Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon, Tenchi Muyo, Ranma ½ or any other
characters appearing in this fic.
Here we go again. I'm trying to get all my chapters out ASAP but like I said, school and work are in the way (Not so much work as school,) and my short attention span in anything but a video game. HALLOWEEN IS COMING!!!!! Maybe I should do a few Halloween one shots :p Might be interesting to see what I could come up with. Well, on with the fic.
Posted:
'Thoughts'
Soul's Destiny, Blood's Inheritance Chapter 9
Nodoka headed towards the kitchen, needing to ask the cook to fix a lunch for six. She smiled, remembering how Ranma ate. 'Now would be the ideal time for me to tell them of their heritage. I wonder who the crown prince of Jurai will be though. Ranma? Or Tenchi?'
She came across another thought as she remembered when she ran away from her father's home in the first place. 'I remember fighting with him about leaving for Jurai. He wanted me to go as his heir and tell his family why he chose to stay on earth. Achika was so little then. I remember packing up and leaving but then I remember waking up pregnant in Genma's arms. I don't remember anything before that.'
Nodoka continued with those thoughts, trying to remember, as she asked the cook to fix a few picnic baskets.
*Ranma's Room*
Ranko sat on Ranma's bed looking at the map. "Why don't we take a look at this area?" she asked, "It looks ideal for a picnic."
"We have to go over a mountain Ranko," Tenchi pointed out, "I'm not up to climbing mountains today."
Ranko pouted and looked over to Ranma, who was staring out the window. "Nii-san? What do you think?"
Ranma didn't answer and Ranko grew concerned, "What's wrong Nii-san? You gonna help us out or not?"
Ranma still didn't respond and Ranko crawled over to try and get his attention, gasping as she saw the dead look on his face. She shook him, quickly snapping him out of his trance.
Ranma's consciousness resurfaced to find Ranko's worried face. He smiled, life returning to his face, "Sorry about that. What's wrong?"
Ranko gave him a look and sighed, "We're still trying to decide where to go. I want to see this valley but Tenchi doesn't want to climb a mountain."
Ranma looked at the map and quickly found a way around it. "There's a pass right here. We can go through that. Odd name for it though."
Tenchi looked to where Ranma was pointing and read the name. "Pass of Lost Time? Is it gonna send us on a trip down memory lane?"
Ranma shrugged, "We know the place is magical so who knows. I think we would have been warned about it if it was dangerous though."
"Warned about what?"
Ranma smiled at his mother, who was standing in the doorway. "A pass that shows us lost time."
Nodoka looked at Ranko thoughtfully, "Maybe it would help explain why Ranko is a completely different personality."
Ranma shrugged, "Maybe she's who I was supposed to be."
Ranko gave Ranma a disturbed look, "That's not a pleasant thought."
Ranma shrugged, "Are we going to leave now?"
Tenchi sighed and got up, keeping an eye on his cousin. "What were you thinking about earlier so that you looked dead?"
"I was searching my soul, to see if I could salvage something from the life I'm trying to leave. I couldn't find anything worthwhile. I looked to the piece of me that held my modern life and curse and found nothing. It felt..... dead." Ranma shivered.
Ranko looked down, "When I was trapped in the spring, I found I was doomed to remain aware. I couldn't get free without help. There wasn't a place in any of the soul's for me to escape from the beings that fell in there beforehand."
Ranko looked up at Ranma, "You were different. You have a soul mate that you haven't declared love for yet, so your soul was only half there. You are meant to be here. You need to find her."
Ranma smirked, taking one of the picnic baskets from his mother, "So you used my soul as an escape route."
Ranko nodded, "I didn't expect to be alive again so I slept there, forgetting my life, expecting to die with you. When I was shocked from my slumber by that water, all I could remember was tiny snippets of my personality, which kept your personality out."
"So that makes you separate," Tenchi said, "So what do you remember of your life."
Ranko walked out the door and turned to him, "Just snippets of my personality, like I said. I don't remember what led to that personality, just that I am me and not Ranma."
Ranma walked out the door and took the lead, Ranko following. Nodoka walked behind, studying her children. She then noticed that Ranko did indeed have a more feminine gait, while Ranma's was decidedly masculine. Nodoka smiled, knowing she could burn that seppuku contract for good.
Tenchi shrugged, thinking that odder things had happened, catching up to walk beside Nodoka. He studied his aunt out of the corner of his eye, admiring her dark red hair and noble profile. 'She kind of reminds me of grandpa. No wonder they fought.'
"I'll tell them today," Nodoka said quietly.
"Huh?" Tenchi asked, not paying attention.
"I'll tell them today," she repeated, "at the picnic." She gave Tenchi an earnest look, "You'll back me up won't you?"
Tenchi smiled and nodded, "Don't worry about it. I don't think they'll find anything wrong with it. They'll understand."
Nodoka nodded, the worry not completely leaving her face. She then looked back to Tenchi, curiosity donning her face. "How did you end up here anyways? Father never gave me the details of how you got injured."
Tenchi gave her a sheepish look as he held the door to the outside open for her. "You could say it was something of a super powered cat fight. I had just gotten back from an adventure involving my death at the hands of an evil space pirate and being resurrected by a goddess that was also one of our ships."
"You mean there's something other than an evil space pirate?" Ranko asked dryly.
