Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon.

Chapter 10: The Morning After

-Rei-

As soon as she was out of the room, Rei began to run. She sprinted through the maze of hallways and didn't stop until she was outside. She tried to calm down, taking deep breaths of the cool night air. The night was completely black, the only light coming from the palace lanterns and the glittering stars. She had never been so thankful that the Earth wasn't out.

She stared at her shaking hands, carefully unwrapping the yellow cloth and stowing it safely in her pocket. She looked around hopelessly, unsure of what she wanted to do. Finally, making up her mind, she turned and strode out to the training grounds. She grabbed a wooden sword off the rack and squared off to a dummy. I hate him, she thought as she hacked viciously at the straw target. I hate him, I'll kill him if he ever lays a hand on her again!

She grimaced asshe remembered the look in her Princess's eyes. Hurt and betrayed and so angry. Angry at me… And I'm supposed to be the one protecting her. She swung harder, ignoring the bits of straw that flew back at her like tiny needles against her bare arms. And I knew! I knew as soon as I saw them that they would ruin everything! That son of a bitch prince… and now she hates me…

She hit the exposed post of the target, snapping both it and the wooden sword in half. With a roar of rage she flung the useless hilt as far as she could. Dropping to her knees, she pounded the broken dummy into the ground with her fists. Every hit she imagined driving her fists into his arrogant smirking face. She didn't even notice the pain in her hands as she punched the bits of wood and straw against the hard ground. It didn't compare to the intense pain inside of her.

She hates me. Her mind refused to stop repeating the words, to stop picturing Serenity's tear stained face. 'You're supposed to be my friend!' She drove her fist down again. 'How could you?' It's because of him! I'll kill him! I'll kill him for making her hate me!

"Rei?"

She stopped pounding the scraps of dummy but didn't turn around. She couldn't deal with anyone right now. Especially not Minako. What will she think of me now? It's all my fault, and now the Princess hates all of us because of me. She punched the ground again.

"Rei, please stop…"

But she couldn't. She didn't want to stop, because if she did there would be nothing to distract her mind from everything that had happened. She couldn't believe that a few short hours ago they had been joking and laughing together. She wanted to scream. She punched the mangled remains again.

Then she felt warm arms wrap around her. Minako had dropped to her knees and was hugging her tightly from behind. "Rei, talk to me, please. It's going to be okay."

"No it's not." Rei heard her voice and hated how weak it sounded. She hated her body for trembling but she couldn't stop it. She turned to face the blonde and was surprised to see tears in her blue eyes. Blue eyes so like hers, filled with tears again… because of me… "No it's not," she repeated in a whisper.

Then she was crying. She couldn't stop the hot shameful tears that poured silently down her face. Minako pulled her forward until her head was resting against her chest. She felt Minako stroking her hair. She couldn't stop crying, her whole body racked with sobs. Minako didn't say anything, just held her and stroked her hair over and over.

After an eternity, she felt her body begin to relax. "Mina," she whispered, "I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault," she said softly. "No one blames you for any of this, please don't apologize." Rei nodded slowly and sat back, wiping her eyes and staring miserably at the ground. "Come back inside."

She nodded again and stood up, following the other girl back up to the palace. Once they were inside, Minako caught her hand and she gasped involuntarily as pain shot up her arm.

Minako turned in alarm and looked down. "What- Rei, your hands…" She carefully caught them by the palms and lifted them up to the light. Her knuckles were ripped open, swollen and covered in blood. Minako sighed as she slowly let go of them, studying her friend's face. Rei couldn't meet her eyes. "There's some bandages in my room," she said finally.

While Minako got them, Rei stuck her head into the common room. Looking around, Rei allowed herself to smile. Makoto was asleep on the couch with her arm around Ami, who was curled up in front of her. Minako returned in a tank top and yellow pants. After seeing the sleeping occupants of the common room she led them to Rei's bedroom instead.

Rei took off her armor carefully then sat heavily on the edge of her bed, staring at the floor. Minako silently sat next to her and started cleaning the straw, wood and dirt from the wounds. Rei barely felt it, her whole body felt numb. She stared at nothing until Minako had finished carefully tying on the bandages. She tucked a loose strand of hair behind Rei's ear, sighed softly and stood up. "You should try to sleep."

Finally, Rei looked up. Minako gave her a sad, tired smile and turned to go. "Mina?"

She turned back, watching her steadily, something unreadable in her eyes. "Yes?"

