The Date Minako looked grim as she watched her 'computer simulation' of Ami and Makoto. She had booted up The Sims on her computer and had built Makoto's apartment in as much detail as the game allowed and made Ami, a female Virgo, and Makoto, a female Sagittarius, then put them in the house. The results were less than promising. Minako had already had them both die during an earlier simulation when Makoto had tried to cook something on the stove, causing a fire. Now that she had at least managed to keep them alive longer than five minutes, she watched in dismay as the two got into an argument, and then a fight. When her phone rang, she was glad for the diversion, though she still sounded glum as she answered it. "Hello . . . Oh, hi, Rei. Any luck with the sacred fire?" Minako scrunched up her face at the other's answer. "That bad, huh? I suppose there is always the chance you're wrong . . . yeah . . . yeah . . . Well, my exacting simulation results are . . . well, slightly better than your reading, I think." "Yeah yeah, I know. It sucks that Mako-chan has to work today. We only have til this evening to make certain this will work . . . You're still going to meet her after she gets off, right? Cool . . . Yeah I know, no pressure." Rei chattered to Minako again for a moment then she said, "Yeah . . . She's still having problems with her dreams. She calls them night terrors." Minako shuddered at the memory of Ami's terrified screaming the night before. "I feel sorry for her, but at the same time, makes it hard to sleep some nights, ya know? I hope it doesn't affect things tonight." Then Minako's expression changed to one of shock then amusement as Rei said something to her over the phone for a while. "Wow . . . yeah . . . Oh my gosh . . . No . . . Bwahaha! . . . Ha ha ha! . . . She didn't . . . Oh my lord . . . Well that one was creative . . . I knew I should have stayed in there a little longer when she was trying to shoo me out . . . Yeah I know! Wonder if that last one will hurt her back, right?" Then she looked serious as she watched her digital Ami slap digital Makoto. "Sad thing is, if we screw this up again tonight, they won't get the chance to find out, will they? Well, I'm going to go for now . . . yep . . . yep . . . later," then she hung up. Holding her head up with one hand as she watched digital Makoto scream at digital Ami for using the shower while she wanted to, Minako thought about her job in what her and Rei were calling Operation Thunder Snow Take Two. She had it pretty easy. First, while Ami worked on the test papers she still needed to grade, Minako had to pick out flowers for the two of them to give each other on their date. Since Ami was busy trying to get some of her work done for her lessons, she had told Minako it was OK for her to choose. Makoto would have picked out the ones to give to Ami herself, but as mentioned above, she had to work. Besides, this was the part that Minako had to pay for anyway. If she was lucky she would find two bouquets that looked fabulous, and just happened to be on the cheaper side. If she couldn't find anything cheap though, she was willing to spend a bit of money to make sure at least her end of the deal came through, if nothing else. After that, she and Ami were going to go shopping for a dress for Ami. Ami bought new clothing far less than the rest of them did, so this would be fun. It'd be like playing dress up with a little kid, only with higher stakes, and a woman who, in Minako's mind at least, didn't always have the best fashion sense. It wasn't that Ami's taste in clothing was ugly to Minako. It was just . . . kinda boring. She tended to buy fairly conservative clothing that would last a long time instead of something a little more . . . showy. Then came the really hard part -- getting Ami into a hair salon to do something special with her hair. Ami had worn her hair virtually the same since the first day any of them had known her. She didn't even do something special with it for Usagi's wedding, even though she had been the maid of honor. That part was going to be like pulling teeth. Minako still wasn't sure how she was going to get Ami to go through with it. ---------- Hotaru selected a wrench out of the tool box and handed it down to Haruka as she slid back under the car. She spoke rapidly to Haruka, trying to sort things out. "I just don't get it, Haruka Papa. They love each other a lot. Ami should have fallen right into Makoto's arms without a second thought when she talked to her Thursday. Instead, she pretty much dumped her long-time unrequited love when she finally tells her, for a person online. Sure, it's still Makoto and