Hi minna-san!! Thank you all for being so patient while I try to finish up school! I?m glad that you?re still with me!! Well, I?m really sorry, but this is a REALLY sad chapter. Gomen nasai. This is Rei?s story, so prepare yourself for some sniffles. And I don?t own Sailor Moon. (*sigh*) Now that I?ve said that, on with the story! New Snow by Chichiri Chapter 8- Rei?s Story ?Sailor Moon! It?s time for your decision,? Jedite said from behind Usagi and Rei, who hadn?t transformed out of their Senshi uniforms yet. ?Give up now and your last friend won?t get hurt.? Usagi was about to agree when Rei burst out, ?No! It?s me you want, not Sailor Moon! I have what you?re looking for.? ?And what would that be?? Jedite asked. ?The Dark Crystal,? Rei replied. ?Well,? Jedite said, turning to Rei. ?Where is it?? ?First, bring back the other Senshi,? Rei answered. ?Then I?ll give you the Dark Crystal.? ?I don?t believe you,? Jedite sneered. ?I?ll just have to take both of you!? ?No!? Rei shouted. ?Mars Firebird Strike!? ?I?ll be back,? Jedite warned as he disappeared. ?Rei, what were you talking about? What is the Dark Crystal?? Usagi questioned. ?I?m sorry, Princess Serenity,? Rei sighed looking down at the ground. ?I?m a horrible person. I never meant anything I said about you and I?m very sorry that I hurt your feelings. I think that you?re a great leader and you?re the best friend that I?ve ever had. You?re such a sweet person and you remained a true friend even though I was always insulting you and making fun of you. I don?t deserve to be forgiven, so I won?t ask.? ?Well, I forgive you anyway,? Usagi said. ?I can?t accept your forgiveness,? Rei protested. ?I really don?t deserve it.? ?Rei-chan, as your Princess I say that you are forgiven and I won?t listen to any objections,? Usagi commanded. ?Thank you, Usagi-chan!? Rei cried. Usagi smiled and hugged her. ?You deserve to know the whole story,? Rei said gravely. ?Let?s go to the temple.? When Rei and Usagi reached the temple, they had already transformed back into their Earth identities. Usagi and Rei sat down in the fire-reading room. Usagi waited patiently while Rei gathered her thoughts. ?Long ago, when we were first reborn here on Terra after the destruction of the Moon Kingdom, something happened to me,? Rei explained. ?The Moonbeam Crystal that I was encased in was tainted somehow by the Negaverse and I was born on Terra with a Dark Crystal in my heart. It?s brought me bad luck my whole life. The Dark Crystal gave me power, but I couldn?t control that power when I was little. Other children were afraid of me because whenever I cried I would be surrounded by a glowing red light with black streaks in it. So I never had any friends. I lived in England when I was very young, like Mina-chan. When I was three, something really bad happened.? Rei took a deep breath and continued, ?One day, my parents and I were walking in a park. We were happy and laughing, but then something happened. I don?t remember exactly what happened, but something happened that caused me to release my power. The next thing I knew... my parents were... dead, and... it was my fault...? Rei broke off crying. ?Rei-chan,? Usagi soothed. ?I?m so sorry.? Usagi wiped her own tears away. ?It?s okay,? Rei continued, taking a shaky breath. ?Well, after that, I moved out here to Tokyo to live with my ojii-san. He was very nice to me. When I first arrived, he took me to a hospital to see if I was sick because I never talked, not a single word. All the tests said I was fine, but I still didn?t talk much. While I was in the hospital, a little girl with a meatball hairstyle gave me a rose to cheer me up. She told me she was there because she just got a little brother. She made me smile for the first time in a month.? Rei looked at Usagi and they smiled at each other. ?My powers hadn?t shown up because I never showed my emotions, I was afraid to. I didn?t talk much until about a week before my fifth birthday. I don?t know why, but all of a sudden I felt I had to tell my ojii-san what happened to my parents. He was so nice about it. He tried to banish the evil from me with one of his spells, but it didn?t work. So instead he began to work with me on controlling the Dark Power. He showed me how to be free of my burden. I could show my emotions again without releasing my Dark Powers. On my fifth birthday, my ojii-san taught me how to read the Sacred Fire. It was the day that I first saw my destiny as the Warrior of Flames, Sailor Mars. I saw the other Sailor Senshi, too, and I was very happy that I was going to have such nice friends. I recognized the meatball hairstyle of the leader of the Senshi. Over the years, my ojii-san protected me and watched over me and helped me deal with my Dark Power when it appeared from time to time. That?s why my ojii-san is so important to me. Then, about a year ago, right before I was awakened as Sailor Mars, I saw something in the Sacred Fire that frightened me. I saw the other Senshi dying because of my Dark Power. I decided to stay away from the Senshi, but that didn?t work because the Sailor Senshi are based on teamwork, so there was no way I could stay away. So instead I tried to make you hate me, but that didn?t work either because you have such a caring heart, Usagi-chan, that you refused to let any of the Senshi hate me. And now the other Senshi are gone because of me. It looks like I was never meant to have friends.? Rei smiled bitterly. ?Rei...? Usagi couldn?t think of anything to say. ?It?s okay. We?ll get the other Senshi back! The Sailor Senshi will be a team again!? ?Usagi, you?re always so cheerful. Even when you?re not inside, you always pretend to be happy on the outside.? Rei smiled. ?See? You made me smile again, just like in the hospital. But how are we going to get the other Senshi back?? ?The only way we can,? Usagi determined. ?And I don?t mean giving you to the Four Generals, I would never do that to a friend.? ?How are we going to get them back then?? Rei asked puzzled. ?We?re going to fight for them,? Usagi declared. ?We?re going to go into the Negaverse.? All right, I know it was short, but it was sad wasn?t it? I?m sorry this story has been so sad lately, but just wait. There will be a happy ending!! Really. I promise. E-mail me what you think: runnerup2001@netscape.net Thank you once again to my great friend V-chan!!!! (I?ll dedicate the first happy chapter to you!!) That?s it for now!! Talk to you all later!! Ja ne! ~Chichiri