Some people are almost born with the qualities that made one cool. Others develop it early, and never seem to go wrong. A few work at becoming cool, some achieving it and others not. And a few, a rare few, achieve coolness by accident, going on with their lives completely unaware that they've become the idol of an entire school.
'Ami Mizuno,' Haruka Tenoh thought with a smile, 'certainly fell into the last category.' The sandy-blonde haired, boyishly tall young woman watched Ami from the safety of the crowd, trying to figure her out.
It wasn't any one thing that made Ami cool. It wasn't the scar, though it was distinctive. It wasn't the clothes, in even darker colors than she had previously had worn. And it wasn't the attitude, though something had certainly changed in there as well. It was a combination of all those things and more that had given Ami the quality that people described as cool.
Not wanting to be seen lurking about Haruka moved on with the crowd, listening with a smile to some of the whispered conversations that were going on all around her. The majority of them were all about Ami, her having graduated to this institute so early, her being in the top of her classes, and a fair number of comments about her overall cuteness.
"Hello, Haruka," the gentle voice came up beside her and continued, "how is our young charge doing today?" Michiru fell into step beside Haruka quite easily, the green haired girl smiling up at her taller lover happily.
"Doing just fine," Haruka answered dryly, "and I'm certain that she'd resent knowing that we're keeping an eye on her."
"True," Michiru admitted, "but I do worry about her."
"You and Setsuna both do," Haruka nodded, her own eyes flickering with regret. A slight smile appeared on her face as she added, "Too bad she just can't make up some excuse to get Ami down to the nurse's office."
"I'm not even going to suggest that to her," Michiru smiled. They walked on together a bit, "What should we do now?"
"Not sure," Haruka answered. She frowned, "Ami looks like she's doing fine, but other than Chibi-Usa she's... alone."
"There's not much we can do about that," Michiru sighed softly, "we've taken the first steps. She just has to decide to respond."
Ami Mizuno turned with a frown, having caught a flash of sandy blonde hair in the corner of her eye. 'I guess not,' she thought before turning back to her route.
"Excuse me, Miss Mizuno?" a man's voice asked.
Ami looked the young man over, assessing him with a single glance. He was athletic, but there was a furtive look about him too, as if he had become very practiced at the art of deception. "Yes?" she asked the two men there simply.
One of the teachers stood beside him, and Ami instantly recognized him as the coach of one of the school's athletic teams. "I was wondering if you could help us out," the teacher said to her with an unrelenting sort of cheerfulness in his voice, "You see, Mr. Takema here needs some tutoring, and I've hear that..."
"No." With that, Ami turned to walk away.
"Wait a moment," the teacher sounded surprised, "I wasn't finished."
Ami turned to give the teacher such a look that he stepped back from her involuntarily. "Yes, you were. You don't want a tutor, you want someone who will do all of your star athlete's work for him. That is something that I will not do," she finished. She walked away, leaving the two stunned figures standing there behind her.
The two men stood there in stunned shock until the soft sound of clapping could be heard, jerking them back to life. "The fearsome Ami Mizuno strikes once again," Setsuna said with a certain amount of amusement.
"What do you mean, fearsome?" the teacher managed weakly.
"Our Ms. Mizuno has developed quite the reputation," Setsuna said to him with honest admiration in her voice, "as someone who even the teachers fear to cross." She looked thoughtfully at the boy he was escorting, "She certainly had this situation pegged. Doesn't he have a make-up assignment due, one to save his grade?"
"Yes he does," the teacher sighed. He looked over at Setsuna hopefully, "You seem to understand her, could you appeal to her to help out Mr. Takema?"
Setsuna smiled sadly, "I rather doubt that."
The nurse's office was often quiet, and Setsuna's duties there were rarely taxing, giving her plenty of time to think. Too much time, she often had to admit. Lately, the problem of Ami Mizuno lay at the forefront of her thoughts.
'She's been hurt so terribly deeply,' Setsuna thought, 'lost so very much.'
All their pain over the loss of the Princess had come to the surface when the Outers had first met Sailor Mercury, boiling up in angry words. Haruka had been biting, accusing Ami of failing in her duties, of being less of a Senshi than those who had fallen in battle. And Ami's anger had been directed at her, at Pluto's decision not to intervene to save Usagi and the others.
Intellectually, Setsuna was certain that Ami fully understood all the complex reasons for her decision not to act. But reason hadn't been much at play on that day, and Ami had been as harsh as Haruka. Perhaps she was even more so because of her instinctive understanding of Setsuna's own powers over the timestream.
'And then there was the Grail,' Setsuna thought glumly.
Haruka and Michiru had chosen to keep Ami out of their plans, Haruka due to distrust, Michiru due to concern for the fragile young woman. Sailor Mercury and Chibi-Moon had walked into the chapel blind, not knowing what was happening but determined to help however they could, and in the end the Grail had fallen into Ami's hands.
And quite unexpectedly the Grail awoke.
It's power shouldn't have fully manifested itself for centuries, but in Sailor Mercury's hands the Grail sang. It obliterated the Witches Five, the Heart Snatchers, and their dark masters in a single wave of pure power, and Setsuna had been certain that Ami was going to use it to transform the entire Earth itself. But in a single act of supreme will power Ami drew all that power back, containing it once more within the Grail itself.
'She is the most powerful of the Senshi,' Setsuna thought, 'which means that we Outers are going to have to learn to work with her. Somehow.'
Haruka and Michiru got home first, so Michiru usually started up dinner. She and Setsuna were the most domestic in the household, while Haruka was the least. Hotaru was willing to help, of course, but she had a lot to learn.
Setsuna came last, and sighed happily as she came in and smelled dinner cooking. "Michiru, will you marry me?" she joked.
"I'm taken, as you well know," Michiru laughed. She looked up at Setsuna thoughtfully, "I wasn't aware that you swung that way."
"It wasn't that uncommon in the Moon Kingdom," Setsuna explained.
"Does that mean Michiru and I could have gotten married back then?" Haruka asked her as she walked in from the garage, cleaning grease off of her hands.
With a slight smile Setsuna said, "I believe you were married, actually."
Hotaru ran into the room with a smile, "Is Chibi-Usa coming over again tonight?"
"I think so," Michiru agreed.
The small car pulled up outside, but something unusual happened. Watching as covertly as possible they saw Ami get out, going around to open Chibi-Usa's door. Taking the pink haired gir's hand in hers Ami proceeded to walk up the sidewalk to the front door.
*Ding dong!* the doorbell rang.
The three women looked at each other in surprise. Hotaru tugged on Setsuna's arm, so she walked to the door and opened it with a smile. Ami looked nervous, that made Setsuna feel a bit better, "Hello, Ms. Mizuno. It's nice to see you again."
"Call me Ami," she smiled back. She hesitated, "Chibi-Usa tells me that Hotaru mentioned that it might be nice if I visited sometime. I thought I'd take you up on it."
Setsuna stepped aside to let her in, "We're glad to have you."