Rei waited until she thought she had calmed down again, and went straight to Usagi. Usagi had a steadying influence on everyone, and she had information.
"I get the feeling that they don't even think of taking Jadeite back. What am I going to do if Kunzite just finds the situation so convenient and amusing that he decides to leave it this way?"
"Oh, I don't think it's so convenient for him right now. After all, Mamoru has given him leave until he has decided about Jadeite."
"Leave? What kind of leave?"
"Well, I don't know really, being off duty, I guess it's like a holiday or so. It's a risk because the only ones who can really fight at the moment are Mamoru and Nephrite, but Mamoru said, he is willing to take it."
"And where is Kunzite now that he is 'on holiday'?"
"At his house of course. He's got it pretty quiet there at the moment. He was so grumpy since Jadeite is gone that the other Shitennou stopped staying there. Even the patient Zoisite has finally teleported his piano in Mamoru's living-room and has his Chopin marathons there."
"He what?" asked Rei and all her tension released into an unstoppable giggle. So I guess now it's time to interfere, Zoisite? She could totally picture Zoisite playing all day, immersed in music, ignoring everything else, and just every now and then shooting a reproachful look at his Master. She was tempted to ask Usagi how many days of this it had taken until Mamoru had given Kunzite "leave".
Usagi looked at her in surprise. "What is so funny? Yes, Mamoru is a bit jumpy at certain pieces, but it is such a wonderful music. I could listen to it all day. I asked Mamoru if we could spend more time at his place so I could listen to Zoisite, but he just says he can hear it wherever he goes anyway, and then he insists we go to some really loud and exciting places. We have lots of fun!"
"That's wonderful, Usagi", said Rei with a grin so big it almost hurt her cheeks. "You really deserve to spend some time with him after you have helped so much with his Shitennou problems."
And because she just felt like paying Mamoru back, she added: "You could ask Zoisite for a CD if you want to hear more of him. Jadeite has one, it's really good."
"Oh, Rei, what a wonderful idea!"
Rei asked Usagi for the directions to Kunzite's house. Usagi wanted to come, but Rei reminded her of how much Mamoru wanted to keep out of this.
"But I am not Mamoru", said Usagi and pouted.
She still does it, thought Rei and smiled. She'll still pout when she is a hundred years old. She would tell Mamoru everything, she always did, that was why Rei didn't want her to come. If she wanted to get anything useful out of Kunzite, she had to go alone.
"I don't know, Rei... maybe you should leave him alone... maybe he needs some time to think..."
"Usagi, it's okay, I just want to talk to him."
"You're not going to yell at him, Rei, right? Promise!"
"Of course not. I will be very nice and polite. I am not going to start a fight. After all, there is nothing that I want more than get rid of Jadeite before it's too late."
xxxxx
The house was nothing special from outside, but the garden was amazing. Huge, for a town house in Tokyo, full of old majestic trees, ample masses of flowers in all colors and shapes, planted everywhere. White and pink rose bushes larger than Rei were also there in great supply, cleverly planted so they'd shield the house from curious gazes.
Rei walked through the garden, lost in the gorgeous sights. She only realized the man in the deck chair under a tree when she almost ran over him.
She gazed at him in surprise. So this was Kunzite's human form? His hair was shorter, falling into his face, he wore glasses (she hadn't expected those), and she recognized the grey and gold from his Shitennou uniform in the grey jacket and yellow turtleneck he wore. He looked good, a bit softer than usual, but not one bit less dangerous. He was on the contrary, a lot more disquietening looking so innocent and surprised. A bit too innocent, thought Rei.
He didn't get up from his comfortable position. He just cocked his head to the side.
"To what do I owe the honor of your visit, Mars?" he asked.
"Just dropping by to see how you are doing. I got a bit worried because I hadn't seen you in a while."
That made him smile at last. His human smile was smaller, almost shy, but the familiar smirk was also faintly there, reminding Rei not to be fooled by apparition.
"In that case, come and have a cup of tea with me, Mars", he said and got up from his chair. They walked over to a nice sunny terrace behind the house, with a table and four chairs, and a vase full of sweet smelling white roses on the table.
"Take a seat, I will be right there", he said and vanished in the house.
Rei sat down and listened, but there was nothing than the wind rustling in the trees, muffled traffic noises and a very faint tinkling that indicated that tea was in the making.
She looked around, still captured by the beauty of the garden.
