Rei jerks awake, hand already reaching for her sword which is lying beside her on the bed. A gasp and the muffled retreat of steps fills the air even as Rei lurches to her feet and springs away to the opposite side of the room. Blinking blearily, the raven haired woman is not even fully awake even though she's standing in a defensive guard, weapon held at ready.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to startle you!" calls a wavering voice.

Rei blinks a couple more times and finally locates the source of the disturbance. Elysia is gaping at her from across the room, hands held aloft in a placating gesture. Rei squints at her a moment, trying to figure out where she is and who the young woman in front of her is.

"Makoto?" asks Rei, voice rough with sleep.

"N-no! Elysia!" The brunette is hovering by the door, clearly ready to lunge for it should Rei move towards her.

"El… Elysia?" mumbles Rei. Rei releases a puff of air, sword tip dropping into a relaxed position. "Goddess above! Why didn't you knock?! I have been trained to act as if any unexpected visit is an intruder!" Her own outburst startles her. She looks down at the blade in her hands. In the dead future, she'd never reacted that way to someone entering her room. Her hands are trembling as she sheathes the gleaming weapon.

"I'm sorry!" repeats Elysia. She slowly starts to step forward now that Rei is putting away her sword. "I was restless, so I thought I would find you to speak of what it is you've chosen me for."

Rei settles on the edge of her bed with a frown. She ignores the fact that she's only dressed in a long white tunic that barely brushes her mid-thigh. She had not taken any of the offered sleeping gowns, now that she thinks upon it. When the maid offered, she'd waved them off. Apparently her brothers had trained her extremely well. To sleep in a nightgown was to invite yourself to trouble, as your legs would easily get tangled were a foe to attack you while you slept. Her initial reaction to Elysia's surprise visit was also a startling new revelation.

Rei sighs heavily. Her shoulders sag as she bows her head in exhaustion. She had not fully recovered from yesterday evenings event, and being woken by pure adrenaline had sapped any energy she'd regained sleeping. If she has time, she decides that meditating today would be a good way to sift through her new present life and find out more of her own memories and habits. It would not due to react blindly again, endangering or hurting someone by accident.

She looks down at the smooth wooden floor, artfully and magically created so that not a single cut mars its surface. Every piece of furniture is made in the same fashion, as if carved from a giant tree and yet untouched by any blade or fire. Such things could not be found on any other planet unless imported. Her father had gotten her an imported beautiful vanity when she was a child. Sadly, she had yet to have any sort of control of her powers and had burnt it to a crisp shortly after. She had cried several days, upset she had destroyed such a lovely gift that her father had tried so hard to bring her from a world she'd never seen. To soothe her, he took her to visit her Uncles and Aunts on the Ice Caps. He made a game of letting her melt pieces of ice into sculptures, therein allowing her to slowly harness her powers.

"Are you well?" asks a soft voice.

Rei starts, having forgotten she had company. "Yes, I'm sorry. I am merely tired. I fear I spent a lot of my energy the last couple days." Rei waves her closer. "Come, have a sit. You seem to have many questions, and it would be rude of me to make you stand through them."

Elysia smiles shyly as she slips over to the bed and gently sits upon its edge. "Mother says I am to be a Senshi."

Rei snorts in amusement. Right to the point, as always. "Yes. I am recruiting the Senshi early in hopes to prevent a terrible future that I've seen through the Sacred Fire."

Green eyes widen. "Terrible future?"

"There is war ahead of us," remarks Rei. Her violet eyes drift over to the windows to look out across the canopy of trees that seem to go on endlessly. She inhales slowly, reveling in the scent of humidity and bountiful vegetation. She is used to the dry arid heat of her own world, and she is also used to the smell of the city in Japan. This is like being in a planet sized green house, exciting, refreshing, and beautiful. "I fear that if we don't start preparing now, we will lose, as I've seen happen in my visions."

"War?" asks Elysia. Her voice is faint.

Rei gives her a sad smile. "I know this is not what you would like to face. From what I understand, you do not like fighting, correct?"

Elysia looks away with a frown. "My family has all been trained to fight; we are taught at a very young age. It is necessary for all of us to know how to protect ourselves and others, as our planet has many numerous creatures of prey that would devour you given the chance. " She grimaces. "Many use such talents as a show of skill, of power. They pick fights with each other and hurt each other to prove themselves. Others simply do it to overpower the weak and take their well-earned supplies." She clenches a fist. "I do not like it, but it is the way our world runs. The strong rule over the weak."

