And another long one... make that very long one... this time written with illenutza's help :p Hope you'll like it ;)

I don't own Sailor Moon...

The blooming sakura trees were quite a sight to see. Every year, during this time, the entire temple seemed to be one huge botanical garden, standing defiantly for the gods above, at the top of the highest hill in Tokyo.

As always, the temple's priestess had awoken early in the morning, already starting her choruses for the day. A light breath of air was passing through her beautiful long hair, as she swept the entire labyrinth of alleys which lay on the ground like a cobweb, between them main temple, her house and several other constructions.

She smiled once again as she saw some of the pinkish flowers were already turning into blossoms, thinking about what her daughter's delightful reaction might be. When she was but a baby, she would just raise her tiny arms to the sky and laugh happily at the flowers adorning their garden. But, ever since she turned three, she would run to every single part of the hill, squeaking in delight at the tremendous number of blossoms. Her sight filled Rei's heart with warmth. Indeed, her daughter was the best thing that had happened to her, in her entire life.

"Look, mommy!" a cheerful voice made her turn and see a dark-haired five year old girl running towards her. Her arm was extended, pointing to what was probably the first opened flower from the entire garden. Rei smiled, let go of the broom and quickly swept the little girl into her arms. Happy giggles filled the atmosphere, as two masses of long raven hair entangled in each other. The priestess looked down at her daughter, noticing her huge smile and the happiness within her clear blue eyes… indeed, not amethyst as hers… but blue… as his…

Every time she saw her daughter's eyes, in spite of how much she loved her, Rei couldn't help but feel a pang in her heart, thinking about him… her daughter's father… the only man she ever loved…

"Welcome to Tokyo!" so said the huge panel in the airport.

"We hope you'll spend a good time in our city!" the pilots had wished him, yet he felt anything else from welcomed and he knew that there was no way he might spend a good time in the city he had once adored.

He stared out the window, as the limo drove through the streets of Japan's capital, recognizing some places and discovering other new ones. He was doing his best to think that this was just a business trip and that he would not even have time to think about her… and yet, he did so at the moment.

He couldn't lie to himself: these six years had torn him apart. He missed her like hell, but he'll be damned before going back to her. Yes, he was determined to keep himself away from that temple and if he managed not to see her at all during his trip, then maybe he might actually start forgetting her, as he had tried during the time he spent in the United States.

However, when the limo passed right in front of the stairs leading to the temple, up above, all his plans were simply crushed.

"Stop the car!" he commanded and the driver, after sending him a puzzled look through the middle mirror, complied. He remained stuck to the window, as a wave of memories washed through him. He could almost see his younger self, climbing those damned stairs… walking hand-in-hand with her…

Without a second thought, the blonde man got out of the car, ran to the stairs and started climbing them as fast as he could, all of this under the driver's incredulous stare. When he finally reached the top, he though he would pass out in lack of air. He no longer had the exercise and it was showing. Looking up, he was welcomed by the ancient temple's view; nothing had changed… almost as if this place was frozen in time… even Phobos and Deimos, the shrine's pride and glory, were still up in their old spots. He admired the now blossoming sakura trees as he walked towards the main building. Upon reaching the outside stone, he kneeled down, folded his hands and did something he had done for a very long time… her prayed… and waited for that strange moment when he would probably meet her… after almost six years.

"Catch me if you can!" a child's voice startled him. He opened his eyes and turned around, only to meet the sight of a girl chased through the gardens by a long-haired man. However, when the girl saw him there, she suddenly stopped and stared at him with widened eyes. At seeing her completely, the stranger could only shiver in shock: her hair and face features belonged to none other than Rei… which could only mean one thing: she had a child… A feeling of rage built up in his soul, as he looked at the man who had been running after her.

"Oh, forgive us. We had no idea we had visitors." The man bowed in respect and then took the child's hand in his.

"Forget it." The blonde shrugged, his tone colder than a winter wind. The long-haired man bowed again and walked away, taking the girl with him. The child, who had been eyeing him at least awkwardly, let out a sound of complaint at first, as if she would've wanted to stay there, but then complied and silently followed her caretaker… who was probably her father as well…

Without a second thought, the businessman got up and left the garden. Even if her were to meet Rei, he would either ignore her or allow his rage to blow up… and he definitely didn't want this to be the last memory they had of each other… and still, he couldn't believe that she had forgotten him so easy, so that after they decided to separate…. especially because they had never divorced… not yet at least.

