Three things went through Mina's disordered mind at this point:
The Guardian of Fate has just shown up in front of me...
I was about to score my first kiss with my love of two lifetimes...
Guardian of Fate wants to send said love of two lifetimes to a place I can't go...ever...
The finished proof of these points:
No Konnor.
QED.
It didn't take her long to decide on a course of action.
"Run!"
With this single command, Aino Minako - the avatar of the Goddess of Love and Beauty, the poised leader of this galaxy's Senshi, the rightful and noble princess and ruler of the lost kingdom of Venus - reached past her beloved and ruthlessly shoved the Guardian of Fate into the streets of Tokyo in the middle of traffic. She then turned to her stunned companion, gripped his arm in a vice-like grasp, and (running high on a combination of endorphins and adrenaline) propelled him into the first taxi that screeched to avoid the prone Fate Guardian lying helplessly on the cold pavement like an abandoned baby turtle.
And that was how Konnor found himself, somewhat bewildered, several seconds later in a cab heading for Mamoru's apartment - all the while Mina was cursing the taxi driver in fluent, albeit British, English: (as sometimes happened in moments of extreme stress, she reverted to English.)
"I said 'left', you git!"
"Nani? Ojou-sama, kudasai -"
"Don't 'please, lady' me, you mush. I want to get the hell away from here!"
Konnor gave himself two more seconds to adjust to this new set of circumstances.
"Minako, why did you - "
"Do you want to be taken to the past!" she turned on him like a madwoman - her eyes glowing gold.
"No."
"Neither do I!"
It was, Konnor realized, the closest thing to a love confession he was likely to receive in the near future.
With this knowledge he settled back to wait patiently while Mina spun out her wrath on the poor driver.
Ami stared at her computer screen, tapping her finger on the bridge of her nose.
It couldn't be right. It just couldn't...
There must be something wrong with the test...
But there was the answer, staring her in the face.
"I'll take it again," she muttered to herself, trying to forget that she'd already taken the test five times (all five times the results had been the same.)
"Ok," she let out a long breath, staring at the first question.
"Do you experience feelings of anger, irrational irritation or sadness when -"
Her communicator went off.
She clicked the window closed (she wasn't jealous - it just wasn't possible - the test was wrong!)
"Hey, Mina."
"Ami!"
Mina's harried face nearly leaped out of the communicator at her. Ami flinched away from it.
"Ami! You have to find Zoe right now!"
"Why?" Ami's heart felt a stab of fear and worry, "What's wrong?"
"The dude of destiny is here!"
"'Day of Destiny?'" Ami wrinkled her brow.
"No, the - the fate chap - with the doorway to - oh, for the love of - remember the threads?"
"Uh, I really don't know what you're talking about, Mina-chan, maybe if you slow down -"
"No time! Oh, goddess - Time! I forgot about Setsuna!"
There was a loud jarring sound, and Mina turned to deliver a blistering insult to someone. Ami blushed at her language.
"Are you in a car?"
"What? No! Yes, I'm in a cab -"
"But - who's with you? The driver!"
"He can't understand a bloody word I'm saying anyway -"
"Oh," - Ami hadn't realized they'd been speaking English - she'd studied the language for so long that she often forgot she was speaking it once she slipped into it.
"Never mind all that - you've gotta find Zoe and bring him to Mamoru's flat - right? Pronto!"
"Ohhhh- K? But, why -?"
"No time to explain - bye!"
Ami watched Mina's face wink out into darkness.
"What was all that about?"
She thought about finishing her test - her O.C.D. tendencies suggested that she finish what she started, and six was a nice, even number. But no - Mina had told her to find Zoe, and regardless of the eccentricity of the command, she was going to carry it out.
She pushed herself to her feet and selected a dark colored, well fitted trench-coat and scarf - slipped into her boots just outside her door - and descended the stair case to the dreaded Freshman boy's hall.
Now that she knew that Zoe was younger than her, Ami had become doubly shy of meeting him. It wasn't that age mattered - obviously to object on the grounds of something so unimportant was to deny the romances of her friends as well. Though awkward, it made no real difference (to what, she didn't care to think about) - and yet...it wasn't what she'd expected. Hadn't he been older than her in the past?
It bothered her. And she had a feeling that it was important in some way she hadn't quite grasped - something so obvious that she should have seen it ages ago...
The children were asleep, as was her grandfather. And tonight was her night off.
"So, why am I standing here listening to you scream nonsense in my ear?" Rei asked, holding the communicator away from her face.
