Voices of the Heart - a Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon oneshot

AN: This story stuck in my head and I could not get rid of it, no matter what I did. Please enjoy my happy little Rei/Minako one-shot.

They pretend it never happened, but really they all know that it did. A simple parting of ways that forces them to move from forward to back once again and they have no idea what they're doing once more.

Perhaps it is better this way, for the memories of the past have only served to hurt everyone far more deeply than they'd ever thought possible.

And the memories of that night are better left untouched.

It's too painful.

Still, the planes come in and out of the airport every day like clockwork, and just this once, fate has decided to intervene.

Aino Minako catches sight of the tall, stunning woman standing near the baggage claim conveyor belt as soon as she disembarks from the plane. She's back in Tokyo for a few days now, in from a show in Kobe, and she was hoping that she could finally get in touch with the rest of her friends for a well-deserved and long-needed get-together. Still, she does not expect to see her of all people tapping her foot impatiently as she waits for the baggage from her flight to come in.

Minako hides a smile and makes her way towards the baggage claim, telling herself that she needs to go there anyway, to collect her own bags. This is so typical of their relationship, a nondescript and entirely random meeting that will only serve to amuse one and aggravate the other.

They're standing next to each other, carefully not looking at each other. A subtle tensing of the tall woman's shoulders tells Minako that Mars has sensed her presence. Perhaps it is not so much that they are not looking at each other, but rather that they are, with careful scrutiny born from years of practice. Mars will not make the first move; Minako has to do that, for Hino Rei is far too stubborn, too proud, to bend to the pressure of social graces.

"Where are you coming from, Mars Reiko-san?" Minako asks quietly, her voice low, intimate. It was her manager's grand scheme for her to travel like this, in business class and alone, for she was safer when she was on her own. When she was alone, she could blend with the aid of sunglasses and a few changes in the way that she arranged her hair. Now it was done up in a sloppy bun that drew attention away from her face and to her hair. No one would look twice at this girl with the frumpy hair and old sundress.

Rei exhales quietly, as if to calm her nerves. "I wish you would stop calling me that," She turns to face Minako then, an annoyed look – a grimace really – crossing her face. It doesn't suit her, Minako thinks, for she's far too beautiful for her face to look so angry. "It's not my name."

Minako smiles, for they're beginning their game as though it had never ended. She likes it when that happens, for it's easier to forget that they've fallen apart and out of touch over the years. "Reiko-san, you know that I will always call you by that name." Her baggage, a small black suitcase comes around the circle and she steps forward to pull it off the circular conveyor belt. She sets it down on the ground and adjusts the strap so that she can pull it behind her. "It suits you, Mars."

Rei shakes her head, her shaggy hair cut falling into her eyes as she tries to hide an annoyed smile. Her hair is longer now, falling down her back and playing around her neck as though it's caught in the wind. Minako rather likes it like that, and she has to resist the urge to lean forward and brush Rei's bangs out of her eyes. There was a time and place for that, and it was not now. "You always insist on your way, don't you, Venus?"

Minako's grin widens, "I wouldn't be me if I didn't."

Rei's hand shoots out and her fingers close around a small duffle bag's shoulder strap. She slings it over her shoulder and they fall into pace beside each other, without even thinking about it.

"So you're back?" Rei asks after a few minutes of silent, easy companionship, "For good this time?"

"I don't know." Minako says, shrugging. "It all depends on this new record and the accompanying tour." Her gaze and smile turn devilish as she turns to stare at Rei, "Did you miss me, Reiko-san?"

Rei huffs and looks away. "Don't ask such foolish things."

Minako looks at Rei and wonders where her Reiko is under all that awkward girl - beautiful woman - who doesn't remember the past life. It would do Rei well to remember the past, Minako thinks, for Rei is always confused by Minako's actions towards her. The memories from then would help to make the actions seem worthwhile and not completely random to Rei.

They continue on in silence, reliving the happy and the painful moments of their shared interaction. Rei's heels click on the airport's floor and Minako's sandals tap against the soles of her feet in time.

This is their own music.

They pass through another security check point and Minako finds herself thinking back to the events of the long-forgotten past. Not the past life, but just the past. The memories of the nights where she'd insisted on spending far more time with Rei that was perhaps socially acceptable were some of her most treasured, and Minako knew that she would never feel for someone the way that she felt for Rei on those nights.

