Dr. Souichi Tomoe arrived home and saw his wife Keiko in the kitchenette making some sort of soup. He took a sniff of the air and thought things smelled wonderful. He spotted Hotaru sitting at the dinner table working on her homework just before she spotted him. The smile that lit up Hotaru's face when she saw him released all the tension from work.

There was a cry of "Father," as Hotaru jumped up and ran over to hug Souichi. He fell to one knee and happily embraced his little girl. Hotaru leaned into the hug and said, "I missed you so much!"

Souichi messed with Hotaru's hair for a second to get her to focus on his face. With a loving grin he replied, "So did I my little firefly. Did you have a good day at school?"

"I did father. I've almost gotten all of my homework completed."

"I'm happy to hear that. Now why don't you get back to work on your homework and get it done before dinner? That way I can help you go over it once we eat." It was times like this that made Souichi happy to work at Mugen Academy with his family's holdings in the institution. Unlike other professors he could blow off the unofficially mandatory after work hang out with coworkers and still be assured of his position. Why the hell would he go to get drunk on terrible booze and listen to horrible singers murder his ears calling it karaoke when he could be here with his family? All that mattered to him was right here in this spacious by Tokyo standards apartment. The rest of Japan could go to hell as long as his wife and daughter were safe.

Souichi walked behind Keiko gently wrapping his arms around her waist as he always did and stole his customary kiss on her cheek. Keiko's smile was evident in her voice as she said, "Dinner will be in twenty minutes dear so don't go trying to sneak any tastings beforehand. The mail came today and there was an interesting letter address to you."

"A letter? Was it in response to that paper I sent out for review last month?"

"No. The letter actually comes from the Nerima city government office. It's from one of the councilmembers of city. I put it on top of your inbox on your desk."

That was rather odd. Souichi could not think of any reason why the city government of a ward on the other side of Tokyo would contact him. He let go of Keiko and said, "I'll go see what the councilmember has to say." It didn't take Souichi long to get to his office which was barely bigger than a closet and sit at his desk. He spotted the letter right where Keiko said it would be and picked it up. The letter was addressed to Dr. Souichi Tomoe and had a return address right back to the Nerima city government building. Specifically, it came from the office of councilmember Soun Tendo.

Souichi opened a drawer and withdrew an old family tanto he kept there and used it as letter opener. No doubt his late father would have been aghast at using the century old blade like that. His father had been a historian and had taken great pride in hiding the various family blades from American searches during the occupation. Souichi was willing to keep the family katana and wakizashi as part of the household shrine in honor of his father. However, he drew the line when it came to less historied blades in his father's collection. The tanto was kept as it was a handy letter opener and Keiko got annoyed at him using her dinner knives. He opened the envelope, pulled out the letter, and started to read:

'Dr. Souichi Tomoe

No doubt you are surprised to have received this correspondence as a councilmember of a city council would be unlikely to call on the professional aide of a noted scientist in your field. Nerima is also not famous for its academic institutions in your field. Your presence at one of Nerima's colleges would improve its academic reputation, but this letter is not some attempt at headhunting for local political prestige. This letter is concerning academic matters, but of a personal nature rather than a public one.

For most of my adult life I have had the hobby of researching the Tendo Clan's history and genealogy. This comes from a discovery in my youth that a lifelong friend of mine was in fact a distant cousin. My historical research dates back to the 1300s with the start of the Ashikaga shogunate. Specifically with the general Toga who was known to his contemporaries as Inu no Taisho. He is the farthest back in my clan's lineage that I have found solid records on. Even then the records on Toga are somewhat fanciful with many calling him a yokai given his reputation on the battlefield. I am sure as a scientist you understand my frustration with a lack of verifiable data for research.

Some recent research on tracing the descendants of Inu no Taisho has led me to reach out to you. Evidence has come to light that a member of another clan descended from Inu no Taisho that I had thought died young in the Bakumatsu likely lived far longer than I thought. This lady, if my information is correct, seems to go on to become one of your ancestors. I was hoping we could arrange a meeting if you are agreeable to compare clan registries.

If the registries check out and we are distant kin I would be joyful to share my research into our family records. Many of the stories I have found are very interesting and would probably make for several good tv shows. On the other hand, if the registries prove that my research revealed a mistaken identity then I would be able to thank you for clarifying the issue. The offer to share the stories I have found is still available. They would not be stories of your kin in this case, but they would be very entertaining all the same.

