Disclaimers: I do not own Sailor Moon. But if I did, this is how the manga/anime would have been:

CHAPTER 01 – Not So Innocent Dreams

Usagi heard a yawn, followed by a warm breath caressing the back of her neck. She shivered and smiled contently when she felt soft kisses being placed behind her ear.

Soon, strong arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her body even closer. Their skin was warm and soft, their smell was intoxicating.

Usagi bit her lower lip and moaned low in her throat as the kisses intensified.

"Mmm. Good morning." Usagi murmured with eyes closed, but completely aware of those soft hands exploring her belly… and moving upwards. "I see you are... awake."

"Yes." The answer was muffled, since those lips were pressed against Usagi's neck in a lustful smile. "You know I can't resist you when you wake up naked in bed next to me."

As she heard that, Usagi first blushed and then her smile widened. She loved being desired by her lover. But before she could say anything in response, those hands slowly made their way up and found her breasts, causing her to moan louder.

"Shh. You don't want to wake up your mother, do you?" Her lover snickered and moved, pinning Usagi on the bed and quickly silencing her with a kiss.

When they finally pulled apart, Usagi feigned a pout.

"It's not really my fault. You are the one who-"

She did try to speak up in her own defense. However, as soon as she felt that body moving rhythmically between her thighs, Usagi lost her ability to think. Her eyes shut tight and her mouth opened in a silent scream.

She was experiencing that wonderful sensation again and this time it was so intense that Usagi thought her body would really combust. They had barely started and she was already so close...

"Look at me."

Usagi felt a hand caressing her cheek, the extremely delicate touch contrasting with the commanding voice. And since their bodies were still moving together, giving her an intense pleasure, it took Usagi a moment for her brain to register the words… and another moment for her to comply.

Slowly, her eyelids opened, revealing dazed blue eyes. She tried to focus on her lover's face, but her sight was still blurry.

"Usagi?"

"Mmmmmm…" She moaned again, but frowned in her sleep when she held something furry in her arms. Still half-conscious, she thought that was strange, she didn't recall her lover having body hair...

"Usagi-chan! What are you doing?! Have you lost your mind?! USAGI!"

So finally Usagi's eyes cracked open and she realized she was about to kiss... Luna!

"Gaaaah!" Usagi squeaked, throwing the cat away from her in an instinctive reaction. "Luna?! What were you doing in my bed?"

"I was trying to wake you up. You were moaning. Loudly!" Luna chided from the floor where she had landed. When she was back to all four paws, she gave a perplexed look at the Moon Princess. "I thought soon your mother would come in here to see what the hell was going on! You were practically screaming, Usagi-chan!"

"No, I wasn'!"

Usagi retorted, sitting on her bed. But as soon as she spoke those words, the images of her latest dream came rushing to her mind. She blushed as she realized that, if she had really moaned that loud in real life like she had in her dream, then Luna wasn't exaggerating.

"Er… maybe I did moan a little bit..." Usagi blushed and averted Luna's stare as she went on. "Anyway… You could have waited a little longer! I was about to... to..."

"Eh?!" Luna blinked as she saw Usagi was at a loss of words. "You were moaning *that* loud and still hadn't reached the clim- MEOW!"

The black cat screamed as a pillow hit her face.

"You should thank me, not take your frustration out on me!" Luna snorted indignantly.

"I wasn't talking about…*that*." Usagi's blush intensified as she said the last word.

"Then what were you talking about?" Luna asked, still recovering from the assault.

Usagi wasn't sure how to tell Luna about her dream, not only because it was embarrassing enough but also because she didn't know how Luna would react to this new information.

"Luna…" Usagi raised her head and stared at the cat. She bit her lower lip nervously, gathering the courage to speak. "This dream… it wasn't the first one. After Mamo-chan left, I've been having dreams like this almost every night."

Luna had noticed Usagi's sleep had been a bit restless, but she had no idea it was because of the dreams the girl had been having.

"Usagi-chan, maybe the reason you are having these dreams is because you miss him. Although…" Luna gave her a stern look, "I believe you're too young to be having *this* kind of dream."

The cat nodded firmly, agreeing with herself, while Usagi rolled her eyes at her. She was already eighteen, but Luna would still see her as a little girl.

"The thing is... the person in my dreams... is not Mamo-chan." She said timidly.

"Isn't?!" Luna's eyes widened in surprise. "Well, then who is it? Is it Seiya? Oh, Usagi, I've told you so many times that being around him was a bad idea."

The guardian shook her head in disapproval.

"No, Luna. It's not Seiya." Usagi hesitated, because the difficult part of her speech was yet to come. "I think... I think it's a... girl."

As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she blushed a dark shade of red, the fact that Seiya technically *was* a girl never crossing her mind.

"A girl?!" Luna cried out, but quickly lowered her voice to a shocked whisper. "You are dreaming about a girl? But... who is this girl?!"

"I don't know, Luna." Usagi sighed, frustrated. "In my dreams, my vision is always blurry. I can feel her soft skin, her delicate hands touching me... but I can't see her face. Actually, I was about to look at her when you woke me up."

"Oh." Luna muttered, still bewildered by Usagi's revelation. After a moment of thought, she then added. "I don't know what to say. This comes as a surprise to me, I never thought you would be into girls."

