(o)

20
Friends in High Places

Usagi was through the door in an instant. Ami teetered for a moment on the edge of the balcony and then fell; and a second later Usagi was kneeling on the edge, clutching onto Ami's wrist with both hands as she dangled below the balcony, swinging perilously in the breeze.

I froze. I was too shocked to move, too shocked even to cry out. I just stayed curled up in my hiding-place in the alcove, staring out across the space where Ami had just been.

Then I started to breathe again, and the rhythm of my breath made me suddenly aware that time was still passing. I've got to do something, I told myself. I've got to help Ami –

Thetis laid a restraining hand on my shoulder.

"You see," she said softly, "characters have a way of taking you by surprise, don't they?"

Jadeite stood close by, watching with a grim smile. "I never thought it would be this easy to kill you," he said, and he stepped closer.

"Sailor Moon!" Ami cried. "Just… just let go of me so you can fight!"

"Never!" Usagi retorted fiercely – though she was gritting her teeth and screwing up her face to fight back the pain.

"I'll be all right. Just let me go."

It was a brave thing to say, for even though she had less far to fall now she was dangling below the balcony, the ground was still a long way below. The fall was unlikely to kill her, but it would certainly have hurt. Usagi, however, was having none of it.

"Just hold still and I'll heave you up," she said. "Ready now? Heave!"

And she closed her eyes, tightened her grip on Ami's arm, and pulled with all her might.

"All right, playtime's over," said Jadeite. "Jade L–"

He stopped as Tuxedo Mask's cane struck him from behind.

"You again!"

"I cannot forgive someone who does not respect the value of friendship."

"You know, you have some serious anger management issues," said Jadeite. "Ever thought about seeing a therapist?"

"Anger gives me the strength to fight," said Mamoru; and he stepped forward with his cane held in front of him, ready to strike.

Jadeite snarled and grabbed a baluster from the broken balcony. He lashed out at Mamoru, who blocked with his cane; and soon the two of them were trading blows, parries and counterstrokes too fast for me to see what was going on. Usagi breathed heavily as she strained to recover her strength before trying again to haul Ami up.

"I've got to help her," I whispered.

But Thetis was still holding me back. "No," she said calmly.

"What?" I hissed at her. "Why?"

"Would that not ruin things? Everything that we've done would be for nothing."

"And you of all people tell me to think like that! I thought you didn't care."

Thetis fixed me with an enigmatic smile. "I may not agree with the type of story you have chosen to create," she said, "but I think we can all agree that it rarely makes a good story to embark on one plot and then abandon it partway through."

I clenched my fists. "Thetis, that was just a metaphor. Story or no story, those are my friends out there!"

"But is it just a metaphor? You respond to stories in the way you do because part of you thinks of them as having a kind of reality. Why shouldn't it work the other way round as well? You enjoy danger in a story. Do you think people cannot enjoy it in real life?"

I took a deep breath, and looked round. Usagi panted as she strained with all her might to lift Ami. "I… I can't do it," she said. "I'm sorry, Ami-chan! I'm not strong enough for this…."

"Don't strain yourself," said Ami. "Just relax. That man who appeared just now –"

"Tuxedo Mask."

"He's on our side, right?"

"Yes."

"Then he will help you. Just hang on until he's done with his fight."

Usagi sighed and settled back into a more stable position, but tears were in her eyes as she clung on to Ami's arm.

"You know, I don't think they're enjoying it," I said to Thetis.

"If you interrupt them now, you will never find out what they might have done unaided," she answered. "A test of character, if you like. I will not say for whom."

I bit into my lip, and turned to watch the battle between Jadeite and Mamoru. It was more even than I had expected: Mamoru had a better weapon, but Jadeite seemed the more agile and aware of the two. He was repeatedly dodging and fading back, trying to gain enough space to use his Jade Laser attack, and Mamoru had to keep up a flurry of blows to deny him. But he could not go on for ever; already he was beginning to tire.

