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Diamohns are Forever	By : SailorSol Category: Sailor Moon > General Views: 22490 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

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OUT OF THE SHADOW

In the solarium at Chiba House, Taro walked to the edge of the pool.

"Come down, Zoisite," Taro said. "I know you're here. I can feel you."

"Yes," an identical voice answered, sounding somewhat plaintive. "I am here."

"I know who you're after," Taro said, wondering where a persistent burning pain in his back was coming from. "You're not taking him back."

"No!" Zoisite immediately protested. "I came to be with him! I won't ever take him back! I can't!"

"What do you mean?" Taro demanded.

"I disavowed the Dark Kingdom," Zoisite said hesitantly. "She refused me Rite of Challenge."

"What?" Taro looked around wildly, hoping Zoisite would have come out after that statement. "Why would Queen Metalia do that?"

"The Queen is dead," Zoisite's frank statement was accompanied by the sound of his boots touching down on the diving board.

"So," Taro said, walking around the pool to stand at the foot of the diving board. "It is true."

"Takara murdered her," Zoisite said venomously. "Then he brutalized Hematite, and Quartzite. Now he's done the same to Kunzite. I guess he didn't expect that much of a fight."

"He could have gotten carried away," Taro said, holding out his hand. "Come down from there, Zoisite. I won't bite you. I am as worried about him as you are. No one here will try to send you back."

"Cape Boy might argue that point," Zoisite said, gesturing to where Mamoru stood in the shadows. "Nice try, Endymion. You learned that lesson in Dark Kingdom etiquette well enough, at least. I always watch the shadows."

"That's a good habit to keep," Mamoru said, coming out into the light. "Janus knows my mind well enough, Zoisite. Even I won't turn you away, as long as you are sincere."

"Even knowing what I am?" Zoisite asked. "I know I'm not a real person, just a copy. Even that doesn't bother you?"

"Don�t be ridiculous," Taro said emphatically. "You are as real as I am, if you choose to be."

"I'm just a copy of you," Zoisite said bitterly, and a little sadly.

"No you're not," Mamoru said. "You're as much an individual as one of a pair of identical twins."

"Yes," Taro said, smiling at his double. "You're my twin brother. We'll think of another name for you."

"Very well," Zoisite said, taking Taro's hand and stepping down onto the tiled floor. "Where is Sailor Moon?"

"Just a moment," Mamoru said, closing his eyes. He silently called to his partner, and his wife appeared a few minutes later. Somehow, the simple white cotton towel she wore seemed a regal gown. She stopped abruptly when she saw Zoisite, and the silent form of her planet partner came forward from behind her.

Instead of rushing forward, Zoisite slowly walked towards Usagi until he was about ten feet from her. Then he sank down to one knee with his right arm across his chest, clenched right hand on the front of his left shoulder, head bowed in submission.

"Princess Serenity," he said. "I have renounced the Dark Kingdom and everything that goes with it for Kunzite and myself. I now swear our loyalty and service to you. Our skills and lives are yours to command." He kept his head lowered, waiting for her response.

"I don't believe him," Thomas said firmly. Usagi smiled at him and pointed to something Thomas had not noticed: Luna, Artemis, and Diana had followed her into the solarium. Diana had rushed forward, and the two older cats were now cautiously approaching Zoisite. Diana was sniffing him carefully, but with no signs of hostility.

"I believe him," Usagi said finally. "Get up, Zoisite. We treat one another as friends here. Why don't you and Taro go into the living room and see Kunzite?" She stepped to one side and gestured that they should precede her.

Zoisite rose slowly, partly because he could hardly believe that she had accepted him, and partly because he felt a sudden wave of pain and weakness. He had forgotten about the burn on his back and side. He nodded to Usagi and moved to obey her, when the room suddenly spun around him and everything went black.

~*~*~*~

When Zoisite passed out, Taro was quick to catch him and carry him into the living room, suddenly realizing that the source of the pain he felt was a deep burn on Zoisite's back. He carefully laid his double face down, propped up by pillows so that he was not completely prone. He reached for someone, anyone, and grasped Ami's arm.

"Do something for him!" he said, turning her to see Zoisite. Ami's gasp of horror was all the answer he needed to retreat to the nearby comfort of Joben�s arms.

Ami immediately called Minako and Rei to help her with Zoisite.

"Usagi, get dressed. Minako, boil me some water," Ami said. "Rei, get the first aid supplies, the big box." She was about to say more when she saw ChibiUsa pick up the basket used to collect herbs and the herb scissors and head into the kitchen.

