Green Eyed Monster
Chapter 2: "Cold Relations"
A Sailor Moon fanfic
By Bill K.
Ami ambled out of the elevator onto the penthouse level. A smile still shone on her lips. Dinner had been nice. Though the Ikegami apartment had barely been adequate enough to accommodate eight adults - - and one petulant four month old who started crying right in the middle of dessert - - it had been a pleasant time. Toshihiro had entertained them with one funny story after another. Sanjuro playfully baited Rei into a discussion of the place of religion in politics while everyone sat back and watched the fireworks. Rei sang a song that entranced everybody. Immediately Minako jumped up and did one as well. It was a fun time until Usagi decided SHE had to try, too. Everybody cooed over the baby. Naturally dinner was marvelous.
But the thing that appealed to Ami most, she realized as she walked toward the door of her mother's apartment, was the sense of intimacy between the five women. They had faced so many trials together, whether the hoards of Queen Beryl or the slings and arrows of high school. They'd graduated into adulthood, gone down their separate paths, and yet at a moment's notice they could fall back into such easy rapport with each other, despite all the years and all the separation. Ami sensed she and these four women were going to be forever linked no matter what the future might hold.
And that's why she smiled.
Her key inserted into the lock. The door opened and Ami looked into the apartment that held so many memories. She immediately noticed that her mother had bought all new furniture. Her mother did that every five to eight years. But even though all the furniture was new, it was still arranged very precisely and very orderly. That was her mother.
"Ami, is that you?" she heard her mother call from the kitchen.
"Yes, Mother," Ami replied reflexively. She'd been doing that since she was four and first entered pre-school cram studies - - at her mother's insistence - - and she was still doing it now at twenty-six.
Her mother came out of the kitchen and embraced her. That was the one thing Ami could never doubt. Her mother loved her. She might not always be number one on her mother's priority list, but the woman did love her.
"I'm sorry I missed you at the airport," Dr. Mizuno offered apologetically. "We had a code blue come up at the hospital. And then when I got home and you weren't here, I assumed you were out with your friends."
"I was. Was this code blue one of yours?" Ami asked.
"No, but it's an odd circumstance and it's gotten me curious. A perfectly healthy baby boy just goes into respiratory arrest and dies," her mother related with more than a little frustration, "and I'm completely baffled as to why. Admittedly I'm going just by his charts without any post-mortem data, but something pretty unique would have to show up to explain this."
"Hmm," Ami nodded, the euphoria of Makoto's dinner and the hurt over her mother missing her return replaced by a new puzzle to solve. "May I look at the data?"
Her mother smirked at her. "The ink isn't even dry on your diploma and you already think you can spot something I can't?"
"T-That - - wasn't what I was implying, Mother," Ami stammered, flushing and tense with embarrassment.
"It's all right," Kaname offered, wincing inside that she'd provoked such a reaction from her own daughter. "You're a doctor in your own right, Ami - - and you certainly scored better than I ever did. You might just spot something I missed."
Her tension eased, Ami walked over and picked up the copies of the patient chart. As she skimmed them, her mother headed back for the kitchen.
"I imagine you ate at Ikegami-san's," her mother asked. Ami nodded absently. "You don't mind if I get back to the meal I was preparing for myself, do you?"
"No, go ahead," Ami said.
As she studied the charts, Ami's brain multi-tasked back onto something her father had mentioned at graduation.
"Mother," she ventured, still studying the charts. "Do you date at all?"
"What brought that on?" Kaname asked, drinking soup from a large mug.
"Hmm? Oh, well - -"
"Your father?"
"He thinks you're working too hard."
"He thinks everyone works too hard."
"He's serious. Have you done anything socially in the last eight years?"
"I've," her mother hesitated, "gone to seminars."
"In the company of a handsome man?" Ami asked, glancing at her.
"Why this sudden concern for my dating practices?" Kaname bristled.
"Because I worry about you, Mother. You've been all alone in this apartment for the last eight years with nothing but your work. Can you honestly say that's a healthy lifestyle?"
"I wasn't aware you'd branched into psychology," her mother replied stiffly.
"I've dabbled in it," Ami answered, resisting the ingrained urge to back down. "It's a very interesting science. Mother, don't you get lonely?"
"I have - - people at work."
"It's not the same as family. I know. I've accepted that you and Dad aren't going to get back together. Have you?"
"Yes. I don't intend to make that mistake again."
Ami looked at her and Dr. Mizuno realized she'd betrayed more than she wanted to.
"Is that it?" Ami asked. "You're afraid of another relationship not working out?"
Her mother turned away. "Why not? No man has ever stirred my passions like Yoji. And it didn't work out with him. Why should I expect it to work with anyone else?"
"Mother, passion is a wonderful thing. But passion isn't the only thing that makes a relationship. There's a lot to be said for companionship and commitment. They can be just as fulfilling as passion."
