AUTHOR'S NOTE: Thank you so much to all of you who offered your prayers, your hopes, and your thoughts to me and my friend over the past month. You have no idea how much your kind words mean to me. Unfortunately, I have not been able to see my friend since this entire thing happened, but I think that she knows I'm here…I really wish that I could talk to her. For those of you who are wondering (Trunksmybaby) I am a girl, and I do love my friend, but it's because she's my best friend. The love I have for her is sisterly…I feel like she is my sister. (Don't worry Trunksmybaby, I appreciate your kind review and don't mind you asking questions !) You all have been so sweet to me…god…it makes me wanna cry, and I did cry when I read your messages. You all are right, she will get better…and I can help her…and myself. I love you all…and like I said before, I may not know you, but if you ever feel so low that you just want to take your life…or just really sad…talk to me, send me an e-mail! (It's I really care about all of you…and thank you to all of you who sent me their e-mail addresses in case I wanted to talk. Thanks for telling me that you didn't care if I updated anytime soon. Just thanks for caring. I hope that none of you have to suffer or have a friend suffer the way my best friend has, and if you do, please know that there are some wonderful people here who actually give a damn! I know I'm rambling…but forgive me…I know that I've said this before but I can't stop: Thank you!

Love Always,

Galaxystar

I hope you enjoy this story about two of my favorite characters…Zach and Ami! Drop me a line if you have the time!

DISCLAIMER: I have never owned Sailor Moon…and I probably never will.

MIXED SIGNALS:

Ami's nimble fingers moved furiously over the keyboard of her laptop. Though the words where appearing on the screen, if you were to ask Ami just exactly what she was writing, she wouldn't be able to tell you, for she was too deep in thought.

The sun had long since faded from the sky, leaving only a murky twilight haze in its wake, but Ami Mizuno-Kurato had been working in her private library long before the sun had made its final descent.

The slender young woman absently brushed the her shoulder length, midnight black hair from out her eyes before rummaging through the mountains of paper work that littered the top of her desk. She sighed in frustration when she realized that the document she needed was somewhere floating amidst the sea of papers.

Ami didn't bother to look up when she heard the entrance to the large room open and shut with a small bang, nor did she pay any attention to the man that stepped through those doors.

Zachary's footsteps were calm and even as he made his way over to the dimly lit workstation where his wife sat, lost in her files. His dark blonde hair was pulled back into a pony-tail. The slacks that he wore where a deep blue, almost as deep as the coloring of his eyes, while the turtle neck he was sporting was a simple, creamy beige.

He snuck behind his unsuspecting wife as she continued to categorize her notes. Flashing a sneaky smile, he bent forward slightly, and brushed a chilled bottle of red wine across the pale expanse of her neck.

She jumped with a loud shriek of surprise and then proceeded to brush her small hands across the offended area, trying to find just what exactly had touched her.

Ami blushed when she heard a deep chuckle erupt from behind her. She spun around in her chair only to come face to face with her husband, Zachary Kurato. His eyes where filled with mirth as he took in Ami's slightly disheveled form, and had to bite back a grin when he noticed that her reading glasses were dangling from only one ear; no one could make such a look seem so delectably sexy, except for his Ami.

Unable to help himself, Zach reached down to fix her glasses, only to draw back in pain.

"Ouch! You bit me Ami!" He exclaimed as he nursed his hurt finger. "I was only going to fix your glasses!"

She frowned before righting her glasses herself, and for some odd reason, he found her all the more alluring. "My glasses go where my eyes are, my lips aren't the ones with poor vision."

"I misjudged the distance…" He grumbled, still examining his injured finger.

Ami only rolled her eyes before turning back to the stack of unread charts on her desk. "Something you needed?"

"Yeah," he ground out, "my wife for starters."

"Well I'm busy Zachary; maybe tomorrow…"

"Maybe tomorrow? I'm tired of hearing about tomorrow Ami. Why are you avoiding me?"

Again she rolled her eyes, which annoyed him to no end. "Where on earth did you come up with the idea that I am avoiding you?"

"You can't answer a question with a question Ami. Why are you avoiding me?"

"I'm not." She kept her eyes focused on her computer as she began to collect her belongings. Ami ignored her husband while he watched her move about; wine was the last thing she needed right now, even if it was her favorite.

