Part 9: Tense Situations

For CTRNikkiM,

because I know she'll get a kick out of the interaction between her fav characters in here

-January 5th, 2000-

"So, what does everybody plan on doing today?  We only have 4 days of Christmas vacation left, not including today," Serena said as she shoved a spoonful of cereal into her mouth.  The entire group of 18 warriors was gathered around the breakfast table, as they were every morning, enjoying their late breakfast.  They were all on Christmas vacation and Celia even took off work for two weeks so she could have a vacation with the rest of the Warriors.  And this Christmas had been especially interesting.  Having Margot and Julie there always made things interesting.  The future queen of the Universe and her twin sister had enough Christmas spirit for 10 people.  They were involved with everything: decorating the tree, the house, the front yard, their rooms and everyone else's rooms; they had been baking like crazy until they got to the point where they made too many cookies, so they started giving them away to friends.  The Mystical and Ronin Warriors figured that the two sisters had been so involved from Christmas because it was their first away from home.  They were trying to make up for not having their families there by making that Christmas extra special.  What everyone thought and the two didn't realize was that they had a family where they were: the other Universal Warriors.  In three and a half short months, the two girls had become part of the household, adding infinite supplies of spunk and excitement to the house.  There hadn't been a boring moment since Margot and Julie arrived.  Everyone seriously considered what Serena said.  It was an excellent question; what were they all going to do that day?  "Well," Raye said, "Most of us are going out today.  We're seeing a movie.  Which one, we don't know, but we'll decide when we get there."

"Michelle and I are going to practice for our upcoming concert.  We're going to be up on the fourth floor for most of the day in the practice rooms."

"But you know that's your favorite place in the house, Alex," Mia said, with a smile on her face.

"Yeah," Alex said, smiling at Michelle and taking her hand, "It is my favorite room."  Everyone stared at the couple, thinking about how perfect they were for each other.  They had never met two people more in love than Alex and Michelle.  "Well," Ami said, to get the focus off of a rapidly-becoming-embarrassed Alex and Michelle, "I think I'm going to go swimming today."  Everyone nodded.  Ami was pretty much healed from her experience a month ago and was almost back to her full strength.  She still tired out a little, but that was after a lot of physical activity.  No one had any problems with Ami going swimming…except for Rowen, who was still convinced that Ami shouldn't be exerting herself in any way.  Standing up and slamming his hands down on the table, he looked Ami straight in the eye and said, "No, you're not."

"Yes, I am," Ami said through gritted teeth.  She had had enough.  She liked Rowen and everything, but his constant hovering and worrying over her health was beginning to get on her nerves.  She needed a little space and some time to think and having him constantly around her was a strain on her nerves; she liked him so much that being around him was only making her like him more.  But, now, she was just mad at him; he was trying to control her life again.  She knew he was worried, but it wasn't his decision.

"No, you are not.  You're still recovering and shouldn't be doing anything physical until you've healed all the way."  Ami turned her gaze away and clenched one fist, standing up as well.

"I am going swimming and that's final.  You have no say over what I do.  You can't control my life, Rowen, and if I want to go swimming, then I'll go swimming.  I'm almost totally healed and swimming for 45 minutes isn't going to kill me, no matter what you think.  Just leave me alone."  Rowen's face took on a look of shock before hardening into a glare.

"Fine, I will," he said before turning around and stalking away from the table.  Ami eyed him quickly before turning around in a huff and walking the other direction.  Everyone stared in surprise at the now empty chairs that Ami and Rowen had previously occupied.  "I wonder what their problem is?" Heather asked.

"I don't know," Serena said, "But things between them seem to be a little tense lately."

"A little?" Sage asked, dumbfounded, "I've never seen Rowen so tense before.  He's started snapping at everything.  If it doesn't get resolved between those two, they're going to kill each other."

"Oh, they won't kill each other," Julie said with a grin on her face as she looked across the table at Margot.