Placing a hand on the young woman's shoulder, Rei smiles at her softly. "I know what you mean... My planet is made for war. We breed for it. To be acknowledged within our society, you must be strong. Our planet is constantly feuding with itself, showing the rise and fall of kingdoms and rulers of all sorts. My family has only been holding the main throne for the last four generations. I am to be the fifth, as are my brothers. It is only the show of said strength that I am even able to call myself 'Princess' and heir."

The brunette gapes. "Really?! That sounds even worse than here!" She shakes her head with a rueful smile. "I had hoped that Tempest would take the throne. She knew of my dislike of how things are. She promised to change them if she could." She sighs. "The others… I love them, but they like the challenge of surviving, of duels. It is not uncommon for families to send children who are not 'capable' into the forests alone, letting nature decide their fate. I had dreams of escaping to another world, of being free of such horrors."

The brunette fiddles with the pendent Rei had made her. "I was to be sent into the forest…"

Rei blinks. "Surely not! You're of royalty!"

Elysia grimaces. "I speak truth. I chose not to fight, chose not to hunt. I hated raising a weapon unless strictly in defense, and even then I often chose to wound and not kill. The ones we call Hunters, advisors to the Throne, were pushing and pushing to have me sent into the forest. There are so many heirs it would be of no consequence if one were to die. I was not upholding the image that the royal line is bound, and they would not hear of me being a burden to society any longer. Tempest and I overheard them, and though my parents protested each time, it was obvious that they were losing ground. Tempest took me to train on our own in the forest. She yelled, hit, and cried for me to kill something, anything. When a Howling Cat came, its size that of a horse and its cry piercing its victims to the core, it attacked Tempest. She couldn't handle it on her own. Just as it lunged in for the killing blow, I leapt upon its back and slit its throat. When we drug it back to town, the Hunters stopped asking for me to be sent."

Rei squeezes Elysia's shoulder, face pinched in sympathy. The brunette's story made her recall one from her past-life's childhood, from this childhood. It makes her shudder. "Well, maybe now that we are Senshi, we can begin changing things."

Elysia snorts. "As if we will ever get such a chance. If there is a war coming, we will be too busy fighting it to care or worry what's happening on our home worlds." Her head dips low. "Besides, there is no certainty on who shall return and if there will be anything to return to."

Rei's fingers dig into Elysia's shoulder and make the girl wince. "No! I refuse! We will not think such things! I've come here to prevent it!" A snarl on her lips, Rei's eyes flicker. "I will not let any world crumble! I will protect them all!"

Elysia yelps at the pain and the outburst, but doesn't pull away. Instead, she grins. "Yes, we shall protect them, flaws and all."

Rei blinks then smirks. Her grip lessens. "Yeah, flaws and all."

The brunette smiles as she rises. "I'm sorry I disturbed you so early. I forgot that our day cycle is shorter than that on Mars. I will have the servants send you some food so that you may rest here until you are feeling better. We can set out early tomorrow, as I'm certain the Mercurians have scheduled their days near to that of Earth's, as their day cycle is disturbingly long in comparison. "

"Thank you. I will be ready."

Rei watches in silence as Elysia closes the door. When alone again, Rei lets out a heavy exhale, slumping once more. Her eyes are dark with emotions, lips compressed tightly.

"I had not realized that the planets were so flawed… I had figured that each had been at their own utopia, as the Moon had been." She glances out the window again, noting the various colorful flowers. "It seems I was mistaken."

She stands, padding across the room barefoot. She leans out the window and looks up into the greenish blue atmosphere. She inhales too sharply, and almost goes into a coughing fit, as she is unused to the heaviness of the damp air.

A familiar pulse of magic forms behind her, causing her to smile.

"You've returned rather quickly," she says, eyes never straying from the sky.

Hotaru smiles, dark eyes warm. "Well, I haven't exactly completed my task, but I worried about you." Her eyes look over Rei's figure, noting the weariness of her stance. She frowns briefly before stepping forward to look out the window as well. "It has only been recently that I realized how imperfect our planets were before the war. If I remember correctly, when you came to the Moon the first time, it was after winning a rather large civil war. I think Pluto told me back in our time that it was during that civil war that you lost your trust in your fellow man."