Please contact me so I might know if you are willing to meet. Enclosed with this letter is the genealogy information that led me to reach out. You can call my house at the number written below. Either I or someone else at the house will be able to answer. I thank you for your time reading this letter and indulging in my hobby.

Respectfully,

Soun Tendo.'

Whatever Souichi imagined to find in the letter it certainly was not this. He then looked at the other documents enclosed with the letter. The list started in the 1850s with a clan Souichi had never heard of. Not too surprising as his father was the history buff in the family. Then the name of one daughter of the clan was highlighted which sounded familiar. Souichi closed his eyes and thought about why that name might be familiar.

Then it suddenly hit Souichi. The name was exactly the same name that his father gave whenever he told the story about how the family gained their current family sword. It seemed like every chance the old man had he talked about how the clan gain such a renowned and whispered about sword. Souichi usually tunned the old man out when that story came about. It just seemed too fantastical like his father had tried to spice up the story and over did it.

Once Souichi made that connection his own interest was piqued. The information he had been provided did line up with his own family records. It was a bit odd to have someone reach out to him like this on such a subject. However, it wasn't that strange when Souichi thought about it. Everyone was entitled to at least one hobby and being an amateur historian was respectable enough. Especially for an older man in a modest but honorable public position.

It also wasn't like Mr. Tendo was making an unreasonable request. He just wanted to meet and verify if the information he had uncovered was correct. He had gotten plenty of requests for information over his career from other scientists. Usually, they just asked him to mail them the results, but he could understand why Mr. Tendo made this request the way he had.

Keiko's voice pulled Souichi out of his thoughts. "Dinner's almost ready." That allowed Souichi to put his things away and make sure that the tanto was hidden away. Keiko had given him hell several months ago for letting Hotaru hold the family blade when he was doing his monthly polishing. Souichi left his office and turned into the family room as Keiko and Hotaru were putting plates on the table.

The meal was excellent as always and the conversation turned towards the day's events. Hotaru talked about her day at school and what she had learned bringing smiles to her parents faces. Keiko talked about the current novella she was working on. When it got to his turn Souichi gave a playful grin and said, "Nothing really exciting happened at work. I don't get any time at the supercomputer to test my model until next week. The students in my class pretend they're interested in what I have to teach. Oh, and my fellow professors love to talk about whatever silly show is popular this week."

Souichi grinned at Hotaru as he continued on. "I did have something interesting happen. It seems that letter your mother mentioned was a possible distant relative reaching out to us. A councilmember of Nerima apparently likes to research genealogy and found some documents that suggest we might be distantly related. He wanted to meet us to verify if his information is correct. From what I briefly checked it seems he is correct. I think I'll give him a call tomorrow about arranging a meeting to double check everything."

Soun looked out at the faces assembled at the kitchen table with a solemn visage on his face. "Alright everyone I need your complete attention. Dr. Tomoe called today and talked to Kasumi. He mentioned that he has records that match ours and is interested in verifying everything. He also has a wife and a young daughter. Kasumi managed to convince him to bring both with him this Sunday when he visits to verify everything as a family outing. Excellent quick thinking on that dear."

Kasumi smiled and replied, "No problem father."

There was a brief smile on Soun's face before he continued on. "This is our best lead on Bakusaiga and thus Sailor Saturn. If we are lucky, the reborn lady is either Dr. Tomoe's wife or his daughter and they will be here on Sunday. If we are not lucky, they will just provide us a place to start looking for Bakusaiga. Any questions so far?"

Nabiki spoke up, "How are you going to go hunting for information on Bakusaiga if the Tomoes don't have it? Hell, how are we going to know if Sailor Saturn is going to show up on Sunday? I seem to recall Snarf saying he couldn't track the princess."

The furry advisor spoke up at this point. "I cannot track the princess in her unawaken state like I did Lord Ranma. That is not the same as being unable to detect her. Soun and I have already covered this part of the plan. I will be putting a sensor under the table that will be able to detect the Sailor Crystal of Saturn if its holder is in the room. I hope that having Lord Ranma in the room as well will, for lack of a better word, agitate the princess's crystal making it easier to detect and identify."

Soun took over at this point. "I already have an excuse ready if we need to ask about Bakusaiga so that is not an issue. However, there is an issue that we need to address before this meeting happens. Dr. Tomoe is a scientist; specifically, he is a physicist. Such people typically do not do well when they encounter the mystical side of things. If his wife or daughter is Sailor Saturn then we will need to break the facts to him gently so they don't break him. If they aren't connected to Sailor Saturn, we need to keep the unusual aspects of our lives hidden from them."

