Gundam Wing Fan Fiction / Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Message in a Bottle ❯ Houseguest ( Chapter 3 )

Disclaimer - I do not own Sailor Moon and Gundam Wing.

Author: This is another Ami-based story…^_^ The idea for this came to me while driving from a doctor's office when I heard a song, I think by the Police, called Message in a Bottle. *looks around and breathes easily* It looks like my Muses…erm…the Furies are gone…

Alecto: *thwaps the author upside the head* We are never gone…just resting.

Author: eep!

Message in a Bottle

Chapter 3 - Houseguest

Previously…

"Home sweet home," Ami declared as she unbuckled the seatbelt and got out of the car. The brown haired man did the same as the driver opened the trunk. He took out the suitcase and duffle bag and followed Ami up onto the porch and then inside the house. She then gestured for him to follow her up the stairs and led him to a door.

"You can use this guestroom, Trowa. My room is the one that is two doors down from here and the bathroom is the one in front of your room. I'll leave you to get settled." She then turned to go back down the stairs when she felt a hand brush by her arm.

"Thank you for the room, Ami," Trowa replied, his voice low as he felt something pass between them through that barest of physical contact. "I'll see you downstairs after I put some things away."

Ami just nodded as the man entered the room with his things and closed the door. She leaned against the wall for a moment and went back down the stairs, her legs feeling a little weak. She felt a jolt of electricity course through her when his hand brushed her arm.

'Oh…my…god!' she started thinking as she went into the kitchen. 'This will not be easy…that man is handsome. And his voice could melt ice…I don't know how I'm going to be able to handle his presence here. Wait, I'm Doctor Ami Mizuno and Sailor Mercury. I should be able to handle anything…I should be able to handle Trowa.'

Now…

Ami closed her eyes as she entered her kitchen. Trowa was an enigmatic person and she knew it was going to be hard being around him. She opened her refrigerator and pulled out leftovers from the dinner she had last night. It was just normal pot roast with vegetables and mashed potatoes. She did not know if her houseguest ate anything yet but from the gentle rumbling in her stomach, she knew that she was hungry.

Her thoughts began to stray about her friends, Rei-chan and Usagi-chan. Ami had thought that Usagi was in a happy marriage with Mamoru. She sighed as she thought about how some of them just drifted apart after Chaos' defeat; all of them going their own ways. She did keep constant contact with Hotaru-chan, who was now in her final year of high school, and also with Setsuna-san. She was so deep in her thoughts that she did not notice Trowa entering the kitchen quietly.

"That smells nice," the tall man replied, watching the blue haired doctor heat up dinner.

Ami jumped slightly and gave Trowa and shy smile as she stirred the contents of the pot. "It's just leftovers from my dinner last night," she explained softly. "There is enough for the both of us if you are hungry."

The man nodded as he gazed about the room. "I have noticed that you keep your home clean," he remarked. "It's a nice change…one of my roommates seems to keep his room messy."

Ami giggled slightly as she heard the microwave ping, signaling that the mashed potatoes she put in there were finished. "Oh, could you get that for me please? I need to keep an eye on the pot roast."

Trowa nodded wordlessly as he carefully took the container out of the microwave and placed it on the counter. "Where are the plates and silverware?" he asked; the one emerald green eye that was visible looked Ami up and down.

Ami felt a slight blush appear on her cheeks when she noticed the man look at her. "The plates are in the cabinet closest to the doorway and the silverware is in the drawer next to the sink," she answered as she managed to keep the stutter out of her voice.

Trowa smirked slightly as he got the items and started setting up the dining room table for two people. He glanced over at his hostess and noticed the faint blush. 'She is sort of cute,' he thought to himself as he finished setting the table. Waiting for Ami to call for his help, he started studying the pictures that were hanging in the dining room. There were a couple watercolor paintings from an artist known as Georgia O'Keefe (AN: She is my favorite watercolor artist in real life…^_^) and a couple of photos. One was of Ami when she was still going to high school in Japan and the other was when she was in Venice.

