-Chapter 4-

Ranma sat near Cologne and Shampoo explaining everything that had happened to her since leaving the village. Cologne reacted to the idea of Beryl saying, "There are ancient Amazon scrolls speaking about this Queen, but they do not say much. I will send word to my sisters and see if they can find more information on her."

Cologne then said, "As for these youma and the ones who fight them you should be wary of both. I want you to take Shampoo with you when you meet them next and I think you should work on creating a shield for her as well. I will supply funds."

Ranma was ecstatic until Cologne said, "As we spoke earlier you will be assisting us here in the restaurant. I expect both you and Shampoo to be back from school in time for the dinner rush each day as it will be part of your training."

That would rearrange her usual schedule where she practiced in the morning, came home to do her schoolwork, assisted Kasumi with dinner and then practiced again. "Honored elder, if I could at least spend two days assisting with the meals at the Tendo house? As long as I am there I feel that honor requires me to help out."

Cologne nodded and said, "Yes that is acceptable and on the weekends as well. During the weekend you will train here during the day and then return later to assist at the Tendo house with meals. As I have said before your former father is an honorless cur, but your own honor should dictate that this engagement should be given a small chance. Just remember Ranma that you should not feel obligated to anything if you do not love any of them."

For Ranma, who wasn't sure of what he felt hearing this from a respected source helped a great deal in some ways. In other ways it was no help at all as the red haired girl looked at her shield sister and felt the same emotions as she did for the eldest Tendo girl. In both cases it seemed clear to Ranma that despite her or his feelings neither, Shampoo nor, Kasumi felt the same way.

The next morning Ranma stopped by the restaurant to show Shampoo the way to school. The young purple haired girl smiled at Ranma and said, "Where is my Shield Sister?"

"I'm right here Shampoo, kinda." Ranma looked sheepish.

Shampoo smiled and said, "Okay you can bring me to school like that, but we will train in other body okay?"

Ranma nodded and smiled at the perky girl. The two quickly raced to school in a mixture of a foot race and a martial arts contest. Once at the gates they ran into Ranma's least favorite student at the school. Kuno stared at him and said, "Forsooth dost thou think thy clever manipulations of the fair Akane and the Pig tailed girl will bear thee aught? Nay, Kuno will dispatch thee this time foul fiend!"

Ranma smashed through the other boy once again and looked to Shampoo saying, "I swear he's going ta make my skills a bit rust by standing there like that so often."

"The silly male needs to learn how to dodge."

Ranma nodded and the two went into the building. The gossip around the school was extraordinarily quick and soon enough Nabiki was visiting the pair during lunch, "So, Saotome people are telling me that this girl is your fiancée, but that can't be right can it?"

"No, Nabiki she's my shield sister. I met her in China when I trained with a group of Chinese Amazons." Ranma answered and then introduced the pair.

Nabiki smiled after the introductions and said smoothly, "She's the one you fought some time back and then she disappeared right? Everyone says that fight was a draw Saotome, so are you better or is she?"

Shampoo looked at Ranma and said, "I won our last match."

Ranma frowned and said, "I wasn't expecting the Hiryu Shouten Ha and shouldn't have been pumping out so much hot chi. Next time we have a match it will be different."

Shampoo smiled the smile of someone ready for a challenge and said, "We'll see tribe sister."

"Tribe sister?"

"Oh yes Ranma is my tribe sister and shield sister too. All members of the tribe are tribe sisters, but Grandmother Cologne has taken Ranma in, so she and I are shield sisters."

Nabiki looked at the obviously male Ranma and said, "You do realize that Ranma is a guy right?"

Shampoo shrugged and said, "Ranma will always be Shampoo's shield sister whether male or female, it doesn't matter Ranma is Ranma."

