AN: So here is Chapter 4 as promised again. Work and life are getting crazy so my updates might be coming a little later than expected, but it would be updated by Sunday at the latest. The song I use in this chapter is called Clementine by Sarah Jaffe, I definitely recommend checking it out if you get the chance. Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it :)
Chapter4: Clementine
"She did what!?" Usagi spit out her drink, her cheeks a dark red when Makoto revealed what she knew about Rei and Minako.
"Poor Rei." Ami frowned, looking down at the table they occupied at their favorite spot.
"What are we going to do?" The blonde looked back and forth between her friends.
"I don't think we can do anything Usagi. This is something Minako and Rei have to figure out on their own." Makoto commented solemnly, taking a drink from her soda.
"Oh! Oh! I know!" Usagi jumped up and down excitedly in her seat. "We should shove them both into a closet, lock them in it until they stop being stupid, and when they make up we can let them out!"
"Rei would just burn the door down." Ami sighed. "Maybe we could talk to Minako. She's obviously confused and she's the only one who can fix this." The blunette played with the straw in her drink.
"That sounds good." Makoto smiled over at her secret lover.
"I like my plan better." Usagi pouted, slouching in her seat.
Meanwhile at the Hikawa shrine Rei laid her in bed, her ipod playing a sad tune as she wistfully looked out the window, thinking about a certain goddess.
50 states
50 lines
50 crying all the time's
50 boys
50 lies
50 i'm gonna change my mind's
i changed my mind
i changed my mind
now i feel indifferent
Rei sighed, closing her eyes, seeing those gorgeous sapphire eyes looking back at her, a light smile playing on the blonde's face. She remembered everything. The feel of her skin underneath her fingertips, how soft her lips felt against her own, the delicious sounds she made when she was inside of her. How her body moved against her own and how perfect it felt to be that intimate. Then she recalled the look Minako gave her when she told her that she loved her and how her heart sank when she walked away. She bit her lower lip, trying not to think about that part.
we were young
we were young
we were young we didn't care
is it gone
is it gone
is it floating in the air?
i changed my mind
i changed my mind
now i feel indifferent
Minako laid in her bed a bit away as well, thinking similar thoughts. Her heart felt heavy in her chest as she remembered how the pyro touched her, how she pulled her close, and kissed her like she really meant it. The moment was more perfect than she could have ever imagined it. All of their banter, all of their secret looks, all of their subtle comments, it meant something and it all lead up to that heavenly moment. She had stumbled upon something special. Something she never knew was even there that was right in front of her face and she ruined it. The look in Rei's eyes when she pulled away from her hot touch hurt the blonde more than any of her harsh words possibly could. She knew Rei was just covering up her true feelings.
all that time, wasted
i wish i was a little more delicate
i wish my
i wish my
i wish my
i wish my
i wish my name was clementine
Rei bit her lower lip as tears sprung up to her eyes, desperately trying to keep her thoughts away from that damned Venusian. The archer quickly wiped away the stray tear that fell down her face. Thinking about that blonde and that night was useless. 'Me sitting here sulking changes nothing. It only makes me feel like shit all over again.' Rei got up on her feet quickly, grabbing her bow. 'Maybe some target practice will help.'
The guilt was eating away at Minako and she couldn't take it anymore as she sat up in her bed. 'I can't let this continue. We're going to have to talk about this eventually. We're a team and I'm the captain. I may not be able to reveal my true feelings, I mean I don't even fully understand them myself, but I have to at least try to make things civil between us again.' With her decision made Minako put on her shoes and headed towards the Hikawa Shrine. When Minako arrived she was struck with a sense of deja vu as she ascended up the stairs.
-Flashback-
Venus bit her lower lip nervously as she headed to the training ground she knew she was sure to find the Martian. She hadn't come up with an exact plan on how to make things more civil between her and Rei. Sure she could pull rank on the girl and tell her to put up or shut up, but she had a feeling that wouldn't exactly evoke respect from the newcomer. "Guess I'll just have to wing it." The blonde sighed as she rounded the corner only to see the raven haired girl trying to produce fire in her hand only for it to extinguish a couple seconds later.
