Chaos Lord Productions Brings You.

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Stars in the Sky

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Written by Chaos Lord

Disclaimer: All entities and devices in this story belong to their respective owners. For the purposes of this story those would be Rumiko Takahashi and Naoko Takeuchi.

WARNING: Extreme OOC ahead. If slavish adherence to the originals are your bag, read no further.

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Chapter 8 Tofu-ken

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Of everyone in the small band, not a single soul looked upon the vast field of concrete and steel that is Tokyo with anything other than disgust. The transformed Phoenix and curvaceous Joketsuzoku warrior were from a world were civilization was just man's meager attempts to eke out a life in the face of a seemingly infinite expanse of nature. Here though, in the 'rapid progress' of the outer world, that was flipped on its head and nature was the one that had to fear.

"By the great aerie," gasped Saffron. "Kiima, you had told me of their blasphemy against the Earth, but I could not believe it until now."

"I know, my lord. I do not know how these landlings can stand it."

"The less time we spend here the better," muttered Khoti.

"Agreed. Victoria, how long until our transportation arrives?"

The blond warrior looked down at the boy. Upon arriving to Japan, he had insisted upon walking, citing a need for anonymity. "Soon Saffron. Matriarch Cologne said she would be sending a van to get us."

"Did your leader inquire as to why you did not just walk," asked Kiima. Even though she had tried to fight it in favor of her long-held sense of superiority, the Phoenix guard-captain had grown to like her companion.

"Yes, I told her that I was traveling with a group and that time was of the essence. I may have suggested that I was with other Amazons," she admitted shamefully, "but I was not sure how she would react to you all."

Saffron nodded, "That was probably for the best. She is probably unaware of the changing situation."

Their group received some stares, after all they may have looked human but they still dressed the same as ever. Luckily, they did not have to endure them for long. Soon after discussing the time of its arrival, a large van pulled up beside them.

From inside the white paneled vehicle the driver poked his head out. He started at the wild array of clothing but having driven pop idols gave him the ability to quickly recover. "Is ones of yous Victoria?"

"That would be me," answered the woman.

The man eyed the leggy blond for a moment before gesturing to the back of the van, "Okays, yous lots gets ins the trucks."

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When she finally stepped out of the infernal vehicle, Kiima was ready to murder the driver. He wouldn't shut up or stop putting an s at the end of his words, even if they weren't plural. Also on her hit list was the thrice cursed inventor of the car. They turned what should be a relatively straightforward proposition into a grueling ordeal. The only consolation to the whole affair was that, finally, their long journey was almost at its end. They were now outside the Nekohanten, the Neriman base for the Joketsuzoku.

"I do believe that that was the most unpleasant person I have ever encountered," muttered the boy-god as he stepped onto the pavement.

"I hope they've got some food," grumbled a male.

Khoti smacked the back of his head, "Would you quit thinking with your stomach Roc! That's what got me into this body in the first place."

The slim man laughed nervously as he rubbed the assaulted spot. "I can't help it. I'm just always hungry."

"This is a restaurant Roc, there should be enough hearty Amazon food to feed even you," said Victoria. Though she considered her traveling companions friends, the blond woman looked forward to seeing some of her own people once again.

"Yes, some food does sound good," added Saffron happily.

"Perhaps we should wait on provisions until we are sure the Matriarch will not attack. No offense Victoria," added Kiima with some remorse.

"None taken," smiled the blond. "Our peoples have warred for so long that caution is only expected. If you want, I can go in and prepare them."

"Yes, please," said Saffron kindly.

With a nod, Di'al's granddaughter made the short walk to the Nekohanten's door and stepped inside. The blast of cold air was bracing against the ample amounts of skin her clothes didn't cover. But cold did nothing to limit the wondrous smells of the restaurant's wares.

"V,Victoria? Is that you," asked a male voice.

Though she did not interact with him much, it took more than long hair and a pretty smile to catch her eye, there was little mistaking the voice's owner. "Hello Mousse."

"What are you doing here," he asked incredulously.

"Yes child, I was curious about that as well."

Spying the most senior of elders at the entrance to the kitchen, Victoria bowed deeply. "Elder, I was sent by Di'al to warn you of a great disaster that has befallen the Musk."

"Yes," said Cologne gravely, "we were told by several members of the Musk. Where are the other warriors that came with you?"

Victoria winced slightly, "Honored elder, I was the only one sent."

Cologne's eyes narrowed with suspicion. "Then explain why you told me that you were not alone."

"On my way here I encountered a group of Phoenix led by Saffron himself. They too were heading to this land on a mission of peace and I joined with them for the duration."

"Are you telling me that a cadre of bird-men are here? Now?"

"Actually, they're standing outside," said the young warrior meekly.

"Then bring them in child! Times are too dire to fan the flames of old hatreds. And you," ordered the tiny woman as Victoria went rushing out the door, "Mr. Part-time. Ready some tables for our guests!"

"Yes elder," he exclaimed in an echo of the retreating girl.

The group entered the restaurant before Mousse had managed to finish getting everything prepared. Though most of the party were in human forms, especially Kiima who looked just like Akane Tendo, there was no mistaking their clothes or the young god-child that was surrounded by capable warriors. Mousse still carried the memories of Mt. Phoenix and while he didn't attack the retinue, he did ball a fist at the sight of them. "Welcome to the Nekohanten," he said woodenly.

"I remember you," said the Akane clone. "You fought alongside Saotome."

"And you're the one that brainwashed my Shampoo," growled the handsome young man.

Cologne hopped between the two glaring teens, "I have found that only historians find any interest in the talk of old battles."

"Yes," nodded Saffron. "Kiima, remember that we are here to seek these people's help."

Kiima looked down at the floor as she blushed with embarrassment, "Forgive me, my lord."

"Of course," smiled the god-child.

The elder watched the whole exchange with eyes born of long experience and cackled. "So tell me Lord Saffron, what brings you to Nerima? The last time the ward saw your kind we were at war a short time later."

Saffron climbed into a nearby chair, "Please, if we start using titles we'll be here forever. And if we are soon to go to war, I assure you that it will only be with the force that has devastated the Musk so."

"Yes, we have been aware of the invasion for a while now."

He cocked his head to the side, "Interesting. Yet you still remain. I know you to be a courageous, if not cautious, woman. I choose to believe that it is caution that sees you here instead of at the front."

"Indeed. Believe me when I say that we would have left as soon as the Musk envoy arrived. Ranma advised that we wait though. There are allies that he awaits before he can bring his forces to bear."

"Yes, Ranma," grinned Saffron eagerly. "Where, pray tell, is he? We have much to discuss, he and I."

Now Cologne was on guard. In her experience, not even the eve of war stopped some people from attempting some foolish bid for revenge. "He is not here. And I do not think that he will be in any mood for a rematch," she warned.

"No," he chuckled, "I doubt he would and really, neither am I. Besides, I could never attack my brother."

The entire Phoenix contingent turned to look at their king with unmasked surprise. "S,surely you jest, My Lord," gasped Kiima. "The great enemy can't be the new Phoenix?"

"Kiima, he has never been our enemy. He did what he did to protect others. And yes, Ranma Saotome is the brother I mentioned."

"Figured Saotome'd be up to something," muttered Mousse as he handed out the tea.

The captain ignored the male in favor of her king. "But why not tell us sooner?"

"Come now Kiima. If I had said that the one I sought was Saotome, would you, or any of our people, have let me go find him?"

Roc's head popped over Kiima's shoulder. "He's got a point there boss. The council'd never let him leave the mountain."

"I know that," she snapped. "I wish you had trusted me more, My Lord."

"It was not a question of trust. I trust you implicitly. My reason for withholding the information is a selfish one. I wanted to meet my brother."

"Child, trust me on this. There are few things in this world more powerful than the need for family."

Kiima looked ready to continue the argument, something that she and her curse-template shared, but eventually decided not to. "Very well."

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Lime sighed as he walked towards the front door of the Tendo home. With Nabiki in school for a few more hours, the task of managing the house had fallen onto him. It was not one he relished. He was a warrior through and through, he didn't have the training to cook and clean a house. Certainly nothing in his training had prepared him for the task of dealing with the two lazy oafs that dared call themselves adults.

What made things worse was that he had to do it alone. Mint, his smaller friend, was still too weak to deal with much of anything. Even though the elder had been around several times since the healing, the wolf-man still healed slowly. She had intimated on one visit that Mint may never fully recover, his wounds might have been too severe and gone untreated for too long.

Still, Lime had made a promise to Nabiki that he would do his best to ensure that her home would operate smoothly in her absence. The thought of not living up to that promise did not sit well with the tiger-man at all. So he went to answer the door, not knowing what he would find.

As he opened the door, Lime saw a tall, bespectacled, man standing there. The large pack at the man's feet spoke of one who had traveled long. "May I help you?"

