Staring at the phone in her hand, Usagi's brain whirled. Talk? By phone? Text? Phone call?

She swallowed. In person?

She felt blindly for the bench she had been sitting on not even five minutes before. Collapsing onto it, her back made a loud 'whumph' sound against the solid wooden planks.

The bottom of her closed fist hit the wood next to her thigh. This wasn't fair. There was no hint of how Ami was feeling in those five words. 'I'd like to talk tonight.' Well, what if Usagi didn't want to talk to her?

No… That was silly. Shaking her head, Usagi pressed her hand against her eyes, willing them not to leak tears again. She really did want to talk to Ami.

…Even if it was to lie outright. A deep, body shaking sigh left her lungs.

Wind rushed past her, and she pulled the collar of her over-jacket up, wishing she had thought to bring her own scarf. Though the days had been fairly warm recently, the nights still held on to cooler temperatures. Wiping away the few tears that had escaped her eyes before the cold air could linger on the wet tracks they had left, Usagi felt another surge of anger hit her.

This whole… This whole situation was stupid! What had happened to her lofty ideals of not letting her feelings grow? What had happened to growing up more? Why in the hell had she slipped up that afternoon?

Thinking back over the day that had happened – normal morning ritual, normal school day, normal hanging out at the temple… Nothing out of the ordinary had happened. So what had changed? What had managed to crack her resolve to ignore how Ami made her feel?

It suddenly struck Usagi how irrational she was being. It didn't matter what had caused her to confront Ami outright. It had happened, and she couldn't turn back time. So now, all she could do was to gather herself, calm down, and move forward. If Ami didn't return her feelings, then that was it. Usagi would lick her wounds and go on.

It wasn't as if, even if it did come out that Usagi was attracted to her, Ami would tell anyone. And though the blonde was truly hoping she could come up with some other reason for her outburst, she was sure she could come out of the conversation with some of her pride intact.

…Of course, those were all big words. The real world was messier, but if she could convince herself for even a second that everything would turn out well, maybe her heart would stop hurting.

Gathering her feet up to hug her knees again, Usagi read over the text she had typed in. Short and succinct, she hoped it hid how she was feeling.

'Okay. Where would you like to meet?'

She watched the bunny animation hop away, delivering the text, wondering if she was doing the right thing.

Walking along the quiet streets, little box clutched safely in her hands, shoulder bag slung comfortably around her neck and right shoulder, Usagi knew that it was a foolish thing to be heading home without knowing if she would just have to turn around and head somewhere in the opposite direction. But she was still doing it. Sitting on the bench had quickly lost its luster as the cool night had set in, and she really had nowhere else to go. Besides, if she got home before Ami returned her message, then she'd have a legitimate reason not to show.

However, three blocks away from the café, her phone beeped. Not sure if she should be happy or disappointed, she tapped the message open.

'Where are you?'

Okay, this was ridiculous. Stopping and leaning her hip against a short fence that stretched around a small park, she passed a quick hand over her face, angled herself away from the wind so her shoulder would block her phone, and dialed Ami's number. Trembling a little and heart pounding in her chest and neck, she listened to the tinny ringing noise. If she waited for plans to be finalized by text, her whole night would be one big mass of nerves and pointless waiting spells.

She wasn't sure her heart could take it.

On the second and half ring, a quiet click signaled that Ami had answered.

Hissing silence enveloped her ear for ten seconds. Then, a quiet voice hesitantly greeted her. "…Hello?"

Usagi's throat suddenly closed. Shifting her hips, she swung the elbow of the arm that held the phone out and back, her other hand almost digging her fingernails into the cake box. Swallowing to get back her voice, she finally mustered out, "I-I figured it would be better to call. You know, before half the night was, uhm, lost."

At night, the park looked creepy, tall streetlamps each illuminating only the area right under their long stems. Having paused right in between two of them, the light barely touched her. Even though most of her attention was on her phone, she couldn't stop the nervous roving of her eyes around the park and surrounding area, trying to make sense of the oblong shapes that rose up and faded as random streetlamps flickered.

