Midnight Snack
Makoto didn't know how she knew, but someone was in her kitchen.
The Crystal Palace had, of course, a gourmet kitchen where the main cooking was done. However when the palace was being built Makoto asked Usagi, now known in formal affairs as Neo Queen Serenity, to have a kitchen built for the Jovian senshi's personal use. It was her homey hideaway from the mounting responsibilities as a guardian of Crystal Tokyo. Tucked away in the private Senshi quarters no one, but Makoto and her friends, would find it.
Waking up in the early morning hours was not an uncommon trait for Makoto. This time however it was not because of bad dreams. Instead of panic inflicted from memories of another time, this panic was caused by something that could be stopped. And oh boy was she going to stop it.
Muttering under her breath she slipped a sweatshirt on over her green pajamas, ran a hand through her bed hair ponytail and began her determined but quiet trip to the kitchen.
Padding stealth-like down the last five stairs, Makoto saw the faint glow of the refrigerator light spilling onto the wall outside of her kitchen. Wanting to catch the person in the act, Makoto was silent as she went down the corridor.
Reaching the entrance she casually leaned on the door frame and got her first view of the intruding, late night eater.
'Oh, what do we have here?'
Hunched inside her refrigerator, clinking glass and breathy words gave away the intent of the mystery person. The next sentence caused a brown eyebrow to rise in question.
"Where is the effing peanut butter …"
"Do you kiss your mommy with that mouth?"
The raider, in surprise, slammed their head hard against the ceiling of the fridge. At the same time a glass jar of jam crashed and broke spilling its gooey mess on the spotless floor. Makoto grimaced, having some sympathy since she knew that skull shattering feeling quite well.
'How elegant.'
With a hand covering his bruised golden head the person stood up straight and was ready to face the wrath of Makoto. In the soft light of the open refrigerator, it revealed a recently revived Shitennou wincing from his sore head and an excellent demonstration of an evil eye being thrown his way.
"Evening Zoisite."
Flicking on the light switch, she approached the man.
"What the hell are you doing here?"
"I was hungry."
"There is the other kitchen for that."
"I like this one better."
Makoto frowned. "You know this is my private facility. You shouldn't even know that it was here."
"Well I found it, didn't I?" He smirked winningly.
Frustrated Makoto said the one thing that would win the little battle; it was of course an extremely cheap shot. But hey she was tired and her personal space was violated.
"Why don't you and your buddies go back into your rocks and leave us alone."
The reaction was immediate. Shoulders that were held in brief victory drooped in depression and Zoisite's head bowed in guilt, curly hair flattening as well. The hand that was rubbing his head fell to his side.
"Where're your cleaning supplies."
"What?" Makoto blinked in surprise
"I want to clean up the jam and then I'll leave and won't come in again."
Makoto wordlessly pointed to the cabinet against the far wall, realizing that she indeed just delivered a mental kick to the nuts, and felt a little bad.
Zoisite quickly moved towards the cabinet and opened it retrieving the necessary supplies.
Managing not to look at Makoto, even though she was standing right in front of the spilled mess, Zoisite made a wad of moisten paper towels and got on his knees to clean up the sticky treat. Taking care not to cut himself on the broken glass, he sprayed disinfectant on the area and dried it. Getting up he tossed out the soiled towels in the garbage. Returning to finish the job he was surprised to see Makoto sweeping up the missed glass into a dustpan.
Standing awkwardly, Zoisite watched her throw out the little shards before he turned around to exit.
"Wait."
One step short of exiting, Zoisite stopped and stared at Makoto.
"What."
The lighting Senshi lost some mental footing when those green eyes stared at hers.
'So sad'
Makoto didn't know what made her do it, probably lack of sleep.
"Umm, well since you helped me clean up that mess I'd though you want something to eat. I remember you mentioning something about peanut butter."
For a second confusion spread across Zoisite's face, but then he relaxed.
"Oh yeah … I was trying to find peanut butter ..." Looking a bit unsure Zoisite decided just to finish the sentence. "So I could make 'ants on a log'."
Makoto's mouth dropped open.
"You want 'ants on a log'?"
Zoisite, like a child, nodded vigorously.
Opening the fridge Makoto retrieved celery from a shelf and the peanut butter, which turned out to be on the door shelf.
