The doorbell rang and Makoto got up to answer it. When she opened the door, she saw Ami standing there. "Ami-chan! What brings you by?"
Ami smiled up at Makoto, the cold wind giving her cheeks a red blush. "Hi, Mako-chan. I'm sorry about dropping by without calling, but I just realised I was close by and wanted to ask a big favor of you, if I could?"
Makoto smiled back and stepped to one side, motioning Ami in. "Sure! Come in, it's too cold to stand in the doorway and talk." Ami slipped by her and pulled her shoes off, exchanging them for a pair of slippers as Makoto shut the door. She pulled her blue scarf off and hung it and her jacket on the coat rack in the entryway. Makoto went to turn the heat up a bit as Ami settled on the couch. "Would you like some tea? I just made it, so it's nice and hot."
"Oooh, please! That would be wonderful."
In a few moments, Makoto came out of the kitchen carrying a tray with a pot and two cups. She set the cups on the coffee table and poured the tea before sitting beside Ami. "All right. What sort of help do you need that would bring you out in this?"
As she sipped the tea, Ami's blush replaced the wind-blush on her cheeks. "Well, tomorrow is Valentine's Day and I'm going to go see my dad, and...well...I wanted your help to make a chocolate cake."
Makoto started grinning. "Oh, that's too cute, Ami-chan! So your Dad's your Valentine, huh?" Ami said nothing, but looked away with a smile as her cheeks became even more red. Makoto laughed and relented. "All right. I'll help. And you're lucky you wanted chocolate. I still have a couple of extra boxes of mix left over from Christmas, and some frosting as well."
Ami put down her cup and took Makoto's hands. "Thank you, Mako-chan! You have no idea how much this means to me."
Now it was Makoto's turn to blush. "Ah, it's no problem, Ami-chan. You've helped me a lot in the past. Heck, you helped me get into University! It's the least I could do for you." Ami just squeezed her hands and smiled, and Makoto couldn't help but smile back. She's always felt closest to Ami, of all the Senshi. She suspected it had to do with the fact that were both loners in a way, and not by choice. Makoto's parents had died when she was young, and she'd had to survive on her own for so long. Whereas Ami's parents were still alive, but divorced. Her father was a painter living in Yokohama, and her mother was a very busy doctor whose job kept her away from home a lot. Sometimes it seemed that Ami was over at Makoto's place more often than her own apartment! But they were able to keep each other company, because they understood what the other was going through. Rei might have been able to as well, but with her work at the shrine, she was almost as busy as Ami's mom.
Makoto suddenly realised that they were still holding hands and smiling at each other. She blushed a bit more and drew her hands back. "Ack, sorry! Zoned out for a minute."
Ami giggled "That's all right, you've got soft hands," she said as Makoto blushed some more. Ami held her own hands up before her. "Mine keep drying out in this cold weather."
Makoto held up a finger. "I know what you need. Just a sec." She stood and walked into her bedroom, returning a moment later with a small bottle of lotion. "This is a little trial-size I carry around with me, but you can find more at the druggist." She handed it to Ami who put some on her hands and rubbed them together. "Just remember, if you wash your hands, to add more after you dry them."
"Ooooh... This stuff is fantastic! My skin just soaked it up!" She held her hands back out. "Feel them now." Makoto did as she was bid, not understanding why her stomach seemed to be doing little flip-flops. She's eaten a light lunch a few hours previous... Ami's hands were indeed softer than before, and once again, Makoto caught herself holding them for longer than was truly necessary. She saw Ami smiling at her with a strange look in her eyes. Before she could figure out what the look meant, it was gone as Ami pulled her hands back. "So. Cake?"
Makoto shook her head to clear it and nodded with a smile. "Cake."
"The baking of cakes is a serious matter. It isn't just one of your holiday games."
Makoto paused in the mixing of the batter to eye Ami. "That sounded like a quote..."
Ami laughed. "I'm paraphrasing from a book. I'll loan it to you when I come back Saturday."
Makoto shook her head and passed the bowl to Ami. "Here. You mix. I need to find the pans I want." Ami grinned and took the bowl and large plastic spoon, picking up where Makoto left off as the taller girl started looking through cabinets. "I usually keep them below the counter, but I think Usagi-chan put them up last time... Ah! Found them!" With a little clanging she pulled the pans down, separating two of the smaller ones from the group before placing the rest in their normal resting place in a counter cabinet.
Ami looked at the two pans she'd pulled out. "Mako-chan? I think you made a mistake. You've got one square and one round pan. That would make a strange looking cake."
It was Makoto's turn to grin. "Nope. Those are the ones I wanted. Just wait and see."
Ami shrugged and went back to scrapping the sides of the bowl to get everything mixed. "I think it's ready."