I was not the only one who had noticed this. "Sailor Moon!" Ami said. "You… you care about that man, don't you?"

Usagi just nodded.

"He needs you," said Ami. "Just let go of me. Please."

"I can't do that, Ami-chan!"

"But… Tuxedo Mask…."

"Not even for him," Usagi said firmly.

"Usagi-chan!" Ami cried. "We've got to do something."

Usagi tried again to heave Ami up, but it was no good. "What can we do?"

"Is there anyone else you could call for help?"

"Naru-chan's in the building, but she wouldn't be able to hear us… and there's Luna, but she couldn't do anything."

"Who's Luna?"

"My sidekick. She's a cat."

"What, you have a talking cat?" Ami sounded almost amused.

Usagi smiled. "I'll call her if you like. Hey, Luna!"

The cat slithered through the doorway and peered down towards Ami.

"Luna-san," Ami said, "would you be so kind as to go into the classroom and see if you can find a long rod or pole or something like that?"

Luna twitched her whiskers to show assent and disappeared. Soon after, there came the crash of a heavy object falling over, and a steady series of thumps as Luna manoeuvred the pole as best she could towards the door.

"Thank you very much, Luna," Ami said when she had got it outside. "Now, could you pass one end down to me?"

Luna gripped the pole and twisted it until it pointed straight outwards, and then very carefully edged it forwards until the centre of gravity was just over the edge. Slowly, the pole tilted and then fell, and Ami reached up and grabbed the end with her free hand, while Luna jumped on the other end and pulled it back to stop the whole thing falling out into the air. Ami gradually relaxed her grip until the pole started to slide through her hand; then she caught it tightly at its middle. "Let go, Luna!" she said. Luna let go, and she turned it and pushed it in between two of the balusters. Luna got the idea at once, and pounced on the free end, levering Ami upwards. She writhed so that the lower end of the pole was below her, supporting her weight; and suddenly Usagi found that she was able to pull Ami up after all.

And then they collapsed side by side on the balcony, panting together as they recovered, while Ami shook her arm to ease the intense pain. "Thank you, Sailor Moon; thanks, Luna," she said. "I knew you could do it!"

"Ami-chan, I'm so glad you're safe!" Usagi wept. "But I'm out of strength… my arms are so sore…."

"It's all right," said Ami. "You can rest now. It's my turn to fight. Isn't that right, Luna? I am the second sailor warrior."

"Luna?" Usagi cried in astonishment. "You knew about this?"

Luna coughed delicately. "I did not want to tell you until I was sure," she said. "But yes, Ami-chan is Sailor Mercury!"

"Wh… what's going on?" I said to Thetis. "I thought she didn't want to do this!"

"Do you really have so little confidence in your own ability?" said Thetis. "I forgot to say just now – a writer may be surprised by what his characters do at any moment, but the overall direction a character will take can be predicted."

"She said she would have nothing to do with it. She was horrified that I was creating monsters…."

"Maybe," Thetis said with a wry smile, "she thinks that there will be less worry of the monsters being a threat to civilisation, if she is there to help fight them."

And I watched as Ami held up an arm and incanted, "Mercury Power Makeup!"

As she said the last word, the floor around her sparkled with a dazzling array of reflected light, and streams of bubbles fountained up all around her, rising to a crest and then merging as they fell into sheets of water that solidified, fell back against her and billowed out as they became her clothes: a costume like Sailor Moon's, but all in shades of blue. She wore a sky-blue miniskirt and collar, with choker and boots in a dull azure, and a cyan ribbon across her front. Her tiara was golden, and the stone in the centre was an ice-cold blue topaz.

Jadeite and Mamoru fell apart, distracted for a moment by Ami's cry. She turned to face them and cried out, "Bubble Spray!"

