Chapter 3
A Guardian's Friendship: Goodbye Ami
Daylight was now blanketing Juban, as Chibiusa was racing down the street with Riku at her side, and Luna-P floating behind them. The two of them noticed that there was an Ice cream parlor nearby, and her mouth began to water.
"Oh, wow! Chocolate chip mint!" she said.
"That's nothing, Chibiusa. You should try sea-salt ice cream, a pretty popular flavor that Ansem the Wise likes," replied Riku with a light chuckle.
"Sea-salt ice cream?" asked Chibiusa.
"Yeah, it's really good. It may taste salty at first, but it's really sweet," said Riku.
"Wow, that's interesting, Big Brother Riku. But, right now I've gotta find the Silver Crystal," replied Chibiusa.
"You guys!" called a voice.
"Hey Ami," Riku said in a calm tone, as his eyes fixed on Ami's.
"Are you taking Chibiusa home, Riku?" she asked.
"Yeah, that's right," replied Riku.
"What were you staring at?" inquired Ami.
"Just a nearby Ice cream stall in this part of town," answered Riku.
"Oh, I see. You were looking at the new ice cream shop," said Ami.
"I don't have any interest in that," Chibiusa said snarkily.
"Really? I hear their ice cream is quite good. I'd like to try it, so I'm actually thinking of going there right now. Want to come with me, you two? I'll treat you both," replied Ami.
"You will? Well, if you insist then I guess, I'll come with you," squeaked Chibiusa.
"That actually sounds like a good idea, Ami. I respectfully accept," added Riku.
Ami nodded and followed them.
"What!? No way!" cried Usagi and Sora, who was with Rei and the rest of her friends at Hikawa Shrine, alongside Sora and his friends.
"I'm afraid it's true, you guys," said Luna.
"Ami's been invited to go to Germany to pursue her studies," admitted Rei.
"She did have the top score on the national mock exam several times," said Minako.
"I'm surprised this never came up before, and we're just hearing about it for the first time," added Makoto.
"So did she say yes?" asked Artemis.
"She hasn't given her response yet," replied Rei.
"But, I imagine she'll want to go," said Luna.
"So, why is Ami going to Germany?" asked Aqua.
"Ami's dream has always been to study medicine, to become a doctor just like her mom, and Germany is one of the best places to go for that," answered Makoto.
"B-b-b-but I don't want to have to say goodbye to Ami! And also we rely on Ami to figure things out for us! We need her here to be our brain! We can't just call Germany every time an enemy appears!" blubbered Usagi.
"Usagi, that may be true, but we have to take Ami's feelings into consideration," interjected Rei.
"Yeah, it's gonna be really tough without Ami around, that's for sure. But, we'll manage, we just have to work a lot harder to figure everything out," said Minako.
"And all of you are okay with her leaving like this, even if it means you'll never see her for the rest of your lives!? What is the matter with you girls!? Do you all want to forget about Ami!?" snapped Sora.
"Ami has been a loyal guardian, even when fighting took her away from her studies. She never complained, but now her hard work is about to pay off. We can't be childish and hold her back, just because it would be easier for us if she stays," Rei said calmly, as Usagi glanced down, then turned to look at Sora who was seething with rage.
"I want her to fulfill her dream. It's not everyday that an opportunity like this comes along," added Makoto.
"You even said it yourself, Usagi. That you want everyone to live normal lives of their own choosing," agreed Luna.
"Y-you're right, let's make sure Ami goes to Germany to fulfill her dream," replied Usagi.
"Good, I'm glad you could come around," said Rei.
"Now that we're all on the same page, why don't we plan a farewell party for Ami?" suggested Minako.
"Sorry, but I'm not interested. You guys can plan it out on your own. I'm gonna patrol the streets and ensure the Heartless don't hurt the people in this city," said Sora.
"But, Sora, we agreed that we should-" Rei tried to say.