"Um, yes. Is Nabiki Tendo here still?"

"She's at school at the moment. Would you like me to tell her that you asked for her?" After the first time he answered the door, something that ended with a little girl crying. Nabiki had made sure that he memorized a list of proper responses.

The man shook his head, "No. My name is Dr. Tofu and I am a friend of that family. Would it be alright if I wait inside for her?"

That went off of script. But there was nothing about the man that triggered his senses. The man even smelled innocent. Plus, he was a healer, a profession that was revered by even Lime's people. "Okay," he said slowly, "I don't see a problem with that."

"Good." As Tofu entered the Tendo home, he looked at the young man who answered the door. "You're new, aren't you?"

"Yes, honored healer. I arrived here only recently. I am Lime."

Tofu didn't bat an eye at the odd name. "A pleasure. Tell me, Kasumi wouldn't be here, would she?"

"No," said Lime stiffly. "She is elsewhere." Healer or no, the tiger-man knew that Ranma and Kasumi's location was kept a secret. He would not be the one to breach that confidence.

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Nabiki Tendo walked towards her home with worried purpose. For hours now, she had felt icy tendrils of doom creep up and down her spine. Something bad was about to happen and, like most things, the brunette was sure that whatever it was was going on at the Dojo.

So obvious was her sister's worry that even Akane had picked up on it. She followed Nabiki towards home mildly surprised at the girl's speed. "Nabiki! What's wrong?"

"I don't know," she snapped. The lack of knowledge and Akane's constant questioning was seriously wearing her patience down.

Soon, but not soon enough in Nabiki's mind, they were at their front door. As was becoming a usual occurrence, Lime opened the door just as the brunette's foot hit the step. Lime looked worried, his normally handsome features lined with concern. "What's wrong," she asked hurriedly.

"A healer came by while you were gone. He calls himself Tofu. He's been questioning the idiots for some time now."

Nabiki ignored Akane's happy squawk and cursed instead, "Damn! What's he doing here?"

Lime felt as if someone hit him in the stomach, "I'm sorry. He said he was a friend of the family."

"Not your fault Lime-baby," she said with as much of a smile as she could muster. "I had no idea he'd be back."

A wave of relief washed over him, "Do you want me to bring you to him?"

"No. Wait for a few minutes then bring him to my room. But be careful, only Cologne and the Master know more about pressure points." There was a cold fire to her words that burned all who heard them, even though they weren't the subject of her ire.

Akane was horrified at what she was hearing and, as was her want, she made that displeasure known. "What's wrong with you? Why're you acting like Dr. Tofu is some sort of enemy."

The elder Tendo daughter whirled around and looked at her sister with eyes ablaze. "Because he is," she hissed. "After what he did to Kasumi I'd throw him out of the country if I could. But right now I need to know why he is here before he tries anything. So shut up and go to the dojo or something."

With that, Nabiki stormed into the house and up the stairs. She didn't care that Akane was staring at her back as if she had grown a second head. All the brunette wanted was to get upstairs and get this whole affair over with. Kasumi and Ranma needed to be warned that the good doctor was going to be on his way. They were so happy, neither of them needed the emotional shit storm Tofu would bring down on them.

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As he stood before Nabiki's door, Tofu Ono never thought that his reunion with the Tendos would go as it had. Akane was vacillating between confusion and outrage when he saw her. She had happily greeted him, but the youngest Tendo kept glancing upstairs. Lime, the newest resident to the domicile followed Akane into the room and coldly ordered him to see Nabiki.

The thing that really confused him was that he had no idea why they were treating him so. He expected happiness, caution, confusion, some anger, and a few other emotions. What he never anticipated was being treated as an enemy. Worse actually, they had been kinder to Happosai and Cologne, and both of them had actually done things to those living within the Tendo walls.

"Come on," said Lime from behind him. "We don't want to keep her waiting."

Tofu nodded. The oddly dressed man was right. When he left, Nabiki was already becoming a force to be reckoned with. Who knew how much more so she would have become in the months since then. "Right."

With the first knock, the young woman answered. "Yes?"

The doctor shuddered at the ice in that tone. It was glacial, the kind of ice that was so unbelievably cold it actually burnt as readily as any fire. "I,its me. Dr. Tofu."

"Come."

As he opened the door, Tofu could almost swear that he saw wisps of ice blow out of the room. The center of that cold was the young woman sitting before the window. Nabiki Tendo sat under a light, its glare casting dark shadows across her coldly beautiful features. She looked less like a high school teenager and more like a powerful oyabun who was irritated that they were being forced to discipline an underling.

"Welcome Doctor Tofu," she said in a tone that declared it to be something else. "It is . . . so good to see you again after all this time."

"Said the spider to the fly," he thought nervously. More and more the whole situation was spiraling out of control. "Nabiki, what's wrong?"

The middle Tendo's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Do not address me so informally Ono," she hissed. "Right now I am mistress of this house and you will respect me as such. Am I clear?"

He swallowed deeply. "Crystal."

"Good. Now, I think you should know that the only reason I have not asked Lime here to render you into a greasy smear is that I do not want to have to clean up the mess. So, before I change my mind, tell me why you have chosen now to darken my doorstep?"

Okay, now the entire situation had just reached a very, very, dangerous point. It was quite clear to the medical professional that Nabiki was not just talking in hyperbole anymore. If he didn't give her a satisfactory answer then this Lime fellow would be the form of his death. What he didn't understand was why this was happening. What could he have done to so anger the woman before him. "Lady Tendo. If I may be so bold, why are you so angry with me?"

Nabiki bolted up from the chair, every line of her body positively quivering with rage. "How dare you? How dare you stand not three feet from my sister's door and ask that? She loved you, you cowardly bastard. I can't count how many times she came home from visiting you and locked herself in her room so no one could see her cry. You came this close to breaking her completely. For the longest time I thought she was just going to live out her days here, always wondering how she could be so deficient as a woman to have run you off.

And now she's moved on. She's happier than I've ever seen her. The both of them are working really hard to make something of their lives, to find some happiness with each other. So of course you show up now, just like every other ex this damn ward has seen. What were you thinking? Did you honestly believe that she'd sit around and pine for you while you went out and got your head removed from your ass? What now, eh? Are you going to go up to Ranma and make yourself his latest rival? Because if you are, I want to be there to take pictures of the beat down you're in for."

By the time Nabiki reached the end of her tirade, she was shaking so badly that Tofu thought that she would fall apart. Though her face had retained its fury. a steady stream of tears betrayed how upset she truly was. Watching her, so close to the edge of a complete breakdown, he felt a massive wave of shame fill him. When he left he had, as she said, hoped that Kasumi would wait for him. Never though had he intended this level of pain.

"Lady Tendo, I,I am so sorry. I never intended for any of this to happen. I had hoped that, if I hadn't returned shortly, she would go on to something better. I never wanted to hurt anyone. But you must understand, I was a threat to everyone back then. I had to leave to keep my patients safe."

"Please! Don't give me that garbage. You could have gone to Cologne and she'd probably've helped you. You really left so you didn't have to actually grow a pair and actually face Kasumi!"

"Y,you may be right," he said with a heavy heart.

"So why are you here," she demanded forcefully.

"One day I was away from temple in the city. I saw a rerun of The Incident, I had missed the initial broadcast while I was meditating. Even then I had trouble thinking about her, but when I saw that tape something snapped in me. Ever since then I've been able to think and talk about her without any problems."

"And now you want her back." It wasn't a question, it was a statement of reality.

"Yes, yes I do. I want to walk up to her and tell her how much that I want to be with her. I had thought that Ranma was just protecting Kasumi like he did for everyone else. But now I guess they are together," he said sadly.

"You bet your ass they're together. And insanely happy with each other too." In all her time knowing the pair Nabiki didn't think she had seen them be any happier. Even Ranma, Mr. Happy Martial Artist, seemed as if he was into something more than his precious 'art'.

Tofu sighed deeply at that piece of news. There was nothing like hearing that your worst fears came to pass and finding out that the other man is someone you have a lot of respect for. "Well I guess that's good. I mean I'm glad they're both happy, but I can't say I'm thrilled. Still, I need to see her. If only to apologize for the pain I caused her."

"Fine," she spat. "I'll tell you where you can meet with them. But you can bet your ass that I'll be calling to warn them."

He nodded, that was the best he was probably going to get from any of them. Now all he had to worry about was whether or not Ranma was as pissed as Nabiki was. Because if the teen was, then it was quite possible that Tofu end up a greasy smear that the angry girl could sell tickets to. "Okay. That only sounds fair."

