Fated Pasts, Chaotic Future
A Ranma ½ and Sailor Senshi crossover Fanfic
Written by: Konsaki
This Fanfic was inspired by and uses source material from 'Lines of Destiny', a dead Fanfic created by Louis-Philippe Giroux.
oOo
As the lightshow that signaled a transformation broke out, Sailor Moon and the rest of the Inner Senshi took a step back reflexively. The completely unorthodox way the transformation was triggered, namely by Endymion tricking an annoyed redhead into performing it, left the reaction of the new Senshi in extreme doubt. In almost an omen of things to come, the floor beneath the transforming girl exploded upward, obscuring the transformation for the split second it took place, only to fall back down into nothingness as it revealed Sailor Terran standing on the undamaged surface in its wake.
As they watched for any odd reactions from the new Senshi, they noted she wore the standard white bodysuit they all wore, but her colors were of a dual nature; they being gold and a deep blue. Her skirt showed that nature with it being blue with a gold trim along the bottom, while the bow on her chest was golden with a dark blue jewel centered in it. Her long red hair rolled down her back while, through her bangs, a golden tiara could be seen on her forehead with a bright tiger's eye set in it. Where the standard Senshi gear ended was the noticeable golden glow that surrounded the still shell shocked Terra.
It was only after a long moment before she blinked and finally became somewhat active, though her actions seemed to show her still shocked state as she looked down at herself to see her new attire. After softly tugging at the edges of her new skirt, Terra lifted one of her dark blue knee-length lace boots and ran a hand along the golden laces for a second. Setting that down after a moment, she felt the stone set in the tiara on her forehead while simultaneously running a gloved hand through her unrestrained hair.
As her body ran on autopilot, cataloging all the changes, her mind was trying to hold some semblance of control as she fought the urge to panic or cause bodily harm... or both. 'Ok, it's not that bad, right? I'm only just transformed into a magical girl and some guy in platemail is only telling me that I'm his sister. Heh, that's not that bad... I mean, I'm not stuck in girl form now...', she tried to reassure herself, even as images from her past life started to flood her mind.
Sitting beside Endymion by the lake; talking to Aunty Terra over tea; dancing at one of Serenity's balls... they just kept coming and coming.
Opening her eyes to the real world once more, as the images continued to flash by, she saw the Senshi before her and knew them... but she didn't. She saw someone to her side... Endymion... he was her only brother... the one she trusted... but she didn't know him... she knew everything about him...
"Kyaaaa!"
The scream that breached Terra's lips as she suddenly grabbed her head as if in pain, shocked everyone present. So much so, in fact, that when she immediately followed the scream by bolting out the door to the shrine and fled the property only Endymion had the sense of mind to give chase as he yell out, "Akana! Wait!"
The voice of her beloved yelling out seemed to snap Moon out of her shocked funk, enabling her to start her feet after the siblings not long after. It took Luna coming out from her hiding place and yelling, "What are you waiting for!? Go after them", for the remaining four Senshi to snap out of their own stupor; it took them no more prompting after that.
It didn't take the four of them long to catch up to Moon as she stood at a set of crossroads, looking at each of the three directions with trepidation. Looking back at the arriving Senshi, she threw her arms out in an exasperated motion, "This is great! Now I've lost them! We'll never find them now!"
Puffing slightly with breathlessness, Mercury flipped down her visor and notified Moon, "No we haven't. I'm tracking them with my computer."
Nodding appreciatively, the odango haired heroine demanded, "Alright then. Where are they?"
Tapping her computer a few times, she grimaced as lines of distance showed up in her hud, "How can he be catching up to her at that speed?"
"What are you talking about", Makoto asked in confusion.
Sighing at the information she was receiving, she responded while pointing down one of the streets, "Let's just say we have a long way to go just to catch up to where they are now..."
Nodding at what Mercury was saying, Moon threw out an arm dramatically, "Let's go!" A moment later, she was leading her Senshi in a mad dash to find her newest Senshi...
oOo
'How the hell does he keep doing that', Terra thought in frustration as she ran down the sidewalk before hopping over a parked yatai. The pedestrians in her way quickly made a path before her, and when they didn't, she leapt over them. Turning a quick corner, she ran down an alleyway to the next side street before making another turn down a main road. As she ran, she wondered how the boots and their two inch heels let her move like she was still in her normal martial artist shoes, but she wasn't going to bad mouth a good thing... sort of...
Feeling a tingling in the back of her mind, she swore one again before looking back to find the familiar stranger in silver armor turning a corner once more. 'What do I have to do to lose this guy', Terra asked herself as she banked hard around another building and hopped over the two meter fence that surrounded the transportation yard like it wasn't there. Even as she hopped over the other side fence, Endymion was landing from the first one. This time, he was close enough to make out that a glowing golden aura was surrounding him as well.
"Kuso", she cursed once more, this time vocally as she found the street ahead flooded with pedestrians and was forced to turn down yet another alleyway. 'What the hell is this aura?! Is that why he keeps finding me?! How the hell do I turn it off', she cried out in frustration in her mind.
//You can't. Not when Endymion's like that, anyways//, a voice inside Terra's head answered, causing her to almost flub a landing as she jumped over a parked delivery van. The voice laughed a little before commenting, //You've forgotten that that was one of his favorite tricks! You could never hide from him when he wanted to find you."//
Quickly regaining her footing, the sailor suited martial artist jerked her head around to try and find the speaker while she kept up her pace. The voice seemed to sound like her own, but was obviously tinged with mild amusement. Not seeing anyone nearby, she complained out, "Great, now I'm hearing things... Maybe I'm finally going insane!"
//Well, you are talking to yourself, in a way, but I can tell you that you aren't insane by any means, Ranma//, the voice countered in her head.
Even as she furrowed her brow in preparations to talk back to... whatever the voice was, Terra felt the tingling in the back of her mind that she figured out heralded Endymion's presence. 'Freaking fantastic! So I can't lose him then...', she groused out mentally as she looked around. 'Screw it, I'll see what he wants then tell him to leave me the hell alone', she decided a she reached a six story apartment building that had some balconies on the outside. Gearing for a jump to the third floor and then the top, Terra folded her legs underneath her and shot up. She almost fell on her face as she found herself above the roof by a good three meters at the apex of her leap, but managed to salvage it into a not so perfect three point landing. "What the hell was that", the wide eyed Senshi asked out to the open air.
//Oh... I guess you've forgotten the advantages to being a Senshi too...//, the mysterious voice lamented.
Tiring of the nameless being that was invading her mind, she yelled out, "Who the hell are you!"
If it were possible, Terra felt the voice raise a brow in response before responding, //I'm you, of course. Or at least, a part of who you used to be, anyways.// While the statement did nothing to reassure Terra, she tried to ignore the voice, quite unsuccessfully at that, to concentrate on the plate wearing pursuer behind her. As she felt him getting closer, she failed to notice her aura dimming into nothingness.
oOo
Endymion could tell that his sister was trying to lose him. Really, he would have to be blind not to notice it and, in fact, she had succeeded multiple times... at least temporarily. Every time he lost sight of her, something in the back of his mind would tell him which way to go and he'd wind up on her trail once more and gain on the fleeing Terra. It was pretty uneventful, for a chase through downtown Juuban during mid afternoon. With no one getting hurt and nothing damaged by their passing, the only moment that Endymion felt any true panic was when his sister seemed to have trouble during one of her leaps, though she completed the maneuver and continued on without a hitch. It wasn't until she leapt to the roof of a six story building that he noticed that she was keeping the chase relatively low to the ground.
Somehow knowing she was at the top waiting for him, the armor clad swordsman braced himself and performed his own gravity defying leap to the top. When he landed, he was graced with the fuku clad figure of his sister, arms crossed and scowl etched on her features. "Alright, Endymion... why are you following me?"
Blinking as the question stumped him for a moment, he responded to his sister reborn, "I followed because I'm worried about you, Akana."
With an eye twitch, Terra growled out, "Don't call me Akana! That's not my name!" Taking a breath, she waved a hand towards him while continuing, "And why the hell are you worried? I was fine before you tricked me into using that freaking rod."
Quirking his brow, Endymion couldn't figure out why Aka... Ranko was acting this way to finding out she was a Sailor Senshi. From what she heard about the other girls, they might not have been overjoyed at it, but they didn't scream like Ranko did and start a less than merry chase through the city. "Look... I'm sorry for tricking you, but it proves that you're my sister. She's the only one that could have used it", he tried to tactfully explain.
Hearing that, Terra raised a finger as it to jab it at him while taking a few steps towards him before she halted mid step. To the Earth prince who witnessed the action, it looked like the redhead was listening to someone that he couldn't hear. The moment quickly passed though and she finished crossing the distance with narrowed eyes and jabbed her finger at his breast plate while saying, "I don't care! The stupid rod doesn't mean shit! Now listen here, 'cause I'm going to make things real clear: For years, I've put up with people trying to kill me or marry me... sometimes both. I've had weird shit happen to me all my life and now, for the first time in a long time, I've finally got some freaking control over it. I. Do. Not. Need. This. Shit." She compounded her last words with a jab into his armor with each one, rocking him back slightly with each impact. For a brief moment her eyes unfocused like before and when they came back into focus, she growled out in emphasis, "And I'm not you're freaking sister. I'm no one's sister, got that?"
Mentally thrown off his feet by Terra's tirade, Endymion tried to regain his footing by asking, "What kind of weirdness? Maybe we can help you out... after all; we've fought our fair share of strange creatures as well."
"He has a point, you know", a third voice, one Endymion could hear at least, broke in. As the two siblings turned towards it, they saw Sailor Moon standing on the rooftop with the rest of the Senshi flanking her, some more out of breath than others.
As Terra looked on at Moon, her eyes lost focus once more. After a moment, they snapped back in and she jabbed the finger she had just finished prodding Endymion with towards Moon. "You", she growled out, "You did this to me! Why'd you have to give me that damned rod!?"
Blinking slightly, Moon replied as if the matter was settled even as she said, "Because it's yours."
"No, it's not", Terra protested back before sweeping an arm over her new attire, "Look what it did to me. I'm in a freaking short skirt which allows any pervert to see up it if I step wrong! I can sure as hell tell you that I didn't ask for this!"
"I never liked the uniform myself", Makoto muttered in agreement from the right of Moon, receiving a glare from her leader. "Well, I don't...", she added defensively.
"Look, I just told the walking tin can here", Terra started again, indicating the armor clad figure beside her, "that I've had to deal with weird crap my entire life. I'm tired of it and I really don't want to have you guys thrown into the mix."
