(Oh, wow it's been a... long time, since my last fic. Sorry about that. Anyway, this story takes place after my previous work, Buried Feelings: Facing Love at Last. You should be able to follow everything just fine without reading that, but if you're a fan of the MakoAmi pairing please consider checking it out!)

(But anyway, without any further ado, enjoy!)

"Alright, Mako, just breathe. You've got this!"

"I don't know if I can do this."

"We're running out of time to figure this out."

"I know!"

"Just take a deep breath."

"Okay… okay… gaaaah!" The brunette cried out, throwing her hands up in frustration and scattering clothes across her floor.

"Mako, hun, picking out an outfit for dinner should not be this hard." Minako said while looking down at her friend who was all but in the fetal position. When Makoto had asked her to come over to help her get ready for tonight Minako expected her to be nervous, but she had no idea it would be this bad.

"It's not just dinner, Mina! It's-"

"Dinner with Ami's mom. Yes, I know, you've told me."

"And… and we're gonna-"

"Tell her that you two are dating. Again, I know, you've said it about twelve times in the hour I've been here."

"And I still have to figure out what flowers to bring, what I'm gonna say when I meet her, Ami said I didn't need to bring a dish but maybe I should anyway?"

"Mako, I'm sure it'll be fine. I doubt Ami's mother expects you to be perfect." Minako said, trying to reassure her friend.

"Yeah, but she probably also doesn't expect me to be dating her daughter." Makoto shot back, "I'm already fighting an uphill battle here! Y'know because… because…"

"Because you're not a boy?" Minako finished for her friend.

"Yeah." Makoto said, slumping down onto the floor next to her pile of clothes.

"Oh Mako," Minako began, sitting down next to the brunette, "Ami's mother is a smart woman, I doubt she would be so close minded."

"Yeah, I bet a lot of people think that when they come out to their parents… doesn't mean it's always true." Makoto said back, "And even if she's okay with it as a concept, that doesn't necessarily mean she'd be okay with her daughter dating another girl. Or at the very least she'd probably prefer Ami to be with a boy."

"Well, knowing Ami, she's fresh out of luck there." Minako said with a slight smirk, "Mako, you are a lovely girl. If Ami's mom doesn't see that, then that's on her." The blonde continued, resting her hand on her friend's shoulder, "And I hate to tell you, but whether or not she's able to see it probably isn't gonna depend on what you wear or what kind of flowers you bring."

"I know, I know! But if she's like… I dunno, on the fence, then maybe I can win her over if I do everything right, y'know?"

"I mean, I get what you're saying, but you understand that that's impossible, right?" Minako replied, "The only way you could do everything right is if you could somehow see the future, which-"

"MINA THAT'S IT!" Makoto shouted excitedly while grabbing both of Minako's shoulders, "You're a genius!"

"I am?" Minako asked as she saw Makoto spring up and run out the door while throwing on one of the many jackets which had been strewn across the floor. "Hey, Mako, wait up!"

…

"So let me get this straight." Rei said, rubbing her temple in frustration, "You want me to use, and I quote, my 'weird psychic powers' to tell you how to 'not screw up' your dinner with Ami and her mom?" The raven-haired girl questioned while looking at her blonde and brunette friends who had burst into her room just a moment prior, with the former still being out of breath from the run over to the temple.

"Uh… yes?" The tall brunette replied, timidly.

"NO! That's not how that works!" Rei shouted indignantly.

"Aw, c'mon Rei, you're telling me there's nothing you can do to help?" Minako questioned, wiping some sweat off of her brow.

"It's not a party trick. I can't just-"

"Please Rei." Makoto said, grabbing Rei's hands and looking down at her with big puppy-dog eyes, "I really really really want this to go well. Isn't there something, anything that you can do? Please, I'll do anything."

Rei looked into Makoto's pleading eyes for a moment, before eventually lowering her head and letting out a large sigh.

"Very well." The miko said, unable to resist her friend's cry for help. She was then promptly smothered in a massive bear hug from the taller girl.

"THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!" The Guardian of Thunder squealed in gratitude.

