The Reborn

Chapter 2

Awakened Memories

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Nabiki was finding this new twist in her life a difficult trial. She had been exposed to how brutal the NWC could be during the short time she had been Ranma's fiancée, as well as the failed wedding.

But for them to attack her, as well as several associates she would never have assumed would do such things...

The Ice Queen was very distraught.

Had it not been for Ranma once again, she was certain the attackers would have severely injured her...or worse. They will pay for this when I grow back up. Oh yes, I will have the final say. They thought I was bad before...

But this did little to calm the tears still falling, or the soft words of the chibi-fied pigtailed martial artist who was rocking slightly and trying to calm her down.

Ranma; however, was not in much better shape. People he had considered loose friends or allies had attacked him. Kuno he expected, but the fact Kodachi showed up as well, attacking Nabiki and claiming that "her false magics would not allow such a low born mercenary to strip her beloved from the rightful arms of his princess" had surprised him. Add to that, several people in debt to Nabiki, several people out to get him, and the Fiancée Brigade and the remaining members of the Nerima Wrecking Crew, and you had a recipe for disaster.

They...they really didn't care if anyone got hurt, did they. All they could see was their goal, their needs...their desire to get whatever they wanted, despite who got hurt.

Ranma was most upset with this turn of events. After the wedding, he had tried to better himself, a result from a stray comment by someone at school saying he seemed to bend his code whenever the need suited. When he asked the guy to explain—while trying to appear as calm as possible—the guy mentioned his dubious record of fighting girls while continually proclaiming he wouldn't, how he seemed to be willing to do anything devious if it got him a cure or whatever was needed, etc...

He left school that day, spending the rest of it at his spot under the bridge, trying to convince himself that the guy was wrong, that he wasn't like that.

But some damn inner voice said the boy was right, that he was slowly but surely acting more like Genma.

That had been such a major blow to his ego, he was almost certain that he could eclipse Ryoga in his depression.

He was uneducated, single-minded, aggressive, contradicting what he did with what he said... The Wishing Sword, the Japanese Nanniichuan, the Reversal Jewel; one could make a series based on his misadventures.

So, he tried to better himself, tried to find wisdom in books, interests beside martial arts, holding his tongue around people, trying to separate his honor from what Genma had done. He refused to believe only death was his answer.

But even he was losing hope, a sad reasoning for the undefeatable Ranma Saotome. His shifted personality seemed to confuse Akane, eroding away at the growth between them, ruined faster by the harping of the two fathers about them needing to be married now while his mother harped on the need for him to simply take the others as mistresses.

How often was it one of them asked what he wanted? How often would anyone ask what was wrong with him unless they needed something?

Not often enough.

For two months, there had been no comments about "mallet happy tomboys", "uncute", or anything like the insults Akane would expect from him. He didn't insult or even speak to Ryoga unless he had to; made certain the fiancées knew where they stood in terms of how they had acted at the failed wedding.

He liked Akane, he could admit that, and wanted to give them a good chance.

But, apparently it just wasn't meant to be. Rather than try and talk to him, she would lob accusations, followed by assaults when he denied them. For a while, it almost appeared she had fallen back to treating him like she did when they had first arrived.

I'm just so tired of it all.

"You two look like you could use a new life."

The two children looked up to see a woman with green hair and red eyes, dressed in a Sailor fuku that appeared to be dry, despite the pounding rains.

Nabiki hugged Ranma a little tighter, the fear of another attack apparent in her eyes as the mask she wore was still too cracked. Ranma did the same, preparing to make another run away from the new threat. "Listen, lady, we ain't looking for trouble."

"Good, because I came to offer my help." The lady bowed. "I am Sailor Pluto, Guardian of Time."

Nabiki stared at the woman, trying to get an initial impression, but found little in how the woman acted to betray her intents.

Ranma was about to retort of how they might not need her help, when the voice that had told him the boy was right spoke again. "Lady Pluto?"

