Author's Note:

The normal disclaimers here of course and that I'm certainly not doing this for money.

There are a few elements that are exclusive to the manga, as you will read, but those only involve character differences than from the anime, such as the Shitennous' relationship. Also, Mamoru has the Golden Crystal.

If you need to contact me, my email is Guardian4@atlantic.net. Please put fanfiction or something in the subject line so I know what you're emailing me about. And if you're a really nice person (if this pertains to a certain fanfiction that I've done) you might want to put the name of the fanfiction you're referring to somewhere in the email.

All names are like the Japanese say them, last name first. So Kunzite's name would be Kail Rainer in America, but in Japanese it would be said Rainer Kail.

Army of Immortals

Chapter 17: Contemplation

"Mamoru, what's wrong?"

Zayn's voice cut through his hearing, startling him, and he realized just what he was doing. He was looking over his shoulder nervously, constantly expecting Tomi to show up.

Lowly, he related the experience to his friend, who whistled in worry. "You're right; she is going to get him killed if she doesn't stop."

"What are we going to do about her?"

"I don't know."

Tomi stared at her reflection, hairbrush lax in her hand. What was she doing? She knew what she was trying to do and that was brush her black hair. But she sighed at her thoughts nonetheless.

She was trying to save her brother's life, but it wasn't working. Her efforts weren't going unnoticed either and she felt his unhappy and rather disapproving stare whenever they met. They didn't talk anymore, either. He never spoke to her over dinner and avoided any quiet talks away from their parents.

And she knew she deserved it. Hadn't she done the same thing to him when she had been in her funk? She kept trying to tell him, in words or notes, that she was only doing it for him, because she loved him. And every time he would tell her in not so many words that while she may love him, what she was doing was not wanted.

Every time she looked at him, she sensed that there was something more there than she could possibly understand. Even though he had told her he wanted her to understand, she was beginning to think that she couldn't understand. There was just something…incomprehensible about this whole thing…

At a loss for any other recourse, she sought out counsel.

"You're Luna, right?"

The black cat opened its eyes and looked down at her from its perch on the branches high above her. Glancing around, only to see no one in view, she answered, "Yes I am. You must be Tomi."

"That's me. Um…I need to talk to you about something."

Luna jumped down and onto her shoulder. "Then talk."

Her attitude was noncommittal for one, and she sensed a deeper displeasure in the feline. Gingerly, she sat down on a bench. "I don't understand, really, anything that Kail's telling me. I mean, facts wise and what they're doing, but I don't understand why. He's tried to explain it to me, but…"

"You just can't grasp it," she supplied, her tone ironic.

"That's it. I know I'm making Kail angry that I'm trying to get him away from this whole Earthen Knight business, but…I can't help it."

"We've never really went through this problem with the Senshi and apparently Mamoru never went through it with his friends either," Luna commented, talking aloud, "but I wonder if half the problem is you, plain and simple."

Rather than feeling resentful or angry, she felt inexplicably saddened. "What's the problem?"

"We never had the problem of understanding magic with the Senshi and Knights because they were, deep down, willing to accept it. They also didn't need understanding on a more than surface level, when it came to protecting someone, because they were already attached to the person they protected, hence no problems there.

"Part of your problem is that you're naturally out for yourself. Even protecting your brother isn't what you think it is. The protection you feel for him isn't the same kind as Kail feels for Mamoru. His goes down to a deeper, instinctive level beyond a conscious comprehension. He doesn't need to understand it in order to understand it, if you understand me?" Her smile was ironic at how much understanding was necessary to grasp a simple concept.

"I think so."

"You also are selfish."

"Selfish?" Her anger flared briefly. "How am I selfish?"

"You want to hoard your brother for yourself. Trying to get him away from Minako or Mamoru won't make things any better for you. It only makes things worse since Kail will resent you for it supposing you succeed, which I seriously doubt you would."

"Has anyone ever told you that you're tongue is like a sword?"

"Yes, many times, by Usagi most times though with more whine and less descriptive words."

"You should listen to her; isn't she a princess?"

Luna sighed irritably. "You have a very low grasp of what actually is going on between people. Just because Usagi is a princess and Mamoru is a prince does not mean we are required to scrape and grovel. We counsel as friends and talk as equals. This isn't some novel where implausible things happen, you know."

Tomi stood, shaking the black cat from her shoulder. "Well you were a lot of help."

"You asked."

"I know and now I'm beginning to wish I hadn't," she muttered as she stalked away.

Jayden shifted restlessly beside her, his eyes narrowing as he watched from his hiding place.

"See what I see?"

"Yup," she answered.

They were watching two of their most intelligent friends verbally skate around the real issue that had brought them together.

"Are we absolutely sure that they do feel this way about each other?"

Rei snorted in humor. "I'm sure at least Ami-chan does. She's fidgets whenever she's around him and Ami-chan never fidgets. I actually heard her get flustered on a sentence once when he looked her way. That never happens either. What about you? Are you sure Zayn feels this way about her?"

