Chapter 7 Enjoy the small things
The train had finally arrived, and many people left the train while others boarded it and everyone went about their ways. In the forest in front of the train, a group of girls had been walking along the dirt path, chatting all the way there. Of course there were two girls who were walking ahead of them, walking hand in hand and the rest couldn't be happier for them.
"Really!? The café has a new parfait!" Minako cried out, "Why didn't we try it before we came here!"
"We would have missed our train if we had," Ami tried her best to calm Minako down, "We'll go try it as soon as we come back."
"Promise Ami-chan!" Usagi got really close to her face.
"Y-yeah we will!"
Rei on the other hand couldn't help but look out ahead, seeing Reina and Makoto walking together, both their hands intertwined with each other, then Reina let go, wrapped her arm around Makoto's then laid her head on her arm.
The girls also noticed it, "Mako-chan looks really happy." Usagi then frowned, "Aaah I miss my Mamo-chan!"
"Why didn't you invite him?"
"Because he just left to go study overseas!"
Rei was about to say something till she remembered that horrible day, when Mamoru was taken by Galaxia and how bad Usagi got each day without him and worse not knowing what was going on or why he was never returning her calls, how she then told Rei it was tearing her heart in two not being able to talk to him, she looked at her, "Hey Usagi."
"Yeah?"
"Are you two staying in touch?"
Usagi nodded happily, "Yeah, well sort of, I don't think he has a way of calling from the plane but he gave me the number to his hotel and he'll call me as soon as he gets there… and I did tell him this morning that I was coming here," She said, "Hey Rei-chan, have they finally put a telephone line here?"
"I'm not too sure, they said they would." Rei glanced back at the two in front of them and began to feel slightly jealous of Makoto, "Mako-chan looks so happy."
"Don't worry Usagi-chan you'll talk to Mamoru-san soon." Minako gave her a thumbs up.
"I hope so."
"Usagi-chan?"
"Eh? Luna?" she looked at her cat that was resting on her shoulder.
She began to whisper, "While we're here, we may as well try to find out where these monsters are coming from."
"Don't worry Luna, I'm already on it." Ami chimed in as she kept working on her compact computer.
She then looked straight ahead, at a certain crimson haired girl, "You have to introduce me to Reina-chan, we'll need her help too."
"I will Luna," However a thought came into her head, "Hey Luna, have you ever seen her in the moon kingdom?"
Luna looked at Reina once more, "I can't remember, I feel I've seen her but I can't be too certain."
"Same here, I just can't remember either." Minako's cat, Artemis tried to remember if he'd ever seen Reina or Sailor Nova back in the kingdom but nothing came to mind.
"Maybe she was like Haruka and Michiru, they stayed outside the kingdom to deal with evil beings that tried to enter the kingdom?" Minako was on to something but without fully knowing it was hard to know if that was the case.
"Maybe, we have to try and find someone that may know about her." Luna needed to know the truth about her, but mostly why she couldn't remember if there was a Sailor Nova in the kingdom.
"Maybe Setsuna-san may know something?" Ami suggested
"That's a good idea Ami-chan!" Luna cried out happily, "But for now, try to introduce us to her."
"We'll try Luna, but a talking cat may freak her out." Rei followed up, after all they were all freaked out when Luna first spoke to them so they had no idea how Reina would react.
Up ahead, Reina and Makoto walked together and chatted.
"I can't believe this you know," Reina said, "I never thought I'd get to hold you like this!" She giggled as she huddled closer to Makoto.
Makoto was quiet for a moment, it still hadn't sunk in yet that someone actually loved her back despite what everyone else thought were flaws about her appearance.
"Reina," She reached over for her hand and held it, "Does me being tall bother you?"
"Eh?" Reina looked up at her, then smirked, "I actually like taller girls. So its fine by me."
She blushed a little, "And being strong?"
"You kidding!?" She perked up, "You know how awesome it was seeing you punch that one monster, then doing this 'supa cool' wrestling move on it!" She giggled, "I wish I could do that, but last time I punched a monster my hand was sore for a few days."
"Ah I see," Makoto smiled, relieved to actually hear something like that for once, Reina was very accepting of her and it felt amazing. No one had ever said stuff like that to her, every boy she's ever liked always said terrible things about her height, her strength or how hard she tried to please them, they always treated her like some sort of freak just for not being what they considered a normal girl, but Reina… Reina loved her despite all that and she couldn't be luckier to have met her.
"Why do you ask?"
"N-No reason," she gave a warm hearted smile, and now that she thought about it, dating another girl didn't even feel strange or weird at all for her, and the more thought about it the more she realized that maybe gender didn't matter as much as she thought, as long as her heart was happy and she truly was, that's what mattered.