A slight rustling noise, and Ami replied, her voice a little stronger but still quiet, "Hold on a second, please." There were more rustling noises, and then a muted conversation, followed by the sound of a door opening and closing.

Feeling the cold start to seep in again despite her best efforts, she did a strange little dance. What was Ami doing?

"Can you go to the Crown Arcade?"

Usagi blinked. If she was three blocks away from the café, then the arcade would be about five blocks away on the other side. Which would mean that she'd have to backtrack. Quickly, she glanced at her watch and ignored the nervous flip in her stomach.

"O-okay… I can do that. Might take me a bit, though."

"That's fine." It sounded like Ami took a deep breath. "…Usagi-chan?"

Usagi gulped. "Ha-hai?" Her body had shook at the mention of her name. Why… How could Ami's voice hold such sway over her?

Quiet and soft, sweet, her words carefully pronounced… The blue haired girl had a voice that Usagi could easily recognize. It wasn't just the cadence of her words or the deliberate way she chose to express herself that made Ami unique. No… Not only that.

"…I'll meet you soon."

Usagi almost laughed. Trying to slow down her heartbeat that had thundered heavily up and down her body at the mention of her name, she realized what it was that touched her so deeply.

Ami's voice was always, always hopeful.

"Yeah." Biting back a sudden sob, Usagi moved her head down and smiled painfully. "I'll see you soon."

Closing her phone, she dropped into a crouch, almost bruising her bottom against her ankles. "Baka," she crushed her face into her hands, "What were you expecting her to say?"

For the next few minutes, the wind swallowed her tears.

The arcade was as bright and cheery as it always was. A little more crowded, maybe, but that was only because the after school and after work groups had arrived. Shouldering her way through the clusters of high school students and young businessmen, Usagi managed to squeeze herself over to the small booth Ami had managed to acquire and keep from being absorbed.

Truthfully, she had arrived minutes before, giving herself some time to calm down before she looked for the girl she was meeting. Taking off her outer-jacket and slinging it over her arm, she had scanned the bustling shop, her stomach exploding every time she got a glimpse of the color blue. She wasn't able to stop it; her body, taking cues from her mind, was a mixture of nausea and painful excitement.

Black jacket, short black hair, no. Ponytailed man with glasses, of course not. Young girl still in her school uniform; guess she hadn't had time to go home yet. But it wasn't Ami, either. Over the sea of predominantly black coats, Usagi searched with baited breath. And then, with a hot flash that infused her whole body, her eyes met another blue gaze.

Ami looked like she had been waiting for her. Her body angled halfway between the table and front door of the arcade, Usagi wondered how she had missed her in the first place. A powder blue parka unzipped most of the way was the second thing Usagi noticed, other than her eyes. It was covering the orange dress Ami had been wearing earlier that day, the puffy material giving the slim girl an impression of being bigger than she really was. Usagi wondered if her friend had been warm enough just wearing that.

In the harsh light that poured down, she realized, mouth open, that Ami looked miserable.

Usagi wasn't aware of anything else while she crossed the room, absently ducking around people. She stood hesitantly at the edge of the table for a few seconds before setting down the cake box, then dropped her bag and jacket against the corner of the booth and slid in. Clearing her throat, she took a deep breath and looked up. "H-hi."

"Good evening." Ami's voice was quiet, with a slight waver. It made Usagi's stomach twist. How could she have done something that so obviously bothered her terribly? Her eyes partially hidden behind her glasses, the blue haired girl smiled hesitantly at her.

Usagi sucked in a breath, and her hands closed a little tighter around the cake box she had been holding to make her palms stop sweating. The fact that Ami was even smiling at her almost made her cry.

Ami smiling, was, after all, the most achingly beautiful sight she had ever seen.