Title: The Taste of Bananas & Cherries Part One
Author: Kitty Malfoy
Rating: Pg-13
Summary: Set during the Stars story-arc. This is going by the manga, when Rei and Minako are on the rooftop to find the Lights.
Disclaimer: All Sailormoon paraphernalia belongs to Naoko Takeuchi. The plot, though, was dutifully thought of and recorded by my faithful plot bunnies: Fufu, Tofu, Mushu, Kovu, Washu, Princess, Rags, and Patches. (Rags and Patches are twins)
A/N: If you have any suggestions for Usagi pairings email me @ thetasteofstrawberries@hotmail.com or include it in your review.
This is Usagi/Minako & Usagi/Rei, btw! And this first part is mainly Usagi/Rei, the second part will be Usagi/Minako.
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"...I pulled this card today."
The battered and weathered card was thrown from Rei's fingertips and Minako snatched it before the treacherous wind stole it away. A hunched skeletal figure was inked upon it, hunched over with scythe in hand.
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"I feel it. This time it's different. This time we won't..."
"Stop!" Minako exclaimed over Rei's final word: "...win..."
Any protest Rei might have raised was silenced by Minako's insistent finger upon her parted lips. Rei fumbled for her friend's hand and found the blonde's hand searching for hers as well. Minako shivered as the cold wind blew across her bare legs and brushed the skirt of her school uniform, that Rei had donned, against the skin her volleyball uniform left bare.
They stood together rock steady against the twisting winds, drawing strength from each other. Through the silence that had uneasily fallen upon them, Minako's husky voice sounded devoid of its natural cheeriness. "We swore we'd rescue them."
Rei's eyes clenched shut against the violent images that swept through her sight brought on Minako's stubbornly sworn words.
"We've stuck together, always, overcoming everything!" Rei's violet shaded eyes snapped open to find that Minako's angry sapphire ones had never closed. "This is no different! We'll overcome this too!'
Her finger slipped from Rei's lips and her hand left Rei's to become clasped before her face. She sighed, and stars shone in her eyes that had been so determinedly angry only a moment before. "We'll return to high school life...and we'll all finally get a boyfriend! Yeah!" She giggled, "Life's all about boys. Gotta have 'em!"
Rei grinned, despite the somber atmosphere, when Minako winked at her with her hand on hip and continued her tirade that gave the Shinto Priestess a glimpse of Minako's past, carefree self.
"This time, I'm gonna have a H O T Three Lights look-alike! And have lots of romantic dates! I wanna do the high school girlie thing! Totally!" Rei laughed and Minako laughed with her.
"Yeah, right."
They gasped. Years of battle trained sense and reflex had them whirling around before the person had even finished. Side-by-side they stood, in battle position, with arms up and guarding and legs wide spread giving the duo a sturdy and firm grounding. Both their features hardened and in seconds they were ready to kill if necessary.
"You already have someone..." The person, revealed to be Yaten, chuckled at the pair and dismissed them as if they posed no more threat than a child. "...you've dedicated your life too."
The three men stared hard at the pair. Rei felt Minako relax without needing to look. When she did turn surprised eyes to her partner she found her to be standing straight, but at ease. Blue orbs shone with an emotion that Rei had only recently become familiar with.
"You've got me..." Minako whispered, "Oops." The wind came back full force gracing her cheeks with rose, and blowing blonde strands in all directions. Rei couldn't remember realizing the wind stopping when the trio had made their entrance. "Yeah. I've given my life...to my one and only..." A vision of an angelic presence was dug from the back of her mind. Blonde hair faded into downy wings of pearl and cream colored skin glowed with an unseen light.
"Mina!" Rei gasped abandoning her own aggressive stance in her shock. Minako's head bent to hide her face, but the wind acted against her and kept her golden curtain of tresses from shielding her emotion-ridden features.
Sugar pink lips turned up in a smile breezed through her mind, and Rei stopped. Eyes as wide, as deep, and as blue as the great ocean appeared above those same lips that made Rei smile in turn. The wind swept around her body twirling autumn leaves, held in the feathery grasp of the wind, into spiraling rings around her. A single, silken strand of ebony hair fell across her finely chiseled face and smirking coral mouth. "Actually, we..." She whispered, "...don't need any men."
She stepped toward Minako and rested her arm on the blonde's shoulder. Her slender index finger rested haughtily between lips that curved upward slightly as Minako leaned her head upon her own. They turned with heads pressed together to face the three men, who hadn't moved since their own arrival. "You have a problem with that?"
Yaten chuckled again, "No."
