Double Jeopardy (part 6 of 28)

a Sailor Moon fanfiction by Neuroleptic

Back to Part 5
Love's Icy Edge

The five Sekkou surrounded the guard to Beryl's chamber as he said again 
in a louder voice, trying to stress his point. "Beryl has specifically 
requested not to be disturbed by anyone. I'm sorry, but you can't 
enter."

Dark Sailor Venus grabbed the guard by the throat. "What business we 
have with the Queen can't wait. Let us in or we will be forced to kill 
you."

The guard nearly laughed at the unfairness of his situation. "If I let 
you in, Beryl will have me executed. If I don't, You'll break my neck. 
So, you know what?" The man shouted angrily, "Go ahead! I'd much rather 
be put out of my misery by you than -- AGH!" A loud, wet, cracking sound 
was the last thing the man ever heard before Mina let his lifeless body 
slide to the ground with a thud.

"Such a waste. We lose more talented guards that way," was Ray's 
response as Lita pushed the large door open. Even though the door moved 
slowly, it still made a loud banging sound once it was fully opened, as 
if to alert the occupants in the room. They could hear soft piano and 
violin music coming from somewhere in the room. Beryl was in the middle 
of enjoying a private concert from two of her many court entertainers.

As they entered, Serena spoke first, regarding Beryl who was seated on 
her throne in the center of the huge room. "I apologize for our 
rudeness, your highness, but we have news of our mission." Beryl merely 
nodded, only half listening.

"Dark Mercury's dimensional portal works and we were able to infiltrate 
a group of Sailor Sekkou from an alternate reality. We were able to 
gather a great deal of intelligence that will aid us in future attacks. 
Within a short time, we are confident that we will be able to defeat 
them. However, we will require help from you to do so. You see, in their 
dimension, they have nine sailor warriors. We can't --"

Beryl finally cut Serena off by hurling a ball of dark energy at her, 
sending her sliding across the floor. A lesser mortal would have been 
blown to bits. "How stupid do you think I am?" Beryl looked at the other 
four Sekkou, waiting for one of them to answer.

After several moments of tension, Dark Mercury stepped forward quietly. 
"My lady, if I may?" She said, bowing deeply, showing respect. "What 
Serena says is true. We are outnumbered. Without more Sekkou, we can't 
even hope to win." Then Dark Mercury hit a small button on a holographic 
projector she had with her. A large, bright image of a galaxy appeared. 
Around the familiar shape of the galaxy, a large blue sphere formed, 
encompassing it.

Beryl waited patiently for Dark Mercury to continue. While the queen had 
little patience for sucking up, begging, and people trying to manipulate 
her, she was willing to listen to a person willing to get to the point. 
So long as the point benefited her, that is.

"This is their galaxy. The blue surrounding it is a representation of 
dark energy and dark matter. Dark energy makes up approximately seventy 
three percent, and dark matter makes up twenty three percent of the 
total mass of their galaxy. If my math is correct, that makes ninety six 
percent of their galaxy's mass as dark material. Material we . . . by 
we, I of course mean you. . . . can convert to raw energy." She then 
pushed another button on the projector, causing an equally large 
projection of another galaxy to appear next to the one she had finished 
describing. However, this one lacked a huge percentage of the blue 
sphere the other had. "This is our galaxy. While it has the same amount 
of material for stars, gas, planets, etcetera, it lacks near the amount 
of dark matter and energy as theirs." As if to demonstrate, the two 
images merged together for comparison. The lack of dark matter and 
energy in their universe seemed to affect the very rotation and 
stability of their galaxy. It appeared to lose stars slowly as it turned 
from a lack of mass to produce enough gravity to hold the galaxy 
together.

Dark Mercury smiled only slightly as she watched Beryl look at the 
tempting carrot she had placed before her. Trying to push Beryl into 
making a decision she said, "Just imagine it. So much power all yours. 
The only thing standing in your way is the fact that we don't have 
enough man power to take out the only threat able to prevent you from 
taking it." In mock disappointment, she said, "What a pity."

