What We've Lost And What We've Gained

Chapter Fourteen - The Interventions

We'll talk. I promise.

continue.

A morning bird twittered about outside the window. Its faint call managed to stir the slumbering amazon. Bleary eyes crept open slowly and blinked away the haze of dreams. She focused upon an all-too-familiar room with a yawn.

It took a moment to register, that she wasn't in an all-too-familiar location. She wasn't on the floor, as she was used to, but in a bed. And pressed against her body wasn't a warm pillow, but a sleeping shrine maiden nestled snugly underneath her arm.

Her heart quickened in panic and surprise before her sleep addled brain could catch up. Shit, how did she manage to do this again? Oh god, Rei was going to kill-

Wait.

Her darting eyes and tensed posture dulled, as she was reminded of the events of the previous night.

She had kissed Rei. And Rei kissed back.

Immense relief washed over her. It was alright. It was actually more than alright.

Makoto relished in the sight of the woman in her arms. She smiled, idly debating whether or not the object of her affections was more asleep or awake. She laid a gentle kiss upon a warm cheek. When deep amethyst eyes fluttered opened, it was an easier decision.

"Hi," she greeted plainly.

"Hi." Rei gave a small, tired smile. It didn't take her long to remember how or why they ended up in bed together. Peaceful emerald eyes reminded her in an instant.

"What time is it?" yawned Rei, stretching luxuriously.

Makoto shifted and looked at the clock for the first time. Her brow furrowed at the sight. "It's…Oh, shit! It's past ten! I have to go!"

The brunette burst from the covers and started changing back into her now dry street clothes. The firebrand rolled over and commented sarcastically, "You sure know how to make a girl feel special."

Makoto paused, with her head still in her shirt. She slowed her pace slightly. "I'm really sorry, Rei-chan. I'm going to be late for work."

Rei muttered something unintelligible underneath her breath. Then, replied, "Of course, you are."

The fighter finished flailing around with her stubborn pant leg and sat down on the bed. She leaned down above the annoyed shrine maiden. "Hey, don't be like that. I want to stay. I know we need to talk. But I have to go in today. It slipped my mind last night. I can't miss it or I'll be fired."

"You can't call in sick?" suggested Rei hopefully.

Makoto shook her head. "It's a mandatory staff meeting. They're training us on the new menu items. Obaa-san is already gonna kick my ass for being late."

"But, I don't want you to go."

Makoto paused, scratched the back of her head bashfully, and let out an embarrassed grin. "You know, I'm really glad to hear you say that. The meeting won't be more than a couple hours long. I'll be back in no time and we can spend the rest of the day together."

"That had better be a promise," stated the firebrand, eyeing her flatly.

"I promise."

Makoto bent down to give Rei a quick peck on the lips. Insistent arms wrapped themselves behind her neck and pulled deeper before she could retract. The lingering kiss soon became anything, but quick. The enthralled woman would have been content to lose herself in the haze, but there was a voice in the back of her head that was shouting practicalities at her. It sounded kind of like Ami, in a way.

What was it saying?

Oh right. Fired. She had to go or be fired.

She broke the contact, trying to remember herself. "I-um…I gotta…because…work…"

Rei smirked openly at the frazzled wreck before her, "Fine, get out of here, Mako-chan. I don't want you to get in too much trouble." It was true. They had waited this long, they could wait another couple hours. She couldn't help, but be smugly satisfied at how easily Makoto could be left a sputtering mess.

The wide eyed brunette straightened and was out the door. Rei rolled over, trying to recapture the memory of her fighter's warmth. She let out a contented sigh and closed her eyes once more.

The approach of rapid footsteps broke through the calm, and she turned back towards the door. In an instant, Makoto was back, clad in the still-damp jacket she had left on the porch.

The brunette laid a brief kiss on the cheek. "I almost forgot to say, 'bye.'"

Rei smiled, but gestured toward the clock. "Aren't you late?"

"Oh, most definitely. But I'll deal." Makoto spun on her heel. "I'll be thinking about you!" she said, as she bolted out the room and away from the shrine at top speed.

"Me too," whispered Rei to the empty doorway. She turned in the bed and could still smell Makoto's rain soaked scent in the pillow.