Ranma looked at Shampoo and was happy and at the same time sad. The girl next to him was lovely, compassionate, and had a bubbly personality. What he felt for the purple haired girl was more than what would be appropriate for one's sister. Even so, if it hadn't been obvious before, it was obvious now that the young Amazon had forgiven Ranma for his/her previous deceptions in full. While Ranma was trying to determine if he should be happy or sad Nabiki chuckled at Shampoo's statement and said, "Ranma you sure do have the most interesting relationships."

With that the middle Tendo girl left, most likely to sell 'official' information on Ranma and Shampoo and the two ate in relative peace. Once the school day was over they rushed back to the restaurant where Ranma changed genders, did her homework, and helped with the dinner rush. In this case help consisted of desperately catching thrown food and placing it at customer's tables. Often when she or Shampoo arrived back in the kitchen there was a quick sparring match with Cologne and then they were back out again. By the time the dinner rush was over Ranma felt near exhaustion and yet she stayed longer so that Cologne could begin teaching her the basics of what was required for the Hiryu Shouten Ha technique.

The next day Ranma came back to the Tendo house after school. There he completed his homework and assisted Kasumi with dinner preparations. After dinner he went outside and began to practice, only to find Shampoo and Genma in a heated argument. "Listen up girl, I don't know why you're here, but Ranma isn't going to marry you. He's engaged to one of the Tendo girls you hear me?"

Shampoo laughed, but she was obviously a bit upset as her speech patterns slipped, "Shampoo here to practice with Ranma, not marry her silly male."

"No, I won't have it. Whatever you did to the boy was more than enough. He's here in Nerima and I'll train him from now on."

Shampoo laughed in the angry man's face and said, "You are nothing compared to grandmother. Yes, you put down a good foundation, but Grandmother has ancient secrets from thousands of years of history."

Genma growled as Ranma came up to the pair and said, "Pops, stop bothering Shampoo. She's just here to practice. If you think you can keep up you're welcome to spar with me."

"Fine, I'll show you the error of your ways boy." Genma rushed in to combat Ranma. The two blurred and traded punches and kicks across the yard but, while it was true that Genma was a great martial artist in his own right with excellent form and skill, it was clear that his son now outclassed him.

Ten minutes after it began the fight was over and Ranma was the clear winner. He spoke to his father's semi conscious form, "Not bad Pops, but Shampoo and I have some real work to do."

After that Ranma and Shampoo were whizzing about the yard trading punches and kicks. The two were nearly evenly matched, but the spar ended with Ranma holding Shampoo's arm in a hyper extended lock, once that occurred the two disengaged. Shampoo bit her bottom lip and said, "Ranma not bad as male, but I think I'd prefer to train with you as a female from now on."

Ranma not noticing Shampoo's elevated heartbeat or the way she bit her lower lip nodded and splashed his arms with water from the koi pond. After that the two girls worked on some more basics of the Hiryu Shouten Ha and then they separated. Ranma worked on her magical abilities with Beryl and Shampoo ended up stopping her routine as the red haired girl tossed a mana bolt. "Ranma you said that you can do magic and I believed you, but that was like a chi blast. Not quite the same, but close. Can you teach me?"

Ranma wasn't sure at all, but Beryl simply said, "We can try Ranma."

Beryl was correct and so the first thing Ranma did was step close to Shampoo using an easy spell the red haired girl assessed her friend's potential to use mana. A moment later she found the answer and said, "All right Shampoo, from now on when you come here to train we will work on magic as well as martial arts. " The purple haired girl agreed and went home for the night.

With Shampoo gone Ranma walked back inside and sat in the Tendo living room. Once again the eldest Tendo daughter was in there watching a show. Ranma sat down and thought to start a conversation, but nothing came to mind.

Ranma sighed realizing that he had no clue about relationships and that despite her own history Beryl had little experience as well. He sat there wondering if e should say something, if he even wanted to say something, and even how to begin a conversation that didn't involve cooking dinner. He decided to start by asking her about her day.

The conversation was a short back and forth between the two of them each relating their day in brief snippets. As Ranma came to the end of his day Kasumi said, "So it's magic then Ranma?"

