10# Austin Jade Hello all, this is me Auston for a change writing the authors note..... lets see what to talk about what to talk about... hmmmmm.... Oh, yes Jade and I still have a few more chapters to go before we finish this.....and then we will wait a couple of weeks and then....... yes and then, we will write a sequel. I don't know if I should be telling you this........... I don't want to give anything away because we are not finished this yet and it would be a shame to spoil the surprise ending! This Chapter is rather slow and no action what so ever but it is a slow romanticaly sad type Chapter............. sorry to anyone who likes Darien and Serena type storie's as you probebly figure this out already this is not a Serena and Darien type fanfic........ *Jade glances at Austin crossly* "Hey! You're not supposed to tell them anything about the story! Keep quiet or you might ruin it.... I probably would." I want to say a quick hello too Kathryn. Hi there!! Joel Hello!! Anita Hello! and the reader here who is reading this flick! Hello too you too!!! Well jade I am finished with this authors note. See ya and please write and tell us what you think!!! This is Jade speaking now. We had a reader by the name of Princess Serena write to us about our story, but when Auston and I tried to respond to the e-mail we couldn't get through! Could you please write us again and give us an address to send the e-mails to Mrs. Serena? Thank you! And thanks to everyone else out there who's ever taken it upon them to write us about our 'lil fic. We are very grateful. ^_^ And now to the story..... --------------------------------------------------------------- Kunzite and Crystal reappeared back in Crystal's quarters almost at exactly the same time, despite the fact that Kunzite had left a few minutes before Crystal. Both of them sagged immediately and Crystal put out a hand to steady herself as she nearly fell from the own instability of her legs. She felt like she'd been too Hell and back. She imagined she probably looked like it too, but right now she couldn't care less about her looks. She was more concerned about Kunzite who was taking Zoisite's *condition* for the worst.... Crystal thought to herself and shook slightly as she did. She didn't think she'd be able to stand it if he was. She looked up and saw Kunzite standing a few feet off to her right. She noted he looked as though he'd made the trip fifty times over... and he was looking worse by the minute... But she didn't quite know what she could do about it but watch him very carefully. As she watched, Kunzite stumbled over to her bed and sat down, still cradling Zoisite in his arms as tears threatened to spill over the sides of his eyes and down his face. He kept whispering in a broken voice, "No, no, no, no, no... Please God, if there is a God... not him!" but his pleas' did no good. Zoisite was dead, and they could do nothing.... nothing about it. Gradually Kunzite came to realize that the weight in his arms was getting lighter and Kunzite saw that Zoisite's form was fading, changing into bubbles of energy and floating away. This was what always happened to denizens of the Nega-verse when they died. Crystal closed her eyes and lowered herself to sit beside Kunzite. Dammit, she hated to see him like this.... but what was she to do? What *could* she do? She watched as Kunzite buried his face in Zoisite's soft, fading hair and rubbed away the moisture on his cheeks as the tears he had been holding back swept forth and threatened to push him over the edge of insanity. She stood by silently, waiting and watching. Helpless and hopeless..... and desperate. Soon Zoisite's body had disappeared completely and Kunzite tried mightily to stop the tears that were coursing down his cheeks. He musn't cry, he *must not* cry. Not cry.... He eventually managed to slow the tears, but not stop them and he lowered his head, letting his silver curtain of hair fall in front of his eyes and face, shielding it from Crystal's veiw. He didn't want her to see him like this. He had not been unaware that she was here, in the room with him when he had held Zoisite, but he had ignored her presence for the first few minutes while he cried and whispered over Zoisite's body. But now, while she sat beside him silently, looking over at his silver head he suddenly felt very ashamed and very foolish. He had to stop this. He had never cried in his life, and certainly not in front of anyone, and he couldn't cry in front of her, *never* in front of *her*. Never..... never. He was shaking, not from fear, or anger, or sadness, or from the cold, but from the simple fact that Zoisite was dead. The thought rang in his head endlessly and Kunzite felt as though someone were screaming it right into his mind. It was an almost impossible idea and he was getting a headache just thinking about it. He put both hands to his head and his two index fingers to his temples. He could feel his head throbbing and surpressed the urge to curl up into a ball and sob out all his sorrows, as he had done when he was but a child. He felt a small hesitant hand being laid on his shaking shoulder and he cringed and lowered his head further as the warm hand squeezed his shoudler lightly before letting go as he moved away. He knew the gesture was meant to comfort him, but it did little good. He was hurting too much inside and not even Crystal's gentle touch could help him right now. It would take more than that to take away the gaping void in his soul and fill it with light again. Zoisite had been a part of him, and he needed something else to fill that part now that it was empty. Or perhaps he needed some*one*...... He heard a soft sigh from his right side and he felt the golden haired girl beside him pull her knees up to her chest for a moment, staying in that position only long enough to let out a deep breath before relaxing again and letting her legs hang over the side of the bed. He heard the russling of clothes as she turned to an angle and then that same slender hand was laid on his shoulder and he flinched and tried to back away a second time, but the hand held him firmly and he was forced to stay. He felt her lean in closer and her angelic voice whispered in his ear. "Kunzite.... you can't do this.... You'll destroy yourself. I know........ he meant a lot to you.. but.... you can't stay like this.... You have to accept that he's dead.... and that it