(Rei)
The next morning came, but Rei found out that didn’t get as much sleep as she would have liked. The Martian sat slumped over on the edge of the bed with Ami’s gun held firmly in her grasp. She stared at in it deep concentration.
That dream I had last night... There’s no mistaking it. That ‘thing’ that I saw, was me. She recalled that there had been blood smeared all over her face, and it was no means by accident. There was a body slumped in her arms. Could it be... a premonition?
She heard Setsuna’s words on Pluto coming back loud and clear.
“The medication that you use now is only a temporarily relief. It will not be enough to spare you from your fate.”
Is it really not enough? She could see Usagi smiling back at her in total ignorance.
“A-Anyway, if you don’t mind me asking, I’m just curious, but why do you need it? What does it do exactly? Are you...sick or something?”
Sick...? She didn’t know if she could classify it as that, but she was feeling somewhat ill.
There was a hiss noise, and Rei lowered the gun from her neck. The injection stung a bit, but she was starting to get used to it now.
“...You would not search for the only cure? You told Uranus that there was no cure. That was a lie. You...do know of one.”
A pained look crossed Rei’s face, and she gripped the gun harder.
“This...has to be enough.” With that, she pocketed the item and then left the room.
It just has to be.
(Main Hall)
Rei was the last one to arrive at the main hall. Everyone else was already dressed and waiting for her.
“Hey. Good morning Rei!” Haruka cheerfully greeted.
“Morning,” The Martian mumbled back.
“Aww...What’s with that attitude? C’mon! We’re finally going to begin training. It’ll just be like the old times! Aren’t you even the least bit excited?”
“Sure.” Rei was surprised when Haruka slapped her hard in the back.
Whup!
“Oof! What do you think you’re doing?!”
“Cheering you up of course, grumpy.” Haruka grinned back. “It wouldn’t kill you to smile once in awhile, would it? Here, I’ll show you. It’s like this!”
The two began to struggle against one another when Haruka tried to forcefully pull the corners of Rei’s mouth upwards. Everyone else couldn’t do anything but watch the amusing spectacle; after all, they were all still tired from yesterday’s memory overload. That and it was still too early in the morning.
“Ahem.” Luna walked in and broke up the fight. “As good as it is to see that you are full of energy this morning, I would like to begin our lesson now. If you would all please follow me, I will show you to your classroom.”
“Oh...Finally! Isn’t that great news--” Haruka was so excited that she let her guard down, and got kicked in the shin by Rei just as the other turned to leave. “Ouch!”
“That was for letting your guard down.” The Martian quipped as she left Haruka grabbing at her leg and went to follow the others.
“...Owww... Surprise attack...Not...fair...”
(Classroom)
Soon enough, everyone found themselves looking into a very small room. The floor space was taken up by wooden desks, and the shelves at the sides were filled with dusty books. What kind of training were they supposed to be doing?
“Whaaaaa--? You mean we’re going to train in here?” Haruka asked in disappointment. “Don’t you think it’s kinda small? It actually looks more like a library than a--”
Luna tapped her with her clipboard, and said in an exasperated voice, “Will you just take a seat?”
Everyone went to get settled in as their teacher went to organize her notes. For some reason, her clipboard seemed to be rather full this morning.
Rei sat in the front row, and was already starting to get bored. She looked to her right and saw both Haruka and Michiru sitting together in the right-most corner. Directly behind them, Ami and Makoto were speaking animatedly to one another. In the two desks to her left, there were the twins. Usagi was the nearest to her and was throwing her the occasional glances, only to look away again in embarrassment when she was caught staring. Beside her, Hotaru appeared to be brooding over something silently. And finally, in the seat directly behind Hotaru was Minako. The Venusian also appeared to be caught up in her own thoughts; that entire side of the room almost had a dark, depressing aura radiating from it.
Minako... She didn’t realize she was staring until the blonde turned her head in her direction. Their eyes met for the briefest second before Rei hurriedly looked away.
