Heavenly Kings

Disclaimer: I do not own this anime/manga, nor the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

A Little while later, after finally being able to face the lie that I was about to tell the Princess, I knocked on the door of her room, and I was greeted by the cheerful face of her cousin, Princess Serena.

"Good afternoon, Your Highness," I said with a smile, bowing with respect.

"Hello, Kunzite," Serena said. "Maena, Kunzite is here."

"Excellent," Maena said with a smile. Trying not to let my nervousness show through, I took Serena's hand and kissed it.

"Princess Serena, if you will, I would like to speak to your cousin alone for a few minutes," I said.

"I was just leaving anyway," she said with a very cute grin. To think that this beauty would probably be killed. "I'll see you both at dinner, then."

"All right," Maena said. As Serena closed the door behind her, I felt Maena's arms wrap around my waist from behind, her soft gold hair falling onto my shoulders. "I've missed you, Kunzite-kun. Why did it take you so long to come see me?"

"Does it matter, my darling?" I said, trying to avoid telling her a bold-face lie. "I'm here now, and that's what matters." I kissed her, and nearly lost my resolve in the process. I wanted to just run away with her! If we returned to Venus, we could escape the onslaught of this horrible overthrow! But even as I thought of this, I received a message from Diamond in my head.

'Don't you dare think of turning back on us now, or you will BOTH die!' I heard him say. I continued kissing Maena, but I was scared out of my accursed skull! These people had taken control of my life, and I either had to obey them to the fullest, or we would both die.

"You seem distant, Kunzite," Maena said when we had ended the kiss. "What's the matter?"

"I'm being sent to Earth on a diplomatic mission," I said, walking over to the window and staring out at the landscape of the moon, this beautiful land that would soon be covered with blood. "I leave in the morning, so if I join you tonight after the ball, I will probably be gone by the time you wake."

"When will you return?" she said, and I could have died when I heard the pain in her voice, knowing that this could be our last night together.

"I don't know," I said. I turned back to her, taking her hand. "But know this, Maena: I will always love you with every fiber of my being, for as long as we both live, no matter what happens. You have all the grace and beauty of Aphrodite, our great Goddess of Love." I kissed her again, longer and deeper than I ever remembered having kissed her before. "I will leave you now, and allow you time to prepare for the ball tonight." She smiled softly, trying to be brave, but I knew that it was eating her up inside. If only she knew how I felt!

I walked back to my suite, where Zoicite was waiting for me, a look of pain on his face that I would only see once more after this, years later.

"Did you tell her, Sakura?" I said, using a nickname I used only very rarely, when I was quite worried, or when he was extremely upset, and I could tell that this time, it was appropriate of both situations. He nodded, and I pursed my lips. "How did she take it?"

"I left before she could start crying?" he said. His silver eyes looked up at me from where he sat on his bed, almost in desperation. "Kunzite-sama, what are we going to do?"

"As Sapphire said, we don't have a choice," I said, plopping down on the couch and downing a glass of red wine. "It's either help them or die. If he hadn't brought the princesses into the equation, I'd have gladly faced death. I only hope that they will understand when we do what must be done." Zoicite moved to the couch, and surprised the hell out of me when he threw his arms around me and began weeping. "Zoicite..."

"I ca... I can't do this, Kunzite!" he cried. "I can't betray my own people! I can't betray HER!" For the first time, I held Zoicite as he cried, a man who I had never seen so broken up about anything in his life. I had never realized how close the two of us were before this, but as I held him in my arms, I felt something that I hadn't felt with anyone except Maena in a very long time, and that was the need for more than just a friend. It was a need for someone who understood what the other person was going through. And in this situation, the four of us were the only ones in the entire kingdom who knew what each other felt like, and the danger that we were putting everyone in. But what was more, I NEEDED to protecting and keep him safe.

"It'll be alright," I said, hoping to the gods that I wasn't lying to him. "We'll make it through, my friend. We have to be strong, for them." I surprised myself by beginning to run my hand through his hair, but it seemed to soothe him a bit, and he was finally able to stop crying. "At the risk of sounding crass, are you feeling better?"

"I just want this to be over," he sighed. "I want to escape with Amiya and get as far from this dangerous situation as I possibly can."

"My thoughts exactly," I said. "But we're stuck with the much less desirable option for the time being." Zoicite nodded sullenly, getting up and going to the sink to splash water in his face, trying to regain his composure and make it through the rest of the evening. By the time we were ready for the party, he was finally smiling, and I had to admit that he looked really good. As he threw on his cape, I held one side on his shoulder as he fastened the other side, and I smiled at him in the mirror. His eyes met mine, and I think I saw a sense of admiration in his eyes, and a sense of hope. After he had fastened the cape, I found myself wrapping my arms around his shoulders from the back, and Zoicite didn't seem to mind. I think he was grateful for the contact with me, and it wouldn't been until years later that he would tell me how it truly made him feel.

"Kunzite-sama, I want you to promise me something," he said.

"Yes?"

"Promise not to leave me when we do this," Zoicite said, his voice about to break again. "Stay with me." Turning around, he looked me right in the eyes. "Please, Kunzite, you have to promise me that you won't leave me."

"If it is within my power, of course I'll say by your side," I said, hugging him. "I promise me.

End Chapter 2

Author's note: I really surprised myself with writing the twist in the relationship between the two men, when both of them are still quite in love with their respective princesses. But this will set them up for their deeper companionship in the Dark Kingdom.