Ta-dah! I finally got Chapter 3 ready to go! Hopefully I've made up for my delay between postings with the longer chapter. I'd like to thank you for the great reviews, and I hope I can continue to entertain at the same level.

-**-

Chapter 3

"Ami, I think I need your help."

The Princess of Pluto had appeared to Ami just moments before. After surprising Ami while she was doing homework, Setsuna went right to the point. In all truth, it was all Ami could do to perform a world class face fault right then and there.

"My help? Why, is there a Youma attack? I didn't get any alerts...." She whipped out the Mercury computer, immediately doing a quick scan of the surrounding area.

"No, No. Nothing like that. This is different." Setsuna stopped and seemed unwilling to go on.

Ami shifted in her seat. She was always uncomfortable with Setsuna. Pluto was always giving them cryptic advice or hints, but she never asked for help. "Well, what could I help you with?"

"I'm worried that there is something wrong with the Time Gates." Blunt and to the point, well at least that part of Setsuna was holding true.

"Why would I be able to help you? The Gates are yours, I've never been allowed access, and I have no idea how they work."

Setsuna lowered her eyes and shook her head. "I know, I know. Look, I'm not even sure there is something wrong. I mean, nothing seems wrong, and yet...." She trailed off, her gaze shifting off into the distance.

Ami still didn't understand why Setsuna had sought her out. "But why me?"

"Because you at least know how computers work." she blurted.

Now she had Ami's interest. "Really? I didn't know that the Time Gates is a computer?"

"Well, it's more than a computer. The designers put a lot more than just computer circuitry into their design. But it still shares a computer heritage, and I don't know who else to talk with about this." she confessed.

Ami closed up the Mercury computer. "I don't know if I'll be able to help, but I'll do anything I can. When would you like me to come?"

Some of the worry left Setsuna's face. "Now if you could?"

"Sure! Let's go". Amy wasn't going to pass up this opportunity. Wow, I finally get to see the Time Gates she thought as they both disappeared in a violet flash.

A stomach-turning instant later (teleporting never did agree with her), Ami's vision cleared and she had her first look at the Time Gates. To her left was a large elliptical...ring. Well not a ring exactly. It had a front, outside, inside and back edges, so she figured it had a rectangular cross section. It was steel gray in color, with a flat metallic finish. Nothing was in the center, and she could see the rock wall on the other side of it quite clearly. I guess it isn't on right now she thought.

In front of the Time Gates was a large leather couch and an end table. To her right was a small kitchen, with two doors on either side. An arbitrary thought popped into her head. I hope one is a bathroom!

She saw no sign of a computer, or for that fact any electronic machinery at all. She finally turned to Setsuna and asked "Is this it? I don't see any computers?"

Setsuna chuckled and looked over to one of the two doors. "Oh no, this is just where I work. Behind that door is the guts of the Time Gates."

"Oh." Amy walked over to the couch, looking at the large elliptical device. "How does it work."

"Actually, it isn't too complicated. The interface is locked to my voice." She walked over to the couch and sat down. "Have a seat and I'll show you how it works."

Ami joined her on the couch, and felt foolish in immediately noticing how nice the couch was.

Setsuna raised her voice. "Gate. Enable display"

"DISPLAY ENABLED" announced a female voice as the ellipse filled in with a dark gray color.

"Gate. Show daily variants"

As Ami watched, text appeared in the gray background. It was a table of numerically encoded columns, Above the table had tomorrow's date. The headers identified the first column as timeline indices, the second column had a listing of probabilities. The third column seemed to have some text summarizing the significant event."

"Is this what I think it is?" Ami whispered.

"I think so. This is a listing of timelines that show the worst probabilities of Crystal Tokyo occurring. This display is keyed to tomorrow. I typically check each day for the next week, and then shift to weekly scans from there. I look for anything that seems to threaten the likelihood of Crystal Tokyo. Watch..."

"Gate. Display timeline AF29893B78C." she commanded.

Instantly the text and gray disappeared, and was displaced with a view of Usagi accidentally transforming before a news crew, revealing her secret identity.

"Oh my gosh! When did this happen" cried Ami.

Setsuna rolled her eyes. "Oh relax. Remember, this is keyed to tomorrow. I always have one or two cases where Usagi screws up and manages to blow her cover. If we watched more, we'd see that only a bizarre set of occurrences after this type of screwup actually leads to a loss of Crystal Tokyo."

"Oh. Yeah. Sorry. So what is wrong then, everything looks like it is working."

A wrinkle appeared between Setsuna's eyebrows. "Yes and no. See when I run these checks, it usually takes a long time for each list to appear. The Time Gates have to sift through a LOT of potential timelines to find these particular cases. The problem is, lately they seem to be taking a shorter and shorter time to finish. Almost...too quick, at least, that's what it feels like."

Ami stared at the gates thinking. Finally she asked "Is it because there are fewer possibilities as we get closer to Nemesis?"

"Exactly what I thought!" exclaimed Setsuna. "But...Nemesis is still quite a few months away, and it just doesn't feel right. I know, that doesn't sound very scientific, but it doesn't. It's like when you have a test and you're sure you've done a math problem correctly, but you just know something is wrong."

Ami kept looking at the gates. "Hmmm. Yes, I know what you mean. The problem is, those little voices at the back of your mind are usually pretty good at spotting things that aren't right." She paused, thinking again, and then added "Are there any diagnostic routines that can be run on the system?"

Setsuna thought for a few more moments, then finally confessed. "I really don't know. I've used the Gates for so long, and I've never had to do anything out of the ordinary with them".

Now it was Ami's turn to get confused. "But, they're your Gates, right? I mean, you built them?"

Setsuna once again squirmed under Ami's gaze. "Well....yes, they are my Gates...but no I didn't build them. The finest scientists and engineers that the Silver Millennium had worked on the Gates. They were brilliant actually. It was they who made this viewing portal so that I could scan the timelines like I wanted."

"Oh." was all Ami could say to respond to this little bit of news. She had always thought Setsuna was the creator of the Gates. Go figure... "Wait, you say they built this portal for you, that means they used something else?"

Setsuna concentrated for a bit. "You know, I think I remember some keyboard and screen in the back room. I think I saw them work at that. You want to take a look?"

"Sure, maybe that was their admin console to the Gates."

Setsuna led Ami over to one of the two closed doors and then managed to pull the creaking door open. Ami tried to peer inside, but it was pitch black.

"Hold on, the light switch is right....here" as the lights snapped on in an enormous chamber. Ami knew how much computing power was in the Mercury computer, so this place represented a mind-boggling capability. She followed Setsuna down a small flight of stairs, past rows of some type of equipment, and finally stopped at a table with a keyboard and screen.

"I think this is it. Do you think this will really help?"

Ami looked down at the dusty keyboard. "I don't know for sure, but it's worth a try." She sat down and touched the keyboard.

[LOGIN:] was the only thing on the screen. "Setsuna. Do you know what the login, and probably a password were."

