Ranma woke up in his apartment bedroom and quickly got ready for the day. The apartment was definitely a lot smaller then his suit at the royal palace, but in a way that was a good thing. Here in the twentieth century Ranma didn't have to be Prince Ranma of Nemesis and could just be plain old Ranma Tohno. How many royals or nobles could enjoy that privilege?

After Ranma had his breakfast, he looked at his watch and walked over to his computer. The computer had two settings that were activated by a hidden magical seal. One setting made the computer's software seem like it was average household software for the mid 90s. The other setting allowed the computer to act like it really was meant to: state of the art for the 30th century. Sure it was annoying having to flip between the two settings, but at least it insured that no one would wonder about the technology in the computer.

Once the computer was booted up and Ranma had logged in, he clicked on a small icon labeled Nemesis. Almost instantly Ranma was able to access the Nemesis palace's main computer. He then pulled up his folder and began to read the various invoices that had collected over the past 24 hours. Naturally after a quick skim, most of the items were promptly deleted. Over all, things were running pretty smoothly and there was nothing that needed Ranma's immediate attention.

With business taken care of for the moment, Ranma decided to just play some video games. Sadly for Ranma, he just got the Mechwarrior 3 CD into the disk drive when the doorbell rang. Ranma quickly flipped the computer's settings and walked over to the front door. He then opened it and said, "Who is it?"

To Ranma's surprise Usa was standing at the door in an entirely new getup. Usa was now wearing a baseball hat and had her hair coming out the back in a single ponytail. Her conservative outfit from last night had been traded in for a formfitting light pink t-shirt with a low, but not immodest, neckline. Instead of a dress, Usa was wearing a pair of tight black jeans that showed off her curves. Also, Usa was accessorizing with a pair of leather biker gloves. Altogether Usa's outfit showed that she was a very attractive woman without making her look cheap.

Usa watched Ranma's reaction and she couldn't help herself from smiling as Ranma checked her out. Even if Usa knew that she had an attractive body, it was always a mood booster for her to see someone else appreciate her form. Besides, if everything panned out she'd be married to Ranma. Knowing that Ranma would appreciate her would make that arrangement pleasanter. Usa gave Ranma a cheerful smile and said, "Hey Ranma, can I come in?"

Ranma shrugged his shoulders and calmly made a path for Usa to come in. Once Usa was inside, Ranma said, "Okay Usa. Why did you come over? Not that I mind you coming over, but I honesty wasn't expecting you today."

Usa looked at Ranma and calmly replied, "I just wanted to see you Ranma and I was hoping that we could hang out." She then sat down and continued on. "Whether or not you decide to support me in my bid for the throne, I hope that we can be friends. It's so hard for people like you and I to make true friends that I don't want to let the chance to be your friend slip by. Besides, if you do agree to my proposal I want my future marriage to be built on more then just political convenience and sex."

At first Ranma wasn't sure how to respond to Usa's answer. Even more then most girls, Usa was a paradox. Sometimes Usa could be annoyingly vague and at others she was refreshingly blunt. Likewise, Usa could rapidly switch between being confident and being unsure of herself. And yet through all of these changes, Ranma always felt that he could trust her. Finally Ranma said, "So what did you have in mind Usa?"

In a laid back manner Usa answered, "Whatever you want to do Ranma. It gets so annoying for me in Crystal Tokyo with having to constantly plan out my day. When you're on Nemesis, don't you wish to just cut back and do whatever you felt like? You pick whatever you want us to do and we'll do it. I'll even pick up the tab if you want."

For a second, Ranma almost thought that Usa was asking him on a date. However, Ranma decided to ignore that potential view point, and he instead focused on just hanging out with a friend. So Ranma thought about Usa's suggestion and then said, "How about we go ice skating?" It was the only thing that Ranma could think of that could be interesting to the both of them, didn't involved a major chance of his curse activating, and wasn't likely to be mistaken as a date.