Akane piped up. "I'll just spend the time the Tomoes are here out of the house." There was no way they could really play Akane's hanyo looks as cosplay to someone outside of Nerima. That excuse was only bought in Nerima by those who wanted to believe it or pretended to believe it for politeness' sake.

Snarf sighed and said, "I'll stay hidden in the shuttle until we confirm the princess's identity."

Nabiki spoke up, "I'll probably spend the time in my room working on a term paper. Should mostly be revising my paper by then, but I do want a high grade on it."

Genma was about to speak up when Soun spoke first. "With Ranma having to be here to help with the detection of Sailor Saturn it only makes sense for you to be here as well old friend."

"I have to disagree Soun. My being here only means only increases the odds of some spill happening before we are ready. Don't you remember the last time magic happened around a physicist? He had a mental breakdown! Kasumi will be here. It would be perfectly natural for Ranma to spend time with his fiancée. That's not including the fact that we do stay here."

Soun considered what he was told for a minute and then replied. "You do have a point. I figured that having another adult in the room would help if we had to break the existence of magic. On second thought I think you're right Genma. The risks of accidentally revealing magic are greater than the help I think you can bring."

Ranma then spoke up. "That only takes care of things here at the dojo. What about the regular excitement in the neighborhood? I know there are things we can't plan on like if Bacon Breath or the Old Freak pop their heads in while the Tomoes are visiting. But aren't there some that we can try to plan for that live around here?"

Akane chuckled and sarcastically replied, "You mean like your other girlfriends and the crazies chasing after them?"

Ranma replied, "I wouldn't put it like that Akane."

Soun spoke up before the conversation could get off topic. "There are many people in the neighborhood who like to visit us that tend to lean more on the moonlight side of the world rather than the daylight side of it. We have a few days to mention to all of them that we won't be available Sunday."

Nabiki asked, "That's all well and good. But, what about those that like to just barge in whenever they want?"

Genma answered, "I've got that covered. I'll take up watch to try and intercept any problems before the come to the dojo. This is another reason why I felt not having me be in the meeting would be good."

Kasumi spoke up, "I can ask Shampoo if she wouldn't mind helping out."

Akane fought back the urge to roll her eyes or make a sarcastic remark. Things had improved a little bit between her and Shampoo now that the main source of their antagonism was removed. Too many incidents between them for them to ever really become friends. Barely tolerated acquaintances was really pushing it between them. Akane was annoyed that the Amazon was still chasing after Ranma since that now meant she was after her sister's fiancé. However, Shampoo and Kasumi seemed to get along surprisingly well for young women who had plenty of reasons to loath each other. Why that was the case Akane did not know.

Soun nodded in agreement before speaking. "Having more help would be useful. The less chance of unnecessary exposure to the mystical would be best for the Tomoes. It will also help us control the reveal if it is needed."

Souichi was shocked awake when a bucket of ice-cold water was thrown onto him. After a few seconds of flailing about in shock a voice spoke to him. "Easy there, doc. We just had to reset your brain. Have a towel so you can dry off. A warm and fluffy bath towel was handed to Souichi blocking the speaker from sight. Souichi didn't care as he just wanted to get the freezing water and crushed ice off of his face. Then Souichi felt someone wrap another warm towel over him.

The scientist spoke up once he was no longer freezing. "What happened?" He remembered meeting with Mr. Tendo along with the man's eldest daughter and her fiancé. It had been easy enough for everyone to pull out copies of the family registries and confirm that the Tendo, Saotome, and Tomoe families were all related. Distantly in the case of the Tendos and Saotomes while the Tomoes had a much larger degree of separation from the other two clans. It was rather fascinating to see how differently one man's descendants could become over the centuries.

Something had given Souichi a shock so bad that he had fainted. He was able to figure that out. What he couldn't figure out was what caused him to faint. A firm and unknown hand was placed on his shoulder bothering him with the invasion of his personal space. Then a strong and powerful but unknown voice said, "You learned something you never expected that shook your world view. The shock was so great it knocked you unconscious."

Souichi was about to shout that the invasion of personal space and the outrageous claims. However, he noticed even with his view partially blocked by the towel that the arm holding him was very hairy. A second later he realized that it wasn't that the arm was hairy so much as furry and had muscles that could probably be used to break him in half. Souichi let his eyes wander up the arm and realized just who or rather what he was about to yell at.