"Haven't a clue. I never used this. Just saw the techies working at it."

Ami tried a few variations on the word Pluto for a login with no results. "I wonder...they wouldn't...would they?" she half mumbled to herself.

"Would they what?" She watched Ami pick up the keyboard and flip it over. "What are you looking for?"

Ami had a big grin on her face now. "Only this" She pointed at two words written on the underside of the keyboard. "Some things never change I guess." She flipped over the keyboard and entered the login and password she had found and was immediately logged in to the computer. "I'm in!"

"Okay, but now what, will this take long?"

"I have no idea" The last thing Ami wanted was Setsuna breathing down her neck as she explored the Time Gates. "Tell you what, give me some time here to look around. I'll come and get you when, and if, I've found anything."

Setsuna shrugged her shoulders. "Sound good to me, I'll be back upstairs if you need me."

-**-

"Ukyo! Come in! How are you" said Kasumi as she answered the door.

"Hi Kasumi. I was stopping by the restaurant in town and thought I'd come up and talk to you for a bit."

"That's wonderful Ukyo. I'm sorry to say that Ranma is teaching a class in the dojo at present. You are more than welcome to wait here until he's done. Please sit down" Kasumi gestured to the two chairs next to the window. "So, how have things been?"

Ukyo took one of the chairs, and then Kasumi took the other. "Oh, not bad. Actually, I came here to talk to you."

"Really?" Kasumi instantly knew the only reason why Ukyo would want to talk to her.

"Yeah, I've been thinking about your offer. At first when you brought it up, I thought you were joking, or not in your right mind, but the longer I've thought about it....."

Kasumi smiled at Ukyo. "I understand. It took me a long time to even consider the idea. It definitely isn't something one thinks of every day."

Ukyo snorted with laughter. "Uh, yeah! Are you really sure about this?"

Kasumi reached over and took Ukyo's hand. "Ukyo, you of all people know how different our lives are. There's nothing normal about anything we do. There are a few things though, that we feel very strongly about, and that is family and friends. Do to the way things worked out, we don't have much of a family. Ranma has no brothers and sisters, and I only really have Nabiki...."

The chef frowned at Kasumi's unsaid other sister, Akane. Akane was always a bit of a strange one, heck, Ukyo still couldn't let go of the grudge she had against her for how she always treated Ranma. As far as Ukyo was concerned, Akane basically got what she deserved. On the other hand, it was sad to see anybody, even Akane, in the situation she was currently in. All she could add was "I know".

"Now it is true we have three wonderful children". Kasumi continued, "But that's it for family, and friends are even fewer. The very nature of our unique gifts make it difficult to get close to anybody. You are the sole person that we, both Ranma and I, consider a friend.

Ukyo tried to hide the blush she felt about the heartfelt compliment. "Thank you Kasumi, that means a lot to me. I can't say I was happy about losing Ran-chan, but I can see how happy he is with you. Sugar, I realize how much you two have helped me and been there for me since, so when it comes down to it, I really can't complain too much."

"We know. But we also know that you wish you had a family too. My idea doesn't solve everything, and I'm still not sure what Ranma thinks about it, but I wanted to wait to see how you felt about it before I brought it up with him."

"Do you think he might do it? I mean, I know how serious Ranma is about this stuff...."

"I'm not sure. But I have a feeling that he would worry most about how I would feel about it. I'm not saying it would be nothing, but I think that given the circumstances it's the right thing to do."

Ukyo sat in the chair for a bit, looking at the wooden floor. This wild idea Kasumi came up with had been tearing her apart! She was so torn, and yet.... She looked up into Kasumi's eyes and said "If you mean it, then yes, I'd like to try"

-**-

"Any luck" asked Setsuna, munching on some lunch. "I brought you something to eat, you've been in here for quite a while."

"Well, believe it or not, I think I may have figured out what is going on."

Setsuna's eyes went wide. "Really?! Is everything okay? What did you find out." She really didn't like the clouded look that came over Ami's face though.

"I'm not sure. I mean, I didn't find out anything necessarily bad, but I found out some stuff that doesn't make sense"

Setsuna sat down on a ledge next to the admin console that Ami had been working at. "Drat, I figured as much. Go ahead, tell me what you can."

"Well, the good news is that for all the complexity of the Time Gates, they really are fairly simple, in that at first I thought they were some type of fantastically complex general purpose computer."

"I could have told you that..."

"...Yes, I know, but one thing about computers, assumptions will kill you. If you don't know what is happening, then you don't really know everything about the Time Gates do you?"

"No." Setsuna did not look too happy at this point. Ami guessed that after all these years of being in charge, nobody would like to have their weaknesses pointed out.

"So, the Time Gates were built to track temporal possibilities. My guess is that the technicians got everything working here and then worked with you to set up your viewing portal out there." Ami looked over to the door to the first chamber she had seen.

"Correct. Go on."

"It looks like there is this massive database that tracks temporal fractals and their affects on probabilities. It's constantly updating, and when you review the timelines in the other room, it shows you the probable timelines from 0 to 100 percent for a desired outcome."

Setsuna nodded. "That sounds right so far."

Ami looked more serious. "Now here is the part I really don't understand. Your portal queries the databases for all probabilities from 0 to 100 percent, and ranks them in the order you want. Here look." She turned to the large monitor and brought up a list of numbers. "This is the list you were looking at in the other room. These are the probabilities, and these are the timeline IDs you use to view the potential outcomes."

Setsuna nodded in agreement as she skimmed the list.

Ami continued her explanation. "Okay, but this list is the result of the queries they built for you. See computers are very obedient idiots. They'll do exactly what you want them to do. Oh, the Silver Millennium computers are very smart idiots, heck some of the AI units were supposed to be very lifelike, but the point is, if you asked them a bad question, the answer they gave you could be very misleading."

Setsuna rolled her eyes. "You're beginning to lose me. What's the point?"

"The point is, your portal shows you the exact thing you asked for, the outcomes from 0 to 100 percent. The problem is this." Ami turned to the screen again and typed in a new command. "This is a summary of current outcomes being processed."

They looked at the screen, on it was the following.

[TOTAL TIMELINES TRACKED: 839,339,399,493,147,022,203.]

[TOTAL TIMELINES WHERE PROBABILITY IS 0 OR GREATER AND UP TO 100: 38,201,048,273,442,838,595]

Setsuna shook her head. "I still don't see the problem."

Ami turned back to Setsuna. "Look at the numbers, they should both be the same."

"Why?" puzzled Setsuna.

"Because they should all be between 0 and 100 percent. Come on, it either isn't going to happen, it is, or it's possible."

A slow feeling of dread started to chill Setsuna's extremities. Lunch all of a sudden wasn't setting so well on her stomach.

"Here, I'll show you the first 10 in the unsorted list, normally all you see is the sorted one. Now granted, some still look normal, but this should show you the magnitude of the problem."

