Flames of the Burning Mandala

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There were whispers about the chosen avatars. More than whispers. It was said that the next cycle of women to take up the mantle of the powers bestowed by the planetary goddesses would be the ones to forever alter the course of history of all the realms. The Fates had spun their thread and it was set. They had decided that the only way to drive the universe forward was with the death of the Silver Millennium, and the birth of a new socio-political order.

The Rebirth, it was called.

The Fates would not divulge all the details, for even the gods needed some mystery to keep them from the devastating boredom that came with immortal life. However, they had let one thing slip. Something asinine. Something that would send all the goddesses involved reeling one way or another.

The avatars were to fall in love. With mortals—Earthlings.

This was unheard of. It was not that the goddesses wished unhappiness upon their avatars. In fact, they hoped for all the riches of life that the realms had to offer to their chosen ones. But the very reason that they bequeathed their powers to a group of women every generation was because the darkness of Chaos needed constant attention. That was their duty first and foremost. There was no time for love. Not when the Silver Crystal, the most powerful object in the universe, needed protecting. Love was a distraction. Love was weakness.

Or so thought Lady Mars, as she mulled over the recent revelation from the Fates. It was surely a ploy to keep the goddesses occupied from thinking of other things. More important things, like the consequences of this sort of Rebirth.

"Oh, but my avatar's fated belovéd is quite charming," her sister, the Lady Mercury, goddess of ice, murmured to herself. Her voice was a quiet sprinkle of a fountain against the walls of the edge of the universe, where they resided. "I do not like the idea of using love as fatal flaw set to turn the wheels of impending destruction. But if that need be the case, as the Fates have deigned, well this one seems to have a good head on his shoulders. Intelligent too."

That the Lady Mercury, who never consorted with mortals but to observe them from the comfort of a cloud high above, had taken interest in the very mortal that her future avatar would eventually meet and fall in love with, spoke volumes. The deity of ice was known for just that, her insensitivity to emotion. That she had been impressed, even delighted, by her 'mortal man' sent the other goddesses in a tizzy. And the Lady Mars wanted to know what all the fuss was about.

"Mercury, surely you cannot approve of the way the Fates have forecasted things for our future progeny?" she inquired of her sister in a moment of solitude. Their other planetary sisters had set about finding their own 'mortal men', to see if theirs would impress as Mercury's had. The goddess of fire had stayed behind, pensive and uncertain.

The water deity's eyes were distant, staring off into the abyss of stars that surrounded them, as she replied. "No, I do not approve, and yet, I do." She paused, combing her blue-silver tresses unto her shoulder, as was her custom. "The Fates have made their decision. And you know as well as I that we cannot truly interfere. It was the oath we took when we created our avatars to become Senshi."

"Yes, yes," Mars said impatiently. "But mortal men?"

At that, Lady Mercury finally turned her gaze to her sister. "Mortal men," she repeated. "What's wrong with them? Boorish at times, yes. But more often times merely lost and emotionally broken. What of it?" She raised an eyebrow. "Even you are not immune to the touch of a mortal man. An emotional touch, that is."

Lady Mars flinched. Mercury had not said it cruelly, but her words stung all the same.

"I was young," she said quietly, defiantly.

"And so our avatars shall also be," Mercury acquiesced. "Young. Troubled. Searching for something without knowing what it is. And it seems Love shall be the answer. Venus, as you have seen, is over the moon." She paused. "Not literally, of course."

Silently, Mercury regarded her fiery sister who was remarkably subdued lately. "What truly troubles you, my dear one?" she asked. "You and I are two opposites of a whole. You cannot hide anything from me. Nor I you."

The Lady Mars could be as explosive as Mercury could be tranquil, but her usual temperament was a volatile in-between. Since the news had broken, however…

"Answer me this, Mercury," Mars said instead, her hard amethyst eyes never leaving that of her elemental opposite. "There was no need to see your…mortal…more than once to determine your opinion. And yet you visited him regularly for quite a bit of time by mortal standards. Why?"

