Ami and Makoto: 5 Years and a Day
Day 794 - A Very Senshi Thanksgiving : wherein Makoto embraces the thanksgiving spirit with typical Mako enthusiasm.
Thanksgiving dinner. It sounded like a good idea.
At least it did when Makoto first heard about it three weeks ago. It had been a slow day in the bakery and her newest employee, a Canadian expat, had been waxing nostalgic about how much she missed her family. This was her first year out of the country for the holidays. Apparently, thanksgiving was a little different overseas. Less a civic holiday about public service and more about giving thanks for everything in general. While there were lots of similarities, it was one of the differences that caught Makoto's imagination. The food: Turkey, yams, mashed potatoes, gravy, so on and so forth. Her Canadian employee went on in great detail. She was definitely nostalgic for more than just family.
Well, it idea that Makoto could get behind. Labour Thanksgiving was the day she paid out her employees' yearly profit sharing bonuses. She had already been in the habit of doing an employee dinner that day – to say thanks for another year together. It shouldn't be that big a deal to take it one step further : a big North American style dinner with all her friends.
Yeah.. that sounded awesome. It would be fun to try something different.
Ultimately, it was the idea of getting everyone together that excited Makoto the most. There was something soul-satisfying about providing for her people. That it helped her new employee with her homesickness was a happy bonus. Makoto could empathize with being alone in a new city.
All in all, Thanksgiving sounded like a good idea.
That was her opinion as of three weeks ago.
Her opinion as of two weeks ago, was that she might have bitten off more than she could chew. It was surprisingly difficult to buy a good sized turkey in Tokyo. Eventually, one of her restaurant contacts did her a favour. Thanks to a last minute cancellation, she was able to get in an order with a local farm for 25 pounds of fresh pasture-raised goodness.
Excellent.
There were tons of other little details to consider, but Makoto handled them easily. This is what she was good at afterall. Cooking was her thing.
As of one week ago, she was raring to go. Makoto had a game plan and couldn't wait to put it into action. Recipes were picked out, supplies were purchased and everyone she loved was planning to attend. Makoto was even going to shut down her bakery for the day for her private function. This was going to be awesome!
And now, here they were. The big day.
Today, Makoto found that her opinion had morphed from "Yay! Thanksgiving Dinner" to "oh unholy hell, what did I get myself into?"
The exact moment when her opinion had changed coincided with the exact moment that Usagi had turned up at the bakery. Of course she was here to help! She had the day off she couldn't let her Mako-chan take care of everything all by herself. Nope! In the name of the moon, they were going to make this the Best. Thanksgiving. Ever.
Usagi was so sweet and genuine that Makoto ignored the years of experience in her head screaming 'No! No! No!'. There was no denying that Usagi meant well. Usagi always meant well.
Soon enough, well-meaning Usagi was in her kitchen turning her carefully co-ordinated game plan into beautiful chaos. There really was no one in the world quite like Usagi.
Makoto was thankful for that. For all the craziness, it was still nice to see Usagi. It always was.
Eventually, Makoto got things settled and put Usagi to work scooping out muffin batter. The simple repetitive task kept Usagi out of her hair, and Usagi was beyond thrilled to be useful.
All was well, until about 3 seconds ago. Makoto was pulling some of Usagi's handiwork out of the oven when she hear the other girl start wailing.
"Oh my gosh! Mako-chaaaannnn! I can't find my ring!"
They searched and searched. It wasn't on the floor, it wasn't in the sink. It wasn't in any of the ingredient bins or the the fridge or the oven.
That left only one conclusion. There was only one place they didn't check.
The ring was inside one of the 120 chocolate muffins cooling on the rack.
Well...damn. Now what?
Thankfully, she was dating a genius. Makoto picked up the phone. There was only one thing to do when she had a problem she couldn't solve alone: call Ami.
Ami stormed into the bakery a half hour later with a large hardcase and an uncharacteristic scowl. Just in time too - Usagi had already eaten her way through a half dozen already in her search for the ring. There had to be a better solution.
Makoto immediately pressed a hot cup of coffee into her grouchy girlfriend's hands. Now was not the time to argue with Ami over her caffeine consumption. A few sips later, Ami's brain rebooted into human mode. She was all smiles again as she got to work. The mysterious case was lifted up onto the counter its latches opened with a series of sharp clicks.
