Ami stared down at her lap, unable to look Amina in the eyes. Even when she was out of high school herself, that teacher glare still stung.

"This is helping Usagi! I'm helping her help you two, right guys? Back me up here!" Minako looked at the two senshi behind her. 

"Uh...Minako dragged us into it!" Makoto said, pointing a finger at her. Ami nodded in agreement. 

"Traitors!" Minako pouted in her seat.

"So Usagi's okay?" Yuuta asked. 

"Yeah, she's fine. Sorry about supervising your date..." Mako said to him and Amina.

"You and I are going to be having a very long talk about boundaries," Amina said, her eyes narrowing in anger. "You had absolutely no right to interfere." While things ultimately worked out well, Amina was still upset with her friend. What if it hadn't and she had lost Yuuta as a friend? She would have been devastated. Without a backwards glance, she walked out of the restaurant, waiting for Yuuta outside.

"Do you think I was too harsh on Minako?" she asked softly when her...what exactly were they anyway? They had declared feelings, but they hadn't decided if they were going to be exclusive or what...when Yuuta exited the restaurant.

Yuuta hurriedly said goodbye to the senshi and followed Amina out, not paying too much attention to Minako's reaction. He really didn't know her all that well, but she did look regretful.

"I really don't know," Yuuta admitted. "Minako-san doesn't seem like the fragile type, but you know her better than me, right?"

"Perhaps. I know she meant well, but still..." Sh looked away for a second. She was restless and wasn't in the mood to go back to Minako's nor did she really want to be away from Yuuta just yet. "Are you needed back at the hotel?" she asked hesitantly.

---

"I"m in trouble aren't I?" Minako asked slumping back in her seat as Amina and Yuuta left.

"She is right, we really had no right to interfere with their lives like that, even if it did work out," Ami said, blushing as she remembered the two senshi kissing.

"No, I think they can live without me for a while," Yuuta said, smiling now. "Did you have something in mind?" He had no desire to leave Amina either, not after that dinner. 

_________________________

"How about we make it up to her with something?" Makoto said. Minako really did look down. "Like....making a cake! I'll let you help this time." Minako perked up. 

"Really?"

"By helping, I mean I'll let you lick the spoon after I mix the batter." She wasn't entirely faithful in her friend's cooking skills, and Mako didn't really want to risk poisoning Amina in the process.

"It's a deal!"

"There's a park nearby if you'd like to go for a walk?" There were some really pretty flowers in that park and also an ice cream vendor that had the most amazing soft serve ice cream Amina had had while in Japan thus far. She wanted to go get some with him but she also was worried about suggesting it lest he think she was a pig who ate too much like the men back home thought.

She knew that a lot of men in Asia were worse on body images of females. Even if a girl was a natural healthy weight they called her fat, and with Amina being a large in Canadian clothing sizes, and knew she was considered to be obese by Japanese weight beauty standards.

Yuuta took her hand, weaving his fingers into hers. He felt far less awkward now that they both knew they liked each other. "A walk would be great." Amina led him to the park she mention, and Yuuta bought an ice cream cone, sharing it between them. They spent the long part of the night sitting on the dock by the lake and talking, before he eventually walked Amina back to Minako's house. 

"You want to meet up tomorrow somewhere and talk about, um....us?" he asked.

"Ya, I think that would be a good idea," she said softly, leaning against him a bit as they walked. Eventually it got late enough that he accompanied her back to Minako's appointment before heading back to the hotel for the night. Seeing that the lights in the house were on, Amina called out as she took off her shoes and put on her slippers.

"Minako, are you home yet?"

"I'm in the living room," Minako called. When Amina got there, she saw Minako sitting on the couch, half curled up and already dressed for bed. The TV was on, but she wasn't really paying much attention to it. Artemis was curled up on top of a nearby chair, most likely sleeping. 

"Sorry about today..." she said, glancing at Amina. "I guess I got a little too into it."

"You're just lucky everything didn't backfire in your face," Amina said as she collapsed onto the couch. She was exhausted, but happy. The longer sh was away from Yuuta, the longer reality began to creep in. She was going to meet with him tomorrow to talk about their...feelings really for each other, but Amina wasn't sure they could go any further than what they did tonight, which was already very inappropriate. She was the adult in the situation, she should know better.

"I love him, but I can't be with him you know," she admitted softly.

