As the fresh night air hit her, Minako felt immensely better. Already, what had transpired inside the cave felt like a dream. Had she really felt that evil presence after all? Or was it just… No. She couldn’t pretend it didn’t happen. Rei felt it too. Just because it was difficult didn’t mean she shouldn’t deal with it. Come on… where’s your old responsible self, Minako? She could not start slacking off now just because she was supposed to be more relaxed. Yes, she wasn’t going to be focused only on her duty, and she would value her life with what it deserved, but that didn’t mean she would suddenly abandon her responsibilities. Somehow, she would have to find a balance between the two. Between being responsible and being… open. Fun. Warm. Being the other girls’ friend.

The word still seemed odd even in her head. Friends… was that what they really were? Could it be true that she had four new friends now? People she could depend on? No more going it alone every time. And yet… she was still the leader. And it was still her duty to protect her princess. She didn’t want to drag Usagi back into this, not so soon after everything, if she could help it.

Listening to Rei’s words, she felt again that warmth that had filled her all day. The warmth of offered companionship. Of how it felt to be loved and cared about, not just idolized. Minako nodded. “I’ll be there,” she said, actually meaning it. Well, after she checked out the cave one more time, that was. She genuinely believed that what Rei said was true; that the other girls would appreciate her presence. She grinned and thought again about how much the world knew about her demise before she came back. “Kind of hard to hide when you’re famous.”

She turned toward Rei and stood there awkwardly for a moment. “Okay. Well… good night then. This was a good day. A great day. Thank you for… for taking me to the others. For convincing me to.” She realized all the things she never really got to say to Rei—all the thanks she owed—that she hadn’t even managed to write in that last letter. Now knowing that life was short, she knew better than to save it for another time. “I really appreciate everything you’ve done for me, Rei. I mean… more than the other girls, you were the one who never really gave up on me.” She stepped forward then and hugged Rei one more time. “So… I’ll see you tomorrow,” she said with a smile.

ooc:

Now that they were saying goodbye, things felt kind of awkward. A part of Rei wanted to deny the fact that she was saying goodbye at all. They would see eachother soon, so it wasn’t such a bad thing, right? It occured to her that she didn’t have this same kind of reaction when saying goodbye to her other friends. But perhaps it was simply because Minako was now the last one she was saying goodbye to, which brought to mind the idea that she would be going home to the shrine all alone.

That had to be the main reason.

Listening to Minako, Rei returned her smile, though she wanted to tell Minako that it wasn’t necessary. But Minako wasn’t hiding right now, and so Rei didn’t interrupt her, and said nothing at all until Minako was completely finished.

“I’ll never give up on you,” Rei replied, as she pulled away from the hug. The words were said in a stronger way than Rei had intended, but they were true. Before she could start to feel as if she had said something a little too sappy, Rei gave a small wave. “Yeah, see you tomorrow.”

She smiled again, before turning away and walking towards the shrine. The walk home wasn’t that much quieter. She and Minako hadn’t spoken all that much when walking back from the cave. The quiet had never really bothered Rei, and even in the dark cool night, she didn’t feel uncomfortable.

It was the sudden loneliness that bothered her most.



Being back in the bright headquarters room felt good. Even though she had spent the night and the first half of the morning at the shrine, Rei didn’t feel as though she had truly come home until stepping through the doors and walking into this room.

It held a lot of memories. Most of them good, a few bad. But it was nice to be back here, amongst the color coded chairs, the bright colorful candy jars and Usagi’s favorite karaoke machine.

She was the first one to arrive here, but she knew that her friends would show up at some point throughout the day. She looked forward to seeing her friends again. It was still a kind of strange thing to admit, having been solitary most of her life until meeting the others, but she long gave up trying to deny that she loved all of them dearly.

Rei sat down upon her chair, glanced around again at the bright and warm surroundings, and finally felt relaxed.

ooc:

ooc:

Morning had come, and Minako had risen bright and early. Somehow, after all that ‘sleep’—she didn’t like to think of it as death—she couldn’t stand getting too much of it again so soon after. So she got the bare minimum and was already in the shower before 7 am. She wanted to get to the cave as soon as possible, before Rei could realize she was missing.

