Makoto left not long ago. There were, of course, many hugs and clings and, impossibly, more crying.
And promises to call, text, lunch pounce, the usual.
Now, she's more or less dozing on the couch.
Mamoru's still recharging his poor introvert batteries by hiding somewhere near Zoisite, and she figures the best thing to do is just let him.
(She really needs that hand book.)
On a whim, she tries Rei again!
TXT: Rei-chan, have the ponies ate the cabbage?
Ug, was that autocorrect?
Shrug.
Rei TXT: Ponies? Cabbage?
Rei TXT: Usagi-chan, r u sleep-txting again?
Rei TXT: Nevermind that. I'm almost at Mamo-kun's.
Rei did receive an earlier text to come to the new apartment, but she was busy at the time. Apparently when a shrine maiden goes away for a few days the work sortof piles up, and Grandpa wasn't accepting her 'but I'm tired' excuse.
There's no rest for the Rei-chan.
While still on her phone, she looks at her GPS. She knew, in theory, where Mamoru's apartment was, but she hadn't actually been there. After all, when Jadeite came to be purified, he went to her shrine. She might've been tracked, and the last thing she wanted to do was give away Jadeite's location.
Rei TXT: srsly tho r u awake?
She wasn't, for some reason, expecting a text back.
She's so not sniffling when she answers, finally.
TXT: Depends. Are you really real?
Another sniffle, nose wiped on the back of her sleeve.
She manages to haul herself off the couch and sort of stagger to the front door. It doesn't take as long as it had before, but it's still slow.
TXT: I swear, Rei, if you're not really real, I'm gonna bop you so hard!
Rei TXT: ofc i'm real. omg. how are you going to bop me if i'm not real?
Rei lets out a loud huff as she rides the elevator up. Geeze. What is Usagi even thinking about? For all Rei knows, Usagi's on the couch, sleeping again.
Rei shakes her head. Well, to Usagi's credit, she did just save the world. That has to be a bit tiring.
There's a knock on the door, and if Usagi opens it she'll find a grumpy, tired Rei on the other side of the door, wearing short shorts and a white blouse with a picture of a teddy bear.
Of course Usagi is by the door. She'd started her way as soon as Rei said she was on her way!
She opens the door, and Usagi thought she was out of tears.
But the texts.
Rei's grumpy face.
Her t-shirt.
"It is you!"
There's a moment's hesitation between that and the obvious result.
After all, last time she touched Rei, she'd been a smoldering corpse!
When Rei's face didn't peel away in some weird nightmare thing when her fingers touch, she's crying, more, and all but falls on Rei in a tight, squishy hug.
Rei watches as Usagi opens the door. She tilts her head for a moment as Usagi looks her over. Is... Usagi alright? She seems to be...
Then Usagi is crying, and Rei says, "Well of course it's me, dummy-chan!" She doesn't move away or flinch or turn into a monster when Usagi touches her face, but when her friend falls onto her the miko catches. Rei holds Usagi in a hug, smiling for a moment when Usagi isn't looking.
"There there, Usagi-chan. I'm here now. It's okay. You brought us back, remember? Everything's fine now."
Rei doesn't make any motion to move from her current spot, holding Usagi for as long as she needs it, rubbing her back for a moment. It's been a stressful few days, after all. They're allowed to cry a bit over it, right?
Oh, Rei! So mean!
It doesn't stop Usagi from giving a small, watery laugh.
"You're the dummy-chan!"
And of course she knows, logically, that they're all back. But, well. Emotions are high.
Last time I hugged you, you were crispy." A tight squeeze.
But before Rei could respond to that macabre image, Usagi's pulled back and tugging her inside. "Mako-chan came by earlier but she had to leave but she gave me some cookies. I-I can share some with you!"
And that alone is indicative of Usagi's mental state than anything else, perhaps.
She is willingly offering to share Mako-cookies.
Rei considers what her corpse must have looked like. It's a pretty grim image. She's seen funerals before, so the image that comes to mind is of her lying in a coffin. Though, really, her death was probably not so neat. She's surprised that she didn't just outright get cremated, all things considered.
