[Author's Note: For any non-native English speakers, or English speakers who are unfamiliar with the term, 'frosh' is the politically correct way to refer to first year college students, traditionally called "freshmen." At least it was where I went to college (Wesleyan University in CT, for the curious.)] ----------------------- [Spring 2004] It took the guard a long time to find Rei's name on the list. Just at the point when her legendary temper was about to flare, however, he looked up at her. "Hino Rei. Yeah, ok. Here, wear this." He handed her a laminated badge on a blue lanyard, indicating that she should hang it over her neck. It read "All Access Pass." "There's a note here, hold on a second," the guard informed her as she began to move past. He flipped to the end of the pages on his clipboard. "Here it is. 'Please have Ms. Hino escorted to Ms. Aino immediately.'" The guard's bored attitude fell away as he looked at Rei closely for the first time. "I'm sorry, Ms. Hino. I'll get someone to take you right in." Without another word, he flagged down a roadie who seemed to have nothing better to do and told him to take Rei back to the dressing room. Rei thanked the guard curtly and followed her escort. As they made their way through the hustle and bustle of the backstage area, dodging people carrying large boxes, electrical equipment, and other gear, Rei recalled the time she had organized a festival and concert at her junior high school. Even as she realized just how much more complex one of Mina's shows was to stage, she also found herself contemplating how she would organize such a spectacle. With a chuckle at the way her own mind worked, she stopped herself even as the young man showed her through a door with a large star and the words "Aino Minako" written on it. "Mina-chan," Rei called out as she entered the dressing room, "are you here?" It turned out to be more a suite than a room and Rei paused to enjoy the serenity of it, in contrast to the chaos going on outside. Rei found herself alone in a sitting room, complete with a long sofa, coffee table, trays of finger foods (all Mina's favorites, Rei noted), and a make-up table in front of a wall-length mirror. In addition to the entranceway where she stood, two doors led out of the room. Behind one, Rei could hear water running. Upon opening that door, a wall of steam enveloped Rei. Briefly, she remembered Mina's fondness for very hot showers. Over the sound of the water running, Rei could hear Minako singing softly. After a few moments, she suddenly realized what it was that Minako was singing. It was her own song, the one she had sung all those years ago at the festival. Rei hadn't thought of the song in so long that she almost didn't recognize it. She remembered giving Minako a copy of it, back in high school, though she'd never understood why she'd wanted one in the first place. Rei blushed; she had finally learned why Minako had wanted it in the aftermath of Ami's farewell video. Not wanting to disturb her friend's shower, though the thought was idly tempting, Rei adjourned back to the sitting room and made herself comfortable on the couch. Eventually, the sound of water stopped, though Minako's singing continued, growing that much more audible. Rei sat forward, totally unprepared for what was about to happen. Much sooner than Rei had anticipated, the door from the bathroom flung open and a totally nude Minako stepped into the room, dripping wet, drying her hair with a huge white towel. Rei's jaw dropped. She had certainly not expected this! Her eyes locked onto Minako's body, taking in her endless, lithe legs, the curves of her hips and breasts, the faint muscle lines along her biceps as she vigorously rubbed at her long blonde hair. A rush of heat passed through her and she could feel the sweat beading on her forehead as she gasped and coughed at the same time. "Who's there!" Minako screamed, dropping her towel in surprise. "Ohmigod! Rei-chan! You scared the hell out of me!" Mina bent down to grab her towel and hastily wrapped it around herself. As she did, though, she noted the blush on Rei's face and the admiration in her gaze. Minako smiled to herself. "I'm sorry, Mina-chan, they sent me back here when I arrived. I didn't... that is, I never expected..." Rei stammered, trying to collect herself. Through a year of dealing with difficult people and situations, through almost a decade of fighting evil in a myriad of forms, Hino Rei had never lost her cool as much as in that one moment and she found it difficult to recover. Minako laughed gently, trying to set her agitated friend at ease. "It's ok, Rei-chan, you just startled me." She swiftly moved across the floor to greet her friend. "It's so good to see you again. I know it's only been a few months, but I've missed you so much!" As Minako embraced her tightly, Rei tried to ignore the damp towel that was the only thing between her and Mina's moist skin. She tried to ignore the soft feel of her friend's chest as it pressed against her own. She failed miserably on both counts. Aside from that solitary conversation just before she had left Tokyo, they had never discussed Minako's feelings towards her. By mutual, unspoken consent, they had focused on