Fweh. Three chapters in one day? I must be bored! Oh well, it's the summer, and I know people read this, so it's for a good cause. Enjoy!
Rei stared at the communicator for a good long while in disbelief. It looked just the same as always; a black band with the yellow star surrounding the symbol of Mars. "My communicator?" She crawled over to the edge of the bed and picked up the watch, her fingers gently rubbing the symbol. "I can't believe it. I thought I lost it. Who could have returned it?"
She got out of bed and rushed over to the kitchen where Jaedite might have been.
"Jed!" she yelled, spotting him by the sink washing dishes. "Jed, did you find my communicator or something?"
He looked up from the sink and dried off his hands. "No. Ami came over last night and said for me to give it to you."
"And you didn't tell me?!"
"She asked for me to give it to you in the morning, when you would be feeling better."
And it was then when Rei remembered about Grandpa. She bit her lip. "What am I supposed to do with this?"
"Look inside," Jaedite suggested and Rei sat down and opened the watch. Out fell a piece of paper in the shape of a star and Rei read in her head what it said. She could almost hear Ami's soft, hurt voice...
Rei,
It's really a shame that you had to leave the Hikawa Temple. Once you left, everyone's tranformation pens and powers disappeared. The only thing left was the Imperium Silver Crystal, which looks like any old fake rock. Our bond as guardians has been broken, and no enemies have been attacking for years. But all I can say is, the Crystal has been acting up lately; it's been glowing the color red and back to green, then blue, then yellow. Usagi is stumped. She's really upset about what she said to you years ago. We all are. I hope you and Jaedite are doing alright. And I hope Makoto is, too...
Rei quivered as she read the note. Makoto? What happened to Makoto? She stood up from the table and put the note back into the communicator. "Jaedite, I'm going for a walk..." and without waiting for him to reply, she was gone.Rei stepped out from the apartment house and ran down the street. She dodged the crowd of people and was surprised to see so many. "What happened?" she asked, tapping the shoulder of a woman in front of her.
The woman turned around from her place and had a worried look on her face. "Oh dear, some wierd hole appeared just over night and everyone is wondering what happened."
"A hole? How big?" Rei asked, in a mocking voice.
The lady frowned. "Come here and see." She pushed the nearest person in front of her away and let Rei past the crowd. The hole looked ten feet deep, fifteen across, and everyone was just staring and gawking.
Rei looked around past the crowd and saw Usagi on one end with Mamoru, Minako on the other corner, and Yuuichirou right across from her. "Wow," Rei said in a whisper, "they sure look different." And this was true. Minako had grown more slender and her hair more golden and pulled back into a orange bow, instead of her traditional red. Usagi had her hair loose for a change and was pulled back by two red clips by the ears. Yuuichirou cut all his rock star hair and now looked like a confused Mamoru with brown hair. Mamo-chan looked no different.
After smiling at her friends, who didn't realize she was there, she felt the hatred toward them come back in a blaze. But, where was Makoto? "Rei," she heard someone say as they tapped her shoulder, "good to see you here."
Rei turned around swiftly when she noticed the voice to be Ami's. "Ami! What are you doing here?"
"We're all here," she said, pointed the scattered broken team. "We heard and came running, just at different times."
Rei studied Ami. She couldn't believe that the Ami she knew, the one with sparkles in her eyes and a light smile, turned into this frightened girl whose eyes seemed like ice. 'What happened to my Ami?' she asked herself.
Ami only looked past her. "Luna thinks it's an enemy. We aren't sure yet, but if it is, there is no way for us to stop it," she paused, "unless we join back together."
"No way!" Rei yelled, forcing others to turn and see. "There is no way I'm coming back to you all just because of an enemy approaching. If Usagi knows so much about love and power, why doesn't she just do it?"
"Rei, please, this isn't the time!"
"For years, Usagi has treated me like nothing but the sidekick. The third wheel. The loveless fire tamer, and nothing more!" She was yelling now, and Usagi looked over to see who.
"Rei?" she mouthed and nudged Mamoru to come with her.
"Rei, please! This is important!"
"Yeah, you need my help now, once the world starts to fall to pieces, but you didn't need me for anything else!" Rei stomped away, leaving Ami silent. When Usagi finally made to her, she watched her walk away.
"Rei..." she said, and grabbed onto Mamoru's arm to follow.
Rei stood outside Makoto's apartment house. Once she finally had the courage to step inside, it began to rain. "Mako-chan, it's me, Rei," she said, speaking into the voice box that was sent straight to Makoto's room. When there was no answer, she yelled out. "MAKO! Are you there? It's Rei!"
When no one answered again, Rei grabbed the key from her pocket and unlocked the entrace door and ran up the stairs to the fourth floor.
"Mako! Are you there?" she asked again, while ringing the doorbell. She could hear footsteps walking around gently in the room, then stopping. Rei guessed who ever was there was now staring at the door. "Mako?"
"Leave me alone," she heard the person say. It was Makoto's voice; Rei could tell her voice from anywhere, even if it was been years.
"No, Makoto! I have been meaning to talk to you!" Rei said through the door.
"Go away, Rei. You only came to make things worse again." The figure moved closer to the door and was now looking through the peek hole. Makoto was shocked to see no one there, but then noticed Rei was sitting against the door.
"Would you just listen, Makoto?" Rei asked. Makoto didn't move, so Rei guessed she was. "I'm sorry for leaving all those years ago, okay? I can't believe you are still holding a grudge over this!"
"Like you're holding a grudge about Usagi saying what she said that day?!"
Rei was silent, and began to talk again. "Whatever is in your head, Mako, deal with it and move on. We only face hard times so we can overcome them."
"How can you say that, Rei? Your duty was strictly to protect the princess and never leave her side! Not only did you leave, but you showed no respect to Usagi and now our powers are broken! What if that hole outside is from an enemy spaceship of something? Maybe even the beast itself? What can we do? We have nothing to use to fight back! All because of you! You broke the promise you made as guardian and that broke the bond! There is no way to protect Usagi anymore!"
Rei leaned up against the door and listen to Makoto scream and yell. It all went through one ear and out the other, so she got up. "Mako, I only came to see you. I guess I won't..." Rei grabbed her communicator from off the ground and left the white lily outside the door. By the time Makoto opened it and picked up the flower, Rei was gone.
"I'm back, Jed," Rei called as she closed the door behind her; her hair spun around soaked from the rain. When she turned, she saw Usagi and Mamoru sitting at her kitchen table, arms folded.