"I don't care if Ami's going to Germany to study medicine, Rei. I'm doubling my patrol, for three reasons. 1: Now that we know Koan is after Chibiusa, she might be planning to set a trap and catch her off guard, just so that she can eliminate her and capture the Silver Crystal. 2: We don't know the real reason why Mamoru went so far as to try and sever his bond with Usagi, even after he called her dead weight, despite how much he cares about her. And 3: If Chibiusa is erased from existence, and the Silver Crystal reduced to dust and ash, or worse, transformed into a weapon of mass destruction, then Queen Serenity will be ashamed of Usagi for failing to protect this world from the darkness. I'm sorry, but I don't have time for farewell parties, or anything of that sort whatsoever," Sora said, unable to contain his anger.
Then he stormed off down the stairs of the Hikawa Shrine, with everyone watching in shock at what they saw.
"Geez, what's gotten Sora to act like that? Did something crawl into his bedroom and die?" asked Makoto.
"No, it's something more serious. I think that the darkness inside of his heart is making him be irrational in his judgement about how to deal with these new enemies of ours," replied Rei.
"Then, I'm a failure as a friend to him, and a disgrace to Mamo. I think it would have been better if we'd never met and become a true couple," sobbed Usagi.
"Usagi, you know that Sora would never think that about you, and neither would Mamoru, even if he say those things out of anger and frustration, I doubt that they'd mean it in their entirety," Minako said comfortingly.
As Sora walked through the city streets, he could see Ami, Chibiusa, and Riku out in the park as he continued his patrol.
"It's almost time for my cram school. I better go now. I'll see you later, you guys," said Ami.
"Bye, thanks for the ice cream," replied Chibiusa.
"Yeah, take care of yourself, Ami," added Riku, as they watched her walking away.
But Chbiusa started to think that would be the carrier of the Silver Crystal, instead of Usagi, until Ami suddenly caught sight of Sora, walking with a dark cold expression on his face. Suddenly, she saw several Heartless, only to be struck down and eliminated by Sora's Keyblade, one by one.
"All right, now to continue my patrol," he said.
"Sora, what's wrong?" asked Ami.
"Oh, hey Ami," said Sora.
"You seem to be acting differently, today. And the way you took out those Heartless isn't like you at all," she replied.
"I know that Ami, but I also found out from your friends that you plan to leave Japan so that you can go to Germany and study medicine. That's when I decided I would pull double duty by patrolling the city, and ensuring that the Heartless or Koan would try and seek me out, just so I can throw them off the trail to Chibiusa," said Sora.
"Off the trail to Chibiusa? Sora, you're scaring me. This isn't like you at all. In fact it's making you drive a wedge between yourself and your friends, by letting your duty cloud your judgement," explained Ami, placing her hands over her chest.
"That's right, Sora. Aqua told me that she once allowed her own duty as a Keyblade Master to get to her head, by placing her work before her friends. In the end, however, Aqua realized that her friends were far more important than her own duty," added Riku.
"Maybe you're right, I have been letting the whole Keyblade Master thing get to my head," replied Sora.
"There, that's better. That's the Sora, we know," giggled Ami.
"Thanks guys," grinned Sora, as he continued his patrol.
"These are your new transformation sticks and communication wristbands," said Artemis, who was still at Hikawa Shrine with everyone else.
"Now, you'll have even more power than before," added Luna.
"Well, almost everyone," replied Kairi, pointing at the blue wand and communicator.
"Looks like Ami won't get to use her's," sighed Usagi, and the others followed suit as well.
"She's got her own path to follow. No one can choose it for her," said Aqua.
Inside the ship's observation room, Rubeus was looking at a map of the city when he summoned Berthier to his side.
"I found another Crystal Point barrier, protecting Crystal Tokyo, and it's right there," he said pointing to one of the blinking dots on the map.
The hologram flickered and revealed an Ice-cream shop.
"So all we have to do now is go down there and replace it's crystal power with our dark power. That's the plan, right?" said Berthier.
"Yes, are you going to be able to handle it this time?" asked Rubeus.
"You might as well kiss it goodbye this time," replied Berthier, who disappeared into the corridor of darkness, while blowing a kiss towards Rubeus.
At the entrance of Zettai Gokaku Ice Cream, Chibiusa and Riku stood outside, leaning on a wall, when Ami stepped outside, only to be greeted by them.