Seeing this, Minako also turned away but almost angrily.
“All right, now that everything is in order,” Luna began. “We will begin today’s lesson.”
Finally... Haruka grumbled to herself.
“From this day forth, everyone who is here today is a member of your team. I say this, because that is precisely what you’ll need to be if you ever hope to achieve your goal. Your enemy is no ordinary foe. As Setsuna had mentioned to you yesterday, Apollo is no longer a God, but something far more monstrous. If you are not properly prepared, then you may all perish in this war.” She looked around the room and was satisfied that she had their attention. “Your training will be split up into three stages. The first will begin with mental preparation. The second, skill development and the third...well, I’m afraid that you will have to wait and see. Are there any questions so far?”
The comment earned a nervous look from the rulers. Why couldn’t she tell them what their third task was?
“I have a question.” Haruka interrupted.
“Please put your hand up.”
Haruka was taken aback, and at first she wasn’t going to do it. But finally, she caved in. “Oh fine!”
“Yes, what is it, Sir Uranus?”
“So if I’m hearing right, we’re going to be doing a...mental preparation thing, first, right?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“...Can’t we just skip it?”
“No.”
The quick response hurt like a brick to the head to Haruka. It shut her up instantly.
“Are there any other questions?” Luna asked again. “No? All right. Now then, since you will be working as a team, I think it would be worthwhile to take some time to get to know each other. It may sound trivial to you, but I cannot stress this enough. Without any sense of each other, it will be impossible for you to coordinate with one another on the battlefield. To help you accomplish this, I have planned an activity for you. To start off, each of you will partner off with another person in this room. By the end of today, I would like you to report back here and tell the class one thing that you learned about your partner.”
Luna sighed when Haruka raised her hand. “Yes...?”
“I don’t mean to break your bubble, but most of us have known each other since we were kids. So can’t we just skip this and go onto something else?”
In the back of Luna’s mind, she thought about how this could affect Usagi and Hotaru.
“So...are you saying that you know every little secret about everyone in this class?” She asked. The word ‘secret’ seemed to make her students shift a little uncomfortably, especially Rei. “However, if that’s how you feel then I suppose we can move on.”
“Really?!” Haruka was surprised by how easily that went.
“Yes. We will just have to move onto the next phase of my itinerary,” Luna picked up her clipboard and brought it thoughtfully up to her face. She shot her class a dangerous smile. “I hope you’re ready.”
(Classroom, a few days later)
Oh no! I-It can’t be! Not this! Anything but this!
Uranus Haruka… The proud ruler of Uranus and of the wind.
The shorthaired blonde stared at her target wide-eyed, her face was pale and perspiration poured down the sides of her face. She suddenly felt alone, left too vulnerable and helpless to defend herself against this unspeakable challenge. The heart racing within her chest increased in its tempo, driving on faster and faster with each strenuous, passing second; her opponent had proven to be too cunning. How did she ever become so badly out maneuvered?!
Why? Why? Why?! WHY?! This isn’t fair! Am I going to fail?! I can’t believe this!
Her time was running out…
Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick…
“Luna!” Haruka bellowed.
Bleep.
A stop-clock signalled the end of the test. Everyone stopped writing and looked up from their test papers.
“Time’s up!” Luna announced.
“No fair! You can’t be serious!” Haruka stood up and protested in the woman’s face. “What kind of stupid, ridiculous, poor excuse for a test is this?! Our enemy isn’t going to torture us with trivia questions you know! Why can’t we do some fighting already?! It’s been three days since we’ve been here and all we’ve done is written tests, tests, and more tests!”
“And I see your paper is once again nearly blank, Uranus.” Luna peered over at the wind ruler’s test paper with boredom. “You fail.”
Stamp
Once again another paper met a grisly fate and had been stamped with the deadly red ‘F’.
“W-W-What? NOOOOOOOO! Not again!” She threw her hands to her head and proceeded to silently rant.
