Disclaimer: I don't own Ranma ½ or Sailor Moon.

-Chapter Three-
-Strengthening-

A girl walked steadily out of her class, following yet another girl towards the lunchroom. Same drill, day in, day out. But the fact that she was following another girl was odd in and of itself. Hotaru Tomoe was her name. She was short, even for her age, but not the shortest. Her body was frail and thin beyond belief, and her breasts were average. Her black hair was also short but she liked it that way more-so than any other.

Over the past fifteen years Hotaru had found that she was… different from other children. Different from other teens. Different completely from other people. She didn't know why but this difference had made itself known in her life for as long as she could remember.

Hotaru Tomoe did not hate. She found that somehow she had never been able to hate. In truth, it was possible that she had never 'hated' in her entire life. Never felt dislike. Nor anger. Nor jealousy. But… she didn't know why. Even these new ones, talking about her behind her back like they all did, at every school she attended. She didn't hate them.

Didn't even dislike them.

They would grow out of it; they would feel bad later when they gained age. At least, more age then the small sixteen years they had now. Of course there were always those that took a path paved with bad intentions, but she did not think that was the case with any of those here.

It wasn't like any of them ever said anything to her. Not anymore. She would simply walk away if they did; at least they'd grown old enough to realize how hurtful words could be on a young heart, but she heard the whispers. Everywhere she went. Every new school. She knew normal girls her age would get angry. Normal girls would be spiteful or sad.

She felt neither emotion.

All she felt was care.

'I hope that they become happier. That way they won't feel the need to be that way.' Were her thoughts, but she held no compunctions about voicing them.

"… Hotaru-chan. You are weird!" The rather heavy-set girl beside her exclaimed after a moment of odd silence, her voice echoing in laughter.

"I… I am…?" She asked, timidly. Ayumi said it… downright cheerfully. It… frankly almost scared her! Weird? Yes. She was called that all the time. But… not with a laugh. This 'friends' thing was downright creepy.

The girl sighed with an overly-dramatic exasperation that was ninety percent feigned. "Yes! Most girls would get mad! Wanna' get revenge or something! You're so weird!" She exclaimed.

"Oh! O-Okay… I'll try!" She turned her eyes towards the people who she'd heard talking about her, not-so-quietly behind her back. Their attentions weren't drawn at all though. She'd passed and their subject had changed.

She scrunched her face and glared… or tried too. It came out as a pathetically cute whine.

"Oh give up, Hotaru. It's no wonder you never get mad… if that's what you look like… hehe." Hotaru's friend, Ayumi, giggled.

Hotaru looked back to her friend and giggled too. "I'm sorry. I… I just don't understand why I would have to be angry with them. They're only insecure… they want to feel good about themselves. Make themselves look better to each other. There isn't anything wrong with that." Hotaru told her friend, a partially vacant smile on her face.

Ayumi looked dazed. "You really are weird…" She said. Then grinned. "But I like you that way! C'mon! Let's get in line!"

Taking one last glance at the children settled about the table, their trays affront them, already gobbling on their food, she turned back to her friend and nodded. "Mmm!"

Her friend. There were precious few she could call that. It felt… good. Very good. She'd been called many names. Odd. Weird. Snotty was a big one. Freakish. Bizarre. Anorexic; she didn't actually know what that one meant oddly enough, but nonetheless she knew a fair number of names to call people if she ever did feel such an emotion as anger.

With that the duo traversed the hallway to the end of the line, picking up their trays and waiting patiently.

They got their food after a short wait, unusual that because they were often forced to wait for at least fifteen or twenty minutes to get their food. Hotaru was happy that Ayumi's ire had not been raised today due to this stroke of luck. She always got so angry! Hotaru was content to wait. She was never in any hurry, as she'd always been a well fed girl. Sickly, yes. Hungry? Never.

For the past four or five weeks since Hotaru had moved to Furinkan high school she'd remained mostly in the background. She was content to hear stories of the golden days not more then a two or three months ago when battles would break out every day. Watch as her friends told stories about the crazy things that used to happen to the upperclassmen here.

It was all very strange. Something about water. Hotaru disregarded it though. Healing people with a touch was one thing. Changing into an animal?

…

Riiight.

And she was a princess.

Hardly.

In counterbalance to the luck that she'd gained in the lunch-line, however, the last table remaining was directly behind those who Ayumi thought Hotaru should hate.

This wasn't unlucky due to the people behind her; more, it was due to Ayumi's loathing of them. She couldn't stand it when people got so angry. "Just ignore them Hotaru. They're all a bunch of jerks anyways."

Hotaru lifted her small hands and gave hushed calming motions with them. "Its okay, Ayumi. I-I don't mind."

"Saotome!" The shout echoed across the lunch room silencing all present.

"Nakamuya!" Came the returning shout, drawing the attention to the sources of the two voices.

A very short and busty red-head, dressed in excruciatingly outlandish Chinese clothing and a middle height boy with short dark hair, dressed as many at the school normally did, very short and thin, glared at each other menacingly. Their eyes connected with miniscule bolts of lightning as their tempers flared. A red aura burst into life around the red-haired girl while, to everyone's surprise, a similar yet very dim yellow aura began emanating from the boy.

"This is the last straw you pervert! What did I ever do to you, huh!?" The red-head exclaimed viciously, finally angry enough to burst at the most recent bane to her existence.

"Oh I dunno! Threw me out a window maybe!?" Came the swift retort. The boy held up a fist in anger, glaring hatefully at the redhead, his self declared rival.

Hotaru's jaw almost dropped at that one. It did drop when she turned to Ayumi. The girl looked positively dazzled!

"Ranma's… back…!" The girl practically moaned, staring at the red-head obviously struck with a mild case of hero worship.

Hotaru was puzzled. What in the world was going on!? Where were the teachers who stopped horrible fights like this? What… why were they all justwatching!

She looked off to the side. "Is that a betting pool!?" She exclaimed, but her voice went unheard.

Ranma had taken a step closer, her aura growing still hotter as she gazed up at the tall boy. "You deserved it you peeping tom!" The red-head, obviously known as Ranma, shouted.

Despite the redhead's martial arts prowess, Aiga would not back down. He fought on a different playing field. "Yeah, says the man who uses the girl's bathroom everyday when he admits he still likes girls!" The boy retorted with a smirk, crossing his arms in front of himself with a superior sniff.

Ranma's face blared the same hue as her hair in a heartbeat. Whispers began instantly, and Ayumi was one of the many watching as Ranma's face heated ever more.

"Ranma… Ranma likes girls, right!?"

"Only Akane, baka!"

"No! They broke up!"
"They always break up!"

"For good this time I mean! She couldn't take him being stuck."

"Honto!?"

"But I heard something about her and her friend Hiroshi…"

"That's a load of bull! Ranma would never…!"

Hotaru felt it all. The girl's embarrassment. Her pain. Her loathing. She couldn't standit! Why were they all being so cruel to her!? Talking about her behind her back? Didn't they know how much that hurt? How much it caused people to burn inside?

"Well… I… you… Uhm… I don't! Er… well, that is…" The girl stuttered trying vainly to make a comeback to that one, yet failing miserably as it was a rather poignant point that he had made.

"You admit it! You still like girls! So who's the peeping tom, Ranma?" The boy taunted, causing Ranma to stare at her feet.

She didn't look at other girls but that was a rather weak comeback. Fortunately, the other girls knew this. That didn't stop the whispering though.

Hotaru had had enough.

"Shut up!" She screamed, standing, drawing every eye, and utter silence as she stood angrily, glaring angrily at the Aiga.

Aiga and Ranma too jolted their eyes to the new girl, staring. "Who the heck are you!?" The boy called Aiga exclaimed staring at her despondently.

"I'm… uhm… I'm Hotaru and… well. You… you shouldn't all be… uhm… doing that." She said, now extremely tentative under all the penetrating gazes. 'God, why did I do that!?' She screamed in her mind, mentally gnawing her fingernails.

They all blinked but said nothing, the silence loudly exuding the words, 'doing what?' and prompting a continuation.

"Uhm… stop… picking on her and talking about her! It… It's very hurtful!" She croaked out through her nervousness.

Ranma's eyes melted. 'Su-sugoi…' The red-head thought, looking at the girl. She spared a glance around the room and found both Akane and Hiroshi staring at the girl, as if transfixed.

Aiga on the other hand, smirked. "Well it's not my fault this man traitor is such a pervert! I'm just protecting the girl's locker room from him, I'll have you know!

With those words, Hotaru felt something she'd never felt before come over her. Something… strange. Liberating. Thrilling and almost… Honestly, she didn't know what it was that she felt. But it was…

"If you weren't such an idiot, you could see that she's obviously a girl andyou need glasses! Baka!"

It was cruel. Harsh. And her heart burned in self loathing and self hatred as the first words of malice ever exuded from those lips sprung forth.

Hotaru felt a gleam enter her eyes even as her heart began to scrunch up and her stomach began to heave. And then she gasped, her hands dashing to cover her mouth. 'What have I done…?'

