It was a usual weekend day. In their small but new home in suburban Tokyo, Kunzite and Zoisite (or, as they were known within human circles, Saito Kunihiro and Saito Izou) were enjoying their third lives peacefully. One was reading the news at the crook of the couch, while the other was by the window, carefully inspecting the leaves of their very lush indoor garden. It was tranquil, quiet, and perfectly idyllic.

Zoisite ran his fingers down the edge of a ribbon of leaf, and sighed.

"Kunzite-sama…"

Kunzite didn't look up from his newspaper, but picked up on the downed note in Zoisite's voice. "What is the matter, Izou?" Although Zoisite responded to both names, Izou was the easier choice to use in their third life, as it was the one they used most often as regular humans. The name Zoisite was of an older era, one that did not need to be brought up in their new, normal lives. Unless they were in bed.

Izou withdrew his fingers and returned to the sofa. "Nothing," he said, though he was in thought.

Kunzite glanced at him out of the corner of his eye. "You seem troubled."

Izou sighed again, and looked out at the bright sunniness of the weekend.

"I suppose, I'm just…bored," he finally said, raising a thumb to his lip to nibble on his nail thoughtfully. "Restless."

Kunzite decided not to remind Izou of his habit. "Your plants are growing well," he murmured conversationally, flipping a page.

Izou crossed his arms and legs and sat back. "They are," he agreed. "But…they've been growing so awfully slowly. And these ones don't talk to me, like the ones back in the Dark Kingdom."

Kunzite had to hide a bit of a smile at the memory.

"I suppose I just miss the presence, the chatter," Zoisite continued. "I mean, we used to have youma crossing us in the background all the time. There was hustle in the house, life."

Kunzite glanced over at the plants as if to ask if any of them were thinking of coming to life any time soon.

Zoisite bit his lip and tugged on his ponytail with a click of frustration. "I just, I need to take care of something more…intelligent. Active. One I could see grow, mark its progress, nurture before my very eyes. One that would love me, for how much I love it."

Kunzite was starting to get mildly alarmed and finally looked over at his lover. "You aren't talking about me, are you?"

Zoisite had to laugh and quickly hid his smile behind his hands. "No, of course not," he reassured. Kunzite had made tremendous progress in this life in regards to their relationship, and the very thought of Kunzite worrying that Zoisite found him boring filled him with a rush of heart warmth. It was nearly as good as Kunzite holding his hand just a little tighter whenever a handsome man would walk passed Zoisite.

"Then…a child?" Kunzite answered instead.

What Kunzite had gained in romantic understanding, he had lost in perhaps other areas of reasoning, and Zoisite immediately balked at the word.

"Excuse me?!"

Kunzite seemed to catch his own mistake and quickly paused short. "Well, that's as I thought," he said, returning to his newspaper immediately, though Zoisite suspected it was to hide his mild embarrassment at the assumption.

Zoisite tried to calm his bristling at the mere thought a child, trying to elegantly push his wavy locks back over an ear and smooth it in place. "Not a child," he said, unable to hold back the slightest bite of jealousy in his voice. In a moment his anger would turn to insecurity, Zoisite knew, and he fought hard onto his annoyance instead.

"I didn't ask," Kunzite's voice came from the newspaper, as though anticipating this very thought. "It wasn't a request."

This helped calm Zoisite down a little bit, but soon enough, uncertainty began to lace back into his voice.

"If not a child," Zoisite finally said, lowering his thumb from his lip, "then…what?"

Kunzite didn't entirely understand the question. He grunted as such.

"If not a child, then, would you-…" Zoisite bit his lip again and took a moment to reorganize his thoughts. "Do you ever have these feelings, Kunzite-sama? For something small, something adorable, something young to nourish and love and protect?"

Kunzite was very sorely tempted to give Zoisite a sidelong look but decided against it. "I have you," he simply answered.

Zoisite felt a little more reassurance rush back into him, but he was still a little hesitant.

"So, you've never wanted a child, then," Zoisite tried to confirm explicitly. This had not ever been a conversation they had ever had, although Zoisite had frequently made it clear he was not good with children. In another life with more uncertainties, he would have even worried that Kunzite would no longer love him for being unable to carry.

"It was more of an expectation at some point in my past life, if I had married a woman," Kunzite answered. "But not really a matter of want. I certainly don't need one, and I am fully content in my future with you."

This was as perfect as an answer Zoisite could ever hope for, yet he was still dissatisfied.

Kunzite picked up on this slight discomfort and finally put his newspaper down. "You don't want a child," he confirmed, looking at Zoisite straight-on.

