Author's Notes:
     This is a story about the picture.  Yes, the one with the four
scouts with the four generals holding them, and all of them look 
quite happy that way.  I have read some stories of how they got 
together, and even a couple of them in the present thinking about
the past, some of the present where the scouts go bad.  This story
is, well, you'll just have to read it to find out.  First of all I 
decided to write this after the characters from the Manga from as 
much as I've read of it.  Second, Zoisite is a guy and Malachite
and him do NOT have a relationship, it's more like brotherly love.
Third, this is after the Sailor Moon R series, which is all that I 
have seen of the Sailor Moon TV shows.  I am saying that Darien is in
the twelfth grade and not college and that the girls are in tenth
(It just makes more sense to me.)  All the Sailor Moon Characters
belong to DiC. I do not really know anything about surfing, so please
spare me the criticism on that part.  Please don't mind that all the
general's hair is short, it's that I don't like long hair at all, and
hey, it's my fanfic, I can do what I like.  My computer can't do some
of the accents in Spanish, and the upside down question marks.  I got
some of my ideas from some fanfics, TV shows that I watch, some of 
the books that I've read, and some of my own ideas.  Also, some of 
the things in here will be explained in my other stories once I get
them finished.  Other than that, enjoy!  If you get through my very
long story thanks!

If you have any comments e-mail me at Mistress009@hotmail.com.










Ami's Vacation
By Mistress009

     "Ami!  Are you ready to go yet?" Ami's mother asked her from 
downstairs.
     Ami sighed.  Just recently her mother decided to go on a 
vacation and take her along because she started getting severe 
headaches and needed a break from work, so in two hours they would
be on a plane to California, USA.  Ami was being dragged along.  She
didn't want to complain to her mother, but she was worried that she
would fall behind in her studies during the summer classes.  She 
recalled the conversation her mother said when her mother told her 
that they were going to America.
     "Ami, you know how recently I have been getting these 
headaches?" Ami's mother asked.
     "Yes, you said that they were caused by stress and that they'd
eventually go away," Ami replied."Well, unfortunately they haven't,
and the hospital has literally pushed these tickets to California
at me.  They said that I needed to unwind.  I would like for you to 
come with me.  I think that this would be a very good learning
experience for you," Ami's mother looked at her with pleading eyes.
     "Well...I guess I could go.  I'm sure that my teachers wouldn't
mind.  I'm already a month ahead on my homework.  I guess that it 
couldn't hurt," Ami replied hesitantly.
     "Thank you sweetheart.  I'm going to make sure that you have a 
lot of fun on this trip," Ami's mother said gratefully.
     Ami's mother told her to pack light because they were going to 
get a whole new wardrobe in California because she said that they 
deserved it, and they could splurge some money on themselves
for a change.
     Ami sighed again recalling what the reaction was when she told
the scouts.  Serena was bouncing up and down asking if she could go 
too, and when she realized that she couldn't asked Ami to bring back
lots of presents.  Rei thought that it was kind of exciting, but it 
was also a waste of time.  Lita and Mina wished that Ami would meet
some cute guys and bring them back for them.  Luna gave her a special
device that soaked through her skin by osmosis for her to wear while
in California to test it out.  It would instantly translate what she
was saying to English and what she heard to Japanese.  Artemis teased
that Ami was going to find the love of her life and was never going
to come back.  Overall, they agreed that Ami needed a break as well
as her mother.  Things were pretty slow in the Scout business so, 
they were happy to see her go and have some fun for a change.
     Ami walked downstairs to join her mother who was just getting
her suitcase in the back of a cab.
     "Ami, put your suitcase in the back of the cab.  You can just
take your laptop on the plane as a carry-on," Ami's mother told her.
     By the time they got to the airport and got all their luggage
checked in, it was almost time to board the plane.  They were going
to be some of the first passengers to get on, since they were riding
in first class.
     When they started to board the plane, Ami was glad that they 
didn't have a lot of carry-on luggage like some other people.  They
were struggling to put their luggage in the overhead bins and under
their seats.
     The flight attendants informed everyone about the safety on the
plane, and wished everyone a safe trip.  And with that, they were off
to California.

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

     Somewhere deep beneath the city of Tokyo a harsh voice asked
some one, "Is phase one of Project Five in place?"
     "Yes, master," a small voice answered.  "Everything is ready
to begin."
     "Good...good..."

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

     When they arrived in California, a man holding up a sign with
their names on it greeted them.
     "Hello, my name is Edward.  I have come to take you to the house
that you'll be staying at," Edward told them.
     "I thought that we were going to stay at a hotel," Ami asked
questioningly.
     "We were, but unfortunately one of the doctors that was going
to a seminar here got sick, and the hospital asked for me to take his
place since we were going here anyway.  I called the hospital on the
phone in the plane while you were sleeping to check in to make sure
that everything was okay there and they told me about what happened
to the doctor that was supposed to go.  They really couldn't afford
to send another person here," her mother told her sadly.  "I hope 
that this won't affect our plans.  You can go shopping by yourself
if you want because I think that I'll be busy taking notes and going
to all the seminars.  I really hope that you don't mind, do you?"
     "No, I understand," Ami told her sadly. "Where are we staying
at?"
     "Well, the doctors around the Los Angeles area have very 
graciously offered to us the choice of staying at their own houses.
Since the hospital is paying for this trip, I thought it best to stay
at someone's house," her mother told her.
     "So whose house are we staying at?" Ami questioned.
     "A doctor Ryan.  Jeff Ryan.  He lives in a big mansion with his
wife, Susan, and son Zack.  I believe that Zack is around your age.
Maybe a bit older.  They are having summer vacation here now, so 
maybe he'll show you around," Ami's mother suggested.
     Oh great, Ami thought.  It just has to be a guy doesn't it.  Why
can't it be a girl?  I'm more comfortable around girls.  Guys just
make me want to crawl up and hide under a rock.
     "Come on Ami," Ami's mother told her.  "I told the man what our
luggage looks like and he's going to go get it for us.  Let's get in
the car."

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

     By the time they got to the house, or maybe mansion would be a 
better word, it was nearly 6 o'clock in the evening.  Everyone
was getting ready to go out and eat.
     When they walked into the house, a butler greeted them.
     "Hello, my name is-" Ami's mother was interrupted.
     "Yes, Dr. Ryan is waiting for you in the den.  Follow me," he 
told them.
     When they got to the den, they were amazed at all the books that
were in there.  Ami thought that she could spend her whole trip in 
there just reading all the books.
     "Hello, I'm Dr. Ryan.  I'm so glad that you made it here safely.
Did you have a good trip?" he asked.
     "Yes, we had a lovely time," Ami's mother told him.  "I'd like
for you to meet my daughter, Ami."
     "It's a pleasure to meet you," Ami told him politely.
     "The pleasure is all mine," he said gracefully.  "I'd like for
you to meet my son, but unfortunately he already left to go out with
some of his friends, so I guess that you'll have to wait until 
tomorrow to meet him."
     Thank goodness, Ami thought.  I won't have to face him until
tomorrow.
     "Ralph will show you to your rooms.  I hope you will have a 
comfortable stay," Dr. Ryan told them.  "Also I have to apologize
for my wife, Susan, she had an urgent business trip to go to, so 
you'll have to wait until later to meet her."
     Ralph, the butler, showed them to their rooms.  They were on the
opposite wing of the family bedrooms.  Her room was across from her
mother's.  They both had large luxurious rooms that each had their
own bathroom.  Her room was decorated in blues, and her mother's
room was decorated in reds.They had their dinners in their own rooms
and went to bed early to try and get rid of the jet lag that they 
were experiencing.  Ami was just about ready to fall asleep standing
up.

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

     Late that night Ami heard someone trying to get into her room.
The window was being slowly opened.  I don't think that person knows
that someone is in this room, Ami thought.  I probably have the 
advantage of surprise.  If I sneak out of bed and next to the window,
maybe I can attack them from behind.
     It was so dark Ami could barely see anything, but Ami proceeded
to slip out of bed and next to the window making sure that the person
didn't see her.
     Maybe I should wait to see what they are going to do, Ami 
thought.  Ami waited and watched the person proceed to strip down to
their boxers and a tee shirt.  Then he started to get into her bed!
That does it! Ami thought.  Get ready for the surprise of your life.
     Ami crawled around to the other side of the bed and got in too.
As soon as the intruder got close enough, Ami grabbed him and put him
in a headlock.
     "What are you doing in my bed?" she questioned him.
     "Your bed?  This is my bed," he replied while squirming.
     "No, it's not.  This is a guest bedroom!" Ami replied.  "Now I'm
going to ask you one more time, what are you doing in my bed?"
     "And I'm telling you again, I usually sleep in this bed.  I get
in late and I don't feel like walking all the way to my room.  Do you
know how far away it is???" the intruder replied.
     "Well, if its your room prove it," Ami told him.
     "Well, to do that, you'd have to let me go so I can get to my 
pants," he answered.
     "Why should I believe you?" she asked.
     "Do you want to hold me in a headlock all night?" he asked her.
     "Fine.  We shall proceed slowly towards your pants and you can
get whatever, but don't try anything funny," Ami warned him.
     They started moving slowly towards his pants.  When they got to
them, he pulled out what looked like a wallet.  He then took out a 
license.  They then went over to a lamp, and he turned it on for her.
Ami took one look at the picture and name on the license, then the 
intruder, and then she fainted.

