On occasion, if the girls go to Ami's place, they tend to be somewhat intimidated by the overwhelming poshness of the luxury apartment building-- marble floors and cut glass windows in the public areas, beautiful and a lovely blend of classical and modern architecture. Even the elevators are understatedly rich, classy as hell.
Mamoru's leaning against the wall with his backpack over his shoulder and a plastic conbenie bag in his hand, waiting for Ami to unlock the door.
The older teenager looks, actually, like he's still unsettled from the previous day's dealings. Not the fight before the graveyard, not at all, no. The fight in the graveyard. The one where he had to split afterwards, where he told Usagi he'd be crashing out on one of his other friends' couches, let Makoto know, and summarily vanished even off texting radar. No doubt he was curled up with Homura's cat.
He was certainly in school this morning, though, and Ami picked him up afterwards. He's been companionably silent, only really talking for things like 'let's stop here and get your Coke', or if she asks him anything--
--so while he is still unsettled, it's nice enough walking with a fellow introvert that he's at least calmed down since school.
"Should we go before your mom gets home, or...?"
Ami, for her part, may have been healed, but she's still recovering from the ordeal. Of course, for Ami Mizuno, recovering from an ordeal means burying her nose in a textbook or--in this case--in her tablet. She spent most of the walk just wandering along with Mamoru idly, not saying much as she read through complicated analytical charts and the underlying data which drives them.
When they finally reach the apartment, he has to prod her to remind her to pull her keys out and open the door, but once prodded she does just that, finally putting the tablet down long enough to pay attention to anything else.
"Mom?" Ami asks as she unlocks the door. The question seems to confuse her for several moments while she steps inside and beckons him in after with a wiggle of her finger. "Oh, right. No, she's working a double shift tonight. I won't see her until the morning, I'm sure. You could stay the night and she'd never know, not that she'd really care as long as you were in the guest room."
"It would certainly be easier than trucking over to Mako-chan's, but I am supposed to meet Usako after she gets out of detention-- but I guess she sleeps over here often enough too," Mamoru says, somewhat absently. (He is texting Usagi again. This time it's just to let her know where he is.) He trails in after her, then unslings his bookbag without looking and toes off his shoes.
Phone gets pocketed and he looks up, holding the bag with the Coke in it. "Do you still want to play Go and get my list of justifications? Or do you want another set of eyes going over some of that data with you? Especially from the fight yesterday."
Ami ditches her school shoes and bookbag just inside the door, then puts on a pair of house slippers. Without skipping a beat, she reaches up and snatches the coke from his hands, then wanders towards the livingroom and the massive television there. "Honestly," she explains as she starts plugging the mercury computer into her television, "I really do want to hear the story. But I think Go is going to have to wait. Yesterday's fight with .. hwhoever that was ... is not the only data I need to pour through, and I could definitely use the help."
The only reason he can even approach what he's sure Ami is going to need to know about that fight from his perspective is that Mamoru spent most of the night going over it himself, and then rather a lot of the school day too. "You got it," he says amiably, crouching next to the door to get out his iPad and a stylus. He didn't bring slippers and he doesn't see any that'd fit him, so again he trails after Ami, sockfooted.
He pushes up his glasses as he takes a seat on the floor in front of the low table, then sets his tablet down and glances up at the television. "Quick summary of the story so we can get to the data: when I met the lot of you, before you awakened, I didn't even know I was Tuxedo Kamen. I'm pretty sure you were the only one who liked me, since Usagi-chan and I were always bickering. Then I figured it out but I wasn't always aware of it, and I was breaking into jewelry stores and museums in my sleep, and I didn't especially want to tell anyone. That stopped when Usako henshined for the first time, and my dreams changed. I started dreaming about war, and always the Princess asking me for the Ginzuishou. Then Jupiter got on the scene and I was there, I knew who one of you was after that. But by then I also knew you guys were looking for the Princess and the Silver Crystal, and Luna was terrifying, and I thought she'd convince you to stop me-- and then somehow you all trusted Tuxedo Kamen more or less because all I ever did was help Usako and the rest of you, but most of you were convinced I was Nephrite. So then I was on the enemy list and the LAST thing I wanted you to know was who I was, because again, I thought I'd be stopped. V-chan found out who I was because she tried to enlist Tuxedo Kamen's aid to kill Mamoru Chiba, who was secretly Nephrite, and the only thing I could do that'd convince her was prove how absurd an idea that was -- but she wasn't with you yet. And I was falling for Usako and Sailor Moon, and then all of a sudden I wasn't considered potentially Nephrite, but Mako-chan and Rei-chan started being weirdly protective of me and telling me it was inappropriate to pursue Usa because of the Princess, and things basically went on like that -- the common thread being that for whatever reason it was at the time, I thought none of you would let me. After Rei said I was the Moon Princess' prince and you all found out the Dark Kingdom was after me, I REALLY didn't think you'd let me, but I HAD to keep helping Usako. So yes, I was skulking and she was enabling. But then Mako-chan caught me sneaking back in after a fight. She said no one would stop me, so then I told you."