"Maybe we can help you out", Moon said, almost mirroring Endymion's earlier statement. "We've seen our own share of weird things."
"No offense", the red haired Senshi said with a wave of her hand, "but most of the weird stuff I come across is deadly."
With a twitch in her eye, Mars responded by calling out, "We've fought demons, aliens, beings from the future and people who could destroy the world on a whim. I think we'll be just fine against whatever you've dealt with."
Giving her cousin a half-lidded look, Terra asked, "You've fought things that could destroy the world?"
"Yeah", Jupiter replied with vigor, "And we won, too!"
Raising a brow, Terra then asked, "So what do you need me for?"
Both Mars and Jupiter seemed lost at that question, forcing Mercury to pick up the slack, "Our enemies usually become stronger with each new encounter. Considering the fact that we all nearly died during our last fight, I'm sure you would be a great addition to the team for whatever might be coming next. For the record, we found out that you were supposed to be the second strongest amongst us during the Silver Millennium."
Placing a hand to her forehead, Terra let out a heavy sigh, "Guys... I'm just a martial artist. That's it." Opening her blue eyes to look at Moon once more, she said, "If it wasn't for... multiple reasons, I'd be happy to help, this thing", waving a hand before her, "being one of them. I can't go into them all, but I promised someone important that I'd stay out of fights if I could. Joining you would break that promise and if there's one thing I've done in my life, it's honor my word." As she finished speaking, her eyes lost focus yet again momentarily before she let out an exasperated cry, "Gah! All I want is to get out of this getup and have this damn voice stop talking in my head! Is that too much to ask!?"
"Voice", Endymion echoed with a concerned voice, "What do you mean?"
"The freaking voice that's talking to me in my head since you guys did this to me", she exclaimed back to him before phasing out for another moment. "Yes, they did", she yelled in frustrated response to the unheard comment. Taking a deep breath, Terra almost pleaded with the ones she deemed responsible, "Could you please, just fix this? All these images and that voice are going to drive me insane!"
Still slightly confused by the new Senshi's actions, Mars stepped forward saying, "I don't know about any voice, but I can probably help you with the images and memories you're probably experiencing."
"So you can make it all stop", Terra asked hopefully.
"No, not exactly", Mars replied with a shake of her head, sending her raven hair swaying, "I can help you order the memories in your mind so they'll make sense and maybe not bother you as much..."
Sighing in resignation, the redhead nodded in acceptance, "Ok, fine, whatever. I may not want these memories but I sure as hell don't want this!" Giving her head a quick shake, while taking a breath, she asked, "So what are you going to do?"
"Well, it's a technique that will sort your memories and help you make sense of everything. I don't know for sure, but it might take care of that voice as well", Mars replied as she stepped even closer.
Eyeing the advancing Senshi, Terra lowered her guard as she said, "Alright, just don't go messing around too much in there, I've had some real bad experiences with mind altering stuff." Ignoring the raised eyebrow Mars gave her over the loaded comment, the redhead tacked on, "Oh, and no mindreading while you're doing whatever the hell you're going to do to my head."
"Don't worry, I won't be able to read your thoughts or anything while performing the technique", the raven haired girl said back, slightly raising her hands, "You ready?" Seeing Terra nod her head and steel herself, Mars placed her hands on the sides of Terra's head while saying, "Alright, just relax. If you know any meditation, it will help out."
As the four other Senshi and Endymion watched, Terra and Mars closed their eyes and relaxed their breathing. The two of them seemed to stay like that forever even though only a few minutes had passed before Mars' eyes opened once more. Blinking a few times, the Senshi of Fire stepped back a step and the other Senshi rushed forward as she seemed to lose her balance. "I'm fine, I'm fine", she told them as she waved them off, "I'm just really tired..." Looking back to the still Terra, she added, "It was harder than I thought it would be, but I think it worked."
At those words, Terra opened her eyes only to blink a few times as she placed her hands to the sides of her head. After a moment, she lowered her arms to her side while looking from Mars to Moon, "Yeah... I think it worked. You know, it still doesn't change anything, though." With a sigh and a golden flash, she reappeared in her civilian garb, hair bound up in a low ponytail once more. "I won't tell anyone about your secrets... just don't go looking for me. You really don't need me anymore than I need you right now", she told the blonde leader.
Moon watched as Ranma looked at the rod she held in her hand before holding it out. Before Ranma could say anything, Moon pushed it away, stating, "It's yours, Ranko, by birthright. We can't take it back."
"Well, I don't want it", Ranma replied in a tired tone.
"Throw it away, destroy it, sell it... It's yours to do whatever you wish, but only you can ever use it", Moon explained.
As Ranma turned her back to the group, still looking at the rod in her hand, she heard a familiar male voice behind her softly call out, "Ranko..." Looking over her shoulder, she locked eyes with him, blue to blue, and said, "Don't talk to me, Endymion... and don't use that tick to find me again. Trust me... it'll be better off for both of us." With that said; she tossed the rod over her shoulder and leapt off the side of the roof.
Even as Endymion scrambled to the edge to look over, the falling rod disappeared before touching the rooftop. Not seeing this, the armored fighter searched below for any sign of his sister, but failed to see anything. Sighing, he turned back around just in time to hear Jupiter sarcastically say, "Well, that turned out just as planned."
Moon ignored the frustrated remark of her friend and teammate, choosing instead to look beyond her raven haired beloved to where Ranko was last seen. "I need to talk with Pluto about this", she said, more to herself than anything.
"What I want to know, is what happened to her henshin rod", Venus asked as she moved to a good spot to jump downward.
Frowning a bit, Mercury responded by saying, "The only thing I can think of is that she activated the storage function."
"But that doesn't make any sense", Mars countered, "Why would she do that if she wanted to get rid of it?"
Mercury just shrugged, "You'd have to ask her that..."
oOo
"Oh, excuse me", the yellow and red clad young woman said in surprise, as she impacted another pedestrian. 'Wow', Akane mentally remarked as the other person sent his own apology and went on his way, 'Juuban is a lot busier than Nerima...'
Spotting what looked like a small rest area ahead; Akane continued her walk through the busy section of town, tired after wading through the human sea and from her previous efforts of club exploration at the university. Shaking her head as she noted a clock hung on the buildings as she passed, she ruefully thought, 'Well... this will teach me to explore Juuban during rush hour. So much for an easy time finding an apartment...'
Entering the area out of the main stream of traffic, the short haired woman stepped up to one of the vending machines and proceeded to procure a can of juice for her quick rest. It was only when she turned around to find a seat that she noticed a slightly familiar looking form occupying part of the bench already. As she moved over, she heard the soft sounds that the girl was crying and asked concernedly, "Hotaru-san?"
Hearing her name spoken, the purple haired girl found herself facing a figure of her hopes and dreams as she raised her head. "Akane-san", Hotaru's voice slightly stammered out as she wiped at her slightly damp eyes, "What are you doing here?"
"Just Akane is fine", the elder female informed as she sat down on the other side of the bench, folding her dress beneath her, "and I was just trying to take a break from that." She finished her words while waving a hand to the sea of movement not a few meters from the pair. Turning towards the young girl once more, she asked, "Are you okay, Hotaru-san?"
Smiling at the concerned gesture, the young Senshi in civilian form replied, "Yes... I'm fine." Taking a breath, the young teen explained by saying, "I'm just missing a friend that... moved away."
Akane nodded at that, knowing how the girl might feel, "I understand. I remember when one of my friends from school moved away; Chieko was her name. It took a while, but I was able to make other friends and things got better... And I know they will for you too, Hotaru-san." Going with the feeling of familiarity she was getting from the smaller girl, Akane continued by suggesting, "How about we become friends? I don't know that many people in Juuban yet, and a friend would be nice."
Hearing that, Hotaru's smile almost grew to epic proportions before she made the condition, "Only if we stop using keigo." As they both shared a giggle at that, Hotaru seemed to notice the clock post that centered the small resting area. "Oh no", the girl let out in surprise, "I need to head home or else I'll be late!"
Wanting to spend some more time with her new young friend, Akane asked, "Do you mind if I walk you home?"
Giving a quick noise of negative response, Hotaru clarified with, "I'd like that very much. It's not out of your way, is it?"
Seeing the girl point in a direction, the woman mentally calculated where she was in relation to the shrine she and her husband were staying at, "I don't think it's too far; besides, I don't have to meet Ranma for a while yet." Saying that, Akane pushed herself up off the bench and, almost immediately, cradled her left hand while letting out a yelp of pain.
Surprised, Hotaru got up quickly and stepped forward, concernedly asking, "What's wrong?"
Pulling out a couple of tissues from her purse, Akane verbally waved off the concern, saying, "It's nothing. I just cut my hand on the edge of the bench..." Looking to the offending place and noticing a sharp spur sticking out, she growled slightly, "They should really do something about that!"
While she was eyeing the offending metal, Hotaru had already taken hold of Akane's injured hand and found the cut was really shallow, but long and bleeding slightly. Looking up to the taller female's face, she said, "Um... I can take care of this if you want."
"What do you mean", Akane asked in confusion as she turned back to the younger girl.
"Just watch", was the violet haired girl's only response as she pressed her palm over Akane's injured one and it began to glow faintly. Akane could feel a pleasant warm feeling from the contact and, after a moment when the girl removed her appendage, she found her hand clear of the long cut, save for some smudges of red leftover blood.
As she saw Akane's eyes widen, Hotaru braced herself for a rejection from her new friend, but was instantly surprised when Akane let out a low voice filled with awe, "That's amazing..." Looking from her hand to the girl, she inquired, "How did you do that, Hotaru?"
"Well...", she started out, still unsure about how this was all going to turn out, "I can heal people depending on how bad it is. I don't know how I do it, I just can. I've been able to for as long as I can remember..."
"Wow... That's so incredible", Akane's voice continued on in awe, much to Hotaru's relief, "I think it's a wonderful ability to have. I wish I could do that..." Pulling the strap of her purse up onto her shoulder, Akane asked, "Would you mind telling me more about it while we walk?"
"Sure", Hotaru happily replied before giving a slightly mischievous smile, "Only if you tell me about yourself; like, how did you and Ranma get together?"