"That whole school situation's bothering you, huh?" Minako sat back and thought. "Yuuta's almost 18, so....how about he moves out of your class until he graduates? Or at least stops doing tutoring sessions with you. You can always meet outside of school, so you guys won't get caught," Minako suggested. "You only have to wait until the summer, and then you're golden."

"That would help I think, so at least I can say that he transferred out and I am not longer his direct teacher before we got together. I just wonder if we're capable of keeping our hands off each other until he turns 18 and graduates." It just felt so right to be with him and that was just when they were kissing. She could easily imagine loosing herself in those feelings and them going to far without meaning to.

"Do you believe in soul mates Mina-chan?"

Minako grinned and gently elbowed Amina's side when she heard her worries. 


"I thought you were really good at self control stuff?" she joked.  "But I bet you can do it, if you just think about the long run. Not seeing each other so much might help with it, you never know." She looked a little less cheerful at the mention of soul mates. 


"Maybe I'm not the best one to ask about that kind of thing," Minako said. "The last guy who claimed to be my soul mate tried to kill me later. I can't believe I almost fell for Ace...He was great when he was acting the hero though, before he revealed he was working with the Dark Kingdom."

"Did you feel any sort of connection with him? Sometimes I feel like my soul is reaching out to him, like something is missing when he's not around and it's getting worse when we're apart. When we kissed earlier, it felt like I was finally complete somehow, like there was this hole that I never even knew about and suddenly it was filled and my soul was whole again." She stretched out on the couch, reclining so she was half sitting up and half laying down.

"And yes I know I am normally in control but with him I feel like I barely have any, like all my hard work just slips away. It's a weird thing to feel when I am normally so in control.  As for Ace, I think if he really was your soul mate, he wouldn't have tried to kill you. Sounds like a psychopath to me honestly."

Minako gave Amina a long look, trying to judge how sincere she was about Yuuta. The way she was talking about him, maybe thy were soul mates. 

"Even if you aren't soul mates, if he makes you that happy, you should stay with him," Minako said. "And Ace was just a man from my past, a soldier of Venus who fought under my command long ago. He claimed he loved me back then, but I ignored him. Maybe I was the one who turned him so bitter when I didn't acknowledge his feelings, or maybe he would have always become evil and just needed a reason. But what's done is done." Minako sighed. "You'd think I'd learn to be more careful after what happened to Kunzite..." The Dark Kingdom had an ugly habit of destroying her love life to accomplish its goals. Everyone became potential tools to Queen Beryl.

"Mina, whether you loved him or not, nothing about him would have changed. The minute you did something he didn't like, he would have turned violent. That's the type of man that beats his spouse and children. Accepting his love, or rejecting it, nothing you could have done would have change who he is," She said seriously. If she had accepted his love, there was a good chance that her friend would have died in her past life.

"Has there anyone you've ever felt a connection to, that you thought may be your soul mate?"

"...Yeah, but he's dead too," Minako said. "He was one of Mamoru's guardians form the past, and we got along really well. And then I had to kill him after he was brainwashed to fight against the Moon Kingdom." Minako shrugged. "So you can see why I don't put a huge amount of belief in soul mates when it comes to myself. Things that are 'destined' tend to crumble apart. I'd rather just make my own choices."

"Do you ever regret loving him?" Amina asked curiously. It must have been horrible to have to kill someone you love when they were brainwashed. She didn't think she'd be able to do it if Yuuta was brainwashed and tried to kill her.

"Is love worth it at all if all it brings is pain?"

Minako was quiet as she thought about the question. Did she ever regret it? 

"No, I don't. I can never regret love," Minako answered. "Maybe allowing it to weaken my resolve at doing my job, but not love as a whole. Love is a part of life. That's like saying that waking up in the morning isn't worth the pain. Okay, maybe that wasn't the best example, but you get what I'm saying, right?"

"I think if he was your true love and your soul mate, he'll find you again eventually," Amina said. "And I get what you mean. There's a saying in English, it's better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all and I think it's true." Now that she had found Yuuta, she couldn't imagine him not in her life, but that was still to be seen if they would be able to be together at all.

"Maybe it's better it's better if we don't get together. He'll probably get bored of me soon, I'm a lot older than him," she said, doubt creeping back into her voice. She wasn't sure if her heart could survive being with him only for him to leave her for someone younger, prettier and skinnier.

"Maybe he will. Third time's the charm or something like that," Minako said. "How about you take your own advice for a bit? At least talk to him about it before you decide it will never last. He didn't seem very bored to me, anyway. Talk to him about what he wants to do in the future."

