'My heart is the worst weapon.' --------------- "Why are you sitting all by yourself?" Rei frowned. She had no unearthly idea why this strange girl felt the need to ask so many questions. She was actually quite content to sit in the grass by herself, watching the other children play. But every time she tried to have a little quiet time, this girl would follow her every move, and ask strange questions. Couldn't she ever be quiet? A slight frown graced her features. Maybe if she ignored the weird blonde, she'd find someone else to bother. No such luck. "What's your name?" No reply. "What's the matter? Don't you have one?" "Can you talk? I knew this one girl once back on my planet, but she couldn't talk, so everyone had to make hand gestures to talk to her, and it was really hard to remember everything, but I tried really hard., and I learned to say three different things, only I can't remember them now, so I don't know if I can help! Oh no! What will we do if you can't talk??" At this last statement, the little blonde looked fairly stressed indeed, as if the whole universe's existence hinged on Rei saying something to prove she wasn't mute. The dark haired girl eyed the blonde over. She wore a frilly little dress, and adorning her long golden hair was a ridiculously large red bow. In her arms she clutched a tattered stuffed bear with one missing eye, and a rather large rip going down one leg. She looked as though every day of her life had been just perfect. Rei decided at that point that it would be best if she said nothing at all. She had only been here on the moon for two days, but already, all she wanted to do was go home. These people were strange, and she didn't like the way some of the staff whispered when she walked past. She really didn't like the way everyone smiled at her, like they were all sad for her or something. The queen was constantly trying to hug her, and the little princess was always talking, nonstop. Now she had this wierdo following her. If only she had a home to go back to. Tears prickled her eyes at the thought of her parents. No. She couldn't cry. She had promised her mom that she wouldn't cry, and that she would tell the moon people what happened on Mars. But as she looked at the perfect little girl in front of her, she couldn't help but wonder what they would all think of her. They'd probably laugh at her for being a baby, or worse, punish her for not being able to take care of her mother. Yes. It was best to not say anything, because she had no where else to go. The blonde plopped down into the grass next to her and smiled. "You know, it's ok if you can't talk. I'll still be your friend." Rei dropped her eyes to the ground and studied her hands intently. There were still dark brown traces of blood around her fingernails. One of the ladies in the moon palace had finally cornered her and dumped her into a bath, muttering something about poor war orphans. She had seemed dead set on scrubbing all of the brown smudges off of Rei's hands, no matter how much she squirmed. Funny. When the lady saw that she couldn't get it all off, she had cried. Rei wished she knew why. If she could make grown-ups cry that easily, what could she do to other kids? "My name is Minako." the blonde chirped happily. She held up the rather beaten bear by an arm. "And this is Mister Booboo Alfred Whitmore Sprinkle Sparkle the Third." she gave a self satisfied nod, and leaned close to Rei's ear. "We don't talk about what happened to the other two bears. It makes Mister the Third upset." she whispered seriously. Rei blinked, taken aback. She gave the blonde another once over, and then did the same to the bear, before bursting into laughter. "No way..." "Heeeey! You can talk!" Minako declared happily. "Why didn't you say so before?" "I don't know." Rei admitted, frowning slightly. "It's ok. What's your name?" "I don't have one." "What are you talking about?" Minako asked, clearly confused. "Everyone has a name." she shook her bear for emphasis. "Look at him! He has five!" "Yeah, well, that's because you're weird." "I'm not weird. The Queen says I'm a character, whatever that means." Minako replied, face scrunching up in thought. "Maybe it's a nice way of saying you're weird?" The blonde laughed, and Rei felt a little better, though she couldn't understand why. "I like you. You're funny. You should really tell me your name." "What if I don't want to?" "Well, I can just go ask the Queen. She'll tell me." Minako retorted, sticking out her tongue. Oh great, in trouble already. She sighed, and swallowed her fear. "Rei." "Hello Rei!" the blonde said with a bright smile. "Now that we know you can talk, let's go play with the other kids. Watching is boring!" The raven haired girl nodded slowly, and the funny feeling in her gut warned her that every time she saw that smile on the blonde from now on, she was going to get into trouble. -------------------------- Mars gasped, the extreme pain in her skull snapping her awake. She writhed in agony, clutching her head in her hands. "Don't fight it. It hurts less if you just give in." 