Sailor Moon: Between the Lines

by Jet Wolf

An ongoing fanfiction series of stories that fit "between the lines" of each episode. Because what good is canon if you can't expand it? Any and all character focus, lengths from 100-word drabbles to a couple thousand. Each story is basically an unmarked grab bag of FUN.

13. Episode 08

Notes: Episode 8, "Is the Genius Girl a Monster! Brainwashing School of Terror". Or, "The one where they find Sailor Mercury".

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Episode 08

The LUCK.

The unspeakably brilliant LUCK.

Usagi nearly hugged herself. Oh why not? DID hug herself. Such hugs!

They'd found a new Senshi! They'd fought together and beat the monster together and were part of a team together and now …

And now …

They could STUDY together.

By which Usagi meant she would be given all the answers to all of the tests and then pass them.

PASSING.

Tests would be passed and the effort put forth to do so would be ZERO.

Ami-chan. Her saviour's face floated in Usagi's mind. Mind-Ami's eyes were gleaming with keen intelligence. The smartest girl in school. Probably the smartest girl WHO EVER LIVED. And here she was, Usagi's new teammate.

Being a Senshi was the greatest thing ever.

For once, Usagi couldn't wait to get home and tell her mother about her day at school. She could imagine the conversation already.

"Mama! Guess who I met today? Only the person who's going to get me the best grades in the universe!"

"Oh, Usagi!" (Mama would say while sobbing gratefully.) "I knew you could do it!"

But when Usagi thought of Ami again, this time she was standing alone by a window. And it wasn't intelligence in her eyes, it was pain. Pain that Usagi and her group had put there. Ami hadn't been a girl, she'd been a thing of curiosity. A test score.

But it wasn't like that! Ami had been fun! And brave! So much braver than Usagi could ever hope to be.

Since she came from the sky, I thought she was an angel.

When Ami smiled, all Usagi ever wanted to do was to make sure it happened again, and again.

"Usagi!" Mama's greeting shook Usagi from her thoughts. She'd been so lost in them, she didn't even remember coming home. "How was school today?"

"Great!" Usagi said. "Today I—"

Met the smartest girl in school.

Found someone who'll make my life a million times easier.

Made sure I'll never fail a test again.

"—met someone, and she's the kindest person." Usagi smiled and nodded, knowing she finally had it right. "Her name is Ami, and I think we're going to be friends for a really long time."