Disclaimer: I do not and, never will own Sailor Moon. The series and all of its characters belong to the wonderful Naoko Takeuchi.

The bright flash of red light and flames took him by surprise, forcing him to leap back to avoid being engulfed. He watched as fiery tongues emitted from the pen that Rei had pulled out, writhing and coiling around her body like snakes until they formed rings over her arms and legs. Another bright flash nearly blinded him forcing him to shield his eyes to avoid retina damage.

"Jadeite!"

That voice. Jadeite's stomach dropped. She was here. Slowly he lowered his hands and was faced with the vision of his nightmares and the object of his hatred. Not even ten feet from him the Fire Senshi now stood in all her glory, one gloved hand cocked on her hip while the one pointed at him. "Mars," he snarled, a scowl creasing his face.

"You've gone too far this time, general," the Senshi stated, lowering herself into a fighting stance.

"We won't let you hurt these people anymore," another voice rang out from across the room, Jadeite's patience dwindling even further.

'So much for keeping them out,' he thought dryly.

"It appears we have stowaways, my lord," Tethys laughed as she appeared next to him, her disguise shed. "Perhaps we should throw them overboard?"

Jadeite's gaze never left Mars who returned the glare, their auras beginning to clash. "Deal with those two, but leave her to me." The other Senshi tried to protest but Tethys' assault sent them scattering, leaving Jadeite and Mars to face off.

A dark smile formed on his face, "You've got quite a lot of nerve showing your face to me after what you've done," he called out.

"That makes two of us," she shot back.

His brow rose. "Oh really? And pray tell, what exactly have I done to you that was worse than what you did to me?" He watched her move to say something but apparently thought better of it and kept it to herself. He scoffed. Not that it mattered. "Tell me something, dearest," he sneered, readying for an attack. "Was everything I did for you, everything I sacrificed of such amusement to you?"

That brought a look of shock to her face that he hadn't been expecting. "What are you talking about?"

His face darkened. "You don't remember, of course you don't remember because I WAS NOTHING TO YOU, RIGHT?!" He swung his arm forward, launching the energy he'd been gathering straight at the Senshi who dove out of the way. "I'll teach you to use me, harlot!" His next attack was of an element that he hadn't used since the past life, one that he dreaded using even now. Blue flames raced towards the Fire Senshi, devouring all in their path as they engulfed the girl in fire.

Jadeite grinned morbidly as he watched the fire consume his opponent, breathing hard from exertion. Using that element was taxing on his stamina and he hadn't used these powers in a long time. Fire was-

BOOM!

The concussive wave blew him back some and dust flew into his eyes, forcing him to blink a few times before he was able to see what lay ahead of him again. What he saw was a vision straight out of Hell.

Blue and orange fire mingled together almost in harmony, mixing and churning as they formed an ominous backdrop for the enraged Senshi that was glaring at him with laser-like amethyst orbs. When she spoke, it sent a chill down parts of his body he didn't even know could get chills.

"What…did you just call me?"

It was here that his fight or flight instincts were kicking in and it was more of the latter than the former in this case, specifically telling him to get the hell out of there while he still had breath. But pride and some would say foolish bravery forced him to stand his ground against the coming inferno.

A slow, mocking grin came over his face as he delivered his rebuttal. "You heard me…harlot."

The very next second, the air around him exploded.

Beryl watched with glee as Jadeite was sent flying back from the Senshi's attack. The emotions that had been playing out on their faces were delightful; the sheer desperation, the confused rage and now righteous fury.

Mars stalked over towards the battered Shitennou, her entire body alight with flames so bright they were almost hard to look at. Jadeite got to his feet only to be blasted aside again, this time going through the piano that was on the ballroom's stage. The Senshi advanced on him with murder in her eyes but was forced to stop and evade when a flurry of dark energy balls lanced out, one striking her in the shoulder. She landed in a crouch, just as the blond Shitennou burst out of the wreckage, his uniform now torn slightly.

"You'll have to do better than that," he mocked, hurling another dark energy ball at her.

Mars ducked and closed in, pivoting on one foot to slam her heel into his cheek, knocking him on his rear. Her left hand burst into flames, acting like a flamethrower as she bathed the man in flames while he put up a defensive barrier. The torrent halted and she had no chance to stop the punch that he slammed into her stomach, followed by a dark energy blast that sent her flying into a set of tables.

