2659/History

History
Date of Scene:	30 June 2025
Location:	Museum
Synopsis:	Ami takes Masato with her to the National Museum, given the last time she was at a museum she was attacked by a Stegosaurus Youma. There's no Youma this time thankfully, but they end up talking about some History.
Cast of Characters:	Ami Mizuno, Nephrite

---

Ami Mizuno has posed:
It was good to finally get back into a museum and it was good timing, too. Masato had not long mentioned an interest in history and Ami was almost inappropriately excited to drag the Shitennou through the sea of exhibits.

In a rare shift, Ami was not presently wearing her hard-shelled backpack. Instead, she'd opted to leave it in Masato's car. Still dressed in the Radiant Heart uniform, the blue-haired senshi was all smiles. It was the kind of excited pleasure that might well be ascribed to a child let loose in Nounamu. Of course, it was still Ami and, as such, she was a little too reserved to be dashing about or pressing har face to glass.

This was not necessarily because she didn't want to, though. She just knew better than to be quite so exuberent in public.

"And there's no chance of any rampaging dinosaurs here." Ami leaned a little closer to Masato to murmur.

She furrowed her brow. "Oh. I shouldn't tempt fate, should I? I did see a rather intimidating statue near the entrance."

Nephrite has posed:
"Not to mention the Egyptian exhibit," Masato noted grimly, making a face and sighing.

He wandered along in typical fare; a crisp maroon shirt with the sleeves folded up was cut across by gold buckled belt and fitted trousers, expensive leather shoes to finish. Long wavy hair down and his spirits generally up.

"Still... They've got an art exhibit here at the moment about the late-Edo painter, Sakai Hoitsu. Look."

And he would point it out ahead, sequestered in a particular display with a touch screen nearby to explain things in detail. Masato turned her a pleasant smile, his hands casually pocketed.

"Many people have seen the front side of it, Wind God and Thunder God. It's very famous, and painted by Hoitsu's mentor. But there's actually another painting on the back that isn't as well recognised, and carries a special sentiment to answer it, per his master's request."

Sapphire eyes seemed to sparkle a little as he turned his gaze upon the screen as they approached it, protected as it was by glass in the middle of the through way.

"The other painting is called Flowering Plants of Summer and Autumn, and it's a masterpiece of Hoistu's later years." Rounding the case, Masato would come to look at the other side of the byobu. "The delicate flowers are drenched by rain and battered by wind... you can almost imagine the wind whistling through. It's really wonderful."

Ami Mizuno has posed:
Ami watched Masato as he spoke, her own smile rising to mirror his enthusiasm. Much like her own, it wasn't overstated, and it mostly gathered in his eyes. He was at his best like this--at least she thought so--and a welcome contrast to the exhausted, overworked man she'd known recently.

And, of course, there was the subject of the painting that they rounded upon.

"I can see why you like this one." Ami grinned. "It's basically Makoto-san on byobu, isn't it?"

Nephrite has posed:
Though he was distracted by the painting, Ami's astute observation drew his gaze back to her. Almost like a boy caught sneaking a sweet, he grew momentarily sheepish. Heat rose to his face for her pointing it out so directly. "Ami-chan, please..."

The real kicker was, now that she'd said so, Masato realised that probably was why he favoured this byobu in particular. It did remind of Makoto. It was an unfair thing-- he seemed to find himself drawn to anything that did, of her or Jupiter. She occupied a great deal of his thoughts.

He sighed some, conceding. "I can't help it. It feels like I see her in everything, lately. I've been thinking a bit about the fight to come, too." His attention returned to the byobu. "She and I have been working on some new attacks to hit them hard. Brainstorming, you might say."

Ami Mizuno has posed:
Oh, she could have just taken hold of his face to squeeze. Ami didn't do that of course, but for the way that Masato spoke about Makoto she definitely had the urge. It was a difficult one to resist, too. Right down the the choice of words, the Shitennou might well have just been speaking the lines from a romance novel's masculine interest.

Still, none of it stopped the pun from hitting her. Ami sighed and closed her eyes for a moment. It was a good one.

"It's something that's been playing in the back of my head, too." Ami said after a pause. "Since the wedding, at least."

Her own sapphirine gaze drifted back to the byobu. Ami's mind flashed the image of Izou's sharp gaze for a brief moment, words echoed silently.

Saphir is mine to deal with.

"I still have some worries, I think."

Nephrite has posed:
"Understatement," Masato agreed mutedly, and looked her over for a long moment, "I'm taking a great deal of solace in the knowledge that I don't have to think too hard about what comes next, at least in terms of fight. Mako-chan and I just need to do our part to make sure these bastards go down, and we'll be well prepared to."

