Standard Disclosure Applies: This is fanfiction and I do not currently nor have I ever owned any of the copyrights for this material. I will not now or ever use these characters in an attempt to make money...

Reunited We Stand

Petra Ivanovna Pushkin. A name forgotten. The dark haired Russian no longer knew the name as much as remembered it from days long past. Since the day she had turned eighteen and took up the life of the warrior, so many long years ago, she had stopped aging. Her days as Petra Pushkin ended. Her life was not her own. Such were the terms of the contract she had signed.

With slender facial features of her European decent, and with clothing very much like a costume rather than style, Petra should have stood out among the population of Tokyo. Her dark pants and white blouse were fairly acceptable, but the outfit was completed with a brown vest with many binding straps to keep her armless attire clear during a fight. She carried a bow on her back, that alone should have drawn more attention. So far nobody had stopped to ask her questions. Travelling at night helped.

Kneeling in the darkness, Petra waited and watched for the old woman with her faintly glowing green eyes. Ku Lon was a cunning adversary, the greatest the amazon tribe had offered in many centuries. This she had seen personally. Not that it was terribly important, but Petra wondered if the old woman remembered her.

At long last the great Amazon Matriarch let herself be seen, stepping outside her small restaurant as she performed the final of her nightly duties. But with age came brittle bones and aching muscles. Ku Lon was no longer what she once was and Petra was pretty certain that any physical combat between them would be pretty one sided. It saddened her to see the matriarch in the later stage of her long life, but she hardened herself to the sight and looked to move on.

It wasn't the amazon that worried her. There was a boy, capable of enormous power, sleeping soundly out there this night. He had beaten Herb of the Musk and Saffron of Phoenix Mountain. Considering the wrinkled woman who relaxed by her restaurant, he had beaten old Ku Lon as well. Such strength was frightening.

Petra was moving again, leaping from tree to rooftop to light post as quickly as her ki strengthened legs could carry her. The Nekohaten was the halfway point of her long journey. With directions given to her by Ranma's greatest rival, Petra circled in on her prey like a sharp eyed hawk with the knowledge that he would not escape her much longer.

A car passed underneath her, it's headlights illuminating fences, trees and homes with an eerie incandescent glow. Petra didn't stop, but a force other than her own drew her eyes away. The light reflected off glass with a dazzling display that caused a moment of hesitation in her journey. Petra had long since lost the magical feeling of such technological advancements. She had been around before the invention of the lightbulb.

But the fight was with a being that had not yet tired of the magic lights. For a moment there was an inner battle for control. One that hardly lasted a second and Petra was never in danger of losing. If it had not been for the fact she should have been preparing for her next landing, this may not have even been important.

Petra tripped over the top of a light post and tumbled straight down to the dark earth below. She landed with little grace and a lotta face in the soft dirt.

"Ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch," she repeated sorely as she lay still.

The map floated down to land in front of her, partially illuminated by the streetlights. It hadn't aged well and had yellowed and curled over the course of her travels. Clearly marked with several arrows was the position of the Tendou home. The landmarks she had been given had taken months to reach, but patience was paying off. She was almost there. Another few months and she would face Ranma at long last.

Frowning, Petra looked about her surroundings. A house once sat here. A fairly large one for Tokyo with a yard and a big building next to it. There was a dry pond with rocks decorating where the edge between land and water would have been.

Sensing a disturbing possibility, Petra looked to her map once more. The Tendou home had such landmarks. The home, the dojo and a koi pond had all been described by that Hibiki person.

She clued in on what her instincts had been trying to tell her shortly later. With a deafening howl, she vented her frustration on the world. And one person in particular...

This was Saotome Ranma's fault.

Brown eyes gazed intently from beneath strands of brown hair. The computer screen lit the room with little help from the single dim lamp that shared the same desk. The clock, which the loose papers had almost hid, displayed the ungodly hour of ten after twelve.