Tenchi chuckled a bit, "Ryoko's a space pirate, but she's not really evil. Just really violent. She's especially violent towards a Juraian princess that had taken up residence in my house also."
"Anyways, I had come back from the dead and saved their butts. The day after we returned to earth, Ryoko wouldn't leave me alone. Ayeka got angry, like she always does, and threw an energy bolt at her. Ryoko dodged, but I wasn't as lucky as I was behind her and couldn't see anything. Sasami had just come up the stairs and saw all of this. She got angry, called grandfather, and he rushed me to the hospital where I met up with Ranma. Sasami was pretty angry. I wonder what happened when I left."
They were pretty far from the resort when Tenchi finished. Ranma was half listening to the story and nearly stopped as something dawned on him about Tenchi's heritage and his relation to him.
"I don't know why I didn't think of this before but since you said you were part of the royal family of Jurai and Ranko and I are related to you doesn't that... make.... us....."
Nodoka looked down, "It does son. We are Juraian, and part of the royal family."
Ranma and Ranko digested this information and Nodoka watched them anxiously. Soon Ranma smiled at his mother, "I can understand the need to keep that a secret."
Ranko nodded, "Don't worry about it momma. We're not mad at you for not telling us. It's just a little hard to digest right now. You didn't have time to tell us anyway."
Ranko giggled, "It makes for an interesting relationship with a guy later."
Ranma rolled his eyes. "Or girl," he said, thinking about Hikari, "I plan on telling her about this. So much has happened. We're near the pass now."
Nodoka looked up ahead. "Kind of misty for this time of day isn't it?"
Tenchi shrugged, "Maybe the sun hasn't gotten there yet. Either way, all we have to do is follow the path and stick together."
They all headed forward, each with their own thoughts, unknowing of the conscious spell reading them.
'I wish I hadn't fallen asleep cause then I'd be able to teach Ranma whatever I knew in my past life.'
'Come to think of it, not even I know much about my heritage as a Juraian prince. It would be helpful if I knew their history.'
'I wish I had been apart of my son's life. I can't be a very good mother if I don't know anything about my children.'
'This is really unusual, and I wish I could remember more of my past life besides the last battle.'
They entered the pass and the ground rumbled, separating them into the mist. They called for each other and the mists parted, showing each what they wanted to know.
*At the resort*
Hikari felt Ranma disappear into the streams of time and she looked uneasily to where she had sensed him and his family last. 'I hope Setsuna knows what she's doing,' she thought, not realizing that the omnipresent time guardian was not behind this.
"Something wrong Hikari-onee-san?" Hikaru asked, looking at Hikari curiously.
Hikari smiled at the little girl and shook her head, "Iie, daijabu."
Hikaru beamed at her and then rolled the dice. Moving the appropriate number of spaces, Hikaru handed the dice to Hikari, prompting her to take her turn at Candyland.
A knock on the door startled Hikari as she took her turn, and she sensed Usagi behind the door. Ikari got up to answer it and confirmed what Hikari knew. "Hi Usagi-san."
"Hi Ikari!" she bubbled, "Have any of you seen Ranma and his family?"
Ikari looked back to see a multitude of shaking heads. "Not recently," he said, as he noticed Hikari getting up.
"The last time we saw them was when he left at breakfast to look for you and your friends," Hikari said, going to the door.
Usagi pouted and snapped her fingers. "Thanks anyways. If you see him tell him I'd like to thank him for this morning."
Hikari smiled and nodded, "We'll let him know."
Hikari went to sit back down and cast a worried look out the window, which didn't go unnoticed by Trista. Hikari returned to her game and the rest turned to what they were doing, no one noticing the suspicious look on Trista's face. 'I really hope she hasn't fallen for that guy. I have a feeling that life's about to become much more troubling.'
*Ranko's Vision*
Ranko watched as the mists parted and she found herself in a small village. A girl, like her and not, stepped out of one of the huts. She stretched and turned to look right at Ranko. Ranko started to say something but the girl gave an evil smirk and passed right through her. Ranko started, 'They can't see or hear me. It that girl..... is that girl me?'
Ranko concentrated on the small, maroon haired girl and found herself remembering more and more of her past. Time flew before her eyes as she watched herself grow into a young woman and found she was not to go past that.
'No!' Ranko thought, tears in her eyes as she watched the events unfold, 'No that can't be me! Was I really such a cold hearted bitch? Even at such a young age? I deserved to stay in that spring. I'm glad all I kept was my femininity. I don't want to remember any of this.'
Ranko watched as she killed one of their own men out of spite and was sentenced to drown, trapped forever in the springs of Jusenkyo.
'Was I really so bad that they had to kill me?' Ranko thought as she watched herself drown, 'Who am I now then? Now I'm Mei Lin, now I'm Ranko. Ranma must have given me parts of his own personality as I slept. I'm glad, angry and hurt by this. I never should have wanted to know.'
Ranko's tears fell harder and faster as she wished to return to Ranma and her new mother to be judged by them. They found her of worthy of life before. 'They won't now,' Ranko thought, 'I must salvage this soul.'
Ranko felt the fog roll in again and some wind blow. She started to get up and the wind became stronger, quickly pushing her in a certain direction. She turned and screamed as she saw a large, black tear trying to suck her in. She lost the battle against the wind and was sucked through, only knowing darkness from that point on.
