Chapter 33: It's getting hot in here

[Scene: A meadow that no one has stepped foot in since the dawn of time. Kunzite and Zoi are lying back to watch the sunset, with appears in stunning technicolor.]

Kunzite: [Sighs] I guess even the strongest of us fall off the wagon.

Zoi: [sighs sadly] So there is no hope for us, is there?

[Kunzite draws Zoi close]

Kunzite: No, no. Of course there's hope. I really meant what I said about not doing anything that might hurt you.

Zoi: But you also said I'm like heroin.

Kunzite: And you are. [smiles as he strokes Zoi's hair] but I care too much now to allow my baser animal instincts to destroy whatever good will you might have for me.

Zoi: [picks up on his exact wording] You care too much…now?

Kunzite: [nods with an evil smile] It took everything I had not to throw you on that lab table and take you in front of that class full of children.

Zoi: [laughs at how far Kunzite's words differ from his own memories] Is that why you sat so far away from me?

Kunzite: I had to… You must have thought I was possessed.

Zoi: I couldn't understand why you would hate me so quickly.

Kunzite: [caresses Zoi's hair] This face, this hair, that body…I thought it would make me deranged that first day. In one hour I thought of a hundred different ways to lure you from the school with me, to get you alone. And I fought them all back. I didn't even know why. This was long before I knew my mind control doesn't work on you. Using mind control on you would have made things very simple.

Zoi: [gives Kunzite a coy smile] You didn't need mind control. I would have followed you anywhere.

[Kunzite nods, but his eyes become somber and he looks away]

Kunzite: I tried to rearrange my schedule in a pointless attempt to avoid you. And you were there, in that warm little room. I very nearly took you then. It would have been easy. There was only one other frail human there to dispose of. A soulless administrator I could have brutally murdered right in front of you, and then you would have been too terrified to do much of anything. She has no idea how close of a call she had. It would have been no great loss.

Zoi: [giggles] Poor Mrs. Cope.

Kunzite: But I resisted. I don't know how. I forced myself not to wait for you. Not to follow you home from school. It was easy when you weren't there anymore, to think clearly, to make the right decisions. I avoided the others – my brothers and my sister. I didn't want them to see how weak I was. They knew something was very wrong. They told mother I'd been behaving strangely, and they hoped it would be something that might cost me her favor. They were right, you know. She wouldn't have been pleased to know what I was feeling for you then, and she certainly won't be pleased now. I had half a mind to leave Hen Tie and never come back.

Zoi: You wanted to leave? Because of me?

Kunzite: [nods] I almost asked her if I could go on a long mission somewhere else, just to escape you and the troubles you would bring me.

[Kunzite looks down, shamefaced]

Kunzite: It was hard to believe you were so irresistible. I convinced myself it was weak to run away. I'd dealt with temptation before, never of this magnitude, not even close. But I was strong. Who were you, this insignificant little boy, to have such power over the First among the Kings?

[Zoi looks at Kunzite with big serious eyes.]

Kunzite: I took precautions. I drained entire crowds of people before seeing you to give myself the power to ignore you. It didn't work. Still, I was sure I was strong enough to treat you like any other human. I was arrogant about it. I wanted you to forget my behavior the first day, so I tried to talk to you like I would any other person. I was eager, actually, to prove my superiority.

[Kunzite smiles and toys with a lock of Zoi's hair]

Kunzite: But you were too alluring…Every time I saw you, you would take my breath away. I was enthralled by your beauty. Don't get me wrong, it was a terrible feeling, that weakness, that loss of control. Of course, then you were nearly crushed to death right in front of me. I should have welcomed it. It would have solved everything. All I had to do was stand back and do nothing. It should have done nothing. Displaying my powers the way I did in front of that many witnesses was pure idiocy. But all of that occurred to me later. All I could think at that time was, "Not him."

[Kunzite closes his eyes, Zoi summons to courage to speak]

Zoi: What happened at the hospital? I am still very confused about that. I thought I was imagining things, but after everything that's happened… I heard your mother say she wanted to eat me. But you stopped her. Right?

[Kunzite gives Zoi a sad look]

Kunzite: I'd rather you didn't know.

Zoi: You should tell me.

Kunzite: You have no idea how close you came to be murdered by my family that day.

Zoi: [Remembers Metalia in her naga form] I think I have a pretty good idea.

Kunzite: No, you don't. Mother wanted to kill you right away, of course, but when I explained your unique nature, she put it to a vote. The general consensus was that you are more trouble than you are worth. The decision to let you live, after everything you had witnessed, was far from unanimous.

Zoi: Might I ask what the result was?

Kunzite: [narrows his eyes] Are you sure you really want to know?…my family….we are not benevolent creatures…

Zoi: [nods] If I'm going to be involved with you, I'll need to know what I'm dealing with.

Kunzite: You are a clever boy. [sighs sadly] My inability to influence your recollections poses quite a problem for us. Nephrite and Jadeite insisted you should be disposed of, and quickly, before can create further problems for us. Beryl agreed with me that you merited further study. Not out of any great love for either me or you, but because she's just shrewd enough to know anything that makes me beholden to her only increases her own power.