Nabiki refused to leave her chair. There was plenty work for her left before she could finalize her yearly income. She wasn't rich, not even close, but she was doing very well for herself and she was more than content. At twenty-five, Nabiki had managed to pay her own way through business school and find her way to the top of a small chain of restaurants.

The door swung open, creaking on its well-used hinges and the light was flicked on. Both Nabiki and her partner squinted at each other through the suddenly harsh light. "Nabiki, are you still up?" Ukyo, though looking tired, was smiling tightly. Her hair down and not dressed in her trademark blues, Nabiki could easily note that her partner had been asleep.

Nabiki reacted to this interruption by flashing a cocky grin back. "Is it worth fifty yen to you?"

Ukyo grinned in response. The cook crossed the room, making her way to Nabiki's desk. The younger woman had matured over the past few years, gaining much needed self-confidence in herself. She regularly drew in crowds to watch her artistic displays as she provided the best okinomiyaki in the city.

As for their business relationship, it developed as their friendship and respect for each other strengthened in the years since the second wedding attempt. Ukyo had actually arrived as a guest, though a depressed one, she had not been an initiator of the chaos that ensued and even stood beside Ryouga in an attempt to defend it.

Okay, so they didn't exactly do a competent job, Nabiki admitted with a grin, but she respected them both for the attempt made.

"I'll go to bed shortly," Nabiki told her friend, covering a yawn with a single hand. "I just want to go over these numbers once more."

Ukyo made her way behind the desk, seemingly more alert now. "Is there a problem?" she asked worriedly.

"No," Nabiki answered, scratching her head. "We did pretty well actually. After payroll, rent plus the start-up costs for the new restaurant in Juuban, we seem to be up a good ten percent over last years estimates."

Nabiki felt Ukyo's hand on her shoulder as the younger woman peered at the numbers for herself. "Then why are you staying up so late, sugar? There's no panic to get this stuff done."

Nabiki grinned at her partner as if she were holding some grand secret. "You maybe surprised, but I do this because I enjoy it. Not everybody likes to fry things."

The phone rang, interrupting any witty remark Ukyo may have responded with. Nabiki frowned and looked at the clock. She worried briefly if something had gone wrong at one of their restaurants, but the staff should have been long clear.

It rang a second time, prompting more immediate action. She reached over and answered it. And paused as she listened to a voice she had not heard from in a long time.

"Cologne," she breathed, a hint of hostility still floating on her breath. Ukyo's hand tightened on her shoulder, letting Nabiki know she was not the only one with strong emotions tied to the old amazon.

Nabiki's mood only darkened from there as the amazon spoke.

Cologne replaced the phone and reluctantly turned to face her strange visitor once more. If anybody would know how to contact Ranma, Nabiki would find a way. The old amazon looked forward to the chance at meeting him once more, though for the moment she wasn't at all certain she believed the reason it was necessary.

"I have put a call in," Cologne told the girl, Chinese spoken instead of Japanese. It was interesting that a European girl would know both Asian languages as well as she did. Especially one as young as she appeared to be. "It might take a while before we can find Ranma. Do you have a place to stay, child?"

The girl shook her head, her long braided dark hair swinging slowly behind her, but with a sly smile on her face. The confidence she showed reminded Cologne of times a few years ago. But children grow old, and the naive become experienced. So much had changed.

"Forgive me," the girl requested as she tried to contain obvious mirth. "But you haven't asked the important questions yet."

"Oh?" Cologne asked, showing her own amusement with bright eyes that belied her age. She hopped forward on her cane, approaching the restaurant table that the girl had taken up residence at. "And what might those be?"

"My name, for starters," the girl answered, crossing her arms. "Why I'm looking for Ranma would be another."

"Fiancée, no doubt," Cologne grumbled as she slid into the seat across the table from her visitor. "But enlighten me, child. Who would you be?"

The girl leaned forward onto her elbows, her arms still crossed in a relaxed and unaggressive pose. "I am what the Joketsuzoku would call the Wingless Phoenix."

