“Naru Osaka!” the young woman elaborated for good measure.

“Oh,” Ami replied simply, caught off guard by the unexpected run-in with her old school friend, and the unexpected need to brush off her social skills.

“How are you? It’s been a while, huh?” Naru pressed, a genuine smile across her face.

“Erm, yes, a while,” Ami agreed.

“I don’t think we’ve seen you since—” Naru started.

“Yes,” Ami finished the thought, already aware that she had not seen Naru since Usagi’s funeral. She felt a sting of guilt as she recalled receiving—and ignoring—several calls form Naru in the months that followed. Then again, Naru had been Usagi’s friend first and foremost, and she seemed to be doing well now anyway. Better than any of the others at least.

“It’s good to see you, Ami,” the man clutching Naru’s hand added.

“Oh, excuse me. Have we met?” Ami asked, unable to place the man’s chiseled features or deep voice.

“It’s me, Melvin!”

“Melvin?” Ami repeated, remembering another of her high school chums, but other than the man’s vaguely familiar spiky hair, her memories weren’t corelating with what she was seeing.

“That’s right, you probably haven’t seen me without my glasses. Naru convinced me to get contacts a few years back. Wow, it really has been a long time, hasn’t it?”

“That must be it,” Ami conceded, remembering the way Melvin’s glasses used to magnify his eyes to the size of tennis balls, though, still shocked by her fellow school nerd’s dramatic transformation. Concerned her stunned look of disbelief might offend the couple, she cast her eyes downward, noticing a sparkly something on Naru’s hand. “So, the two of you married?”

“Yeah, three years this spring,” Naru confirmed, flashing her ring finger. “We might even make it to four if this one can remember to empty the dishwasher!”

Melvin nudged his wife with his shoulder, responding, “I will if you learn to cook!”. The two then shared a chuckle, apparently enjoying a private joke.

“Lovely. Congratulations!” Ami said, trying her best to sound sincere.

“You grew your hair out,” Naru commented. “It looks nice long.”

“Oh, really?” Ami replied, momentarily reminded that she would soon be able to chop the annoying locks off, if all went according to plan. “I just never have time to get it cut.”

“And no wonder, you became a doctor like your mom, after all, huh?” Naru exclaimed, motioning to Ami’s lab coat with her open palm.

“I’m not a doctor!” said Ami, a little more forcefully than intended.

Naru looked taken aback, her cheeks flushing noticeably.

Ami tried to look apologetic, and clarified, “That is to say, I’m a research scientist. But you’re right, it certainly keeps me busy!”

“You know, I think one of the guys at my engineering firm may have cited a paper authored by an A. Mizuno a while back,” said Melvin. “I guess I didn’t put two and two together.”

Ami smiled in reply, her patience for the prolonged social contact reaching its limit.

After an awkward moment of silence and a brief exchange between Naru and Melvin, Naru said, “Well, it was good to see you, Ami.”

“Yes. You too.”

“Maybe we could meet up some time? It would be nice to talk about old times. I’ve been meaning to visit the cemetery. Do you still hang out with the other girls? Maybe we could all go together?”

“Ah, I think this is for me,” said Ami, grateful for the distraction as she spotted a taxi driving their way.

“Oh. Well, goodbye, then.”

“Goodbye,” Ami responded with a small wave, turning, and heading for the now parked taxi. She got in, confirmed her destination, and fastened her seat belt as the car began to move. As it rolled past Naru and Melvin, she fixed her eyes determinedly ahead.

Ami found herself shaking a little. Whether due to the cold or the unplanned reunion, she wasn’t entirely sure. Visit the cemetery together? What a ridiculous idea that had been. Their fractured friend group had barely spoken over the years, let alone meet up for such an event. Rei and Minako weren’t even conscious, for goodness’ sake!

Then there was that nonsense about being a doctor. Why did everyone expect that of her? Aren’t people allowed to change their minds? She had done a lot of good in her short career, but did that matter to anyone? Did her mother recognize her achievements? No. They all wanted to measure Ami’s successes by the number of lives she could or should have saved as an M.D.

She had learned the hard way that medicine wasn’t right for her, not when she couldn’t even save one life. The most important life. The life of her best friend. Become a doctor after that? What if her studies revealed what she had done wrong that day, or what she could have done differently to save Usagi?

Clutching her lab coat more tightly around her as she continued to shiver, Ami stared out of the window, barely registering the city beyond as it sped by. Perhaps triggered by her interaction with Naru, memories from that fateful day began to play out in her mind.

***

“No! Move! Get out of my way!” Sailor Mercury demanded breathlessly. The innumerous gelatinous aliens had abandoned their attack and were attempting to flee, but they were obstructing her path to Sailor Moon. Ami hadn’t started her pre-med course yet, but she had done enough reading to know what to do in this situation. Usagi would be fine if she could just get to her.

As her blue visor’s computer display readings indicated a steady decline in Usagi’s vitals, the desperate soldier took action. “Mercury! Aqua Rhapsody!” she cried, carving a path through the enemies with a fierce stream of water.

Upon finally reaching Sailor Moon and dropping to her side, Ami began inspecting her wound. It was worse than she had thought. The alien queen’s attack had left a hole clean through the girl’s abdomen. Her computer analysis indicated damage to several internal organs and a collapsed lung. It wasn’t the type of injury that could just be patched up. Usagi needed to get to a hospital.

Thankfully, the yellow aliens were ignoring Mercury now. Their only concern seemed to be escaping the inexplicable onslaught being unleashed by Sailor Venus.

Somewhere in Mercury’s mind, she wanted to understand what had happened to Venus’ powers and whether the girl could handle the incredible level of force she was exuding, but her focus right then had to be on treating Sailor Moon.

