She was mad and that was true, however, someone can only put up with abuse for so long. The house held those years of abuse and she wanted it all to burn but, more importantly, she wanted to destroy him along with it. She was forced to marry him and he had beaten her, battered her, used and abused her and she wanted to destroy the house, her memories, and him, releasing those years of pent-up rage and pain. Rei always told me she would take us away from there some day and that night was the night she had done it. The night we had all escaped and the fire that set us free, a night I had remembered so well.

It was late and the snow was not yet on the ground, although it was cold outside. It was oddly peaceful, as I had remembered, the silence before the storm. My sisters and I were sleeping so soundly. The next thing I had known was that I was being shaken awake. I didn't quite know what was going on, until I heard Rei's voice saying, "We have to get out of here, Satsuki, and we have to get out of here, NOW!" When I managed to open my eyes, I saw her cradling my still sleeping baby sisters and I knew something wasn't right. As I stood staring, she seized me by the arm and we hurried down the stairs and out of the front door.

As we were running away, I looked back and saw the flames and heard a mix of cackling and sobbing. Even though it was futile and tears were streaming down my face, I found myself reaching for her and calling out, "Mama!" It would be years before we would return and, at the time, I didn't know if she had survived the flames. Rei had taken us away from there as she had promised. She had taken us and we had fled the house of so much torment, sorrow, pain, and abuse.

As far as I had known, we were free.