Stuck Zippers and Cold Feet

	Her mother was getting married again.

	It still hadn’t quite sunk in for Ami, even as she dressed 
for the wedding. She was happy for her mother, of course, and she 
loved the idea of having Rei for a stepsister, but it would 
definitely be a big adjustment, for all of them.

	The biggest adjustment of all was the fact that she and 
her mother were now living in Mr. Hino’s rather large mansion 
instead of the apartment where Ami had spent the vast majority of 
her life. Even with most of her books unpacked and her new, state
-of-the-art computer -- a gift from her almost-stepfather -- set 
up and running, it still didn’t feel quite like home yet -- more 
like a beautiful, impersonal hotel room that she would soon be 
checking out of. Though Mr. Hino had offered to hire an interior 
designer to redecorate it more to her liking, Ami had declined, 
uncomfortable with the idea of accepting such an extravagant gift 
from her mother‘s fiancé. It had only been because of her mother’s 
insistence that Ami even let him buy her the new computer.

	Ami just wished Mr. Hino didn’t feel the need to shower 
her with presents in order for her to like him; she already did, 
despite everything Rei had told her about him. Ami could tell he 
really wanted to make up for his past mistakes, something that Rei 
must have sensed as well, since she had also decided to move back 
in with her father after years of serving at the Hikawa shrine.

	"Ami-chan, will you help me with this stupid dress?" Rei 
called out, banging on Ami’s bedroom door and interrupting Ami 
from her thoughts. "I’ve got a major crisis on my hands!" 

	Ami walked over and opened the door, letting her future 
stepsister in. "What’s wrong, Rei-chan?" she asked.

	Rei turned around. Her dress, an elegant red gown, was 
only half-way zipped up. "This," she spat out like a swear. "The 
zipper’s caught on something, and I can’t get the damn thing 
loose."

	"Here, let me try."

	Coming up behind Rei, Ami tugged on the zipper. It didn’t 
move, meaning it was definitely stuck on something. On closer 
inspection, she saw a bit of red fabric caught between the teeth.

	"It’s caught on some fabric," Ami informed Rei as she tried 
to pry the fabric loose without tearing it.

	Though she couldn’t see Rei’s face, Ami knew Rei well 
enough to know she was undoubtedly rolling her eyes. "I could have 
told you that, genius," she said, a slight teasing tone to her 
voice behind her sarcasm. "Can you get it unstuck?"

	"I think so…"

	After fiddling with the zipper for about a minute or so, 
Ami finally managed to fix it, zipping the rest of the dress up so 
Rei wouldn’t have to do it herself and risk it getting stuck 
again. Rei turned back around and gave Ami a grateful smile.

	"Thanks, Ami-chan. You‘re a life-saver."

	Ami blushed. "It was no problem. After all, what else are 
stepsisters for?" 

	"Stepsisters… Yeah, that still sounds weird," Rei said, 
sitting down on Ami’s neatly-made bed as Ami took a seat at her 
vanity and began brushing the sides of her hair up into her usual 
pulled-back style. "I can’t believe in less two hours, we’re going 
to be family."

	"Y-You don’t want us to be stepsisters?" Ami asked, 
setting her brush back down on the table and letting her hair fall 
free again. She had thought Rei was as happy as she was about them 
becoming a family. After all, Ami already considered Rei and the 
others as her honorary sisters, so she assumed Rei felt the same 
way.

	Rei shook her head. "I didn’t mean it like that," she 
assured Ami. "It’s just…strange, you know? It’s been a long time 
since I’ve felt a part of a real family, and I’ve never had a 
sister before. It’ll take some time to get used to, that’s all, 
but if I have to have a stepsister, I‘m glad it‘s you." Glancing 
over at Ami’s alarm clock, Rei stood back up. "Oh, I have to go. 
Papa wants to get to the chapel early." 

	Rei was acting as her father’s "best woman," in lieu of 
the traditional best man. It had actually been Ami’s mother’s idea 
for Ami and Rei to stand up for their respective parents at the 
wedding, feeling it would make the ceremony feel more like a 
joining of families instead of just a joining of a man and a 
woman.

	"Okay, I’ll see you later, then," Ami said as Rei headed 
to the door, almost running straight into Ami’s mother, who had 
been standing right outside the room, her arm raised as if about 
to knock.

	"Oh, Rei-chan, there you are," Ami’s mother said, smiling. 
"You look beautiful. Are you ready to go? Your father is waiting 
downstairs for you."

