Planet Bound: Mercury
     by Marj

Author's Notes:
	Sigh, finally, here it is, the long over-dued Chapter Three.  I'm 
so sorry to have made all of you wait . . . (this is *precisely* the 
reason why I didn't quite like submitting uncomplete fanfics in 
archives!)  I don't quite know if those long months were worth the 
wait, but I do hope that this chapter will satisfy your hunger until 
the next time the next chapter is done.

	For those of you who had read Confused Heart, you'll find that 
one of the chapters there has a connection with this chapter, however 
small it was.  Find out for yourselves.  It's at the very beginning of 
this chapter anyway.

	Again, thank you so much to my imouto Kismet-chan, for spending 
her valuable time editing this chapter.  Special thanks also goes to 
Joanne, for offering to edit my work whenever Kismet-chan is too busy 
to do so.  To Small Angel, Penny, Sailor Soul, Chime, Gaea, Mako, 
Disha, to the person who corrected my translation of "odango atama" 
(odango is dumpling), Quicksilver, Dan, and Angela (did I forget 
anyone?), thank you so much for writing!

Other Notes:
	domo arigato gozaimasu - thank you very much
	ganbatte ne - good luck
	hai - yes
	iie - no
	kami-sama - god
	obento - lunch
	okaa-san - mother
	otou-san - father
	sumimasen - excuse me
	tako - octopus
	yoroshiku - nice to meet you

Please e-mail your comments and constructive criticisms at 
.  Thanks!

Disclaimers: The characters of Bishoujo Senshi Sailormoon were created 
by Naoko Takeuchi-san, its copyright owned by Toei Animation, Kodansha, 
Nakayoshi, Sterling Animation Inc., and many other companies scattered 
throughout the world.  Meaning, I cannot claim the characters as my 
own, and am mearly borrowing them.  All the characters not found in the 
manga are mine.  So please don't sue, as I don't earn anything from 
this other than the satisfaction of making a story.




CHAPTER THREE:  THE COMPETITORS

"So what did he say?"

Usagi, Ami and Makoto were gathered under a huge tree just behind the 
school building.  Makoto was laying a picnic blanket down for them to 
sit on.  It was lunchtime, and since each of them carried their own 
lunch instead of buying one from the cafeteria, they were always able 
to save that cool and shady spot all for themselves.

On their way to the tree, Ami had told them of the previous night's 
unexpected message from her father.  Usagi and Makoto were quickly 
intrigued.

"Did he call again?  What did his message say?" Usagi asked once more 
as they all sat on the blanket.

Ami shrugged.  "Nothing, really.  He just wanted to say hi, and asked 
if I received that portrait he drew over a year ago.  Otou-san also 
said that he would be giving me a surprise sometime soon.  That was 
all.  He never called afterwards."  she said calmly, although deep 
inside she was slightly upset that her father hadn't tried to reach 
her again.  Not to mention that her mother wasn't very happy about 
the shattered plate.

 she asked herself, 
frowning slightly.

Makoto's eyes looked up for a moment, her head tilted to one side, as 
if trying to recall something.  She then snapped her fingers.  "You 
mean that picture he gave you of a little child running towards a 
man?"

This time, Ami nodded.  "Hai."

"That picture was beautiful!  Where is it now, Ami-chan?" Usagi 
asked.

"It's displayed inside my room.  Okaa-san had it framed for me, but 
we didn't really know where to put it in the living room." Ami said, 
helping herself to the sandwich she had made that morning.

Usagi took some of the takos Makoto offered her and immediately 
placed one inside her mouth.  "I wonder what kind of surprise he'll 
give you this time?  Do you think he'll send another picture like the 
last one?"

"I don't know.  Otou-san never focused on drawing portraits before . 
. . he would usually paint landscapes or sea life.  That picture was 
the first portrait he's made that I've seen."

Usagi chewed on her chopsticks as she thought deeply for a short 
while.  "Still. I wish Otou-san could draw or could develop a habit 
for *something*.  The only habit I've seen him gain so far is 
scolding Mamo-chan every time he comes home for a visit!"

Makoto and Ami laughed.  Usagi's father still couldn't accept the 
fact that his little girl was already a grown lady in her late teens, 
much less a soon to be graduating student on her way to college.

"You're lucky," Makoto smiled sadly.  "I wish I could remember what 
my otou-san did at all."