While Mamoru speaks, Ami doesn't seem to be listening. Instead, the bluenette is busy arranging data on the television with flicks of her fingers over the tablet's interface. But she is listening, even if it doesn't look like it. Little tells are there: the way she purses her lips at the mention of Nephrite, the way she frowns outright at the mention of "the Moon Princess' prince".
When the story concludes, she still doesn't say anything for several moments. Reaching for her coke, she pops the top and takes a sip, then leans back and observes, "You should have told me sooner. Usagi should have, as well. I'm still not happy with you both for hiding it, even if I know why you thought it was the right decision. I think we could have made more progress towards more important issues if you'd both been up front about all of this from the beginning. We weren't reborn to live the same story over again," she notes. "That story ended badly, from what I can tell. Things have to change, and if one of those things is you not dating the moon princess, who am I to say the outcomes? I don't even have a proper idea of what happened back then to make the comparison.
"What I do know," Ami says thoughtfully, "is that the Dark Kingdom remembers more than we do, and they're not hesitating to try and win a war we barely know we're fighting." Here, Ami turns to fix Mamoru with a very judgemental, pointed gaze. "I still don't know your role in that history, Mamoru-no-kimi," she says. "But Usagi-chan is the best thing that has ever happened to me in this life, and if you make her happy, then I support everything you two have."
Mamoru sits back against the front of the couch, stretching his legs out under the table, and he folds his hands in his lap and watches Ami from behind his glasses. Sometimes-- occasionally-- they're almost as good as a mask, something to hide behind without hiding. A symbolic barrier. Except-- this particular mask is his true face: serious, no time or need for pretense. His full attention is a heavy thing, weighted and ancient, multiply focused but currently all on Mercury. He doesn't wince when she calls him Mamoru-no-himi, but he closes his eyes for a second.
"I see that now," he agrees with her after a moment, holding up a finger. "That we should have. None of you are treating me differently than you were a week ago, except maybe slightly less worried about me getting hurt, which is honestly a relief. Given my history with all of you in both personas..." he trails off.
His hand drops. "And yes: the present versus the past we don't recall. When you'd suggested at that meeting that the Prince could be drawn to the Princess, I hoped that was proof I wasn't because the only people I've ever been drawn to were Usako and Sailor Moon." That, at least, comes with a wry look as he's sorting through his buffer of what else Ami said, and he reaches to push up his glasses then folds his hands in his lap again.
"She's the best thing that's ever happened to me, too, so I am very glad to hear you say that," he says quietly and firmly, meeting her eyes, not even remotely defensive or combative. Only gravely serious. "She changed every aspect of my life for the better, from both of the first times I met her. She's my most important person, and nothing can keep us apart. We just didn't want to be causing instability in your team."
Then the highschooler looks away from Ami, brow a little furrowed, but not quite frowning. "The Dark Kingdom and my history... I do know two things. I died protecting her, and it was a redhead in a purple dress with fingers like knives, carrying a sword. And when I saw that woman at the graveyard," Mamoru looks up at Ami again, "she looked just like her."
The boy exhales and waves a hand around. "Anyway, also, Mako-chan says that they have one of my roses and are experimenting on it."
Ami sighs and sits back on her heels, staring up at the television without really seeing it. She takes another sip of her coke, then sets it down on the low table.
"That doesn't surprise me," Ami says quietly. "I thought I recognized her, but I couldn't figure out why; that's why I was trying to sneak up on her in the first place. I wanted to get a better idea of who we were really fighting. I hadn't intended to get close enough for her to hear me, but ..." she trails off, then reaches down to cover her stomach where she was injured. "Well, the best laid plans of mice and men ..."
"Listen, Mamoru-kun," she says thoughtfully. "I'm really worried. Between that giant white flower hovering over the sky, and this lady we saw last night, I feel like there's a lot going on that we just don't understand. And it's getting worse. Look at this," she says, swapping to a different app on her tablet. The television shows a graph with an asymptotic curve heading towards infinity in the Y axis the further along X it gets. The line is solid for the first third, then dotted for the rest. "this is a plot of all the attacks I've been able to identify over the past three months, along with a projection of how it will increase. It's not good."
"Hey-- are you all right? You took the brunt of that blast. I'd been planning on jumping you away if she turned around, but I froze up. And I've never done that before. I'm sorry," Mamoru says, reconfiguring at the table to kneel and sit back on his heels, glancing at her stomach, then her face. "I mean I figured Asc would heal you, which is why I didn't tag along with you guys and leave later. I didn't have the wherewithal to talk about any of it yet."
He is, however, also glancing at the graph Ami's created, and the side of his mouth pulls up slightly despite himself, because x is approaching infinity on the y axis. "It's also quite possible," he adds to Ami's last, "that it's directly proportionate to how many magical girls are awakening. You have to figure that the ratio of defenders to attackers isn't going to change, and will grow proportionately with the number of magical people show up in total."
