Title
: Wipe Out
Fandom
: Sailor Moon (anime) Dark Kingdom
Pairing
: Kunzite / Zoisite
Rating
: a bit of violence and hints of sex
Copyright
: Zoisite, Kunzite, Sailor Moon and the rest are the property of
Naoko Takeuchi and Toei Animation, if I recall.
Author's notes : And that would be the epilogue. I hesitated to write it, so depending on what kind of ending you like better, if you don't like this one you may be wanting to ignore it and pretend that the story ends at the previous chapter. I won't feel offended g
Chapter 14 (Epilogue) : Redeemed?
It's a brand new spring day. Cherry trees are in bloom, and Tokyoites are out to watch their delicate flowers. Usagi Tsukino and her friend Naru Osaka are enjoying their day off with a walk, chatting like any other care-free schoolgirls, of teen crushes and fancy dreams for their future.
They pass by a modern building and take a peek through the wide window panes, at the scene inside.
Usagi gazes with envy at the beautiful women moving and posing in front of a photographer. Some others are getting ready, trying on original designers creations.
"Ooooh, models, I'd love to look like them and work like they do! It must be so exciting to travel around the world, being on the cover of magazines..."
"I don't know, Usagi, I think I like having my family and a peaceful life. I'm not sure that they are all that happy."
"Come on Naru, what is not to like about this life? People would admire my beauty and see my talent!"
"What could you ever model for? Meatballs?"
Usagi turns to the guy who just said this in a gently mocking tone. He's tall, a few years older than her, with black short hair. She recognizes him as Motoki's friend, the one who always teases her. She sticks her tongue out at him and paces away, followed by a giggling Naru.
Inside the buiding of Supernatural Beauties, behind the photographer, two men watch them as they leave.
"So... They really lost all their memories then?"
"As we had told you, Lord Kunzite. Some of us followed them for a while to make sure, and they don't even seem to recognize each other. We suspect that the cats still know, though, so we always avoided to appear to them in youma shape."
Zoisite sniggers.
"It's too good to be true. As long as they stay out of our way..."
Kunzite drags him closer and buries his face in his copper gold hair.
"Luck usually smiles to their kind. We should consider moving to other countries, at least for the two of us that the cats might recognize. I'm not sure that our deal would stand since they lost the memory of it, too."
He remembers...
A burning light grows to totally fill my sight. Already drained by the energy I have thrown in the battle, I can't shield it and have to stop my own attack to even resist it. Through the thunder and roar of light crumbling Beryl's defense, echoes of a victorious music seem to resonate in my ears, but maybe it's just exhaustion taking its toll.
I hug Zoisite fiercely and turn my back to the light to protect him from the Ginzuishou's healing power, despite knowing how hopeless it is.
The light is so bright that I can see it through my closed eyelids...
Warmth. Weight. Silence. Breath. Weight.
Impressions start to come back, one by one as if my brain needed to input them separately before it would start working properly.
The silence is not complete. I can hear my own breath, even though it costs me to breathe in, with a weight on my chest and muscles feeling numb. I try to move my legs, but they seem to be entangled with something, and they're still too weak to shake the obstacle.
Now, it's not just my breath, it's... one another that is getting strong enough for me to hear. I attempt to raise my arms and realize that they're clasped around something. Someone.
Memories flow back.
"Zoisite?"
I open my eyes, and the dim light is enough for my Tennou sight to discern his fair hair, his head tucked against my neck, and around us, a modern Earthian room. Flood starts to flow faster in my limbs, and I move him slightly aside, quickly checking if he's injured. He's still wearing his Tennou uniform, and seems healthy, though inert.
Before I can draw conclusions from this, Zoisite shivers and opens his eyes. He blinks a few times, focuses on me and weakly snuggles back against me, obviously as numb as I was some time ago.
I'm lost for words and stay silent for a few seconds, relishing this carefree moment, before I have to break it and ask.
"Do you think we are alive?"
He cuddles closer and I can nearly hear his pout in his voice.
"Does it matter? We're free, safe, and in a comfy place."
Ah... In a way, it's so typical of him that I can't help but smiling. But I am more curious and distrustful than he is.
"Aren't you curious to know what happened?"
He sighs, his face still buried against my neck, hot breath against my skin.
"Either we're dead, or Metallia lied."
The words shatter my quietness. Despite my recent betrayal, I had never paused to consider my feeling towards Metallia. I was angry at the liberty she gave to Beryl of ruining our world, but I had mostly aimed my resent at the red-haired queen, rather than to my Goddess.
She had given me life. She was everything I knew and everything that remained stable during my long life, while the Earthian kingdoms rose and fell around me, each time we were trapped for centuries after one lost battle or another.
Even though she had supported Beryl against me, and tried to use Zoisite against me, I had never questioned the loyalty I owed her and our connection. She had given us life, her death would be our death too.
A discreet sound, someone knocks at the door. I wonder if I have gathered enough energy for a shield, but I figure enemies wouldn't bother announcing themselves.
Upon my request, Bandana comes in with a slight limp. She still bears a few half healed scars.
"I thought I had heard you. How do you feel?"
"Confused", I say. "What happened?"
Saiyuki follows Bandana in the room.
"The sky was getting dark here when we came back, until we felt Metallia's power vanishing. I teleported at the D Point to see what happened, and found only you and Zoisite, unconscious in the ice. I brought you back here, and the healer tried to awaken you, but you were both in the Deep Sleep. She treated the wounds and said we should let you recover."
The Deep Sleep... The lethargic state in which we fall when our energy level gets too low, the one that we were usually thrown into when heroes of one kind or another banned us from Earth for a while. That explains the numb limbs and confusion, since it slows down our functions to a vegetative stasis.
I had always assumed that it was related to Metallia being sealed, but it may have been a lie, too.
"Metallia?..."
"We could find no trace of her energy, or Beryl's."
"And yet..."
I think that they feel some of my discomfort as Saiyuki completes my sentence.
"And yet we all survived. All the youmas who managed to retreat here before the final fight. We think some others may have escaped, but we haven't met any yet. What happened on your side?"
I tell them about Metallia fusing with Beryl, and her fight against Sailor Moon and us.
"Any sign of Sailor Moon?"
"We're still looking for her. She hasn't come for us either."
Zoisite turns his face to them.
"How long did we sleep?"
"Four days."
He frowns and wrinkles up his nose.
"I need a bath."
The youma smile.
"We would have taken your clothes off for the Deep Sleep, but you wouldn't let go of each other."
And it didn't change much, as Zoisite hasn't released his grip on me ever since he awakened. I ignore the girls' affectionate grins.
They tell us that they furnished Nephrite's mansion to host all the survivors. Mostly my youmas, though not all of them. The healer has been very busy when they came back from the Dark Kingdom, and had mostly done the vital work, thus Bandana's limp.
So, there we are. Alive, free, armed with powers, and wondering what to do with those lives. More fights, conquering Earth for our own account... Or doing like Bandana, blending in among humans.
I look at Zoisite, who missed the sun when he lived in the Dark Kingdom. He has been changed by the experience. Not quite as clingy as he used to be when he was my student, not quite as distant as when he was my soldier. Not quite as insecure either, and no longer feeling the need to prove humans that he is more powerful than they are. Less my pet lover and more my peer.
I guess I like it better that way. We probably deserve some holidays to adjust. Long holidays.
The end now