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

     What's wrong with her?  Zack thought.  This is a little too 
strange, even for me.  It was almost like she recognized me.  But,
I've never seen her before in my life.  Might as well try to make her
comfortable when she wakes up.
     Zack then picked Ami up and set her on the bed.
     She doesn't weigh that much.  How in the world did she get that
hair color?  Is that natural?  This is getting a little too strange.
First the media making a whacked story about us being a group of 
psychos escaping from a mental institution, and now a stranger
in this room fainting on me.

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

     When she came to, she realized that she was on the bed.  Then
it all came rushing back to her.  She had looked at that picture.
The face was that of Zoisite of the Negaverse, and yet it was younger
and happier.  That couldn't be though, because the Sailor Scouts
destroyed the generals.  Every single one of the generals.
     "I'm glad that you're awake.  You made me worried there for a 
minute.  I was afraid that I was going to have to call my dad to come
and take a look at you," the voice told her.  "I guess that I should
tell you why I was crawling in this window at two o'clock in the 
morning.  I stayed out a little too late working on something,
and I didn't want my dad to find out.  You won't tell him, will you?"
     "N-No," Ami stuttered too shocked to do anything else but comply
with him.  "O-of course not."
     The resemblance was amazing.  Everything looked the same except
for his hair.  Instead of being long, it was short.  Almost to the 
point of being a buzz cut, but long enough for him to still style
it.
     "I've got to go now that you're okay.  Just be warned that I do
come through this window quite often," he gestured to the window.
Then he left the room with an armful of his clothes.

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

     The next morning at breakfast Ami couldn't stop blushing.
Zack was sitting directly across from her kept looking at her as if 
she was some freak under inspection.  Ami didn't know what to do.  
Should she be nice and start a conversation?  Should she just ignore
him?  She knew that it was a good thing that she chose her clothes
very carefully that morning.  She was wearing one of her best 
outfits.  It was a blue and white tie-dyed halter top with a pair of
white shorts, also a pair of high-heeled strapped sandals.  She had
only enough clothes to last for three days, so she needed to go 
shopping soon.  When she looked up again, he was still staring at 
her.
     ***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***

     She looks really cute, Zack thought.  I might ask her out if she
didn't keep to herself so much...

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

     "Well, Zack," Dr. Ryan told his son.  "Why don't you show Ami 
around town.  And show her all the places that you and your friends
go and hang-out, and other places."
     "That's okay, Dr. Ryan.  I'm sure with a map I can find my way
around town," Ami offered him.
     "I don't think so, Ami.  There are dangerous people and places
here.  If you get on their nerves or offend them in anyway they will
attack you.  I don't think that it would be very safe," Dr. Ryan told
her.
     "Don't worry Dad.  I'll show her around," Zack sighed.Ami looked
at Zack and smiled at him gratefully.  She was surprised when Zack
actually smiled back at her.

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

     When they got done eating, they went out to the four-car garage.
Inside Ami saw a brand-new blue Pontiac Sunfire hardtop convertible,
a brand-new red Porsche, a brand-new green Mazda MX-6, and a variety
of motorcycles.
     "I think that we should take the Sunfire because the top is 
already down and the weatherman says that it will get up to ninety
degrees today plus no chance of rain," Zack suggested.
     "Thanks for not telling anyone about last night," Ami told him
gratefully.
     "Well, thank you for not telling my dad.  He would kill me if he
knew that I was coming home late.  What do you think of going to the
beach first?" he asked.
     "That's great, but I don't have my swimsuit," Ami replied.
     "That's okay.  You have money with you don't you?" Zack asked.
     "Yes," she replied hesitantly, wondering what Zack was up to.
     "They sell swimsuits at the boardwalk along the beach.  I'll 
even help you buy a swimsuit, how about that?  Then, we can decide
what we want to do next.  We're going to meet some of my friends
down at the beach.  Is that okay?" he asked Ami.
     "That's fine with me," she answered hesitantly.
     After they started talking, they warmed up to each other quite
a bit.  By the time that they got to the beach, they knew more of 
each other already.  Ami found out that Zack was going to go 
somewhere for a foreign exchange program after she left to go back
to Japan.  He was horrified find out that Ami didn't really have fun
because she didn't have time to have fun.  They found out about each
other's friends.  Ami told him all about Serena, Rei, Lita, Mina,
Darien, and the others.  Ami found out that Zack had some friends
that were also going to go on the exchange program with him.  There
was Mike, the stern leader.  Jack, the one who always tried his best,
and yet never could quite make it and the practical joker.  Nick,
the one who had a major ego problem because he has been to so many
places and had so much money he could use it as fuel wood for his 
fireplace.
     By the time they found a parking place it was nearly ten o'clock
in the morning.  Zack was supposed to meet his friends at eleven.
They then went out in search of the perfect swimsuit.  Some of the 
swimsuits that Zack suggested Ami refused to even try on.  They 
finally found some swimsuits that Ami actually approved of and she 
finally started trying them on.  After a while they found the perfect
swimsuit for Ami, except that it was a two piece swimsuit.
     "Come on Ami, just buy it.  You should get it; it really looks
good on you," he tried to convince her.
     "I'm not really sure.  I've never had a two piece swimsuit
before.  Are you sure?" Ami asked uncertainly.
     "Yes, I'm sure.  I'm so sure that I'll even buy it for you,"
Zack replied.
     "No, that's okay.  I'll buy it.  I don't want you to spend your
money-" Ami was interrupted.
     "What, you don't think that I don't have enough money for a 
swimsuit?" he asked.
     "No, it's just that..." Ami mumbled.
     "Just that what?" Zack asked.
     "I just don't want to owe you any money," Ami replied.
     "No, you won't owe me any money.  Consider it a present.  From
me to you, celebrating your first day in California," he replied
to her with a smile.
     "Okay," Ami replied hesitantly.
     "I'll pay for this and then you can go and change into it, 
okay?" Zack asked Ami.
     "All right," Ami replied.

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

     By the time they actually got to the place where they were 
supposed to meet Zack's friends, it was exactly eleven o'clock on the
dot, but unfortunately no one was there yet.  So they decided to go 
ahead and swim without the others.
     "Hey, Ami!" Zack called before she entered the water.  "Do you
want to learn how to surf?"
     "Sure," Ami called back feeling very excited.  The fresh air 
plus the bright day made her very enthusiastic.  Also the fact that
Zack bought her a swimsuit helped too.
     I think that I should take Serena's advice and just be a wild
child, Ami thought.  After all, it's not like I'll ever see Zack 
again after this vacation.  I don't even think that he speaks 
Japanese.  Serena has been complaining that I study too much.  I 
think that it's time that I take a break, and be a carefree soul.
I'll certainly try to at the very least.  I'll try to tackle it like
any other homework assignment.
     "First I've got to get you a surfboard," he told me.  "Hold on 
just a second."
     While he was gone, Ami looked around at the scenery.  It was a 
warm and sunny day with the smell of the ocean overpowering
her senses.  There was a surprising small amount of people at this
beach.
     "Here you go," Zack handed Ami the surfboard.
     "How come there isn't very many people here today?" Ami asked
him.
     "This is a private beach, so there wouldn't be very many people
here in the first place," he informed her.
     "Oh,"
     "First, you need to put the surfboard flat on the sand," as soon
as Ami did this Zack continued,      "Next, you need to lie down on 
it.  That's it.  Now you've got to practice jumping up to a standing
position like this.  Now you try it," he demonstrated on his own 
surfboard.
     "Hey," he said, "that's not too bad.  "Let's try it again.  Very
good.  You must be a natural.  Are you sure that you haven't surfed
before?"
     "Actually, I have never been on a surfboard before in my life.
I just swim in the pool or in the ocean.  I've been boating a little
bit, but that's about it," Ami explained.
     "I really think that you are now ready to try surfing for real,
just remember to bend your legs once you stand up on the surfboard,
so they headed out to the ocean.
     "Let's try it on one board first, so you can get the feel of how
the waves feel.  Is that okay with you?"
     "Sure,"
     "Let's get going then,"
     Zack took his shirt off and Ami blushed as she stared at his 
chest.  Ami tried not to look, but she just couldn't help herself.
She didn't think that Zack noticed that she stared at him, at least,
she hoped not.  He had the best chest that she had ever seen in her
opinion.  It was muscular enough to be a six-pack.  Ami never 
admitted it, but personally she really admired washboard stomachs.
That just added to her attraction to him.
     They went to just about waist deep water.  Then, Ami laid 
stomach down on the surfboard.  Next, Zack laid stomach down on top
to her and started to paddle.  Ami was as still as a board.  She 
could feel his muscles pumping in his chest.  She moved nervously.
     After the paddled out into the ocean they started to wait for 
the right wave.
     "There's a good wave coming so get ready!" Zack called to Ami.
     All of a sudden a giant wave was underneath them.  As soon as 
the wave was in the right position, Zack jumped up and started to 
guide the surfboard in the water.
     After it was over, Zack guided the surfboard back to the shore.
Zack got off the surfboard and then helped Ami get off.
     "That was fun," Ami said and blushed as she stared at his 
muscular chest.  "Can I try by myself now?"
     "Go ahead, I'll stand here and watch though.  I need to watch
out for my friends," he explained.
     Ami got her surfboard and started swimming on her surfboard
to a wave.  As soon as it got under her Ami jumped into position,
and got to surf for the very first time.
     When it was over, Ami surfed back to the beach and gave Zack big
smile.
     "That was a lot of fun.  Thanks for teaching me," Ami thanked
him.
     All of a sudden she noticed that other people were there too.
And they were clapping at her none the less.
     "Bravo!"
     "Magnificent!"
     "Wonderful!"
     Ami blushed as she realized that other people watched her too.
     "These are my friends: Mike, Jack, and Nick.  Mike is the 
serious one; Jack is the clown, and Nick is the 
international-traveler and rich one," Zack teased his friends.
Meanwhile, Ami observed the new people in front of her.  Mike was 
tall with almost shoulder length blonde hair that was so blonde that
it was almost white.  He had the most intent hazel eyes that she had
ever seen.  Jack had dirty blonde hair that was longer than Zack's.
He wasn't as tall as the others, but he was still somewhat tall.  
Nick was the tallest of all of them with short brown hair, about the
length of Jack's.  They were all in pretty good shape except that Ami
thought that Zack was the best looking of all of them.
     "How long have you been surfing?" Mike asked.
     "About...oh...half an hour," Ami replied.
     "A half an hour? You have got to be kidding!" Nick exclaimed.
     "No.  Zack just taught me.  I'm a quick learner, plus I had a 
pretty good teacher," Ami replied.
     "We've heard nothing about you.  Where has Zack been hiding
you?  So where are you from?" Jack asked Ami.
     "Well, I'm here on vacation from Japan with my mother who is 
here for a conference, and I guess that I'll be spending most of my 
time by myself," I replied.
     "We can't let you do that!" Jack replied.  "Isn't that right
guys?"
     "Sure," Mike answered.
     "Whatever you like," Nick replied.
     "So it's agreed then," Jack confirmed it.
     "Come on guys.  It's a sunny day, and we should be swimming!"
Zack exclaimed.  "Last one in the water has to buy lunch!"
     It turned out that Jack was the last in the water because he was
so busy talking that he got a very late start.  Once in the water,
Zack started a water fight with Ami, and soon everyone else joined
in the fun.
     After they were done swimming, they decided to stretch out in 
the sun and lie down for a little while.  Ami accidentally
fell asleep because she didn't get much sleep with the jetlag and the
early morning incident with Zack.