The being before Souichi made him wish he had brought his brown pants as the towel fell away. This giant looked like someone had thrown Arnold Schwarzenegger and a lion into a mixer. Forget about breaking him in half. Souichi was certain that the man could deadlift one of the school's buses! Where had he come from? There was no way the man before him was human and Souichi was certain that he would have remembered a government announcement that aliens had arrived.

Kasumi then walked over to the giant and said, "I think your current form is a little much Ranma. Perhaps you should turn back." Souichi remembered the name Ranma. That was the name of Kasumi's fiancé. Before Souichi could say anything, Kasumi splashed some water on the person holding him. Souichi watched and felt the being holding him change into the young man he had met earlier today.

Ranma was about to take his hand away when Souichi suddenly grabbed it in seeming disbelief. The professor started to stammer out. "But how? I felt the grip change. I, I don't understand. This has to be impossible."

Soun spoke up drawing Souichi's attention. "It's not impossible. Just something that we as a society have very limited abilities to study or understand. In fact, I can verify as a government official that the government is both aware of what happened and tries to keep it quiet to avoid panic. What you saw is obviously not impossible because you just witnessed it and can verify it is no trick. I will also admit that there tends to be plenty of charlatans claiming to do something like what you just witnessed even though they have no ability. They actually help me and others in the various governments hide the real situations given the fakery they put on display for the public."

Wheels started to turn in Souichi's head as a realization slowly dawned on him. He blurted out, "Magic? Magic is real?" Souichi turned to look at Keiko and Hotaru. His wife looked on everything in disbelief and worry doing a very good job at remaining calm to not break out into a panic. Hotaru was looking at Ranma in questioning amazement.

Soun nodded his head and replied, "Magic and much of the old folklore is real if misinterpreted in modern pop culture. Those in the know like the Tendo and Saotome Clans try to keep this information from becoming widely known. It's the same on the institutional level when it comes to governments."

"Why?" Everyone turned to look at Hotaru as she continued. "Why hide that magic is real? Isn't that lying to everyone which is wrong?"

This brought a grin to Soun's face as he answered the question. "You're right that it's wrong to lie Hotaru. However, this is one of those very rare cases when keeping quiet about the truth is better than shouting out the truth. Magic and science work together. I have even met people that use the scientific method in their study of magic. Sadly, most people cannot handle science and magic together. Centuries ago, it was discovered that science could generally help more people than magic could so society focused on hiding magic to help the community."

Hotaru nodded her head getting the concept. It was sort of like when her mama and papa said that something would have to wait until she was older to understand. A thought just came to her and she asked, "Why did you tell us?"

Soun promptly answered. "We told the three of you because your family will be dragged into the more supernatural aspects of life. It's sadly inevitable because Hotaru here has been gifted with a great potential for magic. The world does not permit supernatural talent to lie dormant like other natural talents can for people. When we noticed it, I decided a control reveal would be in your best interests instead of letting nature take its course. This way you would know what is going on and have people to help you."

Keiko suddenly grabbed Hotaru tightly in her arms and nervously spoke. "What's going to happen to my little firefly?" Keiko had read many of the traditional stories when she started developing her interest in writing. Disney could burn in Naraka because happy endings did not exist in the true version of those stories. The best anyone involved in the old tales could hope for was to survive them. That was not something she wanted for Hotaru at all.

Ranma spoke up. "Nothing bad is going to happen to your daughter as long as I'm in fighting condition. We have more experiences and resources when it comes to the supernatural that we'll share with you. Moreover, ensuring your daughter's safety is one of my duties."

Souichi asked, "Why is it your duty?"

Ranma spoke up. "I'll give you the bare bones basics so you don't have another fainting spell. Reincarnation is a thing and is at least partly why your daughter has such high magical potential. The detection method we used also picked up who she was in a pervious life. Hotaru was a very powerful and important magical person who existed long before modern known civilization. At that time my previous incarnation was the captain of her body guards. Since I inherited that life's powers, I also inherited that lifetime's responsibilities. That means Hotaru's safety is going to be one of my responsibilities going forward."

Kasumi spoke up before Souichi could say anything. "I understand your worries Mrs. Tomoe. I have had some rather uncomfortable events in my life thanks to the mystical. However, all of us want to help you all with these facts of life. You cannot run from them as that just causes more problems in the end. Ranma has helped out other members of my family and the city at large many times when trouble has happened. You can trust him to go above and beyond expectations when he gives his word on something."

