The Courage to Face You
By: trusuprise
Disclaimer: PGSM belongs to Naoko Takeuchi.
The steps were different. The reason she climbed them was not.
A golden leaf fluttered from the canopy above, and the woman ascending the stone steps paused to watch it drift on the gentle breeze. For a brief moment, she allowed herself to believe that this meeting might be different from all the ones before it, that this meeting would herald the change in their relationship that she'd been hoping for for far too many years now.
The leaf joined its brethren on the forest floor, and the woman continued her ascent.
She paced herself well. Years of singing and dancing, and before that, triumphing over evil, had kept her body fit, and when she reached the hill's crest, she effortlessly continued towards the structures tucked between the trees; the wood and stucco shrine seamlessly blending with its Earthy atmosphere. She could understand why the object of her journey liked it here so much, why she continued to hide in these mountains.
A girl that could have been that miko's mirror image stood where she expected to see another, and the young shrine maiden jumped at the unexpected presence that had managed to approach so quietly.
"Can I help you?"
The woman put on a half-smile. "I'm here to see Mar… I mean, Hino Rei, please."
The previously demure girl brightened at the name. "Ah! Hino-sama!" She pointed towards a cliff at the end of the clearing not far away. "If you wait over there, I'm sure she'll be up in no time."
'Up? But its late afternoon already.'
Perplexed, the visitor frowned in confusion, but nodded her thanks and headed in the direction suggested. Perhaps all miko were as enigmatic as the one she'd like to think of as her own.
Mid-rise heels sank slightly in the mossy earth beneath her feet. She had to pause every once in awhile to pull a rough and crumbly errant leaf off the point of her shoe. Nothing was ever easy when it came to her miko, not even in this picturesque wonderland, she considered.
She stopped a respectable distance from the cliff's edge. Before her, the rolling vista of the Kyoto countryside stretched into oblivion. Small farms, terraced gardens, and a gentle, rolling valley crowded with a canopy of fall-tinted leaves heralded the changing seasons.
Minutes passed. The woman shifted her weight from one foot to another. She checked her watch. She checked it again. She'd wait forever if need be, but she'd rather spend all of what little time she had with her.
A scrambling sound pricked at the woman's ears, an uneven stumbling. A grunt. The clink of metal against rock. Then, silence.
She edged toward the cliff. With her feet firmly planted on the ground, she leaned her torso forward. Caramel eyes looked out and over the edge.
She saw nothing but air.
She quelled the vertigo that threatened, and stepped closer to look down the cliff's rocky face. Her breath hitched in her throat.
"Rei?"
"Minako."
It took a second for the normally unfazed woman to collect herself, for to see her best friend climbing the face of a cliff, completely decked out in rock climbing gear, had come as a bit of a shock.
"Well… I didn't expect to see you here." Minako finally managed.
Rei only stared up at her, her forearm quivering slightly from the strain of supporting her weight on a particularly ill suited outcropping. The miko found a better handhold, and pulled her body up another foot, and here she was much more stable, just under the cliff's edge.
"What, aren't you surprised to see me?" Minako asked with a pout. "I told you I had a concert in the area."
Rei could never tell if that pout was real, or if it was one of Minako's many acts. She smiled at the other woman. "No. I sensed you when you arrived. I haven't been training in these mountains for the past four years for nothing, you know."
"Ah. Then you've been spending all this time concentrating only on me so I can't sneak up on you anymore?"
The miko raised an eyebrow.
She didn't argue, she didn't blush, she didn't even try to sputter a comeback.
'What's going on here?' Minako asked herself.
"So, are you going to help me up or what?"
The singer scrambled forward, lowering herself to her knees and clasping her friend's chalk covered hand. Rei pushed off on her foothold and pulled herself to the moss covered ground above her easily. Minako wasn't so blind not to notice that the miko hadn't really needed the help.
The two women found refuge on a large rock overlooking the valley. Rei wiped her brow, unhooked a water bottle from her harness, and drank noisily. The bottle still to her lips, she paused, remembering herself. With a slight smile, she offered the drink to her guest.
Minako chucked and shook her head, though the idea of an indirect kiss, no matter how childish, was alluring. "You need it more than me."
"You've been well?" Rei asked between sips.
"Mm. The usual."
"Your Korean tour was good then? I know you were anxious about traveling overseas."
Minako folded her hands in her lap and leaned forward. "Opening for an act like BOA was a little intimidating. But it was very well received."
"You know, humility isn't your style."
Minako smiled her quirky half-smile. "They loved it." She said smugly, then more demurely and carefully worded, "You would have liked South Korea, Rei, you should have been there."
"I should have."
Rei's unreadable response elicited silence between the two women.
"So, rock climbing, huh?" Minako tried.
"Un. One of the miko's boyfriends got a few of us into the sport. It may seem a little dangerous, but it's great as a meditative and strength training exercise."
"Seems like a good sport for you." Minako paused, measuring her next words as she gazed at the western edge of Kyoto. "This place… its been good for you, hasn't it?"
"I like it here," Rei admitted hesitantly, "but… I think I'm ready to go back."
"Back? To Tokyo?"
The miko nodded distantly before finally meeting the singer's gaze. "I'm done running away, Minako."
"Running… from what?" The singer asked quietly.
"From you."
Minako's half-smile faltered slightly. She struggled to maintain that witty banter that had sustained her relationship with Rei for far too long.
"You're not avoiding me like you used to." She finally managed.
"No. I've finally found the courage to face you." Rei folded her hands in her lap and chuckled slightly. "And to tell you that I've felt the same way for you that you've felt for me all these years."
Caramel eyes widened. "You mean you knew?"
"I wasn't stupid, Minako."
"Could have fooled me." The singer mumbled.
The miko's gaze lingered in the valley. Her words were quiet. "I was just scared."
A silence settled between them that wasn't entirely awkward. This was uncharted territory and though Minako was usually the one to take the lead in such a circumstance, it was Rei who seemed more in control.
"I've had a long time here in Kyoto to figure myself out. I'm… sorry it took me so long."
"Well, it sure took you long enough."
Sharing a quiet laugh, the two women looked at each other and instinctively, Minako knew. Rei had exceeded her capacity for leadership. The singer easily took over that role for her. It only felt natural.
With a gentle smile, Minako leaned towards Rei, bridging the gap between their bodies. With a steady hand, she wiped a bit of chalk off Rei's cheek. The miko turned her head slightly, an effort to hide a rising blush. The singer's smile widened and she knew, Rei really had found herself out here in Kyoto. But she still had a lot to learn…
And she was all too eager to teach her.
Minako's fingers under Rei's chin turned her face back to the other woman's and gently, the singer claimed the miko's lips.
Their first kiss that was five years in the making was everything they both expected it to be.
And the second one was even better.
Author's Notes:
Yes, a diversion from I Want to Believe in Someone! If you're looking for more Rei/Minako goodness, check that one out too.
So, I was maybe 13 miles into a bike ride when I suddenly realized, 'you know what, PGSM Rei would look really cute as a rock climber.' Around mile 15, I had to pull the bike over and jot down some ideas. Around mile 18, I had to flesh those ideas out just a little more. I come up with ideas at the weirdest times.
Anyway, after putting the outline together, I looked at it and said, you know, I think this could work. I mean, if you think about the special act, Rei had matured a LOT. She seemed very much more in touch with herself, and seemed to have lost a lot of her childishness. Well, except for that one scene when Usagi threw the bouquet… well, what can we say? Old habits die hard.
So, hope you liked it! Show a one-shot some love and leave a review!