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

     "I think that she's asleep now," Zack checked on Ami.  He told
them what happened before they got there.  "So what do you guys think
of her?"
     "She seems really nice, but what do you think of her is the real
question," Mike replied.
     "Well, I think that she's really nice once you really talk to 
her, and she's good at sneaking up to people and putting in a 
headlock and a quick learner," Zack replied.
     "That's not what I mean, and you know it," Mike told him.
     "Well, I think that she's attractive, it that's what you want
to know," Zack informed them.
     "She has the strangest hair color that I have ever seen," Nick
interrupted.  "It's blue!!!  How does she speak English so well?  You
would at least think that she would have an accent!"
     "Do you think that we should investigate this girl for you?"
Mike asked.
     "Don't you think that's kind of extreme?" Zack inquired.
     "Well, we always do that on all the girls that we like, so we 
don't run into gold-diggers," Mike explained.
     "Also, we all signed that contract, you can't deny that.  You 
remember what it said, 'No dates or kissing anyone until we find the
one for us," Nick reminded him.
     What Zack didn't tell them was that he was already in love with
the sleeping girl that was next to him.  I know that it is kind of 
silly thinking that I love her, but I do.  Ever since I saw her last
night after she fainted.  I knew that we were meant to be, it  seemed
that we were soul mates.  I couldn't sleep at all last night because
I kept thinking of her touch.  I liked it when she stared at me, and
she didn't think that I noticed it.  I knew that she was going to do
that.  It was almost like I could read her thoughts.  We have a bond
between us, and I know it.  It's almost as if I could touch it.  I 
know that it could become stronger somehow, but I'm scared that once
she finds out that my friends and I have these weird powers, she will
be appalled, Zack thought.  She looks so sweet and innocent.  I don't
want to bring her into the middle of what I'm involved in.  I 
couldn't stand her getting hurt.
     "Hello!  Is anyone in?" Jack asked him and waved a hand in front
of Zack's face.
     "Sorry, I was just thinking," Zack told them.  "Let's get off 
this subject.  Has there been any trouble recently?"
     "No news from the street," Mike replied.
     "The stars didn't reveal anything to me yet, so nothing to 
report as of yet," Nick informed them.
     "My spies haven't reported anything yet either," Jack told them.
     "I guess that's good news, because I haven't had anything
to report yet either," Zack added in.
     "We need to be alert because the Spore is getting more powerful
as we speak.  We will need all of our powers to defeat her.  Then I'm
not sure if even that's enough," Mike told them.

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

     "-I'm not sure if that's enough," Ami heard Mike say as she woke
up.
     "What are you guys talking about?" Ami asked them.
     "Uh, nothing you need to be concerned with," Nick told her.  
"Mike was just telling Jack that he might not have enough money for
lunch for all of us since he was the last one in the water."
     "We'd better get packed up so we can eat," Zack said.
     "Yeah," Jack agreed.  "I'm pretty hungry.  It's already two 
o'clock."
     "Wow, let's go to this caf‚ that I know," Nick suggested.
"It's really good.  You can follow me there in your cars."
     Ami followed Zack back to the blue Pontiac Sunfire after Ami 
took a shower and changed her clothes.  Zack helped out by putting
Ami's things in the back seat of his car.
     "Do you need to go anywhere after this?  I'd like to show you 
the different places around town," Zack asked.
     "I don't need to go anywhere today, but tomorrow I need to go 
shopping if you don't mind," Ami replied to him.  "My friend Mina 
told me of some good shops here."
     "I don't mind a bit.  Do you mind if I come along tomorrow
though.  I know where all the best shopping places are.  Plus, I can
tell you what's all the fashion now," Zack told her as they started
off towards the caf‚.
     "I don't need to get fashionable clothes-" Ami started.
     "-If you don't you'll miss half of the fun," Zack explained.
     "Okay," Ami replied slowly.  "If you're sure that you don't mind
going along with me."

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

     On the outside of the caf‚, it looked like one that you would
find in Spain.  It was small and tastefully decorated with Spanish
art and crafts.  There was also a little patio with chairs and tables
and umbrellas for the people if they wanted to eat outside.
     On the inside was more Spanish artwork.  There was also Spanish
food and for those who didn't have a taste for Spanish food, American
food.
     "Hola," our waiter said.  "How many are here?"
     "Cinco," Nick told him in fluent Spanish.
     "Ah, habla Espanol?" the waiter asked him back.
     "Sˇ, senor," Nick replied.
     "Ven conmigo, por favor," the waiter told him.
     "What did he say?" Jack whispered.
     "He told us to follow him," Nick whispered back.
     "Me llamo Ricardo.  Estoy su mesero," Ricardo told us.
     "Here are your menus.  I'll be back in a little bit to take your
orders," he said as he left.
     "Wow, I how did you learn how to speak Spanish?" Ami asked Nick.
     "With all that traveling time, you don't want to depend on a 
translator to try to translate everything for you," Nick explained.
     "How many languages do you know?" Ami inquired.
     "I know about seven different languages," Nick replied.
     "You can tell that Nick has had too much time on his hands,"
Jack teased.
     They all decided what we were going to have for our very late
lunch and ordered again after Ricardo came to our table again.  The
food was delicious and tasty.  Afterwards they had some Cappuccino
to wash it all down with.  While still sitting there they decided
to go to back to Zack's house so Ami could get some more sleep.  
Despite all the cappuccino that she drank, it looked like she was 
going to fall asleep at any second.

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

     They all started driving back to Zack's house, but somehow
they got separated and Zack got back to his house last.  Sometime
during all of this Ami fell asleep and couldn't be awakened, and had
to be carried up the stairs.  Zack couldn't find anyone inside the 
house, so her carried her upstairs himself.  When he picked Ami up,
he was surprised how light Ami really was.  He tried to be very 
careful not to wake her while he was carrying her.
     While carrying her Zack could smell the salt water that still
clung to her despite taking a shower after the beach.  She seemed
to cling to him by fitting in his arms so well.  By the time he got
to the bottom of the stairs, Ami already had her head resting on his
shoulder.  By the time he got to the top of the stairs, Ami looked
very peaceful and innocent in his arms.  Zack carefully put her down
on her bed and went quietly back to his car to bring back up her 
things.  By the time he got back inside he could hear her screaming
for some reason.  He sprinted up the rest of the stairs and dropped
everything once he got inside her door.  He tried to wake her, but he
couldn't.
     My goodness, he thought.  What has happened to her?  I've got to
call the others to get here right away.
     Zack, then, pushed a button on his watch and talked into his 
watch.
     "Mike, Jack, Nick...you guys need to get here pronto!  Some 
thing is wrong with Ami!" he called desperately.
     "Hold on," they replied.  "We'll be there in just a second.
Just let us park."
     Zack paced up and down the room nervously waiting for them to 
get there.  A second later, they were in the room examining Ami.  
Mike pulled out some instrument that scanned Ami.
     "I've got some good news and some bad news," Mike told him.  
"The good news is that nothing appears to be wrong with her.  The bad
news is that if there is something wrong with her, I can't tell what
it is because it doesn't show up on the computer.  It just looks like
we'll have to wait and see if she snaps out of it."
     I wish that I knew what was happening, Zack thought.  There must
be some way that I could help...