'Fight it?? Fight what??' The soldier slammed her head back , and absently noted that she was no longer on the pretty colored floor. Something soft was cushioning her skull and rubbing her shoulders soothingly, but it certainly didn't help the pain. Her blood burned in her veins, as though it were made of pure fire. "Just a few moments more. I promise." 'Minako. Oh God, I want to see Minako.' Once more, her world went dark. ----------------------------- "So what do you want to be when you grow up?" Minako asked with a grin, pausing in her digging to take a long swig of water from a dusty canteen. "I don't know. Maybe supreme ruler of the universe. I haven't really decided." Rei grunted, dropping her own shovel. "And that's a rather pointless question, don't you think?" the blonde shrugged in response, taking another sip. "Hey, don't drink all of it." Mars said grumpily, swiping the canteen. The blonde rolled her eyes. "Honestly. There's plenty here. And how is this supposed to help our training? Just what are we digging anyway??" Rei smirked. "That's what we get for taking orders from a talking hairball." She raised her eyes to the rim of the enormous hole she and Minako had dug themselves into. Hn. Had to be at least twelve feet deep. "I heard that." Artemis interjected, his tone slightly hurt. "You're not digging anything special. It's just good exercise for your back, and it builds good upper arm strength.. Your arms are getting flabby. Minako grinned. "Come down here and say that." "No way." the feline huffed from his perch on the hole's edge. "And you've been spending way too much time with Rei." "Hey! What's that supposed to mean?" the raven haired girl growled. "It means that you've got a bad attitude." the blonde replied with a laugh. "Yeah, well what's that say about you?" Rei retorted. "He is also implying that you've picked up on some of my bad traits." "Hey, I'm just an impressionable teenager. You need to stop being so...um...pressionable." "What? That's not even a WORD." "Yeah, well, just shut up!" the blonde stammered, blushing faintly. Rei eyed her strangely. "Why are you getting all embarrassed?" "I'm not! It's just hot. Give me a drink!" "No way! You've had over half the bottle!" "Whatever! You are obviously hallucinating under these extreme conditions." the blonde replied. "You are the greedy one." "Extreme conditions? We're in a hole." "Yeah, well, it's an extreme condition when I'm stuck in here with you!" Minako declared angrily. "It makes everything one hundred times worse!" "Argh!! Artemis??" Rei called from the bottom of the hole. "I'm getting out of here! I can't work with this woman, and I use THAT term loosely." "Hey!!" Minako cried in protest. The cat rolled his eyes. "Here we go again." A large thump resounded from the bottom of the pit, and he shook his head in disbelief. "Did you just hit me with the shovel???" Rei demanded. "You did! You just hit me with your damn shovel!!" "Wow, Martians are slow. Don't be such a baby!" "Baby??" Rei snapped, grabbing her own shovel. "I'll show you who's the baby!" "Aie!! Artemis!! She's going to beat me with her shovel!!" Minako cried plaintively. "That's it!" The feline replied. "I'm out of here! You two can get out by yourselves!" "Ugh, now look what you did!" Minako declared. "Me?? This is your fault!" Rei cried. "No it's not!" "Yes it is! God, whatever I did wrong to deserve this, I'm sorry already!" "Not as sorry as you're going to be!" Minako chirped, swiping the canteen back and draining it of it's contents.. "Hey! Greedy little witch!!" "You take that back!!" "Make me!" Artemis sighed tiredly as he made his way back to the palace. "Those two were made for each other." -------------------- Sunlight? Yes, sunlight. It felt like it had been forever since Mars had seen the sun. Wait. She frowned internally. Last thing she remembered, she was in pain, in the dark. How did she get outside? She took a look around her. Everything was desolate and cold. Snow as far as the eye could see. She turned her eyes upwards to the sky, and sucked in her breath. She could see the moon, a thin sliver of it anyway. Almost a thumbnail. "Looks small from down here, doesn't it?" Rei turned to face the speaker. "Mother? How did I get out here?" "You walked." "I don't remember." Mars replied with a slight frown. "The power does that to you. As it replaces the silver energy in your bloodstream, you lose things. Things you remember, things you've done, everything has a price." Rei tensed. "Funny. No one told me that." "Don't fight it." "You keep saying that." Mars snapped, but the woman only smiled in response. Typical. The soldier sighed. "Tell me something. How did you survive the battle on Mars? How did I survive? By all rights, I should be dead." "I was barely conscious when one of her witches found me. The