Chaotic Rebirth

by Trugeta

The Great Freeze is drawing nearer, Pluto's carefully hatched plans are short from bearing fruit. Just a desperate plan concocted by descendants of Queen Serenity might offer a chance to save billions. The Price? Betraying one of their own, Ranma Saotome.

9. Chapter 9

Title: Chaotic Rebirth

Author name: Trugeta

Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by Rumiko Takahashi and VIZ as well as Naoko Takeuchi and many others. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. Note further that I don't own any of the trademarked properties mentioned in this story. Also, the OCs used in this story are works of fiction. Any resemblance to any person, living or dead is not intended and purely coincidental.

This story takes place after the failed wedding in the Ranma series and the defeat of Galaxia in the Sailor Moon Series. It's an AU, and reviews are welcome and appreciated.

Chapter 9

Ranma slowly opened her eyes, her keen senses taking in her surroundings in an instant as she had been trained to do since the day she could walk. She noted right away that she was back in her body and seated on the wooden flooring of Cologne's room, Indian style, and no one had disturbed her mental Tête-à-tête, much to her surprise.

Her privacy whilst her talk with Senny was probably due to the fact that Cologne had likely warned her friends not to bring her out of her trance because of unknown and likely detrimental side-effects, and a small smile touched her face.

She appreciated the old woman's thoughtfulness. For one, she really didn't need the massive headache that invariably resulted from an untimely interruption of her trance, and, even more important, she had really needed the time with her daughter to get more than just the general gist of what she had to do.

But getting to work was easier said than done, seeing that her command of her body was less than optimal at the moment. Her legs had this pins and needles feeling to them she usually only got after hours of remaining seated in this position and made getting up quite the tedious task.

Ranma sighed. Her pregnancy was screwing around with her body yet again, which meant that what her wrist-watch was telling her was true—just minutes had passed during her visit to the dreamscape, not the hours it felt like. Summoning her strength she finally got to her feet, albeit a bit wobbly, and immediately began to massage her thighs to reinstate the blood flow, well aware of the curious looks she was getting.

She could understand where her friends were coming from, for she had left for her daughter pretty quickly and without an explanation, the—still disguised—raven haired girl mused as she rolled her neck first to the left, then to the right, producing twin subsequent cracks.

This had the desired effect as it alleviated the pain in her neck, at least to some degree. Satisfied with her physical condition as it was—being well aware that she would have to make do with what she had—Ranma turned around to face the others.

Her jaw clenched on its own accord and Ranma grind her teeth so hard that they gnashed as her eyes darted from her friends to Ryoga. Her friend was suffering like a dog, and that he wasn't screaming his head off was testament to his strength and endurance.

Her eyes softened a bit when she thought that the 'sacrifice' she would have to make, her becoming a magical girl, would enable her to eliminate the cause of the pain he was going through. She turned her eyes away from her suffering friend and walked slowly but deliberately towards her almost great-grandmother, who turned her eyes away from Ryoga to meet her gaze.

"Granny, you gotta set up the strongest wards, spells and whatever else in this room you've got," Ranma said without preamble, her tone of voice and facial expression one of fierce determination that drew everyone's attention, "I can save Ryoga, but it'll take something big on my part. It's very likely to catch the attention of our enemies, thus I need the strongest stuff you've got."

Cologne nodded thoughtfully as she surveyed Ranma with unveiled interest. "That I can do, chóngsunnu. May I inquire what this 'something big' is you mentioned, or is haste required for what you have planned?"

While haste was not exactly required with Ryoga relatively stable for the moment Ranma did not really want to clue the others in on her impending change. She was not completely comfortable with the thought of becoming a magical girl, and comments made by the others might unsettle her so much that she would shy away from going through with it. Which was something that mustn't happen, for too much was at stake here.

"We better hurry, granny," Ranma replied seemingly after a moment of contemplation, a guarded look on her face as she returned the Amazon Elder's look. "Ryoga's suffering so much, and I want to get started right away. You'll all see what that something big is after I'm done with saving him."

The matriarch nodded, and one look at the other attendees told Ranma that they respected her wish to keep her secrets for the moment, which was something that relieved the raven haired girl to no end. She had half expected at least Nabiki to get nosy, but the situation was apparently serious enough so that it had served to curb even the middle Tendo daughter's curiosity for the time being.

Cologne had meanwhile set herself in motion and was pogoing over to her cupboard, exhibiting a haste anyone had seldom seen in the ancient Amazon before. The Matriarch's frenzy served to achieve results in a surprisingly short amount of time, however.

A minute later a mass of scrolls lay scattered on the ground beside a large wooden chest she'd had Mousse move from her storage cupboard into her quarter. Cologne crowed in triumph after another minutes' search, her tiny hands holding a gnarled staff of about one metre length, the staff being made of a dark wood that might have been ebony, but the teens couldn't be sure.

What caught everyone's eye in an instant was the large, oval-shaped crystal embedded in the staff's tip which glowed a soft blue. Likewise remarkable was the rear end of the staff which was formed by a very sharp-looking double-edged blade held in a style similar to Ukyo's battle spatula, just that this particular exemplar looked a lot more deadly.

Ranma whistled lowly when her eyes caught sight of the intricate symbol on the upper right side of the blade—said blade oddly reminding her of a deadly pendulum—and one look at Cologne's green robes confirmed that the staff had to belong to the Matriarch's line. Receiving it would be a great honour indeed.

"Are you really sure the strongest protection against magical outbursts will be needed, chóngsunnu?" Cologne queried as she turned around to look at Ranma, an unhappy frown on her face.

Ranma nodded grimly, her expression severe. "Yes," she replied in a voice filled with certitude. "So why the face?"

Cologne carefully bopped Ranma on the head with the flat side of the bladed rear end, "This is the Iron Staff of Jong Bang, Ranma. It will erect a containment field of unparalleled strength that is one time use only in a hundred years. The field is triggered by touching the crystal and focussing your mind on its activation, and deactivated in the same way, just in reverse.

"In other words, you must will it on and off. Beforehand you must envision the field's size in your mind—usually three metres in diameter will be sufficient," she explained in a reverent tone.

"Is that really—" Mousse began, an expression of supreme surprise on his face.

"Iron Staff of Jong Bang, hiba-chan?" Shampoo concluded in awe, her eyes wide.

"Yes." Cologne replied with a solemn expression. "The absolute magical containment field, said to originate from the time of the Great War itself. Once erected there is no escape from its confines for Kami, Demon or mortal alike, and it's likewise capable of containing even the most severe of magical energies. It's one of the tribe's most sacred magical items and one of our family's greatest treasures, only to be used in cases of great emergency."

"Granny," Ranma said softly as she closed the gap between them, laying her right hand on the ancient Amazon's tiny right arm, "I feel in my bones that our situation rates as a great emergency. If the Senshi detect us—and they will if we don't have the strongest wards possible—we can kiss our asses good bye. And I don't feel like doing that.

"I need your help to go through the changes that lie ahead of me, granny, changes I'd never have been willing to face half a year ago. But so much is riding on it, so damn much," she said with a deep sigh.

"What kind of changes, imotouchan?" Kasumi queried quietly with concern and care shining in her eyes, asking the question on everyone's mind.

Ranma smiled softly. "Magical changes, oneechan. Sorry for being so vague, but I dunno what'll happen when my magical potential becomes unblocked, aside from it being very, very painful. And strong, can't forget about that," she chuckled wryly.

"Is danger?" Shampoo asked with a worried expression after she—like the others—had digested this tidbit of information.

"To all of you if you stay in this room, for I dunno what will happen, but not to Senny," Ranma replied with certitude. "That's why I wanted a means to shield li'l ole me from the environment, 'cause I expect a big blast."

"Damn, Saotome, you about to become a magical girl or what?" Mousse asked in a joking tone.

"Considering her track record that would not surprise me," Nabiki commented, snorting softly.

The pregnant young woman shrugged. "Dunno, guys, and don't really care that much if I can make a difference by becoming one," she replied nonchalantly.

"Damn, you really have changed, Ranma no baka," Akane exclaimed with a soft smile, summing up the thoughts of everyone present.

"Got that right, sugar. Ranchan wouldn't have been caught dead saying something like that a half year ago," Ukyo added, her face betraying that she didn't know what to think of it.

Ranma shrugged again. "I'll do what's necessary, with everything that entails," she replied with a determined glint in her blue eyes, which softened as she smiled at her ex-fiancées. "Change is inevitable, and those that do not change and stubbornly refuse to will break. I very nearly broke 'cause of the changes I underwent in the last half year, but I adapted and grew stronger because of it."

"That you did, chóngsunnu, that you did. And I will be proud to officially call you my great-granddaughter once I adopt you into the tribe, provided you take this old bat up on her offer," Cologne said softly, affection for the raven haired girl glinting in her eyes.

Ranma—who had turned her head towards Cologne—smiled. "Let me survive this here first," she retorted, her face becoming serious. "Granny, please take everyone outta here and go to the basement. None of you are safe here, and I don't wanna risk any of you getting hurt. There's been enough hurt in the last two years to last a life-time."

Cologne looked directly into Ranma's blue orbs, and suppressed her want to stay and help when she saw the raven haired girl's unspoken plea. Ranma practically considered all of them—it was unknown if she included Mousse—family.

The enormity of this wasn't lost on her, and it tugged on emotional strings that had been left untouched for centuries due to her suppressing her emotions on her rise to the position of Head Elder of the tribe. The matriarch shook herself out of her musings and gave her as good as great-granddaughter a nod.

She didn't know what overcame her when she felt her free hand reach out and come to rest on Ranma's arm, giving it a squeeze, but it did feel right. "I want you to be very careful, Ranma-chóngsunnu, you hear me? Take care of yourself, I am counting on you to survive this—we all are."

"Damn right, Ranma," Nabiki exclaimed with a carefully guarded face, being the first to do so, everyone else following suit.

Ranma looked from Cologne to the teens, brushing away a few tears with her right sleeve. "I… thanks, guys. But now shoo! I have a friend to save!" she exclaimed in an attempt to cover up her overly emotional and deeply touched state.

"You will need this before I 'shoo', chóngsunnu," Cologne said with a grin, let go of Ranma's arm and handed her the Staff. "You can now use the staff just like a female of my line because I touched it and gave it to you willingly. To cut a long story short, the safety mechanisms have been disabled. Now do the tribe and your line—your true line—proud. We have faith in you."