"But I'm not!" Usagi whined. "At least, I don't think I am. It's just… *this* girl."

Usagi made a pause as she stared worriedly at Luna, trying to imagine what was going through the feline's head. Luna seemed strangely quiet, imersed in her thoughts.

"Do you think this is a bad thing?" The Moon Princess asked at last, her voice quivering a little.

"Why?" Luna blinked a couple of times, then she finally understood what Usagi really wanted to know. "Oh! I don't mind if you like boys, girls or both. Love is what matters, isn't it?" She answered sincerely, before adding in a serious tone. "But… the threads of your destiny with Mamoru are already tied. You are meant to be together and rule over Crystal Tokyo, you know that. You have been to the future... and your future child has been to the past. You saw it for yourself, what your life is going to be like."

"Yes..." Usagi agreed quietly, the mention of her future with Mamoru adding a pound of sadness to her heart, especially considering how things have been lately with the prince. "But theses dreams, Luna… they are so real! This girl in my dreams, I know I feel something for her, something... something I've never felt for Mamo-chan. But, urgh, this makes no sense! I don't know why I keep dreaming of a girl I haven't even met!"

"Well, speaking of this mysterious girl..." Luna frowned a little, recalling the events of the previous nights, "I'm pretty sure I've heard you calling a girl's name in your sleep a couple of days ago."

"A name, Luna?! What name? Tell me!" Usagi quickly jumped off the bed and landed on the floor next to Luna, staring intently at her guardian, her big blue eyes even wider in expectation. "Maybe it's someone I know!"

"I'm not sure, but I think her name was *Isis*."

"Isis?!" Usagi frowned deeply. She mentaly repeated the name a couple of times and it sounded familiar, actually, but she couldn't remember of hearing it before. "I don't know any Isis. Do you?"

Usagi saw Luna shaking her head and she sighed dejectedly at the negative answer.

"Then probably you heard it wrong, Luna."

All of a sudden, the door was opened and they watched Chibi-Usa stomp into the room with an utterly annoyed expression.

"Usagi-baka! So finally you woke up!" She screamed at her future mother, throwing her Luna-P directly at the blonde's head. Then, she huffed indignantly, turned on her heels and left the room without saying another word.

Usagi blinked a couple of times, puzzled.

"Luna... what was that all about?"

"Oh, you don't remember? She fell asleep on your bed last night." The black cat waited until Usagi's face changed from curious to horrified. "Yes, she made this exact same face when you grabbed her in your sleep."

"Are you telling me that I grabbed Chibi-Usa? I grabbed my own daughter?! Oh, God, I may have traumatized her for life!"

Luna held her paws in front of her mouth, trying to muffle her giggles.

"Don't worry. She was faster than I. At least she ran away before you actually did anything."

As she heard Luna's words, Usagi threw herself on the bed and covered her head with a pillow.

"That's it. I won't leave my room until… until Crystal Tokyo comes."

Luna rolled her eyes and jumped on the pillow, making Usagi's face sink deeper in the bed and the girl squeek in surprise.

"Come on, now it's not the time to be dramatic. Go take a shower, a *cold* one, and get changed. You are already late."

"Late for what?" Usagi asked, her voice ridiculously muffled under the pillow.

"Honestly, Usagi-chan! How could you forget about the meeting with the other-"

Before Luna finished her scolding, Usagi promptly jumped to her feet, sending the cat flying, her meow loud enough to even Ikuko downstairs hear her.

"Oh, God!" Usagi panicked, running to the bathroom like a bullet train. "Rei-chan is *so* going to kill me!"

The inner and outer senshi were sitting at their usual table inside the Crown Arcade, waiting for the meeting to begin.

They wanted to discuss the suspicious energy that both Haruka and Michiru had been feeling in the past days, so Usagi suggested they went to the Arcade just like the old times.

Hotaru and Chibi-Usa were the only ones left out, since the older girls had decided to wait until they knew what the threat was, assuming it was really a threat. The girls didn't want to alarm the kids unnecessarily.

So everyone was just waiting for Usagi, who was late as usual, just like Rei had just stressed.

Minako was getting dizzy watching Rei pacing around the room like a caged lion, so she decided to go play some video games. She would have taken Artemis with her, but he was dozing on Ami's lap, who was calmly reading a book while petting the white cat. Makoto was at the counter, chatting happily with Motoki about a new recipe she was working on, while Haruka, Michiru and Setsuna were drinking tea and talking among themselves.

It was around 11 am when the princess flew through the door with Luna riding on her shoulder, the girl making a loud noise as she clumsy bumped into a table, drawing everyone's attention.

"U-SA-GI!" Rei hissed as she saw the girl, making her wince, "we've been waiting for you for almost an hour! What the hell took you so long?!"

"R-Rei-chan, I- I-"

"Oh, Usagi-chan is late because she was telling me about a dream she had last nigh- Mmmmf!" Luna was cut off by Usagi's hand covering her mouth.

All the senshi looked at them, puzzled, except for Setsuna, who had her usual blank expression.

"Why don't you tell us about this dream, princess?" Michiru asked, raising an eyebrow. "For the blush on your cheeks, it must have been a good one."

Usagi glared at Luna through the corner of her eye.

