Rei always knew that something was different about her but being from Mars in a past life was one thing that she would never have guessed. However, it would explain her connection to the Sacred Fire. Now if only she could to terms with her past life, she was not one to take anything lying down and she refused to believe that she killed herself, thus the pain of having a brief recollection of a different time. Nevertheless, now she understood the reason.

This also helped explain why she felt something for a man that wanted nothing more than to drain her energy during their first meeting. Hell, she saw his face in the fires, which she protected, every day since she came to terms with the fact that she was different from those that surrounded her. She knew from a young age that she was not like her classmates or even those that came to the shrine for guidance, not even her beloved grandfather was like her. She saw his face so often in her mind's eye, that she saw him in her dreams every so often from the time that she was ten. He was the Knight that saved her from herself. Oh, how she enjoyed irony when she fought him as her first enemy. However, now her heart cried for him every time she laid her purple eyes on his bright blue eyes or even his blond curls at that.

If it wasn't clear before, when her leader was prancing around as their Princess, it was clear now. Her leader was crazy. How else would someone think it was a good idea to revel, during a battle of all things, that their opponents' main minions were their past loves? Rei honestly thought that Minako needed her head examined. Why couldn't that woman be more like her friend of the past!

So here she and her sisters went into battle, one last stand against the Shitennou. She did not think her mental sanity would make it through anymore, should they survive and still be in the hands of darkness. She was already having nightmares about his cold azure eyes but Rei knew it could be much worse.

She prayed to the fires that he would come back to her. She prayed that they. She and her sisters could do something for them. Should those prayers be answered or not was a different tale. Her hopes have never been answered, except with her father leaving her alone, except on one day a year.

The Senshi of Passion and Fire shook her head, if she thought of the past, he would come to her mind once more. He was the only one insane enough to handle her passion. He was the only one that could cool her temper, either with words or his Ice. He is the only man that has ever, past or present, earned her heart.

She wouldn't allow herself to think about him, as far as she was concerned, her Jadeite has been dead for a long time and he would not be coming back to her anytime soon. The proof of this was staring her right in the face. This man, this general, was not her kind-hearted one from the past. He was the one that broke into her Temple on the Moon, not to see her as she hoped, to kill her in the name of his fake queen.

This despair was something that she wasn't used to. She was the one that did not give a shit, and if she did she would burn anyone that stood against her. The great fire ran through her and made it seem that magma was in her veins, it was his ice that made her feel normal almost as if she did not have a great weight on her shoulders. He was and is, the only one to ever do that.

What is wrong with me? She shook her head once more. She was needed in the present, not in the past. She should have known better, her Princess needed her. By the fire, her sisters needed her just as much, if not a little bit more at this moment.

They ran. The only sound following them was of their paints and heels clicking on the cave floor. It was so nerve-wracking to the Senshi of Mars. The usually upbeat and happy group was lost in their thoughts to the point that it seemed some forgot there were others running alongside them. All trying to keep up with the Jovian and her earth-eating strides. The path seemed endless with no sign of their Princess in sight.

The Martian thought it was most strange for it to be so quiet. Surely this deep into the Dark Kingdom they would have met up with a youma or two at the very least and the Shitennou at the most. She missed the voice of the flame in the back of her mind. The soundlessness of her mind coupled with the lack of sound around her was starting to get to her making her slowly go insane.

For hours, the Princesses of old ran and ran until they felt they could run no more, only to push past that point and run onward. By the will of the Gods, there was a light in front of them. The small tunnel soon turned into a rather large cave. There standing, or sitting, before Rei on a ledge was the Shitennou.

"Sailor Senshi," Kunzite said looking down at the four girls from his spot on the opposite side of the cave.

The more the Senshi of Mars listened, the more she was inclined to believe that there was some justness left in the Shitennou. It was almost as if they were trying too hard to fight for their new Queen, it seemed fake to a point. They were trying to hide something from Beryl, but she was not sure. She could hear it in their words, see it in the way that they held themselves; by the gods, she could see it in their eyes. They might have said it outright but it was there for the world to see if only one would look close enough. What this meant for her and her sisters, she knew not but that would not hold her back from hoping for the best, not for herself but for her friends, they deserved it.

It was almost karma when she went flying through the cave with the blast that she was not prepared for. She prided herself in her ability to see the future, only for her to be caught unawares. The floor was hard and as cold as ice. The Martian Senshi stood slowly, her head in a tailspin, her legs weak but her mind was made up, she knew that there was now no real choice, well not one she could see anyway.

She watched her blond sister walk to the point of four, her stride slow and broken, Minako's pain was obvious to her. She watched as her sister, her leader, called forth the strength of her planet in a final attack. Rei knew that it was now or never, praying to the gods of Silver Millennium, to the gods of the old Golden Kingdom, and to the gods she now followed, she followed Venus's lead and let her power flow through her and into the attack.

