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
ukie	             <davidgao@seas.upenn.edu>
Kevin D. Hammel    http://www.anime.sobhrach.com/~khammel/


This story is dedicated to the letter N the number 14,567,335,284.


Visit my website at
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.

Ranma's problems are increasing daily. He now remembers being Saturn 
Knight, a borderline psychotic noble from the Moon Kingdom... too bad 
that Saturn Knight and Sailor Mars are falling for each other. Not 
only that, but Saturn Knight, Ranma, and Hotaru (as different 
persona) have all been having problems with the Outer Senshi. Last 
episode, Ranma saw Sailor Pluto cure Rei of the Xai Fang Gao Shiatsu 
technique. Why Pluto? Because she had watched one of the Witches 5 
and her Daimons beat the cure from Shampoo and Cologne. Why did the 
Witches want it? Read DC23 to find out.

--------------------
Bringing It Together
--------------------

As Hotaru walked down the street to her destination, she felt worried 
and depressed. Things seemed to be coming to a head at the moment, 
and she was not sure that they were going well. Actually, despite a 
recent victory for the Sailors, overall things were pretty grim. 
Despite a down turn in events, Hotaru could see the light at the end 
of the tunnel, and that end was getting closer every day.

It was now three days since the attack on Cologne, and the poor girl 
was still in hospital. Ranma had visited her every day, usually 
staying for several hours by her bedside. Often he would talk about 
what he remembered of life in the village, or read her the newspaper. 
The doctors kept promising she would come out of her coma any day 
now. Just watching Cologne in the bed hurt him. To him, she would 
always be the bouncing little child, the sweet teenager who looked up 
to him. Seeing her lying in the stark white hospital bed made her 
seem old and fragile. 

No matter how much he hated to see Cologne brought low like this, he 
did not begrudge a single second spent with her. She was his oldest 
and dearest friend. She was a tie to a life of happiness in the days 
of his youth. Although Shampoo was a Joketsuzoku also, she did not 
bring back the memories the way Cologne did. Besides, in the half 
hour or hour that their visits coincided, Shampoo seemed to offer 
more attention to him than her own great grandmother. He could not 
blame her, because that was how she was raised, but Ranma had once 
promised himself that he did not want to sit around and watch as 
Cologne died of old age. Now that was exactly what he was doing and 
he wished Shampoo could really understand the depth of his suffering.

Added on top of Cologne's coma was a sense of dread. Yesterday the 
Sailors seemed to have won a great victory: finally defeating Witch 
Mimete. The only problem was that it was her successor - Witch Tellu 
- that had actually killed her. Again the Sailors had been in dire 
straits, but before Mimete could take advantage of her latest plan, 
Tellu had pulled the plug on her. Literally pulled the plug, since 
Mimete had contrived to enter a giant TV and was planning on using 
the power she had by the direct connection to Tokyo's power grid. 

It was the fact that the Sailors had never actually defeated one of 
the Witches in direct combat gave him the sense of dread. Kaolinite 
had apparently fallen to her doom from Tokyo tower, Eudial defeated 
by Mimete's sabotage and a car accident, and now Mimete had been 
killed by Tellu. Each time their adversary became stronger, but the 
Senshi remained the same. It was only through their devotion and will 
power that they could hope to compete.

But how strong would Tellu prove to be?

At least he was back to getting lessons from that tomboy priestess. 
Rei-san had fully recovered from the Xai Fang Gao Shiatsu technique 
Shampoo had used. She had really hit the roof when he had told her 
that she had seen his curse.  True, because of the memory prevention 
technique Rei could not remember seeing it, but that was not Ranma's 
fault. The last couple of days he had been getting great enjoyment 
over mocking her. She was the only one around who had seen his curse, 
and she did not know what it was. Unfortunately, he was the only one 
that found it hilarious. 

Even though she was a tomboy, Rei-san did not have the strength 
needed to defend herself against the Daimons. Hell, she'd need to be 
one of the Sailors just to be safe, and there was no way that a 
simple temple maiden had that much power. In the previous week she 
had been attacked not once, but twice by the forces of evil. That was 
enough to make Ranma shiver in fear for her. The good fortune of 
having strong allies appearing could not continue forever, and that 
might mean that someday her luck would run out.

Ranma's only real hope was Mimete had borne Rei-san a personal grudge 
for some reason. Perhaps she bought a faulty charm once. Ranma knew 
just how poorly they worked: every charm for clear weather and no 
rain that he had tried, had failed. If he was lucky, Tellu would not 
follow in Mimete's footsteps, but luck was something he had learned 
not to count on a long time ago.

If all of that was not enough, Mistress 9 was saying that she was 
having a hard time getting the energy she needed to complete the 
separation of his halves. She assured him it would happen; Mistress 9 
had once hoped that she might be able to complete it ahead of 
schedule, but that was not to be. She would complete it, she 
guaranteed him.

To keep things complicated, Ucchan's was being rebuilt, and poor Ukyo 
was forced to live in a hotel temporarily. Ranma had wanted to offer 
her a place to stay with the Tomoes, but Hotaru's 'father' had ruled 
that out summarily. So now she spent long days supervising 
construction or doing some casual work at another Okonomiyaki shop. 

Hotaru was walking up the stairs to the front door when she reached 
what she hoped was the last of her real problems: the three girls 
that were trying to pass themselves off as fighters for love and 
justice like his pretty Sailor Mars. Being a Sailor was not about 
wearing a short skirt and having magical powers - although that did 
seem to be important. What really mattered was attitude. Queen 
Serenity and her warriors fought for love and justice, and that ruled 
to others out. Haruka, Setsuna and Michiru fought for their own 
hidden goals; to them it was the destination, not the journey. 

The real pretty soldiers knew that it did not matter if you reached 
the end of your voyage, so long as you travelled correctly. Failure 
was something to be avoided, but years in Poland had taught Ranma 
that phrases like 'sacrifices must be made', 'the end justifies the 
means', and 'at any cost' were something that should never be in the 
vocabulary of people in power. Although he had never asked any of 
them, his Sailor Mars would never be willing to let someone sacrifice 
their life for hers. From the way that they acted, the three older 
girls seemed quite willing to let some people make the 'right' 
sacrifices.

Placing her hand upon the door-bell, Hotaru firmly pushed all of 
these depressing thoughts down. Even as the door chimed, Hotaru 
managed a smile. The other day she was sorting through her drawers 
and had come across something she knew would bring a smile to her 
face: her paintings of Akane. They were done something like three 
hundred years ago in the Amazon village. Ever since then they had 
been sealed inside a greased and waxed leather case. After seeing how 
age had affected some of the Amazon's books, Ranma had long ago 
decided that such an event would never occur to her last images of 
Akane.

The sound of running feet announced the arrival of Ranma's hope for 
restoring the pictures. It was one's of the tomboy's friends, and the 
smartest girl Ranma had ever met. He had met her a few times at Rei-
san's or Chibi-Usa's, and she always seemed nice and sweet. She might 
get recruited as a Sailor girl with attitudes like those. Hotaru was 
laughing to herself at the joke as the door opened; someone as gentle 
as Ami did not seem the sort to be able to fight against demons.

"Hello, Ami-san!"

"Hello, Hotaru-chan. What a surprise to see you here. Are you lost?"

"No, I came here to see you. I was wondering if you could help me 
with something?"

"Sure, Hotaru-chan. Come on inside and tell me what I can do."

Stopping past the kitchen to layer a plate in biscuits her mother had 
bought and left for her, Ami led them to her room. It was a nice 
room, just as spotlessly tidy as Hotaru would have expected from such 
an organised girl. Taking one of the cookies and munching away, 
Hotaru sat on Ami's bed idly looking at all of the books on her 
shelves and stacked on her desk.

"Wow, you must be so smart, reading all the time. I wish I knew more 
than I did."

Ami blushed and covered her mouth in embarrassment. "Well, if you 
keep studying and do your school work, I'm sure that you'll do well."

After a couple more minutes of mindless small talk, and a few 
compliments to bolster Ami's faith in herself, Hotaru got to the 
point. "Ami-san, I have some really old pictures, and I was hoping 
you could give me some help getting them framed properly."

"You didn't need me for that Hotaru-chan. Any painting shop sells 
frames. You could have done it yourself; it's fun too."

"No, no, no! These are _really_ old pictures. I've got three of them, 
and their about three hundred years old. It's just that some canvases 
are supposed to get really brittle if they're too old, and I remem- I 
suspect that these ones are weak already. Here. They're sealed in 
this tube."

Hotaru handed the older girl a tube of some strange brown/black 
substance. It was a foot and a half long, and a couple of inches 
thick. Holding the tube in a delicate and slightly disgusted manner, 
Ami examined it closely. The surface was lumpy and irregular, covered 
in some thick, smooth and slightly greasy substance. There was also 
no sign of how to get the pictures in or out.

"Err... How do you know there are pictures in here?"

"Umm..." That was a tricky one. She really should have considered it 
before she arrived. "It's been... entrusted into my family... since 
they were first taken down."

Hotaru looked so earnest, Ami sincerely hoped that there were 
pictures in there. "Well, I don't want to get your hopes up, but I 
could probably cut this stuff away..."

"Please don't... The reason I came to you is because I knew you would 
be smart enough to be able to tell me who did this sort painting 
restoration work. That case has been sealed in wax and grease to 
protect them. Every few years - when it was starting to wear out - it 
would be renewed. Its been one of my regular jobs now for quite a 
while.
"What I really want is some way of preserving the paintings so that I 
can look at them, without them falling apart over time."

Holding the tube more carefully - even if only to avoid touching old 
animal grease - Ami looked at it more closely. "Well... I know a few 
people from the art gallery... and the museum might be able to help, 
but a proper restoration - the sort of treatment you need - is really 
expensive."

Hotaru waved a hand. "It's only money. It's the paintings that are 
irreplaceable."

"You don't understand. It might cost 100,000 yen or more!"

"Oh, is that all? Here." Hotaru passed her an American Express card. 
"This is set to draw straight from an account Ranma set up. If you 
need more than $300,000 US, you'll have to get approval, but don't 
let that stop you. The pictures are worth it."

"Th-- three hundred thousand US!? Do you realise how much that is in 
Yen?"

"Sure, I helped draw up the papers for it. Ami, you have to 
understand: these paintings are the finest works of art from the 
greatest painter in two generations of the Joketsuzoku. The girl in 
the paintings is the most beautiful woman in all of Japan during the 
sixteenth century. Besides, there's all sorts of money in Ranma's 
name floating around. If... if we can succeed, I thinks it's time to 
spend some of it."

Ami's eyes were as large as saucers as she clutched the tube. That 
came to over forty million yen. Forty million yen, and Hotaru had 
just handed it to her. She might have had doubts once, but if she and 
her brother were willing to give her this much money to spend, they 
must be serious. For that much money, you could buy some of the most 
famous paintings in the world. 

Actually, it was just as strange that Hotaru and Ranma were that 
rich. She had seen the Tomoe home and while it was not small, it did 
not speak of this much money. Even then, Hotaru had clearly said that 
it was Ranma's money, not her father's. Momentarily, Ami wondered if 
Ranma was actually adopted by Tomoe Souichi. It would explain a lot 
of things: his money, why he did not live there now, his travel in 
his early years. Maybe Rei knew...

Coming out of her speculations with a quick shake, Ami gave Hotaru a 
confident smile. "Leave it in my hands, Hotaru-chan. I'll speak to 
some friends and see if they can do it. Trust me, since it's this 
important to you, we'll be very careful."

Engulfing the girl in a big hug, Hotaru held her tightly. Wiping a 
small tear from her eye, Hotaru smiled. At last, after three hundred 
years of waiting, she would be able to see pictures of Akane again.

Having left Ami's house, it was time to take another trip to the 
hospital. Cologne-chan would probably still be unconscious, but 
Hotaru could read to her or something. Poor little Cologne-chan: 
attacked by Witches in a strange country, surrounded by foreigners, 
all alone when Shampoo needed to work on finding a husband. Even if 
she could not hear the words, Hotaru knew Cologne-chan appreciated 
her presence.

Walking into Cologne's room, Hotaru was positively delighted. She was 
awake! Cologne was up and sitting in bed drinking some juice. 
Throwing herself across the room, the two small women held each 
other. 

"I... I was so worried about you, Cologne-chan. The reason I left the 
village was I couldn't stand to see my friends dying, and here you 
go... I'm just so glad you're OK again."

Cologne held her friend. For the first twenty years of her life, 
Hotaru had always been a mother or a big sister to her. Since then 
she had borne her own children, and known the agony of watching them 
pass away. Returning the hug, Cologne soothed her friend, telling her 
it was all right. 

Later the two ancient Amazons - one showing her age and the other not 
- shared the bed and sat talking. Cologne talked of her battle and 
the dangers in the city these days. Shampoo had been in earlier, and 
was there when she had awoken. While Shampoo was there, she had told 
Cologne how her husband had already hunted down the people that had 
attacked them.

"Is it true, Soap? Is it true that you took on the woman and her 
monsters?"

"Well, not by myself, but yeah, I did. One of them anyway. I was 
there when the Sailors killed the others. Until I bumped into Shampoo 
two days ago, I did not even know anything had happened to you."

"Mmm. Well, it is good that one of the Joketsuzoku was there to see 
to their end. Amazon justice must be maintained. Thank you.... 
Congratulations too, they are most powerful opponents."

Bowing her head slightly, Hotaru admired her hands. "More powerful 
than you may ever know. I'm in this pretty tightly at the moment. You 
can't tell anyone, but I know one of the Sailors... well, not exactly 
know her, more like we talk some times. Anyway, recently I've been in 
some of the fights, and they're not good news. These people are 
dangerous, Cologne-chan. If you ever see them again... be careful."

Cologne nodded. "How about you? Are you careful?"

"As careful as I can be. I won't lie to you, it's dangerous, but 
then, life is dangerous... Do you remember when we first met in 
Japan? You didn’t know who was and I challenged you to a fight."

Cologne nodded her head. It had come as quite a series of shocks. 
This young upstart male firstly had the audacity to challenge her, 
then he made it worse by not loosing straight away. Only after a long 
and tiring battle, did her reveal that he was actually her long time 
friend whom she had thought was dead for many years.

Hotaru passed her a large scroll that she had pulled from within her 
shirt. Wordlessly, Cologne took it and looked at the words covering 
the wax seal. 'Saotome Secret Techniques'. 

"My father was a great man. Before I was born, he designed two 
entirely new sets of martial arts techniques. Techniques so powerful, 
so deadly, and so dangerous he asked that they be sealed away. Never 
to be used other than in my darkest hour.
"I warn you now, these techniques require great inner strength and 
great prowess even to learn. Even Akane only ever managed to learn 
the Yama Sen Ken, and a few of the moves from the Umi Sen Ken. She 
and I trained together for many years, so these aren't the sort of 
thing that can be mastered overnight."

Cologne took the scroll in her hands and prepared to break the seal. 
She knew her friend had some mighty techniques that she was entirely 
happy to use. If this was a set that even she was scared to use, they 
must be lethal in the extreme. Before she could crack the wax, a 
small hand rested on top of hers.

"My father asked me never to pass on his knowledge to anyone other 
than my wife or my children. I... I've never had children, but I've 
always though of you as my daughter and my best friend. What I'm 
doing these days is dangerous. I'm not always sure that we'll come 
out on top, and I don't want the techniques that we developed to be 
lost. If... if something happens to me, these are yours to use as you 
see fit."

Cologne nodded and looked down at the parchment in her hands. It was 
a very fine quality paper, obviously the best available. Sitting 
here, holding the secrets of hundreds of years in her hands, Cologne 
could feel the temptation challenging her soul. Turning her head, she 
looked at Hotaru: there might be a way to get some hints on what was 
in the scroll. "You said 'we'. I thought your father developed 
these."

"Pops developed the first two of them. The core of the techniques. 
I've learned a lot since then, and I've found ways to improve things. 
I've added three techniques to the series to round them out..."

Sighing, Hotaru lay back and looked at the ceiling. The scroll she 
had given Cologne held so much of her life. So many memories, the 
results of so many years of studying the art. Even if something were 
to happen to her now, she would live forever in the Joketsuzoku's 
memories.

"Before I was even born, my father designed two sets of Martial Arts 
techniques. The groundwork was laid while he was courting my mother, 
and he perfected them in the first few years of my life when he 
started my training journey. Later on I added three more sets to make 
it complete, one for each of the elements: earth, air, fire, water, 
and metal.
"The first of these techniques was the Yama Sen Ken. The Thousand 
Fist Mountain. It's the simplest of the collection. The Yama Sen Ken 
is Earth. It is simple, straight forward, and designed for the 
demolition of opponents, buildings... anything really.
"Next is the Umi Sen Ken. The Thousand Fist Sea. Like water it is 
softer and more flexible than earth. It relies on stealth, trickery, 
subtlety and precision in it's attacks."

Ranma settled into a more comfortable position. She silently wished 
that the real Hotaru had not been such a girly sort of girl. Lying 
down in skirts was really annoying; if you weren't careful, you kept 
showing people all sorts of things they should not see.

"The Kotetsu Sen Ha, or Thousand Blade Steel, is probably perfect for 
Shampoo. Shampoo likes to fight with weapons, and that's what this 
set is about. Pops probably could have come up with them, but he 
always taught me to fight bare handed. Bare hands gives you lots of 
flexibility, but I have to admit there are advantages to weapons. 
It's sort of like the Yama Sen Ken adapted to use with greater reach 
and bladed attacks.
"The two hardest techniques in the collection are limited to only a 
few people who could ever learn them... they're just too hard. I 
think you could learn the Kaze Sen Ken. The Thousand Fist Wind is a 
series of linked attacks for using Ki in combat. I know you can do 
the Moko Takabisha, so you should be able to manage these with some 
training."