The raven haired girl took the offered staff into her right hand with a reverent expression on her face, accessing its weight. Finding it to be surprisingly light the Saotome girl looked back at Cologne, a small, thankful smile playing in the corners of her mouth. "Thanks, granny, for everything. But now for the last time, everyone, shoo! I have work to do."

Cologne gave Ranma's arm another squeeze and turned to the teens. "You heard her. Let's clear out."

No one contested the wizened matriarch or Ranma on this, and the Tendo sisters, Ukyo, Shampoo and even Mousse gave Ranma encouraging looks as they filed out of the room one by one. Ranma's heart soared due to the looks as she smiled at her friends, this was the acceptance and support she had always wanted, always craved, but that it had taken her getting pregnant to get it irked her.

Shrugging to herself and winking back at Cologne Ranma positioned herself about two and a half metres away from her trashing friend, staff firmly grasped in her right hand.

Her gaze went downward to her belly and her left hand went to softly stroke it as she summoned her courage. Taking several deep breaths to steel herself for what was to come she expelled her breath deeply one more time before shifting the staff in her grip.

Ranma moved her right index finger tentatively towards the blue glowing gem, coming to a stop scarce centimetres away from the stone, a look of hesitation passing over her face when her fears of loosing her male side resurfaced.

The look disappeared as soon as it had appeared when she remembered her daughter's reassurances, to be replaced by a look of intense determination, determination to not allow anyone or anything to change her inner core as she finally touched the magical stone.

A spherically shaped translucent field of energy, unsurprisingly blue in colour, extended from the staff almost instantaneously, and Ranma just managed to breath a "Whoa!" as the force field extended around her body—about three metres in diameter, just as she had specified beforehand in her mind.

Cologne had been right, the staff had reacted to her will and had set up the force field as she had specified. Granny had suggested a small, strong force field instead of a stretched one that would have covered the whole building, and Ranma had seen the logic: if the outburst would be as strong as suspected she didn't want anyone beside herself inside the field, period.

She glanced at the staff in her hand, taking notice of the brightly glowing gem. Shrugging her fascination off she intended to lean the staff against Cologne's bed, but when she tried to move it the staff didn't budge an inch, much to her consternation.

Ranma raised a delicate brow, and, following a hunch let go off the staffs' handle. The other brow followed into the hairline when she found the staff supporting itself, it floating about three centimetres above ground, a low hum emanating from it. The raven haired girl blink-blinked once, shrugged her shoulders and prepared herself.

"Okay, Senny," Ranma whispered in a low tone, her left hand still resting on her belly, "Now show momma what you've got. Saotome Serenity power, MAKE UP!" she exclaimed with a smirk.

Her daughter had apparently just been waiting for her mother to utter these words…

-.-

For a moment Ranma felt nothing out of the ordinary, then, suddenly her world seemed to tilt at a ninety degree angle that dropped her straight into a dimension of pure pain. She felt how her mouth opened against her will as a pained scream escaped her lips, her whole essence being suddenly subjected to energies that seemed to want to tear her apart from the inside out as they rushed through her body, tearing away at any obstacles in their path.

Ranma quickly discovered that this had been nothing but a foretaste, and the liberation of her magic became even more strenuous and excruciating for her when the stream of magic coming from her magical core began to cleanse her magical pathways, her screams of pain increasing in intensity as a result.

Had anyone other than Ranma and the insensate Ryoga remained in the room they would surely have thought an earthquake was taking place due to the magical discharge. The floor seemed to shake as if set in motion by a tectonic clash, and even though the 'earthquake' was limited to the three by three metres sized magical dampening field extending around Ranma it could be felt in the whole building, the containment field flaring a bright blue under the assault of magical energies.

As the energies continued to lance through Ranma in ever increasing intensity her screams grew louder, and through the haze of pain she hardly noticed an invisible hand seemingly carrying her upwards until she hung suspended in mid-air, about twenty centimetres high. The disguised girl's back was arched and her scream continued, the all-encompassing pain stemming from the sensation of being stretched and torn in every direction imaginable as her unleashed magic raged through her being.

A brilliant, silver column of light flared into existence around her body as the magic manifested in the visible spectrum yet again, blowing away the disguise as if it were nothing, the crackling silver energy seemingly eating away at it.

The now once more redheaded martial artist remained motionless in the centre of the magical force field, the columns' crackling maelstrom of energy only seeming to grow in strength from second to second. Ranma's breath was coming in short and pained gasps, and the redhead had her arms outstretched to both sides of her lithe body, extruded to their maximum with her fingers spread apart as far as their considerable flexibility allowed. Her slender legs were parted to a bit more than shoulder width so as if to better compensate for the strain, her mouth remaining open in a seemingly never ending scream.

The energy column containing Ranma's body progressively darkened from a light silver colour to a much darker shade of silver, and the short moments the colour change took gave her a brief reprieve from the strain exerted upon her, having the side-effect of serving to obscure the pregnant martial artist from view as well.

Few, immeasurable seconds later the unleashing resumed as another flash of silver lightning occurred, and this one caused Ranma to shriek louder than ever as all blocks keeping her magic from her conscious control were shattered completely and rather violently in a single moment.

A few moments later a golden crescent moon briefly flared on her forehead before disappearing, and Ranma's screams of agony lost some of their volume as the pain reached more bearable levels, if only for a few precious moments.

Soon, all too soon the next wave of pain hit, this one seemingly immersing her into an ocean of liquid fire. Senny had not exaggerated when she had alluded to the procedure being excruciatingly painful, and the changes Ranma's body was now going through so that it would be able to handle her magic were indeed beyond painful. But the Saotome, having been subjected to pain and trials no human being should have to go through forced herself to stay conscious despite the mind-numbing and all-encompassing pain.

Her magic, now flowing through her as free as the wind for the first time in her life was slowly building up to conduct the final changes to her body, and it did so in the way Ranma liked things to happen: in a flash. And the changes literally happened in a flash, it being yet another flash of silver lightning that lit up the room brighter than any man-made source of light would have been able to.

The instant the final changes were applied Ranma balled her hands into fists so tight that she drew blood due to the nails digging deeply into her palms, and the redhead threw her head back in a heart-wrenching shriek of pain. She had her eyes so tightly shut that they were leaking tears from the corners, and blood slowly flowed from her palms to her fingertips from whence it gradually dribbled onto the ground, completely unnoticed by the martial artist.

When the light had finally cleared away the changes became readily apparent, the most prominent being an unexpected change in hair colour. Ranma's daughter had had no idea of how close to the truth she had been when she had predicted that her mother would resemble the late Queen whom she had met as a recording, but the resemblance was definitely there, proving her ancestry beyond the shadow of a doubt.

Ranma's long silver hair flowed gently in the breeze as she was being held suspended in midair, the pregnant teen having unconsciously closed her mouth after the torrent of pain had been endured. The silver haired martial artist turned magical warrior breathed regularly, a look of peace having settled on her face, her eyes closed as her changed body was being caressed by the upstreaming breeze, all wounds healed.

The unleashing of her magical power had also wrought readily apparent changes upon her body other than the change in hair colour, her magic having matured her body to that of a woman in contrast of that of the young girl she had been before in this form.

Her height had increased to about 5'' 10' from the 5'' 4' it had been after her growth-spurt, and her body had filled out which resulted in a much more mature figure befitting of a magical warrior. The athletic built she had only possessed in her male form prior to her transformation was now readily apparent in this body as well as it exuded strength, fitness, and an underlying feeling of calm and controlled power.

Ranma's waist was still somewhat narrow even despite her pregnancy although that was subject to change rather sooner than later, and her hips would have had Doctor Tofu's mother in ecstasy. Her legs—and that pertained to thighs as well as calves—were well-toned and powerful, hinting at the strength she possessed, and impossibly long.

The feeling of power in the room increased once more, and an intense flash of silver lightning suddenly illuminated the windowless room with a thunderous crackling sound, the power-spike being accompanied by the seemingly complete destruction of Ranma's clothes, leaving the redhead in her birthday suit. Iridescent particles idly swirled around her body, particles, which any competent physicist would have immediately identified as Ranma's former clothing, which had apparently been deemed unworthy by her magic, having been reformed into energy by Ranma's magic.

Another, this time final flash of silver lightning washed through the room, this one bestowing new garb upon the heir of the Serenity line in a reversal of the process that had reformed her original clothes into energy just moments ago. The after-effects of the flash subsiding, an observer would have caught a glimpse of the newly enrobed man turned woman.

It was debatable if Nodoka Saotome, allegedly purified of her believes pertaining to manliness, would have approved of her son turned daughter's new wardrobe, but it was highly doubtful that Ranma's magic would have cared one iota.

Said magic had converted the prior formless swirl of energy her former clothing had been reformed to into a sumptuous silver robe very similar to the style the late Queen Serenity had worn, and as much as Ranma would hate it, it had also bestowed upon her intricate silver earrings as well as a silver necklace in the form of a crescent moon.

Her magic had likewise outfitted her with elaborate silver wristbands of about five centimetres width adorned with silver crystals of seemingly just ornamental function—which's true function she would find out later—as well as an attractive pair of what resembled satin shoes designed in a sandal silhouette with open-toe refinement.

Ranma, being gently carried by the invisible breeze which had held her suspended in midair before, slowly, gently drifted down to the ground until her shoes softly touched the wooden floor, yet her clothes and hair continued to waft around her in the breeze generated by her magic as if she were standing in an air stream.

After what seemed to be an eternity but actually was not more than a few heartbeats the changed Ranma slowly blinked her eyes open, fluttering her lashes a few times to get used to the ambient light.

The silver haired young woman shook her head as if to clear it, her long, flowing hair swirling around her head like a halo. She opened her eyes to take stock of herself as well as to overcome the dizziness, her self-diagnosis already telling her that massive changes had been wrought upon her system.

It was as if a dam she hadn't known had existed had been blown to bits, and her life-energy and magic were intermixing freely inside of her for the first time in her life, subjecting the use of her magic to her conscious control, at least in theory.

Ranma took a deep breath to collect herself and touched the floating staff's tip, willing the field to dissipate. The transformed teen began to really appreciate Cologne's generosity when the translucent dome started to fade into nothingness, signifying that it would be another hundred years before it would be usable again. But it had done its job well, gauging from the lack of trigger-happy Senshi, Ranma mused.

The teen shook her head to get the reverent expression off of her face and walked over to the moaning and shivering form of her friend who was still trashing wildly on the floor as the constant changes wracked his body, paying neither heed to the overwhelming feeling of power her freely flowing magic induced nor to the strange shoes she was wearing. She was completely focussed on the problems ahead, going over what Cologne had explained to her in her mind.

