Disclamer: Even Moouse without his glasses could tell you that my name is not that of the people who wrote Ranma or Sailor Moon.
On a gorgeous morning Makoto, Ranma, and Usagi were walking to their high school. The three of them were walking in a single row with Ranma in the middle and both girls on either side of him. Usagi was on Ranma's right while Makoto was walking on Ranma's left and thus closer to the street. Ever since Makoto had moved in with the Saotomes she had joined Ranma and Usagi on their morning walks to school. In the afternoons Ranma and Usagi walked home by themselves because Makoto had an after school that she attended for half an hour after school got out.
As the trio was walking Makoto and Usagi were talking about the upcoming school dance that would be held in two weeks. Ranma, like any other guy, was keeping his mouth shut and was hoping that the girls didn't drag him into their conversation. Even though he was a girl practically half the time, Ranma couldn't for his life understand girl speak. Besides, over half the conversation was apparently Makoto talking about how she couldn't find a date yet. THAT was not a conversation that Ranma wanted ANY part in or to even hear.
Luckily for Ranma's continued sound state of mind, the high school soon came into the trio's view. Makoto at that point ended her conversation with Usagi and quickly sped off towards the school while saying hurried goodbyes. Ranma and Usagi did not take any offense at Makoto's hasty departure because they knew that Makoto wanted to check the notice board. This was a fairly standard part of the routine for the three of them and so the royal reincarnated couple really didn't bat an eye at it.
Before the two of them entered into the school courtyard, Usagi quickly looked around and then whispered to Ranma, "Ranma, can we talk about something I found out about our favorite night club?" Instantly Ranma recognized his and Usagi's code word for anything relating to the Sailor Scouts.
The two of them then headed over to one of the walls of the school and Ranma wrapped his arms around Usagi. No one would pay any attention to the two of them now because it was a rather common sight at the school for couples to hang out at the walls before class. Once they were at the wall Ranma leaned his head down and softly placed a kiss on Usagi's lips. After he kissed her for a few seconds both for show and his own personal pleasure Ranma pulled back slightly so he could speak. "What is it that you wanted to talk to me about Usagi?"
In her usual soft and loving voice Usagi quietly replied, "I've been going over my memories back from when you and I played princes and princesses back when we were little kids. I was thinking that it would be a great idea to go and visit that old playground for old time's sake. Since you and I are the only ones of our old friends who can remember how to get to that playground, I was thinking that the two of us could go and visit the grounds by ourselves. Hopefully we could do it after school today?"
Ranma carefully and very quickly thought over what Usagi was telling him. Naturally it was all in code since they didn't want to chance someone overhearing them in such a public location. Usagi apparently wanted the two of them to go and visit several of the old Silver Millennium ruins. Personally Ranma thought that Usagi had a great idea. He would have suggested such a thing weeks ago if he had known any of the locations of the ruins. While Prince Nephelite had practically been a genius, he had only been a little over five Silver Standard Years old (a little over 11 years old when converted to Earth years) when he died.
Making up his mind, Ranma started to nuzzle Usagi's cheek by her ear. While he was doing this Ranma softly whispered into Usagi's ear, "That sounds like a wonderful idea. Let's just remember to tell Makoto that were going out for a bit and that the gang can call us while were out on our date." The two of them then got in one more kiss before heading in to school.
Herb was sitting in on one of the many benches outside on the school lawn slowly munching on his lunch. Every so often he would glance over to where Rei was sitting with her friends. The benches that the school had outside could only sit four comfortably or six crowded together. Thus Herb, Ranma, and Ryoga were sitting at one bench while Rei and the rest of the girls sat together on a bench nearby.
While the girls' were chatting very seriously about one thing or another, the guys' were eating in practical silence. This was perfectly acceptable to Herb because he needed the quite to think. Looming over Herb's mind was the fact that the school dance was in two weeks and he had still not asked Rei to go to the dance with him. In all honesty Herb thought it was really pathetic that he could face daemons in battle but he couldn't ask a girl out. After all daemons could kill a person and destroy everything in the city, a girl could only tell him-
Oh who was he kidding with the macho act? Rei telling him no to the dance was far worse then having to fight daemons and Herb knew it. Daemons could kill a man and that would be extremely painful. However a girl can rip a guy's heart out, grind it into small pieces, and give it back as coleslaw with just a single word. Herb knew that women could do this to men all too well thanks to his former betrothed.
