Chapter 20:
Ami found that she had grown remarkably contemplative on the nature of curses and blessings in the year since the birth of Setsuna. In a very real way, both were the same thing. It was all a matter of circumstances and perspective.
A classic hypothetical example would be eternal life. Many people would consider it a great blessing to never live in fear of death. However, if the situation were slightly changed and a person was buried alive, living an eternity in unending torment would quickly become a vile curse. It all depended on circumstances.
Less hypothetically, there was Ranma's predicament. On the surface, Jusenkyo transformations were a curse. However, given that part of Ranma's soul had been trapped in the spring, that designation of being a curse wasn't entirely clear. It could be that the so-called curse was actually the least bad option possible in the situation. This ambiguity extended to the present time as well. If Ranma could turn male, it would certainly present logistical problems in nursing and caring for Setsuna, seeing how the Moon Kingdom lacked mass-produced milk and baby formula. Being trapped in female form also provided much more stability and consistency in Ranma's and Setsuna's life than if she constantly changed genders. In that light, Ranma's current and still unexplained entrapment in female form could be considered a curse, or it could be considered something else. It all depended on perspective.
Of all the examples Ami could think of, though, the one most prominent in her mind was the ability to see the future. The traditional view was that the ability of foresight, like Cassandra had in Greek mythology, was a definite blessing. Likewise, Cassandra's predicament, who according to mythology was enchanted by the gods such that nobody would ever believe her knowledge, was a definite curse.
From Ami's perspective, it was the other way around.
The reason that that particular ability was most on her mind was that she was actually in the process of living through it. Ami was thoroughly convinced that she, Ranma, and Minako had somehow ended up in the correct timeline, only in the wrong time. They were likely in either their own far past or their own far future. Given all the coincidences, especially Venge taking the name of Serenity and renaming the Greater Domains to the Moon Kingdom after their migration to the moon, she was sure it was the past and that she was witnessing the foundation of the same Moon Kingdom from thousands of years prior to her own time.
Thus far she hadn't told anybody anything yet. What could she tell them, anyway? That they were from thousands of years in the future? That all of this would be destroyed at some uncertain point yet to come when Beryl and Metalia corrupted the people of Terra to start a war? Even if she could convince them she was telling the truth, the only thing that could really accomplish would be to change her own past, write herself out of existence, and destroy causality in some unknown and unpredictable way.
Up until this point, Ami had never really considered the burden Chibi-Usa had lived under when she had visited them.
It was funny, too, in an ironic and morbid kind of way. Ever since she had first discovered the existence of the Moon Kingdom, Ami had always had a curiosity of that world. What would living there have been like? What had its history been? However, her interest had been much more of an academic, scholarly one. It most definitely hadn't been a you-get-sent-there-and-by-the-way-if-you-happen-to-make-a-mistake-you-could-end-up-changing-history-so-that-you-are-never-born-and-create-a-paradox-of-unknown-implications one.
As a result, she found herself living in a regular state of fear that she would somehow accidentally act as the butterfly of change which would create a hurricane of paradox, possibly destroying her and everything she knew. Minor, almost expected, events only added to her worry. For example, Setsuna had shed all of her red hair shortly after being born. That was hardly unusual; it was practically a universal phenomenon in infants. It being replaced by a green variety a few month later was less so. That had added yet more evidence to Ami's theory, and therefore to her concerns.
Any time she allowed herself to think about it, she could literally feel the adrenalin coursing through her chest; the dull clench of anxiety made it difficult to even breathe naturally. It had become far too common a sensation for her.
Ami found herself second-guessing, third-guessing, and fourth-guessing everything she said and did. For example, what should she do in regard to her connection to Mercury? She wanted to recreate her connection to the planet, but was she supposed to form the Sailor Senshi, or was that supposed to happen later in the future? Given the unusual and non-Japanese names of the Sailor Senshi, she expected that she should be the one to cause their creation and subsequent naming. Then again, it could just as easily have been somebody else who subsequently decided to use the word "sailor" for some unknown reason.
If she took the risk and did go about trying to recreate her connection to Mercury, should she start with that planet directly? Alternatively was she supposed to start with that strange tenth planet, Nemesis, as an initial experiment? It could have been the first attempt at linking a person to a planet had failed, shattering that planet and turning the core of it to Evil Black Crystal. Then again, it could have been that the devastation of Nemesis had happened later, once Death Phantom had been banished there.
Another conundrum was the Mercury Computer. Ami wanted to recreate it as well. However, when had it been made? Introducing such a powerful instrument before it was due to arrive would certainly have substantial impact on the development of this fledgling country. If she were to make it, would it be cheating to model it after the broken computer she already had?
There were countless other questions, but they all fell under the same broad category. What should she do, and what should she just let happen?
Cassandra's predicament from Greek mythology was definitely a blessing from Ami's perspective, given her own present circumstances. She would have gladly taken the "curse" to not be believed, so she could live without fear that she would make a mistake.
Ultimately, Ami concluded that she could doom herself and everybody she knew just as easily through inaction as through action. It didn't help at all with the frequent feelings of dread which plagued her, but it was a reasonable enough argument for her intellect that it allowed her to act without being completely paralyzed by fear. She decided that she needed to do whatever she would do, and hope that she wasn't making a drastic mistake.
To that end, the first step was to remake the Mercury Computer, not in the least because it would be invaluable in aiding her with any other research and development she would perform afterward. The work ended up being both far less complicated and far more complicated than Ami had ever imagined it could be.
The reason it was less complicated then she expected was that it was apparently relatively easy to create temporary objects using heart energy, as she had taken to calling the so-called magic which surrounded her. Seeing how her current theory was that its source was heart crystals, she was tentatively using that term, pending further investigation and revisions to her theory. Regardless of how it worked, though, making transient physical objects using heart energy was surprisingly simple. It was almost as simple as creating the blasts of energy the Sailor Senshi threw around on a regular basis. Making a permanent object, such as the palace Serenity had created on the moon, was far more difficult; but so long as the object in question was only needed to exist for a short period of time, creating it wasn't much harder than making the unending supply of roses Tuxedo Kamen seemed able to generate.
Despite that unexpected welcome surprise, recreating even a temporary emulation of the Mercury Computer still proved to be exceptionally complicated. Even with the, albeit broken, model of the computer to work off of, Ami barely knew how to get started copying it. Shamelessly copying the device, and the associated ontological paradox of doing so, didn't concern Ami half as much as the act of creating a Mercury Computer in the first place worried her. A bootstrap paradox was still a paradox, begging the question of where the design for the computer had come from in the first place, but it wasn't like it was inconsistent with itself in any way.
It had taken the better part of a year, but Ami had finally managed to create a prototype of a computer which could turn on and display content of a sort on a screen. Her main conclusion thus far was that whoever had created the initial computer must have been a genius. Even after spending a year working on it, even after creating a quasi-working model, Ami still only barely understood how it worked. She was learning more about it each day, but that did nothing to diminish her respect for the people or person who had created the device in the first place.
