"Speech"
'Thought'
#Panda Sign#
Spell
Hotaru checked the hands on her ornate silver desk clock once again before sighing tiredly. It was late and she had put this off to go play with Chibi-Usa. She was hoping to not draw notice by having only the nearest of her five lavender shaded lamps on. Her television was also off, leaving the room almost entirely in darkness. Two of her parents were still out at the concert but that left the hardest one to pull one over on home. Hearing footsteps approaching down the hallway to her room, she hurriedly scribbled down more answers on her homework in an attempt to finish. 'Please don't come in.' She repeated to herself up until the door knob turned. 'Damn!'
"Hotaru-chan, why do you have your door closed?" Setsuna asked, flipping a light switch to turn on a large lamp in the far corner of the room. Hotaru blinked her eyes at the sudden brightness before trying to look innocent as the dusky skinned woman with red eyes came in to sit nearby on her bed. Setsuna's calf length green hair was smoothly directed to fall to the side of where she sat.
"Just some— extra homework." She answered her adopted parent nervously grabbing her stuffed panda to hug to her chest. Setsuna leveled a disbelieving glare at her and waited for Hotaru to give the correct answer. "My regular homework." She answered and hung her head.
"And what were you supposed to have done first?" Setsuna asked, voice full of parental disapproval.
"My homework." She admitted.
"You've been acting strangely since you found out Chibi-Usa has returned to our time. Did you want to talk about it?"
"Not really." She spun her chair back towards her desk and carefully put her plush panda back in his spot to watch over her with his beady eyes.
"So it's about Ranma? We've all seen that picture."
"Can't I just do my homework?" Hotaru didn't want to think about the picture of Ranma and Akane together.
"A boy then?"
Groaning she slammed her forehead into her desk.
"Girl?"
Picking her head up, she gave the smiling Setsuna a baleful glare before slamming her head back into the desk.
"Really Hotaru, I'll find out eventually so you might as well just tell me." Setsuna warned in her grating I know everything already because I can see through time voice. "If you and Ranma are going to have a child I would hope you would feel comfortable enough to tell me." The dark skinned woman reached over to pat Hotaru on the stomach.
"Mom!" She shouted and slapped her adopted parents hand away.
"I know you have been spending a lot of time alone with Ranma at Theia's castle."
"I'm not pregnant!"
"Ranma is then? I remember he had those instant Jusenkyo packets."
"Ugh!" Spinning around in her chair she fell off to land face first on her bed.
"Ready to tell me what's wrong?" Setsuna asked in amusement, picking at some of Hotaru's hair while waiting patiently.
"Why did I have to grow up again? Why couldn't I just stay young a little longer?" She mumbled into her mattress. "Usa didn't even tell me she had come back because I had grown up."
"Usagi wished to bring us all back to be together." Her adopted parent patted her on the shoulder. (1)
"Then why did it speed up?" Hotaru demanded roughly as she sat up. "Why did I age faster? Why am I the same age as Ranma and the others?" Receiving no answer, she buried her face in her pillow. "Why didn't I get to stay a kid?"
"Hotaru." Setsuna gently rubbed at her back. "It's unfair that you weren't able to grow up like everyone else but no one has a perfect life. It's the one thing that seems fair in the universe. You're the young woman you were supposed to be and that is neither fair or unfair."
"I know— it's just hard to fit in with anyone." Hotaru pulled herself together to face her adopted parent. "Usagi and the Guardian Senshi treat me like I'm some frail doll. While you and the other Outers treat me like your little girl still holding tea parties." Balling up her hands into tight fists, her shoulders tightened before she let all the tension drain from her body. "It's so frustrating."
"I'm sorry, I had no idea you felt that way." The elder female gathered her up into a hug. "You know how much we care about you and how much we want to see you be happy, right?"
"Yes— I know." She nodded and leaned into the embrace.
"And we are so proud of how you've bounced back."
"Thank you." Hotaru would freely admit that the short time she had spent with her new parents was infinitely better than her last incarnation. Not that it was hard to be better than being turned into a cyborg and playing host to an evil entity that would eventually take her body over and help destroy the world.
"So when are you and Ranma going to tie the knot?"
"It's not like that!" She pushed herself away from the Senshi of Time.
"I know." Setsuna giggled and covered her mouth with a hand. "But if you want to be treated like the young woman that you are— then I need to start teasing you about grown up things."
"We're just friends." She crossed her arms in a huff. "But If I knew he was going to switch at the last minute to take her." Hotaru snarled the last word like a curse. "I never would have asked for those tickets. He's such a selfish, short-sighted, unthinking, and idiotic oaf." She angrily described her friend, ticking off each point on her fingers.
"How about this." Setsuna's wide smile made Hotaru both nervous and excited about what would be uttered from her adopted parents lips next. "I know it's a bit short notice, but I think I can come up with some way for you to get back at him, and spread your wings a little."
"Really?" She asked excitedly.
"Really." Setsuna answered with a devious twinkle in her crimson eyes.
Sunday Morning
Still wearing her pajamas, Ranma leaned heavily on the railing as she descended the steps to the ground floor. The room she shared with her parents and now Chibi-Usa had been empty when she awoke. Judging by the lack of noise coming from outside, she figured that she was late getting up, and breakfast would soon be served. She suddenly had a distressing thought that she actually missed being woken up by her father to train. 'When did I hit my head hard enough to miss that?'
Still feeling numb from volunteering to reveal her past life to her mother, Ranma slowed to a crawl before entering the living room. Her eyes quickly scanned the room and saw all the Tendos, her father, and Usa arrayed around the table. 'She's not here.' Ranma felt a heaviness in her chest at the lack of her mother, who had left last night and never returned.
"Have you seen your mother, boy?" Genma asked, snatching some food off Usa's plate as the pink haired child was distracted by Ranma's arrival.
"Not since last night." Ranma looked at the food and her stomach didn't even grumble in desire. "I'll be in the dojo." She said before letting out an outraged screech as a pair of tiny hands patted and pinched her bottom with impossible speed.