"What are you doing?"

"What does it look like Zachary? I'm sorting out these last few files before I call it a night; hope I'm not breaking any rules." Though she wasn't looking at him her words were laced with underlying sarcasm, and it annoyed her even more that she had to be mean to Zachary when he had done nothing to deserve such treatment.

"Ever get frostbite using that tone Dr. Mizuno?"

She turned to him, hoping that he would notice the apologetic look in her eyes. He didn't.

"Not tonight Zach, please. I've got a lot on my mind right now and I just need to sort it through…by myself. " She added when he looked as if he was going to respond.

"Not tonight Zachary." He mimicked angrily; his voice became exaggeratedly high pitched. "Maybe tomorrow Zachary; I've got a headache Zachary; early day tomorrow Zachary; I'm too tired Zachary."

"Fuck you." She countered back as she bristled from the heat in his eyes.

"Language Doctor. Really, a woman of your esteem should have a wider vocabulary that revolves around words which include more than four letters." He placed a firm hand on her thigh to keep her from turning away from him.

"Don't you turn away from me. You wanted to fight remember, you were just itching for a good spat, weren't you?" His voice was cool and steely, but his eyes nearly burned holes in her flesh.

"No." She raised a small, pale hand to cup his face in her palm. "Thank you, for the wine…and for trying to be romantic. I'm just not up for dealing with…this tonight."

Zachary covered her own hand with his larger one, and his softened as he took a good look at her face. Her eyes looked tired, and the dark circles under them did little but heighten the effect. "You look like you could use the wine. It's a good year too."

"I'm sorry, but wine is the last thing I need right now. If you'll excuse me, I'm going to take a shower and then go to sleep because I'm not all here right now and the issues that you want to talk about involve too much energy. I'm not shutting you out Zach. Relax…"

She rose, and broke the connection that had been forming a moment ago. Ami was on systematic overload and if she spent anymore time near him, she was going to crash, and if she wasn't careful she was going to end up crashing right into the arms of her unsuspecting husband.

"Ami," he pleaded softly, as she made her way to the door. "Talk to me. I can't take this anymore. Turn around and talk to me."

When she didn't even acknowledge him he could feel the thin wire of control snap, at the same time the bottle of wine slipped from his fingers and shattered onto the floor. Just as she reached for the handle he focused back on her forgot about the crimson liquid that now covered the hardwood floor.

"Damn it Ami! He snarled angrily. Take your fucking hand off that handle. Neither one of us is leaving this room until you tell me just what the fuck is going on. And if you say nothing, so help me god, I'll come over there and strangle you!"

"Calm down Zach, I just…" She trailed off when she heard the phone ring outside. "Excuse me, I've been waiting for this call all day, I've really got to take it. With that she threw open the double doors and flew out."

"So you'd rather talk to whoever happens to be calling rather than your own husband." He muttered angrily to himself. "Well I'll fix that."

"You might want to do something about that wine. There are towels in the bathroom, Zach!"

0000000

Ami ran down the halls, silently berating herself for being such a coward. The Sailor Scout of Mercury had no business running from her own husband. And he'd been trying to be sweet, which made her feel even worse.

Zachary was usually a patient man, but not tonight. She knew her aloofness and withdrawal from him were going to catch up with her eventually, just not so soon. He had given her the needed space to collect herself, and the necessary time…but he wouldn't understand the way she was feeling right now, or the magnitude of her feelings.

'He might if you had told him how you felt instead of pushing him away…'

Ah, now the reasonable side of her brain was up and functioning again, just great.

Now wasn't the time to be mulling over past occurrences, it was time to find the damned phone and answer it before the caller gave up. Why hadn't she gone along with Zachary's absurd idea and had a phone installed somewhere in the hall? It would have made finding a phone a hell of a lot easier.

Using the speed and agility only a Scout of Mercury could possess, Ami practically leapt over the coffee table and narrowly missed connecting head-on with her professionally designed, alabaster and sea foam colored sofa. She skirted around a misplaced pair of her own shoes before finally reaching the place where the phone was supposed to be.

Damn!

She tuned her ears to the sound of the ringing and began to maneuver, much more carefully, back over to the sofa before sending its mass of pillows flying any which way.

Ah!