"Mako… need… oxygen…"

"Oh, sorry." Mako said, letting her friend go. After taking a moment to catch her breath, Rei led Makoto and Minako to the sacred flame. Rei sat directly in front of the fire, while the other two sat closely behind her.

"Alright, if I'm gonna do this, I need to be able to concentrate. Understood?" Rei asked, to which the other girls simply nodded in agreement. "Alright." The shrine maiden said, closing her eyes.

"Rin"

"Pyou"

"Tou"

"Sha"

"Kai"

"Jin"

"Retsu"

"Zai"

"Zen!"

With that, the sacred fire erupted in front of them.

"Are you getting anything?" Makoto asked.

"Shh!" Rei shot back at her, "I'm getting some images, but they're fuzzy. I see you at the doorway wearing… wearing your green blouse."

"Green… blouse…" Rei heard from behind her, along with what sounded like a pencil writing on notebook paper.

"Where did you get-?" Minako began to ask, confused, before being shushed by Makoto. With this, Rei continued.

"I see you holding a bouquet of light purple flowers… yes, lilacs, I believe."

"Lilacs…" Makoto muttered, accompanied by more scribbles from her pencil.

"Yes… it's all very fuzzy, but I can tell Ami's mother appreciates the flowers… dinner seems to go mostly smoothly…"

"What do you mean mostly?" Makoto asked, concerned.

"Make sure to keep your mouth closed while you chew." Rei shot back, leaving Makoto embarrassed.

"Hmm… can't make out too many finer details, but I see Ami walking you out the door at the end of the night… you both appear quite happy…"

"We do?!" Makoto exclaimed with what appeared to be a mix of relief, joy and disbelief. With that, Rei's eyes shot open and she inhaled sharply, similar to a person who had been holding their breath underwater.

"Rei!" Minako exclaimed in concern, before the raven-haired girl turned around to face her friends.

"I'm good, don't worry." Rei said, reassuring her friends, "But more importantly, Mako" she began, looking at the brunette, "from what I could gather, you don't have anything to worry about. Just relax and be the wonderful girl that Ami fell in love with. Well, and also that whole chewing thing, make sure to remember that." Rei finished with a smirk.

"Okay, thank you so much Rei." Makoto said before bolting to her feet, "Oh man, I still have so much to do before tonight. I'd better get going, I'll see you guys later!"

And with that, the tall brunette bolted out the door to go finish getting ready for her dinner. After she had left, Minako looked at Rei in confusion.

"I don't get it." The blonde girl began, "I thought you said seeing the future wasn't that simple, how were you able to pull it off?"

"Well it was pretty simple, actually." Rei said, turning to her friend and giving her a sly smirk, "I didn't."

"Wait, what?"

"Reading the future isn't something you can force, it's something you have to let come to you." The miko explained, "The most I can do on command is read energies, everything else? It comes and goes."

"But what about all the-" The blonde began to question, scratching her head.

"What, you didn't think you were the only one of us who could put on a performance, did you?" Rei said, rising to her feet and offering a hand to help her friend do the same, "I could tell the dinner will go fine… probably. But that's not what Mako needed to hear. So I gave her some vague information, making her feel like she had more control of the situation than she did before talking to me, and BAM! Instant confidence boost."

"Oh, like the psychics at the mall you always complain about?"

"Do not compare me to them." The Guardian of Fire shot back darkly, earning a chuckle from Minako.

"Sorry, sorry. But seriously, it's sweet of you to do that for her. You're a good friend, Rei." The blonde said to her friend.

The raven-haired girl looked down at the ground and sprouted a bittersweet smile at the compliment, "Yep… that's me… good friend Rei." She said weakly.

"Rei?" Minako asked, concerned.

"Sorry, sorry." Rei said, shaking herself out of this state. "It's just… is it wrong for me to be jealous?"

"Jealous of what?" Mina asked, although Rei could tell she fully knew what she was asking.

"Well it's just… like… don't get me wrong, I love that Ami and Mako are happy together. But…" She trailed off, awkwardly rubbing her arm.

"But?" The blonde inquired, prompting Rei to continue.

"Well, when Mamoru and Usagi got together, we stopped seeing her as much, but at least we all had each other, y'know?" The miko said, nervously fidgeting with her hands.