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

      Where am I? Ami thought.  What am I doing here?  The last thing
that I remember is falling asleep in Zack's car.
     Ami looked off into the distance and saw a shadowy figure.
As she got closer she realized that it was Zack.
     "Zack?  Zack?  Is that you?" Ami called.
     When she was right behind him, she touched his shoulder,
and he turned around.  What in the world?  It's not Zack!  It's 
Zoisite!
     "Are you surprised my darling?" Zoisite laughed.
     What is happening?
     "Well, I have decided to reveal myself," Zoisite revealed.
"Don't look so shocked.  Yes, I can read your thoughts, after all,
we are in your mind."
     "What do you want?" Ami asked defensively.
     "You are getting too close," Zoisite replied calmly.
     "What do you mean?"
     "You are getting too close to my other half!"
     "Your other half?  What other half?  You're dead!  How could
you have an other half?"
     "For someone so smart you still don't get it, do you?  You see,
when I was reborn Queen Beryl came to me and separated me into two 
halves.  My good self and my bad self.  We always had a small 
connection to each other.  We went on growing up.  I grew faster
than my other half because I kept getting fed the dark energy.  You
know the other part of my history with the Negaverse.  What you don't
know is that before I died, I transferred part of my being to my 
other half in the hope that I would grow strong enough to take over
the body, but it is hard to grow there, and he is quite strong.
With you being in this state, it is wearing down on his defenses.
Plus an outside force is helping me. All because he's in love with
you.  Weak pathetic humans.  As soon as I take over his body, I will
join up with the Spore and then we shall rule the universe!!!
Ha ha ha!"
     "You can't do this!  I won't let you do this!"
     "I'm afraid not little Sailor Failure!  You can't stop me.  I 
can keep you in this state for as long as I like!"
     "Oh yeah???" With that statement, Ami jumped on top of Zoisite
and started punching him while screaming at the top of her lungs.
Zoisite was so surprised by her sudden attack that he stood there
shocked for a while, and then left her mind immediately.

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

     Meanwhile, in the real world Zack was getting ready to try 
practically everything from dumping water on her face to shaking
her.
     "Hey, why don't you try kissing her like in Sleeping Beauty,
you know the handsome prince gives her a kiss and POOF the princess
wakes up?" Jack teased.They all knew however that he couldn't really
do that unless he was going to have a permanent relationship
with her.  But, they didn't know if she would like that.  When they
were all younger, after they had found out about each other's powers,
they all kept the secret of their magical powers they agreed that it
be better if they didn't have girlfriends because then it would be 
dangerous to have one.  Plus, if anyone else found out abut them,
they might turn out to be a weird government experiment.  She might
be attacked and tortured by their enemies.  They didn't have the time
to go around watching all the girls that they dated just to make sure
that they won't get attacked.  They all agreed not to kiss girls 
either because it would just tempt them more.
     Suddenly, to everyone's surprise, Zack leaned down and kissed
Ami right on the lips.  To add to the shock Ami woke up too!!!
     "Wow!!!" was all that Ami could say.
     "I don't believe it!" Jack exclaimed.  "It really worked!"
     Neither Nick nor Mike could say anything.
     "What are all of you doing in here?" Ami asked quietly.
     "You started screaming in your sleep, and I couldn't get you to
wake up," Zack explained.  "What happened?"
     "N-nothing," Ami hastily lied.  She didn't want to, but she had
to keep him from knowing that he had an other half, that would lead
to more questions.  Then, she might have to reveal that she was a 
Sailor Scout.  That wouldn't be good.
     There was only one choice for Ami.  She had to somehow get into
Zack's mind to try to destroy the remnant of Zoisite that was in his
mind.  She needed to call Luna now.
     "Excuse, me.  I need to go and take a nice long bath.  I need
to relax," Ami mumbled.  She gathered all of her things for a bath
and snuck her communicator with all her other things and headed 
towards the bathroom.
     After she got in the bathroom the guys started talking.
     "That was certainly weird," Nick commented.
     "Are you sure that you know everything about this girl?" Mike
questioned him.
     "At first I thought so, but now I'm not so sure," Zack replied.

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

     "Luna, come in.  Are you there Luna?" Ami called desperately.
     Ami received no reply.  She then realized that the Scouts were
either out fighting some monster or sleeping since there was a time
difference.  Oh, well, Ami thought.  It looks like I'm going to have
to this by my self.  Better get working.

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

     "You fool!!!" the harsh voice hissed.  "You should have not make
contact with her.  Now she will know something is up!  If anything
goes wrong it's all on your head!"
     "Yes, master," a somber voice replied.

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

     Ami busily got to work while the others were still having a 
conversation about her in her room.
     "Zack, you know what we have to do," Mike told him.
     "Yes, but just to let you know, I don't like it," Zack replied.
     "Well, you don't have to like it, you just have to do it," Nick
reminded him.
     "Okay," Zack growled.  "But you know that I hate spying on 
people.  Especially nude girls in the bathtub!!!"
     "Oh, quit kidding yourself.  You'll like it, and you know it!!!"
Jack teased.  "Besides, you're the one who likes her.  We saw the way
that you've been looking at her all day."
     "Okay, fine," Zack grumbled.  "But remember, I'm not doing this
because I like it, I'm doing it for you guys."
     Zack then became invisible and passed through the wall of the 
bathroom.  When he first entered the bathroom he saw the back of 
Ami's head and her shoulders.  Next, he saw that she was working
on something that looked like a mini-computer.  A short time later,
he got close enough to look over her shoulder to see what she was 
working on.  What he saw completely shocked him.  There was a 
revolving picture of his face in 3-D with the back of his skull 
removed so it showed part of the brain.
     "It is almost ready," he heard Ami whisper.  "Now I can finally
be rid of that monster Z-"
     That was all that Zack heard.  He left the room so suddenly
that he accidentally knocked over the towel rack that was next to 
him.  That was all that he needed to hear-all that he wanted to hear.
He didn't want to know how the one he cared about was planning
on destroying him.

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

     "It is almost ready," Ami whispered.  "Now I can finally be rid
of that monster Zoisite."
     While she was saying this, the towel rack fell over with a 
crash.
     "Who's there?" Ami cried out.  She turned around but didn't
see anyone.  Nonetheless, she felt that someone was watching her.  
Then, the feeling was gone.  She hastily got dressed and ran out into
her room and found Jack, Mike, and Nick in there talking.
     "What's the problem?" asked Nick.
     "Well, I had the strangest feeling that I was being watched,"
Ami replied.
     She noticed that the guys gave each other odd looks.
     "You must be imagining it," Nick told her.
     "I didn't see anyone go in did you, Mike?" Jack said.
     "No one," Mike replied.
     "Well, I could have sworn that someone was watching me," Ami 
said more to herself than to the others.  "Excuse me, but I need to 
take a walk outside the house."
     Ami left the house to think about the nonexistent person in the
bathroom and Zoisite.  Outside she noticed a large garden with a 
small white gazebo in it.  She went over to the gazebo and sat down
to think.  She didn't really notice when it got dark.
     "Ami!" she heard from behind her.  "Here you are.  You were 
getting everyone worried when you didn't come back after you left the
house."
     She turned around and saw Zack standing there smiling at her.
For some reason, that struck her as being wrong, but she smiled at 
him anyway.
     "I'm sorry.  It's just that I've been sitting out here thinking.
Is it really that late?" she asked him.
     "Yeah, but don't worry about it.  I was making sure that you 
were okay.  Your mom and my dad just got back from the hospital
and were wondering where you were," Zack replied.  "I think that my 
dad was just worried that I dumped you off in the middle of the road
somewhere."
     What Ami didn't know was that when she first walked out there
was that Zack was already out there.  He was sitting on the bench
very confused and upset while he was still invisible.  She then went
right up to him and sat down next to him.
     It freaked me out at first, he reflected, but after it sunk in I
just got used to it.  How did this girl know that I was sitting
there?  Do we have some kind of connection?He just sat there next to
her until he heard his dad's car pull up the driveway.  Even then,
he reluctantly left her.

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

     While inside the house he had talked with his friends about what
happened, and what they were going to do.
     "Wow," Jack said.  "Who would have thought that an innocent
looking girl like Ami was out for blood?"
     "What are we going to do about it?" Zack asked exasperatedly.
     "We'll just have to pretend that it never happened until we can
see what she intends to do," Mike told him.  "We can't let her know
that we know what happened.  Now, I suppose, we have to keep watch
on her.  But, now you have to get to work."
     "Remember, you have to act like nothing happened, you heard 
nothing, and you saw nothing," Nick reminded him.
     "Now go back outside and get her, now remember, nothing 
happened," Jack repeated.

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

     Zack then went outside and watched Ami for a couple minutes
after his dad got back to the house and then finally went to go and
talk to her.
     "Come on," he said kindly.  "I heard that Ralph made a very 
special dinner in honor of your mother's and your first whole day 
here."
     "He didn't need to do that," Ami replied.
     "But he wanted to," he told her as he put his arm around her and
led her towards the dining room.  "Let's go, they're probably waiting
for us inside already."

