Disclaimer: I don't own Sailor Moon, really, I don't.
Author's Notes: Well, I fixed the chapter mix up as soon as I could. Hope that nobody got too confused. I'm really sorry to Cheeky-Bear007 because I missed spelled the reviewer's name on my last chapter. *Bows down in submission and asks for forgiveness.*
KazN: Okay, here's more. I love Ami, she's my favorite character, so it's been a lot of fun for me to write about her.
TriGemini: They do seem to get along don't they? Zoicite was scared because Ami used her crystal to save him. Like Queen Serenity's Silver Crystal, if Ami's not careful she could die while using it. Since the Sapphire Crystal isn't as strong as the Silver Crystal, it'll take up more of Ami's energy to save one person than if Queen Serenity wanted to use it. However, as I stated in the last chapter, the Silver Crystal is being used to also supplement the Moon's defenses so the queen may die if she used it to help Zoicite, hence the reason why Ami wouldn't allow her to use it.
Arabella Silverbell: I try, key word there, try to post as quickly as possible. However, there are times when I'm just left looking at a blank screen for a couple of hours because my muse Phoenix decided to take a trip somewhere without telling me. Thanks for the compliment though; it's nice knowing that I'm loved.
Ellen: Just because Ami's element is water and ice doesn't mean she has to be cold all the time, right? I wanted try something a bit different; I'm glad that others seem to like it as well.
Brooke: I'm continuing! See, here's more for you too!
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That was how their friendship really started, with a game of chess. When their dinners arrived, they still hadn't finished playing, so they continued the game as they ate. It was much later before they decided to call a stalemate. However, it was too late at night for Ami to return to her quarters, so she stayed by his side monitoring his condition incase of any changes. Like the senshi, the generals had a healing factor, which allowed their injuries to heal at a faster rate than normal. He was out of the infirmary after two days, and walking without a crutch in a week. During that time, they had become very good adversaries in chess. Every morning she would receive a note from him with only one message on it, a chess move. In turn, she would send him a missive every afternoon with her counter.
Ami rolled over in the water mid-length to change back to freestyle. Even though most of their matches ended in a stalemate, they both continued to play though in the hopes that they could get a win out of the other. Even after the delegation had to return to Earth after a month, the two still exchanged messages at the same time revealing their moves. She couldn't recall when or why, but after about two months of exchanging chess moves, one of them started to add a little more their messages. It was always something small at first like "Hope you have a nice day," or "Try not to drink too much at tonight's ball," simple things. About another month and they both started to exchange more personal information such as: "Today, I'm suppose to escort the Lady Neevia around the palace. She's probably one of the most annoying people I've met. Did I mention she's married, but insists on flirting with not only me, but all of the other generals including the prince as well? It's ladies like her which make me miss your quiet intelligence." In addition, "Artemis has instructed me to help Serenity and Minako learn more about Jovian history. Do you have any idea how hard it is to get them to listen to me when I lecture, let alone get them to learn, when all they want to do is, go out and have fun? It's moments like this which make me wish you were here because at least you would be interested in the subject." Eventually it turned to be more lengthy messages, and both ended up revealing more to the other than they thought possible. Zoicite discovered the reason she never stayed long at formal parties was because she wanted to avoid unwanted advances from lecherous men. She found out his excessive flirting and partying were a products of being extremely bored at said events.
When the queen announced that Prince Endymion and his generals would be visiting again after a year had past, she was glad at the prospect of seeing him again. Ami did another flip at the wall, and while she glided under the water, she remembered how wide her smile was when the delegation from Earth was announced at the court. After the formalities of a royal visit were over, Ami led Zoicite to the library revealing their unfinished chess game. He had teased her about it too, saying that it was the first time a lady had pulled him away for some privacy to complete a chess game. They continued to play while talking about the different events that occurred during their separation. Ami fought the urge to smile, as she started to move her arms in the water. Chess, even in this life, she couldn't deny her love for the game.
