Ami-chan's first memory
Looking again at Zoi, Ami's mind drifted off to a scene far in the past, when she was a wholly different person...
[memories]
As the Princess of Mercury, Ami had had to spend a good amount of her time living on the moon, as an ambassador of her planet as well as one of the four guardians of the Lunar princess. Mercury had its own embassy within the gates of the city that was home to the palace of Queen Serenity. During her stays in the embassy, Ami would see to the princess' security alongside the other three guardians, the princesses of Venus, Mars, and Jupiter, who were also her friends Minako, Rei, and Makoto. The four of them, with Princess Usagi, passed a great deal of time together, often engaged in games and fun instead of official business. They were friends more than anything.
Other days, however, Ami would spend at the palace's hospital caring for the sick. She was a talented young physician, having studied for years in the highest and most prestigious university on the planet of Mercury. Queen Serenity herself used to flatter Ami by telling her that she always felt the people of the moon were healthier with the Mercurian princess as a resident doctor. In her modesty, Ami denied that she could have such a profound effect on the health of the entire planet, but she liked to think that she was helping people.
One particular day, Ami was summoned specially to see to a young man who had fallen sick during a diplomatic trip to the moon. Entering the room, Ami closed the door behind herself then straightened her labcoat. Reading the name off the clipboard, she approached the bed where the young man lay and spoke his name. "Zoicite?"
The man looked up at Ami from the bed with penetrating emerald eyes and nodded weakly. "Hai, Princess."
Ami was startled. Zoicite, the knight from Earth, one of the terran prince's own guardians. "Lord Zoicite, please excuse me! I didn't realise it was you." She smiled and inspected his appearance. His hair, usually shiny and filled with life, was dissheveled and dull in the light of the room. His skin was pale, and a thin mist of perspiration had risen on his face. "What seems to be the problem?"
Zoicite swallowed and said, "Sore throat, hot and cold flashes, loss of appetite, and dizziness."
"It sounds like some kind of fever to me," they both said in unison.
Ami smiled and laughed quietly. "I am the physician, Lord Zoicite. Let me make the diagnosis."
He nodded his head, managing a weak smile. "Excuse me, Princess."
Again Ami chortled quietly. "You insist on calling me by my title, Lord Zoicite, even though the situation befits a different name."
"You warrant the title of Princess," Zoicite replied, his eyes wanting to sparkle charmingly. "You warrant much more, in fact; something akin to Goddess is much more suitable."
Ami blushed notably and scribbled something down on her clipboard as an excuse to look away from Zoicite's eyes. "Your flattery won't get you a better diagnosis," she teased shyly. "I think it is a fever of some sort, perhaps compounded with a cold or some other mild malady." Ami went to the counter that ran along the far side of the room and fished a thermometer out of one of the drawers. "Let's see if I'm right." She approached the bed again and waited for Zoicite to obediently open his mouth and let her insert the thermometer. She waited thirty seconds, then checked the digital face of the thing. Surely enough he had a fever of four degrees. His body and spirit were handling the notable rise in temperature quite well, she remarked to herself. Most people that were as sick as he was hardly wanted to make conversation, even to share their symptoms, let alone brazen flirting.
"You have some kind of a fever," Ami said, writing another note on her clipboard. "I think you must have caught some Lunar fever on top of a fresh cold from your native planet. I've heard the "common cold", as you call it, can be really quite stubborn and obnoxious. It is uncurable, is it not?"
Zoicite shook his head. "As of late, there is no cure for the common cold. There's a new project for you, Princess: find a cure for the common cold and all the people of the earth will bow down and worship the ground you walk on, instead of just the one."
Ami fervently blushed again. Maybe he wasn't really sick but only faking it. "Where would I find time, Lord Zoicite? You know as well as anyone what my true duty on this world is."
"Then I hope you are content with a single terran to worship you, Princess."
Ami shyly pretended not to have heard, instead scribbling a note on her clipboard and taking the thermometer back to the counter. She deposited it in a container that was bound for sanitation, then went back to the bedside.
"I am going to prescribe some antibiotics for your fever, Lord Zoicite. I also recommend that you remain in my care for at least a day. The hospital's care," Ami hastily added, correcting herself. Was his flirting contagious?
"Gladly," Zoicite replied softly. "Will you check up on me, Princess, to make sure I am healing properly? You are the best physician in the solar system, I know I can trust your moderation of my stay. "
"I will perform the tasks assigned to me, Lord Zoicite," Ami responded shyly, pretending to be writing more notes on her clipboard. "If I am assigned morning rounds, then it will be me checking up on you. Most likely it will be one of the assistant nurses." *No,* Ami thought to herself. She would make sure she was in early enough to assure herself the task of morning rounds.