When Cologne looked at her with greater interest, Hotaru shrugged. "I 
won't go into details, but it's not really a series of attacks, it's 
more a new way of doing things. It makes you better and faster. It 
lets you deliver Ki in every attack you do, and it's designed to be 
as soft and subtle as the wind when necessary. Done properly, some of 
the attacks will leave your opponent dead before they realise that 
they have been attacked."

Looking at the younger woman seriously, Hotaru tried to convince 
Cologne with her eyes as much as her words. "The Hi Sen Ken is the 
Thousand Fist Fire. It's a series of magical attacks that I doubt 
anyone other than myself or the Sailor girls could perform. Even they 
would have trouble because of the Martial side of it, despite the 
fact that they have more magical power than I do.
"Be very careful if you try these. They are just as dangerous to you 
as your opponent. There are at least four techniques in then that are 
designed to exhaust every ounce of magical energy from you body. One 
of those is a suicide attack too... I've never managed to figure out 
what you'd use it on... but it's there."

Both the women sat silently and contemplated the scroll after that. 
One was young on the outside, but today she was feeling every day of 
her age inside. The other was withered and ancient outside, but 
inside she was giggling like a school girl. She might be a Matriarch 
of the Amazons, but she was still a martial artist, and the thought 
of being handed a treasury of new techniques made her feel as young 
as Shampoo. 

They were still there several minutes later when Shampoo walked in. 
"Aiyaa! Little Sister in bed with Great Grandmother! We be such good 
friends! Shampoo have so much to teach you."

Upon entering the room, Shampoo had launched herself onto the now 
crowded hospital bed and proceeded to cling onto Hotaru in a 
enthusiastic - though sisterly - hug. Now the three of them were 
there, with Hotaru being held tightly to the curvaceous body of the 
friendly Amazon girl.

"Shampoo! I'm not your little sister."

"You Husband's sister, that make you Shampoo sister."

"I ain't gunna marry you Shampoo!"

"Not, you, Husband. Husband marry Shampoo."

"I just said I ain't marrying you."

"Little Sister confused. Shampoo marry husband, then you little 
sister."

As Hotaru attempted to grapple with the idea of being married to 
someone and being their little sister at the same time, Cologne 
placed a hand on her arm and whispered in her ear: "Remember, Shampoo 
doesn’t know about your curse."

"Whoops, sorry. I'm just used to this sort of treatment when I'm a 
guy. Let's try this again: Shampoo, Ranma's not going to marry you."

"Husband will. Shampoo show him she best choice. All go back to 
China, all be too too happy."

Switching to Chinese to make it easier for the girl, Hotaru continued 
to try and explain the situation... without actually giving away the 
facts. "Shampoo, neither Ranma or I want him to marry you now. These 
too much happening at the moment. I... Ranma's going to be cured of 
his curse soon. Until then, you have to believe me: you don't want to 
marry him."

Shampoo smiled and gave Hotaru an extra squeeze. "You're such a 
clever girl! You've already learned my language so that you can come 
back to China with us? I'm so happy!"

Trying to avoid thinking about the soft flesh that pressed against 
her in all sort of interesting ways, Hotaru looked over at Cologne. 
"Did she understand a word I just said?"

"Shampoo is a very happy girl. I think she just likes to see the best 
in every situation."

On that pleasant note, Hotaru announced it time for her to leave 
Cologne in Shampoo's capable hands. After both of the other women 
extracted promises for Hotaru to return soon, she was allowed to 
leave. Needless to say, under the combined ministrations of Japanese 
medical system, Shampoo's caring, and both Cologne and Hotaru's 
knowledge, the sprightly old lady made a rapid recovery. In under two 
days she was up and around, bouncing on her cane. By the end of three 
days, the hospital staff were more than willing to release her.

It was at this point in time, just three days after Hotaru had given 
her the pictures, that Ami came knocking on the Tomoe family door. 
When Hotaru answered, she was amazed to see a veritable wall of brown 
paper. Looking up, she saw a pair of laughing blue eyes just cresting 
the top of the wrapping paper. Over the eyes was a covering of short 
blue-black hair that swayed gently in the light breeze of the 
afternoon.

"Hello, Hotaru-chan! Look what I've got."

"Err... You robbed a paper shop?"

"No, silly. It's your pictures. I picked them up from the gallery 
today."

"Really?! You've really got them? But it's so quick!"

Ami's eyes crinkled as she smiled. "I've really got them. The people 
at the gallery said it was pretty easy to do, even if they don't need 
to do it too often. They just cut open the case you gave me and laid 
them out. They're all properly framed now, and they guarantee that 
they won't fall apart over time. So... do you want to stay out here 
and talk about them, or go inside and have a look?..."

In stunned silence, Ami watched as sick little Hotaru grabbed all 
three of the pictures in their heavy frames and carried them inside. 
Even Ami who was three years older and in perfect health thought they 
were a burden. Hotaru was pretty strong for such a little girl. "Come 
on, Ami-san! Come up to my room!"

Walking through the house behind Hotaru, Ami struggled to place the 
feeling of dread that seemed to permeate the house. Something about 
the place seemed slightly off; as though someone was waiting for 
something, something of world shattering importance. As Ami was 
walking into Hotaru's room, sounds of laughter echoed up the stairs. 
Terrible, insane laugher. The sort of laughter that set your teeth on 
edge and made you want to run for the local asylum.

"W-Who was that?"

"One of my father's 'friends'. Every now and again he seems to have 
some woman over. I guess he's just lonely. I've never met any of 
them, but this one seems worse than most. Anyway, don't worry about 
her! Let's take a look at these pictures!"

Hotaru had laid out the three paper covered frames against the wall, 
largest in the middle, with a small one on either side. Even though 
she held her fingers poised above the paper and almost quivered in 
excitement, Hotaru paused and looked at Ami. "Thank you. I don't know 
what else I can say. It's been so long that I've wanted to see these 
pictures. I... Thank you."

Blushing furiously at the praise for doing something so simple, Ami 
avoided Hotaru's eyes and made a small waving gesture. "It's OK. 
Honestly. Well, there no need to wait any longer. Let’s take a look."

Nodding, Hotaru gave a single long sweep, tearing the butcher's paper 
from the top of the largest frame to its base. In the light of the 
room, the gold frame glinted, but it was the picture that captured 
everyone's attention. It was a woman; she had large, liquid brown 
eyes, and a cheeky smile. Short-cropped black hair covered her head 
in an almost identical cut to Ami's. 

Seeing Hotaru was entranced by the picture of the woman in her 
twenties, Ami tried to remember what she had said about the person in 
the portrait. 'The most beautiful woman in all Japan...' Casting a 
critical eye over the picture, Ami wondered about that. Sure, she was 
nice, quite cute really, but to be honest, she did not look as good 
as Minako or Rei. Besides, a yellow martial arts Gi was hardly the 
sort of stunning clothing you expected a model to wear. And that 
hair; it might be acceptable now to have short hair, but most of the 
refined ladies hundreds of years ago kept theirs very long.

On the other hand, Ami had to agree with Hotaru's statement that the 
artist was very good. The tones and textures were superb, and the 
subject seemed to have an almost lifelike quality. In much the same 
way as the Mona Lisa watched you wherever you went, this woman seemed 
to smile at you - you personally - wherever you were.

Only because the house was so silent did Ami hear the quietly 
whispered word that Hotaru uttered. "Akane." That was all, one word. 
But it was one word that was sufficient to bring tears to the young 
girl's face. After a moment, she turned away from the painting and 
sat on her bed. "Thank you, Ami-san. It means so much to me to be 
able to see these pictures."

Ami sat beside Hotaru and put an arm around her shoulders. Tears 
continued to fall down the girl's face but she was not crying, 
moreover it seemed that she simply could not contain the depth of her 
emotion. "Who is she?"

"Her name was Akane, and she was the greatest girl to ever study 
Anything Goes Martial Arts." Glancing between the picture and Ami, 
Hotaru lowered her brows in mock concentration. "Real tomboy type: 
Rei-san would like her. Come to think of it, Ami-san... you look a 
lot like Akane. Don't tell me you’re a tomboy too."

Ami gave a short laugh. "No, I'm nice and sweet. Or I try to be." 

Looking back at the picture, Hotaru sighed then whispered to herself. 
"A spirit of fire or a tomboy... The choices we have to make."

Ami stayed a while longer, and the looked at the other two pictures. 
Both were obviously the same woman, just an older and younger 
version. When Ami walked out the door, her brow furrowed in 
concentration. She knew she had heard the name Akane before, and it 
was something to do with Ranma. Not only that, but the face looked 
familiar. Maybe it was just because she looked so much like Ami 
herself. As her brilliant mind struggled to find the last, slippery 
clue she had, Ami walked home. She knew she had the answer, it was on 
the tip of her tongue... Now if she could just remember it.

Back in the house, Hotaru knelt down and placed a small kiss on the 
glass covering of the picture. "Hello again, Akane. I've missed you. 
We have so much to talk about."

*	*	*

No-one could deny that Witch Tellu was a fast worker. The very day 
after Witch Mimete's demise, she had presented Tomoe Souichi with a 
foolproof plan to capture more Heart Crystals than Mistress 9 could 
possibly need. Needless to say, she had also devised the perfect way 
to deal with those pesky Sailor Senshi should they intervene. Nothing 
would be able to stop her!

At least, that was what she told her master. 

As cause for great concern to the Senshi, had they known, she was 
also right. Just four days after killing Mimete, Witch Tellu was 
ready and able to strike. Using her powers combined with the Daimons 
created by Tomoe, she had made an army of demon plants. Plants with 
only one goal in their teeny-tiny vegetable minds: steal Heart 
Crystals.

Acquiring a warehouse and setting up her plants had been the work of 
a single night. By Wednesday afternoon, Tellu's Botanical Gardens had 
been completed, and the grand opening was being advertised for that 
night.

As night fell and the moon rose in the sky, Tellu stood in the 
entrance to her garden and watched the people queuing outside. Her 
advertising had worked perfectly. All of her plants were 
exceptionally beautiful, not to mention unique in their appearance. 
Now the foolish cattle that populated the city were clamouring to see 
them. Fools! If only they knew what awaited them! Soon she, Tellu, 
would rule beside Master Pharaoh 90 when he came into this world. 
When he was told it was her that performed such valuable service, no 
reward would be too great.

Laughing with the simple pleasure of thinking about everyone bowing 
down as she passed, Tellu threw open the door to her warehouse. The 
gardening enthusiasts, the botanists, even the people who just 
appreciated pretty flowers all raced inside to see her remarkable 
display. 

As the people began to circulate through the warehouse, Tellu smiled. 
Soon she would give the command for her plants to attack. When they 
did, she could harvest all of their Heart Crystals. Even if the 
vaunted Senshi arrived they would be no problem to her, despite the 
difficulties they had caused her sister Witches. Hidden among her 
lovely garden was a killer plant. A Daimon more powerful than ever 
before, drawing on her own power for its greatness. A Daimon that 
would be able to crush the Senshi. 

Most importantly... it was a Daimon that could operate without her. 
When the Senshi arrived - and they would eventually - she would be 
long gone with the Crystals. Then, under the cover of her other 
plants, her killer could strike. The Senshi would be nothing more 
than a memory in less than a day.

Throwing back her head and laughing loudly, Tellu closed and sealed 
the front doors. Ignoring the sounds of some late comers banging on 
the outside, Tellu turned back to the people filling her beloved 
garden. Now was the time. Now was the moment of her greatest triumph. 
With a sweep of her hand, the plants transformed. 

All around the room, beautiful flowering plants writhed and sprouted 
tentacles. Vines and creepers leaped from the trestles and engulfed 
their victims. All around, beauty turned to beast. Flora leapt and 
lurched in a most unnatural fashion. Standing in the middle of the 
warehouse, Tellu held aloft the massive crystal she was using to 
collect the Heart Crystals from people. 

All around her, people fell to the floor as the physical embodiment 
of their souls were ripped away. In less than two minutes, none were 
left standing, and Tellu reigned supreme. Victory was hers!

Less than an hour earlier, an innocent looking pair of girls were 
trying to get their friend organised. For the third time in a row, 
they had managed to get fifty meters down the street from their 
companion's house, only to have her realise that she had forgotten 
something of vital importance. Back inside she would run, making them 
another five minutes late.

Finally Usagi was ready. It had taken a mammoth effort to get her 
organised, but Setsuna's steady reassurance, and Chibi-Usa's whining 
eventually convinced the blonde that she had every thing she needed. 
Although she did not spend a lot of time with the Guardian of Time, 
Meiou Setsuna was one of Chibi-Usa's few friends. The older woman was 
acquainted with her from the future, and Chibi-Usa had decided it was 
time for the three of them to spend some quality time together. Most 
importantly, it would be a chance for Chibi-Usa to see some really 
pretty plants that she had seen an advertisement for.

The three girls ran along the street, desperately trying to make up 
for lost time. Puffing and panting, they eventually arrived at the 
warehouse where the botany display was on. Unfortunately, they also 
managed to arrive just a few minutes late. As they had been running 
down the last stretch, they had seen the doors close. Banging their 
fists against the doors, the girls struggled to get in but to no 
avail. 

Chibi-Usa gave Usagi a scowl. "I really wanted to see that! 'Special 
Display!', 'One Day Only!' and I missed it."

Setsuna nodded. "It would have been quite impressive. I expect that 
it was a special display from Tokyo's Botanical Gardens. Don't worry, 
Chibi-Usa, I'm sure that we will be able to see it again some day."

"Ohhhh, and it's all my fault. If I was ready quicker, we would have 
been able to see it. Ohhhh, I'm sorry guys. I didn't mean to."

"It's all right, Usagi-chan. Puu says that we can see it some other 
time. She's always right." Setsuna looked down at the little girl. 
She did not want to disillusion Chibi-Usa and say that she did not 
know for sure. Perhaps she could find a notice that said where it was 
occurring. Stepping away from Usagi and her daughter, she let them 
make plans what to do instead for the rest of the afternoon. 

Setsuna looked back from the front door of the warehouse. "You know, 
it's really strange. I can’t find any information here about who's 
actually presenting it. I was hoping that---"

Going silent for a moment, Setsuna gasped and set her features 
sternly. Screams! Screams of terror and pain! Looking back to her 
friends, they all nodded in unison, they had heard them too. Chibi-
Usa stepped forward with determination. "The Witches 5! It was a 
trap! Quick, this looks like a job for... the Sailor Senshi!"

Sprinting around the corner of the building, each of the girls drew 
forth her henshin stick and recounted her words of power. With a 
dazzling display of pyrotechnics, the three sailor suited defenders 
of love and justice. Striking a pose, the girls prepared themselves 
for battle. Today they would again fight the forces of evil, and once 
again, the fate of the world rested on their shoulders. The duties of 
a magical girl defender were arduous, but none of them would ever 
consider relinquishing their tasks for the simple life. Too many 
people depended on them to allow that luxury.

Sailor Chibi Moon gave a smile. Too often she was left on the 
sidelines. Too often she had to wait while others did the fighting. 
This was her chance to get to do some real good for the world and to 
fight evil!

When her leader turned back to the front of the building, Sailor 
Pluto placed a gloved hand on her arm. "Wait, Sailor Moon! That's 
just what they'll be expecting. Come on, there's go to be a back way 
in."

Nodding once, Sailor Moon followed her compatriots. Shortly, they 
found a small, unlocked wooden door. Sailor Pluto was right: they 
could use this and get the drop on their enemy. For once, they would 
have the advantage of surprise. Hopefully, that would make up the 
difference in their numbers, because it would take a while for the 
rest of the Senshi to arrive, even though the call had already gone 
out.

Inside the warehouse was a scene from a gardener's nightmare. Plants 
writhed and thrashed on the floor, their whip like tendrils flailing 
around, seeking more victims. The whole place seemed to be alive with 
them, the only quiet spot was the small area in the centre of the 
floor that a woman stood. 

She was obviously one of the Witches 5, because as they watched, 
several Heart Crystals floated from the people captured by the plants 
into a large crystal that she held in her hands. The woman's insane 
laughter echoed around the walls of the warehouse, showing that here 
was someone who really enjoyed their work.

"Plants are there to be appreciated by everyone. They are objects of 
beauty for everyone to enjoy, and you have perverted them to your own 
ends! I am Sailor Moon, and in the place of the Moon, I shall punish 
you!"

Tellu looked up to the balcony where the battle cry had come from. It 
was the Sailor Senshi, here to try and ruin her plans. But they were 
too late. Too late and too weak! The instant that Sailor Moon comes 
down to try and rescue these pitiful people, she would strike, 
unleashing her attack plants.

Sailor Moon did descend. Accompanied by her allies - one taller and 
one shorter - she landed and looked at all of the plants that were 
now starting to attack them. "Perhaps this wasn't such a good idea!"

While Sailor Moon tried to fight back the even encroaching mass of 
tendrils, Sailor Pluto and Sailor Chibi Moon went into action. Bright 
globes destroyed the attacking vines by irresistibly intense levels 
of the colour pink as Sailor Pluto used the Dead Scream to keep them 
at bay. On the right, Sailor Chibi Moon was crowing in triumph; not 
once, but twice her attack had worked! She was a real Sailor now, 
able to fight with the best of them.

