The next morning, Rei woke up feeling extremely nauseous. She quietly got out of the bed, jumping slightly when Jadeite reached for her, as she had forgotten he had stayed with her to help curb her nightmares.
"Don't go" he mumbled, grasping her sleeve. Rei giggled and tried to pry his hand from her.
"I'm just going to take a shower. I'll be back in a little bit" she assured him. he grumbled softly and opened one eye to look at her.
"Promise?" he asked. Rei nodded, and Jadeite rolled over, soon falling asleep again. Rei giggled and pulled her last change of clothes out of her bag, then frowned slightly. She would have to go home to get more…She sighed and shook her head, quietly walking across the hall to the bathroom. She turned on the shower, undressed and stepped inside, suddenly becoming saddened by the thought of Jadeite's scent washing off of her. She quickly brushed the thought away and sighed, still feeling it was wrong to think that way, even after the way Kumori treated her.
"Stop it" she scolded herself as she quickly washed up and shut the water off. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't shake her desire to fall into Jadeite's arms and stay there until she took her dying breath. She pictured Kumori's face, and what it might look like if she told him she was done with him; would he be sad? Probably not. Would he be angry with her? Undoubtedly so. She shivered, practically feeling the bruises appearing on her skin. As she dried off, she stared at herself in the mirror, seeing a terrified, weak reflection of herself staring back at her. This isn't me…After another short moment, she scowled slightly. Now, staring back at her, was a reflection of who she was before Kumori: strong, fearless, brave. She nodded slightly and dressed herself before returning to the bedroom just as she had promised she would.
When she opened the door, she was surprised to find Jadeite awake, and almost completely undressed. She let out a squeak and shut the door as fast as she could, then ducked into the living room embarrassedly. Jadeite came out minutes later, now fully dressed, and timidly approached her.
"I'm sorry…I didn't know you were going to be back so soon" he said quietly. Rei nodded slightly, the blush still resting on her cheeks. After several minutes, she let out a soft chuckle.
"I should have knocked…I thought you would still be asleep."
"You were in there for almost two hours" Jadeite said, giving her a confused look. Rei stared back at him, shocked.
"I-I was?" He nodded in response, sitting on the couch next to her.
"I thought about checking on you, but I figured you needed some time alone. Are you okay?"
"I think so…"
"Are you upset about me staying with you last night?" Jadeite asked softly. Rei looked up and shook her head, giving him a half smile.
"No, I wanted you to" she assured him, putting her hand on his. "I was just thinking about…things."
"The text Kumori sent you…" Jadeite murmured. Nephrite, who had been passing by, overheard Jadeite say that and stopped.
"Is he still talking to you, Rei?" he asked. Without a word, Rei pulled out her phone and opened the text to show it to Nephrite. After reading it, he leaned against the wall and sighed. "Are you going to go back?"
"I have to…" Rei said quietly. Jadeite stiffened slightly and looked at her, his eyes cold as ice.
"No, you don't" he muttered. "You don't have to do anything that lowlife tells you."
"Jade, I do…" she argued. "I need to get more clothes." Hearing this, Jadeite relaxed a bit.
"We'll go with you. Or one of us will. Just in case he's there" Jadeite insisted, refusing to utter Kumori's name. A thought suddenly struck Rei and she picked up her phone, sending out a text to the girls.
Can you do me a favor? I need you to go to the shrine and get all my clothes, and bring them to Mamoru's. I'll explain everything when you get here. After sending the text, she set her phone on the table and smiled at Jadeite.
"I know that look. What did you just do?" he said, mirroring her grin.
"I'm going to have Usagi and the girls bring my clothes here, so we don't have to go." Jadeite shifted uneasily, furrowing his brow.
"Are you sure that will work? What if he's there? What if they tell him where you are?"
"They wouldn't do that" Rei assured him. He gave her a slight nod and sat back on the couch, closing his eyes for a moment. Rei casually moved closer to him and rested her head on his shoulder, prompting him to slip his arm around her shoulders. This time, Rei felt no remorse. She was no longer focused on what would please Kumori. Her eyes fluttered closed, and she began to picture the first time she and Jadeite had met.
"Princess Serenity!" Mars quietly crept across the lush grass, keeping her eyes open for any sign of the runaway princess. After searching for a while, she became frustrated and leaned against a tree, unaware that someone was on the other side. "That girl is going to be the death of me, I swear" she muttered.