"He did heal me," Ami says quietly, then lets out a soft sigh. "I was being kinda stupid, too. I kept saying I was fine because I was so worried about Minako. I didn't even realise how much blood I'd lost, at the time." She shakes her head a little, then smirks at Mamoru. "But yeah, I'm better, now. Millenium Magic, three cheeseburgers, and a little bit of sleep have me mostly back on my feet. Doesn't mean I don't feel dumb, right?"
She glances back at her own graph, then presses a button. A second line appears overlaid on the first. They're not quite identical, but it does seem to be growing in proportion; just at a slight delay. "Magical girl awakenings I've been made aware of," she labels it verbally. "And you're right, they're just about the same, it's just delayed. I still wonder if this is leading towards some point where the curve plateaus, or if it's just going to escalate infinitely."
There's a slight smile at Ami; they've both felt dumb about exactly that, yes. But here, Mamoru leans back again, lacing his fingers behind his head and examining the graph. "Well it can't escalate infinitely unless the population also does," he points out. "Otherwise magic will run out of people to awaken. But even aside from that, just because almost anyone could get an Intelligent Device or something, or any girl could make a contract with that awful white cat-rat-alien thing or get a PreCure card or whatever-- doesn't mean they will. General patterns for population access to magic can probably safely be compared to those for access to developing technology, with a handicap thrown in that not everyone can perceive magic."
"Mmm," Ami agrees quietly, "but the question is which one will run out first: the capacity for evil to do evil things, or the capacity for magic to find girls and boys to fight evil." She arches a brow, then swipes right, sending the chart off the screen so she can get back to the analysis of Beryl's magical attacks. She halves the screen, then drags up a second set of data so that she can compare the two attacks Beryl used in front of her side by side.
"Her second one was so much more powerful than the first," Ami notes quietly, thoughtfully. "I think if she'd used that much power in the attack that hit me, I'd be dead. That's a humbling thought." She sighs, then shakes her head, "And if she'd hit Venus ..." she trails off. She doesn't need to say it. "How do we defeat something like that?"
"I think," says Mamoru slowly, looking at the readouts of the attacks but not especially scrutinizing them at the moment, "we're going to need the Princess and the Maboroshi no Ginzuishou before we can take her on. I don't think she's a fight we can win until we have everyone and everything we need; she'll require all of our resources and abilities, all of our strengths, to beat her. Even if we'd had Mako-chan and Minako-chan had been at peak strength, I don't think we'd've had a chance."
He pauses, realizing he's gotten tense, and deliberately relaxes. "I'd really rather she didn't kill me again."
After yesterday's two battles, the emotional upheaval of seeing two of her closest friends blasted at the same time, then another friend blasted, on top of it all that...woman.
Usagi did not sleep well last night. No nightmares, but the red head had haunted what little sleep she'd got.
So she'd gotten detention for falling asleep in class, again, but with her slow but apparent improving in grades detention hadn't been that stifling.
So she's on her way to Ami-chan's (Mamo-chan's there, too! Two of her favorites yay!) staring at a package of her smartest female friend's favorite candy.
She's STARING at it. And not opening it or eating it.
PENANCE!!!
She sighs at the package in the elevator, plucking at the plastic with longing fingers.
Outside, she knocks on the door in usual Usagi fashion, pausing only to yawn.
When the door opens, she holds out the forbidden candy. "Ami-chan, I got your favorite, and I stared at it the whole way and didn't even open it, well that's a lie, I'd started opening -- see the tear here? -- it but I made my self stop they're all for you, okay?"
Ami sighs at Mamoru's answer, but doesn't disagree with it. "At this point," she notes quietly, "I have to assume we're going to fight her again, and we're not going to have the Moon Princess or the Crystal." She reaches up to brush her hair out of her face, and winds up leaving her hand tangled in her hair, instead. Grabbing her coke, she takes a sip--only to be interrupted by the sound of a knock at the door. "I'll get that," she notes, setting her coke back down.
She'd know that knock anywhere.
Ami rolls back to her feet and pads towards the door in her slippers. She didn't even bother turning off the graph with its weird mathematical mumbojumbo. Usagi can deal with nerding!
Ami opens the door and immediately gets bowled over by a bag of Forbidden Candy, then blinks at Usagi in surprise. "W..hat?" she asks confusedly, then takes the bag and peers inside. "Wow, that's impressive," she notes as she spots the mostly unopened bag of candies. With a smile, Ami reaches up to hug Usagi, dragging the blonde into the house in the process. She closes the door with her foot. "Mamoru-no-kimi, your girlfriend is here," she declares in a singsong voice, without letting Usagi out of the hug-slash-neckhold.