"They would never kill each other," Margot said, smiling back.  Celia cleared her throat, getting the two girls attention.  Julie and Margot turned their heads to look at Celia, who was sitting next to them at the head of the table.  With one eyebrow raised, she gave the 16-year old girls a reprimanding look.  Julie and Margot both looked down at their laps and gave a muttered, "Sorry."  Celia smiled triumphantly before turning back to her breakfast.  That wasn't very fair of Celia, Julie told Margot.

Well, she had a right to.  We're not supposed to be spilling stuff about the future.  Remember what Dad said? Margot responded.  Julie inwardly flinched.

Yeah, I'd rather not get hit over the head with the sun staff.  That thing looks like it would hurt.  A lot.  Margot only smiled at Julie's revelation.  So, you finally figured that one out.  Bravo, Margot said teasingly.  Julie only stuck out her tongue slightly at Margot.  She would have stuck out her tongue all the way at Margot, but that would make the others suspicious as to why Julie was sticking her tongue out at Margot for no reason.  The two would have to think of a suitable cover up to avoid spilling about their telepathic link.  No one was supposed to know about that and Margot and Julie intended on keeping it that way.  The two girls had been so wrapped up in their own conversation that they failed to notice that Mina was asking them a question.  "Sorry Mina, what did you say?" Margot asked.

"I asked you what you were going to do today."

"We're going to hang out," Julie answered for Margot.

"Oh.  And what are you going to do while hanging out?" Mina asked.  Margot smirked.

"Oh, I don't know.  I'm sure Julie and I will be able to think of something."  Mina only sighed.

"I was afraid you'd say that."  Julie and Margot only smiled at each other before resuming eating their breakfast, as everybody else did, thoughts of Ami and Rowen's fight out of their minds.

***
Ami took in a deep breath as she stood facing the library doors.  She knew Rowen was in there and she knew she needed to apologize to him for yelling at him.  She shouldn't have overreacted like she did when she could have calmly told him that she was going to be ok and she knew what she was doing.  Her face settled into a look of determination before she opened the door and walked in.  Rowen was sitting in a chair by the fire, reading by the light of the fire and the one solitary lamp that was placed by the chair he was sitting in.   He looked like he was studying something because he was also taking notes on what he was reading.  Ami smiled gently, thinking about how cute he looked when he was concentrating, and walked over to stand by the chair.  "Hey, working hard?"  Rowen looked up at Ami and smiled at her.  He seemed to have cooled off since that morning.  Yeah, well I hope so.  I haven't talked to him since this morning, Ami thought.  "Hi Ami," Rowen said, putting his book and notes on the end table.  Ami glanced at the book and said, "Physics?  Oh, are you doing the physics homework she assigned over break?"

"No, I'm just getting ahead.  Did you want something Ami?"  Ami nodded and sat down on the couch that was perpendicular to the chair.

"Yeah, I did.  I wanted to talk to you."  Pausing, she took another deep breath and said, "Rowen, I'm sorry I blew up at you this morning.  It wasn't right of me and you didn't deserve it."

"Well, you know I only worry about you, Ami.  I just don't want you to get hurt again."

"Oh," Ami said, getting a little uncomfortable with where the subject was headed.  So, she changed its course.

"So, what were you studying?" Ami asked Rowen, which got him started off on the idea of a whole long physics theorem that he was saying had been proven correct.  Ami disagreed with him and told him so.  From there, it was up-hill battle.  It eventually got to the point where the two of them were yelling at each other but this time, there wasn't anybody there.  "That theory has never been proven to be correct!  I don't know why you keep saying it is!" Ami yelled at him; she was getting really annoyed with him.

"I keep saying it is because it has.  Haven't you been listening to a single word that I've said?" Rowen yelled back.