"You know, what you're doing is considered trespassing" an unexpected man's voice mused from the other side of the tree, startling Mars. She took off running, and he quickly chased after her. She looked back to see if he was following her and her heel caught in a thick patch of grass, causing her to stumble. She fell to the ground and laid there for a moment, trying to gather the strength to get back up before she was caught. She could hear the grass rustling nearby and cursed under her breath. Moments later, she was approached by a man. His white cape fluttered in the wind, casting a shadow over her. She gazed up at him, expecting to see a harsh expression. What she saw instead surprised her. He was smiling. Without saying a word, he extended his hand down to her.
"Let me help you" he said softly. She took his hand and he pulled her up, grinning at her as she fixed the skirt of her sailor fuku.
"You didn't have to scare me like that" she muttered, frowning and refusing to make eye contact with him. she could tell from his clothing that he was one of the prince's men, and part of her expected to be reprimanded again because of that. Again, he surprised her.
"I didn't mean to" he said softly. "I was only trying to help. If anyone else had caught you, it would have been much worse."
"I was only looking for my princess" Mars muttered, still refusing to make eye contact. The man chuckled and gently lifted her chin, forcing her to look at him.
"I won't tell…prison wouldn't suit you, anyway." Mars furrowed her brow as the man spoke, trying not to be distracted by how handsome he was.
"Thank you…" she murmured, feeling as though she was being sucked into his brilliant blue eyes…no, they were grey. Violet, perhaps? The man cleared his throat softly, snapping Mars back to reality.
"You're one of Serenity's guardians, aren't you?" the man mused, examining what she was wearing. She nodded, waiting for his eyes to meet hers before she spoke again. "She's mentioned you...Sailor Mars, right?" Before she could answer, she heard voices in the distance. The blonde man looked over his shoulder, then at her.
"You need to go" he commanded, ushering her to a safe spot where she could teleport back to the Moon Palace.
"Wait! Will you tell me who you are?" Before he could answer, Mars was transported back to the Moon…
"Rei?" Hearing her name, she jumped slightly and looked toward the doorway.
"Sorry, I guess I spaced out for a minute" she chuckled.
"That's okay" Mamoru said with a smile. "I was just wondering if you were hungry at all?"
"Yeah, I am, actually" she said with a smile.
"What would you like?"
"Whatever you have…I don't need you to go out of your way for me." Mamoru nodded and walked to the kitchen to heat up some of the leftover pizza. Rei snuggled back into Jadeite, thinking nothing could possibly ruin this day.
Usagi and the others finally arrived at the shrine, finding the spare key in the flower pot where Rei kept it. They opened the door and looked around before heading to Rei's room, unsure why they were doing so. No one was here, were they? While they quickly gathered her clothes, they jumped at an unexpected noise that seemed to be coming from the bathroom.
"Who's there?!" Makoto demanded, rising to her feet.
"I could ask you the same question" Kumori responded, throwing the door open and stomping into Rei's bedroom. "Who are you?!"
"We're friends of Rei's" Mako answered, stepping closer to the mystery man. She wasn't afraid to fight him if she had to. "Who the hell are you?"
"I'm her boyfriend, Kumori" Kumori responded, his demeanor changing drastically. He had gone from a defensive psycho to a charming, seemingly normal man in mere seconds. The girls looked at him, stunned.
"She's never mentioned you" Mako growled. "What are you doing here?" Kumori looked at the floor, then back up at the four girls.
"Rei and I had a fight last night, and she left…I was just waiting for her to come home." He eyed the bags of Rei's clothes on the floor and sighed. "By the looks of it, I don't think she is…" The girls looked at him sympathetically, and Ami was the next to speak.
"Sorry to hear that…is there any way we can help?" Kumori smiled widely and nodded.
"Can you tell me where she is? I'd like to send her some flowers to apologize." The others happily obliged, then finished packing Rei's clothes before they left. As soon as they were gone, the grin faded from Kumori's face as he eyed Mamoru's address on the piece of scrap paper they had given him.
Back at Mamoru's, everyone had finished eating. After Rei helped clean up, she stifled a yawn.
"I think I'm going to take a nap." Just as she was about to head to the bedroom, there was a knock on the door. Rei walked over to answer it, figuring it must be Usagi and the others with her clothes. As the door swung open, she felt as if the wind had been knocked out of her.
"Kumori…"
A/N I had to. I'm sorry. *hides*