The reason why Ryoga was suffering so much, the matriarch had explained, was that the mixing of the Heituenniichuan curse and the Anubis water—which contained both Drowned Jackal water and Drowned Boy water—had all but destabilised the magical matrix of the original curse, in fact so much that the curses were now battling for supremacy.

Taro and him gaining the Chanyuiniichuan curse in addition to his Niuhoomanmaorenniichuan curse appeared in a new light due to the recent developments. The arrogant Chinese boy must have gone through suffering similar to this when he had added the new curse to his cursed form, even if likely not to this degree.

He'd had the Niuhoomanmaorenniichuan curse since birth after all—which meant the magical matrix of his curse was likely much stronger than that of Ryoga's two year old Heituenniichuan curse, and it was likely that the weaker Chanyuiniichuan curse had been easily overcome, probably almost instantly. The same could not be said in Ryoga's case, and it was now on her to help Ryoga pull through this battle of curses, and she vowed she would not fail.

Kneeling down beside her friend Ranma acted on instinct and placed one hand just below where she suspected the navel to be, using her stronger right hand and considerable strength to hold him steady. A look of intense concentration appeared on her face and the golden crescent moon flared up on her forehead as silver-blue energy began to flow from her left palm as she pushed her magic into Ryoga, commanding it—in quite simple terms—to set things right.

What Ranma had not expected was to be subjected to the feeling of being whisked away.

-.-

A certain silver haired martial artist turned magical warrior blinked her eyes a few times to get used to the sudden assault of blinding light, asking herself where the hell she was. Ranma finally decided to shield her eyes from what she assumed to be the sun, using her right hand to reinstate at least some of her sight which allowed her to properly focus on her surroundings. Her improved vision made Ranma look directly into the pride-filled silver eyes of her daughter who was just in the process of engulfing her in a hug.

"You made it, momma!" she exclaimed and engulfed her mother in said—bonecrushing—hug. "I knew you would! And it even is a Serenity transformation! This is so cool!" she gushed.

The older silver haired woman smiled and returned the hug. "Thanks, dear. Not that I mind, but what am I doing here?"

"You were brought here by your magic 'cause you need knowledge on how to help your friend. Acting without said knowledge could and would endanger us," Senny explained, having drawn back slightly to give her mother a serious look that conveyed this was important.

"No learning by doing, then, I see," Ranma replied equally serious, nodding her head.

"Not if you want to avoid magical implosions or something equally unpleasant like total loss of molecular cohesion, mom," Senny stated, completely serious.

Ranma went white, and then asked slowly in a carefully controlled voice, "Implosion? As in instant death? Not good," she swore at seeing her daughter nod. "No experimenting until I got a better grasp on things. Got it. What do I need to know to make this a success?"

"You see," Senny began, removing herself from the hug to sit down in the grassy area of the other Tendo compound, Ranma mirroring her as she sat down across from her daughter, "You must focus on which magical aspect, which curse in other words, you want to strengthen. There can be only one to win and mix with the Nannichuan, momma."

Ranma nodded in understanding, a thoughtful expression on her face as she used her left hand to scratch the back of her head. "So the Nannichuan is what will stabilise the magical matrix, and I gotta choose which curse will pull through?"

"Yep. That's it in a nutshell, mom," Senny confirmed, leaning back into the grass with her hands behind her head.

"So it's on me to decide which curse suits Ryoga better. Great," Ranma exclaimed with a sour face, balling her left hand into a fist which she then brought down into the palm of her right hand. "Damn, that feels like cursing him all over again."

Senny sighed and her hand reached out to grab her mother's, taking them gently into hers. "It seems you will always have to make tough choices, momma. But you can take comfort in the thought that you have begun to use that thing between your ears as more than a placeholder. You're actually considering other peoples feelings. I'm impressed," she teased in an attempt to lighten the mood.

The older silver haired magical warrior threw her daughter a look of mock-outrage. "My very own daughter saying something like that… I'm hurt," she exclaimed mock-seriously, having well detected the teasing. 'Two can play this game…' Ranma thought and got an evil look on her face that seemed to make her offspring wary.

"Err, mom?" Senny inquired in a suddenly timid tone.

"Yes, dear, what is it?" Ranma inquired, feigning ignorance, yet the same-self evil look remained on her face.

"I hope you're planning more payback for gramps the panda… if not, can I be on your side when you look that evil?" the younger woman asked. "It's scary!"

Ranma placed her right index finger on her chin and pretended to think. "Let me think, dear… nope. It's you I'm planning to get back at for this comment," she said completely seriously, "and it'll happen when you least expect it. You'll learn to respect your mother yet."

"Aww mom!" Senny whined in full puppy-dog-eyes-mode, "I was just teasing you. Honest!"

Ranma smirked, her eyes dancing with mirth. "My daughter… Heir to an intergalactic empire, which is admittedly not in the best of states at the moment, yet she falls for my Soul of Ice. Seems I learned a lot in the last half year."

"That much is obvious," Senny grumbled with a pout on her face after she had recovered from her painful face-vault. "You're getting entirely too good at this, not even the puppy-dog-eyes worked, damn."

"I try," Ranma replied mock-modestly. "But I really have to think about that curse matter, as nice as this distraction was, dear."

"So you saw through it. Oh well," Senny shrugged. "Then let's list the facts, shall we. Our alternatives are the pig-curse in combination with the Nannichuan, and the Jackal curse in combination with the Nannichuan," she listed, ticking off fingers. "Then there's to consider that Ryoga used to 'comfort'," Senny frowned deeply, "Akane in his cursed form."

The frown was mirrored by her mother. "True. I don't wanna justify what he did and admit that it ticked me off to no end, but that's water under the bridge. He let go of his grudges, I did the same. End of story. What's important is that he hates his cursed form 'cause it makes him a liability, it makes him weak, defenceless even. He loathes it, at least the normal cursed form anyway."

"Hmm," Senny mused, her left thumb and index finger stroking her chin as she thought, "maybe we should compare the animals and what advantages and disadvantages they contribute to the human form, mom."

"Good idea, dear," Ranma agreed, steepling her fingers as she nodded approvingly at her daughter. "The pig… Ryoga would have bristle fur all over his body, a snout, tusks and hooves on hands and feet. Not that ideal in my opinion, though on second thought, Akari may disagree."

Senny snorted as she 'remembered' the pig-obsessed girl. "She'll understand the reasons, and if she really loves him she'll accept it. Now to the jackal… hmm, wicked and sharp claws on hands and feet, physically strong and probably very tough, a maw filled with razor-sharp teeth and, not to forget the greater reach and height. Disadvantages… the only one that comes to mind might be the predatory instincts he would likely gain."

"Right on the dot, hon. What strikes me is that the jackal is much better suited for combat situations, and we will find ourselves in a lot of 'em, that's practically a given," Ranma mused with a tired sigh as she relaxed her upper body into the soft grass, stretching her legs out as she folded her hands behind her back so that she came to rest in a ninety degree angle in relation to her daughter.

The younger silver haired woman propped herself up on her elbows and laid her head on Ranma's stomach, a heavy sigh escaping her lips. "I know how tired you are of fighting, mom. And I know how much you enjoyed the last two months," she said with a sad undertone. "But we got a job to do, we have to protect the weak, and we have to stop our misguided sisters."

Ranma's gaze hadn't left her daughter one second as she listened to her all-too-true words, and pride welled up inside her. "You truly are my kid, dear. Trust my daughter to remind me why we are walking this path so fraught with peril," she said with an amused shake of her head, "We will fight the worthy fight, and we will not lose. Together, hon, we shall and will succeed," she concluded determinedly, stroking her daughter's hair fondly.

Senny grinned as she leant into the hands of her mother. "Love you, mom."

"Love you too, dear," Ranma replied with a soft smile as she continued her ministrations. "And you will be pleased to hear that I have decided to 'curse' Ryoga with the jackal curse. I doubt he'll be happy, but it's the lesser of two evils seeing that there ain't no cure."

"True, momma," Senny mused and ripped out a long blade of grass which she put into her mouth. "Now to how you do it… You focus on your magic until you notice some kinda churning feeling in your stomach. It feels similar to calling upon your ki, just a tad different. Doncha worry, it won't hurt my infant form. I'm well protected," she assured, giving her mother—who had stopped stroking her daughter's hair in favour of shooting her a worried look—a reassuring smile.

"Good," Ranma replied in the tone of a mother fiercely protective of her young. "There ain't anything gonna hurt you if I have a say in it."

Senny snuggled her face to her mother's stomach and craned her neck to look up into her silver eyes, a soft smile on her face. "I know, momma, I know. Together we'll pull through anything."

Ranma smiled down upon her daughter, the smile extending to her eyes. "One Saotome doesn't lose, and two Saotomes—especially the two of us—can only win," she exclaimed, ruffling her daughter's hair.

The younger silver haired girl giggled. "You said it, mom," she agreed, enjoying the ministrations thoroughly. "We will see this through, and then we'll get us a nice, long holiday afterwards."

The older Saotome nodded, a small smile playing on her face as she imagined the various destinations, content as she basked in the closeness they shared, mother and daughter, magical warriors.

-.-

Ranma's return to the real world was a reluctant one, but the Saotome girl kept in mind what her daughter had said: she had a job to do and a friend to help. And she would do it the way she did all things: thoroughly and with full commitment.

Her brows creased in concentration as she remembered her daughter's instructions as well as her warning words. One tiny mistake could have serious consequences for both Ryoga and her, thus being fully concentrated and prepared was a must. Ranma shuddered internally as she thought about her reckless attempt to fix the situation in the twinkling of an eye, and the shuddering only increased as she remembered the consequences Senny had listed.

Magical implosion. Total loss of molecular cohesion. That could have gone really awry. But now she knew how to do it, and she wouldn't fail. For Ranma Saotome didn't lose, especially not when the chips were down.

With this reaffirmation firmly anchored in her mind it was much easier to focus on what she was trying to accomplish. Saving the world through giving birth to her daughter had been a goal so abstract that it had been hard to focus upon, especially as it had left her feeling so useless.

Now that she would be able to contribute something to the critical endeavour—namely finding Lemuria and making alliances, among things, and first and foremost, helping Ryoga—she had regained her incitement, her energy.