Cologne had heard these tales before, as a child she had heard the bedtime tales of an immortal monster trained by Lord Saffron himself. Over time Cologne had come to believe the old stories as children's tales and nothing more. Thus, when a girl younger than her own granddaughter proclaimed to be the fictional creature, Cologne couldn't help but chuckle. "Indeed?" Cologne asked admidst a mild fit of giggles.

"My name is Petra," she responded, smiling tightly.

"Ahh, so it may be," Cologne answered, her tone more than condescending at this point. "I should call Nabiki back," the amazon told her visitor as she started gathering her long gnarled staff back.

"And last I saw you was just over two hundred and fifty years ago when you were still just a struggling amazon warrior, convinced of your own superiority and blinded by tradition." Petra's voice stayed Cologne where she was. It was a moment of memories, though little second thoughts about canceling her call for Ranma. That was until the strange girl continued. "And you battled an outsider younger than you were then, using a battle staff." Cologne peered over at the girl suspiciously, but while Petra's smile had faded, the relaxed posture hadn't changed.

"Now, the staff was straight and with numerous coloured ropes wrapping the center," Petra continued, her eyes making an obvious move to Cologne's current staff and cane. "Capped on both ends with metal. As I recall, you were actually pretty good."

The battle was not forgotten by Cologne either. She had fought many people two centuries ago, but they had all been from the mystical valley. Musk, Phoenix or Amazon, there were few others foolish enough to challenge her then. There had been only two outsiders Cologne ever did battle with. And this girl wasn't Happosai. She looked at Petra suspiciously through half lidded eyes. "And what was said after I defeated this young outsider?"

Petra rocked back in her seat. "As I recall it was I that won, Cologne. I tripped you with your own staff and told you that you were two hundred years too early to defeat me."

Cologne hesitated a moment, considering Mousse who slept upstairs for the briefest of moments. How she wished for Shampoo's presence, but the girl before her still appeared unaggressive in nature. Reluctantly she sat back into her chair and peered at Petra. "So, it is true."

"I'm not sure," Petra answered, scratching the back of her head rather uncertainly. "Truth changes as time progresses."

"From the tales," Cologne answered stubbornly, "the Wingless Phoenix was an immortal monster. A creature of the night that would eat young girls who ventured out too late."

"Exaggerations," Petra answered, though her smile returned full force as her cheeks reddened slightly. "I've lost my humanity, true, but the eating little amazons was a misunderstanding."

Her tone sounded sincere enough that Cologne gave pause before she caught the mischievous look in the girl's eyes. Then she let loose with a loud cackle that she tried to cover as best as she could lest she wake up the unruly male. It ended in an undignified snort. "Indeed. Can't say that I put much faith in that story anyway."

"Like all legends," the still red faced Petra answered, "there is a little truth to the story." She breathed in deeply to recompose herself and some of the blush faded from her cheeks. "I may not be immortal, but age has no meaning to me."

Cologne wondered just how the girl had managed it. She sensed a little bit of ki held deep inside the girl, hidden away as she tried to hide it. How much Cologne couldn't say, but the girl was indeed trained in the ways to master it.

"So now that we've settled the who," Petra continued lazily, "I guess we could try that rematch. You're the closest I've got to a friend, until Saffron matures, so I'll go easy on you. I've even let you have those two hundred years and a few extra decades."

Cologne noted the look in the girl's eye, and saw the regret. Time may have no meaning for her, but it certainly continued for even the long-lived amazons. "If you had come a few years ago perhaps I may have accepted the challenge," she answered tiredly. "I'm not as young as I used to be."

"Not the answer I expected from the great Ku Lon," Petra commented with some surprise, using Cologne's proper Chinese Amazon name.

Cologne nodded softly, "not so great." She leaned back into the seat and took a deep shuddering breath. The years in Nerima had not been kind to her, but she couldn't go back. Not now. "As far as the Amazon's know, Ku Lon is dead. Killed while fighting Ranma for the honor of her granddaughter. Only I remain."

