Karma Chameleon
“Are you sure this is the place?” Minako asked Kunzite. They stood at the foot of ruins where a great balance had once stood. She shielded her eyes from the sun with her hand as she looked around their surroundings.
“I can still feel the energy radiating from this spot,” he answered her quietly. Minako squeezed his hand reassuringly, somewhat alarmed by his reserved tone. Kunzite smiled at her and placed a light, almost thoughtless kiss on the top of her head before walking forward where the couple slowly ascended the stone steps. The staircase was uneven from years of the elements wearing away the stone. They walked cautiously, finally coming to stand at the top where they could see down into the remnants of the castle’s shell. “Can you feel it?”
Minako closed her eyes and allowed herself to be absorbed by her surroundings. She could hear whispers on the wind even though there was no one around for miles. The wind tugged at her long coat, her hair swirling around her. Slowly she could feel his essence wrapping itself around her and she felt a great sadness as memories she had not even known she possessed began to overtake her. A single tear slid down her cheek, but she paid no mind to it. “This was your home once,” she finally whispered, her eyes still slowly opening to look up at Kunzite. His face looked solemn as he walked away from her and slipped further into the ruins. Minako quickly followed after him, nearly tripping and falling as rubble crumbled underneath her. Amazing that she could jump from one rooftop to the next in a pair of dainty heels, yet her sturdy boots couldn’t handle a few cracks in the foundation.
She finally caught up to Kunzite, looping her arm through his as he stared at the winding staircase that led to a level under the ground. He said nothing, but Minako could tell that something troubled him by the haunted look in his eyes and the tremor that was passing through his body. “Kunzite,” she said softly.
“We should go now.”
“But I thought that you wanted to see -“
“I’ve seen enough.” Kunzite pulled his arm from her grasp and quickly walked back the way he had come, leaving Minako to chase after him. The sound of her crying out stopped him in his tracks and he quickly turned around to see that she had fallen on the ground. He crossed over to Minako and knelt down in front of her. “I’m sorry Minako.”
“What are you running from?” she asked.
“Everyone is expecting us. I don’t want them to worry that something happened to us. Here.” He extended his hand and reached for Minako, but she slapped his hand away.
“I want you trust me, but if you are going to lie to me than you can hold your breath.”
Kunzite sat down on the ground next to her and ran his hand through his hair, letting out a sigh before responding. “The witch came to me in my own home. She poisoned me, tortured me - all of that here. We were underground in the darkness, that’s where the nightmares started and the last time I could remember what your face looked like, the way that your perfume smelled. I hoped that by coming here I would be able to face what she had done to me and stop running, but I can’t. Not yet.”
“Then we’ll come back when you’re ready.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of, that I’ll never be ready to face my demons. How do I know that I’ve overcome what was done to me if I run away from it when it’s presented to me?” Kunzite picked up a small stone and threw it across the ruins, watching as it scuttled and bounced along the broken floor.
“I don’t think that any of us knows what we will do until we’re truly forced to come face to face with our demons.” Kunzite looked up at her and quickly pulled her into a hug, his arms wrapping tightly around her. She squeaked out an ‘eek’ before he loosened his grip enough so that she could comfortably breathe. “Besides,” she continued, “as far as I’m concerned - and everyone else who knows you - it’s all spilt milk under the bridge anyway.”
Kunzite stared at her for a moment before laughing deeply at her comment. He laughed until his side hurt and his eyes started to water. Minako leaned over and placed a light kiss on his cheek. “I said that wrong on purpose just for you.” Kunzite stood up and helped her to her feet. “I of course know that the correct expression is to ‘throw the towel under the bridge’,” she said contentedly. “Ami would be so proud that I got it right!”
Seeing the pride in her eyes over her correct usage of the American expression kept him from correcting her. Instead of just smiled and kissed her on the tip of her nose. With their hands tightly clasped they started to make their way out of the ruins. Kunzite could still feel a chill deep in his bones from being so close to this spot, but with Mina as his light, he knew that he had nothing to fear.