Sailor Chibi Moon had just turned her head to boast to Sailor Moon 
when a tendril slipped past her defences and wrapped itself around 
her waist. "Eeeek! Pink Sugar Heart Attack!" Levelling the little 
wand at the tendril, small pink hearts came trickling out, fading 
before the impacted.

"No! No, not now! Pick Sugar Heart Attack!" Again the attack failed, 
and she could feel herself being pulled off her feet. Through the 
tangle of moving vines, she could see something larger. Something 
big, mean, and very scary looking. Now would probably be a really bad 
time to get taken in!

"SAILOR MOON.... HEEELLLLLLP!"

Knocking away the vine that was reaching for her, Sailor Moon saw her 
daughter caught by the vines. Even as she tried to move forward to 
help her, more tendrils came to attack her. There was no way that she 
could reach Chibi Moon in time...

Reaching inside herself for the power she needed, Sailor Moon took 
hold of the Moon Sceptre. She may not have defeated Witch Eudial, but 
this time there was no way she would fail. Her daughter was in 
danger, and Sailor Moon would use the full power of the Silver Moon 
Crystal to save her if she needed to. 

"MOON... SCEPTRE... ELIMINATION!"

Completing her turn, Sailor Moon directed the glowing beam over the 
plants. Wherever the energy touched, the possessed, evil plants 
shrivelled up. Working her way from one side of the room to the 
other, Sailor Moon systematically destroyed everything in their path. 
The only thing that escaped destruction was Witch Tellu, who had 
leapt above the path of destruction. Freed from the confines of the 
attacking tentacle, Sailor Chibi Moon fell backwards, running to hold 
onto her friend Sailor Pluto.

Lowering the Moon Sceptre, Sailor Moon sighed. Winning was so hard, 
but it had been worth it. Again Sailor Moon saves the day... Then she 
saw the Witch's smile and her blood ran cold.

"You destroyed my beautiful plant's Sailor Moon, and for that I shall 
kill you. Come forth, my Ultimate Plant. Come forth and fulfil your 
destiny: destroy Sailor Moon!"

From deep within the burnt brown remains piled on the floor, 
something stirred. In moments, what had seemed like a mountain of 
dead vegetation had erupted into a screaming and whirling mass. 
Bigger than any of the previous plants, it ripped up the flooring 
exposing thick roots; roots that began to move and drag the plant 
closer to the people it wanted to make into dinner.

Furrowing her brows, Sailor Moon tightened her grip on the Moon 
Sceptre. 'Just a Daimon,' she told herself. 'Just a Daimon.' Never 
before had she been defeated by a single Daimon, and this time she 
would win again!

"MOON SCEPTRE ELIMINATION!"

Once again the cleansing energy speared outwards from the Moon 
Sceptre. However, this time it was met by an equal power. Washing 
over the demon plant, the energy sprayed off it harmlessly in a 
fireworks display that made New Year's celebrations seem tame. Even 
though she gritted her teeth and poured everything she had into it, 
the plant resisted. It was not coming forward, but it was not 
retreating either.

Eventually the strain was too much, and Sailor Moon sagged to her 
knees, leaning on the Moon Sceptre for support. 'Too much. It was too 
much. There was no way I can beat that plant.' The sound of Tellu's 
laugh brought her head up, but even that was an effort.

"Ha! Sailor Moon, you are defeated. I have collected all the Heart 
Crystals from these people. Now my plant is after you. Yours are the 
only ones left! Soon you shall be defeated by my plant, because it 
has all my power too, and you could never defeat me!"

Although she felt like weeping, Sailor Moon lurched to her feet when 
she felt Sailor Pluto's hands under her arms. "Come on Sailor Moon, 
help will be here soon!"

Even as she spoke, one of the dextrous vines rippled through the 
space where they stood, knocking the two women flying. Lying on her 
side, Sailor Moon stared back at where her doom was approaching. Then 
she saw it, a movement in the rafters. Only one person would be there 
at this time! The vibrant red rose that rocketed from the darkness 
only confirmed her suspicions.

With a sound like a hundred breaking windows, the rose shattered 
Tellu's collection crystal. Freed from their constraints, dozens of 
stolen Heart Crystals fell onto the floor, spilling around Tellu's 
feet. "Sailor Moon, always remember that you are the heart of the 
people. While freedom exists, you will never be defeated."

Tellu looked around in stricken horror. All that work! All her effort 
to collect Heart Crystals! Well, Sailor Moon would still die, but she 
needed to get these Heart Crystals back to Mistress 9. Dropping to 
her hands and knees, Tellu began gathering the Crystals and piling 
them in her arms. Victory was still hers!

With her head down, Tellu never saw her ultimate plant stiffen for a 
second as though caught in indecision. Several tentacles flailed 
aimlessly for a few moments, then it lurched back where it came. 
Heart Crystals, that was what it craved, and it had found a huge 
supply. Heart Crystals, all guarded by this one woman...

Tellu gasped in pain when vines like steel cable wrapped around her 
throat and waist, lifting her off the floor. This was not supposed to 
happen! Her plan was fool proof! No plant of her creation would ever 
stop her! Even if it meant that Sailor Moon would live for another 
day, Tellu swore that she would destroy this treacherous plant and 
complete her mission to gain the Heart Crystals.

Bringing her hands together despite the pain, Tellu fired a bolt of 
power into the heart of the plant. Tendrils caught alight and fell to 
the ground burning, but still more came. No matter how many she 
destroyed, they still came at her. Their rough edges caught her skin, 
cutting her, draining her strength. In the midst of a field of Heart 
Crystals, Witch and Daimon battled for supremacy.

Watching from the sidelines, Sailors Moon, Pluto and Chibi Moon 
marvelled at what they saw. This plant had twice taken Sailor Moon's 
most powerful attack, and it was still slowly winning against the 
Witch. Or was it winning? Every moment that passed, the possibility 
of victory for either Witch or Daimon seemed to fade. The plant was 
slowly being destroyed, and the Witch weakened with each passing 
second.

The battle continued for almost two minutes before both of them 
collapsed, apparently dead. Tuxedo Kamen walked forward and poked the 
corpses both with his cane. They were dead. By linking her own energy 
to the Daimon, Tellu had guaranteed that it was the one enemy she 
could never defeat without loosing herself. Quietly, Tuxedo Kamen 
shuddered at the though of what would have happened to his precious 
Sailor Moon if he had not chanced to strike at Tellu's one weak point 
when he did. 

In short order, Tuxedo Kamen was joined by the three Senshi already 
there. As they were returning the Crystals to their owners the other 
Senshi arrived. They were too late for the battle, but their help was 
always welcome. Especially welcome since Sailor Moon was so exhausted 
from her attacks that she could hardly stand.

As people began to recover consciousness, the Senshi made good their 
escape. Spending too long in one place was a good way to let the 
world know too much about them. Once out of sight, all the girls 
transformed. Chibi-Usa stood next to her mother, looking up at the 
older girl with respect in her eyes. Unfortunately, Usagi was too 
tired to notice it. All she did notice was the warm way Mamoru had 
his arm around her and was supporting her. His warmth went a long way 
to restoring her spirits and her strength.

After appropriate congratulations - and a few recriminations about 
Sailor Moon taking on the Witches single-handedly - they dispersed 
back to their other tasks. There was a lot that they could learn from 
this battle, but Sailor Moon was too tired to talk now. Booking a 
Senshi meeting at Rei's temple for the following day, the friends 
waved goodbye and went their separate ways.

Several blocks from where they parted company, Rei was beginning to 
feel she was being followed. Placing a hand into her pocket, she took 
firm hold of her henshin stick and looked around. No-one. The street 
seemed to be empty of people. It was not until she looked low to the 
ground that she discovered the small white cat that was walking along 
fifteen meters behind her.

Stopping where she was, Rei contemplated the small furry face. 
Normally Artemis was a happy cat, smiling or joking. It seemed he was 
only serious when Minako or Usagi were in trouble - which did seem to 
happen all too often. Now he looked like he was frowning; deep in 
thought as though worrying about the weighty questions of existence. 
Or... Or perhaps he was worrying about Minako...

"Artemis? Are you OK? Is Mina-chan OK?"

He looked up at her with a distracted air. "Mina-chan... Yes. Yes, 
_she's_ OK."

Rei relaxed and took her hand out of her pocket. Crisis averted. If 
there really was something wrong, she knew she could count on Artemis 
to tell her. She liked the cat, he sometimes seemed to take things 
too lightly, but he cared for her friends' well being and that was 
what mattered. Even though he seemed like a softy, there was iron in 
the core of his soul, and he had a dedication as strong as any of the 
Senshi. He was a cat you could depend on in trouble.

"Rei-chan?"

"Are you coming back to the shrine with me? You didn't have another 
fight with Luna, did you?"

It's hard to believe that a cat can blush, but Artemis' face turned a 
lively shade of red. "No! Not at all. Actually, Rei-chan, I needed to 
speak to you about something."

She barely managed to make out the last few words. Whatever subject 
was upsetting him, he must have felt really strongly about it. So 
strongly it made him nervous, rather than his normal go-get-'em 
attitude. Rei walked in silence. Whatever it was, he would tell her 
in his own good time.

"Rei-chan, I need to ask you some questions about Saturn Knight." 
Watching the way her mouth firmed into a thin line, he hurried on. 
"I'm not going to say anything bad about him. I... I just want what's 
best for you... For both of you."

Rei looked at him in askance. "You've been talking to Setsuna-san 
again, haven't you? She's never got anything good to say about him."

"No, honestly, I haven't. I'll admit, I didn't like Saturn Knight in 
the Moon Kingdom. I'll even admit that having him here scared me at 
first. But now... Now I... Now I don't really mind the fellow. All 
right, I never really speak to him, but he treats you so well. It's 
almost like he's a different man from the one I knew. He seems almost 
at peace, as though all his troubles have been put to rest."

"So you're not going to try and talk me out of seeing him? He 
actually asked me out to breakfast yesterday. Just us, not the 
Senshi, not at some Daimon attack. Isn't it too romantic?"

Artemis looked down at the ground and cursed under his breath. This 
was going to be so hard. "I know you like him Rei-chan, and I think 
he likes you, and that's why I need to talk to you. I also know that 
you haven't had a boyfriend since Mamoru."

Rei nodded. She had covered it up under a happy smile, but loosing 
Mamoru to Usagi had really hurt. She had tried to tell herself it was 
just a silly high school crush, but it had seemed like so much more 
than that. To find that the man you were head-over-heels in love with 
was destined for someone else... Well, Artemis was right, she hadn't 
had a boyfriend since then. Ranma did not really count. Perhaps 
Saturn Knight was the man she needed to help bring her into bloom 
again.

"Do you know why Sailor Pluto has tried to discourage you from seeing 
Saturn Knight?"

"Humph. She thinks he's a bad influence. She just remembers what he 
was like before. Being born again has changed him. I know it has! 
He's nice now. He... He doesn’t do all those terrible things that she 
talks about."

"And do you know why she hasn't succeeded in breaking up the two of 
you?"

"Because... Because I think I love him, and she could never break 
that."

Artemis sighed and stopped walking. Looking down at his paws he 
sighed again. He was the only one that seemed to see it. Or maybe he 
was the only one that cared enough about Rei and Saturn Knight to do 
something. When tears began to blur his vision, he realised just how 
hard this would be for both him and Rei. He was almost ready to 
continue when he felt strong hands pick him up and gently nestle him 
the crook of her elbow. 

"Hey, it's OK, Artemis. You can tell me. Is there some other reason 
that she wants to break us up?"

Wiping his tears away, Artemis looked up at his friend. Being an 
advisor and guardian of the Senshi was so much more than helping with 
battle plans. "What do you know about Sailor Saturn?"

"Not much. She's the last Senshi to awaken. I think Pluto said that 
she would only awaken when the world was in dire trouble and we 
really needed her. I'm pretty sure she supposed to be the strongest 
Senshi, but I can’t remember if she's stronger than Sailor Moon."

"That's about right. In some ways she was stronger than Sailor Moon, 
or Queen Serenity even. In all other ways she was much weaker. But 
she was a very dangerous girl. A very troubled girl too. Long ago in 
the Moon Kingdom, everyone was scared of Sailor Saturn. 
"It was nothing that she did, Sailor Saturn was always a perfect 
little angel. It was just who she was. She was too powerful and 
dangerous, it made people nervous. Like you said, she also only 
appeared when the Kingdom was in great danger. Some people thought 
that if she was not around, the danger would go away too.
"The reason that Sailor Pluto has not made stronger efforts to break 
up the two of you is she is worried about Sailor Saturn."

"What? Why is she worried about her? She hasn’t even awoken yet."

"True. But you know how Pluto is. Leave no stone unturned. She thinks 
that Saturn Knight is a bad influence. I guess she's just worried 
that if you broke up with him, he might get together with Sailor 
Saturn."

Something cold and hard seemed to form in the bottom of Rei's 
stomach. She knew she did not want to ask this question, but 
something seemed to force her lips to speak. "Why does she think 
that?"

Artemis looked away from her. Being in Rei's arms no longer seemed 
quite so comforting. "Do you remember when we were all talking about 
Saturn Knight that first time? Can you remember why he's called 
that?"

"Sure," she said, sounding puzzled. "Because he's part of the royal 
family on Saturn. Like Mamoru was Earth Knight until he was engaged 
to Usagi... or Princess Serenity or whatever."

"That's...not quite... right."

"What do you mean? What else could it be, unless..." The cold, hard 
ball in her stomach seemed to settle even lower with a sudden shift. 

"Yes. Saturn Knight... was Sailor Saturn's husband."

Silence.

Silence aside from the sound of a white cat landing on the pavement. 
The hands that had held him had gone slack, and Rei had stopped 
walking. She just stood there; her mouth was working slowly, but no 
words came out.

Eventually she spoke. It was deathly quiet and in a whisper. "Why... 
Why didn’t anyone tell me?"

"We thought you knew. We... I didn’t realise until now how serious 
you were. I..."

"Please. Just... leave me alone for a while."

Artemis was standing there with one paw raised, ready to follow her 
as she ran down the street. It would have been easy to follow her, 
she left a trail of small wet spots on the road where her tears had 
fallen. Slowly Artemis turned and walked back to Minako's house. 

From his nose to his tail, he wished he had not been the one to tell 
Rei. It broke him up inside to have to do that to her. But... But 
what would have happened when Sailor Saturn finally awoke? Given 
further time, Rei would have fallen further and further into love, to 
loose her man to an uncaring destiny for a second time may have been 
too much to bear. Inside, Artemis had no doubts that Sailor Saturn 
and her Knight would be reunited some day, despite all of Pluto's 
plots. To love someone so much that she was able to send his soul 
forward in time so they could be together... was there anything that 
could keep apart?

*	*	*

Thursday morning, 5:18am. Nothing short of a demon from the pits of 
hell could rouse the sailor-suited defender of love and justice, 
Sailor Moon, from her bed at this time of the morning. Unfortunately, 
she was awake. Unfortunate for her, unfortunate for the people the 
demon had attacked, and unfortunate for the demon. It had definitely 
chosen the wrong time to visit the mortal plane.

Ringed around the demon, the girls leaped and struck, firing their 
magical energies into their foe with determination. At least, most of 
them did. Notably, Sailor Mars was there in body, but not in spirit. 
This morning she held to the rear, only firing the occasional attack 
at the demon. Even those attacks she did launch were her earlier and 
weaker attack: the Mars Fire Soul. 

Beyond that, Sailor Mars kept sending dark glares at anyone that 
approached her, especially Sailors Moon and Jupiter. After Sailor 
Mercury hid the girls from the demon's view with her Bubble Blast, 
she decided it was time for her to try and rectify the situation. 
Normally it would be Sailor Moon's infectious good nature that 
overcame these sorts of problems, but today she could not get close 
before Mars would stomp off and pretend to be interested in attacking 
the demon.

"Mars, what's the matter? You seem... I don't know, upset about 
something I guess."

Mars turned away, but not fast enough that Sailor Mercury could not 
see the dark bags under her eyes. Eyes that were red and bloodshot 
from crying. Before the girl could retreat away from her too, Mercury 
put an arm around her shoulder and led her from the battle. Sailor 
Moon could take care of the demon; the other Senshi had weakened it 
enough. Now it was time for Mercury to try and help her team mate. 

"Mercury... Do you think he knew? All this time? Do you think he knew 
anyway?"

Raising her eyes to where Sailor Mars looked, Mercury could see the 
tall figure of a man in the shadows. Although his features could not 
be seen in the darkness, the absence of a top hat informed her that 
this was Saturn Knight and not Tuxedo Mask. "Know what, Mars?"

She sniffled and wiped an errant tear from her face. "Known that we 
could never be together. Known about Sailor Saturn. Known about his 
destiny, perhaps. I don't know, Mercury. It just seems so hard some 
times. First it was Mamoru, now it's Saturn Knight. Is it something 
about me? Is it so wrong for me to have a man to love?"

"What are you talking about? Saturn Knight is here for you! He's not 
here to watch us fight. Why would you think that... Oh, no... Sailor 
Saturn... You don’t think that?..."

Mars nodded. "Artemis told me last night on the way back to the 
shrine. He's Sailor Saturn's husband. She was the one that sent him 
through time. I know she's not awake yet, but when she is... is there 
any way that I can compete against her? It's the same as what 
happened with Mamoru all over again. I finally met a man I really 
like and he gets taken away from me. It's not even as though it's 
anything I did. It's just destiny."