Usa looked a little nervous and slowly said, "Slight problem Ranma. I don't know how to ice skate,"

Naturally, Ranma became embarrassed at suggesting something that Usa couldn't do. Ranma started scratching the back of his head and replied, "Sorry about that Usa. If you want, I can teach you how to ice skate. Or, you can pick something else for us to do."

Usa bit her lower lip, which for some reason Ranma found extremely cute, and thought about it for a little bit. Part of her wanted to go along with Ranma's suggestion of ice skating with lessons. However, another part of Usa wanted to teleport to the Caribbean for some snorkeling. In the end Usa said, "If you teach me how to ice skate then sure."

Ranma flashed Usa a smile and said, "Okay then. Just let me take care of a few quick things and then we can head out. Oh and before I forget, do you want to use hokey skates or figure skating skates?" After seeing a blank look on Usa's face, Ranma said, "Better go with the figure skates."

Kasumi walked off of the train carrying a small gym bag at her side. Things had been hectic in Nerima for the past few days as another crazy misadventure occurred, and Kasumi was grateful to get out of the ward for a few hours. While Kasumi had learned to develop a think skin when it came to weird things, Nazi cows wanting to exterminate kangaroos to insure the purity of the meat industry was a little much. What made that whole situation so annoying, besides the fact that there weren't any kangaroos in Japan, was the fact that Kasumi couldn't figure out what she had done to deserve that kind of karma.

Luckily for Kasumi's sanity, Minako had suggested a girl's day out for the gang at the ice ring over in Juban. Usagi had been a little upset that Mamoru wouldn't be there, but the Earth Prince had politely bailed out by claiming that he had to study for a test. Personally, Kasumi wished that she could bring out the Princess Serenity that was buried in Usagi. It wasn't that Usagi was a bad girl, but Kasumi couldn't help feeling disappointed in Usagi whenever the young woman whined about something. Sure Usagi was barely 15 and Princess Serenity had been nearly 21 when she died, but when did facts ever get in the way of emotions?

As soon as Kasumi turned the corner and saw the ice ring, she stopped thinking about her crazy life and Scout business. The Scouts and Usagi were already waiting by the front door like Kasumi was expecting. Usagi spotted Kasumi first and waved enthusiastically before running up to Kasumi. The two hugged each other while the rest of the girls walked over. For the next five minutes or so, everyone just exchanged pleasantries until Kasumi said, "What are we standing out here for? Let's go hit the ice."

Naturally, this got a round of cheers from the gang and everyone rushed inside to the ring. Once everyone was out on the ice, the gang started to fragment. Makoto and Minako started looking for cute boys. Michiru and Haruka went off and did their own thing. Rei and Ami started to go through a few simple routines that showed that they had some serious potential on the ice.

As for Kasumi and Usagi, those two were casually skating next to each other. This was the first chance that the two of them had to be by themselves and just chat. Things were very confusing for the both of them. On the one hand they were friends, but on the other hand they had the residual emotions from their past lives constantly surfacing. Neither of them exactly knew how to deal with this problem. After all, that sort of thing wasn't covered in a self-help book and a shrink would just consider them crazy.

Luckily for both Kasumi and Usagi, Kasumi was able to find something that they could both talk about which wasn't related to the Sailor Scouts. In a soothing manner she said, "Usagi, how would you like me to help you with some of your homework? I heard that you're having trouble in a few areas."

Usagi pouted a bit and whined, "Does everyone know I have trouble in school? No offense Kasumi, but I don't think you can help me. Ami's been tutoring me for a while now and I've barely managed to make a decent C. If a genius like Ami can only help me improve that far, what chance to do have?"

Surprisingly, Kasumi giggled a bit and quickly replied, "Actually, I'd say that I've got a great chance of getting you to at least a B. At least, I'll be able to if you put some effort in it that is. Ami may be a genus Usagi, but that doesn't mean that she can teach. It's likely that Ami is so used to thinking on one level that she can't see what is causing you problems. Everyone can learn as long at they honestly put their effort into it and the teacher figures out how to present the information in a way that they can understand."