wasn't your fault..... Please.... for me?" He shook his head, pulling himself away forcefully from the warm hand on his shoulder as he turned away from her completely, facing the far wall as he struggled to get his raging emotions under control. The tears had stopped, but that didn't mean the pain had. He could feel it deep inside himself. A black hole where Zoisite's light had been. He regreted that he had been ignoring him these last couple of weeks and he wished he could change them, but he couldn't, and that was the reason that Kunzite felt so much pain, so much guilt..... He wished he'd never been born. Crystal, kneeling behind him, felt her own tears begin to surface as she felt Kunzite's pain and she slowly placed the palms of her hands on Kunzite back, over his hair and heavy cape. Sometime while she'd been sitting here, watching Kunzite, her hand had healed itself without her immediate knowledge, although she took note of it now. She didn't understand how this was possible, but she didn't question it. She felt as though someone were watching out for her, helping her in anyway they could and whoever it was, if it was anybody, she thanked them and prayed that they would watch over Kunzite as well. Kunzite didn't react in the least at her touch. She sighed. There was nothing she could do. If Kunzite chose to be this way, chose to act and feel this way, then she couldn't stop him. She couldn't bring him out of his solid stone shell unless he himself chose to come out. There was no way she could help him now.... Or was there? Kunzite felt the soft hands on his back, knew that they were there and what they were meant for, but he didn't move. Their warmth felt so good, so different, so... impossible when put next to his cold, bitter pain, and eternal sadness. He trembled slightly and sagged more, all his hair falling over his shoulders and cutting off his view as the hands brushed aside the silver strands and carefully kneeded the muscles at the base of his neck. It felt wonderful, very relaxing..... but he didn't care, or so he told himself. The hands on his neck slowly, delicately, changed position and moved all around his upper back and lower neck. Kunzite couldn't help but fall into their rythym, and he drew as much strength and energy from the soothing touch as he could. He felt them moving to his shoulders and there they gripped his arms and gently but firmly turned him around. He didn't have the strenth to struggle right now. When he was finally facing Crystal fully she still kept her hold on his shoulders and looked Kunzite right in the eyes as she said, "Listen to me Kunzite. I know what Zoisite meant to you, but you can't keep this up, alright? The longer you do this to yourself the harder it will be for you to come out of it. So please... don't... for me?" She squeezed his shoulders softly and implored him with her eyes to do as she asked but Kunzite found her gaze too powerful and looked down before he totally fell under her spell. What he meant by that was lost on him, but he knew he wasn't thinking about hypnotism or anything like that. But what he did mean by his own thoughts, he wasn't sure he wanted to know. He felt Crystal release her grip on his left shoulder and it was only then that he noticed that her hand was no longer injured. He wondered how that was possible but totally forgot about it when Crystal suddenly took his chin in her soft fingers and tilted it up so that there was no way he could avoid her eyes. "Please?" She whispered and Kunzite found, looking into her heavenly blue eyes, that he couldn't refuse or deny her anything. He nodded and she smiled a soft, sad smile at him. She knew that he would keep his word, and she was happy for that, but because she was so close to him right now she could feel every bit of sadness and misery he was feeling and it broke her heart to think of him in such pain. She didn't know what she could do to take it away, or to ease it even slightly, but she had to do something.......... That was when Crystal decided to take the biggest risk of her short life and her next actions didn't *just* surprise herself but shocked Kunzite to his teeth. The person in question had been staring into Crystal's eyes the entire time she thought about how to help him and because he had seen no indication of what she was going to do, or that she was even thinking, Kunzite was surprised when Crystal suddenly leaned closer, and he had only seconds to react before her sweet lips captured his in a soul searing kiss that sent ripples through Kunzite so large he nearly fell off the bed. At first what Crystal felt from Kunzite was shock and astonishment as her lips touched his but within seconds time what she was doing seemed to transmit itself to him and he began to respond to the kiss eagerly. At first the kiss was light and merely affectionate, not too full of emotion, but gradually it changed and became much deeper as Kunzite wrapped his long arms around Crystal and pulled her closer, tangling his hands in her hair and giving small tugs every now and then. Soon he was crushing her lips against his as he kissed her desperately, helplessly, and fully, knowing at last what it was he felt for this young girl who had stolen his heart. He may have loved Zoisite, may have cared about him deeply and for a long time, but the feelings he had felt for him were nothing compared to the deep firey passion he held for Crystal. When he finally let go of the kiss both he and Crystal were breathless as they stared at each other, looking right into each others eyes as it finally became clear what had been wrong with them that they should spend every moment they could together, even if it was in training. "I love you." Crystal whispered, still flushed from that kiss. Kunzite's eyes shone as he responded in a voice *full* of emotion. "I love you." Crystal smiled and kissed him again, throwing her arms around his neck and pulling him closer. It would take a long time for Kunzite to heal completely from Zoisite's loss and it may seem as though he had forgotten him completely, but he hadn't. Both he and Crystal knew that though Kunzite would always love Zoisite, he would always love her too and that was enough for her. Now that Kunzite had Crystal and her love to help get him past the death of Zoisite Kunzite knew that he would be able to go on. All that was left now was too deal with the scouts.... TO BE CONTINUED....