This is just something random that popped into my mind while I was trying my damndest to write the next chapter of Broken Moon. Crossover with MARS and Sailor Moon.

This is the first portrait I painted. I titled it "Mars." Mars signifies two things. One is the planet, the other is a soldier. The god of war.

Kira~ MARS

Her hair was pulled back into a high ponytail but it was thick, black hair that would be below her knees if she was to let it down. It shone with deep red highlights.

She had her head cocked to the side slightly as she studied the painting, one hand playing with her black shawl, the other smoothing a non-existent wrinkle in the simple red dress. Kira found the force the girl exuded almost stifling, to the point where she didn't really want to go over there. But she was curious.

"This is one of the older paintings, but it seems to have caught your eye," she hesitantly began, forcing herself to not quail a little when that intense gaze turned to her. Obsidian eyes held her own for a moment, before returning to the painting.

It was a beautiful painting. MARS it was called; striking fiery reds and oranges, twisting together in a throbbing pattern of life. Like fire, yet also like the muscles and cords and cells inside the body. And the boy in the centre; a man long before he ever became one. Kira still to this day loved this painting and all it represented; the things that had been set into motion when she first asked the boy in it to model for her.

"It's stunning," said the girl finally, "I've always held a fascination with Mars itself, but I disagree with the artist here."

Oh, thought Kira. "Why is that?"

"I've always thought of Mars as a feminine planet; a life-giving, fire-holding, battle-weary female goddess who watches over those who serve her cause. She is law, she is rule, she is justice, truth, and love: in the name of the Moon."

"The moon?" Kira was a bit confused on what the moon had to do with mars.

"The Moon and all the planets that guard our solar system," the girl smiled an enigmatic smile and began walking away, waving a hand over her shoulder carelessly. "Still, the artwork is just beautiful."

It was odd that Kira, the next time she sat down in front of a canvas, lost all ideas that she had been working on before and began to paint with a fervour that made Rei hover over her nervously, unsure of why she was so absorbed and unsure of whether or not he even should be worried.

Red and black and fire and blood; she was a figure of justice adorned in battle-leathers and a tired, yet fiercely proud face. In her hands a flaming bow and arrow, stretched taunt; over her shoulder the moon cast it's guiding light and the twinkle of the more distant planets watched her back.

Dark black hair with a deep red shine swirled around her, like something alive.

Intense black eyes watched everything, ready to defend and fight again, and again, and again...

Oddly enough; and much to Rei's confusion; the only thing she could think to call it was "Rei."

The name Rei means "law, rule, strive" but sometimes in the feminine sense it is a variant of Reiko and the meaning then becomes "beautiful, lovely child". I thought it rather fitting and I liked the way things sort of tied between the two stories. Rei is beautiful woman who is a protector of justice and a defender against evil, she is Mars. MARS is a story about Kira a girl with a terrible secret and an incredible talent at painting and her eventual boyfriend Rei, who is her protector. If any of you haven't seen or read Sailor Moon or Mars, I suggest you do. They are completely different, but they are both powerful stories in their own right.

I hope you liked this new addition to my ever-growing one-shot collection. I really like doing one-shots...