A/N: I do not own Sailor Moon or any of its characters. They all belong to Madam Takeuchi. With that said, please enjoy my first submission. Comments and critiques are highly encouraged. Please help me become a better writer!

One Friday Night

Ami Mizuno saw how the shadows writhed and pulsed beneath the lights. She tried to pick out individual faces from the crowd, but the only things that appeared to her were silhouettes draped in an eerie luminescence of red, green, and purple.

With her back pressed against a wall, she threw skittish glances about the room, hoping that her friends would find it in themselves to cut short their 15-minute bathroom break. In her hands were the drinks she had promised to get them, and though the gin & juice was swirling in red plastic cups, Ami felt like she was holding lead. It certainly didn't help that a number of couples had decided to dive into a frivolous display of affection along the very same wall against which Ami stood.

And then there was the unwanted attention. Every now and then boys approached her, armed to the teeth with stale icebreakers and abysmal pickup lines. They had noticed how her hair was a gorgeous shade of black, almost jet-blue beneath the dim light. They had loved how it contrasted with her doll-white skin. They had admired her straight nose and her delicate neckline and cherished her soft lips, made even more enticing by a thin veneer of rose-tinted gloss.

And they had wanted everything about her and nothing to do with her. Their hands had scrabbled to take a piece of her, but she locked herself in, her blue beautiful cold gaze freezing all surreptitious gestures in their tracks.

Ami let out a sigh once she found herself alone again. The crowd continued to gyrate, the undulating darkness of the dance floor spreading from the center of the room and folding onto the walls like the wingspan of a giant bat. A thickness hung in the air, prompting Ami to draw several deep breaths. She looked straight ahead and tried to ignore the stirrings of a headache.

In that moment of silent gazing, she was met with a flurry of yellow, then a pair of cerulean eyes and a pearly grin so wide it might have given the Cheshire Cat pause.

"Ami!" Mina Aino chimed over the din, her golden bangs swaying in time with the bobbled movement of her head. "There you are! We were looking for you!" She was joined by two more girls—one, another blonde with long pigtails, and the other, a violet-eyed beauty whose raven hair spilled down to her waist.

Ami furrowed her brow in feigned anger. "Your drinks, ladies."

"Sorry about that," Mina said, taking the cups from Ami and handing them to her other friends. "We got held up by a bunch of Zeta girls. Rei here almost got in a fight with them." She threw a mock glare at the raven-haired girl.

"They were such bitches," Rei grumbled. "I kid you not, there were literally ten of them crowded by the sinks doing lines. Disgusting."

"We really didn't mean to keep you waiting for so long, Ami. Thanks so much for getting us drinks," said Usagi, the girl with the pigtails. She took a sip from her cup. "Ooh, this is really tasty!"

"I don't think I know anyone here," Mina said, looking around. "Whose house is this again?"

"Psi U," Rei said. "Or Phi U, I don't know. All these Greek names sound the same to me."

"Didn't Psi U throw the Oasis Party last weekend?" Usagi asked.

"No, I think that was Sigma," Mina replied. "Unf, now those boys were hot. Remember that dark-haired kid with the pony-tail? I think his name was Marchel. He had some killer biceps." She paused, most likely to indulge in a moment's fantasy of said male. "But the guys here aren't that bad-looking either."

"It's too dark to tell," Usagi said.

"All I see are lumberjacks," Rei said. "I thought Movember was supposed to be over."

"You don't like beards? I think they're hot so long as they're trimmed. Look at Jimmy Reiner for example. He looks pretty good," Mina said.

"Gross. God knows what horrid bits that face jungle might be hiding. Not to mention he's the biggest creep ever."

"Aw, c'mon Rei," Usagi joined. "Jimmy's really sweet. He's just a little awkward, that's all."

"A little awkward? He looks at me like he wants to stick me on a rotisserie!"

"Rei, you literally say that about all the guys on this campus," Mina replied.

"That's because the men here are pigs."

"You're just a hate-wait, what the hell?" Mina spun around so fast her drink nearly splashed onto the front of her blouse. Blue eyes blazing, she looked hard at the crowd in front of her.

"What's wrong?" Usagi asked.

"Some guy just grabbed my butt," Mina groaned, turning back to face the group.

"I rest my case," Rei said, hands raised in a matter-of-fact gesture.

