Lines of Destiny: Destiny's Intersection

by Shareon

Fallout from Sailor Terra's awakening continues as the lines of destiny draw to their inevitable conclusion. (A conclusion to "Lines of Destiny" by L. Giroux, a crossover between "Ranma 1/2" and "Sailor Moon." Instructions to find "Lines of Destiny" included in the Author's Preface, and the original outline is included after the last chapter.)

9. Chapter 21

Chapter 21:

Minako climbed out of her cold bath and grabbed a towel to dry herself off. When she had first come to this world, the constant cold baths were a shock to her body. However, it was the traditional way everybody cleaned themselves. In fact, when she had suggested warming the water first, she had only gotten strange looks in return.

She had discovered why this was the first time she had tried making a warm bath for herself. It had taken her hours to heat up enough water using a large pot over a fire, and the bathtub wasn't even half full before the water had started growing tepid again. To be sure, it felt more comfortable than a completely cold bath, but without a convenient hot water tap, warming the water first was just too annoying to do on a regular basis.

By now, Minako had long grown accustomed to being embraced by cold water as she washed. It wasn't comfortable, strictly speaking, but it did feel more natural.

Once Minako had finished drying herself off and was sure she wouldn't get another chill, she reached over and took a long drink from of a nearby glass of jula berry juice. The spicy, sour drink stomped down her throat, warming her to her very core as it barged its way to her stomach. The strange drink had been another thing to get used to. It was definitely an acquired taste, but now that she had acquired that taste, she absolutely loved it. It was an especially delightful way to warm up after a bath.

Minako paused at the small, polished crystal on her table which served as a mirror. She picked it up and carefully studied her face for a second. She then proudly declared to herself, "You still got it. You don't look a day over 18."

Others might have said that exaggeration to themselves as a reassurance, conveniently overlooking the laugh-lines and eye-bags which the years had steadily added. However, if Minako exaggerated, it was in the other direction. She literally couldn't tell the difference between how she looked now as compared to how she had looked when they had first traveled to the moon, or indeed even as compared to how she had looked when she had first left Tokyo almost eight years ago. If she had aged, it had happened so slowly that she had utterly failed to notice any change.

As much as she would have liked to credit her graceful aging to her diet, her behavior, and her genetics, she couldn't. She knew exactly why she still had that youthful glow about her.

It was magic.

Sure, Ami would have described how Serenity's usage of something energy was somehow something which extended something cellular damage somehow to something which something, something, something. Minako knew better, though. It was just magic, plain and simple.

Ami assured her that everybody on the moon was still aging, just aging very slowly. It was one of the perks for moving that Serenity had promised and subsequently followed through on. In addition to having helped make the population on the whole less disgruntled at their displacement, it now helped to expand the population from their small communities to a larger civilization. Sure, that life extension policy might need to change once they started outstripping the resources on the moon, but that was a problem for the future.

At the current rate of growth, it would take decades, if not centuries, before any hint of overcrowding might start to appear. In fact, they had only just founded their sixth settlement, the newly-created town of Nubium which stood a fair distance south of the palace and its surrounding town of Serenitatis. Minako had just returned from being dispatched there on a mission to ensure they had adequately settled down and to verify if they really had a problem with banditry as rumors had suggested. If they did have such a problem, she would perform as much reconnaissance of the surrounding area as she could in preparation for a larger military excursion to quash it.

The first time she had been sent on such a mission it had been to break up a slave-trading ring which "reliable intelligence" had discovered. She had been half-terrified that first time, all those years ago.

It was true that she had faced off against far more dangerous perils as Sailor V, let alone what she had faced along with Usagi and the rest of the Sailor Senshi as Sailor Venus. It was also true that she had been sent with a contingent of guards as well. However, her escorts had been substantially older than she was, and she had felt decidedly uncomfortable trying to lead people over twice her age, despite the fact they were all her friends. Also, unlike her time as Sailor Venus, she was completely bereft of magical protection and feline adviser. True, her combat prowess had grown by leaps and bounds under Ranma's tutelage, but it was hard for her to feel confident about her abilities seeing how frequently she landed on her butt when sparring against Ranma.

That had been years ago. Since then, Minako had gotten accustomed to acting as one of Serenity's most trusted advisers. She found herself acting as leader of the guards and occasionally acting as a direct agent of Serenity's around the moon, such as on this particular mission to gather intelligence in and around Numbium.

Unlike that first expedition, this entire trip had been relatively quiet. There had been no bandit attacks, or indeed anything of exceptional note. The town had had some random issues, but they were minor in the grand scheme of things. There was no threat of starvation, drought, rebellion, or really anything of concern. Minako hadn't had to draw her sword in anger for the entire trip, which counted as a definite positive in her book. Despite that, she still spent an hour each evening practicing both with and without her weapon of choice. It was better to be safe than dead. Besides, she knew if she let herself go for more than a couple of days, her welcome back to the palace would be more painful than it really needed to be.

Overall, things had worked out nicely. The lack of trouble in Nubium had meant, among other things, that Minako had been able to return to the palace in time for the anniversary ball. More importantly, it also meant she was back in time for Setsuna's very important seventh birthday. She had always made it a point to be back at the palace for both events. She was sure that Setsuna would be devastated if her, albeit self-proclaimed, favorite older sister failed to make an appearance at her party. The large crowds of the ball also provided the perfect opportunity for her to show off her singing voice.

Truth be told, Minako had found life as an idol much less exciting than she had thought it would be when she had been growing up. It was fun as far as it went, but somehow it felt so superficial as compared to her other responsibilities and the massive undertaking of building a new kingdom from the ground up. Still, it was fun to be the center of attention of a rapt audience from time to time. Besides, it was tradition by this point.

Minako paused in her morning routine at her dresser full of clothing, trying to figure out what to wear for the day. Of course she would change into the ballgown she had painstakingly created with Aquamarine's help in the evening, but that was for the evening. For the day, Minako had several fashionable outfits she could wear, and she was torn over which one to choose. The purple floral skirt would be a welcome change of pace, and it'd been a while since she had worn her blue dress which contrasted so nicely with the color of her hair. Ultimately, she ended up wearing her orange skirt and white top, so reminiscent of the uniform of Sailor Venus she had worn so long ago.

It wasn't just the colors which were reminiscent of that uniform. The extremely short length of the skirt closely echoed the uniform of Sailor Venus as well. She would have been embarrassed wearing this outfit around Tokyo when not transformed; but this wasn't Tokyo. Here, it was strictly in keeping with fashion. It might have been due to fact that the women here kept their looks for far longer, but it seemed like short skirts and tight tops were the order of the day in fashionable society. The older women liked to continue to flaunt what they hadn't yet lost, causing the younger women to be that much more daring in an attempt to stand out.

Maybe that was why Ami had decided to design the uniform of the re-created Sailor Mercury the way she had, matching it so closely to how the original uniform of Sailor Mercury had been. She wasn't sure why Ami had been so fashion conscious, though, seeing how she obviously didn't feel comfortable exposing that much skin herself. During the day, Ami wore the longest skirt and loosest blouse she could while still being considered mostly normal, unlike Ranma.

Ranma seemed to not care a whit about fashion or about what others thought of her. She wore the same white skirt which reached down to her shins and white long-sleeve shirt every single day. Compared to everybody else it was downright demure, and stood in very stark contrast to all the other women around the palace. It'd also been years since she'd changed her hairstyle from how she let it hang loose. The unusual, eye-catching, and predictable look of Ranma ensured that her very recognizable form stood out wherever she went. The only exception was on the evenings of the annual ball, when Minako would force Ranma to change both her dress and her hairstyle. Despite her quirks, or maybe because of them, Minako could name half a dozen men off the top of her head who would practically kill to have a date with Ranma.

Once Minako's shirt and skirt were on, she grabbed her sword and properly attached it to her side. It had been formed of crystal and, along with a matching scabbard, had been a gift from Serenity. It wasn't nearly as ornate as the sword she had once used to kill Beryl and had subsequently sacrificed in an attempt to awaken Usagi, but it was still beautiful to look at. It was also one of the most practical gifts she had ever received.

The crystal wasn't purely an aesthetic choice. The blade of the weapon was perpetually sharp, and its semi-translucent appearance made it that much harder for an opponent to track. It even helped balance the fight against Ranma, for the seconds to minutes it would take for the martial artist to disarm her at least. Possibly more importantly, beyond providing a useful edge in a fight, the sword announced her status and station to the public at large when outside of the Serenitatis region. Minako found it handy and far better than being unarmed, no matter what Ranma might say.

Minako took one last look at her reflection in her small mirror to make sure everything was in order. She flicked a particularly errant lock of hair behind her ear and made for the door. There was a long day planned today, just like every anniversary of the founding of the Moon Kingdom, and the earlier she got started the better.

Her first stop of the day was to Ami's lab. For an ordinary person, the trip would probably take about five minutes to walk. However, that was for ordinary people. Minako expected it to take at least 30 minutes, and had budgeted closer to an hour. She was constantly stopped on the way: by Nuumite with his thanks for her help in finding his missing son, by Apatite with her pleasantries about the recent grain harvest, by Sodalite with a question of if they ever figured out what that strange smell in the afternoon was, by Danburite with an invitation to dinner with his wife and children. Minako loved being able to help so many people, but it did make it slow to travel from point A to point B.