"Oh, Mars. I'm so sorry. I never even thought..."

Mars nodded. Bracing herself as the demon disintegrated into dust in 
the background, Mars let her friend's supporting arm slid from her 
shoulder. Deep down she knew that Saturn Knight couldn’t know about 
Sailor Saturn yet. She knew that he was a kind person inside. He 
would never do something like this to hurt her. The thought that she 
would be the one who would need break up with him drove a dagger of 
ice into her already broken heart. 

Taking the first step to the most horrible thing she had ever needed 
to do, Sailor Mars tried to hold back the tears that fought for 
release. For him, she would be strong. For him. It would not be the 
last time they met, but it would be the last time that they met as 
potential lovers. For him, she would hold herself together. He 
deserved the truth from someone who cared. Later, when she was alone 
again, she could cry them both.

She watched her - no, not hers anymore - man jump to the ground. He 
still held the Silence Glaive in his hand. Before it had always 
seemed a symbol of his power and self assurance. A warrior and his 
weapon, both confident in the strength of his suitor that he would 
leave them battle unaided. She could see by the way that he walked 
and the cautious steps he took that he knew something was wrong. 
Those perceptive blue eyes of his must be taking in every moment of 
her despairing approach.

Offering her a cardboard box with one hand, he held the other out to 
take her small, fragile seeming fingers. He was always a gentleman, 
always so proper in the way he approached her. It was almost as 
though he was as scared of loosing her as she was of loosing him. She 
stopped three feet from him, and only just managed to stop her hand 
from reaching out to take his. It was had become a habit to hold 
hands and walk for a short while. Nothing more, just friends walking 
together and holding hands.

A sob escaped her throat and Sailor Mars turned her head so she could 
wipe more moisture from her face. When Saturn Knight took an 
instinctive step forward to comfort her, Sailor Mars retreated a 
step, staying just out of reach. The way he stopped short and looked 
at the offending hand, she may as well slapped him or stabbed him 
with a dagger. Confusion reigned on his face.

Before he could speak, she held up a hand and sniffled once. Saying 
it without his caring words would be hard enough. If he so much as 
spoke and offered her any support, Mars knew her resolve would break 
down; Sailor Saturn could be damned and so could destiny. This man 
would be hers. Her struggled ended in success because he held his 
silence. For long moments, they stood there, until slowly she raised 
her head and looked up at him through her thick black bangs.

"I... I can't..." Gods, this was killing her. "I can't... see you... 
any more."

"Wh... Wh...Why? What did I do?..."

"It's not you. It could never be you. It's nothing you did. It's... 
There's someone else..." Mars choked on her words and placed her 
hands over her face. "It's Sailor Saturn. The two of you are destined 
to be together... There's no place for me... I can't..."

By the time the sounds of his footsteps registered on her 
consciousness, he was already long gone. Gone; while she spoke. Gone; 
as she had rejected him. Gone; before she had even half finished 
explaining. All that remained was the small cardboard box he had 
brought her. Bending down she picked it up and tentatively looked 
inside. A table for two at a high class restaurant. And a calligraphy 
note inviting her to meet him there... without their masks.

As Sailor Mars sunk to her knees, the gentle brush strokes on the 
invitation dissolved in the moisture of her tears.

*	*	*

Saturn Knight ran and fought down the tears which struggled to break 
free. He was running, running from an enemy he could not fight. 
Running from pain he could not escape. His enemy was his own heart, 
his own mind. After three hundred years of being alone, Ranma had 
finally decided to try again... and he had been rejected. Rejected 
for another's attention.

'There's someone else...'

Her words still rang in his head like a death knell. The pretty 
soldier Sailor Mars had someone else. Of course she did. She was a 
woman of sublime beauty, powerful, self assured with a spirit of 
fire. How could someone like that possibly be alone? Had he been 
fooling himself all this time? Had he been leading himself on, 
pretending that she must feel the same things for him that he felt 
for her? Had... Had she been leading him on?

"No!"

No, his Sailor Mars would never do that. She was kind and caring. She 
would never do something like that. It just made him feel all the 
worse for realising that it was not - could not - be her fault. That 
meant it was all his fault. He was the one that had rushed things. He 
was the one that had tried to go too far. To add extra salt to his 
wounds, he saw how she looked when she told him. Because of his ill 
considered actions, he had caused her such pain. 

Stumbling to a halt in some alley... somewhere... Ranma dropped his 
costume then fell against the wall in pain. It was bad enough that he 
had deluded himself, not to mention forcing his obviously unwanted 
attentions on Sailor Mars. Now he had hurt her so badly when he 
forced her to open his eyes to the truth. Covering his face in shame, 
Ranma clawed at his forehead. How could he have been so blind? How 
could he have missed the fact that she did not have feelings for him? 
Was Cologne-chan right? Had he really been by himself for so long 
that it was impairing his judgement?

Stumbling through the alley, Ranma moaned in anguish. She was one of 
a kind. No-one else in the world was like her. No-one could ever 
replace Akane in his heart, but he had dared to hope that Sailor Mars 
might find room to live in his heart too. Two women, each so perfect, 
was it so wrong to love them both? Akane with the strength and grace 
of the tiger, Sailor Mars with the delicate beauty of a flickering 
flame. 

Pain and anger welled in Ranma's soul. All he really wanted to do was 
fight back. Revenge himself against a world that hated him with 
vigorous strength. But he couldn’t. He could no more go back and hurt 
Sailor Mars that cut his own arm off. Worse, because if he needed to 
amputate his arm for her sake, he would have... He still would. He 
could not even vent his anger in mindless destruction and violence. 
With his strength... with his magic... he hated to think how many 
people could be hurt by his foolish anger.

When the bucket of cold soapy water fell from a window high above 
him, it was the last straw. Shrunken, wet and female, Hotaru fumed. 
Water began to evaporate off her in a thick cloud of steam, and a 
sickly green aura surrounded her. Was there nothing in the last three 
hundred years that did not lead to heartache and failure? Was the 
nothing that could give him the same simple pleasure he knew from 
holding Akane's hand while walking through the falling cherry 
blossoms in the evening? Was there really no hope left in the world 
for him?

Running a hand through her hair she pulled it from the pony tail 
Ranma wore into Hotaru's typical bob-cut. Tilting her head back, and 
looking into the sky, Hotaru stared between the buildings. The sky 
was clear, no roof and no planes; no obstacles that might get hit 
when she vented her frustration. The entire alley glowed in the 
shifting green light of her depression as Hotaru lifted her small 
hands above her head. In a voice wracked with anguish, Hotaru 
whispered the words to free her spirit, and release her hold on the 
frustration building inside her.

"Shi shi hokodan!"

It was not loud, but it was enough. A green column of power spewed 
from her hands and arrowed into the sky. For kilometres around people 
could see the thin green line. It appeared instantly, and minutes 
later it disappeared just as suddenly. By the time anyone thought to 
investigate the alley, it was deserted.

*	*	*

Female, but this time in clothes that fit, Hotaru walked through the 
entry way of the Hikawa Shrine. Normally Ranma preferred to be male, 
but just this once he was glad that he could be a girl. All he really 
wanted was a sympathetic ear, someone to talk to. He knew Rei-san 
could be a nice girl, and although he loved to argue with her, it was 
not what he needed at the moment. 

When he saw the taller girl sitting glumly on the front steps of the 
shrine, he knew he had made the right choice. If he was a guy, he 
knew he would feel the need to tease her, to try and cheer them both 
up. Somehow he sensed that this would not quite be what she needed at 
the moment. For that matter, a good shouting match was not what Ranma 
needed either. What he needed was a friend, someone who could just be 
there. He had considered going to see Chibi-Usa, but somehow he 
didn't think that the little girl would quite understand the idea of 
two friends just being together, she was more active, more of a 'do-
er'. Rei-san practised meditation and all that sort of thing. If she 
didn't understand the benefits of silence, no-one would.

Plopping herself on the step next to Rei, Hotaru cupped her chin in 
her palms and subconsciously mimicked her friends posture. Both of 
them sat there, staring ahead, not saying a word. Each lost in the 
though of someone who they would never get to know.

After some minutes, a gust of wind took some of Rei's long hair and 
brushed it across Hotaru's face, causing her to sneeze. With a guilty 
start, Rei took the offending stands and pulled them back, holding 
the hair over her left shoulder. "Sorry about that Hotaru-chan."

"Rei-san? What's wrong? You looked so sad sitting here all by 
yourself."

Rei stifled a sniffle and looked away, idly stroking her hair. "It's 
nothing, Hotaru-chan. Maybe you'll understand in a few years. How 
about you? Anything I can do to help?"

Clenching her hands around her knees, Hotaru rested her head on her 
arms and looked sideways at Rei. She actually looked rather pretty 
with the light of the setting sun behind her. Almost like Sailor Mars 
in some distant fashion. "There's nothing you can do. This morning I 
just found out what an idiot I've been recently. There was someone I 
really liked. I thought they liked me back, I honestly did. And 
then.. And then they just came out and told me that they loved 
someone else. Just like that. Yes to the chocolates, but no to your 
heart."

Rei slid across and placed an arm around the girl. "I'm sorry Hotaru-
chan, you do know how I feel. I... well there is this guy I've liked 
for a while. Real sweet type. I just found out that he's... well, 
let's just say that he's already married."

"He's married and he was trying to be your boyfriend too? Who is he? 
I'll rip him to shreds!"

Rei gave a short, amused, almost tragic laugh. "I'm sure you'd try. 
I'm sure you would. No... It wasn't quite like that. It was more of 
an arranged marriage. I found out before he did and... I never 
thought I cared about him that much."

Arranged marriages could be hard on everyone at the start. Ranma knew 
all about that. "Is there anything that you can do?"

Giving her another squeeze, Rei rested her head on Hotaru's small 
shoulder. "No. Nothing at all. It's just... fate. He's just someone 
who I cannot have. Of all the men I could have chosen, I seem to 
choose the ones who are destined for someone else... and there is 
never anything I can do."

"Sometimes the whole world seems to be against you. Only a few days 
ago Takuhi was killed and Cologne-chan was in hospital, now it's our 
lives falling apart. Does it get any better, Rei-san? Or does it just 
keep going like this for eternity?"

"No. No, it gets better. You have to believe in that. I believe in 
the future. I believe that there is a bright future, where everything 
is clean and nice, and peace and love rule. I don't know when it's 
going to happen, but if we all work at it, I know it will happen some 
day. Some day, Hotaru-chan. Some day."

"I'll be there, Rei-san. I don't know when it is, but I'll be there. 
I'll remember what you said today, and I'll remember how young you 
looked."

Rei put on a mock stern face. "What? Are you saying you're still 
going to be a young little cutie when I'm all old and ugly? Humph! 
I'll have you know that I have it on the best authority that I'll 
still look this good in thousands of years!"

"Suuure. I'm almost tempted just to stay a little girl for that whole 
time just to rub it in when you get old and wrinkly!"

"Me?! Wrinkly?! Eww! No!"

Both girls laughed for a while, momentarily forgetting their 
troubles. "I knew I could count on you to make everything better Rei-
san."

"Well, not quite everything... We don't have any ice-cream."

Hotaru pulled a man's wallet from her pocket as she stood up. 
"Ranma's turn to pay! All we can eat!"

Jumping to her feet, Rei chased after the suddenly active little 
girl. "Hey! You can't do that to him!"

Two voices continued to laugh down the street, echoing between the 
buildings.
"Come get me!"
"Give me that wallet!"
"It's in a good cause!"
"Hey, stop running away!"
"Only a few more blocks!"
"Oh, no. I've forgotten my shoes!"

*	*	*

Ami looked around that the girls assembled across her floor and 
sighed. "Tell me again why you had to meet here?"

"Neutral ground. No can discuss Husband where he hear. Why you here?"

"This is my house!"

"That good. Shampoo no want more... obstacles..."

Ami looked at the Chinese model with the long purple hair who was 
playing with her knife in a most disturbing manner. "Gulp! I think 
I'll go make some tea now."

Shampoo looked around the room at the other girls assembled there. 
Here was almost everyone that knew anything about her husband. Over 
the last couple of days they had all been contacted, and had all 
agreed to share their meagre information. It seemed that Ranma had 
been hiding things about himself from all of them, so it was about 
time that they got together and aired all his dirty laundry and 
unearthed his hidden secrets.

All for his own good of course.

So here they were, fiancees and suitors alike, anyone that had a good 
chance of knowing about Ranma. Shampoo, Ukyo, Makoto and - maybe - 
Rei made up the list of suitors. On the other hand, they also had 
Setsuna and Chibi-Usa since they knew his sister. Ami rounded out the 
compliment since she was the supplier of the "neutral ground" for the 
meeting. All weapons were to be checked at the door; or Ami's bedroom 
in Shampoo's case because there was not enough room in the front hall 
for all her weapons.

"Where Little Sister?"

 Ukyo shrugged. "She might know him better than anyone else, but I 
get the feeling that she tells Ranma basically everything. I figured 
it would be better if we tried to do without her. Anyway, she 
wouldn't tell us what Ranma's curse was before, so she probably won't 
tell us now. How about you? Where's the old ghoul?"

"Great Grandmother no want come. Great Grandmother already know 
everything about Husband. Great Grandmother say cannot gossip about 
friend."

Rei nodded and looked at Setsuna. "I don't suppose that there's much 
you'd be allowed to tell us either?"

The older woman gave her a gentle smile, as though trying to say 
'It's not easy knowing everything.' All she said was enough for most 
of them to discount her as an active participant in the evening's 
discussion. "It would not be... appropriate for me to reveal all that 
I know about the young gentleman. I can contribute some information 
on his sister... but I would not recommend that you rely on me to 
answer your questions."

Moving to a whiteboard that they had placed on one side of the room, 
Makoto wrote the word 'Age' neatly. "All right... Anyone know how old 
he is?"

"About twenty?"

"Do you actually know?"

Before Rei could reply, Ukyo waved her hand. "He's older than that. 
He would have been twenty about three or four years ago. I used to 
train with him before school."

Makoto wrote a tentative twenty-five on the board. "Anyone know where 
he lives?"

Silence.

"Oookay. We know anything else about him?"

"Ranma dead wife called Akane."

"He's really good at martial arts."

"He's cursed, but I don't know what it is."

"He travelled a lot when he was young."

"His sister was adopted for a while."

Makoto grabbed that one. "Good one, Ukyo-san. Maybe we can figure out 
how old he is from his sister's age. Chibi-Usa, you know Hotaru-chan. 
How old is she?"

"I'm sorry, I've never asked her. She's in my year, so I guess she's 
about twelve."

Ukyo rounded on the small girl immediately. "She WHAT?! She can't be 
going to school with you! We went to school together for three 
years!"

"What's wrong with it? She probably just transferred schools and kept 
going." Chibi-Usa felt a little intimidated by the big girl, even if 
she didn’t have her battle spatula currently.

"No, you don't understand. For three years we went to school 
_together_. Same class. Three years ago she was my age. I knew she 
was getting some sort of treatment of being small and not being able 
to grow up properly, but I never realised it was this bad."

"You mean her brain might not be developing either?!" You could trust 
Ami to come up with something sensible, no matter how horrifying the 
thought might be.

Ukyo nodded reluctantly.

"Oh, that's so sad." All the girls looked weepy for a while then 
continued on their quest to dig out Ranma's secrets. That is, all of 
them except Setsuna. She alone had seen Hotaru cast the Dragon Slave 
-from the safety of the Gates Of Time, of course. That sort of power 
and palpable evil demonstrated that there was nothing wrong with her 
brain, albeit her mind might be twisted and perverted by her evil 
ways. It was times like these that Setsuna wished she had not banned 
herself from investigating the chain of events leading up to the 
present. It would be very nice to be half as confident and well 
informed as she acted.

Setsuna had almost been satisfied with sheer coincidence when she 
remembered what Chibi-Usa had said: 'She's in my year.' Chibi-Usa's 
age. Of all the ages the girl could have picked, she just happened to 
appear exactly the same age as Chibi-Usa. The same age as the time 
travelling Moon Princess, the girl that Setsuna herself had sent back 
in time. Worse still, Setsuna's future self had never revealed why 
she had sent back Chibi-Usa. Now it seemed all too apparent.

Somehow over the centuries between now and the Crystal Millennium, 
Setsuna must have changed into a heartless and manipulative woman. 
She had obviously sent Chibi-Usa back as a lure, a target so 
vulnerable and tempting that it would draw out their enemies. It had 
worked too. Hotaru was most definitely interested Chibi-Usa; she 
pretended to be the princess' friend, associated with her and the 
Senshi and tried to hide her true evil power. Now it was just a 
question of how Setsuna could save Chibi-Usa without exposing her 
hand and having to attack Hotaru directly. This would require some 
serious thought.

After all the excitement the girls continued to compile vital 
statistics, everything from favourite foods to eye and hair colour. 
Ami was wandering through the room when she realised something that 
was missing from the list. "He's rich too."

Everyone turned to her. Rei could hardly keep the incredulity from 
her voice. "What on Earth do you mean 'he's rich'? He never has more 
hand a thousand yen, and his sister's just as badly off. His father 
has hardly anything other than house, and I don't think a teacher's 
salary would qualify as rich. Besides, the only work I've ever seen 
Ranma do is at that dojo, and I know he doesn’t get paid for that. He 
can't be rich."

"But he is! Hotaru-chan got me to help with the restoration of some 
really old pictures. It cost almost a million yen, but it was nothing 
to her. She even gave me a credit card from Ranma with over forty 
million yen on it. I'm telling you, he's loaded."

