A/N: This is the first part of my 2-part Rei chapter. It can get a bit disorienting with all the flashbacks, but I hope you enjoy it. I'll probably upload the second part in 3 to 4 days, it's partially written.

The Present

Red. The endless sea of dust, waves of it rolling all the way to the horizon. Rei stood there, like a statue, her mass of shining raven locks dancing in the wind behind her. The sun was high; it's light at the same time sharp and cold.

A shadow extended all over the land, slowly enveloping the cliff she was standing on. The grass was singing with the wind, its color as red as everything else. The sun was low, starting to set. Rei stood there, immovable, her face unreadable and stony.

Dark. Everything was dark. The sun was gone, the knee high grass looked menacing, and it's singing no longer comforting. Nights on Mars were cruel, as almost everything here was. Here, life had to fight for its place under the sun. The fight was almost always lost too soon, and people's hearts grew as cold as the surface of the planet was. Rei still stood there, her dark wool cloak billowing behind her, her face unreadable.

But her eyes...

You could see everything in her eyes.

Although silent, Rei was screaming.

My granddaughter is a very stubborn young lady. So, as you see... Jadeite had his work cut out for him.

She grew up fast, my Rei. Everyone here did; but I guess she could be called a woman from the time she was 10. And I don't mean only physically, although she was always beautiful and graceful, but...

She never did anything stupid. Never had any dreams or fantasies... She always knew her destiny was to be queen of Mars, and her life was not her own. It didn't even belong to her people; and she was not free to promise herself to them completely. You see, she was in a unique situation. An only child, the only princess, the only heir... So her life belonged to her princess, Serenity. She was Mars's ruler only on paper; her cousin saw to all of the day-to-day affairs. Rikka did a good job, and I think it broke Rei's heart a little bit more... Not to be needed by her people.

So she threw herself in her Senshi duties. She tried to be best in everything, and trained for hours and hours after everyone else left. She never played, never made friends. Protecting the Princess was everything... Being best at it was her goal. When Rei turned 10, they held a competition that would choose the leader of the Senshi. She lost.

Princess Venus was better.

Rei's heart broke again... Not to be needed by her princess.

That was about the time her father left. That bastard was always power hungry, full of misguided ambitions. He tried changing the law on Mars, to inherit the throne. But the Head Priestess of that time declared that it was always the will of the Gods that only women rule Mars, and always will be. Then he just left, searching for his chance elsewhere.

That was all it took.

Rei was 10, all grown up, and emotionally dead.

The past

When Rei was 14, she wasn't beautiful. She was kind of pretty, and could be called cute when she wasn't wearing that famous scowl of hers on her face. Her hair was long, lush and shiny, all the way to her knees, and her eyes were an unusual and luminous violet. But they were too big for her face, as she was so very thin... Her body hasn't filled out yet, and her legs were not very womanly – more like two strings. All the rest of the senshi had already matured into glorious young women, but Princess Mars was physically still a little girl.

Her grandfather had a theory about why that was so. It wasn't just a case of Rei being a slow bloomer; and in some ways she was more mature and serious then most of girls her age. But deep inside, in her heart, Rei was still a hurt little girl with a strong resentment of the grown-ups that hurt her so much. It was like she refused to grow up with every cell of her body, every bony limb of her. She also refused to eat most of the time; subconsciously wanting to stop growing. And it worked – when she was 15, she looked worse then 14.

Queen Serenity noticed all of this and her heart ached for the poor Mars Princess. She tried acting like a mother towards her, but Rei never allowed their relationship to be anything more then official. The Moon Palace doctors started worrying about her condition, and ordered all kind of weird diets and hot springs for her. She just ignored it, and wasted away a little bit more.

Finally, there came a time when they didn't know what to do anymore, and in fear for her health and life sent her home. They hoped it would lift her spirits, or at least that the change of scenery and climate would do some good. So, when she was 15 and a half, Rei came home again.

Their First Meeting

It was never hot on Mars, but when you lived there all your life, the summer was hot enough for you. It was like Moon's spring, and everything that could be was alive and blooming. Mars still had a lot of volcanic and internal activities, so its specialty was hundreds of warm, healthy, mineral hot springs. Of course, being the princess; Rei had her own private hot spring, a wonderful place in a secluded valley near the palace. It was protected by a high wall, and it was surrounded by a cheerful garden, full of Earth plants – most of the indigenous vegetation was red, so it was not very popular in noble gardens. Wild animals had no way of getting through the palace walls, so the Princess could always have her bath completely uninterrupted, in peace and quiet.

Rei hated it.

It was so… Artificial and nothing like her untamed planet, which she loved with all of her heart.

So, she would sneak out of the walls and away from her useless guard – she was many times stronger then each of them, even in her current weakened state, and only stupid palace rules and protocol made the guards necessary. It was a long hike to her favorite hot spring, so she left her stupid frilly dresses and soft, but impractical satin shoes at the palace. She dressed simply, and no different then thousands of young city girls were in the summer – shorts and a shirt, all cotton and simplicity.

Forty minutes of walking later, she was sweaty and covered in a thin layer of red dust that stuck to everything and needed a bath as much as the relaxation she came here for. She stripped quickly and jumped inside; relishing the wonderful tingling feeling she felt all over her exhausted body.

The water was hot and she was feeling more and more sleepy. Slowly her eyes closed, seemingly of their own volition. Her head was sinking lower every second, and her nose was a mere inch for the water line; when a shout jerked her back to reality. The sudden movement made her lose her balance, and she slipped and went face first into the water. Quickly recovering, but not before swallowing some water, she managed to find her footing again and stood up, water up to her neck.

Rei was furious. There was no dignity in almost drowning! And anyway, who had the audacity of intruding on a princess while bathing? Her head spun around, eyes scanning the surrounding area for the offending presence, when a snort of laughter came from her left. Feeling even redder and more furious, she finally found him.

It was a village boy, dressed as simply as she was. His hair might have been called golden and beautiful had it been introduced to a comb lately, and his face might have been called angelic if it wasn't so red and misshapen in a forceful fit of laughter he was now experiencing. As soon as she saw him, Rei felt she was getting more and more irritated, and that was all before he started talking.

Because then he opened his mouth and said:

'You look like a....' he paused, unable to contain his laughter. 'Like a… drowned rat!'

And that's when Rei knew she hated him.

He hadn't laughed so hard in years.

Ever since his father told him he'll be sorry for leaving one day.

Ever since he told him not to hurt him, that his mother deserved what she was getting, that he was a man, that he should understand.

And now this skinny kid with strange, enticing eyes managed to look dignified and pathetic at the same time. It just kept getting funnier.

When he insulted her, she jumped out of the spring and shot him the darkest look he ever saw – if she wasn't just a scrawny kid, he would have probably been terrified. But this left her non-existent chest open to his view, and when he saw her trying to cover herself up quickly, he had to let his mouth run away with him and get him into even more trouble... as always.

"Relax. It's not like you have anything to hide, kid."

Jadeite could tell she was furious. She changed 2 shades of red in less than one second, and starting mumbling something that sounded like a chant under her breath. He started worrying about her – she must be under a lot of stress to be acting this weird. So he asked tentatively:

"Are you all right? Why are you talking to yourself?"

And that's when he felt the fireball hit him.

A/N: This chapter is mostly in flashbacks, as you can see.. The next part will deal with the resolution of their relationship and Rei in the present some more.