Once again, I would like to thank Ghost in the Machine for pre-reading this chapter with his trusty baseball bat and microscope.

Also for hurting my head with math.

Constructive criticism always welcome.

Boldly going where others had gone before and meekly going where few have been.

I don't own any of these characters or situations, this is done purely for fun. As always the spelling errors are mine, as are the grammar mistakes. I still have hopes that I am getting better by now and there are less of them.

Juuban part 14

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The outraged Senshi zeroed in on Pluto.

"What do you mean 'prevent her from returning'?" Sailor Moon asked.

"Sailor Sun will eventually become a danger to the future of the Moon Kingdom. She must be dealt with and this is the best way."

"How do you know this? I thought you said you couldn't see her future," Mars pointed out.

"True. I cannot see her future or observe her, but it is only a matter of time before she becomes a threat. She must be eliminated."

"No! I won't let you," Sailor Moon said.

"She has done nothing wrong. I think the only reason is you're afraid of her because you made her life hell," Neptune interjected.

"You don't understand. It will only be a matter of time before she will try to take control," Pluto said in a slightly raised voice. "And with her power, all of us combined would not be able to stop her."

"You don't know that!" Mercury said, "So far you have been off on your... your... Why should we think you're right? You even admitted you can't see Sailor Sun's future, what makes you think she'll do what you predict?'

"Because she is so powerful it will only be a matter of time before the power starts to control and corrupt her," Pluto paused for effect. "Have you heard the saying 'absolute power corrupts absolutely'?"

Another pause to let the Senshi digest this.

Pluto continued, "Well Sailor Sun is the picture of absolute power - how long do you think it will be before she starts abusing that power?"

Neptune stepped forward, "You don't know that for sure! You're condemning one of us to death for something you think she might do."

Pluto was not dissuaded, "This is for the best. When she destroys the Protectors' universe, being trapped there she will die. Now stand aside."

"No," Sailor Moon stated firmly.

------------------------

Sailor Sun rode the wormhole back to its source. Using her senses, she detected that the other end was still open. Throughout her passage, she hoped that Sailor Pluto wouldn't try to trap her here. Just in case, Sun had been trying to mark her path through the dimensions so she could find her way back home. Sometimes the way wasn't as clear as it should have been, but that couldn't be helped. Sun did the best she could and she didn't want to get lost in the mutliverse.

And there were so many universes to get lost in.

If Pluto decided on betraying her, she had two choices: stay and face the end in this pocket universe or cut a path to another universe and hope that someday she would find her way to her universe. Ranma rode thought the dizzying array of lights until a brighter light, literally a light at the end of the tunnel, grew before her.

The next thing she knew she was in the universe of the First Enemy.

As Sun exited the wormhole opening, she saw the damage that she did to the other end with her Solar Flare. Part of what looked like a vast staging area was eliminated, the edges blacked and melted with the tremendous heat that her attack generated. Thick metal support beams were melted into slag and the roof, which looked to be a mile overhead, was partially collapsed.

The staging area was an immense room. It looked to be about five miles from the opening of the wormhole to what was left of a wall. Overhead there were large racks hanging from the sagging ceiling, with row upon row of Protector troopers and Super Troopers hanging from them. In spite of large, fan shaped section before the wormhole had been eliminated by her Solar Flare, there seemed to be more than enough Protectors to threaten Earth for centuries to come.

Looking about her she saw hundreds, maybe thousands, of the Protectors regrouping, for what she thought looked like a second attempt. They shouldn't be doing anything now. From what Pluto said, they would probably be studying their mistakes to try again later. Sun summoned her sword a cut a path high above the Protectors' planet. Floating in space, Sun noted the planet that was home to the Protectors. From space it looked somewhat like Mars, except in was Earth sized.

Extending her senses she found herself in a truly pocket universe.

The universe was roughly a sphere just about 160,000 light years across. "More like a change pocket of a universe than a pocket universe," she thought offhandedly.

The relativity small size of the Protectors' universe possessed over 2400 suns with vast clouds of illuminated gas between them. Many of the systems that the universe had were double stars with very few planets in the "zone of life". The stars themselves ranged from elderly red giants to young protostars with still condensing gas surrounding them. The whole arrangement resembled a section of mini-elliptical galaxy, with dense concentration of stars on one side of the universe, thinning out while moving toward the other side. She carefully noted where the Protectors' universe was folded, created and cut off from its parent universe. It must have been a pretty inhospitable part of the galaxy.

She scanned the whole of the pocket universe. The first time she did a scan after being reborn, just scanning the Earth was almost overwhelming. Now she was scanning a much larger volume. Sun stretched her senses even more, and the visible warping of space around her was testament to the amount of power she was putting into the scan.

She could sense everything, she was everything. Information flooded her brain painfully for an instant before internal filters screened out the unimportant data. Narrowing and filtering her search for nothing but life forms, her scans detected none outside the Protectors. This made sense, since they were the only ones banished to this realm by the Moon Kingdom Techo-mages.

Billions of people or hundreds of millions of bio-machines,

The choice was simple to Sailor Sun.

She detected a disturbance in space near her and realized that her presence had not gone entirely unnoticed. Soon the space surrounding her was filled with what could only be described as grey and blue water balloons. Balloons that were firing energy balls at her. Sun ignored them as energy was directed to her armored shield to shrug off the attacks. She closed her eyes and concentrated on the task at hand.

The destruction of a universe.

---------------------

"Sailor Moon. Please. You don't know what you are risking," Pluto sounded almost pleading.

"I don't know? All I do know you're planning to... murder one of us. You expect me just to say okay to that? How in the heck do you expect us to trust you from now on. Doing what you're doing?"

Pluto exhaled, "You don't understand. Sailor Sun-"

"Fought beside us through the whole thing," Jupiter said. "I don't believe she's a danger, and I don't think you really think so either."

"Trust me," Pluto implored.

"Trust you! Trust you!" Sailor Moon ranted, "How in the hel-, er - heck do you expect us to trust you now? How long would it be before you decide that one of us needs to be 'dealt' with? Who in the hell put you in charge?"

"Queen Serenity," Pluto answered evenly.

Moon's eyes narrowed, "Well, as her daughter that puts me in charge now doesn't it?"

