I am very happy I finally got one of my friends to read and she even gave me a review. It's the long one about crying. Yeah that's my friend. She gets very emotional. ::shrugs:: Ok this chapter should make some of you out there happy. Oh once again I own nothing.

Chapter 8

Last Chapter

The blue eyes belonged to a short woman with blue hair. She had an umbrella that she was holding over Makoto. She wore a pair of blue slacks and a white blouse that she was trying to keep dry under her blue rain jacket. Makoto looked into those concerned eyes and said the only thing she could think of in that moment.

"Ami, forgive me."

****

"My name isn't Ami, but if it was I would forgive you," The blue haired woman replied. Makoto blinked up at the woman. She looked like Ami, sounded like Ami. God, she even smelled like Ami, but she wasn't Ami. Makoto tried to stand but all the running left her weak. The blue-haired woman bent down and put her hand under Makoto's arm, helping her up. When Makoto was to her feet, she leaned against the other woman.

"Who are you?" Makoto asked when she had finally found her breath.

"My name's Yoshiko Kagami, but my friends call me Yosshii," the woman said as she shifted trying to help balance Makoto and keep herself from falling. "Can I ask you what you are doing out here in the rain?" Makoto just looked at her. She wanted to tell her. Wanted to tell her everything, about killing her love, about running into the hands of the devil, of selling her soul to the highest bidder. She wanted to tell her how she had destroyed the mind of her princess and most of all she wanted to tell her that she was in love with the woman she looked so much like.

"I got lost," was all that she said. Yosshii nodded her head.

"You can stay at my place if you like. If you don't know where you are?" Makoto swallowed hard. Could she really trust herself around Yosshii? She looked and acted so much like Ami. Pluto had said that Mercury had been awakened, it would make sense that she would look the same.

Makoto sighed. "Yeah, that would be nice." Yosshii smiled.

"My cars over here." The two of them walked together through the light drizzle. Apparently the storm that had started around Makoto was dying back down to its original intensity. Makoto was leaning heavily on Yosshii, while she had her arm around Makoto's waist.

"Ok, I admit you have done worse. I'm very impressed .The girl just met you and is already inviting you back to her house and she isn't even drunk. This has to be a record."

"Shut up," Makoto said under her breath, but Yosshii heard her.

"What did you say?" Yosshii looked up at her. Makoto had to think fast she couldn't tell her that she heard voices. That was never considered sane no matter where you lived.

"My legs are complaining to me. I did a lot of running. I'm trying not to think of the pain, but it keeps coming back." Yosshii nodded.

"Yeah, my legs cramp up if I swim too long." Makoto looked down at her.

"You swim?" Yosshii smiled back up at her.

"You act as though you have never met a person that swims." Makoto shook her head.

"No, it's that you remind me of a friend and she used to love swimming." Yosshii frowned.

"Used to, you mean she doesn't anymore?" Makoto looked forward.

"She died some time ago." Yosshii tightened her grip around Makoto's waist as she whispered that she was sorry.

They didn't talk until they reached Yosshii's car. It was some green compact car, nothing too terribly special except for the bumper sticker. It read "Kiss me, I'm confused." Makoto chuckled.

"Kiss me, I'm confused?" Makoto said as she leaned against the car giving Yosshii both her hands to unlock the doors.

Yosshii smiled. "It's my new friend's idea of a joke. She thinks that because I'm not dating that I have some pent up feelings that aren't allowing me to express myself. She thinks she's the goddess of love or something." Yosshii opened the door and helped Makoto into the passenger seat.

"Yeah I had a friend like that. She thought that she had rights to know about everybody's love life."

****

"Makoto!" Minako yelled as she ran after Makoto. Makoto stopped and turned around to watch the blonde catch up with her. When she finally had, she bent over and put her hands on her knees taking large breaths. "You are hard to get a hold of," she said when she finally caught her breath. Makoto only shrugged.

"What do you need Minako?" Makoto asked as she helped her stand up.

"I was wondering if you had a crush on anyone? You have been a bit distracted lately." Makoto sighed and started to walk away from Minako. "Hey wait!" Minako yelled, running to Makoto. She tried to keep stride with Makoto, but her legs were too short and Makoto was in too much of a hurry. Today she was going to tell Ami, but first she had to get rid of Minako.

"You never answered my question," Minako said as she bounced along beside Makoto. Makoto sighed again and stopped. She grabbed Minako's arm and pulled her close.

"Can you keep a secret?" Makoto whispered. Minako nodded. "Well, so can I." With that Makoto pushed Minako back a little, not hard enough to knock her down, but enough to make her stumble a little.

"It's Ami, isn't it?" Makoto stopped dead in her tracks, her back turned toward the self-ordained goddess of love. Makoto started walking again, leaving Minako behind.

****

Makoto shook her head. Yosshii said something but she had missed it. She asked her to repeat her self.

"I was commenting that you keep using the past tense when you talk about your friends," Yosshii repeated as she drove through the wet streets of Tokyo. The rain had stopped, but the roads were still soaked.

Makoto looked out the window. "I moved away after my friend died. She was a big part of my life, and I couldn't handle her being dead." Makoto sighed and looked over at Yosshii. "I came back because of work, but I think that it really was just time for me to come back and deal with everything that had happened." Yosshii took a quick glance at Makoto.