Usagi stared guiltily at her food while Ami silently looked at their 
orphaned friend.  

Makoto noticed the sudden silence and waved her free hand in front of 
her. "It's okay!  It's okay!  I've gotten over it a long time ago!"

Both her friends looked at her uncertainly.  "Are you sure?" Usagi 
asked.

Makoto looked down at her obento, a soft smile still lingering on her 
face. "Not really, but it doesn't hurt as much.  I mean, everything 
happens for a reason, right?  Maybe . . . if that had never happened, 
I never would have met you guys."

"That is assuming that you believe in fate - that you believe that 
your life has already been predetermined since the day you were 
born," Ami said.  "We make our own destiny, Mako-chan."

"But our situation seems to prove otherwise," Usagi pointed out.  "I 
mean, c'mon, Ami-chan, I don't think I destined myself to become a 
sailor-suited soldier fighting for love and justice the day I was 
born, much less a princess who came from the moon!"

At that moment, the public announcement system of Juuban High 
suddenly crackled, indicating that it had been turned on.  "Would 
student Mizuno Ami please come to the principal's office?" the school 
secretary's unmistakable voice blared throughout the school.

Everybody who was in the school garden with them turned to look at 
Ami, who was seemingly in shock.

"Or that Ami destined herself to become a competitor in the contest 
when she says she doesn't really want to join," Makoto said, winking 
at Usagi.  "I don't think she really meant for this to happen 
anyway."

Earlier that morning, just before the start of class, students who 
wanted to nominate somebody for the high school quiz bee contest had 
written their nominations on a piece of paper and dropped it into a 
small box located in front of the faculty office.  During the morning 
announcements, the principal had said that they would hopefully 
proclaim who the competitors were by lunchtime.  Usagi was not
able to nominate Ami because she had arrived at school just in time 
for their first period, but she was pretty sure that if she didn't 
make it, Makoto would.  Both of them were slightly worried that since 
the rest of the school knew that *somebody* would already have 
nominated Ami, all of them would nominate someone else instead.

It just hadn't occurred to them that *everybody* else who 
participated in the nominations would be thinking the same way, and 
as a result, only *one* student would emerge in the end.

Ami couldn't even stand up.  It was as if she had been permanently 
glued to the ground.  Makoto and Usagi had to drag her all the way 
inside the building and towards the principal's office.

"We *told* you yesterday that you're going to end up competing 
alone!" Usagi said, a wide grin on her face, her hand firmly holding 
Ami's arm.

"But . . . it can't be . . . I mean . . . this can't be . . . " Ami 
stammered.

Makoto shrugged.  "It just did, Ami-chan.  It just did."

Usagi opened the door to the principal's office and Makoto pushed Ami 
inside.  "Go get 'em!" Makoto whispered.

"Ganbatte ne!" Usagi called out just before Makoto closed the door.

Soon, Ami was left behind in the office, standing right in front of 
the secretary's desk.  She felt so nervous.  Why her?  

 Her mind reeled so much that Ami 
had to rein it in to maintain her usual calm composure.

The secretary raised her head from writing something down on a piece 
of paper and smiled at Ami.  "Ah, here you are.  Maybe we should mark 
this event - it isn't every day that Mizuno Ami gets sent into the 
principal's office."

"Um . . . hai . . . I mean, iie, I'm not . . . I didn't . . . did I?" 
Ami said, blushing as her words jumbled out without making any sense.

The secretary laughed at her obvious nervousness.  "Did you what, 
Mizuno-san?" she asked.

"Did I . . . do anything wrong?"

The woman in front of her shook her head.  "Kami-sama, no!   In fact, 
what you're about to do will bring pride to our school!  Anyway, I 
should send you to the principal now.  He'll give you the details."  
She pressed a button on the intercom and said, "Shimada-san, Mizuno 
Ami here to see you."

"Ah, yes, please send her in," the principal responded.

The secretary sweetly smiled once more at Ami before ushering her to 
the door at her right.  "You can go in now."

"Hai.  Domo arigato."  Ami bowed before moving on towards the other 
room.  Upon entering, she found a man in his mid-fifties standing in 
one corner of the room, studying the contents of a folder in his 
hand.

"Please sit down, Mizuno-san," Shimada Takano said without even 
looking up.  Ami nodded anyway, and settled comfortably on the plush 
chairs in front of the principal's desk.