"I hope to see you tomorrow morning, Princess," Zoicite said, punctuating the sentiment with a cough.
"Rest, Lord Zoicite," Ami urged. "Someone will be in to move you to a private suite and administer your medication. I suggest you put everything out of your mind and get some hard earned rest. I know how diligently you and your associates work to keep the terran prince safe. I know of the troubles on your planet."
Zoicite coughed again, mustering a weak smile. "There is one persistent thought I will be unable to force from my mind, Princess, but I don't suspect you will hinder the healing process."
Ami hooked her clipboard to the foot of Zoicite's bed and bowed. "Rest, Lord Zoicite. You will be as healthy as before in no time." She hurriedly slipped from the room, not giving him a chance to respond with more flattery.
[/memories]
If all of Ami's memories were true to her past, she began to recall that after that first visit to the sick ward, Lord Zoicite paid many more visits to the hospital, most of which were for very trivial reasons. He needed some minor drug that required a doctor's sanction one time, another time he wanted only to check in on a sick friend who claimed never to have seen him before. Ami didn't mind seeing him in the least, and after a while began to hope he would visit more frequently.
Ami looked at Zoi, brazenly locking her gaze with his, and blushed at the memory. How many other scenes like this one had played out between them? She smiled and blushed, averting her gaze to the floor. Slowly, but surely, she thought, the memories would come back. With each one she fell deeper and more surely in love with her ishi-ouji.
*****
Again Ami couldn't help but lose herself in the deep emerald of Zoi's eyes. What was it he had hidden in their depths that captivated her so? She wished she knew so that she might use it to her own advantage against Zoi. As she blatantly explored the intricacies of each iris, Ami found herself re-discovering even more "lost" memories...
[memories]
Lord Zoicite ordered an extravagant palace built on a Earth on a glacier, which he dedicated to Princess Ami, where the two of them would meet and spend their precious spare time together. Mostly they would sit and read, sometimes to eachother. The two of them were avid readers, and Lord Zoicite made sure the palace boasted a library as grand, or even moreso, as the famous library at Alexandria in ancient Egypt. Nearly every title published could be found there, and as such it was in a constant state of expansion. Boxes of books were shipped to the palace each day, and the library alone required an extensive staff of dedicated booklovers to catalog and organize the books. The huge reading room and expansive stacks areas were the best kept rooms in the entire palace.
One particular day, Princess Ami arrived without knowing for sure whether or not Lord Zoicite was present. She brought minimal luggage with her so that she might take less time to unpack, then made haste to the reading room hoping to find him there waiting for her. She would have no such luck, but she knew that if he came after she had, he would come straight to this room, as she had done, in search of her. There she would wait for him.
The staff knew the princess and her habits quite well, and delivered a plate of sandwiches to the reading room once they learned she had arrived. Ami lost herself in a thick book and waited, hoping her ishi-ouji would know she had come and have time to see her.
The princess indulged herself in her reading a short time before Lord Zoicite came to the palace. He snuck quietly into the reading room and watched her a while, shushing the servants that hurried to see to his comfort. He seldom got to see her experiencing such peace; the time they spent together usually invovled some kind of strategizing or planning to keep peace elsewhere. He would often take breaks for their work to take walks or rest, but Ami rarely took time from her duties to see to herself. She was a true soldier, as dedicated and loyal as Sailor Moon herself, and would sooner lose sleep or not take a vacation than put the Lunar princess in jeopardy. Zoicite went out of his way not to disturb her when she took a rare moment for herself.
A servant spoiled his silent entry. "Lord Zoicite," the man exclaimed happily. "I did not think you wuold make it."
Ami looked up from her book, her eyes sparkling with happiness. "Nor did I, ishi-ouji." She put her book down and rose to greet him.
Zoicite could have hit the man who broke Ami's quiet moment, but forgave him once he saw the eagerness in her eyes when she looked up at him. Maybe he was doing wrong by her keeping himself away. She had come, after all, looking for him. "I'm sorry to keep you waiting, Princess."
"You did not know I was coming, my Lord," Ami countered. "I did not tell you."
"I knew," he said, smiling at her, his gaze locked intently on hers. "I could sense it the moment you landed. I was in a meeting discussing the troubles in the south. This Beryl won't be as easily quashed as the prince had hoped. She's causing problems for him left and right."
Ami shook her head and approached Zoicite, standing as tall as she could to put her arms around his neck. "Do not ruin this happy reunion with talk of pending war," Ami urged, her eyes pleading with Zoicite's.
