Ami sighed softly, looking out the classroom window pensively
as the blue sky. She had already completed all the work that the
teacher was currently discussing with the class anyway, and she found
something else was much more interesting to consider.
The blue haired young woman had adapted to her life as Ami
along with her duties as Sailor Mercury, or at least she thought that
she had. Despite having a lifestyle where describing it as 'weird' was
an grand understatement along the lines of saying that the Tokyo Tower
was just tall, she had found things falling into a predictable
pattern.
The Senshi would wait for a villain to rise up against them,
battle it's various emissaries, and then wait for it to execute it's
master plan. Around the same time Ami would meet a nice young man and
begin to quietly pine over him. The villain would execute his plan and
they, alone or sometimes with the four Outers assistance, would defeat
them.
And usually the young man would have moved on to another girl
by then...
But what was happening to her now, it was quite different,
somehow. The two of them had seemingly by chance fallen into step
together in the school hallway outside one of Ami's many practice
exams. The other girl was a redheaded young woman with an engaging
smile, and something about her just drew Ami to her.
"Hi," the woman had introduced herself cheerfully, "my name's
Sam."
Ami blinked up at her in real surprise. At these practice
exams people were usually all business, completely focused on what
they were doing, this was one of the few times a fellow student had
actually talked to her.
Stammering slightly Ami had managed to reply, "Hello, I'm
Ami."
"It's nice to meet you, Ami," Sam had smiled down at her
gently. As they headed for their seats she had added, "Good luck."
"You, too," Ami answered her softly. She focused on her test,
but once she finished it she found herself stealing glances at the
redheaded girl who was writing away.
"Turn in your tests," the monitor finally demanded loudly, and
they all filed up to hand in their exams at the desk.
Ami looked around her and felt a sudden pang of
disappointment. In the crush of people, Sam had slipped away entirely
unnoticed. She pushed past the remaining students as she rushed out
into the hall to try and find the friendly red-haired girl, but she
was gone.
The results were posted only a day later, and Ami gaped in
astonishment at the scores. Right underneath Mercury with a score
matching her own was the name Sam, also from Tokyo. 'Was it her? Was
she the one to match my score?' she thought in surprise.
"This Mercury matched my score?" a clearly surprised feminine
voice from right beside Ami echoed her thoughts almost exactly.
Ami turned to meet the surprisingly blue eyes of Sam herself.
"You," she said to her softly, blinking in surprise as she tried to be
certain it wasn't a figment of her imagination.
"Hi," Sam smiled slightly, "Ami, right? From the practice
exam?"
"It's nice to see you again," Ami smiled up at her even as she
found her own thoughts racing. 'She matched me. The only one to do
that before was Mercurious..."
"I suppose you wouldn't know who this Mercury is, would you?"
Sam pointed to the name on the test results with a smile.
"Why do you want to know?" Ami asked her, feeling a bit
nervous.
Sam gave her a cocky smile, "So I can go congratulate him, of
course." She paused a moment before quietly adding, "And I haven't met
anyone who matched my scores before. I guess I just want to meet him,
see what he's like."
Not giving herself too much time to think about what she was
doing Ami bowed to her slightly and said, "I'm Mercury."
Sam blinked one or twice then she put her hand behind her head
in the classic gesture of acute embarrassment, "I've really put my
foot in it, haven't I?" She laughed softly, "Sorry, I shouldn't have
assumed Mercury was male."
"It's all right," Ami smiled, "it's a male name, sort of."
"How did you choose that name for yourself?" Sam asked her as
they both walked away from the notice-board together. Classes had let
out quite a while ago, and the halls were pretty much empty other than
the two of them.
"Mercury was the Roman god of information," Ami shrugged
slightly, "and that's something I've always treasured." Silently she
thought, 'Not to mention that my other identity is Sailor Mercury.'
"Makes sense," Sam nodded. She chuckled softly, "I noticed
that quite a few people do those tests using pen-names. Why is that?"
"Ask me that again next week," Ami smiled up her wryly, "after
all the students come running to you to ask for tutoring."
Sam blinked in surprise, then she started to laugh. Ami felt
something warm inside her at the sound of Sam's laughter, an odd
sensation. It was like she wanted to say or do something else amusing,
just so that she could hear that sound again.
Ami looked down at her watch and her eyes widened in surprise.
"I'm sorry!" she looked up apologetically at Sam, "I promised to help
tutor my friends, and I'm really late!"