It was like the proverbial light bulb went off for Usagi. "You mean to say," She began, "That my problem is that I'm looking at the stuff in school the wrong way?"

Kasumi smiled and answered, "Not exactly, but you've got the right idea. Sometimes in school things are presented in such a boring manner that it's hard to learn. When this happens, the answer is to present the information in a manner that the prospective student can understand. Luckily for you, I'm pretty good at finding out how to present the information so that someone can learn."

Usagi suddenly hugged Kasumi and kept on saying, "Thank you, thank you," over and over again. As Kasumi returned Usagi's hug she couldn't help feeling that everything was right in the world. Sure there were still a lot of problems to be taken care of, but as of that moment Kasumi knew with absolute certainty that everything would be alright. Kasumi hadn't felt this way since before Ranma left.

Suddenly, Kasumi's eyes locked onto one of the other skaters in the ring. Normally Kasumi wouldn't stare at other people; however, she spotted what she thought was the Eclipse on a young man's forehead. Kasumi immediately started following the man with her gaze and waited to see his face. As soon as the man turned again in Kasumi's direction she knew that he was Ranma.

At first, Usagi was confused about Kasumi abrupt change in behavior. In order to figure out what was going on, Usagi followed Kasumi's gaze to Ranma. Usagi then curiously asked, "Who's that guy Kasumi? Is he someone you know?"

Kasumi turned to face Usagi and softly replied, "Yes, I know him Usagi. His name is Ranma and he's my descendent from the 30th century."

Usagi couldn't believe what Kasumi had just told her. How by the goddess could that young man be Kasumi's descendant? Sailor Pluto would certainly never allow someone to travel to the past to skate; more to the point, Chibiusa was an only child! Usagi suddenly got a pit in her stomach as she remembered why Chibiusa had left a month ago. Tepidly, Usagi inquired, "Kasumi is Ranma from Nemesis?"

Kasumi nonchalantly replied, "Why yes Usagi. Ranma is the Prince of Nemesis. How did you know?" While Kasumi was happy that Usagi had caught on to everything, she did wish that her reincarnated daughter would be a little quicker on the uptake. Being able to figure out what is going on is a vital skill for all leaders and frankly, Usagi needed to practice it a little more.

Immediately after Kasumi thought that, Usagi surprised the older girl by saying, "But why is he here? Chibiusa mentioned that Nemesis didn't have their time tunnel anymore and I can't see why Sailor Pluto would let him return to this time."

That, Kasumi privately admitted, was a very good point. Kasumi had been so shocked at seeing Ranma that she forgot to ask the paramount question of why he was here. Quickly coming to a decision Kasumi stated, "Usagi, go and gather the Scouts. Don't cause a scene, but get everyone as quickly as you can and tell them to skate over by the gate. I'm going to go talk to Ranma and try to find out what's going on. Unless I use my magic, I don't want you or the Scouts within ten feet of Ranma and me while we talk. Now go."

Usagi was a little apprehensive about leaving Kasumi alone with Ranma; not that anyone could blame her considering what she had endured because of Prince Demand. However, Usagi was willing to trust Kasumi's judgment since she knew Ranma. If anyone had the faintest clue about what Ranma would do, it was Kasumi. And so with only a single fleeting look back, Usagi skated off to collect the Scouts.

Since Kasumi didn't want to cause a scene, she didn't head strait towards Ranma. Instead, she skated in a wavy manner that slowly brought her closer to Ranma in a spiral pattern. Kasumi used this time to causally study Ranma. In Nerima non-combatants, i.e. everyone who didn't have at least two black belts quickly developed the ability to read other people even if it was on an instinctual level. They did need to know when to clear an area so the heavy weights of the NWC could rumble. Thanks to that ability, Kasumi was able collect a wealth of information on Ranma from his face and from his body posture.