It wasn't long before Kunzite was back, carrying a tray with a teapot, cups, spoons and even cookies. Judging from the sad look of them, he had either stolen them from Nephrite, or the guys were even worse cooks than Ami.
He sat down with her and poured them tea. His movements were slow and concentrated, and a pleasure to watch.
"Milk? Sugar?"
"No thanks... it's Shin, right?"
"No. Wouldn't want to upset him with so many people around the house. This is Cat."
So he has more than one human form? thought Rei.
"You're a man full of surprises", she conceded with a smile.
He smiled back at her over his tea cup, and that alone was a sight worth the whole trip here. Rei usually wasn't easily charmed by a man, but Kunzite was a species of his own, maybe even a universe of his own, with his own laws of nature, and couldn't be compared to any other man Rei knew. If he hadn't just given her the worst five weeks of her life, she would have been thrilled by other things than withstanding the urge to wipe the smile off his face. Of course, if he hadn't just given her the nightmare that Jadeite was, she wouldn't be sitting here in this lovely place of his, thinking about how much this haircut flattered him.
"You like the garden?" asked Cat.
"Oh yes, it's wonderful. I used to do a lot of gardening at the shrine when I was younger. I miss it."
And you wouldn't believe the damage that Jadeite can do to a nice garden with a simple hack, she thought.
"Sad memories?" asked Cat, aware of the shadow that flew over her face.
"Sort of."
They shared another moment of precious peaceful silence.
"So, why are you avoiding me lately, Kunzite?" Rei finally asked.
"I am?" wondered Cat with a mocking smile. "I wasn't aware we have been seeing each other that much that you'd miss me so."
"You know what I mean. You're the only one who hasn't been over to see Jadeite. Wouldn't it be time you two started talking to each other again?"
Slowly, the smile faded from his face.
"Fed up with him already, Mars?"
"No, I actually get used to having him around, especially now that he is able to make himself useful. But, look, you gave him to me to keep him safe, and promised you'd take him back when the danger was over. So why do you still treat him like an outcast now that you have won over the blade monsters?"
"I never said it was the blade monsters that worried me."
"Then what monster is it that worries you? Because I'd like to know who did that to him so I can go and kick some manners into him."
Cat grinned his Cat-with-a-taste-of-Kunzite grin.
"Getting quite fond of him, are we? Feeling sorry for the brave little two-bladed warrior who got himself between too many bigger blades in battle? Do you think he has never bled before, do you think he never hurt and cried before? Do you think he doesn't know what being a Shitennou can take him into? Your sympathy is wasted on him. If I give him a chance, he'll beg to go through the same again. He has. And he will."
Rei stared at him in shock. She felt tears in her eyes, and the calm self-control that she had sworn to keep up with Kunzite was blown away. She lept to her feet. With a cry of fury, she took her tea cup and threw the tea into his face. What would she have given to thrust a fire ball instead!
"Cut it out, Kunzite!" she yelled at him. "You think you can fool me? I descend from a long line of assholes who disguise their feelings with cold and cruel behaviour, so don't you try that cheap trick on me! I can see right through that."
Cat stared at her in disbelief through his tea-speckled glasses, wiping tea from his face with one hand. Rei was glad he wasn't entirely like the real Kunzite who maybe would have tried to run her through with his sword at this point. Rei took a deep breath and tried to calm down, but it was hard. She shot Cat another gaze of contempt.
"Don't talk about him like you owned him, and like you didn't care, you just reveal your insecurity. So you don't trust your emotions, am I right? How come so suddenly? You've never been one to feel ashamed."
"Why would I need to be ashamed of anything?" asked Cat with an unmistakeably Kunzite-like snarl.
"Then why are you acting so guilty?" asked Rei.
"Guilty?" he exclaimed. "I am not acting guilty!"
"It's the only explanation why you'd avoid him. You definitely have guilt written all over your forehead, and I don't care, I don't even want to guess what you could be guilty of, I just don't want to be involved!
Mamoru says you two are to sort it out among yourselves. But Kunzite, if you just delay this to make Jadeite and yourself suffer, I will not be a part of this any longer. Jadeite can move over to Usagi any day, she already promised she'll take good care of him. It was bad enough you used me to help him - but you will not use me to punish him, and not even to punish yourself. If you want me to punish you, you just have to ask, and not sit here in your garden and sulk. I am not the nanny in this kindergarten, to run after every little Shitennou who has skimmed his knees or his pride."
