"It's 6:00 already. Where is that slacker?!"

Rei stood up from the table in frustration.

"I know she's normally late, but not showing up at all for a whole week is strange, even for her…" Ami said, looking up from her book.

"Doesn't she understand that this isn't middle school anymore?" Rei sneered. "Those lazy habits need to stop! I'm sick of her skipping out on study nights, and then whining to me later when she fails her exams."

"Maybe she wants to give us some time to ourselves to… process things…" Minako said quietly. She had been pretty quiet all day, which was rare. But no explanation was needed.

"Maybe you're right. I just hope she's okay..." Makoto sighed.

"I haven't been able to bring myself to talk to him yet," Minako murmured, suddenly changing the subject. "He's been so kind to me, but I'm just not ready. I feel horrible for avoiding him, but I just need time. You guys can agree with that, right?"

"Definitely. Nephrite's REALLY gonna have to work to gain my trust back!"

"I don't know. I really believe they deserve another chance," said Ami. "After all, Beryl could have taken any of us for her army. It just happened to be them."

"I say screw them all!" Rei sat back down and slammed a mug on the table. "Who needs them, anyway? If they want another chance at life and love, it can be with other people, not us!"

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It was getting late. The girls started packing up their things and got ready to head home. The Shitennou were all they could think about, which prevented them from studying worth anything.

Shortly before they headed out, Luna and Artemis came running in, out of breath.

"Artemis?" Minako picked up her cat. "Is everything okay, you guys?"

"Have you girls seen Usagi anywhere lately?" Luna panted.

"No, we haven't," Rei snarled. "She's been slacking all week. This is a new record for her."

"I don't think that's it, Rei." Artemis jumped down from Minako's arms. "She hasn't been anywhere. Not at school, not at home, not at the arcade… her parents have been worried sick. We've tried calling her and the authorities and everything, and Mamoru has been running all around town looking for her, but no luck. We think she might've been captured."

"Captured?!" Makoto's eyes widened in shock. "By who? A new enemy?"

"We don't know. We don't have the slightest clue on this one."

"Well, how are we supposed to find her if we have no idea where to look?" Rei asked, still with that classic, annoyed tone of voice; though internally she was panicking.

Artemis slowly walked up to her and looked her seriously in the eye. "There is one way."

"One way to what?"

"One way to track her location and speak to her."

"Okay, so let's do it. What's the problem?"

The cat sighed. "The problem, Rei, is that you won't like this option. But you'll need to deal with it if you want to have any chance of finding your princess."

The two cats walked back outside for a moment, and returned in with a tall blonde man.

"What's he doing here?!" Rei yelled at the sight of Jadeite.

"This is what I was talking about! Now you need to calm yourself and listen, or else this won't work!" It was rare that Artemis got legitimately angry and yelled. It was a little unsettling.

He jumped onto the table so that everyone could see him. "Jadeite here has informed us of this one way of finding her. There's a small sanctuary in the sky called Cloud Temples, and both the Senshi and Shitennou are capable of teleporting there. One of the temples up there contains an orb that has the power of transmission for communication between the other Senshi and Shitennou, as well as showing us where they're at, sort of like a video call. If we can obtain this orb, we'll be able to find Usagi."

"This sanctuary was close to my home kingdom during the Silver Millennium," Jadeite calmly added. "I would often teleport there and use that orb to reach the other kings when needed if we were too far apart. The sanctuary still exists today, but it has been taken over by new inhabitants and I no longer have any authority or recognition over there. However, I remember where the orb is located and know how we can navigate through the towers and get past the gatekeepers."

"Okay then, so what are we waiting for?" Minako asked in her determined voice. "Let's go and get that orb!"

"There's one problem though," Artemis continued. "The inhabitants there are extremely strict on who they allow in. The only people who they will accept into their sanctuary are Rei and Jadeite, since they are members of temples down here."

Rei's eyes opened wide in realization as she glared over at the blonde man standing on the other side of the room.