simply keeping in touch and sharing each other's lives. Distance would have prevented anything more in any case. Still, Rei hadn't failed to notice that Minako had avoided any romantic entanglements over the last year, despite her popularity and fame. Yes, she had had dates for various official functions: award shows, charity galas, and whatnot, but Mina had always confided later that it was simply for show, arranged by her agent and publicist. Most importantly, when it really counted, at Usagi's wedding, Mina had come alone and spent most of her time by Rei's side. For herself, Rei had had little time to meet anyone outside the context of her work, one side effect of working eighty-hour weeks. However, Rei knew that the long hours were not the reason. She'd suspected it before the wedding. Afterwards, she'd become more certain. Now, feeling Minako pressed against her, smelling her hair, still fresh and moist from the shower, Rei knew exactly what, and who, she had been waiting for. Rei audibly sighed as Minako pulled away from her and went over to the other door. If Mina heard the sigh, she gave no sign of it. Instead, she opened the door, revealing a walk-in closet full of costumes and other fancy clothes. Mina bustled about for a few moments and then emerged with a handful of clothes. Facing the mirror, she tugged at the knot in the towel. Mina glanced up, spotting Rei in the reflection. Her friend was entranced, seemingly unaware of anything but the imminent descent of Mina's towel. Minako smiled again in quiet triumph. Oh, how long she had been waiting for a day like this. "Rei-chan, I'm sure you had a tough trip. Didn't your plane just arrive here in town a couple hours ago? Do you want to go freshen up a little bit while I get dressed?" Mina smiled politely, nodding toward the bathroom, her hands frozen on the now unknotted towel. With a subtle shake of her head, Rei refocused. "That would be great. Thank you, Mina-chan!" Deliberately, she grabbed her travel bag and moved toward the bathroom. Mina watched her carefully, waiting until the very last moment, just before Rei shut the bathroom door behind her, to drop her towel. She couldn't remember the last time she'd had this much fun. --------------- "Ami, if you don't stop fidgeting, I'm going to strap you down to that chair!" Elizabeth threatened. The woman at the check-in desk had just announced that the plane they were waiting for had been delayed by an hour. Elizabeth wondered idly if her friend could make it that long. "You know I'm not into that kind of thing, Elizabeth," Ami murmured back, arching an eyebrow up at her taller friend. "I thought that was more your cup of tea, at least that's what Shana implied the other day." "Ami Mizuno!" Elizabeth shouted, drawing some odd glances from the other people in the waiting room. Dropping her voice back down, she added with a delighted laugh, "I can't believe you just said that! What has gotten into you!" Ami giggled, "I really don't know. Just nervous energy, I guess. I think I've been in America too long. You're all such bad influences." Elizabeth poked Ami in the arm, "I think it's great. You would hardly say 'boo' to anyone when you first got here." "That's not true!" Ami protested. "I went out of my way to make friends." Elizabeth smiled, remembering the shy young exchange student gathering up all of her courage to introduce herself at that first club meeting. Working as a resident assistant, Elizabeth had seen the way some young people blossomed in college. Even though she was no frosh, Ami had also grown immensely during her time at the university. Elizabeth briefly considered doing a paper for her sociology class comparing gender roles in academia in Japan and the US using Ami as a case study. "Come on," Elizabeth finally said, "the plane isn't going to be here for another hour. Let's hit Starbucks for a bit." She knew Ami couldn't stand just sitting here for an hour, and also that she would never be able to resist the siren song of caffeine. "Ok, but you're buying," Ami announced. A little while later they sat sipping their drinks and reading through the newspaper. "Oh my!" Ami exclaimed suddenly. "What is it?" Ami settled down quickly, remembering herself. "Oh, I just saw something interesting. I know that you're a big fan of Sailor Mercury." Elizabeth groaned softly, "Mmmm, did you see that picture they had of her in the Examiner last week? It was still as grainy as ever, but you could make out just about everything except her face. Have you ever seen legs like that?" Ami blushed, raising her coffee cup quickly to cover up. While Elizabeth was her best friend in America, one of her best friends anywhere actually, she hadn't informed her of her 'secret identity.' "Is there another picture?" Elizabeth asked anxiously. "No, and it's not about Sailor Mercury," Ami replied, handing the section of the paper to her friend. "Young woman saves nightclub from terrorist attack," Elizabeth read aloud, "French authorities report that an unknown woman possessing inexplicable powers disabled a group of terrorists who had seized a nightclub in downtown Paris two nights ago." She skimmed a bit before continuing. "Experts say that the abilities demonstrated by the