She typed another command at the keyboard and the following appeared.

Timeline ID Probability

0 NULL

1 99.3234883

2 NULL

3 NULL

4 NULL

5 NULL

6 99.9999889

7 99.1029939

8 NULL

9 NULL

"What are all those NULLs" asked the now very concerned caretaker of the Time Gates

Ami sighed. "That's the part I can't figure out. When you look at a normal timeline, it gives you the parent timelines and key divergence points. When you look at one of these NULLs, you don't get anything. Somehow, for some reason, the Time Gates are unable to process these timelines. Something in them causes whatever the algorithms the scientists used to track the the threads of time to fail."

"So you mean these timelines won't occur?"

"No, I mean that you can't tell. The Time Gates just can't process them."

Setsuna walked away from the console. "This is terrible, no wonder my scans are taking less time."

Ami did not want to bring up her last finding. "Uh, Setsuna. There's one more thing."

"What, what else can go wrong?"

"I tried to check back through the logs. It looks like the NULLS started to appear somewhere between 15 and 20 years ago. There weren't many at first, but within the last few weeks they started to make up a significant number of the outcomes. Something is shifting, and it's breaking the gates."

-**-

"So squirts, why are we heading home this way again?" Asked Ranko. Her brothers had talked her into taking a long way home from school so they could say hi to some new kid they rescued a few days ago.

"We wanted to say hi to Hotaru." replied Dai. "You know, you didn't have to come along?"

Ranko smiled. It was her father's smile. The kind of smile that got under anybodies skin. "What, you wanted to see your girlfriend by yourself? I thought Riku was the one who liked to rescue strays..."

"Hey! That's not true" Riku tried shoving his sister, but she merely weaved out of the way and Riku stumbled forward.

"She's not my girlfriend!" blushed Dai. "She just seemed kinda lonely. When we walked her home, you could just tell."

"Oh you are such the romantic gentleman!" teased his older sister. "So how much further is this place?" Ranko was now walking backward on the fence talking to her two younger brothers on the same fence.

Riku and Daitaro hopped off the fence. "We're here." shot Dai as he crossed the street to a very nice looking house.

Ranko looked at the place. "Not bad. Not bad at all. Hey Dai, maybe you and grandpa can scam your way into living here?"

Riku laughed and added "yeah, maybe you can sneak him in as a panda!"

"You two are just sooooo clever" deadpanned Dai as he knocked on the door. "Try not to embarrass yourselves too much, huh?"

When the door opened, the first person Hotaru saw was a redheaded girl of around 17 or 18. Her face was cautious, until she noticed Dai and Riku. Then a smile blossomed "Dai, Riku, welcome! Is this your sister?"

"Yeah. Hope you don't mind. We tried to get her to go straight home, but she wouldn't listen."

"Oh, no problem at all! Come in! Come in!"

They walked inside and deposited their shoes. All three Saotomes surveyed the house. It was a large two story building, and from what they could see was quite nice inside.

"Wow Hotaru, this is a nice house" observed Daitaro.

"Thank you." she said as they walked toward an inner garden.

"So you live here with your parents?" asked Ranko.

"Yes, my parents and they have a friend that uses a room occasionally."

Ranko heard the sounds of sparring first. As they entered the garden, they could see two people, a man and a woman, sparring in the corner. They stood and watched the two for a good five minutes. Hotaru could hear Ranko murmuring something to her brothers occasionally, but couldn't make out what she was saying.

Eventually, the two stopped, and acknowledged Hotaru and her friends. The tall blonde haired man spoke first. "Hello Hotaru-chan. Who are these three?"

"Haruka-papa. These are the two boys that helped me the other day, and their sister. Their mother was the one who helped me feel so much better."

The woman walked towards the newcomers. "In that case, we owe you two debts of gratitude. Thank you so much for helping Hotaru with those punks, and even more so for your mother helping her with her fatigue. We've been to many, many doctors and none of them could help Hotaru-chan."

"Sure, no problem. After all, a Martial Artists duty is to protect those who can't protect themselves."

"Oh yes" said the man. "We heard that the two of you were quite the fighters."

Ranko looked at the smirk on the man. Right or wrong, she had inherited her father's quick judgment, but unlike Ranma (at least how he was now, not back then), she still hadn't learned to temper her views yet. "Hey, we're the best there is. My brothers know what they are doing."

The blonde still had that smug look on his face. "Sure thing. No offense. I'm sure they are quite competent."

Riku and Daitaro glanced at each other. They could already sense the tension building. "Hey come on Ranko, just let it be" whispered Dai.

"Yeah sis, please" added Riku. "We just wanted to say hi to Hotaru, don't...."

Too late, Ranko was on a roll. "You know, unlike you, we take our Martial Arts seriously"

The grin quickly disappeared, now replaced with a definite scowl. "What do you mean by that?!"

Now the mother spoke up. "Haruka, please, just let it be. They're just kids"

"They may be, but she knows better" Haruka said looking at Ranko. "Big deal, some Martial Artist wannabees with a big attitude. I'm sick of these kids nowadays with their attitudes. Just once I'd like to be able to put one in their place."

"Look grandpa, if you'd like to have yourself a little spar, I'm up for it." challenged Ranko.

"GRANDPA! Look you little brat, if I thought you were serious"

"Ranko, please!" begged Riku

But Ranko was on a roll now, and there was no shutting down the Saotome freight train once it was on a roll. "Oh I'm serious. I'd love a little warm up before I go home for a real workout."

The blonde walked back over to the mat. "Then bring it on little girl, then bring it on"

-**-

"Thanks Ranko! Thanks a lot!"

"What?" she asked as they walked away from the house.

"What? We go over to say hello to a friend, and you beat up her Dad! They'll never want us back again!"

"Yeah sis." Riku was looking particularly glum. "It's always the same, if it's not you it's Dai, and if it's not him it's Dad."

"What? Was I just supposed to stand there and ignore him?"

"Yes! It wouldn't have hurt anything"

"He challenged me. I'm not going to back down" Ranko continued to walk toward home. "What? I'm supposed to let any jerk go bragging and insulting and then just look the other way. Pop wouldn't..."

Dai was quiet as they continued to walk. "Yeah, I know but still..."

"But still nothing. That man claimed to be a martial artist...and he was. If he wants to issue a challenge, he'd better expect somebody to take him seriously. Face it, if I hadn't, it would have insulted him. Is there shame in losing a match to somebody better than you? We do it with Dad all the time right?"

Both Dai and Riku were quiet. It was true, it was Hotaru's father who pushed the issue. Granted, Ranko made the man look ridiculous. He couldn't land a single hit, and finally after insisting Ranko 'fight him for real', she dropped him to the mat in less than 10 seconds. The three continued on for quite a while without talking. Finally it was Ranko who broke the silence. "Look, as long as you two are upset with me anyway. I might as well mention one other thing."

