Ranma ½: Powers
Super Sailor Soldiers
meet the newest Knights
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Chapter 9
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A week passed in relative peace. Ranma was released from the hospital a day after the confrontation with Ukyo, the Gundam pilots had no new missions, and no new monsters appeared. Ranma and Ryoga trained with those that wanted to train, Duo and Shin tortured everyone at the safe house with their loud music and Hotaru tortured everyone at her house with the music she barrowed from Duo.
"Haruka, I've come to a decision. I want to go talk to Zechs and Treize." Michiru said as she sat down next to her lover as she read a book on the porch swing.
"Are you sure? They are the enemy to those guys, and they are currently waging a war against the colonies." Haruka said as she put down her book and looked over at her in concern.
"I know, but it think that if we are going to win against Ebonite and his Queen, who ever that is, then we will need everyone we can get."
"I guess that makes sense, but how are we going to see them? It's not like we can just waltz right in there and say, I need to talk to your general and the leader of your mobile suits because they need to save the world from evil, energy draining monsters and their queen."
"I figured we could transform and sneak in to see them." Michiru said, then shook her head. "It would never work. Their security is just to tight for us to get through, even in scout form."
"How about a special concert by world renown violinist Kaiou Michiru? With her piano playing counter part there of course." Haruka said slyly.
"Perfect. Now, should you call, or should I?"
Within two hours, it was set. Haruka and Michiru would go to the Oz base in England and perform for Treize and Zechs in honor of Zechs' twentieth birthday, to be held in two days. They were to leave in the morning, have a day of rest, then perform that night. It would be a privet audience with just the two men.
"Well, I guess we should get packing." Michiru said and Haruka nodded before they headed for their room. Suddenly, loud rock music started playing from the direction of Hotaru's room and Haruka sighed.
"I could really kill Duo for this. You know?"
"It's too quiet." Quatre said suddenly. He, Trowa, Tai and Triton were all sitting around in the music room on the second floor after creating a beautiful song with two violins and two flutes, when Quatre had made his stunning announcement.
"Well, it is true that Duo and Shin aren't blasting their music, but it's not that quiet." Trowa said as he looked up from the music he has writing. He made a habit of writing down all the music he and Quatre came up with, and this one with Tai and Triton was one of the best.
"No, Quatre's right. Something isn't right." Tai said as he tilted his head to the side, as if he could hear something that the others couldn't. Suddenly, his and Quatre's heads shot up to stare at the ceiling for a moment before they rushed out of room. Trowa and Triton stared after them for a moment before they rushed after them. They caught up with them on the stairs and together they rushed up to the fifth floor.
Once they were in the hallway, Quatre and Tai paused for a moment before they rushed to the door to Duo's exercises room. Throwing open the door, they found twenty Oz soldiers in the room. And in the middle of all the men, were Duo and Shin.
Duo was flat on his back. He appeared to have been roughed up a bit, but now they were stacking weights on his chest as they fired questions at him. Whenever he refused to answer a question, they would put another weigh on him. Shin was on his knees with both arms cuffed behind his back. His nose was bleeding and both eyes were swelling, and basically he looked like he was going to pass out at any minute.
At the sound of the door opening, the soldiers spun around and pointed their weapons at the four new comers. "Come in and put your hands on your heads." The leader said as he motioned a group of me to put cuffs on them.
"What the hell do you think you are doing? This is my home and you have no right to break in and torture my guests." Quatre snarled as a man approached him. "Hold it right there." He put so much authority into his voice that the entire group stopped what they were doing and snapped to attention before relaxing as they cast sheepish glances at their leader.
"And who do you think you are to tell us what to do and not to do?"
"My name is Quatre Raberba Winner and this is my house. You will state your reasons for being here and doing this and then you will leave and I will be getting in touch with Treize Kushrenada."
"And why would he listen to a sixteen year old child?" the commander snapped irritated.
Before Quatre could say anything, a voice spoke up from behind him. "Because Treize is my uncle and Quatre happens to be my fiancée." Everyone turned to see Mina and Hotaru in the doorway.
Hotaru immediately rushed to Duo's side and started shoving the weights off his chest. As soon as they were off, she put her hands over his chest and started healing his cracked and broken ribs. Turning her head slightly, she snapped, "You almost killed him you monsters! One more weight and his ribcage would have fully collapsed and crushed his heart!"