'Who was I to you, to get you to pray for my lost soul so?' She heard Jadeite in her mind, not his voice of present devoid of emotion, but what she longed to hear since her fool of a leader let her in on the secrete.

"You were my Jadeite, my precious other half." She answered him as her relief flowed through her. He was back.

'Firefly?' He sounded so unsure but at the same time, he sounded as if he was confident in his answer.

If she was a weaker soul she would have cried. "Yes, my love!" While she did not need a man, it was heaven to know that he was all right. Her soulmate was back! How could she think herself complete without him by her side, helping her not only in her duty of protecting her Princess but with her helping him with his duty of protecting his Prince?

'Rei, if we fall down, is what exists at the bottom peace?' Her beloved asked her. She did not know the answer nor did she have a moment to answer it for Metalia let into the world a blast massive enough that it not only destroyed the Shitennou but it demolished the area they were laying upon.

No matter how strong she thought herself to be, she was not ready for that strike, not ready for her soul to be ripped in half again. She whined as she walked towards the creator, she cried as she saw nothing was left of him. Once she started she could not stop, the only other time that she cried this much was when her mother died. I erased and burned my life away. 'This is my punishment for what I have done to you', his voice was back in her mind, 'don't cry, Mars'.

It was hard for her to hear and she refused to accept it as the truth but she knew he had a point. Now was not the time for her to mourn, she will do that later. "Yes, Jadeite this is not the time to cry." She told his spirit so he would know that his message was heard.

The Senshi of Passion and Fire did not wipe her face instead opting to let the tracks dry on her face. She had to stand strong, now she would shoulder the reasonability of protecting the Terrain Prince with her sisters. She knew that this would not be the same but it would give them a feeling of peace in their minds knowing that someone was watching over him.

Rei knew that something had to be said so she opened her mouth to say it only for Venus to snap to action informing them that it was time to end this. She could not help but agree, it was time that this ended, time for them to get their Princess and Prince back from the clutches of Beryl and Metalia. The three nodded to their leader only for them to start running again.

To the Guardian of the Flame, she was certain, that this was the worst that she would go through. Her heart would not be able to handle it anymore. Surely the gods were not that vicious to those on earth. However, it seemed that the universe had it out for her, for once that thought crossed her mind she saw her friend shove the Holy Sword into her stomach. She saw the poetry of the moment when she saw Usagi kissing the Prince as she was doing this, and the tragedy of this time when she saw that he had a cut going across his chest. The pure beauty of the moment was to be shown forever though the Ginzuishou as it had encompassed the two young lovers in itself.

This failure was one that she would not be able to stand up from. She would never be able to lift her head high again, she had failed a second time. This must truly be her destiny, never to love nor protect the one that was entrusted to her. She should have known better when she choose love over duty in that life all those years ago.

She fell in line with the others as they followed the Senshi of Ice into the heart of the wasteland. She was of no true use, her powers lay within the fire, they were as from warmth that they could be it seemed. She was truly lost in this land, and she did not like it.

While she did not know the way, she could feel the heaviness of this kingdom weighing upon her soul to continue to grow. The Martian never felt cold such as this in either of her lifetimes. "Do you think we are close?" Jupiter asked her sister in arms.

Before any of them could answer the Jovian, a sinister laugh was heard from overhead. She did not need Mercury's brain to know that the odds of them living to see the next day were slim. It was made even more clear with their attempt at the Planet Attack failed to do anything. She resigned herself to the fact that she would be dead before the end of the day. The only redeeming fact about this was that she would be her love as well as her Princess.

'This is not the Firefly that I know,' Rei heard his voice again. He was starting to get on her nerves, something he was really good at, at the best of times.

"What are you talking about?" She did not really ask him, but she knew that he would not truly mind.

'Their spirits are within their bodies, they are not dead. You went about that last attack wrong. Don't think about killing Matalia, however, think about waking them. It will work, trust me.' She knew that she should not but a part of her would always trust him and she knew this. She felt him behind her, his one hand upon hers and his other on her left shoulder with his chin on the crown of her head. It was more for her comfort than anything, though it was how they would stand whilst they would look up at the moon or the earth, depending on which they were on at that time. 'I am here, use what little I have, and gain strength from one of this planet.' He was so close to begging her to listen to him, his stubborn Firefly.

"You better be right." She told him as she did as told her. It wasn't a shock to her when he was proven right and the second attack was proven to be much stronger, however, her vision went blank before she could see if it was a success or not.

"You must stop doubting yourself Firefly." Jadeite materialized from nowhere.

"It is not that I doubt myself," She rebutted, "It is more that I did not trust you." She knew that he would take it as the jest that she meant it to be.

He let out a low growl before he pulled her to him and just held her for a long time. She would tell him that she used him as a shield for life to pass her by and he would not tell her that he knew that she was crying into his chest. "Wait for me?" She asked looking up into his blue eyes with her purple ones.

"Always."

~~Passion is our one true strength.~~