2652/Smoke and Ripples

Smoke and Ripples
Date of Scene:	28 June 2025
Location:	The Moon Palace, on the Moon.
Synopsis:	Near the entrance of the Moon Palace, two old souls reintroduce themselves.
Cast of Characters:	Ami Mizuno, Zoisite

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Ami Mizuno has posed:
As the night wound on and down, Ami found herself drawn away from the throng. She'd spent time dancing. She'd spent time talking. She'd been surrounded by the people she loved and cared about, with all that had been troubling her recently set firmly behind her. It had been a hard few weeks since coming home, but everything--and everyone--was right where they should be.

And that filled her with a deep sense of relief and no small quantity of pure happiness.

With her shoes set beside her, Ami was now sitting at the edge of the walkway that led toward the castle. Not specifically seeking solitude, but certainly looking for a little quiet and some quality time spent by the cool waters of her dreams.

She was the very picture of calm reflection, in short-sleeved blue dress and bare feet set beneath perfectly clear surface. Her eyes closed and happiness evident as her face slowly turrned toward the looming blue presence of the Earth overhead.

Zoisite has posed:
Letting go of Kazuo was possibly the hardest thing for him to do that night. From the moment the bouquet was mentioned to him finally finishing it, spliced up with blooms that came from another timeline and genetic make up, as well as adding a gentle spin to it like baby's breath that glowed like stars, his mind had been on what it represented outside of the royal wedding, were it to return to his hands.

And was he worthy enough to even consider these things? There was a lot he was putting behind him that evening, even conflicts that might have stung in the past now nothing more than a footnote. Having danced with Usagi, both of them taking turns to lead and laugh was all he needed in the end to know that such dark waters were fully gone and passed under bridge.

It felt light, his shoulders. Only a few things stood as issues in his soul. Big, looming things, and one starkly visible at all times when a fragmented memory was a plague, and all he could really do was reach to what little but of connection he had to it. Saphir being one such point, to which he is attempting to pull in--or give as much freedom and chances to feel it before it was all over.

And his green eyes lifted to the glittering stars above, the glow that was Earth that followed the Moon, and hoping to see a spec of life of the spaceship that belonged to the Black Moon Clan, twinkling in the dark. He even stepped away from the party proper to get a bigger view of where it could be, hand upon the stone rail of the staircase.

Down down, in search, only to see the spread of shallow waters of the lakes that greeting the entrance of the palace. The many columns, then perfection of masonry, even after eons in the stillness of space. Finally, a small figure in blue that sat alone and apart from the rest. Blue hair of light tone, yet blue all the same. It muted his mind for a moment, seeing the color and feeling something just as equally muted somewhere in his soul.

Whatever it was, it guided his steps down the entry stairs, soft clicks to stone as he approached the the girl from behind. Trail of dark veridian silk and crystals, smell of flora following long until he was only inches next to her. Bouquet in one hand, head listed and eyes focused ahead to the horizon before anything left his lips in greeting.

"Mizuno-san. It has been a long time. I hope you're doing well, outside of the festivities."

Ami Mizuno has posed:
Her name and the clack of very fancy shoes caught her attention. Ami turned her head a little as she was distracted from whatever silent musing had taken her and eyes like sapphires settled upon izou. He'd find himself greeted by a warm smile and the faint dip of her head.

"Saitou-san." A pause and she shook her head a little. "Izou-kun--we're a little bit family now, aren't we?"

And that was important to her. She had her mother, but Saeko was more distant than either of them would like.

"It has been a very tough few weeks, yes. But, we all got there in the end. How are you?"

Zoisite has posed:
Nose wrinkled just a tad at the word family, as he was perhaps the most difficult of the Shitennou to be approached. Not entirely friendly when it came to first meetings or reintroductions, even when there was no reason to be hostile. For Ami however, it was slightly more complicated when everything about her and himself seemed muted and distant. Like that was an alien concept to equate her into something in his life.

"Do you mean bonded by royal duties to where it seems like we're family?" Green gaze slowly lowered down to her as he did not move a muscle, then blinked and returned his eyes to the horizon in front of them.

"I am elated and at suspense of what will happen next. Much has happened, much will continue to happen. Unfinished business that you have not been present for. I wonder how you'll confront some of it if we need to return to an alternative timeline."

Ami Mizuno has posed:
"Well, there is definitely that." Ami giggled quietly. "But, more like these are our friends and the people we care about. A little like, friend of my friend but deeper."