'It can't be…' Trowa thought as he gave that photo a closer inspection. 'The clothes Ami is wearing in this picture is very similar to the ones that goddess I saw back in Venice…' He was broken out of his thoughts when Ami came into the dining room carrying a tray. It contained the leftover pot roast and the mashed potatoes.

"Dinner is ready," she replied in a cheery voice. "I hope you like it. I don't cook that often and it may be horrid to the taste. My friend Makoto is a much better cook…even though she taught me and my other friends. Usagi, however, is probably still a lost cause."

The emerald eyed man chuckled softly as he helped Ami with the tray. It had been a couple of years since he had felt good around a woman, let alone one as intelligent as the doctor in front of him. Maybe being assigned to help her find the assassins was not such a bad thing…

Trowa sat down at one end of the table while Ami sat opposite him. She was a little nervous with him around since she never really had company over at her house before. "Um…dig in," she replied sheepishly as she took a serving spoon and dished some of the mashed potatoes onto her plate. The former Gundam pilot chuckled softly as he took some of the pot roast and mashed potatoes. As he was about to eat, Ami jumped up suddenly and dashed into the kitchen. When she came back out, she was holding a couple of glasses and a bottle of some liquid.

"I almost forgot the drinks," she apologized as she put a glass in front of Trowa. Her hand brushed his hand accidentally and he felt a jolt of electricity course through him; it was similar to the one he had experienced earlier. "I-It's just a normal red wine, nothing fancy."

The man with the long bangs noticed her slight stutter and concluded that Ami must have sensed the same thing that he did. "It will do," he answered succinctly, causing the woman to smile gratefully at him. 'I think she is really sweet,' he mused silently as they both of them ate their dinner.

The dinner finished silently as the last bite was taken by Ami. For her, it was one of the most awkward things she has had to deal with so far in her life. She wanted to get everything cleaned up quickly so she could go ahead and begin her research. She stood up, gave Trowa a faint smile and started bringing the dirty dishes. She rinsed the dishes off and placed them inside a dishwasher.

Ami was about to go back into the dining room when Trowa entered the kitchen with the rest of the dishes and helped her put them in the dishwasher. She measured out the detergent and turned the machine on. She then turned to face her guest.

"I guess I should get started on the research," Ami remarked quietly, her gaze moving across the man's broad shoulders. It became apparent that she must have thought of something a little naughty because her face became slightly red.

Trowa chuckled softly again. He was amused by the shy doctor's antics and gently placed a hand on her shoulder. "You mean that WE should get started," he corrected, light humor dancing in his eye.

Ami nodded quickly and led the man out of the kitchen and into the den. Inside, there were bookcases filled with various scientific and medical tomes and magazines. Alongside them were technical manuals, engineering books and the latest edition of a computer magazine. Trowa was impressed by the amount of knowledge the doctor kept in her den and commented on it.

"Oh, this is nothing," she answered as she led him to a fantastic looking computer setup. "This is only the den. My library is also filled with books as well. Anyway, let me tell you about the computer I built. It is set up to the internet via satellite feeds, thereby giving virtual instant transmission of information. I believe that will be vital in our search for the assassins. I put in enough hard drives in it so I can have at least a couple of teraquad of space.

"Not only that, I also installed the best RAM chips to make this computer to be super fast in processing information. Many of the programs I have installed are ones that I have created myself. I haven't really had a chance to truly put them to the test and I'm excited about this chance now. Oh, if you want to access the computer, the password is 'mercurial'."

Trowa nodded while Ami was explaining everything about her computer and realized how proud she was of her accomplishment. 'She has a reason to be proud,' he thought as he watched the blue haired doctor sit down in front of her creation and entered the password. Her slender fingers flew across the keyboard as she began searching through various government databases. He raised an eyebrow when he saw that one of the places she visited was the Preventers own computer mainframe.