She was in sight of Ami's lab when she got caught in a particularly long conversation with Fluorite, who was desperately trying to find somebody to help her get a gown for the evening, due to a last-minute date request from Prehnite. Both Fluorite and Prehnite had secretly fancied each other for as long as Minako had known them, causing her to wonder why it had taken him so long to gather the nerve to ask. Minako ended up directing her to Sphalerite, a passably good dressmaker who deserved far more business and attention than he received.

Finally, Minako reached the door to Ami's lab, whereupon she hesitated. It was true that it'd been almost a year since she had opened the door to a barely avoided rogue bolt of magic, but the near-death experience had left its mark on her. Literally. It had taken months for her hair to grow back, and she had no inclination to repeat the experience, especially with the ball coming up.

She cautiously put her ear against the door. When she didn't her any excited or frantic yelling she slowly opened it, carefully keeping it as a shield blocking most of her body as she peered into the room.

"I got it!" Ami shouted out, causing Minako to reflexively duck.

"Hello, Minako-dono. What are you doing down there?" Spinel asked the now squatting girl.

When no bright flashes of light passed overhead, Minako slowly removed her hands from her head and stood up. She said, "Every time I visit this place it's always such a fun-house. What did Ami-chan just figure out this time?"

"I think I figured out a way to properly hold an aetheric energy gradient in a stable pre-configured pattern. I was thinking about Iolite-san's accident earlier. It was a tragedy, but I got to thinking that if a spontaneous aether ignition can cause the realignment of his aetheric conductive coefficient in that way, then there should be a way to do that more intentionally, especially if we use some more absorbent materials," Ami explained excitedly.

The words washed over Minako like most of Ami's explanations did. She had no idea what any of the technobabble meant. However, there was one thing stuck out in the collection of words her friend had just said. She hesitantly asked, "Iolite-kun's accident?"

"Yes. Haven't you heard?" Ami asked.

"No. I only got back last night," Minako said, a frown starting to appear on her face.

"I see. Well, there was an accident in an aetheric capacitance chamber. Iolite-san ended up rushing in and rescuing several people who were trapped by some falling debris. There are at least three people out there who owe... their... lives..." Spinel said, slowing down as she noticed the increasing frown on Minako's face.

"Don't tell me," Ami said, once Spinel had ground to a halt. "Your mysterious date for the ball?"

"Yes," Minako confirmed, her stomach long having since dropped out from under her. She had kept it a secret this year, trying to prevent what she was coming to think of as the unpreventable.

"The 'Curse of Minako-dono' strikes again, it seems," Spinel said ominously.

"Did he survive?" Minako asked in concern. She would have asked if he was alright, but given the so-called curse, the fact that he wasn't was a given. Thus far, every single one of her dates to the annual ball had only been injured to the point of making it impossible to actually attend the party. None of them had actually been killed yet, but there was always the chance for a first time.

"He'll be fine. Second degree intoxication affected 30% of his body, but he's expected to make a full recovery after three or four weeks in an isolation chamber," Ami answered.

"Can't you or Serenity-sama or somebody cast some kind of magic to heal him sooner?" Minako asked. "Maybe in time for the ball, perhaps?"

"The boss can probably explain it better than I can, but as I understand it, the problem is he's been over-exposed to aetheric energy. Any attempts to channel any more energy into him, be it more aetheric or life or anything else, will just exacerbate the problem," Spinel explained.

"Theoretically if we had access to some kind of negative energy we might be able to counter some of the poisoning and leech it out of him, but we still don't know of any sources of negative energy, let alone have any idea how to actually use it. The only thing we can really do is isolate him in as neutral an area as possible and let it correct itself naturally," Ami added.

"That's, what, the fifth year?" Spinel asked.

"No. Seventh," Minako said, feeling a stab of annoyance going through her body at the reminder.

"Seventh?" Spinel asked, shocked. "But we've only ever had seven anniversary balls."

"That's right. Every. Single. Year," Minako bit out. She was sure her face reflected exactly how she felt. "Every time my date gets hurt or disappears just before the dance. If I didn't know better, I'd say that you were all conspiring against me. Mark my words. Next year I'm getting somebody there even if I have to tie them up and watch over them day and night."

"Knowing your luck, they'd get bedsores or something and still be unable to go," Ami said, causing Minako to give a little growl in protest which she hoped sounded cute.

Rather than allowing the discussion her seemingly cursed love life to continue, Minako instead tried to change the subject. She asked, "On a different subject, any chance of Sailor Venus making her lovely appearance soon?" With the completion of Mariner Castle on Mercury, and Ami's subsequently regaining her ability to transform into Sailor Mercury, Minako looked forward to the opportunity when she could do the same.

"Probably not. Magellan Castle's going to take a few more years yet," Ami answered, dashing away those hopes.

"Magellan Castle? Really, Ami-chan, you need to let it go. We're not in Tokyo anymore," Minako said with an exasperated shake of her head. It seemed like Ami was dead set on capturing as much of a semblance of her life back in Tokyo as possible, such as when she had given the castle on Mercury the name Mariner Castle. For that matter, while the design of the Sailor Mercury uniform did match Moon Kingdom fashion, it also matched her old uniform as well to a large degree.

"It seemed appropriate," Ami said defensively.

"Don't look at me. I thought we should just call it Venus Castle and be done with it, but boss insisted," Spinel said.

Minako didn't even suppress her grimace as she said, "I guess it's a good thing that Ami-chan won out then. Magellan Castle's a much more romantic name, and I guess it'll be a nice reminder of home."

"Venus Castle is a perfectly functional name, I'll have you know," Spinel responded.

"Of course it is, but it's so boring. You brainy types are all the same," Minako answered. She did her best to ignore Spinel's pout as she went on to say, "Do me a favor. If you ever have to name something, go ask somebody like Seraphinite-kun or Pietersite-chan. They're creative and can definitely come up with some good ones."

"Or we could ask Jadeite-san. He's creative, and I'm sure he'd do anything for his 'Ami-dono,'" Spinel said, adopting an overly affected voice when saying Ami's name.

"Oh? Have there been some developments when I've been away?" Minako asked. It had been a shock when they had first met the handsome young man who shared a name with one of Endymion's, their Endymion's, Guardians. However, he had none of the characteristics of that former ally-turned-enemy-turned-rock.

"No. He's just a friend," Ami insisted. "Anyway, about Magellan Castle..."

As Ami spoke, behind her back, Spinel mouthed, "I'll tell you later." Minako subtly nodded back to her.

Ami continued, "... we ended up learning a lot from the construction of Mariner Castle. Even with the improvements we put in place as compared to the palace here, the overall effectiveness of Mariner Castle still leaves much to be desired. If we reconfigure a few more points, Magellan Castle will be able to tap into Venus far more efficiently and channel much more aetheric energy than Mariner Castle does on Mercury. It'll take us a while to completely redesign the matrix, but I think it'll be worth it in the end."

"The downside is that there's no way to go back and retrofit the changes back into Mariner Castle, let alone the palace here. I guess boss here will always be the weakest one of the planned set, unless somebody gets the crazy idea to try to make a Sailor Moon, or something," Spinel said.

"Why would that idea be so crazy?" Minako asked. The idea of a Sailor Moon seemed perfectly natural to her.

"The collection framework of the palace is terribly inefficient. It might be able to support a Sailor Moon, but that person wouldn't have access to very much aetheric energy at all. They'd need some other source of energy to really do much of anything," Spinel said.

"But with the right tools and stuff, or something like the Ginzuishou, then there's no reason why a Sailor Moon couldn't work, right?" Minako asked.

"There would need to be a different mechanism than a henshin rod to connect with the palace, as it hadn't been designed with a direct connection to its core in mind. However, assuming there was a way to establish that connection, then you're right, there's no theoretical reason there couldn't be a Sailor Moon. However, if a person had access to all of these supposed tools, let alone something like the Maboroshi no Ginzuishou, then why even bother transforming into Sailor Moon? It seems kind of pointless, if you ask me," Spinel said.

Behind Spinel's back, Ami was making frantic shushing motions to Minako. Minako didn't understand, but respected her friend's judgment. She changed the subject, saying, "I see. So anyway, besides Ami-chan and Jadeite-san becoming a couple..."

"Minako-chan," Ami protested.

"... how else have things been around here?" Minako continued, ignoring Ami's protest. "How have Ranma-chan and Setsuna-chan been?"

Setsuna had changed a lot in the past years. Her chubby, cherubic face had quickly shed its fat under Ranma's constant attention. Minako might have almost considered the training Ranma put Setsuna through at such a young age to be torture, except that it was entirely Setsuna's choice to continue. It was the one thing Ranma was most insistent on in raising her daughter. Setsuna would always have the choice to do whatever she wanted to. No arranged marriages. No forced inheritance of a school of martial arts. No scripted path in life. No nothing. Setsuna would always have the freedom to do whatever she wanted to, with the only requirement being that she had to live with the consequences of her choices.

And Setsuna's choice was to continue to learn martial arts from her mother. She would take whatever Ranma would give, and then eagerly ask for more. No matter what else had changed, the perky, cheerful, innocent personality of the young girl, so completely unlike her genial but inscrutable namesake's, had definitely not.

