A Second Chance
Chapter 4
By: Ryu Niiyama
Taiki didn't know what to make of any of this. Ami seemed oblivious to the way she was affecting the taller senshi. If the blue haired woman's questing hands removed the brunette's sodden shirt… Taiki trembled at the thought. Under the pretense of being embarrassed the starlight broke Ami's loose hold on her clothing and backed away.
"I… I have it Mizuno-kun, arigato." Taiki turned around hoping it would buy her some time. The effort was wasted, as Ami refused to leave. Sighing softly, the starlight moved her damp hair and shrugged out of the shirt, letting the sodden material hang at her elbows.
"Is that…?" Ami whispered stepping closer to Taiki. The brunette half turned her head to see what caught Ami's attention before shuddering violently, as the blue haired woman ran her fingers down the starlight's spine. Realizing what had intrigued the future doctor so, Taiki pulled her shirt back on, tensing at the icy material on her slightly warmer skin.
"So what happened?" Ami asked with no small amount of mirth as she backed away to give the starlight the space she obviously desired. Without the azure-tressed woman so close, Taiki found it easier to slow her hammering heartbeat. The starlight's rich alto issued a deep chuckle as Taiki rubbed the back of her neck. "I played a drinking game with Seiya… I lost. So that was the punishment." 'At least she'd let me pick it out rather than pegging me with something I'd regret even more.' As usual a headache flared behind the starlight's temples as she remembered Seiya's suggestion: 'I LOVE AMI-CHAN' across her shoulder blades. Taiki found out that she hadn't been too drunk to give her meddlesome sibling a black eye, and while she was properly remorseful for it the next day, after her hangover cleared up of course, a part of her thrilled at the act of following an emotional impulse rather than an intellectual one.
Ami smiled, trying to picture the stoic intellectual drunk, or at least inebriated enough to agree to getting a tattoo. Though it seemed a little out of character for the brunette to have even agreed to the game in the first place, the tattoo suited her. Along her spine and drawn so it looked as if it pierced the tender flesh to wrap around her vertebrae was a single white rose misted over with dew. It was a very realistic rendition, and Ami could think of nothing more fitting. 'A beautiful flower for the most beautiful flower in existence. What must I do to make your heart bloom for me Taiki-san? That passion that I know burns wildly behind that mask you show the world… I have no wish to tame you, Taiki-san. I only want to temper it, to stoke it and then be consumed by it forever. If you knew this would you let me in?'
Abruptly Taiki rushed for the door, needing to escape this exquisite torment, unable to bear having her heart's desire in her reach yet unable to claim it. "Taiki-san? Taiki, wait!" Ami followed the starlight and quickly placed her hand over Taiki's larger one as she gripped the doorknob. "Taiki-san? Why are you…?" Taiki looked away unable to meet the questioning sapphire depths. "Let me go Ami. I can't stay here, there's no point in it…" Quickly recovering from the shock of hearing the starlight call her by her given name and the ripple of pleasure that coursed through her from that act, Ami tightened her hold.
"Taiki-san you can't go out there in this weather. Why are you doing this? Have I done something wrong?" Upon hearing the pain in Ami's voice Taiki looked up and met the pleading gaze. 'Even now I'm running… and this time I have no excuse.' Taiki moved her hand over her face, wiping away any tears before attempting to answer the woman before her. 'Don't think… just feel' "You… you don't know the power you have over me… I lose myself in you Ami. I am adrift… lost and yet at the same time I'm safer than I've ever been before… but I'm not worthy of it. So I stand off to the side wanting you, needing you, yet so afraid to utter a single word. You hold me in your hand and I am helpless against your power, my salvation or my condemnation lies in you. You are my Heaven and my Hell, my angel of life and death…."
Ami heard all she needed to hear. Taiki was baring her soul, offering Ami the choice she'd been denied four years prior. And after all the pain and the anger, the senshi of Mercury found that her answer hadn't changed at all. Ami stood on her tiptoes, pulled the head of the amazon starlight down, and kissed her. The brunette stiffened at first, no doubt in shock. As Ami demanded entrance with her tongue, Taiki began to relax her rigid body. The starlight slowly brought her hands to the small of Ami's back and pulled the other woman tighter against her and straightened up. Ami quickly wrapped her legs around the taller woman's waist, paying no attention as Taiki's wet clothes pressed against her, soaking her as well.