"I told you!" Mina exploded, "The Fate Man's here! I met him!"
Rei allowed an inky black brow to raise delicately.
"Oh?"
"Don't 'oh' me - we've got to do something!"
"What do you suggest, leader?"
"I don't know - but we've got to hide the Sh- the men. Quickly."
"Are you sure you're not drunk?"
Mina's face turned bright red.
"NO!"
Rei winced.
"I can't believe you!" her leader snapped, "I am being perfectly serious! This is not the time for a pissy attitude and I'm in no mood for it."
That did it.
"Listen, Mina - I don't know what you think you saw, but the odds of it being who you say it was are -"
"Don't tell me the odds, Rei. Just do what I'm telling you to do! Or do you want to never see Jade again?"
Rei snapped her mouth shut in anger. Lately the name had become more than a sore spot - it was down right incendiary.
"It's none of your business anyway!" she growled, "And I think you're over-reacting. As usual."
"Rei - just do it!"
The authoritative tone grated on the miko's nerves.
"Don't order me around, Mina."
"I'm telling you as your leader - we don't have time for protracted thought on the subject -ok? I need you to do what I'm asking you to do without questioning me."
"Well, what if you're freaking wrong!"
Rei had finally exploded as well. All lady-like composure was gone - she almost hurled the communicator across the park. The straying couple near the fountain made a hasty retreat away from her.
"Do you ever consider that, Mina? Really. Is there ever a moment, even in its smallest capacity, that you wonder about whether the conclusions you've jumped to could possibly be wrong? Do you? Or are you so confident in your infallible abilities?"
Rei paused to take a deep breath, and listened in sudden anxiety to the silence on the other end. She couldn't see Mina's face very well, as the interior of the cab was dark - but she wondered very much what effect her words might have had. She'd lost her temper - something she'd promised herself she wouldn't do.
Rei took another breath to steady herself.
"I...I'm sorry, Mina."
The silence continued and Rei's anxiety turned to a chilly worry.
"Mina -"
"It's ok. I just..."
With a shock Rei realized her friend was near tears.
"What is it?" she asked, her tone drastically softened. How could she have been so stupid as to let her temper take over?
"Rei-chan," Mina tried not to let her voice choke up while she whispered, "Hotaru is missing and I have no idea how to find her or if she's even ok. Everyone has remembered the past but me. How can I lead you all if I can't even -"
"You're the best leader," Rei cut in, fiercely, "You are. I didn't mean to make you feel like you weren't. I'm just...I'm just tired and grouchy."
"And worried."
"Yes, and worried."
Mina gave a choked little chuckle.
"Is that what's been bothering you, Mina-chan?"
"Mostly."
Rei sighed.
"Come on, you'll feel better if you tell me all of it."
"I should really go - we're about to come up on Mamoru's apartment."
"Mina-chan."
"Ok, ok. The truth is..." Rei saw the lighter shadow that was Mina's face approach the communicator until she was a blurry blob on the screen.
"What happens if they take him back?"
Rei didn't have to ask who 'him' was...or what would happen.
"They won't."
"But, what if they do? What if - "
"They won't," she interrupted, "Because we won't let that happen."
Mina let out a shaky breath.
"Really? Because I just don't think...I mean now that we've found each other -"
"I know."
"Rei-chan -"
"I know," she repeated, softly, her eyes focusing on some inward thought or image, "I feel the same way."
"Thanks."
Rei broke out of her thoughts and smiled.
"No problem. Sorry I yelled at you."
"Same here. Friends?"
"Of course."
"Good! Then hurry up and get your ass over here so we can start planning how to kick the crap out of the Phantom Queen."
"Roger."
Rei clicked off her communicator and smoothed her hair back with one un-gloved hand. The night air felt good on her hot face. Her sickness had been over fairly quickly - but then she always tended to run a high fever until her body burnt the bug out of her. She was grateful, because it meant she could get back to the shrine chores and the kids (grandfather included.) But she was tired. Tired of thinking, mostly. Tired of remembering.
Memories seemed to be the only things the fire provided for her these days. She spent hours on her knees trying to divine the future and all the fire wanted to do was show her the past. It was maddening. Especially when there were certain things she just didn't want to remember.
Like the first time she'd met Jadeite. That cautious, mocking little smile he'd given her - as though he could see through her mask.