Carrying a flashlight, Minako had retraced the steps she’d taken last night, only this time she was alone. It felt… vulnerable, somehow, to not have someone watching her back, and maybe this was foolish. After all, she had only just gotten her life back, and here she was risking it again instead of being careful. But she just didn’t want to involve the others. They’d been so happy about getting to be with each other again, and they probably wouldn’t even notice she was missing until much later. It was always the four of them anyway, right?

She had always been the odd one out, and she was sure if it was her… if anything should happen to anyone, it was better that it happened to her than any of the other girls. They were used to not having her around. They would miss her the least.

She also knew Rei would be incredibly pissed about this.

But Rei didn’t need to know.

Minako stood at the mouth of the cave and took a deep breath. She could feel her resolve wavering; the images of the girls embracing her so warmly from yesterday still fresh in her mind. How she wanted nothing more than to abandon this mission and meet up with them like she was supposed to.

But she also knew she couldn’t. Someone needed to make sure the world was still safe, and she was already here. Might as well go through with it.

Minako stepped into the cave and shone the light in front of her carefully.

Hopefully, she’d find nothing and could get back to everyone before she incurred Rei’s wrath.

Ami was first to arrive. With a small smile, she joined Rei at the table, taking her normal blue colored chair. She looked comfortable here, more comfortable than most other places. Rei returned the smile, and the two of them chatted together about light things.

Makoto arrived next, hands full with a large bag of goodies she had cooked up just for her friends. The scent of the treats made even Rei's mouth water, and they all indulge in one of them before the last two of their friends arrived. There was enough for everyone, Makoto had reasoned, no one would notice three of them missing.

Minutes passed, and Rei found herself no longer listening as intently to the conversations. Her mind took her elsewhere, wondering where Usagi and Minako were. Usagi, well, it wasn't such a surprise that she was late. For her to arrive last was a normal occurance, nothing strange there.

But Minako...

Where was she? Minako wasn't the type to be late, and Rei had honestly suspected that Minako would be one of the very first to arrive. However, more time was passing, and still no Minako.  

Usagi arrived, a flurry of limbs and apologies as she rushed into the room. Rei smiled to her in greeting, but she was already distracted moments after. This was the last straw. There was no way that Minako was simply just late. Perhaps she didn't want to come. It did seem harder for her to feel included in everything, despite all of the reassurances. But surely Minako knew by now that if she didn't feel comfortable, Rei was going to find her and force her into these situations until she did feel comfortable. This second chance of theirs was not going to be wasted by being apart. They all should be together, end of story.

Or what if she was hurt somewhere? No, that didn't sound right either. Minako was more than capable of taking care of herself in most situations. And with their enemies gone, there weren't many other kinds of problems that could arise.

Except, what if they weren't all gone? Images of last night and the trip through the cave all flashed in her mind, and Rei suddenly knew exactly where Minako was.

She stood up, hands clenched, and already she was grabbing her jacket. No way was she going to let Minako get away with this. They were a team, and there was no need for any one of them to do something like that alone. What if something happened to her? No, that wasn't going to happen. Rei wouldn't let it.

And Rei was going to force that thought into Minako's stubborn head until the other girl finally realized that she was serious about this.

"Rei-chan?"

Usagi's question caught Rei off guard. She had almost forgotten that the others were here. Her anger forced everything else out of her thought process.

She turned to her friends. "I'm going to go get Minako, I'll be back in a little bit, okay?" She didn't wait for them to say anything in return, and already walked towards the door.

It was perhaps hypocritical of her, to not tell them about the cave, when she was so angry at Minako for essentially the same thing. But this was different, she told herself. Minako was being stupid, and she had to go stop her.

Stomping her way up the stairs, Rei glared at anything in her path. Minako Aino would not get away with that kind of behavior this time around.

Minako walked deeper into the cave, back to the spot where they had picked up their weapons and sensed that lingering evil. She felt strangely comforted in the familiar loneliness even though she knew it was a bad habit to encourage. Still, it was the only thing she ever knew of… and she wanted to protect the other girls. They didn’t deserve to have their peace robbed from them again so soon.

Standing there in the now empty space, Minako closed her eyes and tried to concentrate. At first, she felt nothing out of the ordinary at all. She knew that Rei’s psychic sense was much better than hers, but she had a head start with this senshi business. Which meant she knew quite a lot about evil presence herself. Never mind that she had awakened her true powers the last. She was still their leader, right?

There.