"You guys, what are you two doing out this late?" asked Ami.
"Listen, Chibiusa asked if it was alright if we could ask you something, so we agreed to wait for you," replied Riku.
"Yeah, I'm with Big Brother Riku on this one," added Chibiusa.
Ami was confused.
"I wanna stay over at your place if that's alright with you," said the little girl.
"What happened, did you and Usagi get into another big fight?" asked Ami.
"Not really, Ami. Chibiusa likes studying, but she can have a bit of a difficult time concentrating on her homework, especially with Mamoru helping her out," remarked Riku.
"I get it. No need to explain, you're welcome to stay at my place. I'll give Usagi a call and let her know where you are," smiled Ami.
Chibiusa was so happy as she took her hand, even as Riku gave Ami a respectful smile. But the young girl was slowly falling asleep, which made Ami gently wake her up, but Chibiusa said she needed to return home and sleep, especially since Ami said that it was half past ten, and still had another hour of study time.
"Ten o'clock!? Oh no! I have to go to bed! My teacher said I have to rest my eyes before 10:00PM!" cried Chibiusa.
"Well, it's not wise to watch TV with your eyes all night, but studying is a whole different matter," replied Ami.
"Take the time you need," added Riku, making Chibiusa smile at him, even though it was difficult of her to find the Silver Crystal.
"Chibiusa, where did you actually come from?" Ami asked curiously.
"Even if you were Usagi's cousin, you still view me as your own big brother. But if you're unsure of how to answer it, then both Ami and I can understand how you feel, and so does Sora, even though he's busy with his patrol," said Riku.
"Wait, Sora's going on patrol?" asked Chibiusa.
Riku nodded, which made Ami surprised, but she still gave him a respectful smile.
"Well, if you have no place to stay for a while, I'm sure Ami wouldn't mind if you stayed with her," he continued.
Chibiusa seemed surprised.
"Yeah, You and Riku could have this room to yourselves, since I may not live here much longer. You could keep my mother company for a while," said Ami.
"That's right, Ami's going off to Germany to study medicine. I overheard it when she was talking to Sora," Riku whispered into Chibiusa's ear.
Chibiusa was surprised, especially when Riku slowly stood up, and gave her a respectful glance.
"Ami, no matter what happens, embrace your dreams. If you wish to fulfill your wish, it's always important to follow that dream. But sometimes the dream you can't achieve, can haunt you for the rest of your life, even if you're unsure of leaving Usagi and her friends to pursue that dream," he said.
"I know, I want to go, but at the same time, I don't want to leave my friends behind. I've become a part of their hearts just as they've become a part of mine. Yet, at the same time, Aqua told me about how I should always grant myself time to balance being studious as well as take breaks from studying," replied Ami.
But she shook her head slowly.
"I'm sorry, forget what I said," she said.
But both Riku and Chibiusa saw that she was sad, as she started thinking about Usagi and the rest of her friends, making them sense the conflict in her heart. At the same time, Usagi began having nightmares about Ami and Mamoru saying that they would never be together again, making her weep tears of sorrow as she slept. Meanwhile, Berthier emerged from the corridor of darkness, and began walking down the stairs to the Ice cream shop.
Hmm… Nipas, are you there?" she asked.
A burst of darkness erupted, and a woman dressed in a blue shrine maiden's outfit emerged.
"Yes master," the droid said.
"Let's get started. Operation: Some like it cold," said Berthier.
Nipas froze the ice cream shop with her icy breath, making Berthier smirk proudly.
"Very well done, now it's time for phase 2," she chuckled, just as Hyena arrived.
"Yes master," replied Nipas.
The next morning, Ami was walking with Riku and Chibiusa, just as Usagi and Sora greeted them. Ami greeted her back, even as the young pinkett yawned, especially since Riku was with them.
"Thanks for looking after Chibiusa last night," said Usagi.
"It was our pleasure," replied Ami.
Riku nodded in agreement.
"Feel free to stop by at Ami's anytime, Chibiusa," he said.