She had been aided in no small part by the small group of magic users who had taken an interest in the project Ami was working on. Ami had been only too happy to welcome the other seekers of knowledge to her project. They occasionally got in the way, but this was drastically outweighed by the technical assistance, new ideas, and much needed heart energy they provided while creating prototype after prototype. They were quickly forming something of an unofficial research and development group.
"Hello, Minako-san. Is it that time already?" Spinel's voice could be heard asking from across the room, interrupting Ami's concentration. In the unofficial hierarchy of their group, the squat and somewhat pudgy woman had become something of an unofficial second-in-command under Ami.
"Yeah, but knowing Ami-chan she'll probably need 'just one more minute' to finish up. How about you? Did you ever manage to get those missing jula berries figured out?" Minako asked. Apparently there was some ongoing disagreement between Spinel and her neighbors, whom she strongly suspected were pilfering the hard, spicy berries from her garden.
"No. My neighbors still won't admit to anything," Spinel groused.
While Minako and Spinel continued with one of the easy conversations Minako always seemed to be able to inspire in other people, Ranma took the more direct approach. She walked up to Ami, Setsuna in hand, and asked, "Hey, Ami-chan. Let me guess. 'One more minute?'"
"Yes, yes. Sorry," Ami said, rapidly pushing buttons on the proto-computer in front of her to see what, if any, effect each of them had.
The response she got from her statement was a high pitched cough, which couldn't have come from Ranma mouth. Then the loud cry of Setsuna started in earnest. Ami ruefully wondered about the child's timing. If she had started five minutes earlier, when Ranma and Minako had still been in some hallway, it would have been so much more convenient for her.
"Take your time. It looks like Setsuna-chan's hungry again. Like mother, like daughter," Ranma said lightly, taking her cue. She then moved to a corner of the room, taking with her the bag of baby supplies she always carried around.
Ami tried to ignore Ranma as she nursed Setsuna, giving her the personal space that Ami would have wanted in Ranma's place. She instead focused her attention on packing up. Meanwhile, Minako's and Spinel's conversation had moved on to the topic of how Spinel missed certain fruits which were no longer available since their migration to the moon.
The proto-computer winked out of existence in short order, forcibly putting a stop to the train of thought Ami had been exploring. She jotted down some quick notes as a reminder of where she had left off. She had barely finished when Setsuna gave out a gurgling then burp, signaling she had had her fill.
"We're all done here. Ready to go?" Ranma asked.
"All set," Ami said.
"See you tomorrow, boss," Spinel said to Ami.
"You can come too, you know," Ami teased Spinel. Of course there was no way the woman would.
"And end up like you with bruises on muscles I can't even name? No thanks. I'll just stick around in here," Spinel predictably answered.
"Why don't you study those physiology charts I put together? Then naming the muscles wouldn't be a problem," Ami suggested. Spinel rolled her eyes in response, giving Ami a quick laugh. Ami finished by saying, "See you tomorrow."
Ranma easily held Setsuna in one of her arms as she led Minako and Ami down the long familiar path to the guard house where they had their daily practice.
"So today is the big day, right?" Ami asked as they walked. "I can't believe Setsuna-chan is already a year old."
"More like only a year. She's already grown so much. It's like she's two or three already, isn't that right?" Ranma said, the last in a light voice while wriggling a finger in front of Setsuna's face, eliciting a gurgle.
"Are you still coming to the birthday party?" Minako asked.
"Of course. You?" Ami asked back.
"Of course," Minako answered back, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"Even so, the timing of everything's terrible," Ami admitted. Some might have liked having a birthday coincide with the official founding of their country. It could be fun in many ways. However, also it meant that Setsuna's first birthday party would be severely hampered by the party Serenity was having in celebration of the one-year anniversary of the migration's conclusion.
"I know. All of these things to do before the ball. I don't know how we'll get it all done in time," Minako said.
"We could always just skip the preparation," Ranma suggested hopefully.
"The ball too, maybe," Ami suggested half-jokingly. Only half-jokingly; she felt so close to a major breakthrough with the computer.
"Don't you start too," Minako chastised Ami. She continued with enough enthusiasm for all three of them combined. "You've been far too tense lately. When's the last time you got to kick your feet up and have some major fun? You and Miss Mopy here both need to seriously unwind. Some music and dancing is just what Doctor Minako ordered."
"If you are talking about relaxing, I'd rather just have a good fight," Ranma said, cracking her knuckles.
"You don't really mean that. We got loads of stuff planned for you. Getting your hair and nails done, getting your dress, the massage... There's so much to do. Trust me, it'll be a blast," Minako said, undeterred by either Ranma's recalcitrance or the one-year-old Setsuna she carried along with her.
"Not as much as it will be for you. It's not like we're half as popular as you are, Minako-chan. I'll probably just get stuck sitting in the corner the whole time," Ami said.
"It's only because you aren't applying yourself. I mean, did you even try to find a date for the dance?" Minako asked.
"I'm not like you. I couldn't do that," Ami said. Besides shyness, which was definitely a factor, Ami really didn't want to get involved with any serious relationships while on the moon. It would just be one more complication for when they eventually found a way to return home; and they were going to return home, even if Ami had to figure out a way to break the barriers of the spacetime continuum herself.
"It's nothing serious. It's just a little innocent fun," Minako said. "You too, Ranma-san. I'm sure..."
"Don't you dare even suggest that," Ranma said, cutting her off. Despite the quiet with which she spoke, her voice was filled with malice, and the promise of revising Minako's martial arts training schedule yet again.
"It looks like you're the only one with a date tonight," Ami said.
"Not even that. Topaz-kun's hurt and he's skipping the ball," Minako said, for the first time the edge of her enthusiasm slightly dulling.
"Oh no. What happened?" Ami asked, concerned.
"He was trying to break up a fight, and somebody clubbed him from behind. We were close to the palace and Serenity managed to heal him just fine, but there's no way he's coming given the circumstances. I guess I'm on my own tonight too. Maybe I'll find somebody to dance with once I get there," Minako said, eagerness back in her voice.
"I'm sure you will. Everybody talks about you, the 'most eligible bachelorette' in the palace," Ami said. Ami had been approached by numerous young men seeking information on her blonde friend. She had given what limited advice she could, but clearly none of them had succeeded in advancing a serious relationship thus far.
"They say the same about you too," Minako said.
"What?" Ami exclaimed, embarrassed. She could feel a blush creeping into her cheeks. "I haven't heard anything like that."
"Trust me, if you had given any sign of being interested, I'm sure you'd have them falling over themselves to be the partner of the unapproachable scientist beauty," Minako assured her.
"No way," Ami said. She could feel her blush increase in intensity and wondered if her cheeks weren't actually glowing.