Reaching his car again, he stopped for a second and stared at his left hand, where his wedding ring was still on the same finger, exactly where she had placed it during their ceremony. Unlike him, she didn't wear her own golden piece, having it thrown at him before his departure. Ever since that painful night, he had been clinging onto that token, somehow hoping that some day she might accept it again.

"He's here…" Makoto's voice sounded concerned on the other side of the phone line.

"The buyer?" Rei asked worried about what was happening inside her friend's heart. Makoto hesitated for a second…

"Yeah… We'll be meeting him tomorrow night, at a restaurant downtown." She answered, pain clearly existent in her voice. "You know, I still can't believe that our accountant betrayed us like that… It's making me feel so dumb…"

"Mako, it wasn't your fault and you know that! How's Neph doing?"

"He's trying to hang in there and stop me from crying every time I burst out… I don't think I would've survived that day if it hadn't been for him…" she confessed and then remained silent again.

"You'll make it! You'll see that you'll get back in business in no time. Give a year or two and you'll have another restaurant." The priestess did her best at trying to raise her friend's spirits. But, still, she was aware that she could not cheer her up. It was extremely sad to see them losing the place they had worked so much to build in the first place.

"Yeah, Neph says the same thing… I'd love to believe him, but I'm not sure if I can take it all down from nothing, only to see my work destroyed in a couple of years again." She bit back her tears.

"No, you won't! And we will gladly help you anytime you need a hand. You'll see! You'll have once again that place of yours, where you'll be able to delight all of your customers with whatever food you wish to cook."

"Maybe… But first, I'll have to face the new owner… and threaten him with death penalty if he plans on destroying my restaurant!" she could finally find the power to joke and Rei chuckled.

"Um… do you know his name?"

"Nope… The meeting was arranged by a mediator company and we will meet him tomorrow night." Makoto ended quietly.

"Want me to come with you and give you a hand at the threatening part?" Rei asked.

"I'd love you to… I think I'll pretty much need a shoulder to cry on after that meeting and I don't know how much longer will Neph stand to see me like this…"

"Don't worry! He'll always stand you, no matter what you'll be like… He loves you and you love him… Always remember that!" the raven-haired young woman spoke warmly.

"I will… Thanks, Rei!"

"Always… Take care, Mako… otherwise, who else will be feeding all of your friends?"

"I'm sure you'll find something…"

"We might… but we still prefer eating your delicious meals…"

"I know… Ok, I've got to go before I strangle myself with the phone wires… G'night Rei! Kiss Rhyna for me, would ya'?"

"Don't I always? Goodnight, Mako…" she ended and put down the phone. She sighed deeply and remained still for a few long moments just staring into nothingness. Makoto and Nephrite loved that restaurant. I was practically their purpose in life and now it was killing them both to see their work taken away from them. If they were going to sell that lovely place of theirs, they might as well sell it to a person who knew how to value things… and she was going to make sure of that…

Makoto felt her pulse going mad as she entered the restaurant where she and her husband had agreed to meet the man who was going to buy their restaurant. Apparently he was some big shot from the United States, who had lived in Tokyo before and now wanted a small business here as well. Almost feeling that his wife was going to collapse, Nephrite held her hand tighter and led her through the tables, to the one the attendant was leading them to.

"Here we are." He spoke and, stepping aside, allowed the couple to receive a huge surprise. There, in one of the four seats around the table, sat a man none of them ever expected to see again… Jadeite Takawa.

"Jed?!" Neph nearly shouted, not believing his eyes.

"Neph… Mako…" the blonde man suddenly stood up, his blue orbs just as widened as the others'.

"Man, what are you doing here?" the auburn-haired man inquired.

"I came in Tokyo to close a deal. Apparently a pretty fancy restaurant around here is near bankruptcy, so I'm here to sign a contract with the owners." He answered somewhat uneasy. This trip proved itself be more important than he had ever thought.

"You're the buyer?" Makoto's voice shivered, as well as her entire body.