Her shielded hands came into contact with a foreign object under one of the pillows. It felt smooth, soft and…lacy?

Ami jerked her hand from under the pillow as if she had been bitten and blushed hotly. She'd been looking for these for the better part of a month and they had been stuffed under here the entire time!

She smiled softly as her mind went back to the night these, ah, panties had been 'misplaced', and then she giggled. They, she and Zachary, had been playing a game, which had made for one wild night indeed. One that had involved an assortment of massage oils, lots of wine and a pair of furry blue handcuffs, but that had been before she'd known, or thought she'd known anyway.

Her clothes had ended up all over various rooms of the house, and apparently a pair of her rather scandalous lacy black panties had ended up buried in the sofa.

She groaned and unconsciously pressed the hand containing the panties to her forehead when she realized that the phone had ceased ringing, and the whole house was silent. Sighing loudly, she continued in her quest for the phone.

After nearly five more minutes of relentless searching she found the missing phone and proceeded to press the automatic redial button without even checking the previous caller's identity. She knew who it was.

Just as the person on the other line picked up Ami heard heavy footsteps making their way down the hall, and she gulped loudly at the knowledge of why that person was coming down the hall.

"Hello?" Came the voice on the other line.

"Is Dr. Calmahou in? This is Ami Kurato."

"Oh Amy! I just called a tried your house a minute ago and no one picked up. I thought perhaps the two of you had gone out to celebrate or something."

"Or not." Ami grumbled under her breath. "No, I just misplaced the phone is all. So…" She continued to ignore the footsteps that were coming closer and closer with each second and focused her attention back on her current task.

"Did you get them?"

"I sure did Ami. Let me be the first of many to extend my congratulations to the both of you."

W-why? She stammered softly.

"Well Ami, it seems to me that the results of your blood work indicate that you're about halfway into your second of month of pregnancy."

"………"

"Ami? Are you still there?"

"Uh huh…Pregnant…me! Oh my God James! James, do you know what this means?"

"No Ami," he responded patiently on the other line, "not a clue. I'm only an obstetrician after all."

She ignored the jest.

"It means I'm going to have a baby!" She whispered excitedly into the phone. "I'm going to be a mommy, and Zachary's going to be a daddy…"

"Breathe Ami."

"I am James! I'm just so happy…I-I feel like I'm floating. Thank you so much James, thank you!"

"I didn't do anything except give you a definite answer. I think its Zachary you should be thanking; how is he by the way? "

"Oh…" She gulped again when he appeared in front of her, leaving only the back of the pillow-less sofa to separate them. "Fine, just fine."

"Is he there? I'd like to be the first to congratulate him too."

"N-no." She stuttered quickly. "Not at the moment."

"Oh." He replied disappointedly.

"Ami?"

"Yes?" She answered as she brought her fingers up to massage her temple, trying her best to ignore Zachary's burning gaze.

"He doesn't know does he?"

".……"

"Ami?"

"No. No one does. Only you…and me."

"I thought so, and I bet he's standing right there too, just as confused as ever."

"Yes, that's correct." She hoped that Zachary wasn't able to decipher just who was on the other line and what the conversation was about. No one, after all, could be that good. "But I wouldn't use the word confused…exactly."

Zachary chose this time to voice his own thoughts.

"Put down the phone Ami."

"In a moment Zach, I'll get right with you." She turned her attention back to the doctor whom, she had just realized, knew too much for his own good.

"Thank you, I---" Without warning the phone was plucked from her fingers and flung across the room.

Ami rose to her full height of five feet and four inches, prepared to do battle, but at the same time she wished she could just hug him and tell him the truth. The wonderful, exciting and scary truth which he so deserved, which she had denied him.

"That was extremely rude of you, Zach and uncalled for." She didn't know whether her hormones were affecting her or perhaps something else on a much larger scale was at work. But what she did know was that even though part of her wanted to hug him, the other part wanted to bash in the head with the phone.

"At this point in time I could care less." He responded as he watched her eyes widen in surprise. "The only person that I care about right now is you and why you're choosing to go through whatever it is your going through alone. Why you're choosing to block me out when all I want to do is help, when all I want to do is talk…to hold you."

He took her hand in his own and lifted it to his lips, all the while keeping his eyes on her own, which had begun to well-up with tears.