Taiki let out a moan, which Ami eagerly swallowed as they each dueled for possession of the other's mouth. Firmly trapping the azure haired woman between her body and the wall, Taiki let her hands roam. One hand glided over a smoothly muscled leg, while the other gently caressed the upper swell of a breast. The brunette woman was intoxicated by Ami, the taste of her kiss, the warmth of her body, its yielding curves and powerful lines seducing her very senses. The starlight had dreamed of this moment, had locked it away in her heart of hearts to cherish forever, but the reality far outstripped anything she could have imagined. It was perfect. The notion startled Taiki, perfection was never a novelty that the stars saw fit to bestow upon her before, why now?
Taiki broke the kiss and backed up a bit, forcing Ami to stand on her own. "Taiki? Wha… what's wrong?" The brunette looked into Ami's blue eyes, her own burning with conflicting emotions. Ami tried to project all the love she had for the woman before her as the starlight met her eyes, but Taiki faltered looked away. Ami watched in horror as her beloved visibly changed into the Taiki Kou she first met. As that cold and calculating gaze swept over her face, Ami felt her heart clench in pain. Those eyes couldn't see the truth of her love, they could only assess and dissect. Ami had never felt such despair as she watched the woman whom she'd grown to love lock herself in her self imposed emotional prison. "Gomen nasai Mizuno-san…" The starlight began, her voice flat and more devoid of emotion than Ami had ever heard it before. Ami's soul trembled in terror when she heard the suffix Taiki chose to attach to her name… she had never called her 'san' and the notion of it frightened her beyond belief. Yet as Taiki trailed of in a broken whisper, Ami knew that she could still reach the one she loved, if only Taiki would overcome her fears and listen. Ami grasped Taiki's chin forcing her to meet her eyes again. "Dame. Don't you dare shut me out Taiki. Stop trying to second-guess my emotions. Aishiteru." Taiki's amethyst eyes widened slightly and Ami could see the icy gaze began to melt.
"I love you for you Taiki. I love you for your mind, for your kind heart, when you let me see it and your gentle nature. You are all that I have ever dreamed of and I will not loose you to self-doubt. Look into my eyes and tell me that you can't see how I love you, how I want you." She took Taiki hands and placed them over her heart. "Can't you feel how my heart beats for you? Can't you feel it in your kokoro that this is right? After what has happened between us, do you really think that I would turn from you because you are a woman? Do you truly think that I am so shallow as to only love your male form? Something that isn't really you?" Taiki shook her head, tears spilling from her eyes. She opened her mouth to speak but Ami placed her fingers over her lips.
"I know that you fear love because of what it can do to you. You and your sisters each lost your homeworlds to Galaxia's evil. I know that because of that you feel that any thing that you love you will lose. Seiya and Yaten are still here, I will be also. I love, desire, and need you, Taiki Kou with all my heart." Ami leaned in close enough to whisper in Taiki's ear. "And I want all of you, my heart." She purred seductively, slipping her hands under Taiki's wet shirt and cupping her breasts and squeezing them softly. Taiki whimpered and held Ami's hands where they were. "How can you possibly know my most hidden fears so well my Angel?" Taiki murmured in astonishment. Ami giggled in mirth. Taiki shivered as she felt Ami's sweet breath tickling her ear. "You have the most beautiful, soulful eyes I have ever seen…Tai-chan. They tell me everything." Ami gave Taiki's breasts another playful squeeze, then pulled her hands from under the shirt, despite Taiki's efforts to keep them there. The blue haired woman pulled back and wiped the tears from Taiki's beautiful face. "Now, I want you to do something for me." Ami questioned, her sensual whisper both calming and inflaming the starlight. Taiki looked down at her and smiled. "Anything." She breathed.
"Make love to me Tai-chan."
Taiki took one of Ami's hands brought it to her lips and kissed it. "With pleasure, my lady." The tall starlight picked the laughing inner senshi up and carried her into the bedroom.
Zoisite ran as fast as he dared, but his body seemed to be warring against him. He knew he felt Ami's passion as Taiki made love to her. 'NO! That should be me with her! Not that… that FREAK!' Desperation fuelled him quickening his pace but he knew he couldn't maintain it for long. He was losing her, losing her to one who dared break her heart and had the audacity to return again. To take from him that which had been promised by destiny.