"I am sorry, Princess," he apologized. "But these reunions may be fewer in number, or even altogether cease, if the other guardians and I are unable to stop this uprising. I do not mean to frighten you, but the classes are taking sides, and the lower classes far outnumber the aristocrats. This Beryl is influencing people's minds, she is making the lower classes think she is their champion. `Take back your planet!' She tells them, `Free yourselves from the rule of that spoiled tyrant!'" Zoicite's eyes were troubled, and Ami caught his hand with one of her own to try and soothe him.
"They used to love him, and he hasn't changed," Zoicite sighed. "The problem that is this woman is escalating, even now."
"Do you want my help with this matter, Lord Zoicite?" Ami offered.
Zoicite shook his head. "No, Princess. Trouble yourself not, for your ishi-ouji will make sure you are safe from harm." He took her in his arms and embraced her tightly.
"I do not doubt that, ishi-ouji," Ami assured him, happily finding herself enveloped in the fine fabric of his uniform's cape. "But who will protect my ishi-ouji? I am hardly here, it is you that I worry about."
Zoicite pulled away and smiled down at her. "We shi tennoh are formidable warriors, yuki-hime, and with our prince and his barazuishou I daresay we are unstoppable." Ami opened her mouth to say something, but Zoicite covered it with his own, engaging her in a romantic kiss that told volumes of how much he had missed her. It had been months since the last time they had seen one another.
Breaking the kiss, Ami smiled up at him and practically melted into his arms. "I have missed you, ishi-ouji. It has been far too long since we last met like this."
Zoicite nodded and held her close, breathing in the scent of her hair. She always smelled fresh, like newly fallen snow. "I wish you would stay here so that I might come home to you every night."
Ami pulled away slightly and shook her head, looking up at him with troubled eyes. "You know it is forbidden for senshi to marry other warriors." Her expression softened and she mused, "Perhaps if you or I were someone else, it would be possible."
"I would not have you any other way, yuki-hime," Zoicite stated, embracing her tightly again. He pulled away and looked down at her with a queer expression on his face. "I have a secret to tell you. Can you keep it?"
Ami cracked a small smile and nodded. "Of course, Lord Zoicite. It will never pass by my lips."
Zoicite grinned and kissed her again. "I will make sure of that by engaging them whenever possible."
Ami giggled and playfully pushed him back. "Was that your secret?"
Zoicite shook his head. "I believe Prince Endymion is in love with the Lunar Princess."
Ami's eyes widened. "Are you joking? Prince Endymion of Earth? And Princess Serenity, the Moon Princess, our Moon Princess?"
Zoicite nodded. "The same."
Ami's mouth dropped open in shock. It was foolish to think that the prince did not know about the rules for senshi, and equally foolish to think he didn't know that Princess Serenity was Sailor Moon. Everyone knew that the planetary princesses were the senshi of their respective planets. "As long as he has no intentions of--"
"I suspect his intentions are to ask for her hand," Zoicite interrupted her. "Sometime soon, if I'm not mistaken."
Ami's eyes grew impossibly wider. "Does he not know the restrictions that Queen Serenity places on her senshi?"
Zoicite nodded. "Everyone knows those rules, Princess, but--"
"And he dares to try and undermine the Queen's ruling? And with her own daughter?" Ami was shocked at Endymion's presumptuousness. He would be banished from the moon if he dared to defy her like that.
"Ami," Zoicite said softly, gently resting his hand on the line of her jaw and tilting her face up to look at him.
Ami's expression softened as the two simply looked at one another for a few moments.
"I think it's right," Zoicite said, still speaking softly. "What Prince Endymion plans; I believe he is right to do it."
Ami stared up at Zoicite with a look of horror. "Are you crazy? You must be to think that he has any chance of success! Queen Serenity needs her senshi to be willing to put themselves in the line of fire to protect the Princess and herself, to protect the peace of this time! If Sailor Moon were to marry Prince Endymion and the two of them ended up in battle together, one of them might make unnecessary sacrifices to assure the other's safety. It's heartache, my Lord, waiting to happen, and the queen wants to prevent any pain that she can."
"How is it different if two warriors are lovers?" Zoicite demanded to know, his eyes growing annoyed with Ami's responses. "Answer me that, Princess."