"Oh how I've missed your pert derriere in the morning, Ranma-chan!" Happosai cackled happily, bouncing around her retaliatory punch. "But it seems to be a bit bigger than usual, have you been getting enough exercise? If you don't, you'll get fat!"
"You little pervert!" She shouted in indignation as he jumped over her kick. "And I'm not getting fat!" Ranma tried several punches and kicks at the ancient master who was able to avoid her attacks.
"Too slow tubby, can't hit me!" Happosai snuck in and was able to give her chest a quick grope.
"That's it you stupid old pervert!" She snarled as he bounced away, preparing to launch himself at her again.
The diminutive old man's eyes widened. "Don't worry a great big hug from your master will make everything all better!" He shouted joyously and launched himself towards her chest.
Moving faster, she held up a hand towards him as if to catch him by his bald head. There was the sound of fabric ripping and the air distorted around the elderly man before he vanished from sight. "Why didn't anyone tell me he was back?" She asked and shivered in disgust, slowly letting her arm drop to her side. "What?" She asked, noticing the incredulous looks from everyone but Usa and Kasumi.
"Boy— where did the master go?" Genma finally asked for everyone.
"Away." She answered cryptically, not wanting to explain how she had used a tiny amount of her magic to access the teleport network she had setup with Ami to send the perverted old man to another part of town, or country, she really didn't care which.
Happosai bounced once from his momentum before coming to a complete stop with his feet buried in sand. Blinking his large eyes, he now found himself staring out at the ocean as the sun was just clearing the horizon in the distance. Rubbing at his eyes, he tried to banish the illusion before him. Not five seconds ago he had about to get a hold of some of the most perfect mammaries he had regular access to. But now he found himself on a small deserted tropical island in the middle of an ocean.
"Ranma-chan has learned some new tricks, eh?" He turned and bounced away from the beach towards a moderately sized hut shaded by several large palm trees. "But if she thinks she can ruin my fun she has another thing coming!"
Not bothering to check if anyone was home, because his presence would be a glorious gift for anyone on the inside, he leapt through an open window. Nobody was actually home to answer his questions but he did immediately notice a nicely stocked wine fridge behind a bar and shelves full of a fantastic assortment of liquor.
"Don't mind if I do!" He gathered up several bottles of top shelf liquor to head back outside and enjoy himself.
Taking a seat on a giant log that had been carved into a bench seat, he lamented that he wouldn't be able to thank Ranma for sending him to this island paradise. That and because then there would be a pretty girl for him to grope nearby. Quickly downing half of a fantastic bottle of sake, he came up for breath long enough to notice something was touching his leg.
"No—." He gasped in horror at the familiar octopus that suddenly latched onto him with all eight arms. "Not you!" Happosai screamed in horror. (2)
Ranma didn't know what consequences would come from showing off in front of the entire family. She was already stuck as a girl for a short amount of time because she had used her Senshi magic as a male the night before. She knew that neither Genma or Soun would allow her to get by without an explanation on how she had made Happosai vanish mid-leap. The two would hound her to the farthest reaches of the universe in order to find out that secret. No doubt they were just waiting and trying to figure out the best way to dig the information out of her without suffering the same fate.
But that future annoyance was second in her mind to her concern over her mother. Nodoka didn't act like this. Her mother didn't just vanish or have a delayed reaction. It was so out of character that Ranma almost prefered to have a sword being waved in her face so that she knew it was real.
"You!"
Ranma tiredly turned to Chibi-Usa, the little girl stomping towards her with a pair of hairbrushes held in one hand. Her eyes widened at the cascade of pink hair that reached down to Usagi's hips. "What's with the hair?" She asked, having never expected to see the girl's hair out of her odango style for any reason.
Grunting as Usa fell into her lap, she stared at the wall of pink now taking up her field of view. "Brush." The little girl demanded.
"Brush?" She grabbed Usa under the armpits and lifted her to be sitting on the floor in front of her.
"You complained about my hairstyle, so you do better." Usa turned around long enough to shove the brushes in Ranma's hands along with several hair ties.
"Kasumi is more into hair than me, you should ask her." She suggested.
"Backing down from a challenge?" Usa teased.
"Fine." She snorted. "Something for training."
"I want something cute!"
"You'll get what you get."
"You're right! No matter what I'll look cute!"
"I would never say that."
"Are you saying you can't do it?"
"Shut up." She snorted, tugging on Usa's freshly washed hair. "How'd you dry it so fast?" Ranma asked curiously, knowing that Usa hadn't used a blow dryer or waited the hours it would have taken to air dry.
"Magic." The little girl giggled.
"And who taught you that?" Ranma asked, purposely being rough as she brushed tangles out of the child's hair. Whenever she was randomly splashed with water and became a girl, she would discretely use a spell to dry herself off as well. The elder Usagi certainly didn't know how to do that and never showed any interest in everyday magic.
"Momma did." Usa answered as Ranma's hands became a blur. "She likes to help with my hair." The pink haired girl relaxed against Ranma's legs and sighed happily.
"Sounds about right." She could imagine no one else who would enjoy spending entire days brushing and braiding hair than Usagi. Finishing preparation, she paused to grab a couple handfuls of pink to consider a style that would be good for training, and if she could get away with tricking her into something silly.
"In the Silver Millenium, did your mother ever do this?" Chibi-Usa asked suddenly.
"What made you think of that?" Ranma paused in confusion.
"Just curious."
"I don't remember her." She had a lot of vaguely positive emotions tied to Euryphaessa's mother but that was it. Truthfully, with all that there was waiting to be filed in, her memory made swiss cheese look solid. Maybe sometime in the future she would remember, but obsessing over a detail never filled in the gap. "That was a really long time ago."
"Queen Serenity?"
Ranma finished up half the braid before answering. "Why would you ask about her?" She asked slowly in a flat tone.
"Weren't you two close?" Chibi-Usa asked innocently, as though she hadn't just asked a very loaded question.
"Not like that." She scoffed at the idea. "I was her guardian before the other Senshi grew up. We were only close because I was always at her side." Leave it to a little kid to imagine such a ridiculous idea.
"Oh— so did you see all the secret hush-hush stuff no one else was supposed to see?" Usa asked conspiratorially.
