Rei was broken.
And she knew it.
But she tried to hide it.
She couldn't sleep at night. Nightmares plagued her. She'd wake up screaming causing her grandfather to burst into her room asking what was wrong.
She would lie.
She tried staying awake so that the nightmares wouldn't come but inevitably her body would collapse and the nightmares came back…even stronger.
She tried calling Ami but she kept getting the water senshi's voice mail. Finally, out of desperation, she called the hospital directly and was told that Dr. Mizuno was on a leave of absence.
That's when she made the most desperate move she could make: She called Usagi to ask where Ami was.
But when Usagi said that Ami was on a leave of absence and no one would be able to get hold of her, Rei screamed a torrent of abuse at her princess then flung the phone against the wall.
Less than an hour later Usagi and Mamoru were at the Temple.
"We're worried about you, Rei-chan. Let us help!" begged Usagi.
"I don't need your help! I just want to talk to Ami. That's all!" snarled Rei.
"Rei…" began Mamoru.
"Get out! You can't help me! Get out!" Rei physically pushed her two friends out of her room, off the porch and onto the ground. "Just get out of here! I don't need you! I don't need anybody!"
"Rei!"
"GET OUT!"
But Usagi and Mamoru weren't the ones who left. It was Rei.
She fled to the interior of the Temple and into the room that housed the Sacred Fire.
She didn't notice the Fire flaring wildly as she quickly made the ritual hand motions.
"Sacred Fire! Help me find the cause of my nightmares!"
The Fire Flared again. But showed her nothing.
Rei snarled and bared her teeth at the Fire and performed the ritual again.
"Sacred Fire! Do what I command! Find the source of my nightmares!"
The Fire suddenly roared and flared up to the ceiling and out almost to the walls.
Rei screamed and tried to scramble backwards but she couldn't move.
From the flames came a man who reached for her.
Rei screamed again. "GET AWAY! DON'T TOUCH ME!"
The Flame covered man spoke. His voice was full of sadness. "Firebird."
His hand reached out and just before he touched her, Rei's mind and body collapsed.
"NO! DON'T TOUCH ME!"
Rei gasped for breath. Then she realized that she wasn't in the room that housed the sacred fire.
The room was round and the walls were made of stone. There were two windows that were opposite each other and were open. Late morning sunlight streamed in and illuminated the paintings on the walls. They were of places that she knew yet didn't know.
The bed she was on was comfortable and warm. The duvet was a woolen warm shade of red but the sheets were soft white cotton. She could see a bathroom through one doorway but the other door was closed.
She had no clue as to where she was.
She slipped out of the bed and realized that she was in a white nightgown with a square neckline, broad straps and it swirled around her ankles.
Rei made her way to the window and looked outside. Somehow she wasn't surprised that she didn't recognize the landscape. Surrounding the building she was in was a vast lawn which lead to a tree-line of oak, birch and maple trees that went on as far as the eye could see. She ran over to the other window and it was the same vista…only beneath her was a patio with a table and chairs situated in front of a pond.
She turned her head slowly. Off to the north, if her senses were correct it was north, she felt something vaguely familiar but she couldn't put her finger on it.
"Where the Hell am I?" she whispered to herself.
Rei told a deep breath and straightened her shoulders. She was the Senshi of Fire and of War. There wasn't a damn thing that she was afraid of. She marched across the room and flung open the door that she assumed lead out. And she was right.
Carefully she poked her head outside and looked around.
Nothing except an empty hallway and a staircase. Slowly she made her way to the staircase and walked down. Pausing ever few steps to listen. But she heard nothing. When she finally reached the bottom of the stairs, Rei once again looked around. She saw a long hallway with several rooms off to each side and a set of huge double doors at one end. The doors had to be two stories tall and looked like they could withstand a barbarian army.
Rei quietly padded down the hall when the clacking of a keyboard coming from one room caught her attention. She peeked inside and sitting behind a desk in front a window with his back to her was a blond man typing quickly on a laptop.
Rei saw a dagger displayed on a table next to the doorway and quietly picked it up. Stealthily she moved towards the blond man.
"Good morning, Mars." Rei froze in place as the blond man spoke. His voice made something quiver deep inside her. "If you're going to stab me, sweetheart, can you wait a few seconds until I get this sent off to my professor?"
Rei straightened abruptly. "I'm not your sweetheart!" she flared.
The man pressed a few more keys. "Done." He said with satisfaction in his voice. He turned around to face her.
Rei recoiled. "Jadeite!"
Jadeite stood up and walked towards her. Rei raised the dagger to defend herself.
Jadeite walked past her. Speaking over his shoulder, he said "It's late. I'm sure you're hungry. Follow me to the kitchen and I'll fix you something."
Rei could only blink as he walked out of the room. She took several deep breaths to steady herself then she followed him. She told herself that it was only because she wanted answers and he had them. A tiny little voice in the back of her mind sneered.
She sent her senses outward and discovered Jadeite in a surprisingly modern kitchen with granite countertops and stainless steel appliances. The room had a window above the sink and French doors that led out to the patio she'd seen earlier.
"Modern looking isn't it?" Jadeite smiled at her as he pulled several items from the large refrigerator. Rei could see that it was packed with food. She nearly smiled when she saw that one shelf seemed to be dedicated to beer. "I hope you like American Style omelets."
"I don't think I've ever had one."
"Oh, then you're in for a treat, I hope. Neph showed me how to make them."
"Why does the kitchen look so modern when the rest of…this place looks…"
"Medieval?"
"Yes."
"Haven't expended the magic to remodel the rest of it. I've been waiting actually."
"For what?"
"For whom. And I've been waiting for you."
Rei was so startled that she had realized she dropped the dagger until it thumped on the counter. "Me? You were waiting for me?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Happy wife, happy life."
"WHAT?!"
Jadeite slid a plate over to her with the omelet that smelled absolutely delicious. Rei picked up a fork and tentively cut off a portion and raised it to her mouth and ate it.
Rei moaned as the flavors exploded in her mouth. Jadeite grinned then began eating his own. "I knew you'd like it."
Rei savored another bite and managed to glare at him at the same time.
"Okay, so the happy wife, happy life isn't the best way to put it. But I didn't want to do anything to the place until you were here to put in your input."
"Why my input?" she asked suspiciously.
"Because I love you and I want you to be happy."
"I don't even know you."
"I know. Just like I really don't know you. But, we'll get to know each other. And we'll go on from there."
Rei realized that she'd devoured the entire omelet without really thinking. "Are you the reason I was have nightmares?"
Jadeite shook his head. "No. At least I don't think so. I certainly didn't do anything deliberately."
"I was so angry at Usagi. I was mean."
"She'll forgive you. You just have to apologize. She'll always forgive you."
Rei stared off to the north. "I wanted Ami to help me but she didn't return my calls."
"She's sicker than you."
Rei turned towards him, her words sharp. "Sicker than me? What do you mean by that?"
"Bleeding ulcer." He said grimly. "That's why Zoi took her over two weeks ago."
"Does Usagi know."
"Yeah. Not how terribly sick Ami was but Usagi knows she's here under Zoi's care. Mamoru knows the complete truth though."
Rei turned her gaze back to the north. "Where…am I? And I feel something to the north but I don't think it's Ami."
"You are in Elysian and no, it isn't Ami."
"What is it?"
"Your home planet. Sort of."