“What do you hold sacred?” she asked him suddenly one night.
Kunzite blinked for he had not known she was so close. Odd, that he hadn’t sensed her coming. Normally he was aware of her at all times, like a whisper on his neck. He wondered how she’d avoided his detection, but he knew she was learning. She’d cornered him on a balcony, where they would not be interrupted and where he could not leave without being rude. Had he wanted to move, he would have been unable to. She probably didn’t need to go to that much trouble, but she’d wanted the assurance.
She was also learning how to hold his attention, wearing a dress that flattered every inch of skin he had once been so familiar with. It clung to her every curve, leading him to remember how she looked when she discarded her dress in front of him time and again, so many years ago. Of course, she had always leaned toward more revealing garments, but normally she kept them long for such important events, favoring a high slit. This night she had preferred to cut the skirt short, exposing her legs. He had a feeling she was going to try to manipulate him into something tonight, though what that had to do with her question, he had no idea.
He swallowed, clasping his hands behind his back. Best to keep those as far out of her reach as possible. “And hello to you to, Lady Venus.”
She soured. “Just Minako for now. As long as no one’s listening.”
He narrowed his eyes. “That’s risky, isn’t it?”
She shrugged. “What does it matter now if my given name is discovered? I am only Venus now. Aino Minako has nothing to hide.”
He would not argue with her on that, though in truth, caution and secrecy were not on the forefront of Kunzite’s mind in this conversation. He was actually concerned that Venus… Well, Minako for now, had sought him out at all. Though they had spoken on several occasions since the… “incident” at the fountain several months before, they had been keeping it on a strictly professional level. He sensed she regretted being so open with him, and he could not begrudge her that.
He was willing to bet that Jadeite and the others would find the meeting odd as well. In spite of the fact that the Shitennou were not technically new additions to the court in Crystal Tokyo, they often still felt like it. In their own ways, everyone but the King and Queen avoided them, or in some cases went out of their way to make the four men feel unwelcome. The lack of progress had prompted the Queen to throw a gala out of frustration, one of the few reminders that once Neo-Queen Serenity had been a fourteen-year-old girl who had loved pretty dresses and ridiculous amounts of food.
“Are you going to answer my question?”
Kunzite turned to her again, doing his best to keep his eyes on her face but not on her eyes. Eye contact with Aino Minako had a tendency to make him lose control of himself. Such as nearly kissing her at the fountain that day. “I will, just as soon as you--"
“Tell you why I’m asking?” she interrupted, frowning.
He shook his head. “Your motivations are your own. But would you care to elaborate on what you mean?”
She tilted her head to the side, confused. “You need elaboration on that sort of thing?”
Kunzite furrowed his brow, carefully considering how best to phrase his concerns. “What I mean is, there are quite a few things I hold sacred as a human being. Religion, fidelity, loyalty… but I sense that isn’t what you mean.”
Minako nodded after a moment, understanding. “What I mean is… aside from the obvious, what’s important to you? What do you hold in the highest regard?”
Kunzite closed his eyes, taking time before he answered her query. Obviously, she had no interest in hearing about how sacred the bond between him and Endymion was to him. Even when she expressed her anxiety as to whether he was truly free of the dark, she had never questioned that. And she knew that the brotherhood in the Shitennou was of equal esteem in his eyes. She had no interest in hearing generalities or things she already knew. She wanted a different answer, though he wondered if there was something specific she was looking for.
“My memories,” he answered finally, opening his eyes.
Judging by the pause, it had not been what she was expecting. “Your what?”
“You heard me,” he teased, allowing the corner of his mouth she couldn’t see to drift upwards. “Aside from the terribly obvious, I hold my memories sacred above all else.”
She stared at him for awhile and then said, “I would have thought you’d rather forget what happened.”
Kunzite looked at her, accidentally making eye contact. It took nearly every ounce of his strength to stop himself from kissing her when he saw the pain of things past. In that moment, he knew she wanted to forget what had passed between them, and the fact that she couldn’t was choking her. Hearing that he wanted to hold on to them must have floored her.
“It’s tempting, isn’t it?” he asked quietly.
“More than tempting,” she retorted. “After everything that… How can you want to remember that? Not just you and I.” She stopped, eyes widening, shocking herself by bringing it up so directly. She turned away from him, a move that made him ache with relief and sorrow at the same time. “There’s nothing but tragedy behind you! Why would you cherish that?”
“There is more than sorrow behind us,” Kunzite countered, perhaps a bit harsher than he intended. He did not see her flinch, but then she had never let him see that. “I had a family I loved and who loved me. I had friends who would grow into brothers who would have died for me. I had Endymion. I…” He trailed off, knowing that he should stop there. He shouldn’t finish that last thought. It would do nothing but hurt her, and that was the last thing he wanted to do.