"If I did, I wouldn't tell you." Ranma finished with the other side of the girl's hair and quickly tied the elastic tie into place. "Done, go bug Pop." She flicked one of the new pigtails over Usa's shoulder and pushed her lightly.
"But I have to help you find your mom." Usa spun around while feeling her new hairstyle. Behind her bangs, two braids pulled her hair tight as they curved backwards to the base of her skull before turning into two pigtails that ended mid-back. "I like it!" She cheered and fell forward to hug Ranma. "Lemme do yours now!"
Her body stiffened at the brief hug, uncomfortable with the affection being shown by her future princess, especially after being reminded of her impersonal relationship to Queen Serenity. "You've done enough to my hair." She looked away with a haughty sniff.
"Don't worry—" Usa didn't ask for permission before she got up and ran around to rip Ranma's hair tie out. "I swear you'll like it!" She announced as she began to unbraid Ranma's pigtail so she could begin brushing her red hair out for a good base to start with.
'Whatever, I'll just put it back when she's done playing.' Ranma thought, looking out the dojo doors in boredom. Though Usa's well practiced and self-assured brushing did feel good, almost like a scalp massage. Ranma could never figure out how she had been roped into learning massage techniques while training in China but her mind rapidly came up with a couple ways they could be applied in this manner. (3)
Her brief moment of enjoying her girlish pampering turned to annoyance as Genma came stomping out of the home towards the dojo. She was in no mood to deal with her father's endlessly annoying training tactics. There was simply too much on her mind to put up with hours of being tormented.
"Boy, enough slacking off, it's time for training!" Genma froze in his tracks as he finally noticed Ranma's glare. The elder Saotome's beady eyes slowly moved to where Usa was and his sweating increased. He gulped slowly before taking a step back. "On second thought perhaps we'll take the day off and enjoy this beautiful morning. Bye!"
Genma knew that he was safe as soon as he was out of Ranma's line of sight. Breathing a sigh of relief, he also took solace in the fact that no one but his little niece had seen him run away. Although Usagi giving him a similar doom glare had been something he was unprepared for.
He had learned over the many years he had spent raising Ranma, that when his son gave him that look, it was in Genma's best interest to not push the issue. Even as a small child, when Ranma could muster it, that look had made him feel like he was being loomed over by a being beyond his ability to comprehend.
It was especially bad to face the boys anger now with all the training Happosai and Cologne had put him through, it took every sneaky trick in his arsenal to keep up with his child when he wasn't motivated. Tomorrow morning or maybe the next he would start training with Ranma again. That would give him enough time to get over whatever it was.
'I wonder where Usagi learned how to do that glare?' He wondered, shivering at the memory of those little red eyes mimicking her cousin perfectly.
With Chibi-Usa in tow, Ranma visited the handful of places that she could imagine her mother going to. She didn't hold out much hope to find Nodoka, but it felt wrong just sitting around the dojo letting Usa play with her hair. Leaving shortly after the child had finished left no time for any of the Tendos to comment on the different style. Not that it was all that different, but the fishtail braid did have a more intricate look to it than her normal style if someone was to pay attention.
In a different situation it may have been a pleasant day, with the pink haired girl treating it like they were just out to have fun. They had visited the nearby parks where Ranma had to push Usa on the swings for a bit. A shopping district where Usa had wanted to destroy Ranma's wallet by spending money she didn't have on a giant stuffed unicorn. And now she was coming up on the site of her mother's destroyed house.
A small crew was out working on Sunday to finish removing the remains of the old home to make way for the new style foundation to replace the old packed earth and stone that was there before. Ranma had seen the plans and the home would be rebuilt exactly as it was, but this time taking advantage of newer technologies inside a traditionally styled building.
Chibi-Usa whistled. "I wonder what it'll look like when finished."
She didn't respond to the idle comment, more focused on finding her mother sitting alone across the mostly empty yard on a metal folding chair. 'It's so weird to see her want to be alone.' This was such a strange change in personality for the woman Ranma had known to travel across town at the flimsiest of excuses just to spend time with the Tendos.
"Go talk to her!" Usa exclaimed and slapped her on the back.
'Pushy little brat.' Ranma straightened up. "Wait here." She started off quick but her feet rapidly became heavy until she slowed to a crawl. Nodoka hadn't even acknowledged her presence until only a few meters away. "Hey." Ranma greeted with a little unsure wave and a nervous chuckle.
"You're still a girl." Nodoka stated with detachment, only giving her a momentary glance to confirm her form.
"Yea." She drawled out. "It's a bit— complicated."
"I have time." Nodoka continued to look away. "Explain it to me."
Ranma took a second to come up with an explanation. "When I used my Senshi magic to conjure water, it overloaded how much magic my male form could take. So— now I have to let that extra energy bleed off." When Nodoka didn't immediately respond with whether or not Ranma's explanation had made sense she decided to try a different one.
"It's like the difference between a bowl and a sieve. Guy form is a bowl but girl form is a sieve. Put too much in the bowl and it overflows turning me into a girl. But girl form it can just pour right through. No problem." Ranma laughed nervously again and scratched at the back of her head. "Does that make any sense?"
"I understood the first time." The elder Saotome answered slowly.
"Ah— uh— I guess a day, maybe two, and I'll be able to change back." She supplied, remembering the first painful time she had discovered this little facet of how her Senshi magic worked on a male body. "So why are you here? You didn't leave because of me— did you?"
"I wanted to see what's left of my home." Nodoka answered with a sigh. "After Genma left with you and I moved in; I spent years making it mine. This was my home, not some apartment, or temporary rental. I knew all the little creaks and groans that it made. Which doors that would stick, how to open it up to help keep cool in the summer, and the best way to keep it warm in winter." Her mother's voice was trembling as she clasped her hands together. "What you told me last night finally made me realize what I had lost."
"The stuff that was inside was alright, wasn't it?" Ranma gulped, her mother's reaction when it was demolished had been so calm and flippant that she had never thought it was a serious issue.
