Welcome to chapter 3 Part-2!

Summary:

Never one to go looking for love, she let life lead her wherever it would, and she followed. Then she met him, and her life turned around. However, how can one keep what is taken, and how can one love what is lost? Not Serena-centered.

(Suggestions on the summary are welcomed gratefully).

Title:

Even so, Life Goes On

Warnings:

None that come to mind.

Pairings: [Not in order of my favorites, don't worry =) ]

Ami/Trunks: 3

Ami/Vegeta: 3

Ami/Piccolo: 2

Ami/Tien: 1

Ami/Yamcha: 1

Ami/Goku: 0 [Poor Goku]

Symbols: -word- = Emphasis or Italics

--- = Separates present from past - - or what Ami is writing

Chapter 3 Part-2

"The Sailor what?"

Bulma raised a single eyebrow, rocking her baby back and forth. "Ami, what are you talking about?"

I didn't know anymore. All I knew was that I was stuck in a place that didn't know about the Sailor Scouts. Not everyone in the world knew about the Sailor Scouts, right? Just everyone in Tokyo, Japan. A frown took to my face as soon as I remembered that I -was- still in Tokyo, Japan---I figured I must have been when Bulma asked me what part I was from and if all the girls had blue hair, like mine---just not the -right- Tokyo, Japan.

"Ami?"

So if I'm understanding this straight, I thought, then I'm in another Tokyo, Japan other than my own. But how can that be? There aren't two Tokyo, Japans in the world, just one! And I'm there, aren't I?

"Ami . . ."

Obviously not because Bulma has absolutely no clue as to who the Sailor Scouts are, and the Sailor Scouts have never heard of Cell or this palace before, so that must mean . . . my thoughts stopped as understanding dawned on me like a thick rain cloud. "I'm in an alternate universe."

"Ami---" Bulma stopped her rocking. "Huh?"

"I'm in an alternate universe!" I stared at her for a moment, then my face broke out into a smile and I slowly stood up, observing the palace around me as if I had just -seen- it, seen it since I'd been there. "Oh, this is good!" I exclaimed, excited. Think about what I could learn here, I thought, joy shining on my face. About the Science, about the use of medicines, about the people, the places, the bad guy Cell . . . scratch that . . . about the transportation, about this universe! And when I get home, I can---"Home!" My face fell an instant later as I realized I didn't even know how I'd -gotten- to this universe, so there was absolutely no way I would get -home- any time soon. "Oh," I sank to my knees slowly, "this is bad. This is really bad."

Poor Bulma was utterly confused by now and she scooted away from me a bit, something akin to worry in her eyes. "Ami dear," She asked nervously, "are you schizophrenic?"

I may have been depressed about the thought of not getting home for a while, but that didn't mean I was -completely- gone. So, I glared at Bulma. Yes, I, Ami Marie [AN: I don't know her real middle name, but I like the name Marie and I thought it sounded good with the name Amy/Ami =) ] Mizuno glared at someone. In the back of my mind two little voices were laughing--- they sounded uncannily like Minako and Usagi---saying: If only your friends could see you now! Ami grew a backbone!

Bulma's cheeks colored as she realized what she had said, and she tried to make up for it by smiling. "I didn't mean a -complete- schizo, I meant a part-time . . . one." She 'eh heh-ed' nervously.

I let the glare drop and only frowned, wondering when I had gone past calm, silent, poised and graceful to Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hide. "It's OK, Bulma." I sighed, muttering a few other sentences in my mind along the lines of, "It's not -your- fault I'm stuck in some stupid universe and can't get back to my stupid home with my stupid friends all because of my stupid beach that I so stupidly visit every once in a stupid while." I would have gone on, but Bulma's voice broke my train of highly intense thought.

"What did you mean when you said you're from an alternate universe?" She looked nervous and excited at the same time, her eyes wide and curious.

Pulling my knees to my chest, I let out another weary sigh, shrugging. "I said I was -in- an alternate universe, but I guess to you I'm -from- an alternate universe, hmm?" I had to find a way to get home, but how?

