Author's notes: Greetings fanfic reader/writer. If this is your first story of mine you're reading, welcome, and I hope you enjoy. If you've read some of my other works, you know this is a departure from my prior works. Growing up, I was a Sailor Moon fan, and the side story of Ryo Urawa (Greg if you watched the English translation) and Ami was compelling for me. The following work is a culmination of several ideas that I'd kept on a dusty shelf for many years. Now that I am a bit more comfortable writing fanfics, I thought it was a time to revisit these ideas. A couple important notes in context.

1) I am only a casual Sailor Moon fan. While I tried to be canon compatible, there are elements that probably contradict canon to a degree, and much of this centers on events that have no canon.

2) I did intentionally change Ami's father from a painter to another doctor, and I did make the divorce circumstances between him and Saeko (Ami's mom) much less amiable.

3) Due to the nebulous nature of time and events in Sailor Moon canon this story takes place after the main events of the anime but before Mamoru and Usagi are married. Most importantly, it takes place on the eve of the events that will turn Usagi into Neo Queen Serenity.

4) This is a side project I am doing for fun. I probably will be updating 1-2 times a month.

5) This story will eventually reach some lemony content. All of the characters by this time are adults and of age of consent, and I only ever write such scenes with clear consent. I will be tagging this as an M rated story, even if it is tame by most standards.

With that out of the way, thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoy!

Love by a New Moon

Chapter One

Ami walked the concourse of the convention center to head to the social hour of the medical society. Like all doctors, she was required to attend regular continuing education to maintain her skills and her license to practice medicine. Unlike other doctors, you run around by moonlight fighting monsters. You also hate social hour!

She shifted her glasses on the bridge of her nose. She had perfect vision, and she wore them for show more than anything – a transformation not unlike her Sailor Guardian transformation. Despite genius level intelligence since youth and excellent pedigree as a doctor, she still clung to the transformation, uncomfortable in her own skin around other doctors – especially during social situations. She was the youngest person here, and she was one of maybe a handful of women present at the convention. Not quite the old Sailor Guardian days.

After graduating from high school, life changed in the most unpredictable way – the youma threat seemingly receded completely. Unshackled by the needs of destiny, the crew had gone their separate ways into adult life. Rei carried on at the temple. Makoto went to culinary school and was now a Michelin Star chef. Minako was now a rising pop star and an influencer.

Usagi perhaps had the most unusual change – becoming a teacher. When she finally reached high school, she'd been diagnosed dyslexic. For years, Ami had suspected, but said nothing out of respect for her friend. With the right strategies in place, Usagi had turned her grades around and made her life mission to ensure others with her unique circumstances weren't left behind.

Ami sat at a bar table in the back of the lounge, still trying not to draw attention. Mamoru and she had both gone abroad for medical school, and both had returned to vastly different circumstances. Mamoru had specialized in internal medicine, and she had gone into pediatrics. Mamoru and Usagi moved in together a few months after he returned from medical school. And you are still just you.

Ami's homecoming three years ago had been pleasant – Usagi, Luna, and Artemis had greeted her at the airport and taken her out to dinner at Makoto's restaurant. However, the weight of loneliness set in the next day. Mom hadn't been there, much as she'd missed Ami's graduation from med school. Father hadn't been there, either. In fact, she hadn't seen him since the day her parents' divorce became final when she was still a preteen. Father had moved to the United States to study plastic surgery, and Ami made no effort to reach out to him during her time in med school. Aside from meeting with the other Sailor Guardians once a week, Ami did little but work, study, and sleep.

"Ami?" the male voice was soft, even if it had deepened with maturity. She turned and spotted the owner – a young man with brown hair and brown eyes and average build. Most women wouldn't pay him a second thought on a train or walking down a street. You're not most women, and he's not another man.

"Ryo?!" she blinked several times to be sure it was him. "What are you doing here?" Ami's heart fluttered at being near her onetime boyfriend.

