The girls, plus Luna and Artemis, were all already settled in a Rei's when Usagi and Mamoru showed up.
Ami had a notebook in front of her, a pencil behind her ear and a purposeful expression on her face.
"Uh-oh, Ami has her game face on," Usagi said, warily. Usually when Ami had that gleam in her eye it meant she had some tough work planned. Usagi really hated hard work.
"You're right I do!," she said, "I was up almost all night researching possible ways we could return your memory."
"Wow," Usagi said, "Thanks, Ami. I just- thanks."
"You're welcome," Ami said, smiling at Usagi for a moment. Then she turned to Mamoru, "Glad you could make it. Having you here will definitely help."
"Did anyone bring snacks?" Usagi asked, looking around.
"Seriously, Usagi?!" Rei said, rolling her eyes. "We are gathered here specifically to help your swiss-cheese brain recall the literal love of your life- lives - whatever, and all you wanna know is if we have refreshments?"
"Well, do you?"
"Yes, of course," Rei said, in exactly the same tone of voice, without blinking an eye. She pulled over a bag and removed some bottles of iced tea and various pre-wrapped snack goods. Usagi fell on them instantly, and Minako took a few, passing one to Makoto who looked at the packaged cookies with undisguised suspicion. The others helped themselves too.
"Thanks, Rei," Ami said. "It's never good to brainstorm on an empty stomach."
"And thanks Ami for doing all this work," Mamoru said, twisting one of her papers toward him and skimming it. "Reversing curses, and hexes," he read out loud.
"I researched everything from folklore to neurology," Ami said. "And thought to what may have worked in the past..."
"Did Luna try that mind-meld thingy on you?" Minako asked, and Luna nodded.
Usagi nodded, too, sighing. "Yeah, last night. It didn't work."
"I didn't really expect it to," Luna said. "It doesn't really work for that sort of thing."
"Right," Makoto said, putting a finger to her chin. "That's why you couldn't just return Mamoru's memories after Beryl."
"Wait, what?" Usagi said, looking up from her melon bread with confusion.
"Yeah, Mamoru didn't remember you at all after we defeated Queen Beryl," Minako said. "He didn't get his memory back for months. Thought you were just some weird kid chasing him around Tokyo."
"Huh?" Usagi shot a look at him, "You didn't mention this earlier!"
"It didn't come up," he said, shrugging a little, but looking slightly sheepish.
"And you didn't think it was, I don't know, a teeny bit relevant that almost this exact same thing happened to you two before?" Rei said.
"I-," he shrugged. "Sorry," he offered to Usagi, lamely.
"Okay, but, how'd we fix it then, though?" she asked him, eagerly.
Ami cleared her throat a little. "Well, that was a bit more complicated. You see, that entire time, he had an alternative persona that housed his memories and fought along side the senshi in his absence. However, they were able to maintain completely separate entities, even occupy the same space at the same time. Anyway, after we defeated the Makaiju, they merged again and his memories returned."
"Wait," Usagi said, blinking. "What?"
"It was really quite fascinating!" Ami said, "I really wanted to explore the phenomenon further, even had some time scheduled with Mamoru to run some vitals, scans, etc, but then it got shelved indefinitely when you guys had that whole break up thing and -"
"Wait," Usagi said, again. "What?!"
Ami closed her mouth and flushed. "Uh. Nothing."
Usagi turned to Mamoru, "We broke up?"
"Uh," he paused. "Yes, for a little bit. But -"
"He had his reasons," Rei said.
"Stupid reasons," Minako muttered under her breath. Makoto elbowed her and she sighed, "Okay, okay. It bears repeating that he never stopped loving you, and was super miserable, and honestly, we all felt really bad for him after the fact."
"But then-"
"Maybe we can just focus on getting Usako her memories back?" Mamoru said, putting a hand to his forehead. "Rather than rapid-fire listing all my mistakes at her?" Hearing the girls rattle through all that like it was yesterday's news had given him pause. What if Usagi didn't want him after she remembered all the hell their love had put her through? Or, what if she wasn't remembering because she didn't want to remember?
"Sorry," they chorused, uncomfortably.
Usagi looked at Mamoru sympathetically. She put her hand on his arm and smiled. "It's okay, Mamoru," she murmured and he gave her a small smile.
"Oh, it's weird to hear you call him 'Mamoru'," Minako said, and Makoto nodded her agreement.
A guilty look fluttered across Usagi's face. "I know," she said, softly. "Luna told me that I call him Mamo-chan, I know, but...I'm just not..."
"It's okay, Usako," he said, in the same tone she'd used before to him. He wasn't going to pretend it didn't hurt, but he could manage not to cringe at her using his full name if it meant she felt comfortable. Usagi gave him a grateful look and Mamoru felt his heart twist a little.
"So if the lovebirds could stop being gross for, like, two seconds?" Rei said. "Because Ami did a lot of work and maybe we should try to actually get something done today besides perfecting our goo-goo eyes."
"Right!" Usagi said, sitting up straighter and clapping her hands together. "We'll do our best!"
"So," Ami cleared her throat a little, looking at her notebook. "Considering past experience and general fairy tale background, you may just want to try... um, kissing?" Ami blushed a little but kept her scholarly face. "I think firstly, that's the best bet. I mean, if you are comf-"
"It didn't work." Usagi shook her head, reaching for an iced tea.
