A few days have come and gone before Rai finally woke up. Apparently she was more hurt then they have originally thought, not so much physically, but her power was drained from her and that caused her to sleep for a very long while. When she finally woke up she couldn't remember what happened right away.

Rai opened her clear violet eyes and looked around. She was in a warm bed with a blanket tucked neatly around her. Close beside her were Luna and Artemis curled up into tight balls of fur and fast asleep. Rai blinked, this was Serena's room, what was she doing here? She couldn't remember at all how she got here and only vaguely what happened before.

She remembered Jaedite taking control of her, remembered the big and fake act that he has put on, she even remembered his last words to her before she blanked out. He said he was sorry. Sorry? She could hardly believe that he was sorry, or at least her mind was telling her not to believe, but she kind of did, she was not sure why she did.

Then finally Rai understood, the act and what it was exactly that Jaedite did. He put up that act for the scouts, to deceive them into believing that it was all his doing. But was it? Not really, it wasn't. What happened was only partially his doing and it was very true, she went too far of her own free will, the scouts didn't let her even explain, that was also true.

Rai couldn't feel too angry at Jaedite, after all, he has kind of fixed part of what he has done to her, he has gotten her back with her friends, or so she believed at least. He could not change her back to just Sailor Mars, she was going to stay Sailor Nega Mars forever, but that didn't scare her that much any more, she thought that she could deal with that, somehow.

What she could not deal with was that she has given up, there was no going back there. He has defeated her and a defeated warrior in her mind was no warrior. She sight and looked down at her hands, the black long claws that scarred Serena's face were gone. Rai didn't doubt that the gentle and kind Serena has forgiven her the moment she thought that it wasn't her fault, but should she have? Rai wasn't sure.

She got up moving quietly as not to wake up Luna and Artemis, she did not want to be faced with the questions just yet. Walking to the kitchen she poured herself a glass of cold water, her throat was dry and scratchy, she was guessing that she must've been out for quite some time. Rai nearly choked when she took a glance at the calendar and found out just how much time, she had taken a four day nap! No wonder her throat was dry, at this rate she was surprised that she hasn't forgotten how to drink at all!

Rai wanted some fresh air, she felt dizzy and if the guardian cats were not there she would have gone back to bed, but she was sure that their acute hearing was going to let them know that she was awake. Opening the back door she slipped outside breathing in the cold mourning air. Serena must be gone for school by now, she could only guess what rumors were going around her school about her sudden disappearance.

Rai looked up into the sky, it was grayish blue, it almost reminded him of a pair of stormy grayish blue eyes. Jaedite, she was sure that he has left her, she was a toy he couldn't play with any more, so why did his eyes still hunt her, will they hunt her forever?

Rai wondered, did she even still hate him? After all that happened she wasn't sure, she wasn't sure about anything any more. Will her friends betray her again at the first sight of trouble like they did this time? Rai shook he head, she didn't want to think of it any more. She had her life back, or relatively back and because it has been so screwed up she could appreciate it that much more, she was going to live it and she was not going to loose it again. Rai had to hold on to what she had, she needed to hold on to what she had because she knew what it felt like to loose it all. Having at least some of it back felt wonderful!

"You are awake, how are you feeling Rai?" asked Luna coming to sit on the steps beside Rai.

The said girl glanced at the cat startled, she wasn't sure, it just felt different.

"I don't know, Luna, is Serena?"

"No, it wasn't your fault! Of course she wouldn't be mad at you after all you have been through! We understand that it was all Jaedite's fault, don't worry, we will get him for what he has done to you."

Rai wanted to burst out laughing, he had them so convinced. They all thought that he was the villain. She was sick of how easily fooled they were, she could have been an enemy and Jaedite's little act would've easily fooled them. She felt sorry for them and at the same time she felt some admiration for Jaedite. They haven't given him enough credit.

Up till now they were all sure that he was just one of Queen Beryl's mindless subordinates, that his mind was only good enough to comprehend orders, carry them out and think of evil. She had never thought how smart Jaedite could be, she never guessed just how well he has judged her character, and for that matter most likely everyone's character in the group. She just thought that he blindly fought them and knew nothing about them. She was wrong, more like they blindly fought and knew nothing about him. What a dangerous miscalculation that was.

"Rai? Is something wrong?" Luna asked concearned.

