A/N: You are all very lucky I had another chapter almost completed, because I was able to fill your demand easily this time. However, I have yet to start on a new one, so this one will have to allow you to bide your time a bit, sadly. I don't own Sailor Moon, please, read and review.

Chapter 8

"Are you ready?" Setsuna's voice echoed endlessly in the hollow misty area. "Once we go back through this door, you'll see the old world, and all that you see, you will be able to affect." She looked at the door for a moment, the chains locking it tightly fell away with merely a touch of a finger, as if they were there only upon Setsuna's own whim. "Even the princess has to follow rules when she walks through this door."

"The princess is only a baby." Fusayo laughed slightly. "She couldn't have gone back, could she?"

"The past and future ebb and flow in a synergy that every few can understand." Setsuna told her young ward. "In a future that you can't possibly comprehend, the baby is no longer so. Small Lady, as I have come to call her, has traveled into the past without much difficulty." The gates of time were endless, and although Setsuna felt at home here, Fusayo dearly wished she could escape the dark shroud of nothingness. "You must remember two things about the past. One, the people of this past have their own notions on what the future will be. You must never correct them, for it is their own minds and their own truths. Secondly, the future is not a set course. To safeguard particular events, the future will change, even ever so slightly, if you speak of that exact future, or aid in the events that will occur."

"So I take it I won't only be watching from afar..." Fusayo sighed, not wanting to see first hand the sadness Rei had endured. "I really don't want to go into the past, either you know." Still, when the teen closed her eyes, she could see Rei's saddened expression, her lost and lonely face amidst many things Rei either dare not speak of, or could not explain. "I just wanted to be close to her, to all of you."

"Love is a a very fickle thing for those who do not understand it." Cryptic statements were her favorite to use, and also some of the most alluring. "I have tried for many, many years to get others to understand those very same principals, to no avail. I've watched for countless generations as the world around me destroyed itself, for such a thing as love. I've sat idly by, as we Sailor Senshi claim such a powerful emotion as a reason to fight." The truth was deeper than that. "However, when they must face the darkest hours, the grim despair of their souls pull them away, and they refuse to look into the catacombs of the past. Without darkness there is no light, and Rei has forgotten that."

"What is she to you?" It was a challenging question, one spoken in defiance, anger lacing the sentiment. What indeed? A clever question that many of the Senshi often asked themselves when sizing up an opponent. Still, this question, in reference to love? They never used such lines, such clearly drawn barriers to define themselves. "What could she ever be, as hurt as she is?" No Senshi dared to speak a revelation so sinister, so hateful, as to pick and choose over each other. It was a mistake often made in the past. They vowed to never repeat it.

Still, as meddling as it was, as maddening as it could be, Setsuna didn't back down an inch. Amused outwardly that such a question would ever be aimed at her, knowing she was likely the only one with a clearly defined answer for the girl. It was petty, and yet, it was oh so fitting for the cold, often aloof mage. "A consort, if you must know." Setsuna told Fusayo softly, her deep crimson eyes saying more than Setsuna's voice ever could. "She has served our queen well in trying times, been at my side in battle, both an enemy, and a dear friend..." With a great sigh of sadness, Setsuna let out the tiniest hint of a smile. "I will admit, in the dead of night, my actions may or may not include Rei. The same can be said for all of us. We are no more and no less than we deem necessary. Sex, if you must inquire, does fall into that equation."

Fusayo bristled at that, her eyes still focused on the mists that blurred the way. With an unsteady hand, she grasped the door handle, and turned the knob, pushing it open to find a scene that made her cringe. "How can this even be happening? Why did anyone let her do it?"

"Just watch, Fusayo." Setsuna sighed, not really wanting to see the vision either. "If you go into the past, days like this, will become a bit of normality."

….

"Makoto, you don't have to do this." Rei whispered in the dead of night. "You really don't."
"And if I don't." Makoto shot back, her lips perched to the whiskey bottle for merely a moment.
"I'll be fine on my own." Rei retorted harshly. "I don't need a sitter."
"Someone needs to keep an eye out." Makoto told her calmly. "You're still new."

"I hardly call this, babysitting." Rei laughed as she too, took a swig of the strong drink. "I understand you're worried, but really, you don't have to be." Her words, though soft, held a darker truth. Nobody had to be anywhere, no one ever worried when they should have. If they did, they would have caught wind of all that had gone on in Rei's heart. All the things she wished she could say, and yet, she never voiced. "After all, I'm still alive, aren't I?"

