TO GO, PLEASE
Chapter 7: Ice-capped Revelations
Rating: PG
Author: Adrial
E-mail: adrial06yahoo.com
TO GO, PLEASE
DISCLAIMER: Don't own it, don't want it.
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"They did say six, right?" Minako peered through the
dense crowd of skaters in search of four, attractive college
sophmores with an anxious frown on her lips.
"Yeah, we're probably early or something."
I tried to control my eyes from apprehensively searching
through the mass of people as well. Flurries of snow caressed
my face like whispers, drifting away before I could even
acknowlege their presence, and I longed to feel the chill of
the ice like warmth from a fire.
"Who are we waiting for, again?" Mamoru inquired, his
arm tucked around Usagi's.
Makoto's eyes flashed to Minako's, and she, in turn,
peered up at Rei. Rei scoffed and flipped a lock of raven away
from her eyes, lacing up her final skate.
"Some friends of Ami's current love interest," She said
matter-of-factly.
Mamoru quirked an eyebrow at me. Usagi giggled from his
arm, idly watching toddlers stumble across the ice, holding
hands as if their tiny lives depeneded on it.
"Ami has a love interest?" He asked.
"Mamo-chan! Don't interrogate her!" Usagi scolded,
obviously missing the hipocracy behind her comment.
Mamoru held up his hands in defense, taking a step
backwards, "Alright, alright, I can take a hint."
Minako stood up, skating perfect 360's around the
couple, her cerulean eyes flitting over the crowd again.
Usagi watched her twirl with glassy eyes. "Minako,
you're making me dizzy."
Minako stopped skating but her eyes did not cease
their search.
The lake was a blur of color as children and adults
skated around one another in some sort of unintentional,
non-choreographed waltz.
"Come ON, Mamo-chan! I want to skate." Usagi tugged
Mamoru's arm roughly, and we laughed at his pleading stare
before he was dragged away and their forms melded into the
swirl of skaters.
I sighed, pushing my fingers through my gloves.
Minako put on her blue, cotton ski hat, smoothing out her
golden tresses and patting her coat free of snow flakes.
Makoto squeaked from beside me, launching herself out
of the way as a squealing five year old and her father
breezed past her hazardously with an apologetic wave.
If only Dad were here... I thought, watching
the pair fly by.
Huh? What would I want him here for?
I shook my head and laced up my final skate. As
much as I willed them not to, memories of my father and
I skating together rushed into my vision like a barrage
of painful thorns.
"Hey, Ami-chan, you OK?" Makoto must have seen my eyes
glaze over.
"Um, yeah, it's just...you know," I smiled reassuringly
and stood.
She offered an empathetic smile in return. I remembered
the night I'd spent telling the senshi all about my father after
he visited me. They understood, having been deprived of certain
elements of family just as I had.
When Minako's mother and father had returned to England
after her graduation, Minako had been launched into a non-parentally
guided world before she could barely grasp the concept. She'd been
managing, though--years of juggling acting and modeling along with
senshi duties had taught her, as it did us all, of responsiblity
and dependability. Minako was ecstatic when Makoto offered to
share her apartment with her, saving her from renting a dorm
room with a complete stranger.
Although, Makoto nearly revoked her offer when she caught
Minako drying her clothes in the microwave rather than bulldozing
her way through two feet of snow to the dry cleaners.
Makoto, of course, lost her parents at the ripe age of 12,
being forced to enter her akward teenage years without maternal
influence, save for a picture and journal discovered later in a
discarded box social workers had left sitting in her mother's
bedroom the day they took her away to the "Home".
Rei had "all the family she'd ever need", she'd told us
that night--her grandfather, who had been the only parent she'd known
since infancy, and us, the senshi.
Usagi rarely saw her parents, not that they weren't
close, but life seemed to wedge itself deeper into what little
time together they could share, causing a giant rift in the
communication department.
