Story: What Worth a Leaf in a Storm? (all chapters)

"Thank you, Kino-sensei!" A chorus of high, squeaky voices called in unison as a troop of children filed out the front door of the karate studio, each of them with a large, perfectly golden-brown sugar cookie, or at least half of one, clenched in their hands.

"You're welcome, kids, you earned it! See you next week," Makoto watched her white-clad pupils disperse into the city, some starting towards home on foot and others happily meeting parents already there to pick them up. They were good kids, and she was proud to be their sensei. It was a shame that her schedule only allowed her to hold classes one day a week Still, given that and her youthful appearance, it was a wonder she had gathered so many students at all. Though, the fact that her classes were free might have helped that. She stepped lightly off the training mat and into her back office, loosening the belt of her gi and slipping it off of her bare shoulders. She draped it carefully over the back of her desk chair, and started pulling on her street clothes from where she'd deposited them carelessly on the floor. She paused in the act of pulling up her baggy khaki pants, and shook her head in amazement. She still wasn't quite used to ever taking off her gi without needing a good shower before putting something else on. Teaching classes didn't actually let her work up a good sweat. She spent far more time just standing there and trying to look wise, making sure they didn't hurt one another or themselves. It could be a tough job, sure, but... looking at the full-length mirror she kept in her office, she decided that it didn't quite make up for all the precautionary tasting she did when making them them snacks. She pinched what she fancied to be superfluous flesh around her flat, toned stomach and determined to spend a little extra off-time on more personal training soon. She pulled on her green shirt and a light brown jacket, and slipped a large, baggy, also deep brown baseball cap over her brow, taking a moment to pull her long ponytail through the back in a trained motion.

Well then. Now she had the rest of this gloriously bright Friday--though most days were rather pleasant and bright nowadays--all to herself, what to do? She closed the door of her little dojo behind her, locking it securely. That was more out of habit than anything else, though, crime was next to nonexistent in Crystal Tokyo, and what of it there was could hardly be expected to steal anything from a little karate classroom. She walked outside, and it was like being in another world. The sun glittered and fractured on the spires of Crystal Tokyo beautifully, in a way that not even the former brilliance of light on glass and steel monuments had ever been able to approach. However, despite the Utopian ambiance of cleanliness and security that the city enjoyed, Makoto found it amusing, even gratifying, that not much else had changed in the hearts of the Tokyo populace. There were still kids in crazy, gaudily colored clothes, and harried-looking men with receding hairlines and thick-framed glasses, and kindly looking women presiding over the occasional flower shops. She passed cheerful vendors of foods cooked as you watched, and saw a bus glide by with a picture of some pretty boy smiling charmingly splashed across the side. When the world thought of Crystal Tokyo, they thought of the cultural center of the world, but when Makoto thought of it, it was still just Tokyo, but with a touch more crystal. About the only thing that still had that same fairytale feeling, as though it had leaped straight from a maiden's dream--which it rather had--were the swirling towers of the Palace that could be seen from any area of the city, soaring towards the heavens and looking over everything below it like the caring girl who lived within. No matter the years it had stood there, Makoto continued to be enchanted by the breathtaking beauty of Usagi's dream. Of course, that was a sentiment she shared with the greater population, so it wasn't all that unusual.

Even that enchantment couldn't hold her over for the day, though, and her mind started to wander back to what she might do. The rest of her friends that were still in the city were all working today, so they were out of the question. Usagi usually was anyway, doing the Queen thing took up almost all her time, and Rei took her always-by-the-Princess'-side bodyguard duty seriously, so had a very nearly identical schedule. Minako was often available for a little bit of accompaniment, but... Makoto deeply cherished her friendship with the bubbly blonde, but Minako was the kind of person that she could only take in small doses, not the kind of person she thought of first when considering a movie or a new recipe. Makoto knew that if she was going to go off moping and feeling lonely so often, she really needed to go out and make some more friends, perhaps some strictly normal friends. Even if she had felt like doing so, however, she knew that they would probably wonder about her schedule. Usagi was adamant that the senshi not fade from the public eye, and Makoto could agree with that much, and really didn't have a problem with being on-call for most of the week, ready for the occasional public appearance or what have you. At least she got to see her friends more that way.

She still didn't get to see her though...

Makoto sighed. She really needed to get another hobby. She wasn't doing herself any good by fixating on the past like that, as she often found herself doing often when left to her own devices. There was another good part of why she'd started her classes, a little something to do during her time off. Makoto idly tried to train her mind elsewhere Maybe she could go surf the internet for recipes, and find a nice, sinfully delicious, maliciously difficult one. That should take her mind off of anything else, hopefully. Is she didn't pay close enough attention, her kitchen would pay the price for such distraction, which was certainly good motivation. She thought about stopping by a grocery on her way back to her apartment, seeing if there were anything that caught her eye. Though, perhaps she should get her bearings back beforehand. Just where was she, right now? She started towards to the nearest major intersection in the distance, sure that she'd be able to recognize one of the streets.

Between one footfall and the next, the pavement trembled slightly underfoot. Frowning downward, she looked to her fellow man to see if anybody else had noticed. Most were just continuing on with their day, but she did notice a few other people looking curiously around, or down at their feet. It hadn't been her imagination then. She shrugged. Probably wasn'--thwoompf! Thrown off balance, she pitched forward onto one knee, hand planted on the ground for stability. Around her, people teetered around, landing flatly on their bottoms or skinning elbows harshly on the ground. She spotted a few cars crooked on the road with black streaks marking their passage, drivers sitting white-knuckled and ashen-faced behind the steering wheel. In the distance she could hear car alarms going off--just as annoying as they had always been, the Millennium Kingdom hadn't changed that--and sirens screaming. Frowning, she reached into her coat pocket and closed her hands around the cool, hard, comfortably reassuring shape of her henshin.

"Jupiter Oak Power, make up!"

The cylinder seared in her hand, a shot of white heat rushing through her veins and a crackle of static tingling up her back and through her hair. The world was awash in hues of palest blue and green, and she felt for that wonderful second as though she composed of air and life and freedom. Tendrils of electricity caressed her body, sending pleasant shivers across her skin, then settled to form her fuku, its manifestation grounding her back into the framework of reality. Her physical form, as always, suddenly felt so inadequate of holding all of what she was; she could feel it inside her, the power of her guardian, pulsing and humming in tune with her heartbeat and breath. Sailor Jupiter looked around with purpose flashing in her eyes and the steadfast permanence of an old tree to the placement of her feet. Enough people nearby still had enough presence of mind to notice one of the world's nine most recognizable people appear suddenly in their midst, but she ignored the gasps and cries of surprise and calls for explanation and started running in the direction of the explosion, long legs consuming the miles as the Senshi of Courage shot like an arrow from a bow towards the threat to her Queen's city.

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In the palace, Queen Serenity, or Usagi to her friends and family, gnawed one lip and looked worriedly to her closest companion. Sailor Mars held a phone to her ear and spoke calmly and authoritatively, Usagi could hear her voice echoing down around in the halls as her message was relayed to the palace communication system.

"The palace and grounds are to be put on high alert until otherwise notified. There is a possibility of terrorist activity in the city. This is not a drill. You've been trained, now go prove that you know what you're doing," she finished. Then she turned to Usagi with a reassuring, though uncertain, smile, "Terrorists, right. But rules are rules, your highness."

"But, Sailor Mars, do you think that everybody out there is okay? Maybe I should go there and--"

"Uh-uh, Princess. I'm your bodyguard, and you're staying put. You have the finest police force in all the world on the job, there's no reason for you to go play the hero today," she waved a finger under Usagi's nose in warning.

"Those are my people out there, what kind of Queen am I if I don't show up when there's trouble?"

"A live one. If there is something dangerous out there, what better target could they have next than Queen Serenity suddenly waltzing up to poke her nose in?"

"You told me it was probably an accident," Usagi pointed out accusingly.

"Of course that's what it probably is, but there's the chance that it isn't. Besides, what would you do down there? The police are on their way, and so is medical care for the injured. You made yourself a Crystal Tokyo, now we're going to make sure it works the way it's supposed to," seeing the look on Usagi's face, Rei sighed in frustration, "Sailor Venus is camped by the Palace entrance waiting for the reporters to show up, Mako-chan is out on her day off--far, far away from the explosion!" Mars quickly added for Usagi's benefit, "Would you stop! If there was any massive conglomeration of malicious extragalactic evil that had crashed into the Earth, I'm pretty sure I would have picked up on it, I've been pretty good about that before. Just let everybody do their jobs, and you do yours. Meaning, get ready for some paperwork, your highness," Sailor Mars finished with a little dig to get a rise from her longtime friend, but Usagi couldn't even manage a squeak protest at the sound of her least favorite administrative activity. Mars didn't like to see her so downcast, but felt proud that the Silver Millennium had a Queen that would worry this much for her people.

"Hey, Princess," Sailor Mars started, rolling her eyes just to let Usagi know that she really was being spoiled, "If you really think this might be serious, I think Ami-chan could spare a little while to go in as an observer. A senshi presence is a senshi presence, I would think. If something requiring Sailor Moon comes up, she can tell you."

"Ami-chan, of course! You're a genius, Sailor Mars, please do. If anybody is smart enough to figure out what happened, it's Ami-chan."

"Fine, your highness, one Senshi investigator, coming up," Mars brought out the communicators that all five still kept around, for personal communication and transmissions that they dare not chance being intercepted.

"Hello, Sailor Mars, Usagi-chan," Ami's sweet, calm voice filtered crisply through the device, "I would imagine this has something to do with whatever just shook the Palace library about?"

"The library, of course," Sailor Mars mouthed silently at Usagi. The Queen managed a little smile, and the Senshi of Fire was all-business once more.

"Sure enough. Do you think Sailor Mercury could get herself down there and see what she can dig up?"

"I'm on my way. In the meantime, do you have anybody to spare to put up all these fallen books? I'm afraid the spines will all warp at this rate, and the pages will crease permanently."

"I'm sure we can find someone, Ami-chan, now get a move on before our Queen here has a panic attack."

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Sailor Mercury gracefully glided up to the line of harassed police officers, the crowd of curious gawkers parting in front her, leaving hushed, awed whispers in her wake. She tried to ignore all the attention, she was no more comfortable with it now than she had ever been. The Senshi of Water focused on the officer in the middle, a man who could not have been much older than forty, despite the barest touch of silver at his temple. Like Mercury, he seemed to be a calm, rational thinker, and emanated that same sense of reassuring capability to those around him. She caught his eye, and he looked enormously relieved, if slightly taken aback.

"Good afternoon, officer...?" she began cordially.

"Teshigawara. Good day, Sailor Mercury," he offered in return, "It's good to see you here... or, is it?" He added bluntly, "If one of the Senshi come by, that tells me this wasn't just an accident."

"Not at all, officer," she answered, speaking loudly enough that the people behind her would hear, "I was just in the neighborhood and thought this was sort of thing fit the senshi job description. Everything looks fine, though, you've certainly responded with admirable expediency." Even with all the onlookers knew of the famed planetary senshi, most still thought that it looked decidedly strange to see a girl appearing no older than seventeen speaking on such terms with an officer.

Now that Mercury had arrived and had a look, the situation really did not appear to be too serious. There were no bodies littering the streets nor cries of injured citizens filling the air, and while the smoking building certainly appeared the worse for the wear at the moment, it was intact, and certainly looked better now than it had. There were spiderweb cracks running through the slate-gray crystalline structure in worrisome patterns, but already the crystal was bonding back together the fractured pieces. The repairs were rather visible today, with small pockets of thick, oily, synthetic smoke trapped inside the cracks coloring the patched fractures. Buildings in Crystal Tokyo were quite capable of repairing themselves these days, in a process that would take the better part of a month to fully complete, but would keep the structure physically sound, if not greatly aesthetic, until then. Sailor Mercury knew that this was one of the less inhabited areas of the city, the targe--accident site, she corrected herself, there was no reason yet to think that the building had been a target of any kind--was a low, warehouse type of structure that stretched a block or more in each direction, and presumably a great deal back from where she stood as well. Probably some sort of manufacturing facility. Sailor Mercury activated her visor and it immediately started supplying her with information about her surroundings and whatever her eyes focused on. Time had only improved this device of hers, linking herself and her senshi supercomputer in ever more intuitive ways. Her readout told her that this was a bottle manufacturing plant for a soft drink company, and that it had been shut down for the day because of some broken assembly part that had to be ordered. Also, it informed her that, while the burning synthetics smoke was indisputably toxic, there weren't any particularly hazardous or combustible chemicals used in the facility. She quickly covered her dismay at that news.

"Would you mind if I took a look around in there, officer? The smoke is mostly dissipated."

"I'm sure I'm outranked anyway, Sailor Mercury, feel free. Anything you want us to do?"

"You're doing a fine job, just keep the civilians away. Thank you," she finished politely.

Mercury continued up the path to the front entrance of the building. The door was a little more specialized than the wall, so it hadn't simply bonded back into position. It was knocked loose from the shock wave, though, and Mercury was able to squeeze past and inside. It was murky, the lighting gone and a thin, sooty haze remaining in the air. A quick scan told her it was safe enough to breath for a short while, though the acrid odor of burned plastics made her wrinkle her nose as she stepped carefully around. It didn't take her longer than a few meters inside to conclude that there really wasn't much she could do in here right now. Visibility was far too poor to determine anything about the cause of the explosion, all she was doing right now was giving her lung's biological defenses a test run like they hadn't had in years. She stopped and prepared to turn back, but then she faintly heard a soft, scratching sound from above. Scritch, scritch. She up, and back towards the entrance, and a bit of movement caught her eye, by the cloudy window.

Blam!

A sharp report, a flash of muzzle flare, and Sailor Mercury's heart jumped into her throat. Scarcely thinking where the person was or where they were shooting, she threw herself to the side, at the same time hearing a cracking staccato of gunfire tracing her path. She kept her momentum and rolled in a curve, to prevent them from tracking any likely path. She took a deep breath and shouted as she spun,

"Shabon Spray!"

Combined with the murk, they would have a hard time placing her position again now, if she were careful. But that first gunshot, it had been at the window, and not at her. She lay there, trying to breath shallowly and quietly. Slowly, she raised a hand to the side of her visor and ran a finger down the edge, cycling to an infra-red light filter. At first everything appeared the same dirty, orange color, the air and twisted machinery still holding a good deal of heat even with the chilly fog permeating the building, but she was able to see the darker patches moving about soon enough. Small shapes, crouched people, were creeping through the factory. Looking for her.

Up in the air, she could here the the small click of a firearm reloading.

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Sailor Jupiter was able to follow the plume of inky smoke that rose up to the site of the explosion she'd heard. She found the people there, and the police, and ran through the former, ignoring the excitement she caused.

"Officer, what happened here?" She asked of the same man Ami had come to.

"I don't know but something tells me it must be bigger than I'm being let in on, if two senshi just happen to be 'in the neighborhood'," Teshigawara answered with raised eyebrows.

"Two Senshi?"

"Sailor Mercury just went inside," he jerked his thumb to the door. Jupiter's eyes widened perceptively. Mercury? She must have heard wrong, that was about the last name she would have expected from him. He must have been mistaken. She was gone now, not in--

Blam!

Sailor Jupiter's head was thrown back violently as though she'd been struck with a hammer, eyes unfocused. She fell backwards, white spots dancing before her eyes. The surprised senshi got a double helping as the back of her head slammed hard against the pavement, and far from white spots, she could see no more. She wasn't sure how long she was out, but when she opened her eyes she heard a faint screaming, perhaps that was what roused her, and the mad shuffle of panicked feet running around behind and around her, fading quickly. Somewhere in her dazed and lethargic mind something was trying to talk to her, but it was rather a lot of effort to listen when she could just stay here and rest for a little while longer, hoping this little headache would go away...

Then something dark was in front of her eyes, cutting off view of the pretty, sparkly colors up above. Her lips tried to frown, though even that effort felt almost too much for her. This was rude of somebody. The shape came into focus. It was a man. He was in a police uniform and looked vaguely familiar. His mouth was moving, but the screaming and the running... it was difficult to separate the words from everything else.

She found herself wishing he would just move. It was a nice day, and there were more pleasant things to be looking at than somebody shouting at her that she couldn't understand. He didn't move, though, he just started waving a hand in front of her face, too, which irritated her all the more. Sailor Jupiter wondered that she ought to look somewhere else, if this was bothering her so much. So she laboriously pulled one arm underneath her and raised up on one elbow. Her head felt thick and heavy, like it were filled with some oozing sludge. Her head lolled as she rose, and she felt nauseatingly lightheaded as though her skull were emptying of that substance. As it cleared, she discovered that the muffling coat over her brain had, among the other things, hidden an absolutely horrific pounding pain between her ears. She groaned, and shook her head to clear it, and groaned louder after being informed that this was a bad idea. Gritting her teeth, she raised her eyes carefully to the officer beside her, and looked around. She was in the shadow of a patrol car, its profile facing the cracked building and he was next to her with relief evident in his features. She also noted that he had his sidearm drawn.

"Urgh, what hit me?"

"A bullet, it looked like, to your head. Then the sidewalk, to your head. What's your skull made of, Lightning Senshi?" Teshigawara asked incredulously, though obviously glad for whatever her cranial material was. She gingerly fingered her forehead, and found a definite indentation on her circlet, high on the side of her head, at the apex of where it curved from the ornamental emerald set in front. There was a good lump forming under there, with a little trickle of blood escaping underneath, and she could feel another sizable pain at the base of her skull.

"Tiaras, not just for looking pretty," she smiled painfully.

"One suspect is at that front window. After he fired on you, another officer and I took you into cover behind the car."

"Where is he, then?"

Sailor Jupiter saw his eyes focus past her, bleakly sorrowful. She looked behind her to see a young man, couldn't have been out of his twenties, staring up at the sky as she had been, but with glassy eyes that would never see the beauty they gazed toward. She couldn't see the bullet hole, but the pool of deep crimson staining the ground under his head told her enough.

"He tried to aim just a little bit too long," he explained, "But that guy has us outgunned and at a tactical disadvantage. About the only good thing is the sons a bitches didn't fire on any civilians," his knuckles were white on his weapon. Sailor Jupiter could feel the helpless, frustrated rage waxing from him in waves, and with another look at the fallen officer, she could sympathize. With a horrible sinking feeling in her stomach, she realized that she might have more reason to sympathize.

"Sailor Mercury! You said she was here, in there, have you seen her!?"

He shook his head, "No, but she either gave them a good fight or is giving them one. Every now and then I've heard fire from inside," his mention of "a suspect" and "bitches", plural, clicked into mind,

"There's more of them?"

"Looks like it. Last we heard in there was a few minutes ago, but--"

They both fell silent as they heard another rapid burst of fire inside.

"Looks like she's still givin' them hell," the officer added fiercely, then added in a more somber tone, "If that one didn't get her."

Sailor Jupiter raised herself to one knee, "If that one did get her, they just made the worst mistake of their lives," Jupiter spoke with chilling flatness, allowing her anger to coalesce like a gathering winter storm. She felt the familiar tingle running up and down her arm and hearing a satisfying crack and snap of electricity between her fingers as she flexed her fingers into a fist. Her eyes were narrowed, the color of deep green leaves in shadow.

"Sparkling Wide Pressure!' She cried, springing on her bended knee out from the side of the car and hurling the sparkling projectile towards the window. She planted one hand on the ground and pivoted upon it, turning to face the building and running at flat-out speed towards it. She didn't even glance up to see what her attack had accomplished, though she heard an awful sound as of rock sheering from above, and cursed that she must have missed the window. She reached the door without slowing and turned, letting her shoulder blades take most of the abuse from the impact. The door gave just a few inches, enough for her to slide freely in and hit the floor rolling. Present the smallest target, she told herself silently, stay in motion. She crept blindly through the interior, smelling smoking rubber and feeling a cool mist, evidence of Mercury's activities, in the air.

She ground her teeth together. Brilliant rescue, Jupiter, she told herself harshly, although seeing would be nice. She jerked her knee up with a hastily suppressed gasp as something icy cold touched it. It turned out to be, unsurprisingly, ice. As Jupiter explored it, her fingers found that it was a line that extended out into the gloom. Sailor Mercury, it must have been Mercury's way of getting them together, she thought hopefully. Anything was better than feeling blind. Jupiter began a swift, low run in the direction it led, thinking that she was being quiet. She discovered her mistake when somebody shouted, and a somewhat unsubtle instinct inside told her to run, faster. She did, just in time to hear bullets zinging through the air, hitting the floor and hunks of machinery around her. She didn't hear any hit the machinery in front of her, though, so had no warning of the spear of jagged metal that reached up to grab her leg, felling her and slicing her calf laterally. She fell with a whoosh of breath, and relief that there hadn't been more wreckage for her body to fall upon.

"Shine Aqua Illusion!"

Sailor Jupiter saw a flow of water stream past her and break like a wave against the air, rising into a curving barrier of ice that enclosed her protectively, just in time for a to chill run up her spine at the rapid thud-thud-thud of metallic slugs burying themselves in the shield.

"Sailor Jupiter, over here," she heard Mercury's voice hiss from forward and left, covered by the sound of the ammunition impacting, and she hoisted her leg back under her made her way in that direction. Sailor Mercury put an hand to the courageous Senshi's shoulder as Jupiter was about to walk by, then drew her head down so she could whisper, so closely and quietly that her lips brushed Jupiter's ear,

"Sound travels well in here, try not to talk, be careful where you step, follow me," this closely they could see one another, and Sailor Jupiter nodded an affirmative. She followed her comrade as Sailor Mercury led them slowly and silently to a position several meters away. Deep down, emotions and questions burned in Jupiter's soul, but they were all quenched for the time being by her situation, the years falling away like melting ice as they crouched together, hearts pumping adrenaline, fighting together in the name of justice and love as before. Focusing on the now, Jupiter looked around and shrugged exaggeratedly, pointing a thumb to herself and miming punching and shouting. Then she gestured into the gloom, and mimicked firing a rifle. Mercury closed her lip between her teeth and held up a single finger. Jupiter nodded, giving her time to think. She watched Sailor Mercury peer around, then tapped her shoulder. Jupiter tapped her visor, then pointed to her own eyes and out into the gloom. Mercury nodded, imitating the gesture in affirmation that yes, she could see the enemy. The Senshi of Wisdom brightened, then, and nodded furiously. She pointed Jupiter in a direction, gesturing to go that way. Sailor Jupiter looked wonderingly at the suddenness of the direction, but at Mercury's insistent expression did as she was told. It wasn't often that Sailor Mercury was mistaken.

Jupiter's shoulder blades tensed, already feeling as though eyes were staring at her exposed back in the darkness. Sailor Jupiter edged across the floor with painful slowness. She found herself longing for a nice, simple, head-to-head battle with some three-wheeled, five-nippled, mauve-spotted energy eater instead of this nerve-wracking experience. In her opinion, a terrifying enemy seen was much better than a mundane one in the dark.

"Shine Aqua Illusion!"

Sailor Jupiter looked back sharply at the cry, extra sharp in the silence, to see Mercury crafting herself a similar ice shield to before, and in her peripheral saw a soft, instant glow of muzzle flare with the cracks of fire that started ringing in her ears. Hoping that she had the right idea and trying not to think further than that, Jupiter sprang up and sprinted to that area, judging the approximate distance and leaping through the air knees first. She was rewarded with a nice, soft, impact for her legs, knocking the man over and engaging in a small floor scuffle that ended with her sinking her knee into his prone form's stomach, and a smart rap on the side of his skull with a closed fist. His head lolled to the side.

"Érico?" She heard a voice, with a thick, Latin accent she couldn't quite place. It came from above.

"Idiota! Forget about him, fire!" Another voice, this one with the same accent, but feminine. Jupiter sprang away just in time to avoid yet more bullets zinging through the air, an experience that had lost its charm long ago, about the time she'd been shot.

"No, Leonor! You might hit Érico!"

"Cala! Just shoot!"

Jupiter changed direction to come at the second voice from small circle, striving for silence. It was hard to correlate sound and distance here. She came to a halt and strained her ears. From just off to her right, she heard boots crunch hesitatingly on debris, and grinned savagely, her quarry located. Taking long, slow, careful steps, she came within just a few feet of whom the other had called "Leonor." She could hear the woman breathing, sounding just as anxious and displeased with the environment as Jupiter felt. The senshi determined to confirm the other's misgivings.