"Oh, wow", the martial artist replied, "you're starting big, aren't you, Hotaru-chan." Seeing the embarrassed grin on the girl's face, Akane just shook her head ruefully, "No, it's ok. Let's see..." She took that moment to decide what to edit out of her story, deciding on just not talking about Ranma's curse. Everything else seemed all right to tell the young girl, as most of it was truly unbelievable to Akane and she lived most of it! "It all started one day when my father called me and my sisters for a family meeting..."
oOo
Once she started talking; time seemed to flow by as Akane told her tale, but eventually, like all tales, it reached its current conclusion as the raven haired woman finished with, "...we finally got married just two days ago. We were wondering where we would stay until we found an apartment here in Juuban, but Rei was kind enough to let us stay at the shrine until we could find a place of our own." As she brought the tale to a close, Akane mentally patted herself on the back for glossing over many details which would have revealed her husband's curse, such as the entire reason for his fight with Herb.
As for Hotaru, she was in rapture as she listened to the entire epic; part of her knowing that it couldn't possibly be real. It had all the trappings to be an amazing manga or anime but, based off her life experiences, the other part of the young girl took it at face value. Still, it explained why Ranma was so flippant about defeating the daimon at the train station; what with all the fiancées, rivals and adventures he had been on. It seemed like he'd have a new battle waiting for him almost every day, and loved it almost every minute. Her musings were interrupted by Akane calling her name softly, causing Hotaru to blink and ask, "Yes, Akane?"
Looking a bit pensive, the female Saotome requested, "I'd like it if you didn't go around telling everyone about this, okay? Trouble has a way of finding Ranma wherever he goes and I'd like to avoid it, at least for a little while. It's part of the reason we left Nerima."
"Okay...", Hotaru promised, while still slightly distracted by the long exposition she had just heard. After that, the pair walked in silence for a few minutes before she noticed that they were almost upon the house that she and the rest of the Outers shared. "Oh, we're here", she noted, "Well, this is where I live. Thank you for accompanying me home, Akane."
"No problem at all, Hotaru-chan", Akane responded with a warm smile, before looking a little sheepish, "I hope I didn't bore you with all that, though."
The dark-violet haired girl was just about to tell her friend how the story was anything but boring, but both were attracted to the sound of the front door opening. When they looked over, they found a smiling Michiru there as she welcomed, "Oh, Hotaru-chan, you're home! Haruka and I were wondering when you would..." Her voice trailed off as she blinked for a second, noticing the figure standing beside her adopted daughter, "Akane-san? What are you doing here?"
It was the Saotome's turn to blink as she mirrored slightly, "Michiru-san?! What..." Shaking her head quickly, she explained, "I met Hotaru-chan while wandering around and we got to talking while I walked her home."
"Really", the aqua haired Senshi asked in slight wonder, "Well, would you like to come in for some tea. We could continue our conversation we had yesterday..."
"Ah, well... I wouldn't want to intrude", Akane stated, trying to back out. That was before she looked over and found Hotaru giving her a devastatingly cute pleading look. "Well, I think I can stay for a bit. Ranma can fend for himself for a while without me."
Letting out a light whoop of delight, Hotaru virtually grabbed hold of Akane's hand and drug her into the house, much to Michiru's surprise. As Michiru closed the door behind them, she saw Akane take in her surroundings while Hotaru continued leading the short haired woman towards the living room. As she felt her hand released, Akane continued her examination of the household while distractedly asking, "Hotaru-chan, is Michiru-san your sister?"
Looking slightly embarrassed with the assumption, the shorter female responded, "Um... no, she isn't. She's sort of my adopted mother."
Hearing that, Akane blinked in surprise, as she looked back to finally notice that Michiru was wearing a school uniform. Seeing that, the martial artist silently kicked herself as she realized that the rising musician was only year younger than herself from the stories she had previously read. When they finally stepped into the living room, Akane saw the sandy blonde woman from the café reading a magazine on the couch. Hearing the people enter, Haruka looked up and almost did a double take when she noticed Akane in the room with her housemates.
"Haruka, I hope you remember Saotome Akane", Michiru prodded softly as she made her way through the room to gather the tea supplies from the kitchen.
"Uh, yeah... yeah, I do", Haruka replied distractedly as she stood up from the couch. "What brings you to our humble home?"
"We met by accident and just started talking, Haruka-papa", Hotaru chimed in, "Next thing we knew, we were here."
Hearing the suffix Hotaru gave to the blonde haired woman, Akane raised a brow slightly as she looked at the slightly taller... woman. Taking note of the attire she was wearing and finally placing the woman before her with the masculine dressed person from the cafe, Akane couldn't help but inwardly snort while thinking, 'And Ranma calls me a tomboy... When he finds out the she was the guy from... Oh, I'm going to have so much fun teasing him about this.'
As the trio sat down and got comfortable, Akane found herself enjoying the spacious yet cozy atmosphere the house had. With the size of the residence and the quality of furniture she could see, Akane had to place Michiru and Haruka as very well off for their age. Sighing in her mind, she resigned herself to the fact that she and Ranma would probably never be as well off as these people, but they surely weren't living destitute by any means. Shrugging it off as mild envy, she turned towards her young friend and asked, "So, why didn't you tell me you lived with Michiru-san and Haruka-san?"
Grinning a little sheepishly, Hotaru replied, "Well, you never asked..."
Hearing Haruka snicker lightly from her seat, Akane just shook her head ruefully. She turned her attention fully towards the blonde when she said, "Oh, and you can drop the keigo, Akane-san. Seems like you're a friend of Hotaru-chan and any friend of hers is a friend of ours."
"Thank you", Akane replied with a smile, "but only if you do the same."
Grinning, the Senshi of Uranus easily replied, "Sure, no problem there."
Just then, the phone rang, interrupting the conversation momentarily. From the kitchen, Michiru called out, "I'll get it", letting Haruka shrug it off and continue her conversation with the interesting martial artist. As she picked up the phone in the kitchen, the long haired Senshi of Neptune answered with a, "Moshi-moshi?"
*Michiru*, questioning familiar voice on the other end asked, *Is Setsuna around?*
"Sorry, but she's not her, Usagi", Michiru replied to the leader of the Senshi. "Actually, we haven't seen her for a while now", she clarified to halt an unsaid question.
*Oh... Um... Did you hear what happened at school after class today*, Usagi's voice asked once more, with a more than a little hesitancy in it.
Furrowing her brow slightly, Michiru responded with a concerned, "No, we left a little early today. Why? What happened?"
There were a few moments of silence from the other end, in which Michiru started fidgeting with her hair, twirling some strands around a finger. Eventually, Usagi finished pondering her response and surprised the Neptunian princess by switching to a new topic, *Did Hotaru tell you about the incident at the train station?*
Blinking a few times, Michiru replied, "The one about the daimon that attacked?"
*Yes, that one*, came the serious reply followed by another question, *Did she talk about who actually killed it?*
"Yes, she did", Michiru answered, trying to figure out where Usagi was going with this, "We found it hard to believe, really. Did Rei's cousin really fight and defeat the daimon by himself?"
*Not exactly. His wife helped him out a little*, Usagi admitted, *But he still defeated it in the end... Anyways, did you know his wife has a cousin that looks a lot like him? Her name's...*
"Tendo Ranko", Michiru answered for her, causing Usagi to go silent for a few seconds.
*How did you know?*
"We met her and Akane at a café yesterday afternoon", Michiru supplied. "It was quite an interesting meeting too." Taking a breath, she continued on, "Afterwards, I tried to find out about her using the Mirror but all I got were some confusing images of Ranko, Ranma and Mamoru along with a scene of numerous pools of water."
*You used the Mirror on Ranko*, Usagi asked in surprise in response. Soon after, there were sounds of quick communication on the other side of the line before Rei's voice replaced the blonde's, "Michiru, we need to have a meeting... soon! A lot has happened since yesterday and we all need to compare notes. I have a strange feeling about all this and we need to find out what's going on!*
Leaning over the counter on an elbow, she ran he free hand through her long hair, "What kind of things have happened?"
There was a pause on the other line once more before Rei's voice once more came over it, *Michiru... Ranko is Sailor Terra.*
"What!? How did that happen", the Senshi of the sea cried out louder than she expected to.
*Long story*, was Rei's only reply before saying, *Look, we can't use the shrine for any meetings due to Ranma and Akane. Can we come over to your place? We also really need to talk to Setsuna.*
With her mind still awhirl with the information she just received, the aqua haired woman answered on autopilot at first, "We haven't seen Setsuna for a while now. I already told Usagi this. As for coming over here, Akane is visiting right now..."
There was another long silence on the line before she heard Rei mutter, *Too many coincidences...* Before Michiru could ask what she meant, Rei asked, *Why is she over there?*
"It seems she and Hotaru got to talking and found their way here. I'll make sure she's gone before you arrive though", Michiru promised.
*Alright... we'll be coming shortly then*, Rei responded as to end the call.
"Wait", Michiru quickly called into the receiver, "Is... Ranko coming?"
After another bout of silence, Rei soberly said, *No, she's not... That's one of the things we need to talk about. We'll be over as soon as possible.*
Before Michiru could say anything else, the line clicked dead, leaving her looking at the handset in her hand before she set it back into its cradle. Sighing, the young woman turned around only to jump back in fright. After a moment, she noticed Haruka standing there with a concerned and confused look on her face. "Sorry, you just surprised me, there."
Quirking her brow, Haruka inquired, "Is everything alright? I heard you yell from the living room..." That in itself was cause for worry, with Michiru having almost as good emotional control as Setsuna did.
Taking a quick breath, Michiru started relaying the startling information she just received from their Inner compatriots.
Out in the living room, Akane found herself feeling more and more like she had known Hotaru for a long time, instead of the one day it was in reality. As Akane had related some of her and Ranma's life on the walk over, Hotaru was indulging the older female with her stories, with heavy editing involved. After a while, Akane found herself just staring at the young girl, even after Hotaru stopped speaking, with a spaced out look on her face.
Finally realizing her visitor's current state, Hotaru began to feel self-conscious, "Um... Is something wrong, Akane?"
Snapping out of her dazed state with that question, the short haired woman shook her head slightly while blinking, "Oh... Sorry, it's nothing, Hotaru-chan." Akane was silent for a moment before hesitantly saying, "It's just... I feel like I should know you from someplace... but I can't remember where."
Smiling wistfully, which Akane took for shyness, Hotaru mentally corrected, 'Not where... but when.' Deep in her gut, she was fighting a battle with the urge to just jump up and tell her everything right then and there, but held it back, if just barely. She didn't want to lose a friend in the rush to find her brother.
Noticing a clock which hung on the wall behind Hotaru, Akane blinked for a second, "Oh... I'm sorry Hotaru-chan, but I think I lost track of time. I really should head back to meet up with Ranma."