Especially when their one moment of weakness had shoved them head first into almost three years of limited (at best) communication.

Minako's lips still burn with the memory of that night. She raises a hand to touch them, wondering why Rei's foolish, drunken wonderful kiss still manages to evoke such feelings within her.

"Where are you staying?" Rei asks suddenly as she glares at the security officer who's currently taking far too much time passing her carry-on though the x-ray scanner. He scowls back at her and sends it through, Rei collecting her cell phone and keys from the little plastic tray and her bag from the conveyer belt.

Minako thinks that she looks the part of the harassed, and yet stunning CEO; her suit is clinging to her in such a way that the strap of her duffle bag over one shoulder just seems to draw attention to the very feminine figure hiding under the black linen suit jacket. Minako taps her chin thoughtfully as they continue on their way, it was never really a question that they would be leaving together, and sharing a taxi, most like. Spending the night together, however, seems a little forward, even for Mars Reiko. "I'm sure my manager booked me a hotel," she responds at length, her tone and face as even as she can make them. She cannot let it slip that she wants to spend the night somewhere other than the pristine and sterile beds that she usually sleeps in.

She doesn't want the unfamiliarity and the cold shoulder right now.

"Cancel it."

"Mars?" Minako responds more out of habit that actual implication. Whenever Rei does something like this, the lines between herself and the girl that Minako remembers from the past life seem to blur to the point of where it's impossible to tell who is speaking to her. Minako cannot trust herself to say anything else, for any other name would fall out of her lips the way that a lover says a name. It's not a risk she wants to take, just yet.

Rei pauses, annoyance flickering across her face before the stony mask of no emotion at all falls back into place. "You don't need a hotel in town, you have friends here." She looked uncertain for a moment, before adding, as if for emphasis, "I'm here."

Minako doesn't say anything for a moment, and watches as Rei flips her hair over her shoulder and stares at her expectantly. It was as if her Reiko was back once more, expecting her to rise to the challenge.

Still she hesitates, for the first time in a long while feeling very uncertain. She could go along with Rei's plan and simply crash on Rei's couch. She's done it in the past, staying with Ami or Makoto; and no one seemed to mind that much, but this is Mars who's asking her. The added complications are almost too much for her. She can't stand the idea that she might be caught off guard, that she might have to hold herself back and prevent herself from making a fool of them both.

"I don't know, Rei," she says, not meeting Rei's expectant gaze, "Given our past record, this could be a very bad idea."

Rei glares at her, and reaches out to take Minako's hand in her own. They're almost out of the airport now, and no one thinks to look twice at the two women as they carry on their conversation. Minako is grateful that no one has noticed her so far, for her powers of disguise are not that great. She usually encountered a few more observant fans on these trips through the airport, but this journey had been thankfully silent.

Perhaps it is because Rei seems to ooze an aura of distant, unapproachable beauty. The aura that says that if you come near her, or her companions, that she will hurt you.

"You're coming with me," Rei grunts, her palm sweaty against Minako's. Minako wonders how nervous she is, for Rei never, ever, gets flustered about anything.

She sighs and shrugs, interlacing her fingers with Rei's. "Alright then, Rei, let's go." She's gong to have to call her manager later, but she's sure he'll understand. He usually does when it comes to her friendship with Hino Rei.

Rei's smile is entrancing, and Minako finds herself unable to look away. There is something dancing just behind her eyes that puts Minako on edge, something that she almost doesn't dare to hope for, the tell-tale glint of stormy emotions that Minako herself is plagued with. If Rei is feeling them too, then perhaps they can finally get to the end of these long, drawn out conversations, and finally talk about something important. There is something in that storm of emotions that makes Minako think that Rei wants to say something more and she waits expectantly for the words to finally work their way out of Rei's thick skull.

"I don't know Mina," Rei says with a drawl and a drawn out wicked smile, "it could be fun."

Minako starts, almost losing her grip on her suitcase, wondering when Rei started calling her by that very private nickname. It wasn't something that Rei had ever remembered – or done - in the past, and during the battles, Minako had been hard-pressed to get Rei to call her anything other than 'Venus'.