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Across one of Juban's streets, the sounds of the usual ebb and flow of traffic were replaced by those of a battle joined. To the more acutely trained ears of the ward's residents, it was quite clear that this particular conflict was beginning to die down. The cries of the combatants were becoming increasingly stilted towards the feminine rather than the strange warbling that the newest attackers preferred. Finally, with one triumphant yell from the ward's long-running heroine, Sailor Moon, those residents in hiding knew that it was safe to return to the streets for another day.

At the center of the most recent battleground, the Senshi and Phoenix stood huddled around the form of the young woman that had once been a Shade. Once, the girls might have just run from the scene; trusting that the authorities would make sure that the victim was safe. Now though, thanks to Phoenix's rather strict moral code, they stayed and to ensure the person would actually receive that care and not get their pockets picked or something.

In their vigil, the Senshi were feeling especially good about themselves. This time, instead of helping in any meaningful way, Phoenix had basically sat on the sidelines and watched their performance. It was, in a way, their final test. Though they still had several galaxies worth of lightyears before they ever gained the sheer proficiency that Phoenix brought to bare, their training was beginning to show some return on their investment.

"I'm bein' serious guys," said Phoenix with a grin, "I'm feeling confident that you can deal with these Shades by yerselves."

"Yay," cheered Uranus sardonically, "we're competent."

Moon frowned and crossed her arms. "Hey now. We were competent before. Phoenix is just used to a whole different level than the rest of us."

The latest defender of Tokyo nodded quickly lest he incite the wrath of the dreaded feminus angrius. "Yeah, yeah! I'm sure you guys did great before we got here. Its just, these guys are really supposed to be me an' Cygnus' responsibility. I don't want to feel like I'm burdenin' you wit' somethin' you can't handle."

Uranus pouted, "Damn you. Don't you know that its hard to stay mad at you when you're making sense?"

Tuxedo Mask, the only other male of the group, chuckled. "I'm just glad to be called competent. That's an improvement from what he was calling me to begin with."

Phoenix cast a languid eye towards the top-hat wearing man. "Keep talkin' Cape Boy. I'm still waiting for you to be all spectacular like they've been tellin' me you can be."

The masked man's laughter took on a more morbid tone, "I'm still working on it."

Moon wrapped her arms around her love's arm. "We know you are pudding. It just takes time."

"Plus, when he's picking on you, he's not picking on the rest of us," quipped Jupiter.

Mask nodded solemnly, "The job of a protector is never over."

All of the Senshi got a good laugh at the man's false heroism. It was rare for him to act as if he was actually apart of the group as opposed to acting like that mysterious extra hero in a sentai show. In fact, ever since Phoenix started being around them constantly, Tuxedo Mask had considerably upped his face time with the Senshi; both on and off the field.

Of all those who were laughing, only Phoenix was quiet. At first, he had just been staring off into the distance. Those who knew him were rather used to it by now, as it usually meant that he was having a talk with Kasumi. But, instead of coming out of his zoned state, he got paler. One by one the Senshi ceased their laughter as they caught sight of the ever increasing look of horror that was marring his face.

It took the girls a few moments to break out of their shocked stupor. Before they could though, Phoenix was gone. And not in that whole, sudden burst of speed that quickly increased, kind of way. One moment he was just standing there, looking like someone was killing Bambi's mom, the next he vanished. Only a short trail of flame gave them any indication as to the direction he might have taken.

Not needing any sort of written invitation, the Senshi immediately ran after their comrade in arms. Though none of them knew what was actually going on, they were all positive that it probably involved Kasumi. Anything negative that involved her was something that they wanted to intervene in.

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With every fiber of his being, Ranma desperately tried to send soothing thoughts and feelings through the link. Though the link always connected him to Kasumi, connecting them mentally and spiritually, they worked hard to keep something of a wall up lest they get lost in each other. Today had been no different. During the battle he had felt a vague sense of worry creep in from her towards the end. At its end he opened the pipe some and found out what Kasumi was truly feeling.

It was hard to make any sense of the stream of information. Normally she was quite placid, like a tranquil river in his mind. This though was filled with a cacophony of confusion, sorrow, remorse, fear and practically every other negative emotion mankind was capable of producing. They swirled within her, blocking out all rational thought in favor of a primal negativity.

The passage of time to get him by her side was agonizingly slow even though he was really traveling quite fast; a kind of emotional relativistic running. After an eon or two of travel, he landed outside the Alexander home. The door was open, courtesy of Setsuna who had traveled ahead. As he ran past, Ranma nodded his thanks to the tanned woman; blowing through the door would have been rather hard to explain. He quickly passed the worried faces of his family before reaching his room.

Kasumi was, unsurprisingly, on their bed with her head buried in the one of the pillows. Even if he was still saddled with the immense emotional handicap that he had suffered with back in Nerima, there was no way that he would have mistaken the shaking of her body to by anything other than the sobs of a deeply troubled woman.

"K,Kasumi? What's wrong?" Instead of opening herself to him, Kasumi actually curled up into a ball and dove deeper into herself. That act stung Ranma as much as the most viscous of slaps from Akane. When he had been worried and afraid she had reached out and pulled him from that dark place. Now, when it was his turn to return the favor, she just allowed herself to go deeper into the darkness.

Since she would not let him help her, Ranma did the only thing he could; he sat beside her and started stroking her back gently. He paid no mind to the stream of tears flowing down his own cheeks, he just hoped that eventually she would do something.

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Kasumi felt her love's pain, felt how deeply her rejection had wounded him, and it sent her deeper into her black mood.

It had started so innocently. She had been doing a spot of gardening when one of the staff came up saying that Nabiki was on the phone. Since the little comclave, the sisters had spoken often; more so than when they actually lived with each other. Knowing that she was keeping someone waiting, Kasumi quickly made her way inside and headed to the nearest phone.

When she had picked up the receiver, Kasumi had expected the usual chipper greeting followed by some juicy gossip from Nerima. She heard neither though. In the grimmest tones she had ever heard her sister use, Nabiki reported her meeting with Tofu.

Tofu Ono. That was a name that she had never thought to hear again. He had been her first love. The doctor was strong and kind and handsome and all the other things that a girl her age longed to have. Then the antics started. At first she had thought his behavior with his skeleton to be a funny joke, a way for the man to relieve some tension. Over time though the joke grew old and instead of being funny it only served to hurt her.

She had tried everything she could think of to bring the old Tofu back. She had cooked, flirted, even read his books in an effort to gain an insight into what made him tick. All of it had been for naught though. Instead of opening up to her, he just got more and more ridiculous. To make things worse, there were the looks of pity on the faces of those who knew her. She acted as if she did not notice his antics and as if she could not believe he was different around others. But she knew, she wasn't stupid.

As Nabiki told her that, not only was he back, he wanted to meet her, Kasumi acted as she had so many other times he had come up in her life. The woman thanked her sister before hanging up and walking up to her room. Kasumi was sure that the others knew that there was something wrong with her; how could they not. Letting them see the depths of her pain though was simply out of the question.

In its own way, all the inadequacies, all the sorrow she felt at Tofu's rejection of her, had formed together into her personal Neko-ken. Oh sure she could laugh it off, she could pretend that it wasn't happening around her. But when actually confronted with it, with him, Kasumi could feel the walls falter and the darkness start to seep through.

And now the darkness had more proof of her inadequacies as a woman. A real woman would face Ranma. She would sit up, bury her face in his chest, and cry all her sorrows out until his hard pecs were replaced by a soft bosom. Instead, she had turned away from his warmth and gave herself a new reason to hate the woman she saw in the mirror.

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It was a group of battle-ready Senshi who landed in the front yard of the Alexander estate. After the way Phoenix had run off, they were prepared for any amount of carnage. If some Shade was attacking his family then they would fight it to the last. Only a few other times had they been so ready to join battle.

All that mental preparation was blasted away when they saw Setsuna stand at the door in her regular clothing. Just from that they knew that there was nothing seriously wrong with the whole situation. But what could have been so bad that it sent Phoenix running like a bat out of hell?

"Citizen," said Sailor Moon in her best, I have no idea who you are voice, "one of our allies ran this way. Is something wrong?"

Setsuna rolled her eyes at her friend's antics. "Oh my gosh! Sailor Moon! I hope no one's gonna attack us," she said in her most vapid voice.

As they watched the woman's antics the Senshi were more shocked than they had been in quite some time. "Um, Setsuna," asked Mercury, dropping all pretenses of unfamiliarity, "are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she said flatly. "Nabiki called to tell Kasumi that her old flame is on the way."

She need not say anything more. All the girls could relate, in one way or another, to the negative feelings the normally calm Kasumi must be feeling. One by one, the girls gave muttered thanks before leaving for their homes. Only Minako stayed behind, and that was for some time with Marcus.

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Nabiki returned the phone to its receiver with a great deal of sadness. She had heard the feelings that had welled up in Kasumi with the news of Tofo's imminent arrival and hated that she had to do that to her. "Well, you have your meeting. I hope it does some good."

