Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Best Friends ❯ Chapter 11

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Chapter 11 Friday afternoon
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Makoto drew her coat around her as she darted across the street
on her way to the shrine. Usually, she would have gone home
first to change out of her cooking school uniform. The ugly
clothes were the only thing she didn't enjoy about school. For
some reason, though, she hadn't bothered today. Instead, she'd
headed straight to Rei's. A car passed and almost drenched her
speeding through a large puddle. Makoto moved a bit further from
the edge of the sidewalk and started up the hill. She had mixed
feelings about rain. For obvious reasons, she enjoyed lightning
and thunderstorms, but cold, dismal drizzles like this reminded
her of that night when her first love had broken her heart.

'I ought to send him a letter and tell the jerk that he was such
a crappy boyfriend, I turned out gay!' Makoto chuckled to
herself. It was odd, though, to think now about the things he'd
complained about: she was too boyish, not feminine enough, too
intimidating, etc. For so long, she'd tried to prove him wrong,
taking up cooking and laboring to master all the other
traditionally 'female' skills. Strangely enough, however, she
found that she really enjoyed those things. She loved to cook
for her friends and she took great pride in keeping her apartment
neat and tidy. But, she also loved sports and martial arts and
other typically 'boyish' things. 'Who the hell was he to try to
put me in some box like that', she thought, regretting the
insecurities of her youth.

The notion that she was a lesbian was still quite novel, both
terrifying and exciting. 'It's not official yet,' she lamented,
though she knew that the verification didn't come from an event,
but from the realization. For the past few days, she'd felt more
at peace with herself than she had in living memory. Something
had just clicked into place. Part of that was the knowledge that
her dear little Ami loved her back, just the same way, but that
wasn't all of it. It was something more important than a single
person loving her (even someone as important as Ami). It was
about knowing and loving herself.

'You could never do that,' she accused her old sempai. 'You
wanted to make me into something I wasn't, and I almost let you.'
Makoto knew that Ami would never try to remake her. How
wonderful to know that someone could love you for who you were,
not who you could be or who you used to be or who you appeared
to be.

The only experience Makoto really had with lesbians was obviously
with Haruka and Michiru. When they'd first met, she'd really
thought of Haruka as a role model, even before she began to
suspect the extent to which she meant that. In some ways, she'd
wanted to be more like Haruka, and she had become so over the
last few years: less dependant on others' opinions, more willing
to take a stand about what was important, consequences be damned.
At first, she'd been a little jealous of Michiru. Now, though,
she found more and more that she wanted to be like her, too.
Visions danced in her head suddenly. She wanted to put on
something frilly and greet Ami after a long day at the hospital
with a cool drink, a warm snack, and a steamy kiss. She wanted
to stroll through the park on a warm day with Ami by her side.
She could see it as clear as day. She'd wear her forest green
skirt, a lacy white blouse, and a pink scarf that would match her
earrings and a ribbon in her hair. Makoto actually turned her
head as she walked, seeing Ami standing next to her in her blue
slacks, blue vest and white oxford. She shivered, not from the
cold.

'You'll never know what you missed out on, jerk,' Makoto
concluded with a smile as she passed through the gates. Rei
stood on the porch, waiting for her, just out of the rain.

"Hey Mako-chan, I watched you come up here!" Rei called, "What's
on your mind that's got you so focused?"

Makoto grinned, unable to believe the set up she'd just gotten.
"Why, I was thinking about my old sempai, of course!"

Rei arched both eyebrows in confusion until, seeing Makoto's
smile, she relaxed and laughed, slipping an arm around her
friend's waist as she got up the stairs.

"Come on, baka! I've got some tea brewing and for once, I thought
I'd make you a meal. I'm a great cook, too, you know!" Rei
announced.

"As long as it comes pre-packaged and can fit in a microwave,"
Makoto commented with a wry glance at the young, annoyingly dry,
miko.

Rei snorted her displeasure with that comment and escorted Makoto
to the dining room. Hot tea did indeed await and Rei poured
some for each of them as Makoto removed her wet shoes and coat
and hung them with care by the door.

For awhile, they simply chatted about this and that. Makoto
described some of the things they'd been preparing this week in
class, which encouraged a suddenly ravenous Rei to go pop lunch
into the oven. Rei told Makoto about some of the things going on
in the shrine.

"Umino dumped Naru? In a letter? He's almost as much of a jerk
as my old sempai!"

Rei sighed, "Yeah, but I think she'll be ok. I don't even think
that was why she came here. I think she's already getting over
him." Rei turned and looked out the window with a wistful smile.

"Why did she come then?" Makoto asked.

