Disclaimer: I do not own any of the series mentioned in this fic. If I
did, I would be rich and I'm very much on the poor side.
Author's Notes: YES I LOVE POWER TRIPS!!!! THEY ABSOLUTELY MAKE MY DAY!!!! At least when I don't have mood swings. Why wouldn't Ranma admit to dusting a youma? The Sailor scouts weren't there when Ranma dusted the other and I don't believe I mentioned that to them when they went back. So naturally, if Ranma boasted about it, they would be suspicious. At least, Rei and Ami would be. Me thinks Usagi would be a little too gullible about people being able to do that on their own. *Sweatdrop*
Anyways, on with the story ^^
Posted 11/2/03
'Thoughts'
Soul's Destiny, Blood's Inheritance Chapter 10
*Ranko's Point in Time*
Ranko awoke in a small white room with sunlight streaming in. She groaned as she opened her eyes, not used to the light, and turned from the window. 'Where am I?' she thought, looking around the room, 'A hospital?'
She started to get up and was forced back down to the pillow as an overwhelming sense of nausea consumed her. The door then opened and a violet haired young man walked in with a breakfast tray. "Can you sit up?" he asked, setting the tray down.
Ranko gave him a wary look and tried to sit up again. The dizziness was not as bad this time around and she managed to rest her back against the head board. Then she noticed that the clothes she was wearing were not her own. She turned with a glare that had the young man smirking a bit.
"My mother changed your clothes. The ones you were wearing were pretty beat up after your fall. My name's Trunks," he said.
Ranko turned to look at her food. "My name's Ranko," she said softly, "Where am I?"
"At Capsule Corp," Trunks responded watching her face carefully.
Ranko wrinkled her nose as if confused, "Where? I don't remember hearing about any place called Capsule Corp."
Trunks stared at her a moment beginning to think she might have had some sort of brain trauma. "Capsule Corp is a world wide corporation. Or at least it was until the androids attacked and destroyed our world. What do you remember?"
Ranko stared at her food a moment, 'Oh dear, he thinks I have some sort of amnesia. I have to admit that it does really seem that way but I don't think I'm in my home world any more. How do I tell him though?'
"I'll let you eat. I'll go tell my mother that you're awake now," Trunks said getting up.
Ranko just nodded, focusing on something she knew. Or at least she thought she knew as the food looked rather strange. Ranko gave herself a mental shrug and decided to taste it. As she ate, she began to feel a bit better, but still lost. "Where are Ranma, Tenchi and okaa-san?" she asked herself.
"Where are who?" said a female voice from the doorway.
Ranko looked up, startled, to see a woman with blue green hair standing in the doorway. Ranko's eyes widened a bit and then she blushed, looking back to her food. "My family," she said softly, "I'm not sure if they made it here with me."
The woman frowned as Ranko's eyes grew watery and walked over to her, putting an arm around her. "It's ok to cry," she said softly.
"Not for a warrior," Ranko said as the tears fell, "not for me."
Bulma held her closer, trying to comfort her. "Everyone needs to cry sometimes, even the toughest warriors."
Ranko started to bawl, clinging to Bulma like a lifeline. Trunks checked in on them, and decided to watch from the doorway as Bulma comforted the girl like only a mother could. Soon he left to get the calming herbal tea his sensei, Gohan, had made for him before he died. 'Looks like we'll all need this,' he thought, making a pot full.
When he returned, Ranko had calmed down, and was eating her food. "I brought some tea," he said softly.
His mother looked up smiling, "That calming stuff Gohan made so well?"
His heart clenched painfully at that memory and he nodded, trying to smile. Bulma's face saddened a moment, and then she motioned for him to pour the tea. She then turned to Ranko, who had silently watched the exchange, "So tell us who we'll be looking for."
Ranko sighed and put her fork down, "Ranma is a male version of me, or rather, I'm a female version of him. He is ice where I am fire though. Momma's hair is a darker red than mine and was wearing a kimono last I saw her. Tenchi is tall like Ranma and has black hair and brown eyes. He's usually wearing an ugly brown jacket."
"There are a few people to match that last description," Bulma said dryly.
Ranko shrugged, "I'll recognize them. But I'm not sure they're here."
Trunks and Bulma exchanged a look. "What do you mean by that?" Bulma asked, "Are you from another planet?"
"I am if this isn't earth. I'm more certain that I'm in another dimension," Ranko said, "And I don't believe they followed through the tear."
"Tear?" Bulma asked, interested.
Ranko took a deep breath and began to explain about the pass of lost time. She told about reviewing her past life without saying anything about it and about coming from that to be sucked into a seeming tear in the fog. "It was like a black hole sucking me in. A tear in the fabric of space and time."
Bulma frowned as she thought about it, "Our own heading through time must have caused this. I didn't realize it would cause such a commotion though."
Ranko gave her a confused look. "What do you mean by that?"
Bulma looked out the window at the damaged landscape, frowning. "Our world was being destroyed by these two androids. All of earth's best warriors were destroyed. One survived and trained my son to fight, believing he would have the strength to do so. Gohan," Bulma's voice caught a moment, and then she continued, "Gohan died saving Trunks' life, and I built a time machine, so that the past could be changed. Trunks went to the past, and changed it. He became stronger, and defeated the two androids from this time when he returned, allowing what's left of this world to survive."
"You think this caused a tear in the very fabric of time?" Ranko asked, "And that it pulled me through at the pass?"
Bulma nodded, "There might be other tears from other dimensions and times as well. It's something to think about. Maybe I can modify the time machine..." Bulma trailed off as she got up to leave for her lab. Trunks sweat dropped and sighed, "We'll do our best to help you, but it might take a while. You did help her get out of her slump though. For that I'm grateful."
Ranko just nodded and sipped the tea. "This is really good," she said, slightly surprised.
Trunks looked down into his own cup of tea. "My sensei used to make this all the time. It's a blend of herbs he created that soothes the nerves and relaxes muscles. He taught it to me but I'm not as good at mixing it. This is the last of his blend."
Ranko stayed silent, sipping at her tea, sensing that it was still a sensitive subject for him. Trunks kept staring into his tea, his expression thoughtful. "He died six years ago. He was a father, and a friend. I hope he's doing well in the other timeline."
"I'm sure he is," Ranko said, "You need to cheer up. It doesn't help to live in the past to much."
Trunks just gave her a wry grin and stood, "You get some rest. I'll take your tray."
Ranko looked out to see the sun setting, and wondered how her family was doing.
*Back at the Pass*
Hikari entered the pass, trying to determine where the tears were. 'That's funny,' she thought, 'It isn't foggy here at all. I'm sure this is the right place.'
Hikari entered the pass cautiously, her transformed state helping her to extend her senses as she searched for the tears. She wandered in, soon picking up a trail of magic, not unlike what the tears were appearing in. She soon came across a misting pool, and read into the spell surrounding it.
'This is....' Hikari's thought, eyes widening, 'This shouldn't be possible! Not without Setsuna's knowledge!'
Hikari disappeared in a flash of light as the first rays of light reached the inside of the pass.
*Tenchi's Point in Time*
Tenchi woke to darkness, and tried to determine where he was. He got up, brushing off all the brush on his clothing and studied the forest around him. 'The trees aren't unlike those from Jurai,' he thought, looking around, 'They are talking.'
He pulled out his sword, and studied its glow for a moment, and then looked around. He started walking, following the pull of the sword, as it seemed insistent on a certain direction, unknowing of the golden eyes watching him.
"Ranma?" he called out, "Ranko? Where are you? Aunt Nodoka?"
Tenchi was quickly getting tired and soon found himself standing before a large, old tree. Tenchi leaned his head against the tree, and realized the sword had stopped its pull. Tenchi knocked the sword on the tree twice as he had seen Ayeka do before. 'I wonder how the girls are doing also,' he thought, beginning to get homesick.
To his surprise, the tree reacted, though it was a bit delayed and slow. It showed everything in its memory from crashing on this planet to getting a half demon trapped upon its bark and the demon's recent adventures. "You see everything don't you? I'm not surprised, trees live a long time."
The tree responded by moving its roots slightly, creating a space for him to lie comfortably. Tenchi nodded his thanks, and made himself comfortable, remembering the odd things his grandfather's tree would do for him. Tenchi gave a wry smile, 'And here I thought it was just my childish imagination at the time.'
Yellow eyes watched as Tenchi fell asleep and decided he was no real threat, even after that strange display on his favorite thinking tree. 'I'll alert Kagome and the others tomorrow,' Inu Yasha said to himself, 'I don't think he'll be anything we can't handle if he's hostile.'
With that, Inu Yasha settled down to watch over the intruder in the very tree Tenchi had been speaking to a moment ago.
*Ranma's Point in Time*
Zelgadiss, Lina, Amelia and Gourry looked up, surprised as the sky darkened and then suddenly lightened again.
"I think something fell," Amelia said, looking back to the group.
Lina frowned and nodded, "I think we had better check it out. Let's go. It was in the direction of Zel's supposed cure anyways."
"Where are we going again?" Gourry asked, "And what kind of sign was that?"
Lina's eye twitched and she growled. But this time, however, she simply just stomped ahead of the group, leaving a surprised Amelia and Zelgadiss, and a confused Gourry.
"Did I say something wrong?" Gourry asked, "I just wanted to kn-"
"Can it Mr. Gourry," Amelia said, "Or I'll start beating you."
Gourry shushed and the rest started to follow Lina. They reached the approximate area just before nightfall and it was Lina that first found the unconscious person. Lina quickly checked him over, finding him alive, and then looked around the area.
"We'll set up camp here," she said, "Gourry, go find some firewood. Zel, would you mind fixing the meal tonight?"