"Oh", was Hotaru's only reply as she sunk down into her chair, looking a little dejected.
Standing up, Akane moved over and laid a hand on her young friend's as she let her know, "Don't worry, Hotaru-chan. I'll come back to visit soon." Seeing the girl nod in response, the elder of the pair made her way the doorway to the kitchen where she encountered Michiru and Haruka in conversation.
Haruka, who was facing the doorway, immediately stopped talking upon noticing her there, which caused Michiru to turn around. "Yes, Akane", she asked, a sliver of her worried state shedding through in her voice.
"I'm really sorry", she started to explain, "but I really must be leaving. I told Ranma I would meet him at the shrine and I have to leave now if I plan on making it in time."
While feeling happy at not having to ask her guest to leave, Michiru also was disappointed due to the fact that she was unable to continue their conversation from yesterday. Chalking it up to good luck at the moment, she smiled slightly and told the visiting Saotome, "I understand, but you really must make it back sometime soon. We'll finish that conversation eventually."
"I'd really like that", Akane responded as she finished up, giving a polite bow and received one in return.
oOo
Elsewhere in the prefecture, Rei turned away from the freshly hung up phone to lean against the wall it hung on. Looking towards the others standing nearby, she sighed and stated, "Alright. Michiru agreed to us meeting at their place. It seems that they have questions about Ranko and Ranma too."
"That's good", Minako replied to the priestess in casual clothes, "but why won't Setsuna be there?"
"I have no clue", Rei answered with a shrug, "Neither does Michiru. She said she hasn't seen her for a while now."
"But why now", Usagi complained, looking annoyed, "She monitors the time stream, right? So she should know we need to talk to her right now!" Grumbling under her breath, she started walking away from the bank of phones, the other following along beside her.
"Maybe that's the reason she isn't here", Ami supplied up as a theory, "Maybe she wants us to do this on our own."
"Well that's great", Makoto growled out, "Would it kill her to leave a note or something? Something saying 'Be gone for a bit, I know you can handle it' would be nice."
At that, the five of them heaved a collective sigh, knowing that this was just Setsuna's style and they had no choice but to go with it. "Anyways, maybe one of us should go back to the shrine and get Luna and Artemis. I'm sure they will want to be at the meeting", Rei commented. Shifting to a voice that clearly showed her apprehension at seeing the soon to be hostile cats, she added, "They're really not going to like hearing this."
"None of us like the way this turned out, Rei", Usagi said in an a flash of leadership as she placed a hand on the fire maiden's shoulder. Turning to the other blonde in the group, she asked, "Minako, could you get Artemis and Luna and meet us there?" Minako replied with a nod and headed off to find a place to transform, knowing she could move faster in her Senshi guise.
Down one member, the team of girls plus Mamoru continued their trek by foot towards the Outer's abode. There was silence for a moment before Ami continued her grilling of the Earthen Prince, "Are you absolutely sure you don't remember how you kept up with her?"
Exasperated, Mamoru shook his head, "I told you already, the only thing I noticed was that I started to glow gold for a bit, but it went away. Why are you asking about this?"
"A golden glow", Rei questioned the only male with them.
"Yes, a golden glow", he reiterated, "it was sort of like the one Terra had before she transformed."
Taking a note of this information, Ami continued the inquisition by asking, "Well, do you know how fast you were running?"
Raising an eyebrow at the question, Mamoru tried to formulate a number in his head. Failing that, he replied dumbly, "Um... fast?"
"Mamoru", Ami started out, showing him her computer display, "You were going around sixty-five kilometers per hour. Even transformed, we can only reach around forty." As she explained this, the display kept changing to keep pace, even as she continued by saying, "Just how did you do that?"
"What", the college student asked in shock before shaking his head quickly and putting a hand to it, "I don't know! I just had to catch up to her, so I did!"
"But that doesn't answer anything", Ami complained as she continued typing away on the device.
Sensing that her love needed saved from the team's genius; Usagi changed the subject by asking, "Mamo-chan, did you find out why she acted like she did?"
Shaking his head once more while sighing, he replied, "No, Usako, I didn't. When I talked to her before the fight, she wasn't anything like this. I don't know why, but she didn't take it well when I told her she was my sister." Heaving another sigh, he lamented, "I wish I knew why she acted that way."
"She was confused and afraid of something", Rei broke in, cupping her chin with her fingers. Seeing everyone looking at her, she added, "I was able to feel that when I jogged her memories."
"You were able to read her mind", Mamoru asked with a brow raised.
"No, no. Nothing like that", Rei dispelled with a wave of her hand, "I can't read minds with that technique. I could only feel her surface feelings through her aura, which isn't the same thing as reading someone's mind." Letting out a breath, she continued by saying, "But still, I felt a lot of confusion, which is understandable, but the fear is what has me wondering. It wasn't the kind you get when facing a monster, it was something... different. Like she feared what her memories would tell her..."
"Why would she fear her memories", Usagi wondered out loud.
"I don't know, but she defiantly didn't like the skirt and I can't blame her", Makoto replied, earning the Jovian another scathing look. "What? I didn't like them then and I don't like them now."
Any other glares from Usagi were halted when Mamoru let out an entertained chuckle. Seeing the others looking at him questioningly, he responded, "Oh, I just remembered that Akana didn't care for the uniform as well, but she never told you guys."'
"Yeah", Makoto cried out while throwing a fist in the air, "Another one for my side; 'pants or longer skirts'!" The conversation or heated debate, depending on the person involved, her outburst started continued all the way to their destination...
oOo
Normally, Ranma was a creature of instinct, charging in where fools may dare, but she was still a fairly intelligent being, though not a genius by any means. Still, when there was a reason to, she could think things out and plan her next moves or decipher the problem at hand just as well as any other person. This was exactly what the redheaded Saotome was doing as she leaned against a wall on a under populated side street. Though she would never admit it, feeling nervous and confused was also what she was doing and it showed on her face even as she muttered out her thoughts under her breath.
"Okay, let's see here", she muttered, crossing her arms over her chest, "I wanted to find out why I was having dreams of Mamoru... or is it Endymion? Whatever... So I ask him and he transforms into that tux guy and then Endymion."
Letting out a sigh, she got to the first of two big points of her problem, "Then he tells me I'm his sister... I can't be his sister, I..." Ranma's voice trailed off as her eyes unfocused, an image of her and Endymion posing for a picture, hugging with smiles... just like siblings would. "No... I can't be...", she denies as she shakes the image from her mind. "I might have gotten used to having this curse, but that's because I had to... I'm still a guy, damnit."
"Still, he could have said something freaky like being a past lover or something", she admitted, trying to look at it as a 'not so bad' situation. It was a habit she picked up on her ten year long training journey as a child and it had always served her well since then. 'No matter what happened, it could always have been worse; but now it's over so on to better things', was the theory behind it and unconsciously used in most situations.
That's when she remembered the sight of Rei and her friends transforming right before her eyes into the Sailor Senshi... and her own bout of being inside the dazzling lightshow. The feeling of power rushing through her veins, the soft caresses as she was stripped and remade, the flood of images... Endymion... That voice. The redhead couldn't suppress the shudder that coursed through her body at the memory, a multitude of reasons behind it.
Ranma just knew, at the time, she needed to get away to think. She didn't need to be surrounded by… Enemies? Friends? She didn't know yet, and the Saotome Secret Technique served her well... up until Endymion started his pursuit. 'How did he keep finding me? There had to be some technique …', she pondered as she cradled her chin with a hand. 'Stupid bastard…', she cursed, kicking herself, 'Freaking tricked me into using that stupid rod…'
Letting out a derisive snort, the redhead crossed her arms before her once more as she muttered, "And as if being stuffed into that stupid fuku ain't enough, that voice starts making fun of me." Placing a hand to her forehead, she commented lowly, "Damn… When the shit hits the fan in my life, it don't kid halfass it. At least Rei… Mars… she was about to do something about that damned voice and images…"
Taking a breath, the martial artist squared her shoulders as she formulated a quick plan that was assured to work; pretend it didn't happen and stay male until he and Akane moved out of the shrine. Nodding in agreement to her own plan, Ranma kicked off the wall and finished making her way towards the shrine, planning on procuring some hot water as soon as she arrived.
Ranma's plan hit a snag when her sixth sense started yelling at her at someone powerful, and not bothering to hide it, was nearby and closing in. Acting on instinct, she slid into a nearby gap between buildings while quickly masking her own aura in time to watch a familiar orange clad blonde sprint past and head into the Hikawa Shrine. 'Kuso', the redhead cursed as she swiftly moved up to a blind corner on the perimeter wall of the shrine as stealthily as she could. Straining her ears, she could just barely make out the words of people talking inside…
"…worried! What happened", a male voice asked in concern.
"Long story", another voice, this one female, "I'll tell you along the way." Hearing this, Ranma linked this person and the orange clad Venus together.
"What do you mean", another female voice questioned in confusion, "Where are we going?"
"To Michiru and Haruka's place", Venus answered, "We're having an emergency meeting."
"Why can't we just meet here like we always do", the female voice asked in response.
"Because Ranma and Akane are staying here, Luna", Venus replied in slight exasperation, "Now, let's go!" It was only a moment later that a shadow flashed over the hidden redhead, as Venus vaulted over the wall she was pushed up on. Venus never noticed the observer as Ranma watched the orange clad girl sprint away with something in her arms, but never got a good look at whatever it was before the Senshi ran out of sight around a corner.
'Great… there's more of them', Ranma thought as she stayed silent and unmoving for a good while, listening for any more sounds of conversation or movement from inside the shrine walls. Hearing nothing after a long wait, she scrambled up the wall to peer over it as covertly as possible; which was considerably covert thanks to her father's style of training. Another short wait showed no movement inside the compound, which was momentarily not the case as she finished climbing over the wall to sneak into the shrine proper on the hunt for hot water…
oOo
A while later, Minako finally arrived at the Outer's house to find everyone already inside, gathered in the once spacious living room. With the amount of people there now, it was just on the verge of being cramped, but still acceptable for the purpose at hand. "Sorry about taking so long", Minako apologized to the group as she released the cats from her arms and sat in one of the few spots left.
"We just got here ourselves", Makoto replied as the black moon cat leapt onto the small table between everyone.
Facing her liege, Luna said, "Minako told us what happened but it didn't make any sense. What went wrong?"
"That's what I'd like to know", Usagi grumbled as she shook her head, "How could someone who fought off that little pervert like she did suddenly freak out like that?"