That was why; Herb realized as he ate his lunch, he was so afraid of asking Rei to the dance. The rejection of his former betrothed due to his curse had wounded Herb far more then he wanted to admit. Rei had accepted him as a friend and had still accepted him when she had found out about his curse. However there was a deep seeded fear within his mind that had made it practically impossible for Herb to approach Rei in a possibly romantic manner. Herb was afraid that Rei would reject him because of his curse and he knew it.
In an effort to get over that fear, Herb turned to look at Ranma for a second. Ranma and he shared the same curse and they had both been romantically scorned in the past. How Ranma had found the courage to put his heart on the line again was something that Herb desperately wanted to know. The fact that Ranma and Usagi shared a connection in their past lives did not really, as far as Herb could see, have anything to do with the fact that the two were now together. It might have given Ranma and Usagi a few more common things, but they had gotten together on their own.
What Ranma and Usagi had together, Herb wanted to have with Rei. There was just something about the fiery shrine maiden that called out to Herb. It wasn't Rei's beauty that called out to Herb although she was extremely beautiful. Rather, Herb was drawn to Rei's determination and fiery spirit. She was like one of the powerful dragons that he was descended from born as a human.
Then to the surprise of his table companions, Herb suddenly put his eating utensil on his plate and stood up. Herb then left the table and started heading over towards where Rei and the other girls were sitting. As far as Herb was concerned things between him and Rei were going to be hammered out right now. He would be devastated if Rei were to reject him and Herb knew that. However, Herb also knew that he couldn't stand the uncertainty that he was currently in regarding Rei.
As Herb approached Rei, the chatter at the girls' table started to quite down and then disappeared when Herb arrived. Rei had been carefully watching Herb as he approached because she instinctively knew that he was coming over to talk to her. With her eyes gently but still sternly looking at Herb, Rei waited for Herb to say why he had come over.
Herb was suddenly hit with a wave of panic now that Rei was looking at him. Luckily Herb was able to keep his cool and he started to speak. Although there was a great deal of nervousness in Herb's voice he was still able to speak clearly and calmly. "Rei, would you mind having me as your escort to the upcoming school dance?"
Instantly everything around her seemed to stop for Rei after she heard Herb's request. While she had been secretly hoping that something like this would happen, Rei hadn't consciously been expecting to be asked to the dance. She was the ice priestess of the school after all. A small smile started to creep across Rei's face as she looked at Herb and she softly said, "I'll go to the dance with you Herb."
After school was over Ranma and Usagi were calmly waiting up on the school roof. They had used to confusion of everyone leaving the school for the day to discreetly head up to the roof for a place to transform in peace. Ranma took a quick look around the roof just to be on the safe side before he calmly said, "the coast is clear. Let's transform and head out." Usagi nodded her head and then she and Ranma started their transformations.
Once the Ranma and Usagi's transformation sequences were finished Usagi gave Ranma a once over. There was just something about Ran- er the Jovian Paladin's outfit that made her want to wrap her arms around his neck and start to kiss him. At times this little fact annoyed Usagi because she had been working towards being more professional when being Sailor Moon. However, Usagi didn't get too worked up about this fact since she hadn't been distracted in the slightest when she needed to do her duties. Besides, her own uniform seemed to be just as distracting to Ranma if his occasional glances to her rear were any indication.
In a rather business like manner Ranma calmly said, "Alright then Usagi, how do we get to the Moon? I've never use anything like the Sailor Teleport and I don't know exactly where on the Moon we're going to go to."
At this Usagi started to blush a bit as she had forgotten those little facts about Ranma. Once her blush had disappeared a few seconds after appearing, Usagi started to slowly walk towards Ranma while talking. "Don't worry about those things now Ranma. The Sailor Teleport is relatively simple once you know how to use it. What you have to do is picture where you want to go, know where that place is in relation to where you currently are, and they picture a beam connecting those two points. After concentrating on this for several seconds the senshi magic will respond and transfer you to where you want to go. Thanks to a few of my past memories awakening I don't need to picture where I want to go and can just use a series of coordinates."
While Usagi's explanation answered some of Ranma's questions, he still had wanted to know more. Ranma tilted his head in a questioning manner and said, "I still don't get it Usagi. How am I supposed to go to the Moon if I don't know where I'm supposed to go? Also, why don't all the sailor scouts use the teleporting abilities if it's so simple?"
On hearing Ranma's questions Usagi started to scratch her head and she said in a slightly embarrassed manner, "Oops. Sorry about forgetting about that Ranma." After Usagi calmed down she continued by saying, "You don't need to worry about where to go on the way up to the Moon. I will be the one actively manipulating the Sailor Teleport and you will 'piggy back' on my 'signal'. When we head home you can teleport yourself back on your own since you will have both travel points. As to why the other sailor scouts don't use the sailor teleport: power restraints. From what I can remember, most of the other senshi just don't generate enough power to use the Sailor Teleport by themselves. Even you and I don't have the kind of power to use the Sailor Teleport by ourselves on a mere whim. We can use the teleport, but we need to be careful when we use it so we don't exhaust ourselves."