"Please stay," she whispered. As much as she hated herself for being so weak, she couldn't stand the thought of being alone. "Can you just… stay with me for a while? Please?"

She nodded and slipped under the blankets. She seemed to understand that Rei just needed someone there. She wasn't going to ask her to explain or try to make her feel better with empty words. She was just going to stay, because she had been asked to and Rei loved her for it.

She laid back and held her arms open. Rei felt the tears coming again and tried desperately to hold them back as she let herself fall into the embrace. She was still trembling, but she just couldn't care anymore. She wrapped an arm around the thin waist and tucked her head under Minako's chin, squeezing her eyes tightly shut. Minako wrapped her arms around her, pulling her closer. Finally she felt the tension ease and eventually she fell asleep.

-Minako-

Minako woke up to find that they had shifted positions during the night. She remembered how miserable Rei had been last night; she'd held her until she had cried herself to sleep. Now Rei was on her back, sleeping peacefully with one arm curled around Minako and the other resting easily on the pillow. Minako carefully lifted herself from where she had been sprawled across her friend's chest. She looked down at the sleeping girl, studying her face. It was smooth and untroubled, a nice contrast from hours before. She smoothed a lock of hair away from her face and gently kissed her on the forehead.

Rei smiled in her sleep and shifted closer to her, bringing her other arm around to hug Minako against her. She'd been about to return to her own room but there was no hope of that without waking the other girl. With a sigh, Minako laid her head back against her shoulder and decided to enjoy the closeness for a few more hours.

When she woke again it was because Rei was stirring. Minako lifted her head and saw sleepy amethyst eyes watching her. "Hey," she said thickly.

"Good morning," Rei said, still watching her intently.

"Sorry I fell asleep," Minako mumbled uneasily, "I wasn't planning on staying here all night."

"It's alright, I didn't mind." She lay back against the pillow, staring at the ceiling. Minako realized that Rei still had her arms around her. She really doesn't seem to mind, she thought happily as she buried her face against Rei's neck.

"Mina?" She said quietly after a moment.

"Hmm?"

"Thank you."

Minako lifted her head and looked at her. She still looked sad but not so hopelessly lost as she had last night. Minako smiled at her. She looks so beautiful, she thought as she stared into the dark violet eyes. Slowly Rei leaned toward her, closing the distance between them. Minako's eyes lingered briefly on her lips before returning to meet her eyes. Wordlessly, she leaned in the last few inches. The feel of Rei's lips on hers was instantly her favorite feeling in the world. It was a soft kiss that only lasted a moment but it left her breathless. The raven haired girl pulled back and studied her, searching her eyes for something.

Minako brought her hand up to cup the side of the other girl's face gently. Rei didn't flinch, instead she leaned slightly into the touch still staring at her.

"What are you thinking?" Minako whispered.

Rei smiled then and Minako felt her tighten her grip around her slightly. "I just want to remember this."

Then Minako remembered. Shadows and fire and death… How much time do we have left? Tears were blurring her vision so she closed them, leaning forward to kiss her again.

This time it wasn't short and chaste, it was passionate and amazing. She reveled in the feeling of Rei's tongue in her mouth, the feeling of lean muscled arms pulling her close. Then Rei moved, pushing her back and rolling so their positions were reversed. She opened her eyes, to see the Martian staring down at her again, taking in everything. Then they were kissing again, Rei's weight pressing her down into the soft mattress. Minako twined her fingers in the thick sleek hair, and she felt Rei move her hand down shyly to rest on her side. Her palm felt hot through the thin material of her pajama top.

She wondered vaguely how far this would go and how far she wanted it to. How much time do we have? But it didn't matter if it was in a day, a year or a lifetime because she knew who she wanted to be with. Do I love her? Yes. I don't know when it happened or how, but I do. With all my heart. Does she love me? Yes, I think so. She looks at me like I'm the most important thing in the world.

Rei slowly pulled away from her, and Minako opened her eyes to find herself being studied again. Rei reached up and ran a bandaged hand along her jaw, tracing the thin scar that ran down her cheek.

"I gave you that…"

Minako nodded slowly as she traced her own fingers along the scar that ran across the edge of Rei's eyebrow to right next to the gorgeous amethyst eye. "I gave you this," she said softly back.

Then she smiled. "Mina I…I love you."

Time didn't matter. Hearing the soft sincere words made her feel so complete that it didn't matter at all. "I love you, too, my Reiko." Minako gave her a gentle teasing smile then pulled her down for another kiss.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door, startling them both.