"Most of the things inside were never really important. I never wanted it to be a home for myself." Nodoka reached out and grabbed Ranma's hand before looking into her eyes. "I wanted what the Tendo's have. I wanted a home for a family, one filled with good memories."
"I'd give it to you if I could." Ranma answered and squeezed her mother's hand, trying desperately not to notice the unshed tears in Nodoka's eyes. Fearful that she would have to deal with something in her eyes herself.
"I know and it seems neither of us are comfortable talking like this." Nodoka's eyes left Ranma's to look towards where Usa was kicking at some dirt in boredom. "Does Usa-chan know about— you? I barely know her at all yet you two seem so close."
Ranma didn't think it was her place to volunteer to give away another Senshi's identity but Usagi had brainwashed her mother, so she nodded. "She does."
"Is she a Senshi too?" Nodoka smiled sheepishly. "I remember there being a little girl with a pink theme some time ago but they look so different."
"I'm not sure how much you want to know about her." Ranma answered evasively. 'And I'm not really sure how much I know about her.' She knew that Usagi wasn't telling her everything but Ranma had yet to make a concentrated effort to get any real information out of the girl.
"This time I think I'll take your word on it." Nodoka stood up and straightened her kimono that was wrinkled like it had been slept in.
Ranma felt like she had passed some invisible barrier with her mother even though nothing had really been resolved. "Mom— I was planning something and would need to talk to Kasumi— but how would you feel about taking a trip tomorrow night?"
Letting the last human in the apartment building collapse lifelessly to the floor, Ryoga stared at her still outstretched hand. When she had first come into being she had been shaped like some mix of human and pig. But as she gained more life energy for herself, her form changed again, shifting further towards human. Though there were some things that refused to go away, she realized as her eyes found her black fingernails.
'A small concern.' She had lost the rest of her porcine features and now looked like the beautiful woman she should be. Laughing to herself as she stepped on and over a body to primp in front of a mirror. It was so hard to tear her eyes away from herself. Bringing up her hands, she ran them up and through her long and slightly curly purple hair to let it fall to mid back. She was taller than Ryoga had been by several centimeters with a perfectly proportioned body.
Grinning from pure narcissistic pleasure, she knew that her beauty far surpassed any of the women Ryoga had known. Her body was that of a girl just passing into womanhood, possessing gentle sensuous curves that even Hinako in her mature form would envy.
"Now if I could only find some clothing worthy of touching my form." At present she was wearing a simple sleeveless purple shirt and black pants. They were only temporary, taken simply because they fit over her curvaceous form.
Her smile lessened, finally taking notice that the majority of the energy she had gathered was siphoned off to join a much larger pool. Closing her eyes, she felt this source of power, and realized that it was a network of others like herself. It was a shame that she needed more information to utilize this fully.
"It's too bad Ryoga was such a moron." She snorted piggishly in contempt at that little boys stupidity and ignorance. He would have shrugged off the drain, unable to even attempt to figure out what was going on. His general lack of any knowledge meant she had to start her life under a glaringly large handicap.
Seeking out the highest concentration of power, she used a new ability that came with this body, and vanished from the apartment. Intuitively guiding herself, she appeared in the center of a large congregation of oddly formed humanoids. She was in what looked like an old operating theater on the upper level. The walls looked like they had been vandalized by gangs by the writing spray painted on parts of it. Much of the glass and seats had been broken or removed.
Slowly scanning the room to size up the other demons, her lightly glowing orange eyes didn't see any threatening movements from them. Relaxing, she Instinctively felt that they were like her, but felt no comradery for any of the mostly ugly monsters. They were just not a source of life energy for her. Together they formed an interconnected network that shared portions of the gathered energy. Considering this further it was an agreeable arrangement for now. While they were stealing from her, she benefitted from their activities on top of her own.
"Oh? Do we have a new assistant?" A familiar male voice asked from the lower portion of the theater.
Taking several steps towards the railing, her eyes settled on a figure lounging on a high backed throne made of black metal at the very center of the room.
"Dr Tofu?" She twisted her head to the side, bounding over the railing to drop down next to the throne.
"I don't believe we've met yet." The average looking man adjusted his round glasses, rising from his seat to approach. Physically he looked the same, slightly taller than herself with dark brown hair, and average features. The main difference that stood out from her memory was that he wore a simple all black outfit with a long doctors jacket that reached his knees.
'He's partly human.' She noticed that unlike her, he was generating his own life energy. "The body I've taken was from Hibiki Ryoga." She remembered that the man had suddenly vanished without warning almost a year before.
The chiropractors face lit up with glee. "Excellent!" He clapped his hands together. "He had a lot of skills that will prove very useful. I hope that you've been gifted with something really special."
"You." She turned to the first weak demon she could find, a small rat like male creature, who was hunched over and leering at her. From that worthless piece of meat Ryoga, she knew her beautiful form would mesmerize the male eye, but now she was the one who could abuse that privilege. "Come here." Ryoga was curious about this power network and this was the perfect opportunity to test it.
"Yes?" He answered excitedly with a whiny voice and hobbled over towards her.
"Good boy." Ryoga placed her hand on the other monsters head. "Break." She commanded. His body turned black and exploded violently into tiny dark shards. 'He didn't even have time to cry out in pain.' She realized in disappointment. Her experiment was a success though. She could feel that his paltry amount of life energy did not return to the network but was contained within the shards. 'How convenient.'
"We don't destroy one another." Tofu warned half heartedly and adjusted his glasses again. "But an interesting twist on the Breaking Point."
"So why are you here?" She asked, reaching down to absorb the life energy she had released.
"I am your creator, of course!" Tofu strutted back to his throne.
She found that hard to believe. This man had never demonstrated the needed knowledge or abilities to create beings such as herself. "How?" She asked.
"The specifics of it are far beyond you I'm afraid." The doctor shrugged dismissively.
"For what purpose?" It seemed like a clear oversight to not give her that information. Minions capable of acting towards a desired goal without instruction seemed more efficient.
"To be my sword and shield." He planted himself back on the throne. "My will be done."
"Of course." She simply nodded, feeling no compulsion to serve this half human but she didn't know enough yet to disobey. "And what is your will?"