Mercury's expression became thoughtful, and her gaze once again turned distant, focused on the stars. She did not hurry to respond; after all, they had all the time in the world.

"Would it be strange," she began, her voice quiet as a far-off stream. "If I said that I wanted to pretend, just for a few moments, that I would be her?" she closed her eyes, a slight flush of pink touching her cheeks as she looked down at her hands in her first show of her own uncertainty. "I dare say my avatar will be lucky to have him. Love does not have to be weakness, Lady Mars."

Mars frowned and turned away, staring at her own view of the stars. "That is exactly what I fear."

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The Lady Mars, goddess of fire and wrath, was not known for her patience, save for stoking her Sacred Fire or planning strategies of war. Standing in the middle of a bustling town market in what Earthlings called the 'Far East', she therefore found herself at her wits end.

Vendors loudly advertised their produce and wares, buyers negotiated passionately, children ran between the legs of adults, and mothers called after them in aggravation. There was a general splendor of culture, spices and color that even the deity could appreciate, but after only a few minutes of wandering through the stalls, the noise and the fumes made her want to 'accidentally' sneeze into life Asia's largest conflagration. It was a tempting notion.

Why am I even here? She grumbled to herself, cursing the Fates for the umpteenth time. But she knew why. With a sigh, she continued on.

Mercury had given her the coordinates to her 'mortal man', the boy who would eventually become the belovéd of her own future avatar. It turned out that Mercury's Zoicite was more useful in information than he would ever know.

"Do with this information what you will," Mercury had told her quietly, handing over a short piece of folded parchment. "You need not seek him out, as I did mine. But if you ever want to, now you can."

And so here she was, seeking him out. She did not have a name or a face, but trusted that her senses would guide her. They always did.

As she looked about her whereabouts, noting that she had circled this path already, a nearby scuffle caught her attention. A young man—boy, really—with closely cropped light blond hair was entangled in what seemed to be a playful brawl with a younger boy. Eventually the younger one kicked him in the shin with all the menacing anger of a child, and the blonde backed away.

"Okay, okay, I get it!" he yelled indignantly, backing away. He kept walking backwards toward the fire deity. "We won't play anymore—oof!"

The blonde boy had bumped into the deity as he was walking backwards, the goddess having stood still watching in amusement.

"Oh! I'm sorry, miss!" he said with wide grey eyes and a mildly apologetic grin as he yelped back. He bowed slightly, taking in her elegant robes. "I didn't mean to harm…you."

He trailed off, clearly unnerved by Mars' gaze. The deity had taken care to dress discretely, though elegantly. But nothing could disguise her immortal beauty. She stood regally in red and gold, her long black hair stood out against her robes like a gash. To the young boy, her expression was a mild frown, though intensely intimidating. To the deity herself, she was trying, and admittedly failing, to hide her shock.

This was the boy.

His inner fire burned brightly, marking him clearly in the eyes of the goddess. She could have picked him out anywhere among the sea of inner flames that dwelled within every living being in the market. She had simply never looked in his direction before now.

"You, boy," Mars said hoarsely. She cleared her throat, trying to grasp at the fraying ends of her composure. "What is your name?"

"Jade, madam," came the prompt reply. The boy set his arms on either side and bowed properly, respectfully. "Jadeite. I hope I have not offended you with my rough play. It was entirely my fault for not looking where I was going."

By the standards of his culture and even by her own standards, the boy was impeccably polite. Surprising.

"You certainly have your manners about you," she said, her gaze softening. Jade noticed this and allowed himself a full grin.

"My parents own this market, and this town," he said matter-of-factly. "I like to have fun, but I'm supposed to make them proud. And it would not make them happy that I might have displeased a great Lady like you."

He tacked on a wink and his grey eyes twinkled in mirth, despite how perfectly reserved and gracious his words were. Mars could feel a vein on her forehead pulse as she briefly closed her eyes in annoyance.