"G-Gomen ne!" And she dashed out of the room, her food uneaten. Tears draining down her face leaving the room shocked.

'Who… who was she…?' Ranma thought. 'I'm… obviously… a girl…?'

That brought on a whole new level of depression.

People were beginning to forget.

Soon… no one would remember…

Hotaru buried her face in her hands, hunching over on herself, sick to her stomach. She could still feel it! The anger! The emotion! All directed at that boy! That boy!

Why? Why! He'd never done anything to deserve that! She knew he was spiteful and angry at the red-head. But what on earth had caused her to become so devilishly mad at him!?

"Oh god…" She moaned as her stomach lurched.

She stood and dashed away to the restroom like a madwoman, barely making it in time to reach a stall and vomit out what little of the lunch she had consumed.

When it was over she huddled into a ball, bawling into her knees.

"I never want to feel this again…"

"I never want to feel this again…"

Over and over the words filtered through her brain until finally the heat permeating her system began to evaporate.

"I never want to feel this again…"

She didn't leave for hours that day.

It seemed years.

"I never want to feel this again…"

That day she first felt anger.

Ranma Saotome glared her fury at all passing walls and lockers and pretty much anything physical in existence. She didn't physically abuse said items but she surely wanted too. "Damn that Nakamuya!" She shouted.

Her two friends Gasanda and Miyataki trailed behind her, a wary three feet back. Gasanda was flinching in worry while Miyataki was roasting a marshmallow on Ranma's burning red aura.

"Oh, settle up, Ranma. Everyone's on your side, anyways. You know that, so what's the problem?" Miyataki asked as her marshmallow caught fire.

Ranma turned to glare at her friend. "That's not the point! He's a jerk! Aaagh! He makes me so mad!"

Ranma seethed for a few moments more, her aura dying down as the girl blew out the fire that had lit on her marshmallow and began eating.

"I think you like him." She said plainly.

"I DO NOT!"

Ranma was proud that there had been no hesitation whatsoever in that response. She didn't like Aiga. Thank god for that. She didn't know what she'd do if she had to control those stupid emotions she'd get every now and then around him. But there was a… connection there. Something… strange. Unseen. Not 'like' but…

Bah… she didn't have any idea.

But she did know that the same connection she felt with the school's pervert, she also felt with that strange girl who had stood up for her today.

The difference was she liked the girl ten times more than the jackass!

"Hey, who was that girl? Gasanda?" Ranma asked as soon as her aura finally went out, to Miyataki's immense disappointment.

Gasanda was a genius in the 'know-who' of almost everyone at the school. If there was someone there, Gasanda generally knew who it was. "Her name is Hotaru. From what I've heard, she's really weird. She doesn't react when people talk to her or joke right to her face. Just… smiles and walks away or something. That's what I've heard anyway. What she did today was pretty out of character for her. She hangs out with Ayumi Tenkura. You know? That fat girl from class 3-B?"

Ranma blanched. The girl had only been here a month or two. Ranma knew that. She didn't expect her friend to know quite that much though. She also found herself annoyed at her friend for being so heartless. Sure the girl was a bit large, but she didn't have to just say it. That was just cruel.

'Wait… since when do I care about stuff like that?' She thought to herself.

She shook it off and changed the subject, not wanting to delve into this character failure that she'd found in her new friend. Nor the character improvement she'd found in herself. "Well, I need to find her. That was… real nice of her and all…"

Gasanda nodded. "Yeah. You probably should. Though she's a little weird. She might be after "Ranma Saotome" if ya know what I mean, Ranma." The girl whispered so that only they could hear.

Ranma's eyes widened but firmed, realizing the implications of a transfer student coming to Furinkan High School. Based on past history alone, there was a decently good chance that Hotaru was here looking for her. Themale her. But it didn't even matter now. Ranma 'Man-Among-Men' Saotome, was dead and she was his living ashes.

With that thought Ranma's mood became morose instantly. "Nah. Not anymore. Doesn't even matter now, right? I'll find her..."

A few moments of silence passed, and Miyataki saw the immense sadness that had come over her newest friend. "Maybe you like her!?" The girl exclaimed, hoping that the joke would pull the girl out of her funk.

It worked.

Ranma twitched, jerking out of her somber reverie with eyes narrowed, in a slight grin. "Will you cut it out!? I do not!"

The girl brightened. "Oh, you surely know I'm kidding! Tough it out Ranma! You've got a date tonight!"

Ranma's face fell, black clouds hovering above her. "Don't remind me…"

Even though the thought of the date sent shivers down her back, it made her feel… happy. Loneliness had been eating at her like a poison destroying her from the inside, but the thought of tonight drove that off.

At least it drove her heartache off. But only that. The thought of being with the boy, terrified and disgusted her completely.

Ranma had fallen into a sort of determined depression since her session with Aiko the night before. She'd realized that the idea of her and Hiroshi together for more than this night sickened her, and therefore, she didn't want to really go anymore… in her mind at least. But she ached for someone… anyone to be there like Akane had been.

Then reality would set in and she'd want hurl. For being so weak. For being a stupid girl. And for not being able to do a damn thing to fix the pain Akane's departure had left in her.

Her problems had changed drastically in the long run. No longer was she accosted by rivals seeking the hand of her fair fiancée number twenty three. No longer did she have to worry about changing gender whilst wearing feminine clothes or hiding from water.

No. Her problems were entirely different now.

Thankfully her second period had ended two days ago.

Amen.

She still did have a fair few who hated her guts. Ryoga being one of them, also thankfully. Even he had mellowed out though now that she was a girl. Damn him. They still had the occasional brawl but Ranma could tell Ryoga was only doing it to keep her spirits up. A friendly "Ranma Prepare to Die!"

…

They'd only had one battle since all of this began, and after that it seemed as if he was no longer even trying to find her. And that battle had been a severe disappointment. Couldn't they see she just wanted to be exactly like she used to be!? There was no difference! She was every bit the man she used to be!

Her newest problem though, had most definitely been one Aiga Nakamuya. Ever since she'd thrown him out the second floor window, and his camera had been discovered recording the entire conversation they'd had about Ranma planting said camera in the girl's locker room, he'd dropped considerably in popularity.

Of course, he'd sworn revenge. They all did in the end.

Thus began a bout of endless pranks, but the problem with that was that Ranma had barely responded to them at all, thus driving Aiga to still further ludicrous pranks to utterly humiliate the strongest Neriman Martial Artist.

Today though, had been the last straw. And a glimmer of the old Ranma had arisen within the ever-downtrodden redhead.

"That… pervert…" She thought, returning her mind to Aiga, if only to get it awayfrom Hiroshi. "Those were my favorite pair!"

Miyataki chuckled again. "You gotta admit Ranma, it IS funny. In a sick, stalker-ish sort of way at least. I still can't believe you wear those!"

Ranma flushed beat red. A common color for her face these days. Ever-since she'd been locked her life had become a case of unending embarrassment for the not-quite-neo-girl. It was either that or depression. "I like them! They're comfy!"

She was of course, referring to the pair of horse covered panties that she often wore as pajama's that Aiga had taken the liberty of stealing and posting in the hallway, on a wall, along with the unbearably embarrassing sign reading "Garments of a 'Man Among Men.'" How, when, or where from, she didn't know, but it definitely was creepy.

"Come on. We got another twenty minutes left. I bet we can find her!" Ranma exclaimed, changing the subject.

Her friends followed along happily, Miyataki making a few Sherlock Homes jokes, and Ranma sighing with a smile.

Having regular friends was downright peculiar.

But they made her feel warm in a way she didn't think anything else ever had. It was only around them that she could show any emotion anymore. Them, and Aiga. Anger was easy around him.

Hiroshi and Dai had a bit of that effect too…

She just felt so… so… depressed. Even now it was burning inside her, tearing her apart. She felt her life was over, and it wasn't long before her anger faded back to the uncaring shell of the once lively pigtailed girl.

Her friends could only try to cheer her up by embarrassing her.

It… seemed to be the only thing that worked.

Aiga Nakamuya was a normal, average, seventeen-year-old, high school student. He got good grades and had friends and enemies like all people did. He watched sports and competed. And he liked girls. Probably a bit too much to be healthy, he'd admit.

That's how he thought of himself.

To the rest of the world though, Aiga Nakamuya was a pervert. In every sense of the word. He loved spying on women in their locker rooms. Good looking ones of course. He'd dated multiple girls at the same time, strung girls along, and actually managed to coerce a threesome once or twice.

He hadn't been a virgin since he was twelve, and he'd lost count of the number of girls he had been with since then.

But, frankly ever since that event with the thrice damned 'Ranma Saotome!' that had changed drastically.

Well. Not so drastically.

"Damn you, Saotome…" He muttered under his breath as he silently walked away from the school, glad the day was over, and also brimming with pride at having actually gotten a rise out of his usually somber rival. But it wasn't enough. "What would it take to make you so embarrassed you never show your face at school again?"