Over all, Kasumi was pleased with what she saw. Ranma's basic personally from Nerima seemed to still be there. However, Ranma's eyes and body posture showed that Ranma wasn't as naïve as he used to be, and that he had developed a bit of skin to deal with insults. Kasumi wouldn't have figured out that last aspect of Ranma's changes if it wasn't for her memories of Queen Serenity. As queen, she had needed every bit of information she could get on just how far she could push a diplomat or a courtier before they pushed back.

However, before Kasumi got close enough to talk with Ranma, she saw something that nearly floored her. Usa skated up from behind Ranma and gave him a hug. What's more, Ranma wasn't trying to escape the girl's hug. Yes Ranma was a little nervous and unsure about the hug, but he was definitely enjoying it. What by the goddess could have caused this kind of a change in Ranma? Nevertheless, Kasumi put her confusion aside and politely greeted Ranma, "Hello Ranma. It's been a while since we last met."

Before Ranma could say anything, Usa quickly cut in, "Who's this Ranma? Could you introduce me to your friend?" Actually, Usa knew exactly who Kasumi was. Not only was Kasumi's photo in Crystal Tokyo's historical archives, but there were several portraits of her throughout the Nemesian palace. Usa just didn't want to have to explain how she who Kasumi was without ever actually meeting the girl.

Ranma was elated that Kasumi and Usa were acting so friendly to each other and quickly introduced them. "Usa, this is Kasumi. She's an old friend of mine from Nerima. Kasumi, this is Usa. She's a friend I made since I left Nerima." The two young women pleasantly shook hands and started to talk. Once that happened, Ranma quickly started to learn a new skill called deflecting family from telling embarrassing stories to the girl you like.

Setsuna was sitting in the palace library reading a copy of Gibbon's The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire when she noticed that someone was walking towards her. It took Setsuna a second to place the man and then she politely said, "Hello Captain Sora. How was your patrol today?" Sora Irino was the captain of the Crystal Company which was the security force of the city of Crystal Tokyo and the royal family's bodyguards after the Scouts.

Sora quietly sat down in the seat next to Setsuna and he quietly said, "I know what you're planning Setsuna. Don't worry; you've got my and the Crystal Company's full support."

The danger alarm inside Setsuna's head was ringing like it never had before. While it was possible that Sora was telling her the truth, it was also possible that he was trying to trap her into revealing the plan to remove Neo-Queen Serenity from the throne. One didn't live through 10,000 years watching political intrigue to not recognize a potential trap. So in an effort to try and make Sora commit to the coup, Setsuna carefully replied, "That's very thoughtful of you. I'm glad that the Crystal Guard approves of my choice of books for the princess when she returns from her tour."

At that point Sora just groaned and stated, "You know me Setsuna so let's not beat around the bush. The princess and you are planning on removing Serenity from the throne and making the princess the Neo-Queen in her place. You've got the entire Crystal Guard's support in your bid for the throne. I don't know where the princess is at the moment, but I suspect that she's trying to collect support from somewhere that she can't regularly access from the palace. Just say the word and the guard can have her on the throne by the end of the day."

Setsuna narrowed her eyes and coldly questioned Sora, "Why is the Crystal Guard so willing to overthrow the current Neo-Queen?" This didn't make any sense to Sestsuna. The Crystal Guard was made up of the best and most loyal fighters that lived on Earth. What could cause them to break their oaths of loyalty to the throne? Even more frightening, was the Crystal Guard planning on setting up a policy of making and breaking the Neo-monarchs?

As if he was reading her thoughts, Sora merrily said, "Don't worry Setsuna. I'm not planning on selling the throne on E-Bay. Normally the other guards and I would never think of supporting such a radical plan, but frankly we're fed up. Things weren't great before the war with how the other Scouts were running the country, but they were tolerable. Now, it's like the titanic has been hit by the ice burg and their solution is to redecorate the ball room."