He leaned a little closer to Ami, "She made a dragon out of lightning, in the future. I didn't get to see it, I was half dead at the time-- which she did not appreciate." He seemed particularly proud of that.

"But," He straightened, and grew a little more serious, "If I can add to her power, and help focus it... lend her my precision, while bolstering the winds into an even stronger storm. She won't have to worry about holding anything back, to fight without hurting her friends."

He nodded to Ami, now. "And you're here, too. You'll be able to help us spot any tricks that alchemising blue bastard might pull to protect their ringleader ahead of time, and help us deal with that evil cult leader of theirs."

Ami Mizuno has posed:
"You almost died?" Ami snapped her attention to Masato, straight at him.

Well. Up at him. He was very tall.

"I can see why she might have been a little bit unimpressed with things in the moment. Makoto-san has some very sincere views on people hurting her friends."

And those who were more than friends to her, Ami supposed. The evidence all seemed to point toward that particular conclusion, given the summoning of a lightning dragon.

Ami shook her head a little.

"I'm not worried about them." The senshi clarified. "At least, not in a direct way. It's more--"

She took a deep breath through her nose. "Izou-kun and I had a chat at the reception, and I have my concerns."

Nephrite has posed:
Masato's brows, which had been high and curious, slowly drew down into a furrow of mild displeasure. It was altogether unsurprised, if a little bit resigned. His mouth drew thinner.

"Catch a glimpse of his fixation on blue, did you?" It was an easy guess, given the topic at hand and what Ami knew about Saphir, thus far. A slow nod was given. "I had my concerns, too. He can be..." Masato's eyes narrowed as he settled on the word, "... petulant, when he's got his mind made up about something or someone."

Ami Mizuno has posed:
"Petulance is something I can deal with, Masato-kun." Ami chewed at her lip. "But, he was talking about doing things alone and sating his own curiosity. Doing things whether or not others agree with it and discarding them if they didn't. Strength and freedom that he misses."

It had been a lot and while the senshi held hope that the things she'd said in reply had made some difference or offered some hope, Ami wasn't one to move without contingencies. Ensuring Masato knew was one such contingency. She was quite convinced that he did already, but just in case.

And, of course, Ami appreciated the friendship and support that came with having people close. Having them aware. Letting them help.

"The main positive I managed to come away with is his devotion to Mamoru-kun." Ami said softly.

Nephrite has posed:
Still with his hands pocketed, Masato nodded again, letting his head lower as he considered what she said carefully. And, also, how to give a measured response to all of that without simply hand waving the villainous crap Zoisite still spouted, sometimes... And on the moon, of all places, to Sailor Mercury.

"When we were in the other timeline, while Usagi-chan and Chibiusa-chan were in their own troubles, Mamoru and Amy-chan were captured and taken to their Hell Planet." He began there. "I'm not using that word lightly. To be there was to be absolutely bombarded with dark forces that slowly chipped away at people until they gave into it, or died. And Mamoru, he was tortured there, too, and still he held out-- he didn't take hold of that power again. He resisted."

Masato spoke calmly, though his volume was lower. He let his gaze wander the byobu, tracing the details of the painting. "Amy-chan didn't. Thankfully that was taken care of in pretty short order, but... A rescue team had to be sent out there to infiltrate the stronghold and retrieve them. Kunzite and Zoisite both went, while I was hospitalised."

He sighed. "If Kunzite wasn't there, or the mission went wrong... or if Mamoru had taken up Dark Energy again? It may have gone differently. But it didn't. And if there was a time for Zoisite to have given into any of those feelings, it was there. He is trying to move forward, even if he's a little stuck on certain things."

Ami Mizuno has posed:
"That's good to know, actually." Ami breathed a little before turning a shade redder and lifting her hands sharply. "Not the--not Mamoru-kun and Amy-chan being taken, and all of those horrible things!"

She laughed a little sheepishly to herself and let her hands lower again, attention following Masato's gaze back to the byobu.

"I kept searching his face, hoping I'd see recognition. Maybe something of the Zoisite in my dreams." Ami offered, a little quieter then. "It's hard to hear him speak so bitterly even now that he's free of dark energy. The Izou I know now is--well, he's very different."

Ami settled into quiet for a moment. Her eyes traced leaves and lilies slowly. A small smile drew across her.

"You're a good man, Masato-kun." She stated before grinning again. "Makoto-san is very lucky. So are you, of course, because she's also amazing. You're like the siblings I never had."