This child is surely a future womanizer, she thought venomously. No doubt my avatar shall either straighten him out, or he will reform himself for her.

"How can I make this up to you?" he inquired anxiously. He could sense her extreme displeasure, and his mother had always told him that it was his duty to alleviate a woman's distress, especially if he was the cause.

While he misplaced the true reason for her ire, Mars was intrigued by his sincerity. Hope bloomed from somewhere within.

"Perhaps you can help me with something," she allowed with the tiniest of smiles. An idea had come to her.

Despite being an expert strategist, Mars had never set out with a plan of how she would approach this mortal. She only had one goal in mind, and now that she had found him she could clearly see how she could achieve it. She turned to a nearby stall and walked toward it.

"Come along," she called without turning, flipping her hair behind her.

The boy hastily complied. There was something fascinating about this beautiful woman in the expensive robes. Her eyes were fierce; it drew him in.

Little did he know that such fierceness would not return to him, settling his restless spirit, for years to come.

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"You know, Madam, you have yet to tell me your name."

They were perched under the shade of a tree at the river's edge, just a few paces away from the hustle and bustle of the market.

The Lady, for she was indeed a fine Lady, looked at the boy wryly. "You have guessed correctly that I am from a far-off land. But where I come from, names are earned, not given."

Jade contemplated this silently as he munched on his giant waffle-cookie that the beautiful Lady had bought for him earlier in the day. He could barely believe that they had spent the entire afternoon together.

Following the mishap of bumping into her, she had turned him into her personal bag-holder as she shopped for different things at the market. Jade normally hated accompanying his own mother shopping, but it turned out that the Lady knew many things about everything, and this fascinated him. They had chatted a great deal as she perused through perfumes, scarves and spices. For the first time in his young life, it made shopping bearable. Enjoyable, even.

"How do you know so much?" Jade asked in between bites of his treat. "Is it because you are a great Lady that you have traveled so much, or is it that your travels have turned you into a great Lady?"

"Must it be one or the other?" she responded delicately. Her knees were drawn up almost to her chest and her arms rested lightly on her knees as she looked out at the water. "The world is rarely so back and white."

Her responses were always similar to this, despite the dozens of questions he continued to pepper her with. But she never once told him to hush, or to go away or change the subject, and so Jade took his leave to continue to press further.

"My father has also told me that the world is grey," he admitted, looking down at his treat. "When unexpected things happen that were never supposed to happen…the world is grey, he said."

The Lady noticed his sudden downcast, and frowned. "Did something happen?" she asked gently, surprising herself. The boy shook his head.

"I shouldn't complain," he said. "My father had a great many lands in this region, but he was never in direct line for the title of King of the Far East. But then a cousin died, or an aunt, and then a brother…I still don't quite understand it. All I know is that Father suddenly became the next King, and I've been training to become the next Shitennou ever since. But," he sighed. "I never wanted this."

The Lady raised a brow in mild surprise. "Did you lie to me when you said your parents merely owned the market and the town?"

Jade blushed. Her calm gaze reduced him to fidgets.

"Well, technically," he groaned. "The truth is, I like to play at the market just to feel normal sometimes."

He looked down at his cookie, now abandoned, and glanced up at the lady. "You're not mad, are you? Most people treat me differently, once they know who my family is…who I am."

The Lady seemed to consider his words. Jade had noticed that it was her manner. She always appeared to think carefully before uttering a word.

"But it should be an honor, is it not?" she asked, her eyes furrowed quizzically. "They say the Shitennou are bestowed great power from Gaia herself."

"I suppose so," the boy nodded forlornly. He was quiet for a moment, and she watched him from the corner of her eyes. Mars was beginning to think that this boy was not like ordinary mortal men.

