Author Note: In celebration of my three-day weekend, I've decided to post Chapter 5 and 6 this week!

I don't own Sailor Moon or any songs and have tried to the best of my ability to site my references.

Takeuchi, N. (1991). Sailor Moon. Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan: Kodansha Ltd.

Haywood, D., Kear, J., Kelley, C., and Scott, H. (2009). Need You Now [Recorded by Lady Antebellum]. On Need You Now [CD], Nashville, Tennessee: Capitol Records Nashville.

Chapter 5:

"Tadaima," Rei called out to her empty condo with a little more energy than usual. Though she was exhausted from her day's activities, she couldn't stop smiling ever since she left Kirei, "Well, that was an interesting turn of events," she giggled to herself.

Usually reserved with strangers, she surprised herself by how bold she was with the gorgeous makeup artist. She began wondering if she had perhaps focused too much of her energy on Haruka earlier that day and absorbed some of her flirtatious charm, I really need to remember to thank Haruka tomorrow for making me go to the tailor shop!

She removed her shoes neatly next to the door and brought Haruka's outfit and her purchase from Kirei into her bedroom. She hung Haruka's garment bag carefully on a hook behind the bedroom door next to her own outfit, which was in its own garment bag. Turning to her suitcase, she quickly packed the makeup products she purchased and placed her suitcase next to the bedroom door, ready for her trip tomorrow.

Once complete with these tasks, she changed into her pajamas, which consisted of a red t-shirt and black satin pants, and began getting ready for bed.

It's too bad, Rei thought as she wiped the makeup off her face in the bathroom, She actually did a really great job. She smiled when she remembered kissing the blond woman's hand and seeing her blush, I really hope she calls me!

She paused at that thought, Oh! That reminds me, I should call Grandpa to see if I can go visit soon!

She quickly finished removing the makeup and went to her nightstand where her cellphone was plugged in. Sitting on the edge of her bed, she grabbed her cellphone and flipped it open. She bit her lip nervously, I hope it's not too late to call.

She pressed a few keys before bringing the phone up to her ear.

Brrrrrrrp…Brrrrrrrp…Brrrrrrrp…

Rei shuffled back on the bed so she could pull her knees to her chest as she listened to the ringback tone on her cellphone.

Brrrrrrrp…Click!

"Hello?," a raspy and kind voice answered the phone. Rei's eyes brightened immediately at the sound and she smiled widely,

"Hi, Grandpa," Rei replied warmly, "Sorry for calling so late. Did I wake you?"

"Of course not, my dear Reiko," her grandpa replied with a chuckle, "I had a sense earlier today that you would be calling around this time so I was waiting for you."

"Of course," Rei smirked as she rolled her eyes, feeling absurd for her earlier nervousness of possibly disturbing her grandpa. Though Rei's abilities were far beyond her mother's and her grandpa's, he was still the one who trained her after all, "That was silly of me to ask."

"So, what can I do for my beloved granddaughter that she couldn't wait to call me this late at night?," her grandpa asked teasingly in a kind manner.

"Well, I was able to get some time off," Rei replied cheerfully, brushing off her grandpa's teasing, "And I was wondering if I could come visit you sometime this coming week? I really miss you and I miss being home."

Silence followed Rei's words from the other line. Rei immediately turned to concern, "H-Hello? Grandpa? Are you still there?"

"O-Oh!," her grandpa replied with slight surprise, "My apologies, dear Reiko, I thought you were going to continue."

"Oh," Rei replied with slight bewilderment, "No, that was it, Grandpa."

"…Are you sure, Reiko?," her grandpa asked, a mischievous tone underlying his question.

Rei suddenly began to feel her face flush, Kami-sama! If he knew I was going to call tonight, does that…does that mean he also knows about Ain-

"How about the twins?," her grandpa asked innocently, interrupting Rei's thoughts, "They've been coming by every day looking for you. Don't you miss them too?"