"Oh, this is great!" Bulma smiled right in my face, ignoring the pointedly angry look she was currently receiving from no one other than myself. "I mean, think about what we could learn from each other!" She pointed to me, her finger a breath away from my nose. "You -have- to come to my house."

Her house? I frowned even deeper. Who said anything about going to Bulma's house? And better yet, I thought rudely, who wants to? When I realized what I had just thought up, I immediately felt a sense of guilt. Here I was in another universe, with few friends, thinking bad things about one of the people who actually try to -become- another friend. This must be the Galaxia in me, I mused.

"You coming?" Her voice sounded far away. I looked up and found her halfway across the spot she'd just been sitting in, patting a large machine of some sort.

Curiosity killed the cat a voice taunted, as I strolled over to see what it was Bulma had suddenly created. This isn't curiosity, I retorted, this is for Science. I had to giggle a bit at the prospect of me arguing with myself.

It looked like a mini airplane, seating only two people---the pilot and the passenger, although the pilot seat was a lot bigger than the passenger seat. The color was a dusty orange, coating the wings and body and the tail, but the tip of the tail was colored off-white. There didn't seem to be any wheels of any kind on this airplane-looking machine and no doors either. It was an open-cock pit kind of machine, and the inside looked like my couch---checkered cloth patterning.

"What is it?" I wondered aloud, tracing my fingertips along the smooth exterior of the machine, marveling at how complicated and futuristic it looked.

Bulma strapped her sleeping baby boy into a car seat she had miraculously pulled out of nowhere, then turned to me, leaning against the machine looking as comfortable as she could be. "It's a hover plane."

I raised an eyebrow. "A hover -plane-." Is there a difference? I wondered. I mean, I'd never heard of a plane that didn't hover in the first place, but I wasn't in my universe, either.

"Yep," She confirmed, climbing into it. "Come on."

"Okay . . . if you say so." I shook my head and grasped the passenger's side where the door would be, hoisting myself up and over. I was strapping myself in when I heard a familiar voice call my name.

"Where're you going?" Gohan leaned in when he reached the plane, staring inside the car in boyish fascination.

"I'm going to Bulma's house. Hopefully, we can find a way to get me home." At my words she glanced at me when turning around, giving me a cheery smile.

"You coming or going?" She addressed Gohan with a smile as well.

Gohan backed away from the hover plane, smiling politely in return. "No thanks, Bulma. But," He looked at me quickly. "Why are you going home so soon? You just got here. Aren't you gonna stay?"

If only you were older, I thought wistfully. "I'm not exactly from this universe, Gohan. I have to find a way back home before I can book a vacation."

"Oh," He sighed a little loudly. "Okay then. But come back soon, 'cause my mom'll probably wanna meet you." Gohan looked thoughtful a moment later. "If you want, though. I mean, if you need a place to stay or anything." His face was going through some interesting thinking expressions, and I couldn't help but giggle a little. "I mean, my mom can cook better than Bulma, so if you ever start to starve . . ."

Bulma glared at him, snarling slightly. "That's enough, little man," She growled, "I think we'll be off, now." With that, the aqua-haired woman started the engine of the hover plane and we slowly started to rise.

"Bye Gohan!" I waved to the boy as soon as we were considerably high in the air, and he waved back before running off to his father. I watched him for a moment before we sped off into the sky, my hair whipping around me in thousands of directions. Little cutie, I thought, using one of my friend's most two favorite words in her limited vocabulary.

"Gohan's adorable, huh?" Bulma regarded me from the driver's seat, expertly driving the hover plane with ease. "You know, his dad's just like him!"

"I figured as much!" I had to yell because of how loud the air going past us was, and my eyes had started to water a bit. "Can we go a little slower, Bulma?"

She didn't slow down. "What?" She yelled.

"I said, can we go slo-wer!"

"Are you sure?" She hollered.

I nodded and my hair smacked me; it stung. "Yes, I'm sure!"

From the front I could see her shrug. "Okay! If you're sure!"

And she sped up, sending me sinking back into my seat and making my eyes water more than ever, and my hair got plastered to the back of my head. It was very uncomfortable.

"Bul-MA!" I shrieked, loud enough to wake the dead. "What are you DO-ing?!"

