In the past his name was Jaedite and he was one of the four Generals of Earth who guarded the heir to the throne Prince Endymion and controlled Earth's military forces. When negotiations were opened with the Moon Kingdom in order for Earth to petition entry into the Silver Millennium, Endymion and his Generals travelled to the Moon in a gesture of trust and goodwill to help smooth the process. Important as the negotiations were though, even Endymion was surprised at the welcoming party which awaited them when they arrived.

Six beautiful ladies stood on the terrace as they exited the transporter and Queen Serenity herself stepped forward to welcome them. Jaedite recognized the Queen and her daughter but was unfamiliar with the other four. They were introduced as Princess Serenity's entourage and guardians, the Sailor Scouts, one from each of the four inner planets of the Silver Millennium and a Princess of their Planet. The blonde-haired blue-eyed beauty who could have passed for Princess Serenity's double was Sailor Venus, the brunette who was almost as tall as the Endymion was Sailor Jupiter and her shorter blue-haired companion was Sailor Mercury. Jaedite smiled politely and bowed respectfully to each of them but froze as he was introduced to the last Sailor. Her violet eyes bored into his as if trying to decipher all the secrets he held and her smile had the exact degree of warmth dictated by manners and not one iota more.

A bit unnerved by her stare he made the necessary greeting but didn't try to start a conversation or make any other comments. As the party moved up the path to the reception hall he snuck glances at her, trying to figure out what he could have possibly done to earn her ire in the few seconds he'd been on the moon.

All through dinner her frosty demeanour didn't crack and her eyes bored holes in his back. Towards the end of the night he glanced up to catch her staring at him again and smiled, trying to break the ice. She didn't respond but simply nodded and then like a switch turning off dismissed him completely.

It was like that for the first two weeks, Mars would either glare at him like he was evil incarnate or ignore him as if he didn't exist except for the occasions when speaking was absolutely necessary. He had no idea of the prophecy about him that she'd been given, nor the horrible way in which it would be fulfilled, all he knew then was that for some reason Sailor Mars didn't like him and he'd better find a way to change that soon.

The turning of the tide in his favour came during the fifth week of their stay and the second week of negotiations. After touring Mercury and Venus the party from Earth was being shown around Mars when a message came from an outlying town about a fire monster attack. Mars was a different world from many of the others in the Silver Millennium. Wilder and more dangerous than its relatively peaceful neighbours it was no strange thing to have monsters appear every now and then from the depths of the Valles Marineris to attack towns and villages. The people of Mars were aware of the monsters that lived in the depths of their planets largest canyon and hunting parties were frequently sent to clear out the upper reaches and deter those monsters which lived below from venturing further up.

With the attack on the village the King and Queen of Mars decided it was high time another hunting party went out. With all five Sailors as well as the Guardians of Earth present and willing to take part it was sure to be a hunt to remember.

They started out early in the morning and by mid-afternoon had reached the attacked village and were searching for the fire monster. The party had spread out over a quite an area and Jaedite, partly by coincidence partly by his own machinations had ended up with Mars as his search partner.

As usual she ignored him magnificently except when courtesy or safety required communication. After about half an hour of silence Jaedite had had enough.

"Alright, will you please tell me just what I've done to offend you so greatly?" he asked. "I hardly think I've done anything to warrant this treatment.

Mars sighed and shifted uncomfortably. "It's not so much something you've done it's what you will do."

"I don't understand." Jaedite was in no mood to be forgiving.

Mars blushed, "The day before you arrived the Fire gave me a vision about you and I'm trying to prevent it from happening."

"And what did it say?"

Mars went even redder, "I can't tell you."

"Why not?"

"Because it's too embarrassing."

"Try me." Jaedite folded his arms and tried to stare her down.

Mars met him stare for stare. "No."

"Fine," Jaedite snapped after long seconds had passed. "But will you at least stop ignoring me? I promise not to do anything you're not comfortable with but the silent treatment is getting really old. I'm sick of looking over my shoulder and finding you glaring at me."

Mars looked down and sighed "I am sorry about that but if you knew what I'd seen you'd be on edge too."I promise to stop glaring at you and everything and act like a normal person. It's just frustrating okay. You'll have to give me some time."

Jaedite was willing to be reasonable now that he'd 'won' the argument. "I guess I should apologise too."