Chibiusa nodded, but she was now planning to come back as many times as she could in order to reclaim the Silver Crystal, until she and Ami overheard Usagi about how they were preparing a farewell party for her. Ami was surprised, despite not having made her decision.
"What are you talking about? I heard you did good and your departure date was set," said Usagi.
"I still have ten days," replied Ami.
"No big deal… Ten days gives you plenty of time to follow what's in your heart, Ami," Sora assured her.
"But, I've already made all the arrangements, but I'm just not sure. Maybe I should stay," said Ami, who looked sadly at the ground.
"Ami, forget about staying here. You have to go, It's important. We want you to learn a whole lot of Medical Stuff, so that you can become a great doctor who's able to save a ton of lives," countered Usagi.
"I agree with Usagi, A certain someone once said, 'nothing happens by accident.' Your heart is telling you to study all that you can about medicine, and that role is what makes it extremely important for you. Giving up that dream would not only make your friends upset, but your mother, Saeko Mizuno would also be sad if you chose to give up that dream," added Sora.
Ami nodded, but gave them a reassuring smile.
"What do you mean she doesn't want us to throw her a farewell party or see her off? Why!?" asked Rei.
"Are you trying to tell us that Ami's decided not to go?" Makoto asked as well.
"No, she's made up her mind. It's just…" replied Usagi, remembering that Ami said that she didn't want anyone to throw her a farewell party or see her off at the airport.
"Well, that's our Ami all right," Rei said sadly.
"The Ami we know will soon be long gone. Fine, I see how it is," added Axel.
"Even if that's what she said, we should still say goodbye somehow," suggested Makoto.
"Maybe the best way to do it is to go to the airport and see her off just as she boards the plane," added Minako.
"Minako, You rock!" grinned Sora.
"Sounds like a plan," agreed Rei.
"Then we're all in agreement," piped in Usagi.
"Yeah, let's do it!" everyone said.
Back at the ice cream stall, Berthier and Nipas were serving people ice cream whilst maintaining their facade as regular people. Unknown to them, Artemis saw two people storm off after eating their ice cream, and became suspicious, until he saw two people that were talking to each other. He snuck off after overhearing their conversation about how the people would continue eating ice cream and flood the surrounding area with darkness, he hid in the ice cream stall to find some clues. His thoughts were interrupted, when the two villains burst through the door, searching for the intruder. But when Berthier saw Artemis, she carefully picked him up, but motioned to Nipas who transformed after throwing him, and froze him in a block of ice.
"Sleep tight kitty," sneered the dark water user.
Inside the chamber of prayer in Hikawa Shrine, Sora and his friends sat down before the sacred fire as Rei prayed to it. Suddenly, she felt a disturbance in her heart.
"It's no good. No matter how hard I try I can't find any trace of Artemis at all," she gasped.
"Oh no!" cried Minako.
"This is serious, he never wanders off," agreed Makoto.
"Then that must mean he's being held captive by the darkness. We have to find him fast, even if it means we do it without Ami's help," said Sora.
"Hey, Sora, I know you respect Ami's decision, but hearing you say that we can do this without her help makes me a little sad when you say those things," admitted Usagi.
"To be honest, I kind of feel the same way, no matter how much I try to deny it. Our duty as heroes of light must always come first, Sora. That's why you and your friends aren't just Usagi's knights, you're also our knights," agreed Rei.
"Thank you, Rei," replied Sora.
"Okay, let's give it our all and see who's got Artemis in their dark grip," said Riku.
Everyone nodded, but at the same time, Ami was now placing books into a box with Chibiusa looking at her with a perplexed expression.
"So, today's the day. You're really going to Germany, huh?" said the little girl.
"Yes," replied Ami.
"Thank you for helping me study better. I learned a lot. Good luck over there, I know you'll do great," smiled Chibiusa.
Ami however didn't respond, until Chibiusa snapped her out of her sad trance. She thanked the young girl, and asked her to try and get along with Usagi and her friends. But while Chibiusa nodded, she was disappointed that she didn't carry the crystal she was searching for. At that same moment, Sora and Minako stood over the ice cream stall, when Luna appeared.