Pluto glared at Moon hoping to stare her down. The other scouts watched the power struggle.

"If you think I'm going to let you condemn a fellow Scout to death because she might be a threat because you can't see her future, you're insane."

"Please, you don't understand-", Pluto began, slightly terse.

"I understand, you're afraid that Sun will abuse her powers," stated Moon.

"Exactly. It is only a matter of time," replied Pluto evenly.

"So anyone with great power is suspect - I'm I right?" Moon asked with narrowed eyes.

Pluto stared at Moon, but didn't answer.

"So what you're saying in that since Sailor Saturn can destroy a world, she must be suspect too," Moon said in a low voice while motioning toward said Senshi.

The other scouts stared at Moon with bewildered looks.

"No. You misunderstand..." Pluto began before beginning cut off by Moon.

"NO. I understand alright. You said anyone with a lot of power will become corrupted by that power."

"... yes..."

"With that in mind, how do we know you haven't become corrupted by your power? The power to manipulate events and time can be considered a great power, can't it?" Moon ask in a dangerous way.

Pluto looked lost for a second. Her own arguments were being used against her. She started, "I wouldn't do..."

"You already have!" Moon said, cutting her off again. "You have interfered with... Sun's life driving her to the brink of madness and now that you are through using her, you want to kill her."

Moon's eyes were beginning to glowing with anger, a rarity for her her.

"If you try to seal this end of the wormhole before Sailor Sun returns, I swear... in the name of the Moon, you WILL BE PUNISHED," Moon angrily shouts the last.

Pluto, shocked by Sailor Moon's outburst involuntarily stepped back. Moon stood in front of the wormhole's entrance and fumed, with eyes blazing, looking as if she would make good on her statement.

---------------------

Sun gathered the fabric of space/time into little buds and filled them with something dark. She couldn't think of any other way to describe what she was doing. This was something she remembered being trained in, but never actually attempted. Taking the dark power and folding it into the buds, she gathered them together into pockets of folded space/time. When she had gathered what she felt was enough, she used her power of warping space and flung them far across the pocket universe.

The warping of space kept the buds filled with dark energy in contact with her. It was the same kind of warping of space that she had been using to teleport around, just on a different level.

Even though the distance was vast, the warps made to distance irrelevant. When she felt that they were in the optimum position, she began the sequence that would ignite them. Again it wasn't an accurate description, but the only one way she could describe what would happen. Sun began the coded sequence that was needed to release the pent up energy.

Like a ballerina, she danced in the open space above the Protectors' planet, ignoring the hammering that her armored field was taking. Arms gracefully moved while she arched her back, legs kicked up as she spun and danced to a beat only she could hear. The red stone set in her golden tiara changed color and glowed with a blue light. The coded movements transmitted themselves to the buds through folded space.

The arming sequence had begun.

Sailor Sun's arms went straight to her sides, slightly behind her as she arched her back. She brought her left leg up, her right arm came up and crossed over to the left side of her body and swept upward in one graceful movement. The blue light coming from her teirra changed to a white blazing one. Her wings of feathered flame swayed with her ever move, making her dance seem more... suggestive.

The arming was completed, the code for unlocking the last safety began.

She dipped and swayed, her wings of feathered flame trailing behind her. The white light from her tiara again changed color, back to the blue of before. She did a sweeping movement with her whole body as she began to spin.

The safety was unlocked, the firing codes were next.

She danced more carefully now, moving, swaying and spinning. Her arms and hands made complex patterns as she moved them with grace in front and to the sides of her. Her legs moved in graceful arches and kicks.

Sailor Sun finished as gracefully as she started. She ended up in a pose with one leg bent at the knee protruding in front of her and her arms crossed over her slightly titled head. Her fingers were slightly cupped, as if she were holding an invisible ball in each hand. Her tiara glowed in red light before fading back to its original luster.

The sequence was completed...

... the buds wavered with the contain dark energy, and blossomed.

------------------

Pluto stood and stared at Sailor Moon as she positioned herself between her and the wormhole. Moon for her part, was considering different ways of stopping Pluto if it came to that. The other Scouts uncertain at first about what would happen, moved to position themselves in a way that clearly made Pluto aware of where they stood.

Neptune brought out her Deep Aqua mirror, Uranus her Space Sword the other Scouts prepared for action in their own way.

"We won't let you do this," Moon said defiantly, speaking for all. Inside she was nervous, but the support of her friends steeled her.

Pluto stood before them, her face an emotionless mask.

---------------

The energy released tore into the fabric of space in the Protectors' universe, literally ripping the universe apart at the seams. The deadly blooms spread outward rending the universe in its wake, sending the remnants bleeding into the surrounding universes with the majority being sent back to its mother universe. Traveling outward like waves in a three dimensional pond, the speed at which the devastation moved was incredible. Stars and planets alike were obliterated as the very underpinnings of the universe was torn asunder.

Visually, nothing was seen from Sun's location. The stars in this universe shined as always. But soon the effects would be felt, since the destruction was traveling faster than light. Sailor Sun would have less than two minutes to get back to the wormhole and get out before this end was devoured by the universe falling apart around it. If she didn't, her two choices were to use her sword and escape this universe for another one or stay and be destroyed with it.

Taking her sword, she cut a path to the wormhole. Sun idly wondered if there were any more enemies that would came back to haunt them.

Appearing on the far side of the staging area, Sun immediately noticed many Protectors were moving toward the open wormhole. Knowing at this distance using the Solar Flare would damage the equipment on this end. The possibly of being trapped here with the universe falling apart around her didn't hold much appeal.

Going into compressed time would be useless in approaching the wormhole, knowing how much trouble it caused her before. So keeping her sword in hand, Sun attacked the Protectors gathering in front of the wormhole from behind. Sun began literally cutting a path through the Protectors, making her feel like a 19th century explorer, hacking her way through a uncharted jungle. They fell in droves as she eliminated any in her path. Flashing her wings outward, she cut many down as they burst into ashes at the touch of her power she was feeding through them.

She slashed and burned her way to the opening, and dove through.

-----------------

The minutes seem to drag on as the stand off continued. Pluto watch each of the Scouts. There was no doubt that they were behind Sailor Moon fully. She realized she was out-voted and out-gunned. She sized up the situation she powered down her Dead Scream.