She glances away for a moment, but then she herself being tugged inside. Rei enters without much fuss and hears that Mako-chan brought cookies. "Um... sure! We can share some cookies." Makoto's baking is a lot better than anything Rei could do, or buy.
She follows Usagi into the apartment, holding her hand as the two of them walk further in. Then she breaths in, and lets out a long sigh. "It's really been rough, hasn't it? I'm glad it's over, but... I'm still pretty tired from it."
Usagi tugs and tugs, though without her usual strength. When they reach the couch, she collapses back on it as though she'd just run a marathon. And then she picks up the bag of cookies and offers one to Rei.
"Yeah, it wasn't...easy." She takes a bit of her own cookie and chews for a bit before she sighs. "I'm exhausted. But it's like I don't wanna sleep. Which is silly because I always wanna sleep. But if I sleep what if I wake up and we're not really done?"
She sighs again. Pale and with bags under her eyes, it looks like she should have fallen asleep hours ago!
Rei allows herself to be tugged along, and when they get to the couch she plops down onto it and rests her weary, tired bones. Why are things so hard all of a sudden? Is she just out of shape? Well, it's not like she had much chance to rest during D-point, and even if she were physically repaired there's still... the emotional impact of... everything.
After all, Rei died there, and worse she even watched friends die there, too. Dying to fulfill her duty didn't seem that bad, but she didn't want to lose her friends. Grumpy as she is now, she is grateful for all of that.
She accepts the offered cookie, and starts to nibble on it as Usagi talks. She puts an arm around Usagi's back and says, "I know... it would be bad if we weren't finished... but I think we are. At least, I'm pretty sure that Beryl would've attacked us by now if she could."
"It's kindof hard to imagine it, isn't it? I mean... we've fought the Dark Kingdom for so long. That's a part of our life that's over now. It's kinda hard to take it all in."
Usagi snuggles against Rei's side as the arm is brought around her. "I'm pretty sure I felt when she...poofed? But yeah. If she hadn't, she'd have done something by now."
She takes out another cookie and positions the bag so Rei could take another if she wanted.
And then Rei says what Usagi's been wondering, even in the back of her mind. "What do we do now? Are we just supposed to retire?" Thinking about it, and how much she wants to be a normal girl, the thought of giving it up just doesn't seem right.
Rei doesn't eat quite as fast as Usagi does. Especially today, where she's just kindof... tired. She smiles at the snuggling, leaning her cheek on Usagi's head. She spends a good amoung of time just chewing on the first cookie.
"I'm not sure. I don't even know what to think about that. I mean, I don't think I'll give up on being a magical girl. There are still bad guys out there, and I don't want to give up the power I have to fight them."
Mars thinks back to the battles she's fought, and the battles that the other senshi have fought. Some of those wars might never end, really. "Besides, I don't really think I could ever go back to being completely 'normal'. I never was normal to begin with, and now that I know what I know there's no way I could ever forget it."
She shrugs, reaching for her second cookie at last, munching on it as she thinks.
It's Usagi's turn to chew silently as Rei talks. As she thinks about how to answer, she's halfway through her third cookies.
"Of course you weren't ordinary, you know. My Rei-chan's quite extraordinary, always has been." She means it in the best possible way, too.
She snuggles even closer, and Rei is very warm. But not the way she had been the last time, which is very good. "I don't think I could go back, either. It was nice, but it kinda felt...empty?"
Snuggle, snuggle.
And yes, even a little bit of that squirming Ami mentally woes about on occasion.
"I think if I have you guys around, I can keep going."
Rei's used to feeling like an outcast, but actually... the way Usagi says it does make her feel better about it. Standing out is a bit different when there's someone around who accepts you for it.
"Thanks, Usagi-chan."
She holds Usagi as she listens, nodding as she hears the bunny's response. The snuggling is welcome, and the squirming doesn't bother her. It even makes her giggle.