"Go on," Sam smiled. As Ami left she called out, "I'll see you
tomorrow."
When Ami came back to school the next morning, she found
herself running up the front walk, past the blooming trees and up to
the buildings as quickly as she possibly could. She looked all around
for Sam but saw no sign of her in the students nearby her, in the
hallways she walked or by the notice board. Fighting back her fierce
disappointment she went over to her locker and pulled the door open,
only to freeze. A love letter. She absolutely hated those. With a soft
sigh, she carefully pulled it out in preparation to toss it in the
trash, only to see the name neatly written on it.
"To Mercury," it said in finely written script. Ami opened up
the envelope hesitantly, then unfolding the letter tucked inside, "I
didn't get the chance to congratulate you when we met last night. For
that, as well as to make up for putting my foot in my mouth, would you
care to join me for lunch?" Underneath, it was neatly signed, "Sam."
"What's that?" Usagi asked her curiously, having come up
behind Ami almost silently.
Ami's first instinct was to try and hide it away from her
blonde haired best friend, but she knew that would be a very bad idea.
Getting Usagi curious about it would simply mean that she'd chase it
down doggedly.
"A letter from a friend," Ami said with a slight smile.
"Boyfriend?" Usagi inquired, her eyes lighting up eagerly.
"No, I met her through my test exams," Ami explained
patiently, a little surprised at Usagi's reaction. 'I guess it has
been awhile since I dated,' she admitted to herself, 'but surely not
that long.'
"Oh, OK," Usagi smiled cheerfully.
As lunch finally rolled around Ami felt hesitant, unsure quite
what to do. She could easily go join Usagi, Makoto and the others like
she always did. She knew that would be the safest thing for her to do.
But Sam...
"Hi, I hope I'm not to late," Sam appeared at her side to say
with a smile.
"No, it's fine," Ami mustered up her courage to say.
"Did you bring a bento along with you?" Sam asked, holding up
her own lunch box. At Ami's nod she smiled, "I know a quiet place we
can talk. All right?"
"Sure," Ami smiled.
They ate lunch there under the trees that day on a lush carpet
of green grass, and almost every other day as well. In the evenings
they met for the all the different practice exams, giving each other
encouragement as they took test after test after test. Study
strategies were the only things they talked about at first, then they
began to talk about their lives outside of their schoolwork. Friends,
family, and finally their relationships.
Ami, hesitantly, had admitted to Sam about her long series of
entirely unsuccessful crushes on various unattainable young men. Sam
had sat there quietly for a few moments, listening to her talk in that
attentive way that she had.
"I tend to crush on unattainables too," Sam had quietly
admitted. "My teacher, a few old friends and lately," she looked over
at Ami and smiled weakly, "a new friend."
It took Ami a moment, but she managed to add it all up pretty
quickly. "You mean.. me?" she asked Sam softly, looking up at the
taller girl nervously.
Sam smiled gently as she nodded, "Yeah." They got up from
their seats and stood there silently for a few moments, then Sam had
turned away to quietly say, "We've got that exam tomorrow night. I'll
see you there?"
"Yes," Ami answered firmly.
'And I still don't know what to do about this,' Ami thought as
the sounds of the class leaving brought her back to the here and now.
She could always go talk to Haruka and Michiru about it, she mused,
but she wasn't sure if she could even manage to ask the questions that
were running through her head. And even if she did ask, would their
answers help her?
The time for the exam came around, and Ami met Sam in the
hallway outside the classroom. The taller redhead looked a bit
nervous, and Ami found herself reaching out to take her hand. Ami
squeezed it gently, and Sam gave her a sunny smile.
They finished off the exam in record time, just like they
always did. Once all the tests were collected they left the classroom,
waiting until the others were gone. They stood together in the hallway
for a few moments, both too nervous to speak.
Finally, Sam spoke up, "You know, we've aced the last five of
there tests."
"That's true," Ami nodded, wondering where she was going with
this.
"I was thinking," Sam looked away from her shyly, "that we
should go out to dinner together, to celebrate it."
Ami looked up at her, and was struck with a sudden
realization. She could easily say no to her, and go back to her nice,
safe, and quite predictable world. A villain would rise up, a cute boy
would probably come along, and her life would return to it's pattern.
Or...
"I'd love to go out to dinner with you," Ami said with a
smile.
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