*Happy Star: shrine to Seiya Kou* *Simply Seiya version 1.0* *Fanfiction*

Worlds Apart

Ami's Day

Ami Mizuno stared at her ceiling with a dull expression. Another day. It was another day. Her two toned blue eyes were fixated on the ceiling above her. The 27 year old was lying listlessly in bed just as the sunrise crept through her window shades. It’s not that she minded her life… it was just very monotonous. She had finally achieved her dream of becoming a doctor, but she wasn’t happy. It didn’t make sense. Why? She saw all her friends as often as she wished, and she was helping people… just like she had always dreamed. And yet she was depressed. Not that she ever let on to anyone. To everyone else, she appeared to be the same old sweet Ami-chan they all loved. But something was missing inside her. It felt like a deep void within her heart. And when she thought about the cause of that void… It caused her depression to deepen. She knew what was wrong with her. And she couldn’t believe it.

Her eyes drifted over to a picture by her nightstand. The picture she so treasured. The picture of the one who had won her heart. The picture of that man… and his wife. It was a picture of Mamoru Chiba from two years ago. Usagi was hanging off his arm, happily posing for the camera. Anyone who came into Ami’s room and saw that picture sitting on the nightstand wouldn’t think twice. No one would guess that the image that overlooked her glasses case was a gateway to her heart. Yes, it was easy to tell that she must have prized that picture more than any other. It was sitting alone on the nightstand, underneath a crystal blue lamp. The rest of her framed pictures were lined up on her dresser, among random trinkets. But even seeing that it was special wouldn’t catch anyone’s eye. After all, Usagi and Mamoru were Ami’s two best friends. Of course she would prize a picture of the two of them!

And that’s where Ami’s depression began. She was in love with Mamoru. Because of that, she felt she had somehow betrayed Usagi. Oh, she had never let on. And she would never tell anyone how she felt. After all, why create even more depression? It was obvious she would never have him. So speaking her deepest thoughts aloud would only depress all of them, and would stress her friendships with them. That was the last thing she wanted. She had grown very close to Mamoru, and he confided in her for almost anything. And she had not grown any farther apart from Usagi. Stressing those two friendships would be shattering to Ami. She just couldn’t do it.

And what was she left with? Her own thoughts. There was no denying her feelings. She had been through that all before. Yes, she had a crush on him since she had met him. And she suspected he knew that. But the two of them also knew that was all it was. So they simply became good friends. And yet… somewhere along the line… things had changed. Before she knew what had happened, Ami realized she truly loved Mamoru. Something that felt like the ultimate betrayal to Usagi. And so Ami Mizuno stared at her ceiling with a dull expression. It was another day.

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

Afternoon had come, just as it had always come before. Ami’s thoughts had been whisked off of her own internal problems by a very busy day at work. Her mood had considerably improved. One of her patients, a 7 year old by the name of Jayla, had shown great signs of improving after a long battle with heart trouble. The way things were looking, a transplant wouldn’t be necessary after all, and little Jayla would be able to go home in a matter of weeks. Ami had just reported the news to the girl’s parents- the first good news she had for them in a long time. After tearful thanks, the gleeful couple had gone off to see their daughter for themselves. Smiling to herself, Ami returned to her office to get her reports straight. When her phone rang, she answered it in a peppy tone.

“Shine Light Clinic, Dr. Mizuno’s office!”

“Hello, Ami-san,” An all too familiar voice spoke. “It’s me. Sorry to call you at work…”

“Oh!” Ami felt her heart begin to race. “It’s quite alright, Mamoru-san. What’s up?”

“Well…” He sounded somewhat despondent. “There’s been some trouble between Usako and I. She left this morning, and hasn’t come back. I guess I needed advice, and thought I could get the most useful from you. I’m sorry to trouble you…”

“Ah…” Ami shook her head as if he could see her. “It’s no trouble at all! I’d be happy to do anything I can to help! Would you like to meet me for lunch?”

“Yes, please!” He sounded relieved. Ami couldn’t help but smile. She was the one he turned to for advice.

“Alright. Meet me at Sushi Ichiban at 1:00 then. I’m taking a late lunch today.”

