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Whenever war rises, love is always there to meet it.
Rei learned this as a princess, as a priestess, time and again. She cherishes her firsts--and lasts--with Minako, passing from one life to the next, from moon to earth, and eventually the other way around. They are not star-crossed but star bound , locked in each other's gravitational pull, by soul if not by distance.
"Rei." Minako's voice brings her back to the present, back to the very nice restaurant where they were sitting and waiting for their food to arrive. It is their anniversary, after all. "Everything okay?"
"Sorry." Her tone is distant still, and Rei breathes deep, tying herself to this time by sheer force of will. "I was just..."
"Stargazing?" Minako smiles, all warmth and light. That was what they had decided to call it when one of them drifted back into the past for a moment. It was different than scrying into fire, or the instinct that drove Minako to guard their Queen, a step closer to those memories than everyone else. "Don't worry about it. We've been waiting here a while."
It isn't an excuse, but it is one of the reasons Rei loved Minako so much; the other woman had a salve for her heart exactly when she needed it, every time. "Do you want to know what I was remembering?"
"If you want to tell me." Minako leans forward in her seat, resting her chin on folded hands--alert, attentive. She offers her full attention to Rei with a smile, without regret.
"I was thinking about how you and I always come back to each other," Rei confesses quietly, a faint smile rising to her own lips. "It's inevitable, isn't it?"
The brightness in Minako's expression wanes, but only because a shadow of contemplation takes its place. "Does that bother you?"
"Why would it bother me?" Confusion trips up Rei's words, makes the question more heated than she meant it to be.
"Because love and freedom should always come hand in hand," Minako says, so serious and yet so unabashedly casual, like the secrets of the universe spill out of her lips all the time. To Rei, they do. "Maybe we don't choose our feelings, but it should be a choice to pursue who we love, right?"
Rei nods because she agrees, but the question stirs up deeper thoughts, like something ancient rising from the sea. Their meal comes, and Minako artfully lets the conversation drop, offering up a bite from her chopsticks after declaring how delicious the first taste is. She's not wrong, but Rei savors the intimacy more than anything on Minako's plate, the fact that they can be here, that they can touch and talk without hesitation.
The dessert she ordered as a surprise arrives in a crystal glass, ice cream drizzled in obscenely expensive chocolate and adorned with golden almonds. Privately, Rei thinks the latter is a bit much, but Minako's unvarnished squeal of delight makes it worth every last yen. She watches in silence as her girlfriend takes a slew of pictures, then dares to poke her spoon through the dark, crisp shell. Minako groans with the first bite, running the very tip of her shoe up Rei's calf.
"This is so good. Don't let me wolf this all down myself." She pushes the second spoon over in invitation, then swipes up another bite. "You're the best, Rei."
Rei knows fire, within and without. It is what defines her, a blaze of purity that challenges any who would harm her Queen, the future, and those she loves. Sometimes it burns low as embers, when she's exhausted or the burden of her path becomes too much to bear--for a moment, just a moment--but Minako ignites her. Sometimes in frustration or pain, yes, but no one else has ever roused such passion and understanding, a flame that nourishes her very spirit.
She smiles. Minako notices, a pleased glint in her eyes, and waggles the spoon full of chocolate and dripping vanilla her way. "Don't leave me hanging, hot stuff."
"You'd eat every last bite and love it," Rei counters playfully, but takes custody of her own spoon and scoops a bit off the edge of the glass.
Once the check is handled, they walk arm in arm out of the restaurant. Rei knows the logical thing is to head for the train, to take Minako home and cradle her in bed until they fall asleep in each other's arms, but she strays to another path. It leads to the water, to waves painted black by the late hour, the foam of every crest cast silver by the moon. Minako is quiet as they approach the barricade across the pier, patient for an explanation that she knows will come.
"I chose you," Rei begins, then bites her tongue. "No, I choose you. My heart may point me in the right direction, but I remember how many times we realized what we wanted was impossible. Something--or someone--else had to come first. This time, I didn't let that happen."
"So it's not inevitable?" The angle of their arms shift, Minako presses against her back, face in the crook of Rei's shoulder. "Or is it?"
"I think you and I will always find each other, no what world we're reborn in. I think I'll always love you, even if that life doesn't give me the chance to pursue it." Rei lets out a deep breath, reincarnations of regret burning in her lungs. "I have the freedom to look away, but why would I? Why would I turn from you when I had any other choice?"
"I don't know," Minako whispers, and Rei realizes the collar of her blouse is wet from the swift fall of tears. "But it's really nice to hear you say it."
"Oh, Minako." Turning in her lover's arms, she meets watery blue eyes, worth more than the ocean churning under their feet. "We have this year, and I'll make sure we have the next, and the next. I'll fight for you until there's nothing left of me."
The moment Minako's lips meet hers, a supernova sings under Rei's skin. An end and a beginning in equal measure, joyful cataclysm.
There is nowhere else she would rather be.
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