Jadeite slowly started walking her direction. He held out a hand to her. "Rei, I am asking you to trust me on this. I know that you're not ready to have any kind of relationship with me right now, and that is fine, but we both need each other on this mission. Do it for Usagi."

She stared at his outstretched hand for a moment, and then turned away. "No. I'm not taking chances with you again. Ever."

"Come on, Rei!" Ami stepped in, raising her voice. "Don't be so selfish! We're all hurting right now with our memories from the past, but this isn't about us! It's about saving our leader! You're the only one out of us who can do something about it!"

"But isn't it a little fishy that she went missing right after you guys came back?" Makoto asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I assure you we had nothing to do with it. You have my word."

He turned back to Rei. "I can't do this on my own." He stepped closer. "I need an ally. And that ally needs to be you."

There was silence.

She let out the heaviest sigh that a person could. "Fine. But don't think that this makes us friends."

"I don't."

"Good."

"…All right," Artemis cut into the awkward silence. "How about you both meet outside here tomorrow morning at 6 and we'll send you over. We'd send you now but their temple's doors only open during the day. Come as Sailor Mars, Rei."

He jumped off the table and exited with Luna and Jadeite.

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It was 6 a.m. sharp. Mars was sitting on the temple's steps. Jadeite was behind her but naturally she chose to ignore him until the cats got there.

They arrived with Mamoru, who was pale in the face and looked more exhausted than ever. She figured it was from running around so much, trying to track Usagi down.

"Mars," Mamoru spoke with a scratchy voice. Apparently the exhaustion had gone to his vocal cords as well. "Thank you for doing this. I know it's hard for you, but I really appreciate you taking the risk. When we find Usagi, we'll both really owe you one."

She stood up. "I'm gonna hold you to that."

They moved to the center and Luna and Artemis got ready to send those two into the sky.

"Don't worry. You're going to be fine." Luna gave a friendly nod.

With a combination of Mars' and Jadeite's power, they vanished and moved up into the clouds.

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"State your names."

A guard at the entrance stood at the door, wearing a tall purple feather on his head.

"I am Jadeite," the blond man said, bowing respectfully. "I used to come here to pray and meditate many years ago."

"And who is your friend?"

"I'm Sailor Mars."

"What is your business here?"

"Same thing as him."

"You are not welcome here if you are not a member of a temple. This is a sacred place."

"I'm with the Hikawa Shrine on Earth."

The guard pondered for a moment. "Hmmm… I'm not sure if I believe you. Your attitude is off, and I'm sensing negative vibes from you."

"Well, I-"

"And your uniform doesn't match the typical attire of members of Hikawa. Are you lying to me?"

"No!"

"She is indeed involved in that shrine," Jadeite cut in. "She's just a little nervous, as this is her first time here. I've seen her in her own temple many times. Please, good sir, will you allow us the privilege of meditating in your sanctuary? I assure you that we are both trustworthy temple members."

After a long pause, the guard tapped his staff against the ground and the doors opened. Jadeite thanked him graciously.

"I guess I should say thanks for that," Mars muttered under her breath once they were inside.

"It was no problem at all."

"Why are they so strict here?"

"Well, a long time ago even before I discovered this place, it was invaded and run by a group of warlocks who practiced witchcraft and terrorized the place. They were later defeated and driven out, and peace was restored through their absence and by continuous prayer of the faithful inhabitants. That's why they're so careful with whom they let in now. They want to know that all visitors take this place and their practices seriously. And it's why we need to be careful while we're here since we could get kicked out immediately if they discover our mission."

"You make us sound like criminals."

"We're doing this to rescue your leader."

"I know, I know. Let's just focus on the mission. What do we do from here?"