Ami's face took on a brief flash of panic before settling into a relatively cheerful mask. In the fake, cheerful manner that Minako had long learned to detect in her friend, Ami said, "Same as always. I think Ranma-chan started Setsuna-chan on the speed deflection training."

Something was obviously bothering Ami, and it wasn't just Ranma's usual unusual training hijinks. However, Minako doubted it would do any good to talk about it in such a public place. She decided to play along that everything was okay. If it was still a problem later, she could ask Ami at a more appropriate time.

"Ouch," Minako said, rubbing the side of her head in remembered pain. "Think she'll take it easy on Setsuna-chan, given her age and everything?"

After the briefest of pauses, Minako answered her own question saying, "Nah," while Ami said, "No way."

"That woman's about the craziest mother I've ever heard of. I hope I'm not half that bad when I have children," Minako said.

"Well, Setsuna-chan seems to enjoy it at least. She soaks it up and asks for more," Ami said.

"Right. Talk about the wrong name to give her. She's so unlike her namesake that it's not even funny. She's always so happy and energetic," Minako said.

"So completely unlike her mother too. Has Ranma-san always been like that, or was it Setsuna-chan's father running away that changed her?" Spinel asked.

"I can't really say. Neither of us really knew her much before we came here. I didn't get much of a chance to talk to Akane-san either. Hotaru-chan probably would have known more, but..." Ami trailed off with a shrug, glazing over the fact that Setsuna didn't really have a biological father as such.

Akane and Hotaru. Those were two names Minako hadn't thought of in years. In fact, she doubted she'd recognize either of them if they were to pass by on a street anymore. Usagi she would probably recognize, although maybe not Makoto and Rei. Artemis, on the other hand, she definitely remembered. However, there was no chance of seeing any of them again, so it wasn't like it really mattered.

"You mean you aren't old childhood friends?" Spinel asked. "That surprises me, seeing how you two are the only ones Ranma-san ever talks to, besides Serenity-sama that is. I assumed you three had known each other since long ago or something."

"No, nothing like that," Minako said. She hadn't really been friends with Ranma until... actually, when had it happened? It had gradually grown throughout the years, but Minako couldn't really pinpoint exactly when she had actually started considering Ranma a friend and vice versa.

"Well, no matter how you both met Ranma-san, I'm glad you did. I, for one, I can't wait for the annual floor show she puts on with you, boss," Spinel said.

"Yeah, Ami-chan. I assume you're ready for it," Minako agreed.

"Of course. I've been practicing. Let's see if little Miss Twinkle-Toes can keep her feet about her this time," Ami said, a glimmer in her eye.

"No offense, but I'd probably bet against you," Minako said.

"That's okay. I'd probably bet against me too," Ami agreed.

---

As time went on, Ami's mood hadn't improved. While in the lab, her attitude had been mostly masked by her chatting with Minako and Spinel. However, once they had left the lab and that distraction had disappeared, her mask fell away, especially when she thought Minako wasn't watching. It was enough to drive Minako to distraction. She was genuinely worried for her friend.

It had been an on-again-and-off-again issue for years. Every so often, Ami would just end up in these states. Minako had never been able to figure what exactly triggered them. Most recently it had been her mentioning of Setsuna, but it seemed like the most random things could set her off.

Minako decided that a detour was in order. The day was busy, but this really needed to be put to an end. She was going to get to the bottom of it this time. Singing lessons with Charoite might be fun, but Ami was important. It was obvious which took priority. She could give her apologies to Charoite tomorrow.

As they walked, Minako had to subtly wave off a few people who had started approaching her.

"What are we doing here?" Ami asked, as Minako led her into the small cafe.

"Welcome," came the routine greeting from Hematite, the owner of the cafe. Once Hematite looked up and saw who it was, her voice continued in a more energetic tone, "Oh, Minako-dono. A pleasure to see you here again. Can I get you something?"

"Not today, Hematite-chan. I just need a quiet corner. I hope you don't mind," Minako said.

"For you? No problem. Right this way," Hematite said, leading the two to a quiet corner in the back of the room.

It wasn't until the two of them were seated that Minako said to Ami, "Okay. Now something's bothering you, and you're going to tell me what it is. What's wrong?"

"Bothering me?" Ami asked, hesitating a bit. "What do you mean? Nothing's bothering me."

"Ami-chan," Minako tried again.

"Really, Minako-chan, nothing's wrong," Ami insisted. Her eyes were wandering a bit as she spoke. That was a bad sign. Usually Ami had much more of a fixed gaze. It meant she was trying to hide something.

There was a short pause as Hematite briefly appeared, dropping off two glasses of jula berry juice and a small bowl of chocolate covered jam. Minako gave a questioning look, to which Hematite answered with a smile, "Complements of the house."

"Thanks, Hematite-chan," Minako said, before Hematite walked away again.

Minako wasn't quite sure how they were made, but the chocolate covered snacks were delicious. Upon biting into the spheres, the fruit filling within would pop out, coating the entire mouth with a sweet treat.

Minako took a sip of juice, and then tried again, saying, "Come on, Ami-chan. You're not fooling anybody. If something's wrong, let me know. I want to help."

"I'm telling you the truth," Ami said. Her body language said the exact opposite.

"Really? So why haven't you had a drink, or eaten anything yet?" Minako asked.

Ami took a quick sip of her glass of juice at the prompting, as if the act would somehow convince Minako that everything was alright.

"Nothing's wrong, then? You're sure? So when I mentioned Setsuna-chan earlier..." Minako started saying, halting when she saw Ami flinch. "See? There? Are you trying to tell me that there isn't anything wrong? What is it? Is Setsuna-chan in some kind of danger? I can help."

Ami hesitated, and then hesitated some more. She gave a long sigh to herself. Eventually, as if afraid of what she was about to say, she slowly said, "No. It's not that. She's not in danger, exactly."

"So it is Setsuna-chan, then?" Minako asked, confirming what she had suspected. "What's wrong? Is she sick or something?"

"No. Nothing like that. It's just," Ami started saying, then hesitated yet again. "Earlier, she was saying how she thought that Sailor Mercury was so wonderful, and she wanted to grow up and be like me and defend people."

"So? What's wrong with that? That sounds like a great thing to me. I remember I wanted to be a magic girl when I grew up, and I can't count how many girls and boys looked up to Sailor V in England, and Sailor Venus in Japan," Minako said. "That's the point, isn't it? To inspire love and justice."

"No. I mean yes. I mean... you're right, but it's different with Setsuna-chan," Ami said. She sighed again. After a pause, she asked, "Have you ever noticed all the similarities between this world and our home world?"

The abrupt change of topic threw Minako for a loop, but her intuition was telling her that Ami had a reason for asking. It didn't seem like Ami was just trying to avoid the topic at hand. Minako decided to play along. She said, "I guess so. What about it?"

"Have you ever thought that maybe they aren't just coincidences?" Ami asked. "I think we might actually be in the Moon Kingdom."

"Uhh... Of course we're in the Moon Kingdom, Ami-chan. Where else would we be?" Minako said.

"No, I mean in the Moon Kingdom. Our Moon Kingdom. The one from our world. From thousands of years ago. That Moon Kingdom," Ami said.

"Are you feeling alright? I know you've been under a lot of stress for that Magellan Castle project. Maybe you need a break? It isn't like it needs to be done tomorrow," Minako said. She felt worried for her friend's mental health.

"I'm being serious here," Ami insisted. "Haven't you ever noticed how Terra looks a lot like Earth?"

"Now that you mention it, it is kind of similar," Minako admitted. She hadn't really paid attention before, but now that it was pointed out, she could see the similarity between the oceans and continents on the blue planet constantly hovering in the sky above and the maps of Earth she had last seen years ago.

"There's more, too. Think about it. Serenity-sama's name, the crystal she named the Maboroshi no Ginzuishou, Endymion's name, the planets, the palace, the moon, and all of it. Do you really think it's all just a coincidence?" Ami asked, conviction adding weight to her voice and making Minako all the more receptive to the idea because of it.

Minako popped a chocolate into her mouth as she considered what Ami said. Now that the similarities were being listed out, there were a lot more of them than she had thought. She asked, "So that would make Serenity-sama the ancestor of Usagi-chan."

Ami nodded.

"Does that mean Setsuna-chan, Ranma-chan's daughter, is the ancestor of Setsuna-san from our world then?" Minako asked.

"I don't know. I know that the male line of the Terra Kingdom passed along the name Endymion, and the female line of the Moon Kingdom passed along the name of Serenity. Maybe they did a similar thing on Pluto," Ami said.

"Okay. I'm still not seeing why you are so worried though," Minako said.

"It's kind of complicated. It could be good if Setsuna-chan becomes Sailor Pluto, but it could be bad too. Either way, there might be all sorts of problems. That's what I'm worried about," Ami said.

"Problems? What kinds of problems?" Minako asked.

"Tell me. Do you know what a grandfather paradox is?" Ami asked.

"No. What's that?" Minako asked. She hoped this was leading somewhere. She was finding it a bit hard to follow the jumps in conversation Ami kept making.

"A grandfather paradox is one of the basic problems of time travel," Ami explained. "Let's say you could go back in time."

"Like you think we did," Minako interrupted.

"Yes, like I think we did. Now let's say you meet up with your paternal grandfather, and then you kill him," Ami said.

"What? Why would I want to kill my grandfather?" Minako interrupted again in alarm.