Nephrite has posed:
For as earnest and gently said as it is, Masato feels that sentiment hit him like a bullet train to the chest. Once again, he finds himself in a small amount of disbelief-- the closed circle, and the new beginning, truly have arrived. He knows it in little moments like these, beyond his own guilt or doubt. The more these things are said, the more he believes them.

He's grateful, again-- in awe, again-- of how different things are now.

"I'll admit, it took me a minute to adjust, too... after everything." He smiles at her with warmth, comfortable in this regained familiarity. This understanding. "We've all changed, in our own ways. Our hearts might be the same, and we all share a history. Even though some of us remember better than others, we're different people. It's supposed to be a good thing. But Jadeite, Zoisite, and myself-- it wasn't just something missing in our lives, we all had something to run from, too."

Sapphire eyes studied the windswept flowers. "Our past selves, even the corrupted version of them, were something to hide in. Or at least, it was for me, even though I didn't remember the truth."

Ami Mizuno has posed:
"Maybe." Ami agreed, unable to really contest the point given her removal from it.

It was different for her--for the Senshi in general, perhaps. They didn't have the added burdens that the Shitennou did when it came to their shared histories. Whether it was in the form of lives long since past or more recent manipulations. It had to be hard.

"Maybe some things were in you all along, I don't know." Ami watched him from the corner of her eye now. "What I can say, however, is that you all had the choice taken away from you. You didn't really even get the chance until relatively recently. And, well--"

A smile caught the corner of her mouth again. "You don't even seem to be just trying Masato-kun, you're doing. I don't think we would have succeeded without you."

Nephrite has posed:
"I have a lot of knowledge from the past..." Masato mused, set into a reflective mood now. "Memories now, too. But at first it was mostly knowledge, mystically speaking. The way I was recruited, what I was allowed to know was very selective in terms of what would be most useful."

He spoke about it almost causally, which may or may not have surprised her. It was not an easy subject, but it was one that-- with the Senshi-- he was candid about.

"I was deeply interfered with. A lot of the memories I have of the boy I was before all of that got more or less shunted aside to make way for a forceful amount of new magic and manipulations, and this new person that the dark energy made of it all. I had a new name, and new ideas..."

"All of a sudden I gained access to an incredible amount of understanding of the astrological arcane, and a deep well of power to pour into it." Masato pulled a face, and looked to Ami again with a faint roll of his shoulder. "That felt like the 'true' me, at the time. I was caught within a phantasm of believing that I was enlightened and awakened, and on the path to finally realising my true potential. That everyone would see what I was capable of, and that they couldn't afford not to pay attention to me, or it would cost them."

It was more complicated than just that, of course, but it became so over time. In the slow struggle to break away, the confusing whispers of the stars, and the turn of the karmic cycles. At the very beginning, though... Masato remembered that feeling.

"Tama-kun says he sometimes looks back on our time in Obsidian and physically cringes, and I understand what he means." Masato scoffed with mild amusement.

Ami Mizuno has posed:
It wasn't pity with which her stare fixed him, but it was definitely sympathy. Ami turned from the byobu now to face Masato fully, hands folded in front of her as she looked up at this great, meticulously dressed and very haired man.

"I can't even imagine what any of that feels like." Ami confessed. "The intellectual parts of me--which, admittedly, is a lot of them--want to try to reason it out, but I think that would be selling your experience short."

She chewed at her lip.

"It wasn't like that for me. Discovering my memories was like..." Ami closed her eyes and leaned a little to the side, as though swaying beneath a stiff breeze. "It was the explanation I'd always been searching for. Why I was different--why so many of the other children saw me as different. It was like remembering home, one I'd never set foot to before."

Sapphires opened again and lifted to his face again. "The very thought that someone might have tampered with that to make me do things I wouldn't is terrifying. Whether it was direct in my head or just what someone decided that I was allowed to know--"

Her head shook and Ami sighed a little. Always, always she tried to find something to smile about at the end of things. The need to find the good--the silver lining under grey cloud--was powerful. Breath drew and huffed a little heavily.

"I don't think that I would have made it through if it weren't for you, Masato-kun. I think that's what I wanted to say." She found it--Ami smiled. "Usagi-chan's absence was a very difficult thing and you were very kind about it. I don't think I'll ever forget that."

Nephrite has posed:
Masato brought a hand out of his pocket now to lift it towards Ami's shoulder, patting at it and letting it rest there gently. A quiet acknowledgement of the hidden anxieties that had troubled her in the lead up to the wedding, and Masato's awareness of this. After all, he'd been equally worried about Mamoru's risky gambit and the sheer amount of Dark Energy Chibiusa had been handling.