This answer made everything a lot clearer to Ranma. He then moved closer to Usagi so that they could start the Sailor Teleport. While Prince Nephelite had never actually used the Sailor Teleport, he had seen the spell in action several times. Thus Ranma knew where he needed to be so that Usagi could start the teleport. With their hands held together Ranma and Usagi concentrated on going to the Moon. After a few seconds a glow of light surrounded them and then the light suddenly became a bright flash.
Argentaniople had once been hailed as the most beautiful city in the Solar System. Founded by Queen Selene III as the new capital of the Silver Millennium to replace the old capital of her great-great-grandmother Queen Selene I, Argentaniople had been carefully planed out to be a symbol of the Silver Millennium's endurance. The city had been carefully zoned by the best architects of the Millennium so that the city would be both beautiful and aesthetic. At its zenith Argentaniople could proudly boast a population of over 20 million.
When Ranma and Usagi arrived in Argentaniople they were greeted by an absolute mess. Argentaniople's crystal and silver skyscrapers that had surrounded the royal palace like a great crown were burnt out ruins. The ground that the duo was standing on was scorched soil and cracked pavement; not the luscious grass and perfectly aligned stone patios that once existed. Even the air around Ranma and Usagi was depressing by being stale and thin. It wasn't too thin to cause a normal person breathing problems, but one could quickly tire out due to the atmosphere.
Almost immediately after they had arrived, Ranma turned and looked at Usagi. Thanks to the fact that Prince Nephelite had still been alive when the queen caste her spell Ranma knew what the devastation to Argentaniople would be like. At that moment Ranma was worried about how Usagi would take the destruction of Argentaniople. It was one thing to intellectually know about something terrible, but it was a completely different thing to be confronted by a terrible event face to face.
Usagi, who had died midway through the fight, was in fact devastated by what she saw. Even though Usagi had intellectually known that Argentaniople would be in ruins her heart hadn't really accepted the idea of the city's destruction. As foolish and illogical as it was a small part of Usagi had been secretly hoping that Argentaniople wouldn't be ruins. That part of Usagi had been hoping that for some magical reason that she hadn't remembered yet that the city would be repaired. Now faced with the undeniable proof of Argentaniople's destruction that part of Usagi's heart broke.
For his part, Ranma just silently hugged Usagi and let her cry in his arms. While Usagi was a good leader for the Sailor Scouts and had the potential to become a wonderful ruler if she ever decided to go that route, she was first and foremost a young woman with a large heart. In Ranma's mind scenes like the one they were currently in were something that Usagi should never have to see. That Usagi could go to places like this even knowing how she would react so that she do something to help others in Ranma's mind spoke a great deal about her character.
Once Usagi had managed to calm down and didn't need Ranma the physically support her, the two of them started their explorations. For some unknown reason the two of them had just started walking in the direction of the royal palace. Part of Ranma had started to wonder why they had started walking towards the palace for no real reason. However, Ranma didn't voice this to Usagi and he had decided to stick to quiet observations. From his observations Ranma noticed that the air became easier to breathe and that here and there a few lichens, funguses, and mosses were starting to grow.
The fact that these plants were growing was something that Ranma made sure to burn into his memory. Since the atmosphere had become better the closer they got to the palace and now plants were starting to appear that meant something amazing had happened. Somehow, although Ranma couldn't even think of a reason, some of the Moon's life sustaining magic had remained from the fall.
At the steps of the royal palace the spirit of Queen Serenity calmly waited for Usagi and Ranma to reach the palace. When the duo had teleported into Argetaniople her spirit had been called back to the Moon. Her time here on the Moon would undoubtedly be short, but Queen Serenity fully accepted that fact. The dead after all did not belong in the world of the living. Still, Queen Serenity was happy that she would be able to spend a little bit of time with her daughter.
As Ranma and Usagi rounded a fallen column that brought the duo in front of the palace steps, Serenity floated down the steps to greet them. "Hello daughter, hello Prince Nephelite or rather Ranma," Queen Serenity said in a caring tone that Usagi had inherited from her. On seeing the surprised looks on Ranma and Usagi's faces Queen Serenity's lips formed a small smile. She then continued on saying, "The dead have ways of observing those that they cared for while alive. I have watched both of your lives with great interest and I have been proud at what I have seen you two become. Please tell Setsuna when you get the chance that she's not of the hook for the bet and I expect her to give the money to Usagi."