"The plan is to go to the most hidden tower where the orb is. In order to do that, we'll need to get past the many locked doors. And the way to do that is to fool the gatekeeper. He's an idiot who calls himself Agent Zero, and we'll find him a little ways away from here. He'll lead us to the tower, but it will involve a lot of hiding behind trees, and walking QUIETLY. I cannot tell you how important it will be to keep your footsteps silent. We need to do that until we get into the secret tower. He'll either give it to us, or we'll attack him for it, which would need to be done quietly and without bloodshed. A simple strike to the head to knock him out for a bit should do the trick. After that, we need to find the three bell towers and ring all of the bells in order to open the portal back up to get back to Earth."

"Okay, and why didn't you tell me this intricate plan before we got here?"

"I would have, but you had your back turned all morning and refused to talk to me."

She rolled her eyes. "Whatever, let's just do this."

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The temple towers were all connected by bridges. Looking down from the edges, one could not see anything but the periwinkle hue from the clouds, so being cautious around the edges was crucial. If one fell off, it was game over, without a doubt. Mars was standing over one and looking down, marveling at the sight. Looking back up, the sun setting in the distance was captivating. For a moment she forgot about her troubles and just allowed herself to be amazed by the scenery and the altitude.

After some time, a strong gust of wind kicked up, knocking her off the edge.

She screamed bloody murder. "Jadeite, help!"

She was hanging on for dear life, but the edge was slippery and the wind was still blowing. Jadeite came running over and grabbed her hand.

"Hang on! You'll be okay! Just don't let go of my hand!"

He held onto the wall as he pulled, but it was hard with the slippery ground.

"Just a little more!"

He let go of the wall and used both hands to pull her up. He almost went down himself in doing so, but he succeeded and she was safe.

They were both sitting on the ground, panting for air. Mars was trembling, knowing she almost died just then. She definitely would have if it wasn't for him.

She looked over and gazed at him, her voice returning to normal. "Thank you. But are you crazy? You know you could've died just now for helping me?"

"I know, but it was worth it." He looked at her sweetly for a moment. "You don't think I'd let you fall down into a sky abyss, did you?"

He risked his life for me.

"Well, thanks." She gathered herself and stood up. "Shall we proceed?"

They went up a staircase that led to another floor on that tower, which connected to the next one and led to an outside area. They went outside the enclosed area to another exposed edge.

"Well, what now?" Mars asked. "There's no bridge to get down there to that platform of land. If you expect me to try and jump that far, you're gonna have to demonstrate first."

He ignored her sarcasm. "There's usually a whirlwind that carries people down there. Maybe if we look around we can find a switch."

They scavenged the area. Mars couldn't help but continually look over at him.

"So how much do you come here anyway, since you know this place so well?"

"Temple culture has always been very important to me. Before Beryl captured me again, I used to live in one like yours. This was also true of me during the Silver Millennium, as you can probably recall. Back then, I found the temples up here to be far more impressive and serene than the one I was with on Earth. So I spent quite a bit of time here whenever I could."

"What do you do in these temples?"

"It's a peaceful place to meditate and pray, without any distractions or background noise. Coming here to Cloud Temples allowed me to not only do that, but also appreciate the wonders of creation." He paused his search and looked up at the colorful sky, and then over at her. "And what about you?"

"Same thing, really. Whenever I'm sitting in front of the fire, I spend lots of time in listening prayer. Instead of closing my eyes and trying to see and hear things like most people do, I usually see images in the fire. Of course, I have to be careful in interpreting things and make sure they're not just in my head… but it's definitely a powerful practice."

"It's amazing how God can speak to us in so many different ways."

He gave her a smile for a moment and without noticing, she started to return one. The second that caught herself, she stopped and returned to her search for a switch.

"Here it is," Jadeite said, pushing some tree branches away from one of the walls and revealing a small red button. He pushed it and a sparkly blue whirlwind appeared by the edge of the platform of land.

"So…" Mars began. "We're supposed to just step into that and trust that it'll take us safely across?"

"Precisely."

"Um… how about you go first? You know what you're doing."

"You're afraid?"

"I am NOT!" she yelled. "I just want to make sure I do it properly!"

