Mamoru clenched his teeth as Usagi told him about meeting Sapphire, and he noticed his fangs start to protrude. He tried to calm himself and finally said, "you met him without me."

She rolled her eyes and pulled him to her. She then kissed along his jawline. "He was outnumbered, and it wasn't planned. Why are you so upset?" She lovingly ran her fingers along his spine.

"You are my queen –my bonded love and mate, and I must protect you. Everything in me screams for me to do precisely that."

"And I wasn't in any danger."

He frowned, "but he's an outsider and a vampire. That can invariably mean danger."

She shook her head, "you were ready to trust him before. What changed?"

"I always imagined I'd be right by your side when you spoke to him."

Usagi grabbed his butt. "If I believed that there was the slightest amount of danger, you would have been. I respect your needs too much to do otherwise. As it was, Ami, Makoto, and Motoki were there with me. Motoki even baited Sapphire on purpose to make him prove himself."

"Tell me more about Naru. Other than the fact that she's human. Although, at least she could have been used as a pawn –that's good."

"Mamoru, really!" she said scoldingly. "I don't use innocent humans."

"That's where we differ. I definitely would use a human to protect you."

She raised an eyebrow at him, "and I wouldn't have to use one in order to protect you. And frankly, if you learned to trust your strength, you would realize you didn't either."

"That is not what I meant!" he replied.

"You seem to forget something, Mamoru. Maybe you don't know because you haven't seen it. I'm stronger than him. Not by a little bit, either. I wasn't in danger at all. More than that, though, the fact that I can protect myself doesn't mean I don't need you desperately. You don't have to be my bodyguard to make yourself useful. You're needed just the way you are. You are what makes me feel alive after so many dark and lonely centuries!"

He knit his brow. "I was only worthwhile to people when I was doing something for them."

"Not for Motoki."

"That's why he's my best friend! My only friend before I met you. How am I supposed to adjust? I believe you, but I forget a lot."

She pressed her body to his. "No one has ever meant as much to me as you do. I don't know how to convince you. I know without a shadow of a doubt that I was born twice to find you. I'm sorry you were alone, but that's not something you will ever be again."

"Find Endymion," Beryl commanded Balm. "Find him for me, and you will be a very wealthy woman. I will give you everything your heart desires."

She was pleased with how well Balm had done so far. She had collected more ashes, and now had the full one hundred she had initially wanted.

Balm bowed low. "My queen, I will find him for you. It will be an honor to serve you."

"Good. Now go. The magic says he is in Japan. I can't narrow it down any further." That had infuriated Beryl. She used her human tracking spell, and it was working beautifully, but then it suddenly stopped as it headed to Japan. It was just her terrible luck. Her attempt had coincided with the night he died, and Mamoru was no longer human like the spell required.

She turned and headed to her room. She knew Rubeus was waiting for her. After all, she had him tied up, so where would he have gone? She was glad he liked her games. Every time he was more and more addicted to her. It was working perfectly.

Sapphire sat next to Naru on his couch and held out a box, "it's not a very original idea, but I like the symbolism."

She opened the small box and smiled at him, "it's a beautiful sapphire ring! Thank you." She then blushed, "I don't know if I should accept something this expensive, though." Since her mother owned a jewelry shop, she knew how expensive the large stone was. After all, he couldn't make himself buy her anything with diamonds on it.

"Well, it does come with strings attached, so you should think about it very hard," he replied cheekily. He then pulled the ring out of the box and held it in front of her face. "It will mean that you, my wonderful and perfect Naru, agreed to marry me. Will you? Will you marry me and give me the one thing I want most in this world?"

She slipped the ring on her left ring finger and nodded, "yes. Yes, I will marry you, my love!"

"Good. And no more of this ridiculousness about something being too expensive. Otherwise, it's going to get tedious. I want to shower you with gifts."

"I don't need gifts. I only need you."

Sapphire smiled at her lovingly. "Words like that only make me want to spoil you rotten."

She looked at the sparkling sapphire on her finger and cuddled up to him. "I love you."

"And you, my dear, are deflecting."

"Yeah, but I'm not used to gifts. It's-"

"Annoying to me." He said, cutting her off. "But I will have centuries to work with to get you used to it though. I'm not deterred." He then held her tightly. "Tell me what else was on your mind before."

"It's fanciful and really not anything important. I just wondered why after you took my… virginity, you didn't give me your blood to heal the bite marks. The punctures were how Usagi knew I was with a vampire. Is it a marking thing?"

He shook his head. "No, it's so simple, really. Think about what happens when you drink my blood."

"The bite marks go away," she replied.

"Think much broader than that."

Naru knit her brow. "Your blood heals me?"

He could tell she still didn't get it, so he said, "it heals all of you, including the bite marks. If I had given you my blood," there he paused and ran his hand down her stomach and cupped her core, "it would have healed this too. I refused to undo what happened between us."

"Ohhh…" She blushed and kissed his neck. "That's so sweet. Especially with how much you liked…" she blushed even redder.

