Seeing Zoicite in such a state made Usagi’s heart melt, for she was sure
that no one deserved to be put through such torture of knowing that their
beloved was missing, and her fate unknown. If indeed, he was Ami’s love
from the past, then she knew that she would never forgive herself for causing
so much pain to her friend’s beloved, but even if he wasn’t no one who
cared so much for another should have to go through what they had when
they did not know of Ami’s fate. Seeing the other’s (except for Rei)
faces of concern to his present state, she drew from the strength of her
past and could not let him continue living in despair. Kneeling down,
she was at eye level with Zoicite, looking into those sorrow-filled eyes,
she touched his arm softly, “she’s alive and well, she just can’t get out
of the Kuriverse. We’re all waiting for news from her, there’s nothing
we can do but wait.”
“You mean she’s alive?”
“Yes.”
“And she is still conscious of this life?”
“Yes.”
“Oh, thank God, thank you Princess Serenity, Prince Endymion, Princess
of Mars, Princess of Venus, Princess of Jupiter, at least now there is
hope. Let me help you retrieve her, if I can remember that part of
my past, then I will be able to get you in, and then, get her out of that…
hell.”
“We can’t go in for her.” Makoto told him as gently as she possibly
could, “we can only wait for news.”
“What do you mean? Oh princess, tell me!” Zoicite implored.
The café began to fill up with people after school, and they stared
at the crumpled image of a person sitting on the floor calling those around
him princesses and prince. Motoki, immediately aware of the scene
it was causing, gave Tsuzuki (aka Zoicite) a hasty heave back on his feet,
while Rei ordered him to go home and take a much needed shower. He
unwillingly agreed to do so and told them that he would be back in an hour
to hear the rest of the story. As he left the café, they dropped
into a booth, trying to recover from the shock that they had only just
been through.
She knocked softly on the closed door, not only because she did not want
to seem to be too intrusive, but also because she did not have the strength
to knock any louder. This usually short walk had taken her 15 minutes
to complete, she could feel the cold beads of sweat on her forehead and
her breathing had become irregular. Ami had tried to control her
breathing properly, but the shallow breaths had not been enough to sustain
her moving body, and the pain that occurred from her moving disturbed her
brain tremendously, which became a problem for her concentration.
She stood in front of the dark oak door for what had seemed like forever,
before she heard a gruff, annoyed voice telling her to come in. Nodding
her head, she gestured for Miyuki to open the door for her, and with a
whispery voice, she told her to leave them once she was seated.
Miyuki nodded and opened the door as quietly as possible and keeping a
steady pose so that it would not disturb her lady’s position, leaning heavily
on her shoulder. Once the door opened, Lord Takeuchi looked up from
his desk which was piled with papers and stared at them in surprise.
As the two women began to stagger towards the couch on the other side of
his study, he leapt up from his seat to help his lady into a seat.
Miyuki began to retreat from the room once her ladyship was standing in
front of her seat, catching the lady’s nod, she curtseyed according to
her directions and made her way out.
“My dear, you shouldn’t be here, you should be resting right now, you were
heavily injured only yesterday, come, take a seat.” Lord Takeuchi
fussed over her, like one would a baby, and handed her a cup of warm tea.
Taking a handkerchief from his pocket, he dabbed the sweat that was on
her forehead and flaming cheeks, all the while being careful not to come
into contact with her wounds.
“Since you will not come to me, I will come to you. I came to see
you about something that is very important to me, and to other members
of your staff, no, not something, but someone.” Ami said quietly.
The fussing came to a halt as he was evidently surprised by her sudden
statement, then, he lowered his eyes and stared to the ground, “Miyuki
told you about her.”
“No, Miyuki obeyed your orders to not tell me anything, she came to see
me herself, she came to threaten me, she came to hurt me.”
“Hurt you?” he questioned, curious as to what she had meant.
“She plans to execute Miyuki’s family in front of the poor woman’s very
eyes tomorrow, as a warped birthday present, she knows how attached I am
to Miyuki.”
“How dare she, I will not let that happen, let it not trouble you, my dear.”
His eyes flamed from the anger as he patted her hand reassuringly.
“But you needed not have come all the way here to tell me this, your heart
is too good for your health, this walk of yours would not have done you
well.”
“Why did you bring me here? You had a fiancée waiting for
you to wed, why did you bring me into this?”
“Kimiko comes from a distinguished
finishing school, and my father had chosen her for the ruler of Kuriverse
Go, that she would wed me was merely by chance when I was chosen to became
this ruler. I do not love her, it is but an arranged wedding, it
is you I love, Ami dear, I would have thought that you would know this
by now.”
Ami winced at his words, and continued as calmly as she could while her
nerves shook, “but still, you are to wed her. You have no choice
to the matter, what do you mean by bringing me here, as a mistress, as
a concubine of some sort? Your future-wife does not seem to be too
enthusiastic with the arrangement you have in mind.”
“I’d hoped to change my father’s mind, but it seems that he sent Kimiko
here to make sure that I do not break this pre-arranged engagement.”
“What do you hope to do now?”
“I don’t know.”
Getting up slowly, she locked onto his eyes, “you’d better figure out soon
then, because I can tell you that these wounds were not caused by some
outside intruder, and her wounds, disbelieve me if you will, were not caused
by an intruder either. Work it out Lord Takeuchi, I
won’t be here much longer to hear you to make your choice.”
“Ami, are you telling me that you will leave the Kuriverse and myself,
if she does not leave? Surely you cannot mean that!”
She looked at his anxious face while wheezing from the pain of breathing,
her eyes swept to the ground in her usual shy and apologetic way, but her
tone wavered in symbol of fear that he had not heard since the first day
she was captured, mixed with utmost sorrow, and strangely, sarcasm, “no,
I mean to be killed.”