Rei stared vacantly at the building before her. Mugen Hospital...she though, shivering as she spoke. Mugen...the name's harsh syllables left a bitter taste on her tongue. A very familiar taste, but she couldn't distinguish it.

"So this is Usagi's infamous 'new job'?" she expressed her thought in words, sarcasm slicing through the melodic notes of her voice. The image of Usagi even setting foot into as frail and as cautious a place as an actual hospital made Rei cringe. Tsukino Usagi, a nurse at Mugen Hospital? She hadn't believed it at first. Yet here she was, employed for a full month with no follies, no clumsy accidents to which she was so prone.

Rei entered the massive building, coming immediately face to face with an all too familiar grin. "Ami!!!" she exclaimed, thrilled to meet up with her old, dear friend. She hesitated suddenly, guessing, from Ami's bewildered expression, that she was unrecognized. Mizuno Ami squinted from behind her thick spectacles, her brilliant azure eyes intently studying the familiar composition.

"Rei!!!" she cried upon recognizing the face. It took her much too long, she realized, considering her friend had changed little in appereance since her high school days. Her countance was still magestic, blossoming with pride and dilligence of character. Her breathtaking raven hair flowing gracefully down her back. It was hard to tell where it ceased, merging with the black sweater that clung to her slender body. Her lively violet eyes sparkled with the same passionate emotion that they'd possessed years ago. Her figure had matured, rounding out into the delicate curves of womanhood, but that was to be expected.

Her own appearence had transposed quite a bit since the two had last come in contact. Her thick, ravishing blue hair no longer ceased at her neck. It dangled cheerfully past her shoulders, coming to life with the tiniest shake of her head. Her stunning blue eyes twinkled with

the efervescence of dreams. Indeed, she was no longer the plain-faced braniac she'd been in high school. She had developed into a stunning young woman, much the idol of several male doctors. But Ami's heart had been captured by one sole lover, her career.

The two long lost friends embraced wholeheartedly, eager to catch up on one another's lives. So much had happened since they last crossed paths in high school. Rei proceeded to explain to her every detail of the life she's led the past six years, but she was soon interrupted.

"Rei!!! Ami!!!" a shrill, bubbly voice exploded in greeting. It was none other than Usagi, adorned in a pristine white nurse's uniform and a large grin. "Hello!" she exclaimed with her typical sunny demeanor, completely oblivious to the current reunion.

"Usagi," Rei began, taking on a matronly tone, "You didn't tell me that Ami-chan works here!"

"I thought you knew!" Usagi replied, her face reddening. (Rei still failed to see how she'd managed to become a nurse.) Rei emitted a small groan and turned to embrace her best friend Usagi. Usagi had invited her to visit, but Rei had other reasons to justify her visit. She turned to Usagi, the concern in her eyes speaking a silent question.

"Your grandpa's in room 221," Usagi declared, suddenly tender. She nodded gently toward the corridor on her left.

"Thanks," Rei responded quietly, the tension in her voice seeping into the atmosphere around her. Wordlessly, she proceeded down the dimly lit hallway. The silence surrounding her was defening, a cold, dead silence. She hated hospitals bitterly. She hadn't been able to set foot in one since what had happened the previous year. (Yuchirou, I love you...why had she waited so long to tell him that?)

"Watch where you're going!" Rei opened her eyes, the collision jolting her out of her trance, to find herself staring up at a tall, rather masculine young woman. Indeed, if Rei hadn't heard her speak prior to this, she would've perhaps suspected her a very handsome man.

"I-I'm sorry..." Rei stuttered, suddenly aware that she was far past her grandfather's room. The woman's piercing black eyes shot out at her from beneath reckless golden bangs, scrutinizing her.

"You look lost," she stated before Rei could utter another word. "Do you know where you're going?"

The woman's concern should've been comforting, but the superiority in her tone infuriated Rei.

"I'm not lost," she retorted, pride consuming her. "I know where I'm going just as well as you."

Much to Rei's surprise, the woman's lips curled into a smile. Although Rei had disliked the woman at that point, her smile was full of an intriguing charm. "I see," she replied, that same mysterious amiability leaking into her voice. Rei turned to walk away, but the woman's words echoed behind her. "Perhaps you're more lost than you realize...Rei."

Rei halted in her tracks. How did you know my...a wave of familiarity swept over her...the woman's voice...her manner, her countenence...she was sure...she whirled around quickly. The corridor was empty, as if it had always been so. No trace of the ambiguous blond woman with whom she'd just spoken.

She shook her head. "I'm losing it," she reassured herself. And there was every reason she should be a little disoriented. She'd been working double time at the temple, and now her grandfather, her only real family in the word, had become fatally ill. And yesterday had been the anniversary of Yucchirou's death.

Her life had almost been different, inches from perfection. She'd nearly been a happily married wife, a nurturing young mother, and had a successful career in addition. She'd been so close, but one single moment had shattered that ideal into a thousand pieces. He had proposed to her, stooped on his knees as though he were before a goddess, begging her to become his wife. Her reply had been so enthusiastic that he was never able to finish his sentence. The situation was purely utopian. He owned a fresh, promising record label and they'd planned to run it together, by one another's side. It was the kind of life Rei had pined for in the deepest areas of her own heart, bursting with the joys of love and acheivement. But a singular moment had robbed her of that dream forever.

He'd been on his way back from an interview with some impressive new talent. (He'd boasted to her attentive ear that this group would bring publicity to the entire company.) On his course back home, a fierce storm had taken Tokyo by surprise. His car skidded off the road into a ditch, igniting as its corroded metal raked the pavement. His life had left him within minutes. When her grandfather had pierced her heart with the news, she'd refused to admit it true. ("He's not dead...this has to be a joke...he always was a...")

Soon after, her own spark and passion for life began to fade. She released ownership of the record company to Yuchirrou's younger brother, Tetsuou, and returned to her faithful home, the Hikawa Shrine. She repeated to herself stubbornly that it was the will of fate that her dreams remain unfulfilled. Her destiny was to devote herself and her affection to the tireless life of a priestess. She'd avoided dating and anything of the sort, and she intended to do so for the rest of her life. My heart belonged to the shrine now, she'd lied to herself and everyone else, I don't need romance to complete it. Besides, there was no man she would ever find, she'd convinced herself, that could fill the vacuous space left in her heart. Yuchirou had taken a piece of it with him to the grave.

Shoving her introspect aside, she pushed open the door to room 221. Her grandfather greeted her with a meek hello. He lay helpless and vulnerable on a colorless, discomforting mattress, hooked up to more machines than Rei was able to count. She shuddered at seeing him like this. He was usually erupting with energy and vitality, bustling about to complete the day's work, saving just as much time for fun. Now, he looked only restless and dejected. Rei winced, using every last ounce of strength she had to hold back her tears.

Rei carelessly noticed that they weren't alone in the cramped, cubicle-like quarters. A single wall divider stood between them and the grievous world of another patient. Curious, Rei peered into the other half of Room 221. A frail, pallid young girl lay barely conscious on the bed, her ghostly lips scarcely emitting breath. A weary, flaxen-haired young man slumped over the child, affectionately stroking her forehead.

"Hotaru," he mumbled gently, running his hand through the girl's limp black hair. He glanced up, his tender eyes of brown velvet gazing at their unexpected company, and Rei fell instantly in love.