Disclaimer: I own it not.

Warnings: n/a

A/N: Because minor characters need more love. There, I said it.

Different Worlds

When she looks at him, she does not see her childhood friend. Not really; at a physical level, his eyes – once a beautiful, vibrant shade of purple – have changed, and there are times when she can't look at him. He does not understand why, and is confused, but she just can't stand it. (There are no words in the English language that can express her feelings down to the core of the matter, after all.)

Every time she looks, she can't ignore it; can't ignore the fact that things have changed in their lives - and not for the better.

His left eye has been replaced, after having been crushed; it is now a shade of blue. So artificial and fake that it sickens her. It's not his eye, but someone else's; although he doesn't see it in the same way (they always had differing views, but this was ridiculous in her point of view).

She knows, knows, that his life was saved because of that man, but can't bring herself to really appreciate him for saving her friend's life. Even though it happened when they were so young – and she didn't even understand – she could only watch as that man changed him.

Suddenly, she had lost her closest (and somewhat insane) friend, and she resented that man more than anything because of it. Because of that, she could only watch him – her friend, Michiru – as he was pulled away, into a place she could not follow, even if she wanted to.

And she did. She did. So badly, it could have been seen as an obsession; but it was useless, as he left her, and she could not follow.

Michiru was told things – things that made no sense to her, but seemed to captivate him – and he absorbed it all, as if his entire life depended on it: words such as 'gods' and 'rings' seemed to be thrown around the most. Although they attended school in England together, and she made him spend as much time with her when possible, he was still pulled away.

No matter how hard she tried, she could not keep a hold on him; on the boy she had once known.

And it hurt, although it took a while for her to realise it. Since the accident – that took Michiru's parents away from him (what right did fate have?) – he had changed, and she had been unable to truly reach him. She tried, but failed, and the knowledge hurt.

Then that man, too, passed away, and for a moment, she thought it might have been possible to bring him back. The Michiru she knew and remembered; but it was destroyed at an instant.

Even without Professor Kazuto Kujyou around physically, he still lingered, and she could see it.

See it in his eye. The blue, artificial one.

And it sickened her.

Michiru never really talked to her, although she picked up names over the years (Suzuka Kujyou, Kirihiko Karasuma and a couple of others from memory) and he seemed to be caught in his own world; one that did not include her.

When he began to wear the ring – something that the Professor had given him, apparently – she wanted to tear it away; wanted, more than anything, to scream and cry and beg for the Michiru she'd known to come back.

But he wouldn't come back. Couldn't come back, and she knew it.

She'd known it all along.

And she hated herself, more than anything, for clinging onto such a foolish hope. Everyone changed over time – herself included – so why? Why did she want to keep to the past?

It always went back to that man, she realised. He had been the one to take Michiru away from her, and had changed him; given him an eye she would forever loathe, introduced him to a world she could not enter and… had taken him away.

So a part of her was not the least surprised when Michiru chose to transfer to Japan (where that man used to live), although he did give some time to bid her farewell and a promise to write to her occasionally.

But it did not stop her from completely breaking down, once she knew that Michiru was up there, in the skies, leaving her further behind than she could have ever imagined.

Even if she tried, Ami knew (all too well) that they were separated by two completely different worlds. And she could not enter, follow or even know. Even the diary (it seemed to speak of research and someone named 'Himeka', who needed to be protected) that gave her a valid reason to see Michiru again would not ease the pain and knowledge deep within her.

She was a witness, nothing more, and she hated it.