Acts 37 to 39
Scene 1
Rei fell backward over the arm of the couch with relative ease. It felt like falling into a cloud and she marvelled at how soft the fabric was. This room was like a heavenly assault on her senses. Everything was plush and glowing. She closed her eyes, breathed in deep and could easily imagine herself living like this.
"Careful, if you get too used to that you might have to start embracing your alternate ego a little bit more readily."
Rei lolled her head over to one side and watched as Minako thumbed through the memo's that had piled up on her desk. She had never been in a room that was anything quite like this. It was obvious to any casual observer that the life of an idol was a luxurious one, but this, this was something that Rei could not have imagined. And if there was even a remote possibility that she could end every day like this, cradled in the lap of luxury, she might have a hard time resisting it. Although, if she was going to be completely honest, it would be very difficult for her to easily embrace the persona Minako forced upon her. Maybe there was another way she could enjoy plush glowing couches without demoralizing herself completely.
"Maybe you'll just have to start supporting me with your illustrious career."
Minako smiled as she looked over at Rei, the wheels inside her head turning happily. "But you looked so cute in that Nako Nako costume today." She noted the death glare sent her way and continued with her attack. "I'm sure you could easily have a very large and very rabid following." She looked over at Rei long enough to see the miko sit upright, grimace firmly in place. "And besides," Minako waved her hand dismissively "I never had you pegged as the gold digger type." Turning her back to Rei, in a move that she was sure would further incite the miko, Minako never saw the projectile, aimed with deadly accuracy, careening right for her head.
Of course as luck would have it for Rei, the pillows that accompanied the aforementioned plush glowing couch were just as soft and entirely useless as weapons.
"Hey! That was mildly irritating!" Minako picked up the offending decorative item and threw it back at Rei. Rei cought the pillow with relative ease, picked up it's counterpart and began advancing on the idol.
"Well it's not my fault everything in this place is covered in an unnecessary amount of pillowy softness." Rei flung one pillow at the idol followed quickly by the other. Minako was unable to catch the second pillow and it ended up bouncing off her head. Soon the entire room was engulfed in a battle of epic proportions. The ultimate contest of good versus evil. Right versus wrong. Knight versus fire breathing dragon. And as with any proper battle of epic proportions it could only end with one side forced to the brink with only two options, win or fall to a gruesome and splattery death.
"Looks like you're out of room to run Mars." Rei stood precariously on the end of the couch with a book end in hand ready to defend her honor with her last breath. If there was ever a time for last minute awe inspiring acrobatics this was it. And Rei was nothing but a lover of timely last minute awe inspiring acrobatics.
"Well, I may be out of room," Rei calculated the distances and the necessary manoeuvres in her head, it might just work. "But you have failed to take one thing into account."
Minako held her two pillows up in her favorite attacking position and readied herself to deliver the final blow. "And what might that be exactly?"
Rei pointed her finger at a place just behind the idol's head. "That that's a really weird place to put a piano." And in the moment of confusion that Minako found herself in next, glancing over her shoulder and wondering what piano Rei was talking about, Rei dove around Minako, pulled her legs out from underneath her and rolled the idol and herself off of the couch, effectively disarming and pinning the now defenceless girl beneath her. "I win."
Minako scowled up at the miko as she gloated and sang a little victory song to herself. It was a very troublesome predicament for the idol to find herself in for a couple of reasons. The first reason being that as the leader of the Senshi she found it very difficult to accept ever being bested by the others. The second reason had nothing to do with being beaten and every thing to do with the fact that she could literally feel Rei's heart beating in her chest and if she reached out just a little bit she would be able brush that errant hair out of her eyes.
It appeared that Minako was the not the only one noticing these things though, and the idol had to bite her lip when Rei placed her hands on either side of Minako's head to push herself off of the now very breathless idol. Minako exhaled and closed her eyes, imaging how easy it would have been to kiss her just then.
"Hey, peace offering?" Minako shook herself out of her daze and looked up at Rei's hand offering to help her up from the floor.
"I dunno, it's going to take a lot for me to forgive you for tricking me so badly." Minako allowed herself to be pulled up from the floor and her eyes fell to her hand, still held tightly in the miko's. It seemed like an eternity that Rei stood holding the idol's hand, as if she had never done it before. She loosened her grip slightly and allowed her fingers to brush with Minako's. Never looking up Rei continued to learn what Minako's hand felt like as she began listing off possible reparations.