Around the room there was silence. Makoto couldn't help but think 
that he was perfect in every way, and he was rich too. Rei felt 
herself soften to him. She knew several rich girls at school; they 
often complained about boys who dated only because of their money. 
She also knew several boys who liked to pretend that they were the 
gods' gift to women purely because of their money. Ranma obviously 
wanted to be loved for himself, not his money: that was so sweet. 

Shampoo did not care: real warriors had no need for mere money.

Staring at the list, Ami felt else something tickling at the back of 
her brain. There was something there... Something that she remembered 
from before... "Akane!"

"Akane Husband dead wife. You know when they married, Smart Girl?"

Ami turned a questioning eye on the Amazon for the name but spoke 
nonetheless. "No, it's just that 'Akane' was the name of the girl in 
Hotaru-chan's pictures. For that matter, now that I think about it, 
she looked a lot like that girl in the fire reading Rei-chan did with 
Ranma. I wonder if there is some sort of connection?"

Rei shrugged. "Could be. How old were the pictures?"

"Three hundred years, according to Hotaru-chan. The people at the 
museum though that could be accurate."

"I guess that rules out the idea that the pictures were of Ranma's 
wife. Maybe they were related. Ranma knew all sorts of history about 
his wife's family. I was supposed to be some sort of tradition for 
the two clans to marry together or something."

"Humph. Amazon tribe better than that. Amazon know Shampoo need 
strong husband from outside village, or children come out bad."

They worked on their list for a while, but nothing conclusive seemed 
to come from it. Half the details were purely speculative, the other 
half were second hand information. All in all, they had managed to 
get themselves more questions than answers. That frustrated all of 
them, Shampoo more than most since her Great Grandmother apparently 
knew all the answers but would not tell her. 

The only answer they did manage to come up with was Ranma's money. 
When Ranma had talked to Rei previously, he had let slip that his 
father's name was Genma and he was dead, but yet Hotaru's father is 
called Souichi and he was very much alive. Instant answer: Ranma was 
actually adopted, and his father must have left him lots of money. 
Now they just needed answer to some other questions.

Why was Hotaru adopted when Ukyo knew her?
Where does Ranma live?
How old is he?
How does he know people in Poland and Tibet?
How long did he stay there?
How did he and Hotaru get Takuhi's spirit staff?
How did he develop his Ki and martial arts to such levels?
When did he meet Cologne?
Why does Cologne consider Ranma to be an Amazon?
What did Ranma do during the day? He just seemed to vanish.
When was he married to Akane, and how long?
How could one man eat so much and stay so lean?
What was his family style of 'Anything Goes'? No-one had ever heard 
of it.

Most importantly... Whom did Ranma love?

When their meeting broke up, each of the girls silently vowed to 
themselves that they would be the one to extract the information from 
Ranma or Hotaru. Shampoo planned to speak to her Great Grandmother; 
maybe if she tried hard enough she could convince her to reveal all. 
Ukyo considered the weekend rush at the Ucchan, and decided that 
Monday would be the right time to nail him for some firm answers. 
Setsuna silently vowed that she would brace the Outer Senshi to 
prepare themselves, who knows when Hotaru would strike?

Makoto and Rei walked side by side as they left Ami's place. It was 
getting late so they decided it was time to take Chibi-Usa home. 
Naturally enough, Setsuna was with them and she kept casting worried 
glances at all three girls. In her books, each of the others were in 
dire trouble. Chibi-Usa was best friends with a girl who could give 
Lilith a run for her money as Satan's consort. Makoto and Rei were 
not much safer: they were involved with the hell-spawn's brother.

Setsuna was so involved in cursing the much maligned Hotaru that she 
failed to pay enough attention to Chibi-Usa. Before she could stop 
the little girl, she had blurted out a damaging and dangerous 
statement. "Rei-chan, if you like Ranma so much, why don't you ask 
him out? Maybe he'd tell you about his curse then."

"WHAT?" The three others echoed.

"As if I would ever want to do anything with THAT boy! He is such an 
insensitive jerk. All he ever does is insult me. It's not as though 
he ever says anything nice about me."

Makoto nodded. "Come on, Chibi-Usa, you've seen them together. 
They're always picking on each other. When was the last time Rei-chan 
said a whole sentence to him without yelling? She's worse than she is 
with Usagi-chan."

"Yes, but.... But Hotaru-chan really likes her, and you know how well 
she and Ranma get on. Besides, Rei-chan likes Usagi-chan, but they 
still argue."

That stopped them: wisdom from the mouths of babes. Setsuna could see 
on Rei's face that she was wavering. "Please, Rei-chan. There is no 
need to jump into something like this. You are obviously still 
distraught over Saturn Knight. Really, are you sure that Ranma would 
be any more suitable for you?"

Rei went silent. How dare she? How dare she say something like that? 
For months Setsuna had hounded her to give up on Saturn Knight. Now 
that he was out of the picture, she was telling Rei that Saturn 
Knight would have been better than Ranma? Rei tossed her hair back 
over her shoulder with a negligent flick of her hand and raised her 
head as she looked away from the Guardian of Time.

"Well, I guess we'll let Ranma make that decision, won't we? I'm 
teaching him at the Shrine this Saturday, so I'll ask him then. If 
Ranma says no... so be it." Turning back to the taller Senshi, Rei 
looked up into Setsuna's eyes and brought her face close. "But never, 
ever think that you can interfere with my personal life. Don't even 
think about coming near either me or Ranma again this weekend!"

Stalking away in a huff, Rei ignored the others. She could get back 
to her place without their help, and there was no way under heaven 
that she would spend any more time with Setsuna tonight. In the 
darkness of the night, Makoto and Chibi-Usa watched Rei leave them, 
alternately appearing and vanishing as she crossed through the pools 
of brightness from the streetlights. Of the Time Guardian there was 
already no sign. She had vanished as silently as a ghost when Rei 
captured their attention.

*	*	*

Their training session on Saturday had been oddly quiet. Rei was 
trying to work her way around to something important, and Ranma... 
Rei was not sure what Ranma was thinking. Thinking? That was the 
wrong word to use for someone like him. Plotting was more like it. 
Plotting new ways to tease her, new ways to pick on her!

"Umm, Rei-san?"

"WHAT?!"

Collecting herself quickly, Rei looked down at the ward she was 
demonstrating and cringed. She had just managed to scribble Ranma's 
name right across the middle of it as her mind wandered. As Rei felt 
her brows draw in and her mighty lungs fill with air for a nice 
relaxing shouting match, she caught herself just before words began 
to leave her throat. 

There was a good reason why Rei was so tense today: she was trying to 
be nice to Ranma. Every time she wanted to say something to the 
inconsiderate jerk, she swallowed it down. Must be nice to Ranma. 
Must not hit Ranma with anything to relieve her frustration. It was 
really hard being nice to someone this long but she needed to. Just 
when she had thought Setsuna would have been crowing with delight at 
her break up with Saturn Knight, the woman starts bad mouthing Ranma 
and Hotaru.

There was no way that anyone was going to run this priestess' love 
life. Not Cupid, not destiny, and certainly not Setsuna. Rei knew 
what she wanted, and today she wanted a date with Ranma. When she 
first met him he had actually seemed quite nice - for a while. Now 
that she knew him better she saw the side of him that he had kept 
hidden from Ukyo and Makoto; no doubt he still wanted to be able to 
seduce them. His brash, over confident and irritatingly defensive 
behaviour still didn’t belie the fact that he was actually quite 
cute.

Looking up at Ranma and the way that he was still smirking at her, 
Rei decided that cuteness must be his only good point. Here she had 
gone and botched an expensive piece of scroll, and he had not said a 
thing, just sitting there silently, somehow conveying the impression 
that he never had to worry about that sort of thing. He would always 
get it right the first time. How could he just sit there and think 
those things about her? She'd show him...

Calm. Must remain calm.

"You're awfully quiet today, Ranma. Cat got your tongue?"

Gods! Look at him flinch! "I... I'm sorry. Did I say something 
wrong?"

"Ah... no, not really, Rei-san. I just have really bad memories of c-
c-c... them things. The thought of one of them sticking it's horrid 
furry paw down my mouth and grabbing my tongue and pulling and 
tearing and the blood and it's teeth and those eyes and the screaming 
all around and scratching and clawing and..."

Ranma had gone very pale and started to shake even as his words died 
into mumbling. Rei reached out a hand and placed it on his shoulder. 
"Ranma! Ranma, it's OK! Don't think about them. You don't have to 
worry. You're perfectly safe here."

After a few moments Ranma's breathing returned to normal and he shook 
himself like a dog drying off. Bracing himself he tried to look proud 
and tough but Rei could see through his mask. "Aww, it's nothing. 
Just a little problem I've got. Nothing at all to worry about. Hardly 
any chance of anything going wrong. Hee, Hee."

Sitting back on her haunches, Rei gave him a disbelieving look. Did 
he seriously want her to accept that? Then again, this was Ranma: Mr 
I'm-So-Tough-I-Don't-Have-Problems. He probably did expect that his 
see-through acting fooled her.

Suddenly it dawned on her. Him, her, together, alone. No-one around, 
no-one to interrupt. All she needed to do was ask him. He'd never get 
the guts to ask her out, so she had to be the one to take the plunge. 
Drawing in a deep breath, she met his big blue eyes then looked down 
slightly. "Ranma..."

He leaned forward, anticipating her words. It was almost a whisper. 
"Yes?..."

"Nothing. Nothing at all. Let's just do that ward again." Coward! 
Coward! How can you face a demon by yourself and be afraid to ask out 
a stupid, inconsiderate boy? Coward!

In twenty minutes time, Rei had managed to almost complete the 
complex ward when a subtle beeping caught both their attention. Rei 
slapped her hand onto her watch and cringed in distress. She wouldn't 
see him again until Monday. She knew the way that he liked to hang 
around with Shampoo and the other girls on the weekend. If she missed 
her chance now, she might never get an opportunity. But the Senshi! 
They needed her. How could she get away with this? Especially since 
she knew how he hated it when she chased him away. 

Then inspiration struck. Grabbing a piece of clean paper she wrote a 
short note and folded it before passing it to him. "I'm really sorry, 
Ranma. I forgot all about something I had to do. That was the alarm 
just then. I... I have to go. There was something I wanted to say to 
you all day... and I just couldn't. Could you... Could you read that 
note?... Please? I've got to go, but I'll see you on Monday for your 
answer."

As Rei ran from the room, Ranma looked down at the piece of folded 
paper in his hand and wondered what it was. Once again Rei had to run 
off, but this time she had left him something. Something from her, 
something that might be an explanation of why she had to keep leaving 
him. He was just opening the piece of paper when he felt something. 
Something to stop his hands moving in an instant.

Evil. Malignant, malevolent and malicious. Evil that would certainly 
attract the Sailor girls. For a moment he hesitated, thinking of how 
Sailor Mars had rejected him. Before he had even made up his mind, he 
was out of the door, clothes changing into his formal suit with cape 
and mask. No matter if she rejected him, he would still watch from 
the shadows. He would still ensure that she was safe and alive.

*	*	*

The Daimon was in a pitiful state, weakened to the point that it 
could barely bash a hole in a solid concrete wall. But then, with a 
troop of eight Senshi pursuing and harrying it, there was little 
wonder it was exhausted and wounded.

Purple blood fell from its torn body in several places, and it's 
upper left arm was charred where the last round of Mars Fire had hit 
it. Apparently it was so weak now it could not even heal itself 
properly. This would be a flawless victory for the Senshi. Without a 
Witch to guard and guide it, the Daimon had not stood a chance 
against them. This was even more true than usual since both the Inner 
and Outer Senshi were working together on this one.

Seeing the Daimon fall down to one knee as Mercury's Shine Aqua 
Illusion bombarded it, Sailor Moon drew forth the Moon Sceptre. Now 
it was her turn! No more people would be terrorised by this horrible 
creature of evil!

A hand touched her and stopped her as she prepared to attack. Moon 
looked up at the blonde Sailor Uranus. The other girl put a finger to 
her lips and pointed to where Sailors Pluto and Neptune were delaying 
the other Senshi. "Shh. Wait for a moment."

Sailor Moon blinked her big blue eyes and scratched her head with her 
free hand. "Wait? Wait for what?"

Uranus pointed to where the Daimon had retreated from them. In a few 
more moments it would be able to reach the people cowering the 
building. "Wait for that."

"Huh?" The other Senshi seemed to be having a similar conversation, 
and the Inners did not look happy. 

"Wait until it takes a Heart Crystal. We have it all figured out. We 
know that our enemy must be ready to strike. We have to find them and 

defeat them now, while they are still weak."

With a vigorous tug, Sailor Moon freed her arm from Sailor Uranus. 
"We are the Sailor Senshi. We PROTECT PEOPLE from Daimons! I don't 
know who you are!"

Before Sailor Moon could side-step her, Uranus stepped in front of 
her. Even as her view was blocked by a broad chest covered by a 
yellow bow, Moon saw the Daimon pulling the Crystal from a young 
boy's chest. "Forget it! This is our best hope for victory! We have 
to trace the Daimons to their source."

It was only a light shove to keep the persistent Sailor girl back, 
but Moon's innate clumsiness worked against her. She could hardly 
believe that one of her fellow pretty soldiers - even one of the 
Outers - would actually physically restrain her. That was all it 
took, a light tap, a small rock and a lack of grace: suddenly Sailor 
Moon was sitting on the ground glaring up at the physically strongest 
Senshi. From where she sat, Sailor Moon really wondered if she would 
be able to ever get past Uranus if the girl did not decide to let 
her. 

Things were deteriorating just as rapidly among the other girls. 
Mercury had feinted left while Venus went right. Sailor Neptune had 
been able to block Mercury from getting past her, but Sailor Venus 
now had a clear line of fire at the Daimon. Raising a hand to her 
lips, she winked, kissed her fingers and drew forth a string of 
hearts. With a flourish she drew the lengthening chain around her 
then threw it out at the Daimon.

"VENUS LOVE ME CHAIN!"

No matter what the Outers thought, the end did not justify the means. 
Now that she had this nasty Daimon all tied up, it wasn't going 
anywhere without her permission... At least, that was true until a 
vigorous blast of water sheared its way through the magical chain. 
Bereft of the power from its owner, the glowing hearts that had 
bailed up the Daimon vanished. The beast regained its feet and 
started down the pavement.

Even as the Senshi of love was starting her attack, her allies had 
the same idea. With a nimble step to the left, Sailor Jupiter dodged 
around Pluto and tried to sprint to the Daimon. Before she could get 
more than two steps, Pluto's time staff appeared in front of her. 
Flicking her eyes to the left she saw her leader supine on the 
ground. Dodge the staff and land on Sailor Moon, or take the staff in 
the belly? 

The wind hissed out of Jupiter's lips explosively and she folded 
around the staff. As she slipped to the ground, Jupiter looked over 
at Mars. 

"Go, Mars!" She tried to yell, but all that came out was a whisper. 
With a good three meters between them, even Pluto would be hard 
pressed to get to her before she fried the Daimon to extra-crispy. 
Almost in slow motion, Sailor Jupiter watched as Pluto brought her 
staff back and prepared to deal with the Senshi of fire. A voice from 
the distance brought everything to a sharp and sudden halt.

*	*	*

Saturn Knight sat on the wall and watched as the woman he was 
forbidden to love scored another telling hit on the Daimon with her 
fire. That burn wasn't healing: the Daimon must be almost dead. 
Flicking his eyes to Queen Serenity, Saturn Knight frowned.

The Queen was being accosted by one of the impostors. Hmm, the others 
were too. Saturn Knight gave a grim smile. Now was the time of 
reckoning. Those other girls had skulked in the shadows for too long, 
avoiding a direct confrontation with the forces of good. Now they had 
overstepped the bounds. Laying hands on royalty, letting a Daimon 
escape and attack innocent bystanders; these were all things that the 
pretty Sailor girls fought against.

Pleasure at imminent justice turned to surprise and anger just as 
quickly. He owed the Queen no great loyalty, but that witch had just 
beaten her to the ground and was now gloating over the top of her. He 
was too far away to make out their words, but he had clearly heard it 
when Queen Serenity reprimanded Haruka and told her of the Sailors' 
virtuous pursuit of protecting people. Any moment now the other 
Sailors would deal with their enemies and defeat both these witches 
and the Daimon. 

For a long time he had wanted to go to the Queen and tell her the 
names and addresses of the witches. Before he never expected that she 
would want them. The witches were careful to conceal their true 
nature. Now they had overstepped the mark. After this battle, he knew 
that the overly protective Sailor Mars would want to hunt that evil 
witch Haruka to the ends of the Earth. Mars was just as protective of 
her Queen as he was of Mars.

He had stepped forward for a better view when the unthinkable 
happened. First the Sailor in the orange skirt had her attack 
destroyed by the witch Michiru - Saturn Knight reminded himself that 
he should ask Sailor Mars what her friends names were, identifying 
them by skirt colours was rather tiresome. Michiru had upped the 
stakes by bringing magic into their battle. It was obvious from the 
brutal way that Setsuna had floored the real green skirted Sailor 
that she too was not averse to using force to achieve their goals.

But the way Setsuna was bringing her staff back... could it be an 
attack? Was she going to fire on his Sailor Mars?! He was moving and 
shouting with actions and words he never realised he knew. Anger and 
protectiveness fuelled his attack, and the eight foot weapon in his 
hand seemed to sing with happiness as he lowered the tip to fire. The 
Glaive was his friend and ally, it would help him do exactly what he 
wanted. Almost as though it was made for him.