"Same as you, continuing education," he sat next to her, beaming. "It's great to see you again!"

"Likewise," the words came out understated, clinical. "Ryo, where have you been?" I'm dreaming! He left and disappeared!

He shrunk in on himself slightly, "It's a long story, but the short version is my dad's job took us out of Japan for a while. I hadn't been back until I graduated medical school a few years back."

Ami shouldn't have been surprised. Ryo's father was a brilliant structural engineer whose work took him to the four corners of the earth. "I remember you mentioning that in your last letter, back when I was in high school." Just recalling his letter tugged at her heart. "It was hard to be told not to wait up."

"So, you remember," his lips tightened. "I'm sorry it's been so long." He fidgeted, "Are you still hanging out by the moonlight?"

"Not as much anymore," she shrugged. "Between being a doctor and the lack of outbreaks, my nightlife hasn't been all that active." To ask or not to ask. "What about you?"

"I've been back for a little over a year since finishing medical residency in Kyoto. It's good to be back here in Tokyo, now."

"Back? As in… you live here now?" Ami's heart fluttered again. His good-bye letter years ago had left her hollow; however, there hadn't been time to be upset. Not long after, Galaxia had attacked the Earth, and the end of the world had been narrowly averted. Then, it was off to Harvard for medical school. Despite several charming men crossing her path in between, she'd never let herself get distracted from her studies.

"I'm sorry I didn't reach out," he sighed, "I knew about everything you and the girls were dealing with, and it felt wrong to distract you from a thousand miles away," His eyes turned away. "And then after… I figured medical school was hard enough without having me bother you."

"You still have your gift?" she asked.

"It's not as reliable as it once was," he shook his head. "I still get images, but my ability to control what I see is significantly more limited that it was in middle school. Otherwise…"

"Otherwise?"

"Otherwise, I would have tried looking for you," he confessed, staring deep in her eyes, "Ami, I didn't want to lose you… I just… I couldn't find you after I came back."

"You… would have looked for me?" Warm pink burned Ami's cheeks. Even before they officially ended, they'd been long distance and never serious. Serious? How serious can you be when you're Fourteen? She stared at him, heart racing against her ribs. How serious?

"I would have found you," he corrected. "And I would have told you how much I missed you."

"Ryo… I…" her struggle to find words was cut off by the most unwelcome sound: her wrist communicator was beeping in her purse. You're kidding me! Of all times! She reached down and discretely extracted her communicator wrist band, "Yes?"

"Ami," Rei's voice came through, "we need you at the temple, urgently!" Something about Rei's voice caused Ami's throat to tighten. She hasn't needed me urgently since before I left for med school!

"I'm on my way!" she stood and collected her purse and her notebook. She stared at Ryo with regret, "I'm sorry… but…"

"Need a lift?" he held up his car keys.

Ami didn't drive, preferring mass transit, and the bus would take at least thirty minutes to get to the temple. Or you can be there in half the time if he takes you. Ami stared at him, dangling the keys like a yokai offering to make a deal. Jeez, this is Ryo, and he actually liked you! Why are you treating him like a pustule? "Please," Ami nodded.

The ride to the temple was silent. While Ryo drove swiftly, he was also careful not to be reckless. He drove a practical, well-maintained compact car. "So," she forced words past the heart in her throat, "I didn't get the chance to ask where you worked now?"

"Imperial Clinic, not far from the University Hospital," he answered, remaining focused on the road. Right near my hospital!

"What specialty?" she asked, curious.

"Family medicine," he chuckled slightly, "Dad was hoping I'd be an orthopedic surgeon."

"Why didn't you?" Ami queried, "You definitely had he brains for it."

"I guess," he shrugged, "my heart wasn't in it. What about you, why pediatrics?"

"Why not?" She asked, now laughing slightly.

"You always struck me as a neurosurgeon," he changed lanes, putting them on a direct path to the temple in the next few minutes. "You had the brains, and the talent, for it."