"Oh!" Ami looked surprised.
"You two don't waste any time, do you?" Minako said, giggling.
"Hey, it was worth a shot," Mamoru said, although he looked a little abashed when Rei gave him a mock-exasperated look.
"Maybe you need to try again," Minako said. "Ya know, 'if at first you don't proceed, trying again makes perfect'."
"What?" Ami said.
"It didn't work the second time either," Usagi said, then she caught herself and turned bright red. This time it was Makoto who erupted into giggles.
Rei rolled her eyes at Minako. "Is baiting them like that really necessary?"
"Yes," Minako said, innocently.
"Moving right along," Mamoru said, gesturing toward Ami who gave him a grateful smile (and politely ignored the slight flush on his cheeks).
"Okay," Ami said. "My next thought is maybe the locket?"
"Oooh, good idea!" Makoto said. She dug through the bag she'd brought with whatever Usagi had left behind the night before. "It fell to the bottom so I didn't think of it." She pulled out the star locket and handed it to Usagi.
The smaller girl took it gingerly, turning it over in her hand. "I remember this," she said, softly.
There was the sound of five people (and two cats) holding their breath as Usagi thoughtfully ran her fingers over the top. She startled a little when it opened, the music began to play softly.
For a few, long moments she just starred at it, entranced. Then her lower lip trembled a little. "Usako, are you okay?" Mamoru put a hand on her shoulder and she closed her eyes, slipping the locket shut with a small 'click'.
"It's foggy and not very clear but," Usagi took a shuttering breath. "I don't think those are the right memories."
At Ami's questioning look, Usagi clarified. "Not the right lifetime," she breathed and there was a soft chorus of understanding murmurs. Mamoru tightened his grip on her shoulder and she held the locket to her chest for a moment before putting it down.
"Not super helpful, sorry," she said. The atmosphere was heavy for a bit, everyone lost in their own thoughts for a bit.
"Don't give up! I have more!" Ami said, finally. "I was thinking we could try hypnosis."
"Hypnosis?" Usagi looked concerned.
"I'm not an expert by any means," Ami said, "but I was reading up about it, and it is a way to possibly pull forward repressed memories. Not that these were repressed but... they are locked away. You may get better insight to what is happening in your mind to block Mamoru out so completely."
"Who is going to hypnotize me?" she said.
"I will try," Ami said. "And Rei is going to help you, too, since she knows meditation techniques."
"This may take a while," Rei added. "If you guys want to leave, we'll update you on the situation if it works."
Makoto and Minako exchanged looks. "I do have homework," Makoto said.
"There is a TV show on tonight I really wanna watch?" Minako said, with a 'hey at least I'm honest' shrug.
"Yes, of course. Thank you guys so much!" Usagi jumped up to hug them.
"You should go, too, Mamoru," Ami said. When he opened his mouth to protest she talked right over him. "I know you have a lot work to do," she said, quietly. "And your presence might hinder the process, anyway."
Finally, he sighed and nodded. Usagi walked him down the steps of the shrine and took his hand.
"You look tired," she said, frowning a little.
"Yeah, still not completely adjusted to the time difference," he said with a shrug. "It'll go away."
Usagi looked at their interlocked hands, guilt weighing on her shoulders. There was so much she wanted to say, and yet no words would come. "I'll call you tonight," she said, finally.
He kissed her cheek, and tugged slightly on a pigtail before walking away. This time, she watched him leave, feeling a strange sense of loss she couldn't place.
"C'mon, Usagi," Rei called from the top of the stairs, "you said you were good at sleeping, time to prove it."
It took a long time, but eventually Rei and Ami had managed to get Usagi into something like a trance state (and this time without her dozing off).
"Where are you?" Ami asked, keeping her voice soft and even.
"A pathway," she answered.
"Walk down it," Ami instructed, "remember, you are looking for your lost memories, for Mamoru. Tell me what you see."
"I want to find him," she said, "but there is a wall. He's behind it. I can't get to him!"
Rei and Ami exchanged a look.
"Tall, stone. There is no door. I'm looking. Running, and running but still... there!"
"Usagi? What do you see?"
"The door! It's... locked. Ami, it's locked. I can't... I need a key."
"There is a place for a key?" Rei whispered and Ami repeated the question in the same, soft, even voice she'd been using.
"Yes, there is a keyhole. I don't have the key, though."
"What's the key look like, Usagi? Do you know?"
"Heart shaped?" she sounded confused.
"The time key?" Rei whispered to Ami.
"Sure sounds like it but... what could that mean?" she whispered back.
"Maybe we go to Setsuna and ask to, I don't know, go back in time and make sure the monster doesn't attack her?" Rei sounded doubtful of her own idea.
Ami shook her head, "I don't think that could possibly be the answer, nor can I ever see Setsuna going for that."
They pressed Usagi for a few more details, which she didn't have, and Ami finally turned toward Usagi and gave the word for her to wake up.
At the snap of Ami's fingers, Usagi's eyes shot open and she looked around groggily.
"You okay?" Rei asked.
Usagi regarded her friend seriously. "I'm hungry. Can I stay for dinner?" she asked.