Zel nodded and studied her before getting the supplies he would need. Lina then turned to Amelia. "I'll need your help with him Amelia. I think that fall from the sky hurt him right bad."
Zel stopped his preparations and stared at her a moment, stunned. When they had first gathered the group once more, he had been surprised that Lina, at 20, had finally filled out a bit more and was maybe three centimeters taller. Lina had looked happy, saying she had wondered when she was going to have a growth spurt and was glad no one could call her flat chested anymore.
Gourry's dropping of the firewood pulled Zel out of his thoughts and he continued fixing dinner as Amelia and Lina began to heal the unconscious man, trying to save his life. After a while, Lina and Amelia placed the handsome young man near the fire and they sat on the log Zel had pulled up, exhausted. Zel wordlessly handed them their share, knowing Lina would be too tired to fight off Gourry.
Lina raised an eyebrow and started eating her dinner, stopping once in a while to look over to their unexpected guest. Gourry tried to swipe some food while she wasn't looking, only to be stopped by Zel. Gourry looked stunned at Zel's stern look and kept to his own plate.
Zel then turned to Lina, "Something wrong?"
"He looks kinda like Luna. It's really uncanny, the strange resemblance he has to my sister."
Zel raised a stony eyebrow as the young man groaned, and sat up. Amelia was at his side in an instant, "Are you ok sir?"
Ranma put a hand to his head and rubbed it, nodding slightly. Amelia beamed, "I'm Amelia, I healed you! The short red head is Ms. Lina, she found you. The tall blond guy is Mr. Gourry, and the one with the blue violet hair is Mr. Zelgadiss."
Ranma raised an eyebrow at the girl's quick introduction and automatic trust in him while Lina and Zel slapped their foreheads. Gourry just waved.
"Ranma," he said slowly, not sure if he could trust them.
"Where's the wild horse?" Gourry asked looking around.
Ranma's eyebrow twitched, as did Lina's. "It's his name you idiot!" Lina yelled, hitting Gourry over the head.
Gourry started laughing, "But what kind of person has a name like Wild Horse? Is he one of those savage tribes we encountered earlier?"
Ranma twitched and he growled, "I'll show you savage."
With that, Ranma made quick work of making Gourry one large bruise. Zel sweat dropped while Amelia and Lina clapped. "Welcome to our camp Ranma. Nice display of skill. Do you know magic?"
Ranma looked over to the small red head, and was startled by her uncanny resemblance to the girl from his past life, only older. "No, not really," he answered, raising an eyebrow. He then looked around at his surroundings and realized he was extremely far from home. 'What do I do now? Will Hikari find me?'
"Did you guys see anyone else fall with me? A girl with bright red hair that looks a lot like me, a guy about my height with black hair and brown eyes, and an older woman with dark red hair and red brown eyes?"
Lina and Amelia exchanged a look and shook their heads. "You were the only one that fell. Where did you come from anyways?"
Ranma frowned as he looked around and saw plants he wouldn't recognize from anywhere on earth. "I don't think I'm from this dimension," he muttered, "But how do I get back?"
Lina frowned slightly, "Are you a mazoku that was summoned by someone else?"
Ranma's eye twitched, "Do I look like a monster to you?"
Lina shrugged, "We've been duped by better."
Ranma snorted and sat down by the fire, doing Zel's job of sulking.
Zel just shrugged and handed him a plate of extra food, which Ranma accepted gratefully, but not before getting a good look at Zel's face. "What are you?" Ranma asked, suddenly realizing that the person handing him food was not human.
Zel scowled, "I don't choose to look like this. I'm a chimera."
Ranma raised an eyebrow, and Zel continued, "I was human until this priest turned me into this in my quest for power."
Ranma finished his meal, "What's a chimera?"
The group face faulted, and Ranma looked around surprised, "Sorry, they don't have chimeras where I'm from so I've never seen one."
Lina smiled a bit and picked herself up, explaining what a chimera was. Ranma turned back to Zel, in complete understanding of him now. "So you want to return to normal? I know how that feels."
Zel growled slightly, "You have no idea what it feels like to go after cure after cure and come up empty handed! You...."
He was silenced by Ranma's laugh. "Believe me. Let me tell you the story of my life before you go judging who has no idea and who does."
Ranma started explaining his story and Gourry stayed blissfully asleep while Zel and the rest listened attentively. Amelia was near crying at the end where he had explained all the unwanted engagements and inability to see his mother. Lina was looking thoughtfully at Ranma while Zel was growling slightly.
"That is nothing like my situation," Zel growled slightly, "People see me and automatically call monster."
Ranma snorted, "I bet if you lightened up a bit people wouldn't notice the difference. What they see at first is a gloomy looking man. What happens when you use magic or glare at someone is when they call monster because of the dark cloud hanging over your head. Ryoga was every bit as depressed as you, though more obsessive with blaming everything on me."
Lina yawned, "Ranma's right Zel. His situation is similar to yours. Let's get some sleep. If we're lucky, we can get more information on this cure of yours in Zephelia, my home town."
Zel just snorted, "I'll take first watch then."
Lina just nodded and made herself comfortable on the ground. Gourry was still out from Ranma's beating and Amelia found a spot next to Lina. Ranma studied Lina while she was asleep trying to figure out why she looked so much like a younger version of his mother.
Zel noticed his look, "I wouldn't try anything. Lina's right dangerous."
"My whole family's dangerous. She reminds me of my older sister," 'From my past life,' Ranma finished in his thoughts.
"Does she mean something to you?" Ranma asked Zel suddenly.
Zel blushed slightly and looked over to where Lina was laying, "She was the first to look at me and not see a monster. She was my first friend and stuck with me even when I betrayed her. The whole group just seemed to grow on me, and I have Lina to thank for that."
Ranma just smirked slightly and turned to stare at the fire. They were silent for a while and Ranma lay on the ground, studying the stars. "The stars aren't nearly as bright where I'm from," he said.
Zelgadiss looked up at the sky and sighed, then catching sight of a shooting star. He looked over to where Ranma was laying and saw his eyes closed. After a moment, Ranma opened them, "What did you wish for?"
"Huh?" Zel asked.
"Whenever a shooting star passes, you're supposed to make a wish. Anything you want," Ranma said, and then he shrugged, "I was told this by a friend when I first encountered trouble on my training trip. It may seem childish but it helps me put my mind at ease."
Zelgadiss looked up at the sky again and was silent for a moment. "You're not supposed to tell those wishes or they won't come true. That's what Lina told me one night."
Ranma smiled, "Maybe she's right."
Zel looked up at the sky, "Now that I think about it you are Amelia's age aren't you? Seventeen?"
"No trying to play matchmaker to get her off you're back. I have someone waiting for me. I will get back to her at all costs," Ranma said, "And I'm eighteen.
Zelgadiss chuckled a bit, "Must be quite a girl you're with."
"She's my soul," Ranma said softly, "And she's not part of the fiancée brigade."
Zel and Ranma talked into the night, neither one appearing tired at all, while Lina listened her heart clenching as she realized that Zel didn't like Amelia like that.
*DBZ Alternate Timeline*
Ranko awoke as the sun rose and decided that she had been in bed long enough. 'It's time to see if I can still do everything I now remember,' she thought as she slid open the door and headed down the stairs.
She soon found her way outside and reached for the weapons she had stored in her former life. She concentrated, remembering how to pull the weapons out of subspace. 'If I'm right, no one should have been able to get my weapons out of there and I should be able to access them from anywhere. That is the fundamentals of hidden weapons, learning to access subspace, and expanding your ki to be able to pull more out at one time.'
Ranko's hand reached out and she pulled out her sword. To her surprise it was still in good condition and still as sharp as the last time she had sharpened it. "Of course!" she said softly, "Subspace isn't affected by time. Everything would stay in mint condition."
She started with an unarmed kata to warm up and then picked up the sword once more, and started practicing with it. The sun was much higher in the sky and she was still practicing with the sword when Trunks found her. He stopped at the door when he saw her, his breath catching as she worked out.
'She's beautiful,' he thought, watching her every move in the morning light. Soon she stopped and she made a movement as to thrust the sword, and the sword disappeared. Trunks was startled, "How did you? Did you capsulize it?"
Ranko gave him a confused look, "Capsulize? What do you mean by that? I just stored it into subspace."
"You're going to have to explain that to me," Trunks said, "Possibly my mother also. Breakfast is ready when you are."
Ranko's face brightened and she rushed inside past Trunks, who just kind of stared after her and shook his head. Gathering his thoughts, Trunks followed her inside and made his way to the kitchen where he had laid out breakfast. As they each dished out some food on their plates, Bulma wandered into the kitchen and pulled herself down a plate, still looking asleep.
Breakfast was a silent matter as Trunks, who had a saiyan's appetite and Ranko, who still had her brother's eating habits, gulped down food with gusto. Bulma just snuck herself a relatively normal amount as she studied Ranko a moment. As Ranko finally reached a lull in her eating and finished off, Bulma wondered if she was a female half saiyan.
"You wouldn't happen to be part saiyan would you?" Bulma asked.
Ranko gave her a look, "What's a saiyan?"
Bulma gave a relatively short explanation and Ranko shrugged, "I don't think so. I know that I'm an eighth Juraian and human. But I think that's all."
"Juraian?" Bulma asked.
Ranko shrugged, "Well since you didn't seem to care about aliens I figured it would be ok to tell you. Juraians are from my dimension and they live on a different planet. I don't know much about them but my cousin would as he knows more about our heritage than I do."
"How do you eat so much then?" Bulma asked.
Ranko shrugged, "High metabolism?"