How far we've come… Minako thinks to herself, pushing back the private memories of the past that only she remembered. Artemis had told her that the chances of Rei and the others ever fully recovering their memories of the past life were slip, and Minako had long since given up hope of ever having someone to talk to about what had happened then. There was still so much left unresolved, and Minako hates being forced to pretend that everything was alright. "Like old times, ne?"

"Perhaps," Rei's smile is mysterious and her tone hints that she knows more than she's letting on. Minako wonders what she's thinking briefly as they fall back into step again. She's so out of touch with everyone now that she wouldn't be surprised if there was something more that Rei was trying to say.

They leave the airport and Rei hails a cab with the ease of one who has done it more times than she can count. Minako just stands passively by as Rei takes her baggage from her and shoves it into the cab's trunk. She throws her own bag on top of Minako's suitcase and helps Minako into the car almost without seeming to think about it. Minako is not used to this image of Rei; the quiet, gallant type doesn't really suit her.

Perhaps it did once, long ago, when Minako was in desperate need of saving. Rei had been her knight in shining, fiery armor then too, telling her to live for herself and not for Venus, just this once. To get the surgery that would kill her on the off chance that she might actually be saved.

Minako missed that Rei.

She didn't know this new Rei very well, just little fragments of interaction here and there at events and reunions. They never really talked other than that, it was just too painful for them both to remember everything that had happened to them. Yes, Minako told herself quietly, that is it.

Rei clambered in behind her and slammed the door shut before the cab's automatic door could close it. She ignores the driver's odd looks in their direction and barks out an address and the route to it.

"We're not going to the jinja?" Minako asks with a note of confusion creeping into her voice. She doesn't remember a time when Rei didn't live in that place, so far removed from the city around her. She'd been a young shrine maiden back then, when they'd first met, and Minako had always assumed that she would continue on that path.

What did Rei do for a living now, anyways? Minako thinks that Usagi, in one of her many letters, might have mentioned that Rei was working for the government like her father, but that didn't seem right. From what Minako had seen of that relationship, there was no way that Rei would follow in his footsteps without a fight.

Rei shakes her head, "I don't live there anymore. I moved out when I finished college." She has a strange look on her face, and Minako cannot read it.

"Oh." She says, looking foolishly at her hands. They're clenched in her lap around the loose straps of her purse. "I didn't know." She's been out of touch for too long and the fact of that matter is suddenly very apparent to her. How can she not know something like that about Rei, perhaps her closest friend?

They fall silent again, the city flying by outside the window as the cab driver's quiet sports broadcast chatters harmlessly in the background.

Minako chews her lip, wondering how to break the ice, to say that she's sorry for being insensitive. She doesn't know how to tell Rei that she's sorry for neglecting their friendship, but she has to say something. The silence is making her nervous.

"What are you thinking?" Rei asks quietly, her gaze intently focused on the window. Minako wonders if she's mad, or if Rei is just trying to break the ice and start conversation in the only way they seem to be able to. Direct, curt demands, followed by a concise answer; it's no way to talk to people. Minako knows that she'd trained Rei to do it since their first meeting, but she never thought that Rei would continue to adhere to the strange pseudo-friendship that they'd formed all those years ago.

Minako looks away from Rei before she answers; she doesn't that it would do her well to stare. "That I was just rather rude."

Rei turns to look at her, confusion crossing her face in one of those adorable faces that Minako always finds herself teasing Rei for making. Her face is so expressive, she can't hide her emotions nearly as well as she thinks she can, and Minako loves to point that flaw in Rei's otherwise impenetrable defense to her as often as she can. "Oh." She shrugs, "I hadn't noticed."

"You're too hard-headed, Mars Reiko-san." Minako grins. Her face turns serious as she meets Rei's gaze as evenly as she can. She thinks that she might be blushing, but her cheeks don't feel nearly hot enough for it to be noticeable under her tan and make-up. "I've been out of touch with you all for too long."

She is the leader of the Sailor Senshi, and she knows that one day they will be called to arms once more. Still, Minako maintains the fact that she wants to live her life to the absolute fullest that she can. She does not think that Rei, nor Usagi if she really thought about it, would ever forgive her for not making the absolute best of the second chance at life she'd been given.