"What's that?" Riku was pretty upset at this point, he really didn't need his sister adding to the chaos any more than she already had. From what Mom said, she was just as bad as Dad used to be.

"Hotaru's father seemed...different...not right." She looked at the anger in her brother's faces "No! Nothing bad, just different. I just got a weird feeling, that's all. Did you guys notice anything?"

Their silence was their answer.

-**-

"So why are we here again?" Asked Minako.

The Inners and Moon Cats, minus Ami, were all assembled at Setsuna's house after Pluto had sent word that she wanted to meet with everybody. Setsuna hadn't arrived yet and people were getting edgy.

Usagi was tired. It was a long day in school and they were studying a lot of European history, Spain in particular, which bored the heck out of her. They had been covering the period under Queen Isabel and the programs she had started, her response just popped out of her mouth. "I don't know" sighed Usagi, "Setsuna just told me tell you that there was trouble at the Gates, I didn't expect the Spanish Inquisition!".

As Usagi completed her sentence, Makoto sprouted an enormous grin on her face. I can't believe it, I finally get to say it! "Nobody expects the Spanish inquisition! Our chief weapon is surprise...surprise and fear...fear and surprise...Our two weapons are fear and surprise and a ruthless effic..."

"Enough!" cried Setsuna who was walking in with the Outers and Ami. "I know you like those guys, but this is not the time for jokes. Are you ever going to get tired of that show?"

Makoto's face glowed red with embarrassment. It was worth it! I don't care how serious this meeting is, I've ALWAYS wanted to do that! "No..." she finally answered.

Setsuna looked up at the ceiling in frustration and took a deep breath. "All right, enough silliness. We have a real problem."

The sheepish grins disappeared and the girls were all business now. "What's wrong with the Time Gates?" asked Rei.

Pluto looked from one face to another, and then let out a deep sigh as she sat down. "We're not exactly sure. Ami helped me identify the symptom, but we don't really know the cause."

Setsuna commenced to recount her and Ami's discovery at the Time Gates console. It took a while, but eventually everybody understood the problem.

"So, the bottom line is that something is corrupting the Time Gates ability to track future events, correct?" asked Makoto.

"Correct. Something, or somebody, has found a way to block the gates ability to track the multiple temporal outcomes. This could be our biggest problem yet!" groaned Setsuna.

"So" mused Makoto, "we really don't know that Crystal Tokyo is affected, only that we can no longer see the probabilities, right?"

Setsuna sat up in her chair. "Oh, I hadn't looked at it that way, but yes! Yes! All I was focusing on was the loss of Crystal Tokyo, but you're right, this may not mean anything!"

Finally, Luna spoke up. "I wouldn't get too optimistic Setsuna. It seems to me that this effect would be an excellent tool to mask an attack. Is there any way to see around the disturbance? Have you done an exhaustive search of our local area to see if there are any clues to this anomaly?"

"No! Of course not!" she snapped. Pluto was getting more and more tired of Luna. During the early days of the Senshi's awakening, she had been quite useful, but lately, she was always the naysayer, and seemed to have little faith in her abilities with the Time Gates. The Moon cats had really helped when the Senshi first got together, but now.... Fortunately, the nearness of Crystal Tokyo had convinced the Senshi to show their faith in her and not Luna. As far as she was concerned, she was just upset that nobody was asking her opinion any more. Even Artemis seemed to be growing more distant from Luna over the past few months.

"Now Luna, I'm sure Setsuna's done everything she could. You know how conscientious she is about these things." added Artemis.

Luna couldn't believe it, once more she was being ignored. "Princess?"

Usagi looked at Luna and sighed. "Luna, I'm sure Setsuna knows what she's doing. I'm sure she's checked all the possibilities."

"But..." started Luna

Usagi turned to Setsuna and continued. "So, what should we do then?"

"Well, I think the best course of action would be to see if Mars can get anything with a fire reading..."

Luna shook her head and padded out of the room, not even bothering to listen to Setsuna's plan. Oh, it probably would make sense, but their string of victories had made them too dependent on Setsuna. As far as she was concerned, they weren't even thinking straight regarding this threat. Setsuna too dependent on the Gates that now that they were acting up, she didn't really know what to do. They were just latching on to whatever they could do to make it easy. With the start of the catastrophe that would lead to Crystal Tokyo so close, they were getting just too relaxed.

She ended up on the deck behind the house, looking up at the clear night sky. She sighed and wrapped her tail around her front paws. It was unsettling to be ignored, and it was happening more and more often. Where once Usagi listened to her advice, now she seemed to be just tolerated. They had waited so long for this period in time, only to be treated as an extra unwanted item. Even Artemis wasn't really paying attention to what she was saying any longer, he too seemed to be just waiting for the final event to drop into place.

She sighed, well, as best as a cat could sigh. They had been so close for a while, and now he too was ignoring her. She stayed, there, gazing at the half moon, while the others chatted happily away inside.

-**-

"You kids be good for Aunt Ukyo" said Kasumi as she stepped into the car Nabiki had arranged for them.

"We will!" All three of the chorused.

"Yeah right, like that's going to happen" Ukyo muttered. "All right, all right, in we go"

"I still don't see why we couldn't go with them." Ranko lamented as they went through the door.

Ukyo plopped down on her favorite couch. "Oh, I don't know, probably has to do with somebody not picking a fight with you and then giving you the kiss of death or marriage...." Kasumi and Ranma had talked to her long ago about the hazards of the kids coming with them. Even though they were now allies of the village, it didn't mean that their children were protected from every village law. The whole 'If I beat you up I get to marry you' thing still applied to their children, as it did to any other Amazon in the village. The Saotome reputation virtually guaranteed that the first time one of their children stepped into the village, almost every eligible Amazon would be after them.

"I know" said Dai. "But it still stinks."

they just stood there for a bit, trying to figure out what to do, at last, Riku spoke up. "C'mon Dai, lets go to the Dojo"

Dai looked at his brother. "Yeah, I could use a workout. Hey Sis, you want to come to?"

Ranko was walking over to the couch Ukyo was on and plopped down next to her. "No thanks, Dad and I were in there for a while this morning, I'm going to sit with Aunt Ukyo for a bit.

"Suit yourself." They both turned and walked through the hallway, leaving the Ukyo and Ranko behind.

They both sat there for a while, looking out the front window of the house at the front yard and woods. Finally Ukyo broke the silence. "So Ranko, how are things going at school?"

Ranko just kept looking out the front window. "Okay."

"Just okay? Come on, last we talked there was some new guy at school you were interested in. Anything come of that?"

Ranko shifted her gaze to Ukyo. "No, not really."

"Why not?"

Again Ranko paused, but finally said "You wouldn't understand" and lowered her gaze.

Ah, but Ukyo did understand, more so than Ranko might want to admit. "What, that none of the guys at school really interest you?"

Ranko's eyes shot up at that comment. "What do you mean by that?"