Then suddenly his mood switched, a mischievous fire replacing the earlier sadness. "But hey, great power would be awesome! Maybe we get to ask for what we get. Like controlling the weather or commanding fire. Yeah, fire would be great!"

Mars could feel the vein on the side of her forehead return with a vengeance. Clearly, she had settled her opinion too soon. The boy was ridiculous.

"Why fire?" she prompted with a commendable measure of calm. In Jade's view, the Lady seemed to become as incensed as she had seemed when they had first encountered each other. But Jade hardly paid attention. In their short acquaintance, he had come to realize that the Lady was both quick to anger and quick to serenity. It was intimidating, but Jade was somehow confident that she would do him no harm.

"Fire is the most destructive element," Jade said with stars in his eyes. He threw down his waffle cookie and stood up, fists clenched in self-imagined glory. "No one would dare offend me if I had power like that."

He failed to notice how her eyebrow twitched dangerously. He continued, though more softly this time as he looked down at his fists. "But fire also heals. Not in the way water does, like most people think, but it heals." He turned to the Lady, surprised to see shock plain in her amethyst eyes. "Y'know?"

The Lady shook her head. "I don't understand," she said plainly. Mars watched as he regained his seat next to her. He mirrored her position, placing his elbows on his knees.

"Fire heals," he repeated. "Its warmth brings people together from near and far. It allows us to cook the food that we enjoy together, and provides light for us to see laughing faces when we share moments together at night. It's light in the dark." He scratched his head, tousling his light blonde curls. "I guess, most of all, its very essence allows a community to thrive."

He paused, realizing the full weight of his own words for the first time. "Fire is destructive, yeah, and that's great in battle. I'd use it to help protect the Prince. But fire is also precious. I'd like the honor of that power. That is, if I succeed in this path to becoming Shitennou of the Far East and Gaia wills it."

"Gaia is not known to grant her Shitennou any particular power over the elements," the Lady said slowly. Her thoughts were reeling, though the boy would never realize it.

"I know," he shrugged, ruffling his light blond hair. "But I can hope."

They were silent for a moment, and Jade chanced a glance at the Lady. She appeared deep in thought, her eyes trained on the waves of the river and the fishing boats passing by. Amethyst eyes, such a strange color.

"Are you from this world?" He asked softly, boldly.

Slowly, the Lady settled her gaze on him. It held no anger, but surprising gentleness, and another emotion he could not name. If he had a little more life experience, he would name it respect. Admiration. Resignation.

"No," she said quietly. "I am not from this world, or the next."

Jade considered, his grey eyes suddenly unfathomable, indicating astuteness far beyond his years. "Then why did you choose to spend this day with me?" he stopped, a momentary fear flashing across his face. "Am I going to die?"

At this, the Lady chuckled. It was the first time Jade had heard it. It was a sharp laugh, like a crackling fire.

"No," she said with some amusement. "You aren't going to die. Not yet, anyway. But you do mean something very special to someone I care about."

He stared at her curiously, willing her to continue, and so she did.

"If you will allow, I would like to make you a gift," she said haltingly, showing her discomfort. "As a thank you for spending this day with me, and as a present for one who will someday be a Shitennou…if you pass the training, of course."

He made a face at that, and she winked at him causing him to blush. Her beauty was even more striking when she smiled.

"Um. Well. M-my father says to be wary of any gift from the gods," he mumbled, looking down at his hands, ashamed.

She looked at him, startled. "You believe that I am a goddess?"

He shrugged. "You could be anything. Anyone." He looked up at her. "But you know so much. And your eyes…your eyes…"

He trailed off as the Lady took gently took his hand and held it. She looked down, seeing his inner fire more clearly now that they touched. It burned with unwavering brightness.

"Well, let me tell you a secret," she said with a conspiratorial smile. There was a sadness there that she did not bother to hide, and Jade felt his heart lurch. "Even the gods are playthings of the Fates."

She patted his cheek gently, watching him become mesmerized by her eyes. It was her power as a goddess. The mortals were not wrong to be wary. So easily they were bewitched.

