Disclaimer: Ami and Makoto are not mine, as much as I may wish they could be.

AN - If you don't like yuri, or the suggestion of shoujo-ai, then this story is not for you. Please keep moseying along. This is an AU setting, though I tried to keep Ami and Mako believable.

Because the content didn't quite make it to a true M, I have lowered the rating to a T. BUT be warned, the third part gets a little heavy and should be for mature T readers only.

Thanks to my great friend Museless Fool for giving me the inspiration to try my hand at fanfiction.

Ami could barely breathe. That girl was just too ... Wow. She was glad she had grabbed a corner chair with a good view of the entire coffee shop, instead of her usual cushy seat front and center. If she hadn't, she'd have missed seeing the most enticing woman she had ever laid eyes upon enter through the side door and sashay to the counter. Her dark brown hair, tied up in a high pony tail bobbed with every step she took. Her tanned skin betrayed a love of sun, and contrasted with the starched-white tank top over baggy jean shorts. Her strong calves tapered to slender ankles to tanned feet, tucked into a well-worn pair of Chaco's. She bet those feet, if stripped of their protection, would bear the criss-cross tan of a true Chaco wearer. And her muscles ... thick shoulders led to developed arms and forearms that indicated a hard grip to break, and that tank-top wrapped an obviously well-toned set of abs under a pair of nice C's bound behind a blue sports bra. Mmmm she could just imagine what those baggy shorts were covering, boyshorts over hard glutes and quads and hams that would complete the overall picture of Boi. God she just loved a girl with muscles. And a tall girl, at that. She had to be at least 5'10", compared to Ami's own 5'3".

As the sounds of the busy coffee shop once again reached her ears, Ami realized just how deeply she had been staring at the girl before her. Jeez, she wouldn't have been surprised if there was a puddle of drool in her lap. She cracked a self-deprecating grin and shook her head, firmly planting herself back in the real world. Goddesses like that weren't interested in scrawny little brainiacs, even if they did order the same drink, she couldn't help but notice. She quirked another small grin as she watched the barista make an iced chai with soy milk, the exact duplicate of the drink nearly forgotten in her own small hands. She continued to etch the girl's image into her mind as she watched her collect her drink, and with a sparkling smile and a wave of one hand move to exit through the same door she entered. Ami heaved one last wistful sigh, and tipped her chai in lusty salute to the vision sauntering out of the coffee shop and out of her life.

Only she didn't leave. The girl stopped, one hand on the push door, the other hand holding her drink to her luscious lips. She turned, oh-so-slightly, and made eye contact with her. Ami felt a blush immediately stain her pale cheeks as she attempted to shrink behind her still-raised plastic glass. She was caught. She didn't know how, but somehow that girl had figured out she had been staring. Oh, hell, how embarrassing! But wait, the girl wasn't doing anything but looking at her, with almost a question in her eyes. It was as if she was waiting for something.

But what? Ami offered a small sheepish grin, and slightly shrugged her shoulders, trying to convey to the girl that she was only appreciating what she had seen. The girl started, slightly, as if she was expecting a different reaction, and she looked at Ami piercingly, as though trying to penetrate her soul. Ami, though confused at this turn of events and in spite of her ever-reddening cheeks, calmly met the girl's gaze and offered a clear view of her emotions, her drives. Honesty, determination, and yes, attraction, she put it all in her eyes and threw it at the gorgeous girl standing before the door. This might be her only chance, so why not?

The girl drank deeply from Ami's gaze, for one, two, three seconds before her own eyes widened and she dropped her hand from the door and strode over to Ami's chair.

"Hi." She thrust her hand out, her non-drink-holding hand warm and calloused. "My name's Makoto. Want to go for a walk?"

Ami blinked at the hand before her, processing the words she couldn't quite believe she had heard, before letting a slow smile shine from her face. "Sure. My name is Ami. Let's go." Taking the hand before her, she let herself be helped up from her chair, and she followed the tall girl outside into the late afternoon sun. Squinting at the sudden brightness, she dropped her gaze to her flip-flops and suddenly remembered she was shy. She didn't do these things. She didn't get caught staring, she didn't accept offers to go for walks, and she definitely didn't follow girls around like a love-struck idiot. Wait, love-struck? No. Maybe lust-struck. Yeah, that was it. The girl—Makoto—was hot, and Ami's dormant passion felt like it just drank a double shot. She just wanted to spend some more time in Makoto's company. It had been too long since she felt real attraction to, well, anyone. Her entire mental debate took less time than the span of a confidence-building deep breath. She squared her shoulders, dredging inner resolve from somewhere, and cast a sideways glance at her tall companion who was currently regarding her with an expression of amused curiosity. Ami would regain control of this situation, of herself, but first she had to ask, "Um, so, where do you want to go?"

"I thought maybe the Arboretum?" Makoto offered. "Since it's such a nice afternoon, after all. The trees, the flowers, they should be in bloom now. Since the cold weather really cleared up a few weeks ago I'm not the only one appreciating the sunshine. And that walk is always nicer with company. Unless you don't want to go ..."

"No!" Ami hurriedly said. "I mean, yes, I want to go, and the Arboretum sounds lovely." She smiled shyly at Makoto, who had also smiled more broadly at Ami's response.

"Well then, my lady, let us be off." Makoto facetiously joked, and with a half bow, she gestured to their left at a long blue vehicle parked along the curb. "My trusty steed."

"A station wagon?" Ami raised an eyebrow. "I mean, I don't have a car at all, but still ... for some reason I can't picture you driving a station wagon."