Makoto couldn't help really shouldn't be surprised by these things anymore.
"Yes, so Usagi..." Ami instructed as she tightened the straps of a round combat helmet under her chin. "I need you to put as many muffins as you can into the microwave please? When I say go, give me 15 seconds at high power. That should do. In theory, this shouldn't cause any arcing...Makoto please stand by the power switch just in case I'm wrong?"
Usagi started to do as Ami said while Makoto continued to stare. She peered into the futuristic-looking gadget attached to the helmet. It was difficult to resist the urge to poke the big lens that was now set dead centre in Ami's face.
"Is something wrong Mako?" Ami tilted her head to the side questioningly. The helmet and oversized goggles strapped to her face made her look more like a bobblehead than usual.
Note to self: Ami wearing military hardware was incredibly adorable. Makoto burst out laughing.
"Wow, Ami! What's with the uh...whatever those are?"
"Thermal vision goggles." The headgear slipped downwards. Ami was forced to readjust, prompting another fit of giggles from Makoto. "I had them lying around. Needed them for a side project."
"For who? The JSDF?"
"Oh, no no, nothing like that. Just something Hotaru and I came up with. You'd be amazed at what you can buy on the internet."
Ok. Adorable and terrifying. That raised a whole host of questions Makoto wasn't sure she wanted answers to. She hurried off and shoved about 10 muffins into the microwave while Ami transitioned into lecture mode.
"So I'm thinking the ring is gold, yes? I'm hoping that the microwaves bouncing off of it will heat up the surrounding gluten matrix via to noticeable degree. That or the ring itself will heat up via convection and again, heat up to a noticeable degree. Either way, we should be able to spot it with these. I've never done this before, so I'm not really sure what's going to happen! Let's find out!" Ami sounded downright gleeful as she pushed a button near her ear. "Ok Usagi. 15 seconds. Go."
Makoto couldn't help by be reminded of Sailor Mercury in the moment. Both she and Usagi followed Ami's instructions instinctively the way they always did. They went though the process 5 times before they hit the jackpot. She and Usagi cheered. Ami took a small bow, then sweet angel of mercy that she was, convinced Usagi to come with her to the store to pick up more napkins.
Makoto waved goodbye to her girls as they left the kitchen. She made sure to stand in front of the box clearly labelled "Napkins" all the while. The list of things she was thankful for today grew to include 'ability to tell white lies'.
Onto the next task. Those squashes weren't going to roast themselves now were they?
Later that night
It was a miracle. After the mini-crisis with Usagi's ring, there were only another three disasters throughout the day. One involved a bunch of exploding chestnuts, and the other two involved Minako. Clean up was going to be a nightmare but it was so worth it. Right now, all was well. The guests were all here, nothing was on fire and things were going smoothly. Another half hour or so until the turkey was done. Everything else was in the warming oven and ready to go. There was nothing left to do but enjoy the moment.
Makoto took it all in gladly. The room was full of her people. Her staff, her friends, friends of her friends. Everyone was here.
Something special was happening. Makoto could feel it in her heart.
She wandered around the party, wanting to experience it all. Snippets of conversation caught her ear as she drifted about.
"Wow. It smells amazing in here!"
"...I kid you not, our milk comes in bags!"
"So, how did you meet Kino-san?"
Makoto blushed, suddenly aware that she was really the only common link between the diverse group of people gathered here today.
Case in point: Michru and Umino were deep in conversation over by the appetizers. She watched Umino take a slice off a rustic persimmon loaf and offer it to Michiru with a flourish. Michiru accepted it with her typical grace, then to Makoto's surprise, took a giant undignified bite. How odd to see two such separate parts of her life intersecting. Makoto tried to imagine what kind of conversation those two would have, but came up with nothing. Judging by how relaxed Michiru seemed and how Umino had his head held high, they had managed to find common ground just fine.