"You're alive because you have to be." Makoto told Rei honestly. "You don't have any other choice, you gotta be okay. If you aren't, you have nothing else to be except a failure...and that's worse than being dead. At least when we're heroes we felt as if we did the right thing. At least, I know I did, the times I lost the fights for Usagi." The glass held their liquid escape, their fingers cradled the tool of forgetful haze, and within that night of unspoken words, both knew, this night would not have been like those that had gone on in the past weeks. "I like being used, ya know."

The suggestion wasn't lost by Rei, and as she released her breath, and the smoke she had inhaled, she couldn't help but chuckle. "Yeah..." Suddenly, it was as if the cool air outside was slowly getting warmer, intoxication only part of the issue. "I know you do." It wasn't something Makoto admitted often, but Rei knew the feeling. "I'd give anything, to be used again, even if it felt like it was killing me, I want her back."

"I can't be a replacement." Makoto answered back, downing the last of the bottle in one long chug, casting the glass bottle aside a few moments later. It shattered into bits. "No one can ever give you the same touch Minako did." It was a sad reality, but it was one both had come to accept. "My first, well, he'll never come back for me, and his kindness will never be forgotten. I can't be Minako...but..." Makoto bit her lower lip, sighing in recognition. "Rei." She turned to the shorter woman, who's eyes were clouded over, decent judgment lost long ago. "I want this too."

It started as a quiet kiss. One that was intently testing the waters, Makoto asking for more, waiting for Rei's answer, as she pressed her lips fully onto Rei's. The girl of raven tresses welcoming the contact without a single hesitation. Reason gave way into passion, clothes torn apart by needy, greedy hands. Rei let Makoto take the lead. Her fingers tangling deeply into the tresses of deep auburn, her eyes closing in a lustful satisfaction. Makoto's tongue toyed openly with hers. Modesty lost by practiced hands, as Makoto dominated the willing woman before her, her fingers pushing Rei farther into forbidden heights. Rei's bliss was both mixed pleasure and pain, as teeth bit into her skin, making her so utterly hopeless to stop what would be called sinful.

She wanted to stop...
She didn't want to be forgotten...
She needed a release...
She was afraid to let go...

"I won't abandon you." Makoto told her, whispers carried on hot breath sent shivers down Rei's spine. "I won't cast you aside." The woman's fingers delving deeper into Rei, calling forth even more mixed and confused emotions. Yet, the high was oh so sweet, and the feelings were mutual. They both needed this, she was was positive of that. Sweat trickled down her body as she allowed herself to fall further than she ever thought she would, her cries silenced by Makoto's firm kiss and tender caress. "Trust me Rei, and I'll never hurt you." Makoto whispered, pleading for the girl under her to understand that simple promise.

To share a high.
To learn to trust a lover.
A partner in crime.
A comrade in battle.
Friends.
Enemies.
Of the same war.
Lost.
Never to be found.

"I will Makoto." Rei hitched, as she struggled for breath, she didn't want to fight away her feelings any more. Her own nails ranking down Makoto's back as she finally let herself be swept away by the erotic heat. The euphoric woman above her granting such a gift.
…

"Make it stop!" Fusayo cried out, turning her face away from the things she was seeing. "Why would Rei do that, why would she let herself do that..."

"There are no answers in this world that could possibly ease your heart, Fusayo." Setsuna told her calmly, although, in truth, the pain was not gone from Setsuna, the woman despising to look back on such distressed times. "However, love at least among the Senshi, is never wrong. Although, I'll admit, in the past things could have gone more smoothly." With a sigh, she pulled the door closed, the mists returning their quiet splendor. "That world is filled with misfortune, pain, and suffering. However, this is one moment of many, not all are bad. However child, you must make the choice if you wish to step through the door."

"If I do, what will I find?" That was the question Fusayo struggled with the most it seemed.

"That is the question everyone asks when they look into a person's heart." Setsuna's motherly response was at least hopeful. "Rei's heart is a door, much like the tangible ones within this world. If you open the lock, all of the realities she has come to understand will flow out of it." Yet, it was not in any way consoling. Her own personal feelings on the matter obscured by her teachings. "If you do not have strength enough to face her, and her memories from her voice, you will never be worthy of the love you seek." It was not her job to calm warring emotions. Her job was to protect fate, and build a proper future. Setsuna's plan, was to do just that.

More later...