"O-Oh," Rei replied as she registered her grandpa's comment. She released a subtle breath of relief before clearing her throat, "Y-Yes. Yes, of course, I miss them, Grandpa. How are they?"

"They're doing very well, granddaughter," her grandpa replied, a smile evident in his voice, "They're such sweet girls. They usually come by in the morning to help me clean up the place before we open."

"Good, I'm happy to hear that," Rei replied with a smile as she imagined the twins helping out around the shrine, "Tell them I can't wait to see them."

"I will, my dear," her grandpa said, "So, next week you said?," he replied, returning to their previous conversation, "Hmm…Next week…doesn't seem to be…so convenient. Perhaps another time?"

Rei was taken aback. Usually her grandpa was more than happy to have her come visit whenever she pleased, but raised her to have the etiquette of at least calling to let him know she was coming. It was odd to hear him decline or delay a visit.

"Would that be ok, Reiko?," her grandpa asked, snapping Rei out of her puzzlement.

"Oh! U-Umm...sure. Yeah, sure, Grandpa. No problem," Rei replied quickly, "Hey, Grandpa. Is…Is everything ok?," she asked with concern and a hint of suspicion.

"Of course, Reiko," her grandpa replied reassuringly with a cheerful tone, "Everything is as it should be," Rei raised an eyebrow at her grandpa's peculiar choice of words, "I shall check my schedule and give you a call once I have a better idea, ok?"

"M-Mmn. Ok, Grandpa" Rei replied. She shrugged and decided to let her suspicions go. She smiled warmly, "I'm really looking forward to seeing you again."

"Me too, my dear," her grandpa replied lovingly, "Sleep well, Reiko. I love you very much."

"Mmn, I love you, too," Rei replied, "Good night, Grandpa." She was about to bring the phone away from her ear and hang up when-

"Oh, and Reiko?," her grandpa said suddenly.

"Y-Yes, Grandpa?," Rei replied quickly with concern, bringing the phone back to her ear.

"I might need some help around the shrine while you visit so feel free to invite a close friend to come with you to help if you'd like, ok? Good night!," Her grandpa said quickly with a hint of mischief. She heard him chuckle before the line went dead.

Rei pulled the device away from her ear and stared at it as if it were some foreign object she'd never seen before, What the hell was that all about?

She shook her head and closed her cellphone, Mataku, sometimes Grandpa can be so weird!

Minako parked her car in a designated guest-parking spot and walked through the large, sliding-glass doors of The Incendia. If she thought the outside of the complex was extravagant, she was blown away by the inside.

The foyer had a clean, off-white colored wallpaper with a subtle, delicate, metallic-gold pattern that only revealed itself as one walked by and the light danced along its details. Circular in shape, the expansive room was floored with polished travertine. A wide strip of red carpet bisected the lobby length-wise and width-wise, forming a cross on the floor. In the middle of the red cross was a very large, round table made of dark wood, topped with black marble. A tall vase full of fresh, white Calla lilies stood in the center of the table. Above the table was a large, elegant Victorian chandelier that glowed brightly, illuminating the lobby.

The four areas of the travertine floor that were not covered with carpet each had an overstuffed, leather couch, two matching club chairs, and a low coffee table that was of the same design as the round table in the center of the room.

Minako's mouth was open in awe as her azure eyes took in the splendor of the extravagant foyer. She walked slowly towards the center of the lobby, following the red carpet, to the circular table in the center of the room. As she slowly walked around the table, she noticed the red carpeting behind it continued up a short set of travertine stairs and through a wide archway that led to a smaller, adjacent room and ended at the foot of an ornate elevator with gold doors.

She walked up the stairs into the smaller room and found gold, cluster-style mailboxes, lining both the left and right walls of the room. She quickly scanned them until she found what she was looking for: On the left wall, on one of the lower-right mailboxes closest to the elevator, the name 'Hino' was neatly printed on it with the number 859.

Wow, the top floor!?, Minako thought, guessing correctly the first number stood for the floor and the last two stood for the condo number. Minako smiled as she pressed the call button for the elevator.

