Disclaimer: I don't own Sailor Moon. Besides, I really don't want to deal with American censorship.

Note: This is my spin on the episode "Checkmate!" (Season 2, episode 71 for subs and 51 for dubs), where Ami ends up playing a chess match with Berthier. Well, she had to practice with SOMEONE, right? I argued with myself over the ending, not sure which I liked better: the one where you see how Ami takes it or the one where you don't. Seriously, I still haven't made up my mind, but I put the shorter version here. If you want the other version, feel free to PM me or put a request up on a review or something, and I'll post it or send it your way.

Ami surveyed the area: this wasn't looking good for Makoto. As though confirming her previous thought, Makoto nodded slowly and then threw her hands up in exasperation.

"You're just too good Ami! What is this now? Four – zip?"

The two of them had been playing chess for the last four and some hours, sitting across from each other in Ami's room. Though it really wasn't necessary, Ami had wanted to practice playing against each of the senshi in preparation for the tournament tomorrow. By her request, each of the girls played Ami on a different day so she would have the opportunity to play varying styles and varying skill levels.

Admittedly, playing the other senshi was probably not the practice she needed to play in a high ranking tournament, but her friends' desire to help should have not been wasted. Hence why Makoto, of all people, was sitting across from her at seven at night playing chess. As Makoto set the board for the next game, Ami remembered the different games from the past week.

Usagi went first, and true to her nature, she had never played before and demanded an explanation why the pawn could only move two spaces on the first move. Before Ami could try to respond, Uagi followed up with, "And why can Tuxedo Mask move only one space? He can fly!"

"Tuexdo Mask?" Ami answered, highly confused

Pointing to the king, Usagi spoke, "Tuxedo Mask," shifting her finger over the queen, "and me!"

To say the least, the subsequent games followed in a similar fashion. She was playing a beginner who never even thought of using her brain for something other than boys. Her moves were random, and Ami found herself explaining each game why Usagi had lost. Needless to say, it wasn't too much help.

But still, Ami had to admit; for once she realized that chess didn't have to be serious. When she needed to, she could completely focus and play well, but just with friends, it wouldn't be a catastrophe if she lost or wasn't paying as much attention. Usagi spent more time making sure that the king and queen stayed together than trying to take Ami's king, for, as Usagi clearly stated, "Why would I want another king? I already have Tuxedo Mask!"

By the time they had reached the fifth and final match, Ami had decided to challenge herself to have Usagi win. She tried to predict where Usagi would move and set herself up for failure. It was a new way of playing chess: playing to lose, but never seem like you are losing. When Usagi had her in a perfect queen-bishop checkmate, Ami forged a look of surprise. "Usagi… yo-you beat me."

Usagi looked up from the board, which had been stared at intently for the last three minutes. "I did?"

Ami smiled, "Yes."

Proceeding to show her massive amounts of modesty, Usagi did an I-beat-Ami dance and sang along with it. Just smiling through the whole thing, Ami put away the board and cleared the sweets that littered the floor.

"Well, that was fun!" Usagi suddenly said, finishing her dance once Ami had put everything away.

Nodding, Ami agreed, "It was. You should try playing again."

Usagi seemed to ponder that idea for a moment and then shrugged, walking to the door. Just when she was about to leave Ami's house, she turned around and announced with a smile, "I don't think any other player would set themselves up to let me win. Thanks for letting me have fun! Goodnight Ami!"

She walked out the door and waved. Ami just shook her head.

Rei came the next day at one, and Ami had the misfortune of thinking that she would play like Usagi, just try to be serious. How very wrong she was. In the first game, Ami was beat by a simple seven move checkmate, to which Rei only frowned and said, "Don't think I'm Usagi. You shouldn't have fallen for that."

There were no questions of why pieces moved in certain ways or where Rei should move. If anything, Rei was as calculating as Ami, staring at the board and surveying every square with suspicion. This was an actual game.

Ami couldn't afford letting her guard or concentration slip for even a moment. The games, in comparison to Usagi's twenty minutes each, lasted two hours per, full of little grey cells rubbing together non-stop. It wasn't as though Ami couldn't beat Rei, but rather Rei was almost as good and could, if Ami failed to pay attention, change the game drastically.

By the time the two were at the fifth game, it was almost ten and they were tied at two each. Rei proposed, "How about we break the tie with a blitz round? Two minutes each?"

Ami nodded and set the clock accordingly, while Rei set the pieces. Just when they were about to start, Rei smirked and upped the ante, "How about we make a deal?"

Looking up, Ami tilted her head. "Deal?"

"Yeah," Rei continued, "A deal." Noting that she held Ami's interest, she continued, "The one who loses has to confess."

A very awkward silence filled the room.

"Co-confess?" Ami just barely managed to stutter out.

Smiling like a mad person, Rei continued, "Yeah. If I lost, I'll finally confess to Minako. You lose, you confess to the person you like."

Ami gave a relieved sigh when she realized that Rei didn't know who exactly Ami would have to confess to.

Rei continued, "By 'the person you like,' I mean Makoto, of course."

Or not.

The clocks ticked away as Ami and Rei moved faster and more reckless than they had ever done before. Milliseconds matter in such a race.

Ami dashed her bishop across the board.

Rei countered with moving her queen.

Pawn forward to block the attack.

Knight moved out of the wave.

Side attack from a rook.

King out of trouble.

Knight to center.

Queen behind bishop.

Pawn.

Rook.

Rook.

Knight.

King.

Queen.

Rook. Knight. Pawn. Queen. Rook. King. Bishop.

