Jadeite and Kunzite sat at the bar of the busy inn. Large groups sat in tables too small to fit all in their party while barmaids squeezed through the standing crowds to deliver drinks. At one table a group of men and women watched as two other men arm wrestled as if their reputations were on the line. Everyone cheered them on, clanging metal beer mugs and laughing over spilled contents while exclaiming jeers.

Kunzite sat with his back with the crowd, too distracted with his own thoughts to pay attention to his surroundings. Let Jadeite watch their backs and amuse himself in the process. Each man had their own way of clearing their thoughts. Kunzite liked to work through his, while Jadeite often preferred to bury them for another day.

He felt worn out by the past two weeks. Even the cup of ale in front of him brought no satisfaction. He wondered how Jadeite could drink two cups of the flat, amber colored fluid.

Perhaps it was the casting of eyes landing on his back that kept his mind from focusing. Normally they would have dressed in some other uniform of no importance in such a public place so that they could blend in with the crowds. Although after two weeks in this small outskirt town, word had spread of the generals being in the province and the locals had learned their identities.

Kunzite was jerked from his reverie when a barmaid slid between them and took his cup, replacing it with a fresh drink. His eyes cast up to look at her face, instead catching an eyeful of her chest and a heart shaped birthmark on her shoulder. He shook his head and took a long drink of the new ale, frowning that this one had been no better than the last.

He leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest. Maybe he only needed a night's rest. His eyes looked up to a mirror that hung behind the bar and reflected the entrance. There stood a woman with dark red hair. She leaned against the doorframe smiling at him. He thought that he must be imagining this woman, but there she remained. That cold smile of hers burning into his back.

"Kunzite?"

Kunzite blinked at being elbowed by Jadeite, shaking his head and muttering an apology. He took another sip of the drink, the taste bitter.

"Are you okay?" Kunzite could hear Jadeite talking but his voice sounded far away.

"Fine," Kunzite said. His head turned to glance over his shoulder, looking at the door. He felt unsteady as he rose from his stool, but that thought was quickly lost to him. He could no longer remember why he stood. Was he going somewhere? He patted Jadeite on the shoulder, in part to steady himself, then headed out of the room.

When he reached the alcove of the doorway, there was a group of three people standing there. Waiting for him. The woman with the dark red hair lifted her hands to cup his cheeks. "Oh how I've missed you, Kunzite," she purred.

"Madelyn Beryl," he managed to choke out.

She turned her eyes over to one of the other men. "Loren, help him to my room until sunrise. Kunzite is going to need his rest."

Kunzite's eyes opened wide when he heard the sound of a door slamming shut. He sat up, instantly regretting the movement as a wave of nausea and a headache overtook his senses. "What?" he asked gruffly, rubbing his forehead.

"We were supposed to have left an hour ago, but I see you've been too busy," Jadeite spat, throwing Kunzite's uniform at him.

"What are you talking about?" he asked, grabbing at the clothes as they landed on his lap. As his eyes turned down, he noticed the small feminine hand that rested on his hip, her fingers starting to move as she traced a path down his leg. He uttered an oath and threw the hand off of him as Jadeite stepped out of the room, the door again slamming in his wake. Kunzite jumped out of bed and started pulling his pants on before turning to look at the woman that had been laying next to him.

The woman sat up and brushed her red hair from her face, her piercing green eyes meeting Kunzite's.

Two women smiled down at him, one with brown hair the color of caramel and the other with wild red hair and piercing green eyes.

Kunzite's hand reached out as he whispered the one woman's name, "Esmeraude." The other woman, with flowing red hair, placed her hand on his cheek turning his eyes to face her. "Esme was always so kind at sharing," Madelyn whispered, red lips pursed seductively.

"It's been a long time, Kunzite," she purred, allowing the sheet to fall away from her nude body.

"How did you get in here?" Kunzite demanded, grabbing her arm and pulling her from the bed.

"The same way that I got you in here."

He paused. "What did you do?"

She sat down on the bed, leaning back on her palms. "I shared a wonderful reunion night with you. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did."

"I didn't touch you. I wouldn't have."

"It was just a night of pent up passion. Everyone needs a release from time to time. It's a shame that your new lover clearly does not give you what you need." She sat upright. "Tell me you missed me."