He cupped her cheek, "your love is what I value most."

"And now I'm going to be your loving wife."

Zoisite was sitting in the corner by the Great Fire watching Rei and stone-faced; like always, she looked very dead, and it still unsettled him. Yet, now while watching, he understood what was happening a bit more. Jadeite had shown him quite a lot about what he had learned about Soul Walking. It did help Zoisite reinforce how powerful she was and that she would wake up every time.

Rei was standing before Mars, and he was chuckling, "I sort of expected to see you sooner than this."

She rolled her eyes playfully at him and asked, "why? You encountered Jadeite."

"Yes. I did, and I approve, dear daughter of mine. He is very protective of you and also interested in learning more about you and your powers."

She got a fond look on her face. "He has enjoyed telling me what he's learned." She then grew serious. "That said, it's hard for him to let me do much after I was so exhausted from saving Mamoru. He doesn't think I know my limits."

Mars shrugged, "you do know your limits. You just have zero self-preservation when you're trying to save someone." She blushed, and he added, "I didn't tell him how strong my warning was when I imparted to you what to do. I know when you received the knowledge, that was a component of it."

"I-I…" She looked down at her feet. "They were all scared and hurting… and I had the knowledge and the ability to stop that. I wanted to protect all of them at once. After all, what's the point of all this power if I can't use it to help the people who matter most to me? I knew it wouldn't kill me…."

"But?" He pressed.

"I terrified Jadeite, and I didn't even think! I hate that I made him suffer and worry about me. I tried to make it up to him, and I did it all in the wrong way the other night. He was sweet about it, but…" she trailed off, looking into the middle distance. "I didn't consider his feelings when I acted, which feels like a betrayal of his trust and love for me."

Mars placed a calming hand on her shoulder. "Tell him," he pressed. "Tell him how you feel and that you regret it. Explain what happened to him and let him react."

"What if he's mad?"

"He has the right to form his own opinions and feelings. But Rei, he's not a fool. If you think he hasn't figured it out for himself, then you don't give him enough credit. Trust him with your imperfections."

Tears rushed to her eyes. "But then he wouldn't love me!" She admitted brokenly.

"No. He will. Your insecurities from years of rejection from your peers are causing this feeling. Don't let your past cause trouble in your future. Trust him. After all, I believe he is worthy of my warrior."

She nodded unsurely. "It just is so foreign to me. The idea is that I don't have to appear perfect. I was always afraid of showing anyone my flaws or faults because it would give them ammunition against me or make them dislike me."

Mars shook his head and waved his hand; instantly, she was transported into the past. She blushed as she watched Jadeite lay naked in bed with her past self. Jadeite caressed her face, "tell me again what the Oracle said."

Giggling, she replied. "For the twelfth time –we were formed to be together."

He smirked and said, "This is why I was so attracted to you at first, even though you were such a bitch to me."

She attempted to hold a glare at him, but she cracked a smile and laughed. "I am very protective of Serenity —we all are."

"And you found my Prince with his hands on her."

Past Rei rolled her eyes. "The problem wasn't where his hands were. I objected so strongly because of where his tongue was."

"Ah yes," he commented. "You were furious when I insisted Serenity was the aggressor."

"I didn't believe you."

"And?" He pressed.

She pouted, "and I was mean to you because you were right! Does that make you feel better? I don't like being proved wrong." She softened a bit. "And it's not like she had ever been that way before. She was always so propped before she met him."

"Prince Endymion," he insisted. "It's not like he's a bad match."

"In everything but the fact that he's betrothed!"

"And you still later helped her seduce him into her bed."

Past Rei smiled, "well, the betrothal isn't his choice, and… um… distracting you from stopping him was so much fun."

He kissed along her jawline. "I love you. But know this, deep in my very being I feel our connection. The moment I laid eyes on you I knew I would love you. You're allowed to be wrong sometimes. Don't get defensive; I won't betray your trust."

She blushed and looked up at him. "I like to be the rescuer and the strong one. I don't know how to let go."

"So don't. I'm sure it will cause problems sometime. Small ones that will be quickly resolved, but no one is perfect, and damn, do I not want to change you. Let's fight sometimes. I find it erotic after all when your eyes are filled with any type of passion. You are like the flames of a fire, and it's one of the things I love about you."

Rei felt a jarring and then she was standing in front of Mars again. "He's trustworthy. Let him see your imperfections and your faults."

"I will, but that doesn't mean I'm not terrified. I do believe he deserves my trust, though."

Mars nodded, "come back later and we will talk more about Mamoru's Golden Crystal. For now know this. He can use it on his Pack once he learns to harness its power."

"What does that mean?"

"It means he won't always be the only hybrid —four will join him."

Rei looked panicked, "but then Jadeite will live on when I die!"

Mars shook his head. "You can be both a vampire and a witch. Never fear my daughter." She blinked in shock, and the next thing she knew, she was staring at the flickering flames of the Great Fire.