[Scene: Hen Tie park. Zoi is sitting with his back to a tree trunk near the playground, as tiny autumn leaves rain down around him. Kunzite joins him a moment later with two cups of icecream, strawberry for Zoi and mocha for Kunzite, Zoi takes his icecream and snuggles close as Kunzite sits beside him.]

Kunzite: I transferred all of my funds to our joint bank account. The car, the apartment, and everything else are in your name. I've reminded the youma they are to obey your commands as if they were my own. No matter how long I'm gone, you will be cared for. At least financially. If you run into any unforeseen peril call Beryl and Nephrite. They will look after you in my absence.

[Zoi gives Kunzite a bittersweet smile and they eat their icecream.]

Kunzite: [strokes Zoi's cheek] This may be the last we see of each other for a while.

Zoi: I know. [his eyes glisten with tears, but he fights them back and rests his cheek against Kunzite shoulder.]

Kunzite: You're getting better at this.

Zoi: Not really. I'm just starting to understand why you have to keep doing it, is all...Tell me, how much of you volunteering to guard your mother to was to protect her? And how much of it was to protect me from her?

[Kunzite gives him a sly grin, and sets his icecream aside]

Kunzite: [cuddles Zoi] You're getting a little too smart for your own good, you know?

[Kuzite kisses Zoi, and Zoi places his hand on Kunzite's thigh, tugging him in a subconscious manner.]

[They break apart, and Kunzite looks around self-consciously, but the few people who are watching seem to smile in approval.]

Zoi: She told me she wants to kill me, you know. While you were gone, she told me she'd never liked me and she wants me dead. She acted like she was actually going to go through it, but Thetis talked her out of it. Then your Mother beat Thetis for interfering... I wanted to help her, you know...Thetis, I mean...But I couldn't think of anything I could say or do that wouldn't make the situation worse for all of us.

Kunzite: Your instincts were correct. You need to be careful. Mother enjoys terrorizing people, but not all of her threats are idle.

Zoi: [nods grimly]...I've seen the way she treats her youma...Even when they are on their best behavior...

Kunzite: They are just youma.

Zoi: No. They are not just youma.

[He gazes at all the little children, playing on the playground under the vigilant eyes of their parents.]

Zoi: I try to imagine Metalia holding a screaming newborn with a soggy diaper...and my mind immediate blacks it out since I don't see how that would end well...My own mother can be a little difficult at times, but I've never been tempted to go back in time and shoot her before she can give birth to me.

[Zoi watches a father wait for his tiny daughter to slide down a slide, then hoists her up and swings her around as she laughs with joy. Zoi looks down as if ashamed.]

Kunzite: You're making the mistake of thinking of them as innocent children. I assure you, they were never innocent. Metalia would have made them in her own image. Those seductive little angel faces she gave them are just masks to hide the pitch blackness of their souls.

Zoi: Maybe so, but they started out as helpless newborns, and they had nobody to shield them from a goddess who is the literal personification of cruelty.

Kunzite: You are imagining them as human. They are not human.

Zoi: When I look at them, I see human teenagers. And my mind is immune to trickery.

Kunzite: When you look at me you see a human teenager. That doesn't make me a teenager. It just means I'm human-like in appearance...Ask Minako what she sees when she looks at us with powers of true insight.

Zoi: Still...For Metalia's own children to hate her that much... I see the way your mother treats people and I think...maybe...just maybe... [looks down]

Kunzite: [grins balefully] ...we're fighting on the wrong side of this war?

[Zoi looks up, red faced]

Zoi: I didn't say that!...out loud

[Kunzite's smile widens as he caresses Zoi's hair and pulls him close.]

Kunzite: I can understand why you might be tempted to think like that, but there is something very important that you need to understand... I took an Unbreakable Oath of Obedience to Metalia. I can't betray her. Not even if I wanted to... And I don't want to.

Zoi: [wideeyed] I wasn't asking you to!

[Kunzite brushes the hair back from Zoi's face and speaking soothingly]

Kunzite: Listen to me because this is important...I know my Mother can be very hard to take...so I need you to understand, right now, that I can never turn against her. I can't betray her, and it's the same with Beryl and the other Shitennou. If you ever decide to rebel against Metalia, you need to know we can't be trusted.

Zoi: [grips Kunzite's hand in his fists with big frightened eyes] No, Kunzite! I will never turn against you! Never! Not for any reason! You don't have to worry about that!

Kunzite: That's not the sort of thing that worries me.

[Kunzite gathers Zoi into his arms and gazes deep into Zoi's eyes with a gentle smile]

Kunzite: Tens of thousands of years ago, after I'd killed the last of my people, Mother appeared before me, in all her terrible splendor... I was given a choice-die of starvation, or pledge my soul to her for all eternity and become a demigod. [shrugs] At the time, choice was easy. The lengths I had go to in order to survive had blackened my soul beyond all redemption. I don't remember if I believed in the afterlife back then, but if I did, I could be certain I wasn't fated for anywhere pleasant...The goddess Metalia offered me immortality, in exchange for my total obedience...I agreed at once. I was a proud creature, but unlike the other Shitennou, never one who sought personal glory...I've never regretted my decision...Until I met you.

[Zoi gives him a questioning look.]

Kunzite: If Mother ordered me to kill you, I would have no choice but to obey.

Zoi: [shakes his head with absolutely certainty] No! You wouldn't!

Kunzite: I would.

[Zoi grabs Kunzite's fist and rubs his cheek against it.]

Zoi: No! I know you! Better than you know yourself! You couldn't do it. We love each other, and love is stronger than evil. You said so yourself...The Blackmoons used their power to try to make my father kill me and he refused to pull the trigger!

Kunzite: [smiles sadly] Metalia is a million times more powerful than the Blackmoons.

Zoi: And you're a million times more powerful than my father! There isn't a force in the universe strong enough to make you hurt me...And that's why Metalia hates me! Because I'm weakening her hold on you, and she can't even understand why!

[Kunzite sighs sadly and holds Zoi close]

Kunzite: I think you are right...And this is why I need to be with mother right now.

Zoi: Yes. I know.

Kunzite: Mother may be spiteful and cruel, but at least she is predictable. She can be placated as easily as a toddler having a meltdown in a grocery store...These offspring of hers? They are wild, savage and unpredictable. And they haven't yet reached their full potential...I will not be there to protect you...so if given the chance, you need to kill them. Without mercy or hesitation.