Written by: Laura Hudson

Author's Notes:

This is the end of this series. While Usagi has been present, and even Jupiter briefly, this was Ami's story. It was also mine. Perhaps that's why I've cared the least what other people think of this story.

That's not totally true... of course, I care what you think about it. But that's not why I wrote it, not for other people's opinions. I wrote it for myself.

Don't worry too much about placing this in a timeframe in terms of the show. That's not what this is about. Just read it, feel it, experience it, and see it. And if possible, enjoy it.

Thanx for reading.

Ami lay broken on the floor, soaked with blood and dirt. Her tiny frame still lifted and fell with breath, her pulse still beat intensely in every wound. Her eyes were opened wide, her teeth clenched in concentration. The smell of her blood was strong and pungent, but she disregarded it, maintaining her focus. Adrenaline coursed through her body, blocking some of the pain.

"Fight me!" shouted Kunzite, kicking her brutally in the ribs. He leaned close to her swollen, bruised, dirt-smudged face.

"FIGHT ME!" he screamed. Ami laid still. Every muscle in her body was pulled taut, and every touchstone in the room had turned a deep shade of cobalt. The two opponents seemed only dark specks in a titanic blue sea that spread around them.

Kunzite wrapped a hand around her small throat and pulled her into the air. Soon, they were both being lifted closer and closer to the stars until Kunzite stopped, over 200 feet in the air.

Ami could not breathe, but did not struggle. Kunzite tightened his grip, snarling with rage. "Why won't you fight me, *coward*?" Ami began to shake, convulsing with effort. She seemed unwaveringly intent on- what?

"You are *WEAK*! You are a *coward*!" And now," he said, glancing at the distant ground, "You will die."

Then he heard it. First it was the touch stones, humming musically, their water swirling and beating. It was in time with Ami's heart; he could feel the pulse in her neck. Then came the rumbling.

It shook the hall like an earthquake, growing in intensity until it was something the San Andreas fault could never dream of. The building convulsed, in the throes of the power that enveloped it, but the structure remained sound. Reality seemed to be jarred by the impact, and Kunzite soon felt the force of the jolts weaken his hands until his knuckles quivered. They finally gave in and Ami was jerked from his grasp. He watched her, ready to savor her plummet to the ground.

She did not fall.

She floated, perhaps by the grace of the forces that tossed everyone in the coliseum around like dry leaves. Or perhaps by her own power. Kunzite did not know which alternative frightened him more.

Then, just as the world shook so hard it doubled and threatened to split in two, it stopped. The silence that followed was the loudest sound of all. The stillness jarred the crowd with greater force than the upheaval.

Floating as though it was the most natural thing in the world to her, Ami looked very clean, very pure and very peaceful. She was completely stationary in the air, her eyes closed and her arms crossed in front of her.

With of a burst of energy, she became very animated, rising higher in the immense space of the coliseum. The masses below stood like the heads of brightly colored pins. Ami rose higher, her head falling back as her body arched. Her eyes shot open, clear and alert, her arms lashed out like whips from her body and she screamed into the sky.

"DARK TSUNAMI DEVASTATION!"

Kunzite recoiled, preparing for the attack. Bo no assault flew from her fingertips, no energy struck him. He looked up at her, a smile twisting on his face, evil and vindictive.

Then he saw it. It started off in a distance as a speck, but then it was there, hurtling toward them at near 500 miles an hour.

It was a wall of water- no, it was not water. It was a transparent shade of blue-grey, ethereal like a phantom. It was not substance but power. It was wide like the ocean, filling the skyline as it rushed over the dry ground, reaching them in seconds. Higher than a skyscraper, it hung over the coliseum for one agonizing moment. Ami was juxtaposed inside the curl, wind whistling violently around her.

Kunzite had lowered himself to the floor. A man waiting to die, his thoughts had final clarity as he stood watching her, awed. She was a goddess. She was a demon. She was... strength. The wave toppled over Ami, over Kunzite, over a world of arrogance and depravity that finally held its breath as the wave descended.

Usagi was partway up the stairs when it crashed. Like surf rumbling up the shore, the after effect of the energy struck Usagi with the force of a small jet plane, flinging her through the railing, off the stairs, all the way back down the hallway and through several door like they were tin foil.

Half an hour later, Usagi woke up.

"Errrggh...." she groaned, rolling over and away from the crushed door.

"Wha hapn?" she mumbled, her head thick with pain. The confusion of a concussion disoriented her as she tried to sit up. She opened her eyes, seeing the faint light of a rising sun, a glaze of light on the darkness. She brushed off her sailor fuku and looked around her.

