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Chapter 9
Chapter 9
Ami got changed from her uniform to her civilian gear. When she finished taking her hair out of her ponytail, the bell rang. "One moment." she said. On the other side was Shion. Ami smiled a bit seeing him. "You caught up?" He nodded. "So how's Mom?" "She's fine, all things considered. At least she'll feel a bit at ease knowing you're safe." Ami blushed. "I am sorry about not contacting home. You've heard about the Gates of Denekaya right? We've been so busy finding them I just haven't had the time." She looked at him. "Dad, I need to ask you something." "I want to take you out to lunch, do you think it can wait until." Ami gave a slight nod. "Great," he said, "I heard Clyez has this nice little cafe."
The father and daughter were sitting out at the terrance of the cafe. The waitress came with their food. Shion with a Koltva steak while Ami had a salad. "You still refuse to eat Koltva." Shion said with a smile. Ami fiddled with her salad. "I still think they taste funny. Besides, I see them all the time in Parum now. I don't think I can even try it now." He laughed. "It's fine. So what is it that you wanted to talk about?" Ami stared at him. "Why did you leave for ten years? It was hard for us. I mean...Mom took it well enough. But I rarely remember you from when I was a child." He looked down. "I know. I'm sorry I did leave. I can't tell you why right now." "And why not?" He looked up to see Ami pouting at him. "Until I know what is fully going on. Giving away too much will be a burden to everyone. And, there's something I want to keep secret as long as possible." He grabbed Ami's hand. "But know this, during that time I never stopped thinking of you and your mother. You two are my world. If something were to happen, then I wouldn't know what to do." Ami blushed a bit. "Thanks Dad." Shion then asked, "So, you have a boyfriend yet?" Ami sputtered some of the drink she sipped, earning a laugh from Shion. "No!" All the heat was rushing to her face as she tried to make what drink she didn't spit back out go down the right pipe. "I see. Well, you better not. At least without introducing me to him first." Ami looked away. "Honestly, you sound like Mom." "Oh. Ami? What a coincidence?"
Ami looked over to see that Hyuga was a table apart from her and her father. "Oh hey. What brings you here?" "I tend to come here a lot." "You mean when you're out on a date." she muttered. Shion looked at the two interacting with each other. "Friend?" Ami nodded. "Yeah. Hyuga, my dad. Dad, Hyuga." At first, Hyuga was completely surprised at seeing Shion. For one, he didn't look like a father and the two didn't look that similar. But he could see some of Ami's mannerisms came from him. "It's nice to meet you sir." he said. Shion gave a wave in recognition. "I hope my daughter hasn't become a bother to anyone." Ami blushed. "Stop that." "She hasn't at all." Shion gave a nod. "Good." She sighed. "Are you done embarrassing me?" "Not quite." Shion said playfully. Hyuga laughed at the sight of the two. "I'll just let you to your date." he said. She nodded. "I have to get going anyway. We'll chat again Dad." She gave a wave as she left. Shion turned to Hyuga. "It's nice to see Ami like this now. She was timid when she left to train at the academy. I guess becoming a Guardian was what she needed." He got up, leaving a payment for the meal.
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Ami looked at her calendar. Her face became pale at the date. "Megami, when's the formal?" The formal was held semi-annual where Guardians conversed with one another. "I believe it's today." her partner machine replied. Ami looked at her dumbfounded. "Today?" Ami frantically ran out the door again.
She ran as she could to G-Mode, a clothing store. "You wouldn't have any formal dresses will you?" she asked the employee. "Not until tomorrow. We sold out because of the Guardians formal." Ami sank to the ground. "Just my luck." "I'll help you." said a female. Ami looked up to see Emelia staring at her. "Miss Emelia?" She shook her head. "Please, call me Emelia. We're friends." Ami smiled a bit. "Okay Emelia." She helped Ami get up. "So you need a dress for the formal? I have a few that I think could fit you." "Really?" Emelia nodded. "Let's go to my apartment."
Emelia's apartment was spacious. "It looks beautiful." Ami said. Emelia just smiled. "Thank you." The shelves were lined with photos. Mostly family portraits. "Make yourself at home while I make some tea." Ami stared at the pictures. They looked so professionally done. Ami noticed that some where of when Emelia and Emil were children. They did look just alike back then. She took her seat on the couch. Soon, Emelia brought out two mugs of tea and took her seat as well. "You have nice pictures." Ami commented. "Yes, we have a bit of an art streak in us. I take pictures while Emil cooks." The two sipped some of their tea. "I didn't know you knew my father." she said. Emelia was silent for a moment. "We worked together in the past." Ami shrugged as she sipped her tea again. "Come on, we're going to need a lot of work for you."
They went up the stairs and went into a room. The room was littered with all sorts of clothing. "All of these are yours?" Ami asked. Emelia nodded. "Yeah. It's nothing much though." Ami looked all around the room. She looked over at a pile of dresses. Emelia scanned over Ami. "Hmmm....I think white would look good on you." Emelia went over to a corner and pulled out a dress. It looked more to be a party dress than anything. It was a white dress with thin silver straps hanging from the sides. At the top was lined with pink ruffles and had a pink trim at the bottom. It was a bit on the short side. Ami ran her hand through it. "It's nice. You'd think it'll fit?" Emelia pressed the dress against Ami. "It'll be perfect." She went to gather a few more bags. "Show me to your room. We're going to have to finish up there."