Ami doesn't know it . . . but why did she do that? I mean, Ami loves Makoto. I'm even more confused now that you told me she told Michiru Mama more than three years ago. And why won't Makoto just go over and say, 'Hey! Its me!' Wouldn't that make things easier? I just figure . . . I just don't get it," she finished with a huff of frustration. Haruka made an adjustment and said from under the car, "Neither do I, but it doesn't bother me. Hotaru, love between two people is complicated, especially for people like Ami and Makoto. Ami is an incredibly intelligent person, yet under the surface she has a surprising amount of emotion even if she doesn't always show or act on it. Makoto is tough on the outside because she had to be for so long after her parents died. On the inside, though, she is perhaps more delicate than Ami. Throw the fact that Ami has recently been put on an emotional roller coaster, and it shouldn't surprise any of us that she isn't able to think straight, and is taking poor Makoto on one twisty ride." Then Haruka said, "Hand me the pliers, will ya?" Her daughter did as she was told, then Haruka continued. "The reason we are going to try to help them get together is because their both stubborn individuals when they want to be. Sometimes people just need a little . . . " She stopped speaking for a moment as she strained while twisting a particularly tight bolt before finishing, " . . . push in the right direction. Understand?" Hotaru looked down at her Papa as she slid out from under the car and answered, "No." As Haruka wiped her hands off with a rag and stood up she said, "Then we are on the same page. At some point you just gotta understand that you won't ever understand why people do some of the things they do. And people can be even more confusing when they are in love. Remind me to tell you about how me and your Michiru Mama got together sometime." Looking back at the car, she said, "Well that's that. Guess you get to go help Michiru Mama pick out a dress for tonight." Then Haruka headed to the piano to practice a song Minako had recommended. The blonde didn't even give Haruka sheet music to go by, just a recording of the song and asked Haruka to learn it in about a day. It was in English, so she didn't understand most of it. However, she had been assured that Ami would recognize the song as soon as Haruka started to play it. ---------- Rei said angrily to Makoto as the taller woman tried to jerk her head away again, "If you would hold still it wouldn't hurt so much!" The Senshi of fire was helping Makoto get ready for her date. Since they had to start later in the day, they wouldn't have time to go out and get her hair done or buy a new dress like Ami. They would have to make do with what they had on hand at Makoto's apartment. The two were surrounded by brushes, combs, a curling iron, a few boxes of hair clips, and two blow-dryers in Makoto's bedroom as Rei worked. Rei was getting frustrated with Makoto's hair because it wouldn't do what she wanted it to, thus causing her to lose her temper and use angry yanking motions occasionally to vent some frustration. Of course, this earned Rei an earful from Makoto every time she did that, which in Rei's mind was just making the process longer. "How can I hold still when you keep ripping my hair out?!" Makoto yelled back angrily. "Two or three more yanks and I'll be done, so just tolerate it!" Rei quietly finished brushing Makoto's hair without interruption from Makoto, though the latter gritted her teeth a few times as Rei, true to her word, gave a few more yanks on another knot. Then Rei quickly put Makoto's hair in a simple braided ponytail. The look was simple, and because Makoto usually wore her hair unbraided it made her look almost like a different person to Rei. "Well, on the plus side, once we put some makeup on you, she may actually believe you to be a different person at first." said Rei as she held up the mirror. She hoped Makoto liked the style, because it was their fifth attempt at a different style and Makoto seemed like she was about to run screaming whenever Rei picked up a brush at this point. Makoto, for her part, turned her head from side to side, watching the new tightly woven ponytail sway back and forth as she did. It was a bit longer than she thought it would be. Sounding a little uncertain, she said, "I don't know, you don't think its too . . . simple do you?" Rei felt her eyebrow twitch involuntarily at the comment as a feeling of frustration with the brunette pulsed through her blood. "At this point, I would have thought you would feel simple was a good thing! Don't tell me you want to try the curls again!" Makoto