"You look fantastic, by the way." I complimented Rei on her dress. A simple, crimson, silk gown that accented every major feature of her build. It was my turn to ride shotgun in her vehicle as we made our way from the chapel to the reception hall. The ceremony had been every bit as opulent and beautiful as I'd expected it to be, afterwards, Rei had offered to take me to the reception since we needed to discuss a few things anyway. She smiled and blushed lightly as she drove.
"Thank you, you don't look half bad yourself." She replied. "Alex, I just want you to know that I really do appreciate you saving me the other day." I nodded and tightened my lip line for a moment at the thought. "I know that the appreciation isn't necessary, I know you'd have done it whether I appreciate it or not, but it is, and I do."
"I was happy to." I said. "Well, in a manner of speaking." She nodded again.
"I understand." She chuckled lightly. "I was trying to tell you before the ceremony started, I've never felt these kinds of feelings towards another man before." She said before taking a deep breath. "You one said that you blamed me..."
"I do blame you." I said with a nod. Her face fell from the vague, hopeful smile into a look that bordered on despair. "I blame you for making me fall in love. I blame love for making me save you, and I blame my lack of skill in doing so for my death in that game. Obviously, I blame my troubles during those times on my character's death, but if you trace the cause down to it's original roots, then yes, I blame you."
"So, you loved me?" She asked, her voice starting to crack slightly.
"Loved? No." I answered. "Loved is a past tense word, indicating that I don't anymore, hence, not accurate." I tightened my jaw slightly and turned to look at her for a moment. She nodded and I saw a tear that had built up in her right eye trace a line of running mascara down her face. "I'm sorry, Rei, I didn't mean to make you cry..." I reached up and traced the black line back up with my finger tip, not allowing it to dry.
"It's alright, I'm just really confused right now." She said. "You left the parking lot and we didn't know what to think, and I was afraid that you thought of me as weak..."
"Weak?" I laughed. "Are you kidding? Without that armor you could beat my butt any day of the week and twice on Sunday." I was very cautious not to use the swear word that had first come to mind. Rei smiled as she pulled into the parking lot and found a spot in the back corner. After parking it she turned to me.
"Alex, do you know everything I would be giving up if I pursued a relationship with you?" She asked. "My entire life, I've been training to be a priestess. My vows to the queen..."
"Usagi pointed out that those were made like another lifetime ago..." I said. She cocked her head at an angle and looked at me suspiciously. "Hey, I'm just saying." I followed up with my hands in the defensive position.
"If I gave all of that up, I would need to know that it was for something that isn't going to be superficial in ten, fifteen, twenty years. I would need to know that it's something real and that it would be forever." She said. I nodded and looked thoughtful for a moment.
"I understand." I replied. "Can I ask you something, now?" I said. Rei nodded as she fixed her make-up. I took in a deep breath and let it out in the form of a sigh. "Do you realize how much I've already given up for you?" She stopped and blinked for a moment, looking over at me.
"Oh my... I wasn't thinking, Alex, I'm sorry..." She started to apologize, I held up a hand.
"It's fine, I'm not upset or anything, I'm just saying, if there is anything else I have that I can sacrifice to prove it to you, please, let me know." She finished her make-up and turned to me.
"What if I asked you to give up technology and be a farmer?" She asked.
"Then I'll raise chickens, pigs, and cows." I said with a nod.
"And if I asked you to never leave my side, ever, for any reason?" She asked.
"Hmmm..." I thought for a moment. "What about bathroom breaks?" I asked. She cut a small laugh and nodded.
"I suppose you could have those."
"Then I accept." I nodded. "Next."
"And if I asked you to die for me?" She asked, sliding across the bench seat, a little closer to me. Our eyes were locked onto one another's as I smiled.
"Again?" I asked. She nodded.
"Oh okay, if you provide the rocks and the evil demon girls, I suppose I can provide the entertainment." She giggled lightly as our faces began experiencing the effects of proximity-based gravity and after another moment or two of it...