And later, the first time they'd spoken. She'd been trying to find Serenity - it was her duty, since Jupiter and Mercury were ill with colds (from too much wet, cold weather) and someone had to stay behind to cover for them all. She'd traveled to Earth not expecting to like it - but she did. It was different from the Moon - messier, more colorful...more alive. And he'd found her before she could find Serenity. She hadn't meant to, but before she knew it they were engaged in an argument.
It was all they ever did - argue. All they'd ever done. Except that the arguments grew longer, paradoxically less fierce and more passionate. She began to look forward to them, secretly.
He was intelligent, and he held his temper and his secrets as well as she held hers - better, in fact. She wanted to know what he was really thinking. She wanted to take off his mask.
And then...the last night. The night Endymion had proposed to Serenity and Serenity had told her about the engagement. Jadeite had stopped her afterward...and after that he'd told her everything. Even though she didn't want to hear it. She discovered in that moment what it really meant to see beneath his mask.
It was terrifying - for many reasons. The main reason being that it revealed the terrifying nature of her own emotions...
Several hundred miles away Haruka and Michiru sat side by side on a plane, holding hands. It wasn't unusual for them to be publicly affectionate - but there was a tenderness that put to rest all attempts at flirtation. This was a skinship of comfort, not passion.
Michiru continued to stare out the window. The soft light above her seat caused her to see her own face reflected back at her.
I look like I haven't slept in years...
Well, that was almost true. She hadn't had a decent night's sleep since Hotaru had gone missing, and that seemed like years ago. Long, protracted years.
"Pain has an element of blank," she quoted softly to herself, so as not to disturb Haruka.
"It cannot recollect when it began - "
"Or if there were a day when it was not," Haruka finished.
Michiru glanced at her, noting the sleepy, fond face turned toward hers with thinly disguised affection and worry.
"I didn't know you were still awake - or that you'd been reading my poetry books."
"I can read you know. I have a brain under all these good looks."
Michiru smiled in spite of herself.
"I know that," she replied, "But I thought you were only interested in reading racing magazines."
"I'm interested in what your interested in."
Michiru couldn't reply to that. Haruka knew it, and gently squeezed her hand before leaning back in her seat to sleep again.
Sometimes it simply amazed her - the depth of the understanding between the two of them - it defied all attempts at analysis.
"Setsuna says that we'll have to meet these Shitennou."
Haruka's eyes were closed, but she still continued to mumble at Michiru.
"Is that so?" Michiru was half lost in her own thoughts again.
"Yep. She says they're all soulmates - or something - so that means they're sticking around."
"We'll have to be nice to them then."
"Yeah. Oh, well."
"It's funny," Michiru began, "I don't remember them very well."
"Neither do I. Well, we never even met the kids in the past, did we?"
"I don't think so."
"Did you ever hear any rumors about them?"
"The girls?"
"No, their boyfriends."
"Oh," Michiru considered, "Perhaps. There was a story going around about court intrigue and illicit flirtations."
"Well that's something we don't know anything about."
Michiru snorted.
"But," she started, "I don't think, even if I had heard the story, I would have belived it."
"Tell me about it," Haruka sighed, "What are the odds of the four guards falling in love with the other four? That's just ridiculous. It's like some kind of sappy romance novel."
Michiru considered sticking her tongue out at Haruka, but the other woman had her eyes closed so she settled for saying:
"Got to sleep, grouch."
"Hwemnphenla." was Haruka's only answer as she had already begun to drift off into sleep.
Michiru edged away from the window and closer to her partner - moving their hands to her lap as she leaned back to try to find sleep.
Still musing abstractedly in the park as to the probable whereabouts of Jade Izumi, Rei was startled by an approaching shadow.
"Looking for me?"
Rei found herself opposite the real Jade.
"How?"
"I was on my way to Mamoru's - Konnor said I should pick you up and that you might be here."
"How -"
"He's with Mina - they just went on their first date."
Rei closed her mouth with a snap.
"Shall we?"
Jade smiled at her and inclined his head in a mock-gentlemanly manner.
"Sure."
They walked in silence for a few moments.
"A penny for your thoughts."
"I don't think -"
"Don't say they're not worth it," he interrupted, "Because I'd gladly pay more, and you'd be insulting me."
"I wouldn't want to do that."
"No, I don't think you would," he agreed, purposefully ignoring her sarcasm.
Rei allowed herself a small snort.
"What's bothering you?"
"What makes you think anything is -"
"Because you're avoiding eye contact with me, and you are keeping a bigger distance than usual between us."
"I had a fight with Mina."
Jade blinked.
"Really? About what?"