Said energy was downright flowing out of her in a river of magic as she directed her magic into Ryoga via her palms, the image of the jackal—her magical focus—firmly in her mind. Her eyes closed on their own accord as she kept as focussed as possible, the energy slowly pouring out of her magical core as it strengthened the jackal curse. Had Ranma watched she would have been witness to how hard the battle of the curses was as was evidenced by the continuing fluctuation.

Slowly but surely the jackalic features gained the upper hand, though, and an outside observer would have thought to see the ghostly form of a human sized pig leaving Ryoga's body. The lost boy's trashing first lessened then stopped—which the completely focussed Ranma only sensed due to the decreasing effort it took to keep her friend steady—, his breathing, which had come in pained gasps getting more and more relaxed with each passing second.

The silver haired martial artist turned magical warrior allowed herself a small smile as she continued to pour energy into her friend to eradicate the Heituenniichuan curse forever, her eyes closed still. All of a sudden, a few minutes later the flowing of her energy came to an abrupt stop which caused Ranma to open her eyes in surprise. It had not been her that had terminated the energy flow, but Ryoga! That could only mean that she had succeeded! The Heituenniichuan curse had to have been eradicated!

Ranma blinked her eyes a few times to reinstate her vision, and her re-focussing eyes widened slightly as she took in what was obviously Ryoga's new cursed form. Expelling a laboured breath after giving her friend a brief once over she slumped to the ground, the majority of her energy having left her.

Summoning what was left Ranma relaxed into a cross-legged position, her curiosity winning over her tiredness, and gave Ryoga a more thorough once over. Her former rival was lying on his back, soft snoring noises emanating from his snout. A snout that was just like a jackal's, just that it had been elongated to human size.

All in all Ryoga did indeed look like a cross between a human and a jackal, his looks very similar to the warriors she had once seen in the Gaijin movie 'The mummy'. But he would not perish as easily as them, of that she was sure as she continued her visual inspection.

He was without a doubt strong, probably even stronger than his normal form, judging from the thick strands of muscle rippling under his jet-black skin. His clawed hands and feet as well as his razor-sharp teeth caught one's eye right away, making for formidable natural weapons. Ryoga's height was somewhere between six and a half and seven foot, Ranma estimated, it being hard to give a precise estimation what with him lying on the ground.

The stress of the curses' battle for supremacy as well as the transformation had obviously led to a deep sleep as was evidenced by the regular, deep breathing that was loud enough to raise the dead. The danger had finally passed, and Ranma allowed a real smile to creep onto her face as the tension began to fade out of her. She had done it, she had saved him, just as she had promised to herself.

Expelling a tired sigh Ranma looked down at herself, now becoming fully aware of the changes she herself had undergone. She didn't really want to expend the energy to explore said changes, but that full-body mirror Cologne's otherwise completely ascetic room offered really called to her. The silver haired young man turned woman had almost summoned enough energy to drag herself to her feet when she felt her power-levels drop even further.

A soft, silver glow began to surround her, and suddenly her silver robe as well as her other garb disappeared, leaving her in the nude for a few moments before new, different clothes were bestowed upon her by her magic.

The now silvery-redhaired young woman blinked her eyes a few times and very nearly swore when she noticed her changed wardrobe. The robe and the other stuff she had been forced to endure in her Serenity form had been bad enough, but why oh why did her daughter have to be right? Why the hell did it have to be a damned, overly revealing fuku? Some kami sure was getting his or her kicks out of that, she was sure.

"I've gotten used to wearing girl stuff over the months…" she muttered with disdain prevalent on her face, "But that… If I can't change this… fuku to my liking a certain daughter of mine is in for a year's worth of being grounded before she's even born," Ranma groused, her scowling face displaying her utter displeasure over her attire.

Ranma checked her power-levels and found them, much to her surprise, in the lower-average region. Which could only mean one thing: once her power-level dropped below a certain point she could not maintain her Serenity form any longer, which in turn resulted in her being downgraded to this… this… cutesy form.

She pushed herself to her feet with a guttural growl that stood in stark contrast to her outfit, driven by the want to get an accurate picture of herself in this 'uniform' to see if it was really as bad as she surmised.

"Know thy enemy…" the silvery-redhaired young woman muttered as she approached the mirror, finally coming to a stop about ten centimetres away from the reflecting glass. Righting herself up Ranma surveyed herself, taking in every detail, soon arriving at the conclusion that it was worse than she had originally thought.

The 'uniform' she was wearing was just like the ones the Sailor Senshi donned, consisting of an indecently short primarily white fuku with a dark green hem in her case, the fuku barely covering the essentials while her upper body was covered by a white shirt with dark green sleeves, the shirt clearly showing off her swollen belly.

A dark green front bow and an equally dark green back bow adorned her uniform, and knee high dark green boots served as her footwear. A golden crescent dangling from a golden chain around her neck as well as the wrist guards she had worn in her Serenity form completed her outfit.

'That just won't do,' Ranma thought to herself, a deep frown marring her features.

The silvery-redhaired gender changer collected her thoughts and tried to picture her current self inside her mind, complete with uniform. Seeing that the uniform she was wearing had been created by her magic she should be able to change it easily, just as her daughter had said.

Ranma closed her eyes and began to alter the clothes in her mind, lengthening the fuku so that it reached to well over her knees. Next came the boots. While cool looking they were literally killing her due to the fact that her feet were swollen because of her pregnancy. Something much more accommodating and comfortable was called for, like, say, getas.

Yes, that would do nicely, and for protective and supportive purposes she could use white stockings sewn in a criss-cross pattern to make them look as unsexy as possible. Infusing the stockings with her ki much like the iron cloth technique Ryoga used would serve her well as far as protection was concerned, and enemies attacking her seemingly unprotected legs would be in for a surprise.

Satisfied with her efforts Ranma applied the changes by willing her magic to alter her clothes, and when she reopened her eyes the same-self image she had pictured in her mind revealed itself to her in the mirror. It had actually worked!

"Not too shabby compared to what the Senshi are forced to wear any time they transform," she muttered half-appreciatingly, then shook her head. "The sacrifices I make for saving the world... One time whoever kami is screwing around with my life is gonna pay. Dearly," she grumbled to herself, and turned her attention back to her self-survey, satisfied at having delivered that threat.

-.-

"Ooooooooooooohhh my head," a deep, rumbling and almost demonical sounding voice exclaimed from behind Ranma in a raspy voice, raising her out of her self-scrutiny.

The silvery-redhaired young woman whirled around as fast as her pregnant form allowed, and saw that the lost boy had sat up in the meantime and was blinking his eyes rapidly as he looked down at himself. His widening yellow eyes were not a good sign in Ranma's book.

"Ryoga, try to stay calm," she urged as she slowly closed the distance to him. "You went through some changes, and—"

The rest was drowned out in a yell as Ryoga jumped to his feet, only his clawed feet, which dug their sharp, curved nails into the wooden floor preventing him from losing his balance. The lost boy continued to look down at himself, his yellow eyes wide with surprise and a hint of fear. "What the hell happened to me!"

Ranma, having come to a full halt about two metres away from Ryoga willed her magic to emit a feeling of peace and calm, but she had no real idea if it would work or was possible at all. She slowly and carefully closed the distance separating them and came to a stop in front of him, yet far enough away not to violate his private space in case the predatory instincts he might have gained kicked in.

"You had an accident, Ryoga," she said softly as she looked up at him, and Ryoga's gaze swivelled up from where it had observed his newly clawed feet and focussed on Ranma's eyes, his own yellow eyes still wide. "You didn't just get hit with the Nannichuan, you see, Mousse, well, he hit you with something called 'Anubis water'. It's—"

"A-Anubis water? Is that why I look like a cross between a human and a jackal?" he growled menacingly, the anger in his voice almost making Ranma flinch. "Mousse! Prepare to—"

"Please calm down, Ryoga," Ranma interrupted softly, weary of his raised claws and what they could unwittingly do in his agitated state. She had no desire to test the durability of her newly gained armour just yet. "He didn't do it on purpose," she added as soon as his attention had returned to her, "and you gained several advantages."

"Advantages?" Ryoga retorted bitingly, his yellow eyes flashing. "Hah! I was turned into something out of a horror movie, so which advantages do you mean, Ranma?" he growled.

Ranma was not impressed by his anger, knowing full well that she had a trump card that would bring him down from his anger high. "You are rid of the pig, Ryoga. Forever. You also—"

"Rid of the pig?" Ryoga breathed in surprise, his eyes losing all of their anger at a moments notice, just as Ranma had surmised. "I didn't even stop to think what being in this form means—"

"That much is obvious," Ranma interrupted playfully, and ignored the equally playful sounding growl that communicated that Ryoga had indeed calmed down, as far as she could tell. "But it is true, the pig is gone, forever and always," she grinned. "The Anubis form replaced it."

"R-Replaced it? How is that possible?" he queried, his face hopeful and disbelieving to equal parts. "Cologne said—"

"Look at me, Ryoga. Notice any differences?" Ranma dryly asked with both brows raised.

The lost boy took the time to give Ranma a good once over, starting at her face and hair, which caused both of his brows to rise into his furry hairline. His attention, formerly having been focussed solely on his own transformation, was now fully on an equally transformed redhead, who wasn't even a pure redhead any more. Ryoga doubted very much that Ranma had used the time he had been out to dye her hair, and the full impact of the changes his friend had apparently undergone made him stagger back in surprise.

"Holy shit! You look just like one of the Senshi, Ranma! Is this another disguise of yours or what?" he asked against his better judgement, his senses already telling him that this was the real deal and that Ranma had indeed been transformed into a magical girl.

Ranma frowned and shot her friend a disapproving look. Shrugging her irritation off in favour of offering proof she concentrated on the magic within her and brought it to the surface. A feeling of calm, controlled power filled the room, not strong enough to catch attention, but Ryoga's newly gained pointy ears noticeably twitched.

"That answer your question?" she asked levelly, giving the wide-eyed Ryoga a neutral stare.

"Y-Yes," Ryoga managed. "But how?"

Ranma smiled in answer. "Let's join the others downstairs, buddy, they don't know 'bout it either. And I don't feel like telling the same story twice."

"Right. Heh, can't wait to see their reactions. This is so much cooler than that damned pig-curse. But I gotta pay Mousse back nevertheless. Don't worry," he soothed at seeing her look, "I won't harm him, but I will give him a good scare," he concluded with a wolfish grin.

Ranma chuckled. "You do that. Methinks Shampoo might find it amusing. Downstairs now?"

"Yeah. Bet they'll all keel over backwards 'cause you've become a magical girl, Ranma," Ryoga chuckled, shaking his head in amusement as he closed the distance to the door without becoming disoriented once.