Ranma nodded and said, "Yeah in my female form I have access to mana reserves and can use them to," he shrugged, "well cast spells I guess is the best word."

"You're teaching your friend Shampoo how to do that now?"

"Yeah I'm gonna need backup against Youma and she's my shield sister, so it makes the most sense."

Kasumi looked into Ranma's eyes with her deep brown ones. For a moment he was entranced and then it ended as she said, "Why are you doing this Ranma?"

Ranma looked off a moment and said, "Duty. . .honor. . .my friend. There are so many reasons to go out and stop Youma's, but the most important is I think the basic tenant of martial arts. We are the best we can be to protect other people."

Kasumi smiled and said, "I had heard it as a Martial artist's duty is to protect the weak. What you said sounds different."

Ranma nodded and said, "Yeah I guess, but I've been thinking that saying other people who can't do martial arts are weak isn't exactly right you know. A friend of mine went through a lot and it got me to thinking about that. Maybe we all have our own strengths and it is most important to use those strengths as best we can for each other."

Beryl seethed with happiness at the idea. With her Ranma had walked even farther into the path of light, so far from where she had once been. Also she noted that Kasumi seemed to regard Ranma slightly differently for just a moment. Her gaze had stayed on the boy and lingered even as Ranma was looking away. Still, she kept it to herself so as not to get Ranma's hopes up falsely.

Kasumi, who had been gazing fondly at Ranma said, "You're right Ranma, but I hope you are careful anyway. There are people here who would be very upset if you were hurt."

Ranma nodded and said, "I will and remember I'll be at the Café tomorrow, so don't expect me until late." Kasumi nodded and the two said their goodnights.

The next ever Ranma and Shampoo trained in the Nekohanten catching plates and spinning about. They clashed with each other and then the ancient Amazon in back all at Cologne's urging and signals. When it was over they went out in the back and for the first time Ranma was able to use the Hiryu Shouten Ha. Cologne easily flew up in its winds and slowly came down to rest on the ground there she said, "As you have seen and my granddaughter knows there is always a counter technique or escape. In order to remove the escape you will have to learn to tighten the spiral faster as for the counter."

Cologne stopped and Ranma said, "Your opponent sees it and rides the edges."

The ancient Amazon smiled and said, "Correct and so you must learn even more. Delve into that essence of the Soul of Ice and find more."

Ranma and Shampoo nodded and then Cologne added, "One more thing, I have been considering the magic you mentioned Ranma and we will be receiving copies of a few ancient books from the storehouse in the village. It is my hope that they will help you and my daughter."

The two girls goggled at the older woman because neither had told her that Shampoo was being trained. Cologne just laughed at their expressions and said, "I have my ways granddaughters."

"Wait, Grandmother how will we fit it all in?"

The elderly Amazon looked at Shampoo and said, "You'll have to figure it out, but I suppose I will have to take you off the schedule for another day during the week. While the training in here brings many customers I think using mana bolts or other magic would be a bit much. You will get an extra day off to train with Ranma and help her build any devices she needs to make." The two nodded and went their separate ways for the night.

Ranma nodded at that and began walking home she hadn't done much work on the belt for Shampoo yet and it would be needed for the next day's meeting with the Senshi. In addition she had yet to figure out how to spend the money Cologne had given her or how to get to Juuban faster than the train as she didn't want to spend all her current money on a motorcycle.

Luckily Beryl stepped in and said to her, "The youma detector. If we could craft a few more there ought to be a way to put them around the Juuban area."

Ranma nodded and mentally said, "Yeah that's good, but it is still kinda far away. We are going to need faster reaction time if we're gonna do that."

Beryl thought about it and then said, "The delivery people for the Nekohanten have bikes do they not? If you were to acquire a similar mode of transport, while not as fast as a motorcycle, you could be in Juuban with Shampoo in a matter of a few minutes at most."