"I don't know. Maybe it was an accident? Who knows? It doesn't matter," Ami asserted.

"I think it's pretty important why I killed my grandfather," Minako declared. She didn't understand how Ami could find it so inconsequential to kill a member of her own family. Then again, based on her home in Tokyo and its expensive furnishings, Ami's family had been rich, and Minako knew from television that rich families always had some dark, hidden secret. That explained it. Poor Ami.

"Like I said, it doesn't matter for this scenario. The important thing is that you killed your grandfather. That means that your father couldn't have been born, because his father was dead. That means you couldn't have been born, because your father was never born," Ami pressed on, visibly frustrated.

"Okay, that sounds bad," Minako admitted.

"It's worse than that. If you weren't born, then you couldn't go back in time to kill your grandfather. That means your grandfather was still alive, so your father could be born, so you could be born. But if you were born that means that you could go back in time to kill your grandfather," Ami explained.

"Wait, that means that I'm both alive and not alive?" Minako asked. Her head hurt from thinking about it.

"Exactly. That's the paradox, and that's what causes causality to enter an indeterminate state," Ami said.

Minako didn't respond. Thoughts of being both alive and not alive at the same time floated around in her head and crowded out all other thoughts.

"That's what I'm so worried about. It sounds like Setsuna-chan should become Sailor Pluto, but what if she isn't supposed to? What if it's just a coincidence that she has the same name as Setsuna-san did? What if she is supposed to become Sailor Pluto, but not now? What if she is supposed to become Sailor Pluto now, and we stop her from doing it? I just don't know what to do, and the costs of making a mistake are incalculable," Ami said.

Minako wasn't quite sure what the problem was. Setsuna didn't even have a father, let alone a paternal grandfather, at least in any sense that they knew. Despite that, she could tell that Ami was clearly worried. Her mask of normalcy had fallen away, and worry covered her face.

This left Minako in a bit of a bind. She wanted to help, but really didn't know what to do. Well, there was only one thing for it.

---

"Are you crazy?" Ami shouted at Minako.

"I just thought Serenity-sama could give some advice. She knows a lot of stuff about a lot of stuff," Minako said.

Minako hadn't known what else to do, so decided to resort to her fallback position of getting advice from some trusted friends. Normally when an intellectual problem stumped her, the first person she would consult would be Ami. As Ami was the one actually presenting the problem this time, she decided the next best person to talk to was Serenity. The queen's wisdom and experience might shed some light which Ami's vast analytical abilities somehow overlooked.

Ranma gave a quiet scoff to herself. For some reason, she had been in the throne room when Minako and Ami had approached Serenity, and thus she had overheard Minako's explanation of the situation.

"What?" Minako asked.

"Nothing," Ranma said. "It's just you actually think this is the Moon Kingdom from our world?"

Ami got an all together indescribable look on her face. Minako utterly failed to read what it might have meant. Regardless, Ami wasn't answering, so Minako pressed forward on her own.

"Why's that so funny? Ami-chan and I were talking about it before. There's lots of things in common, like how Terra looks like Earth, and how the Moon Kingdom from our world had a Serenity and an Endymion, just like here," Minako said. She thought Ami had mentioned a few other things as well, but Minako couldn't remember what they had been off the top of her head.

"Sure, they're interesting coincidences, but they don't actually mean anything," Ranma insisted. "Look, I'll be the first to admit I don't know much about the history of the Moon Kingdom, I mean the Moon Kingdom from our world, but I certainly know the history of my own. I don't know about you, but I haven't seen any mass oppression of the people of Terra, and I certainly haven't seen anything like the Battle of Toga Falls."

"What's the Battle of Toga Falls?" Serenity asked.

"It was one of the key moments in the formation of the Terra Kingdom. It was when Endymion the Liberator finally threw off the shackles of Serenity the Vengeful. It was the culmination of his rebellion against Serenity, and it was supposed to be his last stand. 100,000 tired soldiers against her surrounding army of 500,000. Just when all hope seemed lost, the planet itself intervened. An earthquake opened a chasm in the ground, burying half of Serenity's troops and creating the namesake waterfall. Even so, Endymion still faced an army over twice the size of his, but he led them into battle despite the overwhelming odds. It was an impossible victory. They were able to capture and banish Serenity to the moon, which paved the way for his son, Endymion the Unifier, to bring everybody on Terra together under his beneficent rule," Ranma explained.

"That's weird. I keep hearing Endymion's and my name, but you're talking about two entirely different people," Serenity said.

"Now you know how we feel," Minako said in sympathy.

"So, like I was saying, I don't know about you, but I know I haven't seen Serenity-sama do anything which would earn her the title 'the Vengeful,' so it must be a different person. I'm pretty sure we couldn't raise an army of 500,000 either," Ranma said.

"Maybe 10,000, if we really put everything into it," Minako agreed.

"See? So this couldn't be our Moon Kingdom," Ranma finished explaining.

"Wait. Couldn't that just mean that this Battle of Toga Falls you mentioned just happened in the future then?" Minako asked.

"You mean I bring everybody to the moon to avoid a war, then go back to Terra to fight a war and conquer everybody, then raise an army 50 times the size that we can support to fight a rebellion, then lose that battle despite having the Maboroshi no Ginzuishou, and then get sent back up here to re-found the same kingdom had I left in the first place?" Serenity asked.

"Exactly," Minako said, glad that Serenity understood.

Ranma rolled her eyes, then said, "No, Minako-chan, that isn't possible. If you really want me to, I can tell you all about the history of the Terra Kingdom some time, but that just isn't possible. Trust me. Besides, if Serenity-sama were to try to do something evil like try and control the lives of an entire planet full of people like Serenity the Vengeful did, I'd be forced to stop her myself."

Serenity raised her eyes in curiosity and asked in a humorous voice, "Is that a threat, Ranma-san?"

"Uhh..." Ranma said, scratching the back of her head. "Yes?"

"I'll be certain to keep that in mind if I ever go crazy and try to conquer a planet," Serenity said with a light laugh.

Minako found Ranma's arguments compelling enough, but could tell that Ami was still unconvinced. However, Ami stayed just as silent as she had ever since Minako had first broached the subject of time travel. Just in case, Minako decided to add a bit more advice she had heard earlier. She said, "If you do, just remember, don't kill your paternal grandfather. We don't want you turning into a zombie."

"What?" Serenity asked, confused.

"Don't kill her paternal grandfather? What about her maternal grandfather?" Ranma asked, also looking confused.

Ami hadn't mentioned that, so it was probably safe. Minako said, "I guess that's okay. Your paternal grandmother is probably okay to kill too, but you'd need to ask Ami-chan."

"Okay. I'll be sure not to," Serenity said slowly, looking completely baffled.

Minako couldn't help but feel she had missed something important in her advice. It had made so much more sense when Ami had explained it to her earlier.

Ami opened her mouth, closed it, and then opened it again. She was hesitating, clearly torn about something. The other three people in the room watched her as she slowly asked, "Okay. So we aren't from the future then. That's good. However, let's say for the sake of argument that we actually were. Would that affect how you would send us home in any way?"

"To tell you the truth, I don't know. In principle I don't think it would affect anything," Serenity said.

"I see," Ami said, disappointed.

"So, now that all of that's settled, I believe you just got back from a trip to Nubium, Minako-dono? Were there any problems that we should be aware of?" Serenity asked.

"Nothing serious, Serenity-sama," Minako answered. "There was no sign of banditry or anything else troubling near Nubium. They had a bit of a crop shortage, but it's not quite at famine level. I suggest that we check back with them in a month or two, and let Humorum know too, just in case. They may need some food assistance if their bad luck continues. They could arrange something like what Crisium and Fecunditatis have set up."

Fecunditatis always seemed to be on the borderline of famine each year. Ami had advised against settling in that area, but scenery had overruled common sense for the residents there. However, no optimistic settlement name and wishful thinking could ever hope to change the agriculture of the area.

"Very well. Try to arrange to buy some extra supplies from Imbrium as well, in case we need it. I'd rather have too much than too little in case things go bad. Anything else?" Serenity asked.

"Nope," Minako confirmed.

"Very well. I was going to drop by the lab later today, but since you're here, Ami-dono, why don't you let me know how Project Magellan Castle is going too?" Serenity asked Ami.

"We finally figured out what was causing the array misalignment, so we don't have any more specific stumbling blocks for now. Initial estimates put Magellan Castle at somewhere like a 50% higher efficiency than Mariner Castle. We're going to be doing a practice simulation next month to make sure the collection matrix is stable, but I wouldn't expect any major updates until a month or two after that as it will take time to analyze the results," Ami said.

Minako tuned the rest of Ami's answer out. So maybe three or so months before Minako would be able to find out more details from Ami. Everything else she said was mere technobabble which Minako was hard pressed to follow.

As Ami spoke, Minako couldn't help but notice that she was practically glowing with excitement. Minako could almost have been envious of the amount of pleasure Ami found in her work, except that Minako loved what she was doing just as much.

---

"Are you crazy?" Ami shouted at Minako.

They were surrounded by the sound of plants rustling in a fresh breeze, and the bright blue orb of Terra was visible in the sky above. It didn't cast nearly as much light as the Sun did on the days it was in the sky, but Terra still managed to illuminate the area well enough to allow Minako and Ami to easily navigate the path between the throne room and the guardhouse. The path Minako had chosen hadn't been the fastest one, but it was one of the more scenic ones. It was one of the quieter paths too, having far fewer people than the confined hallways of the palace did.