Obviously, he was not a martial artist. Therefore, Ranma had her own morals about hitting him, so he was safe in that regard… well… sort of. He had been thrown out a window. Even so, Ranma had mastered throwing people so that they landed without coming to any serious harm. A strange thing to master to be sure but that was the only explanation for it. He'd feel hurt jumping off a second story balcony, while after being thrown through the glass he'd barely felt a pinprick on his landing. Strange…

Despite her moral standings about fighting the weak, she was Ranma Saotome, meaning that there was no way he could fight Ranma into humiliation. It wasn't possible even though that would be the biggest shot to Ranma's pride that he could ever come up with.

He contemplated for a time, and came up with nothing.

It was true, his reputation for being a 'good guy' was shot, but that honestly didn't matter. The event that had exposed his perversion only barred off about half the school's feminine side from his influence. He was surprised at how many thought him bold for such a stunt!

And by how many of them he'd found had a secret fetish for voyeur. Hotcha!

But still. Ranma Saotome would pay. No way around it. He had to have his revenge and even that stunt today hadn't been nearly enough.

But it had gotten him thinking when he'd stolen those from her room the night before. "She actually wears those…? Maybe she IS becoming a girl!"

And girls weredateable.

For a split second he'd thought he'd struck a gold mine. Make the girl, since she actuallywas a girl now, fall in love with him! Then dump her in the worst possible way! He mentally examined the female log-file he'd kept in his mind for Ranma's female form, as he did for all girls with beauty, even gender cursed ones, and found that she wasincredibly attractive.

Fortunately, for his sake, he was smart. Very smart. Some would say he was Nabiki's polar opposite in his tactical skills, because it took only that split second for him to realize just how wrong something like that could go. Romance and Ranma in the same sentence made plans fall apart faster than Ranma's fists could move.

Events that hadn't been in his plans could easily transpire with a girl of her beauty. Like him accidentally starting to love her or something. Bah. He'd never fallen in love. The thought sickened him, but he knew that, when he did, it was likely that it would come upon him without him ever expecting it and the LAST person he wanted to cause thatwas the 'heart-breaker Saotome' herself.

As an example for that very thought, he looked to Akane and Ukyo. Their depression these days knew little bounds. Especially Ukyo's.

He looked over to the okonomiyaki chef and found her head hung in utter defeat. A smile was on her face but she was hurting. Badly. It sent a pang of regret down his heart. He may be a pervert but he did care. Ukyo had truly loved Ranma… and she didn't deserve to lose the one she loved.

Not like that…

"Poor Ukyo-san…" He murmured. "I hope she finds someone better then that git, Saotome…"

Then, he turned his eyes to Akane and found…

Wait. Why was Akane looking at him?

Walking towards him?

And what was up with that… cat?

"Aiga." Akane signed, dejectedly as she approached. She obviously did not want to be here, but she was anyway. That meant she wanted something. So it was possible that her dejection was a front! Maybe his reputation in bed had spread to the speech, and now sex, deprived Tendo. Ah, what could he say? He remembered the days of battle every morning for the Tendo's hand. Best days of his life, since he'd been working almost EVERY other girl in the background.

Guys were idiots sometimes. But now things were coming full circle. He'd gotten half the girls in school because of the Tendo! Now he would get the Tendo!

Yes!

Or… so he hoped. But considering her look that probably wasn't likely.

"Nice to see you." She said holding up a sign covered in murky and molded wood. Obviously, her way of being completely sarcastic. No. His fantasy stood little chance of becoming reality. "Hey are you sure about this?" Read the next sign as she turned and looked down, talking to the cat… Weird…

Aiga grinned. Whatever. "Akane Tendo. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Follow me." The girl's next sign stated firmly. Not a question.

Aiga looked at his watch. Nothing was on his schedule but it was never smart to take orders.

"Nah. I'm on my way home at the moment, so I'll just—GAK! What're you doing!?" He exclaimed as the girl chucked him over her shoulder like little more than luggage.

"Hey! Put me down! I—" And suddenly he could no longer speak. But Akane was… humming?

Aiga's eyes widened. He'd thought she had no vocal cords any more! That shouldn't be possible! He found himself in a secluded back alley and even though he found himself unable to speak his spirits rose. Yes! Public alley sex! He knew he'd luck out with the youngest Tendo someday!

"I can't believe the next Senshi is a complete and total pervert!" The girl exclaimed and Aiga's eyes widened still more.

"That's exactly why he's a Senshi, Akane. Well… sort of… This is Sailor Meneloth. The Senshi of Pleasure." The black cat said with a perfectly straight face.

The reaction took a few seconds as Akane processed that new piece of information.

"WHAT!?" The raven haired girl scoffed angrily after a moment or two of letting that register. "Then why in the world should we give him powers? So he can fill the world with perverts!? Senshi of Pleasure… hah! More like Senshi of Perversion!"

"I thought you couldn't speak!" Aiga exclaimed. Tried to exclaim but nothing came forth. He disregarded the talking cat. That was his imagination. Had to be. Simply had to be.

Despite his lack of sound the girl seemed to catch his words anyway.

"I'm the Senshi of Sound and Song, baka. I only speak when I have to." Akane replied with a derisive snort. She'd always hated Aiga. "And I can't believe I'm doing this for you, Apollo. Why do we even need him? I can protect Sailor Moon on my own."

Over the last few days spent with the cats, Akane had found that, if she pulled hard enough at the power resting beneath her skin, she could make herself able to speak without transforming. It was… extremely taxing, though the cats said it would develop further with practice.

"No. You can't. You may be able to destroy a planet but your enemy might be even stronger! Liopolis said that we need all the help we can get Akane. And despite his… appearance… Sailor Meneloth was one of the strongest fighters of the Auric Era. Also, wherever the Senshi of Perversio-er… Pleasure… is, The Senshi of Purity, Sailor Astraea, is sure to follow."

Akane's eye twitched. "You've gotta be kidding me… All right… let's just get it over with."

Aiga was just freaking out now. A talking cat? A talking Akane!? An enemy? Senshi? Senshi…? Wait...

…!

Senshi!? As in fuku toting magical gir—!

Suddenly Akane lifted a thin scroll into the air and Aiga froze.

"Aoide Power Make-up!!"

The girl screamed, deafening his ears, but no one came. No one else even seemed to hear!

But instantly his gaze was transfixed with beauty unparalleled. Her form lit up like a thousand volt bulb and her clothes disappeared, while a fuku began to trail its way up her body, lights flashing everywhere, while music fluttered through his ears in an explosive array of magnificent sounds and colors.

The black fuku, boots, and gloves encased her even as the yellow trim descended onto her form as if from above and in seconds, in hours, it was finished.

"A… Akane…? Tendo?" He asked, finally able to speak again.

"I'm Sailor Aoide… the Senshi of Song." She said plainly. Then she gave a smirking wink. "Heh. You're turn. Wonder how you'll look as a girl?"

Aiga failed to register that comment. Purposefully. Because he really hoped that wasn't…

Watching Akane, he hadn't noticed the black cat known as Apollo do a small flip, but now he noticed as the cat pushed the scroll into his hand.

"Wh-what's this?" He asked staring down at the scroll, tied by an intricate lime green ribbon. Then his eyes widened and a few words they'd been saying clicked.

"NO WAY!" He screamed, dropping the scroll like it was on fire.

The Senshi of Song quirked her head to the right. "Aw c'mon Aiga! I just need you to say Meneloth Power Make-up! That's all really." She said in her cutest voice.

"No way! Not happening! I'll never—!" And he found his words empty once more as the girl in front of him began to hum once again.

He began yelling at the top of his lungs though nothing came out. The girl simply smiled as she hummed. "This is the Silence Song, Aiga. Would you prefer to never speak again? Betcha that would keep you from being a pervert!"

Sweat trailed down Aiga's neck but he found his voice returned once more. "Y-you gotta be kidding me! There ain't no way!" He exclaimed, backing up against the wall staring down at the scroll in his hands.

"You're choice, pervert." The girl shrugged. "Eternal Silence or say it."

Aiga gulped but he really only had one choice. Akane could kick his ass withoutSenshi powers! Hell he hadn't even believed in the existence of the Senshi till the world went Dark a few months ago! And now he… he…

"Damnit!" He glared. "I'll get you for this, Tendo-san."

He picked up the small scroll and shivered as he stared at the Senshi before him, awed by the power he could feel around her, but determine to not feel fear.

Words sprung into his mind as his fingers laid upon the old looking papyrus scroll, tied with the lime green ribbon that felt so strangely familiar to him that hurt. He held the scroll aloft realizing that he couldn't stop the words from coming out of his mouth.

He sure tried though.

"Me-Mene…. Meneloth… p-power… make-up…"

And to his immense wailing, light blared forth in a circle around him. "This can't be happening… this can't be happening.

He felt his body shrink. Felt his chest expand while his private areas… changed. Suddenly, his clothing disappeared and all the pressure, all the anger, all thought entirely was washed away as he exhaled in nigh on orgasmic pleasure. The power of a Senshi blared to life within him. Within her.

When it was over with, her form was caressed in a pure black suit with a light green tinged trimming and fuku. On her forehead blared a circle with an arrow pointing out the upper right, while a cross pointed out from the bottom. A mixture of the symbols for male and female.