Dark Venus decided to finish their explanation and try to hammer home 
the all-encompassing point. "On top of that, we will bring you the 
bodies of the fallen Senshi for you to resurrect with the power of the 
Ginzuishou, doubling the strength of your loyal Sekkou and enabling us 
to be able to do this once again to another universe much quicker, and 
so on. Your power would suddenly give the word infinite a new meaning, 
and instead of a mere five Sekkou, you would eventually have an army."

Amy had taken the moment to observe the two performers still playing 
music as if nothing were going on. Once Mina had finished talking, she 
said, "Oh and by the way, two of the people we are looking for? Yeah... 
They're right over there." She said, pointing over her shoulder at the 
two musicians. She didn't show it, but she was incredibly nervous. If 
she was wrong about her guess she had made during their encounter with 
the Senshi, Beryl would be most displeased with her, which would lead to 
a rather painful and unpleasant punishment and possibly end.

Beryl smiled in amusement. "So, if I give you a couple of new toys, 
you'll do so much for me? How thoughtful." Then in a loud commanding 
voice she said to the two musicians, "You two! Stand before me."

The aqua haired woman playing the violin and the sandy blond woman who 
had been playing the piano immediately stopped performing and walked 
nervously toward their queen. Once they were standing where their 
majesty had commanded, they, both in respect and fear, knelt before her.

The aqua haired woman, Michelle, said quietly, "What is thy bidding, my 
Queen?"

As a sinister smile appeared on Beryl's face, she said, "I am going to 
present the two of you with a gift, you might say. Consider it a reward 
for your loyal services. Power and status far beyond what you would ever 
achieve in your current life. Prepare yourselves to join the elite ranks 
of the mighty Sekkou.

Amara spoke next, sounding surprised by the comment. Not looking up, 
mostly in fear, she said "It . . . would be an honour, your majesty. One 
we . . . regret we must refuse. Our duty is to our music, our 
relationship with each other, and to your service as court musicians. We 
could never hope to . . . succeed in the life you present to us, nor 
live up to your expectations." She finished trying to sound diplomatic 
and attempting to hide the fear she could feel within her.

Beryl laughed down at her two servants. A cruel cackling sound that sent 
a cold feeling into the very souls of Amara and Michelle. "What makes 
you think I'm giving you a choice?" Then Beryl lifted the Ginzuishou and 
pointed it at Michelle. Before anyone could speak, a bright light flew 
from the powerful object, slamming into Michelle, sending her flying to 
the far wall. Her body hit the cold hard stone so hard that nearly every 
bone in her body shattered on impact. As her now lifeless form slid to 
the ground, it left a red streak of blood.

Amara stood and watched the horrifying spectacle. Her best friend and 
lover killed faster than she could blink, for a reason she could not yet 
understand. She slowly turned to Beryl too angry to be sad. "You. . . . 
You . . . I . . . " She stammered for a moment, unsure what to do. She 
then decided it was better to join her mate in death than to beg for her 
life. "I'll kill you!" she said at last, running at Beryl as fast as she 
could, out for blood.

The Sekkou started to move to intercept her, but stopped when Beryl 
merely lifted a hand. As if to change the channel on a TV with a remote, 
she again sent a ray of energy flying, this time at Amara's head. Upon 
impact, the sound of shattering bone was heard when her head was twisted 
back so far, that the back of her skull hit her spine. Her face was 
mangled so badly that it was merely a bloody crater, then her body 
joined her lover's on the floor with an undignified thud.

Ray and Lita quietly dragged Michelle's body to lay next to Amara's. 
Sailor Moon looked up at Beryl and said, "I take it then, you see our 
point."

Beryl said nothing as she pointed the Ginzuishou at the dead. A third 
light, this time less brutal than the previous two, formed around the 
bodies. They crumbled to ash after a moment, and two small star like 
lights appeared above them, the two women's souls. Beryl then gestured 
with her free hand causing dark energy to engulf the two small lights 
causing them to dim some what, then watched as they fell back toward the 
two piles of ash on the ground. Then, the ash took shape of the two 
fallen musicians. Color, flesh, blood, and life suddenly appeared back 
within them just as quickly as it had been taken from them.