Sailor Jupiter leaped forward and brought a stiff hand down on the woman's wrist, the rifle of her gun falling from a suddenly nerveless grasp. Without wasted motion, Jupiter grabbed the same arm, spun around on her outside foot and heaved her opponent over her shoulder to land on her back, hard, breath whooshing from the impact and stunning her. She grabbed the front of the woman's rough jacket and heaved her up, twisting her arm behind her and holding her in front with a hand clapped over her mouth.

"I have Leonor," she called out, "If you shoot over here, you'll hit her. Drop your weapon and lay on the ground."

There was nothing but silence from the rest of the interior, and with every passing second that went by without the sound of weapons clattering to the ground, Jupiter's doubts about the other man's conscious grew. Sure, he'd sounded worried about hitting his other associate, but he had been perfectly okay with murdering the officer outside, and shooting at her in cold blood as well...

As if to lend veracity to those thoughts, she heard the sharp crack of a report and a wet, muffled thud, and the vainly squirming body she held against her stiffened, and fell limp. Jupiter could still feel breath from the woman's nose even through her gloved hand, so she definitely wasn't dead, but it was obvious the man had no qualms about shooting towards her to get to his real target.

"Mercury Aqua Rhapsody!"

Sailor Jupiter heard Mercury's voice once more from across the interior, and the sweet strum of strings on an instrument no human could possibly hope to craft. Jets of bright, shining water sailed to the square of light and peppered the wall around the window, a cry of shock, the clatter of a rifle, and the thud of a body falling all to the floor telling of Mercury's success. Feeling irritated, but also responsible for the injury of the woman she held, Jupiter eased her to the ground, feeling her breathing shallowly.

"Where are you hit?"

"B-bruxa... vá ao inferno..." the woman spat the words out, and Jupiter had the distinct impression she might have added more actual saliva to the apparent epithet if she'd been able.

"No use getting anything out of her," Mercury kneeled beside Jupiter and put a hand on her shoulder, "My Spanish is better than my Portuguese, but I believe she just said something along the lines of, 'witch, go and burn.'"

"Portuguese?"

"That's what they're speaking, I can tell that much. Let's get her outside."

Sailor Jupiter nodded and picked up the woman, now too weakened to struggle--Jupiter felt another surge of guilt, but reminded herself of the fallen officer. She followed Mercury back to the door. The streets were vacant, except for the multitudes of eyes at various employment, peeking through the windows of the buildings still open for business. There were more police vehicles outside as well, and Teshigawara raised up from behind his patrol car at their emergence, raising a fist triumphantly. Before he could start on congratulations, however, Sailor Jupiter spoke first.

"We need an ambulance for this one, and get a couple more officers in there. There's two--"

"Three, I dispatched one before you go there," the Senshi of Water corrected.

"--Three," Sailor Jupiter amended, "Three more suspects in there, all unarmed and ready for arrest. Be careful in there, it's a little hard to see."

"The mist should be dissipating soon, but do watch yourselves, officers," Mercury added lastly. A couple of paramedics ran over with a stretcher and Jupiter gratefully deposited her burden to their care. Freed, Jupiter turned to her companion without hesitation and enfolded her in a smothering, crushing embrace. She stepped back and clapped her hands atop Mercury's shoulders, thinking that the intelligent senshi's pretty face in the light was the most beautiful thing she'd seen in years.

"God, you gave me a scare, Sailor Mercury. I thought, when I heard the shots inside, that maybe..." She couldn't finish voicing the horrible prospect.

"Only because you were here, Jupiter," Mercury returned, putting her hands to Sailor Jupiter's wrists and taking them from her shoulders, clasping the Senshi of Thunder's hands between her own, "Thank you. You even got hurt for me," Mercury brought her fingertips to Jupiter's cheek, following the thin trickle of dried blood up to the wound near her temple. They looked at one another for a long moment, all the distance of the years shrunk down to the short distance between their eyes.

Jupiter looked a little uncomfortable at the unabashed gratitude in Sailor Mercury's eyes and her attentions, but she smiled back shyly, feeling tongue-tied like she hadn't since she was in high school. Since then, back that long ago... .almost simultaneously, they each saw the other's eyes grow distant in a way that looked terribly unfamiliar to them both.

"We should, ah, get to the palace to speak with the rest of the Senshi and her highness, then," Jupiter said in a faintly stiff tone. Mercury averted her eyes and nodded. Jupiter suddenly felt like biting back those flat words and saying something, anything else, but what was there to say? She felt pangs of long-suffered sorrow in her heart, accompanied by pulsing throbs in her head, and didn't want to think about anything else right now. Her senshi duty would come first. Mercury withdrew her hand from Jupiter's injury with a neutral expression tinged with sadness and nodded, friendliness fading from her features as she, too, turned her mind from the past and onto more recent matters. Jupiter smoothed her features and did her best to bear her headache, listening as Sailor Mercury started speaking of her observations.

"Yes, the others need to know about this. Those were military firearms, Sailor Jupiter. Illegal for civilian possession, and almost impossible to buy without good money and good connections to... seedier elements of society. This is serious, very serious."

"I hope it was serious rather than is," Jupiter replied meaningfully.

"Me too," Mercury replied, eyes downcast, "But even in the city of dreams, we have to do more than hope," the sweet, quiet senshi said softly, wondering perhaps how much she was talking to herself as her companion.

Jupiter smiled broadly and confidently, "Well I, for one, am always willing to give hope a little hand. Or a big one, even," she added, flexing one arm and patting her bicep. She winked at Sailor Mercury, who laughed softly even with her worries weighing on her. Whatever lay between them now, Sailor Jupiter still couldn't stand to see Mercury bothered without trying to cheer her up. Mercury felt a surge of quiet gratitude, it was a good deal harder to feel at all afraid with the Senshi of Courage by her side. Even back there, creeping half-blind through the building and surrounded by armed men and woman after her blood, the arrival of Sailor Jupiter had been like lightning strike during a midnight storm, bringing a breath of clarity and light to a dark and chaotic world

Sailor Jupiter grinned at having made Mercury even emit that little chuckle, and tried not to think about how close she might have come to never hearing that the sound again. What if she'd taken another road from her class, and lost those few minutes? What if that sharpshooter had gotten into position just a few minutes earlier, when Mercury arrived? What if, when Jupiter had gotten there, that bullet hadn't accidentally struck her tiara? So many what ifs that could have left the world down one pretty, smart, brave sailor senshi; taken her away again, this time for good, any chance Jupiter would ever have snuffed in one little instant. When she spoke next, it was more like instinct than anything that prompted it,

"Hey, Sailor Mercury? Maybe, after we get finished, you'd like to come over for tea, or perhaps a cup of coffee?" Jupiter asked hesitantly, then immediately felt foolish. Three years of silence and a walk through a fire fight, sure, anybody would feel like tea after that. Way to seem like an insensitive loon, Jupiter, she thought disparagingly.

"I... I'd be delighted, that sounds wonderful," Mercury answered in a similarly halting manner, unsure at first whether she would accede, but making the decision at the last.

Jupiter's mouth hooked in a small smile. Three years, combat, whatever. To spend time with the friend that she had missed most again, maybe... maybe they could pick up where they'd left off, somehow. Somehow... Sailor Jupiter felt this to be as shaky and unsure as anything, but if there was one thing a senshi could always do, it was hope.

The palace guards let through the two senshi with a minimum of fuss, having only seen Sailor Mercury leave no more than an hour before. If that wasn't enough, the injured Senshi of Thunder's disposition looked a fit match for her title, further discouraging any officious fuss. The men placed their hands deferentially to the swords buckled at their waists and stood aside, prising open the heavy, periwinkle-streaked silver doors

The halls of the palace went mostly unseen by the purposefully striding pair as they took the familiar path to where they knew their Moon Princess would be waiting. The hardly ever convened in the throne room whenever they got together, although the path to the living quarters deeper in the palace did pass by that setting of royal business, where they found another of their friends. Sailor Venus stood before the entrance to the throne room, coolly and gracefully answering the questions of a small mob of reporters, all obviously yearning to enter the ornate doors behind her to where they imagined the Queen would be.

"Sincerest apologies, but Queen Serenity is currently engaged pressing matters, and is unable to answer any questions at the moment. If you would be able to return, say, tomorrow--"

"But the city was just attacked, the Queen must have something to say to the people!"

"There is nothing yet saying that this was any sort of 'attack', sir."

"There was gunfire at the scene!"

Ami raised her eyebrows, "News travels fast," she remarked, though she knew she shouldn't be all that surprised. It always felt as though information traveled faster when it related to you, Makoto had always thought.

"Well then, you appear better informed than I am of what's going on, my good man. I really must insist that you're not getting any more information here. The Queen wont' see you right now. If this was so serious, then shouldn't you let her see about taking care of it, before anything else happens?"

"Are you saying there's a chance of more incidents in the future?"

Jupiter quirked an eyebrow at the unflappable Sailor Venus. Despite her composure, it looked to the pair as though the Senshi of Beauty and Love was becoming increasingly irritated at half of what she said getting ignored. Sailor Jupiter met Mercury's gaze, and she rolled her eyes to the ceiling. Venus needed to hear the news too, so they had to get her out of here. Jupiter decided to give this crowd a show. She marched into the back of the crowd, any media personality who turned back for any reason filled with a convenient, speechless intimidation at the tall, bloodied senshi bearing down on them. She reached Sailor Venus on the small steps leading to the throne room door and turned to face the reporters.

"You've heard all you're going to! You want more answers, talk to the police. Sailor Venus has more important things to do than sit and talk idle gossip with you mongers all day."

Strangely enough, not a one of them uttered so much as a peep about "freedom of the press" or "journalistic responsibility or any of that natter. Sailor Jupiter winked surreptitiously at her friend before walking down from the steps, the ranks of the people parting before her. She heard the rapid whir of shutters opening and closing as she walked by and knew that the papers and news stations were going to have a field day with her battered visage. No use in worrying about it, however, the whole city would have the whole story by tonight anyway. They rejoined Sailor Mercury and set off down the hallway past the throne room, which was quite clearly marked as a no-pass zone for any but palace personnel, so they would be fee of any more annoyance. Or rather, any annoyance that didn't come from palace personnel.

"Sailor Jupiter, what happened to you?" Venus asked worriedly after they'd left the ear and camera range of any particularly acute reporter.

"I had a political disagreement with a few foreigners," Sailor Jupiter answered shortly, only wanting to have to relate the tale once.

"What?" Sailor Venus asked blankly in reply, and Mercury kindly provided a better answer.

"The explosion wasn't an accident, there were enemies there."

Venus gasped, "Youma?"

"No--"

"Unfortunately," Jupiter butted in with a growl, "Give me a youma and a straight fight any day to a bunch of ungrateful yahoos."

"No youma, Sailor Venus. We'll explain more when we're all together, okay?"

Sailor Venus nodded her silent acquiescence. They entered the room they were looking for, and felt more like they were leaving the place than entering a room. It hadn't taken their Queen very long to realize that the splendor and grandeur she'd always fancied wasn't really that comfortable, even to even her dreamy sensibilities. Soon after the palace was finished, she'd had a section refurbished into something more akin to a traditional home. A high-class home, granted, she was still Usagi, but more a home and less a mansion than she'd started with. When the three senshi came inside, they were greeted with the image of Sailor Mars sitting serenely balanced on the back of a plushy couch, Usagi resting her head back one of the dark-haired senshi's pale thighs. Mars was in the midst of stroking her fingers through the Princess hair when she looked up, stricken at having been caught in such a situation, but Usagi saved her any explanation by leaping up with an exuberance suitable to a woman significantly below her age at the sight of her friends, and a cry of concern for Jupiter.

"Jupiter, you're hurt!"

The Senshi of Courage waved her away, displaying a lopsided grin to disarm her concern.

"It's nothing, Princess, we have other things we need to talk about right now," Makoto's skull told her quite sharply that they were going to exchange words about this later, but the senshi just swallowed her discomfort.

"There was trouble." Mars spoke sharply, getting to her feet. It wasn't really a question, but Jupiter nodded. She turned around to Mercury and put a hand on her arm, drawing her forward.

"Let's have the Senshi of Intelligence here give the, uh, intelligence."

"Usagi-chan, there were armed men and women who set off that explosion in the city," Usagi's eyes widened in shock and sorrow.

"B-but why?"

"To bag a senshi, from the looks of it," Jupiter tossed in, "Or at least, they weren't shooting until we got there."

"Firing!? They shot at you!"

"Well, they missed," Jupiter shrugged. She put a hand to her head as it throbbed, accompanying her answer with a pained smile, "Mostly."

"Where are they now?" Usagi demanded, blue eyes blazing.

"In custody, Usagi-chan," Mercury stepped back in smoothly, "Sailor Jupiter and I were able to subdue them, but that's not what's important."

"You were shot at, Sailor Mercury, that's plenty important!"

"But they've been arrested, and it's over," Mercury continued calmly, placating her friend. Usagi's lips twisted into a frown, clearly disliking the idea of her friends having been shot at... and not having an opportunity to blast the offenders back a time or two herself,

"So there's no more trouble in my city right now?"

"No, Usagi-chan," she was assured. Usagi seemed to deflate a little, and her face softened.

"Oh. Then, um, why don't you all make yourselves a little more comfortable? We don't get a lot of chances to be together," the Queen smiled, and the rest of them looked around. They laughed sheepishly, all still in their uniforms, all standing on their feet--with some more than a small degree of readiness in their postures. Jupiter took a deep breath and in the space of any eye blink, felt her street clothing settle back down on over her like dry water, odd as that sounded was, coursing down her body. The others were back in more casual garb as well, at the end of that blink. Minako was in a smart blue blazer and gray skirt, looking remarkably mature for their flighty friend, and Ami was dressed in a warm pink sun dress. Makoto thought she looked great, though Ami always seemed to pick out the most perfect little outfits for herself. Rei came back, however, a tad too casually. She was dressed only in a thin, almost filmy nightshirt on top, and nothing but panties to cover the rest. Usagi was staring at her and giggling as the miko took a few moments to remember her state of dress. She quickly turned so red, so quickly, that "fiery" could have been an apt description for more than just her temperament. She covered herself with her arms and scrambled into the next room.

"Rei-chan and I were having a comfortable day at home," Usagi explained with a grin, "She transformed without ever actually getting dressed. I think she forgot."

Makoto and Minako laughed outright, and even Ami's shoulders shook slightly as she covered a grin with her hand. Makoto's laughter cut off abruptly, though, drawing the other's eyes to her as she swayed unsteadily. Ami was at her side in an instant.

"Minako-chan, help me sit her down," Ami directed, and together they sat the tall woman down in a comfortable easy chair.

"Hey now, don't worry about me. Just a little headache, I'll be fine. Got any aspirin?" Makoto tried to shrug off their tending, but couldn't gather the strength to. Ami frowned at her, entirely unamused, and gingerly removed her cap, taking special care to avoid jarring her skull as she slipped it from her long ponytail.

"What, hey? What's wrong with Mako-chan?" Rei, just coming out from the other room clad in a simple black shirt and jeans, saw her friend's sate.

"Jeez, it's just a couple of bumps on the noggin, you all," Makoto insisted.

"A couple, Mako-chan?" Ami looked at her, "Just how many places are you hurt?"

"Bullet to the forehead, cracked the back of my skull on the pavement when I fell, and a little cut on my leg from that fun run in the dark earlier. I think I'll survive, doctor," Makoto replied wearily.

"Rei-chan," Ami directed, ignoring that last part "Do you have any ice packs? Or just a bag with ice and a towel, anything at all?"

"Coming right up," Rei answered, stepping spryly to the kitchen. Ami herself on the arm of the chair and put steady, expert hands to Makoto's head, She parted her hair and made a disapproving noise at the ugly, dark, splotchy bruise she found spreading back over Makoto's scalp, under her hair.

"Mako-chan..." Ami reproached, but proceeded in turning her impromptu patient's head round before she scolded any more. She touched carefully and also winced sympathetically at the goose-egg sized bump on the other side. Rei came back into the room with a couple of hastily constructed ice bags wrapped in thin kitchen towels. Ami took them gratefully and raised Makoto's head to place one under her like a pillow, and held the other one to the front bruise. Makoto tried to raise her arm to hold the pack herself, but Ami shooed her hand away, leaving the tall girl to do little more than shiver at her suddenly cold-packed cranium.

"I need you to do something else right now," Ami explained her refusal, "Look into my eyes."

Makoto followed the directive the best she could, meeting Ami's concerned azure gaze. In Makoto's fuzzy mind, a thought struck her, and she smiled, "Hey doc, I feel better already, I got a little angel looking over me," A rosy tinge decorated Ami's cheeks, but she looked searchingly into Makoto's eyes, making sure that they were focused and responsive, "Follow my finger with just your eyes," she continued her direction as though she hadn't been interrupted. She held her finger up before Makoto's face, and moved it back and forth. Alert green eyes followed her easily.

"I'm fine, Ami-chan. One hell of a headache, but my brain isn't any more rattled than usual."

Ami frowned at her, but sighed, relenting, "Fine, Mako-chan, whatever you say. You're at least to lay down for a while, though. Doctor's orders," she tacked onto the end, to preempt argument. Ami helped her up and over to the couch, Makoto not protesting the this time. She sat down in the middle of the couch and lay down,.moving slowly to avoid becoming dizzy again. Minako had helpfully taken the ice packs up and offered them to Makoto, who arranged them comfortably, keeping one held to her temple. Then she looked down quickly, inviting another hammer to join in on the fun times occurring at her brain, when she felt her legs hoisted up. Ami was sitting on the other end of the couch, Makoto's legs in her lap.

"Which leg was cut again, Mako-chan?"

Makoto groaned, thinking she had been done, and slapped the left lightly. Ami began rolling up her baggy pant leg, and made another disapproving noise in her throat at what was more a jagged tear than a cut in Makoto's skin. The others in the room made their own little gasps and sounds of concern, bringing a flush to Makoto's face.

"Jeez you guys, we've all been hurt before, and more badly than this besides. Stop making such a big deal out of me."

They all looked at Makoto's discomfited expression and smiled, sharing a knowing glance amongst themselves. They were still waiting for the day Makoto lost an arm, just so they could see their tall friend say, "Nah, it's no big deal, but could one of you give me a hand with kneading some dough later? You can even use my hand, if you like, it's lying over there."

Rei gestured to Ami, "Anything you need? Maybe a muzzle, if she keeps complaining about the tender loving care that she's receiving?" Rei looked meaningfully at Makoto as she asked the question, though it was directed to Ami.

"Could I get a couple of hand towels, some hot, soapy water, and a bandage? That should be fine, thanks, Rei-chan." Ami started unlacing Makoto's high-top shoe and pulling off her sock, and when Rei arrived back she got to work on washing the dried blood from Makoto's leg, paying careful attention to the cut itself. While she did so, she nodded to Usagi.

"I can still talk while I take care of Mako-chan. You should be aware that your city was just attacked by armed civilians."

"We got that, Ami-chan," Rei interrupted, "But you said that they were taken care of, didn't you?"

"This group was," Ami said darkly, "But until we get some answers directly from those who were arrested, I have my own concerns. They were armed with old military-class firearms. Three with automatic weaponry, one with a more accurate, high-powered rifle. I didn't take any good look at them, but they were obviously illegal for civilian possession. Usagi-chan, in the Silver Millennium, the black market has had to go farther underground than it ever has been. You have to have fantastic resources and know a remarkable number of the 'right' people to make a purchase like that, and these four didn't strike me as wealthy."

"So we have a group of four armed men--"

"One woman," Ami corrected,

"Four armed people with illegal firearms setting off an explosion in Crystal Toky--"

"That's right!" Ami started, "The explosion! I almost forgot to mention, but there was something bothering me about that. We shouldn't jump to any conclusions before a formal investigation, but there didn't seem to be anywhere near enough heat damage or shrapnel to account for the shock wave that most of the city felt at least a tremor of. Almost like it wasn't made to cause that much destruction, but just..."

"To get our attention!" Minako finished the statement, snapping her fingers. The senshi all shared a glance as that sunk in.

"Okay," Rei started again, more somberly, "We have four armed people setting off a specialized explosive in Crystal Tokyo. They remained hidden until there were senshi on the scene, then initiated fire directed at those senshi. It seems it was too early to discount terrorism, Princess."

"You really think so, Rei?" Jupiter asked in mock wonder, though a little grin told the other girl she wasn't trying to be offensive, "Ah, hey, a little more gentle, please, Ami-chan," Ami raised an eyebrow innocently at her after having scrubbed just a touch rougher than necessary across Makoto's injury, while Rei rolled her eyes.

"You'd think the one of us who was actually hurt would be taking this more seriously,"

"I'm taking it plenty seriously. Excuse me for being a little relieved that I only have a bump instead of a hole in my skull, though. I do want to say something, though. We're all going to feel really silly if we start publishing conspiracy theories, then it turns out this was just some wackos who stumbled across a crazed army vet's stash in the woods. We should just take a deep breath and go on with our lives until the police can tell us something a little more concrete, I think." Normally Makoto knew she would be as enthusiastic as the rest of them in wanting to prepare and discuss and plan and act. For today, however, she just wanted to get home, take some aspirin, make some tea, and...her eyes tracked back over to Ami, now expertly wrapping a bandage around her calf. The Sailor Senshi already won today, right? Hadn't they saved the world from mortal peril enough times before that she could shirk just a bit, a teeny little bit, this one day?

"Mako-chan is right," Usagi spoke up after a lengthy pause, "Even if we sit here all day thinking about what might have been going on, we won't know, and we won't be able to think confidently about any of it," the others, even Rei after a moment of sullen consideration, nodded their heads.

"We'll all meet back here tomorrow, then," Rei declared.

"Right," they answered in unison.

"All done, Mako-chan," Ami added afterward. Makoto looked down and wiggled her foot.

"Good as new," she said. Taking a deep breath, she could feel the dizzy nausea that had stricken her for a bit fading as well, and the pain in her skull had faded to a steady background thrum, rather than the sensation of somebody swinging a full-bass boombox at her head. She gingerly swung her legs down and rose to a sitting position on her end of the couch. To her surprise, Ami scooted closer, and put a hand on her shoulder. She leaned in closely, and Makoto felt her heart beat a little faster.

"Ami-chffferff--" Makoto was unfortunate enough to get a good taste of lukewarm soapy towel as the Ami reached up to scrub the line of dried blood from her cheek. Ami took the towel away and left the other sputtering, smiling sweetly. Then she meticulously gathering the soiled rags, and the two ice packs Makoto had left on the arm of the couch.

"Hey, Ami-chan, you don't have to--"
"I've already got it," came the reply, and Ami disappeared through the entryway to the kitchen. Minako was the next to gather their attention,

"I need to go and talk to the police, too," she said, "Get a little something for my story on the evening news, even if I am still a serious leg-up on the competition. It's good being inside the loop," she poked the tip of her tongue out mischievously at them and stood, straightening her skirt. With her exit, Rei rounded on Usagi, who shrank back at whatever she saw in Rei's eyes.

"Remember what I said about paperwork, Princess? You'll probably be hearing from legal representatives from the company, the police, the employees, the employee's families, the police's families, the next-door neighbor's second cousin's niece of a pet-shop owner who sold a ferret to a man who was walking a couple of blocks away from the explosion... You're going to be busy for a while."

"Gee, thanks," Usagi glowered at her friend, and turned to Makoto, "Rei-chan is still a meanie."

"Some things just don't change," Rei retorted, "Come on now, the sooner you get started, the sooner we'll be done."

"We'll be done?"

"You think it's easy making sure you you don't run off and take a nap? I found out the hard way that you don't actually need to age to grow gray hairs. You know, this wouldn't be so bad if you'd hire a proper staff, you know." Rei spoke with the tired tone of one who was trying yet again to argue a point that she'd never gotten across,

"But it's me they want to hear from to, isn't it? It wouldn't be fair to make them talk to some stranger when they obviously need to be reassured by their graceful, talented, intelligent, gentle, beautiful Queen."

"I'm so glad you think so," Rei took her by the arm and started dragging her from the room. Usagi scrambled to regain her feet and drew alongside her friend with a sigh of resignation, making a face at her back and winking at Makoto. She smiled as the pair left the room. Here they were, going on four years now--or was it five? It was still somewhat surreal to know that she'd only had these friends for that long. Five years, and they still managed to keep up the way they always had. She supposed that kind of perseverance would come in handy over the next forever or two.

Makoto stood and took a deep breath, thinking about that. Three years had been hard enough without trying to consider forever. She started towards the kitchen, and was brought face to face with Ami on her way out.

"Mako-chan, you're still here? I heard everybody else leaving and thought you'd gone with them," Ami seemed surprised.

