#minarei

“Hey, Mamoru, what’s up? Everything okay?” Motoki asked his friend.

“Uh… no.” Mamoru said honestly, “Look, I need you to close the arcade early today.”

“Um… I could probably go on break a bit early if you need me for something, but I can’t exactly-”

“No, it’s not you, it’s… the building. I need it.”

“What on Earth are you talking about?” Motoki questioned.

“Look, I just need you to trust me, okay?” Mamoru pleaded.

“No, that’s not okay!” Motoki responded, “I put up with a lot of crap and secrets from you, but you can’t just walk in here and tell me to do something that could get me in trouble and expect me to just go with it.”

Mamoru paused for a moment, looking anxiously toward the entrance, “Alright, fine, you want the truth?” He asked, to which Motoki simply nodded in response, “Alright, here goes. I’m Tuxedo Mask.” Mamoru said in a hushed tone, “Usagi is Sailor Moon, her friends are the Sailor Guardians, and they have a supercomputer hidden in the Sailor V arcade game that they need to use to track down one of their friends. And you have about a minute and a half to get everyone out of here before Mako comes in and forces them all out.”

Motoki stood in stunned silence for a good while before he was able to finally speak again “You… you’re not joking…” He finally choked out.

“No. I’m not.” 

“It all makes sense now. You randomly disappearing for days on end and showing up with bruises and-”

“Listen, buddy, I promise I will explain everything later. But for right now…”

“Right! Right!” Motoki said, “Um, attention everyone!” He announced to the patrons of the Game Center, “I’m sorry, but we’re closing early due to an emergency! You will all have to come back tomorrow!”

Some customers were more respectful than others, but ultimately Motoki was able to get them all to clear out, before switching the sign to ‘closed’ on the front of the center.

“Alright, you’re good everyone.” Mamoru said into his communicator, and mere moments later, Usagi, Rei, Minako and Makoto along with their cats came walking through the front entrance.

“Uh… hey, everyone.” Motoki said awkwardly.

“Out of my way, Furuhata.” Makoto said darkly, pushing past Motoki and heading straight for the Sailor V arcade machine.

“Um… is she…?” Motoki began to ask Mamoru.

“Ami was taken by the enemy.” Mamoru explained, gloomily.

“Oh, I’m sorry.” Motoki asked, “Is there anything I can do to-?”

“You’ve done plenty already. Just go get some rest.” Mamoru said to his friend.

…

“How do you make this damn thing work!?” Makoto cried in frustration, pushing every button on the Sailor V arcade cabinet.

“Luna’s the only one of us other than Ami who can work that thing, Mako.” Rei explained calmly, “Just leave it to her.”

Makoto backed up and allowed Luna to jump onto the machine. The feline instantly got to work.

“With any luck, I’ll be able to triangulate her position from her computer.” Luna explained, “Only issue is that it needs to be activated for that to work.”

“Is there any other way you can track her?” Makoto asked, desperately.

“Maybe. Trust me, Mako, I’ll do everything I can to find her.”

“Alright, thank you.” The Guardian of Thunder said sincerely, before turning to her friends, “In the meantime, we need to talk about what we’re up against.” 

“What do you mean?” Artemis asked.

“We can’t go easy on them again. The next time we run into them we take them down, hard and fast. And Sailor Chaos? She’s mine.” Makoto said, definitively.

“You mean Naru?” Usagi said meekly.

“What?” Makoto asked indignantly.

“Her name is Naru.” 

“Well, to be honest with you, Usagi, I don’t really care what her name is right now.” Makoto shot back, “All I care about is stopping her from doing any more harm.”

“She needs our help!” 

“She doesn’t want our help!” Makoto rebutted, “You weren’t there. She was toying with us, enjoying herself.”

“That’s not really her! It’s not any of them! It’s-!”

“I don’t care! We treated them with kid gloves, and look where it got us!” Makoto shouted, “Ami could be dead for all we know!”

“She’s not. They wouldn’t go through the trouble of capturing her just to kill her.” Rei interjected.

“Until they get what they want from her!” Makoto replied angrily.

“Mako, we can’t just-” Usagi began, before being cut off.

“You’re in no position to tell me what I can and can’t do! You weren’t there!” Makoto all but screamed, pointing directly at Usagi.