"SILENCE GLAIVE SURPRISE..."

*	*	*

Pluto heard the words and her blood went cold. She was wrong. Dead 
wrong, and they would all pay the price for it. She did not know how 
he had learned Sailor Saturn's devastating attack, but it would 
destroy everything for blocks around. All the Senshi: dead. Sailor 
Moon, her princess: dead. There was not even time for her to escape 
into the safety of the time stream.

*	*	*

"... REVISED: MINOR NOTE!"

A trench two meters wide and over fifteen meters deep rippled out 
from the tip of the Silence Glaive. The bitumen, dirt, rocks and 
piping vanished in near perfect silence. The only sound that could be 
heard was a single perfect note: a middle 'C' on the most perfect 
flute in existence. It was not loud, but no other sound could be 
heard. He had not brought the Silence, but all that stood between the 
Sailors and complete destruction was the unwavering hum of the 
Silence Glaive.

Almost in slow motion, everyone could see the trench extending. They 
were transfixed by the power, unable to move as an instant passed 
like an hour. By the time the trench was forty meters long and 
etching a line into a building down the road, the single note ended.

For a terrible moment it seemed as though the Silence had come, but 
it was only a natural quiet. As his attack ended, they could again 
hear the screams of people in the distance, the sounds of a water 
main severed by the Minor Note, and the sounds of Saturn Knight 
yelling.

"You shall not harm Sailor Mars! You survive this time for an action 
in your past! No more! When next you cross me, only one shall leave. 
Go! Go, Meiou Setsuna, and never tarnish my sight again!"

Seven pairs of eyes flicked from Saturn Knight to Sailor Pluto. 
Flicker was all they could do, because as fast as she could, the Time 
Guardian vanished again. Eyes darted back to Saturn Knight, but he 
had left too. Stunned to immobility, most of the Senshi could only 
stand motionless and stare. He had not hurt anyone this time, but 
there was no longer any question about whether he was a danger or 
not. 

Sailor Moon was almost going to ask Mars to explain everything when 
she thought of the Daimon. Looking down the street, she expected to 
see it scampering away, with her from it separated by a massive 
trench. She was almost right: the remains of the Daimon were on the 
other side of the trench. All that remained of the evil creature was 
one misshapen arm that was rapidly dissolving to reveal a Heart 
Crystal held in its hand.

Moon's eyes locked with those of Sailor Mars and they silently asked 
the same questions: "Could he really be their enemy when he had shown 
such delicacy with such power? Would their enemy have shown mercy to 
someone they hated? Would any enemy of theirs have given a second 
thought to an innocent boy's Heart Crystal?"

In silence, the two remaining Outer Senshi left. They did not try to 
justify their actions, nor did they repent them. When they had 
restored the boy to health and left the area, the Inner Senshi de-
transformed and formed a tight huddle as they walked down the street. 
One thing had occurred to all of them when they had time to think of 
it: Saturn Knight had known Sailor Pluto's real name. If she went 
home, the Time Guardian could be in serious danger.

*	*	*

Away from the battle, Ranma cursed himself. He should have killed 
her. He knew it. He should never have spared her life, no matter the 
fact that she had helped Rei when Shampoo had used the Xai Fang Gao 
Shiatsu technique on her. He should have killed her then and ended 
the greatest threat the world had ever faced.

In the instant that she vanished, Ranma had felt the power of the 
Gates Of Time. Lina Inverse had taught him to recognise the power, 
even though she had not taught him where the Gates were. The Gates Of 
Time were too great a risk for anyone to have access to them. Human 
or otherwise. Anyone that knew their existence was a threat to the 
entire human race, a ticking time bomb waiting to kill them all with 
one foolish error.

And he had just let her go.

*	*	*

Hotaru lay on her bed and looked at the ceiling. Regret was something 
she had come to learn to live with. Regret that she had not avoided 
Jusenkyo. Regret that she had not spent more time with Akane. Regret 
for so many things on her journey. Regret that Mistress 9 never 
seemed to be able to see Ranma's actions when he was Saturn Knight. 
Regret that she had not saved the world from the danger of Meiou 
Setsuna. 

Even if she regretted her actions, she knew she had done everything 
she could. That was enough; she could fret and worry, but she would 
not be able to change one thing. After the battle, Ranma had 
immediately gone to Setsuna's home, hoping to find her there. It was 
deserted, and would probably remain like that. Well, someday she 
would set things right.

Hotaru raised her head and looked down past her feet at the pictures 
hung on the wall. "What are you looking at you tomboy?"

Hotaru smiled and chucked. She wished she could hear Akane answer 
that just one more time.

"Who are you calling a tomboy?"

Hotaru hit the roof! She didn't believe in visitations from the dead! 
It shouldn't be possible! "Oh... Oh It's just you, Rei-san. You 
almost gave me a heart attack."

Rei walked over to the bed and brushed the small girl's black hair 
from her eyes. The poor thing had gone as white as a ghost and was 

almost shaking. "I'm sorry, Hotaru-chan. I thought you knew I was 
here."

"That's OK. That's OK. I was just talking to my pictures... that's 
all. Say... I thought that Kaori usually stopped people from coming 
to visit me?"

Rei sat down on the edge of the bed and smiled. "Well, she might 
have, but it was your father that opened the door. He told me to come 
on in, but I had to make sure you got your sleep. He seemed really 
happy. He even told me that in a week's time you will be cured! Isn't 
that great?"

Hotaru smiled and nodded her head. One week. That was all Mistress 9 
needed to break this rotten curse. One week and he would be a real 
man again. Forever more. 

"Umm... Hotaru-chan. I was wondering... have you spoken to Ranma this 
afternoon? Since he came back from the shrine?"

"Err... Yes?"

"I don't suppose he mentioned anything about a note, did he? I asked 
him a really important question."

Damn! Hotaru cursed herself. She had forgotten all about the note 
that Rei had given him at the shrine. She must have left it in her 
black - man sized - pants. Casting a surreptitious glance over the 
side of the bed, Hotaru checked that said pants were not visible to 
her guest. That could have raised some difficult questions: 'Say 
Hotaru, why was your brother undressing in your room? And is he 
running around naked now?'

Realising that she had been thinking too long, Hotaru tried another 
smile. "No, he said that he had the note, but he didn't tell me 
anything about what was in it."

"I hope he's read it." Rei nervously began to pick at the cover on 
the girl's bed.

"Sure he has. You can trust Ranma, Rei-san. He's probably waiting to 
give you an answer on... On whatever it is he needs to give you the 
answer."

That seemed to relive Rei. For a few moments she sat there, twisting 
a finger into the bedspread and watching the patterns it made. Then 
she looked up at the room's other occupant. "Hotaru-chan, if I tell 
you something, can I get you not to repeat a word of it to Ranma?"

"Ahh... That could be difficult."

"Please!"

How could she resist those pleading eyes? "All right. I will not say 
a single word about this to Ranma. If he finds out some other way, I 
can't do anything about it. But I won’t tell him or write it down, or 
even drop any hint. Promise!"

Rei smiled and Hotaru knew it was worth juggling the facts. Just 
watching a smile like that was like watching the sun come out or a 
fire on a cold night. "Well, I decided to ask Ranma out on a date---"

"Really?!"

"Really! Well, I was wondering... If he accepts, could I get you to 
help make me a dress? You did such a perfect job of it when you made 
that Sailor Mars costume, I just know you must be a great 
seamstress."

'Wow. Rei-san asked me out on a date! That must be what's on the 
paper.' Hotaru could hardly wait until she got a chance to read the 
slip of paper Rei had given Ranma at the shrine. She might be an 
uncute tomboy and all, but, hey, it would break her heart if he 
knocked her back. 'Not that I would actually want to go on a date 
with Rei-san'.

"Tell you what. How about I start on the dress now anyway? I wouldn’t 
want to get your hopes up or anything, but you deserve a new dress, 
no matter what Ranma says."

Rei blushed. It put a pale red glow on her high cheek-bones, 
emphasising the fine lines of her face even more. "You... you don't 
mind? I mean, I'll help as much as I can, but I'm not very good. I'll 
pay for the fabric of course. Do you have a sewing machine? Mrs 
Tsukino could probably lend us one if we need it."

Hotaru laughed slightly. Who needed a sewing machine when her Ki 
powered arms could move so much faster and more accurately. She had 
plenty of fabric sitting around, especially since she had been 
meaning to make some Ranma-style shirts for her smaller girl body. 
With the impending cure, Hotaru had never really gotten around to it. 
With a little effort, Hotaru could have the dress made before lunch 
tomorrow.


Giving a smile, Hotaru cast a glance over Rei. Centuries of martial 
arts allowed her to accurately judge a persons reach, their height, 
leg length and all their other dimensions. 

"How does red sound to you?"

---
End Of Chapter.




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.

---
End of comments




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 D, C and the number e^-I*PI.


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:
This is the last episode. If you don't know what has happened, try 
reading the earlier chapters. We do, however, have an opening theme 
for this episode:

"Who Wants To Live Forever" By Queen -
     Who wants to live forever?
     Who dares to love forever?
     When all love must die...

---------------------
Defeating The Witches
---------------------

Though fighting Mistress 9 and the Witches 5 had been hard, Michiru 
discovered that the experience was nothing compared to raising a 
baby. Since they had defeated their enemies four weeks ago - Mistress 
9, Master Pharaoh 90, Saturn Knight and the corrupted Sailor Saturn - 
she had embarked on an even greater adventure, the adventure of new 
life. 

When she had been younger, Michiru had dreamt the same things that 
every girl did: having children and raising a family. When she had 
fallen in love with Haruka she had realised that there were some 
sacrifices that their relationship called for, and children was one 
of them. While the midnight feedings and constant crying was not what 
she had dreamt about, words could not express just how much she loved 
little Hotaru. It gave both her and Haruka a sense of completeness in 
their relationship that they had never realised they were missing.

Despite the shadows under her eyes caused by too many nights of too 
little sleep, Michiru beamed as she walked down the Tokyo street 
pushing the pram with the snoozing Hotaru. She was a darling little 
girl, and whenever Michiru stopped for a moment, other women would 
compliment her on how nice her baby was. Although Michiru knew that 
Hotaru was not really her child, she cherished her as much as she 
would a child from her own womb. 

Every day that she spent was a new lesson in fear for Michiru: the 
fears every good mother suffers. At the sound of the slightest 
sniffle, she or Haruka would come running. A single cough rose in 
their minds as the start of some dreadful disease or choking, 
wrenching them from their sleep. If Hotaru ate too little or ate too 
much, the girls would spend hours worrying about her. Nothing was 
ever as bad as it first seemed, and Hotaru thrived under their care.

Waking up every few hours at night had taken its toll, but Michiru 
was beginning to learn the lessons of every parent. Not every sound 
is the sign of a disaster, and sometimes you have sleep yourself. No 
matter what they put themselves through for Hotaru, it was all worth 
it. Every time the little girl had opened her big purple eyes and 
smiled up at them, it repaid every second of lost sleep. Her little 
smile and happy, baby laughter was a memory that Michiru could 
treasure forever.

School had suffered as a result of the adoption, but she and Haruka 
had hired a tutor to keep them up to date as the worked through the 
hardest time in their adopted child's life. Despite the cost, Michiru 
did not begrudge the extra time or the effect on her marks. She knew 
that for years to come, she would be able to cherish the look of love 
that Hotaru would share with her. Even these days the little girl 
would sometimes look up at her and grin, her big purple eyes shining 
as she gurgled happily.

It had come as a shock to her three weeks ago when Cologne had sent 
her a letter detailing some legal matters from China. Although the 
Inners seemed sure that Ranma had run off somewhere, Cologne seemed 
equally sure that he was dead. As a result of this, Cologne's tribe 
had been willed Hotaru and Ranma's entire fortune. Cologne's letter 
had included a check for several hundred thousand yen, and a 
statement saying that a lawyer would ensure that Hotaru's guardians 
received one every month.

Strangest of all, Michiru had been amazed at Cologne's assertion that 
as soon as Hotaru reached the age of twelve, Cologne had arranged for 
her to receive the entire balance of the wealth. Neither Michiru nor 
Haruka came from poor families, but when Cologne had mentioned some 
of the holdings throughout the world that now belonged to Hotaru, 
they had been lost for breath.

A brief sniffle brought her attention back to the pram in time for 
her to see little Hotaru start crying. Smiling beatifically, Michiru 
pushed the pram over to the edge of the street out of everyone's way. 
Brushing her thick green hair back behind her shoulder, she knelt in 
front of the pram and took Hotaru out of the blankets she had been 
sleeping in.

Lifting the little girl up to rest against her shoulder, Michiru 
hummed softly and rocked her charge back and forwards. It was a 
gentle little lullaby that Michiru's mother used to sing to her when 
she was young, and it brought no end of joy that she could now sing 
it to someone too. Hotaru might not be her biological daughter, but 
in every way that mattered, she was Michiru's. 

After just a few minutes, Hotaru was sleeping again, holding tightly 
to a handful of the green locks that her questing hand had found. Not 
wanting to disturb the girl, Michiru held her securely in one arm and 
pushed the pram on ahead of her. Haruka would be meeting them soon 
for lunch, and Michiru would be happy to hold Hotaru until then.

Adjusting the girl so that they were both more comfortable, Michiru 
smiled. On days like these, with the sun shinning and the birds 
singing, she felt she could walk along holding her precious bundle 
all day long. The day was perfect, Hotaru was perfect, her 
relationship was perfect. Michiru knew that things would just keep 
getting better and better for the three girls in their little family, 
and it would continue happily for many years to come.

*	*	*

Kuonji Ukyo pushed back the writing pad and sighed. She knew she 
should not feel guilty, but she did. Five weeks ago, the insurance 
had come through for the Ucchan, and she had restarted in a better 
location. It seems that when she had initially taken out the 
insurance, she had made a slight error in her calculations. Now that 
the disaster was over and the Ucchan was operating again, she still 
had a nice little sum remaining.

The insurance money that was cushioning her rapidly expanding account 
was not what made her feel guilty. The insurance company had agreed 
to the amount, and she knew that they would not hesitate to short-
change her if they had the opportunity. What made her feel guilty was 
the astounding success that the Ucchan was having.

Success in business was not something to be sneezed at. It took luck, 
preparation, skill and lots of hard work. It was all the hard work 
that she had been doing that made Ukyo feel guilty, and there was 
nothing that she could do to change that opinion. Initially, yes, she 
had been busy. Five weeks ago - when she had opened her new store - 
she had been run off her feet. By the end of the second day Ukyo had 
already placed an advertisement in the window for a waitress. 

As word had spread about the quality of her food and the unsurpassed 
service that Ukyo insisted on, more business had flocked in. The 
simple fact that she had taken on an experienced chef two weeks ago 
was a testament of that. Keiko - the new chef - was a boon that Ukyo 
had not appreciated until she had been working there for several 
days. These days it was the lack of seating space that had Ukyo 
turning away customers at the rush hours; a business like that did 
not happen by accident.

It was eleven o'clock at night now, and Ukyo had been studying the 
numbers on the possibility of getting Keiko to set up a mobile 
Okonomiyaki yatai. The numbers had looked good all night, right up to 
the point where fatigue blurred Ukyo's vision and reminded her that 
she should have gone to bed hours ago.

Sleep was not something that she was expecting to come easily 
tonight. It had not come easily for the last three days since she had 
taken a couple of hours off to visit Hotaru. Hotaru was the source of 
all the guilt that Ukyo felt. It was nothing to do with the little 
girl, it was all to do with Ukyo. Every time she looked at the girl 
that had once been her closest friend, Ukyo wanted run away screaming 
in denial. The girl she had seen could not have been the real Hotaru; 
there seemed to be nothing left of the brilliant personality that 
Ukyo remembered so fondly from her childhood.

It had been bad enough when Hotaru had magically been turned into a 
baby by the evil woman that had attacked her. In those four weeks, 
Ukyo had been able to excuse her lack of visits easily. She needed to 
work on her brand new business. Hotaru couldn't tell that it was her. 
Hotaru was just a baby, it would be years before she grew up.

All that had changed less than a week ago. When she was visiting one 
day, Rei had told her that something strange had happened to baby 
Hotaru. Fearing the worst, Ukyo had left the store in Keiko's skilled 
hands and raced over to Michiru's place in the afternoon between the 
end of the lunch rush and the start of dinner. There she had been 
shocked out of her complacency by what had happened.

Overnight - literally - Hotaru had grown into a bouncy and 
enthusiastic six year old girl. Haruka - Hotaru's foster father - 
told Ukyo that he and Michiru had been awakened by Hotaru's screams 
late in the evening as the two of them had been preparing for bed. 
Fearing the worst, the two had run into their adopted daughter's room 
and been stunned by what they saw. Rather than a cute little baby, 
Hotaru had grown to a six year old size in just the couple of hours 
since they had last checked on her. Hotaru's screams had been easy to 
understand: the nice, warm, pink little baby suit she had been 
wearing had literally burst its seams when she had grown. When they 
had found her, Hotaru was still being pinched tightly by a few last 
pieces of cloth.

It was this six year old Hotaru that made Ukyo feel so guilty. Ukyo 
was charging ahead in her life with successes that she had never 
expected, and in the mean time, Hotaru had been set backwards by more 
months or years that she did not deserve. It was not just that, it 
was more that Ukyo no longer felt any plausible justification for why 
she was not visiting Hotaru more often. 