woman could sense the need for revenge in my heart, and asked me if I'd like the power to get it." her mother smiled sadly, and shook her head. "My only condition was that they help you." "Hindsight is twenty-twenty." Rei quipped dryly. The comment was ignored. "We both died that day." "What?" "You did see my body, though I'm sure it's practically dust by now. They were kind enough to make me a new one. But with you, the witch had to use her magics to resuscitate you. I think that's what makes you so sensitive to magic and demons. You can sense them before you see them, right?" "Sometimes." "With more practice, you may develop skills further than you can imagine." The fire soldier fell silent, letting her thoughts drift back to the moon. She noted with a growing sense of alarm that she didn't want to go home as badly as she had before. A frightening concept to say the least. Just what the hell had they been doing to her? She was supposed to remain in control, but that notion appeared to be fading fast. In place of homesickness, she was finding herself to be growing comfortably numb. The helper. Her mother. Why was she letting her guard down so much around her? She was the enemy. The enemy. She had to focus on that. Her ears began to ring, and she shook her head to try and clear her mind. Things began to grow fuzzy, and she really began to panic. Was it another blackout, or was she going to lose something else she held dear? Her mother smiled. "See? You're fighting it. But you can't fight it forever." Mars narrowed her eyes. Definitely not something any mother should say, but it was too late. Hindsight was always twenty-twenty. ------------------------ A piercing scream resounded through the soldier's barracks, and Mars took off like a shot in the direction of the racket, blade drawn. Minako's room. It was coming from Minako's room! She was going so fast she damn near missed the door, stumbling comically to try and stop in time. The warrior called to Venus through the heavy door, and upon getting no response, jiggled the handle. Locked. Without a moment's hesitation, she brought up her foot and kicked the door in, charging into the room like a knight in shining armor. ...or not. A very naked Goddess of Love screeched in distress and grabbed the nearest object to try and cover herself. To the fire soldier's distress, it turned out to be nothing more than a tiny washcloth. All the blood rushed to her face as she stammered out several near incomprehensible apologies, looking as though her head were about to rupture. "That's wonderful and all, but seriously, would you mind turning around?" Venus demanded. She didn't think it was possible, but she noted with a great degree of satisfaction that Rei was turning even redder, to the point where the blonde noted that the tips of her ears and even her scalp was flushed. Mars spun rapidly on her heels and faced the nearest wall, cursing all the gods she could name internally. "I'm so sorry Minako. I heard you screaming, and I thought something was wrong! I just wanted to make sure you were alright, that's all it was! I swear!" "Well, you should have seen the size of that spider! You would have screamed too!" Rei stiffened. "A spider?" "Yes!" "Wait, you were scared of a spider?" "It was huge, and it was looking right at me!" Mars forgot all about the predicament she was in, and turned to face the blonde. "Are you kidding me?? I made an ass out of myself for THAT??" "Argh! Turn around! God, I'm starting to think you are in love with me or something." "I AM NOT!" Mars declared hotly, but the red hue coloring her face suggested she was most certainly having an issue. "Then turn around!!" Minako was positive that the vessels in Rei's face burst at last as she faced the wall once more. Had she been willing to give up the game already, she would have started laughing, but she knew pushing the fire soldier to the limit was going to take way more than this. "I just can't believe you'd be scared of a spider." Rei continued lamely. "I mean, after all the horrible hell-beasts and demons we've fought, a spider couldn't possibly freak you out." "Well, I am a female, or hadn't you noticed?" "I noticed." Mars mumbled. Now fully clothed, the blonde took it upon herself to tease the Martian a tiny bit more. She stepped up behind Rei, and moved her lips close to her ear. "You'll have to tell me. Did you see anything you liked?" Mars jumped, as though she had been burned. "No!" "So I'm not pleasing to the eye?" "Hey! I didn't mean it like that!" "No? So you did like it?" Rei tossed her hands up in the air. This was going nowhere fast, and she knew that the longer she stayed in this room, the worse things were going to get. "I have to go. I have to go do things, and stuff. So uh, yeah. Bye." Venus smirked as the soldier bolted from the room. Mission accomplished. But how the hell was she going to fix the door? ------------------- Mars jerked roughly as she snapped