The characters contained within this story are owned by Takahashi 
Rumiko and Takeuchi Naoko. No infringement of copyright is intended. 
This work to be distributed for free, unchanged, crediting the current 
author.

Thanks to my pre-readers:
Ben
aevan
Kevin D. Hammel     http://www.anime.sobhrach.com/~khammel/
Isawa Kazeko        tanzelax@reviewpe.com
Blood Blade         http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Towers/5920

This story is dedicated to the letters F, M and J the number 7.62.


Please distribute this work unaltered and crediting the author.
dzillman@ozemail.com.au
http://www.ozemail.com.au/~dzillman/fire

                          _________________
                         /                 \
                         | Destiny's Child |
                         \_________________/



What has gone before:
While on a training trip with his father during the late 1600s, Ranma 
fell into the spring of the drowned young girl. Unfortunately, his 
curse can only be changed back with _very_ hot water, which means he 
has spent most of his time in his cursed form. Not only that, but 
because the spring was drowned _young_ girl, he turns into a 12 year 
old girl who never ages. 

In the present...
Ranma has received a partial cure for his curse by the spirit entity 
called Mistress 9. She will eventually take his girl's body, freeing 
him entirely, so now he poses as Tomoe Hotaru. Unfortunately, he now 
seems to have a few problems with the ladies, since he is inadvertently 
engaged to Hino Rei (he's taking lessons in Shinto), his old buddy 
Ucchan, and the friendly Amazon Shampoo. That doesn't even start to 
include Mako-chan, or the fact that two of his best friends are only 
three foot tall: Cologne and Chibi-Usa.

In the last episode, Sailor Mars broke up with Saturn Knight (if you 
don't know, don't ask). Also, Mistress 9 revealed that she would 
expected to succeed in splitting Ranma apart in one week. Ranma has 
also discovered that the person with access to the Gates Of Time (whom 
he has sworn to destroy) is none other than his enemy Sailor Pluto. 

-----------------------
An Ending To Our Dreams
-----------------------

Ranma looked down on the blasted landscape and tried to find the 
satisfaction that he expected. Everyone who had ever opposed him was 
dead. Everyone who had ever mocked or tormented him was dead. Even all 
those other people who did not know him - but surely would have 
tormented him if they had known him - they were dead too. They were 
dead. They were all dead.

Craters pocked the ground, some were simply the shattered rocks of 
explosives, others were the fused glass of nuclear devices or powerful 
magic. It was painfully obvious how well his enemies had fought, but 
they had fallen. Noting was left, just the shattered remains of their 
civilisation. 

He had expected to feel glee at the destruction of the Moon Kingdom, 
and the deaths of almost every person in the solar system, but instead 
he just felt empty. He turned to his wife and looked at her. With her 
head bowed so that she could look at the ground so many kilometres 
beneath them, her short black hair fell forward and covered her face. 
"Do you regret this?"

All she did was look up at him and he knew that he should have never 
asked that question. Of course she regretted it. It did not matter to 
her that the people of the Kingdom hated and feared her as much as they 
did him, she loved them anyway. Maybe that was why he did not feel the 
elation he desired. She cared, so by extension: he cared. Her pain was 
his pain, his pain was hers.

They were already holding hands so that her magic could shield him from 
the cold, hard vacuum of space, so he carefully changed his grip and 
placed an arm around her shoulder. Giving someone a hug when you are 
suspended a hundred kilometres up, and while they are holding a eight 
foot pole arm is not an easy thing to do. It didn't stop him though, in 
their short years together they had overcome difficulties greater than 
that together. It is not easy being so feared that you are sent so far 
from the place that you are supposed to defend, causing you arrive too 
late to save anything.

Holding her close, Ranma realised that he did regret one thing about 
the passing of the Moon Kingdom: Queen Serenity was also dead. In time 
he had grown to respect her. Not love her as his wife did, nor was 
there the adulation of all her other subjects. Just respect. Respect 
for a woman who did her job well, who was just and fair to all her 
subjects. A woman who was now dead and lying somewhere within the 
shattered castle beneath their feet.

"What do we do now? Is anyone still alive? Is Beryl still alive?" For a 
moment thoughts of fighting and revenge flittered through his head. He 
would not have fought for her while she was alive, but Serenity's own 
sacrifice made him willing to fight for her after her death.

Her voice was as quiet as a whisper. "There are still people alive. 
Some of the shelters on Earth are still intact. Beryl is gone. Everyone 
else is gone."

"Even Saturn's colonies?"

She leaned her head on his chest and the wetness of her tears confirmed 
it like no other answer could. If those meddling Outer Senshi were 
still here, he would have killed them himself. It was their fault that 
he and his wife had been so far out-system training. So far out-system 
that when Beryl's genocidal revolution began, all they could do was 
come running and watch as bright lights flared on every habitable 
planet and moon. The cowardly Outer Senshi were so afraid of his wife 
that they would rather see the Kingdom in ruins by an enemy than risk 
her being present to defend it. He ground his teeth and held her close. 
She would need his support today as much as he needed hers every other 
day.

Ranma took her by the shoulders and looked into her eyes. They both 
needed her strength in this time of trial. "What are we going to do 
now? Do we head down to Earth and look for survivors, or should we 
check out the Palace first?"

His wife shook her head. "There's no-one left on the moon. Beryl made 
sure of that. Queen Serenity sent me a message. She couldn't save 
everyone... but she managed to... to send some of our souls into the 
future... She wanted her daughter and some others to have another 
chance."

He smiled. It was perfect. He would be able to live his entire life 
here with her, then when they were reborn in the future, they would be 
able to share each other all over again. "That's wonderful! How do we 
do it? How do we go into the future?"

Closing her eyes, she turned her head looked past her shoulder and down 
at the moon again. "She couldn’t send _us_. All she could send was me."

That stopped him cold. She was leaving? She would leave him? This 
wasn't supposed to happen. They were supposed to be together forever. 
The two of them, inseparable. He _needed_ her. A small whimper escaped 
his lips before Ranma felt her small body pushed against his chest. 
Holding him tightly her voice was muffled, but he could make out the 
words clearly enough. 

"I'm not leaving you. I can’t leave you. You're a part of me. You are 
my heart, without you, I would have let Beryl take this place without a 
fight if she wanted it. Without you there is no reason for being in the 
future."

"What can we do? There's no way that you can fight the queen's magic. 
The Glaive can't help with that."

She might have smiled. He could feel her face move, and her voice was 
happier now that she had told him the hardest part. "I've had an idea.  
The whole idea was to send the Senshi forward, right? What I think I 
can do is free your soul to travel too. If I do it right, I can link 
your soul, and you'll follow me into the future. Wherever I am 
reincarnated, you should be too. I think I can do it. I hope."

Ranma smiled down at the crown of her head. The short black hair 
smelled so nice as he lay his cheek on top of her head. "I know you 
can. I'll always follow wherever you lead. When you need me, I'll be 
there. They'll never keep us apart."

After standing there for half an hour just relishing the feeling of 
being so close to each other, his wife moved and smiled up at him. She 
still looked the same age that she did when he married her. Something 
about her magic, he assumed. None of the Senshi ever aged, they only 
died from war or grievous accidents. Something about her youthful 
appearance and the plans for reincarnation worried him for a moment.

"We have to prepare for the future. Close you're eyes for just a 
second, you know how you hate the landings."

There was a brief sensation of movement, then they were on the ground. 
The moon was grey and lifeless, a desert where once there had been 
paradise. He guessed they were standing in what had once been the main 
barracks for the Queen's personal guard. Judging by the size of the 
crater, they would be able to see this one all the way from Earth.

She gave him a quick kiss and stepped away. "This won't hurt even for a 
moment. DEATH... REBORN... REVOLUTION!"

It was her ultimate attack; an attack that could destroy an entire 
world, or cleanse all evidence of the Moon Kingdom. As he watched the 
white ribbons stream from Sailor Saturn, he realised that she was 
right: there was no p---.

Hotaru sat bolt upright in bed, sweat pouring from her small brow. She 
had to give up those super-deluxe Okonomiyaki before bed. They were 
giving her weird dreams again.

*	*	*

The first golden rays of sunlight were beginning to tickle the tallest 
buildings, chasing the darkness of the night away. Even though the 
morning still carried the subtle reminders of an unusually cool night, 
it was showing all the signs that it would be a perfect day. The 
fingers of light that reached down through the city's towers showed a 
sky clear of clouds; as bright and clear as any city's air could be.

The sounds of leaves rustling in the park combined with the noises of 
early morning delivery trucks. These were the only sounds that could be 
heard in the area, despite the vigorous workout that was happening in 
the middle of the rolling grass. A single man stood there: his hair 
would just touch his shoulders if it was not held back by a small pony 
tail.

His pose was relaxed but focused. Fists were clenched loosely, and his 
arms rested by his side. At some unseen signal, he again leapt into the 
air, cresting the branches at the top of the tree beside him. For a 
surprising period of time, the energetic young man hung suspended in 
mid air, his every limb a flurry of motion. After a considerable time, 
the martial artist began his descent, continuing the dazzling training 
Kata the whole way.

Despite a fall that would have seriously injured lesser men, he 
instantly bounced backwards, combining his movements with a rolling 
kick. The kick became a cartwheel as he bounced up on his hands, 
continuing the sequence of attacks as he moved across the park.

Throughout the entire acrobatic extravaganza, not a single sound was 
heard other than the wind and the passing vehicles. After all, aerial 
attacks were the speciality of the Anything Goes School of martial 
arts, and Saotome Ranma was the master of that school.

Jogging back to the city after his workout, Ranma luxuriated in the 
feeling of power that his fully grown male body gave him. Only a week 
to go, only a week to go, Ranma repeated as a mantra. The spiritual 
entity called Mistress 9 was currently having an out-of-body experience 
so to speak. Out of his body really, since she did not actually have 
one yet. It all meant that while she was off talking to her associates 
and organising some of the last minute plans, he could goof off and 
just relax. Sometime tonight she would drop back in and they would be 
ready for the last week of work.

Ranma did not usually work out so late in the day; he normally 
preferred to be done before dawn, because fewer people would see just 
how good he was. His level of skill often seemed unnatural to people 
and scared them away, and he did not want to do that to any of his 
friends currently. Once he was cured of the curse and had that pressure 
off his shoulders, Ranma would consider starting to show some of his 
closer friends a little more of his true ability. After all, there is 
no point in being the best if you can’t prove it now and again.

Moving at a steady jog that would cross the twenty kilometres back to 
his foster father's house in an hour, Ranma considered what he would do 
today. It was shaping up to be a lovely Sunday, and he did not relish 
the idea of spending it all indoors. Especially since he had stayed up 
all night making a dress for Rei-san. Well, almost all night. He had 
managed a short nap, but that had been interrupted by another 
nightmare. They had gone away for a while, so he hoped that this was 
just a single occurrence.

Perhaps he could go over and annoy Rei-san for a while? No. That 
wouldn't be nice, since he was already making her wait until Monday 
morning for the answer to her question. Who would have thought that a 
tomboy like Rei-san would have asked him out? Ranma kept repeating to 
himself that he was only going out with her because a tomboy like her 
would never have a real chance of getting together with anyone else.

All right, maybe Ucchan would be a better choice... Then again, maybe 
not. She was always pretty busy on Sundays, so he would just be in the 
way. For a fleeting moment the thought occurred to him that he could 
help her in the restaurant, but that thought died of loneliness. Today 
was much too nice to spend it serving tables or cooking food.

Then it dawned on him: Cologne-chan and Shampoo! Since they both worked 
in the Nekohaten, one of them would be able to spare some time to talk 
with him. Admittedly Shampoo was always a little too affectionate for 
his tastes, but that was just how her people were. Hey, perhaps he 
could train with her for a little bit. If she was the village champion 
at the moment, he should help make sure that she did not loose her edge 
before she returned to the Joketsuzoku.

After dropping home for a leisurely wash and soak in the tub, Ranma 
changed clothes and left for the Nekohaten. That meant he had changed 
sex four times this morning and clothes only once. He woke up female, 
trained as male, went female before returning to the Tomoe residence, 
and finally back to male after he had finished his bath and left the 
house. It was times like these that he really looked forward to the 
time when he would be able to spend days - weeks even - consistently 
male.

Ranma arrived at Cologne's restaurant at half past ten. It was the 
perfect time to drop in for someone looking for a post-breakfast snack. 
The girls would be getting ready for the lunch rush, but the crowds 
would not be there yet. Just the right sort of time to get a quick bowl 
of ramen to tide him over until lunch. 

"Hey, Shampoo! How's --- Whoa!"

The surprised Ranma found himself holding a double armful of curves as 
Shampoo crooned softly leaning against his chest. "Husband come visit 
Shampoo? Husband want take Shampoo on date, yes?"

Now he remembered why he usually tried to visit Cologne as a girl. 
Shampoo was nice enough to Hotaru, but she certainly did not go out of 
her way like she did for the male Ranma. Sometimes Ranma actually got 
the feeling that Shampoo only liked Hotaru for the sake of her 
'Husband'. After all, according to the popular myth which Ranma had 
perpetuated, Hotaru was weak and frail; not at all like a real Amazon.

He could tell that Shampoo was all Amazon, which included the fact that 
she knew how to get her man. Real Amazons stressed the need of finding 
your perfect mate and then pursuing them until they were yours. With 
the seductive way that Shampoo was holding him and kneading his 
shoulders, he guessed she could have almost any boy she wanted. Not 
only was she sexy and willing, she was a talented fighter and quite 
smart once you got past her poor Japanese. Now if only he did not have 
other reasons not to marry her...

"Errr.... Shampoo, I think that guy wants to pay or something."

Shampoo looked over her shoulder then gave the offending customer the 
briefest of glares. She could tell that she was making progress with 
her husband, it was only a matter of time before he came around. With 
added bounce, she walked to the customer's table and took his money. 
"Husband sit down. Shampoo make too, too delicious ramen."

Now that was service! Trying not to pay attention to the way that 
Shampoo's skirt was so short you could almost see her armpits, Ranma 
slid onto one of the seats. Juggling chopsticks, he glanced over to 
where Shampoo was assembling a ramen using her normal dazzling speed. 

"Where's Cologne-chan? She's usually here at this time of day."

"Great Grandmother go markets. Get new foods, add ancient Amazon 
delicacy to menu."

"Aww, you're not doing that thing with the parboiled ox hoof, are you?" 
Ranma suppressed a shudder of disgust just thinking about it. It had 
been a popular dish when he had arrived, but fortunately it had gone 
out of style. 

"No. That too good for Japanese barbarians. This monkey seasoning for 
noodles. Here, you eat!"

So long as they weren't caught near the Spring Of The Drowned Monkey, 
that was fine with him. Since there were no other customers in the 
restaurant, Shampoo slid into a seat opposite him and watched 
rapturously as he devoured the bowl of noodles.

He was just draining the last of the tasty liquid from the bowl when 
something struck him as odd. Placing the dish back on the table he 
looked at Shampoo owlishly and blinked a couple of times. Although she 
was just sitting there, she seemed to move in and out of focus a couple 
of times. 

"I... don't feel too good..."