"Oh, no. I wanted to talk to you."

"I see," Ami responded, shuffling her feet uncomfortably, "But I'm, ah... in a hurry right now, I need to get back to the library. I left my things in there from when I was studying earlier, and the place is probably still a dreadful mess..." Ami edged past her as she spoke, apparently eager to leave.

"Oh, uh, sure," Makoto said , "But you can still come over later, right?"

"Of course," Ami answered hastily, then stopped, turning around for a moment, "It... really is good to see you again, Mako-chan."

Makoto smiled tightly, and nodded, "See you later, then. Drop by in an hour or so? I needed to stop by the grocery store anyway."

"I'll look forward to it," Ami smiled, and exited through the back of the living quarters, in the direction Makoto assumed the library was in. Makoto stayed where she was for a minute, wondering over the disparity in what Ami had said, and how she had said it. If Ami was so happy to see her, why did she look so uncomfortable, and why did she seem in such a hurry to leave, when they finally had a moment to themselves?

*****

Makoto wandered through the aisles of the supermarket nearby her apartment after she'd bought some aspirin and swallowed a few down. Now then, what was she going to serve? Should she go with foods that she knew Ami liked, to try and make her feel comfortable and know that Makoto still remembered these things, or perhaps she should try and make something new and interesting, maybe foreign? Maybe she should show Ami how worldly she, too, had become in these years. Perhaps she should look up some classic American food? But Ami was probably sick of that, living there for so long... or maybe she preferred it to Japanese cuisine?

Anyway, where did sandwiches fall in there? Those were kind of world-round, weren't they? It could matter what was put into them, Makoto ventured. She stopped in the midst of a step, casting her eyes around the store.

No, she would just make what she always used to. If Ami had changed and Makoto didn't know about it... well, she though with some irritation, it wouldn't be all her fault, now would it? She rushed through the store and grabbed everything she would need, thankful for the bountiful summertime months as she gathered a bag of fresh fruit from the produce section. She made another stop at her favorite bakery to pick up a fresh, warm loaf of bread, and headed back to the little slice of Tokyo that she called home. On the way, she found herself slowing down outside a little shop that she normally didn't give a second glance. Would a bottle of wine be out of place? Was it too early in the day for that, was this was the correct kind of occasion? Did Ami even drink?

Makoto didn't. Not for any moral reasons, or even health reasons, she just wasn't that fond of the sensation the times she had tried, and tended to be more satisfied engaging in her usual hobbies and activities. Even so, she thought of sitting across from Ami at a candlelit table with a glass of finely aged, fruity, bittersweet drink between them, slowly going through it over the course of the night, the loneliness she had felt draining from her as liquid from the bottle, talking for hours and hours, making their way to the bedroom, losing herself in an utter lack of worries or inhibitions or caution...

Because, after all, that's what Ami would expect when she came over for a cup of tea. Makoto rolled her eyes at her own foolishness and continued walking. Then she stopped, and took one look back. A few minutes later later she walked out of the store with a dark bottle scripted "Centine Rosé". She didn't know much about wine, really, but she liked the sound of the name, and the owner had been more than happy to tell her about it, extolling its wonderful sweetness and beautiful, coral pink hue that only truly came alive when seen in the romantic light of a candle. The last he'd added with certain mysteriously suggestive smile that made heat rise to her face, but she'd bought it anyway and hurried out.

Once back in her apartment, she hung up her light jacket in her closet with some relief. It a little warm for that, but it had been overcast and drizzly in the morning, so she'd been stuck with it. On her way to the kitchen, she passed her open bathroom door and caught site of her reflection. She frowned, feeling suddenly... plain. She went back into her bedroom and ransacked her closet, eventually finding a ruffled lime-green blouse and tight-fitting pair of tan slacks that she liked the look of. Not too formal, but she thought they complimented her nicely. She dressed and stood before the mirror, hands on her hips. She frowned once more, and unbuttoned a few buttons down her blouse. Then she buttoned one back with an embarrassed gasp of laughter.

She got the feeling that she was worrying about this far, far too much, but indulging in a little girlish fretting helped keep her mind off of more serious and potentially painful thoughts. She wanted to think about seeing Ami now, not about what had or hadn't happened in the past.

So she stormed into the kitchen and tied on an apron, to keep from messing up the clothes she'd just now so carefully chosen, and started slicing tomatoes and cheese with a completely unnecessary amount of care and attention. It worked, though, she didn't think about anything but what she was doing, and she ended up with what may have been the most perfectly sliced sandwich ingredients that had ever been prepared. She made a little plate of finger sandwiches and put them into the fridge, and prepared all the fruit she'd bought into a fruit dish, which she also put away for later. Just in time, too, as she was just untying her apron strings when she heard a polite knock at the door.

"Come on in!" She called in response. Ami opened the door as Makoto was crossing through the sitting room, standing with her hands clasped in front of her and around the strap of her bag, looking unsure of herself.

"Come on in, I said," Makoto chided, "Have a seat, make yourself at home. I'll be back in a sec," Makoto tossed her apron unceremoniously atop her bed. Before she walked back, however, she walked back in and placed it more tidily upon a hook hanging on the back of her door. If, for some reason, they found themselves in the bedroom, Makoto didn't want anything getting in the way--of Ami's having a good opinion of her housekeeping. Couldn't have things just lying about.

"So, what can I interest you in? Tea, coffee... uh, wine?" Makoto tried to sound nonchalant about the suggestion, walking back into the room to find Ami sitting, still looking vaguely uncomfortable, on the couch in front of a low, clear glass table.

"Tea, please," Ami replied graciously enough, however, without so much as a batted eyelash at the last suggestion.

"Sure thing, I'll have it ready in a jiff," belatedly, Makoto remembered that she hadn't lit any candles anyway, so it really wasn't a good wine occasion. Ami had accepted an invitation to tea, at any rate. As Makoto took down a few cups from the cupboard, she reasoned that these things were supposed to improve with age anyway, so she would just have to invite Ami over again, for dinner. Perhaps tomorrow. Except, that they might be busy tomorrow. Possibly longer than that. Makoto pouted to herself, why did the reason that Ami was here also have to be the reason that Makoto wouldn't be able to spend time with her...

She paused at that thought. The reason that Ami was here? That... why had Makoto suddenly thought that it was for the incident earlier? That didn't make any sense, they hadn't brought Ami in from overseas to look at a smoking building. What had she come back to Japan for? Also, how long had she been here?

Makoto too the water she'd had heated on the stove and poured them over teabags in the bottoms of the cups, carrying them carefully back into the main room and setting one in front of Ami, who was now looking curiously at a paperback book. Makoto recognized it as the one she'd been reading before her class; she must have left it out earlier. Ami smiled appreciatively, and Makoto settled in her plushy pink armchair.

"As you can see, I still have a little soft spot for the occasional romance," she gestured to the volume held by Ami's slender fingers.

"I do see. I just finished this one last week, would you believe? You must tell me what you think of the ending," Ami reached into her bag and pulled out a slim bookmark, slipping it between the two pages that her finger had been separating. "You shouldn't leave your books splayed out like that, though," she added, referring to the way Makoto had left it on the arm of her chair. Ami picked up her cup, but paused before drinking as Makoto spoke,

"So, I didn't know you were in town," the brunette remarked. Ami's expression and posture tensed, and she set her cup back on the table with a soft clink.

"Ah, you see, I'd only arrived the day before yesterday, and I won't be here long. My mother invited me to talk to a colleague of hers, a doctor who's been very influential in the field of research I want to write my thesis on. It's really a fascinating field--" she started, eyes brightening, but she cut herself off at the expression on Makoto's face, a certain raise of one eyebrow and tilt to her head that said, "You know I won't have a clue what you're talking about, and you know you're avoiding the question."

"--that I would like to talk with him about. I was only going to be here for a few days, a week at the latest."

Makoto made a noncommittal noise as she took another sip, "I wish I would have known, I just spent my morning lazing about here. reading. Would have been nice to get to see you a little more, if you won't be here long. Or to see you at all," Makoto continued, voice rising slightly in spite of herself, "I mean, were you even planning on letting me know you were in town, or were you just going to leave without saying a word!?"

Ami looked taken aback, and hurt, but her brows furrowed and she responded with a similar heat, "I'm sorry, I didn't know that you would care if I was in town. You didn't seem to care where I was or what I was doing for quite some time now, how was I to know that had changed today? At least, today is the only time I've ever gotten anything from you saying that you care. I wonder why that is?" Ami's voice was dripping sarcasm and hurt.

Makoto had regretted getting angry at some level, knowing that an exceptional amount of it wasn't really directed at Ami, but at herself. Ami's words stung, though, and didn't help to calm her.

"Didn't know that I would care? You were the one that jumped on that plane with a big smile and a cheerful wave. You were the one that left!"

"Is... is that what you're getting angry about? It was over, Mako-chan, the Silver Millennium started, we didn't need the senshi all here anymore. I had dreams, too, you knew that! Don't you dare start yelling at me for abandoning some responsibility. Today, when trouble came, I was here, wasn't I?"

"No, no," Makoto shook her head furiously, but didn't know how to proceed. No, I'm really angry at myself, because I couldn't say those three little words before you left? That wasn't Ami's fault, but... "You're right, I did know all of that. But were those dreams so important to you that you couldn't spare a single minute for old friends? I haven't heard from you this entire time, Ami-chan."

"Likewise. However, as I said, I didn't know you wanted to hear from me. You never called, either. Never wrote. I got to America, got to my dorm room. Alone in a strange, new place, farther from home than I'd ever been... I kept hoping that somebody would call. I wanted to hear a familiar voice, I wanted to hear your voice. But I didn't. Usagi-chan called a lot, so did Minako. Even Rei checked in now and again. But I never heard from you."

Makoto worked her mouth for a response, but came up empty. How could she ever explain? Pacing her living room, looking at the phone later that day. Picking it up, staring at the number Ami had given her. Her fingers hovering over the buttons, trembling. Curling into a ball on her bed that evening, only able to think that it would be years before she'd ever see her again. Spending all that sleepless night remembering times spent together; at the park, movies, bookstore, cafés and sweetshops, or just hanging out at one another's homes. Feeling bitter, knowing that she'd become less and less able to deny what she was feeling, and still not able to just talk about it with the person that she should have been able to talk about anything with. Berating herself for not just coming out with it. It didn't make any sense to Makoto, thinking of her title, the Senshi of Courage, with contempt. Why, then was something that seemed so simple doing so much to freeze her lips and cloud her mind?

Makoto hadn't called because... she didn't know what to say. She wanted to hear Ami first, to let Ami's sweet voice bring her back to a time when they could talk for hours about everything and nothing. Ami hadn't called. The weeks had gone by, and turned to months, and then years, with each passing moment the idea of picking up the phone becoming more and more difficult.

After a long moment, Ami stood coolly, "Is that what you wanted to talk about, Mako-...to-san? You might as well step down. Being taller does not, I think, give you any right to look down on me. In any case, thank you for the invitation, but just now recall that I have an important engagement later this evening, and should probably spend the rest of my day doing something more worthwhile," Makoto felt burned by the acidic tone of Ami's words, so uncharacteristically harsh of that gentle voice.

"Fine," Makoto answered, her voice coming back to her as she retaliated to the pain in her heart, "I can just pretend today didn't happen. Then everything can be just how you would have preferred. You can go back to your studies, just forget I said anything. Shouldn't be too hard to do, you've had plenty of practice at forgetting."

"So you're still going to stay with that, are you? I don't forget my friends, unlike some. I'll see you tomorrow, Makoto-san, perhaps we can one again behave civilly in front of the others? Thank you again for your assistance earlier, and for your kindly provided beverage," Ami finished neutrally, taking steps to the door.

"And thank you for tending to me earlier so kindly, and making me think, for a moment, that you still cared. You should have become an actress, forget about the doctor thing."

Makoto felt a cruel streak of bittersweet pleasure when she saw Ami's back stiffen, but the girl left the apartment without another word. There was silence in the room. Makoto finished her tea mechanically, watching the cup that Ami hadn't actually managed to touch. Thin wisps of steam curled from it, growing ever smaller until they vanished into the air. Makoto knew it was little more than lukewarm, cooled like the fire that had raged in her chest moments before. With a crooked smile, she took a sip from that other cup. Yes, it was bitter, also like her heart. She walked into her bedroom and sat on the edge of her bed. With a muffled sob, she buried her head in her hands. What just happened, why had she said those things? Now that her irrational anger with Ami--and herself--had loosened its iron grip on her stomach, she felt sick. What had happened between them? Ami had been so distant, Makoto had been able to feel the separation between them in the other room. There was a wall there now, high and thick and long. A wall that she had helped to build. The thought alone made her feel tired, more tired and drained than she could ever remember feeling, far too exhausted to consider climbing the wall. She had not even the burning passion for life, always kindled in her heart, left to keep her going. It had just walked out of her door.

The pale luminescence of a bright full moon splashed over her room and across her eyes as Makoto came awake. She worked her throat and scraped a dry, sticky tongue around in vain search for moisture. Gummy, heavy eyelids laboriously creaked upwards over protesting eyes. Working her stiff arms to lever herself from the bed, she paused for a minute to untangle herself from twisted sheets. In the bathroom, she flipped on the light and squinted in the sudden brightness. Bitingly cold water filled her cupped hands and she splashed it into her face and eyes to invigorate herself. She repeated the process several times, lastly gulping down several cupped handfuls to sooth her throat. Amidst wiping moisture from her mouth with swipe of her sleeve, she paused and stared into the mirror. An unpleasant and unsavory individual was looking back at her with dull puffy eyes and wild unkempt hair that stuck out every which way from a ponytail that curled down to wrinkled, twisted clothing. Looking steadily at this creature, she reached a hand to the side and turned off the light.

The kitchen presented itself as an excellent next goal to stumble towards. Through the sitting room she noted that it was two o'clock in the morning. Time for breakfast, her stomach told her. She made a meal of a plate of cold sandwiches and a glass of water, swallowing the slight lump that formed in her throat when she saw the plate in the refrigerator. She leaned over the counter on her elbows and chewed thoughtfully.

Wasn't this a pleasant scene, she thought. It was her fault. What was the matter with her? She knew, though. Even now amidst what regret she felt, she could still detect a dull, red streak of resentment underlying her feelings. This certainly wasn't the first time that her temper had gotten her into more than she could handle, but this could make a case for being the worst. When Makoto had heard that Ami had been here for several days already, and that chances were she would never have known, it had felt like a stinging slap to her cheek. She'd struck back. Weighing both scenarios, she also thought that she'd much rather try to get herself into a fistfight with Sailor Uranus again, than have to look Ami in the face later today.

She wearily shook her head, and polished off the last sandwich from the pile. Still feeling out of sorts, she also took out the cups of anmitsu that she'd prepared earlier. Pouring both into a bow and tossing a couple scoops of cherry vanilla ice cream on top. Just the kind of summer dish that would have been a delight to share, she thought; Ami would have enjoyed it.

Her fingers spread wide over the cold, hard kitchen counter. It was two in the morning, she had ice cream, and she felt quite distinctly blue. There was only one thing to do. She changed locale to the living room, turned on the floor lamp in the corner, and curled up on the couch. Her book lay on the table, Ami's slender mark sticking from the pages. Makoto gently drew it out. She held it carefully between two fingers, then placed it carefully atop her low table. For now, time to ignore her own problems in sweet, sticky sugar and a sweet, sticky romance, wherein everything worked out fine.

Six hours later, a bowl of long-congealed syrup lay on the floor by the couch, spoon slowly cementing into it, and Makoto was turning the last page with relished enjoyment. Makoto thought about the last, tenderly romantic scene with a smile, which turned quickly to a grimace. Groaning, she dropped her head onto the arm of the couch and wearily laid the book open across her eyes. Her first thought then had been of Ami, but chances were the other girl didn't want to hear about the book now. Or ever.

Tears, sleep, ice cream, novel; now she was thinking much more clearly, and growled in frustration at herself. If there was one good thing about being the rash and decisive senshi, however, it was that Makoto never felt too embarrassed about correcting her mistakes. She would just have to apologize. She didn't even need an excuse to go see Ami, as they were all meeting back later today anyway. After it was over with, Makoto could draw Ami aside, apologize for her behavior, and try to explain why she'd become so upset. That would be hard to tell without explaining everything, but that didn't matter to Makoto now. However Ami responded, it could not be any worse than the way things stood now, and had only a chance to become better. Double to gain and nothing to lose; Makoto liked those kind of odds.

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Filled with determined rational or no, she still approached Usagi's door with trepidation. Tightening and loosing fingers with restless tension, she filled her lungs and resolve and walked inside. The others were already there, Minako, Usagi, and Rei chatting animatedly around the table, while Ami sat with serene eyes fixed on some book or another in her lap. Ami was still the first to look up, however, and observe Makoto with such wintry regard that she felt a chill whisper over the base of her neck.

"Everyone, Makoto-san has arrived," she stated, slightly stiffly.

"Finally," Minako greeted her with a smile, "We've got some..." Minako's voice trailed away, her clear eyes blinking a few times. Rei and Usagi were going through similar reactions, and all three stared at Ami. Azure eyes merely looked impassively back to her book, ignoring them, so they all three turned their stupefied gazes to Makoto instead. She felt heat rising to her cheeks,

"What's the matter with all of you, do I have something stuck in my teeth? What news from the boys in blue?" Makoto spoke with feigned unconcern, pasting on a thin smile that she hoped looked as thought it came from somebody confident, rather than slightly sick to her stomach. Minako and Usagi looked at her as expected, brows furrowed and staring in clear disbelief to her assumed attitude, but Rei was a bit more sympathetic. She didn't appear any more convinced, but at least moved on without another question.

"We heard back from the interrogators, and the good news is the two perpetrators sang like habitual drunks."

"Wait, how's that?" Minako interrupted with a raised eyebrow.

"Loudly, enthusiastically, and off-key," Rei answered, "The only consistent information we got out of them is a claim that they're from Brazil. Not Brazilian citizens, but they purport that the rest of what they describe as their 'army' is located within the nation's borders. This is where their stories diverge. One places their base of operations an hour southwest of Manaus, the other about two hours northeast of the city of Bonito," as she spoke, Ami took an interest and walked over to the computer in the corner of the room.

"That's quite a disparity, Rei-chan," she noted, waving the others over to look. Both the cities were a good distance inland from the coast, though on the banks of the Amazon river. One was far north, the other far south.

"What about the other two that were there?" Makoto inquired.

"The woman who was shot is in intensive care. Stable, but still not conscious. The other--"

"Absolutely refused to talk, mm-hmm. Solid as a rock, he was, not getting a word out of him," Usagi interrupted Rei, speaking in a strangely clipped, hasty manner. Ami was still intent on the screen before her, so she couldn't see, but Makoto was well able to catch the nervous glance that Usagi threw at Ami's back.

"...right," Rei affirmed after a pause, "He didn't say a word," Makoto noted also an uncomfortable twist to Rei's lips.

"So, ah," Minako ventured, clearing the suddenly thick air around the conversation, "They said something about having an army? Like, a real one?"

"They're probably exaggerating," Rei answered, "These kind of groups would have a tendency to exaggerate their own importance, even to--maybe especially to--their own membership. Nobody's come out to take credit, which is a little unusual, but as their mission didn't exactly produce anything more than three captured--"

"Four!" Usagi hissed.

"Er, yes, four, four captured operatives,” Rei corrected herself lamely, “and one dead TPD officer, it's not that unusual that nobody would want to claim responsibility. There might not be any real reason to think there's more out there, but we can't ignore the threat.. Like Ami-chan noted yesterday, they have to have some kind of serious financial backing, which is worrisome enough in itself."

Makoto watched Ami turn around in her chair, a pained look to her eyes. Her deep blue eyes blinked rapidly, and Makoto was sure Usagi was wasting her time trying to continue any deception by this point. Makoto tried to steer the discussion to less sensitive matters,

"Right, right, Rei-chan, I don't think any of us were planning on ignoring what happened. So, what now, couldn't we just buzz over with some spy planes and see what's up?"

"Actually, we can't. The jungle canopy makes air reconnaissance next to useless. Besides, any secret organization worth their salt would go to ground for at least a little bit after their operatives get captured. With good reason, as it happens. So, I suppose we could try to send in some ground espionage, but it would be a good hike, and the chances of their finding anything..." Rei shrugged, "Anybody have any other suggestions?"

"Do we need any other suggestions?" Makoto spoke up first, "Reconnaissance is what we need, and ground is the way to go. I don't have anything I really need to be doing for a little while. When do I leave?"

"What!?" Usagi exclaimed, "Mako-chan, what are you talking about? You're not going anywhere!"

"Is that a royal order, my Queen?" Makoto asked with a raised eyebrow, "Who better to send? When the senshi aren't running around in skirts and blowing things up, we're nondescript teenage girls; not exactly your soldier archetype. Plus, I wouldn't have to lug around any weaponry or conspicuous communications gear. Heck, I wouldn't even need a lighter to start a campfire, when you get right down to it. A senshi is ideal. And, out of the senshi, who's best suited for a nice, arduous trek through a jungle with chance for combat?"

"Not you.”

Makoto turned to Ami, surprised.

"Why not?"

"Can you navigate, for one? Could you expand short supplies with edible plants? Tend your wounds if you got hurt? Protect yourself from poisonous creatures and various toxic plants? Can you communicate with the native populace, or work with the local currency? That is, I'm sure you could handle whomever came your way, if you ever find anything." With every question, Makoto felt doubts grow in her sureness. The last rebuke, however, even delivered in Ami's gentle voice, served to ignite her temper. It did not supply her with any adequate rebuttals, though. She looked stonily into Ami's frosty gaze, and they held one another as such long enough to make the others in the room uncomfortable.

"Oh come on now, for goodness sake! What's wrong with you two?" Minako demanded.

"Nothing," Makoto said shortly, followed by Ami just after,

"Not a thing. I was just about to propose that I accompany Makoto-san, I had no idea she would be so against the idea..."

"Wait, what? I thought you had to be back to your studies in a week?"

"I believe that, quite some time ago, I answered this question: 'What I'm doing here is far more important.' That hasn't changed, whatever else may have."

"I'm sure I could get by..." Makoto mumbled stubbornly, the implication that she had obligated Ami into doing something that she would rather not irking her. How exactly she planned to do that, and why exactly she wanted to try, Makoto wasn't sure, but this wasn't the way she wanted things to be.

Unseen to the both of them so engrossed in the other, conflict flickered unhappily in Usagi's furrowed brow and worried lips. Usagi's concern for her friends battled with Serenity's concern for her Kingdom, and it was only when Rei noticed and her and whispered into her ear that she relaxed a few degrees. She still wasn't happy, though, as she turned her lips down at her bodyguard, and said to the rest of the room,

"Fine, fine. Fine! If anybody can do what needs to be done and come back in one piece, it's the two of you together. Both of you get ready to go at whatever time you decide, because you're both going. Royal decree and everything," Usagi walked first to Makoto and wrapped her in a fierce embrace, then kissed her on the cheek, "Don't do anything stupid," she warned her occasionally headstrong friend. Then she walked to Ami and repeated the process, the only change being her warning, "You don't do anything stu..." She paused, and struggled for words, "Never mind. Just be careful."

Usagi pulled away before either of them could say anything in return, sauntering despondently across the room. Rei turned soft lavender eyes to her but before she went to comfort her princess, she spoke sharply to the pair taking still fuming indirectly at one another,

"Interestingly, Mamoru said that he expected you two to volunteer, but perhaps not quite like that. Maybe you can few days you can work out whatever bug crawled into both your panties before you leave, you heard the royal decree,” Ami averted her eyes uncomfortably at Rei's edged tone, while Makoto just regarded her coolly and invited her to continue with a curt gesture, “Also, he didn't want to appear rude by cutting short his diplomatic tour of European heads of government, but his Highness said he'll be back in a few weeks to turn his effort to this problem."

"Also Luna and Artemis," Minako added, "They're getting a little pudgy from all the peace and quiet, a little electronic snooping will be good for them. Don't think you have to figure everything out yourselves and save all mankind, you have friends that will be working too."

"Right, right," Makoto assured them with a devil-may-care grin, "We'll be good. Eh, Ami-chan?" Makoto addressed her friend almost habitually, forgetting for a split-second their differences. A warm spring breeze drifted through Ami's eyes, though Makoto thought that it was likely for the benefit of the other senshi in the room, rather than for her.

"We will. Please don't worry yourselves too much. We'll come back safely, I promise, Usagi-chan," Ami called out lastly, to the Queen who was still sulking a little bit in the back of the room.