There was some sting to come there, not that Izou could have known. Ami had struggled, quite a deal, with doubts and regrets surrounding her absence. About the things that had occurred while she'd been away. She had confided as much in Usagi--well, New Moon at the time--and, fortunately, had mostly come out the other side.

"I'm not going away again." Ami stated firmly. "Masato-kun and Mamoru-kun have caught me up on what has been happening and I've already started working at some aspects of that looming issue."

She smiled. "I've set the Mercury Computer to track your old phone and used it to set up an encrypted network to protect communications for us."

Zoisite has posed:
It was the mention of his phone that his him bristle some, keeping eyes steady on the stars that danced over the lake's reflections while he took in what she meant.

And the stiffness of his muscles were discreet. Guarded. He didn't have to be, but he also knew that Sailor Mercury could easily track down whoever she wished.

"You do not intend to confront Saphir by using this technology. Correct?"

Ami Mizuno has posed:
"Not on my own, certainly. As an early warning system, it's about knowing when Saphir will be on Earth as opposed to being in space. Whether he communicates that to any of us or not." Ami explained to Izou. "Mamoru-kun did mention that they were already here, after all, and knowing when they decide to make a move--"

Ami tilted her head a little, curious. "Are you worried about me?"

Zoisite has posed:
Worried about her?

That made him want to laugh, but equally made him question why his mind twisted all of a sudden at the idea of her face to face with Saphir. And his mind also spun around to the fact that whatever she heard about the Black Moon Clan, from Masato or Mamoru, was before he had a talk with his prince.

Perhaps she knew nothing. Or was planning something he would easily agree with were it anyone else from the clan. Namely Demande.

But it was not.

Izou turned on his heels, crystals glittering as he moved quickly, elegantly squatting down next to Ami so he was face to face with her. Eyes as sharp as knives, a seriousness that was calculated to convey this was not something he was willing to negotiate much on.

"Saphir is mine to deal with." It's quiet, steady. "Mamoru gave me permission to reach out and invite him to Earth. And he will be coming a few times. Not to attack. He's not a fighter. So I do not want to see any ounce of threat coming his way unless I know about it."

It was almost possessive how he referred to the man in blue and white, and he did catch himself there at the end. With a sigh, he adds, "I have been in communication with him since the start. It's complicated, but everything you need to know can come from Mamoru if you wish to ask him."

Ami Mizuno has posed:
The knives of his gaze met with the cool stilness of the water behind them, reflected within sapphire eyes that did not falter at the intensity.

"You can think of this simply as an added layer of precaution to whatever it is that you and Mamoru-kun decide to do." Ami responded, level but reassuring. "I already made the decision to trust you when Masato-kun first mentioned it and..."

Her gaze finally broke away to lower toward the bouquet he still held. A smile drew across her features again.

"You really have done some wondrous things already."

When her eyes lifted back to his again, the firmness of her reply had faded. Instead, they were moving about his face, though she gave no voice to whatever it was she might have been searching for.

Zoisite has posed:
Even as she searched him, his own gaze was firm onto her like a cat's would be to a shadow that moved incorrectly. Perceived threat that would never come to harm, but still made the fur bristle in defense, eyes reflecting in the dark.

The reassurance was noted however. The steady coolness of it similar to Kazuo's form of speaking, or Saphir's outreach towards logic. Safety in the stable, whereas he found none in most.

So the sharpness softened, a nod given as a sign he understood, and ignored the rest that followed. Or, seemingly so. Izou was back on his feet, standing tall despite being the shortest of the knights of Earth.

"Whatever I did, I did it for Mamoru." Deflection.

Ami Mizuno has posed:
In this place and with such proximity, it actually took effort for Ami to keep from reaching for his face. It wasn't a reflex that was her own, strictly speaking, but it was hard to be so close to him and not be able to offer the comfort she knew they had once shared. Particularly when she didn't see any of the same recognition reflected back to her.

She sighed quietly. He had softened, though. It was still in there. And then he stood and she was looking up to him again.

"It meant a lot to Usagi-chan, too." Ami said calmly. "And that isn't for nothing. It's good to see them both smiling so happily."

These things, after all, meant a lot to her as well.

Zoisite has posed:
Fragments. Focuses turned to false reflections, like smoke to rippling water.

He stood tall as there was nothing else he could do towards an invisible gnawing at his soul. Not now, at least.