"Ah what's that!?" Reina walked over near a tree and there were many flowers on the field and knelt down to look at some of them, "they're so pretty." Makoto followed her and knelt down beside her.
"Those are carnations." Her eyes looked at the entire field of flowers before her, and gently glided her fingers on one of them.
"Carnations? That's an unusual name." Reina moved her head to look at Makoto and when she did, she could see the passion in her eyes when it came to flowers, she would be an amazing flower caretaker person… She wondered if that was the right word for it.
"Do you know what these mean?" She pointed at the red and white flowers.
"Nah, not really." She looked back at them.
"These mean love, and devotion."
"Really? Wow…" She never would've imagined that flowers could have such a sweet meaning like that, after all Reina knew nothing about flowers and Makoto's passion for it clearly showed, "Would it be wrong if I wanted to take these two with me?"
Makoto chuckled softly, "Not at all, here." Her hands carefully plucked the flower in a way that didn't damage it and would be able to survive long enough till she could place it in a small cup with water or a small flower pot.
"Arigato!" She looked at them, "Love and devotion…" She looked at Makoto, those two words were never so true now for Reina.
Then out of pure instinct, Reina pounced Makoto, knocking her to the soft ground, "Aaah!" it even surprised her, "R-Reina?"
Reina held herself on top of Makoto, staring into her eyes then lowered herself to kiss her and while Makoto wouldn't exactly object… there were people watching.
"Reina," She kissed her, "People are—" more loving smooches, "watching."
"Eh?"
That's when she heard someone clearing their throats, and when she looked up she saw her friends had caught up and were staring at them.
"Mako-chan!" Minako had the biggest grin on her face, she imagined herself doing that with a cute boy and her face began to flush, "So cute!"
"Come on Mina-chan," Ami began to guide her along while preparing napkins just in case of a nose bleed.
Usagi only pouted, she really missed her Mamo-chan and wanted him next to her and Rei only sighed, "I mean you two can wait till we get there can't you?" Her stern faced immediately softened then she giggled, "Come on you two."
Reina helped Makoto to her feet, "Gomen, I got caught up…"
"Y-you know…"
"Hmm?" She turned to face her.
"If you w-wanted to continue this later…"
Reina finally noticed something, "Are you blushing?"
"Eh!? N-no I'm not!"
"You are!" she giggled, "It's really cute!" Makoto said nothing but turn her head, Reina then walked up closer, gripped her chin and gently turned her head to face her, "I would love to continue this later." She wrapped her arms around her girlfriend, "Now come on!"
They arrived after a somewhat long walk, or it would have been a short walk but Usagi began to complain that her feet were hurting from all the walking and had to stop multiple times, luckily though the large cabin that belonged to Rei's family which let her use it to hang out with her friends whenever she wanted too.
"Sugoi!" Reina walked around it, "It's so huge!"
"That's exactly what Minako said when she first saw this place." Rei added as she unlocked the door, but when she opened it she was greeted to a large puff of dust.
"Aaachoo!"
"How long has it been since we've been here Rei-chan?" Usagi asked her but she wasn't going to get an answer anytime soon, she was having a sneezing fit.
"Not too—aaah aaahchooo! …long." She was handed a couple of tissues from Usagi.
The group rushed inside and opened the windows to let the place vent, while they did they also began to set up their beds and food for later.
After all that was done, Reina took a seat next to Makoto on the floor as the girls could finally relax… or so they thought. Luna walked behind Reina, it was finally time to introduce herself knowing that Usagi probably wasn't going to do it… or she forgot.
"Reina-chan, it's nice to meet you."
"Eh?" Reina perked her head up, looked around, "Is some else here?" The girls all had a worried look in their eyes, and Makoto was about to say something to prepare her but,
"Over here Reina-chan?" She heard a pleasant voice, it surely didn't sound like a bad person.
She turned around and saw no one, "What?" that's when she saw a dainty little paw from under her vision waving up and her blood froze, she lowered her head and saw Usagi's cat in front of her.
"Pleased to meet you Reina-chan." She said happily.
"A t-talk-talking cat!" She stared, mouth agape, "No way, ah ha ha ha." She began to fall back; the shock actually over whelmed her, it's not every day someone sees a talking cat greeting her.
"Reina-chan?"
Makoto had caught Reina as she fell back, "Reina?" she gently shook her but she was knocked out cold.
"I had a feeling that was going to happen." Rei sighed, "She's never seen something like that before."
"I knew it was going to be a cat-astrophe!" Minako laughed though everyone else just groaned.
