"How did they die?"

"Hm?"

"Nephrite and Zoisite. How did they die?"

Kunzite huffed and crossed his arms. The two generals were sitting high up in a tree on a strong, sturdy branch, the two men having a clear view of the Hikawa Shrine below them form which they surveyed suspicious activity. "Zoisite killed Nephrite. Beryl killed Zoisite," he said emotionlessly, and Jadeite growled.

"But why? Why did it happen?"

The icy general sighed, rubbing his tired eyes. "Zoisite was killed for repeated failures at securing the Silver Crystal. Nephrite was killed for going against Beryl's orders and acting on his own. It was my understanding that it was because of some human."

"I'm sorry," Jadeite said sadly. "About Zoisite. I know how much you cared about him. I kind of liked him too."

"I'll have him back soon." The white haired man closed his eyes, yawning as he leaned against the tree's trunk. "Why do you want to be human so badly?"

"Kunzite, what the hell else am I supposed to do?" Jadeite snapped, but his demeanor was hopeless, as if he were a lost child. "I've got nobody and nothing to go back to. The Dark Kingdom is gone, so all that's left for me is here. How can I live here if I'm not human? I'll be an outsider no matter where I go. And like this, I'm still considered a threat by the senshi, and they will not stop hunting me until that ends."

"I suppose it's a noble idea," Kunzite said softly. "But in your desire to be human, don't lose yourself in the process. Faking feeling as you did before does not make you human, and nor does it make those emotions real. It will only make you emptier in the end."

"I don't need you to tell me that…"

"Perhaps you should ask our master what to do," the pale eyed man suggested. "I'm sure he'll have an idea of how to help you."

"Well, what about you?" the younger man asked. "You're in the same boat. The senshi will kill you if you're not human. What will you do when it's all over?"

The icy general shrugged, breathing deeply as he relaxed. "Simple. I will continue to follow him. No doubt getting the crystal is only the beginning. And I suppose in the end, I will end up with him in a place away from the senshi and their ridiculous war against the creature of darkness." The cold man opened his eyes, squinting against the sun as he looked over the temple grounds. "Let us remember, our master isn't human either."

"And you're willing to give up the light to fit in?"

"You can't hate the dark if you've lived your whole life without the knowledge of light. I will not reject who I am so that I may be accepted by a group of girls who I despise."

"I hate the senshi too," Jadeite said softly. "But I think that being made human is going to help the rage and anger go away. It's eating me alive, Kunzite, and I don't know how much longer I can take it."

"You listen to me, Jadeite," the pale eyed man said sternly, coming across as a father figure to the younger teen. "Being human? It's not going to change that. All that will change is that you'll be powerless. Your hopes, your fears, everything that you are will stay. And then you will truly be alone."

"I'll…I'll have other humans…"

"Who will never understand you, creature of the dark. You will be even more of an outsider than before because you can't even be together with your own people."

"So what should I do?" the blond general asked frantically, and the larger man rolled his eyes.

"Don't think about it," Kunzite growled. "It's getting in the way of you doing your job. Just do what's necessary and decide later." He stopped and glared at the man for a moment. "And all this human talk is making you pathetic. Knock it off."

"Hey!" the blue eyed man shouted. "At least I didn't sit around moping in a frozen cave for years!" The much larger man smirked slightly, and it only served to make Jadeite angrier.

"See, Jadeite, this is you. Foolish and hot tempered. Brooding just doesn't suit you."

Jadeite sat and thought about this for a moment. "But I've been feeling that what we're doing just isn't right."

"You're also paranoid and neurotic," Kunzite drawled. "You're just nervous. Relax."

Finally, Jadeite's tense shoulders relaxed, and he laughed softly. "Yeah. Yeah, you're right. I'll ask what to do about it later."

Kunzite closed his eyes and huffed. "Took you long enough, idiot."

"I'm going to put glass in your food if you don't watch it…" Jadeite's eyes fell on a man walking up the steps of the shrine, and he quickly nudged his comrade in the ribs. "Hey, look there."

He lazily opened one of his pale eyes, and as soon as he focused on the figure that Jadeite was indicating, his eyes shot open and he stared intently at the tall, strong man. "I've seen him."

"Yeah," the King of the East said slyly. "We fought against him when we attacked the Moon Kingdom."