"Very well, your highness," she bowed. Raising from her bow she looked at Moon in the eye, "It will be a matter of time before you will have to deal with her. I hope all of you are up to the task."

Before Moon could answer, the wormhole hissed and turned bluer. The Scouts backed away and prepared themselves, just in case it was more Protectors coming through. In that moment, Pluto took her leave.

------------------

Sun entered the vortex that was the wormhole and raced to clear it before the Protectors' universe ceased to exist. Some of the dimensional markers she noted going in were recognizable, some were not. It troubled her, but she had no other route back to her universe, so she pressed on.

In the Protector universe, the destruction reached the home planet and the wormhole generator. That end of the wormhole collapsed like a zipper being zipped. The wormhole began to fold in on itself, falling out of existence in its wake. All that was holding it open was the equipment on the other end.

As before, Sun noticed the light at the end of the wormhole. The sides of the wormhole started to waver as it self destructed. The light at the end began to narrow. In a burst of speed, fueled by self-preservation, Sun rushed forward using her wings.

-------------------

The entrance of the wormhole flared a brighter blue as the edges contracted.

"It's collapsing!" Mars screamed involuntarily.

"What can we... ", Moon began to ask before being cut off by the increase of the hissing sounds the wormhole was making.

The wormhole flared once, twice then lifted higher off the ground. The chewing gum looking equipment that stabilize it at this end began to bent inwards under the stress. It continued to contract upon itself as the the aperture narrowed the color changed to a purple then reddish color.

In the narrowing gap, Sailor Sun flew out, tucked into a ball. She landed not too gracefully on her butt.

-------------------

The connection from the hyper-space uplink was suddenly severed. The pseudo-cat froze and contemplated what could be the matter. In trying to understand what had happened, the pseudo-cat did a diagnostic of its communications. Everything seemed fine, at least on this end. So that meant that the data streaming in from its home universe had just stopped for some reason. It trotted carefully to the entrance of the alley where it was recovering from releasing the Super Duper Trooper and looked about.

The fighting had stopped.

Contacting the flyer, it found that the powerful Senshi known as Sailor Sun had in fact traveled to their home universe and returned. The time span that she was in their universe was within the time when the data from their universe stopped being transmitted. The pseudo-cat had a bad feeling about what had happened.

----------------

The wormhole winked out with a audible pop and was gone, taking the stabilizers with it.

"Sun! Your safe!" Moon said excitedly while she and the rest of the Senshi ran over to her.

Sun for her part was already on her feet, trying to look dignified after landing so sloppily. After brushing the nonexistent dirt off her back side, Sun looked at the faces of the surrounding Senshi. Something was wrong.

"What going on?" Sun asked as she looked upon the faces of the other Senshi.

"Nothing. Nothing we couldn't handle," Moon said looking at Sun in the eye.

Sun stood for a moment, but didn't ask. Looking at the faces about her, she was certain that something had transpired while she was gone. She noted Pluto was not present, and that added to her suspicions. She decided on investigating later, she was tired and wanted to get home.

"I'll see you guys later," she announced after a moment of contemplation. As she turned to leave, she dropped her super mode and reverted back into her regular Senshi form.

"Wait!" Moon called out. Sun hesitated. "Are you alright?"

Sun turned to Moon and thought, "She is so much like her mother." After a pause, Sun answered softly, "Yes. I think so. I'm very tired and I would really would like to go home."

"Will we see you at the next meeting?" Moon asked.

Sun nodded and not waiting to find out when or where, compressed time as she turned away. To observers she just seem to waver out of existence. Using her "Soul of Ice" to control the friction, she wearily made her way to the nearest park wall and jumped over it. Wandering a few blocks away, she began to look around for some place private to change. She wanted to get back to her regular self as soon as possible, there were some fresh memories tied to her current state that she would just as soon not think about.

Spying a nearby clothing store, Sun entered and made her way to the back, out of sight of anyone and went into normal time. Unobserved, she transformed back into her civilian from. A short skirted, teal dressed Senshi was replaced by a redheaded girl in a pale pink waitress uniform. Ranma was greatly relieved to be back in her non-Senshi form and for now, wanted to put the whole affair behind her.

Well, almost.

Pluto.

She knew she would have to deal with Pluto.

-------------------

Ranma was stopped on her journey home by a patrol of JDF soldiers.

"I got lost during the evacuation and hid out in a store until it quieted down," she explained to the young soldier as he recorded her name and address.

"I see Miss Yonai," the young soldier ("Sergeant, maybe?" Ranma thought) said while looking up from examining her ID. "This area is still restricted, I'm afraid we will have to escort you to a safe area until we receive orders to allow civilians back in," he said the last firmly and with authority.

"Can I just go home?" Ranma asked almost pleadingly.

"I'm afraid not. We have our orders," he replied. "Private Anzai, escort this young lady to the forward aid station with the rest of the stragglers we picked up for debriefing."

"Yes sir," a very skinny private responded.

Ranma sighed tiredly as she knew her long day wasn't over with yet.

------------------

Making her way home, Ranma sighed in relief. She had spent about two and a half hours at the 'aid station' with a bunch of strangers, having to answer a bunch of stupid questions about why, how and where. After all is said and done, she ended up feeling more than a little put upon. There were quite a few people at the aid station who were "stragglers" as the soldier put it. She was surprised, she figured anyone in their right mind would've high tailed it out of there.

Walking home, Ranma noticed the streets slowly coming back to life. It seemed quite a few people decided to hide out in their shops and homes instead of evacuating. She walked alone, not really thinking about anything.

She was trying not to think.

The days events had effected her in ways that she never thought possible. Ranma should have felt on top of the world. She outsmarted the Protector and went to its home universe and destroyed the threat of the Protectors once and for all. In any case, the victory felt hollow.

It was true that she used to get great pleasure out of fighting back in Nerima, especially against Ryoga or Mousse - heck, even Kuno. In some warped way, it was all in fun. No matter how often the death threats came or how vicious the attacks were, how cunning the schemes were, there was like an unspoken agreement, an unseen line that no one crossed. It was all like a game, just rough housing or sport.

A pissing match.

Today was anything but a pissing match. It was real. There was difference when the lives of countless people were on the line and you were the only one holding that line. It was truly life and death. Ranma discovered how different it was when you saw first hand the price of failure. A burnt body filled her mind, she shuddered at the memory, then suppressed it.

