A sudden wail of agony shook Minako awake.
She sat upright. Her fist automatically clenched the soaked material of her shirt as she struggled to catch her breath. A quick glance over at Rei, who was soundly sleeping, told Minako she had been the one crying out in her sleep.
The sudden movement irritated her stitched wound. Taking a deep breath, she clenched her hands against the bandages.
"Get your act together, Mina," she chastised herself. For better or worse, she had no recollection of the nightmare that had her shouting in her sleep.
Thanks to her outburst, Setsuna and Makoto rushed into the room. Makoto sprinted oward the makeshift bed on the floor, stopping short when she realized nothing was amiss. Annoyed and ashamed, Minako kept her gaze to the floor with a grimace.
"Is everything alright?" Setsuna, who hovered just inside the closed doorway, asked.
"Yes," Minako grit between her teeth. "I was just having a bad dream, I think."
An awkward moment passed before Setsuna stepped forward. "Your wound needs tending to."
Minako instinctively looked down. She moved her hands out of the way, revealing a bloody, fresh stain on her shirt. Her palms were so sweaty, she hadn't noticed the blood. She must have tossed and turned a lot to open her wound or pop a stitch, she reasoned.
The templar shot Setsuna a suspicious look. The assassin didn't even want her here last night. Now she was offering to play doctor?
The older woman's burgundy eyes softened under Minako's untrusting glare. "I am willing to give you the benefit of the doubt until Rei awakens. As Makoto said, there must be a reason she trusts you."
Setsuna spoke as if it were only a matter of time before Rei regained her senses. Minako didn't draw attention to the shred of hope, which seemed uncharacteristic for the pragmatic woman.
The popstar shrugged. There was no reason for Rei, or any of them, to trust her. Mina couldn't think of anything she'd done to earn it, anyway. If Rei had a reason—if if were the reason Minako secretly pined for—it wasn't a quantifiable measure her comrades would accept.
After all, Minako didn't completely understand this herself.
Knowing that she needed medical attention, and that she was most likely going to blow off her appointments the next couple of days, Minako laid down and shifted her top to expose her bandages. Setsuna wordlessly settled on the floor beside her, inspecting the wound as Minako watched Rei's slumbering face.
If Minako didn't know any better, she would have thought the shrine maiden was sleeping in temporary oblivion; relieved of the nightmarish visions that haunted her.
Mina grimaced when Setsuna pulled back the tape holding her gauze intact. She suffered a few probing touches.
"Please fetch the first aid kit and a damp cloth," Setsuna ordered. Minako couldn't see Makoto's reaction, but she heard light footsteps scamper off to procure the items.
The unending fire crackled, filling the awkward silence. This Setsuna woman wasn't much of a talker. Minako didn't mind, at first. She occupied her mind with studying every worry line and curve of Rei's beautiful, but troubled, face.
As minutes passed and Makoto still hadn't returned, Minako spoke up. "So, umm… have you known Rei long?"
"Since the day she was born."
"Oh. So you knew her parents?"
"That's right."
"What were they like? What was Takashi like? He's so bitter and jaded now."
A low chuckle resonated in Setsuna's chest. "He was young. Earnest. Very dedicated to the cause. The only thing more important to him than the assassin's creed was his love for Risa. Difficult to imagine now."
"Yeah…" Minako let her thoughts drift. The unspoken assumptions about the betrayal hung between them. Setsuna didn't ask about him, and Minako didn't expand. The assassin probably didn't need to; Takashi was out in plain sight, a figurehead of Japan, on the news almost daily. His appearance and demeanor were on display for the entire world. And Setsuna had the couth not to expect Minako to divulge any templar secrets.
"Has Rei always been so…" Minako started, but could not find the right words to describe the assassin who'd stolen her heart.
"Yes," the scientist interrupted as if reading her thoughts.
Before Mina could retort, Makoto returned. There was shuffling behind her. Items were dropped, and it sounded like Rei's friend took a seat beside Setsuna.
