Book 3: Family and Friends.

Note: Well, 3-4 months? It's alive! The new book has begun! You want to read it so I should shut up! And, AWAY!

Chapter 49, New Missions.

Rei Hino stood at the top of the steps that lead to her family's shrine, having parted ways with a recovered Usagi about twenty minutes earlier. Taking a deep breath, the shrine maiden stepped forward slowly, though her apprehension made it feel like she was walking through a cube of Jello. Today's battle had been hard to begin with, and then she'd remembered what had happened before it had started. Shaking her head, she forced herself forward. She'd known that, some day, she would have to tell her grandfather about who she was, she just really wished it wasn't today.

When she entered the front door, she saw the old man standing there, looking up at her expectantly. "Welcome home, Rei." He said, smiling. "How was your trip with your friends?"

Rei blinked, almost wanting to think that what she'd heard before had been some sort of hallucination. "We, um, got most of the stuff we wanted done." She said, uncertainly. That was… sort of the truth, though that demon possessed girl had escaped, not detected even after they'd had Ami scan the entire area for over five minutes.

"Good, then how about you help me with cleaning up the fire room?" Her elder asked. "It's important that we get the fire shielded before it rains."

Rei nodded, having not thought of that, especially given the gaping hole in the wall. Quickly following the old man, she saw that several bits of debris had been cleared away, and two moon cats were standing in one corner, bobbing from side to side nervously.

When Rei entered the room, the two looked as if they wanted to run up to her and ask questions, but they bit the impulse back, Luna simply meowing curiously. "Hey, you two? I thought you left with the others?" Rei asked, looking at the cats in the most confused way she could.

"They stayed and kept me company." Her grandfather remarked, grinning at the two advisers.

Rei gulped, but seeing that the priest wasn't going to push anything, she started helping clear debris. Finally, though, about a minute later, her apprehension got to her and she spoke up. "How long have you known?" She asked, softly.

The bald man looked over at her from where he'd been hanging a tarp across the hole Ranma had smashed in the wall, and then shook his head. "For over a year. Ever since that man with the black crystal attacked."

Rei gasped. "But… why didn't you say anything before now?" She asked, confused.

The old man shook his head. "Your group seemed to want to keep itself secret, and I was already providing all the help I could against those creatures by giving you a base of operations."

Rei was surprised, not really having expected her grandfather to give such a serious response. He was usually so fun loving and lecherous that she occasionally forgot that he truly was a good shrine keeper. "I'm sorry that I couldn't tell you." She mumbled, then continued slightly more firmly. "I was afraid to tell you in case you objected… If I had to choose between what you wanted and the Senshi, I'm not really sure what I'd pick."

She looked down at this admission and the two moon cats behind her slowly made their way out of the room, Luna in the lead, as they realized that this was a very personal moment.

When she felt a hand on her arm, Rei looked up to see her grandfather grinning at her. "Rei, what gave you the idea that I would stop you from doing this?" He asked, steadily. As her mouth gaped, he continued. "at this shrine, we have an obligation to defend normal people from threats of a spiritual nature, as well as helping with their religious well-being. I would never attempt to stop someone better equipped to do that than I am, even though I think you're a bit too young for this, yet."

Rei looked at the older man with dumb shock on her face, taken aback by the sincerity and seriousness of his words. "Really?" She asked.

He nodded, then grinned. "Plus, some of those friends of yours are so cute in their mini-skirts." Rei face-faulted, having known that her grandfather's bout with seriousness couldn't last forever.

HR.

In a park nearby, Neptune and Uranus both stood waiting for Sailor Pluto. Though the two had been happy to stand with each other in a sort of euphoria, a combination of their not having to kill anyone and finally deciding to set a date, on the way home they'd realized that there were other things that had to be looked after at the moment.

Haruka had called Sailor Pluto, who had agreed to meet them here and explain what had gone on. "I don't know of she's coming." Uranus said, concerned. Neptune was about to respond, when she abruptly flinched and kicked backwards.

Spinning, both Senshi saw Pluto on the ground about five feet away, shakily forcing herself to her feet. "I have to learn to stop doing that." She grumbled, spitting a small clump of dirt out of her mouth.

"Sorry." The Senshi of the sea muttered, sheepishly. "My danger sense is on a lot more of a hair trigger as a Senshi, since I can't use my chi to see who's behind me."

"It's fine." Pluto said, though she didn't look entirely pleased. "You two wanted to talk to me?"