Abruptly, Ranma's face slammed down onto the table. The thin china bowl 
shattered into a dozen pieces under his head, but it could hardly be 
heard over the sound of his snores. Shampoo looked down at her husband 
to be with alarm. Picking him up by the pony tail, she dropped his head 
again, and his snores continued uninterrupted. 

"Shampoo no expect it work so fast."

With just a little concern, Shampoo left the sleeping Ranma and walked 
back into the kitchen. Picking up the recipe again, she ran her finger 
down it until she came across the entry for sleeping powder. "Aiya! Not 
two Tablespoon! Is two pinch!" 

Giving the snoring form a quick glance, she walked back and put her 
hands under his shoulders, pulling him from the seat. Since he would 
probably be unconscious for the rest of the day, Shampoo decided to let 
him lie on her bed and sleep it off. Perhaps he would understand how 
much she loved him when he woke up in her room. Besides, somehow she 
suspected that Great Grandmother would not entirely approve of her 
latest plan to gain her husband. At least, not unless it worked.

Before sleeping beauty could be left to rest, there was just one thing 
left to do. Shampoo needed to remove the last obstacle that held her 
husband in Japan. She knew now that Violent Tomboy Girl and Spatula 
Girl were not his real reasons. Even he had said that his reason for 
curing Violent Girl was not because he loved her. That left only one 
other girl in his life, and she presented no real competition to a pure 
bred Amazon.

Pulling out her shampoo and comb, she released Ranma's pony tail and 
went to work. Two minutes later, he was sleeping on her bed, all his 
problems solved. Smiling happily, Shampoo placed a quick kiss on his 
handsome brow then returned to looking after the shop. Great 
Grandmother would be so proud when Shampoo showed he how much her 
husband wanted to return to China with them.

Four hours later, Ranma opened his eyes and looked around in confusion. 
There was something wrong here. Something seriously wrong. This wasn't 
his room. Wearily he tried to decide just what his room looked like, 
but he wasn't sure. There was something it was...

A pile of leaves beside his father on the roadside...

A plain woven straw mat shared with some monks...

A hidden bunker, crouched with some soldiers...

A smiling face with beautiful black hair. She smiled up at him...

"Akane!"

Wobbling slightly, Ranma gained his feet and leaned against a wall. 
This almost looked like a girl's room, and he couldn’t remember being 
in one of them before he woke up... Hey, all those voices and smells of 
cooking. Could he be in a restaurant or something? Placing the palm of 
his hand against his forehead, Ranma tried to sort out the memories. He 
remembered a couple of places he went to eat, but why was he here? Why 
was he asleep? Something seemed to be missing. 

Lurching over to the window, Ranma looked down onto the street below. 
Something was very wrong. Something was missing. Akane would know what 
it was. He should go and see her. She would know. Even as he pushed 
open the window and jumped down to the street, something bothered him. 
Akane was dead. But she couldn’t be dead. He had spoken to her just the 
other day. He knew she was dead... Was she just sick? Would that 
explain this tightness around his heart? 

Ranma knew that there was only one thing he could do. So he set his 
mouth firmly and moved down the road. First it was a drunken walk, then 
a jog, finally he was feeling well enough to cover the rooftops in his 
normal leaping strides. He knew the shrine where Akane lived. His 
father had engaged them to be married, if anything was wrong with 
Akane, he would find out there.

The first steps up to the shrine brought another round of confusing and 
conflicting thoughts to Ranma. This was definitely the shrine where the 
tomboy lived, but there was something wrong. Where was the dojo? He had 
always been able to see the dojo before as he came home... couldn't he? 
This was the School Of Anything Goes Shinto Martial Arts, wasn't it? By 
the time he had reached the top step and was looking around the 
flagstones, Ranma was less sure. This didn’t seem to be his home. He 
recognised bits of it, and he knew that Akane was here; but it did not 
feel like home.

"Ranma? What are you doing here?"

Almost in a daydream, Ranma turned. The voice. He knew that voice. It 
had to be her. It was angry, but at the same time caring. No two people 
could possibly be like that. She was standing there, holding the broom, 
wearing a loose, white top and baggy red pants. Something about her 
face seemed odd, but it must be his Akane. It must. 

With a move faster than comprehension, Ranma was beside her and held 
her in his arms. His wife. He had been so sure that she was dead, but 
here she was. In the flesh. Holding her tightly, Ranma buried his face 
in her lovely, long, black hair and breathed deeply. She smelled like 
cherry blossoms. He remembered how she almost always smelled of cherry 
blossoms. She liked to use their scented oils before they made love. 

Something finally penetrated his bliss saturated brain and exploded 
like a bombshell. She was just standing there. She was not responding, 
she had not even dropped her broom. All she was doing was shaking. 
Somehow in the distance he thought he could hear the sounds of people 
cheering. "Akane? Are you ill? You're shaking."

Small but strong arms suddenly forced themselves between the two of 
them and his wife pulled herself away from him. "Ranma, are you out of 
your mind? What on Earth do you think you are doing?"

Ranma looked at his wife. Then he looked again. She was younger... or 
was she? He... he couldn't quite remember. Akane seemed all ages to him 
at the same time. But this wasn't Akane. This was... "R... Rei? No. Not 
Rei! You have to be Akane!"

He tried to grab her again but she backed away and swiped him across 
the head with the broom. He knew who Rei was, she was a friend he had 
known for a little while. But the Rei he knew would never hit him, she 
was nice and quiet. Not at all like his tomboy, Akane. This must be 

Akane! It must! She couldn't be dead!

When she swiped at his head again, he ducked under the blow and came in 
close. Close enough to kiss his precious Akane. Only instinct save him 
from a blow that would cripple any man. Standing still in confusion he 
looked as his wife back away with fear in her eyes. Was it possible 
that this was not really his wife?

"I... I think you better go now Ranma. Maybe you should come back some 
other time when you're feeling better."

The cheering had stopped and he could see a group of girls standing to 
the side, just around from the corner of the building. They did not 
look entirely happy with him. Placing one hand to the side of his head, 
Ranma took a step back. The girl was looking less and less like Tendo 
Akane and more like Hino Rei every second he stood there. 

Pain lanced through his skull, and Ranma gripped his head as he turned 
and lurched down the stairs at an approximation of a run. Somehow it 
was becoming clear in small, jarring bursts. Akane was dead. He had 
held her in his arms as she died. She had been dead now for all of two 
torturous years and he was trying to cheat on her with some school 
girl? What had happened to him? What was going on here? Where was his 
home? How had he come to---

The truck drove past, its driver completely oblivious to the puddle 
that he had just driven through. Totally ignorant of the little girl 
that was standing on the side of the road, dripping.

*	*	*

Cologne - Matriarch of the Joketsuzoku Amazons, fearsome warrior and 
great grandmother of the Amazon warrior Shampoo - walked into the 
Nekohaten. Her day had been entirely successful, and she was looking 
forward to working with Shampoo for the night shift. Being a mighty 
warrior was wonderful in a society that valued them, but being in Japan 
had given her a well earned holiday. Council intrigues and the 
children's foolishness would wear anyone down after a while. The simple 
elegance of running a restaurant brought back to mind the simple, 
earthy pleasures of her own childhood. Having her best friend from her 
childhood around did not hurt either.

After she had dropped her new ingredients in the cold storage room, 
Cologne deftly inserted herself into the cooking area, seamlessly 
taking over from Shampoo and allowing the considerably younger - and 
marginally more attractive - girl to concentrate on serving the 
customers.

"You seem awfully happy tonight, Shampoo. Did Ranma visit you today?"

Shampoo nodded as she collected another two bowls of steaming noodles. 
"Husband still here."

Cologne raised one eyebrow and looked inquisitively at her great 
granddaughter as she continued to make ramen. "Really? Still here? I'm 
afraid my eyes are getting too old. I cannot see him anywhere child."

Shampoo gave a tinkling laugh and shook her head. "Husband still in 
bedroom. He sleep for long time."

Well, well. Maybe Ranma was not as shy as Cologne had grown to expect. 
"I did not anticipate my friend to be so forward."

As she blushed and began clearing a couple of tables, Shampoo 
elaborated. "Shampoo have too, too clever plan. Shampoo use Xai Fang 
Gao Shiatsu technique, make Husband forget girl who keep him in Japan."

Cologne slapped her hand down on the counter with a crack like a rifle 
shot. "You foolish girl! I thought I raised you better than that. Not 
only is the Xia Fang Gao prone to loss of effect over long periods, 
which makes it totally unsuited for use against you husband, he is also 
an Amazon. Using that technique on a member of the tribe without their 
permission is punishable by the strongest measures! You are only lucky 
that it was Ranma, anyone else would probably demand that punishment, 
he's is likely to go easy on you. Besides, I think you established 
before that it was not just his ties with Hino girl that kept him here. 
What where you thinking?"

Shampoo paled. She could not remember the last time that her great 
grandmother had yelled at her with such genuine anger in her voice. 
"Shampoo learn lesson. Shampoo not make him forget Violent Girl. 
Shampoo make Husband forget Little Sister... If he remember when back 
in China, he forgive. Husband no seem to like Little Sister, anyway."

The room was silent bar the sound of patrons. Turning around, Shampoo 
looked for her great grandmother, but the room was empty of ancient 
Amazons. Surely even she would what a good idea it was when she calmed 
down. She might not have approved of the idea initially, but now that 
it was done, there was no way that she would continue to object.

In just two incredible bounces, Cologne's cane propelled her from the 
rear doorway to stand nose to nose with Shampoo. "Ranma is not in your 
bedroom. Make it clear to me: why did you think he was there?"

Shampoo gulped. Her great grandmother rarely looked serious, and now 
she was actually worried. What could be so bad about doing a little 
memory work on Ranma if it got her a husband? Shampoo might get in 
trouble, but there was nothing dangerous about it, was there?

"Shampoo give Ranma sleep powder in ramen."

"And then you suppressed his memories of Hotaru. Correct?"

The lavender haired girl gave a slightly fearful nod. Had she done 
something wrong? Ignoring the customers that were beginning to queue 
up, Cologne sat Shampoo in a chair and drew forth all the details the 
girl could remember. Eventually the older woman took a chair opposite 
her and sighed in weariness.

"So really, you do not know when Ranma left your bedroom."

"Shampoo no know. Recipe book say he sleep all day."

"You will find that Ranma is a quite unusual boy. Because I have sworn 
to him that I would never reveal his curse to you, I cannot tell you 
all the ways that this could cause problems. I am not even sure of them 
myself.

"Suffice it to say that because of his curse, your actions against 
Hotaru could have very serious repercussions for him." Looking Shampoo 
in the eye, Cologne kept her voice level and devoid of the strong 
emotions she felt. "There are likely to be even stronger repercussions 
for you if anything happens to him as a result of his."

Seeing her only living descendant in such confusion and so obviously 
frightened, Cologne decided to reveal just a little of the truth before 
she went out to find Ranma. If she could find him and undo Shampoo's 
actions, there should be no problems. If she failed... that did not 
really bear thinking about. The girl side of Ranma comprised almost the 
entire time that Ranma had been alive since his wife had died. There 
was no question that Ranma had loved Akane: he had managed to carry the 
flame of love for over three hundred years while the subject of his 
affections was no more. The only time that Ranma had been male - other 
than recently - was when he was at his worst. When things were too 
depressing, she knew that Ranma would return to his male form and weep 
for his wife.

If he could not remember those passing years; if he could not remember 
the friends his girl half had made; if he could not remember the 
healing he had done, Ranma may well be out of his mind with grief.

"Right now all Ranma is probably thinking about is his dead wife. With 
Hotaru suppressed, he is probably a different man now. I'm going out to 
look for him. If by any chance he returns... just try and keep him 
here. Don't force him, and above all, do NOT attempt to hold him 
against his will. I do not know how good his control will be at this 
time."

Before she let a very confused Shampoo, Cologne went back to the 
kitchen and took a thermos filled with hot water. She did not know who 
Ranma would become if he was splashed with cold water now. The memory 
block would almost certainly work in reverse, depriving Hotaru of the 
Ranma side of her existence. Who knows what the girl would be like 
without any memory of a childhood, without any of the formative years 
that shaped her personality? It hardly bore thinking on. When she left 
the Nekohaten, she did not even wave goodbye to Shampoo.

Moving down the street as fast as her cane could carry her, Cologne 
tried to catalogue the places that Ranma may have gone. To the temple 
maiden's, almost certainly. To the home that his girl form had 
stayed... perhaps. Maybe even to Ukyo's shop. What if Ranma had decided 
to go back to where he and Akane had once lived? Or to Poland or China? 
Or even just somewhere else in Japan he had lived. The possibilities 
were endless. With a snort, Cologne decided to stop listing places; 
there were simply too many.

One of the things that scared her the most was the possibility that 
Ranma might get into a fight. Would he even realise his own true power? 
His school of fighting recommended going all-out unless you were sure 
of victory. If he did that... Well, he obviously had not done so yet, 
otherwise Cologne would have certainly heard the explosions.

Arriving at the place she had nominated as "most likely to be visited 
by a deranged Ranma",  Cologne dropped off her staff and used it to rap 
on the front door of the house located at the Hikawa Shrine. A brief 
period of quiet was followed by the sound of footsteps, then the door 
opened.

"Ahhh! A monster!" Quick as a whip the elder Hino priest pulled out a 
ward and began to wave it at Cologne. "Back! Back I say!"

With a grimace but no real malice, Cologne bonked him on the head with 
her staff. She did not have time to deal with him today. Besides, fancy 
a wrinkled prune like him calling her a monster! With a few quick pokes 
of her staff, Cologne forced the harmless elder backwards until the 
doorway was clear and she could slip past. She was about to start 
searching the house for her quarry when the girl presented herself. 

Standing straight and tall, with luxurious black hair that went past 
her narrow waist, Hino Rei reminded the Matriarch of how she herself 
had once looked. Despite the calls of her grandfather, Rei apparently 
had decided to face the unknown monster head on. She was running down 
the hall holding a trio of her own wards. If Cologne was any judge of 
power, these wards were substantially more effective than the earlier 
ones waved at her.

"Where's the monster?... Oh, it's you Granny." She almost sounded 
disappointed. "Stop that Gramps. This is Cologne, she's the great 
grandmother of one of Ranma's girlfriends."

"Of course! I knew that! Do you think I can't tell the difference 
between an old woman and a dangerous monster? Humph. I was just testing 
your reaction."

Affecting an insulted air, Grandfather Hino stuck his nose in the air 
and walked out of the house. All the while he mumbled about how slow 
Rei had been coming to save her poor, defenceless grandfather.

"Sorry about that Granny. His eyesight's not the best these days. 
Sometimes I think his mind is going too. Can I help you with 
something?"

"As a matter of fact you can, Child. I am seeking Ranma. Have you seen 
him?"

Rei puffed out her breath and flicked her hair back. "Seen him? He was 
practically hanging all over me earlier today. If you ask me, I think 
he must have been drinking."

"Interesting, I did not expect this. Do you have any idea why?"

"I don't know. Is it the anniversary of his wife's death? He seemed 
pretty hung up on her. He even thought I was Akane for a while there!"

