As the rush of images, sounds and feelings subsided Rei looked up to see worried faces floating above her. Thinking as fast as she could while still trying to wade through all her new memories she pulled a weak smile. "I'm alright." She said, "I think I twisted my wrist when I went down though and I'm pretty sure James hit his head when he fell. Can we go to the nurse's office to get checked out?" she looked to the teacher for permission. He nodded.

"Can you manage on your own?"

Rei smiled "Sure, I'll be okay."

Carefully she helped James to his feet, conscious of her 'sore' wrist and guided the still dazed young man to the nurse's office where he collapsed on the bed and promptly fell unconscious.

Thankful for this Rei sat on the other bed and thought long and hard about everything she'd just remembered. It was a lot to take in all at once, she guessed the reason she hadn't fallen unconscious too was because she was used to big surprises and had already regained some of her memories of the Moon.

"But how did this happen?" she wondered. "Are the other three Generals here as well? Is this what the Fire was telling me about?" She glanced at James, "I wonder what he'll do when he wakes up?"

Jaedite returned to consciousness gradually. At first all he could think of was Rei, how she was Sailor Mars and how he had loved her long ago. How he still loved her now. Other things slowly began to intrude on his reflection, the fact he was lying down and had somehow changed into his General outfit because he could feel his sword digging into his hip. Opening his eyes he turned his head and froze. Rei was sitting opposite him, an unreadable expression on her face.

"So you're awake." She said calmly. "Do you remember everything?"

Jaedite sat up and turned to face her unsure how to respond. "I guess so." He said finally, "It's a lot to remember all at once.

"Do you remember the end?" Rei pressed.

Jaedite flinched. "Yes" he replied softly.

"Then I have only one thing to say to you." Rei got up walked over and then slapped him in the face with all her strength. "YOU JERK!" she yelled and then walked out, slamming the door behind her.

Jaedite felt the red mark already forming on his cheek and winced. Rei could give a good slap when she wanted to. Then he grinned to himself, she hadn't changed a bit. The look on Rei's face, it hadn't been hate that shone in her eyes but anger and something much more hopeful –love, hurt and a refusal to show either. He knew that right now she would rather die than admit that he hurt her however after she'd calmed down a bit she'd be more willing to listen to reason. It meant all he had to do was win her over and he'd already done it once, he knew how to wage his war. Very. Very carefully.

Rei opened the door to her room and then immediately slammed it shut. "Not again." She groaned. On her windowsill was a note and yet another gift from Jaedite. Sighing she opened the door, went to the window and picked up her latest present. It was a single crimson Calla Lilly, the accompanying note read "To match your beauty, Princess of Fire and Passion." Rei blushed and threw the note in the bin but put the Lilly in a small vase of water. After all it wasn't the flowers fault it was sent by a jerk.

"I wonder why he even bothers?" she asked herself. "He should know I won't forgive him. Not for a million years."

Outside Jaedite sighed but consoled himself with the fact that at least she'd accepted the flower. And she blushed when she read the note he thought I'm making progress. For the past two weeks he'd been leaving little gifts in her room, a pretty rock, a flower, small things he thought she'd like. At first she'd thrown every single one of them out but as time went on she kept one or two. She still threw out all the notes though. At school she ignored him magnificently, avoiding him like the plague and talking in monosyllables when she absolutely had to communicate. 'Patience is a virtue' was a phrase Jaedite repeated to himself over and as the weeks passed and Rei thawed with glacial slowness. Eventually though he got to the point where she would actually look at him voluntarily and for more than a second. When he was able to keep her gaze long enough he would smile. Of course when he did she immediately went back to ignoring him but he knew it couldn't last.

The real breakthrough came when he was cornered by her friends in the school yard one day after Rei had escaped to her archery lesson.

"Alright buddy, you've been stalking Rei for weeks and we want to know why. Right. Now." Lita towered over him, her face hostile.

"I dunno guys, he's kinda cute when you see him up close. Maybe we should give him a shot." Mina gave him a sly grin "he might just be the one to break the Ice Princess' armour."

"Your sudden and unasked for attraction to Rei after a whole year of cordial contact is very suspicious." If Ami had glasses she would have glared at him over them. As it was she still glared.