Ami was taken aback. He was referring to the two of them, no doubt, as well as the other soldiers of the inner planets and the shi tennoh. It was well-known, albeit frowned upon, that Princess Makoto had taken up with Lord Nephrite, Princess Minako was seeing Lord Kunzite, and Princess Rei was being pursued by Lord Jadeite. They were all horrible examples of role models, Ami thought to herself. A fine bunch they made trying to enforce the rule of the Lunar queen while openly breaking one of her fundamental rules. She was casting stones from a glass house, and Zoicite had caught her.
"You would have them marry against the queen's will?" Ami challenged him.
Zoicite shook his head, sighing quietly. "I would have the queen change her mind, Princess, or make exceptions."
"Exceptions? There are others who wish to break this rule?"
Zoicite nodded. "Many others." He took her into his arms and kissed her once again. "I would have asked you to marry me ages ago if I thought for a moment you would put your duty aside and go with your heart." His eyes were sorrowful. "You are so dedicated, Ami, that you put the needs of everyone else before your own. What about you, Ami? What about you and me? Are we to put our feelings aside forever?"
Ami pursed her lips. She had never really thought about the questions he was asking her, and the more she listened to Zoicite the more she realised she agreed with him. "I don't know," she replied feebly. "I don't have a choice, the decision is made for me, for both of us."
Zoicite's smile renewed itself full force. "Would you ever consider it, Ami?" He let out an excited cry. "I would run away with you in a heartbeat." Embracing her again he whispered into her ear, "Marry me, Princess. We can be wed in this very palace, with all our friends and relatives in attendance, as soon as possible!" He fervently planted yet another kiss on her lips as the excitement climaxed within him.
Ami, with tearfilled eyes, broke the kiss. "It cannot be, Lord Zoicite," she said, on the verge of sobbing. How badly she wanted it now that he had implanted the idea in her brain. She would be lucky now if she could go five minutes without thinking about, and a fortnight without talking to someone else about it. "As much as I want it, Zoicite, it can never be. I cannot go against the decree of Queen Serenity."
Zoicite released Ami and fished in one of his interior pockets. He produced, after a short search, a little box and opened it with a creak. Inside was a ring with a thin blue-ish silvery band set with one large diamond and flanked with trillian cut sapphires. Closer inspection revealed that the band was also inlaid with finely cut zoicite all the way around. Zoicite dropped down to his knees and took one of the princess' hands. "I love you, Princess, more than I could ever say, and I am yours to the depths of my soul. If you won't take your own feelings into account when I ask you this question, then use mine." He paused to take the ring out of the box, then tossed the box to the floor. "Consider me, Princess, I beg you. There's nothing I wouldn't do for you, nothing I would ever deny you, and all that I ask is that you love me and permit me to stay with you."
Ami's eyes overflowed with tears as she looked down at Zoicite. She had so much to lose if she decided to throw caution to the wind. What if Queen Serenity banished HER from the moon, or both of them? What if the queen sent her back to Mercury to have her stripped of her duties and her title?
But she also had to ask herself this: what would all those things mean to her if she refused this man the one thing he ever truly asked of her?
Pulling on his forearms, she helped him to his feet and looked up at him. He was expecting the worst, it was clear by the look on his face. Ami shook her head slowly and said, "I cannot refuse, my Lord. Your love is matched only by my own affection for you, and that which you have said to me also holds true for you. There is nothing I would not do for you, nor would I ever deny you anything. As for my everlasting love, it is not mine to give, you have taken it without my consent." She mustered a tiny smile. "But I am happy to see that it is in such good hands." She took one of his hands in both of her own and kissed it. "Beautiful, gentle hands that will do well by me always."
Zoicite whooped with joy and eagerly slipped the ring onto her finger with a shaky hand. That accomplished, he enveloped her with his arms and spun her around in a circle, lifting her dainty feet right off the floor. "I have never loved you more than this moment," he exclaimed, "And my love for you will only grow."
Ami laughed happily, her face covered in tears. "I may extend my stay, my Lord," she said contemplatively. "I do not know if I can keep this secret if I return to the moon."
Zoicite smiled, practically glowing, down at Ami. "Stay forever, Ami, I would prefer it."
[/memories]
Tears had overcome Ami as she relived the memory. She had promised herself to him, to her ishi-ouji, for the rest of her life back then. Her life had ended somehow, but she had been given a new life. In it, she decided, she would not give up the chance to spend it a second time with her true love, and live longer this time if she was able.
She looked at Zoi, who had, by this time, noticed her tears. "Ami-chan, what's wrong?"
Ami smiled at him, but did not reply. She explored his beautiful green eyes a moment before boldy leaning closer and engaging him in an emotional, passionate kiss, one filled with love she did not think herself capable of feeling. When she pulled her lips from his, she whispered, "I just realised how much I love you."
