CHAPTER 14

Saturday

It was a beautiful autumn day in Tokyo. The heavy rains that had showered the metropolis last night had finally ceased and the dark clouds had retreated. The sun was now shining down from a blue sky, gently reflecting its rays in the water puddles and the drops on the trees' leaves. The coldness of the approaching winter was still making its presence, but the rays of the sun gave the people a warm little touch, as if the autumn wanted to give the people a last kiss before saying goodbye for the year.

Four people were walking on the street towards the town centre. One of them, a blonde girl with two long pigtails, was walking a bit in front of the others.

"Oh look what a beautiful day this is!" she chirped, taking a few steps forward with her arms held out. "You could almost think it's spring if you wouldn't know it's the end of autumn!"

She turned around and jogged back to her companions, a tall man with raven hair, a girl with long hair in the same color, and a tall girl with brown hair put up in a pony tail. The blonde girl began walking backwards to maintain eye contact with her friends. "Look how beautiful the sun is when it shines in the water and the trees!" she said and pointed at a water puddle. "It's like everything is made of crystal. Like it will be in Crystal Tokyo in the future, and... heeelp!"

While walking backwards, she had not noticed she had reached a crossing in the road. She stepped over the edge of the sidewalk and lost her balance completely. The raven haired girl quickly reached out and grabbed the blonde by the shoulders, smoothly pulling her back up on the sidewalk just in time to get her away from a car that was approaching in high speed.

"Usagi!" the dark haired girl said. "Do I have to hold your hand wherever you go?"

"Oh come on, Rei!" Usagi pouted. "Don't be such a storm cloud on a beautiful day like this! It was just a little mistake. And besides..." she pointed at a building a bit off in the distance. "...we are going to meet Ami and Minako in a few minutes!" Her face exploded in a huge, warm smile. "Remember what they said? They have made up and wanted to meet us all! No more fighting! Everyone together again!"

Makoto smiled back at her enthusiastic friend. "Yes, it's wonderful. I must admit I was surprised when they contacted us so soon and wanted to meet. It seems they had a really good talk."

"But of course!" Usagi blurted out. "Mina and Ami are good people! They cannot be sad and angry for a long time. Now they are back again and we can leave all this behind. And now—" she raised a hand in the air. "—We can eat ice cream together again!"

Makoto and Mamoru chuckled. Even Rei could not hold on to her sour look and cracked up in a smile.

"Your endless enthusiasm is always captivating, Usagi," Mamoru said. He looked at his girlfriend with tender eyes.

"I cannot stand having friends who are broken down," Usagi said with a proud nod. "I have to do my best to cheer them up!"

"And that you do very well," Rei said, unable to completely suppress the pride in her voice.

Worry suddenly came over Usagi's face. "Oh no! I just realized I forgot my wallet at home again!" She quickly turned around and looked up at Mamoru with big, pleading eyes, lightly tugging his arm. "Oh Mamoru-sweetie! You will buy a super size sundae ice cream for me, won't you? Won't you?"

Rei moaned and rolled her eyes while Makoto chuckled again and shook her head. Mamoru looked a little distressed but forced himself to smile at his girlfriend. "Um, yes sure, Usagi. Anything for you..."

"Yay! Thank you, Mamoru!" Usagi cheered with her hand up in the air again. "Come on guys, let's go into the café! My sundae is waiting!"

Smiling to themselves, they joined the eager girl as she was walking up to the café terrace. Just as they were about to walk through the front door, Makoto held out an arm to stop them and then pointed at the window. "Would you look at that?" she said.

Through the glass they could see a girl with long blonde hair and a red bow tie and another girl with short, blue hair. They both had a big portion of ice cream in front of them and were deep into conversation. The blonde girl was telling something to the other girl while emphasizing her story with faces and hand gestures. Whatever it was, it made the blue haired girl crack up, quickly putting her hand up in front of her mouth. Nothing could be heard through the window, but you could see the smile on their faces and the glitter in their eyes. There was no doubt that these were two close friends who truly enjoyed each other's company.

"That's so sweet," Makoto said quietly, small fields of pink forming on her cheeks. "They really are friends again."