Rai shook her head, she didn't smile, didn't way anything, she stayed silent and kept her thoughts to herself. She for some reason was not as willing to forgive the scouts for abandoning her as they were willing to forgive her. She was realizing now how weak and vulnerable they were.

Rai wasn't sure that if she shared her views that they would be considered. Her new view were very different from what they were used to and she acknowledged that the rest of the scouts will not process her ideas well. If she told them more about Jaedite right now they would not understand and it would only make them doubt their motives, they were not ready to handle more insight without it destroying their firm beliefs.

That was why the fire senshi took it as a little rule to keep her thoughts to herself. She might know something, a better way of doing things perhaps, a stronger strategy, but she was not going to share it. It was like giving weapons to children, they could not handle what she understood now.

The whole experience allowed Rai to think differently, more critically about both sides. She was not willing to blindly trust the scouts any more, they have betrayed her once, they might do it again. In her opinion they should not trust her either, but then, she did decide that she would keep her opinion to herself. Rai didn't think that the way the scouts fought would get them far, they would not stand a chance against Jaedite the way they were but again, she will not tell them that, let them think what they will, she knows better.

Rai made another little resolution, she was not going to fight side by side with the scouts. Their methods were too open, to unplanned. They ran into battle with no knowledge of their opponent, they trusted easily and killed without a second thought, not even stopping to think that in exchange for life a certain creature of the negaverse, perhaps a more intelligent one just might lead all of them to the source of the problem.

All of that and just their optimistic open-minded way of thinking made the scouts weak and vulnerable. Rai was not going to subject herself to that weakness. She was going to fight for them, not with them. Rai was going to walk her own road to the same destiny, walking side by side with them now made no sense to her. Rai has completely abandoned her belief in teamwork, she now believed that her objectives will be hers, and only hers, she will not follow the majority any longer. And if she made a mistake, it will be her mistake, and hers alone.

She stood up determined to not let Luna see through her and know how she really felt, it would be better if the scouts didn't know about the change that went on in her. Change was good, but they would not know it because for them to acknowledge that they would have to change.

"Rai, I understand that this is hard for you, if you ever want to talk, we are all here for you." Luna looked genuinely concerned and Rai knew that she indeed was. She wanted to snort, but she kept her face straight and composed not betraying any of the emotions that she felt inside, they were all so gullible and naïve.

"Thank you Luna, I will remember that." She answered simply. Her politeness put a distance between her and the rest of the group, this was how you talked to strangers, not friends.

Luna looked at her weirdly, was that girl still asleep, or was it whatever Jedight did to her that made her act like that?

That afternoon Serena came home late as usual.

"Rai!" she threw her arms around her friend.

Mars put her arms around Serena loosely and gave her a small smile pretending to be still weak despite the fact that she felt as strong as a lion ready to kill. Inside her head she was musing. 'Aren't you afraid Serena dearest? Don't you know, I can break your neck with these hands? How are you willing to let the hands that have scarred your beautiful face hold you and not feel that they will hurt you again? Do you know me that well Serena? You think you do, but you don't, you trusting fool, I will protect you, but I will not be like you. I don't trust you Serna, I will not rely on you, I will not believe you, I will not place my life in your hands.

"I'm sorry I'm late Rai, I know that I should've came home right away when you woke up, I'm so sorry I got held up." Serena bowed a hundred times.

'Why are you sorry, who am I to you that you have to leave what you need to do to see me? I will not die if you are late, I don't care if you are late. When will you learn to think about yourself first and others later you little fool. When will you learn not to trust others with your heart, that is how it gets broken.' Thought Rai.

"Why were you late Serena?" she asked not betraying her inner thoughts.

Serena was mildly surprised but then smiled, or course Rai would not be mad at her for being late, Rai was her friend, she would understand.

'Poor fool, she thinks that I'm forgiving her for being late and leaving me to wait, how wrong you are Serena, I never expected you to come in the first place. I don't expect you to do anything for me any more so you will never have to apologize for not doing something again, I don't expect you to do anything'

"I kind of dropped by the arcade." Serena hung her head.

"You were having fun." Rai stated and nodded simply. She did not want Serena to apologize because that was what Rai expected the girl to do now, leave her and tend to her own wants first, not be obliged to run and see her friend.

Serena was more shocked now, Rai was letting it go!

"Oh Rai, you are so nice now!" she yelled exited.

'No I am not, I am not yelling because I don't care, it's your business what you do with your life, you are not obliged to live it for me. You are too kind for your own good Serena, your kindness is your weakness, it can so easily be used against you.'

