Minako has a dream where she walks into a room.
She can’t tell much about it except that it’s cold and empty, as if someone had abandoned it for death. She’s shivering, though it occurs to her that she might not be had she remembered to put on any clothes. Then again, she doesn’t know where she came from before this. Perhaps she doesn’t have any to put on.
She’s just about to draw comparisons to the room and the D point when a voice says, “It’s warm where I am.”
Suddenly, the room is much less cold. In fact it’s almost uncomfortably warm; she contemplates slicing her hair just for relief. And she knows she has Rei to thank for that because that’s when she notices Rei’s there.
She’s not wearing anything either except for the rose petals woven into her hair. Its spread on the floor like an ink well knocked over onto yellow parchment. If she continues with that image, Minako thinks that somehow blood has mixed with the ink. Somehow, it sends shivering again.
“What’s with the hair?” Minako asks because even though this place feels sacred, she can’t bear to behave that way.
Rei rolls her eyes because she knew Minako was going to say something like that. “I could say the same about you.”
This makes Minako paranoid until she realizes that she’s just wearing the red bow as usual, an accessory Rei has told her time and again to be rid of. For whatever reason, she’s feeling agreeable, so she pulls her hair free. She goes to toss the bow away, but it’s already gone. “Happy?”
“Never,” Rei quips. “Sit with me.”
Again, Minako complies. She lies on her stomach, her legs lifted into the air from the knee, crossed at the ankle. She parts her hair on the side so that she can actually see Rei, who is lying on her back, thoroughly exposed.
“Do you remember this place?” Rei asks.
Minako raises an eyebrow. “I’ve been here before?” She thinks. “I’ve had this dream before. But that isn’t what you mean, is it?”
Rei shakes her head.
Minako sighs, and her bangs briefly go vertical. “More from the Silver Millennium?”
“We have entire lifetimes to remember, Minako,” Rei reminds her, chiding, but then when isn’t Rei somehow chiding?
Minako nods because she knows this is true. But that knowledge doesn’t change the fact that she remembers a father who hated her, a brother who she betrayed, and a lover who betrayed her. There is a lot to remember, but there is a lot she’d prefer to forget. “What happened here?”
Rei reaches up and flicks her ear, looking cross. “Baka Minako. You know. Don’t play at being naďve. It’s not attractive for you.”
Minako is about to snap that she has no idea what happened here, but then she realizes what Rei must be talking about. She glances down at hers and Rei’s state of undress. “Well, that explains the nudity.”
“It’s your dream. That alone explains the nudity.”
Minako reaches over and pinches Rei’s hip. “Hush.”
Rei narrows her eyes, thinks about retaliating, and for whatever reason decides not to. Minako likes to think she does this because they’re best friends. She likes to think she wouldn’t spare anyone else like that. Minako hopes that she’s right.
“Were we in love?” Minako asks suddenly, her voice quiet. She does not care for hallowed ground, but there are some things too sacred even for her.
“I think I loved you,” Rei responds. The whisper echoes.
Minako knows exactly what that means, and she hates herself. She reaches over and takes Rei’s hand. Her touch is not spurned.
“We were young. Not even sixteen,” Rei reminisces, her voice quiet. “We were playing, even at that age. We came here, and… suddenly we weren’t playing anymore.”
Minako swallows. “Rei, I--"
“You’d put roses in my hair,” Rei continues, not hearing. “You said you liked how it looked like strawberries and silk. You left a scar on my collarbone.”
Minako feels sick with guilt, and she’s afraid to open her mouth to try and stop Rei.
“The next day was a ball, and there you were, kissing strangers in dark corners as if nothing had changed,” Rei says, her voice a bit too loud. She’s trying to sound strong. “I didn’t bring it up again.”
Minako doesn’t have to ask what she did. She can’t quite remember it, but she could remember encounters with others. If she was still in the bed when morning came, it only meant that she’d overslept. There had only been one time when she had meant it, and look where that had landed her.
“Are you sorry?” Rei asks.
Minako nods. She still can’t speak.
“Good,” Rei says, almost cheerful. She sits up and rests her chin on Minako’s shoulder. Her breathe is like incense, and it goes to Minako’s head.
“You still love me, don’t you?” Minako concludes.
Rei nods, tightening her grip on Minako’s hand. “And you still don’t notice.”
Minako opens her eyes. “I see now.”
She turns to Rei, sees her shake her head. “You’ll just leave me in the morning.”
“And go where?”
They look at each other. It feels like falling.
“I shouldn’t want this,” Rei whispers. “And you shouldn’t--"
“I’m the one who came here,” Minako says, twisting so that she’s kneeling. “I’m the one who hurt you.”
Rei tightens her jaw. “You loved someone else.”
“I wish I’d loved you instead,” Minako confesses.
“I still would have burned you.”
“I’m the one who left the scar,” Minako says. She knows Rei is about to say more, but she doesn’t want to hear it. Rei wants it, and Minako has never been one to withhold.
She kisses her, getting high on incense breath and rose water. Seconds in, Rei’s hands are on her shoulders to push her away. Minako grabs for her hips, fingers splaying and pinching. She holds on.
Rei jerks back. “I can’t--"
“It’s only a dream,” Minako hisses. “It’s only a dream.”
That seems to change everything. Rei never stops fighting, but she stops protesting. It’s a battle to find out who yields and who overpowers. One minute Minako’s nibbling Rei’s bottom lip, and the next Rei has her pinned and drawing blood from her neck. It continues until Minako finally submits, her penance from the last time. Rei’s fingers leave bruises on her breasts and they never tease. They go straight to the source, pulling screams from Minako’s throat. It hurts, but it’s a pain she can live with. It’s pain she deserves. Pain she almost wants.
That’s when Minako wakes up, calling her name. And her skin is on fire.