Cologne leaned forward on her staff so that she could get a better look 
at Rei. Perhaps she did look like Ranma's dead wife, it was hard for 
her to say. Cologne had seen Ranma's paintings three hundred years ago, 
but she was only a little girl then. That much time could dull the 
memories even in a mind as fine as hers. 

Deciding that Amazon problems should stay within the tribe, Cologne 
decided to give an abridged version of the truth. "Ranma has been 
affected by the same memory technique that was used on you. My great 
granddaughter did it in an attempt to help the boy, but made a small 
mistake. Our friend is likely to be feeling rather confused at the 
moment. Do you know where he is at the moment?"

"No, I'm afraid not. He just ran off earlier when I told him I wasn't 
Akane."

Turning, Cologne hopped out the door then stopped and looked back at 
Rei. As much as she wanted Shampoo to be the girl that Ranma married, 
she would not put Rei at risk just for that. At least, she would not 
put her at risk over something as minor as this. "I also have reason to 
believe that Hotaru may not be entirely well at the moment either. If 
you see either of them, do not hesitate to call Shampoo or myself. It 
could be vital to your safety."

Leaving a confused temple maiden behind her, Cologne sped off to the 
next destination on her list. The Tomoe home was a good half hour's hop 
away for her. Not for the first time, Cologne begrudged the years that 
had made her old and frail. When she was younger, she would have been 
able to sprint the distance in less time, but in those days she might 
not have had the knowledge she possessed these days. Knowledge 
necessary to cure her friend.

Finding the Tomoe home was no great difficulty, getting in might be a 
little harder. Since she had been there before, Cologne was familiar 
with Kaori, the housekeeper. Kaori seemed obsessed with the idea that 
Hotaru should not have visitors, causing the woman to deny Hotaru's 
presence even if guests knew Hotaru was there. 

In the interests of speed, Cologne skirted the house and stood looking 
up at the window to Hotaru's room. Climbing a smooth wall might be 
difficult for most people, but Cologne was armed with three centuries 
of secret tricks. Scrambling up the wall with the same apparent ease 
that she could crawl across a floor, Cologne soon reached Hotaru's 
window and stepped inside. Much as she suspected, it was empty. The bed 
was made, and nothing looked like it had been disturbed. This did not 
look like the place that an amnesiac had visited searching for their 
identity. 

Looking around the room, Cologne contemplated a last resort and 
eventually gave in. When Ranma had revealed to her that he would be 
cured, Ranma had told Cologne about a spirit entity. While the spirit 
apparently watched over Ranma much of the time, she was known to take 
time off to do her own work. Surely this must be the case today, else 
the spirit would have convinced Ranma to either get help from Cologne 
or to return here. That meant that the spirit was not with Ranma... 
possibly even in this house at the moment.

Feeling slightly foolish, Cologne squared her shoulders and raised her 
voice. "Mistress 9! Mistress 9! Can you hear me? I need to speak to you 
about Ranma. Can you hear me?"

She tried twice more before a ethereal presence began to form in the 
room. It had the shape of a tall, thin woman, with long waving hair. 
The spirit itself was very dim, even in the low light of the evening 
shadows. When the spirit spoke, Cologne had to strain her ears just to 
hear her.

"You would be Cologne. Ranma has told me a great things about you. What 
is it you want?"

"I want Ranma. Where is he?"

Even though shadows seemed to cloak the figure, Cologne swore she saw a 
brief flash of anger and hatred cross the face. It vanished quickly, 
but it was enough to make her question the friendship of the spirit 
that claimed she was helping Ranma for selfless reasons.

"You cannot have him. The boy is mine and my master's."

"I do not mean I want to own him, foolish woman. I need to speak to 
him. He has been accidentally afflicted by something. Something that I 
can undo."

Mistress 9 concentrated for a few moments before a look of alarm 
crossed her face and her movements became erratic and distressed. "I... 
I cannot find him. His mind has vanished! No! All that work, wasted. I 
will never be ready in time for my master's arrival."

Through force of habit, Cologne swung her staff trying to knock some 
sense into the bereft woman-spirit. The staff slipped through the 
apparition harmlessly, but it did capture her attention. "Ranma is not 
dead. If you cannot sense him, it means that his curse has been 
activated, and his mind is just sleeping. Hopefully he will come back 
here at some time. When he does, call me on this number. I will be able 
to restore him to normalcy."

After she dropped a business card for the Nekohaten on the floor, 
Cologne bounced out the window. Mistress 9 disturbed her somehow, even 
if only for the way she habitually concealed herself. If she had 
nothing to hide, why was hiding second nature to her? Leaving the house 
at her best speed, Cologne sincerely hoped that Ranma knew what he was 
doing. 

Inside the house, Mistress 9 faded into nothing again. As she faded, 
all that could be seen was her smile of joy. Things might be easier 
than she ever suspected.

*	*	*

Eighty seven minutes before Cologne's visit to Ranma's home, Kuonji 
Ukyo was cooking Okonomiyaki. This in itself was not at all unusual, 
especially since the Sunday night rush tended to be a rather busy time. 
What was strange was the way one of her best friends walked past the 
front door of the Ucchan. Tomoe Hotaru did not walk in, she did not 
wave, she did not even turn her head to smile at the chef behind the 
grill. All the little girl did was walk past slowly, almost like a 
sleepwalker.

With a dexterity born from years of practice, Ukyo tossed the two 
cooking delicacies onto plates and dashed to the front door. On her way 
she deposited the food on the appropriate customer's tables with nary a 
glance. "Hey, Hotaru-chan! Where are you going?"

Slowly, as if in a daze, Hotaru stopped and turned back to the 
restaurant. Pushing her black hair back from where it covered her eyes, 
the short girl gave the smiling chef a long appraisal. "I know you... 
You're... Kuonji Ukyo... Ucchan."

Kneeling down, Ukyo placed her head at the same height as the other 
girl and beckoned her over. "Are you all right, Sugar? You sound a 
little... I don't know... spaced out."

"I'm not sure. Do you know who I am?"

"Huh? Sure I do. You're Tomoe Hotaru... Do you want to come in and sit 
down?"

"I'm glad. I keep hearing all these other names, and I'm not sure which 
is me. You only have one name, but I seem to have so many. And they're 
all different. I keep thinking I should be doing something else, but I 
can't remember what..."

Taking her hand, Ukyo led the small girl into the shop. For as long as 
she had known her, Hotaru had been a bright and happy girl, just like 
Ukyo. Now... Now she seemed like all of that brightness and zest for 
living had been lost somehow. 

When Ukyo led Hotaru to a chair, the little girl sat down and stared 
straight ahead. That was all, she did not speak or look around. It was 
as though she was an actor on stage who had forgotten her lines; simply 
moving where the director pointed. "Hotaru-chan, did something happen 
to you? You don't look so hot. Should I call your father?"

"Off... Yes. There's something missing. I don't know what it is. I 
think I should keep looking."

"Oh, no you don't. You stay here and wait for your father. I'll give 
him a call right away."

Without taking her eye off the girl, Ukyo dialled her friend's home. As 
she cradled the phone against her neck, Ukyo took change from a pair of 
customers who had finished their meals. There were a few more lining up 
to be served, but something told her that it might be a good idea to 
wait before she took their orders. "Hello?... Oh, Kaori-san. Is Tomoe-
san there?... Busy in his lab? But this is really important--- You're 
sure? There's no way you could get him for me?... I see. OK, thanks for 
your time."

Casting nervous glances between her shell-shocked looking friend and 
the customers she had lining up, Ukyo made a hard decision. With a 
polite bow and effusive apologies Ukyo told the assembled people that 
she would not be able to prepare dinner for them. Unfortunately there 
was a personal problem that would mean the Ucchan would have to close 
early tonight.

After she turned off the grill and gave some of her tools a quick 
rinse, Ukyo sat by Hotaru and waited for those customers already eating 
to finish and leave. She had already flipped her sign to "closed" to 
dissuade any more customers, so while they sat there Ukyo tried to draw 
Hotaru out of her shell, but the little girl seemed confused and 
apathetic. Only once in the half hour that they waited did she show any 
sign of animation. Considering the unusual condition her friend was in, 
Ukyo decided to dissuade  her from having the sparring session she 
desired. 

Eventually the last of the Ucchan's customers had paid and left. 
Placing all the dirty dishes in a pile where she could deal with them 
on her return, Ukyo took Hotaru by the hand and led her out the door. 
With a final stop to lock the door, the pair left for Hotaru's home.

Needless to say it was a scowling Kaori that greeted them at the door. 
The tall woman in the red dress took one look at Hotaru and immediately 
whisked the girl inside. Ukyo barely had time to place her foot in the 
door before it was slammed shut. Kaori looked up at the chef from where 
she was examining Hotaru and glared at her.

"What do you want?"

"What do I want?! What do you think I want? I want to make sure she's 
OK!"

Kaori straightened and took Hotaru's hand in her own. The little girl 
looked at the linked hands with indifference, but she did not object to 
them. "She will be perfectly all right. My master's first requirement 
is that this girl is seen to in every way. I shall tend to her until he 
is able to provide treatment."

Taken aback by the harsh bluntness of the maid, Ukyo stumbled for 
words. Eventually she nodded her head and backed away. She might be 
Hotaru's friend, but she was not actually her family. If her father 
thought it was best the Kaori look after the girl, then there was not 
much that Ukyo could do about it. On the other hand, she could 
certainly come back tomorrow and check on her friend.

"Well... I guess I'll see you tomorrow then."

"That will not be necessary."

"Oh, I think it will. Hotaru and I have been looking after each other 
longer than you've been around. You can be damn sure that I'll be here 
just as soon as the morning rush is done!"

Kaori set her mouth in a line and pulled Hotaru behind her 
protectively. "Do not bother. If you see the old woman, tell her that 
she is not needed here either. She disturbed important work earlier 
today, and we will not tolerate another disturbance tonight."

With that the door closed and Hotaru was taken up to her bedroom.  
Hotaru was only part way up the stairs when she felt something strange. 
It was almost as though a wind had blown through her body, a faint 
pressure on her mind was all that remained. Instinctively she fought 
back, causing Kaori to drop her hand as Hotaru began to glow a 
brilliant blue.

'Wait! Wait! I am your friend, Mistress 9! Don't do this!'

Eyes flicking back and forth frantically, Hotaru searched for the 
source of the voice. Even as she searched, her confused thoughts 
anchored on a single memory, then an entire series. Mistress 9 was a 
spirit. She had met her on a train one night. Since that time, the 
spirit had been helping her... helping her to... to...

The blue glow faded and Hotaru absently allowed herself to again be led 
to her room. 'You are Mistress 9. I remember you now. You were helping 
me to... I... I don't know. You were helping me to...'

'I was helping you to get better. You have been very sick.'

'Sick? Sick. Yes. I remember being sick. I... why was I sick? I'm never 
sick.'

While Kaori sat her on the bed and changed her clothes for sleep, 
Hotaru continued her conversation. Mistress 9 was a friend. She was 
trying to help Hotaru get better. There was a lot that needed to be 
done, but Hotaru and Mistress 9 were working together to achieve it.

Deep in her mind, Hotaru could feel the echo of truth to this. There 
were edges of doubt even in her memories, but as before, Hotaru pushed 
them down. She felt so confused now. If she had not wanted to know 
everything about Mistress 9 before... before whatever had happened to 
her memory, she did not want to know now. 

Sliding beneath the covers, Hotaru laid her head on the pillow, blinked 
once at Kaori and closed her eyes. Even though Mistress 9 kept talking, 
Hotaru let sleep claim her. It was so confusing. There was something 
missing, but she was not sure what. Perhaps she would remember in the 
morning.

Monday morning came as it so often does, but no mysteries were 
revealing in the dawning sunlight. Just as confused and filled with the 
same unnamed longing, Hotaru lay staring at the ceiling until Mistress 
9 asked that she rise and prepare herself for breakfast.

Routine seemed to flow easily to her hands. Dressing in the drab 
coloured school uniform was a task that she had done many times in the 
past and it happened almost automatically. She was not sure why she did 
it, but she did it nonetheless. Once she was ready, Hotaru walked 
downstairs and sat at the dinner table. Both her memories and Mistress 
9 assured her that food would soon arrive. Once again her friend 
Mistress 9 was right; food did appear and Hotaru ate.

It may have been good or it may have been bad, but the food that she 
was eating was not what Hotaru was missing. There was something that 
she needed, but no matter how much she tried, she could not quite pin 
down the details. Mistress 9 was little help, all she could recommend 
was avoiding school and spending the day in her father's laboratory. 
For some reason that filled the girl with a unspecified dread that 
caused her to reject the suggestion. Something had to happen after 
school, something important. She knew she needed to deliver a message 
to someone, but she was not sure what the message was.

The sound of knocking from the front door caught her attention. 
Normally it would have passed unnoticed, but she felt a brief flicker 
as Mistress 9 left her mind and then returned in short order. Hotaru 
could almost feel the spirit smile as she spoke.

'It is someone that you know. If you wish to find out what is missing, 
if you want to know what has made you so confused, I would recommend 
that you let me take control for a short time.'

As the conversation was purely mental, it was very rapid, allowing 
Hotaru to ask questions without causing a noticeable delay. 'I didn't 
know you could do that.'

'Normally I could not, but if you let me I can. It's perfectly safe, 
you could take control back anytime you want.'

There was something about the way that Mistress 9 made that statement 
that worried Hotaru. But then, Mistress 9 was her friend. She would not 
lie. It must be safe.

'I... OK'

There was a twisting sensation, and Hotaru tried to move with it. She 
could feel the sensations of dizziness then dislocation as she suddenly 
found herself looking with a slightly different perspective. Her eyes 
no longer tracked as she desire, her hands no longer followed her 
commands: Mistress 9, her friend had succeeded.

'What are you doing now?'

'Now that I have access to the body, I am just casting a quick spell to 
help things move smoothly.'

'But... But that's a spell of binding...'

Hotaru's mouth curved into a cruel smile as she finished the spell. 
When she spoke, it was not with the same childlike innocence or calm 
adult wisdom that normally issued from the mouth. Now the tone was 
mocking and cold. "But of course. You did not really think I would be 
foolish enough to allow you to interfere when I had control, did you?"

Inside her mind, Hotaru struggled against the magical barriers that 
held her in place, by they were too tight. There was still something 
missing, but now she knew rage and anger. Deceived! Deceived and played 
like a fool! A burning need for vengeance arose within her soul, 
demanding that she cast out the person who she had foolishly allowed to 
take possession of her body. With a mental howl of anguish, Hotaru 
threw herself against the barrier that held her tight. She might break 
them eventually, but she was certain that it would not be soon. 
Whatever the spell was that had been used on her, she felt that it was 
something Mistress 9 excelled at, obviously taking the spirit only the 
briefest of time to cast.

Numb with dread, Hotaru could only watch as Mistress 9 stood and walked 
to the front door. Placing one hand on the doorknob, she turned it and 
opened the door to their unsuspecting visitor.

"Hello, Chibi-Usa. It is _so_ nice to see you today."