"They deserve to be happy, even if my disposition towards your princess had been negative up until very recently. Mamoru's life is one he fought for, and he'd do it again and again if it were necessary. He knew where his soul belonged to." Another nod, tightness to the nape of his neck.

"It took us dying almost twice to be here. Hopefully, it'll make a difference when our own version of the future runs head on to new conflicts."

Then he sighs. "But I am very tired of talking about them. Nothing but weeks of effort was just about them. So tell me something you're happy about that doesn't include them. And I'll share with you one of my own. I would like to step out of that damn Shed even mentally."

Ami Mizuno has posed:
Ami laughed. He was terrifically forthright and there was something about that that tickled her.

"You're right, Izou-kun." A soft, gentle nod, and she scooched over a little. "Would you like to sit with me, though? The water is very nice and cool."

She flicked her feet a little and returned her attention to the Earth overhead.

"I am very happy to be home." Ami stated after a moment of consideration. "Back in our school. I've got some new students to tutor. Some old ones. It almost feels like I never left and it's good to feel so welcomed."

Of course, that subtly included Usagi anyway. But, it was hard to escape such a central point of the senshi's life. She tilted her head a little. "I could have done without the exploding tyrannosaur, though."

Zoisite has posed:
Sit? On the stone? With this dress? Even the look he gaze with lifted eyebrow, one leg stretched out pointedly to the tip of his toes to ground and free hand lifting at his magnificent dress like the hard surface would do more damage to both he and the satin than anything else.

"One moment," And he excuses himself, the clicks of heels rapidly distancing up the flight of stairs and back into the party for a minute or three. Then they were back, with an unceremonious launch or a chair pillow towards Ami's back as he carried his own, along with a towel or two--borrowed from the crew that worked on the food. Surely they would not miss some cloth.. Crystals continued to glint and shimmer as he moved about.

"Here. There is nothing worse than wet feet in wet shoes." The hand towel was properly offered as he set his own pillow on the stone floor. The bouquet still with him as well. Slipping out of his heels and hiking dress up mid thighs, he sat down next to Ami before finally dipping his feet into the water.

A sigh. it did feel cool against his skin. He usually ran at a much warmer temperature.

"I didn't hear much about the exploding fossil, just that it happened, so my input is mute on such things." The only thing he saw of battle since he started on the bouquet was the stone chicken. The stone chicks were all on the roof now in the green house, waiting to be properly placed in their spots.

"I am happy about advances in gardening even since I returned from the future. Since his Highness decided to limit the roof garden I had planned, I needed to extend it within the Shed where I produced the bouquet. The equipment helps. One of Masato's bonsai's are in there as well. Hopefully soon I'll be opening for others to come in. Lay out rules to those that want to add to it. A proper community garden instead of the one from the Academy." A sniff, rather proud of his efforts.

Ami Mizuno has posed:
The pillow was a nice addition, she had to admit. It didn't really bother Ami to be sitting on the stone, not at this hour and with as long on her feet she'd been. But, it was definitely a pleasant--complete with a short shift that saw her tuck it under herself.

"I went to Munster to follow my mother, to some degree." Ami admitted to him. "A once in a lifetime opportunity for particularly gifted students to earn credit toward doctoral theses before ever starting with university."

It was said with the tone of one reciting the course's written promises and ended upon a sigh. There was definitely a hint of meloncholy there, though it wasn't especially pronounced. Indeed, Ami had settled a lot of these little fears on her own already.

Or, New Moon had.

"And I think I was in the wrong place. Don't get me wrong, some part of me still wants to be a doctor, of course, but..." Ami trailed off with a wan smile. "Some things are just a little more important."

She glanced at the side of Izou. "You spent your time nuturing something beautiful. Not just for yourself and not even just for your Prince. You've done it for everyone--with some rules for those who might like to add."

The last phrase was acknowledged with a growth of her smile, but it faded a little as her thoughts returned to Saphir. Perhaps in reflection to something that he'd thought of her once before, Ami nodded at him.

"You don't have to do these things alone, Izou-kun. You've got a lot of people around you who care."

Zoisite has posed:
"What if I want to do them alone? Caring does not mean that they are able to see what's in my head, and it cannot sate whatever curiosity or want I have." Izou was quick to reply, letting the bouquet rest on his lap.

"Besides, there are things I wish to do that would not please everyone. Why would I keep them around? To nag at me when I end up doing exactly what they don't want me to do? Like they know what I need or something?" Or had the right to be around him whenever they thought it was necessary.