Makoto checked the oven. "Great. So's the oven. Now, just pour equal amounts in each pan." Ami did so under Makoto's watchful eye. "Good. Now take the pan like this..." Makoto picked up the round pan an inch or so and dropped it on the counter. "Do that a few times to get the air bubbles out of it." Ami matched Makoto's motions with the square one. "And now they go in the oven for about an hour. We'll check on them periodically using a toothpick."
Ami raised an eyebrow at that as Makoto slid both pans into the oven and closed the door. "A toothpick?"
Makoto peeled off her apron and put it on a hook by the doorway. "Yep! You stick a toothpick in it, and if you pull it out and nothing sticks to it, the cake is done."
Ami blinked. "Neat! My mom didn't do anything like that when we made brownies."
Makoto snagged the mixing bowl and another spoon and walked into the living room. "Well, you made them a lot, didn't you?"
Ami nodded as she followed Makoto, plucking the small spoon from her hand as they settled back on the couch. "Yes. About once a month when I was younger. It was a monthly treat for both of us."
Makoto offered the bowl to Ami as she nodded. "She probably had been making them the same way for so long, she just knew when they were done."
"Sounds logical," Ami said as she scraped up a spoonful of 'leftover' batter.
Makoto looked into the bowl, eyed Ami and pointed the cake-batter caked mixing spoon at her. "Young lady, you need to learn how to get all the batter out of the mixing bowl."
Ami licked her spoon as she looked at Makoto. "I thought that's what we were doing?"
Makoto just stopped and watched Ami as the butterflies-in-stomach feeling came back. Ami had that strange look in her eyes again, but Makoto was too busy trying to tear her eyes from the spoon to really notice it. She blinked and dropped her eyes. "Uh...yeah. That...sounds logical..." she stuttered before licking her own spoon. What on Earth was wrong with her? This was Ami, her best...friend. She really shouldn't be thinking about her like...that. Like what? came a flashing thought, but before she could follow the thought to a conclusion, Ami's hand suddenly slipped into view and touched her nose, causing Makoto to jerk back. "Hey!" Ami giggled as she licked the excess batter off her finger, causing Makoto to look cross-eyed at her own nose where she saw the rest of the batter. She waved her mixing spoon threateningly at Ami. "Hey now...you don't want to start a batter war with me, little girl!"
Ami laughed and waved her own relatively tiny spoon back at Makoto. "Oh? Why not?"
"Because my spoon is larger, and I have more ammunition!" she said, holding up the mixing bowl.
"Eep!" Ami slid off the couch onto her knees before Makoto, tossing her spoon into the mixing bowl. "I surrender! I surrender! Please don't...batter me!" she exclaimed, causing both of them to burst giggles. She then clutched Makoto's knees and laid her head on Makoto's lap. "I throw myself on the mercy of the court! It was the chocolate that made me do it, I swear!"
Makoto giggled at her and set the bowl and spoons aside, enjoying the feel of Ami's head in her lap. "Mercy? There's very little mercy in war, young lady..." She felt a shiver go through Ami when she said that, and suddenly they both got very quiet and still. She rested one hand on Ami's shoulder, and, of its own volition, the other began to stroke her soft blue hair. She felt Ami relax against her, and Makoto closed her eyes. She could feel Ami breathing against her legs... Her soft hair moving between her fingers... Her warmth... Makoto felt herself shiver. She opened her eyes and looked down at Ami, who was looking back at her. "Ami..."
"Yes, Makoto?"
"Why...?"
"Why what?"
Makoto swallowed around the lump in her throat. "Why...why don't you help me water the plants? I got busy last night and couldn't get to them." Her hands dropped away from Ami.
Ami smiled. "I can do that." She scooted back and stood up, offering a hand up to Makoto, who took it.
Makoto picked up the bowl, and was startled to see Ami so near her when she turned around. "What?" Ami just grinned and leaned close, and Makoto felt that the butterflies in her stomach had just been issued tanks. She could feel the heat of a blush as Ami reached toward her face...and used a finger to scrape the batter off the tip of her nose.
Ami licked her finger with a grin. "I had to make war reparations," she said with a wink before moving to the kitchen to get the watercan.
Makoto just stared after Ami, her mind running in circles...
After the plants had been watered, and the kitchen cleaned up, Ami helped Makoto wash some strawberries, which they--well, Makoto, since she was better with the knife--sliced up, giving them little heart-shaped pieces. Then Makoto got some chocolate syrup out.
"What's that for?" Ami asked.
Makoto just smiled. "You'll see. Check the cakes?"
Ami nodded and slipped a glove on, opened the oven, and pulled the pans out. Then she did the 'toothpick test' and stuck it in the cakes. When it came out clean no matter where she poked it in, Makoto declared them done. They stuck them on a cooling rack for a few minutes while Makoto mixed the chocolate syrup in a bowl with a few other ingredients and stirred it up. Then she pulled the cutting board over and laid the round cake on it and cut it in half. She got the cake tray out and laid the square one on it, taking half of the round one and placing the flat side against one side of the square one, and then the other half against the next side.