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"Freeze! You move...and you'll be dust, too!" Lead Crows maniacal laughter had an insane lit to it that made Mars shudder in her grasp. Lead Crow splayed out her fingers and the Sailor Crystals of Phobos and Deimos vanished in a poof of dust.
Tears spilled from Venus' eyes as the emotion spilled forth, "Damn it!" she cried. "Sailor Moon!"
Lead Crow laughed again, her pupils dilating to mere pinpricks. "We'll start with the Mars princess." The arm around the princess in question's neck tightened and Mars couldn't help from crying out. "Heh heh. Or maybe the Venus princess." Venus' fists clenched in a mix of fear and anger, but she glared in defiance at the enemy woman.
"No! We're starting with you! Starlight Honeymoon Therapy Kiss!"
Lead Crow screamed out in frustrated surprise as the beam of white energy collided with her body, blasting her away from Sailor Mars. The light enveloped her and when it finally dissipated she was gone...
"Sailor Moon!!" Mars and Venus exclaimed in joy.
Moon jumped forward and reached for the hands of her friends. As if in slow motion their fingertips grazed each others...and then Moon watched both Mars and Venus crumble through wide and unbelieving sapphire eyes. A woman dressed in golden arm stood behind them. It was she who had launched the back-stabbing attack that had struck down her senshi.
My Love... Mars whispered
^%^%^%^%^%^%^%^%(Flashback)^%^%^%^%^%^%^%^%
"Why the long face, Rei-chan?"
Rei looked up through a fringe of ebony. Wide blue eyes blinked innocently only centimeters away from her own. Rei let out a yelp of surprise and fell off backwards from the wall she had been sitting on. When she resurfaced from the bushes into which she had fallen, Usagi couldn't help but laugh at her friend's comical appearance.
Strands of raven hair stuck out at odd and albeit unnatural angles away from their owner's scowling face. Any guilt that Rei had hoped to provoke in Usagi was in vain when the giggling blond caught sight of the bits of twigs and leaves tangled throughout her waist-length mane of hair. A single smudge of dirt streaked from her forehead across her sharp, angular nose that was currently scrunched up in annoyance.
"Aw, Rei-chan! I'm sorry!" Usagi said leaning over the wall to look down at her. Rei 'huffed' and jutted out her chin. "Don't be mad..." Usagi, in turn, pouted. She continued to pout until Rei's eyes were finally drawn to her puppy-dog expression and prominent lower lip; Rei melted instantly.
"Honestly, Usagi!" She snapped her fiery temper back in full force. "Don't just stand there! Help me up, Odango-Baka!"
Usagi rolled her eyes and grinned. Hoisting herself onto the wall she leaned over and reached out her hand. Rei clasped it firmly with her own. Usagi grunted slightly with exertion, and pulled upwards.
"Usaaaaaagi!" The priestess shrieked as she was pulled up from the ground at a breakneck speed. Usagi, in a display of Sailor strength, threw her upwards and over the wall. She cringed as their hands were wrenched apart and Rei continued upwards.
Rei's eyes widened and then squeezed fearfully shut as the concrete of the sidewalk rushed up to meet her descending body. Instead of the cold hard ground, she found herself wrapped in a warm embrace. One eye opened revealing Usagi to be her savior. The other opened and she glared at her laughing friend.
"Usagi!" She growled.
"Sorry, Rei-Rei..." She giggled, "I guess I don't know my own strength..."
Rei's angry expression softened at the new nickname, and she found herself wanting to be back in Usagi's arms the instant she put her back down. Decidedly confused, the raven-haired girl shook her head to clear it and returned to glaring at the shorter girl.
"You still look ridiculous!" Usagi exclaimed, practically bet double with chiming laughter.
"That's it!" Rei exclaimed reaching for the blonde.
Usagi, however, dodged easily out of the way and rapped the shocked priestess smartly on the bum as she passed. "Tag you're it!" She pronounced and darted away.
The thrill of competition and something else welled inside Rei, and she was instantly on her feet and sprinting after the dwindling blonde.
Factoring in Usagi's distaste for anything athletic it was an inevitable conclusion when Rei finally tackled her in front of the Fruit Crown Parlor. Usagi let out a grunt as they fell to the sidewalk and tumbled over each other to lay in a tangled heap at the bottom of the Parlor's glass doors.
"You're...huff...it..." Rei panted looking skyward.
"Oh......huff huff......kay......." Usagi answered.
Rei snorted and they both dissolved into halting laughter that lasted only as long as they managed to regulate their erratic breathing.
"Let's go inside and get you cleaned up." Usagi declared, extracting her limbs from Rei's and getting to her feet. Rei laughed and got to her feet as well before pushing the doors open and walking inside.
