Coming Out Roses
Another mediocre story by KaptainSarcasm
****
One fine day, sitting in the park on a picnic with her best friend Hotaru, Chibiusa came to the startling realization that she had fallen in love with the other girl. It had hit her very suddenly and unexpectedly when by accident, Hotaru's hand lightly brushed her own. After that, she simply spent the rest of the afternoon stuttering and acting foolish, to the point that the dark-haired girl asked her friend if she was feeling alright, which she most certainly was, except for the sudden weakness of her knees. And the constant running thought through her head, "Hotaru is the most beautiful girl in the world and I love her," that was bothering her a little bit, too.
Reflecting on her epiphany later that night, it made sense for her to recognize her feelings that day. Certain events had led up to the thoughts, triggered them, if you will. For example, Haruka and Michiru had just celebrated their five-year wedding anniversary, and Chibiusa had found herself incredibly jealous of them on more than one level. Another thing was that Ami and Makoto, at Haruka and Michiru's anniversary dinner, had "come out of the closet" as being in love to the rest of the girls, and Chibiusa found herself examining Rei and Minako with newfound suspicions. But most probably the thing that really triggered it was that a school dance was coming up and a boy from her class had asked her to go with him as his date. Now, little Chibiusa was only sixteen years old, and Hotaru was about to be eighteen, but it seemed to Chibiusa that she was old enough to recognize love, or at least (admittedly) sexual attraction, and what she had towards Hotaru was a lot more than she'd ever felt towards any boy.
And so she started to research the subject of lesbianism. She went online to read personal accounts of people who had come to terms with their sexuality, and she registered the fact that most people realize it at an older age. To recognize it at a young age, well, it was harder to find things about that than it was to find things about people, say, Haruka and Michiru's age.
Just as that thought crossed her mind, it hit Chibiusa that THAT'S where she should be researching. So with the next opportunity she had to borrow her father's car, she drove over to their house on a day when she knew Hotaru would be out. Setsuna opened the door. "Small Lady, you know Hotaru-chan isn't here right now," she said when she saw the pink-haired teen on the front porch.
"I know, Sets-chan, I'm here to talk to Haruka-san, actually."
Frowning, the taller lady replied, "She's out right now as well. Only Michiru is here."
"That's fine, I can talk to her," chirped Chibiusa, brushing past Setsuna in the doorway and slipping out of her shoes. The other woman raised an eyebrow in interest, but Chibiusa pretended not to notice and entered Michiru's study.
The aqua-haired woman looked especially stunning that day. Her hair was done up in a ponytail and her bangs were hanging loosely over her face. Her eyes were set in an intense stare as she painted on her canvas, her lose t-shirt sporting several specks of rogue paint. When she saw Chibiusa, she smiled a knockout smile and said, "Chibiusa-chan, to what do I owe this pleasure?"
Looking around nervously, Chibiusa shuffled her feet. It seemed somehow wrong to be "checking out" Michiru. "Can we sit?" she started. "I want to talk to you about something."
"Of course. Do you want some tea or cookies?"
"No thank you."
They settled at the table, carrying a polite, impersonal conversation in that traditional Japanese way before Chibiusa finally dropped the bomb. "Michiru-san, when did you know that you were in love with Haruka-san?"
Slightly taken aback, Michiru paused a moment to think about it before answering. Finally, she admitted, "I'd love to say, 'The moment I first laid eyes on her,' or something to that effect, but I wouldn't want to lie to you. Truth be told, when I first saw Haruka, I was almost a little disappointed. It sounds odd to say this to a child, but Haruka wasn't exactly, as they say, 'my type.'"
Chibiusa was hard-pressed to keep her jaw from dropping. Michiru just giggled lightly.
