Continuing Tales

Airmail

A Sailor Moon Story
by LovelyLytton

Part 15 of 42

<< Previous     Home     Next >>
Airmail

Cornering Ami had been easy. She was looking at some of the paintings Makoto had put up on the walls, appreciating the beauty of most and wrinkling her nose at what she perceived to be the tackiness of one. Minako remembered that her father had been a painter, but Ami barely ever mentioned him. Coming to think of it, she didn't even know whether her friend had ever told her if he was dead or alive. Always so secretive.

"There are a few paintings in my cellar that would fit in here so well. Do you think that Makoto would care to take a look at them?" Minako smiled. "This is very thoughtful, and I am sure that she would love to see them, but I don't think that there is more room for additional ones." Gesturing at the walls, she winked at Ami. It was true, there was no unused space in the shop. It was filled to the extent that it was welcoming and homey, but more decoration would overload it, destroying the effect Makoto had worked so hard to obtain.

A blush crept over Ami's cheeks. "She might want to replace some of hers, won't she?" Her delicate fingers pointed to a small picture in a golden frame, which seemed oddly out of place amidst the depictions of flowers, landscapes and food. It featured an angel embracing a mermaid. Looking at the canvas, Minako flinched. "Usagi gave it to her for her birthday once."

She remembered how Usagi had picked it out during a shopping-spree, how her clumsy friend had tried to wrap it artfully, and how wide Makoto's smile had been upon receiving it. It was the first birthday all the girls had spent together. Then, they didn't have any memories of tragic loves in their own past, so they had appreciated the picture for its romantic notions. We were so silly.

Now all she could see was yet another impossible love. She almost envied Ami for her ability to consider it under an artistic point of view.

Focusing on the present, she managed a quick smile. "I'm sure that she will appreciate the offer."

Hiromasa and Makoto got up to clean the plates away, with Usagi bounding after them to see if there wasn't any dessert hidden in the kitchens. "Don't you think you had enough?", Rei called after her. Laughter was the only answer the priestess received.

Sighing, she got up to follow the small delegation to the heart of Makoto's new enterprise, with an interested Mamoru at her heels. No one but Minako had been to the shop before, so they were all interested to explore it more fully.

Once everyone had left the room and before the blue-haired girl might attempt to join the others, Minako gripped Ami's hand.

"Which one did you meet?"

The girl's eyes widened, for she had obviously hoped that Mamoru's arrival a minute later than her own and his intially explosive reaction to Hiromasa had over-shadowed hers. Minako's grip became more vice-like. A perverse curiosity was gnawing at her bones, at her core, at her heart and it demanded to be satisfied.

"Ami, which one?"

The leader of the senshi hated the desperate tone in her voice, but the torn woman inside her needed to know. If it was Kunzite, if only it wasn't Kunzite, something was obviously wrong. This was clear from Ami not elaborating on her surprised exclamation. Is he still evil? Please, please let him be okay, let him be good.

Before answering, Ami swiftly made sure that everyone else was still in the other room, but the banging of pots and pans, the sound of shattered china, Rei's scolding and Mamoru's soothing voice told her everything she needed to know.

"It was Jadeite."

Relief washed over Minako, a feeling so strong that any attempt to hide it would be in vain. Ami cautiously continued, her words nothing more than a hushed whisper.

"He didn't remember, Minako. It might be that he just didn't remember me, but I doubt that. What if only Neph...Hiromasa has been awakened, and all the others haven't and won't?"

Squeezing the hand she still held, Minako answered quickly, for she could hear their friends returning. "Don't tell her, and don't worry. They will all return." Zoisite will come back to you. And he will be good. The unspoken words hung between them, but the merry voice of Makoto banished all thoughts of evil and despair into oblivion.

"White chocolate souffle with a strawberry sauce, quick, or Usagi will have it all!"

Airmail

A Sailor Moon Story
by LovelyLytton

Part 15 of 42

<< Previous     Home     Next >>