*Tenchi's visions*
Tenchi looked around as the fog rolled back and found himself in a foreign city. He walked around, trying to ask people where he was but none paid any attention to him. It was when Tenchi placed his hand through one of the people that he realized that no one could see or hear him.
'What's going on?' he thought, watching as suddenly the palace in the distance came to him. Tenchi watched and learned that he was viewing Jurai's history.
'This is awesome,' he thought, now I know a bit more of what I'm getting into with this.'
Tenchi watched, learning more and more about Jurai and found himself becoming more and more interested. 'So this is my grandfather's heritage. My heritage. I wonder why he never told me about all of this.'
Soon he found out why. Parts of Jurai had always been corrupt and while it was rare, they sometimes rose to power. The true king of Jurai would always save it after a while, but those times of darkness were the worst that Tenchi had seen in any history.
'That's why a human/Juraian coupling was looked down upon,' Tenchi thought after one episode, 'but we are so much the same.'
Tenchi found himself wishing to go back and share this with his new found family. As the mists rolled in once more, Tenchi turned and walked through a tear, not noticing it until he blacked out.
*Nodoka's Vision*
Nodoka looked around, finding herself in a familiar hospital, in a familiar room. A scream from the bed behind her made Nodoka start, and whirl around to start apologizing. She stopped as she saw herself on the hospital bed, screaming because of a contraction.
Genma and the doctors rushed in, one running through Nodoka as she stared on in horror. The six-hour labor seemed to pass in minutes for the ghost like woman as she watched Ranma being born. It was then that she realized that the gleam in Genma's eyes were not of joy and pride, but of greed.
'The man used me,' she thought, 'That's why I never felt comfortable around him, he used me. I have been working my fingers to the bone to pay off his debts and he was just using me so he could live a good life.'
Nodoka's anger and pain grew as she watched what Ranma suffered from the greedy man, for after all, seeing it is more effective than hearing about it.
'Never again,' she thought, 'Never again will a child of mine suffer like this.'
As Akane walloped Ranma with a hammer, the mists of time rolled back in to enclose the crying woman. They rolled back to reveal her at the edge of the pass once more. She looked up at the sky to discover that it was late evening, and the stars were just coming out.
"You've been gone the whole day," said a voice from behind her.
Nodoka whirled to see a man that appeared around her age standing there with flowers. She waited for him to speak again, something about his face and pained look recovering something from the edges of her memory.
"My name's Lee," he said after an uncomfortable silence, "I help the old man a bit every once in a while. He tries to get me to take over for him. You're lucky you got out of there. Not many people come out of the pass of lost time."
Nodoka stared at him in fear, "You mean......"
The man nodded, "This pass has a habit of taking people and kepping them. I ....." He paused, swallowing as if the subject still brought him great pain, "I lost my wife and two daughters, Luna and Lina, to that pass. You look like my wife. You have the same beautiful face and expression."
Nodoka looked down, blushing.
The man continued on, "She was pregnant with our third child when she disappeared, heading off on a picnic with the girls. For the past eighteen years I've been bringing flowers here, hoping that they would return to me."
He laughed bitterly, "Not that they would know me anymore. Sometimes I wonder what I did to deserve the loss of my family, but I'll never give up hope. Hope is all that keeps me going these days."
Lee turned and looked towards the pass again. "I saw you heading towards the pass with the kids and yelled for you to stop. I don't think you heard me and you disappeared inside. I stayed to see if any of you would return. I was beginning to lose that hope. But then you appeared."
Lee walked up to the edge of the pass and placed the flowers down, not entering the pass himself. "You're lucky," he said again, softly.
Something hovered at the edge of Nodoka's memory as she took in Lee's black hair and sharp profile. She clasped her head in pain as a dam broke in her mind, and memories swept her away, causing her to faint. Lee caught her as she fell, and picked her up, whispering the name of his beloved, "Nodoka."
*Resort*
Hikari stopped eating and gave a worried glance out of one of the dining hall windows. She felt Nodoka return but none of the others. 'I'll wait until I get the children back to the orphanage to go searching for them. I intend to find out what happened before I leave however. I just hope nothing bad has happened.
*Ranma's Vision*
Ranma found himself in a room of a palace, and turned quickly as a woman screamed in pain. He found the woman's face obscured as she was surrounded by a man with black hair, some doctors, and a midwife. Two girls, a five year old with blue black hair and a two year old with red hair watched from the corner of the room.
Ranma moved up through some of the people to see the woman giving birth, and found himself face to face with his mother. She screamed again Ranma turned to look at the man he assumed was his father. He was surprised to find himself looking at a man nothing like Genma. He was young and handsome, whereas Genma was fat and old.
Ranma stepped back, and soon found himself viewing his past life. The attacks, finding Hikari, and the final battle. He found himself remembering, feeling the joys and pains all over again as his family sent him off to the crystal palace on the moon and he grew up there while they died.
Ranma watched as he, himself died and promised himself that he would be stronger, so that this time he could protect her. The mists of time rolled in just as he saw the moon queen use the silver crystal for the last time. He turned, his face a mask of pain, to find himself sucked through a tear in the fabric that made the world around him. Soon all he knew was darkness.