"That wasn't even funny Mina." Artemis only shook his head.
An hour later…
"Uugh…" Reina slowly opened her eyes, greeted by Makoto's staring right back at her while being held in her arms, "So warm..." She closed her eyes for a moment to take it in, she truly didn't want to move, Not while Makoto had her arms wrapped around Reina's body, "What happened?"
Makoto helped her sit up straight, "Well," she scratched her head nervously with a chuckle, "A talking cat scared you."
"Ah! That's right! There was a talking cat! Was I dreaming!?"
"It's no dream Reina-chan."
Reina froze again, it was the same voice.
"It'll be okay Reina, trust me." Makoto reached for Reina's hand, even though the two were dating now, it still made Makoto feel flustered whenever she held Reina's hand and looking at her girlfriend made her feel the same. 'girlfriend' now that was a phrase that just made her feel happy the more she repeated it in her head, and couldn't be more grateful to have friends that actually supported her to go for it, "Her hand is so soft…" Makoto began to unknowingly caress Reina's skin with her thumb softly.
Reina's gaze slowly connected with Luna's, "So it was real…"
Luna giggled, "Don't be afraid Reina-chan, I won't hurt you."
She looked at Usagi who nodded, "She's okay Reina-chan, she's been our friend since the very beginning."
Reina looked back at Luna and took a deep breath, "Pleased to meet you Luna…" she said, "I'm talking to a cat… my day just got a whole lot weirder." Of course she wasn't going to say that out loud, but it didn't change the fact that this whole thing was still strange to her.
"likewise Reina-chan," She approached her and sat in front of her, "I'm glad to see that we've found another Senshi, to be honest I never expected another one."
"So there are others besides us?" Luna nodded, "No way!?"
"You'll meet them soon enough Reina-chan, but I have a question for you."
"Um sure." Reina leaned down a little more.
"Do you remember anything? Anything about your past life?"
Reina shook her head, "No, I never even knew I had one if its true."
Luna thought about it, "I thought so, You being a Senshi surely must mean something, if perhaps you were a warrior that was kept secret from everyone or…"
"Why would that even be a thing?" Reina was just getting confused.
"Ah forget I said anything Reina-chan," Luna perked up, "But there may be someone that can help us figure out more about you."
"Luna, you make it seem like Reina is an enemy." Makoto brought only to have Luna chuckle nervously.
"Gomen, that wasn't my intention Mako-chan," She returned her gaze back at Reina, "Every Senshi has been a part of the moon kingdom in some way, to protect the princess or the kingdom… but Reina, I don't know anything about you and if I did, well I can't seem to recall anymore."
The white cat walked up to them, "Yeah, it's truly strange even I don't remember."
"You can talk too!?"
Artemis scolded himself mentally, "Artemis!" Minako picked him up.
"Gomen Mina, one talking cat was probably enough!" He put his paws together in a pleading fashion to be forgiven.
Luna cleared her throat, "Anyway, there is someone that can help."
"Really? Who?" Reina asked, she was just as curious to see if there was anything about her because after hearing her friends tell her they had past lives in the Moon Kingdom it made her feel curious to know if she was there too.
"You'll meet her soon, Ami should be contacting her as we speak." Reina glanced at Ami, she was on some sort of communicator and was talking real hush hush, she couldn't hear anything even if she tried, "For now, let's just try and relax."
"Hey we should go swimming!" Rei suggested, after all the lake was actually right next to the cabin.
"Good idea Rei-chan!" Usagi quickly began to rummage through her suit case to find her swimsuit. Everyone found their swimsuits and walked into different rooms to change.
Reina laid out her two piece swimsuit, it was a cute looking swimwear with ribbons on the side of it and it was a midnight blue color.
She took off her only her shirt, leaving herself in just her bra and jeans, she glanced up at the beautiful surrounds past the window, so she walked up and looked outside for a brief moment before taking the rest of her clothes off and putting on her swimwear, "It's so pretty here, really cool." She then leaned against the window, she immediately began to feel curious, "Did I really exist in the Moon Kingdom? If it's true, why can't I remember anything?"
The sound of the door opening snapped Reina out of it with a gasp, she reached for her shirt and covered her chest.
"Reina are you rea—"
"Iyaaaa! Mako! You pervert!" She turned around, her face as red as a tomato.
"Aaah! Gomen Reina!" Makoto was about to turn away when something caught her eye, something on Reina's back, "Huh?"
"Mako can you close the door please." She said calmly but Makoto kept staring at her, then walked in the room, closing the door behind her, "M-Mako?"
She kept walking closer, and Reina's heart began to beat faster and faster, "Uh Mako?"