"Yeah." Uranus said, irritably. "What on earth happened in that last battle? We had the Talisman, and apparently Moon was the one we had to give them to? And most importantly, though I'm really glad about this one, we're not dead."

Pluto nodded, and then materialized her key staff out of nowhere. Having been through this before, both of the other Senshi braced for a teleport, appearing in the gates of time. "I felt that it would be better if we had privacy." The guardian explained, stepping over to the device she guarded, and looking into the swirling patterns that made up its depths. This always seemed to help calm her down, even when she had annoyed other Senshi breathing down her neck.

Taking several moments to compose her thoughts, Pluto made a decision. "I haven't been telling you two the whole truth." She said, softly.

"Ya think?" Neptune snapped, before Uranus raised a hand to stop the redhead. She did quiet down, though reluctantly.

"I honestly didn't know about the talismans being in your bodies." The time guardian said, quickly. "Still, it should have been obvious, given that a Senshi could more likely survive the removal of their heart crystals, and the weapons were yours to begin with, but…" She trailed off, shaking her head. "My short-sighted panic isn't what I wasn't being totally truthful about."

Seeing the inquisitive looks on the other two Senshi's faces, the green haired woman continued. "I am the Guardian of the Gates of Time, which means that I should be able to see the future and past, as well as travel in time when the need arises. The problem is that I can't do this."

"Then… what was that vision you showed us, the destroyed planet?" Uranus asked, starting to become angry.

"That was the future," Pluto said, quickly, "or at least a very likely one. That's not what I meant that I can't do, or not really. I can't travel in time, and the gate's scrying powers are a lot weaker than they should be, so I had no idea where the talismans were, or how to get them." She looked down. "I knew that the world was very close to ending, in fact it still is, and I…" She trailed off for a moment, looking away from the other two, then continued more softly. "I panicked. By the time I realized what was really happening today, I was barely in time to complete the ritual to summon the grail before both of you died."

To the surprise of all three of the Senshi, it was Neptune who moved forward, resting a hand on Pluto's shoulder. "Hey, it's fine." She said, her expression understanding. "We succeeded, at least mostly, and we now got the talisman and that grail thing, right?"

Looking up in surprise, Pluto saw that Uranus was smiling at her as well. "I'm pretty sure we both know what it's like to grab for a solution when you can't think straight." The Senshi of wind said, understandingly.

Neptune nodded, remembering the fight with Saffron, and the snap decision that had caused the phoenix god's rebirth.

Pluto gaped for a moment, and then allowed a small smile to cross her lips. "Thank you." She said, and then cleared her throat, rubbing what she would later swear was a bit of dust from her eye.

For a few moments, the room fell silent, before Neptune spoke up. "So, um, what do we do next?"

Pluto straightened up, now much more business-like, and turned to the gates. "The situation's a lot better than it was, but there's still danger of the world ending. That demon you fought this afternoon was only the harbinger of something much, much more powerful, and it will try to obtain the grail, as well as more heart crystals."

"Wait, I thought we found everything in the heart crystals?" Uranus asked.

"We did, but the fact remains that they're pure, crystallized life-force. That is a large power source, which can be used to strengthen the enemy's forces."

"So, now we just gotta blow up the bad guys and return the crystals, rather than lookin at them for a talisman?" Neptune asked, sounding very happy about this prospect.

"We also need to try and find the source of the daimons," Pluto added.

"That's a plan I actually like." Neptune exclaimed, cracking her knuckles, and Uranus chuckled next to her.

Pluto nodded. "Good, I'm glad." She said, and then raised her staff again, causing the three to vanish from the Gate chamber.

HR.

When the three Sailor Senshi materialized on a rooftop near the Meiou house, Neptune staggered slightly. "I'm never gunna get used to that." She muttered, as Uranus steadied her.

Nearby, Pluto chuckled, thinking that this difficulty with teleporting, in some small way, made up for the fact that the other girl seemed to like kicking her across the pavement every time she appeared. "So, we'll talk to you when you have more information on the Daimons' creators?" Uranus asked, curiously.

Pluto frowned for a moment, then made another decision that she may regret in the morning. "Actually, I think I'll go home with you two." She replied.

Uranus and Neptune both exchanged confused glances, but shrugged. Pluto already knew both of their civilian identities, so they didn't really see the harm, as long as Nodoka and Setsuna weren't home. Jumping down from the roof into a back alley, the blonde and redhead both transformed back to normal, quickly, and surprisingly, followed by Pluto.