"Ugh! Come on!" Rei let out a yell of frustration. The archer held out her hand again only to receive the same results.
"You don't know how to use your powers yet . . .?" Minako made her presence known as she curiously walked up to her subordinate.
"I can use them." The Martian snapped, turning her head to the blonde.
"Oh, my mistake." The blonde smiled, crossing her arms. "By all means then, show me what you can do."
"Gladly." Rei held out her hand, a bow of fire started to form, but it disappeared almost as soon as it had appeared. The Martian looked to the side when the fire extinguished, she didn't want to see the smug look on the Venusian's face. She was surprised when she felt the blonde walk up behind her and lightly grab her hand.
"You need to focus all of your energy into what you're trying to create. Clear your mind of everything else and focus on pushing all of your emotions, your energy, and power into the palm of your hand."
An uncharacteristic blush formed on the raven haired girl's face as she tried to focus on what the blonde told her to do instead of Minako's breath on the back of her neck. They stood there for a minute, both very aware of how close they were. The raven haired girl knit her brow in frustration, trying desperately to focus, but found it extremely hard to do with the blonde being in such close proximity. Rei closed her eyes, trying desperately to block out the feeling of Minako's heavy and now ragged breath on her neck, focusing everything she had into the palm of her hand. When she opened her eyes she saw a bow proudly blazing in her hand.
"Wow . . ." The archer marveled at her work as the blonde took a step back, a light blush adorning her face.
"Neat trick." Venus smiled.
"I . . ." Rei started, looking away from the bow, finding it hard to find the right words to thank her new leader.
"I actually came here to talk to you Rei." Minako bit her lower lip, mustering up the courage to confront the gorgeous girl standing in front of her. "I know you don't like me or my people. What happened in the past was an atrocity of great magnitude and despite what my own bloodline did I hope you know that I would never take part in such senseless violence. That being said; we may have our differences and we may not see eye to eye on certain things, but we've all been brought here for a reason. We need to learn to work as a team. A single impenetrable unit. If we can't do that then we're all doomed. You may not like it, but I am your commander and it would be nice if you gave me a little respect. There are many things we can learn from each other and I hope you will come around. We need your strength and skill."
The raven haired girl stood there silently, taking in everything Minako told her, a new-found respect and admiration forming for her commander. The blonde had guts and she didn't pussyfoot around the subject. Most people were much too afraid of Martians to ever tell them what they really thought.
"I'll leave you to your training." Venus grew too anxious from the silence, unsure if it was a good or bad thing so she decided leaving the Martian would probably be the best course of action right now.
Minako turned to leave and was heading towards the door, but stopped in her tracks when she heard the familiar voice of the archer behind her. "When you attack you lower your guard." The blonde raised an eyebrow, turning around and facing her crush once more.
"Then I shall see it raised." Venus smiled.
"You're usually one step ahead, but in battle you need to be two or three steps ahead. Every time you attack you should already be thinking about how your opponent can deflect it, what they'll do next, and then what you plan to do in return." Mars instructed, making eye contact with the blonde, but looked away blushing when she felt those blue eyes looking too intently at her.
"I'll be sure to do that. Thanks." Minako couldn't help that her smile widened when she saw the raven haired girl blush for the second time that day and refuse to make eye contact with her. Martians weren't well known for their apologies, but she knew this was Rei's way of saying she was sorry for how she acted. "I'll see you at training tomorrow Rei. Let me know if you need any more instruction on controlling your powers." With that said the blonde left the training grounds with a little skip in her step, pleasantly surprised with how the conversation went.
-End Flashback-
Rei shot arrow after arrow at her target, barely missing the center every time, her lack of focus was apparent, and it was starting to frustrate the archer beyond belief. Rei pulled out another arrow, focusing as much as she could as she pulled back her bowstring.
"Hey Rei . . ."