"Reina…"
Reina couldn't move, her feet were frozen to the ground and then, she felt Makoto's hands on her shoulders, her heart began to flutter and her mind began to delve into various imaginations, "Ah M-Mako! I-I'm n-not ready for that kind of thing yet!" Her face felt so hot to the touch, "B-but if you w-wanted too then, I wouldn't m-mind my first time w-with you…" She stopped and ran her own words back through her head, "AAAH! What am I saying! Gomenasai!"
Makoto didn't say anything, which… was surprising and when Reina turned to look at Makoto, her face was torn, "What is it?" She finally asked.
"Reina…" Even her words were filled with sorrow, "There are so many scars on your back..." She gently ran her finger across one of them. Scars filled her back like streaks of paint on a canvas, long scars, short scars and big ones, small ones, they were all over her back and some that healed okay while others didn't leaving them more noticeable and unfortunately that was the majority of them.
"Oh… that…" Reina replied, the mere memory of them was enough to make her feel horrible.
"What happened?"
Reina turned to face her, "when Rei-chan said I did better than Usagi-chan on my first time fighting, she was wrong. That was the only fight I came out off without a scratch," She began, "Every fight since then; well I wasn't a good fighter, not at first. I barely managed to survive most of those battles and I came out hurt every time. I was almost always a bloody mess, I even have a scar across my stomach, a few on my arms and one on my leg… Being a Sailor Senshi has been a lot harder than I ever thought it would be, sometimes I don't feel like I'm cut out for it."
"Reina…" Makoto embraced Reina from behind, those scars reminded her that Reina was alone and not part of a team like Makoto was and if she was then, "I wish I was there, I could've protected you."
"Hey don't feel bad, I'm still here, I survived." Reina held onto Makoto's arms, "But that's the reason I always wear long sleeved shirts and jeans, I don't want people to ever see my scars… well, I was actually going to wear a swimsuit today." She giggled softly, "I knew I shouldn't but for once, I didn't mind, I just feel comfortable with all of you girls."
But Makoto didn't say anything which only made Reina giggle, "Mako-chan, don't feel bad. What happened to me is in the past, I'm here and it made me a better fighter… so good in fact that I'm pretty sure I can take you on."
Makoto looked at her, "Really?"
Reina nodded confidently hoping to make Makoto feel better, slipped her shirt back on and got into a stance, "Wanna try!"
"Reina," She giggled, "I would rather not."
"Are you afraid of me Ma-ko-chan?" She smirked since it seemed to be working nicely.
"Terrified." She mocked with a smirk of her own.
"Oh, is that sarcasm I hear!" Reina charged at her and swung her fist, course she was only fooling around and not actually trying to hurt her, it was more like a playful sparring match.
Makoto dodged or blocked most of Reina's punches, "Not bad." She swayed away from her fist, that's when Makoto ducked, grabbed Reina and lifted her over her head.
"AAH!" Then Makoto playfully tossed her on the bed, then laughed, "You sure showed me Reina."
"Did you actually just pick me up like I weighed like nothing!?"
Makoto only placed her hands triumphly on her sides, "Still want more?"
"Oh that's it!" She ran to her, and lunged at her tall girlfriend.
Makoto stopped her by grappling her then tossing her back on the bed only this time, she climbed on top of Reina and pinned her hands down. She watched Reina struggle for a small amount of time, unable to break free from Makoto's grip and eventually she stopped struggling.
"Give up yet?"
Reina gave it her all one last time, but was unable to make her budge, and rested back down as she panted lightly, "It's no joke, you really are strong!" She chuckled, "That really is pretty awesome!"
"Eh?"
She nodded, "Like I said before, it's so cool! Cause then that means, no one can beat my super strong Mako-chan!"
"I'm not as strong as you make me out to be Reina-chan."
"I don't believe that one bit."
She brushed Reina's hair with her fingers, "If you'd like, I can train you?"
"I wouldn't mind that at all." She then lifted her head up to rub her nose on Makoto's.
The two shared a small laugh, before Makoto let go of Reina's wrists and instead locked their fingers together, "You know I'll always protect you, right."
Reina nodded happily then saw Makoto lowering her face slowly, "I know I'm not as strong as you, but I'll always protect you too Mako no matter what." Then the sweet sensation took over as they gave each other the sweetest kiss and enjoyed one another's warmth.
The girls all rushed to the lake, going to its crystal clear waters and began to have fun. While it was difficult not to feel awful for Reina after seeing all her scars, they managed to put on a brave face and resumed having fun as well as help Reina forget those memories even if it's at least for the day.
They deserved a day to relax after having been fighting monsters for as long as they can remember, so this day would not be wasted.
