Ami finished typing out her email and clicked on SEND. The status bar told her the email, was sent successfully. With a contented sigh, she leaned back in her chair.
The soft sounds of a piano filled the room, and she closed her eyes and listened. It was the very same CD Michiru had given her over half a year back. It was more precious to her now, than ever before. The reason being, it had brought her and its composer together, culminating in the beautiful sapphire ring upon her left ring finger. She smiled warmly, at the thought of her fiancé.
Troy Osaka was currently touring Europe, and had promised that when he had a spare moment, he would visit the woman he loved. He had sent her a beautiful bouquet of bluebells from Switzerland, and they were now in full flower on the mantelpiece -- a picture of her and Troy, taken at an amusement park, beside the ornate vase. Ami smiled as she looked at it. She missed Troy very much, but considered herself a sensible woman, and knew he was working extremely hard to ensure their lives together would be comfortable. He wanted to establish a good home for his fiancée.
Ami, deeply moved by the fact he dedicated all his new pieces to her. It was the highest compliment anyone could ever pay her, and felt honored to be the source of his inspiration.
She continued to write lyrics to the music he sent her over the Internet, and both enjoyed this collaboration immensely. She found it was so easy to draw upon the depths of her creative muse, as she found the words soared like a fountainhead of love from the depths of her soul whenever she listened to it.
She was brought out of her reverie by the sound of the phone. Ami turned the CD off on her way to pick up the receiver. “Hello,” she said, and sat on the stool by the phone. “This is Ami.”
“Good morning, Miss Mizuno,” a familiar voice said, and her heart leaped with joy.
“Troy? Is that you?”
“Who else would it be?” he chuckled. “I have some news that will please you very much.”
“What is it?” she asked, knowing how much her fiancé loved to be mysterious. It was one of the reasons she loved him so much.
“I have it on good authority that a certain young composer is going to be in the neighborhood between the hours of noon and three this afternoon,” Troy replied, and waited for Ami’s reaction. “A little brown bird told me he would very much love to see a young lady by the name of Mizuno Ami at the corner of Third Avenue and Main St at noon. Would the aforementioned young lady be pleased to keep this tryst?”
Ami looked at the clock. It was twenty to twelve. “You can tell your friend that the lady in question would be very honored,” she said, smiling to herself.
“I shall convey your acceptance,” Troy replied, his manner very formal, but there was a note of laughter in his voice. “May the tryst be a pleasant one.”
“It will be,” Ami, said, her own voice light with joy. “She’ll be seeing the man she loves again.”
“And I am sure he will be as pleased to see her again as she is to see him,” Troy said, playfully.
Ami smiled as she hung up and went into her room to get changed. It was a cold, but sunny day outside, so she opted for a thick deep-blue skirt, with a satin blouse and light-blue cardigan. She put a pair of sapphire studs in her ears, and a slender silver bracelet on her left wrist. She gathered her wristwatch and bag and left her apartment, locking the door on her way out.
A light wind was blowing, and a few high clouds drifted aimlessly above in the pale-blue sky, but the sun was shining brightly.
Ami walked briskly, partly to stay as warm as she could, and because she wished to see her fiancé again. His impromptu visit was unexpected, Ami hadn’t expected him back for another week, but she had learned to expect the unexpected as far as Troy was concerned.
She noticed other couples walking together, hand-in-hand, or with their arms around each other, and the sight brought a warmth to her heart, for she loved to see other couples enjoying each other’s company. It reminded her of Mamoru and Usagi. Ami understood that a successful relationship that blossomed into one of intimacy needed to be built on the firm foundation of a close friendship first: communication, a genuine interest in the other person's feelings, interests, ideas and dreams and this was the gateway to a more loving relationship. Troy and Ami had such a commitment -- similar to that of Usagi and Mamoru. The friendship had evolved over the Net, and after finally meeting one another, an instant rapport had evolved between them and had blossomed into love.
