This is the start of a chain of drabbles based on Sailor Moon Crystal (though the events are set at the end of the manga - after Galaxia): Senshi/Shitennou drabbles, mostly Rei/Jadeite, but I would like to explore also the relationship of the Shitennou with Mamoru and of the Shitennou with each other.

I gave the Shitennou new names as normal guys (I thought of using the same names I used in "Thanks for the memories" but I changed my mind 'cause the stories aren't connected). I tried to give them meaningful names (in Sailor Moon each character's name has a clear meaning, so I tried to find meaningful names for the Shitennou too):

Jadeite – Higashi (East) Jun (obedient, genuine)

Nephrite – Akanishi (red West) Nobuo (trustworthy man)

Zoisite - Minami (South) Shigeru (luxuriant, well grown) ... the name sounds elegant to me, beside its meaning

Kunzite – Kitamura (North village) Kazuo (first male)

REI - MEETING

Rei tapped her math book with her pencil then she rested the pencil on the table and stirred, looking at the blue sky through the window of her bedroom. She glanced at the books scattered on the table and sighed: the last year of High School at T-A Academy was really hard.

A gentle knocking at the door and her grandfather's voice calling her was a pleasant chance for a pause; she glanced at the clock and smiled, foretasting the usual afternoon tea with her grandfather, "Is tea ready, grandpa?" She stood up and walked to the door.

Her grandfather slowly opened the door and peered out, "Tea isn't ready yet, but in the yard there's a guy looking for you."

Rei blinked, "A guy?" She stared at her grandfather for a while before to ask, "Mamoru?"

Her grandfather shook his head and turned round, walking down the stairs, "It isn't Mamoru, or I would have said that Mamoru is waiting for you. It's a blond guy, instead."

"A blond guy?" Rei followed her grandfather down the stairs, listing any possibility in her mind: Asanuma? No, Asanuma usually hung around Makoto or Mamoru. Motoki? Why was Motoki at the Shrine, looking for her? Improbable. She smirked, another possibility, more probable than Asanuma and Motoki, surfacing to her mind, "Grandpa, are sure it is a guy and not a girl?"

Her grandfather stopped and turned his head to her, both surprised and somehow offended, "Rei! Do you really think I could confuse a girl with a guy?"

Rei shrugged and kept on smiling, "If it's Haruka, yes, maybe you confused her with a boy, grandpa. A lot of people confuse her with a guy."

The old man had a big sigh and reached the end of the stairway, heading to the kitchen, "No, it isn't a girl, trust me. While you meet him, I am going to prepare some tea for you and for your friend. He said he is an old friend of you."

Rei bent her head toward her right shoulder and blinked, "An old friend of mine?" She shrugged and walked outside the house, the sunlight blinding her as soon as she moved from the dim-light of the house to the full light of the yard. She stopped and half-closed her eyes, staring at the silhouette in front of the Shrine, his face to the heiden and his back to the house: it was a guy, for sure, and not Haruka, her grandfather was right; his height and the wideness of his shoulders removed all doubts about his gender. Wondering of the identity of that 'old friend of her', she had a step to him.

Blond, curly and short hair.

A sudden vertigo hit her and a cold hand grabbed her heart: that shade of blond, bright blond, and those curls on his neck, she could recognize those marks everywhere.

Impossible! It couldn't be him! After Metallia had killed him in front of her eyes, she had hoped so many times for him to come back to her, no matter how or when (the Silver Crystal had brought her and the other Senshi back to life, after all, why couldn't it happen to the Shitennou too, at some point?); she had hoped for it so many times but, as the time went by, her hope slowly faded, definitively dying after the fight against Galaxia, two years before: if the Shitennou hadn't been revived then, there was no hope left to see them again. The Shitennou were gone, definitively gone; Jadeite was gone, definitively gone. This was what she (along Minako, Makoto and Ami) had decided to believe, moving on.

Rei swallowed against the lump in her throat. Of course, it couldn't be him: she knew another man with that same blond hair and those same curls, a man she had once loved (because of his likeness with Jadeite, though at that time she didn't know the real reason of her attraction to him). She tried to calm down, sadly aware, once more, that Jadeite was still in her heart to the point a guy with similar hair could evoke so strong emotions into her. Was she going to forget him, some day? Was that pain going to disappear, some day?