"Then... that's a promise, Ami-chan. I know you wouldn't break a promise, and if you do, you'll be sorry," Usagi ignored the complete absurdity of that remark as she pouted. She sniffed loudly, eliciting a roll of the eyes from Rei,

"Don't bother trying to talk to her right now. She'll get over it. I think you two have your own problems to think about. Act stupid and get yourselves hurt, and she's gonna get hurt too, keep that in mind."

Makoto's hard mask dissolved in Rei's caustic tone, and she wondered how exactly she'd ended up in this situation anyway, when she'd meant to apologize. With a self-conscious laugh at making the others worry about her, she turned to Ami, but found her standing up and walking towards the door.

"Huh--hey, wait, Ami-chan!"

"I have to make a phone call, back in a minute," Ami nodded her head shortly at Makoto, voice calm, but Makoto thought she saw an odd look to her eyes. The light wooden door frame slid and clacked shut, leaving her standing with her hand raised to emptiness. She collapsed back into a chair with a dissatisfied grunt, and saw Minako looking down at her.

"Don't ask," she sighed, "You know I won't answer."

Minako opened her mouth as though she might test that, but shrugged and picked up her bag. Makoto watched her walk out. She rolled her eyes over to see Rei whispering with her chin resting on Usagi's shoulder, though the queen didn't look as though she were any more fond of current events than she had been. Makoto shrugged, figuring that as long as Usagi was going to be all mopey anyway, she might as well have as much reason as possible,

"So one of the terrorists died," Makoto spoke, more a statement than a question.

Rei and Usagi froze. Clenching her fist, Rei answered with a simple,

"Yes."

"Ami-chan got him."

"Yes."

"The sharpshooter?"

"It wasn't her fault!” Rei said defensively, “The rhapsody didn't really... but the fall--"

Usagi interrupted, "You aren't going to tell her, are you, Mako-chan?"

Makoto closed her eyes, "I think she already knows."

Usagi didn't reply. Makoto relaxed and tried to patiently wait. Ami didn't return.

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Makoto tried asking Usagi and Rei where Ami was staying, but they told her quite clearly that they weren't going to unless she told them what was going on. Makoto left, and went back to her apartment. Chagrined, she washed and put away the plate and bowls that she discovered she'd left out. Then she sat herself splayed out on her couch, wondering at her next action. Ami hadn't come back, though she said she only needed to make a phone call. A phone call...

Makoto lurched up, eyes wide. How could she have not realized... she put her fingers to her temple, though she was smiling now. This was no problem. Sh reached into her pocket, and drew out her communicator. She activated it and prepared to signal Ami. Her fingers froze over the pad.

She blinked rapidly. This was familiar, too familiar. Was it really going to be so easy right now, making this call? It was all she had needed to do for quite a while now, and hadn't been able to. Was it because Ami was here again, and she wasn't worrying about not getting to see her? Makoto wondered that it could really be so simple. Or perhaps there was another reason. She was certainly worried about Ami, how she hadn't returned, and how she'd behaved when she was leaving. Makoto shook her head angrily. This wasn't the time to be stewing over the past. She wanted to call Ami now, so she would, that was all there was to it.

She depressed the key, hand trembling despite herself as she held the communicator awaiting a response. She wasn't sure if she was just nervous, or if it actually took the other quite some time to find that somebody was trying to talk with her, but it felt like an hour before the device came to life and she heard Ami's voice.

“Makoto--” Her very first word was enough to frustrate Makoto, and she interrupted.

“Ami-chan, stop that! I'm sorry, I really am,” she said in a rush. There was a startled pause on the other end of the line, that continued. Makoto grew nervous again,

“Ami-chan? Really, truly, I didn't mean all of those things I said, it's just that...” Makoto took a deep breath, “The thing is, that honestly, I--”

“I'm sorry too, Mako-chan. You just asked a question, and I got angry as well.”

Makoto stood with the communicator, mouth agape. She felt as though she were deflating. Gone was the vision she'd had of gradually winning over an angry Ami with apologies and explanations. Without that reason, she found that she was having more difficulty bringing up any explanations.

“Maybe neither of us really knows why we didn't keep in contact, but we can't blame one another. Friends again, Mako-chan?”

Makoto felt her resolve shrinking further. She did feel a sense of relief in that, while before there was still a chance that she and Ami might have remained distant, now it seemed as though that were going to be helped for sure. She smiled.

“Friends, Ami-chan,” she said, but then remembered the other reason she'd called, “I wanted to apologize earlier—sorry for getting irritated when we were with the others—but then you left and never came back. Is everything all right?”

“Er... fine, Mako-chan. Everything is--” Makoto frowned at her evasive tone, and her expression made its way into her voice as she said,

“Hey now, you just said friends again, let's not start doing secrets again already.”

“Really, it's no big deal--”

“Good, then it won't matter if you talk about it.”

On the other end of the line, Ami laughed softly. She really didn't want to talk about her troubles, but this hearkened back to many other times that Makoto had bulled her way into making Ami be more open about her concerns. Come to think of it, she usually ended up feeling better at the end of those sessions, even if nothing had changed or been fixed. None of those times had been quite like this, however. Makoto quickly saved her the troubled of bringing the subject up, at least.

“Is it about the man whose death you may have caused?” Makoto said bluntly.

“Usagi-chan wasn't very good about hiding that, was she?”

“It was more Rei-chan that kept forgetting she was supposed to be hiding something.”

“It was nice that they tried, though,” Ami said sadly.

“Was it?” Makoto asked.

“What do you mean?”

“They're acting like you did something unspeakably awful, Ami-chan. You didn't mean to hurt him that badly, and you may have saved my life in the process—and the life of that woman terrorist as well. Don't forget, this was the same man that shot at you, and shot me, and killed that police officer. All of that, and you still didn't mean to kill the guy. There's not a lot of people in the world that would do that.”

“But maybe I could have--”

“Maybe you could have, but maybe I would have ended up dead, and you might have, and innocent people might have. Maybes are good to consider for the future, Ami, not the past. Although, maybe I could have though about how you'd be feeling about this before I got all cranky earlier,” Makoto realized that she probably hadn't helped this at all, Ami was going through plenty enough without the person who was supposed to be her best friend attacking her as well.

“Thank you, Mako-chan. I feel a little silly about it now, just running off like that.”

“Nah, we didn't give you much reason to do otherwise, with hem walking on eggshells and me, well...”

“Right. Perhaps I was being a little cold, though.”

“Just maybe,” Makoto agreed. This wasn't so hard, she was coming to decide. This still felt a little different, of course, a touch more formal than they used to be, a little more careful. She couldn't even try to convince herself that the feeling between them was the same as it had been before Ami left. Things were, however, looking up.

“So did you even have a phone call to make?”

“Yes, I did. I inquired, and moved up my interview with the doctor to tomorrow. I still want to get that taken care of before we leave.”

Makoto's eyes widened. Of all the things to forget, but she had, she was leaving the country soon to hike through a jungle.

“Right, did you have any time you wanted to do that?”

“I thought we could be ready by Monday evening at the earliest, if that works for you?”

Two days, Makoto thought, “Uh, sure, nothing wrong with that. I think I kinda rushed into this pretty quickly, and you got dragged along. I'm sure if we talked to Usagi, we wouldn't have to go do this. It's kind of silly, anyway--”

“It's okay, Mako-chan. I wasn't joking when I said this was more important to me. I don't just mean that as an obligation, either. I can become a doctor in every medical field there is, but I would still be a Sailor Senshi first. We might not have any success, but this is definitely worth doing on the chance that we might stop it from happening again.”

“Anything I should do to prepare?”

“Make trail mix.”

Makoto paused, “What?”

“Or whatever you like. Compact and nutritious. Military rations don't sit well on my stomach.”

Makoto laughed, “Fine, find. Anything else, though?”

“Not that I can think of. I'm going to go do that interview and organize my notes, then I'll probably compile a list of other supplies and plan a route for us. You can help if you like...”

“But I'd probably just get in the way. I'll make supplies.”

“Mako-chan's travel rations will probably be a good enough reason to hike anyway.”

Makoto blushed lightly.

"Sailor Teleport?" Makoto repeated skeptically. She and the others stood in the lush decor of the palace palace throne room. Usagi, as was her wont, had taken the room's only available seat. She lay draped ungainly across the throne while in the corner of the room Ami rummaged through a pair of supply packs.

"Yep. That would be the quickest way to get you there, wouldn't it?"

"Well, of course it would, Usagi-chan, but how will the rest of you get back if Mako-chan and I are supposed to stay there?" Ami questioned, approaching everybody with what looked like a transparent toothpaste tube filled with chocolate pudding.

"Oh, I think I'll figure something out," Usagi replied, raising her hand with a flourish and revealing the glittering presence of the Silver Crystal held loosely within it. Makoto exchanged a look with Ami, and shrugged.

"It saves us some time, and I hate planes anyway."

Ami smiled understandingly, "Mako-chan, hold out your hands."

Makoto did so without hesitation, holding little concern over something Ami would do. The latter squeezed out a measure of what turned out to both look and feel like chocolate pudding into her cupped hands, before putting a similar measure on her own open palm. Makoto looked on quizzically. Ami rubbed her hands together and started spreading the substance up and down her arms, taking the excess and slathering it onto her lower legs, face, and neck. In front of everybody, the fair-skinned Ami was turning a deep, tanned brown. Makoto shook her head, realizing she was staring, and started to do the same to herself.

"From a distance, we may even pass as native. Closer, our facial features and speech will give us away as foreigners, but hopefully people will assume we've been there a while. It's supposed to last until we apply a counter-agent on our return."

"Good thinking," Minako nodded approvingly, and gave the spent tube a speculative look, "Say, where did you get that, anyway? That sure would be an easy way to get a tan."

"Talk with the Millennium Kingdom military, Minako-chan. they're the only ones producing it right now."

"Ah... it's expensive, then?"

"Quite."

"I see...."

Makoto chuckled at Minako's crestfallen expression, then looked over her arms and legs for any spots she might have missed. She felt somebody come close to her front as she craned her neck around to see the back of her legs, and snapped back forward to find Ami bare inches away, standing up on tiptoes. Ami's face rose, coming up to her neck,

"Everything looks fine up here, Mako-chan," she said satisfactorily, peering around at Makoto's neck and face, "How did I do?"

Ami twisted her head up and around so Makoto could inspect her similarly.

"L-looks great," Makoto stammered. Ami smiled happily. Covering the nervous effect Ami's unexpected approach had on her, Makoto picked up their packs and put them near the center of their group to be taken with them. While doing so, she glanced at Sailor Mars resting against the back of the throne, arms crossed. The Sailor Teleport plan explained why she'd shown up transformed, and the others followed suit. Taking a steadying breath when she was done, Sailor Jupiter almost wished she hadn't had to transform. The feeling that accompanied it was rather welcome, and she wouldn't relish having to give it up the moment she first stepped onto foreign--and potentially hostile--soil. A nudge on her arm shook her from her momentary reverie, and her eyes found Sailor Mercury stepping up beside her and taking her hand. Jupiter smiled, and looked to the other side to take the hand of Venus and form the circle. Jupiter almost immediately felt Sailor Moon open the channel between them, allowing their power to mingle and spread out into the air around them. The sensation of insubstantiality came swiftly after; first the lesser stuff of her hair and clothing thinned from reality until they were floating around her, lighter than air. The rest of her body followed more and more rapidly; her feet left the ground. In a rush, she felt a momentary shock of nonexistence, and then was back and solid with startling suddenness. Under her boots the ground shifted treacherously and a bright light assaulted her vision. Blinking, her eyes adjusted and she saw the other senshi around her, squinting and looking around in similar states. Sailor Venus had fallen to the ground. Jupiter extended a hand and helped her back to her feet.

They were on a beach. It was a short beach, perhaps only a hundred paces wide at most, and thinning off to a mere twenty meters at many spots. After that it looked hilly, and coated in vibrant green plant life. The air was oppressively still and silent but for the slow, rhythmic murmur of the waves over the sand. It was difficult to believe there were any living creatures but the plants for miles around, but Sailor Jupiter knew well enough not to put any faith in that misleading impression. It was far too easy to become relaxed in these sorts of peaceful surroundings. A quiet, not entirely happy laugh gently broke through that peace to her left.

"Sailor Mercury?" Jupiter asked, concerned.

"I was just thinking, when is the last time we came to the beach together?"

"It's been a while," Sailor Mars answered softly, nodding.

"Hey, stop it right now!" Sailor Moon yelled, glowering at the lot of them. They looked back at her, surprised at the outburst. "Quit telling me not to worry and then behaving like this! At least say something like, 'we'll have to do this for real when we're done' or something!"

"Now, now, Sailor Moon," Venus said placatingly, "You can't blame everybody for being a little worried. You are right, though. Can we be a little more cheerful, guys?"

Sailor Mercury nodded, but distractedly. Her hand rose and activated her visor. For a moment her eyes were distant, focusing on information only she could see. She drew a map and marker out of her pack, and made a hasty mark. Then she met Jupiter's gaze, and the two nodded. In a moment, Ami and Makoto stood in the sand with loose, practical, comfortable khaki's in place of the fuku they had worn a moment ago. Oddly enough, with all her friends by her side, Makoto didn't feel worried in the slightest, as she thought she might after leaving the stolid identity of Sailor Jupiter behind. To make herself useful and take her mind off of what was coming next, she picked her pack up off of the sand and slung it over her back, arranging the weight comfortably across both shoulders, and retrieved Ami's pack for her.

"So, Sailor Venus, you were absolutely positive when you told me that these two were playing nice now?" she heard Mars asking airily when she was walking back.

"Hey, don't talk about us like we're not even here," Makoto objected.

"Last I checked, Sailor Mars," Minako nodded, ignoring Makoto's protest.

"I'm glad," Sailor Moon said, thankfully looking at the pair being discussed as she said so. The serenity in her voice as she spoke while laying her hand over her heart told Makoto just how relieved their leader was to hear that. Following that exchange, though, the senshi only stood around awkwardly with their heels sinking into the sand. Sailor Mars coughed meaningfully, and Makoto took the initiative.

"ER, well, I guess we'll be seeing you later," Makoto said, trying to be cheerful about it. It was easy to talk about this being a necessary, even simple, excursion. But standing together on this deserted shore far from home brought the situation to a hard reality. The jungle loomed behind them, feeling more ominous than it had any reason to. Makoto and Ami drew closer together and linked hands without sharing so much as a glance.

"Right, I suppose so. Er, why don't we all go to the beach back home sometime, when this is all done?" Sailor Mars suggested, also trying to make her voice sound light.

"That sounds nice," Ami agreed, but the atmosphere between them all remained noticeably strained.

"But right now we all have places to go and people to see, eh?" Sailor Venus chimed in, as though they were leaving to go shopping and run errands.

"Sure do. Thanks for the lift, Usagi-chan," Makoto said, warming to her customary bravado. She felt Ami give her hand a squeeze and knew that one person here, at least, could see through her like still water. Sailor Moon held up her Silver Crystal with a reluctant expression on her face. Makoto smiled slowly, and gently broke contact with Ami to move beside their leader and give her a hearty clap on the shoulder.

"Now you should probably be getting back to the palace. The Queen can't just randomly disappear halfway across the world for too long. Eh, Sailor Mars?"

Mars flashed her an expression of gratitude, and nodded, "That's right. She needs to be getting back, and you two need to be getting on your way. The sooner you start out, the sooner you can be back."

Makoto pulled back, then coughed slightly as Sailor Moon stopped her with an arm-pinning embrace. Makoto rolled her eyes and gestured Ami over with a jerk of her head, so that when Sailor Moon was finished with her, their leader could give Ami the same treatment. While they finished up, Makoto warmly clasped hands with Mars and Venus, as did Ami after. Then the two who would remain stood off while the three senshi made a smaller circle. Sailor Moon held the Silver Crystal out in front of her with a serious expression on her face, and when she let go it remained floating in the air between them. Makoto watched as they joined hands and started to teleport again, a few signs of strain evident in Sailor Moon's features this time as she tapped a little deeper into herself and the others, and made up for the rest with the Crystal. There was a light, they rose into the air, and there was a flash with a kick-up of sand that made Ami and Makoto shield their eyes. When they looked again, their friends were gone.

Ami and Makoto stood there for a long moment, staring out at a vast ocean that now seemed far emptier than it had before. They started off across the sand, and it didn't take long for them to fully appreciate the change in climate. Even the short trip to the shade of the jungle canopy had the sun beating down on them like a hammer, and then even the shade provided no protection from air thick with sticky, humid warmth. As Makoto cycled air that felt almost viscous in and out of her lungs, she breathed a quiet word of thanks for the handy resistance to natural elements that the senshi enjoyed; this would not be a very fun trip without that.

They traveled abreast of one another, though Ami led the way. Their position and direction had been marked while she had access to satellite information from her visor, and now they only had to head in the right direction with the sun as an infallible compass.

"So what is our plan, anyway?" Makoto asked eventually, after they had been walking for some time.

"We're going to walk to one of the cities and see about renting a vehicle, then drive inland by the main roads. We came in here," she held up the map for Makoto to see, "So I'm taking us to Rio De Janeiro," the point Ami referred to was a short distance to the west. It would probably take them the rest of the day to get there, by Makoto's reckoning—she did know something about reading a map.

"We'll take the main roads to Cuiabá, and see what we can dig up there, then we'll make our way north to Manaus and see what we hear there. It's not much of a plan, and we'll have to keep an ear to the ground wherever we are, but that's really the best we can do."

"Sounds good enough to me," Makoto said, adjusting her shoulder-strap restlessly as she walked, "I especially like the idea of getting a vehicle."

"What did you think we were going to do, hike a few hundred miles inland?" Ami chided gently.

"I hadn't really thought about it," Makoto admitted.

They reserved more of their breath for hiking for the next few hours. The area just around the coast was hilly, and made for rough going. Though Makoto was in excellent shape, it was still enough to have her huffing and sweating, and the occasional concerned glance to Ami found her in no better condition, but no worse as well. She must have kept up swimming along with her studies.

Finally they came to a main road, a blessed break in the anxiety-inducing uniformity of the environment. After brief consideration, they decided it would be better to travel on the side of the road, remaining hidden under the foliage. That was better than traveling on a blacktop in this weather in any case, and helped to prevent potentially unfriendly eyes from spying them. Better safe than sorry in assuming how wide the enemy's eyes and ears might be spread.

It turned out that there wasn't much cause to be concerned in this instance, as they didn't see signs of any other person on the road all the way to their destination. Even having grown up in one of the larger, busier cities in the world—-and having lived in the largest, busiest for the past few years--Makoto still found Rio De Janeiro to be a fantastic sight as they neared and finally entered it. The rolling, lively hills that shaped and surrounded the city and the crisp scent of the sea detectable even underneath the other smells of a large city gave it a distinct identity apart from the "big city" atmosphere she had come to expect. They weren't there on vacation, however, thought Makoto with a slight pang of regret, and the greater part of the city seemed nothing more than a blur as Ami talked her way to finding a vehicle rental agency. Makoto felt distinctly out of place as she just stood to the rear and wished that she knew what was being said. After some of what looked to be fairly intense discussion, they left with a decidedly appropriate-feeling Jeep. It looked worn, but Ami assured her it would go where they wanted it too. Makoto felt another twinge of inadequacy as she was faced with the fact that she had never learned to drive, but Ami was quite capable in this regard. When Makoto expressed some surprise at this, the other would only modestly comment that it had seemed like a good idea to learn while she'd been studying abroad.

This provided a diversion for the pair as they used the last few hours of the day to get started driving to Cuiabá, in that Makoto decided to learn how to drive. This made it so that they covered a tad less ground than they might have otherwise.

Clunk!

"A little easier, Mako-chan, don't be so nervous. I'm not grading you," Ami said kindly. Makoto's cheeks colored. The vehicle was standard shift, so this was necessitating a great deal of such clunking at the inevitable amount of stalling out that Makoto induced.

Makoto tried again, easing off the clutch and trying to feel it "bite" as Ami told her it would. The problem was, this wasn't the newest vehicle, and she was sure it quivered and jumped about more than most modern vehicles. It was hard to differentiate any of these particular feelings.

Clunk!

Makoto clenched her teeth as the jeep lurched yet again, shaking them both.

"It's fine, Mako-chan. Here, back into neutral, try again."

She sighed, pushing in the clutch and resetting the stick--she was getting good at this part, anyway. Taking a deep breath, she turned on the engine and started letting off of the clutch with painstaking care.

"Hold on, Mako-chan," Ami interrupted her. Makoto froze, and Ami leaned over, putting a hand on each of her knees. This, Makoto couldn't help but think, was highly unfair. She tried to pay attention to what Ami was trying to tell her.

"Okay, now just do what you're doing. I'll try to help you tell when everything is happening."

Makoto nodded shortly, and continued where she'd left off.

"My, you're a little shaky," Ami noted, not unkindly. Makoto rolled her eyes to the expansive blue sky overhead. She set her shoulders, though, and steeled her muscles to the sort of fine control she was supposed to have been honing for years. She raised her foot slowly, and when it was near halfway up Ami gripped her clutch knee without warning, holding it in place. In the same moment, she pushed her other knee down, signaling her to give the engine gas. Thanks to those signals, she thought she could even feel that "bite". To her pleased surprise, Makoto felt the car roll forward.

Clu-cu-cu-clok!

Then it lurched and shuddered and stalled.

"Almost there. Try again?"

"Do we really have time for this?" Makoto pointed out, flushed with both embarrassment and frustration with herself.

"I don't think time really matters in this, Mako-chan. If you want to think about the mission, it might be necessary for you to be able to drive at some point."

Makoto shrugged as though she didn't care any which way, but felt pleased. She wasn't quite ready to give up yet. Or ever, to think of it.

After that, she really did get the hang of the transmission quickly, knowing better what feeling to watch out for. Ami made sure it was second-nature to her before they stopped, though, taking her through upshifting and downshifting and stopping and reversing and so many stalls that Makoto thought she was going to be motion sick. As orange started to bleed into the sky and the bright disk of the sun was enveloped by the horizon, Makoto found herself confidently cruising down the road as though she'd been behind the wheel for years. It probably helped that there wasn't much in the way of traffic on the road or obstacles to maneuver around, but she thought that Ami was a damn good teacher. There was the slim probability that she herself was a decent student, but Makoto—usually among the most confident and self-assured of them--doubted this somehow.

She aimed a smile at the girl she was thinking so well of, and noted a sleepily content expression on the other's face.

"Hey, Ami-chan. As long as I can move this thing around now, you think we can save some time by driving in shifts?"

"Hmm? Oh, yes, that would be nice. I didn't think I would be this tired already."

"Go ahead and catch a few winks. We just need to stay on this road for a while, right? I think I can handle that."

"Probably so. Wake me in a few hours so I can check our position, though, just to be safe."

"You got it."

Ami nodded off easily, lulled by the background noise and motion of the engine. Makoto was still fresh enough to the road that she gave it much of her attention, so it came as a surprise when she felt a thump on her shoulder. Ami had slipped over without any other support and lay on a shoulder that shifted with every move of the steering wheel . Smiling warmly, Makoto got used to using her left hand to steer, thinking that this frustrating lesson had been good for more than learning how to drive.

Makoto softly pumped the brakes until the vehicle had come to a stop, trying to see how gently she could accomplish it. Ami still rested against her shoulder, breathing evenly. The headlights winked off. The moon was no more than a sliver in the sky, but the stars seemed preternaturally bright; even the night sky in the countryside of Japan had never seemed quite this alive with winking lights. Makoto looked fondly down at Ami. There wasn't much to see, Ami's new chocolate complexion not quite the "ivory moonlit" skin of prose. But leaning over she smelled the sweetness of Ami's hair and felt soft strands brush her lips and felt the warmth of Ami's cheek against her skin.

"Hey, Ami-chan, wake up," Makoto cooed, and blushed in the darkness at her own voice. That wasn't going to wake anybody up. She ruffled Ami's hair once more then reached her hand over, trailing fingers over Ami's neck and telling herself she was just feeling her way to the shoulder. Makoto gave her a gentle nudge, to which Ami stirred, and fell promptly back to sleep. She nudged more firmly, and the pressure on her shoulder lessened as Ami sleepily raised her head. Makoto could imagine her casting about aimlessly as her eyes adjusted.

"Mako-chan?"

"Yeah, it's been a while. You wanted to wake up?"

