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It had been weeks since Ami spoke with the boys regarding their situation. She had convinced Artemis not to find the other senshi just yet, saying that it would be easier to handle the situation this way. She made a convincing argument especially when it came to the Outer Senshi.
"From our last encounter, they were on bad terms with the Starlights. I'm not certain if anything had changed since we d-d-di…" she took a deep breath. It was still difficult for her when remembering the last battle. It was still fresh in her mind and sometimes she could almost even feel the pain when the golden energy hit her, "since we were gone. You know Haruka, if she remembers, she might even threaten them to leave Earth which is impossible without restoring their memories, which I don't need to remind you that we have no way of doing as of yet. So I don't think it's a good idea to awaken them just yet."
Artemis had his suspicions about Ami's motives. It wasn't often she 'rambled' on about their shortcomings nor was it her personality to leave everyone in the dark. But he didn't say anything about it… at least not to her. "Ok. But when we do, we do need time to retrieve Mina, Haruka and Michiru. Not to mention, we have to find Setsuna too." For the most part, the cats and Ami knew the general whereabouts of the other girls. But when it came to Setsuna, they were clueless. To their knowledge, Pluto was standing guard at the Time Gates at this point in their lives. But since Luna and Artemis didn't see her there, they could only conclude that she was on Earth. They hoped that she could be found with one of the Outer Senshi.
"Luna, do you have the feeling that Ami is… different?" Artemis and Luna were taking their usual afternoon stroll. They met on a daily basis in the middle of the day when people were at work or at school, leaving the streets fairly empty.
"What do you mean?"
Artemis sighed, not only contemplating whether or not he should voice his suspicions but also how to phrase it delicately. "Well… I can't be certain, and I hope I'm just being paranoid… I mean she remembers and I trust her…"
"Artemis! Just tell me!" Luna was getting impatient.
Sighing again, he continued, "I think she's trying to delay things."
It was Luna's turn to sigh, "I can understand why she wants to…" she raised her paw to stop Artemis from interrupting, "I'm not saying I think it's a good idea… just that I understand why." Even after a few weeks, Luna had doubts about what they had to do.
"I know, but we can't guarantee that Earth is safe. Just because we don't have any youma attacks like we did before, doesn't mean there aren't other threats out there. The girls have to be prepared. We have to ensure peace with the creation of Crystal Tokyo."
"I know… it's just like that time after our fight with the Dark Kingdom. Ali and En appeared out of nowhere." Luna frowned, remembering their hesitancy to revive the girls. "Anyways, it seems that our priority right now is to figure out how to help the girls regain their powers. We already know how to safely restore their memories, but it won't really help if they can't transform into senshi."
Artemis nodded in agreement, "I'll tell Ami later today."
"Seiya… are you really okay?" Usagi had asked him that many times that morning,
Initially, Seiya had found it amusing to feign pain and get sympathy from his girlfriend, but after a while, he started to feel bad making her worry about him, "Odango, I'm really fine. Do you really think I'm that weak?" He winked proudly at her.
Taken aback from his sudden confidence, "If you were really fine by yourself, you wouldn't have hurt your hand. And besides… you had help." Usagi stuck out her tongue at him
Seiya blushed slightly from embarrassment, "W-well… it wasn't like that. I would've won by myself too." He scratched his face sheepishly, thinking about what had happened that morning.
*flashback*
Usagi and Seiya were walking to school together in the morning and as usual, Seiya was teasing Usagi. But this morning, he went a little too far, making Usagi run ahead. However, when she turned the corner, Usagi bumped into a gang of thugs. They refused to accept her apologies and started to close in on her until Seiya caught up to her.
"Hey! She already said she was sorry. Leave her alone!" Usagi had never seen Seiya so angry as he stood over her, protecting her from the other men. But what had surprised her the most is how confident Seiya looked even though he was up against 4 guys twice his size, in fact… he looked smug.
It didn't take long for Usagi to realize why he wasn't afraid. Seiya had taken down two of the guys in an instant. He was just about to make another attack when he realized one of the guys snuck behind Usagi.
"Odango!" Carelessly, he turned around to run back to his beloved when one of the remaining men punched him in the back, making him fall to the ground. His handsome face twisted into a snarl, glaring at the two thugs as planned his next move. But it wasn't necessary…
"Why don't you pick on someone your own size?" In one swift move, Usagi's assailant was knocked out.
"Y-y-you-you're …" The remaining guy scampered off as their saviour cracked her knuckles threateningly.
*end flashback*
"Hmm I wonder who that girl is…? She left so quickly that I didn't even get a change to thank her." A small smile crept up on Usagi's face as she thought about the girl who rescued them this morning.
"Me too." Seiya was rarely impressed by anyone, but he felt that he owed her a debt of gratitude. Noticing her boyfriend's passive face, Usagi pouted jealously. "Ah… I just want to thank her for saving you Odango." He lifted his fingers to brush her cheeks delicately, "You know you're the only one for me. I don't know what I'd do if something happened to you." His face turned serious as he thought of the consequences of not being able to protect the one he loves.