Silence settled over the group of women once more. Minako watched Rei, daring to hope she would open her eyes and be the same surly, serious Shrine Maiden she needed. Minako desperately wanted to reach out and touch Rei. To stroke her hair, to cup her cheek, or to hold her hand, but she couldn't in front of these two strangers.
Besides, Rei would never forgive her if she found out.
"Hey," Minako stirred as Setsuna was finishing up taping fresh gauze to her skin. "I was wondering…. Could one of you do me a big favor?"
"What is it?" Makoto asked. With Setsuna's assistance, Minako sat up.
Holding back a groan of pain, she looked up at the brunette. "Could you go get me a throwaway phone? Like a TracFone or something? I need to call someone to feed my cat."
Makoto's long arms crossed over her chest. "I suppose. How many minutes do you need?"
"Fifteen, I guess. Sorry I can't pay you…"
"You're the biggest idol on the planet. Something tells me you're good for it." Makoto winked. "I'll be back soon."
"Thanks." Minako turned her attention back to Rei when Makoto left. A bead of sweat trickled sideways down her pale forehead. Unable to resist touching her any longer, Mina extended her hand towards Rei's brow.
Before their skin connected, Rei stirred and opened her eyes. They were glazed. Bloodshot veins surrounded her violet irises. She looked like she hadn't slept at all.
"I don't know you," Rei's voice cracked as she regarded Minako with firm suspicion.
Despite preparing herself for this, Minako's heart sank. Her hand, which had been hovering over Rei's forehead, slowly withdrew. Rei's eyes darted from Mina's hand, to her eyes, to Setsuna standing beside them. The certainty in her voice did not reach her eyes.
"Yes, you do," Mina urged. "You have to remember! The dressing room? The aster flowers?"
"Aster flowers?" Rei repeated, her voice distant. "No. Casablanca lilies were her favorite…"
"No, Rei…" Mina closed the gap between them by placing the flat of her hand on Rei's naked arm. "We're not talking about—"
"I killed her." Rei's clammy skin twinged against Minako's touch, but she didn't pull away. Mina wasn't entirely convinced Rei could feel her presence. "I killed her."
"You aren't Takashi. You're Rei!"
Minako blinked back stinging tears. Her impassioned plea only served to further confuse Rei.
"No, no, no!" Rei shook her head violently. She buried her face in her hands, rocking her head so fast it looked painful.
Panic surged. "Rei, stop!"
Minako reached out to grab her arms. A flash of white made her jump in her skin. Setsuna appeared in a flash, and was grabbing her arm.
"Go get some fresh air," Setsuna suggested in a tone that said it was not a mere suggestion.
"But Rei—"
"I will handle Rei. You need to clear your thoughts."
Minako opened her mouth to retort, but paused. Rei's incessant, delirious ranting continued, peeling away at Minako's sanity. How many more days would Rei be like this? Would she ever recover? It was easy to convince herself she was here for Rei no matter how long it might take for her to regain her sanity, but what if that day never came?
How many more days of Rei's delirious rantings could Minako's will, and her sanity, survive?
"You're right," the popstar eventually admitted.
Setsuna immediately turned to restrain Rei before she could injure herself. As the long sleeves of her white lab coat shifted, Minako caught a glimpse of red scabs on her olive skin. It was hard to imagine Rei causing those scratch marks… If anything, she was docile while Minako was present.
With a heavy heart, Mina tore her eyes from the two assassins. She slipped out of bed, locating her pants and slipping them on. While buttoning her jeans in place, the fire caught her eyes. It burned as bright and hot as the minute she arrived. Not once did she catch anyone adding lumber or stoking the flames.
The early morning sun and fresh air rejuvenated the templar. After closing the door behind her, Minako leaned against it and gazed toward the clear blue sky. Dew clung to the air, providing a refreshing break from the stifling heat of the meditation room. She listened for the familiar caws of Rei's crows, but only the sparrow's morning song met her ears.