She's old enough to hear this thought Ukyo. Kasumi could probably tell her, but then again, maybe not... "Simple. None of them are as good as your Dad, are they?"

Ranko's eyes darted back and forth. "What! What the heck are you talking about?"

Ukyo sighed "Relax Sugar, I'm not saying that...well...not exactly anyway. Look Ranko, you know I knew your Dad when we were young, and then again when we were in high school." She paused, and Ranko could tell she was searching for the right words, so she made herself just wait.

"When I think of your Dad, I think of a man who is honest, brave, faithful...no...even that isn't right. When I think of most men I've known, I can think of several that are really nice guys. But none of them can compare to the intensity of your father. When I think of even the best of them, I know that I'd always be able to count on your father to be more honest and true than any of them. Your dad will stick with a friend no matter what, he'd do anything to help somebody he cared for. Now some people may not realize how special that is...but I do. Heck, Ranko, why do you think I'm still single?"

Ranko shrugged "Dunno. I always wondered that actually, you seem so nice and pretty..."

"Simple. The same reason you're having a problem. I know your Dad, and the problem is...nobody that I've ever met is as good a guy as he is. Nobody. Makes it kind of tough to meet somebody when they can never stack up against this other person you know." Ukyo stopped and looked down at her lap. "Heck Ranko, when your Dad chose Kasumi, I had a choice. I could move on and look for somebody else, or I could stay on as their friend...and as much as I hate to admit it, even to myself, I'd rather be his friend...their friend...than to have to settle for the next best thing."

They sat there in silence for a while. "Is Dad really that special" Ranko whispered.

"Yeah. Yeah he is. I wouldn't tell him to his face" she snorted "his ego is big enough as it is, but he is one special guy. I'm not surprised that you find most of the guys you meet to be...disappointing."

Ranko smiled at that last statement. "Disappointing. That's a good word. It's not that they are jerks, it's just that...I guess...I'm expecting just a little bit more."

Ukyo slid over and put an arm around the younger girl. "I feel for you Hun...I really do. I know what you are going through, and the worst thing is that I really can't offer any advice. I'm a victim myself."

"Great, so effectively, you're saying I'm going to have to settle for second best."

Her only answer was silence.

-**-

"You know I love you when I let you travel like this, don't you?"

Ranma waded to the shore with a broad grin on her face. "Yeah, but it does bring back memories, and it is good training! Besides, that time we had to hold our breaths while we swam under that Chinese Frigate was an added bonus. I mean the swimming was good, but I never thought of trying to swim that far underwater before."

Kasumi stood there wringing out her ponytail, just shaking her head. "One of these days I'll have to let the kids 'travel' with us just to show them what they are 'missing'." She stopped as she noticed Ranma was staring at her. "What? What's wrong?"

"Oh. Sorry. Nothin'....nothin' wrong at all" She turned away, but not before Kasumi saw the blush appear in her cheeks.

She knew Ranma always liked to swim to China when they came to visit the Joketsuzoku, but unlike when she first swam with her father, Kasumi had at least convinced her to wear some of the new Fastskin full body suits, after the last time the clothes they wore chaffed too much during the swim. One thing about the suits though, they left little to the imagination, particularly in the cold water of the sea between Japan and China. She walked up behind her and wrapped her arms around her now shorter husband and kissed her on the head. After all these years, she's still a bit on the shy self-conscious side. "You're sweet. It's nice to know after all these years that I still look nice to you."

"Well, yeah...course you do." she mumbled, appreciating the warmth of Kasumi at her back.

"Then why do you get embarrassed about things like this? Goodness knows you've seen enough of me over the years."

"I dunno, just old habits kick in every once in a while. I love you Kasumi, more than anything. I guess sometimes I just worry that when I react like that you'll think I'm...."

"You are not, nor ever were, a pervert" she interrupted, a sudden seriousness injected into her voice. "You know, there are times when I'd like to mallet my little sister into a large pile of goo. You've been dealing with the guilt she pounded into you for what, almost forty years?!" This had been one of the things that try as she might, she could not completely cure Ranma of. I guess it was his first real experience with a girl that he card for, and it just stuck. She thought to herself. She turned Ranma around and stared into her eyes. "Are you a pervert?"

"No" she whispered.

"Are you a pervert!"

"No. I'm not" she said more resolutely. She stepped forward and hugged Kasumi back, then shared a long kiss.

"That's better. Let's change and get moving."

Moments later, they were in clean clothes, and thanks to the thermos in his stuff space, he was now male again. They had only walked a few minutes when they sensed some fairly powerful ki signatures ahead of them. Since the didn't expect company this soon after coming to China, they both stopped and waited to see what was coming for them. Within a few moments, 5 young women rounded the bend ahead, each in traditional Amazon garb.

Kasumi looked at Ranma, who was looking back at her. They both shrugged their shoulders and then walked ahead to meet the newcomers. As they got closer, they recognized the leader from one of their earlier visits.

"Good afternoon Mascara." greeted Ranma.

"Good afternoon Ranma." The pink haired leader replied.

"So, what do we owe this pleasure to?"

"Elder Ku Lohn directed us to escort you to the village."

Now Kasumi joined the conversation. "Do you know why?"

Mascara looked uncomfortable. "Yes Kasumi, I do know...but....could we talk in private"

"Oh my. Certainly." Kasumi and Ranma followed the Amazon to a safe distance away from the other four escorts.

"Okay, so what gives?" asked Ranma.

"It is difficult to admit, but...a few days ago, Shan Pu disappeared, and we believe that she visited Jusenkyo in an effort obtain some cursed water. We haven't seen her since. Elder Cologne believes she desires to use the waters she obtained against you and your wife." She spoke the last looking down at the ground in obvious embarrassment.

"Great. I thought you guys were watching her after her last little stunt." The last time they visited the village. Shampoo had made a completely unsuccessful attempt at Kasumi's life. In fact it was Kasumi herself that soundly defeated Shampoo, much to her chagrin.

Mascara's eyes flicked up to meet his gaze. "We weren't expecting her to get help?"

"Who? I thought everyone in the village had accepted us long ago?"

"All but one, and I think you know who that is."

"Mousse.....great....but how?"

"He has been studying medicine for the last few years. He had convinced many of us that he wanted to be a useful member of the village. Since his strength had been sealed, we thought that his interest in healing was acceptable. We did not realize that he was building his knowledge for the sole purpose of using it as a weapon against the tribe. The fool evidently would do anything for Shampoo. The two women assigned to guard duty were both knocked out by a very fast acting gas that was a derivative of one of our anesthetics. They were found by their relief two hours later."

At this point one of the four other escorts approached the group. "Excuse the intrusion, but we need to keep moving, our orders were...."

"Yeah, yeah. Knowing Cologne, it was 'keep them moving at all times, do not let their arrogance cause them to be sitting targets' " Ranma turned to Mascara. "Don't worry about it, we'll be okay. Let's just get going."

