Disclaimer: I do not own Sailormoon and/or Weiss Kreuz
: Chapter Two :
Usagi drew out an exhausted breath while glancing up at the infinite temple steps. The flaming sun of summer burning down on her back. 'I don't remember it being this long to reach the temple' Usagi thought, dragging her feet up the steps.
"Usagi!" a voice called out as Usagi collapsed out of exhaustion at the top of the steps.
"Rei, how... nice... so... see... you" Usagi uttered through short breath.
"Are you ok? Do you need to some water? What are you doing here? You have a lot of explaining to do!" Rei exclaimed.
"Water... first" pled Usagi. "Fine, follow me" Rei replied walking towards the entrance followed by a tired Usagi.
'I need to start exercising.' Usagi thought as she eagerly gulped down the crisp, cool water. Rei stood before tapping her foot incessantly on the floor her eyes slightly narrowed.
" I'm sorry" Usagi began.
"Sorry, doesn't cut it. You left Tokyo and didn't even tell us!" Rei stammered.
"I...I meant to say goodbye but we were late for our plane and..." Usagi muttered, knowing full well how lame her excuse was.
"I'm sure you and your family didn't just decide to leave in the middle of the night, moving takes planning. There were plenty of times when you could have told us. We missed you, do you know how betrayed we felt when you couldn't even tell us you were leaving us." Rei debated.
"You're right, but I was young and naive, I felt that if I said goodbye then I would never see you all again. I know I rejected my duties and ran away..." Usagi admitted.
Rei's face softened at Usagi's words, "I'm still angry at you, you leaving Tokyo disrupted your whole destiny as well as ours. There will be no Crystal Tokyo, no you and Mamoru having to be together, but Rini will still be born somehow. She just may look a little different according to Setsuna. I missed you though, and so have the scouts. So many things have changed and I have so much to tell you" Rei said.
At this Usagi smiled, "Thank you Rei. You have no idea how much I've missed you and the scouts, tell me everything." Usagi exclaimed bringing Rei into a death grip hug.
"Ok, just let go of me, I can't tell you anything it you hug the life out of me" Rei said face turning a deep shade of blue.
"Sorry", Usagi giggled.
Usagi and Rei both sat at the table in her house. The weather had cooled down, a gentle breeze blowing through the window and caressing their faces.
"When you left, the attacks of the youmas stopped. I can't quite explain it, but Ami thought it was probably because you were a magnet for them or something. We at first thought you were kidnapped but we found Ken or actually we tracked him down and he told us you moved much to our surprise" Rei paused, glancing at Usagi and then sighing.
"Well, I'm sure you would like to know what has happened to everyone, everyone has pretty much moved away. Makoto just started a prestigious culinary school somewhere in Japan; I haven't talked to her for a couple of months. Minako is off being a model for some agency in some country, she moves so much and is so busy that I never know where she is. Ami graduated early just after you left and went off to medical school in Germany but she's back here right now volunteering at the local hospital with her mom. You should visit her, I'm sure she would be glad to see you." Rei said.
"That's a great idea, but you still haven't told me about you." Usagi pointed out.
"Well, nothing has happened to me, but I decided not to go the college, a year ago. Grandfather has gotten ill, he doesn't really have a disease, it's just that he is old, having arthritis and a bad heart is not a good combination. So I decided to stay here and take care of him, and besides I love working the temple so I guess it all works out." Rei said straining a smile.
Usagi frowned, I guess you could call it a gift but Usagi was always able to tell how people really felt and at the moment her 'gift' was flashing a neon red sign saying 'Rei is not happy!' "Rei, I think that you are a wonderful person, no matter how annoying you can get sometimes" Usagi said, smiling.
Rei stuck out her tongue and then smiled, "somehow, you always say exactly what I want you to say", Rei replied.
Usagi hopped down the temple steps after a couple of hours of talking to Rei. The sun was sinking on the horizon, fuchsia and coral colors swirling across the sky. Usagi sighed, Rei had gone through so much, and she gave up her dreams to take care of her grandfather. There were so many things Usagi admired Rei for and this only added to the list even though she'd never tell her that, knowing it would probably give her a big head; Usagi smiled at the thought.
It was around 7:45 by the time Usagi reached the flower shop. The last few giggling girls made their way out the door gossiping amongst each other as they walked down the sidewalk to who knows where.