"I have been listening to you and the words coming out of your mouth make no sense!" Ami said, crossing her arms in front of her chest and turning her head away."  Rowen couldn't believe it.  This girl was infuriating him.  He loved her so much, but right now, he just wanted to strangle her.  Ami suddenly came down with a moment of pure genius and walked over to the bookshelf by the door and quickly scanned the title for a book.  "Ah ha!" she said as she pulled out a book and walked back over to where Rowen was, who was looking at her expediently, arms crossed over his chest and one eyebrow raised skeptically.  She opened the book and shoved it under Rowen's nose.  "How about that, Mr. Smarty-pants?" Ami said smugly.  Rowen took the book from her hands and quickly scanned the words on the page.  "See?  Look, it hasn't been proven."  Rowen only scoffed at her and turned to the front of the book, finding the copyright date and his mouth dropped open with surprise.  "You're basing your opinion on a book that was printed a year ago?  I don't believe you Ami; I expected better from you."  Ami glared at him and took a step closer to him.  "Well, do you have proof to prove me wrong, Rowen Hashiba?"

"Yeah, I do," he said, stepping closer as well.

"Oh yeah?" Ami taunted, moving a little bit closer.

"Yeah."  By this time, their face were literally centimeters apart.

"Then show it to me," she hissed through her teeth.

"I will," he retorted.  The tension between them was palpable and the room seemed to be crackling with it.  They glared at each other, trying to stare each other down, when something snapped.  All of the anger, tension, and passions; all the little touches and glances they'd been throwing at one another for the last year and a half; all of the feelings and emotions they felt for each other suddenly exploded into a fiery kiss that neither expected or wanted to stop.  His arms wrapped around her, one hand at the small of her back, bringing her closer to him until she was pressed up against his body completely and his other hand cradled her neck.  Her hands flew up to his head, her fingers tangling themselves in his hair.  The passion between them was unbelievable and neither Ami nor Rowen could believe what was happening.  Moments later, they broke apart and stared wide-eyed at each other, gauging the other's reaction.  Both were breathing heavily and had flushed cheeks; Ami's lips were slightly swollen from Rowen's kisses while Rowen's hair was a mess from when Ami tangled her fingers in it.  They couldn't say a word for words had failed them.  They didn't think there was anything to say.  Ami tried to say something, but fear froze her throat.  The feelings running through her were just too much for her and she had to get out of there.  "I'm sorry," she choked out, "I have to go."  She turned around and began walking away, leaving a defeated Rowen behind.  Rowen turned his back to Ami, not wanting to see her walk away from him, possibly forever.  I just ruined any chance of being with her.  I'm such an idiot, Rowen thought, tears forming in his eyes.  Ami, on the other hand, only got about 5 steps away when she stopped to think about what she was doing.  Is walking away the right thing?  Am I really that scared of being with Rowen? Ami asked herself as she stood there, thinking about her relationship with Rowen.  She had never felt as good as she felt when she was with Rowen.  She loved being in his company and had been waiting for the two of them to kiss for the longest time.  She loved him more than words could say.  "Then why are you walking away from him?" a little voice in her head asked her.

I don't know.  I'm just scared, I guess.  What if I get hurt?  What if he leaves me?

"Take a chance, Ami.  That's what love's about.  Taking risks and baring your soul.  You'll regret it if you don't turn around and go back to him."  For once, Ami decided to listen to that little voice.  Turning around, she looked at Rowen, who had his back to her.  She noticed how his shoulders slumped in defeat and noticed how heartbroken he looked.  Rowen noticed that Ami hadn't left yet and turned to look at her to find her looking at him.  The moment he turned to her, Ami made her decision.  She saw the look in his eyes; the passion, the lust, the admiration, the hopefulness, she saw everything in his eyes and behind all those things, she saw the one thing she longed for the most out of everything: the love.  The love she saw shining in his eyes touched her soul and she knew her heart had ruled out over her mind, which was telling her to walk away.  Walking towards him with a purpose, she pulled him down and kissed him firmly, her hands cradling his face.  His arms wrapped around her and Ami noticed to things: one was that the hands that held her were trembling and the other was the lone tear that hit her thumb as it rested on his face.  Ami felt her whole being become overwhelmed with emotion as she realized what she almost gave away.  Rowen at that moment was amazed that Ami was still there; maybe he hadn't lost her yet.  Passionately kissing, he backed her up until her back hit the wall.  Reaching over blindly, he closed the open door and locked it.  Moving away from her lips, he began planting small kisses on her neck.  In between doing that, he said, "There's only one key to this door, right?"

