Usagi hopped around, lightly smacking her ear every now and then. Ami and Minako giggled, and Makoto and Rei shook their heads. Usagi stopped with the hopping and put her hands on her hips, tilting her head. "Come on, guys! Guess what I am already!" "Are you a-" Minako pointed to the word 'bunny' on her t-shirt, a smile on her glossy lips. Usagi let out a surprised noise and stomped her foot into the floor. "Wow, Minako-chan! You really are amazing!" "Anyone with two brain cells could've guessed what you were, Usagi. Try not being a rabbit next time. You've pretended to be one each time your turn came around," Rei said. "Yeah," Makoto chimed in. "Try being something like-" she made a noise of contemplation. "A panda." Rei frowned and crossed her arms. "No, that's my animal. Let Usagi keep her rabbit." Minako wanted to squeal happily. Rei could be so incredibly cute, even if that was the last thing she wanted to be. The way she unintentionally pouted her lips, and the way she turned her nose up—could she get any more adorable?! Even with that little gash on her lip, it didn't affect her looks at all. "I think your impression was very good, Usagi-chan," Ami said in her always-friendly tone. Usagi grinned proudly and sat on the soft leather couch, nudging Ami with her elbow. "I wasn't sure if you girls wanted to or not," Minako began, standing up from her seat next to Makoto. "But the hot tub is always on stand-by." She walked over to the hot tub and yanked the cover off, revealing a steaming, bubbly spring of water. Makoto and Usagi's eyes grew and they gasped in unison. "I almost completely forgot about the Jacuzzi! This is too awesome!" Makoto jumped up, allowing her 'Usagi side' to show. Of course, Usagi followed Makoto's actions and ran over to Minako, hugging her tightly. Minako chuckled and hugged the girl back. "Do you have your suits?" she asked. "Hai!" all of the girls responded, except for Rei, who uncrossed her arms. She seemed apprehensive. Minako raised her eyebrows. "I'm guessing you forgot to bring yours?" Rei glared at Usagi and Makoto, who scratched their heads and looked away. "No one told me about this." She shrugged, smiling to herself. "That's alright. I can hang out here and read or something." "Oh." Minako licked her lips. Her eyes wandered over to the cart with her wardrobe on it, which she'd asked a hotel clerk to bring in much earlier. Her eyes were pretty strong, so she was able to spot three bikinis: a red one, a black one, and her favorite; the white bikini. She smirked deviously. "Well... I do have a few extra bathing suits. You could borrow one if you'd like." Rei nearly choked on her own breath. "W-what?" "Do you want to?" "Borrow one, Rei-chan! It'll be fun!" Usagi exclaimed, her eyes huge. "U-um, no thanks. I wouldn't want to make you go to all that trouble. Your room is all the way on the fifth floor, after all." Rei prayed to the gods that Minako would just give it up. "No problem. I have two extra bathing suits down here, actually. See?" Minako put her hand up in the direction of the over-stocked cart. "How wonderful! Now we can all enjoy ourselves," Ami commented happily. Now Rei felt even worse. Minako had done this on purpose, she was convinced. She knew getting all of the girls in on this would make her feel guilty. As if dealing with this 'past-life headache' wasn't enough already. You'd think Minako of all people would be sympathetic in that case. Rei's shoulders slumped in defeat. "...Alright." ---------------------------------------------------------------------- "You're so mean, Minako. Did you know that?" Rei tapped her foot on the marble floor, her shoe making only the slightest noise. "I'm going to ruin your reputation. I'm going to tell all of your fans how cruel and unsympathetic you are." Minako half-laughed. "How am I being mean, Rei? I just want you to have fun with the rest of us, that's all." Rei lowered her eyebrows. "You know what a toll those memories take, don't you? I can barely concentrate breathing. If I drown in the hot tub, it's all your fault." Minako found the bikini she'd been looking for and pulled it out. "Contrary to the belief that you think I want to make your life a living hell, you're way off." She held up the bikini to Rei's form. Rei stiffened. "Hanging out with us could help you relax some. It won't kill you to have fun, Hino-san." Minako nodded her head complacently. "Just what I thought. Perfect. Now go try it on, you!" She shoved the suit into Rei's hands and pushed the girl towards the bathroom located next to them. Rei traveled to the bathroom dejectedly, looking a lot like a child who's just been forced to try on a dress they hated. Minako headed to the other bathroom on the other side of the room, anticipating showing-off to Rei...and of course actually seeing Rei with that bikini. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rei appeared from the bathroom, her clothes from earlier bunched together in a ball and pressed against her bare stomach. Her hair was up in a tight but messy bun, and her longish bangs framed her face. She peeked her head out from behind the corner and saw Usagi, Ami, and Makoto laughing and joking around in the hot tub, clad in their bathing suits. She couldn't see their suits that well, but it looked to be that Usagi was wearing a normal pink bikini with, of course, white rabbits all over it. Makoto was in her signature color-green- and also wearing a tasteful bikini. And then there was the modest Ami, who unlike the others, was in a light blue one-piece suit. Apparently their pop-idol friend was still changing. Rei breathed a sigh of relief. "Stupid Minako...forcing me to wear one of her ridiculously 'in-style' bathing suits. Couldn't she just have left me alone?! Argh..." "Rei-chan!" Usagi squealed from the hot tub. Rei clenched her fists out of frustration. "Oh, well. They're going to see me anyway." Rei took a deep breath in, and then let it out. It wasn't that she was self-conscious exactly, it's just that the bathing suit she was currently wearing...wasn't exactly her style. As a matter of fact, she recalled one of the more recent times she'd watched television (reluctantly, of course; it was on Usagi's television, and she always keeps it on) that the bathing suit was advertised in some sort of high-profile Minako commercial. It was no surprise to Rei that Minako had actually kept the suit...unfortunately for her. She walked over to the steaming tub, the three girls already in there completely silent and subtly watching her every move. Rei put her right foot in first, then her left, and then drifted over to an empty spot next to Ami. After a few moments of uncomfortable silence, Rei spoke up. "What? Does it look that bad?" Usagi opened her mouth to speak, but Rei went on. "Look, I know I don't have the 'extraordinary' body that Aino Minako has, but I can't help it if I don't fill this bikini out as well as she does!" "It's not that, Rei-chan," Ami said, her voice taking on it's usual soft tone. "We've just never seen you with such a lack of clothes. You look very nice." She smiled at the end of her sentence for good measure. Rei's eyebrows raised. "Yeah, Rei. Stop being such a party-pooper." Makoto reached across Ami, gently nudged Rei and winked. The priestess became flushed. "Is this hot tub way too hot or what?" Usagi made a sad face and puppy dog eyes to match her expression. "I saw the commercial for that bikini a thousand times and Minako still gave it to Rei! It's not fair, I want it!" She smacked the water with her hand, but learned that was a bad idea. It splashed right back up at her and flew into her eyes. "Ow!" The other girls in the tub chuckled. "Okay, Usagi. You can have it when I'm done with. I promise," Rei said. Usagi's eyes bulged and her jaw dropped. "No way! Really?!" Rei smiled and nodded. "Arigato, Rei-chan! You're the best!" ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Minako looked herself over in the bathroom mirror once again, checking to make sure the bikini looked perfect. And indeed, it did. "Maybe this will help your headache, Rei-chan," she said to herself, smirking devilishly. Confidence was one thing Aino Minako never lacked, not even as a child. Her parents always encouraged her and made her feel that she really was one in a million, which in a way, was kind of true. However, she was faltering when it came to her confidence these days. Rei made her feel...normal. She wasn't sure if that was good or bad yet, but for the most part, she liked it. But today, Minako was going to show Rei what she was missing, and what 'Mars Reiko' could have had. What Rei can still have. She strode out of the bathroom, making sure the door behind her made noise as she closed it. As she expected, the girls looked over at her—except Rei! Rei was too busy deafening herself to the outside world by putting all of herself into the water except the top of her head and her eyes, and they seemed to have an irritated gleam in them. Nothing out of the usual, Minako suspected it had been Usagi's doing. "Minako-chan!" Usagi quickly stood up, almost slipping. Ami and Makoto steadied her; Usagi hadn't seemed to notice, though. "You're so cute! I love your bikini!" Minako smiled. "Thanks. I know it's a little tight, but I'm wearing it for advertising purposes." She rolled her eyes and sighed dramatically. "Of course it was Manager-san's idea. Even with close friends he forces me to be a walking and talking billboard." "We should give him more credit. His ideas seem to work, see?" Makoto pointed to Usagi who was rambling on about all of the little details on Minako's clothes that she loved. Ami giggled. "Usagi-chan, you should sit down now. You're liable to fall if you keep doing all of those strange hand, or rather arm gestures you do." Usagi made a childish frown and dropped her shoulders. She took her seat back in the hot tub. "Alright, alright." Minako slipped her right foot into the water, finally capturing Rei's attention. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw this, so she made sure to get in really slow. Rei brought her head up shyly, water falling from her wet hair and back into the hot water. She didn't want to look at the idol, but she couldn't stop herself. The woman was gorgeous. Her body was... unbelievable, as she was often reminded by blaring TV commercials. As Minako settled herself into a spot in-between Usagi and Makoto they'd made for her, she examined the little part of Rei that she could see. The girl's skin was absolutely flawless. She'd never seen someone who didn't wear much make-up have such perfect skin before. "How's the bathing suit?" she asked. Rei didn't bother to look Minako in the face to answer her. She shrugged. "It's o.k. if you don't like breathing. I, however, prefer to breathe." "Sorry. I just like my bathing suits to be a little snug, you know?" Rei sighed and crossed her arms over her chest. Usagi and Makoto exchanged looks, both fighting the urge to grin like maniacs. Rei was being shy and difficult... How cute! "So how long do you have until you have to return to England?" Ami asked. They all looked at Minako, including Rei. Minako calculated on her fingers how long she really did have left. "Only three weeks... It seems like a good amount of time, but to me, it's not enough." "About three weeks. But if you want to get technical, around two weeks. I have about seven days of work altogether during this supposed 'vacation'." Artemis hopped onto the little stairs leading up to the hot tub. "Minako will never take a real break. She's one of those crazy people who loves working...though I have no idea why. That's why I'm glad I'm a cat. No work for me!" Minako smirked and pat her companion on his head. "You wish you were a cat, Artemis. Sadly, you're only a cute, little plushy." Artemis turned his head away indignantly. "Whatever, Minako." "Ah, it's so nice to take a break from the flower shop," Makoto said with a grin as she leant back against the tub's frame. "Was it a long week?" Ami asked. "Sure was! I love having my own shop and all, but it gets stressful even with Motoki around. I care about him a lot, but sometimes I just need a break from it all. I have to admit though, I do kind of miss him." Ami smiled at her light-brown haired friend. She was more than happy that the girl had finally let Motoki in, and had decided to marry him. They made a great couple; they both balanced each other out. Motoki was a bit of a baby, and Makoto was anything but. She could cook, and he could fix things...even though he did need her help every now and then. He was a genuinely great guy, and he cared so much about her. He always had, and he probably always would. "How about you, Ami? How's the hospital treating you?" Makoto asked. "Well," Ami began, an unsure look on her face. "It's different from the London hospital where I worked for a few years. Even though I'm back in Tokyo with people who fully understand what I say, I have to say I miss England's hospital quite a bit. I suppose it's only because I'd gotten used to it, and I knew how everything went on and worked. I find that here in Japan my work is piling up quicker than it had been overseas. Hundreds and hundreds of people come in and out everyday." "Sounds stressful," Rei chimed in. Ami nodded. "Mm." Usagi shook her head in disbelief. "Wow. It makes me glad that I only have to watch Chibi-Usa and do things around my old house for Mama. You're amazing, Ami-chan!" "I agree," Makoto added. Ami blushed. "It's nothing, really. There are plenty of other people who do the same thing everyday. How's the shrine doing by the way, Rei-chan?" "It could be worse," she replied. Minako looked at her questionably. "I didn't find anyone over in Kyoto to sponsor us yet, and everyone else who's able to here in Tokyo won't. They're too busy sponsoring those new, fancy shrines popping up all over the place. No one cares about the actual Shinto religion anymore, apparently." "That surprises me. Not a single company will do it?" Minako asked. Rei moved her head back and forth. "Nope." Minako gazed at the water, concentrating deeply. "What