I suck at these tests! Why do they have to be so hard? Haruka lamented. Unknown to her, many of her companions were having similar thoughts.
She failed again. They all sighed, all quite used to the dramatics now. Those who had not known their classmate from their childhood days were quite surprised when they had first saw this spectacle; how could someone with that much power and confidence be reduced to this?
“Although the enemy may not ‘torture you with trivia questions’, you cannot charge into a battle without common sense!” Luna lectured. “These are merely questions that determine how carefully one considers a situation and its possible outcomes, hopefully, resulting in the safest solution being chosen. An answer of ‘I’ll chop off all of their heads’ is NOT a battle strategy. If you had studied the sheets I had given all of you, you should not have any difficulty in passing!”
“I hate you.” Uranus sulked.
The other woman ignored the comment and requested the others to hand in their papers. After a moment of reading through the rest of her charges’ answers, Luna marked their scores onto her clipboard. During the quick scratching movements of the pen, the other girls watched on in both awe and nervousness at their teacher’s unnaturally fast calculations; it was obvious that she possessed a very sharp mind.
In no time at all, Luna had finished tallying the grades and converting them into the appropriate scores.
“This,” She began and startled her students in the process, “is the current standings. As of yet, both Mercury and Neptune are tied in first place having acing all of their tests.”
“Teacher’s pets.” Uranus grumbled. She immediately clamped her mouth shut upon seeing the ‘too friendly’ smile on Michiru’s face (the sparkles really did it for Haruka).
“Did you say something dear?”
“Uh—N-No! Nothing at all! Congratulations on your…umm… performance Michiru!”
“Why thank you.” The aquamarine-haired woman gracefully accepted the ‘apology’.
Rei rolled her eyes. You are sooooooo whipped Haruka.
“Ahem.” Luna requested their attention on more. “As I was saying… Following right after is Mars in second, followed by Lady Hotaru, Venus, and Jupiter, leaving Uranus and… Lady Usagi tied for last place. Only Uranus and Lady Usagi have yet to pass.”
Usagi instantly caught the disappointment in her guardian’s voice and resisted sinking into her seat in guilt for her poor standing.
“I’m sorry Luna... I will try harder on the next one.” The Moon heir promised.
“What?! You mean there’s going to be more?!” Haruka interrupted.
“Yes, there will be.” Their teacher replied coolly. “We will have as many as it takes until you ALL pass. No matter how prepared our battle plans may be, all it takes is one screw up to potentially put everyone’s lives in danger!”
Haruka’s expression stoned, promptly earning her Luna’s ‘don’t give me that look’ glare.
“And do not even think of asking Setsuna to be excluded from this! None of us are to disturb her until she has recovered.”
“You mean, she is still resting?” Neptune inquired worriedly. “But it has already been three days as Haruka has said. Will she be all right?”
Luna gave an exasperated sigh. “Yes, I believe so. She merely has expended too much energy much too quickly. I doubt that woman has been in any combat since the war.”
“Poor Setsuna... I hope she recovers quickly!” Usagi voiced. “Right Hotaru?”
“Mm.”
“She probably will. She’s as tough as nails.” Uranus said bluntly.
There was an awkward silence. The shorthaired blonde was suddenly under the spotlight when the rest of her comrades stared at her with disbelieving expressions.
“What?! I’m not allowed to pay a compliment?” Still silence. “Whatever,” She crossed her arms and growled. “Just give me another test and let’s get this over with.”
“I don’t think so.” Their instructor brutally shot down the suggestion. “I will give you another test if you so desire one that badly Uranus, however I suggest that you have one of the other girls help you study this time. Obviously you are too childish to be able work on your own.”
Uranus groaned at the thought of having one of her friends tutoring her. She already knew who it was going to be and it wasn’t going to be pretty.