Minako drifted back a bit and let Ranma pull ahead, putting Minako within whispering distance to Ami. In a low voice, enough to provide a semblance of privacy despite the open corridor, she asked, "By the way, I was talking to Ranma-san this morning. Did you know that we don't have to do this martial arts practice anymore?"
Ami whispered back in a low voice, to match Minako's, "What do you mean?"
"It's just we don't need to do this daily practice thing anymore. Ranma-san told me that she had given up on her suicide weirdness, what with Setsuna-chan around to take care of," Minako explained. Ranma continued walking ahead of them, ignoring their whispered conversation and slower walking pace.
Ami had noticed a marked difference in Ranma over the past year, once Setsuna had entered her life and Ranma had stopped using the Soul of Ice all the time. While she hadn't outright had a conversation with Ranma, Ami had strongly suspected that the danger of suicide had passed some time ago. She said, "I see. To tell you the truth I had guessed that already."
"You did?" Minako asked quickly, her voice creeping a bit louder. "Then why do you keep coming to these sessions?"
Ami stopped walking and put some serious thought into that question. Why was she still coming? She answered Minako, "Well, I never was one of the strongest fighters on the team."
"Don't say that. You contributed with your brains," Minako interrupted Ami.
"That's nice of you to say, but even so I was never really much of a front-line fighter. I thought maybe if I practiced with Ranma-san some more I could learn to hold my own. These are valuable skills to have, too. I don't like the idea of being helpless without being able to transform. It's only that much more important now, seeing how we haven't been able to transform ever since we ended up back in the... I mean ever since coming to this world," Ami quickly corrected herself. As much as she liked Minako, she wasn't prepared to risk the further chance of paradox by letting her speculations be known. "Besides, it's one of the few chances I get see both you and Ranma-san, and I don't want to lose that."
"I see," Minako said, thoughtfully.
"Are you going to keep coming now that you know?" Ami asked, worried what the answer might be. Ami enjoyed Minako's company, as well as the extra target Minako provided to their teacher during practice, but now that the threat of suicide had passed, Minako might not see things the same way. She knew her friend had never really enjoyed being forced to wake up bruised all the time.
"I guess so," Minako said after only a moment's pause. "I'm still here after all, aren't I?"
Ami's face relaxed in relief as the two hustled to catch up to Ranma. They only managed to catch up to her just outside of the guard house, and the makeshift dojo therein.
Thoughts of the ball and its countless preparations, the upcoming birthday party for Setsuna, the mountain of questions still left unsolved, and everything else quickly faded from Ami's mind as they approached. Unlike when she had first started training, those thoughts weren't forced away by a vague feeling of fear in her stomach either. Instead they had been pushed aside by a quiet contemplation of what she had recently accomplished, what new things she had to look forward to, and a careful watchfulness of Ranma.
Another benefit of Ranma's training was that it provided a break from the lab and a place to regroup and unconsciously reconsider things. She'd lost count of the number of times she'd been stuck on a problem for hours, only to have the solution come unbidden to her mind halfway through a sparring session. In a strange way, the intense physical exertion of training had become one of the ways she relaxed in her free time.
It didn't hurt that there were no wolves on the moon either.
As always, most of the guards had made themselves scarce before the trio plus Setsuna had arrived. While Minako might have been popular amongst them, superseding that was the fact that almost everybody in the castle still avoided Ranma. Even if she was no longer outright spooky on her own, her reputation remained, aided in no small part by her lack of socialization with anybody besides Minako, Ami, and Serenity.
Still, their ranks had expanded very slightly. They had been joined about a month ago by an enterprising young man named Aventurine. He had been a new recruit to the guards who, upon learning of the class, had jumped at the opportunity to learn some useful combat techniques.
Without warning, and without even bothering to put Setsuna down, Ranma lashed out at Minako with a foot just after they had crossed the threshold of the room. While Minako was usually the first recipient of Ranma's training of the day, Ranma varied things enough that it was never certain who she would start with. Or even when. Three months ago, Ami had been caught flat-footed about 10 meters from the building, and as punishment had gotten a severe bruise on her tailbone which made it painful for her to sit for the next few days. In retrospect she had deserved it. She definitely had let her attention wander and had gotten her just desserts for that, much to the snickering of Spinel and everybody else around her.
Ranma and Minako fell into their regular pattern of Minako desperately trying to avoid the onslaught as Ranma flowed all around her. Throughout, Ranma continued to hold Setsuna safe, carrying the child in her arms lovingly as she pummeled Minako with her feet. It was especially hair-raising for Ami to watch whenever Ranma would leap upside down while carrying her child.
"For crying out loud, can't she at least put the baby down? It's embarrassing enough that she can wipe the floor with all of us, does she really need to rub it in?" Aventurine whined out loud.
"You think that's bad? You weren't around last year when she was kicking our asses while she was nine months pregnant. Damn, if only I could move like that on my best day. At least this way we know she can't use her hands. I don't know about you but I'll take any advantage I can get," Peridot chastised her fellow guard.
Ami silently agreed with Peridot's assessment. Ranma carrying Setsuna around was a definite handicap. It limited Ranma's mobility slightly, and certainly tied up her limbs. Moreover, seeing how Ami and the others were simply not good enough to be able to reliably abort an attack which was going wrong, Ranma couldn't just use her child as a makeshift shield to cover her openings. Ranma's continuing to carry Setsuna while fighting was definitely a handicap to be taken advantage of; Ami just needed to figure out the best way to do so.
Ranma gave a questioning sidelong glance towards Peridot, then casually tossed Setsuna into the air, eliciting a laugh of joy from the baby. She then threw a quick jab at Minako's face. Minako barely managed to dodge out of the way of the unexpected attack, but it left her in a position such that she wasn't able to react in time to avoid being punched in the gut. Ranma followed this up with a roundhouse kick which knocked Minako to the ground. She then casually held out her hands. Setsuna fell neatly into her waiting arms.
Peridot cleared her throat, and corrected, "Can't use her hands very well."
The demonstration that Ranma still had limited use of her hands forced Ami to recalculate her analysis and battle plans. If Ranma tried to use that trick against her, Ami could use the direction and the height of the toss to determine where Ranma would need to be and by when, which was valuable tactical knowledge when facing somebody as unpredictable as Ranma. A main question was if Ami would be able to react to all of that information quickly enough to use it.
"Next," Ranma announce as Minako crawled back to the side of the room to recover.
Ami stood up, volunteering herself. None of the others seemed inclined to stop her, although everybody kept a close eye on Ranma in case this was another trick to catch somebody off guard. She figured she would have to go eventually, and the earlier she got her punishment out of the way the more time she would have to recover before partner and group practice began.