"Uncle Treize will hear about this, Commander Roseclear." Mina said darkly and he looked at her in surprise. Before he could say anything, she said, "Surprised I knew you name? Think back three years ago when Uncle Treize first became your leader. There was a huge ball and he brought his thirteen-year-old niece. You tripped and fell, knocking red wine all over her dress? Her white dress with roses embroidered on the hemline?"
"Lady Mina! I'm so sorry!" Roseclear exclaimed as he bowed deeply to her, to the shock of all present.
"Now, once again, what…are…you…doing...here?" she said slowly.
"There was a rumor that the Gundam Pilots were here and we were sent to discover if it was true, by any means necessary." He said and Mina scowled at him. She entertained the idea of slapping him, but Hotaru beat her to it. Marching up to Roseclear, she reached back her arm and punched him across the face.
The training she had been undergoing with Ranma, combined with the powers of being a scout which made her get the maximum effect in half the time a normal person would, had made her stronger. So her punch sent him flying back. He would have fallen, but Duo was standing behind him and caught him. Turning him around, he smiled grimly into the man's startled face, then sent a powerful punch that snapped the man's head back. Roseclear dropped like a stone.
Stepping over his prone form, he stepped up to Hotaru and wrapped her arms around her. Looking at one of the men over her shoulder, she growled, "Take the handcuffs off of him." The man nodded quickly and stepped over to Shin.
As soon as he was free, Hotaru and Duo hurried over and she worked her healing magic on him. The soldiers stared at her in shock and gave her a lot of space as she and her small family walked through them to the door.
Mina let them by, then turned to the man again. "There are no Gundam pilots here so you will pick up him and get out of here. And tell my Uncle that I will be visiting him at the England base in a couple days." She said coldly and the men nodded as they picked up their fallen leader and carted him out of the house.
As soon as they were gone, Duo and Hotaru grabbed Shin and pulled him into a group hug. Duo could feel a few tears wetting his chest as Shin broke down and started to cry softly. Duo could faintly hear him repeating to himself, "Boys don't cry, boys don't cry, boys don't cry."
Quatre, Mina, and the others respectively left them alone and headed into the living room. As the others sat down on the couches, Mina asked to use the phone. When Quatre nodded, she hurried over the videophone and punched in a long string of numbers. After a minute of waiting a face appeared on the screen. She said, "I would like to speak with General Treize Kushrenada immediately."
'I'm sorry miss, but you have to have certain clearance to
talk to his excellency.' The woman said coldly.
"Rose, water, and trees are the loveliest things of all." Mina said in a cold voice that made the others look at her in confusion. She waved off their questioning looks as the woman started speaking again.
'Passwords confirmed. Please tell me your name and I will
see if he wants to talk to you.'
"Lady Mina Goodingson." (I have no clue about her real last name so I just made one up. Does anyone know what it is?)
'Please hold.' A picture of flowers appeared on the screen and classical music started playing as the woman went to ask and it wasn't long before Treize appeared on the screen.
'Mina! What a pleasant surprise. I haven't heard from you in a long time.' He said, warmth clear in his voice.
"This isn't a social call uncle." Mina said coldly and Treize looked at her, slightly surprised.
'Then what is this about?' he asked her seriously.
"Your men just broke into a house and almost killed one of my friends. They said they were looking for the Gundams by any means necessary."
'I did say by any means, but I had not meant that they should kill any one.' Treize said as he frowned thoughtfully. 'They were sent, because it was a Winner estate and the current head of the family, Irene Winner said that she didn't think that any of her family was there. It was possible that the Gundam pilots had commandeered the place for themselves and were using it as a temporary base. I take it that this is not the case?' he asked as he raised an eyebrow at her.
"If you call ten guys living here possible, especially since one of them is my fiancée." She snapped, surprising her uncle.
'Fiancée? When did this happen and who is this young man?' Treize asked calmly.
"Quatre Raberba Winner. And it is he and his friends that are currently living here." She said as she motioned Quatre to step up beside her.
Treize was almost to shocked for words as he stared at the screen. Quatre Raberba Winner had gone missing a year ago and no one had been able to find him. It had been assumed that her was dead. But there he was, standing next to his beloved niece, engaged to her.
Zechs was standing off to one side where he could see and hear everything, but couldn't be seen himself. He couldn't believe his eyes either. He hadn't known that Zechs had a niece, much less one who knew the Winners.