Rei's eyes darken further. "I had not allowed myself to think upon such things. When I came back, I honestly wasn't prepared for the idea of being stuck here. For some reason, I had it in my mind that I could change things and then go back to our time. It is only now I'm seeing the mistake in that. I am far more on edge in this life-time. I've had to be. I nearly struck down Makoto when she came to wake me."

"You didn't, of course."

"Of course."

They both remain silent a while before Rei makes a 'tsk" noise. "It's funny. I had no idea that Makoto had a twin in this lifetime. Hell, she has bloody army of siblings." Rei shakes her head ruefully. "It does make sense though… certain traits that passed on to her reincarnation. I saw some of such things in Minako, but there's a lot about that girl I still don't understand."

Rei rolls her eyes as Hotaru giggles.

"Yes, well, Minako has always been a rather… interesting character. There is a lot that goes on behind those blue eyes that we can only begin to imagine…" Hotaru giggles again. "However, of all things, she most certainly is an upstanding icon for all things Venusian."

They both laugh.

Rei turns so that they can finally look at each other. Hotaru smiles comfortingly, and Rei manages a small smile in return.

"I'm sorry I've worried you. I wasn't thinking. It seems I have some things to reflect on today, so that we don't have any mishaps in the future."

Hotaru places a cool hand on Rei's arm. "Easy, there… I hadn't been thinking of it either. It took some getting used to, having a rambunctious little sister to look after. I myself forgot what my entire past was, and had to rediscover that my father died to destroy an enemy entering the Sol System and my mother is away so often keeping up defenses that I've had to raise my sister mostly on my own."

Rei winces. "In this life too? That seems entirely unfair."

Hotaru shakes her head with a soft smile. "No, don't… We each have our burdens to carry. It seems that I have one to repeat. I am just happy that I have a little sister to dote on. She helps chase any shadows away."

A heavy sigh escapes Rei's lips as she turns runs her fingers through her long dark hair. "Well, it seems we both have much to adjust to and re-learn. I was foolish in thinking it would be simple." She smiles grimly. "I'm beginning to wonder what to expect in the near future. Already we are traveling on unfamiliar ground. Most of us never shared our history before the war, as we never had a chance to get to know one another. Once we regained our memories after becoming Senshi in Japan, we were too focused on finding the Princess that we chose to overlook everything else. Ironically, we were expecting her to have all the answers, instead of finding them for ourselves."

Hotaru hugs Rei, trying desperately to show the other young woman her full support. "I know it seems that we are fighting against the odds, but I truly think we've chosen the right path. Don't lose faith in that, as that will probably be the only thing that will keep guiding us to a new beginning."

Rei hugs her back, relishing in the fact that she has someone to speak to about these things without sounding mental. "Thank you, Hotaru. I'm glad you chose to come with me. This would have been far more difficult to do alone."

Hotaru giggles as she pulls away. "Trust me, I know. I can't even begin to figure out how I'm going to knock some sense into my 'parents'. All three of them can be quite stubborn."

Rei laughs. "Normally I would say that Haruka would be the most difficult one to deal with, but I'm starting to wonder if Setsuna will be the greatest challenge of all. The only reason I haven't panicked yet is because she hasn't come to confront me so far."

Hotaru rolls her eyes. "I believe that is because she's trying to avoid me. I know she is the most talented one of their planet, and has been for a number of generations. The problem is, if she actually realizes the future she was expecting is no longer possible, she might be a serious problem if she thinks that was the 'best' outcome that we could have hoped for. She gets her head in a twist some times where duty and the heart cross. She probably is keeping her distance from us, hoping that by not confronting us that the changing future is but a possibility that can't possibly come to pass."

Rei snorts. "I can see her doing that. She did that when us Inners first became Senshi again. She allowed Usagi and Minako to flounder on their own, waiting until the right moment to present herself. It would have saved us a great deal of heartache had she showed herself earlier."

Hotaru shakes her head. "Yes, I know… She is a handful when she pulls stunts like that, assuming she knows best because she can see through the gates." Hotaru rolls her eyes. "There are days I wish to break the gates or seal them just so she comes to realize that just because she sees many futures, it doesn't mean she sees all of them. She'd be driven insane trying to track the endless possibilities that each decision creates if she could see even a hundredth of a tenth of them."

