Author's Note: I must give a big thank you to my real life friend Joelene for helping me work the (many) kinks out of this story. There are still a few that stubbornly linger in the form of mild canon abuse, but I am hoping they can be forgiven. For all of the interest and support I've had for this little scrap of a story I also say thank you; I promise I will do my very best to make it memorable, if not entirely faithful to the world we all love.
Chapter 2: The Plan
Ami knew she wasn't the strongest of the Inner Senshi. She didn't have Jupiter's physical prowess, she didn't have extra perception like Mars, she didn't have the confidence to unite them all when they needed it like Venus. If anything, she was the weakest of the four, and that bothered her sometimes. She was always afraid that in battle she was more of a liability than an asset, though she knew her friends were too kind to judge her in that way.
But still, even if her friends sometimes resisted their obligation to think with the hard, unyielding heads of soldiers, Ami couldn't allow herself that luxury. She didn't want to be the reason, today or tomorrow or ten years from now, that the Inner Senshi failed in their duty to protect this world, and so she made up for her shortcomings by using the one ability she did possess – her brain. When it came down to brute force, Sailor Mercury was never going to win, but give her a little time and she would always come up with a battle strategy that would be sure to outwit their enemies and carry the day.
This though was perhaps the most daunting task she had set herself yet; to best Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune, two of the most powerful senshi in the Solar System, and in their civilian forms, two of the smartest and most sophisticated young ladies in Japan. She decided that instead of being intimidated the best approach was to abstract her emotions and examine the problem logically, dispassionately, as she would a particularly difficult question in an exam. And in this way, quietly, without fuss, she rose to the challenge before her and constructed a plan that wanted for neither cleverness nor ambition. In fact, so ambitious was her plan that when she told Usagi and the others, she was met not with gasps of wonder but with blinking hesitation and uncertain sounds of distress.
"Do you really think…we could pull that off?" asked Makoto.
"Of course we can," said Ami, forcing her voice to sound more confident than she felt. "As long as the Outer Soldiers do what I think they will…"
"And what if they don't?" said Rei, her voice going a little shrill. "There'll be nothing left of us but stains in the dirt!"
"That won't happen. As long as we move fast enough we'll be fine."
"You expect us to be able to move faster than Haruka?"
"No," said Ami, beginning to get irritated. "Fast enough in the small margin of time we'll have while Haruka is—"
Makoto interrupted before Ami could finish. "Rei's right, Ami. You're counting on certain people doing things that you can't guarantee. It's too big a risk."
"There is always risk in battle," Ami pointed out. "And taking everything into account, I think this risk is acceptable. Look on it as a training exercise," she added when Makoto and Rei still appeared doubtful. "A chance to improve our teamwork and our reflexes."
"But if we fail—"
"We won't fail," said Ami. "We've used the Sailor Planet Attack successfully many times since we first met."
"Well I think it's a wonderful idea," Minako chimed in, love hearts bulging from her eyes as she clasped her hands together in girlish ecstasy. "It will be so romantic! Usagi-chan, what do you think? Usagi-chan?" she repeated, when there was no answer.
Usagi, who had been staring into space with a pensive expression, came to with a start and focused on her friends. "It…I don't think it will work," she said, her voice uncharacteristically soft. "It's a good idea Ami-chan, really it is, but…Uranus and Neptune made a promise not to help each other when they're in trouble. They swore to each other they'd place finding the talismans first."
"But…They have those now, don't they?" said Rei. "Now they're looking for the Messiah."
Her eyes sad, Usagi shrugged. "They still probably have the same promise in place. They think they have to fight like that…Alone, unsupported, hurting all the time. But I don't want anyone to be hurt because of me! I want all of us to be friends and to understand each other! Why can't it be like that?" Lip wobbling, she cast an angry, appealing gaze at her four friends as if they held the answers she sought and were withholding them from her purely out of spite.
Rei, Makoto and Minako, not having seen Usagi's earlier outburst, all looked at her in surprise, not guessing, as Ami did, the reason for her behaviour.
"If anyone has a better plan," said Ami, "I'm perfectly willing to listen."
Four pairs of eyes turned to her in horror.
"It's a great idea," said Makoto quickly.
"Best plan ever," agreed Rei.
"I always liked it," said Minako in a slightly smug voice as she glanced sidelong at Makoto and Rei.
They all looked at Usagi.
"I guess," she said, "I guess we can try."