Summary- Minako watches as Usagi says goodbye to Rei..

Pairings-Shoujo ai, Usagi/Rei and perhaps slight hints of Minako/Rei. Minako's POV

Disclaimer-I DO NOT own Sailor Moon. I am merely borrowing these characters.

WARNING-This contains Shoujo ai...as in f/f, girl/girl relationships. Do not read if this offends you.


Saying Goodbye to the Flame

A year later, still I visit the spot where it happened. No one knows where I go, most often late at night. Sometimes, I go just to feel something other than the numbness that consumed me since her death. At other times, my feet merely wander there without my knowledge. Today? Today I came because somehow I was summoned, and I wait, though I know not what for with a gift for my friend, on the anniversary of her death, in my pocket.

Hearing the screech of tyres, I step backwards, concealed by the twilight and the dark shadows of the trees around me. Usagi steps out of a silver SUV, dressed in a long sleeved black dress, the familiar odangos still present. She looks so much older than she did a year ago today.

Slowly, she walks over to this spot, though she has never revisited this area. Suddenly, I know that this is why I am here tonight. She walks ever closer, and I wonder if she saw me with her car headlights, but soon realise that close to me is the spot where their tragedy played out.

Usagi kneels, in exactly the same position she was in on that summer's evening, and as her fingers graze the lush grass, stroking gently, it is almost as if I can see Rei laying there.

Tears hurtle down Usagi's face. They have done so for a year now, on and off. There have been times when we were all scared for her, her health, her mental stability. She never spoke of her to us again.

Worst of all, what tears at us, is when, during sleepovers, she cries out Mars's name in her sleep. Though never has Rei's name crossed her lips again. Even in her subconscious, it is Mars. She thinks we do not know the extent of her grief, and perhaps we cannot fully understand, but we all would like to try.

Mamoru, however, would not. With a pathetic excuse of being unable to handle her grief, incomprehensible to his unfeeling heart, he abandoned her. Leaving her with only us around her. Often, I see the jerk in town, with the real reasons, a different one on his arm each time. They are either a breathtaking blonde, a beautiful brunette, or occasionally an attractive auburn haired woman. Sometimes, I wonder if they will ever have a relationship again. A part of me knows they must, for Chibi Usa must still somehow be born.

As well as that unhappy truth, I know that Ami and Makoto will still be together then, just like they are today. Rei's death did give them the push they needed to tell each other what they truly felt. Life is too short, and love too precious to let slip by because of fear. The tragic scene of Rei and Usagi should never again be repeated, especially not with Ami and Mako as the participants. Where I could not hurry them along, Rei unintentionally did. I only wish that she was still around to see what the result was.

The other positive outcome of this situation is that the outer senshi have become much closer to us upon hearing of the fire senshi's death. Haruka and Michiru grew even closer than they were, and are now engaged, though Setsuna is still alone. Of course, she has Hotaru to raise. Taru looks so like Rei….she was deeply upset when she heard. Perhaps a spark within us all died with Rei, who was so distant at times, yet so warm and inviting at others. They have each other though, and are recovering, and I hope in time so will Usagi.

I? I do not know what will happen to me. A year later, I can not mourn, for the tears do not fall, and a dull ache is the only feeling present within me. I have not fully accepted it yet, and often, I turn to my co leader for advice, only to find silence and an empty space where before there would be a cheerfully flippant answer. Sometimes, my mind replays the scene, wondering if I could have prevented what happened. Only one thought remains at the end 'I never said goodbye'.

Back in the present, Usagi's lips move again, about ten minutes after she arrived. I strain to hear, as she whispers, without knowing it I think...

"Please Rei…I need to at least know that you are close to me."

Softly, a gasp escapes me as Rei's name falls from her lips at last, after a year. Usagi stands, as slowly as she arrived at the spot, and I do not know or care how, but the cherry blossoms fall upon her from above once more, as I hear Rei's voice whisper

" I am close to you, and I will be with you forever tenshi, my koi…Odango Atama."

Usagi's features lighten, and I know that she too heard it, though she will never know that I did too. As she drives away, I walk over to the spot where she knelt, and now do the same. Taking the present I brought out of my pocket, I bury it deep in the soft brown earth, covered with the dark green grass. Softly I whisper

"I promise to keep her safe in your name as long as I can Rei, and none of us will ever forget you."

Standing, I go to turn, when it is almost as if the wind wraps me in an embrace with a pair of ghostly arms, from behind. Through the roaring in my ears, I hear Rei's voice once more, this time speaking to me.

"Thank you Aino-chan. Goodbye."

As I walk away in the same direction Usagi did, I feel a wetness cover my face. Finally, a year after the event, I am crying, and the pain and numbness are starting to fade. Perhaps now I too, like Usagi, can start to heal.

Yet, like the Fleur-de-lis, or wild iris, that will grow every year where she died, thanks to the seed I planted, representing a burning flame, so will the memory of Rei, Sailor Mars, be like an eternal flame in our hearts

And I can cry, and grieve, and heal, because I, Aino Minako, finally said goodbye to my co-leader, fiery friend and close confidante, Rei Hino. Rest in peace.


The End. Well, its bittersweet, so it fits in with the other two parts of the trilogy right? I hope you all liked it anyhow. Read and Review, please.