"Has anyone ever told you how nosy you are?"
She huffed to herself and outpaced him by a few strides. He picked up his pace and caught up with her, easily.
"Lots of people, actually, but it hasn't stopped me yet."
"Hah."
"Why did you fight with Mina?"
"None of your business."
"Anything to do with you is my business."
Rei stopped dead and whirled on him so fast he nearly fell over backwards.
"How do you figure that one?" she asked quietly, her violet eyes pinning him where he stood. But he didn't back down. It was one of the things she liked about him (though she'd never have admitted it without the duress of torture.)
"Well," he sucked in a breath, his eyes glittering, "I want to know everything about you. I want to take care of you. So - make your business my business."
Rei stared at him for a long moment, then turned just as abruptly again to continue to Mamoru's apartment.
"Rei," he called, jogging to catch up with her again, "I realize you're a woman of few words, but -"
"You should follow my example."
"I have to tell you something, Rei."
"What if I don't want to hear it?"
"Why don't you decide after you hear it?"
"I've already heard it, haven't I?"
She stopped again and turned to face him - she was starting to lose her cool.
"We've already had this conversation."
"The past isn't the same as the present," he answered, softly.
They looked at each other for a long moment until Rei shook her head.
"I'm sorry - I can't."
Ami stiffened her already stiff spine and cleared her throat for courage - then she turned on her heel and entered a place she'd never been before...a college party.
She gingerly made her way past the partiers, most of whom were already in various stages of drunkenness (or worse.) She peeked under a few lampshades in search of Zoe's bright hair and cat-green eyes - but to no avail.
"Zoe!" she called.
Though she blushed at using his name so familiarly, she felt it was probably the quickest way to find him.
But after nearly fifteen minutes of searching - she couldn't find him anywhere.
"Hey, sweetie," the football player from before slurred, "Take off the coat and stay a while."
"Hey, yeah," one of his friends sloshed his way over to Ami and grabbed her lapel, "You're pretty cute."
"Please let go."
"Whadidshesay?"
Ami let out a short sigh of exasperation and touched his hand with one of her already icy fingers. Because of the alcohol it took him a bit longer than most to figure out that his hand was painfully cold - so cold that she nearly gave him frostbite before he thought to jerk his hand back.
He looked at it in surprise.
"Thas weird." He then looked at Ami, who merely watched him with her large, serious eyes. Then he looked at the beer can in his other hand and shook his head, sadly.
Ami passed him and turned down a dark hallway to find a group of freshmen involved in some very detailed anatomy lessons. Normally Ami would have turned as red as a beet and run away - but she was a woman with a mission tonight - and nothing was going to stop her.
She walked through the hallway as though it were empty - she could hear his voice at the end. And a girl's high pitched giggle.
Her hands grew very, very cold.
Pushing open the last door, Ami was confronted with the sight of three freshman girls of indeterminate heights, weights and hair colors, engaged in lying on top of what appeared (from the protruding, flailing legs encased in a familiar looking pair of jeans) to be Zoe Johnson.
"Excuse me," Ami pronounced, coldly.
One of the girls stopped what she was doing and turned to look at Ami with ill concealed surprise and dislike.
"Hey, a little privacy?" she suggested, smirking.
"Oh, god!" came a hysterical male voice, "Please!"
Ami's lips tightened.
"Excuse me."
The girl turned back, pissed off now. One of the other girls rolled a little off of Zoe and looked up with curiosity.
"Look," said the first girl, "Piss off, four eyes."
"I'll give you exactly three seconds to move away from him," Ami replied, calmly.
The girl stared at her, then broke into a laugh.
"Ami?" came a muffled voice, "Dear god, is that you!"
"Yes," came the clipped reply.
"Thank -"
"One."
The girl shrugged and turned away from Ami as if she were a fly.
"Two."
"Help!" Zoe screeched. Ami's frown became murderous (if she'd known it.)
"Three."
Ami pointed her finger at the girl lying directly on top of Zoe and the girl suddenly shrieked and hit the floor as if she were possessed. The other two jumped back to stare at her. Ami pointed her finger at the second girl and she too began screaming, hopping up and down, and trying to jerk her skirt off. Ami then turned to the third girl - who was staring at her in fear.
"I warned you," the Ice Queen said.
She raised her finger.
The third girl's eyes widened and then she added her screams to those of her friends. Frantically she began clawing at her jeans.
Ami watched them for a moment, then looked up at Zoe.