Minutes later, Rei was back with the first aid supplies in their footlocker, Usagi was dressed, Minako had the tea kettle boiling, and ChibiUsa showed up with a ceramic bowl full of fresh burdock plants and the porcelain pestle from the kitchen. She sat down on the floor near Ami and began to methodically beat the herbs she had collected into a gooey pulp that positively dripped with juice.

In the meantime, Ami had used the boiling water to clean the wound after asking Taro to make Zoisite's tunic vanish. She laid a piece of clean gauze over the wound and then smeared the plant pulp on the gauze, allowing the vital juices to seep through to the burn. She covered it with still more gauze, then bound the whole thing to Zoisite's body.

"Put the rest of the herbs away, ChibiUsa," she said. "We should change that in about four hours."

"Why did you do that, Ami?" Rei asked. She had a hunch, but she wanted her friend to tell her.

"I wanted to help with Kunzite last night for Aster and Minako's sake," Ami said, not looking at Rei. "I helped Zoisite for Taro's sake, and because I could feel his pain nearly as much as Taro. If we left this alone, we'd be no better then we think they are. We know from Aster and Lucinda and Hiroshi that they are not the horrible monsters we thought they were."

"No," Rei admitted. "That's Takara."

"Besides," Ami continued. "When Kunzite wakes up, he'll be awfully upset if we've let his koibito suffer."

"It's still hard to think of Zoisite or Kunzite loving anyone," Rei said. "They were so cold when we fought them."

"That was duty," Toshio, former Duke of the Saturnian satellite Hyperion interrupted. He wrapped his arms around Rei from behind her while he talked to the girls.

"Atlas and Janus always separated their duties from their personal feelings. There is no reason to believe that their doubles would be any different, or that their behavior would change."

~*~*~*~*~

A few hours after his arrival, Zoisite stirred where he was and moaned.

"He should have something to eat," Ami said. "He should drink something, too."

"I know!" ChibiUsa said, jumping up and dashing for the kitchen. Taro went to his double's side and started smoothing his hair, then restrained him as he tried to get up.

"No, Zoisite," he said. "Let me help you. You'll just hurt yourself."

"No," Zoisite growled. "I can do it by myself."

"You're not in the Dark Kingdom anymore, Zoisite," Usagi said from where she sat, perched on the arm of Mamoru's chair. "There is no shame in receiving help, and no one to take advantage of your moment of weakness."

"Not the way he's thinking, anyway," Tiger's Eye, Tora Akio, snickered from where he sat with Lucinda's son, Jishin, cradled gently in his arms. Next to him, Hawk's Eye, Taka Jiro, reached over to tickle Jishin's chin and make him laugh.

Akio's comment was unnecessary. As soon as Usagi had spoken, Zoisite relaxed, obedient to her implied wishes. He allowed Taro to help him up and prop him in such a way to not put pressure on his burned back. When ChibiUsa came out of the kitchen carrying a tray with two bowls on it, one with soup, and the other with tea, Zoisite accepted it without comment, and then belatedly thanked her. He ate the soup with Taro's urging, and then drank the tea when Ami coaxed him. He sagged with fatigue after that, but refused to lie down and sleep.

"I have to see Kunzite," he pleaded. "Please, I have to know he will recover!"

Zoisite's desperation won over the few among the warriors who had been skeptical of his sincerity in swearing to Usagi. When Usagi nodded, Ami and Taro helped him over to the futon couch where Kunzite lay, then coaxed him to lay down next to his lover, and even arranged Kunzite's arm so that Zoisite could nestle in next to Kunzite's body and feel his heartbeat.

***** *****

Early in the afternoon, Aster felt herself drawn from the Taipei game she had renewed with Mamoru. She walked over to stand near the futon that Kunzite was laying on. She stood there for several moments, and then leaned over to study Kunzite's face closely.

While she stood there, he sighed, then stirred, and then his eyes opened.

"Hoshiko," he whispered hoarsely. "I did make it."

"Yes," she whispered. "Rest, now. You're safe, and so is Zoisite." She gestured and his eyes slowly followed her hand to see the top of Zoisite's head, pillowed on one of his shoulders.

"Aisuru," he whispered sleepily, then he closed his eyes again, but this time into a deep sleep, not the injury-induced unconsciousness he had been in before.

"Perfect," Taro murmured from where he had bent over next to Aster. She jumped, startled, and he caught her as she overbalanced, nearly falling.

"It's the perfect name for him," Taro explained to Aster's puzzled look. "Zoisite followed for love, after all."

"You did everything in love's name, didn�t you?" Aster asked, regaining her balance and slipping an arm around her sister's bonded mate.