Ranma just raised a brow in curiosity and followed the nearly seven foot tall jackal-human hybrid.

-.-

Ryoga had been right that they would raise a few brows, and he downright revelled in the looks he was receiving when he came into the field of vision of the others, and his snout sported a distinctive smirk. Ranma wasn't really getting any looks seeing as she had dropped out of her transformation—simply by willing her magic to change her into her 'civilian form'—and held herself in the background.

Her uniform had transformed into comfortable pants and a shirt that fitted her pregnant form much better than the clothes she had previously worn. It didn't bother her that the colour scheme was of the same silver as her Serenity clothes had been, as long as they were so heavenly comfortable.

Nabiki, being the perceptive young woman she was, seemed to notice something as Ranma followed Ryoga into the serving area, but her gaze was involuntarily drawn to the transformed lost boy. The redhead didn't mind one bit, this was his show, she thought with a secret little smile.

All eyes were on Ryoga and no one batted a lash when Ranma sat down in the free chair to Kasumi's right, and the attendees watched with bated breath as Ryoga walked up to Mousse and planted himself in front of the Amazon. The cursed young man gulped as he gazed up into Ryoga's yellow eyes, and he flinched back when the lost boy's furry face was suddenly in his own.

"So it was you whom I have to thank for this form, huh?" he exclaimed, and added "How could you let me walk into the room on my own, knowing how bad I am with directions? It's all your fault!"

Mousse was visibly intimidated by the human-jackal-hybrid in front of him, and only his upbringing as an Amazon enabled him to keep his pants dry. "Err, sorry, R-Ryoga, my glasses were dirty and I c-couldn't see t-too well."

Ryoga growled threateningly, inwardly rolling on the ground with laughter. Mousse's reaction was just too amusing. "I suggest you get your eyes fixed, then," he rumbled. "As for this cursed form…" he raised his right claw and Mousse looked ready to bolt until Ryoga's face broke into a broad grin, "It could have been much worse," he concluded, placing his claw on Mousse's left shoulder.

"You… You are not mad at me?" Mousse asked with an astonished expression, his brown eyes staring at the transformed young man in front of him in disbelief.

Everyone was hard pressed to keep their laughter in at his point due to the fact that Ryoga had so obviously played Mousse to get back at him—everyone bar Akane, who just looked plain relieved that the poor Ryoga had not gutted Mousse for causing this accident—and the lost boy's grin only widened.

"No, man. This form can and will be very useful in combat situations, and I see it more as an asset than a curse. Provided I can change back," he added worriedly.

Shampoo acted quickly as ever, and before he could even blink Ryoga had the contents of a cup of tea in his face. The change happened as quickly as with every other Jusenkyo victim, and the lost boy's disgruntled expression stemming from having hot tea dripping down his face quickly changed into one of elation.

"Great!" he exclaimed in a joyous shout. He was sorely tempted to sweep Ranma off her feet, but remembered her condition just in time. "Thank you, Ranma, for everything you did!"

"You're welcome," Ranma replied with a modest grin, her eyes holding a glint to them that Ryoga understood all too well. The debt of honour had been paid, and both their honour was now their own again.

Ryoga finally broke the eye contact. "Err, what exactly was it that you did, Ranma?" the lost boy queried as soon as he remembered that the redhead had eluded answering the question as to what she had done to help him yet again.

The redhead simply smiled. "I'll gladly explain everything if I can get my hands on some food first. Loads and loads of food. Doing what I did was incredibly tiring and made me as hungry as a pack of wolves."

Cologne nodded knowingly. "I figured as much, for whatever you did, we could feel it even down here. And that is why we prepared a healthy dinner," she commented and pogoed over to the kitchen, Shampoo, Ukyo and Kasumi following her.

The redhead's smile changed into a wolfish grin. "Great! My three favourite cooks at work—together! That's so cool!" she gushed, making everyone grin.

"Only you can get so excited over food, Ranma," Nabiki chuckled. "I shudder to think what would happen should you fail and that Asteroid does graze Earth. You'd likely eat the survivors out of house and home."

"That was not funny, sis," Akane chided in a deeply disapproving voice. "One doesn't make jokes about something as serious as the end of the world as we know it."

Nabiki shrugged dismissively. "The only thing I do not make jokes about is money," she retorted with a neutral expression. "Everything else is fair game, except family and friends. And I tease even them on occasion, such as now."

Ranma smiled, inwardly relieved that Nabiki had listed her—even if just implicitly—in the family and friends category. Having Senny had helped to alleviate the emptiness inside her, that part of her that was practically starved for attention, for she knew for sure that her daughter loved her, but hearing others say that she mattered to them, that she was important filled her with a warm and fuzzy feeling.

Her smile only grew when her three favourite cooks came back into the serving area, each balancing bowls filled with various foods. Ranma was about to get to her feet to help, but her friends waved her off and practically ordered her to remain seated.

The pregnant girl scoffed but couldn't fight the small grin that appeared on her face as the others began to set the table. It was nice to be cared for, and her friends didn't make the mistake to treat her like a fragile little china doll just because she happened to be pregnant. What still irked her though was the thought that she had had to become pregnant in the first place to be treated somewhat normally, but that was probably the way her life worked.

The plethora of wonderful smells emitted by the various bowls of food made Ranma forget these morose thoughts in the twinkling of an eye, and the redhead peered curiously into the bowls and dishes Cologne, Kasumi and Ukyo had prepared. The Elder had unsurprisingly prepared Chinese dishes, such as yasai soup, ma-bo tofu, shrimp fried rice, Gyoza, cha-su-men, niku dango, tamago soup, gomoku rice and styr-fry vegetable.

Ranma's gaze travelled to the dishes Kasumi had prepared, and the man turned woman arced a delicate brow as she realised that the woman she had come to view as her older sister had exclusively prepared Japanese dishes.

Kasumi noticed her surprised and questioning look and met it with an amused smile from her seat across from Ranma and explained that Cologne kept her kitchen stocked with Japanese ingredients and food to make the menu the Nekohanten offered more well rounded. Cologne was obviously amused at Ranma's reaction, but the redhead overcame the surprise fast and helped herself to a food selection that encompassed tamago soup, gomoku rice and all of her favourite foods for starters, and, not to forget, two okonomiyaki.

Everybody else followed Ranma's example suit and soon something akin to a feast commenced. Friendly conversation sprang up as is bound to happen during meals, and the questions soon began to centre on the changes that had happened to Ryoga.

It was plain as daylight that everyone was dying to find out what Ranma had done to save their friend, but even the lost boy wouldn't tell them anything, simply due to the fact that he had no idea what had transpired. A certain not so petite as before redhead was the only one privy to this knowledge.

And said redhead in question was still happily stuffing her face with foods of all sorts, and as much as her hunger decreased her magic was recuperating in turn. Ranma didn't have that much experience with her magic as of yet, to be truthful almost none at all, but somehow she knew that she hadn't 'charged up' sufficiently yet so that she could try to attain her higher form.

A small grin adorned her face nevertheless when she realised that she would have to train her magic in order to bolster her magical capacity. Her daughter had been right in this respect as well, her becoming a magical girl didn't provide her with as much power as she wanted, she still had to train to become stronger, and boy did she like it that way.

She of course noticed the curious looks the others shot her while they were eating and generally busy with stuffing their faces, and the redhead decided to keep her audience on tenterhooks on a whim and continued to stuff her face with pleasure.

The pregnant martial artist belched softly on the quiet, exhibiting some of the manners her daughter had taught her. Strictly speaking she was royalty—being directly related to the late Queen Serenity and all that—but Ranma being, well, Ranma she didn't give a damn about it, seeing that it didn't matter nowadays anyhow in her opinion.

Returning her attention to the present she leant back in her chair and rested her hands on her full belly, which she then began to softly stroke. Ranma gave a content sigh and closed her eyes for a few moments until she heard several people clearing their throats rather impatiently. Opening her eyes she finally met the expectant looks of the others, a mischievous glint in her blue eyes.

"Is there something on my face or why are all of you looking at me? And here I took extra care to mind my table manners," she said mock-earnestly, adding a mock-sigh for effect.

The painful looking face-vaults that ensued around the table rewarded her richly, and she had to suppress a bout of giggles that threatened to escape her lips due to the sour looks that followed. a certain staff impacting her head made her yelp with surprise rather than actual pain, though.

"OWWIE! No hitting the pregnant woman!" she complained in a whiny tone as she rubbed the sore spot on her head where the staff had impacted.

"Hadn't Cologne-san bopped you on the head I'd have done it, Ranma," Akane said in an exasperated voice, giving the redhead a half-lidded stare. "Come on, we wanna know what happened!"

"Details, Ranma," Nabiki added, leaning forward to give the redhead an intent stare. "Spill."

"Yeah, Ranchan, come on. Don't stall."

"Stalling? Moi?" Ranma asked, pointing her right thump at herself, her brows raised in mock-indignation. "I was just enjoying an excellent dinner, is all.

"But okay," she added in face of the many not amused faces, "I will indulge you all in what happened. Or better yet," she mused, smiling mischievously while getting to her feet, "I will show you."

"Show? Now you have made an old woman really curious, chóngsunnu," Cologne remarked, her stoic face revealing nothing, yet her eyes clearly showed her curiosity.

Ranma stepped about twenty centimetres away from the table under the watchful eyes of the others and grinned into the round as she brought her magic to the fore. "SERENITY POWER, MAKE UP!" she added for effect as she commanded her magic to trigger the transformation.

A blinding flash of silver light encompassed the room as the transformation commenced, and when the light had cleared away and everyone could see again their eyes fell upon a sight none of them had ever expected to see.

"R-Ranma… Y-You r-really are a magical girl!" Akane exclaimed, blurting the first words that came to her mind, shock and surprise written on her face. "I thought you were joking back there!"

Nabiki chuckled, which made everyone turn to face her. "Oh, it's nothing," she assured them with a gesture of her hands. "I was just thinking how often I had played with the thought to, err, persuade Ranma to pose for a few shots in a fuku. And now that… It's just too rich."

Ranma laced Nabiki with a glare. "Persuade, eh? Suuuuure," she drawled. "But you know what they say… Water under the bridge and all that. Now back to business," she mused, her right index finger at her chin, her face completely serious. "Yeah, I obviously am a magical girl, Akane got that right. And that's the sacrifice I mentioned before I shooed you guys outta the room."

