night long and-

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of water stopping. Rei couldn't tell if Usagi was really fast or if her sexual reverie had lasted too long. The second option was most likely, though.

Usagi left the bathroom wrapped around in a towel, while she was using another one to dry her hair. Rei forced herself to take her eyes off of her princess.

"Rei-chan, could you lend me your hair dryer?" She asked. "I don't want to wet your bed."

The senshi of fire blushed a little, but she tried hard to disguise. Usagi apparently didn't notice that, which was a relief. Rei then cursed herself for being so naughty as she placed the words 'Usagi', 'wet' and 'bed' in a very different context. So she went to her wardrobe and took the hair dryer her princess had requested.

Usagi began to dry her long, beautiful blonde her. Rei stared at the scene, hypnotized. She secretly loved when Usagi let her hair down. The senshi of fire always thought her princess looked more mature that way.

Rei sighed and decided that she was staring at the girl for too long. Soon Usagi would begin to notice it. So she excused herself and went to the bathroom to take a shower herself. A *cold* one.

The freezing water though wasn't enough to break Rei's reverie. Now she was thinking about the princess's breasts and what she would do if she could touch them.

Oh, God... not even the cold water is helping me, Rei desperately thought. I have to think about something else. Something really really sad and depressing. And there would be... YES! Dead puppies. I'll think about dead puppies. Lots of them, lying lifelessly on the ground.

Rei thought definitely it would be helpful. That would work.

She turned off the water and began to dry her body. Then she put on her nightdress before going back to the room. And there she found Usagi... only in her underwear.

Rei gulped. Her eyes stuck on her princess, who was with her back turned to her. Usagi was just... perfect. It looked like her body had been carefully sculpted by the finest of artists. The senshi of fire was looking at Usagi with full desire. She was about to run towards her princess, take her in her arms and-

Dead puppies. Dead puppies. Dead puppies! Rei kept repeating to herself.

But probably Usagi felt the weight of that stare, since she turned to face Rei within seconds later. And now the moon princess was standing there with her full breasts turned to Rei.

Usagi looked at her, puzzled. "Rei-chan, what's wrong?" She said with her big blue eyes wide opened.

"Dead puppies..." Rei muttered once she saw Usagi getting closer to her, wearing only lingerie. She could see the shape of her princess's breasts perfectly. The Gods were testing the senshi of fire really hard.

"Geez, Rei! Why are you thinking about dead puppies?! Have you seen any on your way home?" Usagi asked with concern.

The miko nodded her head slowly, then she turned around not to look to her princess. She prayed to Usagi get in that pajamas soon.

"Rei! Stop thinking of it! It's really sad!" Usagi whined while she was finally getting dressed. Rei thought there was a God somewhere.

"Oh, I was willing to ask you: why do you have two pianos anyway? There's this one here in your room..." Usagi frowned. "...but I think I saw another one downstairs too..."

"My father decided that it would be better if I practiced in here. Otherwise I would disturb his meetings." Rei stated. "But he left that piano on the living room so I could play to his guests whenever he considered appropriated."

"You must make your father very proud every time you play the piano for his guests." Usagi commented, but she puzzled when she saw Rei chuckle.

"Actually this has never happened before. I think my father has never seen me playing or singing." The senshi of fire had a slight smile as she shrugged.

Usagi's jaw dropped. "How come, Rei?!" Mr. Hino had an extremely gifted daughter and he was completely unaware of that.

"My father is never at home, Usa. But anyway, this is no big deal." Rei said and then she headed to where the hair dryer was. She took it and began to dry her long raven-hair while Usagi crawled under the covers.

The princess was enjoying that view. Rei was running her fingers through her strands and the puff of air made her look like a movie star. No... Actually Rei looked like a real goddess.

"Your hair is so beautiful, Rei." Usagi seemed mesmerized.

"So as yours, especially when you let it down like this." The senshi of fire returned the compliment with a smile, without looking at her princess.

"Don't you like my odangos?" Usagi asked with a sting of disappointment.

Rei laughed. "Sure I do. Otherwise I'd never had the idea to call you odango atama."

Usagi smiled. She had got used to Rei calling her that way. She kept staring at the miko for a couple of minutes, until she finished drying her hair.

The moonlight was bathing Rei's beautiful features. Then Usagi noticed that two amethyst were sparkling adorably at her direction. The princess felt her heart flutter; she'd never seen a girl as beautiful as Rei. But then the image of Naomi kissing her blinked inside Usagi's mind, making her stomach turn upside down.

"Usa?"

"Oh, yes, Rei?" Usagi asked as she blinked a couple of times trying to push the memories from that night away.

"I was just checking if you had fallen asleep." Rei answered softly.

"I'm waiting for you." She smiled as she saw Rei walking towards the bed. It was huge, probably king size. And Usagi noticed that her senshi was lying far away from where she was.

"Rei?" Usagi called her. She noticed that Rei was looking at her, so she went on. "Could you... uh, hug me?" Usagi didn't really know why she had asked that, but she felt the urge to be as closest as possible to her senshi. It was like her body was asking for it.