"I haven't seen you in months."

"You haven't looked hard enough."

"I searched high and low for you after Esmeraude died."

She stepped from the bed and slapped Kunzite.

Kunzite grit his teeth against the surging pain. The slap itself hadn't hurt, but it agitated the throbbing headache he already had. "What do you want?"

"Vengeance. You hurt Esmeraude when you left her. She was nearly inconsolable."

"She found enough solace in the arms of Adonis. I think she was fine." He reached for her dress on the desk and threw it at her. "You've staged your petty affair. I hope you're satisfied now."

"This wasn't staged, darling," she drawled as she pulled on her shift. "The night was glorious. It's only a shame that you don't seem to remember it at all. Quite unfortunate how much you missed last night." She crossed over to Kunzite. "One day I will meet this lover of yours. When I do, I will tell her everything. She will know who you are and what you have done."

"Get out," Kunzite growled, turning his back on her as he finished dressing.

"We will see each other real soon," she purred into his ear, running her finger from one side of his shoulder to the other. Then with her dress in hand, she walked out of the room, the door closing gently behind her.

Immediately he could hear Jadeite's voice. He needed to be away from her. He needed Jadeite to not hear her lies.

He grabbed his cape and sword belt, shoving both into his saddle bag. There was little room for his traveling cloak, but he forced that to fit as well. As he opened the door he heard Jadeite growl, "If I have to take you back to the palace to have your secrets tortured off your foul tongue than I will do so."

"No, you won't," Kunzite said as he stepped out of the bedroom and into the hallway. He dropped his bag on the floor and pretended to fix the cuffs of his sleeves. He couldn't bring himself to look at her smirking lips. He also couldn't bring himself to look at Jadeite's look of disappointment. "Leave, Madelyn."

"You can't seriously mean to let her go. Do you even know who she is? She's friends with the very people that we have been chasing and you are willing to let her disappear with her secrets?"

"Enough, Jadeite."

"Where did your friends take him, witch?"

"What terrible manners," Madelyn chided.

"Uokawa is gone and the constable is dead."

Kunzite's jaw tensed as Madelyn turned to face him. She mouthed the words I will tell all of them everything. Kunzite grabbed the redhead's arm and shoved her past Jadeite. "Go," he said to her one more time, watching as she gave both generals a licentious smile as she disappeared down the hall.

"One fuck and she's free to go despite the both of us knowing that she's hiding something? Or perhaps her mouth is too tired after sucking on your cock as well? I'd be a bit more understanding if she made the whole night that worthwhile for you at least."

Kunzite picked up his bag and turned down the hall, towards the stable.

Jadeite laughed and Kunzite knew this was argument was not going to end well for either of them. There were times when Jadeite could be reasoned with and there were other times where he was beyond listening. Those times were few and far between, but when they did happen, it often ended in them coming to blows.

"You were both laying naked under a sheet in your bed with her hands on your body and you want me to believe what alternate version?"

"I didn't touch her," he repeated. In his mind he wondered, had he?

"Where were you all night?" Jadeite asked as he closed the distance between then. "Answer me damn it!"

Kunzite spun on his heel, the bag dropping from his hand as Jadeite's hand wrapped against his bicep. He threw Jadeite against the wall, his forearm pressing against the blond man's throat. "Perhaps you had too much to drink. I was in my room the whole time."

"With that whore?"

The tall general applied more pressure with his forearm, forcing Jadeite's chin upward. "This is the final word on the matter."

"Or what? You'll remove my thumbs next?"

"You'd be useless to me without thumbs to hold your sword up," Kunzite responded, his arm dropping down to his side. Snark and humor were rarely the answer, but Kunzite hoped that would be the end of it.

He knew he was wrong when Jadeite's eyes narrowed and his jaw firmed. Kunzite could already see the next events rolling out in front of him in slow motion and knew that he was powerless to stop them.

"Then perhaps you should have thought of that back before Calingstone," he hissed.

A growl escaped Kunzite's lips as his fist came up and connected with Jadeite's face, the shorter man stumbling from the impact. Kunzite stepped back and smoothed his uniform. "Pick yourself up and meet me in the stable. We leave in ten minutes." Without further word he turned down the hall towards the exit, his left hand flexing and un-flexing.