Bulma sweat dropped and Trunks started paying attention to the conversation for the first time. "You do martial arts right?"
Ranko giggled and nodded, "That's what does it."
Bulma sighed, wondering what drove people to learn martial arts instead of useful things. Trunks got up and cleared his dishes, and then turned to gather Ranko's and his mother's. After the dishes were cleared, he headed out the door, "I'm going to go see how the rebuilding is going."
They both nodded, and Bulma disappeared down a set of stairs. Ranko, figuring she had nothing else to do, wandered around what was left of Capsule Corp.
'I wonder why they haven't started rebuilding this place yet. Is it because it's so big? Or what?'
Soon Ranko found herself in a room with a missing wall overlooking what could have been a garden. 'The androids must have been defeated only recently,' Ranko thought, 'That would be why. They're too good hearted to rebuild their place first, and on top of that, they're trying to help me get home.'
Ranko looked down and found fresh muddy footprints on the floor, 'These shouldn't be here. I have a bad feeling.'
Ranko turned and quickly made her way towards the hallway she had seen Bulma disappear down after breakfast. The foot prints had lost the mud but had not lost the light dust outlining the shoes. 'Why didn't I notice this earlier?' Ranko berated herself, 'Being sick or relaxed is no excuse. Amazons see these things at all times.'
Ranko began to run as she saw what door the faint footprints led too and rushed through the door eyes widening at what she saw. There were four armed men standing over Bulma's battered, bloody, and nude body. They were startled by Ranko's sudden appearance and froze, thinking that Trunks had come to get them.
Ranko was the first to recover. With a yell she attacked the four men, knocking out the first with a quick punch kick combo and turning on the next closest. He had raised his machine gun and started firing. Ranko leaped over the barrage of bullets, but not before two hit her in the left shoulder and right hip. She flipped around and went in for a hard kick with her left leg, ignoring the pain. The man dodged and Ranko landed on the ground, automatically reaching for her sword and coming slashing forward with it, slicing through the gun and the man's jugular.
The other two men stood surprised as Ranko slowly got up from her crouched position and turned towards them. Then with a snarl, she launched herself at the remaining two quickly slashing into one before he even had the chance to react. The other was still fumbling with his gun when Ranko twirled with the weight of her thrust and slashed into him.
She stood cautiously, senses on alert and then ran to Bulma. As she checked the woman's vital signs her eyes watered, and time seemed to freeze, as she realized she had gotten there too late. A noise roused her from her sorrow and her gaze hardened. She slowly reached for her sword and as soon as she heard the gun cock, she turned as fast as she could and threw her sword with all her weight just as a bullet grazed her brow. The sword ran straight through the man she first kicked and pinned him against the time machine. The time machine shorted, and finished the job, electrocuting the man. His cries did not pierce through Ranko's hardened gaze and she withdrew to the corner and watched him fry.
*At the Time Gates*
"Setsuna you have to do something."
The time guardian looked over to where her best friend stood, and then back to the time gates. "All I can do is seal the tears. I can't help you locate them," Sailor Pluto said, staring at the ground, "I wish you luck on your search Sailor Star."
"There are two dimensional tears," Star said, a wry smile upon her face, "I needed to warn you about the time tears though or they would never get fixed. That's your job. I had better get moving."
Sailor Pluto nodded and watched while Star drew upon her own gate and left, searching through the dimensional barriers for her friends. When Star had gone, she turned to her own gate and opened the doors, looking for the tears that had sent many through time.
*In the Space Time Continuum*
Sailor Star, as she was now named, allowed the feel of the dimensional barriers to wash over her and looked for the tears that had swallowed her friends and her soul. She came across the first and stepped through, taking the time to fix it as she searched for any sign of her friends. 'Ranko's here, but what happened? What happened to her soul? Something's wrong. I need to hurry but I can't afford mistakes right now.'
The process was slow, and the tear fought against her as if it had a mind of its own, or was created by a very strong warrior. 'Damn, put enough ki into these things and they try to stay up forever. It's going to take awhile for it to destabilize enough for me to seal it.'
*Capsule Corp.*
Trunks arrived at Capsule Corp in the late afternoon, and called out to see if anyone was home. When no one answered, he started down to the lab, thinking Ranko would be talking with his mother. When he opened the door, he was greeted with quite a different surprise.
Trunks' eyes widened as he saw blood everywhere. On the floor was his mother, clothes torn and body bloody and bruised. He saw the remains of four men, one attached to the time machine by Ranko's sword. In the corner, all curled up and still bleeding, was Ranko. He knelt next to his mother first and quickly confirmed his fear and then moved to Ranko. 'She's still alive,' he thought, quickly finding her pulse, 'I need to help her.'
He found the places where the bullet had entered, and only found an exit puncture on her shoulder. Grimacing slightly, he picked her up and carried her over to the med rooms. He got the bullet out without waking her, quickly stripping her of her clothes and setting up the regen tank his mother had built years ago.
As Trunks hooked Ranko up, she opened her eyes, and stared at him a moment. Her eyes filled with tears and she grabbed his arm. Trunks froze as she spoke.
"I'm sorry. I didn't notice in time. I couldn't save her," she said softly, breathing becoming labored.
Trunks shushed her and continued hooking up the apparatus and enclosed her within the egg like tank. The tank filled and Ranko closed her eyes once more, allowing a healing sleep to take over her mind. Only after she was asleep did Trunks leave to tend to the bodies in the lab.
The tears refused to fall and allow some small comfort to his grieving heart as he walked back into the lab. He picked up his mother's body and carried it outside to the dead garden that she was always trying to bring back to life. 'Is this how they thank her?' Trunks asked himself as he buried her, 'Is this how they thank a strong woman that was always helping them out? Who sent her son into the past to save them? Whose son destroyed the androids? Is this how they thank us?!'
The tears started to fall as he covered her body and set up a small cross with the two planks of wood lying nearby. He mourned for her, and knew that she wouldn't want him to mourn for long. After a while, he got up and moved back to the lab, scowling at the three dead men on the floor and the man pinned to the time machine. He walked up to the time machine and pulled the sword out, the machine sparking and hissing as he did so.
He finally got the sword free and allowed the man to fall to the ground. Studying the time machine, he realized that it would be no good, and his mother had already destroyed the plans to build a new one. He gave it a quick ki blast and let his vision clear before turning to pick up the bodies.
A lump formed in his throat as he threw the bodies into the pit formed by the androids just days before. He lit them on fire and watched them burn for a while. After about half an hour, he turned and walked back to his home.
*In the Space Time Continuum*
Hikari sat down, exhausted, as the tear finally collapsed and sealed. "Wow that took a lot out of me. I got a good look at what created it too. Damn blob of cotton candy. COTTON CANDY IS NOT SUPPOSED TO BE EVIL!!!!!" As she searched the timelines in the new dimension for any essence of her friend, she muttered something about idiots creating a being like Buu that looks to be the color of cotton candy.
*At Capsule Corp*
Trunks finished his dinner and went to check on Ranko, finding that she was ready to come out of the regen tank. He quickly drained it and pulled out some of the towels his mother always kept nearby. He lifted the lid and started pulling off the machinery, wrapping a towel around her body. Ranko woke up as he placed her on the bed they had given her when he first found her.
"What?" she started only to be cut off by Trunks.
"Thank you.... for avenging her right then. They must have been after the time machine," his eyes watered and his voice cracked, "I'm sorry about your clothes, I'll see if I have something you can wear."
He was silenced by Ranko's wiping some of his tears. As he watched her face, she sat up, unmindful of the disappearance of the sheets and towel as she held him close. "I'm sorry," she murmured softly, "I should have seen those foot prints sooner. I'm sorry."
Trunks' arms wrapped around her on their own accord and he idly wondered who was supporting who until she started kissing his tears away. After about the fifth tear, he maneuvered his face so that her lips met his. She froze a moment and then leaned into it. She pulled away too soon for Trunks and looked down. He suddenly felt horrible and apologized, running out the door, leaving Ranko with a stunned look on her face.
'What was that?' she asked herself, 'Maybe I had best not think about it. But if I were still an Amazon, that would have counted as the kiss of marriage, though now that I think about it....'
Ranko pulled the sheets up and hugged them close to herself, eyes tearing again. 'I need to talk to Cologne, face to face. What do I do? Who am I now?'
Ranko soon realized that thinking would get her no where and that she was rather hungry. She reached into her subspace pocket and pulled out one of her spare Amazon outfits and correct undergarments. She put them on and stood, waiting a moment while the room stopped spinning and her stomach settled. She made her way to the kitchen and found Trunks in it, cooking.
She was about to say something when Trunks beat her to it. "Your sword is on the table. I cleaned it for you. I figured you would be hungry too so I started some eggs and pancakes. We don't have much else. There's no juice either so I hope water's ok. I'm sorry about earlier," the last part was said the softest.
Ranko put on a half smile and touched his arm. "Don't be. I didn't mean to hurt you. I just felt we were moving kind of fast for only having met yesterday. I did enjoy that last part."
Ranko bit her lip as she blushed and suddenly found the floor interesting. She then giggled a bit, her earlier thought echoing in her head. Trunks looked down at her and raised an eyebrow, "What's so funny?"
Ranko quieted instantly, "Just a thought." She paused and then looked up into his face, studying it intently. "You'd better tend to the pancakes or they'll burn," she said, suddenly turning and heading back to the table.
Trunks turned and quickly flipped the pancakes just in time and then turned back to the eggs. Soon he had everything ready and set it in front of Ranko, who dug in.
He studied her face and thought back to what had just occurred, trying to think of why she had pulled away. Then it hit him, 'Of course! She doesn't know if I'm going to be sincere in the future. Kaa-san just- just died and she was trying to comfort me. She wants to make sure I'm not just latching onto her as the nearest source of comfort.'