She looked down at herself, coming down from some sort of pleasurable high, her eyes rolling back into their sockets. For a moment it didn't register.

Then her hands trailed up her body.

A shiver crawled up her spine. Terror welled within her as the glow of power, that somehow felt completely natural settled around her.

…

"AaaaaahhhhhhhHH—!"

Instantaneously, the screaming halted. Aiga still felt air filing through her lungs. Still felt her vocal chords burning as she tried to scream. But nothing came out.

Breathing heavily as fear crept up her spine she set her face. "Change me back!" She mouthed, demanding the words to come forth as she glared hatefully at the, once again humming Tendo. "Change me back, NOW!"

A melody of beauty and simply rhythm echoed from the Senshi. Aoide closed her eyes as she hummed, a smile on her face. She chuckled inwardly, relishing in the plight of the damned pervert. Served him right!

"P-Please! I can't be a… A… Please!" She shouted to the unrelenting Senshi of Song, tears beginning to brew in her eyes.

Aoide heard nothing but was shocked when she found the girl sniveling. Her almost neon blonde short hair, shimmered with her tears, giving the Senshi of Song a sharp pang of guilt.

She ceased her humming and looked to the girl, now crying. Meneloth didn't say anything, but she sniffed loudly and wiped a tear out of her eye, staring at Aoide.

Then came the outburst. "Ch-change me back… I can't be a girl! I can't! I'm a guy! This is sick! I'm sorry! I'll never be a pervert again, I swear! I'll stop trying to get revenge on Ranma but—!"

Akane's shock turned to anger as it became apparent that the girl was actually whining. Her problem wasn't even as bad as Ranma's! Let alone herown problem. Not speaking and all. "Oh shut up, Loth! It's you who changes yourself back, not me, baka! Think yourself normal and you'll be normal! Sheesh. And I thought Ranma was bad! Think of how it is for her! She's stuck in a body that isn't her own and will be for the rest of her life!"

The words panged at Meneloth. 'To be a girl… stuck in this body… for the rest of my life… I never knew… never even thought… And Ranma… she just… takes it all. God… and I was feeling sorry for her fiancées!' Terror mixed with dread mingled with horror enveloped her at the thought. Forever cursed to be in a body that wasn't his own.

Like a lifeline she clung to Aoide's words.

The girl thought of herself without the Senshi fuku. Thought of herself as a normal, average, male, seventeen-year-old high school student who got good grades and had friends and enemies like all people did. A normal guy who watched sports and competed, and liked girls, probably a bit too much to be healthy.

And to her relief. Herundying relief, she felt the power seep away. Felt her body expand and contract in all the right places.

In an instant that felt an eternity it was over and she was normal again.

He turned to the Senshi before him quaking visibly in fear and fury. "W-why did you do that? Why did you…?"

"Aiga. That's your name right?" The cat spoke up suddenly, his definite male voice interrupting the boy.

"Y-yeah..." He trailed, his eyes jolting to the cat. His head was rolling. This was surreal! Impossible! Cats could not talk!

"We are here to find and protect the Moon Princess. If we do not, then our kingdom, and this world sometime after will surely be utterly destroyed. You are one of the few born to protect the princess."

Gaining some measure of his confidence, not to mention breath, back, Aiga sarcastically replied, "Right… and I'm supposed to believe that!"

The cat nodded firmly, without the slightest hint of humor. "Yes."

Aiga's temper grew. He felt it. Beneath everything, he felt the power burning there. He could sense the scroll, just small touch away. He could reach out and grab it… say the words and feel that power. That wonderful, sickening power all over again. He shook his head vigorously, ridding himself of the temptation. "Why me!? Couldn't you have just picked someone else!? Ryoga, or Shampoo or something! I can't fight anybody! You know that, Akane!"

The Senshi sighed as she trained her eyes on the boy. "There is no 'picking.' You were born for this. Not that I'm surprised. Of course someone like you would be the Senshi of Perversion!"

"Pleasure Akane." Apollo quipped.

"Same thing!"

Aiga glared. "I am not a pervert!" He stomped towards her, empowered by his rage. "And I won't be doing anything with this! Do me a favor and never talk to me again!" The boy stomped off angrily, determined to disbelieve, and eventually forget everything that had just happened.

A few moments of silence reverberated through the alleyway until the black cat chuckled. "That went well."

Aoide laughed. She had to admit, the girl that Aiga had become was quite pretty. Ever since Ranma and she had begun… well… ruining the bed sheets, she'd become quite appreciative of the attributes of her own gender.

"I bet she comes around by tomorrow. Five bucks says she transforms again tonight." The girl said to her small cat.

Laughing as he leapt to her shoulder, the cat replied haughtily, "My money's on three days."

Aoide glowed golden for a moment and was Akane once more. Turning her head to the side, she nodded, indicating it was a bet.

Exiting the alleyway she sighed as a stray thought crossed her mind. 'You'd better thank me for getting him off your tail, Ranma.'

…

'Ranma…'

"Pop!" Came a resounding and hellishly loud cry from the outside of the Saotome compound. It echoed across the grounds alerting the person it was directed to of his daughter's presence.

And not a minute too soon.

A sharp woosh of air was all the warning the panda was given before a foot came colliding with the air that replaced him.

Ranma landed with a curse and flipped back up into the air, well over the house spinning like mad with a downward second kick aimed for the quickly recovering panda.

Again, Genma dodged her daughter's kick, barely escaping the vicious bone fractures that could have resulted from such a maneuver.

It didn't take long as punches and kicks began flying between the two, for Genma to figure out that his daughter was agitated.

Very agitated.

Something was bugging her to a level that she could not shake it on her own. Something, Ranma was famous for. The boy… ah, what was the point? The 'girl' was more independent than he had been at her age. Emotionally, at least.

"What's…" He grunted as a sharp fist connected with his gut causing him to drop the sign he had produced.

He recovered quickly, his mass easily defending against her lightning quick punches.

"What's wrong, Ranma?" He wrote as he grunted with another punch getting through his guard. He was certain there had been more than one punch in it though it only felt like one impact. His daughter was becoming better then he had ever been. Back when he had been in his prime he didn't think he could truly beat her anymore.

But he was a slick old fool.

After all, who was it that had devised the Hell's Cradle attack that defeated Ranma so soundly?

He bounded forward and landed on one arm bouncing as only a huge martial artist panda could; he flew into the sky to come falling down right atop his daughter, only to flash away in an instant using his ki to bash himself towards the ground directly in front of Ranma.

The one place she wouldn't have expected.

It didn't gain him much but he acquired a well aimed hit to the girl's face which sent her flying away towards the house wall.

The sky was blue and sunny but edges of red were beginning to trail into the slowly fading afternoon. Fitting scenery for a battle. The grass was green and the day itself had seemed to be smiling at them. There was no rain anymore. Once upon a time it had rained every day three times a day.

Now that his daughter no longer felt the effects of the curse. Now that she was locked, rain didn't follow her and, for some reason, it seemed to leave all of them alone. He had splashed himself with a bucket purposely to attain his panda form today.

It kind of saddened him, how dull life became without his daughter's curse to always land them in the most unusual of situations. Now it was just her.

And she had been becoming more and more depressed.

Never quite like this though. Never frustrated.

He held up as long as he could but he could no longer dodge her lightning speed. She flashed around him like a fly on steroids and at some times moved so quickly that he couldn't even see her.

And finally he left an opening large enough for her to pull a full punch through, rocketing him away from the battle.

He slammed forcefully into the wall, the same one she had easily rebounded off of earlier, and grunted with the pain of wood splinters in his furry back.

Slowly he slid down the wall as he watched his daughter breathing, face the image of focus and perfection of martial arts.

She was his daughter. A daughter to be proud of. That… above anything, was certain.

Slowly he pulled himself up from the ground and looked at his daughter with questioning eyes. An utter defeat today. But there was a reason behind his daughter's frustration.

"Grouff.." He bellowed.

Ranma's eye twitched for a moment but she nodded as her heavy breathing calmed. She shrugged a bit and crossed her arms beneath her breasts taking a lax stance. "Thanks Pops… I needed that."

"Gwow…?" He replied, his tone quirking to indicate a question. He hobbled over to the house's entrance and sat on the back porch, patting the spot next to him.

Ranma followed him without a word and sat next to him, to stare out at the day. Birds sung again, their fight having finished, their adrenaline seeped away.

"I… have a date tonight pops." Ranma fidgeted but said, after a time of silence. She hated talking about this but who else could she talk to? She needed to get it off her chest.

"Grouw…" The panda answered without much of a care. That was expected. Even stuck as a girl, Ranma was always a magnet for the weaker gender. Of course she had a date.

Ranma closed her eyes and steeled her nerve. He could only kill her once after all, right? "With… with a boy, Pops."

Genma's eye widened in shock. A boy! A boy!? A BOY!? Was she insa—!

He turned and looked into his daughters eyes. They were… forlorn, staring into the sky as the sun slowly slipped down the horizon.