"I wondered about that," Petra said softly, her cool voice mixed with a little sadness. "So Ku Lon sacrificed herself so that her granddaughter could live on with honor. Then I shall mourn her passing." The young girl closed her eyes and bowed her head. Cologne hesitated a moment as she wondered what the girl must think of her now, old and dying.

"None of that," she said, still shaken by the thoughts of her own mortality. "I can still change my mind and give you a good blistering."

Petra came up, smiling faintly but the sadness in her eyes had not receded just yet. "This Saotome Ranma, he did defeat Lord Saffron?" It seemed even the ageless was not immune to the effects of time. Cologne could see that she was trying to hide her emotions with the question, but death bothered her greatly.

"Yes, that was Ranma. Not by choice, I can assure you."

Petra looked skyward to the wooden ceiling. "You assume I seek vengeance. In that you're mistaken. My time with Saffron was simply because he would be one of the few who would not die as I lived on. I ask because the time is fast approaching when the likes of Saffron would have been needed most."

Cologne looked at the girl uncertainly. "What time would that be?"

"It would be the very purpose of my existence," Petra answered, no longer looking very confident or relaxed. "I'm a demon hunter. I kill monsters that slip the barrier between our dimensions." Her hand traced a line on the empty table. "The barrier prevents but a few of these creatures from crossing over at a time. These isolated beings I can kill myself."

Petra's hand went flat as she placed her second hand beside it, showing what Cologne guessed to be her physical example of these two worlds. "Saffron discovered the barrier was weakening a century ago. He and I planned a trip to the source to strengthen the barrier, but first I would need to find out why it was failing."

Cologne watched the girl, feeling the tightness of alarm inside her stomach.

"I have discovered two things this past decade," Petra continued tiredly. "One, there is an active gateway within Tokyo itself. Two, that these creatures are coming through that gateway to break the barrier from this side. Knowing Saffron would be returning to his full potential, I went to Phoenix Mountain to collect him. Only I arrived too late. Ranma had beaten Saffron and prematurely restarted the life cycle."

Cologne caught on easily to where this was leading, however this was precisely why Ranma had taken his wife with him into hiding. "You wish for Ranma to join you on your fight."

"I need help," Petra admitted. "I came as fast as I could, but I'm afraid I was unable to interpret the map I was given." She tossed a yellowed map onto the table for Cologne to see. It boggled the mind to even look at. Land patterns and rivers had no meaning. Landmarks were drawn on in pen with bizarre directions on how to reach them.

"I hope you didn't pay too much for this map," Cologne noted. "For starters, Okinawa is an island well to the South of here."

"One of Ranma's rivals happened to be near Phoenix Mountain. He drew the map for me."

Cologne opened her mouth, paused, and closed it again. She tried once more to speak with the same results. There was only one true possibility, though it was as unlikely as it sounded. Ryouga Hibiki. Nobody had seen the likes of him for months. "How long have you been following this... this..." Cologne was at a loss to find a word to adequately describe the map.

"I don't keep track of time very well, but I think I arrived at Phoenix Mountain a good two years behind Ranma. I got the map about a month later and have been following it since."

Cologne again looked at the strange girl in shocked dismay. "My dear child, it's been seven years since Ranma defeated Saffron."

"Seven years." Petra repeated numbly, shock evident on her features.

"Seven, indeed. Much has happened since then." Cologne relaxed wearily, trying to consider how Ryouga had managed to get the mythical being known as the Wingless Phoenix lost for five years.

"Seven years?!" Petra exclaimed, popping out of her seat so forcefully that the chair flew back and crashed against another table and set of chairs behind her. Cologne didn't have to look at her ki to feel the angry spike.

Cologne noted the change even as it happened. Anger fled as an onslaught of panic took its place. Pacing now, the girl moved back and forth ranting about time and the gateway in ways that worried the old amazon.

"I left the gateway sealed with simple wards," Petra whispered worriedly. "While I'll bet they'd last a good few years, no piece of paper is going to survive down there indefinitely. That means it's quite possible that they have the gateway working again," Petra looked up at Cologne, her eyes showing the first signs of fear that Cologne had seen all night. "We might have a little problem."