"We can try and avoid fighting her on our own-- if we see her with a youma, we don't engage until we've called rather a lot of Virtue in? I still don't think we could actually beat her, but we might be able to put enough of a dent for her to leave," Mamoru suggests, then sits up-- but Ami's going to get the door, so he settles back down.
Except the second he hears Usagi's voice, he actually does get up; when Ami calls him that in front of Usagi, he gives her a 'really? really??' look but it's not too heated. "Usako," he greets the neckhold-drag-hugged girl with a smile-- and yes, glasses. And nerdery all over the television screen. He seems like he may be slightly braced, as if for impact.
Yay! There's a hug! And a hugging neck hold!
Usagi flails a bit for balance as she's walked inside, and then she's poking Ami in the ribs.
Though, she supposes Ami-chan's earned some teasing rights!
Augh, sad-face! Mamoru shouldn't have to be no-kiming now! (NEVAR!(
She looks up at her name, though, and she's blushing even as she grins.
"Oh! YAY!" Glasses! And graph looking things! She wriggles and squirms out of the death-lock, giggling the whole while.
"Eeeee! I get to watch you two be all smart!"
This is said without an OUNCE of sarcasm. She's actually excited for it!
And, of course, she's launching at Mamoru for a hug, arms warm around his waist and face snuggling his chest and there's even a hum.
"Oh!" She roots around in her pocket and pulls out a pack of coffee gum and holds it up under his nose. "Have you tried this?"
Ami gives Mamoru that same grinning wink that Mercury gave them last night. Oh she knows exactly what she's doing. When Usagi finally disentangles Ami spins away with her green tea flavoured kit kats and heads to the kitchen to break the bag open.
"Usagi-chan, take your shoes off before you wander on mom's carpet," she calls over her shoulder, just to disrupt their hugging-kissing time a little further. Because tactical shippers need to build up the suspense.
With her candy secured, Ami grabs another coke from the refridgerator, then heads back towards her place on the floor in front of the television.
Mamoru catches Usagi with a laugh, folding himself down and around her to hug back, kissing the top of her head. When she pulls back to hand him the gum, he blinks and takes it. "Ah-- no, I'll definitely try it, though," he says cheerfully, holding it up, then examining the ingredients for caffeine. He glances up as Ami comes back in -- and presumably while Usagi's hieing herself off to remove her shoes -- then looks to the screen again. "Usa, we were talking about that woman at the graveyard. I froze up because I recognised her. Do you remember seeing her before?"
Her second shoe is halfway off when she looks up, a bit guilty and sheepish. "I was...too angry at her for what she did to notice right away. Speaking of Ami-chan are you sure you're okay now? And you, Mamo-chan? Huh, huh? Don't lie to me! But she made sleeping a no go last night. Nothing specific, and no nightmares, but."
She shivers. That woman gives her the heebies.
Slippers!
She places a hand on her hips and taps her chin in thought. "She did say I remind her of someone she knew once. Um... Ah! 'A very foolish girl who lost everything because she tried to take something that belonged to her.' And she looked like she wants to claw my face off."
A shiver rolls down her spine as she scurries back, plopping on the floor.
Ami sticks a kit-kat in her mouth and chomps down, appreciating the mild and delicious mingling of flavours without a word as she goes back to analyzing the data on Beryl's attacks. But she keeps half an ear on the conversation with the other two.
Then she turns to ''peer' at Usagi.
"What was that attack, anyways?" she asks, curiously. "I've never seen you do anything like that. Moon Healing Escalation? That was amazing, Usagi-chan. You have no idea ... the power readings were so much higher than anything the rest of us have ever managed. Why didn't you tell me you could do that?"
Mamoru leaves Usagi's attack explanations to Usagi, and curls back into his spot on the floor between table and couch, shimmying closer to Usagi and putting an arm around her because he can, and because she fits just right, right there.
Usagi's statements, though, he does address. "She looked like she wanted to eat me alive," he says with a grumble. "Anyway, if she's the one who's legitimately in charge, then she's either called Queen Beryl or she's the one they called 'Our Great Leader'. And she's certainly part of that history -- I'm about 95% certain she's the one who killed me. Which brings me to the other thing, Usa-- have you had any dreams about any of this? And-- Ami-chan... remember when I told you about not touching people because of feedback? Sometimes that feedback is images from back then. I can't see what people pick up from me, only what I pick up from them, so it's completely unreliable, but it might be something you can do something with."
Usagi looks up at Ami-chan, clearly horrified by her lack of Friend. "I didn't?! I thought I did, I swear!" She sighs.
"Luna gave it to me. Magnifies...some purifying thing Mamo-chan thought I could do. The first time I used it, I was going full on and passed out after. Since then, I've toned it down. I still get sleepy after, but it's a lot easier now!"
Her head whips to Mamoru, fingernails digging into his knee for a moment. SHE'S the one?!
Her grip loosens and she tries to think.
"Um, no? I mean, I had clear bits and pieces last night, but I always woke up before actual scenes could be there. Think she's the one from that nightmare? The face was hazy, then..."