The little girl was all alone in her age group, and Ukyo still 
thought she was supposed to be Hotaru's friend. While Hotaru had 
regained some of her memories, it was still only to a six year old 
level. Six year old Hotaru did not remember Kuonji Ukyo, and that 
really hurt. It hurt every time that she looked at her friend and saw 
someone that was not the girl that Ukyo knew. Ukyo's friend was gone, 
maybe she would return, maybe she would remember some day, but at the 
moment, the old Hotaru was still dead.

Ukyo had felt so awkward around this transformed Hotaru that she had 
not returned to visit since then. Worse still, she did not know when 
she would visit again. It was work, it was life, it was generally 
everything. Most of all it was watching a stranger in her friend's 
body. Ukyo was not sure if she could deal with seeing that every time 
she visited, so she had stayed away.

Standing up, Ukyo resolutely pushed all thoughts of magic, business 
and Hotaru out of her mind. Walking with the deliberate steps of 
someone who was tired beyond normal measure, she worked her way to 
her bed and collapsed on it. With a pained grunt, she sat up again 
and tossed her bandoleer of spatulas onto the floor. 

Lying back on the firm mattress, she remembered when she had first 
started using spatulas as her weapon of choice. Hotaru had been with 
her then, both of them in junior high, just starting out as best of 
friends. 

Sighing and covering her eyes with her arm to hide the light of the 
street lamps, Ukyo tried to sleep and stop thinking about Hotaru and 
her handsome brother. It always seemed to come down to Hotaru and 
Ranma in the end. She could not blame Ranma for running out on her 
again, no matter how much she tried. The space in her heart for him 
was just too big, and she knew that someday, somehow, he would come 
back into her life again. 

Ukyo would wait for that day. She had waited years to find him and 
lose him again. Perhaps he was not meant to be the one for her, but 
she would let fate decide that. Fate, and a large, large spatula.

A smile played across her lips as sleep finally claimed Ukyo.

*	*	*

Rei plopped down in front of the sacred fire in an untidy sprawl. She 
sat like that for several long moments before slowly pushing herself 
to her knees so that she could present herself properly. Gathering 
the edges of her priestess robes around her, she neatly folded each 
corner and placed it around her. Once that was done, she moved 
slightly again and realigned them.

The third time she did this, Rei shook herself thoroughly. "I don't 
need this! It doesn't have to be absolutely perfect just for a fire 
reading!"

Looking down at the fire, Rei remembered the time she had done this 
with Ranma's help. It was when they were investigating the Vision of 
Silence. Things seemed so simple and free in those days. Ranma come 
around and help her study in the shrine for a while, then they would 
get into a shouting match at each other until she eventually threw 
Ranma out.

Ranma.

Rei sighed. 

"Where are you, Ranma? I know you're out there, somewhere. Where are 
you?"

It was a whisper, but then there was no-one around to hear her. Her 
father was still away doing something important. He was always doing 
something important. She had considered telling Haruka and Michiru 
that raising a daughter was obviously not something that you needed 
to spend a lot of time on according to her father. She did not think 
that suggestion would go down too well, since all of the Outer Senshi 
absolutely doted on Hotaru and seemed to be with her almost every 
hour of the day.

"I bet she won't have any problems if any boy runs out on her later 
on. With a 'dad' like Haruka, who'd be game?"

Slowly she poked the corner of her robes again, moving them around on 
the floor. There was no worry about them getting dirty, she still 
washed and swept the room every day. She knew she had to attend the 
sacred fire, no matter what else was happening in the world. It was 
her duty. Unlike her love life, which apparently needed no tending at 
all.

"Where are you, Ranma?"

She could tell by the lengthening shadows that she must have been out 
here for a while. Time just seemed to pass so quickly whenever she 
went to use the sacred fire these days. Not like when she used it 
with Ranma in the past. Then it was like a gigantic roller-coaster. 
Everything was up and down, all the time. You never knew what was 
going to happen from one minute to the next. 

Maybe that was why she was so willing to help Chibi-Usa today. 
Excitement. Everything seemed almost dead after Ranma had gone. So 
quiet. So very, very quiet. No egotistical martial artists. No 
strange, Chinese Amazons with their bizarre attacks and stranger 
names. No competition with Makoto for the best looking boy in Tokyo. 
No martial arts lessons. 

No Ranma.

For the last few weeks, everything had even been quiet on the demonic 
front too. With Mistress 9 and her Witches gone for good, everything 
seemed positively deserted. There had been a couple of minor demons 
appearing to the west, but the local Mamono Hunters had taken care of 
them without the Senshi needing to travel all that way. Life was dull 
and slow and dead boring.

Dead... Just like Saturn Knight. Rei told herself that she did not 
care that he would fall in love with Sailor Saturn. It was his 
destiny, and she knew that Hotaru would someday grow up to be the 
right woman for him. Until then... Until then maybe he would need a 
friend, someone to talk to. She had hoped with all her might that 
Usagi had been wrong about what she saw at the top of Mugen Tower. 
Surely Saturn Knight could not be dead. She didn't think any of the 
royal families could ever be permanently killed, but if he wasn't 
dead, then where...?

Reminding herself of the times that they thought that Mamoru was dead 
or kidnapped, Rei had spent almost every night as Sailor Mars. She 
either prowled the city - fighting crime much like Sailor V used to - 
or she would find somewhere that they had once fought or talked and 
just wait. He never appeared. No matter how long she waited, Saturn 
Knight did not arrive. 

Finally she acceded to Usagi's requests to stop. It was only when the 
little Moon Senshi had threatened to join her every night just in 
case Saturn Knight wanted to see his queen that Sailor Mars had 
decided to resign her dedication. She knew she had been running 
herself into the ground, but there did not seem to be much option. 
She had needed a friend, and she was not sure if she could talk to 
the other Senshi about what was bothering her.

She missed him. As much as she had yelled at the jerk, she missed 
Ranma. That was what it came down to. She missed Mamoru, she missed 
Saturn Knight, and she missed Ranma. Mamoru was Endymion and he was 
Usagi's destined lover. Saturn Knight was destined to fall for Sailor 
Saturn. Why couldn't Ranma be destined for her? Was there something 
wrong with her that she could never have a real boyfriend without him 
being seduced away by some other girl without them even trying?

"Ranma."

With a practised motion, Rei uttered the sacred words and set the 
sacred flames into motion. She had done this every night for the past 
six weeks. Six weeks since Ranma had vanished without a trace and 
Mistress 9 had been defeated. Six weeks without a single sign in the 
mystic fire about him. She knew he was out there, he definitely was 
not dead. But... he definitely was not alive either. No matter how 
hard she tried, she could not summon a single image of his face, she 
could not extract the slightest hint of where he might be.

It was irritating and aggravating, much in the same way that Ranma 
was when he had been around. Trust him to keep annoying her like this 
even when he was gone!

Rei silently wished she could hear someone call her an uncute tomboy 
right then.

"Ranma."

"Ranma? What am I always asking about him for? He never helped me 
before! Feh! He ran out on me, I don't need him, that's for sure!"

Her spiritual search for Ranma faded from the sacred fire, but Rei 
did not move for more long minutes. A look outside the door showed 
that it was fully dark now. She knew her grandfather would be pleased 
with how much time she was spending with her Shinto practises. He 
would be less pleased if he knew just how much of that time was spent 
mooning over a boy that had deserted her, but she did not see any 
need to tell him everything.

When she had come out here this afternoon, she had fully intended not 
to have anything to do with Ranma. She had not wanted to spend time 
searching for him, but it had happened anyway. The real reason that 
she had come here had been Chibi-Usa. The little girl from the future 
had been having a number of strange dreams, visions even, and Rei 
wanted to see what she could find out about it.

Pushing her long black hair past her shoulders, Rei shook her head 
and concentrated. The flame rose and the image of a pegasus appeared. 
Good! This was exactly what she had been looking for! Chibi-Usa had 
mentioned a pegasus in her dreams. Any further thought was lost as a 
deep voiced scream broke the night.

"TENDO RANMA! FACE ME LIKE A MAN AND PREPARE TO DIE!"

She was on her feet and running for the door when she scream of rage 
gave way to a muffled grunt of pain. Worried that the unexpected and 
unwanted guest may have hurt themselves, Rei continued to run, hoping 
that she could get to the entrance of the shrine where the voice was 
coming from before they were hurt any more.

Rei's sandals were clattering down the old stone stairs when she 
heard the voice waft up to her again. "Damn Shrines! Ever since the 
curse was broken, they seem to be the only thing that I can find... 
Hey, this one looks familiar."

The mention of curses and the person's distress at being in a Shrine 
brought Rei's Senshi instincts to the fore. Before she had 
consciously analysed why, she found herself ducking behind some 
bushes to the side of the stairs. Looking out, she noticed a oddly 
familiar boy walking up the stairs. He was large and strong looking, 
with unruly black hair barely held in check by a dirty looking 
bandanna. Although he was casting his eyes about curiously, he missed 
her hiding, which was surprising since she was wearing bright red 
pants. 

He was almost exactly opposite her when he stopped and smashed his 
fist into his open palm with a meaty thud. "I know this place! It's 
Ranma's little girl's. I can feel you Ranma; I know you're out there 
somewhere. Feh, I bet you'll be back here any minute now."

A frightening smile crossed his face. Although he undeniably looked 
human, he had the largest set of fangs she had ever seen on a man 
before. The evil chuckle that accompanied the smile did even less for 
her feelings of comfort. "I think I might just have to wait here for 
him. When he sees cute little P-Chan, he'll never even suspect that 
the mighty Ryoga is back in all his glorious strength. 
"Tendo Ranma, you shall forever regret the day that you crossed paths 
with the demonic might of Hibiki Ryoga!"

It had happened just a few weeks ago. He had been wandering along in 
Okinawa somewhere when he had felt an amazing amount of magic 
battering at the curse that linked him to Ranma. Suddenly, without 
explanation, he had felt the curse broken. Freed of the binding that 
had forced him to become a little piglet, he had relished charging 
through the woods in his natural form. Now he was back in Tokyo, and 
the only thing he needed to make his time on the mortal plane 
complete was the death of Tendo Ranma.

Before Rei's very wide eyes, the large sized Ryoga shrunk into a 
small, cute black pig. A cute little pig with an easy to recognise 
scarf around its neck. Quietly Rei drew in a breath of shock as she 
watched Hotaru's little pet P-Chan scramble its way up the stairs. P-
Chan was a demon? Hotaru's pet was a demon? But Rei had held him 
before, surely she would have felt the power. But, if Rei could not 
have felt it, then what hope would a little girl like Hotaru have 
had? 

A low snarl escaped her throat as she again cursed Mistress 9 and 
Souichi Tomoe. They had used the child to their horrid ends, even 
going to the extent of binding a demon to be her pet just so they 
could keep an eye on her. With a fire in her eyes that echoed the 
flames in her heart, Rei raised her wrist and tapped the Senshi 
communicator to open a channel to all the other Inners. 

"Rei here. I've just had a demon walk into the Shrine, saying that he 
knew that Ranma was around somewhere, and that he was planning on 
killing him. I've got a few frustrations to work off at the moment, 
so there's no rush to hurry over. Whenever you're ready."

With another tap, the communicator shut down before the wiser girls 
could caution her against attacking a demon by herself. She knew that 
it would be a little dangerous, but that was what she needed now. It 
was like Makoto sometimes said: you need some action to take your 
mind off your troubles.

Rising in the bushes, Rei pulled out her Henshin stick and raised it 
to the sky. "Mars Star Power, Make Up!"

Covered in a cascade of brilliant light and fire, Hino Rei 
transformed in the Senshi, Sailor Mars. As always, the feeling of 
strength, speed and magic was almost a drug. Relishing the power that 
she now possessed, Sailor Mars paused for a moment, holding a 
striking pose as she drank in the feeling of near omnipotence that 
came with her transformation.

With a smile on her face, Mars leaped over the bushes in front of her 
and began to run up the stairs back to the shrine. After just a few 
moments, she was at the temple proper and looked around. A small 
movement in the corner of her eye identified Hotaru's pet P-Chan. She 
still had trouble believing that such a cute little piggy could 
really be one of the agents of darkness, but she had heard and seen 
the proof for herself.

Walking smartly across the flagstones, Mars stopped behind the little 
black pig. P-Chan turned around at the sound of her clicking heels 
and stopped face-to-face with the red toes of her shoes. A confused 
'bwee?' escaped his throat as he contemplated the sight before him. 

After a brief, fearful hesitation, P-Chan looked up. Long, perfect, 
shapely legs seemed to stretch up and up. Craning his thick piggy 
neck, he traced the lines of perfection further up past her knees, to 
see the short red skirt billow out over his head and show---

Sailor Mars' confusion turned to revulsion as first P-Chan keeled 
over to one side, then blood began pouring out of his snout. With a 
small yelp, she brought her knees together and both hands forced her 
skirt down as far as it would go. "Perverted little pig! Yaah!"

Drawing back a leg so shapely that it could stun a demon (as it just 
had), Mars delivered a kick that would have made any professional 
footballer proud. P-Chan still had not recovered to the point that he 
could think enough to yell in pain as he sailed into some bushes, but 
he did leave a small trail of red to point the way. It was not that 
Sailor Mars' kick had been strong enough to hurt a demon of Ryoga's 
calibre, it was simply that he was still in shock from what he had 
seen.

Breathing deeply to try and calm herself, Sailor Mars muttered 
imprecations under her breath. She had fought vast numbers of enemies 
before, and while not all of them had acknowledged the freedom of 
movement granted by the Senshi's uniforms, none of them had been so 
obviously insulting to her. "That disgusting little pig! I'll eat him 
for breakfast!"

Calm enough to think, Sailor Mars walked forwards to hunt out the 
demon piglet when she heard a rustling in the bushes. Reasoning that 
her target would shortly expose itself, Mars gathered herself and 
prepared to make roast pig. The rustling continued for a moment, then 
she could see a pig's snout. However, this snout was larger than P-
Chan's, and it was getting bigger.

Forcing the bushes to each side, Hibiki Ryoga grew to his full 
demonic size. Any trace of the cute, loveable piglet P-Chan was gone. 
This was a ton of demonic death on the hoof. Despite the fact that 
his low hanging belly still almost touched the ground, the arch of 
his back would have topped Sailor Mars' head. His hide had become 
covered in thick, coarse, grey-black hair almost to the point of 
being quills along the ruff of his neck and down his spine.

The face was what had changed the most. P-Chan had seemed innocent, 
with big, caring eyes and a cuddly little snout. Ryoga the raging 
boar, a denizen of the nether hells of hideous forests, was built to 
fight. Built to fight and win. Massive tusks protruded from his jaws, 
and thick muscles were deeply corded down the side of his lean face. 
A boar the size of a car, he was all meat, bone and nastiness. 

Eyes sunken back behind protective bony ridges eyed Sailor Mars 
speculatively as he idly pawed  at the ground, dislodging an 
ornamental shrubbery. With a voice somewhere between Ryoga's easy 
patois, the snorting of a bull and the sounds of an angry cement 
mixer, the demon pig spoke. "Little Senshi. I remember our last 
dance. But I'm cured now, and you're all alone."

Suddenly Sailor Mars was not so sure about the idea of letting the 
other Senshi turn up a bit later so that she could work off her 
frustrations. This time it looked like she may have bitten off more 
than she could chew. Releasing the fireball that she had been 
preparing, Mars turned and sprinted for the stairs to the Shrine 
again. She need space to work against something that big. Just as 
importantly, Gramps would kill her if she let a demon demolish the 
Shrine.

With a speed that was totally at odds with his bulk and apparent 
mass, Ryoga charged his porcine body down the stairs after Sailor 
Mars. Hot on her trail, Ryoga followed the scantily clad girl across 
the street, completely failing to notice the building right in front 
of his nose.

Although Sailor Mars nimbly leapt out of harms way, the massive pig 
demon was unable to stop as quickly. With a crash that shook the 
ground, Ryoga's thickly boned head crashed straight through the brick 
and concrete wall, sending debris flying. By the time Mars touched 
down again - after having done an immaculate handstand over the 
travelling bulk - the dust was settling and the rubble motionless.

"Well, you're big but you just can't take it, can you P-Chan?"

When the earth started shaking again and a large, tusked snout pushed 
its way out of the rubble, Mars backed up again a little nervously. 
"Let me introduce you to a close personal friend of mine. Fire: pig. 
Pig: Sunday roast!"

While Ryoga bulled his way out, Mars took the time to compose herself 
and bring her hands together in front with index fingers extended 
like she was forming a gun. Summoning some of the elemental fire that 
her magic was based around, Mars let the ball grow. When she finally 
released the Mars Fire Soul, she immediately dodged to the side, once 
again allowing Ryoga's bulk to carry him through the attack.

To her dismay, Ryoga immediately turned around, trying to gore her 
with one of his huge tusks. Scrambling backwards, she could only 
watch in horror as the massive pig demon trotted towards her with 
complete confidence. As she watched, she could understand why: all of 
the burnt and fried skin across his nose was growing back, leaving 
him completely undamaged. 

"I normally don't like to hurt pretty girls, but for you I'll make an 
exception. You seem like just the bait I need to draw out that vile 
Tendo! FIREBALL!"

A great gout of flame pulsed out of the pig's nose, impacting in the 
spot that had contained Sailor Mars just a short second previously. 
Moving around to the side, dodging several more fireballs, Mars 
remembered when she had seen this demon before. It was when they 
first saw Saturn Knight. She swallowed nervously as she remembered 
what a difficult fight she and Sailor Mercury had suffered. Worse 
still, this Ryoga demon looked even bigger and stronger than the last 
time.