Rei nodded. "It warms my heart."

Usagi did not move. She slowly put her hand to her mouth, and then tears began forming in her big, blue eyes. "A... a... aaaaaw... Mina... Ami... I wanna huuug them!"

Before anybody could stop her, Usagi pulled the door open and ran into the café. She rushed over to the table of her two friends – much to their surprise – and put her short, skinny arms around them, pulling them together while blubbering out various affectionate phrases. Her two friends and boyfriend entered slowly after, their faces red of embarrassment for the ruckus caused. The other people in the café looked away, trying to pretending that nothing was out of the ordinary.

"Oh Usagi... Causing a scene as always," Minako muttered while adjusting her bow tie.

"Sorry Minako, but I'm just so happy with seeing you two being friends again," Usagi said in a thick voice, wiping her eyes with her hand.

"I'll get the orders," Mamoru quickly said, trying to settle the dust that Usagi had kicked up. He took out his wallet and moved over towards the counter.

Usagi's eyes lit up again and she stood up. "I want a super size sundae, remember?" she shouted after him.

"Yes, Usagi, I remember. Now please sit down and talk to your friends," Mamoru answered and signed with his hand to make her sit down.

After a little while, Mamoru came back with a tray with three small cups of ice cream – and a huge cup in the middle that stuck out like a sore thumb. He put the tray down on the table with some effort and sat down next to his girlfriend – who immediately reached out and grabbed her treasure with sparkling eyes.

Once everybody had made themselves comfortable, Makoto looked at her two friends on the other side of the table and smiled warmly. "So, I see that everything is okay again between you two?"

Ami nodded shyly. "It is."

Rei gave a smile that touched the lips. "And everything from the past few days is now behind you? No more hard feelings?"

Minako winked her eye and gave a V-sign. "All gone! Finito. No more grudges, no more pain."

"That's wonderful!" Usagi happily said while scoping big chunks of ice cream into her mouth. "You two are so lovely, Mina and Ami!"

"By the way, Minako, what happened to your face and arm?" Mamoru asked with his voice filled with concern as he pointed at the slight swelling on Minako's lip and the black and blue spots on her left arm.

"Oh that? That's just from a volleyball match!" Minako quickly replied and rubbed her head nervously. "Anyway, so yes, me and Ami are friends again, yes. No more fights."

Makoto smiled and then looked a little embarrassed. "I have to admit that we had prepared for a much worse outcome. Just in case, I mean. We had already made plans for a big get-together project in case your meeting would not have worked out. I see now that we did not have to worry."

Minako swallowed down a piece of ice cream and got a more serious look on her face. "Actually, me and Ami would like to thank you all for being there for us. Our stupid behavior must really have put a strain on you guys, and we are really thankful that you never gave up on us..."

"Yes, I agree," Ami continued with an embarrassed look in her eyes. "Without you, we would not have been sitting here together now, and we want to thank you for that. And most of all, we want to thank you for being firm and serious with us and for putting your feet down when you had to..."

"No need to thank us," Makoto said softly. "We will always be there for you. That's what friends are for, right?"

"And now that we are through with it, it's just water under the bridge," Rei added. "Let's leave all of this behind us now and move on. No more comments, no more talks."

When Rei said her last comment, Ami was seemingly getting a bit uneasy. She wiped her mouth with a napkin while looking down in the table. "Actually," she began, voice trembling slightly. "If I may, I would like to say something. I would like to say something important to you all..."

Minako reached out and took Ami's hand in hers. "Ami, it's okay. You don't have to do this to make it up to me."

Her friends looked at the two girls in surprise. Ami raised her head and looked into Minako's eyes. Her blue irises had a slight shade of guilt in them. "It's alright, Minako. It is not for you, it is for me. I want to do it. I want to be honest with them."

Minako slowly nodded and let go of her hand. Ami turned her head back to her friends. She took a deep breath and begun talking slowly. "All the events that transpired over the last weeks have made me think... It made me think a lot." She looked at her friends, then down in the table. "It has made me think of myself... of my own character... who I am, and what I am doing... to myself and to other people..."