He let out a yell as a particularly powerful surge of emotion caused him to stumble, landing in a puddle. He cursed his fate with a hoarse breath as his element heightened his awareness. He could hear her thoughts now… and not one of them spared him any consideration, any mercy. The pain of such a rejection made the general believe his heart would explode in his chest… in fact he wished that it would. Maybe then he'd be spared such pain. "Ami…" Zoisite whimpered in pain as her release slammed into him, tossing him like a rag doll in its swelling waves until he blacked out. Yet as the darkness rose up to embrace him as she once did, he could not fault the one he loved for this transgression. His anger lay with the one whom had so thoroughly warped her heart. And with his final breath before oblivion he swore vengeance. Taiki Kou would pay with his life for this transgression and he would regain her love at any cost… even his own life
The sun shined brightly in her face. Taiki opened her eyes sleepily and looked over to the form draped half on top of her. Ami's head was lying on the starlight's shoulder, and her legs were entangled with Taiki's. The sheets were bunched about her waist, her longer hair protecting her modesty. Taiki began to draw circles across her lover's bare back as she stared at the ceiling. The brunette smiled as she felt Ami's breath against her neck as the blue haired woman remained in Morpheus' grasp. 'Stars, she's everything I've ever wanted and more. Mmm…and last night was heaven. I don't think I can ever let you go now Ami. But when you awaken will I still be the one that you long for?' Taiki gently brushed a strand of hair out of her eyes. 'I have to be… and I'll do whatever it takes to make sure that I am.' "Hmm…Tai-chan?" Taiki looked at the mizu no senshi, violet eyes filled with love. "Hai… Angel. Sleep well?" Ami sat up, and looked at the triumphant smirk etched on the starlight's face. "Yeah for what little sleep I did get." She answered dryly. Taiki leaned in to kiss her new lover when she noticed something out of the corner of her eye.
She frowned slightly and moved past Ami to the nightstand next to her. She picked up a picture frame and looked at it. Ami was dressed in a blue silk strapless dress with diamond studs in all three sets of piercings. Her longer hair was piled upon her head in a fancy hairstyle. She was in the arms of a tall, well built man with long blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail. He wore a white tuxedo with a green tie and sash. Both served to bring out his verdant green eyes, along with the emerald studs he wore in his ears. Both Ami and the man were smiling happily and judging from the scenery around them it was her senior prom. For Ami to still have this picture in her bedroom of all places meant that she was still seeing the mystery man. Taiki felt as if the floor had dropped from under her. She drew in one shuddering breath after the other before finally turning to look at Ami. The brunette starlight almost expected Ami to smile at her in scorn. "I guess I knew this was too good to be true." The brunette smiled ruefully and moved to leave the bed. "Taiki!" Ami grabbed the broken hearted starlight's arm in a steel grip.
"Will you hear me out, or are you going to run from me again? Please Taiki, at least let me explain before you pass judgment… before I lose you again." Ami questioned her voiced pained. Taiki felt her heart break even more at the sound of Ami's voice. She wanted to run… needed to run, but somehow she knew it was her running that had given Ami's love to another. If she truly loved this woman she could not indulge in such childish impulses. Tears falling from her eyes, Taiki turned to face the one she loved, because she loved her so much… even if Ami were going to break her heart. Ami smiled sadly at her lover's tears but did not move to wipe them away, fearing that Taiki would reject her touch.
"When you left Taiki, I was so empty. I began to go through the motions for everything, school, senshi duties…everything. I had lost the one person aside from my princess that I would give my life for. I had lost my true love." Ami let out a deflated sigh, and Taiki started to move towards her, only to be forestalled by the mizu no senshi's hand.
"The ironic thing was I loved a person who held the emotion in such disdain. How many times had you ridiculed me for my dreams of love and romance? Obviously not enough, because I fell in love with you anyway. I was actually jealous of Kakyuu, not because I thought there was any romantic interest between the two of you, rather because you lived and died for her. There was no room for anything or anyone else in your life, and still I loved you." Taiki turned away a sob caught in her throat but she knew that Ami did not say these words to spite her. With a shuddering breath she nodded, allowing her to continue.