" I'm sorry Zach I…I really don't deserve you." She whispered as one lone tear trailed down her cheek. "I really don't."

Ami drew back as a bewildered Zachary reached forward to brush the stray tear away. Undiscouraged, he followed her motions until he was able to wipe the offending tear aside.

When she tried to step around him, he blocked her path. "Geeze," he remarked with both a puzzled and amused tone. "I haven't seen you this skittish since our wedding night."

He pulled her body against his, ignoring her struggles and muffled protests. Ami brought her hands up to push him away, only to find that they were now entirely too close, and her hands were now pressed unwillingly against the hard expanse of his chest, and one hand still clutched the forgotten panties.

"That was a long time ago Zachary."

He lowered his head to caress the pale skin of her neck with his lips, making her shudder. "I still remember the way you looked, and your eyes; so big and innocent…you looked so young…and so scared. Much like you look now. Two years isn't as long of a time as you'd like to think."

"I-I was fine." She murmured softly as her head began to swim from the heady combination of his cologne and his own unique scent. I wasn't afraid. She hadn't wanted to think about that part of the night, the time before he'd taken her in his arms and made love with her. She didn't want to think about how embarrassed she'd felt when she'd confessed all of her fears to him when that night was supposed to be the happiest night of their lives…and all she could do was babble on about things and cry.

Ami shifted uneasily as he continued to place soothing kisses on her neck before moving up to nibble on the lobe of her ear. "You were scared Ami, scared stiff," he murmured as his hot breath tickled her ear, "but you trusted me enough to talk to me. Remember how we stayed up talking, how laid all of our feelings and reservations out for the other to see? Don't you remember how it felt when you let go and allowed somebody else to guide you. Don't you remember how wonderful it was the first time we made love?"

"I remember nearly ruining your wedding night," she mumbled dejectedly. "I remember feeling like a little girl who had no experience in anything sexual whatsoever and---"

"Then forget it because it's not true." His grip on her waist tightened and she gasped when he bit her. "That's one of the silliest things you've ever said Ami Mizuno, and one of the dumbest. You didn't ruin anything for me, you made it better. You made that night memorable Ami, and not because you came to me as a seasoned vixen or teasing minx, and I'm not saying that you aren't either of those things, but it was because you came to me as you and I will always love you for it. "

She sniffled as more tears began to make their way down her face.

"No. Don't tell me that, Zach. Tell me I'm a horrible person, a horrible wife, a bad mother. Don't lie to me, please. Can't you see how I've treated you over the last few weeks?"

She dropped to the empty couch as she attempted stop the flow of tears.

"Ami you---"

She cut him off.

"I've been rude, despondent, mean, heartless, withdrawn…what kind of actions are those? I'm not fit to be anything more than an old, stuffy woman who's supposed to spend the rest of her life with twenty cats in some old apartment building!"

"Did you say---?"

"I'm not supposed to be---"

"Shut up!" He barked loudly.

Ami blinked in surprise as his words sunk in, but she did as he asked.

"Where the hell did all of this…crap come from? When I married you I thought that you were one of the most brilliant women I'd ever met, and I still think you are. The one sanity saving quality that you do lack however, is common sense, and you're lack of it sometimes makes you sound like an idiot." He gave her a quick shake before drawing her to him once again, and this time she didn't struggle…she only sighed.

"We deserve each other Ami, believe that. I don't know where you came up with the fact that you're a horrible person, wife and mother but I want you to---"

Zachary pushed Ami away but continued to tightly hold her arms.

"Why did you say that you're a horrible mother? We don't have any children Ami. Are you sure that you didn't have any wine tonight?"

"Ugh! I'm not drunk!" She bristled angrily. "Any intelligent human being knows that alcohol is bad for a baby."

"A baby Ami?" He whispered slowly. "Whose baby?"

Ami's eyes widened in surprise when she realized just exactly what she had let slip out. Now there'd be no turning back.

"Our baby." She murmured softly as she prepared to stand only to be pulled back down by Zachary. She could barely hold back a cringe as something unidentifiable flashed in his eyes.

"Are you trying to say that you're pregnant?"

"What do you think Zach?"

"I don't know. Right now I'm trying to decide whether I should make love to you or hit you. I have to say, I think the latter's winning."