if I sponsored her?" "Rei-chan wouldn't really be..." Ami trailed off. "For that," Makoto finished. "She's a very proud person. And if you ever offered that to her, she'd probably give you the worst glare you've ever gotten and then stomp off." Minako watched as the water made little bubbles. "Our friendship is still delicate. I'll offer help to her eventually, but not now. Makoto and Ami were right. I should just give it a little more time." "Where's Luna, Artemis?" Usagi turned her head as far as she could and scanned the room. "She fell asleep. I tried to get some sleep as well, but I got too bored," Artemis explained. "That Luna! She's always sleeping." Rei grabbed her head with both of her hands as a surging pain shot through her brain. It felt like twenty migraines hitting her all at once. "Rei-chan?" Ami asked, her eyes wide. "My...head..." Rei squeaked out in pain. "It hurts...so bad!" Usagi drug her wet feet and quickly headed over to her long-time priestess friend, the others following close behind. Ami moved in closer to Rei, and Makoto got on her other side. Minako stood behind Usagi and remained calm since she secretly knew what was going on with Rei. The memories were hitting her all at once, just like Minako's had done at a time. "Rei-chan!" Usagi grabbed hold of Rei's shoulders. "Rei-chan! What's going on? What happened?" ---------------------------------------------------------------------- After the girls had taken Rei up to Minako's room and laid her on the bed to sleep, they returned to the hotel's V.I.P. room and sat around the dining table. None of them were really in the mood to eat since they were concerned about what was happening with Rei, so they decided to just snack on some appetizers. "Strange..." Luna mumbled in her human form, pacing around the table with her index finger and thumb to her chin. "Artemis, do you think she's finally getting her memories back?" Artemis cocked his head. "It could be. But why are they returning so late? They're not really too useful anymore. It would've been better had she regained them eight years ago. Perhaps they've been triggered by some sort of event?" "Maybe. Nothing's happened with her too much lately, though. She hasn't said anything about Kyoto besides the sponsoring bit, and I'm doubting anything happened there anyway," Makoto explained. Usagi looked over at Minako. "Minako-chan?" Minako raised her eyes to Usagi's. "Hai?" "I hate to intrude, but... When you took Rei up to your room earlier, did anything happen?" Minako's eyes wandered to the untouched carrot on a plate in front of her. Telling them would be for the best, right? "Well...She and I..." Minako looked up at the girls. They all looked strangely curious, especially Usagi and Makoto who were practically falling off of their chairs. She wanted to laugh, but she knew it'd be inappropriate at the moment. "Our legs kind of got crossed, and long story short, we came close to-" Usagi's eyes were inhumanly large. "-Kissing. But... she pulled away because she'd suddenly remembered moments from our past lives." "Like what?" Luna asked. "She didn't exactly specify, but she did say she remembered she and I, Makoto, Ami, Princess Serenity, the Moon, and Mars. Do you think that...perhaps...she and I almost kissing triggered her memories?" Minako inquired to Luna. Luna thought for a moment and then nodded. "There's no need to sugar code anything, now. You and Rei were really close to being together at one point. We all knew that, with the exception of Rei. I figured that her memories hadn't come back because she didn't want them. She completely closed herself off to the life she had before this one, maybe because the Hino Rei here on Earth suffered through so much emotional pain, and she figured she wouldn't be able to handle what the past life had to bring." "But why has she let her guard down now?" Ami asked. "You girls haven't transformed into senshi in years. Like Artemis and I, Rei might've thought they wouldn't resurface now that it's been so long. We were all wrong." Ami had to think about her memories. Yes, now that she'd thought about it, Rei and Minako were always together. Not only did they confide in each other and talk every chance they got, but they had sleepovers almost every night at Minako's insistence. They trained together, and if Rei ever made a mistake in battle (which was usually quite rare), Minako was the first one to stand up for her and make an excuse, even if Rei didn't want it. Ami remembered how she began to wonder if Minako cared about Rei more than a leader should care about her soldiers. But then she came to the conclusion it wouldn't be too big of a surprise. Minako was the goddess of love and