"Yes, yes I did," Ami yawned, stretching a neck sore from laying bent too long, "All the lights are off," she said in that questioningly matter-of-fact tone of one not quite awake.

"Er, I'm supposed to turn them off so I don't drain the battery, right?"

"They're usually okay for a couple of hours," Ami explained, and reached a hand into the backseat. She heaved her pack into her lap and pulled out the map and a flashlight. Makoto watched her open the booklet and aim the flashlight at it, flipping through a number of pages before she craned her neck back to look at the sky, "It's a lovely, clear night way out here."

Makoto smiled, "It is."

"What a perfect view of the stars."

"Are you going to tell us where we are with them, then?"

"I could," Ami nodded, "Or...," she rummaged in her pack for a few moments and came out with what looked like a little box with a screen. Makoto couldn't quite see what she was doing, but Ami leaned forward to the dashboard, and when she came away the device was attached, and the screen was coming to life. Soon, there was a little map there, with there position marked onto it, "Or I could use a GPS. Thats much easier."

Makoto blinked, "A... GPS?"

"Global positioning---"

"I know what it is," Makoto interrupted, not sure whether to laugh or thump herself on the head, "I just can't believe I let you convince me about all that navigation stuff when I should have known..."

"You were too busy thinking about roughing it in a forest, weren't you?" Ami said shrewdly, and Makoto winced.

"Maybe."

"Which may still happen, Mako-chan. I wasn't trying to pull one over on you. We don't know what might happen out here, and it wouldn't be a good idea to rely that much on electronics."

"Really?"

"Of course. These satellite signals can be detected by certain equipment, and also jammed."

"Wait, detected? Then were lit up like a flare out here? This, ah, doesn't seem like a good idea, Ami-chan."

"There are enough people with GPS that nobody is going to be looking for them. However, if the enemy were to find out that we were close by, and were using one..."

"Ah, I get it. So if that happens, you..."

"Go with celestial navigation. It takes longer, and forces me to bring along a bit of extra equipment, but it could be necessary."

"Gotcha."

"So for now, how about we trade places and you catch a little rest while I drive. I guess nothing interesting happened while I was asleep?"

"Not mu--"

A blood-chilling, screeching roar broke through the other ambient sounds of the rainforest—various insects and bird calls that Makoto had long ago tuned out with the aid of the motor.

"Oh my," Ami commented, her mouth dry.

"Hooray, jungle cats," Makoto tried to sound nonchalant, and didn't like how tight her voice sounded in her own ears, squeezed by a stomach clenched with sudden adrenaline release.

"Rainforest, actually, Mako-chan."

"Rainforest—jungle, whats the difference?"

"Trees. Jungles are mostly vines and low-growing plants."

Makoto rolled her eyes, though she felt herself calming down.

"Rainforest cats then. What lives here again, jaguars?"

"Jaguars are native to Brazil. They aren't known for molesting people, though. It should avoid the road."

"Should?" Makoto said before she could stop herself.

"Yes, should. Dot worry about it, Mako-chan. We'll be traveling to fast to worry about this for now."

"I'm not really worried about it now, but we're not going to be driving a jeep into enemy headquarters," Makoto mumbled. Ami wasn't sure what to say to that. They quickly switched seats, "I'm not sure if I'll be able to get any rest now, either. That woke me up just a hair bit," Makoto noted, feeling fidgety and restless now. Ami keyed the ignition and flipped the lights back on.

"You'll be out like a light after you calm back down. Whatever you do now, though, it's still going to take us the better part of a day, perhaps two, to reach Cuiaba; you'll fall asleep sometime."

Makoto at first doubted that she'd ever be able to relax--it was quite necessarily a human's first, instinctual reaction not to fall asleep after hearing the territorial roar of a lethal predator and all--but Ami proved right once again. As her body stopped screaming "Fight, run, fight, run!" at her, she found it hard to keep her eyelids up in the quiet that was left behind. She folded her hands in her lap and reclined her head against the seat and fell into a fitful doze, constantly starting awake every time the motion of the vehicle tipped her over to the side. She didn't think it was all that noticeable, until she felt Ami grab her sleeve and tip her over.

"A friendly shoulder makes for better rest, I found," Ami said kindly. Makoto sleepily smiled her gratitude, and fell into a much better slumber.

**************************************************

Makoto vaguely recalled awakening briefly when Ami stopped to fuel up in a small town, but it was like the skip of a stone on the surface of her memory. When she cracked her eyes open next, then, it was because of the first peeking of a warm sunrise over the horizon. It subdued the surrounding forest in darks of brown and green under the fiery majesty of the summer sun. The sounds drifting around her subtly changed as the calls of nocturnal life giving way to the daytime creatures. She shifted slightly, and saw the golden-orange light playing over Ami's face and making it the color of aged bronze. These little things were still a little shock when Makoto first saw them, in that period of sleep before she remembered where they were and what they were doing. This scene in itself, driving through a foreign country with a blazing new sun painting the world with Ami beside her looking so unlike Ami ever had, was almost enough to convince her that she had not in fact awoken, and still lay in the clutches of a most unusual dream.

"Good morning, Mako-chan," Ami spoke quietly, breaking the spell of Makoto's sedate mind. She squeezed her eyes shut tightly and opened them again; though everything looked the same in that second that passed, it felt once again like a normal world. Makoto sat up and winced as she tried to stretch up straight, a pain in the side of her neck yelling at her to take it easy for the moment. Ami saw the face she made from the corner of her eye and giggled, "You probably have it worse than I did, what with our height difference."

"God, I sure hope you didn't feel like this. I'd have to pop you for telling me to use your shoulder, if so," Makoto smiled to confirm the levity of her statement, but her lips drew back slightly and she rubbed the side of her neck before trying to stretch it again. Ami reached a hand over to try and work at the muscles there, but Makoto shrugged her away,

"Uh-uh, no trying to drive and give massages at the same time. That's just asking for trouble."

Ami put her hand back to the steering wheel, while Makoto put her hand to her stomach.

"All that, and I'm starving too. I can't believe I forgot about food yesterday."

"I had some of those cereal and dried fruit bars you made earlier, so I'm fine. Go ahead and grab some rations."

"Way ahead of you, Ami-chan," Makoto said around a mouthful, she'd started searching through the appropriate supply pack right after she first spoke. She was happy with how her traveling items had come out, and was also glad that Ami approved; no bland, terrible rations for this trip. Makoto looked at the deep brown fingers of her hand as she ate. It was rather amusing, she thought, that even with all the things that the military had put its time and effort into, and all the useful discoveries they made, military supply foodstuffs continued to be as unpleasant as they were. Perhaps it had something to do with the soldiering personality, she mused, finding a sort of camaraderie and boldness in various minor hardships. Certainly didn't seem to apply to her little band of "soldiers", but that wasn't quite the same thing. That thought struck a question as it formed. It really wasn't quite the same. Ami was no soldier, and Makoto suddenly found herself curious on one account.

"Hold on a moment, you told me that military rations didn't sit well on your stomach, but when did you ever have to live on army food?"

"I never had to live off of them, but my roommate back at school had a sibling in the Army. I'm not sure why, but he sent her some. Neither of us felt very well that night, as I recall."

"That explains that," Makoto nodded; "One mystery down."

"A mystery, Mako-chan?"

"Anything you don't know is a mystery, isn't it?"

"I suppose. If that's the case, however, we're both harboring a fair number of mysteries right now. Would it be alright we played a little detective to pass the time?"

"I... guess," Makoto answered hesitantly. Was this the same as "catching up," she wondered? "Ah, but first, could you stop for a sec, I have to use the, um, nearest bush."

Ami's eyelids fluttered in surprise, then she nodded and pulled over to the side of the road.

"Paper is in that side pack," she pointed, and Makoto nodded thankfully. She walked into the cover of a nearby cluster of brush and went about her business, the whole mess feeling slightly inappropriate to her urban sensibilities. She stepped back into the jeep and strapped her seat belt on.

"I think I'd prefer to remember to get this done when we're getting gas or something," she grumbled.

"May as well take the opportunity to get used to it, you never--"

"Know whats going to happen," Makoto finished for her, sighing, "I won't forget, Ami-chan, but I will complain now and again. So then, what was that you said about playing detective?"

"I'm just wondering what you've been up to the past few years, since, well... you know..."

"Right, right, I know."

"That's a bit of a mystery in itself, isn't it?" Ami started for a moment, having been so focused on talking that they'd been sitting on the shoulder for a few minutes. She started the jeep.

"What's is?" Makoto asked.

"That we grew apart at all, Mako-chan. What happened?" Makoto couldn't see the full extent of Ami's expression as her friend maneuvered back onto the road.

"You had to follow your dream, and I had to, er, not follow your dream," Makoto said stiffly. This was among the last things she wanted to think about, much less talk about, right now.

"Hold on, whats that supposed to mean? Mako-chan, I know you had your dreams too. What about the cake shop. Or the flower shop, surely you were able to make those happen?"

Makoto blinked. Those certainly had been her dreams; they still were at some level. She hadn't really thought about them in a while. "Sure, I guess I could have. I didn't, though; I decided that Usagi-chan needed my help more," Makoto explained. This wasn't entirely untrue. She had devoted her spare time after that to helping their Queen out. There was plenty for a bored senshi to do in Tokyo. Makoto had gone about making appearances at schools and public events, training palace guards--she'd gotten a lot of her teaching skills from there, just in time to unlearn them all when she decided that she wanted to teach children instead--and other such busy work.

"Really?" Ami didn't sound terribly convinced, and Makoto couldn't blame her. What was she supposed to say, though? At some point down the line, her dreams had become much more than what they'd started as. Suddenly her cake shop had a certain girl sitting at a table with a book and a piece of cake in the middle of the day, reading and talking and laughing while Makoto took care of orders and experimented with fun baking ideas. Or the florist shop, where through the front doors had walked her pretty friend to come smell the roses and Makoto had plucked out the prettiest one and given it specially to her, just to see her blush and smile. Makoto knew that at some point in her life, Ami hadn't been in those scenes at all, and they'd still been happy dreams. That wasn't the case now, though, and hadn't been for some time. Love-sickness shouldn't be any reason to have changed her life so much, but without even a friendly voice to say, "ah, theres always other fish in the sea," she'd never really gotten over it, and a broken heart was difficult to hold dreams in.

"Really," Makoto said finally, in a quiet tone that begged for an end to questions on the subject.

"Were you maybe trying to free up more of your time for, erm, somebody who reminded you of your long-lost senior?" Ami ventured cautiously, and a little wordily, as though she didn't want to go right out and ask the question directly.

"Huh?" Makoto looked at her blankly.

"You were so often falling in and out of love that I though, surely by now one of them must have been the right guy for you. Especially since they weren't all turning out to be alien nemesis and such."

"Oh, ha. I was a little flighty, wasn't I?"

"Mako-chan, Minako-chan is flighty. You, on the other hand, were a yo-yo."

"Oh come on, do you have to say it like that? So I had a few crushes, thats what young girls do." Especially when they're desperately wanting that normal fairytale romance, she thought. First there had been the puppy loves of a fair young maiden bursting with lively energy. It had been fun, then, to moon and swoon and giggle and gossip with Rei and Minako. Somewhere along the line, though--and it was strange to think about it all in retrospect now--it had stopped being so fun. It had started being... a necessity. She was a sweet young lady, and she should end up with the man of her dreams. At some point she'd even stopped trying to get to know the guys, and just fallen in "love" with the first charming fellow to express the slightest interest in her. Then the relationship would sour for some reason or another. All of them kind of blurred together for her now, all the single dates and two-week romances. No wonder they hadn't lasted long if they hadn't even been important enough to her to create even a single distinct memory. So she would end up single and despondent and seek Ami's company and feel better. Then go and repeat the mess again. A cycle of running to Ami and feeling better and more comfortable until she felt too better and too comfortable, then she had to run away again. It had been a terrible, wonderful day when she had finally realized that she was running away, and why.

"So what do slightly older girls do?"

"Tut-tut, I think its my turn to ask a question now," Makoto deflected smoothly, "Why don't you tell me, what do slightly older girls do? Did Ami-chan meet any nice gentlemen out in the world?" It was quite easy to fall into old habits, Makoto found. Talk about boys, be normal, she's your friend, and so on.

"I never was quite like you and Rei-chan and Minako-chan. Nobody caught my eye, and I guess I didn't catch anybody else's either."

"I find that hard to believe. You told me everybody else at the university was smart, too, so nobody could be intimidated by that any more. What's to stop them from asking you out?"

"I'm not sure," Ami said, keeping her eyes steadily ahead of her, on the road.

"You must have had the bad fortune to get there when everybody had lost their glasses, I can only assume," Makoto suggested, laughing.

"So you really never got another boyfriend this whole time, Mako-chan?" Ami asked, Makoto's joking mostly ineffectual.

"No, I really really didn't"

Inexplicably, Ami seemed to relax, and Makoto hadn't even noticed that she was tense. Azure eyes sparkled and lips formed a mysterious little smile, at least "mysterious" in that Makoto couldn't figure out what was so amusing about her not getting a boyfriend. She shrugged it off, not caring too terribly much. Ami hadn't gotten herself a boyfriend either, and that was the more important bit of news here. She'd stopped running away from feelings towards Ami, she accepted those, and now she had to stop running away from Ami's feelings as well. OF course, they were in the middle of a mission in a foreign nation, so perhaps this was a bad time to find out what Ami's feelings were. Instead Makoto moved the conversation to less personal things, talking with Ami about school and what it was like to live so far from home, while in turn Ami asked her about what it was like to keep living in Tokyo as it evolved right before her eyes into the seat of power for the entire world. When Ami put it like that, Makoto figured that it was probably a very interesting story, but since she actually had lived in Tokyo during this time, it seemed as mundane to her as any other long-term street construction project. It wasn't long before Ami's eyelids began to droop slightly, and Makoto suggested that they trade positions, and they once again switched off. Ami stayed awake long enough to guide them to a nearby small town, though, and visit a gas station. Makoto observed somewhat wondrously that they didn't seem to have to stop very often, and that she thought gasoline would have been more of an issue.

"Mako-chan, they don't call this a golden age of science and medicine for nothing, you know," Ami smiled, and showed her a small vial of additive that she'd been adding to their fuel purchases, "This gives us a significant boost in fuel efficiency, and reduces emissions by a few factors. Most fueling stations in the modern world have this already in their supply, but it hasn't gotten to everywhere yet." Ami's expression turned somber for a moment, "In fact, that's probably the sort of reason that this terror group has sprung up. That's only speculation, though."

Makoto didn't like Ami looking quite so bleak. "A truly wondrous age, and things are getting better all the time. Nobody's worse off than when Usagi-chan started. A little patience is in order; there's a difference between working miracles and doing the impossible. But a golden age of medicine, eh? Whats that do for your studies?" To her surprise, Ami actually cringed at the mention.

"Awful, terrible things. Pre-med is stressful enough without half of what you learn becoming obsolete on a regular basis."

"Such a wonderful era we live in," Makoto said magnanimously once more, and stuck her tongue out at Ami. It had the desired effect: Ami laughed at the absurd expression on her face. After that, Makoto drove while Ami slept again. They finally decided that the backseat would make a great place to sleep in, though, so there was no more Ami on her shoulder to enjoy, but she consoled herself with the thought of being able to sleep without worry of terrible neck pains next time around. Ami gave her a brief description of how the GPS worked as well, so she was able to use it at least well enough to locate Cuiaba, which it appeared they would arrive at before Ami awoke again.

**********************************************************************

Cuiaba was another interesting sight for Makoto as she approached. It must have been one of the flattest cities she'd ever seen, and one of the more oddly colorful. There were skyscrapers and towers, for sure, but nothing like the endless bristles of those glass and concrete edifices as existed in other big cities. In this case, those buildings just gave it a feeling of being busier than a town, just enough so that it might be called a city. It took her a while to determine what seemed odd about the coloration as well. She was used to all sorts of things, like old Tokyo and its brilliant signage overtaking the same shiny metallic silvers and dull brick brown and red as most other places of its type, or the new Crystal Tokyo with its light-breaking faceted appearance and beautifully colored mineral spirals, or even depictions of the famously large cities of the west, like New York and Mexico City, which were still in that same definite color scheme. This, however, incorporated creamy-hued walls and red-tiled roofs scattered among these usual constructions, all of which was coated liberally with a fantastical amount of sunlight and a capped with a cloudless blue sky. On the whole, it came across as feeling a terribly clean place, everything solid colors or pearly whites in the sun. It reminded her of the calmer areas of home; the little neighborhoods with traditional homes and streets where kids felt safe to play. The street would have a sidewalk that went by the apartment she used to keep, and she used to follow that sidewalk down towards Usagi's house where she could often encounter Usagi and Ami walking to school and accompany them.

That was quite some time ago. She shook her head from that reverie, and realized that she didn't know if she should enter the city or not, or where to go if she was supposed to head in. She pulled the jeep to the side of the road and reached behind her to shake Ami awake.

"Hey, we're here."

"Here?"

"Cuiaba."

Ami came more fully awake, then, sitting up and leaning over the passenger seat to get a better view of the city near in the distance.

"So what's the plan from here, Ami-chan?"

"We go into the city. Watch the locals, see how they react to strangers coming in. Not everybody will pay enough attention to realize that were not from around here, but pay attention to those that do. Of course, if they're any good at this, they'll know better than to show any reaction."

"Wait, who's 'they' in this case?" Makoto asked, wanting to be clear.

"The terror group, or anybody who supports them. If their headquarters is nearby, there's probably a reason for it, and the city might be involved. Getting supplies, or spreading propaganda. There could be enemy agents in the city, and they'd be naturally suspicious around now. Particularly of anybody Japanese, even Asian at all. I'm going to be doing my absolute best to disguise or at least obscure my accent, try not to give yourself away.

"You got it."

Makoto drove them into town, hands slick on the steering wheel for no good reason. What Ami had said had made her just a teeny bit nervous, and once again she found herself thinking almost fondly of the hideously lethal monsters they used to have as opponents. Ami asked around, and found them a cheap but nice hotel to stay at. This started the worst time for Makoto. Ami insisted that she needed to go out into the city to try and gather information, but refused to let Makoto accompany her, for fear of attracting suspicion.

"Look, either we admit you're a foreigner and they get curious as to where were from, or I say you're my mute bodyguard, and thats going to attract attention too. Mako-chan, trust me, if anything happens I'll contact you right away, but nothing is going to happen."

For once, this didn't prove to be a case of famous last words. For a week and a half, Ami went into the city and wandered around, stopping in at bars and cafes and stores and whatever other places she could think of to lurk for careless conversation. She talked about going to a mechanics shop on the pretense of inspecting the jeep and, besides the fact that the fellow tried to cheat her by telling her she had a problem that she didn't, he answered all her questions freely and without duplicity, saying that there hadn't been much traffic through here or strange looking people. The same went with librarians she spoke to, and the hotel staff, and storekeeps, and everybody else. There just wasn't any sign at all of unusual happenings going on around this place. At the end of that week and a half, Ami said that she was ready to give it up here. There might be something, but it was too big a maybe not to go and check out what the rest of this country, especially the other city the questioned gunman had told of, had to offer. They took a few days to stock up on supplies, feeling safe about buying a few more perishable foodstuffs so they could save the traveling rations for when they needed them. They also also purchased a couple of gas cans for emergency fuel.

Makoto couldn't have felt more grateful to leave that place behind, she'd been getting a little stir-crazy cooped up in a hotel for two weeks. Now, finally, she started on the twisting, circuitous path to Manaus.

The night sky pooled endlessly above a succulent, milky blueish-purple. Patchy, roiling clouds moved through like splashes of cream in a cup of dark blueberry tea. The stars may well not have existed, for all they could be seen, and if it weren't for the assurance of the GPS, Makoto would have sworn she was making her way around in circles, never leaving the city of Cuiabá; the suburban sprawl seemed to extend forever. Even when she finally made her way out of it, the only thing to really leave was the sight of the buildings themselves, the other signs of the city remained clearly with her. The land right outside the city she found to be highly cultivated, flat fields extending to the horizon in all directions. The noises of life were near nonexistent here. Makoto had not noticed how accustomed she'd become to those sounds until she came to where the encroaching presence of civilization hushed them. Strangely enough, with the suppression of jungle life and the masking of the stars, the drive felt lonelier than ever, and here she were closer to other people than she'd been before. There were even other people on the road, always coming clearly visible from miles away. Every time she saw one, she felt a tension that wouldn't abate until she saw twin red glows sinking away in her rear-view mirror. For one she was a new driver and still concerned that she might clip them as they moved by, no matter what past experience would suggest, and for another she suspected that the cloak-and-dagger nature of their activities were playing on her mind and making her somewhat more suspicious of anybody she met. Then she entered another section of urban development as she passed through a small city and passed through it into yet another featureless plain of plantations. It became darker out here again, though still quiet, and the highway led her to disconcertingly flat country. There was still domesticated land far to one side of the road, but around her was wild again. Not overgrown or forested, just quite flat with the occasional outcropping of trees. She shouldn't have been surprised that the entire country wasn't the same all the way around, but she was.

She started making her way north again, though, and things started to appear closer to what she had become used to. Once more it was forested on both sides, though there must have been yet more sprawl to the East, based on the glowing horizon. This was the most nerve-wracking portion of her driving shift; the light pollution played odd tricks on her. The fuzzy cone of the headlights was both a godsend and anxious frustration. On the one hand, they provided the only distinction between a road dyed midnight and the emerald shadow of the surrounding foliage, but they were also washed out enough by the permanent twilight that everything blurred together until uncomfortably close to her. Now and again another traveler would come around a bend obscured by darkness and appear to pop out from nowhere, always making her heart take a sudden leap to hold a nervous council with her tonsils.

If there was anything good to be said for all of this, she thought, it was that she was kept alert. The only problem with growing more comfortable behind the wheel had been growing too comfortable behind the wheel, which happened readily enough on long featureless highways. It approached morning as she approached the small city of Vilhena. As happens, it did indeed feel darker so near the dawn. Before she came into that next establishment of man, Makoto found herself oddly reassured by the sight of a storm rolling over the landscape to the west, the low cloud bank so far off that she could see it move quite swiftly. Occasional flashes forked to the ground, and if she listened carefully she thought she could even hear the growling of thunder rolling towards her. It was nice to see the Earth continuing its regularly scheduled activities, no matter how the artificial haze she crept through seemed to fight against it. She and Ami had agreed to change off after Makoto hit Vilhena, and she was starting to feel the strain of the drive once again. She wondered idly if it was easier driving during the day, but after that first night she'd taken they'd sort of fallen mostly upon her, and there were less people on the road, which was good for her. As tired as she was becoming, it took several seconds longer than it probably should have for her to process what happened next.

A sudden light assaulted her vision, making her blink and slow reflexively, though she kept going. She squinted in her mirror from whence the offending brightness originated, and uttered a startled oath as she came to recognize the unmistakably familiar red-and-blue pattern of flashing lights. Though she was certain she'd done nothing wrong, she felt a cold rush of adrenaline flow through her veins, and took a few calm breaths as she slowed.

"Ami-chan!" She said, loudly, turning to the sleeping girl in the back. The volume of her beckoning and what must have been significant alarm in her voice roused Ami quickly, and the pattern of lights further sped her awakening.

"Mako-chan? What did you do?"

"Nothing!" Makoto insisted, a defensive note in her voice, "I swear, you think I would chance speeding or something? Should we, uh, switch seats or something?" She asked helplessly. Ami considered, at last shaking her head.

"No, just sit tight, he can see us already and that would be like waving a guilty flag. I'll take care of this."

Makoto nodded mutely. The patrol car pulled up behind them and a figure stepped out and slowly sauntered towards them, obviously taking his time about it. He held up a flashlight and scanned it around the interior of the jeep. He fixed a stern look on Makoto, and started speaking rapidly. She looked back at him helplessly, unable to understand a single word he said, and from the looks of it he thought she was playing stupid, because his lips twisted into a frown. Thankfully, Ami spoke back at this point. Makoto wasn't sure what they exchanged, but Ami was suddenly translating for her that they were to step out of the jeep and put their hands on the hood. She gulped, wondering what was going on, but Ami looked deep in thought and Makoto didn't want to distract her from anything that could get them out of this mess. They stood with legs spread in front of the vehicle, and the officer moved to frisk them. Makoto had her gaze fixed on Ami's face, looking for any sign of reassurance, so she was in perfect position to see a sudden wide-eyed look of surprise in her eyes, and seeing the region the officer's hands were in when that happened, Makoto had a good idea why.