had originally wanted her hair curled, and had suggested a style that was too complex for Rei's abilities. The Miko had gone so overboard with curling Makoto's hair that when she had finished Makoto's hair looked like a perfect sphere of curls, kinda like a clown with brown hair. Makoto held up her hands as if defending herself from Rei. "No! Anything but the curls! This'll work for me!" Then, a little worried again, she said, "I just want Ami to like it, I guess. I'm just nervous, Rei. I think I'd have been less nervous at this point not knowing the woman I was dating was Ami. I've wanted her for so long . . . You think we're doing the right thing?" Rei said, with a reassuring smile on her face, "We wouldn't be trying to help you if we didn't." Makoto quietly looked at the picture of her parents for a moment. She kept the picture on her nightstand. "It's been so long since I saw them that I don't remember their voices anymore. I honestly don't even know how they would feel about me doing this, Rei. I like to think that compared to some of the men I've dated over the years, they would see Ami as a diamond in the rough. It's silly to think about them at a time like this, but I wonder if they would be proud of me, or . . . embarrassed." Rei watched Makoto sadly for awhile as thoughts of her own mother went through her mind. Rei had often wondered at times like graduations, or when they had accomplished something as Sailor Senshi, or even on little things like when she passed a hard test, or learned to drive, what her mother would have said. It pained her to know that she would never know and somehow hurt just a little more to know that Makoto understood that feeling even more than she herself did. Putting a hand on the tall woman's shoulder she said quietly, both to herself and to Makoto, "For what it's worth, I think they would have been proud of you." Makoto looked at the picture a moment more, then said quietly, holding back tears, "Thanks, Rei." Losing her parents at such a young age was something Makoto still cried about, usually when no one was around. She felt it was both silly and pathetic that after twenty years it still hurt as much as it did, and occasionally got mad at herself for what she perceived as weakness. Rei was the only one of her friends she talked about it with and it somehow helped her to know Rei felt the same way about her mother. Taking a breath to clear her mind, Makoto perked up a bit and said excitedly, "OK. Time to pick out a dress!" She jumped up and practically ran the short distance to her closet, throwing open the doors once she reached it. Granted, Makoto didn't dress like a guy as Haruka did, but as Rei looked at the array of dresses within the closet it surprised her that a tomboy like Makoto would have so many. She seemed to have more styles than a department store and more colors than the rainbow. Indeed, a rainbow was what they looked like since Makoto had them arranged by color. No wonder she wasn't disappointed about not having to buy one, she still had ones in her closet she hadn't worn other than to try on! Half of them still had the tags on them, for Pete's sake! Rei said quietly, still in awe of the sight, "How about something white?" Makoto then pushed several of the dresses aside to reveal the white dresses to which Makoto said only half jokingly, "Bright white, or off white?" She then pulled out ten different dresses that Rei assumed were her favorites of the bunch. This was going to take even longer than her hair, was Rei's thought. She hoped the makeup portion of this adventure would be short, otherwise they were going to be late for sure! Ami had won her argument with Minako earlier in the day about which dress to wear. She had told Cherrypielover that she was going to wear the same dress she had worn during the concert so she would be able to see it. However, she had lost the argument over her hair. She had been dragged, nearly kicking and screaming, into the salon and was forced for the first time since she had hair to wear it differently. Surprisingly, Ami liked what they had done with it. The stylist took pity on Ami and listened to her instead of Minako who had made several suggestions that Ami had felt were . . . extreme. All she did was add silver highlights to her hair, curled her bangs a little, and added blue glitter to make her stand out a bit more. Ami felt the silver highlights made her look a little older than her usual appearance, which was fine since she didn't want Cherry to think she had lied about her age. She also hoped the glitter, which had been the only suggestion of Minako's to make it into her appearance for the