Mina's thoughts wandered as she stared at the limitless horizon, listening to the distant city traffic. For the hundredth time since meeting Rei, she questioned everything about her life: her involvement with the templars, her career, her role in The New World Order, and, most of all, her feelings for the assassin.
A lump rose in her throat when she considered the very real possibility that the Rei she knew may never return. Could she go on, with things left as they were between them? The heated kiss. The uncertainty. Minako had an inkling… a hint as to why she was willing to forsake her entire life for the chance to be at Rei's side. She didn't dare assume Rei reciprocated her feelings, but if things continued as they were now, it wouldn't matter in the end.
"Hey," a voice to her left stunned Minako out of her wayward thoughts.
"You scared me!" Mina caught her breath while taking stock of Rei's friend.
"Sorry." Makoto handed her a small plastic bag while scratching the back of her head. Makoto smiled apologetically. "Everything okay?"
"Rei isn't any better, if that's what you're asking," Minako rifled through the bag, pulling out a cheap, no-contract cell phone. She didn't want Makoto seeing her frown or cry, so she kept her eyes lowered.
Makoto sighed above the crinkling of plastic. Mina felt her eyes on her as she tore open the packaging. "I talked to Setsuna. She's okay with you staying as long as you want, you know. It's just… you're Sailor V. Don't you have things you should be doing right now?"
"I'm kinda on hiatus right now, thanks to one of your friends." Minako gestured to her wound. "Besides, what did you think I wanted this phone for?"
"I'll let you get to it, then." Makoto reached past her for the door handle, but paused. She cleared her throat and gave an awkward grin. "For what it's worth, I'm glad you and Rei met."
Sailor V looked into Makoto's bright green eyes. She was earnest and sincere. Despite the gravity of their situation, she smiled back. Minako wasn't sure how she had gained the assassin's trust, but she wasn't going to shirk it. "Thanks… Me too."
Once Makoto was gone, Minako hurriedly entered Ami's cell phone number and held the receiver to her ear. Her phone rang three times, and Mina was worried she wouldn't answer. "Come on, Ami. Please pick up!"
"Hello?" a familiar voice tentatively answered.
Minako sighed in relief. "Thank God you answered. It's me, Mina!"
There was a brief pause on the other line, as Ami was probably calculating dozens of scenarios in which Minako would be calling from a strange number. "Aino-san? What happened to your cell phone?"
"Nothing. It's a long story, I…" Minako stepped away from the shrine door and began wandering down the pathway towards the koi pond. "I was wondering if you could go to my place and feed Artemis for me."
"Sure. But where are you? You aren't back in the hospital, are you?"
"No, no, I'm fine. My injury's healing like it should be."
"And you should be home on bed rest, no?"
Minako couldn't help but smile. Ami's peculiar method of simultaneously expressing concern and fishing for information was endearing. "Yeah, but something came up."
"Is there anything I can help you with? Besides feeding Artemis, that is?"
Minako stepped toward the slippery rocks that barricaded the pond from the grass. Six colorful, large koi instantly swam towards her. A cluster of agape fish mouths broached the surface. Mina didn't have any food for them, and she felt a little guilty as they begged.
"Actually, I do have a question. What do you know about, umm…." Mina couldn't remember if Setsuna or Makoto had named Rei's condition, and she didn't recall the medical terminology from reading about it during her templar training. "When someone spends too much time in the Animus and they forget themselves. And they get stuck in that relative's memory, thinking they're that person."
"Cognitive Mnemonic Displacement?"
"Yeah, that. Is there a cure?"
Mizuno hesitated with a sigh. Minako could hear the question hanging on her tongue, but Ami was too polite to push the subject. "There is no reliable cure, no. Subjects who have recovered from Animus overexposure recovered independently. There is no routine medical or therapeutic techniques that have shown success in reversing the condition."
Annoyed by the hungry fish all vying for small morsels of food, Minako turned and sat on the nearby bench. "You're saying it's up to the sick person to overcome it?"
"For the most part. The amount of mental fortitude necessary to survive is staggering."