When she reached the corner of Third and Main, her heart leapt with fresh joy when she saw Troy standing there, hands in the pockets of his thick coat, shivering a little in the cold wind. She glanced at the billboard clock above the jewelry shop on the corner. Troy stood on the opposite corner. He saw her then and smiled. It was five to twelve. She was five minutes early, five more minutes to spend with the man she loved.
She walked up to him. “Excuse me,” she said, looking up into his stunning eyes. “Could you please tell me what the time is?”
He glanced at his watch absent mindedly, at first failing to recognize the voice attached to the enquirer, so lost was he in his thoughts. “Five to,” he replied distractedly. About to turn away, but the sound of her voice brought him up short. He turned around, and his eyes widened. “Ami-chan! You surprised me.”
“And you surprised me, too,” she said, giggling. “Now we’re even... Mr. Osaka.”
He tried to scowl, but it was no use, and wrapped his arms around her. “It is so good to see you again,” he told her, and she beamed as he took her hands in his.
“I missed you so much,” she said, and he kissed her, oblivious to the curious looks from passers-by.
Ami turned beet-red as he lifted his lips from hers. He then smiled down at her and winked. “Shall we go for lunch, Miss Mizuno?” he asked formally, offering her his arm.
She smiled again as she slipped her hand within his. “We shall, Mr. Osaka,” she responded in kind, and they started on their way. “How did you manage to find the time to get away?”
“I asked my managers to arrange a little time out,” Troy replied, simply as he kissed the top of her head. “I’m not due to be in the Netherlands until tomorrow, so my managers said I could whiz over here for a flying stopover, and then fly to the Netherlands tonight. I finished my tour in Switzerland on Monday, and I had some time on my hands…and no way to wash it off.”
“This should be a most effective way of washing it off,” Ami said, smiling at the clever play on words. “How long do we have?”
“I have to be at the airport at half past three,” Troy told her. “My plane leaves at quarter to five, and I have to be there an hour and fifteen minutes early. So I have three hours to spend with the woman I love.”
Ami smiled as she nestled closer. “The time I spend with you is always special, no matter how long or short it is,” she whispered as she stood on tiptoe and put her arms about his neck and her lips to his , and Troy pulled her closer, feeling the warmth of her body against his and breathed in the scent of her shampoo and perfume. “I feel the same way, Ami-chan. And one day we’ll be together and we’ll never have to be parted again.”
After lunch, they walked down to the park. The ice-blue surface of the frozen lake gave off a soft misty glow, dozens of young couples were skating upon its surface.
Troy led Ami down to where the temporary ice skate stall was set up. “Two pairs, please,” he said, handing over the money. Troy paid the attendant who smiled at the happy couple. Troy helped Ami to put her skates on. Once he had put on his own, he took her hand and led her onto the ice. “I hope you’re a good skater,” he enquired, a hint of laughter in his voice. “Cause it’s a little late to go back and say we’ve changed our minds.”
“You don’t need to worry yourself about that my love, I’m a good skater,” Ami told him, laughing and shook her head. “I’ve had plenty of practice.”
They skated for just under an hour. Later, returning their skates, they walked hand-in-hand through the park talking companionably, taking it reasonably slow, content to enjoy the time they had together without worrying too much about looking at their watches.
They were coming back down the hill when a strange looking man with long dark hair approached them. “Excuse me,” he said, bowing. “Are you Troy Osaka?”
“I am,” he replied, raising an eyebrow. “How may I help you?”
The man’s eyes began to blaze with a menacing fire. At that moment, Ami knew fear. “Run!” she cried, giving Troy a push. He unquestioningly obeyed, knowing only something was terribly wrong.
With a wave of the hand, the grey clad stranger sent an invisible force towards Troy, lifting him off his feet and he fell into a nearby snow bank. He struggled to his feet, as a series of icy spikes broke through the frozen ground, forming a cage around him. Only one-way out, and that blocked by the Grey Shadow.