young woman match those characteristic of the Japanese heroine, Sailor Jupiter. The French President offered his thanks, while implying that the decision of Sailor Jupiter to relocate to Paris was indicative of the supremacy of French culture." Elizabeth laughed at the last bit. "I guess that means our culture is great, too. I wonder why all the sailor warriors are leaving Tokyo. Oh well, no pictures. I wonder if Sailor Jupiter is as hot as Sailor Mercury." "She's gorgeous," Ami replied quietly before she realized what she was saying. Elizabeth lifted an eyebrow, but didn't comment. "Can I have that?" Ami asked, pointing to the article. "I have a friend back home who collects things about the sailor senshi." "Sure, here you go." Elizabeth handed the paper back to Ami. "We should get back, I think the flight is due soon. Are you sure you don't want to go through with my plan?" "I don't think it would be very nice," Ami answered as she delicately tore out the newspaper article, folded it, and placed it in her purse. "Well, it would serve her right," Elizabeth stated, with a little bit of vehemence. "She had one of the sweetest, most beautiful women in the world right under her nose for all those years and missed the boat completely! Heck, you said she didn't even ask you to dance at the reception!" Ami smiled. She knew that Elizabeth was being somewhat unfair. After all, Ami could have said something at any point and she certainly could have asked Makoto to dance herself. She had dared to do so once before, after all. Still, it was nice to have someone completely in your corner. "I don't think that seeing you hanging on my arm, nuzzling me, and acting like my girlfriend would be very conducive to our visit, Elizabeth-chan." "You're so cute when you drop that 'chan' in there," Elizabeth teased. With a big sigh, she complied with Ami's request. "Fine, I suppose you're right. Besides, I think Shana still gets a little jealous of you and I wouldn't want word to get back to her." "She knows we're just friends, right?" "Yes, but she also knows that you're totally my type and that I was head over heels for you." Seeing her friend's sudden discomfort, Elizabeth laughed gently and gave Ami a quick hug. "Oh, don't worry, you know that's all long in the past. She's really much more jealous of Sailor Mercury, but that's only cause she knows I'd dump her, you, and everyone else in a heartbeat for a night with her!" The two women laughed and walked together back toward the gate. ---------------------------- For over two hours, Rei stood entranced watching Minako perform. From her VIP position at the side of the stage, she had the best view in the house. Rei, despite her excellent conditioning, could not imagine going through the workout that Minako must be, what with all of the dancing and running around on stage, all while singing (Mina never lip synched!) and toying with her audience. "It's easy with all of the energy you get from the crowd," Mina had explained breathlessly during one of her many costume changes. Still, Rei was mesmerized. Finally, after a second encore, Minako came off stage, covered in sweat, beaming excitedly, and announced that she was down to her last encore. "If we stay any longer, we'll have to pay the union overtime," Mina giggled. "Now, pay attention and be ready. You'll do great." Before Rei could ask what the heck she was talking about, Minako dashed back on stage. The audience burst into a new furor as they saw her enter the spotlight. The lights around the stage dimmed as Mina addressed the crowd. "Thank you all so much! You've been the best audience ever and I'm so happy to perform for you all. We have time for just one more song, so I wanted it be the one that was the most special to me in the whole wide world." 'But, she's done every song on her last two discs,' Rei realized with some confusion. Needless to say, Rei owned everything Mina had ever recorded. Mina knew this, of course, since she made sure to send all of her friends promotional copies of her discs. What Mina did not know about was the stash of posters, magazine articles, lunchboxes, keychains, and other 'Aino Minako collectibles' that Rei had stored in a closet back home. Indeed, 'ScarletLady' was a mythical figure in Aino Minako fandom for her almost complete collection of everything Mina. 'What song could she talking about?' Rei wondered. "This is going to be the first single released from my new disc, unless the person who wrote it objects. Fortunately, that person is here with me tonight. I'm sure if you all encourage her, she'll agree to let me record it and maybe even come out here and sing it with me for you all tonight!" Another deafening roar from the crowd washed over a stunned Hino Rei. 