back into her body. A plain room. Bare grey walls. She found herself seated in a simple wooden chair, across from a rickety bed. Her armor and her blade lay on the mattress, and for the life of her, she couldn't figure out how they had gotten there. She racked her brain, desperately trying to remember where she was, and why she was there. She was supposed to be doing something, but what? Her muscles were trembling violently, like she had way too much energy built up in them, and she had to fight the urge to just start pounding on the nearest object. How long had she been here? The enemy. She was supposed to take out the enemy. Who the hell was the enemy? Her foggy mind struggled to grasp at the threads of her memories, and she was able to pull up the faces of those she had grown up with. Her friends. Minako. Screaming pain ripped through her skull. 'I get it. Oh god, I get it. The more I fight to hold onto my memories of her, the more I lose. I can't believe I thought I could control this.' "One more day." an unfamiliar voice whispered in her mind. "Just one more, and you're ours." "I can't believe I would forget that you were the enemy." Mars spat out, as blood began to trickle out of her ears and nose. She wiped the blood off of her face with a shaking hand and slid to the floor. "That's because you've been fighting for all the wrong reasons." ---------------------- "And what the hell would you call that?" Minako demanded, pointing to the hideous beast that was eyeing her as though she were a tasty snack. "That would be a horse." Rei replied calmly, adjusting the saddle and patting the mare affectionately. "And she won't hurt you." "Ha. It wants me to THINK that." The fire soldier arched an eyebrow. "What, you didn't have these back on Venus?" "Oh, we did." the blonde replied. "I distinctly recall a very unpleasant incident on my fifth birthday involving a pony." she shuddered at the memory and shook her head. "I'm not even going to ask." "I think it's best that way." Minako agreed. "I don't like to talk about it." Rei laughed. "I guess we all have things in our past we'd rather not discuss." "How very true. I don't think I can ever remember you talking about Mars." The soldier tensed slightly, but shook it off quickly. "There's just nothing to tell." Minako frowned inwardly. She could almost see the wall that had slammed down in front of her, and it was beginning to drive her nuts. All she had wanted this whole time was to get closer to Rei, but so far the raven haired woman had thwarted her every attempt. Honestly. It's not like they were complete strangers. They had spent almost fourteen years together, side by side. So what was the hold up? "Well Blondie, do you want to do this or not?" Mars questioned, breaking her train of thought. Venus cast her a dubious look. "You want me to climb up on that thing?" "I'll be right here. Don't worry." "Whenever you say that, something bad happens." Minako muttered darkly. "That was ONE time! How was I supposed to know that the bug demon was going to explode?" "Easy for you to say. Do you have any idea how long it took me to get all that gunk out of my hair?" "Seven hours. Yes. You never let me forget." Rei grumbled. "Exactly!" "Mina, get on the damn horse." "Fine. Do you have to be so pushy?" Minako asked with a toss of her hair. "Yes. Do you have to be so aggravating?" "Yes, because you're cute when you're mad." "Shut up." Rei snapped as her cheeks flushed. "Aww, see? Just like that!" "Get on the horse, or so help me, I'll make her bite you!" The blonde gave her a sheepish grin. "Um, I'm not sure how I'm supposed to do this." Mars sighed. "It's easy. Here." she pressed the reins into the blonde's left hand and gave her a nod. "Just grab the horn of the saddle and put your left foot into the stirrup here." Minako complied, and gave Rei another nervous look. "Is she going to toss me through the air?" "Only if you kick her." "Wonderful." "It'll be fine." Rei promised. "I'm right here." Minako blinked, and opened her mouth to object. "Don't even say it." Mars said with a laugh. "Poor choice of words on my part." "Indeed." "Now, you need to push up hard on your right leg, and swing it over to the other side. Don't let go, and try your best not to wobble. Just lean forward towards her head." "Here goes nothing." Minako mumbled, doing exactly as Mars had instructed. The horse swayed to the left slightly, making it rather difficult for her to get her right leg over. Rei stepped forward quickly and gave the blonde's butt a gentle push. giving her enough momentum to make it over. "Hey now! What was that??" Venus cried. "Got you up there, didn't it?" "Any excuse to grope me." "You wish." The mare whinnied, and began to bounce Minako around. She jumped, and threw Rei a panicked look. "What do I do? It's going to kill me!" Mars chuckled quietly and shook her head. "You're fine. She's barely moving." "Lies!" the blonde cried. "It has murderous intent in