***
stargazing at earth
Looking again at Zoi, Ami's mind drifted off to a scene far in the past, when she was a wholly different person...
[memories]
As the Princess of Mercury, Ami had had to spend a good amount of her time living on the moon, as an ambassador of her planet as well as one of the four guardians of the Lunar princess. Mercury had its own embassy within the gates of the city that was home to the palace of Queen Serenity. During her stays in the embassy, Ami would see to the princess' security alongside the other three guardians, the princesses of Venus, Mars, and Jupiter, who were also her friends Minako, Rei, and Makoto. The four of them, with Princess Usagi, passed a great deal of time together, often engaged in games and fun instead of official business. They were friends more than anything.
Other days, however, Ami would spend at the palace's hospital caring for the sick. She was a talented young physician, having studied for years in the highest and most prestigious university on the planet of Mercury. Queen Serenity herself used to flatter Ami by telling her that she always felt the people of the moon were healthier with the Mercurian princess as a resident doctor. In her modesty, Ami denied that she could have such a profound effect on the health of the entire planet, but she liked to think that she was helping people.
One particular day, Ami was summoned specially to see to a young man who had fallen sick during a diplomatic trip to the moon. Entering the room, Ami closed the door behind herself then straightened her labcoat. Reading the name off the clipboard, she approached the bed where the young man lay and spoke his name. "Zoicite?"
The man looked up at Ami from the bed with penetrating emerald eyes and nodded weakly. "Hai, Princess."
Ami was startled. Zoicite, the knight from Earth, one of the terran prince's own guardians. "Lord Zoicite, please excuse me! I didn't realise it was you." She smiled and inspected his appearance. His hair, usually shiny and filled with life, was dissheveled and dull in the light of the room. His skin was pale, and a thin mist of perspiration had risen on his face. "What seems to be the problem?"
Zoicite swallowed and said, "Sore throat, hot and cold flashes, loss of appetite, and dizziness."
"It sounds like some kind of fever to me," they both said in unison.
Ami smiled and laughed quietly. "I am the physician, Lord Zoicite. Let me make the diagnosis."
He nodded his head, managing a weak smile. "Excuse me, Princess."
Again Ami chortled quietly. "You insist on calling me by my title, Lord Zoicite, even though the situation befits a different name."
"You warrant the title of Princess," Zoicite replied, his eyes wanting to sparkle charmingly. "You warrant much more, in fact; something akin to Goddess is much more suitable."
Ami blushed notably and scribbled something down on her clipboard as an excuse to look away from Zoicite's eyes. "Your flattery won't get you a better diagnosis," she teased shyly. "I think it is a fever of some sort, perhaps compounded with a cold or some other mild malady." Ami went to the counter that ran along the far side of the room and fished a thermometer out of one of the drawers. "Let's see if I'm right." She approached the bed again and waited for Zoicite to obediently open his mouth and let her insert the thermometer. She waited thirty seconds, then checked the digital face of the thing. Surely enough he had a fever of four degrees. His body and spirit were handling the notable rise in temperature quite well, she remarked to herself. Most people that were as sick as he was hardly wanted to make conversation, even to share their symptoms, let alone brazen flirting.
"You have some kind of a fever," Ami said, writing another note on her clipboard. "I think you must have caught some Lunar fever on top of a fresh cold from your native planet. I've heard the "common cold", as you call it, can be really quite stubborn and obnoxious. It is uncurable, is it not?"
Zoicite shook his head. "As of late, there is no cure for the common cold. There's a new project for you, Princess: find a cure for the common cold and all the people of the earth will bow down and worship the ground you walk on, instead of just the one."
Ami fervently blushed again. Maybe he wasn't really sick but only faking it. "Where would I find time, Lord Zoicite? You know as well as anyone what my true duty on this world is."
"Then I hope you are content with a single terran to worship you, Princess."
Ami shyly pretended not to have heard, instead scribbling a note on her clipboard and taking the thermometer back to the counter. She deposited it in a container that was bound for sanitation, then went back to the bedside.
"I am going to prescribe some antibiotics for your fever, Lord Zoicite. I also recommend that you remain in my care for at least a day. The hospital's care," Ami hastily added, correcting herself. Was his flirting contagious?
"Gladly," Zoicite replied softly. "Will you check up on me, Princess, to make sure I am healing properly? You are the best physician in the solar system, I know I can trust your moderation of my stay. "
"I will perform the tasks assigned to me, Lord Zoicite," Ami responded shyly, pretending to be writing more notes on her clipboard. "If I am assigned morning rounds, then it will be me checking up on you. Most likely it will be one of the assistant nurses." *No,* Ami thought to herself. She would make sure she was in early enough to assure herself the task of morning rounds.