"Setsuna?" The two asked in unison, their blinks almost audible.

Setsuna Meiou snickered, straightening the top of her women's business suit. "Hello." She said, and then, for no real reason she could put her finger on, waved.

HR.

Sitting and staring at a campfire, Shampoo of the Joketsu Zoku grumbled to herself as she poked the large fish that was on a spit there. She didn't do so very loudly, as there was an elder and two warriors present, but there was definitely grumbling involved.

She had wanted to go with one of the hunting groups that were scouting out the rest of the island, to resume her search with the backing of the other amazons that had come with her, but the elder had vetoed that suggestion, stating that her group would return to Nerima and try to pick up Ranma's trail from there. Repeated exclamations that she'd already TRIED that, and that he'd said he was leaving the area, had fallen on deaf ears.

It was about now that the young Amazon started questioning the wisdom of her decision to go back home before finding Ranma, but it had been done, and they would be in Nerima in a week. She just hoped that no one in Nerima would get in their way. Shampoo really had nothing against the other girls, since Ranma had left them all in the end, but the elder, and likely the others, would think of them as obstacles from her reports and perhaps kill them.

Looking up into the stars, she hoped that this mission would be over soon, as her enthusiasm for it had been dimming steadily ever since she finally saw home again.

HR.

"You what?!" The cry of outrage pierced the Kuno household once again, as Sasuke Saragakure trembled in front of his mistress.

"I couldn't get any more information." The Ninja said, quickly. "There's another Ninja in the area working against me, for some reason."

"Hmm, then that would mean another powerful clan has interest in the region." Kodachi said, showing one of her few moments of lucidity. "They must want my Ranma-sama!"

Sasuke sighed.

"Come, Sasuke. You will tell me what district you found him in, and I will go there to rescue him from whoever is trying to capture him!" The house's only current resident exclaimed, bounding up from her chair and out of the room while spinning a ribbon she'd taken from… somewhere… around herself.

"I need a union." Sasuke grumbled, tiredly.

HR.

Hotaru's eyes shot open, images still running through her mind that she couldn't explain. The last thing she'd clearly remembered, Ranma and Haruka-san had taken her to see a priest of some sort. Then, things had started to become blurry. She'd seen flickers of what may have happened after that, but it all seemed so nightmarish that it couldn't be true.

She couldn't have blasted Haruka-san with some sort of energy bolt, and she definitely didn't want to remember the look on the face of the woman who'd tried to strangle her. Shuddering, the young girl got out of bed, padding out of her room.

The house was silent as she made her way down the hallway to the kitchen, as everyone seemed to be asleep. Entering the room, however, she saw Kaolinite sitting at the table, sipping coffee. "Hotaru-chan, I'm glad you're awake." The woman said, smiling at her.

Hotaru nodded, shuffling over to the sink and getting some water. "I had a bad dream, Kaolinite-san." She confessed, sheepishly.

Kaolinite frowned, looking worried. "Bad dream?" She asked, then moved over to look the girl up and down. "Hotaru-chan, do you remember what happened today?"

Hotaru gulped. "S… something did happen?" She asked, terrified that maybe her dream had been true.

Kaolinite looked at her sadly, and hugged her for a moment. "Hotaru-chan, you had a fainting spell when you were out with some friends." She explained. "They brought you home."

"Oh." Hotaru said, sighing in relief. "I hope Ranma and Haruka-san weren't angry."

"No, of course they weren't." Kaolinite said, reassuringly. "But your father's worried about you. He's decided that you should be home-schooled from now on."

Hotaru blinked. "He… why?" She asked.

"He's worried that you could be getting sick again." Kaolinite said. "I know you want to go to the academy, but it's too risky. You understand, right?"

"I…" Hotaru started, before the image of the enraged woman trying to kill her entered her mind again. "I.. guess I do." She finally muttered, turning and heading back to her room with her glass of water. "Good night, Kaolinite."

"Good night Hotaru-chan." The red haired woman said, smiling at the girl until she had left. Standing, she left as well, headed to the living room, and picking up the phone. "Hello?" She asked, after hitting a speed dial. After a few seconds of listening, she spoke. "I told her."

After some more conversation, she sighed. "Yeah, but she didn't look too happy about it." This time, after some more unusual comments, cackling could be heard. Sighing in annoyance, the redhead hung up, cursing idiotic employers.

END.

Not much to say today, so please R&R, and I hope you enjoyed the read.