"Er… it wasn't a dream… It was a... a nightmare! Yes! I had nightmare about… about Mamo-chan!"

Usagi stammered, but had managed to find the perfect excuse. She knew her friends wouldn't be making any questions about the prince, who was currently studying in the USA and, as he himself had said over the phone, "too busy to chat with her". Usagi was beginning to prefer not talking to him at all anyway; he was so cold and distant, not only physically now, so those phone weren't doing her any good.

Usagi was aware her friends avoided talking about Mamoru, maybe because they knew how much his attitude was hurting her. She felt bad for lying to her best friends, using the prince's name to get rid of answering the question, but Usagi definitely wanted the contents of her latest dreams to remain private.

"Oh, Usagi-chan... I'm sorry." Ami said tenderly. "Things will get better, I'm sure."

"You should forget about him, Usagi-chan." Minako suggested while approaching the table. "At least until you two get back together... again."

Minako rolled her eyes as she said the last word. The Senshi of Love was trying to be supportive, but all those breakups and make ups with Mamoru were starting to get on her nerves. Yes, love could be a battle, sometimes. Minako wasn't naive, she knew things could be hard; no matter how much two people loved each other, there would always be good and bad times. But Minako also knew that when someone truly loves another, they do everything within their power to make the other person happy. They find a way to show their love and affection, despite the distance that there might be between them. And lately, the only thing Mamoru was showing was apathy towards the Moon Princess, no matter how hard the girl tried.

"Hey, koneko-chan." Haruka grinned charmingly, taking Usagi by surprise as she held her hand and placed a kiss on her knuckles. "I could make you forget about him. It would be my pleasure to-"

"Sleep on the couch for the rest of the year, dear?" Michiru cut in with an evil half smile combined with a pointedly stare at Haruka.

The others chuckled, but Haruka gulped and took a step back, releasing Usagi's hand and raising her own in an apologetic gesture to her wife. Michiru looked harmless, but Haruka knew just what that woman was capable of.

Unlike the others, who were now teasing Haruka, Rei was quiet, a frown on her face as her senses detected a presence. An unwanted one.

"I can't believe it." She muttered to herself, turning to the door. "He's here."

As the girls heard her, they instantly turned their faces to the door and saw Mamoru walk in. The prince glanced at their direction and as he noticed they were all there, staring at him, he hesitated almost imperceptibly but continued on his way to the counter where Motoki was. He didn't even spare another look at the girls, which was obviously a shock to Motoki. If he were Mamoru, Motoki thought, he would certainly throw himself in his girlfriend's arms after so many months apart.

"What is he doing here?" Makoto hissed from where she stood, her fists clenched, clearly refraining herself to have it out with the prince. She was one of the senshi who had come to openly despise Mamoru, after seeing how much suffering he was causing to Usagi.

The girls were staring at him with disbelief, but Rei had her eyes on Usagi. She was watching her princess carefully and when she noticed tears brimming from those baby blue eyes, Rei felt her blood boil.

"Oh, but the spring break hasn't started yet... He wouldn't just drop college, would he?!" Ami thought out loud, then she turned to Usagi. "Did you know he was coming back, Usagi-chan?"

The princess just shook her head. Words weren't needed to answer the question; it was obvious she didn't know he had returned. In fact, the last message he answered was weeks ago.

Usagi was clearly shaken by seeing him again after a couple of months and even though she had been thoroughly ignored, she brushed the tears away with the back of her hand and stared directly at Mamoru.

"I ... I should go talk to him..." She mumbled, taking slow steps towards the counter, apparently using all the time she could to steel herself.

Rei quickly took two steps forward, willing to stop her, but Minako quickly placed herself in front of the raven-haired girl.

"Rei-chan. I know how you feel, but you should not interfere." She said sympathetically, drawing the girl's attention to herself and effectively stopping her from going after Usagi.

"Minako-chan is right. Let Usagi talk to him. Alone." Luna added, emphasizing the last word to make sure Rei would remain where she was.

Reluctantly, the miko relented but not without protesting.

"Okay… But if he hurts her feelings again, I swear I'll make him pay." Rei huffed, her eyes narrowing menacingly at Mamoru.

She had barely spoken those words when they heard Mamoru screaming at Usagi's face to "get lost". The Moon Princess sniffed, insisting they needed to talk, her voice considerably lower than her boyfriend's, but still loud enough for her friends to hear. When Mamoru heard her pleading, he's expression turned cold and he grabbed her wrists in a quick motion.

"Don't make me say it twice." He hissed.

Usagi gasped at the unexpected contact and winced in pain, her eyes quickly watering. She couldn't understand why he was being so aggressive.

"Man! What are you doing?! Let go of her!" Motok cried out, astonished. His words seemed to discourage Mamoru's attitude, so the dark-haired man released Usagi's wrists and turned his face away from her, but he didn't seem ashamed, only annoyed. "What's wrong with you?! You are not like this!"

Mamoru didn't answer Motoki. Instead, he just glanced at where Usagi's senshi were. He saw that Makoto and Haruka were glaring at him, while trying to refrain an infuriated Rei from going there.

Stupid girls, Mamoru thought and then gave them a nasty look.

Meanwhile, a dejected Usagi came back to the table where her friends were, tears now flowing freely down her cheeks.