Pluto stood upright. "You...you remember me?" Could he already have some memories of his past?

Nabiki cringed internally. If Ranma knew her, than this woman was most likely a new fiancée. Great, now Genma's engaged him to a real magic girl.

Ranma, however, was feeling confusion. "I...I think so, but it seems fuzzy."

Pluto laughed slightly. "Well, I would hope. Memories of a past life shouldn't be that clear." She bowed again. "It is nice to see you two again."

"Wait! Two? As in me as well?" Nabiki wasn't used to being in the fray. And considering how her day had just gone, she could be excused for not being more like her normal self.

"I will explain all, but I request you come with me. When I have laid out my proposal, you are free to decide to accept or deny, and return with no other consequences except the loss of some of your time." Please let them take this!

"Huh?"

Nabiki smiled. "She means, Ranma-baby, that she wants to talk."

"Well, why didn't she just say so? I'm game if you are, Biki."

After Pluto got Nabiki to remove the chibi-mallet from Ranma's head for calling her "Biki", they left the alley of sadness.

"Hello, Ramius."

The man in the cell raised his head from the bunk, casting his eyes out to see a general standing before his cell. "Apollo, nice to see you, man. How are your kids?"

The man known as Apollo; a tall man without hair, smiled slightly, unnerving the two soldiers on either side of him. "They do well. My daughter plans to try for a position among the Royal Guard schools."

"That's good, man. You know you got Demeter's support."

"I know, old friend," he said, before removing a thin computer tablet from his uniform. "According to the reports, would you care to explain how you ended up in a drunken brawl with Sailor Uranus."

Ramius scratched the back of his short-cut hair. "Well, she was going on about how undefeated she was, and I happened to mention—politely and innocently, mind you—that I had defeated her a few times in sparring."

Apollo hit a small icon on the tablet, causing an audio clip to play.

"You tomboy, I've kicked your ass a few times. Don't it count if a guy beats you?"

Apollo stared at Ramius. "Politely, huh?"

Ramius looked a little embarrassed. "Got the whole thing on file, don't you."

"Yes, you know how seriously we monitor things here on Luna." He looked towards the guards, continuing to smile. "I heard that Queen Serenity has even heard of this. You know how the Queen feels about fights involving the Senshi."

Ramius reclined against the wall in a relaxed pose. "I ain't too worried. Serenity knows I wouldn't have hurt the tomboy, and I doubt she will do too much to me."

Apollo turned away from the cell, trying to hide his smile. "Oh, but she did do something; something very...bad...for you."

Ramius opened an eye, directed at his friend. "Oh, and what did she do?"

His answer came in a scream that made even the other criminals in the detention wing cringe. "WHERE THE HELL IS THAT RAT BASTARD HUSBAND OF MINE!"

As Ramius paled, Apollo turned and was openly smiling at his now doomed friend. "She called your wife."

Ramius ran to the bars. "Kill me now."

"Sorry, old friend, but that's against the rules."

Ramius appeared frantic. "I admit to planning on destroying the entire Sol system, I've planted dozens of bombs, I'm the secret lover of Metallia, I'll confess anything, just...PLEASE DON'T LET HER FIND ME!"

"THERE YOU ARE!"

"EEP!"

A woman in full military uniform stormed over to the cell, causing the battle hardened detail with Apollo to flinch and back up. Her hair, brown, was done in a long ponytail, her eyes wide and seemed to literally be on fire.

All of which was directed at her husband. She tried to sound calm, but her facial expression and battle aura betrayed the stress she felt. "Ramius, dear, would you like to explain why I was summoned here?"

Ramius appeared to stutter, trying to come up with an explanation that wouldn't involve his wife using him as target practice for herself and the Lunar Military Elite. "I...well...she...we..."

Demeter apparently didn't hear him. "I was in the middle of instructing a class, when I received the page. They told me my husband had been arrested in an incident involving a Senshi. 'How could this be?' I wondered, as he had promised that he wouldn't do such things anymore, and be a less ignorant dumbass."