"The destruction of the Sailor Senshi." His glasses glossed over as he slumped back in his chair with a far off dreamy look on his face. "And saving my dear sweet innocent Pyrrha from the unending perversions of Sailor Theia." He added dreamily.
Ranma passed underneath the fabric dividers hanging from the door from and entered the kitchen. Kasumi was slowly stirring a simmering pot filled of soup she had been making all night for dinner. "Hey Kasumi." She greeted, distracting the eldest Tendo daughter from her task and watching a small television perched on the counter. "Anything good on TV?"
"No." Kasumi answered somberly. "It's horrible, over fifty people died at an apartment building."
Ranma really didn't know the proper way to respond to that statement. "How'd it happen?" She asked, going up to the counter to watch the news cast. It showed a crew in bright yellow hazmat suits entering into a low rise apartment building.
"They think it was some kind of toxic gas leak." Kasumi stopped stirring for a moment. "So horrible, the reporter said that it's like they just fell over dead. A little boy found his family after coming home from a friends house."
"That is horrible." Ranma briefly chewed on her lower lip. Her job was to protect people and in general all life. Maybe if it had been caught sooner Usagi could have revived them. It wasn't always easy to accept natural deaths but it was an impossible task to save everyone.
Kasumi quickly glanced towards the entrance before leaning in to whisper in Ranma's ear. "Is there anything Sailor Moon could do?"
"Not now." Ranma decided to neither confirm or deny Kasumi's question outright. "I mean, even Queen Serenity could only ensure we were reincarnated at the same time. If it was easy, why wouldn't she have simply brought us back to life?"
"That's true." The elder female nodded sadly to herself. "Her majesty wasn't all powerful, even she had limitations."
One of Ranma's eyebrows rose in curiosity as Kasumi checked on dinner preparations. "Um— Kasumi." She asked, immediately recognizing that the eldest Tendo daughter didn't realize what she was doing.
"Yes? Oh— I'm sorry Ranma, did you need anything?"
"No, that's not it. It's just— how you're talking."
"What? Does it sound like I have a cold? Oh I hope not, your mother may want to try and teach Akane how to cook again." Kasumi fretted nervously and put the back of her right hand to her forehead. "I don't feel a fever."
"What language are you speaking?" She asked, a small smile slowly spreading across her face.
Kasumi stopped to stare at her before speaking. "That's an odd question to ask." The young woman's eyes widened in realization. "I'm speaking Lunarian."
Ranma just nodded rapidly at the statement.
"But— does— I mean— is it normal to just start using a language if you're trying to learn it? What's going on?" Kasumi asked in a halting and scared voice.
"Pyrrha, just breath and relax. Give me a sec, I'll go get mom to watch the stove." Ranma tried to sound reassuring and was halfway out the door before she realized her slip up and visibly winced. "Meet me in your room."
Her bare feet slid on the wood as she came to a stop in the living room doorway. "Hey Mom, Kasumi isn't feeling that great, do you think you could finish dinner?" Nodoka was thankfully the only occupant to the room, she could only imagine the crying fit Soun would have gotten.
"Of course." The Saotome woman nodded. "Is she alright?"
"She's fine, just needs some rest— I'll just go help her to her room." Running off again, she briefly checked the kitchen to make sure nothing would boil over before Nodoka arrived. Ranma nearly passed by Kasumi as the larger girl stumbled up the steps to the second floor. "Want help?" She offered a hand that Kasumi took.
"That name, why do I know that name?" Kasumi muttered to herself softly, eyes staring forward unfocused, left hand resting on her forehead.
"Don't try to force it." She really didn't know the best way to handle this and was just going off her own experience. As they turned past Nabiki's doorway, she saw that the middle sister was preoccupied, wearing her headphones, and reading some magazine. 'Good, that's one less distraction.'
"I haven't been entirely honest with you." Ranma started, leading Kasumi to sit on her western style bed. "I'm sorry. At first I didn't know— then I didn't know how to tell you— or if I should."
"Tell me what?" Kasumi closed her eyes and gripped the sheets on her bed as though she needed to anchor herself in place. "Am I like you? I don't think I could be a Senshi."
"You're not a Senshi, as far as I know." Ranma response made Kasumi relax slightly. "But you're like me— reincarnated from the Silver Millenium. Back then, Pyrrha was your name." Kneeling down in front of Kasumi she mentally berated herself for not saying anything or trying to prepare her. "Maybe when I mentioned Queen Serenity it finally got you to start remembering. Do you remember her at all?"
"Maybe." The young woman's face scrunched up even further in concentration to the point where she was starting to sweat.
"Easy." Ranma shook the bigger girl to distract her.
"I think I do." Kasumi relaxed her body and slumped forward. "Barely." The homemaker opened her eyes to stare into Ranma's questioningly. "What's going to happen to me?"
"Nothing bad." Ranma got up from her kneeling position to sit on the bed next to Kasumi. "It's kind of like suddenly remembering things you forgot."
"I'm not going to become a different person?" She asked fearfully.
"Did I?"
"Not really, no. You're still that brash young man who showed up as a red haired girl being carried by a panda."
"Not all the way but thanks." Ranma admitted softly, Nerima plus time tended to change a person. "I was really worried about that when I started getting all these memories."
"Why didn't you try to tell me at all? Even little hints?"
"I did give hints at first, you just never picked up on anything, so after awhile I gave up on you coming back." She admitted and hung her head. It had hurt to let go and accept that Kasumi may never remember. There were only a handful of friends left from her first life and she didn't want to lose any of the precious few who had been given a second chance.
"How did you know me? Who was I?" Kasumi asked curiously, sounding less frightened and more upbeat.
"I don't think there's a word for it now." Ranma lifted her head and started to smile, happy that Kasumi was taking this well. "Advisor kind of fits. I'm surprised we went so long without remembering, you've been doing it since Pop dropped me off his shoulder."
"What happens next?"
"Dinner sounds good." She answered, ecstatic that Kasumi wasn't mad with her for withholding information. Too bad her phone had to vibrate and completely ruin that mood. Grumbling she opened it up to see that Minako had finally joined in to laugh about the photo Michiru had taken after the concert. 'Some goddess of love she is!'