As she noticed how devastated her princess looked, Rei stopped struggling in Makoto and Haruka's grasp.

"Usagi..." The miko said slowly, through gritted teeth, shoving the two senshi away. "What happened? What did he do to you?"

Hesitantly, Haruka and Makoto let Rei go, but both stared at each other and, in a silent agreement, they decided to stay close… just in case Rei wanted to take revenge on her princess' behalf.

Usagi then threw her arms around Rei's neck, sobbing heavily.

"He cut me off… I said we needed to talk and he- he told me to get lost. So I insisted, after all, he's still my boyfriend, isn't he? I- I just wanted to make things right again, like they used to be be-before." Usagi continued sobbing convulsively, making it almost hard to understand her words, but her friends had seen and heard it all anyway.

Usagi then leaned her head on Rei's shoulder, who started caressing her blonde hair, soothing her. After a few shuddering breaths, Usagi spoke again, in a much calmer tone.

"I don't know what I did to make him hate me."She snivelled. "How am I supposed to make this relationship work if he doesn't even want to talk to me?"

Rei was hearing Usagi vent, while trying hard to hold back her anger, but suddenly she saw the bruises on the girl's wrists.

The other senshi tensed as they noticed just what Rei was staring at. And though she seemed to be tenderly comforting her princess, if one looked at Rei's eyes, they could see a paradox of coldness and burning rage, which made all the girls take a step back, Makoto and Haruka included.

They all turned their faces as they heard Mamoru say goodbye to a still perplexed Motoki, as if nothing had happened, and then head to the exit. Right after the automatic door closed behind his back, the girls stared back at Rei, who was carefully moving Usagi to Minako's arms. As the Senshi of Love held the princess close, she took a look at Rei's face and saw that her amethyst eyes had turned darker. Minako gulped. She knew that was a bad sign.

"Excuse me. I need to catch some fresh air." The miko said unemotionally, sending shivers down their spines.

"No, Rei! Don't-" But Rei had already left even before Minako had finished her sentence.

As soon as she walked out of the place, all girls looked at the glass window, only to see Rei going after Mamoru.

"Oh, God... Somebody stop her!" Artemis commanded, fearing what the Senshi of Fire would do.

"No way!" Makoto cried out.

Haruka also shook her head. "You go!"

The white cat gawked at them. He simply couldn't believe the two strongest senshi were afraid of Rei.

"Yeah! Did you see the look in her eyes?!" Minako stared at her guardian, horrified. "Please, Artemis, don't make me go there! I love my life! I'm too young to die! If I get in her way, Rei is going to fry me!"

"You don't need to worry." Setsuna said, taking a sip of her tea. "No one is going to die today."

Minako breathed in relief. She knew the woman was the Guardian of the Gates of Time and, therefore, had quite some knowledge about the past, present and future. But as soon as she and the others looked outside and saw what was going on, they started questioning Setsuna's statement.

Rei had just reached Mamoru and she poked his shoulder to make him turn around and face her. As he did so, he sneered at her and started to say something. Judging for Rei's face, his words were drops of gasoline on a flame. But instead of shutting up, Mamoru's lips continued moving, gradually bringing the Senshi of Fire to her edge. Without warning, Rei's fist flew into his face, precisely hitting his nose and knocking him to the ground.

From the inside, the girls winced.

"What a jab!" Makoto was practically applauding. Her eyes narrowed and then she spoke as if Mamoru could hear her. "You bastard! You deserve worse than that!"

Meanwhile, Rei was pointing her index finger at him.

"Oh, no…" Minako's eyes widened in fear. "She can't perform a fire soul without transforming… can she?"

Artemis and Luna looked at each other. They actually didn't think it was possible, but they hoped they wouldn't find out now that they had been wrong.

They kept holding their breaths for a couple of seconds, but felt relieved to see Rei hadn't delivered one of her attacks. In fact, after the punch, it looked like she had regained some of her composure. She was frowning deeply, but now she was only saying something to Mamoru.

Still on the ground after being punched and while he heard whatever the Senshi of Fire was saying, Mamoru blinked at her. There was a hint of incredulity and confusion in his eyes, but soon his expression changed again. He smirked at Rei and muttered something that seemed to escalate her rage tenfold, so much that she reacted by kicking him between his legs.

"Well, that's it. Rei has just annihilated any chance of Chibi-Usa being conceived." Haruka deadpanned and Makoto chuckled at the comment, while the others just stood with mouths agape. They knew Rei had a temper, but they had never seen her being so aggressive towards a human being before.

Few seconds after the kick, they noticed a bright red light emanating from Rei's body. Apparently Minako's fears weren't unfounded and she would really set Mamoru on fire without even transforming into Sailor Mars.

The people on the street even started to run and scream in fear as they realized someone was about to be killed.

But instead of finishing him off, Rei hissed something none of the girls could read from her lips. Mamoru didn't say anything in response, though. He just stumbled back to his feet and glared defiantly at Rei. Then, he turned around and staggered away from her.

After she made sure he was out of sight and therefore not coming back, Rei growled and turned on her heels. Through the glass window, the girls noticed she was taking a few slow, deliberated breaths, as if to calm herself.

