Author's Note: This is my contribution to the Transmissions from the Moon Premier Drabble Challenge. If you'd like to participate, check it out at transmissionsfromthemoon on Tumblr. It will be a lot of fun and you'll have a chance to get your fanfiction narrated for a podfic!

Transmissions from the Moon Drabble Challenge

Little Reflections

One

Tomorrow

It was a mild Saturday afternoon. The sun was peeking out from behind a few, scattered clouds, but had not yet worked up the confidence to really blaze, as she would later in the spring. The flowers had only barely begun to break through the soil and everything felt very new and fresh.

Ami could not appreciate it, as she walked from her home to the Hikawa Shrine to meet her friends; she was too busy fretting.

Granted, there was significantly less to fret about at that time then there had been a few short months ago, when she and her fellow Sailor Guardians were once again in a life or death struggle for the peace and safety of the planet Earth, but Ami still managed. Today, her thoughts revolved around Usagi Tsukino, perhaps the most important figure in her life at that moment.

Usagi had been doing better, she had to admit. She was no longer constantly in danger of flunking out, even if she was solidly below average in her scholastic pursuits. She had certainly come through, as always, when their recent battle was at its most dire. And yet… A rare scowl graced Ami's face. She had never met anyone with the ability to procrastinate like Usagi!

As if called by her thoughts, she heard the high, chirruping voice of her friend squeal her name and turned to find her, blond ponytails flying, racing up the sidewalk to catch her. She paused and waited for Usagi to draw even with her, and then for her to catch her breath. "Good afternoon, Usagi," Ami said, voice gentle and sedate as always.

"Good afternoon, Ami!" her companion exclaimed, walking beside her with a bounce in her step, as if she could break into dance at any moment. "Today is going to be so much fun! The new episode of my favorite show is on and Minako wants to watch it with me and Mako hinted that she might be testing out a new cookie recipe today and Rei promised to let me borrow…"

Usagi continued on and Ami let her words wash over her. She seemed to speak all in one breath, her words tumbling over each other in their eagerness to be heard. Finally, as Usagi hesitated for just a moment, trying to remember what else she wanted to say, Ami interjected, "Don't you have an essay for History due on Monday?"

The blonde waved a hand dismissively. "Yeah, but I have plenty of time to do that tomorrow."

"But don't you think you ought to work on it tonight, when we can all help you?"

Usagi didn't even seem to consider the offer, just shrugged. "Nah, I can do it on my own. And if I get really stuck, I can always call one of you guys for help. I'll just do the essay tomorrow."

One of Ami's greatest fears was being considered pushy or overbearing. Because of her scholastic accomplishments, some people assumed she possessed the traits without ever speaking to her. But her growing worries and her exasperation over her friends dismissive tone caused her to turn and, with a hint of desperation in her voice, exclaim, "Usagi you always say that! Whenever you have any responsibilities, you always put them off until 'tomorrow'. You… you're going to be a queen! Don't you think you should be a little more conscientious?"

Ami's brief, unusual flare of temper immediately extinguished and she caught her breath, afraid to turn towards Usagi and see her reaction. She anticipated that Usagi would begin to make excuses or become defensive, at the very least she expected tears. What she did not expect was for Usagi to reach over and take her hand, her steps slowing as she turned her face to look up at the sun dappled leaves over their heads.

The blonde was silent for a time and Ami waited. After a moment, in a very soft, steady voice, Usagi said, "I don't trust the future."

Caught off-guard by this seeming non sequitur, Ami replied, "What do you mean?"

She took a deep breath. "I know that we have seen the future and that I am supposed to be queen but… we've also seen that that can be taken away in an instant. That… everything can be taken away."

Ami carefully kept the frown off her face, "So you do not think you should prepare for the future that we saw?"

Ponytails swung as she shook her head. "No, that's not what I mean. It's just…" Usagi looked at her and Ami saw a depth and maturity deep in her eyes that startled her. It felt as if Neo-Queen Serenity was staring at her out of Usagi's baby blues. "Everything can be taken from us in an instant. I watched you die, Ami, just three months ago. You and Mina and Rei and Mako and Mamo... " She made a quick chopping motion with her free hand, pushing the memories away. "And it wasn't the first time! Heck, it wasn't the second, third or even fourth time I thought I'd lost everything and everyone I loved."

Her eyes still remained clear of tears, but her voice was strained somewhat as she continued, "I've lost count of the number of times that I thought, was absolutely sure, that I was going to die. Sure, we visited a future where we were all alive and I was queen but… I can't make myself believe that it is going to happen. You're right, I should be more responsible and take care of things promptly but if I have time to spend with my precious friends, I want to enjoy every minute of it because," she lowered her eyes, "Because some part of me will always believe that I may not have another chance, tomorrow."

Silence descended around the two girls, hands still clasped. Ami found herself at a loss for words. She hadn't known that Usagi felt that way, though she understood. They all had wounds from their battles and she suspected that tender-hearted Usagi carried the deepest scars of all. After a few moments, Usagi gave her hand a little tug to get them walking again.

"But you're right," she conceded, "I really should at least get it started today. Will you help me?"

Ami shook her head. "I'll come over to your house and we can work on it together. Tomorrow."

The maturity and wisdom seemed to slough off of Usagi in a heartbeat, her steps immediately falling back into a skip as a bright smile spread across her face. "Yay! You're the best Ami!" And then she was off again, "You're going to love this show, it's so good. You'll watch it with us, right? And maybe when it's over we can…"

Ami let her words wash over her again, giving her friend's hand a gentle squeeze as she nodded, a completely new set of frets beginning to well up in her mind.