'She can't be talking about...' "She hasn't performed in a long time, so please join me in calling her out here, Hino Rei!" As the crowd began chanting, Minako turned to Rei and gestured for her to join her on stage. Rei hesitated briefly. Performing for a few hundred fellow students was one thing. Performing in front of sixteen thousand screaming Australian teenagers was something else altogether. Still, though she'd chosen a different path, there was still quite a bit of the diva left in Rei, so it wasn't long before she dashed out on stage, waving happily to the crowd. She moved over and gave Minako a theatrical hug, whispering in her ear, careful to avoid any microphones. "I'll get you for this, baka. I'm not even wearing stage makeup or a suitable outfit." Minako replied by kissing her quickly on the cheek. "I'll make it up to you, promise. You remember the words?" "Of course, you bubblehead, I wrote it!" With a fond laugh, Mina gestured to the band and the two young women proceeded with their duet. ------------------ Makoto knew that she was running on adrenaline and that the jet lag would catch up with her sooner or later, but at the moment she still felt somewhat giddy. After a flight that had lasted longer than the battle with the Dark Moon Circus, she had finally arrived in San Francisco. Her joy at seeing Ami again had been mitigated ever so slightly by the presence of her friend Elizabeth, but the blonde had seemed nice enough. Of course, Makoto's English was very rusty and Elizabeth spoke neither Japanese nor French, so they had only been able to communicate through Ami. Makoto wondered just how much Ami had left out or altered in her translations, though. "Thanks again for the ride! I'll call you later," Ami called out to her friend as she drove away. Turning to Makoto, she picked up one of her bags and gestured toward the doorway. "It's only one flight up, Mako-chan. Are you very tired?" "I will be, but I'm fine now," Makoto reassured her companion. Gathering her other suitcase, she followed Ami into the small apartment building and up the stairs. "It seems very nice, Ami- chan. Of course, after reading all of your descriptions, I feel like I've been here before." Sometimes, Makoto felt guilty over the fact that Ami's emails were much longer and more detailed than her own. She just wasn't a very good typist and that made it hard to write long messages. This was the main reason Makoto preferred instant messaging. No one cared about grammar there! Unfortunately, the time difference between France and the US, not to mention France and Japan, meant that she didn't get a chance to do much of that anymore. "So, what did you think of Elizabeth?" Ami asked politely as Makoto settled in and she prepared some tea for her. "She's taller than me! Are all American women so tall?" Makoto replied. Ami laughed, returning to Makoto in the living room with the tea and some cookies. "No, she's taller than most. You know me, though. I've always been drawn to tall girls," she cooed. Makoto darted a surprised glance at Ami, blushing quickly. Before she could reply, Ami changed the subject. "Mako-chan, you didn't tell me about saving a nightclub!" "I didn't have time. It was the night before I left, and my flight was pretty early. Some friends had taken me out for a farewell dinner at the restaurant next door. I heard the commotion and, well, you can guess the rest. I mean, Sailor Mercury does that kind of thing all the time, right?" Makoto gazed at Ami with sudden pride shining in her eyes. Now it was Ami's turn to blush. "Not all the time. There is a lot more crime here than back at home, though. Anyway, I think it's great, and apparently so do the French people." Seeing Makoto's confusion, Ami retrieved the article and handed it to her. "That's not why I moved to France!" Makoto exclaimed upon reading it. "I was just going to stay a year, but then that job came along and you had already decided to stay here..." Her voice trailed off as she realized what she was saying. Makoto had never told Ami the main reason she had taken the job in Europe was because she knew Ami wouldn't have been back in Tokyo anyway. Ami, being a genius and also an expert on all things Makoto, had guessed, of course. She tenderly grasped her friend's hand in her own. "I'm very proud of you, Mako-chan. And I'm so glad that you came to see me." Until that moment, Makoto had thought that she'd stopped playing things safe. She'd gone to France. She'd taken on an important and difficult job. As Ami's fingers laced into her own, though, she knew that she'd done nothing yet. Those things were easy, just expressions of her natural skills and strengths. Dealing with the emotions and feelings surging inside her? That was difficult. Making the arrangements, getting on the plane, those were only the first steps. "Ami-chan," she began before a huge yawn came out of nowhere and drowned out any further conversation. "Excuse me," Makoto asked, somewhat embarrassed. Ami nodded, "I thought so. You've been on a long flight; you're on the other side of the world, and all that on top of a tough fight. You are going to bed, Mako-chan." Without waiting for argument, she tugged Makoto to her feet and led her to her own bedroom. "You sleep here in the bed for now. We'll get your internal clock adjusted later. For now, you need your rest!" "Yes, Dr. Mizuno," Makoto murmured, suddenly exhausted. Even as she fell into a deep sleep, she savored the feeling of having someone care for her, as Ami laid her down and tucked her in, even kissing the top of her head before leaving the room. Makoto slept soundly and dreamt of swimming deeply in a mountain lake.
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