"Your guess is as good as mine, princess", Haruka replied with a shrug. "I just know she wiped the floor with that goon yesterday and scared the rest out of their minds with her fancy lightshow."
"Goons", Rei repeated with confusion, "What are you talking about?"
"She just helped me take care of some trash yesterday", Haruka said with a shrug. "Some idiots were trying to persuade us to join them for some 'fun' but they bit off more than they could chew."
"Just because you can take down some local punks or a perverted little letch doesn't mean you're fearless. Point in fact is Ranko and Ranma's fear of cats", Rei pointed out to the group.
Haruka just looked at the priestess blankly for a moment before snickering, "She's afraid of cats?"
"Hey, it isn't funny", Usagi chastised the blonde; "She had a very serious training accident when she was a child! So, don't make fun of Mamo-chan's sister!"
"Sister", Haruka questioned back, instantly losing her humor as she looked from Usagi to Mamoru.
Before either of them could reply, Hotaru spoke up in response, slightly annoyed, "Yes, Haruka-papa! I just told you yesterday."
Haruka looked at her child with a confused expression for a moment before the knowledge hit her that, somewhere in Hotaru's exposition yesterday, she mentioned Mamoru believing that Ranko was his sister in their past lives. Michiru spoke up, breaking Haruka's initiative on responding, saying, "Well, that explains the image of her and Mamoru, but I still haven't figured out her connection to Ranma."
"Ranma", Rei asked out, "What are you talking about, Michiru? Why should she have a connection to Ranma other than her being his wife's cousin?"
Standing up and moving over to a bookshelf to pick out some drawings, the aqua haired woman replied, "When we met Ranko yesterday, I used the Deep Aqua Mirror. It showed me five images, which I sketched out." Placing the sketches on the table between everyone, she named them off, "Here they are in the order I saw them: Ranko, Ranma, Ranko and Mamoru, followed by Ranko and Ranma."
"What about the fifth", Makoto asked as she looked over the drawing of Ranko and Mamoru. It wasn't a perfect match to the pair, but it was close enough to figure out easily.
"That would be this one", the Senshi of Neptune replied as she placed down her last picture on top of the other four.
"It's a bunch of ponds with poles in them", Makoto stated while looking from the scene towards the one who drew it. "What does it mean and how, exactly, does it help us?"
Crossing her arms before her lightly, Michiru shrugged, "I was hoping one of you could tell me that. I don't know enough about any of this to make sense of what the Mirror is telling me." She gestured with a finger, making a point, "But I do know that the Mirror never lies. Ranko, Mamoru, Ranma and those ponds… Somehow, they are all connected in some way or another."
Silently, while Michiru talked, Mamoru picked up the sketch of himself and his reincarnated sister. Usagi watched as he held it before him, lines of frustration, worry and sorrow etched on his face, though his eyes still remained solid and focused. Seeming to pull strength from her love's demeanor, the daughter of Serenity squared her shoulders as a commanding voice broke over the room, "Senshi, we are going to find out why this happened and what went wrong." Looking around the room for a moment, seeing the slightly shocked but focused looks from the surrounding females, she directed, "I want us to start off from square one." Silence reigned for a moment, before Usagi leaned over to the short haired girl beside her and whispered, "Where is square one?"
Seeing how everyone was hanging on their leader's words at the moment, the whisper was heard by everyone, shattering the moment even before Ami responded with, "I would start at the train station incident and work from there. That's where all these odd occurrences started, when Mamoru returned and when Akane and Ranma showed up…" Thinking for a moment, she pondered, "You know, we don't know when Ranko actually arrived in Juuban…" Shrugging it off as of little importance and an almost impossibility to answer, the Senshi of Ice restated, "But, yes, the train station is where it all started."
"Ok, so we were at the station to meet Mamoru when a leftover daimon attacked", Minako started out. "Then, Ranma and his wife started playing tennis with it before killing it with an energy blast. Then they just disappear without a trace."
"He and Akane came to the shrine just after that", Rei voiced out.
"Yeah", Makoto agreed before adding her own bit, "Ranma mentioned the attack, but he made it seem more like a school fight than anything. We didn't find out it was a monster attack until Usagi and the others arrived."
"Uh, huh", Usagi nodded with a bob of her twin tails. A moment later, she blinked as everyone got silent and was looking towards one another as if lost. "Uh... what happened next", she asked in a minor confused state.
Letting out a low hum, Ami spoke up, "I think it was when Akane showed back up at the shrine and Ranko appeared for the first time."
"Ah... no, I don't think so", Haruka retorted, "From what Hotaru told us, that's after we met her at the café."
Mulling the timeline over quickly in her head, Ami nodded and waved to the sandy blonde Senshi, "That seems about right. Well, what happened there?"
"Michiru and I were having tea when Ranko and Akane walk in. Soon after, a group of punks comes in and starts hitting on everyone..."
"Minus you, dear", Michiru piped in, gaining a grin from everyone who knew Haruka's boyish style of dress.
Giving a slight sigh, Haruka rolled her eyes slightly, "Yes, minus me. Anyways, after Red tells them to shove off, they decide to get rough." Chuckling a bit, she continued on with a grin, "That's when Red nearly broke the guy's hand for touching her."
"She did, love", Michiru corrected again. "It was quite... disturbing actually", she shivered for a split second as she heard the popping and scream in her mind.
As if hearing the same thing, Haruka smirked and let out a snort, "Yeah, she did, didn't she?" Shaking her head ruefully, she continued on, "Anyways, after that, we each took out one, though two of them were still able to move. She then she starts glowing and tells them to get lost before she kicks them out."
"After that, we started talking, but someone", Michiru stressed, "started asking too many questions and they left. I was enjoying my conversation with Akane, too."
Haruka had the decency to look sheepish while Ami moved things along by saying, "And then they show up at the shrine."
"Yeah, that's where we got our first good look at Ranko", Usagi noted, to numerous nods. "It was a real short visit, but we found out she was Akane's cousin."
"We also found out that they were trained together", Rei pointed out, "and the fact that Ranma can use ki." Seeing the blank expression on the two older Outer's faces, the shrine maiden sighed lightly, "It's a form of spiritual energy that everyone has, but only a few can ever train to use. Ranma and Ranko have to be prodigies or something to do be able to do what they can with it."
"When did Ranma show up", Michiru asked while scrunching her brow. "You only said Ranko and Akane showed up at the shrine."
"He arrived just after Ranko left", Minako answered offhandedly; "He said she almost ran over him."
"Oh", the Senshi of the Sea responded, "Well, did anything else happen?"
"No, not really", Makoto replied. "Ranma basically got tired of the questions and headed off to bed."
"Okay, well that's probably when I used the Mirror", Michiru noted, waving a hand to the papers still on the table, "and you know how that turned out."
Looking around for a second, Makoto spoke up once more, "I guess the next time we saw any of them was when Ranko showed up and beat down that Happosai perv."
"Almost", Mamoru cut in, speaking for the first time this conversation, "I met her by chance at the university. I was trying to talk to her and find a way to make sure she was my sister before I told her." Giving a sigh, he nodded towards the long haired brunette, "That's when we were distracted and she started fighting off the hentai."
Shivering, Rei hissed out, "Creepiest old perv I've ever met. I swear his aura was just a few steps below a demon's."
Raising a brow, Haruka asked, "Wait, she went and fought an old pervert. What's the big deal about that?"
"They were throwing each other through fifteen centimeter thick concrete walls", Ami deadpanned.
"That's not counting the fact that she was throwing around that energy... Ki", Makoto added and corrected as she got the stink eye from Rei. "Plus, to finish him off, she made this weird tornado thingy by throwing an uppercut that didn't hit anything." Seeing Haruka's disbelieving look, she raised her hands defensively, "It's the truth, I swear! The others saw it too!"
"That's right", Ami agreed, "I haven't fully analyzed the data, but she did perform that feat. After that, Usagi set it up where we met her at the shrine."
Feeling self-conscious and hearing unsaid blame, Usagi defended herself by saying, "I thought it was a good idea at the time and we did prove that she was Terra!"
"Only to have her run away right after", Rei pointed out and ignored Usagi's whine to not pick on her. "When we caught up to her and Mamaru, she said something about voices in her head that we caused. I performed a mind meld with her and it seemed to fix things, but she still said she wouldn't join us."
"What", Haruka cried out, "You can't just quit being a Senshi!"
Haruka reared back when she noticed Udagi's piercing glare directed at her a moment later, "I won't force her to be a Senshi and neither will you... any of you! We tried to talk to her but she didn't want to." Taking a breath, she admitted, "I don't blame her either. I didn't want to be Sailor Moon when Luna awakened me."
"That's an understatement", Luna muttered under her breath, receiving a snicker from the white moon cat beside her.
"All we can do is figure out why she reacted the way she did and hope we can become friends with her later and she joins us because she wants to", Usagi continued along, ignoring or not hearing her advisor, "But we will never force someone to our side! Do you understand me?"
"Yes, princess", Haruka responded, sufficiently cowed by the displayed level of command Usagi once more managed to pull out from underneath her normally bubbly exterior.
Nodding, Usagi turned to look around the room to her remaining Senshi and Mamoru before sighing, "Now, where do we go from here?"
Taking the initiative once more for her liege and friend, Ami tapped the paper holding the image of Ranma and Ranko back to back. "We haven't explored the relationship between Ranko and Ranma, yet", she notified the group.
"Let's see", Minako called out, tapping her fingers, "They dress alike, talk similar, have the same hairstyle, trained together and are related through Akane, use that ki energy thingy, both are really afraid of cats..."
Looking at the blonde warily, Makoto noted, "That's a lot of thing to have in common..."
"Too many", Rei agreed before shaking her head, "but a lot can be explained away by just having grown up together on the road. Ranma was on a ten year training trip since he was... five or six I think."
Hearing this new news, most of the other Senshi were boggling at the shrine maiden. "That's insane", Haruka muttered to a few nods.
Thinking about it logically, Ami thought out loud, "If they grew up together, maybe Ranma might know why she reacted like that. Since we can't find her, he's probably our best source of information on her."
Nodding, but letting out a sigh, Haruka slouched down in her sofa a little, "Damn... what a time for Setsuna to up and disappear on us."
"That's what I said", Makoto agreed with a sharp nod.
"She probably wants to see if you all can handle things like this without her", Luna theorized, mirroring a comment similar to that said earlier that day.
"That doesn't mean that it isn't frustrating", Michiru retorted lightly, still agreeing with Luna's statement.
As the group settled down into silence once more, Minako asked out of the blue, "So, why was Akane over here when we called?"