"Are... Are you all right, Hotaru-chan? Rei-san said that you might be 
sick... you don't sound too well."

Hotaru released an echoing laugh completely at odds with her normal 
behaviour. "Oh, yes, little one. You can definitely help me."

As Hotaru drew back her arm, Chibi-Usa heard the frantic sound of an 
old woman yelling at her. In slow motion, she turned and saw Hotaru's 
friend Cologne moving towards her at a speed faster than she though 
someone her age should be able to move.

The old woman looked like she was going to run straight into her, and 
that scared Chibi-Usa. It did not scare her half as much as the cruel 
leer that Hotaru was wearing, nor the ominous black shadow that 
flickered around her friend's hand. A hand that was rapidly descending 
to strike her chest.

In the one flickering instant it was over and Chibi-Usa barely had time 
to scream. The old woman was definitely going to hit her, but she was 
shouting something about Shiatsu and roasting chestnuts. But then her 
best friend hit her, and that was all she knew.

Four meters away from Hotaru, Cologne spared a glimpse for the 
unconscious girl in her arms and looked back at her friend. The little 
pink haired girl was unconscious, but there were no marks on her. 
Perhaps Cologne had actually been there in time with her rapid 
treatment of Shampoo's Xai Fang Gao Shiatsu. The next two seconds 
showed that she had hoped too soon. Hotaru was holding something 
bright, shiny and angular in her hand, and the mocking laugh was 
nothing that the real Hotaru would ever produce.

"Ranma! Can you hear me? Try to remember! That should have released 
your memories!"

Trapped within his own skull, Ranma howled and redoubled his efforts on 
the mental barriers, but they held fast. He remembered. He remembered 
everything thanks to Cologne. He also remembered Mistress 9 striking 
out and wrenching a Heart Crystal from Chibi-Usa. Only two groups of 
people had ever shown themselves to have an active interest stealing 
Heart Crystals. He had identified all three members of the fake 
sailors. That meant that this must be one of the Witches 5. 

Weeping and crying in anguished self recrimination, Ranma beat 
futilely, trying to regain control of his traitorous body. Months - 
years even - of wilful ignorance had let him side with the enemy. His 
all consuming lust for a cure had blinded him to the obvious. 
Throughout the entire time he had known her, he had never questioned 
Mistress 9 on her real intentions, allowing himself to be satisfied 
with her simple platitudes and easy answers. Now, because of a moment's 
weakness, she was the one in control. She was the one calling the 
shots, and her first action had been to take the soul from the most 
innocent and pure person he had ever known.

It tore at his soul to be trapped, watching as his body moved of its 
violation. A hand raised itself under the dominion of a woman he now 
realised was as much a demon as any he had known. That same hand fired 
a deadly bolt of black energy at Cologne, forcing the old woman to 
dodge and evade as she carried her precious cargo of Chibi-Usa. 
Watching his best friend fight for her very life made Ranma wish he had 
cut off his own hand centuries ago. Nothing was worth the thought of 
his body attacking his friends; if he had eyes to cry, tears would have 
fallen as he realised that this was no doubt just the beginning of 
Mistress 9's true evil.

An evil that he had been willing to blind himself to, just so he could 
be cured. Cursing himself for his foolishness, Ranma set about 
systematically breaking the magic bonds that held him prisoner in his 
own mind. He needed to get free and stop Mistress 9, and he needed to 
do in under twelve hours: because that was when he had to be able to 
deliver his reply to Rei-san.

While Ranma was waging an internal battle against an invading entity, 
Cologne was waging her own internal battle. Should she stay here and 
help Ranma, or help the stricken child in her arms? Something had gone 
horribly wrong, and her oldest, dearest friend was in dire trouble. Her 
cure for the Xia Fang Gao Shiatsu should have released Ranma's mind and 
restored his sanity. Despite that, Ranma (or Hotaru as he went by in 
his current form) was still acting strangely.

Cologne may have been able to understand it if Hotaru was using one of 
the many forms of attack that the little girl had known and displayed 
before. The problem came because Hotaru was fighting in an entirely 
different way. She shot magical bolts through the air; magic rather 
than Ki or Hotaru's preferred hand-to-hand. Not only that, but these 
were some form of dark magic, evil looking streaks of blackness that 
seemed to exude menace even as they passed. 

If Cologne was willing to set down the little girl she was holding, she 
was fairly confident that she could beat Hotaru the way that she was 
acting. Hotaru's once phenomenal speed had almost vanished, her 
bottomless bag of tricks had apparently been closed. While Cologne 
jumped around holding her pink haired passenger, she tried to puzzle 
out where she had seen this style of fighting before. It was sometime 
recently, but with the difficulty of dodging energy blasts, she was 
having a hard time concentrating.

Finally Cologne realised, and it made her blood run cold. It was the 
way that Hotaru was moving, it was the energy she could feel from those 
magical blasts; they all reminded her Witch Mimete. Cologne had been 
all to intimately acquainted with Mimete's Charm Buster, and the power 
which narrowly missed her every time Hotaru fired seemed frighteningly 
similar. Even the way that Hotaru was holding herself echoed of 
Mimete's movements, as though they had trained or studied together. 

The main difference between Mimete and Hotaru seemed to be the 
difference in speed and power. Mimete's attack had been devastating, 
and while Hotaru's attacks were doing substantial damage to the 
landscape, they were not as powerful as the Charm Buster. However, 
Hotaru was firing them at a much greater rate than Mimete could 
possibly manage. Most frightening was the slight hesitations and 
uncertainties in Hotaru's movements. It was as though she expected to 
be so much faster... almost as though she had not yet had time to cast 
the spells needed to accelerate her actions the way that Mimete had.

Mistress 9 stopped for a moment and both combatants looked at each 
other. Mistress 9 was burdened by the lack of time to prepare herself; 
Cologne was hampered by the child she carried. 

"Go now, Old Woman. Leave, and you might live for a while."

That voice! Hotaru had never sounded like that in her whole life. It 
was callous, uncaring... evil. "Who are you? What have you done to 
Hotaru?"

Mistress 9 laughed. These humans were such fun, they never expected the 
truth until it was too late. "I am Mistress 9, leader of the Witches 5, 
servant of Master Pharaoh 90. Go now. Take the child if you will, it is 
of no consequence to me. 
"And when you go, thank your great granddaughter for me. Without her 
memory work, I would not have been able to take control for another 
week, and even then the fight would have been long and difficult. Thank 
her and let her know that it was her efforts that have allowed us to 
conquer your world so easily!"

Cologne was about to attack again as Mistress 9 laughed. All she had to 
do was remember that this was not really her friend. Even if the real 
Ranma was in there somewhere, Cologne knew that Ranma would be willing 
to make any sacrifice necessary to stop someone as deranged as Mistress 
9. A slight movement held Cologne back, forcing her to look into the 
entry of the Tomoe home. There was something in there, something larger 
than human, and definitely unsafe to be around. If she had allowed 
Mistress 9 to goad her into action, Cologne and Chibi-Usa would have 
been easy pickings for a Daimon.

There was really only one option. While she was carrying someone her 
own size, there was no way that she could fight a Daimon. If it was 
just her against the Daimon, she might have won. If it was just her 
against Mistress 9 - in her current state - Cologne almost certainly 
would have won. Now, burdened and facing both at once, Cologne took her 
only option. She ran.

Even as she took her first steps down the road, fleeing the battle, 
Cologne could hear the sounds of pursuit being ordered. No matter how 
much it ate at her to run from a battle, Cologne knew that it was her 
obligation to run. She needed to get the child to safety, and she 
needed to find people capable of helping her fight. The Sailor Senshi 
would be ideal, but she had no idea where she could find them.

After running for five minutes, Cologne had not yet managed to lose the 
Daimon pursuing her. Bounding over a small hedgerow, Cologne almost 
knocked down the saviour that she had been hoping for. Lined up and 
sprinting towards her was a group of five magical girls, each 
resplendent in their glorious colours, each posing for battle as they 
saw her clutching an unconscious girl. 

Knowing that the Daimon was hot on her heels, Cologne did not bother 
with explanations, she just kept running. Dodging past Sailor Moon, the 
wizened elder carried her precious cargo past the confused girls and 
continued down the street that they had just come from. Sailor Moon was 
turning to chase the woman holding her daughter when the Daimon 
sprinted through the group, knocking her aside as it passed.

Five mouths hung open for a precious second as each of the Senshi tried 
to evaluate what they had just seen. An old woman looking like she had 
kidnapped Chibi-Usa was being pursued by a Daimon. Daimons and Senshi 
were historic enemies, if one of them was willing to ignore the 
potential for a surprise attack on the girls just so that it could 
continue to chase the woman, it meant that it wanted her really badly. 
Anything that a Daimon wanted that badly, the Senshi had to protect.

The thoughts clicked into place all at the same time and like a rainbow 
wave the Senshi turned and gave chase. Bounding obstacles and circling 
buildings, the quintet followed, slowly making ground. Slowly that was, 
until Venus' Love-Me-Chain snaked out and briefly entangled the Daimon. 
That was the turning point. Now it was just the five Sailor Senshi 
against one Daimon. While the Daimon brought itself back to its feet, 
the girls skidded to a halt and prepared their attacks.

Even as they girls gathered their energies, the Daimon rose and charged 
them, bellowing like the demented hell spawn that it was. Less than 
five meters from Sailor Moon, four potent streams of energy ripped into 
it, momentarily halting its advance. Before it could regain its lost 
momentum, Sailor Moon raised her sceptre to the sky and began to 
perform her attack. 

"MOON SCEPTRE ELIMINATION!"

The golden beam plunged straight through the monster's torso while it 
towered over the short girl. Pouring energy into the evil beast, Sailor 
Moon could feel it disintegrate even as it tried to lower it's arms to 
attack her. 

Tired but satisfied, Sailor Moon looked up to the sound of clapping. It 
was the old woman, she had turned back during their fight and watched 
from the side lines. Seeing the woman still holding Chibi-Usa, Moon 
rushed over and pulled her daughter into her arms, holding the little 
girl tightly.

"Chibi-Usa! Chibi-Usa! Are you all right? Can you hear me?"

"She cannot hear you Child. She has had her Heart Crystal stolen."

With iron in her gaze, Moon looked at the seemingly decrepit woman. 
Obviously she was much more than she seemed, because she had managed to 
carry Chibi-Usa for some distance and still out run the Daimon. "Do you 
know what happened? Do you know where it is?"

"I do, and I shall tell you everything you need to know, but first, we 
must get her somewhere safe that she can rest."

*	*	*

Mistress 9 walked along next to the man posing as her father as they 
entered the school where he worked. While she had diligently worked on 
breaking Ranma's curse so that she could gain her own body, he had been 
at work here. Everything had been prepared within the main tower of the 
school for a ceremony that would summon Master Pharaoh 90 from the dark 
reaches in which he resided. As the sun passed overhead, they were 
ready to begin on the final stage of their plan. Soon, no-one on Earth 
would be able to stop then.

"You should feel proud, Ranma. It is due to you that we are able to do 
this so easily and with such safety. Without a cursed individual like 
yourself, I would have had to go through all sorts of difficulties 
possessing someone."

As Tomoe Souichi unlocked the doors and guided Mistress 9 inside, she 
continued to lecture Ranma. He was beating mindlessly at his mental 
prison, but she knew he would be able to hear. 

"I realise that you never spent enough time studying mind control 
spells, but they are very useful. You might have noticed that the one I 
am using on you is very, very good. That's why I was so glad I could 
find someone like you. You see, that spell will disappear completely in 
another two hours, but until then it will be completely impervious to 
your escape attempts.
"If I had used a normal person, I could have had endless troubles 
because the old personality would be suppressed but still there. With 
you, I can just sever you completely."

Mistress 9 stopped in the middle of the large entry room. Once it had 
been intended as a trophy hall of some sort, but now it would serve 
another purpose. It would be a garbage dump for the human waste that 
Mistress 9 no longer needed.

Silently Ranma screamed, but it was to no avail. Mistress 9 raised 
Chibi-Usa's Heart Crystal and placed it into her mouth, consuming the 
power inside. Instantly, she could feel the extra energy flushing 
through her system. Power supreme, the power to break the curse and 
free herself from the meddling idiot she had been forced to use.

Focusing her magic, Mistress 9 went to work, cutting the last of the 
magical bonds between Tendo Ranma's body and the body known as Tomoe 
Hotaru. Bright light covered Hotaru, growing and expanding. When the 
indistinguishable glowing form was almost roof height, it peaked and 
began to recede. As the light died down, it could be seen that there 
were now two people where there used to be one. 

After almost a minute of brightness, the magical labours of two years 
were completed. For a short moment, two people stood there, Mistress 9 
and Ranma. Then, like a tree being felled, Ranma collapsed straight 
onto his face to lie prone on the floor.

Grinning evilly, Mistress 9 concentrated and forced herself to grow. 
Her clothes changed with her, to reveal a tall woman was a hard face in 
a long, tight black dress. Mistress 9's hair - once short like Hotaru's 
- continued to grow, first reaching her hips, then on to the floor.

Giving the body on the floor a nudge with her foot, Mistress 9 indulged 
in a short laugh. "You foolish, foolish boy."

"What... What have you done to me?" Ranma's voice was weak, barely able 
to make the words loud enough to be heard.

"Oh, dear me! Did I forget to mention that there would only be enough 
magical energy for one body? I'm sorry, I'm sure I would have mentioned 
that." Thick and heavy sarcasm dripped from her words like week old 
custard. Still tormenting her ex-partner Mistress 9 brought her hands 
together and looked at the far wall. "Moko Takabisha!" Nothing 
happened. 

"Hmm, that was a nice little magical attack. Never mind, I shall learn 
how you did it soon enough." Soon, all that was left with Ranma was the 
echo's of Mistress 9's laugh. While he lay there, too weak to move, she 
had gone off to destroy the world.

All Ranma could do was moan in response. A day ago, the world had been 
his oyster. Now, everything was ashes. He had been played as easily as 
an old piano; even the cure that all his hopes had been pinned on was 
now revealed to be false.

All that he could be grateful for was the fact that Mistress 9 seemed 
to be as ignorant of the power of the human soul as most magic users 
were. The power of Ki - the Moko Takabisha - had noting to do with 
magic. In the same way, Ranma could have almost no Ki remaining, but he 
could still cast all of his spells. Both were needed for a body to 
survive, and all Ranma had at the moment was Ki. Without a source of 
magical energy, his body would die just as surely as if Mistress 9 had 
torn out his Heart Crystal.

Mistress 9 might have been right about him dying without magic, but she 
had failed to realise just what he could do without it. Using the power 
of Ki alone, he could animate his body for hours. He was dying, 
certainly, but in the mean time, he would go up there and get Chibi-
Usa's Heart Crystal back, and send Mistress 9 back to whatever hell had 
spawned her!

Just as soon as he could work up the energy to stand...

*	*	*

Mars felt bad about leaving Sailor Moon with Chibi-Usa, but someone 
needed to look after the girl, and someone needed to investigate the 
Tomoe house. Four Senshi and one ancient Amazon arrayed themselves at 
the front of the Tomoe home and looked on it with mild trepidation. 
From Cologne's description, at least one Witch and her Daimon had been 
here. Without Sailor Moon, that might be more than they could handle.