Rai just smiled, she didn't say how she thought that Serena was a fool, let the girl believe what she wished, that was her right.

A few days have gone by since then. There was no news of Jaedite, it was like he disappeared. Rai truly doubted that, she just thought that he was planning something, or watching them waiting for something interesting and worth his time to happened. After all, now he did not have an order to fight, so why would he?

Rai understood him better now, just because he was from the negaverse didn't mean that he automatically would be trying to take over the earth, he had his domain, what did he need the earth for? Jaedite was not looking for more power, he was just living his life and looking for something to do with the power he already had.

The fire senshi no longer considered him a threat, he was just there. Unfortunately the others were not so convinced, they believed that he was planning a great attack and that they should all be ready. Mars ignored their constant discussions about that, in her mind it was more like 'right, and he needs you why? You think that you are so important, he probably has better things to do then go around chasing you.' After Jaedite's experience with her, Rai doubted that he would consider chasing down the scouts fun or a challenge.

When Rai first got back to cherry hill temple grandpa and Chad greeted her as if she came back from a vacation. Apparently the scouts made up some lies to cover up for her two week absence.

"So, Rai, how was your break, did you have fun? Was the trip good? Did you rest well?" Chad as usual was right there asking her all these questions.

'You just want attention, don't you lover-boi?' thought Rai in her mind as she gave him a pleasant smile. To his questions she shook her head.

"What do you mean? Was the trip not what you have expected?" Chad made a confused expression that was anything but real. Rai couldn't believe that she used to fall for that expression and believed him to be genuine.

The girl wasn't sure if it was the darkness in her or her experience that made her see everything in a new light, but right now she found Chad's advances no longer so much annoying as rude. He didn't care about her trip, he didn't care about how she was, he was here because he liked her and had an excuse to talk to her. She frowned and for once she saw a real expression of confusion pass over Chad's face. "What? What did I say?"

"Chad, do me a favor, stop pretending that you care about what I did when I was away, you only care about what I am going to do now that I am back and the fact that now I am closer to you then I was yesterday." She noted the expression of shock on his face and for his sake decided to clarify what she meant.

"Asking me how was the trip is just an expression of courtesy, a polite question that is usually asked even though you don't care about the answer. Now, I would like you to not ask me questions that you don't want the answer to, there is no point to them."

Chad nodded dumbly, of course she was right, he was just being polite, but wasn't that what people expected of each other. Little did he know that Rai has decided to reject all expectations and no longer expected anything from anyone.

"Rai, you don't look too rested and relaxed to me, where did you really go? I have trouble believing that you decided to take a random vacation in the middle of the school year and without even telling anyone." His voice was much more serious then it was a minute ago, 'good' thought Rai, she got him thinking.

Rai smiled, this was more like the questions she wanted to hear, straight to the point and exactly what he was thinking and wanted to know.

"I was never on a trip. I was wondering the streets for the past week. Then I was hurt and spent a few days recovering at a friend's place, the rest you do not need to know." With that she passed by him and headed inside ignoring his puzzled and concerned face. She was guessing that he thought that she got mixed up with bad crowd or something like that. It was partially right, but what did she care about what he thought?

Another week passed by quietly, it has now been three weeks since Rai's encounter with Jaedite. Rai has very quickly drifted apart from her friends and the rest of the people, she was more of a loner now then even Amy could be at times. For that matter, Amy and Lita were the only people she would sometimes hang out with.

Amy because the girl quickly caught on to what Rai wanted from them and complied with that. The smart ice senshi was not as gullible as the others and was intelligent enough to figure out how to behave around Rai. She was sensible enough not to ask unnecessary questions or give comments that she wasn't asked for, or explain herself and her reasoning behind anything she did. Rai liked that in her.

Lita because the girl had the same tendency to keep her true thoughts to herself. Sure enough Lita could be annoying when she was in a different environment, like if they were out with the rest of the scouts, but if they were just together and Lita was placed in Rai's environment, she adapted right away and became quite and thoughtful, just how Rai liked her to be.

Also, she liked Lita because she could tell that unlike others, Lita still didn't completely trust her. Why didn't Rai see it before? Lita wasn't like the others, she walked a similar path, but it was a different one still. She did not blindly share opinion with the others, she just went along with the general opinion.

Serena, Mina, Luna and Artemis were a lost cause. They were so much alike in their thinking that it annoyed Rai. Their world was black and white, you were either good or you were bad, they never thought of someone being anything more then that.