"Rei, are you awake?" It was Makoto. Before either of them could move, the door was opening. "Minako's not in her room and- oh."

Rather than jump away, as was her usual style, Rei just dropped her forehead to Minako's shoulder. She could feel the heat radiating off her hidden face and couldn't help but laugh. "Yes, Makoto, she's awake."

"Sorry to interrupt," Makoto said with a giggle as she backed out. Through the closed door they heard, "Ami, I found her!" and more laughter.

Rei groaned. "That girl has the worst timing." She lifted herself up again and grinned despite her flaming face. She leaned to give Minako one last kiss before rolling off of her and sitting up. "Since they already know we're awake…" she grumbled as she slid out of bed.

Minako lay still, closing her eyes and enjoying the lingering feel of their kisses. She smiled to herself, then heard a chuckle. She opened her eyes and saw Rei watching her with a small half smile. She giggled and sat up, blushing slightly when Rei raised an eyebrow at her.

She stood and wrapped her arms around the raven haired girl's neck, hugging her tightly. Rei pulled her closer and they simply stood for a moment, clinging to each other.

Minako's stomach grumbled loudly, interrupting the moment, and she laughed. "Must be time for breakfast."

Ami

Ami was lounging on the couch waiting for Makoto to wake the others up. She had a book open in her lap, but wasn't really seeing the page. Her mind was running over the events of the previous night. The Prince clearly has ulterior motives, but what are they? What could he stand to gain from seducing the Moon Princess? Along this line of thinking she remembered something that had been nagging at her the night before. Why hadn't the Earth Queen been there? Why had she sent the prince and a counselor in her stead? And why were they here? What had changed on their planet that would motivate this trip?

She tried to remember how he had managed to steal the Princess away without anyone noticing. She and Makoto had been dancing… and kissing…Her face grew hot at the memory. She remembered going to sit down and seeing the princess along as they passed the refreshment table. Then they were on the bench and kissing… Unconsciously, she brought her fingers to her mouth, feeling the memory of Makoto's soft lips on hers. No, Ami, focus! She berated herself.

She estimated it couldn't have been more than twenty minutes from that point to when Rei and Minako had found them. Where they were sitting and making out in front of the most important people in the empire…She shook her head sharply to clear it.

She decided to focus on the other issue of the night, Rei's strange vision. Shadows and fire everywhere and everyone dying… The fire seemed fairly obvious, if everything was burning it would stand to reason that she saw some sort of attack. A brutal attack, if everyone was dying… Ami shuddered, wondering who she saw dying… Themselves? The princess? The queen?

A distant knocking brought her out of her thoughts. "Minako, are you awake?" A moment later Makoto poked her head in the doorway. "She's not in her room."

Ami frowned and cocked her head. "Huh… Well, maybe she's already up. Is Rei awake?"

She scuffed her foot on the floor, looking awkward. "I didn't want to bother her. She probably had a pretty long night."

"We all had a long night," Ami pointed out. "Besides, you know she'll be mad if we're talking about her without her being here."

"True," Makoto conceded with a crooked grin. "I'll check." She disappeared back down the hallway.

Ami returned to her musing. The shadow part was what she didn't understand. Obviously if everything is burning, there's bound to be shadows… But that didn't seem to be what she meant. She gave it up as a bad job and decided to wait until she could just ask the Martian.

She leaned back against the couch with a heavy sigh. I never realized how comfortable this is… She remembered waking up with Makoto's warm body pressed against her back. Her arms around me… Feeling her breath on the back of my neck… Stop it! That's not what I'm supposed to be thinking about! But she couldn't help it.

She sighed again. It was such a strange feeling. She wasn't even sure when her feelings for the Jovian had changed from friendship to… this. It didn't make sense. But then she smiled. As Makoto had pointed out last night: 'It doesn't have to make sense, it just is'. Yes, she was definitely falling for the tall strong soldier. But what will the others think?

She heard knocking again. "Rei, are you awake?" A pause. "Minako's not in her room and-" Then silence. Then she heard Makoto burst out laughing and Ami could hear her footsteps as she jogged toward her. "Ami, I found her," she crowed triumphantly. What in the world?

Makoto grinned as she rounded the corner. Then she promptly sat down by the startled Mercurian, threw her arms around her and kissed her hungrily. Ami enjoyed the feel of being ravished by her lover for a moment, then pulled away sharply, gasping. "Mako," she panted, "you- you just woke Rei up! What's she going to think if she walks in on this again?"