beauty, and she believed love shouldn't be defined by gender. Rei was also extremely beautiful, so that also made it unsurprising that Minako had fallen for her so hard. "I remember," Minako spoke up, a sad smile crossing her lips. "when she first arrived on the Moon. She was so against being there, and she just wanted to go back to Mars. I felt bad for her, and even though I felt the same way that she did, I hid it. At first I started teasing her because I liked the way she got so irritated, and eventually, she did the same back to me. We weren't too friendly towards each other at first, especially since we both wanted the position of the leader of the senshi. But really, I just wanted her friendship. She'd drawn me in the moment I'd seen her...she was undeniably attractive and so unlike anyone I'd ever met before. On Venus, I'd been raised on love and the beauty of things around me. She was brought up on the complete opposite. She'd been raised on the hideousness of her desolate planet and warfare. I was really surprised someone like her managed to survive on a planet like Mars. "After I'd been chosen as the leader, things between she and I cooled down. We still teased each other, but we weren't nearly as cruel as we were before. I even got her to open up a bit, and soon, we became best friends. And...over time..." Minako paused, her voice becoming uneven and sad. Usagi looked at her sympathetically because of what she herself had gone through with Mamoru. She knew how it felt to have to keep secret how strongly you felt about someone for the greater good. She also felt...guilty. If it wasn't for her, maybe the two of them could've been together both in the past life, and in this one as well. She wanted to curse her mother for plucking such young, innocent girls from their homes just to watch her daughter, Princess Serenity, because the Princess was too much of a coward and klutz to look after herself. "And over time," Minako went on, finding it hard to keep her voice from wavering. "I fell in love with her. I'd never felt anything like it before. It was so amazing, so wonderful...yet so scary at the same time. But I knew I couldn't admit to her what I felt. Not only did I strongly doubt that she felt the same thing for me, but she and I could never be. My duty, along with the rest of us, was to watch the Princess and protect her." A tear escaped Usagi's eye. She hurriedly wiped it away before anyone could notice, but Makoto did. "Usagi?" she asked worriedly. "I'm so sorry," Usagi sobbed. "It's all my fault that you suffered so much, Minako. If I hadn't been such a nuisance... Maybe things could have been different between you and Rei. I'm so selfish." Minako's eyes widened. Makoto put a comforting hand on Usagi's back and rubbed. "That's not true. I was happy to look after you." Ami nodded in agreement. "Me too. I'm so glad we all became such good friends. In the past life and this one as well, you've brought us all together. I'd be alone right now and Mako-chan wouldn't have Motoki if it wasn't for you, Usagi-chan." Usagi sniffed and shook her head. She was unconvinced. "Usagi," Minako called to her. "Usagi." She bore her eyes into Usagi, trying to get the girl to look up. After a few moments, the girl finally made eye contact with her childhood/teen idol. Minako smiled at her warmly. "Mako and Ami are right. If it hadn't been for you, I would have never met Rei at all. As the saying goes, 'It's better to have loved once than to have never loved before'." "Well actually, I think the saying is more like-" Ami started but Minako cut her off. "Now's not the time to get technical, Ami-chan," she said with a wink. Ami blushed and ran a hand through her long, jet-black hair. "The point is, if it wasn't for you, I might have never felt love. You know better than anyone how strong that feeling is, and how overwhelming it can be. Even as Venus, I still had trouble with it. Who knew the Princess of the Moon would help me out with such a problem, ne?" she joked. Usagi giggled and wiped the tears away from her cheek. "Thank you, Usagi-chan. You didn't only allow me to fall in love with Mars, but you also helped me fall in love with Hino Rei too. I owe you everything." Usagi grinned, quickly returning to her normal self. "Well...you don't owe me everything... But Maybe..." Ami and Makoto knew where this was going the moment their odango-haired friend started speaking. "You could...give-me-exclusive-front-row-tickets-and-backstage-passes-to-your-concert-at-the-end-of-the-month!" They were amazed. Usagi had managed to get all of that out in one single breath. Everyone chuckled, including Usagi. "Of course."
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