'Might be' was not enough to stop the Sailor Senshi. With a nod from 
Venus, the five women charged in through the open front door. Cologne 
was still carrying her thermos, but she refused to explain what it was 
for. All she asked was that if they encountered Hotaru, Cologne should 
be allowed to try and engage her first. With that in mind, Cologne let 
the Senshi check out the living room and basement, while Cologne moved 
to the bedroom.

The bedroom was as empty as she feared. There were clothes on the 
floor, and the bed looked slept in, but there were no signs of Hotaru 
and no signs of a struggle. Looking for clues, Cologne began going 
through the clothing, starting with the pair of pants that were on the 
floor. Pants sized to fit Ranma.

There was nothing in there to indicate where Ranma was or what was 
going on, but there was a small slip of paper. Squinting her old eyes 
slightly, Cologne read it, only to have her eyes go wide again with 
surprise. Amazing, the Hino girl had actually asked Ranma out. She 
wondered whether Ranma would accept. After all, he had apparently 
rejected every other offer from Shampoo, Makoto and Ukyo. 

Slipping the note into the voluminous folds of her robe, she examined 
the rest of the room. Although she respected Ranma's right to choose 
whomever he desired, there was no reason that she shouldn't help 
Shampoo, who was obviously the best choice. Besides, she rationalised, 
if Hino Rei was keen enough, she would approach Ranma again and give 
him a reminder. Remembering what she had seen of Rei, that reminder 
would probably be neither subtle nor gentle, increasing Shampoo's 
chances yet again.

Downstairs the Senshi were investigating the incriminating evidence in 
Tomoe Souichi's lab. There were beakers, bunsen burners  and all manner 
of other lab equipment. There were also piles and piles of lab books. 
Whether or not Hotaru had known what was going on, her father had 
definitely been in it up to his eyebrows.

While Sailor Mercury sat down and tried to garner some clues from the 
book, the remaining girls set about taking apart the building brick by 
brick, looking for clues. It was obvious that the woman called Mistress 
9 was not here now, nor was the Daimon. That also meant that where ever 
they were, the Senshi could find Chibi-Usa's Heart Crystal there too. 
Finding that Crystal was becoming increasingly important every second 
that passed. Without the Crystal, Chibi-Usa would die some time 
tonight.

When the clock ticked past two in the afternoon and no definite clues 
had been found, Cologne appraised Sailor Venus of a change in plans. 
Still holding out the hope that Hotaru may have been able to regain 
proper control, Cologne wanted to search some of her friends old 
haunts. If Hotaru (or Ranma) was to be found, Cologne knew she would 
find her.

The idea of working with a non-Senshi for long periods of time had not 
sat well with Sailor Venus, so she did not object too greatly when 
Cologne left. She might be able to do things that most old women could 
not, but Venus could not help shake the belief that she really was the 
frail old lady she looked like. The sorts of enemies that the Senshi 
would be facing would be a trial for even their great powers. A lady as 
old and decrepit-looking as Cologne would simply be another target.

Looking back on the building as she left, Cologne hoped that she would 
be the first one to find Hotaru. If the Senshi found her first, there 
was no telling what would happen. At least Cologne knew ways of 
incapacitating someone, even a fighter as good as Hotaru could be 
defeated with a little luck. Just as importantly as searching for 
Hotaru, Cologne wanted to get back to the Nekohaten. Shampoo had been 
alone all day, and Cologne was worried about her. Not just what might 
happen if Hotaru returned there, but she was just as concerned about 
how Shampoo would be feeling, as she would surely be wracked with guilt 
over what happened to Ranma.

At around six in the evening, Sailor Jupiter hit the mother lode. Given 
the quantity of material to search, each of the girls had grabbed a 
handful of lab books and begun reading. Most of them had dealt with 
strange chemical reactions, spells and complicated machinery. The book 
Jupiter had just opened was different. It was a record that detailed 
the acquisition and modification of the spell casting site: the main 
tower at Mugen Academy. Hotaru's school.

Crowded around the revealing book, Venus hit her communicator. "Sailor 
Moon? Tuxedo Kamen?"

"Yes?"

"We've found them! Mugen Academy, it's where Hotaru went to school. For 
that matter, I think Tomoe Sensei worked there. That must have been how 
he had access to be able to set up the place. We've got a map here. Do 
you know where it is?"

"I do. Chibi-Usa used to like to meet Hotaru there some times. She... I 
still can't believe that little Hotaru is completely bad!"

"Neither do I Sailor Moon. Neither do I. Can you leave Chibi-Usa for a 
while? We'll met you out the front of the school."

"Right! Mamoru is going to stay here with her. I'll met you there."

Twenty minutes later, five Senshi gathered at the base of Mugen 
Academy's main tower. Behind them, the moon hung large and low in the 
sky. It was a bright yellow, cast into a almost C shaped crescent, 
languidly casting dim shadows of the girls that reached almost the 
entire way to the tower. A light breeze stole through the group and 
gently stirred their hair. 

It was a perfect night for fighting evil.

Just as the group started forwards, a small helicopter charged onto the 
scene, momentarily distracting the girls from their objective. The 
Outer Senshi had arrived in their usual glorious manner. Even if they 
had not been distracted, the Senshi would have not been able to prevent 
Mistress 9's masterful defence of her stronghold. 

For every window and door in the tower, a thick red fluid began to pour 
forth. Where it touched the ground, a Daimon instantly rose and charged 
at the defenders of love and justice. Not to be intimidated by these 
weaker brethren of the mighty engines of evil they usually fought, 
Sailors Mercury, Venus, Mars and Jupiter began to lay down a withering 
fire of magic. 

Fire, water, earth and lightning assaulted the Daimons, but the hordes 
continued to drive forward, closing in on the girls by weight of 
numbers and dogged determination. When they were close enough for a 
telling effect, Sailor Moon cast her Moon Spiral Heart Attack, 
banishing a small army forever. It was not enough, as instantly a new 
legion arose, closing in on the Senshi.

The Outer Senshi in the helicopter were not faring much better. By 
being able to avoid the mindless hordes of dark minions that Mistress 9 
had at her command, the three Outers managed to attract Mistress 9's 
personal attention. All it took was a few short bursts of dark energy 
from the tower and the Outer's helicopter was a burning wreck, rapidly 
approaching the ground in a crash that would surely kill them all.

Even as Sailor Neptune was bracing herself against the back of the 
pilot's seat and preparing for death, everything went quiet. Raising 
her head, Neptune looked around. Surprise turned to bafflement as she 
saw the frozen flames that had once been licking at the laminated 
plastic of her window. "What?... How?..."

Sailor Pluto answered with a slightly strained voice that echoed 
strangely. "This is my most forbidden technique: the ability to stop 
time. For a short while, the three of us will be immune to the effects 
of time. Come, we must escape before this vehicle carries us to our 
deaths."

Confused, but not questioning their good luck and powerful ally, 
Neptune and Uranus joined hands with Pluto and teleported to the roof. 
The Inner Senshi needed all five to be present for a teleport, the 
Outers could perform the same with only three, or even two. From the 
roof they would be able to gain access. 

Looking up at the helicopter, the girls covered their eyes as time 
resumed and their unfortunate transport exploded in a blaze of glory. 

While they forced access to the building, Pluto steadfastly ignored the 
other girls' questions on what had just happened. Why was the technique 
forbidden? Who had forbidden it? And what would happen to her for using 
it?

Their actions had not gone unnoticed by others. Inside the tower, an 
exhausted Ranma had almost climbed the stairwell to the top floor when 
he felt the slight impact on the timeline. Despite his tiredness, his 
lips curled back in a snarl and he forced himself onwards. _She_ was 
here. His other nemesis. The evil witch Meiou Setsuna. Not only did she 
have access to the Gates Of Time, she most assuredly seemed willing to 
abuse those powers. Concentrating on placing one foot in front of the 
other, Ranma wondered which was the bigger threat to the human race. 
Mistress 9 who wanted to conquer it, or Setsuna who would almost 
certainly destroy it one day by accident.

"They stopped time and teleported in.  The Outer Planet Soldiers 
certainly are different." Inside the building, Mistress 9 was mildly 
impressed.

"Nonetheless, your power is truly great, Messiah of Silence." Tomoe 
said as he complemented his Mistress' power. She simply nodded and idly 
brushed her enormously long hair back. 

"True as that might be, I will still need the Grail to be able to 
activate the machine you have spent so much time preparing. When Eudial 
found the three Talismans for us, she failed in the most important 
task. The three Talismans summon the Holy Grail, a source of almost 
unlimited magical power. Now our enemy has it in her possession."

Tomoe looked worried. "Sailor Moon? But... will even you be able to 
defeat her? She is supposed to be exceptionally powerful."

Mistress 9 smiled condescendingly and chuckled. Shedding height and 
years, Mistress 9 shrunk back into her original form of Hotaru. 
Clenching her fists beneath her chin, Hotaru looked up at the man who 
was her father. She looked quite incredibly cute and vulnerable. 
"Perhaps if I ask her nicely..."


The laugh that followed was anything but childish and nice. "Now, you 
go and deal with those three intruders. Use whatever means you need."

Souichi laughed as he had never done before. With a series of strange 
cracking noises, the once human form of Hotaru's father was enlarged 
and warped beyond normal comprehension. Daimon Germatos looked at his 
mistress and smiled. Tomoe Souichi had been an intelligent and valuable 
pawn in his time. The Daimon that they had implanted in him had simply 
been a safety precaution, but now that the man was no longer needed... 

Despite the damage that had been done to his mind by the long exposure 
to the evil, magic and mysterious concoctions kept within his house, a 
small part of Souichi's mind had remained human enough to wonder at 
what he was doing. Only the overriding thought of helping his daughter 
had kept him close to sane and functional. Now even that was gone, and 
it was a blessing, for the man who had once been Tomoe Souichi would 
have been terrified at what he intended to do to the Outer Senshi.

Mistress 9 watched her last servant depart and smiled happily. Now all 
she needed was the Grail. Reaching out a hand, she pushed at the air in 
front of her, causing ripples to appear as though a rock had been 
dropped into a pond. A little more force, and her hand simply 
disappeared, slicing though this point in space to appear elsewhere.

It was the third time that Sailor Moon had used the Moon Spiral Heart 
Attack. Each time she cleared a cluster of Daimons, but each time the 
army reformed and advanced on them again. Each of the Inner Senshi was 
waging their own inner battle as well as the battle against the 
Daimons. Long minutes of pitched battle was having a telling effect on 
their strengths. Most times that they fought, they faced only one or 
two enemies. All they needed was a few attacks and their Princess was 
able to bring them home to victory.

This battle was different. This time there seemed to be no end to the 

opponents. No matter how many of the hideous, deformed creatures they 
killed, two appeared for each one killed. Each Sailor felt like she had 
banished more evil tonight than any other night in their life, but 
still the forces of darkness continued to break upon them like some sea 
of evil. A sea that threatened to drown them all should any one person 
falter.

It was into this thunderous, crashing maelstrom that Mistress 9's hand 
appeared. Sailor Moon was behind her friends, recuperating and 
preparing for another attack. There had to be a limit to these Daimons 
eventually. As soon as their opponents slacked off enough to give the 
Sailors some time, they would be able to do a Sailor Teleport and enter 
the tower without having to fight all of the Daimons arrayed against 
them. They would have been able to do this if all five had been 
present, but Mistress 9 had other plans. 

Guided by unseen eyes, Mistress 9 unerringly found Sailor Moon's throat 
and gripped it hard. With a strong pull Mistress 9 began to haul the 
sailor suited defender of love and justice through the portal she had 
created. It was not until Sailor Moon had been dragged through up to 
her waist that any of her friends actually saw what was happening.

"Sailor Moon!" Mars yelled, as she tried to disengage and help her 
friend. It was only moments too late that she reached the spot where 
her leader had been. Fingertips brushing against the sole of one red 
boot, Sailor Mars watched as Sailor Moon vanished into a small ripple 
in the air.

"Noooo!" Turning back to the Daimons, Sailor Mars unleashed her fire 
with redoubled vigour. Daimons fell like wheat before a thresher, but 
it was still not enough.

Withdrawing slightly, the girls relieved some of the pressure by the 
Daimons. "We can't teleport without Sailor Moon!"

Jupiter nodded. "Right! But we have to trust Sailor Moon. She'll do 
what's right, and we'll be able to help her as soon as we get through 
these things."

"Yeah, besides, we have to stop them spreading throughout the city! 
Don't worry, Sailor Moon. We'll be with you soon, and the Outers are in 
there somewhere to help you too."

With a grim nod, the four remaining inner planet Senshi formed up into 
a line again and charged. Magic crackled around them as they ran, 
tearing into the Daimons. Against the quantity they faced, even this 
charge failed to see them through, forcing them to resort to the same 
magic attacks that they had been for so long now. The entrance to the 
tower seemed a long, long way ahead.

Blinking slowly, Sailor Moon pushed the hair back from her eyes. 
"Where?... That's right! Someone grabbed me, it must have been Mistress 
9!"

Coughing a couple of times as she sat up, Sailor Moon looked around. 
She must have been strangled unconscious when she was pulled through, 
that would explain why her throat was so sore. Her uniform, already 
showing small tears from the battle they had been waging looked no 
better for her lying on the floor.

Once she had regained her feet, Sailor Moon took a careful stock of the 
area. It took only a few moments to recognise little Hotaru lying 
unconscious only a few feet away from her. Running over to the girl, 
Sailor Moon kneeled at her side and tried to wake her up by patting her 
hand and shaking her lightly.

Slowly and weakly Hotaru opened her eyes, and Sailor Moon almost wept 
with the look of hope that she saw there. "It's OK, Hotaru-chan. We'll 
get you out of here."

Holding on to the older girl, Hotaru's voice shook with emotion. "You 
have to help me. She's inside my head. I can feel her. She want's to do 
bad things."

Getting to her feet, Sailor Moon took Hotaru's hand and led her to the 
exit. "Don't worry. You'll be OK. We'll all help you."

"I... I heard her say that the only thing that can stop her is the Holy 
Grail. If.. If I had that..."

Sailor Moon looked indecisive. She had been entrusted with the Grail to 
guard it. She knew she was not supposed to give it out. But this might 
be Hotaru's only chance... Slowly she brought out the Grail. She felt 
so uncertain. 

That uncertainty was brought to a shattering halt as Sailors Neptune 
and Uranus appeared in one of the doorways. "Don't do it Sailor Moon! 
She's evil! Get away from her, we have to kill her!"

Moon was shocked! She knew the Outer Senshi were willing to be extreme, 
but this was going too far even for them. When she saw Neptune cast her 
Deep Submerge and Uranus cast World Shaking, she reacted purely on 
instinct. Any ordinary little girl would have been killed instantly by 
those attacks. If there was even the slightest chance that the Outers 
could be wrong and Hotaru could be saved, Sailor Moon knew she could 
not take that chance. 