He was angry, that much was clear, but about what? Was it the fact that she had been withdrawn from him over the last few weeks? Was it because she hadn't told him that she thought that she may have been pregnant, or because of the pregnancy itself?

"Zach wait---"

"No, you wait!" He growled. "You mean to tell me that this entire time that I've been chasing you in circles, that the only reason you became so withdrawn from me was because you found out you were having my child?"

"I thought I was pregnant Zachary. I wasn't sure…" She couldn't breathe. He was taking this worse than she had expected him to.

"So what?" He responded with a dry laugh. "So what?"

She looked away, unable to stand the hurt that resided in his eyes. "I'm sorry Zach…"

"How long Ami?"

"Zach I---"

"God damn it Ami! Answer the fucking question!"

"About a month and a half…" She all but squeaked out the reply.

"Damn it, I mean how long have you known Ami?"

"Um…probably for the last forty-five minutes, give or take a few."

"……"

"Look, I can see that you're upset about this; I must admit that I was a little shocked about this to, and I know that we weren't planning on having a child right now but…"

Zach dropped his head into his hands. "What are you saying Ami? Are you saying that you don't want the child?"

It took Ami a second for his words to connect and for her to realize that he was no longer holding her arms, and she took the opportunity to stand up and move back…away from grabbing distance.

"Don't be an idiot Zach. Of course I want to keep the baby!"

He rose as well and took a step towards her, but she moved back.

"Then what's the problem with it all Ami? Help me understand here, because normally I am a very patient man, but as you can see, I'm done with patient. I want answers and I want them now. I want the truth."

"You want this, you want that, well I want this child and that's that! That's all I've been worrying about for weeks you moron; what you want, what you think!" She was standing nose to nose with him now, and her finger was poking at his chest. Her eyes were full of fire, her cheeks were flushed, and her hair was sticking up every-which way.

"I'm done with worrying about you! All I've said tonight…you just brushed it off. Apparently it's not what you wanted to hear, but frankly I don't give a damn about how you feel about my feeling the things I feel!" She hauled out and punched him in the chest, and he made no move to stop her…and showed no indication that she had even hurt him.

"I guess you didn't feel that then either huh? Oh, go to hell Zachary Kurato! Go to hell and stay there for good! And if you touch me one more time I swear I'll---"

"You'll what? Hit me again? Please do, that actually kind of tickled. " He said, suddenly amused with the entire situation. Zachary took another step forward as his wife took one back, and together they began to circle each other around the table. So he'd lied a little about the whole punch situation, it hadn't tickled in the least…it actually sort of stung, but she didn't need to know that.

Unsure of how to reply, a still heated Ami looked around for something to pick up…and that's when she saw it.

"Or you're going to have a couple of holes in some of your very vital organs, that's what." She growled as she brandished a brass fire poker in warning.

Ami swung the poker at him for effect, but they both knew that she wouldn't touch him…or would she?

"Touché." He murmured with a mocking slight bow in her direction. "I believe that you just issued me a direct challenge if I am not mistaken madam. Am I correct?"

Moving with the grace of sleek and smooth panther, Zachary leapt over the coffee table and landed directly in front of his wife.

"Back off Zachary," Ami ordered as she swiped at him half-heartedly.

Rip!

Her eyes went wide when she noticed that the poker had managed to tear the fabric of her husband's shirt. His favorite shirt. Oopsies!

She dropped her weapon immediately, along with something else as well, her eyes scanning his form for any signs of blood, and to her relief there were none.

"I'm so sorry! I never really meant to actually touch you with it! Oh my God… You're not hurt are you?" Ami wisely moved backwards when he didn't respond to her queries.

He looked up and shrugged nonchalantly, but once again his eyes were burning…but with something other than anger. Well, that was there too…along with another emotion that just didn't make any sense to Ami.

"That was my favorite shirt, Love. But no matter," he continued as he proceeded to remove his shirt to expose his muscular and well chiseled frame, "it was only a shirt. By the way Ami, just what are those laying on the ground?"

Ami dove to grab her lacy underwear, but she was too slow.

"Hmmm… These are cute." Zachary said, as he examined the scandalous garment. "But you do know that when the baby comes you'll have to be much more careful about where you leave your… unmentionables. We don't want the poor boy to be traumatized by his parents' wild sex-capades."

Ami sighed loudly; she'd let the boy comment slide…for now.

