A/N: Shows you what a bad fanfiction writer I am- Shelona-chan turned into Sherona the last chapter! .; Uh-oh. Kudos to the people who saw. And awesome to the people who didn't. I'm having a field day finding mistakes I've made myself. ^^ *grins*

DISCLAIMER: Since I OBVIOUSLY can't keep their names right most of the time, I dub Boja, Miki, and She(l)rona all mine! The rest belong to Naoko Takeuchi and Coffee Prince, which I HAVE to get to watching sometime, if I can only tear myself away from the Tagalog dubbing of 'Down With Love', a taiwanese drama that is funny with Ella and the other guy in it. ^^

Burnt And Boiled Over

Artemis stared at the glistening orbs of the grinning senshi.

Backing up into Makoto's couch, the white cat whimpered, knowing he couldn't escape because his rump could go no further.

It had been two days after the incident of Ami's transformation, and all the senshi seemed to be ganging up on him, telling him to introduce them to Ami before the next youma could pop up and attack her into another blind depression.

Shaking his head, Artemis looked over at the blond racer and mewed, trying to appeal to Uranus' inner planet. Green eyes sparkled in glee, and Haruka turned her head, nudging Michiru in the side.

They both sat on Makoto's bed, and Artemis was afraid they would be jumping each other's bones in no time at all.

Glancing over to Setsuna, Artemis marveled at the Outer Senshi's abundant calm.

The green-haired woman was sipping her tea, occasionally popping a treat in her mouth as she glanced over at the Inner Senshi and grinned. Artemis blanched. Why hadn't they revealed their knowledge of who Ami Mizuno was when thet first started?

Because they hadn't, Makoto was now a curled-up ball of stunned shock in the corner, Rei and Minako coaxing her out of her bubble as Usagi advanced on him, using her status as future queen to force them an introduction to Ami.

Growling, Artemis jumped over Usagi's head and onto the open windowsill leading out of the lightning senshi's apartment. Turning, he regarded his companions and breathed in the warm scent of home, of ease, a haven of comfort.

"Make sure you're ready, then. The next battle, Ami WILL be there, and Sailor Jupiter will have to make an appearance while Makoto Kino is still in her sights."

And Artemis jumped out into the night of wild Tokyo.

Maybe Luna and Diana had saved a piece of tuna for him that Usagi usually set out.

He was mighty hungry, after all that confrontation going on in there.

0000000000000000000000000000

Makoto groaned as she heard the heavy knocking at her door.

Slamming her fist into the pillow under her head, Makoto growled and heaved herself out off the couch. It had been a hectic night, replaying Ami's unplanned confession in her mind, and she was sure she hadn't gotten over three hours of sleep after she'd remembered Miki had not come home.

While her sister didn't know of Makoto's actual claim to Sailor Jupiter, she knew about as much as Ami did: Miki thought her older sister was just a mere mortal best friend of the Inner Senshi, nothing more, nothing less.

And yet Makoto was as close to her as blood itself, even if her deepest secret from humankind couldn't be shared. When the pounding on the door increased, Makoto about screamed in anger.

She repressed the feeling.

"Coming, coming. . ."

Glancing at the clock on her counter table beside the kitchen, she was surprised to see it was five in the morning. On a Saturday. With no work, karate training, tutoring, or running chopsticks all over town.

Struggling to stay awake, Makoto stumbled to the door and wrenched it open.

"What? Oh, please, no, God, Miki. .!"

Makoto gasped as her sister came into view, leaving heavily on the doorframe. Her left eye was starting to swell, and the full of her skirt and blouse was ripped.

Boja stood behind her, and Makoto caught them both as they stumbled in, collapsing in her arms.

"Miki? Boja, wake up! Tell me, what happened?"

Brown eyes turned to hers, and Makoto saw Boja was worse off than her sister. His knuckles were extensively ripped and blood was flowing freely from some cuts on his neck and arms.