It was something Ranma would like to forget.

The sun was just reaching the horizon. Shadows created by the surrounding buildings filled the mostly empty streets. Ranma made her way to the front of the restaurant and unlocked the door. Closing and re-locking the door behind her, she leaned against the door and breathed a sigh of relief. She was home. It felt good being home, even though she was alone at the moment. She felt at peace, calm and relaxed. It was good to finally clear her mind and allow the tension of the fight to leave her body and be replaced by a warm, soothing sensation. Taking a deep breath and releasing it as another sigh, she proceeded to cross the room.

"Stupid soldiers. Asking me all kinds of questions, asking if I was some kind of a looter or thief," she muttered to herself, remembering her indignation earlier at the aid station.

"And after asking me all that, he had the nerve to ask me for a date!" groused Ranma. She turned him down flat. He was, after all, not her type.

Plopping herself in a chair by the front window, she stared out it and cleared more of the day's events from her mind. She felt an odd mixture of nervousness and calmness that was hard to describe. Her stomach felt as if were vibrating inside her gut, adding to her discomfort.

"Just jittery after the fight. It'll be okay," she reassured herself.

She let her thoughts drift back to when she returned from the Protectors' universe. Even though Sailor Moon or the other Scouts didn't say anything to Ranma, she had a feeling that Pluto was going to double-cross her back at the wormhole. It was just a hunch. Ranma remembered a time when she didn't want just to beat the tar out of Pluto, but actually go and kill her.

Thinking about killing and death for some reason made her stomach ache a bit.

Ranma let out a heavy sigh before retreating to a table on the far side of the dining room, near the kitchen. There she sat, lost in thought as the late afternoon progressed into dusk. Ranma sat in the darkening restaurant and wondered at it all. She began wondering about Pluto's point of view and taking in some of the things Akiko said about power and letting it rule you.

She vaguely began to see what Pluto was probably worried about.

It all came back to control. Controlling the power and not letting it control you. Ranma for a moment felt helpless before it. "No! I have to be stronger than that, if not then... then... Pluto would have been right about me all along."

She exhaled and tapped the table top with her fingers. Her imagination took over. She pictured what could happen if she let her powers rule her. After the earlier events, the scenes her imagination conjured up were very graphic. It made her feel queasy inside. Ranma closed her eyes and shook away the repugnant images.

"No! Never!" she thought resoundedly. "I will never let my power control me."

Ranma sat upright and closed her eyes, clearing her mind and meditated, blanking her mind and letting her thoughts go. When she allowed thought to return to her, she ran into another line that bothered her, "I have all the power to destroy, but nothing on healing or building or anything truly constructive. If someone were seriously endanger of dying, like in an accident or something, I wouldn't be of any help at all."

Ranma's head sunk again, this time to touch the table top, "Why can't I be more... more... I don't know... more useful."

Ranma sat with her head resting on the table, trying to think of a way around what she had been trained so long in doing: combat. There had to be something more to her life then being some kind of ultimate weapon.

"I am only good at protecting, in destroying those that would destroy us. Why can't I be a builder too?" Ranma thought more along those lines, "I don't want to just protect everyone I want to help build. I want to help... without being a... Pluto."

In the background Ranma heard the radio from the kitchen playing. Ordinarily she would not be able to hear it over the noise in the dining room. Since the room was empty except for herself she could hear it playing if she listened carefully enough. She was hearing the tail end of a summary of the events that took place earlier today, "... and thanks to the efforts of the Japanese Defense Force and Juuban's own mysterious Sailor Senshi, the invaders were defeated with a minimum loss of life. This announcer, on behalf of this station and many other people, would like to thank these heroes for their efforts..."

Ranma tuned the rest of the speech out while thinking, "Heroes. He thinks we're heroes. I don't feel like a hero." She exhaled with a heavy sigh, "If only he knew how badly I screwed up today..."

The memory of what she had seen at the alley arose in her mind before she forced it back down and blocked it.

She shuddered.

Her stomach ached a bit more.

Not wanting to listen to the prattle on the radio, Ranma rose from her chair, entered the kitchen and turned it off. Though it was not really bothering her, the act was a welcome distraction from of her more uncomfortable thoughts. Returning to her seat, she involuntarily took up other thoughts that troubled her. She thought deeply, mentally counting something.

"I know at least four ways to destroy a planet without breaking a sweat, but not one thing on how to save a life. Is that all I'm good for? Destroying things? There got to be more to my existence than that. I can't believe that is all I was ever trained to do."

Ranma propped her head up with her hands, staring at nothing.

"There's got to be something more to me than that. There's got to be more than just knowing how to destroy things," Ranma paused again in her thoughts.

"I can protect those that build with my power," came an errant idea.

Ranma considered, then shook her head angrily at herself, "That's not enough! I want to more than just protect, I want to help build. I want to be more than an agent of destruction."

She tilted her head to one side as she rested it against one hand, "I'm going to start looking around. I'm going to find out what's out there outside of martial arts. There's gotta be more to life than this."

Her train of thought was derailed by another intruding thought.

"I wonder what the families of those dead soldiers are doing tonight? I wonder how they are feeling," Ranma sat and pondered.

Ranma sighed heavily again, she had been doing a lot of that. Gathering her thoughts, "When Serenity died, it hurt like hell. I didn't mind dying to seal the Negaverse away - I remember feeling like I had nothing to live for."

Ranma looked in the direction of the front door, hoping Akiko would walk through it.

"Then when I thought I killed Happosai, I was such a mess. I was in pain by the very idea that I had taken another persons life. I was horrified with myself," Ranma agonized internally with the memory.

Pause.

"What about the man I dumped in Tokyo Bay?" She shuddered, thinking of how he may have ended up.

She shook that off, before forcibly pursuing another line of thought.

"Pluto thinks she is doing what is right, whether I or anyone agrees with her or not. I am not going to judge her, that is not my job. That's... Moon's and the other Scouts job." Ranma paused, "My guess they don't have a clue what's Pluto is up to. Not that I do neither, but I can bet it is almost as extreme as the Protectors."