"Well, let us hope we can change her outlook a little. I didn't come here just to make my own future brighter. I'm hoping that we can all be happy this time around. I felt terrible when I realized how lonely we were all becoming, how lonely we would remain if we had walked into Crystal Tokyo willingly."

Hotaru frowns. "That indeed is a heavy thought… I will not lie in the regards that I will always miss Small Lady, as she and I became very close… However, because of that, I know how lonely and isolated she felt. It was something that echoed within all of us, and I would not wish to see her suffer so a second time."

Rei shifts. "I shall miss her as well, even if she is a symbol of Usagi's and Mamoru's love. A part of me shall always feel guilty for taking her chance at life away from her."

Hotaru frowns. "Don't. That line of thinking will get you nowhere. You have made your choice, now live with it. We are defying the Fates to begin with, so I am not so foolish as to rule out that her existence may yet come to pass if we wish it so. Starseeds like hers cannot be denied life. She may yet be amongst us again, eventually, even if it is not in the same fashion that we remember."

"Forgive me," murmurs Rei. "I just now am beginning to see the numerous consequences of my actions. I feel very much like Setsuna must, as there are just too many things to account for when making such large decisions."

"Exactly," Hotaru says firmly. "This is what it means to challenge the Fates and Destiny, to face a future unknown but fighting for it valiantly anyway in hopes it is to expectation." She shakes her head. "We have chosen. Never forget that. We have chosen. We were not forced, coerced, or lead. We took this path on our own, ripped it right out from the very greedy clutches of Fate and Destiny and told them where to stick it."

An odd noise fills the air at the end of that comment, and it takes Hotaru a moment to recall what she said and realize why it looks like Rei's face is trying to perform gymnastics. Their eyes meet.

Both of them burst out laughing at the same time.

"Thank you Hotaru. I feel better now." Rei wipes a tear from her eye, feeling a deal lighter than she had when she'd woken.

Hotaru smiles at her with dark understanding eyes. "I'm glad. I have to go now. Setsuna is stubborn, and I don't want our first confrontation to be when all of the Senshi are to meet on the Moon. Which reminds me, why are you taking Makoto with you? From what I hear, she just lost someone precious."

"Ah, you have a point," remarks Rei, scratching her head. "I hadn't decided yet. I want to tell her to be at the Moon by a certain day, but I'm worried that after that incident she might not want to go alone, if at all."

Hotaru frowns. "She needs a few days to get closure. If you drag her off tomorrow she will not be able to put her all into training. I suggest letting her stay a few extra days. Besides, you have Minako out for 'extra training', so it's not like she will be the only one to arrive on her own."

A crisp nod from the Priestess follows. "Very well. I will speak with her tomorrow. I would today, but I truly do need to meditate to orientate myself with who I am now with who I was before. I have a feeling I have a lot of things to negotiate within myself before I continue this journey." She gives Hotaru another hug. "Safe trip, Hotaru. I shall see you again soon."

"May your fires endlessly burn bright," intones Hotaru, using a formal Martian farewell.

"May your balance always remain equal," returns Rei, using the Saturnian farewell in respect.

Hotaru is gone before Rei can blink. It makes the Priestess sigh, as she already misses the other girls calming presence.

"Be damned sentiments," she blurts hotly. She crosses the room to sit in a meditative pose before the balcony doors and allow the filtered light from the canopy above to kiss her exposed flesh. "I have work to do!"

A/N: Well, I got a PM saying I needed to focus a bit more on atmosphere and layout of what kind of past Rei was stepping into. I really am glad I got it because I was running a little quickly without getting the proper info out. I'm hoping this is more to what they were speaking of. I do feel that if I was jumping into a past I hardly remembered, I wouldn't feel the true affects of my actions until a while after I'd made the jump; hence Rei is just now getting slammed with the reality of her situation. You can only plan so far before things will have to fall where they will. I do plan to keep her experiencing little surprises, such as actions she's trained herself in the past with but didn't need in the future, so that it's obvious she's re-learning who she is as she's forced two roles and two lives into a co-existing unit. Hope it works! Thanks for reading!

Toodles!

-salute!-