SMST 5D: A Thanksgiving Carol! – By DS Wynne
Disclaimer: SM, R1/2, ST and other genres belong to their respective owners.
Note: This is a multi-genre story.
Part 2
DONG!
Usagi woke up from her nap, as her grandfather clock struck on the one o'clock mark. Quantum mechanics specialist Dr. Emmett Brown gave the artifact to her and Ranma as a "thank you" gift, for some Time-based adventure involving a DeLorean…
"Huh," Usagi says to herself, as she rolls over a bit. "Whoever is suppose to visit me is late-"
"I'm here now, Usagi," says a familiar voice.
Usagi turns to see a familiar face.
"You," Usagi says.
"Me, Usagi," says Luke Skywalker, as his blue aura shimmered a bit. "Long time no see."
"…"
"Well?"
"I shouldn't talk to you, Luke," Usagi says, as she rolls over.
"Aw, Usagi," says Luke says, as he sits. "You don't need to be like THAT."
"Why shouldn't I? This is the FIRST time you have visited me, and yet LEIA visits Ranma all the time. And I'm the one who helped to raise you to manhood, as well as teach you the Jedi Arts."
"Usagi, you see me all the time."
"Yeah, but usually I have to go to the Jedi Council's astral plane to see YOU."
"Well, then I put in a better effort then."
"Damn right. So, why are you here?"
"I'm here to show you why you should be thankful."
"Thankful for what?"
"For what you have accomplished in your life."
"Humph."
"No, really."
"Well, then, my former padawan. Show me what I should be thankful for."
"Okay, grab my hand," Luke says, as he offers his hand to Usagi.
Hesitantly, Usagi takes Luke's hand.
"Hang on…"
FLASH!
Usagi find herself in some nondescript room. She turns around to see a window of some sort. Hesitantly, she walks over to the window, and looks outside…
"Space," Usagi says to herself. Then, she sees the planet below.
"Earth…"
CHIRP-CHIRP!
Usagi quickly turns her head towards the sliding door.
CHIRP-CHIRP!
Usagi says nothing.
"…"
"Usagi, are you in there?" Ranma says.
"Ranma?" Usagi replied.
"Yeah. Are you okay?"
Usagi quickly goes over to the panel door, and presses a button on it.
SHHHHH!
The door opens revealing a young Ranma. He was dressed in a "Military Assault Command Operations" (or "MACO") uniform. MACOs were a "Special Forces" detachment that was assigned to UN Spacy's command structure…
'This is mine and Ranma's third year with UN Spacy, since Ranma is wearing a MACO uniform,' Usagi thought to herself. 'And if this is the case, then-'
"Captain Archer wanted to know if you wanted to have a Thanksgiving Day meal with him and the other command staff," Ranma says. "Since we're about to go into the Delphic Expanse in order to go after the Xindi and all…"
Usagi sits down on a nearby chair.
"I don't think I'm up to it, Ranma," Usagi says. "With everything that has happened, and all…"
Ranma goes over to his friend, and places a hand on Usagi's shoulders.
"Usagi, you shouldn't be so…selfish."
"Me selfish?"
"Yes. Yes, this past year has been hard, but at least you made it though okay. Commander Tripp wasn't so lucky."
Usagi frowns for a minute before realizing-
"That's right," Usagi says. "Tripp's sister was killed in Florida, when the Xindi had attacked Earth."
"Exactly," Ranma says. "The captain wanted us to get together for Tripp's sake, not to mention T'Pol's."
Usagi nods her head in reply. T'Pol was essentially going rogue in order to serve Archer's command, since the Vulcan High Command had forbade Earth from dealing with the Xindi out of fear…
"Okay," Usagi says with a sigh. "I'll do it."
"I'm glad, Usagi."
As the two turn to leave-
FLASH!
Usagi reoriented herself, as she felt strong hands on her backside.
"Huh?" Usagi says, as she turns around. "Oh."
Ranma looks up from his messaging.
"Is there a problem, hon?"
"Um, nothing," Usagi says, as she lay back down on her stomach. "So…what's up?"
"Well, like I told you, I think we have an opportunity to stay aboard the Enterprise after this tour has expired."
Usagi quickly went through her memories…
"You think Captain April will mind?" Usagi asked.
"He's the one who offered us a chance to stay. Between YOUR navigation and MY piloting, we make a pretty good team."
"And how does Aiko feel about this?"
Ranma sighs, as he sits up.
"She wants us to return planet-side, of course."
"Then that's what we'll do, Ranma."
"But she'll be attending college soon. We'll hardly get to see her anyway."
"Ranma, we're her parents. It's the principle of the thing. For her, she needs to know that we care enough to sacrifice our own ambitions for her. Taking this job as a part of the shake-sown operations was something we needed to do to rekindle our marriage, after that whole Majin Boo disaster."
Usagi flips over to look at her husband.