"Is there anything to find out here?" he asked, very curious now.

Ami shrugged as she began going through some obscure files. "You never know," was all she said.

This went on for a few hours with Ami and Trowa taking turns on the computer. They would give each other suggestions on what to search for and where to look for it. Ami was amazed by the knowledge her 'partner' seemed to have and he was equally impressed on the intelligence that she showed. Mutual respect was growing between the two.

Ami yawned and grinned awkwardly as she stopped typing on the keyboard. "Sorry about that, but I am getting a little tired," she remarked as she yawned again. She then stretched out her arms and rubbed her neck and shoulders. "Oh, I feel so stiff."

Trowa noticed how hard the doctor's muscles seemed to appear. He decided to stand up from his chair and walked behind the blue haired woman. He gently placed his hands on her neck and shoulders and began massaging them gently. He worked on whatever knots he found and tenderly worked out the kinks in Ami's neck.

"Mmm…" Ami sighed softly, her eyes closed in order to feel the wonderful feeling of her muscles losing tension and become pliable as they should be. "That feels wonderful, Trowa…"

The tall man smiled softly at her and then let his usual stoic mask reappear on his face. It had been awhile since he was last around a woman, not including the ones he worked with at the Preventers. The last one he was truly interested in had treated him badly and made him wish that he met the woman he dubbed, 'The Goddess of Venice'. Somehow, he just knew that the Goddess would maybe help become more human in his emotions. But he was afraid of being hurt once again…

He abruptly stopped the massage and walked to the door. "It is getting late," he remarked in an emotionless voice. "We should get some rest and start the search again in the morning." Trowa then left the den quickly.

Ami had a look of confusion written all over her face as Trowa's sudden departure. One minute, he was being sweet and was able to make her relax, and then the next minute, he was cold and emotionless. She gingerly touched the areas of her neck that he had touched and sighed. She could still feel his hands on her and wished that he did not stop the rub. Shaking her head, Ami decided to keep on working without the tall man's help for the rest of the night.

'If he wants some rest, more power to him,' she thought to herself as she began typing on her computer once more. 'I'm not going to let this one little thing bother me…'

The next day arrived bright and early, the morning sun shining through the windows of the house. Trowa blinked as some of the sun's golden rays fell across his face, the light's warmth waking him up from a deep slumber. He crawled out of the bed and did a couple of stretching exercised to loosen up the muscles that protested at being conscious. He then grabbed a towel and made his way to the bathroom. He looked around the hallway and did not hear anything and concluded that his hostess must still be asleep.

Trowa went in the bathroom and took a quick shower, washing his hair and body thoroughly. As he was drying himself off, he realized that he probably was a bit rude to Ami last night. He made a promise to apologize to her as soon as she waked up. He then went back inside his bedroom and swiftly put on a pair of grey slacks with a black turtleneck sweater and a pair of black loafers. (AN: I really don't know what kind of shoes he normally wears…^_^ ;)

As soon as he was finished dressing, Trowa went down the stairs and looked around the house a little more. He went to the back glass doors that led out to a back patio. He gazed out through the glass and saw the beauty of the early morning with sea birds flying and swooping down into the sea for their morning meal. As he turned around to walk around the house more, he noticed two green bottles sitting somewhat off to the side of an end table in the living room. Curious, Trowa walked over to the end table and picked up one of the bottles.

'These look like the bottles I used some years back,' he pondered as he inspected the glass bottle in his hand closely. 'If I remember correctly, I sent out three messages into the ocean...'

Shrugging his broad shoulders, Trowa set the bottle back down and decided to work on Ami's computer for a little while before she woke up. As he was walking towards the den, he heard the telephone ring. He was going to answer it but the answering machine got to the call first.