Beryl laughed again saying, "Rise mighty Sekkou of the wind! Dark Sailor 
Uranus!"

As Michelle quietly rose to her feet she said, "And to think . . . I 
hesitated." She admired her new uniform, the black, blue, and yellow 
uniform of Sailor Uranus.

Sounding amused, Beryl then spoke, "And rise, Powerful goddess of the 
oceans, Dark Sailor Neptune."

Amara stood quietly without a word, now garbed in her new black and aqua 
uniform, that of Dark Sailor Neptune. She could only stand in awe at the 
power she felt coursing through her.

Dark Mars bowed politely. "Thank you, your majesty. We leave at once 
with your blessing to commence with our new comrades' training, and to 
find the last two remaining Sekkou."

Beryl smiled evilly down at the sekkou. "As I said earlier, how stupid 
do you think I am? You needn't waste your time searching for them." Then 
Beryl snapped a finger and said, "May I present to you Hotaru, my dear 
Sekkou of time, Sailor Pluto, and Trista, the Sekkou of death and 
rebirth, Dark Sailor Saturn. My most loyal of servants."

Hotaru, the mighty Dark Sailor Pluto a small girl, merely a child, 
seamed to some how demand much more respect than her appearance alone 
would give her as she emerged from behind the throne in her solid black 
uniform and holding the Garnet rod. From the opposite side of the throne 
Trista, Dark Sailor Saturn, walked from the shadows wearing her purple, 
maroon, and black uniform, brandishing the Silence Glaive. The two moved 
so silently that barely a sound was heard as their feet touched the 
marble floor while they walked.

"They will join you in the training and conditioning of the new Sekkou." 
To herself she thought, 'and they will insure your loyalty.'

----------

Ami zipped up the back of her dress, nearly done dressing herself for a 
concert tonight. Her group of friends were all going to attend since it 
was Haruka and Michiru's debut of a new song they had both composed, and 
to get everyone's mind off of current events, even if just for a little 
while. While Ami had decided to take a momentary break from her duties 
as the Senshi of Ice, that didn't excuse her from social events with 
friends.

Minako had insisted that Ami wear something other than the simple outfit 
she had picked so she was now back in her room changing into the third 
dress of the evening. This one was a white dress that was fairly tight, 
but not too revealing, with a low back. Her mother, who was with her 
when she bought it, had described it as 'clinging to you in just the 
right places', to which Ami had blushed profusely. It was the same dress 
she had worn to Usagi and Mamoru's wedding. Being how much she paid for 
it, it was good to be trying to actually get her yens' worth out of it.

As she walked out of her room, Minako stood at the end of the hallway. 
She had put on a light blue evening gown with her trademark red bow in 
her hair and matching high heels. "Better," She said simply. Then a look 
of irritation crossed her face as she said, "What? No makeup?! And we 
have to do something with your hair too!"

"We're going to be late as it is, Minako! There isn't enough time." 
Sighed Ami, starting to feel frustrated. What did she want? Perfection?

Minako was already starting down the hall with a brush and a small 
makeup kit saying, "There's always enough time! Besides, have you been 
to Suntory Hall before? We're lucky Haruka and Michiru could even get us 
discounted tickets. It's a really ritzy place and we should look . . . I 
don't know . . . ritzy!"

Ami sighed in defeat as Minako began combing her hair a bit and 
powdering her face, causing her to cough delicately for a moment. "Yeah, 
I know, but is all of this really necessary, Minako?"

As Minako applied a light pink lipstick to Ami, she said, sounding 
hurried and at the same time anxious, "Yes!" Ami didn't know it, but at 
that very moment, Minako expected Rei was having the exact same 
conversation with Makoto. The plan was to have the two of them get 
dressed up all nice and pretty like, sit next to each other and . . . 
they hadn't thought that far ahead yet. Since it was now Wednesday 
evening, Minako and Rei only had till Saturday to get the two of them 
together before Ami's date. They were starting to grasp desperately at 
any chance to get the two of them together at this point, and the 
current opportunity was as good as any. Minako found it ironic that they 
were all going to live hundreds of years by their most conservative 
estimates, yet they never seemed to have enough time on their side.