*Resort*
Hikari awoke to the feeling that something was wrong. She got up and checked on all the children, who were asleep and then went to the window, extending her senses to find what was wrong. 'There are no youma tonight,' she thought, extending her senses even further. She soon found what was amiss and nearly screamed at the realization of the tears in a spell in the pass where Ranma and his family had disappeared.
"What's wrong?" asked Trista, seeing the tears stream down Hikari's face.
Hikari turned to Trista, fear evident on her face. "There are tears in the fabric of space and time where Ranma, Ranko, Nodoka, and Tenchi disappeared. Only Ranma's mother returned. I need to go after them."
"No you don't," Trista said, growling slightly.
Hikari gave her a startled look, pain still evident on her face. Trista sighed and continued, "He's stealing you away from me. Our friendship won't last. You'll go to him and forget about me. You're my only friend Hikari."
Hikari shook her head, "I can't forget about you Trista, don't make me choose. I love you both. He's my soul mate Trista. If he's not near, I'll whither away and die anyway."
Trista looked down, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't do that, it's selfish."
Hikari smiled, "You'll always be my best friend Trista. You just come to me when you need me. I need your help now though."
Trista looked up, nodding. "I'll take care of the kids. If you aren't back by the time we leave, I'll drop them off at the orphanage. I'll use the power of the well to try and locate you."
"That's a strictly time based demon well you know," Hikari said, giving Trista an odd look.
Trista made a face, "I have to try something. If I don't find you that way I'll just visit the time I actually came from for a while. You'll be able to find me."
Hikari smiled and grabbed her transformation pen. "Thank you Trista."
Hikari didn't hear Trista's soft good luck as she ran out the door to the last known coordinates of Nodoka's presence.
Hikari ran, stretching her senses and quickly locking onto Nodoka's ki. 'What is she still doing all the way out here?' Hikari asked herself, 'Whatever the reason I need to find out what happened before diving into the gate once more.'
Hikari stopped in front of a small hut with the lights on. Knocking on the door, Hikari took the time to catch her breath. A man looking remarkably like Ranma opened the door, giving her an odd look. Hikari blushed as she realized she was still only wearing her pajamas.
"I'm looking for Ms. Nodoka," Hikari said, trying to see if Nodoka was awake.
The man's face became startled, and then angry, and he was about to lash out when Nodoka's voice stopped him. "It's alright anata," she said softly, "Hikari is our son's girlfriend."
Lee froze as he turned to see Nodoka's pained face. "I remember now," she said, "I remember what that bastard made me forget."
Nodoka looked up at Lee, tears in her eyes, "I'm so sorry. I always knew there was something fishy about Genma's story but I couldn't place it."
Nodoka began to cry, "I'm so sorry anata, so sorry."
Lee moved from the door and stared at Nodoka's crying face a moment before drawing her into a crushing hug. He made soothing noises as he waved Hikari in, trying to comfort Nodoka. Hikari blushed at the thought of already being considered Ranma's girlfriend but realized it was true.
"I need to know what happened to him and the other two," Hikari said softly, "I know he's gone. What happened?"
Nodoka's crying slowed as Ranko's words rang in her ears, "You have a soul mate that you haven't declared your love to, Ranma."
Nodoka pulled slightly away from Lee and turned to Hikari. "I had better give you the whole story then."
Lee led Nodoka to a small couch that was placed in the hut and they both sat down, Hikari sitting in an old chair near them.
"Genma isn't Ranma's father. Lee is. When I was still pregnant with him, I took my two daughter's out for a picnic through that same pass. I got separated from them, and darkness claimed me as the fog rolled in. I had awoken in Genma's arms, being carried. I didn't know who he was so I fought. He figured out I remembered who I was married to and used some sort of weird technique on me that made me forget everything about my husband and daughters."
"He raised Ranma, and I let him. I let him do those horrible things....."
Nodoka paused to compose herself. "The same thing happened again now, and I'm not sure that there is any possible way for them to come back."
Hikari closed her eyes, "I can get them back."
She said it so low that Nodoka was not sure she heard right. Lee, however, did, "What do you mean by that?"
Hikari looked up at the man, "Can you keep a secret?"
Lee and Nodoka nodded, and Hikari continued, "I can travel through dimensions. I am a sailor scout and I was charged with guarding the dimensional gate. I will find them."
Lee scoffed at the idea and Hikari narrowed her eyes, shouting out her transformation trigger. In a flurry of light, she was in her sailor uniform, staff of worlds in her hands. "I will find them," she said again.
Nodoka stared at her, "Does Ranma know of this?" she asked softly.
Hikari smiled and nodded, "He is the scout of storms and chaos, Sailor Nemesis. He can control any storm, be it of fire, wind, water, thunder, anything. He hasn't accessed his power yet, but he knows of it. He is one of the few aware scouts, having awakened only recently."
Nodoka smiled, "Please bring him back. Him, Ranko, Tenchi and if you can find them, Lina and Luna."
Hikari gave her a questioning look and Lee got up to get some old photos. "This is what they looked like then. I don't know how much they've changed, but if you could bring them back to us....."
Hikari nodded, taking the picture of the four happy people. "I'm on my way. I'll return, hopefully soon."
Author's Notes: I do hope you realize that I edited a few of the chapters a bit. Not a whole lot but enough to make a slight difference. ^^ Jan e.