"We could order room service and ice cream."
Minako couldn't breathe. How was she supposed to respond? "Room service? Maybe you are the gold digging type." What was going on here?
Sighing, almost sadly, Rei dropped Minako's hand and sat down on the couch. The spell of whatever had just happened between them was broken now and it was back to business as usual.
"Well I guess if I'm going to be a gold digger, I picked a really good sugar daddy."
Minako snapped out of her revere like lightning. "Excuse me? Sugar daddy? Do I look like a guy to you?"
"Not one bit." Minako blushed as Rei looked her up and down and moved over to the phone to call room service.
"Room service is probably a good idea anyway. We haven't eaten since the battle against the Youma and we should talk about what to do with the princess." Rei nodded her agreement and Minako began dialling the number, something that normally wouldn't be difficult, but the shaking in her hand made it almost impossible.
Scene 2
It was a beautiful day. One of those days that deserved to be commented on because the sun was just warm enough and the breeze danced along on your skin in such a way that it made you feel completely alive. It was a perfectly wonderful day and Rei could not spare one single ounce of energy noticing it. All of her ability to notice the things around was currently being taken up by the girl walking beside her.
She had no idea what had gotten into her last night but ever since that night in her room she hadn't been able to loosen the knots in her stomach. She had been doing a good job of ignoring whatever her feelings were for the idol when she was not around the girl, but lately her mind seemed to be on idol over drive. Whatever it was that was going on inside of her she wasn't willing to name it yet. After all, she might not even have to worry about that.
Rei could see the shrine coming up in the distance and she forced herself to pay attention to where she was going, not wanting her usual distractions to lead her to embarrassing herself in front of Minako. She would never be able to live that down. They had been walking for a while in a tense silence. Rei knew that Minako desperately wanted to say something and Rei suspected she didn't because she could easily sense that whatever she said would have gone unnoticed. Taking it upon herself to open the lines of communication, but not wanting to risk saying something she wouldn't be able to take back, Rei nudged Minako lightly and gave her a small smile, indicating that the idol now had her undivided attention.
Minako took her cue with practiced ease, it was often like this between them. "So did you and the others discuss the princess and the destruction she caused in the past life?"
"You know if you actually came to our meetings you wouldn't have to ask me that."
"But if I came to all of your meetings there wouldn't be any reason for us to meet afterwards." Rei smirked at the idol as she walked up the steps of the shrine and sat down close to the top. She waited for Minako to take her place beside her before she casually reached over and laced her fingers with the idol's. Minako hid a small smile and begged the butterflies in her stomach to overdose on Ritalin. "This is starting to become a regular thing with you." Minako held up their entwined hands and looked over questioningly at the miko who refused to meet her gaze.
"Do you mind?"
"Not at all." Minako picked up a pebble and tossed it down the steps. "But I thought you did."
Rei knew what Minako was talking about. The enforced days of silent treatment after their last discussion of the feelings that Rei may or may not have. But things were different now. Minako's condition was out in the open, the possibility of the princess destroying the world again was becoming increasingly more real. There just wasn't any time left to continue avoiding the subject. And Rei just simply could not get her mind off of Minako anymore. It was the perfect cliché; she was the last thing she thought about at night and her first thought in the morning and she filled up all the spaces in between.
"I'm tired of dancing around everything with you." This time it was Minako who couldn't meet Rei's eyes. "We've spent so much time stepping around the issue. And I don't care what you remember from the past life and I don't care what influence you may think it has on us now." Reaching up slowly, Rei turned Minako's face so that it was impossible to look away. "But I know now that I just want to stand with you, whatever that means. Who knows how much time we actually have left."
"Rei you know my decision."
Carry out the mission. This life doesn't matter. Rei looked away again and relinquished her hold on Minako's hand. Everything suddenly felt a little bit colder, emptier. How easily a perfect day could fade into grey. Rei couldn't even imagine what the point of living was if this was what they were sacrificing.
"Every decision can be changed." Rei was stubborn. It was a personality trait that had stuck with her throughout her entire life and she firmly believed that she was far more stubborn than Minako. There was no doubt in her mind that she would eventually be able to force the idol into amending her foolish choice if she just stuck to her guns and kept insisting. It was a well known fact that few people could out-stubborn the stoic miko. "I guess I'm just going to have to work harder at it."