“Thank you, Ami-san. I’ll see you there.”

“Goodbye! And it’s no trouble, like I said!”

“Alright…. Bye….” With that, the phone call ended. Ami hung up the phone, feeling somewhat shaky. ‘Get a hold of yourself!’ She thought to herself. A thousand thoughts raced through her mind. Usagi and Mamoru had gotten into a fight? But they rarely fought. They seemed like they were the perfect couple! What if they found out about Ami’s feelings? But then why would Mamoru call her and not Usagi? Ahhh! She felt hives begin to break out on her skin. Issues of love tended to stress her out like that. She looked at the clock. It was just now noon . She had almost an hour of time to wait. She sighed, and frantically started doing her work. That was the one thing that could keep her mind from wandering to subjects that depressed her.

Ami reached Sushi Ichiban at 12:45 . She was 15 minutes early. She ordered the obento special, and waited at a table outside. There was a nice white and powder blue umbrella above her table, providing shade from the bright sunny day. For some reason, today seemed much brighter than Ami had remembered in a long time. But perhaps it was because she was experiencing a break in her depression. Of course the world looked much bleaker when she was busy spending her time hating herself. There was a quick tap on her shoulder. Ami turned around and saw Mamoru behind her. He was wearing his shades, but he still held his hand up to block the sun from his eyes.

“Hey,” He said. “Sorry for making you wait.” Ami smiled.

“I haven’t been waiting long,” She replied. “Why don’t you go order?”

“Right.” Mamoru disappeared inside, leaving Ami to try to calm her raging heart. She couldn’t help it! She just felt so fluttery whenever she was around him! The object of her affections returned, and sat down across from her at the small round white table.

“So tell me what happened,” Ami prompted. “What did you and Usagi-chan fight about?”

“Well…” Mamoru looked down, deep sadness in his dark blue eyes. “It’s something we’ve been having issues with for a long time now.” He lowered his head and focused completely on a napkin he was twisting. Ami leaned forward. He was extremely upset! She would do anything to make him feel better, to make that look of sadness leave him!

“What is it, Mamoru-san?” She asked quietly. “You can tell me.” Mamoru clenched his teeth.

“You see,” he said in a strained voice, “Until this morning, we had been ignoring the source of our arguments. Yes, we’ve been clashing a lot lately. But it doesn’t make sense, you know? But this morning… Well, something slipped out that shouldn’t have. And yet when I said it, it seemed so true. Everything seemed to fall apart.” He trailed off, clouded in misery. It made Ami’s heart ache for him. What could have possibly happened? And neither of them had ever let on that they had been having difficulty. Perhaps she was not the only one good at keeping secrets.

“What did you say?”

“It seems like the love has gone out of our relationship,” Mamoru said ever so quietly. “When I said, that, she only stared at me in shock. Seeing that expression, I tried to think of something to say… to somehow take it back. But I just couldn’t. We both knew it then. I was right. We are no longer in love. She turned and ran off, and hasn’t come back since.” Ami went cold with shock. The perfect couple was no longer in love? What about the future they had all seen? What about Neo-Tokyo? Ami was speechless. Their orders arrived. Mamoru had ordered the same obento special as Ami.

“I see,” Ami said at last. She struggled to compose herself. He had turned to her for advice, and so he needed her to be strong right now. “Do you still believe that, Mamoru-san? Are you truly no longer in love with Usagi-chan?” He looked up at her, and she almost withered under that stare.

“I still feel that way.” He replied in a cold tone.

“W…” Ami nervously stabbed a sushi with her fork. “What do you plan to do?”

“I don’t know,” He replied. “We can’t keep going on as we have. Living together when we don’t love one another? Even… staying married…” He too began to eat his sushi.

“Divorce?” Ami breathed the word, as if she was breaking some sort of taboo by even suggesting such a thing. Her emotions where flying about wildly. Poor Usagi-chan! Poor Mamoru-san! Poor Chibiusa-chan!! She might be in love with Mamoru, but she never wanted this to happen! Mamoru sighed.

“I think that would be best.” He said at last. Ami looked down.