Oh no...She’s thinking. From across where she sat she could already see the gears spinning in Michiru’s head. The thoughtful expression that the woman had on spelled trouble for Haruka-- she didn’t need her powers to tell her that obvious fact; experience said it all.
Michiru can be terribly brutal sometimes! Haruka whole-heartedly cursed this blessing.
“I would suggest that you do the same Lady Usagi. Have one of the girls help you prepare.”
“You mean you can’t teach me?”
“It would be put you at an unfair advantage, and I would like you do learn to do this one your own.” Luna put it simply.
“Oh. I-I see…” The blonde woman agreed, having realized the truth in those words. She was mildly disappointed that she wasn’t going to be taught personally by the vice advisor, but what choice did she have?
Well... I guess it’s not all that bad. Since everyone’s been studying so hard, I haven’t really had a chance to speak with any of them. And if Luna teaches me, then they might think I’m being spoiled rotten. That’s no good, cause... I would really like to be friends with these people.
Still... the thought of interacting with people, especially those who appeared her age and who were nearly complete strangers to her, frightened the Goddess a little. It’s been centuries since she’s done anything of the sort, hasn’t it?
But first things first! I need to pass the test! I don’t want to be the only one holding everyone back. Now... who can I ask? I suppose I can ask Hotaru, but lately it feels like she’s been trying to avoid me… Oh, if I could this myself, I would!
Or maybe...
Automatically, her blue eyes turned to her classmate sitting to her immediate right. For a moment Usagi’s breath caught in her throat; the way the light fell in through the windows and highlighted the Martian’s hair, how the wind played with the strands, and how her expression was so serious—it utterly mesmerized Usagi.
It’s just last like night. She looks...so cool. She never realized she was blushing.
Rei paused, finding her thoughts rudely interrupted when she sensed that she was being stared at. She turned her amethyst eyes towards the Moon heir and glared suspiciously back.
“You’re staring Odango.”
“!” Usagi’s blush deepened. She couldn’t believe she had been caught staring...again.
“So? What do you want? If you have something to say then you should just say it because I don’t have all day. Don’t you have a test to study for?”
Usagi caught the implication. “Uh… Umm… About that… W-Will you help me study? I-I mean, none of us will move on if Uranus and I don’t pass the tests right? And since you did super well, I thought you could help me. I’m sure to pass if you helped! I know it!”
Rei subtly glanced over her shoulder at the Venusian, and noted that she was entirely absorbed with scribbling on a piece of paper.
“...Sure.”
“What? You mean it?!”
“Yes, but only on one condition. If I’m going to tutor you then we’re going to study in the library. Is that all right with you?”
“No problem!” Usagi was practically melting in her seat with happiness.
Minako’s eyes flickered back towards the two women once she sensed Rei looked away. That was close, too close for comfort. But it made no difference in the end; the Venusian didn’t like where this was going.
That ‘Usagi’, was it, is sure pretty smiley. Does she really have to hang all over Rei like that? The thought of finding the two of them together last night and seeing Rei pull her into the room was starting to really tick her off. Are they really going to the library to study? What’s with this condition thing? You know, I bet she’s probably doing badly on those tests on purpose! Why didn’t I think of that?!
The image of the two kissing in the library suddenly popped up in her imagination.
Hotaru in particular, who sat beside Minako, noticed the blonde’s strange behaviour. Minako was grinding her pencil lead so hard into her paper that she was threatening to break it.
“Umm...Minako? Is everything all right?” Hotaru hesitantly whispered. She jumped when the woman’s abruptly yelled out,
“No! Nothing’s wrong!” Minako hit the desk in frustration. Her little outburst drew the curious gazes of all her companions, both embarrassing and infuriating the Venusian even more. Especially the way Rei was looking at her; the Martian’s blank expression was driving her insane. Didn’t she get it yet?!
“Come on Hotaru, let’s go study.” Minako impulsively grabbed the pale woman’s arm and proceeded to drag her out of the room.
“W-What?”
“You’d help me right? I almost screwed up on the last question last time.”