Ami screamed at the powerful figure as he lifted his staff and a stream of bright blue light struck her feet, freezing them in place. She couldn’t move.
Troy, outraged by this unprovoked attack on his fiancé, chose that moment to rush Akinari. He punched him in the face, knocking the staff to the ground. The two men fought fiercely, delivering a series of blows.
Ami cried out to Troy to be careful. Troy was gaining the upper hand, as they rolled in the snow, snarling, growling and cussing. Troy almost had him when Akinari’s swollen mouth shouted out words of invocation. Troy pulled Akinari to his feet by the scruff of his collar. Akinari laughed as Troy was about to deliver the final punch. But the ice-blue staff squirmed on the ground, and assumed the form of a bright-blue twister that rose eight feet into the air, a halo of snow snaking itself around its trunk.
Troy faltered, and Akinari took the opportunity offered by his adversary’s hesitation and kicked Troy in the chest and he fell to the snow. He was about to charge Akinari again when from the swirling spout of ice crystals, stepped the most beautiful of creatures.
The ice-princess looked every bit as sweet and shy as a young teenage girl. At almost eight feet in height, she held all who set eyes upon her countenance within the park, spellbound, such was her beauty -- her face oval, with a shimmering translucent blue-white complexion, her large eyes, turquoise pools that stared at Troy longingly.
“I want you, you shall be mine!“ she said, almost shyly. “I can give you more than she,“ the creature of cold beauty said, tossing her head towards Ami, still locked in the clutches of ice crystal that had reached her thighs, and slowly drawing her life force. “I can give you love like you’ve never known, and you can rule by my side upon the throne of my world, Glaciadina… You’re the most talented individual I’ve encountered on this, or any other world thus far. Your music shall lift my heart and our children shall possess your gift,“ she told him, her icy lashes fluttering as her hands held an ice-blue scepter.
He stared at her, spellbound by the statuesque beauty, her skirts of ice, like a Senshi fuku, her top fashioned from sapphires, white diamonds, woven together by a lattice of silver mesh leaving her arms and shoulders bare, around her rounded shoulders, a translucent indigo cape. Her deep blue locks spilling down her back and over her chest to her hips. Her legs almost transparent, tinted light blue.
She stood smiling, feet apart in blue-diamond high-heels. He had to turn his face from her penetrating eyes. Troy loved Ami above all other women. This, the ice-princess knew, and she was determined to weaken his resolve to resist her charms.
She opened her mouth, and began to sing. It was the most beautiful sound he had ever heard in his life.
The winds had all of a sudden sprung up. It began to snow heavily. Akinari, now standing over Troy nodded, she opened her palm, a bright-blue crystal disk throbbed to life, and Troy’s feet were frozen to the spot.
“You like… I present you the daughter of the Ice Queen. I brought her to you as a gift from my mistress. She is beautiful is she not?“ Akinari said, as he looked the arctic Goddess up and down appreciatively. “She is yours, forever, only let me see your dreams and it shall be done. You could have a future queen, and forget this little girl, as she can never give you what she can!“ he laughed, staring down at the hapless composer.
“I have no intention of giving my heart to any other but my beloved, Ami…free her, now!“
“I’m afraid you’re in no position to make demands of me. I shall have what I want anyway. But I warn you. If you refuse her, she shall send you to oblivion…think it over, song-boy!“ With these words, Akinari lifted his staff and the dream mirror appeared before him, and the crystal-blue framed mirror immediately transformed into a sapphire arch encrusted with musical symbols cast in shimmering rose gold that hummed with a celestial peal.
Akinari gasped, as did the ice-princess, who went down on one icy knee to pay homage to what she saw within Troy’s beautiful dreams.