He admitted, "I should have tried to talk to you earlier rather than blowing up at you like I did."

Mars held out a hand "Truce?"

Jaedite shook it. "Truce."

The hunt progressed well after that. Soon the Fire monster was caught and they moved down into the canyon. Jaedite bagged several beasts of a reasonable size but Mars was in her element and brought down the two biggest beasts of the Hunt. Needless to say the other Scouts were very proud of her.

At the celebratory party that night Mars and Jaedite continued to honour their truce and danced together and talked and decided that it was much better to be on speaking terms that not. Much to Mar's chagrin.

As the tour went on to Jupiter and the outer planets and then came back to the Moon for the beginning of final negotiations the relationship between the two of them got better and better. Jaedite was fun-loving when circumstances allowed, always up for a joke even when it was on him and he made Mars smile with his quick and ready wit. Mars in spite of herself and her vision found that she liked his company. She was able to unwind when he was around, able to laugh at herself more and enjoy life rather than endure it. Before both of them knew it, they were falling in love. The other Sailor Scouts knew about Mars' vision and saw the signs but each felt and hoped that for once Mars and the Fire had been mistaken. It seemed as if nothing could go wrong with them. Sure they had their fights but Jaedite always found ways to apologise and Mars was more forgiving with him than she'd ever been with any of her other male friends. Everyone thought that it would be a happy ending for all.

However things didn't go quite as planned. Stories of trouble on Earth started becoming more and more frequent. Reports came of a woman who summoned an army of monsters that crushed all in their way and of a dark energy she wielded that turned people's hearts to stone. Soon Endymion and his Generals had to leave for Earth to see what they could do to help.

Mars had always known that duty would separate the two of them but it still came as a blow when the news finally arrived. Part of her was glad because it meant that she still had a chance to prevent her vision from coming true but that part was insignificant compared to the rest of her that had long ago decided in favour of falling in love.

Jaedite met her in one of the Moon Palace's courtyards just before they were due to leave. He gave her a small box and asked her to open it. Curious Mars did so and found nothing in it. "What's the joke?" She asked, wise to his ways by now.

Jaedite smiled, "No joke...this time anyway. It's a box to keep my letters to you in." He grinned "For some reason you struck me as an organised sort of person and I'm going to be writing you lots of letter while I'm away so I thought it would be nice for you to have a place to keep them. Feel free to hold and weep over it in the absence of my illustrious presence."

Mar smiled and examined the beautifully made box. "I love it. Thank you." She said and kissed him on the cheek. "You better come back or I'm going to have to track you down wherever it is you're hiding and pull you out by your ear."

Jaedite grinned back, "I figured you probably say that so the same goes for you."

Mars kissed him again, this time on the lips. "Agreed. Now go save Earth and come back as quickly as you can."

Jaedite nodded and gave her a salute. "Yes Ma'am."

It took time for news to get from Earth to the Moon. Not much time, but still too much for Mars as she and the rest of the Moon waited for the latest updates. They were never good. Step by Step Beryl was beating the Earth's forces back. Burying them under countless hordes of monsters that she summoned from the darkest reaches of the Negaverse. Endymion and his troops faced a losing battle from the start, it was all they could do to evacuate the cities before the enemy arrived and keep the evacuees safe as they made their way to the Moon and relative safety.

Fortunately Beryl had one all important weakness. Endymion. As a human girl, before she was corrupted by Metallia and her power Beryl had been in love with the Earth Prince and one of her goals now was to either take him for herself or kill him so no one else could. Endymion and his Generals used this to their advantage, time and again sending out decoys, spreading stories and rumours, buying time for the evacuations to be completed. It was just barely enough.

As Beryl came to the last stronghold on Earth, its capital city of Terra, her armies harried the heels of a wounded Endymion and his Generals as they fled through the streets towards the telepads and escape. Pride and arrogance made Beryl wait until the very last second to make her final attack and it cost her dearly. Endymion escaped to the moon, wounded but alive as his Generals sacrificed themselves to save him. It was bitter news for Mars and her friends.

It was not for long though, that she cried herself to sleep holding his box of letters for one month later theirs was a bitter and sorrowful reunion. No longer the Jadeite she knew but a commander of Beryl's armies Mars faced her love and saw him as the cruel, heartless monster the Negaverse had turned him into. In that instant she knew, fully and completely he was dead to her and the prophecy would come true.

