Some Extra Fire Power pt 2

Rei sat staring at the small red pen in her hands.

Sailor Moon? Was it possibly? Sailor Moon was just a myth, an urban legend. And yet...

And who was this woman who claimed to be Sailor Moon? Where did she come from? How did she know Rei?

Rei continued to stare at the pen in her hands.

How did this one little pen hold the answers to all her questions?

And did she want them answered?

Every time Rei made up her mind to open the pen she remember the woman's face when she had told her that she had died twice. Part of her wanted to laugh at the absurdity of that sentence but the woman's face when she had said it had been so serious and so very, very sad.

But on the other hand, something inside Rei craved the answers to her questions. She could not just put the pen aside and forget about it. So she sat in the temple, staring at a tiny red pen, while questions swirled around endlessly inside her head.

The sound of the phone ringing finally jerked her out of her thoughts and she made a mad dash towards the phone, grateful for the interruption.

"Hello?" she answered.

"Hey Rei! What's up?" a masculine voice replied on the other end of the line.

"Chad!"

"Hee hee. I'm glad to see you remember me." he chuckled.

"Remember you? Ha, how could I forget? I heard at least three girls today talking about how they were going to marry you." she scoffed, teasing him good naturedly.

"Don't tell me you're jealous?"

"Jealous? Me? Have you gone insane since the last time I talked to you?"

"Whatever Rei. You love me, you know it."

"You're delusional." she replied, putting one hand on her hip as she talked to him.

"You should be nicer to me, otherwise I won't give you a ticket to my concert there in a week."

"Backstage pass?" she asked.

"Of course." Chad said, and she could hear the smile in his voice.

"Okay, maybe I love you a little."

"I knew it! Okay, I've got to run. I'll send the ticket to the temple tomorrow." he said and she could hear someone calling his name in the background.

"Alright. Can't wait."

"Bye"

Rei hung up the phone and tried to stop smiling. He could always do that, make her smile, cheer her up, even if they only got to talk for a few minutes. She was actually glad they weren't dating anymore. Chad had become more like a brother to her, becoming the family she didn't have. He always sent her tickets to his concerts when he was in town just so that they could talk after the show. It was the only time that his schedule wasn't going to randomly change at the last second so they actually got to see each other.

The small red pen lay momentarily forgotten on the table.

The rest of the week flew by. Rei even went out shopping for something new to wear to the concert. She was determined to have fun that night. It had been awhile since she had had a night out on the town. It just never seemed like she had the time or motivation any more. Or maybe she just didn't have anyone to go out with. She had let many of her friendships drift apart over the past few years and only a few very determined souls like Chad had managed to stay in contact.

Rei stood in front of mirror, spinning back and forth, trying to see herself from every angle. The mirror showed a tall, thin woman with ebony hair in a short red dress and wearing a red choker around her neck. Add a dash of kiss-ass red lipstick, matching nail polish and she was ready to go.

Rei smiled slyly at her reflection, "Not bad for an old, dried up temple priestess."

Glancing at the clock on the wall she grabbed her purse and headed towards the door to wait for her cab.

"Rei!"

"Chad!"

Chad ran up to her after getting off stage and gave her a huge hug.

"Ugh! Chad, go take a shower! You're are all sweaty." She cried, wrinkling her nose at him as she pushed him away.

"Hee hee. Sure princess. Anything to be allowed into your presence." Chad joked, glancing down at his sweat soaked shirt.

She hit him on the arm and pushed him towards the shower in his dressing room. Ten minutes later, Chad stepped out of the bathroom, his long hair still damp, dressed in jeans and a t-shirt.

"All better?" He asked solemnly.

"Much." Rei said from where she was sitting on the couch in his dressing room.

Chad came and flopped bonelessly down beside her. They talked for a while about the concert and Chad's life while he was on tour for a while. Rei loved to hear Chad's stories of life as a celebrity. He had a way of making the whole thing sound both glamorous and hilariously stupid at the same time. And he always had a story to tell. After awhile, he turned towards her with a solemn expression on his face.

"So, what's new with you?" he asked.

"Nothing much. I'm keeping busy with the temple mostly."

"Uh huh. And probably not much else if I know you." Chad replied.

"Hey, I get out." Rei said defensively.

"Sure you do. And when exactly was the last time you "got out"?"

"I'm out tonight, aren't I?"

"Other than tonight." he continued persistently.

"I've been busy." Rei said, feeling desperate.

"Rei, you know you are one of my best friends. Ever since your grandfather died, I've been worried about you." she said quietly, looking her directly in the eyes. Rei wad beginning to feel trapped by this conversation.

"There's nothing to worry about Chad. I'm fine." she insisted, silently hoping he would just drop it and they could move back to more comfortable topics.