"You already asked that," Minako said.

"I know, and I don't care," Ami said. "Why'd you tell Serenity-sama that?"

"Tell her what?" Minako asked. "You mean that you thought we were from the future?"

"Yes. Why'd you do that?" Ami asked.

"I thought she could give some advice. She usually has good ideas whenever I have a problem I can't solve," Minako explained.

"Telling her is one of the problems!" Ami shouted.

"Why's that a problem?" Minako asked, confused. "She promised not to kill her paternal grandfather too, so everything's fine, right?"

"No. It's not that simple," Ami said, shaking her head. It seemed it was never that simple with Ami. "Let's say you just managed to prevent the fall of the Moon Kingdom. That means that the Moon Kingdom is still around in the 20th century, but in our world nobody is on the moon. That affects everything. This means that everything in our world is different, so chances are we wouldn't even have been sent back to this time in the first place, which means you couldn't have told Serenity anything to stop the fall of the Moon Kingdom."

Minako turned that over in her head a few times. If this was the Moon Kingdom from their past, and she had just prevented the fall of it, then she wouldn't be sent back here, so she wouldn't be here to talk to Serenity, so Serenity wouldn't know anything, so the Moon Kingdom would fall, so she would be sent back here, so she could talk to Serenity, so the Moon Kingdom would still be here, so she wouldn't be sent back here, so she wouldn't be here to talk to Serenity, so...

"Oh, I see," Minako said. "I guess it's a good thing we aren't from the future of this world then, isn't it?"

"I'm not so sure about that. At least we're still here, so that's good thing. Just, please, be careful, Minako-chan. Don't tell anybody else here anything from our world. I'd better tell Serenity-sama, just in case. Ranma-chan too," Ami said. "Actually, where did Ranma-chan go? I swear she was behind us when we left the throne room."

Minako turned around in a complete circle, confirming what Ami had just said. Ranma was nowhere in sight. Minako hadn't even seen her leave.

"Why are you asking me? How am I supposed to know what that woman gets up to?" Minako asked back.

"It seems like you know everything else that happens in Serenitatis," Ami said.

Minako in fact did know most of what most people around Serenitatis, let along the people in the palace itself, were up to these days. Ami would spend her time doing research in her lab or in a library with Spinel and the others. Minako herself would spend her time leading Peridot, Aventurine, and the other guards; or wandering around helping people with whatever issues came up. Aquamarine, Hematite, and Jadeite tended to their stores. Tourmaline and Howlite worked their farms. Kyanite gossiped with Lepidolite and the others. Morganite did his painting. Cassiterite did what she claimed was sculpting but was instead an excuse to ogle handsome men. The list went on. However, noticeably absent from that list was Ranma. Minako simply had no idea what Ranma did on a daily basis.

"Maybe, but I don't have any idea what Ranma-chan's up to these days," Minako said. "Every time I try to find out, she just dodges the question."

"You don't suppose Ranma-chan is acting as a bodyguard for Serenity-sama, do you? She has saved her life, what, three, four times by now? That could explain why she was there when we stopped by earlier too," Ami speculated.

"That's possible, but Serenity-sama hasn't had needed a personal bodyguard for years. Ranma-chan doesn't spend nearly the amount of time with her that a bodyguard would be expected to, either," Minako said.

"Right," Ami said. "Well, we might as well head to the dojo. That's where we were headed anyway, and Ranma-chan's bound to show up there to pick up Setsuna-chan at some point."

---

She knew the path by heart, but even if she hadn't, the approach to the dojo would have been made clear when a child's loud "hai-yaa!" sounded from within. Minako smoothly drew her crystal sword from her scabbard as they approached. She took the matching crystal scabbard from her hip as well and held it in her left hand as a second, less-lethal sword. It never hurt to be armed and ready whenever they approached the dojo, especially when Ranma's presence was unaccounted for.

Just before Ami opened the door, a large thump came from a wall to the side.

"I'll bet you anything that that's Setsuna-chan's work," Minako said.

"No way. No bet," Ami answered. She opened the door, revealing the scene within.

Indeed it had been Setsuna. She had apparently thrown a much older girl across the room. Opal, the victim of the throw, was apparently in her late teens, but that didn't mean much. Minako herself looked like she was still a teenager, despite being 24 years old. Her rough guess put Opal as being closer to 30 than 20.

As Opal gingerly pulled herself up from the floor, across the room, Setsuna's voice chided, "I thought we covered this yesterday. Snap your arm back faster after you punch. Don't tell me we have to start all over from the basics again."

"Sorry, sensei," Opal said, straightening herself out. She had just joined the guards two months ago. As such, like every other new recruit, she was getting some basic self-defense classes from Setsuna.

"God, how does she do it? She's what, nine? I don't know what's worse: that she's teaching us, or that she can wipe the floor with us. I can barely stand to look at myself in the mirror," Variscite said from in front of Minako. Despite his much older age, much like Opal, Variscite had only recently decided to join the guards and was still getting oriented. Judging from his condition and the lack of exhaustion in his voice, Minako suspected that he hadn't yet had his turn.

"That's nothing. You should have been here a few years ago. Her mother would pound us across the room while she was nursing that girl there. Now that was embarrassing," Gaspeite said from beside Variscite. He both looked like and actually was in his late 60s. He might not have been the most energetic or ambitious guard, but he was reliable enough for routine calls. Minako frequently had him perform light duties, such as walking the beat and talking to shopkeepers to make sure everything was in order. He enjoyed it, and people found him easy to talk to, what with his grandfatherly demeanor.

"We all started there at some point. That's why you're here, isn't it? To get stronger. For queen and kingdom, and all that, right?" Minako said from behind the pair, eliciting a jump in surprise from both people. They had been so caught up with watching the match that they hadn't even noticed her and Ami come into the room. Minako knew from experience that if they were ever going to get any further in martial arts, that would need to change.

"Minako-obachan!" was her only warning before a flying Setsuna grabbed her in a gigantic hug. Minako had to be careful to avoid cutting the young girl with her still-drawn sword.

"Now, now, Setsuna-chan. What have I told you about the 'obachan?' Do I look like some old woman to you?" Minako asked, hugging the girl with her left arm. Her hand still held her scabbard tight.

"Fine, Minako-obaachan," Setsuna almost giggled out.

Minako gave a comic growl of displeasure, while mostly suppressing a laugh of her own. The assembled students visibly relaxed. Whenever Minako or Ami visited, it always meant a few minutes of reprieve from their training and a chance to catch their collective breath.

"So, when did you get back?" Setsuna asked.

"I got back last night. Things were cleared up much faster than we expected, and I just couldn't miss your birthday, now could I? Especially this important year," Minako said.

"Important? What's important about this year?" Setsuna asked.

"You're turning seven. That's a special year, like when you turned three," Ami explained.

"Turning seven?" Variscite asked with dismay from behind Minako.

"It is? Then how come none of my friends had anything special happen on their birthdays. I mean anything different than usual?" Setsuna asked.

"It's because they celebrate things differently. Do you remember how your mother and we came from a different place?" Ami asked. When Setsuna nodded Ami continued, "In that country, there was a certain festival called the Seven-Five-Three Festival. Those are considered lucky years, and there are all sorts of traditions which go along with them."

"Seven-Five-Three Festival? Then how come nothing happened when I turned five?" Setsuna asked.

"It's because you're a girl. The fifth year is special for boys, and the seventh year is special for girls," Ami said.

"We're supposed to be celebrating it on a specific day, but since we came here, the calendar's all different, so your mother decided to just celebrate it on your birthday," Minako added.

"I see," Setsuna said. Then with an eagerness that would do her mother proud, she suggested, "Say, do you want to spar?"

Minako exchanged a glance with Ami, who shrugged back. Minako decided she could squeeze in a bit of time, just for Setsuna. Besides, Ranma hadn't yet appeared, and they had more of a chance of her showing up at the dojo than of being able to successfully hunt her down themselves. They'd made that mistake once before, two years ago. For somebody whose characteristic dress was so visible, she could be almost impossible to find at times.

"Sure, but don't you have to train Variscite-kun first?" Minako asked.

"Oh, no, don't mind me. You go ahead," Variscite said with a touch too much eagerness in his voice. A quick look around confirmed to Minako that the rest of the class, even those who were exhausted, had a new-found energy and focus directed at the three in anticipation for the upcoming demonstration.

"So, who do you want to face first?" Ami asked.

Rather than answering directly, Setsuna twisted her right leg around the still hugged Minako and leaned forward. Minako had experienced all sorts of surprises from Ranma throughout the years so wasn't taken off-guard, but even so she was too off-balance to properly compensate her weight and was pushed onto her back despite herself.

The first thing Minako did was throw her sword at the ceiling with as much force as she could. It wasn't like she was fighting Ranma. If she actually used her sword, she might seriously hurt Setsuna. The extra force of the toss helped to straighten Minako's fall from the off-kilter angle Setsuna's underhanded throw had caused too.

She wanted to keep her scabbard, but her intuition was telling her that that would be a bad idea. Minako had long learned to rely on her feelings, so lightly dropped it. The scabbard wasn't sharp, so falling on it might be uncomfortable, but it wouldn't be very dangerous.