“Well, I suppose I could help if you really needed it---”
“Great!”
Slam!
The door slammed behind the two Goddesses as they exited, leaving the rest to wonder what that unusual performance was about. Rei, on the other hand, was left feeling guilty. Minako was looking at her just before she left and she was definitely angrier than usual.
“Rei...? Are you feeling all right?” Usagi worriedly asked. Was her condition acting up again?
“It’s nothing. Don’t worry about it.” Rei sighed.
Haruka and Michiru rose from their seats and also made their way to follow after the two women.
“Well, I suppose we shall also take our leave.” Michiru addressed their remaining friends. “There is much studying to be done and so little time to do it. Wouldn’t you agree, Haruka?”
Uranus refused to meet her friends’ eyes and instead muttered something under her breath. It was a wonder that Michiru didn’t drag the taller woman out by her ears when they finally left--- the vibes radiating off of the aqua-haired woman, despite her calm demeanour, contained more than mild annoyance.
(Outer corridor, Michiru)
Once they were out of hearing range, Michiru halted in her steps and brought Haruka to do the same.
“Well?” She questioned.
“Well what?”
“Haruka... I know that you are not as ‘dumb’ as Luna is making you out to be. It eludes me as to why you haven’t passed yet. If anything, you should be near the top. You excel at war strategies!”
“Well… yeah.” She muttered.
“Then what is the problem? And don’t even think of telling me that you haven’t studied hard enough. I happen to know that you know everything in Luna’s sheets like the back of your hand.”
“I-It’s not that Michiru. I do know the material! But…”
“But…?” She raised an eyebrow. “Then what was that answer, ‘I’ll chop off all of their heads’? Or are you suddenly regretting this decision to fight?”
Haruka turned away. “I was angry.”
This confession prompted her partner to arch an eyebrow.
“On my test, that was the only question that was remotely related to war tactics. All of the other questions were based on random subjects. Like computer engineering using Mercury’s standards, or trying to identify different plant species from Jupiter. By the time I got to the last question, I just didn’t care anymore.” She remembered back to how she felt when she stressed over the paper. “I really do want to fight. I really want to beat Apollo once and for all! But it’s like… that woman doesn’t want me to pass!”
Michiru was silent for a moment. “I knew there was the possibility of receiving different tests papers… but if what you’re saying is true then there must be a reason for it.”
“Yeah, she hates me.”
“No, that may not be it.” Michiru considered carefully. “If you haven’t forgotten, ‘Lady Usagi’ has yet to pass as well.”
“So… Then what do we do?”
“We wait.”
“That’s it?”
Neptune nodded, and resumed her stroll down the corridor.
Although the act may seem unfair, I sense no malicious intent from the woman. This Luna person... whoever she may have been in the past she is certainly not stupid. Since Haruka spoiled her first plan, it appears that she was prepared with a back-up. By intentionally failing a few of us, she is forcing us to spend more quality time together. Hmm, it’s actually quite clever.
“Then again, I suppose she may only ‘hate’ you after all.”
“Michiru!” Haruka heard the shorter woman giggle. “This is serious! I don’t want to fail again! Hey! Are you listening to me?! S-Stop laughing, it’s not that funny! Miiiiichiru…”
(Moon Palace Library, Usagi)
After everyone else had left the classroom, Rei and Usagi had departed for the library. It was extravagantly large in Rei’s opinion. Everywhere she looked there were shelves upon shelves filled with books.
The royal library consisted of two floors; the bottom floor was simply lined with these shelves of books from one end of the room to the other. There were no desks or places to sit down. All of the study spaces were actually on the second floor. From where Rei stood, she could already see a good place to sit down and study; the upper floor did not sit above the lower floor with a full roof—its designer appeared to have a ring in mind when they designed it. The upper floor circled around above the bottom level, and was connected by a set of staircases that reached down from either side of the room. As if to make up for the lack of space provided by the design, the upper floor had shelves reaching all the way up along the walls. Some of the books could only be reached through the use of a rolling, step ladder.