Usagi and Ranma were naturally confused by the queen's request, but they didn't really give it much thought. In their lives the fact that a ghost was asking them to collect a bet for it wasn't that weird. Usagi then said with a hint of her confusion in her voice, "Uh mother, why are you here? While it's great to see you again, I honestly never expected to see you again after you appeared when the crystal was found."
Queen Serenity gave Usagi a soft smile and then said, "To be honest dear I never expected to see you again until you had crossed the river yourself. However, I have some information that I need to pass on to you my dear." The queen then paused for a moment and turned to look at Ranma before continuing to talk. "What I need to tell my daughter is for her ears only at the moment. Perhaps you could go look at the main library in the Mercury Wing Ranma. I'm sure that you will find many useful things there while I tell Usagi what I need to tell her."
Ranma immediately nodded his head and softly said, "Alright Aunt Serenity." He then gave Usagi a tender hung and headed off towards the Mercury Wing. The fact that Queen Serenity didn't want him to hear what she wanted to talk to Usagi about did not bother Ranma at all. It would be hypocritical of him to want to keep his secrets from other people and to demand to know something that he had been asked to keep out of. Besides, Ranma knew that he could trust the queen to keep Usagi safe.
Once Ranma had gone up the steps and had disappeared down a corridor, Queen Serenity turned to Usagi and said with a raised eyebrow, "handsome, strong, protective, and knows when mind his own business. You certainly know how to pick good boyfriends dear." This little comment caused Usagi to blush slightly. Her present mother Ikuko and Aunty Nodoka had often said similar comments when she was in earshot and 'overheard'. While it great that the most important female figures in her life approved of her choice for a boyfriend, Usagi really wished that they find a less embarrassing manner of showing it!
The gentle old spirit then placed her hand on Usagi's shoulder and said, "Follow me Usagi. I have much to show you and not a lot of time to show it to you." With that said, Queen Serenity then turned and floated up the stairs into the palace. Usagi almost immediately started to follow her past mother's spirit. Both of them quickly and silently moved through the palace towards their destination. Every now and then Usagi would see something in the palace that would trigger a childhood memory from when she was Princess Serenity.
By the time that Queen Serenity stopped at closed door at the end of a hall Usagi knew exactly where she was. Queen Serenity had led Usagi through the Lunar Wing of the palace to the royal quarters. Before Usagi could ask Queen Serenity why they were at this particular door Queen Serenity started to speak. "If you would please go into your quarters dear I can explain why we are here."
At hearing Queen Serenity refer to the royal quarters as hers, Usagi felt a slight pain of loss. When she had been Princess Serenity this room had always been 'Mom's room'. The fact that Usagi was the queen, technically the princess regent, of the Moon and not the princess of Moon was not something that Usagi had ever really thought about. It was a piece of her fairy tale view of the Silver Millennium that had somehow remained with Usagi when she took off her rose colored glasses.
However, Usagi was able to push aside her feelings of loss and go into her quarters. Once Usagi had entered her quarters she looked around the room and took in the sight. The room was like something out of a Renaissance ruler's dream. There were frescos on all four walls and the ceiling while the floor was covered in polished wood. Here and there in the room were several pieces of sculpture that looked more like the kind found in the Baroque Period then the Renaissance that the rest of the room seemed to look like.
After giving a moment for Usagi to look around the room Queen Serenity cleared her throat and said, "Please come over here daughter." At this Usagi turned and saw her mother floating by a statue of a couple sharing a kiss. Queen Serenity then continued by saying, "Please come over here Usagi. There is a special passage here in your quarters that will take us to the place that I want to show you. In order to activate this passage you must place your hand on the female figure in this statue's breast and say 'Lunar light, lunar love, lunar life.'" On seeing the surprised look on Usagi's face the old spirit said with a bit of humor in her voice, "Don't be so surprised my daughter. A secret passage only works if no one but the intended user can find it."
Once Usagi had activated the secret passageway she and Queen Serenity had headed down a stairway that had appeared in the floor. The stairway was made out of granite blocks that were smoothly cut and expertly placed together. Inside several blocks at regular intervals were crystals that gave off enough light to make the stairway friendly and not spooky. Thanks to the fact that she had started to pay better attention to things around her Usagi noticed something interesting about the stairway. The stairway was big enough that two people could walk side by side.