"Wait… The restaurant is yours?" he rose his voice.

"Well… was…"

"Why didn't you…"

"Why did you come back?!" the tall woman's question cut him off. At the present moment, she wasn't worried about her business anymore, but for Rei's reaction when she would enter the place. After all, this was the man that had broken her heart six years before… and although she still had a wild urge to break his neck for what he had done to her, she had to restrain herself… at least for the time being.

"I…" he couldn't find his words.

"Mako, Neph, have you started yet?" a feminine voice came from behind them and the couple turned to see the priestess, dressed in a beautiful long black dress, a golden chain adorning her neck and a similar bracelet hanging at her right wrist. When they both stared scared at her, she knew that something was not right. So, she looked at the table and saw HIM standing on the other side. For a second, she thought the skies had fallen down upon her.

"I'm sorry, I wish I'd known…" Makoto stared at her, pain imprinted on her features. Just as their other three friends, the tall woman knew exactly what had happened before Jadeite left and why he hadn't come back all those years… and she also knew that he had a daughter he didn't know about…

"Never mind… we came here to talk, so let's talk." The raven-haired beauty walked upon her heart and decided to face the evening, just as she promised her friends. So she walked to the table and waited for Neph to help her sit down. However, when she realised that it was Jed who was holding her chair and not her friend, she felt another pang in her heart.

The meeting went quite well, Jadeite having promised his former friends to take good care of their restaurant and assuring them of his good intentions. However, after the contract's terms were settled, they all found it hard to speak. After all, he had just dropped out of nowhere after six years and so, neither him nor Rei, who was still shocked, couldn't say anything anymore.

"Honey, I think we should go home." Neph squeezed his wife's hand.

"Rei, want to give you a ride?" Mako turned to her friend, worried of her lack of words.

"No, sorry… I think I'd rather have a walk." She thanked them and, one minute later, watched them walk out the door. Silently, she got up and wanting to get her coat, discovered that the blonde man was already holding it for her. Amethyst eyes stared into blue ones and, only for a second, the rest of the world seemed to have disappeared.

"Let me drive you home." He asked her and she finally nodded her head, accepting his help with her coat.

The drive to the shrine was a horribly quiet one and it could be seen that the present situation was killing both of them. It was already night and the entire streets were fully illuminated, thus making the hill where the temple was situated seem like a black hole among a galaxy filled with suns. He finally stopped the car right in front of the boardwalk and turned to her.

"Want me to walk you upstairs?"

"Are you forgetting that I've been living here my entire life? No one can hurt me here, so don't worry about me…"

"Rei…"

"Don't even start! Whatever happened between us is in the past already. We must all get on with our lives, right? That's what you said then…" she spoke bitterly.

"But it's not what I'm saying now. Rei, I… I made a huge mistake leaving Japan…" he admitted and lowered his head in shame.

"Tell me, Jed! If we hadn't met accidentally tonight… would you have come to the shrine to tell me that? Would you?!" she demanded, tears already falling down her cheeks. His hands only squeezed the wheel tighter, but his lips did not part at all. Not waiting for an answer anymore, she got out of the car and onto the boardwalk, later on walking hurriedly on the steps. He turned to the window and watched her climb the hill, a part of him wishing to run after her, but the other part not managing to find a good enough reason for him to do that and have her believe him. However, when he stared at the seat she had been sitting on, he suddenly noticed that the bracelet she had worn during dinner had been somehow torn from her hand and was now fallen on the car seat. For several moments he just stared at the golden item.

He wanted a pretext to go up there: the bracelet. He needed a true reason to do that: he still loved her. He suddenly fisted his left hand and, the next thing he knew, he was already running up those stairs, holding the bracelet as if his whole life depending on it and trying to reach the top as fast as he could.

Rei wiped her tears as she passed the tall gates and noticed that, no matter how late it was, her two guardians, Phobos and Deimos, were still awake, making sure that she would get home safely. She nearly stormed through the gardens, wanting nothing else than to just crawl up in bed and probably cry her eyes out until dawn. However, when she noticed a small sleeping figure on a blanket, below the largest sakura tree on this hill, she stopped. There, among several sakura blossoms fallen from the green crown above, laid her only reason to live: her five year-old daughter.