"No," Zoisite agreed. "I don't."

"But you want something small, to look after. Something more lively than the plant-children."

Zoisite felt a faint smile simmer to his lips. "They're never going to be real," he said almost sadly, remembering how his many waxy flowers would give rise and form to the three dutiful youma-sisters. They had never been children either, having bloomed fully mature, but Zoisite still had a fondness for them not unlike a parent's.

Kunzite's arctic-blue eyes slid narrower in thought. "I'm not sure if there's really a middle-ground between the two, Izou," he tried to say gently. "And anything larger than a fish is going to require an immense commitment."

That's when Zoisite got an idea, and his face brightened excitedly.

"What about a dog?"

—

Several weeks later, the two were at the pet shop looking from kennel to kennel. Ever since Zoisite had gotten this idea in his head, it had been difficult to shake. Not that Kunzite was particularly against it but he himself did not entirely see the point, as he found his life already completely fulfilled with Zoisite in it.

Then again, Kunzite supposed, as they wandered from glass box to glass box, Kunzite had been fulfilled by duty outside of their relationship, and Zoisite understood this well. Perhaps this was Zoisite's equivalent.

"Did you see any you like, Kunihiro-sama?" Zoisite asked.

Kunzite had been keeping his eye out on a particularly large and noble breed, perhaps of wolf-blend. If they were going to get one, he preferred one that was strong and loyal, if in case the house ever burned down.

"What about this one?" he asked, gesturing to a large golden retriever pup.

Zoisite glanced at it and then nearly dismissed it immediately. "Too beautiful," was all he said, and Kunzite wasn't sure what he meant by that. Surely Zoisite wouldn't be jealous of a golden-haired puppy.

They wandered and wandered until finally Kunzite heard Zoisite gasp. He looked down the hall and saw Izou with his face nearly right up against a window, one hand sprawled on the glass.

"Oh my," Izou cooed at the window. "Why hello."

Before Kunzite could come over, the supervisor and already appeared by Zoisite's side. "Would you like to hold him?" they asked.

Zoisite's eyes widened and sparkled. "Yes, please."

When Kunzite finally arrived by Zoisite's side, the puppy was no longer in its kennel. "What did you want to see?" he asked, bringing a hand to lightly touch Zoisite's back. The kennel's sticker read Australian Shepherd.

Zoisite had put a knuckle in between his fingers again, though this time in nervous excitement. "He looked right at me, Kunzite-sama," he whispered. "He put his nose right up against the window where my fingers were."

Kunzite's arm wrapped around Zoisite's waist marginally. "Make sure it's healthy," was all he said.

The supervisor finally came back out and at first Kunzite wasn't even aware she had brought a dog with them. There was simply a small bundle in her arms, hardly bigger than Zoisite's forearm, if that at all. She gently placed it in the crook of Zoisite's arms and unveiled the puppy.

It was small. So small. It was clearly the runt of the litter, with smaller paws and a scrunched up face. It was triple colored, predominantly of light greys, caramels and patches of blacks. A pink nose squirmed against the inside of Zoisite's elbow and when it blearily opened its eyes, they were a stunning ice-blue.

Kunzite glanced back at all the other kennels of perfectly healthy dogs. "Izou…?"

Izou glanced up and it was obvious the answer was already made up. "I love this one," he whispered, his own eyes big and wide. "Look, Kunihiro-sama…it needs us."

There was certainly no question of how vulnerable and pathetic this particular puppy was. Oddly enough, Kunzite could also feel himself starting to be fond it. It was cute, in a scrawny sort of way.

"Isn't he adorable, Kunihiro-sama?"

The corner of Kunzite's lips lifted into a bit of an invisible smile. "Yes," he said. "In fact, he looks a bit like you, Izou."

Both Izou and the saleswoman jumped a little at this remark and Kunzite had to hide his amusement at Izou's expression, caught between being scandalized and amused.

"Kunihiro-sama," Izou admonished.

Kunzite tried to hide his growing smile and turned to the saleswoman, and nodded to indicate they'd take it.

The saleswoman nodded in return and went to draw up the bill. When she disappeared out of sight, Izou flashed Kunzite a bit of a teasing expression in his eyes as well.

"What is it?"

Zoisite looked back down at the puppy and back up at Kunzite.

"He may look like me," he drawled, "but he has your eyes."

"Hm," Kunzite smiled as he wrapped one arm back around Izou's waist. "What will we call him?"

Izou petted the collie's smooth fur a bit as he scrolled through all his favourite European names. Finally he settled on one.

"…Nicholas."