Stepping back to admire her work for a moment, Minako nodded, now 
satisfied, and said, "There now, that's better." Then, not even giving 
Ami a chance to see, she grabbed Ami's hand and started running so fast 
she nearly jerked Ami off her feet. "Now let's go!"

Hotaru and Setsuna were waiting outside the Hall for the last two to 
arrive. The others were already seated and listening to the opening act. 
Hotaru, wearing a black dress with a purple scarf, said impatiently, 
"What is taking them so long?"

Setsuna, wearing a light green evening gown, spoke patiently, 
"Everything happens at its own pace Hotaru, don't worry, they'll be here 
soon. Besides, you're the one who wanted to wait here with me. They'll 
arrive right when they are supposed to." For Ami's destiny, she thought, 
letting the last part echo in her head.

Just then, Minako and Ami came sprinting down the sidewalk with their 
purses flying back in the wind as they ran toward them. Minako, in a 
panic, said "Wait for us!"

As they came to a stop on the step below Hotaru and Setsuna, Ami said, 
breathing heavily, "Are we locked out?"

"No," said Setsuna, smiling at Ami, "A few more minutes and you would 
have been, but you're just in time." Setsuna said the last part to 
Hotaru as if to emphasize her earlier comment. "Let's go get our seats." 
With that, the four of them walked in to join the others.

The Auditorium was spacious, to say the least. Able to seat two thousand 
and six people, the seats were arranged so that the stage was in the 
center of the theater instead of toward the front, giving more of a feel 
of oneness with the performers on stage and the audience. With the 
lights turned down, it was a perfect place to listen to a musical 
performance. So partially by design, but also because of wonderful and 
ever increasing talent, Haruka and Michiru never sounded so good. They 
almost seemed to actually get better every song.

Even still, Ami squirmed in her seat. The seats were made of wood which 
provided for better acoustics than other types of seating would provide, 
even if it wasn't as comfortable. Though the reason Ami was having 
trouble staying still wasn't because of the seating. She hadn't heard 
from Cherrypielover all day. While this wasn't too unusual since it was 
the middle of the week and they were both usually busy around this time, 
Ami had felt a need to make up for lost time from when she had been 
captured. Plus, being that their date was in only a few short days, she 
had wanted to talk to her even more so than in the past. Ami's 
anticipation for Saturday was one of the few things helping her keep her 
sanity and depression under control at the moment, though she was also 
nervous and excited about it at the same time. Those feelings also made 
her worry she was putting her hopes up and her expectations too high, 
not to mention perhaps moving too fast.

Makoto was wearing a light pink evening gown that sparkled like glitter, 
or stars. Rei had fixed her hair so that it was tied back lower and more 
adult like than her usual simple ponytail. She leaned over, whispering 
into Ami's ear, "Are you all right?"

Ami shuddered at the feeling of the brunette's breath on her, but killed 
any thoughts about Makoto by thinking to herself about Pielover. 
Adjusting her glasses nervously, she whispered back, "No, I'm fine . . . 
look, I'll be right back. I need to take care of something really 
quick." Then without looking at Makoto, she got up and made her way out 
of the auditorium to the lobby.

She found a bench in the large, deserted room off to the side that, 
thankfully, was cushioned and sat down. Now out of the way of prying 
eyes, she pulled her cell phone out of her purse. CherryPieLover usually 
left her computer on so she would receive her messages even if she 
wasn't there. Maybe if Ami was really lucky, the other woman would have 
her cell phone on her too.

Makoto kept glancing at the empty seat next to her occasionally after 
Ami had departed. Suddenly, she felt her small purse start vibrating. 
Her damn cell phone! "Thank god I at least turned the ringtone off!" she 
whispered to herself as she took it out of its hiding place. Seeing a 
text message from PBJ made all feelings of frustration leave her. Not 
paying attention to the fact that her sudden burst of movement had drawn 
irritated glances from the rest of her friends, she typed back a reply.

PBJ1978 has signed on at 8:15 (PM)

PBJ1978: Hi! It's me. Hope I'm not bothering you. I just wanted to let 
you know I'm doing OK. I'm actually at a concert with some friends, but 
I snuck away for a moment to drop you a line.