His hair a mess, hickies all over his neck, his shirt in disarray and clutching his belt buckle as if it were a chastity belt or a lifeline or both, Zoe struggled up off of the couch he'd been pinned against and grinned like a ten years maroonee spotting a ship.
"Ami, thank the gods! You have no idea how happy I am to see you."
"Really?"
Something in Ami's tone warned him. He turned to look at the girls writhing and cursing, struggling to get out of the room as they shoved past Ami.
"Douse yourself in some water and repent!" she murmured as they bolted out the door.
"What..." he gulped, "What did you do to them?"
"Something Mina told me about once," Ami replied, absently, "Apparently you don't have to have a freezer to accomplish it."
Zoe's eyes went round and wide.
"You froze their underwear?" he asked in a shocked whisper.
"Yes. They needed to cool down, don't you think?"
Ami's attention came back to him now, taking in his appearance. Some of the color came back to her cheeks. Zoe gulped again.
"It's not what it looks like, " he began.
Shai, having crawled away from the oncoming traffic, pushed himself to his feet amidst a muddle of onlookers.
"I'm sorry," he said, bowing to them. They lurched away from him and dispersed.
He watched them go in a vague abstraction.
"People here are...not as I'd been led to believe."
Letting his silver staff rest on a bench he sat to rest as well. Reaching inside his tunic he brought out a small, hand held mirror with a carved ivory backing.
He tapped it three times.
"Bes?"
After a few odd gargling sounds a cheerful voice intoned:
"Hey! Shai! How's it going?"
"Not so well," Shai sighed, rubbing his pale hair out of his face.
"Ah, buddy, I'm sorry to hear that. Something I can do?"
"Well, I'm not sure. I found one of the Senshi protectors of the princess, but for some reason she attacked me."
"She attacked you? Crap man."
"Yes, well," Shai looked around him, "I think she wasn't very pleased to see me. I must have insulted her without realizing it."
"What'd you say to her, bud?"
"I asked her if she was the princess's senshi, she said she was and who the 'hell' was I. And I introduced myself."
"And then she attacked you?"
"Yes. She pushed me out in front of one of these noisy, large metal things -"
"Cars, dude, I told you they're called 'cars'."
"Oh, yes, I forgot."
"S'ok. Geez, that's some tough stuff."
"I wonder what I ought to do now," Shai ended, leaning his cheek in his other hand. He couldn't remember the last time he'd felt this gloomy or bewildered.
"And it's my first time being human too," he mumbled.
"Ok, ok...I got it!"
Shai brightened at the tone of certainty in his friend's voice.
"I'll come there and help you."
Instantly Shai's face fell.
"Oh, no - that's not - I mean, you don't really need to - not that I -"
"Ah, man it ain't no thing. Easy as pie. Besides you need someone with experience being human anyway."
"But, Bes, you know what happens when you -"
"Oh, it'll be fine. Ok, I'll get ready right now -"
"No, Bes, wait -"
"This is so awesome, you're in Tokyo, right? Haven't been there since -"
"Not necessary, Bes - listen -"
"See you in a few!"
"Bes -"
The mirror went blank.
Shai stared at it for one long second and then let his head drop to his arms.
It was definitely not a fun first trip to the mortal realm.
"And that's how they jumped on me when I went to the bathroom," Zoe was explaining to a very angry looking Ami, " - they dragged me in here and wouldn't let me up."
Ami's icy poise was fading in the venting of more fiery emotions.
"I suppose a poor, defenseless Shitennou can't protect himself from three freshman...ho-bags!"
"Ami! I didn't even know you knew words like that."
"What does it matter if I do!"
She had really lost her temper now and was on the verge of tears.
"Why would you do something like this to me?" she demanded, not really paying attention to her words, but to the fiery snake that was eating her heart.
"But I couldn't use force against them, Ami," he pleaded, "I couldn't - "
"Why not!"
"Ami, you aren't thinking reasonably," his tone became placating, "Sweetheart, you're...you're jealous."
Ami jerked her hand toward the fake plant by the doorway, freezing it instantly and so fast that it shattered.
"I'm NOT jealous!"
Zoe put out his hands, gently approaching her.
"It's alright to feel this way, Ami-chan, just take a deep breath."
"Take one more step and I'm going to freeze your underwear too!"
Zoe paused, then cautiously took another step, keeping his eyes locked with hers.
"Ami, listen to me," he urged, "What you are feeling right now is jealousy because you saw me with those other girls and you leaped to the wrong conclusions -"
"Well, what do you think -"
"I'm not blaming you, dearest," he continued, hastily, "Anyone would have thought the same."