"Well, after you!" Usagi muttered sarcastically before following the miko in.
In the small and cramped bathroom of the Parlor the two teenagers worked together to restore the raven-haired priestess to her former appearance. Rei looked up from where she had been washing her dirt-covered hands in the sink when Usagi's nimble fingers that had been raking through her hair stopped their ministrations.
Usagi was standing tensely and gazing albeit mournfully into the Arcade. Rei followed her gaze out the partially opened bathroom door to the large booth set in the corner of the room. It was empty save for the small figure seated in the center of the leather curve. She seemed vastly out of place, such a small person in such a large booth. Her blonde mane fell over her shoulders and draped around the tabletop where the girl held in milkshake in both hands.
"It seems so empty without Makoto...without Ami..." Usagi whispered turning back to the project of Rei's hair. Finding nothing left but her friend's silky mane she settled for running her fingers through the raven tresses. She was in too much of a shock to cry...she wanted to cry, because then it felt like she was really grieving for her friends. It would feel like she really cared that they were gone...
Rei too was worried. It wasn't good for either Usagi or the future if she couldn't work through these obstacles......if she couldn't work through her grief. Rei reached up and took a hold of Usagi's surprisingly slender wrists and removed them from her hair before turning around to face her somber friend.
"We'll get them back, Usa..." She declared ducking her head to catch Usagi's downcast gaze. Usagi's face lifted and she fixed her clouded sapphire gaze on concerned indigo ones.
"Promise?"
"I promise, baby..." Rei placed a comforting hand on Usagi's pale cheek. "Well, listen then, unless you wave me off I'm gonna kiss you now..."
Usagi exhaled sharply and looked up in earnest at her friend. "If it's not too much trouble..." She whispered.
"I mean it. I'm gonna kiss you, Usa..."
"I'm saying do it, Rei-Rei."
The stood in awkward silence only inches apart, neither moving.
Usagi chuckled nervously, "You've done this before right? I mean you've had boyfriends..." Rei laughed too and ran a hand soothingly down Usagi's arm.
Silence.
"Rei-Rei..."
"Yeah?"
"I'm standing here."
"Yeah......All I'm thinking is that we've got to be meeting Minako in just a few minutes...I mean she's already out there...and-"
Usagi took a step back. "You're right."
"I am?" Rei's voice was slightly bewildered.
"Yeah," Usagi, surprisingly, seemed disappointed. She smoothed her hands down Rei's chest (not breast, you hentai people!) and she nodded curtly.
"So...after?" Rei asked.
"Yeah..." Usagi answered after a moment, even though she knew that there wouldn't be an after...that it was now...or never.
"We'll meet at my house?"
And now it was never...
"Tell Mina I'm on my way..." Usagi said turning away from Rei and back to the mirror. Rei bit down on her lower lip. She opened the door to the bathroom and walked out.
With a shaky sigh Usagi braced herself against the sink. She let her head fall forward to hang close to her chest.
BANG!
Usagi jumped as the bathroom door was flung open and slammed against the opposing wall. Warm hands caressed her cheeks and threaded through her blonde hair. Before she could even form a coherent thought warm, full lips enveloped her own in a searing kiss.
When Rei pulled away Usagi remained in a daze – eyes fluttered shut and sugar pink lips parted slightly.
"Nobody messes with my Hime." She exclaimed, "Never forget...we all love you Usa." She grinned and shook her fisted hands in the air, "Showtime..."
Flinging the door open again Rei strode out into the parlor, "YES!"
Usagi grinned, and waited a moment before following the Shinto Priestess out into the Parlor.
Sliding giddily into the booth, Minako found it hard not to notice Rei's unusally cheery demeanor. "What's with the look?" The blonde asked passing the raven-haired girl her milkshake.
"What look?" She asked innocently, before taking a slurp of milkshaky-goodness.
"On your face...the look...on your face......"
"I'm just...feeling good." She grinned.
Minako looked up as Usagi herself slid into the booth beside her. "Hey Usagi-chan!" She exclaimed, "Took you two long enough!"
Usagi stuck her tongue out at her almost identical "twin" and slid the milkshake from Rei's hands across the table to rest in front of her. She grinned at her friends and took a sip of the rich beverage. "Mmm...cherries..."
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As Mars faded into nothingness the memory of Usagi's lips on her own replayed itself over and over in her mind. And when nothing was left but her glimmering Sailor Crystal she felt nothing but an all encompassing numbness...
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R & R!
What do you think? That was kind of different…
Anyway...Part 2/ Minako's part will be coming up next...and it is branched off from this chapter...so...
Review and I'll love you forever!