Seeing him so serious, Usagi was lost for words. But thankfully, she didn't have to say anything as the teacher entered the classroom and asked the students to return to their seats.
"Everyone, we have a new transfer student." The class grew silent as the teacher gestured for the new student to enter. "This is Kino Makoto. She will be joining our class starting today."
As the tall brunette walked to her desk, students were murmuring about her but she made no indication that she heard any of them.
"Ne Seiya, it's her!" By lunch time, Usagi couldn't contain her excitement any longer. "Com'on!" Dragged by her girlfriend, Seiya followed Usagi out to the courtyard, heading towards the lonely brunette who under a tree.
"Yo! Do you remember us?" Seiya greeted her kindly as they were closer, "We want to thank you for helping us this morning."
"Ohhh that looks so yummy!" Seeing the delicious riceball Makoto was eating, Usagi had completely forgotten the reason why they approached her.
"Odango…" Seiya face-palmed, "we better get you some food." There was no hesitation as he addressed Makoto, "Would you care to join us?"
Makoto looked almost longingly at the couple, hoping that they wouldn't take back their offer. "Really…? You guys want me to join you?"
"Why not?" Usagi looked wide-eyed at her with confusion. "Come! I'll introduce you to some of our friends! Ah… I'm Tsukino Usagi but you can call me Usagi. This is Seiya Kou."
Makoto gave them a teary smile, "Kino Makoto. Nice to meet you."
So Makoto spent the rest of lunch meeting Ami and Naru, as well as Taiki and Yaten.
"Mako-chan transferred to our school today." As soon as Ami returned home, she informed Artemis of the news.
Artemis nodded as acknowledge, "That's good. But…" he cleared his throat, "Luna and I thought it best if we found a way to reawaken your powers. That should be our top priority." Ami nodded as she sat down next to Artemis. To him, it seemed as though she wanted to say more so Artemis waited patiently for her to continue. But she remained silent. "So… have you discovered any new information?"
"No. I'm just thinking about what you said." It was partially true. The fact is… Ami had a good idea how to restore their powers but was just wondering how and when to do so.
To her knowledge, Neptune and Uranus had previously gained their senshi powers when they encountered an enemy. She concluded that if the girls were in the same situation, their senshi powers would reawaken to protect them. 'But what if we don't have the same level of power as before…'
"Ami…?"
It wasn't until Artemis called out to her that Ami realized she was staring blankly at the ceiling thinking about everything. "Sorry wha-"
"You thought of something didn't you?" Artemis knew the girl well enough to recognize when the genius came up with an idea. His voice became softer as he grew more concerned with the silence. "Ami…"
Sighing, she caved, "I do have an idea, but…" She stopped Artemis from interrupting her, "Given the circumstances, I don't know how to make it work."
"What do you mean?"
"Do you know how Haruka-san and Michiru-san got their powers?" Not surprisingly, Artemis shook his head, so Ami continued, "From what I've heard, their henshin sticks appeared before them when they were faced against an enemy. I can only conclude that the same would happen to us in that situation." Ami thought about it a little more before she added, "It's similar to when we get a power up… our true senshi powers are hidden within us. We just need to rediscover it. Unlike before when you and Luna had our equipment, we have to find it within ourselves this time."
"Ah, makes sense…" Artemis was thinking the solution was something like that but just needed a second opinion.
"Yes… I've tried transforming without my henshin stick, but it doesn't work. I was thinking…" Artemis's ears perked up upon hearing her hesitate, "is there a way to force out our powers?"
"I'll have to discuss that with Luna." Ami nodded in agreement. Artemis followed up with another question, "So have you discovered anything else? Like how to help the Starlights regain their memories or why everyone was reborn?"
Ami's blue eyes darkened as it unfocussed, her voice was low, "I think if we find the answer to one, the other will be resolved too…"
"Ami…" Frowning at the change in attitude, Artemis whispered her name to snap her out of her daze.
And he was successful, "Ah sorry," Ami shook her head to refocus and plastered on a fake smile so that Artemis wouldn't worry, "I just think that if we found out how we were reborn, we would also discover how to safely recover everyone's memories."
"There's something I don't understand… if the two were related, why would the Starlights be the only ones affected? Wouldn't everyone feel the pain when they remember?"
Falling into her usual 'thinking' posture, Ami contemplated on how to answer his question. Since her memories returned, Ami had gathered as much information as possible about their situation and had given it a lot of thought. She thought of many different possibilities as to why they were here – some were more likely than others. But to her, the answer seemed to be on the tip of her mind… it was as if she was close to getting an answer but is unable to reach it.
She finally spoke, "I'm not sure. I thought of many different explanations… but without more to go on, all we have are unanswered questions."
"Luna, we have to find Rei." After hearing what Ami had found, Artemis voiced his idea to Luna the following day. "We have nothing to go on right now. If we restore Rei's memories the same way we did Ami's then maybe she can see something in her fire. Michiru's mirror probably would have answers too but given the circumstances, I doubt she would have it."
Luna nodded in agreement, "It's worth a shot."
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