Despite outweighing the not-quite-seven-year-old Setsuna by a factor of two, Minako didn't settle for just landing on her back and simply overpowering her opponent. It was always dangerous being pinned by a student of Musabetsu Kakuto Ryuu, no matter how slight she might be. Besides, even if Setsuna didn't have anything planned, what was the fun of such an easy win? Instead, Minako disentangled her leg from Setsuna's as she fell and piked her body to put some space between her and her attacker.

Minako positioned herself to land on her lower back, bracing herself as best she could, and then used her momentum to force the pair into a backwards roll along her back. As she rolled, Setsuna directly on top of her, she kicked forcefully outwards with her legs. This had the effect of breaking Setsuna's hold on her and sending the child flying off behind her as if she had been shot from a catapult. The short distance between Minako and Setsuna also ensured her legs wouldn't have enough momentum to directly injure the girl. It was a perfect result in Minako's opinion.

Continuing the roll backwards, Minako caught herself with her arms and pushed out with both of her free hands, forcing herself into the air away from the direction she had kicked Setsuna. Her arms weren't strong enough to give her much height, but she still had enough clearance to twist in the air and land in a crouch facing Setsuna.

Facing where Setsuna should have been, but Minako didn't see her on the ground in front of her. The lack of visible opponent disconcerted her.

Up? The image flashed through Minako's mind and she glanced up, just in time to see Setsuna kicking off the section of wall near the ceiling. Rather than trying to intercept the flying girl, who had a major energy and positional advantage at the moment, the still crouching Minako prepared to jump away from Setsuna's pending attack.

However, instead of leaping straight at Minako, Setsuna instead kicked straight across the ceiling above Minako's head. Once above her, Setsuna grabbed onto the hilt of the sword which was now stuck in the ceiling. Minako didn't think Setsuna had the strength to claim the embedded weapon, but the momentum of her kick away from the wall must have provided enough extra energy. Setsuna was able to wrench the sword free from where it was stuck, high above. She continued her fall with less horizontal velocity, landing deftly to the ground. It would have been behind Minako if she hadn't turned to follow the girl.

Minako hadn't wanted to use her sword against Setsuna, but it seemed that the young girl had no such compunction when facing against the superior Minako. The bastard sword was a convenient size in Minako's hands, balanced for either one-handed or two-handed use as the situation dictated, but in Setsuna's hands it looked more like a claymore. It was obvious that Setsuna was struggling a bit under its weight, but Minako still found it intimidating to face while she herself was unarmed.

The weight of the oversized weapon would slow Setsuna down substantially, so dodging her attacks would be easier, albeit more dangerous than if she were unarmed. Minako could probably even catch the blade if she needed to, but she didn't want to try her, granted remarkable, luck in a casual practice spar, no matter how easy Ranma made the trick look whenever Minako faced against her.

Ideally she would use her scabbard to defend herself. It was down by her feet. However, Minako couldn't just lean down to pick it up without leaving herself open for a moment. Maybe if she kicked it just right, she might be able to grab it from the air before Setsuna could react.

It was strange. Normally Minako had some flash or insight about what she should do next, but her intuition was utterly failing to prompt her to do anything this time.

Then, Minako noticed a sight which relieved her of her decision. She forced herself to visibly relax, keeping ready to dodge if she needed to. She then called out, "Hey, Ranma-chan."

"Nice try Minako-obachan, but you tried that last time," Setsuna said, not risking the look back. Last time, Minako had taken the opportunity to sweep Setsuna's feet out from under her while she had been distracted.

"Okay, but don't say I didn't warn you," Minako cautioned, still standing relaxed.

"I won't," Setsuna said, starting to run forward, sword held above her head. Her charge was interrupted halfway to Minako when a training mat flew through the air, knocked her forward, and then landed with a thud on top of her.

Setsuna scrambled to her feet, both dazed and upset. She turned and shouted, "Who did... Mother! What'd you do that for?"

"You've always got to be aware of your surroundings and be prepared for anything. I've told you stories about how fights escalate. You're practicing Musabetsu Kakuto Ryuu. You need to pay attention. Minako-chan even warned you this time, so you have no excuse," Ranma said.

"It's not fair. I thought she was bluffing," Setsuna whined back.

"It was still your decision to ignore her warning. You need to take responsibility for your choices," Ranma answered back.

Setsuna just gave an adorable pout in protest.

"Welcome back, Ranma-chan. Where were you?" Ami asked from across the room. Meanwhile, Minako leaned down and retrieved her scabbard. Rather than return it to her side, though, she held it carefully in her right hand in an unassuming ready position.

"I was just taking care of some things," Ranma said noncommittally.

"As evasive as always. Well, no matter. We need to get ready for the ball tonight," Minako said. The prospect of the upcoming party, even without a date, caused Minako to break out in a wide smile with just the hint of mania in it. She always loved a chance to dress up, a chance to stand in the spotlight, and a chance to party. The annual ball provided all three.

"Are we going shopping now? I love seeing the dresses," Setsuna asked hopefully as she returned Minako's sword to her. She was far more courteous than Ranma would have been, handing it out for Minako to grab the handle. Ranma would have just thrown the sword to her. Handle first, of course. Probably. Minako shifted her scabbard to her left hand, and took the sword with her right, holding both in a subtle, ready position.

"That depends. Are you finished with your lessons here? We wouldn't want to leave your students halfway through, would you?" Ranma asked.

Minako could see the indecision bouncing around in Setsuna's head. On the one hand was the responsibility to her students that she had taken on when she had first started teaching the beginner classes. On the other hand, dresses. Ultimately, responsibility won out, and she said gloomily, "No, I'm not done here yet."

Behind her, Variscite and Gaspeite looked even more depressed that Setsuna did.

"Why don't Minako-chan and I help you finish your class, Setsuna-chan? That way it will go faster," Ami suggested.

"That's a great idea, Ami-obachan," Setsuna said. "They can help too, right mother?"

"It's been a while since I've seen Minako-chan, so I was thinking maybe we could have a quick match. I need to make sure she's kept up while she's been gone. But if Ami-chan wants to help you out, that's up to you two. Maybe you can even learn something new from watching her," Ranma answered.

"Okay," Setsuna agreed. Then turning to Ami she said, "I think Variscite-san was up next."

"Variscite-san?" Ami prompted, causing the man to slowly climb to his feet.

Minako didn't have any more time to watch the three of them as Ranma squared-off in front of her.

"Let's see how much you've forgotten in the past month," Ranma challenged before taking up a stance.

Minako gulped, and then switched her stance to a more visible and offensive one, her sword and scabbard held in a cross in front of her. She was sure she'd be disarmed within five minutes at the most, but she planned on making the most of her advantage while she had it before she was forced to resort to hand-to-hand combat.

Then, for no reason she could entirely quantify, she changed her stance to the most defensive one she knew. Something wasn't quite right, although she couldn't place what it was. Something... behind her?

Minako spun around, swinging her scabbard across her body in an arc as she did so. As she was swinging blindly, she didn't want to risk the blade, lest she accidentally cut somebody who had wandered into the wrong place. Her makeshift blunt sword sliced through the air and bisected a speeding orb of light, causing it to dissipate into the air.

She continued her spin, lowering to a crouch for no apparent reason as she did so. Her back had been turned towards Ranma, and she needed to get a fix on her opponent's position as quickly as possible. When she had completed her turn, Ranma's foot was already up in the air, readying a roundhouse kick that would have clocked Minako in the head if she had been standing up. This left Ranma's other foot vulnerable. Minako used her momentum to swing her sword as quickly as she could, assured in the knowledge that Ranma would avoid the blade, even if Minako didn't know how.

Ranma continued her kick despite Minako's position, only higher than normal. She then pushed off with her back foot. This turned the kick into a sloppy, circle kick which sailed over Minako's crouched form. Minako wasn't in a position to redirect her committed momentum upwards, so the martial artist simply flew over her. Ranma tumbled when she hit the ground and sprang back to her feet. Meanwhile Minako turned, rose to a standing position, and retook an offensive stance.

A draw. Ranma hadn't taken a hit, but Minako hadn't either. She still had her sword and scabbard too. All things considered, she'd take it.

Minako took the offensive, charging at Ranma, and beginning the next round of combat herself.

---

Minako was leading the group towards Aquamarine's shop, as was tradition. Occasionally she was stopped by some passersby who wanted to exchange a quick word with her, but such stops were rare. By this point of the day, everybody was getting ready for the annual ball. Even though she crossed the paths of many people, the only person to really stop and chat was Cassiterite. She was searching for some new models. Minako suggested she talk to Rhodochrosite, a narcissist who she knew would love the attention.

As always in their preparations for the ball, the first stop was the dress shop for their final fitting. With Aquamarine's skill, adjustments were never needed, but it was better to be safe than to go all night with a nasty pinch, or worse, the fear of something slipping off at a bad time. This was doubly important for Ami and triply important for Ranma. Minako still didn't see how they had ended up in their annual traditional pairing, which had become part-demonstration and part-competition, but it had become quite the spectacle that people looked forward to. It also got quite a few students to the dojo. Membership always had a spike each year just after the ball.