Still, living has taken its toll on Minako's personal life. Her letters to and from Usagi are few and far between, and she can count on one hand the number of times that she's actually been able to spend time with her friends in longer periods than just a quick get-together for dinner someplace fancy. Usagi's wedding, Makoto's wedding, Ami's medical school graduation, that time they all went to the beach, Christmas last year…

The list seems to fall flat, judging by the fact that all of those events have happened over the course of the almost ten years that have passed since the final battle. They're all adults now, and Minako wonders if perhaps they simply do not have time for the friendships formed in childhood any longer.

Rei doesn't say anything in response to Minako's statement about being out of touch, and Minako wonders if it's Rei's way of punishing her for not being more active in preserving their friendship. She doesn't have long to ponder this most recent thought, however, for the taxi pulls up in front of a non-descript apartment complex. Rei pays the driver and holds the door open for Minako before going and collecting their luggage from the trunk. As the cab speeds away, Minako finds herself looking around.

This is not the sort of place that she would expect to find Hino Rei. It is tall – easily twenty or thirty stories - and industrial, with very little traditional décor that she'd always assumed that Rei was partial to. A few potted shrubs were placed at the entrance to the building, and a rather harassed-looking doorman was waiting for them to come to the door.

"Come on," Rei says, pulling her duffle bag over her shoulder. She doesn't take Minako's hand again, and Minako finds herself wishing that she would. It would be nice, she thinks, to hold hands like they had in the airport. Instead, the former fire senshi grabs Minako's suitcase and adjusts the handle so that she can pull it behind her with ease.

Minako finds her mouth opening, trying to say something, anything, to prevent Rei from acting like her personal servant. The words will not come, and she stands there for a minute with her mouth open, trying to find the right words. Rei does wait for her to pull herself together, however, and strides towards the door.

The doorman smiles at Rei and Minako finds herself hurrying to catch up with her friend.

"How was China?" the man asks.

"Fine," Rei says curtly, walking through the door, Minako close on her heels.

"China, Rei?" Minako asks as they stop in front of the metal doors of the elevator. She's finally found her voice again and she's glad for that, for being speechless has never suited her needs. "What were you doing there?" She's curious as to what Rei could have been up to in a place like China, but she can't come out and say that, for her curiosity makes Rei clam up in that adorable way that Minako finds so endearingly frustrating.

The elevator dings and Rei steps inside, turning to face Minako with a scowl. "Working," she says.

Minako thinks that that was obvious, but Rei doesn't want to elaborate, and so she steps into the elevator as well. The doors close and suddenly they are very much alone.

They're standing side by side, their shoulders just barely touching. This is the level of closeness that Minako is most used to when it comes to Rei, for they're always together, just a step away from being intimate. In this proximity, Minako can see a gentle flush across Rei's cheeks and she wonders what is bothering her friend. Rei's breath is coming in shallow gasps, barely enough to fill her lungs, as though she's trying desperately to calm herself down.

"Rei?" Minako asks, bringing a hesitant hand up to touch the other woman's shoulder. It is with that touch, the simply hand on a shoulder, that they've crossed the line from close companionship to intimacy. Minako likes it, for being this close to Rei is soothing to her tired mind, and Rei never really seems to mind when they cross the line in private.

Still, this is closer than Minako has been to, well, anyone, in a long time. She can't think straight and the quiet thump of Rei's duffle bag falling to the floor is completely lost on her as she stands there, lost in this feeling of being close to someone once more.

Almost as suddenly as Minako spaced out, she finds herself brought back to reality with a jolt that she was not expecting. Rei has her pressed up against the cool steel of the elevator wall, her lips burning a fiery trail along Minako's neck. Minako shivers under the attention, as sudden and unexpected as it is. She hadn't thought Hino Rei capable of doing something so delightfully impulsive, and she's happy that Rei finally is acting on the unspoken sexual tension between the two of them.

"Rei…ko," Minako gasps. She can't think straight. She's wanted this for so long and now it is finally happening and she can't even work her hands enough to pull Rei's mouth away from her neck so that they can kiss properly. She feels Rei's hands dance lower on her back and she grinds out; "What?"

Rei's eyes are hazy as she meets Minako's gaze, and her voice is distant. She leans forward, closer than Minako has ever been with another human in this life, and whispers into Minako's ear. "You are always talking about the past life, Mina, but you haven't asked if our memories of the past live had returned since Usagi came back."

