Only Time

By: Zarabeth McGregor

Chapter 1: The night that changed my life

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing or Sailor Moon. They belong to their respective owners. If I did own them, you wouldn't want to watch them. Trust me.

            Thanks for the kind reviews. Yes, I realize that there are hardly any Ami centered fics around. That's why I decided she should be the main character in this fic.

Thank you again, so very very much!

~*~

            I stood there, stunned. I supposed I looked at her like she had just mutated and grown tentacles out of her ears. What the hell kind of question was that? I wanted to ask her this. Instead, due to my shocked state, I had to work with what I said instead.

"Wha…" mystery lady smiled. She enjoyed this, sick person.

"If given the opportunity to find your soul-mate, your one true love, would you take it, even if it entailed you losing everything you know?" she repeated word for word. I stared at her again, and I could feel the cold night's air breezing its way into my mouth. Then I figured it out.

"Who put you up to this?" I asked, shaking my head. "Lara? Or was it Naomi? Oh, hey, the both of them. Tell me I'm lying. You lot are probably taping this now, aren't you? Have a nice, jolly laugh at poor Ami's expense, huh?" I knew I was flying off at the mouth, but it was a plausible theory. Lara was my roommate and Naomi was her best friend. Both of them were the closest one could come to finding real-life, living, breathing, not-so-wonderful bimbos.

"Your roommate and her friend have nothing to do with this," she said, mirth in her voice. "Do you really think they would be that intelligent to dream something like this up?"

Well, the woman had a point.

"Serena and Rei, then!" I threw again, though I knew what her answer would be.

"Serena and Rei aren't even in the country," she said simply. I was still adamant.

"They could've called you and told you to do it!" There, I thought, fight your way out of that Ms Defense Lawyer! She gave a sort of laugh and shook her head.

"You're wasting precious time, Ami," she drawled.

"You could be acting alone, then. Great! I have my own stalker, now. Law major, no?" she threw back her head and laughed out loud. I could feel my fist tighten. I really didn't see what was so funny.

"Ami…" she gasped out, "you really are something else. I know you have experience with otherworldly creatures." She looked me point blank in the eye and asked, all laugher and fun gone now. "Do you really think I come from this world?" I looked at her. Looked at her good and well. Tell the truth, no, I didn't. She nodded.

"Thought so," she said. "So, will you be so kind as to answer my question?" I chuckled, disbelievingly. I couldn't believe I was doing this.

"Everything?" I asked.

"Friends, family, the whole nine yards," she nodded. I searched her face. No jesting, no foul play.

"Of course not!" I said immediately. "I have friends, I have my education to finish, my career to embark upon."

"The same career you were second-guessing while you were swimming," she said calmly, as if she was discussing the weather with me. I, on the other hand, was fighting for my breath.

"How…how…how'd you…" she held up a hand.

"That doesn't matter," she said solemnly. "Well, let's look into that future of yours, say about…twenty years down the road." She paced across the narrow alleyway like a lawyer in a courtroom. "You and your friends will be very successful, yes. Serena, believe it or not, is an internationally renowned best selling author; her romances are quite scandalous. She has broken Sidney Sheldon's and other highly respected authors' records for number of books sold in the first day. They have her name up for the Pulitzer that year.

Rei has reached mega-star status. She has won so many Grammys and other such awards, that she has a whole cabinet set-aside for them. She is trying out for her second starring movie role, playing Sayuri in the film adaptation of 'Memoirs of a Geisha'.

Lita has opened a chain of restaurants across Japan and in select places in the States. She has her own cooking magazine, several published cookbooks and her own highly rated cooking show. It's rumored that she makes the food for the British royal family's banquets.

Mina has won several sports medals and titles, some of which include Olympic gold and silver for her volleyball skills. She is also into acting and she has won an Oscar for Best Actress in her last movie 'Paint the Sky with Stars.' She's got children too, two boys and a girl. The boys are quite the lookers…" she trailed off. She had been marking each of my friends off with a finger. Her blue eyes were on me now, almost penetrating.

"And now you, Ami. You have completed your education, and opened up your own private practice. You are now considered the best in your field, that being neurological diseases. You have saved countless lives with your groundbreaking and pioneering research, and the medical world is indebted to you." I blinked when she didn't continue.

"That's it? I asked. "That's your reason why I should give up my dreams? So I won't become successful."

"I wasn't done, Ami," she said flatly. "I was just catching my breath."

"Oh for…" I muttered, rolling my eyes. She cleared her throat.

"Yes, Ami, that is what your futures holds. You are all quite successful, and you all still stay friends. But you know what holds you apart from them?" she asked. I knew it was rhetorical, but I answered anyway.

"What?"

"You see, while you may seem happy, you aren't. Your friends are, no pretense about it. Every night, you walk around your now darkened one million dollar mansion. You look in on your five year old daughter as she sleeps soundly in her 'Powerpuff Girls: Next Generation' themed room. You take off your Ralph Lauren suit and slip into a Chanel nightgown. You slip beneath your silk and satin sheets of your king-sized bed and lay awake. You listen for the sound of a Ferrari car engine, but you never hear it. Then you wonder out loud for the umpteenth time: 'Where the hell is my husband?' Because you have seen the signs for years, oh yes, but you refused to believe them. But now you wonder: 'Has this all been a dream, a wild fantasy?'" She looked at me. I guess she could tell by my undoubtedly dumfounded expression that I needed an explanation.

"They have men in their lives that love and care for them. They were willing to give up everything, their hopes and dreams, just for love," she said simply. You know who she reminded me of at that point in time? Toulouse from that American movie, 'Moulin Rouge.'

"Okay, who are you? Aphrodite?" I asked, mostly out of jest. She shook her head as if I had made a mistake.

"No, I'm Destiny," she replied. I understood now. She was supposedly the one who decided everyone's fate in this world. "Yes, Ames, you have my job description down pat."

"Okay, Destiny," I spat, "how do you explain their wild success then, if they gave up everything for love?" Destiny shook her head.

"Ami, you're a bright child. Use your head," she said in slight exasperation, "They were still able to be successful because their love drove them to greatness. They knew someone loved them if they failed, but they still worked hard to achieve their objectives because that is what their hearts desired. Don't you get it? You can still be successful. But you can be happy as well, because you will have love, and that will make your success even sweeter."

"Ha!" I scoffed. Destiny gave me a withering look.

"Do you really want to wonder where your husband has been when he should've been with you?" she asked. She was getting through to me; I could feel it. I just wouldn't admit it.

"Oh, please, this is absurd. Nobody in their right frame of mind would take this offer. This is ludicrous!" I ranted. Destiny gave a small, sad smile.

"As a matter a fact, Ami, many sensible people, such as yourself, have taken this challenge. And they are quite happy," she sighed. "But if you don't want it, fine…" she turned and started walking again, click-clacking on the pavement. As I watched her retreating form, a wave of panic betook me. I felt scared, frightened. I felt like I was losing the most important thing in my life…

"Destiny, wait!" I shouted to her. She stopped slowly and turned.

"Yes, Ami?"

"I'll do it. Yes, I will take the opportunity to meet my soul mate." Thus began the wildest chapter of my life.