The principal of Juuban High School remained quiet for quite a few 
more moments.  Ami found this suspenseful, as her heart pounded 
loudly behind her rib cage.

"Your school record is most certainly amazing, Mizuno-san," Takano 
finally said, sitting down in front of her on his chair and laying 
the folder on his desk.  In it were Ami's profile, her grades and her 
achievements.

"A - arigato . . ."

"I'm not surprised *everyone* chose you and *only* you to compete at 
the contest."

Ami stared at him in shock.  She had never actually believed that - 
had never thought that her friends' prediction would actually come 
true.  "Su - sumimasen?"

"Hard to believe, don't you think?" The principal gave her a huge 
grin.  "Out of more than a thousand students, only one name came out.  
Of course, not everybody participated - some groups just decided to 
send one nomination.  After all, we did not exactly require all the 
students to place their nominations.  But the results are still
amazing."

"But . . . but that's impossible!" Ami said.  "I mean . . . according 
to statistics, there should be more than one name out of more than a 
thousand participants -"

Takano merely smiled, amused at this student's denial.  "The game 
hasn't even started yet, Mizuno-san.  Save statistics for later."

The student blushed.

Takano stood up again and faced the window, where he could see two 
huge students bullying a smaller one.  Making a mental note to 
himself, he continued, "The requirement per school is, we have to 
send two students.  Though I know that you can probably handle this 
on your own, you need a partner."  He scratched his head.  "Too bad 
Taiki Kou isn't here anymore - I'm sure he'd have been be one of the 
nominees, too."

Ami smiled while she sweatdropped as she heard the principal's 
reference to Taiki - Sailor Star Maker.  He and his two fellow 
Starlights had left quite a long time ago with their princess as soon 
as the Sailor Wars were over, leaving the faculty in Juuban High 
baffled at their sudden disappearance.

"Anyway, like I said, you need a partner.  You're welcome to look for 
yourself among your classmates-"

Ami shook her head.  "If it wouldn't be too much for you, sir, I 
would like to ask you to do so for me, as you know more about the 
capabilities of all your students than I do."

The principal nodded.  "Yes . . . yes, you're right.  Still, maybe I 
should have asked the students to nominate for only one student 
instead of two, and that one student does not have to be you.  After 
all, the entire faculty was already pretty sure your name would 
appear on the list."  He turned to face Ami again.  "I'll most likely 
have your partner by the end of this day.  Would you please stay 
after school?  The two student representatives from the other school 
should be arriving today to meet you."

Ami nodded, reminding herself to call her mother and tell her that 
she would be late.  

"Well then, you can go back to your friends now, Mizuno-san.  And
congratulations," Takano said, shaking hands with her as she stood 
up.  "I'm sure you'll make your school proud."

"H-hai.  Arigato gozaimasu," Ami said before leaving the room in a 
daze. *Everyone* had been telling her that lately, and she was 
getting quite tired of hearing it when she was not completely sure if 
she could live up to their standards.

Upon saying goodbye to the secretary, she gave a start as the door to 
the office closed behind her.  In all her nervousness, she had 
forgotten to ask which school they were going to compete with.

*****

Later that afternoon, four students were standing by the door leading 
to the principal's office, watching as other students walked past 
them on their way home.  Ami and a fellow classmate, Minaya Tomoyo, 
who was to be her partner for the match, were among them - the two 
others were Usagi and Makoto, who had insisted on waiting along with 
them.

"Ne, Tomoyo-chan, want some?" Usagi said, sweetly offering the 
nervous girl some candies she had dug out of her pocket.  She had 
been observing her and Ami for quite some time, and though they did 
converse every now and then, it seemed as if Tomoyo wasn't very 
comfortable with Ami.  She kept looking at her as if she was some 
sort of god in whose presence she did not deserve to be.

"A-arigato, Tsukino-san," she said, reaching over to help herself to 
the candies.

"That's Usagi-chan to you, please," Usagi said, winking.  "Relax!  Ami-
chan is a pretty normal girl.  Don't worry, I'm sure you'll get along 
just fine," she whispered in the girl's ear when she got close 
enough.

Tomoyo smiled and once more turned to look at Ami who was helping 
Makoto with their new topic in calculus class.

Minutes later, the door to the office opened and the secretary's head 
poked out.  "You girls can go in now," she said, referring to both 
Ami and Tomoyo.

The two girls looked at each other.  "Shall we?" Ami asked.

