Disclaimer: I don't own Sailor Moon. Never have, never will, I wrote this fic. for my enjoyment and hopefully for the enjoyment of others. I did not receive payment for this work nor do I expect anyone to pay me after I finish.
Author's Notes: Ami is my favorite character from Sailor Moon. I thought I'd try to my hand at an Ami/Zoi story. That and Phoenix (my muse) refused to help me finish Buried Memories if I didn't at least write this. So for all of my PoT fans, don't worry, I'll finish Buried Memories, but I had to take a break.
Format of the story is mostly disjointed memories. Italics are for thoughts and flashbacks. Flashbacks are identified by *~*~
Why, why, why? I'll never understand why I do this to myself. The petite woman said to herself as she walked through the streets of Tokyo. It had stopped snowing some two hours ago, but it was the first opportunity that she had to be by herself that Sunday. A burst of frigid wind went through the crowded streets. Everyone around her pulled their coats tighter around their bodies, those wearing caps, pulled them down, and they all walked a little quicker, all except for her. The cold never really affected her; in fact, she preferred it.
She sighed. Her musings directed at old memories, not even really hers, but from a past life. Normally the memories didn't bother her, sometimes they helped her, but right now they were annoying her. To be more specific the memories of him were bothering her. She couldn't remember when those memories started to surface. No, that wasn't true; they started after Mamoru revealed to the other scouts that the stones containing the souls of his four generals had shattered. He didn't know how it happened nor did he know what happened to the generals. It was over a month ago and that's when the first pesky dream began. She frowned; it was the first time she made that connection. Before she had time to analyze that coincidence she had gotten to her destination, the health club.
As she entered, strangers couldn't help but stare at her. She was small; dainty was a fairly good description. Her skin was pale, white laced with a faint rose color to it. However, what always got people's attention was the hair, it was always cut in a nice clean cute bob; no, that wasn't the source of the attention, it was the color. It was blue. Dark blue. To those who didn't know her, the first thought was: Must be into some punk rock or some new fad. No way, that's her natural color. Yet after years of the same reaction, Ami had learned to ignore the stares. She walked confidently towards the locker room to the pool. When she emerged out of the pool, the lifeguard on duty grinned. Ami was a regular, and unlike some of the patrons of the club, was always polite, kind, and courteous to everyone, guest or staff. He watched as she walked towards one end of the pool; she had the look on her face. He sapphire eyes were clouded and slightly narrowed. The guard knew her well enough to know that look meant something was bothering her, which was why she had come to the pool today. She always swam laps whenever something bothered her. The pool was never a particularly noisy place; she could concentrate on her problem in peace while she swam. He watched as she got into a lane and started to swim freestyle. Even though she wasn't going at full speed, he could tell that she belonged in the water. The fluidity, the grace, it was like the water was her home. He probably wouldn't be too surprised if he were told that it really was.
While the guard turned his attentions to the other few in and around the pool, Ami began to think about her latest dream. Like all of the other dreams, she remembered having in the past month it was more like a memory during her time on the moon, with him. At first, the dreams were abstract, blurry, disjointed, however, lately they have started to be clearer, more concise and she had no idea why they started in the first place. She supposed it did have something to do with stones breaking. Yet, when she asked the others if they were haunted by memories of the past, they all voiced a negative response. It was possible that they were lying, because it was a personal matter, but they were all so close that it seemed hard to believe that they would lie about something like this. So why? Why did she have to be bothered by these memories, these dreams of him? A frown came over her porcelain face as she did a flip at the wall, were these dreams the reason Ryo told her he wouldn't be around anymore. It was about 2 months before the memories cropped up; they had met at her favorite café. She remembered that he seemed anxious; she asked him what was wrong.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"I'm leaving Tokyo Ami. I'm leaving for a job at the end of the month."
"And you're telling me now? I thought we were going to the circus next month, and you said that you wanted to spend New Year's with us-" She managed to stutter out from her shocked mouth.
"I know." He told her; his voice was gloomy, but it had another odd quality to it she couldn't identify. "But I can't stay Ami. Look we both know that we love each other, but we're not in love with each other. I think a little time away will be good for both of us." She noticed that while he spoke he hardly looked her in the eyes.
"You saw something didn't you Ryo? What did you see?" She inquired quietly.
His uncomfortable silence was all the confirmation she needed that he had visions of the near future. Normally he didn't hesitate to reveal a vision if it was relevant to her or the other senshi, especially if his visions included some new enemy, but since Chaos, things have been relatively calm. Therefore, his silence was beginning to make her feel uncomfortable as well.
