The Youngest Senshi

Chapter 4- Arrival of the cute junior senshi in training, Sailor Chibi-Venus!

Disclaimer- I don't own Sailor Moon or Ranma ½, but I thank Naoko Takeuchi and Rumiko Takahashi for creating them.

In the middle of a wild and unknown place, a light flashed, and Sailor Venus and Ranma appeared. However, they were not unexpected.

"Welcome to Venus, young Minako Aino and Ranma Saotome."

The pair looked up, only to see a light so bright, that they could barely see the body at the center of it. Venus asked, "Who are you? What are we doing here?"

"I am Venus, the planet herself. I have seen you fight for many years, Minako, and I applaud you. I also appreciate your foresight in taking young Ranma here under your roof. Thanks to you, now we can train a successor to you, to defend this planet in the future, and to make it habitable once again. During the Silver Millennium, this place was considered one of the most beautiful planets in the Galaxy. However, when that ended, it lost its beauty, due to your death. Thanks to your renewed link-up, the planet has been slowly returning to its former glory. However, it is not enough, and we must renew your link completely to return this planet to its best days. Your young and rather cute, I may add, friend shall be your successor as well."

"But what do I have to do with this?" asked Ranma- I'm just another person"

"I know of your loss of your strength and abilities. This will allow you to regain your strength, and if you so wish, to regain your adult form, although that can only happen once Venus passes her torch on to you. You will be her successor, as you are the most worthy, considering Minako here does not usually give so much for one person."

"No one said you did not have too."

"Except for me; if Ranma will inherit my powers, then she will have to be a girl, for I have long since figured out that men can not have as strong a link as the women. As you may have noticed, Tuxedo Kamen is something of a weakling."

"Do I have too? I'm a guy; can't I at least wear a guy's outfit?"

"You seemed to have no problem with that today. Besides, I've been thinking about taking you under my wing anyway. It certainly doesn't seem like you've ever had a mother figure. I'm willing to do that, especially because I probably won't be kicking the bucket anytime soon. "

"Well, when you put it that way…"

"Ranma, I won't force you into this- it isn't easy, and it isn't always worthwhile. In fact, sometime, being a fighter can be downright lonely. You are asked to make a choice, and this is one of the hardest choices you could ever make. Whatever choice you make today, it will affect you the rest of your life. Take up the mantle, and you have the chance to defend people again. If you decide not to, you could of course train your way back to your former level, but by that time, everyone you knew will be far too old for you. If you do decide to become the apprentice of Sailor Venus, it will ensure you have friends for the rest of your life, and believe me; your life will be much longer. You will not be able to have your friends in Nerima again, but you at least won't be alone. I've given you as much as I can. Now it is your turn."

Ranma considered his options. He could both take up that stupid outfit, and regain his former strength and speed, or he could be as helpless as he was today against that youma. Frankly, both were not appealing choices. Yet something occurred to Ranma now, which he had never realized in his entire life- the only way he could truly be an adult was to make choices, right? Ranma had never had the opportunity to make choices, since he was always bound by the choices of others. His father had bound him to the choice of Akane as his fiancé, a choice which he had not wanted to make, as had Akane. It was the same way with Shampoo- the Amazons wanted to force him into that choice. Even, in a way, Ukyou presented a choice, yet he really had no idea what that choice required. Plus he finally had a mother, something that never really been present in his life. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad. In fact, Ranma realized, he did not really have a choice in that life at all, a life that he now had a chance to erase. His choice was made.

"I will become your apprentice, Sailor Venus. I guess you're right, I do need a mother."

At that moment, Minako felt an immense surge of relief wash over her. She had been worried that Ranma wouldn't accept her planet's offer. She had grown to love Ranma, in a motherly sort of way, and felt a strong connection to the girl. This was her chance to do something that would change, in a way, the fate of the world. However, how would she train Ranma, when she had barely learned anything herself?

"Rest assured you will not have to worry about your ability to train Ranma. It is time your memories were returned to you. I find it amazing that you and the other senshi have managed to endure so much with the limited powers you have. Frankly, they will need their memories in the future as well, so I hope they receive their memories soon, for in a few years, all of you will need your memories to fend off the evil coming from another part of the universe. Now, let us begin."

Venus and the representation of her planet began glowing. Suddenly, the planetary sigil of Venus appeared, and glowed brilliantly.

"Avatar of Venus, become what you were once more."

With that Sailor Venus became infinitely more powerful. She felt the surge of power, as well as the rush of memories that roared through her head. At the same time, power surged through her veins, truly strengthening her bond with her home planet. Venus basked in the power, feeling it wash over her, heal her, and at the same time, make her more. Venus opened her eyes, and smiled. Her clothes had changed. Her entire outfit was now white, except for the edge of her skirt and her collar, which both remained orange. Her hair now cascaded down, free of the red bow which once adorned it. Power seemed to radiate off her in waves, and seemed to make her a stronger person. A sword appeared in front of her.

Ranma watched as Venus emerged out of the ethereal light. She moved both powerfully and gracefully, with a rather familiar air of confidence that would have been more in place on Ranma's adult form than a fighter of love and justice. It sucked you in, made you want to just celebrate the fact that there was a being of such power and good so close by.

"How do you feel now, my avatar? Do you feel better knowing what you know now?"

"My only question is why I wasn't able to undergo this sooner. It would have been useful against some of the enemies we faced to have this power. Also, where did this sword come from?"