Leaping in front of Hotaru might not have been the smartest thing that 
Sailor Moon ever did, but even as she was blasted across the room by 
the power of the girls who were supposed to be her allies, she knew it 
was the right thing to do. "I can't let you kill her. Sacrifices do not 
always have to be made."

Slowly, tentatively - and to the sound of the Outer's screamed 
objections - Sailor Moon held out the Holy Grail. With a look of 
nervous expectation, Hotaru reached out and took the Grail into her 
small hands. Her normally sombre face went from a tentative smile, to a 
grin, to a laugh of startling passion and volume.

All around them, people were still yelling 'no' in a futile attempt to 
make Moon take back the Grail, but it was too late. Turning her back on 
Sailor Moon, Hotaru immediately walked the few steps that were needed 
to place her in front of the machinery adorning the entire wall of the 
room. Machinery filled with strange images of swirling galaxies and 
brilliant stars. Every step she took, Hotaru gained stature and age. By 
the time she had reached a small alcove in the wall, she was at her 
full height, recognisable as the mature form that Mistress 9 had used 
before.

Placing the Grail in the wall Mistress 9 raised her hands and addressed 
them. "I am Mistress 9, servant to the mighty Master Pharaoh 90, Lord 
of the Darkness. With this beacon that we have activated, Master 
Pharaoh 90 can find your pitiful planet and he will bring the Silence. 
Everything will be destroyed as he brings darkness over your world. The 
truth of darkness shall reign where once the lies of light existed. 
Look! He comes! He comes!"

A dark swirling blackness had begun to form next to her, and all 
everyone could do was watch stunned. Powerful blots of black lightning 
repeatedly launched from the vortex, smashing anything in the room that 
they touched. Unbelievably, Mistress 9 seemed to have won. Then, just 
as the Senshi present were about to try a charge against the very heart 
of darkness, a voice from behind cried out against Mistress 9's 
actions, drawing all eyes. 

Saturn Knight stood in the doorway, using the Silence Glaive as a 
crutch to keep himself erect. Almost at the top of the stairs, 
something had told Ranma to transform into Saturn Knight. He did not 
know where he got the power to, but now that he was here, he could 
finally stop what his blindness had allowed to happen. "No! You may not 
do this! I forbid you to use that body for your evil purposes! I will 
stop you, no matter what it takes!"

His face was drawn and haggard, and he walked with all the speed of an 
old man with rheumatism, but he seemed to be able to walk through the 
inferno of darkness without fear. Even when Mistress 9 turned on him 
and launched bolt after bolt of magic into him, all it did was 
strengthen him.

"No! You can't be alive! You're dead! I killed you. Damn it! Why won't 
you stay dead?"

Reaching out with the last of his energy, Ranma touched Mistress 9. It 
was only a light touch, but with all his substantial will behind it, 
Ranma wished he could undo what he had done.

*	*	*

Ranma stood in a plane of greyness. It was grey everywhere. Not white, 
not black, just a shade of unidentifiable, unlimited grey. There was no 
up, no down, no front, no back. Just grey. All grey but for the one 
point of darkness. A shape of blackness in the field of grey. Across 
the field of grey came a vertical ellipse of pure blackness, and as it 
drew nearer he could feel its evil.

"So this is the true form of Mistress 9."

The darkness laughed. "Foolish mortal. You have entered my realm now. 
This is the realm of the mind, where only spirits may exist. The 
connection of the curse may have allowed you to rejoin and force this 
meeting, but do not think you can win. I am Mistress 9, and I have 
brought darkness to the realm of spirits for longer than you can 
possibly imagine. There is nothing that you can do that can possibly 
stop me."

Ranma rallied against that. "I am Tendo Ranma, master of the Anything 
Goes School Of Martial Arts. I have trained under the greatest masters 
of magic, spiritualism and martial arts in the world. There is nothing 
I cannot defeat!"

The blackness laughed. It had the same voice that Mistress 9 had when 
she talked to him in his head. How he had ever mistaken her for a 
friend, he could not understand. "You want to know the true power of 
darkness? Try this!"

A tendril of the purest black shot out of Mistress 9. Where her edges 
were blurred and indistinct, this was a clean line of evil cutting 
across the neutral grey of the indefinite landscape. Catching him 
unready, the blackness struck him fairly in the chest, sending him 
sailing backwards. Although it was only the one attack, lights danced 
at the edge of his vision while pain rippled up and down his torso. It 
was pain like he had never experienced before. 

Feeling as though he was on fire while someone was trying to unstitch 
his body at the very core of its existence, Ranma reclaimed his feet in 
time to mostly avoid the next attack. Black fire running up his calf 
forced him to keep rolling as he dodged more attacks. No matter how he 
tried to move, the evil blackness of Mistress 9 followed him, seeming 
to be able to move without care in any direction.

It was when he saw Mistress 9 moving down through what he had thought 
of as the ground that he realised that the normal rules of combat did 
not apply here... wherever here was. Before she could strike again, 
Ranma leapt. There was noting to leap from, his mind kept telling him, 
but he did leap. All it took was the right perspective, and Ranma was 
able to move around. No matter where he was, he was in reach of 
something to grab or jump from, but if he wanted it, the space was as 
clear as air. And aerial combat was his speciality.

Seeing that her opponent was not the easy target she had first though, 
Mistress 9 increased her attacks in every way possible. They were 
faster, larger and more dangerous. But now she was not the only one 
fighting. The first time Ranma brought his hands together and screamed 
Moko Takabisha, Mistress 9 did not even deign to dodge. Blithely 
relying on the knowledge that magic would not work in a spiritual 
battle for the dominion of their body, Mistress 9 had anticipated Ranma 
would be making himself into a stationary target.

Ranma's projectile of radiant, glowing blue Ki slammed into her with 
the force of a freight train, scattering small particles of darkness 
into the grey void. Slowly these evaporated and it was a slightly 
smaller and much wiser Mistress 9 that faced him now.

"So, you are not as defenceless as I would have expected. It will make 
it even more pleasurable for me to consign your soul to darkness when I 
finally defeat you. No-one has dared to hurt me like that in all the 
centuries I have lived!"

This time a web of darkness erupted from Mistress 9, cascading directly 
at Ranma. Two glowing balls of Ki broke the centre and let him through, 
but even the light touch from the edge fragments numbed his left arm 
with pain. Flipping and rolling over Mistress 9, Ranma unleashed a beam 
of Ki that only narrowly missed his adversary.

Time seemed to have no meaning in their fight as the two masters of 
spiritual combat fought each other. It may have been hours or it may 
have been days. In the grey nothingness of the mind, there was not 
concept of time. No way to tell what was occurring in the real world. 
After an eternity of fighting, Ranma and Mistress 9 separated and 
circled each other warily. Both were injured, but both fought on, for 
to lose this battle was to lose their life.

Mistress 9's voice echoed out from the void, taunting him. "I shall so 
look forward to playing with your little friends once we finish here. 
Master Pharaoh 90 will join us soon, and when he does, darkness shall 
reign supreme. He shall bring the Silence, and everyone on your world 
shall perish. But just for you, I shall save some of your friends... 
Their deaths shall be particularly long and painful."

"He... He hasn't come yet?"

Ranma could swear that he could see Mistress 9 start in surprise, but 
how an indistinct ellipse of blackness does that, he could not 
describe. "You did not know? You would fight all this time and you did 
not know? Our time here is barely an instant. When I have slain you, I 
will be able to watch all your friends suffering, without losing a 
single precious minute of it."

Master Pharaoh 90 had not yet arrived? There was no rush to defeat 
Mistress 9 then. He could take his time and be careful. Ranma knew that 
he might take a few hits along the way, but there was no way that he 
would be defeated now. Winning was what he did best.

He was about to launch another attack at Mistress 9 when he felt a 
third presence. It was weak and indistinct, but he felt it. Chibi-Usa's 
voice rang out from the void, reminding the both that Mistress 9 had 
gained much of her power from Chibi-Usa's Heart Crystal. "We fight for 
love and justice, and that is something you can never defeat."

The voice faded away after a moment, but it had served its purpose. 
Mistress 9 was distracted, and Ranma was fuelled with new purpose and 
determination. It was the work of but a moment to build it, but the Ki 
ball that he finally released was almost as tall as he was. Soaring 
towards Mistress 9, she was almost too late noticing it. 

Dodging by the slimmest margins, the blackness of Mistress 9 curved 
above the huge ball of Ki, narrowly avoiding being fried instantly. 
With a feeling of glee, Mistress 9 concentrated on Ranma and returned 
the attack. When the Ki ball failed to sail harmlessly into the 
infinite depths but instead exploded just behind her, Mistress 9 was 
caught completely unaware.

Disoriented, disrupted and crippled by the all consuming pain of the 
blast, Mistress 9 was completely unaware of Ranma running closer to 
her. When she was finally able to comprehend again, Ranma was already 
cupping his hands and pouring energy into them. Before she was able to 
pull herself together and form any sort of credible defence, Ranma's 
light was burning her darkness from every corner of their universe.

Wherever there was darkness, Ranma directed the light. Wherever there 
was hatred, he brought compassion. Where there was pain he brought 
restitution. With a last agonised scream, Mistress 9 passed from the 
world of the living.

*	*	*

Sailor Moon watched as Saturn Knight touched Mistress 9 and then seemed 
to fall into her. With a slow motion effect he literally seemed to 
dissolve into the tall woman. While he moved, the bodies became covered 
in a swirling, boiling patina of dark and light. For a precious second, 
light and dark fought seeking dominance. In the end, light was 
ascendant, completely covering Mistress 9's form in a brilliant glow.

The eye searing glow held for only a instant, but it was enough to 
cause everyone to shield their eyes as the light seemed to explode out 
from Mistress 9. Squinting her eyes, Moon interposed her hand to try 
and block the light. She could just make out a shape past her hand, and 
it was the shape of a young girl in a short skirt with a large bow on 
her chest holding something very tall. The girl smiled once and 
vanished, the light vanishing with her. 

Looking around for a startled moment, it took the Senshi's eyes a while 
to readjust to the darkness. To her horror, Sailor Moon saw that the 
dark portal was still growing. Deep inside it, Moon could dimly see a 
darker shape moving. It was approaching. Still distant, she knew that 
it would not take long before Master Pharaoh 90 would arrive. If 
Mistress 9 and her servants had been so powerful, how could they hope 
to stand against someone even she considered all powerful?

Standing in the corner, Neptune and Uranus had been joined by the third 
Outer Senshi. Pluto had seen all that had gone before and now looked at 
her compatriots. Clearly they would gain no support in what must be 
done from Sailor Moon.

"That person we just saw was Sailor Saturn, the Senshi of creation and 
destruction. Her mind had been polluted by both Mistress 9 and Saturn 
Knight. I do not know where she is now, but I am sure she will return. 
When she does, we must be ready for her."

Watching her two allies nod, Pluto continued. "Sailor Saturn has the 
power to destroy the world. In every sense she presents just as real a 
danger as Master Pharaoh 90. If Sailor Moon can block his arrival, we 
will be able to deal with Sailor Saturn. There is no way that she can 
be allowed to live as she currently is, she simply presents too great a 
risk."

Watching Sailor Moon prepare to engage the vortex, the three Outers 
readied themselves. It was not a nice mission, but they were the 
world's only defence against Sailor Saturn. Better that they tarnished 
themselves forever by a cowardly attack than risk letting her live and 
destroy the world with her hate filled mind that had been corrupted by 
evil Mistress 9 and the psychotic Saturn Knight.

*	*	*

Chiba Mamoru sat next to Chibi-Usa's bed in the Tsukino home. 
Throughout the day she had been getting weaker and paler. Now she 
seemed as fragile as glass, and even the simple effort of breathing 
seemed to be a strain. Unless the Senshi succeeded and returned with 
her Heart Crystal, his daughter was doomed. 

Once again tears threatened at his eyes when he thought of the 
injustice of everything. Chibi-Usa had come back in time to them so 
that she could train with Sailor Moon and learn to be the new Moon 
Senshi when she returned to her own time in Crystal Tokyo. Instead, his 
precious daughter had been set upon by the evil that the Senshi were 
fighting and would now lose her life. Where was the reason and justice 
in that?

The brilliant flare of light announced a Sailor Senshi teleporting in, 
but when his eyes found the girl, it was not one that he recognised. 
She was shorter than any of the girls that he knew, and younger too. 
She was dressed much as any Senshi was, with a short blue skirt, white 
bodysuit, gloves and a large black bow proudly displayed on her chest. 
The style of dress may have been similar, but the colours were 
different from any he had known. Equally, rather than the small, round 
jewel in the middle of her bow, she sported a large spiked gem, like a 
gleaming star. 

Strangest of all was the long silver staff that towered over her. It's 
pair of long wicked blades glinted in the room's light, drawing all 
eyes to them. Only as he looked at the weapon did realisation began to 
pierce his brain. "You..."

"Standing in place of the silent world Saturn, I am the destruction and 
creation Senshi, Sailor Saturn!"

Mamoru's knees shook. He knew what Pluto had told them about Sailor 
Saturn, and none of that inspired confidence in her. Then she took her 
eyes from him and looked at the form lying in the bed. The instant she 
took in Chibi-Usa's small, still body, her expression softened and she 
gave a small smile. Raising her left hand, she produced a pink, 
multifaceted star: Chibi-Usa's Heart Crystal. 

Walking to stand next to the girl, Sailor Saturn gently returned the 
crystal to her chest. Looking up at Mamoru, she gave him a reassuring 
smile as Chibi-Usa's breathing strengthened and colour began to return 
to her cheeks. 

"She will survive and be strong."

"How... How did you get it?"

Sailor Saturn sighed and looked away for a moment. "An evil woman 
called Mistress 9 possessed my mind and body. While she did this, she 
attacked my friend and took her Heart Crystal. It was in my darkest 
hour that I heard Chibi-Usa call to me. She said that we fight for love 
and justice and I realised that she was right. 
"Without Chibi-Usa, I may have lost that battle, and Mistress 9 would 
have been free on this world. Chibi-Usa was the only person who could 
possibly have reached me like that. Because of her, I have become 
Sailor Saturn, I have remembered who I am and what my true powers are."

Mamoru looked up in awe. "Because of her..."

Sailor Saturn nodded once and gently brushed Chibi-Usa's head. "Because 
of her I know what I must do."

Watching Sailor Saturn teleport away with the same ease she arrived, 
Mamoru marvelled at what he had heard. If not for his daughter, Sailor 
Saturn may never have survived to come into the world. Without her, he 
knew that the Senshi would be in dire straits against their current 
enemy. Hopefully her power would make the difference they needed.

Looking down at his daughter who was now sleeping normally, Mamoru 
shook his head. "You sent her here for training, Sailor Pluto? The one 
girl that happened to make all the difference in the end? Sailor Pluto, 
you and I shall have a very long talk some day about how to treat my 
family..."

*	*	*

As Sailor Saturn talked to Mamoru, she marvelled at how clear and 
simple everything seemed now. Her change into Sailor Saturn had freed 
her mind. Now she could remember her past, and just what life had 
really been like.