Here we go again. I'm trying to get all my chapters out ASAP but like I said, school and work are in the way (Not so much work as school,) and my short attention span in anything but a video game. HALLOWEEN IS COMING!!!!! Maybe I should do a few Halloween one shots :p Might be interesting to see what I could come up with. Well, on with the fic.
Posted:
'Thoughts'
Soul's Destiny, Blood's Inheritance Chapter 9
Nodoka headed towards the kitchen, needing to ask the cook to fix a lunch for six. She smiled, remembering how Ranma ate. 'Now would be the ideal time for me to tell them of their heritage. I wonder who the crown prince of Jurai will be though. Ranma? Or Tenchi?'
She came across another thought as she remembered when she ran away from her father's home in the first place. 'I remember fighting with him about leaving for Jurai. He wanted me to go as his heir and tell his family why he chose to stay on earth. Achika was so little then. I remember packing up and leaving but then I remember waking up pregnant in Genma's arms. I don't remember anything before that.'
Nodoka continued with those thoughts, trying to remember, as she asked the cook to fix a few picnic baskets.
*Ranma's Room*
Ranko sat on Ranma's bed looking at the map. "Why don't we take a look at this area?" she asked, "It looks ideal for a picnic."
"We have to go over a mountain Ranko," Tenchi pointed out, "I'm not up to climbing mountains today."
Ranko pouted and looked over to Ranma, who was staring out the window. "Nii-san? What do you think?"
Ranma didn't answer and Ranko grew concerned, "What's wrong Nii-san? You gonna help us out or not?"
Ranma still didn't respond and Ranko crawled over to try and get his attention, gasping as she saw the dead look on his face. She shook him, quickly snapping him out of his trance.
Ranma's consciousness resurfaced to find Ranko's worried face. He smiled, life returning to his face, "Sorry about that. What's wrong?"
Ranko gave him a look and sighed, "We're still trying to decide where to go. I want to see this valley but Tenchi doesn't want to climb a mountain."
Ranma looked at the map and quickly found a way around it. "There's a pass right here. We can go through that. Odd name for it though."
Tenchi looked to where Ranma was pointing and read the name. "Pass of Lost Time? Is it gonna send us on a trip down memory lane?"
Ranma shrugged, "We know the place is magical so who knows. I think we would have been warned about it if it was dangerous though."
"Warned about what?"
Ranma smiled at his mother, who was standing in the doorway. "A pass that shows us lost time."
Nodoka looked at Ranko thoughtfully, "Maybe it would help explain why Ranko is a completely different personality."
Ranma shrugged, "Maybe she's who I was supposed to be."
Ranko gave Ranma a disturbed look, "That's not a pleasant thought."
Ranma shrugged, "Are we going to leave now?"
Tenchi sighed and got up, keeping an eye on his cousin. "What were you thinking about earlier so that you looked dead?"
"I was searching my soul, to see if I could salvage something from the life I'm trying to leave. I couldn't find anything worthwhile. I looked to the piece of me that held my modern life and curse and found nothing. It felt..... dead." Ranma shivered.
Ranko looked down, "When I was trapped in the spring, I found I was doomed to remain aware. I couldn't get free without help. There wasn't a place in any of the soul's for me to escape from the beings that fell in there beforehand."
Ranko looked up at Ranma, "You were different. You have a soul mate that you haven't declared love for yet, so your soul was only half there. You are meant to be here. You need to find her."
Ranma smirked, taking one of the picnic baskets from his mother, "So you used my soul as an escape route."
Ranko nodded, "I didn't expect to be alive again so I slept there, forgetting my life, expecting to die with you. When I was shocked from my slumber by that water, all I could remember was tiny snippets of my personality, which kept your personality out."
"So that makes you separate," Tenchi said, "So what do you remember of your life."
Ranko walked out the door and turned to him, "Just snippets of my personality, like I said. I don't remember what led to that personality, just that I am me and not Ranma."
Ranma walked out the door and took the lead, Ranko following. Nodoka walked behind, studying her children. She then noticed that Ranko did indeed have a more feminine gait, while Ranma's was decidedly masculine. Nodoka smiled, knowing she could burn that seppuku contract for good.
Tenchi shrugged, thinking that odder things had happened, catching up to walk beside Nodoka. He studied his aunt out of the corner of his eye, admiring her dark red hair and noble profile. 'She kind of reminds me of grandpa. No wonder they fought.'
"I'll tell them today," Nodoka said quietly.
"Huh?" Tenchi asked, not paying attention.
"I'll tell them today," she repeated, "at the picnic." She gave Tenchi an earnest look, "You'll back me up won't you?"
Tenchi smiled and nodded, "Don't worry about it. I don't think they'll find anything wrong with it. They'll understand."
Nodoka nodded, the worry not completely leaving her face. She then looked back to Tenchi, curiosity donning her face. "How did you end up here anyways? Father never gave me the details of how you got injured."
Tenchi gave her a sheepish look as he held the door to the outside open for her. "You could say it was something of a super powered cat fight. I had just gotten back from an adventure involving my death at the hands of an evil space pirate and being resurrected by a goddess that was also one of our ships."
"You mean there's something other than an evil space pirate?" Ranko asked dryly.