As was tradition, there was a ball to be held that night in honor of the prince and his party. It was when Ami noticed the crowd of women surrounding Zoicite that she first experienced envy. Her reaction surprised her, she only thought of Zoicite as a friend. She had no reason to be jealous of these women, she was only interested in Zoicite as a friend; she didn't want him as a lover. So she was closer to him than she was with the other generals; it didn't mean she liked him in that way, right? She could still remember watching him accept a dance with a duchess and telling herself that she didn't care. She told herself she only was worried about him because he was her friend and she didn't want him to get in trouble. Looking back now, she told herself, she was jealous because she did love him, she just couldn't admit yet.
Loved as past tense. I don't love him anymore. Ami told herself as she reached the end of the pool and made another flip at the pool. Love, such a confusing emotion, there were so many different varieties of love. There was the love between friends, fraternal love, the unconditional love between a parent and a child. That thought reminded her of something but her mind told her she wasn't ready to deal with those thoughts yet. She needed to remember a few more things before she could confront those demons. Getting back to the subject of love, there were different types of love, but the most complicated by far is romantic love. Romantic love also had so many incarnations. Puppy love, passionate lustful love, obsessive love, unrequited love, and so on and so forth, also no one was immune to it.
Even Lady Venus herself succumbed to the arrows of her own goddess as well. She reached the other end and stood up for a minute to take a break. She grinned remembering the time Zoicite and she decided to go to the war room to analyze some old battle data only to run into Minako and Kunzite kissing. Both of them could hardly contain their laughter when they quickly left the two extremely embarrassed lovers. Later that night, Minako cornered Ami and made her promise not to tell anyone about the relationship. After seeing Zoicite the next morning, Ami was pretty sure that Kunzite demanded Zoicite make a similar promise, based on the smug smile he had on his face. There were also the veiled comments Zoicite insisted on making for the next week, until Kunzite beaten him up badly during a sparring session. Afterwards Zoicitie didn't make so many comments, but he still kept the smug smile whenever he encountered his commanding officer.
Falling in love wasn't really something she thought of when she lived on the moon. As the heir to the throne of Mercury, Ami was raised believing that she needed to marry for the sake of her planet. She expected to at the very least respect her husband, and perhaps if she were lucky, love would come later. However, she had her duty and responsibility to Serenity and to her own planet; she didn't have the luxury to fall in love with anyone. Ami decided she rested up enough, and went back into the water. Swimming the backstroke, she focused on the memories when she forced herself to not to care too much about Zoicite. It started when Ami needed to go back to Mercury, she was turning 17 and as was tradition, a planetary celebration was planned for the Princess. Of course, royal protocol needed to be observed as well, so each planet was required to send a representative for the celebration. Each of the planetary princesses and their parties were coming to Mercury to celebrate with Ami on this happy occasion.
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"Maia, stop pacing, your friends will come soon enough." Her father chided her as she kept pacing around the throne on Mercury. "I've never seen you so excited." He told her happily.
"I'm sorry father, but I can't wait for them to come." She told him giving a brilliant smile.
He took her small hands into his withered ones and gave her a lovingly smile. "You look so much like your mother; she would have been so proud of you Maia. I wish she could have lived to see you all grown up." Ami felt her own eyes water at the admission. She looked at her father's eyes and saw the pride shining through them along with some sadness. "Look at you! When did my little girl grow up to be so beautiful? Living on the Moon has been good to you, but how I regret not being able to visit more often like the other monarchs."
She stopped his monologue before he could continue by placing a small hand on his lips. "You had to look over Mercury after Mother's death. You've done so much Father." Ami gave her father a small smile, "Besides I'm still your little girl who wishes for her father to take her for a walk on the beach every sunset. I'll never grow up; I promised, remember?"
He grinned at the old promise she made to him when she was six. Before either could continue the conversation, the herald announced the arrival of the Earth delegation. Expecting Prince Endymion and his generals, Ami quickly sat back down on her throne and fixed the crown on her head, only for it to fall askew on her head when she jumped out of her chair in astonishment. Endymion and his generals were not the only ones who presented themselves before the King and Princess of Mercury; Setsuna, Haruka, and Michiru(3) had decided to come a couple of days early and had accompanied the Earth delegation. For once in her life, Ami forgot about protocol as she ran to embrace her friends, as they teased her about her total lack of royal decorum. She only laughed and reminded her friends that while she was violating decorum she could recite all of the times each had violated protocol as well, and she didn't have a problem revealing them right then and there.