Queen Serenity, who was floating next to Usagi, started to speak after a few minutes of silence. "What I am about to tell you Usagi is something that has been passed down from mother to daughter in the royal families ever since our ancestors arrived in this system. As you may or may not remember, only the Earth naturally supports higher life in this system. All of the worlds in the Silver Millennium were made habitable through the use of magic."
The stairs disappeared as the queen said this and she continued to speak as she and Usagi walked down a tunnel. "Almost everyone back in the Silver Millennium simply assumed that the spells used to transform our worlds into livable worlds were permanent. This was something that the high queens and the lesser queens of the Silver Millennium had fostered among our subject. It is also one of the greatest lies that has ever concocted."
Upon seeing the surprised and shocked, but not horrified as the queen had partially expected, look on Usagi's face Queen Serenity continued. "It is impossible to cast a spell that would permanently make an uninhabitable planet habitable. What our ancestors did was they manipulated the ley lines of the Moon and other worlds so that magically induced ecosystem was established. However, spell started to fade about 100 Silver Standard years after it had been cast."
Usagi wanted to know how her Lunarian ancestors had managed to keep the Silver Millennium worlds habitable until the fall. However, Queen Serenity had stopped talking and Usagi didn't want to pester her mother. Thus, the two of them walked in complete silence until they emerged from the tunnel and came into a large circular room. Looking around the room Usagi noticed that the roof of the room was a carved stone dome. Also, the room was completely empty except for a large stone altar that was in the center of the room.
As Queen Serenity led Usagi towards the altar, Usagi noticed that the altar wasn't like any altar she had ever seen. The first thing that Usagi had noticed was that it was very large in terms of its top surface area. However, that a trivial matter compared to something else that Usagi had noticed about the altar. While the altar was apparently made out of some type of stone, the top of the altar had been covered in a white matted material. This material wasn't lying on the altar like a piece of cloth and was actually a part of the altar itself.
Before Usagi could voice her confusion Queen Serenity started to explain. "This altar and similar altars on each of the settled worlds was our ancestor's answer to the failing magically induced ecosystem. With these altars the queens of the various worlds can with their kings renew the ancient magic and keep their worlds habitable. Originally this altar was connected to a temple that Queen Selene I had constructed to in order to keep the altar's existence a secret. Queen Selene III moved the capital here after the Regency War so that the Lunarian queen would have quicker access to the altar."
While a few of her questions had been answered, Usagi was still confused about several things. She then calmly asked her mother's spirit, "Why did you ask Ranma to leave us Mother? I don't see why he shouldn't be here to see this altar as well. It's not like Ranma would tell anyone about this altar. Besides, no one lives on the Moon anymore and practically anyone would lock me up in a mental institution if I were to calm that this altar exists. Therefore keeping the fact that this altar can make the habitable from Ranma doesn't make much sense."
To Usagi's surprise Queen Serenity wrapped her ghostly arms around Usagi's neck. While hugging Usagi the queen softly said, "You make a good point dear. However, I felt that it would be less embarrassing for you if I was to explain what you need to do in order to use the altar to revive the ecosystem without Ranma here." Queen Serenity then ended the hug, floated back a few feet, and started to talk in an unusually stern tone while glaring at Usagi. "And I expect young lady, that you will NOT revive the Moon's ecosystem for a few years. Unless of course there is a reason why you need the Moon habitable earlier and it better be an extremely important reason dear."
This caused Usagi to become even more confused and led to Usagi letting out a stream of questions. "Why don't you want me to revive the ecosystem? Isn't that why you showed this altar to me? How could Ranma being here while you explain what to do embarrass me?"
Usagi's confusion caused Queen Serenity to soften her glare back into her usual soft and caring gaze. The queen then calmly said, "I understand your confusion Usagi so let me explain it to you. Now I'm going in a more round about way then my mother did for me, but I think this is the better method. As you have noticed various aspect of Silver Millennium society has been emulated different Earth cultures. The 'ancient' peoples of the area of land known as Mesopotamia emulated what the queens and kings of the Silver Millennium did to renew the ancient magic in their fertility rituals. Specifically, they emulated the kings and queens with their so called 'sacred marriages' in the fertility rituals."
For a few seconds Usagi just stared blankly at Queen Serenity as she tried to figure out what the old queen was alluding to. Usagi's eyes then bulged out a bit and her cheeks gained a red hue as a memory from her history class came up. All that Usagi could think of at that moment was that her mother was right: it would have been almost mortifying if Ranma had been here when she found out.
Author's Notes: for those of you who don't know what Usagi and Queen Serenity are talking about go to gatewaytobabylon/essays/fertilitysacremarriage to find out. And remember, THIS IS A TEEN FIC!