It was a busy night as Rei Hino headed towards the bar, the
black haired young woman cutting through the crowd easily. She had come
in with Ami and the others, taking a night away from their
responsibilities to sit with their girlfriends, drink and have some fun.
She ordered her drinks from Ryouko then turned from the blue haired girl
to observe the people around her.
'Speaking of girlfriends,' Rei thought impishly, seeing the blue
haired woman who was standing at the bar. She quietly moved up from
behind, gently grabbing her as she called out, "Ami! What are you doing
over here?"
Ami turned around quickly, and Rei felt herself freeze in
surprise as she took in the girl's face. The person standing in front of
her was clearly Ami Mizuno, but one changed from the girl that she knew.
Her hair was cut in a boyish style and she wore a suit, but the biggest
differences were in her face. The scar that ran across the bridge of her
nose was obvious, but less obvious was the hurt that hid in those dark
eyes.
Rei Hino took a step backwards, "I'm sorry, I thought...."
"It's all right," the other Ami said as she made herself smile
slightly, "I guess this sort of thing happens here a lot."
Rei smiled back, wondering at what this Ami could be feeling.
There was grief in those dark eyes, and pain, and Rei regretted that she
might have caused it. Rei searched for something to say as Ryouko
delivered their drinks and managed, "The suit looks good on you."
"Thank you," Ami gave a ghost of a smile.
With that Rei collected her drink and left, walking back to her
table where her Ami and the others waited. Ami looked up as she neared,
her eyes widening as she saw the odd look on Rei's face and asked,.
"What's wrong?"
Rei didn't say anything, just folded Ami into her arms and held
her close. "Sorry," Rei murmured, "I just had the oddest meeting."
Minako raised an eyebrow, the beautiful blonde smiling slightly.
"This is Arisugawa's Locket," she reminded her, "how odd could it be?"
Rei pulled out a seat and settled down beside Ami. "An alternate
universe version of Ami," she said simply, "probably the butchest girl
I've ever seen."
"Really?" Ami blinked. She dressed 'soft butch' with blouses,
vests and pants, mildly boyish but still feminine, too.
"Wonder if she's here with our counterparts?" Makoto remarked.
The brown haired amazon snuggled with her lover Haruna, cradling the
smaller redhead close.
"And wouldn't that be cool," Minako's eyes lit up, "to meet our
other selves?!"
Natsuna chuckled, the police woman holding her younger lover
gently as she said, "Down, girl. We don't even know if they want extra
company."
"And there was something...." Rei trailed off, feeling the
others' eyes resting on her. "She seemed sad, somehow, to see me," Rei
finished.
"Do you think they're going to get into trouble?" Keiko
murmured, her brown braid swinging down her back as she took a break by
the bar.
"I hope not," May answered, the beautiful brown haired cyberdoll
standing close to her lover's side. She looked worried, "I wish Setsuna
and Juri were here."
"Too bad they're out on a date," Keiko sighed.
Mahoro made her way up the bar, the black haired android
dropping off a drink and listening to the conversation. "Who knows," she
remarked, "it could be a joyous reunion."
"Maybe," May murmured, looking over to where Ami sat with
Setsuna, Chibi-Usa and Hotaru, "but I wouldn't bet on it."
"Should we try to block them from talking to the other Ami
again?" Ryouko asked, far more interested in the conversation than the
customers waiting.
"Not much we could do anyway," Keiko pointed out. "Guess we just
have to let things happen and be ready to pick up the pieces," she
concluded.
"Look," Natsuna noted from their seat as two women got up from
their seats to dance, "Ami's there with Setsuna.
"Isn't that interesting," Rei mused, tossing a look at her
incarnation of Ami.
"Sorry," Ami shook her head slightly, "I don't think I've ever
been interested in our version of Setsuna that way."
"Besides, Juri wouldn't like it much," Makoto said with a smile.
Minako smiled suddenly, "Hey, this is our chance to talk to her!
We can just casually meet out on the dance floor."
"Wait a moment...." Rei started but Minako was up and gone,
gently dragging her lover Natsuna after her.
"We'd better go after her," Makoto sighed as she got up,
"otherwise she'll probably get us all into trouble."
"Right," Haruna agreed, the other three trailing after.
As they got nearer to the couple Ami found herself quietly
murmuring, "We really should leave them alone."
"Oh come on, you know you're curious about her," Minako answered
cheerfully as she reached out to put a hand on the other Ami's shoulder.
The blonde beamed, "Wow, you really do look cool with the scar."
"Sorry," Rei Hino apologized, the black haired woman looking
oddly uncomfortable, the others standing there awkwardly.
Ami looked at her scarred twin and felt like she was falling for
a moment, Rei's grip the only thing steadying her. 'Oh no,' she thought,
seeing the pain and grief that was blossoming in those dark, serious
eyes, 'what have we done?'
"Everyone," Ami murmured, and they saw her blinking away sudden
tears.
"Well Usagi's not here," Makoto noted, her green eyes narrowed a
bit in concern as she looked at Ami, "she's out with Mamoru."
"How did that happen?" Minako asked Ami eagerly, the golden
haired girl looking at the girl's scar with fascination.
"You know that she can't answer that question," the other
Setsuna said, putting a protective arm around Ami's shoulders.
"I think," Haruna said gently as she saw the dazed look on Ami's
face, "that they were having a night out together. Maybe we should leave
them alone?"
"But..." Minako protested weakly, "I want to know what our
versions are like on her world! Maybe we're all tough and butch."
"Come on love," Natsuna said with a small shake of her head, the
taller police officer gently tugging Minako away.
Ami lingered for a moment, stopping to reach out and put a hand
on her scarred twin's shoulder before she said, "I'm sorry." Ami took a
deep breath and said, "If I had known, I wouldn't have let them come
over."
"I know what Minako's like," the scarred Ami said, "thanks."
Rei waited till Ami returned, then the two of them took their
own turn out on the dance floor. "What do you think happened?" Rei
finally asked.
"I don't know," Ami thought of the look in her twin's eyes, "but
it was bad. So bad that..." she trailed off, unable to say it.
"... that we're not around anymore," Rei finished. She tightened
her arms around Ami reflexedly, "I can't imagine how that would feel."
"Setsuna would," Ami murmured, "the last survivor of the Moon
Kingdom, she'd know how Ami feels best of all." A sad smile, "I hope she
takes care of her."
The Staff: The bar’s owner is Arisugawa Juri, from Revolutionary Girl
Utena. Ryouko is from the series Tenchi Muyo. Keiko is also from Utena.
Cyberdoll May is from Hand Maid May. And finally Mahoro is from
Mahoromantic.
Our Cast This Episode: Ami, Minako, Makoto, Haruna, Hotaru, Natsuna, Rei
and Setsuna are all from Sailor Moon.
Author's Note: This chapter ties in with the last two chapters of my fic
'Shattered Ice' using some of that material rewritten from the inner
Senshi's perspective. The Senshi featured there are from my stories 'Ice
on Fire' and 'Love and Lightning.'
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