She was looking forward to seeing Ranma's reaction to the dress Minako had arranged for her. It was so much fun to play dress-up with the woman. It allowed Minako to play with ornate, revealing, or otherwise utterly impractical clothing. Ranma's reaction to the increasing absurdity in what Minako designed each year was a pleasure to watch as well.

This year's dress was an extra-special confection. It was made of three separate pieces of pale green cloth, one for each arm and one for the torso, tied together with countless gossamer threads that created an eye-catching shimmering effect while hiding none of the skin underneath it. She would never wear such a thing herself, but that was the fun of picking out clothing for somebody else. Maybe there was a touch of revenge for the beatings she still got on a regular basis from Ranma in the dojo, too.

This year she had even gotten Setsuna's help to give the dress that extra little touch. A quick look at Ranma's daughter showed how excited she was to see how much her mother enjoyed what she had helped make. Minako felt particularly clever with her plan this year.

Minako made sure to enter the shop first, taking a strategic position as Ranma's dress came into view. As she had entered, Aquamarine's face had a semi-transparent look to it that made it obvious she was hiding a secret of some sort, but that didn't really matter. The increasingly absurd dresses that Minako foisted onto the recalcitrant Ranma had only gotten more and more ostentatious over the years, so it was hardly a secret that this year's would be even more grandiose. In a way, it was Ranma's own fault for having nothing to do with her own party preparations, leaving everything in Minako's hands by default.

Ranma's reaction did not disappoint either. The normally unflappable woman's face turned ashen as she saw the collection of cloth and thread come into view, strategically positioned to make the best impression on a dressmaker's doll.

"Another strapless dress?" was Ranma's first lament. "I hate strapless dresses. They always feel like they're going to fall off."

"Has a dress ever fallen off?" Minako countered.

"No," Ranma admitted.

"Then don't worry about it. It'll be fine," Minako said. The dress did look particularly insubstantial this year, but she was sure it'd be fine. Mostly sure. Aquamarine surely would have warned her if the dress wouldn't hold together, right? Oh well. Minako wasn't the one who would be wearing it, so she didn't spend too much time worrying about it.

"The falling off isn't what I'm worried about. I'd almost prefer that. It looks terrible," Ranma said, neatly falling into the trap Minako had laid out for her.

"You mean you don't like it? But I spent so much time on it," Setsuna said with a pout on her face.

"You mean you made this dress, Setsuna-chan?" Ranma asked, her ashen face managing to pale even further.

"Yes. I thought you'd like it," Setsuna said. "I put the ruffles on specially for you."

Ranma looked bereft of words. Minako took the opportunity to apply just a bit more leverage to the situation. She said, "Come on, try it on at least. Setsuna-chan put a lot of effort into the design. You wouldn't want your daughter's efforts to go to waste, now would you?"

Emotional blackmail. It might not be the most honorable thing ever, but it sure was fun. It never failed to work against Ranma whenever Setsuna was involved, either.

Ranma shot her a glare which left no doubt that Ranma knew that Minako bore the lion's share of the blame for the creation which confronted her, and that revenge would be extracted at some time in the future.

It was so totally worth it.

"... Fine," Ranma finally yielded. "But it's only fair if I put my dress on that you do the same Setsuna-chan."

Minako jolted to attention. She hadn't known that Setsuna had gotten a dress this year. A quick look to Setsuna suggested she hadn't known either. Aquamarine's semi-transparent look of hiding a secret was now outright transparent too.

"What dress, mother? I don't have one," Setsuna said, hope and fear fighting for control of her voice.

"Yes you do. Aquamarine-san?" Ranma asked.

Aquamarine pulled out a bright flash of red and black from behind a counter, which resolved itself into another dress as it settled still in her hands. It was half the size of the adults' dresses, which would fit the smaller Setsuna perfectly. It was cute and ornate, as befitting a young girl. It presented the doll-like look of trying too hard to appear formal and mature while not quite succeeding which girls somehow lost the right to wear as they grew up.

Setsuna gave out a squeal of happiness.

"Did you know she was going to do this?" Ami whispered to Minako.

"I had no idea," Minako whispered back. "I didn't think she had it in her."

"You mean, that's for me?" Setsuna asked, just to make sure.

"Yes. You've come to the ball enough times. It's time you actually looked the part," Ranma said. "Happy birthday, Setsuna-chan."

Setsuna gave another squeal.

"Come on. I'll help you put it on," Ranma said, starting to escort Setsuna to the back of the shop.

Minako wasn't about to let her get away that easily. She pointedly coughed, holding up Ranma's so-called dress as well.

"That's right. You have to change too, mother," Setsuna declared.

Ranma shot Minako another dirty glare, but roughly swiped the gown from Minako's grasp.

"Why do you do that? It's not like you'd ever wear anything like that yourself," Ami asked once Ranma was out of sight.

"What makes you think I wouldn't?" Minako asked with a straight face. She held her own dress as she spoke. It was also strapless, but it much more reasonable than Ranma's. The orange dress came close to covering her shoulders, and the top of the dress was accented with a blue ribbon sewn along the edge. Its short sleeves appeared to end above the elbow, but they were extended by some translucent cloth which extended them closer to her wrists. The dress was held closed by a series of large buttons along the side which, rather than being hidden, were a very prominent blue matching the ribbon accent above.

Eventually, Minako cracked under Ami's stare, admitting, "She's not choosing her own designs so somebody has to. Besides, it's fun. After all, somebody's got to get that girl to embrace her femininity more."

Ami remained silent after Minako's declaration, simply grabbing her spaghetti strap dress and its accompanying shawl and walking to a quieter corner to change.

"What?" Minako asked to Ami's back before following suit.

The fact that zippers didn't seem to exist on the moon made donning the dress much trickier than it might have been back home, but Aquamarine was an expert designer, and Minako had had years to grow accustomed to the buttons, fastenings, and cords used instead. She was able to change with only a minimum of fuss. She fluffed her skirt a bit to make sure it settled correctly, then left the changing room. She felt half-naked without her sword at her side, seeing how she wore it everywhere else for the rest of the year, but no matter how beautiful the blade was, it had no place in the annual ball.

The others had had just as much practice wearing this formal clothing as Minako had, so it came as little surprise that before she could finish changing, Ranma already had her dress on and was negotiating with Setsuna and Aquamarine on the other side of the room. Aquamarine was holding out a pair of earrings as Minako approached.

"I don't care, I not putting them on," Ranma declared. "Why would I wear something which hurts that much?"

"You really do need them to complete the look," Aquamarine asserted.

"It's the price of beauty, Ranma-chan," Minako said, catching on to the argument quickly. "You have to wear them with that dress. If you don't the entire look will be off-balanced."

"How many times do I have to tell you, I don't care about beauty," Ranma protested. "I don't even know why I keep coming to these balls."

"But they're so pretty," Setsuna said, clipping one of the clip-on earrings to her ear and then admiring how it looked in a mirror.

"And they hurt. After 30 minutes my ears feel like they're being stabbed with an ice pick," Ranma said. She then turned her head and looked up in thought. "Alright. Almost as bad as being stabbed with an ice pick. Still, there has to be a better way."

"There is a better way," Ami said, walking back to the center of front of the shop. The simple design of Ami's dress draped elegantly off of her frame, displaying her curves in a most flattering way. "It's called getting your ears pierced."

"So I can let them get stabbed for real? No way. Can't you do something with some whatever energy or something to keep them there on their own?" Ranma asked.

"No way. Aetheric energy doesn't stick properly when it gets in contact with living things, and life energy's too non-directional to focus on something that small," Ami declared.

"Then what about those earrings which always appeared when I transformed into Sailor Terra? How did those work?" Ranma asked.

"Yeah, what about those? I always wondered about that, and the nail polish," Minako added. "For that matter, why don't they show up when you transform anymore?"

"What earrings?" Aquamarine asked. The current Sailor Mercury uniform did not include the jewelry or nail polish for some reason.

"Now that you mention it, that is a good point. Maybe I can come up with something after all. I'll need to think about it some more," Ami admitted after a bit of thought.

Minako recognized that giddy look on Ami's face. She had yet another promising new project to look into.

---

With the absence of Iolite, Minako was reduced to asking around, trying to find dance partners in between the orchestra's songs. The good news was that by now she had a lot of practice for this; given the past seven years, it was all routine by now. The bad news was that it was getting progressively harder each year to find dance partners.

The single men she talked to were always interested, assuming they were free and didn't have prior obligations with another woman for the dance in question. The problem was that the majority of men who attended the ball came with partners, and they were much harder to approach as the years went on. In the first year the men's partners had been fine, but she was definitely getting dirty looks when she approached now. Frequently the woman would clutch to her partner and firmly decline on his behalf.

The task was made no easier by the competition, even if said competition was not actually competing. It was hard for Minako to square her mental image of the tomboy, low-key, slightly anti-social Ranma with the ravishing redhead on the center of the dance floor. She scarcely believed they were the same person, despite the fact that she seen the transformation happen right before her very eyes. The dress hung on her athletic and well-endowed frame far better than it had on the dressmaker's doll back in Aquamarine's store. Add to that the confident bearing and rakish hairstyle created from an afternoon in a beauty parlor, and the result was an avant-garde image which was hard to beat.

Her partner, the normally bookish Ami, had undergone a similar transformation. Ami's simple dress and simple hairstyle had somehow combined to form a radiant image of aristocratic beauty which was as different from Ranma's look as it was possible to imagine. However, she managed to hold her own and not be overshadowed in the slightest.

