Hi no himitsu....
     It was as if the fire was listening to her thoughts.  Deimos distanced herself from the pedestal as the flames grew and its heat intensified.  However, both of her guardians didn’t try to shield her as soon as the fire seemed to get furious.  Phobos pointed her hand at the fire’s direction.  She wanted her princess to draw from its knowledge.
     “What should I ask it?”  Rei inquired weakly.  “Everyday, I asked a question and it didn’t answer.  What kind of secret does it know?”
     But as soon as she finished, the blaze got angry again.  Its tireless hands of smoke tried to reach the ceiling.  Rei felt the enthusiasm it was hiding for such a long time.  Her heart began to beat faster at the knowledge that it will reveal, and at this instant, the flames sunk onto a lower depth in order to proceed to its calmer glow.

     The figure in the fire!
     She looked at the images that were cast on the sacred fire with avid fascination.
    He was running.  She wondered why he hurried and where he was going.  Was this happening now?  Rei found it hard to tell.  His silhouette was formed by enormous shrouds of great white light that it was also impossible for his face to be seen.  But how he recognized who he is.
     When he finally reached his destination, he pushed the doors open.  It was then that a faint reddish glow began to shower on the intruder's handsome face....

     How was it that I found her?
     Jadeite wasn’t actually ready to leave Hikawa Jinja’s steps.  Waiting for her to come out of the shrine perhaps?  He laughed to himself.          “Ahh... it was Phobos and Deimos who told me.”
     A gust of wind whistled through the tears that fine morning.  That was the only sound that greeted him as he patiently stood on the steps of the shrine.  He decided that he would stay.  Maybe for another few minutes or so.  Who knows?

     The doors had been warm.  He then knew that he had found her at last.  From their first meeting to the last, it was always hard to search for Enyalis Rei!  He pushed the doors slowly and calmly as he possibly could because if he let his excitement get the best of him, he was afraid this might alarm her.  She would question him with her proud eyes and she would never let go of the guilt. He pictured her staring at him and trying to stop herself from crying at his betrayal.
     He would again be moved deeply by just seeing her one last time even if she won’t try to hear his explanation.  But it was worth the risk.
     The door gave in to his gentle effort and Jadeite felt the warmth of the fire on his face as soon as he entered.  The room bore a meditative silence and it was only the flames that danced on the pedestal that lighted her face.
     “Huh?”  Jadeite surprisingly remarked as he walked towards her.
     He was sure that the Princess of Mars would never have thought of spending the night by her fire, but Enyalis Rei was always stubborn and curious about answers.  So he found her lying on the floor with her tears still glistening on her fine cheek.  She wouldn't have forgiven him if he saw her crying.  Her silk, sanguine gown wrapped her body exquisitely and strands of her hair touched her lithe shoulders.
     He bent down on his knees and wiped the tears that still glistened on her cheek. His touch didn’t wake her.  Her breaths were unsteady from fatigue.  Anyone would be so if they cried themselves to sleep.
     “Enyalis-chan....” he whispered. Who could be majestic at a time like this?  It was tempting to wake her, and also unfair.  She seemed to be engaged in the peaceful episode of her dream.
     “Gomen nasai....” Jadeite could only whisper.  “It had been too late, Princess.  The power she gave us tried to take over our minds.  We thought it would help us, but…”  He paused and realized that that had been too late.
     “So it is true… the storm that you feared.  We shall try to fight her and ask her to take away these powers from us.  That... that is the only way, but I don’t know if I can ever return again.”
     He stared at her somber face.  Even when she didn’t open her eyes, he could already feel the guilt bury it deep within him.  Who would have ever thought of harming someone like that?  Someone as beautiful as that…
    She was his weakness.  This was the part that Beryl realized very well so that the powers that she gave them came with a price.
    What could she be dreaming then?  He thought this as he continued to stroke her rouge cheeks.  Jadeite bent down closer to her until he could hear her unsteady breaths clearly and feel the warmth on her cheeks.  He made sure that his movements would not rouse her from her sleep as he reached down and touched her lips with his own.
     “Aishiteru...” Jadeite whispered before he kissed her again.
     He got up slowly with his gaze fixed at her face.  The moment was hardest to let go and easiest to remember.  But as soon as he got the strength to turn his back on her and leave, the princess of Mars repeated his words in a weak whisper.
     Jadeite smiled.  What could she be dreaming?  He continued to wonder as he walked towards the door.

     As soon as she saw him reach the door, she felt the urge to stop him, as if she could do something.  But of course, he could never hear her.  She saw him look back one last time before he walked into the stream of white light and disappeared from her completely.   That was the last thing that the fire had seen.

    “So... he returned.”
     Phobos thought that her princess seemed rather indifferent.  Strange, of course, but understandable.  But the Princess of Mars should know, above everyone else, that the fire would never give her a lie.  Maybe her princess was realizing this as she’s staring blankly on the pieces of ash on her hand.
 
     I actually thought I saw him.

     “Doshite?”  Phobos asked.

     Did he really say it?  I know I only would tell him if what I felt if he said it first... I wasn’t sure.  His kisses were so warm.  I thought it was the fire that woke me.

     “Doshite, Enyalis-sama?”
     “Enyalis-sama?”  Rei asked surprisingly.
     Her guardians smiled reassuringly.  Of course it was you who we are calling.  Doesn’t she remember even her own name now?  But their Princess didn’t feel comforted at all.  She stared at them weakly and sighed heavily.  They were right that the fire would not tell them a lie.      When it shone on their Princess’s face, her cheeks only glistened.  Tears could tell that Hino Rei was not indifferent after all.
     “He returned, minna!”  Rei told them.  “He returned.”
      That was the only thing left to do, she thought, and hurried towards the gate.  As soon as she reached the gardens of Hikawa Jinja, the wind swept away the weak pieces of ash on her hand.  They were blown away like delicate wisps of fluff which the wind had great liberty in carrying.      Of course, there was no way that she could catch the last remnants of her remembrance in any way.  Rei found herself staring at the empty steps of Hikawa Jinja as the ash pieces seemed to fall on this path.
    “Where would I start?”  Rei sighed as she walked down the stone steps of the shrine.