As Demeter aura flared, a convicted killer who was to undergo death tomorrow cringed; silently glad he wasn't Ramius.

"Now, Demeter, I—"

"Open the cell, I will be taking my...husband...home now."

Ramius made no move to stay, as the guard quickly unlocked the cell door and hid behind the smiling general. "I take it Ramius will not be able to come for the ball tomorrow."

Demeter just smiled, the same sort of smile you saw on a psycho's face when they tried to seem normal. "Oh, we'll be there. But do call ahead to the Military Hospital, and inform them I shall be bringing my husband over in a few hours, seven at the max. They should expect to...reattach...certain thing" She turned slightly towards her fearful husband. "Come!"

As the rounded the corner out of sight, Apollo addressed his men. "That is the one thing no force can stop." As the soldiers looked at him in confusion, he decided to answer them. "Demeter is a punishment that even the Queen would never inflict on the worst criminal. Though Ramius may appear to be a Dead Man Walking, he probably still won't learn anything from this."

He turned his attention to the cell beside the one Ramius had occupied. "Should I call her back to deal with you, Sailor Uranus?"

The blond haired girl shook her head quickly.

"So, even in the past, you still couldn't stay out of trouble."

Ranma glared at Nabiki after the final image had played out on the Gates of Time. For what seemed like days, they had watched the lives of their past incarnations: the fights, the love, the training, the dancing, everything.

Including their deaths and the moment of being chosen by the Mantels.

Ranma just shook his head. "Damn Kami, bet this is their idea to get me in a dress."

Pluto smiled, once again wondering what Ranma's Jusenkyo curse would do to his Sailor form. "Ranma, the Mantel pf Sol chose you to be its first warrior: Solaris Knight. I would think it would be preferred to keep you male."

Ranma just gave her a questioning look, an odd appearance from a five year old boy. "Yeah, and the minute my curse activates again, I end up in a damn fuku and high heels with perverts staring at my panties."

Nabiki just shook her head. "So, why are you showing this to us?"

Pluto's smile instantly vanished. "In a few years, the Senshi will reawaken. They will face down enemies that seek to destroy this world."

Ranma interrupted her. "So, you want us to take up our old job?"

"No, the princess must learn to stand on her own." The two stood before her in surprise. "I know the Queen hoped you would protect Princess Serenity, but she needs to find the harshness of these fights to grow as a person. If not, she will never be ready to be the new Queen."

"So, exactly why did you show us this, if we ain't needed?"

The Gates of Time showed the image that had shaken even the Guardian of Time to her very knees. "The people she referred to are a bit of an enigma. Usa should not have been able to come back if time progressed as it did, but she did."

"Two questions," piped Nabiki. "Who is Usa and why didn't a paradox get created?"

"Usa is Usagi II, the daughter or Usagi and Mamoru. She comes back to assist the Senshi and unlock a new level of power for them. As for the paradox, these creatures exist outside the normal rules governing the universe, which is why I had no idea of their existence until my future self came back."

She looked at them, her eyes near pleading. "We need you to stay alive, we need you to train to be able to fight this menace, and when the time arrives, rejoin the Senshi to stop them."

"So, you need us to train some magical girls for the next decade."

"No," she shook her head. "Events must play out a certain way. For this to work, only you two must know and train, allowing history to play out as it must."

Nabiki looked annoyed. "And how exactly will that happen? I'm certain the NWC won't be too happy if Ranma and I are training together. And should old feelings emerge..." She didn't want to admit that something had occurred while watching her past self. The woman had seemed so passionate about Ranma, it scared her to believe she might fall for him as well, and what more, and she felt as if it really wasn't her that was making these feelings.

"That is another thing. If you two stay in Nerima, you will both die before the time comes, and all will be lost. For this to work, Ranma Saotome and Nabiki Tendo must die."