All of the dreams that she had been suffering from now longer seemed 
like nightmares, they were memories that had been dredged up. 
Recollections of a time long in the past when she was Sailor Saturn all 
the time. But it was not just Sailor Saturn, for she remembered being 
Saturn Knight. At the same time, she could remember being both people, 
she also knew that she was both people at the moment. 

When Queen Serenity had used her magic to pull Sailor Saturn's soul far 
into the future, Sailor Saturn had pulled along her husband's soul. 
Their marriage and love had been more important to them than the 
possibility of a new life. For the life of one without the other did 
not bear thinking about. Using all of her skill and power, Sailor 
Saturn had tried to take her husband with her so that he too could be 
reincarnated. 

Unfortunately, other than in battle magic, Sailor Saturn was nowhere 
near equal to Queen Serenity. Her control of the spell was poor, and 
her strength was weak. Rather than taking her soul to a time in the 
future when all the Senshi would awaken within a year of each other, 
Sailor Saturn had dropped both of them hundreds of years too early. The 
very mechanism that she had used to bring Saturn Knight with her was 
already fundamentally flawed. Bonding his soul to hers so she could act 
as a guide was a brilliant idea for someone untrained in those arts, 
but Serenity could have identified the problems immediately.

Sailor Saturn and Saturn Knight had reincarnated into the same body. 
Their long travel through time and the years of life as Ranma had fused 
their souls. Personalities merged and memories mixed. The two lovers no 
longer existed as separate entities. It seemed only destiny that had 
allowed Ranma to fall into that cursed spring all those years ago, but 
even that could have been some manifestation of the magic that had 
brought them together.

Although she did not realise it, Sailor Saturn's and Saturn Knight's 
memories were as fragmented the rest of the Senshi after their 
reincarnation. It was these holes in their recollection that caused the 
strange dreams and the almost split personality. Now that Sailor Saturn 
had awaken, she could feel the mental healing going on. The presence of 
two souls was giving her a memory of herself that continued to expand. 
Given time, she knew that she would remember all the details that she 
needed of her previous life.

Now, however, she was Tendo Ranma, temporarily in the guise of Sailor 
Saturn. Sailor Saturn had a destiny to fulfil and a world to save. 
Neither of those would be completed by themselves, and she was the only 
one with the power to stop Master Pharaoh 90. Already her memories had 
filled in the blanks on how to access her most powerful attacks. With 
an ease that surprised herself, Sailor Saturn teleported back into the 
main tower of Mugen Academy. The future was hers to defend, and it was 
her responsibility to fix the damage that she had done.

Her return was quite prompt from the perspective of the people 
occupying the room where Master Pharaoh 90 had been summoned. Saturn 
had not spent much time talking to Mamoru, so she was able to take 
advantage of her position and reclaim the Grail for safe keeping. The 
black lightning was continuing to stream from the open portal to Master 
Pharaoh 90, but Sailor Saturn was able to dodge these for the short 
distance it took for her to be able to return it to Queen Serenity.

Smiling fondly down at the young queen, Sailor Saturn could more 
clearly remember the help the girl's mother had given her when she was 
Saturn Knight back in the Moon Kingdom. She knew in the heart of her 
being that she would be able to trust Queen Serenity with the power 
that the Grail presented. The fact that she had mistakenly given it to 
Mistress 9 meant that she was not perfect and might make mistakes, but 
it also showed that she had the compassion and the love to never use 
the Grail for evil. That was enough of a endorsement for Sailor Saturn 
to relinquish the powerful magical item into her young hands.

Kneeling down next to her beaten looking queen, Sailor Saturn held out 
the Grail with both hands. Her queen looked somewhat surprised, but she 
tentatively reached took the Grail. With Queen Serenity lying on the 
stairs leading up to the platform Sailor Saturn was on, she was looking 
up into the eyes of her newest Senshi. Sailor Saturn's eyes were as 
hard as flint, a deep purple colour with none of the laughing humour 
that Hotaru usually possessed. A look passed between the two of them, 
and they both knew that Sailor Saturn was planning on doing something 
very brave and very foolish, but probably also very necessary.

Unfortunately, Sailor Saturn's position also placed her in an entirely 
open setting. From where the Outer Senshi stood, Sailor Moon obscured 
only the smallest area of their target. Resolving that this would be 
their best chance to catch their adversary unawares, the three women 
powered up and attacked, launching their attacks at the smallest, 
newest and most dangerous Senshi.

Warned by instincts honed by hundreds of years of fighting, Sailor 
Saturn was launching herself into the air before she was even aware of 
moving. Looking downwards, she saw three coloured streams of energy 
sail past underneath her and detonate against the floor where she had 
been standing. Tucking into a roll, Sailor Saturn was completely 
unharmed by the missed attacks, even using the explosion to propel her 
in the direction of the three women that had made her life hell for so 
long now. It was time to end this permanently. 

Dropping to her feet in front of the women, a quick smile crossed 
Sailor Saturn's lips. The persona of Tomoe Hotaru that she had worn for 
so many months now was weak and sickly; hardly capable of running 
distances, let alone fighting. That was about as far from the truth as 
possible for Ranma's girl form as it was possible to be. Now that she 
was empowered by the magic associated with being Sailor Saturn, she 
took speed and power to whole new levels. 

Obvious from the way that they were standing, both Meiou Setsuna and 
Tenou Haruka were experienced fighters, while Kaiou Michiru relied 
primarily on her enhanced speed and magical capabilities. Three to one 
against Sailor Saturn - a twelve year old girl - it was a long, long 
way from an equal fight.

Moving forward to striking distance, Sailor Saturn concentrated on 
Haruka and Michiru first. Not only were they the least threats, she 
also had special plans for Setsuna. Plans that did not include the 
older woman ever seeing another sunrise.

Using the Silence Glaive like a quarter staff, Saturn knocked Michiru's 
legs from underneath her. A slight flick with the end of the weapon had 
the woman's feet moving up to parallel with her head. Spinning the 
eight foot staff around her as though it was a cheer leader's baton, 
Sailor Saturn vaulted the falling body of the girl in the green skirt. 
Pushing herself off from the falling body with her free hand, Saturn 
sent Michiru rocketing to the floor as she flew feet first at Haruka.

Stunned by the speed that the little girl had moved, Haruka was still 
bring up her defences as a leg went either side of her torso. With a 
sharp, scissoring motion, Sailor Saturn buckled Haruka's knees from 
behind and rolled her own body almost two complete revolutions. 
Although her mass was considerably smaller than the big girl's, her 
movements flipped Haruka into a wall, sending cracks radiating out from 
her head. 

Catching herself with one hand, Sailor Saturn popped herself back to 
her feet and stood in front of Meiou Setsuna. Behind her she heard the 
sound of two bodies bounding on the floor. She knew they were not dead 
yet, it would take considerably more than that to do them in. By her 
reckoning, they should be stunned for the precious seconds she needed 
to eliminate the one person with access to the Gates Of Time.

For a long moment, two powerful Senshi faced each other with death in 
their eyes. Both believed that the other person was the greatest threat 
that their world faced, neither of them shifting an inch in their 
perceptions. Acting on some hidden signal both moved in the same 
instant.

Bringing up the Time Staff, Sailor Pluto started her Dead Scream. It 
was the same attack that she had used to kill Takuhi, and she would now 
use it to destroy Sailor Saturn. The girl would probably be able to 
survive the first blast, but once Sailors Neptune and Uranus were back 
on their feet, she was confident that they would prevail.

Slashing down with the massive weapon in both hands, Sailor Saturn 
called out the final attack of the Kotetsu Sen Ha, or Thousand Blade 
Steel, one of Ranma's own extensions to the Umi Sen Ken and Yama Sen 
Ken . "CHERRY BLOSSOM IN SUNBEAM!"

Perfected over hundreds of years of training, it was aimed at creating 
an irresistible attack against a human sized target. Lunging the 
Silence Glaive in an intricate pattern against Setsuna, the bladed tip 
was reduced to nothing more than a flash of silver every time the 
weapon stopped to reverse it's stroke. To an outside observer, the form 
of Sailor Pluto would seem to have been covered in a column of 
shinning, moving silver: the sunbeam of the attack.

The cherry blossom became apparent almost instantly that the attack 
began. The cherry blossoms where Ranma had grown up were a gentle pink 
in colour and you would often see them floating gently to the ground as 
a wind blew. Small, bright flashes of red began appearing in the 
sunbeam of Saturn's attack. On the floor, small spots of blood began to 
appear, gently floating down through the light of the blade's constant 
movement.

Even as Sailor Moon was calling out for them to stop fighting, the pair 
separated. Sailor Saturn exploded backwards from her opponent, 
propelled by the power of the Dead Scream. The one thing that the 
attack had never been designed to counter was magic. If Setsuna had 
attempted to flee or fight her off with her staff, Setsuna would have 
died. As it was, the Guardian Of Time sagging on one knee, a vast 
multitude of cuts bleeding freely, her clothes in tatters.

The other Outer Senshi were rising to their feet as Sailor Saturn 
prepared to attack them once more. Everyone was brought up sharply as a 
young voice filled with fear called out. "No! Its almost here."

Instantly all eyes moved to the portal. Indeed, the red heart of the 
darkness seemed to be almost ready to arrive. Trying to ignore the ache 
throughout her body from the point blank attack, combined with a long 
day of hardship and abuse, Sailor Saturn sprinted up to the dais that 
the portal was mounted on. 

"Stay here, Queen Serenity! It's my fault that this thing was able to 
get here. With my attack I can destroy a world, not even this thing 
could withstand that."

Without a second look, Sailor Saturn leaped through the portal, going 
to meet Master Pharaoh 90 on his home ground. Heedless of the protest 
that the Outer Senshi were making, Sailor Moon charged after her newest 
ally. "Wait! You can't! The Death Reborn Revolution will kill you! Your 
too weak!"

Finding her way through the blackness, Sailor Moon was almost with 
Saturn when one of the bolts of black lightning from Master Pharaoh 90 
hit her. They were almost invisible in the surrounding darkness, and it 
knocked her to the ground instantly. Lying at Sailor Saturn's feet, she 
pleaded with the girl, even as she knew it was too late.

"Sailor Saturn! No! There must be another way! Don't do it! We want to 
help you..."
"DEATH... REBORN... REVOLUTION!"

The control room that Tomoe Souichi had spent so much time and effort 
building exploded. Smoke filled the room, and the sound of flames 
seemed to come from everywhere. Covering themselves with their arms, 
the three Outer Senshi looked up in fear. This was not what they had 
been fighting for. They never wanted Sailor Moon to die. She was their 
Queen and their friend, no matter how they treated her sometimes. 

Sailor Uranus collapsed to her knees next to Neptune and looked into 
the smoke with eyes streaming tears. Whether the tears were from the 
harsh smoke or the harsher loss, she did not know and did not care. 
Then, though through the smoke and darkness, a shape moved. Walking 
unsteadily towards them was a small figure in a torn, short skirt.

The clouds parted for a moment, and Sailor Moon stepped forwards to the 
sounds of rejoicing. "I'm alive... we're both alive."

To the Outer's shock, Sailor Moon held out a small cloth covered 
bundle. Somehow her magic and Sailor Saturn's skill had been enough to 
save Hotaru's life. Unfortunately, the spell had drained too much of 
her life energy, reducing her to the age of a new born baby. Once more 
Sailor Saturn slept until such time as the most powerful and dangerous 
Senshi was needed.

*	*	*

Makoto slumped back in her chair as she talked with Rei. The last few 
days had been just as hectic as before the arrival of Mistress 9. There 
might not have been any Daimons jumping out of nowhere to attack 
people, but the Senshi had all had their hands full trying to clean up 
after the battle.

By the time Sailor Saturn defeated Master Pharaoh 90, almost all of the 
Inner Senshi had been beaten to unconsciousness. Makoto - Sailor 
Jupiter - was the last one standing, and she had been fending off the 
hordes of evil from her vulnerable friends with her fists and feet. 
Relief had come just as she was feeling that she could take no more. 
Around her, all the remain Daimons had simply fallen to the ground and 
dissolved into a red muck that had slowly evaporated. 

Since then, the girls had spent their time ensuring that no documents 
existed from Tomoe's research. The plans for how to bring Master 
Pharaoh 90 and his kind into this world should never fall into anyone's 
hands. 

Looking over at her sombre looking friend, Makoto tried to cheer her 
up. "Come on, it's not like Hotaru actually died. She's still alive and 
kicking. The Outers are just going to be taking care of her until she 
gets old enough to help us again."

After everyone had recovered from the attack and were at Usagi's place 
with the new baby Hotaru, Sailor Pluto had appeared before them. She 
was completely healed from her cuts, and was her usual poised self. 
With her normal blunt directness, Sailor Pluto had explained that it 
was the remnants of Mistress 9 and Saturn Knight in her mind that had 
caused Sailor Saturn to attack the Outers. Now that she was well, the 
Outer Senshi - the oldest of the magical girl defenders - would look 
after her and raise her. Hotaru would be able to grow up with them as a 
normal girl, with a safe future.

Rei looked back at Makoto, finally stirring from her stupor. "I guess. 
I... I just feel so bad that Saturn Knight had to die to save us. I 
know that he couldn't have loved me. I know that must have loved 
Saturn, but it still hurts that he's gone."

Along with all of the other events, Sailor Moon had described to 
everyone how Saturn Knight had been destroyed by Mistress 9. Almost 
dead, he had gone up to Mistress9, and she had totally vaporised him. 
However, his sacrifice had allowed Sailor Saturn to break free of 
Mistress 9 and save Chibi-Usa, then go on to save the world.

"I'm sorry too, Rei-chan. I never knew him like you did, but if I have 
to die, I'd want to do it saving the world and the woman I loved. It 
makes it all worth while."

Rei opened her mouth to say something else, but Ukyo appeared around 
the corner of the building. "Hi, guys."

"Hey." Makoto and Rei stood up and walked with Ukyo out of the temple. 
It had been four days since Ranma had disappeared, and no-one had 
managed to find a single trace of him anywhere. Cologne and Shampoo 
were almost out of their minds looking for him, dropping into the 
temple at least once a day to see if he had arrived. 

Nobody had told the Amazons about what had happened to Hotaru yet. 
Usagi was still trying to think up a good excuse. Since Cologne was 
such a good friend of the girl, everyone agreed that they had to be 
told. Although Pluto was against it, Usagi had told Rei and Makoto that 
tomorrow she would tell Cologne a little of the truth about Hotaru, and 
ask if she wanted to be the girl's god-mother or something. Raising a 
child was a difficult task, and the Outers would want all the help they 
could get, even if they did not admit it.

Today Ukyo, Makoto and Rei were going to go though the Tomoe house and 
look for clues for Ranma. The two Senshi realised that a lot of the 
place had already been searched, but that was to find information first 
on Chibi-Usa, then to destroy Tomoe's research. Now they needed clues 
on Ranma's whereabouts. Ukyo had already been given an abridged version 
of what had happened to Hotaru when they had seen her appear at the 
Tomoe place the morning after the disaster at Mugen Academy's tower.