"Right," Ami said, breathless from the sensations that were coursing through her body.

"And where would this key be?"

"In my pocket."  Rowen pulled back and looked down at her with a smile on his face.

"Good," he said before capturing her lips into another kiss and smiled inwardly as she kissed him back.  They maneuvered their way over to the couch in front of the fire and Ami pushed him so he was sitting on the couch and she climbed on top of him, straddling his legs.  They continued kissing like that and hands started roaming.  Ami's hands ventured underneath Rowen's shirt, pushing it up and removing it; she would have ripped it off if she had to.  Ami's hands moved up his arms and down his chest lightly, causing Rowen to shiver.  Ami had somehow taken complete control of the situation.  Then again, I think she's had control from the start, Rowen thought absently as they continued to kiss.  Rowen noticed that Ami's hands had flown up to the collar of her blouse and she started unbuttoning the buttons.  Rowen pulled away and looked up at Ami, who now had the height advantage because she was sitting on his legs.  "Ami, are you sure you want to do this?" Rowen asked, giving her one last out because after this, there was no turning back.  She looked him straight in the eyes.

"Rowen, I've never been so sure of anything in my life.  And don't worry about protection.  I can use my power to control some of my bodily functions and that happens to be one of them."

"Are you sure?" Rowen asked.

"I'm sure.  If I don't want it to happen, it won't," Ami said before grinning at him.

"Now, are you going to shut up and kiss me or not?"  Rowen only smiled at her before kissing her once more, more passionately than ever before.  As the two of them kissed and more clothes started disappearing, the new couple found themselves lost in a sea of their memories…

***
Princess Ami felt a hand grab her and pull her into a small alcove, drawing her away from the party.  The other Princesses had managed to disappear and Ami had been alone until now.  Looking at the figure who grabbed her, Ami smiled broadly as she recognized him as Prince Rowen of Strata, a prince of one of the kingdoms on earth.  She had met him while looking for Princess Serena, who was with Prince Darien, brother to her cousin's wife.  He was one of King Ryo's guards and she fell in love with him at first sight, even though she was already engaged to Cairngorm and he was engaged to Labradorite, two generals that served Prince Darien and Princess Mia.  "I was beginning to wonder where you were," she said, "If I didn't find you soon, I was going to start looking for you."  Rowen only smirked at her and pulled her close to him.  "Don't worry about finding me.  I'll always be able to find you no matter what."  He leaned down to kiss her and she reveled in the feeling.  Rowen smiled inwardly as he kissed the beautiful women in his arms.  He too had fallen in love with her immediately and he couldn't believe that he had never met her before with her being the princess of Mercury and protector of Princess Serena.  Surely he would have met her when Princess Serena met up with King Ryo, but he must have missed her.  They pulled away and looked at each other.  "This is so wrong…" Ami started.

"But feels so right at the same time," Rowen finished.  She nodded and looked into his piercing blue eyes, eyes that she could just drown in.  Running the back of his hand down her face gently, he gave her a soft smile and whispered, "I love you."  Ami looked up at him with tears in her eyes and whispered, "I love you too," before reaching up to kiss him.  They both knew from that moment that no matter what, they would love each other forever. 

***
Ami smiled as she looked down at the floor by the couch that she and Rowen were lying on.  She saw all of their clothes carelessly strewn all over the place and snuggled deeper into Rowen's arms.  He felt her moving closer and tightened his hold on her waist and kissed her bare shoulder.  They were having a nice peaceful moment, laying together, wrapped up in a blanket in front of the fire, each of them beginning to accept the memories they received of the Silver Millennium and finding that they actually liked it.  They had always known that there was a special connection between them, but never knew what it was before.  Rowen looked down at Ami and pushed a strand of hair out of her face, caressing her face tenderly at the same time.  Ami turned and looked up at him with a smile on her face.  She took in his thoughtful look and her brow crinkled in confusion.  "What are you thinking about?"  Rowen gave her a soft smile before saying, "I was just thinking…this isn't how I wanted it to happen."

