In her anguish over losing Endymion, Princess Serenity destroyed the world with the power of her Silver Crystal despite her senshi's best attempt at stopping her. Once realizing what she did, Usagi sacrificed herself in order to bring everyone back to life. All of the senshi returned to their old lives, except Usagi. And Minako, who had died prior to the whole thing and got reborn without her old memories. As the other senshi's memories gradually return to them and they mourn Usagi's death, they begin to wonder why they can't find Minako at all.

Rei finally finds her in the most unlikely place; the dog pound. Minako is working there, looking completely healthy and happy. Rei is so happy to see her alive and well again, especially after losing Usagi, but she soon realizes that Minako does not remember her at all. And so she realizes the reason why Minako looks so happy and unburdened, not at all like the Minako she used to know. Torn between letting the one senshi who deserves a second chance at a normal life get what she wants and reclaiming all the memories they have shared together, Rei must now make the hardest decision in her life.

Details on any necessary information: This takes place in the PGSM/live-action universe, right after the Final Act.

Restrictions: Only for Rei & Minako, if necessary other characters will be NPCed

Players:
Minako Aino: Played by Sailor Seren
Rei Hino: Played by Sailor Mercury

Today's work day had been pretty slow. Not many people had come in, and she was stuck with watching the front desk. Minako let out a bored yawn, twiddling a fountain pen in between her fingers. She perked up as she heard the ringing of a bell. "A customer!" She sat up straight, trying to put off a more professional air, and beamed up at the girl who had walked in. "Welcome! How can I help you?"

Rei never thought she would wish that she was dead instead of alive.

Before this, before all of this… no matter what kind of hardships, rejections, or judgment she received from other people, no matter how alone and unloved she felt in this world, she had not—not even once—wished for death. She believed in her own self-worth too much for that.

But when Usagi died in order to save them all, she wished it hadn’t happened. She wished she could have stopped it. She would rather die to save Usagi, or die along with her so that they might all be reincarnated again together someday. It was the senshi’s job to protect the princess. It made no sense that they all should be alive when Usagi wasn’t. It was wrong that Usagi was the one who ended up sacrificing herself for everyone. Everything was backwards and wrong.

She tried to get some comfort from Ami and Makoto, but they were all just as devastated, and so their secret room at Crown had only felt that much more depressing despite its vibrant colors. The lack of Usagi—and Minako—was more obvious than ever there, and so they all had returned to their respective homes. And Rei just felt so… lost. She was now without purpose. A guardian without someone to guard. She supposed she could attempt to resume her normal life, the one she had before Usagi came into it… but that wasn’t such a good life, was it? She felt as if her true life had only really begun when Usagi arrived and awakened her to her true purpose.

Sailor Mars was such a huge part of her, and she no longer knew how to be simply Rei Hino.

In an effort to find some comfort elsewhere, her feet had subconsciously brought her to the dog pound near her home. She had remembered about that dog she and Minako rescued at the church, and thought maybe adopting one would help make her days brighter. A dog wouldn’t constantly remind her of the others, and it was a simple creature who would always bring her joy. Perhaps it could be just the thing she needed to feel like living life again.

When she pushed the door and stepped inside, however, she immediately froze in her tracks. The girl who greeted her was none other than Minako. Rei blinked, thinking she was hallucinating again—she kept thinking she was seeing Usagi or Minako on every stranger’s faces lately—but the illusion persisted. It was Aino Minako, in the flesh. Rei could not possibly be wrong about it.

“M-Minako?!” she asked in confusion. When the girls had all eventually found each other again, their last member had been missing along with the princess. Since Minako had died before the final battle, they all thought she wasn’t coming back, either. But maybe… could Usagi have saved her too?

Tears filled her eyes, blurring her vision of the girl before her. Was there still a reason for living after all?

Minako jumped slightly at the sound of her name coming from this stranger. Did she know her from anywhere? She laughed and smiled, "Oh, am I like a pop idol or something? Are you my secret admirer?" This girl... despite not knowing her, just gazing at her face, Minako could feel some familiar ping in her heart. She pushed aside these thoughts for the moment, and got down to business. "Hi, I'm Minako. Are you looking to adopt, ma'am?"

Rei burst out laughing at Minako’s question. Oh, she was being sarcastic, wasn’t she? She came back from the dead, and this was how she wanted to greet her. Of course. This insufferable fool.

“Secret admirer, yeah, right,” she scoffed, and was about to walk over and hug Minako when she caught sight of Minako’s expression. There was no spark of recognition there at all. There was no glint of playfulness, that fire of competitiveness that used to drive Rei crazy. No, Minako was looking at her like a stranger. And her next words were polite, professional… and emotionless.

Certainly not the way one would talk to a friend they’d left behind when they’d died.

Rei just stared at her uncomprehendingly. What the hell was going on? She said it herself; she was Minako. There was no mistake about it.