Though he could not hear Kasumi's end of the conversation, Tofu was sure that it had not been salutary. "It will. And I swear, I'll do my best to limit the pain to Kasumi."

"You better. Because I'm pretty sure that by the time the queue of people wanting to kick your ass is done with you it might be hard to say whether or not you actually existed."

If Kasumi was as friendly in Minato as she was in Nerima then he had no illusions as to his life span if he hurt her. "Well I better be off then. The meeting may be tomorrow, but something tells me that I won't get that warm of a welcome here."

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As Ranma opened his eyes he saw only darkness. It was not like a dark night in the forrest, at least there he could find specks of light and comfort. This, this was terrible. There were shades of suffering that he had only seen a small glimmer of in the wider world.

It was foul and awful. To Ranma it was as if someone had distilled all of the loathing, the sadness, and everything else that saps the wills of man. That terrible soul took the some total of human nastiness and put it in this place.

Once, he had heard that, 'if you stare into the abyss long enough, it starts to stare back at you.' Well this abyss didn't so much stare as it loomed. It pressed down on him, trying to consume him with its malevolence.

Well he wasn't about to let some stupid darkness defeat him; after all Ranma Alexander doesn't loose. Focusing his confidence he pushed the encroaching night with a corona of bright light. At the walls of his aura the swirling mass raged and howled. He smirked at their outrage, it was one of the few things he really took from his father. "Yeah, that's what I thought," he said with smug satisfaction.

The darkness seemed to limp back to lick its wounds. Before Ranma could move though, a loud scream pierced the area. Though he had never heard her cry out with such pain, the pig-tailed teen knew who it was who was being tortured so. "Kasumi!"

Somewhere out there the love of his life was in excruciating pain. Not thinking of anything else, Ramna did what he was best at and flung himself into danger. The going was tough though. While the darkness could not touch him it could slow him down, it could keep him away from her. And as Kasumi's cries got louder it became ever harder to move. It was like moving through wet concrete; every step a marathon that threatened to hold him in place forever.

Finally, after torturing him for nearly an eternity, the darkness finally parted to reveal a new set of horrors for Ranma to experience. His love, the beautiful angel sent by heaven to brighten the lives of all she met, lay face down upon a great black rock. Her normally smooth back was an angry mass of bloody lines; unquestionably the work of a whip. And her face was the worst of all. The gloriously happy expression was gone, replaced by pain and sorrow of unfathomable levels.

As surprising as the sight of Kasumi was, the identity of her torturer was all the more amazing. Dressed in something that would give Kodachi a run for her money was another Kasumi. This one was darker, more foul than the wonderful woman he knew her to be. Not even the demon that had briefly possessed her had made her look so evil. She slammed the whip down against her double's flesh with sadistic glee.

It was enough to make Ranma want to vomit. Before yet another blow could be struck he rushed forward and took the implement of pain out of the dark woman's hands. "Enough!"

"Oh hohoho! Look who is here Kasumi," laughed the torturer. "Now he gets to see the real you!"

The woman groaned and tried weakly to escape her bonds. "No," she croaked, her voice hoarse from screaming, "don't look at me."

"What the hell is going on here," he roared as he looked between the two women.

Dark Kasumi laughed in his face. "Don't you know? Haven't you felt this place lurking in the back of her mind? We're here to make sure that she gets the punishment she deserves."

Ranma looked at the woman with shock, "Deserve? How can she deserve this?"

"For all her imperfections. For all her failures as a daughter and as a mother. For her inability to attract a man until you took pity on her. For all that and oh so much more, she deserves every bit of the pain I give her."

"You're crazy," he screamed.

Slowly, the bound Kasumi turned her head to look at the young man defending her. "She's right Ranma," she gasped out.

"Kasumi . . ."

"I deserve all of this. Everything she said is true. I couldn't keep Akane and Nabiki on the straight road. I couldn't help father become the man he used to be. I,I couldn't even g,g,get Tofu to love m,me." As she confessed her sins to the man who loved her so, tears poured from her unceasingly.

He felt like a knife pierced his side. Tofu had always floated out there for her since they had gotten together, just as Akane had for him. But like Akane, Ranma thought that Kasumi was over the doctor, that she had moved on. Now though, things were starting to sound much different. "Y,you want Tofu?"

"No," she wailed pitifully.

"Then why do you care that you didn't get him?"

"Because," sneered the darker woman, "she knows that she wasn't good enough for him. She was as womanly as she could be and he still left."

"Bullshit! She didn't get Tofu because he was too stupid to get her. Not enough woman? Bah. Kasumi is so much of woman that she got me. I had a whole bunch of beautiful woman after my hide and she swooped in to beat them all. So yeah, I'm glad Tofu was such a moron, because if he wasn't then I'd still be alone. And any woman who can do the things that she does to me is all woman."

Though the woman was the representation of the darkness she had compressed in her, she was still a part of her and so Dark Kasumi blushed alongside her lighter companion. "But why did you bring her along, eh? Wasn't it because she's so meek that you won't have to worry about her?"

"Not worry about her? Are you insane? I worry about Kasumi every day of my life. I worry that some idiot from my past will try to kill her. I worry that she will die in this war. And I worry every day of my life that I,I'm not g,good enough for her." As he laid out all his fears to the women, Ranma began to add his own tears to the pool at their feet. Through those tears, he looked at the beaten woman. "I took you because you saved my life. I was leaving to die and you showed me that I have something to live for."

"Ranma . . ."

Ignoring the dark woman, Ranma kneeled into the pool of blood and tears at Kasumi's side. "Please," he begged. "You are so amazing. Just let me untie you and I'll dedicate every day of my life to showing you that you're the most worthy woman ever."

Suddenly the ropes faded from her wrists and her face regained some of its usual joy. Though her movements were slow from pain, Kasumi reached out and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Do you really mean that?"

There was a spark of hope in her words that Ranma recognized to be very fragile. "Absolutely. If I could kill a god to save Akane then I can certainly do everything for you." The golden light of his aura, which had dimmed greatly with the unsettling display, brightened greatly with his boast.

"Thank you," she sobbed. "Thank you so much."

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Far removed from Earth, where the stars held dominion over a court most mortals only dreamed about, two beings watched over the distant sleeping forms of Ranma and Kasumi. Both Phoenix and Cygnus looked upon their avatars with sadness. The swan added to that with a hint of anger.

"Was that really necessary."

"You know it was," replied Phoenix. "Right now the universe needs them too much for them to wallow in self-pity and doubt. If I had not done that they would have wasted precious time circling around each other only to end up right where they are now."

Cygnus sighed sadly, "I know. I just wish they didn't need to be exposed to such things."

"As do I, my love. Hopefully my actions have spared them a great deal of heartache though."

"How soon until the first trial," asked Cygnus in an attempt to change the discussion to less painful matters.

"Soon. Ursus has been watching things closely and estimates that Lynx will be ready no later than the day after tomorrow."

The swan looked at her mate with worry. "I do not know if they will recover enough before then."

"They will have to."

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With ready eyes, Lynx watched the local star crest this small mudball's horizon with a greedy eye. Though he was a creature granted dark powers by the mighty Draco, the star's light invigorated him greatly. Today was the day, he was sure of that. After countless days of marshaling his strength today he would go forth and finally claim the ultimate prize in his lord's name.

"Soon, Ranma Saotome. You will no longer be able to hide from me. And when I am done with you, I will take The Crystal from your cold, dead, hands." Had there been anyone in the area with eyes to see it, they would have spied an unholy creature climb up a brick wall only to run off towards Tokyo.

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Elsewhere in the small island nation a young man was waking up from a most uncomfortable sleep. As Ranma blearily looked around the room he found that the reason his back hurt so much was that, sometime during the night, he had fallen asleep sitting up. His wrist was sore as well, probably from him rubbing Kasumi's back even in his sleep. In his usual eloquent way he managed to sum all that up with a heartfelt, "Ugh."

That was more than enough to wake Kasumi. Even if she didn't remember the night before, the woman would have known how she fell asleep that day; the feeling of dried tears was one she had experienced more than once over the years. Luckily, like so many of her black moods, the rising of the Sun wiped away the darkness in lieu of a bright new day. Only one thing stood between her having a good day or a bad one, and that was the wonderful man beside her. "Ranma," she yawned cutely.

"Yeah," he said softly. After last night he wasn't quite sure how she was going to act.

She sat up in the bed and looked her love straight in the eye. "About last night . . ."

"I think I understand now. Just next time, d,don't p,pull away like that, okay?"

"How can I ever do that again when I have such a wonderful man showing me how great I am on a daily basis," she asked with a loving smile.

Ranma grinned with confidence. "You got that right. So how about I give you one of those massages that you love so much and then I follow it by washing your back in the furo?"