	"Actually, I was just on my way downstairs to look for him 
myself," Rei admitted. "I better get down there. Papa hates being 
late for anything."

	Ami’s mother chuckled. "Don’t I know it. I guess I’ll see 
you two at the altar."

	"Yeah, good luck, or whatever it is you’re supposed to 
say," Rei said, exiting the room. 

	After Rei left, Ami’s mother closed the door and came up 
behind Ami, reaching for the brush she had set down on the vanity. 
"You look beautiful as well, Ami," her mother said as she started 
brushing Ami’s hair. "Just like a princess."

	Ami blushed, looking down at her hands. "Isn’t the maid of 
honor supposed to help you get ready, not the other way around?" 
she asked, despite the fact that her mother had already finished 
getting dressed. Her mother looked stunning in a simple knee-
length ivory dress with matching bolero jacket, her dark hair 
pulled up in an elegant French twist and her glasses switched with 
contacts for the day. 

	"Oh, you know I’ve never been much for traditions. 
Besides, I remember how much you used to love it when I did your 
hair when you were younger. Remember?"

	Nodding, Ami smiled, thinking back to when she was a 
little girl and her mother would braid her hair into pigtails 
before school. Since her mother was often busy with work at the 
hospital, they never spent much quality time together, but, 
whenever she could, her mother always tried to find time to fix 
Ami’s hair in the morning. Those times were some of Ami’s fondest 
childhood memories.

	Instead of pulling the sides up like Ami originally 
planned, her mother began French braiding her hair, her nimble 
surgeon’s fingers moving with the speed of an experienced 
hairstylist. When she got to the end, she fastened the braid with 
a dark blue ribbon that matched the shade of Ami’s dress perfectly 
and spritzed Ami‘s hair with a little bit of hairspray so that it 
would stay put. "There. Gorgeous."

	"Thanks, Mama," Ami said, turning around in her chair to 
face her mother, "but you’re the one who looks the most beautiful 
today. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this happy before."

	It was true. From the moment her mother had entered her 
room, she hadn’t stopped smiling. Her mother had an aura of 
happiness around her, one that was bright enough that Ami didn’t 
even need Rei’s heightened powers of perception to be able to see 
it.

	"I am happy," her mother said. "I have to admit, after 
your father left us, I never thought I would ever fall in love 
again, but Ryoji changed all that. He’s really a wonderful man, 
Ami."

	"I’m glad you think so, Mama."

	"What about you, though?"

	"What do you mean?" Ami asked as she turned back around to 
face the mirror, reaching for a tube of lip-gloss.

	"Well…" Taking a seat on Ami’s bed, her mother sighed. "I 
know this must all be a big adjustment for you: a new stepfather, 
stepsister, moving in here… I’m just afraid I didn’t take your 
feelings into consideration when I accepted Ryoji’s proposal."

	"Mama, I want you to be happy," Ami insisted, joining her 
mother on the bed after putting on her lip-gloss.

	"I know, but are you happy?"

	"Of course I am. Rei-chan is one of my best friends, and I 
like Hino-san. He‘s been good for you."

	"Are you sure?"

	Ami frowned, wondering why her mother was bringing this 
all up now, on the day of the wedding. It wasn’t like her to 
second-guess her decisions. "Mama, you aren’t getting cold feet 
are you?" 

	"No, of course not. Well, maybe a little," she admitted, 
smoothing down the fabric of her dress, a nervous habit Ami 
recognized. "I suppose I’m a bit gun-shy after what happened with 
your father. I really want this marriage to work out this time, 
Ami. I can‘t go through another divorce."

	"It will," Ami assured her, reaching for her mother’s 
hand. "Things will be different this time."

	"How can you know that for sure, though?"

	Ami shook her head. "I can’t, really, but I think if you 
really love Hino-san, then everything will be okay in the end. 
After all, as you’ve always told me, ‘nothing ventured, nothing 
gained.’ Right?"

	Squeezing Ami’s hand, her mother’s smile returned. "When 
did my little girl become so mature?" she said, standing back up 
and pulling Ami up with her to give her a hug. "Thank you, Ami. 
That’s just what I needed to hear."

	"Be happy, Mama," Ami whispered in her mother’s ear, 
hugging her back.

	"I will."

DISCLAIMER: "Sailor Moon" is the property of Takeuchi Naoko. 

AUTHOR'S NOTES: Comments and criticisms can be sent to me at 
ElysionDream@aol.com. This was written for the sm_monthly 
community at Livejournal (Theme: Crisis) and was the winner of 
Best Dialogue for August 2007.