The panda let out a sigh. How could he be angry? He should have known this would happen.

'Chikusho…' Though the aging panda. He felt like an absolute failure. But… there was nothing he could have done. Nothing any of them could have done. Truthfully, they couldn't even blame the curse. If not for that… Ranma wouldn't even be here now.

And, after being faced with that… being faced with the thought of losing his only child, his flesh and blood, forever. Genma could handle anything.

Anything.

He turned to look towards her, his eyes soft and un-hating, but he found his daughter's eyes shut tight. As if waiting for him to explode or something!

Well, if she expectedit! "Foolish boy!" A sign impacted her head, though far lighter then she had been anticipating.

She looked up at her father once more as he stood and walked into the house.

"P-pops?" She questioned almost tentatively as the man walked around the corner. Moments later she heard the sound of water splashing across a head of fur, and the man reappeared, his footsteps lighter then before.

Ranma watched him as he took his seat beside her once again.

Ranma wanted to say something smart. Something brash and sarcastic just to prove she was still Ranma Saotome. To prove that she would forever be Ranma Saotome. A man, above all others. But nothing came. "Oyaji… I'm sorry… I—"

"Do you like him?" The man asked interrupting her. His voice was soft, and firm. His tone, strong but not angry.

"Y-yeah… A little. He's… he's always been a friend. So…" Her voice was soft. Afraid. Afraid of being forever rejected. Forever a memory of the son her father once had.

And then… the old man smiled. "Well... That's all that matters then." He said, giving his daughter a warm face.

Ranma was shocked. Beyond shocked. "Th-that's it! You… you're not gonna… gonna make a big deal outta this!?" She shouted, her shock blossoming into anger. What was this!? Where was his 'be a man' spittle!?

"Did you want me to, boy?" Genma asked.

Ranma's anger wouldn't abate. She was a man! He should want her to be what she was! He should be mad! He should be raving! But… she didn't want him to be…"Yes! Er… No! I… I don't know… I thought… I thought you want me to be—!"

"A man?" He interrupted, asking.

That brought Ranma up short. "Uh… yeah…" She said lamely.

Genma's face hardened. He had to give up his vision of his son. This was the final straw. His son would never grace his eyes again, and the boy's memory would only hurt Ranma. Instead, he had a new child. The same one but… different. But she was his! And by god he would make her happy.

In the end… that was all he really wanted.

"I can't make you something you're not Ranma. To me you'll always be my boy, like I told you before you left. But I know that you won't ever be happy like that. Trying to live up to a form you don't have. I've… I've faced that… it's time you did. If you don't… you'll end up alone. And that's not what I want for you, boy."

The word 'boy' was a bitter taste in his mouth, but to Ranma it was a shark bite.

As Genma spoke Ranma felt her heart sink. Her world fall down around her. No! No! She could beat this! She could win! She… was…

Going on a date with a boy in two hours…

Who the hell was she kidding…?

A tear slipped out of her eye as Genma stood and began to walk away back into the house leaving Ranma with an entirely new hole in her heart.

Genma saw her shaking. Dry sobs wracked her body but he would leave her to her dignity. That was probably what she wanted.

"Pop!" She shouted stopping him in his tracks. He turned and stared at his daughter's back, listening as she tried vainly to stop the tears that he could tell were falling down her face.

"Yeah, Ranma?" He said, his voice still firm and hard, though he wanted very much to let it crack. He couldn't be easy. This wasn't easy. But she could handle it. If anyone could, his daughter could.

"When… when I was a guy… I was the best right? I was the best! And you were proud of me! R-Right!?" Her voice squeaked in nigh on hysterics, anger mixing with mortification, her world hanging by its toes. She'd clung so hard… even though her life was gone. Her manhood completely washed away, she'd clung to that image she had of herself, as the best martial artist ever. A true man among men.

And now her own father was tearing it apart. Her own father, who'd made her into all she had been.

Genma's heart softened. His voice remained firm, but at least he could let his daughter know that despite the change, despite what she was becoming and who she would become, she was his child.

He approached her cautiously. Her shoulders were still heaving from her sobs. "Ranma… you are the best. The best son a father could ever hope for. A lesser man probably would've picked up the tanto and been done with it. You're strong. And I'm proud of you. I always will be."

His words made her boil. They were lies! All the taunts about being a girl when she grew up! All the jabs… Everything she'd ever known had been about how she was never good enough!

"How!" She screamed, her eyes blazing, cheeks red with tears; she turned and glared at the man standing behind her. "How!? Be a man in all things Ranma! That's not manly Ranma! Well what I'm doing nowsure as hell ain't manly! This is wrong! And now you're… you're! How can you possibly be—!"

"Dammit Girl! I want you to be happy! Ever since Tendo's girl left you you've been moping around like the world's ending! I'm just telling you, it's not! I… That's all… I want… It's all I've always wanted." Genma sat beside his daughter and placed a comforting hand on her small back, amazed at how much of it his hand could truly cover. A small girl, his daughter was, but more powerful than anything in the world.

And he'd always be there for her. No matter how much of an idiot he could be at times.

"P-Pops…"

Ranma and her father had been close once. As close as a father and son could be… but at some point they had drifted apart, and a bar had fallen between them. Ranma had forgotten that, despite his many faults, and they were many, Genma was a good man at heart. A foolish man. But a caring one.

She felt the bar slowly begin to be chiseled away that day. A smile grew on her lips, as she felt the comforting arm of her father rub away some of the pain in her heart.

And so it was that Nodoka, who had not really meant to be spying on her family, finally remembered why it was she had fallen in love with Genma Saotome.

It did not come as too much of a shock, however, when that same man suddenly lobbed his daughter across the yard to crash directly into the back wall, hanging upside-down impaled inches into it.

"You give up the art, boy, I'll disown you on the spot!" The man shouted.

"Fat chance, baka-oyaji!" And the battle began once again.

Nodoka could only smile. 'My husband was a good father.'

Two hours later Ranma found herself clean and refreshed. And despite how stupid it seemed, she felt ready to take on anything. All because of her idiotic panda of a father.

Heh.

He could be downright kind when he really tried at it. Memories had been sparked, during that battle, of easier times. Times when it had been just him and Pop against the world.

Riding on Genma's shoulders as he ran spiritedly out of a town. Laughing with him as they ate enormous sausages. Teasing that Junko woman who he had hated during their stay at that shrine during the winter months when he was seven.

The times Genma would give him food even after he'd lost the battles over dinner. There were many such memories that had sprung into her mind that had been long forgotten. Before Jusenkyo and Shampoo's crusade against them.

They had been the best of times.

Though… why did she remember a huge crowd of people with pitchforks chasing them when they'd been running out of that town?

Junko would always slap her father for some reason too…

And there was something about those sausages…

Ranma disregarded it. They were really old memories after all.

The doorbell rang and Ranma languorously rose to get it. It was time. But she felt good about it now. She opened the door and saw Hiroshi there, a casual grin on his face. "Yo Ranma!"

His clothes didn't signify a formal date at all. A brand-named t-shirt, a pair of jeans, and an expensive looking pair of sandals were all he wore, something she'd often seen him in when ever she'd had a free moment or two to spend not being chased by fiancées back when she was a guy.

All in all, he looked pretty damn good compared to the school uniform she saw him in ninety percent of the time. Not that she cared.

Much.

She smiled. "Hey, Hiro. Bout' time." She joked, casually calling him by his usual nickname. This wasn't hard at all! It didn't really even feel like a date. Just… like friends.

Perfect.

"I see you went all out. I'm touched, buddy!" Hiroshi said, also joking, as Ranma looked not a whisker different then she usually did. Her black pants, red Chinese shirt, slippers and trademark pigtail permeating her being.

Ranma grinned. She could do this. As long as she didn't think of it as a date, it was fine! And it was even easier with him acting like he always had when she used to be a guy! 'Whew… and here I thought this would be completely awkward and weird…'

"What did you expect?" She asked, cheerfully, folding her arms beneath her breasts.

His fingers came up to his chin looking at her for a moment before answering, "Nothing really. Heh. But honestly, remember when you went on that date with Kuno for the wishing sword? If you wear that I'd be—!"

"Don't push your luck." Ranma replied, annoyed. She could tell the boy was utterly kidding but that episode of her time with the curse struck a nerve in her.

As a matter of fact, any mention of Kuno and her struck a nerve.

"Kidding, Ranma. So, ready?" He asked, knowing Ranma more than well enough to know that she wouldn't take that too seriously, beyond being a mere jab.

"No, she is not." Came a sharp voice, that Ranma instantly winced at.

"Sh-shimatta…" She cursed under her breath. Instantly she felt her entire head yanked back by her pigtail and found herself looking directly up into the stern eyes of her mother.

"I-Itai…! K-Konbanha, Okasan…!" She yelped twitching at the pain in the back of her head, back arched till it was parallel to the floor, jerking as the woman tugged mercilessly on her pigtail.

"You didn't tell me you had a date, dear." The woman said, harshly. Ranma could feel the woman's hand fiddling with her pigtail but she couldn't really do anything about it. Holding her hands up she twitched, as she felt Hiroshi's mirthful eyes on her.