I remembered then, as I stood on the slippery ice,
felt the biting wind whipping at my face and the clean
smell of snow, my father's face, his smile, and the strong
hand that held my own as we skated our winters away together.
Makoto put her hand on my shoulder and squeezed.
Before I could say anything, a loud yelp cut off my thoughts.
"Hey, ass hole! That wasn't funny!" Kyle slipped and slid
over the surface of the ice clumsily, while Zach stood back
red-faced and trying to control his wild laughter.
"I would really have to disagree, K-kyle," At this point his
laughs bubbled out from his mouth freely.
"When I get up, I'm going to kick your-whoa!"
Kyle's legs wavered again and he fell down.
"That's if you ever do get up," Zach was skating around him.
Kyle sighed and laid flat on the ice, "Remind me why
I'm doing this again."
"For the children," Minako, her cheeks reddened from
the chill, bent over him and offered him a gloved hand
while giggling openly.
His shocked expression coupled with pure embarrassment
caused a great show. He tried to stand so abruptly that his
legs flipped out from under him. Minako grabbed on to him to
steady his thrashing body but was only tugged down beside him.
They ended up in a mass of blonde hair and tangled limbs on the ice.
"Could we get a little help here, minna-chan?" She nodded
in Kyle's direction, and, after stifling our giggles, Makoto and I
helped them up.
Kyle accepted our hands reluctantly, and stood, dusting
the ice shavings from his jacket. He turned to Minako.
"This doesn't take away any of my masculinity points does it?"
"Of course not," She smiled and took his hand.
He ingored the fact that her hand was the only thing keeping
his body from crashing to the ice again.
"Man, Kyle, you looked like a disoriented penguin flapping
around like that!" Matt grabbed his knees and bent over
laughing loudly.
Kyle growled softly and turned to his cackling friend.
With one swift kick, Matt was laying dumbfounded on the ice.
"Hey, that was a cheap shot!" He pouted from his position
(ass firmly planted) on the ground.
Kyle smirked and turned to face me. He leaned near my ear
and whispered, "It's about time you got here. Zach was driving himself
crazy wondering where you were."
I didn't bother to hide my blush and laughed at his wink.
"And like you weren't knocking down everyone near you
while you were looking for Minako, Kyle," Jason dodged Kyle's fist
and spun around to Rei.
"Hey, Rei, didja miss me?" He flashed a toothy grin at her.
Rei cocked an eyebrow, "If I say 'yes' will you promise to
leave me alone?" Her arms were crossed in a 'don't-even-think-about-
touching-me' way.
"I dunno, you're kinda cute when you're annoyed," Jason
bravely put his arm around her shoulders.
After Rei swatted away his arm, shoved him roughly out
of her way, and skated into the crowd, he sighed.
"She wants me SO bad."
With that said, he set off, hot on her trail.
"Matt, your friend doesn't know what he's getting himself
into. I've seen Rei put guys in the hospital that even looked at
her the wrong way." Makoto was helping Matt stand.
"Nah, it's just ego. He's not used to chicks--GIRLS," He
immediately corrected his blunder after seeing Makoto's look
of contempt, "turning him down."
Makoto rewarded him with a pearly grin.
I felt Zach's eyes on me even before he said anything.
There go those damn butterflies.
"Hey, Ami-chan."
I skated around Makoto and Matt and stopped in front of him.
"Hey," I waited for a moment of awkward silence.
"So..."
"So..."
"Do you like kids?" I swore I saw him wince after he said that.
"Um...yeah, they're great." As I mentally visioned the God of
Conversation hurtling lightening bolts at my head, I swallowed and fought
for something to say that wasn't completely dense.
"INCOMING!!"
BOOM.
"Oof! Usagi?" I felt the freezing surface of the
ice seeping through my jeans, and I propped myself up on my elbows.
Usagi was laying face-down beside me, panting.
"S-sorry, Ami-chan. This skating thing is a lot harder
than it looks, did you know that?" She reached to help me up.