"Ah, there you are tenshi. I was starting to worry", said a voice, Usagi jumped out of her reverie and looked up to see a smirking Yohji.
"Oh, I thought I was early" Usagi said,
"You are but it was getting dark and it can get dangerous, especially for one as beautiful as you", Yohji replied.
Usagi smiled and blushed at the same time in response to his concern,' maybe he isn't such a bad guy', Usagi thought walking in. "where's Ken?" Usagi asked glancing around.
"He went to run a few last minute deliveries before we closed up", Yohji stated casually taking out a cigarette and starting to light it.
Usagi crinkled her nose, and was about to protest but was beaten to it by Aya, "what do you think you're doing? How many times have I told you not to smoke inside?" Aya growled entering through the back door.
"I thought you were gone, oh well, besides you aren't my mother" Yohji commented.
"Thank god" Aya said as Yohji stomped out his cigarette.
"Um, Yohji can you take me home, it's getting late. I was hoping to say goodbye to Ken but I guess I won't get my chance." Usagi said, interrupting the newborn silence.
"Of course tenshi, right this way" Yohji said motioning his hand toward the back door. Usagi shyly started following him out the door but not before glancing back at Aya who was locking up the front door.
"Bye, Aya." Usagi said.
Usagi waited for a reply and would have thought that he hadn't heard her but she saw that he slightly paused when she spoke. Knowing he was going to continue ignoring her, Usagi smiled weakly and continued to walk out the back door to a waiting Yohji. But as she closed the door, Usagi could have sworn she heard a voice murmur goodbye.
Usagi gazed out the window in silence as Yohji sped down the street towards her hotel.
After a couple of minutes of silence Yohji broke through it. "So where did you run off to today?" Yohji asked glancing at Usagi who turned towards him.
"Hmm? Oh, just seeing a friend I haven't seen in a long time" Usagi replied half-heartedly. "Yohji?" Usagi asked.
"Hmm?" Yohji said.
"How did you and Ken meet?" Usagi asked curiously.
From what Usagi remembered, Ken didn't ever hang around guys like Yohji or even Aya for that matter.
"We just happened to run into each other and became friends and so we all started working at the flower shop" Yohji lied.
"Oh... did you always want to work as a florist, was it your dream?" Usagi asked.
Yohji laughed causing Usagi to become startled by his reaction. "It was never my dream to be a florist, but I wasn't always a florist if that's what you're asking." Yohji began cheerily but his mood suddenly changed as he finished his sentence.
Usagi knew she was beginning to tread through murky water but pressed on.
"What were you before you were a florist?" Usagi questioned.
Usagi saw Yohji visibly tense as she uttered her question and thought he was about to not answer her when he calmly stated, "I was a private investigator".
For some reason, Usagi got the feeling that this part of his life was not a happy one.
"Private investigator sounds interesting; it must have been fun hunting down people and searching for clues, sort of like Sherlock Holmes." Usagi added, trying to uplift his mood.
"It was not some game; it was dangerous. People could and did get killed" Yohji replied icily causing Usagi to frown.
An epiphany dawned on Usagi as she processed what Yohji said. So she wasn't the only one who had been through the loss of a loved one.
"I'm sorry", Usagi murmured staring at Yohji causing him to glance up, surprise written across his face.
"For what?" Yohji asked.
"I know what it's like to lose someone you love" Usagi confided.
Yohji grew rigid and was about to reply but stopped himself when he remembered what Ken had said about her. She did know how it felt, maybe even more than him.
Silence began to grow once again, when Yohji finally spoke, "She was my partner and the love of my life".
Usagi glanced up, "what happened?"
"She was killed on one of our investigations together" Yohji replied, his grip tightened on the steering wheel causing his knuckles to turn a milky white.
"I bet she was beautiful" Usagi admitted.
Yohji slightly smiled, "she was", Yohji replied, and that was the last thing said as they both recoiled peacefully back into the darkness of the car, only the roar of the engine to keep them company.
:TBC:
Ok, I didn't really like this chapter either -., hopefully everyone else thinks otherwise, anyways until next week. ja ne ., also I haven't seen all of the Weiss Kreuz episodes so if there is any information that is wrong please tell me in a review or email me or something, thanks.