I bet some of you are wondering where I got the idea of Grandpa Hino dying. Well, lets just say it was meant to happen and a huge part of the story, 'kay? But let's continue with Chapter 2.
Jaedite watched Rei as she walked in; she hung her head and finally sat down at the table, putting her purse down. At first, he only stared, dangling a toothpick in his mouth and switching it around with his chin resting on his hand, following her with his eyes. "Rei, what happened? Where did you go?"

She only looked at the ground, opened her mouth to speak, then closed it again with a sigh. "...are you feeling better?"

He thought for a while, toothpick swinging every which way. "I was worried about you at first, but I'm glad you came back."

"Everyone is worried!" she shooted through the tears that sprung to her eyes. "Everyone in this stupid world is worried about me!"

"Of course I worry about you, Rei." He said, standing up and walking over to her. "What happened?"

"I went to the temple today to see how things have been, and I ran into Ami, who told me Grandpa died two years ago," she began to bawl. "Then she said it was my fault because I drove his limits when I left. His heart weakened with worry and eventually pasted away..."

Jaedite hugged Rei and she hid her face in his white t-shirt. "I'm sorry to hear that, Rei," Jaedite began to say. "He was the only one who excepted me. But babe, it's not your fault. You only did what your heart told you to do. You weren't thinking about the others who loved you, but Rei, you can't please everyone."

"It's all my fault," Rei said through gasps, as if she didn't hear him. "I can't believe I didn't know! It's been years! He must be disappointed!"

"REI!" Jaedite said, shaking her shoulders. She stared up at him as the tears poured down her face. "It's not your fault! You can't beat yourself up for something that happened! You can't do it over. You just have to move on!"

Rei escaped from his grip. "You don't know what it feels like, Jed! You just don't!" She ran down the hall with her face hidden in her hands as her hair swung from behind her. Jaedite sighed and picked up his toothpick and sat down against the wall. He brought his knees to his chin and rested his cheek on it, and took turns wripping apart the toothpick and burning each one with the fire in his grip.

It was late at night, about eleven, when Rei heard a knocking at her door. "Rei, can I come in?" she heard Jaedite say from outside.

She brushed away her tears and leaned up in the bed, fixing her hair into a ponytail. "What is it, Jed?"

"Can I come in?" he asked again, tapping on the door.

"Sure.." she answered with a sniffle.

The door creaked open and Jaedite stepped inside. He only wore a pair of worn out jeans and his gold necklace ran down to his chest. "Rei, you didn't eat a thing. I brought some rice balls," he said, setting down the tray on the bed. He walked over to the other side and sat down with his legs crossed next to her. He brushed away a tear that ran down her cheek.

She didn't look at him. "I'm twisted," she said simply. "I'm such an ass to forget about Grandpa like that..." she sucked her teeth and bit her lip.

"No you aren't," he said to her, leaning on his left arm. "Like I said before, you can't beat up yourself for something that happened. It happened. Yes, it's terrible, but that was years ago. Now that you know, you have to move on with your life."

"I don't know if I can ever forgive myself.." she said, looking at him. "I ran away for five years with the only intension of making love and here I sit, drowning in my own tears of regret," she stared down. "I hate myself.."

Jaedite sighed and looked at the ceiling. "You said you saw Ami?"

"Yes. She told me about Grandpa then," she tried not to cry, then she managed a giggle. "She looked so different. My little Ami..."

Jaedite smiled. "Was that a giggle I heard?" He leaned closer. "See, Rei? Every cloud has a silver lining... and a small catch here and there."

Rei laughed and wiped her eyes. "I guess so, doesn't it?"

"That's how life is, Rei," Jaedite said. "I believe that people face difficulties only so they can overcome them and see how strong they are. It's like a test."

"...you'll never break, will you Jed?" Rei asked, in a serious way.

Jaedite knew she meant by crying. "Nope," he said simply and leaned back with a smile. "Not ever."

Rei spun around in a circle and stopped again. She stared off into the distance of the Hikawa Temple and breathed in the fresh air, then turned when she heard a crash. "Yuuichirou! What did you do now?"

Yuuichirou turned quickly from the pile of rakes that crashed to the floor and laughed nervously. "I'm sorry, Rei."

Rei giggled lightly and watched him struggle to pick up the rakes. It was last fall, almost winter, and Yuuichirou washed the rakes and began to put them back into the shed for the winter.

Just then, Grandpa Hino rushed out of the shrine. "Rei, Rei, come quick!" he yelled, grabbed her hand, and pulled her toward the shrine doors.

Inside, the fire of the shrine began to burn a dark purple, almost black, and a cresent moon spun around in the center. Grandpa pointed to the figure. "It just burst into a dark flame! I don't understand what happened. It's bad luck to have the fire go out, but to have it turn the color of demons is more of a curse!"

Rei inched toward it with her hand out and when she got close enough, it burst into flame and left her screaming. The symbol of Mars shot from the fire and flew from the shrine. Rei ran outside to see where it was headed, and standing on the tip of the stairs was Jaedite...

Rei shot up in bed and panted heavily. Jaedite was up in a second. "Rei? What's wrong?" he asked tiredly. He quinted his eyes and leaned up in bed next to Rei. He got really tired of saying that.

She looked around the room. The tray of rice balls was left only with crumbs, so she figured she ate them already. Then she remembered Jaedite's question. "Oh, it was a dream..."

He breathed in heavily and then exhauled. "What about?"

"When you first came to the temple..."

He laughed. "And that scared you?"

"No," she began. "The fact that scared me was... seeing Grandpa and Yuuichirou again. I excepted to wake up in the temple at age 16 and found I dreampt the last five years."

He sat up and yawned, looking at the time. "Hmm. It's after eight. Good timing, Rei," he said with a smile. Then he reached over and kissed her gently.

"It was weird," she said, watching him get out of bed and comb back his hair. "I thought I would wake up in tears or something."

"Well, you sure were dawling last night," he said, looking over at her. "You wouldn't stop blaming yourself.

"Really?" Rei asked. "Was I sleeping?"

"I dunno. You seemed more drunk and tired then asleep," he said with a teasing grin. "I had to hold you close before you went crazy with sorrow. 'Even had to sing you to sleep," he winked.

"Really? What did you sing?" She asked, more interested than the first.

He looked at her, then walked toward the door. "Does it matter?" He walked out with a quick glance over at the tea table.

Rei sighed and leaned up, looking to where he glanced, and found her communicator sitting on the table with a casablanca sleeping next to it.