"Mako. . -neechan. Mi-chan. We were ambushed in the park. Don't tell her off- it was yesterday evening, and we had to hide out most of the time, since the rain was all acting crazy. W-We'll be good now, Mako. . -neechan."

The two forms in her arms slumped, and Makoto cursed at the dead weight.

She knew they must be unconscious, and for once she was glad.

Bleeding figures trying to be heroic and failing miserably just wasn't her thing. Especially if it was her sister and new boyfriend who had only recently started calling her 'Mako-neechan' to show his respect.

Laying Boja gently on the couch face-up, Makoto carried her sister to her bedroom and tucked her under the covers. Dirt and grime didn't matter now. Putting a couple of aspirin pills beside the lamp on her table, Makoto walked out and sat down in her favorite chair.

She needed to think.

Who had done this?

Her first thought were the suspicious acquaintances she knew Boja must have had on the streets, but instantly banished the thought. They guy had told her before he'd started dating Miki he'd let go of his past and was starting straight.

So, who?

*ring, ring*

Makoto bolted for the phone.

Anything to take her away for a moment, try to clear her head, gain more information.

"Mako-chan? This is Ami- I wanted to warn you, you should watch out for your sister and Boja! My aunt was starting to gather together some thugs hanging around the corner street to beat up your near-close relatives, just to run you off! Oh, Mako-chan, I know you already know I'm Sailor Mercury, even if I'm not a normal senshi- don't wait to call me until the last minute to help! We're partners now, remember?"

Makoto felt her stomach churn and curl at her new partner's voice over the phone, and she wondered how and why she wasn't screaming her head off in frustrated denial, in sadistic rage. Ami had been some part of her parent's deaths, she'd been the one to hire her knowing fully well who she was.

But she trusted her.

Something in those blue eyes called to her, and Makoto was lost.

So she replied, trying not to look over at Boja's prone form, hear her sister shuffling painfully in a small nightmare in her room. Everything was closing in on her, so Makoto drew a breath and concentrated on Ami.

It helped immensely.

"Blue, let me tell you. I will not hesitate to call my partner when I'm in danger. Yeah, your aunt's thugs got to Miki and Boja and did them good, but not so bad that they have to go to the hospital. I've got it all taken care of, so don't worry. I'll come over in a couple of hours, show myself off to OUR aunt so she knows I mean business."

Makoto paused, her face warming despite the cooling temperature of early morning.

"And Blue? Don't hesitate to call me if you're in danger too, okay? I'll be here for you. I just wanted you to know that, so you won't have to wonder."

Clearing her throat, Makoto took on conversing in a more normal state and got some more information on how heartless Ami's aunt was. Sherona, though, was doing good in bustling around and keeping life in the Mizuno household amidst all the subtle threats of poison.

After a while, though, Makoto got to thinking about what time it was and glanced at the clock.

"Hey, Blue, why were you up at five in the morning?"

A pause.

". . I had a dream."

Makoto waited, somehow knowing deep inside Ami had something else to add, to describe, and she needed to know, even if it took the rest of her life. Funny how it felt that way, and in such little time.

". . You were there, and you were calling to me, and somehow, something was wrong, you were trying to pull me out of a tree, its sap was holding me back, and I could hear my aunt laughing in the distance. I-It was really overwhelming, a-and. ."

Ami's voice broke, and Makoto was instantly on her feet and whispering for her to calm down, she was already there. Quick as lightning, Makoto had secured her doorway with a ball of electricity that would recognize any of the senshi and let them pass but discharge the enemy with a blast of hurt.

And she was off.

Ami seemed to need her, so she'd go.

A/N: These are getting shorter and shorter. ^^; Maybe sometime in the upcoming weekend it'll merge into something longer, but hey, I don't really like writing stories that are all threatening and hard to read. O-oh! Next chapter let's have Ami meet the senshi! ^^ ((Man, Ami's aunt is getting hardcore meany-head here.))