"Hey guys... oh! Sorry!" Makoto's face appeared behind Rei and then quickly vanished again, about three shades of red darker than when it had appeared the first time. Rei and I both smiled and blushed, taking a moment to recover before stepping out of the car. Makoto's grinning face glanced back and forth between us. "Weeeell? What did I interrupt?" She asked.
"You have no shame, do you, Makoto?" I asked with a chuckle.
"Nope, none." she replied. "And if I'm not mistaken, Alex, you have a promise to keep, don't you?" Rei looked at me curiously.
"I know, I know. We'll be along in a few minutes, alright?" I asked. She smiled and nodded before walking, rather quickly, back over to the doors and whispering and giggling up a storm with Minako and Ami on their way into the building.
"So, what's this promise?" Rei asked. "Usagi put you up to something, didn't she?" Rei asked.
"Um, maybe?" I replied with a grin before offering her my arm. She slipped her left arm around my elbow and held onto my upper arm with her right hand as we walked towards the reception hall. "Before we go in, Rei, there's one more thing I want you to know." I said, taking a deep breath. "I would never ask you to give up anything for me. Everything that I've given up for you was given willingly and without expectation. If giving up those things also means giving up your happiness, I'd rather you not." She bit her lip and nodded slightly, tightening her grip on my arm.
"I know, Alex. Thank you." She said before we walked into the building. As soon as we did, Usagi tackled Rei with an enormous grin on her face.
"Is it true?" She asked. "Did you kiss him?" Rei's face turned about as red as her gown.
"Actually, we were interrupted..." Rei answered quietly. Usagi cackled in delight before dragging the both of us over to another area of the building, just in front of the dance floor.
"The music should be starting any minute now. Enjoy the party!" She said in a sing-song voice before hopping back off through the crowd to find Mamoru. About that same time, as if on cue, the music turned on, a romantic slow song being first on the list. Immediately a few of the couples present began walking out onto the dance floor in pairs. I took in a sharp breath and turned to Rei, holding out my hand. She smiled curiously and placed her hand in mine before walking out onto the floor with me.
The dance was a simple one, we moved around on the floor, my hand on her hip and hers on my shoulder, our eyes were locked and I had a sudden flashback of my nightmare from that morning. My sharp breath must've alerted her because her face suddenly displayed concern.
"Are you alright?" She asked. I nodded.
"It's just... well... I have a question to ask, though it may not be the appropriate time." I replied. She nodded and smiled, drawing slowly closer to me until her arms were draped around my neck and mine around her back. "We'll have time later though, this moment is just... perfect." I sighed and leaned my head down, resting my check against her hair and breathing in the scent, everything was just... too... perfect. As the song ended, she looked up at me.
"Is something wrong?" She asked, looking at me with a concerned expression. I sighed.
"How do you guys do it?" I asked. "I mean, how do you guys manage to still have fun and live life while knowing that they're out there waiting for the right time to strike?" Rei smiled and nodded, understanding permeating the expression on her face.
"We remember that there isn't much point in saving a world that we can't enjoy ourselves." She replied. I chuckled for a moment and sighed. "You're still new to this, Alex, give it time, it'll come as naturally to you as it has to us." We walked off the dance floor, nodding to Usagi and Mamoru before stepping outside, a gust of wind blew past us and Rei folded her arms across her chest, hunching her shoulders for a moment. I smiled and unfastened my suit jacket, removing it and draping it over her shoulders, to which she smiled and pulled it closed around her upper body.
We started towards her car and I draped an arm loosely around her back, inciting her to lean her head against my chest. The gentle pressure inflicted far greater wounds than she ever could have known.
"I need your help, Rei." I said finally, my voice quiet and solemn. She looked up at me, smiling at first, but then fading into a worrisome expression. I felt her arms tighten around her own chest beneath my jacket.
"Alright, Alex, what gives? You're really sending me some mixed messages here."
"It's the world, this..." I stopped with a sigh and closed my eyes with a slight shake of my head. "Your world is in real danger, and I could very well be the one responsible for it."
"What are you talking about?" She said. "You're a hero..."