Taking a glance towards the crystalline clock that sat prettily on the mantle, Ami blanched in disbelief. Had they really been arguing for two hours? Could it really be 12:07 a.m.?

She took a deep breath and then slowly let it out.

Zach followed her gaze and grinned annoyingly. "It's amazing how fast time moves when you're having a fight…or having a celebration. We just spent two hours and eight minutes arguing when we should have been doing something much more enjoyable."

"I love you Mercury…you do know that don't you?"

"Yeah…I do."

"And you know that I want this baby more than anything I've ever wanted in my entire life, other than you of course."

"I do… I know that, and I love you so much for it."

This time, when he opened his arms in an invitation, she took it without a moment's hesitation. Her arms around his neck, his ands spanning her still flat stomach, before he bent his head down to find her lips with his own.

The kiss was slow and fulfilling, and Ami could taste the flavor of the white wine he'd drank for dinner on his tongue. She drained him as he drained her, and they filled each other with passion and desire…and love. Not only for each other, but for the life they had created between them. The little boy or girl that would be half of Ami and half of Zachary.

Ami moved her hands to his shoulders and began to tenderly knead the tense muscles under his skin. He shuddered at the feel of her hands on his bare flesh, and let out a hiss of air as her fingers came into contact with a rather tight knot.

"Stop that or you'll wind up on your back having to deal with another pair of misplaced panties."

Zachary removed one small hand from its place on his shoulder and proceeded to kiss each of the tips of her fingers.

"Mmmm… It's just that you get so tense when we argue. You get all tied up in knots and complain the next morning just like the grouch you claim not to be." She stated in a teasing matter of fact tone.

"Oh, I get to be the grouch huh? Well I, for one, happen to know that when you have an especially difficult day at work you get real tight and knotted up right here."

His hands skimmed over the fabric of her blouse until they reached and gently began to caress her lower back. "And sometimes when you've spent all day missing me," he paused to move his hands even lower causing her to giggle, "you have a real problem with this area right here. And when you come home your temper's enough to scare off a rattle snake."

Ami squeaked when Zachary cupped her bottom and lifted her so that she could wrap her legs around his waist. Once she was situated he began making his way up the stairs, leaving the mess in the living room to be dealt with in the morning.

Once they'd reached the door of their bedroom, Ami lowered her head to his.

"I'm an idiot Zachary."

"I know you are." He shifted to place a sweet kiss on her nose. "But you're one of the most brilliant idiots I've ever met. You're my brilliant idiot, and I know that sounds corny, but you had better get used to it."

"Yes sir, Mr. Kurato." Ami wiped away a stray tear that slipped out of the corner of her eye.

He gently laid her on their bed before backing away, all the while gazing at the part of his wife's body that hid a growing child inside it.

She sat up and smiled at him as she dragged her fingers through her mussed black hair.

"You're so patient…so kind Zachary. Any other man wouldn't even be talking to me right now, let alone share the same room with me." She looked at him and her eyes said all that needed to be said. "Thank you for putting up with me…and with my mood swings. I never wanted to hurt you Zach, not ever."

He climbed onto the bed with her and rested on his back with an arm behind his head.

"I'm not just any man sweetheart, and you're not just any woman. I know that you didn't want to hurt me, and that you thought I wouldn't the baby for whatever reason. Please, don't ever think that you can't come and talk to me. I may not always be happy about what you to say, but I'll listen so that we can work it out together, as a team."

"Okay." She murmured while she continued undo the buttons of his jeans. "But I really want to make this up to you somehow…"

"Well," he purred softly when she slid the material of his jeans over his hips, "you've got at least seven more months to try. If you start now, you just might be finished by the time the baby is born."

"How about you call in sick tomorrow Ami, because I don't see you leaving this bed for quite a while."

"Tomorrow's Saturday Zach." She replied between placing kisses on his jaw.

"Good." He murmured as he rolled over to pin her beneath him. "Then we don't have to get up until Sunday afternoon."

END

AN: Well…I know that I haven't written anything in a while…but I felt like I had to finish this for whatever reason. I hope that you enjoyed this little fic about Ami and Zach, because I enjoyed writing it and I also hope that you will be kind enough to leave a review and make me a happy girl. Thank you for all of your support! I love you guys!