"Are you okay, Ami?" Zach looked impossibly cute when he was worried.
"Yeah, I'm fine," I tucked back a lock of hair.
"Usa, why don't we go see what..uh...Minako's doing?" Mamoru
nodded in another direction.
"But why do you wan-"
"Come on," He pulled her away and winked at me.
What is it with all the winks?
When they zoomed (or stumbled, in Usagi's case) off, Zach
and I remained standing. The intense case of timidity I was suffering
from irked me to no end. Zach stared at his skates, surprisingly having
lost some of the earlier confidence I'd noticed in him, and I fiddled
with my gloves.
Oh, this is insane. I have to do something.
With a burst of...something, I grabbed his hand,
said 'Let's go', and skated out into the crowd.
I can't believe I did that. Oh well, too late now.
For the first few moments we skated in stride together,
I reveling in the feeling of the ice swiftly passing beneath
my feet, and he holding my hand firmly.
"So how long have you loved ice-skating?" He smiled down at me.
"Is it that obvious?" I asked.
"Well, I'm guessing that huge grin on your face is only
partly because of me," He touched the corner of my mouth
which was surprisingly curved upward.
I laughed slightly and blushed.
"My dad used to take me skating all the time when I
was younger," I took on a faraway look in my eyes and turned
to the sea of gliding people swarming around us.
"Do you still go together?" His question was so
innocent; I knew it was coming, but I still felt unprepared.
I ignored the burning sensation in my eyes and throat
and turned to him.
"No...he's not really a part of my life anymore,"
A slight pressure in my hand indicated his small squeeze of
understanding, and I let the wave of excitement pass over me.
He's making me feel so--Oh, God, I think I might be
falling for him.
The realization hit me like a giant tsunami of fear
and apprehension. How could this happen? What about...But
I couldn't possibly be in--no, no this is impossible.
How could I have let myself develop feelings for him?
I tried to keep my face completely devoid of any emotion as all
of my insecurities and fears came rushing into my mind like excess
baggage I'd forgotten existed.
Urawa's face...his words...everything that I'd vowed to
move on from lurched themselves back into my thoughts. The hand
which had felt before so warm and comfortable sitting in my
own suddenly seemed to laden with fire.
"Um...I-I have to go," Without turning back to see his
reaction, I weaved my way across the ice haphazardly.
The ancient bench I sat on squeaked underneath my weight as I
hurriedly removed my skates, replaced them with my shoes and
rose quickly.
I can't fall in love with him. He'll leave me...
just like everyone else.
My tears froze in my eyes before they could fall,
and soft, white snowflakes burned the skin on my neck and cheeks.
I turned my face towards the heavens and let the shower of white
fall onto me in a frozen blanket of hollow comfort.
I can't do it. I can't. I repeated to myself over
and over again, engraving it into my mind so that it played
repetitively like a broken record.
My hands weren't quick enough to wipe away the tears
that slipped out of my eyes sneakily and trailed rapidly down
my numb cheeks. I gave up on them and continued down the path
I'd stumbled upon.
The heavy weight of a tree supporting my own barely
registered in my mind as I leaned against it heavily.
I didn't feel the weight of a tree supporting my own
as I sat there, nor did I hear when he approached me.
Zach's warm hand brushed against my moist skin like fire, but I
remained still, silently gazing at the wintery scene before me.
The words that poured from my mouth in a bitter stream carried
thousands of memories of the many years of pain that I'd put aside for
so long--perhaps too long, I thought silently to myself.
"My father used to say that I would always be his
little angel--that he would always be here with me," I let
out a choked laugh, "And I actually believed him."
Numbly, I turned to face him. The look on his face
seemed so different. I never remembered being looked at like
that before. I wasn't sure if I wanted him to look at me with
those eyes--those eyes that held feelings that I couldn't
decipher...or just didn't want to.