The conversation then turned into a Mina and Rei-centric dialogue concerning the issue of chivalry, the raven-haired girl's disapproving voice being the stronger, while Usagi did her best to placate the rapidly heating argument. Meanwhile, Ami stood quietly, taking swigs of the gin & juice, perhaps a little too fast then she had intended. It didn't take long for her to feel the tingling warmth of intoxication spreading from the pit of her stomach and up her throat.

"Ami, are you feeling okay? You've been awfully quiet all night," Usagi asked. The pink staining her cherubic features and the sickly sweet smell of her cocktail-drenched breath made it clear to Ami that Usagi had been drinking for quite some time. But in spite of those signs, the blonde's baby-blue eyes were tinged with concern.

"I'm fine," Ami said, "Just a little tired from the all-nighter I pulled yesterday."

"Well then, let's go dance!" Mina barged in, grabbing Ami by the arm. "It will perk you right up, Miss Brainiac!"

"She's right, girl," Rei slurred. "You've been cooped up in your room all week so you deserve to have some fun."

"C'mon Ami. Come dance with us! Pleaseee?" Mina pleaded as she tugged on Ami's arm, and Ami was briefly reminded of her attention-hungry Orange Tabby back home. No doubt the girls meant well, but Ami simply was in no mood to fling herself into that dark mass of a dance floor that seemed to grow every time she looked in its direction. She placed a hand on Mina's and gave it a squeeze, then eased her arm from the blonde's grip. "You girls go ahead. I have to use the bathroom first."

Mina narrowed her eyes, but conceded nonetheless, "Alright, but I better not catch you in some dark corner with your nose in a book. We're gonna be hanging out on the side so you can find us easily."

"Thanks. I won't be long," Ami replied.

But Ami didn't go to the bathroom. Instead, she headed for the balcony, making sure her friends didn't see her little detour. It hadn't been the first time she had done this. It wasn't that she enjoyed lying to her friends, but she knew that no matter how much she protested they would never leave her alone. Especially not when they were all at a party hosted by one of the biggest and most popular fraternities on campus.

With both hands, she pushed past the doors and stepped outside, the crisp mid-October breeze beckoning her to the railing. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the evening chill settle onto her bare arms. The disorder behind her muffled by the shut doors, she could finally recollect her strewn-about thoughts.

But boy, did she feel a little drunk.

I shouldn't have downed it all in one go. How much alcohol was in that thing anyway? I couldn't even taste it. That's bad, right? What if someone had slipped something in it? No, that can't be. I'm tipsy, but I'm certainly not falling apart. Ooh, sometimes I wish I weren't such a lightweight. I wonder how Rei and Mina can drink so much. Even Usagi can hold her liquor.

Her headache had dulled but her thoughts began trailing down a darker course. Ami had always been contemplative, but alcohol imbued her subconscious with uninviting self-evaluations, especially the sorts that left her in a pool of intense self-loathing. Before she could muster the mental blockade necessary to neutralize such feelings, the thing that she didn't want to think about returned in full force. The thing inside her heart that hurt her in ways she could never properly articulate. Not even in front of her friends. It made her feel dirty. Unwelcome. She begged to be normal but she knew it was a wish that would never be granted. It worsened when she saw how regular couples functioned.

1. Girl and boy walking hand-in-hand.

2. Girl stops walk to point something out to boy, perhaps an amusing antic from a squirrel or two.

3. Boy uses that moment to steal a kiss from girl.

A sappy scene she had to admit, but it definitely happened. Those moments, while sweet and endearing in appearance, only reminded her how out of place she felt in this small school.

And to add insult to injury, Ami found herself looking back to that one night when Mina and a tall, sandy-haired boy had been together.

He was whispering something in the blonde's ear, and even from where she sat Ami could tell Mina was wearing her trademark lidded smile. She was indeed the spinstress of Dionysian passions. The boys loved her and even if the love remained within the carnal sphere she accepted it, for she was also brimming with the same desire and knew how to control it. It was as if this love for her was a malleable substance, and she could mold it into anything. Like clay.

Ami continued to watch her friend commence with her possession of the boy. Mina was slowly, gently, almost tenderly drawing her finger from his earlobe and along his defined jawline. Their lips were merely inches apart. Then, her eyes fluttered shut and she closed the space between them. His hand latched onto the slope of her waist and she lightly rolled her neck to accommodate the heated entry of his tongue.

