After The Rain Came... cpt 2

"Ami, dearest, are you SURE this is the place?" Tom asked, voice unsure as he stared at Usagi and Mamoru's dwelling. It was a large mansion, vines crawling up the walls and rose beds everywhere. Tiny fenced in areas labeled ‘Bunny Cages' had little rabbits hopping around inside, usually one or two females surrounded by many baby bunnies. A small playground laid on a few dozen feet away from the cages, and a tiny, girl-sized play house just a few feet from that. The gate to the property had the Tsukino-Chiba emblem, a sign known all over the world. A white crescent moon intertwined with a blood red rose.

Ami nodded numbly. She had heard about Usagi and Mamoru's new- found wealth with Usagi's growing popularity in the government and rising positions. Mamoru was one of the most well-known, and best, doctors in the whole world. But she had never thought they had enough wealth for THIS!

A camera crackled lightly in the corner of the porch and an intercom asked, voice perfectly clear, "Who is iiiiiiit?"

"Ami Mizuno!" Ami called happily into the intercom.

"Mercury!" Rei's voice screamed joyfully. She hadn't known Ami was coming since she had seen Makoto there as well. The large wooden doors burst open and Ami soon found herself hugged tightly by an energetic Rei. Ami laughed and hugged her friend back, just as happy.

"Rei! Ohayo!" She giggled when Rei let her go.

"Ohayo, Ami-chan!"

"Oh, Rei-chan. This is my boyfriend, Charleston Tom. Tom-chan, this is my good friend, Hino Rei."

Rei blinked in surprise and looked up at Tom with a glint of amusement. "Ohayo gazaimasu, Tom-san." She said, voice neutral. "Welcome to the Tsukino-Chiba household." She turned back to Ami. "Haruka-san, Setsuna-san, and Mina-chan all went to the supermarket. Michiru-san has taken Chibi-Usa and Hotaru to the mall for new clothes, you know how they love to shop. Mamoru-san is at work, like Usagi-chan."

Ami smiled brilliantly and nodded. Then she realized Rei hadn't told her of one other Sailor Seishi. "What about Makoto?"

"Mako-chan is in the baths." Rei replied after a seconds hesitation. "She just arrived yesterday, a few hours before me, and needed a bath. She stunk."

Ami giggled and Rei ushered them into the living room, explaining that she had slept in so late that the others had just left her with a note and a still snoozing Mako. After a few minutes of polite conversation, Tom asked Rei softly where the bathroom. After careful instructions, he left and Ami grew serious.

"Does Mako hate me?" She asked softly, looking Rei directly in the eyes. Rei fidgeted for a minute, uncomfortable, but answered anyway.

"I don't know... From what I could tell, she didn't want Usagi-chan to invite you." All the words were spoken in a soft, hushed voice. "And when she found out Usagi-chan DID, she spazzed out. Completely."

Ami supposed she wasn't supposed to be hurt and shocked by this, but she was. Hai, she had come to see her old friends again, that was a major chunk of the Reasons Of Why Ami Had Come, but the deciding part was seeing Mako again, maybe be able to fix everything.

She nodded slightly, indicating to Rei that she understood and looked up at her long-time friend.

Rei had become a respectable miko of her shrine, she made wise decisions since her grandfathers death which helped the Shrine grow in popularity and she became almost as rich as Ami herself. Her hair was cut down to mid-back, kept in a thick braid with purposely released bangs and sides. She wore wire-rim glasses now, adding onto the School Teacher look and she still wore the red and white clothes she did when she was a Seishi.

Ami had kept cutting her hair short after all those years, even shorter then it was in Jr. High. Tom said it was ‘dyke short' but Ami thought nothing of it. She liked to keep it simple. Her eyes had gotten more narrowed after all the years of watching the computer screen and she had a serious line to her mouth.

"Rei-chaaaaaaaaaan! We're hoooooooooome!" Chibi-Usa's voice ripped through the comfortable silence as Hotaru and herself ran into the living room and stopped dead on seeing Ami.

"Ami-san!" Hotaru cried softly, and hugged her friend tightly. "I remember you... you sent me that hand held computer for Christmas last year!"

"Hai!" Ami put her palms together, tilted her head and smiled brightly. "I can't believe you remember my name, Hotaru!"

"Oooooh! You're the one Mommy calls ‘The Brain'." Chibi-Usa said, acting very much like a mentally-blonder Usagi.

Ami gave her an odd look but nodded. "Hai. Ami Mizuno, that's me."

Rei giggled and pulled Ami up from the couch. "You and Tom must be hungry and--" She sniffed Ami's shoulder and wrinkled her nose. "You smell horrible. I'll make some food and you go to the baths. Tom will go to the Mens baths after he gets out."

"But.." Ami bit her lip, the unspoken word of ‘Makoto...' hanging in the air.

"She's in Chibi-Usa'a. You go to Usagis, and you won't even see her until dinner, OK?"

Ami nodded.

The Bath was steamy, the fog so thick and hot that Ami had trouble breathing. She hung her towel on a hanger and slipped into the hot water, sucking in a deep breathe at the heat. "Usagi did always complain that Baths were too cold..." She muttered.

She felt her away around the large square of water and after a few moments of getting used to the temperature, she sat.

And felt the soft scratchiness of damp pubic hair against her rear, the familiar sensation of firm breasts pressed into her back.

A shrill scream ripped from the woman under her and Ami leaped off, blushing madly, more then a little frightened and embarrassed herself.

"G-gomen nasai!" She stuttered and an eerily familiar voice said her name.

"Ami?! AMI?!" Makoto screamed, leaping to her feet, hands feeling the edge of the tubs for a towel.

"M-Mako?!"

She found one and wrapped it around herself, climbing from the steaming recesses of the tub and glared into the dense fogs. "Yes, Ami! What are you doing in these baths?!"

"Rei-chan said you'd be in CHIBI-USA's baths! NOT USAGIS!" Ami accused, also clambering from the tub, looking around for a decent towel.

Makoto crossed her arms across her chest. "It didn't work so I came in here. You weren't supposed to be here until TOMORROW!"

"So we came early! Big deal! YOU were in the wrong bath!" Ami forgot about the towel and glared at Makoto, her hands on her hips.

Makoto kept glaring at her, but inside she was breathless. She memorized the way Ami looked then, flaring blue/green eyes, damp hair clinging to her cheeks and forehead, breasts heaving with every furious breath. Toned legs spread ever so slightly in a defensive posture and her entire body positively gleaming with sweat and water.

After a moment, Ami marched past Makoto to the door and grabbed her towel. Makoto turned, mesmerized by Ami's rounded, firm buttocks. Without another look, Ami left the Baths.

"Wow..." Makoto breathed.