"Urawa said the same things before he left...but I was
naïve then. I thought that nothing could hurt me."
His eyes flashed, but I spoke before he could, turning my
head back to the falling snow in front of me.
The sky continued to cry sheets of frozen tears around us, and
they fell faster with each second.
"Sometimes I wonder what I did that was so wrong that they
didn't want me anymore. I tried working harder in school to impress
my father, but he kept away still. I used to blame my mother for...
for taking him away, but in the end I knew it was because of...me."
I was forced to stop talking as a new rush of tears fell from
my unsteady eyes and splashed soundlessly against the frozen earth.
He reached for my arms and pulled me to him.
"It wasn't your fault, Ami-chan. You didn't do anything wrong."
He gripped my shoulders firmly and turned my chin to face him.
"You don't have to be afraid."
I reluctantly looked in his eyes, and they conveyed his feelings
more clearly than if they were flashing in neon.
"I...I can't," I shook my head, tears flying off of my
cheeks.
He rubbed a few stray beads of moisture from my face, and
I silently wished he would just walk away and take his sincere
gazes with him.
"Ami-chan," He said, barely above a whisper, "I won't leave you."
I won't leave you...
His last words gripped me in a place that had not been
touched for what seemed like forever. Like a long forgotten
treasure stashed away for years, my heart shook off a layer of dust
and cracked open slightly, yawning from its long, dormant sleep
and yearning to believe.
But Urawa had said those same words.
Immediately, my heart snapped shut again, fleeing to hide
in the vacant space of my soul. I would not be hurt again.
"Don't...don't say that," I said, shaking my head slowly.
His grip on my shoulders tightened, "Ami-chan, I am not
going to leave to you."
More lies.
"Don't say that to me!" I shook his hands off of my shoulders,
and stood up, infuriated by his words, although not completely
sure why anymore. It was so much easier to ignore them, though.
Zach stood and grabbed my arm, pulling me into his embrace
before I could protest. It was so warm in his arms. I felt my
insides churn angrily as his warmth interfered with their
frozen barriers.
"Ami-chan, I won't lie to you. I could never lie to
you," His words were soft--a contrast to the harsh winds that
whipped around us, tousling our hair.
For a moment, I contemplated them, their meaning, and
their sincerity. I stared at his face intensely.
And I saw him, for the first time, in a different
light--not with my eyes, but with my heart.
There was truth in his words, affection in his gentle
embrace, and love in his eyes.
It was too much for my weakened heart to handle.
"Ami-chan, I know that you're afraid," He cradled my head
gently, and I closed my eyes, "But...I can't ignore my feelings
for you."
"Please don't...I can't handle anymore," I was pleading,
my watery eyes begging for him to stop.
"If you need time, I'll understand," He brushed a
falling tear from my cheek, "When you're ready...I'll be
here for you."
I wasn't sure what happened then. I felt a surge of fire
shooting down my spine and the most blissful feeling in my heart as
I lifted a shaky hand to the ghost of his lips on my cheek.
My brain screamed words of reason more adamantly than
before, reminding me of the pain I'd been dealt. It was easy
to believe it and disregard my heart's weak pulse, which desperately
urged me to trust again.
He gazed at me one more time, a shadow of regret tinging the
irises of his eyes, before turning to walking away.
Don't let him leave, Ami
I didn't know who whispered that in my ear, but I
didn't care. Without another thought I walked the short distance
to him and stood inches from his back.
"I..."
One last chance to turn back, Ames.
"I believe you."
Zach stopped walking and turned around. He didn't
speak for a moment--just stood there with snow lashing
around him, and stared at me.
I took a step forward, and looked into his eyes steadily.
"I believe you, Zach."
And it was true.
"I was hoping you would," He finally said, his lips
curving into a smile that left me dazed for a few seconds.
I fell into his arms willingly, and didn't fight the emotions
that swirled in my heart from his touch.
This is right.