Trunks closed his eyes, searching his heart. He knew that before he made any serious moves he would have to make himself ok with his mother's death. She was, after all, all he had for the longest time. All the people in town revered him as a hero but didn't really try to get to know him.
Trunks opened his eyes again and studied her once more, "Where did you find an outfit so quick?"
"Subspace pocket," Ranko answered in between gulps, "This is really good Trunks."
He smiled a bit at the compliment and tried not to stare at how well the outfit complimented her figure and showed off certain assets. He was about to ask another question more pertinent to their current situation when a flash of bright light flooded the room and the sound of someone hitting the floor sounded in their ears.
"Oh that smarts," said an unknown voice as the light faded.
Ranko stared for a moment, somewhat recognizing the girl in the Sailor Suit. "Hikari!?" she said, almost not daring to hope.
Trunks stared unbelieving at the girl that had suddenly appeared in his kitchen. His expression turned more incredulous when she gave a sheepish grin to Ranko and Ranko launched herself at the girl.
"What is with the outfit?" Ranko asked, staring at the girl.
Hikari gave her a look, "I could ask you the same question. Believe me, I've been trying to get it changed since I first transformed at twelve. You're looking at the Sailor Scout in charge of the dimensional gates," she said bowing.
Ranko just sat back down in her chair as Hikari turned to Trunks, raising an eyebrow. "Sorry about this. Thanks for taking good care of my friend."
All Trunks could do was nod, and Ranko bit her lip. Somehow, she didn't really want to leave him alone here, and yet she wanted to return to her brother and mother as soon as possible. "What's wrong Ranko?" Hikari asked out of nowhere.
Ranko started, turning to see both Trunks' and Hikari's concerned gaze on her. Ranko gave Hikari a look that said she would tell her later and gave a smile to Trunks. "It's nothing, really."
Trunks nodded and picked up her dishes as Hikari sat down, not having the energy to stand.
Ranko studied her, "You look exhausted."
"Thanks," Hikari said dryly, "I think the only thing keeping me going is the extra energy I get from the transformation. Sealing tears in the Space Time Continuum takes a lot out of you. In any case I hope you're not in any hurry to leave because I'll make mistakes if we have to go right away and we can't afford those."
"Have you found onii-sama, Tenchi-kun or Okaa-san yet?" Ranko asked softly.
Hikari shook her head. "Gomen ne. It took me a day to locate you alone. I couldn't find their energy signatures in this place. Your mother is where she belongs. She didn't get caught in that time trap."
Hikari snapped her fingers and pulled out a picture, "That reminds me, she did get caught in it when she was pregnant with you and your brother. She was going on a picnic with her two daughters at the time and got caught in a tear that sent her to a different time and place except in the same dimension."
Hikari handed the picture to Ranko, "This guy that you two call pops isn't your father. He used some sort of shampoo technique to change her memories. That broke after your real father found her at the pass."
Ranko's eyes widened as she stared at the picture. Trunks looked over her shoulder and his heart clenched slightly at the happy family shown there. Ranko bit her lip and looked up at Trunks. "Daijobu?" she asked softly.
Trunks just nodded and straightened. Hikari suddenly realized what the cause of Ranko's indecision was and studied Trunks intently.
Hikari didn't mention that but went on to explain who her sisters were and her last name. As Ranko absorbed it all, Hikari turned to Trunks, who was sulking on the wall. "I hate to ask this since I just barged in on you, but do you have a place where I can rest?"
Trunks just nodded and motioned for her to follow him. Ranko stayed in the kitchen and looked out the window to see the sun setting. She got up and went outside, lying down on the lawn and watching the sky turn colors. Trunks found her out there like that and tried to work up the courage to talk to her once more.
"I miss them," she said suddenly.
Trunks face grew slightly pained, believing she was going to leave him alone.
"But I don't want to leave either. It's not fair," Ranko finished.
"You should go back," Trunks answered, "They would want you to go back to them."
Ranko rolled over and stood with her back towards the setting sun. Trunks gasped slightly, and tried to fix the scene in his memory. Ranko walked up to him, "What do you want?"
"What I want has nothing to do with it," Trunks said softly.
Ranko shook her head, "What do you want?"
Trunks hesitated a moment. "I want you to stay," he said softly, "I want you to stay with me."
Ranko's gaze softened a bit and she turned back towards the sunset, leaning up against him. "Maybe I should tell you the whole story," she murmured, catching his attention.
She motioned for him to sit on the ground, and sat next to him, biting her lip. He waited patiently and she started with Ranma's life, and then moving on to her part on it. He listened carefully, a slight frown growing at their trials throughout their lives and soon found he didn't care. It didn't matter, because right then, she was there.
Hikari watched through one of the windows, munching on a snack she had found in the kitchen. 'I'll have to get the whole story tomorrow,' she thought, 'Not many can fall in love that pure in only a day.'
Hikari moved back to the room Trunks had shown her and fell asleep as soon as her head touched the pillow. Ranko and Trunks stayed outside and watched the stars for a while before retiring.
*At the Resort*
Trista just finished getting the children to bed with Nodoka's help. She sighed exasperatedly, "I just now realized how much I depend on Hikari being here for this."
Nodoka giggled, staring fondly at the children. "Do you think they're alright?" she asked.
Trista looked out the window at the night sky. "She'll find them and bring them back if it kills her. She'll even put in the extra effort to find your first two girls."
Nodoka sighed, "She'll make Ranma a good wife."
Trista's face twitched, "I didn't want her to go. I wanted to be selfish because I knew he would steal her from me. I have very few friends."
Nodoka suddenly clasped the girl in a hug. "You have more friends now. We won't abandon you, even if we get out of touch."
Trista froze and then relaxed with a wry smile on her face. "Thanks Auntie."
Nodoka just smiled as she pulled away and walked out the door, only to bump into Usagi. "Hello Usagi, what brings you this way?"
Usagi pouted a bit and Rei came up beside her, "We were wondering where Ranma, and co. were."
Nodoka wasn't surprised by the question and had an answer ready for them. "Ranma got called back to his job a bit early and Tenchi went with him. Ranko is not feeling well at the moment so I set her to bed rest. We'll be taking a taxi back tomorrow if it seems serious."
Nodoka then noticed Mamoru standing in the shadows, watching them with a concerned look on his face.
Usagi looked concerned, "I hope she gets better. Can we visit?"
Nodoka shook her head, "Its better that she rests."
Usagi and Rei nodded and left, allowing Nodoka to let a mournful sigh.
*Slayers World*
Ranma sighed, beating up the next set of bandits while Lina, Gourry, and Amelia relaxed. Zelgadiss was watching him intently, as if trying to figure him out. "How soon till we get to Zephelia?" Ranma asked, getting tired of getting stopped on the way there.
Lina looked towards the sun and then back to their path. "We'll be there tomorrow. Let's set up camp over there," she said, pointing to a clearing, "I'll take first watch. Amelia, you get second, and Gourry, you get third."
"Why don't Ranma and Zelgadiss get a watch?" Gourry complained.
Lina groaned, "They didn't wake anyone up for watch last night and they deserve a rest for watching all night last night and going at the hard pace I set today."
Gourry was about to complain again when Amelia shut him up, giving a smile to Ranma and Zel.
Ranma just shrugged and helped gather wood for a fire while Zel helped Lina pull things for dinner.
*Inu Yasha's Time*
Tenchi rolled his eyes as Miroku asked another woman to bear his child. "Does he ever get tired of that?" he asked Sango.
Sango just put her head in her free hand and shook it. "He does this all the time, you get used to it."
Tenchi shrugged and looked up to where Kagome and Inu Yasha were arguing. As the argument got louder he sighed, "Remind me why I didn't stay in the village instead of agreeing to this."
Shippo bounced up to his head, "Because you didn't like the way all the girls were looking at you. That and Inu Yasha was very convincing. Why'd he trust you instantly anyways?"
Tenchi shrugged, "He said I reminded him of someone that helped him when he was a really young pup. Said the guy talked to the trees also."
Soon Miroku stopped girl chasing and looked at the sky. "It's time to find lodgings I do believe. I'll go get some."
Sango rolled her eyes as Miroku walked up to the wealthiest looking house in the town and offered his protection in return for lodgings. The owner, of course, fell for it. Tenchi sweat dropped as he was shown a room and told when dinner was to be served.
*The Next Morning, Capsule Corp*
Hikari woke early, sensing that it would be a good time to get the whole story. 'I had better find Ranko before Trunks gets up.' She then looked down at her pajamas and blushed a bit, 'I had better transform too, as this is my only outfit at the moment.'
Transforming, she quickly made her way to where Ranko was working out. This time, she had a scythe in her hands, and was going through one of the easiest katas she knew as to get used to the weapon again.
"What happened here?" Hikari asked as Ranko came to a close with the kata.
Ranko looked down and started explaining the story, knowing Hikari wouldn't let her stay without a good reason. Hikari listened, and Ranko finished with a minimum of talking. Trunks then came out to announce breakfast.
As soon as breakfast was done, Hikari summoned her gates and opened them. "It's time to go."
Trunks gave Ranko a mournful look and Ranko made her decision right then. "I'm staying," she said softly.
Hikari rolled her eyes and then looked at Trunks, "Is there any specific attachment keeping you here?"
Trunks gave her a startled look. "You can come with us. Leave this place to its own devices and start a new life."
Ranko's eyes widened as she realized what Hikari was doing. She gave Trunks a hopeful look as he thought it over. He nodded, getting up and holding a hand out to her. They entered the gates together and Hikari followed, the gates disappearing with a flash of light.