Her friends were listening with mixed feelings of curiosity and a slight hint of worry. Ami took a deep breath through her nose and continued. "When you, or other people, talk about me, you usually say that I am kind hearted. You usually say that I am sweet and innocent and that I am always wishing the best for my friends and always try to make them as happy as I can..."

She took another deep breath and closed her eyes. A slight cringe went through her body as she continued. "...but I'm not. I'm not always the kind hearted girl people think I am..."

Ami was trembling slightly. The guilt was clearly visible in her eyes and shades of red were forming on her cheeks. Minako put her arm around Ami, gently rubbing her shoulder.

"I will tell you the truth about what happened at the karaoke and the events leading up to it. I will let you know exactly what was going on."

Ami sighed quietly and began her story. "When I sang Moonlight Maiden for the first time there at the first karaoke session, I realized immediately the challenge with singing such a song, and I also realized what I was lacking in technique in order to sing it properly." She looked at her friends with some confusion in her eyes. "I really cannot tell you exactly how it happens, but I just am like that. Whenever I do something, I somehow sense what I am doing right and what I am doing wrong and what I need to improve. And I feel that most other people rarely do this, and maybe that's why I usually get ahead of everybody else."

Her voice got a little steadier as she continued. "So just out of curiosity, I decided to try out a singing lesson with Mr. Yamazaki at my cram school. I quickly learned how my voice worked and what I should do to improve it. Mr. Yamazaki was so impressed with me and urged me to continue singing. I became flattered. It warmed my heart so much to hear him praise me. I then asked my mother to pay for several other lessons so that I could improve further. I wanted to see how far I could go..."

She then held up her hands and quickly added: "And I know what you are thinking now – that it's all fine. There is nothing wrong in dedicating yourself to an interest and pushing yourself as far as possible, but... there was also another thing... There was one more reason why I took those lessons..." Ami's voice got thicker and she shivered. Minako tightened her grip around her shoulders. Ami paused for a few seconds before finally letting it all out. "I wanted to be better than Minako. I wanted to sing the song better than she had ever done and I wanted to see her lose. I wanted to... see the feeling of defeat in her eyes."

Ami swallowed. Pain started to show in her face. "At the first karaoke session, I discovered my singing talents and quickly found out what I should focus on in order to improve. But I also realized something else: that Minako wasn't doing all things correctly when she was singing herself. And I knew that if I could improve on these things, I would get way ahead of Minako. And somehow... I became obsessed with all of that. I started seeing it as a contest between her and me."

Ami shook her head helplessly. "That's why I never told you about my singing lessons... that's why I waited until just before Minako would step up to sing, and that's why I chose to sing the song she had planned to sing... I really wanted to let Minako taste complete defeat..."

Shame shone from her eyes. "I was a horrible friend. A true friend should always play with open cards... I should have told all of you that I was taking singing lessons and that I wanted to sing Moonlight Maiden. If I had told you, it wouldn't have been a big deal. Minako would maybe have been annoyed by it, but then it would have been only on her. But I wanted to defeat her... I wanted her failure to be complete..."

Ami put a hand to her face. "It was so cruel. It was a heartless and selfish thing to do. You just don't do that against a close friend."

"But Minako has forgiven you now," Usagi said, close to tears from the emotional mood. "This is now a thing of the past."

"Yes, and I am very grateful for that," Ami said and tried her best to smile, then she continued: "But it does not end there. There is second part too."

Ami took a breath and started to talk again. "After all of this was over and I had come to my senses, I began thinking. I began thinking about myself and who I was, and I came to a shocking realization."

She looked at her friends again, still with some sadness in her eyes, but also determination. "I have always seen myself as soft and innocent person, and that's the way I always act whenever I talk to people. And that is probably true to a certain extent, but after thinking over the whole event that just passed, I realized that I am really not as kind and innocent as I pretend to be. I am actually extremely competitive, self-obsessed and overly proud of myself. I just never wanted to admit it. I think that because of this, I made up an idealized picture of myself in my head. A picture that I desperately clung to and constantly tried to show to others. I believed it so firmly that I eventually accepted it as a fact, that I was always a kind and just person and would never step on somebody else. But the last weeks' events made me see the truth..."