Her mother remained silent.
"Just think about it. Please?" Ami asked.
The charts lay on the table, momentarily forgotten.
- - - -
"What are you sulking about?" Artemis asked Minako point blank.
Minako was sitting at the breakfast table in her very modest apartment near Tokyo's entertainment district. It was a step up from the rathole she'd lived in while migrating from dingy night club singer to pinup photographer's model to bit parts in a series of low budget action and horror movies. Her steady income from Dragon Courage Challenge and Sure Cure For Swelling had paid for it, but those checks were gone. It was an excellent excuse for sitting there and being morose. And yet that wasn't what was making her morose.
"Buzz off, Artemis," Minako scowled.
"Minako, you'll get another job," the white cat told her. "You've got talent. The entertainment industry can't ignore you forever!"
"I'm not so sure anymore," Minako whispered.
"Come on. This doesn't sound like the Minako I'm used to hearing. Usually I've got to talk you down from the pedestal you've put yourself on." The cat rubbed against Minako's leg. "It'll be all right."
"Maybe I should just give this up," Minako muttered. "Marry Toshi-chan and stay home and raise his kids." Her eyes widened. "Oh my god, I sound just like Mom!"
Before Artemis could offer any more encouragement, the door buzzer sounded. Minako made no move to get it, so Artemis huffed out a sigh and went to get it himself. Moments later the cat returned accompanied by a guest.
"Mina-chan?" Usagi inquired hesitantly.
"Usagi?" Minako queried, perking up. "What are you doing here?" She looked around and noticed the slovenly condition of the apartment. "Um, sorry about the mess."
"So what else is new," muttered Artemis.
"Quiet, Fuzzball!" Minako barked.
"Well," Usagi began, unsure how to approach what she had to say. That meant she feared hurting someone's feelings and since Minako was the only other one in the room . . . "Are you OK?"
"I'm just a little down," sighed the blonde. "Maybe seeing Ami come back a big success reminded me that my own life isn't exactly going the way I planned."
"Well you shouldn't compare yourself to Ami," Usagi told her. "Ami is Ami and you're you and just because she's succeeding at her goals doesn't mean you won't. You'll make it, Minako. I just know it."
"I've been telling her the same thing all morning," Artemis added. "But then she NEVER listens to me."
"I said quiet or I'll hide all of your nude pictures of Luna," Minako growled, eliciting a strangled cough of surprise from the cat and an embarrassed blush from Usagi. "Don't worry, Usagi. I'll keep trying. I'm going to make SOMEBODY in this town notice me." She grinned. "It's just that I'm not like you. I can't smile and be sunny one hundred percent of the day."
"Ohh," Usagi blushed.
"So stop wasting time on me. Don't you have manga to draw? 'Love Sorceress' doesn't get drawn on its own, you know."
"I'm going in late today," Usagi confessed. "I'm going around to the shrine to see if Rei's going to contact that guy from the modeling agency." Usagi's eyes got wide with inspiration. "Oh, would you like to come with me?"
"Nah," Minako sighed.
"Maybe she's already called! We can pump her for information. She'll never be able to hold out on both of us!"
"No thanks."
"Come on, Mina-chan! It'll be fun!"
"No."
"Mina-chan!"
"Drop it, Usagi!"
Usagi and Artemis stared up at her.
"Besides," Minako said quickly, and quietly, "I've got an-an audition to get ready for. You're going to have to interrogate Rei on your own."
"Um, OK," Usagi whispered.
"See you around," Minako offered lamely. "Um, don't do anything I wouldn't do - - unless you want to have fun."
Her quip died a slow death. Usagi turned awkwardly and left, Minako closing the door behind her. The would-be entertainer heaved a guilty sigh after she left. Then she noticed Artemis's gaze.
"What are you looking at, cat?" huffed Minako. She retired to her room, mostly to avoid
the cat's penetrating glare.
- - - -
Sanjuro entered the dining area to the smell of another hearty breakfast. The veteran longshoreman smiled as he took his seat at the table. There were many, many things he was grateful for in being Makoto's husband. Her cooking was definitely in the top five.
Holding Akiko in her right arm, Makoto's hand lightly caressed the massive shoulders of her massive husband. She bent in and kissed him. Then she leaned Akiko in and he kissed her. Then she eased into the chair to his right.
"Makoto, you're determined to make me fat," Sanjuro grinned, looking down at the huge plate of mouth-watering food.
"A hard-working man needs a hearty breakfast," Makoto replied gently, with the calm assurance of someone who seemed in silent communication with the basic truths of the world. It was one of the things about her that always fascinated him. Makoto always downplayed her intelligence, but there was a common sense aura to her that you couldn't measure on a standardized test. She was wise in common sense. It made Sanjuro feel lucky that such a woman had agreed to share her life with him.