As she walked into the Arcade and approached the table her friends were sitting, her expression was completely different from the one she had while outside. Much to everyone's surprise, she was actually… smiling.

"Oh, it's so good to breathe some fresh air. By the way, the weather is so nice. Maybe we should go for a walk." She suggested calmly, as if she hadn't almost killed Mamoru with her bare hands in the middle of the street a few minutes ago.

"Er... Rei-chan... You don't have to pretend, you know?" Minako dared to say.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Rei answered absently, avoiding everyone's eyes as she took a sip of her juice.

"Take a look, Rei-chan." Ami pointed at the glass window, making it clear that they had been able to see everything that had happened on the outside.

When Rei realized she had been caught, she snorted and let go of her facade.

"How dare he touch her?! I don't know why I let him go. I should have killed him when I had the chance!"

"Well," Haruka said, smiling at Rei, "after seeing him hurt our princess, I must confess I also wanted to punch him on the face. But that kick... wow! That was awesome!" The Senshi of Wind congratulated Rei with pats on her back, but the pats gradually ceased as she noticed the girl still had a murderous look on her face. Wisely, Haruka stepped back, keeping a safe distance from her fellow senshi.

Usagi, who had been silently watching the events, was the only one brave enough to approach the Senshi of Fire and stare her in the eyes.

Her expression was unreadable and, for a moment, Rei thought the princess would slap her for hurting Mamoru. But, instead, Usagi pulled her close in a hug.

"You shouldn't have done that, Rei-chan." Usagi chided softly, her head resting on Rei's shoulder. "You know I don't approve of violence. No matter what he did, you shouldn't have hurt him."

Rei's expression softened and she even seemed a little embarrassed.

"But... he hurt you... I only hurt him because he hurt you first!" Rei tried to argue, her arms wrapped around Usagi, her blushing cheek resting on the top of the blonde's head. "He deserved it!"

"No, he didn't. No one deserves to be hurt, Rei, you know that. Besides, I'm okay. See?" The princess lifted her face and smiled truthfully at her senshi to prove her statement. "But if you had killed him, you'd probably go to jail. And what would I do without you, Rei? Who would protect me?"

She asked, touching the tip of Rei's nose with her index finger, making her blush deepen.

"Is she aware that *we all* are her bodyguards? That the sole purpose of our existence is to watch over her?" Haruka asked rhetorically.

"Shhh." Minako waved her hand in the air, silencing the Senshi of Wind. "Don't ruin the moment! It's getting good!"

"Oh, Motoki-san."

Rei called him, finally removing her arms around Usagi, the anticlimax making Minako sigh in frustration.

"Could you bring me some ice cubes?" Rei asked as Motoki looked at her and smiled warmly.

"Oh. Isn't your juice cold enough, Rei-san?"

"The juice is fine. I just want to make an ice pack for my hand." Rei answered nonchalantly.

"For your hand?! What happened to your hand?" Motoki blinked in confusion. From his point of view behind the counter, he couldn't see what happened between Rei and Mamoru.

"Nothing serious. I think Mamoru's nose might have broken it." Rei stared at her hand and shrugged, making Motoki's jaw drop.

"Rei-chan, you're hurt!" Usagi cried out, touching her senshi's hand, which made Rei wince in pain. "Oh, my god, it might be broken! Let's go to a hospital! Now!"

Usagi then started to drag her towards the door, but Rei stopped her.

"Don't make it such a big deal. I'm fine. In fact, I bet I can beat you in one of those video games even with a broken hand." Rei said confidently, knowing that the teasing would cause Usagi to react – and forget about her injury.

"Oh, yeah?! That's what you think! Let's make a bet! The winner gets the biggest ice cream in the house!" Usagi declared and burst into a run towards the video games with Rei hot on her heels.

The other senshi and the cats blinked a couple of times. Setsuna was the only one acting as nothing unusual had happened.

"Let me get this straight..." Haruka went on, "Rei has broken Mamoru's face and... uh, some other stuff. But our princess is more concerned about her senshi's hand than her prince's physical integrity?!"

"Honestly? It's pretty obvious to me Mamoru is not the one she loves." Minako said almost casually, but since she had caught everyone's attention she decided to explain her point of view. "Well… the truth is: I think Usagi is just blindly obsessed with the idea of making this relationship work. She believes Mamoru is her destiny, her soulmate, especially after seeing how Crystal Tokyo is supposed to be." Minako paused for a moment, as if trying to find the right words. She didn't know how they would react to what she was about to say. "To be completely honest, guys... I can't feel any connection between Usagi and Mamoru. I don't know, the more I think about it, the more this relationship feels forced and... even wrong. But on the other hand... I can feel her connection with Rei. And it's just the strongest connection I've ever felt between two people."

The girls seemed to be mulling over Minako's words for a moment.

"Well, since you've mentioned it," Michiru decided to share her thoughts, the ones she had only shared with Haruka until now, "it's been awhile since I noticed the way they stare at each other. Usagi and Rei, I mean. And friends don't stare at each other like that, unless it's a friendship like the one Haruka and I have."

They all chuckled at her mischievous comment, while Haruka put an arm around Michiru's shoulders and kissed her on the cheek.