She let out a deep sigh. "And I think that's why I reacted so strongly when you guys finally brought up the truth and told it to my face. I told myself that you were saying what you did just because you hated the effort I put into my singing, but deep down I knew that was not the case. I know very well that you would never hold me back and prevent me from doing what I want to do. The real reason why I got so shocked is probably because I finally got to see the real me. I finally saw what I was capable of doing and what consequences that could have... and it scared me. It really scared me."

She fidgeted with her spoon, watching the ice cream slowly melt around it. "I think that the reason it took me so long to realize all of this was that I never really had to face myself like this before when I did not have any friends. Back then, all my classmates gave me the cold shoulder anyway no matter what I did, so it was very convenient for me to just think of myself as an innocent victim. But the more I think of it, the more I start to feel that my loneliness was maybe partly my own fault. I know I pushed myself to be better than everyone else, and I always loved to stand in front of that result board when everybody was gathered there, seeing my own name at the top. I always denied it to myself, but the truth is that I loved standing there in front of everyone, seeing the jealousy in their eyes. It made me feel superior to them and it raised my ego to extreme levels."

She looked at her friends and blushed. "I have always said to you that I am happy teaching you things on our studying sessions just because I want you to do your best and all that, and that's true to some extent. Of course I do want you to do your best and to get good results. But the truth is that it also feeds my ego. I like the power, I like being in control. I like that I know more than all of you and that you are all dependant on me, and I would go crazy if someone of you would get better points than me and send me down to second place. In that sense, I am no different from Minako when it comes to singing and performing. It is a very primitive, selfish feeling, and I am sorry for that."

Ami looked really ashamed after finishing her last sentence. Rei reached out to her and touched her cheek. "It's no problem, Ami," she said. "Remember what you said back there in the shrine? You mentioned that all of us had also done bad things every now and then. You actually made a very good point. We have been mean from time to time, sometimes even to you. And in that respect, we cannot hold this event against you. Your guilt is not bigger than ours."

"Thanks," Ami said quietly. Her cheeks were red, but big relief spread over her face. She continued: "Even though I was well aware of what I was doing, I honestly never thought that it would have such dire consequences. I didn't think that Minako would freak out the way she did."

Ami sighed again. "In that respect, I was very naive. I thought that Minako would just be moping for a few minutes and that everything would go back to normal after that. But instead, all hell broke loose." She shook her head. "When I sent out that text message to you all I honestly did not mean to provoke anyone. I meant it as an invitation to Minako to cheer her up and make things go back to normal. But I guess that another important reason for why I did it was just to convince myself I was a good person. And I did not know about all the things Minako had been through over the days – the talks with Makoto and Artemis and all that. And when she came home to me that night, I knew for real how deeply I had hurt her..."

Minako's face filled with guilt. "And that's when I was being the bigger idiot," she cut in. "Instead of trying to settle things in a civilized way, I just wanted to crush Ami. I wanted revenge. I wanted to see her cry. It was pure sadism. I never ever thought I would sink so low, but I did, and I feel so ashamed by it..."

Now it was Ami's turn to comfort Minako. She moved closer and brushed her blonde hair. "But it's all over now," she said. "Don't let it hang in your mind, Minako."

Minako nodded weakly and gave a faint smile to her friends. "You know, I am actually thinking of going to anger management classes or something like that. If I snap like this over something so silly as my friend singing a song better than me, then I don't know what is wrong with my head..."

Ami smiled back. "It just shows how much your dreams mean to you, Minako. You wouldn't have a chance of succeeding unless it clearly meant everything to you." She then turned back to the others and her smile faded. "And also, I would like to apologize to you too, Rei, Makoto, and Usagi, for the horrible things I said to you at the shrine when you confronted me. I did not mean any of that and I am very sorry." Her voice got thicker, almost turning into a gasp. "I'm especially sorry for what I said about your grandfather, Rei. It was so immature and disrespectful of me, and I know how much he means to you. In fact, he means a lot to me too..."