Minako was really starting to wish she could be stronger. Or that Rei was less stubborn. And she, better than anyone, knew that Rei could probably get her to change her mind; especially if things kept heading in the direction they seemed to be going. This was definitely turning into a battle she was probably going to lose. There were still some options open to her though that might allow her the strength to continue out the mission and enjoy whatever was happening here. But it was too beautiful a day to be thinking about that and so right now all she wanted to do was sit in this spot and dream about forever. This time it was Rei who smiled as she felt the idol's fingers brush up against her own.
Scene 3
"First kiss… Congratulations!"
"No, no, stop it!"
Minako swung Artemis around in an arc and sat back down on the couch. "But your first kiss is a milestone Artemis." Artemis recognized the dreamy look in Minako's eyes and he didn't like it one bit. "Don't you remember how excited I was after my first kiss?"
"Minako! This wasn't that kind of kiss." Artemis managed to extricate himself from his charge's grasp and perched himself on the arm of the couch. "And besides, you shouldn't be thinking about that right now."
"It almost happened again you know." She shouldn't have said anything. But it was like the act of saying it made it real, like it wasn't just her imagining it. It wasn't just a dream that they were sitting on the steps of the shrine and that if Makoto hadn't of called Rei at exactly the wrong second they would have kissed. It would have been completely different from the last time it happened and it would have been just as amazing. It would have been just as dangerous. Everything changed from that point on.
Artemis, for his part, did in fact remember how excited Minako was after her first kiss literally a lifetime ago. He could remember how she didn't stop babbling about it for hours into the night, and he was certain that she didn't sleep at all after she finally quieted down. He was sure he would never be able to forget it.
Rei was fairly certain that she hated this place. So hated the other guardians, well most of them. She hated the princess, she hated the queen and she definitely hated how it was always so bright outside.
"My kingdom for a proper twilight!" There were many benefits to being Martian, as Rei saw it. Smouldering good looks, intelligence, strength and bravery. But perhaps her favorite of all her Martian qualities was her acute hearing and fine tuned senses. Not even the stealthiest person could trail a Martian for long before they were caught, a fact that one Venusian was learning right now. "What are you doing here?"
Minako, however, was not one to be shaken easily. "What do you mean what am I doing here? This is my side of the palace. What are you doing here?"
"Pfft. I thought all of the guardians had free reign over the palace grounds." Rei hated how everything in this place had to be rooted in some kind of competition. "But if you so desire I will take my leave lady Venus." Fake formalities would normally get you everywhere, except with this girl.
Minako caught Rei's wrist before she was able to round the corner. "Are you still sore about what happened in training? I told you I wasn't going to take it easy on you just because I like you."
Rei sighed and leaned back against the wall. She just had to say that. Rei absolutely hated it here. " I'm not angry at you. I just need to vent for a while."
Minako regarded the other girl sceptically, slowly stepping into her personal space. "Are you sure?" She didn't question it any more after that though. She wouldn't have been able to form a clear thought even if she wanted to. As Rei's lips slowly separated from hers she could barely make out the words 'I'm sure' whispered into her ear before Rei was gone and she fell breathless against the wall.
Artemis knew in the moment that Minako told him that story that everything was going to get much more complicated before it resembled anything that could be construed as easy. He had tried so hard to stop it from happening again. To save the heartache and just make everything easier. But it turns out that the prince and princess' fates weren't the only ones repeating. And if Mars and Venus became that distracted with one another again, Artemis feared the worst could happen.
"Minako." Artemis laid a gently paw on her arm. "You know that I don't approve. And I know that I can't stop you. But how will you be able to handle all of this at the same time. And what if everything is the same?"
Minako regarded Artemis sadly. He was right. Her phone chimed from it's place on her desk and Minako moved towards it. "Rei wants me to meet her outside."
"Minako."
Minako bent down and dropped a light kiss on top of her guardian's head. "I have an idea about what to do. Trust me that I will make the best choice." Before Artemis could respond, the idol was out the door. The white plushy moved over to the window where he could see Rei waiting across the street.
"I hope you both make the right choice."
Scene 4
Stepping out of the building onto the sidewalk, Minako waved across the street to Rei and hurriedly crossed over to meet her.
"Well, I'm glad to see that I'm worth risking life and limb over." Rei started walking and Minako fell into easy step beside her.