Ranma looked at the front door again, wishing Akiko were there. She had hit upon a way of dealing with Pluto, "I'll just have to make sure Pluto comes clean with her plans - whether she wants to or not. Then I'll let Moon and the other Scouts judge and decide what to do."

Ramna once again exhaled a sigh of relief as she stretched out, pressing hard against the back of the seat. She winced as her still tender side reminded her of the injury she received in fighting the Protector. Ranma surveyed the deserted dining room with its tables still laden with forgotten meals and dirty dishes left behind during the evacuation.

"Might as well start cleaning up," she thought as she rose from her chair. "Besides, I rather be doing something while waiting on Akiko and Michiko to show up."

Upon rising, she was assaulted by a sudden, but slight headache. It wasn't bad, not like others she had in the past, so she ignored it. She proceeded to go around and stack the dirty dishes together in the center of each table. She then went into the kitchen and brought out several large plastic tubs used for busing the dishes to the back and began loading the stacks into them.

It was around the third table that Ranma began to notice something subtle was happening.

She was feeling anxious and scared. The jittery feelings from earlier grew and crept up on her, now those feelings were swarming all over her. Because of this, her heart started beating faster like as if she were running a marathon. It didn't help that her stomach was now doing flip-flops inside her. Ranma stood there, grasping for control and trying to think of the cause of her discomfort.

"The fighting was over and done with, so I should be fine," she reasoned as she tried to dismiss the feelings. It didn't help much.

Ranma couldn't understand it. She was finally home and had the chance to relax after the grueling day she had, but for some reason she just couldn't. Sure, she was working, but Ranma was not the kind of person to laze around and do nothing when there were chores to be done. Unlike a certain ex-father.

Exhaling and getting her emotions in check, she willed the uncomfortable feelings away and her heart to slow down.

Gathering another pile of dishes, she placed them carefully into the tub. Preparing to heft the tub into the kitchen, she grabbed the handles on each side. She stopped and lifted both hands up so she could see them.

Studying her hands, she noticed a slight tremble.

"What in the hell wrong with me now?!" she gripped loudly to herself, her voice echoing in the empty room. She backed away from the table a bit, took a deep breath and closed her eyes to refocus on the task at hand. After a few breaths, she ignored the trembling in her now sweaty hands, lifted the tub and carried it to the back.

Returning to the dining room after leaving the tub by the dishwasher, she continued with her mission. Preparing to pick up a stack of dirty dishes to place them into the tub, Ranma froze as she fixated on the top plate. This plate was titled at a dangerous angle from the food beneath it.

There was a clump of ketchup, thick and dried out except for the vinegary edges which was still watery. Running slightly toward the edge of the plate, it dripped down landing on the top of the table where the drop splattered. Ranma stared, watching the ketchup drip, watching the puddle on the table grow.

It was so red.

Blood red.

Eyes.

Ranma trembled.

"No! I will not do this! I will get a hold of myself! It's over with!" she mentally screamed to herself.Then more calmly and with resolution, "There's no reason to think about it."

Closing her eyes and with her arms at her sides, she began to collect herself. After a moment she felt a little more in control and once again resumed her task. Filling the tub up with the dishes, she hefted the load to the kitchen. Before returning to the dining room, she stopped long enough to load the racks of the industrial dishwasher and start in on cleaning the dishes. Back in the dining room she began busing the last few tables.

Working around the last table she tried to not think of anything. She was successful in keeping her mind a blank, but her feelings and emotions filled the void. She soon began to feel nervous.

"I wonder what in the hell's wrong with me? Ever since I got home I feel like... I don't know, like something out to get me or something," she thought with a touch of panic.

Panic. That set Ranma's heart racing again.

She stopped her work and wondered what was the matter as her heart raced and her nerves were suddenly on edge again. She had never quite felt this way before, and it was alarming her. She tried desperately to calm herself. Instead her hands started to shake with more vigor. She closed her eyes and tried to force those feelings down, to still her hands and steady her body, but it was to no avail.

"I wish Akiko was here, I wish I could calm down," she thought as she opened her eyes to see if that would help.

Ranma grabbed the edge of the table with both hands to steady herself. She closed her eyes again in another desperate attempt to control the tidal wave of emotions that were threatening to overwhelm her. As soon as her eyes closed, images of what she had seen earlier assaulted her. This time, the more she tried to push them out of her consciousness the more they forced their way in.

A burnt torso...

"No!"

An arm here...

"No!" her mind reaffirmed.

A head rolling toward her...

"No!" she cried out loud.

Eyes looking at her...

"NO!" she finally screamed.

She released her grip on the table and backed away, knocking down a chair in the process. As she moved, her knees started to weaken and her hands started shaking more. The shaking progressed into a tremble that racked through her slight frame.

Too much had happened today. Too much she wasn't prepared for. The gruesome images of the dead soldiers came back in a flood. The bodies laying around the tank and just outside her protective shield flashed through and embedded themselves in her mind. Every horrible image that she had pushed to the back of her mind during the fight, flooded forward - graphically.

She tried to push the memories back, but they would not be ignored any longer. Neither was the guilt she felt.

During the fight, she pushed everything back until later.

For Ranma, later had come.

She barely made it to a chair before she collapsed into it, her body trembling uncontrollably.

"It is my fault! I was too cocky! I was too stupid! And innocent people paid for my arrogance," she thought as shakily buried her face in her hands. Her elbow rested on her equally shaky knees, she couldn't control her body, nor did she try to.

More images, an charred arm that was suppressed when she saw it, the burned and broken bodies around the tank and the wounded on the ground crying for help. The head that had rolled toward her near the alley and came to a rest in front of her. Its eyes open wide, looking at her. Staring at her with lifeless eyes.

Accusing eyes.

Sobbing now, Ranma curled up tightly into the chair as she desperately tried to will the images away.

-----------------------

The sun, low in the sky, was drawing long shadows in the battle scared park. A gray cat surveyed the scene and took careful readings. Whatever power that Sailor Sun processed was obviously far greater than what was expected. Some of the residual energy that was spent in the fight was still readable and suggested that this warrior was holding back a great deal of her power. If the information from the flyer was accurate, then it was she that was responsible for the communications failure. If the pseudo-cat was correct in its suspicions, then it won't be hearing from the council ever again.