"I saw her and I thought, 'I went through all the troubles of being a lesbian and the girl I'm destined to be partners with has to look like a boy?' It was a shallow thought, but I was, for lack of a better word, frustrated. I was upset that I had been hooked into the duties of being a senshi and I just wanted something to go my way. In that aspect, I suppose it took me a while to warm up to Haruka." She paused for a second, placing one delicate hand on her chin. "To answer your question, the first time I really, honestly felt that I loved Haruka would have to be that day in the garage where I tried to keep her from becoming a senshi. I wanted better for her."
The pink-haired girl watched as the other woman became almost immersed in memory. A minute passed, and Michiru finally sighed and shrugged. "I wanted a partner, and that's what I ended up getting in the end," she concluded.
Looking away bashfully, Chibiusa said quietly, "You two are perfect for each other. Don't tell anyone I said that, but I think you two get along better than Mamo-chan and Usagi." Much to Chibiusa's surprise, Michiru started to laugh.
"It makes me happy to hear you say that, Chibiusa-chan. Haruka and I get along perfectly well now, but in the beginning, it wasn't so." When she stopped talking, Chibiusa egged her on with a look that said, 'Tell me more!' So she did. "I know that Usagi-chan and her friends thought that Haruka and I were a couple back when we were looking for the talismans, but actually, we didn't get together in that way until after we left town, after Hotaru-chan became a baby and we had to give her up. That very night, the night we fought Usagi-chan and became loyal, we stopped by the beach to watch the sun go down, and that's when we shared our first kiss."
Chibiusa's eyes were sparkling with moisture. "That's so romantic!" she sighed.
Smiling, the older woman remarked, "Yes, Haruka has always had a flair for romance, as much as she'd hate to admit it."
"So, why did it take you so long to finally confess to her?"
At that, Michiru put one finger up in the air, smirking mischievously. "First of all, she confessed to me that night, and second of all, we always knew that we loved each other. It was just a matter of priorities. What with the talismans, and then the Messiah, it was just not a good time to be falling in love, and we both knew that."
The younger girl nodded her understanding. "That's a very mature decision."
"We were very responsible teenagers."
After a pause, Chibiusa pressed, "But wasn't it hard? To live with her for so long and not be able to share the type of relationship you wanted with her?"
"I never said it wasn't hard. It was one of the hardest things about that time for me. At first it seemed like she wasn't interested, but eventually she started doing certain things that led me to believe otherwise."
"Like what?"
"Well," sighed Michiru, "I guess the most obvious is that she would come into my room late at night and lay with me. We both knew when the other was awake, so she knew I didn't mind. Some nights she would just lay down and go to sleep, other nights, when she'd had one of our dreams, she would come in and actually embrace me." A soft smile spread across her lips. "That was what really clued me in. To everyone else, Haruka always put up this front, this mean, hard atmosphere that rejects everything around it. But with me, she never did that. She was always gentle and soft and loving. The nights when she would hold me were the best of nights."
"Michiru-san?" asked Chibiusa suddenly, stuttering slightly. "Can I ask you a personal question?"
One curved eyebrow lifted. "I suppose so."
"Was... When you... I mean... Had you..." She stopped, then took a deep breath, and then continued on. "Was Haruka-san your first?"
Not expecting this, Michiru sat back in her chair.
"You don't have to answer if you're uncomfortable with it," added Chibiusa quickly.
But Michiru shook her head, and said slowly, saying each word deliberately, "When you say 'first,' what do you mean, exactly? First love? Or first as in..." She trailed off.
Nodding and blushing, Chibiusa offered, "First as in, first time with a girl."
"No," answered Michiru levelly. Then she leaned forward, looking straight at the other girl. "Is there some reason you're asking these sorts of questions?"
She had dug herself into a corner. Staring into her lap, she answered, "I'm asking because... because... I think, I mean, I know, that I... That I'm in love with Hotaru-chan."
Michiru blinked, then smiled and reached out to cover the pink-haired girl's hand with her own. "Chibiusa-chan," she said sincerely, "I'm really happy for you. I can't imagine a better person for Hotaru-chan to be with than you."