"I met Zoisite in juku about two months after you left. He had transferred from America with his three 'cousins', to take over the family computer business. He was two years older than I and was the one of the most popular, charming, handsome guys in his class. It didn't hurt that I could talk to him about anything and not worry that it would be over his head. At first, I found it so hard to believe that I could just feel so at ease around him like that, I mean I was supposed to be pining over you. But there was something in his eyes, something that told me 'I'll protect you, I'll be there for you.'" I found out later that he and his cousins were the reincarnates of our first enemies, the four lords of the Dark Kingdom. I also learned that the four lords were actually slaves to the Dark Kingdom's power. They were once protectors of Prince Endyminion, the inner senshi's counterparts if you will." Ami knew that Taiki knew of the Silver Millenium, Kinmoku's records were unbroken unlike the Earth. And she wondered at as well as feared the type of reaction the starlight would have to her words. The starlight looked stoic save her tears, but Ami could see the shear terror that lurked behind amethyst eyes that had burned in passion for her only hours before. Gradually, an odd look came upon the brunette's face. It took Ami a bit to realize that it was jealousy that marred the other woman's beautiful features. 'So she does know what I have to say.'
The anger that Taiki felt was overwhelming. The thought of that man… Zoisite taking her place as Ami's protector… as her lover, filled Taiki with such rage she could feel the strength of Maker thrumming through her body in response. And yet, how could she blame him? How could she blame anyone for loving and needing this gentle goddess before her? Zoisite was as helpless as she was. Yet such knowledge did not sate her anger. "You two were lovers in the silver millennium. That's why you felt so close to him." Taiki hissed, her voice equal parts malice, jealousy, and a defeated resignation. Her rage finally focused and reflected in her eyes. "Why bring me here, why seduce me, why make love to me if you cared for him all along? Was it your way of getting back at me then?" Taiki questioned bitterly, her beautiful alto sickening in its venom. For a moment Ami felt her own anger stir, but as she looked at this most precious woman she knew Taiki's vehemence lay not her but rather with the starlight herself. And in that moment she knew that she would love Taiki until the end of her days… and the starlight would never be given a reason to doubt her again. Summoning her courage, Ami prepared to return the one she loved to her side.
"Taiki, for all your intelligence, you're a total brick when it comes to matters of the heart aren't you?" At the starlight's slightly offended and perplexed face, Ami sighed. "And I thought I was naive in love. Taiki did you not hear a word I told you last night or just now? Damnit woman! I love you! With everything that I am! I settled for Zoisite because I thought you could never feel the same and I'd never see you again! I need you like I need the air that I breathe! I made love to you last night because I love you, because I need you, because I want you! I made love to you last night because I want last night to be the first of many more nights when I hear you scream my name, feel your body next to mine! I claim you Taiki Kou, Sailor StarMaker, because last night means that you are mine now just as I am yours! I will spend the rest of my life proving to you that my love is real. Ask anything of me and if it is in my power I will grant it." If Taiki could bare her heart completely to Ami, could put her heart in the hands of another, then Ami who loved her could do no less.
Taiki couldn't say anything, I'm sorry would never be enough. As Ami broke down and cried, sobbing broken 'I love you's Taiki, knew that she could never leave her again. The brunette cast off the sheet that separated them and took her Angel into her arms. She laid her head upon Ami's and tightened her hold. "Forgive me my Angel. Forgive me for being too afraid to accept the gift of your love when it was first offered. Forgive me for hurting you so, I don't deserve it, but if you give me your forgiveness I will spend the rest my life making you glad that you did." Taiki pulled back and gazed into the teary eyes of her beloved Angel, slowly, tenderly the taller woman kissed Ami, sealing that promise and making a thousand more.
With a strength that surprised Taiki, Ami pushed the brunette flat to the mattress and covered her with her body. She gazed into amethyst orbs that could make her melt with their intensity and let her hands glide over the starlight's beautiful body, "I forgive you, and I love you. And I'm never going to let you forget that." Ami whispered as her lips met Taiki's hotly and she began fulfilling her promises as well.
You know i just realized how short this chapter is... normally I have more character interaction... but hey a chapter devoted Taiki and Ami doesn't seem like a bad way to go at all...