In the hours before the final battle Mars prepared herself for what was to come. Burning his box and the letters in it was the hardest thing she had ever done but when it was finished she knew she was strong enough to what had to be done. Even so she kept some of the ashes in small jar which she hung around her neck, unable to completely let go of the man she had once known.

With the battle lines drawn and combat beginning in earnest Mars waited in a place of her choosing for Jaedite to come to her. He came, as she'd known he would, boldly and arrogantly striding down the sides of the bowl shaped meadow that had been one of Mars favourite places to go to meditate and talk with him.

"Honey I'm home." He called when he was within earshot. "Did you miss me?"

Mars refused to give him an answer. "Why are you here?"

Jaedite smiled "Well, to either convince you to surrender to Queen Beryl or beat you to a pulp until you do." He held out a hand "Why not make things easy hmmm. I promise I'll only look at you from now on. It was you I was originally in love with anyway. Mind you once Beryl is through with you there might not be much left for me to love." The smile turned nasty. "She's not a very forgiving person."

Mars gripped her bow tighter. "What did she do to you?" she asked softly.

Jaedite's smile tightened for a moment but then he relaxed, buffing a nail on his jacket.
"Oh this and that, I'm sure you'll find out in time."

"No I won't. You are already dead." Mars raised her bow and pointed it at him. "You'll die here before you can kill any more innocent people."

Jaedite placed a hand dramatically over his heart. "You wound me fair lady. My heart bleeds from your cruelty." His face changed. "I guess I'll just have to repay every bit of pain in my heart by cutting it out of yours." With that he leapt for her, sword drawn and in a moment the battle was joined.

Mars was not the strongest of the Sailors and with no close range combat weapon her choices for battle were limited but her cunning and other powers were not to be underestimated. Slowly but surely she drew Jaedite into the trap she had set, keeping her distance until she was sure he was where she wanted him. When he was in place she fired an arrow past him and set off the trap that would seal both their fates.

The arrow hit one of the many ofuda she'd hidden around the meadow before the battle began, setting off a chain reaction that raced around the entirety of the bowl, trapping them both within a circle of fire. Jaedite looked around and sneered. "Do you really think a little bit of fire is going to stop me. Whatever you intend to do I suggest you be careful. Even you can be hurt by your flames once they're released."

Rei knocked another arrow, "I am prepared for that." she said calmly and fired.

The arrow she shot was a special blunted type which she aimed straight for his chest. It thudded into him with all the force her bow could put behind it, knocking him to the ground and the wind out of his lungs. As he lay gasping for breath on the ground she used the time he recovered to gather up all her strength dismissing her bow and concentrating all her power on the last piece of the trap. As Jaedite lunged towards her, his sword aimed directly at her heart she closed her eyes and waited.

Something in Jaedite must still have loved her because the sword missed her heart by inches, stabbing through her shoulder and sinking up to the hilt with the force of his attack. As pain shot through her body Mars reached up and grabbed the hilt, pressing a last ofuda onto Jaedite's hands and paralyzing him for crucial seconds. Tears of pain and grief welled in her eyes and agony ripped through her heart and soul as she felt the deaths of two of her fellow Sailors. "Jupiter, Venus" she whispered, her heart almost breaking. "You didn't deserve to die like that."

Sadly she looked at the man before her, his face twisted in effort as he fought to move and remembered the words she'd heard in her vision "He will love you and in that instant condemn you to death."

"I guess the prophecy came true." She whispered to both herself and Jaedite.

Looking up she saw dark columns of energy plunging out of the sky to destroy everything in their paths. To the East a pink light began to glow, getting bigger and bigger, Mars knew Queen Serenity had called on the power of the Silver Crystal. Sighing she smiled faintly at the oncoming light. "It's over."

Turning back to Jaedite she gave him one last look and then pointed her hands at the ground. She would spare her queen the taking of at least one life.

"Mars Firebird Strike!"

The flaming bird erupted from her hands to reflect off the ground back onto both her and Jaedite. Within seconds it spread to the flames ringing the bowl and turned the entire meadow into a raging inferno. For long moments all Mars could feel was pain, a burning agony that went beyond her body and its physical senses but then the light of the Silver Crystal washed over her, banishing the pain and gently sending her ravaged spirit into the future to heal and be reborn. Thus died the Soldier of Flame, Passion and also War.