Bulma didn't answer, just sped the plane up even more.

My stomach threatened to coat me in a smelly substance if we didn't slow down, but I tried not to think of that. No, all I thought about was the slow and painful way in which Bulma would die.

She flipped the plane over, laughing.

. . . If -I- didn't die first!

"You know what?" She bellowed, still laughing. "I think you're the first person to ever want to go THIS fast! I would've thought you'd want to go SLOWER or something!"

Oh yes, I thought miserably, Bulma would need to sleep with her eyes open from now until the time I got back home. I had obviously ditched the idea of thinking good things about the people here, even if they -were- trying to become my friend.

"Whoo! Isn't this GREAT?"

Especially THIS specific person.

When we finally started to descend I was dry heaving [That's possible, right?], and when we touched the ground I had jumped out and was almost kissing the stable earth.

"I never," I moaned, panting, "want to ride on one of those -things- again." Leaning against the horrid machine, my stomach flipped once more before trying to calm down.

Bulma laughed, un-strapping her baby and setting him on her hip. "Come on inside. Daddy will want to meet you."

Daddy? I wondered wearily, pushing myself off of the plane and walking slowly on wobbly legs.

And then I looked up and saw Bulma's "house."

It wasn't a house by far, more like a double mansion. From what I could see in the front, there were two rounded---two -huge- rounded---buildings, all white with a wide yellow stripe right around the middle, and huge blue letters reading Capsule Corp. I had no idea what a capsule was, but nevertheless I followed Bulma into this gigantic monstrosity she called her "house."

And let me tell you, I got lost more than once in that jungle, too.

~*~*~

Sorry! This was really short, I know! But, I had to get this out of the way before I could do the next chapter! And again, I know this doesn't even count as a chapter! It just cut off, I KNOW! I apologize, and the next chapter will be out . . . later, heh. You won't have to wait too long, but sophomore year (for me) is vastly approaching and I haven't finished all I need to do for the summer h/w that my last-year/this-year teachers oh-so- kindly bestowed upon me.

Yes, yes, I am making excuses, but I really am sorry! Look on the bright side; I got this chapter out quicker than usual, right? Right?

Oh, and sorry for making Ami OOC in this chapter. I promise, it shall never happen again!

Thank you:

Niamh:lost without a compass: Hi again! Thank you and I won't speak a word about the candlelight. As for the pairing/voting thing, you're absolutely right. I guess I let people vote because I'm worried that the pairing I choose won't be welcomed by readers, and they'll just stop reading all together. Dumb reason, I know, but it has happened.

Yeah, you're right, but the guy/dating thing is pretty important to the story. At least, in -this- story it is. Please don't stop reading! I promise this isn't going to go as I think you think it's going to go. You're thinking Ami is going to fall in love with a guy, he'll fall in love with her, they'll do the dirty and wham, she's got a man, but she has to go back to Tokyo and live her life, forgetting all about Mr. Perfect. Am I right? If not, you're closer to the actual plot of the romance, which leads me to MY venting.

Niamh, from this moment on you are no longer aloud to think when it comes to my story. Why? Because you are currently POINTING OUT every thing I am trying to HIDE in my story! Now I'm whining and I hate whining! No, I'm joking. But really, if you'd like to figure out the real plot of this story (that includes the romance and candlelight), go back and read the first part of the first paragraph very closely, along with the summary. Besides, who said Ami was going to date the guy? ~_^.

There're a lot of secret things in this story, but you're very close to figuring out what I'm doing. TOO close, mind you. Then again, I'm happy about your brilliance! Thanks for reviewing!

Kaiya: Hey again! Eh heh, well, the next chapter is out, although you might be a wee bit upset at how short it is . . . sorry! Yeah, you can still vote on Vegeta. In fact, I encourage you to. Then again, that doesn't mean he could be the guy for Ami . . . or does it? I'm leading you on, and I'm loving it! Haha thanks for the review!

Sailor g: Thank you! Wow, I got a 10 out of 10! Yay! Thank you again!

Next chapter will be out ASAP, but don't hesitate to leave a review even at the shortness of this chapter . . . hehe, thanks!

--azure_chan