[Kunzite takes hold of Zoi's hand]

Kunzite: Mother was ready to render the tiebreak so we could drain you into a lifeless corpse, until I swore I'd take full responsibility for any consequences of sparing your life and the life of your friend. That influenced the others right away. It's not every day I place my neck in a noose like that, and they certainly aren't going to interrupt me while I'm doing something that self-destructive.

Zoi: It sounds like you're constantly at each other's throats.

Kunzite: [gives Zoi a half smile] That's the trouble with being evil. It's not the good guys you have to watch out for… Evil is always brought down by another evil… Despite my promises to my mother, I expected you to go tattle to your friends. I tried to plan for it. The next day I was shocked when you kept your word not to tell anyone. I didn't understand you at all. But I knew I couldn't become more involved with you. I had to stay as far from you as possible. And every day, the perfume of your skin, your breath, your hair, it hit me as hard as the first day.

[Kunzite looks at Zoi with surprising tenderness]

Kunzite: And for all that, it would have been far better if I had just taken you that first day. If I had let you be killed by that van. If I'd let my family do away with you.

Zoi: Why?

Kunzite: [stokes Zoi's hair] Zoisite. I've allow myself to become way too fond of you. You are the most important thing in the world to me now. The most important thing to me ever.

[Zoi looks away and blushes, then summons the courage to meet Kunzite's eyes again]

Zoi: You already know how I feel, of course. I'm here… which roughly translated, means I'd rather die than stay away from you.

Kunzite: That just means you're a fool.

[Zoi and Kunzite both laugh.]

Kunzite: [lies back and sighs] So the lion fell in love with the lamb…

Zoi: [lies back and smiles] What a stupid little lamb.

Kunzite: What a sick, masochistic lion.

[They lie there in silence]

Zoi: So what can I do to make this easier for you?

Kunzite: How do you mean?

Zoi: Why do you need to consume so much energy to be around me? I'll have to be on my guard, you see, so I'd better learn what I shouldn't do. This for example [strokes Kunzite's arm] seems to be okay.

Kunzite: Zoisite, you never do anything wrong. It's all me.

Zoi: But I want to help, if I can, not to make this harder for you.

Kunzite: Well… [roguish grin] It was just how close you were. Most humans tend to shy away from me. I wasn't expecting you to come so close. [his grin widens] And then you kept exposing your belly to me.

Zoi: Ok, no belly exposing.

Kunzite: [laughs] No really, it was more surprise than anything else.

[Kunzite reaches out and slowly peels Zoi's top up to his ribcage.]

Kunzite: You see? Perfectly fine.

[Zoi's blood is racing now. He shifts his hands to his lap to try to be subtle.]

Kunzite: The blush on your cheeks is lovely.

[Zoi tries to hide his face but Kunzite brushes Zoi's cheek with his hand and then takes his face in both of his hands]

Kunzite: [whispers] Be very still.

[Zoi, of course, is already paralyzed]

[Kunzite leans closer, never taking his eyes off Zoi's until he places his cheek at the hollow at the base of Zoi's throat. With deliberate slowness, Kunzite caresses his way down the sides of Zoi's neck with both hands. Zoi shivers and Kunzite's breath catches, but Kunzite's hands do not slow as they make their way to Zoi's shoulders. Then Kunzite's face drifts to the side, his lips skimming Zoi's neck all the way to his sternum. Then he brushes his nose against the front of Zoi's chest downward until he reaches his navel. He kisses it gently, then he comes to a rest with the side of his face against Zoi's belly with a contented sigh.]

[Zoi is convinced hours pass like that before his pulse slows.]

[Then Kunzite sits up, his eyes are peaceful]

Kunzite: See? That wasn't so difficult.

Zoi: Was that very hard for you?

Kunzite: [smiles roguishly] Not nearly as bad as I imagined it would be. And you?

Zoi: It wasn't bad for me at all.

Kunzite: You know what I mean.

[Zoi smiles]

Kunzite: Here [takes Zoi's hands and places them against his face] I don't blush the way you do, but do you feel how warm I am right now?

[Zoi smiles with a roguish look in his eyes]

Zoi: [whispers] Don't move.

Kunzite closes his eyes and Zoi leans closer, caressing Kunzite's cheek with his hand, then kissing his ear quickly before taking Kunzite's earlobe between his teeth then trailing his lips down the side of Kunzite's neck, unable to resist the urge to give him a tiny little lick at his collarbone.]

[Kunzite's eyes open and they are filled with desire. Zoi knows he should be afraid but his pulse is hammering in his veins.]

Kunzite: [brushes his hand through Zoi's hair] I wish you could feel….the complexity… the confusion I feel… That you can understand…

Zoi: Tell me.

Kunzite: I don't think I can. I've told you of the hunger, I've told you what a deplorable creature that I am. I think you might understand a little, but I don't think you can fully empathize.

Zoi: I may understand better than you think.

[Kunzite shakes his head, just a little]

Kunzite: I'm not used to feeling so human. Is it always like this?

Zoi: For me? No, never. Never before this.