Chapter Eight

"I'm so sorry about this. This whole thing is embarrassing," Mamoru said, sliding his suitcase up onto the rack in the closet. "I just can't believe the flight was delayed four damn times, and they knew all along that nobody would be flying on it tonight. They should have just forewarned us. We wasted our entire day."

"What, are you joking? Please, think nothing of it. This sort of thing could happen to anyone, and tonight it's just befallen us. Tomorrow morning we'll just have a nice breakfast, and we'll complain about it with the agency if we have to," Ami suggested, nodding courteously as she emerged from the bathroom. "Besides, I'm sure you would have done the very same for me, right?"

"Yes, of course. I can't thank you enough, Ami-san."

"Let's not talk about it anymore. Now, is there anyone you need to call, so you can let him or her know where you are?"

"No. This whole thing was a surprise for Usagi… and the rest of you, for that matter. But now that you know," he added with a wink, tossing his wallet on the countertop in front of the mirror, "you won't let it out, will you?"

"Not if you don't want me to." Ami smiled, sprawling out on one of the large beds and opening the telephone directory. "But please let me know if you change your mind."

"Oh, no, I won't. You've already paid for the room, and you know I'm going to pay you back for this when we arrive."

"I don't think so, Mamoru-san," Ami replied in a singsong voice. "I'm happy enough just to see you. Please, just have some coffee, or whatever else you might like."

Mamoru sighed and glanced at the digital clock between the two beds, which now read 10:22 p.m. "Looks like I can't win against you in this round. You're a lifesaver, Ami-san."

The blue-haired woman turned over on her side, not yet thinking about the amazing coincidence of meeting him here in Berlin, and the occurrence of a delayed flight, and how very strange and awkward it was that they should be sharing a hotel room just a few hours later. But at the same time, she couldn't ignore it, and that was why she couldn't fall asleep as easily as it might have seen to Mamoru, who fell silent and had turned to glancing at the TV guide, thinking that she really was falling asleep. Two years ago, this all would have been a godsend, the ultimate blessing that she could only daydream about under the pretense of closely studying a long, boring textbook. And now that it was happening, the signal to act according to those daydreams was instinctual, but Ami pushed those thoughts out of her mind as quickly as possible.

Try though she might, it was difficult.

'Of course it's natural and it makes sense to be curious about it,' she thought, her pensive gaze poring into the golden roses in the green-and-red comforter. 'After all, I'm not the only one who had an enormous crush on him back then. Rei-chan and Mina-chan would be blushing and giggling about it, still. And just what else should I have done? We are both stranded here and that part is no fault of mine.'

"Oh, you can watch TV if you want to," Ami offered, noticing that he was still standing there looking at that pamphlet for the past five minutes. "I don't sleep until very late anyway. We have nothing else to do as it is; all the shops downstairs are closed at this hour. Though I think you might still be able to exercise or use the Jacuzzi though. And there's also a bar."

"You're so kind." Mamoru turned around and grinned sheepishly. "Actually, you really don't mind if I just watch a movie or something?"

"Feel free. I myself haven't watched a movie in ages, and I'd probably be doing the same thing if I was here entirely alone."

"Oh, do you have a roommate at the academy?"

"No, but I hang around with, uh, colleagues, until the very early hours of the morning. Working on research papers, things like that. None of us can remember to sleep, usually, and that's what I do the minute I get back to the dorm."

"And I thought my work was intense." Mamoru chuckled and reclined in a chair over at the far end of the room, by the window that overlooked a fair part of downtown Berlin.

"I don't know much about your college life either…"

"Well, almost the same, term papers and things, and a lot of research, but I just take advantage of the library for an hour or two every afternoon. It's still necessary that I take some courses to improve my English, too, so I work on that, plus I've made a few helpful friends who invite me to see the American movies with them."

"What were you doing in France with your professor?"

"He invited me to come along and meet some of the students he'd also taught English to, and since Usagi has always wanted to go to Paris, I thought I might check it out and get a feel for the area. I tried to pick up some gifts for her over there too, but I didn't have enough time to really look for anything."

"How charming. France. I've stayed right here all semester, though traveling to different countries is so much easier. This is the first time I'm leaving Germany in so long."

"Have you missed it back home?" Mamoru asked her, channel-surfing but with a look of genuine interest gleaming in his eyes.

"I like the fact that I'm launching my future here, but I can never ignore the fact that I'm Japanese, and I do miss our large family. In fact, I—I'm visiting right now because I promised that I would, and this could be the only chance I even get this year."

"It's the same for me, too. It sounds so easy to keep those promises when you leave, and when you find out that going back is not so easily done, there's pressure."

Ami nodded, letting her attention drift to the action movie as well. About an hour or so into the plot, Mamoru had started to feel much more comfortable around her, slipping off his shoes and resting his feet on the chair across from him. A few times he looked as if he would trail off into a deep slumber, but Ami would watch him long enough to notice that he was gazing at scenes of heightening tension with a dreamy,

zoned out look on his face. She deeply longed to know what he was thinking of, before she came to her senses and realized that this was the first time he would be seeing Usagi in so long.

"This just won't do, you know," he almost whined, stubbornly. "You should have had it first, because you're paying for everything!" A fine gentleman though he was, this stubbornness may have been a sign of Usagi coming out in him.

"I wouldn't accept that for an answer and you know it," Ami insisted, shaking a finger. "You know it makes no real difference in the scheme of things. What I really want is for you to come and see us, and therefore I'm taking it upon myself to help you get there. And you will meet Usagi well-rested and looked after."

"I give up. Well, thank you very much again, Ami-san. I feel special. And now, the shower is all yours."

Mamoru stepped out of the bathroom, no longer just craning his neck to poke his head out of the doorway, and Ami turned such a deep crimson that she thought Mamoru might give her CPR in the event that she looked like she couldn't breathe.

Ami could see steam rolling off the bathroom mirror and hot droplets of water rolling down Mamoru's shoulders and bare chest, trickling down so slowly until it reached the long, soft white towel around his waist. In her heart of hearts she could scarcely remember the last time she saw anything this beautiful. His muscles were more well-toned than she'd ever imagined, and with his wet hair combed to the side he fell nothing short of model material for any kind of clothing company in the world.

"Th-thank you."

And she stood, wrapped only in her own white towel, taking small and nervous steps toward the bathroom door, feeling a tremendous rush of gratitude for the fact that the corridor was so narrow, because she inevitably stopped before him.

"Oh, sorry, I should have waited until you passed by."

"No worries," he replied evasively, already looking straight ahead at his clothes laid out on his bed. "I'll just squeeze on by here."

But for a split-second, Ami knew she saw Mamoru's eyes dart in the same direction as her own. Just as they made their way past each other, as their bodies stood turned toward one another, her breasts, underneath the thickness of her towel, grazed against Mamoru's hard chest, and her bare thighs against the towel draped around his own.

"Oh—Ami?" he asked, turning around and looking at her before she entered the bathroom.

"Yes?"

"You have to pull the knob out toward you."

"Wh-what?"

"To turn on the water," he said, most definitely not blushing at all, unlike her. "In this shower you have to set your temperature and then pull the knob out toward you, not up."

"Oh… right. Thank you…."