A blue haired genius trotted up the Hikawa Shrine steps that morning with a purpose. She had business with its caretaker. The topic had green eyes and a blockheaded sensibility.

As she reached the top step, she found Rei sweeping and humming a jovial tune.

"Ohayo, Rei-chan!" she greeted cheerfully.

"Ohayo, Ami-chan!" replied the shrine maiden with bright smile, "What a nice surprise."

"I figured I'd drop by before my classes. How you are doing?"

"Just fantastic. It's such a beautiful day, isn't it?" Rei sighed almost dreamily.

The bluenette looked around and considered. The day wasn't really all that great. The grounds were flooded with unattractive muck from the rain, and the overcast skies made the morning downright dreary.

But if Rei had chosen to put on her rose tinted glasses that day, Ami wasn't going to argue the semantics and spoil a good thing.

"I suppose it is," she remarked agreeably, "You seem to be in high spirits this morning."

"Oh I am. Isn't life just a wonderful thing?"

A blue eyebrow rose for a moment. "Remind me later to ask you what's gotten into you."

Rei just laughed good naturedly. "Gotten into me? Can't I just be in a good mood?"

Statistically no. But Ami held herself back from pointing that out. Instead she replied, "I didn't say that. But I did say, we can talk about that later. I actually want to discuss something a bit more pressing at the moment."

"Sure thing, what's on your mind?"

"Rei-chan..." started Ami. She paused, carefully considering her next words. "I've noticed that you and Mako-chan have been fighting lately..."

"Ami-chan, we-"

"No, no. Just let me finish," interrupted Ami. She took a deep breath before continuing, "I don't know what exactly it's about, but I can tell that Mako-chan is really hurting over it. And knowing her, she wants to talk about it and is too afraid to make the first move because she probably thinks you won't talk to her, which is a reasonable assumption given your past record of ignoring Usagi-chan. Quite frankly, you can be downright stubborn sometimes. So, I came to ask you if you'll just go speak to her and straighten things out. Again, I don't know what's wrong, but you two can't go on like this. You were so close before and now you're barely speaking, and I can't come up with a logical scenario that could have occurred in the past month that is worth you being angry with her for this long."

Ami took another deep breath. The words had sputtered out of her in a long rapid sequence. Rei waited patiently with her arms crossed. "Are you done?"

The bluenette bowed her head apologetically. "I know you probably didn't want to hear all that, Rei-chan. Please don't be mad."

Rei's blank expression cracked, as she rolled her eyes. "Ami-chan. I'm not mad. In fact you're right."

The genius hadn't been expecting that reaction. It took her aback slightly. "I am?"

"Mako-chan and I are actually supposed to have a long talk, when she gets out of work later today."

"Really?"

"Really. It may take all evening, but I'm sure she'll make it up to me," smirked Rei knowingly.

Ami exhaled in relief. "I'm glad that you're willing to talk. I was getting worried that you wouldn't kiss and make up before your birthday."

"Kiss and make up we shall," said Rei, with a large grin, "I'm sure it'll be the best birthday I've had in ages."

The pair turned, hearing the sound of another approaching up the shrine steps. Aino Minako strode towards them with a glint in her eye.

"Rei-chan, we need to talk," she spoke authoritatively. Then, she glanced to the left and added, "Hey Ami-chan."

"Ohayo," replied the bluenette.

"I told Mako-chan yesterday to come over here and work things out with you," revealed Minako, "She'll probably be here later today, so I'm here to demand you speak with her when that happens."

In a cuter voice, she thew in a, "Pleeeease?"

"You make such a convincing case, Mina-chan," replied Rei dryly, "I guess I have to now."

"Oh, come on!" prodded Minako, "Be a pal. You and Mako-chan have obviously been fighting. It's been way longer than enough, so just forgive her already?"

Rei could tell that Minako was bracing herself for an argument. So, she opened her mouth to yell and took an imposing step forward. And then...

She shrugged and replied nonchalantly, "Alright."

The blonde blinked. "What?"

"I said, 'alright.'"

"Yeah. I heard that, but isn't this the part where we argue until you get mad enough to kick me out?"

"Nah. I'm in too much of a good mood."

Minako looked to Ami confusedly. The bluenette gave her another shrug. The shrine maiden returned to her cheerful sweeping.