"I… uh… I…"

Suddenly she felt her hair free itself from the iron grip her mother kept on it and righted herself as fast as possible, her hair slipping through her mothers fingers. It cascaded down and fell on her shoulders, and spilling over them to barely caress the top of her breasts and the tips of her shoulder blades.

"Now she's… well… not ready, but I'm afraid that's the best I can do on such short notice. You see, I wasn't informed." The older woman said though her eyes remained steadfastly glaring at her nervous daughter.

That was a lie actually. She'd forgotten in light of some rather… private matters. It had only been ten or fifteen minutes ago that she had gotten out of the bedroom. After the display of… well… after the scene she'd witnessed earlier she'd felt Genma had deserved a bit of a reward.

It had been the first time either of them had done anything sexually related in almost ten years. Needless to say, it had been quite the experience.

Unfortunately, it dawned on her far too late that her daughter would be leaving soon, and did not have a woman's assistance, therefore would be dressing like a man. So at the last minute she decided that this was the best she could do.

"I'm sorry, dear boy; what was your name again? Hiroshi, I think? Yes. Well, I'm afraid I was not told that my daughter had a date tonight so unfortunately this will have to do. I assure you, should you date again, however, that she will be properly prepared." She said. She turned her eyes towards the boy and found a most humorous sight. "I hope you will be a bit more formal as well young man."

Ranma too, turned back to Hiroshi, about to make a joke of some sort, but the words died on her lips.

He was staring.

At her.

Apparently he'd never seen her with her hair down before either.

"W-wow… Ranma… I… Sugoi…" her friend breathed, almost completely forgetting that Nodoka had even spoken.

Her face heated like a forest fire.

Oh yes. Now, it was a date.

'Chikusho Okasan…' She thought.

The woman chuckled as they walked out the door; the boy couldn't keep his eyes off her.

Honestly, she had the same problem as the boy. Her daughter's hair, when let down, was a thing that would work well as a museum exhibit.

Or perhaps as a visual aphrodisiac.

Ranma was staring around in awe as she clicked the strange belt across her chest. It pinched her breasts quite painfully but she'd gotten used to that sensation over the past while, what with Akane's clumsy handsmawing them during the night!

But this was a brand new experience for her and she was enjoying every minute of it. She stared at the door and all the strange buttons on it. "Lock" "Unlock" The chrome handle. The small tab right in front of the window that signified whether it was locked or not… the arm rest. It was all so strange.

"I still can't believe you've never even been in a car, Ranma!" Hiroshi exclaimed. It had come as a surprise to him to find Ranma so enthused.

"I… I've just… never seen one from the inside before…" She murmured, still sniffing out the odds and ends on the dashboard.

That wasn't entirely true. She thought she'd been in the Kuno Limo's trunk once. But she wasn't sure. Kodachi's drugs had made everything unusual then.

They had been driving for about ten minutes getting to the inner wards of Tokyo where the things couples did, were located. Hiroshi was aiming for a movie theatre but he wasn't certain if Ranma would like movies.

Did the girl even know what movies were? It's not like they'd spent time together after school very often, and when they did it was usually at the Tendo's. The place had been so much more interesting than anything on television could ever have been that he couldn't help but prefer to spend his time with this friend there.

When she had been just a friend at least.

Honestly, when he'd first arrived at the door and seen his friend dressed in her red shirt and black pants, pigtail raised as it always was, he knew he would be fine. Ranma wasn't any different. Just being locked as a girl didn't make his friend into a girl! And no matter how hard he tried, he could not see the girl as anything but the raven-haired martial arts obsessed man he had befriended a year or two gone.

At least, until the exact moment he saw her without said pigtail.

In that very moment he was captivated by beauty such that he had never seen. Ranma was…gorgeous. Instantaneously, she had been transformed from a pitiable ex-male friend to the goddess so often described by a certain partially insane Kuno. Nabiki's pictures of the girl were nothing next to the beauty she could exude should she only wish it.

And Hiroshi found himself rapidly growing a true desire for her, while simultaneously wondering if Kuno had seen the girl without her pigtail at some point. Because if he hadn't and was as obsessed with the girl as she was now, if he ever actually did his infatuation would probably turn to outright stalking the girl.

Fortunately, he wasn't so weak willed as Tatewaki Kuno. He, above almost anyone, knew Ranma's outlook on perverts. Honestly, the girl was a damn prude, even when she'd been both genders; a condition most likely due to Akane's influence. That sufficiently reigned in his hormones. But only the fact that, were he to make his attraction known, he wouldn't stand a chance with the girl…

It didn't stop his traitorous mind from placing her as the number one beauty on his 'girls I know' list, though.

He risked another look at the red-head and found her the girl bathing her face in his father's car's air-conditioner! Ha! Hiroshi strained to hold back laugh at the adorable picture of the small redhead, cooling herself affront the small vents.

What could he say? She was cute as hell, too! He sneakily put his hand down to the selection knob and turned it.

Air blasted into the smiling girl's face with the force of a slap and the girl spluttered, blown back by the freezing air, punctuated with a sharp, "Hey!" between coughs.

Hiroshi laughed.

After a bit of actual coughing ensued more by surprise than the actual air, Ranma glared at the laughing boy. She tried to hold a bit of the foul gaze on him but his laugh was contagious and soon she joined him.

"I'll get you back for that." She said after the laughing died down, as they were still driving through Tokyo.

He just shook his head, chuckling to himself. "I bet."

It was a few minutes of comfortable silence that past, while the radio droned out some song by some band called Ushimitsudoki Hakka.

"So, uhm… what are we doing?" Ranma asked speculatively. "I… I don't think I've ever actually been on a real date before. You know… without spying fiancées or being forced into it or whatever…"

Hiroshi raised his eyebrow but didn't say anything. Was he getting in over his head?

Nah. They wouldn't come after him. The engagements were dissolved now…

Right?

A chill crawled up the boy's back but he disregarded it. Ranma was the best of them. Worst case scenario he'd be protected.

He hoped.

"Well, classical dates are usually dinner and a movie. Sound good?" He asked, his tone cheerful and upbeat.

The girl smiled in that strangely shy way that she had developed recently and nodded.

Hiroshi's heart boiled. The engine revved a bit but he didn't hear it over the pounding beats in his chest, echoing in his ears.

A Diamond shaped visage hung in the space, a background of pure black held behind it. Millions upon millions of stars blinked in it's tranquil backdrop as it hovered hundreds of miles above the atmosphere of earth. Golden in color, the vessel glimmered, it's outer covering powering the core through solar power.

Mai grinned, her long hair swaying as she stared out from the golden glass sheen of window keeping her from her new promised kingdom. It seemed small… unworthy to the uneducated eye, but there was power held within this system.

Power held within this planet the likes of which had not been seen for over twenty millennia.

But now she remembered. She remembered the traitor. Remembered being sealed in that vile prison for an eternity; the screams, the pain, the torment she felt as she'd slowly forgotten all, except for the burning desire for revenge.

"First child to keep,
Eversilver sleep,
The father who held,
The mother to weep.

Last child to seal,
E'er gold bastille,
The father who held,
Till reborn beau ideal."

Now she knew. Now she knew. The Dark King. her master, her lover, her husband, had told her the story. And now she stood at his side, prepared to reclaim their rights to their thrones.

She snapped her attention away from her musing back to the ship Tai had told her to pilot. She had to focus.

A loud mechanical voice echoed throughout the bridge of the ship. "Approximate Population. Six Point Oh Nine Billion."

Lights flashed about on terminals as far as the eye could see. As far as a mortal eye could see. Her eyes could see the multiplying germs atop the old panels. If she wished to at least. Easily they could see the end of the bridge a mile or so down.

"Rubos." Tai's booming voice echoed throughout the room, like the low thrum of fire burning an entire planet to ashes. Mai shivered with barely contained ecstasy, but she tried to focus on guiding the ship, and keeping her emotions under control Her husband was harsh if she let her thoughts linger too long on her coveted vengeance.

The servant was there before they could blink, kneeling before Tai, as he had always done. Their steadfast servant, Rubos. Now he too remembered.

"Yes, my lord." The servant bowed lower, accepting any command Tai would give before even needing to be asked. Such was the way of his service. Such was his loyalty.

Tai tapped his fingers on the control panel, his armor clinking and denting the Emperian plating. "How do you find a princess… when she could be any girl in an entire population of six billion, Rubos?" His tone held a lilt that guaranteed he knew the answer already.

Rubos did too. "At once, my king."

Mai didn't understand. "T-Taimaat-sama… what... if I may, wh-what—?" She leaned forward hoping her husband would indulge her. She dared not expect anything, though. T'was not a woman's place to question the motives of her husband.

"Concentrate on the ship, Mairis. You will know if 'I' feel you need to." The man boomed.

Mai gulped, even as shivers of excitement ran down her spine. "Y-yes my husband. Please forgive me." She bowed her head, shamefully for a moment before returning her eyes promptly to the task of setting them into the small planet's orbit.