Author's Notes: YES I LOVE POWER TRIPS!!!! THEY ABSOLUTELY MAKE MY DAY!!!! At least when I don't have mood swings. Why wouldn't Ranma admit to dusting a youma? The Sailor scouts weren't there when Ranma dusted the other and I don't believe I mentioned that to them when they went back. So naturally, if Ranma boasted about it, they would be suspicious. At least, Rei and Ami would be. Me thinks Usagi would be a little too gullible about people being able to do that on their own. *Sweatdrop*
Anyways, on with the story ^^
Posted 11/2/03
'Thoughts'
Soul's Destiny, Blood's Inheritance Chapter 10
*Ranko's Point in Time*
Ranko awoke in a small white room with sunlight streaming in. She groaned as she opened her eyes, not used to the light, and turned from the window. 'Where am I?' she thought, looking around the room, 'A hospital?'
She started to get up and was forced back down to the pillow as an overwhelming sense of nausea consumed her. The door then opened and a violet haired young man walked in with a breakfast tray. "Can you sit up?" he asked, setting the tray down.
Ranko gave him a wary look and tried to sit up again. The dizziness was not as bad this time around and she managed to rest her back against the head board. Then she noticed that the clothes she was wearing were not her own. She turned with a glare that had the young man smirking a bit.
"My mother changed your clothes. The ones you were wearing were pretty beat up after your fall. My name's Trunks," he said.
Ranko turned to look at her food. "My name's Ranko," she said softly, "Where am I?"
"At Capsule Corp," Trunks responded watching her face carefully.
Ranko wrinkled her nose as if confused, "Where? I don't remember hearing about any place called Capsule Corp."
Trunks stared at her a moment beginning to think she might have had some sort of brain trauma. "Capsule Corp is a world wide corporation. Or at least it was until the androids attacked and destroyed our world. What do you remember?"
Ranko stared at her food a moment, 'Oh dear, he thinks I have some sort of amnesia. I have to admit that it does really seem that way but I don't think I'm in my home world any more. How do I tell him though?'
"I'll let you eat. I'll go tell my mother that you're awake now," Trunks said getting up.
Ranko just nodded, focusing on something she knew. Or at least she thought she knew as the food looked rather strange. Ranko gave herself a mental shrug and decided to taste it. As she ate, she began to feel a bit better, but still lost. "Where are Ranma, Tenchi and okaa-san?" she asked herself.
"Where are who?" said a female voice from the doorway.
Ranko looked up, startled, to see a woman with blue green hair standing in the doorway. Ranko's eyes widened a bit and then she blushed, looking back to her food. "My family," she said softly, "I'm not sure if they made it here with me."
The woman frowned as Ranko's eyes grew watery and walked over to her, putting an arm around her. "It's ok to cry," she said softly.
"Not for a warrior," Ranko said as the tears fell, "not for me."
Bulma held her closer, trying to comfort her. "Everyone needs to cry sometimes, even the toughest warriors."
Ranko started to bawl, clinging to Bulma like a lifeline. Trunks checked in on them, and decided to watch from the doorway as Bulma comforted the girl like only a mother could. Soon he left to get the calming herbal tea his sensei, Gohan, had made for him before he died. 'Looks like we'll all need this,' he thought, making a pot full.
When he returned, Ranko had calmed down, and was eating her food. "I brought some tea," he said softly.
His mother looked up smiling, "That calming stuff Gohan made so well?"
His heart clenched painfully at that memory and he nodded, trying to smile. Bulma's face saddened a moment, and then she motioned for him to pour the tea. She then turned to Ranko, who had silently watched the exchange, "So tell us who we'll be looking for."
Ranko sighed and put her fork down, "Ranma is a male version of me, or rather, I'm a female version of him. He is ice where I am fire though. Momma's hair is a darker red than mine and was wearing a kimono last I saw her. Tenchi is tall like Ranma and has black hair and brown eyes. He's usually wearing an ugly brown jacket."
"There are a few people to match that last description," Bulma said dryly.
Ranko shrugged, "I'll recognize them. But I'm not sure they're here."
Trunks and Bulma exchanged a look. "What do you mean by that?" Bulma asked, "Are you from another planet?"
"I am if this isn't earth. I'm more certain that I'm in another dimension," Ranko said, "And I don't believe they followed through the tear."
"Tear?" Bulma asked, interested.
Ranko took a deep breath and began to explain about the pass of lost time. She told about reviewing her past life without saying anything about it and about coming from that to be sucked into a seeming tear in the fog. "It was like a black hole sucking me in. A tear in the fabric of space and time."
Bulma frowned as she thought about it, "Our own heading through time must have caused this. I didn't realize it would cause such a commotion though."
Ranko gave her a confused look. "What do you mean by that?"
Bulma looked out the window at the damaged landscape, frowning. "Our world was being destroyed by these two androids. All of earth's best warriors were destroyed. One survived and trained my son to fight, believing he would have the strength to do so. Gohan," Bulma's voice caught a moment, and then she continued, "Gohan died saving Trunks' life, and I built a time machine, so that the past could be changed. Trunks went to the past, and changed it. He became stronger, and defeated the two androids from this time when he returned, allowing what's left of this world to survive."
"You think this caused a tear in the very fabric of time?" Ranko asked, "And that it pulled me through at the pass?"
Bulma nodded, "There might be other tears from other dimensions and times as well. It's something to think about. Maybe I can modify the time machine..." Bulma trailed off as she got up to leave for her lab. Trunks sweat dropped and sighed, "We'll do our best to help you, but it might take a while. You did help her get out of her slump though. For that I'm grateful."
Ranko just nodded and sipped the tea. "This is really good," she said, slightly surprised.
Trunks looked down into his own cup of tea. "My sensei used to make this all the time. It's a blend of herbs he created that soothes the nerves and relaxes muscles. He taught it to me but I'm not as good at mixing it. This is the last of his blend."
Ranko stayed silent, sipping at her tea, sensing that it was still a sensitive subject for him. Trunks kept staring into his tea, his expression thoughtful. "He died six years ago. He was a father, and a friend. I hope he's doing well in the other timeline."
"I'm sure he is," Ranko said, "You need to cheer up. It doesn't help to live in the past to much."
Trunks just gave her a wry grin and stood, "You get some rest. I'll take your tray."
Ranko looked out to see the sun setting, and wondered how her family was doing.
*Back at the Pass*
Hikari entered the pass, trying to determine where the tears were. 'That's funny,' she thought, 'It isn't foggy here at all. I'm sure this is the right place.'
Hikari entered the pass cautiously, her transformed state helping her to extend her senses as she searched for the tears. She wandered in, soon picking up a trail of magic, not unlike what the tears were appearing in. She soon came across a misting pool, and read into the spell surrounding it.
'This is....' Hikari's thought, eyes widening, 'This shouldn't be possible! Not without Setsuna's knowledge!'
Hikari disappeared in a flash of light as the first rays of light reached the inside of the pass.
*Tenchi's Point in Time*
Tenchi woke to darkness, and tried to determine where he was. He got up, brushing off all the brush on his clothing and studied the forest around him. 'The trees aren't unlike those from Jurai,' he thought, looking around, 'They are talking.'
He pulled out his sword, and studied its glow for a moment, and then looked around. He started walking, following the pull of the sword, as it seemed insistent on a certain direction, unknowing of the golden eyes watching him.
"Ranma?" he called out, "Ranko? Where are you? Aunt Nodoka?"
Tenchi was quickly getting tired and soon found himself standing before a large, old tree. Tenchi leaned his head against the tree, and realized the sword had stopped its pull. Tenchi knocked the sword on the tree twice as he had seen Ayeka do before. 'I wonder how the girls are doing also,' he thought, beginning to get homesick.
To his surprise, the tree reacted, though it was a bit delayed and slow. It showed everything in its memory from crashing on this planet to getting a half demon trapped upon its bark and the demon's recent adventures. "You see everything don't you? I'm not surprised, trees live a long time."
The tree responded by moving its roots slightly, creating a space for him to lie comfortably. Tenchi nodded his thanks, and made himself comfortable, remembering the odd things his grandfather's tree would do for him. Tenchi gave a wry smile, 'And here I thought it was just my childish imagination at the time.'
Yellow eyes watched as Tenchi fell asleep and decided he was no real threat, even after that strange display on his favorite thinking tree. 'I'll alert Kagome and the others tomorrow,' Inu Yasha said to himself, 'I don't think he'll be anything we can't handle if he's hostile.'
With that, Inu Yasha settled down to watch over the intruder in the very tree Tenchi had been speaking to a moment ago.
*Ranma's Point in Time*
Zelgadiss, Lina, Amelia and Gourry looked up, surprised as the sky darkened and then suddenly lightened again.
"I think something fell," Amelia said, looking back to the group.
Lina frowned and nodded, "I think we had better check it out. Let's go. It was in the direction of Zel's supposed cure anyways."
"Where are we going again?" Gourry asked, "And what kind of sign was that?"
Lina's eye twitched and she growled. But this time, however, she simply just stomped ahead of the group, leaving a surprised Amelia and Zelgadiss, and a confused Gourry.
"Did I say something wrong?" Gourry asked, "I just wanted to kn-"
"Can it Mr. Gourry," Amelia said, "Or I'll start beating you."
Gourry shushed and the rest started to follow Lina. They reached the approximate area just before nightfall and it was Lina that first found the unconscious person. Lina quickly checked him over, finding him alive, and then looked around the area.
"We'll set up camp here," she said, "Gourry, go find some firewood. Zel, would you mind fixing the meal tonight?"