It was faint, but she could sense it. It seemed as if it was trying to hide itself, but at the same time it was growing, making it more difficult to cloak itself. Minako concentrated even more, and finally was able to pinpoint it to a specific direction. She stepped carefully toward it, wanting to see it for herself before she transformed. Perhaps it was unwise approaching it unarmed like this, but she wanted to know what she was facing first.

What she found was nothing she had seen before. As she shone her flashlight to the deepest, darkest recess of the cave, she gasped at what it revealed. A simple writing mass of darkness, shapeless but emanating an aura of evil all the same, was staring back at her. It had a pair of red eyes but otherwise had no solid form. It seemed as if it might have been a leftover energy from the destruction of the Dark Kingdom. Just pure, concentrated dark energy, but it didn’t mean it wasn’t any less dangerous.

She raised her bracelet and called out quickly, “Venus Power, Make Up!”

In a flash, she was transformed, staring down the dark creature with chain in hand. She was about to release an attack, but all she got out was, “Crescent B—” before the dark mass lashed out on her, much faster than she ever thought it could be.

The force was also stronger than she imagined. With a scream, she found herself flying backwards rapidly, her back hitting the cave wall roughly a second later. Venus lay on the ground in disbelief. The breath had been knocked out of her, and the creature moved forward, growing impossibly large, threatening to swallow her whole.

She might have underestimated what she was facing.

Even with her steady angry pace, it still took longer to reach the cave than Rei would have liked. The whole way there, Rei's mind whirled with varying ways in how she could reprimand Minako for doing this. Alone. Again.

Rei shook her head to clear it before her anger took over once more. First, find Minako. Then the yelling could begin.

As soon as she stepped into the cave, she felt something. Dark and evil, emanating strong and thick. Rei's eyes widened in surprise. What kind of creature could create such a strong presence of power?

She ran, focusing her psychic powers to lead her in the right direction. As she drew closer, recognized the area as the same place where she and Minako had been just the day before. It was difficult to think of it as a simple coincidence.

Sounds of movement caught Rei's attention next. And the golden presence of a certain senshi as well.

As if in reply, Rei raised her arm and called out, "Mars Power, Make Up!"

With a rush of hot power, and a flash of light, her transformation was complete. Sailor Mars ran the last few steps to join her friend. Her stupid stupid friend.

Stepping into the big cavernous area, Mars's eyes first found Venus. She looked as though she had been fighting for some time now. Dirty and disheaveled. A part of Mars wanted to say that it served her right. But concern and worry outweighed that grumpy thought.

"Are you okay?" The words were out before Mars even assessed the rest of the situation. But the situation would no longer be ignored.

She felt the creature, the shapeless mass, far before she looked at it. The evil darkness coming from it was thick and heavy, touching everything as if trying to taint it with its own power. Mars felt nauseous being this close to it. Her psychic senses were on overload.

But she was a warrior, and she knew an enemy when she saw one. She raised her hands, twisting them into opposite arcs as she called out, "Akuyro Taisan!"

Her aim was true, but at the last second, in a blur of black movement, the mass moved out of the way, and the attacked hit uselessly against the cavern wall. How could something so shapeless be so quick?

Mars turned around to face the creature once again, but just as her eyes found it, it attacked, quick and hard. She flew back towards the other side of the cavern, landing onto the ground in a heap. Mars coughed as she tried to regain her breath. It was stronger than she had thought it would be. Its speed was incredible, and would be hard to counter.

Her eyes found Venus again, conveying her own fears, and perhaps a bit of lingering anger, without needing to speak outloud. Defeating this creature would be no easy feat.

But together, maybe they stood a chance.

Minako heard Rei’s transformation call and immediately knew she was in even more trouble. In fact, the evil creature no longer posed a real threat with Rei beside her. Facing the senshi of flame was far more terrifying now, because Minako knew for sure she would be pissed. And the moment she saw Sailor Mars running in, Venus knew she was right. That face was the face of someone most displeased with her.

Still, the first words out of her mouth were concern for Venus. This was why Mars intrigued and frustrated her. She was so complex and impossible to figure out sometimes. But it was also those traits that made her such a great senshi. Someone with a strong determination who also cared about her friends and the person she was meant to protect deeply. Someone whose devotion was only rivaled by Venus herself.

“I’m fine,” she said primly, getting back to her feet in one quick motion. Some part of her, the prideful lone senshi part, still did not like to show weakness, and especially not in front of Mars. “I’ve got this.”