She winced from a particularly strong spasm in her abdomen, just below her right breast, recognizing his touch on her. She looked across the room to the captain's seat at the back of the bridge and gulped. The excitement was gone now. He was angry.

A brief moment she spared her ribcage a glance and found blood leaking through. Shocked, she bolted her eyes on the terminal.

He would not want her looking upon his work. If he wanted her to bleed that was his wish.

She was his.

'Taimaat… it hurts…' She breathed in her mind, and instantly felt a burning sensation grow from where the blood had begun to flow.

She didn't stop bleeding for hours. She didn't stop working either.

Ranma sat nervously in the seat next to her… her date, and tried to focus on the movie.

Unfortunately the movie was terrible. These fake martial artists were so pathetic it wasn't even funny. Sure, to normal people it would be mildly impressive but it was so often that Ranma forgot how unusual and rare super powered martial artists like himself were.

And who names their kid 'Jet' anyway?

Due to the sheer weakness of the movie, while it had been quite a bit better looking than the other selections, she found herself letting her mind drift to her shrink of all people.

Aiko… Aiko was unusual. Her methods were completely the opposite of any shrink she'd ever heard of. But there was something different about her. She was funny, happy, and when she was with her in that office, she felt like she could talk about anything.

Like she could trust the other girl with anything.

It scared her, how easily the woman had gotten past all her defenses and burned straight to the core of her, convincing her to confess things that she'd never told anyone.

But now that she had, she felt better every time she thought about the blonde woman.

Wait. Blonde? Aiko's hair was black. As black as it came. So why had she…?

Even as she thought, the image of Aiko Mizuruna came to mind. Pale white skin, and short black hair. Business suit and those strange blue eyes that seemed made to see directly through her patients.

Somehow, though, she felt… feigned by the woman. As if it was all just a mask. Hiding her true self. There was a certain depression behind her voice that she was very good at hiding.

"Ranma…?" Came a hushed question from Hiroshi.

She jerked her attention to him. She was here on a date with him and there she was thinking about a girl!

'Jeez I sure am a jerk.' She thought, realizing that she'd done that several times before to many of the girls in her life.

"Y-yeah?" She replied, coming back to herself.

"What's on your mind? Obviously not the movie." He said, piercing Ranma yet again.

She felt ashamed but couldn't do anything about it. "Was it that easy to tell?" She asked, whispering so as not to disturb anyone else, even though the theatre wasn't too full.

Hiroshi smirked. "Well… no offence… you fight better than these jokes ever could… this is a little lame, ain't it?"

Ranma giggled. "Kinda… sorry, Hiro."

He grinned. "Come on. Lets go enter you in some back alley martial arts competition and rake it in… or dinner?"

Ranma had to cover her face with a hand to keep from snorting. His first idea would probably be more entertaining, though. "I, ah… Diner." She floundered as she stood, him following.

They left the theatre, mildly annoyed, Ranma due to the weakness of the actual fight scenes and Hiroshi due to the fact that he would never be able to watch a fight movie again without comparing it to Ranma's own prowess.

And finding the movie falling short every time.

They got to the car, after walking through a proverbial herd of strange stares from various 'behind the counter' workers at the theatre. No one walked out of a Jet Li movie! Or at least no one had that they knew of. So, seeing the two leaving early, disappointment clearly written all over the couple's faces, surprised the workers to no end.

Hiroshi leaned on the end of the vehicle and gave her a strong look. "Well. I had an idea in mind for where we could go. But if you have any preferences."

Ranma shook her head and waved nonchalantly. "Nah. I'm good."

The boy nodded and opened the door. This date was not nearly as good as he'd hoped it might've been but he really wasn't expecting anything. Truly it was his fault too. Or Ranma's mother's fault.

The second he saw her with her hair down, he couldn't help it. How could anyone possibly not want to try for such beauty?

And he knew that was exactly why he was striking out. 'Damn hormones,' He thought.

He sat down when suddenly the passenger window imploded.

Glass sliced all over the boy and he flew out of the still open door, screaming.

Ranma only had a moment to react. She twisted like a flash and caught the aggressor in the blink of an eye and slammed against the car's window bursting it open into the car, the cause of Hiroshi's glass shower. She winced but held firm, both hands gripping… paws?

A putrid stink intoxicated her nose as she looked up and found herself staring into the maw of a dog; a gigantic hound. Sharp jagged teeth and blood red eyes. Fur blue as the night sky and a row of teeth held by a face more crazed than any she had ever seen pinned her to the side of the car.

The jaw snapped at her but missed biting her nose clean of by a nail's width.

"Wh-What the hell!?" She exclaimed. She pushed with all her might but found that the dog was winning! It was… it was stronger! Stronger than her!

She grit her own teeth and set her jaw. "No way…" The words came out a growl.

Her aura burst around her blasting through her arms and into her strengthened hands blasting the crazed dog away, flying into the tree she now realized it had jumped from to attack her.

It collided with the tree and landed in a heap but made its way back to its feet, its demonic eyes narrowed on her.

"Wh-who the hell are you!?" Ranma screamed, dropping into a stance.

"R-Ranma! Ranma! I c… I can't see!" Came a male scream from the other side of the car.

Rage enveloped the redhead. All the chances with Akane. All the interrupted dates. All the love plots and marriage plots. Not again. This would never happen again! She blasted forward hands glowing in unhindered anger. "Dammit! Can't I just have one date!?"

The redhead leapt into the air, dive bombing the creature fist first, pent up rage forming in her fist.

Without warning, it burst into flame and leapt to meet her, catching the midair girl completely off guard.

A burning claw the size of a basketball raked through her chest, sending her and the dog both flying the other way. Shock coalesced in Ranma's eyes as her back hit the ground. Five claws impaled her chest, and the beast stood atop her, staring down at her face.

Blood began to pool in her mouth. She felt no fear though. She looked down and saw blood, soaking her red shirt completely, the inch long claws sinking into five points on her chest.

She tried to speak, but nothing came forth. Her throat gurgled. The demonic hound's eyes stared down at her piercing her soul as she desperately tried to breathe.

'I'm dying… All this… and I'm being killed by a… by a…'

The claws suddenly pulled out and she screamed. Tried to scream, her back arching into the air as the claws failed to dislodged themselves from her body.

It raked more skin pulling itself free and she slumped back to the ground with a hollow thud.

The burning beast did not move. One bloody paw in the air, it stared down at her, a lion examining its caught prey.

"Why…?" She choked out, blood spewing from her mouth, incinerating in the hound's burning face.

'I won't die like this. God… don't let me die like this.' She pleaded. Her heart was trying to beat. Lungs filling with blood.

"Ranma!" A shout echoed across her ear but she paid it no heed. No help for the helpless. She could get out of this.

'It was so fast…!' She moaned, trying to keep her mind thinking with the fiery jaw breathing soot and putrid death into her nose. Trying to keep from despairing.

She'd never been taken down so easily. Not for years.

'Soul of Ice…' She thought, and it came. Faster than ever before the ice calmed her. The ground she laid on froze in an instant. 'The fire…. That's it… I can…"

"Get off him freak! Aoide Blastone Rhapsody!"

'Akane?' Ranma though. 'I-it can't be...'

The hound jerked as if punched from the side but held firm, not moving an inch. It's head jerked away staring and growling above Ranma and to her left.

'Now's my chance…!'

She begged her body not to give out. Her lungs were on fire and her throat was screaming. She needed air!

"Hiryuu…."

The ice beneath her began to thicken. Blue lightened to a pale silver as the ground beneath her became slick. The hound winced, the fire on its paws flickering as it touched the icy floor but it refused to move, turning its attention back to her.

"Dammit! Aoide Blastone Rhapsody!"

Again the fire hound lurched. Again it remained firm, this time not even sparing the attacker a glance.

'Is it you… Akane…?'

"Apollo!! Don't I have anything stronger!?"

"Gyoten…"

The ice beneath her was evaporating on the dogs fire, floating higher into the air. She felt the air above her begin to rotate. Her back was freezing! Her lungs! God her lungs!

"Oh shit!" Came the Akane impersonator's voice followed by frantic scampering.

Ranma saw right above her for a brief moment as the burning hound turned its attention to her for one moment. Saw the blue and red swirling dragon of light she was creating and smiled a bloody lipped victory grin.

'Eat this… bastard!'

"HA!"

The dragon tornado rocketed down towards the icy circle.

It was only an instant but Ranma knew she had won. The hound's eyes widened in terror and it yelped like a puppy for the sparse seconds before the dragon of thrashing air ripped the beast to shreds blood flying across the pavement, flares and burning body parts rocketing through cars and blasting through street signs.

"G-Got…" Ranma gurgled.

Darkness was fading in. A face flashed in front of her for a few moments. What? She felt pressure inside her mouth. A rod? She gurgled more, choking on the blood. Something was getting rid of it…

Lips touched her mouth. Air! Air!

She could…! She…

And darkness took her again. She lay fallen, her body caressed on iced frozen concrete.

Concrete that shimmered a crystalline silver bed in the shape of a crescent moon.