That was defiantly a fair analogy of what was going on. Neo-Queen Serenity had proclaimed all the damage that was done in the war would be repaired. And all the damage was repaired, the parks and public monuments never looked better. Also, the forests and the valleys were back to there previous pristine condition. Unfortunately, the world's infrastructure and industry had been completely ignored at was nearing the point of total collapse because of the strain the renewal projects.

Sora calmly continued on explaining why the Guard was willing to join in the coup. "Our oath is to protect the royal family and the people of Crystal Tokyo. Neo-Queen Serenity, even though she believes she's doing the best for the people, is hurting everyone by allowing the other Scouts to run the show. Furthermore, she'd never remove the Scouts from their current positions because she trusts them to do their jobs. The princess is young, but she has shown that she has the intelligence to run things around here. By putting her on the throne we can fulfill one part of our oaths without fully breaking the other part."

Silence descended on the library as Setsuna mulled over what Sora had told her. After examining every possible angle Setsuna carefully replied, "The princess is planning a surprise party that will be held sometime after she returns from her trip. I'll tell her that the Guard wants to help decorate."

After Sora rolled his eyes, the captain of the guard replied, "If that's how you want to refer to it Setsuna alright. And by the way, tell that the guard is hoping that the princess can find a real man to be her husband. Sure her father is a nice guy, but the guards and I would prefer a Neo-King who would inspire confidence by leading from the front. We don't care if she chooses the spawn of Satan, just a long as she picks a man that other guys can look up to and not shake their heads in embarrassment."

Now Setsuna could understand that little request. She was a little miffed about it, but she understood where Sora was coming from. Neo-King Endymion was very popular among many of the ladies in Crystal Tokyo for his devotion and touching love story with the Neo-Queen. However, many guys were not very happy with Tuxedo Mask's marginal role prior to and during the initial years of Crystal Tokyo. Setsuna then thought about Ranma for a second and smiled. If everything paned out for Usa, the Crystal Guard would get their wish.

Ranma turned his head and looked at Usa's pink hair as she rested her head on his shoulder. Dimly in the background, the TV was showing The Godfather, but Ranma really didn't care about that. All Ranma could think about at the moment was the beautiful angel that was resting in his arms. It was almost unbelievable really. Back in Nerima, Ranma had escaped a gauntlet of female affection. However, in less then a day his heart had been captured by Usa.

What was it about Usa that was so endearing to him? What spark did she possess that no one else had? It wasn't the princess's looks that had captured Ranma's heart. Sure Usa was beautiful, but Shampoo was just a little more physically attractive then the princess. In the end, Ranma could only think of one explanation, since a discreet self-scan showed that no mind altering magic was being used, on why he had fallen in love so quickly. Usa had been his friend and she accepted him curse and all. Also, she was honest with him and didn't try to manipulate him. Those two simple things together had annihilated the walls that Ranma had built around his heart.

As Usa turned in her sleep so that her crescent sigil came into view, Kasumi's revelation from earlier came to Ranma's mind. In all honesty, Ranma couldn't tell what was more bizarre: Kasumi being the reincarnation of Queen Serenity, or the fact that Usa was his cousin in a way. Of course, that last part was really rather pointless. Even if the connection had been by blood, there were so many generations between Ranma and Usa that even the Church in the middle ages wouldn't have been able to complain. Besides, when did kinship stop royal marriages?

Suddenly the magnitude of what Ranma was thinking hit him. How could he even think of marriage at this point? He and Usa weren't even dating! Ranma slowly shook his head and let out a resigned sigh. Of course he was thinking of marriage, as the Prince it was his duty to find a wife and perpetuate the royal line. The Nemesian people needed their royal family and there weren't any cadet branches that Ranma could pass the crown to.

The light bulb went off for Ranma as he was hit by a revelation. Ranma started shaking Usa saying, "Get up Usa! I've thought of a way to sort everything out without a coup."

Normally, Usa would sleep through anything and everything; however, she was immediately awake when she heard the possibility of sorting everything out without a coup. Usa glanced over at Ranma and eagerly inquired, "How? How can we sort everything out without a coup?"

