Rei's eyes opened gradually from her deep, healing induced sleep as she awoke from the sensation of pressure at the far end of the bed she slept on. She blinked twice and shook her head to clear the fuzziness from her head, pushing herself into a more upright position against the cushions, starting a little when she saw who sat at her feet.
"Oh, Hiiro. How are you feeling?"
"Fine, you?"
"Better than ever."
They sat for a while, fidgeting mildly in the uncomfortable silence. Suddenly, they both moved to speak.
"Hiiro, is there something you want to say?"
"Rei. I need to talk to you."
They both coughed briefly in nervous embarrassment.
"Alright, Hiiro, shoot." (A/N: Actually, telling Hiiro this probably isn't a good idea.)
"I heard you, talking to me, when I was," he turned his face away in shame as he said the word, "poisoned. And mostly, I wanted to tell you, that no matter what happens, if I get hurt, or Duo, or the others, it's not your fault. I've made choices throughout my life, so have all of us. To put ourselves in danger, knowing that our next mission may be our last. It's part of who we are. So, Rei, I accept this mission, and I won't rest until this enemy of yours, that man, Demantoid, I won't rest until he's gone."
"Hiiro."
"Yes?"
"I don't think I've ever heard you speak so many words at one time before."
Her smile, wry as it was, lit his soul, and he finally found the power to smile back.
"And I've never heard you joke before. Rei, I don't what it is, but somehow, you're changing me. I've never been so confused, or so moved to speak. I act, then feel like someone else. Before you came here and nearly torched my hand right off my wrist, I had no room in my mind or heart for anything but work, espionage, aim, efficiency. But now I think, I think about you."
Now, Rei's smile was full and completely genuine.
"Oh, Hiiro." She literally threw herself at him(to hell with the damn shoulder injury!), so that they both fell off the bed as they encased themselves in each others' arms.
"Sorry," she whispered into his ear, then, "I like you too, Hiiro." And for a moment, the careworn edges and lines of pain and stress melted away from her face, and she looked like the free and independent 14 year- old she had been when this whole moon princess adventure had begun.
Hiiro nestled his face in those long black locks and sighed in contentment. Here he was, in a completely alien situation, a new man, almost. He didn't understand it, no, but he didn't need to. All he cared about was that almost painful bubbling deep at the bottom of his throat, and even deeper his soul. For once in his life, Hiiro Yuy finally knew what it was like to be happy.
Finally though, he awoke from his reverie. There was something else that he had wanted to talk about.
"Rei, there's something else, too."
Suddenly her entire posture, demeanor changed. Every muscle tensed in anticipation and her look went from soft to feral in an eyeblink.
"Not now Hiiro, something's wrong."
He vaulted off the ground even before she was on her feet, and offered her a hand up, the force of it propelling her almost entirely to the door. He soon followed her, and they were off, for better or worse.
"The thing is Serenity, that there must be some working of fate at hand, because for one, that all of are still alive, there's been no duplication, and the only survivors of these neo-negaverse attacks have been avatars."
"Senshi."
"Whatever. In any case, this just doesn't seem like an accident."
That was the last thing either Mercury or Pluto said before Usagi screamed.
"Oh, goodness, Rei, you scared me, don't do that again!" But the seeming senshi of fire didn't move, her face still stoic, but her body positioned to attack.
"Rei, what's the deal?"
"Stop playing around, R-rei. This isn't l-like you." Usagi whimpered.
But the black haired woman didn't speak before springing into action. She immediately went for the moon princess, but both Amy and Setsuna leaped to protect her. She did manage to land a rather painful looking right hook on the frightened girl's face before the two others pulled her back, arms pinned behind her back. Their prisoner's head drooped, before she lashed out suddenly, freeing herself from their hands, and launching herself towards Usagi once again. "Pluto, what's going on?"
"I don't know. Maybe I was wrong, this is some Mars from some other dimension."
"Should we destroy her? It would seem wrong, if this really is Raye."
"At the moment, it doesn't seem as if we'll have a choice.."
A/N: ok, that's a pretty sucky ending, but class ends in four minutes, and if I don't post this now, it might be ever longer. Sorry for the long wait, I'll answer more questions in the next chapter.Ah. I love fluff.. Fira Khushrenada.