Blinking for a second, Hotaru responded, "We met at a rest area and started talking. When I said I needed to head home, she walked with me." Running on autopilot, she continued on, "That's when she told me about Ranm..." Realizing what she was saying, she halted herself mid sentence and looked more than slightly embarrassed.
The damage was done, though, and she saw that everyone had their attention directly on her, making the small Senshi push back into the plush sofa she sat on between her adopted parents. Speaking softly, Michiru asked, "Hotaru-chan, what did say about Ranma? It might be important."
Gauging the need to keep Akane's story a secret and the need to find out about a new Senshi, Hotaru sighed before throwing out a condition, "Alright, but you have to promise not to tell anyone!" Seeing nods throughout the room, even from the two moon cats, she started up the edited version of Ranma and Akane's adventures in Nerima and beyond. Truly, a vast majority of it sounded too outrageous to be true, but considering what they had already witnessed, they took it at face value. While Hotaru talked, Ami could be heard typing away at her computer, providing notation for the young Senshi.
When the young girl's words finally died out, there was stunned silence from her audience. Eventually, Ami's typing also ended and she sat there looking at the screen before unconsciously voicing, "I need to talk to him."
"What? Why", Rei asked as she shook herself out of her stupor, along with everyone else.
"Well, think about how much he knows about martial arts. Only a couple of us know any and in all our fights, how many times have we successfully fought in hand to hand", the short haired genius asked. "If he's as good as we saw from Ranko...", she mentioned, leaving the rest to everyone's imagination.
"You're assuming he'll teach us in the first place", Makoto replied, having had some experience with sensei's who wouldn't teach her because she was a girl.
Letting out a low hum, Mamoru spoke up once more, "Actually, he just might."
"Why do you say that, Mamo-chan", Usagi asked from his side.
"When I talked with Ranko, she said he was studying to get a Phys Ed degree so that he could take over their family dojo", he explained before shrugging, "If he's going to become a sensei, he'll need students eventually. Really, the worse he can do is say no..."
Feeling that the meeting was winding down, Rei looked to the drawings on the table before asking Michiru, "Do you mind if I take this drawing", indicating the one with the pools of water.
"I have no problem with it, but why do you want it", Michiru asked in confusion.
"I plan on asking the Great Fire about what this might be and having a picture will help me focus", Rei explained as she picked up the paper and carefully folded it a couple times. As was standard procedure for Senshi meetings, once the serious topics were gone over, things generally went to high school gossip and other things along that nature soon after...
oOo
When the two newlyweds finally crossed paths, it was Akane who first noticed her husband and called to him from across the street. She wondered about his general attitude when Ranma seemed to snap out of a dazed state before looking around wildly for her. When he did notice her, he ran across the street, thankfully minding the delivery truck that was driving past at the time. Exchanging a quick hug, Ranma wrapped an arm around his wife's waist as she did to his as they walked back towards the shrine.
No words were exchanged for a while, as they basked in each other's presence, but after a bit Akane seemed to notice that Ranma was acting a little oddly compared to his norm. "Are you ok, Ranma? Did something happen", her concern in her voice evident.
With her arm wrapped around him, she could instantly feel him tense ever so slightly, even though he fought the reaction. Sighing, she revised her question, "Okay, what happened?"
Giving a sigh, the long haired man replied, "Promise you won't get mad, okay... or at least hear me out first..."
Hearing those words come from her husband's lips were never a good thing in Akane's opinion and to be honest; they never were, whether she overreacted or not. Releasing him and taking a step away to get a good look at him, she quickly noticed the dust all over his cloths along with the fact that his hair was in a low ponytail instead of his usual braid. "You were in a fight, weren't you", she deadpanned, lightly crossing her arms as she stopped their forward movement.
Reaching up to scratch the base of his ponytail, he looked slightly away from her gaze, "Yeah... and you ain't going to like who I... er, Ranko, ran into either."
"Who", was the one word question Akane asked back while raising an eyebrow, both at the situation and at the clarification of what form her husband was in at the time.
"Happosai..." After saying that name, Ranma could fully understand the growling his wife was emitting, though he hoped it was directed at the old freak instead of him. However, instead of getting to a full head of steam and exploding, she just seemed to deflate after a moment, causing him to step towards her and as in concern, "Akane? You okay?"
"I guess...", came her tired reply, "I just hoped that we'd have at least a little time to get used to being married before it all started back up." Stepping into his embrace, Akane leaned into his and murmured, "I knew it wouldn't last forever, but we couldn't even step off the train before trouble found us..."
"I'm sorry, Akane", the ponytailed man replied with feeling, "I wish we could have some peace and quiet too, but I'm not going to turn my back on people who can't defend themselves just to get that peace. It goes against everything I've learned as a martial artist... That's one of the few things Pop got right."
"I know... that's one of the insufferable things I love about you, baka", Akane voiced out with mixed emotions as she smiled. "So, what happened this time?"
Feeling better about the situation, the Saotome heir's ability to speak before thinking came into play quickly, as he said, "Oh, nothing much. He was running around being a hentai at the local high school; stealing underwear and copping feels... you know; the usual for him. So, I jump in and kick his wrinkled little butt back to Nerima." He never even thought to tell Akane about the property damage since that happened all the time during his fights in Nerima. The one thing that never happened in Nerima is the thing he commented on a little viciously, "Yeah, the Senshi couldn't even do that."
Blinking while pushing back from her husband, Akane asked with more than a little confusion, "The Senshi?"
"Yeah, they showed up in their short skirts and pretty much...", his words dying out as he thought about just what he was saying. Jerking his eyes directly to his wife's he held out his hands wide, "Well, that's what they were wearing! Just how do you think he'd react? He leapt all over them!"
"So you're telling me that the Sailor Senshi, famous heroines, couldn't handle one old pervert", Akane asked dryly as she crossed her arms over her chest.
"That's exactly what I'm saying", Ranma replied before expanding on it, "Believe me, they tried to fry his ass with lightning or freeze it... hell, one actually got a good shot in and shot him with a wave of fire, but the entire fight was like me just shooting ki-blasts at him and just that. It just won't work on him. From what I did see, their hand to hand is okay at best, but that's not going to stop the freak; no way, no how."
Rubbing the back of his head, Ranma let out a deep, long breath while turning his head to the side, "Really, Akane, I'd like a break from all this shit, too. Wish they'd just leave us the hell alone."
Seeing her husband act this way caused Akane to step back mentally and really look at him. Noticing that he truly seemed tired as his voice betrayed, she reached forward to grasp one of his hands. Pulling forward slightly to get him moving once more, she changed the subject, "Alright... well, were you able to find any clubs at the university?"
Smirking slightly at first, but quickly growing into his usual confident grin, Ranma shook his head, "Naw... You know how the clubs back at Furinkan were. They're a waste of time." Pulling out a piece of paper from his pocket, he held it before her, "I did find this, though. It's a part time teaching job at one of the local schools as a Phys Ed assistant. What's great about it is the fact that I'll get paid and credit for teaching at the university. Two birds with one stone!"
"That's great, Ranma", the short haired woman exclaimed, giving his hand a squeeze. "Of course, I still need to find one, but I'm sure I'll find one soon."
"I'm more worried about finding a place to live", Ranma commented as they moved ever closer to the shrine.
"That too", Akane agreed before she remembered a point of interest, "Oh, while I was looking for one earlier, you wouldn't believe who I ran into."
"Ah", Ranma thought out loud as he pondered that thought but failed, "Okay, who'd you see?"
"Hotaru-chan", his short haired wife exclaimed happily. Her expression dimmed as she noticed the lost look on his face continued, "You know, the little girl that was at the shrine last night." Still seeing that he was lost, she chalked it up to a lost cause, "Anyways, I had a nice long chat with her today. I even found out something extraordinary about her! She can heal people by touching them!"
Hearing that brought Ranma's eyes wide, "Wha... How?"
"I don't know", Akane replied, "She just placed her hand over the cut in mine and it healed." Her expression turned from exuberant to more exasperate when Akane saw Ranma switching into his technique research mode of thinking. "I don't think you can learn this one, Ranma. She doesn't even know how she does it."
Thinking about it for a second more, Ranma gave a shrug, "Oh well... still a cool technique. Wish I could learn it."
"Yeah, it would be nice, wouldn't it", she agreed as she held his hand and they both continued their trek.
oOo
As things normally do, the Senshi meeting turned social gathering slowly came to an end. As the Inner Senshi were preparing to leave, for home, shopping or other, Hotaru saw her chance and moved over to the young miko. During the actual meeting, she had formulated a plan and Rei was the only one she could trust to perform it as well as listen to her seriously. Such as that was, the young girl was still nervous as she approached Rei and tried to start a conversation, "Um... Rei..."
Knowing the young Senshi didn't normally have trouble speaking to her teammates like this, Rei focused on her and asked, "Yes, Hotaru-chan? Is there something wrong?"
Shaking her head quickly, the violet haired girl replied, "No, nothing's wrong... I just... I just wanted to ask you something in private."
Raising her brow slightly, Rei nodded and waved a hand to have Hotaru lead, "Sure, I don't mind."
As they moved through the house into Hotaru's small bedroom, closing the door behind them, the younger girl fidgeted for a moment before starting out, "You said you used a memory technique on Terra..."
Taking the pause as an unasked question, Rei nodded in response, "Yes, I did. She said it helped right before she left us." Giving the girl a curious look, she questioned, "Why do you ask? I thought we went over this earlier."
"Well", Hotaru stalled for a moment, forming the words in her mind, "I... I think I know someone else who's from the Millennium..."
Blinking a few times, the miko simply inquired, "Who?"
"Saotome Akane", was Hotaru's response.
Considering the young girls answer, which was quickly given at that, Rei crossed her arms before her and gave the girl a look, "Who do you think she is?"
If Hotaru wasn't fidgeting before, she was then while standing under Rei's scrutiny, "Um... I'd rather not say right now..."
"I don't think so, Hotaru", the raven haired teen replied with a shake of her head. "You want my help, you have to tell me."
Drooping a bit, the small Senshi of Silence gave a sigh before looking Rei directly in the eye once more. "You have to promise not to laugh at me", she seriously conditioned. Agreeing with a nod, Rei motioned for the girl to go on, to which Hotaru continued by saying, "I think she's my brother from the Silver Millennium."
"And why do you think this", Rei asked, skepticism in her voice.
"Her mannerisms, the way she talks to me...", Hotaru counted off before getting to her most important, "the fact that she remembers me from somewhere but never met me before..."