The flyer landed next to the pseudo-cat at the edge of the park. There was no doubt, all was lost. The mission of rebuilding the Moon Kingdom as their creators envisioned had failed. The pseudo-cat sat and contemplated on what to do next. It was true that they had failed, but the pseudo-cat and the flyer had survived.

The pseudo-cat thought and crossed referenced with other files it had on hand. Comparing it to those on the flyer, it started to form a plan of action.

Between the two of them, with careful genetic manipulations and splicing, they could slowly build a force. It would take centuries - maybe a thousand years to accomplish this. But in the meantime they could try to arrange things to make it easier. After all, they didn't have to cross dimensions to invade and they could do it subtly, take control here and there. Yes, a slow takeover instead of an all-out attack. Something that would avoid detection.

Yes, it could be done. It would take time, a lot of time.

Time was the one thing they had plenty of.

One day the Moon Kingdom would be reborn.

--------------------

Akiko unlocked the door to her home. The street lights illuminated the way for it was very late before she and Michiko managed to find their way there. The story she gave to her grand daughter and son was that she and Ranma got separated in the confusion during the evacuation. It seemed to satisfy everyone, but it didn't stop them from worrying openly about Ranma's whereabouts.

If only they knew.

While sitting and waiting under the tents that were set up for the evacuees, they kept rapt attention to the newscasts of the events in the park. It was almost surreal how quiet the tent was. Crowded with about thirty people, no one talking as everyone's attention was on the loudspeaker set up outside. As if sensing the seriousness of the situation, the children remained as quiet as the adults.

Michiko was worried that Ranma might be endangered, but Akiko soothed those thoughts by pointing out that Ranma had a good head on her shoulders and wouldn't foolishly put herself in harms way. After all, she had survived living on the streets for six months before finding her way to them.

It was finally the end of what had been a long day as Akiko pushed open the front door and allowed Michiko to enter into the dark interior first before her. She then closed and locked the door.

"Granny? I think Ranma's here," Michiko said quietly.

Akiko looked about the dimly lit room and noticed most of the tables had been cleared. "Yes," she answered. "Looks like she got a jump on clean up, why don't you run up stairs and check on her while I check and see if the back door is locked?"

"Okay," Michiko answered before disappearing up the stairs.

Akiko made her way to the kitchen and the rear door, she checked the knob and found it locked, she then slid the dead bolt in place for extra security. She turned around and noted the tubs of dirty dishes by the dishwasher. Looking around the kitchen for any more signs of Ranma's passing, she crossed the room and reentered the dining room.

Michiko was waiting for her at the door, looking slightly frightened. "Granny, Ranma wasn't upstairs, but I found her and I think you should look at her."

"Is she hurt?" Akiko asked while following Michiko.

"I don't know... she just, I don't know." she answered with worry in her voice.

Michiko led Akiko to a dark area of the dining room near the waitress station. Ranma was there, curled up in a ball sitting on her haunches and with her back against the wall. She looked as if she were in a daze, with her eyes half closed staring at nothing.

"Ramna?" Akiko asked softly as she shook the red head's shoulder gently.

Ranma, still curled up against the wall on her haunches, didn't react.

"Ranma?" Akiko asked again a little bit louder, shaking the shoulder equally harder.

Ranma's eyelids flittered a bit and then slowly opened fully. She blink-blinked a few times as if unsure where she was. Almost at a painful pace, Ranma raised her head and looked and Akiko with her ocean blue eyes.

Hazel met blue, Akiko repeated, "Ranma?"

Ranma face was expressionless, a frozen mask showing no emotion at all. As if coming out of a self imposed shell, cracks showed in her facade. Ranma's lips trembled, followed by her body. Her eyes watered and tears once again flowed down her cheeks.

"Ranma?' Akiko asked for the fifth time.

"Oh granny!" with that, Ranma flung herself into Akiko's arms. She buried her face into Akiko's shoulder and began sobbing uncontrollably.

Michiko who found Ranma was relieved that she was alright. That was replaced by great concern after witnessing Ranma's display. She couldn't make out much of what Ranma was saying as she was crying and muffled by Akiko's shoulder. What words she could make out didn't make any sense, words like "screwed up", "dead", "eyes", and "blood everywhere". Wherever Ranma was during the crisis, it was definitely not anywhere safe.

Michiko watched as Akiko held her adopted granddaughter and tried to ease her pain.

--------------------

Ranma was being held firmly, yet gently by Akiko. For her, all the troubles seemed to melt away under the warm embrace. Ranma's uncontrolled crying abated to a soft sobbing. Akiko was gently rubbing her back and whispering words of comfort into the ear of the troubled teenager. In time Ranma's tremors subsided, leaving a tired, but still disturbed redhead.

Michiko retreated to the kitchen and started some tea in hope that it would help Ranma with her nerves. Akiko had managed at that time to get Ranma off the floor and into a chair. She didn't want to leave Ranma alone of a moment to turn on any lights, so she helped her to her feet and crossed the room to an area of the dinning room that had more lighting. Ranma clung to her side, as a child would to a parent after being lost and then found.

"Gr...r...rany," Ranma squeaked out.

"Shhhhh... ," she softly replied in a gentle, song-like manner, "You have had a bad go of it. Don't try to talk yet. Let's get you settled first."

Her words caressed through Ranma's being, seemingly touching her soul. Akiko had a way of talking that calmed people around her. Sometimes Ranma wondered if Akiko and Kasumi were related in some way. Her nerves were still shot, but with the calming influence of Akiko, Ranma was more in control of her emotions. Clinging closely to Akiko, she was lead to a chair in a better lit part of the room, where she was seated.

In the dim light by the wall, Akiko couldn't see how Ranma looked. Now under the light above the table, she saw what a mess she was. Ranma's eyes were red from crying, her hair was pulled half out of her ponytail and overall she looked like hell. It was Ranma's emotional state that drew the most concern. It was obvious that Ranma was suffering greatly at that level.

Michiko came out of the back carrying tea service. She carried it over and gently placed the service on table, so softly she did this that no sound was made. She poured some of the tea into the cups and sat one in front of Ranma and Akiko She then sat down across from Ranma, looking on with concern.

"I... I'm sorry," Ranma whispered out.

Akiko sitting next to her, pulled her into another gentle hug and said, "Don't talk now. " She then indicated the cup in front of Ranma, "Here, drink this."