"Aren't you a little young to be engaged? I mean you're only sixteen. You're still in high school!" Treize protested.
'We love each other. And it's not like we're going to get
married tomorrow, we're going to wait a little while.' Mina said and smiled
as Quatre wrapped his arms around her from behind her in a tender embrace.
Suddenly, they saw him stiffen slightly as he gave Treize a piercing look
before saying, 'Why don't you invite the person standing off to the side to
join us? It's getting a little annoying at how you look at them out of the
corner of your eyes every few seconds.'
Treize, Zechs, and Mina stared at him in surprise for a moment before Zechs took a step that made him visible to the people on the other side of the screen when he received a nod from Treize.
"How did you know that he was there?" Treize asked curiously. He had thought he hadn't been too obvious.
'When ever you did it, the corner of your eye would
twitch slightly and you would almost smile before paying attention to the phone
again.' Quatre said with a small smile. He looked over at Zechs and said, 'Hello
Milliardo Peacecraft. It's been a long time since I saw you.'
"What?!" both Treize and Zechs chorused, shocked.
'Think back ten years ago to a party the Peacecrafts had held in the Sank Kingdom about six months before it's collapse. It was a party just between the Winners and the Peacecrafts. You were almost engaged to my older sister Terri and she begged off.' Quatre said and recognition spread across Zechs' face.
"I remember that now, but how did you? You were only six at the time. Even my sister doesn't remember that and she was your age."
'I don't mean to be rude, but your sister is a bit slow
sometimes.' Quatre said and when he caught sight of Zechs slightly angry
expression, he explained. ' I have meet her a number of times during the
last two years and while it's great that she is backing the absolute pacifism,
she over does it. She seems to think if she says the same thing enough,
everyone would side with her. She said in one conversation I over heard one
'True peace can not be found through war' ninety-eight times and this
conversation was only an hour and a half! Then the rest of the time is all
about how great the love between her and someone named Heero Yuy is.'
"…" Zechs was quiet while Treize was trying not to laugh at Zechs' chagrin. Finally, Treize couldn't hold it back anymore and he burst out laughing.
"Will you stop that?" Zechs snapped, causing his lover to laugh even harder. "It's not that funny!"
"The hell…it…isn't!" he gasped between gasps for breath and chuckles.
"Fine if you feel that way, then I guess you'll be sleeping somewhere else." Zechs snapped, completely forgetting about the people on the line who could see and hear everything.
"Now, pet, it was only a joke." Treize said as he pulled the platinum blond into his lap and kissed him until he was relaxed enough to snuggle against him.
'Um, Uncle? Would you like me to let you go?' Mina said slowly as she goggled at them. Her voice caught both men's attention and they blushed bright red as they caught sight of the five people watching them through the screen. Mina and Quatre had been pushed down by two long haired guys with their hair in long braids, the one with brown hair looking shocked and the one with black just looking interested. Beside the quartet was a younger girl who was also starring at them in surprise, though neither man could see any revulsion on any of their faces. The two girls and Quatre were blushing, but not in disgust, just embarrassment that they had seen a privet moment.
"Um, Mina, can we talk another time?" Treize said, his face still bright red.
'Well, I'm coming out to see you in two days at your England Base, so we'll talk more then.' Mina said and her uncle nodded. After exchanging fair wells, they hung up and the two men looked at each other for a minute before Zechs groaned and snuggled closer to Treize while burying his face in his neck.
"I can believe that we forgot that we were on the phone with my niece." Treize groan and Zechs nodded against his neck before suddenly straightening.
"She's going to be here on my birthday. Now what are we going to do?"
"We'll talk to her when she gets here and still go to the privet concert."
They were quiet for a moment before Zechs said quietly, "I just hope the Gundam pilots don't find out about this."
"They're what?!" Wufei and Heero shouted together when they found out about Treize and Zechs' preferences.
"They're gay." Duo said cheerfully then looked thoughtful as he added, "They do make a cute couple, though."
"What?!" Wufei screamed, looking like he was about to have a heart attack. Heero didn't look much better as he was white as a sheet and looked like he was going to faint at any moment.
