Jadeite stepped out from behind the tree, an arrogant smirk plastered on his face. Before he had a chance to reveal what he had done, Mako charged at him, ready to gauge his eyes out. Before she could lay a finger on him, he nonchalantly stepped out of the way, causing her to stumble and slide face first into the dirt.

"How graceful" Jadeite taunted, his shadow looming over her. "How am I supposed to answer you if you kill me before I have a chance?" Mako lifted her head and spit out the gravel she had inhaled before glaring up at him.

"Fine" she muttered, standing and wiping the dirt from her clothes. she rejoined the other girls and they stared at Jadeite, waiting for him to speak further. The other three generals appeared and stood by him, donning the same arrogant smirk. The girls stared at them, a mixture of emotions welling up inside them. After learning about who they really were, how could they fight them now?

"We can't let our emotions control us" Minako reminded them. "Until we rid them of this evil, they are our enemies." Hearing this, the four men scoffed.

"You honestly believe that?" Kunzite said mockingly.

"Yes, we do. And you're about to, too" Minako challenged, pulling out her henshin stick and transforming. The others followed her lead, ready to do whatever they had to in order to save these men and get Rei back.

"What did you do with Rei? Tell us!" Usagi commanded.

"I sent her on a little trip, that's all. It didn't kill her…well, it shouldn't have" Jadeite said with a shrug. Nephrite and Kunzite snickered, while Zoisite stayed quiet, keeping half an eye on Ami and hoping the others wouldn't notice.

"Bring her back!" Usagi screamed, fighting back tears.

"What will you do if I don't?" Jadeite said mockingly, folding his arms across his chest.

"I'll break you into pieces!" Makoto shouted, charging at him again. Jadeite smirked, staying right where he was.

"Didn't you learn anything last time?" Before he could move out of the way, Makoto knocked him to the ground, wrapping her hands around his neck.

"I'll kill you!" For the first time in this battle, Jadeite found himself struggling. Finally having enough, Zoisite stepped forward.

"Stop!" Makoto loosened her grip on Jadeite and turned to his fellow general, confused.

"Zoisite?" Jadeite said weakly, still struggling to breathe after Makoto's attack. "What are you doing?" Zoisite turned to look at Ami briefly before he spoke again.

"If you kill him, you won't get your friend back."

"It's not like he'd tell us where she was, anyway" Makoto grumbled, rising to her feet.

"I'm confused" Jadeite said. "Are you…defending them?" Zoisite looked down at the ground for a moment before looking up toward everyone again.

"No…yes…I don't know. Something tells me they…"

"You're not suggesting they could be right, are you?" Kunzite hissed.

"I said I don't know" Zoisite snapped back. "Something about this doesn't feel right." A looming tension filled the entire group, and no one spoke for several moments.

As Rei continued adjusting to her new surroundings, she began learning more and more about Fiore and Fairy Tail, but chose to keep her identity a secret until the time was right. Somehow, she knew that when she told them, they would be okay with it. They were surprised to learn that she wasn't at all phased by Happy, Carla or Pantherlily.

"Wait, so the talking, flying cats don't freak you out at all?" Lucy asked, amazed. Rei nodded slightly, not expecting to be telling her story so soon.

"No, not at all. Where I come from, my friends and I have two talking cats."

"Really? That's so cool! So…what's your story, anyway?" Lucy asked, curious to know about their new friend. Rei took a deep breath and began to tell them about her upbringing as a shrine maiden, and her spiritual powers, slowly easing them in.

"There's more to me than that, too." The others eyed her curiously as she pulled her henshin stick out of her pocket and showed it to them. "My friends and I were born with a destiny to protect the world we live in." She decided the easiest way to explain this further was to transform, so she did.

"That's almost like Erza's requip magic" Levy observed. The others nodded, and Rei smiled.

"If we can go outside somewhere that's really open, I can show you what else I do" Rei said with a smile. The others nodded and led her to an open field, where she demonstrated her attacks for them. Lucy turned to Natsu, smirking playfully after seeing Rei's fire powers.

"If she sticks around, it looks like you'll have some competition" she teased.

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Natsu shouted, then turned to Rei. "That's really cool…I'd like to duel you sometime." Rei nodded, and a playful smirk played on her lips.

"We can do that…if you're not afraid to lose."

"You're going to fit in with us just fine" Lucy said with a smile. "Speaking of which, do you have someplace to stay yet?"