"Hey, watch it!" Makoto said warningly, before she remembered that he wouldn't understand her. He seemed to get the tone, however, and put a hand to the nightstick at high wast. She looked steadily in his eyes, though, and he gave her an appraisal, taking in her stature, as tall as he, as well as her breadth of shoulder and the dangerous menace in her eyes that belied any possible bluffing on her part. He frowned, and frisked her as well, though she noticed he did so swiftly and professionally. That didn't make up for anything, and she still had half a mind to teach him a lesson. She felt a brush on her fingers, and looked to see Ami's eyes entreating her for patience. He spoke again, and Ami turned about. Makoto took this as a sign that she could as well, and watched worrisomely as they exchanged. Ami looked the very definition of polite acquiescence, and after an apparent demand from the officer turned around to rummage in the glove compartment of the jeep. She returned with a few documents and a card, which Makoto assumed to be her driver's license. He looked through each in turn. Makoto saw his eyes light up and a grin form on his face as he did so, though she couldn't see what document it was that provided him such glee. He handed them back to her, suddenly quite amiable and polite. Makoto could not fathom his sudden reversal of behavior, but now he and Ami were carrying on like old friends. Ami offered him a polite bow, and he waved it away with good humour, walking back towards his patrol car and bidding them a cheerful farewell. Makoto raised an eyebrow.

"So...."

"I'll drive now, go ahead and get in the passenger side," Ami interrupted her. Makoto shrugged and walked around the jeep. Ami started the engine and they rumbled away, Makoto looking over her shoulder to see the officer drive in the other direction and turn down a side road she hadn't noticed, where he must have been lying in wait.

"What was that about?" Makoto demanded afterwards.

"He claimed you were speeding--"

"But I wasn't!"

"No, but he claimed you were, and was prepared to write a ticket all the same," Ami continued patiently, "It doesn't matter, though, as you're unlicensed and foreign. I, erm, politely convinced him that it was in his best interest not to."

"How did you manage that?"

"We're going to need to make a stop at a bank in Vilheno."

"Huh?" Makoto looked at her blankly, then recognition dawned on her, "Oh—ooooh. But, Ami-chan!" Makoto looked shocked.

"A little bribery is by far the lesser of the evils here, Mako-chan," Ami replied meaningfully.

"I don't know about that," Makoto frowned, "He stops us for no good reason, gropes you, and then walks away with ill-gotten money? I could have saved us the trouble--and would feel better besides--if I would have just given him a good bump on the head."

"And get a warrant out for the arrest of two foreign Asian women traveling on this highway, complete with license plate number and vehicle description?"

"Ah...," Makoto didn't have any good answer to that.

"A little bit of paper can make travel surprisingly easier in some parts of the world with some of the right people, Mako-chan. In this case, it might have been worse were we to have found one of the moral, upstanding members of the police force; you would have been enjoying a nice ride in the back of his car about now," Ami sighed, "I'm not very comfortable with it either, but we can hope that even a corrupt lecher like him has children to spend that money on."

"We can?"

"No, not really," Ami answered brightly, and Makoto couldn't help but smile.

"I'm going to bed," she laughed.

"I'll wake you when we reach the Madeiras."

"Madeiras?"

"The largest tributary river of the Amazon, we'll have to cross it at the city of Porto Velho."

"Gotcha."

"Okay, let me stop so you can--Mako-chan!" Makoto half-climbed, half-vaulted into the backseat of the moving vehicle, to Ami's alarm, "Don't do that!"

She chuckled and stretched out for sleep.

--------------------------------------------------------

"Big."

"Very."

Makoto sat back against the side of the jeep. Other vehicles, for whom the drivers were used to this sort of thing, sped by on the road behind them, but Ami had pulled over to the side and awoken her friend. Makoto was glad she had, as they looked over the coursing expanse of water. Makoto had seen rivers before, Japan had them in good supply. She had seen pretty blue, sparkling rivers. This was not one of those. She had seen--had been on--impressively swift rivers, coursing over rocks and spraying up in frothy fountains, this was not one of those. What this deceptively calm-appearing, muddy brown river had, however, was immensity. Lakes were large, the sea seemed endless, but this amount of water, all seeming to move with singular, unstoppable purpose, was impressive it its own way. The air seemed even heavier here somehow, the bank mud smelled earthy and rich Makoto loosed a low whistle.

"And you said this was just a tributary?" she asked.

"Yes. The largest tributary, to be sure, but still a tributary."

"Right."

"We'll cross the Amazon itself right before Manaus."

"I'll look forward to it."

While they looked, Makoto had the nagging suspicion that something was missing.

"Ami-chan, there's no bridge."

"We're taking a ferry. Bridges over all the big rivers in the delta area would be rather expensive."

"Ah, right."

They moved out a few minutes after, making a short stop at a shop along the bank so Ami could ask the locals about who would be able to ferry a vehicle for them. Ami looked somewhat concerned when she saw the ferry, while Makoto knew exactly what to make of the "worthless rust bucket!" Ami said that it had been highly recommended, though, and that it had apparently had better fare and schedule than the other, more reputable-appearing ferry's in the area. They saw other passengers boarding without apparent worry as well, so they decided, with some harbored misgivings, to continue. It was a good enough sign to Makoto that the vessel still floated as the jeep slowly pulled onto it. However, while they stood at the edge during the twenty-or-so-minute trip, they both patently refused to lean on the guardrail and set their tires back onto solid ground with noticeable relief.

Makoto drove now, and settled in for the long haul. They were about ten hours away from Manaus now, and most of it on one long, straight highway that she drove down with a certain sense of unease. To be sure, there was plenty to be concerned about, especially with the brand-new concern of corrupt authorities lurking to detain her. What she thought most about was the upcoming stay in Manaus. Makoto didn't relish being confined once again to a hotel room while Ami went out and played the part of the infiltrator; it was maddening how restless she had felt the last time, or rather, how useless. And worried. For herself, of course--were something to happen to Ami, Makoto was fairly well defenseless out here, her only real recourse at that point to call the others on her communicator and wait for reinforcements. But more so for the event that would make that necessary, something happening to Ami. Makoto could think all she wanted to about how the both of them were unrecognizable and that nobody would see them as a threat, but when it came to her friend she suddenly lacked conviction in that reasoning; also, that reasoning didn't account for thieves, muggers, murderers, rapists, or any number of those other delightful aspects to mankind that were quite apart from political avengers.

Wind coursed over her frowning lips and she licked them as they dried. The chap stick was in the backseat, but Makoto wasn't overly concerned about her lips right now, though the object of her concern was in the backseat as well. She glanced over her shoulder at Ami's calmly sleeping face and felt so profound an ache as to be physically manifest, her hands tightening on the wheel and a grimace stretching her lips. She rolled her shoulders uncomfortably, and with frustration. Why in the world, she asked herself, did everything seem so simple when it was a handsome stranger who made her feel all funny inside, while everything became so complicated when it was her best friend? Or perhaps, she wryly observed, that had more to do with the latter making her feel far funnier than the former had.

Casting her eyes restlessly over the dashboard she lamented, not for the first time, that the vehicle they were using lacked a radio. The novelty of driving and the foreignness of the country had ceased being engaging quite a while ago. While she was worried about what would happen after they arrived, Makoto was simultaneously glad that they would finally be stopping somewhere for good, or at least they didn't have any plans right now for traveling afterwards, except to go back home.

-------------------------------------------------------------

Finally, the end was coming into sight. Or rather, as she determined a goodly time later, only the river was. The memory of the Madeira remained fresh in her mind, and she soon concluded that it also distorted her judgment. The term "tributary" came into full context as she approached, seeing the Madeira feed itself into this new behemoth. Untold other shining, serpentine bodies undulated from the jungle to join as well; creating some joyous gathering of life where the buzz and chirp and screech of insects and birds and animals rose into the air with renewed vigor from the thick, luscious growth of this vibrant place. There also, kin to the great river in sheer size, stretched the city of Manaus. Capital of the Brazilian state of Amazonas, so Makoto had been informed, it hugged the bank of the river like a crown atop its head, spires of glass and steel rising majestically and set with gems made of reflected sun. The sight enchanted Makoto and drew her eyes while she drove alone on the highway.

A flash of movement back to the front caught her eye, and she snapped her head forward to see some small, furry shape skitter onto the road and stop to stare at impending death zooming towards it. Panicking, Makoto did what many would do, and slammed her foot onto the brakes. The jeep had excellent traction, so did little more than skid partway to the side, but the sudden cut in motion threw Makoto forward and locked the seatbelt, which cut painfully into her shoulder and waist. She heard the tires squeal in protest and numerous thumps from the back, the seconds after seeming deathly quiet in contrast. Makoto hadn't even made out whatever it was that caused the whole mess, although there was a good chance she wouldn't have recognized it even if she had gotten a good look. Realizing belatedly that she was parked sideways across both lanes of traffic, she slowly limped her way to the shoulder. She heard shuffling from the backseat as she did, and looked back after she had parked. The backseat itself was bare, the floorboard covered with two heavy packs. One of which was moving as Ami struggled to emerge from underneath it. Makoto, chagrined, helped her heft it and set it on the seat. Ami sat up and shook her head and, upon seeing the other's embarrassed, apologetic face, fixed Makoto with a look that spoke volumes, most of them entitled things like "Peeved" and "Displeasure" in bold, bright golden embossed script on severe black leather covers.

Ami drove the rest of the way in, though she was mollified some amount after Makoto explained what had happened.

"It's pretty enough to have woken up for," Ami commented with a forgiving smile. Makoto, watching Ami watching the scenery, of course agreed.

They found a much better ferry service to take them over the Amazon, which was a significantly longer trip. Makoto shook her head in amazement as they passed a small island in the middle of the river that looked to be about as wide as the Madeira had been. They moored at the ferry dock and drove down the ramp, at which point Ami started looking for a good hotel, and Makoto started worrying again, though with Ami's apparent concentration on her task she didn't feel comfortable saying anything yet. She finally found a location to her liking. It included an attached parking garage which provided the only really feasible parking in the area. Makoto grabbed their bags and waited in the lobby to save them the trouble of lugging the things all the way from the garage, and Ami went to park. After they had gotten a room and walked into it, slinging their bags to the floor and both falling face-first on the bed, Makoto discovered in herself a far, far more pressing concern than what might come later.

"I'm taking a shower," she announced.

"Ah, no fair! I was just about to say that," Ami pouted. Makoto opened her mouth to voice a bright solution, liable to halve the time it would take them to shower separately, but thought better of it. Unfortunately, the "thinking better of it" bit of the matter was up for debate--heated debate--in her mind for quite some time after. Nevertheless, she took the first shower; she was not going to give that up.

"Oh my," Makoto breathed luxuriously later, a shiver running up her spine. An honest-to-goodness shiver, brought on by a room exquisitely chilled by a smoothly running air conditioner.

"'Oh my,' what? Oh, my frozen nose?" Ami laughed. Whatever she said, Ami also lay on the bed garbed only in her pajamas. Damp hair splayed out across her crossed arms. Makoto's own hair still hung in limp, frizzing curls down her back. Fatigue had gripped her with surprising suddenness, a hot shower and soft bed quickly draining the will to do anything. She did, however, know what that would mean tomorrow morning, and so had fished out a brush. Suppressing a yawn, she moved her arm back. Fingers enclosed her wrist; she glanced back.

"Would you mind?" Ami asked, moving as if to take the brush. Makoto nodded wordlessly, letting go. Ami started to gather the sodden mass and begin gently pulling out the tangles that had formed.

"You look tired, Mako-chan."

"Isn't that a shame?" Makoto replied, "You're the one who needs to be getting a good night's rest, but you just woke an hour ago."

"I need?" Ami slowed her brushing.

"You've got your work cut out for you here, Ami-chan. Did you see the size of this city on our way in? It's like somebody put a regular city on a rubber sheet and stretched it way out."

"True, we may have some trouble. At least there's no press for time."

"'We?'" Makoto echoed, "I don't see what trouble I'm going to have, besides trying not to go out of my mind from boredom and worry."

"Oh, worry?" Behind her, Makoto failed to see the smile playing over Ami's lips and dancing behind blue eyes.

"Of course I'll be worried!" Makoto said hotly, "Twiddling my thumbs safe and sound here while you're out there doing who knows what; no guarantee that you'll answer the phone when I call because you don't want to speak Japanese in public, waiting the rest of the time on pins and needles for you to call me. You know, just what am I supposed to do if something were to happen to you? I wouldn't even know about it! I don't know what I would do if something like that--" a catch in her throat broke her sentence, and she coughed to cover it up. In that brief amount of silence that she afforded herself, Makoto noticed a gentle bubble of amusement coming from behind her.

"What's so funny?" she demanded, twisting her neck back.

"I'm sorry that you had to worry about me so much," Ami smiled warmly, "but you'll be coming with me this time."

"You mean I'm not going to be closed away in the room until we're done?" Makoto questioned, grateful but surprised, "What's changed?"

There was a tug on Makoto's scalp as Ami self-consciously twirled a dark lock of hair about her finger, "The city changed. Manaus is one of the main centers of tourism here. Two more foreigners aren't going to make any difference. Besides... you weren't the only one worried when I was out alone before, I'll feel better with you nearby." Abashed, Ami ducked her eyes. Makoto didn't reply. She watched the delightfully bashful expression on the other's features long enough to realize that she was staring, and turn back around.

"Ah, well, that's good," she said simply, feeling Ami work with her hair again. Her friend had eased out the tangles and now pulled the brush through in long, slow strokes. Much as Makoto enjoyed the attentions, her eyelids grew weighted and every blink became a chore to reverse, until between one closing and opening Ami's hands were linked around her stomach.

"Huh?"

"I'm sorry, you must be sleepy," Ami said apologetically.

"Oh, no, Ami-chan, I---" she cut herself off with an implacable yawn that pried her jaws and refused to be swallowed. She finished with a sheepish grin, "Maybe a little weary."

"I'll quit playing with your long, curly hair then," Ami said, spilling dried, silky strands through her fingers, "But I just may continue to be jealous of it."

Makoto widened her eyes. "Jealous, of this mess? I remember reading somewhere that only the very cutest girls can have short hair," Makoto raised her hand to Ami's temple to playfully ruffle a few of her blue locks, then let her fingers linger curled upon her cheek, smiling gently. Ami blinked at her, cheeks slowly suffusing with color over the course of a few seconds, and Makoto's hand twitched away in surprise.

"Y-you don't say," Ami said shyly.

Makoto awkwardly fumbled about for the right words. "I think it's true." She wished for a more poetic assurance, or at least a more confident one. To her quiet astonishment, Ami greeted her words with an almost girlish smile and shrug. Makoto wondered how much of her surprise showed; Ami turned away from her gaze and stood. She turned off the room light, inking the room in deep indigo and black and pale gold as the city lights leaked in around the half-drawn curtains.

The soft bed barely shifted under Ami as she settled back in. They slid under the sheets and the secure weight of the comforter.

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Something icy cold pressed against the back of her neck. Makoto twitched involuntarily forward, hunching her shoulders against the unwanted sensation. Sleepily, her first thought was of Luna trying to wake her. Then she realized that the object was still there, and it had none of the cat's gentleness. It was cold, hard, and unmistakably metallic, and she heard the quick breath of people in the room who were not Ami.

A man's voice, gravely and hoarse, spoke aloud in the room. The voice dripped smugness, and she guessed that he knew she was awake, given away by the change in her breath. Slender fingers interlocked with her own for a reassuring squeeze, telling her that Ami was awake as well, without chancing antagonizing their visitors. The thick, stubby barrel of a small pistol jabbed repeated against Makoto's back, accompanied by a string of unpleasant-sounding, if unintelligible, words.

Ami spoke up next to her, softly replying. Makoto was by no means an expert, but the language sounded just slightly different to her, not so... nasally as she remembered from their time in Brazil thus far. She wondered whether it was some different dialect. They continued talking back and forth, and the man holding the gun to Makoto seemed to become more agitated. The other, for Makoto swore that she'd heard another breath in the room before it had gotten so noisy with talking, had yet to speak. The barrel was removed from her neck, and she felt the tip of it drag over her shoulder. Through her trained detachment to the threat, she felt a cold flush of fear, followed by a glowing spike of anger as she realized he was probably turning the weapon to Ami.

"He's going to turn on the light," Ami told her, falling back into Japanese, he warns us not to move, his partner has a weapon trained on us as well."

"Ami-chan, what's going o--" a rough voice barked out a clear warning to stop her chatter, and Makoto pursed her lips. The light flickered on, revealing two swarthy men who looked to be in their later years standing in the room. They wore the uniforms of the hotel staff, and held two small arms steadily at them. Makoto swallowed with a dry throat as she observed both of them had nothing to obscure their faces. Criminals of any kind, whether these were the enemy she sought or not, didn't leave behind witnesses to identify them. Makoto met the speaker's flinty, dark eyes with her own undisguised hostility.

He spoke again, gesticulating with his free hand. "Hands where he can see them," Ami translated, slowly bringing her arms out from under the covers. From their laying position, they raised their hands to the top of the headboard and were made to hold them there. Ami glanced over at her and spoke further, "He also says that you have a respectable lack of fear of them, being only a simple tourist girl suddenly faced with two armed men in her sleep."

Makoto filed that away to feel bad about later; in this case, she also wondered if it really mattered. She imagined that even had Ami's story held water with them, they wouldn't have had any qualms about removing them anyway.

He spoke again, laughing, then paused for Ami to translate. His eyes were fixed maliciously on Makoto's, and he was clearly enjoying this little game, watching her face as his words were related to her. She turned her head slightly to look at Ami as she spoke. Her blue eyes were filled with revulsion.

"He says that it doesn't really matter what I say, though. If we are here to cause trouble for them, there's a chance that we'd never admit it. It we're just innocent tourists, it's a shame, but... he says, at least we're a couple of pretty, ripe young tourists."

The implication was clear. Somewhere beneath a welling of horror from a less worldly part of her heart, though, Makoto felt a surge of triumph. Her mind had been searching fruitlessly for something to do should these two want to just shoot them where they lay, but if they were determined to try and have their fun first, that would mean getting closer. Evidently she had been right about one thing, even she, clearly tall and strong for most women, looked fairly nonthreatening when she wasn't tossing lightning about. That might be the one thing about to keep them alive today. She briefly considered trying to screw her face up into some semblance of fear, but kept up her genuine front of repugnance and loathing for the distasteful pair. He only laughed, though, and gave Ami one last thing to translate.

"'Fine by me,' he says, 'I like to play rough, and scared little waifs aren't very good at that.'" Ami spoke calmly, but Makoto recognized the danger in her gaze. The frosty element had left her eyes, and now coursed through them like a river engorged and unstoppable with thawed ice. Ami didn't anger easily or often, but this was apparently enough for her. The man walked towards the edge of the bed. He changed grip on the pistol, holding it with his left and jabbing it into her gut through the covers in clear warning. His tongue flicked over an oily smile, and he raised his hand to her face, cupping her chin, then cheek. Roughly, he pressed two of his fingers against her lips. She pursed them at first, resisting. He increased the force, bruising her lips against her teeth and making them feel as though they might split. Briefly, she wondered how long she might survive, and in what kind of condition, after a gut shot. Enough to dispatch him and the other and keep Ami alive, she somehow doubted. Swallowing a rise of bile in her throat, she parted her lips for his calloused hands and he swirled them sickeningly in her mouth, manipulating her tongue and stroking the sides of her cheeks. Hate continued to emanate from emerald eyes, but he had stopped caring. She longed for, prayed for some kind of slip, preferably before he went too much further, and to her hastily concealed gratitude she got it. His gun hand relaxed, and slowly started to migrate back towards himself and the sudden activity in his trousers.

Makoto sensed Ami stiffen up beside her, and she carefully moved her foot over to tap Ami's, hoping to somehow convey a reassurance. She focused her attention on his face, as though all she could think about was being angry at him, not noticing his other activity. She felt the barrel slip over her stomach, and immediately acted before he had a chance to consider his mistake. She ground down with her teeth, hard enough to to feel an infusion of salty copper in her mouth, and brought her hands down to trap the man's trapped limb in an arm-lock that she forced unmercifully until she heard a loud snap.

Expecting any moment to feel the shock of a bullet in her side, she glanced over to see Ami rolling off the bed and into the other man's legs. He fired one shot downward before falling over, and Makoto's heart stopped. Forgetting the man slumped in agony over her lap, she pushed him off and leaped over the side of the bed to join in the tangle of limbs that he and Ami had become. He tried ferociously to fight them off, his flailing arms and legs scoring a few painful blows on the two girls, but Makoto managed to find his his face and, unable to think of anything cleaner and more appropriate, punched him repeatedly until he became a little more docile. Ami found his gun and held it to his temple as he lay groaning, blood seeping from his nose and lips. Makoto cautiously ventured to the far side of the bed now, but found the other fellow still cradling his arm. He still held the gun, but Makoto was on him before he could release his ruined joint and ready the weapon. She gave the injured arm a cruel twist and the gun fell from his suddenly nerveless grasp. He didn't scream, just hissed in pain. Makoto might have felt a grudging admiration for that, if she hadn't seen so many of his other qualities recently.

"What now, Ami-chan?" she called. Makoto's breath came in deeply, and evenly, though her stomach was clenched almost painfully tight with adrenaline and fear and fury, "Do we call the police?"

She met Ami's gaze over the bed, and the other woman winked slowly and deliberately at her.

"Probably so, Mako-chan. That's not what I'm going to say next, though." Ami spoke in their language again. An uncharacteristically rough tone edged into her voice, and she capped the performance with a harsh laugh.

"What did you say?"

"I said that the police were probably corrupt and in their pocket, and wondered aloud how we might best dispose of them." Her voice held that same tone, and it took Makoto a startled moment to remember that such things transcended language; she'd used that to her own advantage earlier.

"Do you think the police really are on their side?" Makoto asked gruffly, trying to get into the act.

Ami chuckled darkly. "No, they're likely decent officers here to protect and serve the citizens."

Makoto nodded slowly, "So that is the plan?"

"More or less. I think we could stand to ask them a few questions first."

"Ah, but if they think we're going to 'dispose' of them anyway...."

"We're going to see how much further our new thespian skills can take us. Mako-chan, would you do me a favor and transform?"

Despite the gravity of the situation, Makoto had to suppress a giggle at Ami speaking politely with such an abrasive voice. She complied. The feeling of lightning in her veins and filling her heart was a welcome confluence to the anger in her breast.

"Move him over here, let's get them together."

Sailor Jupiter moved him--none too gently--over to his companion. Ami stood and walked with designed arrogance to Jupiter's side. Though having no experience with them herself, and certain that Ami did not either, she thought that her friend held the firearm with a decided air of menacing command.

"Hold up a hand and glare at them. Smile wickedly, if you can manage it."

Jupiter managed, somehow, and Ami spoke to them. She spoke lowly, and at length. The men grew more and more concerned looking, by turn bringing hands up to clutch at their throat, their stomachs. Their eyes later blinked in uncomprehending horror, and the one with two hale arms clutched the the junction of his legs and whimpered shamelessly.

"Most people are quite frightened of lightning, and what they believe it can do to them," Ami noted. Sailor Jupiter resisted the urge to glance sidelong at her, wondering if she really wanted to know what Ami had said to them. As her friend had observed, they were very much terrified by whatever electricity-induced terrors Ami had promised, and babbled and rambled seemingly endlessly, Makoto unable to pick out a word. Ami listened intently, however, and asked a few pointed questions. Smiling in satisfaction, she turned to Sailor Jupiter and nodded shortly and barking a rough order in the language before translating it for her. Ami turned her back to the men,"Lights out for these two, if you would. I promised them a quicker demise if they cooperated, but do keep them alive."

Jupiter gave them both measured blows to the base of their skulls, and checked their eyes for consciousness. She saw Ami getting dressed, and with a little reluctance was at her side in a moment, changing from her pajamas as well.

"So now what?" Makoto asked.

"Is there a laundry drop nearby? I would prefer that we have no connection to these two, and just drop an anonymous phone call."

"I'll go check."

Makoto went into the hall and looked around. She failed to find anything so enjoyable and anonymous as a laundry hamper, so they made do with stashing the pair in the stairwell. Ami also grabbed a bottle from the mini bar in the room and splashed its contents liberally about them. She grimaced at the price tag--somewhat ridiculously, Makoto thought, until it was translated to yen for her, in which case she sputtered a bit as well.

"Now then, I'm going to check us out. That shouldn't look to unusual, it's early morning now," Makoto glanced at the clock when Ami said that, surprised to find that it was past four in the morning, "I'll just say that we want to avoid traffic on the way to the river boat dock."