Beryl couldn't help herself. She cackled and laughed at the sight of her two mortal enemies trying to kill one another. Her eyes glowed with malevolent glee. "This is marvelous! That's it! Fight, bite, kick and scream until your bodies are spent! Then when the dust settles, I'll break you apart and rebuild to do it all again!"

Every muscle in her body ached and burned, but none of that mattered. She was still seeing red and Jadeite was still in her crosshairs. She forced herself to stand up, wincing slightly as the broken end of a table leg jabbed at her arm. But none of that mattered.

Harlot. He had called her a harlot. Of all the things she would've let slide, THAT was not one of them. It didn't matter if he didn't remember her – she would not forgive him for that slip. And before this was over, she was going to make sure he regretted his words.

Jadeite stood his ground against her, something she had to give him credit for. Not many had the will to stand against the full fury of the Senshi of Mars when her temper was piqued, though that was one of the reasons she had been so interested in him. All the others had run off but he had never fled, not even once and had ended more than slightly scorched for his actions.

And this time was no different.

"Not getting tired, are you," the blond fired at her, looking winded. His once pristine uniform was torn and burnt in several places, the curls in his hair matted with ash and soot from their brawl. He looked ready to pass out but yet he remained on his feet. A true warrior to the end.

Mars clenched her fists tightly, glaring at him with all the strength she could muster. And for the first time she asked herself: why?

Why was she doing this? Hadn't she already said how reluctant she was to fight him? Was one word really all that it took to fracture everything that had been building for them?

No. No this was wrong. She wouldn't do this. Jadeite was her enemy but, there were other ways of fighting. The change he had displayed since their last meeting was drastic and she had the nasty feeling that it had something to do with Beryl.

"I don't understand," she admitted.

"Understand what," Jadeite snapped.

"How could she turn you against me like this," Mars whispered, her heart beginning to clench. "I thought-"

"What? That I loved you, that I wanted to give you everything even the universe?" Eyes widening, she looked up and met his eyes and for the first time, she saw something she hadn't before – pain. "It seems we were both wrong, weren't we?"

No…

Tears stung her eyes. No, no, NO! That wasn't it! That was never it! What had that witch told him?!

"WHAT DID SHE TELL YOU," she screamed, the pain in her heart finally coming to bear.

Jadeite shook his head. "It doesn't matter… None of it matters."

"Sailor Senshi!" All eyes suddenly turned to Tethys who was standing high above in the air, holding a giant ball of water over her head. "Submit now or everyone on this boat dies!"

"You're insane," Sailor Mercury exclaimed, clutching her arm trying to staunch the flow of blood.

"You can't kill all of these people," Sailor Moon cried, pleading with the youma.

"SUBMIT," Tethys roared, the all above beginning to glow brighter and grow. "My lord, please move to a safe distance. I do not wish you to be injured."

Mars looked at Jadeite in horror. He knew about this?! But he would never, he couldn't… She watched as the emotion in his face faded, his bangs shadowing his face. Her head starting to slowly shake. 'Don't do it, don't do it, please…'

"Please don't do this," Moon cried one last time.

"Jadeite, please," Mercury begged.

Jadeite looked at her and she swallowed hard, pleading with her eyes for him to do the right thing. Finally, he walked away from her and toward where Tethys was floating above, looking right up at her. "Fine. Then do it."

What?

"What," Mars and the Senshi chorused.

"WHAT?!" Tethys' hold on the ball waivered but she held firm. "Jadeite, the Queen ordered us to-"

"To the pits with the Queen's orders," Jadeite suddenly said, his declaration shocking all of them. "There's a difference from energy gathering and slaughter, and I won't let you murder all of these people."

"They are just humans-"

"That were once our kin and still are," the Shitennou stated, and looked at Mars. Her heart started to race when the tiniest of smiles made its appearance on his face. "The Shitennou are the guardians of the Earth. These girls have been more than that in the last few months than me and the rest of my brothers have been in years." He turned his gaze up toward the floating youma. "If you kill these people, you'll have to kill me as well because I'd rather die as one of my people than as something above them."

"Jadeite," Tethys pleaded, biting her lip as her hair covered her eyes. The ball suddenly glowed brighter than ever before, the Senshi tensing as they prepared for the final blow that would surely obliterate them. Then, the ball popped like a bubble, a brief shower of rain coming down on all of them. Tethys slowly lowered herself until she was right in front of Jadeite, then she threw herself into his arms "Don't you…ever…ask me to do that again."

