Jadeite looked toward the doorway in a panic, unable to move from Rei's side.
"I-I don't know…I followed her because something seemed off, and I found her in here like this." Endymion walked into the room and brushed his fingertips against her cheek, causing a jealous spark to flare up inside Jadeite. He quickly brushed it off and looked up at his prince. "What do you think happened?" Endymion thought for a moment, then called for the other three generals. They came as quickly as they could, gasping when they saw the scene before them.
"What happened?" Nephrite asked, walking closer to the bed. The other two followed, and upon closer inspection, Zoicite was able to pinpoint the cause.
"She's been poisoned…but how?" The men thought for a moment, when a sudden vocalization from Jadeite caused them all to look at him.
"The pastries…" he murmured.
"What are you talking about?" Endymion asked. Jadeite frowned slightly and looked at him.
"When Rei and I returned from our walk earlier, there was a basket sitting on the palace steps with a note addressed to her…" Before he could continue explaining, Endymion nodded.
"I remember now…the note was from her sister, right? Wanting to make amends?" Jadeite nodded, silently cursing himself for trusting the red haired witch so easily.
"Yes…it was all a trick. She never wanted to fix anything" Jadeite sighed, looking over at Rei and blinking back tears. Endymion stood up suddenly, his face stern.
"We have to confront her. She can't get away with this." Zoicite, Nephrite and Kunzite nodded in agreement, while Jadeite stayed silent. "Jadeite? Did you hear me?"
"I heard you" he muttered. "You four go, and I'll stay with Rei."
"Why won't you come?" Zoicite asked. Jadeite finally turned his eyes from the sleeping princess, their brilliant hues flickering more intensely than the others had ever seen.
"I was told to never harm a lady, and I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to restrain myself if I saw her" he sighed, his voice laced with a light chuckle.
"Very well, then. We'll take care of it." Endymion and the others left the room to prepare to leave, leaving Jadeite and Rei alone. He ran his finders through her long raven hair and sighed, feeling a tear slip down his cheek.
"You used to blush when I did that" he said softly, nestling his head into the pillow next to her. "I'm sorry I couldn't protect you." He was unable to stop the tears now, and eventually cried himself to sleep. Kunzite crept back to the room one last time before they left, sighing when he saw the two of them.
Meanwhile, back at Rei's palace, Sakura had returned and was hiding out, slightly shaken from what she had just done. However, she felt no remorse. She began to imagine herself as queen and smiled, knowing that now, she would surely get what she wanted. A sudden voice behind her startled her and she tensed up, turning to find Esther standing nearby.
"Everyone's been looking for you. Where have you been?" Sakura quickly tried to think of a convincing story and smiled sweetly at the woman.
"I went out for a while. I'm sorry to have worried you." Esther was surprised by the shift in her usually salty attitude, but decided not to question it.
"I see. I'm glad you made it back safely." Esther started to turn away and Sakura relaxed a bit, tensing up again when the woman turned to face her once more. "By the way, how did the pastries turn out?"
"Pastries? Oh…right. They were perfect" Sakura said with a smile. She knew she didn't sound a bit convincing, but she hoped Esther wouldn't notice.
"I'm glad. I was hoping to try one, but I couldn't find them anywhere. Did you leave any behind when you took them to your sister?" Sakura shook her head, keeping the smile on her face.
"No, I didn't. I gave them all to Rei."
"How nice" Esther said with a smile before turning to leave. Once Sakura was alone, she breathed a sigh of relief, elated that her evil deed had not been found out…then, it dawned on her. If Rei ate one of those, the prince or one of his men would know something wasn't right. To make matters worse, they might come to ask her about what had happened! She began to panic, trying to think of a way to keep herself out of trouble…at least for now. She decided the only way to avoid her inevitable fate was to run from it. She quietly slipped out the back entrance and ran for the woods as fast as her feet would take her, knowing no one would think to look for her there.
An unexpected knock at the door sent the palace into a state of confusion. They weren't expecting anyone…who could be here? Esther scrambled to open the door, mildly shocked to see Endymion and three of his men standing on the other side. She ushered them inside, then went to inform the king and queen of their sudden arrival. Endymion and the others followed her, bringing a very serious aura into the throne room. The king spoke, while Rei's mother watched quietly.