This little Shitennou couldn't take it any longer. He lept from his chair and with a flash of golden light, took his Shitennou shape... another human shape... another shape... another monstrous one... and another one... and became Cat again, panting, leaning over with his hands on the table, his eyes cold and furious through his glasses, but his self-control restored.
Rei gave him a malicious smile.
"So, tell me, when will you take Jadeite back?"
He just glared at her.
Soft, almost unhearable, some faint notes drifted through the garden.
Cat jerked back his head and yelled: "Zoisite! Stop it! Don't you dare sneaking up on me! Come here and show yourself if you have to listen to other people's private conversations!"
With a silvery swish and a mild smile, the best teleporter of the Shitennou solidified next to Rei.
"Hello, Zoisite", Rei said, calm and casual, although her heart was still pounding.
"Hello, Mars."
Zoisite's smile got wider and a lot less pleasant when he turned to Cat.
"So, Kunzite", he said, "when will you bring Jadeite back? I was also beginning to wonder, you know."
xxxxx
"When?" asked Cat coolly and straightened. "It's not even certain I will have him back at all."
Zoisite laughed. "Are we back at 'Just because he is so good with magic and so fast with his blades and so faithful and devoted, and so all mine when I melt him down with a smile, I don't have any use for him as a Shitennou'? Kunzite..."
Zoisite reached over with a white-gloved hand, gently touched Cat's chest and returned him in his Shitennou form.
"Stop letting that cold-blooded bastard do the thinking for you", he said. "He's bought you enough time, now you need to return to us, and bring Jadeite back."
The real Kunzite shook off away Zoisite's hand in one fast movement, but he wasn't as angry as Rei had expected. They had sat down around the table again, and Zoisite, when Kunzite didn't have any intent to offer him tea, just materialized a cup and poured himself some, fully aware that Kunzite disapproved of this.
"That's not upon you to decide. The Master has given me free reign in this matter."
"You heard me, Kunzite. Nothing you can say is going to change my mind."
Kunzite gave him a long, calculating stare that Zoisite just returned.
Finally, Kunzite sneered.
"Obviously," he said. "But I haven't heard any clever ideas from you of how to deal with him. He is out of control, and it only got worse all the time. I don't see how I would allow him to get us killed next time he has one of his 'moments'.
The way Jadeite is now, he is of no use for us."
"That's not true!"
"He charged me in the middle of a battle! I had his damn dagger at my throat!"
"I am certain he won't do that again."
"Yes, he will", said Rei.
They both turned to her in astonishment.
"You don't see the problem, do you?"
"Which problem?" demanded Kunzite to know.
"The weight of the world on his shoulders. The end of the world on the tip of his sword. And you between him and his mission."
"Ah..." said Zoisite. "Noone wants to tell me about this. What did you do, Kunzite?"
Kunzite shot him a grim look. "Keep him from selling the last bit of his soul to that witch."
"He took the blow that Jadeite had aimed at Metallia in Endymions body", explained Rei, trying to get it over as dry and simple as possible, but she couldn't help shivering. It could all have ended there, she thought. It could all have been so much less painful...
Zoisite turned to Kunzite, unbelieving. "And you couldn't just block it? A blow from Jadeite?"
"Wouldn't have been enough. Had to stop him dead in his tracks." He smirked. "Maybe I was just curious to see if he would step over my dying body to kill his Master."
"He didn't?"
Kunzite chuckled. "Are you kidding? Of course not. I would have killed him weeks ago if I had ever thought there was no more left of him than just an empty shell. He ran like the devil was after him."
Zoisite shook his head. "Kunzite..."
"What? If I teach someone a lesson, they will remember it."
"Yeah", sighed Rei. "That's the problem." Past and present, she thought. "And how about you, Zoisite?" she asked.
"Me?"
"Jadeite ran away at the mere sight of you. He makes mistakes that almost kill you. You think he can stand being around you all the time, fighting alongside you? How is that supposed to work? From all that he did to any of you in the Dark Kingdom, he blames himself most for your death."
"But he didn't kill me!" wondered Zoisite.
"Right," sneered Kunzite. "It was entirely your own fault that you died a stupid, pointless death."
The tired look that Zoisite shot him told Rei that he heard this often.
"But he..." Rei hesitated. Were these things for everyone's ears? But she had no choice. If she wouldn't settle things with Zoisite and Jadeite, she'd end up with having to keep the boy. She plunged forward. "He says you died because back in the Dark Kingdom... he broke you."