"I hope to see you tomorrow morning, Princess," Zoicite said, punctuating the sentiment with a cough.
"Rest, Lord Zoicite," Ami urged. "Someone will be in to move you to a private suite and administer your medication. I suggest you put everything out of your mind and get some hard earned rest. I know how diligently you and your associates work to keep the terran prince safe. I know of the troubles on your planet."
Zoicite coughed again, mustering a weak smile. "There is one persistent thought I will be unable to force from my mind, Princess, but I don't suspect you will hinder the healing process."
Ami hooked her clipboard to the foot of Zoicite's bed and bowed. "Rest, Lord Zoicite. You will be as healthy as before in no time." She hurriedly slipped from the room, not giving him a chance to respond with more flattery.
[/memories]
If all of Ami's memories were true to her past, she began to recall that after that first visit to the sick ward, Lord Zoicite paid many more visits to the hospital, most of which were for very trivial reasons. He needed some minor drug that required a doctor's sanction one time, another time he wanted only to check in on a sick friend who claimed never to have seen him before. Ami didn't mind seeing him in the least, and after a while began to hope he would visit more frequently.
Ami looked at Zoi, brazenly locking her gaze with his, and blushed at the memory. How many other scenes like this one had played out between them? She smiled and blushed, averting her gaze to the floor. Slowly, but surely, she thought, the memories would come back. With each one she fell deeper and more surely in love with her ishi-ouji.
*****
Again Ami couldn't help but lose herself in the deep emerald of Zoi's eyes. What was it he had hidden in their depths that captivated her so? She wished she knew so that she might use it to her own advantage against Zoi. As she blatantly explored the intricacies of each iris, Ami found herself re-discovering even more "lost" memories...
[memories]
Lord Zoicite ordered an extravagant palace built on a Earth on a glacier, which he dedicated to Princess Ami, where the two of them would meet and spend their precious spare time together. Mostly they would sit and read, sometimes to eachother. The two of them were avid readers, and Lord Zoicite made sure the palace boasted a library as grand, or even moreso, as the famous library at Alexandria in ancient Egypt. Nearly every title published could be found there, and as such it was in a constant state of expansion. Boxes of books were shipped to the palace each day, and the library alone required an extensive staff of dedicated booklovers to catalog and organize the books. The huge reading room and expansive stacks areas were the best kept rooms in the entire palace.
One particular day, Princess Ami arrived without knowing for sure whether or not Lord Zoicite was present. She brought minimal luggage with her so that she might take less time to unpack, then made haste to the reading room hoping to find him there waiting for her. She would have no such luck, but she knew that if he came after she had, he would come straight to this room, as she had done, in search of her. There she would wait for him.
The staff knew the princess and her habits quite well, and delivered a plate of sandwiches to the reading room once they learned she had arrived. Ami lost herself in a thick book and waited, hoping her ishi-ouji would know she had come and have time to see her.
The princess indulged herself in her reading a short time before Lord Zoicite came to the palace. He snuck quietly into the reading room and watched her a while, shushing the servants that hurried to see to his comfort. He seldom got to see her experiencing such peace; the time they spent together usually invovled some kind of strategizing or planning to keep peace elsewhere. He would often take breaks for their work to take walks or rest, but Ami rarely took time from her duties to see to herself. She was a true soldier, as dedicated and loyal as Sailor Moon herself, and would sooner lose sleep or not take a vacation than put the Lunar princess in jeopardy. Zoicite went out of his way not to disturb her when she took a rare moment for herself.
A servant spoiled his silent entry. "Lord Zoicite," the man exclaimed happily. "I did not think you wuold make it."
Ami looked up from her book, her eyes sparkling with happiness. "Nor did I, ishi-ouji." She put her book down and rose to greet him.
Zoicite could have hit the man who broke Ami's quiet moment, but forgave him once he saw the eagerness in her eyes when she looked up at him. Maybe he was doing wrong by her keeping himself away. She had come, after all, looking for him. "I'm sorry to keep you waiting, Princess."
"You did not know I was coming, my Lord," Ami countered. "I did not tell you."
"I knew," he said, smiling at her, his gaze locked intently on hers. "I could sense it the moment you landed. I was in a meeting discussing the troubles in the south. This Beryl won't be as easily quashed as the prince had hoped. She's causing problems for him left and right."
Ami shook her head and approached Zoicite, standing as tall as she could to put her arms around his neck. "Do not ruin this happy reunion with talk of pending war," Ami urged, her eyes pleading with Zoicite's.
