Disclaimer: BSSM belongs to Naoko Takeuchi-sama.

Flames to Dust

Aria sat in front of the hearth, staring into nothingness.

She had tried again to see the outcome of the counsel's decision to reject the treaty, but the flames once again died out, leaving her in the dark. Was it really that hopeless, she wondered, that even those above couldn't help them?

She closed her eyes and felt into the hearth with her magic. She could feel the embers, still there and tried to ignite them. They flared for a moment and she saw an endless army, Serenity and Endymion, death, pain, and then only silence.

Gasping, she opened her eyes as tears filled them. Raising herself to her feet, Aria threw water into the embers, dousing them. It would not end like that, she vowed. She would not let it. She spun around and ripped open the door of the shrine, running out.

She ran right into his arms.

"Zōchōten!"

Her other half, her bonded, pulled her close, breathing in her scent as he wrapped his arms tightly around her.

"Zōchōten, I saw into the fire and it showed me…"

He cut her off, pressing a finger to her lips.

"I know," he whispered, brokenly. "I saw it too, firebird."

She clung tightly to him as the shudders wracked both their bodies. Aria gathered him as close as she could, trying to memorize him as he was. His touch, firm and yet fluttery gentle; his scent, smoke and fresh morning dew; everything. He pressed kisses into her scalp, his hands brushing through her hair.

She pulled back finally to stare into his eyes.

"What will we do?" she whispered, afraid that if she spoke any louder, they'd lose the chance.

He smiled wryly. "We'll do what guardians do. We'll fight until there is nothing left to fight or the enemy strikes us down, ending us."

"And then?" she asked as he traced his fingers over her face, memorizing her features.

"Like the fire, we will go out. We will become ashes, scattered in the winds of time," he whispered. But then his eyes gleamed and his face straightened. "But we will be reborn from those ashes, Aria. Like the phoenix of our faith, we will arise once again. No matter what, I will return to you. Even after the world ends and all good things come to an end."

She nodded and smiled, taking courage in his words. Pulling him close, she kissed him, swearing her soul to his for all eternity.

"I am yours and you are mine," she whispered. "Till the end of time and beyond."

Aria stood at the entrance of the palace, an arrow already notched at her bow. She stood waiting for the command with the other archers. They could see the Terran army approaching, hear the drums beating, feel the scent of death and despair in the air.

Aria shook out her hair and straightened herself. She was the scion of the god of war himself. If anyone was to stand before the end of all that they were, it would her.

She saw a glint of gold from the side, Venus's signal, and raised her voice. "Archers, stand ready! Notch your arrows and let us show the might of the Alliance. Whether we live to see another day or die here on the field, let our might be written into the pages of history! For Serenity!"

"For Serenity!" The cry was bellowed back.

"Fire!" she cried and let loose, watching as a rain of arrows fell on the approaching foot soldiers. Notching another, she powered it with her flame and let it fly. Others followed her command, dipping their arrow heads into the hearths around them to ignite them. Already she could hear the screams as the foot soldiers got closer.

Realizing they were too close now, she unstrung her bow, and repositioned it to use its blades.

"Swords!" she cried as the foot soldiers began to overtake them. She raised her own blade and plunged into the fray.

Aria didn't know how much time had passed since she had switched from arrows to blade. Her bow had been custom made, it was straight unlike others' and it had blades curving out from the front; so it worked almost as a spear or double-ended sword.

She spun around and ducked a foot soldier's thrust as she swept the blade across his back, slicing through his armor. She slashed again, through his neck, and then kicked him away, ready to move onto the next.

Blood drenched her uniform, the white of her bodysuit now the same shade as her skirt. She had earned some cuts on her legs and arms, but she was unstoppable; spinning, swirling, like a hot gust of air around a burning flame. Her anger powered her, not hot and uncontrollable, but churning and spewing like a wave of lava destroying everything in its path.

Killing off another youma, she spun around to meet her next opponent only to have her blade parried away.

"A blade, firebird?"

Shock filtered through her rage as she recognized the honeyed voice and scent of smoke and fresh dew. He stood before her, tauntingly blocking her blade just inches from his face.

His eyes were completely cold, dead to the world, and she understood, anger taking over the shock once more. He had fallen.

Aria pulled her blade back and straightened up. He could not pass and it was her duty to make sure so.

He smiled, a mere twitch of his lips, and stood as well.

"So you will fight," he mused as he re-sheathed his sword and bent his knees into his favored stance.

"I am a daughter of Aries. I will always stand and fight," she announced with finality.

"And I am her Lady's general, Jadeite, sworn soldier," he announced back.

They stood for a moment, and then, the fight was on.