Using the key that she had borrowed from Michiru, Rei let them into the 
house. Ukyo gasped at the complete disarray that everything was in. No-
one had cleaned since the Senshi had searched the place, and it looked 
like a team of vandals had been through. Delicately, the three girls 
stepped over various obstacles on the ground and began searching.

Moving carefully through the house from the front door to the back, the 
three girls searched everywhere. After a while it became apparent to 
Rei and Makoto that they were very fortunate to have brought Ukyo 
along. The girl's Senshi forms were much stronger, and when they had 
previously searched the house to look for clues about Chibi-Usa, they 
had not been tidy. Where a Senshi could easily move a bookshelf or 
cupboard to search behind it, now the two younger girls had to rely on 
the startlingly strong chef to move things for them.

Being slow, methodical and thorough, it took them until almost lunch 
time before the reached Hotaru's bedroom. Although they knew that it 
would be likely to contain information on Hotaru, they wanted to be 
sure that they searched everything. If they had looked in Hotaru's room 
first, they might have found one clue and ran off with that, missing so 
other vital fact hidden elsewhere. It was with heavy hearts that the 
three girls entered Hotaru's room, because although they had not 
expected to find many clues, they had not even found one clue yet, not 
a single hint of any form.

"Hey, aren't those the pictures of Akane-san that Ami-chan told us 
about?"

"I guess you're right, they must be. You know, Mako-chan, she really 
does look like Ami with that hair cut."

Ukyo walked over to look closely at the three pictures hanging on the 
wall that the other two had been discussing. She pointed at the third 
picture along. "But I thought Ranma's wife was Akane... How can this be 
her if she's that old?"

Rei answered as she walked over to the cupboard and opened it so she 
could search. "No... Well, yes, his wife was Akane, but this isn't her. 
Isn't his wife, I mean. These are some pictures that had been in 
Hotaru-chan's family for three hundred years, I think. Hotaru-chan told 
Ami-chan that the woman in the pictures was also called Akane. It must 
have been a popular name in her family."

The three looked through the room in silence for a couple of minutes 
before a startled gasp brought their attention back to Rei. Gathering 
around her, the two taller girls looked down on her as she knelt on the 
floor. She was sobbing softly and was clutching something to her chest. 
Moving slightly, Ukyo could see a flash of bright red, shiny fabric. 
"Is that one of Ranma's shirts?"

Certainly the fabric looked like the red silk that Ranma normally wore. 
With a shake of the head, Rei climbed back to her feet and allowed a 
long red dress to unfold. Brilliant, fine, red silk set off a design 
that was elegant in its simplicity. With a modest neckline and a low, 
scooping back, the dress was full length, reaching the floor as Rei 
held it by the shoulders. Although they were not the ones holding it, 
Ukyo and Makoto could tell that it was exceptionally well sown, the 
seams hardly showing. A dress of such fine fabric and remarkable sewing 
would be worth a small fortune, surely. 

What puzzled the Ukyo and Makoto most was why Hotaru would have such a 
dress in her cupboard. Obviously the dress was far too large for her. 
They could hardly think of any reason why it would be there, unless it 
was something that had belonged to Hotaru's mother. But then, why would 
Rei be crying? Makoto moved beside her friend and place and arm around 
her shoulder comfortingly. "What's the matter, Rei?"

Silently, Rei turned the dress slightly so that Makoto could see the 
small tag that was pinned to the back of the dress. Makoto read aloud 
for Ukyo's benefit. "To dear Rei-san. I made this dress for you, and I 
hope everything goes well on your d... date with Ranma." Makoto paused 
and looked gave Rei a shocked look. "You got Ranma to agree to go out 
on a date with you?"

Rei nodded as she silently sat on the end of the bed, still holding the 
dress to her. She might not have actually gotten Ranma's agreement, but 
if Hotaru believed that he would go out with her, Rei knew that the 
date was as good as hers. She had not tried on the dress, but she 
somehow suspected that little Hotaru had gotten it right. What hurt 
even more was the fact that for all her care and effort - and it must 
have been a monstrous effort for her to complete it in the time she had 
- Hotaru might never get to see her wearing it.

A clank from across the room announced Ukyo sitting down on the floor 
as her battle spatula knocked against a wall. "I... I thought it might 
have just been me. I really did. You both know how I got engaged to 
Ranma, don't you?"

When the others nodded, she continued. "As soon as my engagement was 
agreed on with Hotaru-chan's foster parents at the time, both her and 
Ranma vanished. I know that most of us have been trying to get Ranma to 
go out with us for months now. Every time I've asked him, he's just 
changed the subject. Shampoo says he almost runs away from her some 
times. I think that old woman, Cologne, is probably the only woman he 
doesn't run away from.
"What I'm trying to say is... What if Ranma found out that Hotaru-chan 
was trying to get him to go on a date with you? Even if he wanted it, 
maybe... maybe all the pressure frightened him. I guess... what if he 
ran away again? What if he's that afraid of commitment?"

The others just sat in silence as they tried to come to grips with what 
Ukyo had just suggested. Especially since it had a frightening ring of 
truth to the speculation.

*	*	*

Kaiou Michiru opened the door the home that she shared with her friend 
Haruka and looked around. They had been considering moving out together 
for a while, and now that they were taking care of Hotaru, it seemed to 
make so much more sense. When she could not see anyone outside, she 
started to close the door, only to be stopped by the sound of a brief 
cough. Looking down she saw the most ancient and withered woman she had 
ever had the misfortune to lay her eyes upon.

"I'm sorry, Madam. I did not see you there. Can I help you?"

After pushing the door wide open with her staff, the ancient woman 
jumped onto the wooden stick that was almost as creased as her face, 
and hopped down the hallway of Michiru's home. "Yes, you can help me. 
Where is Tomoe Hotaru?"

Feeling slightly silly at being intimidated by such a old and fragile 
looking woman, Michiru closed the door and followed the old woman back 
to the living room where she had already encountered Haruka. Standing 
on her cane, the old woman still did not reach head height of the two 
women, so she looked up at them with a frown on her face.

"I shall ask you again. Where is Tomoe Hotaru?"

Haruka crossed her arms over her chest and looked at the woman. 
Something about the old woman suggested strength and inner confidence 
causing Haruka to subconsciously maintain a safe distance initially.

"Hotaru-chan is sleeping. Who are you and why have you barged in here?"

"My name is Cologne... just Cologne. I am a Matriarch of the 
Joketsuzoku Amazons, and I am Hotaru's sister."

Michiru, who had been standing in the hallway that Cologne had just 
walked through spluttered and covered up a laugh. "Excuse me please, 
Cologne-san. Aren't you just a little old to be Hotaru's sister?"

"All women in the Amazon village are sisters. Even if that were not 
true, Hotaru is a member of our village and I am the village's leader. 
When I heard that something had happened to her and that the two of you 
had decided to raise her, I came here immediately. I request that you 
release Hotaru and allow her to come with me."

"I'm sorry Cologne-san, but that's not something that we can do. Haruka 
and I have been appointed Hotaru-chan's legal guardians. Not only that, 
but we love the little girl. I can't just give her up to you."

Cologne snorted. "I find that hard to believe. Less than a week ago 
Hotaru was a twelve year old girl, and now she is a baby. Somehow I 
find it doubtful that the two of you have grown to love her in that 
time. It is even less likely that you have managed to force all that 
paperwork through the ponderous Japanese bureaucracy in that time."

Looking around the recently furnished home, Cologne took in the fine 
quality of the furniture and it's apparent newness. "When I was told 
that she had been somehow afflicted to return to a baby, and that a 
Kaiou Michiru was now her registered mother, I became immediately 
suspicious. I must admit, the strange circumstances in which the two of 
you have suddenly decided to start a new home together with her does 
little to inspire my confidence. It would be much better for all 
involved if you would simply hand her over. We shall go back to China 
and you need never worry about her again."

A third voice came from the other exit to the living room attracted 
everyone's attention. It was soft, but filled with the strength of 
steel. "That would not be advisable. Hotaru shall stay here."

Cologne sucked in her breath, it was rare for her to be surprised in 
this day and age, but when it came to her friend Hotaru, there seemed 
to be no end to the surprises. "Mistress Senshi! Hotaru's friend had 
mentioned that your group was involved..."

Sailor Pluto nodded her head and slowly looked around the room, taking 
in each of the three occupants. She recognised Cologne from the time 
that she had learned the cure to the Xai Fang Gao Shiatsu technique, 
but she was fairly confident that neither Haruka nor Michiru had ever 
met the old woman before. After a pause, she focused on Cologne and 
gave the guest her full attention.

"My name is Sailor Pluto, and I am one of the Sailor Senshi. It was by 
her involvement with the recent evil that threatened Tokyo that Hotaru-
chan was... injured. It was at my personal request that these two are 
taking care of the child."

Unconsciously, Cologne nodded her head along with Sailor Pluto. She 
knew that Ranma had been tied up in the affair with Mistress 9 and the 
Daimons. It was also obvious that the Sailor Senshi had been involved. 
Someone would need to be particularly dense - or never watch the news 
or read a paper - to miss the fact that the girls were fighting a war 
on a regular basis.

"But why choose these two? Surely that matter is now resolved. Hotaru 
would be raised much better in my village along with the people that 
truly understand her."

"I can understand your concern, but this decision has been made with 
the best interests of everyone at heart. I have been told that you were 
aware of Mistress 9's possession of Hotaru... Good, then you should be 
aware that these two have also been briefed on the more pertinent 
facets of what has happened. They have been told to keep a specific 
watch on Hotaru so that no relapse can occur, and so that she can be 
able to be raised as a normal child."

"Hotaru is hardly a normal child."

"Truly, that is so. However, it is only here in Tokyo that Sailor Moon 
will be available to help her whenever it is needed. I and the other 
Senshi shall keep a close watch on these two and Hotaru and ensure that 
there is no danger to them or anyone else."

Cologne went silent and thought for a while. What they said was true, 
but she could not shake the feeling that she should take Hotaru back to 
the Amazon village. Perhaps, in time, she might be able to help bring 
back the friend that she once had. She did not even know whether 
Ranma's curse still existed. Was this Hotaru - a body torn apart from 
Ranma when Mistress 9 broke his curse - or was it Ranma in his cursed 
form? No-one had found Ranma's body anywhere, so Cologne maintained 
hope that somewhere deep inside the girl's mind her friend still 
existed.

Looking from the two women who lived here and were pretending to be 
Hotaru's new parents and back to Sailor Pluto, Cologne struggled to 
find the right answer within herself. When she had first come here, she 
had been prepared to take Hotaru with her by force if necessary. Two 
girls who were still school age would be no match for someone of her 
power. A Sailor Senshi was another matter entirely. Setting aside the 
possibility - maybe even probability - that Cologne would be defeated, 
it raised the question of whether she was right in her course of 
action. The Senshi fought for love and justice. Even Cologne had been 
saved on more that one occasion by the girls, and their protection and 
patronage of Hotaru was something that she could not easily discount.

Reaching a reluctant conclusion, Cologne looked up at Sailor Pluto and 
slowly nodded her head. "I... will accept this arrangement. However, in 
the years to come, I or someone from my village will come here and 
educate Hotaru in our ways. There is much that she must learn, from 
fighting to village laws and secret techniques known only to the 
Amazons."

Sharing a glance Haruka and Michiru nodded. Surely in a few years time 
Cologne would have forgotten about Hotaru. Would she really be willing 
to put in the effort of coming to Japan from her little village in 
China just to train the girl? Not only that, but Hotaru had always been 
such a weak and sickly girl; when her first lessons in martial arts 
arrived, she would almost certainly decide to end it herself.

"If I may, I would like some time with Hotaru alone."

That request did not go over as well. It was only with the prodding of 
Sailor Pluto that Haruka finally acquiesced to Cologne being in the 
same room as their adopted daughter by themselves. Escorting Cologne to 
the bedroom, she closed the thin wooden door and stood on the other 
side with Michiru and Pluto. If they heard anything strange, they would 
be inside before Cologne could possibly act.

Cologne looked down into the little Hotaru's crib and reached out one 
withered hand to shake the little girl awake. When Hotaru's large 
purple eyes looked up at her and the baby's face curled into a childish 
look of fun, Cologne almost cried aloud with pleasure. Her enthusiasm 
was too early, as that was all Hotaru did. She did not suddenly speak 
with Ranma's cocky attitude. She did not complain, she did not even 
move to greet Cologne. All baby Hotaru did was gurgle slightly and 
drool from the corner of her mouth.

Reaching out a gentle hand, Cologne cleaned up her friend in much the 
same way that Hotaru must have done when she first looked after 
Cologne, back in the Amazon village all those centuries ago. "Ranma? 
Hotaru? Soap? Can you hear me? Are you in there?"

The baby gurgled again and reached up with small, grasping hands to 
grip Cologne's green robe. "Oh, my dear friend... How far you have been 
brought down."

With eyes slowly shedding tears, Cologne walked back to Hotaru's new 
parents and bid them goodbye with hardly a word. She had never realised 
just how hard it would be to see her friend reduced to such a state. 
Ranma had always been so strong. Always so far beyond everyone else. 
Now she had been reduced to this. Even Ranma's remarkable Ki seemed to 
have vanished.

With a heavy heart, Cologne slowly walked back to the Nekohaten. She 
did not hop on her stick as she usually did, the whole effort needed 
just did not seem justified in the face of the loss she had just 
suffered. Withdrawing one hand from her robe, she looked at the 
parchment scroll that Ranma had given her only a week ago. He had 
wanted her to look after the Saotome Secret Techniques in case 
something happened to him. Something had happened, and she was deeply 
tempted to break the seal then and begin to read of his noble history. 

A sudden resolve made her place the scroll back in her robe and Cologne 
continued homewards. Hotaru was still alive, and Hotaru was Ranma. 
Maybe. There was still a chance that he would return some day. She 
would return, and she would wait for twelve years before she opened the 
scroll. Deep within her, Cologne hoped that with all her might that 
when Ranma returned to the proper age of his cursed form, he might be 
granted with return of his old memories and abilities.

Shampoo was waiting for her with packed bags when she returned to the 
restaurant. Before Cologne had left, the two had discussed their 
options. There was still a good chance that they might find Shampoo a 
husband if they stayed in Japan longer, but neither really believed 
that they would find one to match Ranma. It would be better for both of 
them if they returned to their village and let their wounds heal. Time 
would allow Shampoo to love again, and in time she would find a 
husband. 

For the last four days, Cologne had reassured Shampoo that her actions 
had not hurt either her little sister Hotaru nor her intended husband 
Ranma. They might have caused a few complications, but the events that 
followed had been set in motion long before Shampoo had acted. It had 
soothed the girl's conscience, but Shampoo had sworn never to use the 
Xai Fang Gao technique ever again.

"Let us go home, Great Granddaughter. For now, Ranma is as far beyond 
our reach as the dead."

---
End of Chapter.

Authors words
This has been Chapter 25 of Destiny's Child. The story shall be 
finished in Destiny's Child 26: Defeating The Witches. For those people 
unfamiliar with Sailor Moon S, the real Tomoe Hotaru becomes Sailor 
Saturn, and is reduced to the form of a baby after casting the Death 
Reborn Revolution thereby destroying Master Pharaoh 90.

---
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