A stream of bubbles blasted from her outstretched hand and struck Jadeite; and where they hit him, the stream erupted out in all directions, until both Jadeite and Mamoru were hidden in a haze like a thick grey mist.

"Now, Sailor Moon!" Ami cried; and Usagi leapt to her feet and threw her tiara into the haze at the spot where Jadeite had last been seen. There came a cry of pain and then a thud as Mamoru, locating him by the sound, struck at him as well.

"This won't be the last time we meet, sailor warriors!" Jadeite roared; and by the time the mist had begun to clear, he was gone.

Mamoru turned and bowed to the two sailor warriors. "Thank you, Sailor Moon, Sailor Mercury," he said; and he leapt up onto the roof of the building and ran out of sight.

The two girls watched until he disappeared, and then slowly turned to face each other. Ami was grinning with relief, and Usagi smiled when she saw Ami smiling, and then they both threw their arms around each other and sobbed for a long time.

"What happens now?" Ami said when they broke apart at last.

"The others will wake up in a few moments," said Usagi. "You can change back and finish your class, if you like."

"No, I think I'll leave it for today. Let's walk home together."

"Really?" said Usagi, her face beaming. "Ami-chan, I'm so glad you're a sailor warrior."

"I'm glad too," said Ami. "I'm looking forward to fighting together."

"Shall we go, then?"

"I've got to collect my things. Can you wait for me outside?"

Usagi nodded and hurried off. But Ami did not return to the classroom. She just stood still with her arms folded, and I didn't realise why until a minute later she called out, "You can come out now, you know."

Sheepishly, I emerged and stood awkwardly before her. I wasn't sure whether I should bow or grovel, and I almost wished I could summon the courage to rush forward and throw my arms around her. Instead I just mumbled, "You… you knew I was there all along, then?"

"I could see you from where I was," said Ami. "I hesitate to ask, but – how much of that was part of the plan?"

"None of it," I said. "I thought you and Usagi would fight the monster inside the classroom. I…." I shook my head. "I can't use that as an excuse. I was putting you in danger, and I had no right. Ami-chan, I'm sorry."

Thetis coughed.

"There was in fact no danger," she said. "If you had fallen at any time, I would have used my powers to save you."

I swivelled round and stared at her. "You can do that?"

"Certainly. I have power over water, as you know. I could have made water come out from the ground and slow Ami's fall."

There was a pause as I absorbed this. "But that makes no difference!" I said. "I still thought I was putting Ami in danger, so it's still my fault!"

Ami gently touched my shoulder. "It was more my fault than yours," she said. "If I hadn't been showing off, we would have stayed in the room as you intended."

"But…."

She shook her head and smiled. "Don't worry about it, Naru-chan," she said.

I couldn't help sobbing a little. I couldn't believe this was all ending happily – I certainly didn't feel that I deserved it.

"But what you said to me at the arcade…."

Ami grimaced. "Please forget that," she said. "I was wrong. Now that I've seen Sailor Moon in action, there's something I didn't understand before. All of this really matters to her. So much that now that I know about it, I couldn't be a real friend to her without being part of it. You were quite right about that."

"Was I?" I said. "I'm not sure. But you were right as well, Ami-chan. I was crazy to go ahead without thinking about the consequences, and I don't know where it's all going to end."

"Don't you?" said Ami. "But at least we can work on that together now, can't we?"

I looked at her in surprise, and she looked hopefully back at me, and we both smiled; and something clicked, and we burst out laughing together, and just like Usagi and Ami had done, we threw our arms round each other and cried for a long time.

"But, Ami-chan," I said at last, "isn't this going to interfere with your study?"

"Even my mother says that one should devote a little time to having friends," she said. "Just don't schedule a battle when I have an important exam, all right?"

"If you let me know when they are, I'll make sure of it," I laughed.

"See you on Monday, then!"

We waved goodbye to each other and I watched her walk away, feeling that, whatever happened from here, it would be much easier to get through it now that I had Ami on my side.