Ranma grinned and replied, "Simple Usa, we solve everything with a royal marriage. When we return to the 30th century, I'll contact Crystal Tokyo about arraigning a royal marriage for you and me to insure peaceful relations between Nemesis and Crystal Tokyo. To help out Crystal Tokyo's financial and manufacturing infrastructure, I'll take a large sum, say 10 million Solidii, out of my family's personal accounts and offer it as a bride price. In the bridal contract we could stipulate that you'd be in charge of managing how the bride price money is used to repair the infrastructure. As a dowry, you could suggest that your parents grant Nemesis the mining rights for one of the outer worlds."

Usa blinked her eyes and then smacked her forehead as she exclaimed, "Why didn't I think of that! Mom's a complete moron when it comes to politics, but she's an absolute sucker for romance. Throw in a few lines like my beauty has been haunting you in your dreams and she'll sign the documents as soon as I give her my okay. The Scouts shouldn't be a problem if we try this route since they'll think that I've succeeded in seducing you."

"Of course, there is the minuscule chance that your uncle's actions will make mom hesitant to have me marry you. I seriously doubt it, but there is that chance. However, even that could work out to our advantage. Most of the citizens of Crystal Tokyo don't really care about the other worlds under Crystal Tokyo's control since those worlds are uninhabited. If mom does refuse your marriage offer we could leak it to the commoners. They won't be happy that the factories making their TVs, couches, etc aren't being repaired because mom won't grant you access to a few lumps of rock. They'll be especially angry with mom about rejecting this deal when I've given my consent."

Ranma hadn't thought of that possibility, but now that Usa had pointed it out he couldn't help being impressed. Either Neo-Queen Serenity approved of the match and the two of them slowly chipped power away from the Scouts, or Usa took over Crystal Tokyo using the people disgruntlement with Neo-Queen Serenity to cement her position as the new New-Queen. No matter what happened, their peoples would be the winners.

Also, both of them would come out winners from this. It is a well known fact that royalty rarely got to pick their spouse. Usually, political necessity forced a marriage of convenience with someone that royalty in question would prefer not to associate with at all. Ranma and Usa were extremely fortunate to find a match that they were comfortable with and that helped out their people.

Usa got off of the couch and politely said, "Its getting late Ranma so I'm heading back to my hotel room. I'll be back here tomorrow so that we can hang out and hammer out the details of the contract." She then got a mildly somber look in her eye and continued on, "I know we're rushing things Ranma. If you want, we could wait a while before presenting this contract to my mother."

Ranma sighed and slowly responded, "Know what you mean Usa. I never thought I'd be pushing for an early marriage, but the sooner we tie the knot the better. The longer we wait the more serious Crystal Tokyo's and Nemesis's problems get. Also, the quicker we push this marriage through the less chance we have of some disgruntled faction messing something up."

Immediately after Ranma said that, Usa snorted and said, "There will always be some disgruntled faction causing problems. But, getting married ASAP would be a good idea. Mom might be disappointed since that means that we won't be able to arrange a huge celebration; however, it won't bother me. Holding a ostentatious celebration given Crystal Tokyo's current situation would defiantly create a lot of bad PR among the commoners."

Now Ranma was smirking and he half jokingly said, "You should create a legislature. Anything that goes wrong can be pined on a legislature since it's typically packed with a bunch of idiots. Sadly, I can't really do that since enough districts shanghaied semi-competent people into being Senators to cover the blunders of the absolute morons."

Usa rolled her eyes and said, "Goodnight Ranma and get ready to feel some pain in your wallet when this trip ends. You're not getting into my bed unless you're willing to at least pay for my weight in gold." Usa suddenly gave Ranma a passionate kiss and then pulled away just as Ranma was truly beginning to enjoy the kiss. Next, Usa winked at Ranma and said, "Don't keep me waiting Ranma." With that said, Usa left the apartment.