A set of flailing hands caught her eye. There was a lively group in the middle of the room that included Setsuna, little Hotaru and some of her bakery employees. Of course Minako was in the middle of it all showing off some children's drawings that must have been dropped off at her police station this morning. The one that was causing her inordinate amounts of laughter was one where some kid had drawn a Tokyo PD officer standing heroically on a rooftop with her long blonde hair flowing in the wind. The officer in the drawing was wearing a Sailor V mask. Makoto laughed as well. The drawing was pretty on point. She idly wondered if Ami had received any drawings at the hospital for Labour Thanksgiving.
Hmmm, now where did Ami wander off to?
Makoto searched for her girlfriend out of habit. It wasn't too shocking to find Ami off by herself near the fire exit – she normally needed to sneak off for a bit of alone time during social gatherings. That wasn't cause for concern until Makoto realized that she wasn't the only person who had spotted Ami.
Shinozaki must have been looking for her as well. He was now making a beeline to where Ami was standing. No way Makoto could get over there fast enough to intercept.
Those two had to meet sooner or later. Given all the crying she had done on Shinozaki's shoulder over the years because of Ami, Makoto had hoped for 'later'. This was not going to go well.
She watched, tension mounting as Shinozaki approached Ami's corner.
OK, so far so good. They were shaking hands and -
And crap.
Ami winced. Shinkozaki must have her hand in a crushing grip. He was clearly saying something to Ami that she didn't like. Her expression turned from a surprised grimace to an ice-cold determination as she responded. Whatever they were saying to each other, they were both dead serious.
Makoto's stomach tied itself in knots. She started to walk over and to save what she could of the situation. She only made it half way. Rei appeared out of nowhere and dragged her away by the arm into the kitchen instead.
"Rei-chan! What gives?"
Rei merely held a finger up to her lips, then pointed back at Ami and Shinozaki.
Makoto continued to watch helplessly. Her big brother and the love of her life were still glaring daggers at each other. All of a sudden, they started laughing. Shinozaki clapped Ami on the back. Ami blushed and buried her face in her hands the way Ami does. They shook hands again. This time, it was an actual gesture of friendship rather than a pissing contest.
Makoto let out the breath she was holding. She'd have to ask Ami what that was all about later, but for now, she was just thankful to see two of the most important people in her life getting along.
"I had a feeling that would all work out ok." Rei smiled "You alright there Mako-chan?"
"That went better than I expected. I'm so glad. I've been dreading this since Ami and I got back together." Makoto whistled. "Thanks for grabbing me before I went over there and ruined the moment or whatever. Good call."
"Of course! Ami's a big girl. She can stand up for herself. Double that if you're involved. It's good for her to be challenged every so often." Rei winked and nudged Makoto squarely in the ribs "Besides, tell me you didn't enjoy seeing all that drama even just a little."
"Shush you! I'm not admitting anything!" Makoto waved Rei off even as a telltale flush crept across her face."Ok, fine, it is kind of nice but I wish that it wasn't necessary. Shinozaki's just looking out for me. He always does."
"Ah, men." Rei rolled her eyes a little at that last word. "That is sweet though. He cares about you deeply."
"And I for him. He's precious to me. I wonder what he said to Ami?"
A soft voice answered from the doorway.
"He said that if I ever hurt you again, he'd hunt me down and break my hands. Amongst other things." Ami walked over to the sink and started washing her hands. "Shinozaki is a very creative man."
"Oh no." Makoto groaned. "That's terrible. What did you say? He didn't squeeze too hard did he?"
"I'm fine Mako-chan. See?" Ami circled a wet finger in front of Makoto's eyes then poked her right on the nose. "I said that I agreed, then I gave him tips on how to do it. Break bones I mean – it's not as easy as it looks."
"I'm sorry. You shouldn't have to deal with this. Want me to go talk to him?"
"No. It's fair. From his perspective I'm the one that slept with you then dumped you right after. I disappeared for 6 years without any sort of explanation. He's got every right to be concerned." Ami shrugged. "Please don't worry. I like Shinozaki. We understand each other perfectly well. Afterall, we both have the same interests at heart."
Rei laughed.
"See Mako-chan? I told you it'd be alright to sit this one out."
Makoto sniffled, feeling herself get a little teary-eyed. "You guys are the best!" She glomped onto Rei before Rei could escape. Rei deserved it. Her other arm reached out for Ami. Ami needed to be hugged too.
"Not fair! Why weren't we invited?"
