Holy cow. This is way overdue, and I'm sorry for the ridiculous delay! I have an excuse though! In short, my mom had surgery (and I had to parent-sit for a week), I've had midterms, a baby shower to throw, two birthday parties, AND I was sick for a week. Okay, done whining, I'll start writing.

Disclaimer: The idea is mine, the characters are not.

Chapter 4: Dressing Room Disasters

"I think I need a new skirt. Something a bit longer, knee length maybe."

"Don't you think you own enough skirts?"

"But they're just so cute!"

The two blondes bickered ahead of the others, who attempted to act like they were not associated with their friends who were drawing quite a bit of attention. Ami blushed notably as Makoto shook her head in exasperation. Rei was a ticking time bomb, rather close to exploding and letting her companions know how distracting they were being.

"Rei-chan, you understand, right?" Minako spun sharply on her heals to face her furious friend, obviously oblivious to the twitching of her eye and clenched jaw. "A girl should have a versatile wardrobe!"

"Minako…" The said girl turned to Rei, finally picking up on her agitation. "Could you two quiet down? You're being loud, and it's rude. People are staring."

Bright blue eyes blinked before turning to face their princess. "Usagi-chan, maybe you're right. Another skirt would suit you." Minako turned to catch up with Usagi, tossing a quick glance in Rei's direction to make sure the Aries wasn't on the verge of blowing a gasket. When she saw the chest of her friend fall with a sigh, she giggled and quickened her pace to match that of her long haired friend.

Makoto and Ami exchanged glances with each other. Both were surprised at Rei's lack of outburst. She was generally the first to reprimand the loud Minako and Usagi. The tallest member couldn't help but wonder if Rei was going soft. Or maybe it was just a fluke. Either way, she wasn't going to complain. Friction has the tendency to run high amongst a group of five young women, especially when all of them have varying personalities.

The quietest young woman of the group had been gaining curiosity as well. Observant and a closet romantic, Ami had noticed for quite some time the growing closeness between the wannabe idol and miko. Did girl friends touch as frequently as those two do? Minako was certainly a flirt, but she always paid special attention to her fiery partner. And Rei's whole demeanor changed around the blonde. In fact, the few times Ami ever witnessed Rei blushing, they were nearly always when the Venusian was involved.

Rei watched as Usagi and Minako caught up on school gossip a few paces ahead of her. Minako was so animated, flailing her hands around and contorting her facial expressions every time she began imitating someone new. She seemed to be perfectly fine with the group outing now that they were all together. Relieved, and with the worry set aside for the moment, she finally realized the other two were being silent. She shot a glance over her shoulder, spotting the tall brunette and shorter, quiet Ami. Both were looking at her with odd expressions, and she simply raised an eyebrow without asking a question. A blush simultaneously shot across two sets of cheeks, caught off guard.

Before she could question them, Minako jolted them all to a stop with a quick shout. "Oh! This is it, guys! C'mon!" Tottering over to Rei, she grabbed the startled girl's wrist and dragged her towards the double doors, swinging them open as the others followed.

Minako had been right about one thing for sure, it was Rei's type of shop. The music was low and slow tempo. Lights were dim and mannequins were decked with feminine dresses and posh tops and bottoms. The jewelry wasn't flashing and blinding, but subtle and simple.

The girls browsed the shop, quickly filling the peaceful building with soft whispers and giggles as they sifted through outfits and held tops and skirts up to each other wondering what would look best on themselves and each other. A store employee kindly asked the girls if they wished to start dressing rooms. All nodded their heads enthusiastically, each girl already with a pile of clothes tossed over her arm.

Ami was gingerly fingering lengths of pearls, Makoto and Usagi were filing through a long rack of skirts, and Rei and Minako already wanted to try on their first armful of clothes.

After a few minutes of contorting slender arms in various ways, Rei realized she was unable to zip up the back of the dress she was trying on. "Um, Minako-chan, can you help me for a second?" She called, poking her head out of the changing room.

The blonde set down the two shirts she was debating between and stepped in to the small room with her friend. Rei turned her back to here, pointing to the stubborn zipper. She had managed to get it halfway up her spine before it started giving her troubles.

She felt Minako's hand on her lower back, gripping the fabric and zipper, and let her violet eyes drift to their reflection in the mirror. They trailed from where the hand was on her back, up soft skinned arms, brushed over shoulders, up a slim neck, passed bubble gum tinted lips, and finally settled on sea blue eyes that were focused on her back.

"There! You're good to go. And wow, that dress looks amazing on you Rei-chan." A blush crept on to her cheeks and she averted her eyes from the reflection.

Minako checked out her friend in the mirror, taking note of the reddening cheeks and downcast eyes. The corner of her mouth tugged up in a slight smirk and she leaned close to Rei's ear. "You really should look at yourself instead of your feet." Her eyes stayed steady on the Martian, as dark orbs shot up to meet hers in the mirror.

Rei finally took her eyes from her companion's and actually studied her reflection as suggested. Minako was right; the dress did look good on her. The crimson fabric was off the shoulder, showing off the creamy, flawless span of her neck and shoulders. It was form fitting over her chest and stomach, emphasizing her good figure as it hugged her waist and thighs, cutting off right above her knees.