it's eyes!!" "You can't even see her eyes." "That's not the point! You get up here, or I'm getting down!" Rei let out a long, suffering sigh. "You're kidding, right?" The horse bucked slightly, and Minako let out a squeak of distress. "Oh fine." she huffed, grasping the back of the saddle. She pushed herself up and unto the horse with next to no effort, sliding behind Venus. "I can't believe I'm doing this." Minako blushed at the close contact, thankful that the Martian couldn't see her face. Her heart began to hammer in her chest as Rei slid her arms around her waist, and gently tugged the reins out of her hands. With a light tap of her heels, the horse was moving, but the blonde had all but forgotten about the hideous death beast she was riding. "See? Is this so bad?" Rei asked quietly. "I'm starting to think this is the best idea you've ever had." "I get those. Once in awhile anyway. I just think horseback riding is relaxing." "Funny, because I can't breathe." Minako whispered. "I'm sorry, I didn't catch that." "Huh? Oh, just talking to myself." Minako said with a light laugh. "We blondes tend to do that from time to time." "Shouldn't do that, especially since you've got a perfectly good person to talk to right here." "Now what could I possibly have to say to someone who goes out of their way to grope me?" "Oh, not this again." Mars groaned. "Admit it!" "Fine. I admit it. You're crazy." "Not that!!" Rei laughed. "Truth hurts." "You're impossible." Venus huffed. "You started it." Mars pointed out. "Excuses, excuses." The fire soldier grinned, and held onto Minako a little tighter. "What are you doing?" "Wouldn't want you to fall, princess." "Fall?" the blonde repeated, confused. "Yeah." Mars dug her heels into the horse's side, and it was off like a shot. As Minako leaned back into her, Rei discovered that she just couldn't shake the funny feeling that had tweaked her heart. Relaxing? Hardly. ---------------- "Mars? How are you feeling today?" Violet eyes cracked open slowly. "How do you think I feel? I want to get out of here already." Her mother laughed quietly. "That's a good sign." "Is it? I feel like I'm going to crawl right out of my skin if I don't do something soon." "And if I let you leave here now, what would you do? Where would you go?" "I want my revenge." Rei spat out. "On who?" "The people of the moon." "Why?" Mars faltered there. "I'm not even sure anymore." "That's because they've warped your thinking. They've stolen your life away, binding you to an unjustified destiny, forcing you to bleed for people who were never there when you needed them most." The soldier looked uncertain, shadows of doubt flittering across her face. "Don't worry, little warrior. Soon, everything will be clear. In the meantime, we just need you to rest, and gather your strength. You have a mission coming up." "Really?" "Yes, we'll be sending you out with one of the Earth generals. It'll be a good chance for you to stretch your legs. What do you think?" "When can I leave?" ----------------------- Minako murmured restlessly in her sleep, tossing and turning. The Martian could tell from the tension radiating from her body that she was having a nightmare, and her heart went out to the girl. She inched closer to the blonde on the bed, and wrapped an arm around her, pulling her close. "Hey, Mina. Wake up. You're having a bad dream." "Uh?" "Exactly." Mars replied with a smile, kissing her forehead. Venus rubbed the sleep from her eyes and let out a small yawn. "I'm sorry. Did I keep you awake?" "It's ok." Rei whispered soothingly, gently caressing her back. "I wasn't sleeping anyway." "It was so weird." Minako said, snuggling closer. "I had a dream that you went somewhere, and I couldn't follow you to bring you back." "Huh. I don't know where I'd go." "Me neither. So just don't go anywhere, and we won't have a problem." the blonde replied with a conclusive nod. Rei laughed quietly. "I can't think of anywhere else I'd rather be." "Good. You know that I love you, right?" Mars blinked. "That was kind of random." "I'm all about the random." "I've noticed. And you know that I love you too." Minako giggled. "What?" "It's just surreal, you know?" the blonde explained with a smile. "A year ago, I couldn't even picture you being like this." "I've come to the very scientific conclusion that love makes you crazy." "That doesn't sound very scientific." "It does to me. But then again, I must be crazy." Rei muttered. Minako's only reply was to lean forward and kiss the fire soldier. -------------------- Mars donned her armor, and inspected her blade one last time before sliding it into it's sheath. "Are you ready?" "Yes." "This is your chance to prove your loyalty to Queen Beryl, so it's very important that you fulfill all your mission requirements." her mother said with a nod. "Understood." "Kill anyone who tries to stop you." Rei smiled darkly. "Not a problem."
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