But when she saw Mars’ attack miss completely, and then the creature retaliated, knocking her hard to the ground, Venus realized that no, maybe she had not. “Mars!” She was the one who ran to her friend’s side this time. Real fear started to course through her, one that she saw mirrored on Mars’ eyes. And just like that, she understood.

Each of them against this creature would have no chance. But together?

That was the point Rei—for it was Rei, not Mars—had been trying to drill into her head, wasn’t it? She kept telling Minako that together they were stronger, that they were meant to rely on each other because they were a team. Venus alone could not have defeated Metalia, and now Venus alone could not defeat this evil, whatever it was.

She needed to learn to be a team player, fast.

Venus recalled the one time they’d moved in perfect sync, without the need of words, coordinating their attack flawlessly in that church. This was what they were meant to do.

Recalling the weapon she never got to use, Venus mentally called the Star Tambourine into her hand, and this time, it was her who wielded her rightful weapon. With a quick prayer to Venus, her planet, the star morphed into one half of the pair of daggers, and she looked at Mars.

“Let’s do it together,” she said simply, bringing the dagger up in front of her.

Mod Note: Per the rules, a thread will be moved to the Graveyard if it has been in-active for one month. This thread has been in-active for one month, so it will be moved to the Graveyard if no activity is shown.

The Graveyard is the place inactive role-plays go to rest. If a role-play has been inactive for one month, then the role-play will be moved to the Graveyard. But, not to worry! Sailor Saturn can always use her glaive to resurrect any role-play if she is asked.

Because Pluto is on LOA, I will give two weeks for a post to be made. If a post is not made by then, this roleplay will be moved to the Graveyard.

The golden warmth of Venus's power filled the dark cave as she summoned her weapon. The dark mass recoiled from the light, and fell back into the shadows, biding its time. It continued to move, seeming to ooze from one place to another.

Mars kept an eye on the monster, split between it and Venus. Seeing her fellow senshi, her friend, wielding the dagger that was rightfully hers for the first time brought a sense of pride. This felt right. She could feel the specific energy signature that the dagger emanating in waves. It felt familiar, welcoming. Mars knew that if the need should arise once more, the dagger would allow her to touch it.

"Let's do it together."

Looking from weapon to wielder, Mars took in the determined expression, seeing both the soldier and the girl, and she couldn't stop a small smile coming to her lips, despite the severity of the situation.

No. She would never need to wield the pair of daggers alone again.

Nodding at Venus's words, Mars closed her eyes, trusting Venus to watch over her as she, too, summoned her dagger. She felt a slight hesitation within herself, keeping her from fully committing. Memories of the last time she had done this raced through her mind, bringing with them the same fear and desperation that had tightened around her during that final battle.

But this was different. And Rei took hold of those emotions and pushed them aside.

She was not desperate or afraid this time, not truly. She was in control. And she did not have the burden of a dear friend's absence to grip at her, to weigh on her. No, that friend was here with her now, and they were going to take care of this monster together.

The Star Tambourine quickly flared and shifted into hot ruby, solid and eager in her hand. The dagger's edge gleamed in the fading light of the transformation.

Mars put her focus on Venus once more, allowing herself to grin. Perhaps it was not appropriate to feel confident - they had no idea what this monster was fully capable of. But it was hard to feel cautious with Venus at her side once more.

"Let's go!" Mars called out, before rushing forward towards the darkened corners of the cave.

She saw the black mass twitch as she approached, but it darted away before she could get too close to it. It was so quick, and had proved to be strong as well.

They would need to surround it if they wanted to actually damage it. Slowly, and carefully, Mars moved to get into a better position in which to cut off any escape for the monster, looking for an opportunity to strike. She didn't want to make any sudden movements that might make the monster flee once more. Not before they were ready. 

Mars glanced over to Venus, her idea and plan clear on her face. She trusted that Venus would understand, that Venus had most likely already come to the same conclusion on her own. That was how they fought as a team - small glances and subtle hints and few words, but complete understanding.

It was comforting in its familiarity.

Venus smiled as she saw Mars’ uncertainty turn into confidence, her own weapon resonating with Mars’ as if they possessed one heart. Perhaps there was a reason they took the same shape after all.

She moved in sync with Mars, mirroring her movements without difficulty, as though they shared one mind. This was them fighting at their best—together. She couldn’t believe she had forgotten that. She couldn’t believe she needed to learn this lesson again.