evening, made her look a little more fun loving. She was now walking down the street to the C'zon Ebisu with Haruka, who was wearing a nice black tux, and Michiru, who was wearing a simple evening gown that matched her aqua colored hair. Once they reached it, she asked shyly, "Do you think she'll show up?" Haruka nearly laughed. "You betcha. Why, we spoke to her last night, as a matter of fact. She is so excited I bet she is already here." Then Haruka and Michiru both looked in through a window in the front of the building to find Makoto. After a few moments Ami asked nervously, "Do you see her?" Just as she finished saying that, Haruka grabbed Michiru's arm gently, and said, pointing with her other hand, "Oh! There she is . . . wow . . . check out those legs, Michiru." Michiru smiled slightly then moved closer to Haruka so that Ami couldn't see through the window, saying, "And what about the way that dress accents every curve of her body, Haruka? Why, I'm liable to sleep with her myself." Makoto was sitting at a table within view of the window. Michiru nearly laughed when she saw a waiter bring her a small glass of wine, which the nervous Makoto downed in one gulp, coughing presumably delicately into one of her hands after swallowing it. Michiru couldn't help but think that the poor dear must be a nervous wreck. For once, Haruka got to say it. "Only place you'll be sleeping if you make a comment like that again is the couch, sweetheart." Then, with an even bigger smile, she said, "Check out that bust! I envy you, Ami." Ami, for her part, was standing behind the two blushing profusely, but still asked, "Can you move over so I can see?" Haruka said teasingly, as she pushed Ami away with one hand without taking her eyes away from the window, "No way! Get your own window." Michiru said, "Come on, Ruka. Let's introduce Ami to her date." Then they both turned around and each grabbed one of Ami's shoulders, moving her away from the window so that she couldn't see, and continued toward the front door. Ami stopped, standing right in the doorway, and said out loud, suddenly sounding scared, "I can't do this." Haruka actually felt her temper rise a bit at those words. Then she remembered her own words to Hotaru earlier that day. Out loud she said, "Sorry Ami, but for your own good, you're going through with this. The woman you're meeting happens to be a good friend of mine and I won't have you breaking her heart tonight. You're going to walk in there," Haruka pushed Ami, forcing the short woman to have to walk forward or be pushed over, "you're going to have a wonderful evening, and you can thank us later." Ami dug her heels in the ground a bit, making a quiet screeching sound as Haruka pushed her forward. "No, you don't understand! I . . . I can't!" Michiru put a hand on Haruka's shoulder to silently tell her to stop for a moment. "Why not?" she asked simply. Ami stuttered for a moment, trying to think how to put to words what she was thinking in her brain. "Ma . . . Makoto. I was terrible to her. I know it would be mean and unfair to Cherry to back out now, but I . . ." Haruka cut her off, but didn't sound angry. "OK, Ami, I'll tell you what. You go through with this and give 'Cherry' a chance. If you don't like her afterward, I'll let her down easy for you and you can pursue Makoto with a clean conscience. That way everyone wins, all right?" Ami thought about taking the moment to try to run out the door, but noticed Michiru was standing so she would have to knock her down to do that. Realizing the two of them were not going to back down from this, Ami sighed quietly, "All right." Haruka checked them in, then she and her lover showed Ami to their seat. The restaurant was spacious, with tables arranged around a dance floor and a large grand piano off to the side. Ami's had a white rose waiting for her, but there was no sign of her date. She sat down quietly, thinking maybe the woman had gotten cold feet and left at the last moment. That would make her life a little easier, even if it meant she had wasted three months of her life talking to her online. Haruka said as Ami sat down, "Huh. Guess she needed to take a moment to put on some makeup or something." Ami didn't know it, but this was actually part of the plan. Michiru sat down opposite of Ami and said, "Haruka, why don't you go play a song on the piano over there while we wait for Ami's date to get back?" Haruka said, sounding as if it were something she had rehearsed so many times she was sick of repeating it, "That's a great idea, Michiru." Ami noticed the tone in Haruka's voice and realized they were hiding something. As she twirled the bouquet of