SailorStar9: With Chapter 2 uploaded out, this is Chapter 3 of this fic. (Sighs) Guys and girls, is it too hard for you to leave a review, instead of just putting this fic up on your favorited list and story alerts?

Pairings: Furuya Rei/Mizuno Ami

Disclaimers: I own absolutely nothing, except this plot and pairing.

Chapter 3: Rekindled Friendship

"Bye mama!" Fumio called, boarding the school van that would take him to pre-school.

"Well," Ami took a look at her watch. "I have about one hour to prepare for work. You..." her eyes darkened considerably when she saw a familiar blond enter her sight.

"Hi, Ami." Aino Minako greeted the former Mercury Senshi. "You're really a hard person to find."

"My stand on Crystal Tokyo remains unchanged." Ami stated plainly. "You've wasted your time coming here."

"Wait, Ami." Minako called out. "Please... hear me out."

"I have about an hour before my shift." Ami relented. "Let's talk back at my place."

"Nice place you have." Minako perused the apartment appreciatively. "You look... happy." she noted, glancing at the photo frames that decorated the living room.

"I am." Ami replied, bringing in two cups of matcha tea.

"No husband?" Minako asked, noticing the lack of a father in the pictures.

"I'm not married." Ami replied flatly, causing Minako to spew out the tea she was drinking.

"That was... unexpected." Minako admitted. "Anyway, Ami, listen." she sighed, taking a sip of tea. "After your... rant thirteen years ago, the rest of us mulled over your reasoning and..." she took another sip of tea. "Most of us conceded your argument; even Setsuna-san was forced to admit that Crystal Tokyo is a very bad idea. But Usagi-chan... she was adamant that her using the Ginzuishou to erase negative emotions: to remove the intent of acting on such emotions, was the best way to prevent people like the Dark Moon Clan from ever existing and refused to see otherwise. Mamoru-san had tried to explaining that it was wrong to strip humanity of free will by ripping out an essential part of what makes humans, humans, but Usagi-chan just won't hear of it and insisted quite loudly that her way is the only way. Then, when Mako-chan asked her what would happen to the people who refused to accept her rule, Usagi-chan just..." here, the blonde took a deep breath and continued. "Declared that she'll simply use the Ginzuishou to 'cleanse' the population to remove any dissent and anyone who refused the 'cleansing' is to be banished to Nemesis. It was then we realized that not only did Usagi-chan have every intention of turning her dream of following Queen Selenity's footsteps into a reality, she planned to take it a step further by playing God and... we just couldn't accept that." the former Venusian Senshi just sighed. "After that, things just spiraled down from there: officially, the Senshi were disbanded, but we kept our henshin sticks since they were our birthright and not even Usagi-chan could take them away from us."

"Well," Ami snorted, unimpressed. "So much for Tsukino keeping her promise to Demande."

"Look, Ami." Minako started. "I just want to say, you were right. We were so focused on ensuring our promised destiny is fulfilled that we forgot the most important thing: we forgot that no one, not even us, has the right to play God, to drastically alter what was human nature. So, your rant thirteen years ago, was a rude but necessary wake-up call."

"And Tsukino just let you girls go off like that?" Ami asked. "No threatening you with the Ginzuishou? No whining about how her destined future is gone or how cruel you all are for not letting her see her precious Chibi-Usa again?"

"I think Mamoru-san took care of that." Minako smiled wryly. "So," she gave her hostess an inquiring look. "Why in law enforcement? I thought you wanted to be a doctor."

"Too much internal politics and corruption in general hospitals, for one." Ami shrugged. "The second reason: I figured I could protect Japan better without any bias with what I'm doing right now."

"You've changed, Ami." Minako noted.

"Motherhood does that to you." Ami replied. "So, what have you been doing for these thirteen years? I get updates from Haruka-san and Michiru-san once in awhile."

"Wow, you've really been out of touch, haven't you?" Minako tsked.

"Minako, I haven't been Japan for the last six years." Ami deathpanned. "The last time I returned to Japan was two weekends ago to visit my mother's grave."

"Here." Minako pulled out her purse and handed Ami a name card.

"I'm impressed." Ami nodded, looking at the name card. "You've done great for yourself."

"Thanks." Minako replied. "Do you have 'Whatsapp'?" she thought to ask. "I'll give you Rei-chan's, Mako-chan's and my phone numbers. I know the others will want to know how you're doing."

"Hello." Ami took the call on her cellphone minutes after Minako made her exit.

"You sound tired." Amuro's amused voice sounded from the other end of the line. "Did I catch you on a bad time?"

"Just had an unexpected visitor." Ami answered.

"Will you be alright?" Amuro asked in concern.

"Yeah, I will be." Ami assured. "Rei," she voiced, glancing at the wall clock. "I have to run."

"Right." Amuro answered. "Call you later. Love you."

"I know." Ami smiled.

SailorStar9: Any OOC-ness is regretted. *Sighs* Don't you just hate plot bunnies sometimes? Read and review.