Because Rai no longer hung out with the scouts that much she was forced to seek out new friends. People seemed to recognize that she was different, that she was stronger. Some were repelled by that strength, scared even, yet others were attracted by it, the craved it, were drawn to it.

She was first joined by two sisters, Ruby and Sapphire. They were both outcasts, they did what they wanted to do and didn't give a shit about what people thought or what they technically supposed to be doing. They behaved how they liked, not how other people wanted them to behave.

Ruby was impulsive, hotheaded, bad tempered, rude, right in your face and very much psychotic. Sapphire was the total opposite of her younger sister, she was reserved, calm, cold, calculating and withdrawn. They were themselves and lived only for themselves, trusting no one and not caring for no one but those who have proven themselves worthy of their attention.

Then they were joined by a young man who called himself Damien. Rai knew absolutely nothing about him save for the fact that he was probably significantly older then the rest of them. He had an aura of mystery and mistrust around him, he never said anything about himself unless he was asked directly. Rai could somehow tell that he was strong and she could somehow tell that he hid a lot of secrets, but she was not going to pry and he was not going to tell himself.

Lastly they were joined by Alina, a little albino twelve year old girl. They saw her hanging around in the shadows now and then, always alone. She could not play in the sun with other kids, her skin was to sensitive to be exposed for long. Rai also was sure that her white long hair that looked like spider-silk and her bright red eyes scared of other children her age. Rai didn't know how it came to be that Alina started hanging out with them, but one day Damien just brought her with him and as it went in the group, no one ever asked questions, she was there, she was one of them.

Alina was always quiet and withdrawn, she rarely spoken unless she was addressed or she wanted to ask something. She trailed behind one of the group like a shadow, or rather, like a little ghost. Rai fell in love with the little girl when she saw her, she was like a porcelain doll, to short and petite for her age, her always white clothes sharply contrasted with the predominantly dark colors the rest wore. She looked like a little shy angel among the demons, obedient, respectful and quiet, she seemed much younger then she was.

Rai liked the new group. Sometimes Amy and Lita would join them. Amy did not feel safe with the group, she felt a vibe from them that screamed 'danger' even though the group was not looking for trouble, more like looking for a place where they can just be themselves and left alone. Lita came along more often, whenever she needed some quiet time away from the rest of the scouts she went out with the group, she wasn't like them, but she was close enough to be accepted.

"Rai-senpai, where are you taking us today?" Alina's timid light voice broke the silence of the group. They were walking down a deserted street, Rai in the lead Damien in the tail. Amy and Lita came along too, Amy with the excuse that they are the only people that she could get some studying done with, not that the group needed an excuse, more like the rest of the scouts did. Lita didn't bother giving an excuse, she was quieter then usual today and glancing at Rai quite often, she knew that something big changed about Rai.

"I found a building on the edge of the neighborhood, no one lives in that area, it was supposed to be run down, but the city just abandoned it. We can use that to hang out."

No one said anything, they have been looking for a place for a while now. Amy shifted warily, she could tell that Lita wasn't bothered by the description of the place, but she was, she normally didn't go to the deserted ruins. She looked around wondering if she could give them an excuse why she changed her mind but as she looked at their stone faces a thought occurred to her.

Amy stopped and watched the group go by. Damien looked at her but didn't stop, just gave her a small smile, then turned around and kept walking. They didn't care, they didn't need reasons. She sighed and walked back into the opposite direction, she did not fit in with them. Amy returned to Cherry Hill temple where Serena and the others were having some quality time.

"Amy, what happened, weren't you with Rai and Lita?" chrped Mina's happy voice.

"Yeah, I decided to come back, I don't really like the crowd Rai hangs out with, or the crowd that hangs around Rai, I'm not sure which way is right." She smiles remembering how everything seemed to be revolving around the fire senshi.

"Something happened to Rai, didn't it?" asked Serena.

"You can't blame her, there is negaverse energy infused in her very being, it's not her fault." Amy sat down for a cup of tea with the rest of them, "Don't worry, we'll figure something out." Serena nodded in agreement, it never crossed her head that Rai was choosing to act like she was.

Rai walked down the deserted streets, everything here looked like it was going to fall apart, there were no people, not even squirrels made their way here, it was completely a ghost town.

"Rai, is this a good idea?" Lita stopped and looked at her, her eyes narrowing.

"No."