Minako has no words, her mind has flown into overdrive and she can't slow it down. The words, she thinks, are lost somewhere between Rei's hot breath in her ear and the hands that are now toying with the hem of her sundress. She tries to find a way to force the words to come out, but they stubbornly refuse to come. Venus Minako, it seems, is finally at a loss for words.

Aino Minako, however, will not back down from a challenge like this. She rests her hands on Rei's shoulders and pushes her away gently. Rei is not herself, Minako knows this, and she knows that Rei will hate herself when she realizes what she's done. Minako has to stop this before something happens that they both will regret.

Her tone is even when she speaks, and Minako can feel the desire cooling under Rei's smoldering gaze. "I thought that you'd say something, Rei. You were always running to me with your questions about the past life, I assumed that you'd tell me when your memories returned.

The elevator tings. They've arrived on Rei's floor.

Rei backs away from Minako and picks up her duffle bag from the floor and grabs Minako's suitcase. She looks as though she wants to say something, but the haze is gone from her eyes and Minako can see that Rei is suddenly back to being herself.

Together they head down the hallway and Rei fumbles for her keys. "I'm sorry," she says quietly as she slides the key into the lock. "I… don't know what came over me."

Minako can see that she's mortified by her actions, and the singer has no idea how to console Rei. She's never done something like this; she has no experience to draw on. She doesn't know to say that she liked the attention and would love it if Rei continued it at some point in the near future. She stays silent because she has no words, no idea what she can say to Rei to make the situation better.

Rei pushes the door open, and allows Minako to go in before she closes the door and slides the chain into place. Minako wonders if this is done on purpose, of it Rei just does it out of habit.

They're walking on eggshells now and Minako can not think of a good way to break the silence between them. She takes off her hat and sunglasses and follows Rei's example in removing her shoes. Suddenly, they're the same height again. Rei is out of her fuck-me pumps and has lost the three-inch edge that she had over Minako's flat bottomed sandals. Minako rather likes the heels, but she steadfastly refuses to say anything to Rei about how much they accent her leg line and how beautiful she looks in her business attire.

She sits down next to Rei on the sofa and rather pointedly, again, does not look at her. Not looking, Minako realizes, is her way of looking quite intently at Rei. It is when she does not look that she can finally see what's really going on in Rei's head. She likes it better that way, for the not looking helps her to focus her thoughts without becoming distracted, as she always inevitably does, by the stunning beauty of Hino Rei.

Minako remembers meeting the girl for the first time, in a church of all places, and how Rei's beauty had struck her then as absolutely stunning. Learning that she was Mars, and that she'd loved Mars Reiko in a past life had almost taken a second seat to that meeting the church, when Minako realized just how attracted she was to this girl.

"Rei," Minako starts, her gaze intently fixed on the corner of the room. She's looking at a low chest of drawers with a few trinkets and photographs that Minako recognizes from her few past forays into Rei's bedroom at the Jinja all those years ago.

"Don't-" Rei mutters. Out of the corner of her eye, Minako can see that Rei's head is turned in the direction opposite her own gaze.

Minako sighs and turns to face Rei, pulling up her legs and sitting cross-legged on the couch. She adjusts her skirt for a moment, and the reaches out to pull on Rei's shoulder.

Rei stiffens under her touch and Minako can barely keep the hurt from her voice as she forces herself to chose her words as carefully as she can. She doesn't want to scare Rei off, but she wants Rei to tell her what the heck just happened. She goes for direct, for Rei always has responded well to curt, military-like address. Minako guesses that it's a carry-over from either her father in this life or the past one; she can't decide. "I'm serious, Rei. What was that?"

"I… don't know. Her – Mars Reiko's – memories are so powerful that I sometimes lose control." Rei won't look at Minako. "I'm sorry…"

Minako touches Rei's cheek, "I know, Rei, believe me, I know." She does know, for when she first realized who Hino Rei was, she could hardly control herself in her want for Rei to remember the past as well. She tried everything she could think of, but nothing would make Mars' memories return.

She remembers feeling powerless to fight against destiny, and her decision to simply give up once and for all. She'd been ready to die for their cause, but the memories of Mars Reiko only seemed to make the situation feel so much worse. Suddenly she couldn't even interact with her chosen comrade without being plagued with memories of that girl that she should not have had.