The miko's lips parted and she widened her eyes. Why she was being so tortured, she would never know. It was difficult enough to be in the same room with Usagi, in the same bed... and now the blonde was asking Rei to hold her close?! The senshi of fire couldn't spend a whole night with that girl in her arms, feeling her amazing body pressing against hers, without-

"Oh, Rei, you're still thinking about the dead puppies, aren't you? That must have been so traumatizing!" Usagi said, pulling Rei's head into her chest and hugging the girl affectionately.

Rei was about to have a stroke as she noticed that, under Usagi's pajamas, she was wearing... no bra.

"Usa..." Rei mumbled as she felt her lips dry and her heartbeat increase at an alarming rate. "Could you, uh... turn around?" Rei thought that if Usagi wasn't facing her, then their mouths wouldn't be near each other, nor the princess's breasts would be pressing against her own body.

Definitely it would be easier if Usagi turned around.

Usagi frowned without knowing why Rei would ask that, but she didn't mind. "Sure, Rei-chan." She answered as she did as her senshi told so.

Rei, however, was paralyzed, which drew Usagi's attention. "Aren't you gonna hug me, Rei?" She asked expectantly.

Rei cursed herself for the thousandth time that night. Probably she wouldn't be getting any sleep with Usagi being so close to her body. Reluctantly she passed her right arm below the princess's neck.

Usagi reached for Rei's left arm and placed it gently around her waist, right on the base of her breasts.

Oh, God... Rei thought as she felt her body getting hotter.

"I feel so safe near you, Rei..." Usagi said and the miko could feel she was smiling. "Your body is so warm. It must be because of the flames of Mars, right?"

Rei rolled her eyes. "Oh, yes... it's because of *that* flame." She sighed and closed her eyelids.

"Goodnight, Rei-chan. Thanks for letting me spend the night with you. I'm not feeling alone nor sad anymore." Usagi said with a yawn. It was clear that she would be asleep within seconds.

Rei smiled weakly. She was almost dying from inhaling Usagi's heavenly scent. It was costing all her willpower not to grab the girl. But Rei was happy because Usagi was feeling well and safe. And that was all that mattered to her.

Now her princess had just begun to snore under her breath. She was breathing deep and rhythmically. Rei spent some time just to look at her and feel her delicious scent. The blonde had used her shampoo, her soaps and body creams... but she'd still smell wonderfully like... Usagi.

The princess turned around in her sleep and now she was face to face with Rei. That was all the miko didn't want to happen. Her mouths were close and the princess was clinging into her. Rei could feel Usagi's warm breaths in her neck.

The senshi of fire sighed again. That was so difficult. Usagi was so near and yet so far. That was utterly frustrating. Damn future. Damn past and damn present.

And if Rei could get any sleep that night, definitely she would dream about... dead puppies.

It was Sunday morning and Haruka and Michiru were having breakfast with Setsuna at the kitchen. Haruka had asked – no, begged – for the Guardian of Time to tell them what happened last night, since they had left early to do... you know what.

Setsuna had just told them about Usagi's jealous scene.

"What?!" Haruka asked, stunned. "She called Rei a slut?!"

Michiru was also perplexed. "Oh, I can't believe we lost it!"

Then Haruka looked at her girlfriend and smirked. "Oh, but it was for a good reason, right?"

"For *three* good reasons, love." The acqua-haired girl replied mischievously and she sipped her coffee. "So what did Rei do after she noticed Usagi was jealous?" Michiru asked curiously.

"Nothing, since she didn't notice it at all." Setsuna said simply.

"Okay. Is she brain damaged?" Haruka asked seriously, as she couldn't think of another excuse for Rei not noticing that. Everything was way too obvious.

"Haruka!" Michiru chided, but then she chuckled. "Anyway... You should not talk that way about a fellow senshi."

"She's not brain damaged. She's under a spell. And so is the princess." Setsuna said absently, while Haruka and Michiru's jaws almost hit the ground.

"What?!" Both cried out loud.

"Nothing." Setsuna said stoic as usual.

"Oh, no! You don't get to 'nothing' me! Not now!" Haruka hit the table furiously as Setsuna stared at her emotionless. "What do you mean with 'they are under a spell'?"

"I meant exactly what you've heard. I was being literal." The Guardian of Time stated.

Michiru raised an eyebrow, still not believing her ears. "A spell? What kind of spell? Who cast the spell?!"

"You'll find out soon enough." Setsuna rose from her chair and walked to the door.

"No, wait!" Haruka called her. "How can we break that spell? They can't keep on acting like this. It's nonsense!"

Setsuna stared at them. "We can't break it. Only they can."

"But what if we told them about it?" Michiru asked quickly. "Would it help?"

Setsuna looked at her intently. "Telling them won't work. The spell is the reason Usagi can't figure out her feelings and Rei believes her love is unrequited. But like I said... it's up to them. Until then, the only thing we can do is wait and see what happens."

And with that she was gone.

Author's note:

Next chapter things will revolve basically around Rei and Usagi. But I haven't forgotten about the other characters, okay? It's just that I have to make them deal with their feelings. It's about time they figure it out, right?

Thanks for sticking with me and for all your reviews. I promise everything will make sense soon enough! :)