Author's Note: If anybody asks, I had a fairly good 19th birthday this weekend. I've gotten a nice bathrobe so far as a birthday present, and there are more but they're still in my mom's car... which is stuck out in the bad weather. Ah, well. Enjoy this chapter, guys!

-Voltalia

As soon as they had entered, Kunzite turned to Nephrite and gingerly placed her hand on his shoulder. The young girl took it as a cue that she should go off and leave them be.

"Why exactly are you keeping us in the dark about all this?" Nephrite couldn't help but ask. "If this has anything to do with me, I'd really like to know."

"It certainly does, sir." Kunzite asked with a soft smile. "But for the sake of confidentiality, we'll leave it at that."

"What about Rose, though?"

"As I said, she has nothing to worry about. Her husband won't be just a husband, but a guardian if you will."

Nephrite's reaction was an uneasy one, for he seemed ignorant of the direction this conversation was going towards. In a hushed (and rather harsh) tone that seemed to contradict his character as a whole, he responded, "I hope so, because I swear to you in the name of the goddess Marble that if I hear that you've married her off to that walking geode all Gems call Coquimbite or to Zoisite's goddessdamned father Tabby Quartz, I will make you wish you never saw the seasons change."

Kunzite was taken aback by this, but nevertheless continued with composure, "I appreciate your loyalty towards the girl, sir, but I doubt your death threat was necessary. I think it's time we moved on from that subject anyway."

The next morning, Nephrite caught sight of Rose dragging a bag of her possessions (including a pupa representing the queen Jubilee Diamond) behind her. He found himself worrying over her reasoning for this, and thus approached her as she was making her way to the temple entrance.

"Rose, where are you going?" he asked with a slight tremor to his voice. "You're not planning to run off, are you?"

The prepubescent girl turned her head to face her father. "Well, what else can I do if I don't know what's in store for me?" she asked him quietly.

She resumed on her way and was just about to open the door when she felt his arms wrap around her waist and lift her up.

"What are you doing?" she asked out of fright. "Put me down!"

"Rose..." Nephrite began. "You don't have to do this. Now I talked with the priestesses..."

"Y-yes, Nephy?"

"...and they just told me that...that..." He was fumbling with his words.

"That what?"

"...that I am the man they've arranged for you to marry..."

The girl's eyes widened with disbelief and her mouth gaped into a little "O." She couldn't decide whether to be overjoyed or just a bit freaked out; after a few minutes of awkward silence, she eventually went with the former and hugged him.

"Oh, Nephy!" she cried out. "I knew I wasn't going to lose you! I don't think I could bear to live without you!"

"I know it, love." the former chancellor said. "I probably should've gotten the hint when Priestess Kunzite said I'd still be a part of your life even after you were married."

Then there was another silence, this time a frightening and uncertain one. The enormity of the revelation had been the impetus and they both knew it. After a while (probably three or four minutes) of this, Rose broke the silence and asked, "So what can I think of you as now?"

"If there is one thing I know for a fact," he said. "It's that I'll still be your father."

Lilac-hued Kunzite kept fidgeting with her topknot bun over the fountain pool dedicated to the queendom's first ruler Chalcopyrite. It was very clear that she was starting to regret the decision she and the other priestesses had made to choose Nephrite as bridegroom. Her toga was starting to fall apart at the seams and the gem on her stomach had already began to crack. At this point, another priestess named Sulphur had come in to see her. Apparently, the others had grown worried over whether Kunzite was succumbing to mental (and physical) deterioration and thus sent the yellowish-green Gem to check things out.

"My Goddess, Kunzite, you look terrible." Sulphur was quick to observe Kunzite's moderately baggy eyes and gaunt figure.

"Thanks for observing, Sulphur, but my appearance should be the least of anybody's problems." Kunzite replied hoarsely. "Now go away."

Sulphur shrugged and inched herself towards the door. "If you say so..." she quickly grunted under her breath.

"Wait!" Kunzite called out to her.

Sulphur was nearly a foot away from the door when she turned around. "Yes, Kunzite?" she asked, still a bit hurt by Kunzite's irritability.

"Do you think it was a mistake to have Rose be the bride of her surrogate father?"

"Not at all. Why do you ask?"

"Well, lately I've been worrying that Nephrite will start taking advantage of Rose once they're married."

"Kunzite, you said so yourself that he wouldn't do something like that to her."

"I know, but-"

"I detest your use of the word 'but.' Now stop worrying and get on your duties. You'll thank me later."

Sulphur then grabbed Kunzite by the wrist and led her out of the room.