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

     The next morning at breakfast, Dr. Ryan was asking Ami and Zack
what they were going to do that day.
     "I need to go shopping.  I didn't pack very many clothes in the
first place because I thought that I was going to go shopping with
mother, but it looks like I'll have to go shopping by myself,"
Ami told him forgetting through all the excitement last night that
Zack offered to with her.
     "How about Jack, Mike, Nick, and I go with you?" Zack asked 
again.  "It's a whole lot more fun shopping with others, and I know
that we have nothing else to do today."
     "It's fine with me," Ami replied.  It will give me a chance
to keep an eye on him all day, Ami thought.
     "We better get an early start then, we have to go to all the 
stores on this list.  I have thoroughly investigated this manner
and my friend Mina told me that these were the most fashionable
places here without being too expensive," Ami explained.
     "We'd better get going then, I'll see you later dad, Mrs. 
Mizuno," Zack bid them farewell.
     On the way out, Zack called the others on his cell phone.  He 
told them to meet him at the first stop on Ami's list.
     During the ride in the car, they made no comments about the 
weird occurrences that happened the day before.  Instead they made
passing remarks about the weather and their health.  By the time they
got to the store, they had started making actual conversation
and started to have fun again.  Ami started trying on outfits and 
Zack and the others told her their comments and weather or not she 
should not buy it.  They repeated this process all morning and 
afternoon.  It was about time for dinner by the time Ami had gotten
done with shopping.  At the last store she was debating weather
or not she should buy a formal dress or not.
     "I don't know," Ami commented.  "Where would I wear this dress
to?  There is really no special occasion that I could think of to 
wear this dress for."  She commented about a floor length black,
velvet dress with two wide diagonal crimson stripes.
     She then paid for the other things, got the keys to the car from
Zack, and put her things into it.  By the time she was done, Zack was
ready to go.
     "What were you in the store for?" Ami asked.
     "I just needed to get something for my mom.  She's away on a 
business trip now and it would be the perfect time to get her 
surprise present her for her birthday," Zack replied.  "So do you 
think you have the energy to go out to eat and some dancing?"
     "Sure, shopping always gives me energy to do anything,"
Ami jokingly replied.
     "Okay, we're going to go to the most popular place to eat and 
dance around here.  I think the other guys will follow us, well at 
least I hope, but if we are left to eat by ourselves, it won't be 
that bad," he told her.
     By the time they got there, it was around eight o'clock, and the
whole place was lit up like a Christmas tree.  The music was on full
blast, and everyone was starting to dance.  The party was just 
getting started.
     There was a long line of people, but somehow they got moved 
ahead right to the front.
     "We have a reservation," Zack told the waiter, and soon the five
of them were ushered to one of the best tables in the place.
     "How did you manage to get a table here so fast?" Ami asked.
     "It's amazing what can happen when you know the owner.  You see,
the manager is one of my dad's patients.  At the time the place 
wasn't ready to open, so when he was better, he told my dad that we 
could eat here anytime that we wanted, and that it would be on the 
house.  So here we are now," Zack explained.
     "I've just got to say that it's a whole lot better then standing
in line for over two hours," Jack put in.
     "Can I take your orders?" the waitress asked.  The waitress
was wearing a very daring outfit.  It consisted of a tank top with
a ripped up tee-shirt on top of it, a pair of cut-off shorts, a pair
of rainbow colored tights, a couple pairs of different socks, and a 
beat-up pair of old roller skates.  In her hair was a bright pink 
hair bow that was holding back her wild hair that looked like she 
just got up from sleeping.
     After she took their orders and left, Ami asked Zack what 
happened to her clothes.  He explained to her that the restaurant
had theme nights.  Tonight just happened to be '80's night.While they
were waiting for their food, Ami told them all about her family,
friends, and life well, almost everything.  She told them about 
Serena, and her crying and how she eventually pulls through for them.
There was Rei, who was constantly screaming at Serena to get her act
together.  How Rei didn't want to hurt Serena, but help her.  Also,
the ever boy-crazy Lita, and fashionable, but somewhat clueless
Mina.  She also told them how Mina was the actress that played Sailor
V in the movies.  She left out the whole part about her being a 
Sailor Scout.  And all her friends being Sailor Scouts too.By the 
time that she had finished talking, they had finished eating, and 
were ready to dance.  Jack was the first one who asked her to dance.
By the time they got onto the dance floor they had just started
playing the tango.
     "May I have the honor of this dance, Senorita Mizuno," Jack 
asked with a Spanish accent.
     "You may," Ami replied similarly.
     Then they started a sort of fake tango like everyone else was 
doing.  While dipping Ami once, he grabbed a breadstick from a nearby
table, and put it into his mouth instead of a rose, and he danced
with it in his mouth for the rest of the dance.  When the dance was
over, Jack started to munch on his breadstick as they made their way
back to the table, but before they could get to the table, Nick 
grabbed Ami's hand and asked her to dance with him too.  As they got
to the dance floor they started to play La Bamba.  After they got 
done dancing, Mike also got Ami to dance with him, which just 
happened to be Limbo.  In the end some little ten year old kid won 
the dance, but only because she was about three and half feet tall.
     I wonder when Zack is going to ask me to dance.  The others
are fun to dance with, but I want to dance with him, Ami thought.
Come on; just ask me to dance with you once.But it turned out that
he was already dancing with some redheaded girl that no one seemed
to know, so Ami decided to try to have fun without him and tried to 
ignore how his ignoring her wouldn't bug her, but it did.

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

     "I haven't seen you in years!" Zack exclaimed to his childhood
friend, Amber.  "When did you get back into town?"
     "Just today," she replied.  "I can't believe that we ran into
each other like this."
     "Yeah, really strange," Zack muttered to himself.

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

     "Sir, I have made contact with target number one," a woman's
voice echoed.
     "Good," a voice returned.  "Commence with phase one."

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

     One really cute guy that reminded Ami of Darien with his dark
hair and eyes went and asked her to dance, and to her surprise,
it was Darien.
     "How are you doing, Ami?" he asked as they danced to a slow 
song.
     "Well... I really have to talk to you about something.  But 
first why are you here in the first place?" she asked him.
     "There was this program at school, sort of an exchange program
here that will last about a month or two that is extra credit for 
school, so here I am," he explained.  "It's sort of a traveling
culture program which will be really informative.  We're going to go
to somewhere in Europe next but right now I can't remember exactly
where.  I think it might be somewhere in France."
     "But how did you get away from Serena?" she asked.
     "Well," he laughed, "Serena insisted that I come to make sure
that you were going to bring her back a present!"
     "So, I guess I should tell you this, it will be very surprising.
Did you notice the guys that I was with?" Ami asked.
     "Yeah, just a bunch of guys.  You're beginning to become a 
really big guy magnet, aren't you Ami?" he teased.
     "Look closer," she told him exasperatedly.
     "My goodness," Darien gasped.  "They look exactly like Nephrite,
Malachite, and Jadeite.  They have different hair, but still, they
look exactly the same.  That's uncanny!"
     "Wait to you see this," Ami told him as she swung him around
the dance floor until they had a clear view of Zack.  "You see that
guy over there dancing with that redhead?""This is too weird," he 
told her as he realized whom Zack looked like.
     Ami then started to tell him about the events since coming to 
California, but realized that they needed a more private place to 
talk, so they agreed that it would be better if he took her back to 
Zack's house, so it would be more private.
     She went to the table that she was at and got her purse and told
them that she was leaving.  Before they could protest, she had 
already gone off with Darien on his motorcycle.One the way back to 
Zack's house, they stopped by a park as she related to him all the 
events since coming to California, even about her encounter with 
Zoisite.
     "I just have to say that it all sounds pretty strange.  I wonder
why you couldn't get a hold of Luna..." Darien thought out loud.
     "Well, here's my beeper number.  Call me if you need me or if 
you have anything that I can help you with," he told her as he handed
her a piece of paper with a number on it.  "I think that it's about
time I take you back so you can get some sleep.  We've been out here
talking for about two hours."

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

     Meanwhile...
     "What do you MEAN she left???  You guys were supposed to watch
her!  I can't leave you guys alone for one minute!" Zack yelled at 
them outside the restaurant.  "We've got to go find her.  Well take
the cars back to my house, and then we'll start searching for her."
     When they got to Zack's house, they all parked their cars and 
transformed into these black and gray outfits.  It was all solid 
black except for their gray masks that covered their whole face 
except for their eyes and a diagonal gray stripe that extended
from their right shoulder to their left hip.  At their left hip was
a sword hanging off a leather belt that rested in the same spot as 
the gray stripe and in the middle of the leather belt was a strange
symbol that strangely looked like the symbol for earth only a little
fancier.
     Suddenly, the whole group jumped off the ground and started
to fly in different directions looking for Ami.
     "So who did she go off with?" Zack asked into a microphone
that was attached to the inside of his mask.
     "Some guy," Nick told him.
     "Yeah," Jack added in, "tall, dark, and handsome."
     "Quit teasing me," Zack told Jack.  "I'm not in the mood.  Did
you see what car he went off in?
     "I think that he was with her on a motorcycle," Mike told him.
     "Okay, everyone keep an eye out for a couple on a motorcycle,"
Zack told them.
     "Roger that, Alpha Leader," Jack replied jokingly.
     "Mike, you go downtown.  Nick check out around this 
neighborhood.  Jack, look around the park areas, and I'll look at all
the hotels," Zack commanded them.
     "Hotels???  Why do you need to check out the hotels???"
Nick asked questioningly.  "I really doubt that Ami is the kind of 
girl to just pick up a guy in a club and go off with him to a hotel."
     "Well, you never know.  With those quiet ones, you can never
tell what they're thinking," Zack replied ending the conversation.
"Besides, we thought that she was nice before, but I heard with my 
own ears about her trying to kill me.  You just never know."
     About an hour later Jack found Ami at the park with Darien.
While he was debating whether or not to attack him, he started to 
listen to their conversation.  Unfortunately for Ami he got there
just in time to hear her plan to destroy him, referring to Zoisite,
but he mistook it for her plan to destroy Zack.  So he sat there in 
midair above them listening in on their plans to kill Zoisite.
At the end of the conversation he heard the other guy tell her, "I 
think that it's about time I take you back so you can get some sleep.
We've been out here talking for about two hours."But before they 
could get very far, Darien was mysteriously knocked off his bike.
Well, not so mysteriously to Jack, Mike, and Nick.  When they were
almost done talking, Jack told the other guys to get to the park,
pronto.  Zack sped over there like a bullet, and when he saw the two
looking quite comfortable on the motorcycle, he rammed Darien at full
speed off the bike. 
     "What in the world???" Ami exclaimed.Darien swore and stood up 
looking for his attacker.  Finding none he told Ami to run, and that
he would find her later.
     I've got to help, Ami thought.  I guess it's time to go into 
action.  It looks like Darien is going to get beaten up pretty bad.
An enemy that you can't see is the worst kind.Ami ducked behind a 
tree to turn into Sailor Mercury in order to help Darien, but she 
realized that the tree would not block everyone from seeing her 
transformation.  Since they were at the edge of the park, Ami noticed
a nearby alley.  Taking a chance that no one was in there or watching
her, she ran into the all and yelled, "Mercury Star Power!!!"
The familiar blue light surrounded her as she felt the clothes change
into her uniform and the tiara form on her head.
     Afterwards, Ami ran out of the alley and went to the last place
that she saw Darien.I hope that no one saw me transform, Ami thought.
     Meanwhile, Darien was busy trying to protect himself from an 
unknown attacker.
     Ami then jumped up on a park bench and told whoever was there:
"It is not nice to pick on innocent people.  I will not allow this.
On behalf of Mercury, I shall punish you!!!  Mercury Bubble Blast!!!"
Ami yelled out as the attack covered the entire area with a dense
fog.
     Drat!  Where did he go???  Zack thought.
     Meanwhile Darien hastily turned into Tuxedo Mask and ran over
to where Ami was scanning the attackers.
     "I'm taking a scan of where the fog has a space in it and 
downloading the figures that are there.  I don't have time to analyze
this data now, but I can later.  This will help us a lot.  As far as
this show me there are four other people here," Ami told him quickly.
     She programmed her visor to detect the life signed to the four
unknown attackers so that she could focus her attacks on them.