Rei shook her head gently and smiled at Ami. "Don't mention it, Ami. We forgive you for everything. All three of us actually decided that we would let go of any anger and animosity towards you." She lowered her voice a little. "Also, I think we owe an apology ourselves for our bluntness towards you. I was a bit harsh towards you back there, and I'm sorry for that."

Usagi grabbed Ami's hands. "We love you, Ami! And you too, Minako! We could never be angry at you for long! And neither could Ami! Right, Ami?"

"Right," Ami said with a smile. "I want to thank you all. You're really wonderful friends, all of you. And don't apologize for anything, Rei. It is all fine."

Mamoru smiled at them. "You two have really gone all the way to hell and back. You have had quite a struggle. Still, being here now when everything is alright again, I guess it was good that you two learned a very important lesson and gained new insight of yourselves."

Minako smiled brightly. "Yes, I agree. Despite all the darkness, it felt so wonderful when we forgave each other again. When I hugged Ami I realized how much I really love her and how much I had missed her."

Ami cheeks got a little red as she smiled back at Minako. "Same goes to you. I realized how important you are in my life and how lonely I would be without you." She looked at the others. "And the same goes for all of you, of course."

Minako giggled. "It actually makes it worth a whole lot more in the end, doesn't it? A friendship without any fights at all is good, but a friendship where the people drive each other crazy but then make up again is a lot more wonderful. It only makes the friendship stronger!"

"Absolutely!" Usagi said and raised her fist in the air. "Our friendship is the best and no one can take it away! We remain friends even if one of us sings a song better than somebody else!"

"Or forgets her wallet multiple times and lets her friends pay for her," Rei cut in.

"Rei, you meanie! You did not have to ruin my beautiful speech!" Usagi stuck her tongue out at the raven haired girl. Ami and Minako could not hold back their laughter.

Minako looked over at Ami. A tingle of excitement appeared in her eyes. "Ami, tell them what you told me before. That thing about good and bad actually being one and the same. It was so cool."

"Ah yes," Ami said and got a little more energy in her eyes. "Well, it was just a little thought I had, but I think it sums up the situation quite well, if I may say so."

"Please tell us," Mamoru said. He and the girls tried to hide their smiles as they saw how Ami's scientific mind was waking up and how the excitement started spreading over her face.

"You know how people often say that every human being has some good and some bad sides?" Ami began. Her voice had taken on the lecturing tone she always used during their studying sessions. "If you take me, for example, you might say that my good sides are that I am kind and helpful, and that my bad sides are that I am competitive and a perfectionist. That makes a lot of sense. However, I have been thinking a lot about it recently, and I have realized that it is not really about having a good and a bad side."

Ami pointed a finger at them with a sly look on her face. "The truth is that the good and bad sides are in fact basically one and the same. It is for most part one single personality trait."

"Uh, could you explain that some more?" Usagi said and scratched her head.

Ami made a gesture with her hand as if it was the simplest thing in the world. "What I mean is, when a person has a positive personality trait, this also inevitably gives that person a negative trait. I'll give you an example of what I mean." Her voice increased in tempo. "My dream is to become a doctor. I work really hard for it every day. I put my whole heart into my schoolwork to get the highest grades possible. And I do it because I have to. Getting into the top medical schools in Japan is tough. The competition is fierce and only those with the highest grades succeed." Ami smiled at her friends. "In order to have a chance to accomplish my dream, I have to be competitive. I have to be a perfectionist. Otherwise I would lose the race already from the start. If some people do not like this aspect of my personality, then there is not much I can do about it. I do not want to hurt anybody and my true goal is not to outsmart everybody else, but I need to be on top of the game in order to fulfill my dream. That's just how it is. You have to take the bitter with the sweet."

"Kind of like yin and yang," Rei said.

"The only thing I must watch out for is putting my abilities to misuse, and that's where I got lost." A wave of pain drew over her face. "I used my personality and my skills as a weapon against Minako, and that is always wrong. If I simply work hard for my dream and someone else is offended by that, then it is their problem, but I have no right to use my talents to push someone down."

"That is so true," Mamoru said.