"Oh Ranma. That sounds great, it really does. But I think I have a better idea." As she spoke in a seductive voice most people would never imagine her capable of, Kasumi moved so that she was straddling her beau's lap. "After all, I think you deserve a reward for saving me from myself."

As he pressed his hands against her body, Ranma stared into her warm eyes. "While duty is its own reward, I think I'll enjoy this one more."

"You better," grinned Kasumi as she pulled off her shirt to reveal her flawless flesh and the silken cups that held within a most bountiful treasure.

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Sometime later a very happy looking couple entered the dining room of the Alexander home. As they did, both Ranma and Kasumi were grateful that her sleeping habits had worn off on him. Had they not, then they would have probably missed breakfast because of their post-angst playtime. Not that they would have particularly minded of course, it had been a most rewarding time for the both of them. Hand in hand the couple embraced the warmth they shared as she smiled at their family. So enthusiastic were they that neither really noticed the thread of tension that ran across the faces of the others.

The family exchanged half-hearted smiles with the new arrivals as they simultaneously looked to one another to see what they were thinking. It was clear that the only thought among them was just what was going on between the two young people. All they knew was that Kasumi had gotten a call about her ex, went upstairs like a robot, and then a few minutes later Ranma came barreling into the house and up the stairs looking like a man possessed. Now here they both sat looking as if none of yesterday had occurred.

After a tense round of negotiation done solely through quick looks and quicker head movements it was decided that Justin would be the one to broach the question of what exactly was going on. "Hi you two." Though he didn't want the job, Setsuna's intended managed to sound as if he was completely enthusiastic with it; something that he was sure won him some points with his wonderful lady.

Taking her eyes off of Ranma for the first time since sitting down, Kasumi looked to her future in-law and smiled at the older man. "Hello Justin. I hope you and Setsuna had a wonderful sleep."

"We did, thank you," he said, never showing his amazement that she would say such a thing given how things went last night. "How about you two?"

Kasumi's smile dipped as she squeezed Ranma's hand tightly. "W,we had a good night," she said with a slight catch to her voice.

Ranma looked at his love reproachfully, "Come on Kasumi. Its obvious they know something."

"You should only tell us what you are comfortable with," said Yori helpfully. Her mother's instinct though was screaming at her to go over to the young couple and hug them with every ounce of her strength.

A part of Kasumi wanted to tell her story to the people who were so concerned with her emotional well being. That part was being silenced by more than a decade's worth of bottling such things tightly up within her. In desperation, she looked into her love's eyes and sent out a streamer of need through the link.

Even without that connection, Ranma would have known what she needed from him. Nodding confidently, he turned to look at the expectant faces of his family. "Doctor Tofu was the local doctor in Nerima for a few years before I got there. He treated Kasumi's family and she got a major crush on him. Now, whenever he'd get around her he'd start acting goofy and he'd even hurt the people he was working on. Then, one day, he just up and left the ward and never gave a reason. I guess he's comin' back to explain himself."

"But what the heck happened last night," asked a confused Tami.

"She was in pain," said Monica softly, "and he came to help her. Right Ranma?"

He smiled at the young girl who was rapidly becoming his favorite cousin, "Got it in one kiddo."

Joseph leaned forward and looked at his future granddaughter. "Well I do hope you are well now Kasumi."

Kasumi brightened somewhat, "Its like Monica said. I was hurting and now I'm not so bad anymore."

The patriarch nodded knowingly, "Healing is a road that can always take time, what matters is that you have started the journey. If you need someone to talk to feel free to come to me."

"Or any of us dear," added Yori. "You're family, and family is everything."

Once again, Kasumi found herself immensely amazed at the people Ranma had found. Though she had come from a family that she had thought was close, she now knew that the Tendos were essentially just four strangers under a roof. With these good people they played the game they said they did. Over her time at the Alexander home she had conversed and enjoyed her time with each smiling face at the table. And all they ever asked of her was to return that kindness.

"T,thank you," she said with some moisture in her eyes.

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As Ranma was leaving the table after breakfast he eyed Setsuna walking towards him. Of all of the family she was the hardest for him to get a bead on. Most of the time she was cheerful, and a tad perverse, but there were moments when she acted as old as she claimed to be. The changing, the never being quite sure which woman would speak thing, was rather vexing. Plus, with the whole Senshi angle there were times that he wasn't quite sure how she would react to certain things. Still, he had no beef with her and slowed down to see what she wanted.

"Hey Ranma," she said with some nervousness as she drew close. "Can we talk for a moment? In private," added Setsuna when she noticed one or two people casting looks her way.

Figuring that she wanted to talk Senshi business Ranma shrugged, "Sure. We can goto the workout room, no one should be there right now."

Setsuna smirked at the young man. "Yeah, you're the only one that uses it this early."

"Hey," he exclaimed with mock hurt, "I got to keep in shape if I want to keep Kasumi happy."

"The way she looks at you, you could be paralyzed from the neck down and she'd still love you," she half joked.

He grinned goofily as he thought about the beautiful young woman who had helped turn his life around, "Yeah, she's great."

When the silent witness and the raging stallion finally made it to the Alexander's weight room Setsuna closed the door and made sure to lock it behind her. Ranma watched her actions with not so mild interest. "Um, is everything okay?"

"What? Oh, yeah, everything's okay. I just wanted to talk to you without the others hearing. Its sort of personal," she said with modicum of nervousness.

Ranma released a sigh as all his sudden spike of readiness drained away. "Oh, okay. What can I do for you?"

"Well, I was wondering whether or not you had any of those packets of instant girl water left?" From the way she asked the question,it was quite clear that she wished the answer to be a resounding yes.

"Um yeah, I do. Ever since Arty I've not been using it." As Ranma said the cursed cat's name, he felt his blood boil with anger as the memory of his last conversation with Artemis replayed itself in his mind.

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As the sounds of the park gently rolled past his ears, Ranma sought out his quarry. After Monica's earlier warning he had been expecting this sooner or later. So, when Minako came up to him talking about Artemis having some problems dealing with his curse, the pig-tailed teen had not been that surprised.

It seemed like a right of passage, this concern with the curse. Even Konatsu, someone who had eagerly embraced it as a blessing, had questions about his new state of being. In fact, Ranma was a little glad that he had talked to the ninja first. The easy questions gave him a feeling of hope that this would be just as easy.

Artemis was not that hard to find, the long white hair his cursed form had been blessed with stood out among the crowd of black and dark browns. It was clear that Minako had dressed the teenaged girl, the outfit was too well thought out for the kind of person the blond had described her friend to be. What was also clear was the girl's mood. As she looked down at the ground, there was a positively abysmal aura of unrest surrounding her.

"Hi Arty," greeted Ranma carefully.

The girl looked up quickly. She was stunned to see him there; she hadn't heard him approaching. "H,hi."

"Mind if I sit?"

"Go ahead," she said glumly. "No one else is."

"So, how're things?"

She looked her companion suspiciously, "What'd Minako tell you?"

"Not much," he shrugged. "Just that she's worried and wanted to know if I could talk to you guy-to-guy."

Artemis smiled, "Yeah, she's good like that. Though I'm not exactly a guy right this second."

"Aren't you?"

"Look at me Ranma," she said as she gestured to her ample curves. "What about this says guy to you?"

With a little mental effort, Ranma triggered the change and suddenly a busty red-head was sitting beside the other girl. "Why doncha take a look at me. I mean I've got tits and ass aplenty but up here," said the transformed male as he tapped the side of his head, "I'm all guy. So I'll ask again, aren't you?"

The young woman sighed deeply. "I guess that's part of my problem."

"Now we're gettin' to it." With a hesitance born from a lack of experience, Ranma reached out and touched the other girl on the arm. "Its okay. Ya can talk to me. I think I've had about every problem ya can."

"Well I . . . I liked this at first. I mean, I can walk around. I can go places like this that I couldn't when I'm . . . not human."

"Thanks fer not saying that. And I think I can understand. It must've been hard not being able to do all these human things looking like that."

She nodded eagerly. "Yeah. I can go to restaurants, movies, practically anywhere."

"So what's wrong?"

A deep blush turned her pale cheeks red. "When you're like that," she said as pointed at the curvy red-head beside her, "do, do you still . . . you know . . . like girls."

Okay, now the conversation was taking a decidedly odd turn. "Yeah," he said slowly. "You weren't there at the time, but Kasumi and I practically made out in front of the girls. And that ain't a show," growled Ranma; something that sounded cute in his higher girl voice.

"Sorry! Sorry! Its just . . . do you know anyone else with a curse like ours?"

"Yeah, and they all like girls too."

"Great," she moaned pitifully.

After the initial outrage faded Ranma let himself see the worried, almost blind panic, on the other girl's face. "Okay. Tell me why ya think yer not liking girls. I mean, are ya checkin' out guys or something?"

