[Scene: The Hen Tie High Campus]
[Classes are in session, but Ami wanders alone, until she drops her bookbag between two building and sits against the wall with her knees drawn up and and buries her face in her hands.]
[She doesn't cry, her mind is too strong for that. But she wishes she could. Maybe if she showed human emotion every once in awhile, people wouldn't attack her as much. Not that she's bullied on a regular basis. She too invisible for that. Usually, people ignore her like she's not even there.]
[But today was exceptional…]
[It all blew up in AP Math and Science class. Not literally, though Ami wonders if that would have been better.]
[It started when Ms. Viluy announced that only three students passed the latest quiz…two only barely, while there was one perfect score.]
[That inspired Gurio Umino to blurt out that he had finally beaten Ami at a test, since he was certain he had the perfect score. His friend Zoi Midori argued it might have been him, since he studied hard and knew the material pretty well. Zoi Midori had only been in Hen Tie for half a year, and already has more friends than Ami's made in her entire life.]
[Then Ms. Viluy passed back the quiz. Ami got 105%, of course. Zoi Midori actually started crying when he saw his C-. While Gurio Umino slapped him on the back and shouted better luck next time before he let out a death-rattle when he saw his own D.]
[Which led to a long and heated philosophical discussion between Gurio Umino and Ms. Viluy on several topics: mostly dealing with the definition of "showing your work", the merits of partial credit, and the catastrophic consequences poor handwriting might have while smashing atoms in the real world vs. how smashing atoms in the real world is nothing like taking an open book Calculus quiz in high school.]
[Then class ended and Zoi Midori fled. Presumable to cry some place more private. Ami actually thought Gurio Umino made a good case for himself, and was inclined to take his side. Until he accosted her in the hall and accused her of cheating.]
[The accusation felt like knife in her soul. Ami could do nothing but adamantly deny it.]
[That's when he really got verbally abusive toward her. She's too sick to remember exactly what he said. She has to wonder how much was real and how much was amplified by her fevered mind. Whatever he said was bad enough to earn him detention after Ms. Viluy caught the tail end of it. She correctly pointed out that Gurio Umino seemed happy enough when he thought HE was the one showing up the rest of the students.]
[At that point the rest of the class, who failed the test outright, picked up with a chorus of barbs where Gurio Umino left off, harping about how Ami was a cheater, the teacher's pet, as well as many other things that were far, far worse.]
[All Ami could do was walk away with a disheartened look on her face.]
[For most of her life she's been ignored. She's always been shy and nobody except Usagi Tsukino makes an effort to include her. And Usagi Tsukino barely counts since she makes an effort to include everyone. All Ami ever wants is to be noticed. She's so quiet, it isn't enough for her to be smart. She has to be the smartest. And now that she's the smartest, the other kids hate her. That wasn't how it was supposed to be.]
[It was a mistake to come to school. Ami usually sits in the front, but today she made a point of sitting in the back. Away from the other students, so they don't catch whatever she has. And whatever she has is pretty nasty. She is freezing cold, as if someone dunked her in ice, and incredibly lethargic and cranky and disoriented.]
[Worst of all, there is another person fighting for control of her mind. Someone strong, as well as beautiful, graceful, and confident. Not the invisible girl who gets an A on every test but can't hold up her end of a conversation. This girl is popular, loved, and admired by nearly everyone. Her name is Sailor Mercury. The guardian of ice. The voice of reason.]
[At first Ami thinks it would be nice if she could disappear completely and become Sailor Mercury. Except Sailor Mercury was a failure. Sailor Mercury tried to flee while her best friend was dying. Sailor Mercury should have run straight to the Queen when she knew there was trouble. Sailor Mercury wasted precious time checking on her friends instead of doing her duty. Maybe it was better not to have friends, after all–]
Minako: Hey, there you are.
[Ami looks up to see Minako holding out her hand to her, with Rei and Makoto at her back.]
[Ami just looks up at them, uncertain of what to say or do. Minako and Rei, the glamour girls, have never been exactly unfriendly toward her, but they haven't been friendly either. And Makoto is a popular athlete, completely out of her league. And yet they are smiling at her like they are both delighted and humbled by her presence.]
[Ami's hoping this isn't a prank. A prank by these three would probably end her.]
Minako: [smiling broadly and still holding out her arm] I'm so glad it's you.
Ami: I…I don't know what you mean.
Minako: Sailor Mercury, I presume? We were hoping she would be someone smart, but hot damn!
Rei: [nods] We definitely need some brains in our operation.
Ami: [baffled] …my dreams…wait… [narrows her eyes at Minako] …in my dreams…
Makoto: She never betrayed us. She was tricked.
Minako: Those dreams are real, toots. [sighs] I would have never knowingly betrayed the Moon Kingdom, but that is no excuse. I thought the Shitennou were our friends, so I let myself become duped. [Bows her head and frowns solemnly] It won't happen again, but I will understand if you can never forgive me.
[As far as Ami is concerned there is nothing to forgive. And since she feels Minako deserves no blame, she realizes it is foolish to blame Sailor Mercury for any of it either. Ami takes Minako's arm and allows her to be pulled to her feet.]
Minako: Geez, girl, for a guardian of ice you are burning up.
[Minako puts her arm around Ami's shoulder and Ami smiles at the unexpected camaraderie as they walk together. This feels right. And Ami finds herself smiling without effort as she realizes for once she truly belongs.]
Minako: In case you can't guess: I'm Venus, the pretty one. She's Jupiter, the strong one. She's Mars, the bitchy one. And you…now that we've found the brains of the operation, Charlie's got the last of his Angels.
Ami: Charlie?
Minako: I should say Artemis, though he's more of a Bosley.
Ami: Artemis the cat?
[Minako cocks her brows and looks at the others]
Minako: Whoa. She's getting her memories back a lot clearer and faster than the rest of us. I can see we are going to get along famously…We have so much to tell you, but here is the first thing you've got to know-stay the hell away from Mamoru Chiba and Zoi Midori.
Ami: Why?
Minako: Mamoru Chiba is the reincarnation of the traitor Endymion.
Makoto: Technically, he's not a traitor since he was never on our side.
Rei: He came to our princess asking for sanctuary and got us all killed so that makes him a traitor in my book.
Ami: And Zoi Midori? Who is he the reincarnation of?
Rei: Zoi Midori is not the reincarnation of anyone. Zoi Midori is dead. That… thing… pretending to be Zoi Midori is a Shitennou.
[much later, in detention]
[Umino is grumbling as he enters the room. He's never had detention before so he's bitter. There is one other student. A redhead banging away on a laptop. She stops and turns with a sneer]
El: You tell my brother you saw me in here and you're dead.