Young eyes brightened as a huge grin broke across her face. "Really? Really, really, honestly?"
"Really, really honestly."
"I'm so glad!" She jumped up and threw her arms around the other girl's neck, who lightly returned the embrace, showing sincere happiness and excitement for the younger girl. "Thank you, Michiru-san," she whispered, before pulling back and sitting down in her chair.
"So talk to me, Chibiusa-chan. How did this come about?" inquired the older woman.
The pink-haired girl told her of her epiphany the other day, and of her growing suspicions concerning her own sexuality. The latter topic was one that felt very good to get off her chest, especially because Michiru was unbelievably supportive. For example, when she expressed her fears of her father and mother finding out, Michiru said, "Oh, Chibiusa-chan, I think they probably already know. It was a bit obvious when you were younger. Your friendship with Hotaru was always questionable. Even Haruka and I had our suspicions."
"You're kidding!"
"Dead serious. We also wondered about Ami-chan and Mako-chan, and we all saw how that worked out."
When Haruka came home, she entered the study and greeted the two ladies, Chibiusa with a playful comment and Michiru with a swift kiss on the cheek. She joined them at the table, sipping a can of soda (she had just gotten back from the racetrack so she was a little dehydrated). Shyly, Chibiusa told Haruka what she had told Michiru, and she laughed and placed a hand on the younger girl's shoulder. "Ah!" she exclaimed, "I was starting to wonder when you were going to realize it."
They talked for a while longer about various things before Chibiusa decided that she should go. They said their goodbyes, and the young girl left the two other women alone in the study. Smiling affectionately, Haruka remarked, "She's a cute girl. Hotaru is very lucky."
"Yes, I feel very elated, knowing that Chibiusa-chan has finally come to her senses. Hotaru-chan must have come out to us, what, almost three years ago?" mused Michiru.
With a chuckle, Haruka reached over and took her wife's hand in her own. "I still remember how nervous she was."
Suddenly, Michiru asked, "Haruka, do you remember our first kiss?"
"How could I forget?" She stood, pulling Michiru up and into her arms. "The night we left this town, when finally knew we were free to be in love. We stopped on that beach and I was watching you, and when I kissed you, I was delighted to find out that your lips were just as soft as I had dreamed they would be." She leaned down and pressed their lips together, whispering against them, "And they still are."
'All's right in my world,' thought Michiru, and out loud she said, "I love you, my Haruka."
"I love you, too, my darling Michiru."
****
Instead of going straight home after she left, Chibiusa drove over to Makoto and Ami's apartment. The two had only been living together for less than a week; the reason they had come out when they did was because they were planning the move. They had been seeing each other in secret for almost a year.
She took the elevator up to the third floor, walking down the hall until she saw the label on the doorbell that said, "Kino/Mizuno." She rang the bell and heard, "Coming!" from inside. The door opened and revealed Makoto, wearing a friendly smile and an apron. "Ah, Chibiusa-chan! Come on in. You know, I think you're the first person to come visit us in our new apartment. What brings you here?" She led the shorter girl in to the kitchen, where she could smell baking cookies. Where she had turned down Michiru's cookies, she was now hungry and horribly tempted, so she gratefully accepted Makoto's offer for fresh-baked treats.
As they were sitting at the table, Ami's voice floated in from somewhere else in the apartment. "Mako-chan?"
"In the kitchen, Ami," replied Makoto, leaning back in her chair to see out the kitchen doorway. Chibiusa noted that Makoto did not use any honorifics with Ami. This indicated closeness between the two that they had been hiding before. The blue-haired genius entered the room, greeted Chibiusa politely, and sat down next to her lover. Where Haruka and Michiru were both 27 years old, Ami and Makoto were 24 and 25, respectively. None of them, however, looked a day older than when Chibiusa had first met them. Once a senshi reaches her prime, she stays in it for centuries. Chibiusa still had a bit more growing to do, but Hotaru had pretty much reached her prime, and as such, would not be growing for very much longer.