“I told you! I tried! But Haruka and the others, they-”

“They stopped you? Let me ask you something, Usagi. Can you honestly tell me you did everything you could to get through them and get to us?” Makoto asked, “Or did you hold back? Because you would rather let us keep getting hurt than do what has to be done!?”

“I… I…” Usagi stuttered, her eyes welling up with tears.

“Alright, Mako, that’s enough!” Rei said, approaching the auburn-haired guardian.

Suddenly, Makoto felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned to see it belonged to Minako, who was looking at her with pleading eyes.

“Can you join me outside?” The Guardian of Beauty asked, “Please?”

… 

Ami didn’t know where she was. She felt like she had been wandering forever. But when she looked around, all she could see was darkness.

“Hello?” She asked, timidly.

“Can you believe her?” Ami heard from a distance, in a voice she could’ve sworn belonged to Usagi. She began to make her way towards the source. As she got closer she was able to make out what appeared to be the visages of her friends, shrouded in darkness.

“Guys? Guys! I’m here! I’m-!”

“How stuck up can you be?”

Ami stopped dead in her tracks.

“‘Oh, poor me, I got a ninety-one because I finally took my nose out of a book for once’, gimme a break.”

“She thinks she’s so much better than us, just because she gets good grades.”

“No… no I don’t, I-”

“Yeah, even though that’s literally the only thing she’s good at.”

“Oh I know! I mean, how many times have we had to bail her out during a fight? Talk about a weak link!”

“Honestly Mako, I don’t know why you decided to date her.”

“Yeah, well, I honestly just felt sorry for her.”

“What?”

“I mean, she’s just so pathetic, how could I not? But I’ve gotta be honest, I’m really reaching the end of my rope with her.”

“Mako… no… I…” Ami choked out, grasping at her chest and collapsing onto her knees as tears began to fall from her eyes, an icy cold feeling filling her entire being.

“That’s right. You are alone. You will always be alone.” She heard Reign’s voice say from the aether.

“No… no… it’s not…” 

“You know it’s true. They could never understand you.”

“They could never…”

“No one could ever love you.”

“... ever… love me…”

“However… that doesn’t have to be so.” Reign said, appearing in front of Ami and kneeling down to her eye-level, “Join with us… help us rewrite this world… show those who shunned you the error of their ways.”

“Yes… yes…” Ami said, looking up towards Reign. Wispy shadows began to protrude from the ground and wrap themselves around her. As they did so Ami’s thoughts would continue to twist and bend. The pain that came from years of isolation all coming to the surface at once. No friends to call her own, her mother constantly gone, even her own father wanted nothing to do with her. How could she have let herself believe Usagi and the others would be any different? How could she have been so stupid?

“And it all starts with the Golden Crystal.”

“The Golden… Crystal…”

“I need the code, Ami.”

“The code… right… the code is…”

“This is Ami, she’s the really smart one.” Usagi’s voice would chime from the darkness.

“What?” Reign asked, confused.

Suddenly, the black void around the two of them morphed into the Crown Game Center, visages of Ami’s friends appearing as well, replaying a scene from years ago. 

“And the cat with the crescent bald spot is Luna!” 

“Aw, how cute!” 

“That… that’s right.” Ami said, slowly standing back up as the icy feeling in her chest would fade, “They do love me… they accept me for who I am…”

The blue-haired girl pulled out her Crystal Change Rod, “You can’t trick me Reign! I’ll stop- ah!” Ami screamed as she was electrocuted by black lightning from Reign’s hand.

“Yes, yes, that’s very cute. But let’s not forget who’s in control here.” Reign began to inspect the memory, “You recalled this upon being asked the code, so something here must be important.”

“No…” Ami cried as Reign analyzed her precious memory like they were watching a TV show, her still being stuck in place by the dark energy.

“Hmm… ah, I see.” Reign said, looking at a calendar behind the front desk, “The day when you first met her… that’s the code, isn’t it?”

“Stop it…” Ami pleaded.

“How sweet. I must thank you for your help, Miss Mizuno. Maybe when you wake up you’ll be more cooperative.” Reign remarked before blasting Ami with energy, rendering her unconscious.

…

“What do you want?” Makoto asked, having stepped out of the Crown Game Center with Minako.

“Seemed like you needed some air.” Minako replied.

“I’m fine.”

“You’re freaking out.”

“Of course I’m freaking out!” Makoto shouted.

“I get it. I do.” Minako said, “But you need to calm down before you do something you regret.”