Lita fumed, she hated these answers without any explanation, this was how all of them were, never giving any reasoning behind their decisions.

"Get lost sweetie! No one wants you here, you don't belong." Ruby was right in her face speaking what she thought.

"Who asked you?" Lita growled.

"I wasn't answering a question." Ruby's wide grin became even wider and her pointed set of teeth made her look like a demon, red long hair messily falling around her bright red eyes.

'She would belong so well with that freak Jaedite' thought Lita as she angrily turned away and headed back where they came from, the tense atmosphere was irritating her. She didn't mind silence, she did mind the constant mistrust and tenseness of the group, it almost seemed that if something set of they would be at each other's throats in no time. Of course that something would have to be something very damn important to make the people who didn't give a shit about the world care.

'So I'm all alone now, they have finally realized that they are nothing like me.' Mused Rai at Lita's departure.

After a while they have arrived at their destination. It was an old abandoned mansion with a big wall surrounding the garden that was surrounding the building. By now the garden was a jungle, the windows were all broken or boarded up, but the building itself was in a relatively good condition.

The big iron gates squeeled with effort when they were pushed open.

"Is the wall broken at any point?" Damien talked for the first time that day.

"No."

"Is it scalable?" continued Sapphire as if she was reading Damien's thoughts.

"No." the moth that covered most of the wall was so slippery that even if someone had a rope over the wall it would be early impossible to climb, unless they had mountain boots on.

"Then we have ourselves a built in security alarm." Alina smiled referring to the noisy gates.

"There is such thing as oil, ghost." Grinned Ruby calling Alina by the unofficial name that she was given by the group.

They walked through the 'garden' in silence just looking around. There were paved paths but most of it was grass and earth. The trees grew so thick and out of control now that it provided plenty of shade that Alina so desperately needed sometimes.

The mansion was old and creepy looking. It took all Damien's strength to pry open the heavy wooden doors at the top of the marble stairway. Once inside they were greeted by darkness and clouds of dust. The entrance hall was huge, two stairways led upstairs in a classical design.

The group split up and proceeded to look around. There were lots of rooms, some empty, some had bits of furniture left. Most windows were boarded up but some still held dirty glass and even curtains. Unofficially everyone was looking for a room to call their own. Not that they would live there, they all had homes, but the all needed a sanctuary.

Rai came across a big wooden door that unlike so many doors was pretty much intact, except that it was a little faded and there was some moss growing on the bottom.

'insulation' mused Rai in her mind.

Sge pushed the door open and walked in. She was almost shocked to see how intact the room was. The single small window was boarded up and looked ridiculous with the dark maroon heavy curtains still hanging on either side of it. Most of the room was taken up by a huge Victorian style canopy bed. It was covered with dust but Rai found it odd that the sheets were still present as were the pillows. All was faded with age and looked ghostly under the blanket of dust, but Rai was not concerned with that, she was wondering why was this room intact while most of the rest of the house was torn apart?

Opposite the bed was a large full-size mirror with a heavy drawer on each side of it and a tiny dressing table in front. Rai looked in the mirror, it seemed clouded by smoke from age and not being cleaned in such a long time. At each side of the bed in opposite corners there was a bookshelf and a writing table. Both were old and empty of contents, they looked so heavy and bulky, the already dark wood blackened even more with age.

Rai gathered that the walls must've been painted a dark red at one time, but now they looked darker and washed up, almost depressing. Rai walked up to the window peering through the cracks in the boards, she could see the garden and the front gate clearly, she liked that. There was something about this room that called to her, there was an old detachment here, she didn't care that it was old and dirty, even though normally she would, she could have total privacy here.

Rai left the room placing a ribbon from her hair on the door, the others would know. She wondered quietly the halls until she walked into Sapphire. It appeared that the girl was looking at a perfectly round room without a single window. It appeared to be out of place because it was not attached to any outer wall, it's walls were completely enclosed inside the building and you could walk all around it if you just followed the looped hallway that ran around.

It had a single door and a single huge fireplace. There were empty candleholders all around the circumference of the wall. Rai would've thought that a relatively modern building must've had electricity at one point in each room, but this room didn't have a place for a light bulb or a switch anywhere. There were old couches arranged around a low round table in the middle of the room, spaced close enough to the wall to only leave enough space for a person to walk by freely behind them.

"Looks like a family room." Rai suggested.

"Or some kind of worshiping location."

"I like it, where are the others?"