"I am sorry, Princess," he apologized. "But these reunions may be fewer in number, or even altogether cease, if the other guardians and I are unable to stop this uprising. I do not mean to frighten you, but the classes are taking sides, and the lower classes far outnumber the aristocrats. This Beryl is influencing people's minds, she is making the lower classes think she is their champion. `Take back your planet!' She tells them, `Free yourselves from the rule of that spoiled tyrant!'" Zoicite's eyes were troubled, and Ami caught his hand with one of her own to try and soothe him.
"They used to love him, and he hasn't changed," Zoicite sighed. "The problem that is this woman is escalating, even now."
"Do you want my help with this matter, Lord Zoicite?" Ami offered.
Zoicite shook his head. "No, Princess. Trouble yourself not, for your ishi-ouji will make sure you are safe from harm." He took her in his arms and embraced her tightly.
"I do not doubt that, ishi-ouji," Ami assured him, happily finding herself enveloped in the fine fabric of his uniform's cape. "But who will protect my ishi-ouji? I am hardly here, it is you that I worry about."
Zoicite pulled away and smiled down at her. "We shi tennoh are formidable warriors, yuki-hime, and with our prince and his barazuishou I daresay we are unstoppable." Ami opened her mouth to say something, but Zoicite covered it with his own, engaging her in a romantic kiss that told volumes of how much he had missed her. It had been months since the last time they had seen one another.
Breaking the kiss, Ami smiled up at him and practically melted into his arms. "I have missed you, ishi-ouji. It has been far too long since we last met like this."
Zoicite nodded and held her close, breathing in the scent of her hair. She always smelled fresh, like newly fallen snow. "I wish you would stay here so that I might come home to you every night."
Ami pulled away slightly and shook her head, looking up at him with troubled eyes. "You know it is forbidden for senshi to marry other warriors." Her expression softened and she mused, "Perhaps if you or I were someone else, it would be possible."
"I would not have you any other way, yuki-hime," Zoicite stated, embracing her tightly again. He pulled away and looked down at her with a queer expression on his face. "I have a secret to tell you. Can you keep it?"
Ami cracked a small smile and nodded. "Of course, Lord Zoicite. It will never pass by my lips."
Zoicite grinned and kissed her again. "I will make sure of that by engaging them whenever possible."
Ami giggled and playfully pushed him back. "Was that your secret?"
Zoicite shook his head. "I believe Prince Endymion is in love with the Lunar Princess."
Ami's eyes widened. "Are you joking? Prince Endymion of Earth? And Princess Serenity, the Moon Princess, our Moon Princess?"
Zoicite nodded. "The same."
Ami's mouth dropped open in shock. It was foolish to think that the prince did not know about the rules for senshi, and equally foolish to think he didn't know that Princess Serenity was Sailor Moon. Everyone knew that the planetary princesses were the senshi of their respective planets. "As long as he has no intentions of--"
"I suspect his intentions are to ask for her hand," Zoicite interrupted her. "Sometime soon, if I'm not mistaken."
Ami's eyes grew impossibly wider. "Does he not know the restrictions that Queen Serenity places on her senshi?"
Zoicite nodded. "Everyone knows those rules, Princess, but--"
"And he dares to try and undermine the Queen's ruling? And with her own daughter?" Ami was shocked at Endymion's presumptuousness. He would be banished from the moon if he dared to defy her like that.
"Ami," Zoicite said softly, gently resting his hand on the line of her jaw and tilting her face up to look at him.
Ami's expression softened as the two simply looked at one another for a few moments.
"I think it's right," Zoicite said, still speaking softly. "What Prince Endymion plans; I believe he is right to do it."
Ami stared up at Zoicite with a look of horror. "Are you crazy? You must be to think that he has any chance of success! Queen Serenity needs her senshi to be willing to put themselves in the line of fire to protect the Princess and herself, to protect the peace of this time! If Sailor Moon were to marry Prince Endymion and the two of them ended up in battle together, one of them might make unnecessary sacrifices to assure the other's safety. It's heartache, my Lord, waiting to happen, and the queen wants to prevent any pain that she can."
"How is it different if two warriors are lovers?" Zoicite demanded to know, his eyes growing annoyed with Ami's responses. "Answer me that, Princess."
Ami was taken aback. He was referring to the two of them, no doubt, as well as the other soldiers of the inner planets and the shi tennoh. It was well-known, albeit frowned upon, that Princess Makoto had taken up with Lord Nephrite, Princess Minako was seeing Lord Kunzite, and Princess Rei was being pursued by Lord Jadeite. They were all horrible examples of role models, Ami thought to herself. A fine bunch they made trying to enforce the rule of the Lunar queen while openly breaking one of her fundamental rules. She was casting stones from a glass house, and Zoicite had caught her.