"I could not give you the power because your current form was not ready for the stress. After Helios gave you your new transformations, your power capacity was ready. However, then I found myself waiting as you and the others fought against Galaxia, although your powers would have been of little use against her- Not even Sailor Moon could do it, and she has reached her top form, although her power capacity has not been brought to its limits yet. In fact, I believe she is only using about half her power. It will require a lot more training before any of you can reach your limits. However, like I said, there are a few years before the next major threat comes, and although this will initiate the start of Crystal Tokyo, you will need to fight off this enemy first. The sword is the Venus Wink Sword. It was created by your predecessor as a power focus. I strongly suggest you find someone to learn how to use a sword from. In any case, I believe it is time we officially empowered Ranma here as your apprentice. And before I forget, the Moon wants to pass on a message to Sailor Moon that she needs to ensure that all of her warriors are rebound to their planets. In fact, I suggest they do that before doing any more training. Moon could stand to rebound with her Moon as well."

"Ranma, are you ready?"

Ranma simply nodded. By this time she was certain that she wanted this. For some reason, something had been almost holding her back. However, Venus's transformation had erased all doubt. "Let's go. I don't want to wait anymore."

The Planet's manifestation and Venus nodded in return. Sailor Venus began "I, the avatar of Venus, present my candidate for apprentice and my successor."

"I acknowledge your candidate and ask of her qualifications. The candidate must be compassionate, loving, and honorable. She must know of the Silver Millennium, and know of the power that comes with the position of my avatar and promise never to turn the power for evil means, for if she does, she shall be stripped of her power forever. Does your candidate have these qualities within her?"

"She does. Her compassion has shown through in her willingness to help others, and loves everyone she meets, save for if they are cruel to her. Moreover, she refuses to cheat in anyway. Your qualifications are of no consequence in judging my apprentice."

"Very well. I accept your candidate as your apprentice, and give part of my power to her. I look forward to the day when she claims her full powers, and may she never stop loving others."

"Candidate for apprenticeship, do you accept your avatar's offer?"

"I do accept, and thank the avatar of Venus for her offer."

With this Ranma began glowing softly in an ethereal light, and then the light shined brightly. When the light faded, Ranma floated in a senshi outfit, which fortunately for her, was nothing like Chibi-Usa's. Instead, the outfit was much like Venus's first- a white bodysuit attached to an orange skirt with matching bows and collar.

Ranma opened her eyes, and felt power, power like nothing she had felt ever before. The planet hadn't been kidding when she said Ranma would get her strength back. However, something seemed different. Ranma grasped the power, and found it was much more orderly than her life energy. Her life energy had always raged like a powerful river. This power was more like a smooth canal. She tried a few katas, and found that everything she had was really all back. She felt like dancing.

Sailor Venus watched in amusement as Ranma started arcing all over the place. She was glad that Ranma had accepted the chance to become her apprentice. Still, she was worried. How were Usagi and the others handling that monster now? Perhaps it was time to go.

She turned to Venus and said "We need to go. I'm sure that the others need our help right now."

The planet's manifestation nodded and said "Don't forget to remind Moon to get you all to reconnect with your planets. I'll send a message to the other's planet's spirits, and they should contact the rest of your senshi in their sleep. I'll send you back now."

Ranma, who had stopped jumping like a jellybean by now, nodded. "Thank you, Venus. I too, look forward to claiming my full powers."

"Well, I suppose we'd better go before the senshi fall apart. You know what they say, 'one in the band is worth two in the river'".

The planet merely groaned and said, "Sailor Venus, that's 'one in the hand is worth two in the bush.'".

"I'll get a saying right one of these days…"

The spirit of Venus merely smiled, and Sailors Venus and Chibi-Venus disappeared in a flash of hearts.

Back on the battlefield, the other senshi were struggling, and Mercury had been taken out. This was an unusually powerful youma. Little did the senshi know that this was a scout monster for the threat coming. Fortunately, help was on the way. Hearts flashed, and Venus and Chibi-Venus reentered the fray with a bang.

"Venus Crescent Bomb!" Venus powered up, and the newly empowered senshi formed a crescent-shaped energy bomb the size of a house above her head. She brought her hands down from their upright position and sent the love-bomb into the monster, which went flying back. Not to be outdone, Chibi-Venus jumped ahead and started to lay into the monster, obviously enjoying it. The new senshi smashed the youma high into the air, and prepared her new move.

"Venus Crescent Shot!" Chibi-Venus hit with a quick stunning shot and the youma landed slightly dazed in front of the other senshi.

Then Venus decided to show just why she had led the senshi during the Silver Millennium. She found in her memories the Venusians martial arts styles, and decided to put them to full effectiveness. Starting with a throw, Venus flung the youma into the air, and then jumped, smashing it towards Moon with a heel drop smash.

"Moon, take the youma out now!"

Only, Sailor Moon was too shocked by the display the pair of Venuses had put on. The youma, noticing this, managed to regain control and smashed straight into Moon.

Chibi Venus, getting annoyed, decided to pound the youma herself.

Moon getting back up, noticed something- the youma wasn't attacking her. Instead, said youma was getting its butt kicked by chibi-Venus once again. Finally deciding to take advantage of this, she took aim with her Tier.

"Silver Moon Crystal Power Kiss!"

The attack slammed into the youma, reducing it to a pile of dust.

Venus, who had come up to Moon after her apprentice had started laying into the youma, said "Moon, I have some things to explain to all of you. Let's meet tonight at the temple, make sure everyone is there."

Moon could only nod her head in silent agreement.