Thoughts of Home: The
Reckoning
~ Chapter 4: The Rest of
the Story ~
by Sailor Doc
As the laughter finally started to die down, Ami
couldn't help but notice there wasn't a dry eye in the house. Well, except for
maybe Makoto's. Her highly embarrassed partner had finally stopped hiding
behind her hands and was just sitting there, shaking her head, a slight smile
on her cherry-red face.
"Oh, God! I can't believe
it!" Minako sputtered, wiping tears from her eyes. "You mean it
really happened like that?"
"Believe it," Makoto said. "Both
of them teased me for weeks afterward. And don't even say the word 'bra' around
her mother! I swear, she will never let me live that
down! Never!"
"Oh my," Haruka said, finally catching
her breath. "I don't think I've laughed that hard since the time we caught
Setsuna..."
"That's enough now, Haruka," the
lovely Guardian of The Gates of Time responded. I'm sure you don't want ME to
start telling tales, do you?"
"Haruka..." Michiru said softly,
raising one elegant eyebrow.
"That would be a 'no'," Haruka said,
looking from her lover to her house mate with a sheepish grin.
"I didn't think so," Setsuna replied,
a Mona-Lisa smile on her face.
"So anyway, "
Rei said, trying to bring the conversation back on track. "What happened
after that? Was she mad about the armoire? That had to be pretty expensive! Was
she ever able to restore it?"
"Was she upset she caught you guys making
out?" Usagi piped in.
"Did you stay the night?" Minako asked
with a wink and a smile.
"Minako-chan!" Usagi and Rei shouted.
"How can you ask such a question?"
"How can I not?" Mina returned,
totally unrepentant. "Lighten up, guys! You know you're dying to know if
they were able to pick up where they left off."
"It's all right, we don't mind a few
questions, do we Makoto?" Ami said.
"No. After what they've already heard, I
guess not," Makoto replied, smiling at her partner. "I'll answer
Rei's question about the armoire first. Turning to Rei, she said, "Well, I
guess you could safely say it was pretty much trashed. The shelf I was laying
on collapsed, and when I hit the bottom of the cabinet, I just kept right on
going. When her mother opened the one remaining intact door, I was kind of
stuck, and sitting in the bottom drawer."
"Were you hurt at all?" Hotaru asked.
"No, not really...just my pride,"
Makoto said with a rueful grin, which started another round of giggles.
"Don't let her fool you," Ami added.
"She was bruised up pretty badly and had a few cuts too."
"It wasn't all that bad, love," Makoto
insisted, glancing at her partner.
"It left a mark or two," Ami returned
half sternly.
"I guess you'd know," Minako cut in,
to the further delight of everyone in the room, as they watched Ami blush.
"Yes, I would," Ami replied with a shy
grin as she squeezed her lover's hand, looking first at Makoto's smiling face,
and then with some pride into the grinning faces of her friends.
"W-o-o-o-o-o-o!" They all chorused in
delight as further laughter tittered around the room.
"So, was Dr. Mizuno able to restore the
piece," Michiru asked once everyone had calmed down again.
"I think the jury's still out on that
one," Makoto continued. "When I got up the nerve to ask Ami about it
a few days later, she said her mother had called in some people to appraise the
damage and see if it could still be restored. They came in, shook their heads,
looked in it, around it, and under it, conferred in a corner and said. 'we'll see.' Throwing a few totally ruined pieces of wood to the
side, they loaded the monstrosity up and hauled it off with them. I haven't
seen it since," she concluded. "Have you?" she asked, looking at
Ami.
"No, I haven't," Ami replied.
"But I do think there's more to the story mom hasn't told me. To be honest
though, I've made a point of not asking about it!"
Makoto nodded in agreement. "I don't think
I want to know!" Turning back to the group, she continued. "As to whether
or not she was mad about it, I really don't think she was. I do think she was
concerned that I may be upset about it though."
"What gave you that idea?" Setsuna
quietly asked from the corner.
"I'm not really sure. Did you say anything
to her?" she inquired of Ami.
"No, not a word," Ami said.
After a thoughtful pause, Makoto continued.
"Well, when I showed up for lunch on Sunday, she never said a word about
it. Not one single word. All through the meal I kept expecting something, you
know? But nothing. It was like the thing had never
existed or had just vanished into thin air.
“After the meal was over, Ami and I went to the
kitchen to wash dishes, like we always do. A little while later, she pops her
head in the door and tells us to hurry up, and we'll have dessert in the living
room. Well, that was weird! Ami and I just looked at each other. We'd always
had dessert in the dining room before. Why change now?
“After finishing up in the kitchen, we walked
into the living room where we found her mom had laid out tea on the low table
and started a nice, roaring fire in the fireplace. As soon as she saw us enter
the room she smiled and motioned me over to where she was standing in front of
the fire! Okay, I'll admit I was a bit confused, but anything to keep the
in-laws happy, you know! I walked over next to her and smiled... just a bit... I
could tell something was up, I just had no clue what
it was. I shot a look over at Ami – she was standing next to the couch - and
she looked just as lost as I was. As I turned back to her mother, I noticed she
was holding something out to me. Looking down at her hand, I saw a totally
busted, stained and filthy board that could have only come from that stupid
armoire! As I slowly reached out and accepted her offering, she turned and
picked up another just like it from the modest pile on the floor at her feet.
With a meaningful look in my direction, she turned and tossed her board in the
fire and looked at me, encouraging me to do the same, which I did! And gladly I
might add! We both threw a couple more of the nasty boards into the fireplace,
and I couldn't stop the grin that I know was all over my face! As I turned back
to her, she smiled, and I just knew that was the end of the matter as far as
she was concerned. Reaching under the table, she pulled out three long sticks
and a big bag of marshmallows and said, 'Now. Who's ready for dessert?'