"Okay, thanks anyway." Minako tried to keep the disappointment from her voice. There was little reason Ami would know something about Rei's condition that Setsuna didn't, but it was worth asking.
"What are you doing, Minako?"
The popstar perked. This was the first time Ami had addressed her by her familiar name. "The less you know, the better."
"No, I mean… What are you doing?"
Ami's tone was forward, but not accusatory. The weight of her concern, and the hidden meaning behind her question, broke the last layer of Mina's defenses. She buried her face in her free hand and sobbed. Minako hated her tears, hated her weakness, but the longer she tried to answer Ami's question, the harder her chest constricted.
"I don't know… I don't fucking know what I'm doing! I barely know her but I'm already risking everything for her. I want to quit this fucking charade and be with her instead of the templars. I have so much I still want to tell her… If she doesn't come back, I don't… I don't know what I'll do… And I don't even know how she feels about me. How stupid is that? I joined the templars to save my career and life, and now I want to throw it all away for her… I think I'm going crazy."
Minako hadn't meant to divulge her plan of switching sides to Ami, but the weight holding her chest down lifted substantially after sharing her conflicted feelings. Mina wiped the tears from her eyes while waiting for a reply.
"You aren't going crazy," her thoughtful friend replied at length. "You're falling in love."
Scratch… Scratch…
Was that Artemis clawing at her door? Had she forgotten to leave the door open for him?
No, she wasn't home. She was sleeping by the fire, beside Rei…
Scratch… Scratch…
Mina tossed and turned in a fitful sleep. The scratching noise grated against the edges of her dreamscape.
Scratch… Scratch…
A loud, clear bird call shook Minako from her sleep. It wasn't just any bird. It was a crow. Rei's crow.
After sparing a quick glance at Rei to ensure she was still asleep, Mina threw back the covers and ran to the source of the noise. She slid the door open. Impatiently waiting on the other side were Phobos and Deimos, each holding a flower in their beak.
Minako knelt down and studied the flowers in the moonlight. One was pink, the other pale purple. "Asters?"
Instead of answering, the birds instantly took flight, flying over Minako's head and into the fire shrine. She hurriedly followed them inside, and watched as they laid the flowers down beside Rei and began gently pecking at her face. Mina feared what sort of disposition Rei would be in if awakened, but she also wasn't going to rob her arial companions of their chance to help.
"Is that where you've been the last two days?" Minako whispered as she knelt down behind them. "Looking for these flowers?"
Phobos nudged the tip of Rei's chin, tilting her head to wake her. She was gentle at first, but when Rei didn't originally stir, she threw her weight behind it. Deimos hopped onto Rei's shoulder and began pecking at her exposed ear. Growing nervous, Minako checked her pulse to make sure she was alive.
When Minako felt the subtle pulse beneath her fingertips, Rei finally stirred.
"That smell…" The alluring voice Minako remembered was cracked and raw. Rei opened her eyes, staring at the two flowers lying in front of her nose.
"Aster flowers." Minako swallowed the lump in her throat. The flowers had always meant a lot to the popstar, but ever since Rei's startling gift in her dressing room months ago, they had a new, tender meaning, that slowly killed her inside every minute Rei didn't remember.
Twitching and weak, Rei's fingers wrapped around the purple flower's stem. With agonizing lethargy, she grabbed the flower and drew it towards her face.
"I don't…" Rei's features twisted as her true memories swirled into Takashi's. She winced and groaned. "I don't know."
"Remember me, Rei? Minako? … Please look at me."
Glazed violet eyes slowly turned upward. The scrutiny behind them gradually morphed into skeptical curiosity. Minako held her breath. The crows stopped fidgeting when Rei's lips parted. "You… You're Venus."
A relieved laugh escaped Minako's chest. Pieces of shattered memories were starting to come together.
"Something like that." Mina didn't see the point in correcting her. The fact that Rei remembered the name of her perfume had Minako's heart soaring.
Rei's eyes sank back down to the flowers. "No. That's not right. Why can't I remember?!"