"Yeah... I feel like my whole life I was just... waiting for something. I didn't really know what it was, but... deep down, I felt like something important was going to happen. Then you showed up at my shrine... and then there was the thing with the busses..."
She smiles softly, holding Usagi tight. "Well, we're not going anywhere! Even V-chan came through in the end. I guess you're stuck with us, Usa-chan."
What the others saw that made them feel the need to view Rei as an outcast, Usagi's always seen it as another example of just how Rei shines.
And to her, it's so obvious that she's clueless for what she's being thanked for. "You're welcome. What for?"
She shifts a bit more, and this time because she's a bit uncomfortable. "I never...felt like I was missing anything. That used to bother me in the beginning, you know? But I think it's because you all had always just been...a part of me. And I didn't recognize it until I met you." She furrows her brows. "Does that make sense? Augh."
SIGH. Come on, brain.
And then she sighs again, and it's a very happy one! "She did! I was so happy!" Happy, happy hum! "If I had to choose, I'd be stuck with you guys again in a heart beat!"
Rei blinks at Usagi. She's never really said it in front of the other girls, has she? No, Rei's always had to act tough. She still kind of feels a need to, actually. She decides to keep up that image.
"For being you, bunny-chan."
Rei munches a cookie, taking her time to eat it while thinking of what to say. Her brain's tired, too. "Well... I've always had a 6th sense, so I guess I just knew. I don't know what it was like for others. I guess it makes sense that you'd never see this coming. Who would? It's pretty far out there, if you think about it."
Rei giggles. She can't help but be happy. "You're a sweetheart, Usa-chan. I'm glad to be stuck with you, too."
Usagi preens a bit and wiggles her feet. Of course she'd be herself! Sill Rei-chan.
"I don't know, either. I just know there were Ami-chan and Rei-chan and Mako-chan and Mina-chan sized places for all of you and you just went ponk, ponk, ponk right where you belonged!"
Usagi's tired, too.
She giggles a little, too. "You're a sweetheart too, Rei-chan. But don't worry! I won't tell if you don't want me to!"
And then she's yawning, and her whole body shakes with it. When she's done, she snuggles down more.
Her voice is soft when she asks. "Rei-chan? Can I sleep with you tonight?"
Rei can't help but giggle at Usagi's general level of cuteness. She holds her tight. She tries to imagine herself and the other senshi falling into little slots in Usagi's heart. Somehow she's not surprised that it'd work that way.
Rei shakes her head, waggling a finger at Usagi. "No one likes a tattletale!" Then her waggling finger goes for Usagi's tummy, trying to tickle the bunny! After a moment Rei stops, wrapping her other arm around her friend and princess.
She considers. Does she need to go back to the shrine for anything? Not really, and it'd be good for things to go back to normal.
"Sure, Usagi-chan. If you want to."
There's a squealing giggle and a squirm! Noooo, not tickling! "Okay, okay! No tattling!"
And then blessed relief! A happy sigh and another snuggle as she folds her hands around Rei's arms.
"I want to! But the question is, are you gonna abandon me if Jade-kun comes home tonight to snuggle with him? Woe me! Woe, woe me!"
She really should regret saying that, but hey.
She really doesn't.
Rei giggles at Usagi's squirming, tickling a little bit harder before releasing her. "Good!" Rei smirks as she says it.
Usagi gets her chance for vengeance, because Rei turns bright red at her question. Immediately she holds her hands up to object. "We aren't...! ... I mean... we haven't..."
She pushes Usagi and sticks her tongue out at her. Then she crosses her arms and looks away, pouting.
The distance doesn't last long, as soon Rei's leaning against Usagi again. Her arms are still crossed though.
"Silly Usa-chan."
Mweeheehee! Glorious vengeance!
She does squawk and pout when Rei pulls away, and is quick to retaliate by sticking out her tongue, too! "Bleeeee!"
Arms crossed or no, Usagi's back to hugging Rei. "I think they're all in one big Mamo-pile. Or boy pile. Or something. So it's just us until someone else comes along to join the Usa-pile!"