She began to pace for a bit, struggling to find the right words as she fought to regain her emotional control, which hadn't been the best ever since her pregnancy. "I-I just couldn't leave one of my friends to his fate. I have so few," she added, saying the last bit in barely a whisper, her left hand going involuntarily up to her eyes to wipe away the tears that had gathered there.

The redhead barely had had enough time to complete the act of wiping her eyes when she suddenly found herself on the receiving end of a strong, yet gentle hug. Her blue eyes looked up in surprise to discern the identity of the person hugging her, and found to her ever increasing surprise that it was Ryoga.

"You'll always have my friendship, Ranma. I can not thank you enough for what you did for me, even if turning yourself into a magical girl to pull it off begs the question if you were outta your mind," he said with an amused snort.

Ranma's face split into a playful grin, her sorrows melting away like ice in the sunshine. "I'm quite sure I hadn't lost my marbles when I made the decision," she said, finally hugging him back. "I'm a woman half of the time anyway, agreeing to awaken my magical powers was but a small step. Especially considering that I always had the magic in me, it was just… dormant," she explained.

Ryoga smiled down at her, and the lost boy slowly shook his head. "It's remarkable how much you've changed from what you were in Junior High, Ranma. I know we haven't always seen eye to eye, but know that you will always have my friendship. You can count on me in what is to come, this I swear on my honour."

"I-I am touched, pal," Ranma said after a few moments silence during which she hadn't known what to say, strengthening the hug for a few moments before letting go, Ryoga mirroring her. "Thank you." she added, her completely open and honest face conveying her thankfulness much better than words ever could.

The lost boy simply nodded back as the others followed suit with declarations that they would stand by Ranma as well. It was a redhead in much better spirits that reclaimed her chair, and friendly chit-chat accompanied by yet another intake of food ensued, the questions centring around how exactly Ranma had become a magical girl. And the redhead, now being used to play the role of the story teller told the tale of how her life had taken another turn for the strange yet again…

-.-

Silence permeated the serving area of the Nekohanten yet again on this fine summer day, stemming from the unbelief shared amongst the attendees pertaining to the fact that the strangest things on Earth always seemed to happen to Ranma, and that the redhead had been so mature about the reasons as to why she had chosen to take the step.

"So you're a magical girl now, Ranma. What's next? World domination?" Akane playfully jibed, a big grin on her face, mirth glinting in her brown eyes.

"Her daughter is the genetic reincarnation of a Queen…" Kasumi added in a mock-thoughtful tone before Ranma could retort, causing said teen to groan.

"Lay it off, will you," she sighed, rolling her eyes to the amusement of the others. "As funny as ruling the world would be, it'd be too much of a bother. Me, I don't wanna have the headache the crown's having, and their function's largely representative nowadays. How much of a hassle must it be to rule the whole wide world then?"

"More than it's worth, chóngsunnu," Cologne mused into the silence that had ensued. "That's why the tribe gave up on that ambition a long time ago. Too much of a hassle indeed."

"True," Nabiki mused in a thoughtful tone. "But if I promote Ranma in the right way after she has saved the world it might bring with it a good deal of influence—"

"I have other worries, Nabiki," Ranma interrupted smoothly, her expression neutral. "We gotta stop that friggin' big rock first, and that's gonna be damn hard considering the opposition. Everything else comes later."

"Hell yeah," Ryoga agreed with a snort. "The Senshi may not have much in regards physical prowess, but they sure got one helova firepower."

"Oh yeah," Akane exclaimed with a troubled expression. "I once saw Sailor Saturn dispose of a large group of Youma as if they were a minor nuisance. It'll get really tough, Ranma."

"I know Akane, I know," the redhead replied, nodding slowly at her ex-fiancée. "But neither Senny nor I have a choice. We simply refuse to let billions die just so whatever Pluto is planning will come to pass. I am well aware that I will need allies, even considering the power we have—"

"What are powers, sister Ranma?" Shampoo queried curiously.

Ranma turned her head to look at the Amazon, a small smile upturning the corners of her mouth at seeing that the purple haired Amazon had accepted her having ceased to be the Airen. "Sister, eh? I like it, Shampoo. As for your question, I can't show you my higher form right now, my magic is just too low at the moment. But my Serenity form—that's what I call it—feels pretty darn strong."

"The question is, will it be enough?" Nabiki mused thoughtfully, playing the devil's advocate.

"No." Ranma replied flatly, taking everyone aback with her bluntness. Her admittance also drove home the point that Ranma had really grown up, for her admitting her inability to come out on top would have been unthinkable half a year ago.

"No?" Ukyo, Akane and Shampoo queried in unison.

"No," Ranma repeated, a heavy sigh escaping her lips. "Even the power of Senny plus my own won't be enough to beat the Senshi in an all-out fight, not even once we have reached the height of our powers. We'll need allies, strong allies. There's just no way around it."

"Oh," was all the teens managed.

Cologne, having the experience of three centuries on her side had already thought ahead. "It's likely that the tribe will help once we offer proof. Our elites should be good enough to offer at least a distraction, and you have already taken steps to 'convince' my fellow Elders that you won't allow any games," she said with a toothy grin.

Ranma mirrored the grin. "My daughter figured that the power-boost would come in handy, and it seems she was right if you share her assessment. I find it reassuring to have it right from the horse's mouth that the other Elders will react the way we figured, even if the horse in question looks more like an old mummy," she teased playfully.

The obligatory bop to the head followed as well as some friendly bantering, and the conversation moved on.

"What about Herb?" Ryoga suggested thoughtfully after several minutes of contemplation. "I know he wasn't exactly, err, friendly or anything," he added at seeing Mousse's and Ranma's looks, "but he sure is powerful. If we—"

"—could convince him to join forces against a common enemy," Cologne took up the thought, her tiny right index finger rubbing the bridge of her nose, "it would mean a substantial boost in firepower."

"Feh. Herb joining forces is about as likely as Saffron joining us," Ranma remarked sarcastically.

"Saffron! Too too good idea, sister!" Shampoo exclaimed appraisingly, missing the sarcasm completely.

"You should really put more effort into properly learning and understanding Japanese and its nuances, Xian Pu," Cologne scolded mildly. "Your sister was being most sarcastic," she explained, a hint of amusement shining in her eyes at seeing her great-granddaughter's embarrassed reaction.

"Feh. That proves yet again that Japanese is a stupid language, making me miss vital information like that. Too bad sister Ranma can not understand us," Shampoo complained with a pout.

"Oh, but I can, sister Xian Pu," a grinning Ranma replied in perfect, unaccented Mandarin, surprising not just those of Chinese origin.

"Imotouchan, since when do you speak Chinese?" Kasumi queried in the stunned silence that was the serving area, a curious yet delighted expression on her face. "That's great as it makes things just so much easier!"

"I know, oneechan," Ranma replied in amusement, revelling in the surprised and curious expressions of the others. 'Damn, I just love to surprise the hell outta others!' she thought mischievously. 'Just that that development surprised the hell outta me as well. But what they don't know won't hurt 'em.'

"Dear, you will never cease to be a source of surprises, will you?" Cologne mused with an amused shake of her head.

"I sure hope not," Ranma retorted, giggling briefly. "As for why I can speak and understand Mandarin, which you are all dying to find out gauging from the looks on your faces," she added, leaning forward in her chair, looking from face to face with an amused and mischievous glint in her eyes, "it's magic."

Face-vaults ensued around the table. "Not funny, Saotome," Mousse finally commented, rubbing his aching jaw from where it had impacted the ground.

"Yeah, Ranma, what's the real reason?" Akane demanded, staring intently at the other girl.

"I think you don't understand what Ranma was trying to say, guys. She meant it has to do with her magic that she can speak and understand Chinese all of a sudden, and she meant it quite literally," Ryoga explained in Ranma's stead.

"See? He understood it just fine," Ranma exclaimed smugly and leant back in her chair, folding her hands behind her head.

"Just because Ryoga miraculously became a 'Ranma expert'," Nabiki stated, making quotation marks in the appropriate places to convey the sarcasm, "doesn't mean any of us are. So it is your magic causing this effect, yeah?"

"10,000 Yen," Ranma replied with a big grin to tease the older girl, her right hand outstretched, palm up.

"This is getting repetitive, Ranma," Nabiki retorted with a neutral expression, rubbing her temples in slight irritation.

"Yeah," Akane agreed, crossing her arms under her breasts.

"They're right, Ranchan. Tell us already!" Ukyo added, using the feared attack commonly known as the 'puppy-dog-eyes' to get the redhead to spill if her magic was responsible or if she had just been learning Chinese non-stop—which she didn't believe for a second—, and the pregnant girl actually began to fidget due to the cutesy attack.

'It is good to see some of the old Ranma in her, as much as I claimed I hated him,' Ryoga thought, a small grin playing on his face as he watched the redhead that had drastically improved his life.

"Okay, okay," Ranma finally relented, "No 10,000 Yen, then."

"Ranma!" Akane—being of short temper as always—barked, brown eyes flashing.

"Jeez, okay already. No need to bring out the mallet, so chill," Ranma muttered. "So, err… what was the question again? Meh, being pregnant makes me so forgetful… oh, yeah, magic…

"Well, you see," she continued, ignoring the glares that had been sent her way, "ever since I gained full access to my magic and these transformations I just could understand what Cologne and Shampoo were saying when they spoke in their native tongue. It took just a few words and I could speak it as well. It is as if my magic is some kinda…"

"Universal translator?" Nabiki suggested, tilting her head to the left as her formidable intellect computed potential uses.

"Yeah," Ranma agreed with a nod. "That's the term."

"Wouldn't that mean you could negotiate with Herb and Saffron in their native tongues? That would practically guarantee you an increase in respect—more so than you already hold because of your skill and power," Cologne added her two cents, clicking her tongue.

"I agree, Ranma. A grudge due to the way they treated you and the others of our group should not stop you from trying to gain them as allies. The Asteroid endangers them as much as us, and I doubt they'll sit by idly once they learn of the danger," Nabiki reasoned.

"She is right, Ranma," Akane added, following up her sister, Ranma's undecided expression giving her hope. "You told me that Saffron was some kind of power plant for his people, a living reactor. With him reduced to his infant form they are doomed to death. If they join forces with us they have a chance, and I am sure they would take it, despite what has happened."

"They are right, sister. You know as much as I do that the adult Saffron is very powerful and it would benefit us greatly if we could enlist his help—and that of his tribe.

"You said yourself that we will need powerful allies. So why discard sources so obvious?" Shampoo asked with her delicate right brow raised, her purple red eyes surveying her 'sister' questioningly.