I had no idea how long we remained standing in
each other's embrace, nor did I care. I found a place I
could never find anywhere else in his arms.
He loosened his grip on me. I could feel the
snow which had before blown fiercly against our faces
soften to a light flurry.
My chin tingled when he touched it, bringing it
upward again.
"Ami," His lips were dangerously close to mine,
and I could feel the foggy cloud of his breath against my mouth,
"Can I kiss you?"
Fresh tears streamed along my cheeks from behind my eyes.
They were no longer sad, but joyful and relieved.
I didn't bother answering him and met his lips
half-way. The rush of pure bliss that resulted in his lips
against mine shocked me senseless. In reality, I didn't need my
senses to know that its feeling rivaled any other I'd ever
experienced.
His lips were cold against mine at first, warming as our
kiss deepened. A blanket of sercurity surrounded me, and when
we seperated I ignored the brief pang of loss that shot
through my heart.
"You know...I've been wanting to do that for a long
time now," He said, smiling.
I could hardly make out his outline as the night grew
steadily darker.
I laughed softly and felt something brush against
my leg. It startled me, causing me to gasp and grip
Zach's neck tighter.
"You okay?" He asked.
"Um, yeah, it must have been a rabbit or something,
sorry about that," I blushed sheepishly at my action and
stepped back.
He drew me closer, "Actually, I kinda like it better
this way."
I felt myself swirling into a puddle of some amorphous
mixture of giddiness and sublime happiness.
"We'd better go find the others before they start to
get worried," I said after a while, suddenly aware of the burning
of my reddened ears and nose.
Every fiber of my being begged to stay in that position,
but it was getting late, but I had little desire for four angry
senshi to be on my back.
He rested his forehead on mine, "Do we have to?"
I laughed, and kissed him lightly, "Unless you want
four extremely agitated friends of mine to hunt us down."
"I could take 'em," He said, kissing me fully.
I broke from his lips, laughing, and took his hand,
"I wouldn't bet on that if I were you."
He gasped, "Do you question my ability to kick ass?"
I answered him with a stream of laughter.
It seemed ironic how only minutes before, I had been
gripped with such anger and frustration.
But Zach would stay.
And I trusted him.
"Ami-chan, where were you? We were starting to wor--"
Makoto eyed Zach and my locked hands and raised her eyebrows, "But
I can see that your fine now."
Zach squeezed my hand gently, and my heart swelled.
I was a little more than 'fine' at the moment...
"Well, now that we're all together why don't we go
get some food? I'm starving after all that skating," Usagi jumped to
her feet.
"What skating, Usagi? You spent most of the night falling
on your as-ouch! Minako!" Rei glared at her.
"Come on, Rei-chan, why can't we all just get along?"
Minako flashed a goofy smile, turned, and followed a pouting Usagi
to the street.
I let go of Zach's hand and returned his smile.
God, how I did not want to leave at that moment.
Mamoru opted to stay behind with the guys, leaving behind
Usagi who had begrudgingly agreed.
As I trailed off behind my friends, I caught a bit
of the guys' converstation.
"So, Zach, what were you and Ami up to?"
I could almost see Jason's devious grin.
"None of your business, Jay. You know I'm kinda
hungry too, maybe we shou-"
"Nuh uh, man, you're not getting off that easy."
"Don't you have your own issues to worry about, Matt?"
"Obviously, NO."
"Zachary Braudell, it hurts me deeply that
you would keep such information from your own cousin,"
"Give it up, Jason. You just don't want us to ask
about that nice little red hand print on your cheek," Kyle's
deep voice was thick with humor.
"Jason got bitch-slapped by Rei?" Matt laughed loudly,
"Finally crossed the line, huh?"
"Oh, come on. She is so into me! I just have to
get past this little 'touch-me-and-die' phase...
As their voices trailed off, I smiled to myself and tuned
back into the girls' conversation, now led by a fuming Rei.