The pair made their up to the second floor and stopped at one of the groups of tables.
“So, where shall we start?” Usagi asked her new tutor.
“Hm? Well… I think it would be for the best if you studied the sheets that Luna gave us. Do you have them here?”
“Yes, they’re right here.” She placed the piles onto the table. The booklets landed on the surface with a soft thud.
Rei took some time to check over the packages to make sure they were all there. The sheets were somewhat disorganized and out of order, but for the most part it appeared that everything they needed was there.
“All right then. To start off, can you tell me what you’ve looked over and what you’re having trouble understanding?”
Her request was met by dead silence.
Umm... Rei couldn’t help but feel uneasy when she saw the glassy expression on Usagi’s eyes. Has she even looked at any of this? Jeez...
“Okay. Tell you what. You sit here and start looking through these sheets. When you think you have a question, then call me. I’ll be over there checking out some books, all right?”
“Oh, well... all right.”
Sometime later, Rei had amassed a good pile of books. She sat down at a table farther down from where Usagi was studying and picked up the first book from the pile. After flipping through its contents and finding nothing, she put it down and picked up the next one. This pattern continued for some time until she was nearing the end of the stack.
Damn it. It’s not in this one either. She flipped back and forth between the pages and sighed. Her head was starting to hurt, but for more than one reason. I really should have gotten more sleep last night. Then again, she didn’t expect to spend day after day researching in the library until she saw how huge it was.
That was when she noticed something peculiar. It was quiet, too quiet.
Hmm... You know, I haven’t heard from Usagi for awhile. Maybe I better go and check up on her.
What Rei discovered when she returned to the table made her hair stand on end; Usagi had fallen asleep and was drooling all over Luna’s study sheets.
She-- She fell asleep?! Feeling a little more than annoyed, Rei pulled a book off of a nearby shelf and raised it high over her head. A loud noise resounded throughout the library when she brought text down beside the sleeping blonde’s head.
Bam!
“Yipe!”
“Hey! What do you think you’re doing, falling asleep like that? You’re supposed to be studying!”
“Oh! W-Well, you see...” She saw Rei patiently wait for the excuse, and gulped. “Sorry. I guess I just got side-tracked, and before I knew it... I guess I fell asleep.”
Rei knew she wasn’t going to like the answer one way or another, but she asked anyway. “What do you mean you got side-tracked? You know you won’t pass your exam if you keep daydreaming!”
“I know. But...it’s not like I haven’t read through the material. I’ve read through it several of times already, but it’s like nothing is sinking in. It’s like... Oh, I don’t know...”
The statement had struck a chord in the Martian.
“It’s like you can’t concentrate, right? So, what’s bothering you?” Usagi looked startled by the comment. “It’s written all over your face.”
“Heh, really?” Usagi nervously scratched her cheek. “Well...to be honest, I wasn’t entirely honest with you yesterday.” Rei raised an eyebrow at that. “I did want to apologize to you, but I couldn’t get to sleep because of Hotaru. You see, we were sharing a room, but for some reason she wouldn’t go to sleep. Sometime during the middle of the night, I heard her get up from her bed. I guess I’m usually a heavy sleeper, I mean... I usually sleep like a rock, but for some reason the noise woke me up. So I rolled around and I saw her walk out onto the balcony. At first, I thought that she woke up because of the light that we saw...But she was just standing there for the longest time...”
“You mean she just stood there?”
“Mm.”
Rei saw Usagi hesitate, and asked, “What is it? Did something else happen?”
“Not really... I just tried asking her to come back to bed. But she said that she would later because she just wanted some fresh air. But...I really don’t think that’s the reason.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because... she looked so sad...”
“I see...”
“I waited as long as I could, but she just kept standing there. When it felt like I was about to fall asleep, I decided to take a short walk to keep myself awake. That was when I came across your room.”