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Hyuga stood in the elevator. He was about to make his way to the formal. Since the males had to wear their uniforms for it, there wasn't much different about it. Draped around his arm was a dark blue long coat. He heard the familiar clacking of someone running in heels. By the sound of it, they were going this way. He pressed a button to make the elevator door open for a couple more seconds. A blur of white and blue ran into the elevator. "Thanks." she said. He turned to look and was surprised at who was speaking with him.
Ami was slightly out of breath from the run. She wasn't used to running in heels, despite her uniform boots. "Ami...you look wonderful." he said. She turned to him. The dress she Emelia picked ended up fitting a bit too perfectly. The dress was matched by white strapped heels. Her hair was pushed to her back, revealing more of her face. It was held by a thin silver headband with a pink rose-shaped adornment on the right. Her face was plain, save for a pastel pink lip color that gave her lips a fuller look. She blushed upon seeing him. "R-r-really? Thanks." She fiddled with her white gloved hands. She sighed to herself a bit. 'Why does this elevator take so long?' she thought. Not wanting to keep the silence up, Hyuga remarked, "Your father seems like a good person." She nodded. "Yep. I think, I'm understanding him a bit." Minutes seemed to pass. Finally the elevator dinged to signal they had reached the main lobby. Ami was the first to step out. "Hey Ami?" he asked. She turned again. "You want to ride together? We're going the same way." She simply nodded.
"Woah, Ami." said Kyoh. She and Hyuga arrived at the ballroom only a few minutes later. "Shut up." she said. Her face was making it's own blush. "No, you look good." he admitted, "People can actually tell you're a girl." Ami was about to say something, but stopped. She looked around. The room was packed with guardians of all kinds. In the back, there was a band playing. "Thanks for walking with me." she whispered to Hyuga. He smiled, causing Ami to deepen the blush. "Well, you can thank me by sharing a dance." Ami stepped back a bit. "Uh....I don't do dance. Not that well at least." He grabbed Ami's hand. "Oh don't be modest. I know you can, with how you wield those daggers." "But that's-" She gave up then. "Fine."
The two made their way to the dance floor. Ami stared at him for a moment. "We can't dance if you don't relax." he said. She took a deep breath. "Okay." She placed her hand in his while the other was on his shoulder. Ami yelp a bit as his hand was on her waist, drawing them a bit closer. "Sorry, not used to being this close." she admitted. He chuckled. "It's alright." They began to sway to the music. "I was always a bit boyish." she admitted, "Never did these things when I was in school." Ami couldn't explain why she felt the sudden urge to talk about her past. "Well you should do it more often." he said. Then he added, "You haven't stepped on my toes yet." She frowned at him, earning a laugh. "I knew you just being modest. There's a certain elegance about how you move." Ami looked away. "Should I be worried if you are analyzing how I walk?" The two laughed. Hyuga released her to spin her. Ami was still not used the the heels and ended up crashing into him coming back around. "Sorry..." she said. She looked up, seeing the sudden closeness. Then he lowered his head as she was raising hers. Their faces were only centimeters from each other. Then there was silence. The band had finished playing the song.
Ami pulled back. "I'm really sorry." She ran from the dance floor. "Ami! Wait!" He was about to chase after her, but she had managed to squeeze in a group, preventing his progress. Ami was stumbling a bit, but she had to leave the room. 'What was I about to do? Stupid me.' She made her way to the entrance of the building where the formal was taking place at. She was flushed from the running she did. She closed her eyes. "Someplace to myself." She opened her eyes before leaving the building.
A few minutes later, Ami arrived at a beach. She looked at the waves. She took off the shoes, her hairband and attempted to wipe away the light make up she had on. Afterward, she sat on the sands. "It's a nice sight isn't it?" asked Emil, appearing beside her. He took a seat beside Ami. "How did you find me?" He gazed off in the distance. "Well I saw you running out like a rappy so I followed." She looked away at the mention. "Wanna talk about it?" Ami nodded. "I'm confused at this point. I may have deep feelings for him." "And because you two are Guardians you don't know what type they are?" She looked at him and nodded. "Been through it before." "Pssh, no." Emil admitted, causing Ami to frown at him. "But I know of people who've been through it. I've been a guardian for a little over ten years, give me a bit of credit." She looked down. "I believe you. But what do I do?" "You'll have to figure out what they mean eventually. But at least talk to him. He deserves that much." "Right. Thank you."
The two sat in silence. "So Emelia made you wear that?" Ami blushed. "Well I liked the dress so I agreed." Emil gave a smirk. "I see, so she really did pick the right size." He covered his mouth. "What?" Emil looked away. "Well...ever since our mission, she's taken a liking to you. I absentmindedly mentioned the formal and she picked up a few dresses for you. I swear I didn't know that she was going to do that." This made Ami laugh out loud. "I knew the dress was too much of a perfect fit to be hers." Emil was relieved to see Ami not worried for now. "Oh, I guess I should tell you now." he said. "Head to HQ tomorrow morning. You know Unification Point is in a couple days and they want to give all the Guardians their locations for then." Ami gave a nod. She got up from the ground and wiped all the sand clinging to the dress. "I should rest up then, shouldn't I? But thanks Emil. I really needed to talk with someone about it." "It's not a problem Ami. I'm glad that you trust me enough to tell me." The two shared a wave before Ami left.
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Cookies for whoever knows where I got the inspiration for Ami's formal dress. I won't say what's gonna happen next. But the plot does start to give hints to what is to come later. After I'm done with the PSU fanfiction I want to start my own sorta AU to Sailor Moon story. Though I hope I'll be far enough by then to actually post it.