"Hey you two, you should start getting ready. It's almost time to start getting ready to see Ami off," said the dark colored cat.
"Yeah, right," replied Minako and Sora.
"What's wrong?" asked Luna.
"I don't know, but I have a bad feeling about this place," hissed Sora.
"Oh, isn't that the ice cream shop that Artemis said looks suspicious?" mused Luna.
"Yes," replied Minako.
They watched as the door slowly closed. Then Berthier appeared from the dark corridor alongside Hyena R. Droid, making Nipas turn to face them.
"Good news you two, your plan is going smoothly," said the Droid.
"That's good Nipas, but you've forgotten one tiny detail that Berthier has, which is to erase those people you've left frozen in the storage room. I suggest that we dispose of the waste, by turning them all into Heartless, which will force Sora to send their hearts to Kingdom Hearts to rest in peace," cackled Hyena.
Nipas was startled, but agreed to it right away.
"We hope your sloppiness doesn't persist, otherwise we'll have to get rid of you," warned Berthier.
"And trust me, that would make Rubeus disappointed, and you won't like it when he's disappointed," added Hyena.
"It won't, I'll tend to it immediately," replied Nipas.
"Good, then proceed at once, and leave no witnesses, or else Berthier will have no choice but to eliminate you without a second thought," chuckled Hyena.
"That won't be necessary, I can handle this," said Nipas.
"Good, I'm counting on you," snickered Berthier who disappeared into the dark corridor.
"As am I, Nipas," added Hyena, who also vanished into the dark corridor laughing maniacally.
But as Nipas entered the storage room, she saw Minako, Luna, and Sora stepping out of the shadows, but the brunette Keyblader glared darkly at the droid.
"Seem's my suspicions were correct. Who are you and what are you gonna do with all these frozen people?" demanded Minako.
"Well then, since you found them, you'll never be able to leave this place alive!" cried Nipas, who transformed into her true form.
Minako jumped back, but saw that Luna was frozen, making Sora glare angrily at the droid.
"I'm going to make you pay for what you've done," he said darkly.
"Come Sora Lucis Caelum, you're fall will not only please Berthier, but Hyena R. Droid as well," replied Nipas.
Meanwhile, Usagi and the rest of her friends were waiting for MInako, when their communicator's bleeped. Rei opened hers and heard Minako saying that they had found the droid at Bob-floy.
"Okay, we'll go help Minako and Sora, but we'll need someone to take Usagi's going away present to Ami," said Riku.
"I can take care of that," piped in Chibiusa.
Usagi was surprised, until Mamoru took it.
"I'll drive you over there Chibiusa," he said.
"Thank you Mamoru," Riku said, which made Usagi surprised.
"You're welcome, Riku," replied Mamoru, who shook hands with the silverette, then motioned for Chibiusa to get into the car.
"Good thing Mamoru was here, or we'd have to drag Chibiusa into the action, right guys?" said Roxas.
The others nodded, then they raced to Bob-Floy to Help Minako and Sora. Meanwhile, Nipas was searching for her prey, until Minako called her over after tossing a can which she froze in ice.
"Hey, over here!" she called.
Nipas turned and saw all the assembled Sailor Guardians and Keyblade Wielders, except for Ami.
"How dare you use Ice-cream in your evil plans, it's a treat we all love, but we're here to make sure you don't get away with it anymore!" cried Sailor Moon.
"That's right, Ice Queen, now prepare yourself for a song of FIRE AND ICE!" shouted Axel.
Everyone charged into battle, as Nipas prepared to fire her ice breath at them. At the same time, Ami had just managed to reach the airport, but she seemed hesitant about boarding her plane to Germany, when she heard the sound of Mamoru's car.
"It's freezing!" cried Sailor Moon.
"This is ridiculous! It's even colder than the arctic!" added Sailor Venus.
"We've gotta do something!" finished Sailor Mars.
"Ami," Chibiusa called to her, when she and Mamoru arrived at the airport.