She wasn't quite sure why training was scheduled this way. Even after all this time, Ami still couldn't understand Ranma's unconventional, and continually evolving, training style. Most martial arts schools spent most of the time practicing forms and drilling moves, especially at the start of a class. This had the dual advantage of helping the students learn while they were still alert and fresh, and not exhausting them for the rest of the class. Instead of this more traditional format, it seemed that Ranma would focus on finding and exploiting any and all holes in their defense early in the class and work them to exhaustion before moving on to lighter sparring exercises. Very little time was spent on forms and drills. She assumed that Ranma knew what she was doing and had a reason for doing things this way.
Ami's turn with Ranma was much shorter than Minako's. Overall she was disappointed with how poorly she had fared. It was to be expected that she had not matched Minako's performance, but worse than that, she had done much less well than she had done the day before. As she always did during her crawl of painful defeat back to the side of the room, she reviewed the fight she had just been through relative to her original plans and strategies, trying to see what she had failed to take into account or failed to execute properly. Her conclusion was that that she had been too preoccupied watching for Ranma's new baby tossing trick, which made her too careless in general when it never happened. She was sure she would make countless other mistakes in the future, but this was one she wouldn't make again.
"Next," Ranma said challengingly, almost maliciously. The guards looked at each other, each hesitating. Meanwhile, Ami found a spot next to Minako and managed to bring herself to a sitting position beside her friend before collapsing in a slump.
"I think that woman just enjoys torturing us," Minako said.
"I think Ranma-san's a bit upset at you from earlier. That trick with Setsuna-chan is a new one, and that kick looked painful," Ami said.
"No matter. As they say, what goes around can hurt. I will have my revenge," Minako waxed poetic. "I have so many things planned for her. For you too."
Ami enjoyed being pampered as much as any girl did, even if she wouldn't necessarily admit it out loud, but Minako's sinister smile was enough to give anybody pause to reconsider.
Rather than face that disconcerting grin, Ami turned back to the floor. There she saw Ranma quickly and systematically take apart Aventurine's defense. He was on the floor in a matter of seconds, even faster than Ami had lost in her fight. He might have been the new young hotshot of the guards, but there were gaping holes in his defense which even Ami could see. Aventurine practically telegraphed the attacks he attempted, which was a very dangerous thing to do against a martial artist of Ranma's caliber, who could instantaneously take advantage once you were committed.
Contemplation of this brought a shocking realization to Ami. She could in fact see the holes in Aventurine's defenses. She could see his attacks before he actually engaged in them. She had unconsciously thought about it before but never really realized it until now. Since when could she do that?
"Next," Ranma said once Aventurine was on the ground and refused to stand again.
Ami could think of no reason why Ranma would be upset at Aventurine, yet despite that she had quickly and painfully taken him down as well. Maybe she wasn't actually upset at Minako's comment earlier after all. Ami speculated out loud, "I take it back. I think Ranma-san just might be in a hurry today. She must really be worried about not having enough time for Setsuna-chan's birthday party."
"Speaking of which, Setsuna-chan seems to be having fun," Minako said, the joyous cries of the child being audible over the shuffling of feet and occasional sound of a foot slapping against Ranma's current opponent.
"She does, doesn't she?" Ami agreed.
Minako squinted her eyes, then turned to ask Ami, "Is it my imagination, or is she making a fist and throwing a punch there?"
Ami peered more closely as well. "I think she is. And there. I swear that was a kick. Like mother like daughter, I guess," Ami said.
"Great. That's just what we need," Minako said sarcastically.
Training had been noticeably shorter than usual, lending credence to Ami's hypothesis that Ranma was just in a hurry. Not only had Ranma taken down all of her students in what must have been record time, even the general practice and paired-off sparring had been relatively short.
After training was over, Minako had taken the lead, both physically and metaphorically. Ami was content to let Minako take charge of the upcoming social activities, and Ranma didn't seem to be protesting too much or trying to sneak away. Despite this, every so often Minako would turn around, as if she was afraid that if she didn't keep a careful eye on her charges they would both bolt at the first opportunity, Ranma to either train or to play around with Setsuna, and Ami to continue with her research on the Mercury Computer.
They were on their way to a final fitting with the dressmaker that Minako had arranged to create the attire the three of them would wear for the evening. Given the lack of elastic, zippers, and other clothing technologies Ami had previously taken for granted, having a quality fit was more important than ever.
Ami wasn't quite sure how Minako had found the dressmaker, but she figured that the socialite somehow knew somebody who knew somebody. Regardless of how Minako had found Aquamarine, though, the dressmaker had already impressed Ami. During their initial consultation, the woman had suggested a dark blue dress with light blue accents for Ami, an orange dress with blue accents for Minako, and a vivid blue dress with yellow accents for Ranma. Ami wasn't sure if it was just a coincidence, but the fact that she had suggested the same color palette of their respective Sailor Senshi uniforms had struck her.
"It's so strange around here. It's so much easier just to go to the store and buy something my size," Minako casually remarked as they walked.
"It's not that unusual. Seeing how this isn't an industrial society, although that term isn't really applicable as such, it makes sense that this is how they make clothing. It's just like back home, up until maybe 100 years ago or so," Ami explained.
"Is it? I thought people always bought clothes from stores," Minako said.
"Oh, no. Not at all. Up until the advent of mass production, people would buy clothes which were handmade, by tailors or seamstresses or what have you. It was only with the industrial revolution that it became more economical to create large amounts of pre-created clothing in standard sizes that people would select at the point of sale. However, given the nature of society here, I'm not sure that is the best comparison to make," Ami said.
"Even if that's true, can't they do something else with magic, like summoning clothes or something? You know, like our transformations and the Sailor Senshi uniforms," Minako said.
"I guess not enough people have access to enough heart energy to do that, or it's otherwise not worth the effort," Ami remarked. She didn't really feel like going into an explanation of the difficulty of the process involved with creating a dress which wouldn't disappear within couple of minutes, especially as she only barely understood it herself.
"Heart energy? Oh, you mean magic, right?" Minako asked.
"If you want to call it that," Ami answered, slightly annoyed.
Throughout the conversation Ranma stayed silent, instead choosing to spend her time fussing with Setsuna, who gurgled happily at Ranma's attentions.
When they arrived at Aquamarine's door, both Minako's selection of and Ami's faith in the woman were rewarded. Laid out on the table were three elegant gowns with a classical ornate design. Ami's dress started around the neck and gathered together at the waist before flaring out at the hips and ending somewhere near her shins. The bodice of the dress was translucent gossamer, giving the impression of being strapless without actually being so. The long sleeves had light, shiny highlights woven into them, matching the contrasts found in the rest of the design. It was a bit flashier than she might have chosen herself, but overall, Ami was enamored with the design.
It took her much longer to figure out how to don the dress than it could have. After fighting with it for several minutes, Ami broke down and asked Aquamarine how to actually put the thing on. After that it took some limber maneuvering, but Ami was finally able to get the dress around herself. Once it was in place, to her relief she found it a rather comfortable and flattering fit. No further alterations were necessary. With that confirmed, she struggled out of the dress again and returned it to Aquamarine. She would need to come back just before the ball to put it back on. Between hairstyling, manicures, and all the other preparation, wearing the dresses throughout the day would just get in the way and subject them to unnecessary risk.