"Hey! Don't knock her. She gets good gas mileage AND I can haul all my drunk-ass friends home when they call me at three in the morning." Makoto said this so seriously Ami just had to laugh, and Makoto was quick to share the chuckle. They reached the wagon, and Makoto reached through the half-opened window to unlock the passenger door for Ami. "No really, I love this car. It's big enough I can even camp out in her when the weather turns bad, and I never lack space to stash anything I need. We've been through a lot together." A hint of sadness flickered across Makoto's face so quickly Ami wasn't sure she had even seen it. What about that previous statement made Makoto sad? Ami decided to ignore the mystery, at least for the moment. After all, she didn't know the girl; it wasn't her right to pry. Which reminded her, was it really a good idea to get into this car, with this stranger?

"So, Makoto-"

"Call me Mako." Makoto leaned over the door she swung open for Ami, one arm lazily draped across the top. She was still inches above Ami's height, but leaning in like that, into her bubble, made Ami's pulse jump.

"Ok, Mako." She offered a shaky smile. "I have a question – I just met you and you want me to get into your car. I mean, you're not offering candy but..." As Ami said the word candy the naughty little demon that was her subconscious sent the thought but you wish she was offering you some of her candy flitting through her mind and the blush jumped back to full force across her face. Ami did a quick little inhale, almost a gasp, and snapped her mouth shut, her ability to formulate sentences momentarily lost.

Mako saw the blush race across Ami's cheeks and was momentarily startled. What just happened? I definitely didn't offer candy, but Oh Wait. I wonder if she's thinking what I'm thinking she's thinking... As the blush refused to leave the adorable cheeks of the shorter girl standing before her, Mako just knew her hunch was right. Who'd have guessed such an innocent face hid such a dirty mind? She smiled. This girl—Ami—was proving to be quite intriguing.

Back in the coffee shop she had felt the weight of an intense stare the moment she stepped foot through the door. With the way Mako dressed, she expected and received a certain amount of gazes and glares, and she was used to always being looked at, but the eyes behind that feeling just seemed ... different. While she was waiting for her chai, she had surreptitiously cased the joint, seeking her unknown watcher. She hadn't seen anyone looking her way, or even anybody who looked like they could have been the person staring at her, but since that feeling hadn't dissipated she knew the eyes had to belong to somebody in the corner behind her. So as she grabbed her coffee and moved to the door, she paused and glanced to her right and there were the eyes: brilliant piercing cobalt, slightly hidden behind shaggy blue bangs. The rest of the striking bob-cut blue hair was attached to a slight-framed girl holding up what appeared to be an iced drink of some kind. When Mako met her eyes, she saw a blush spread across those pale cheeks as the eyes widened and the girl seemed to try and hide behind her upraised cup.

Mako didn't let her off the hook, though. She kept her eyes trained on the cobalt-blues as her peripherals caught the hemp flip-flops, the tie-dyed gypsy skirt, and the white button-up short sleeve silk shirt that completed the ensemble and gave the girl an aura of prim seriousness, in spite of the blue hair. A few seconds in to this impromptu read, the girl surprised Mako. She gave a quirky little half smile, and shrugged her shoulders, as if to say what the hell, and then the girl looked at her. Really looked at her. Like, she poured her soul into her eyes and offered it on a platter to Mako. It took her a few seconds to realize what she was seeing, but Mako's own eyes widened at the promise of pure honesty and passion and desire inherent in those blue depths. Before she even knew what she was doing, she was across the coffee shop with her hand extended. "Hi. My name's Makoto. Want to go for a walk?"

What was she thinking? And then the girl surprised her again with an absolutely captivating smile that transformed the blue-haired student sitting in front of her into an angel. And the angel said sure, and she said her name was Ami. The next thing Mako knew, she was standing on the sidewalk babbling like an idiot about the Arboretum. But Ami said yes, and Mako felt her heart lighten. Now she was leaning on her passenger door, staring at a blushing Ami, trying to wrap her mind around the fact that Ami just might really be into her, even if she wasn't willing to admit it yet.

"You know ..." Mako rasped out, her eyes brightening in response to the flush forming on her own cheeks, "you didn't really ask me a question. I understand what you mean, though, but I think ... Um, no, I want you to know ..." Mako dared to reach her hand out and lightly rest her fingers on Ami's shoulder. She could swear she felt a jolt of electricity pass through the fabric at her gentle touch, and Ami jerked her eyes from the shoes to meet Mako's green gaze. "I just want to go for a walk, look at some blossoms, and talk to you. I'll be the perfect gentleman, I promise."

At the gentleman comment Ami smiled. "Well. All right then." Her shoulder was burning hot under the light touch of Mako's fingers, and she couldn't tear herself away from the touch. They stood there for what felt like a lifetime, each breath each girl took not offering enough oxygen, words not needed as cobalt communed with green, Mako's hand a still caress on Ami's angular shoulder. A long boarder zoomed past on the sidewalk, almost crashing into Ami, and only Mako tightening her grip on Ami's shoulder and pulling her forward saved her from a painful collision; and they still didn't break eye contact. Mako smiled even wider, and Ami's angelic smile shone forth once again, with laughter. "Ok, really, let's go." She ducked her head and climbed into Mako's car, settling into the faded blue-upholstered bench seat and buckling her seat belt as Mako shut the door and crossed to the driver's side. She reached through the half-open window, again unlocking the door from the inside, before letting herself in and starting the car.

She cast a happy sideways glance at her blue-haired companion. "Ready?"

"Ready."

Idiotic smiles adorned both girls' faces as Mako checked her mirrors, and pulled into traffic. "And off we go."