Cherrypielover: I'm fine. Out of curiosity, you wouldn't happen to be at 
Suntory Hall by any chance, would you?

PBJ1978: I think I'm actually going to faint! You're HERE?

Cherrypielover: You make it sound like that's a bad thing, love :D

PBJ1978: No! No no no no no no! It's just . . . I want to see you is 
all, but I can wait until our date. I'm just looking forward to it. And 
a little nervous.

Cherrypielover: Me too. So, where are you anyway?

PBJ1978: I'm seated in P block, near the 5th row from the front. Any 
more specific than that and you'd probably see me earlier than 
planned/wink

Makoto's heart nearly jumped out of her throat at that revelation.

Cherrypielover: Holy smokes! You're practically right next to me! What 
are you wearing?

PBJ1978: Ha ha! Calm down, sweetheart. I'm not in the auditorium at the 
moment. It would be rude of me to use my cell phone during such a 
beautiful concert. I stepped out for a minute. I guess you're still in 
there . . . Well, I'm going to let you go for now so we can both enjoy 
the remainder of the show without distractions.

PBJ1978: Oh, by the way, I'm wearing white :D Nightie night!

PBJ1978 has signed off (8:30PM)

Barely audible and with a small smile on her face, Makoto said to 
herself, feeling like her head was spinning, "That little tease." She 
looked around for a moment despite what PBJ had said, but realized that 
it would be pointless since white was a fairly common color for a dress. 
"Even Ami is wearing white," she sighed to herself.

Usagi, who was seated on the opposite side of Makoto, leaned toward her, 
drawing an irritated glance from Mamoru as she did so and said, "You 
noticed her dress too, huh? I thought it looked nice on her. It's kinda 
nice seeing Ami dressed up for once isn't it? Minako said that . . ."

The rest of Usagi's words were drowned out by the blood rushing out of 
Makoto's face for a moment. Makoto's eyes suddenly went wide as a 
thought crossed her mind and she looked at the empty seat again. Usagi 
tapped her on the shoulder gently and whispered,"Mako-chan? Are you OK?"

Half in a panic, half in excitement, Makoto said a little louder than 
she meant to, drawing a few irritated glances from nearby patrons, 
"Illberightback!" and got up. As fast as was politely excusable she made 
her way to the lobby in the direction Ami had departed.

Sure enough, once Makoto got to the lobby, she saw Ami sitting on the 
far side of it with a small sappy smile happily pasted on her face, 
clutching a cell phone to her chest, lost in thought. Behind her 
glasses, her eyes sparkled with joy. She looked beautiful in a lonely 
sort of way sitting there all alone.

As Makoto watched her, she thought that the cell phone was practically 
like a smoking gun. Makoto ducked back behind the door frame trying to 
keep herself from going hysterical. She went over the facts in her head 
again for a moment. Ami, wearing a white evening gown, at Suntory Hall, 
holding a cell phone, out in the lobby, right after PBJ1978 just 
described the same thing. She wondered what the statistics were for that 
just being a coincidence, but then felt her head spin again as she 
realized the only person who would be able to calculate that was Ami.

"Get a grip, Makoto!" she said to herself nervously. Forcing herself to 
relax, she took a deep breath, made up her mind, then turned round the 
door frame again this time intending fully to speak to Ami. It was 
finally time for them to admit how they really felt about each other. 
Just as Makoto practically flung herself around the door frame intending 
to do just that, she ran right into Ami, who had apparently been on her 
way back to her seat, nearly knocking her over. Ami let out a surprised 
squeak as she regained her balance, looking up at Makoto for a moment as 
she did so.

Makoto's eyes went wide for the second time that night and she brought 
up her hand, chewing on her finger nervously. "Sorry, Ami . . . I . . . 
I . . . I didn't know you were right there."

'You . . . stupid . . . CHICKEEEEN!', she thought in regards to herself, 
rather angrily within the safe confines of her skull.

