Chapter 6

Zachariah shifted his coat collar as he stood in front of Ami's apartment. She gave him the location yesterday when final arrangements were being made for their date. He smiled; she was indeed a very thoughtful woman. He would have fun getting to know her this cold, winter evening. He even had difficulty figuring out which set of flowers she might like, which he held in his left, gloved hand. He lifted his right fist and gave the door a quick knock and waited, albeit a bit muted because of the material.

"That's him!" Exclaimed Usagi as she was helping Ami put on her shoes, a new pair they purchased earlier today.

Ami's face blanched. Minako gasped putting away her brushes from the blush. "Don't you dare faint Ami! This has been a long time coming! You will have a good time and won't PASS OUT."

The door was knocked on again.

"I will get it for you," announced Makoto as she raced for the door. Rei handed Ami her jewelry and assisted with the bracelet of crystal and silver. Minako handed her a pair of leather gloves, and Usagi a borrowed coat warm enough to fend off any chilling winter weather, not that it bothered the ice senshi.

The women backed away and looked at their work.

"She looks like a doll!"

"She's ready."

"Where's a camera?"

Ami covered her face, "Oh stop please!"

Zachariah straightened his posture when he heard the lock to the door making a sound. He was a bit taken back when a brunette beauty opened the door with striking emerald eyes, definitely not his blue-eye beauty. For a second, he glanced at the numbers beside the door. Was he even at the right place? Then again, this woman looked a bit like one of his love's friends.

"You're here for Ami, correct?" She asked opening the door with a smile.

He nodded his head giving a respectful bow.

"She is almost ready! Come on it," welcomed Makoto stepping aside. "Dang it's cold out there!"

He faintly heard the sound of other women in the other room, no doubt helping his princess out with her getting ready. "You were at the studio the other day, correct?"

Makoto nodded her head as they neared the sofas. She plopped down and smiled. "Yes, we are all so excited to see the finished work! This is something Usagi has wanted to do for some time. And to have us all together is something that's been a bit challenging with our work."

Zachariah nodded politely understanding coordination with many people, especially when all of his friends were in town.

The door to the right of the living area opened. His breath hitched when he saw her walking out of the kit room, the room he assumed was her bedroom. He felt his gloved palms begin to sweat, especially with the bouquet of flowers. He saw her friends push her out of the room as she looked over in his direction. Her eyes immediately dropped to the ground and her cheeks blushed a bright red hue.

He stood and neared her as she stood in her place, her eyes lifting once again. Zachariah admired the innocence in her eyes as she shyly took a few steps near him. He didn't even see her friends slip in behind her watching their gestures as they neared each other. All he saw was the coat covering her body and the dainty gloves, earrings, and professionally applied makeup. She looked beautiful.

He reached out the bouquet of irises to her and her eyes lit up.

"These are for you Miss Ami." She shyly received them in her arms and closed her eyes as she smelled the sweet fragrance of the flowers. Such a kind gesture.

"Thank you."

One of her friends whispered something in her ear and she nodded handing the flowers to Minako, "There's a vase under the sink." Another handed her a sequined satchel.

She looked back up to the taller man and smiled, "I am ready."

He gave a dashing smirk and held his arm out for her to hold which she graciously took. He gave a wave to the women as they neared the exit, the couple heard whispers from the women who either sighed dreamlike or smiled brightly.

"I wish I could find a man like that."

"Oh he's such a gentleman!"

"He better bring her back before curfew..."

It was the best in town; the most elegant and pricy of the upscale restaurants in Tokyo. And he had been dying to take her here for the last few weeks. He could thank his business friend for hooking him up with reservations; yes, it was the same one who he originally had planned to meet with this evening. His friend understood the significance of this woman catching Zachariah's eye. His business friend used his connections to get this reservation for the photographer. It usually took half a year or longer to get a table at this exquisite eatery.

Mr. Pemmington ordered the finest wine and appetizers, which Ami graciously thanked him for. "You didn't need to do this."

"I wanted to. I wanted to give you the best."

She took a sip of the Moscato not wanting to admit to Mr. Pemmington that only one glass of wine would usually make her tipsy. She would be careful to only drink half of this glass and to watch if they attempted to refill her glass.

"You were so gracious to let me know a little bit about yourself at the book shop; perhaps we could continue with our conversation-"

"Actually," inserted Ami a little nervous to dive too much in her personal life wanting to hide the fact that she was the senshi of water and ice, " I wanted to know a little more about you."

He grinned sipping his glass of red wine. "What would you like to know?"

She became a little bashful and felt her cheeks become warm. "I would like to know...why you decided you wanted to marry me... why did you tell me that?"

Zachariah just finished downing the wine with the server filling his glass once more. He felt the alcohol numb his nerves just in the slightest ways. He needed to be careful with how he answered. "Well," he began, "after we sat and talked that first time, I determined that you were what I wanted in a wife, in a life partner. I admired your qualities and your work ethic. Plus that cute little smile is just too beautiful to resist."

Ami grabbed for her glass of wine and took a greater sip. Why was this flustering her so much? She missed the waiter refilling her half empty glass. She measured with her eyes after a few minutes determining she could drink a little more of the almost full glass.

She was laughing out loud as Zachariah finished sharing a story from his childhood. How could such a handsome and dignified man had once been such a dirty nosed kid always getting into trouble?

"Oh, my butt couldn't have been more red from my father's belt."