"The street is deserted." Rei stared at the idol, disappointed that she didn't get the expected response. "Oh come on, you know I'm going to make you work for it sometimes." Linking her arm through the miko's she smiled indignantly at the pout she was being treated to. "Of course you're worth risking a painful gory death. Now, what did you want to see me for?"
Rei smiled as she pulled Minako into an alley way. "Just come with me. I have to meet the others soon."
"Uh Rei." Minako eyed the alleyway suspiciously. "You know, the whole murdering a pop idol in a alley thing is kind of over done."
Rei laughed and grabbed onto Minako's hand. "Give me a little more credit than that please. This is just a short cut." Minako had no idea where they were going. She had never taken the time to learn shortcuts, always finding it faster to just get her car to drive her where ever she needed to go.
After going through a couple more alleys and crossing a park, Minako finally began recognizing her surroundings. Rei had led them to the back entrance of the shrine in half the time it would normally have taken them to get there.
"Have you known about that shortcut the entire time you've known me and just made us walk the long way on purpose?
Rei blushed. "Maybe."
Minako punched the miko on the arm and followed her up the steps. "Why did you bring me here anyways? If you just wanted to talk I could have given you a ride to Crown so you won't be late meeting the others."
"They can wait. I have unfinished business with you."
"What?" And suddenly Minako was back in a palace courtyard in a time that seemed like an eternity ago. She was once again just a silly girl in love. Although this time she had the sense to respond when Rei's lips brushed against hers. It was a nervous kiss. And she could feel Rei shaking as she pulled away with a gentle tug on her bottom lip.
Minako sighed as she rested her forehead against Rei's. "I feel like I have been waiting forever for you to do that. But this has to be the last time it happens."
Rei pulled away from Minako in shock. She finally figured out where she stood with this insanely frustrating girl and this is the response she was getting. It was enough to make Rei want to gouge her own eyes out.
"What do you mean?"
Minako laced her fingers together with Rei's and chose her words carefully. "You know that my condition is getting worse. And I told you before that I have to focus on the mission." Oh what a time for her conscience to wake up. All it took was her finally getting the one thing she'd been waiting for all her life to have reality come screaming back to her.
Rei turned away angrily. "Forget the stupid mission. You aren't alone in this. We can do this together."
It was time for a well placed lie and a quick escape which is something that the life of an idol provides quick training for. "Let's just give this some time okay. Maybe I'm not actually saying never again, things are just so hectic right now." Don't commit to anything, keep the possibility alive, it was the most delicate form of torture she could inflict upon them. Turning away from Rei, Minako brushed away the few tears that managed to escape, pulled out her cell phone and dialled the number for her driver. "Come on, I'll give you a ride to Crown." She couldn't believe she was doing this. Holding out her hand Minako gestured for Rei to come with her, only minorly relieved when Rei reluctantly took her hand and followed her down the shrine steps. She absolutely hated that everything had to be so complicated.
Scene 5
"Artemis." The white cat looked over at his charge. He had a bad feeling about what she was going to say. Was she possibly going to jeopardize the mission? "I have made a decision. I'm… going to quit singing."
"Minako!"
Minako regarded the magazines on the table in front of her with sadness. "The time I have left is quickly running out." She loved singing and her heart was breaking even thinking about giving it up. But Artemis was right. She wouldn't be able to handle the mission, her career and seeing Rei all at the same time, not in her condition anyway. Something had to give. Just like she had told Rei earlier, the mission had to come first now. "I can't use it trivially."
"W-w-wait a moment! You are not Sailor Venus! I want you to have more time as Aino Minako." He blamed this on himself. Pushing her towards the mission. Keeping her at a distance from her friends. Pressuring her to stay away from Rei. This was all his fault.
"Why? I was born to fulfill my mission from my past life. I have to live for that." Minako couldn't look at Artemis. She was doing all she could just to keep from dying. Things with Rei have gotten too serious. Things with her career have gotten too distracting. Now was the time to prioritize, and as Artemis has always said, saving the world has to come first. She had no time for Aino Minako. "There is no me other than Sailor Venus."
"Minako."
Standing up, Minako moved to the window and stared down at the sidewalk. She could just make out the alley way Rei had pulled her down only a few hours ago. "I've got to tell Manager I guess… This'll cause a big uproar." And just like that it was all over.
"Please Mars forgive me."