"No," exclaimed Artemis as she shuddered with revulsion. "No, just the thought . . . eww."

"So what's up?"

"Well, at first I loved this. I could go around and talk to any girl I wanted. I even checked myself out in the furo more than once. But as time passed, curvy bodies started to loose their appeal. I mean look at you," she said as she pointed to her companion. "You're beyond hot! Yet its doing nothing for me," wailed Artemis balefully.

Ranma felt a tick forming in his right eye. Suddenly, all the pity he had held for the girl evaporated under his ire. "Let me get this straight. Yer actin' all mopey 'cause ya can't get yer jollies any more?"

"Well when you put it like that," started the cat-girl.

"Shit man! And 'ere I was feelin' sorry for ya! Ya want ta know what's up? 'Cause yer a girl now, course yer gonna loose some interest in the not important stuff!"

"So I not going to like guys," she asked with renewed hope.

"NO!"

"Whew! Boy was I worried."

Ranma didn't say a thing. It was more of a question of couldn't rather than didn't. There so many things that he wanted to say that his mouth simply shut down. Eventually it managed an aggravated growl as he stood and stalked away. "Gods! Are all guys perverts," he mentally groused.

000000000

He was still growling as the memory came to an end. "Why'd ya want it?"

"Justin and I wanted a few while we were waiting for the ones we ordered," she said with embarrassment.

Ranma's residual anger went away in favor of surprise. "W,w,what? You want more?" Though he had been shocked when Konatsu asked for some of the packets, it quickly made sense to him why the cross-dressing young man would want them. For Setsuna and Justin though he could not conceive of a reason for their desire for more. She didn't seem to be the type that would be into girls and he seemed quite manly for a non-martial artist.

Setsuna hadn't felt so embarrassed since Senny convinced her to go streaking through the royal palace. If she could, she would just go and curl up somewhere where no one could ever find her. Unfortunantly, Ranma had something that both she and her love really wanted. "Y,yes."

"Why? Didn't you see what happened to Artemis and Luna?"

"That's not going to happen to Justin, your friend Konatsu proved that. As for why, do you really want to know," she asked wryly.

There was something to her tone that immediately conjured memories of his times with Kasumi when the situation, or desire, dictated the use of his female side. As soon as he starting thinking about those passionate moments the faces of Justin and Setsuna replaced his and Kasumi's, causing him to gag slightly and shiver. "Eww. "You're right. I don't want to know. Here," he said as he pulled out a couple of packets and handed them to her, "you can have them."

She squealed girlishly as she grabbed the proffered items and hugged her future in-law. "Thanks Ranma."

"Sure, no problem. Just don't tell me what yer doin'. K?"

"Right!"

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A short while after his discussion with Setsuna, an experience he was trying very hard to forget, Ranma went to find Kasumi. The meeting with Tofu was going to be soon and the last thing he wanted was to prolong the whole situation by missing it and having to reschedule. He finally found her in the library, ensconced in a large chair and her head buried in a thick book. "Hey."

Looking up from her book, Kasumi smiled beatifically when she saw her love saunter up to her side. "Hi honey."

Ranma shivered with desire at the appellation. Many times in the past he had heard couples call one another by such names and, on occasion, he found himself secretly longing to hear someone call him that. "No fair," he groaned lustfully.

"I don't have any idea what you're talking about," she said as she batted her eyes innocently.

He rolled his eyes at her transparent attempt to change the direction of events. "Come on Kasumi. You know we've got to get going."

The innocent blinking stopped as she sighed resignedly. "I know. I just don't want to see him."

"Me neither, but you got to. He's not gonna let up till you do. And if Nerima taught me anything its that you gotta face these things."

"Are you going to be there with me?"

"Of course I am. I promised that I do my best to make you happy, didn't I?" Though they had not devoted that much time to talking about their mental meeting, neither of them doubted that it happened.

She smiled up at him so brightly that she nearly glowed, "Yes you did, and yes you do."

"The come on," he said as he held out a hand, "and lets you and me defeat this dragon, my fair lady."

Kasumi took his hand demurely, "Be careful my knight, you don't want to start sounding like Tatewaki."

And so their latest emotional journey started with a light heart filled with laughter.

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Lurking on a rooftop, Lynx stared down at the couple walking down the street. His prey did not suspect that they would soon be dead. Centauri had been a fool, no star, no matter how bright, could stand against the power of a constellation. For his hubris the pompous star had been laid low. Lynx knew better though, as a constellation he would have more than enough power to deal with Phoenix and Cygnus' puppets. And to sweeten the victory he, more than any other, was perfectly equipped to overcome their paltry resistance.

"Yes, soon the crystal will be mine and our lord will bless me greatly," he purred greedily.

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As they walked towards the park for their meeting with Tofu, Ranma made sure that Kasumi was as close to him as possible. There would be a battle soon, he could feel it. It was the same threat of death that he had felt so many times in the past that he treated it less as a intruder and more like a long absent friend. Though he did not know who it was that followed him even at that moment, he knew who it wasn't. None of the old gang was after his hide again, that really would have been a welcome change. This was someone new, absently he wondered how he had pissed off this latest foe. In the end it didn't really matter, he was Ranma Alexander and Ranma Alexander doesn't loose.

The only wrinkle in that boast was the wonderful woman at his side. Would this person leave Kasumi alone or would they pull her in like so many had done with Akane? That question, more than the actual threat of an attack, unnerved him greatly.

Though she could tell that the was trying to hide it, Kasumi felt his concern for her well being. "Don't worry. I'll get to safety as fast as I can so I can see my man do his thing." This last part was said with a bit of humor mixed with a pinch of arousal, just the right combination to lighten Ranma's mood.

"Raaawwwllll! Give me the crystal," roared a voice from behind.

Ranma knew that sound, it was just like that tiger Kuno had tried to use against him a while back. Just the thought of that creature made him break out in a sweat. He wanted to run, run to the furthest place on the map from where he was. Duty called him to stand and fight though.

When he turned to face the voice Ranma saw a creature out of his deepest nightmares. It was tall, taller than most men and its shoulders looked like bookshelves made of thickly corded muscle. The creature's ears came to points and were pressed flat against its head with agitation. Long teeth and claws gleamed in the light like knives ready for the kill. Any one of those things, by itself, would have been acceptable to Ranma's mind, taken as a whole though they spelled out one thing, cat; giant angry cat.

Now since coming to Nerima he had gained some ground against the furry devils. If properly prepared he could look at a small one without making a fool of himself. For this thing though he was neither prepared nor was it little. That desire to run now became a primal terror the likes of which few people can fathom. It was only his iron resolve to keep Kasumi safe that kept him from running away like a blithering idiot. Still, locked between terror and duty, pretty much all he could do is stand completely still, as if his feet had been nailed to the ground.

Kasumi felt a trickle of the fear that was assailing her lover. She was nearly paralyzed by even that small amount. Though she was not a fighter the eldest Tendo daughter knew that neither of them would be able fight with Ranma as afraid as he was. Quickly she transformed and used her power to put him asleep. "I'll keep you safe," she vowed to his unconscious form.

Lynx watched her actions with amusement. "I had hoped to see him run around scared," he complained. "Still, I will have the crystal even if I have to slaughter him in his sleep."

This was the second time that the darkness had come to them seeking the crystal. Now, after talking with the Senshi, they knew what crystal they meant and who possessed it. Unfortunately, they couldn't give out that information. Usagi, though a wonderful girl, was simply not cut out for the intense combat these creatures demanded; and neither was she really. But Cygnus would fight and defend her love. All she could do is hope that a miracle would happen to save them all.

"You're not going to get past me," she said firmly.

"You," laughed Lynx contemptuously. "I can smell Cygnus' stink all over you. She may be powerful but neither of you are fighters."

"I'll still fight you."

"And I'll enjoy ripping those wings from your back, little bird." With that final word, the cat creature bounded towards his foe and the young man she guarded.

Immediately, Cygnus threw up a shield of light of blunt the fiend's attacks. From the behind the safety of her barrier she watched as the cat man pounded ferally upon the shield. Soon she began to notice tiny cracks start to form in its surface, a testament to Lynx's ferocious power. Taking a gamble worthy of her love, Cygnus moved from channeling the shield with both hands to just one. With her free hand she sent a calming wave towards her foe.

Though he could see the attack, Lynx felt no pain whatsoever. In fact he began to feel lightheaded, almost giddy. His arms felt as if they were made of lead and that they threatened to rip from their sockets. That made the least sense to to the dark being, how could he be tired from pounding on the shield when it had only been a handful of minutes since he started? Before the lethargy set in much further the light of truth shined upon the situation. "Its you," he roared as his fury burned away Cygnus' spell, "you're doing this!"