“Oh, please, don’t you dare get on my case. We both know if this were Rei you would be the exact same way.”

Minako was stunned, “How… how do you…?”

“Does it matter?” Makoto asked, “You know I’m right.”

Minako pondered her friend's words for a moment. She was still confused as to how Makoto had come to learn about her feelings for Rei, but that was something she could deal with at another time.

“Y’know what? You’re right, Mako.” Mina said, “I would be a total wreck if something like that happened to Rei. Or any of you really. I would probably lash out the same way you are.” Mina stepped forward and locked eyes with Mako, “And I would trust you to be the one to stop me from doing something stupid.”

“You… you don’t understand… none of you could.” Makoto said, leaning back against the wall.

“Well… then help me understand.” Mina said, sincerely.

“I… I was supposed to protect her.” The taller girl began, her eyes welling up with tears, “I promised her I would protect her!”

“Mako, this is not your fault.” Mina said, reassuringly, “Risk comes with the job, Ami knows that, she-”

“She came to me last night, sobbing, because she was so scared of doing this again.” Makoto said bluntly, “And I told her that I wouldn’t let anything happen to her and I… I failed. I failed her.”

“Mako…”

“She must be so scared…” Mako said, tears rolling down her face, “... if she’s even…”

Suddenly, the green-eyed girl would find herself pulled into a hug by her friend, “Mako, listen to me. Ami’s strong… a lot stronger than I think even she realizes. She’s okay, I know she is. And I don’t think she’s scared at all. You wanna know why?”

“W-why?”

“Because she knows you would never break your promise. She knows you’re gonna save her.”

“You think?”

“I know.”

Mina would simply stand there, holding the taller girl, giving her a moment to recollect herself, before suddenly they heard the Game Center door open, and broke their hug to look at Rei, who had stepped out of the building.

“Guys, Luna’s got something!”

The three girls dashed back into the building and up to the arcade machine, “Did you find her?” Makoto asked, desperately.

“I think so.” Luna said, “I’m getting a signal from her computer, I’m triangulating the position now!” The computer pinged, indicating the final result had been delivered, “Got her! She’s… oh no…”

“Where?! Where is… oh my god.” Makoto said in shock. The group all looked at the location on the screen in stunned silence, with only some light gasps being thrown into the mix, until Usagi finally managed to choke out the name of the cursed location in question.

“D-Point.”

-------------------------------

I can only apologize for long waits between chapters so many times but... sorry. I really wanted to get to a point where I was uploading at least once a month, but I've really been in a slump since the beginning of the year. And obviously this story is really important to me, it's basically the culmination of everything I've written thus far and I really want it to be good. Which has kind of paralyzed me in a lot of ways when it comes to writing/editing it.

Not to mention it feels like the weeks just fly by (it really does not feel like it's been three months since the last update). Regardless, I know I'm making excuses, but all this is to say I really do appreciate everyone who has stuck with this story despite the long waits between chapters. And I really will try to start updating at least once a month. I know I've said that before. And if we're being real here, I'll probably say it again, but I promise to try.

Anyway, onto our normal chapter notes stuff.

Why has Reign set up shop in the Dark Kingdom's old hideout? And how will the Sailor Guardians brave the site of their own demise to save their comrade?

Come back next time for Chapter 11 to find out. But until then, thank you once again to everyone who has kept reading this story.

And please please please let me know what you think of the story thus far, Comments, reblogs, etc are very much appreciated. And until next time, take care everyone (:

First Chapter

Previous Chapter

“Oh, right, right, well I can’t get a hold of any of the Outers so we’re all gonna head over to their place to see what’s up. Think you lovebirds can get yourselves out of bed and meet us at their front gate in an hour?”

“Uh, yeah, we’ll be there soon.” Ami said, still blushing profusely.

“Awesome. Venus out.” The blonde-haired girl said before Ami closed her communicator and laid her head back down on the pillow.

“We’re gonna be hearing about this for a while, aren’t we?” Ami asked.

“Oh, definitely.”

…

Before long, the five had gathered by the front gate of the house which the Outers shared. Usagi couldn’t help but be amazed by just how big and nice it was, despite having seen it many times in the past. As they approached the front door, Usagi couldn’t help but feel a pit form in her stomach. It was already suspicious that the Outer Guardians hadn’t made an effort to contact them after the scene in the city yesterday had been widely reported on, but now they weren’t answering their communicators?