Rei lost all focus when she heard Minako's voice and accidentally let the arrow fly too early. The arrow completely missed the target this time and all the raven haired girl could do was pinch the bridge of her nose in frustration. "What do you want Minako? I told everyone I wanted to be left alone."
"I know." Minako sighed, walking up to her friend. "But we need to talk."
"There's nothing to talk about." Rei went to grab another arrow, but Minako stilled her hand, grabbing it lightly.
"Yes there is." The blonde looked solemnly at the miko, making eye contact with those sad dark eyes. "I'm sorry about everything that happened. I'm just really-"
"You don't need to do this." Rei bristled, looking away from those blue eyes. "It didn't mean anything. We were just drunk." Rei knew she was lying as the words came out of her mouth, but she couldn't bare to be rejected a second time.
"Oh . . ." Rei's hand slipped out of Minako's and the senshi of love felt her heart break. "Well . . . that's beside the point." Minako swallowed back her pain and let her instincts of being a leader take over. "You've been avoiding everyone, including your princess. There haven't been many youma lately, but that's no reason to slack off. I may not be your favorite person right now, but we both need to put our personal feelings aside and keep training. We need to work together as a team or else we will be ill-prepared next time a youma attacks." Minako's frown deepened when she saw the lack of response from her crush. "We are going to go hiking in a couple of days and train on top of the mountain nearby. You better be there." With that said Minako quickly walked away, brushing away the stray tear that fell down her face as she descended down the steps of the Hikawa Shrine.
As Minako walked into her room defeated she was met with the sight of all of her friends sitting on her bed, excluding Rei. "What are you guys doing here?" The blonde raised an eyebrow, closing the door behind her.
"Where have you been?" Usagi was the first to jump up to interrogate their friend. "Did you and Rei-chan make up?"
"Make up?" Minako looked at her princess confused. 'Do they all know already?'
"We know what happened." Makoto spoke up, her eyes piercing her commanders, answering her silent question.
Minako sighed, slumping into a nearby chair. "How did you guys find out?"
"Rei told me."
"She did?" Minako looked up at the brunette, even more confused than before.
"Yeah, she's really upset Minako." Makoto sighed, standing up and stretching.
"And for good reason!" Usagi jumped in again, heading towards her blonde guard. "You can't just toy with Rei-chan like that! She's more sensitive than she lets on."
"Usagi-chan . . ." Ami started carefully, trying to calm their easily excitable princess.
"It's not as cut and dry as you all think." Minako defensively put up her hands. "It's not that I don't like Rei or that I don't care about her . . . I'm just confused."
"About what?" Usagi stopped in her tracks and abandoned her planned assault on Minako. "Rei-chan can be the meanest out of anyone at times, but she's a great, loyal, beautiful person. I mean, if it was me I wouldn't have turned her down like that."
"What!?" Everyone turned their attention towards their princess, their mouths hanging open at Usagi's confession.
Usagi turned bright red almost instantly when she felt all eyes on her. "I . . .uh . . . well . . ."
Minako knew it was wrong, but she couldn't stop the feeling of jealousy bubbling up in her stomach. "Well it wasn't you." The blonde snapped, immediately regretting it when everyone turned their attention back on her. "It was me . . ." Minako looked down, tears filling her eyes for the millionth time. "And you're right . . . I completely screwed up and I know it. I'm trying to make things right, but it's not that easy. I talked to Rei just now and she still doesn't want anything to do with me. I snapped and acted like a jerk again. I told her we're going on a hike in a couple of days and she had better be there."
"Not a hike!" Usagi whined, dropping her arms and pouting like a child.
"Maybe you guys can talk then." Ami chimed in, standing up next to Makoto.
"And maybe the hike will get the princess in better shape." The brunette grinned as Usagi turned on her.
"I'm in perfect shape!"
"Oh, well then a hike should be a breeze for you." Makoto smiled as the blonde turned pale at the mere thought of walking up a mountain.
A couple days later the group waited at the bottom of the mountain, eagerly awaiting the arrival of the pyro.