Zel nodded and studied her before getting the supplies he would need. Lina then turned to Amelia. "I'll need your help with him Amelia. I think that fall from the sky hurt him right bad."
Zel stopped his preparations and stared at her a moment, stunned. When they had first gathered the group once more, he had been surprised that Lina, at 20, had finally filled out a bit more and was maybe three centimeters taller. Lina had looked happy, saying she had wondered when she was going to have a growth spurt and was glad no one could call her flat chested anymore.
Gourry's dropping of the firewood pulled Zel out of his thoughts and he continued fixing dinner as Amelia and Lina began to heal the unconscious man, trying to save his life. After a while, Lina and Amelia placed the handsome young man near the fire and they sat on the log Zel had pulled up, exhausted. Zel wordlessly handed them their share, knowing Lina would be too tired to fight off Gourry.
Lina raised an eyebrow and started eating her dinner, stopping once in a while to look over to their unexpected guest. Gourry tried to swipe some food while she wasn't looking, only to be stopped by Zel. Gourry looked stunned at Zel's stern look and kept to his own plate.
Zel then turned to Lina, "Something wrong?"
"He looks kinda like Luna. It's really uncanny, the strange resemblance he has to my sister."
Zel raised a stony eyebrow as the young man groaned, and sat up. Amelia was at his side in an instant, "Are you ok sir?"
Ranma put a hand to his head and rubbed it, nodding slightly. Amelia beamed, "I'm Amelia, I healed you! The short red head is Ms. Lina, she found you. The tall blond guy is Mr. Gourry, and the one with the blue violet hair is Mr. Zelgadiss."
Ranma raised an eyebrow at the girl's quick introduction and automatic trust in him while Lina and Zel slapped their foreheads. Gourry just waved.
"Ranma," he said slowly, not sure if he could trust them.
"Where's the wild horse?" Gourry asked looking around.
Ranma's eyebrow twitched, as did Lina's. "It's his name you idiot!" Lina yelled, hitting Gourry over the head.
Gourry started laughing, "But what kind of person has a name like Wild Horse? Is he one of those savage tribes we encountered earlier?"
Ranma twitched and he growled, "I'll show you savage."
With that, Ranma made quick work of making Gourry one large bruise. Zel sweat dropped while Amelia and Lina clapped. "Welcome to our camp Ranma. Nice display of skill. Do you know magic?"
Ranma looked over to the small red head, and was startled by her uncanny resemblance to the girl from his past life, only older. "No, not really," he answered, raising an eyebrow. He then looked around at his surroundings and realized he was extremely far from home. 'What do I do now? Will Hikari find me?'
"Did you guys see anyone else fall with me? A girl with bright red hair that looks a lot like me, a guy about my height with black hair and brown eyes, and an older woman with dark red hair and red brown eyes?"
Lina and Amelia exchanged a look and shook their heads. "You were the only one that fell. Where did you come from anyways?"
Ranma frowned as he looked around and saw plants he wouldn't recognize from anywhere on earth. "I don't think I'm from this dimension," he muttered, "But how do I get back?"
Lina frowned slightly, "Are you a mazoku that was summoned by someone else?"
Ranma's eye twitched, "Do I look like a monster to you?"
Lina shrugged, "We've been duped by better."
Ranma snorted and sat down by the fire, doing Zel's job of sulking.
Zel just shrugged and handed him a plate of extra food, which Ranma accepted gratefully, but not before getting a good look at Zel's face. "What are you?" Ranma asked, suddenly realizing that the person handing him food was not human.
Zel scowled, "I don't choose to look like this. I'm a chimera."
Ranma raised an eyebrow, and Zel continued, "I was human until this priest turned me into this in my quest for power."
Ranma finished his meal, "What's a chimera?"
The group face faulted, and Ranma looked around surprised, "Sorry, they don't have chimeras where I'm from so I've never seen one."
Lina smiled a bit and picked herself up, explaining what a chimera was. Ranma turned back to Zel, in complete understanding of him now. "So you want to return to normal? I know how that feels."
Zel growled slightly, "You have no idea what it feels like to go after cure after cure and come up empty handed! You...."
He was silenced by Ranma's laugh. "Believe me. Let me tell you the story of my life before you go judging who has no idea and who does."
Ranma started explaining his story and Gourry stayed blissfully asleep while Zel and the rest listened attentively. Amelia was near crying at the end where he had explained all the unwanted engagements and inability to see his mother. Lina was looking thoughtfully at Ranma while Zel was growling slightly.
"That is nothing like my situation," Zel growled slightly, "People see me and automatically call monster."
Ranma snorted, "I bet if you lightened up a bit people wouldn't notice the difference. What they see at first is a gloomy looking man. What happens when you use magic or glare at someone is when they call monster because of the dark cloud hanging over your head. Ryoga was every bit as depressed as you, though more obsessive with blaming everything on me."
Lina yawned, "Ranma's right Zel. His situation is similar to yours. Let's get some sleep. If we're lucky, we can get more information on this cure of yours in Zephelia, my home town."
Zel just snorted, "I'll take first watch then."
Lina just nodded and made herself comfortable on the ground. Gourry was still out from Ranma's beating and Amelia found a spot next to Lina. Ranma studied Lina while she was asleep trying to figure out why she looked so much like a younger version of his mother.
Zel noticed his look, "I wouldn't try anything. Lina's right dangerous."
"My whole family's dangerous. She reminds me of my older sister," 'From my past life,' Ranma finished in his thoughts.
"Does she mean something to you?" Ranma asked Zel suddenly.
Zel blushed slightly and looked over to where Lina was laying, "She was the first to look at me and not see a monster. She was my first friend and stuck with me even when I betrayed her. The whole group just seemed to grow on me, and I have Lina to thank for that."
Ranma just smirked slightly and turned to stare at the fire. They were silent for a while and Ranma lay on the ground, studying the stars. "The stars aren't nearly as bright where I'm from," he said.
Zelgadiss looked up at the sky and sighed, then catching sight of a shooting star. He looked over to where Ranma was laying and saw his eyes closed. After a moment, Ranma opened them, "What did you wish for?"
"Huh?" Zel asked.
"Whenever a shooting star passes, you're supposed to make a wish. Anything you want," Ranma said, and then he shrugged, "I was told this by a friend when I first encountered trouble on my training trip. It may seem childish but it helps me put my mind at ease."
Zelgadiss looked up at the sky again and was silent for a moment. "You're not supposed to tell those wishes or they won't come true. That's what Lina told me one night."
Ranma smiled, "Maybe she's right."
Zel looked up at the sky, "Now that I think about it you are Amelia's age aren't you? Seventeen?"
"No trying to play matchmaker to get her off you're back. I have someone waiting for me. I will get back to her at all costs," Ranma said, "And I'm eighteen.
Zelgadiss chuckled a bit, "Must be quite a girl you're with."
"She's my soul," Ranma said softly, "And she's not part of the fiancée brigade."
Zel and Ranma talked into the night, neither one appearing tired at all, while Lina listened her heart clenching as she realized that Zel didn't like Amelia like that.
*DBZ Alternate Timeline*
Ranko awoke as the sun rose and decided that she had been in bed long enough. 'It's time to see if I can still do everything I now remember,' she thought as she slid open the door and headed down the stairs.
She soon found her way outside and reached for the weapons she had stored in her former life. She concentrated, remembering how to pull the weapons out of subspace. 'If I'm right, no one should have been able to get my weapons out of there and I should be able to access them from anywhere. That is the fundamentals of hidden weapons, learning to access subspace, and expanding your ki to be able to pull more out at one time.'
Ranko's hand reached out and she pulled out her sword. To her surprise it was still in good condition and still as sharp as the last time she had sharpened it. "Of course!" she said softly, "Subspace isn't affected by time. Everything would stay in mint condition."
She started with an unarmed kata to warm up and then picked up the sword once more, and started practicing with it. The sun was much higher in the sky and she was still practicing with the sword when Trunks found her. He stopped at the door when he saw her, his breath catching as she worked out.
'She's beautiful,' he thought, watching her every move in the morning light. Soon she stopped and she made a movement as to thrust the sword, and the sword disappeared. Trunks was startled, "How did you? Did you capsulize it?"
Ranko gave him a confused look, "Capsulize? What do you mean by that? I just stored it into subspace."
"You're going to have to explain that to me," Trunks said, "Possibly my mother also. Breakfast is ready when you are."
Ranko's face brightened and she rushed inside past Trunks, who just kind of stared after her and shook his head. Gathering his thoughts, Trunks followed her inside and made his way to the kitchen where he had laid out breakfast. As they each dished out some food on their plates, Bulma wandered into the kitchen and pulled herself down a plate, still looking asleep.
Breakfast was a silent matter as Trunks, who had a saiyan's appetite and Ranko, who still had her brother's eating habits, gulped down food with gusto. Bulma just snuck herself a relatively normal amount as she studied Ranko a moment. As Ranko finally reached a lull in her eating and finished off, Bulma wondered if she was a female half saiyan.
"You wouldn't happen to be part saiyan would you?" Bulma asked.
Ranko gave her a look, "What's a saiyan?"
Bulma gave a relatively short explanation and Ranko shrugged, "I don't think so. I know that I'm an eighth Juraian and human. But I think that's all."
"Juraian?" Bulma asked.
Ranko shrugged, "Well since you didn't seem to care about aliens I figured it would be ok to tell you. Juraians are from my dimension and they live on a different planet. I don't know much about them but my cousin would as he knows more about our heritage than I do."
"How do you eat so much then?" Bulma asked.
Ranko shrugged, "High metabolism?"
Bulma sweat dropped and Trunks started paying attention to the conversation for the first time. "You do martial arts right?"