Tomoyo nodded, and the two of them proceeded to the office.  "Thanks 
for waiting with us," Ami told her friends.

"No problem!" Makoto said while Usagi waved goodbye.  Then Ami closed 
the door behind her.

The secretary invited them to sit on the two chairs in front of her 
desk.  "Well, are you two girls nervous?" she asked, smiling at them.

Ami and Tomoyo laughed weakly.  "Sort of . . ." Tomoyo answered.

"Well, your partners and their principal are with Shimada-san right 
now, but they're about to finish, so he had you sent in.  You'll be 
meeting them in a few moments."

"Ano . . . sumimasen," Ami spoke.  "Which school are we with this 
year?"

The secretary looked at her in surprise.  "You mean we haven't told 
you yet?"

Both girls in front of her shook their heads.

The secretary looked dumbstruck for a while before regaining her 
composure.  "The two students you'll be with came from Sakamoto High 
School, located at the Tokyo Bokuto district.  These two are very 
good students, by the way.  Supposedly the best in their grade.  One
of them once studied at Juuban Junior High before his family moved - 
you may recognize him if you came from that school four years ago."

Ami had a feeling that she already knew who that person was.  And her 
suspicions were justified when, minutes later, Takano emerged from 
his office with three other people behind him.  One was a lady - 
obviously the principal of the other school - and the other was a 
girl, still in uniform, that Ami did not recognize.

What had caught her attention was the young man her age standing 
right beside the girl, with dark brown hair and equally dark brown, 
yet almost withdrawn, eyes.  Apparently, she had caught his attention 
as well, because they were staring at each other for quite some time 
before Takano finally spoke.

"This is Koishi Aya.  She is the principal from Sakamoto High School.  
She has chosen excellent members from her faculty to assist you in 
your studies for the next few days, as have I."

Koishi Aya bowed in respect, with Ami and Tomoyo following suit.  
"Yoroshiku," Aya said.

"These are your fellow contestants," Takano continued.  "Their marks 
are among the highest in Tokyo, and I'm sure all of you will get 
along fine.  Over here is Yoshido Kaeru," Takano said, pointing to 
the girl Ami didn't recognize, "and Urawa Ryo."  

Ami felt the brown-haired man's gaze on her again.

After Aya had introduced Ami and Tomoyo to her students, the two 
principals and the secretary left the room to let the four students 
become acquainted with one another.

Ami, however, did not need a formal introduction to be familiar with 
one of the new students inside the room.

"How are you, Mizuno-san?" Ryo asked as they sat down on the chairs

provided for them.

Ami shrugged, feeling a little nervous.  It had been so long since 
she had last seen him that he almost felt like a stranger to her.  
"I'm fine, thank you."

Ryo smiled.  "Still aspiring to reach the top, huh?"

"N-not really.  I mean, I study because I like it, not because I want 
to be the highest among others . . ."  

"I see." Ryo stared at the two other students in front of him, who 
were sharing something he didn't bother listening to.  "Mizuno-san . 
. . I knew this was going to happen," he said quietly.

Ami looked at him in surprise.  She had never thought that Ryo's 
uncanny ability to perceive the immediate future was still present, 
especially since the battle against the Dark Kingdom had already 
ended more than four years ago.  "Oh," was all she could say.

Ryo sighed.  "I thought . . . I thought everything would end already.  
But it seems as if . . . well, let's just say that I remember things 
that I'm not supposed to remember."  He sheepishly placed his right 
hand at the back of his neck.  "Like how I knew you and everything we 
had gone through even though time seemed to have turned back a year . 
. ."

Ami's head turned towards Ryo in surprise.  Luna had said that 
ever since the final battle against their age-old enemy, all of them 
were revived to the point where Usagi hadn't been made into a senshi 
yet.  Technically, Ryo shouldn't remember her since they had met 
weeks after that vital point in their lives.  That was why she had 
been a bit cautious in answering his earlier questions - she thought
Ryo only thought of her as someone he heard of during junior high, 
since he had studied there.  Ami shouldn't remember him either, but 
since Luna had reawakened her, memories from the lost year came back, 
enabling her to at least know who he was.  She never thought that 
Ryo's involvement as one of the seven Shadows of the Dark Kingdom 
would help him to recall as well.  

 Ami thought.    "Think of it as a gift, Urawa-kun," she said, 
smiling.  "It doesn't necessarily have to mean that your ability came 
from being a Shadow.  Maybe it was naturally born in you, as with 
some other people."