Tenchi chuckled a bit, "Ryoko's a space pirate, but she's not really evil. Just really violent. She's especially violent towards a Juraian princess that had taken up residence in my house also."
"Anyways, I had come back from the dead and saved their butts. The day after we returned to earth, Ryoko wouldn't leave me alone. Ayeka got angry, like she always does, and threw an energy bolt at her. Ryoko dodged, but I wasn't as lucky as I was behind her and couldn't see anything. Sasami had just come up the stairs and saw all of this. She got angry, called grandfather, and he rushed me to the hospital where I met up with Ranma. Sasami was pretty angry. I wonder what happened when I left."
They were pretty far from the resort when Tenchi finished. Ranma was half listening to the story and nearly stopped as something dawned on him about Tenchi's heritage and his relation to him.
"I don't know why I didn't think of this before but since you said you were part of the royal family of Jurai and Ranko and I are related to you doesn't that... make.... us....."
Nodoka looked down, "It does son. We are Juraian, and part of the royal family."
Ranma and Ranko digested this information and Nodoka watched them anxiously. Soon Ranma smiled at his mother, "I can understand the need to keep that a secret."
Ranko nodded, "Don't worry about it momma. We're not mad at you for not telling us. It's just a little hard to digest right now. You didn't have time to tell us anyway."
Ranko giggled, "It makes for an interesting relationship with a guy later."
Ranma rolled his eyes. "Or girl," he said, thinking about Hikari, "I plan on telling her about this. So much has happened. We're near the pass now."
Nodoka looked up ahead. "Kind of misty for this time of day isn't it?"
Tenchi shrugged, "Maybe the sun hasn't gotten there yet. Either way, all we have to do is follow the path and stick together."
They all headed forward, each with their own thoughts, unknowing of the conscious spell reading them.
'I wish I hadn't fallen asleep cause then I'd be able to teach Ranma whatever I knew in my past life.'
'Come to think of it, not even I know much about my heritage as a Juraian prince. It would be helpful if I knew their history.'
'I wish I had been apart of my son's life. I can't be a very good mother if I don't know anything about my children.'
'This is really unusual, and I wish I could remember more of my past life besides the last battle.'
They entered the pass and the ground rumbled, separating them into the mist. They called for each other and the mists parted, showing each what they wanted to know.
*At the resort*
Hikari felt Ranma disappear into the streams of time and she looked uneasily to where she had sensed him and his family last. 'I hope Setsuna knows what she's doing,' she thought, not realizing that the omnipresent time guardian was not behind this.
"Something wrong Hikari-onee-san?" Hikaru asked, looking at Hikari curiously.
Hikari smiled at the little girl and shook her head, "Iie, daijabu."
Hikaru beamed at her and then rolled the dice. Moving the appropriate number of spaces, Hikaru handed the dice to Hikari, prompting her to take her turn at Candyland.
A knock on the door startled Hikari as she took her turn, and she sensed Usagi behind the door. Ikari got up to answer it and confirmed what Hikari knew. "Hi Usagi-san."
"Hi Ikari!" she bubbled, "Have any of you seen Ranma and his family?"
Ikari looked back to see a multitude of shaking heads. "Not recently," he said, as he noticed Hikari getting up.
"The last time we saw them was when he left at breakfast to look for you and your friends," Hikari said, going to the door.
Usagi pouted and snapped her fingers. "Thanks anyways. If you see him tell him I'd like to thank him for this morning."
Hikari smiled and nodded, "We'll let him know."
Hikari went to sit back down and cast a worried look out the window, which didn't go unnoticed by Trista. Hikari returned to her game and the rest turned to what they were doing, no one noticing the suspicious look on Trista's face. 'I really hope she hasn't fallen for that guy. I have a feeling that life's about to become much more troubling.'
*Ranko's Vision*
Ranko watched as the mists parted and she found herself in a small village. A girl, like her and not, stepped out of one of the huts. She stretched and turned to look right at Ranko. Ranko started to say something but the girl gave an evil smirk and passed right through her. Ranko started, 'They can't see or hear me. It that girl..... is that girl me?'
Ranko concentrated on the small, maroon haired girl and found herself remembering more and more of her past. Time flew before her eyes as she watched herself grow into a young woman and found she was not to go past that.
'No!' Ranko thought, tears in her eyes as she watched the events unfold, 'No that can't be me! Was I really such a cold hearted bitch? Even at such a young age? I deserved to stay in that spring. I'm glad all I kept was my femininity. I don't want to remember any of this.'
Ranko watched as she killed one of their own men out of spite and was sentenced to drown, trapped forever in the springs of Jusenkyo.
'Was I really so bad that they had to kill me?' Ranko thought as she watched herself drown, 'Who am I now then? Now I'm Mei Lin, now I'm Ranko. Ranma must have given me parts of his own personality as I slept. I'm glad, angry and hurt by this. I never should have wanted to know.'
Ranko's tears fell harder and faster as she wished to return to Ranma and her new mother to be judged by them. They found her of worthy of life before. 'They won't now,' Ranko thought, 'I must salvage this soul.'
Ranko felt the fog roll in again and some wind blow. She started to get up and the wind became stronger, quickly pushing her in a certain direction. She turned and screamed as she saw a large, black tear trying to suck her in. She lost the battle against the wind and was sucked through, only knowing darkness from that point on.