A soft knock resounded about the house Saturday morning, alerting Saeko Mizuno to someone's presence at the door. She rose, dismally as she did everything these days. Her life seemed like it was over, and had been for months.

Her daughter. Her only daughter. One of the Senshi…

It would have been amazing if it hadn't cost her little genius her life. And now, it seemed like it was costing her her own life. She had taken leave from work for months now and she simply could not make herself feel any better.

She couldn't help but blame those girls she'd befriended. And now, the last one, the one who survived so her little girl could die, was nowhere to be found.

Even anger seemed pointless. There was nothing to rage at. No one left alive to blame.

She opened the door to find a middle aged woman there. Great… another sales woman or something. Or worse… a well wisher…

"Mizuno-san…"

That tone… seemed familiar. Very familiar. "Yes… may I help you, ma'am?" She asked politely, while thinking 'I don't give a damn.'

"I… have something to tell you…"

Saeko Mizuno gasped in fright as the woman's skin began to melt away, along with her height. Her hair began to change color from the black short crop into a brilliant blonde. Her skin changed from the darker pale of a middle aged woman to that of a teenage girl, pale and freckled, eyes blue as the sky.

"Oh my god… It's… it's you…"

Sailor Moon nodded as tears began to trail her cheeks. "I'm… so… sorry…" She breathed, as the woman who was one of her best friends' parents stared in shock. "But I… I had to see you. T-To tell you what happened… and to hope one day you'll be able to forgive me…"

The woman just stared, her jaw gaping.

"Happosai."

"Ku Lon."

The old woman sighed abysmally as Happosai appeared in her uppermost room in the Nekohaunten.

"It's getting closer, Ku Lon. Can you feel it?" The aged pervert asked in a kindly, almost youthful voice.

"Yes. Yes I can." The similarly aged woman replied. Her own voice scratchy and elderly.

Happosai grinned. "You always were old." It was an age old joke, but Happosai never grew tired of it. Especially since she always had a newer, more witty comeback every time.

"Puns on my age. How very childish." The older woman said in an ugly voice, knowing it to be a pun on his own… well… not age. Position more like. Not a very good one either. She was too old. She suddenly began coughing uproariously and Happosai's smirk dimmed.

"You're dying. You're dying again. Why?" The old man asked, as concern and even a tear or two welled up in his eyes.

Ku Lon smiled. Happi could always be such a child. It made sense, of course. He would always be a child at heart, and in body. His disguise was quite convenient, making him age together with her, and had been for the past seven hundred years or so, ever since they had first felt the cosmos begin to stir.

Rebirth had been alive for the past three hundred years. They could feel it. And now Time herself was awakening. It had taken the girl long enough! Poor Liopolis…

"You know why better than anyone Happosai. It's my time. I'm not immortal like you. But don't worry. I'll be back. I always come back. Rebirth makes sure I return as soon as I can." She told the short man.

He stroked her temple soothingly and then left, only to return a few moments later with a damp washcloth. He placed it over her forehead and she sighed, against her will, at the comfort it provided.

Happosai could be so... kind at times. If he just wasn't so childish…

She knew her disguise would lift off him when she died. And then he would return to his true form. The fourteen year old boy he was perpetually cursed and blessed to be.

She somewhat envied him for that, but then, eternal life could grow monotonous. At least she got breaks every now and then. She did not envy her husband nearly as much as she once had.

"Thank you dear." She sighed. An abysmal though crossed her mind. "What will I tell Shampoo?" She asked drearily.

"She'll understand. She's one of them you know. From this side. Not ours. She and that strange boy she's been traipsing about with. The one with the motorcycle? So don't worry. She'll still be around when you come back."

Ku Lon smiled. Her own granddaughter. A Senshi from this side. What would the cosmos think up next? So many parallels…

"Have you found—" She broke off and began coughing again but Happosai was their, his small arm grasped around her, hand resting on the small of her back.

He was so sweet.

When she stopped she looked to him questioningly, expecting him to know what she was about to ask. He nodded. "Yes. All of them are waking up. Circe and Apollo arrived here three weeks ago. They found Aoide and Meneloth. They're still looking for Astraea, but they'll find her quickly, too. If they don't I will lead them to her."

Ku Lon contemplated for a moment. She was still terrified of such power as Aoide's in the hands of Akane Tendo but she supposed the girl was a good person at heart. Good for the position now that her temper had quieted a bit.

She hoped.

For some reason she doubted Meneloth would be around much longer, though. But then, Aoide had always wanted to get rid of Meneloth.

"They must. They are almost here. I can feel them. The Dark King. They must be able to defend the princess till she wakes, lest both kingdoms be—!"

"Stop it, Thry-chan." Happosai said firmly. "You're time is coming. I'll take care of things till you return, so don't let your death be ruined by worry. He was beaten before. Don't worry."

Ku Lon would have none of it. Plus, she hated that pet name! "If he gets here before we find her then—!"

"I've found her, Thry. I've already found her." Happosai said with a grin.

"What!? Who!? We know it isn't that girl who calls herself Sailor Moon. She's from this side! Who!?" Ku Lon had forgotten her sickness. This was wonderful! She'd been found!

Yes…

Now she could die in peace.

"Who… Who is she, Mapon?" She asked the aged looking man.

"You'll know in five years…" He said with a smirk.

She glowered but was held back by another coughing fit. "Happi! You'll tell me, or I won't lift the age when I die!"

The old man's smile only widened. "Ah well, I lived hundreds of years as an old man… I think I can handle five more. You surely won't keep me old when you look fresh and young again, will you Thryope?"

Ku Lon could do nothing. Her threat held no ground. And she sighed. "If there still is a world worth being born back into in five years… But I trust you, Mapon. Guide her well."

Happosai brushed a stray hair from the woman's eyes as he sat down in the bed next to her. "She's in good hands,Thry-chan. I promise."

The young man in the old man's body hoped she would forgive him for lying. He had to find her! The world rested on it…

"It-It's alright. It's alright. You poor girl…" Saeko cooed to the weeping blonde in her arms.

"I… I…" The blonde tried to put words to her heartache but there was nothing. No words to sooth the pain her friend's deaths would always leave within her.

"—hat's the weather! I'm Avoki Atsuke. Thanks for watching!" The words came filtering in from the television in the other room.

"I forgive you… It's not your fault! You did all you could…" Saeko gripped the weeping girl tighter, failing miserably to hold back her own tears.

"I did nothing! I… I… I'm worthless… I…"

"—oung girl by the name of Ranma Saotome was attacked and almost killed this afternoon by what seems to be a Senshi!"

Moon eyes snapped open. "R-Ranma!"

"U-Usagi?" Saeko eased her grip on the still weeping girl.

The girl dashed out of the grasp in an instant dashing to find the source of the words. "Ranma! Wh-What happened?"

The television was easy to find and on it, she saw a boy. Not a boy. The boy. The date. "No…" She shook her head in self hatred and denial.

"Y-Yeah. We were o-on a date… I was in the car when she just got thrown in to the window! Gl-glass hit me everywhere… I thought I was blind, but after a while I g-got it all out and… I saw… A black Senshi… L-like Sailor Moon, but… black, instead of white. She- she was beating her! Beating her chest! There was… was blood everywhere… I… I've… never been so afraid in my life…"

"Oh god… Oh god no… no not…" Moon gasped, covering her hands with her mouth, eyes wider than planets.

"The scene was one of the most gruesome things I've ever seen." The reporter said, screen returning to face him. "I don't think I've ever seen so much blood. The girl, Ranma, has five holes in her chest… She's alive… somehow… but that's all the information the hospital is allowing us. Whoever did this… this Black Senshi, is a sick lunatic… For my sake, for all our sakes… I hope Sailor Moon is still out there…"

Moon's guilt welled in her throat like a whole pumpkin stuck in it. Guilt and determination. "…I'm still out here…"

"U-Usagi…" Came Ami's mother's voice from behind her.

"I have to go…" The Senshi clenched her fist. "I… I have to go."

And she vanished.

Running towards the hospital faster than planes could fly, Sailor Moon's eyes were no longer wet. They were hard. They were hard as the crystal broach on her chest.

"NEVER Again...!"

"Whoever did this to you Ranma… I'll kill her…"

The blonde dashed on, oblivious to the excited looks of people who watched. "I'll kill her…"

End Chapter
Dun Dun DUUU! The plot thickens…

And that's a wrap. So… getting better yet? I TOLD you this would be a good story. And now we have plot.

Uber plot.

Might be a bit clunky but I'm damn proud of that final scene, and the fight scene hit me pretty good too.

I hope you read, leave a review, and most importantly enjoy!

Have a Merry Christmas everyone!

Good News! Next in Que: The Anarchists: Chapter Two! (I hope)

Also Good News! Writer's Block: Mark in the Lace Cured!

(Sidenote: I have a strange idea for a very unusual oneshot crossover that might come out before this stuff. Just letting ya know. And Secret Stolen Smiles is also being worked on periodically.)

Now bring me some figgy pudding and a happy review year!!

Till Next!

MB