"I was once known as a Knight of Intelligence and Comfort, and I'd like to live up to that title again." He confided. "I want people to think of that, when they think of the name Nephrite... not any of the rest."

Ami Mizuno has posed:
"Nephrite is a stone known for its strength." Ami noted. "Its resistance to breaking is even greater than that of steel. Some people also believe that it promotes peace and balance."

She drew her lips tight in a kind of light-hearted grimace and shrugged. "If that's what you want, then I think you're doing about the best job that anyone could do. Or do I need to start listing off all of the people you've helped throughout the last month? And, then, remind you that all of that is just the ones that I personally saw?"

Ami lifted a brow.

"Which would probably be at least as embarrassing as pointing out why that's your favourite byobu."

Nephrite has posed:
Masato lifted his chin, withdrawing the hand to scratch evasively at his throat. His expression was a sort of feigned nonchalance. "It's a masterpiece and a cultural treasure."

Still, he smirked and peered at her from the corner of his eye. He turned from it now to continue walking along. "And you know, there were new Shitennou ready to awaken in that other future, as well... In that time, our second lives were spent within Beryl's hold as well. They didn't truly survive that, though their spirits remained in the stones that Endymion kept. At least for a while... then they went quiet, I suppose because they were trying to be reborn."

Masato let his attention wander to the vaulted ceiling. "I was there when the first was reunited with their stone. He was a nurse that had been dealing with injured refugees from the city, who took shelter in the palace. He became Zoisite."

He smiled at the memory of it, and looked to Ami. "He was more like the Zoisite you probably remember. Despite at least two lifetimes ruined by those dark forces, his heart was lighter. He wasn't troubled... if anything, he seemed relieved to accept that mantle again."

Ami Mizuno has posed:
Somehow her brow lifted higher. "We are still talking about the byobu, right?"

Ami lets it just hang in the air for a minute until she allows herself the giggle. It was fun to give him a little sass for it that, in itself, offered some demonstration of her comfort. Masato, much like the Senshi otherwise, was someone that Ami could be a little more genuine around.

But, of course, there was more to be discussed. This was met with a slow nod. Then, again, she let her eyes close with a deep breath in and out.

"Izou-kun is not the Zoisite in my memories." Ami confirmed again. "I can accept that. At the same time, I don't want to write him off just yet. Part of me hopes that, with a little bit of kindness, he'll be able to reclaim his name, too."

Nephrite has posed:
"A lot of this business he's got with that blue bastard is rooted in chasing old ghosts. Vague wisps of memory and feelings of nostalgia..." Things that remained, fittingly, mercurial to Izou. Masato offered this information tentatively, giving context that was otherwise private because it concerned her specifically.

"I had that kind of confusion, myself. I was seeking the comfort of Jupiter without remembering nearly enough about her or that time... and for a while, I mistook somebody who showed me care in the present with that kind of feeling."

Masato clicked his tongue. "He's still licking at a lot of his personal wounds. It's going to take more time for him to let go of the idea of himself as he was under Beryl, and figure out who he is, now. Kazuo's not about to let him trip himself up, if it can be helped."

Ami Mizuno has posed:
There it was again, that deep breath in and out. At the very least, Kazuo had an eye on him. From the looks of things at the wedding, it was very probably both of them as often as he could manage. Ami let her eyes open and she nodded.

"Okay." She conceded simply. "I will continue to trust and have faith that he'll make the right choices. Even if he needs a little bit of a nudge here and there."

The senshi offered Masato a smile.

"And here you are being the Knight of Comfort yet again." Ami grinned. "It really is quite the habit you're forming. You can hardly help yourself, Masa-ki."

She tried it on and wrinkled her nose a bit. "Oh, that felt weird to say."

Nephrite has posed:
It took him a moment to realise it was a contraction of his name and aniki-- big bro. He laughed, amused and a little surprised by the nickname, for as slangy as it was and boyish of her to say.

"How rough and tumble of you, Ami-chan," his hand settled on her blue hair for a moment to gently ruffle it, not unlike he did to Tamaki at times, "You want to join the Shitennou? You could pull off the uniform. We've already had one fifth wheel, you could be the new Hiddenite."

Ami Mizuno has posed:
Ami pulled a face. Whether it was for the ruffling of her hair or the insinuation that she become a fifth Shitennou--a new Hiddenite--was a little vague. But, she lifted her chin slightly.

"No, no. That'd never do." She lifted her brow again. "Malachite is a much better name. Don't you think, Nii-chan?"

Yeah. That one felt a little less gruff.