"As you wish"

Ranma turned his head toward Kasumi and murmured "Amazons. Gotta love 'em huh Kasumi?"

-**-

Setsuna was leaning against a pillar watching Rei prepare for the fire reading. She hated to rely on Rei's talent, not that it hadn't helped at times, it was just so...uncertain. Not that I have much choice in the matter she thought to herself with the Gates going whacky, I'll take whatever information I can get.

Rei was finishing the preparations when she said "So Setsuna, where were the outers last night?"

Setsuna's eyebrows furrowed for a moment then she replied "Actually, I'm not sure. Michiru said Haruka wasn't feeling too well last night. Since I'd already briefed them on the situation, I figured it wouldn't hurt to let them miss it."

"Is she okay?"

"Oh yes, I had the same question. Michiru said she pulled a muscle during some sparring match with another Martial Artist. You know her, she probably decided to challenge some six foot tall, 200 pound master."

Far off, Haruka sneezed, initiating another pulse of pain to her bruises.

"I think I'm ready, you can come over if you'd like."

Setsuna walked over to the edge of the bed of red hot coals. Well, at least as close as she could, after a moment she backed up a few steps to let her face cool down.

"Yeah, hotter than you think. I've gotten used to it, plus I think I have a higher tolerance with the Mars connection." She paused and added "I'll need a few moments of silence, while I concentrate on our request of the fire."

Setsuna quietly watched Rei enter her meditative trance. Her Senshi senses could feel the power buildup, although it was different than in battle. Instead of the normal focused aura of power when she was in Senshi mode, this was more suffused, more subtle. She watched as Rei slowly opened her eyes and then raised her arms, her gaze never shifting from the wavering coals. Setsuna could feel Rei's aura extend to the pit of coals, and then slowly, ever so slowly, she began to make out wispy shapes in the wavering image.

During the few moments of the image, the two Senshi only received the most fleeting of glimpses of images. They saw the back of young man with a pig-tail standing next to a woman with long hair. They were watching some teen-aged youths talking. Three of them were obviously siblings, but the fourth had her head turned and they could only see her dark black hair. The image zoomed in on her, but again they only were able to see a quick glimpse of a profile before the image blurred into random flickers of flame. It wasn't enough to get a real ID on the girl, but they could tell she was young. Almost....

"Was that...Hotaru?" Rei finally whispered.

"It looked like her...from the back. All I could tell was that she was young, had dark black hair, and seemed to dress in the style of Hotaru, but....." Pluto stopped. She couldn't jump to conclusions at this point. "Rei, what were we being shown?"

"I just concentrated on the fire showing us the cause of the Time Gate's problems. Over the years I've found that the best way to do this is to let the fire help me, and to try not to be too specific. If you try to ask too detailed of a question, you could word it wrong and get shown something that just throws you off."

Pluto looked back into the fire, thinking for a bit. "So, are these new enemies?"

Rei shook her head. "Not necessarily. I didn't ask for that. Only that somehow, these people have something to do with the problems you are having."

"Can you try to get more?"

Rei shrugged. "I doubt it. But I can try".

For the next 45 minutes, Rei tried to get another image to appear, with no luck. Eventually, Pluto decided that they had done enough, and that she'd try to sift through some images in the Gates to see if she could get a whiff of information on the people from the vision.

-**-

"Kasumi, Son-in-law, it's good to see you again" said Cologne as she hopped over to the two. She inspected the two and finally said. "You know, it's not fair. I may be 300 years old, but at least I show my age, you two just stay the same."

"Thank you...Grandmother" said Kasumi.

Ranma snorted. Here he thought he'd left the Son-in-law title long ago, but in a rather bizarre twist, he had it again. The first time they had visited the village after they had returned from the world of Yesterday (as he liked to call it), they had found out that Cologne's position in the community had suffered. Between her failure of not having Shampoo marrying Ranma, and the embarrassment of Shampoo's actions when they returned, she was no longer held in as high a regard by the tribe. It was Kasumi's idea that provided the ideal solution. She suggested that Cologne should adopt her and then by default her family would bring Ranma into the village as an Amazon. Even Cologne was first surprised, and then impressed with her reasoning. It solved several problems, and reinstated Cologne's position within the tribe. It unfortunately once again made Ranma Cologne's Son-in-law again. The only problem was the obvious reaction by Shampoo, but by then, Cologne had realized that her great-granddaughter's obsession with Ranma would never be fixed, and that her displeasure would just have to be dealt with. It turned out that Cologne had to adopt her as her granddaughter and not a great-granddaughter as Shampoo had been. This prevented Shampoo from fighting Kasumi for seniority, as it made her Shampoo's technical step-mother. It also had the side-effect of making Ranma permanently off-limits since he was now her Step-father-in-law. Ugh, makes my head hurt just to think of all this stuff he thought.

"You know, you can call me by my name" said Ranma.

"Nonsense! Somehow it just seems fitting. Come, come, let us go the house and talk for a spell." She turned and led them to her home.

"Sheesh. That's all I am to people, just a title. Son-in-law, foul sorcerer, airen, pervert..."

"Exactly!" Cologne agreed with a grin as she looked back. "After all Kasumi, isn't that all males are good for?"

A few moments later they arrived at Colognes house. Not much had changed over the years, but to Ranma's surprise, he did notice two picture frames on a small table. One was a picture of Kasumi and him, and the other was taken last year of their children.

They sat down around her table, and Cologne brought over some tea that she had waiting.

"So, Shampoo and Mousse finally decided to make a move for it, huh? Asked Ranma.

Cologne reached up and tugged at one of the strands of her white hair. "Yes, unfortunately so. I told them that Mousse could never be trusted, but his family had enough connections to allow him to train as a healer. Who knows how long he's been planning something like this."

Kasumi set down her tea. "Do you think Shampoo and he have finally gotten together then?"

"No child. I'm afraid that he's just using Shampoo's hatred and obsession to make her tolerate him enough to be with him, but to Mousse's twisted mind, I guess that's enough. I thought with everything we had in place, she'd never make an attempt against you, but now, I'm not so sure."

Ranma could see how distressed Cologne was about the whole situation. Over the last twenty years, she really had accepted the two of them as her family. The fact that her own great-granddaughter was possibly moving against them was tearing her apart.

Years ago, before the trip to Yesterday, Ranma, in his own way, had developed a certain respect for Cologne. The years with Kasumi, coupled with his time with Cologne on these visits, had grown that respect into some true affection. In her own way, Cologne had done more for him than his own family ever had.

He reached over and grabbed her hand. "Don't worry about it Cologne. It won't be a problem."

She looked up sharply. "Not a problem? For goodness sakes, it was Jusenkyo water. Who knows what she'll do with it. You...Kasumi...or even your children. You know she'll do anything to hurt you at this point."