Feeling bolder than she had with Haruka and Michiru (They WERE Hotaru's parents, after all), Chibiusa told the two girls that she was a lesbian and she was in love with the black-haired firefly. They were both very happy and accepting, and without Chibiusa even asking, Makoto launched into the story of how the two of them had gotten together.
"Ami and I had been dancing around each other for the past couple of years before we finally got together. Neither of us was very aggressive in that aspect because we were so scared. Finally, what I did was, I made her a huge birthday feast and invited all the girls. Remember that? It was last year." Chibiusa nodded her remembrance. "Yeah. Well, I bought her a really nice ring, one I knew she would like. I wasn't planning on telling her, or even giving her the ring, when she came to the dinner that night. But do you remember that it started raining? Haruka-san and Mamoru-san offered rides to as many people as they could, but Ami insisted on staying behind to help me clean up. She always does that kind of thing." At this, Ami nudged her partner in the side, but Makoto just laughed and continued. "Anyway, as we were washing the dishes together, the power went out and I dropped a dish and cut myself. Ami here, Miss Doctor, she sat me down and started to clean and wrap it. While she was doing that, she had that look, you know the one, where she's so determined and focused on what she's doing, like when she's working on a real patient or a math equation or something. Combine that with the dim lighting, and I of course couldn't not kiss her. So I kissed her, and the rest, as they say, is history."
When Makoto looked at Ami, she saw that the blue-haired girl was blushing ever so slightly. "Hey, Ami, I didn't get too detailed for you, did I?" The other girl shook her head.
"No, I think you did a very good job explaining it." Ami then turned to Chibiusa. "Chibiusa-chan, I think you should tell Hotaru-chan how you feel. If you don't, you may regret it later."
Chibiusa left their house feeling ready to tell Hotaru. She already had a plan by the time she had gotten into her car.
Another mediocre story by KaptainSarcasm
****
One fine day, sitting in the park on a picnic with her best friend Hotaru, Chibiusa came to the startling realization that she had fallen in love with the other girl. It had hit her very suddenly and unexpectedly when by accident, Hotaru's hand lightly brushed her own. After that, she simply spent the rest of the afternoon stuttering and acting foolish, to the point that the dark-haired girl asked her friend if she was feeling alright, which she most certainly was, except for the sudden weakness of her knees. And the constant running thought through her head, "Hotaru is the most beautiful girl in the world and I love her," that was bothering her a little bit, too.
Reflecting on her epiphany later that night, it made sense for her to recognize her feelings that day. Certain events had led up to the thoughts, triggered them, if you will. For example, Haruka and Michiru had just celebrated their five-year wedding anniversary, and Chibiusa had found herself incredibly jealous of them on more than one level. Another thing was that Ami and Makoto, at Haruka and Michiru's anniversary dinner, had "come out of the closet" as being in love to the rest of the girls, and Chibiusa found herself examining Rei and Minako with newfound suspicions. But most probably the thing that really triggered it was that a school dance was coming up and a boy from her class had asked her to go with him as his date. Now, little Chibiusa was only sixteen years old, and Hotaru was about to be eighteen, but it seemed to Chibiusa that she was old enough to recognize love, or at least (admittedly) sexual attraction, and what she had towards Hotaru was a lot more than she'd ever felt towards any boy.
And so she started to research the subject of lesbianism. She went online to read personal accounts of people who had come to terms with their sexuality, and she registered the fact that most people realize it at an older age. To recognize it at a young age, well, it was harder to find things about that than it was to find things about people, say, Haruka and Michiru's age.
Just as that thought crossed her mind, it hit Chibiusa that THAT'S where she should be researching. So with the next opportunity she had to borrow her father's car, she drove over to their house on a day when she knew Hotaru would be out. Setsuna opened the door. "Small Lady, you know Hotaru-chan isn't here right now," she said when she saw the pink-haired teen on the front porch.