"You would have them marry against the queen's will?" Ami challenged him.
Zoicite shook his head, sighing quietly. "I would have the queen change her mind, Princess, or make exceptions."
"Exceptions? There are others who wish to break this rule?"
Zoicite nodded. "Many others." He took her into his arms and kissed her once again. "I would have asked you to marry me ages ago if I thought for a moment you would put your duty aside and go with your heart." His eyes were sorrowful. "You are so dedicated, Ami, that you put the needs of everyone else before your own. What about you, Ami? What about you and me? Are we to put our feelings aside forever?"
Ami pursed her lips. She had never really thought about the questions he was asking her, and the more she listened to Zoicite the more she realised she agreed with him. "I don't know," she replied feebly. "I don't have a choice, the decision is made for me, for both of us."
Zoicite's smile renewed itself full force. "Would you ever consider it, Ami?" He let out an excited cry. "I would run away with you in a heartbeat." Embracing her again he whispered into her ear, "Marry me, Princess. We can be wed in this very palace, with all our friends and relatives in attendance, as soon as possible!" He fervently planted yet another kiss on her lips as the excitement climaxed within him.
Ami, with tearfilled eyes, broke the kiss. "It cannot be, Lord Zoicite," she said, on the verge of sobbing. How badly she wanted it now that he had implanted the idea in her brain. She would be lucky now if she could go five minutes without thinking about, and a fortnight without talking to someone else about it. "As much as I want it, Zoicite, it can never be. I cannot go against the decree of Queen Serenity."
Zoicite released Ami and fished in one of his interior pockets. He produced, after a short search, a little box and opened it with a creak. Inside was a ring with a thin blue-ish silvery band set with one large diamond and flanked with trillian cut sapphires. Closer inspection revealed that the band was also inlaid with finely cut zoicite all the way around. Zoicite dropped down to his knees and took one of the princess' hands. "I love you, Princess, more than I could ever say, and I am yours to the depths of my soul. If you won't take your own feelings into account when I ask you this question, then use mine." He paused to take the ring out of the box, then tossed the box to the floor. "Consider me, Princess, I beg you. There's nothing I wouldn't do for you, nothing I would ever deny you, and all that I ask is that you love me and permit me to stay with you."
Ami's eyes overflowed with tears as she looked down at Zoicite. She had so much to lose if she decided to throw caution to the wind. What if Queen Serenity banished HER from the moon, or both of them? What if the queen sent her back to Mercury to have her stripped of her duties and her title?
But she also had to ask herself this: what would all those things mean to her if she refused this man the one thing he ever truly asked of her?
Pulling on his forearms, she helped him to his feet and looked up at him. He was expecting the worst, it was clear by the look on his face. Ami shook her head slowly and said, "I cannot refuse, my Lord. Your love is matched only by my own affection for you, and that which you have said to me also holds true for you. There is nothing I would not do for you, nor would I ever deny you anything. As for my everlasting love, it is not mine to give, you have taken it without my consent." She mustered a tiny smile. "But I am happy to see that it is in such good hands." She took one of his hands in both of her own and kissed it. "Beautiful, gentle hands that will do well by me always."
Zoicite whooped with joy and eagerly slipped the ring onto her finger with a shaky hand. That accomplished, he enveloped her with his arms and spun her around in a circle, lifting her dainty feet right off the floor. "I have never loved you more than this moment," he exclaimed, "And my love for you will only grow."
Ami laughed happily, her face covered in tears. "I may extend my stay, my Lord," she said contemplatively. "I do not know if I can keep this secret if I return to the moon."
Zoicite smiled, practically glowing, down at Ami. "Stay forever, Ami, I would prefer it."
[/memories]
Tears had overcome Ami as she relived the memory. She had promised herself to him, to her ishi-ouji, for the rest of her life back then. Her life had ended somehow, but she had been given a new life. In it, she decided, she would not give up the chance to spend it a second time with her true love, and live longer this time if she was able.
She looked at Zoi, who had, by this time, noticed her tears. "Ami-chan, what's wrong?"
Ami smiled at him, but did not reply. She explored his beautiful green eyes a moment before boldy leaning closer and engaging him in an emotional, passionate kiss, one filled with love she did not think herself capable of feeling. When she pulled her lips from his, she whispered, "I just realised how much I love you."
***
stargazing at earth