Cygnus wasn't a fighter, but she had learned a thing or two from her love. She may have been reeling from fear and disillusionment, but she never let it show. Instead she smirked in the face of Lynx's ire, "What's wrong? Does the widdle kitty want to take a napnap?"

Her words did their job and what had been an irate cat monster was now a frothing avatar of unbridled fury. He bit and gnashed at the shield doing all he could to pierce it. Lynx's claws, imbued with his dark power tore at the barrier with wild fervor. For an instant, a fleeting, gossamer-like, moment of time, the shield blinked and his claws managed to carve deep gouges into Cygnus' arms. Her cries of pain and the sweet smell of fresh blood made the liquid in his veins sing.

With her arm wounded as it was, Cygnus stumbled back and hastily erected another shield. It was a delaying tactic and nothing more. Hers was the way of defense, of healing, and of cooperation, alone she was more of a liability than an asset. With her powers as they were sooner or later there would be another lucky shot, and then another, and eventually she and Ranma would be dead. "I'm so sorry Ranma."

His head giddy at the approaching victory, Lynx jumped away from the confounding woman. Channeling his power through his claws he once again rushed towards the shield, hoping power and kinetic energy would see the day.

Before the final blow could be struck a blade of energy tore through the ground between the two combatants. As the dust settled both Cygnus and Lynx scanned the region to find the source of the attack. They soon found it in the form of a young man standing on the edge of a building. Wearing enough leather, including two massive bear claws on his shoulders, to make an animal rights activist die from excessive anger, the man looked as if he had spent all his time out in the woods. There was a calculating look to his eyes though which said that this man of the wild was perfectly in control. In fact, if she wasn't positive he was still asleep behind her, Cygnus would have sworn the man was Ranma.

"Hey ugly, didn't your mother ever tell you that it was wrong to pick on girls?"

Lynx snarled at the newcomer, though he did not know who the boy was the cat man knew the source of his power. "Ursus! What are you doing here?"

Ursus smirked, "Dealing with pussies like you Lynx. Just call me animal control." Feeling as if there was nothing else to say, the man scythed his arms across his body sending a pair of wavering air blades towards his foe.

Claws alight with power, Lynx met the attack with a slash of his own. The two masses of energy collided in the air, blowing out windows throughout the block. "I can take anything you can dish out blasphemer!"

Instead of looking stymied, Ursus actually grinned with delight. "Great! I was hoping for a real fight!" As he jumped from the roof the man's form shifted and grew. Skin merged with leather to form a continuous mass of muscle and fur. By the time he landed Ursus had become a massive werebear, dwarfing Lynx as much as he dwarfed Cygnus. "Come on," he roared joyfully.

As the two man-beasts tore great chunks of real estate in pursuit of ripping each other's throats out Cygnus watched with relief. Now the fight was one that gave her some hope of providing meaningful aid. Acting quickly, she healed her wounds and then took to the air. On the ground below Ranma slept safely beneath a shield so Cygnus did what she did best, she helped.

For the second time Lynx felt the effects of Cygnus's damnable magic. It sapped his strength and made his reflexes sluggish, which only exacerbated the fatigue fighting Lynx had engendered. To make matters worse, the bitch's power was also being wrought upon Ursus; mending torn sinew and filling him with vitality.

Now, being in Juban, it meant that the fight would not go on for long before drawing the attention of the Senshi. As the first appeared on the scene they started at the sight of the two beasts fighting it out. Luckily, for both of the combatants, Cygnus spotted the girls before they could muster any sort of assault.

"Don't attack them! Get Ranma out of here!" Though their powers would be counterproductive in this particular fight, Cygnus was grateful to have them there to guard Ranma in her stead.

Not asking about the order from their flying friend, Jupiter and Venus nodded and sprang into action. They knew all too well about the dangers of having a battlefield with innocents on it. So while they both wondered why Ranma, mister fight himself, was asleep on the job neither of them were going to stop everything so their questions could be answered.

Lynx heard Cygnus' order and used a quick lull in the fighting to spy who she had issued it to. His eyes widened when he saw the two skirted girls. The cat man knew about the Senshi, all the stars did. They were a threat to his lord Draco as surely as the blasphemers. They were also an excellent opportunity to change the tenor of this fight. Using an attack by Ursus as a feint, Lynx jumped backwards and landed in the path of the green-skirted Senshi, Jupiter.

Jupiter tried to dodge out of the way but the creature was faster. Before she could mount a defense he whirled her around and held her by the throat so tightly she could feel his claws dig into her flesh. His head came close in and the brunette could feel its hot breath against her ear.

"Move and you're dead, witch." Turning to Ursus, Lynx held his hostage like a shield. "Stand down or I'll kill her."

Ursus, despite his rough exterior, knew that innocents were to be protected. If he didn't stop fighting right then Lynx would follow through with his promise. Lowering his arms to his sides the bear-man reverted to his human form. "Alright, I've stopped. Now let her go."

"Give me the crystal and I'll think about it."

Now that was the absolute worst thing he could have said. By this point in their lives, every Senshi was well used to enemies wanting the crystal. It meant that, ultimately, they were after Usagi and most of the Senshi had already died once to save her. It was doubly worse in this instance seeing as the one Lynx held was one of the more physically inclined Senshi. Jupiter looked into the surrendered man's eyes. Once she was sure that she had his attention, the brunette made it clear that she was about to do something. A slight nodding of his head was all the response that she got, but it was enough.

As he watched Ursus back away some Lynx felt the thrill of victory. He had won! With his hostage in hand they would soon turn over the crystal and then his lord would thank him graciously. Any further thoughts on that track came to an abrupt end when a line of fire raced down his leg and impacted with his foot. Before he could respond to that, something slammed into his groin. And in that pained state he completely forgot about the young woman that had escaped his grasp.

With the fuku-clad girl out of the way, Ursus sent a pair of almost invisible blades towards Lynx. They hit with titanic force, scouring an X into his furred chest and nearly shearing his arms from his body. Not wanting his foe to get an advantage once again, Ursus followed behind his attacks to pummel the cat-man mercilessly.

On the sidelines Jupiter watched the display in awe. It was like watching Ranma in action, only this guy was far more brutal than her pig-tailed sensei. Where Ranma would go for the quick takedown with the least amount of pain, her rescuer broke bones, tore ligaments, and popped joints out of socket with a great degree of precision. "Wow."

High above, Cygnus watched this brutal man with a somewhat sickly expression. Some of the Neriman battles had been rough but they were like energetic sparing matches compared to the slaughter unfolding below. If it were not so vitally important that they incapacitate Lynx to cleanse him of his dark taint she might have called a halt to the display. As it was, she counted the beast lucky when he finally lost his grasp on consciousness.

Though his treatment of the tainted had been perfectly brutal, when Ursus saw that Lynx had finally been beaten he let the broken and bruised form fall to the ground. After casting one last satisfied look down at his defeated foe, the wild man looked up at the angelic woman, "Hey! Cygnus! Your turn."

As she had before, Cygnus called upon the totality of her powers. The purifying light filled her with its radiance, washing away all her troubles; for the moment at least. With symbols of power floating at her back she sent out a beam of purest light. When it hit Lynx, initially he seized up; his dark power trying to fight against the inevitable. But with his mind out of commission for the moment there was nothing to stop Cygnus from banishing the darkness from him forever.

Light of ever increasing intensity filled the space Lynx occupied. Soon it reached a point where it appeared as if he had been replaced with a small star. Everyone watching the scene had to shield their eyes from the intense radiance. Then in an instant the light, along with Lynx, was gone.

"Thank you," spoke Lynx into the minds of the two avatars. "And please, apologize to Ranma. As its final act on this plane, the Bakeneko used all its will to direct the enemy towards him. In the weeks and months to come, expect others."

"I will," said Cynus. "Thank you, for the apology and the warning."

"Farewell."

As Lynx's presence retreated from her mind, Cygnus shed a tear for the soul that had been sacrificed in this war. "I pray that you finally have peace," she whispered solemnly.

Venus, who had been watching from the edge of the battle zone and not enjoying herself one bit, looked up at the floating woman. "Um, what do we do about him?"

Shaking herself from her mourning, Cygnus looked down at the young woman. As she had instructed, Venus managed to sequester Ranma in the shadow of a nearby alley. He was still asleep, blissfully unaware of the dangers that had occurred around him. With a soft smile, she sent out a trickle of her power, breaking the spell over him.

Now that the state of sleep Ranma had been more like hitting the pause button than actually a state of true unconsciousness. The instant the spell receded his eyes slammed open. Though he did not see any giant talking demons, the sight of Venus was enough to tell him that danger was afoot. In an eye-blink he was up and transformed into Phoenix, ready for action.

"Its okay Phoenix," soothed Venus. "Cygnus and the new guy took care of it."