"Well us single pringles gotta stick together after all." The Guardian of Beauty responded.

"Yeah. But now… Usagi's off with Mamoru, Ami and Mako spend most of their free time together and… I dunno. I'm not mad or anything at them, I get it but I just… I wish I had that too, y'know?" Rei trailed off, looking down at her feet. "And you've got your own stuff going on and I guess I feel… lonely. Is that bad?" She finished, looking back up at Minako.

…

"Is that bad?"

Minako was stunned at what she was hearing. Not so much that Rei was jealous of Ami and Makoto, as Mina had felt a similar jealousy seeing their relationship blossom over the last couple of months. No, her surprise instead came from two factors. The first being that Rei was seemingly experiencing it to a much worse degree. Sure, Mina had felt lonely from time to time seeing her friends go off in their own directions, but she was normally able to distract herself through extracurricular activities or music. It seemed like this was not a skill Rei possessed, however.

The second factor that surprised Mina about what she was hearing… was that she was hearing it at all. While she had certainly gotten better over the time Minako had known her, Rei still had a tendency to put up barriers between herself and others which kept her from genuinely expressing her emotions. Mina supposed that was just a testament to how bad this had gotten.

"No, Rei, of course it isn't." The blonde finally responded gently, "And… I'm sorry that I haven't tried to make more time for you."

Rei looked slightly taken aback by this, and if Mina didn't know any better, she would swear she saw a light blush cross the miko's face.

"W-What do you mean?" Rei stuttered out, "You didn't do anything wrong."

"Maybe, maybe not. But to tell you the truth I've kinda… felt the same way. But I know that you've been busy with the shrine and with school and I guess I just felt… intimidated?"

"I'm intimidating?" Rei inquired with a small smirk.

"Well you're not not intimidating, that's for sure!" Minako shot back. If she was being honest with herself, Rei's busy schedule wasn't the only thing that intimidated Mina about spending time alone with her, but that… wasn't important right now.

"Heh, not sure whether I should take that as an insult or a compliment." Rei said with a smile. A smile Mina loved more than she loved most things on Earth or the Moon. A smile she wanted more than anything to preserve. When mulling over those thoughts, the blonde was struck with a sudden impulse.

"Do it, Mina." Her brain instructed her.

But she couldn't possibly.

"You won't get a better chance than this."

She wouldn't dare.

"You know you want to."

Well, of course she wanted to, but-

"If you don't, you'll-"

"Okay, fine! Just shut up, dammit." Minako thought, ending the tug of war within her mind.

"Welllll," Mina began, her heart rate quickly beginning to accelerate, "I guess there's only one thing for a couple of lonely girls like us to do on a Saturday night." She said, placing her hands behind her back and leaning in closer to Rei.

"What would that be?" The Guardian of Fire asked, tilting her head in confusion.

Suddenly, Mina took both of Rei's hands in her own and looked her directly in her wide amethyst eyes. "Go out with me?" Mina blurted out. She couldn't tell if she was asking, ordering, or something in-between.

"W-what?" Rei stuttered out. This time Mina was sure she saw a blush come across the miko's cheeks.

"C'mooooon, it'll be fun!" The blonde prodded. "It's not like you've got anything better to do! And when was the last time we hung out, just the two of us?"

"Mina, that's very sweet, but I don't need to be your pity date." Rei responded, her cheeks still tinted red.

"Aw, don't think of it like that. Think of it like you're saving me from a night of boredom. So, if anything, it's more like I'm your pity date." Minako said, unsure if Rei's grandpa had decided now was a good time to start playing one of their ceremonial drums, or if that was just her heart about to explode out of her chest.

Rei let out a sigh before looking into Minako's pleading eyes with a small smile, "Okay! Okay! Just let me grab my coat. So, are we heading to Crown like usual?"

"No, I've got a better idea."

(And that's where we'll leave chapter 1, but fret not, just like with my last fic I wrote out the whole thing before posting the first chapter, so you won't have to wait long for the next one.)

(But please, let me know what you guys think! Comments are very much appreciated!)

(And come back next time for chapter 2.)