To her amazement, Ranma snapped his wrist and sent his tea flying at Kasumi! She saw the tea splash off Kasumi, felt a brief flare of Ki, but to her surprise, Kasumi didn't seem to flinch, and neither was she wet! The tea didn't disappear, it just didn't seem to hit Kasumi. She could see it dripping of the table and chair around her. It was then that she realized what had happened. "You've figured out how to keep from being splashed, haven't you."

Ranma just grinned. Kasumi was the one that finally answered "Yes, we have. Ranma actually thought about something like this happening many years ago. You know his 'everything is training' attitude. He started playing with some techniques and found that if we used the Ki shield technique he had developed, we could actually deflect the water. The trick was to make it a reflex. Let's just say that it was fun for a while, then annoying, but finally it worked. Turns out that it was one of the first things he even taught the kids. I'm not saying it's foolproof, but if Shampoo tries something, she might be a bit surprised.

They could see the tension leave Cologne's face. "Thank the Goddess. I was a bit concerned, but now..."

"...we can relax." Ranma's stomach chose this moment to let out a loud growl. "Anything for lunch?"

-**-

Kasumi sat with Cologne, watching Ranma spar with four of the village's best warriors. It had been a pleasant four days visiting the village. After Ranma and her had spent so long here themselves, it really did seem like a second home to her. Plus, Cologne had slowly taken the role of a second, albeit older, mother to her, and it was nice to be able to talk to somebody who could appreciate the situation that she and Ranma were in.

They were in one of the training circles that were found throughout the village, this one being very close to Cologne's house. Ranma had been sparring, well, really just training, the Amazons for over 40 minutes so far. She smiled as she watched Ranma block two incoming blows, then leap up over the heads of all four of the Amazons, deflecting several throwing knives as he spun on his axis, head down. With a quick bend at the waist his feet briefly touched the head of the farthest warrior, and then he propelled himself over to the left side of the circle, as the four regrouped.

The oldest warrior paused, then split into over a dozen cloned images, using the Splitting Cat Hairs technique. The other three warriors took a moment, and then also cloned themselves. Within a few seconds, there were over 50 targets for Ranma to choose from.

Ranma looked over to his wife. "Hey Kasumi, how long to take them all down?"

"Ranma, please! Don't show off".

"Oh, very well."

Cologne was surprised to see Ranma remain motionless as all of the cloned warriors attacked him at once. Soon he was buried beneath a huge pile of Amazons. She watched, knowing that the boy would be up to something, and wasn't disappointed when the mound of bodies quickly swelled and then exploded in all directions, causing all but four of the warriors to wink out of existence. She could feel the wave of Ki wash over her, and could feel the clean power that the boy was able to project.

In his youth, he used confidence a lot, perhaps too much, and it had a cocky flavor to it. Now it was blended with experience, care and an inner peace that had a refreshing effect on Cologne as it passed over her.

"You are very lucky Kasumi. You know that don't you?"

She smiled as she watched Ranma battle the few Amazons who re-engaged her husband after the explosion of Ki he released. After several minutes of dodging, lightly tapping each warrior to indicate an opening or weakness, the remaining women saluted Ranma and thanked him for the training. Finally, Ranma walked over to Cologne and Kasumi. As he came over, Kasumi turned to Cologne and said. "Oh yes, I do. Strange how someone trying to kill somebody could bring about such a wonderful thing in my life."

Nothing more was said until Ranma plopped down next Kasumi on the bench they were sitting at.

"Your girls seem to be getting better each year."

"Indeed. In case you haven't noticed, which I'm sure you have, there are always many eyes watching you spar. Each one is committed to memorizing your every move, and then analyzes and tries to reproduce what you do, teaching others in the village. You have become a visiting puzzle, and it drives the women to become better and better. Not only am I glad you come to visit, but you are helping the village."

"Ah...No problem. It's actually kind of fun. The students I have back home aren't anywhere near as good as your worst fighters. You guys are in a whole different league. At least when I come here I can get a real workout."

They sat for a bit, watching the village move around them and then Cologne said. "Ranma, I talked to the Elder Council this morning about your plan to deal with the visions you've had in your dreams."

Ranma didn't turn to look at her, he just kept watching people occasionally walk by. "And......"

"And they are split as to what they should do. While everyone in the village has come to enjoy and appreciate your visits and your membership into the tribe, most don't know you like I do, and are not convinced anything should be done on a...male's...vision. While it is true that some aspects of your dream correspond to some ancient legends the Amazons have about a timeless woman who has appeared to us over the last three thousand years. Whenever she has appeared, this woman has had her own agenda and has not necessarily been a friend to the Amazons."

Ranma continued to sit for a while. The finally said, "So we're on our own if we do this...."

Cologne sighed. "Most likely. I'm sorry Ranma, there's not much more I can offer. Other than my own support."

"Nah, you've done enough. Heck for all I know, it's just a bad dream."

"Have you done anything about your vision yet?"

"Not much really. Mostly just made the decision and had Nabiki looking for more information."

"Never the less, if you need help with your project, you know I'm here for you if you need it."

"Thanks Cologne, I really appreciate it."

They sat for a bit, watching a group of children pass by. After a few more moments, Kasumi said "Ranma, did you ask Cologne?"

Cologne could see Ranma start to squirm out of the corner of her eye. He didn't answer right away. "More what?" queried Cologne, as she turned to see Ranma's face continue to flush, and then a bright red. Oh, I love it. If I'm right about what she's asking, I'll win my bet with Talc. I'd almost given up hope that I'd win. She just sat there watching Ranma squirm with embarrassment.

"Ranma?" Asked Kasumi again.

Ranma took a deep breath and finally answered Kasumi. "No...I...haven't found the right time to ask her yet."

"Really? Ask me what?" Cologne queried again.

"Well...uh...remember the...um...the stuff you gave Kasumi last time we visited?"

YES! Take that talc! I knew it! Now keep a straight face, milk this for all it's worth.... "What stuff are you referring to? Those scrolls I found?"

If it were possible for Ranma to turn any redder, he would have. Cologne watched his eyes dart around as he tried to find the words that she knew were stuck in his throat."

"Grandmother?"

Cologne hated to take her eyes off the boy even for an instant at this point, but she shifted her gaze to Kasumi.

"Yes child?"

"I believe what my husband was trying to ask for was for some more of the Instant Nannichuan that you let me try last time."

"Really?" She couldn't contain her grin any longer. With the unusually long lifespans that the Amazon's were blessed with, it was not uncommon for couples who had been with each other for a long time to become somewhat experimental in their personal relationships. The allure of finding out 'what it was like on the other side' was actually quite common. Even she had walked in her husband's shoes a few times throughout their long marriage. There were a few couples within the Amazon's history where one of the members had been cursed to change genders, and in these cases it inevitably led the other spouse to finally want to experience what their wife or husband went through. She and Talc had made a bet that not only would the Saotome's use the packets Cologne slipped Kasumi last time, but that they would want some more on their next visit. Talc reasoned that with Ranma's macho background, he'd never take that step, but Cologne had bet that living with his curse for over forty years, coupled with a very understanding and loving wife, would be enough for him to finally give in to her, and his, curiosity.