And yet she was looking forward to the yelling that she would surely receive later.

As Mars cut off one escape route for the dark shadow, Venus moved to block the other, effectively cornering it.

She caught Mars’ eyes and nodded, indicating that it was time to attack. They needed to do it together as well, perfectly in sync, to prevent the enemy from having any chance to escape.

She had never used this blade before, yet she instinctively knew how to do it. It glowed with energy, and with a loud battle cry, she dashed toward the mass of darkness, sending the power of light carried in her weapon towards its black heart.

As the two senshi surrounded their enemy, the monster twitched in agitation. It struck out towards Mars, though it was almost timid in its movements and Mars was able to dodge it easily. A thought occurred to her - was it scared?

A strange thing to think. Mars didn't care about the well-being of a dark mass. It needed to be destroyed, and that was what they were going to do.

Together.

Venus moved in the perfect way to counteract Mars's own movements - and the enemy was effectively cut off from escape. And as one, both senshi readied for the attack.

Mars concentrated her power into the blade of the dagger, and in the same instance, both she and Venus sent their attacks straight at the center of the monster. The monster gave a loud shriek in response, the high pitched sound of pain echoing throughout the caverns. 

It exploded in a shimmer of light, gold and ruby. And then it was gone.

Mars didn't move at first, still staring at the place the black mass had been only moments before. Then, slowly, she relaxed her body and pulled her arm back to her side, grip tight on the pommel of her dagger.

She then looked to Venus, though no words came to mind. The triumph of the monster's defeat faded quickly, leaving Mars to wonder once more about how it even had existed. She couldn't sense any more energy signatures at the moment, but if there was one monster still around, she had to believe that there could potentially be more. Because if it were true, then they would need to stay vigilant.

Mars let out a small breath, allowing herself to relax even more. Then she put her attention back onto Venus. The other girl was a bright point in the darkness, looking almost out of place with her sunny color scheme.

Mars smiled and raised her chin, emulating as though she were looking down on Venus, despite the fact that they were the same height. "You're out of practice," she said, her voice full of mock admonishment. "Your attack impacted a few seconds later than mine."

It wasn't true of course. And a part of her was still angry at Venus for coming here by herself, so perhaps she should be yelling instead of teasing and smiling.

But it felt good to ignore the implications of their recent battle, for a little while longer. There would be time enough later to talk when they were not surrounded by a thick shroud of darkness and ghosts of the past.

Venus shielded her eyes from the explosion that rocked the cave, and waited until only silence remained. She looked toward where the shapeless monster had been and found nothing. She let her senses reach outward, trying to search for the dark energy, but now there was no longer any trace of it.

Seeing Mars relax, she assumed her companion didn’t feel it either. Perhaps that was truly the last of it. She liked to think so, anyway.

Then she caught Mars’ gaze and uncharacteristic dread rose up her spine. Yet Mars only smiled and teased her instead of yelling at her. That was unexpected.

Venus let the tension in her shoulders relax and smirked. “I believe you are mistaken. Has your eye sight gone bad with old age?” she teased back.

Venus cradled her dagger, no longer shining yet still bright in the darkness, once again struck at how identical it was to the one carried by Mars. Wasn’t the weapon trying to tell her something? That Mars was meant to be her partner, and that they were meant to work together rather than apart?

Even the inanimate object was telling her she shouldn’t be doing this alone.

But then again, there was another possibility for the twin weapons…

Venus didn’t think of it often, because back then, she had considered it one of the many reasons she had failed to stop the princess from destroying the world. She didn’t think about how in the Silver Millennium, she and Mars had been more than just comrades.

That she dared to think of a relationship, of someone more important than the princess…

She should have known better. It was a bad idea for two of the princess’ guardians to be in love; they’d be more focused on each other than their actual charge. That should have never happened in the first place.

Of course, it didn’t mean it was easy to deny the pull. Even now, in this new life, in this third life, she still found herself drawn to Mars, and she wondered if Mars felt the same way even though she clearly didn’t remember the details about their past lives.

Venus was the only one who remembered. Every single pain, every single mistake, every joy, every caress, every anguish. Everything.

That was probably her punishment.

“I’m sorry,” she spoke at last, pulling herself back to the present. “What I did was stupid. I shouldn’t have come here without you.”