Zoisite quickly looked away. Then, almost a whisper, he sayd: "Yes. He did." He lifted his head and looked at Rei. "But I... broke him first." He took a deep breath. "I have known Jadeite all his life. I helped to train him. I know him inside out. We're close. And still, I forced my will upon him when he was under the curse. I should have known better. I should have known he would never be able to make this choice, that I would only hurt him. But... I just couldn't... give him up... to her."
"And why would you? Look what she's done to him!"
"No... she was always gentle with him. The curse wouldn't have hurt him if I hadn't interfered."
"Gentle? Like when she forced Nephrite to kill himself before his eyes? I have seen Jadeite's face on that day. She would have done the same to any of you, including Jadeite, and not felt remorse for a second."
"Yes, and there was no escape for him, so why pretend? The right thing would have been to sooth his doubts and send him back to her after that, so she wouldn't have a reason to test his loyalty. Instead, I tore him in two when I had the chance. I went so hard on him that Kunzite had to interfere."
Kunzite smirked. "That was only necessary because you are always too soft with him. No need to go soft with Jadeite. It'll just scare the hell out of him if you get suddenly serious."
He's doing it again, thought Rei. She smiled knowingly at him, and he shot her an angry look back.
"From what I have seen, Jadeite did exactly what Zoisite wanted", said Rei, "Sooth his doubts, return under Beryls reign, turn his stupid little heart towards her and tell himself what a nice person she was underneath all the cruelty she put him through."
"Yes," sneered Kunzite. "We know what Jadeite is like."
"Yes", said Zoisite sadly. "Because we trained him to be like this. I thought it'd make him useful for us if his hand could be forced easily. I never thought about how vulnerable it would make him. I just assumed he'd never slip out of our hands."
"Oh, Zoisite, stop it!" called Rei and Kunzite simultanously. They shot each other a surprised look.
"An ego as big as the planet, will you be giving yourself credit for the sun rising next or what?" said Rei.
Kunzite laughed. "She is right, Zoiste. It's Jadeite's nature. You can't blame yourself. He had orders to kill the Master slowly, and he did, and you bet he didn't hesitate.
If Jadeite says he is guilty, then I will take his word for it. He let his desire to obey take control over his tiny brain, and he knows he deserves we are mad at him."
"I am not mad at him," said Zoisite. "How could I?"
"You're doing it again", said Kunzite. "You're letting your wish to pet him win over your common sense. He doesn't want forgiveness, Zoisite. He refuses it with all his power. He wants punishment. More than he can take, at least from me. I would really appreciate your help in this matter."
Zoisite shook his head.
"There has to be another way. I will not repeat the mistake to use force on him again."
Kunzite shrugged.
"Then prepare not to see him in a long while. I am not going to have a loose cannon around."
"That is ridiculous!" snapped Zoisite with a lot more venom that Rei had ever expected from him. "I can see him whenever I like, I just need to go there. Who is the one who is not seeing anyone? How much longer do you want to wait until you go out, get a decent apology out of Jadeite and bring him home? My goodness, Kunzite, is that so difficult?"
Kunzite's lips curled in disgust.
"It's going to take more than an excuse before I can stand the sight of him again."
"Kunzite! This is not about you! Jadeite is young and confused, he needs our advice to get through this."
"I am not going to waste my breath on 'advice' for him. Someone decided he is old enough to get a uniform, a dagger and a place in battle. So am I to pretend he is not old enough to face the consequences? His apprentice days are over. If he is still young and confused, it'll hit him full force in the face. Only way to get through to his brain, in my opinion."
Rei let out a deep groan. "I really must stop hanging around you guys before anything you say starts making any sense. Is that all you can come up with?"
"And you have a better idea to bring Jadeite to his senses?" asked Kunzite sarcastically.
"You bet I do, but you are not going to like it. Shouldn't you who know him all his life know how to calm him down? Isn't his sanity a lot more your business than mine? Come on, make an effort, don't leave it all to me."
"Or you will come yelling at me again?" grinned Kunzite.
"I wouldn't rely on it if I was you. As I said, it's not really my job to run after you."
Rei took her handbag and got up.
"Kunzite, I am not going to wait forever until you guys make up your minds. If you wait too long, I might not give you the boy back at all. Because in all honesty, I don't think you deserve him."
"Nani?"
But she didn't respond, or turn back, she just walked away.