"What picture is your friend talking about?" Kasumi asked innocently and Ranma opened up the image. "Oh how cute, your mother would love to see this."
"My mother and especially our fathers must never know about this."
'This turned out really well.' Kasumi thought to herself as she enjoyed dinner with her family and the Saotomes. Nodoka had taken care of everything, believing that she was feeling ill. It felt wrong to lie to her houseguest like that but she really was feeling out of sorts mentally. She knew that this wouldn't be a fast process, having seen it play out with Ranma. Memories would arrive in fits and bursts, usually related to something she was currently doing.
"Kasumi, are you sure you're alright?" Nodoka asked worriedly, seeing her far away look.
She took a few moments to compose herself before answering. "I'm fine, thank you."
Her response seemed to calm her father who looked like he would have a nervous breakdown at any moment. They had needed to let him calm down after learning she wasn't feeling the best and she didn't want to give him a reason to relapse.
For months she had been trying to learn Lunarian under Ranma's spotty tutelage but now she found herself slipping into it without thinking. Kasumi knew that Ranma hadn't gone through this particular problem after she found the new Senshi sitting in the bathtub. Glancing to her side, she caught Ranma's nervous look of support. 'I can do this.'
Even though her language problem was a nuisance, she was very excited for the trip Ranma was planning for tomorrow with just Nodoka and herself. A trip to a castle that survived the fall of the Silver Millenium. A place and time that she now knew she was a part of. Although she had no clue whatsoever where it was and how they would get there on such short notice.
Kasumi was so distracted by thoughts on what awareness of a past life would bring that she absently answered a question from Chibi-Usa in Lunarian. She smiled uneasily after seeing the look of confusion on everyones faces except for Ranma, Usa, and Genma; who continued eating without a care.
"I guess I should take it easy." Kasumi nervously added, seeing that her father was starting to get emotional. "Auntie, if it's alright, do you mind putting everything away? I think I should go lay down." She met Ranma's concerned gaze briefly before standing up.
"Of course it is, I'm sure Usa-chan and Akane will be happy to help." Nodoka volunteered the two younger females. "I'll bring you something to drink when we're done."
"But I'm too short to reach anything!" Chibi-Usa protested.
"It's an excellent training opportunity, girl." Genma's chopsticks flashed out and stole some food from the child's plate.
"Awww!" The pink haired girl whined loudly, head snapping towards Genma in order to glare darkly at him for stealing her food.
The next morning
Walking alongside her younger sister and permanent houseguest Ranma, Nabiki hovered a reasonable distance from Akane. It was already warm outside without a cloud in the sky, so she was looking forward to a wonderfully humid day that she would spend sweating in a classroom.
Ranma gave her a confused look as the currently female teen strode along the top of the canal fence. "Kasumi wakes up early to make waffles from scratch and now Nabiki is walking with us to school. I think somebody is screwing with us Akane." (4)
"You should be happy I'm walking to school with you, Saotome." She replied snarkily. "Means I'm not at school preparing to sick Kuno on you."
"You would be the one to rile him up." The redhead stuck out her tongue. "He's been behaving lately. Even after you told him that I had an engagement ring."
"So don't ruin it." Akane warned crossly.
"I said I wasn't talking to him." She looked away as though offended and crossed her arms.
"Well— whatever, it's nice that you wanted to walk to school with us." Akane shifted over to walk a little closer to Nabiki.
"I just wanted to grace you two with my presence." She snickered outwardly but inside she was on high alert.
With both of her sisters and Nodoka acting strangely towards Ranma, Nabiki knew that it was only a matter of time before something was going to happen around the gender swapping teen. So long as she was near Ranma she would be able to see the chaos before it reached its event horizon and then take a neat little side step to avoid it. He may be a dumb jock but Ranma had a proven track record of being able to solve whatever crisis arose.
"Nabiki, you haven't caught what Kasumi has, have you?" Akane asked her in concern.
"Me? I'm fine, just wondering what Saotome thinks he's doing going to school as a girl." She deflected her sisters attention away from herself. 'It could be something like that going around.' Nabiki hypothesized, fearing a magical infection making people act differently.
Not that Ranma going to school as a girl was that uncommon. The Saotome teen often found a way to be splashed by cool water early in the morning and waited until the relative safety of the classroom to return to his birth form. But spending two days in a row voluntarily as a girl? Without some random magical lock explanation? That was new.
Nabiki had expected there to be some kind of banter back and forth but the two engaged teens barely said a word. 'What is going on?' It was starting to be a bit creepy and she was thankful for a return to normalcy as Kuno came running up to them wearing his school uniform from Furinkan's gate.
"Pigtailed goddess!" Kuno greeted in joy as he ran up to them. "Do my eyes deceive me or have you finally been freed from your bonds and will attend this atrocious institute of learning alongside me?" The tall boy skidded to a stop in front of them to block Ranma's path. "Oh my love!" He shouted and prepared to glomp onto the much smaller redhead.
Ranma held up her hand and Kuno instantly stopped. "Can't you at least say hello first?"
The kendoist blinked repeatedly at the dainty hand pointed towards his face before he took a step back and coughed into his own hand. "Apologies my lady, greetings on this most beautiful of mornings! But it cannot match my goddess who hath bound fire itself to be her hair. Or the radiant beauty and poise of Tendo Akane. A shame it is that this day would be marred by the dark shadowy miasma that has taken the form of her elder and far lesser sister." He finished, eyes sliding over her as though she was a worm who had crawled out of a hole.
"Morning, so what did you want?" Ranma asked, clearly as unmoved by Kuno's speech as the two born females.
"Why to greet you and to ask for you to accompany me on a date."
"Sorry, I'm going somewhere tonight."
'Where's he going?' Nabiki wondered, not knowing of any plans like that concert stunt.
"Tomorrow?" Kuno continued without pause.
"My week is full."
"Whilst I am disappointed, I will persevere, and hope that your schedule next week shall not consume all your time."