“They’re probably just busy, that’s all.” Usagi tried to convince herself as she went to ring the doorbell, “Yeah… yeah, I’m sure everything’s-”

“Usagi look out!” She heard Rei cry from behind her before ripping her away from the door.

A mere split second afterward, the front of the house exploded, flinging the five guardians back onto the front lawn.

“What… What was that?” Mina asked between coughing fits, no doubt caused by all the smoke. 

From that smoke, the girls saw four figures walking towards them. They were unable to make out any features at first, but as the figures moved closer they could see more and more.

The first detail which the Guardians could see was that the figures were wearing uniforms nearly identical to those worn by the Four Kings of Heaven. Enemies the Sailor Guardians had defeated years prior.

Above them, they saw Reign suddenly appear in a flash of dark energy, their cloak billowing in the newly created wind, “Why hello there, Sailor Guardians. Sorry I’m a bit late to the party, but I believe you’re all already acquainted?” They said, gesturing towards the figures. As they did so the last of the smoke cleared, and the girls could finally make out their faces, horrified by what they were seeing.

It was their friends. 

Haruka. 

Michiru. 

Setsuna. 

Hotaru.

“Allow me to introduce… my FOUR QUEENS OF HEAVEN!”

“What have you done to them?!” Usagi asked angrily, pulling out her compact.

“How about you come up here and find out?” Reign taunted.

“Don’t do it Usagi, they’re baiting-” Mina advised her friend, to no avail.

“Moon Spectrum Power! MAKE UP!” Usagi shouted, transforming and launching herself at Reign and tackling them through the air.

“Dammit, alright everyone, transform!”

“Mercury Crystal Power!”

“Mars Crystal Power!

“Jupiter Crystal Power!”

“Venus Crystal Power!”

“MAKE UP!”

The Inners ran towards their friends, hoping to be able to reason with them, but the Queens of Heaven split off and each focused on one of the Inners. Haruka began to attack Jupiter at close range, Michiru launched her water attacks towards Mercury, Setsuna swatted at Mars with her rod and Hotaru launched energy attacks towards Venus. 

“Haruka, stop, don’t do this!” Jupiter pleaded while dodging the older girl’s attacks.

“Heh, that’s just like you.” Haruka said, “The little weakling is afraid to fight back! World Shaking!” She cried out, launching her attack at Jupiter which sent her flying across the battlefield.

“Jupiter!” Mercury cried, taking her attention away from Michiru, leaving her open to being struck by a beam from Michiru’s mirror, “Gah!”

“That was always your problem, wasn’t it? So scatterbrained. Never able to focus on what needed to be done!” Michiru said, conjuring a ball of water and energy in her hands, “Deep Submerge!”

Mercury was struck by several tons of water, which knocked her back onto the lawn.

“Setsuna, please, this isn’t you!” Mars shouted as she attempted to dodge the Guardian of Time’s attacks.

“Oh please, don’t act like you know the first thing about me.” Setsuna replied bitterly, “Dead Scream.” She said, launching her attack towards Mars, knocking her into a tree in the front yard.

“Hotaru, please! Don’t make me hurt you!” Venus cried, standing off against the younger girl.

“Hurt me?” Hotaru said before slamming down the butt of her Silence Glaive with a smirk, “That’s cute. Silence Wall!” She shouted, sending a large wall of energy hurtling toward Venus and knocking her all the way back to the gate on the outskirts of the premises. 

“Venus!” Mars cried, while still struggling against Setsuna.

Sailor Moon finally managed to force Reign to the ground, as the two tumbled into the ruins of what used to be the Outers’ home.

“You…” Usagi said, standing up and beginning to make her way toward her cloaked adversary, who was still kneeled down onto the ground.

“I don’t know what sick spell you have my friends under, but you’d better let them go right now before I-” Was all the Guardian could manage to say before she saw a gray and crimson figure dash towards her out of the corner of her eye and blast her into one of the still standing walls of the house.

“Oh, that’s right.” Reign said, standing up and dusting themselves off, “There was one more I forgot to introduce. Sailor Moon, meet… SAILOR CHAOS!”

They wore an outfit similar to the first iteration of Usagi’s own. However rather than white, the majority of the outfit was an ashy gray, with dark crimson on the skirt and boots. The outfit, however, was the least of Usagi’s concerns. A wave of horror washed over her as she looked up at the face of her new assailant.

