Chapter 91: Metalia Repents
[Scene: Zoi's hospital room. Zoi's father is sleeping in a chair. His mother has returned and is sleeping on the sofa. Kunzite is sitting in a chair looking at Zoi.]
[Outside the window is a warm haze breaking through the clouds. It's almost sunny. Kunzite doesn't like the sun, but in this instance, it's oddly comforting to him.]
[There is a flutter and a sparrow flies in from the hallway and lands on Zoi's pillow.]
[Kunzite smiles fondly as the sparrow hops onto Zoi's brow and cocks its head to look at him]
[His smile vanishes as it pecks at the corner of Zoi's eyelid.]
Kunzite: Hey! Get out of here!
[He lunges and grabs the bird in his fist. Then carries it to the window and releases it outside.]
Metalia: You should have killed it.
[Kunzite turns to see his mother standing in her lab coat.]
Metalia: The Kunzite I knew would have squeezed it until its bones cracked.
Kunzite: [grins with honest affection] Wasn't that my replacement? Weren't you going to make him first among kings?
Metalia: Bah. I've given up on that. Some animals are too wild to be kept in cages [give Kunzite a pointed look] just as some beasts are too domesticated to be released into the wild.
[She looks at Zoi's mother who is stirring in her sleep.]
Metalia: In a few minutes she will meet with a woman who will put her in the right frame of mind to sign his final paperwork. My heart goes out to her.
Kunzite: Does it, Your Grace? Really?
Metalia: [smiles coldly at him] Does that surprise you? I am a mother, first and foremost. There can be nothing heartbreaking than the prospect a child's untimely death. [Her voice takes on an evil tone] Even when her child is such a stubborn and thankless lout.
Kunzite: Zoisite is neither stubborn, nor a thankless lout.
Metalia: I wasn't talking about Zoisite.
[Kunzite gives her a surprised look]
Metalia: And he's far more stubborn than you realize. But enough about him. I came to apologize.
Kunzite: [even more surprised] Oh?
Metalia: Stripping you of my favor was a mistake. A near fatal one, or so I have been informed.
[Despite her words, Metalia's voice is as cold as always.]
Metalia: As my eldest, I hold you to a higher standard. You've served me faultlessly, so I've come to expect nothing less. I'm starting to see I was a bit unjust.
Kunzite: [smirks fondly] In other words, in my short absence, you've come to realize how much I do for you, and how much you take me for granted. Now that your flock is without its sheepdog, and you have to deal with them directly, you want everything to go back to the way it was when everything was easier.
Metalia: Yes. It's mostly that.
Kunzite: I thought so.
Metalia: I did not give your brothers permission to attack you.
Kunzite: You disowned me. They no longer need your permission.
Metalia: True, but it was only meant to be temporary. Until you learned your lesson, just as Beryl learned her lesson.
[Kunzite snorts in hurt amusement as if a cruel prank had gone awry.]
Metalia: When it comes to these matters, you lack Beryl's capacity for learning, don't you?
Kunzite: I suppose I do.
[Metalia turns her head to regard Zoi]
Metalia: In a few minutes we will be freeing up that bed for someone else. Are you ready to say your final goodbyes to him?
Kunzite: No.
Metalia: I can help you.
[Metalia draws the pink gemstone from her pocket]
Metalia: If I promise to take you back, will you allow me to purge your memories of him from your mind completely?
Kunzite: Of course not.
[The cold smile vanishes. Metalia is becoming annoyed]
Metalia: So, out of sheer stubbornness, you are willing to give up everything. Just to hold onto the torment you've inflicting upon yourself?
Kunzite: He is everything to me. If I don't hold on to what little I have left of him, a part of me will always know I sold myself too cheaply.
Metalia: So he's more important to you than I am?
Kunzite: [heaves a profound sigh] No, mother. Nothing is more important than you are. But I can't serve you properly while I'm pining for him. It saddens me that, even after all these years, you don't know me well enough to understand that.
Metalia: You don't need him. You need this.
[Metalia holds out the pink stone.]
Kunzite: I don't want that anymore.
Metalia: It doesn't matter what you want. What matters is what I want.
Kunzite: Then bring him back to life so he can serve me as a slave. You owe me that much, at the very least.
[Metalia looks dangerously annoyed. She speaks slowly as if talking to an imbecile]
Metalia: It's too late for that. Even if I wanted to, and I don't, there are some things that are simply impossible. I can't just raise up someone several days' departed. Not unless I've made preparations beforehand. That sort of thing needed to be set into motion days ago. Do you even hear what I'm saying?
[Kunzite nods but his breath catches as he does.]
Metalia: Good. Because I'm getting really tired of having to repeat myself to you all the time.
[kunzite looks away in sorrow]
[Metalia hesitates]
Metalia: You must really hate me now.
Kunzite: I could never hate you, Mother.
[Metalia reaches out and forces him into a hug. She reaches into his chest and deposits the stone]
[Kunzite raises his hand and a globe of dark energy appears. He waves it away with an evil smirk.]
Kunzite: You do realize I'm just going to spend all my time and energy trying to revive him?
Metalia: You won't succeed.
Kunzite: I will eventually.
Metalia: [shakes her head] No you won't. That is one thing I am absolutely certain of.
[Metallia vanishes]
[Kunzite walks out of the hospital to find his Maserati in the spot where he last left it. He goes to the ATM at takes out a few twenties, just to prove to himself he can.]
[He walks back to Zoi's room in high spirits. Despite his mother's words, he's optimistic and has a new lease on life.]
[Before he can open the door, Minako comes running down the hall and tugs him by his arm.]
Minako: There you are. I've been looking all over for you. The meeting with the grief counselor has already started. I told them if anyone needs closure, it's you.
[Kunzite has no interest in seeking closure. But now that he has his powers back, he intends to keep Zoi's parents from signing anything that might take him off life support.]