It took most of the night for Ranma to finish the belt for Shampoo and so the next day Ranma was male and napping in an alleyway in Juuban while he waited for the Senshi to arrive. Shampoo was using all of her skills at stealth to remain well hidden, but not far away. Both of them were wearing the shield belts Ranma had built from Beryl's designs.

Soon enough the Senshi were at the alleyway and the team of girls were obviously very cautious as the warily stood on the street. Finally they slowly entered after Mercury made a hand signal and once in the alleyway Mars spoke first saying, "All right Ranma Saotome we've done a bit of searching on you and so far your story seems legit."

Ranma was about to say something, but Beryl mentally elbowed him and so he waited. Mars continued saying, "As much as we would prefer not to endanger you the fact remains that we can use extra help. An extra pair of hands could mean the difference between life and death and we can't afford the second option. If Queen Beryl succeeds in her goals our world could be destroyed."

It was somewhat against the grain, but Beryl urged him on as he said hesitantly, "So why not contact the authorities?"

This time it was Moon, who Ranma couldn't help but think of as Princess Serenity, "They don't have any protection against the draining attacks of the youma. I saw it once three officers with guns blazing died that day."

Ranma could feel the sadness oozing off of the girl as if she bore the weight of every death personally. He nodded and looked at her eyes seeing little happiness at all left in them and nearly no confidence at all. He looked at the entire group of girls and saw the same thing. He had to know why and he hoped that knowing why would help him raise these girl's spirits somehow. "Okay, well I think I need to know the whole story about you guys and Queen Beryl. Would you be willing ta tell me?"

Beryl silently congratulated him on his well chosen words and Mercury stepped closer. The blue haired girl in a blue outfit spoke clearly and directly, "We have already decided to tell you the tale. Queen Beryl knows most of the current information so if you are her agent you will learn nothing new. The most important thing that you must understand right now is that we can not reveal our civilian identities. We are not ready to trust you that far and so what I say will be somewhat modified."

From that beginning Mercury started the tale while the group of scouts kept watch. Luckily for Shampoo her hiding skills were much better than any of the Scouts detection capabilities and so she heard the tale as well.

The story Mercury told began out simple with Sailor Moon finding her advisor, the name and species of which was left out of the tale, soon after finding her advisor Tuxedo Mask showed up when she fought a youma. Despite his reluctance to specifically speak to her or stay after battles he was often there to assist in her quest to defeat Youma and one of Queen Beryl's Generals named Jadeite. At first Jadeite seemed to only be interested in stealing human energy and he was quite accomplished at it. In fact in their third meeting with the general Tuxedo mask was knocked unconscious and Sailor Moon nearly died from blood loss.

From that point on Moon's advisor suggested finding more allies and Moon agreed. The biggest problem with that strategy was that Jadeite and his youma were free to act while they searched. Thus the evil general's minions ended up draining people and killing them while Moon and her advisor spent time looking for and finding Mercury and Mars. The deaths of people without their help in the endeavor made sure that those three girls formed a bond and from there they began defeating Jadeite's schemes.

That was when they first met Queen Beryl. The red haired queen was waiting as the three defeated Jadeite's scheme at a gym where he had been draining the people who worked out there. The battle was a complete disaster and the three girls were barely able to escape with their lives. Mercury and Mars scars were a testament to that fact.

After that Beryl was not seen again, but Jadeite was never seen without a second general named Nephrite. The two argued often, but together were more than a match for the three girls and their Tuxedo clad assistant. The only good thing at that point was the arrival of Sailor Jupiter. With her help the group was able to be on the winning side once again.

That winning streak was a sham however, because the attacks by Nephrite and Jadeite were deceptions hiding the actions of a third General named Zoicite who was collecting rainbow crystals. These crystals, when combined could create the Ginzuishou which was an artifact of great power in the ancient Moon Kingdom. Of course, the only reason the girls found out about this deception was due to Sailor Venus who with her own advisor ended up facing Zoicite in a battle for the green crystal. Venus was successful in her battle and gained the green crystal. Afterwards Venus found the other girls and explained the plot.