Studying the smaller female for a moment, Rei asked, "So, why didn't you bring this up during the meeting?"
"Oh, come on", Hotaru let out, exasperated, "You think they would believe me? Even Haruka-papa and Michiru-mama think I'm just seeing things. That's why I asked you in private."
Nodding absentmindedly, knowing the girl's words were true about that point, if not so sure about Akane being her reincarnated brother, Rei thought about the situation for a few moments. Coming to a decision, she locked eyes with the younger girl, "Alright. I'll do it, but only if she lets me. If she doesn't want me to, I'm not going to push her, okay?"
"Okay, I can accept that", Hotaru agreed, knowing that she would have said the same thing if the situation were reversed.
"You seem pretty sure that you're right about this", Rei noted, indicating the girl with a finger.
If anything, those words strengthened Hotaru's visage as she solidly stated, "I know I'm right about this, Rei."
Blinking at the change in character before her, Rei chuckled a bit before jokingly responding, "Whoa, no need to go crazy on me." Shifting back into a more serious mode, she continued by stating, "Anyways, if she has any memories, I'll do my best... if not..." Rei left the rest unsaid but physically shrugged.
"Thank you, Rei", the younger of the two exclaimed as she quickly rushed forward to give the elder a friendly hug.
Joining in on the hug, Rei replied, "It's no problem, Hotaru-chan." Releasing after a moment, they both headed downstairs to find the rest of the Inners ready to go, with Mamoru already gone. After a few parting words, the Senshi scattered to the winds, going their own ways in pairs or alone. As for Rei, she walked with determination as she headed back home to the shrine. She had a request to fulfill and a cousin to look into. With that in mind, she picked up her pace up a notch or two...
oOo
As for the two Hino Rei was rushing home to meet, they found themselves strolling their way closer and closer to the shrine. Neither one was in any real hurry; both having things to ponder over and just enjoying each other's presence as they traveled. The martial artists were getting a few looks as they wandered towards their destination, most of the knowing nature from elderly pedestrians, but neither noticed as they continued on; Ranma with his arm around his wife's waist and Akane's around his with the newlyweds both leaning slightly into one another.
All too soon, though, they arrived at their destination; the newlyweds entering the gates to the Hikawa Shrine once more as the sun started its dip into the skyline. For the second time, the martial artists were treated to the long shadows of the evening stretched over the area, bringing out yet another shade of peaceful tranquility of the shrine. As the climbed the steps to the shrine itself, though, they were surprised to see the door slide open and an elderly man in traditional Shinto priest garb step through.
"Welcome to the Hikawa Shrine", the priest greeted the pair after a quick moment in which he looked them over. "I am Hino Jushiro, elder priest of the shrine. How may assist you", he said, finishing his greeting while letting his eyes discreetly linger over the female of the pair during his examination, all the while smiling sagely.
Squinting his eyes slightly, Ranma lightly leaned in towards the grey haired man as he hesitantly asked, "Grandfather Hino?"
The elder male looked slightly confused for a moment before the sight of revelation washed over his feature, "Ah, you must be Ranma." Looking upon his grandson with different eyes, Jushiro commented, "Well, well, well... Let's have a look at you, son." A moment later, Ranma saw him nod and smile in approval, "You look like you've grown into a strapping young man, Ranma. But now, why don't you introduce me to this fine looking lady with you."
Grinning happily at his grandfather's compliment, he wrapped an arm around the woman's shoulders while saying, "This is my wife, Saotome Akane."
"It's nice to meet you, Grandfather Hino", Akane said, smiling politely as she greeted her grandfather-in-law with as much of a bow as having her husband's arm around her would allow.
"It's a pleasure to meet you as well, my dear", the man replied with a return smile before moving up to the younger male. Placing a hand on Ranma's shoulder, the elder commented, "You've a good catch, son; she's beautiful. Best take care of her." Releasing the raven haired youth with a quick pat, he added, "Oh, and please, call me Grandpa or, if you must, Grandfather. It's not like I have a lot of grandchildren, there's just you and Rei... well, and Akane if you don't mind being related to an ancient priest like me.
Seeing the light hearted smile on the elder's face, Akane shook her head slightly while replying, "I'd be honored, Grandfather." Changing the topic slightly, she followed up with a question, "By the way, is Rei here?"
Letting out a low hum, Jushiro answered, "No, I'm afraid not. When we arrived, all I found was a note she wrote that said you two were staying in the spare room." Taking a few steps towards the open doorway before turning slightly back around, he coyly said, "Oh, just in case you two feel the need to be newlyweds at night, the walls aren't very well insulated. It's a very old building, I'm afraid, so you might want to try and keep it down." He finished his warning off with a wide grin, hearing the sputtered "Jiji" and "Grandfather" coming from an embarrassed Ranma and Akane respectively.
Composing herself slightly, though the blush was still on her face, Akane stated, "Grandfather, we are waiting until we find an apartment!"
Chuckling a bit, the Hino patriarch patted the air with a hand slightly, "Forgive an old man for having a little fun." Seeing the two fully regain their composure and nod, he motioned towards the doorway, saying, "Well then, shall we go inside and make ourselves comfortable? I'm afraid this evening chill isn't good for my aging bones. Besides, I wish to hear about the things you have been up to since you were last here."
"Sure", Ranma agreed, before motioning down to his soiled cloths, "You mind if clean up a bit first?"
"Not at all, son", Jushiro replied as he started to walk into the shrine proper, "I'll just wait for you in the main hall."
oOo
Closing the door to the borrowed room behind her, Akane turned around to see her husband just removing his outer shirt. As he threw it over into the corner and pulled out another shirt from his backpack, Akane couldn't help but notice the contrast of his loose ponytail against the white muscle shirt he still wore. "What happened to your braid", she inquired.
Sighing slightly as he finished pulling on the clean t-shirt replacement, he replied, "Lost the tie in the fight with Happosai. I was in a rush after that and just forgot to retie it." Examining his pants quickly, before just brushing them off slightly, he looked towards his wife, "Why'd you ask?"
"No reason, I guess", Akane answered, waving a hand idly, "You just never wore it loose like that while back in Nerima."
Straightening up, Ranma nodded at his wife, "yeah, well, before the Dragon's Whisker Soup, I wore it like this all the time..." Shrugging, he admitted, "I just sort of got used to having it tied up in that pigtail after a while." Snorting with a slight grin, he finished with, "At least that issue is done with."
"Yeah", Akane agreed jokingly with a grin while she turned and opened the door once more, "its good you're hair won't all fall out, because you'd look like your father!"
"Hey, don't joke about that", Ranma protested as he chased the fleeing Akane out of the room.
oOo
A few moments later, the pair entered the main hall of the shrine to find not only Grandpa Hino but also Rei occupying the room. As she placed a fresh log on the small fire, which the shrine kept aflame, Rei called out to her cousin's, "Akane, Ranma, how was your day?"
Sitting down on one of the cushions placed in the room, Akane tucked her legs under her and straightened her dress while replying, "It was wonderful! I think I'm going to enjoy going to college here very much."
A moment of silence rolled out before Ranma tried to put up a false grin, "I had an... eventful day." Shrugging slightly, he added, "Don't know if I'll like the classes yet, but I'm going to see the counselor tomorrow to see if I can become a teaching assistant or something in a local school."
"Oh, so you're both going to school here", the elder Hino asked with a curious air. "What are you studying, if you don't mind me asking?"
"I am going to be majoring in Acting", Akane replied before gesturing towards her husband, "While he's majoring in Physical Education."
"Right", Ranma agreed with a nod, "We're going to inherit the Dojo her family owns and I'm going to teach students there when we graduate."
"Ah, teaching is a worthy goal", the aged man intoned, "I wish you the best. But now, let me hear of what you've been up to all these years, Ranma."
Glancing a bit at the short haired woman next to him, Ranma never saw the interested look Rei flashed towards him. After a shared silent conversation, the long haired man let out a low sigh and started his tale, "Well, you know Pop took me on a training trip when I was a kid, right..."
What followed was a long tale of his long training trip that took him throughout Japan and into China; though he edited out the curse and a few other choice events. Eventually, it all wound down as he said, "...and then we came back from China." Shaking his head slightly, he continued with, "It was then that Pop's told me about the engagement and took me to the Tendo's... where I met Akane."
"That was an amazing story, son", Jushiro admitted to his grandson as Rei stared at her cousin. Shaking his head ruefully, he commented, "When Genma told me he planned on taking you around the country on a training trip, he wasn't kidding!" His countenance grew dark though as the other three heard him say, "But I am disappointed that he left my daughter alone for over a decade!"
"Pop did send letters all the time", Ranma offered up in his father's defense, though it was really only a token effort.
"Yes, well, that still doesn't excuse the fact that he could have gone home sometime during that training trip", the elder replied in seriousness before deflating some, "but what has happened, has happened... No use getting all bent out of shape about it." Cocking his head slightly, he refocused his gaze on the other male, "So, you've been back in Japan for two years, then? What have you been up too since you got back?"
Another low sigh escaped the Saotome heir as he shook his head in tiredness. Raising his gaze back up, he noticed Rei's piercing stare and quirked his brow slightly before opening his mouth to reply. Just before he was about to start, he was halted when Jushiro raised his hand in a stopping motion, "Never mind about that, son. I see you need a break from telling the past." Hearing that, Ranma let out a slightly relieved breath, only to suck it in once more when he heard his grandfather ask, "I do need to ask, though, did you know you have a spell or magical aura surrounding you?"
Rei's eyes narrowed at the not only the reaction from the raven haired martial artist but also the one Akane gave to the question; as the young woman put her fingers to her forehead and let out a slight groan. She didn't know exactly why the two were reacting this way, but it was no doubt important and considering the events that happened during the day, she wanted to know what it was. Her curiosity as it was, the young priestess leaned forward in interest as her cousin started speaking.
"I picked it up in China, Grandpa", Ranma replied as he looked the elder priest in the eyes, "Pops got a stupid idea to go training somewhere we shouldn't have been and I got cursed because of it."
Scrunching his brow, Jushiro clenched and unclenched one of his hands as he asked, "A curse? What makes you think it's a curse?"
This time, it was Ranma's turn to raise an eyebrow, "What makes you think it isn't?"
"Well, son, I don't know what it is because you haven't told me yet, but when I felt it earlier, and even now, it doesn't feel like a curse would", the priest explained, "It's magic, true, but not evil."
