Chapter 96: Forever

[Kunzite takes Zoi's face in his hands. Zoi looks at him with wild eyes.]

Zoi: [burst into tears] You said you wouldn't leave me again!

Kunzite: Shhh. Zoisite. Calm down.

Zoi: You keep promising me you won't leave, but all you ever talk about is leaving me!

Kunzite: I also told you it is dangerous to be with me, and I was right. wasn't I?

Zoi: You swore upon your honor we'd never spend another night apart from one another!

Kunzite: That was right before I got you killed.

Zoi: I'm not dead now!

Kunzite: Zoisite, listen to me. There's something you need to understand. You are a Shitennou now. A being of pure energy. That's why we can do magic. We have physical bodies, only because our humanoid souls require we take solid form. But is just a simulation, a mystical reproduction of the form you once held. Nothing more.

Zoi: So?

Kunzite: A Shitennou can never be resurrected…If I get you killed a second time, your body will dissipate and there is nothing anyone can do to bring you back.

Zoi: So what? Don't leave me!

Kunzite: I won't. Now relax before I call the nurse back in to sedate you.

[Zoi doesn't calm down at all, but instead grabs hold of Kunzite like he's a lifeline.]

Zoi: Promise me.

Kunzite: What?

Zoi: [Getting angry] You know what!

Kunzite: [pets his hair anxiously] Zoisite. I'm not going anywhere. I'll stay right by your side for as long as you need me.

Zoi: [narrows his eyes] And which of us gets to decide that?

Kunzite: You, of course.

[Zoi is taken aback]

Kunzite: [sighs] I'm not looking forward to the day you finally come to your senses, but you're smart, so it's going to happen eventually.

Zoi: [smiles] Don't hold your breath…so you swear you won't leave me?

[Takes Zoi face in both of his hands and brings his face very close to his.]

Kunzite: I swear.

[Kunzite gathers him into his arms and continues to hold him until his breathing slows and the numbers on the monitors stop fluctuating wildly.]

Kunzite: Better?

Zoi: [cautious] Yes….

[Kunzite continues to hold him.]

Zoi: [angry] Why did you say that? Are you tired of me already? Is it too much trouble to keep saving me? Do you want me to go away?

Kunzite: No, I don't want to be away from you, Zoisite. Of course not… And I have no trouble saving you either—if it wasn't for the fact I was the one who was putting you in danger…that I'm the reason that you're in here.

Zoi: Yes, you're the reason. The reason that I'm here—alive!

Kunzite: I'm not sure alive is the proper term in this context. You're a creature of the Dark Kingdom now. I'm not sure you should be thanking me.

Zoi: [snippy] Do you wish Metalia hadn't elevated you?

Kunzite: No, I don't wish that. But I'd already lost everything. I wasn't giving anything up.

Zoi: You are the thing it hurt me the most to lose. Even more than my life… If it weren't for you I'd be rotting in the Hen Tie cemetery right now.

[Kunzite winces]

Kunzite: If it weren't for me, you would have never been shot… That's not the worst part, though. Not seeing you dead… all crumpled and broken. Not knowing I had failed to save you. Not even knowing that it was my own plan that put that bullet in your head—all those unbearable memories that I'll carry for the rest of eternity. No, the very worst was that you had died, and I didn't even know it, because I thought it was more important to take revenge on the Blackmoons than to get you to safety.

Zoi: But it made no difference.

Kunzite: [devastated] It could have made a difference. So easily.

[Kunzite's trembling. Zoi wants to comfort him, but he's afraid if he validates Kunzite's sorrow, it will just give him incentive to leave again.]

Kunzite: [still trembling] I'm not strong enough to stay away from you, so I suppose you'll get your way… whether it kills you or not.

Zoi: Good.

[Kunzite laughs and gathers Zoi into his arms]

Kunzite: There will be no more talk of leaving, at least not from me. If you were watching me, you'd know I would have torn heaven and hell to pieces looking for you. If there is one thing you never need to question, it's the sincerity of my love for you.

Zoi: I'm still afraid to let you out of my sight.

[Kunzite smiles. He seems as happy as he was when they got married.]

Kunzite: I told you I'm not going anywhere. Don't be afraid. As long as it makes you happy, I'll be here.

Zoi: [bats his eyes at him] You're talking about forever, you know.

Kunzite: [smirks] You'll get over me-It's just a crush.

Zoi: [punches his shoulder] I was shocked when Mom swallowed that. I know you know better.

[Kunzite strokes his cheek with the lightest of touches. As Kunzite leans in slowly, the numbers on the monitor escalate even before their lips touch. The monitor starts beeping erratically and the numbers start jumping up to improbably levels again. Kunzite uses his magic to silence it before it attracts the nurse again]

Kunzite: Hmmm… I wonder.

[Kunzite kisses Zoi passionately. Zoi's skin bursts into flames, the liquid in the IV bubbles, melting the bag. There is a flash and the wires attached to Zoi are covered with arcs of electricity before the monitor explodes and shorts out completely.]

[Kunzite pulls back abruptly]

Zoi: Oops.

Kunzite: [smiles] It appears I'm going to need to be even more careful with you than usual… At least in the short term.

Zoi: Hey! I wasn't finished kissing you. Don't make me come over there.

[Kunzite grins and kisses Zoi as passionately as he can.]