"Please grant happiness and joy to everyone, especially my dearest friends." Hino Rei reached up and delicately tugged down a branch of the tree and tied her prayer to it. It joined hundreds of others, which together made the old oak tree seem more like a cherry blossom in bloom. With a gentle smile, she wondered exactly how many of those blossoms represented the same prayer. It had taken a while, but she began to suspect that they were starting to work. Just to be safe, she rapped the trunk of the tree three times before heading back toward the temple. As she moved up the broad stairs, she heard someone calling her name. Turning, Rei saw Ami heading through the gates, books in hand as always. "Rei-chan, I hope I'm not disturbing you," Ami called. "Of course not, Ami-chan," Rei replied. "Why are you here so early, though? We're not supposed to meet for dinner till 6 and I thought you had a test to study for." Rei sat down primly on the stairs and waited for Ami to join her. As Ami sat and placed her books carefully next to herself, Rei noted that something was bothering the girl. Working in a temple full-time had honed Rei's instincts to a very high level when it came to people and clearly, this particular person was troubled about something. If nothing else, the long pause and slight rush of color to her cheeks gave Ami away. "I was studying," Ami began. "For some reason, though, I couldn't focus on what I was doing." Rei's eyebrows lifted in shock. Mizuno Ami, unable to focus? On schoolwork no less? This was quite unprecedented. Ami had paused, clearly trying to decide what to say or how to say it. Ami always chose her words carefully, but usually as a result of a desire for precision, not from this kind of obvious confusion. Rei tried to recall the last time she had seen Ami this upset. "You haven't been offered another chance to study abroad, have you?" Rei asked. "No, nothing like that," Ami answered quickly. "I just wanted some company, that's all. It was a bit lonely down at the ice cream parlor." Again, Rei felt startled. Ami studied by herself all the time and had never had a problem focusing. True, she did go to a lot of trouble to organize study groups, but Rei assumed that was because her friend wanted to ensure that she and the rest of the senshi were doing their homework properly. She remembered only one other instance where Ami had gotten worked up to the point of distraction. "Did someone leave you a love letter?" Rei tried her best not to chuckle or grin. She and the others had frequently noted with some amusement the way their friend flipped out when someone expressed a romantic interest in her, but Rei knew that Ami was easily embarrassed and also that the girl needed a good friend now more than anything. On cue, Ami's face turned pink. "No, definitely not. Why is everyone so interested in my love life today?" she asked quietly, as if to herself more than Rei. 'Because we've never seen _you_ express any interest in it!' Rei thought before asking, "'Everyone'? Who else was interested in your love life today, Aims?" "Oh, Ryu-kun thought that maybe I was feeling a bit down because all of my friends are in happy relationships." "We are?" Rei laughed. "Minako hasn't been on a date with the same boy twice in over a year and I certainly haven't in quite awhile. Aside from Usagi, and Haruka and Michiru I guess, none of us are in relationships!" Ami sighed and dropped her eyes. "I think Mako-chan might be," she whispered. "Her friend Shinozaki showed up today and asked me where she might be. She hadn't mentioned that he was back in town and I can only surmise it was because she didn't want to be teased about it." Immediately, Rei noticed the change. Ami's shoulders slumped; she stared at the ground between her feet. It was as if the energy had been drained from her by some invisible youma. 'Now, we're getting to the heart of it all,' she realized. She knew that getting Ami to open up about her feelings would be difficult, but she also knew that if anyone could do it, she could. Other than Makoto, no one was closer to Ami. Well, except maybe Urawa-san. "Ami-chan, I didn't know that Urawa-san was in Tokyo. Doesn't he go to school in the provinces?" Rei asked. "He does, but he had a vision of me and was worried, so he came to visit." Ami looked up, a bit confused. "At least that is what he told me. If that is the case, though, I wonder why he ran off so quickly." Ami seemed more puzzled about this than depressed, which confused Rei even further. "Well, what were the two of you talking about? If you weren't sad yesterday, but today you are distracted and out of sorts, than something must have happened between now and then." Ami sighed and straightened up a bit, firming her resolve. "I was studying, because I knew that with dinner tonight, I wouldn't have much chance to get any reading done later. Just as I realized I was feeling odd, Ryu-kun showed up. He suggested that maybe I was longing for a relationship." Rei smirked. 'I'm sure he was. That guy just won't take no for an answer.' Without really trying, she could recall at least four separate occasions when Ami had reported that Urawa-san had asked her out, despite her continually expressed desire to simply be friends with him. "So, I started to consider what he was saying," Ami continued, now very deliberately choosing each word. "I let myself imagine what it would be like to have someone to come home to, to share my life with and..." The young girl looked over at Rei with wide eyes. "Oh Rei, I have to admit, it was really very pleasant. I don't often think such things." Rei laid a hand gently over Ami's and urged her to continue. "What happened then, Ami-chan?" Ami looked away quickly, again the blood rising to her cheeks. After a long pause, she continued in a quick voice, "My thoughts began to wander and then Ryu-kun stood up and said he had to leave, that he'd probably been wrong about the whole thing and that I was probably just worried about exams." The gap in Ami's narrative was glaring and Rei knew that if she wanted to help her friend, she'd have to get to the bottom of it. Turning to face Ami directly, she took both of her friend's hands in her own. "Ami, we've known each other for years and been through everything together. I love you like a sister and you know you can tell me anything, right?" Ami nodded, unable to meet Rei's gaze. She muttered softly, "I feel so sad, Rei, and I don't know why. That's why I came here. Mako-chan is with her lover but I knew you'd be able to help me." 