"How close of a friend was she, if you don't mind me asking?" Yosshii knew she was prying, but for some reason she felt like she had met this woman before. Makoto stumbled over some words trying to put together the most innocent way to say how she felt for Ami. Makoto stopped and thought about her, the way she smiled when she would finish a test, the way she always smelled like clean laundry right out of the dryer. Makoto closed her eyes and tried to remember the way she felt when Ami had cried in her arms, and the comforting weight Ami would make on her when they shared a bed. All the secret touches and the forgotten looks. Makoto searched for the words to truly describe what she felt for Ami. She opened her eyes and looked at Yosshii. If she wasn't Ami, she was close enough that Makoto could deny it, Makoto always like the river in Egypt anyways.

"I was in love with her," Makoto waited for Yosshii to act. Yosshii turned her head to look at Makoto then turned back to watch the road.

"Her death must have been hard on you," She simply stated. "Did you have a chance to tell her?" Makoto swallowed. Why was she telling her all this?

"The day she died I had told her. She didn't return my feelings." Makoto put her head in her hands. "I was so in love with her and she felt nothing for me." Makoto could feel the tears try to start up again. She felt the car slow, then stop. Yosshii had pulled the car off the road and was now pulling Makoto into her arms. She hugged Makoto, smoothing her hair with her hands, telling her it was ok to cry. After a few minutes Makoto stopped crying. She pulled away from Yosshii and dried her eyes. Yosshii didn't say anything; she started the engine and continued to drive to her home.

Yosshii lived in an apartment on the north side of the city. She helped Makoto to the elevator and pressed the button for the sixth floor. By this point Makoto could walk on her own, but she enjoyed the feeling of having Yosshii close.

"That's my girl, stay nice and close to her. If you play your cards right you might get some. She did invite you, a perfect stranger, to her house." Makoto shook her head. The voice was being a real pain in the ass tonight.

The arrived at Yosshii's apartment, room 617. Yosshii unlocked the door and pushed it open with her foot while still holding on to Makoto. She led Makoto over to the couch. They both sat down. Yosshii was breathing hard.

"Are you ok?" Makoto asked, she was worried that Yosshii might have hurt herself.

"Oh, I'm fine just a little short of breath. I haven't done much heavy lifting in a long time." Yosshii turned to look at Makoto, she had a mischievous smile. Makoto realized that she was trying to poke fun at her. Makoto grinned; she could play this game too.

Makoto was going to say something when suddenly the watch around Yosshii's wrist started to beep. Makoto looked at the watch and recognized it as the Mercury communicator. Makoto sighed. She was Mercury.

Yosshii made some sort of excuse and ran to the kitchen. Makoto listened to Yosshii say something about being busy and it better be good. Makoto smirked, Yosshii wasn't exactly like Ami. Of course, she wasn't exactly like the Makoto of the past. Makoto put her head in her hands and sighed. Yosshii was Ami, but not. Makoto was pretty sure that Yosshii would remember eventually, and when that happened Makoto didn't know what she would do. Yosshii came back and sat back down.

"You took care of what ever it was?" Makoto asked, keeping her head down.

"Yeah, just that friend I was telling you about. She wanted me to go with her to a club but I told her I had company." Yosshii giggled. "She thought I had some guy over. When I told her it was a girl she got real interested. She worries me some days." Makoto lifted her head and looked at Yosshii. She was smiling. Makoto always loved Ami's smile, and Yosshii had it, too.

"You're pretty," Makoto said it before she even realized she did. Yosshii stopped smiling. "No, please don't be disgusted. Keep smiling please." Makoto agreed with the voice. Makoto tried to apologize but before she could, Yosshii said thank you. Makoto blinked. "Um…your welcome," Makoto said shyly. What was going on? If anyone said that to Ami she would have turned tail and ran. Yosshii was a bit bolder than Ami.

"What was the name of the woman you were in love with?" Makoto turned away from Yosshii. "She's prying again. This woman is going to be a problem. I say we leave now."

"Ami." Makoto said.

"What did she look like?" Makoto looked at her again. Yosshii had shifted so she was closer to Makoto, her hand on Makoto's knee. The touch was too much; Makoto had to get away some how. She stood and walked away from the couch.

"Well, honestly it wasn't so much how she looked that made me fall in love with her, though that was a bonus." Makoto turned and looked at Yosshii. She was sitting on the couch her hands in her lap patently waiting for Makoto to continue. "You must understand that I was scared to love again. I had been hurt and I had refused the feelings for a long time before I accepted that I had them." Makoto started to pace "She was so smart, much smarter than me." Makoto sighed. "When she smiled it was always so warm. She never intently hurt anyone. Though everyday around her was pleasant agony for me." Makoto stopped pacing and looked at Yosshii. "I wanted to be with her so much." Makoto put her head down, her hands playing with the bottom of her shirt.

"Some days I wonder if I'm better off alone. I understand that sickening feeling in the pit of my stomach. I know pain. I can wrap my mind around it. Beyond pain and anger I feel nothing. Just regret that I can't seem to be more than a shell. I wanted to be so much more. I tried so hard. All I have ever wanted was to be whole again."

Suddenly Yosshii stood and walked to Makoto. She placed her hand on her shoulder. Makoto held her breath as Yosshii rose up on tiptoes and kissed her. When Yosshii pulled away she looked into Makoto's eyes.

"Let me make you whole again." Makoto felt tears coming down her face as she hugged Yosshii burying her face into Yosshii's hair. She was going to have to kill Pluto for making her want to cry so much.

Guess what….this is where this chapter is ending. * grins * I'm evil. * jumps up and down * I finally figured how I'm going to end this fic. * stops jumping * Of course now I have to figure out how to get there…

Anyways, please review. Thank you.

Wuffers