Makoto grinned mischievously at her. "Rei doesn't have any room to talk," she laughed.

"Ahem." Rei stood in the doorway and crossed her arms, looking stern. "Rei doesn't have room to talk about what exactly?"

Ami flushed and returned her gaze to her book, but Makoto just grinned wider. "About extracurricular activities with fellow soldiers."

"Eep! Makoto!" Ami stared at her, looking scandalized.

"Not us," she said with a wink, "them."

Ami turned to see a sleepy and disheveled Minako strolling into the room. Then she stopped when she realized she was being talked about.

"Sleep well, Minako?" Makoto asked with a suggestive wink. Minako just grinned widely.

Ami raised her eyebrows then turned to Rei. "Rei, you're turning colors," she informed the flustered Martian with a giggle.

"I- not…" Rei sputtered, before sitting down at the table and dropping her head onto it to hide her face. This was such an uncharacteristic gesture that all of them burst out laughing.

"I should have known the day I saw them leaving the baths looking all hot and bothered!" Makoto teased between laughs.

Minako gave her a highly affronted look, which only made the Jovian laugh harder. "Makoto! That is not what happened!"

"How do you even remember that? It was nearly two years ago!" Rei snapped, finally lifting her head. She ran a hand self-consciously through her hair and Ami realized her hands were heavily bandaged.

"Rei, what happened to your hands?" she asked in concern.

"Minako, what did you do?" Makoto asked wide eyed.

"ME?!" she sputtered in outrage. "I didn't do that!"

"Why is it you two are always making each other bleed?" Makoto chuckled, but Ami was not to be deterred. She gave them a questioning look.

Rei looked down at the table and Minako moved to stand behind her. She placed her hands on the Martians shoulders and grinned. "Rei murdered a training dummy last night."

Makoto laughed at that. "Again? We're not going to have any left pretty soon."

Rei reached up and placed a bandaged hand over one of Minako's and Ami had the impression that she was covering.

Rei gave them a sheepish smile and added, "Also, I accidentally broke one of the practice swords."

"You did? That's fantastic!" Makoto pumped her fist in the air.

Ami had to chuckle at that, but she remembered the book in her hands and knew they had to have a serious talk before the princess woke up. She hated to kill the light mood, but it was important that they talk about it.

"So I was thinking about last night." It had the expected sobering effect. They all focused on her. "I wanted to know a little more about your vision, Rei."

Rei nodded and stared at her hands, not really seeing them. "The first time was when we were on the wall. It was that woman, the one with red hair."

"Counselor Beryl," Ami supplied and prompted her to continue.

"Right," Rei frowned, then said slowly, "I looked at her and all of a sudden my head hurt and… I started hearing things and I felt… I knew what was happening but I couldn't really see it."

She paused and sighed heavily. Behind her Minako started gently kneading her shoulders. "Everyone was dying, the palace was burning down, the princess… the princess was dead."

Ami shuddered and Makoto came to sit down beside her, wrapping a protective arm around her.

"The second time was stronger, when we were coming down the stairs. I looked at that counselor and it happened again, but this time I could see it." Rei shuddered at the memory. "There were fires all over the palace, the grounds, the courtyard… everywhere. People were screaming and I could see them dying all around me, I could even smell it. Burning… burning flesh… And shadows everywhere…"

There it was again. Shadows. "What do you mean, shadows?" Ami cocked her head trying to come to terms with the horrifying images.

Rei leaned back against Minako and looked over. "Remember that day on the training grounds? The day that monster attacked?" They nodded. "I saw it when it was far away. It didn't look like that until it got close, before that it was just a patch of darkness that was moving across the grass toward us."

"A shadow…" Makoto repeated softly. "And you saw more of them in the vision?"

Rei nodded, her eyes losing focus. "Hundreds of them. They looked just like that first one, just patches of darkness sliding over the walls. They only took form when they were breaking down the doors or close to someone."

Ami thought back to that day. It had happened so fast she hadn't gotten a good look at the creature. After she'd shot it, there wasn't enough left of it to analyze. They were going in completely blind.

"Hundreds?" Makoto whispered weakly. How in the world were they supposed to fight that many?

"But they can be killed, at least we know that," Minako said bracingly. "Ami do you have any idea what it was?"