The last thing she remembered was climbing the stairs to rescue Ami. _NO._ What had happened to Ami? She tightened her gaze and saw that the hallway had been demolished, several tons of rubble crushing it entirely. Mounds of twisted metal, shattered diamonds, crumbled concrete and black marble now lay in place of the coliseum; random debris was scattered for miles around. Everything up to a foot away from Usagi had been obliterated. Only her transformation force field had prevented certain death. A sweat drop ran down her face just thinking about it. But that would mean-

Usagi stood up, ignoring the pain in her body. She picked up a handful of obliterated stone and let the powder slip from her fingers. Ami had been in there. Ami had been in there. Ami had-

Usagi ran, stumbling on sprained ankles, into the wreckage. She waded into it, like water. Sharp edges caught her skin but she did not notice. She had to find her! Her hands pushed and pulled pieces of stone. There was flesh, bits of bodies, scraps of clothing... But those were not Ami. Ami was here, somewhere, whole and safe, she told herself. She just had to find her.

There was a glimmer that at first Usagi thought was shattered diamonds, but soon discovered was her broach. She picked it up almost indifferently. It was unimportant now. All she cared about was-

Usagi sighted a scrap of blue cloth poking out from under a pile of ash. She leapt toward it, digging into it. She grasped it, and pulled her hand out again. It was a piece of Mercury's uniform, she was sure of it. She dug deeper into the wreckage, searching furiously, but found nothing. Finally she sat down, dazed, her lips curling and her eyes watering. She was- gone, really gone.

She closed her eyes and absorbed it. Let it sink into her skin like water. She was dead. She was ash, she thought, rubbing it between her fingers. She stood and began to drag herself through the debris. A flash of silver caught her eyes as she walked, and she spun around.

There was something, gleaming sharply in the distance. She ran, not feeling her feet or the ground, time having no meaning until she grew close to it. It was a throne, fashioned out of imposing dark silver. It remained when all else was rubble. There was something, someone, in it. Usagi moved closer. Oh Lord, it was-

"AMI!!!" she screamed, running toward her friend. Her body was placid and still when Usagi touched it. Usagi sat in the throne, her friend's body lying across her lap. She touched Ami's cheek.

"Ami, wake up now..." Ami did not move.

"Ami, come on..." Nothing.

"AMI!" she shook the limp shoulders.

"I never should have let you go! NEVER! I should have known you couldn't- I should have known you were too weak!" Usagi wailed.

And then- like a ripple in water- a muscle stirred. And a hand moved. And a head lifted slightly.

"I am not weak." came the inaudible whisper from bruised lips.

"AMI!!! AmiAmiAmiAmiAmi! You're alive!" Usagi cried.

"Of course. I promised."

"What- happened?" asked Usagi looking at the sea of debris.

"I stopped them. All of them."

"You mean..." Usagi's eyes opened incredulously at the girl lying in her arms. "YOU did this?" She realized suddenly how that sounded. "I mean, yes, of course you did- not that I thought you couldn't, I mean-"

"Shhh." Ami raised a finger to her lips, smiling. "it's ok, usagi-chan."

Usagi held her for a moment, because that was all she could do, swaying gently back and forth.

She did not know how much time passed until a portal opened up behind her, and the Senshi stepped through, two cats following behind them.

It was too late for a rescue, but they were just in time for a rebirth.

There was a time of joy and relief, having found each other still alive. A great deal of explaining was done, both regarding Ami's injuries and the destruction of the Dark Kingdom. There was much to tell and be told.

And then there was a time of realization. The havoc around them was an end to many things. It was the end of an evil, of a terrible threat, but also the end of someone they had once known.

As they gathered Ami's broken body and prepared to leave, they did not know quite who they held in their arms. She was Ami, or course, Sailor Mercury.... But now she was something much more. Some_one_ much more. She was, perhaps, what she had always been, or had always been destined to be. For so long repressed into something less, she had released herself in a fury of glorious devastation.

And now it was time to rediscover her. The quiet, studious child they once knew was now a woman worthy of anyone's fear or respect, a powerhouse of skill and strength. They loved her more than ever, but there was a moment of silence for who she had been as they passed back through the portal. They had loved her too. And they let her go, embracing the change as one must do to move forward.

They did it too because they loved her, and they had to let her go. It is a terrible thing not to be onesself... and a glorious thing to be free. She had liberated herself, and they loved her too much to hold her back. She no longer doubted their love, or herself. There was something secure about not needing someone.... About being able to live without their acceptance, but receiving it anyway.... About not being obligated to be with them but staying because you love them... About knowing that and not even needing to say it... About being free.

Freedom cannot never be given by anyone, only claimed.... It is you who choose to free yourself. No one can restrain a heart or bind a soul, and that is what makes us truly emancipated. No one liberates the water. It is always free.