“Wait. You don’t… you don’t recognize me?” she asked with a trembling voice. What had happened to Minako?

Minako frowned, staring intensely at the girl. She shook her head, "No... I don't think so. Did we go to school together or something?" She noticed the tremble in the stranger's voice, and what seemed like a look of total despair on her face. Minako gave a concerned look and walked over to her, "Hey, are you alright? Are you hurt?" The last thing she needed was something bad happening to a customer during her shift and her getting wrath from her boss.

“N-no. That’s not it,” Rei said, visibly shaken. She had to grip the counter to steady herself. Something was wrong, but she needed to figure out what it was first. If Minako didn’t remember her… well, then she needed to tell the others, and find a way to fix it somehow. Because they had to fix it… right?

Only… when Rei looked into Minako’s eyes, she saw an innocent girl. A bright, happy, carefree girl with not a single worry in the world. And then it hit her; this was why. She didn’t remember being Venus. She didn’t remember dying, or carrying that great burden of protecting Usagi, or failing. She didn’t know the world was destroyed, that all they’d sacrificed was for naught because now Usagi was gone anyway. Minako did not carry that grief with her. And she was, perhaps for the first time in her life, utterly and joyously happy, guilt and burden free.

And she deserved it.

Out of everyone, Minako was the one who’d dedicated her life to being a senshi the most. Rei had been the one trying to reject their past life dictating their present, but Minako had learned that lesson too late. And now… was this her second chance?

Only, with Minako being this close, it was impossible not to reach out. How was Rei meant to pretend that she was just a stranger? How was she supposed to act like they didn’t know each other, like Minako just being here at all wasn’t threatening to turn her into a sobbing mess?

Rei summoned all the strength she’d built up over the years, as a way to protect herself against others. Only this time she was using it to protect someone she cared about more than her own happiness.

“I’m sorry,” she said finally, with a steadier voice. It took every ounce of her willpower to maintain this mask, and every word she uttered hurt her to the core. But it had to be done. “I was confused. I… mistook you for someone else. A close friend. She looked just like you. She… recently died.”

Well, at least she wasn’t entirely lying.

Minako was taken aback by their confession of them supposedly looking like a dead friend. She knit her brows in worry, but tried to push out a reassuring smile. "I'm so sorry for your lost. But I bet they wouldn't be too happy to see you around like this, would they?" The room had grown oddly silent during the conversation, but quickly the silence was broken with the loud sounds of barking. Minako perked up, and reached to grab the girl's hands. "Hey, I bet we could find you someone to help cheer you up!" She beamed, tightly grasping her hand and giving a slight pull, gesturing to follow her.

“No, she probably wouldn’t be,” Rei admitted with a small smile. It was odd that even when Minako had no idea who she was talking about, she still knew that other version of herself, somehow.

Rei jumped when she heard the barks, but she was even more shocked when Minako grabbed her hands. This new Minako was so… friendly, and touchy-feely with a stranger. It was so weird. But at the same time, she felt utter joy from being able to just touch her precious friend again. Pushing the emotions deep inside, Rei forced herself not to cry. It was okay. She’d done this a thousand times before. Concealing her true emotion was her best talent. She could do this. She would not wreck Minako’s life for the second time.

“I did come here in search of a friend,” Rei admitted, following Minako where she led her.

She just had no idea she’d find the one she thought she’d lost forever.

Minako led her into a brightly lit, huge room. Pens lined the walls, and in them were a variety of dogs. Big, small, hyper, relaxed. At their arrival, the barking only seemed to increase in frequency, as if they were all competing for the girl's affections. She quickly glanced around the room, and spotted a medium-size brownish dog. She gave the girl's hand a playful tug, and lead her across the room to the pup.

Minako opened up the pen and opened her arms to prevent the dog from getting loose. She gave it a quick pat on the head, and snapped a collar and lease around it's neck. "Here," She said, gesturing to the dog. "It seems like he really likes you."

Rei stepped into the room where the dogs were kept, and immediately their enthusiasm distracted her attention. She’d never seen so many dogs clamoring for her attention at once. When Minako pulled her to one in particular, Rei blindly followed, still completely overwhelmed by everything that was going on. As her gaze landed on the dog in question, however, the tears almost threatened to return.

The dog looked a lot like the one she and Minako had both rescued at the church. Its size and color were the same, and even the sad eyes reminded her of that dog. They’d fought like silly little kids over it, competing with each other for a reason than Rei no longer knew… They even each had tried to name it differently. Hope flared in her chest momentarily. Had Minako picked this dog because, deep down, some part of her remembered the one from before?

Rei knelt on the ground and ruffled the dog’s thick fur, unable to help smiling as he started licking her face excitedly. “Does he have a name yet?” she asked Minako. For some reason, her heart was beating fast. Would Minako give it the same name she once did? Rei remembered she herself wanted to name the church dog Taro, and Minako had insisted on calling it Riki.