A sense of familiarity began tugging at her stomach and she tried to suppress it, not wanting to acknowledge the images that were dancing at the edge of her thoughts. Frankly, she wanted to let the visions go wild in her head. What she did not want, however, was to deal with the thoughts afterwards. She knew once she let those thoughts and feelings in, they would want to stay. She had obligations though, so such things wouldn't be allowed. She simply wouldn't have it. Rei allowed herself a slight sigh, which didn't go unnoticed by the other in the small room with her.

"Rei-chan, are you okay? You've been sighing a lot lately, and I don't think it's out of frustration with Usagi-chan and me." Minako's voice dragged Rei out of her thoughts, which was probably a good thing, she figured.

"Yeah, I've just had a lot on my mind lately." Rei shot her worried looking friend a smile. "Don't worry, nothing's wrong."

Minako pouted, indicating she knew otherwise. She wasn't sure who Rei thought she was fooling, but the Venusian was not buying it. "If you say so," she mumbled. A moment of silence wavered between the two before Minako spoke again. "That reminds me, you were saying something about a dream earlier. What was that about?"

The simple inquiry caught Rei off guard. She wasn't expecting it, and had completely forgotten she even mentioned the dream. She felt the fading blush flaring back up as she tried to keep her expression even. "Oh, yeah, about that…it wasn't anything, really. Just a snippet from out past lives, I think."

The blonde chewed on her bottom lip as she studied the back of Rei's neck. "Well, what happened in it?" She watched the girl's back stiffen a fraction.

Rei paused before answering, not wanting to reveal too much. While she wasn't positive the dream had been about the two of them, she was pretty darn sure it had been. "You were upset. Or rather, you were impatiently waiting for something. I don't know what for though. That's really all that it was about." She shifted her body so she could see Minako in the mirror, who seemed to be mulling over something.

"I had a weird dream last night, too!" The bubbly girl chirped.

"Really? What kind of weird?" Rei asked, and then added, "Could you unzip me while you're at it? I think I'm getting this."

Minako nodded her head and placed one hand on Rei's shoulder blade as the other grasped the zipper. "Well, I can't say for sure. You were there, I think." She raised an eyebrow, waiting to see if Rei would shift in her demeanor. When her friend didn't, she continued. "There was a little bit of thiiiii~iis and some of thaaa~aaat." She giggled when Rei jerked her head to the side. "Don't move, or the dress will tear. I'm almost done." She couldn't help but break out in a grin as she saw a blush evident on Rei's neck and ears.

Once the dress was unzipped, the raven haired beauty whipped around sporting a rare pout. If daggers could shoot from her eyes, Minako would have been dead on the spot. "What does that even mean? A little bit of what, Minako-chan? Are you trying to tease me?"

The blonde leaned forward, trapping the other girl between her body and the mirrored wall. "Oh, Rei-chan, I'm not trying to tease you. I'm totally succeeding." A playful smirk graced her face as she fully enjoyed toying with her friend. She couldn't help herself; it really was just too much fun for her.

A knock on the door distracted both girls from each other. "Hey, you guys done in there?" Usagi's voice called from the other side of the door.

"J-j-just a minute, Usagi-chan!" Rei responded. She hoped that neither Minako nor Usagi picked up on the unusual shakiness in her voice. A quick cocked head and raised eyebrow from the blonde in front of her told her otherwise.

Minako hopped away from Rei, tossing her an unreadable glance as she cracked the door and slipped out. Rei could hear her outside of the door telling Usagi that she was almost done changing. Their princess was having trouble deciding between two outfits, Rei gathered from the conversation. Slowly, she let the dress fall from her shoulders and proceeded, almost mechanically, to change back into the clothes she came in.

The girls continued their shopping spree, stopping in various shops and boutiques, collecting more bags as they walked the streets of Tokyo. As the day drew to an end, the group of friends decided it was time to head separate ways. Ami had agreed to help Makoto clean up and rearrange furniture in her apartment. Usagi, who lived on the same side of town as them, parted with the duo. Minako and Rei walked for a while in silence before parting ways themselves.

As Rei emptied her bags of clothes onto her bed, arranging them to wash the next day, she came across the first dress she had bought that day. Gingerly, she ran her fingers over the fabric, then lifted it against her slender frame and glanced at her reflection in the mirror hanging by her door. She ran her hand over her figure and an image flashed behind her eyes.

The corners of her mouth tugged down slightly. What was going on with her? Never had she let something so trivial occupy her mind so freely. She flopped down on her bed among the clothes and stared long and hard at the ceiling. When did these emotions start dancing around in her chest and stomach? It was the other night, during the storm. Or was it before that? She tried thinking back.

In junior high when Rei first met Minako, she had been curious. This energetic girl, whose beauty was unmatched, snagged everyone's attention, without even trying. She was loud and immature, always saying unnecessary things. But she was also kind, and righteous in her own way. As their friendship grew, something else did as well.

