keyofnik: Rei is at potentially the lowest point in her entire life. To Rei it seems like her last pillar, her Grandpa, doesn’t care enough to fight back for her. In this moment she has no one. Only she does. Rei’s greatest issue is trust. Her earliest memories are those of abandonment and betrayal. For Rei, then, everything is in actions. Before she can believe in others, they must prove themselves. She thought that she had finally found people who could do that in the other Senshi, only to have them let her down too when she needed them most. That’s why this moment is everything. Rei has never been as alone as she is right now, only she’s anything BUT alone. Because Rei doesn’t realize it yet, but she never lost Usagi. Usagi’s spent this entire episode trying to make things okay for Rei. She listened to Rei’s concerns about her Grandpa, and she brushed them off but thought she was soothing Rei’s worries. Rei got angry. But Rei gets angry at shit, that’s just how Rei is. Usagi didn’t let that get her down. She followed Rei, again to help make things better. She thought hooking up with the cute new guy would do it, so she did everything she could think to try and make that happen. Rei got FURIOUS. Rei said she wanted nothing to do with Usagi ever again, and Usagi knew she meant it. So she goes home, is cheered up by food, and decides that’s the answer! And here she is to try again. From the moment they met, Rei has been keeping Usagi at arm’s length. She’s yelled at her and chastised her. She’s demanded more of Usagi than Usagi ever thought she could give. And most of that was for Usagi’s benefit, but some of it was for Rei’s too, because there’s been nobody in Rei’s life who’s as much a threat to her emotional security than Usagi. Usagi’s ability to get to Rei is unlike anyone else, and for someone like Rei, there’s nothing more terrifying than her own vulnerability. So she pushes, and pushes, and pushes some more. But Usagi will not let Rei go. And now, when Rei is stripped of absolutely everyone, Usagi is still there. Cowardly, crybaby Usagi is standing alone against a terrifying monster, armed only with a rock and some forceful words. Idiot Usagi who makes everything worse, who can’t understand that “I’m never talking to you again” means Rei can’t possibly be her dear friend. And yet here she is. For Rei, everything is in actions. and she finally realizes that actions is exactly what Usagi is doing. No matter what Rei says, no matter what Rei does, Usagi will be there for her. There is no amount of Reiness that will stop Usagi from being there for her. Finally, perhaps for the first time, Rei and Usagi are speaking the same language. Despite herself, Rei has found the very thing she needs most in the entire world: someone who could choose anything, and chooses to love and support her, unconditionally.