"Tell us why you're stalking Rei and we might go easy on you." Serena waved her finger in his face. "And I mean might."

Seeing all four of them together like that almost made Jaedite burst out laughing. It was exactly like the time on the Moon when they'd cornered poor Zoicite before he confessed to Mercury. Striving to keep a calm face he thought quickly. Rei obviously hadn't told them his real identity or they wouldn't have risked approaching him like this in case of a confrontation. With that in mind he set about bringing the four girls onto his side.

"I like her." He said simply. "Actually I think I love her but I don't know if she's ready to acknowledge that yet. I offended her really badly and she isn't going to forgive me easily but that isn't going to stop me from trying. As for my sudden interest, that's a long story only Rei has the right to tell you, ask her." He met each girl's gaze and continued, "I know you're just trying to protect Rei and I appreciate that as her friends you have that right. But I also have a right to apologise and try and make things right between us."

Taken aback by his bold statement the girls were silent for a moment.

"Well if you feel that way about her I don't see why we should stop you." Serena finally said.

"But I promise if you hurt her I'm going to make you incapable of ever hurting another girl again." Lita cracked her knuckles warningly.

"Hmmmm, maybe we should give the little lovebirds some help." Mina grinned, "I bet I can get Rei to forgive him. I'm not called the Goddess of Love for nothing."

"Don't go trying anything crazy Mina. If James wants us leave things alone I think we should respect that and let them work this out between them." Ami cautioned, not liking the look on Mina's face. Islands sank into the sea when Mina got that look on her face.

James smiled. "Let us be for a little while longer." He said, "and if nothing changes you've got free rein."

"Deal!" Mina held out her hand for him to shake. "You've got one month."

"What? Why am I on ICT duty today? I'm not supposed to be on till next week!" Rei cried. Looking at the roster in dismay. And with him! She added privately. "The universe hates me." Slumping in her seat she put her head in her hands and waited for class to start. Afterschool she slowly walked to the computer room only to find Jaedite already there.

"Hi Rei," he said cautiously.

"Please don't talk to me." Rei said as she marched over to the cleaning cupboard and pulled out the cloths and spray used to clean the computers, "My day's been one horrible experience after another and I can't deal with you right now. Please let's just clean and get this over and done with."

Jaedite sighed. "Yes princess."

"Don't call me that."

And thus the afternoon progressed. They made good time cleaning the computers and had started on the desk and floor when the last bell rang. Rei practically threw her cleaning rags into the cupboard, picked up her stuff and ran to the door. She pulled on the handle only to find it wouldn't budge. She tried again. Nothing. The door remained steadfastly closed.

Suddenly a familiar giggle came from the other side and a piece of paper was slid under the door.

It read: We're not going to let you so make sure you have a proper talk with James. See you tomorrow morning.

"Oh no! Mina! Let me out you minx. What the hell are you doing this for?" She tried jiggling the locking mechanism back and forth but whichever way she pulled it the door stayed closed.

"Is something wrong?" Jaedite asked from where he was putting his own cloth and spray away.

Rei turned around her face too scary to describe.

"Did you put Mina up to this?" she demanded. "I swear if you did I'm gonna burn you three ways from midday!"

Jaedite backed away, "No! I swear I didn't ask her to do any of this. All I did was tell her I like you when she asked me. I didn't know this would happen."

"But you knew her from our time on the Moon!" Rei was beyond furious "You should have known she'd try something like this!"

"What am I supposed to be a mind reader?" Now Jaedite was getting angry too. "If you hadn't noticed telepathy is not one of the powers I possess!"

"I know that!" Rei yanked viciously on the door but succeeded only in hurting her hand as the force of her pull ripped it free from the handle. Sucking her abused fingers she resolutely turned away from Jaedite and marched over to the window. It was locked.

"Damn."

"Look maybe we can call a teacher or the caretaker to get us out." Jaedite suggested, trying to stifle his annoyance.

"Do you have any of their numbers?" Rei asked. "The phone in here goes directly to IT help and they've all gone home."

Jaedite sighed. "Ok scratch that idea then. Can you call your parents?"

Rei went still. "They're out of the country." She replied quietly.

Jaedite could've kicked himself. He knew her dad was a politician who cared more about his career than her. "What about your Grandfather?" he asked.