"And to think it all started the very first day they met..." Ami commented absently from behind the book she was reading. Much to her surprise, she saw everyone sharply turning their faces at her at the same time.

"What do you mean?" Minako asked curiously.

Ami blushed as she realized she was the center of attention now.

"Well," she began, closing her book and putting it on the table, but not without bookmarking the page before, "back then, it was just Usagi and I, since you guys hadn't showed up yet. We studied at the same school and would usually walk home together, but then I started cram school after my regular classes. Anyway... on my way to the cram school, sometimes I would see this beautiful girl from T.A. Academy. So one day, Usagi was complaining about going home alone and I said: 'if you come with me to the cram school, you will probably get to see this beautiful girl on the bus'. I didn't know that would be enough to convince her to come with me, but to my surprise it worked! And the moment Usagi laid her eyes on that girl, she blushed and just couldn't take her eyes off her. She even got off the bus before our stop, just so she could chase after that girl." Ami chuckled at the memory. "Needless to say, that girl was Rei."

"That's true. Usagi even chided me, telling me that I had made her lose track of 'that beautiful girl'." Luna added, rolling her eyes.

"That's funny." Haruka smirked, crossing her arms in front of her chest. "I never thought our princess would be a stalker."

"Oh, shut up! She was not stalking! It was just love at first sight…" Minako corrected, dreamily.

"Anyway," Makoto ignored the hearts on Minako's eyes and went on, "we all know Rei has feeling for Usagi. It took her some time to admit it, but she did. And I know she thinks she doesn't stand a chance and that she would probably ruin their friendship if she told Usagi how she feels, but... what if Usagi actually returned her feelings? I mean, they fight a lot, but Rei is always the first one Usagi turns to. Besides, even though we are all her friends, Usagi's physical displays of affection are saved only for Rei. I'm sure you've noticed that too."

"Indeed, I have." Ami was nodding in agreement. "You are a good observer, Mako-chan. I'm really impressed."

"Oh… T-Thanks." Makoto blushed at the unexpected compliment.

Luna was silent. After everything that had been said, plus the fact that Usagi was having dreams about girls, the possibility she might be in love with Rei seemed... quite possible actually. Luna didn't know what to think of it.

"Luna?" Artemis called her, noticing his feline companion was strangely silent. "Does it bother you? The fact that Rei likes Usagi and that Usagi might return her feelings too?"

Luna shook her head.

"Actually, a relationship between the Moon Princess and a senshi wouldn't be much of a problem. Usagi's safety is the priority; a romance between her and one of her bodyguards would probably guarantee her extra protection. I know Rei would do anything to keep Usagi safe, not only out of duty but also out of love. A love between *two senshi*, on the other hand, would be a concern; if ever came a moment where both Usagi and one of these senshi were in danger, just a second of hesitation could put the Princess life at risk."

"Not if the two senshi in question know how to separate things." Michiru softly added, reaching for Haruka's hand and staring at her lovingly. "As much as we love each other, we know Usagi comes first."

Haruka smiled at her and nodded, while Ami and Matoko squirmed almost imperceptibly.

"Good. I hope you two never forget your duty." Luna stated in a serious tone, staring at Haruka and Michiru.

"I feel bad for Rei." Artemis said with a sigh. "Even though I think Usagi reciprocates her feelings to a certain extent, their fates, hers and Mamoru's, are already tied."

"Indeed." It was so rare to hear Setsuna's voice that everytime the woman spoke, all faces turned instantly to her. "When two people are bound to each other by the red thread, it's practically impossible to break them apart. And if they *do* break apart for some reason, Destiny always finds its way to bring them together."

Everyone was silent for a moment, after the older woman's sagely speech.

"So if what Setsuna-san is saying is true, then Rei doesn't stand a chance..." Minako sighed, then frowned. "But her connection with Usagi… I can't just ignore it, it's too strong! If they are not meant to be, then why would they have this bond?"

"Well… I don't remember much about the Silver Millennium, at least not when it comes to our personal lives," Artemis said thoughtfully, "but I remember Mars was extremely overprotective of Serenity. Maybe that's why Usagi relies so much on her, even in this lifetime."

"Yes." Luna nodded, agreeing with him. "Mars would never leave Serenity's side. My memories are also blurry, but I do remember they were inseparable since they were kids. From the day Mars became one of her bodyguards, we would always see them together."

Minako seemed lost in her thoughts at the mention of the Silver Millennium, but then she blinked a couple of times when an idea crossed her mind.

"Guys..." She spoke in a quiet voice, as if she didn't want anyone else to hear her, "do you think it's possible that they had some kind of relationship during the Silver Millennium? Other than friendship, I mean. Because, coming to think of it, it makes total sense-"

Before anyone could answer, they noticed two girls approaching the table.

Rei was smiling triumphantly and she was holding a huge ice cream in her good hand. Usagi, however, seemed deeply depressed and somewhat shocked.

"See? I told you I could beat you using only one hand." Rei declared proudly as she tasted her ice cream.

"I can't believe you won..." Usagi shook her head, still in denial. "You suck at those games."

"Apparently not as much as you suck." Rei smirked at her.

But since Usagi didn't retort as she would usually do to start one of their usual banters, Rei glanced at her out of the corner of her eye.

"Usagi... are you okay?" She asked warily.