"Ami," he began slowly, unsure of himself. "I-I'm not sure if I should tell you. It may only upset you more. You know not everybody is supposed to know what destiny has in store for him or her. Look it's not a new enemy or anything like that, it's just, geez, I'm not sure how to say this, but, well, the girls and you are going to hear some news, and you're going to need to some time alone to work out what ever issues you have." He mumbled out. "If I'm here it'll only make things harder for you. It's for the best; really it is Ami."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Yet here she was three months later without one of her dear friends, and trying to figure out why of all people her thoughts would drift back to him. It wasn't like he was here in the present. The last time she saw him, was a couple of years ago, and he was evil. Hear that? Evil, my opponent, my enemy, I shouldn't think about him. He tried to kill me, correction he almost killed all of us in this lifetime. Not going to think about him, no matter what may have happened between us on the moon. She winced as she thought of the moon. It was a bad idea mentioning it, because she suddenly was reminded of the different times they spent together. Ami had reached the end of the pool again and decided to switch strokes to the backstroke. The backstroke allowed her to relax and concentrate on her current state of mind. As she gazed up at the skylights on the ceiling, she started to reflect on all of her dreams and the old memories that those dreams brought up again. She decided to start from the beginning, not the day the first met, but the day they both appeared on each other's radar.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
It had been a week since the delegation from Earth had arrived on the moon. It seemed that all of the rumors about them were true. Prince Endymion was handsome and very polite, although he and Princess Serenity seemed to be more than friendly with each other. Ami and the other princesses noticed how her face would light up whenever he entered a room, nor did they miss how his smile seemed to grow whenever he noticed her. They were happy for Serenity, it was good for her to find a new friend, instead of brushing off an annoying new suitor, but still, the two needed to be careful on how people perceived them.
The generals, who came along with the prince, were a bit of a puzzle, they had varying personalities, but overall they were very loyal and friendly with the prince. She supposed it was the same type of relationship that the others and she had with Serenity. She shrugged and went into the library; it was quiet and she started down one aisle not really sure what she wanted to look for, but finally decided on a volume of poems by ancient poets of Neptune. As she made her way to the reading area the lights went out, she became aware of low murmurs coming from the entrance. She stopped, and the murmurs changed to low giggles and whispers. She recognized that there were two voices, a female and a male. A scowl came across her normally calm features, all of the residents and servants knew that this was her time in the library. If they wanted to use the library for romantic rendezvous fine, they could come in any time except for this time.
Not wanting to embarrass anyone, Ami decided to try and leave as quickly and as quietly as possible, only that didn't happen. She had made it as far as 200 meters before finding the couple that dared to disturb her alone time. They were oblivious to her because now, the male was kissing the girl senseless while his right hand was slowly traveling up her thigh. Ami at that point had no idea what to do. If she made her presence known, it would only make things very uncomfortable and awkward. On the other hand, they were the ones ruining her time in the library; still she was too kind hearted to put the girl through that type of humiliation. Therefore, she decided to turn around and make her way to the entrance via another route. However, for some reason, fate decided that it was not her plan was not meant to be, as the woman being kissed decided to open her eyes. Realizing that she and her paramour were not alone, and who was in the library, she started to push him away.
"What's wrong?" He asked surprised by the sudden change. He turned around and followed the path of her gaze to where Ami was standing, facing the other way. "Oh, well, you know what they say, 'the more the merrier.'" He stated in a condescending teasing tone.
Ami raised her eyebrows at the expression, not missing the insinuation, and felt herself going red. "Hermes, give me strength." She muttered before turning around to face the two lovers. She found herself in front of Lady Leanna from Jupiter and Lord Zoicite from Earth, one of Endymion's generals. She groaned mentally because of all of the Earth's generals; Zoicite was the one she avoided like a plague. Most people believed it was due to his reputation as a ladies man, but in truth that didn't bother her. Ever since she turned 14 she had spent the last year around lecherous old men, and young egotistical bastards who tried to feel her up during the royal balls, all trying to win her hand in marriage for the title she brought. Ami was aware of importance of alliances and the price one pays to put up for it; she wasn't as naïve as people believed. Besides she got along fine with the other three generals, and two of them had reputations almost as bad as Zoicite, no, the real reason, was Zoicite had the ability to make her feel off balance. She didn't how, but something about his presence made her uncomfortable, and it took a lot to make her feel that way. Mentally she gave herself a small grin; she was Princess Ami Maia of Mercury, the court didn't call her "Ice Queen" for nothing. Lifting her head higher, she steeled herself for the awkwardness that was about to begin.
"Lady Leanna, Lord Zoicite," she acknowledged with a small curtsey. "Lord Zoicite, I trust you found the library satisfactory for your needs." She stated somewhat tersely.
"Quite, however, I was given the impression that the library would be empty at this hour, Princess Mercury." He told her with a smirk. She tried not frown at the use of her title. She hated being called by her official title because it made her sound snobbish. Well, two can play at that game.
"I'm sorry to inform you Lord Epidote of Eurasia," she felt satisfied to see him wince at his title, "But most everyone familiar with the palace knows that the Princesses use this hour for their amusement. Lady Lita goes to the kitchen to back and cook, Lady Rei goes and meditates at the great shrine, Lady Mina goes the stage to sing and Princess Serenity goes to the gardens." She informed him.
"Oh, come on Ami, don't be such a spoil sport. So I forgot you go to the library, it's a honest mistake. It's not like you don't come here during public hours everyday," Leanna slurred out; she looked a little flushed, but not from embarrassment.