But Troy screamed in agony as Akinari crossed the threshold, breaking the thin membrane separating worlds, seeking out Pegasus. It seemed all was lost. The ice-princess smiled and licked her frosty lips. She walked in a sensual manner towards Troy, extending a semi-transparent hand. “I care for you,“ she said, surprisingly gently.
Troy just stared at her, unable to speak, completely taken aback. He sensed no evil in her, but felt a little uncomfortable at the sight of this beautiful ice girl bearing down on him. Troy realized that she, like himself, was being manipulated by Akinari and his mistress, to capture something in his dreams, this much he understood. “I am sorry, but I cannot go with you… We are being used. You are meant for one with a heart that calls to only you…you cannot force somebody to love you, no matter how powerful or beautiful you might be. I hope one day, you come to know this and remember my words, beautiful lady,“ he said, respectfully and stepped away, a silver tear trickling down her cheek.
“So be it,“ she replied, her emotional tumult obvious in the sound of her voice as it resounded throughout the park.
Without warning, Troy, the Senshi, Tuxedo Kamen and the cats realized they were the only people able to move normally , but the people skating, walking or otherwise enjoying themselves, were frozen in time.
“Mars Flame Sniper!”
An arrow of fire struck the translucent Ice-princess, just above her left knee. But it had absolutely no effect whatsoever, the fiery projectile dissolving instantly. Mars stared at the girl of ice, agitated, unable to believe her eyes. “Oh, damn!”
Ami was heartened by the timely arrival of her friends. But the ice-princess exhaled and a sub-zero wave of deadly cold raced towards the Senshi. Unfortunately, Ami was directly in its path, and copped the full brunt of the arctic wave.
“Ami-chan!” Jupiter cried, in dismay.
“No!” Venus cried, a look of shock on her face.
Ami longed to reassure her friends, and her love she would make it, but the cold was slowly working its way towards her heart, her vision darkening.
Then she heard the most enchanting melody playing somewhere in the distance, and had become aware of a bright-blue light racing towards her, and took a deep breath, believing her end was near.
Ami found herself standing upon a small island at the heart of a beautiful lake, with magnificent white-capped mountains encircling her. The song flowed over and through her, growing stronger by the minute. A harp, fashioned from bright-blue light hovering before her, the source of the arresting melody resounding off the soaring peaks and washing over her. Ami, absolutely transfixed, approached cautiously. As she drew closer, the melodic sound grew ever more intense and complex. It seemed almost as if the harp itself was responding to her presence. Then the symbol of Mercury appeared before her, shimmering within the cradle of the celestial harp.
Tears filled her eyes, she palmed them away and took a deep breath, before extending a tentative hand towards it. Her fingers made contact, and a brilliant flash of sapphire-blue light, transformed the harp into an ice-blue crystal instrument that she held in her hands.
The symbol of Mercury began spinning and pulsating, and then a burst of bright cobalt enveloped her. Then unexpectedly, she stood in her princess form, her image reflected back to her via a shimmering crystal disk twice her height, a resplendent figure bathed in light staring back at her -- her transformation complete.
“Princess Mercury!” Moon exclaimed.
The Mercurean monarch faced the ice-princess, the sapphire harp pulsing with an effulgent light. She began playing the sweetest music they’d ever heard. It sent shivers over them all.
Troy recognized this music, but couldn’t remember where. Perhaps he’d heard it in a dream. It was truly beautiful. That music, he said, to himself. It’s the song of a pure heart. But who is playing it? Then he looked at Princess Mercury, and his eyes widened. Who is she? he wondered.
“Mercury Aqua-”
Princess Mercury was cut off by Troy’s unexpected entreaty, “Don’t hurt her! She isn’t evil…its him!“ Troy screamed, halting the princess’s attack, and turning her pools of azure fire towards her love, nodded and lowered her harp. “Akinari brought her here to find a mate. It isn’t her fault. If you destroy her -- an innocent will be lost and evil triumphs!“
The ice-princess fell to her knees before the princess, bowed her head, and began to weep, moved by Troy’s plea to save her life. Mercury too, felt compassion overwhelm her heart. And as all watched, she stepped towards the distraught giantess and rested her hand on her shoulder, “Dear child, arise, I will spare you… you are here not by your own will?“ Princess Mercury asked, lifting the chin of the beautiful ice-princess, wiping away her tears.