"They and Haruka and Michiru are all together in our time and they're all very happy." Triton said as he watched from he couch next to Trowa, Quatre and Tai. Ami, Lita, Mina, and Hotaru were on another couch. Duo was sitting with his legs thrown over on arm of his over stuffed armchair and Wufei and Heero were in chairs near him as they were the only places left to sit.
"I don't see what the problem is." Hotaru said from her seat. "There is nothing wrong in liking someone that is the same sex as you. Haruka and Michiru both tried to date men but it just didn't work out that way. It's not like it affects you, does it? That's like saying my relationship with Duo affects Quatre."
"Don't worry about it. They're just not used to having their narrow minded world rocked by something that isn't in their perfect plan." Duo said as he stretched and yawned hugely.
"Quatre, would you like to come with me when I go see uncle Treize?" Mina asked and he nodded silently. Her question, however, snapped Heero and Wufei out of their shock.
"Go see Treize?" Heero repeated while Wufei screamed, "Uncle Treize?!"
"Yes, and could you stop screaming, Wufei? It's getting annoying." Mina said as she cast an exasperated glance as the Chinese pilot.
"Sure. When do we leave?" Quatre asked.
"In the morning. I'll take care of everything so don't worry. Just pack enough clothes for about three or four days and don't bother with guns or anything."
"Why?" came from three different directions, none from Quatre.
"Because, I can just transform. Then I have two really big swords and magic." Quatre said simply, as if talking to two year olds.
Soon after that, everyone went their own way to do what they wanted and Quatre and Mina started to pack.
"I'm so tired." Duo said the next morning as everyone gathered at the airport to see them off.
"Then you should have gone to sleep before three o'clock this morning." Quatre said with a gentle smile at the braided pilot.
"I know but that was when all the good anime came on for some reason." Duo complained as he yawned.
"Have a good trip you two." Ranma said as the last call came for passenger to board the plane.
"Bring me back a present!" Serena said cheerfully as the others sweat dropped.
"Ok. Bye guys!" Mina said as she dragged Quatre on to the plane just before the door shut. They found their seats quickly in first class and the plane left soon after that.
It was a peaceful trip with Mina sleeping or listening to music while Quatre worked on his lap top computer he had brought with him. As they landed in England, he asked her a question that had been bothering him since the night before.
"What do you think would happen to us if they found out that I am a Gundam pilot?"
"They won't."
"But if they did…"
"Then, I will transform and you will transform and teleport out of there. It's hard to do without all of the scouts, but it is possible for two people. Now, when we get off the plane, just follow me lead, ok?" She said and gave him a quick kiss before jumping up to grab their stuff from the overhead compartment.
As the exited the terminal, they saw Treize Kushrenada, along with Zechs Marquee and Lady Une waiting for them. There were also about twenty soldiers scattered around the area to ensure the safety of their leader.
"Mina, my dear. It is so good to see you again." Treize said as he approached them and kissed her hand before pulling her into a hug.
"It's good to see you too, Uncle Treize, but you didn't have to come pick us up yourself. We could have got there on our own." Mina said as he released her.
"Us?" he asked.
"Yes, I brought Quatre with me. He was so worried about me making the trip by myself, that he insisted on coming with me." She said with a smile. Taking her hint to act protective, he came up from behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist protectively.
"Mr. Winner, it is a pleasure to meet you." Treize said and extended his hand for Quatre to shake. For a long moment, Quatre didn't move as he studied the General, before slowly reaching out to grasp his hand in a quick shake, before immediately putting it back around Mina's waist.
"Pleasures all mine." He said pleasantly, then turned to Zechs. You look different with your mask. Why wear it Mill.."
Zechs quickly cut him off. "I don't go by that name anymore. Please call me Zechs." He said.
"Ok Zechs, but why the mask?"
"It's just something that is apart of me, now." He said with a warning in his voice, to which Quatre just nodded.
"Shall we get going?" Lady Une said coldly towards Quatre and Mina, both of who immediately stiffened and their expressions turned cold as they turned to look at the woman.
"Lady Une, I presume?" Mina said frostily.
"Yes?"
"Learn to be more graceful Lady Une, about everything. One day your attitude will end up getting you killed." Mina said ominously before turned from the shocked woman. "Uncle, shall we go pick up our bags?" she said and her uncle nodded.
"Please lead the way, Lady Une." Treize said and within ten minutes, they had their bags and were in the limo on the way to the base.