The sight had brought a pang to Ami's chest but it hadn't been because she was jealous. To put it straight, the pure intensity had drained Ami of all emotional buffers and branded her with a searing, inexplicable sense of guilt.

Now the thing was scrabbling about within the confines of her heart but with less of the burning desperation from a moment ago. She opened her eyes and gazed far into the arborous expanses of up-state New York, covered in the silvery duvet of moonlight. She closed her eyes again and thought about calm water. The lake by the family lodge she stayed at last spring. She recalled its stagnant green-blue surface, disturbed only by the occasional fish or deer that had come to drink. She especially remembered the morning she had gone up by the dock, only to lock eyes with a lone fawn. Those dark, liquid orbs. Never had she seen anything more gentle and serene. She sunk deeper into that moment. How pretty those eyes had been. Curious, full of wonder, yet alert. They had none of the deep-seated sorrow she was certain swam in her own.

She realized her thoughts had submerged to darker vestiges, so she quickly swam out of those memories and perched herself in the subset of her consciousness where fragments of her interiority floated in space like clouds. But certain parts called out to her stronger than others, and those, she realized in a panic, were the ones she wished to never revisit.

Just then, the balcony doors clicked open, whisking away all traces of thought from her head. She opened her eyes but did not turn from the railing. She heard the doors closing, followed by the sound of footsteps accentuated by the crunch of fallen leaves. It was only when she felt a strong presence beside her that Ami offered herself a glimpse of the stranger.

The girl was tall and dark, her chestnut-brown hair pulled up in a high ponytail. Beneath the light hanging over the balcony roof, her eyes flashed brilliant green. There was something about those eyes that Ami found at once familiar but also far-removed. It was as if the tall beauty had placed a restraint over an underlying passion so intense and pure its confines only served to catalyze its stormy accumulation, which then translated into the unrelenting force that had channeled through her emerald gaze and into Ami's bewildered eyes.

Her breath caught in her throat, Ami attempted to croak out a greeting of sorts, but the brunette saved her the embarrassment: "A little too early to be stargazing, dontcha think?"

Ami nipped the inside of her cheek to keep herself from sighing. Her voice.

And then the thing struck hard. It escalated its fury from the depths of her palpitating heart, but she firmly pressed it down, ignoring the fact that the brunette was standing rather close.

"It was getting a bit loud in there," Ami managed to reply, thankful that her voice came out in tact.

The brunette leaned on her side by the railing, a playful gleam dancing in her eyes. "Not much of a party girl, are you?"

"That depends. I wouldn't really call this a party. Bedlam seems to be more of an apt term."

"Bedlam…" a chuckle, "well, you're at the Sigma house after all. Guys throw down pretty hard, good dudes though." A brief pause. "You here by yourself or did you come with friends?"

"Friends. I…sort of ditched them."

"What for?"

"They were being a little pushy about things. I mean, they're my best friends, but sometimes they really wear me down."

"I totally get what you mean," the brunette gave back with a nod. "I'm on the basketball team and while I love those girls to death, there are times when I wish they would all just clam up and leave me the hell alone."

Ami giggled. "Is that why you're out here also? Avoiding pesky best friends?"

"Actually…" the brunette began, her voice suddenly faltering. "I…well, this is gonna sound a little weird, and I hope you don't take it the wrong way but…whoo boy, how should I say this." She cast her eyes to her sneakers, growing abruptly silent. Then she looked back at Ami. "I saw you standing by yourself and thought you looked really cute in that top. Thought I'd…you know…head over and introduce myself but you already seemed pretty occupied with all those boys. I'm Makoto by the way."

Ami looked at the outstretched hand. Then at the girl. The smile she wore was earnest, if not a little bashful.

"Makoto," Ami replied. Gingerly, but returning the smile, she shook the brunette's hand. "I'm Ami."

"Ami," Makoto repeated in a lowered voice, sending shivers down said girl's spine. "It certainly suits you."

Ami blushed. "You probably say that to other girls."

"Eh, I don't know about that. It's usually them vying for my attention half the time," Makoto said rather cheekily. "I think it's good to have it the other way around for a change."

"Well, Makoto…" Ami began, stifling a laugh with a smile she hoped didn't appear too eager.