And yet he knew she had to hear it.
He reached forward, brushing his fingertips against her cheek. He wanted more, but that was all either of them would allow. “I had you.”
She drew away, and he knew that he had made her cry. “Don’t say that!”
“You asked, and I answered,” Kunzite reminded her. “Just because it wasn’t what you wanted to hear--"
“God, you’re so stupid!” she shouted, stamping her foot and whirling around to face him. “It’s exactly what I wanted to hear!”
As usual, he was having a terrible time following her logic. The fact that her admission was positively mind-numbing did not help matters. “What?”
She looked at him, breathing hard and trying to blink back her remaining tears. “It’s… I wanted to hear you say that, but… Damn it, you still scare me so much.” She hugged herself, leaning against the railing as if it were the only thing keeping her upright.
He couldn’t help it; he laughed. “I scare you?”
Minako glared at him, insulted. “Of course you do!”
He shook his head, clenching his jaw for a moment. “I suppose I can’t begrudge you that. But I assure you, Aino Minako, you’re the truly terrifying one.”
“How is that possible?” Minako countered. “When you’re the one who--"
“Because I can barely control myself around you,” he admitted, not regretting it even though he probably should. He inhaled, forcing himself to be calm. “Day in and day out, I find myself devoting considerable amounts of energy towards either avoiding you entirely or restraining myself when it can’t be avoided. Frankly, I don’t know how I haven’t pushed you against a wall these past few months.”
She gaped at him, blushing furiously. “I’m sorry. I didn’t…” She shook her head, deciding not to underestimate him with pretense. “No, that’s a lie. I had a suspicion.”
“That’s why you asked me that question, isn’t it?” Kunzite asked, already knowing the answer. “I must say, I commend you on your subtlety.”
“I’m learning,” she joked, echoing his thoughts from earlier in the evening. After awhile, she sighed and said, “What are we going to do?”
Kunzite shook his head and crossed over to her. He leaned his arms on the railing, looking out at the horizon rather than at her. It made things easier. “I don’t know. Certainly this can’t continue.”
She nodded. “I’m losing sleep.”
“You’re losing weight,” he added. He felt her stir beside her. “I don’t think anyone else has--"
“No, Makoto lectured me on it the other day. And I’m sure Rei’s seen,” Minako said despondently. “I can barely breathe without one of them lecturing me on my technique.”
He chuckled in spite of their humorless situation. After a moment, his face fell. “You realize of course if we… do this, we can’t keep it to ourselves.”
Minako snorted quietly. “That would certainly feel strange after being so secretive before.”
“And we’re not the same people,” Kunzite continued. “What you might be expecting--"
“I don’t know what to expect,” Minako interrupted. “That’s what frightens me. Every time I see you, I think I know you so well… yet you’re always taking me off guard. And I never know whether I should have seen it coming because you’re Kunzite or whether you’re not Kunzite at all.”
Kunzite swallowed. “Of course, if you wouldn’t want to, I could… I could leave.”
Minako turned to him, shaking her head. “No, you mustn’t. Endymion would be devastated.”
“We just said that we can’t go on avoiding each other like this,” Kunzite said. “The only option would be for me to leave, and don’t even think about offering to do it instead. You’re in charge of media relations. You’re too in the public eye, and too good at it. There’s no one else equipped to handle the job.”
She blushed slightly at the compliment. “But you can’t leave Endymion. Not after you’ve just arrived.”
“I wouldn’t--"
“I don’t care if you’d come back. It wouldn’t be fair to him,” Minako said, refusing to hear any more on the subject. “I can’t let you do that.”
Kunzite looked at her again, watching her breath hitch when their eyes met. “And what would you let me do?”
She stared, licking her lips. “I’d let you try.”
With that, the last of his defenses were gone. He pulled her close, noticing how easily she molded herself to his form, as if they had been doing this all along. And while he initiated it, she was technically the one to kiss him, wrapping her arms around his neck and hoisting herself upwards. Their lips met as if magnetically pulled. It felt so thrilling, so adventurous, so unknown… and yet it was like coming home.
After a moment, they parted. He set her back on her feet, resting his forehead against her own. She clung to him, breathing hard.
“My heart,” she whispered. “It’s beating so fast. It hurts.”
Kunzite exhaled. “Do you want me to--"
“No,” she hissed, hanging on. “Never again.”
He smiled, perhaps for the first time since he’d found his way back to them. He tilted his head, wanting to kiss her again, kiss her until he couldn’t breathe but still keep going because death wouldn’t seem so terrible in those moments of blissful suffocation.
“I’ll hold this sacred,” he whispered against her mouth. “I promise.”
Her lips against his one more time, he wondered if that was all she had wanted to hear.