"Yeah..." Usagi replied unconvincingly, her shoulders slumping and her eyes fixed on the floor.

Meanwhile, Michiru nudged Haruka, getting her girlfriend's attention. The Senshi of Wind gave her a questioning look and Michiru quirked an eyebrow, the corners of her mouth lifting into a charming smile.

"Look at them." With a subtle flick of her eyes, Michiru guided Haruka to the scene she wanted her wife to witness. "I bet Rei will give in."

Haruka turned her head to stare at Usagi, who was chewing her bottom lip and sighing almost theatrically.

"Oh, come on! Rei would never fall for such a lame manipula-"

But even before Haruka finished her sentence, she heard Rei saying in a long suffering tone.

"Okay, Usagi... You can share the ice cream with me..."

Usagi quickly raised her head to Rei, her big blue eyes sparkling with joy. "Really?!"

Rei shrugged and then she gasped, trying to keep her balance as Usagi threw herself in her arms, kissing her cheeks.

"You are the best, Rei-chan!" The Moon Princess stated and when her eyes met Rei's, Usagi smiled brightly at her, who smiled shyly back.

"What did I just tell you?" Makoto's lips draw the silent words as she stared at the other girls with a proud expression. Usagi's latest display of affection had just proved Makoto's point.

After a brief moment, though, Usagi heard someone clearing their throat and she stared away from Rei and at the source of the noise: Haruka.

"Maybe you haven't noticed, koneko-chan, but we are still alive. So how about interacting with us too?"

She asked playfully and then gave Usagi her most charming smile, which made the blonde giggle, Rei snort and all the other girls laugh. Michiru laughed wickedly, Haruka thought, but at least she was laughing. That was a good sign… she hoped.

Minako, however, was oddly quiet, her eyes fixed on Rei and Usagi. Would it be possible they had a relationship during the Silver Millennium that none of them could remember?

Suddenly the Senshi of Love felt the weight of Setsuna's stare. The wise woman nodded once and and offered her a faint smile. Was that a sign she was on the right track? Minako wondered if Setsuna had the power to read minds, but she shook her head and dismissed that thought. For now, she just wanted to watch Rei feeding a happy Usagi with ice cream. She loved those moments, they would always warm her heart. She was a romantic, after all.

Besides, Minako could always reflect on her Silver Millennium theory later.

Mamoru walked into his condo, carefully hiding his face. He was glad the doorman was too busy to greet him, because he didn't want anyone to see his face. He himself still hadn't seen the state Rei had left him in, but for the pain he was feeling... well, Mamoru knew she had done quite a damage. At least he had managed to stop the bleeding on his way back home by keeping a handkerchief pressed tightly against his nose. And luckily he had a jacket inside his bag, so he put it on so people wouldn't see his shirt covered with blood.

Mamoru knew no one would ask questions about what had happened to him; Japanese people were too discreet to do that. But he didn't want to draw any attention to himself anyway, so he stood several meters away and waited until the last person got out of the elevator. He was glad no one joined him on the ride to the 19th floor.

When he finally got to his apartment door, Mamoru pulled the keychain out of his pocket. He found it very difficult to pick up the right key using only one hand, but he was afraid the bleeding would restart if he stopped the pressure on his nose.

After a couple of minutes, he finally managed to get inside and staggered towards the couch. The effort to get home drained all his energy, so he felt the need to rest for a moment. He was so tired he fell asleep and it was already dark outside when he woke up. Grunting, he got up and went to the bathroom, mentally preparing himself to look at his own face.

"Shit!" He hissed as he noticed his nose was really broken, the area around his eyes already getting dark and swollen.

Mamoru was pretty sure that would require medical care, so he decided to go to the hospital, but not before making himself a little more presentable. The blood had stained his shirt and his skin, so he needed to clean himself and change clothes. For a moment, he wished he had healing powers, just like the senshi had.

Still cursing under his breath, he picked up a towel, moistened it with hot water and began to try and clean the dry blood off his face. When he finished the painful task, he went to the kitchen and grabbed an ice pack from the freezer, placing the cold article carefully on his nose.

He had never thought such an elegant, delicate girl could deliver such a heavy punch.

Oddly, he started to chuckle at that thought. Within seconds, he was laughing out loud. It didn't last long, though; laughing was worsening the pain. Besides, he didn't know why he was laughing anyway. That wasn't funny. He wondered if those strange reactions would ever stop.

Rei... her image was still vivid in his mind, his body still feeling the power of her rage. Rei was infuriated, like he had never seen her before. He knew she could have killed him. Literally. But that wouldn't be a bad thing, in his opinion. Being burned to death would probably be less painful than living with all the guilt he was living with now.

Then Mamoru thought of what Rei said after she punched him.

She deserves to know why you are treating her like she was nothing! And mark my words: if you keep hurting her feelings, or if you ever place a finger on her again, I swear the flames of Hell will be a gentle breeze compared to mine!

Mamoru knew Rei wasn't kidding when she threatened him. Usagi was the most precious thing to her and she would certainly do anything to protect her princess.

Just like she did in her past life, he mentally added.

And he knew Rei was right: Usagi deserved to know the truth. They all did, actually.