"Prince Endymion? I'm surprised to see you back so soon. To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?" Endymion looked at him, his eyes flickering intensely.
"I wouldn't call it pleasure, your majesty. There's a slight problem…"
"Well, what is it?" Henry snapped, somewhat annoyed by Endymion's vagueness.
"It's Rei…" Endymion nearly whispered, dreading the next words that would come out of his mouth. "She…might be dead." Henry sat up, feeling his entire body go rigid.
"What do you mean she 'might be'?" he demanded. "Either she is, or she isn't. Which is it?" The queen put a hand on his shoulder in an effort to calm him, having no luck. "Tell me!"
"You see…we were all having tea at the palace, and she had a pastry from a basket that was left for her. Soon after that, she went to her room, and Jadeite found her slumped over on the bed…" As Esther listened to Endymion speak, she felt like her heart could break at any moment. Sakura couldn't have hurt her…could she have? The woman quietly slipped away and retreated to the kitchen to search for evidence. She immediately searched the trash bin, finding tiny glass vials with remnants of some sort of plant in them. Being careful not to ingest any of them, she took them back to the throne room and waited, listening as each of the men gave the king all the information they knew.
"Are you saying my daughter tried to kill her?" he asked, offended by their accusations. "I raised her to be a lady, not some murderous monster!" Before he could go on, Esther timidly stepped forward and spoke.
"Your majesty, if I may…you should know, Sakura did ask me how to make the pastries that Rei likes. And…I found these in the trash." She held the bottles out, and was immediately approached by Zoicite.
"May I?" he asked softly, reaching for the bottles. Esther nodded and handed them to him, and he began to inspect them, sniffing each one and nodding.
"I was right…the pastries were tainted. How…how can this be reversed? Or can it?"
"I'm afraid I don't know…Sakura might. Let me see if I can find her" Esther said, bowing slightly before turning to leave the room. She walked to Sakura's room and knocked softly on the door. After receiving no response, she opened the door, finding the room empty. On the bed, there was a book with specific pages marked. Esther walked to the book and picked it up, finding another piece of evidence that Sakura was the culprit. She took the book out of the bedroom and took it to the king, in case he wanted further proof.
"Did you find her?" Henry asked upon seeing Esther enter the room again. She shook her head, approaching the king and handing him the book.
"I'll continue looking for her, but in the meantime, you might want to take a look at this. I found it in her bedroom." Henry took the book and flipped through the marked pages, feeling sicker with every passing moment.
"It was her…she must be found, and reprimanded immediately!" he commanded. Esther nodded and silently left the room to continue searching for the young princess. Henry took a deep breath and looked up at the prince, smiling slightly. "Thank you for letting me know. And thank you for taking care of my daughter."
"We will continue to do so" Endymion assured him. "I promise, she will be saved."
Jadeite finally awoke and stood up, gazing down at Rei, hoping she had woken up. He frowned slightly and left the room, examining his puffy, bloodshot eyes in the mirror before leaving the room. He walked to the kitchen and poured a large glass of wine, drinking it down in one gulp. His eyes fell on the pastries and he bit his lip, once again swarmed with guilt for letting Rei eat one of them. He took one out of the basket and looked at it, quickly setting it back down.
"Don't even think about it…you can't save her if you're dead too" he muttered. After thinking for a moment longer, he picked it up again, realizing that he couldn't bear living without her. He took a bite and swallowed it, succumbing to the effects of the poison rather quickly. He fell to the floor and everything instantly went dark.
After returning home, Endymion went to Rei's room to check on them, though he was mostly there for Jadeite at this point, knowing how Rei would be. When he didn't see him, he began to search the palace for him, excited to tell him that they had figured out Sakura was behind all this. He approached the kitchen and called out, growing worried.
"Jade?" He stepped inside the kitchen, feeling his heart sink when he saw his friend sprawled out on the floor. "Damn it…not you too!" He turned to leave the kitchen and find the others to alert them.