Ranko giggled and nodded, "That's what does it."
Bulma sighed, wondering what drove people to learn martial arts instead of useful things. Trunks got up and cleared his dishes, and then turned to gather Ranko's and his mother's. After the dishes were cleared, he headed out the door, "I'm going to go see how the rebuilding is going."
They both nodded, and Bulma disappeared down a set of stairs. Ranko, figuring she had nothing else to do, wandered around what was left of Capsule Corp.
'I wonder why they haven't started rebuilding this place yet. Is it because it's so big? Or what?'
Soon Ranko found herself in a room with a missing wall overlooking what could have been a garden. 'The androids must have been defeated only recently,' Ranko thought, 'That would be why. They're too good hearted to rebuild their place first, and on top of that, they're trying to help me get home.'
Ranko looked down and found fresh muddy footprints on the floor, 'These shouldn't be here. I have a bad feeling.'
Ranko turned and quickly made her way towards the hallway she had seen Bulma disappear down after breakfast. The foot prints had lost the mud but had not lost the light dust outlining the shoes. 'Why didn't I notice this earlier?' Ranko berated herself, 'Being sick or relaxed is no excuse. Amazons see these things at all times.'
Ranko began to run as she saw what door the faint footprints led too and rushed through the door eyes widening at what she saw. There were four armed men standing over Bulma's battered, bloody, and nude body. They were startled by Ranko's sudden appearance and froze, thinking that Trunks had come to get them.
Ranko was the first to recover. With a yell she attacked the four men, knocking out the first with a quick punch kick combo and turning on the next closest. He had raised his machine gun and started firing. Ranko leaped over the barrage of bullets, but not before two hit her in the left shoulder and right hip. She flipped around and went in for a hard kick with her left leg, ignoring the pain. The man dodged and Ranko landed on the ground, automatically reaching for her sword and coming slashing forward with it, slicing through the gun and the man's jugular.
The other two men stood surprised as Ranko slowly got up from her crouched position and turned towards them. Then with a snarl, she launched herself at the remaining two quickly slashing into one before he even had the chance to react. The other was still fumbling with his gun when Ranko twirled with the weight of her thrust and slashed into him.
She stood cautiously, senses on alert and then ran to Bulma. As she checked the woman's vital signs her eyes watered, and time seemed to freeze, as she realized she had gotten there too late. A noise roused her from her sorrow and her gaze hardened. She slowly reached for her sword and as soon as she heard the gun cock, she turned as fast as she could and threw her sword with all her weight just as a bullet grazed her brow. The sword ran straight through the man she first kicked and pinned him against the time machine. The time machine shorted, and finished the job, electrocuting the man. His cries did not pierce through Ranko's hardened gaze and she withdrew to the corner and watched him fry.
*At the Time Gates*
"Setsuna you have to do something."
The time guardian looked over to where her best friend stood, and then back to the time gates. "All I can do is seal the tears. I can't help you locate them," Sailor Pluto said, staring at the ground, "I wish you luck on your search Sailor Star."
"There are two dimensional tears," Star said, a wry smile upon her face, "I needed to warn you about the time tears though or they would never get fixed. That's your job. I had better get moving."
Sailor Pluto nodded and watched while Star drew upon her own gate and left, searching through the dimensional barriers for her friends. When Star had gone, she turned to her own gate and opened the doors, looking for the tears that had sent many through time.
*In the Space Time Continuum*
Sailor Star, as she was now named, allowed the feel of the dimensional barriers to wash over her and looked for the tears that had swallowed her friends and her soul. She came across the first and stepped through, taking the time to fix it as she searched for any sign of her friends. 'Ranko's here, but what happened? What happened to her soul? Something's wrong. I need to hurry but I can't afford mistakes right now.'
The process was slow, and the tear fought against her as if it had a mind of its own, or was created by a very strong warrior. 'Damn, put enough ki into these things and they try to stay up forever. It's going to take awhile for it to destabilize enough for me to seal it.'
*Capsule Corp.*
Trunks arrived at Capsule Corp in the late afternoon, and called out to see if anyone was home. When no one answered, he started down to the lab, thinking Ranko would be talking with his mother. When he opened the door, he was greeted with quite a different surprise.
Trunks' eyes widened as he saw blood everywhere. On the floor was his mother, clothes torn and body bloody and bruised. He saw the remains of four men, one attached to the time machine by Ranko's sword. In the corner, all curled up and still bleeding, was Ranko. He knelt next to his mother first and quickly confirmed his fear and then moved to Ranko. 'She's still alive,' he thought, quickly finding her pulse, 'I need to help her.'
He found the places where the bullet had entered, and only found an exit puncture on her shoulder. Grimacing slightly, he picked her up and carried her over to the med rooms. He got the bullet out without waking her, quickly stripping her of her clothes and setting up the regen tank his mother had built years ago.
As Trunks hooked Ranko up, she opened her eyes, and stared at him a moment. Her eyes filled with tears and she grabbed his arm. Trunks froze as she spoke.
"I'm sorry. I didn't notice in time. I couldn't save her," she said softly, breathing becoming labored.
Trunks shushed her and continued hooking up the apparatus and enclosed her within the egg like tank. The tank filled and Ranko closed her eyes once more, allowing a healing sleep to take over her mind. Only after she was asleep did Trunks leave to tend to the bodies in the lab.
The tears refused to fall and allow some small comfort to his grieving heart as he walked back into the lab. He picked up his mother's body and carried it outside to the dead garden that she was always trying to bring back to life. 'Is this how they thank her?' Trunks asked himself as he buried her, 'Is this how they thank a strong woman that was always helping them out? Who sent her son into the past to save them? Whose son destroyed the androids? Is this how they thank us?!'
The tears started to fall as he covered her body and set up a small cross with the two planks of wood lying nearby. He mourned for her, and knew that she wouldn't want him to mourn for long. After a while, he got up and moved back to the lab, scowling at the three dead men on the floor and the man pinned to the time machine. He walked up to the time machine and pulled the sword out, the machine sparking and hissing as he did so.
He finally got the sword free and allowed the man to fall to the ground. Studying the time machine, he realized that it would be no good, and his mother had already destroyed the plans to build a new one. He gave it a quick ki blast and let his vision clear before turning to pick up the bodies.
A lump formed in his throat as he threw the bodies into the pit formed by the androids just days before. He lit them on fire and watched them burn for a while. After about half an hour, he turned and walked back to his home.
*In the Space Time Continuum*
Hikari sat down, exhausted, as the tear finally collapsed and sealed. "Wow that took a lot out of me. I got a good look at what created it too. Damn blob of cotton candy. COTTON CANDY IS NOT SUPPOSED TO BE EVIL!!!!!" As she searched the timelines in the new dimension for any essence of her friend, she muttered something about idiots creating a being like Buu that looks to be the color of cotton candy.
*At Capsule Corp*
Trunks finished his dinner and went to check on Ranko, finding that she was ready to come out of the regen tank. He quickly drained it and pulled out some of the towels his mother always kept nearby. He lifted the lid and started pulling off the machinery, wrapping a towel around her body. Ranko woke up as he placed her on the bed they had given her when he first found her.
"What?" she started only to be cut off by Trunks.
"Thank you.... for avenging her right then. They must have been after the time machine," his eyes watered and his voice cracked, "I'm sorry about your clothes, I'll see if I have something you can wear."
He was silenced by Ranko's wiping some of his tears. As he watched her face, she sat up, unmindful of the disappearance of the sheets and towel as she held him close. "I'm sorry," she murmured softly, "I should have seen those foot prints sooner. I'm sorry."
Trunks' arms wrapped around her on their own accord and he idly wondered who was supporting who until she started kissing his tears away. After about the fifth tear, he maneuvered his face so that her lips met his. She froze a moment and then leaned into it. She pulled away too soon for Trunks and looked down. He suddenly felt horrible and apologized, running out the door, leaving Ranko with a stunned look on her face.
'What was that?' she asked herself, 'Maybe I had best not think about it. But if I were still an Amazon, that would have counted as the kiss of marriage, though now that I think about it....'
Ranko pulled the sheets up and hugged them close to herself, eyes tearing again. 'I need to talk to Cologne, face to face. What do I do? Who am I now?'
Ranko soon realized that thinking would get her no where and that she was rather hungry. She reached into her subspace pocket and pulled out one of her spare Amazon outfits and correct undergarments. She put them on and stood, waiting a moment while the room stopped spinning and her stomach settled. She made her way to the kitchen and found Trunks in it, cooking.
She was about to say something when Trunks beat her to it. "Your sword is on the table. I cleaned it for you. I figured you would be hungry too so I started some eggs and pancakes. We don't have much else. There's no juice either so I hope water's ok. I'm sorry about earlier," the last part was said the softest.
Ranko put on a half smile and touched his arm. "Don't be. I didn't mean to hurt you. I just felt we were moving kind of fast for only having met yesterday. I did enjoy that last part."
Ranko bit her lip as she blushed and suddenly found the floor interesting. She then giggled a bit, her earlier thought echoing in her head. Trunks looked down at her and raised an eyebrow, "What's so funny?"
Ranko quieted instantly, "Just a thought." She paused and then looked up into his face, studying it intently. "You'd better tend to the pancakes or they'll burn," she said, suddenly turning and heading back to the table.
Trunks turned and quickly flipped the pancakes just in time and then turned back to the eggs. Soon he had everything ready and set it in front of Ranko, who dug in.
He studied her face and thought back to what had just occurred, trying to think of why she had pulled away. Then it hit him, 'Of course! She doesn't know if I'm going to be sincere in the future. Kaa-san just- just died and she was trying to comfort me. She wants to make sure I'm not just latching onto her as the nearest source of comfort.'