blue lilies she had brought for her date nervously in her hands, she said, barely above a whisper, as Haruka sat down behind the piano, "What are you two up to?" Michiru heard Ami's rhetorical question and said with a smile on her face, "Oh, nothing at all, Ami. You're so suspicious all the time. Just relax a bit and enjoy the music, won't you?" Haruka quietly tapped the pianist's shoulder and asked if she could borrow the piano for a moment. Ami didn't know it, but the pianist who worked here was a friend of Haruka's. Once Haruka sat down at the piano and started playing, Ami recognized the melody after only a few notes. It was a song that Minako had on CD, only set to a slower more romantic speed and tone by the talented Haruka. It was an American song Ami was particularly fond of because it reminded her of Makoto every time she heard it. As the opening stanza was played, Michiru got up and walked over to Haruka and pulled out her violin which had been hidden behind the piano playing her parts to the tune. As the song got to the part with singing, Ami couldn't figure out how they knew about the song to begin with, but decided to just enjoy the moment and sung along to herself in English with a thick Japanese accent. She couldn't speak English as good as Minako. German was her specialty in foreign languages. But she understood and knew how to speak enough words to sing part of Train's Drops of Jupiter. She stopped singing abruptly, when she noticed a tall woman with brownish red hair tied in a beautiful yet simple ponytail and an elegant white dress with a seductive slit up the right leg, seeming to glide toward her from across the room like an angel. There was something familiar about her, but at first Ami couldn't place it because she was so mesmerized by the other woman's beauty. She had the most beautiful green eyes Ami had ever seen. Ami watched as the tall woman sat down next to her, and felt her heart racing and pounding against her ribs. She had been expecting someone else to the point that she actually didn't recognize Makoto . . . until she spoke. Putting her hands over Ami's, which still griped the bouquet of lilies meant for her date, Makoto said quietly, "PBJ. . . Now I know what that stands for. I thought it was your initials for a long time. But it stands for Peanut Butter and Jelly, am I right?" Ami was so surprised to hear Makoto's voice, and her eyes showed it. She blinked a few times, feeling Makoto's surprisingly soft hands on hers, not comprehending for a moment that the other woman had spoken. She said dumbly, "Makoto? Cherry? You're Cherrypielover?" At first Ami was too surprised to feel anything. Then she said with just the slightest edge of anger in her voice, "You . . . all tricked me. How many of you are in on this?" She didn't get up, which, at this point, Makoto took as a good sign since she hadn't expected Ami to even waste a single word once she realized what was going on. Trying to stay confident, Makoto said, "I tried to tell you at the concert. I realized it once you stopped chatting with me, and once I saw you in the lobby, I . . . well you know the rest. Just . . . give me a chance this time, OK? That's all I want. One chance, then even if you turn me down cold after that," Makoto smiled a bit, "I can be happy." Ami looked at Makoto as the other woman looked down at the table with a defeated look on her face and realized just how cruel she had been. So cruel that she didn't expect a shred of a chance. Ami put the lilies on the table and held Makoto's hands gently, then said, echoing the words she had said nearly fourteen years ago, "You don't look so cheerful, Mako-chan." Makoto looked at Ami for a moment, astonished to see the smaller woman had a happy smile on her face. She responded with a memory of a moment that was faded like an old photograph, rough around the edges from being handled so many times. "Oh? When you're tall like me, nobody asks you for a dance." Ami squeezed Makoto's hands gently, then said confidently, "Can I ask you for a dance?" Makoto, rising to her feet and gently pulling Ami to hers, said happily yet simply, "Sure." and led the small bluenette to the dance floor as Haruka and Michiru continued to play their music as the two danced for the first time in over a decade, and for the first time being honest with each other about their true feelings. The two danced for what seemed like hours, as if they were little bits of confetti flying and twirling around the dance floor. In reality they had only danced for three songs before making their way back to there table. Haruka and Michiru were already sitting there by this time. Haruka had