"Yes," Taro admitted. "I gave in to the black queen because she promised me she would give me Yukio, and said I would never know the difference. I didn't, either. She kept her promises. Of course, she didn�t tell me that it WAS him. She didn�t tell me that it wasn�t, either."

"Metalia had a notion of honor," Aster observed. "Her death will make the Dark Kingdom both easier and harder to defeat."

"We should get the others out of there," Taro mused, looking down at the sleeping couple. "Nephrite and Jedite should still retain the character traits of their originals. They don't belong there."

"Neither does Amethyst," Aster said. "Especially if what Hematite tells us is true. If Takara has somehow enslaved her, then we have to rescue her, and possibly against her will."

"What little she will have left," Taro said. "Well, when Aisuru wakes up, he'll need cleaning up and a change of clothes."

"So will Kunzite," Aster said. "What should we call him?"

"We'll think of something," Taro said. "You should try to get some rest."

"I'll finish my game with Mamoru first," she said. "I have all afternoon, and probably all night to rest."

"You think he will sleep through the night?" Taro asked. He had absolute faith in everything Aster said, but could not ease the fear the filled him when he looked at Kunzite�s battered body.

"Yes," she replied. "When tomorrow morning comes, I think he'll be ready to get up."

"Very well," Taro said. "I�ll keep an eye on him while you finish your game."

***** *****

Late that night, just after the clock struck midnight, Kunzite woke. He looked around him in confusion for a moment, and then in surprise.

Aster was once again in Takagi's chair, and Lucinda was in Mamoru's chair again. Taro was on a couch nearby, and Zoisite and Minako were pressed to him on either side, sharing warmth and comfort. He tapped Zoisite gently, which caused him to wake with a hiss of pain. His pain woke Taro and Lucinda.

"Well," Minako purred. "Welcome back to the world of the living."

"Venus?" Kunzite asked. She smiled at him and batted her eyelashes innocently, then yawned.

"Enough of that, hussy," Aster said quietly. "The man is recovering from his injuries. You can try to seduce him later."

"That's true," Minako said, sliding out of the bed and heading for the kitchen. "One thing no one could ever accuse you of is selfishness or jealousy."

"Selfishness is a waste of time," Aster replied, unwinding herself from the quilt she was wrapped in. "Jealousy leaves nothing but destruction in its wake. I'm just happy that Usagi finally learned that lesson."

"I'll get him something to eat," Lucinda said, rising from the chair with Taro's help.

"Get them both something to eat," Aster said. "Aisuru's eaten precious little in the last day, and Kunzite's had nothing." She watched her adopted sister disappear into the kitchen, then sat down on the futon where Minako had been. Kunzite slipped his hand into her lap.

"I know what you meant, now," she said. "When you said that you were not the man I remembered. You were trying to tell me that you were a clone."

"Yes," he said, resignation showing in his voice and face. "I wanted you to know the truth. I never wanted to lie to you."

"You didn't, exactly," Aster said. "You never said you were Atlas. You let me assume that you and he were one and the same, because on some deep level, you are."

"What do you mean by that?" he asked. "I am a separate entity that is absolutely identical except for one feature."

"But you are the same as him, as well," Aster argued. "You are enough the same that I slipped into a bond with you like it had been formed when I was a child. You are enough like him that Minako hasn't noticed a difference."

"You mean Sailor Venus?" he asked. "What does. . . never mind. I remember some things about her that he knew."

"You see?" Aster said. "You even share some of his memories. You are so much like him that we could take you in and with one exception, never know the difference."

"You mean my blood," he said, looking down at a particularly dark olive scab.

"I mean the power of the Kishi of Atlas," she said. "You have power of your own, yes, more power than Atlas possessed, but you do not have his planet power."

"Does it mean so much to you?" he asked, emotion choking him.

"As warleader, yes," Aster said. "Atlas was the general of the satellites. Metalia knew what she was doing. He was in charge of the armies and power of all the satellites, as well as being the captain of Endymion's guard, and my soul-bonded lover. By stealing him from us, she crippled our ability to meet her attacks. If she had not taken the guard, and then the satellites, fending off the Dark Kingdom would have been simple."

"Food coming!" Minako called out as she and Lucinda entered the room with trays in their hands.

Taro approached Zoisite and helped him sit up and piled pillows behind him so he could sit up and eat.

Minako handed the tray she was carrying to Aster, then levered Kunzite up herself and piled pillows behind him. When she was done with that, she put the tray in front of him.

"Are you going to eat?" she asked, warning in her tone. "Or do I feed you?"