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

     While all this was going on, Mike, Jack, Zack, and Nick were 
trying out how to get rid of the dense fog that prevented them from
seeing who put it there in the first place.
     "Watch and learn guys, watch and learn," Jack told them.  He 
then started to freeze the fog and tiny ice crystals started to drop
from the sky, and the fog was started to lighten up until there was
just barely any fog left.
     Suddenly, out of no where they heard the same voice yell, "What
are you doing attacking innocent people for?  Who are you working
for?"
     "Who are you?" Mike asked.  "Do you work for the Spore?"
     "You answer me first," the unknown voice told them.
     "We are the Earth Defense Group Enforcers, or EDGE.  We help 
people in need, and we keep this city safe.  This man was going off
with one of our friend's friend, and we were worried that he would
take advantage of her," Mike told her becoming visible again.  "I am
the leader, this is my second in command," he gestured to Zack who 
also became visible. "Also this is my third," gesturing to Nick who
then became visible, "and my fourth," he gestured to Jack who also
became visible.  "Now you answer our questions.  I have answered
yours.  Show yourself.  You know where we are and we want to see you
now."
     "Very well," Ami replied as she and Tuxedo Mask jumped out of a 
nearby tree.
     "When I give you the word, sprinkle them with the sleeping
powder.  We need more answers than they look to give," Mike whispered
to the others.
     "I am Sailor Mercury," Ami told them.
     "And I am Tuxedo Mask," Darien told them."We defend the earth
from all evil along with the other Sailor Scouts," Ami told them.
     "Now!" Mike whispered fiercely when Ami and Darien were about
a three feet in front of them.
     They all attacked the two.  Not expecting an attack, Ami was 
barely able to defend herself when they threw the sleeping powder
in her face.  Darien did little better.  He managed to throw a 
barrage of roses at the attackers and barely escape after they threw
the sleeping powder on him too.  But somehow he was able to get on 
his bike and drive away ready to come back later and defeat them one
way or another.
     "We can do with just this one," Mike told them.
     "Doesn't she look a little familiar?" Jack asked him.
     "Yeah," Nick told him.
     "She sort of looks like Ami, but Ami ran off a while ago and she
probably is already back at your house now, Zack.  But before you can
go rushing off after her to go yell at her, we need to question
this one," Mike gestured to Sailor Mercury.

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

     When Ami woke up she found her wrists chained to a brick wall
with a bright light on her.
     Where in the world am I? Ami thought.
     "I see that you're awake now," a somewhat familiar voice told
her.  "Now you can start answering our questions."
     "You must answer our questions, or else we might have to make
you answer the questions, and you might not like that," another
voice told her.
     "Now, who are you working for?" another voice asked her.
     "I don't work for anyone," Ami told them.  "I am part of  a 
group called the Sailor Scouts."
     "We know that you work for the Spore, so you can quit lying now
and tell us the truth, we won't hurt you if you tell the truth,"
yet another voice told her.
     "I am telling you the truth.  I don't work for the Spore.  I 
don't even know what the Spore is.  You can look at the Tokyo papers
if you don't believe me," she told them desperately hoping that they
would not hurt her or even worse.
     "The Tokyo papers," the first voice said.  "Is that where you're
from?"
     "Yes," she replied desperately.  "Please, don't hurt me.  I have
a lot of people that would not like it if I was hurt."
     "We're not going to hurt you if you comply with us," the fourth
voice told her.
     "Now, who are you?" the second voice asked.  "Not the Sailor
Mercury stuff, that stuff checks out, but who are you really?"
     "What do you mean?" Ami asked back hoping that they did not mean
Ami Mizuno.
     "I think you know what we mean.  I think that we'll leave you to
ponder your answer for us," the first voice told her.  "Good-bye."

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

     What should I do?  Ami thought.  I don't even know them.  What
would happen if I tell them who I really am?  I don't think that I 
can get out of the chains.  I don't even know if they're watching
me.  What if they are actually right out of my line of vision, which
isn't that far.  I can't see anything outside of where this bright
light is shining on me.  Maybe they'll come back in five or even ten
minutes.  I think that I have really no choice, but to tell them.
But first, they'll have to tell me who at least two of them are.  
That way, I'll have something to work with.

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

     The next morning Mike, Zack, Nick, and Jack went down to Zack's
basement and transformed into the four officers of EDGE.  Then they
went into a secret room behind a large bookshelf that covered the 
entrance.  Inside was a large room with a part of it sectioned
off behind some glass and a glass door.  Inside the sectioned
off part was Sailor Mercury looking very worn and tired.
     "So have you made your decision?" Mike asked her.
     "Yes, I have.  I will tell you who I am if you tell me who you
are.  I want two of you to reveal who you are and then I will reveal
who I am, then the other two of you will reveal who you are.  Is that
fine with you?" Ami asked.
     Mike looked at the others and they nodded.
     "Yes, that is agreeable to us," he replied.
     Jack and Nick stepped forward and removed their face coverings.
     Ami gasped.  She was shocked to find out who they were.
     "Now it is your turn," Mike told her.
     Ami transformed from Sailor Mercury back to Ami Mizuno.  The 
whole time she had the sinking feeling that the other two mysterious
people were Mike and Zack.
     After Ami finished transforming, she waited for them to start
yelling.  She thought that they would be furious with her for 
attacking them, but instead they started to laugh.
     "What's so funny?" she asked them timidly as the other two took
off their masks revealing Mike and Zack.
     "It's just that..." Jack said while gasping for air since he was
laughing so hard.  "We...were...so worried...about you...being
hurt...But it looks like...this cat has claws..."
     Suddenly Ami was so overwhelmed that she started laughing
too.  But she realized that she still didn't trust them enough to 
reveal the rest of the scouts' identities.  They would have to have
a scout meeting to decide to what course of action to take, but in 
the meantime, she would have to trust them enough to help her kill
the last remnant of Zoisite.
     "Seriously, guys.  I need your help with this problem that I do
have," Ami told them.  She told them all that she could about the 
Moon Kingdom and all that happened to her as a Sailor Scout without
revealing the identity of the other Sailor Scouts.  She then 
proceeded to tell them her story of her encounter with Zoisite and 
her plan to get rid of him once and for all.
     "I have this device all rigged up and all I really need to do is
see if it will work properly, but in order to do that I need to have
another encounter with Zoisite.  You see that I have two crystals
here.  I need to put one to Zack's forehead and the other one to 
mine.  This will create a link between us so that we can fight 
Zoisite together," she told them holding up two dark blue crystals
that looked like sapphires.
     "What about the rest of us?  We can't just sit around waiting
for Zoisite to attack!" Nick exclaimed.
     "I know...it just seems like you guys are going to have to keep
a constant watch over Zack and me.  Also in order for these crystals
to work I need to place them as soon as possible after Zoisite shows
himself again," Ami explained.  "So we're going to have to keep a 
close watch on Zack.  Also my guess is that the closer the crystals
are together the more power they have and the stronger the bond 
between them.  So I'm going to have to stick pretty close to him most
of the time."
     "MOST of the time, huh?  How about when he's in the bathroom?
Are you going to be there too?" Jack teased.
     "No.  That's why you guys are going to keep watch when I can't,"
Ami said pointedly.
     "Why should we believe you?" Mike asked suspiciously.
     "How else do you explain what happened that night?  It was no 
freak occurrence, I can tell you that.  Besides, what else are you 
going to believe?" Ami asked.
     "She's got a point, guys," Jack said.
     "Okay," Mike agreed.  "But how are we going to know when this
Zoisite will attack?"
     "We don't..." Ami replied.