"Then what did you want?" she asked, thinking that Rowen was beginning to regret what happened.

"To give you what you deserve," Rowen said simply, "To take you out to a nice restaurant and eat dinner with you under the stars.  Then take you back to a really nice room and make slow, passionate love to you in a bed with silk and satin in front of a blazing fire."  Rowen stopped on his little tirade and shrugged slightly.  "Like I said, what you deserve."  Giggling slightly, Ami reached behind her neck and took off her necklace that had her parents' wedding rings on it.  Taking off her father's ring, a simple gold band, she said, "Rowen, give me your hand."  Rowen did and she slid the ring on his left ring finger.  Rowen looked at the ring on his hand in shock and said to her, "I thought you were going to give this to the guy you were going to spend the rest of your life with?"

"I know," she said tenderly, "He's wearing it."  Rowen looked at her, shocked, and asked, "Are you serious?"  She nodded.

"Yes, I'm serious Rowen.  Think about the memories we got back.  Our souls have been together for over a thousand years.  I've never been so serious about anything in my entire life."  Rowen smiled and Ami looked at him confused when he pulled the chain with her mother's ring out of her hand.  He looked down at the ring as he removed it from the chain.  It was a beautiful silver ring with a small sapphire surrounded by tiny diamonds.  The ring was delicate and perfect for Ami.  Smirking at her, he took her hand and placed the ring at her finger.  Pushing a lock of blue hair away from her forehead, he said, "I love you, Ami Mizuno."

"I love you too, Rowen Hashiba," She said before their lips met again briefly.  Breaking off their kiss, Ami and Rowen made themselves comfortable on the couch before drifting off to sleep.

***

"Um, where are Ami and Rowen?" Kento asked later that evening at dinner.  The two still hadn't shown up yet and everybody was getting worried.  "Maybe they killed each other," Ryo said, just trying to think up a solution.  Everybody started talking about where Ami and Rowen could be and Margot and Julie sat there, deep in thought, when it suddenly came to them where the two were.  Their eyes going wide, Margot and Julie stood up and immediately walked out of the dining room.  "Hey, where are you going?" Lita asked, "Dinner hasn't even started yet!"

"We're going to find Ami and Rowen.  We think we know where they are," Margot said.  They got about two steps out of the dining room when they both froze.  Julie turned around and walked back into the dining room, headed for Serena's chair.  "Um, Serena, do you have an extra key to the library?"

"Yeah, it's in the kitchen in the black box on the counter."

"Thank you," Julie said before running into the kitchen.  She emerged a few moments later with a key in her hand and she ran over to Margot.  "Ok, now we can go."  The two of them ran off, leaving everyone else confused.  "I wonder what that was all about," Sage asked.

"Who knows," Raye responded, "But it was a little weird."

"That describes Julie and Margot," Cye said, "A little weird."  The entire table only chuckled, knowing how true it was.

***
Margot and Julie stopped in front of the library doors.  Julie put her hand to the doorknob and turned it gently, finding that it was locked.  "Just like I thought," Julie muttered, "They locked it.  That confirms it; they're together Margot."

"Well, that's one out of 5 together," Margot said.  Julie smiled.

"Do you want to knock or should I?" she said.

"I think you should knock.  I don't like the idea of interrupting them.  Especially considering what they were doing," Margot said a light blush creeping up onto her face.

"Silly Margot," Julie said before forming her hand into a fist and pounding on the door several times.  Margot and Julie both laughed as they heard yells of surprise and loud thuds that sounded like two people hitting the floor.  "What?" Rowen yelled through the library doors.

"It's me," Julie said.

"And me," Margot chimed in.

"We know you and Ami are in there together.  We came down here because you two are 20 minutes late to dinner and I'm coming in there in 30 seconds whether you're dressed or not.  We know what you've been doing in there, you two."  From where they were, Margot and Julie could hear the loud whispers.

"How did they know?"

"I don't know.  They're part of the Oracle Warriors.  Maybe they just know because of their power."

