Standard disclaimer: The characters aren't mine. This should come as no surprise. I am simply a teller of stories that occasionally claw their way desperately out of my head.

Notes: So then there was the time people asked me to talk about Ami and Minako's friendship and I said "Sure, this'll be easy" and then it totally wasn't. The prompt request was: Ami and Minako doing something together, it doesn't matter what. And I hope there was sincerity in "it doesn't matter what", because this is what you got. I almost hesitate to call it a 'fic because it doesn't feel as coherent to me as I'd like. But it is what it is, so here you go.

(12 January 2013)

Just Us

Minako rang the doorbell. Leaned on the doorbell. Repeatedly. She pressed her eye to the peephole, trying to see inside, not stopping even when it was clear she couldn't.

Ring. Ring. Ringringringrin—

The door flew open, revealing a wet and flustered Ami, clad in a fluffy yellow bathrobe. She clutched it around herself with a mixture of embarrassment and aggravation.

"Hiiiiiiii," Minako sang. She wiggled her fingers and grinned.

"M-Minako-chan?" Ami said needlessly.

Minako nodded like Ami had just guessed the million dollar question and pushed her way inside the apartment. Ami opened her mouth, perhaps in protest, but nothing got the chance to come out. "Am I interrupting? Probably." Minako kicked the door closed behind her and turned to Ami who was still working her mouth soundlessly. "Oh your robe is so cute!"

"Thank you?"

"We," Minako continued, holding up her finger with authority, "are going to spend the day together."

"Oh?" Ami looked at the puddle of water forming under her bare feet and shuffled further into the foyer and away from the carpet.

"Yes! Do you know we never do that? You and me? It's never just you and me. It's always you and me and at least someone else."

Ami carefully rearranged her robe and pushed a sodden lock of hair back from her eyes. "No, I hadn't really noticed."

"It's TRUE." Minako sounded scandalized. "So we're fixing that."

"Now?"

"Now. What are your plans today?"

For the first time since opening the door, Ami looked happy about something. Her eyes lit up and she began to talk animatedly. "Oh! I was reading a new book about theoretical time travel! I know I probably shouldn't, but ever since we met Sailor Pluto I just can't stop thinking about it. So I thought I should do more research to decide if I should do more research." The momentary burst of excitement spent, she shuffled uncomfortably. "A-and I was in the bath."

Minako blinked at Ami through a flat expression, and then quickly brightened. "So let's think of what ELSE we're doing today!" If she saw Ami's glare, Minako ignored it. "I was thinking shopping followed by MORE shopping. Maybe a movie? Oh, there's one starring Jurou Kan and he is the CUTEST thing, you need to see him! If he and I met? We would totally go out."

"Was everyone else busy today?"

The question genuinely surprised Minako and she shook her head in confusion.

"The others were all busy, right?" Ami explained with a sad smile. "That's why you're here."

Minako reached out and clasped both of Ami's shoulders. "We never hang out, just the two of us," she repeated, giving the other girl a firm but friendly shake. "And I want to."

Ami studied Minako's face for a moment, and then her smile became bright. "Okay."

"Okay." Minako released Ami and stepped back to lean casually against the wall. "So, shopping then? Unhealthy amounts of shopping?"

Ami looked down at herself and smiled a little self-consciously. "Maybe changing into something more presentable would be a good first step."

"I recommend underwear!" Minako called after Ami's retreating back. "I mean unless you want to make it THAT kind of day out." She considered this for a moment then added: "Which I'm fine with, I just want to know first!"

... ... ...

It was in the fifth store that they stumbled upon perfection. Ami, in fact, stumbled upon it. Quite literally.

She'd been following too closely behind Minako, half-listening as her friend cooed over this dress or that top. Ami's mind was predominantly occupied with the theoretical Ripple Effect while running over her English vocabulary words for the day and considering how many chapters ahead in chemistry she'd need to read to keep ahead of the teacher's lesson plans.

They were comforting, soothing thoughts, and Ami lost herself in them. She had dramatically underestimated the amount of energy that poured from Minako, particularly when she had only one available outlet.

So when Minako came to a dead stop without warning, Ami didn't have the available brainpower to output the "HALT" commend until it was too late and she was already bouncing off of Minako and into a nearby clothing rack.

"What?" Ami began to say, but Minako was already hauling Ami out by her arm and crouching by her side.

"See that woman?" Minako hissed into Ami's ear.

Ami pulled a blouse from her head and looked in the direction of Minako's intense stare. She saw three women, but Minako didn't seem inclined to elaborate on which she meant.

"Yes," replied Ami. She'd found it was sometimes best to simply agree and wait for context clues to present themselves naturally.

"It's Aki Star!" Minako looked excitedly at Ami for a reaction. Finding none, she rolled her eyes a little. "The pop idol! Number one album! I don't actually have it because I think she's crap and I could do so much better, but she's SO FAMOUS right now!"

"And here, in our store. How lucky," Ami said without inflection, but Minako nodded her enthusiastic agreement.

Minako was openly ogling the woman's outfit. "Look at her shoes! Aren't they just the best—"

Then the woman turned and her profile became clearly visible for the first time. All of Minako's enthusiasm instantly died. "It's not her. Oh well. Her shoes sucked anyway."

Minako rolled easily to her feet and helped Ami untangle herself from the clothes rack. Then she saw the jacket half draped over Ami and gasped.

"You HAVE to try that on."

