Standing before Mars in what looked like heavy fog, Rei felt relaxed. She was looking at a man who had become a father figure to her, and he was looking back at her with pride. He said, "You have grown in confidence —as you should."

"For the first time in my life, my interests and skills are not only accepted, they are celebrated. I'm not that rejected little girl whose daddy didn't want her anymore."

Mars nodded and gave her a gentle smile. "Your path has been important, though. Could you appreciate your life now without the struggles in your past?"

"I was thinking about that, and no, I couldn't. On top of that, I think I would have been a total bitch now without them. I have a lot of magical power, and that could have made me conceited."

"And that wisdom is what makes me the proudest," he admitted. Then taking a step back, the fog cleared, and Rei saw they were standing in a cemetery. The style of the graves looked old, but they were not worn in the slightest.

Motioning to the nearest grave, Mars said, "Really look." And she did. The name was foreign to her until her memory supplied that it was her's from her previous life. Etched on the grave was the year of her death, 1019. "It has been one month since your death this time."

She looked up at him with wide watery eyes. "You saw something." It wasn't a question. She knew the only way he would bring her to such an upsetting place would be if he needed to make a point. Something was very important to him.

"The path you are on leads to loss. I have seen you will have to relinquish something important in order to save your future. But you do save your future."

Rei walked over to her headstone and let her fingers trail over the year of her death. "This is a heavy way to make a point."

"It is, my dear, but it is necessary all the same. Your choice doesn't lead to death. Your current year won't be written on a headstone."

"For me or another?"

He smiled fondly at her. "You are a quick one. I won't give you the answer to that, though. I have already given you all the help I can to give you. You have the strength you need."

"I want to destroy her." Rei knew the source of the upcoming pain. She knew it was part of why they were at her grave —the one Beryl's mind control led her to.

"Then it would help if you knew what she looked like," Mars pointed sadly.

Startled, Rei looked at him and, with pleading eyes, said, "Not from when everyone was destroyed —please."

"I have another time I can bring you back to. It won't be pleasant, but it isn't harsh either."

"I don't understand."

"You will," he said resignedly and then waived his hand at her.

Rei found herself suddenly standing in a castle that she didn't recognize the style of. All she was sure of was it wasn't where Usagi had lived.

"Father!" she heard shouted, interrupting her visual perusal of the throne room she was in. "I can't believe you engage me to your mistress! What is she pregnant with your child? Do you want me to raise your son so you can have two generations on the throne?!"

"Stop this foolishness, Endymion! I haven't bedded her." The King took two angry steps toward his son and then added, "You defame her character!"

"She's a common whore who managed to convince you to make her Princess. Did you think she would be content with that? How soon after our marriage would she ensure you died so she can become Queen!?"

Rei watched everything, enraptured by the scene. Beryl had been not only engaged to Endymion, but she was also in control of the King's mind. She knew the look in the King's eyes. She had seen the same one in Naru's when Rebius had put her under a spell.

"You will marry her, Endymion, or I will disinherit you!"

"I'm your only son, Father. Don't be a fool!"

Then in walked a woman that Rei could only categorize as someone who dripped with sex. She had bright red hair, unusual yellow-red eyes, and pale, almost translucent skin. She wore a long purple dress that brushed the floor and exposed her bust and shoulders, and around her neck was a golden choker with an indigo stone at the center.

"Endymion, my love," she purred.

Endymion was not entranced in the slightest. "Go back to being my Father's sex toy. You're wasting your time on me."

She rolled her eyes dramatically and said, "You will be mine that I vow. If I have to, I will destroy everything in my path to possess you."

"I would rather die," he vowed back.

Rei felt the Earth shift beneath her feet, and she knew when she blinked, she would be standing back in front of the Great Fire.

Zoisite turned to her with a questioning look when she stood after returning to her body. She said, "I know what Beryl looks like."

"That will be helpful," he replied as they exited the warm room.

"Thank you again. I know you hate being there," she said to him with warmth in her tone.

He shrugged and admitted, "Not as much as I would hate not being there for you. We look out for our pack, and you're a firm part of ours now."

She blushed lightly at his caring words, stopped walking, and turned to face him. "We are a family. And that has been something Jadeite has been able to give me that has been such a blessing. I am happier knowing all of you."

He smiled at her fondly and replied, "I feel the same way."

Rei chuckled and then added, "We have an interesting family that is the center of a funny mix of people."

"True, but I have a feeling something, in particular, has you amused."

"Last night, my father met a woman for tea," Rei said cryptically with humor in her voice.

"The love you implied he had?" Zoisite asked, startled.

Rei was entertained by how well he was going along with her story. He looked fascinated and excited by the idea of an interesting story. To her, it was an interesting story, just not her grandfather's love story. She said, "No, not the woman he will fall in love with. He had tea with Saeko."

That surprised him completely. "Ami hadn't mentioned anything about her mother getting together with Rei's grandfather."

"From what I hear, she showed up at the Shine on a whim, announced who she was, and invited herself in for tea." Rei chucked there and added, "Grandpa couldn't have been happier. He loves having the attention of a pretty woman."

Zoisite smiled at the image he had of Ami's mother, boldly inviting herself over and discussing the supernatural. "She doesn't hesitate when she wants something."

"Apparently," Rei replied, chuckling. "She drafted my father into her civilian brigade. Her favorite nurse in the hospital, the one who helped out at the zombie battle, is in it too. She wants Grandpa involved so that the two of them can focus on protecting our identity."

"How did he take that?" Zoisite asked, amused by the whole idea.

"He was irate at first. To him, Saeko had implied that my magic wasn't strong enough to shield us all. Once she convinced him not to throw her out of the shrine, she explained that she was referring to people putting trackers on us and following us home. He calmed down then and started researching anti-tracker devices."

Her eyes dancing joyfully, she added, "They have been texting each other constantly today. I think my Grandfather had made a friend."