"Well, whatever it is, I wish they didn't know."  Margot became impatient; their thirty seconds were up.  "If you don't hurry up, we'll bring Mina down here and I don't think you want that.  Can you imagine what would happen if she found out?"

"Alright, we're coming in," Julie said, unlocking the door.

"How can you?" Ami said, "You don't have a…"  Ami trailed off as Julie opened the door and held the key up in her hand.

"Key," Ami finished.

"Where did you get that key?" Rowen asked, wearing only his boxers and his jeans.

"Serena made a copy of the library key and she gave it to us.  It came in handy just now," Margot said.

"When did Serena get so smart?" Ami asked.  Margot and Julie only shrugged.  Margot said, "But to keep you happy, we'll keep this copy so no one will be able to get in and you're secret will be safe.  You don't intend on telling anyone that you two are together, right?"  Ami and Rowen nodded.

"We want to keep this a secret between the 4 of us," Rowen said.

"Oh, and Celia," Julie chimed in.

"Celia knows?" Ami and Rowen asked.

"Celia knows everything," Margot said, "Even if you don't want her to, she knows it all.  But she won't tell.  She's really good at that."

"Ok, well, as long as you two don't tell anyone," Ami said, finishing buttoning up her shirt, "I think we'll be ok."

"Great!" Margot said, "Now come on and let's get back to dinner.  I'm hungry!"  The group headed over to the dining room and when they entered, everyone turned to look at them.  "Well, they finally decide to arrive," Mina said, a smirk on her face.  "What were you doing anyway?" Mina asked.

"We were researching," Rowen said, making it up as he went along, "And didn't hear the call for dinner."

"What were you researching?" Sage asked.

"Oh, just some physics stuff," Rowen said as he sat down on the right side of Sage.

"Oh," Sage said simply.  Ami took the seat that was across from Rowen and after Julie and Margot sat down in their original places, dinner began. 

***
After dinner, the Universal Warriors sat in the living room, relaxing after dinner.  They rarely had the chance to relax like they were doing at that moment, so they were all savoring the moment while it lasted.  "Ah, this is nice," Lita said, "Getting to have a moment to relax.  It's practically heaven."  The group agreed and Serena cringed; she had some bad news to bear.  "Well, Lita, I hate to have to disappoint you, but duty calls.  There's a monster attack in the middle of the city and we have to go kill it."  Lita sighed disappointingly.  "Why did you have to tell me that?  Why do you have to have the ability to sense when a monster is attacking Tokyo?"  Serena shrugged, getting up from her seat.

"I don't know.  But consider us lucky that I do or else we'd be losing a lot of lives."  The group ran out the front door, where they all transformed, and headed towards the fight, running as fast as they could, which was pretty fast.  Once they reached the scene of the battle, they saw two rather ugly looking monsters that resembled cavemen.  "Yuck!" Serena exclaimed at first sight, "Where did those things come from?  The ice age?"  No one offered an answer and prepared to fight.  The monsters spotted the warriors and triumphant looks spread over their faces; they had been sent by Almandine to find the Universal Warriors and they had.  Now they could kill them.  The monsters launched themselves into an attack and the Universal Warriors countered; the monsters were extremely outnumbered and there was no way they could win.  The group created a haphazard circle around the monsters, trying to overwhelm them.  One of the monsters, obviously the smarter of the two, noticed how outnumbered it and its companion were and panicked, throwing its weapon aside.  Ami watched wordlessly as the weapon flew out of the monster's hand and then realized where it was headed.  It was aimed straight for Rowen's head.  "Rowen!  Duck!" Ami cried out, trying to warn Rowen of the impending assault.  Rowen's brow furrowed and looked up at the sky.  "What?  Where?" he said.  He obviously thought the wrong kind of duck and was immediately whacked in the head with the monster's weapon, which was a big club.  Rowen went down and Ami rushed for him, leaving everyone else to take care of the monsters.  Kneeling beside him, she turned him onto his back and took off his helmet.  "Rowen, are you ok?" she asked tenderly, shaking his armored form slightly.  He opened his closed eyes and looked up at her with puzzlement.  "Ami," he asked slowly, "When did you get a twin sister?"  Ami chuckled.