"I think that can be arranged." She pointed the celery bag to the table. "Please take a seat while I prepare this."
Hearing the chair grind against the tile floor, Makoto began to assemble the snack. After three minutes of awkward silence she placed the 5 creations on a plate and brought them over to the table. Taking a seat herself she placed the plate in between herself and Zoisite.
Gingerly taking up a 'log', Zoisite inspected every inch of the stalk and deemed it acceptable with a crunch.
Picking up a stalk for herself Makoto watched as Zoisite finished off the first one and reached for a second. The uncomfortable atmosphere needed to be broken.
"Zoisite"
He looked up with celery sticking out of his mouth.
"I want to apologize for that comment earlier. The girls and I have been having a hard time with this whole rebirth thing after … you know, what happened."
Taking the stalk out of his mouth Zoisite met her gaze. His eyes were so serious she was taken aback.
"I know I'm a traitor, Kunzite, Nephrite, and Jadeite share that with me."
'I wasn't expecting him to be that blunt.'
He sighed.
"What makes it so cruel is that we have been forgiven by our liege, even your princess hugged us and said it was all right. And even though we have been given the chance to start afresh our souls have yet to forgive us; our complete and whole soul."
Zoisite looked to the side.
"I don't know if I'm the one who should say this to you, Ami probably already found out or at least has an idea."
Curiosity got the better of Makoto. "What is it, tell me."
"Fine, fine. But you have to swear you won't kill the messenger, even though every word that comes from my mouth is absolutely true."
Strangely Zoisite seemed eager to share his information with Makoto. She nodded allowing him to continue.
"The reason life has been so unpleasant for both the Senshi and the Shitennou is that to a small degree each of our souls is tied with another; soul mates if you'd rather hear it that way."
'Bullshit.'
None the less, before she could properly comprehend anything her initial shock won the battle for the right to use her mouth.
"Bullshit."
Ignoring her, Zoisite continued speeding up his words. "I don't know how or when the soul thing happened, but it has a lasting effect. Clearly even through our various rebirths. Also, I don't know if it affects our behaviors, but it seems to. Might explain why everyone is on edge with each other."
He took a breath, getting ready to clarify his point to unbelieving ears.
"The agitation around here has to do with each of our parties not working as a unit, so because of our connection we are making life extremely unbearable." He started to half mumble to himself at this point. "Of course we Shitennou aren't doing much to make the situation any better; we keep avoiding you out of guilt. While you lot are stubbornly staying in the past. Also, it depends on how hard our other is treating the situation. It's quite a complex situation when you think about it."
Makoto stunned, blinked in attempt to clear her mind from the information overload. Clearly someone had been thinking about this for a while. Meanwhile the so called soul binding expert picked up a third stalk, as if he didn't just drop a bomb load of information on the Storm Senshi.
Fortunately, or not, she found her tongue.
"First off that entire explanation is just ridiculous. Even if it was all true, what do you expect us to do? Jump into your arms like long lost lovers? You must be freakin' kidding! Even without our violent history do you really think souls can be tied? You guys are …"
"The level of the connection is not that extreme. We do not expect you to jump into our arms for a 'Happily ever after'."
He paused, collecting his thoughts.
"How about you forget I mentioned the soul thing. In the end we just want to be able to talk and be treated a level above dirt."
His tone left Makoto speechless, again. He continued.
"I've seen the unpleasant side effects that your fellow Senshi's actions and comments have done to the personalities of my comrades. Kunzite has become so stoical that I sometimes mistake him as a robot, trained as the ultimate warrior. And Jadeite, he's become so reserved I've actually found myself thinking he was replaced by a robot."
Zoisite was clearly releasing pent up rage in his rant.
"Let's not forget about your beau, Nephrite. I've barely talked more than two words to that man because he has disappeared to go off and talk to his damn stars. I'm not surprised Endymion has not sent a search party after him."
Makoto dropped her temporary silence.
"How can you expect us to talk to you, after all that has happened?"
"Well you started tonight."
She gave him a 'Don't fool with me look.'
"You have my word that we shall never turn again."
"That's not good enough, I'm afraid." She said quietly.