"Hello, you have reached the residence of Doctor Ami Mizuno. Please leave your name, message and a number and I'll get back to you as soon as it is possible. Remember, I'm a busy doctor and I may not be able to get back to you soon…~~BEEP! ~~"

"Hey Ami-chan! This is Usagi. If I know you, you probably stayed up half the night trying to find out who wants to kill me and my cousin. Oh, you should come by and visit today. Cousin Milliardo wants to meet you…Bah! He wants to meet any single woman. Would you believe that he already hit on Rei-chan? *giggling was heard at this time* Rei-chan told him where he could stick his compliments or he would feel the blunt end of a broom being stuck up his as-…"

"USAGI! Stop talking about me like that!" - Rei had apparently taken the phone by this time. "Ami-chan, please come over today. There is so much we need to catch up on. Oh, you never did tell me how that trip to Venice went…Anyway, I'm getting glares by the Chinese pig *shouts about an onna being on the phone and the injustice about it was heard in the background* because I'm on the phone too long. Also, if you don't come over today, I might have to kill one hormonal Sanq Kingdom prince and an egotistical male chauvinist pig. Ja ne!"

When the connection was terminated, Trowa had raised an eyebrow at the interesting message that was left. He chuckled slightly and shook his head as thoughts of Wufei being harassed by a woman went through his mind. But then what Usagi said about Ami came to the forefront of his thoughts. 'I wonder if she did stay up on the computer all night,' he thought as he strolled through the house and went inside the den. He smiled tenderly at the peaceful scene in front of him.

Ami was sound asleep in the computer chair she was sitting in. Her arms were crossed on the desk and her head was lying gently on top of her arms. Her short blur hair was slightly messy and some of it were draping softly over her eyes. Tilting his head to one side, Trowa instinctively brushed the hair out of Ami's eyes. There was an aura of peacefulness that seemed to emanate from her petite form.

The doctor mumbled quietly from the simple gesture as she opened her eyes sleepily. "Is it morning yet?" she asked in a tired voice.

Trowa held back a chuckle and nodded. "It is morning and I see that you fell asleep in front of your computer," he replied, the tone slightly teasing. "Also, your two friends called and left a message on your answering machine."

The mention of her friends made Ami fully become awake. "Did you hear what they said?" she asked excitedly.

Emerald green eyes seemed to sparkle with amusement for a moment before going emotionless. "Oh, it seems that both of your friends want you to visit them," he began. "The one called Usagi said that Milliardo Peacecraft wants to meet you and the one called Rei wants you to go before she kills the prince and my friend Wufei."

Ami giggled for a moment and stood up from her sitting position. "That sounds like Rei-chan," she remarked quietly and smiled shyly at Trowa. "Did you want anything to eat for breakfast? I can make a quick meal."

Trowa shook his head as he took up Ami's previous location in front of the computer. "No thank you, Ami," he answered as he began typing on the keyboard. "I'll go do the search today if you wish to visit your friends."

Not knowing what to do or say, the blue haired doctor smiled gratefully at the brown haired man and gave him a quick hug. "Thank you, Trowa. This means a lot to me. Oh, I'll leave you something to snack on in the kitchen just in case you get hungry while I'm gone."

"…" he grunted for a moment. Trowa was slightly shocked that Ami had given him a hug, but even more so when he realized that he like the feeling of her arms around his neck. 'That felt really nice…but what if she ends up like that woman I went out with a year ago? I don't think I could handle it...'

Not getting a real answer, Ami sighed as she tiredly shuffled out of the den, leaving the Preventer to work with her computer in the search. She was confused by the man's actions once again but just let it go. She then went into the kitchen and quickly ate a bowl of cereal, a banana and drank a glass of orange juice. After she cleaned up her little mess, she left a couple of bananas out on the counter and the cereal with a clean bowl and spoon next to it. She took out a pad of post-it notes, wrote a message on it to Trowa about he could eat the cereal on the counter. She stuck the paper onto the box and went upstairs to her bedroom.