After the visit to the dressmaker, Minako declared that the next stop would be to a beauty parlor to have a full makeover for the evening. The secondary purpose for visiting the dressmakers, and the reason Minako had gone there first, was to grab a swatch of cloth from each of the dresses to give to the stylist to match for the nail polish.
"Come on, Ranma-san, you'd look so beautiful with your hair down, wouldn't she, Agate-chan?" Minako insisted once at the parlor.
"Most certainly," the beauty stylist agreed. "You could put your hair in a nice sweep to the side, or maybe we should put it up and emphasize your neck lines."
"I like my hair how it is. How am I supposed to fight if my hair is flying all over the place?" Ranma protested, clutching at her ponytail possessively.
"Come on, Ranma-san. You're not going to the ball to fight, you're going to have fun," Minako insisted.
"It's not like I get to choose where and when I fight," Ranma countered.
"You'll be in a dress anyway, and that seems like a much bigger handicap than anything we could do with your hair," Ami said, joining in. She was enjoying the all too rare plight of her sometimes sadistic teacher.
Ranma just grumbled a bit at that, clearly not happy with that argument.
"You'll be beautiful, I promise. You'll barely recognize yourself," Agate insisted.
"I don't want to be beautiful," Ranma protested loudly.
"What about as an example for Setsuna-chan? You don't want her to grow up all spartan and plain, do you?" Minako asked, gesturing towards the child sitting on a chair just a short distance away.
"She can grow up like a martial artist. Duty and honor and ability," Ranma answered.
"What if she doesn't want that kind of lifestyle? She should have at least some femininity in her role model, and you are her mother. What kind of person do you want her to grow up to be? Besides, it's only one day," Minako disagreed.
Ranma shook her head, thinking about this for much longer than Ami would have expected. Surprisingly, eventually she almost growled out, "Okay. But just for today." Then, under her breath, Ranma added, "Stupid panda."
The mentioning of a panda made little sense to Ami, but that was swept away by the almost manic grin which crossed Minako's face at Ranma's capitulation. If Ami hadn't been so sore from training earlier she might have even felt sorry for her.
Minako almost squealed out, "Just you wait. The boys will want to eat you all up."
Although the look on her face spoke volumes, Ranma held her tongue. She then turned to wave towards Setsuna, a smile coming back to her face despite her circumstances. Meanwhile, Agate took advantage of Ranma's acquiescence and, with a speed born of a lifetime of practice, quickly undid Ranma's ponytail.
Ami was surprised exactly how much hair Ranma's ponytail hid. While not as long as Minako's hair, Ranma still had a good length to play with, definitely far more than Ami herself did. She had to suppress a brief feeling of envy towards the martial artist. Ami's short hair was very convenient for daily life, both for ease of maintenance as well as for her constant leaning down to examine or read various things, but it was too short to style in anything besides the pageboy cut she normally wore it in. Even so, she could still enjoy the manicure and pedicure Minako had planned for them, and the lack of decisions made it that much easier to sit back and just enjoy the experience of watching Ranma squirm for once.
"So, what style do you want? Maybe a nice up-sweep? Maybe in a nice mature bun?" Agate asked, moving Ranma's hair around in a mini-demonstration as she spoke. "Or maybe we should just put it down. Oh, that's nice. How about we do an asymmetric? That's quite the stylish thing this season, and it will let us show off your lovely neck and shoulder lines."
"But I can't see anything out of my left eye," Ranma protested as Agate held the hair in the latest position in demonstration.
"Sure you can," Ami countered, jokingly. "You just see hair, that's all."
Ranma growled again in protest, then took her hair and cleared it out of her vision. She said, "Whatever. I don't know nothing about this stuff. Just make it so it won't get in the way if a fight breaks out."
"Pay no attention to her. I think a nice simple styling with it loose would be perfect," Minako interrupted. She joined in the fun with Agate and moved Ranma's hair around to demonstrate what she was thinking of.
"Oh. That does look adorable," Agate agreed.
Ami could hear yet another not-quite-suppressed growl emerging from Ranma, but she otherwise gave no reaction.
Setsuna started crying at this point, giving Ranma the perfect excuse to escape the fussing around her.
"Oops, I think Setsuna needs to be changed," Ranma said, quickly standing up and escaping the two women who had been hovering around her. It may have only been for a few minutes, but it was obvious Ranma was grateful for the reprieve.
"Impeccable timing as always," Ami muttered to herself.
"It's a good thing that Topaz-kun couldn't make it. He'd probably have collapsed by now," Ami commented as Minako finished waltzing with her latest partner.
"Doesn't she ever need to rest?" Spinel asked. She was taking a break at the table Ami was sitting at, joined by her taller and chubbier husband, Lopezite.
"Apparently not. That's, what, her twelfth partner so far?" Ami asked.
Decked out in her orange ball gown, Minako flitted between every man who caught her eye, regardless of whether or not he already had a date. She hadn't stopped once since the party had begun, bouncing from man to man. However, none of Minako's dance partners had stayed with her for more than a couple of dances.
"That sounds about right, but I haven't been keeping count. Shoot. She'd better be careful or she's really going to annoy somebody by stealing her date," Lopezite commented.
The oldest and most established couples and the most casual of casual dates humored Minako whenever she asked, with the woman sitting out for a number while the man danced with the vivacious blonde. In contrast, all the not-quite-casual-but-not-several-years-married couples had harshly driven her off, with the women giving her dirty glares as she walked away.
"If only Minako-chan showed such energy in other matters. She'd probably be the best at whatever she put her mind to," Ami said.
"What do you mean? I've heard how the others talk about her. She always giving it her all," Spinel said.
"I suppose you're right. I guess I'm thinking about before, back in our old world," Ami acceded. Minako had changed a fair bit since coming here. If only Usagi and the others could see her now.
"Do you miss it?" Lopezite asked, picking up on the touch of remorse in Ami's voice. While not exactly common knowledge, the fact that Ami, Minako, and Ranma were travelers who had somehow ended up stuck here was still fairly widely known around the palace, even if details about where they had come from was not.
"Yes, I do miss it. It was really bad at first, but it got better after a few weeks. The thing that really gets me is that nobody back home knows what's happened to us. They must be going crazy with worry," Ami answered.
She didn't want to acknowledge it, but Ami knew there was a very real possibility that her parents and the Sailor Senshi would never know what happened to her and her three, now two, companions. The only question was if her mother or Usagi would take it harder.
"Did you have anybody special back home?" Lopezite asked.
"Not really. There was this one boy, but it was never too serious. The biggest thing is my parents. I'm an only child, and they don't even know where I went. As far as they know, I just left one day and disappeared. Maybe one of my friends will tell them what happened," Ami said.