"Let me tell you this Jupiter, my word was good enough for not only my liege but for your princess. For years we have been beating ourselves up about it. Endymion has been fortunate not to have made the mistake he made in the past affect his love. He doesn't have to deal with the pain we experience every time we think and see you lot. Doesn't that hold any merit?"
Makoto dwelled over his words. She was scared of her thoughts. The man, men, she thought of as so evil suddenly became so vulnerable. Human.
The sadness, no misery, in Zoisite's eyes didn't come overnight. For years these men had put guilt on themselves while they were trapped in their rock prisons. Now reborn and given the chance to relive life, the Senshi were taking away any hope of normalcy by being absolutely horrid to them. Did she really change that much not to take sympathy on a person?
'Perhaps it's time to change.'
Watching him munch, her mind turned to another piece of information that shook her to the core.
Soul mate.
As ludicrious as the term sounded coming out of Zoisite's mouth, actually now brought back wonderful memories of her dreams as a child. Along the way, her perfect dream life had been taken away by the duties brought about by destiny. But if Zoisite's words were true did that mean her destiny also included a true love?
'No, not right now.'
Though the thought was too good to be true and Makoto decided to tuck that hopeful piece of information away far in her brain. After all she just has to look at Usagi and Mamoru ... perhaps her too?
'No. I'll cross that bridge in time. If it even exists.'
But Zoisite's other words did not fall on deaf ears. Her compassionate side decided to finally come out of hiding.
"I guess I could convince the others to make casual conversation with you guys."
Zoisite stopped mid bite and looked at her as if she was dangling food to a starving man. But when he saw a genuinely kind face looking back he performed his first true smile since returning.
Seeing the smile grace Zoisite's features Makoto couldn't help but show off her own as well.
"Now Zoisite, that is a far better look for you." Makoto's grin spread into her eyes. "If I remember correctly you were a pretty flamboyant man back in the day. I hope to see a lot more of that in the future."
Zoisite gave a small salute. Looking down he reached for the last treat, it seemed while they were talking most of them disappeared into his mouth. He stopped his fingers when they were just an inch away.
"Would you like the last one?"
She smirked
'At least his manners are still in tact … barely.'
"You have it. After all if you didn't come down here I probably wouldn't try and stop acting cruel to you guys."
Zoisite looked touched. But Makoto was truthful, without taking the time to listen to the youngest Shitennou she wouldn't see that they were actually a little human.
'With decades of self inflicted pain.'
She winced at the thought of inflicting so much self mental anguish year after year.
'Ok, maybe more than a little human.'
"Also, I would feel bad denying you your midnight snack."
Chuckling, Zoisite had no hesitation popping the stalk into his mouth and happily munching away.
Picking up the empty plate Makoto placed it in the sink deciding to wash it in the morning.
Hearing Zoisite's chair, Makoto turned to watch him leave.
"Thank you for the food, also for taking the time to listen. That's all I … we ask."
"Well, you're welcome. Next time I'll show you that my true culinary expertise expands much farther than 'ants on a log'. Just ask me next time before stopping by my kitchen uninvited"
Laughing Zoisite waved goodbye, walking down the hall with a small skip to his step. He had the feeling that talking to the Jovian Senshi was going to change things for the better. It may take some time, but the seeds of hope had been planted. Because of that, Zoisite couldn't help plastering a cheesy grin on his face as he returned to his quarters.
Hearing his steps echo and then disappear completely, Makoto flipped the light switch off and exited. Slowly walking down the hall she suddenly found that she gained a new appreciation of celery, peanut butter, and raisins. She was definitely going to include it the next time the girls got together. It would surely be a hit with Usagi and Minako.
Getting ready to climb the second flight of stairs that lead to her room, Makoto stopped. As if being called by a higher voice, she turned sharply on her heel and started to head to the 'back door' that lead to the small woods outside the palace.
'I think I'll try and talk to Nephrite.'
An edited version of my 2007 shitennou/senshi ficathon entry. I believe the theme that year was non couple interaction, so I paired up Makoto and Zoisite.
Hope it flows better than the original. I realize that I was such a silly fangirl with my whole 'Twroo Woves' thing in earlier stories aka anything around 2006. Now I just love the Shitennou as Mamoru's guardians and all that. They can have the girls after getting back with their man. Ha.