"I don't think she's coming. Maybe we should just do this another day." Usagi said hopefully, trying to weasel her way out of exercising once again.
"No, she'll be here soon. She knows this is important." Minako narrowed her eyes, looking out into the distance where she expected her crush's form to appear.
"You're late." Minako heard Makoto's cheerful tone behind her, turning around to see the girl she had been looking for.
"Sorry." Rei looked off to the side, avoiding eye contact with the blonde at all costs. "I got lost in the flames. I didn't realize what time it was."
"It's fine." Minako jumped in, stepping towards her subordinate. "Let's get going before the princess runs away." The Venusian grinned as Usagi stopped her retreat when she realized she was caught.
"But it's too tall!" Usagi whined.
"Come on Usagi." Rei grinned, teasingly rubbing the blonde's head and running off before she could retaliate. "The glory of kami is all around us princess!" The pyro walked backwards, opening her arms to empathize her point. "Trees! Frogs! Birdie birds!"
"What is wrong with people!?" Usagi cried dramatically.
"Look how fun this is!" Makoto laughed, helping Ami up a hill as the rest of the group followed Rei. Seeing as no one was going to stop the princess sighed slowly following the group.
"We did it." Usagi let out a sigh of relief, slumping to the ground as the others turned to her with a perplexed look on their faces.
"Usagi . . . we've only been walking for five minutes . . ." Ami frowned disapprovingly at their princess.
"No, no, no!" Rei stalked up to their princess. "Come on dumpling head, you can do this." The archer tried to drag the blonde to her feet to no avail.
"Yeah, but you know what Rei I don't want to do it and it's really liberating to say no to things you hate. So you go ahead. You live your truth and I'll be here living my truth." The blonde smiled.
Rei looked down at the princess, seemingly debating something in her head before she simply let Usagi go. "Ok." Rei smiled and shrugged, running off and grabbing a stick to pretend to sword fight Makoto.
"Or we could all just go back to the shrine!" Usagi yelled desperately after her friends.
"See you in a bit." Minako grinned, running to catch up with the others.
"But I don't have a stick!" Usagi whined. ". . .Ami?"
Ami was already too far gone, laughing and pretending to sword fight Minako as they made their way up the mountain.
One hour later Rei was no longer laughing as she trailed behind the others. "Come on Rei! Try to keep up!" Makoto laughed, walking backwards up the trail as they neared the top of the mountain.
"Shut up!" Rei gritted her teeth, her legs screaming at her more and more with every step she took.
"Tell me Usagi." Minako slowed down so Rei could catch up. "How did you convince Rei to give you a piggy back ride up the entire mountain?" The blonde laughed.
"It's easy! Rei-chan would do anything for me!" Usagi smiled happily, hugging Rei even tighter around her neck, causing the pyro to start choking a bit.
"Usagi . . can't . . . breathe. . . " Rei's face started getting very red as she fell to her knees, gasping for air.
Minako felt the familiar feeling of jealousy bubbling in her stomach again as the princess' words played over and over again in her head. 'I shouldn't feel like this . . . especially towards Usagi . . .' Minako frowned, shaking her head and walking away before she said or did anything she regretted. She turned around to make sure Rei was ok only to find the princess sprawled out on top of HER Reiko.
"Rei-chan! You got my outfit dirty!" Usagi whined, finally standing up on her own as Rei laid on the ground. The miko could only glare up at the blonde, still trying to catch her breath after being choked.
"Well then maybe you should learn to walk on your own two feet." Minako couldn't keep the bite out of her tone as she walked up to the two girls, offering her hand to help Rei up. Usagi simply responded by sticking her tongue out at her friend, running to catch up with Makoto and Ami at the top of the mountain.
"Thanks . . ." The fire senshi said quietly, gratefully grabbing the blonde's hand.