"No," Ami admitted. "I've been trying to dig up information that might help us, but…" She gestured toward the stack of books next to the couch. "Even back then, I looked through every book in here trying to find out what it was."

"We could ask the Queen," Makoto said slowly.

Minako shook her head. "She told us not to worry about it, remember?"

"But it's a threat to the Princess!" Makoto said angrily, slamming her fist into her thigh. "How are we supposed to protect her when we don't know what we're fighting?" No one had an answer.

-Serenity-

Serenity lay in bed staring at the ceiling. She'd woken up a while before, but couldn't get back to sleep. She felt horrible about everything that had happened the night before. Endymion had been so sweet and yet so passionate. She wished she could have talked to him again. He's going to think I left because of him, she thought sadly.

Then she thought of why she had actually left. She couldn't stop seeing her guards' faces when they'd found them. They seemed so angry… I wish they would have talked to me about it. The whole thing had been blown out of proportion. I know they worry about me, but I'm not a child. There must have just been some sort of misunderstanding, she decided.

Then she thought of Rei. She had tried to attack him, she'd said. Okay, a big misunderstanding. But she just couldn't believe that what they'd said was true. Why would they think he was using me? Maybe Rei just doesn't trust him because she doesn't know him. It wouldn't be the first time she was hostile to a stranger for no reason. It took her months to just be alright around us.

Still, she felt guilty for yelling at the Martian. She was just trying to protect me, she reminded herself. When she's awake I'll talk to her and apologize.

Her thoughts were interrupted by laughter in the hallway. She sat up and heard someone yell and then more laughter.

I guess they're not that bothered about last night, she thought bitterly. They have each other, why shouldn't I have someone too? They probably don't even realize how badly they hurt me. Or they don't care…

She let out her breath in an angry hiss, finally sliding from beneath the sheets. Well, if they don't care that's fine! I'm not going to sit here hiding from them!

She stomped out the door, going over what she was going to say. Outside the common room she stopped. The door was slightly ajar and she could hear them talking. She waited, trying to catch what was being said.

"Hundreds?" Makoto sounded upset about something. Good, she thought. She was feeling extremely ill disposed toward the Jovian. She and Ami had been making out in front of everyone, but they were upset with her for sharing an innocent kiss? Well, not so innocent, she thought with a smile.

She missed what Minako said next and forced herself to focus on eavesdropping. "I've been trying to dig up information that might help us, but…" That was Ami. "Even back then, I looked through every book in here trying to find out what it was." Information about what? Back when? They were hiding something from her.

"Maybe we could ask the Queen?"

"She told us not to worry about it, remember?"

"But it's a threat to the Princess! How are we supposed to protect her when we don't know what we're fighting?"

So that was it. They were still talking about protecting her from Endymion. She'd heard enough. She straightened and strode in. "Good morning," she said stiffly causing them all to jump.

She looked at them all. Ami and Makoto were sitting together on the couch. Minako was standing behind Rei with her hands on her shoulders. It isn't fair, she thought angrily, that they get to have each other.

"Good morning," Makoto offered a smile that she couldn't bring herself to return. Ami was silent, staring at a book in her lap.

"Morning," Minako said quietly. Serenity ignored her, too.

Her eyes met Rei's instead. The Martian was watching her, looking stricken. Does she feel guilty about last night or is she upset that I caught them talking about me? She decided that a direct approach was best. "Mars," she said coolly and the dark haired girl inhaled sharply and sat back. "I wanted to talk to you about last night."

Rei dropped her gaze to Serenity's feet and bit her lip. She felt a grim satisfaction at her reaction. "I'm sorry about last night, your Highness, I was out of line."

She ran a hand nervously through her raven hair and Serenity gasped. "Rei, what happened to your hands?" she cried, her anger forgotten as she rushed over and knelt beside her. She picked one up carefully and examined the blood stained bandage.

No one spoke. She looked up to see that Minako was glaring daggers at her. She let go of the Martian and stood back. Rei was still staring at the floor and looked like she might cry. She immediately felt guilty for being so harsh. "I'm sorry, Rei," she said softly. "I think last night was a long night for everyone. We should just forget about it, okay?"

She willed the dark haired girl to look at her, but Rei only nodded her head. She looked at Minako again but the Venusian's eyes were narrowed in barely contained fury. She bit her lip and turned to the other two. They were both watching her, but their expressions were unreadable. She turned sharply and left, heading back to her room. Once the door was closed and locked, she threw herself on the bed and let the tears fall.