Slowly, she made her way through the grass, careful not to disturb her angel's sleep and, kneeling on the blanket, she gently took her child into her arms, knowing that she must have been feeling rather chilly. She would make sure to kill Yuuchiro in the morning, but for now, she just wanted to make sure that Rhyna would not get a nasty cold after this night.

She supported her head with her right arm, just like she used to when she was nothing but a little bundle, a human cub barely born by her mother. She loved her then, in spite of how much she had suffered after her husband and her child's father had left… and she loved her now even more, although she had just met him… after such a long time. Seeing Jadeite again had brought her a lot of pain, but she was determined not to allow her daughter notice the inner suffering.

"That fool… Baka!" Rei whispered and her words seemed to be taken far away by the soft wind caressing her whole body. "He must've thought that I had forgotten him… How could he? How could he think that I don't love him anymore? How could he think that, when each time I look at you I see him? How could he think that I might betray him when I have you to care and love for the rest of my life? How could he think that he left absolutely nothing behind? He left his house, his friends… he left us… his wife and daughter…" Rei ended and finally allowed herself to cry out in the open. She could no longer bite her lips or restrain herself… and she no longer wanted to…

Next to one of the temple's walls, several metres behind the crying mother and her sleeping child, stood a dark silhouette, unable to move. Jadeite stared absolutely stunned at the pair, his heart nearly running out of his chest and his eyes widened in both surprise and fear. Oh, Kami-sama! What had he done???

Silence… the entire hill was simply covered in silence… and that was just how Rei loved it, until…

Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing!

"Damn phones!" the priestess groaned in annoyance as she extended a single hand from below the bed covers and took the cordless phone out of the hook, answering the call several seconds later… "What?" she rudely snapped at whoever was on the other line. Everyone knew her sleeping ritual every Saturdays and there was but one person who ever dared to call her at such an impossible time.

"Morning Rei!!!" the person on the other line screeched, knowing exactly how much she annoyed her friend.

"Usagi, for God's sake, you should know better than calling me at such a time, on a Saturday!" The raven-haired woman jumped out of bed, an angry look displayed on her beautiful features. She was about to shout worse things to her blonde friend, but she restrained herself form doing so when she saw Rhyna standing in front of her bed, with a huge smile on her chubby face and holding something behind her.

"You really need to come downtown right away." Usagi shouted in the phone.

"Why should I?"

"Because Makoto and Neph are treating us at their restaurant!" the blonde announced and made Rei send her daughter a confused look.

"Wait? Their restaurant?"

"Yup… apparently the problems they had with the bank were miraculously solved and they are back in business!" Usagi shouted once again, her voice only to be muffled by something the next moment.

"Hey, Rei! Come on already! Stop sleeping!" she recognized Minako's voice.

"Yeah, you better hurry up before Usagi eats everything…" Ami appeared to be there as well. Still, Rei didn't hear them anymore, her entire attention having turned towards her child.

"What is it Rhyna? What are you hiding?" she inquired and the little girl walked to her and revealed a large box from behind her.

"Mail's here." She smiled widely as she offered it to her mother. Taking it curiously, Rei ripped the paper in which the item was folded and carefully studied the package: an old black wooden box, with beautifully carved sakura blossoms on it. Opening it gently, she saw inside a branch of a sakura tree probably barely ripped, for the pink flowers were fresh. Two objects were clung onto the branch: she recognized one to be her bracelet form the other night and she had a tremendous surprise to discover that the other objects was her wedding ring… the wedding ring she had thrown at Jadeite the night he left. Tears started welling inside her orbs, as she understood exactly who had sent her that box…

But, the most shocking object of all was the one hidden behind the sakura branch. She leaned her hand inside and extracted a single sheet of paper. Suspecting what it contained, she wanted to throw it away, but the first words, which were also the largest written ones, grabbed her attention: "Forgive me!"

Unable to hold her eyes away, she continued reading, as more and more watery drops washed her skin. One long minute later, she simply flew out of the room, not caring that she was only wearing a simple pair of pyjamas. She ran out of the house and into the tremendous garden, now filled with millions of wide opened sakura flowers.

"Rei! Rei, are you still there??" an annoyed voice screamed in the speaker and, Rhyna, who had remained alone in her mother's bedroom, picked up the phone.