"...and he had the nerve to try to kiss me! Ooh that
little testosterone driven, overly egotistical, cocky bast--"
"Rei-chan, give him a chance. He obviously likes you,
and you're just being stubborn as usual," Minako twirled a lock of her
golden hair between her fingers and had a far-off look in her eyes.
Rei glared at her, "Whatever. So what if he's maybe a little
bit cute. That doesn't mean I'm going to just fall to my knees and beg
for him to ask me out," Rei threw a handful of change at the vendor's
open palm and grabbed the hot chocolate from his grasp, splashing the
searing liquid onto her exposed hand.
"Oh, crap!" She growled and began wiping it on her
jacket.
"Minako, just why are you acting all spacey and bubbly
all of the sudden?" Makoto eyed Minako's twirling hand.
"What? A girl can't be a little spacey at times?"
She said defiantly.
"Sure...but usually a guy's involved," Makoto sipped her
drink, looking at Minako through her eyelashes.
I saw Minako blush lightly and her eyes sparkled.
"Yeah...guys are fun," She giggled.
"Ugh! Minako you are making me sick. Just tell us
what happened already," Rei had recovered from her burn.
"Now, now, now, Rei-chan, I never kiss and tell," Minako
grabbed her own drink and skipped off. When exactly had we
turned back into fourteen year olds?
"Ah! Kyle kissed you! I knew it!" Usagi bounced after her,
laughing. Minako sang something like 'Not exactly', but I didn't
take the time to think about it.
My thoughts drifted elsewhere, and I had to restrain myself
from giggling.
By this time I was envisioning things only Usagi could have
thought of, and felt something shaking me.
"Ami-chan! What's up with you? Hell-OOOO, AMI!!!" Makoto was
waving her hands frantically in front of my face.
This time I couldn't help but giggle softly.
If you can't beat 'em, join 'em.
"Now, now, now, Mako-chan, I never kiss and tell," I laughed
openly and bounded off like Minako and Usagi.
The few moments of silence indicated Makoto's stunned stupor.
"Ami-chan! Get back here! I can't believe you're not going to
tell me!" She chased after me.
I caught up with a giggling Usagi and Minako and we
found a bench to sit on. The biting chill of the air failed
to faze me and I sat back, hot chocolate in hand, and basked in the
snowflakes falling around me.
"Ami-chan, come on and tell us already," Makoto plopped
down beside me, followed by Rei.
"Tell us what?" Usagi asked.
"About her and Zach's kiss," Makoto hurriedly stated.
"Her and Zach's what?" Minako and Usagi exclaimed
simultaneously.
I started to hum merrily. I actually HUMMED. I really
was turning into Minako.
A lump of freezing snow collided with my cheek,
startling me out of my thoughts.
"Makoto!"
She laughed and rolled up another snowball.
"What was that for?!" I stood trying to act upset,
but couldn't control my laughter. I rolled up a ball of
white fluff myself.
"You guys are acting like such little chil-mmf," Rei
sputtered through a mouthful of snow.
Usagi laughed merrily and hopped past Rei. Rei wiped
the snow from her eyes, her voice lowering to a low rumble.
"Odango...RUN," Rei leaped after her and started picking
up handfuls of snow and launching them in all directions.
Ten minutes later, we exited the park tired, wet, and freezing
beyond belief. Rei's mood had lightened, and Minako recapped her
and Kyle's moment for the better part of our journey to Rei's
temple where we were planning on sleeping--minus Truth or Dare.
As Minako began to laugh madly about Kyle's expression
when he fell flat on the ice after she kissed him, I tried to
stop the smile that spread over my face.
And I didn't even have to break my leg...
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And there we have it, Zach and Ami tOgEtHa! :D Gotta luvthat whole mushy gushy scene I put in there. More to come,
lotza surprises. Until next time! (sorry for the delay in uploading;
ff.net was being impossible)
ja ne!
--Adrial
adrial06yahoo.com