"I guess," she leaned back in her seat, remembering being an impromptu pediatrician for Chibusa on several occasions – probably one of the most rewarding experiences she'd had before officially becoming a doctor. "I guess, I enjoy, working with children."

"Interesting," he sounded amused.

"Oh?" she tilted her head.

"Both of us traveled thousands of miles from home to find ourselves, and both of us rebelled against our parents in the end," he smirked, "and here we are, back where we started."

"Rebelled against our parents?" Ami wasn't sure if he was remembering things quite right.

"Your mom, the one time I met her, made it clear she thought you'd be a surgeon," he reminded her. "You mean to tell me she didn't at least complain that you were throwing away a brilliant career?"

No, in fact. She told you that you'd spent too much time hanging out with Usagi and it had drained your brain. "What about you?" she asked.

He turned onto the access road for the shrine complex. They had minutes at most. "I got sick of traveling to exotic places, saying good-bye to friends as soon as I got to know them year after year."

"Surely you didn't wait for me to fall back into your life out of the blue?" she asked.

"It wasn't out of the blue," he raised an index finger.

"What?" she couldn't help but be startled, "What do you mean?"

"The day I wrote that letter, I had a vision we'd meet again," he slowed the vehicle to a crawl as he pulled up to the temple entrance, "I just didn't know under what circumstances it would be." He parked the car and turned to her, "When your vision of the future is that wide open, it's hardly fair to make someone wait for you."

"And yet, you waited for me?" she asked. An array of emotions cycled through her mind as she wondered how anyone could wait so long for her of all people.

"I have a feeling," he pointed his chin toward the shrine and her waiting friends, "that there is much happening, and our meeting wasn't by chance." He turned back to her, "All the same, I'd like to see you again, if you don't mind?" He sounded like a boy asking a girl to dance for the first time.

"I…" Ami hesitated, heart again climbing her throat. If not now, when? "I'd love to!" the words surged past her vocal cords. He reached into his pocket, fumbling for his smartphone. She reached for hers, and a few quick taps later, they'd exchanged phone numbers. "Ryo…"

"Yes?"

Before she knew what she was doing, Ami was pulling back from his cheek, a thin trace of a red tattoo in the shape of lips adorned Ryo's cheek. He sat with his jaw down, incredulous. Ami's brain short circuited as she struggled to make sense of what she'd just done. You just kissed him, girl! His fingers traced the spot where her lips had only moments before made contact, and the corner of his mouth curled upward, "Well worth the wait."

"Ryo…"

"Call me later," he winked, "after you're done…" he grinned playfully, "Sailor Mercury."

She nodded, dumbstruck. Ami unfastened her seatbelt, fumbled with the door, and nearly stumbled out of his car. As she closed the door, he waved and drove off slowly.

Ami turned toward the shrine, greeted by Usagi, Minako, Makoto, Rei, Luna, and Artemis. All of them stared with their mouths hanging down. "What?" Ami asked innocently, wishing she could suck the words back into her mouth.

Rei was the first to say anything, "Ahhh! Ami, you sly fox, holding out on us!"

"Details, please!" Minako exclaimed, "Who is Mr. Right? And is there going to be a second date?!"

"Wait, I recognize him," Makoto called out, "That's Ryo Urawa!"

"That guy you dated in grade school?" Rei balked. "I thought you two broke up!"

"We didn't!" Ami protested, "I mean… we did… but… well… we weren't exactly a couple…" she stumbled over words, trying to make sense of the last hour of her life. Ami's blood chilled as she noticed an unusual detail. Usagi wasn't saying a word, just wringing her hands as if to avoid something unpleasant. "Usagi? What's wrong?"

"I'm… happy for you, really Ami, but I think you might have chosen a bad time to rekindle your relationship," Usagi sounded dour, anything except her cheerful, bubbly self.

"Usagi?" Ami now became worried. "What's going on?"

The rest of the crew suddenly stopped teasing, "You'd better come inside," Rei said, "We have much to discuss."