“What about Chibiusa? And Neo- Tokyo?” She voiced her thoughts aloud.

“Chibiusa…” Mamoru looked even more depressed, which was hard to do. “She’ll have to live between the two of us. And as for Neo- Tokyo, apparently it isn’t meant to be. There’s just no more love between Usako and I. Nothing’s there. I don’t know how it faded away…” He sighed. Ami looked up again.

“How are you going to tell Usagi-chan?” She asked him.

“I think she already knows,” he replied. “Maybe that’s where she went today. To go talk to Rei-san about this or something. In any case, it’s over between us, Ami-san. And I can hardly believe it. The times we had… It’s just hard to accept. And I’m sure you can understand. You looked just as shocked as Usako when I told you. Usako… I guess I don’t really have much right to call her that anymore, do I?” He laughed, a tense sound. “Usagi. Yeah. We’ll be getting a divorce. I feel horrible for Chibiusa’s sake. She’s seen us fighting before in the past. And now her world is splitting apart. But wouldn’t be worse if we stayed together? I wouldn’t want her to see the two of us together when we aren’t in love. I mean… I don’t want her to see us like that anymore. Never again! She’s the last person in the world I want to hurt!”

“Oh Mamoru-san!!” Ami felt her eyes burning with tears. This was so sad! How could it have happened? But Mamoru was past the point of wanting to try again. He had given up completely. And he was going to divorce Usagi. Something caught her eye then, causing her to drop her fork into her food. Her eyes went wide and she stared out at something across the street.

“Ami-san?” Mamoru asked, looking at her oddly. Ami pointed.

“Doesn’t that look like Rei-chan and JEDITE??” She pointed at a couple that disappeared behind some other people. Mamoru looked for a long moment, and returned his attention to Ami.

“I only caught a glimpse of them… but it sort of did. But Jedite’s dead!”

“Yes, of course he is!” Ami replied as she shook her head. “Maybe we’re just seeing things. It IS awfully bright today.” She noticed people walking by covering their eyes from the bright sun. It wasn’t just her.

“Ami-san…” Mamoru looked at her seriously again. “Tell me the truth.” Ami’s heart jumped into her throat as she returned his stare.

“Yes?” She squeaked.

“Do you think I’m a terrible person?” He had a dark expression. Ami’s eyes widened.

“No!” She said emphatically. “No, of course not! You can’t help the way you feel!” She swallowed and realized she could be listening to her own advice. Mamoru held the same expression.

“Can’t I? I mean… how could this happen? How could I fall OUT of love with Usagi?”

“Ummm…” Ami felt her face turning red as he continued to stare at her. “Listen to me!” She stood up, almost knocking the umbrella over. She had gone in her spastic mode. “You are NOT a horrible person! And I’m not just saying that because I’m your friend! Usagi-chan is my dear friend, and although I feel bad for her, I’m not angry with you at all for what’s happened. Especially if she feels the same way you do! So LOOK at me and listen to what I’m saying! You haven’t done anything wrong! You’re trying to do the best you can with the way you feel! Trust me, I understand what I’m saying!” Mamoru’s dark look was replaced with one of intrigue.

“I….” He said quietly. “I see.” Ami regained her composure and sat down again. Mamoru looked embarrassed suddenly and looked down again. “But… It’s not just the Usagi thing that makes me think I’m a terrible person. There’s something else.”

“Oh?” Ami continued to eat her lunch and watched him.

“Yes…” He resumed twisting the napkin. “You see… all this time… You know, that I’ve fallen out of love with Usagi? Well, there’s someone else I felt drawn towards. I never said anything of course because I’m married. But since I’m going to get a divorce…” He sighed deeply. “I’ll just come right out and say it. Then you too will think I’m horrible. This is something Usagi doesn’t even know. I’ve fallen for someone else in the meantime.”

“Oh…” Ami felt like he had just dropped an icy anvil on her head. His news was going from bad to worse. And she didn’t know if she could handle trying to hook him up with someone else while he was still married to Usagi! She swallowed her food nervously and stared at him.