"I will eat," he said, the maddening half-smile they all remembered so well on his lips. "You do not need to threaten so, Sailor Venus."

"My name's Minako," she replied, sitting back and watching as he took a spoonful of soup. "You might as well get used to calling us by name. I hear you're staying."

Kunzite looked at Zoisite, who nodded, his eyes downcast.

"Zoisite speaks for us both," he said. "If he gave our loyalties here, then here they are. I owe no true allegiance to Beryl."

"She refused Rite of Challenge," Zoisite said quietly, sipping at his own soup. "I swore our loyalty to the Princess."

"Beryl violated the covenant first, then," Kunzite said. "We owe her nothing."

"I am pleased to see you recovered," Usagi's voice, sounding unusually mature, echoed slightly. They all turned to look at the source of the sound.

Usagi stood at the base of the stairs in the long white silk and fur nightgown and robe that had been Mamoru's Christmas present to her two years before. Like the towel she had been wearing when Zoisite had first seen her, the night clothes seemed to take on a majesty all their own, making her appear every inch the Moon Princess, and future Queen of the Earth.

"Your Highness," Zoisite said, and tried to rise.

"Stay still," Usagi said. "You're still recovering. Besides, no one jumps up just because I've entered a room. For now, at least, we are all equals here."

"Some of us are just more equal than others," Mamoru's voice carried down the stairs, and he appeared in the bottoms of the black silk pajamas that Usagi had given him, and the black velvet and silk smoking jacket that Lucinda had given him, all on the same Christmas.

�Endymion,� Zoisite said, inclining his head.

�My name here is Mamoru,� was the reply. �You need to get used to calling us by our current names. Her name is Usagi, now.�

�I will remember,� Zoisite said. �It will take a bit of getting used to.�

�Everyone will help you,� Usagi said, coming closer and gesturing to the food in front of him. �Finish eating. You need to recover. Aster, have you thought of a new name for him?�

�Yes,� Aster said. �Taro and I both thought that Aisuru would be more than appropriate.�

�Aisuru, beloved,� Usagi said softly. �Yes, that�s appropriate. Since Taro told us his story, I realize that love motivated him in nearly everything he did. Aisuru is perfect.�

�What will you do about me?� Kunzite asked. �In the first place, I know that I stand out, here. In the second place, what will I be named?�

�I�ll let Aster work on that,� Usagi said, smiling. �I�m sure whatever she comes up with will be fine.�

Kunzite turned his pale eyes to Aster, to find her rubbing her bulging belly.

�What is wrong?� he asked.

�Galaxite�s attempt to end my pregnancy did not succeed,� Aster told him. �I will be giving birth to your children in about two months.�

�Mine?� Kunzite whispered, stunned. �My child?�

�Children,� Aster corrected. �I�m carrying twins. Yes, they are yours. Hiroshi � Hematite confirmed the energy signature himself, right before he checked Lucinda�s children, and then fainted.�

�Why did he faint?� Aisuru asked from where he was sitting.

�Some men react like that when they find out that they�re going to be fathers,� Aster replied, smiling. �He was overjoyed, but a little shocked. He�s over it, now.�

�May I?� Kunzite asked, gesturing towards her abdomen.

�Of course,� Aster said. She took his hand in hers and placed it flat on her body and smiled up at him.

He smiled at her, and then he looked startled and transferred his gaze to his hand.

�What was that?� he asked. �Something moved.�

�Just the children,� Aster said. �This is their morning calisthenics. Now they�re going to drum their little heels on mommy�s bladder, so excuse me for a moment.� She slipped away from him and disappeared in the direction of the bathroom.

She came back out moments later, cupping her belly.

She sat down again and then moved her robe and pajama top so that Kunzite could see to extra bulges. One was rounded, and the other one was an oval.

�That�s a foot,� Aster said, tracing the oval. �And this little bump here is a fist.� She rubbed the other bump lightly.

�They do this to you every morning?� Kunzite asked.

�Morning, noon, and night,� she replied. �Whenever they feel like it.�

�Is that normal?� he asked her, his expression anxious.

�According to my sister, yes,� Aster said. �Babies kick, and stretch, and wiggle around a lot.�

�I cannot believe that I made a child with you,� he said, staring at her bared stomach.

�Kunzitosama,� Aster said. �Don�t stare at my stomach as though you�ve never seen it before. You�ve seen all of my skin.�

�Not knowing that my children were there,� he said in wonder. He reached out again and brushed his hands across her abdomen, feeling the power pulsing in her womb.

TBC
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Diamohns are Forever