“Naru?!”

----

Dun Dun DUUUUUUUN.

At long last, we have returned to our regularly scheduled programming, with a chapter full of twists and turns.

Again, I’m still not the best when it comes to writing combat, but hopefully it was alright.

But what’s going on? Why have the Outers aligned themselves with the new enemy? And how is Naru a Sailor Guardian?!

Well, to find out all that and more, I suppose you’ll just have to come back for Chapter 8: Naru: Sailor Chaos.

But until then, let me know what you all think! Comments, reblogs, likes, etc. are much appreciated!

First Chapter

Previous Chapter

Rei hadn’t known Minako for very long, relatively speaking. She showed up only shortly before the girls’ final battle with the Dark Kingdom where they all lost their memories, and it was only recently that those memories had been returned to them. Even in that short time, however, she had noticed something… off about the blonde-haired girl.

Rei was exceptionally good at reading people, it came with the whole ‘psychic’ thing. Minako, however, had proven very difficult. The girl almost seemed… hollow. It had been nearly impossible for Rei to get a proper read on her, which of course frustrated the shrine maiden to no end. That was all about to change, though, as Minako was coming over to the shrine for what she thought was a Sailor meeting which… wasn’t a complete lie. After all… they were Sailors… and they were meeting…

The blonde-haired girl was clearly perplexed when she showed up to Rei’s room to see the raven-haired girl sitting alone at the table, “Uh… did I get here early?” Mina asked, scratching her head a bit.

“Yep, sure did.” Rei lied, patting the seat next to her, inviting Mina to sit down, “So, you been up to anything interesting lately?”

“Um… no, not really.” Mina said flatly as she sat down, “The store ran out of the cat food Artemis likes so he’s been complaining about that to no end… did some homework before this…”

“Oh my lord, maybe the reason I can’t read this girl is because she’s about as interesting as a block of wood!” Rei thought to herself.

“Also, Rei?” Mina asked, snapping Rei out of her thoughts, “I know no one else is coming, so can you please tell me why you called me here?”

“What? I mean… okay, you got me.” Rei said, putting her hands up in defeat, “The truth is… I don’t understand you.”

“I’m sorry, what?”

“Everyone else I can read like an open book. But not you. With you I’ve got… nothing. And I don’t understand why.” Rei elaborated.

“Oh, well… I can’t say for sure why that is but if I had to guess… I’d say it’s because I’m not really a person.” Mina said, a bit sadly, earning a confused look from Rei.

“So… are you like… an alien?” Rei asked, scratching her head.

“I mean, technically we all kind of are, but no that’s not what I meant.” Mina said, looking at a picture Rei kept on her desk. It was a photo from back when it was just Rei, Ami and Usagi. Usagi had insisted on getting a group picture while they were at the amusement park, even though they were meant to be there for Sailor Business.

“Then what did you mean?”

Mina’s eyes focused on the bun-headed girl in the center of the picture, “I’m a shadow. Just a pale reflection of her.” She said bluntly.

“Of Usagi?” Rei asked, not quite sure what she was getting at.

“Yes. I’m destined to die in her place. I was born and raised for that one purpose. And even with the threat of the Dark Kingdom gone, that fact remains unchanged.” Mina said matter-of-factly.

“That’s horrible! You can’t really believe that, can you?” Rei asked, shocked.

“Of course I do. It’s fine, I am what I am. I don’t get to have wants and dreams… there’s no reason for an expendable to have such things.” The blue-eyed girl said, a subtle hint of sadness in her voice.

SMACK!

The sound reverberated through Rei’s room as the miko slapped her friend across the face.

Mina was left in a state of shock, holding the stinging side of her face with one hand as she looked at Rei wide-eyed. Meanwhile, Rei’s face was full of anger, as her hand twitched, also stinging from the impact of the slap.

“Don’t you dare call yourself expendable ever again. Got it?” She said, slowly lowering her hand.

“But… but…” Mina tried to speak, but did not know how to respond to this, “But that’s what I am. It’s what I was raised to be. It’s my-”

“Your what? Your destiny? Who cares about that?! You decide your destiny! No one else!” Rei shouted, still fuming.

“That… that’s not… I can’t… I…” Mina stammered.