Ranma was no longer even trying to make eye contact, instead he was looking off in the distance while Kasumi continued the conversation.

"Yes. Thank you for letting me experience what my husband has gone through for all these years. I can't say that I prefer that form, but you were correct that it is an interesting...diversion...occasionally."

Meanwhile, Ranma was sure he would suffer from spontaneous combustion. Yes, he had learned that the curse could be lived with, and yes at times it had its advantages, but to admit to this to Cologne, was...just...too...much.

Cologne shifted her gaze back to Ranma. "Ranma, is this true?"

Without looking back at her, he muttered a soft "yeah".

"Ranma, you may think I'm teasing you...well...I am a little bit, but let me explain something to you. Many Amazons, myself included, have had the privilege of experiencing what you and Kasumi have."

Ranma jerked his head around with wide eyes at Cologne. "Really?"

"Of course. To you it was at first a curse, then an annoyance, and then finally just a part of you. But to others, it is one of the greatest mysteries of life. Look, I know you, and I know how you must feel about this, but I also know something else." She paused, waiting for Ranma to comment.

"What?"

"That the one thing you need to remember, is the one thing Kasumi here has known from the day she met you. You are still the same person. That means that if Kasumi shows you affection in your female form, it isn't because she is attracted to females, she is attracted to you. She isn't with another woman, she's with her husband, who just happens to look a little differently than he normally does. The same goes for you. Whatever you and she do together, you do with each other, not some stranger."

Ranma's eyes once again found the ground. He thought of their years together, how that for all of Akane's claims of him being perverted, it was Kasumi who was the more adventurous of the two of them. Not that he hadn't enjoyed the journey, he just felt self conscious about it. "Yeah, you're right...it's still...a bit embarrassing. But thanks, I'm glad Kasumi finally got to know, she's always wondered...."

"It's not a problem, and I'm glad I could help out. Kasumi, come with me and I'll get a few more packages for you before you leave."

As the two women got up to leave, Ranma stayed on the bench. Sheesh! Here I am worrying about how I'm gonna stop the end of the world, and I get more upset by those two having that particular conversation.

-**-

Usagi was breathing heavily as she plunged through the door. "Am I late?" she gasped. She quickly looked around to see the rest of the girls finishing a...meal? "Waaaaa! You ate without me!"

Haruka looked up "Consider it an incentive to get here on time. We got tired of sitting around waiting for you to show up, so we decided to bring some food from now on. That way when you are late, we don't just sit here waiting." She popped the last tidbit into her mouth. "I think we're ready to begin."

"Usagi, sit down. We need to talk about what Rei and I found out during our fire reading."

"Did you find out what was going on" asked Makoto

"We're not sure." She turned to her right and looked at Hotaru. "We think...that some people might try to get to Hotaru some how."

Luna chimed in "What do you mean, which people?"

"We only got a fleeting glance. We saw Hotaru with a man with a pigtail, and a woman with long brown hair, and three kids about her age."

Everybody noticed the slightly shocked expression on Hotaru's face, but they assumed it was her reaction to hearing about what Setsuna and Rei had seen. None of them, at least yet, made the other connection.

"Well, what were they doing to her? Were they torturing her, had they hurt her, was she imprisoned?" Asked a worried looking Haruka.

Rei cleared her throat before answering. "Uh...well...they were just standing with her, but that's what the fire reading showed us when we asked who was responsible for the problems with the gates of time."

Now it was Usagi who finally spoke up. "Let me get this straight. You saw someone who might be Hotaru, who was standing with some people, and this is your big threat".

Everyone stared at Pluto. If Usagi could understand just how ridiculous this sounded, then Pluto must realize she was over-reacting.

"Wait...you said three kids about Hotaru's age?" asked Haruka now making the connection.

"Yes, the oldest was a girl, maybe almost our age though".

"With red hair?" she drawled.

"Yes, have you seen them?" prompted the Senshi of Time.

Haruka's posture changed, you could tell she wasn't pleased. "As a matter of fact we did. There were three of them, supposed to be Hotaru's new friends. They saved her from some bullies a while back. The younger two seemed okay, but the girl was a real pain, a real smart-mouth."

Rei looked at Haruka. "Anything unusual about them?"

Haruka, shifted her stance. "Well, the girl was pretty good at fighting. Nothing magical, but she knew her way around Martial Arts."

Pluto looked at the defensive way Haruka was standing, then looked a Michiru. "How good was she?"

"She...beat Haruka."

The rest of the Senshi managed a combined face-fault. Finally it was Luna who finally spoke. "Wait, a normal girl managed to beat you?"

"Well yeah, in a normal fight. So what?"

Pluto turned and looked out the window. "Maybe nothing, but it does seem unusual. Look, I'm not saying we're going to do anything to the kids, or the parents. All I'm saying is that I'd like to keep Hotaru away from them. I just don't think it is too much to ask while we figure things out. You don't understand, not really. I've watched the gates for so long...and they were always there, always guiding, and now, they are slowly fading away, timeline by timeline. It means all those years of work are slowly slipping away. I'll also try to see if I can find some information about that family."

The girls sat in silence, then finally Minako spoke up. "I guess that would be okay. What does Hotaru think about it?"

Their heads swiveled to Hotaru, who had been silent so far.

"Setsuna, do I have to. They were really nice."

"Maybe they are, maybe they aren't. I just want you to stick with us for a while until we get some more information about what is going on. Can you do this, for Crystal Tokyo?"

Hotaru looked dejected, but finally whispered. "Okay".

"Look, I'm sure you'll miss your new friends, but I'm sure this will help things out."

Authors Note: First, sorry about the slower updates, but I'm rather obsessive about completing things, so this will finish, I just need to find time to work on it more often.

Believe it or not, the great reviews make it harder. I really appreciate the kind words, and I really hope I don't disappoint any of you. I'm pleased to find that writing like this is a real honor.

I've found that I like some of the "answered" reviews at the end of an author's chapter, so I figure I would at least honor those kind enough to review and maybe answer any questions. So, here goes:

JustinD: Ah, I'm sure you will be pleased with Shampoo's interaction with the Saotome's

haganameron: Thanks, I really am trying to find the time to work on this, I'm just so overloaded with life, I'm finding it's harder to work on this than I thought

ctang: Thanks! I've taken care of 'em

Awlric Hayel: Wow. That is one of the nicest compliments I could get.

TegwenielWestwind: I'm trying to balance more interactions with not getting too far off track. Hopefully I'm doing better.

Dumbledork: I'm going to try to get some of the original characters in, but many won't play a significant part, but some...will!

CrimsonNoble: Yeah, I realize I may really mangle the Sailor Moon timeline...all I can say is I hope I don't corrupt it so much that people can't enjoy the story. I'm not trying to, it's just how the story works....

Quathis: Hopefully this chapter answered some of your questions.