"Are we going to another hotel, then?"

"No, we actually are going to the river boat dock. Our guest told me where our enemy is quartered, it's around a smaller city known as Belém, near where the river opens to the sea."

Makoto exclaimed disbelievingly, "All the way back across the country!"

"Yes. At least we're not driving this time."

After a few frustrated moments, Makoto could only return Ami's sweet smile, "Good thing those gentlemen stopped by to give us directions. Saved us all kinds of trouble in the city."

The pair quickly finished dressing and packing and wandered downstairs, trying to appear sleepy, but excited like fresh-faced tourists. Feeling oddly guilty hurrying from the hotel in the middle of the night, Makoto followed Ami to the jeep, and they drove to the nearest dock. They learned a boat would be leaving for a dawn trip in less than two hours, so they settled in to wait on a small bench facing the river, eschewing the interior of the river tours lobby. There they kept both an eye out for other enemies, neither needing to speak the possibility that they were still being watched, and managed to find a peaceful enjoyment as the morning sun rose brightly above the city and pooled beautifully into the running river water. It wasn't long after that before their transportation arrived. It was a tall river boat; rustic, yet reassuringly solid and clean-appearing. Just like something out of an old movie or book, which was probably part of the business's appeal. The boarding ramp lowered, and Ami and Makoto were the first to board today. They put their things in the small bunk room they were directed to. Makoto felt restless still, knowing that she should probably get some more rest, but having already gotten enough to be wide-awake. She told Ami that she was going to the deck, and was pleased to find her friend by her side. They stood at the rail and watched the other travelers board, and enjoyed the first exhilarating period of travel together in dawn's light.

"It's all very real, isn't it, Mako-chan?" Ami said suddenly, eyes fixed pensively on the floor. They were back in their bunk below deck. Makoto was busy trying to jam some of their luggage into an overhead compartment to save some space. They were welcome to two thin, firm cots fixed into the sides, on the walls, with barely enough room for them each to stand between if they wished. Ami was perched on the edge of her cot, and Makoto couldn't see her face from where she stood.

"What do you mean?" A side of Ami's pack started to slide out, and Makoto had to hurriedly press it back in before it dragged the rest with it. She strained her attention to follow what Ami was saying.

"Everything. There really are people in the world, organized people, that hate us."

Makoto paused now in her activity, wondering at the catch in Ami's voice. All during their mission so far, Ami had been the logical voice of reason, to the point of being cold at times. She'd almost neglectfully tossed out cautionary warnings about their safety and the chance of one of them not making it back home. Makoto had found it unsettling, in truth.

"Looks like it." Makoto sat down next to Ami and tossed an arm around her shoulder for a little hug. Ami acknowledged it with a twitch of her lips and no more.

"Maybe I shouldn't be so surprised."

"No? I sure was," Makoto replied genuinely. "You can babble on philosophically about human nature all day, but seeing it in action really does make it more real."

Makoto kept her pulled close. Words could only do so much. Makoto felt the desire to be close to her friend as well, after everything that had happened; if she could only find comfort in doing to comforting, well that's the way it was going to be. The previous night had been much a blur, fighting and fleeing and no time to think about anything more. Makoto now found the events settling in around her shoulders like an uneven weight, and she rolled her shoulders uncomfortably. As though the same thoughts coursed through her mind at the same time, Makoto felt Ami start under her. She turned up to Makoto, panicked concern written on her face and fists tightened hunched in chagrin.

"Mako-chan! What was I thinking?"

"Slow down, what did you think?" Makoto replied, mind whirling with grim possibilities.

"The enemy knows for sure there are senshi in the country now, or they will. I had you transform right in front of them. If they have any way at all to contact the others...." Ami scored her lip with little teeth. Makoto's breath tightened with the realization, too.

"Even if they can't," Makoto started slowly, "The enemy might try to find them. Even the good officers might go around telling stories about the drunk bums yelling about Sailor Jupiter, if they say anything to the police." Try as she might, the scenarios in which the rest of the enemy found out about this far outnumbered the slim potential for it remaining hidden.

"Mako-chan, do you think they could pick you out in a crowd?"

Makoto bit back a string of unpleasant language, but thought about it. "I'm not sure. Between my hair being down and the darkened skin, I don't think they'd know me if I was back to normal. It'll be a while before this skin-tone dye wears off, though. If we run into those same two again, I'm really not sure."

"A little more disguise work, then," Ami sighed. "I'm so sorry. I wasn't thinking clearly at all."

"I wasn't thinking clearly either, Ami-chan, you're not alone in that," Makoto replied gently. "If those two had tried to lay a single slimy finger on you," Makoto's eyes darkened, but tried to shove the idea from her mind. She put forth a more confident front. "Forget coherent thought last night, I was just disappointed you were only making empty threats." Makoto grinned self-consciously.

"That did shake me badly," Ami admitted, "Seeing you and that...." Ami shuddered under her arm and Makoto held her even closer.

"Probably luck for them him that I broke his arm, then."

"Huh?" Ami blinked uncomprehendingly at Makoto's odd statement.

"Who knows what you might have done to the poor guy if he'd gone any further. The way you had them cringing and cowering, I'll bet they would have had a terrible time with you."

Ami flushed under Makoto's broad grin. She smiled shyly back, and looked thoughtfully over Makoto's shoulder. Makoto looked behind her, but Ami reached back and grabbed hold of her hair.

"Mako-chan, have you ever thought of braids?"

A short while later, Makoto was inspecting Ami's handiwork in the small bathroom's mirror. Her hair had been divided into two long braids, even longer than normal as it was pulled straight from its curls; then the braids had been doubled up on themselves to make two loops hanging to just below her shoulder blades. It certainly made her hair look shorter. Ami had even, with a comb and a bit of water, teased her curly bangs flat against her scalp. Nobody would call her hair curly nor long now, and the color was far from remarkable.

It may have been good for a disguise, but Ami still laughed at the way Makoto's face subtly changed the longer she looked at her reflection. "It might not be the best look in the world," Ami admitted, "But you're hidden, right?" Makoto raised an eyebrow at the mirth that accompanied the words.

"So how about you? They saw you as well, Ami-chan."

Ami didn't look altogether concerned. "I'll just bunch my hair up under a wide hat. We could do that for you too, if you wanted a little cut...?"

Makoto reflexively put a pair of protective hands to her braids, "Ah, that's okay, Ami-chan." Riled slightly from her thwarted hair-based retribution, Makoto asked another question on her mind. "So how long are we going to be on this boat?"

"Four or five days, depending on the weather," Ami said. "No longer than a week, for sure."

It turned out to be five days. On the way a passenger fell sick and an extra stop had to be made at a nearby town that delayed them for a time. Nobody else suffered any ill effects, so it appeared to just be misfortune on that woman's part. Makoto and Ami took a lesson from their recent experience and slept in shifts, much as they had when driving. Makoto remained wary, any one of their fellow passengers could have been unfriendly; if Ami's warnings hadn't sufficed to make Makoto distrustful before, she certainly was now. Ami also continued to obviously berate herself over what had happened, despite all of Makoto's attempts to disabuse her of that guilt. It seemed all the extra time for thought wasn't being put to any positive use by her quiet friend.

The constant stress and her frustration with Ami's low spirits gnawed away at Makoto's nerves. She felt her own stab of guilt whenever that would influence her to snap irritably at Ami, but even more so at how Ami seemed to accept it as something she was deserving of. That, at least, helped Makoto to learn to keep her mouth shut. Instead, she often turned to chasing her own thoughts. A gradual understanding of her friend came through those times. Ami was lauded as Sailor Mercury, the Senshi of Wisdom, the smart one, the genius. Now, she was fully convinced of her failure in all of those qualities. Makoto thought she was being far too hard on herself, but nothing she said seemed to make it through to her. What do I have to do to make her understand? Ami was determined to be harsher on herself than anybody else would be. All Makoto wanted right now was to be close to Ami, after the close call they had experienced, but at the same time she couldn't bear to be with her like this. Makoto ended up spending a good deal of the trip downriver on deck, while Ami stayed below. They were q quiet, gloomy pair that disembarked in Belem.

"Another big one," Makoto said neutrally. Ami nodded, though she didn't offer her usual little exposition on the particulars of this city. Makoto wondered if that was because she wasn't as familiar with a city they hadn't planned on visiting, or if she just didn't feel like talking. They traversed the city streets of this newest metropolitan monster and rented another vehicle, conveniently spying a little thrift store on the way from which Ami purchased a wide-brimmed hat that she could tuck just about all her hair under. She was short enough compared to the rest of the populace, too, that most had to be either stooped or rather youthful to actually see her hair--or the rest of her facial features, for that matter. A pair of sunglasses for Makoto at the same location completed their almost comically stereotypical, but quite effective disguises. They took of in their new transportation, a little gray economy car this time. Makoto felt it rather cramped after the roomy jeep. They threw their stuff in the back and started off down the streets. In this fashion she hoped that they were making their way through the city in some amount of anonymity.

Ami took them to the highway, eating a good half-hour just getting East through the city congestion, but then exited to country roads where they made good time. South along the country and across a bridge was the path Ami spoke of; they had to stop at a few rural homesteads to ask directions, not all of the lesser-traveled roads had made their way into the GPS system. Makoto kept an even closer eye on Ami than usual. She displayed her concerns in the twitches of her lips and the restless movement of her idle hand. Makoto didn't ask and Ami didn't venture, but the former got the feeling that they were very close to their destination. For no readily apparent reason, Ami pulled the car over to the side of the road, confirming those suspicions.

"This is where we have to get out, Mako-chan."

Makoto nodded, and opened her door without another word, after a moment's thought tossing her sunglasses atop the passenger seat after herself. she felt she would need to keep a sharp eye out from here, and those wouldn't help. Ami's wide woven hat glided to the floorboard as her friend got out as well. Makoto retrieved her pack from the backseat and slung it over her shoulders almost carelessly, trying to appear nonchalant. In all reality, Ami's odd demeanor continued to worry her far more than anything else right now. It was something of a relief to see a flash of lively determination in her blue eyes as Ami looked into the brush off the road, though there was a disquieting lack of optimism all the same. They took a deep breath, and marched into the forest.

Makoto was quickly reminded of their first day here, weeks ago. Back to the same sense of wild solitude, the loamy, earthy smells mixing with sharp, fragrant perfumes; the bird-calls and animal shrieks and insect buzzes and chirps that hushed idle chatter before it could begin, ears perked to hear all that there could be. The heat was a similar, if more unwanted, memory. She was suddenly glad for her odd braids, as they did help keep a lot of hair of her scalp and neck, keeping her minutely cooler. Among the brilliant filtered greens of light breaking through the canopy, Makoto also watched Ami walk beside her, deep in thought.

"Mako-chan, what happens if they were telling the truth?" Ami said.

"I guess it would be short-sighted of me to say, 'we kick their butts,' eh?" Makoto said lightly, but pondered the question. She wasn't sure why she were being asked such a thing, but she wanted to provided a succinct answer. "Do we call the others?"

"Do we?" Ami closed her eyes, "I don't know. Sailor Teleport isn't always that accurate, and even if it was, it's a little..."

"Flashy?"

"Yes. And without two of the senshi, we don't know what kind of condition they would arrive in. Whatever Usagi-chan said, I"m sure that was more taxing than anybody wanted to admit."

"Having three weakened senshi pop in close to enemy headquarters with a bang and a flash." Makoto shook her head, "That's just asking for somebody to get hurt. That would give out position away immediately, while they would be able to stay hidden. They know the area better, too."
"Very much so. We can't even be sure that we'll take them by surprise." Ami stopped then, in the middle of the path. "Rather, there's every chance that they know we're coming. There's an even better chance that one day as we're walking along, we'll both just drop over dead." Makoto saw a certain familiar look in Ami's eyes.

"You're not gonna start yelling about how you were too stupid to realize this earlier, are you?" Makoto asked pointedly.

"Well, it's true, isn't it?" Ami said defensively.

"No, it isn't!"

"Yes, it is!" Ami yelled back. Makoto couldn't believe she was having this argument, nor the absolute defiance with which Ami professed her own inadequacy.

"What is the matter with you all of a sudden?" Makoto asked furiously, "You never used to be so stupid about these things! Since when have you ever decided it's just time to lay down and die after making a mistake?!"

"Since one of my mistakes almost got you raped and killed!" Ami replied with equal fervor. Ami stood facing her with her hands clenched at her sides and jaw set in a stubborn line. When she said that though, Makoto's angry face softened, and Ami could barely stand it. Her fingers loosened, and though she tried to hold them back tears leaked from the corners of her eyes. Ami tried to turn away, but Makoto was going to have none of it. She stepped forward and hugged Ami. Only long enough to be sure that she wasn't going to go away when she stopped, however. Makoto took a step back, and when Ami raised her moist eyes in question, Makoto struck her on the cheek. Not with all her strength, but enough to hopefully get a message through to her. Ami's face snapped to the side under the force of the slap, and she turned back to Makoto with a look of incredulity replacing the sadness. She brought a hand up to the darkening skin on her cheek.

"Ami-chan," Makoto started talking in a low, serious tone. "You're not the only one that thought of all these things. I know the enemy probably knows we're coming, I know what could happen to us along the way. I followed you anyway. Do you know why?"

Ami mutely shook her head.

"Because I trust you with my life. I trust that Ami-chan knows what she's doing. I trust that she's not going to run off half-cocked like me, or get so worried about meaningless things in the past that she can't focus. I trust that Ami-chan is going to do like she always does. she's going to consider all the details, measure all of our advantages and disadvantages, and come up with a brilliant plan. Maybe it was Sailor Moon who would always run off pure emotion and save the day at the very end, but nobody ever seems to remember that she, that all of us, would have fallen in some battle long ago if Mercury hadn't been there to skillfully guide us through a number of tough battles and foes."

"Mako-chan..."

"Are you going to sit there and tell me that my trust is misplaced for such a worthless reason? There have been plenty of close calls, I can't count the number of times one of us almost died, but suddenly it's your fault this time? Why? Because you're the only other one here, process of elimination or something? If you're so worried about me, pull yourself together and come up with a plan that gets us through this."

Ami reacted like she'd been struck again, just from the force of Makoto's words. Makoto moved forward again, and Ami drew back slightly, but this time it was just so Makoto could pull her into a more genuine embrace. Ami could feel Makoto trembling slightly from her outburst. Makoto nestled her cheek atop Ami's hair. She wanted to hold Ami, but she also didn't want her friend to see the wetness lining her eyes.

"I know how you feel, Ami-chan. I was scared to death for you that night. It keeps running over and over in my mind, what could have happened if they'd gone after you first, or if he hadn't made that mistake. Please, don't beat yourself up over anything, I'm just so happy you're okay. So happy." Makoto took a deep, shuddering breath to keep from breaking down any more than she already had. She was supposed to be the strong one, the implacable oak to which the others could look to for support. She could be weak on her own time. when she pulled away and looked Ami in the face again, it was with a clear green gaze that betrayed nothing. Ami's face spoke of everything she was feeling now, however, unashamedly. Makoto saw gratitude there, and apology. What was most relieving to see, though, was the return of her seemingly unshakable faith. So long as Ami believed there was a way, Makoto had never felt doubt. It took her by surprise when Ami shoved her way back into a hug, though, and she was glad Ami couldn't see the look on her face when she did.

"When you say it like that, Mako-chan, I have to believe you. I'm glad we felt the same. I promise I'll do all I can to get us through this. Thank you."

"It's only because I believe in you that I can be brave," Makoto said softly; Ami didn't answer, and Makoto had to wonder if she'd heard at all.

"There now, that wasn't so hard, was it?" Makoto nodded her head approvingly. It had been only the work of a few minutes silent thought for Ami's eyes to brighten and a decisive declaration of, "I have a plan," to come about.

"Mako-chan," Ami said, her bottom lip turned in a light pout, "Turn around."

"What?"

"Turn around, I said."

Makoto stared at her for a second longer, then shrugged and spun about on one heel. Her hands were clasped behind her back and she whistled a short bar of music, just because it felt like the sort of thing one should do when clueless and turning about. Far be it for her to ask questions; after their talk just now this seemed like a wonderful occasion to display some of that trust she had stressed to Ami. Some odd shuffling reached her ears, and wondered what Ami was rummaging in behind her. She couldn't resist asking one little question along those lines, but it only got her a brusque, "you'll see" in response.

"Hold this." A brief order sounded from directly behind her, and Makoto had to work not to jump. She hadn't heard Ami approach. A cloth-wrapped bundle was shoved into her hands. She automatically started to bring it back around before she thought Ami might not want her too, but upon hearing no objection went ahead and had a look. Picking at the cloth, Makoto gazed questioningly at it for a few seconds. With a start, she realized that these weren't any spare scraps of beige cloth. Her eyes widened like saucers, and she spun about, no matter what Ami had said.

"Ami-ch--"

"Mercury Crystal Power, make up!"

Makoto saw a light and her vision barely seemed to ripple, or shimmer, like the surface of a clear pond in a sudden gust of wind. By the time her eyes could focus from her whirling about, Sailor Mercury stood before her. Makoto's breath caught as she looked at Mercury's face; her eyes were closed and her faced composed to an image of complete serenity, with lips gracefully curving up at the edges to form a beautifully modest smile. There was a little oddness, in that Makoto could see a gradual bleeding out of tone around Ami's shoulders and thighs, where there had been cover before. They hadn't full-body applied the skin dye, so right before the short fuku sleeves and extending a few inches below the skirt were Ami's usual pale skin, looking almost ghostly in contrast. Bright blue eyes opened and held the image together for a split-second, and then a glint of mischievousness shattered through her calm expression and she grinned more impishly.

"Can I get those back?"

Makoto broke from her brief reverie, and she looked back to her hands. Her face grew hot, and she shoved her arms forward to Ami, head turned and refusing to make eye contact. Ami just laughed, a chiming, light little sound, and Makoto felt Sailor Mercury take back her khaki top and bottom. Taking a brief respite from her grumpy little embarrassment, Makoto grinned wryly at her friend trying to work the shirt and shorts over her padded sailor uniform and skirt. It quite obviously wasn't working well, though Ami managed to make them fit to some degree or another. Makoto still couldn't contain her laughter at the uncomfortable-looking and decidedly more lumpy Mercury.

"You look..." Makoto really didn't want to say "ridiculous," even if it were the first thing that had popped into her mind, "What are you doing with yourself?" She asked instead.

Mercury looked embarrassed as she looked herself over, "We need Sailor Mercury here, but bright white and blue are a little bit easier to see coming than these khakis, I thought this would work..." Makoto enjoyed a fresh flurry of giggles at her expense. That cool, composed Mercury knew how odd she looked only made Makoto more amused. Mercury coughed, and tried in vain to regain some of the tranquility of moments before. She failed spectacularly. Makoto, seeing her try, decided to relent anyway.

"Good thinking. It, ah, doesn't really matter how you look, if the object is to not be seen." Makoto thought she had done quite a respectable job in trying to sound serious, but Mercury raised an eyebrow at her as if guessing at her continued mirth. She smiled prettily, however, and picked her pack back up.

"Ah, Mercury."

"Yes?"

"Your gloves, and boots too," Makoto pointed. Mercury looked down for a moment, frowning in consternation. then she laughed, and tugged the gloves off.

"Blue," Makoto said in surprise.

"So they are," Mercury replied, looking at her perfectly painted fingernails. She amused herself with trying to pick the color off, but it didn't seem to be polish, or at least not like any polish she or Makoto had ever used. "The perfect manicure, hidden under gloves all this time," Mercury smiled.

"And the boots? They're probably not as noticeable, but if you're trying to be camouflaged it couldn't hurt."

"Right." Sailor Mercury sat down on the loamy ground and put a hand to either side of one of her boots. "I'll just take these off and put on my other..." She stopped.

"What's the matter?"

"My hiking boots," Ami put a tired hand to her temple, "I transformed in them. Somehow, it doesn't feel like this should be so complicated." Makoto just shrugged. Mercury pulled her gloves back on and changed back. Ami was pleased to find that the lumpy over-clothing she'd made of the khakis fit right back into place when she transformed back, and they went through the process all over again, this time setting the boots off to the side as well. Makoto held her clothes with her back turned again, this time not knowing how to feel about knowing what was behind her--and wondering a bit at why somebody she'd been to hot springs with would ask her to turn around now, Ami still had her undergarments on, even--but relieved at some level that she wasn't having to try to hide and amount of ogling. Ogling wasn't polite, really, and Makoto knew that she would have been quite rude had she been turned around.

"Ah, Mako-chan?" Mercury asked a short time into the process, as she was down on the ground again trying to pull off a boot.

"What's up?"

"Could you help me with this boot?" She sat on the ground, smiling apologetically and scratching her cheek with one little crooked finger. Makoto rolled her eyes, and knelt to help her. The boots were more difficult to get off than she expected. They were rather form-fitting, and Makoto got the distinct impression they weren't exactly made to come off. Ever. They managed it (finding the world's finest pedicure as well) and she laced up her still new-looking brown hiking boots instead. They stored the boots and gloves in one of the packs.

"So what happens if you change back without putting them back on?"

"To be honest, Mako-chan, I'd rather not find out. It might be because I feel like I'm breaking some unspoken senshi rule about the uniform, or it might be because I'd rather not have everything I've learned of physics invalidated just yet."

"You mean any more than it already has been?"

"Hush." Mercury frowned with mock severity and turned to the surrounding foliage. One hand reached to her temple, and Makoto saw the edge of her visor flash into existence. From her angle, she could just see inside the device, and make out tiny characters scrolling around and symbols flitting about the screen. Mercury turned to her, and there was only the transparent blue pane. "Now that I'm thinking more clearly, this seems like it should have been obvious. I'll screen for human presence as we go along. We'll still have to move quietly, but this should help even the odds with those familiar with this place."

"Should we make an effort to only travel at night, or anything like that?"

Mercury considered it. "No, no I don't think so. We'll make more noise in the dark, and sounds seem to carry rather oddly at night. I'd feel more comfortable taking cover at night and catching our rest, where we can be the ones still and listening for intruders."

"Makes sense to me." Makoto nodded. "Lead the way."

--------------------------------------------

Later that evening as the tawny sun began to fade through the overhead leaves, Makoto chose a place to set up "camp." It seemed something of an insult to camps everywhere to call it so, but she thought it sounded better than "sleeping bags under a tree and a couple of low plants." They didn't make a fire, of course, not that they needed it for warmth. The nocturnal skylights were brighter than Makoto would have thought, she was a little pleased to find. It wasn't much, just enough to make out the outlines of closer objects, but that was infinitely more comforting than the inky blackness she had been privately dreading.

When it came time to decide who would take first watch, Makoto was only too grateful to agree to the second. Mercury mentioned a little self-consciously that she'd had plenty of time to rest when she'd kept to the bunk during the riverboat trip. Makoto was just glad that she'd take the shift that would get lighter at the end. Mercury had her visual light filters, but Makoto was a little uneasy at the thought of straining her ears and eyes for anything suspicious when she wasn't even sure what she was trying to detect. She laid atop her sleeping bag, not unzipping it. She couldn't putting herself between any more layers of cloth than her clothing, in this climate, and only modesty and protection kept those on. For the moment, it was just something to keep her from laying on the dirt, and hopefully keep a few bugs off. She didn't hold out much hope for that, the sort of bugs that she and Ami had seen commonly on the forest floor the whole trip weren't the type to let a little thing like an inch or so of elevation keep them from a meal of delicious senshi, but she hoped it would help. Makoto watched Mercury settle down as comfortably as she could in a depression among the roots of the nearby tree.

"G'night."

"Good night, Mako-chan. Sweet dreams."

Whether she had them or not, any dreams at all fled instantly when Makoto was shaken awake in the dead of the night. She yawned--quietly as she could--and arched a back stiff from the lumpy, hard earth and loam. She rolled over and pushed herself up, blinking in the darkness.

"Mercury?" She whispered, disoriented and unable to recall where anything had been. A touch on her shoulder directed her to the tree Mercury sat at, and Makoto sat at her side.

"You ready to catch some shuteye?"

"I'll stay up with you a few minutes, to help you wake up."

"Good call." Makoto nodded, mind still filled with cotton balls and cobwebs. This was hardly the situation or locale for restful sleep, and getting only a few hours was stretching things that much thinner for her. She sat there with Mercury, dredging herself up to a state of wakefulness until she didn't think sleep was possible again if she'd tried. She told Sailor Mercury that it was fine to trade off now. Her friend crept out from the tree, but instead of crawling onto the sleeping bag as Makoto had expected, she heard her rummaging around in the packs.