"And here is the big thing," Ami said and held up a finger in the air. She was now full of excitement. "Let's say that one of you is seriously injured and needs an operation urgently. Let me ask you this question: Who would you want to perform the surgery?" She looked her friends deep into the eyes. "Would you want a slacker who is friendly and easy-going but only got B's and C's and had to retake her freshman year? Or would you rather want a pedantic, competitive brat like me who got straight A's in every subject and knows every medical book inside out?"

Silence fell over the group.

"I see..." Makoto said after a long moment. A smile slowly spread over her face.

"I never thought of it that way," Rei added.

"You are so right!" Usagi said. "Of course we would want someone like you to do it! I mean, I could never ever do such a thing. I am not a perfectionist at all."

"Definitely not," Rei immediately added. "If Ami is the pedantic, competitive brat who got straight A's in every subject, then you are clearly the one who only got B's and C's and had to retake her freshman year." She smiled teasingly at the blonde girl.

"I never had to retake my freshman year!" Usagi said angrily.

"I heard from your mother it was really close!" Rei replied.

"May I please continue?" Ami said, eager to go on with her lecture. "Anyway, here is the interesting part: what I just said can also be applied to Minako." The blonde girl blushed a bit as Ami pinched her cheek in a teasing manner. "Minako is very stubborn, territorial, and aggressive. This may be a disadvantage in many situations, and it sometimes makes it difficult both for the people around her and for herself. But if you think of what I just said, you will realize that it is these personal traits that make her the powerful warrior she is. It is these traits that make her into a great leader and pulled her through those early days when she was fighting evil all alone, long before us others had awakened."

She looked proudly at her blonde friend, and when she continued speaking her voice became soft and sweet. "Minako is stubborn, but that is what makes her more determined in battle than any one of us. She is territorial, but that is what makes her become so protective over the ones she loves. She is aggressive, but that is what makes our enemies fear her immense strength. People may think of these personality traits as negative, but if Minako would not have them, she would never have been the amazing soldier and friend that she is. As for me, people may say that they like me more than Minako because I am kind and intellectual, but I would never be able to do the things that Minako do. I would never have survived as a lonely warrior."

Her friends made big eyes when they heard Ami's description. Makoto's cheeks were red and her eyes were filled with tenderness. "Ami is so right..." she said softly. "I... I almost feel I want to apologize to you, Minako, for all the times I've been calling you stubborn and outrageous."

Minako waved her hands in the air looking embarrassed. "No no, you don't have to do that. I know very well I have been out of line so many times, and I deserved to be scolded every time that happened."

After that comment, they all sat still for some moments without saying a word. Usagi turned her attention to her big ice cream and eagerly began scoping in big pieces in her mouth.

"So, Ami," Mamoru said after a while, wanting to change the subject, "What are you doing now with the singing? Are you going to continue taking lessons?"

Ami smiled. "Actually, me and Minako are taking them together now! I asked Mr. Yamazaki, and he was fine with it. When my mother paid for the classes, she paid money for ten classes at once. I had six lessons by myself, so that means me and Minako will take the remaining four together."

"What a great idea!" Makoto said. "Will you continue with the singing, Ami? I mean, pursue it like Minako."

Ami shook her head. "I have no interest in becoming a professional singer. I will always work to sing as good as possible, and I can't wait until I can sing some tunes on our next karaoke session, but I will not pursue that path. I want to be a doctor and that's it."

Minako smiled and continued: "We actually had our first lesson earlier today and it was great." Then her face then turned into a frown and she crossed her arms in front of her chest. "But Ami is really demanding as a singing partner. If you thought she was strict during our studying sessions you should see her now."

Ami put her nose up in the air. "You did not warm up before the class despite that I told you to. At least half an hour of vocal warm up right before the lesson, that's what I said."

Red color spread over Minako's face. "Warming up is so boring..." she mumbled.

Ami snorted. "Warming up is important for the vocal cords and the mind. Do you think Celine Dion got all her vocal skills by not warming up?"

Minako looked down in the table, avoiding Ami's gaze. "Yeah, yeah, yeah..." she muttered, but after a few seconds, the frown on her face faded and she broke out in a smile.

Makoto chuckled. "It's good to have you back. Both of you."