She watched his grey eyes lull shut as he slumped against her. Gently, she lowered him to the ground, resting his head on a tree root.

"Even the gods are the playthings of the Fates," she repeated softly, brushing her fingers against his forehead. "And so are our avatars. But I cannot allow my future Senshi to be unhappy. I will not allow it."

Her fingers began to glow a deep red.

"I'm sorry."

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"So it is done?"

The Lady Mercury gazed at her sister from across the stars, waiting for a response. The fire goddess had returned, closed and quiet, burying herself in a far corner of the universe they occupied. She sat with a stillness that was rather unnatural even for one of their kind.

"Did he accept your gift?" the water deity ventured further, letting concern flood her voice. Lady Mars tilted her head minutely.

"The mortals are warned against us, did you know?" she murmured. Her eyes, a dark violet rather than their usual amethyst, betrayed a slowly brewing storm. "And for very good reason."

Mercury nodded. "Indeed."

"But I had to," Mars continued, as if Mercury had not spoken. "I had to gift him, or he would not survive. And Rei would never forgive me." She glanced at Mercury and took in her shock. "Yes, I know her name. I divined it in the Great Fire. The Fates have their powers, but so do I." She clenched her fist in her robes, still unchanged from her jaunt to Earth. "But I will be damned if I let him be consumed by fire."

"Because her passion would consume him," Mercury deduced, smiling a small smile, though it was laced with sorrow. "So you made him resistant."

Mars matched her smile grimly. "He is now the only mortal that will ever be unharmed by a careless or out of control Burning Mandala. Unless she deigns specifically to kill him, he will be a friend of the element."

Her eyes narrowed. "Not even my lovers of days past have been worthy of such a gift," she said more quietly to herself, though she was aware Mercury could hear her.

It was ironic, given the enthusiasm with which Jadeite wished for powers of fire. Mars did not know what Gaia would grant him, but she knew that if Jade ever realized that he had been visited by the goddess of fire herself...Oh, but such an interesting, lovely and respectful boy. The Fates sure knew how to pick 'em, she could credit them that.

Mercury gazed at her sister-friend deep in thought. "Your Senshi is lucky to have you as her patroness," she said, letting her quiet voice echo over the stars as she left her sister to her lonesome.

Mars watched Mercury go, no doubt off to her cloud where she kept watch over her Zoicite, though he had spurned her away.

"We are all each other has," Mars sighed. She had seen it all in the Great Fire. But as per her vow, she could not divulge much of it to her planetary sister-goddesses. The harsh training the Princess of Mars would soon endure, the weight of her spiritual gifts that would at first terrify her, the beauty of the friendship she would find in her Senshi sisters, and the catastrophic grief she would face at the fall of the Silver Millennium.

Indeed, Mars had seen it all. The love that would spark for Jadeite. The anger and sorrow from his betrayal. The shame of his second betrayal when Beryl once again uses him in the reborn world.

But she could also see hope in the distant future. Distant for even a goddess. There was hope in this promised Rebirth for a new beginning for both of them.

And for everything that was to come, the least she could do was make the young man flame proof. Love could be strength. She would see to it.

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A/N: I have never written about Rei and Jadeite before, nor have I ever conceptualized them in a story for myself, yet I managed to knock this out in one night. The voices were there, and I've read a couple of great fanfics recently that really capture their dynamic, so I gave it a try.

Sound of Snow Falling was intended to be one-shot but I thought it cool (along with the encouragement of my first reviewer, Valkyrie Celes) to expand the world and see what I find. The Senshi take much of their traits from the goddesses, but the goddesses certainly aren't them. Still, I hope I captured just a bit of Rei's spirit. The idea of Jadeite being flame proof comes from a terrific story called The Ties that Bind by Firefly-shy.

Nephrite is up next! Tell me what you think! Any thoughts on Jupiter's patroness?