“You are so much more than just a body to die for Usagi! You’re your own person!” Rei insisted, before lowering her voice a bit, “Look… sorry for the slap. I just-”

“No, no, it’s fine. I… appreciate how much you care.” Mina said with a soft smile, “But I… it’s been so long since my memories awakened and… I’m not even sure I remember what it’s like to be my own person…” She said sadly, looking down at the table and resting her hands on it.

“That’s okay.” Rei said, resting her hand atop Mina’s, “You can just take it one step at a time. Like… you said before you don’t have a dream… is that really true?”

“Well… do you promise not to laugh?” Mina asked timidly, biting her lip a bit.

“Of course.” The raven-haired girl said, giving her friend’s hand a gentle squeeze.

“Well… before all this Sailor stuff happened… I always wanted to be an idol.” Mina said, clearly worried Rei would think that was stupid or childish.

“Heh… can I be honest?” Rei asked, causing Mina to look up from the table and at her, “Same. Amongst other things.”

“Oh wow… I never would have thought…” Mina said, blushing lightly as she realized Rei hadn’t taken her hand off of hers.

“We decide our own destinies. You aren’t just Sailor Venus, protector of the princess… you’re also Minako Aino. As for who that is? Well… no one can tell you that but you. But whoever that ends up being… I know I’d love to meet her.” Rei said with a smile, before Mina all but threw herself at her with a hug.

“... Thank you, Rei.”

“Anytime.”

----

I always thought it was interesting how Minako went from... well let’s be honest here... boring as sin in season 1 of Sailor Moon to one of the most fun characters later on. This fic is kind of meant to bridge that gap.

Anyway, that’s day five! Come back tomorrow for Day 6: Pet Names. 

But until then, please let me know what you thought! Comments, reblogs, likes, etc. are much appreciated!

“Join the club.” Makoto said, “But what’s the issue here? We beat Death Phantom when we were in middle school. We’re way stronger now! Whoever this is, they don’t stand a chance.”

“Don’t be so sure, Mako.” Ami responded, “Something was off with the crystal’s energy. It wasn’t exactly the same as last time. Not to mention, the readings I got suggested they possessed considerable power outside of the crystal.”

“More importantly, they knew us.” Rei interjected into the conversation, “And they didn’t seem the least bit upset that we’d beaten Ail and An. I think that was meant to be some kind of test, seeing if we’d lost our edge.”

“Who could it be though?” Makoto questioned, “Pretty much all of our enemies are either dead or turned over a new leaf.”

“And what’s the deal with my new powers? Why did I shoot fire?!” Usagi asked, confused.

“I explained it to you already, Usagi.” Luna said with a sigh, “Your new transformation allows you to use the powers of the other Sailor Guardians.”

“Yeah, because that’s fair.” Rei said, pouting a bit.

“Alright everyone!” Minako said, bringing the conversation to a halt, “We’ve all had a long day, and it’s unlikely that we’re gonna figure this all out tonight. So how about we all go home and get some rest?” The Guardian of Beauty said in a much more serious tone than her team often heard from her, “We’ll need it for what’s ahead.”

…

It had been so long since she last fought a monster that Makoto almost forgot how dirty she would get. Constantly rolling around to dodge attacks, or getting hit by clouds of dirt that get kicked up, not to mention that fighting a monster worked up quite a sweat. However, this allowed her to return to her favorite post-battle ritual, which was taking a nice, long shower to clean off all the grime.

Stepping out and drying herself off, her thoughts wandered to their new adversary. It was true that they spoke like they had met her and her friends in the past, but Makoto couldn’t even begin to place who it might be. Their voice was distorted by their mask, and their armor made it hard to make out their build. As well as this, she couldn’t think of anyone who would know about both Ail and An as well as the Black Crystal. Another time traveler, maybe? But if that were the case, surely Chibiusa would’ve shown up by now to help, right? Or was that not how that worked?

Suddenly, Makoto heard a knock from outside her bathroom. She threw on her green robe and made her way to the front door of her apartment, confused about who would be showing up on her doorstep at this hour. Upon unlocking and opening the door, she was shocked to see none other than her girlfriend standing there, an anxious look across her face.

“Ami?” Makoto questioned, “What are you doing here? Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine. Can I come in?” The bluenette asked timidly.

“Of course.” The auburn-haired girl responded, gesturing for her to come in.

“Thanks, I… um… y’know, you look really pretty with your hair down.” Ami said, a light blush crossing her face.