As soon as they were on the way and Lady Une was upfront with the driver, Treize said, "Why don't you tell us about the incident yesterday?" and Quatre and Mina nodded as Quatre started the story.
"I and three of my friends were on the second floor music room when I and Tai got a bad feeling from our empathic abilities. We followed the feelings to the fifth floor where we found a bunch of your soldiers torturing two of my friends. Shin was beaten up and handcuffed as he watched his brother Duo slowly being crushed."
"Crushed?' Treize repeated, one of his eyebrows arching in surprise.
"Yes. He was on his back on the floor while Commander Roseclear piled weights on his chest every time he refused to answer a question." Mina said and Treize's other eyebrow arched to join the first.
"But why would he refuse to answer the questions?" Zechs asked before Treize could.
"Would you answer any questions for somebody that just broke into your house, beat you and your brother up then tortured you? I didn't think so." He said as both men shook their heads. "Well, we got them to stop for a moment, and then they tried to do the same to us. It was lucky Mina and her friend Hotaru, who happens to be engaged to Duo, I believe, showed up. Mina stopped them while Hotaru healed Duo. One more weight and his rib cage would have collapsed." Quatre said darkly as he cuddled Mina closer to his side.
"She healed him?" both men chorused.
"Yes, she has a special power that can heal a lot of things, but it also drains her. If she uses it too much, it would kill her. So don't even think about asking her to come work for Oz. Get it?" Quatre growled dangerously.
"Excuse me?" Treize said, insulted that this kid was giving him orders.
"She is like a little sister to me, Mina, and a lot of other people and all of us would sacrifice ourselves to make sure she is all right." Quatre said quietly.
"Especially the three women she lives with. To her, she is like a daughter, and if you even attempted to do that to her, they would kill you very slowly and very painfully." Mina added in a somber tone, shocking her uncle and his lover.
"Well, if she means that much to all of you, then I won't, but I would love to meet this special you woman." Treize said in a light tone.
"That can be arranged." Mina said in a lighter tone as well. They were silent for a while and Treize spoke up as they were nearing the Base.
"Tomorrow is Zechs' birthday and we are having a privet concert preformed in the evening. I hope you don't mind if we leave you to your own devises, do you?" he said pleasantly and the teenagers shook their heads.
"No that is fine. Who is performing?" Mina asked.
"A world famous violinist by the name of Kaiou Michiru. She and her partner Tenou Haruka, who accompanies her on the piano, called and arranged to perform for me, but since it is his birthday, I decided to have them then." Treize said, then looked confused when Quatre and Mina burst out laughing.
"Haruka and Michiru?! I can't believe it! They finally decided!" Mina gasped in between gales of laughter was she clung to Quatre for support, who was clinging to her for the same reason.
"No wonder they didn't tell anyone where they were going. I bet that they thought we wouldn't approve!" Quatre said in between his own snorts of laughter.
"Um, excuse me?" Zechs said quietly. "Would you mind telling us what is going on?"
"You'll find out tomorrow night. But I think we should come along too. Don't worry. We're friends of theirs. I'm sure they won't mind." Mina said before breaking down into laughter again.
After they were shown to their rooms, Mina went over to Quatre's to talk to him before they joined Treize and Zechs for dinner.
"Quatre, do you think, that it's a good idea to tell them about all of us?" she asked as she sat down on his bed while he was behind a changing screen, changing into his dinner clothes.
"It's not our decision. It's theirs. I'm not sure how he guys are going to take it, but I think that if we're going to survive, we need everyone we can get to fight." He said as he stepped into view. "How do I look?" he asked. He was wearing black dress pants with a white long sleeved dress shirt and a black vest.
"Great. Now how do I look?" she asked in return as she stood up and twirled around. She was wearing a gold sheath that went to the floor and had a slit almost all the way to her waist. Her hair was looses and instead of her usual red bow that she always wore in her hair, the top part was pulled back into a bun, like Sestuna's hair style, and there was a bunch of baby's breath circling it.
"You look beautiful, darling. Are you sure you want to wait until we're eighteen?" he asked as he wrapped his arms around her waist and nibbled on her bottom lip.
"Yes, but that doesn't mean we have to wait until then." She said as she wrapped her arms around his neck and molded herself against him. Groaning, he captured her lips in a deep kiss as they backed up towards the bed. The back of Mina's knees hit the side and she toppled backwards on to it, bringing Quatre with her.