"Hmm, bizarro robot Rei-chan is pretty agreeable," said Minako. She turned to Ami, "Can we keep her?" She had to duck a broom swing. "Never mind. That's the real one."

"So, if you don't mind me asking, what's got you in such a good mood today?" asked Ami.

Rei smiled and sighed, as if caught in a pleasant memory. She caught herself and brushed the question off. "It's my birthday soon. Wouldn't you be excited too?"

Minako's eyes narrowed suspiciously. The whole agreeable happy-go-lucky Rei thing reeked of secrecy. But what was she hiding?

"I suppose so," acknowledged Ami. It seemed logical and she didn't have a reason not to believe it. A quick glance at her watch told her that it was time to be heading off to class. "I have to be going now. Thank you for agreeing to speak with Mako-chan later. I'll be glad to see the end to this whole argument."

"What was the argument about anyway?" asked Minako.

Rei pretended not to hear the question. "Bye, Ami-chan, I'll give you a call tomorrow."

The bluenette bowed. "Goodbye, Rei-chan. Minako-chan."

"Yeah, see you later," mumbled the blonde. She turned back to the shrine maiden expectantly. "So?"

"So, what?"

Exasperation obvious, Minako prodded. "So, what were you and Mako-chan fighting about?"

"That's between the two of us," replied Rei simply.

Minako studied her friend's blank and unassuming face. Rei was on guard this time.

The shrine maiden casually moved to sweep the porch, as if to escape the direct gaze. Minako followed, refusing to back down, and just as casually sat on the porch railing.

"Oh, come on. Friends talk to each other. We're friends, aren't we?"

The tactic induced an eye-roll. "Nice try, but that 'friendship' guilt trip won't work on me."

"Right, I forgot that only works on Mako-chan and Usagi-chan," chuckled Minako. She sobered quickly, "But all the same, I don't buy that 'I'm just excited about my birthday' crockpot."

She met Minako's inquisitive stare, with an all too innocent shrug. "I'm not allowed to be excited?"

"No, you're allowed. But this is something else…" Minako couldn't quite put to words what she was trying to get at. Ocean eyes narrowed and tried to focus. She leaned in closer and closer. "It's something…"

The blonde gasped, as she leaned too far and fell forwards off the railing. She met the cold wooden floorboards with a painful thud.

Rei sprung towards her friend. "Mina-chan! Are you okay?"

"Ughhh..." Minako's head lolled and she rolled over.

She had hit her nose pretty hard. Not like 'smacked by a youma' kind of hard, more like 'nailed by a spiking volleyball' kind of hard. She refocused on Rei's concerned face and finally completed the dramatic gasp that had been so painfully interrupted.

Right before she lost her balance, without realizing it, she had activated her Venus powers. And they told her exactly what she needed to know.

The shrine maiden's aura was glowing. A warm, slowly pulsing red.

Rei didn't just have a crush on Makoto anymore. Something changed. And now she was head over heels.

"NghhI'm awwight," Minako mumbled.

"I swear you and that Odango-atama have to be related," muttered Rei, as she helped her felled companion into a sitting position.

Minako continued to stare. Rei's good mood. Her strange willingness to talk to Makoto. It was all so suddenly clear.

"How do you feel, Mina-chan? Lightheaded? Do you feel like you're going to pass out?"

The Love Goddess shook her head quickly and switched off her other sight. She let out a cheshire cat grin and said, "Everything's wonderful, Rei-chan. I feel fine, you feel fine. We're all feeling fine."

"Uhh…Riiight…" Rei's growing concern was clear. "I'm going to go get you some ice. Keep your head elevated. I promise I'll be right back."

When Rei shuffled into the shrine, and Minako threw her arms in the air excitedly. Makoto must have followed her advice and told Rei how she felt. She hadn't expected the brunette to go right away, but then again Makoto was the impulsive sort. It seemed to have worked out, all the same.

She was right the whole time. She really was the Goddess of Love. The overwhelming rush of victory drowned out the throbbing ache of her nose. She couldn't wait to tell Ami about Rei and Makoto's secret love affair.

"Ohayo!" called a voice cheerfully from behind her. She turned and saw the approach of a smiling odango haired blonde.

Minako greeted her princess with a jovial wave.