He took her hand, and she couldn't bring herself to pull away. "It's okay. We'll go together. Sound good?"

She sighed lightly, not taking her eyes off his hand. "If it means making it across alive, then fine."

He led her over to the sparkling whirlwind, and after a mental count to three, they both stepped in. It slowly spun them around as it carried them over. Jadeite could feel Mars shaking a bit, so he gently wrapped his arms around her. "It's okay. We're almost there."

She looked into his eyes without saying a word, heart beating faster. It seemed like all time stopped and the only thing happening in the world was that moment.

They landed and he released her.

"Do you feel all right?"

"I'm fine," she said, coming back down to earth in more ways than one.

"Good. We're close to Agent Zero now. He should be right over there." He pointed west towards a short wall that was built like an open fort.

"Let's do it then."

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They walked over and entered through the wall's opening. There was a HUGE man standing in there, with a long orange ponytail and wearing blue suspenders. Someone his size would normally be intimidating based on size alone. However, when he turned around, Mars had to repress a laugh at how derpy his face was. His voice proved to be likewise.

"Good afternoon, Gatekeeper." Jadeite bowed. "Nice to see you again. It's been a while. What are you up to today?"

The man noticed the unfamiliar face and turned towards Mars. "I'm a secret agent. Call me Agent Zero. I'm getting ready to go to my secret hideout. But only members of my secret club are allowed to go there! I'm not leaving unless you both hide behind that tree so you can't see me."

Mars looked over at the short, thick tree that was wide enough to hide multiple people. She could see several like it down the path in front of them.

"As you wish, Agent Zero," Jadeite said. He went over to hide behind the tree and Mars followed suit. They stayed there silently until they heard the footsteps of his departure. That's when Mars finally let out a quiet laugh.

"Did you hear his voice?!" she asked in a muffled tone.

"That's Agent Zero for you. But now's the tricky part," Jadeite whispered. "We need to follow him, and keep hiding behind these trees, making sure he doesn't catch us following, and also be sure that we get through all the doors before they close behind him. If he catches us, he'll alert the others and it'll be game over for us."

They poked their heads out from behind the tree and saw that he was still walking slowly. He evidently wasn't much of an athlete based on the snail's pace he was moving at.

Jadeite led the way with Mars following closely behind. They hid behind the closest tree, without making a sound. Agent Zero stopped and turned around to make sure no one was following, and then kept going.

"There's another whirlwind over there. Do you feel okay about them now?" Jadeite asked.

"Are you doubting me? I told you before that I just needed to see how they worked first."

"Very well then. Let's go."

It was hilarious watching that large man spin around through the whirlwind, but laughs were repressed and they all made it across. They had to run quickly to the next hiding spot since he was about to open the first door, but in doing so they couldn't be as quiet. The agent stopped and turned around again, but Jadeite got behind the tree just in time. Mars wasn't there, but he looked over and saw her standing behind the building's wall, just waiting for his signal.

The agent completed his 360 and opened the doors. Those two ran in, with the doors slamming shut behind them, and followed him up the spiral staircase that led to the next door. They were standing right behind him since there were no trees in that spot. He stopped walking for a few seconds as if listening for noise. Mars' heart skipped a few beats. If he caught them there, they were toast. There was nowhere to hide.

After a few long moments, he proceeded to open the door without turning around. Much to their relief.

Suddenly he started sprinting to the right near a tree on that side. Before Mars had a chance to react, Jadeite pulled her by the hand and ran over to a tree that was conveniently on the other side. They got behind it just in time before he turned around. Then he randomly ran over to their side to stand beside that tree. They had to quickly and quietly rotate around the tree until he moved again, staying as silent as humanly possible since he was right next to them.

Finally, after turning around a few times and scanning the area suspiciously, he moved towards the final door, slowly.

"All right, this is it," Jadeite whispered so quietly he was barely audible. "I'll really need your help for this part. Be prepared to attack quietly if needed; I'll hold him down and you can knock him out. But hold back until we see what he does first."