It was not like he didn't want to talk to Usagi. Hurting her was killing him too, so he wanted to tell her why he had been pushing her away, why he was avoiding her… But the problem was: what exactly would he say? He couldn't tell her about the memories he had already regained. Usagi would eventually regain hers as well, it was only a matter of time. But for that to happen... she needed to have some space to figure things out on her own. After all, his own memories began to surface only after they were apart, when he moved to the USA a few months ago.

In his new home overseas, Mamoru had become restless and constantly annoyed, which was quite different from his normal self.

He didn't know why he was feeling that way. Nothing out of the ordinary was happening, everything was going as planned. So he told himself he was just adjusting to his new life and that was the cause of his distress. But something was off and he became aware of it when Usagi started to phone him more often.

Probably she had noticed the change in his mood and so she was trying to be in touch as much as she could, considering the timezone. He was alone in a foreign country, so it was possible he was feeling homesick and somewhat depressed. At least that's what she had thought. But the more Usagi tried to talk to him, the more he resented her. Although he missed his girlfriend terribly, for some reason, Mamoru couldn't refrain himself from being cold and distant. It made no sense, he knew it. It had been his decision to study abroad and Usagi had done nothing but being supportive. Even so, it was getting harder not to pick up fights or say hurtful things over the phone whenever she asked him what was wrong. He hated himself for hurting her feelings over and over, so why couldn't he stop?

Eventually, Usagi's phone calls became scarcer. She felt she was disturbing him rather than helping him, so she decided to give him some space. That's when those dreams started.

No, not dreams, Mamoru corrected himself mentally.

They were more like recurrent nightmares about Usagi being in love with someone else. He tried to ignore them, telling himself he was just feeling insecure, especially because Usagi was hurt and somewhat distant lately. He could understand her reasons, though; he had pushed her away repeatedly, so it was only natural she kept her distance.

But instead of trying and making things right, Mamoru just kept telling himself that was only a phase and that eventually things would go back to the way they were before. He and Usagi had been in love since their past lives, so there was no reason to think she could fall in love with someone else. They were meant to be together, thus those nightmares could be nothing but an unconscious and unfounded fear of losing her.

However, when the visions started, Mamoru finally understood. He was awake, so those weren't nightmares: they were memories. Memories of his past life.

So... everything he believed to be true until now was... a lie?

No, it could not be! Probably he was just hallucinating. For some reason, his mind was trying to deceive him into thinking he had been living a lie! He had seen the Silver Millennium... and also the future! He knew how his life with Usagi was supposed to be as King and Queen of Crystal Tokyo. And what about Chibi-Usa?! Wasn't she a living proof of the love they shared?

But... as much as Mamoru hated to admit, somehow it all made sense. Suddenly, being with Usagi didn't seem as right as it did before. Their bound didn't feel as strong as he once believed to be.

It took him some time to finally gather the courage and face the truth. Mamoru wouldn't build his whole life upon a lie, so he kept on forcing his mind to regain his true memories. And he succeeded, at least partially, because the more he focused on those memories, the more he felt out of himself. It was like someone was interfering on his mind to prevent him from discovering the whole truth. Whatever it was, it was slowly taking control of his body.

And he knew what it felt like to be controlled, he had been abducted and brainwashed before by the Dark Kingdom. But this time things were... different. That presence, even though it was evil, felt... familiar. There was a part of Mamoru that was actually finding solace in that... entity? He didn't know how to call it, but he knew they were related some how. And those mixed feelings towards this entity were confusing him.

Maybe that was the reason Mamoru had trouble fighting against it. This thing apparently knew all his weaknesses. It knew him.

But... he wasn't like that, Mamoru had never been evil. He still couldn't believe he had said those hideous things to Rei when they were alone outside the Crown Arcade. He had mocked her feelings, he had offended Usagi's dignity... So he had deserved that punch... and that kick.

What Mamoru didn't know was why none of the girls had regained the memories yet. Had Rei remembered how their past lives ended, she probably would have killed him with her bare hands. And if one of the other senshi had remembered, they would have told the others. Right? Or at least, they would have told Usagi.

Usagi...

His heart ached as he thought of her. He wondered if she would be okay, considering what had happened earlier. He even considered calling her to apologize and explain what was happening to him. Mamoru wanted her to know he had never meant to hurt her. But his behavior had become completely unpredictable, even aggressive. So he told himself, for the thousandth time, that the best thing he could do for her was to stay away.

Besides... how could he explain what was happening without telling the truth about their past lives? And if he told her, would she believe him? She didn't have any reason to trust him right now, anyway.

So Mamoru let out a heavy sigh, guilt and sorrow overwhelming him again.

Silently he wished he could go back to the Silver Millennium, when Usagi loved him to death... but now he knew this past has never existed.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

1. Usagi does stare at Rei and follows her in the manga, precisely in Act 3. She even had those heart-shaped eyes when she saw Rei for the first time.

2. Well… it's not Sailor Moon if Mamoru isn't under an evil influence at some point of the story, right? And, yeah, I know the "dreams about past lives" plot is widely approached by fanfiction writers, but I wanted to make my own version of it.

3. This chapter has been rewritten. I'm adding more details to better develop the story and the characters. There won't be major changes to the original version, so I hope you still like it.

4. Chapter improvement: from 5817 to 8858 words.