“It’s okay, Usagi! You’re going to be fine! I’m going to fix you right up!” Ami assured her frantically.

“Ami?” Sailor Moon spoke softly.

“Rei, call for an ambulance!” Ami demanded as she applied pressure to the wound. “Rei?”

The red sailor-suited soldier of Mars didn’t respond. Chancing a glance upward, Ami saw that tears were streaming down the raven-haired beauty’s blood-spattered face, and her lips were quivering as she stared down at Usagi. Ami didn’t have time to deal with her now. Sensing movement above her, she saw the approaching figures of the teal-clad Sailor Neptune, who looked close to tears, and the indigo-clad Sailor Uranus, who looked angry.

“Uranus, Neptune, one of you call for an ambulance, make sure they know where to come when they arrive!”

“What are you doing?” Uranus demanded of Ami as Neptune ran toward the nearby road, powering down her transformation with a flash and removing a cell phone from her pocket, presumably to call for help as instructed. “Fix her!”

“I-I’m trying, but she needs treatment! Surgery!” Ami explained defensively.

“You do it! Aren’t you supposed to be studying for this?” Uranus pressed, running a hand through her short hair as though she might tear it out.

“Tha-that’s not… I-I don’t have the equipment I need!” Ami insisted.

“I’m sorry, Rei,” Usagi whispered. “I’m sorry I couldn’t do it how you wanted. Forgive me.”

Just then, Usagi appeared to pass out, Rei let out a howl like a wounded animal, and Mercury’s visor display began flashing ominously.

“What’s happened!” Uranus yelled. “Wake her up!”

“Rei, apply pressure to the wound, I need to do CPR! Rei!” Ami screeched. Rei’s horror-stricken eyes were fixed on Usagi. “Uranus, come here!”

The outer Sailor Soldier complied. Ami took Uranus’ hands in her own and placed them on Usagi’s wound.

“There’s so much blood! How hard do I press?” Uranus asked, her voice cracking.

Ami tilted Usagi’s head back with her crimson-soaked white gloves. “Like this!” she ordered, reaching over, and pushing down on the back of Uranus’ hands with the right amount of pressure. Then, she pinched Usagi’s nose, took a breath, covered Usagi’s open mouth with hers and blew air in twice. She then began pumping on her chest forcefully with both hands, her fingers interlocked.

Not taking the time to look up from her continued pumping, Ami cried out, “Jupiter! JUPITER! As Usagi’s unsupported head lulled to the side, Ami tried to ignore the lifeless look in her friend’s eyes. “Where is she?”

“Why?” Uranus questioned angrily.

“Stop questioning me!” Ami snapped. “Just look for her and call her over!”

“Usagi, no!” a far-off voice to Ami’s left called out, the sound of footsteps approaching before someone fell to their knees with a thud.

“Good, Jupiter, I need you to shock her!”

“What?”

“Use your powers. Shock her on my signal!”

“Ami, I can’t do tha—” Sailor Jupiter started, looking aghast.

“DO AS I TELL YOU!” Ami roared, then resumed counting as Jupiter’s antennae like device rose from her tiara and began sparkling with electricity, “Twenty-seven, twenty-eight, twenty-nine, thirty, now! One hand on the left side of her chest, the other over her heart!”

Sailor Jupiter placed both hands on Usagi and the girls unmoving body suddenly lurched upward from the ground. Jupiter and Uranus looked away, while Sailor Mars let out a whine.

“Don’t remove the pressure!” Ami chastised as she pressed her ear to Usagi’s chest. She then grabbed Uranus’ hands and placed them back on the wound before resuming CPR. “Where’s that ambulance?”

“Ami, I don’t think—” Jupiter spoke between sobs.

“SHUT UP!” Ami screamed, not willing to hear the end of that girl’s sentence. “Get ready! Twenty-seven, twenty-eight, twenty-nine, thirty, now!”

Jupiter reluctantly shocked Usagi once more, then continued crying as the body flailed about like a ragdoll. Rei whined just as before. Also as before, Uranus removed her hands in apparent disgust. This time, though, she resisted Ami’s attempt to place them back on the bloody wound.

“What are you doing?” Ami pleaded. “I can’t do it all by myself! Mako, come around to this side. Stop blubbering and come apply the pressure!”

“She’s gone, Ami,” said a gentle voice from behind. Ami turned momentarily to see the towering, black sailor-suited figure of Sailor Pluto, clutching her garnet-topped staff with a somber look on her face.

“No! I can save her!” Ami insisted as she continued with chest compressions. “The ambulance will be here soon!”

“Ami, please!” Jupiter bawled.

Ignoring her, Ami addressed the unresponsive girl across from her, “Rei, put pressure on the wound! Rei! REI! SAILOR MARS!”

“She’s gone, Ami,” Pluto repeated, this time much closer to Ami’s ear.

“She is NOT gone! I can save her if you help me! Why won’t any of you listen to me?”

“She’s gone, Ami,” said Pluto one more time. “It’s time to stop.” She then wrapped her arms around Mercury as if to embrace her, lifted her up off the floor with surprising strength, and pulled her away from Usagi’s lifeless corpse.

“No! What are you doing? Let go! I can save her! Let me go, Setsuna! NO! Usagi! USAGIIIIIII!”

***

“Here we are, Miss.”

“W-what?” said Ami, shaken out of her reverie by the taxi driver’s voice.

“We’ve arrived at your destination.”

“Oh, thank you,” said Ami, stepping out of the car in a daze and turning her eyes to the moonlit sky above. No. Someone like her couldn’t be a doctor. Not someone who could allow their best friend to die right before her eyes.