“Thank you. But don’t change the subject, why are you here?” Makoto asked, concerned.

“Well, I… I just… my mom’s working over tonight and with everything that’s happened I… I didn’t wanna be alone.” Ami finally said, “I don’t wanna be intrusive but I just-”

“Ami, don’t you dare call yourself intrusive.” Makoto said firmly, “You are always welcome here, okay?”

Ami simply nodded her head in response.

“Good. I’m gonna go throw on some PJs, and I’ll make us some tea after that. Did you bring anything to sleep in?” Mako asked, noticing Ami did not appear to have anything with her other than the clothes on her back.

“No I… wasn’t really thinking when I-”

“It’s fine, I wear a few sizes bigger than you so you can just use one of my shirts.” The taller girl said, prompting a blush from her girlfriend.

“Um… okay.”

Before long Makoto had thrown on a tank top and some sweatpants, laid out a sleep shirt for Ami, and made some tea which the couple were currently enjoying in her living room.

“Are you sure it’s okay for me to-?” Ami began.

“Ami, I don’t know if you noticed, but I kind of love you more than anything.” Makoto said with a smile, “I will never be upset about getting to spend more time with you.”

“A-alright.” The smaller girl said, sprouting another blush.

After the two of them finished their tea, Makoto instructed Ami to get ready for bed while she tidied up. Once she reached the bedroom she was rendered speechless by the sight of Ami in nothing but her underwear and one of Mako’s shirts, sitting on the edge of the bed.

“God, she is so hot.” Makoto thought to herself, before Ami looked up at her and tilted her head.

“You’re ogling.” She said with a smirk, causing Mako to turn red.

“I’m your girlfriend, I’m allowed to ogle!” Mako said defensively before switching off the light and going to join her in bed.

Once the two settled in, with Mako holding Ami in her arms, she asked a question that had been on her mind since Ami showed up.

“Why are you so worried about this? We’ve dealt with bad guys before, and we always make it through. This isn’t any different.”

“I know, I know, it’s just… never mind.”

“What is it?”

“Nothing. I’m being ridiculous.”

“Ami… please tell me what’s wrong.” Makoto pleaded.

“Well I just… I thought it was over.” Ami finally said, “I thought we could finally just live normal, peaceful lives. I thought we could just go on dates and go to school and… and that we were finally done risking everything over and over and over again. And I… I feel like I finally have everything I have ever wanted. I have friends, a good partner, I… I’m happy. And now I have to face the fact that I could lose all of that and… and…” Ami continued, her voice growing shakier and shakier, until she threw herself into Mako’s chest and started sobbing, “I don’t wanna do this anymore!”

“Oh sweetheart.” Makoto said gently, stroking her lover’s hair.

“W-what’s wrong with me?” Ami finally choked out, “This is my job. It’s what I was born to do, I’m supposed to be a soldier but I just… I…” The blue-haired girl said before once again devolving into sobs, “God I’m so pathetic.”

“Hey hey hey.” Makoto said, holding Ami close, “No you are not. You are one of the strongest people I know. None of us asked for this. There’s nothing wrong with being scared or… or overwhelmed by all of this.” 

“But… but…” 

“No buts.” Makoto said.

The Guardian of Thunder looked down at Ami, whose face was still buried in her chest, “Ami can you look at me?” She asked, getting no response from the smaller girl, “Please?”

At that, Ami looked up at Mako, revealing her tear-stained face, “There’s my girl.” Mako said, caressing Ami’s cheek, “Now listen. I know this is scary, and I know it sucks, but I promise you I will be by your side every step of the way. And I won’t let anything happen to you. To any of us. Okay?”

“O-okay.” Ami said shakily before laying her head back down, “Um… Mako?”

“Yeah?” 

“Do you… um… do you think you could stroke my hair just a little bit more? It um… felt nice…” Ami said, clearly embarrassed.

“Of course.” Makoto said with a smile.

As Makoto lay there, holding the girl who mattered to her more than anything in the world, only one thought occupied her mind:

“I won’t let anything happen to you.”

--

Finally, some good f***ing MakoAmi. Gotta say, of the chapters I've released so far this one is definitely my favorite for... what I'm sure are obvious reasons.

But please, let me know what you guys think! Comments, reblogs, likes, etc. are very much appreciated!

And come back next time for Chapter 7: The Four Queens of Heaven.

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