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

     Ami and Zack went practically everywhere together while waiting
for Zoisite, neither of them admitted it, but they didn't really
mind the arrangement. Zack took full advantage of having Ami next to
his side practically all the time.  He didn't mind for a bit sleeping
on the floor of her room when he went to sleep, even all that 
happened in the room was a couple sleepy goodnights.  Unfortunately,
he had to sneak in the room after his father went to sleep and leave
before his father woke up, which was around six o'clock in the 
morning.  Ami quickly took her shower, while Zack was being watched
by one of his friends.  Then it was Zack's turn to take shower which
he had to take in about a minute flat because if he didn't all of his
friends would come barging in, and he didn't really want to 
experience that again.  The first time that he took his shower after
about a minute Mike came barging in expecting him to be laying prone
and naked on the floor while Zoisite was taking over his body.  From
breakfast until after dinner Ami and Zack were inseparable,
unless either one of them had to go to the bathroom.  They went to 
the movie theaters to go watch movies and plays and other places.
A couple of the more memorable experiences for Ami was when they went
to a movie premiere, an amusement park where they rode the Ferris
wheel at sunset, and the best one of all was when Zack surprised
her with tickets to a showing of The Phantom of the Opera.  He kept
leaving these little notes with words to the opera on them hinting
that they were going somewhere special that night.  The most 
astonishing thing though was the fact that he actually bought her the
dress that she was deliberating on buying in the last shop that they
went to.  All the while Darien had left California in order to go to
Europe.In the meantime, Zack's mother, Susan, returned from her 
business trip.  Ami finally got to meet her, and she thought that 
Susan was really cool.  First of all, she acted like she was still
twenty and telling all about her day to anyone who would listen and
was very patient and understanding.  Plus, she didn't criticize
about anything someone did wrong even if someone did it wrong for 
about the fifth time.  It was obvious to anyone that Zack got most
of his good looks from his mother Susan.  She had long blonde hair
down to her waist that was the color of cornsilk, and her eyes were
a sky blue color.  Zack also had her delicate facial features from
her, but he did get a good share of looks from his father too.  He 
had his father's blue eyes that were a dark blue.  The angrier that
Zack got the darker blue his eyes got until they almost seemed black.
He also had his father's good physique.  He was strong and sleek like
a cat.

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

     "Ami, can I talk to you for a minute?"  Susan asked after she 
knocked on Ami's door one day after dinner.
     "Come in.  You know that you can talk to me anytime," Ami 
replied.
     "Well, I came to ask you if you knew what you wanted to wear to
the Golden Harvest Ball," Susan told her.
     "The Golden Harvest Ball?  What's that?" Ami asked 
questioningly.
     "You mean that Zack hasn't told you about it already???
That's a wonder, this is one of his favorite times of the year.  I've
got to talk to him, he's neglecting his duties.  Well, anyways,
the Golden Harvest Dance is a tradition in our family since 1852.
You see every year during the end of the harvest we have a 
masquerade.  We go to the old house out in the country and throw a 
giant party where we invite everyone that is of importance in the 
country or anyone that our family wants to invite.  Does that sound
interesting to you?"  Susan questioned her.
     "Oh yes!  What to be?  There's so many things that I could 
decide from.  Hmmmm...........I think that I'd like to wear a  
costume from some time in history.   How about a eighteenth century
ballroom dress?  I could wear a powdered wig and powder my face and
do other stuff!  That would be sooo much fun!"  Ami laughed at 
herself for sounding like Serena.  I haven't talked to them in a 
while.  Maybe I should call them tonight.  I've been so busy lately
and when I actually do call them no one's in.  I should try to call
them soon, Ami thought.
     Soon, Ami and Susan were planning their costumes together
and what the men were wearing too.  Ami's mom was going to go as a 
pirate, Susan was going as a nineteenth century barmaid, Dr. Ryan was
going to be an outlaw, Zack was going to be something that Susan 
wouldn't tell Ami, and Mike, Jake, and Nick were going to be the 
Three Musketeers.  Of course they were all going to wear masks, so no
one could tell who they were.
     Ami's costume was going along very well.  It was a eighteenth
century ball gown.  Her dress was a crimson red that had a square
neckline with lace trimmings.  Ami was slightly upset that she was 
going to have to wear the traditional corset underneath her dress,
but as Susan pointed out, "Beauty knows no pain."  They decided
to just get a white wig instead of a powdered one because it wouldn't
be as messy.  Also, they were going to use baby powder to make Ami's
skin a very pale white.  It was going to be a considerable
task considering the healthy tan that she got during the time there,
but luckily they only had to cover her face and neck, shoulder,
and upper arm area.  Since Ami would be wearing long white gloves
that went to the middle of her upper arm and her skirts and white
pantyhose would cover her legs.  She was also going to wear a 
powdered wig that had lots of curls.  Her mask would be a crimson
red color with white ribbon with crimson embroidery on it.

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

     The Golden Harvest Ball came quicker that Ami thought it would.
All her time was taken up by spending it with the guys.  By day, 
going to the beach and shopping and doing other various things 
together.  By night, fighting bad guys and making sure that the city
was safe.
     Before Ami knew it the day had arrived.  She was very excited.
Let's see...I have to go and eat lunch, then we leave to go to the 
country house, then I need to start getting ready, Ami thought.
     Lunch went by before Ami knew it and by the time she realized
it, she was ready for the party.  She was all dressed up standing
in her room and ready to go.  When she looked in the mirror, she 
didn't even recognize herself.
     "Ami, may I come in?" Susan asked after she knocked on Ami's
door.
     "Yes...I think I'm ready," Ami replied.
     Susan walked into her room with Ami's mother, and they both 
gasped at the sight of Ami.
     "You're just absolutely gorgeous!"
     "I can hardly recognize you!"
     "Can one of you help me put on this mask?  My dress limits my 
movements a bit and I can't quite reach to put it on," Ami explained.
     "I'll help you put it on," Ami's mother replied.
     "I don't think that you have to worry about anyone recognizing
you.  I can hardly recognize you myself and I even helped you pick
out the dress!" Susan laughed.  "We've got to go downstairs now 
because we have to greet guests, but you stay up here for another
thirty minutes or so, then come downstairs, so you can make a grand
entrance!  That would be a sight to see!"
     After they left Ami snuck around upstairs and looked around
some of the rooms there.  She hadn't seen anything of Zack yet, but
she was hoping to catch at least a glimpse of him.  She eventually
ended up wandering around outside in the moonlit garden.  She noticed
that there was an unusually large amount of roses in the garden,
but she dismissed it because it was time for her to make her 
appearance in the ballroom.

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

     "Phase one is underway.  It will be complete before the night
is through," a voice said.  "My agent is taking care of it."
     "Good...make sure that you don't mess up," the raspy voice 
replied.

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

     The ballroom was very large with black and white checked marble
floors.  It also had large picture windows that went from the floor
to the ceiling.  The curtains were black to match the floor.  The 
walls were white which was a startling contrast to the curtains.
As she stepped into the ballroom she noticed that there was a lot of
people.  She could pick out Susan, her mother, Dr. Ryan, and the 
guys, but she couldn't spot Zack.As soon as she began to wonder where
he was, she felt a tap on her shoulder.
     "May I have this dance?" a voice asked her.Ami recognized
the voice in an instant as Zack.  She turned around so suddenly,
that she almost fell over.
     "Don't sit down on my account," Zack teased her.
     Ami was stunned by the way he looked.  He was dressed up as an 
eighteenth century pirate.  He was wearing a full-sleeved white shirt
that had some ruffles as his throat and wrists that would have looked
feminine on anyone else, but on him they just looked very alluring.
Ami wanted to touch them to see if they felt as soft as they looked.
His shirt was opened to mid-chest, so she could see his muscles.
His shirt was tucked into black pants that were tucked into tall 
black boots that went to his knees.  His mask was a solid black color
with a crimson red ribbon that matched the color of her dress with
black patterns embroidered on it.  His blue eyes were a startling
contrast to his mask.  They looked like a clear sky on a warm summer
day.   She had no idea where he had put his crystal, but she had hers
on a necklace around her throat.
     "May I have this dance?" he asked with a bow.
     "You may," Ami replied feeling like a princess.
     He escorted her out onto the dance floor with everyone watching.
     Good thing that Lita made me take those dancing lessons with 
her.  Susan said that all they're going to play are those old dances
that everyone used to dance to back then like the waltz, Ami thought.
Suddenly Ami found herself waltzing with Zack.  Everything just faded
into the background, and all that was left was just her and Zack.
She had no idea how long they just danced before either of them said
anything.
     "You're beautiful," Zack whispered sincerely to her.  Ami just
blushed slightly on that comment, but what came next just shocked
her.
     "I love you," he whispered praying that she wouldn't slap him 
and just walk out.  With all the time that he was spending with her,
he was wondering when it would be a good time to tell her.  Even 
though they were together almost all the time, they were never alone.
Most of the time one of the guys was with them.
     Ami was shocked by what he said, but she was even more surprised
by what came out of her mouth next.
     "I love you too," she heard herself say.  Where in the world
did that come from?  Ami thought.Before either of them had a chance
to say anything else, they discovered that the dance was over.  Zack
escorted Ami off the dance floor when suddenly a flash of black and
white came between them.  It was Amber dressed in a way too short
maid's uniform.
     "I hope that you don't mind, dear, but I just have to have a 
dance my old friend," she told Ami quite loudly.  "It's been such a 
long time since I've seen you!  You said that you were going to call
me!  What happened?"
     "Well, I've been quite busy lately-" Zack got interrupted.
     "It doesn't matter now does it?  You're here; I'm here.  
Everything is almost perfect!  Come on, let's dance!" she said a 
little too enthusiastically, then dragged him out onto the dance 
floor.
     "That was quite interesting," Mike said from behind her.
     "Keep an eye on them," Ami told him.  "I have to try to contact
my friends because I need to see if they're still gone.  I hope that
nothing's happened to them."
     "Yes, sir!" Mike said mockingly.  Ami had a worried look on her
face, and he assured her, "Don't worry.  The moment anything happens
I'll contact you."