"It's the future that scares me, but I guess I should talk to him. Perhaps I worry to much," she said. "And don't think I've forgotten about tonight. You really nee to learn some boundaries Mina. I know you meant well but you really had no right to interfere. How would you feel if I interfered with your love life?"

"...I don't think anyone's actually done that to me before," Minako said, after thinking about it for a while. She was usually the one setting people up. And she chased after guys by herself without much help at all. "But, I really am sorry. I 'll make it up to you soon, I promise!" She gave Amina the most pleading look she could possibly make. "I really mean it."

Amina nodded as she got up from the couch and stretched. "I'm going to head to bed, it's been a long day. Goodnight Mina-chan." Smiling at her friend, she slowly headed to the bedroom she was staying in. She had a feeling that sleep wouldn't come easily tonight.

~~~

The next day, Amina had had 3 coffees before she felt anywhere near to normal. She hadn't slept much the night before, doubts plaguing her mind. Nerves caused her stomach to roll, and even the thought of food made her nauseous. Arriving at the hotel at the time they had agreed to meet, the blonde slowly made her way to Yuuta's room.

She stood in front of it for several moments, unable to bring herself to knock on the door. She was being silly and there was no point in prolonging this even more. Stepping forward, she knocked twice and waited.

Amina could hear the sound of someone moving things around in Yuuta's room before the door opened. Yuuta was in more casual clothes today, a long sleeved white shirt and a pair of jeans. He grinned and let her in, opening the door wider and then shutting it. 

"I think Kazaki, Kumo, and Fuyuko went to the ice rink for a few hours, so they shouldn't bother us," he said, getting a chair for her from the nearby desk. He would have gone too, but he wasn't the greatest skater anyway. He looked nervous now. "So...what exactly are we, in terms of being together?" he asked. "because if you don't want us to date, I won't push you or anything...."

She took a seat on one of the comfy looking couches, choosing to sit in the middle so Yuuta would either have to sit with her which would place him close to her and if she was honest, she was craving contact with him, or he would chose another seat.

"I want to," she said honestly, "But I have a few concerns. First off, I'm you're teacher, you're my student, you're in my class. I'm worried about the consequences of being caught. At best I'd be deported, at worst I'd be charged and thrown in jail. Secondly, I'm also a lot older than you...are you sure that's not going to be an issue for you?"

Yuuta sat down next to her on the couch and listened as she voiced her concerns. He had almost forgotten that she could get in trouble for this, and he didn't want her to have to leave.

"I can...I can wait until I get out of school, and then we can date. That would work, right?" At the mention of her age. Yuuta frowned and took her hand in his. "Amina, we've both been to the future, age doesn't really matter to me. I don't care, as long as I get to be with you," he said firmly. "Whatever we need to do to make this work, I'll do it."

"The problem is can we really keep our hands to ourselves for the next five or six months? Since you kissed me yesterday I've been more aware of the connection between us." She frowned, trying to find the words to describe what she was feeling. "It almost feels like our souls are connected and it's an incredibly intense feeling. I'm not sure waiting is in the cards for us and I don't know what to do." She glanced up and looked at him. The sensation that she'd been feeling since she arrived at his hotel room, the one of love, passion, acceptance, loyalty, it felt like it was getting stronger the longer they sat like this. She felt a pull to be closer to him and she couldn't help but wonder.

"Do you feel anything or is it just me, am I just going crazy?" she whispered.

"I don't think you're crazy. You can sense emotions, right? Maybe you're just really sensitive to ours," Yuuta said. He closed his eyes and concentrated, still holding Amina's hand. And for a few seconds, he thought he could feel something too, something deeper than his usual feelings for her. Was this the connection she was talking about? He moved closer to her institutionally, close enough so that their arms touched. "Maybe my soul is connected to yours, wouldn't that be cool?" he asked, grinning now.

Amina grinned with his amusement. "It's not just emotions I sense but I also sense people's souls. Kinda in my name, Sailor Soul? I communicate with spirits, I sense people souls and somehow I have domain of the underworld." Sometimes she would get a headache trying to figure out how all of this worked but she was learning that with senshi powers, it was best to just go with the flow and not ask too many questions.

"Minako suggested that if you changed classes and we stopped the tutoring sessions it should help as I wouldn't be your direct teacher anymore. What do you think about that?"