Notes: Episode 155, "Over the Fear! Jump to Freedom". Or, "The one where Chibi-Usa's friend can't jump the jumping box."

Episode 155

There were lots of things that Ami was good at. Math and science, of course. Any kind of studying really. Logic puzzles. Listening, which was a rare and precious thing. Knowing the title of a song just from hearing you sing a few lines. Smiling.

Smiling might not seem like something to be good at, but Rei knew better. Rei's smiles tended to make people shift uncomfortably. Sometimes they ran. When Ami smiled, it was like turning on a light. You had to smile back, there was no other option. Ami absolutely was good at smiling.

One thing Ami was NOT good at was subterfuge.

Rei watched, and tried not to grin too much, as Ami scanned with her computer. They were in a very public place scattered with people who had no idea that two Sailor Senshi were among them.

Of course they might, if Ami kept trying to be "sneaky".

She was standing near the center of the concrete park with her shoulders hunched, trying to pull into herself and away from the prying eyes of absolutely no one. She cradled her computer in an awkward position with her left arm curled around it, finger splayed to cover up as much as possible. She tapped away at the keys with her right hand, but spent more time with her eyes darting around for suspicious onlookers than on the screen.

The whole thing was very cute, Rei couldn't deny that, but it was also very time-consuming, and she already didn't like this place.

"Nobody's looking," she said from behind Ami's shoulder.

Ami emitted a single high-pitched sound and nearly dropped the computer. "Rei-chan! You shouldn't— I don't—"

"Nobody's looking," Rei repeated firmly, and then softened her tone. "Let's just do this, Ami-chan. No one's going to care."

It was clear Ami still has reservations, but Rei's confidence won her over (Rei knew it would) and she relaxed and set to scanning the area. Good. They'd be out of here soon.

Of their own accord, Rei's eyes drifted to where Usagi had fallen, eyes wide and unseeing, among the jagged shards of her destroyed Dream Mirror. Rei hadn't actually seen it herself. Rei hadn't needed to. The image lived in her head, clearer for not being muddied by her eyes' memories. Sometimes being psychic was a real pain in the—

"I'm still picking up traces," Ami reported, dragged Rei's attention from the scene in her mind. "Faint, but definitely present. About five meters ahead."

Rei looked in the direction Ami indicated and her senses honed in on the spot instantly. Just then a giggling little girl ran over it, her arms thrust out like airplane wings. It was all Rei could do to not run over and scoop the child up, to shield her from that place, and then yell at her parents for being so neglectful as to let their little girl run around near something like that.

But like what, really? It wasn't evil. Shame, since you knew what to do with evil. It was … disquiet. Rei was disquieted. Those three (people? animals?) had been revived here, redeemed here, and then whisked away by Pegasus here. The power levels were enormous, so much so that it still lingered after several weeks, but it was no more evil now than when they'd received their power-up.

It was all still so damned secret. Each of them had reached new heights of power, but Usagi was still utterly unable to act on her own. Whenever they brought it up, she'd brush it off. "It's fine!" she'd say. "We're stopping the bad guys from hurting anybody and that's all the matters."

It WASN'T all that mattered. Rei knew how the world worked. You didn't get something for nothing. There'd be a price to pay, and the longer it took, the steeper the price.

Usagi would be the one expected to pay it. That couldn't be allowed.

Rei closed her eyes and expanded her senses. This was by far the greatest expenditure of power they'd seen from Pegasus yet, and so their best chance to gain some kind of insight into what was really going on.

She reached out with her mind and probed the area, tasting it, almost. Even now the power was potent, but still unrecognizable. It tasted of secrets. To Rei, it was bitter.

Ami was watching her and so couldn't have missed the frustration evident on Rei's face. She only smiled. "We'll keep looking for answers," she said encouragingly.

"Yeah," Rei agreed. "We will."

"Do you think we should involve Usagi-chan after all?"

On this point, Rei was certain. "No, you were right about not bringing her here. She's been getting better, but …" She trailed off, not sure how to phrase it and, if she were being honest with herself, not wanting to jinx it.

"But," Ami agreed.

Neither had to elaborate.

Rei walked to one of the empty benches that surrounded the park and Ami followed.

"At least Mamoru-san and the others are keeping Usagi-chan occupied," Ami said, smoothing out her skirt and taking a seat.

Rei sat next to hear and leaned back, bracing herself with her arms. "Yeah, all Mamoru has to say is 'do you want to?' and the answer's 'yes!' It's kind of sickeningly simple. I don't even know if they needed to make excuses for us."

"Minako-chan said we were busy with 'studying stuff' and 'shrine stuff'," Ami said in an amused tone then added, "Respectively."

"Seriously?" Rei's voice was flat and aggravated. "That's the best she could do? The most stereotypical answers ever? THIS is our strategic mastermind."

Ami couldn't keep in a giggle and bumped Rei's shoulder with her own. "You'd be upset no matter what she said."

"Details," Rei replied, but she couldn't keep herself from smiling in response. See? Ami was good at that stuff.

She was about to bring up their next move when her communicator beeped. Rei fished it out of her pocket, pointedly ignoring Ami's painfully obvious furtive glances to see who might be listening in, and pressed the button to release the top of the watch.

A small and slightly fuzzy version of Minako appeared on the viewscreen. "Hiiii!" she sang in a tinny little voice that didn't wait for a response. "Chibi-Usa's got an athletic meet tomorrow and she's having trouble with the jumping box. Can you meet us at her school for some practice? Usagi-chan and I are—"

"Say no more," Rei interrupted. "If you two are trying to teach her anything, I'll be there to save her."

"You're so sweet," grumbled Minako as Ami tried to stifle a laugh.

"I know, I—" Suddenly Rei peered close at the communicator. It must have looked terrifying from Minako's end as she recoiled, but that only helped Rei get a better look. "Hey, is that my shirt? Those are DEFINITELY my leggings!"

"Gottagoseeyoutomorrowbye!"

The communicator went dark, leaving Rei sitting on a park bench and yelling at her watch, and Ami wishing either one of them were any good at subterfuge.