From then on the group was more vigilant but, with three generals and Beryl about, the work was difficult. The next time Jadeite attacked only a portion of the group went while the rest attempted to find the second attack. The problem with that strategy was that all three generals were together and Jupiter was hurt badly enough to spend a few days in the hospital.

While Jupiter recovered the rest of the team lost the battle for the Blue crystal. By this time Mercury and the two advisors to the group determined that there were six crystals and that only the one they had and two others were not in Beryl's grip.

Mercury finished the tale and said, "That's about where you came in Ranma. We met up with Beryl again recently or at least someone who looked like her. There is some disagreement on that matter"

Mercury looked at Mars somewhat annoyed and Moon looked sheepish. While no actual words were spoken it was clear that at least two members of the group hadn't believed that Ranma's female form was actually Beryl. "In any case the Beryl look alike escaped us and since then we have been fighting Beryl's forces and trying to find the last two crystals. If we weren't so desperately in need of help we wouldn't be here telling you any of this."

Ranma slowly nodded as she realized the situation was far more dangerous than a few simple youma. The first question was obvious, "Would it be okay if I found other martial artists and outfitted them with the shields our family has developed?"

Mercury looked to the other scouts and Venus said, "In for a penny in for a duck."

Jupiter said, "I think that's in for a pound."

Mars looked at the two and rolled her eyes saying, "I think we get the idea and I agree. Despite major reservations we need help and this guy doesn't radiate any energy like the Generals or Beryl does right Mercury?"

Mercury nodded and so Mars said, "Good, so that leaves us with finding those crystals and the Princess. Since you are willing to help why don't you tell us how?"

Ranma looked at Sailor Moon with full knowledge that she was indeed the princess, but without any way to explain how he might know that information. So that left the red haired girl with the plan she and Beryl had come up with. "If you give me a few days I can use my family art to set up some Youma detectors in town. A friend of mine and I can be here in a few minutes after they go off."

Mercury looked up as he finished and said, "Good, in addition I do believe we can give you a communicator so that we can contact you."

She pulled one out and added, "As we said earlier we do not fully trust you yet, so you will be unable to contact us."

Ranma nodded and took the communicator. Moments later the Senshi were gone and she walked over to Shampoo's hiding spot saying, "What have I just gotten myself into?"

Shampoo stepped out of hiding and said, "It looks like we have a great deal to do Ranma. We should seek grandmother's guidance."

Ranma nodded and the two girls walked to the train station. Once back in Nerima they went to Cologne and explained the additional details of the story they had been given. The elderly Amazon said, "Well it seems we will need to train even harder. You have both mastered many powerful techniques, but you will need more. I will think about the best technique to teach you next and in the meantime I think you should both practice more magic."

Ranma nodded and then said, "Well at least it can't get much worse."

Unfortunately for the young Saotome he was quite wrong. In fact the very next day the school had a transfer student come in. "Ukyou Kuonji's the name and Okonomiyaki's the game."

Ranma watched his childhood friend toss Okonomiyaki to the rest of the class. His portion had a challenge written on it and the young martial artist sighed trying to think of what he had done to piss off this friend.

"You seem to have this affect on people." Beryl laughed

"I don't get it we were great friends. I mean well sure we used to spar and when I won I'd get food from his dad."

"His dad Ranma?" Beryl Questioned and then added, "I note a distinct lack of a certain part of his neck and doesn't he seem a tad curvy?"

Ranma looked over at Ukyou and realized Beryl was right. Somehow his childhood friend wasn't a boy, but was instead a girl. The solution for this was quite obvious to him and when lunch time came around and the two were on opposite sides of a giant griddle top ring Ranma tossed a cup of hot water at Ukyou.

"What the hell was that for?" Ukyou, still female and now angry, rushed in an attacked with her giant spatula.

Ranma easily evaded the attack and said, "Look I don't want to hurt you. Why don't you just tell me what I did wrong and we can work it out?"

