Epilogue-

Ami Mizuno opened the door to her apartment, stepping inside with a duffel bag. From within, she heard the tell tale sound of music from her mother’s CD player drifting through the room. There had been a stop at Rei’s, in which Rei had lent Ami clothes in exchange for the Hellenic dress Athena had given her. Ami had fastened the Medusa brooch to its usual place. It had felt too odd not to have it there now.

She ran a hand over the outfit she had been lent. Nothing fancy. Jean shorts. A sea green tank top. Oddly, the brooch didn’t look too strange with it. Time to shop again. Usagi-chan will be thrilled to go to the mall. She has to shop for clothes she can wear her brooch with all the time. And I was going to get some nature books, to learn about herbal remedies, after what happened to Xeones. But now....

“Mom?” Ami called out timidly. She knew she looked different. Hours on deck in the Mediterranean sun had baked her a light bronze. It had lightened her hair, sending faint streaks of white foam through the azure waves. A month and a half of bright sunlight will change a person. Hauling ropes and mast had added lean strength to her arms. Her mother would have to be blind to miss such things. “Mom?”

Her mother’s head emerged from around a corner. “Ami?” Her face contorted in both worry and relief in the way a mother’s would. “Ami!”

Crushed in her mother’s arms, Ami felt her shaking. “Mom, are you all right?”

“Fine, honey, I’m fine. Are you? Ami-chan, are you hurt? Is everything all right?” Worriedly, her mother was searching her eyes.

Trying to sound convincing, Ami stuttered, “I’m fine. Why wouldn’t I be? I’m sorry I didn’t call, but Minako-chan was having such problems with math, and I had to help her with quadratic equations and I just lost track of the time at Rei’s....” Becoming aware she was babbling, Ami closed her mouth. “I spent the night. See? Rei-chan lent me clothes and everything.”

She hefted the duffel bag with Athena’s dress in it, hoping her mother wouldn’t be paranoid enough to check within.

Dr. Mizuno held her daughter’s shoulders. “It’s all right Ami-chan,” she said it with such intensity and forgiveness that Ami blinked. She doesn’t mean about my cover story of not calling, does she?

“Mom?”

“I know,” Dr. Mizuno began slowly, “that you’re...special...somehow. You and your friends,” she smiled weakly, trying to convince herself of what she was saying. “I’m not sure, Ami-chan, what to say. But...I understand. It’s okay. I love you.”

“Thank you, Mom.”

“That’s a lovely pin, Ami-chan.”

“A...friend...gave it to me.”

Dr. Mizuno gave a brisk nod, as though coming to a decision. “I was thinking, Ami-chan, that we haven’t had enough time together. I know I’ve been working late nights at the hospital. I know it’s late, but I thought we could go get some dinner.”

“I’d love to, Mom.”

“And we don’t have to talk about anything you don’t want, okay?”

“Can...can I have a minute? To get changed?”

“Of course.”

Ami fled to the safety of her room, closing the door behind her. She dropped the duffel, flipping on the light. A cool breeze tousled her hair, blowing though the open window. Her curtains fluttered to either side. Heading to close it while she changed, Ami nearly dropped her bag on top of a silvery white object on her bed. Setting the duffel aside, she lifted it up, turning it around in hands. “Hermes,” she whispered, smiling and shaking her head.

Two serpents, eyes made of the finest lapis lazuli, swallowed each others tails in an endless circle. It was the bracelet she had worn, given to her by Elissa. With a light laugh, she crossed to the window, holding it in the moonlight, seeing the gleam of the moon on silver. She slipped the armlet back on, letting it rest comfortably on her skin.

“Ouroboros and Medusa,” she told the smiling moon, then turned and began to dress for dinner.

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