"Woah!" exclaimed Usagi, rushing forward in concern, "Mina-chan! Oh my god! What happened to your face? Was there a youma or something?"

Minako laughed good naturedly, "Youma? Haha. No no, I had a little accident. Just me being clumsy. It's nothing."

"Ano…Your nose is bleeding though. Doesn't it hurt a lot?"

"It is?" Minako touched her face and looked at down. Sure enough, there was blood on her fingertips.

Rei returned with a moist towel and pack of ice. She quickly began cleaning the affected area. Minako barely flinched. The shrine maiden drew her hand back and stared at the blonde. She and Usagi exchanged the look of confusion.

"What?" asked Minako, "I told you. I feel fine."

"Well, apparently you have a incredibly high threshold for pain," remarked Rei, "Because if you think you're okay, you might want to check a mirror."

"What are you talking about?"

Usagi took the opportunity to reach into her purse for a compact. She popped it open and handed it to their injured friend.

"My face!" screeched Minako. Her black and blue nose was smeared with crimson streaks. It was disgustingly colorful. She had definitely crossed the 'hit by a volleyball' mark into 'smashed with a mallet' territory. "Oh no! I have an audition tomorrow!"

"Audition?" echoed Rei preposterously, "Minako-chan, that's not something you should be concerned about right now. You need to go to the emergency room and get this checked out."

"Emergency room?" repeated Minako. She grimaced. "Gross, I don't like hospitals!"

"So what? You need to have this looked at."

"Can't she just have Ami-chan look at it?" asked Usagi.

"Yeah, I don't want to go to the hospital," agreed Minako vehemently.

"Are you two kidding me? Minako-chan needs to go to a doctor."

"Ami-chan is a doctor," pointed out Usagi.

"She's still in training," argued Rei.

"So? She's a genius. She can patch me up in no time." Minako insisted.

They were actually right. Ami could probably take care of this easily. But it just seemed more appropriate to Rei to force the clumsy idiot go to a more official doctor. "It might be broken," she observed, "If it is, Ami-chan will still need medical supplies to set a cast. You'll have to go to a hospital anyway."

"Oh god. A nose cast?" lamented Minako in horror.

"It doesn't look broken," said Usagi, looming over Minako's face. She poked her friend's nose, who squealed in surprise. "Oops, sorry."

Minako touched her face gingerly. "Well, I'd still rather have Ami-chan than some stranger doctor. She's out of class in an hour and a half, so I'll just wait for her."

"You shouldn't leave this for an hour and a half!"

"Rei-chan, I said I felt fine," repeated Minako, "Give me that pack of ice, and I'll wait. If it's that bad, I'll let Ami-chan make me go to the hospital. I swear, I barely feel a thing. Hey, hand me that towel."

Rei threw the towel at the woman frustratedly, but the blonde merely caught it, remaining unfazed. Minako held up the mirror and started dabbing the moist cloth against the blood.

She scrutinized her face and concluded, "Hey, it's not as bad as it looked."

Usagi blinked and inspected the newly cleaned area. "Oh wow, you're right. It's like it wiped right off."

Rei had to admit, the swelling miraculously went down in the matter of minutes that they argued. The bleeding had stopped and the black and blue didn't seem so…well, black and blue.

"Alright, alright, it's not as bad as I thought it was," she conceded irritably, "But you still need to see Ami-chan about this."

"Of course!" grinned Minako, "In fact, I'll just head back to our apartment and wait for her right now."

"Our apartment?" questioned Rei.

"Oh, didn't I tell you?" asked Minako melodramatically, "I'm moving in with Ami-chan!"

"Oh cool!" exclaimed Usagi, "Now I can visit both of you at the same time! When Ami-chan is too busy, you'll be there anyway to have fun!"

Rei arched an eyebrow. Having Minako and Usagi around all the time sounded disturbingly annoying. Hell, their blondness was annoying enough, at the current moment - much less all the time. "Are you sure she agreed to this?"

"It was her idea," shrugged Minako, "You know, 'blah blah blah rent and finances and spreading of mutual responsibility yak yak.' She had a whole slide presentation with spreadsheets and charts prepared, but I know…She won't admit it outright, but she just totally missed me!"