They walked quickly to catch up with him, but got a little too close, as he stopped again and looked around. Thankfully he didn't turn around, but they were inches away from him at that sudden stop and had to hold their breath. After many moments, he finally opened the door.

The room was definitely not up to its hype; just a simple platform enclosed by walls without a roof, with a few potted plants here and there.

Some secret hideout.

Agent Zero turned around and gasped when he saw them.

"What? You managed to get here without following me? You guys must be members of this secret club after all!"

They were both caught off guard but went along with it.

"Indeed we are." Jadeite bowed. "Of course we couldn't tell you before, because it's a secret, right?"

"Exactly! Here," Agent Zero opened some sort of secret compartment in the wall. "Take this secret decoder. It will allow us to send secret messages."

He handed them a shiny green orb with gold rings around it. Jadeite graciously took it and placed it safely inside his coat.

"Much obliged, Gatekeeper," he said. "If you'll now excuse us, we have some meditating to do in the temples."

"Come back any time."

"Thanks," Mars called back as they exited, still trying to refrain from laughing at his derpy voice.

Well that part was certainly easier than expected.

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"Okay, we've got the orb. Should we call Usagi?"

"We should get back first so that the others can be there."

"So how do we get out of here?"

"We need to ring the three bells," he replied, pointing to the left. "If you go up that staircase, you should find two of the bell towers. I'll take care of the third one."

Mars climbed up the stairs and went up to the large bells on each side. It took a lot of strength to ring them since they were so heavy, but she succeeded.

Coming back downstairs she started searching for this third bell, which was nowhere to be found. It was dead silent in there. She wandered around for a while, leaving that temple and backtracking to where they came from, but no luck.

"Jadeite? Where are you?" she shouted.

No answer.

"Seriously Jadeite, I have no idea what to do now or where to go. Would you just tell me where you are?"

Still nothing.

Is he okay? He didn't fall off an edge, did he…?

Mars got worried at the thought. She roamed around trying to find him, but there was not a living soul to be found anywhere. This creeped her out a little. If she didn't find him or the bell, she'd be trapped there forever.

"JADEITE?!"

"Everything okay down here?"

She turned and found him coming out from that temple they were just in.

"What the hell?! Didn't you hear me? Don't you ever scare me like that again!"

"Hear you? It's impossible to hear anything down here from the floor above."

"How did you get up there?"

He pointed to a chamber that led to an outside opening.

"What do you mean? There's nothing over there."

"There was a whirlwind I had to activate, but it shuts off after some time. But I rang the last bell up there, so we're good to go."

She went back inside and looked out to the next two towers in the distance, which now had bridges connecting them.

"Did the bells draw those bridges out?"

"That's precisely what they do, along with activating the portal."

"That makes sense then. I guess it's time to head over there?"

"That last tower is where our portal will be." He pointed out to the distance. "We'll just have to step through it and it'll send us home."

They crossed the bridges to the final tower. Mars took one last look out to the sky metropolis. It truly was the most incredible place she'd ever seen. And definitely an adventure she'd never forget. She turned back and looked up at Jadeite. The wind from outside lightly shook his short blonde hair and the lighting of the room just made him look… flawless. She caught herself blushing and looked away immediately. They both stared at the portal.

"So… I guess this is it?" Mars asked.

"This is it."

"Are you sure there's nothing else we need to do?"

"We have the orb; that's all we need." He looked back at her. "I enjoyed this. I'm really glad that you came."

She looked into his jade eyes and gave a smile. "Me too. Thanks for saving my life and protecting me… on multiple occasions."

He laughed. "Anytime."

After a few more moments, they finally stepped through.

A/N: Yes, I brought Avalar (from Spyro II) into this story like I did with my first SM fic. Just this one realm though. Recently playing through that level actually inspired this story in the first place… also Agent Zero is pure win.

A couple of quotes from the game were used. Not claiming them as my original writing.