"Oh, why does anyone come to a temple?" Rei joked with an overly
light tone. "Probably to get in out of the rain! Now, let me go
get lunch. You just wait here and let me serve you for once.
Oh, I bought cookies, too!" she added as she left the room.

Makoto nodded and settled back with her cup, watching the rain
fall outside. Both the tea and Rei were making her feel quite
warm and cozy. She really loved the shrine. It was so peaceful,
and it held so many happy memories. She could see why Ami spent
so much of her free time helping out here. Thoughts of Ami
reminded her of the likely reasons Rei had invited her over,
though. While she wasn't exactly angry with Ami for having Rei
call her instead of calling herself, she certainly wasn't
thrilled with her either. 'I'm going to have to make her pay for
that,' Makoto decided with a sinister smile. As her mind
wandered over the various ways she could exact her vengeance, her
expression shifted from sinister to steamy.

"I really hope you're not thinking of your old sempai again," Rei
told her, arriving back, bowls in hand. Her taunting smile
brought sweat to Makoto's brow.

"No, I .. uh.. it smells good!" Makoto all but shouted.

Rei let her off the hook this time, happy in the knowledge that
she'd busted her friend. The last time she'd seen that
expression on someone's face, Usagi had been relating some quite
intimate details about her last meeting with Mamoru. Of course,
no one else had been particularly interested in hearing such
things, but neither had they really tried to stop her. Reminders
of Usagi and Mamoru were not going to help Rei's mood, though, so
she quickly dropped that line of thought.

After they got most of the way through the noodle dishes, Rei
decided she'd better get on to business, before Makoto made some
excuse to leave. "So, were you mad at Ami for having me call
you?" she asked, figuring she might as well be direct.

Makoto smiled, "Funny you should ask. I was trying to decide
while you were getting lunch ready. I don't think so. Mostly,
I'm annoyed."

"Annoyed?" Rei urged her to continue.

"She had to go cause her mom called her," Makoto explained, "and
I can understand that. Do you know much about Ami's mom?"

Rei thought for a moment. She knew that Ami's mom was a doctor,
of course, and worked in a hospital. She could guess now which
one. She had a vague memory of Ami saying something about making
cookies with her mom as a child. "No, not really," she admitted.

Makoto nodded, not surprised. "Well, it's not something Ami talks
about often, but her mom can be pretty tough on her. Ami doesn't
complain, but she really rides her hard, about her grades and
classes and stuff. I can see why Ami would dash off like that."

The final pieces came together for Rei. She'd known, of course,
that that jerk Urawa had done something. She'd seen him herself.
Once she recalled that Ami's mom worked in a hospital, she'd been
all but certain that that was why he had gone there. Now, she
knew for sure. That would have to wait, though.

"If you understand, why are you annoyed?" Rei asked carefully.

Makoto's eyes flashed, "I understand why she left, Rei-chan, but
not why she didn't call me herself."

"I thought you said you understood her message, about finishing
dinner," Rei replied, trying to soothe Makoto with her voice.

Apparently, it worked, as Makoto slumped down in her seat. "I do.
I did. I don't know. Rei-chan?" Makoto looked up and caught
Rei's eyes with her own serious gaze.

"Yes, Mako-chan?"

'Coming to terms with it means sharing it with your friends,'
Makoto decided. "Rei-chan, when her mom called, well...we
were about to kiss. For the first time... first time like that
anyway. I.. I love her, Rei-chan, and I'm pretty sure she loves
me, too." She exhaled deeply, feeling yet another weight fall
off of her shoulders.

"Ohhhhh," Rei sighed happily. "Ohh, Mako-chan," Rei sighed
again, disappointed for her friend.

Makoto's eyes trembled. "And I haven't seen her since, or even
heard from her. She told me...you told me...that she didn't
regret it, that she wanted to, next time we saw each other, but
why hasn't she called me?" Makoto bristled with tears and
frustration.

"Silly Mako-chan," Rei explained, patting her friend's hand,
"you've answered your own question. She's decided that next time
she sees you, she wants to finish what got interrupted. She's
saving herself until she can do it right."

Makoto looked up, smiling tentatively. "She's always been a
perfectionist."

"Yes, and she can also be really stupid sometimes!" Rei snorted
with exasperation. "A first kiss isn't perfect because of when or
how it happens. A first kiss is perfect because of the love it
signifies."

"Ooo, that's good!" Makoto declared, sitting up straight. "Can I
use that?"

"Sure, but eventually you have to give me credit. Wisdom is my
job, after all!" Rei laughed, gesturing to her miko outfit.

"Kinda bad timing on her mom's part, though," Makoto grumbled.
"Just my luck, I guess."