"Hungry?" She whispered.

"No." Came the hushed reply, "Mako-chan, do you think you could help me find my gloves and boots?"

"Wait, why?"

"So I can change back."

"You need to change back?"

There was a silence. "I... I don't know. Don't I? I never really thought about it."

Makoto considered. Strange, the peculiarities of being a senshi that had never really come up until now. Had one of them ever gone to sleep while transformed?

"I'm not sure either."

"If I try to fall asleep, mightn't I just transform back when I'm relaxed enough?"

"We never changed back when we got knocked unconscious or anything," Makoto pointed out.

"There's still a good deal of stress on the body in that situation," Mercury argued. "Shock and injury isn't the same as fatigue and sleep."

"So why don't you just change back? Why look for your stuff?" Mercury didn't answer, but somehow Makoto felt her discomfort with the idea. "Don't tell me you're still on about the physics?"

"The idea doesn't sit well with me, that's all," Mercury said, and Makoto could almost hear her lips twisted in a pout. She rolled her eyes, hidden in the dark.

"Fine, fine. I think I just stuffed them in with my other change of clothes." Makoto lurched forward to her hands and knees and scrambled over to help the Senshi of Wisdom protect her delicate sensibilities as to the nature of reality. After they'd managed to force her feet back into the boots, which was very nearly more difficult than getting them off in the first place, Ami bid her friend a fond good morning. Makoto figured it must be a bit past midnight, then. The morning came with a sense of relief, and the sun did the job of waking Ami for her. Makoto noticed that she hadn't seemed to have been sleeping well, but chalked it up to the environment. When Ami sat up blinking, though, she sported a grimace that had little to do with waking up early. Makoto watched her friend start, and begin searching through her pack rather intently.

"Hungry?"

"No," Ami replied shortly enough to give Makoto pause.

"Ah, the toilet pa--"

"Not that either."

A look of relief spread across Ami's face, and she ran with surprising speed into the trees with whatever she had found. When she returned she didn't look much more comfortable. She pulled a small bottle from her medical pack and swallowed a couple of pills with a sip of water.

"You okay, Ami-chan?"

"Cramps."

Makoto politely asked no more questions; thankfully her own had been relatively short and endured for the most part during the calm drive to Cuiaba. They ate a cold, hurried breakfast and Ami got undressed, then Mercury got dressed, and she continued to lead the way. Though she obviously tried to continue the hot, arduous march indifferently, Makoto occasionally saw a pained look cross Mercury's features. If her friend thought it unusual that Makoto suddenly became a little more supportive and a little less argumentative for a few days, she gave no sign.

It was in the middle of the third day that Makoto started to wonder about just where they were and how long it was going to take to get where they were not. Indeed, she started to consider whether their two unwilling informants had been misleading them, or were originally misled themselves somehow.

"No, Mako-chan. Or at least, not yet. We'll be here two or three more days before we actually arrive. We would have gotten there already had we went straight, but I'm taking us on a less direct path. If they know we're coming, let's not give them any help finding us."

Makoto reluctantly determined that if Mercury were going to willingly subject herself to this without a word of discontent, she could certainly follow without complaint. Without vocal complaint, at any rate. She couldn't know if Mercury was doing the same, but Makoto found it perfectly fair and reasonable to complain in her own thoughts about heat and bugs and sore feet. Also the delightful tree roots, which Makoto darkly suspected were gaining an irritating sentience and mobility, one that allowed them to insidiously slither whilst she slept so that she awoke to the most awkward and painful positions upon them.

Mercury soon began to speak of odd electromagnetic readings she was getting; odd, anyway, for an empty jungle. Makoto was both encouraged and concerned at her friends conjecture that this likely meant they had gotten accurate information and that some headquarters, or at least large base, was nearby, but it was worrisome to think that they had such an infrastructure that supported extensive electrical activity.

The first time that Mercury actually did find somebody made for an intense few hours. Makoto was walking without any other care than the usual one regarding her feet, when Sailor Mercury stopped stock-still and rigid as a pole. Quick enough on the uptake, Makoto knew better than to suddenly start asking questions. She paused alongside her, and looked at her friend's eyes until they slid slowly to the side and met. Mercury slowly shook her head in a tiny motion. Makoto wasn't sure what was going on quite yet, but until she was told more directly otherwise she figured that she was probably supposed to just stay still now.

And stay still they did; for what seemed an unbearably long time to Makoto. Mercury started to slowly move, keeping her eyes fixed in the same direction. Following her snail-crawl pace, Makoto was relieved when the Sailor Senshi beside her breathed a heavy sigh of relief and slumped against a nearby tree.

"What's going on, Sailor Mercury?" Makoto asked now, still whispering.

"I located somebody up in a tree not a hundred feet away," she answered, "I don't think he saw us. I didn't see him move, at least not while we were standing still. We'll skirt around this area from now on." She frowned, "All the interference from this brush and the wildlife isn't making things any easier, especially as I have to try and scan everywhere. This may be all the warning we ever get, Mako-chan."

"Gotcha. We should, ah, try and move more quietly, then."

"Probably."

The second occasion was actually the same day, and when Makoto said something about it Mercury confirmed that they were within two miles of their destination. Fortunately her scanning was able to catch the spotter on the other side of a small clearing, lending a short boost to her range with a gap in interference.

"So do we go in this evening," Makoto asked as they slunk around to avoid the sentry, "Or do we wait another night and start off fresh?"

"Tomorrow evening," Ami said. "We'll take a day to rest up and go in during the evening. We need a rest, and people tend to be biologically most alert in the morning, whatever their sleep schedule."

"Huh, I didn't know that."

"You pick things up here and there."

They found another secluded patch of brush to hunker down under to take their rest. As Makoto drew out another small supply of travel food for a small but satisfying supper, she felt a nagging tug in the pit of her stomach that she recognized all too well.

"Are you feeling better, Mercury?" She asked.

"Now that my period's over, yes. You never hear people talking about that in adventure stories."

"Not often, you don't," Makoto agreed. "Glad we're finally coming to the last few pages of this story. All that's left is to bust in with the power of love and justice and give them all a good spanking for being so rambunctious. Then we can get home."

"Yea, I suppose we can..." Mercury broke eye contact as she said this.

"You okay, Sail...?"

Mercury suddenly lay back on the ground with her head on her pack. She closed her eyes and sank into her bag. It took Makoto a moment to realize that she had transformed back; the boots and gloves in her pack must have gone away as well. Ami's eyes opened.

"I guess the universe didn't implode, though the thought of my things just vanishing from existence still makes me go cold all over, for some reason."

Makoto almost said something, but shook her head and smile. Smiled until Ami looked to her again with the same somber expression that she'd worn a moment before.

"We get to go home, huh, Mako-chan?"

"I'm looking forward to it," Makoto answered sincerely, "The kids are probably missing their sensei. At least I can hope they are, I kinda miss them, and my kitchen as well. At least I can't say I've been neglecting my exercise regimen."

"No," Ami chuckled, "You can't that. Perhaps I will stay around for another day or so after we get back. I miss your kitchen too."

"Another day or so?" Makoto raised a curious eyebrow in her direction before realization dawned, "Oh, Ami-chan, I hadn't....

"We both have lives to get back to." Ami agreed sadly. Makoto had been troubled at the realization already, but the reciprocated sadness in Ami's voice made it heartbreaking.

"I think I'll be sure to call you this time," Makoto asserted a little lamely, for lack of anything better to say. Her friend's lips twitched upwards.

"That would be nice."

"I'm not giving up our friendship again," Makoto continued more firmly, "Not for some silly little fears of mine."

"Fears, Mako-chan?"

"Nothing that matters right now," Makoto answered softly, but with a note of finality and an inner grumble at herself.

"I've really liked being with you again, Mako-chan."

"Me too."

As she said that, a good deal or reality seemed to catch up with her. Impulsively, Makoto reached out pressed Ami's hand to her lips for a long few seconds, a rare display of actual worry in her eyes, and none of it for herself. "Tomorrow is going to be dangerous," she said, invalidating her earlier bravado.

"Yes it is," Ami said simply. A great many things that Makoto wanted to say rushed through her mind. Instead, she just squeezed Ami's hand tightly, and from the warm smile Ami favored her with, she thought she was understood.

-----------------------------------------------------------

When the sun rose the next morning, Makoto found it rather hard to keep any of her senses focused on the outside. Her knees were drawn up to her chest, arms wrapped around them, and she lay her cheek atop them and watched Ami. Every once in a while something struck Makoto, in these rare, calm moments in which they were able to look forward and know that conflict approached. Ami looked so terribly fragile.

Even seeing her own hand in the corner of her eye was a strange experience. Her hand, that she knew was stronger than most, that she had seen afire with arcs of her guardian's power, looked a good deal more the flesh and blood that it was. Her entire body felt pitifully inadequate, delicate, so easy to damage. This wasn't something she ever wanted to think about, but years of training in martial arts had taught her two things about her body. Firstly, that a great many limitations were in her own mind, and secondly, that a great many limitations were not. No amount of physical or mental or physical control yet had allowed somebody to bounce a bullet or turn a knife point from bare flesh. She could dodge attacks, she could subdue opponents, but all it would take is one time getting caught off-guard or one lucky shot, and she would be gone. Makoto smiled sadly at Ami's peacefully sleeping form; she wanted her friend to have a super-human protector, but all she could offer was her own mortal self.

A sigh whispered through her lips and she buried her eyes in the back of her arms for a moment. She was no stranger to fear, for herself or her friends. It was more an encouraging old friend in her heart than any insidious presence chipping at her resolve. It was a reminder that she loved her friends, and that she had something to live for. As long as you looked fear squarely in the eye, and with respect, it respected you back. They'd had a few spats, especially where love were concerned, but she and fear generally got along fairly well. What people called courage was just facing the danger or problem with fear standing right by your side; not behind you nipping at your heels or in front of you supporting your enemy. Makoto allowed two shining tears to gather in her eyes and fall to moisten her dusty arms. This was something that didn't happen often with her, but these two uncommon tears represented to her the torrents that would come if she let anything happen to Ami. Then she raised her head and faced the forest with eyes that perfectly reflected its vibrant greenery. An easy smile tugged at her lips, a soft, fluid warmth spread through her as her worries melted away. She knew what was to come and what might happen, but there was no way she was going to allow her own worries to fulfill themselves by distracting her.

For right now, there was nothing dangerous going on. They were just a couple of tired, dirty, and a touch hungry young girls alone in the rainforest, resting up from a long hike. There was absolutely nothing in Ami's cute face to suggest that anything evil--or even mildly annoying--was nearby. Makoto bid fear a fond, apologetic farewell for a short while, and let herself believe that for a while.

-----------------------------------------------------------

"So, any new bits to your plan you'd like to dramatically reveal now, Ami-chan?" Makoto asked from around a mouthful of sweet, dense bread.

"Not until we get there. I have no idea what the base even looks like, except that I think it's underground."

"Underground, really?" Makoto had somehow been expecting a structure squatting low and imposing in the middle of the forest. That was a little silly of her to think, in retrospect, as that would be hard to hide under treetops. Why couldn't it be some little more-or-less permanent encampment, though?

Ami nodded. "Anything else would be much to easy to stumble across, really. There are low-flying aircraft all over the place, crop-dusters or private shuttle services. The canopy may be thick, but it's not impenetrable. All it would take is one sighting and off-hand mention from a pilot to send their operation scurrying away. Besides, I didn't know what to make of the electrical and metallic readings I was getting for a while during our hiking, but they do seem to support this theory."

"So how do we go about finding it?"

"I know the location well enough. I'm sure that when we get closer it'll reveal itself." Ami looked a little dubious about the prospect, but it seemed sound enough to Makoto. You couldn't plan out every little detail. "We might want to transform now, as well." Ami said, reaching into her pocket. Makoto nodded and reached for her henshin as well.

"Jupiter Crystal Power, make up!"

"Mercury Crystal Power, make up!"

The flimsy, physical shell she was so worried about that morning filled throughout with a stolid resolve and resilience. A white rush of heat blazed through her body and melted away the ache in her muscles while a cool, moist breeze ruffled her hair in the otherwise hot, still air, carrying with it a sweet scent of rain that filled her nose and cleared her mind of fatigue. A more minor pleasure, the bright fuku she wore was clean and fresh, a welcome change from the increasingly gamey clothing she had been wearing for more than a few days without a wash. Jupiter felt her lips stretching back in a smile from the tingles of static crossing across her bare flesh and tickling the hair on her scalp, and she found herself closely watching Sailor Mercury's expression, and wondering what sensations she experienced when transforming that she always wore that same expression of absolutely content serenity. And, as she could think of no reason not to, she asked.

"What does it feel like?" Mercury echoed. "Um... I'm not sure how to describe it. Like I've been immersed into ice water, but it's not unpleasant. It's revitalizing and brisk and refreshing. It's like I've been cooled to..." Mercury looked suddenly embarrassed, "I don't know how else to put it, but like my mind, heart and soul has been cooled to optimal operating temperature.

"Optimal... operating... temperature," Jupiter reiterated, disbelievingly, but then she laughed. "Coming from Sailor Mercury, I can believe that."

"It feels different for you, then?" Mercury asked curiously.

"Just a little. It's like getting hit with everything a hurricane has to throw all at once, and enjoying the hell out of it." Sailor Jupiter flashed her a confident grin, and almost laughed aloud at the incredulous expression on her face.

"And you laughed at me for my explanation," Mercury mumbled none too quietly, then gave Jupiter a speculative look. "Hey, your hair is back to normal."

Jupiter reached up, eyes wide with astonishment, "Why, so it is. I wonder why?"

"We can worry about that later," Mercury said, obviously curious but with more pressing concerns on her mind, "Let's get going."

-----------------------------------------------------------

"There's nothing here." Sailor Jupiter felt and uncontrollable urge to point this out as they stood looking into a small clearing, no more than a few yards in diameter, from back some small distance into the trees. The space was small enough that the branches on the surrounding trees arched overhead and formed a ceiling. This was the closest unusual land feature to where Mercury said the entrance to the headquarters was supposed to be, so they were both hunkered down close to the ground, watching.

"The metallic readings are stronger here, though," Mercury argued softly. "I'd bet that the grounds thinner here, there's got to be an entrance."

"So how do we find it?"

"We don't. I don't know what kind of precautions they may have taken. We'll wait until one of those lookouts comes back to get relieved."

"How long will that take?"

Mercury shrugged helplessly, and Jupiter fought back a groan. She tried to make herself as comfortable as possible while she waited. It was probably no more than a few hours until Sailor Mercury warned of somebody approaching, and they heard careless footsteps on the loam a minute later. Sailor Jupiter tried her best to stay absolutely still, and convince herself that they were hidden in the brush. She tensed to run out as soon as an entrance was open, but she felt a hand on her arm and looked to see Sailor Mercury mouthing, "don't move."

Jupiter raised an eyebrow questioningly, but Mercury just gave her a warning look and turned back to the clearing. Jupiter watched in triumph as he stood there, and a section of ground quite literally rose up as though it were hinged on one end, which it probably was, and he walked down what appeared to be a flight of stairs. They heard the mumble of a few exchanged words and a laugh, and a woman walked up the stairs and strode off into the forest. Mingled with the triumph was a helpless frustration, though, as Mercury had kept a cautionary hand on her shoulder the entire time. When the door closed with a low-whoomph!-Sailor Jupiter turned to her irritably, though she waited until the leaving female lookout was definitely out of earshot before she whispered,

"A little late to go in now, isn't it?"

"That was reconnaissance, Jupiter," her friend replied sweetly. "There's a camera pointed right at that entrance."

"How do you know that?" Jupiter asked, surprised. Sailor Mercury just tapped at the blue glass over her eyes, and Jupiter nodded sheepishly.

"Fine. Why don't I shut up a moment, and you tell me what else you noticed?"

"These are probably timed events that the enemy has memorized, or they've got some other to let them know somebody is up there, but I can't figure out what it would be. I don't see any detection equipment out here, and it would have to be an incredibly fine instrument that could tell from vibrations or something that there was a person walking up here, instead of any other large forest animal."

"So we have until the next lookout exchange?"

"Yes. Also, did you notice something about those two? I couldn't hear what they said, but they were laughing, and they weren't being at all cautious about coming here or going away. They don't seem to be alert to any threat. Maybe we got lucky with those two back in Manaus, or these guys just don't believe there's anything to worry about."

"So we have cameras, a time limit, and careless enemies. What do we do about all this?"

"We have plenty of time to get something together, so let's get comfortable and go over it," Mercury answered.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Sailor Jupiter had already gone over the plan so many times that when Mercury gave her a sharp nod to signify that somebody was coming, she didn't feel alarmed or excited or anything, more just relieved to get this over with already. This newcomer, another woman, stood for a moment, and the ground opened like it had before. She walked down and they heard a brief exchange of curt greetings. The fellow who walked out was as careless as anybody had been so far, and just started walking away into the forest without even a glance around. Luck was on Jupiter's side, he walked perpendicular to the entrance, away from the camera's sight. Sailor Jupiter counted his steps. One... two... three, she was going to have to time this perfectly, and absolutely needed the element of surprise.

"Flower Hurricane!" She hissed. Even as she spoke, she was already headed towards him, running nearly as fast as the gust of wind that flared in his direction. A swirl of bright flower petals and sweet aromas spun around him, flapping his clothing and making him squint his eyes. He gasped a startled oath and jerked his head around to the sides as though to find the source of this sudden disturbance, but by then Jupiter was on him and he was summarily rendered unconscious. She lifted him like a large rag doll and tucked him away into some undergrowth, hopefully to stay undisturbed.

"Now, Jupiter," Sailor Mercury nodded.

"Sparkling Wide Pressure!" As she spoke the release and the lightning ball in her hand flared to life, Sailor Jupiter focused and did her best to throw only a small fraction of the power. The result came as a low-energy projectile flying into the entrance and, instead of exploding and ripping a hole whatever it hit, scattering as a ripple of arcs across the metal walls. Sailor Jupiter hissed and gritted her teeth, trying to ignore the burning sensation crawling up and down her arm and the involuntary twitching of her fingers.

"It worked, the camera's out!" Mercury crowed, not noticing anything wrong with her companion. The pair rushed into the stairs, just as it came crashing down. Mercury paused a moment to allow thawing of her ice and the door groaned gratefully as it fell closed. They saw the woman who'd walked down a short way down the hall, back turned to them and shaking her hand before her face. Trusting to luck, Sailor Jupiter and Mercury took the first side door they found and passed as quietly as they could through it into another, shorter hallway that led to a "T" intersection, with another door to their left before it.

Sailor Jupiter turned to her and shrugged, as though to say, "Well, what now?" Mercury considered, and pointed to the door, miming taking a picture with her hands. Jupiter figured there were more security cameras directed through the intersection ahead. Mercury stuck out an arm and barred her way forward, so Jupiter let her take the lead. Her friend opened the door carefully and backed away, eyes wide behind her visor.

"Camera?" Jupiter mouthed, and grimaced when Mercury nodded yes. She knelt down and gathered energy into her palm again, this time with her left arm, as the right still felt less than recovered. Even with the result expected, she still sucked air sharply between her teeth and pushed down a low moan as her arm protested the use it had been put to, and this time Mercury noticed.

"What's wrong, Sailor Jupiter?" She asked, but Jupiter shook her head wordlessly and pointed to the door. Mercury remembered their situation, and ran in. Sailor Jupiter followed and saw her friend go straight for the camera, pulling out her little computer. In a matter of seconds, she had a panel off of the camera and a few of the wires rerouted through her computer and was typing away. Nodding in satisfaction, she carefully disconnected herself from and reassembled the camera. Then she turned to Sailor Jupiter with a look that said she wouldn't be dissuaded from her question this time.

"What happened?"

"Nothing, really. All the power I'm not using has to go somewhere, and there aren't many places to put it."

Mercury's eyes widened, "You're not just using less?"

"Doesn't work that was, but it's not a problem," Jupiter insisted. "Not something I want to do often, but I'm used to dealing with electricity."

"That's right," Mercury mused, "You're not immune to the power you focus, you're just rather resistant to it. I'm sorry, I hadn't really counted on that."

"Stop that," Sailor Jupiter snapped irritably at her apologetic expression, "Instead of apologizing, how about you tell me you fixed the security system so I don't have to do it again?"

"Oh!" Mercury looked back at her modified security device, "Yes. I repaired this one and broke my way into their system. I shorted out a few other cameras, and set this one to a safe loop of old footage. The others should come back online soon, as well, so hopefully they'll just suspect some kind of freak electrical disturbance."

"That woman in the hall--"

"Will corroborate that, she got a little shock to her hand, probably had it grazing a wall. The door isn't blown off it's hinges, and there aren't scorch marks lining the halls." Mercury smiled, "In other words, none of the usual signs that the Senshi of Lightning has been through."

"Fantastic, we're in and have room to breath. Now what?"

"I don't know yet," Mercury admitted. "We can move around more safely, though. I gave myself remote access to the security system, so I can set any camera to looping footage for a minute as we walk by."

"I don't suppose you were able to do anything nifty like appropriate an electronic map of the place?"

"No such luck. We move carefully from here, and see what we can find. Discovering the source of the enemy's wealth or finding their leaders has to be our priority, otherwise we could have just called in Millennial Army to take care of this. If they find out we're here they're either going to do their best to hunt us down, disperse across the continent, or both."

Jupiter nodded. She already knew this, but Mercury was just trying to get them both focused and thinking about their objective, and she could hardly fault her that. They crept into the hallway. Sailor Mercury took the lead, being a little smaller and less conspicuous, and having a little more warning of danger from environmental data that human senses couldn't touch. It only took a few minutes of tense, hushed skulking for Jupiter to start feeling bored, though. From Mercury's posture, she could tell that her friend was a little unnerved by the inactivity around them.

"This doesn't make any sense, Sailor Jupiter." She shook her head as she closed another door after peeking within. "There's no guards, there's nobody in the sleeping quarters we found, nobody in the mess, nobody just walking around. Where is everybody?"

"Maybe they're, erm, taking their vacation?" Jupiter suggested, shrugging her shoulders helplessly. Mercury gave her a whithering look. "Well, you asked." Jupiter said defensively. Mercury chose not to reply, and they started off again, somewhat less quietly than before. As they wandered more deeply into the headquarters, of indeterminate size, however, a light murmuring started to become audible; kind of like a stiff breeze through a dense forest, thick and low-sounding. Curious and cautious once more, they started taking whichever hallways and turns that seemed to go into the direction of the sound. It became clearer as they approached until it resolved to the unmistakable buzz of chatter from a large crowd.

"Seems this would be the place," Mercury noted as they reached a pair of double-doors.

"How can you tell?"

"It says, 'meeting hall,' on it."

"Oh."

Jupiter cracked the door open, only to look into a short hallway with another set of doors at the other end. She threw the doors open wide to burn through a little bit of irritation, and she and Mercury walked quietly through and ever so quietly opened the door, freezing after there was just enough of a gap to see and being still, watching for any sign that they had been spotted. No heads turned in the direction of the door, so they slowly inched it open a little bit more until they could see the room and took up positions to see what was going on. The low stage at the front of the room was empty, and the gradually inclining tiers of seats were packed with people. Sailor Jupiter saw her friend scanning intently over the crowd.

"There are hundreds upon hundreds of people in there," Sailor Mercury whispered, "At least four, perhaps as much as six, I think. It's hard to estimate."

"I wonder if they're armed?"

"Does it matter?"

"It might, you never know."

They continued watching, not knowing what they or the audience was waiting for. They very nearly missed the point wherein that which they awaited arrived, so unassuming was the entrance. Jupiter and Mercury were busy scanning the audience, and it was only by chance that Mercury happened to look across the stage, and direct Jupiter's attention there as well. A figure was walking slowly across the thick metal floor, the soles of heavy boots drumming a steady beat, not hurried nor leisurely. It was dark in the room and dark was this man, from the jet-black hair smoothed back across his scalp and neatly trimmed on his face, to his deep, rich olive complexion. A dark cape fluttered at his heels and flowed around crisp, military-type dress. That got Jupiter's immediate attention. It was a rare man that could walk around in a cape without looking ridiculous, and he was managing it; this fellow she would keep a wary eye on.

He stopped in the center of the stage. There was no podium or any indication that it was the center, but if Jupiter were to measure end to end she would have sworn he would end up in the exact center. He stood quietly, and his audience hushed in a matter of seconds.

Chapter 9