Ami glanced at her shoulder. "It's already on," she said, but then the jacket was whipped away and Minako was trying to shove Ami's arm through the sleeve. There was some measure of fussing, as putting on a jacket stopped being a two-person job around age four, but eventually the jacket was in place. It was light blue and high cut and surprisingly comfortable, which was helpful as Ami was feeling otherwise awkward as she stood under Minako's intense scrutiny.

For Minako's part, she gnawed her thumbnail while observing Ami with a critical eye. She twirled her fingers and Ami obediently shuffled in a semi-circle.

After a moment – a far-too-long moment in Ami's expert opinion – Minako clapped her hands. "IT'S PERFECT," she declared. "You have to get it."

Ami began to fumble for the price tag, but Minako seized her arm and was dragging her to register. "You can't put a price on perfection," she said wisely.

"You can, actually, and it's probably more than my allowance," Ami replied. But there were sales and Minako deemed this fate and Ami paid and wore the jacket out of the store. As she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror, she allowed a smile. She had to admit, it wasn't unflattering.

... ... ...

As far as Minako was concerned, finding something perfect for Ami was only Phase One. Finding perfect things for Minako were Phases Two through Eight, at LEAST.

Not a one of them would be found in this museum.

Minako had their next shopping target lined up and was already leading the way when Ami's soft voice had reached her ear. "Minako-chan? How about we do something else for a while?"

She was so thrilled that Ami was taking an active part in their special day that Minako agreed instantly.

And now – museum.

Minako sighed.

She was doing her best to remain interested though and, to her surprise, actually succeeding in places. That was entirely due to Ami's enthusiasm.

Whatever the topic, Ami was interested. Whatever the topic, Amy was an expert. They'd toured the wildlife section, and when Ami noticed Minako's eyes beginning to glaze over, she began peppering the stuffy, boring informational plaques with random species quirks or surprisingly vivid stories about the animal's predatory styles. Then Minako would ask lurid questions about reproduction, making sure to use the filthiest vocabulary possible, and Ami would turn beet red and shrink about two inches, but ACTUALLY ANSWER THE QUESTION, which was fantastic because when Minako tried that at school she was just sent to stand in the hallway.

But when you got down to it, it was still learning, and Minako had her limits.

So when they were in the geological section and Ami was talking about how marble was one of the densest of all natural rocks and Minako was nodding absently while thinking about how she'd already spotted two major security flaws in the gemstone exhibit, she was almost relieved to hear screaming to break up the monotony.

The screams were coming from the next exhibit hall, and Minako could see a stream of people fleeing from the displays on early human cultures. She felt a moment of deep kinship to those poor souls. Then the monster appeared – a relatively small thing, given some they'd faced, and it seemed to mostly resemble a fragment of ancient clay pottery that had suddenly sprouted legs. It would've looked ridiculous, had the faded but ornate depiction of a bird stenciled to the front not come to life and tried to snap a nearby schoolgirl in two.

Okay it still looked ridiculous, but there'd be time for laughing at it later.

Ami tugged Minako into a dark alcove behind a glass case containing moon rocks and whispered in her ear. "Should we call the others?"

Grinning, Minako pulled out her henshin wand. "Are you kidding? I said this was just our day, didn't I?"

Ami couldn't resist an answering smile, and within moments Sailor Venus and Sailor Mercury were calling out the monster.

"For interrupting a quiet day of learning and enrichment, I, Sailor Mercury, will punish you!"

"People need to have someplace to look at rocks and stuff!" Mercury raised an eyebrow at Venus who shrugged apologetically and soldiered on. "For love and beauty, Sailor Venus will punish you!"

The monster apparently didn't care over much about love or punishment however, as it immediately charged in their direction.

"Crescent Beam!" Venus cried. She watched with some aggravation as the ray of light slid harmlessly over the monster's ceramic torso.

"We need something harder!" said Mercury before calling on an Aqua Illusion. Her ice encased the monster's feet, slowing it but not entirely stopping it.

Then there was the sound of shattering glass followed by a high-pitched siren that screamed from every loudspeaker. Mercury turned with alarm toward Venus, who had just kicked in the display case behind them. In one smooth motion she scooped up a chunk of white stone the size of a large cat and flung it at the monster. With Mercury's ice sapping the monster's reflexes, the rock struck the dead center of its pottery body. The monster exploded, sending fragments in a hundred directions that quickly evaporated into dust.

Mercury blinked. "That was surprisingly fast."

"Marble. One of the densest rocks," Venus explained, flashing a V at Mercury. "See, I was listening."

... ... ...

Ami and Minako milled with the crowd, pretending to try and catch a glimpse of something interesting beyond the human barricade of museum security. When they felt they'd done enough to put in a decent appearance of being just two ordinary girls on an ordinary visit where something extraordinary happened, they left the museum and returned to the bustling streets of Tokyo.

"So what next?" Minako said, crossing her arms behind her head.

Ami considered for a moment. "A local art gallery is having an exhibition on cubism. I believe they have an original Gleizes!"

At Minako's falling expression, Ami giggled into her hand. "Or, ice cream."

"ICE CREAM, yes, you wonderful person."

As they walked down the street, Minako risked a glance at her friend. "Say, Ami?"

"Mm?"

"So which animal has the biggest—"

"MINAKO!"

Minako howled with laughter as Ami tried without much success to retract her head into her new jacket. It was only after Minako had finally stopped laughing that Ami replied, "The blue whale. Between eight to ten feet."

"Ami-chan, you pervert!" Minako squealed, and Ami spent the rest of the day answering Minako's questions and having more fun with biology than she ever did with any textbook.