handed the piano back to the restaurant's usual pianist at the end of the first song to dance with Michiru for a song, then they decided to watch from their table while the other two danced. Haruka was too busy looking at the menu and hoping she had remembered to bring her credit card to notice that Ami and Makoto had returned. Michiru said politely, "Welcome back. You two look good together . . . right Ruka?" she said, elbowing Haruka in the ribs to get her to stop looking at the menu with a mortified expression and acknowledge their friends' return. Haruka put down the menu then put a hand on the back of her head, a little embarrassed, saying, "Oh yeah! Two peas in a pod, those two." Then, to Michiru, she said quietly, "Uh . . . You were planning on eating light, right?" Then so quietly it was almost inaudible, "Thank god we didn't bring Usagi." As Haruka and Michiru decided what they were going to order, Ami and Makoto had quietly sat down and started looking at the menu themselves. Makoto was instantly glad Usagi and Mamoru were paying for dinner when she looked at the prices. Even still, Makoto was too busy suffering from sticker shock to notice that Ami had edged closer to her in the booth while looking at their menus until she felt Ami's hip gently touch hers. Makoto looked at Ami casually to see her expression. Ami was just reading her menu innocently. Makoto found it amusing that now that Ami suddenly didn't have to hide her feelings, she was just as big a tease in person as she was online. Once their waiter came and got their orders, Michiru said quietly, "I'm going to head to the ladies' room to check my makeup. Care to join me, Ami?" Ami looked quietly at Makoto for a moment, then nodded to Michiru and the two walked off. "It's dangerous letting the two of them go off alone like that, you know," said Haruka to Makoto as she watched the two enter the women's restroom. "They're going to compare us to each other and wind up discussing stuff they don't want us to hear." Then she sighed quietly, ending her gripe with, "I hate it when she does this." Makoto smiled at Haruka and said "What's the matter? Scared you won't measure up?" Haruka said, "To you? Nah! It's just . . . " She stopped talking when Michiru came back to the table and whispered something to Makoto. Then she sat down calmly next to Haruka while Makoto got up and headed to the ladies room, trying not to look like she was in a hurry. Haruka looked over at Michiru, raising an eyebrow with a look that said, All right, now what? Michiru explained to Haruka, "It's Ami. We walked in and had just started talking when she looked at the mirror and just froze. At first I thought it was something I said, but when she didn't move I decided to send Makoto in to talk to her." Haruka looked concerned, saying, "Do you think we should help? Or is this one of those let them handle it type of things?" Michiru said quietly, "The latter. I think Ami still has some issues to deal with from her abduction. Maybe Makoto can help her." Makoto opened the door to the bathroom to see Ami leaning over the counter, staring at her reflection in the mirror with an expression that was either fear, anger, or both. She walked over to Ami, quietly placing a hand on her shoulder, saying, "Hey, you all right?" Ami didn't answer. She just kept staring at the mirror like she was expecting to be attacked. Makoto said worriedly as she put the pieces together, "That's why the mirror was broken when they found your impostor in your apartment." Ami nodded, then said, sounding scared, "She jumped through it. I'm not sure how the others got here, but Amy . . . Ever since then . . . I . . . haven't felt safe." she said quietly, trying not to say what she was thinking. "I can handle this on my own." Makoto couldn't help but think Ami didn't sound like she meant that. Still keeping her hand on Ami's shoulder, Makoto gave it a gentle squeeze. "No, Ami. We're together now. If you have a problem it's my problem. Come on, talk to me." Ami laughed, but it was a nervous one with no humor in it. Not taking her gaze from her reflection, she said, "It's silly. I just feel . . . like I have to constantly watch my back. Like even when I am with my friends, even with you, like I'm in danger. I have nightmares about it, did you know that?" Makoto looked into the eyes of Ami's reflection until she saw Ami's reflection look back. Then Makoto said quietly, "Yes I know. You don't have to be ashamed of being scared Ami. None of us are holding it against you." After a few more moments, Makoto put her hands on Ami's shoulders and gently turned her around so she was facing her. Remembering her promise