"I see your point, sister," Ranma replied with a respectful inclination of her head. "And don't take this the wrong way, but I am glad that you are not the bimbo your poor lingual skills made you seem," she added with an apologetic grin.

Cologne nearly fell off her staff from laughing so hard—which caused amused and curious reactions from those who could not understand Chinese—while Mousse looked a bit peeved. Shampoo on her part got out of her chair and slowly walked behind Ranma's, coming to a stop behind the pregnant martial artists' back.

"A bimbo, huh?" Shampoo queried softly. "I guess speaking like I was forced to by my own difficulties with the Japanese language made it seem this way.

"But I fear I can't let you get away with implying you took me for a bimbo… KACHUU TENCHIN AMAGURIKEN REVISED—ULTIMATE TICKLE ATTACK!" she exclaimed, and began doing what the attack name suggested, tickling Ranma's sides mercilessly yet very soft and careful at blinding speeds.

Ranma began howling with laughter under the amused looks of the others and squirmed in her chair, slowly but surely getting red in the face. "Sto…. Stop it! I… I give… up!" she exclaimed between bouts of giggles, her attempts at a defence totally futile as she couldn't even get out of her chair.

Shampoo leant forward over Ranma's right shoulder and looked the other girl into the face, surveying her with an innocent expression as she continued her assault. "Did you say something, sister? If so you must have spoken in a dialect I am not familiar with. You will have to repeat what you said," she said, pulling of to sound apologetic and smug at the same time.

"No… fair!" Ranma managed as the assault continued, wracking her body with fits of laughter.

Cologne was actually rolling on the ground with laughter coming from her tiny body that could only be called a laughing fit. the Elder was banging her tiny left hand—which she had balled into a fist—on the wooden flooring. "Ranma… giving… up! Different… dialect! BWAHAHAHAHA!"

A collective sweatdropping ensued and everyone hurried to return their attention back to Ranma and Shampoo, the latter still tickling the former mercilessly. Bemused eyes watched as Ranma's squirming intensified. "P-Please… stop! S-Senny is… lying… on my… bladder! P-Please! I give!"

"Capitulation accepted," Shampoo replied and ceased her 'tickle attack', her grin being audible even in her voice. "As consequence of your defeat you are required to start negotiations with Saffron and Herb as soon as is convenient. Understood, sister?"

"Yeah, yeah, anything, just let me go to the loo before I explode!" Ranma exclaimed, sending Cologne into a fresh pail of laughter due to her pleading and half-whining tone accompanied by the pregnant martial artist squeezing her legs together tightly, which made for an admittedly amusing picture.

Shampoo, not one to torture her former Airen and newly gained almost sister more than necessary stepped back and allowed the redhead enough space to get out of her chair, a big grin on the Amazon's face. "There you go. Remember your promise, sister."

Ranma shot the other girl a look that promised payback before practically teleporting to the restrooms. Later everyone would swear they'd heard the relieved sigh of one Ranma Saotome as she gave in to nature's call even despite the physical distance.

-.-

Cologne related what her great-granddaughter had 'talked' Ranma into while said redhead was conducting her business, and bemusement was the prevalent reaction. Everyone knew that Ranma hadn't really been talked into that and had just given in to the silliness of the moment, that she had already decided to prior to follow the others' advice Shampoo's 'attack'.

It was testament to how much the redhead had grown up in the last six months, because these six months ago Ranma would probably have discarded their opinion due to her pride.

Nevertheless, the indignant look Ranma shot the group as she returned from the restrooms caused amusement amongst the attendees, and the pout the silvery-redhaired young woman displayed even more so. It was Ryoga who finally took pity on his friend and attempted to stir the conversation back to less embarrassing topics.

"What will happen now, Ranma? Do you have a plan?"

The pout disappeared from her face and her head swivelled to look at him, a serious expression on her face. "I got the coordinates for where I wanna go, but I'll have to wait for Chibi Moon to come back. She can teleport, but I ain't got an idea if I can, and if, how."

"Wow, wouldn't it be cool to be able to teleport?" Akane mused with a dreamy expression on her face. "All the places one could visit… New York, Paris, Rome… the sights, the foods, shopping for clothes..." she trailed off.

Ranma smiled openly. "Who would have thought you to be such a romantic and clothes horse, tomboy," she teased, her smile widening to show that she was teasing.

"We don't all have magic to create fine new clothes for us, Ranma. Isn't it such a nice fuku you are wearing?" the youngest Tendo girl teased back.

"Ouch," Ranma winced, clasping her left hand over her heart in an overly dramatic way which made the others smile. "That hurt.

"But seriously, it's as I said, it ain't so bad. I was able to change the specs, at least. I ain't gonna have to prance around in such a fuckin' short fuku that'd make me the target and wet dream of every perv out there. Heh, I just had the mental image of what would happen if Happi were to ever meet Pluto…

"Think he would like to liberate her silky darlings?" she trailed off with an evil gleam in her silver-blue eyes, her face contorted in barely contained glee that made everyone inch back.

Surprisingly it was Kasumi who answered first after thinking on the topic. "As much as I like to walk the path of peace, I must say that the idea has merit. Pluto deserves decent payback for how she has treated you. I say go for it."

Ranma nodded slowly and switched her attention to Ukyo who had just begun to add her two cents. "Kasumi is right, sugar. While I wouldn't wish the old troll on any female far and wide normally Pluto is the sole exception. It's safe to assume that she tried to kill your daughter, and we ain't gonna let her get away with that, are we?"

"Hell no!" came the chorus from everyone beside an amused looking Cologne.

"Children, I hope you never cease to be a source of inspiration for an old woman," she said with laughter in her big, brown eyes. "Ranma, you can be sure I will add my own two cents on how to get back at the Time Witch. The tribe has its own score to settle with her," she concluded, her brown eyes now serious and hard as diamonds.

"How so, hibachan?" Shampoo queried in Ranma's stead.

The matriarch sighed deeply before switching into story-teller mode. "No proof exists, but an outside influence has been felt many a time throughout our tribe's history. The most notable being a vicious battle against the Musk 1,200 years ago. The tribe was prospering and strong, our warriors were respected for their skill and ferocity in battle.

"No one had survived an attack on the tribe for eight hundred years, and our ancestors had good reason to be convinced of their pathos. They had magical artefacts that aided them, the Amazon Wu had already been perfected back then, everything seemed perfectly fine. In fact, the village of old was six times the size it is nowadays.

"But then they came. The Musk. They had not yet perfected the blending of human and animal, but they already were a force to be reckoned with. Strong, well armed and of a superior endurance they fought a worthy fight, and many sisters died a heroes death that day. Despite our losses our people fought back and managed to drive the invading forces off. Until—"

"Until what?" the teens breathed, hanging on the Elder's every word.

"Until our northern walls and fortifications were breached as if they had not been reinforced wood fifty centimetres thick, fortified with loam. The sentry towers at the northern side were completely eradicated as well, and we know for a fact that the Musk did not possess the firepower to cause this much destruction.

"Nevertheless, it turned the tides of the battle in the Musk's favour, and many of our sisters ended up killed or worse until our returning scouting parties managed to aid our sisters. Ultimately they managed to drive the Musk off, but the costs were high. So very high.

"The village had had a population of 20,000 women, men and children prior to the attack and stretched out for five miles in every direction, but when the attack was over we had been reduced to a population of about 5,000, our village to about one sixth of what it had been.

"We never recovered from that, and numerous incidents throughout the ages have kept us from growing. There is no evidence, but our lore masters related reports of survivors who swore they had seen a blinding pink light before our perimeter was breached."

"The Dead Scream," Ranma growled between clenched teeth, her face a mask of fury.

"What, Ranma-honey?" Ukyo queried with question-marks floating above her head.

"Pluto's signature attack," Akane explained. "She whispers the attack name, and that staff or hers launches a fuchsia coloured energy ball. Very destructive."

"Oh yes," both Ranma and Ryoga agreed with vehement nods.

"I wouldn't put it past Pluto to have crippled the tribe," Ranma mused. "You probably were a danger to her perfect future had the tribe continued to prosper. Is that why your people instated the outsider protocols? Out of sheer paranoia?"

"That's over-simplifying things, but yes, that's the general gist. We needed to bring in new, strong males and eliminate those females that could ever become a danger to the tribe, but I will be honest, the outsider protocols are more of a hindrance nowadays, an anachronism in modern times," Cologne said with a tired expression.

"Would you change them if you had the power to, great-grandmother?" Shampoo queried in her native tongue, her head tilted to the right in curious interest, interest that was mirrored by everyone after Ranma had related what Shampoo had asked.

"Yes, I would. Our tribe needs to bring in fresh blood, but it can not be done using the approach the outsider protocols employ. The Kiss of Death is especially problematic, for it's unlikely that foreign countries will take kindly to having their citizens killed over a challenge one of our sisters lost, and the consequences could be dire for the tribe.

"Luckily nothing of that kind has happened up till now, but we can not depend on chance if we want to ensure the survival and prosperity of the tribe. If the laws were to remain in place we would ultimately be playing into the hands of our enemy."

"I see," Ranma commented after a few moments, her serious expression slowly changing into a smirk. "Then it's a good thing I will demand the outsider protocols be abolished once the tribe will ask for the refuge only Lemuria can offer."

"Provided it exists, chóngsunnu," Cologne reasoned.

"Point taken, hibachan," Ranma replied with a grin. "But I am sure it does exist, and once it comes to them asking for refuge I will place my conditions and force them to accept," she concluded with steel in her voice.

The sound of someone knocking on the front door could be heard, and the attendees looked at each other in surprise. Cologne met Ranma's gaze and inclined her head, then she got up and pogoed over to the door, confident that she would be able to deal with anyone considering the concentration of power and skill backing her up in form of the youths.

Cologne opened the door slowly and peered out, her eyes catching sight of a plain looking girl that could have been a cousin of the Tendos. The matriarch's eyes lit up as she recognised the disguise one Sailor Chibi Moon had chosen for herself.

"Hello, matriarch. May I come in? It's getting rather hot, and I don't just mean the temperature, if you catch my drift," the young girl said seriously.

"Of course. I take it you completed your task and kept true to your word?" Cologne queried as she beckoned the young girl in.

Chibi Moon took a deep breath, and then exhaled slowly. "I did. It was hard for me, but what I did will help us in the future. I can not tell you right now," she added at seeing Cologne's curious look, entering the restaurant at the older woman's side, "ask me again once we have found Lemuria and have come back."