"You're not the first person to tell me that I have people around me that care about me. All of the mahou seem to care all the time. Not once do some of them think outside of that. It is, quite frankly, annoying." But he was not irritated as he shares this.

"You stepped away, and you decided to do something on your own. And you accomplished that and returned. You've decided to remain here with your sisterhood. That is what you want. But there is nothing wrong if someone else decided differently, don't you think? A bit if selfishness is warranted sometimes. And that's what I like to pick sometimes."

Ami Mizuno has posed:
"Yes. I returned and the people I loved were gone, Izou-kun." Ami said to him almost flatly. "As much as I tried to remind myself otherwise, there was a part of me that very much wondered what might have been different if I had been here."

She shook her head a little.

"People like Saphir and Demande--even Wicked Lady--they're so much stronger than any one of us can hope to be, you'd almost have to wonder how it is that we manage to prevail at all." Ami lifted a brow. "And it isn't even a secret. We are at our strongest when we work together and lean on the people around us."

Ami turned her head now to look back up at the party. The sheer number of mahou who showed up to show up had ensured their victory. The wedding itself was stark proof for the observation she offered. Slowly, she returned her attention to Izou.

She just looked at him again. Desperate to see the man who found joy in the beauty around him, the one who lived in the furthest corners of her memory. Her eyes dropped to the bouquet once more and she was certain he was still there.

Zoisite has posed:
"I was stronger. I was also happy, as long as Mamoru was happy. I could do as I wished, when I saw fit. Then it changed, and I am here and that's that." Gaze returned to her, a brow lifting.

"You're not saying anything new to me. It sounds like you're trying to communicate something by skirting around it. Unless this is a pep talk." He wasn't trying to be dismissive of her, but it was things that he knew about already. Rashmi, Minako, even Masato told him these things. And when he was needed, he was there for whatever it would take to make sure victory of some sort was a guarantee.

But there were questions in the way he looked at her.

Ami Mizuno has posed:
Letting go of the Dark Energy had been a choice on his part too. Ami was aware. Perhaps not quite conscious--or perhaps it was--she wasn't sure, she'd never been in that position. But, she did realise that some part of Zoisite had chosen to give it up. To come with them. Perhaps even to trust in them.

That, too, was no small thing.

"For the longest time, I saw this place in my dreams." Ami let her gaze shift again, though not to the Earth above them.

This time it was out, distant, to spy the far-off Sea of Serenity.

"I don't dwell on it too much--I'm very happy for the things I have now and the future we're all building together." She spoke slowly, almost quietly. "Sometimes, though, I remember walking along those shores. Feeling that pure sand between my toes. The sound of the waves. It's not like that for you, is it?"

A slow nod followed. "I would very much like for you and I to find our friendship now and into the future as well."

Zoisite has posed:
The past, in dreams.

Water felt almost icy cold to his feet then, so he lifted one up as he crossed his legs. shifting some where he sat and at the ripples he caused on the water.

"You're asking for us to have something similar to what we had in the past?"

Ami Mizuno has posed:
"But, not for the past's sake. We're different people now and it's important for us to look forward." Ami nodded gently, turning her attention back to Izou. "Which, I understand, is easy for me to say. But, if I'm going to put some trust in you I think it's fair to ask the same."

Zoisite has posed:
"I see this place in my nightmares. There are things that happened and that didn't happen that I am overlooking for the sake of my prince, but unable to let go of for myself."

The Earth seemed so small from the Moon. Far away. He wondered what he had felt--truly felt, when al of this started.

"If the future does become similar to the one I saw in the alternative lifetime, then I want to know what it is that I am being asked to emulate or release." And all the hurt that could follow, or indifference. He couldn't tell which one would come.

"As for trust, I doubt very much I have any other choice than to trust you. My prince married your princess. I would hope we have the same goals in keeping them safe and alive. But to trust at a personal level..." A deep inhale.

Izou looked back at her, and it was a bit difficult with her request now laid on the table, and him returning with the truth of his state of mind. He truly does not remember what happened in the past--and what he did were false memories at best. And those hurt.

"We'll see."

Ami Mizuno has posed:
He'd trust her because he had no choice and they had shared goals. It wasn't quite trust. It was alliance. It was as good a place as any to start, though.

"I think we're all determined to not let the future that Chibiusa comes from be the one that we walk toward." Ami said simply.