to Hana, Makoto said, "We are all behind you Ami. We can help you. I can help you. Just give us time." Then, as she slowly pulled Ami back toward the door she said, "Come on, let's go enjoy the rest of our night. We can deal with this later, together." Ami quietly followed Makoto out of the room, and the two joined Michiru and Haruka back at the table just in time to get their food. Ami looked a little embarrassed but with some encouragement from the others at the table, she started to enjoy herself again. She wasn't about to let anything ruin the rest of her night. After dinner and a few more dances, the four decided it was time to part ways for the evening. As they walked, Haruka said to Michiru, "Poor Makoto. She is going to have her hands full with Ami for a while, I think. Don't get me wrong, I like Ami. But I've said it once and I'll say it again. That woman is on one hell of an emotional roller coaster." Michiru shrugged and said, "That may be, but at least Ami won't be on that terrifying ride alone anymore. There have been times when you have gone on one of those too, you know. If it weren't for me, I don't know how you would have gotten through some of them." Haruka laughed quietly in denial as the two headed home. ---------- On their way back to Ami's apartment, Ami and Makoto decided to go for a romantic walk in a park. Granted, this course of action would not normally be advisable in a large city in the middle of the night, but the two felt that two Senshi could easily deal with a mugger if they ran into one. Besides, it would be a shame to waste such a beautiful spring night. The temperature was perfect, the sky was clear with a blanket of stars, and the moon was full, casting a soft light over Tokyo that night. The two walked silently down the path, holding hands and saying nothing, just enjoying the moment. Both were lost in their own thoughts as well. When they reached a wooden bridge that went over a small man-made river in the park that was full of koi, Ami stopped and looked over a railing at the fish. Makoto looked over for a moment too, and noticed the koi begging for food, and the moon causing the two of them to look like ripply silhouettes on the water. Then after a few moments, Makoto watched Ami and noticed the other had a small happy smile on her face. She had told Ami this before at the concert, but she felt now was a good time to say it again. "I love you, Ami." Unfortunately for poor Makoto, the response she got was, once again, not the one she wanted nor expected. Ami looked at her with a slight expression of irritation, and said, "No, you don't. You want me, you're infatuated with me, and you like me, but love takes time to develop, Makoto." This time, Makoto couldn't keep the frustration with her blue-eyed companion out of her voice. "What? Ever hear of a little thing called love at first sight?" She sighed angrily thinking to herself that sometimes she wished Ami wasn't so calculating with everything, even with her emotions. Ami responded, "You have always been quick to fall for anyone who resembles your old sempai. What you felt for them can't have been love at first sight and it can't be what you feel for me now. You're twenty-nine years old now, Makoto. Maybe it's time you learned the difference." Makoto said angrily, "What makes you think it can't be love? Maybe you're wrong and I do know the difference now!" Now, Ami spoke in a quiet, angry voice. "Because if it were, you would have said something fifteen years ago." Ami started to say something to Makoto again, but now Makoto wasn't listening. As the blue haired girl continued to lecture her, Makoto thought to herself that she was sure of how she felt about Ami. If Ami wasn't going to admit it and needed time to say the words back to her, Makoto could wait. So, as the blue haired woman continued on her tirade, Makoto said again, not caring whether Ami even heard her this time or not, "I love you, Ami." Then, as Ami was half way through another sentence in her angry frustrated lecture about human emotion and psychology, Makoto pulled her close, suddenly covering Ami's mouth with hers as she gave her short companion a long, deep, passionate kiss. Ami cut off her words with a sudden surprised, "Mmmph!" She went stiff for a moment, too surprised to do anything as Makoto continued to kiss her. Finally, Ami returned the kiss to Makoto before she could pull away, wrapping her arms around the taller woman's slim waist as the moon and the koi continued to be the only ones there to witness their first kiss. Authors note: In Japan, Koi are considered good luck.
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