“It’s you, Ami-san.” Mamoru spoke clearly, but ever so quiet. Another anvil drop. Only this time, it felt like the chair got yanked out from under her too. Ami could only stare. Mamoru looked up and closed his eyes.

“Do you understand now?” He said angrily. “This is the problem. And that’s why I called you. Because of all that I’ve done… I’ve decided to leave Tokyo .” Ami registered what he said. She tried to force herself to speak.

“N…no…” She mustered. Mamoru shook his head.

“Yes. It’s true. But I don’t want you to think it’s because I fell in love with you that Usagi didn’t work out. I’d lost my feelings for her first. I don’t want to make you feel bad at all. I just wanted to tell you everything before I leave. My flight leaves at 4:00 . I’m going to Kyoto … still in Japan so I can see Chibiusa easily, but far enough away from all of you that I can get a fresh start.”

“No…” Ami stammered again. When she looked up at Mamoru, this time, her eyes were filled with tears. “No! Please don’t leave!”

“Huh?” Mamoru looked taken aback. “What?”

“You… I…. “ Ami felt those troublesome hives coming back. She shook her head and felt her face flushing. “Don’t go! Mamoru-san… I … I love you! I’ve loved you from the start!! So please don’t leave!!” Now it was his turn to be utterly shocked. He only stared at her, mouth hanging open.

“You… do?” He said quietly. Ami nodded fiercely.

“Yes! I never said anything of course, but it’s true!” She wiped angrily at her tears.

“I… see…” Mamoru was still trying to process what Ami was saying.

2:00 found the two of them walking down the streets of the tenth district of Tokyo. Ami was at long last holding onto Mamoru’s arm as they walked. The sun was still abnormally bright, but that didn’t matter. Nothing mattered to Ami anymore. Her secret had been revealed. And Mamoru was now hers. Of course she felt a pang of guilt, but she wasn’t really betraying Usagi. Usagi no longer loved him, and well, Ami did. So it was fair. A sudden shriek tore her out of her thoughts. Ami looked up and saw a forklift in the middle of the road not too far away. There were a lot of little men with pointy hats roaming around on top of it, with a little girl dangling over the edge. Ami and Mamoru ran underneath the forklift without saying a word to get a closer look. With a rush of horror, Ami realized who the girl was. It was Jayla!

“Jayla!” Ami cried.

“Who?” Mamoru looked down.

“She’s one of my patients!” Ami looked at him with urgency. “Oh! She has heart trouble! We have to get her down!”

“Ami-chan!” Ami whirled around to see who had called her name. Minako was standing breathlessly with Yaten. “Ami-chan, we’ve gotta save that girl from the lawn gnomes!”

“What?” Ami cried. “Lawn gnomes?”

“It’s a LONG story,” Yaten replied. “Come on! Let’s find a place away from all these people to transform!”

“Right!” Minako answered. They started running off to find a conveniently located alley.

“YATEN-KUN??” Ami exclaimed. “Why are YOU here?”

“Well excuuuuuse me!” He said called over his shoulder. “My brothers and I just thought we’d pay you guys a visit like we promised.”

“Venus crystal power… MAKE UP!”

“Healer star power… MAKE UP!”

“Mercury crystal power… MAKE UP!” The three senshi transformed, and Mamoru turned into Tuxedo Kamen with a whoosh.

“Who are you…?” He asked as he looked at Healer. She shook her head.

“No time! We have to stop the lawn gnomes!” With that, she ran back out into the crowd of people, closely followed by Venus. Mercury looked at Tuxedo and shrugged.

“I’ll explain once we save Jayla,” she said. With that, she too ran out, followed by Tuxedo Kamen. They made their way to the top of the forklift, and were greeted by many lawn gnomes.

“Venus… love and beauty SHOCK!” Venus attacked them… with no result.

“Star sensitive… INFERNO!” Healer also attacked, with the same effect as Venus. Hoping the gnomes would be distracted, Mercury snuck past to get to Jayla. But a row of gnomes stood between her and the girl. From what she could see, they had bound the child’s hands, and were holding her over the edge.

“Don’t move!” the one holding the rope snarled. “We WILL find out what we came here to know! And you can’t stop us… or I’ll drop the girl!”

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