"Picking out lairs."

Rai smirked, she liked Sapphire's choice of words, a lair, this was precisely what this was.

"Where is your room facing." Sapphire never looked at Rai when she spoke.

"South, yours?"

"North."

"East." Came Alina's soft voice as she walked up behind Rai quietly and ceased her hand pressing her pale face into Rai's arm.

"West." Damien seemed to separate himself from shadows and joined them.

"South." Ruby's voice rang loud and bold and seemed out of place among her quiet and somber company. She pushed past them and walked right in going for the fireplace first. She bulled out a small bottle of liquor and poured it over the junk that has accumulated in the fireplace. Lighting a match on fire she threw it in and watched the alcohol ignite. Soon the dry garbage was burning bright.

Ruby didn't give a shit that this was an old building and lighting a fire might not be safe, she didn't give a shit if she set the whole thing on fire, no one would stop her and no one would judge her for that after, they would just move on and find themselves another place.

Rai walked in and stood behind Ruby staring at the fire, somehow it pained her to see the fire, she missed her own fire, even if it was different now. Suddenly her communicator went off. Rai ignored it and so did everyone else. It kept beeping and finally she picked it up more out of annoyance then need to know what was happening.

"Rai! We need your help! Don't worry, you can deal with this, whatever this is it's from the negaverse, but it's not fire based, please come!" Amy screamed in the communicator.

Rai just looked at the thing coolly deciding if she should go.

"You never do what you are expected Rai." Stated Damien matter-of-factly, he didn't even ask her what was going on, no one did and Rai knew that no one will.

"I am leaving." She stated simply and turned away from the fire.

"I am coming with you Rai-senpai?" Alina said following Rai who walked out of the room. No one else followed.

Rai didn't protest the child coming, she was her own person, she did what she wanted to do, Rai was not the one to stop her from doing anything.

Once outside Rai raised her deformed transformation tool and shouted

"Nega-mars dark make up!"

The fire burst from her dark star and encircled her. Soon she was changed. Her outfit was black with a red flame pattern at the bottom of her skirt, her gloves were shorter and fingerless, her true fire was held by a claw on her chest and her long black claws were back.

Alina just stared, she hadn't known, she could have only guessed that Rai was different.

"You are beautiful dark senshi."

"Give me your hand ghost." Alina complied and soon they were running at the speed of the wind Rai occasionally making leaps impossible for humans and most animals to do.

They were at the sight of the attack sooner then Rai would normally have been there, she has become faster when she transformed now then she did when she transformed before. She came to a stop when she saw the scouts fighting. There was a woman with an inverted black crescent moon on her forehead, definitely not one of Jaedite's creations.

The scouts were loosing badly but Rai did not jump into the fight. She watched the strange woman battle, it was obvious that she was not evil, only tainted by dark energy. The scouts seemed to know that too because they were reluctant to attack full force.

'Weakling fools' thought Rai as she watched their attempts to weaken the woman enough to heal her and make her human.

Rai could've sent one attack that would have done the job allowing sailor moon to do her healing, but she saw no point to that.

"Dark Celestial fire, IGNITE!" she yelled and threw the full force of her powerful attack at the woman never showing herself to her opponent, attacking from the shadows. Her victim was incinerated faster then she knew what was happening to her, she didn't even have time to scream.

Rai observed the shocked and confused faces of the scouts. They were feeling remorse and pity for her death, feeling compassion for their enemy. Rai was aware that the woman was not evil, she was aware that there was no need to kill her, she just didn't want to bother with the girl, there was nothing of interest in the dead woman and nothing to gain from turning her into a human, she was useless.

The dark fire senshi was gone from the site before the scouts even knew what destroyed their opponent, in their minds one moment they were being beaten by this woman and the next minute she was a pile of ash being blown into their faces by the wind.

"You kill mercilessly Rai, I'm not safe with you." Stated Alina.

"Then leave me ghost."

"I choose to be with you."

"Then that is your choice, as long as you know that it is."

Alina nodded.

"Awww! Isn't that sweet!" Rai's eyes widened when she heard the familiar voice, the voice she had not heard in a while.

"Ghost, leave, now!" Rai's voice was firm and held a hidden threat. Without another word the girl disappeared.

"You've changed Rai, what happened to the girl I knew, or have your emotions been damaged so much that you feel no need to exercise feeling any more?"