Ami turned to face them, but was rather surprised to see them, even as Chibiusa used Luna-P to transform into a small candy cane, which she handed to her. Ami was so happy to have it, until it turned into a small bouquet of flowers. Then, Mamoru passed Usagi's going away present to her. Ami accepted it, but was about to open it when Chibiusa decided to break the brief silence.
"Is getting a go away present the only way to measure your friendship?" she asked.
Ami was surprised.
"I hope that's not true. I can't believe they're not here to say goodbye," the little girl said fiercely.
"But, I told them I didn't want to come," replied Ami.
"Does that really even matter? I can't believe you still call those people you're friends," huffed Chibiusa.
"Usagi and the others are wonderful friends," protested Ami.
"That's just a lie! They don't care about you, all they care about is themselves! Trust me, I know!" countered Chibiusa.
But when Ami opened her package, she saw it contained a star pen, and a wrist communicator.
"I'm sure there's a good reason for them not being here. Something important," she said.
That's when she realized what Sora told her about how they'd always be together no matter what, but she suddenly sensed that they were in danger.
"Chibiusa, you and Sora were right about friendship. I was so busy thinking about myself, and forgot what's really important," said Ami.
She turned to Mamoru, and asked him to take her back to Bob-Floy. He nodded in response, and returned Ami to her friends. At the same time, Usagi and the others were almost to the point of death, until all the cover was gone.
"Well, well, what are you going to do now?" sneered Nipas.
"Whatever it takes to put you down," countered Sora.
"Then accept your doom," cried the droid.
The two of them charged furiously at each other, with neither one willing to give ground. Forcing Sora back, Nipas soon began to blast Sora's friends at full power, hoping to freeze them solid. At the same time, Ami knew what she had to do, as she was indeed Sailor Mercury.
"MERCURY STAR POWER, MAKE UP!" cried Ami.
A blue light soon surrounded her completely, then it faded away to reveal her as Sailor Mercury. At last she arrived to see Nipas laughing with evil triumph, but also noticed Sora's rage slowly beginning to overwhelm him.
"Hold it right there!" Sailor Mercury called out to the droid.
This was enough to snap Sora back to his senses, making him turn to see Sailor Mercury standing next to him. A proud smile soon emerged on his face.
"All right! Sailor Mercury's here!" he cheered.
Then he and the rest of his friends watched as Sailor Mercury unleashed her new attack.
"Shine Aqua Illusion!" she cried.
The attack struck Nipas, making her cry out in shock.
"I can't believe you're here," said Sailor Moon.
"You'd better believe it, Sailor Moon. So let's give this Ice Queen a little payback of our own!" piped in Sora.
"Yeah!" replied Sailor Moon.
Together they combined their powers to destroy the droid.
"Moon Princess Halation!" cried the blonde odango-twin tailed Sailor Guardian.
"And now, HOLY!" shouted Sora.
The combined attacks struck the droid head on, instantly destroying her.
"Well, well, well… So it seems that Sailor Mercury is here to stay," hissed Hyena, who watched from his hiding place.
The ice faded away, freeling Luna and Artemis from their prison, while everyone else walked up to Ami's side.
"We didn't want to burden you with saying goodbye. Why'd you come back to us?" asked Sora.
"Because you said the Magic of Friendship binds us all together, Sora," replied Ami, as she held her hand out to her friends.
Everyone nodded, and held their hands in front of them, but Ami suddenly hugged Sora tightly.
"Thank you Sora," she said softly.
Then Sora gently wrapped his arms around Ami, making everyone smile respectfully at them.
"It's thanks to me and Sora that Ami's back with her true family," said Chibusa.
Mamoru nodded, as they looked up at them on the walkway.
"Ami, are you sure you won't regret not going to Germany?" asked Usagi.
"It doesn't matter where I take my required courses. If I study hard, I'll learn all I need to know to become a great doctor right here," replied Ami.
"I'm glad to hear that, Ami. Because no matter what happens, we'll always make the impossible become possible," said Sora.
"Well said, Sora," murmured Minako.
"I couldn't have said it better myself," agreed Luna.
Sora glanced up at the moon, knowing full well that Ami would always be with people who both loved and cherished her intellect and cleverness to outfox her enemies.