Rei was silent for a moment. She didn’t know why Usagi stopped by her door in particular, but that was beside the point.
“Well... I can’t say that I know her very well, so I’m not really sure what to tell you. Have you tried talking to her about it? Like, if she looked sad, maybe she still hasn’t gotten over her past or something.”
“Her past...? It did cross my mind, but, she shouldn’t have to feel guilty for what happened. It wasn’t her fault.”
“Did you tell her that?” She saw Usagi’s gaze fall to the floor. “Well, then there’s your problem. If you want to figure out what’s bothering her then you have to communicate. There’s just no other way around it.”
“Yeah, but...”
“No buts! The test is tomorrow, right? So talk to her before then. I mean, if she won’t open up to her own sister, then who else would she tell?” Then the strangest thing happened. She heard the blonde begin to giggle. “W-What’s so funny?”
“Nothing! It’s just... Thanks Rei.” Usagi wiped the tears away from her eyes. “It’s really good... to have someone to talk to.”
For a moment, Rei didn’t know what to say. However, the study sheets on the desk were a pretty good indication of could potentially make the Princess feel worse if she wasn’t prepared.
“Okay, enough crying already. We have a test to study for right?”
“...Right!” she nodded.
(Hotaru, Moon Palace Gardens)
Hotaru and Minako both sat beside one another in comfortable silence behind the palace. It was a separate garden from the one out front, from where Usagi and Hotaru had initially fought. And unlike the barren place this lone spot still tingled with life; although there were no animals, the grass and flowers still remained-- untouched and uncorrupted of the outside world’s battles. It was what one would consider a small paradise.
Hotaru peered up at the clouds above, finding reassurance of her own existence in the blue beyond.
This feels so nice... I never thought I would be allowed to do this ever again… She sighed contently and felt a cool breeze tousle her hair.
Her dark eyes shifted their attention towards her study partner. Minako’s face was set into a concentrated frown. Occasionally the girl would flip the page of her book, mumbling something under her breath that Hotaru could not quite hear. The sight brought a smile to her lips.
So, she’s still at it.
The Moon heir was not offended in the least that she was being ignored by the girl. She found herself surprisingly content just watching her. Minako, she had to admit, was very beautiful. It was difficult for her mind to grasp that this same individual, who was so full of life, was the one who awakened her from her own nightmare-filled slumber. The Venusian’s outward appearance was rather misleading she had to admit, for Hotaru truly knew of what the younger woman had lost and was well aware of the depths of pain she harboured.
For reasons lost on her, Hotaru impulsively called out to her.
“Minako.”
“Hm?” Minako furrowed her brows and flipped another page, but she didn’t look up.
“Why have you asked me to help you study? You seem to be doing rather well on your own.”
Whup.
Minako shut the book—so suddenly that it startled her friend. Hotaru wondered what could have inspired such a reaction from the blonde. She continued to watch on in silence as the Goddess retained a thoughtful expression, eyes closed, for a few seconds longer before she inhaled a deep breath and turned her gaze towards the Moon Princess.
“Hey, I’m really sorry about ignoring you Hotaru.” She sincerely apologized. “It’s just… Well, honestly, I just needed to get out of there. I just needed to get away from everyone. I mean, I can’t believe Haruka keeps failing! I thought she was good at this stuff!”
“Really…” Hotaru mused in her mysterious way. Her eyes gleamed at the comment, making Minako a little wary.
“I mean, don’t you think it is kind of frustrating writing tests all day?”
“Not really… Using my powers tends to tire me out.”
“Oh.” I wonder why…
“But, I actually am enjoying this.” Hotaru quietly admitted. “Although I feel a little guilty for thinking this way, knowing that we should be doing our best to move onto the next training session, I am grateful for the break. When we agreed to fight together, I expected nothing but sparring to raise our powers, to increase our skills and stamina. Yet for the past three days we’ve been spared that. Instead of wondering whether we will survive, here I am looking at the clouds. I can think, breathe, and relax. Though it may end soon, it was nice, don’t you agree?”