"Call me Mako."

"Well, Mako…I'm rather flattered that you'd consider me of all people a challenge."

"You didn't seem like you were easy at all. Especially how you warded off those douchebags with just one look. Now that's pretty sexy."

"Flatterer."

"Nope, just being honest with you. In fact, I'm starting to think coming to this party wasn't such a bad idea after all."

"I'm assuming you were dragged here against your will too?"

"More or less. My friend—she's the captain of the basketball team—her boyfriend's the president of this fraternity, and since it's his birthday she asked me to bake him a cake. Thought I'd just drop it off and leave but nope, she had to make me stay just a little longer."

"You bake?"

"Love it. Just something I did since I was a kid. It's the one thing I love asides from sports and botany. What do you do for fun?"

"I like to read. I also write bad poetry on the side."

"Cool, so you're the literary type, huh? Is that what you're studying?"

"No. I'm still a freshman so I haven't really decided yet, but I'm leaning heavily on pre-med. I might consider a minor in English though."

"Fair enough. What's making you consider pre-med?"

"My mom's a doctor. She inspired me enough to imagine a career in medicine."

"Well, let's say you didn't have to worry about jobs or money or any of that stuff. What would you do then?"

Ami chewed on her bottom lip as she mulled over the question. She looked up at the brunette, who had her eyes fixed on her with genuine interest.

"A novelist," Ami finally admitted. "I would love to be a published author one day."

Their conversation continued as the night wore on. The constricted feeling in Ami's chest long gone, she found herself falling deeper for Mako's rugged charms. It wasn't that the thing was gone however. It had simply become unbridled in its expression, making Ami feel alive for the first time in many years. Not even her rationale (which had always advised her to withdraw in these situations) could convince her otherwise. She knew that Mako knew about this thing, because it was the same exact struggle Ami saw in the brunette's eyes upon their initial encounter.

"So pretty," Mako droned as she ran a hand through a lock of Ami's hair. "Is this your natural color?"

Ami nodded without a word. She was too busy enjoying the teasing brush of Mako's fingers against her temple. Suddenly, "You're staring."

Ami blushed, but continued looking into the brunette's eyes. "That's your fault," came the cooed reply.

"Oh?" Mako too, had grained her voice to a throaty whisper. "And why is that?"

"Do you really want to know?"

"Yes. Very much so."

Ami stepped in closer, mimicking Mina by sliding a pale finger down Mako's left cheek. "Will you take responsibility for it?" She felt the brunette's arms encircling her waist.

"Yes. So long as you promise to behave."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"This."

Their lips met.

A feathery touch.

It quickly grew into something more.

They held each other close, their kiss slow and unrelenting. A moan arose from Mako's throat as Ami's mouth claimed the front half of the brunette's tongue. Mako, quavering from the sensation, briefly retracted from the kiss to bite Ami's bottom lip, only to plunge back into her mouth. Tingles ran up Ami's back as Mako's hand slid into her shirt and up the flat of her belly, prompting a drawn-out whimper to spill from her claimed lips. As their kiss deepened further, so did their embrace.

They gradually slowed it down to pecks. When they drew away, they rested their foreheads against each other's, the air silent save for their breathing. Then Ami broke out with a laugh.

"What?" Mako asked, her voice husky with desire.

"Nothing," Ami whispered, drawing her face closer so her breath tickled Mako's nose. They resumed kissing, only to be interrupted by the grating buzz of a cellphone.

With a grunt, Mako fished her Iphone from her back pocket and glared at its screen, her other arm snaked around Ami's waist. "I'm sorry. I gotta go get my friend. She's blackout." Disappointment clung to each and every word.

"Do you really have to?"

Mako smirked. "You know I don't want to."

They fell quiet, neither wanting to move away from the other.

"Will I see you again?" Ami finally asked.

"Sure," Mako replied. "It's a small campus," she added with a shrug.

The brunette kissed her again, released her, and headed back inside with heavy, reluctant steps. She threw a smile at Ami one last time before disappearing altogether into the noise-filled darkness.

Ami held a hand to her face as she gazed longingly at the spot where Mako had stood moments before. She held her head to the sky and smiled, reminding herself to thank Mina, Rei, and Usagi later for having dragged her to this party.

"Shit," she suddenly blurted.

"I forgot to give her my number."