Chapter 3

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Tokyo. 2002. They echoed in his mind as shades of her past, when all of her friends had been alive. This had been before the one called Minako had died, back before things even got really dangerous. He only hoped that they had hit some alternate timeline and not her own. For her to see her friends now after getting brutally attacked by the last of them . . . it would not be good.

Trembling slightly, Ami took his hand in hers, guiding them both across the street to the arcade. The sign above was written in an older form of Japanese he did not understand but the posters in the windows made it painfully obvious what type of building it was. She pushed the door open with one hand and poked her head inside, looking around several times before stepping in and bringing him with her. Keeping her head down she slid into a corner booth. He sat directly across from her, her hand still tight in his. "What's going on?" he asked.

"Ami-san? Is that you?"

Heero looked up to see one of the boys who worked behind the counter start to approach them, fiddling with the straps on his apron. His blond hair hung askew over his face and his blue eyes shone with life and curiosity, much like Quatre's. He approached the couple seated in the booth with an inquisitive look on his face, but even as he called Ami's name again she did not turn around until he tapped her shoulder. When she did face him, her features were totally expressionless. "Excuse me?"

The boy blushed. "Gomen nasi. I thought you were one of our regulars here, you look quiet a bit like her. My apologies for disturbing you."

She smiled. "It's ok," and turned back around to face Heero. Once the boy was out of earshot she spoke again. "That was Motoki. He used to be the reason we stopped by here all the time. Usagi, Makoto, and Minako all had huge crushes on him, but he already had a girlfriend." Heero nodded, understanding. So this was the past after all, but it seemed Ami was not finished speaking. She was giving him the explanation he almost didn't want to ask for, knowing how much it would hurt her to admit. "I believe Setsuna has been possessed by the Negaverse, our main opposition. Most likely she did not know what was going on when it happened and now it's turned her against me. Us.

"The best I can tell is, she's been under its control for quite some time now. I often wondered why she never foretold their deaths. Perhaps Minako's threw her for a loop, she only watches the one timeline that would take us to Crystal Tokyo, but after that she should have known beforehand what was going to happen. Basically," she took a deep breath, collecting her thoughts and composure, "She let them die. All of them. They're gone because of some hidden dark side used against us." Now the tears were painfully obvious in her eyes but she would not let them fall. She never had. "That's why they were never reborn."

Heero didn't really understand all that she meant but he got the gist of it. In a moment of uncharacteristic pure sweetness he reached across the table and cupped her chin in one hand, kissing both her eyes as if to take away the tears that threatened to fall. Her response was a weak smile, but it let him know he was helping. And that was all he wanted.

Suddenly her eyes went wide once more. "Kuso!" She ducked her head down against the table, pulling her hair from its tie to let it fall across her face and hide her features. "They're here," she hissed to him, trying desperately to keep from being seen. Confused, Heero turned slightly around in his chair, just enough for him to see the group of girls that entered, giggling, through the main door.

In the front of the group was a blonde, her hair done up in strange looking odangos at the top of her head. Laughing along side her was another girl with yellow hair. The two could have passed for twins. Following behind them was a raven-haired girl who buried her face in her hands at the pure insanity of her two friends and last was a girl much taller whose brunette locks were pulled into a high ponytail. He knew who they were, from not only Ami's reaction but earlier research as well. Usagi, Minako, Rei, and Makoto. Sailors Moon, Venus, Mars, and Jupiter. No wonder Ami was hiding.

After what seemed like an eternity the girls finally took a seat not far from the couple in the corner. Once they seemed settled and properly distracted, Ami stood carefully and silently so as not to attract any attention to herself and the man beside her. The girls' table was on their way out and they both prayed not to be noticed.

No such luck. A hand reached out and tugged at Ami's arm as she passed. "Ami-chan? I thought you were at cram school," Usagi said.

Makoto laughed. "Not out with a guy!"

Ami turned to her old friends, keeping her face totally blank. "Gomen, I am not Ami."

Usagi blushed furiously. "Gomen nasi, gomen ne, gomen! You look a lot like my friend."

She smiled and nodded. "It is not the first time I have been confused with this Ami. Ja ne."

"Ja ne," chorused all the girls.

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more review responses:

drifter: nope, sorry. ami will be fixing no timelines—its too dangerous. anything could happen and she knows better than to risk it. and I liked making setsuna the villain too.

kaiya: oooh! a new life philosophy. I keep an eye out for those all the time. and I seriously love my villain. and although I said in my review of one of your fics that I wasn't gonna post this chapter, I did anyways. just update that 'ami gone psycho' fic. please?

rogue angel barton: despite slight grammatical, thanks for the positive review! just a side note, were you the one who wrote 'eye of the midnight storm'?

d-chan's ice-queen: glad you liked it. and if your friend's bugging you, just tell her to lay off. as much as it doesn't work for me it's the best advice I can give.

suisei no mitsukai: people read my author's notes!?! wow. ::cheers:: I HAVE FAN(S?)!

cade: working on it.

minimerc: ami's coping as best she can, but I'm afraid she's tied up in Tokyo at the moment and visiting hours have been strictly reduced. and I'm writing as we speak.

fluffy pink bouncy bunny: whoa, that was a lot of questions. lets see what I can do. ::cracks knuckles as she sets down to work:: ahem. ami blew a fuse, but she was right--sets didn't outright kill the girls but she did nothing to prevent it when she obviously could have. I'm afraid the rest of the pilots can't follow--no time key. I'm thinking about an inuyasha crossover, but the rest will probably be the result of an over-active imagination. and I could never stop writing. it's one of my obsessions. 'nothing but praise'? seriously? cool!!!

sakura: next time, hit her back

mona: an excellent writer? seriously? woohoo! (and the best way to stop whining is a swift mallet to (think akane))

fate's child: no fixing of the timeline--no one but me knows what would happen. glad you like the story!

I've been planning pluto for the part of the villain since I was halfway through 'ice and war.' basically the sequel is an answer to the questions the first part left. my main question was 'pluto is the time senshi. couldn't she have done something to keep the scouts alive? and thus the idea came about. glad you all like it and don't stop reviewing!!