The memories were a curse, a burden that Minako would not have wished on anyone. She begged Rei and the others to remember, but she could feel that her heart was not really in her words. She knew that she would not wish horrors of the past life on anyone, for the memories, it seemed where hers alone to bear.

Still, the idea that Rei has remembered the past life is an intriguing concept. Finally, Minako will have someone to talk to about what happened back then. There are so many things that she has stored in the back of her mind that she does not really understand. There are some incidents where the past life that make about as much sense as some of the more idiotic things that Usagi says when she gets excited about something.

The silence is growing unbearable, but Minako will not pull her hand away from Rei's cheek. She can't, for there is a force holding it there that Minako had quite forgotten about in the long months that have passed since she last saw Rei. There is an almost electric sort of magnetism between the two of them, and Minako will not deny her instincts when it comes to chancing physical contact with the one she loves.

They're staring into each other's eyes, and Minako can see the uncertainty and worry in Rei's gaze. There are no words that Minako can say to Rei to make the uneasiness go away – for Minako knows that the same uncertainty is clearly written across her own face. Minako has gotten good had hiding her emotions over the years, but she knows that she's somewhat of an open book when it comes to Rei. Especially now, when emotions are running high and Rei has already surprised her once today.

Rei sighs, "How do you combat that?" She leans into Minako's hand, a slight blush on her cheeks.

Minako pulls her hand away slowly. She's not sure who she's talking to again, and she doesn't want to risk doing anything to potentially alienate Rei further.

"You get used to it. That's all I can really tell you. The memories fade in intensity until they sort of just meld together with your own memories from this life." Minako chews on her lip and tries to think of something more that she can say. Nothing comes to mind, and she knows that this is probably because her own memories still flare up at random times. She doesn't know what comes after acceptance.

Silence. The minutes tick away and Minako finds herself squirming again. She wonders why Rei won't say anything, but she knows that the silence is just another part of their relationship. They don't have anything to say to each other, so they don't talk. It's the rule of their friendship that they've both been adhering to since the past life, thousands of years ago.

"I'm going to go change." Rei announces, standing up suddenly and leaving Minako alone on the couch.

Minako smiles brightly at Rei, and she doubts that the other woman knows the window for teasing that she's just created. The contented smirk that crosses Minako's face like it is second nature, and Minako leans back on the couch, stretching her legs out in front of her and wiggling her toes. "Must you?" she asks.

The confusion in Rei's eyes is completely worth the lecture she's about it get, and Minako feels her smirk slowly turning into a full on smile. "Eh?"

She is a shark, Minako realizes, slowly circling her prey. Toying with it, almost, if one were to carry the metaphor that far. "I like you in that, Rei-chan." She draws out the honorific, as they usually don't bother with them except for when Minako is teasing with false flattery and politeness that has never existed in their relationship. She taps her chin appraisingly and looks Rei up and down, making sure her eyes linger in all the right places to make Rei blush. "It's quite sexy."

Rei flushes bright red. She splutters out nonsense for a few seconds while Minako laughs quietly. "Idiot! What are you saying?"

Minako shrugs. "Nothing really." She's winding Rei in circles, and she's starting to realize that she loves doing this far more than anything else in the world. This was better than being an international pop star, better than being a sailor senshi, better than anything that Minako remembers from the past life. It was just a pure act of love, and she was pretty sure that Rei knew it to be the same thing. They play this game with each other because it is the only way, really, that their personalities can mesh without them wanting to kill each other.

She rests her chin thoughtfully on her hand, tapping her fingers against her cheek and grins widely at Rei. She is moving in for the kill now, and the panicked expression in Rei's eyes told her that the former fire senshi is very much aware of the fact. "Just that I like looking at you, Reiko-chan. Business attire can be quite sexy." She raises her eyebrows suggestively.

Rei's eyes are like fire, burning a path into Minako's own, piercing holes in Minako's steady resolve as she struggles to react to Minako's statement. Minako can see her searching for words, tossing possibilities around in her head as she struggles for the perfect way of telling Minako exactly what she thinks of her.

"Don't call me that," Rei snaps. It's almost like a knee-jerk reaction, a carry-over from the old days when they were still unsure of what exactly it was that they felt for each other. Rei's hands clench and unclench, and she steadies herself to start to unbutton her suit's jacket. She shrugs off the garment and tosses it over the arm of the sofa. "I'm not her."

