Jadeite was not stupid. He knew that average skinny village girls most certainly did NOT have super powers. Could not singe him this badly with a fireball. They couldn't cast fireballs at all.
So, the only conclusion that left him with..
She was either a very powerful priestess, or a Senshi. And he insulted her. And saw her chest. And insulted that too.
This was not good.
So, he did what came to him naturally, in situations of high stress like this.
He insulted her some more.
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Rei couldn't believe the nerve of this guy. He didn't seem scared at all! Was she losing her touch?
Scowl: check.
Dark look: check.
Fireball: check.
So why was he still smiling like this? Looking so confident and arrogant?
She knew she should leave; that it didn't become a princess to stand around naked and argue with common boys like this.
But then something unbelievable happened. She started laughing.
That day, when they parted their ways, Rei just happened to mention that she bathed here most days. And that she will wear a bathing suit, from now on.
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Slowly, they became friends. They both had a lot of issues, which they never talked about... Except here and there, accidentally, in broken sentences and strained voices.
But they understood each other. They didn't feel so alone and worthless.
Having a friend changed them both; in body and spirit. Rei finally became the woman she was promising to be all along. Her looks greatly mirrored that interior change; and she blossomed.
Soon she was being hailed as one of the most beautiful women in Silver Millennium, but id didn't matter to Rei. She never went anywhere, unless she absolutely had to, and then she hurried back. Everything she had to live for and loved was on Mars – her country, her people, her grandfather, and... Her best friend.
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Love didn't come quickly for them. There was no sweeping each other of their feet, no lightning strikes. It crept up on them; slowly, quietly, and didn't let them know about it until it was too late. In a sense, they were both overwhelmed with a great sense of loss; because what they needed most in this world was a friend. Love complicated everything, and there was no more unconditional understanding between them.
They began to find out how easily you can get hurt when you love someone that way; one simple misunderstood word could lead to days of misery and fighting. Rei felt she couldn't tell him everything anymore; the risk of being the one who cares more, the one who will get hurt – the risk was too great. She knew love should be free and not a game, and she shouldn't be afraid this way; but it just couldn't be that way for her and Jadeite. Too proud, too passionate.
So, their love was not selfless and pure, but it was an all consuming fire, and they burned in it.
Rei sometime felt overwhelmed, and like she was losing herself in the whirlwind of their mutual passion, but it couldn't be stopped, not now. She poured everything she had into that fire, and couldn't find anything left to give to the other people who tried to be a part of her life. The other Senshi were all great friends and close, but she was always the distant and mysterious one. She didn't miss their friendship, though. There was no space in her heart to fill.
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One day, after a particularly heated argument, Jadeite tried to alleviate his frustrations by picking a fight at the local bar.
That evening, as he felt the knife pierce his skin and lodge itself between his ribs, he only thought about his Rei, and how sorry he was that his last memory of her was with that impossible scowl. He wished he made her laugh some more, she was too serious.
And how much he loved her.
He held onto that thought as life slowly seeped out of him.
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Excerpts from the diary of Princess Mars, age 21
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Recently, the colors have been different in
my field of vision.
Before,
it was a pale light blue and white
a sparkling rainbow, but
Now, it's just red and black.
I wonder if I'm abnormal.
I wonder if other people can still see normally...
This feeling of fear.
As if I'm drowning within my own feelings.
He's gone.
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People keep calling me, and stopping by, and making me mad. Things are going impossibly bad. All of things just piling in on me, all of them having the same function... They distract me from my real mission. From guarding the Silver Millennium. From guarding me from myself. From not letting the unknown darkness within me consume me.
I can't let it happen. I must be alone.
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A/N: Next chapter: Minako comes for a visit. Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed! It's great to see that someone's actually reading this. :)