Blueeyeddevil06, thank you so much for being my beta!
It was early Monday morning, and Rei was sitting in front of the Great Fire, wondering what was wrong with her that Jadeite was currently in her bed—no, their bed. She wasn't looking for a vision. She was leaning against the wall, with her eyes shut and trying not to freak the hell out.
She decided that watching Usagi and Mamoru together had been the foundation for her reaction to Jadeite. Then quickly, a deep frown followed; she realized quite a bit had to do with pride. If she was as unique and powerful as Usagi said, and she desperately wanted to be after years of loneliness, they had to be together. If she was wrong about him, all her visions could be wrong, including that she was meant to have an incredibly close-knit group of friends.
And that was when it dawned on her entirely. She worried that if she weren't with him, then it would threaten her relationship with everyone.
"That's because it will," she heard loud in her head, and suddenly, she was standing on a beach with the ocean to her right and Mars standing in front of her.
"What?" She asked, confused.
"I want you with him, my daughter." He then smiled and added, "your grandfather is quite the character. I have enjoyed my talks with him."
"He…he mentioned something about…" she sighed. "He didn't say much."
"No, but he knows that sometimes to reach your goals, you need to find your path yourself."
"He can see my mark, the werewolf one; he didn't say…how did he get the ability?"
"He had to sacrifice a virgin and a black cat using a tribal ritual knife under the New Moon."
Rei looked on in horror. "What?! How could-"
She was cut off by Mars laughing. "I'm kidding!" He then calmed down and chuckled. "I gave it to him as a gift for helping to protect you. It is to provide him with physical proof that you are adored."
She blushed. "I moved so fast with him–Jadeite."
Mars shrugged, "your heart was thirsting for love. How long have you felt lonely? You got a taste of romance, and you went after it. You've always been bold. You have a spirit of fire. Fire takes over and consumes."
She turned and looked out to the ocean and said, "we've all moved fast."
He chuckled. "And this is for you…"
And before she could ask what he meant, she was Vision Walking again. She was in a field with purple wildflowers dotting it, and the sun was high up above. The breeze brought with it the smell of cut grass.
She heard a noise and turned and saw herself laughing and being chased by Jadeite. They were clothed, and in fact, she was wearing the same sort of style as the last time she Vision Walked. He caught her and spun her around, kissing her cheek.
She watched in rapt attention as he then set her down and pulled her into his arms. He gazed into her eyes and said, "I vow always to love you."
Suddenly she was pulled out of her vision by someone shaking her arm and screaming. "Rei! Please. Shit, please wake up!"
She groaned and looked over at Jadeite. "What's wrong? Is it my grandfather?!" She leaped up and ran out of the place housing the Great Fire. He grabbed her arm as she exited, and he spun her around. The look of terror on his face shocked her. "How can you act…What do you mean what's wrong? I thought you were dead! I came looking for you and…" His knees gave out, and he sank to the ground. "I thought you died!"
She sat in front of him and took his face in her hands so that he would look at her. "I was Vision Walking. I didn't know it looked like that. I saw more of my past life."
He was so expressive at the moment it was almost like she could read his thoughts. She watched him try to force himself to calm down. Then she could tell he was attempting to assimilate what she said.
"That was Vision Walking?!"
"Yes," she tried to say soothingly.
"Dammit, I should have listened to Zoisite. And no, I can't believe I'm admitting that. He kept mentioning that I need to pay attention to how powerful you are."
Rei said, "should I ask what it looked like?"
"Death," he whispered sadly. "Your eyes were open and glassy, and your skin was so pale. That's going to haunt me. It looks so dangerous."
She tried to get him to calm down with humor. "Noted. Next time, I'll put up a sign that says, 'not dead, just Vision Walking.'"
He launched up to his feet. "Not funny, Rei!" He fumed. "How could-"
"Stop! Okay, I'm sorry." She said apologetically. "I was trying to diffuse the situation with humor."
"Please, don't," he said, turning away. "I just…can't."
She stomped in front of him and pulled down the shoulder of her blouse, exposing where she knew the werewolf mark was. "Yours! I'm yours. You marked me. I'm okay."