*Tenchi's visions*
Tenchi looked around as the fog rolled back and found himself in a foreign city. He walked around, trying to ask people where he was but none paid any attention to him. It was when Tenchi placed his hand through one of the people that he realized that no one could see or hear him.
'What's going on?' he thought, watching as suddenly the palace in the distance came to him. Tenchi watched and learned that he was viewing Jurai's history.
'This is awesome,' he thought, now I know a bit more of what I'm getting into with this.'
Tenchi watched, learning more and more about Jurai and found himself becoming more and more interested. 'So this is my grandfather's heritage. My heritage. I wonder why he never told me about all of this.'
Soon he found out why. Parts of Jurai had always been corrupt and while it was rare, they sometimes rose to power. The true king of Jurai would always save it after a while, but those times of darkness were the worst that Tenchi had seen in any history.
'That's why a human/Juraian coupling was looked down upon,' Tenchi thought after one episode, 'but we are so much the same.'
Tenchi found himself wishing to go back and share this with his new found family. As the mists rolled in once more, Tenchi turned and walked through a tear, not noticing it until he blacked out.
*Nodoka's Vision*
Nodoka looked around, finding herself in a familiar hospital, in a familiar room. A scream from the bed behind her made Nodoka start, and whirl around to start apologizing. She stopped as she saw herself on the hospital bed, screaming because of a contraction.
Genma and the doctors rushed in, one running through Nodoka as she stared on in horror. The six-hour labor seemed to pass in minutes for the ghost like woman as she watched Ranma being born. It was then that she realized that the gleam in Genma's eyes were not of joy and pride, but of greed.
'The man used me,' she thought, 'That's why I never felt comfortable around him, he used me. I have been working my fingers to the bone to pay off his debts and he was just using me so he could live a good life.'
Nodoka's anger and pain grew as she watched what Ranma suffered from the greedy man, for after all, seeing it is more effective than hearing about it.
'Never again,' she thought, 'Never again will a child of mine suffer like this.'
As Akane walloped Ranma with a hammer, the mists of time rolled back in to enclose the crying woman. They rolled back to reveal her at the edge of the pass once more. She looked up at the sky to discover that it was late evening, and the stars were just coming out.
"You've been gone the whole day," said a voice from behind her.
Nodoka whirled to see a man that appeared around her age standing there with flowers. She waited for him to speak again, something about his face and pained look recovering something from the edges of her memory.
"My name's Lee," he said after an uncomfortable silence, "I help the old man a bit every once in a while. He tries to get me to take over for him. You're lucky you got out of there. Not many people come out of the pass of lost time."
Nodoka stared at him in fear, "You mean......"
The man nodded, "This pass has a habit of taking people and kepping them. I ....." He paused, swallowing as if the subject still brought him great pain, "I lost my wife and two daughters, Luna and Lina, to that pass. You look like my wife. You have the same beautiful face and expression."
Nodoka looked down, blushing.
The man continued on, "She was pregnant with our third child when she disappeared, heading off on a picnic with the girls. For the past eighteen years I've been bringing flowers here, hoping that they would return to me."
He laughed bitterly, "Not that they would know me anymore. Sometimes I wonder what I did to deserve the loss of my family, but I'll never give up hope. Hope is all that keeps me going these days."
Lee turned and looked towards the pass again. "I saw you heading towards the pass with the kids and yelled for you to stop. I don't think you heard me and you disappeared inside. I stayed to see if any of you would return. I was beginning to lose that hope. But then you appeared."
Lee walked up to the edge of the pass and placed the flowers down, not entering the pass himself. "You're lucky," he said again, softly.
Something hovered at the edge of Nodoka's memory as she took in Lee's black hair and sharp profile. She clasped her head in pain as a dam broke in her mind, and memories swept her away, causing her to faint. Lee caught her as she fell, and picked her up, whispering the name of his beloved, "Nodoka."
*Resort*
Hikari stopped eating and gave a worried glance out of one of the dining hall windows. She felt Nodoka return but none of the others. 'I'll wait until I get the children back to the orphanage to go searching for them. I intend to find out what happened before I leave however. I just hope nothing bad has happened.
*Ranma's Vision*
Ranma found himself in a room of a palace, and turned quickly as a woman screamed in pain. He found the woman's face obscured as she was surrounded by a man with black hair, some doctors, and a midwife. Two girls, a five year old with blue black hair and a two year old with red hair watched from the corner of the room.
Ranma moved up through some of the people to see the woman giving birth, and found himself face to face with his mother. She screamed again Ranma turned to look at the man he assumed was his father. He was surprised to find himself looking at a man nothing like Genma. He was young and handsome, whereas Genma was fat and old.
Ranma stepped back, and soon found himself viewing his past life. The attacks, finding Hikari, and the final battle. He found himself remembering, feeling the joys and pains all over again as his family sent him off to the crystal palace on the moon and he grew up there while they died.
Ranma watched as he, himself died and promised himself that he would be stronger, so that this time he could protect her. The mists of time rolled in just as he saw the moon queen use the silver crystal for the last time. He turned, his face a mask of pain, to find himself sucked through a tear in the fabric that made the world around him. Soon all he knew was darkness.