"That's great." Ranma looked at her wrist as though she was wearing a watch. "But shouldn't we be getting to class, it'd sure be a shame if we had to deal with your crazy coconut headed father. Right?"
"Of course!" He shouted and pulled a boken out from nowhere. "Fear not! I shall go and vanquish my parental nuisance and free this hall of learning from his tyranny!"
Nabiki watched with her sister and Ranma as Kuno left them in a rush towards school. "Didn't he hear that pineapple head is gone for the month?" She asked incredulously. "We threw a party."
"Are you really going to look a gift horse in the mouth?" Akane asked.
As she turned away from her shoe locker with her smaller set for days like these, Ranma found herself facing Akane's two friends, Yuka and Sayuri. Holding her slippers in front of her and looking between the two girls in confusion, she glanced over to where Akane's locker was and saw that she was already rushing to class. 'No help there.'
"Ranma-san." Yuka said, snapping her attention back to the two schoolgirls.
"Yea?" She bent down slightly to slip on both of her slippers. "What's— up?" Ranma asked, not used to conversing with either of the two alone.
"We heard that you are close to Sailor Theia."
"Hiroshi and Daisuke are liars." Her shoulders drooped and she groaned. She couldn't believe that stupid rumor about her trying to make Sailor Theia a new fiance was still going around.
"We know." Sayuri nodded. "But Akane showed us the crazy autograph she got from Sailor Theia and said that you got it for her."
"Oh." Ranma's eyes darted once again to the doorway Akane had disappeared through in a rush and narrowed. "What about it?"
"Did you really get it from her?" Yuka asked excitedly.
"Is it really in an ancient language from the Moon?" Sayuri added on, equally excited.
"Akane told you that?" She asked, angry that Akane had already let slip that much information, but she had to take her ego into consideration. Leaning back against the stack of lockers and casually crossing her arms, she looked away absently. "I mean, why do you want to know?"
"Ranma-san, this is no joke. If you know a Sailor Senshi please tell us." Sayuri requested seriously.
"It's not my place to say." She thoughtlessly played with the end of her more intricately braided pigtail. "But if you need help with something maybe I could handle it? I am a rather great martial artist after all."
Yuka turned to look at Sayuri. "It sounds like he knows something."
"Agreed, Ranma-san isn't a very good liar." Sayuri agreed.
"Well would you look at the time." Ranma tried to gracefully extricate herself from this conversation. "Class is about to start, we better hurry if we don't want to be late."
"Please— could you just give this to her?" Sayuri held out a sealed envelope.
"What is it?" She asked, taking the offered envelope. "And why is it so important that I need to deliver it to someone that I may or may not know?"
"Might as well tell you so you don't peek." Yuka started with a sigh. "We're starting up a club in her honor. It's an invitation to come to our first real meeting so we can thank her for saving all of us the other night."
"Oh— I'm flattered." She said honestly, taking a more careful look at the expensive paper used for the envelope.
"Why would you be flattered?" Sayuri asked in confusion.
"That you trusted me to deliver your letter, of course!" Ranma laughed nervously. "But class is about to start so bye!" She kept her letter in hand as she rushed away from the two girls. 'Hmm, maybe Venus had the right idea with all that Sailor V merchandising and appearances.'
Making it into class with moments to spare, Ranma settled into her seat with only a few sideways glances from the other students. Depositing the letter safely into her bookbag, Ranma quickly pulled out her classwork as Hinako's childish eyes settled on her for a long moment of inspection. The ki draining teacher shrugged, finding no reason to find her a delinquent, and continued checking students off her attendance sheet.
Ranma only paid enough attention to avoid Hinako's tender mercy but she did notice that Ukyo was marked absent.
Waiting as patiently as she could to use the locker room, Ranma leaned against the cinder block wall with her arms crossed, watching as several boys passed her by on the way to the Mens side. It stunk that she had to use the Womens one but swim class meant that she had to be female and the staff was quite adamant that she not strip in front of a group of hormone addled boys. Not that she enjoyed that kind of attention on the normal days where she changed in there. Always having to be on high alert for some brave moron getting the bright idea to surprise her with cold water while she undressed.
Checking the time to make sure all the girls should be in the class, Ranma entered into the normally forbidden zone. Instantly she heard the voices of classmates who were taking their sweet time to get into the pool area. Ignoring them so she could go enjoy the cool water faster, Ranma ran through the combination to get into her locker.
"Oh look, it's Saotome." Emiko jeered with a slam of her locker, causing the girl's three friends to giggle.
"Hi Emiko-chan!" She greeted with sickeningly sweet and completely false cheer. Hurriedly removing her shirt and tank top, the last thing she wanted to do was listen to Emiko. The only one she wanted to talk to right now was Akane, who had been avoiding her all day long.
"I always wanted to ask, Saotome." The black haired girl came up to stand a short distance away to Ranma's right. "Is Jusenkyo some place for super perverts to get their jollies?"
Ignoring the girl's question, Ranma continued to get changed.
"Guys like you who do nothing but work out are supposed to be all muscle. It really doesn't make much sense for you to look like you do."
"If that's your idea of a pick up line, I'm sorry but you're not my type." Ranma rolled her eyes at how hard Emiko tried to make jokes at her expense.
"Seriously." The normal teen pressed on. "It must be nice to come by your looks magically. Cause naturally you'd probably look like some freaky body builder."
"It is very nice to know that you think I'm cute, Emiko." Ranma snickered as she slipped on her navy one piece swimsuit, hearing the outer door open and then close with a loud bang. "Thanks."
"I'm saying you're a fake." Emiko spat harshly. "Just some sicko crossdresser who gets off on being a big breasted bimbo with badly braided hair." She sneered. "Oh look, you even tried a new style."
"Would you give it a rest?" Ranma sighed in an overly dramatic way. 'I can't believe Emiko is the first one to notice that my braid is different.'
"Or what?" One of Emiko's friends asked, feeling emboldened by having numbers on her side.
"Everybody knows you'd never hit a girl." The other added.