It would be nice to think that Usagi would inform her family what had happened. However, explaining the situation, either as Usagi or as Sailor Moon, would carry such a raft of problems that it would probably be impossible. No. Much more likely Ami would have just disappeared; another missing child statistic, to the lifelong devastation of her parents. Her face took on a dark and gloomy look at this thought.
"Why the sour face, Ami-chan? You look almost as miserable as Ranma-san does," Minako asked. Apparently the semi-constant rebuffs by angry girls had finally convinced Minako to take a break from the dance floor.
At Minako's prompting Ami glanced over at the side of the room to where Ranma was playing with Setsuna. Ami personally wouldn't have described Ranma as looking miserable; Ranma never looked miserable any time Setsuna was in sight. However it was quite clear that Ranma had no interest in being at the party and wanted nothing to do with it. Ami hoped that she didn't look that far out of place. Despite her reputation as an introverted bookworm, Ami actually did enjoy the occasional event, especially whenever Usagi managed to drag her to one. It was just the recent subject which had put her out of sorts.
"It's nothing, we were just..." Ami started saying, but stopped as she felt her voice threatening to crack. She gathered herself and tried again, "We were just talking about home."
Minako's face drooped for a brief moment, but and then took on a brighter appearance as she said, "Why are you talking about there? There's a lot more cute boys around here, and they're so much more mature too. You know what they say, seize the dance." Despite her efforts, it was clear that Minako was doing her best to hide her feelings about the matter.
"You mean 'seize the day,'" Ami said.
"That too," Minako agreed.
"So you don't have anybody special waiting for you back home?" Spinel asked.
"Well there's Usagi-chan and everybody else, but that's just like Ami-chan here. Hmm... I guess Artemis might count as somebody special," Minako said.
"Is Artemis your mother? Or maybe your girlfriend?" Lopezite asked. Ami started laughing as Minako sputtered and took on a shocked and slightly queasy look at that idea.
Ami finally managed to force out between laughs, "No, nothing like that. First, despite the name, Artemis is a boy, and second, he's a companion of Minako-chan, not dating or anything." She didn't see any harm of mentioning Artemis's being a cat too, but also didn't want to take too many chances just in case.
"A companion... but not a boyfriend?" Lopezite asked slowly.
"Something like that," Minako answered, oblivious to Lopezite's and Spinel's confusion.
"Actually, speaking of which, do you think Artemis will be alright? I hope he won't get into too much trouble without you to take care of him," Ami said.
"Artemis? Sure. That cat can survive anything," Minako said dismissively. Spinel and Lopezite raised their eyebrows at that statement while Ami mentally rolled her eyes at the revelation. "If anything, he's probably taken advantage of the chance to move in with Luna. I know he's had a crush on her for forever."
"I almost feel bad for Usagi-chan. Having two people yelling at her to wake up and to do her homework," Ami remarked.
"You're telling me. Artemis on his own was bad enough, I can't imagine having to deal with two of them," Minako said.
Spinel and Lopezite remained quiet and looked confused. Apparently both had lost track of the conversation, neither following the names and references the two girls had thrown so casually between them.
In the background, the orchestra struck up another song. It was a perky song, more conducive to a light quickstep than the romantic song that had just completed.
"Oops, it sounds like the next song's up. Like they say, music waits for no one. You three should come out too. You don't want to be like Ranma-san over there," Minako said, gesturing to where Ranma was sitting near the wall, far away from the action on the floor. She was still playing with her daughter, and it was still clear that she would rather be pretty much anywhere else than in the ballroom.
Ami thought about it, and came to a conclusion. Minako was right. There was no reason to just sit around all evening on such a big day, especially when everybody else was having so much fun. Furthermore, there was no reason for Ranma to be left out either. She had been far too grumpy lately, and a dance might be just the thing to cheer her up.
Her mind made up, Ami declared, "I'm going to go over there and see if I can get her to loosen up a little."
"If you can do that, then you're more of a genius than I thought. Good luck, boss," Spinel said.
"Suit yourself," Minako agreed. The movement of a strikingly handsome young man passing by then caught Minako's eye. She called out, "Fancy seeing you here. Do you have a partner?"
Ami let Minako hurry after the young gentleman while she got to her feet and approached the glowering Ranma.
Ranma was bouncing Setsuna on her lap as Ami approached. She briefly looked up and saw Ami before turning her attention back to her daughter. They remained in that position, Ami watching Ranma, who in turn was paying attention to Setsuna.
After waiting for a while, Ami finally broke the silence by saying, "You could at least try to have some fun."
Ranma didn't even bother looking up as she responded, "I don't exactly see you on the dance floor."
"Maybe not, but I'm having fun in my own way," Ami answered. "At least I'm socializing with people."
"Me too," Ranma said, shrugging towards Setsuna.
"That's not the same," Ami said while shaking her head. As Ranma wasn't looking in her direction, Ami doubted she noticed.
"I don't really care. It's not like I even wanted to be here in the first place. Serenity-sama just said to be here. She didn't say I had to actually do anything," Ranma said. She then wiped around Setsuna's mouth with a napkin, cleaning up a bit of drool.
"I can't begin to imagine what you've been through, but can't you just relax and have some fun, even if just for a bit?" Ami asked.
Ranma turned up to face Ami, for the first time since the initial glance she had given her. She said, "Sure. Do you have any martial arts or psionic techniques that I can learn? Or maybe there is a tournament to compete in nearby?"
"You know what I mean," Ami said in exasperation.
"And you know what I mean," Ranma countered.
Setsuna kept giggling happily to herself, despite the fact that her mother was no longer bouncing her on her knee.
"Come on, let's dance. You're going to have fun whether you like it or not," Ami finally declared. She reached down and grabbed Ranma's arm.
"Hey. What about Setsuna-chan? I can't just leave here on her own you know," Ranma protested.
Ami took hope in this declaration. Ranma could have easily avoided Ami's grab, or escaped the light hold with trivial ease. She did neither, suggesting that at least some part of Ranma wanted to be more social than she had been.
"Just take her with you. You teach martial arts carrying Setsuna-chan around all the time," Ami countered.
"That's different. That's training. I'm not going to do anything stupid like what I went through, but I'm going to be teaching her some martial arts when she gets older, and some early exposure will help. Get her used to flying in the air and the proper forms and everything. Dancing's different. I never heard of anybody dancing while carrying around a baby or nothing," Ranma said.
Ami shuddered a bit at Ranma's explanation. If throwing a newborn baby around and putting her in danger of being punched, kicked, or dropped didn't count as doing something stupid, she shuddered to think what Genma might have put Ranma through in the name of training.
"If Setsuna-chan is the only reason you aren't on the dance floor, then I can watch her for a bit," Spinel's voice from behind Ami said. Behind her stood Lopezite as well.