Rei looks so vulnerable, standing in stocking feet and an angry expression in the middle of her own living room. Minako wants to reach out, to touch her and tell her that everything is going to be alright, for that's all that she can do, really. She cannot fix Rei's almost irrational fear of the past life, and she will not allow it to rule their relationship in the present day.

She is not the girl that she once was, so obsessed with the past because she had no future. She is Aino Minako, and she could be there for a friend who is having trouble accepting the fact that her memories are no longer wholly her own.

Minako stands up and walks to stand by Rei. They're facing opposite directions, as they've done so often in the past, for facing the same way would hurt them so much more than this. They're diametrically opposed; they need to be apart in order to be together. She can't bring herself to touch Rei, she's almost afraid of what might happen if she does. "It's a nickname, Rei," she says simply. Minako turns to look at Rei and smiles as she can see realization dawning in Rei's eyes. "A nickname that I've given you in two lifetimes now, you should just accept that it's a part of you."

Rei crosses her arms over her blouse and frowns. "I don't like it."

Minako laughs. "I don't think you like anything."

Rei stares at her, open-mouthed. "I like…" she trails off and Minako gives her an expectant look, as if daring her to finish her sentence. "Some things." She's giving Minako an appraising look, as if she's trying to show just how attracted to each other they both are.

Minako reaches out and touches Rei's shoulder then. "You like stalking me," there's a smile in her voice now, and Minako hasn't felt this happy in a long time.

"I do not," Rei retorts, leaning into Minako's touch on her shoulder. "I just like knowing where you are."

Minako thinks that she can accept that reality. Their heads are almost touching now as Rei leans into her even farther. "What are you doing, Rei?" Minako asks, knowing that they're dangerously close to that forbidden territory once more.

Rei doesn't say anything for along moment. Their faces inches apart. Minako can feel Rei's breath on her face and she wants desperately to lean in and kiss those beautiful lips. She checks the reflex and waits for Rei to make the first move. She knows that in order for this to work, Rei has to make the move.

"I … want to kiss you, Mina," Rei breaths, her eyes shut tightly and her face screwed up as though she's expecting Minako to do something awful like slap her.

Minako sighs quietly and smiles as brightly as she can. Rei's still got her eyes shut, but Minako knows that Rei can feel her smile. Rei's always been good with that sort of thing, seeing people and being able to read their auras. Minako's talents – perhaps leftovers from the past life – lay in reading the emotions of others. "Then do it."

Rei's eyes snapped open and Minako can see none of the haze that had clouded them earlier in the elevator. "Are you sure?" she asked, her tone hesitant and her body already starting to move backwards and away from the closeness that they'd been enjoying.

Minako reaches down with her free hand and grab's Rei's own, leading her back to the couch. She's not going to let Rei kiss her again in a location where Rei can bolt if it doesn't go off exactly as planned. They sit down side by side once more, this time much closer to each other. "You talk too much, aren't Martians supposed to be the stoic, silent type?" Minako says, falling back into the teasing pattern once more.

"Says the brooding Venusian," Rei shoots back without leaving time for their usual insult, beat, insult style of interaction.

Minako leans in and wraps her arms around Rei's neck. Their noses almost touch and she knows that this time that the make up and tan will do nothing to hide her blush. It mirrors Rei's own, bright red and beautiful. "Shut up and kiss me," she says, kissing Rei's nose with an impish grin.

The position is awkward for kissing, but it's a lot like their relationship – all strange angles and odd looks. Minako allows Rei to take the lead once more, the former fire senshi slipping her arms around Minako's waist and pulling her in even closer as she finally allows their lips to meet.

The kiss is chaste, but everything that Minako remembers from that night all those years ago, the promise of things to come, and a good deal of something that Minako knows has a name. She will not call it that, however, for there is something oddly off about using that term to describe what she and Rei have.

Rei leans in once more and Minako allows herself to get lost in this newest form of competition between the two of them. What starts as a gentle probe of Rei's tongue against her bottom lip soon escalates into a kiss quite unlike anything that Minako has ever experienced in this lifetime.

She decides that she quite likes it.

Perhaps this time, they will finally achieve happiness.