Rei stared at the laughing blondes, as if they had both simultaneously sprouted additional heads out of their shoulders. Usagi turned to her and said, "Wouldn't it be cool if you and Mako-chan moved in together?"

The suggestion sent Rei into a nervous coughing fit. Minako took immediate notice of this.

"What? It's not like you haven't already lived together," pointed out Usagi. "What's the difference?"

"Yeah," prodded Minako slyly, "Has something changed since then?"

Rei didn't like the way Minako was looking at her, but couldn't immediately come up with a good retort. "No. Nothing has changed."

"Really? I thought you too made up already!" said Usagi.

Rei definitely didn't like the way Minako was looking at her now. She looked frantically for an escape route. She wasn't ready to talk about any of this yet. Not until she talked to Makoto.

"You talked to Mako-chan?" gasped Minako in delight.

"Yeah, that's why I came over," said Usagi, "I wanted to return Rei-chan's umbrella and see how it went."

Just as Minako was about to leap out of her seat dramatically, she heard a voice behind her.

"Hey, everyone. What's going on?"

She turned to find Makoto standing in her work uniform, holding a bag of leftovers and a small bundle of flowers.

"Aww, food and flowers for me?" gushed Usagi, "You shouldn't have, Mako-chan!"

The brunette laughed. "The flowers are actually for Rei-chan. But there's enough food in here for you too, Usagi-chan." With a shy, half smile, she handed the modest bouquet to Rei. "They're not Casablanca lilies or anything, but they made me think of you."

"Thank you, Mako-chan," said Rei, who at that point was trying to pretend with great effort she wasn't blushing profusely, "You shouldn't have."

"So you did make up last night!" said Usagi, enthusiastically ruffling through the bag of leftovers.

"Last night, huh?" repeated Minako scandalously.

"Well, yeah, Mina-chan," nodded Makoto, missing the blonde's implying tone. "You told me to go talk to her yesterday, so I did that a couple hours later. And we patched things up just fine, promise."

"So, that's why you've been so agreeable this morning!" exclaimed Minako at Rei. The shrine maiden ignored her and left to find a vase.

"Mina-chan?" questioned Makoto, "What happened to your face?"

"I fell. It's nothing. Ami-chan will look at it later. Whatever." Minako brushed it off quickly. So unimportant. "Spill! What happened last night?"

It took Makoto a moment to realize that she was being cornered by the two blondes. They moved forward in anticipation. Two wide pairs of expectant blue eyes. It was dangerous combination. "Um…"

"Hey! You two leave her alone," reprimanded Rei, reappearing from inside, "I said we needed to talk and I meant it. Now shoo!"

Minako frowned. "Just like that? You're kicking us out?"

"Can I take some of the food?" asked Usagi, staring longingly at the bag.

"Mina-chan, don't make me say it twice," glowered Rei.

Minako looked to Makoto imploringly. The brunette just shrugged.

"But I'm injured!" whined Minako.

"Usagi-chan, you can have the whole bag, if you get Minako-chan out of my sight immediately," declared the impatient shrine maiden.

Usagi whooped approvingly and snatched the bag. She yanked Minako's arm and pulled her off.

"Have a good chat!" called the odango haired blonde, as she dragged a protesting Minako towards the steps.

Makoto chuckled, as the sounds of objection faded into the distance. "Well, there goes our lunch. Shall I make us something?"

Rei opened the door and glanced at the fighter meaningfully. "Forget the food."

Makoto checked her watch, oblivious to the look. "Aren't you hungry?"

Rei smiled, finding Makoto's blockheadedness incredibly cute. She decided to be a bit more direct.

"Yes," she answered plainly. Before the brunette could respond, the raven haired vixen shoved her inside. As soon as Makoto's back hit the wall, Rei kicked the door closed.

A distance away, in the bushes, crouched two blondes.

"Damn," cursed Minako at the closed door.

Usagi was less disappointed, as she snacked on a roll greedily. "I told you they weren't going to talk outside. And even if they were, you suck at reading lips."

Minako cackled deviously. She could read Rei's lips on Makoto's lips plain as day. But apparently the shrine maiden had the sense to wait till they got inside.

"What are you laughing about?" mumbled Usagi, through a mouth full of bread.

"Usagi-chan...have I ever told you about love waves?"