"Only if I experience it," Ami tells Mamoru honestly. "That's the sort of thing that you have to see to understand, and I doubt the Mercury Computer can even catalogue it." She frowns a little, then says, "If I had everyone tell me everything they see, maybe I could piece together a timeline."
But she shakes her head, blue hair whipping around her chin a little. "No, I don't think I can do anything with it, unless you want me to touch you. I've avoided doing so at your request," and because she's not very touchy, anyways, except for hugging Usagi.
"This ... Queen Beryl," she notes, thoughtfully. "Well, I guess that's something," she notes, but doesn't explain what she means, or really comment further on Usagi's powerful attack.
Clutched-at-- Mamoru more or less expected it, and when Usagi's grip loosens, he takes her hand and laces his fingers through it. "Her face clicked into place. I've seen that hair and that dress and that presence rushing the Princess with a sword more times than I can count." He stretches his legs out under the table, then, letting his hair fall into his face as he looks down at the tabletop. "There are a few people I know for sure have seen things-- and one of them is blind. That was an interesting experience for her; that's Hannah Sharpe. Homura Akemi saw the redhead, and Hansuke-san saw something, and Seishi Tamashige and Shiori Sato actually rode into my dreams at my request to help me stop the reruns. I can usually avoid it with lucid dreaming, now."
He lifts his head and glances at Ami. "But I'm offering."
She flexes her fingers against the back of Mamoru's hand, sort of petting his knuckles. And she may even snuggle a bit closer.
Part of her is -- annoyingly -- jealous that she can't peek his memories and that he can't peek hers. (Though maybe that's a good thing...?)
Still, she wonders what it's like in a controlled environment. (She still wants to growl at Dais-kun sometimes...even if it WAS an accident! (Or was it? SHUT UP INNER INNER BRAIN NO ONE ASKED YOU!!))
"Is there anything...you'd need me to do? Like, not touch you? Or?"
Ami looks back up at the screen in silence, considering his offer as she flips the two energy readings aside in favor of a third. This one looks suspiciously almost as powerful as the readings off of Beryl, and yet the wave patterns are entirely different. Ami stares at Usagi's Moon Healing Escalation in thought for a long, long time, then admits, "I haven't seen anything like that."
The bluenette lets out a soft sigh. "I just get these brief pangs of deja vu. They're not even that strong. If it weren't for Luna," where is that cat, anyways? Probably upstairs asleep on Ami's pillow. "I don't think I'd have ever been brave enough to talk to Usagi." And what a world that would have been. Ami doesn't dwell on that thought long. Instead, she just nods her head and takes the last sip of her first coke, then sets the can aside. She doesn't open the next one, yet. Instead, she raises her hand, palm up, towards Mamoru. She spreads her fingers a little, then waits, not daring to look at him.
"You don't have to let go," Mamoru tells Usagi, smiling slightly. "Besides, maybe if you're holding my hand, you'll see something too."
He glances up at Ami, then blinks-- she can't even look at him? ...is she nervous? Even though she has every right and reason to be, and even though Mamoru avoids touch on purpose and Ami knows it, it still hurts, and Mamoru's surprised that it does.
But he manages a laugh, and just reaches up and pulls Ami's hand down so they're both resting on the table. He's moving her hand but the images are already there, the snippets and pieces of sequences, of scenes.
A funeral, from the visual perspective of a six-year-old in an uncomfortable suit. There's no emotion attached to this, only a sort of empty, preoccupied, abstract curiosity. Someone ruffles his hair, says something that doesn't matter, and there's some sort of rote response.
Up on a rooftop, he's watching the sun set with a blond boy as they both eat apples and cheese, and the air is clean and the colors are incredible, and passing below is a delegation of graceful women in flowing garments of shining gold, that... don't cover much.
So angry, so very angry, yelling not at but in the direction of four guys in uniforms of some sort; frustrated; there's a darkness in the air that clings like a miasma, and there's nothing but frustration and concern on the faces of the uniformed guys.
Her crying is shattering windows and display cases, and the youma's holding its ears, and even the cat's holding her ears. He leans in from the door-sized window at the end of the mezzanine, then leaps down to the floor. Everything is dark down there, and he can hear his voice in it: "Crying won't solve anything!" And then he's steadying her at the elbows, and he lifts her just as she lashes a kick out at the youma--
"It's all right if you can't hear them," a tall boy is saying gravely. "Just know their names and that they're listening, and they can hear you. So if you're lost, ask them for help. They'll show you the way-- and if you still can't see the way, they'll tell me where you're calling for help."
Silver and brilliant, ephemeral and ethereal, not subject to the gravity of the Earth, she's so bright in the darkness that her face can't be made out, that she's the only thing he can see at all. Her hair is so very long, and she flexes her fingers against the back of his hand, sort of petting his knuckles. And then she curls into his chest and he bends down, folding over her and putting his arms around her, and he kisses the top of her head.