"He's out too." Rei said shortly.

"And I guess you're other friends are in on this too?"

"Probably, the witches. They're gonna pay so bad for this."

"Okay so were stuck here until morning and the caretaker lets us out or your friends decide to unlock the door."

"Yes. Dammit." Rei slumped into a chair and glared out the window.

Jaedite picked a chair and sat down too. "So now what?" he asked.

Rei sighed "Now we pick our brains and try to think of another way to get out. Start brainstorming."

James shifted, and held up a hand, "Before we do that, since we could potentially be here all night, here."

A small box appeared on the desk in front of Rei. She turned but Jaedite hadn't moved from his seat.

"I was going to leave it on your desk but that one will have to do."

Rei stared suspiciously at the box for several minutes before curiosity got the better of her. Refusing to look behind her she opened the box and gasped. Inside it nestled in white velvet cloth was a beautiful crystal bird pendant on a silver chain.

"I heard about the bird you got from your cousin and I saw this in a store." Jaedite said in reply to her unspoken question. "I thought you might like it, Mina told me Rubies are your favourite stones. Tourmalines are pretty close in colour so I thought it would be alright."

Rei was speechless, torn between keeping up her appearance of indifference and accepting the beautiful gift.

As the silence lengthened Jaedite waited patiently, knowing how difficult this was for her. Finally after an age Rei uttered two words.

"Thank you."

Jaedite smiled "Your welcome."

After that the silence stretched again, but it was different this time. There was an air of hope that hadn't been there before. As the sun went down and Jaedite's stomach rumbled he fished in his bag for something to eat. "Nothing," he groaned to himself and then blinked as from nowhere a piece of cake appeared on his desk.

"Serena is always hungry." Rei said by way of explanation and turned back around, but not before he caught the hint of a blush on her cheeks.

"thanks princess." He said and demolished the cake. Rei didn't reply.

As there was nothing else to do and he probably wasn't going to get a better opportunity Jaedite decided to go for it and see what happened. "Rei, can I talk to you for a sec?" he asked. "You don't have to turn around or anything, just please listen. I know that back on the Moon I did something so terrible to you that even up till now you bear the scars inside. I know that it's going to take a long time for you to get over that and even start to trust me. All I'm asking is that you give me a chance. Give me enough rope to either hang myself all over again or pull us back to where we used to be. Together."

Rei was motionless in front of him but she hadn't got up and punched him so he ploughed on. "I really love you Rei, as Sailor Mars and as the normal you. I love how strong and noble you are as a Sailor and how you protect the Princess and Earth. I love how bossy you are at school when you organise events and how you dream of a big, bright future. I love how you fight with Serena and show how you really feel with your friends. Right now it may not be possible but I just want to know, someday way in the future can you forgive me enough to give me a chance?"

Finished with his speech and terribly afraid of what the reply might be Jaedite waited nervously as Rei sat still as stone in front of him, unmoving and silent. The minutes ticked by and he began to think he'd forever ruined his chances with her.

Finally Rei spoke. "You know. After I got my memories back, I remembered why I always carry this with me no matter where I go."

After so long a period of silence, Jaedite was beyond surprised to hear Rei speak, let alone turn around smile at him.

She held out a tiny jar, hung on a chain that she lifted from around her neck. "Even after I'd thrown everything of you away, I couldn't let go of this. It stayed with me when I was reborn and I never knew what it meant until you came back into my life."

Jaedite stared at the jar, remembering Mar's final fight and identical jar she'd shown him before the battle began. "My letters." He said. "You still kept them?"

Rei sighed, "Yes. Even after everything we did to each other I still couldn't let it end the way it did. I wanted to give us a proper end so then we could have a proper beginning. She grinned wryly at him

"I'm sorry it took so long for me to tell you that. My pride wouldn't let me admit it after my initial reaction."

"Thank you." Jaedite's serious expression made Rei pause. "Thank you for giving me a second chance. I promise you I won't need another."

"I know." Rei stood up and came to sit down on the chair next to him. "So what now?"

Jaedite grinned. "Now? Now we call Mina and tell her to let us the hell out of here."

Rei grinned right back, tears starting to collect in her eyes. The Fire had been right. This was definitely a good thing that would affect the rest of her life. "Sounds good to me."