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

     Meanwhile, Amber was leading Zack off the dance floor.
     "Don't worry, you'll only be gone for a minute.  They won't even
notice that you're gone," Amber tried to convince him.  By this time
they were already outside the doors leading into the garden.  
Suddenly, Amber started dragging him off with antaean strength.
     "What in the world?" Zack asked.
     "Don't worry.  This won't take too long," Amber told him with
a snarl.  She took a giant leap and suddenly they were in the middle
of the garden surrounded by thousands of roses in bloom.
     "This won't hurt...much," she told him.When she turned around
he gasped.  Her face was twisted into an ugly face complete with 
fangs!
     "What happened?" he asked quietly.
     "The best thing in my life," she replied.  Then, she leaned
over his neck and bit him!  He could feel the fangs going into his 
neck, and her drinking his blood.
     "What-" he could barely get out.  He could feel his life 
slipping away from him.  Ami...Help me! he thought right before he 
blacked out.  He could barley hear Amber saying, "Welcome to my 
world..."

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

     For some strange reason Ami felt an urge to go into the garden,
but she ignored it intent upon contacting her friends, but suddenly
she heard words as if someone had spoken to her, but no on was in the
room!
     "Ami...Help me!" she heard.
     That does it!  I'm going to the garden.  What in the world is 
going on?  She thought to herself.

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

     When Ami arrived in the garden she saw an impossible sight.
She saw Amber bent over Zack's body feeding him her blood.
     "What have you done???" Ami yelled at her.
     "I've made my master a very happy person," she replied with a 
smile.
     "You bitch!!!" Ami yelled while charging at her.  All Amber did
was laugh.
     "How do you think you're going to kill me?  With your looks?"
she laughed.
     "No, stupid with this!" Ami replied quietly as she pulled a 
wooden stake from the ground.  Lucky for Ami, the Ryan's didn't skimp
on their money and paid money to label their roses with real wooden
stakes in the ground.  Ami suddenly charged Amber and stabbed her 
with the stake.
     "A little low for the heart.  I thought that you were supposed
to be smart.  You can't even put a stake through the heart," Amber
taunted her.  "But it's too late for you to do anything if you do 
kill me.  The master already has a new host!"
     In the blindness of fury Ami finally stabbed Amber through
the heart, and Amber turned into dust.  Ami then crawled over to 
Zack's body.  His white shirt had dark red spots blooming from the 
collar where Amber bit him.
     "What happened to you?" Ami cried as she pulled his head onto
her lap, and bent down over him.  She was barely aware of her 
necklace hitting something hidden in the lace of his collar.  
Suddenly, there was a bright flash of white, and she fell into 
complete darkness.

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

     When Ami woke up she found herself in a dark, barren place which
was very jejune and filled with smoke.  She was no longer wearing
her beautiful costume but a long flowing robe a dark blue color made
out of a lightweight fabric.
     "Hello!" Ami called out.  "Is anyone out there?"
     "Ami is that you?" a voice responded.  "It's me, Zack.  Where
are you?  I can't see you!  I can't move!  Can you come here and help
me?"
     "No!!!  Don't go there!  It's Zoisite!  He's trying to trick
you into going to him so he can kill you!" another voice yelled.
     Ami moved closer to where the voices were coming from, and she
could barely see two shadowy figures in the distance, and she knew
that one of them was Zoisite.
     Zack, please help me!  Ami thought.  I know that you can hear
me, just concentrate.  This is your mind.  You can control what 
happens in here.  Direct me to Zoisite.  He needs you to survive,
but you don't need him.  Give me something to help me fight him.
     Suddenly, a sword appeared in her right hand.  It fit in her 
hand perfectly like it was made just for her.  It began to tug her in
the direction of the shadowy figure to the left.  As she got closer
she noticed that it looked exactly like Zack, but she knew that it 
wasn't.  When she was close enough to see his eyes, she saw that they
were not the familiar blue, instead they were solid black.
     "Prepare to die you son of a bitch!" Ami whispered.
     As soon as she got close enough to hit him, his chains dropped
off and he had an evil grin on his face.
     "So you can see through my fa‡ade.  You still won't be able to 
kill me.  I'm superior to you.  You're just a little weakling,"
Zoisite taunted her.
     "Wanna bet?" Ami asked as she swung the sword that connected
to his body and cut a chunk out of his side, but it didn't slow him
down because as soon as that piece left his body, it started growing
back.
     "So you can regenerate?" Ami asked him with a smile because
she knew exactly how to kill him if she could get close enough.
She remembered back to biology class and remembered the planarian.
The planarian can regenerate any part of itself just as long as you
don't separate the head from it's body and then cut the head up into
tiny little pieces, but the most definite way to make sure that it's
dead is to burn it.
     Ami charged him again and this time cut off his head.  She then
started to hack it into tiny little pieces all the while he was 
laughing.  His brain fluid was a mushy puddle at her feet.  She then
took one look at his body that was still standing, then proceeded
to hack away at that too.  The blood spattered against her, but she
continued.  After she was through there was just a mushy pile of 
flesh, blood, and bones at her feet.
     Suddenly she heard a laugh, "Did you think that just hacking
me to pieces would kill me?  I won't die that way!"  Ami looked down
and saw that his head was starting to reform.
     "No I didn't," Ami replied calmly.  She then concentrated
on her sword and fire.  Suddenly, her sword burst into flames.
     "I just wanted you to suffer.  I expect you to die from this,"
Ami told him with an evil smile.  She dropped her sword into his 
bodily fluids which burst into flames then proceeded to cut his head
in half with her flaming sword.She calmly then walked over to the 
other shadowy figure.  When she got close enough she noticed that his
eyes were the familiar blue that she knew and loved.  Then, she 
proceeded to unchain him.  When he was free he collapsed in her arms
in a hug.  They were kneeling on the ground hugging and crying.
     "I thought that I had lost you!" Ami cried.
     "You know that I'd never leave you," he replied quietly.  "You
did well."
     "I couldn't have defeated Zoisite without your help."
     "What did Amber do to you?"
     "She made me one of them, a vampire."
     "I love you."
     "I love you too."
     They fell into a kiss that seemed to last forever to Ami, but 
she wanted it to last forever.

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

     When Ami woke up she discovered herself lying on top of Zack's
dead body.  For a minute she wondered what happened, then it all came
flooding back to her.  Then, she noticed that she wasn't alone.  
Mike, Jack, and Nick were all sitting there.  Next, she realized
that she was back in her costume without any trace of blood.
     "Oh, my...let me tell you what happened," Ami then told them her
experiences although they seemed unbelievable, a lot of unbelievable
things have been happening to them.
     "Well," Mike said gravely, "it looks like we'll have to hide his
body for three days."
     "What'll we tell Susan?" Ami asked.
     "Everything, what else?" Nick replied.
     "You mean that she knows everything?" Ami asked.
     "Of course," Jack laughed.  "Who do you think made our 
uniforms?"

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

     They ended up hiding Zack's body in the basement.  Susan made
all the preparations.  She got some blood from the hospital; she 
decided to wait on picking out a coffin until Zack was there to 
decide.  Over all everyone was unusually calm about everything.
It was a bit creepy for Ami because they insisted that she be the 
only one in the room when he "woke up" from his "sleep."  Ami held
his hand which felt odd to her because she couldn't feel any pulse
plus his hands were as cold as ice.  As soon as the sun set Zack drew
in a breath then opened his eyes.
     "See I told you that I wouldn't leave you," he told her quietly.
     "I never doubted it for a minute," she replied.  "Here drink
this."
     He didn't ask what it was, instead kept his eyes glued on Ami 
and drank the contents of the cup.  Suddenly, his skin had warmth
and color; he looked like he was still alive.
     "I found out that through the crystals we can contact each 
other," Ami told him somewhat awkwardly.  "My mother told me that we
will be leaving in three days."
     "But I'll always be with you wherever you are, and if I'm not 
I'll always be able to find you," he told her as he pushed some hair
out of her eyes and discovered that she was crying.  "Don't cry.  
I'll always be there for you."
     "I know...I'm just glad that you're back," Ami replied with a 
smile.  "I thought of the rest of my life without you and it seemed
bleak.  You'll come a visit me won't you?"
     "You can count on it," he told her right before he kissed her.

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

     During those three last nights that they had left they crammed
as much of their time together as possible.  Ami was happy that Zack
was okay, but she was sad that she was leaving him so soon.  She 
wanted to be there for him when he made new discoveries about himself
and what the future would bring for him.  But, Ami had an 
overwhelming feeling of dread that she would never see him again.
     They found out that they could talk to each other during the day
through the crystals even though Zack was "asleep."  They also found
out that they could contact each other through their dreams.  All 
they had to do was reach out to each other when they were sleeping,
and they would find each other in their dreams.

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

     The fateful day of Ami's departure arrived and Ami was very sad
that day.  Luckily for her the plane left during the night, so Zack
was able to go with her to the airport.  Ami's mother was kind and 
checked in their luggage which doubled during the time that they 
spent there.
     Ami and Zack were standing outside the gate that she was 
supposed to leave.  She knew that everyone was staring at them, but
she didn't care.  Ami and Zack stood in each other's arms just 
looking at each other.
     "I love you," Ami told him.
     "I love you too," he replied.
     "For the rest of my life?" she teased him.
     "No," he replied seriously right before he kissed her.  "For the
rest of mine."

The end...for now.







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