"I never had a twin sister, Rowen.  You're just seeing double."  Rowen's face broke out into a look of realization.

"Oh, well that's good.  I don't think I could love two of you; I wouldn't be able to choose."  Ami giggled at him and ran a gloved hand through his hair.  Shadows covered Rowen's body and Ami looked up to see Margot and Julie approaching, both of them still fully armored.  "Uh," Margot said nervously, "I hate to break up this little cute and tender scene, but the other's just destroyed the monster and are coming over here."
"Yeah," Julie agreed, "You might wanna break up the cute and cuddly stuff, seeing how as you two don't want the others to know."  Ami and Rowen nodded in understanding and as Julie and Margot moved away, Ami helped Rowen make his way into a sitting position.  From a distance, Serena was looking on at the two with a suspicious look on her face.  I wonder what's going on between those two?  They seem really close now and don't seem to be fighting anymore.  In fact, it's almost like she's being really tender with him.  What happened between those two today? Serena thought as she walked over to where Ami and Rowen were.  "Hey, are you ok?" she asked as she approached the two.  They looked up at her and Rowen responded.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Rowen said, "I just got hit on the head too hard and was seeing double for about 30 seconds."

"Well, that's good," Serena said, "As long as you're essentially unharmed.  Lucky for you, you have that helmet to help protect any hard blows to the head, like that last one.  If you didn't have that helmet, you would have been knocked out cold."  Rowen chuckled.

"Yeah, I agree," Rowen said.  Ami picked Rowen's helmet up off of the ground and handed it to him.

"Here you go," she said.  He smiled his thanks, which caused her to smile back, and put on his helmet, rising to his feet slowly with the support of Ami and Serena.  Once the group had gathered together, Serena said, "Are we ready to go home?"  No one had a chance to answer before they heard a high, feminine laugh.  Looking around, the Universal Warriors saw nothing but then right in front of them, a portal opened up and a woman stepped out.  Her long, reddish-black hair flowed behind her and her dark burgundy eyes sparkled with malice.  She was short, only about 5'2" and was wearing an outfit much like the Generals that the girls faced when they were in their Sailor Scout form, but this woman's outfit was a dark red.  Ami's eyes widened as she recognized the woman standing in front of her and she shivered as she remembered where she had seen her before; this woman was the same person who tortured Ami when she had been captured by Metallia.  "I must say you all are pretty impressive.  But none of you have power the equal of Queen Metallia's.  You are weaklings compared to her."

"Who are you?" Sage asked. 

She smiled and said, "My name is Almandine and I loyally serve the great Queen Metallia."  She smiled evilly before changing the subject back to what she had been talking about.  "Let me tell you this: You may have won this battle, but the war is far from over and that you will never be able to win."  With that, Almandine disappeared into the portal she appeared from, leaving the Universal Warriors in shock.  "So, that's one of Metallia's generals," Darien said, "She looks familiar to me; I think she was involved in the Silver Millennium, but I'm not sure."

"I think she is too," Mia said, "I remember her from somewhere, but I don't know where."

"Well, if she's one of Metallia's generals, then she's in the same league as Malachite or Jedite," Serena said, "Which means they shouldn't be much of a problem for all of us.  But, now is not the time for business.  Let's go home and get some rest; we all deserve it."  The group detransformed and began walking home.  Ami and Rowen trailed the group and, when no one was looking, Rowen grabbed Ami's hand.  She smiled at him and held onto his hand.  Rowen gave Ami a wide smile before turning to face the road in front of him.  By the time they got home, Rowen was still holding Ami's hand; he hadn't let go of it once.

**********

Hey guys, sorry this took so long.  I've had a hellish week, what with three master classes and four shows, a geology test and many other assorted projects and work. But it's only been a week!  Anyway, there's a new chapter for you guys.  So, review, please!!  We would love to hear what you think of any and all recent developments, even if you hated it, k?  Alright, I've got to go now.  ~DestinyBabe