And to Mars' utter shock, he embraced her. "Sorry." Suddenly, their bodies began to shimmer and ripple. "Looks like we're in for it." With one last glance at Mars, he smiled again. And then he was gone.

The Senshi of Fire just sat there in complete loss for several moments before she felt a hand on her shoulder, tensing slightly at the contact.

"Rei," a voice above her startled her enough to look up, meeting Moon and Mercury's sympathetic gazes. "It's him isn't it," the blonde asked softly.

Mars nodded mutely, her body beginning to tremble as she felt herself pulled into a hug.

Then the tears came.

Tethys cried out as she thrown up against the cave pillar, a gasp escaping her as her back slammed against it. She slid down to the floor, trembling and whimpering.

"Tethys!"

"Do not move, Shitennou," Beryl ordered, keeping him in place with her magic. She looked at both of them with a blank face that was bereft of any anger which in itself was much scarier than when she was. "You astound me. After all that I've given you, the power that you now wield, you would throw it all away to become one of the rabble once again. For shame." She blasted Tethys with another bolt of dark energy, the youma crying out in agony as her body glowed from each blast. Jadeite tried to look away but Beryl's magic forced him to look. "You will watch this."

Tethys tried to get up only to be subjected to another hit from Beryl's magic, the blow bringing her to her knees. "Please, my Queen," she gasped out. "I beg you mercy."

"Mercy," Beryl parroted. "I don't know the meaning of the word." She blasted her subordinates again. "The way I see it, you both went against my direct orders. I explicitly told you to wipe out the humans if the Senshi didn't submit and yet, not only did you not do so but now the energy that had been gathered has been lost and returned to those wretches. This failure is on both of your heads and you will both suffer for it."

Tethys screamed until she passed out, her body falling to the cold cave floor much to Jadeite's horror.

"No-" His words were cut off when Beryl herself appeared right in front of him, her skeletal hand clamping down on her face with a vice-grip. His eyes widened as he felt her energy seeping into his brain. He couldn't stop the screams that let loose from his throat.

"You have become far too independent, my dear general," Beryl was saying, as if she were simply chatting about the weather. "Therefore it is time I invoked a better deal of control over you." Ignoring his screams, she flooded his mind with dark energy, subverting his will slowly until there was little to nothing of the old Jadeite. When he quieted down, she slowly released his face and was pleased when she saw the blank slate his eyes presented. "Now, whom do you serve?"

"You, my Queen," Jadeite answered monotonously.

Beryl grinned. "That you do. Now, my trusted Shitennou, I have a task for you…"

Hours later, Rei sat at her vanity running her brush through her long hair, more of a habit than actually needing doing. She'd taken a long bath when she'd gotten home, grateful that her grandfather was nowhere around as she dealt with the wounds she'd sustained during the fight. Her Senshi healing would get rid of them in a day or two but those were the furthest things from her mind.

Jadeite dominated her thoughts, more so than he even had before. His words from before struck her so deep that it almost made her want to cry again, and punch something at the same time.

Beryl. That sick sadistic witch had perverted Jadeite's mind with lies about their past together and had turned him against her, had almost made them kill each other! The very notion of having to do that made it hard to breathe.

Whenever she thought about him now, it hurt. Having come so close to getting him back only to have him snatched away had hurt her far deeper than she would ever care to admit. He was the other half of her soul, she knew it now and more than anything she wanted him back. Beryl was very lucky she didn't know where she lived…

She stopped her brushing, looking at the brush before she clutched it to her chest.

'I miss him…'

"Wake up." That voice boomed through her ears and made her jump, looking around for the source. There was no one in the room except her. So where- "Get up right now Sailor Senshi." Tracking the sound, she raced to the window and looked up into the sky, her jaw dropping. Jadeite's face was imprinted in the sky, but there was something different about him. Then she saw it and her heart sank. His eyes of azure blue were gone, replaced by black coals of lead that showed nothing but emptiness. "You have made a fool of me for the last time. In three days time, come alone to the airport and there we will settle this once and for all. If you don't," he sucked in a breath and began to breathe fire down on the city.

Screams filled the air.

Rei stumbled back, fighting back tears that burned her eyes. "No…," she whimpered and fell to her knees. "Not again…"