"I know, Sets-chan, I'm here to talk to Haruka-san, actually."
Frowning, the taller lady replied, "She's out right now as well. Only Michiru is here."
"That's fine, I can talk to her," chirped Chibiusa, brushing past Setsuna in the doorway and slipping out of her shoes. The other woman raised an eyebrow in interest, but Chibiusa pretended not to notice and entered Michiru's study.
The aqua-haired woman looked especially stunning that day. Her hair was done up in a ponytail and her bangs were hanging loosely over her face. Her eyes were set in an intense stare as she painted on her canvas, her lose t-shirt sporting several specks of rogue paint. When she saw Chibiusa, she smiled a knockout smile and said, "Chibiusa-chan, to what do I owe this pleasure?"
Looking around nervously, Chibiusa shuffled her feet. It seemed somehow wrong to be "checking out" Michiru. "Can we sit?" she started. "I want to talk to you about something."
"Of course. Do you want some tea or cookies?"
"No thank you."
They settled at the table, carrying a polite, impersonal conversation in that traditional Japanese way before Chibiusa finally dropped the bomb. "Michiru-san, when did you know that you were in love with Haruka-san?"
Slightly taken aback, Michiru paused a moment to think about it before answering. Finally, she admitted, "I'd love to say, 'The moment I first laid eyes on her,' or something to that effect, but I wouldn't want to lie to you. Truth be told, when I first saw Haruka, I was almost a little disappointed. It sounds odd to say this to a child, but Haruka wasn't exactly, as they say, 'my type.'"
Chibiusa was hard-pressed to keep her jaw from dropping. Michiru just giggled lightly.
"I saw her and I thought, 'I went through all the troubles of being a lesbian and the girl I'm destined to be partners with has to look like a boy?' It was a shallow thought, but I was, for lack of a better word, frustrated. I was upset that I had been hooked into the duties of being a senshi and I just wanted something to go my way. In that aspect, I suppose it took me a while to warm up to Haruka." She paused for a second, placing one delicate hand on her chin. "To answer your question, the first time I really, honestly felt that I loved Haruka would have to be that day in the garage where I tried to keep her from becoming a senshi. I wanted better for her."
The pink-haired girl watched as the other woman became almost immersed in memory. A minute passed, and Michiru finally sighed and shrugged. "I wanted a partner, and that's what I ended up getting in the end," she concluded.
Looking away bashfully, Chibiusa said quietly, "You two are perfect for each other. Don't tell anyone I said that, but I think you two get along better than Mamo-chan and Usagi." Much to Chibiusa's surprise, Michiru started to laugh.
"It makes me happy to hear you say that, Chibiusa-chan. Haruka and I get along perfectly well now, but in the beginning, it wasn't so." When she stopped talking, Chibiusa egged her on with a look that said, 'Tell me more!' So she did. "I know that Usagi-chan and her friends thought that Haruka and I were a couple back when we were looking for the talismans, but actually, we didn't get together in that way until after we left town, after Hotaru-chan became a baby and we had to give her up. That very night, the night we fought Usagi-chan and became loyal, we stopped by the beach to watch the sun go down, and that's when we shared our first kiss."
Chibiusa's eyes were sparkling with moisture. "That's so romantic!" she sighed.
Smiling, the older woman remarked, "Yes, Haruka has always had a flair for romance, as much as she'd hate to admit it."
"So, why did it take you so long to finally confess to her?"
At that, Michiru put one finger up in the air, smirking mischievously. "First of all, she confessed to me that night, and second of all, we always knew that we loved each other. It was just a matter of priorities. What with the talismans, and then the Messiah, it was just not a good time to be falling in love, and we both knew that."
The younger girl nodded her understanding. "That's a very mature decision."
"We were very responsible teenagers."