Just as things were starting to get hot and heavy, there was a knock on the door. Taking his lips away from her's, he yelled, "What?"
"Dinner will be served in five minutes. I was sent to escort you down to the dinning room." A servant said from the other side of the door.
"Just give me a minute." Quatre called as he reluctantly got up, bring Mina with him. Grabbing her purse, Mina hurried over to the bathroom mirror to fix her make up while he straightened his clothes. A minute later, the left the room arm in arm and gestured for the servant to lead the way.
In the dinning room, they were seated across from Zechs and Lady Une, both of whom looked unhappy at their places, with Treize at the head of the table.
"My dear, you look stunning tonight." Treize smiled as he kissed her hand.
"Thank you Uncle Treize. You look very dashing your self." And it was true. He was dressed similar to Quatre, but the vest was a silver material that brought out his cornflower blue eyes. Zechs and Lady Une were both still wearing their military uniforms, and both looked uncomfortable.
They made light conversation during the entire meal and by the end, even Quatre's cheerful disposition was strained to the breaking point with the rude attitude from Lady Une and the stress of sitting down to dinner with three of his enemies.
"Good night, Uncle Treize in was a delicious meal, but I'm tired so I think I'm going to go to bed now." Mina said as they all stood up.
"I, too, am retiring. It has been a long day." Quatre said as he and Mina turned to leave.
"Quatre, please wait a moment. Mina, you go on a head, it will only be for a moment." Treize said and she reluctantly nodded and left.
Turning to Quatre, he said, "I don't know how far your relationship with my niece had gone, but I'm telling you now. You better not touch her in any way or your head will be mine. Understand? Good night, Quatre."
Nodding, Quatre turned and left, leaving a surprised Zechs and Lady Une starring at their leader. That had never heard him like that before. Never.
Turning to them, Treize said, "Good night Lady Une. I will see you in the morning."
Nodding, she turned and left to head back to her own quarters.
Turning to Zechs, he said, "Will you accompany me for a short walk? We have much to discuss."
"Yes sir." Zechs said with a smile. Whenever he used that tone, he knew that they would end up with him in a hot tub together with champagne and strawberries. Sure enough, they ended up in the hot tub in Treize's suite, sipping the champagne and nibbling on strawberries.
Michiru woke up to find that Haruka was gone from he hotel room, but she had left a note saying that she had went to get breakfast for them. Sighing, she sat up and ran a hand through her messy hair, trying to keep it from looking like a rats rest when Haruka got back.
As if her thoughts had summoned her, Haruka walked through the door at that moment with a brown paper bag and two cups of coffee in a cardboard carrier.
"Morning love. Breakfast is here." She said as she set her burden down on the table and gave Michiru a hug.
"Thanks." Michiru said as she sat down at the table and began buttering her croissant.
"Nervous?"
"Yes. I just hope that we're doing the right thing."
"Well, we'll find out tonight.
That night, Haruka and Michiru arrived at the Oz base in a limo that Treize had sent to their hotel for them. Michiru was wearing a simple white dress with some pearls around her neck on in her eyes. Haruka was wearing a white tuxedo and if you just glanced at them, or even stared at them for a while, you would think that they were a girl and a guy.
After they were escorted to the music room they would perform in, Michiru quietly started warming up while Haruka leaned against the piano and watched her. By eight o'clock, they were starting to be worried that they weren't going to come. But at one after eight, Treize and Zechs came through the door.
"Hello, your excellency." Michiru and Haruka said as they cursed and bowed with respect.
"Welcome to Oz's England base. I hope the ride was satisfactory?" Treize said as they approached the two musicians.
"It was fine." Haruka said calmly as she stared at Zechs, instinctively knowing that he was the Uranus Knight.
"I hope you don't mind, but my niece is visiting and she insisted that she and her fiancée attend. She said that you two knew them and that you wouldn't mind." Treize said as Mina and Quatre came through the door, arm and arm.
"Mina?! Quatre?!" Haruka and Michiru chorused in shock as the two blonds approached them.
"Hello Michiru. Hi Haruka. Made your decision?" Mina said with a smile at the two blushed and nodded.
"Well, all you had to do was tell me and I would have helped."
"We weren't aware that you were Treize Kushrenada's niece." Haruka said, still to shocked to do much more that stared between the General and the Sailor scout of Venus.