"I hadn't really thought about it" Rei said quietly, dropping her transformation to save her energy.

"No problem! You can stay with me" Lucy offered.

"Aww, then where will Natsu and I sleep?" Happy pouted.

"Um…in your own house, like you should be in the first place!" Rei giggled at their banter, sighing a bit.

"You sound a lot like my friends back home" she said thoughtfully, her voice laced with sadness.

"You'll get back to them. I know it" Lucy assured her, and the others nodded in agreement. "Let's go back to the guild. I think we might have something that can help you, at least a little bit." Rei looked at her curiously. And the group headed back to the guild. When they arrived, they noticed more people were there that hadn't been when they left. They were immediately approached by Loke, who gravitated toward Rei like a moth to a flame.

"Who's your friend? I think I'd remember seeing you around here, beautiful" he said smoothly. Rei smiled politely, but cringed on the inside, only wanting Jadeite to think of her that way.

"I'm Rei. I'm new around here…it's kind of a long story." In an instant, Loke's arm was draped around her shoulders, and his eyes were fixed intently on her.

"I've got time" he replied. Rei subtly distanced herself from him, looking to the others for help.

"You'll flirt with anything with a face, won't you?" Lucy sighed, shaking her head as she approached Rei and Loke. "She's engaged, you know." Before anything else could be said, Rei pulled out the ring and showed him.

"Sorry, I didn't mean any harm. Just being friendly, that's all."

"It's alright" Rei said with a smile. She looked over at Lucy, and her eyes drifted to what appeared to be some sort of glass ball in her hands. "What's that?"

"It's a lacrima. We use them for communication and stuff like that. I thought maybe you could try to use it to see your friends, if you wanted to."

"Do you think it'll reach that far?" Rei asked.

"It can't hurt to try" Lucy said with a shrug.

"Just how far away are they, anyway?" Gray asked, coming up behind the group. "Sorry for the intrusion, by the way. I'm Gray." Rei smiled at him and introduced herself before explaining where she came from. Gray listened to her story intently, folding his arms across his chest. "So this guy betrayed you, and you still love him? Why?"

"It's hard to explain…he's part of me. Neither of us is complete without the other, and that's why I need to get him back." Lucy approached Rei and handed her the lacrima, then took a step back and smiled.

"Here" she said softly. Rei took it and gazed down at it, focusing her thoughts on her friends. A few moments later, Rei could see a hazy image of her shrine. Her fellow guardians and the generals were there, engaged in battle. The image closed in on Jadeite's face, and Rei could almost feel her heart physically breaking.

"That's him…" she said quietly. She watched as he attempted to encase her friends in a block of ice, and shook her head. The others watched, and Lucy looked at Gray.

"He's got powers like yours…"

"I'll bet mine are stronger. If that jerk ever shows his face around here, he'll regret it." Rei tearfully handed the lacrima back to Lucy, and the image faded.

"I can't watch anymore…but thank you." Before anyone could say anything, she got up and walked outside for some fresh air. After a while, Levy came out to check on her.

"Are you doing alright?"

"I'm okay, just homesick, I guess. That Gray…he reminds me so much of Jadeite. I just had to get out for a bit."

"I understand. I can leave if you want, I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

"You can stay" Rei said softly, looking up at Levy and smiling. The two women stayed outside and talked for a while. "So, do you have someone special?" she asked curiously. Levy blushed slightly and nodded.

"There is someone…I don't think he knows yet, though. You haven't met him yet…"

"His name is Gajeel. He actually came to our guild from another after it was shut down, but that's a long story. He can be a bit hot-headed at times, but deep down, he's got a good heart. He just hates to admit it."

"He sounds like me" Rei chuckled. "You know, somehow I feel like I was supposed to meet all of you. I miss home, but I'm glad I'm here." Levy nodded and smiled, noticing that the sky was almost completely dark.

"We should be heading back now." Rei nodded and followed Levy back inside. Lucy spotted her and jogged up to her, smiling as usual.

"Let's head back to my place, and I'll get you set up." Rei nodded and followed Lucy to her apartment. Once they were inside, she began to look around. "I know it's a little small, but it's all I could afford. Make yourself comfortable, okay?" Rei nodded and looked around some more, getting a feel for her temporary home. Lucy put a pile of blankets and pillows on the couch for her, and after setting up her bed, she laid down and stared up at the ceiling, twisting her engagement ring in her fingers as she drifted off to sleep.