"New guy?" Scanning the area, Phoenix saw who she must be referring to. But seeing didn't always lead to believing, especially in the case of the young man in the leather and furs. "You?"

Folding his arms across his chest, Ursus smirked in a manner most reminiscent of Phoenix. "Yes me. Its been awhile."

"What the hell are you doin' here?"

"Savin' your ass by the look of things."

Though Phoenix had been working very hard to break the Senshi of many of their stereotypic behavior, there were some ingrained behaviors that he carried as well. One of these was the habit of just standing in the middle of the street having a very public conversation. Jupiter was seeing this habit first-hand as the two men conversed in the middle of a category three battleground. "Um, guys? Maybe we should take this someplace else. We're starting to get some company."

Sure enough, now that the battle was over, a veritable swarm of people were coming out to take stock of the damage and catch a glimpse of the heroes. "Crap," muttered Phoenix as he caught sight of one particular spectator. "Figures he'd show up. Jupiter, Venus, can you guys take him to my place? Cygnus and I have some business we need to take care of."

Neither girl understood why the couple suddenly looked so distant, but there was a certain chill in the air that was unmistakable. "Sure."

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As the heroes departed the scene of battle, Tofu Ono did the same. He had been waiting for Kasumi to show up when he heard a large explosion. Fearing for the safety of others, the doctor had rushed towards the location where the blast must have come from. With wide eyes he had watched the two beasts wage war upon each other as Kasumi floated above shooting beams of light. It didn't take much thought to understand why Ranma hadn't been participating, but now that the teen was awake Tofu was sure that he needed to be back at the park lest the meeting never take place.

With his constitution it didn't take him long to reach the spot he had previously occupied. Standing in the grassy area, Tofu noted with some pride that he had managed to reach the park before Ranma and Kasumi. That minor amount of pride died a quick death when he heard the pig-tailed teen's voice speak to him from seemingly nowhere.

"What's up Doc?"

Though he had heard that voice countless times since he had first met Ranma, there was something about it that sent a chill down his spine. "H,hello Ranma." Tofu reached out and tried to feel where the teen was yet there was not a trace of him to be felt or seen, which only added to the feeling of foreboding that had descended upon him.

"You know, Kasumi thinks that I ran ahead to find you for your talk," he said conversationally.

"S,she does." This time, the stuttering had nothing to do with Kasumi's name and everything to do with the faceless voice around him.

"Yeah. But I thought that we'd have a talk of our own first."

"What about?" The question was, honestly, quite moot. If Ranma and Kasumi were an item, as Nabiki had intimated, he would have surely heard her side of the whole affair. For all his faults, the boy was a dogged defender of the damaged. Tofu held no illusions as to what the teen might do to him.

"You know, when ya left I kinda thought it was a dick move. I mean, ya just vanish one day without even sayin' goodbye. That was before I really knew what it did ta Kasumi though. Ya really hurt her doc."

That last part had been spoken right into the good doctor's ear. Ranma's hot breath only chilled his blood that much further. As much as he wanted to, Tofu didn't move away from the spot he was occupying. He felt as it he were being stalked by some sort of animal and the primal side of his being told him to remain perfectly still lest he be harmed. "W,what are you going to do to me?"

"Nothin'," said Ranma as he stepped out from his cloak. "As much as I'm tryin' to ditch everything the ol' goat taught me, the bit about not using the art to harm the weak is somethin' I believe in. And let's face it Doc, compared ta me, you ain't that strong."

He wasn't at that. Even when he had first met the boy it was only his aura of trust and neutralness that had allowed him to do the things he had to Ranma. Now, after all the battles that he must have been in since they last met, there was no telling how much more powerful he was.

"There was somethin' else I learned on the trip, the names of some very not nice people. Did you know that even criminals have a code? Kasumi was actually off limits in Nerima, and she's probably getting the same thing here. Well congrats Doc, ya broke that code when ya pulled yer stunt. But I'm a guy that believes in second chances, so don't hurt her again and no one will hafta hear about this. K?"

"I swear Ranma," he said, managing to not stutter that time in spite of the sweat running down his back, "that I am not here to hurt her. All I want to do is apologize for my actions."

Ranma nodded, "Okay. Now Kasumi's gonna be here in a sec, so I'll let you talk to yerselves."

As the pig-tailed teenager walked away, acting as if nothing had just happened, Tofu feared for the coming meeting. With how Nabiki and Ranma reacted to the whole affair the doctor wondered if he would have been better off just staying with the monks. At least then he could have gone on under the assumption that there weren't people burning him in effigy.

"Hello Tofu."

Now his breath was catching in his throat for a completely different reason. To the man's ears it was as if an angel had just spoken to him, and given what he had seen of her it might just be. Luckily, as he turned to face the woman he had loved deeply, Tofu managed to keep his cool. Having someone's sister and boyfriend threaten you with financial and bodily harm did that to a guy. "Hi Kasumi."

"I see that you managed to recover from your affliction." It was odd, there was a time when she would have done a great many things to see the man's eyes as she did at this moment. Now, as she looked into those brown orbs, all she felt was a spark of anger. And a spark it was, not the raging inferno Akane could produce.

"Yes. Seeing that first battle of yours did a lot to break me from my problems."

"Well at least you were able to get the help you needed."

While he tone had never left the soft, airy, range he had come to expect from her, there was something about how Kasumi said that which made him think that there was an insult buried somewhere in the words. "Kasumi . . ."

"Don't, please." Though the air was warm that day she wrapped her arms around herself. "You hurt me. You really, hurt me Tofu. I didn't understand how bad it was until recently. I am just lucky that I have Ranma with me now. Together we are working to heal each other. Thank you for coming to see me, but right now I can't accept your apology. I'm sorry."

Tofu felt his heart drop with those words. He had hoped for so much more. He had gone to do good, to ease the pain he caused. Now though it was clear that his actions had caused more pain than he prevented. As the woman he had dedicated a sizable chunk of his life to walked away the doctor decided to close the book on this chapter of his life. Though he had not said the words he had gotten his answer. One day Kasumi may be able to forgive his sins against her but he would not place his life on hold for that moment. He would walk away from this place and start anew.

"Maybe this time I'll do things right," he muttered as he watched Kasumi embrace Ranma at the far side of the park.

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It was a quiet couple who turned onto the street that led to the Alexander home. After the meeting with Tofu neither Ranma nor Kasumi felt like talking about what happened. They were simply content with walking together and letting their minds float lazily across the link. It was soothing, especially after the short period of time when Kasumi had blocked her side for the brief conversation with Tofu. While both knew the reasons for the block, the brief silence in their minds showed them how much they had come to count on the background noise of the other's thoughts.

Something else that the couple were not looking forward to was the discussion that they were about to have with the newest member of their little band. How would he reply to being in a group with Ranma? The last time he had seen this particular person had not been the most salutary.

Some of their concerns were washed away when they entered their home and saw the man in question trying to escape from the steel grasp of Nodoka soon-to-be-Alexander. The look on the woman's face was one of joy, as if the young man in her arms was Ranma and not someone else. It was quite obvious that she had no clue that he was trying to escape from her grasp and just tightened her hold like some sort of motherly boa constrictor.

Being the kind of guy that he was, Ranma just could not let this opportunity pass him up. "I think you're a little young for my mom Ryu."

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Author's Notes: Okay, I think that is a good place to end this chapter. Believe it or not, I have been trying to get the introduction of a new Avatar in for the last few chapters, but it kept getting out of hand and running away from me. Kudos to anyone who got that the van driver was Sal from Futurama. If he can be everywhere in the 31st Century what's stoping him from being in multiple universes too. Oh, and I would like to take a moment to talk about Artemis' butt. Honestly, it was something of a throwaway bit for the end of the last chapter that got away from me. I never really thought it would receive the comments it did. I wrote the piece in this chapter with him in it shortly after the reviews started coming in. Just don't expect a great deal more with him in the future.

Here's my thought on how Kasumi responded to the whole Tofu thing. When her mother died young Kasumi knew that she had to be strong for the family and took all her pain and locked it away. Over the years other such wounds were similarly banished to ensure that she was as stable as possible for her loved ones. Her issues with Tofu were just piled on with the rest until there was this dark, festering, ball of ill feelings.

Its one thing to talk about having sex with someone when the person you're talking to is a friend or someone who routinely talks about their sex life. With Ranma though, he's family and someone that Setsuna knows to be something of a prude; at least outside of the bedroom. Hence the embarrassment.

Anyone who read the part with Ranma and Tofu is probably saying to themselves, "Hey, Ranma did the same thing." Well you would be right, he did do that. But Ranma, for all his awesomeness is just a human being. In his mind the two situations are so different from one another that his hypocrisy doesn't even register on his radar.

Until next time this has been,

Chaos Lord

Kin of the Wicker People