Grim resolve; disappointment. Something that would be a lingering dread if he hadn't shut that part of himself off. Other boys in school uniforms matching his run past him, heading for -- wherever. He pushes through the disappointment and begins thinking about algebra as he approaches an intimidating set of doors in an institution-shaped building, labelled Moto Azabu Jido Kaikan.
A senshi in a blue and white fuku, with short blue hair, leans on the table with her hands in fists and an irritated look on her face. The pale little white-clad goddess beside her, hair so very long, is holding her hand over her mouth and there's the sense of laughter. He steps out from behind the curtain, finally, and the senshi throws up her hands and acquiesces. When she turns, the Princess can't see her smile, but he can.
White-hot pain, and then nothing-- he sees her face, but even if she's not too bright to see, for some reason she looks blurry as she leans over his face. There's something glittering on her face, catching the light like cut crystal, like a diamond. She looks like she must be clutching at him, but he can't feel anything, can barely hear her.
Ami doesn't even have time to register that he's hurt. She'd explain, if she knew, but he grabs her hand before she even notices, and her world spins.
The smell of baked sweets, and a somewhat messy little house. She runs to the doorway as it opens. A man walks in, brown hair and a tired expression on his face that lights up like the sun in the morning when he sees the girl running. "Daddy, you're home! We made your favourite cookies."
Data, so much data. It's everywhere, literally flying around in some sort of holographic perspective that allows her to read and parse the data as if she were literally a part of it. Mercury reaches out to touch the data, and everything changes. It's still data, just a different section of the data. There is a calmness, as she processes the information streams coming in from all corners of the Solar System. A calmness that belies the grim reality of the data: the Kingdom is at War, and Mercury is trying to devise a winning strategy.
"Checkmate," says a vaguely effeminite voice. The speaker sits in front of her, so smug and self-confident in victory, strawberry-blonde hair flowing down to his (her?) shoulders. "I told you I could beat you."
Fire, fire everywhere. "Where's the princess!?" Mercury's voice calls to someone nearby, but there's no answer. No one knows. She rushes through another burning building, and out the other side, then winces as a beam crashes down just behind her. If only she hadn't been so busy trying to analyze everything at once, maybe she'd have been able to protect her. But now it's too late, and her worst fears have come to pass.
A cat drops down from a tree, landing on her shoulder. "Ack!" Ami declares, then laughs and hugs the cat. "You're such a cute little cat. You scared me," she says quietly. The sound of slapping feet can be heard to one side, and she turns to see a blonde with long, flowing hair, tied up in odongos on either side of her head. "Oh, is this your cat?" she asks. "I thought she must have been an angel, falling from the sky."
"Look, I know you two are seeing one another," says Mercury's voice, "but my sisters are worried about the impact it's going to have on her. I'm not going to stop you, but I swear if you don't take care of her I will make your life miserable. She's not just our princess, she's also my best friend."
As the memories--flashbacks?--fade, Ami reaches up with her free hand and runs her fingers through her hair. She stays that way, very still, clutching at her scalp very gently while she just dwells in those memories, just a little longer.
Usagi waves her hands. "Pfff. Even if Luna hadn't stalked you, I totally planned on trying to make friends. I would have been subtle! Like...'hey, what you get for question three WANNA GO TO THE ARCADE WITH ME!!!'"
She blinks at the possibility. What?
Now, though, even though she'd been annoying thinking about it two seconds ago, she's a bit nervous. She's not sure what about. That she won't see anything? That she will?
She gulps and nods, keeping her fingers through his, still petting his knuckles.
She does see.
(She remembers when she's younger asking her mother what Moto Azabu Jido Kaikan was. The answer made her so sad then. And it's even worse now.)
Flashes, memories that aren't hers, probably even more distorted for her than they are for them, but ug, most of them make her so sad.
(And maybe jealous ug the princess was so important to them both...)
But mostly sad!
When they clear, (Moto Azabu Jido Kaikan! Cookies for Papa!) she's burrowed under Mamoru's arm so people can't see her sniffling.
She's not crying, you're crying!
Sniff sniff.
Jerks.
Silently, Mamoru pulls his hand away from Ami's and is suddenly aware that Usagi's burrowed into his side, making a sound that's suspiciously similar to sniffling. He honestly looks puzzled, but makes up for it by essentially hauling Usagi up so she can sit across his lap and hide her face in his chest where she won't get a crick in her neck from ducking her head.
He glances up at Ami, and he gives her a little smile. "Well. It seems that you handled more data and more cleanly than Tony Stark by an exponential factor. It also seems as though I've always been a complication."
Ami isn't crying, but she's doing the next best thing. She's sitting, staring at the table, not even bothering to look up at the data she's been analyzing. Because right now, there are way too many emotions going on in her head.
That was her, in those memories. Even if she was taller, older, more elegant, she recognizes herself. It's not just the outfit; it's the everything about herself.