Still sounding a little dreamy, Ami said, "Hi Makoto. I was just on my 
way back. I hope I didn't worry you." Seeming to snap out of a daze 
finally, the bluenet said, "Let's go back to our seats before we miss 
more of the performance. I think they're about to get to the new song 
they have been going on and on about." She started to make her way down 
the stairs, when she felt a strong yet gentle hand land on her shoulder, 
stopping her. Confused Ami turned back around to regard Makoto 
curiously.

"We need to talk for a moment, Ami . . . It won't take long, I promise," 
was Makoto's reply. Ami couldn't help but notice how serious the taller 
woman sounded. Without a word she followed Makoto back out into the 
lobby and had a seat on the same bench she had just left a moment 
before. The small woman watched as her tall friend began pacing back and 
forth nervously.

"Are you feeling OK, Makoto?" asked Ami. She was wondering if she had 
done something wrong. She knew it wasn't entirely polite of her to walk 
out of the performance like that, but she didn't think Makoto or anyone 
else would be that upset about it. It was just for a moment, after all. 
But just to make sure, she asked, "Did I do something wrong?"

Makoto stopped pacing and looked down at Ami. "No . . . actually, I'm 
the one who has done something wrong." Taking another deep breath to 
calm herself before she spoke to Ami, she said, "It's time for me to be 
honest with you about how I really feel."

Ami looked up at Makoto again and said, "If this is about me leaving my 
seat during the concert I promise I really was on my way back . . . "

"Huh? Oh no!" Makoto let out a nervous laugh. "It's not about that at 
all. But in a way I guess it is." Then she stammered out, "But you 
didn't do anything wrong . . . It's just . . . " How in the world was 
she supposed to tell Ami this? She was becoming so nervous that she was 
starting to breath faster. She wrung her hands for a moment, noticing 
how sweaty they seemed to feel.

Ami smiled up at Makoto, touching her hand for a moment. Makoto swore 
she felt sparks from the contact. "It's OK Makoto, calm down. You know 
you can tell me anything."

After taking what she swore would be her last deep breath of the 
evening, Makoto decided the best way to do it was to just freaking say 
it already. "I . . . " She grabbed both of Ami's hands, pulling her up 
to her feet. "I love you. I have for a long time now. I know I should 
have said something sooner, but I . . . I was scared. I was just a kid 
when I first noticed it, but I . . . " As a thousand thoughts flowed 
through her mind Makoto settled on "I love you . . . I . . . felt I 
should let you know. I just figured it was a good time to tell you . . . 
Now or never kind of thing ya know?. . . um . . . Don't you have 
something to say to me?"

Ami had a lost look on her face through most of what Makoto had said. 
She started to move her lips slowly for a moment, but no sound came out. 
Her eyes were wide with surprise behind her glasses. At first, Makoto 
had thought she had seriously screwed up big-time and was going to 
become the laughingstock of Tokyo for the rest of her very long life. 
"You . . . love . . . me?" Ami said, almost as if asking to make sure 
she had heard the taller woman correctly.

Makoto said, shaking a bit, "Well, uh . . . Yes."

Ami's reaction wasn't what Makoto had thought it would be. It also 
wasn't what she had hoped. Not by a long shot. Ami looked over her 
glasses at Makoto with that same creepy look Hana Mizuno had given her 
at the hospital, then repeated with just a bit of anger and a hint of 
frustration thrown into the recipe for good measure, "You love me." 
Makoto stepped back for a moment, as Ami balled her hands up into fists 
at her side, gritting her teeth together so hard that Makoto could hear 
it. She bit out angrily, "For how long?" Her usually quiet voice 
suddenly echoed through the large lobby like the voice of an angry 
goddess.

Makoto felt herself turn pale. Apparently she had horribly misread the 
situation. "Look, Ami I'm-"

Ami took another step toward her, visibly angry. "Answer the question, 
Makoto."

"I . . . I'm not sure. I've had feelings for you for a long time now . . 
. I don't know . . . fourteen . . . maybe fifteen years?" stammered out 
Makoto. She had no choice, really, but to take whatever Ami was about to 
dish out at this point.