Minako smiled. "If I ever become an idol, I will specifically mention Ami in the credit notes of my debut album."

Ami gently stroked Minako's hair. "Not if, Minako, when. I will not let you miss out on your biggest dream. You will become a professional singer. I know that."

Minako looked away. "Thanks," she said shyly. Then she chuckled and lit up again. "I think I will actually dedicate the whole debut album to you, Ami." She suddenly grabbed Ami in a big hug and began rubbing her blue hair with her knuckles. "Because I like you a lot!"

"It's okay! It's okay! I get the point!" Ami whimpered, trying to break out of Minako's grip while her friends laughed.

Makoto leaned back on her chair and let out a deep sigh of comfort. "Aah, it's so nice that everything is back to normal." She then put her hands on the table again and got a curios look in her eyes. "There is just one thing I would like to ask you, Ami. When you stormed out of the shrine you looked extremely angry. The following day you did not answer any of our calls or messages. Then the evening one day later, you suddenly responded and accepted to meet with Minako. What I want to ask is: what made you change your mind so suddenly? Did you have a change of heart once you had cooled off or did something else happen?"

Ami blushed and looked down. "Something did happen, in fact. I had a talk with someone. A very long and special talk." She looked over to Usagi's boyfriend and nodded respectfully. Mamoru nodded back in confirmation. "I had a conversation with Mamoru," she said. "He made me realize that the fault was actually my own, and I am extremely thankful for that. We ran into each other out in the rain one evening and he invited me to his apartment where we—"

Usagi slammed her palms down on the table. "What?! You went home to my boyfriend and you were there with him all alone?" Her big eyes filled with tears and she curled her hands to fists. "And not even telling me about it! Are you cheating on me, Mamoru? That's so mean!"

"Usagi, please..." Mamoru said with pleading eyes as the whole café was turning its attention to the group once again.

Ami's blushed heavily. "It was only a talk, Usagi. We did not do anything else than that."

"It's still mean!" Usagi pouted. "No one should be alone with my boyfriend but me!"

Ami looked nervously at Usagi, but then her blush suddenly disappeared. A sly smile spread over her face. She tilted her head to the side and spoke with a theatrical voice: "Oh Usagi, you know very well that an intellectual person like Mamoru needs someone that can match his brains. Someone like me. Since I'm a genius and better than everyone on everything I do, I could steal your boyfriend in one second if I wanted to."

Rei, Makoto and Minako broke out in laughter, but Usagi angrily stomped the floor with her foot. "Ami you meanie! You're supposed to be the kind one and now you have started being rude to me! You're even a worse friend than Rei!"

"Hey!" Rei said and immediately stopped smiling. Makoto and Minako laughed even louder and Ami broke out in a chuckle as well. Mamoru, being the only one who actually noticed that the whole café was staring at them, looked mostly embarrassed.

Usagi slumped down on her chair and put her chin on the table surface. "I hate you guys sometimes," she moaned.

"Oh, that sure is mutual," Rei said. She put her arms around the sulking blonde. "Come on now," she said as she rubbed her shoulders. "You know that Ami and Mamoru would never do such a thing against you. Now put that look off your face and smile again."

"I'm not sure I wanna..." Usagi pouted.

Rei put her head close to Usagi's face. "For me?"

Makoto chuckled, but Mamoru, Minako, and Ami looked a bit confused. Usagi kept looking down in the table, but after a few seconds she could not hide the smile spreading over her face. "Oh alright then," she said. She pulled herself up. "I'll forgive you this time." She grabbed her sundae with her hand and started eating.

And that's when they knew that everything was back to normal. No more fighting, no more anger. Just a group of best friends, together in a big warm ocean of love.

A/N: I want to say a big, tremendous "thank you" to all of you who have read through the whole story! Very special thanks also go out to those of you who have given me feedback, either in the review section here on this website or through private communication. Your comments have been invaluable to me, and you have provided me with both a lot of praise and some good constructive criticism, and I am extremely happy for getting both.

I am working on new Sailor Moon fanfiction at the moment, so stay tuned! There is no set release date yet, but I hope to get some material out as soon as possible.