Ami giggled in the twinkling of the candles around them. They were one of the last couples in the restaurant. She finished yet another glass of wine, which was yet again replenished for the fourth time. Zachariah, though more relaxed, had long ago stopped the refills of wine for his glass. He was surprised that Ami continued to let the server give her additional servings. Was this her fifth glass? He was beginning to think she was very drunk.

"That's nothing," she giggled still trying to catch her breath. Her shyness was long gone and replaced with a new found bravery. "One time, I fought against this monster that had an attack where it tried spanking me and the other sailor soldiers. It had a partner that would try and flip up our skirts and grab our butt cheeks."

Zachariah raised an eyebrow. Huh?

She smiled brightly, "It was a good thing that monster was a total dunce. Other wise my identity as Sailor Mercury would be doomed! I decided then that I would never risk transforming in front of any enemy. God only knows what would happen if my identity got out into the public."

Wow.

Zachariah really wished he had another glass or two of wine...He could not believe his ears.

He was curious though... should he take advantage of a young drunk woman who drunkenly claimed to be a very powerful warrior to know her secrets? "How do you transform?" He asked. "If you don't mind telling me."

She put a finger to her lips. "Don't tell anyone. It's a secret."

He smirked. Of course she would share this life altering piece of information to him, a man who was wanting more than anything now to marry this woman. She had admitted earlier that she and her friends had researched him on the internet and found more than enough information to fill an encyclopedia about his work, awards, and expertise as a photographer and most importantly why he chose to become a photographer instead of a rocket scientist. He didn't realize how much time some people had on their hands to research his past schooling at the university.

"It's in my blood. I have special words I say and I become a senshi of ice and water."

"Would you care to demonstrate to me this gift?" He asked very intrigued. Maybe he could get an exclusive photography shot of her as Sailor Mercury. That would be a personal picture for his eyes alone.

She shook her head. "Negative. You are the last person that I can tell about this gift." She paused and looked of to another table but spoke aloud, "What would he think if he knew? No... He could never know."

He hid a laugh. Now she was thinking out loud. Yes, she must have been very drunk he mentally decided. She really was cute. And a wealth of information when this intoxicated.

"Are you ready to leave Ami?" He asked the life of his life.

She patted dry the corners of her mouth with the cloth napkin, "Ready when you are."

He stood and pulled out the chair for her. She tried standing, but stumbled on her heels. She tightly grabbed into his arm leading on him heavily knowing she would fall over with her balance gone. She giggled again and looked up to his emerald eyes as they exited. He had already covered the bill. He wrapped an arm around her waist to aid her in her clumsy gait. No one noticed the apartment key falling out of her satchel.

To focused on keeping her balanced and from falling over, the photographer knew he needed to get her home so she could rest.

She signed when she was escorted to his car and sat down. On the way back to her apartment, she couldn't help but smile more, "You really are a handsome man, Zach."

He glanced over to her feeling his lips curling into a smile.

"But I can't fall in love. No."

"Why not?" He asked her.

Her eyes were becoming heavy, "I have too many responsibilities...and...and too many enemies. Who would want to marry someone that could be killed any day by some horrid monster...or my love could risk being held hostage because my secret...?"

He was intrigued how much weight she carried on her shoulders for protecting this planet.

"You could trust me," he answered her. Who was he? He always traveled because of his job enjoying the good earth and capturing her beauty in film. No matter the journey he would begin, he always dove into it fearless of any danger. In his heart, he somehow knew that they could make this work. He did know some martial arts, a skill he developed as a child and young adult growing up. He was very talented with finishing someone else's fight.

Regardless of her fears, though, Ami and Zachariah were opposites in many ways; those qualities, he felt, would compliment each other for the better. She would no longer view relationships as a liability. He knew she would value them as necessary to move on in the next step and journey in her life.

He glanced at her when she did not reply. She was fast asleep. Such a young woman with great responsibility. He admired her even more now that he knew this accidentally slipped out secret. Yes, she would become his wife for sure.

It was several minutes later he arrived to her apartment. She would not wake. He attempted at least five times before deciding he needed to carry up to her apartment. First, he would need to figure out how to get her up there... He looked down to his sleeping goddess. She really was something. He took some time looking in her satchel for her key. Carefully he took everything out trying to find the keys.

He dumped everything out on his seat.

No keys.

He quickly put everything back in her purse and paused. He looked at her. There was no key. He gave a chuckle and went back into his car. Though the thought crossed his mind several times, he never thought that he would have the opportunity to bring Miss Ami to his own apartment so soon after they started dating. Already in his mind he could see that she would wake with a headache, she would be confused where she was, and would become really scared in finding out that she was brought to Zach's home without consent first. He could tell she was going to have a hard morning when she woke, but he would much rather have her safe with someone to care for her in such a vulnerable state than leave her at her door step in the freezing winter weather.

He nodded his head as he got back into his car and started it up. He just hopped she didn't mind waking up in his bed.

Authors note: So, seeing the stats of the story, it's getting a lot of interest which makes me very excited and encourages me to continue to write this story. Now, all that to say, I want to hear from you, the reader. I need feedback. Do you like it? Do you hate it? Yes, it's going rather fast in the beginning, but things will be picking up soon and memories unlocked. Please leave a message or a review. I may reply back to your comment if you leave one. Also, if anyone reviews and can predict what will happen and what I've planned for this story,, I might just write that person a one shot Sailor Moon fan fiction.

Again, your review will encourage me to update this story within this week rather than a month (or years).