Since it was still early enough in the morning, Ami decided to go out for a quick walk on the beach. She took off the previous day's clothing and put on a pair of khaki shorts and a light blue tank top. She then slipped on a pair of sandals and left her room. As she was descending the stairs, she saw Trowa enter the kitchen. She chuckled a moment as she realized that he probably wanted to eat by himself and then headed for the back patio doors and went outside onto the beach.

The sun was warm to Ami as she took off her sandals and walked barefoot in the sand. It was times like these that she truly appreciated the solitude of her home. She did not have any neighbors around to bother her and no city traffic to keep her up at night. But she did miss the company of her friends from school. Minako was too busy with her career of being an idol and Makoto had her chain of restaurants to run.

As she was walking along the shoreline with the waves hitting her feet, Ami noticed something green glinting in the sand close by. She walked over and noticed it was yet another green glass bottle with a piece of parchment inside of it. She felt her heart flutter wildly as she took the top off of the bottle and took the slip out. She recognized the handwriting and soon began reading this latest message…

AC 200 - September 23

It has been two years since I last wrote a message like this. I suppose that it was high time that I did another one. I thought that the last one I wrote in AC 198 would BE the last one. I thought wrong. So much has happened to my personal life since then.

One year ago, I started dating this young woman named Dorothy Catalonia. She was a wealthy aristocrat and was a part of the wars in AC 195. For awhile, I thought that Quatre was interested in the warlike woman but she had come up to me and asked for a date. Suffice to say, for the following year, Dorothy and I dated and at one point, we did become…intimate. I became deeply enamored of her and bought her a diamond engagement ring. I was going to ask her to marry me.

It almost felt as if my heart was soaring with thoughts of this woman and that I wanted to be with her for the rest of our lives. Sadly, it was not meant to be. I arrived at her apartment and found the door opened. That was very unusual for her so I drew out my gun because I thought that there was an intruder in my beloved's home. I heard moaning and when I followed the sounds to Dorothy's bedroom, I saw her in bed with another man.

It hurt me so much to see the love of my life having sex with someone other than me. Right then and there, I made a vow to never let my emotions run wild, especially with women. I just do not wish to be hurt again. A few days later, I started having dreams about my faceless Goddess of Venice…I think it was telling me that Dorothy was not meant to be. I just do not know any more. I reiterate; I do not wish to be hurt again so I will ignore the dreams and deal with real life.

I believe that I shall remain single for the rest of my life…and I'm only twenty years old. And this will be the last message I shall ever put into the sea for my soul now feels dead as I once felt when I was fifteen.

Tears sprung in Ami's eyes and she wiped them quickly. The sadness that radiated from this simple message touched her heart so much more than the previous two notes. She now understood Trowa's reactions to her and no longer had any grudge to the tall, handsome man. Deciding to head back to her house, she stuffed the note in her shorts pocket and held the bottle in one hand as she walked back.

Once she was inside her home, Ami looked around to make sure that Trowa was nowhere in sight and put the latest message in the same hiding place as the other two. She then placed the green bottle on the end table that had the other two bottles sitting on it. Slipping her sandals back on her feet, Ami walked over to the closet that was next to the front door and took out a light blue sweater and buttoned it as she put it on. She grabbed her keys as she walked out the front door and went to her car.

When the sounds of the BMW's engine starting and then driving off, Trowa left the den and looked out the living room window to see the sports car drive away with Ami in the driver's seat. He sighed softly and then noticed a third bottle on the end table.

'What the…that wasn't there earlier. Now this new bottle looks exactly like the one I used for the last message I sent out to sea…'

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

AN: Wow…This chapter got long for me! It's over 4,000 words! Wow…O.O *giggles* Tisiphone sort of helped me with this one, but what do Furies know about romance?

Tisi: I know more than you think, Mortal!

Author: *rolls eyes* whatever…