"It might not be evil, but it's sure made my life hard with all the constant fights that spring up because of it", Ranma retorted, "I may have gotten used to it, but that's really because none of the cures I've found worked." Shaking his head with a deep exhale, Ranma grimaced, "Really, all the, so called, cures have just made things worse. What I'm... we're looking for right now, is just a little peace so we can get used to being married. We left Nerima just for that reason." Standing to his feet, the Saotome male bowed slightly to his grandfather, saying, "I've got to prepare for bed. I've got an early day planned for tomorrow. Excuse me."
Watching his annoyed grandson exit the room, the Hino patriarch let out a sigh before turning towards his new granddaughter-in-law, "It seems in his haste, he forgot to tell me what exactly his 'curse' is. Would you mind telling me about it?"
Gnawing on her bottom lip for a moment, Akane looked towards the hallway Ranma had just left from. "Well... it's not my place to say, really...", she started out with, but seeing the concern in the elderly man's eyes, along with the odd look in Rei's, Akane decided to cover for her husband. "I guess you should know that since he was cursed, weird events just keep happening around him. Nothing harmful, considering that it's Ranma we're talking about, but it still can get annoying."
"But why did he react like that", Rei asked out before she could catch herself.
Frowning slightly, Akane responded by saying, "It's just a touchy subject right now for us. Like he said, we were hoping for some peace and quiet so we could just get used to being married." Sighing slightly, she confided in her new relatives, "You don't know this, but our engagement wasn't the best times of our lives. The events that popped up due to his curse kept us from really coming together until just this past six months or so, what with the extra fiancées and all the crazy fighters looking for duels."
"Just after he showed up in Nerima, people just kept showing up on an almost daily basis to either marry him or fight him in a duel, sometimes to the death though it never went that far. Usually, they were both for really stupid reasons, with the fiancées due to Ranma's father's poor judgment or, in an extreme case, because they were defeated in combat and their crazy laws say so. Really, that's the most annoying part of the curse, since these things seemed to happen almost every day." Akane paused for a breath and shook her head, "I really thought we'd get to relax some after leaving Nerima."
Having heard the story from Hotaru earlier, Rei silently responded with a nod. Her grandfather, though, sat with a thoughtful look on his face before looking towards Akane and asking, "From what was said earlier, a big part of Ranma's life is his martial arts, correct?"
Nodding, Akane replied, "He's practically obsessed with it. Constantly finding a way to improve... to beat the next challenger that might show up."
"If that's the case, then I don't think it's much of a curse at all", he stated, "in fact, it might just be a blessing in disguise."
"What makes you think that, Grandpa", Rei asked, not knowing where her grandfather was going with this.
"Think about it this way; if you want to get better at school, you study and take tests. For martial arts the tests are all the fights you get into, either spars in a dojo or real ones", he explained. Turing towards the newest member of his family, he mused, "I assume after all these fights he's been in; he is very skilled."
Giving a tired laugh as she thought about how Ranma would normally react if he was in the room, she stated, "I'm more than a bit biased, but he's probably one of the best martial artists in Japan right now." Seeing the skeptical look on the man's face, she decided to just throw it out since Rei already knew, "If it helps, he can use his ki internally to boost his performance or throw it out offensively as a blast."
Even as the priest's eyes widened, his granddaughter by blood agreed with the statement by saying, "It's true. He pulled out an orb of ki last night and let me examine it."
Looking at Rei with surprise but nodded a moment later before turning back to Akane. "I'll have to ask him about that later. For one so young, such as him, to achieve this level of skill is simply amazing", he muttered under his breath as he watched the Saotome female. A little louder, he asked, "I take it that he wasn't always able to do this?"
"No, he wasn't", Akane stated in response, "it wasn't until one of his rivals learned to do so, before Ranma learned how to." Shaking her head once more, she noted, "That's usually how things go with him. Someone comes up with a new technique and he develops a counter to it before coming out on top in the end. Ranma's learned many techniques this way."
"And this is why I think his curse is really a blessing", the elderly priest stated as his point was made.
With a confused look across her face, Akane let out, "So you're saying that since he's gotten stronger because of all the fights and the fights are caused by the curse; the curse really isn't a curse?"
"Exactly", he stated with a nod.
"Okay", Akane hesitantly said, "I guess I could agree with that, somewhat. But you have to still admit that it happening all the time can get real annoying."
"Well, it's like any good thing, too much of it can be bad for you", the elder admitted, "but it looks like you've both handled it well." With that, the man stood from his cushion and stretched out his lower back before saying, "Well, that's my opinion on it, really, and I doubt Ranma wants to hear about it tonight so I think I'll save it for another time. If you don't mind, though, please ask him if I could see his ki technique sometime, but for now, I think these old bones need to rest."
The two females watched the elderly man make his way towards the bedrooms of the shrine, following the same path Ranma took not too long before. Once he had exited, Rei took that moment to try her chances with Akane. "I saw Hotaru-chan today", she started, gaining Akane's attention instantly, "You must have made a big impression on her because she couldn't stop talking about you."
With a smile at the memory, Akane nodded, "Yeah, we talked a good bit this afternoon. She's a nice girl, though she doesn't seem to have many friends..." Frowning slightly, she muttered just loudly enough for Rei to hear, "I just wish I knew why she seemed so familiar when we first met..."
"You think you've met her before", Rei asked, trying to lead Akane along to the desired point in the planned conversation.
"Yeah, it's kind of odd", Akane agreed, unknowingly following along. "I'm sure I've met her before, but I just can't remember where and it's a little annoying."
"Well...", Rei started, trying to sound a little reluctant while eagerly wanting to jump in head first, "I do know a memory technique that might help."
"Really", the short haired girl replied while blinking. Figuring this out would be one less thing on her mind and she really wanted to find out more about the little purple haired girl from anything that might be locked up in her memory. Thinking about all the Amazon 'memory techniques' she'd come across, though, she couldn't help but prudently ask, "Is it dangerous?"
Waving a hand dismissively, Rei answered, "Oh, it's quiet harmless. The worst thing that will happen is that you don't have any memories to unlock and we just wasted a little time."
Thinking about it for another moment, Akane came to her conclusion and nodded, "Alright, what do I need to do?"
Moving over to the seated woman, Rei instructed, "Just sit there and relax. It will also help if you focus your thoughts on Hotaru while I perform the technique." Placing her hands to the side of Akane's head, Rei asked, "Are you ready?" With a slight nod from the woman before her, the priestess activated the technique.
One moment, Akane was waiting for something to happen with the feeling of Rei's hands on the sides of her head. The next... images flooded her mind, hundreds... thousands of them, most with Hotaru in them, though it wasn't really Hotaru at the same time. A purple haired girl in an elaborate gown, Hotaru holding a vicious-looking pole-arm weapon that looked like a cross between two different weapons. A castle which she knew Hotaru lived in, a forge with her presence in the same room...
The images kept flooding in, feeling like years worth of memories until, like someone flipping a light switch, it all stopped.
With a gasp, Akane threw her hands to the floor behind her to keep from falling back as she jerked away from the priestess before her. Seeing Rei's blinking, blank gaze, she asked, "What... what was that?!"
"I... I think it worked", Rei responded hesitantly before a full body shiver shook her. Coming more into her senses, she elaborated, "I know I unlocked something... what it was, I don't know."
Nodding slowly, Akane pushed herself fully upright on the cushion before bringing a hand to her eyes. "Oh... I feel dizzy", she complained.
Feeling the drain from having performed the technique twice this day and not being in her Senshi form this time, Rei suggested, "Maybe we should head off to bed. I'm feeling drained from the technique..."
"Maybe you're right", Akane agreed, trying to push herself to her feet, but stumbled around a bit before Rei quickly assisted. After a moment, Akane shook her head once more and murmured, "Thanks, Rei. I should be able to make it now."
"Alright, Akane", the priestess said, "I need to finish up in here real quick. Sleep well." Seeing the silent wave from the departing woman, Rei looked towards the Great Fire and added another log to it. 'So Hotaru was right... Akane is a reincarnation, but of whom... I don't know yet', she thought, as she pulled out a paper from her priestess garb that held a drawing of multiple pools of water. Looking from it to the Great Fire, the priestess sighed and stuffed it back into her haori. 'I'm too tired to try right now... I'll get to it in the morning', she relented as she turned out the lights to the room, leaving the fire light dancing off the walls as she left.
oOo
When Akane finally made it to the room she and Ranma shared, she was running on her last reserves of energy. As she staggered through the threshold and closed the door behind her, Ranma looked over from where he was laying on his futon. "Hey, you ok, Akane", he asked in concern.
Waving it off, Akane replied, "Yeah, I'm just really tired..." True to her words, she quickly stripped down to her underwear and crawled into her own futon that Ranma had set out for her, not bothering to slip on her pajamas.
Feeling the light blush on his cheeks, he finally looked back towards his wife as he heard her climb under the sheets. Even with marriage, old habits die hard and by the time he looked over, she was fast asleep. "Wow... she wasn't kidding", Ranma murmured as he reached over to turn off the light, flooding the room with darkness.
Just before setting down to sleep himself, he leaned over to his wife, wiped some hair out of her face to tuck it behind an ear and then kissed her softly. "Sleep well and have good dreams", the raven haired martial artist wished for his wife. Her only reply was to snuggle closer to the center of the two futons as he settled down himself. A few moments later, only the soft sounds of two people in deep slumber could be heard in the room...
End of Chapter 8
oOo
A/N -
Keigo - Honorifics in Japanese are broadly referred to as keigo (敬語, literally "respectful language"), and fall under three main categories: sonkeigo (尊敬語), respectful language; kensongo (謙遜語) or kenjōgo (謙譲語), humble language; and teineigo (丁寧語), polite language. Linguistically, the former two are referent honorifics, used for someone being talked about, and the last is an addressee honorific, used for someone being talked to.
- So, what does that mean when Akane and Ranma tell Hotaru and Mamoru that they don't need to use Keigo? It means, basically, 'I'm comfortable enough with you that we can talk like friends.' Usually, in fanfics where we don't actually use full Japanese sentences, it means to drop the -san, -sama or -dono suffix to someone's name. Also, the two characters can talk more relaxed around each other since they are 'friends' and not 'strangers' to each other any more.
- One should note that there are people and characters who just dont use keigo no matter the situation. If you want a canon character who doesn't use keigo, examine Ichigo from the Bleach universe. He just simply doesn't use it, which makes him more of a 'ruffian' or 'troublemaker' in the eyes of some, mainly the nobles and higher ranking persons in the universe he comes across.
Anyways, thanks to Mizuno Tenshi2 for suggesting I write this up.
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