"Darn right!"
He couldn't get over how cute she looked right now, even as angry as she was. There was something quite alluring about it - but he didn't have time to waste on such speculation.
"Ami, love," he murmured, managing to get a little closer until he was within a foot of her, "The reason you feel jealous is very natural. You're in love with me."
Ami let out a few panting breaths, her eyes darting to his.
"I am not."
"Ami -"
"I - I haven't even considered such a thing -"
He stepped a little closer and cautiously took one of her hands.
"I - we - have nothing in common."
"Mm-hmm." He made a show of listening attentively while he tucked her hand into his and reached for the other one. Ami frowned, not sure whether she wanted to resist this or not.
"And, you're younger than me."
Zoe barely kept himself from rolling his eyes.
"I don't care if you don't care," he informed her, quickly pulling her arms around his waist before she could protest. Ami gave a little startled squeak at finding herself in this situation. How had that happened?
"It's only six months."
"That's half a year."
"In fact," he went on, smoothing her bangs out of her face, "I like older women."
"You - you do?"
"Yes, I've always preferred a mature woman to those air-headed 'ho-bags' as you so charmingly called them."
"Did I say that?" Ami looked away, embarrassed and missed Zoe's very amused smile. Her anger had nearly dissipated to be replaced with a strange kind of excited anxiety.
"You were quite right."
"But, wait a minute -" she frowned, turning back to him and disengaging herself from his grasp.
"I thought you said we were just friends."
"Ah, yes well..." he struggled for a moment, then let out a long sigh.
"Ami," he looked up at her through his lashes and bangs, "I've been trying to be patient for your sake - I really have - but there's only so much I can take."
"Patient?" Ami blinked, "Then you haven't lost interest in me?"
Zoe groaned.
"Of course not! Who on Earth could do that? And for whom? You have no one to compare with in this school. This country. The world, even."
Ami blushed deeply.
"You're being hyperbolic."
"No, I'm being perfectly truthful."
"You really think that?" she asked, shyly.
"Do you want me to prove it?" His eyes held a sudden gleam that should have warned her, but she didn't catch it in time.
"Prove it?"
"Alright, as you command, princess!"
He grabbed her hand and dragged her out of the room.
"Wait, where are we - I had something I needed to - Mina and the others -" she panted, in between strides.
"It can wait."
He jerked open the door to the roof and started up the steps two at a time while Ami attempted to keep up. They burst onto the roof.
"What are you -"
Zoe nearly made her heart leap out of her chest as he jumped up onto the ledge of the roof.
"I'm declaring my love for you to the world!" he exclaimed, grinning.
"Or, the campus, at least."
Ami balled her hands into fists.
"Zoe Johnson, you get down from there this minute!"
"I will, I will - but first -"
He took a deep breath and cupped his hands around his mouth.
"Zoe! Get down now! You are going to hurt yourself!"
"Ami, please. I'm a Shitennou." The look her gave her was brimming full of so much smug confidence she had the urge to freeze his underwear right there and then. But she admitted to herself that there was something cute about his cockiness.
"I!" he shouted, causing passersby below to halt and stare up at the roof, "Zoe Abelard Johnson!"
"Abelard?"
"Don't laugh!"
He stared at her so seriously with his hands on his hips that Ami couldn't help herself - she collapsed into giggles.
"How mean."
He smiled and turned back.
"Do hereby testify publicly to my abiding love for Mizuno Ami - for all time - and let it be a witness to - "
He stopped when he felt Ami's tug on his arm.
"I'm not finished."
But he let her pull him down towards her so that she could give him a shy kiss. She realized as she did it that it did indeed absolve the beast that had gnawed at her insides for the past weeks. And it felt comfortable...more than comfortable...right.
"Thank you," she whispered.
"Don't thank me just yet."
Forgetting about the public declaration, he slid down to a sitting position and pulled Ami flush against the ledge, between his knees.
"Are you ok with this?" he asked, "Because I don't plan to stop publicly declaring my affection for you - in any manner. Are you sure now?"
She smiled and leaned in close to steal another quick kiss on the nose.
"It's alright, I have methods of reminding you to behave. Remember?"
"Hmm..." he stole a longer kiss, not on the nose.
"Empty threat," he murmured, "I don't wear underwear anyway."
"Zoeee!"
It was a few minutes before he could stop laughing so that she could drag him off to Mamoru's.