"No, not if you're ever planning to go on a Vision Walk again." He then hardened his expression. "Actually, you know what. I forbid it. You're not doing it again if you appear fucking dead!"
"I wasn't dead, and you can't forbid me, you jackass! I get that you were terrified; walk away before you say something you will regret even more than that asshole statement."
He scoffed, "I'm trying to protect you!"
"I'm stronger than you know, and you're ruining the moment!" She stomped her foot and crossed her arms. "Mars gave me a vision of a past life, but now you're screaming and wrecking it!"
Grandpa Hino yelled out, "time for a break, you two!" Then he looked nervously around at everyone staring and said, "they are rehearsing for a play. What do you think?" Everyone applauded as Rei and Jadeite blushed scarlet.
As Grandpa walked them back into the house, he kept casting nervous glances, and Jadeite felt guilty. "Sorry, we weren't paying attention to who was there."
Grandpa snorted and eyed him funny. "I'm more nervous about what Rei will do to you. They bought the whole 'play' thing. Who would believe in werewolves and talking to Mars?"
Rei turned around when they got to the living room and glared daggers at Jadeite. "I asked too soon for you to move in. I'd like you to leave. Now." As she was saying that, Grandpa was quickly bowing out of the room.
He sighed and flopped down on the couch. "You looked dead."
"And I'm okay. You screamed at me that you forbid me from Vision Walking. I deserve better than that!"
He closed his eyes and nodded. "How do I get over that?"
She cocked her hip and put her hand to it too. "Do I look dead now?"
With dark humor, he chuckled and said, "no, now you look pissed. And you have fire in your eyes."
He rested his face on his hands. "I wanted to be dead too. When I looked at you…"
"Next time–"
He stood, and he went to walk out of the room. "I'll move out. I can't watch that again." He then walked through the door and shut it behind him. As soon as he did, Rei burst into tears.
He was ten steps out the door when Grandpa Hino stood in his path. "Are you going to walk out the door on a woman who had that done to her by her father?"
"She told me to move out," he said, defending himself. "And she wants to risk her life doing that again."
Grandpa smacked him on the head. "She wants you to fight for her. She's feeling nervous about letting you in, and then you acted like a jackass. She might look bad, but she's okay. She isn't in danger."
"But…"
"Do you want to lose your mate? Can you live with what you're about to do? Won't this destroy you?"
"Fuck! Yes!" Jadeite spun around and wrenched open the door, stomped in, and slammed it behind him. He saw her weeping on the couch, and he yelled anyway. "Like hell, you're kicking me out! You're stuck with me even though I can be an overprotective jerk! You better believe I won't ever be watching you Vision Walk! You'll do that with one of the girls looking over you! Do you hear me?!" He then huffed and crossed his arms.
She sat up and dried her eyes. "What?"
"I'm a werewolf, Rei. I tried to explain that I'm not like a regular man. Any threat to you…I can't handle it. I don't know how to explain it. I was so close to jumping into the Great Fire."
"I mean about the girls," she whispered wide-eyed.
"They can keep an eye on you."
"But I thought you said–"
"I know what I said!" He snapped. "I also knew I was wrong when I said it. I couldn't stop myself." He then grumbled. "Now I know how Zoisite felt."
"What?" Rei asked, confused.
"Zoisite tried to stop Ami from helping out, and they got in a fight too. At the time, I thought it was funny. I regret that now."
She stood and placed her hand gently on his face. He flinched when she shifted, and it made her laugh. "I'm not going to slap you. You take it back about Vision Walking?"
He huffed and said, "would you compromise and have someone there with you keeping an eye on you?"
"When I know it's going to happen, yes. Mars surprised me with this one. Last time I did it on purpose."
"He surprised you? What was it?"
She stepped towards him and placed a hand on his chest, and said, "us. That past life I saw with Usagi and the others, this time, I had a vision of the two of us. You vowed always to love me."
He looked at her in awe. "We've been in love before?!"
"Yes, we have."
He pulled her into his arms and said, "I will always keep that vow to you. But I can't bear to see you like that ever again, that I'm not strong enough to do."