"While this is an absolutely interesting conversation, would someone mind telling me what is going on?" Treize interrupted dryly.
"We will explain everything after the concert." Michiru said as she turned around to pick up her violin. The others nodded and took their seats, Haruka at the piano and the others in the chairs in front of them.
Two hours later, the concert was finished and all six of them were sitting around the room, each waiting for one of the others to start talking about what was on all their minds. Finally, Haruka sighed and said, "You need to cancel this war."
"What?" Treize asked calmly as Zechs looked at her like she was crazy.
"You need to cancel this war, because you need to fight another one. One that is far more important."
"What could be more important than the future of Earth and the colonies?" Zechs asked.
"The survival of earth and the colonies." Haruka snapped at him.
"Explain yourself." Treize said flatly as he looked at the tall sailor scouts.
"I'm sure you've heard of Sailor V? you know the one who went around fighting crime in London about three years ago?" Michiru said quietly and when the two men nodded, she continued. "And I assume you've heard of the Sailor Scouts who fight monsters in Japan?" another nod, this time a little bit slower. "Well, we are part of them and so are you."
There was silence for a moment before Zechs stood up and started for the door. Quickly, Haruka jumped in front of him before he could get to the door and blocked his was. "Where do you think you are going?" she snarled at him and he snarled right back.
"I'm leaving. I won't stay here and listen to this nonsense."
Before he could shove past her, like he looked like he was going to do if she didn't move right away, Quatre said calmly, "Would you believe if we showed you some proof, Milliardo?"
"Yes, if there was proof, but there is none and I told you not to call me that anymore." Zechs snapped angrily at him.
Before he could try to leave again, Quatre said calmly, "Mina, Haruka, Michiru, transform."
"Venus Crystal Power!"
"Neptune Crystal Power!"
"Uranus Crystal Power!"
As the room was filled with bright, flashing colors, Quatre watched calmly as Treize and Zechs almost fainted at the shock of seeing three people transform into people they had only heard about before.
"What the…!" Zechs gasped as he stared sailor Uranus. Slowly, he turned around and stared at the other two scouts, who stared at Treize and himself also.
"Mina?" Treize said as he stared at Sailor Venus.
"Yes Uncle Treize?"
"How long has this been going on?" he asked as she studied her outfit.
"For about three and a half years. I started when I was thirteen and living in London. I was called Sailor V then because we hadn't found the other scouts yet. I became Sailor Venus when we moved to Jubaan. The inner scouts were already awake and Sailor Pluto guarded the time gates. The rest of the outer scouts woke up last year and now our knights are waking up."
"Wait, wait, wait. Inners, outers, time gates, Knights? You have to explain these thing to us." Treize protested and Zechs nodded in agreement.
"The inners are the scouts from the moon, Mercury, Mars, Jupiter and Venus. The outers are from Uranus, Neptune, Saturn and Pluto. The time gates are the passageway through time and only Sailor Pluto and Pluto Knight can control it. And the knights are them men that protect the Sailor Scouts." Zechs and Treize turned to Quatre in surprise after he finished speaking.
"And how did you know that?" Zechs asked the first to get his voice back after surprise had stolen it. Wordlessly, Quatre transformed into Venus Knight and took his place next to Sailor Venus.
"Because I'm Venus Knight." He said calmly and Zechs suddenly sat down hard on one of the chairs nearby. Treize also sat, but far more gently then his longhaired friend. It took him a few minutes before he could ask, "So how does this concern us?"
"It concerns you, because the both of you are Knights as well." Sailor Neptune said as she looked at the shorthaired general in the eyes.
"Uh…" was all Zechs could manage as he stared at her, and then turned back to Uranus. He looked her over, taking in the skimpy outfit and the boyish haircut, before saying in a calm voice. "So let me guess. By the way you're looking at me, I'd say that I was Uranus Knight."
"Correct. I don't like it but that's who you are." Uranus snarled at the surprised man.
"Then I guess I would be Neptune Knight." Treize said as Zechs and Uranus started arguing.
"Yes. I don't know what to think about it right now though." Neptune said and he nodded. Turning, they watched their lovers continuing to fight, their language getting worse and worse as the minutes flew by.
"Are they always like this?" Venus K. asked out loud, though it was mostly to himself.