Ami takes a deep breath and forces herself to ignore that memory. It's important to her, certainly, but it doesn't contain clues. Not like the others do. Not like the last one did. She dwells on it hard, trying to remember ... but it's not her memory. She can't reimagine it. She can just replay it.
So finally she reaches up and pops the top on her second can of coke, then takes a long, long drink of it before looking back up at her television screen. "Thank you," is all she says to him, before she goes back to the data. Because she just can't cope with the memories, right now.
Usagi sniffles for a good long while. Also, Mamoru's shirt is getting tears and eye crusties all over the place.
But she's proud of herself because when she wipes her eyes to pull away, she doesn't wipe her nose! (She's such a good girlfriend. Okay, he's a better boyfriend, but hush.)
She looks up at him, voice quiet. "Was it lonely?"
Then! "Ami-chan, I didn't know you could make cookies!"
And then she's in Mamo-shirt again.
"Jerks..."
She doesn't mean it!
All of a sudden, Mamoru's concerned-- between Usagi's questions and sniffling and Ami's not being able to look at them, he's wondering what the hell they saw. Absently, he takes a clean handkerchief out of his pocket and gives it to Usagi, then links his arms around her to support her against his chest. "Not entirely. I had my dreams. And I stopped being lonely when I met you," he tells her matter-of-factly.
Then he looks up at Ami again and he looks apologetic. "You're welcome. I'm sorry if you saw anything that hurt you."
"What?" Ami asks, turning to Mamoru suddenly. "No, it didn't! It was fine, really," she tells him with a smile. "I just ... I wasn't sure I was really there, and ..." she trails off, then clears her throat. "Now I know," she says quietly. Then she turns back to the screen, fully intending to dive back in.
But then Usagi mentions cookies, and Ami goes completely, utterly still. She doesn't even breathe for nearly half a minute before she very quietly says, "I can't make cookies. I burn them." There is a moment of tension, then it breaks when she very suddenly gets up and excuses herself, heading towards the hallway.
That earns him a small a small but genuine smile.
And she doesn't really realize Ami'd heard her until suddenly there's an Ami-size void.
"Oh!" Instantly, she's in Friend Mode, and even if it means getting Therapeutically Yelled At, she's willing to take that risk!
She gives Mamo-chan a quick kiss. "Be right back."
Then she's scrambling out of his lap and follows where Ami-chan went.
And Ami-chan is greeted with a bunny bear hug. "I'm sorry."
"Take your time," Mamoru says after the kiss, hand trailing up with Usagi before she pulls away completely, then lowering.
When Usagi runs off after Ami, Mamoru looks up at the screen then silently takes his iPad from the table and turns it on. It's a second longer while he fishes in his pockets for his earbuds and puts them on, and he takes notes to Philip Glass so the girls can have some semblance of privacy.
Before she reaches the hallway, Ami's already moving at half a run. She never quite makes it to run, but she does make it to her bedroom before Usagi catches her, and nearly slams the door on the blonde's nose. Luckily, a quick hand will stop it from hitting her and the door will bounce right back open so Usagi can get into Ami's room behind her.
The hug from behind is all encompassing, and it's a good thing, because Ami just about goes boneless in Usagi's arms. She falls to her knees, dragging Usagi with her, as the tears begin to flow. The cope is gone; all that's left is massive security breach that has compromised the emotional state of the Senshi whose emotions are kept reigned the tightest.
Usagi is more than a little surprised at being pulled to the floor, and even more so at the sudden bursting dam.
On the floor, Usagi moves her legs so they're framing Ami's, one arm secure near the shoulders and the other snug around her waist.
She mumbles almost nonsense words, with things like "You're okay" and "I'm right here" floating about.
And it's not the 'you're okay' as in 'you can stop crying.' It's the 'you cry as much as you need' kind of 'you're okay.'
Ami cries for a long time, in Usagi's arms. It's quiet tears; Mamoru probably couldn't even hear them if he were in the hallway outside her door. But that doesn't make the pain any less real, or the control any less lost.
Eventually, however, the blue-haired girl starts to regain her sense of self, and she twists a little in Usagi's arms to put her head on her friend's shoulder. "It's not your fault," she murmurs quietly, then reaches up to wipe at her tears. "I didn't mean to cry. I'm sorry."
Her arms twist as Ami moves, easily adapting to the new position. Now one hand is soothing her friend's back while the other is petting her cheek.
"Pffff. You don't have to apologize to me about crying. I've made it a sort of sport. Very good for the lungy bits. And sometimes it oddly makes you feel better after."
She nuzzles the back of Ami's head, nose getting tickled by her soft hair.
Pet pet pet. Love love love.
"You wanna talk? It's okay if not, I got plenty of cuddles left in me."