Raising an eyebrow at her demeanor, Ami felt her face going back to the icy calm it usually held, "Of course Lady Leanna, I found what I was looking for anyway. I don't see any reason to disturb you or your guest. Good night." And she walked past the couple to the doors and back towards the safe confines of her room.
The next morning, she woke before dawn, and decided to go to the pool for a quick swim before breakfast. She liked swimming at the morning before the day started. It reminded her of home, and it helped with the homesickness she felt every so often. After she changed into azure swimsuit and grabbing a towel, she made her way towards the pool via a secret passageway from her room. As she got closer, she could hear the gentle flow of water coming down from the small waterfall running into the large pool of the Moon Palace. She also heard voices, but that didn't bother her, the pool was open to everyone at the palace at all hours except on holidays. It wasn't unusual for her to run into someone when she swam, whenever Michiru came to visit from her post at Neptune the two would race. She missed Michiru, Haruka, and Setsuna. However, since they were older, their training on the moon ended and they had returned to their lonely posts on their planets about 2 years back. Emerging from the passageway, she could make out two forms at the far end of the pool. She started to move forward, but froze when she heard a very feminine groan coming from one of the forms. Very rapidly, she realized that the groan wasn't a groan of pain but of intense pleasure. Ami immediately felt all of her blood rushing to her cheeks and turned back towards the passageway and ran back to her room, not realizing she dropped her towel as she ran back to her room.
When the adrenaline dissipated from her system, she started to laugh at the situation. How on the moon did she manage to walk into two romantic interludes in two days? It was the type of gossip that Minako would be interested in, not her. She giggled at the thought and went to her wardrobe to find something more suitable for breakfast. Since she couldn't take a swim in the morning Ami thought a relaxing warm bath would be nice. She picked up the latest medical journal from Mercury and walked to her large pale blue bathroom. All of the princesses had extraordinarily luxurious suites, and that included their bathrooms. After drawing enough warm water and pouring enough bubble bath, Ami slowly entered and relaxed into the tub and began to read her journal.
She enjoyed about 10 minutes of her nice soothing bath, and could feel her muscles relax to the point where she was about to take a nap when she heard something shatter from her bedroom. Intruders! She immediately tensed up, and groped for her robe and her Mercury broach. Quickly getting into her robe, she started it inch towards the door separating her bedroom and her bathroom. Her heart in her throat, was it an attack by new enemies? Did they know she was in the bathroom, and what were they doing here? When she got close enough to crack open her door, she could hear two people giggling in her room. It didn't take very long to figure out who the voices belong too, or what they were doing in her room. She felt herself becoming indignant at the audacity of the two coming into her private rooms. She boldly opened her door as loudly as possible to let her presence be known between the two errant lovers in her bed. She was rewarded by a very guilty squeak by Lady Vina of Venus, who was married, and a very shocked stare by Lord Zoicite, judging by their state of dress, Ami figured they probably were the two she heard in the pool. She felt a small smug smirk forming on her face, after all Mercury was the god of mischief, was he not?
"Prin-Princess-Ami! I, we, we didn't know you were here-" Vina started.
"I can't imagine why that would be considering that you two are currently in my private bedroom." Ami told her coldly, watching the color drain from her face at the implications. "What I don't understand is 1) How in Selene's name, you two managed to get in here without encountering my guards, and 2) How could you miss the obvious signs that this is my bedroom since the symbol of Mercury is over my headboard, and all of the rooms are a different shade of blue."
Zoicite answered for the pair this time. "I'm sorry for the intrusion Princess Mercury, but you see, we were enjoying a nice swim at the pool, and afterwards we decided to go explore the palace and we found this towel at the entrance of a passageway." He tossed Ami the blue towel she dropped. When she caught it, she remembered that in her haste she forgot to lock the doors leading the passageway to her room, allowing the two into her bedroom.
"You found the passage open and the doors unlocked leading them to my rooms." She finished for them. Their expressions of guilt answered for them. Sighing, she placed a hand on her forehead, "Please, just get out of my room, you can leave the same way you came, just don't ever use the passageway again." Ami watched as Vina nodded and left as quickly as she could, Zoicite lingered for moment before walking slowly towards the exit.
"I'm sorry about the vase, Lady Mercury." For the first time Ami remembered the sound which alerted her in the first place. She looked at her desk and saw the crystal vase her mother had given her shattered all over the floor along with the bouquet of blue roses from her latest suitor. Ami felt a headache coming on. "I hope it wasn't too valuable." He stated softly.
"It only had sentimental value Lord Epidote. It was the last thing my mother gave me before she died." She coldly revealed before a grabbing dustpan and broom from her closet to sweep the mess up. She saw him grimace at her words, but she really didn't care about hurting him, since he was the idiot who invaded her private room in the first place. It surprised Ami, when he went over to her and took the broom from her hands and swept up the shards. She just watched, as he carefully poured the shards over her desk and waved his hand over them, and they reformed to her old vase. He stepped back from the desk and gave her a small bow before leaving.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Jadeling's Notes: Okay, so what do you think so far? Keep it or scrap it? Review if you want me to finish.