Ranma obeyed without thought, picking up the cup with shaky hands, trying not to spill any of the contents. In the end, Akiko had to help her with it.

After setting the cup down, Michiko asked, "Are you alright? Are you hurt?"

Ranma shook her head and answered softly, "No, I'm not hurt... at least not where you can see it."

"It's late. Are you up to talking about it now?" Akiko asked, continuing, "Or would you rather wait until the morning?"

"I... don't know. I'm sorry. I don't mean to worry you... it's just that... I shouldn't... I mean... " Ranma was beginning to ramble.

"It's alright, dear," Akiko reassured. "Whenever you are ready, we'll be here to help."

Ranma nodded as the three of them sipped at their tea. Afterward, Akiko and Michiko escorted a emotionally and physically exhausted Ranma upstairs and helped her get settled in her futon. There, she fell into a troubled sleep.

-------------------------

She cursed to herself. Pluto had failed to watch over the time-stream like she was supposed to. She didn't know for sure, but it was a good bet that if Pluto wasn't so absorbed in her own unauthorized schemes of rebuilding the Moon Kingdom she would have spotted the Protectors' tampering sooner. Watching for threats was Pluto's job, rebuilding was to be left to others.

If Pluto had stuck to her instructions of watching for threats instead of taking the unnecessary task upon herself, none of this would have happened.

As it was, she made a real mess of things. Not just missing the coming of the Protectors, but because of that, Pluto had to interfere with Ranma's life and then try to kill her when she was through with her. This was something that had to be addressed, but she didn't want to reveal herself.

Then again, she had made a mess of things in her past life. With her working in the background, hopefully things will go better. If her presence were reveled, it could undo all the work that has been done in the past thousand years. She did not want a repeat of the fall of the Moon kingdom.

She had spent over a millennium steering a path through these dark ages toward the rebirth of the Moon Kingdom. She worked by not influencing major events, but by adjusting and affecting the unimportant. Over her past 15 incarnations, she pushed and pulled the tiniest, almost insignificant, things to move the world toward that rebirth. It did not effect the major events, like countries coming and going, wars won or lost, but it slowly created a foundation for the rebuilding of what was to be.

It was amazing what was important to her goal: a needed tool in the right place here, a book where it could be found by the right person there, making sure someone was early or late for an appointment. All the things she did were very small, very small indeed. The events she influenced were like a drops of water into a bucket. But over time, those drops would fill that bucket.

Her plans were frustrated sometimes by Pluto getting in the way.

She would talk to Luna and Artemis about this, hoping that it was something her daughter could handle.

She sighed to herself.

It was a good thing that she caught on to what Pluto was doing, otherwise Ranma would have ended up who-knows-where doing god-knows-what right now. She understood the reasons behind what Pluto did, but didn't approve of the methods she employed. Why, Ranma was almost driven completely insane by the discovery of the manipulations that Pluto had done to her and the destruction of her male personality.

Then again, considering how Ranma's life was going, it was probably for the best. But that didn't excuse Pluto for her failures, nor her attempt at ending Ranma's life or exceeding her authority. She sighed to herself again.

For her part, she had barely managed to steer things without Pluto catching on so that Ranma would end up where she was.

She always felt that Ranma's past life happiness was more artificial than real. Here she hoped that Ranma would have a chance for true happiness. The way it was going, however, that might not be possible unless she exerted a little of her power to do so. She would have to be very careful not to expose herself. It was a risk, but she strongly felt she owed Ranma at least that much.

Tonight, she would act.

----------------------

Ranma was groggy as she felt herself floating in a void. Wondering what was happening, she opened her eyes and looked about on the dimly lit scene. She found herself standing outside somewhere, to her right was a brick wall, plainly seen, with a drain pipe down the side of it. To her left was another wall, but she couldn't see any of its details. The ground was pavement, patched here and there with asphalt and scraps of forgotten newspaper blew throughout the alley, carried around by a gentle breeze.

The alley.

Ranma's heart raced.

"How did I get here?" she asked herself.

Not knowing how she got there and not wanting to be there, Ranma fled toward the alleyway's entrance. When she reached the opening she was met by shadowy figures who stood, blocking the alley's opening like a wall. They looked like silhouettes, standing just outside the dim light that seemed to come from no one source. Backing up a bit, she instinctively appraised and dismissed them as a threat in almost the same moment. But there was something about them...

--------------------

A figure moved down the dark hallway, moving gracefully and without sound.

She had sensed Ranma's discomfort as she moved quickly and quietly through the second floor hallway. Ranma had suffered enough in two lifetimes, she would see to it that she would not suffer any more than necessary.

Entering the room that Ranma sept in, she looked down at the prone figure in the half light. She moved closer to her...

-------------------

"Who are you?" she asked the crowd.

No answer was forthcoming.

"Who are you?" she repeated in a demanding way.

As if to answer her, one of the figures reached up with his hand. Taking hold of his hair, he lifted his head clear of his shoulders and tossed it at Ranma. She jumped back in horror as the head nearly landed on her feet. Its eyes at first starred at nothing before fixating its gaze at her. Its mouth moved...

------------------

Ranma began to stir in the throes of her nightmare. The figure standing over her was unperturbed by this and continued with her mission. She knelt by Ranma's head and concentrated...

----------------

"This is your fault," a disembodied voice said as the head before her mouthed the words.

"No! Please!" Ranma pleaded. "I didn't know! All I had were vague feelings and forgotten memories.... I didn't mean..."

"That's not an excuse!" The voice cut her off, "You got cocky! You got arrogant! You should have known. You should ..."

-----------------

Ranma mumbled something in her sleep, and her body started to move restlessly. The dark figure's head bowed over the sleeping form and scanned the emotional state of the young girl. This was not good, the kneeling figure's forehead glowed - a symbol appeared.

She touched Ranma empathetically.

----------------

In her dreamscape, Ranma was now on her hands and knees, crying.

"I know I screwed up, okay?! I know it's my fault, okay?!"

The eyes of the head turned colder, "You should be willing to die for your failure. Honor would demand it. You should have never have tried to come back from the..."

"Stop!" a new voice from behind Ranma announced. "You did the best with what you could remember and saved countless lives. You neither earned nor deserve this treatment."