"I just ..." Ami starts to say, then sniffles a little. "I nearly died yesterday. I didn't even pay attention to how much blood I was losing until Daisuke healed me. I should have. And then .." she trails off, and the tears threaten her again. "I haven't made cookies since they got divorsed, Usagi," she mumbles. "I don't ... I don't want to do it anymore. I miss him so much and he won't keep his promises and he won't come home. I don't think I'm ever going to see him again. But he keeps sending me his artwork, like some sort of standin, and every time I get a piece I'm so excited like some big stupid rat pushing the button for the cheese because it tastes good, but I'm still trapped in this cage and he's not here."
Usagi's arms tighten around Ami at 'I nearly died' but stays silent while she unloads. Her heart hurts for Ami, but she (very fortunately) doesn't have experience with this kind of pain.
Her parents are both alive and so lovey dovey it sends her to the floor in dramatic gagging.
Still, though, she can imagine the hurt. Has felt it on different levels.
"I don't think it's stupid to get excited about that. They're a part of him." She won't make excuses for him.
(She wonders if there's a way to get this guy's address, go over, and beat him up. Not physically, of course, but EMOTIONALLY! So much worse...)
"You know what, though?" She pulls back and shimmies over until she has both hands on Ami's cheeks, thumbs brushing the tears. "I think between the time we met and now, you've left the cage. I mean, it's still there, and you're still wanting cheese, but...you're not only pressing that button anymore."
More tear wiping. And she lowers her voice.
"And it's okay that you still do."
She chews her lip. Wondering if she should even say what she wants to.
But she's Usagi and he does.
"And...he's a colossal butt munch. Because if I were your Papa, I'd be all," deep voice! "'Excuse me, Mrs. Dr. Ami's Mom, I'm taking Ami to this Tesla Coil Exhibit thingy and then we're gonna look at paintings old guys made a billion years ago.'" She nods. Firm in this belief! "Of course, I'd use the right words."
Ami can't make herself stop crying, but at least the flow of tears is starting to abate. But Usagi, of course, is Usagi, and somehow, against every known scientific fact, Usagi is able to cure the world with a hug and a smile.
And this is really no exception to that rule.
When Usagi calls her father a butt munch, Ami starts to object; to defend him on instinct. But Usagi bulldozes right past the objects Ami might have said and instead gives her such a hilariously silly mental image that not even Ami's pain can resist a little laughter. It's a sputtery, wet, kinda gross laughter, but only a little one, so not that gross. Ami just wipes her tears on her shoulders after the laugh, and the cry, and then takes a deep breath. She's smiling, now. It doesn't hurt quite as much. Because Usagi is here, and Moon Healing Escalation doesn't even register on the scale of power next to Usagi's hugs and silly jokes. She leans forward and hugs Usagi tightly, then kisses the blonde's cheek (also a little wet and gross). "You really are the best thing that's ever happened to me," Ami manages to say quietly as she hugs Usagi.
Usagi scrunches up her eyes, then wipes off the excess gross and rubs in the not gross bits, all while hugging her back!
But then she starts to feel a bit guilty! Oh no!
"Is it...okay that you share number one slot with VERY SELECT FEW people?"
She could, on one hand, say 'YOU TOO FOR ME!' but that wouldn't be fair, even if Ami-chan couldn't figure that one out on her own.
Ami smiles and hugs Usagi again, tightly. "I know," she says quietly. "Mamoru, and the other girls. They mean a lot to you, I know. But ... some of us have hearts for one or two. A rare few of us have hearts big enough for everyone. I don't have to share space when that space is infinite," she notes.
Oh, great moment of relief! "Well, there's definitely a distinct Ami-shaped place for you in there. It has cushy pillows and books on quantum...thingies. And romances."
Then she's pulling back, remembering the reason why she bought the candy. "And speaking of Mamo-chan, I'm so sorry I didn't tell you. I really wanted to, honest. It's just...the princess thing, and also the Kamen thing was his secret, and..."
She sighs. "I know you're probably still a teeeeeeeeeny bit angry?" Hopeful Eyes that it's only teeny. "But I'm really, really glad you know."
Ami sniffs a little and reaches up to ruffle Usagi's hair. "It wasn't your secret to tell," she notes quietly. "I am mad that you didn't tell me you were dating until really late, but I'm also over that already. I'm just glad you're happy, Usagi-chan. Really."
She blushes and wiggles happily. "I dragged him to go Trick-Or-Treating. In...really really cheap store bought Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Kamen costumes."
Ami chokes at that, then just hugs her friend. "I love you," she tells Usagi. THen she takes a deep breath. "I think I need to take a shower and change. I always feel gross after crying. Why don't you go make smoochie faces at your boyfriend a while, and I'll be out later."
%r
She gives Ami a squishy hug back. "I love you, too. And I hope you feel a little better?"
She never knows!
Usagi's eyes widen, and then her face turns sly. "Mweeheehee."
Standing up, she moves in ridiculous Stealth Moves, humming the Mission Impossible theme. "Enjoy your shower!"
She continues the hum until she's glomping her headphoned boyfriend.
And there is indeed Smoochie Faces.