"Not a doubt," he said lowly. "Zayn avoids girls as much as possible, so the mere fact that he approached her first tells me something right there. Two, the man has been talking under his breath, whenever he thinks he's alone, constantly about her. Three, I've seen him go out of his usual path just to get a glimpse of her."

"They got it bad. But they'll never get anywhere without our help."

"They're going nowhere fast," he supplied, agreeing. "So how do we get them together without making it seem like we are?"

"Hmm." She pondered for a moment. "A series of circumstances that keep placing them together, alone?" she suggested.

"That'll work after we get the ball rolling," he contradicted. "We need something to start this…I got it!" He snapped his fingers triumphantly and turned to her. "We'll set up a double date!"

"Say what?" she hissed.

"Okay, I have a loose friendship with another guy that the guys don't know him. I can say that I agreed to go on a double date with him because he wasn't sure about this girl he was going out with on a first date. And that I asked you to go with me."

"They'll never believe I went willing with you," Rei said flatly.

"Why not?"

She floundered a bit. "Well…"

"It doesn't matter; make up a reason why you would go. Anyway, we'll say that my friend gave me the tickets to this thing we were going to for safe keeping because he's a little absentminded and was afraid he would lose them the night of the date. Enter in bad circumstances: girl met other guy and broke off date. My friend didn't want to go anywhere since he had really begun to like her. So now I have four tickets that I can't sell but are too good to lose out on and you had already agreed to go. I have to find two other people to go, and this is a couple thing. What do you think?"

She mulled it over. "Sounds infinitely plausible. And I thought up an excuse for how I would agree, so Ami-chan won't think it's weird. The only problem: What thing are we taking them on?"

"…I don't suppose you care for ballet?"

"Ballet??"

"Look, it might actually entice our intellectuals and it's the only thing I can get tickets too on such late notice!"

"Who are you getting it from?" she asked suspiciously.

He blushed a bit. "My dad. He runs a theater and can usually get extra tickets for his family."

"All right, I'll talk to Ami-chan tomorrow, you take Zayn."

"Gotcha."

As quietly as they could, they slid from their hiding spots and went their separate ways.

"Ami-chan!"

Ami turned as she called her. "What is it, Rei-chan? You're going in the opposite direction of your school; you'll be late."

"I know, but I have to ask you now because I can't make it to the meeting tonight."

"Ask me what?" she repeated, obviously bewildered.

Rei crossed her fingers behind her back. "Look, Jayden had a friend that wanted to double date with him and he needed someone to go with. He looked so pathetic, nearly groveling when he asked me, that I agreed to go. It got me away from Yuuichirou who is annoying me to death."

Rei had made it common knowledge of her intense dislike of the hired help, who adored the ground she walked on. The only reason he hadn't booted him out was because he was actually a good worker and her grandfather was bizarrely attached to the man.

"So…what do you need to ask me about?"

"Okay, well the girl broke the date yesterday, two days before the show we were going to go to is scheduled."

"That would be…tomorrow?"

"Yeah. Since the guy said he was absentminded he gave the tickets to Jayden to hold on to for him. Now the guy won't come out of his room and Jayden has four tickets to this thing that he can't use unless two other people come and are too good to lose. So we thought you and Zayn might come with us?"

Ami tilted her head to one side and studied her. Rei felt herself getting nervous, her palms getting sweaty. She pleaded to all the gods that some amount of…stupidity, naivety, would rub off on the normally studious and aware intellectual.

"Why would ask me? If you needed a couple, which Zayn and I are not, you could ask Mako-chan and Neil. Or even Minako-chan and Kail or Usagi-chan and Mamoru-san."

"Well…we had thought of those, but then again, we didn't think this would appeal to them at all."

"Where are you going?"

Her fingers cramping because of how hard she had them crossed, she answered, "It's a ballet."

"I've never been to a ballet before," the girl murmured and Rei nearly crowed with success. Anything Ami never tried before and was offered to, she never turned down.

"But I've got to study."

Rei felt as if someone had punched her. Ami? Turn down something she'd never tried before that could be intellectually stimulating??

"But…but…you're our only hope! Usagi-chan would fall asleep five minutes into it, Minako-chan wouldn't understand it at all, and Mako-chan would be whispering about sparring techniques! You have to come!"

Ami sighed in hesitation. "I really don't know. Zayn and I aren't a couple."

That's precisely the reason we're doing this, numbskull! she thought. "Please, Ami-chan! I've never asked you for anything before this!"

"All right I give in. I'll go."

This time Rei really did crow with excitement. "Oh thank you, Ami-chan. I'll never forget this! Really!"

"Rei-chan?" the blue-haired girl interrupted. "If you don't hurry, you'll be late!"

Suddenly realizing the truth of that statement, Rei turned on her heel and sprinted full out in the other direction.

End Chapter 17.

Trying to get Ami-chan and Zayn together? Good luck, Rei-chan, Jayden!

Thank you for reading this far, peoples!