The words seemed to bypass the young girl and she said, "You left me behind Ranma! For that and all of the insults to my clan you must pay."

More swings from the giant spatula along with small spatula shaped shuriken and a flour bomb went towards Ranma, but he easily evaded it all. He tried a few more times to engage Ukyou in some form of conversation, but mostly received, "Stand still and die already!"

After avoiding a bunch of sticky noodles Ranma simply rushed in and defeated his former friend with a few punches and a pressure point. Soon after the young girl began to wake and Ranma said, "Look I already have Kuno, Ryouga, and sometimes Akane after me along with a ton of other problems. Can't we just handle this some other way?"

The girl sobbed and said, "How will I gain my honor back now? You renounced our engagement and left me behind. All I had left was revenge and I can't even get that. So what can I do?"

"Wait engaged?" Wheels spun in Ranma's head as he realized that crying in front of him might just be a way to extract himself from the Tendo engagements and concentrate on issues in Juuban.

Ukyou nodded and explained her tale to Ranma. Shampoo, who had been watching and listening the whole time said, "Wow, that too bad. I think you should have a very personal conversation with Ranma's former father Genma don't you?"

Ranma nodded and said, "Yeah, you know what maybe Shampoo and I can help you talk to pops."

The next day Genma Saotome woke up still stuffed in a trash can with nearly all of his limbs dislocated. However, despite the horrific scene of a certain Panda receiving just recompense for his actions, Ranma was unable to extract himself from the Tendo agreement at that time. In fact the only major change was that Ukyou decided to stay in town and open up her own Okonomiyaki shop so that she could be closer to her fiancé.

Ranma found himself talking to Beryl that night saying, "A girl who actually seems interested in me and what is my problem? I can't see her as anything more than my old friend."

He sighed and added, "Why can't I just forget about Kasumi and Shampoo? One is my shield sister and there must be something wrong with that. The other is older than me and probably sees me as only some immature guy she might be stuck marrying."

"There's always Akane or Nabiki."

"Oh please Beryl, I'd rather cut off my foot or something. Not that I ain't appreciative of Nabiki helping us out with money and stuff, but still not so sure about that modeling thing. Really I don't think she's for me. As for Akane, well I'm kinda glad that she and Ryouga are together it keeps them both out of my hair for the most part."

"That's true Ranma very true and how do you feel about your female half?"

Ranma sighed and shrugged, "Same I don't know. It's really complicated and I'm sure you know what I mean what with wanting to use the body yourself and all."

"Yes, I suppose I do. In some ways I wish I had not ended up in anyone left in the pool for an eternity. Yet I am also glad that you found me. A mixture of admiration jealousy and love swell through me quite often with you Ranma."

Ranma mentally nodded and said, "I just feel bad for you and I want to help. Whatever this is I found it's a lot bigger than just a martial arts journey. Still I think we're up to it and we have Shampoo and Grandmother to help us as well."

"What about Ukyou, Akane, and Ryouga could they not help as well?"

"Maybe, but we just met up with Uk-chan again, and I really don't trust Akane and Ryouga's tempers in battle. No I think for now we'll keep it with me and Shampoo."

"All right Ranma, but we should consider making a belt for Grandmother as well." Ranma nodded and then headed down for bed.

Author's Notes:

I'm still something of a beginning writer so bear with me on pacing and such, but I hope this chapter had a good pace and that you enjoyed it. Again, for any of you who didn't know my plan is to keep writing Fanfic until I believe that I can make a satisfying book with my own original material. Whether or not that second part ever happens who knows, but in the meantime I'll keep doing fanfic.

1) I'm trying to keep this in a First person Omniscient so basically we only see what Ranma sees or at least mostly. We get a few extra clues he might not get and are privy to Beryl's thoughts as well.

2) As you can see the Sailor Moon timeline has been vastly affected by Kaolinite's tampering. There are still a few crystals to go and quite a bit of battling.

3) Will this be a Fukufic? I'm not telling