She slowly walked to the blond guy, her heart calming down thanks to the awareness of the identity of the guy: the secretary to her father, her past love. She forced her voice out her mouth, "Kaidou?" Why that questioning tone? It could be nobody else but Kaidou, for sure not Jadeite. She had a further step to him, erasing the previous doubtful tone, "Kaidou-san!" In that moment, a sudden thought hit her like a slap: if it were really Kaidou, his grandfather would have recognized him. So …

Her heart raced again.

The guy turned round, and the World started to whirlpool around Rei.

Blond locks nearly covering his eyes. Blue eyes, icy blue: the blue she knew so well, adsorbing the light around and changing from light blue during sunny days to almost gray during night or cloudy days. Those eyes' shape: wide eyes, slightly slanting. Elegant nose and perfect lips, lips now assuming a calm and kind smile. That smile. And those fine features giving him a young, nearly childish, look.

He was standing in front of her, his arms along his body in a calm and peaceful posture. He was there, a normal guy wearing a blue shirt, blue jeans and black sneakers.

She finally managed to name him, her purple eyes opened wide in shock, "Jadeite?"

His smile grew wider as he closed his eyes, bending his head toward his left shoulder, "It's me. Don't look at me as if you're watching a ghost, please." He opened again his eyes and his smile turned sweeter and sweeter, "Rei. Hino Rei. It's your actual name, isn't it?"

His voice, soft and calm. Kind tone.

Fire on her cheeks. "I am looking at you this way 'cause, to me, you are a ghost, Jadeite. I saw Metallia killing you! Besides, how do you know my actual name?" She had a step back, several and confusing thoughts crowding in her mind: what if it was a new enemy able to read into her mind and disguise as her past love in order to win over her defenses?

Jadeite's smile melted into a serious but calm look, "This is the short version of the story. When I was 18 year old, Queen Beryl found me, Kunzite, Nephrite and Zoisite. You already know what we became and how we were killed," a shadow of disappointment mixed with sadness and also rage crossed his eyes, tingeing them gray. "Then, we turned into spirits and stayed by our Master's side … uh … I should call him Mamoru, now." He had a brief and sweet smile before to turn serious again and keep on talking, "The last thing I remember, as spirit, is a strong light hitting Mamoru: it was Galaxia killing him. So, at age of 20 I woke up in Tokyo with no memories of the past two years but strange dreams confusing me; I have lived as a normal guy for two years until last night, when a voice called me and I regained my past memories."

Rei whispered, "a voice? Mamoru?"

Jadeite shook his head, "King Endymion, from the future. He told me it was time to reach his present form." He finally smiled, "This morning I went to Mamoru's place: the stone where my spirit slept for two years was still there, calling me, so I easily found his apartment. Kunzite, Nephrite and Zoisite were there too, and now they are with Venus, Jupiter and Mercury, I guess. Uh … I should say Minako, Makoto and Ami."

Rei's heart was beating furiously in her chest. Was it really happening? A quick computation into her mind before to speak, "So, you are 22 years old, now."

Jadeite nodded, "I attend University. My actual name is Higashi Jun."

Rei smirked, "University? You look like a High School Student, instead. Always that young look, you haven't changed."

Jadeite had a brief and amused laugh, "Neither you, always that sharp tongue and that way to tease me. Like then."

Rei's cheeks tinged red; she looked at the ground, raven locks covering her purple eyes, "Like then, yes. I had fun trying to test your patience, and your patience won." Tears rolled along her cheeks, surprising her; her voice turned into a whisper, "I missed you. You can't even image how much I missed you, Jadeite. When Metallia killed you, my heart cracked; I thought you were definitively gone, and it weighted heavy on my heart, despite my attempt to forget you and move on." Tears fell from her eyes, hitting the dusty ground of the yard while her vision blurred.

His black sneakers entered her visual field, his shoes in front of her shoes, tips against tips. She kept her head down, staring at their shoes meeting and letting his arms wrapping around her waist. She buried her face against his chest and cried, his blue shirt absorbing her tears; through the fabric, she could feel his warmth and his scent. She sobbed into his arms until her tears stopped falling, then she parted from him.

He handed her his handkerchief. She grabbed it and wiped her eyes, "I'm looking awful, now."

He smiled, "You are beautiful, instead."

Rei blushed and had a sweet smile, "Would you like a cup of tea?"

He nodded.

She grabbed his hand and walked to the house, "I want to introduce you to a person really important to me: my grandfather." She squeezed his hand, her palm adhering to his one and her fingers intertwined with his ones.

Their hands as two creatures born to stay that way, perfectly fitting, Rei and Jadeite crossed the yard in front of the Shrine and reached the house.

A new life was starting, and Rei realized that she was finally happy, totally happy.