Rai turned around to face him her eyes everything but emotionless, there was pain, despair, anger, betrayal, confusion and even gratitude intertwined in those depths.

"No, not true, I just choose to now waste my emotions on people who will not understand them."

"And I will?"

"You were the one that took each and every emotion I had, stripped it of, examined it and then put it back, after that you are bound to know."

"Come with me." Jaedite whispered stepping closer his cloak waving behind him.

"Why?"

"Because there is nothing for you here, you don't need them. You are drawn to weirdos because they don't expect anything of you and don't question anything of yours, not because they understand, isn't that why you never revealed your emotions to them.

"Ghost understands, she just doesn't choose to reveal her emotions to the rest of us too."

"The little girl, ahh yes." Jaedite walked up straight to Rai and looked her in the eyes "What the hell do you want with the child, what is she to you Rai, your personal toy?"

"It wasn't long ago that you considered me a toy."

"You weren't a broken toy, I was the one that broke you, you can play with a new toy, but she is already broken, by others, are you trying to fix her?"

"I don't know, I just want to keep her." Rai looked him in the eyes full of confusion. He has seen right through her, out of the whole group she liked Alina the most because she could keep her if she wanted to, if she told Alina to stay the girl would, unlike the others who considered nothing of her opinion nor anyone else's opinion but their own.

"Then take her with you, but stop this aimless existence, it's pointless, you are wondering aimlessly, their enemies," he pointed in the general direction of where the fight occurred " are not your enemies, I saw it in your eyes Rai, you were only there to keep them alive, not because you cared one bit for the fight."

"So what do you want me to do, just abandon them! They betrayed me, fine, but they are still my friends! They are stupid, brainless idiots, they will die if I leave them like that and I still care about that, if not about the stupid war then about them!" Rai shouted for the first time since she has seen Jaedite last, he understood her and therefore was able to get to her true feelings and not be stopped by the mask she wore constantly now.

"Fine! Stay! Stay with them and rot away in this existence, you can't even stay at home any more because your home is not truly yours, you seek shelter in an abandoned rundown building and that is the only place where you can feel at peace because nothing reminds you of the lifestyle that you just can no longer live with them. Everything else reminds you of your precious oblivion and now that you learned to think straight you are trying to get away from all those who are still oblivious which is hardly working because almost everyone is damn oblivious!"

"That was a long speech Jaedite. I hate you for it. I hate you for being right."

"Of course you do, there is no other way." He shook his head then leaned in and kissed her. "I'll see you around." And he was gone.

Rai blinked, that was it? Just 'I'll see you around'? She expected him to fight more, to pressure her more, she wanted him to pressure her, it gave her a sense of reality to be arguing for something again when the person you were arguing with actually knew what you were talking about. She cursed, of course he was gone, she should've known h would, after all, she expected him to stay and he knew that, that's why he didn't stay, just to spite her.

"Jerk!" but even though Rai felt better, more alive. "C'mon ghost, I know you are spying, what's the use, even if you know, it's not going to matter to you. You don't give a shit if I want to keep you like some peace of property." Rai turned in the direction she knew Alina was hiding in. The said girl stepped out from behind the corner and for once her look wasn't blank.

"Y-you k-know? Y-you understand?" her lower lip was trembling, she didn't realize that just like she could understand Rai despite the emotional mask, Rai could do the same thing.

"Whatever ghost, let's just go, I feel like having some fun, that jeark gets on my nerves!"

"I like him."

Rai grinned 'so do I' she answered in her mind. After she got over the fact that Jaedite used to be her enemy and nearly completely broken her, it worked out for the best, now at least there was another bastard that understood her.

AN: this is the weirdest peace of writing that I have ever done, it completely doesn't make sense, even to me! And that is saying a lot. If you thought that this fic was confusing so far, this chapter is even more confusing. Anyways, tell me what you think, I think I just totally changed Rai's character. Rai, Ray, Raye, whatever, who gives a hit, I know I don't, you know what I mean. Just blame this weird chapter on me being stoned, mentally unhealthy and generally confused.

Anyways, the psycho needs rest, I'll attempt to make sense of what I wrote up there later on, it's just weird, I think I forgot to tie my imagination and random thoughts to a whatever plotline I originally had in mind, that is, if I ever had one, right now, I'm starting to doubt that my brain is capable of any kind of organized sequence of thoughts therefore you will find that this chapter is random ideas that came to my mind as I went.

Well, later, tell me if you still want me to continue this.

-Cyanide-