flameandpassion | 52 [Accidental Video]

[There's a series of slammed doors, when the PCD turns on -- anyone who has been inside of it will recognize the Temple of Heaven -- and anyone who pays attention will see that the reason for the slammed doors is quickly approaching the device.

Rei is opening doors, looking inside rooms, and slamming them shut.

Over. And over. And over. And over. And over.

It's a large temple, after all. There are a lot of rooms to look through.

But once Rei has reached the final door, the one closest to the PCD, she is breathless, her fingers are trembling, and she yanks it open with much more force than absolutely necessary. The door slams into the adjacent wall and the PCD manages to look inside it, quickly -- an empty, unused room -- before Rei slams the door shut so hard that the wall shakes.]

Damn it --

[It's choked through a sob as she turns away from the PCD, her shoulders trembling, as she struggles to get ahold of herself. The trembling soon turns into full out shaking and Rei turns, her back hitting the wall, so she can sink to the floor, her hands burying themselves in her hair as she cries.

Sometimes, it's just one last straw to finally break the camel's back.]

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[At that last line, all Cloud gets is a 'click'.]

[He just sighs, before packing up his shit and heading over to the temple.

You'll be getting a knock on the door in about three.... two.... one. Either answer or have it be kicked down, he really does not care.]

[She will not answer the door. She's within her fire reading room, eyes fixated on the flames, her fingers pressed together tightly.]

[He knows how to get into the temple, Rei, don't think that he doesn't. But he respects her enough to not interrupt her reading. So he';ll just stand outside, leaning up against the wall, arms crossed over his chest until she comes out.]

[Nothing. Nothing. Nothing.

There's a frustrated noise, from within the room -- a low hiss of a curse -- before Rei seems to give up. She leaves the room in a blur, before she pauses, sensing Cloud standing there.]

I didn't tell you that you could come here.

Then kick me out.

[It's said simply, as if he really couldn't care less.]

But I didn't come here to fight with you.

[Her fingers curl into fists, and oh, Rei is so tempted to do exactly as he says, and shove those nonchalant dismissive words right back down his throat -- ]

I don't want to talk to you right now.

Leave.

Then I can talk at you.

[He'd like to see you try. Honestly. Unless you want the entire temple to come down around you, he doubts you'll actually do it.]

Are you always this frigid, or just to the people who irritate you?

I don't have time for this --

[It's a hiss, and Rei turns on her heel to walk down the hall, continuing to brush the soot off of her fingers.]

I'm pretty sure that was part of the problem.

[Following you, Rei. He's still waiting for you to try and kick him out.]

[Her fingernails are digging into her palm so sharply that it's beginning to draw blood. She's trembling, with anger and heartache and guilt and, suddenly, she snaps.]

What do you want from me?!

[It's a frustrated yell that echoes off of the empty halls -- the woefully empty halls -- and Rei spins on her heel, hair flying, eyes damp with tears, but Rei stubbornly refuses to let them fall.]

I don't want to talk to you, I don't want to see you, just leave me alone before I find Neptune and Mercury and we force you to leave.

You weren't invited here, so go away.

I want you to stop being so damn stubborn and talk to me. Is that really so hard?

[It was a stupid question, because he already knew it was. Or else she wouldn't have been yelling at him.]

Or are you going to let one week ruin our friendship the way it ruined our relationship?

[Guess who remembered that, Rei? Yup. Cloud. And guess who's really, really pissed that you didn't tell him? Yup. Cloud.]

Shut up!

[It's practically spit out and a violent sob causes Rei's breath to hitch, but she sucks in another breath to keep going.]

I've lost -- everything -- in this place -- in the past three months. I've lost everything -- I lost Minako, I lost Makoto, Hotaru and Chibiusa, I lost you -- twice -- and I'm losing Toushirou to this place and I lost --

[No, she can't quite say Usagi, because any moment now, she's going to walk into the doors of the Temple of Heaven with a sheepish smile and a "I'm sorry, Rei-chan, I got lost, but I brought flowers to make up for it!" and she wouldn't just leave Rei here and leave the senshi without a leader and none of them are qualified for this -- ]

I've had every single ounce of pride taken away from me, my loyalty, my mission, my purpose, and you have the nerve --

[It's a vicious hiss and she takes a step forward, fingers curled into trembling fists, tears streaming down her cheeks.]

You have the nerve to come here and try to tell me that I have to talk to you? That I have to stop being stubborn? That I have to keep tearing open old wounds to make everybody else happy? I have to bring up that event, and relive those memories, and remember how humiliating it was, when you held it against me before?

[And then, Hino Rei sucks in another breath, and points around Cloud, shaking like a leaf, but her voice is positively dripping with venom.]

Just shut up and get out of my house.

[It occurs to him, somewhere in the back of his mind, that the only time he had ever seen her cry before was when Usagi died. But the small spark of memory doesn't mean anything. He doubts it would have meant anything had it been brought up at any other time, by any other event or situation.

What ever feelings he once had towards her were almost gone, completely torn apart and shredded by the constant wear and tear provided by both the Animus and themselves.]

You only lost those things because you let them be taken from you.

[He still had his pride, his loyalty, his honor. He only had them because he refused to let anyone have them. They were what kept him going, and that would never, ever fade.]

If you're not strong enough to stop them from taking those things from you, then I don't know why I'm trying. Or why I tried so hard before. Only that I loved you.

[Loved. Like it's gone. Or like it was never there in the first place. Maybe it wasn't.]

But we're too different. You don't understand me and I don't understand you. You proved that when Horst died.

[He reaches into his back pocket, pulling out a carefully folded paper lantern, holding it out to her.]

Here. This is yours. I want you to take it back and give it to someone else. Someone who can understand you.

[Did he just break up with her? He's pretty sure he just did, even if he should have done it long before the Animus ever sent him back home to finish a way he already wanted no part of.]

Go get some sleep. You look like you need it. [And he's just gonna... turn and walk away now. Before she does decide to Ofuda him.]

[Anger bubbles in her throat, as soon as Cloud begins to speak. Rei told him to leave. Why the hell wasn't he leaving? She didn't want to be lectured, she didn't want to be told what she had done wrong, Rei was sick and tired of having failure rubbed into her face --

But she holds her tongue. Tears are still there, but the sobs are gone. They're completely silent and, not for the first time today, Rei desperately wishes that Usagi was at her side, to tell her what to do --

But Rei does not take the lantern. Her hands remain at her sides, impossibly stiff, and finally, Rei whispers hoarsely:]

It's blessed, for protection. Keep it.

[And she turns on her heel to vanish into a nameless room. The door closes behind her and there is the 'click' of a lock.]

52 [Accidental Video]

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