Aria knew she was out-matched from the start. She was an archer first and foremost. Venus has forced her into learning the blade, but it was not her weapon of choice. Her bonded, on the other hand, had been given his first blade only a year after he had started walking. It was as much a part of his body as were his hands and legs.

The two flew at each other. She focused on his legs and lower body with the lower edge of blade and then would randomly attach his head and shoulder with the upper edge. Aria knew she couldn't beat him in technique, but she hoped to tire him out. But he was as graceful as ever, spinning and ducking away, his body arching gracefully.

Once he cut her, then again, and soon, she could feel cuts all over her legs and arms from his blade. Jadeite raised his blade and she raised hers to parry, but Aria lost her balance and stumbled back, landing on the ground. He lifted his blade, stained red with her blood, for a fatal thrust. Before he could finish it, though, she kicked up her legs, slamming her foot into his gut.

He fell beside her, groaning at the unexpected attack. She managed to kick his blade from his hand, but he had already removed her own. Now with his hands, Jadeite pulled her down, trying to suffocate her, bury her into the dead bodies underneath them. Aria fought back, slamming the heel of her palm into his nose. Using his moment of pain, she flipped them over, so that she was on top. She tried to grab his blade, but he wouldn't have it.

They struggled and fought, pulling, twisting, each trying to gain the upper hand. She finally grabbed his blade and raised it to his neck, the edge against his pulsing vein, ready to sever it.

She froze. In that moment, her eyes caught his, and she was caught by the desperate flames in his gaze as he lay underneath her.

"Zōchōten?"

"Do it," he whispered. "End it, firebird."

The blade trembled in her hand as she stared at the pain and death rolling around in his gaze.

"Why? Zōchōten…"

"Because you must!" he hissed. "Please, before I can no longer hold against her evil."

Aria shook, horrified by his demand.

"How can I end you?"

He grasped at her waist, squeezing it. "You know as well as I do, that we cannot win against this evil. She has won. Endymion is dead. I felt it," he whispered. "Please Aria. End this evil. Kill me before I lose my soul to her. Kill me so that I may die without committing any crimes that will sully my soul for eternity. Kill me so that I may reach Elysion whole."

Aria shook, squeezing her eyes to ward away tears. Straightening up, she raised the blade over her head. She opened her mouth to ask one last request, when she felt herself thrown off of him. She pushed herself to her feet to see that he had raised himself to his own feet, and that her blade was in his hands. Steeling herself, Aria looked into his eyes and saw that once again they were dead.

"Yes," he whispered. "Kill me if you can, firebird."

Rage erupted in Aria's veins at the thought of this puppet sullying her bonded's soul. She straightened up completely, gripping the blade tightly.

"Watch me," she hissed.

They flew at each other desperately, blades outstretched, one last stand. They collided and then passed by each other.

Aria landed on the ground, her hands reaching up to stop the flow of blood from her neck. Behind her, Jadeite had fallen to his knees, his own blade deep within his chest. Aria raised her gaze to the stars as the life-blood left her. To her surprise, Jadeite crawled over to her, gasping as the blade moved within him.

She locked up into his eyes and saw that they were alive again.

He smiled at her and she felt the tears finally fall from her eyes. She grabbed at his hand, clutching it tightly. He squeezed back. Looking back at the stars for a moment, she made her decision. Aria pulled him close and gasped into his ear.

"Shall we burn like the phoenix?"

He looked surprised for a moment and then smiled. Carefully, he knelt beside her and took her hands into his own. Aria pulled her magic to the front as did he. Flames began to arise around them, sweltering hot and smelling of charred bodies.

Aria kept her gaze locked on his eyes, and in his eyes, she could see love that mirrored her own.

The flames closed in around them.

He smiled.

The flames rose even higher.

"I am yours," he began. "You are mine, to the end of time and beyond. Let us burn together in this flame and turn to dust."

The flames began to lick at their limbs.

"I will find you, in every life. I swear. Even after the world ends and all good things come to an end."

The flames covered them entirely, but neither took their eyes off the others until they were no more.

OWARI

(A/N): I don't even know where to start after writing that.

I think tragedy might be my thing. Once again, this just poured itself out. Aria, of course, is Rei-chan. As for Jadeite, I again used the Buddhist names for the Shitennou.

The battle was very much inspired from The Lord of Rings. As for the actual theme, it's Nelly Furtado's "All Good Things". I hope I made Rei not too sappy, but still heart-broken and lost, like Nelly in the song. I really wanted it to seem like they accepted their deaths at the end, but the fight scenes needed to fierce. Now I'm a little worried that they're almost too descriptive for a T rating, but I'm not willing to change the story rating just yet. Let me know and I will, though.

As always, review and recommend!