"Yes." Neptune and Treize chorused in resigned voices and the entire group sweat dropped. Turning towards the sailor scout he had sworn to protect in the Silver Millennium, Treize said quietly, "So what happens now?"
"Now, we wake up your memories and powers." Haruka said as she dragged Zechs back over to the others and tossed him onto the couch next to Treize. Walking up to Michiru, she wrapped her arms around her and Michiru snuggled against Haruka's taller form.
Starring at them, Treize and Zechs snuggled up together in a subconscious effort to be near something they were used to.
"You know," Mina said into the silence, "You four make the most perfect pairings. I mean, Haruka and Michiru are together, the same as Uncle Treize and Zechs." The two couples stared at her for a moment before turning incredulous gazes at each other.
"Yeah, you don't have to worry about your partners going after your partner." Quatre said with a small blush.
"Um, whatever. Lets just get this over with." Haruka said as she approached Zechs while Michiru went up to Treize. Putting their hands on their temples, the girls started glowing in their colors, while their Knights glowed right along with them. It only took a few minutes, and when it was done, all four slumped on the couch together in a tangle of arms, legs, and bodies.
"Wow, what a rush." Zechs said and the others just looked at him for a moment before nodding.
"Uncle Treize, are you going to call off the war with the space colonies?" Mina asked as she powered down.
"Yes, I think I have too." Treize said as he wiggled out from under the other three. "But what am I going to say to convince them that it's really over?"
"How about calling a temporary cease fire and organize a few meetings with the leaders of the space colonies. Then, it's just a simple thing to come to an agreement. It doesn't have to be total disarmament, but there must be peace." Quatre said and Mina nodded.
"That might work." Zechs said quietly and Treize quickly headed over to the phone in the corner of the room. Just before he picked it up, though, Michiru aid quickly, "You can't tell anyone about the scouts or the knights, including Lady Une."
Treize just nodded as he picked up the phone and gave a few orders to the person on the other end. As soon as the general had come back over to them, Quatre handed him a piece of paper with an address and a number on it.
"This is where you can reach me and most of the other knights. It's one of my family estates, the same one, actually, that your men broke into." Quatre said dryly and Mina elbowed him in his side for bring it up again.
Going up to her uncle, Mina gave him a quick hug and kiss before dragging Quatre out of the room saying, "We'll see you in a couple days Uncle, but we need to get back to the others and tell them what's going on and incase the enemy attacks again."
"Goodbye gentlemen." Quatre said quickly before they disappeared out the door. As he was dragged down the hall, he snapped at her, what is wrong?"
"What's wrong? You were harping on my uncle because his men when to far, can't you just leave him alone about it?" she snapped back.
"I wasn't harping at him!" he exclaimed as she pulled him around a corner, almost careening in a servant that Treize had sent to escort them where ever they wanted.
As they headed back to their own rooms, Mina said quietly, "I'm sorry for blowing up at you. It's just that, my friends used to make fun of me and my uncle for a lot of little things and I guess I was just taking it out on you." She said and he nodded as he gave her a quick hug before she turned and went into her room.
"Ranma, you look a lot better than when you got here." Irene said as she put dinner on the table in front of her family and Ryoga.
"Yeah, I feel a lot better too. Ryoga's been helping me workout since he got here." Ranma said with a smile at his aunt.
"Really? That's wonderful!" she said, turning to the boy in the bandana sitting across the table from Ranma.
"I don't really do that much. I just exercise with him. He already knows everything about the art. So I don't have to train him." Ryoga said with a blush, then added quietly, "Thanks for letting me stay here for so long."
"That's ok, Ryoga. Any friend of Ranma's is welcome here anytime." Ken said as he handed the mash potatoes to Serena.
"Thanks, but I'm going to have to leave soon. I want to see Akari and I promised that I would try and get home so pick up the mail this month." Ryoga said as he picked at his food.
The others were well versed in his bad directions and nodded in understanding as they resumed their dinner. Unknown to them, not far away, a girl on a huge sumo pig were making her way towards Jubaan in search of her missing boyfriend.
I know what you're thinking, this chapter was almost twice as long as the others, and for that, I'm sorry. I just kept typing and typing and before I know it, it was 18 pages instead of my usual 10. and this author's not now makes it 19. -.- hopefully the next chapter won't be as long. Thanks for reading all of this and I hope to have the next out soon.
Ja ne
Shinigami-chan