There was no doubt that all of the single men present, and probably a couple of married men and some women, were rethinking their chances of coupling with Ami. Her number of secret and not-so-secret admirers had only grown as time went by, and the stunning image she presented now could only add to that. Ranma had probably gained a couple of new admirers as well, although the fact Ranma had Setsuna meant that many people didn't give any serious thought to wooing her. However, there were definitely a couple of men who were secretly interested, and probably a few more after this evening.

Minako thought she could compete with their looks, being proud of her own figure and the time and effort she had put into designing her dress and preparing for the ball. What she couldn't compete with was their antics. Ami was currently putting Ranma through her paces in what had become the annual tradition. In the present case she was leading Ranma across the floor it something vaguely reminiscent of, but still rather different to, a samba, although leading was such an inadequate verb to use. Ranma not only stuck to Ami like she was attached, she managed to make her movements look effortless as well.

Despite the fact that the two danced only with each other and weren't on the open market as such, they still managed to catch the attention of everybody. Setsuna was standing on a table in order to see over the substantial crowd which had surrounded the pair and was miming the moves that her mother was doing as best she could without a partner. With the ornate dress she had on she made for an adorable figure. If somebody put a glass dome on top of the table, she would have made for a perfect life-sized dancing globe.

"I don't know how they do it. Every time my husband tries to do with me what boss does with Ranma-san, I end up on the floor. They make it look so effortless," Spinel muttered to Minako in admiration. Ranma had just taken a dip and turned it into an ostentatious back-flip.

Minako gave a quiet laugh to herself at that comment. It was likely that Lopezite was doing things exactly right. Ami was doing her best to trip Ranma up, after all. It was just that Ranma was having none of it.

Ranma's ability to maintain her feet despite Ami's best efforts was remarkable. Ami swerved around the dance floor in a non-pattern very similar to the ones she used during sparring when trying to disengage from a close combatant to gain space to think. Minako had been on the receiving end of these unpredictable movements often enough that she could speak from personal experience on how hard it was to follow Ami when she really put her mind into it. Despite that, Ranma managed to maintain her poise, and her feet, throughout the complex maneuvering they were engaged in.

If an untrained pair, such as Spinel and Lopezite, tried to match Ami's moves, there was every reason to think they would succeed where Ami constantly failed.

"I guess the weeks of practice boss put in to this were worth it. I'm so envious of them," Spinel continued.

"You should mention that to Ami-chan. I'm sure she'll appreciate hearing how impressed you are," Minako said, not bothering to explain to Spinel exactly what Ami had actually been practicing. Instead, she wandered away in search of another partner.

She searched in vain. Everybody she found was either already spoken for or too preoccupied watching the floor show to be interested in dancing. Bereft of other things to do, and feeling a bit envious of the attention that the dancing pair were getting, Minako walked over to where the orchestra was. The acoustics were best there, and if she wanted to sing something she would need to talk to the conductor anyway.

Minako had been spending a fair bit of time practicing with Charoite, one of the premier singers in the kingdom. As much as it shamed her to admit it, she really hadn't been that good when she had first started. Since that time she'd improved considerably, and now felt like she could actually hold her own on a stage. Then again, she had thought the same thing when she had first started as well, so she tried her best to prevent hubris from taking over.

Thinking through her repertoire of songs, she settled on starting with "Bracelet of Umbria." Its grand sweeping harmony was perfect for a full orchestra. It was also a song which had been played for long enough that everybody knew it well, including the orchestra and herself, but not so long as to become stale or unpopular. The next song after that would depend very much on the audience reaction.

She had a quick chat with the conductor, who was more than happy to humor the woman who had introduced him to his now wife.

The current song came to an end, and a quick glance over at Ranma and Ami showed how they finished their finale. Ranma was draped over Ami's knee in a position which looked quite uncomfortable to hold for any sustained period of time.

Ranma got back to her feet, looked over, and then said something which caused Ami to look over as well. Minako gave a big wave to the pair, and then waited for the prelude of "Bracelet of Umbria" to come to a close before taking a deep breath.

---

Minako was running a touch late to Setsuna's birthday party. Her singing had been quite the hit, and several times she had been asked for an encore. Between that and the occasional dance she managed to sneak in, time had just gotten away from her. She only barely managed to notice Ami waving towards her from a door right in the middle of a song.

After that, Minako had closed up as quickly as she could and hurried over to Ranma's home for the party. Halfway there she had been forced to turn around and make a stop at her own home to grab the present she had gotten for Setsuna. As was traditional for a seven-year-old girl in Japan, Minako had procured some thousand-year candy, as best she could describe them to the confectioners. It had taken a lot of time and effort before she was finally able to convey exactly what she wanted to the chefs. Then, it had taken even more time and experimentation before they had been able to create something which had been passably close to how she remembered the long, thin, red and white candies looked and tasted.

It was actually a lot of fun trying to arrange the confections as she had been forced to eat all of the half-successful experiments in progress. She just had to. They'd just go to waste otherwise. She certainly couldn't have allowed to happen, could she?

One definite perk to her active lifestyle and regular strenuous exercise was that she could eat anything she wanted to and still keep her girlish figure.

After the candy had been successfully created, making of the crane and turtle decorated packaging was easy, not that Setsuna would need any special luck to live to a healthy old age given how Serenity was lengthening the lifespan of everybody on the moon. The only tricky thing was making sure the artist for the packaging didn't use anything which would be unsafe to have in contact with food.

By the time Minako had reached Ranma's home, the party was already in full swing. She was definitely late, but not unfashionably so. She open the door, using a calculated amount of force to get enough attention to announce that she had arrived, but not so much force as to make it obvious that that was intentional.

Ami and Serenity were sitting to either side of Setsuna. It seemed that Serenity had already arrived, making Minako feel a bit guilty that even the queen had managed to beat her to the party. Ranma sat there as well, Minako noticed a second later. Despite the fact Ranma had, disappointingly, already changed out of her formal attire into her usual white shirt and skirt, her hair was still styled in that rakish style, and the unfamiliar look had been enough to force Minako to take a second glance before she registered the red-haired woman as being Ranma.

Ranma also had a bit of a scowl on her face when she looked at Minako. It was the same look Ranma had had for the majority of the night, every time they made eye-contact. Minako was sure she'd regret it in the morning, but that wasn't to come for several more hours.

"Minako-obachan," Setsuna cheered out, running over from her seat. Apparently Minako had gotten a bit more attention than she had meant upon entering. "What did you get me? I hope it's better than Ami-obachan's present."

Minako would have felt a bit discouraged that Setsuna seemed more interested in her present than her, except she had been the same way as a child. She expected most, if not all, children acted that way. Also, the comment about Ami's gift gave her a brief feeling of smug superiority over her rival.

"Oh, and what did Ami-chan give you?" Minako asked. She kept her eyes on Setsuna, but was paying attention to Ami as best she could out of her peripheral vision.

"She just gave me some boring clothes," Setsuna said.

"It's a new kimono and sash. You should appreciate how much work Ami-chan put into making them. It's hard to make a kimono, and it's very traditional present for seven-year-old," Ranma explained. It appeared that she was appreciative of Ami's trouble and effort, even if Setsuna was not.

"I know. Thank you, Ami-obachan," Setsuna said. Her voice sounded anything but enthusiastic.

"Well, I got you something I'm sure you'll like much better," Minako said.

"What's that, Minako-obachan?" Setsuna asked.

"I got you some thousand-year candy," Minako said, pulling out the package and handing it to Setsuna.

"What's that?" Setsuna asked. Not waiting for an answer she took the gift from Minako's hand and started ripping open the packaging.

"It's also a traditional present. The candy is supposed to symbolize having a long life, along with the wrapper. You see that? A turtle and a crane. All of these represent you living a long and healthy life. Why don't you try one?" Minako suggested.

Setsuna already had a stick of candy out of its packaging and was munching on it as Minako spoke.

"This is so much better. Thanks, Minako-obachan," Setsuna said.

Minako cast a triumphant glance over to Ami.

Ami only gave a forced grin in return, which in turn almost managed to mask the real grin underneath it. Setsuna had appreciated Ami's gifts more than Minako's for the past two birthdays, and it was nice to finally get her revenge this year. Next year the competition would begin anew, but she could savor the victory until then.

The party continued for about an hour when Setsuna walked over and tugged on Ranma's sleeve. Ranma leaned down, and Setsuna said in a not-too-quiet voice, "Mother, I'm tired. Can I go to bed?"

"Yes, Setsuna-chan. You can go to bed," Ranma answered.

"Can you tell me the story of the Legendary Prince, Toma, again?" Setsuna asked.

"Of course I can," Ranma answered. She picked up her daughter, stood back up, and announced to the room at large, "Sorry, everybody. You heard the birthday girl. It's time for her favorite bedtime story."

The small crowd quickly dispersed after that, exchanging quick goodbyes to free up Ranma and Setsuna to their late evening.

Minako suppressed a yawn as she went back to her home. The party had been fun, but after the ball and everything else, she was definitely tired. She briefly daydreamed of sleeping in the next morning, but knew that that was impossible. She had responsibilities, after all. No matter how she looked at it, tomorrow was going to be a long day, and Minako was definitely going to be short on sleep.

---

Last Updated: December 23, 2012