"No, you're not. You don't leave the temple unless someone drags you, you don't talk to any of your friends unless they come to you. All you do is work. You have to have a life outside of the temple." Chad said, shaking his head.

Rei glared at him, starting to get mad. She knew she didn't have many friends these days but Chad didn't have to rub her nose in it. It wasn't like it was easy for her like it was for him. People practically threw themselves at Chad's feet these days, begging to be his friend. Her, all they saw was a temple priestess, never trying to see past the cold, impersonal exterior.

And she was doing fine without them. She didn't need friends, she didn't need a boyfriend and she didn't need a family. She had proved that over this past year. She could be independent, rely on herself alone. All other people did was make demands on your time and energy.

What did Chad know anyways?

"Drop it, Chad. I'm fine. I don't want to get into an argument with you on one of the few times I get to see you, so just leave it. Okay?" She snapped.

Chad looked at her and for one terrifying moment she thought he wouldn't let it go, that he was going to push her into saying something that would finally end their friendship for good but then he leaned over and hugged her.

"Alright. If you say so." He said pulling back and giving her a strange look. "Hey, did I tell you about our gig in Hong Kong?"

With that he launched into a huge, complicated story about him, a contract, and blue m&m's.

After another hour or so, Rei finally had to leave. Chad was leaving town early the next morning and it was already quite late.

The entire trip back to the temple in the cab, she couldn't get Chad's words out of her mind. She was finally forced herself to admit that she was lonely. She would never admit it out loud, but she wanted all those things that she had said she could live without, the friends, the family.

As she went into her room at the temple she saw the small red pen lying on a table where she had left it. Suddenly she remembered the strange woman's words.

~"Rei, a long time ago, you and I used to be friends...I was wondering if you wanted to give it one more try?"~

"Yes." Rei finally answered.

Without hesitation, she walked up to the pen and opened it.

Suddenly, she was surrounded by flames. In the flames were flashes of her past, on the Moon, on Mars and on Earth, fighting with Sailor Moon and the Scouts. Millions of images of her previous lives.

Her previous deaths.

She remembered who she was, who her friends were. Who her princess was and what her duty was. She remembered the pain of death, the excitement and fear of battle. She remembered stupid little things like fighting with Serena over anything, flirting with Darien and all the other scouts.

She remembered everything.

Serena was lounging on her couch, idly flipping through the channels on TV. Nothing was good was on, and she was starting to consider grabbing a book to read instead.

"Serena!" Luna cried, running into the room and skidding to a stop by the couch.

"What's the matter Luna?" Serena asked, jumping to her feet.

"There's a monster in the park attacking people. You have to get there right away."

Without another word Serena transformed into Sailor Moon and teleported herself to the park. They hadn't been able to get to any of the monster attacks in time for a while now. This was the first time in weeks that they had even heard of an attack as it was happening. The monsters were attacking too quickly, leaving the scene before anyone even knew what happened. As she dashed through the park she wondered how they had lucked out this time.

She could hear the roars of a monster but it took her several minutes to actually find it among the trees, which concealed huge parts of the park.

As she ran into the clearing, she saw the monster fighting...

"Mars!"

Mars turned and glanced back at where Sailor Moon was standing, dumbstruck.

"About time Meatball Head. Are you going to help or not?" She yelled before sending a stream of fire towards the monster, which howled in pain.

Shaking off her shock, Serena joined the fight. Mars had already seriously hurt it several times. Between the two of them, they were able to finish it quickly enough.

After the monster was gone, Sailor Moon stared for a moment at Mars.

"You opened my gift." she said, almost shyly.

"Yes." Rei stated, her voice cool.

"Are you...Did you...I mean, are you happy with it?" Serena asked, fumbling to find the words.

Mars walked over to Serena and hit her on the head.

"What took you so long, Meatball Head?"

Serena stared at her in shock for a moment before tackling her and giving Mars a hug.

Three figures stood in a darkened room, glaring at one another from under heavy cowls.

"Sailor Mars has been reawaken!" screamed the first, his voice rough with rage.

"I told you that Sailor Moon was letting more people know her secret." replied his companion calmly, clearly unimpressed by the other's show of anger.

"But we still don't know her secret, and now her strength increases as we sit down here and do nothing." the first hissed.

"Our strength does increase. This was the first monster of ours they have been able to stop in a while and our energy reserves are growing. We only have to wait."

"I will wait. But not much longer." the figure said, spinning around and stomping out of the room.

"He is uncontrollable." said the third person in the room who had been quiet till now.

"We still need him. We can't do this alone."

"I know." His companion said with a sigh. "How are your spies doing?"

"They have begun to narrow down where Sailor Moon lives, but her uses of energy are still hard to pin point."

"I have every faith in you, my love. We'll find her." She said, raising up on tip toes to kiss him lightly.