"I guess."  Ryo cleared his throat.  "I also heard about . . . you 
know . . ."

Ami's smile faded, and she fell silent.

"I'm sorry."

"No . . ." Ami said softly.  "No, it's okay.  It's just . . . it's 
still a bit hard to think about, especially since . . ."  She took a 
deep breath.  "If you lost someone that you've been with for almost 
four, maybe even five, years, it's hard not to think about her."

Ryo nodded.  "Everything has been peaceful lately, don't you think?"

"Hai.  The last fight ended more than a year ago.  I'm hoping that 
will be the last."   Ami continued 
to herself, her knowledge of the future reminding her that there was 
still a lot of work to be done.  

"So am I."  He stood up and offered her his hand.  "C'mon.  Let me 
introduce you to Kaeru."

Ami paused as she looked at his hand, her gaze then wandering over to 
his shining face.  She took his hand, the smile reappearing on her 
face.  "All right."

*****

"You're a bit late today, Ami," Risa said as her daughter walked 
inside their penthouse.

Ami looked up to see her mother, spatula in hand, looking at her from 
the kitchen.  "Did you go to the Ainos again today?" her mother 
asked.

"Iie, Okaa-san.  The principal asked me to stay behind today," Ami 
answered, slipping on her slippers before walking inside the room.  

Risa returned her attention to what she had been cooking on the 
stove.  "Really?  What for?  Did you finally get yourself into 
trouble?"

"Okaa-san!" Ami said, smiling.  She knew her mother was only teasing 
her.  "Actually, I was chosen to compete in the quiz bee contest."

"That's wonderful, dear!" Risa beamed.  "I would give you a really 
big hug if only I didn't smell like a fish."

Ami laughed.  "Now I know what's for dinner today!"  She placed her 
school bag on the counter, took an apron from one of the cabinets in 
the kitchen, and started to help her mother prepare their food.  "I 
may be late, but I'm still surprised to see you home.  I thought 
you'd still be at the hospital."

Risa paused from stirring the fishes on the frying pan, waving the 
spatula around.  "Today was a relatively slow day.  Not too many 
patients, not too many operations, and best of all, not a single 
meeting!" She sighed happily.  "Basically, everything is just right!  
About time, too.  I feel like I'm about to collapse from exhaustion.  
It takes an enormous amount of energy to try not to fall asleep 
during one of the director's speeches."

"Or so you say, but I know you're enjoying your work, Okaa-san," Ami 
said.

Her mother nodded.  "And I know you're enjoying your studies.  I'm 
proud of you."  With her free hand, she reached out to momentarily 
hug her daughter. 

Ami wrinkled her nose when they pulled away.  "You *do* smell like a 
fish, Okaa-san."

Risa laughed.

Minutes later, the small family was gathered at the dining table, 
with Ami laying the food her mother made at the center.  Risa was 
scooping rice from the rice cooker to her and Ami's bowls when Ami 
finally decided to ask something of her mother.

"Did you listen to the answering machine yesterday, Okaa-san?" 

Risa passed Ami her rice bowl before picking up hers.  "No.  Was 
there anything important?  Sayoko told me why she was late, and 
usually the rest are reminders of what I have to do that day, and 
since I arrived so late last night I didn't bother to check. "

"Otou-san called."

Her mother paused halfway from shoving rice into her mouth.  Risa 
stared at her daughter for a long time before laying her rice bowl on 
the placemat.  "Oh."

"It's been so long since we last heard from him, don't you think?" 
Ami continued.  "I mean . . . *really* heard from him."

"What did he say?"

Ami gave her the same message she had given her friends earlier.  Her 
mother nodded slowly afterwards.  "That's nice . . ."

"Okaa-san . . ." Ami started slowly.  "What happened?  I mean, why 
did you . . . I was too young to remember . . . I never really . . ."

Risa sighed.  "Ami, things . . . just didn't work out between your 
father and I . . ." she answered quietly.  "And we thought . . . 
maybe it would be best if we separated ways for a while."

 Ami thought 
sadly.  But she didn't voice her thoughts out loud.  

She looked at her mother.  Suddenly, she wasn't the vibrant woman she 
had seen in the kitchen earlier.  Ami knew that she wouldn't be able 
to answer anything she might ask that night.

Ami sighed.

    Source: geocities.com/tokyo/field/4723/stories