A feeling of... contentment flowed through Ranma. Suddenly the anger, the self doubt and mostly the guilt, evaporated. Her mind slowly calmed and the alley with its phantoms faded into a fog leaving her with whoever relieved her pain.

"Who?" Ranma thought as she turned to face the newcomer.

She was a good deal taller than Ranma. She had long, light silvery hair done up in odango-style, her blue eyes pierced hers. The woman's equally long white strapless gown sported a crescent moon affixed to a bow across her chest. Peeking out and half hidden among the locks of hair was a crescent moon on her forehead. Her eyes were so blue. Ranma's mind refused to engage at the sight before her.

"Auntie?" Ranma finally whispered.

-------------------

The women's forehead began to glow slightly more as a crescent moon formed there. Ranma's forehead mirrored hers, glowing with its own symbol. She expected this and took measures to be sure she wasn't detected, especially by Pluto. Still kneeling over Ranma's futon with their heads almost touching, she continued to concentrate on the task at hand.

In Ranma's dreams, they connected.

------------------

"Auntie? Is it really you?" Ranma asked again, with a waver in her voice.

Serenity moved closer to Ranma, "Yes sweetheart, it's me."

Glomp

"Oh Auntie! I screwed up so badly! I tried! I really tried, but I just got to overconfident. I should've listened to what my feelings were trying to tell me and I didn't. Now a lot of people are dead because of me."

Serenity folded Ranma into a comforting hug.

"You are still just a child. You did what you could," Serenity cooed into Ranma's ear.

Ranma felt warm in her embrace and thought about Serenity's words. "But, I'm not a child, I'm going to be seventeen in a few months," Ranma complained.

"Tell me about your training." Serenity said.

"My training?" asked Ranma, caught off guard. She looked up at the taller women holding her.

"Yes, tell me what you really remember about the training you did as a Senshi for the Moon Kingdom," Serenity said softly, gently and yet in a commanding way.

"Well," Ranma snuggled closer, thinking back to her earliest memories, "at first, there was a lot of ... of like hand to hand - you know martial arts type stuff. To toughen me up."

"Then?"

"Then... once I was... granted my powers, I was taught how to control my fields, destroy asteroids, star fleets, solar systems, that kind of stuff."

"So, what specifically about your training do you remember?"

"Not much, mostly in my dreams. Most of the time they're more like feelings and... I don't know, it's like instinct or something."

"What does a vague feeling tell you? What does instinct tell you?"

Seeing where this was going, Ranma leaned into Serenity and cried, "I still should have known!" She then cried into Serenity's shoulder. "I was just too cocky! I got careless! And now they're..." Ranma broke down even more.

"Shhh," came the gentle response and a rocking motion.

The rocking lulled Ranma's pain and eased her guilt. The feeling of warmth and peace poured through her as she collected herself. She pulled back a bit and looked at the person holding her carefully. There was no doubt that this was who she thought she was. She also noticed that she was no longer in the alley.

Looking about her, Ranma noticed she was somewhere familiar to her, but where she couldn't place. The balcony she found herself on was curved and wide as it overlooked a city of light. The Earth hung in the night sky. She blink-blinked at the change of scene and looked back up at Serenity.

Two pairs of blue eyes met.

"Back to your training. How did your Senshi training relate to what you did today?" Serenity prompted.

Ranma stared off into space, considering the question carefully before answering.

"I... ahh... not much. Not until I got the Protector out into space where I could deal with him."

"So, your training as a Senshi prepared you for today's battle?"

Ranma sighed, "Not really. Most of what I did was improvised from stuff I... I picked up... in this life," she finished as a whisper.

Ranma leaned back to look Serenity in the face. "Every time I tried to use one of my Senshi attacks, I had to stop myself because it was too powerful," she said softly.

Ranma then thought a little more, "If I hadn't trained myself to tone down what I did, I could've easily - " Ranma paused as she thought more deeply, "I could've easily wiped out most of Tokyo - if I was careless."

Ranma came out of her trance-like state and looked at Serenity, "But the dead..."

"Shhh," Serenity gently said as she rubbed Ranma's back. "You did not kill those soldiers. The Protectors did. You could say that the Techo-mages were more responsible for what happened today then anyone else."

"Techo-mages?"

"The ones who created the Protectors in the first place. Instead of destroying them or rendering them harmless, they sealed them away in a pocket universe for 'reference' just in case they needed to examine their handiwork later."

Ranma just stared at Serenity as she continued, "So like any undetonated bomb, the Protectors ticked away until they went off."

Ranma thought about it that way before whispering, "But, it could have turn out so much better, instead I screwed up."

"True, but you never have been in a real fight before," Serenity softly said.

"I fought plenty of times..." Ranma began to protest.

"But did you take your fights seriously? You always treated your fights in the past more like a game didn't you? I believe the term you used was 'a pissing match'?"

Ranma looked at Serenity for a moment, then nodded.

Serenity looked Ranma in the eyes before continuing, "Consider this: Training, no matter how much, is not real life. Under the circumstances you did what you could."

Ranma, slack jawed, continued to stare into the calm ocean blue eyes of Serenity. Serenity leaned foreword and kissed the shorter girl on the forehead.

"Now sleep."

Ranma knew nothing more.

------------------

She had put Ranma into a relaxed, dreamless sleep. Using her powers, she probed here and there, reinforcing and patching the tortured girl's psyche where needed. She could, if she wanted to, remove the memories causing Ranma's nightmares, but that would eventually change her personality and that was something she didn't want. Besides, doing so would be wrong. Ranma would need those memories in order to grow, and to grow and mature is what Ranma needed to do.

Failure and dealing with pain is part of growth.

Also, she didn't want to make a mess of things like she did the first time around.

She sighed to herself. Depending on one thing was one of the reasons the Moon Kingdom fell in the first place. It depended too much on her and not enough on the others. No matter how hard she tried to train her daughter and the other Scouts to take some of the responsibilities, in the end it always came back to her. Now with herself out of the picture, her daughter and the rest of the Senshi would have to grow and not be dependent.

They would grow into leaders, not followers.

The next time the Moon Kingdom rose, there would be others to share the burden with her daughter.

Her work completed, she withdrew from Ranma's sleeping quarters and slipped out into the hallway.

------------------