Narrowing her eyes and adjusting her glasses as she looked at Makoto, 
Ami said in disbelief and anger, "Fifteen years, you say?" Then she 
yelled, "You kept me waiting half my life? You waited till now," as if 
to emphasize the last word, Ami slammed her cell phone on the ground so 
hard it flew to pieces, "to tell me that?" Taking her turn to take a 
deep breath, Ami said between clenched teeth, "Do you have any idea how 
much, how long, and how often you have hurt me by not telling me that 
sooner?"

Makoto stepped forward, trying to make an attempt to calm Ami. "Look 
Ami, I'm sorry, honest. I'll make it up to -- "

Ami cut her off by pushing the brunette away from her. She took her 
glasses off as if they were obscuring her vision for a moment, as she 
tried to hold back tears. "No, you won't. You'll never get the chance to 
make it up to me. Because . . . " Ami stopped for a moment feeling tears 
run down her face, then angrily wiped them away. Quieter, she said, 
"Because you're too late, Makoto. I gave you so many chances and 
opportunities over the years. Hell, I was even going to tell you how I 
felt at that dance we attended in high school once we finished dancing, 
but we know how that went. You went off and danced with someone else!" 
Ami stomped her foot while saying the last word, almost like a child 
throwing a tantrum as 15 years of frustration and repressed emotions 
finally came boiling to her usually calm surface for all to see.

After holding her breath for a moment to try to calm herself a little, 
Ami said, "You simply waited too long now. I've finally found someone 
else. They make me happy, and they deserve to be given a chance. To not 
do that would be just as bad to them as what you have done to me. She 
beat you to me, Makoto, and you had a 15 year head start on her." Unable 
to hide the sadness that was lurking beneath her anger, she finished, 
now unable to hold back the rest of the tears, "You're not the one who 
has to apologize, I do. I'm sorry, Makoto, but you're too late."

Makoto reached toward Ami, saying, "No wait, let me explain!"

She was greeted by Ami turning away from her and walking quickly toward 
the door. As she did so, Ami said sadly, "You have explained enough. 
Goodnight Makoto." Then looking over her shoulder she said, putting her 
glasses back on as if they would hide her tears, "I really am sorry."

Makoto still stood a moment more holding her hand out toward the now 
retreating Ami and watched sadly as the other woman walked through the 
glass doors on her way back to her car. She lowered her hand and slumped 
her head, looking down at the parts of Ami's shattered cell phone, now 
as fractured as her dreams.

Unknown to both of them, Hotaru, Setsuna, Rei, Usagi and Minako had all 
gone up to check on the two of them while Mamoru stayed behind to put a 
polite showing for their group. He had wanted to go too, but it was his 
job as the gentleman to stay.

They were all standing in the doorway entrance to the auditorium. 
Setsuna was shaking her head sadly, as Hotaru asked her, "It . . . 
wasn't supposed to go like that, was it?"

As if looking up to the heavens for an answer, Setsuna glanced at the 
ceiling tiles and said, "No. No it wasn't."

Hotaru replied, "That's bad, isn't it?" Setsuna didn't even answer her 
as she watched Makoto sadly.

Rei was quietly, yet rhythmically beating her head against the door 
frame almost in time to the music that Michiru and Haruka were playing. 
Turns out, the new selection was a sad slow song which matched 
everyone's mood at the moment. It seemed to Rei as if the two talented 
musicians might as well have been up there with them saying how they 
felt about the current events too.

Usagi just stared toward the door that Ami had left through. She had 
been oblivious to everything between the two of them until now, but as 
she had watched she hoped it would have gone better. The two of them 
would have made each other very happy. It especially bothered her to see 
her friend she had had the longest, Ami, hurting so much. Part of her 
wanted to run after her friend to console her, and the other part wanted 
to smack Ami over the head and ask her if she was crazy. Instead, all 
she could manage was to barely keep from crying.

Minako looked from between her fingers as she covered her face. To her 
the incident they had just watched play out in front of them was more 
like a horrible car accident with body parts strewn across the road in a 
gory, bloody, mess. So horrible, yet you can't look away. Minako said, 
to no one in particular, "We really screwed this up, didn't we." The 
other four silently nodded in unison.

Onwards to Part 7


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