*Resort*
Hikari awoke to the feeling that something was wrong. She got up and checked on all the children, who were asleep and then went to the window, extending her senses to find what was wrong. 'There are no youma tonight,' she thought, extending her senses even further. She soon found what was amiss and nearly screamed at the realization of the tears in a spell in the pass where Ranma and his family had disappeared.
"What's wrong?" asked Trista, seeing the tears stream down Hikari's face.
Hikari turned to Trista, fear evident on her face. "There are tears in the fabric of space and time where Ranma, Ranko, Nodoka, and Tenchi disappeared. Only Ranma's mother returned. I need to go after them."
"No you don't," Trista said, growling slightly.
Hikari gave her a startled look, pain still evident on her face. Trista sighed and continued, "He's stealing you away from me. Our friendship won't last. You'll go to him and forget about me. You're my only friend Hikari."
Hikari shook her head, "I can't forget about you Trista, don't make me choose. I love you both. He's my soul mate Trista. If he's not near, I'll whither away and die anyway."
Trista looked down, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't do that, it's selfish."
Hikari smiled, "You'll always be my best friend Trista. You just come to me when you need me. I need your help now though."
Trista looked up, nodding. "I'll take care of the kids. If you aren't back by the time we leave, I'll drop them off at the orphanage. I'll use the power of the well to try and locate you."
"That's a strictly time based demon well you know," Hikari said, giving Trista an odd look.
Trista made a face, "I have to try something. If I don't find you that way I'll just visit the time I actually came from for a while. You'll be able to find me."
Hikari smiled and grabbed her transformation pen. "Thank you Trista."
Hikari didn't hear Trista's soft good luck as she ran out the door to the last known coordinates of Nodoka's presence.
Hikari ran, stretching her senses and quickly locking onto Nodoka's ki. 'What is she still doing all the way out here?' Hikari asked herself, 'Whatever the reason I need to find out what happened before diving into the gate once more.'
Hikari stopped in front of a small hut with the lights on. Knocking on the door, Hikari took the time to catch her breath. A man looking remarkably like Ranma opened the door, giving her an odd look. Hikari blushed as she realized she was still only wearing her pajamas.
"I'm looking for Ms. Nodoka," Hikari said, trying to see if Nodoka was awake.
The man's face became startled, and then angry, and he was about to lash out when Nodoka's voice stopped him. "It's alright anata," she said softly, "Hikari is our son's girlfriend."
Lee froze as he turned to see Nodoka's pained face. "I remember now," she said, "I remember what that bastard made me forget."
Nodoka looked up at Lee, tears in her eyes, "I'm so sorry. I always knew there was something fishy about Genma's story but I couldn't place it."
Nodoka began to cry, "I'm so sorry anata, so sorry."
Lee moved from the door and stared at Nodoka's crying face a moment before drawing her into a crushing hug. He made soothing noises as he waved Hikari in, trying to comfort Nodoka. Hikari blushed at the thought of already being considered Ranma's girlfriend but realized it was true.
"I need to know what happened to him and the other two," Hikari said softly, "I know he's gone. What happened?"
Nodoka's crying slowed as Ranko's words rang in her ears, "You have a soul mate that you haven't declared your love to, Ranma."
Nodoka pulled slightly away from Lee and turned to Hikari. "I had better give you the whole story then."
Lee led Nodoka to a small couch that was placed in the hut and they both sat down, Hikari sitting in an old chair near them.
"Genma isn't Ranma's father. Lee is. When I was still pregnant with him, I took my two daughter's out for a picnic through that same pass. I got separated from them, and darkness claimed me as the fog rolled in. I had awoken in Genma's arms, being carried. I didn't know who he was so I fought. He figured out I remembered who I was married to and used some sort of weird technique on me that made me forget everything about my husband and daughters."
"He raised Ranma, and I let him. I let him do those horrible things....."
Nodoka paused to compose herself. "The same thing happened again now, and I'm not sure that there is any possible way for them to come back."
Hikari closed her eyes, "I can get them back."
She said it so low that Nodoka was not sure she heard right. Lee, however, did, "What do you mean by that?"
Hikari looked up at the man, "Can you keep a secret?"
Lee and Nodoka nodded, and Hikari continued, "I can travel through dimensions. I am a sailor scout and I was charged with guarding the dimensional gate. I will find them."
Lee scoffed at the idea and Hikari narrowed her eyes, shouting out her transformation trigger. In a flurry of light, she was in her sailor uniform, staff of worlds in her hands. "I will find them," she said again.
Nodoka stared at her, "Does Ranma know of this?" she asked softly.
Hikari smiled and nodded, "He is the scout of storms and chaos, Sailor Nemesis. He can control any storm, be it of fire, wind, water, thunder, anything. He hasn't accessed his power yet, but he knows of it. He is one of the few aware scouts, having awakened only recently."
Nodoka smiled, "Please bring him back. Him, Ranko, Tenchi and if you can find them, Lina and Luna."
Hikari gave her a questioning look and Lee got up to get some old photos. "This is what they looked like then. I don't know how much they've changed, but if you could bring them back to us....."
Hikari nodded, taking the picture of the four happy people. "I'm on my way. I'll return, hopefully soon."
Author's Notes: I do hope you realize that I edited a few of the chapters a bit. Not a whole lot but enough to make a slight difference. ^^ Jan e.