"Oy, Birthday Girl, did you miss us?" Haruka teased.
"Haruka, mind your manners." Setsuna told the princess as she gave Ami a hug, "Ami, I heard you've become quite the chess player, would you mind playing a game or two against me?"
"I'd love too." Ami replied gleefully.
"Don't forget about me," Michiru said with a smile, "I expect a race between the two of us, and don't think I'll go easy on you just because it's your birthday."
"Of course not, Michi."
She turned to thank Endymion for being thoughtful enough in allowing the princesses to accompanying his party. Endymion, Jadeite, Nephlite all grinned at her thanks, even Kunzite looked a little smug, while Zoicite appeared a bit uncomfortable. Endymion gave Zoicite a small sideways glance before smiling back at the confused Ami. "Actually, Princess, I can't take credit for the idea. I must admit, it was all Zoicite's plan; he thought you would enjoy seeing your friends earlier instead of later."
She felt flustered as she turned to Zoicite to thank him, with all eyes on both of them. All of a sudden, Ami couldn't bring herself to look at him in the face, and was very sure that if she did, she would reveal a very red face to everyone. Stealing a small glance at him, she noticed he seemed as ill at ease, which didn't help her nerves at all. Biting her lip, she took a small breath before gathering her courage, lifted her head, and gave him a huge smile. "Thank you Lord Zoicite, it was a lovely surprise. I don't know how I can ever show how thankful I really am"
Being taller, he gazed down at the petite princess and gave her a very soft smile, "It was nothing, Princess, just a couple of well placed communication calls and the other princesses were happy to come early." Then he went back to his teasing façade, "Although, letting me win a couple chess games would be nice."
They were interrupted by a small cough coming from her father, the king. Blushing, Ami immediately went back to her duties as princess and properly introduced the group to her father, and then escorted the guests to their quarters in the palace. She showed Endymion and the generals their rooms first and then escorted the outer senshi the other side of the Mercury palace.
"I'm afraid your rooms aren't as extravagant as your rooms on the Moon, but I do trust they are up to your needs." She told them as she led through past the guards.
"I'm sure they're fine Ami," Haruka started, "Okay, now that we're past any prying eyes and ears, explain yourself."
"Excuse me?" Ami stated somewhat stunned.
Michiru gave a sly smile, "We have eyes Ami; we saw what happened between you and Lord Zoicite."
The threesome watched in amusement as Ami attempted to deny their speculations. Haruka cut her off before she got too far. "Look, we three are stationed so far out on our planets that we hear the grossly outdated and inaccurate court gossip for our only amusement. Now that we're here, we intend to catch up. You're usually the most observant if not the most objective, so we figured you wouldn't have any problems confirming our information. On the other hand, if you don't want to I'm sure we can wait a couple of days for either Serenity or Mina since they love gossip." She finished smugly.
Ami's eyes went wide, "You wouldn't!" Minako and Serenity not only loved gossip, but also often added their own embellishments to "spice" things up.
"Try us."
"All right, all right, come on, we can talk in my room."
They walked off down the hall until reaching Ami's chambers in the palace. In the palace, Ami's chambers were larger and more extravagant than her rooms on the moon, but they still were colored in different shades of blue. All four girls sat upon Ami's sprawling bed, drinking tea, as Ami confirmed their suspicions about certain rumors. For example, "If you don't believe me watch Serenity's face when Endymion enters the room." And "No, Lady Kaisa's affair with him ended weeks ago, she's already has her sights on someone else." When Michiru brought up the subject of the Zoicite, Ami firmly denied a relationship. "There's nothing between us."
"Oh, but we've heard rumors that the two of you exchange missives everyday." She drawled.
"We only exchanged counters for chess. We exchange messages on the differences of court life on the Moon and Earth, defense strategies, nothing of a romantic nature. Besides, it's not possible for him to be attracted to me." Ami retorted.
"Oh, and why do you think that Ami?" Setsuna asked quietly as she poured herself another cup of tea.
"I'm sure even out in Pluto you've heard of Lord Zoicite's reputation." Ami sighed, "You should see the women he's with at the balls. They're all tall, and bubbly, and gorgeous and, and-" Ami couldn't help but let a hint of bitterness seep into her words, "and everything that I'm not." She finished forlornly. Michiru raised an eyebrow at Ami's admission, while Haruka narrowed hers.