BEEP

Both girls stared at the clock to see who ran out of time. One gave out a sigh of relief. After the two debated the validity of the deal and how soon it needed to be fulfilled, Rei went home.

Minako came over the very next day, and Ami was ready for anything. How good would she be? How much would she have to explain? How long would the games last? Blitz or regular?

"Gosh, Rei was right." Minako spoke as soon as she saw Ami, "You do look intense."

Ami just stared at her. Minko sighed.

"Listen," She said, "I don't play chess and truly don't want to. I'm actually here for a different reason entirely."

Ami paled at what she was implying.

Minako only smiled. "Yeah. That thing." Smiling even more as she heard Ami groan, she continued, "Rei held up her part of the deal last night, and trust me when I say she was gratefully rewarded."

Blushing, Ami turned away and spoke softly, "And you want me to…?"

Bubbly Minako answered, "For you to confess, of course! Rei would come and back up the reason for this but I think she's still sleeping."

Looking at the clock glaring one pm, Ami incredulously turned back to Minako. "Rei is sleeping in until the afternoon? How late did she stay up?"

This time it was Minako's turn to blush. "Well, uh, they don't call me the Senshi of love for nothing."

Ami started blushing as well.

Minako shook her head of the sweet memories and continued speaking, "So we want you to have the same… err… satisfaction, considering that if you didn't beat Rei last night and force her overconfident self into a corner, she probably wouldn't have confessed as quickly as she did."

Confused, Ami asked, "Two years is 'quickly'?"

It was Minako's turn to be confused. "Two years?" When she got a nod from Ami as confirmation, "She told me four months…."

With an almost-smug look on her face, Ami explained, "She probably didn't want to admit that she liked you as Sailor V even before she met you."

A smile Ami had never seen before crept its way onto Minako's face. "Really now…"

Ami only smiled in return and kept talking with Minako about Rei, hoping to never getting around her and Makoto. Unfortunately, it only worked for a small time. Minako soon spun the whole conversation back to Ami. "Enough about Rei and me. How's Makoto?"

Not wishing to answer directly, Ami said "I think she's fine. Haven't really talked to her lately."

"Tsk tsk."

"What?"

"Don't try avoiding the situation Ami. You can't deny the fact that you wonder how it is to be in her arms or cuddle next to her or hold her hand. Don't try to deny it."

Ami blushed and turned away. "I'm not going to deny it. But that doesn't mean I have to confront it."

Minako looked straight at Ami. "You know a lot of things Ami. But I know love. And let me tell you this much: love doesn't just go away. It doesn't realize it's an inconvenience and disappears. No, if anything it simply keeps growing until you confront it. Things won't get easier the longer you wait or get simpler. Soon you'll start dreaming about her or leave space in your bed imagining that's where she would sleep next to you."

Noting Ami's blushing, Minako only continued, "Or maybe you've already done that. Maybe you've caught yourself staring at her for no reason or find ways to be with her just because. Love doesn't make sense or work with the laws of logic. It collapses on itself and everything in its wake. It's a force that can't be measured or be understood. It exists, controls, destroys friendships and creates hardships. With the power to tear everything apart and mend every broken seam, it is the one rule that we really live by, and we can only obey. And truly?"

Ami looked straight at Minako, who only looked back at her with the most serious face Ami had ever seen.

"I think it's completely worth it."

Makoto was the last one, and Ami had never been more nervous in her life. Who's to say how things would go?

By the time Makoto had arrived, Ami had thought of so many different ways to avoid the conformation and an equal amount of ways to face it. There was so much tension between them that Ami worried that Makoto would just leave. Ami hasn't been acted per normal: she stuttered, shifted her gaze, and refused to bump back when Makoto nudged her shoulder. Makoto noted that she acted as though she "would chop her head off if she did anything."

Ami had denied the charges and just had blamed them on her nerves. She led Makoto upstairs to the chess set. As soon as the two sat down across from each other, Makoto had said, "Let the games begin."

And so they did, full of staring, trying to avoid eye contact and smiling when successful. The games themselves required more self-control and brainpower than the chess.

Just like all the others, Makoto and Ami had taken a dinner break after the third game, but this time, Makoto was the one cooking, demanding that Ami just sit down and recharge her "brilliant self."

And that led to them, now. It was the fifth match, and Ami still hadn't said anything.

Though not exactly polite, Ami was so glad that Makoto wasn't nearly as meticulous or as smart as Rei. That gave her time to relax and just stare at Makoto's concentrating face. Though, admittedly, Makoto really didn't think things out much and acted impulsively.

Somewhere along the way, Ami asked, "Why did you do that? E3 would have been a better move."

And Makoto just shrugged, "The piece demanded that spot."

Ami laughed and shook her head, moving her pieces carefully and strategically. She wouldn't let Makoto win. She wouldn't let anyone else win.

The prize was hers.

They kept at it for another hour, Makoto moving things impulsively while Ami thought everything out. Time was short, however, and as the moon rose higher in the sky, Ami's chances of winning the games went lower and lower.

Realizing that there was nothing to do to prevent it, Ami finally moved her bishop. "Checkmate." It was over. Soon Makoto would have to go, and Ami had confronted nothing. The two of them were completely alone and nothing, absolutely nothing, was stopping her. Nothing but herself.

Makoto shook her head. "No, I think you're wrong."

Scanning the board, Ami was certain that it was a checkmate. It was definitely over. "But there –"

Leaning across the table, Makoto kissed Ami softly. She then pulled back an inch and spoke with a smile "It's your move."