'Mako-chan?' Rei considered. 'What does she have to do with anything? And since when does an old friend visiting mean she's got a secret lover?' "Ami, when you were thinking about...about being in love and what it would be like, were you happy?" she asked carefully. "Oh yes!" Ami looked up with a shy smile, her eyes suddenly glittering like the sun on a mountain lake. "And, was there anyone in particular you had in mind when you were thinking these things?" "No, not really," Ami replied, much too quickly, again dropping her glance. Never. Not once in however many years it had been could Rei recall Ami ever lying to her in response to a direct question. It was true that only Makoto could give Ami a run for her money when it came to evading a question, but, again like Makoto, she never lied to her friends. Till now. 'Lying to me, or to herself? Our little Ami is in love and the poor thing has no idea what to do about it,' Rei realized. Could it be that her feelings for Urawa-san had finally changed? It would certainly make sense for her to be upset, especially if he ran off just as she began to suspect it. Suddenly, something clicked. "Ami-chan, can we back up a second? Did I hear you say that you were sad before Urawa-san arrived?" "Yes," Ami whispered. "Did anything else happen today, like before he arrived?" Ami shook her head miserably. "No, nothing at all. I was studying. I didn't see anyone. Well, Shinozaki asked me where he could find Mako-chan, but that was it." Ami fell silent and Rei used the time to gather her thoughts. Some people thought that Ami had an air of sadness about her, but Rei had never been one of them. She knew that Ami was a serious person and a very strong one, not given to depression or angst. Still, she was a normal young woman, not some sort of robot or supercomputer, no matter how smart she was. Rei knew how much Ami relied on her and the other senshi. They all needed each other very much. For a moment, she tried to put aside her own preconceptions and ideas about Ami and consider what she'd heard today as if Ami was simply a typical petitioner at the temple. It was clear that the young woman was in love, even if she did not realize it. Equally clear was the fact that she doubted that this love was returned, that she was afraid of it somehow. Ami was many things, but stupid was not one of them. While she did have blind spots about things related to her emotional or spiritual side, Ami knew well how Urawa thought of her. If she had loved him, she would not have had any doubts or fears. No, not Urawa then. Rei also knew that love does not appear in a flash, like a bolt of lightning during a rainstorm. It grows slowly over time, like a delicate flower, nurtured with shared experiences, mutual respect, common interest, and deep affection. Oh, the awareness of love might strike like one of Sailor Jupiter's thunderbolts, but not the love itself. With a deep, cleansing breath, Rei cleared her mind and thought of the sacred flame. In that moment of clarity, she realized that she already had guessed the answer. Lightning. Flowers. Clues from the sacred flame, or her subconscious. 'Oh Ami, could it be true?' she wondered. It would certainly explain just about everything. Unbidden, memories flooded Rei, as if she'd opened an internal dossier on her two close friends. Images of the two of them came to her: standing just a little bit closer to each other than necessary; shared glances; walks home; things that were perfectly normal for best friends, but could also be seen in a different light. Rei looked over at Ami. If she was right, the poor girl was in for a rough time. Even the threat of a normal relationship had threatened to unhinge Ami in the past. How much worse could something like this be, especially if it was unrequited. Rei's heart overflowed with concern and fear for her friend. Calming herself, she knew she needed some sort of confirmation. Tonight, at dinner, she could observe the two of them and try to figure out what was what, but there were also things to learn right now. "Hey Ami," Rei asked in a light tone, "what sort of person _would_ you want to share your life with?" Ami blushed again, but lifted her gaze to Rei's. "Someone strong, sure of themselves, independent. I can't imagine being with someone who couldn't take care of themselves. I think you have to be content with yourself before you can be happy with someone else." 'That eliminates Urawa,' Rei thought with a nasty smirk. Ami sighed and continued, staring out at the prayer tree. "But, someone who would need me, not because they couldn't be alone, but because they were happier with me, more complete with me in their life. Someone tall and able to make me laugh and smile, but also serious at the right times. Someone whose ideal evening would be to cook a nice dinner and curl up on the sofa under a warm blanket watching television." "What does this person look like?" "Oh Rei, you know it doesn't matter what's on the outside, but what's on the inside," Ami admonished her. "Just for the sake of argument, then," Rei chuckled. Her mental checklist was already full, but she was curious about this as well. Ami giggled nervously, "Oh, ok. Tall, light brown hair, blue or green eyes." She sighed and continued, lost in the image. "Someone strong, but soft, gentle, and tender." Rei struggled to suppress a triumphant smile. Oh, there was no doubt now. What to do, though? First, she'd need to get to the bottom of this Shinozaki business. As far as Rei knew, Shinozaki and Makoto were only very close friends. If so, then she'd need to find out how Makoto felt. Reviewing that dossier, she suspected that that might not be a very big issue either. One last problem lingered though, and it was going to be much more difficult. The only parts of the story that didn't make sense to Rei were Urawa-san's actions. Her intuition warned her that there might be trouble here, but she couldn't think of what to do. 'I think this is too big for me to deal with alone,' she decided. 'I'd better bring in the big guns.' Standing up, Rei offered Ami a hand and tugged her to her feet. "Come on, all this daydreaming isn't going to get us to dinner. Do you want to wash up here and we can walk over together?" "That would be nice, Rei," Ami smiled. "Thank you so very much. You are truly a good friend. I feel much better for some reason. Maybe I just missed my friends." Rei nodded knowingly, "Something like that, I'm sure. Let's go inside."
Back to Best Friends Index - Back to Sailor Moon Shoujo-Ai Fanfiction