Rei's expression became much more serious. "Not luck, Mako-chan.
That call didn't just happen." Seeing Makoto's confusion, Rei
continued. "Her mom called at that time because someone had told
her where Ami was, and must have implied something about what she
was doing."

Makoto shot up out of her chair. "What?! Who?!! Why?!!!" she
stammered, trying to come to terms with this news.

Rei also stood, albeit much more slowly, and moved next to her
friend. "Take a deep breath, Mako-chan. Everything will be all
right. Calm down. Ami's friend, Urawa, visited the hospital
where Ami's mom works that same night, probably right around the
time you guys were finishing your dinner."

"How do you know that?" Makoto demanded.

Rei breathed heavily, "It's a bit of a long story..." She
proceeded to explain to Makoto about Minako and Kenjo's theory,
mentioning briefly that she'd suspected Ami's feelings herself,
along with Usagi's observations of things over the years. She
told her about their decision to try to help, about Haruka's
advice, about her own suspicions regarding Urawa and her actions
following him.

About halfway through, Makoto leaned back against the wall, arms
crossed. Eventually, Rei ran out of narrative. "Haruka-san was
right, Rei-chan," Makoto observed, "we were doing just fine on
our own." She laughed briefly, "Damn that 'Shinoko', I'll never
hear the end of it that he figured it out before me, even if it
was only by a day or so."

Rei felt quite relieved that Makoto was not (yet) running out the
door to track down Urawa. "We didn't want to interfere, Mako-
chan. We just love you both and we all think you could be very
happy together."

Makoto simply smiled in agreement at that.

"But, I just knew that guy was up to something, coming here out
of the blue and then running off for no good reason," Rei
continued, her voice starting to lose its calm. "I'm glad I
followed him! Otherwise, we might never have known and poor Ami-
chan might still think he was a friend."

"Does Ami-chan know?" Makoto asked quietly.

"Hai. Usagi went over there this morning and was going to tell
her. Usagi is good with that kind of thing," Rei pointed out.

"She is," Makoto agreed. Slowly, she moved away from the wall,
standing straight. "Well, it's been quite a week, Rei-chan.
Even though I said Haruka-san was right, I am happy you all were
watching out for us. Thank you."

Rei stood with a suspicious look, uncertain about her friend's
mood or plans. "You're not going to do anything rash, are you?"

Makoto stunned Rei by laughing happily, "Me? No, of course not.
Well, I'm going to get ready for my shift tonight at the
restaurant and tomorrow I'm going to beat Kenjo-chan just that
much more thoroughly so I'll have some ammunition when he tries
to give me grief about this."

"But, what about Urawa? Aren't you mad? I know I want to go and
toast the sniveling little bastard, and you've got a lot more
reason than me!" Rei flared hotly, finally losing her temper
completely and quite miserably failing to demonstrate the kind of
calm she had been urging on her friend.

Makoto patiently laid a hand on Rei's shoulder. "Of course I'm
mad, Rei-chan, but it's not about me." Makoto paused to gather
her thoughts. "You see, part of my job as Sailor Jupiter is to
protect Sailor Mercury. It's one of my favorite parts of the
job, truthfully. But, this isn't about Sailor Mercury. It's
about Mizuno Ami. He's her 'friend'; he spoke to her mother;
it's her problem to deal with. Not mine. I'll be here for her,
before and after, but I won't fight her battles for her. Nor
would she want me to. I respect her too much for that."

Suddenly Rei felt ashamed. Seeing this, Makoto reached down to
the table and handed Rei a cookie that had been left over from
dessert. "Ami-chan will sort it out, and then she and I will
sort our situation out. If there's one thing I've learned being
a sailor scout, it's that love triumphs over all."

Rei smiled, comforted by the thought, even if she was not quite
so certain of it as Makoto. 'Easy for you to say,' she thought
briefly. 'Your love is not unrequited.' Realizing that such
ideas were petty, especially at a time like this, Rei shook them
off and gave Makoto a hug.

Makoto held her friend gently, realizing not for the first time
how truly blessed she was to have friends...to have a
family...like this. Gathering her coat and putting on her
shoes, she left without another word. Something else she'd
learned was that when you said a cool tagline, you didn't mess it
up by adding anything.

After Makoto left, Rei cleaned up the dishes and came to a
decision.

BEEP "Usagi? It's me, Rei. I know you're in class now, but
when you get home, give me a call. I thought maybe we could get
together tonight, and no, not to spy on Mina. Maybe we could go
shopping or something? Hey, why don't you invite Naru-san as
well! I bet she'd like to get out, too. Give me a call when you
get in! Bye!"