After a pause, Chibiusa pressed, "But wasn't it hard? To live with her for so long and not be able to share the type of relationship you wanted with her?"
"I never said it wasn't hard. It was one of the hardest things about that time for me. At first it seemed like she wasn't interested, but eventually she started doing certain things that led me to believe otherwise."
"Like what?"
"Well," sighed Michiru, "I guess the most obvious is that she would come into my room late at night and lay with me. We both knew when the other was awake, so she knew I didn't mind. Some nights she would just lay down and go to sleep, other nights, when she'd had one of our dreams, she would come in and actually embrace me." A soft smile spread across her lips. "That was what really clued me in. To everyone else, Haruka always put up this front, this mean, hard atmosphere that rejects everything around it. But with me, she never did that. She was always gentle and soft and loving. The nights when she would hold me were the best of nights."
"Michiru-san?" asked Chibiusa suddenly, stuttering slightly. "Can I ask you a personal question?"
One curved eyebrow lifted. "I suppose so."
"Was... When you... I mean... Had you..." She stopped, then took a deep breath, and then continued on. "Was Haruka-san your first?"
Not expecting this, Michiru sat back in her chair.
"You don't have to answer if you're uncomfortable with it," added Chibiusa quickly.
But Michiru shook her head, and said slowly, saying each word deliberately, "When you say 'first,' what do you mean, exactly? First love? Or first as in..." She trailed off.
Nodding and blushing, Chibiusa offered, "First as in, first time with a girl."
"No," answered Michiru levelly. Then she leaned forward, looking straight at the other girl. "Is there some reason you're asking these sorts of questions?"
She had dug herself into a corner. Staring into her lap, she answered, "I'm asking because... because... I think, I mean, I know, that I... That I'm in love with Hotaru-chan."
Michiru blinked, then smiled and reached out to cover the pink-haired girl's hand with her own. "Chibiusa-chan," she said sincerely, "I'm really happy for you. I can't imagine a better person for Hotaru-chan to be with than you."
Young eyes brightened as a huge grin broke across her face. "Really? Really, really, honestly?"
"Really, really honestly."
"I'm so glad!" She jumped up and threw her arms around the other girl's neck, who lightly returned the embrace, showing sincere happiness and excitement for the younger girl. "Thank you, Michiru-san," she whispered, before pulling back and sitting down in her chair.
"So talk to me, Chibiusa-chan. How did this come about?" inquired the older woman.
The pink-haired girl told her of her epiphany the other day, and of her growing suspicions concerning her own sexuality. The latter topic was one that felt very good to get off her chest, especially because Michiru was unbelievably supportive. For example, when she expressed her fears of her father and mother finding out, Michiru said, "Oh, Chibiusa-chan, I think they probably already know. It was a bit obvious when you were younger. Your friendship with Hotaru was always questionable. Even Haruka and I had our suspicions."
"You're kidding!"
"Dead serious. We also wondered about Ami-chan and Mako-chan, and we all saw how that worked out."
When Haruka came home, she entered the study and greeted the two ladies, Chibiusa with a playful comment and Michiru with a swift kiss on the cheek. She joined them at the table, sipping a can of soda (she had just gotten back from the racetrack so she was a little dehydrated). Shyly, Chibiusa told Haruka what she had told Michiru, and she laughed and placed a hand on the younger girl's shoulder. "Ah!" she exclaimed, "I was starting to wonder when you were going to realize it."
They talked for a while longer about various things before Chibiusa decided that she should go. They said their goodbyes, and the young girl left the two other women alone in the study. Smiling affectionately, Haruka remarked, "She's a cute girl. Hotaru is very lucky."
"Yes, I feel very elated, knowing that Chibiusa-chan has finally come to her senses. Hotaru-chan must have come out to us, what, almost three years ago?" mused Michiru.
With a chuckle, Haruka reached over and took her wife's hand in her own. "I still remember how nervous she was."