Trunks closed his eyes, searching his heart. He knew that before he made any serious moves he would have to make himself ok with his mother's death. She was, after all, all he had for the longest time. All the people in town revered him as a hero but didn't really try to get to know him.
Trunks opened his eyes again and studied her once more, "Where did you find an outfit so quick?"
"Subspace pocket," Ranko answered in between gulps, "This is really good Trunks."
He smiled a bit at the compliment and tried not to stare at how well the outfit complimented her figure and showed off certain assets. He was about to ask another question more pertinent to their current situation when a flash of bright light flooded the room and the sound of someone hitting the floor sounded in their ears.
"Oh that smarts," said an unknown voice as the light faded.
Ranko stared for a moment, somewhat recognizing the girl in the Sailor Suit. "Hikari!?" she said, almost not daring to hope.
Trunks stared unbelieving at the girl that had suddenly appeared in his kitchen. His expression turned more incredulous when she gave a sheepish grin to Ranko and Ranko launched herself at the girl.
"What is with the outfit?" Ranko asked, staring at the girl.
Hikari gave her a look, "I could ask you the same question. Believe me, I've been trying to get it changed since I first transformed at twelve. You're looking at the Sailor Scout in charge of the dimensional gates," she said bowing.
Ranko just sat back down in her chair as Hikari turned to Trunks, raising an eyebrow. "Sorry about this. Thanks for taking good care of my friend."
All Trunks could do was nod, and Ranko bit her lip. Somehow, she didn't really want to leave him alone here, and yet she wanted to return to her brother and mother as soon as possible. "What's wrong Ranko?" Hikari asked out of nowhere.
Ranko started, turning to see both Trunks' and Hikari's concerned gaze on her. Ranko gave Hikari a look that said she would tell her later and gave a smile to Trunks. "It's nothing, really."
Trunks nodded and picked up her dishes as Hikari sat down, not having the energy to stand.
Ranko studied her, "You look exhausted."
"Thanks," Hikari said dryly, "I think the only thing keeping me going is the extra energy I get from the transformation. Sealing tears in the Space Time Continuum takes a lot out of you. In any case I hope you're not in any hurry to leave because I'll make mistakes if we have to go right away and we can't afford those."
"Have you found onii-sama, Tenchi-kun or Okaa-san yet?" Ranko asked softly.
Hikari shook her head. "Gomen ne. It took me a day to locate you alone. I couldn't find their energy signatures in this place. Your mother is where she belongs. She didn't get caught in that time trap."
Hikari snapped her fingers and pulled out a picture, "That reminds me, she did get caught in it when she was pregnant with you and your brother. She was going on a picnic with her two daughters at the time and got caught in a tear that sent her to a different time and place except in the same dimension."
Hikari handed the picture to Ranko, "This guy that you two call pops isn't your father. He used some sort of shampoo technique to change her memories. That broke after your real father found her at the pass."
Ranko's eyes widened as she stared at the picture. Trunks looked over her shoulder and his heart clenched slightly at the happy family shown there. Ranko bit her lip and looked up at Trunks. "Daijobu?" she asked softly.
Trunks just nodded and straightened. Hikari suddenly realized what the cause of Ranko's indecision was and studied Trunks intently.
Hikari didn't mention that but went on to explain who her sisters were and her last name. As Ranko absorbed it all, Hikari turned to Trunks, who was sulking on the wall. "I hate to ask this since I just barged in on you, but do you have a place where I can rest?"
Trunks just nodded and motioned for her to follow him. Ranko stayed in the kitchen and looked out the window to see the sun setting. She got up and went outside, lying down on the lawn and watching the sky turn colors. Trunks found her out there like that and tried to work up the courage to talk to her once more.
"I miss them," she said suddenly.
Trunks face grew slightly pained, believing she was going to leave him alone.
"But I don't want to leave either. It's not fair," Ranko finished.
"You should go back," Trunks answered, "They would want you to go back to them."
Ranko rolled over and stood with her back towards the setting sun. Trunks gasped slightly, and tried to fix the scene in his memory. Ranko walked up to him, "What do you want?"
"What I want has nothing to do with it," Trunks said softly.
Ranko shook her head, "What do you want?"
Trunks hesitated a moment. "I want you to stay," he said softly, "I want you to stay with me."
Ranko's gaze softened a bit and she turned back towards the sunset, leaning up against him. "Maybe I should tell you the whole story," she murmured, catching his attention.
She motioned for him to sit on the ground, and sat next to him, biting her lip. He waited patiently and she started with Ranma's life, and then moving on to her part on it. He listened carefully, a slight frown growing at their trials throughout their lives and soon found he didn't care. It didn't matter, because right then, she was there.
Hikari watched through one of the windows, munching on a snack she had found in the kitchen. 'I'll have to get the whole story tomorrow,' she thought, 'Not many can fall in love that pure in only a day.'
Hikari moved back to the room Trunks had shown her and fell asleep as soon as her head touched the pillow. Ranko and Trunks stayed outside and watched the stars for a while before retiring.
*At the Resort*
Trista just finished getting the children to bed with Nodoka's help. She sighed exasperatedly, "I just now realized how much I depend on Hikari being here for this."
Nodoka giggled, staring fondly at the children. "Do you think they're alright?" she asked.
Trista looked out the window at the night sky. "She'll find them and bring them back if it kills her. She'll even put in the extra effort to find your first two girls."
Nodoka sighed, "She'll make Ranma a good wife."
Trista's face twitched, "I didn't want her to go. I wanted to be selfish because I knew he would steal her from me. I have very few friends."
Nodoka suddenly clasped the girl in a hug. "You have more friends now. We won't abandon you, even if we get out of touch."
Trista froze and then relaxed with a wry smile on her face. "Thanks Auntie."
Nodoka just smiled as she pulled away and walked out the door, only to bump into Usagi. "Hello Usagi, what brings you this way?"
Usagi pouted a bit and Rei came up beside her, "We were wondering where Ranma, and co. were."
Nodoka wasn't surprised by the question and had an answer ready for them. "Ranma got called back to his job a bit early and Tenchi went with him. Ranko is not feeling well at the moment so I set her to bed rest. We'll be taking a taxi back tomorrow if it seems serious."
Nodoka then noticed Mamoru standing in the shadows, watching them with a concerned look on his face.
Usagi looked concerned, "I hope she gets better. Can we visit?"
Nodoka shook her head, "Its better that she rests."
Usagi and Rei nodded and left, allowing Nodoka to let a mournful sigh.
*Slayers World*
Ranma sighed, beating up the next set of bandits while Lina, Gourry, and Amelia relaxed. Zelgadiss was watching him intently, as if trying to figure him out. "How soon till we get to Zephelia?" Ranma asked, getting tired of getting stopped on the way there.
Lina looked towards the sun and then back to their path. "We'll be there tomorrow. Let's set up camp over there," she said, pointing to a clearing, "I'll take first watch. Amelia, you get second, and Gourry, you get third."
"Why don't Ranma and Zelgadiss get a watch?" Gourry complained.
Lina groaned, "They didn't wake anyone up for watch last night and they deserve a rest for watching all night last night and going at the hard pace I set today."
Gourry was about to complain again when Amelia shut him up, giving a smile to Ranma and Zel.
Ranma just shrugged and helped gather wood for a fire while Zel helped Lina pull things for dinner.
*Inu Yasha's Time*
Tenchi rolled his eyes as Miroku asked another woman to bear his child. "Does he ever get tired of that?" he asked Sango.
Sango just put her head in her free hand and shook it. "He does this all the time, you get used to it."
Tenchi shrugged and looked up to where Kagome and Inu Yasha were arguing. As the argument got louder he sighed, "Remind me why I didn't stay in the village instead of agreeing to this."
Shippo bounced up to his head, "Because you didn't like the way all the girls were looking at you. That and Inu Yasha was very convincing. Why'd he trust you instantly anyways?"
Tenchi shrugged, "He said I reminded him of someone that helped him when he was a really young pup. Said the guy talked to the trees also."
Soon Miroku stopped girl chasing and looked at the sky. "It's time to find lodgings I do believe. I'll go get some."
Sango rolled her eyes as Miroku walked up to the wealthiest looking house in the town and offered his protection in return for lodgings. The owner, of course, fell for it. Tenchi sweat dropped as he was shown a room and told when dinner was to be served.
*The Next Morning, Capsule Corp*
Hikari woke early, sensing that it would be a good time to get the whole story. 'I had better find Ranko before Trunks gets up.' She then looked down at her pajamas and blushed a bit, 'I had better transform too, as this is my only outfit at the moment.'
Transforming, she quickly made her way to where Ranko was working out. This time, she had a scythe in her hands, and was going through one of the easiest katas she knew as to get used to the weapon again.
"What happened here?" Hikari asked as Ranko came to a close with the kata.
Ranko looked down and started explaining the story, knowing Hikari wouldn't let her stay without a good reason. Hikari listened, and Ranko finished with a minimum of talking. Trunks then came out to announce breakfast.
As soon as breakfast was done, Hikari summoned her gates and opened them. "It's time to go."
Trunks gave Ranko a mournful look and Ranko made her decision right then. "I'm staying," she said softly.
Hikari rolled her eyes and then looked at Trunks, "Is there any specific attachment keeping you here?"
Trunks gave her a startled look. "You can come with us. Leave this place to its own devices and start a new life."
Ranko's eyes widened as she realized what Hikari was doing. She gave Trunks a hopeful look as he thought it over. He nodded, getting up and holding a hand out to her. They entered the gates together and Hikari followed, the gates disappearing with a flash of light.