"I'm not so sure about that," Ranma said hesitantly. Spinel was already by her side, though, overtly threatening to and then subsequently poking Setsuna in the forehead with a finger. This caused the young girl to break out in a spontaneous burst of giggles.
"I'm sure it'll be fine. We brought up our two sons, after all. See? She's adorable," Spinel said, still playing around with the baby. Setsuna was trying to bat at Spinel's finger with what could have maybe passed for a clenched fist.
In the background, the orchestra's light song drew to a close. There would be another short pause to give the orchestra a quick breather. People were reorganizing in the short break, some switching partners, some getting off the dance floor, and some returning to it.
"Come on. We... are going... to dance," Ami declared, overly enunciating each phrase in emphasis. As she spoke, with coordinated timing, Spinel deftly liberated Setsuna from Ranma's hands as Ami pulled Ranma to her feet.
Then, as Spinel took a seat next to all of the equipment Ranma had laid out for baby care, Ami led Ranma to the dance floor. As she walked she took a quick look around trying to find Minako, but couldn't see her anywhere.
Ami took to the dance floor with only a little trepidation. She was far from the most social or agile person she knew; Usagi and Minako beat her out on the former, and Rei and Makoto beat her out on the latter. Even so, she still knew the basics of dancing. Not very much more than the basics, but at least she wouldn't embarrass herself, unless Ranma started doing some complicated maneuvers. She had learned it as part of rounding out her general education when she was younger.
The strains of the next song started. It sounded like a slow song. In fact she recognized it as "Terran Rhapsody" with the vocal melody orchestrated out. The fact that she had heard the song before would make things so much easier.
Ami held still, waiting for Ranma to take the lead. Ranma was the male partner after all, even if her body belayed that fact at the moment. Only, Ranma wasn't taking the lead. She just stared at Ami with an impassive, bored, look on her face.
It wasn't until this point that Ami really started to notice all of the attention that she and Ranma had been getting, made only more pointed by their lack of movement. It felt like the entire room was staring at them. Without anything to distract, she was acutely aware of each and every pair of eyes on her.
"Haven't you ever danced before?" Ami asked, suddenly concerned.
"Nope. Never have," Ranma answered as if it were an obvious fact Ami should have already known.
Ami paled. She could practically feel the eyes burning into her as everybody stared.
Teaching Ranma to lead would be difficult at best and would certainly take time. That was without all of the uncomfortable attention she was getting too. Ranma might not care about standing out, but Ami certainly did.
Coming to a conclusion, Ami decided to take matters into her own hand. If Ranma wasn't going to lead, then she would. It would be far easier to teach Ranma to follow than to teach her the proper way to lead a partner.
She put her right arm firmly below Ranma's shoulder blade and placed Ranma's left arm just over it. She then took Ranma's right hand with her own left and held them out. She straightened her back, took the proper position, and the said to Ranma, "Okay, just follow my steps, my left foot to your right foot, and my right foot to your left foot. Try to keep this distance from me. We'll take it slowly at first."
Just before taking off with her left foot on a downbeat, Ami did what her teachers had done when they taught her and telegraphed her movement with as much emphasis as she could. Ranma seemed to sense what was about to happened and managed to move her right foot in line with her. It wasn't quite in sync and it wasn't the most graceful step ever, but they took the first step without tripping, which was better than how she had learned.
Heedless of any possible risk, Ami continued with her right foot, keeping her right hand and arm straight and literally pushing in the direction she was trying to lead Ranma.
Not even a minute into the dance, Ami was rapidly finding herself envious of Ranma. She picked up the unfamiliar moves with a quick ease and grace. She supposed it was all of her background in martial arts. Her sense of rhythm was horribly off, but that was more Ami's job as lead anyway. More importantly, especially for a first-time dancer, Ranma moved across the floor with a smooth confidence that had taken Ami hours of practice to achieve.
Just then something else broke into Ami's consciousness, knocking away her envy in sheer surprise. Somebody had started singing to the lyrics to "Terran Rhapsody." The singer was passable, even if not the best voice Ami had ever heard. It was true that she was expecting a better singer given the major event going on, but that wasn't what caught her attention. Rather it was the voice itself. It sounded very familiar. Slightly turning so she could take a look at the orchestra over Ranma's left shoulder, Ami confirmed what she thought she had heard. Minako was singing.
"She's not a very good singer," Ranma casually said.
"That's not very fair. She's pretty good," Ami defended her friend automatically.
"Not really," Ranma disagreed.
Rather than continuing to argue the subjective point, Ami instead focused on leading the pair around in the gentle circles of a waltz. The pair hadn't had a misstep yet. Granted they were only performing a very basic step, Ami both being hesitant with her limited knowledge as well as having no desire to overwhelm her neophyte, but naturally graceful, dance partner. Even so, it seemed that they had gathered quite the crowd watching. She wasn't sure whether it was because of the new and unfamiliar waltz pattern she was leading them through or if it was the mere fact that it was Ranma and Ami who were dancing. Their audience included Minako, who gave a quick gesture of greeting and acknowledgment to Ami when they briefly made eye contact.
"This dancing thing is kind of stupid, if you ask me," Ranma said, breaking Ami's thought process.
"What do you mean?" Ami asked.
"It seems pointless. Maybe it's good practice for dodging backwards or something, but that's about it. You're all but shouting to me what you're about to do next. What's the point of that?" Ranma asked.
"It's not supposed to be a competition; it's supposed to be relaxing and fun. It's a partnership, not a duel," Ami explained.
"And that's supposed to be fun? It's boring, just walking around in circles," Ranma disagreed.
Ami raised her eyebrows towards Ranma at the implied challenge. At the next measure, rather than continuing on a basic step, she signaled for a whisk, and then promptly followed through on it. Her left foot stepped forward and her right foot stepped to the right as normal. After this, she broke the pattern she had been following thus far, crossing her left foot behind her right, and then stepping to the left with her right foot.
Ranma took the first two steps as expected, but then Ami's momentum suddenly changed and she wasn't where Ranma had anticipated. Ami saw a flash of surprise on Ranma's face as she stumbled a bit and almost tripped on her high-heel shoes. She quickly recovered and hustled back to her right.
"Watch the feet," Ami said pointedly, prompting Ranma to look down. It took her another measure before she was able to get back on the beat, matching Ami's step.
"Is that more like what you were expecting?" Ami asked impishly.
"Is that all? I thought you were going to make this interesting or something," Ranma challenged back.
"Really?" Ami asked.
The next measure, Ami led Ranma into the same trick again, but this time Ranma caught the signal and was able to transition her footwork much better. It still wasn't quite the official step of a whisk, but she kept her footing and didn't drop a beat.