"Shove over! Make room for us!"
Two more bodies jumped into the impromptu group hug. Usagi and Minako's enthusiasm bowled everyone over - literally. Makoto found herself at the bottom of a massive senshi pile up.
"What the hell?" Rei was the first to try to restore some semblance of order to the chaos "I thought I banned you two from the kitchen!"
"Nope! Doesn't count. We're hugging Mako-chan!"
"Yeah! Doesn't count! This is way more important than your silly rules Rei-chan!"
"It's ok! It's ok! This is perfect." Makoto found a way to squeeze both Usagi and Minako in her arms. There were definite advantages to being so much taller than everyone else. "I'm glad you guys are all here..." She had gone from teary-eyed to full blown tears by now. Makoto wiped her face off on someone's shirt – hopefully before anyone noticed. Luckily, the oven timer went off, distracting Makoto from her decidedly over the top sappiness. "I mean, I'm going to need everyone here to help me carry the food out."
Makoto pulled herself together. She put on her metaphorical chef hat and got everyone organized. Usagi was sent out with a loaf of still-warm bread to corral everyone to the dinner table. Rei and Minako were each sent out with side dishes. A giant family sized smoked duck and cranberry salad went with Rei. Assorted croquettes and green beans went with Minako. Ami stayed behind, ladling out bowls of soup while Makoto herself shoved the chestnut rice stuffing back into the turkey for presentation purposes.
She was so focused on trying not to burn herself on any of the hot metal surfaces that she didn't notice Ami sneak up behind her. Small hands snaked around her waist and pulled her gently away from her task. Ami pushed up on her tiptoes and kissed her on the cheek – right where her tears had been. Makoto shuffled sheepishly, knowing that she could never hide anything from her partner.
Ami didn't say anything. She didn't need to; Makoto saw it in her eyes. Ami understood exactly how wonderfully overwhelming this was for her. Food. Friends. Family. Makoto had learned long ago to never take any of it for granted. The little half smile on Ami's face when she stepped back was one of support and acceptance.
She gave Makoto a long look before walking across the kitchen and picking up a tray loaded with soup bowls.
"Come out when you're ready." Ami turned at the door. The soup she was carrying sloshed about but miraculously, nothing spilled. "I think I speak for everyone when I say: We're all thankful for you too."
A.N.
In the spirit of thanksgiving:
Thanks to my science adviser Leyla Zind for humouring me with an actual answer when I ask stupid questions about muffins and electricity. My wife especially appreciated the warning about not hooking up baked goods to car batteries.
Thanks to my wife tiffanywillow for the prompt that started this wierdness in the first place. "Hey! What If Usagi dropped her ring in muffin batter? Write me a story about that!" - your wish is my command apparently.
Thanks to Balambfish for the beta reading as usual. Marvel at the lack of typos and tense errors that characterized the original draft.
and of course, to all of you: Thank you for reading!
Headcanon Alert: The basis for Shinozaki's reaction to Ami is based on events that occur in my fan fiction cinematic universe prior to this story (See also: "Dark and Stormy Night","Ami's Story" and Walking Towards Light" in my profile).
Long, long story short, Ami's summation that she slept with Mako, dumped her, then took off for 6 years without saying anything is technically 100% accurate. Mako was heart broken and had a fairly rough time dealing with it. (see also: The Lovers of Kino Makoto"). Shinozaki was there to support Mako during that time. Now, nearly 10 years later, Mako's clearly forgiven Ami, but Shinozaki hasn't forgotten. Someone's got to make sure Mako doesn't get her big sweet heart broken again by some unworthy jerk...As Mako's unofficial big brother type person, Shinozaki takes that job very seriously.
Bonus:
Food is kind of my thing, so here's the menu for Mako's dinner:
Mixed greens with smoked duck, fennel, candied walnuts and nashi pear + cranberry vinagerette
Turkey with chestnut rice stuffing
Assorted croquettes (Mashed potato, pumpkin, etc)
Kobocha-miso squash soup
Green beans with sesame dry fried tofu crumble
Persimmon loaf (try the James Beard recipe on Google - it's fantastic)
and of course,
120 chocolate muffins, so that everyone has something to take home. Mako's just a giant sweetheart like that.