Ami stared. "A heart! That's so cool!"
Makoto grinned. "See? I told you I knew what I was doing."
Ami hugged Makoto. "I never doubted you for a second!"
Makoto blushed again and patted Ami's hand. "Careful. Don't want to mess things up now."
"Sorry," Ami said with a grin, releasing the hug.
"All right. You put the frosting on, then I'll show you how to put the finishing touches on it." Ami nodded and took Makoto's place, using a plastic spreader to add the white frosting.
When she was done, Makoto showed her how to use the frosting bag to add chocolate frosting to the edges of the cake. "Just hold it like so, and squeeze gently but constantly as you move. You don't want lumps of frosting." Ami nodded and carefully took the frosting bag, doing her best to imitate Makoto, but she kept either not squeezing out enough frosting or too much. Makoto chuckled and stepped behind Ami, using her height and long limbs to reach around and place her hands over Ami's. "Like this," she said as she guided Ami's movements, showing her just how much pressure to use. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she knew she didn't have to stand behind Ami like this to show her, but the warmth of Ami's body against hers just seemed...right somehow. All too soon, the ring of frosting was done, and Makoto stepped away, feeling somehow incomplete...
She shook her head and moved over to the strawberries. "Now, let me show you what we're going to do with these. We take a toothpick--"
"The kitchen's untapped utensil!" Ami said, raising a finger with a grin. And Makoto just laughed.
"Ami, I have got to cook with you more often. As much as I love cooking, I don't think I've ever had this much fun."
Ami smiled at her with that strange look in her eyes again. "I would love that, Makoto."
"Good." Makoto tore her gaze away from Ami's eyes, and back to the strawberries. "As I was saying, take a toothpick, stick it through a strawberry slice like so, and dip it into the mix here," she said as she dunked it into the chocolate mix she'd made. "Let the excess drip off...then stick it on the edge of the cake like so..." And she placed it on top of the cake near the frosted edges Ami had made. "That mix will cool and harden, and you'll have chocolate-covered strawberry hearts around the edges!"
"That's awesome, Makoto..."
"I know! I make my own cherry cordials using it. It will need to cool and harden overnight though...um...when's your train leaving?"
Ami looked thoughtful. "Hm...8:30am. Could I leave the cake here, and ask you to bring it to the station for me? I'd be afraid of something happening to it if I took it all the way home and then to the train station in the morning."
Makoto smiled. "Sure. The station's just a few blocks away, and I need to get some more strawberries anyway."
Ami laughed, and helped arrange the rest of the strawberries. Since they had a few slices left over, Makoto dipped them and put them on a piece of wax paper and stuck it into the fridge. "Snacks for another day," she said with a grin.
Ami looked over the cake when they were done. "It needs something..." She spied the frosting bag and brightened. "I know!" She picked the bag up and smiled at Makoto. "I think I can do this part myself." With slow, careful movements she added a little more frosting on the top of the cake...
LOVE,
AMI
"There," she declared. "Now it's finished." She glanced at the clock and started. "Ack! I need to go! I didn't realise it was that late!" She turned and hugged her friend. "Thank you, very much, Makoto. I'm sorry to cut and run."
Makoto hugged back. "It's all right, Ami. I'll see you in the morning. Track 2, right?"
Ami nodded as she moved into the hall and got her coat and scarf, before slipping her shoes back on. "Yeah. See you, Makoto."
Makoto sat on the bench just outside the turnstiles for the train. She checked her watch again. Ami's train left in five minutes, and she still hadn't seen the blue-haired girl. "C'mon, Ami... Don't pull an Usagi-chan..." she muttered to herself. Suddenly, there she was. Moving quickly through the crowds with her rolling carryon case behind her. Makoto stood and waved.
"Makoto! Sorry! We lost power last night from the wind and my alarm didn't go off!" She gave her friend a quick hug. "Thanks for meeting me. I wish we had more time to talk, but I'll have to book to make the train. I'll see you Saturday!" she cried as she ran toward the turnstiles.
Makoto blinked and looked down at the bench, she grabbed up the cake box and yelled, "Ami! You forgot your dad's cake!"
Ami half turned as she neared the turnstiles and smiled back at Makoto. "I never said it was for my dad!" she yelled back, that strange look in her eyes again.
A look that Makoto recognised now.
I know something you don't know.
Only...Makoto did know...now. She looked down at the cake, and back up to see Ami moving away though the crowds to the train. She felt a warm glow suffuse her entire body. Saturday can't come soon enough, she thought with a smile.
-Fin-
Author's Notes:
This is a little V-Day one-shot posted in (late) response to the Docspace Writing Challenge on the Docspacefiction site. The random item for this challenge was 'Chocolate Syrup'. It was written in a few hours between last night and this morning. The concept was stolen lock stock and cake from a Publix commercial. Just check YouTube for 'Publix Valentine's Day Commercial'. Enjoy and please review.