Suddenly, Michiru asked, "Haruka, do you remember our first kiss?"
"How could I forget?" She stood, pulling Michiru up and into her arms. "The night we left this town, when finally knew we were free to be in love. We stopped on that beach and I was watching you, and when I kissed you, I was delighted to find out that your lips were just as soft as I had dreamed they would be." She leaned down and pressed their lips together, whispering against them, "And they still are."
'All's right in my world,' thought Michiru, and out loud she said, "I love you, my Haruka."
"I love you, too, my darling Michiru."
****
Instead of going straight home after she left, Chibiusa drove over to Makoto and Ami's apartment. The two had only been living together for less than a week; the reason they had come out when they did was because they were planning the move. They had been seeing each other in secret for almost a year.
She took the elevator up to the third floor, walking down the hall until she saw the label on the doorbell that said, "Kino/Mizuno." She rang the bell and heard, "Coming!" from inside. The door opened and revealed Makoto, wearing a friendly smile and an apron. "Ah, Chibiusa-chan! Come on in. You know, I think you're the first person to come visit us in our new apartment. What brings you here?" She led the shorter girl in to the kitchen, where she could smell baking cookies. Where she had turned down Michiru's cookies, she was now hungry and horribly tempted, so she gratefully accepted Makoto's offer for fresh-baked treats.
As they were sitting at the table, Ami's voice floated in from somewhere else in the apartment. "Mako-chan?"
"In the kitchen, Ami," replied Makoto, leaning back in her chair to see out the kitchen doorway. Chibiusa noted that Makoto did not use any honorifics with Ami. This indicated closeness between the two that they had been hiding before. The blue-haired genius entered the room, greeted Chibiusa politely, and sat down next to her lover. Where Haruka and Michiru were both 27 years old, Ami and Makoto were 24 and 25, respectively. None of them, however, looked a day older than when Chibiusa had first met them. Once a senshi reaches her prime, she stays in it for centuries. Chibiusa still had a bit more growing to do, but Hotaru had pretty much reached her prime, and as such, would not be growing for very much longer.
Feeling bolder than she had with Haruka and Michiru (They WERE Hotaru's parents, after all), Chibiusa told the two girls that she was a lesbian and she was in love with the black-haired firefly. They were both very happy and accepting, and without Chibiusa even asking, Makoto launched into the story of how the two of them had gotten together.
"Ami and I had been dancing around each other for the past couple of years before we finally got together. Neither of us was very aggressive in that aspect because we were so scared. Finally, what I did was, I made her a huge birthday feast and invited all the girls. Remember that? It was last year." Chibiusa nodded her remembrance. "Yeah. Well, I bought her a really nice ring, one I knew she would like. I wasn't planning on telling her, or even giving her the ring, when she came to the dinner that night. But do you remember that it started raining? Haruka-san and Mamoru-san offered rides to as many people as they could, but Ami insisted on staying behind to help me clean up. She always does that kind of thing." At this, Ami nudged her partner in the side, but Makoto just laughed and continued. "Anyway, as we were washing the dishes together, the power went out and I dropped a dish and cut myself. Ami here, Miss Doctor, she sat me down and started to clean and wrap it. While she was doing that, she had that look, you know the one, where she's so determined and focused on what she's doing, like when she's working on a real patient or a math equation or something. Combine that with the dim lighting, and I of course couldn't not kiss her. So I kissed her, and the rest, as they say, is history."
When Makoto looked at Ami, she saw that the blue-haired girl was blushing ever so slightly. "Hey, Ami, I didn't get too detailed for you, did I?" The other girl shook her head.
"No, I think you did a very good job explaining it." Ami then turned to Chibiusa. "Chibiusa-chan, I think you should tell Hotaru-chan how you feel. If you don't, you may regret it later."
Chibiusa left their house feeling ready to tell Hotaru. She already had a plan by the time she had gotten into her car.