Minako swiftly pulled her subordinate up to her feet only to find their faces were mere centimeters away from each other. "It's . .. um . . ." Minako trailed off, getting lost in those eyes that reminded her of summer nights in the desert, where you could see every star sparkling in the sky. Her blue eyes slowly trailed down to those lips that were pressed against hers just a couple days before. She licked her lips as she remembered how the pyro tasted and how soft her lips really are. The senshi of love felt herself slowly leaning in towards Rei without a thought of what she was doing when Makoto's voice suddenly rang out behind them.
"Come on guys! We're almost there!"
Rei was the first to break out of the trance the blonde put her in, a bright red blush on her face. "We're coming!"
"Rei . . ." Minako started, but Rei ran off before the blonde could say anything. "You're welcome." The blonde sighed, walking up the rest of the mountain to catch up with her friends.
When Minako made it to the top of the mountain she couldn't help but smile a bit despite how she felt when she saw Rei and Makoto playfully sparring with wooden sticks. Deja vu hit her again as she walked up to the group.
-Flashback-
Venus walked onto the training grounds, surprised to already see Rei and Makoto training while Ami sat on a bench typing on her computer.
"Hey guys." Minako couldn't help but smile when Mars turned her full attention on her. "I see you started training early."
"I was just teaching this Martian how a real warrior fights." Makoto playfully pushed Rei.
"I believe I was the teacher and you were the student." Rei grinned, pushing Makoto back.
"Maybe you could instruct me next?" The blonde smiled, pulling out her sword. "And maybe Makoto could instruct Ami so she can get more practice in with a sword rather than a computer."
"It would be my pleasure." Rei stood at the ready, gripping her sword tightly as she waited for the blonde to make a move.
Minako didn't give a warning as she ran at the Martian, raising her sword and swinging to swipe off the other girl's head. Rei skillfully ducked, dropping to one knee, and jabbing her sword forward, aiming for the Venusian's midsection. Minako jumped to the side and swung down to once again decapitate her subordinate, but Rei rolled behind the blonde, dodging the blow. Minako was about to turn around, but felt the pointy end of the Martian's sword lightly touching her back. "You lowered your guard again."
"I'll be sure to pay more attention next time." Minako smiled, turning around, swinging her sword at the pyro's midsection, trying to catch her off-guard. Rei jumped backwards, the tip of Minako's sword barely missing her stomach. The blonde took this opportunity to swing at Rei's arm, but her blade was met with the steel of the Martian's deflecting her attack. Minako duck rolled to the right as Rei took the offensive and jumped forward, swinging downwards only to have her blade meet the sand. Rei tucked her shoulder and rolled to the side, barely avoiding having her head cut off as the blonde swung at her neck again. On her knees once more Rei swung her sword, aiming for the blonde's ankles. Minako jumped, watching the blade slice through the air underneath her and she saw her opportunity when Rei raised her sword once more, trying to get to her feet. Using the Martian's own move against her Venus kicked Mars in the chest, sending her flying onto her back. Rei went to stand up, but was met with the blonde's blade pointed at her throat.
"I see you learned a few new tricks." Rei smiled and Minako couldn't stop the butterflies that filled her stomach. It was the first real smile Rei had directed at her.
"I have a great teacher." Minako put her blade away, smiling as she offered her hand to her subordinate.
Rei laughed a little as she grabbed the blonde's hand and was pulled to her feet. The laughter died in her throat when she realized how close she was to her commander. She hated to admit it, but there was something very alluring about those blue eyes that resembled the ocean. An ocean so deep and vast that you might just get lost and drown in it if you weren't careful. Rei could feel the tide rising and she was starting to get dragged under by that beautiful stare and plump pink lips. The pyro absently licked her lips, wanting desperately to get a taste of that forbidden fruit, but the sound of clashing steel reminded her of where she was and she took a step back, her head rising above water.
"Shall we continue training?" The Martian smiled, trying not to show her interest.
"Sure." Venus grinned, pulling out her sword. "Teach me a lesson." The blonde winked and this time Rei couldn't stop the blush that formed on her cheeks. She had been caught.
AN: There it is! Feedback would be great. Your guys' awesome reviews is what keeps me going :)