While the rest of them dunked each other in the water, up ahead, Makoto and Ami had dragged Reina further out where it was deeper and immediately discovered…
"Wait wait! Can we go back!" Reina clung onto Makoto.
"Huh?"
"I can't really swim…"
"Really?" Ami asked her.
"I never go out far, if my feet can still touch the ground that's enough for me."
Makoto and Ami nodded, "We can teach you how?"
"No no, I rather just go back."
"Don't be silly Reina, come on." Makoto held onto Reina for a moment, "Ami-chan is the best swimmer I've ever known, she can teach you."
Ami extended her hand and offered an inviting gaze, however the moment Reina let go of Makoto…
"Ah! glub glub!" She immediately sunk under the water!
"Ah Reina-chan!" Makoto quickly reached down and pulled her back up, after she was out she immediately wrapped her arms around Makoto and was cheek to cheek with her, "Are you okay?"
She nodded, "I told you, I can't swim."
Reina wasn't joking and her fear was real, Makoto could actually feel her tremble with fear.
"Reina-chan, do you trust me?" Ami swam closer to her and held her arm.
"Yeah." With that being said, Makoto gently let go of Reina and Ami took over, and observed as she began to teach her to swim, or try to at least but stayed just in case she was needed.
After a few hours the sun was now setting and despite no progress being made, Reina was still unable to swim but was reassured that she'll just need to practice and Ami would be happy to keep helping her.
After the girls changed, Makoto quickly ran up behind Reina and embraced her while having a happy grin on her face.
"M-Mako-chan!" She giggled, "Something wrong?"
"No, Just w-wanted to hold you is all." Her cheeks were flushed once again.
"That's what I wanted to do!" She said and as she turned around to do so… something happened, she began to feel woozy, dizzy and nauseas. She was unable to stay standing and wobbled under her own weight.
"Reina-chan!?" Makoto's cry caught everyone's attention.
Finally a single cough, just one was all it took and the floor and Reina's hands were covered in blood… then she instantly blacked out and fell to the floor, but Makoto's fast reactions kept Reina from hitting the solid floor. The girls all gathered around, shock had overwhelmed them and didn't know what to do! Ami was the first to start checking for vitals and the sorts.
"Reina!" Makoto shook her, "Reina! REINA!"
This moment was a harsh reminder to all her friends that Reina's time on this earth was getting shorter by the day…
"You're going out?"
The girl with dark green hair and sharp eyes nodded, "Yes, it'll only be for a moment."
"You wouldn't leave unless it was important Setsuna-san."
She turned back to look at her, "It is Michiru."
The taller, short haired blonde walked into the room, "What's this about?"
"I got a call from Mizuno-san, she told me something interesting and I have to see it for myself Haruka."
"Interesting?"
She nodded, "Like what?" Haruka asked.
"Another Sailor Senshi."
The two gasped, "What!?" Haruka stepped up, "Is she dangerous?! Or is she like the Starlights?!"
"From what Mizuno-san described her as… No, but I have to see if it's who I think it is."
"Is that what I've been feeling?" Michiru looked out ahead, she recalled feeling something unusual but wasn't so sure as to what it was until now.
"So you felt it too." Setsuna had also felt a strange energy appear out of nowhere but it felt familiar somehow.
"We're going with you." Haruka grabbed her car keys and Michiru followed behind her.
Setsuna only chuckled, "Relax, If it is who I think it is then we have nothing to worry about."
"You say it like you know who this Senshi is." Michiru gave her a glare filled with curiosity.
"I don't know her personally but I'll tell you more once I see her."
"Alright lets go!"
"Wait." They all turned to the sound of a much gentler voice, a girl much smaller than them, brushing her raven black hair with her fingers.
"Hotaru?"
She walked in the room, "I want to see her too."
They all looked at each other and nodded, not wanting to waste any more time and drove off in Haruka's car, or rather sped off to get there as quickly as possible.
"Could she really have been reborn into this time? It wouldn't surprise me but I need to know if it's her." Setsuna thought to herself, but any questions she had would soon be answered once they made it to the cabin and Ami was able to tell them where it was… their drive was going to be a long one or short, depending on how fast Haruka would push her car to get there and just judging from her speed alone, it was going to be short.
A/N: First off I have to say I truly appreciate the favs and follows that this story has been getting, and all the comments, they truly mean a lot to me as well as keep me motivated and i thank you all for taking the time to read this story, I hope you all have been enjoying this story so far and The next chapter will finally reveal Reina's past and I understand It took a while but I didn't just want to rush into it but anyway I will post it once i'm done with it.