"That's exactly it." I replied. "I thought, when I began accepting this place as reality, that the rules here were no different from the rules of my world, but that isn't the case. This world is far more dynamic than I ever thought possible. It continues to rebuild itself to match its hero... That hero used to be Sailor Moon..." Rei laughed and put her hands on her hips as she stepped out in front of me, a playful grin on her face.
"My, my, aren't we egotistical all of a sudden?" She chuckled. "You can't save one girl and call yourself the world's hero, Alex. It doesn't work that way."
"Maybe, but they warned me that it would be changing, and soon. I think there might be a way to preserve it, but I need you to help me figure it out." She sighed.
"Alright, Alex, I'll bite. What do you need me to do?" She asked.
"I need to know the source of your powers." I replied. She widened her eyes for a moment and cocked her head to the side.
"What are you thinking?" Her voice's tone had changed. "The source of our powers? You know what it is already, you said so yourself."
"I know about the pens, the wands, the icons, the weapons, the suits, and the attacks, but the true source was never mentioned." I replied. "I know it's a lot to ask, I'm sorry... but... I love this place, I love everything in it, I love you, Rei." I said with a sigh. "And I love it all just the way it is, I can't explain it in any way that you would understand, I just..."
"And why wouldn't I understand it, Alex? That was a very condescending remark." She now looked angry. I was trying so hard to explain, but it didn't seem to want to come out right.
"I didn't mean to be condescending, Rei, I'm not trying to dwell in differences between my world and yours, I want to become part of it..."
"Then inevitably you will change it, Alex." She said, her expression softening a little. "My grandfather used to tell me something as a little girl. He said: 'You cannot have your cake and eat it too'." I chuckled, my dad used to say the same thing to me. "You can either watch the world from afar and admire it the way it is. Or you can partake of it and your presence will change it, hopefully, for the better."
"And what if the changes that I bring about destroy the future?" I asked. "What if my alien presence here results in Crystal Tokyo never coming to be?" My innermost thoughts spat themselves out. Rei stepped back and sighed.
"Alex, I don't know where this is coming from, and I don't know what it is your trying to tell me..."
"The rules from the anime apply to the world as a whole, Rei." I said finally. "But those rules are beginning to change. For example, when I first showed up here, I was incapable of uttering certain words, words that are usually associated with really bad things..."
"Swears?" She asked.
"Swears, right, sorry." I shook my head. "Anyway, last night I was able to swear when I was frustrated about something. Jackson has told me that technology levels have skyrocketed in just the last two months alone."
"That's just progress, Alex. What are you afraid of? You're a part of that progress, aren't you?" I started to reply but then just sighed and swallowed my words. "I'm trying to understand, Alex..."
"I had a dream, this dream told me that something is coming. Some kind of armored enemy who wants to burn everything to the ground, I think it might be Glitch's commander... I saw my friends from my world, encouraging me, and then one of them asked me if I knew where the powers of The Senshi came from..."
"Love, Alex." Rei replied simply, with a smile and a shake of her head. "I can't believe that you of all people didn't catch on to that. Our powers get stronger because our love for each other gets stronger. Love takes many forms and has many names, but in the end, the concept is all that matters here."
"Could it really be something so abstract?" I asked, after a moment of silence. "Doesn't come from a planet or moon, it's not in the blood?"
"The love of your friends and the drive to protect them." She replied. "Maybe that's why you have issues with it." she suggested, causing me to look up out of curiosity. She stepped forward with a smile and placed her hand on my cheek. "You have issues with it because you can't measure it and package it for sale, it isn't science."
"But it is the overarching theme." I said, looking thoughtful for a moment. "Now I'm really screwed." I sighed. "Love, well... it isn't really my strong suit." I said, sitting on the hood of her car. She laughed and sat beside me.
"Really? Gee, I never would've guessed." She joked, bumping me with her shoulder. "All you need to do is be patient, you'll understand in time." She leaned against me again and I returned my arm around her upper body with a sigh.
"I hope so, Rei. I really do."