"Auntie Mina?" she asked with a smile on her face.

"Rhyna? Is that you, honey?" the voice on the other side turned as sweet as chocolate.

"Aha…"

"Honey, can you tell me where that lousy mother of yours is?" one of her blonde "aunties" asked, trying her best not to scare away the child.

"I don't know… She just looked at some paper and the ran away into the gardens." The girl explained in her small voice, part of her already anticipating the war that was about to start at the other end.

"Paper? What paper?" Mina asked as if to herself.

"Where is she?" Makoto's voice was heard in the background.

"How should I know?!"
"Well, you called her!"

"No, I didn't! Usagi did! And it's not my fault if she's coming here to kill her."

"Hey, I heard that!"

"Ok, ok, everyone, just STOP!" Auntie Amy's voice showed that she was probably at the end of her patience. A clicking sound was heard in the speaker, followed by the same woman's voice, only this time much louder. "Rhyna, are you still there, honey?"

"Yeah, Auntie Amy…"

"Rhyna, can you go to the window and tell me if you see your mommy in the gardens?"

"What?" Usagi questioned her friend, while Rhyna simply travelled from one window to the other, trying to find her mother.

"Well, she said she just ran away in the gardens and considering that we've just woken her up, it means she must be still in her night clothes… so she couldn't be that far away." Amy calmly answered and an incredible silence fell on the other side. Once again, the blue-haired woman's logic had won.

"I see mommy!" the girl let out a victorious yell.

"Where is she?"

"She's down in the gardens, right in front of the temple…"

"Ok… what is she doing?"

"She's holding her hands over her face… I think she's crying…" the child spoke with a sad voice.

"Crying? Why would she…" Usagi's voice turned worried.

"Tell me, Rhyna, is she alone?" Amy cut her off.

"Nope… there's a man in front of her… He's down in one knee and he's holding a hand to mommy…" the child kept speaking, somewhat puzzled by both the priestess' reactions.

"Down in one knee? Honey, can you describe him for me?" Amy asked one last time.

"He looks like daddy…" she answered, shocking everyone who was listening to her. "He has blonde hair and he's wearing dark funny clothes… just like daddy, in the picture mommy's hiding in her closet. Is he daddy, auntie Amy?"

"Yes, he is…" a voice made her jump up in surprise and turn around, only to see her mother's beautiful face stained by numerous tears. The child's blue eyes widened in confusion, as Rei came near her and took the phone from her tiny hand. "Sorry guys, I'll talk to you later…" she simply said and closed the connection.

"Is daddy back, mommy?" Rhyna's big blue eyes stared up.

"Yes… I'm sorry, apparently I've made a huge mistake trying to keep him away…" the priestess apologized with all her heart as she took her daughter in her arms.

"Is he going to stay here from now on?"

"Yes he is…" Rei's voice ended in a whisper as she felt a third set of arm envelop both her and her child in a warm embrace.

"He's back isn't he?" Minako asked, almost day-dreaming.

"Yup… You should've seen his face at the restaurant. I was almost sorry for him… but apparently it was a good thing in the end." Makoto answered as she cleared up the table.

"Hmm, he needed a reality check and he got one." Usagi joked.

"Thank God it's Rei we're talking about. Anyone else would've either committed suicide, killed him or ran away to another continent." Amy let out a deep breath.

"Isn't that what Jed did?" Minako's beautiful features twisted in confusion.

"Exactly… Either way, it's a good thing that Rei finally realised how much she needs this guy and that no matter how blind he is, he'll always love her."

"Aha… and what would be Jadeite's lesson?" Usagi turned to her blue-haired friend.

"Well, I pretty much think he understood the fact that he needs to distinguish the strange moods triggered by pregnancy hormones from Rei's usual character. But, something tells me he won't make that mistake twice." Ami winked to the others, while getting up to offer Makoto a hand in cleaning up her new old restaurant. Indeed, things were finally the way they were supposed to be…

I really hope you liked it, because, while I was writting the last part of this one-shot, it suddenly occured to me how to improve the story... and I was this close to deleting the ending and re-editing the entire story... Anyway, stop reading my nonsense and please review :P