Souichi wasn't sure what to think anymore. This was not what he expected when he agreed to come to visit the Tendos. Would things ever be simple again?

Things would probably never be simple again in Souichi's mind. The Tendos had gotten the Tomoes to stay for dinner. It was a good thing as Keiko wouldn't have the energy to cook tonight and he didn't have the focus to find a restaurant for takeout. The revelations that kept on coming one after another made the doctor wish he was just having a very strange dream.

However, things were far too strange for this to be something conjured up in a fever sleep. His little Hotaru was apparently the reborn princess of Saturn. It had been amusing and shocking to see Snarf rush over and prostrate himself with tears revealing who Hotaru had been in her last lifetime. Then a fox had come running through the house to get hot water revealing the middle tendo sister's curse. Snarf's antics had apparently startled her causing her to spill her drink triggering the curse.

Things only got stranger when Akane, Genma, and Shampoo came over. Souichi glanced across the table and resisted the urge to shake his head. Ranma was sitting between Shampoo and Kasumi with a cautiously nervous look on his face as he occasionally glanced at his two companions. Souichi hadn't been paying too much attention when Shampoo was introduced. Something about her being Kasumi's friend and through a set of weird circumstances also engaged to Ranma. There was no way on this earth that Souichi was going to risk his neck asking for more details about that situation.

Keiko was chatting with Akane about one of her prior adventures and then nearly burst out laughing. "Wait. You mean to tell me after all of that it turned out the prize was a chance to meet an actor known as Mr. China instead of going to China?"

Akane nodded her head with inhuman grace. "That's correct. The lug over there mopped about it for three days straight."

"Oh, Akane don't joke about Ranma like that." Kasumi said. "Ranma only mopped for about a day and a half."

The nervous look vanished from Ranma as he became defensive. "Anyone in my position then would have mopped. Here I was going way out of my comfort zone and ability to try and get a way to cure my curse when it all turned out to be a big misunderstanding. That's not counting all the craziness that went into that play."

Nabiki spoke up. "I think the jock has a point there Akane. It was hilarious watching everything from a safe distance. However, having a potential cure to a curse like Jusenkyo pulled out from under you like that would be devastating to me. I'm just glad I know enough to know I'm never going to get a real 'cure' for my curse. Saves me some headaches even if I really wish it was possible to cure this curse."

Soun soon got Souichi's attention by asking him about his work. There was something surreal about discussing physics research with an alien and a hanyou sitting at the same table. Both Soun and Genma really couldn't follow along when Souichi talked about his research. They were able to hold their own and commiserate with him when it came to the academic side of his job.

Keiko was happy to see Souichi talk with someone besides her about the stresses at work. Her husband had always been a bit of an introvert and had trouble working with his coworkers beyond the basics. The whole strangeness of the situation seemed to have rattled him enough to socialize. She shifted her attention as Hotaru got Akane to tell another tale of the group's misadventures. Keiko listened in and found some parts of it amusing.

However, the tale also reinforced her beliefs that her family was now exposed to a much more dangerous world. The moonlight side did not let any connected to it escape or be ignored. Part of Keiko wanted to rage at the heavens against the Tendos and Saotomes for pulling her family into wonderland. That was her irrational side and she knew it. Hotaru was going to pull them in all on her own as she demonstrated earlier by transforming into Sailor Saturn.

At least the Tendos and Saotomes were trying to help her family by giving them knowledge and protection. It was better that friendlies had introduced them to the supernatural instead of enemies. Keiko could well imagine how terrible it would be for Hotaru if she was forced into a situation where her powers unknowingly activated in an emergency. Such an event would have happened if her family had been left in ignorance.

Hotaru fought back the urge to giggle as she listened to Akane's tale. Today had been so amazing for her. First, she finds out that she has a bunch of distant relatives and then she learns that magic was real. It had been weird to see Snarf bowing and calling her a princess. Afterwards Ranma had told Snarf that he had gone too fast leading to the little guy apologizing. It was like something out of a morning cartoon.

Part of Hotaru was nervous at what this new information would mean. She knew she could trust Ranma and Snarf. Something in her gut she just couldn't explain told her that those two would do everything they could to keep her safe. Maybe it had something to do with her past life? Something to talk to her parents about when they got home.