"Ami," Haruka's voice was low and deceptively calm, "you didn't-" she paused unsure of how to proceed, "he hasn't hurt in you in anyway, has he?" she blurted out.
Ami just blinked completely surprised by Haruka's suggestion as the other girls stood frozen, unsure of how to break their current state. Finally, Ami came to her senses, "NO! He's been nothing but a perfect gentleman," she firmly told them conveniently forgetting the times she caught Zoicite in a less than proper situation. "He's never rejected me, or taken any liberties with me."
"Not that you would mind if he just would take some small liberties with you, would you Ami?" Michiru gave her a small wink. "Don't bother to deny it Ami, so there's nothing going on, doesn't mean you don't wish otherwise." Ami's face became a faint pink and her friends knew that Michiru had hit some truth. Michiru continued, "I know it's not my place, but I think it's possible that Lord Zoicite shares some of the same feelings, I mean you should have seen him before we entered the palace. He was worried that someone would spoil the surprise; I've never seen a grown man so nervous before." A giggle bubbled out of her mouth from the memory.
Ami smiled sadly at her friend's mirth. "I admit, I find Zoicite a bit attractive, Michi. However, I cannot indulge in the idea of developing feelings for him, even if he returns them, a relationship between us wouldn't work." She said firmly.
"Why are you fighting this Ami?" Haruka asked; her curiosity aroused by her friend's solid refusal.
When Ami looked away from her friend's inquiring gaze, Setsuna spoke up, "So the whispers about your father's health are true?" Unable to speak, Ami only nodded. "I see. I'm sorry Ami."
Haruka and Michiru gave the two very confused looks before Ami turned back to them and proceeded to give them an explanation. "The counsel has informed me that my father's sickness is not abating as we had hoped. They're not sure he'll survive to see my next birthday, which is why this year is so extravagant." The expressions on the girls' faces went from stunned to sympathetic to curious again, "I have been informed numerous times that an announcement of marriage would help alleviate the worries of my people, especially before I'm crowned queen."
Setsuna continued before Haruka could ask why the counsel would insist on Ami to marry, "Mercury is a planet of intellectuals, not warriors like Mars, Jupiter, or even Uranus. However, what they lack in warrior strength the more than make up for in technology and knowledge. If Ami were to ascend to the throne alone, certain unscrupulous beings may believe the planet vulnerable. If she married a prince or lord with a vast army, the alliance would serve as a show of stability as well as one of force against these would be conquerors."
"But Lord Zoicite is a warrior; he commands ¼ of the military on Earth and-"
"-and is bound by the same vow to protect Endymion as Ami is bound to protect Serenity. Both would not be on Mercury for the amount of time needed to protect and rule it properly, unless by some miracle either is released of their vow." Setsuna finished.
Michiru immediately went over to the blue-haired princess and gave her a reassuring hug, "Oh Ami, why haven't you told anyone about this? You know the girls would support you."
"But in the end they cannot change anything. When I marry, it will be for duty, so you see, I cannot allow myself to fall in love. Promise me you won't tell the others, promise Michi, Ruka." She pleaded.
"I," Michiru paused, unsure of how to proceed, but reluctantly bowed her head. "I promise."
"Ruka?"
Haruka looked as if she was ready to punch some of the counsel members for troubling her friend and Ami could tell that she was violently against what Ami was asking, but in the end, she nodded. "All right, enough gloom, come on, I want to see if these generals are as tough as the gossip says. Do you think they would care to spar against me?" She asked trying to return to an atmosphere of mirth. Ami laughed at her attitude and gave her friend a nod, before they went off to seek Haruka's opponents.
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Footnotes:
(3) I've decided since Hotaru is younger than everybody, and she is on the moon for her senshi training. I'm making it that when the girls turned 18 the outer senshi were required to go back to their posts, while the inner senshi finish their formal training and take their rightful places as the Princess Serenity's protectors until they are needed to rule their own planet.
Jadeling's Notes: Next chapter, the birthday ball, I'm curious; what do you think is going to happen?