"What?" Makoto asked, noticing her husband gazing at her.
"Nothing," Sanjuro grinned sheepishly. "Just wondering what part of heaven you drifted down from."
"Oh, you are so full of it," Makoto giggled. Holding Akiko away from her, Makoto asked, "Are you ready for breakfast, Precious?"
"Didn't she just eat at two?" Sanjuro asked.
"I'm trying to get her into a more normal feeding pattern," Makoto explained. Freeing a breast from her blouse, Makoto offered it to little Akiko. The infant seemed reluctant at first, but surrendered and began suckling. "The more she gets used to feeding at eight, the less likely she's going to want to feed at two in the morning. That'll hook into her diaper-changing times, too. The more in sync we can get her into our patterns, the easier our life will be."
Sanjuro chuckled. "Do you just sit around all day and read that baby book?"
"Oh, I wish!" Makoto protested. "Who do you think does the laundry and cleans this place, the magic housekeeping fairies?" Then she blushed and lowered her gaze. "I'm down to two hours now."
Sanjuro gave her a knowing look.
"Well, it's the closest thing I've found to an owner's manual for having kids," Makoto howled.
Suddenly Makoto winced.
"Don't you bite!" she warned Akiko. Almost defiantly, Akiko's mouth pressed down. That earned her a rap across the forehead with Makoto's index finger. "No." she said emphatically as she did it.
Akiko responded with an angry gurgle and shoved away from the breast.
"If you're full, just push away from the table," Makoto admonished her. She put her daughter over her shoulder and began massaging the infant's back.
"She's beginning to bite a lot," Sanjuro observed.
"I think she's beginning to teeth," Makoto sighed. "We're going to have to get her something to chew on. I'd rather she didn't use her new choppers on my nipple."
"I'll pick up something on the way home," Sanjuro grinned. He downed a few bites while Makoto worked any air bubbles out of Akiko's stomach. "It was nice seeing Ami again, wasn't it?"
"Yeah," sighed Makoto. "I'm so glad she's back. I've really missed her."
"I can tell. You and her seem to have a bond."
Makoto shrugged. "I think I'm as close to her as anybody I've known - - except you - - and maybe Shinozaki. She was always so timid. I looked out for her and I was always trying to draw her out of her shell. And I could always go to her if I had a problem and she always knew the answer. And of course we went through more than a few wars together. That builds a bond between people that time and distance just can't break." Makoto suddenly realized how much of herself she was exposing. "Why do you let me rattle on like that?"
"I don't know," Sanjuro grinned. "You're beautiful when you're being profound."
Makoto's mouth screwed up into a cynical smirk. She pulled Akiko off her shoulder and turned the infant back toward him.
"Take a look, Akiko-chan," Makoto whispered into the infant's ear. "Your daddy's being a silly goose again."
In turn Sanjuro made a funny face for Akiko. The infant reached out, vainly trying to
grasp the face she recognized as her father's.
- - - -
"You don't have to go shopping for an apartment today," Kaname Mizuno offered as she served breakfast to her daughter and herself.
"I've never known you to advocate procrastination," Ami said, an eyebrow raised.
"I'm just trying to say that you can stay here as long as you want," the doctor replied.
"I'm twenty-six, Mother," Ami outlined cautiously. "I've been on my own for eight years now - - and I like it that way."
"As you wish," her mother replied with her most guilt-inducing sigh. Ami scowled and picked up the medical chart again. "Any new thoughts on the infant's death?"
"I don't see anything abnormal," Ami confessed. "There's no overt reason this baby should have died. Have you considered foul play?"
"Oh, I'd hate to think so," her mother answered. "It would certainly explain some things. But who could possibly be so depraved that they could murder an infant?"
"Unfortunately I've seen a great many things in my life, Mother, that make such an idea infinitely plausible."
"Besides, there was a duty nurse in the nursery at all times," Dr. Mizuno added. "No one could have come in without her seeing it."
"So if we're operating on a premise of homicide," Ami continued, "that would make the duty nurse chief suspect."
"Assuming the premise of homicide," Dr. Mizuno replied. "I'll reserve judgment on that until I see a post-mortem report."
"Of course," Ami replied with a calmness that seemed strange to her mother. It was as if she knew she was on the right track and was just waiting for the proof to appear and corroborate her deductions.
Sometimes it was difficult living with someone with an IQ in the upper two-hundreds.
"When do you report to Dr. Tanaka for your internship?" her mother asked.
"Next Monday," Ami exhaled. Her mother noticed her daughter's trepidation and smiled. "You know him, don't you? What's he like?"
"He's a good man to work with, so long as he doesn't think you're giving less than your best effort," Kaname replied. "I know your work habits, Ami. You'll be fine."
Continued in Chapter 3