The horrific shriek resonating from Rei's chest gave Minako chills. Phobos and Deimos echoed Rei's pitch, squawking in fright. Turmoil and fright began spreading through Rei again; Minako could see her shoulders tensing and her arms shaking.
Minako replaced despair with determination. Rei had come too far, was too close to sanity, to revert back to her previous state.
"Relax! Relax! It's ok. Here." Minako grabbed another flower and pressed it below Rei's nose, forcing her to concentrate on its scent. "Remember these flowers. The pink, blue and purple flowers filling the room? The, um, our kiss?"
Rei took slow, deliberate breaths, as if the flower's aroma was a healing sedative, spreading through her body and relaxing her. Her eyelids drooped sleepily. "I kissed Venus."
Despite knowing Rei was babbling and not coherent, Minako was flattered. In all of the fan letters she had ever received, no one had ever compared her to a love goddess.
"She kissed you first," Mina added to the memory, hoping it would help complete the puzzle.
Rei's head snapped toward her again. Phobos fluttered her wings, while Deimos watched on curiously. Violet eyes widened, as if she were seeing Mina for the first time. Minako focused on the small shred of sanity she found within Rei's eyes, staring back with a conviction to prove to both Rei and herself that she would never back down from this.
The hand holding the violet aster lifted from the ground. Unsure of what she was doing, but not wanting to move and scare her, Minako became a statue. Rei's dazed eyes were unnerving and unblinking, not moving to her hand in motion. Minako felt the hand on her ear, and realized Rei was tucking the flower stem behind it.
The popstar's heart fluttered. She plucked the pink aster from the floor and returned the favor, sliding it behind Rei's ear. Strands of her deceptively soft hair tickled Mina's fingertips. The bright pink petals complimented the Shrine Maiden's dark locks and amethyst eyes.
Time froze. Minako couldn't speak. She couldn't turn away from Rei's face, fearing that if she blinked, the lucid moment and Rei's beautiful soul might disappear forever.
"You are a goddess," Rei spoke with conviction.
Was this Takashi again, speaking to his late wife? A memory from their happier days?
"I'm just a confused fool," Minako sniffed, unable to hold back her tears. Soon they were clouding her vision. Minako dug the heels of her palms into her eye sockets, rubbing the tears away as hard as she could. She felt a crow land on her shoulder, rubbing its head against hers.
"Why are you crying?"
Rei's question gave her pause. Her voice was not distant or confused. The firm, alluring voice that Minako was beginning to think of as a memory returned.
Minako rubbed her eyes one last time. She looked back up at Rei, who was now sitting up with the bedsheet pulled tight against her chest.
"Rei? Is that you?"
Rei's pale face scrunched up. She blinked at Minako as if she had two heads. "Who else would I be?"
Tears flooded her eyes again. A euphoric high washed over her. Relief and exhaustion and happiness poured through her. Phobos and Deimos swarmed Rei and excitedly pecked at her hair.
"Hey, stop!" Rei grimaced and tried shooing them away. The assassin looked down at herself. Realizing she was naked beneath the sheet, she clung it even tighter against herself.
Minako almost laughed at the shocked, accusatory glare Rei shot at her. "And why am I naked?!"
"I'll tell you later." Minako edged closer to Rei.
Minako felt Rei's breath hitch as she leaned into her, giving the fiery Shrine Maiden the kiss she had been waiting months to give her. Despite the sweat and grime, Minako still smelled the incense in Rei's hair, and felt the fire burning inside of her. Mina couldn't say the words, not yet, but she hoped the newfound confidence behind her kiss conveyed the feelings she couldn't give voice to just yet.
There was only a slight second of hesitation from Rei, who was still insecure about her nudity. But as their kiss lengthened and their lips remembered how naturally they fit together, Rei drew closer. Minako was pleasantly surprised to feel Rei's weak hands in her hair, grasping and holding her down for more.
When they eventually parted to catch their breath, the vulnerable expression in Rei's eyes made Mina's chest tighten.
"Let's just lay down for now."