"And another thing, if it hadn't been for Setsuna visiting us those years ago, I don't know what would have happened to us. Taking this assignment when we did saved our marriage, Ranma. I'm thankful for this opportunity to spend some quality time with you, but we have more important responsibilities to attend to."
Silence.
"You know, sometimes I think I made the right decision in marrying ya," Ranma says.
"'Sometimes'?" Usagi says with the mocked expression of being insulted.
"Well…sometimes you play hard to get."
"Well, mister," Usagi says, as she adjusted body's position. "Let me make it easier for you."
Ranma leans over to kiss his wife…
Suddenly, the klaxons sound off.
"Red Alert! Red Alert! All personnel report to battle stations!"
Both Ranma and Usagi look up.
"I wonder what's up?" Ranma says, as he rolls out of bed.
Usagi sighs. She remembers this day intimately, due to the fact that this was the start of the Earth-Minbari War, thanks to a misreading of intentions on both sides. The war would force the Saotome(s) to stay aboard the Enterprise, which would lead to a further straining of their relationship with their daughter Aiko. Aiko, in turn, would subsequently change her name to Anna, and then marry an Earth Fleet officer named John Sheridan. Unfortunately, her anger towards her parents would be used by the mysterious Shadows, in their efforts to dominate the galaxy, as their avatar: Sailor Z…
"Usagi, we have to hurry," Ranma says, who was almost dressed.
"Coming-"
FLASH!
Usagi looks around, wondering where she ended up this time. However, she felt something on her chest…
"Oh," Usagi says to herself, as she realizes that she was nursing her daughter T'Sara. Usagi smiles, as she rocks her baby…
"Yow!" Thp-Ohki says, as he hops unto Usagi's lap. "Yoooowwww…"
Usagi thinks for a moment…
"Amanda!" Usagi calls out. "Amanda!"
Amanda, the mother of Spock of Vulcan, enters the nursery.
"Yes?"
"I think Tho-Ohki is hungry."
"Oh, okay," says Amanda. "I'll be sure to get him some carrots…"
Usagi looks down at her cabbit friend. She felt a mixture of guilt and happiness upon seeing Tho-ohki again. Eventually, she would give custody of her pet to T'Sara, after she assumes her role as "Sailor Vulcan"…
"By the way, the guests are almost here," says Amanda.
"I'm surprised that Sarek is allowing you to celebrate an Earth holiday," Usagi says, as she dislodges her daughter from her bosom.
"Well, he DID marry an Earth woman, so I'm sure he doesn't mind," Amanda says.
Silence.
"Amanda, I want to…thank you and Sarek for allowing me to raise my daughter here," Usagi says, as she gets up, forcing Tho-Ohki off her lap. "I know it's been hard, considering Sarek's position in Vulcan society-"
"Usagi, it was Sarek who suggested this arrangement, Usagi," Amanda says. "We are thankful for what you had to do in order to save our son's life. In fact, you didn't even have to have T'Sara."
"Amanda, if I was meant to be Spock's mate at that time, then so be it," Usagi says, as she places her baby in her crib.
"But you were married when…it happened."
"I know, and it is something that will have to work itself out."
Silence.
"I will always be Ranma Saotome's soul mate. He is the chaos to my order…the yin to my yang…the alpha to my omega. But right now, I'm here for Spock, regardless of the consequences. Even if Ranma never forgive me for what I have done, I will always be thankful for what I had with him."
Amanda smiles, as she nods her head approvingly.
"I'll go get those carrots," Amanda says. She then motions towards Tho-Ohki.
"Tho-Ohki? Carrots."
"Yowl!" the cabbit says happily, as he hops on Amanda's shoulders.
"I'll be back shortly."
And with that, Amanda leaves the nursery.
"As you can see, if when facing trying times, there have been moments of being thankful," Luke says, as he appears at Usagi's side, as she continued to look at her baby.
"Maybe, but the difference is that there wasn't any significant measure of responsibility that I had to deal with. Yes, I was thankful for the blessing I received, but I had very little to risk."
"Including this?"
"Especially this. Yes, my marriage to Ranma was strained at this time, but our relationship has always had a degree of flexibility."
Usagi turns to look at Luke.
"Why do you think I allowed Ranma to have his girlfriends?"
"So, that decision was driven by guilt over YOUR actions?"
"Partially. The other part was that I didn't want Ranma to be bored with me…"
"…"
"Well, after being married to one person for a thousand years, you got to find ways to spice up one's marriage, you know."
"You know, we better move on, so you can meet the next spirit," Luke says.
"Is it someone I know?"
"Yes."
"Oh. Well, lead on."
And with that, the former master and apprentice duo fade into the ether, as Usagi wonders whom she will meet next…
Tbc.
Author's note: Hey, ya'll. I recently saw the trailer to the new "Star Trek" film. Although I am excited about it, I will consider it as the fictionalized version of Usagi and Ranma's experience (like "Batman Begins" for example). So you could see Usagi and Ranma watching the film, and commenting on how different things are depicted when they faced a similar situation. Anyway, C&C are welcomed.