“Well… yeah, I guess you have a point there.”
But that’s exactly the problem. Because I have all this time to think, all I can think about is… them studying together. Why couldn’t Usagi have asked someone like Ami or Michiru to help her? Why did it have to be Rei?
To the Venusian’s annoyance she heard her voice of reason answer the question in a ‘matter-of-fact’ tone:
‘Because Neptune is helping Uranus, and Ami is helping Makoto’.
Hotaru sensed her hesitance and thought back to early this morning. She wasn’t blind; there was something obviously bothering her friend, more than what she willing to admit.
“If you don’t mind me saying this, but... you seemed angry this morning. Was there something bothering you?”
Minako’s heart skipped a beat. When she whipped her head around at other woman, she noticed that Hotaru was looking up at the clouds again with a peaceful expression.
“It wasn’t just this morning… but also after you met my sister. It’s about the Martian, isn’t it?” Dark eyes met hers.
Gah! She knows?!
“Rei.” Minako corrected. “Her name is Rei.”
Seeing that she had coaxed a response from the blonde successfully, Hotaru’s interest was piqued.
“I just… I just thought that I had this all figured out,” Minako confessed. She placed the book beside her and leaned back into the grass to also look up at the sky. “In the past a lot of stuff happened... stuff… that I wish didn’t have to happen. But I realize that I can’t do anything about it. I have to look ahead and focus on what I have to do now, and that’s winning this war... I have to get stronger…But…”
“…But…?”
“I’m torn between what I want to do, and what I need to do. Does that make any sense?”
Hotaru immediately understood and connected the pieces together. The image of Rei accidentally caught in her sister’s arms came to mind.
“So you’re jealous.”
“You don’t have to say it like that!”
“But it’s true, isn’t it?” Hotaru was a little surprised at the disappointment stabbing at her heart.
“W-Well… no…? Okay, okay, so maybe I am a tiny bit j-jealous...”
“Does Rei know how you feel?” She saw Minako go red in the face. “I suppose I should take that as a ‘no’.”
“…So? What do you think I should I do?”
“I can’t tell you what to do Minako, because what you decide to do is up to you. However, if I were you, I think I would tell her how you feel about it.”
“Just tell her? I-I can’t do that!”
“Why not?”
“Because… because, umm…” Minako pouted and began wracking her brains for an answer.
The spectacle made Hotaru inwardly chuckle.
Heh… She’s behaving like a child. Then again, compared to me that’s exactly what she is.
“…Because if she doesn’t know what she did, then why should I tell her?”
“Because you’re obviously the one who is upset.” Minako gasped. “Listen Minako… As far as I know of, none of us has the power to read minds. It is difficult to tell what the other is thinking, and because of that... there can be some misunderstandings.”
For an instant, Minako thought she heard regret in Hotaru’s voice.
“...But before you do anything else, you need to decide on what you want. You cannot move forward if you continue to be indecisive.”
“But, what if want you want...might hurt others?”
Hotaru smiled knowingly. “Do you really believe that?”
“Huh?”
“One thing that I’ve learnt... is that you can’t please everyone. It might sound selfish, but you need to decide what’s best for you.”
Decide what’s best for me...? But what I want is...
“Minako.” She waited until the Venusian looked up.
“Y-Yes?”
“What I’m saying is...You don’t have to do it alone.”
Minako felt her heart skip a beat. For a second, she almost swore that she was going to cry.
“...Hotaru?”
“Yes?”
“Thanks for the advice. I really needed to hear that.” Just then a breeze flew across the field and threw up flower petals into the air, perfectly framing the Venusian’s warm smile.
Hotaru quickly found herself blushing, and, shyly she smiled back.
I was happy I could help.
Back to Heartfelt Desires Index - Back to Sailor Moon Shoujo-Ai Fanfiction