- It's a quarter after one, I'm all alone and I need you now. And I said I wouldn't call, but I'm a little drunk and I need you now. And I don't know how I can do without, I just need you now. -

Rei's online radio station was streaming softly overhead as she sat in bed with her bottom-half under the blankets while her upper-half was leaned against her plush pillows. She liked having music on as background noise to keep herself company in her quiet condo.

But, right now, Rei had her eyes trained intently on the pages of a manga and was heavily engrossed in the story. After the odd conversation with her grandpa, Rei decided to take her mind off of it by reading for a bit to relax before going to sleep. Instead, she got completely caught up in the story.

Just as she was about to turn the page...she felt something. Lifting her intense eyes from her manga, she narrowed them slightly, Someone's headed this way.

Though she had exhausted most of her energy on the day's events, she set the book down in her lap and closed her eyes, reached out to examine the approaching person's aura to see if she might be in any danger. After all, she'd already given her security detail time off and was on her own until Sunday. If she needed to contact Nobuo for help, she would need as much time as possible to do so.

With what little energy she had left, she sensed the presence walk down the hallway from the elevator and head towards her door. As the presence neared her front door, she finally began picking up a familiar aura signature. Her eyes shot open and adrenaline began coursing through her veins as only one thought entered her mind, Holy shit!

She quickly flung a drawer open on her nightstand and threw her manga into it. She fumbled with the white remote and pressed a button, abruptly ending the music, and threw it into the drawer with her manga and slammed it shut loudly. Scrambling out of bed and on to her feet, she hastily approached her front door.

Once there, she paused for a second to take a deep breath and calm her nerves. Tentatively, she opened the door and found a surprised, blonde woman on the other side with her fist raised in the air as if about to knock on the door.

"A-Aino-san!," Rei exclaimed with surprise a little louder that she meant to.

Minako was surprised at first to see the door open before she was able to knock. But when she was met with Rei's lavender eyes, she froze, mesmerized by the woman's gaze, her heartbeat doubling in pace.

"Aino-san? A-Are you ok?," Rei asked. Minako blinked and shook her head slightly.

"Y-Yeah…Sorry!," Minako said as she tried to compose herself, "I'm fine. Ummm…Sorry, I…I wanted to say...thank you…for making my last day…memorable."

"'Last day'?," Rei repeated in a confused tone, "What do you mean?"

"Well, you see, today was my last day as head makeup artist," Minako explained sheepishly, "I got promoted earlier today and I'll be one of the managers of the store starting Monday."

She held up the velvet pouch for Rei to see, "All of my friends are busy tonight and I really wanted to celebrate. I know it's late, and…and I know it might sound silly, but…but since you were my last customer, I wanted to see if you'd…celebrate with me?"

Rei eyed the pouch and Minako blankly, taking in the information. A smirk slowly played across her lips, "I guess I can stay up for a bit. I don't have anything to do in the morning." She opened the door wider as a signal for Minako to come in.

Author Note: Yes, a small chapter, I know.

I'm not sure if you can tell by now, but I have a tendency to be detail-oriented. I also like when things have meaning or purpose. So, on that note...

Fun Fact: Hold your hands out on front of you with your finger's spread (go ahead, try it!). If you count off the alphabet on your fingers, starting from left to right, you'll find that you'll cover the letters A through J of the alphabet, with the first finger on the left being A and the tenth finger on the right being J. If you count off again from left to right, but this time starting with the next letter, K, you'll find that you'll cover the letters K through T, with the first finger on the left being K and the tenth finger on the right being T, etc. Use this to try and decode why Rei's condo is numbered that way. =D

You'll see this happen a couple times in the story where I have to come up with random numbers for things. I wonder how many of you will figure them out? ^_^

PS - This is a really good trick to use when you need to make up a numeric lock combination. ^_^

Anyways, onward to Chapter 6 and constructive feedback/reviews would be greatly appreciated.

(updated 09/2013)