From there on out the rest of the song proceeded in a similar way. Ami would lead Ranma into the limited steps she could remember, trying to see if any of them would trip Ranma up. She did everything by the book with the proper timing and signaling, but otherwise gave no verbal warning or foreshadowing. Most turned out similar to the earlier whisk, Ranma barely catching the step first time and then after some time when Ami tried the same stunt again Ranma would do it much closer to properly. Occasionally Ranma would hit a trick perfectly the first time, and it took three times before Ranma figured out the trick behind a hesitation change.
By the end of the song, Ami could see that despite herself Ranma was starting to enjoy herself. Matching this was Ami as well. She was having a surprising amount of fun trying to trip Ranma up. Despite that, she was glad the song was over. She was rapidly reaching the end of her knowledge of waltz steps, and before the next dance would need to spend some time trying to dig up what she could recover from her rusty memories.
With the song over, Ami joined in with the rest of the audience, both on the dance floor as well as off of it, and gave some applause for Minako's performance. The clapping was more polite than anything. While Ami would never say it out loud, she did agree with Ranma's assessment of Minako's singing. It was good, but not stellar. She was equally sure that most of the people in the audience agreed with her and were clapping more as friends humoring her than as an enraptured audience applauding the exploits of a successful prima donna.
"So much for relaxing and not being a duel then," Ranma commented once the applause had died down enough to be heard.
"You said you thought it was boring and that we were just going around in circles," Ami countered. "I thought you might find it more interesting if we did something a bit more involved."
"We were just going around in circles," Ranma defended herself.
"It looks like Minako-chan's done singing," Ami commented, gesturing behind Ranma where she had a clear view of the blonde. Ranma turned around just in time to see Minako stepping away from the orchestra and approaching the dance floor.
"Maybe she's had her fill for the night," Ranma observed.
"I'd have thought she'd sing more. If she ever does become an idol she'll need to do more than a single song," Ami said. That was assuming that that was what Minako was doing, pursuing her dream of becoming an idol, despite the fact that the Moon Kingdom had no infrastructure for mass marketing or anything for an artist to support herself besides a basic patronage system.
"An idol? I guess she's lucky that we got stuck here then because she'd never make it in Japan with that voice," Ranma said confidently.
"You've been on the road for almost your whole life. What do you know about singing?" Ami defended her friend.
"I know lots about it. I was even in a professional group once," Ranma said.
That took Ami aback. The various portions of Ranma's life were odd, but they fit together and made sense in some sort of surrealistic way. In that implausible world, she didn't see how singing in a professional group fit in. She asked, "You were?"
"I was. 'Doco,'" Ranma said.
"Why are you asking me? That's what I want to know," Ami asked, confused.
"No, that was its name, 'Doco,'" Ranma clarified.
"You were in a professional singing group, and it was called 'Where?'" Ami asked incredulously.
"Don't look at me like that. It was Nabiki's idea. Apparently it's a pun on some group named 'Coco' or something. Nabiki thought we should call ourselves 'Doco.' I still think it was a stupid name," Ranma said, shaking her head. "There was me, Nabiki, Akane, Kasumi, and Shampoo. I'm still not sure how she got Shampoo involved."
"You're being serious, aren't you? You should sing for us some time," Ami said, both curious and excited to hear Ranma's singing voice.
"Oh, hey, it looks like Minako-chan is trying to find a partner again," Ranma said quickly. It was obvious she was trying to change the subject.
"She'd better hurry. It looks like the orchestra's about to start up again," Ami observed, letting Ranma off the hook for the moment.
Ami's observations turned out to be correct, as in the background the orchestra struck up another song. A light, quick song too, Ami was happy to note, even if she didn't happen to know this one. She was sure there was a lot more she could show Ranma with a quickstep than in a slower waltz or foxtrot or something. It was a touch slower than normal for a swing, but it was close enough that Ami was willing to give it a try. She might even be able to get Ranma up into the air with a nice throw, although coordinating that would be tricky.
As the next song started, Ranma threw a quick look to the side of the room to where Spinel and Lopezite were still playing with Setsuna, before hesitantly allowing Ami to pull on her arms. She put up some token resistance, but only token resistance. With a grin, Ami positioned her partner in preparation for the next dance and her next attempt to try and catch Ranma flatfooted.
As she kicked off with her left foot, Ami was surprised to realize exactly how much fun she was having.
Setsuna sat in the center of the room, surrounded by Ami, Minako, and, of course, Ranma.
The three of them had left the ball early to throw the birthday party for Setsuna. Serenity would be joining them later in the evening, but she had other ceremonial and social obligations from which she was unable to escape at the moment.
It was only a matter of bad timing that Setsuna's birthday happened to be on the same day as the official founding of the kingdom. If she had been born just one day earlier or one day later it would have made things so much easier. Between preparations for the ball, preparations for the party, and attending the ball, timing was tight. They hadn't even had a chance to change out of their formal wear, making for one of the fanciest birthday parties for a one-year-old that Ami had ever heard of. However, coincidence of timing was what it was, and nobody held it against the young infant. After all, it wasn't like anybody could choose when they were born.
Ami was actually a bit thankful for the excuse to cut the ball short. She had had a great deal of fun on the dance floor with Ranma, but it had taken its toll and she was glad that it was finally over. Ami was glad to be out of the limelight as well. The stares hadn't stopped throughout the night, the pair instead gaining a few admirers as the evening progressed.
In a way it was appropriate that the three of them were alone in their celebration of Setsuna's birthday. Ranma had wanted to hold the party in a Japanese tradition, and only the three of them were from Japan. Then again, Ami didn't know of any differences in birthday traditions between Japan and the Moon Kingdom, or indeed most countries' birthday celebrations.
Case in point, the cake that Ranma had somehow managed to acquire. Ami wasn't quite sure where or how she had arranged it, especially given her reputation around the palace, but there it was on the table in front of Setsuna. Then again, Ranma's reputation around the palace seemed to have been changing ever so slightly over the past year. Maybe Ranma got out and about more than Ami gave her credit for.
Another case in point, the singing of birthday songs. Ranma might have actually been telling the truth at having sung in a professional group at some point in the past. She really did have a beautiful voice. It didn't seem quite right for the simple banal birthday songs they sang, but she could easily imagine Ranma being on some CD somewhere with the right genre of music.
Beyond all of that, there was one other thing which was common in all the birthday celebrations across the world in every culture Ami knew of.
Presents.
It had been a bit awkward at first as Ami and Minako had both coincidentally settled on the same gift independently of each other, that being new baby clothing. They all had a good laugh at the duplicated presents, and it was very appropriate and in keeping with the theme.
An hour later, after the cake had been consumed and the presents had been presented, Serenity briefly made an appearance as well. The party didn't last too much beyond that, though. It was long past Setsuna's bed time and it was obvious she was tired. She looked almost as tired as Ami felt.
It had been a long day, made longer by the unexpectedly strenuous exercise at the ball, and Ami found herself longing for her warm bed.
Last Updated: December 22, 2012