“It is true, great lady… I am sorry for all I have done. I wanted so badly to find love. Troy is promised to you, oh princess. I am honored to lay eyes upon a high-monarch of the Planet Mercury. We are sisters!“ she said, and Mercury nodded.
“So, Akinari… What say you to that!“ Mercury demanded, angrily, as the Shadow scrambled to his feet and gripped his power staff protectively.
“I say this…traitor!“ he pointed the staff towards the kneeling ice-princess and a violet beam leapt from its tip. But Mercury raised her palms and instantly, an eggshell of sapphire light shielded the ice-princess from Akinari’s attack.
“Stand with me, child.“
The girl of ice nodded, rising to her full height and stood by Princess Mercury. The Senshi gathered about them, to put Akinari in his place.
“I wish I could say its been fun, ladies. I didn’t get what I came for, but I must say farewell!“ he said raising his staff once again. “But… So you don’t forget me in a hurry, here’s a parting gift!“
He lifted the pulsing staff, and as he vanished, all the ice spears withdrew from the ground and directed themselves at the Senshi, and ice-princess. But the princess of Mercury with the Senshi, combined their powers with those of the ice princess melted the icy missiles. It was over, at least for now.
Mercury powered down, assuming her Super Senshi form. She was embraced by the ice-princess and her friends. Tuxedo Kamen and the cats looked on and smiled at one another.
~*~
“So what will you do now,” Dark Moon asked the ice-princess.
“I can’t stay on Earth, Hecate will find and destroy me. I’m afraid I must return home, for my parents are the only ones capable of protecting me.“
“I hope we meet again…and next time, you’re definitely included in our circle, Liata,“ Ami told the smiling princess of ice.
“I wont forget you, and Chibi-Usa,“ she said, holding out the sky-blue crystal disk. “If ever you want to contact me, and that goes for you all…just hold the disk and think of me and I will link with you and we can catch up, K?“
“Wow! You bet, Princess Liata.“
“Goodbye my friends, and Diana, Luna and Artemis, I have been to Mau, it’s a beautiful place. Far from Earth, but maybe one day, I will take you all there,“ she said, looking at them all with iridescent tears of joy in her eyes, happy to have made so many new friends. “Tell Troy, he is most fortunate to have one such as yourself as his love. Goodbye, everyone!“
Standing feet apart, sapphire scepter in hand, a corona of silvery-blue light radiating from her translucent body, she lifted her head and cried out in a tongue that sounded almost Nordic. And a swirl of ice crystals shone like diamonds, the twister that brought her to Earth reappeared, and was gone.
“I am going to really miss her, she turned out to be okay after all…aside from that frosty introduction. I hope we see her again,” Mercury said, smiling.
Usagi hugged her friend. “I think somebody over there is waiting to speak to you…now move, girl!“ Sailor Moon instructed, giving Mercury a gentle push.
“Troy!” Mercury ran and attended to him. He had blacked out after Akinari’s forced departure. She knelt beside him and lifted his head so it rested in her lap. “Troy, are you all right?”
His eyes opened, and they widened again. “Who are you?”
“I’m Ami,” she said, biting back her tears.
“Ami-chan?” he said, sitting up so he could see her more clearly. “You were the one playing that music, weren’t you?”
She nodded. Her eyes filled with tears as she looked at her fiancé. Then he drew her to him, rocking the Senshi princess gently, back and forth.
Moon shepherded her friends away. “We should leave them alone for a little while,” she said, and everyone smiled and nodded their agreement. “They’re going to have a bit to talk about on the way to the airport.”