Cologne nodded. "Ranma trusts you, and that is good enough for me," she said solemnly, her face suddenly changing from serious to amused. "Who would have thought that Ranma of all people would change so much in half a year? She is finally becoming the leader I have always seen in her. And that is what makes me hopeful for the future."

Usagi II. nodded slowly and turned her head towards the table the other teens were sitting at, noting that they were engrossed in a discussion that seemed to centre around Ranma. A Ranma who was obviously changed. The disguised Chibi Sailor Moon barely managed to contain her squeal of delight as she rushed over to the silvery-redhaired young woman and hugged the surprised Saotome youth from behind.

"You managed it! You managed it! You managed it!" she chanted happily, positively glowing with happiness. "I knew you would manage the transformation, Ranma! I just knew it!"

Ranma arced her neck upwards and looked into Chibi Moon's laughing eyes. "It hasn't to do with you being from the future that you knew that by chance, has it?" she asked dryly.

"Whatever gave you this thought?" Chibi Moon retorted with a widening grin.

The silvery-redhaired woman snorted elegantly. "For those who don't know her history, this is Sailor Moon's daughter, Chibi Moon. And before you ask, yes, I do trust her.

"Why, you ask? Due to the simple fact that she is a member of the Serenity line, just like me. And being of that line has an... interesting side effect: we simply can not lie," she explained, a sheepish smile on her face.

"That's true," Chibi Moon confirmed, nodding rapidly. "We can refuse to answer, but if we answer a question we have to answer truthfully. Has something to do with the Royal line having to set a good example or something," she shrugged.

"So that is where your foot-in-mouth comes from, Ranma. Who would have thought," Nabiki teased lightly.

"At least there is hope for Ranma-honey yet. All he has to do is to keep his mouth shut," Ukyo suggested.

"Nah, that's never gonna work," Akane, Nabiki and Ukyo then said in unison, while Kasumi and the Amazons shared a look of bemusement.

"Hey, I'm right here, you know. It ain't polite talkin' 'bout someone as if they ain't there!" Ranma protested.

"We're talking about you, not to you, Ranma," Akane said with a teasing grin. "That makes all the difference."

"Oh, that makes me feel so much better," Ranma retorted sourly, which caused snickering around the table into which Ranma joined in a few moments later.

'How I have missed seeing Ranma-sama acting so… carefree,' Chibi Moon thought as she let go of the other girl. 'But we gotta get a move on or the others may find us, and that can't happen.'

"Ranma-sama," Chibi Moon muttered reluctantly, just loud enough to be heard, "We should take to our heels. As long as we stay here you're in danger."

"I know," Ranma replied softly, a deep sigh escaping her lips. The fuku-clad girl distinctly looked like she didn't want to leave, but necessity won out in the end. "Can you teleport us to the following coordinates, Chibi?" she asked, listing them.

Chibi Moon nodded after brief contemplation. "Sure."

The Saotome girl nodded satisfied, and looked into the round, giving each of her friends a sad smile. "I haven't got an inkling when I'm gonna be able to contact you, but I'll try to do so as soon as possible. I've missed all of you, and it ain't gonna be another half year if I can help it," she promised, wiping a few tears away.

Kasumi was the first to get to her feet and embraced Ranma in a hug, quickly followed by Akane and even Nabiki, making it a three-way-hug of four nearly bawling women.

"Take care, Ranma-imotouchan," a sniffling Kasumi said. "I hope we see each other before your due date. I would love to help."

Ranma smiled faintly. "As much as I dread the birth, I'd like that, oneechan. If I'd want anyone as my midwife it'd be you," she replied, enjoying the radiant and thankful smile that lit up her 'older sister's' face.

"Don't run into traps, Ranma," Nabiki added only half jokingly, giving her a smile. "Kami-sama knows you have a knack for it."

The Saotome girl chuckled and wiped a few tears away. "Hey, I ain't go lookin' for trouble, it usually comes lookin' for me," she snorted good-naturedly.

"What's that, the great Ranma Saotome crying?" Akane teased, wiping tears away herself.

Ranma chuckled, drying her eyes completely using her left sleeve. "Someone told me it's 'kay for girls to cry, Akane."

Akane shook her head as she surveyed the other girl. "You've really changed, Ranma, and all for the better."

"Ssssssssht, doncha tell anyone or my rep's gonna be ruined!" Ranma stage-whispered, her eyes twinkling.

The four girls laughed and bantered for a little while, until Ranma dislodged herself from the group-hug. Seeing that Ryoga was engrossed in polite conversation with Mousse over the advantages and disadvantages of being a weapons user Ranma approached her oldest—female—childhood friend next.

"Ucchan," she began and oofed as she found herself on the receiving end of a strong yet careful hug, "I want you to think carefully about joining us in Lemuria. I'm certain it exists, and I will find and use it, with Chibi Moon's help.

"Please, I don't wanna lose any of my friends. Being here makes you a target, if you want or not. Promise me you'll think about it."

"I will, Ranchan, I will. And you promise me to take care of yourself." Ukyo said with tears in her eyes, softly patting Ranma's back.

Ranma drew slightly back and looked the other girl in the eyes. "Promised," she replied solemnly. "I hope to see you soon." she concluded, softly removing herself from the hug.

The chef nodded, wiped the tears she had shed away and sat back down, pulling herself together for a moment before joining the others in the discussion of what Lemuria would look like provided it still existed.

Ranma had meanwhile crossed over to where her oldest male childhood friend was standing and came to a stop few centimetres away from him. Mousse, being polite to Ranma for the first time in his life left them with the excuse he'd to help himself to some tea so that the other martial artists had the privacy needed.

"Ryoga," Ranma began, looking at the lost boy, "I can't thank you enough for helping me. Thanks for being my friend," she exclaimed and hugged Ryoga who was leaning against the wall.

Said lost boy rolled his shoulders and pitched his weight away from the wall and encircled Ranma with his arms, carefully hugging her back. "Ahh, that was nothing, I mean, I did it gladly, heh heh," he said, scratching the back of his head. "And I'll come with you, Ranma. Wherever you go, I'm sure I can help," he added, looking at her with a serious expression.

Ranma met his intent gaze and sighed. "Ryoga, please don't get me wrong, you're a real good friend, someone who stood by me when I needed it. But I can not take you with me as I have something more important for you to do.

"You need to stay in Nerima so that you can protect Akane and her sisters," she added, seeing that she had his undivided attention. "I do not know how much Pluto knows about my connection to them, but I will not risk anything. You, Ryoga, are the only one who could help them by getting them and yourself 'lost', like you did with me. I implore you to help Akane, Nabiki and Kasumi to get stronger."

Ryoga , who'd wanted to interrupt her, nodded slowly. "I understand, Ranma. I'll help them, and I'll protect them with my life if necessary!" he vowed solemnly.

"No need to be so melodramatic," Ranma chuckled with mirth in her eyes. "Just protect them and help them to get stronger so that they can protect themselves. I don't fancy my sisters being sitting ducks," she concluded seriously, all evidence of her mirth gone.

"So you want us to train as well," Nabiki mused with a look at her older sister, her face thoughtful.

"Yes, Nabiki, Kasumi," she said, turning her head to look at them with an intent gaze of her silver-blue eyes, "We can not afford to have liabilities, and that means you will have to learn how to defend yourselves, at least well enough for you to last until help arrives. I am really, really sorry that you got dragged into my messes," she concluded, her head dropping down, sadness literally emanating from her.

Kasumi was the first to reach Ranma and pulled her in a tight hug, and Nabiki—much to the redhead's surprise— stepped behind her and began to move her right hand on her back in circling, soothing motions.

"None of that is your fault, Ranma," the ex-mercenary said in level voice, "You didn't ask for it, none of it. You didn't ask for getting pregnant, you didn't ask for fighting for all our lives, you didn't ask for the responsibility of saving the human race as it is.

"Yet you do anyway, you shouldered the responsibility to do the honourable thing. If I can help you by becoming less of a target I will do it, even though I loath physical activity. Except one, that is," she added with a mischievous smirk.

"I didn't need to know that." Akane muttered, shaking her head, the others agreeing with frantic nods of their own. "Nabiki no Hentai," she added in a whisper.

Nabiki cracked her sister a grin. "You don't know what you're missing out on until you try it, but knowing you it's more likely that you'll end up in a nunnery, baby-sis," she teased.

"Very funny, sis," Akane replied with a scowl just as Ranma thanked her older sisters and carefully pulled herself out of the hug.

"Think nothing of it, Akane," the redhead said lightly after she had turned around to her ex-fiancée. "Just because most boys our age are immature, cloying kids don't mean there ain't exceptions. You'll find the one for you, Akane. Just don't let anyone pressure you," she said with a meaningful look the other girl understood all too well.

Seconds later a surprised redhead found herself engulfed in yet another hug as a teary-eyed Akane enveloped her softly yet firmly, and this time it was Ranma who moved her right hand in soothing circles on the other girls back. "It's all right, Akane. We were kids who were coerced and pressured into something we didn't understand or want, not the way things happened at least. Something just decided that we weren't meant to be, may it be fate, karma or Kami-sama knows what. It just wasn't meant to be," she sighed.

"That doesn't make it hurt less, Ranma," Akane whispered back with a sigh of her own.

Ranma smiled. "I know I have spoilt you rotten with my magnificent presence," she said with an air of mock-haughtiness that made Akane—and her sisters—giggle, "But keep an eye open for the one for you. It doesn't do to dwell on the past."

Akane drew back and looked her ex-fiancé into her sapphire eyes. "When did you become so wise, Ranma?" she queried with a shake of her head, a small, wondering smile playing in the corners of her mouth.

"It's all Senny's fault. She's a good influence on me," Ranma replied with a face as if that were the worst thing in the world. "Friends, Akane?"

"Friends, Ranma. And this time I won't go back on my word," Akane replied, her smile growing. "Never again. We'll be friends, forever and always."

Ranma's answering smile was brilliant, and readily expressed her hopefulness. "Forever and always."

-.-

Little later the planning had come to an end, the good byes had been said and the two magical girls present at the Nekohanten were ready to take their leave. For Ranma it was yet again a trip into the unknown, and most likely a leap from the frying pan into the fire, but who had said that the life of a magical girl wasn't fraught with peril?

She would have to rely on her abilities and on her uncanny ability to come out ahead out of situations that no normal person had a prayer to survive. The problems might just have begun, but she vowed to herself that the world would not become a frozen prison of death, not as long as she drew breath...

to be continued...