“And THAT my friends, was the last I've ever
seen of that hideous old hulk!" Makoto concluded. "Does that answer
your questions Rei?" she asked.
With a slight chuckle, Rei said, "Yeah, I think
that covers all of them!"
"What about mine?" Usagi said from her
spot on the floor. "I know my dad walked in on Mamoru and I kissing in the
laundry room one afternoon, and boy, did he ever hit
the roof! My poor Mamo-chan was banned form the house for weeks and I was
told," she said affecting a serious, mock-manly tone, "'you will NOT
see that young man again until you can both prove to me that you can behave in
an adult manner.'"
"Sounds like that's exactly how they were
behaving!" Minako quirked, to everyone's amusement.
"I'll take this one, love," Ami said
to Makoto. Turning to Usagi and Minako she said "Well, you see,
technically Mom didn't really walk in on us. She never actually saw us
together, much less what we'd been doing. True, there was little room for
doubt..."
"...very little..." Makoto mumbled.
"...but the bottom line was, I think she
preferred to just not think about what she'd never actually seen..."
"...in the flesh." Makoto mumbled
again.
"Makoto!" Ami exclaimed, and
received a sheepish grin from her girlfriend.
"Sounds like she saw enough 'flesh' as it was," Haruka added as Makoto blushed again.
"True! Too true," she replied to
Haruka. "Somehow it just doesn't seem fair that I owned two shirts in that
room, and when the chips were down, I wasn't in either one of them."
Makoto shook her head in disappointment.
"I beg to differ," Ami said with a
smirk. "One of those shirts was mine."
As Makoto started to protest, Ami placed her
fingers gently over her lover's lips. "We'll finish this conversation
later," she whispered and responded readily to the sudden smile on Mako's face as she nodded her head in the affirmative.
"Now. As to your question,
Mina," Ami said, turning her attention back to the group. "Yes,
Makoto did stay the night."
Minako grinned broadly.
"But," Ami continued, "it's not what you think! We were both so traumatized by
everything that had happened..."
"...and so paranoid about being
overheard..." Makoto added.
"...that it was all we could do to settle
down enough to go to sleep!"
"Speak for yourself!" Makoto said.
"I never did fall asleep that night!"
"Poor little thing!" Minako wailed in
mock sympathy, and everybody laughed as Ami pulled Mina's head over within
range of Makoto's long arms, and held her in place while her partner bopped the
helpless blonde on the head in retaliation.
"Some people just never learn when to shut
up," Rei said to Usagi.
"True," Usagi whispered back.
"But you know, that's just part of Mina's special
charm."
"If you say so... Odango..."
Rei replied with an evil grin.
"Rei-chan!" Usagi whined. "Why
are you so mean to me?" she asked as tears started
to form in her eyes.
"Oh, for the sake of the gods, Usagi,"
Rei shouted. "GROW UP!"
Thus ended another evening get-together of the
fearless Sailor Senshi---Guardians of the
...and totally devoted friends.
****************
Makoto's apartment was dark and quiet as she and
Ami began to settle in for the evening. On the way home, they had both agreed
on what a wonderful night it had been, and had returned to the apartment, both
happy and tired. A comfortable combination.
As Ami took care of her pre-bedtime routine,
Makoto turned down the bed and smiled, thinking back over the revelations that
had come forth that evening. True, everyone had enjoyed hearing about one of
her scariest, happiest, and most embarrassing moments, but she thought what had
really surprised them was her Ami.
Placing the roses she had hidden in the
refrigerator in the vase on her lover's side of the bed, Makoto reflected on
what their friends knew about Ami. They knew she was loyal, brilliant, true,
and totally trustworthy. They all loved her compassion and saw her as the shy
genius she was. They relied on her as a steadfast tactician, always seeking a
foe's weakness to help the Sailor Team find the best way to take them down.
Makoto sighed as she checked her hair, and the fit of the forest green teddy one last time.
"They saw just a hint of my Ami
tonight," she said, smiling at her reflection in the mirror. The passion,
the protectiveness, the boundless love, and the shy fire that seemed to light
her from within whenever they made love. Lowering her eyes to the dresser, she
whispered, "I love you, Ami."
The bathroom door opened, and Ami paused a
moment in the doorway.
"Did you say something, love?" she
asked.
Smiling as she turned, Makoto said, "I was
just saying that I love..."
Suddenly speechless, she stared at Ami. She just
couldn't believe her eyes!
"I love you too, sweetheart," Ami said
with a gentle smile as she slowly stalked forward wearing nothing but Makoto's
old white, button down, oxford cloth shirt. "But I'm afraid I still have a
problem with your claim to my favorite sleep shirt. I think it's time we
settled this," she claimed as she slide her arms around Makoto's waist.
"Oh," Makoto said when she finally
returned to her senses. Pulling the smaller girl against her chest, she said.
"So this is where we finish that conversation you were talking about
earlier."
"You've got it."
"I see you're still refusing to give up my
shirt," Makoto said as she began to rock them gently back and forth.
Ami started to place delicate kisses up the line
of Makoto's breastbone to the hollow of her throat. "Possession is nine-tenth's of the law," she said sliding her tongue
softly into the depression she found there.
Giving in to the shiver that swept over her,
Makoto decided on a different tack.
"What if I just tell you I want it?"
she asked, looking directly at her playful girlfriend.
"That doesn't sound too bad," Ami
replied, tightening her hold around Makoto's waist and meeting her eyes.
"I'm always open to...negotiations?" she said with an impish wink, that totally melted Makoto's heart.
There could never be another. She was an
original.
"Ami-love," she whispered against her
partner's waiting lips, and words became unnecessary as, indeed, love has a
language of its very own.
THE END