She made a point to ignore it, initially. Their mission was much more important, and Rei made no time for love or lust, or any frivolous emotions for that matter. She had grown content just being around Minako. However, after the battle with Galaxia, things had been peaceful, and it seemed that the girls could move on to focus on their personal lives.

Rei rolled over onto her stomach and clutched her pillow, trying to organize her thoughts and emotions was tougher than she thought. She hadn't needed to do this in years. "Okay," the miko mumbled to herself. "The facts. I need to distinguish the facts." She rolled onto her back, still clinging to the pillow.

"I like Minako-chan. But we're just friends." She felt heat rush in her chest and cheeks. "Not just that, we're both girls. Not that I think the others would mind…" A sigh slipped through her lips. No, surely the other girls wouldn't mind. The big question was what Minako would think if she told her.

She lifted her fingers to her neck, recalling the vivid dream she had the previous night. While it was obvious to Rei what the dream meant, she wasn't sure if she should tell Minako or not. While the blonde was known to give her affection and attention to anyone and everyone she found worthy of such, Rei was uncertain if the girl would take her feelings seriously.

With a heavy exhale, Rei lifted herself from the bed and grabbed armfuls of clothes to fold them over an armchair to deal with the next day. She ran her fingers through her silky hair and decided on calling it an early night. Changing into pajamas and slinking under the covers, her thoughts shifted into similar dreams as she assumed they would. In control of her own conscience, she had a few things she wanted to learn from the visions demanding her attention.

She could feel it; the darkness taking over as her relaxed body sank into a sleep. Slowly, a familiar scene began to form in front of her. She felt cool, smooth wood underneath her bare feet. There was no fire tonight, the moonlight compensated for the lack of light. She turned to the doorway, already knowing what to expect.

A silver silhouette illuminated sun streaked hair. Rei waited for the woman to make the first move. And of course she did, stepping in the doorway cautiously, their eyes locked on one another's.

"Mars," the woman spoke, irritation soaking her tone.

"Yes?" Rei answered simply and nonchalantly.

Eyebrows furrowed at her as the other body in the room moved a few steps closer. "I'm tired of this, Mars. How long do you plan to make our souls suffer?"

A tightness knotted in Rei's chest as she attempted to keep her cool composure and come up with a convincing response. Where was this place anyway? And what did this woman mean by making their souls suffer? Her soul was perfectly fine!

Her attention flickered back to the person in front of her. The defeated expression she wore corrected Rei. No, her soul was not perfectly fine. That expression hurt her deeply in a place she didn't know existed. She took a step towards the disheartened woman and instinctively her hand lifted a fraction, wanting to touch her.

"I'm sorry," was all she was capable of mumbling, letting her hand fall back to her side. So much for the convincing response she wanted.

"You know I'm not angry. I'm just frustrated. We have to meet here, in the dead of their slumber. It's ridiculous. I've been starting to drop hints, you know. Minako is not as dense as she plays. I believe she is beginning to understand."

This caught Rei's attention, and she couldn't stop her head from snapping up. "Oh?" So she had been right. The dream and bodies were manifestations of their souls. However, she didn't want to tell this Venusian goddess in front of her that she was in fact, Rei. She and Mars were momentarily one in the same, and it seemed to her that Venus wanted the same thing for herself and Minkao. She could see the goddess was craving that. She couldn't bring herself to tell the woman that she herself had attained it already.

"How is your Rei doing? I think she will realize things sooner. She is rather psychic, as you are." The goddess' lips curved up into a slight, yet tender smile.

"She is…starting to realize these things. I think she knows, but…but she's worried."

Blonde eyebrows knitted. "Worried? About what exactly?"

Rei clasped her hands in front of her and her fingers began twisting around each other. "Well, she knows how she feels, but she's scared her feelings won't be reciprocated…I believe."

There was a moment of silence before it was cut with an airy laughter. "How cute! And ridiculous, as well."

Rei shot the goddess an inquisitive glance. "I think it's understandable, Venus," she retorted, quite offended that the goddess called her concerns ridiculous.

"Oh, yes. It is understandable. However," Venus stepped towards the young woman and let the back of her hand brush against Rei's cheek. "One cannot deny a love that stretches across the ages."

The dark haired girl shot up in bed, eyes wide and jaw slightly dropped. Her hand flew to her chest, as if to calm her pounding heart. The organ seemed to be in overdrive, refusing to slow down. Her thoughts raced as she started putting pieces of the puzzle into place.

For starters, her dream before had been more than just a dream; she had witnessed a meeting of souls. Second, those souls were her own and Minako's. Third, it would seem they were destined for each other, and their reincarnated souls were getting tired of waiting for the two girls to figure it out on their own. That would explain the racing pulse and quick blushes that seemed to be torturing her lately.

The only question Rei had left: Were the pulse and blushes a result of Mars and Venus attempting to reunite in the present, or was it a result of her, Hino Rei's own budding love for her ungodly beautiful friend?

Okay. There! Oh, and for anyone curious to the dream scenarios, I sort of depict them as a mix between astral projection and lucid dreaming. (Google the terms if you haven't the slightest idea as to what I'm talking about, it'll make more sense.) Anyway, thank you all for your patience and kind reviews. I promise the next update will not be so far away again. ::cries::