Ranma closed her eyes and laughed slowly before focusing her blue eyes on Emiko's average brown. "No— I hit girls. I just don't like to hit people weaker than me." She took a single step towards the normal girl, who's eyes opened wide, and reached up to pick a fallen hair from Emiko's shoulder and throw it to the side. "And I couldn't imagine anyone weaker or more pathetic." Ranma smiled pleasantly, enjoying the way the other girl's face turned a dark shade of red.
"How dare you say that, you freak." Emiko was shaking she was so angry.
"Hey!" Sayuri yelled from the end of the locker row, stopping Emiko from doing something really stupid. "Shirokawa-sensei wanted to know why you're taking so long?"
"Whatever." Emiko and her friends made a hasty retreat past Sayuri now that someone else was here to hear them.
Ranma just shrugged and closed her locker. It was understood that she would be a couple minutes late.
"Ranma-san, does that happen often?" Sayuri asked in concern.
"Does what happen?" She asked cluelessly.
"Them talking to you like that." The born female clarified.
"Nah— pretty rare but occasionally someone feels like taking some kind of swing at me. No big deal." Ranma was more annoyed by how Emiko insinuated that this was just some fake magically created body than anything else. Seeing that Sayuri looked a little perturbed by finding out that people took advantage of her easy going nature, Ranma added. "I'll just be sure to accidentally splash her a few dozen times."
"If you say so." Sayuri looked doubtful as she led the way outside.
"I'm so happy this is the last class of the day!" Ranma smiled giddily at the opportunity to cool off after a long hot day sitting inside. Sayuri left to rejoin her friends as soon as they were outside in the bright sun. Ranma immediately searched for, and found Akane at the shallow end decked out in water wings and a big ring around her waist.
"Hey Akane!" She greeted, amused by the useless goggles and snorkel. "Why have you been avoiding me all day?"
"Uh." Akane grimaced and tried to make a big show of adjusting the goggles to fit on her face. "I wasn't."
"Yea okay— I just wanted to remind you that—." Ranma paused to make sure no one would overhear. "Me being a Senshi is supposed to be a secret."
"Ranma, I just mentioned that you got that autograph for me from a Senshi. It's no big deal."
"Akane, I'm trying to keep it a secret." She had no idea how a direct association with Sailor Theia would affect the disguise spell. 'Even though It'd be an interesting experiment if I wanted someone to know.'
"Whatever Ranma, you should be more worried about Kasumi speaking in that weird language in front of the family than me talking to a couple friends." Akane said dismissively and jumped in the water.
'No one knew what language she was speaking.' Ranma thought, no longer able to talk freely as the teacher came over to give her the assigned swim stroke for the day.
Chibi-Usa collapsed breathlessly against a tree trunk, desperately attempting to keep herself hidden from Genma. She got four good breaths in before several dozen pebbles rained down on her position. While she was able to avoid most of them and even knock a few out of the air, three were able to hit her. Shrieking in pain, Usa stumbled and fell to the dirt.
"It's just a couple rocks, girl. We'll have to toughen up." Genma taunted, the large man appearing out of nowhere to loom above her; a burlap sack filled full of pebbles held in his left hand.
Rubbing at a sore spot on her right thigh, she could already feel a hard knot forming beneath the skin. 'Why did I volunteer for this again?' Usa asked herself as she glared up at the bald martial artist.
Before training this morning, Genma had gifted her with her own white gi. Her style would have been pink and red with hearts all over but it had been an unexpected gift that put her in a fantastic mood. She imagined that this was a symbol, that she had passed some unspoken test, and he would be a nicer teacher from now on.
Chibi-Usa now knew that this test had really rewarded with him finally starting to torture her seriously. His idea for the day was stealth training in a conveniently placed nearby forest, where the punishment for being found was having to avoid a hailstorm of rocks.
"Not being detected is one of a martial artists greatest requirements." Genma repeated sagely.
"Isn't that ninja?" She asked, trying to stand up but falling back down to the dirt. Without the brief energy burst from adrenaline fueling her, her body felt so heavy that she couldn't get back up to her feet.
"Nonsense, a true martial artist takes advantage of every advantage they can obtain!" He dumped out the last of his pebbles before kneeling down to pick her up. "Come on, we're done for the day."
'Oh thank you!' She mentally cheered as the deceptively strong man carried her.
"You're a lot more fragile than Ranma was." Genma thought to himself out loud. "When he was your age we could have kept going for another hour or two."
"More?!" She cried incredulously. They had been going nonstop since eight this morning and it was nearly time for dinner.
"Of course, girl." Genma snorted. "But I had been training Ranma since he was real little. Can't expect a slacker like you to be at his level yet."
"When I grow up, I'm going to rule the world." She crossed her arms and nodded as though the weight of the world sat on her shoulders. "I'll need to be strong enough that I won't need to be protected ever again!"
"Rule the world? Better than the boy's dream when he was your age to protect some queen." Genma shifted her to free up a hand to reach up and adjust his glasses.
" What was the queen's name?" She asked, hoping to gain more information to taunt Ranma with later.
"I don't remember. I'd just hit him over the head and he stopped mumbling in his sleep." He answered before giving her a questioning look.
"That's not part of training is it?" Chibi-Usa asked hopefully.
"Nodoka wouldn't like it." He answered evasively.
'I'm safe!' She giggled to herself, happy for the protection Nodoka's presence offered.
"Maybe in a couple years I can start training you on how to defend yourself in your sleep." He added as an afterthought.
"A couple years—." She repeatedly softly to herself before shifting so she could hug him around the neck. "I hope we can." Usagi whispered sadly.
"What was that?" Genma asked, not having been paying attention.
"Nothing."
Author Notes
Lautia - the public entertainment of eminent strangers
1 - Galaxia arc. I do hope this clears up the age thing so I quit seeing comments about it
2 - The octopus that ate the lifetime love pill during book ten.
3 - Rouge arc, Ranma showed off that his massage skills were great enough to ease the shoulders of a six armed woman. I'm just expanding on it a little bit for it to be some esoteric training he did. It's Ranma, why not?
4 - Frice wanted waffles included
Prereader list, in no particular order: Frice, Konsaki, J. Patrick, WG Writer
Honorable mentions: Dumbledork, Cheb, Wharpt, gsteemso