She found herself in a rare moment where she felt vulnerable and completely open. She didn’t usually admit she was wrong, least of all to Rei. She hardly ever apologized, either, but she had so many regrets. She couldn’t afford to keep doing it; who knew how many more chances she would get?

“I just wanted to protect those other girls. Especially Princ—Usagi. They’ve just gotten their lives back and it felt like my responsibility as the leader to deal with it.”

As Venus replied with a teasing comment of her own, Mars felt herself smiling even more. Maybe it was naive to feel act so carefree, especially considering the actions of just a few moments ago, but it felt good all the same. That was something that happened whenever she was around Venus - something that Mars never understood, but it happened all the same. No matter the circumstances, Venus always took her focus.

She didn't know what it meant, and sometimes she wondered if she were wrong to allow it to happen - but it certainly didn't feel wrong.

Silence stretched out between them, seeking the dark corners of the cavern and somehow amplifying the fact that neither of them were speaking. It was a stark contrast to the easy teasing of just a few moments ago. Mars stared at Venus, taking in her posture and face, and the way she cradled the twin dagger. She hoped to discern something from the other girl's expression, but Mars found it hard to decipher. What was going on inside that head of hers?

She was about to ask, to break that silence, but Venus beat her to it. The apology took Mars by surprise - had Minako ever apologized to her before - and it brought back the fact that she still was very angry with the girl standing next to her. She hadn't forgotten, but had simply set it aside for now, and now it began to flare up once more. Seriously, what had Venus been thinking? To come here all alone? How could she have gone without asking for backup?

Why didn't she ask me to come with her?

That last one hurt more than Mars wanted to admit, but she simply fed it to the fire burning within her.

But Venus continued, and her words doused the flames - just a little bit. Enough so that Mars could think more clearly again, to know that fire and rage and annoyance would not help the situation right now. When had that stopped being her default reaction?

Mars closed her eyes and, with a small sigh, let her transformation vanish, leaving just a girl in place of a warrior. "You've only just come back too," she said. She kept her voice gentle, but there was still a hint of fire there - she couldn't keep it fully back. Not when she wanted Minako to understand. How long would it take for Minako to truly accept that she was worth so much more than she gave herself credit for?

Well, even if it took forever, Rei would make sure to be there to keep hammering it in. Minako might be stubborn, but Rei wouldn't ever back down.

"It was stupid," Rei continued in agreement. "Completely stupid. But your heart was in the right place, I can't fault you for that. But, with this new life, you can't take everything on by yourself. We're a team, we do these things together. If you protect everyone else, then it's my job to protect you." Rei faltered for a moment, those words striking her in a way she couldn't quite comprehend. She recovered quickly. "When you go and do something noble, I'm going to be there to back you up and yell at you for it after."

Rei paused for a moment. "Going off on your own, with the idea of wanting to protect everyone because their lives are so new, completely invalidates the fact that your new life is worth something too. Can't you see that?"

She detransformed shortly after Mars did, feeling even more vulnerable somehow that she wasn’t a soldier anymore. She’d always worn her alter ago like an armor to protect her from the world. Even from the girl that was hiding beneath, begging to be known. That was why she’d titled her song C’est La Vie, wasn’t it? Because secretly, she wanted them to know who Sailor V was underneath her mask.

She winced as Rei said it was stupid, but then she went on to admit that she didn’t entirely blame her. Her heart skipped a beat when Rei said it was her job to protect her. She wanted to protest; both of their first duty was to the princess. Ironically, back before Rei knew Minako wasn’t the princess, she had tried to do just that, and Minako had scolded her for it. It had been unjustified, because Rei was actually trying to do her job back then, and it wasn’t her fault that she didn’t know who the real princess was. It was actually Minako’s fault.

Why was she so complicated?

Even the idea that Rei would yell at her sounded appealing. She was a hopeless case, wasn’t she? She had no idea what she wanted anymore.

She grimaced and managed a sheepish smile as Rei continued to berate her. “Yes, of course. You’re right. I was trying to be the old Venus again. I promise, next time I will at least let you know, even if we hide it from the other girls. After all… you’re my second in command.”

Memories of how effective and devastating they both were against enemy soldiers in the past flooded her mind. She missed having Mars by her side. Her heart ached for her all the time. But she could never tell this Mars that, could she? This Mars who was both a different person yet so familiar. This Mars did not remember that Venus. This Mars was probably in love with someone else.

“Come on then… let’s get out of this cave. I think we’ve had enough of it for a week.”

