Raindrops

Water from my eyes

          "Uh... I..." Ami couldn't find words, not even enough lies to save herself the truth. That girl has such warm eyes, she thought. Ami swiped the back of her hand across her face, dragging her tears with it.

          "Are you crying?" Makoto asked, looking inquisitively closer. Ami whipped her head away, eyes squeezed shut. Of course her emotions would betray her. And Mako-chan would find out, find out how the blue haired girl felt. And she'd hate someone who was that twisted. It would send Ami's world crumbling to pieces in the mud, to be hated by someone so important. And still those perfidious tears were welling up in her eyes, shouting her secrets for the world to know.

          Though Ami wanted to keep her face turned away forever, she looked back in surprise when she felt a warm touch on her legs. The Soldier of Protection was kneeling on the ground, holding the other girl's knees. Green eyes looked up into wide blue, imploringly.

          "You're upset, can't you tell me why?" Mako-chan asked, her umbrella lying forgotten on the ground beside her. Her hair was deflating, weighed down by the rain. Ami was silent.

          "I want to help you be happy, Ami. I want you to be really, really happy."

          Before she could think, Ami spat back a reply. "And how could you hope to do that?"

          Makoto didn't gasp at the sudden cruelty, but squeezed her face, as if the barb really had pierced her deep. "Do you hate me?" She asked.

          "Do I, I what?" The blue tinted girl still slowly rocking her swing was puzzled.

          "You barely talk to me anymore!" Her kneeling Mako-chan accused. "You won't even look me in the eyes, you're cold." Now both girls had tears in their eyes, staring at each other in confusion and pain. "Did I do something to make you mad? I don't want you to hate me, Ami." Mako laid her head upon the other girl's knees, gripping the bottom of her skirt with white knuckles.

          "I… Mako, I..." Ami stuttered.

          "I don't want you to hate me…" The brunette choked on tiny sobs as she repeated herself. "More than anyone else, I don't think I could bear it if you hated me. I'd die, I'd die if you hated me… because… because… I love you too much…" Makoto whispered into her friend's thigh.

          Mercury didn't digest the words for a moment, as her fellow Senshi sobbed onto her legs without abandon. Her first thought was to pinch her skin; this was surely another deceitful dream, a mirage in the thunderstorm. But the girl who leaned on her felt so warm, so real. And such a real statement she'd just made.

          Ami brushed Makoto's cheek with her hand, and the other girl looked up. Her eyes were puffy and red already, but Ami barely noticed. She took the simplest action, the oldest one, and placed a tiny kiss on her Makoto's lips.

          They both knelt on the ground, each looking through the deluge at a soaked, red eyed, love stuck girl. "Mako-chan. I couldn't hate you; I couldn't even begin to hate you." Ami said, and they collapsed together, holding tightly to one another, as if to melt into one body.

          "I love you."

          They sat under the swings as the rain died down and the thunder scattered on the horizon. But the darkness only got thicker as fog rolled over the city. Finally, after what might well have been an eternity of staring at each other in dizzy joy, the two girls stood up.

          "I'm a complete mess… My mother is going to kill me." Ami said, looking at her clothing covered in drying mud. "Well, she'll kill me if I can even find my way home again." Makoto laughed.

          "And I left my shoes at Rei's. Great." She muttered. Awkward silence followed that remark, both of them wondering how you said goodbye for a little while.

          "Well, I have to keep studying…" Ami mumbled, picking up her bags with a rose-bush sized blush across her face. She was turning to go when she found the taller girl in her way.

          "Goodnight, love." Makoto said, bending down to place a kiss on Ami's forehead. Ami watched the other girl's silhouette receding into the blackness, until there was nothing left to watch. And even after Mako-chan had disappeared, Ami's insides bubbled, and sang themselves a warm, familiar tune.

A/N: *Happy Happy* I got actual feedback! Wee. This was supposed to be a one shot. Then it was supposed to be a two-shot (if that's really a thing at all, o_O...), now It's going to have MORE parts. Oh dearie me.