She began walking toward the entrance, tangled emotions still swirling inside her.

“So why did you come alone? You didn’t bring the other girls. But we promised to meet up with them today, right?” She kind of doubted Rei had gone straight here. She must have gone to Crown first, then when Minako didn’t show up, she came.

“I guess you didn’t want them to know what’s going on either.”

It was a slight tease about how, despite all her yelling, Rei had done exactly the same thing Minako had to protect the others.

It was relieving to hear Minako agree that she had done something wrong - for a moment, Rei had expected to see even more of the 'old' Venus. The one who always had to be so stubborn and determined to do the complete opposite of what Rei was trying to do. The amount of times they argued in the past often seemed to outweigh the amount of times when they were able to come together and work for a common goal.

But Minako had changed from that stubborn girl who wanted to hide herself away from everyone, and Rei was glad for it.

Being called Minako's second in command wasn't a new thing, but at the same time, it felt more intimate in this instance. Perhaps it was the darkness, or the fact that so much had changed in just the last few hours. There had always been a connection between the two of them, one that didn't need words to explain even though they argued and pushed each other. Things had shifted somehow, since their coming back. So much had happened since she had woken up in the cave, and had found Minako once again. How much more would change in the days to come?

Rei followed Minako as they made their way towards the cavern's exit. She'd be glad to exit the dark place full of bad memories, painful memories, but at the same time, it felt that, by leaving the cave, her time with Minako would soon be over. She didn't want that. An irrational part of kept recalling saying goodbye to Minako as talk of a grand party and laughter echoed around them, and then that sensation as she waved goodbye to the other girl. It had been the last time she'd seen Minako.

Her world had shattered upon hearing the news.

But that was a stupid memory to think of right now. Minako was here. She was walking and talking and smiling, and she was real and she was alive. Rei would have to cling to that fact to help push away other memories. The past didn't matter, only here and now.

As Minako continued, a teasing tone in her voice, Rei glanced away to hide the somewhat sheepish expression that was sure to be on her face. It was true, when she thought of it, that she had done the exact same thing as Minako, and yet she was trying to take the high ground. "It's different!" she claimed quickly, defensively, but the words sounded false even to her own ears. It wasn't that different at all.

She paused, letting go of her indignation. It wasn't necessary. Not with Minako. "I guess we both have things to work on. We're pretty similar in some ways, aren't we?" she said, a small smile on her lips. "I did go to Crown first, but after a while, I realized why you hadn't showed up yet." She grinned. "I can read you like a book."

That much had been true since the first time they'd met. She'd been able to understand Minako, with no words necessary, able to support each other effortlessly in battle, and able to read between the lines, even with Minako glaring at her and trying to get her to stop. It was due to that strange connection they shared, she was sure of it. She was glad to see it still stayed strong even now.

Perhaps even stronger.

"We should go back to Crown. I told the others that I was going to get you. Usagi's probably worn out the karaoke machine by now. But... they must be worried." Her smile slipped away, making way for seriousness. "Should we tell them? About all of this?"

She shook her head in amusement as Rei exclaimed that what she’d done was different, choosing not to press about exactly how different she thought it was. And Rei was right, they were similar in a lot of ways. Maybe that was why they clashed, and why they also could understand each other deeply at the same time.

“Don’t sound so cocky, you’re not that hard to figure out yourself,” she replied with an amused grin.

The idea of going back to Crown—to a safe place with all her new friends where she could just enjoy the day now that the threat was hopefully taken care of for good—was certainly appealing. Though a small part of her wished she could spend some alone time with Rei, too. But how would she even do that? It would be weird to suddenly ask that they go together somewhere… just the two of them, right? Especially now, when Rei was so insistent that Minako should start spending more time with the others.

“Yes, we should go meet them,” she agreed, though the second question was harder to answer. Her first instinct was to say no, simply out of habit.

“I think… as long as it looks like we took care of the threat, we should let them keep the peace for a bit longer. But if it seems like what we did wasn’t enough… then we’ll tell them. And take care of it together,” she decided, looking straight into Rei’s eyes to show that she meant it.

ooc:

The two girls walked hand-in-hand back to Crown, where the rest of their friends were waiting. They knew now that no matter what happened, everything would be okay as long as they had each other. Today, they had learned that no one senshi was capable of doing anything alone, and that they were at their best when they were together.

Not just together... but also in synergy.