Taking temporary safety on top of a concrete wall, Mars began firing 
her Burning Mandala at the demon. Forcing herself to concentrate, she 
tried to kept the small arcs of flame flying from her hands for as 
long as possible. By the time Ryoga had turned and started to 
retaliate, she had left a line of roasting pig from his tail to his 
shoulder.

And boy, did that make him angry!

For the next five minutes, Sailor Mars was reduced to almost constant 
dodging as Ryoga went berserk. No building was safe as he charged her 
and fired at every opportunity. Obviously suited to close combat just 
as well as ranged, Ryoga easily defeated her one effort to get close, 
and the fractured ribs that she received seemed to burn in her chest 
with every breath she took.

Moving under the power of her Senshi magic, Sailor Mars was able to 
prevent any more hits once she realised how dangerous he was to 
approach. Her main problem was that not only was he lethal at range 
with fireballs powerful enough to rival her own, but he also knew 
that he outclassed her thoroughly in hand to hoof combat, so he tried 
to close every chance he got.

With the number of buildings in ruins, the street was becoming a 
death trap for a girl in high heels. Ryoga's tough little hooves 
seemed to have no difficulty gaining purchase, and he crushed most 
obstacles under his feet with practised ease. Mars in turn had to 
spend more and more time just finding the right spot to step or jump, 
further reducing her chances to return fire.

An unfortunate landing after she had attacked mid-air seemed to spell 
the end. Mars landed awkwardly and was shortly flying again as Ryoga 
managed to belt her with the side of his head. After bouncing through 
someone's fence, she slid along the concrete sidewalk until she 
stopped. 

The palm of her left glove was worn all the way through and the 
abraded skin smarted. Looking up past her red, scratched hand, Mars 
caught Ryoga's eye. He grinned. It would not be much longer; they 
both knew that she was weakened by his every attack, but he simply 
kept healing all the damage that she was doing.

Crabbing backwards on all fours, keeping her eyes on the approaching 
demon, they were both stunned when Ryoga jumped into the air at least 
three feet and landed on his belly with a loud thud, the sharp smell 
of ozone wafting through the air. In the temporary silence, Sailor 
Jupiter's voice carried like Gabriel blowing the trumpet on the last 
day. "Sorry, Pig. I've got some _shocking_ news for you."

"Don't worry, I've brought some _ice_ to the party. SHINE AQUA 
ILLUSION!"

Even as Mercury's ice froze a hind-leg solid from a second direction, 
Sailor Venus stepped up and sliced her ever trusty Crescent Beam 
along the side of the demon's face. One of the large ivory tusks fell 
of, severed by her power and Ryoga bellowed in agony as the pretty 
soldier in orange finished her speech then jumped down to stand next 
to the still sitting Mars.

"Hey guys, don’t think you can _cut_ me out!"

The pain he could have tolerated. The damage he might have healed in 
time. The puns were an assault on his senses that Ryoga could not 
cope with. Bellowing in agony, Ryoga turned to the only direction he 
had not been attacked from.

Standing in his way was a single girl in a tidy little uniform, each 
bow in place, only disturbed by the very cross expression on her 
face. "Barbecues are for the enjoyment of everyone! Not for the crime 
of smelling so tasty like well done roast, but for being so evil, 
you're in a world of trouble. I am Sailor Moon, and in the place of 
the moon, I shall punish you!"

Seemingly transfixed by the spectacle in front of him, Ryoga was too 
stunned to move as Moon inscribed a delicate arc through the air. As 
she made the movements, she slowly called out her attack, building 
energy.

"MOON... SPIRAL... HEART... ATTACK!"

The brilliant golden beam caught Ryoga fully in the face, outlining 
him in brilliant light. Soon, all that remained of the demon was his 
echoing scream as he cursed Ranma one final time.

Peace restored again, Sailor Moon trotted over to join her friends 
who were helping Mars to her feet. "How was that, Sailor Mars? Do you 
feel better now?"

Opening her mouth to yell at Sailor Moon, the taller girl paused for 
a moment. She had just fought for her life against a giant pig demon, 
demolished huge areas of property, been almost fried, knocked around 
and bounced of buildings and this nitwit was asking if she was 
feeling better?

A slow smile graced her lips, blooming into exuberant joy as she 
placed an arm around her leader's shoulder companionably. "I sure do, 
Sailor Moon. I sure do."

*	*	*

For a time, peace reigned throughout Tokyo after the events of 
Mistress 9's defeat, and the city needed it. In some ominous way, 
Ryoga's defeat seemed to signal the start of a new series of 
challenges and opportunities for the Sailor Senshi. Soon the citizens 
of the city were besieged by marauding villains set on world conquest 
yet again.

As had always been the case since Beryl first raised her flag and 
begun to renew her attempts at conquest; the Senshi were the only 
people who could stand in the way. As to be expected, it stated with 
the littlest things: the dreams of a small girl.

Chibi-Usa began suffering from new nightmares. While she had 
initially suffered terrible dreams after her Heart Crystal had been 
stolen, Usagi's caring presence had slowly helped to soothe those 
problems. Although the alter ego of the Moon Senshi was often abrupt 
and liked to tease the little girl with the rabbit fixation, she held 
a special place in her heart for Chibi-Usa. During the day they would 
still fight and carry on some times, but at night, when tears 
threatened, Usagi was there to hold and comfort her.

During those early days, the two Tsukino girls would also spend a lot 
of time with the Outer Senshi, trying to patch things up. Hotaru had 
been a close friend of Chibi-Usa, and she like to visit her and read 
her picture books to the baby every day, even though she knew the 
little girl in the crib could not understand what she was saying. 

The sessions with the Outers were more than just a good will gesture, 
they were an exercise in fence mending. During the months that they 
had been awake, the Outer Senshi had done some very callous things. 
For what had appeared to be the right reasons at the time, the girls 
had resorted to tactics that Sailor Moon would never use, and it took 
many days of talking to reconcile some of those differences.

The person that probably did more to mend the rift between the Inner 
and Outer Senshi was little Hotaru. Just by being there, she brought 
out the best in the sometimes-cold older girls. The way they would 
coo to her and tend to her every need made it plain that they bore 
her no animosity; quite the opposite.

Hotaru's remarkable health also drove home the truth to the Outer's 
assertions about Sailor Saturn's actions at the end. Possessed and 
corrupted by both Mistress 9 and Saturn Knight, she had lashed out 
with lethal intent against the Outer Senshi. When Hotaru had been 
possessed, she had been weak and frail; now that she was free, her 
health was incredibly good. While they themselves had attacked first, 
they were obviously protecting the world from a dangerously unstable 
but highly powerful Senshi. 

Usagi could only nod in agreement and join them playing with the 
darling little girl. Whatever Hotaru had been, she was gone. The 
child that the Outers were now blessed with could be brought up in a 
safe, comfortable and loving environment. The mature girls could 
teach her how to care for and love others. With them acting as the 
child's parents, there would be no chance of a repeat of the 
activities that had almost doomed the world at the same time that it 
was saved.

Less than three weeks after the schism in the Senshi had been healed; 
Chibi-Usa was again seeing strange things at night. Unrelated to the 
nightmares of her past, Chibi-Usa seemed to be the target of some 
external influence. It became even worse when she would occasionally 
see the visions during the day too.

Dreams of a pegasus. A beautiful, white, winged horse, flying through 
the sky. Calling her name and asking her help. She knew that she was 
needed, and that the poor pegasus needed her help, but she did not 
know what help to give. That was why she had turned to Rei in the 
hopes that one of the priestess' famous fire readings would be able 
to shed some light on the situation.

As it happened, Rei's reading was disrupted by the arrival and defeat 
of Ryoga. Sailor Mercury's readings on the demon indicated that it 
was just an exceptionally strong demon, but still a perfectly normal 
one. Oddly enough, it was the first of many attacks that the Senshi 
would face in the following months.

Time gave a name to their new enemy, and that name was the Dead Moon 
Circus. More powerful that any of the previous foes, the Amazonian 
Quartet had the Senshi against the ropes for many weeks, striking 
with impunity. It was only through the Senshi's constant vigilance 
and efforts that the evil warriors did not manage to kill any of the 
innocent inhabitants of Tokyo.

Throughout this series of events, Sailor Pluto had again vanished. 
She had been with the other Outers when Hotaru was first given into 
their care, but now she was gone. Always aloof and beyond the 
reproach of her peers, Usagi had initially been surprised by the fact 
that Setsuna had missed almost all her meetings with Michiru and 
Haruka, but it seemed clearer now. 

The Senshi of time had always maintained a precious separation 
because of her vital and possibly dangerous knowledge. Now that their 
future was threatened, it was apparent that Setsuna's meddling and 
subtle guidance was the only way that she worked. Knowledge of the 
future might jeopardise the actions she would need to take in the 
present. Worse, if she assisted them in finding the right path to 
take, the leaders of tomorrow would never learn the confidence in 
themselves that they needed to command. 

Somehow Setsuna also failed to mention to Usagi that she also 
believed that her special position of Guardian of Time also placed 
her above some of the criticisms that had been levelled at the Outers 
as a team. Sure in her power and duty, Setsuna chose the more 
politically correct measure of being busy whenever Usagi came 
calling. It was easier than directly confronting the assertive little 
princess.

When the Inners learned of Setsuna's faith that they could handle the 
new threat alone, it was a quiet reassurance to the Inner Senshi. 
When Sailor Saturn and Mistress 9 had risen, Sailor Pluto had been 
with them often, directing and guiding them with the deft subtlety 
that only she possessed. Her absence with a signal that the Inner 
Senshi were growing into their own power.

The powers of the Inner Senshi were growing quite remarkably too, 
much to the disquiet of the Amazonian Quartet and their leader 
Neherenia. Each of the Inner Senshi developed their Super Sailor 
forms, just as Sailor Moon had done before them. Faster, stronger and 
with better attacks, the Senshi dove into battle with more than their 
usual determination to win.

No-one took to the powers of the Super Sailor like Sailor Mars. 
Although everyone else had forgotten the letters that she had 
received from Saturn Knight, Mars had remained true to the man that 
she had loved; her forbidden, impossible love. Studying the letters, 
she had explored his instructions on magic and how to focus. With 
practice came skill, and with the increased power of her Super Sailor 
form, Mars proved that she now had the capabilities to handle the 
demands of that skill.

Second only to her queen, Sailor Mars lead the Inners as they saved 
the young boy named Elios. Elios had been the one who had sent the 
images to Chibi-Usa. As a servant of Prince Endymion, Mamoru's other 
name, Elios had been in a position to know the true goals of 
Neherenia and the Dead Moon Circus.

It would never be said that their battles were easy, but the Inners 
fought their way to triumph. While the Outer Senshi watched over the 
six year old Hotaru, the Inners protected them and the rest of Tokyo. 
In time, their efforts paid off in a confrontation with Neherenia. 

Light triumphed, and four months after Mistress 9 had been 
dispatched, Neherenia was imprisoned in one of her own crystals, 
never to attack the innocent again.

Throughout the Inners adventures Tomoe Hotaru played and enjoyed 
herself. She was now Kaiou Hotaru due to her adopted mother Kaiou 
Michiru, and accepted her situation as perfectly normal. She had 
Michiru-Mama, Haruka-Papa and Setsuna-Mama. Although her childlike, 
six year old mind could not remember anything else, Hotaru could not 
conceive of a better family than the one she had now.

*	*	*

"Haruka-Papa! Haruka-Papa! Are we going for a ride? Are we? Are we?"

Haruka looked over the little girl's head to receive an indulgent 
look and a nod from Michiru. Kneeling down in front of her daughter, 
Haruka gently tapped her nose and smiled. "And what are you supposed 
to say when you want something?"

"Pleeeaaaase!"

"Come here, you!"

Hotaru let out a girlish scream as her papa lifted her into the air 
and swung her around before planting her on top of the blonde's 
shoulders. With one last wave to Michiru, the two of them left the 
house in a chorus of yelling and happy sounds. 

Trotting down the stairs, Haruka took them to her bike and lifted 
Hotaru off her shoulders. Sitting the six year old between her legs 
on the front of the bike where she would be completely secure, Haruka 
brought out a pair of helmets for them. With her own helmet securely 
fastened, she checked Hotaru's then started the bike. 

"OK, Hotaru-chan. Where are we off to today?"

"Racetrack!"

"Hmm, I think there's a race on there today. Where else?"

"Park!"

"Park it is!"

With a roar of the engine, Haruka surged the bike onto the street and 
began weaving through the traffic. Hotaru kept her little hands on 
her handlebar, just to help her steer, but Haruka never let her eyes 
rest on the happy body nestled in front of her for long. Despite her 
history as a racing driver and her tendency to drive as close to the 
limit as possible, Haruka drove more defensively today than she 
normally ever would.

Defensive driving was par for the course when Haruka took Hotaru 
anywhere. A motor bike was not the safest machine to ride, but she 
had never managed to convince Hotaru that they should use a car. The 
little girl lived for the thrill and for the excitement of being 
close to the road, and Haruka melted inside every time the big purple 
eyes went to work on her. How could she possibly deny someone like 
Hotaru anything?

It was only a short ride to the park, but Hotaru enjoyed every minute 
of it. When they arrived there and Haruka let her off the bike, 
Hotaru was bouncing on the spot with restrained energy as she waited 
for her papa to lock up their helmets. Haruka was just finishing when 
an excited voice yelled to her.

"Too slow, Haruka-Papa. Race you to the tree!"

Despite the lead, Haruka's longer legs quickly made up the distance 
to the girl and she slowed down, pretending to run all out as Hotaru 
raced for the big tree in the middle of the park. Hotaru's athletic 
ability never failed to amaze and delight Haruka who was an excellent 
track athlete as well. These days it seemed that Hotaru was always 
climbing on something or running and jumping everywhere. She was just 
so different for the sickly little girl that had become the corrupted 
Sailor Saturn.

"Ohh, you beat me again, Hotaru-chan! I bet I can beat you to the 
next tree."

They were off again, both girls with wide grins plastered across 
their faces. They had done these races so often, it was almost 
scripted. First the big tree in the middle of the park, then race to 
the eastern corner. After that they would usually chase each other 
playing tag for a while till one of them fell down exhausted. As much 
as Haruka hated to admit the fact, it was almost her that collapsed 
first some days. It was only the fact that her bold little Hotaru-
chan would probably drag her back to the bike and try to drive her 
home that kept Haruka moving at the end of a session in the park.

Haruka was running away from Hotaru now, just staying far enough away 
that the six year old could not tag her. Although she had loved 
Hotaru as a baby, it was nothing compared to what she felt now. In 
Hotaru she could see a kindred spirit. Her daughter was just the same 
lively sort of firebrand that she was, and Haruka loved it.

Sometimes Hotaru would get on Setsuna's nerves. She was always 
climbing over the Time Senshi, playing games with her staff and 
trying to get the older woman to join them in games. Sometimes Haruka 
was willing to admit that a lively game of tag through the house just 
before dinner was a bit much, but you would be hard pressed to 
extract that confession from her.

Personally it could have been worse for Setsuna as far as Haruka 
could see. What if Hotaru had stayed sickly and taken after the more 
intellectually oriented Michiru rather than her? Setsuna might have 
been barraged with violin performances or Shakespeare recitals 
instead. Much better that their little girl was a healthy bundle of 
energy.

The only thing that worried Haruka - other than the fact that Hotaru 
had caught her, so now she had to try and tag the slippery six year 
old - was Hotaru's growth. Three months ago Hotaru had aged six years 
literally overnight. Since then, nothing. While Hotaru was her first 
child (and possibly only child ever), she knew that this was not 
entirely normal. Surely in three months the girl should have grown 
slightly. 

Despite her growth problems, they held out hope that one day she 
would have another growth spurt and return to her proper age of 
twelve. Haruka's laughing smile grew even wider at that thought. She 
could just see visions of their little Hotaru competing in races just 
like her parents had done. 

A while ago Haruka had raised the idea of getting Hotaru trained in 
martial arts once her growth stabilised. Michiru had been more in 
favour of the more ladylike gymnastics that most schools offered, and 
after a long discussion in bed, Haruka had agreed. With her Senshi 
powers, Sailor Saturn would never need mere martial arts. Even worse, 
there was the possibility that martial arts training might bring up 
some of the unpleasant memories of when Mistress 9 had been in 
control of her mind.

Seeing Hotaru tiring, Haruka lengthened her steps until she caught 
the girl in her arms and gently tackled her to the ground. After a 
little wrestling and quite a bit of tickling, Hotaru ended up sitting 
on Haruka looking down at her papa with triumph on her face.

"I win! You have to buy me ice-cream!"

"You'll eat you're dinner when we go home to your mama, won't you?"

Taking the nod as a solemn promise, Haruka lifted Hotaru off her 
stomach and onto her shoulders again, then stood up. Walking towards 
the ice-cream stand, Haruka was only dimly aware of mothers in the 
park who stopped to admire the handsome man and his daughter. Women 
who often wished their own husbands would be so good with children. 
Haruka never noticed them because as usual she was too busy thinking. 

Thinking that she had Hotaru and she had Michiru. Life could not 
possibly be any better than this.

*	*	*

Ranma's eyes flew open and she held in a pained scream with all her 
might. Nothing more than the slightest gasp managed to penetrate her 
lips, as something squeezed her in a tight and painful manner. What 
made it even worse was the fact that she seemed to hurt most in 
_those_ places; places that no-one had ever really touched her girl 
form.

Working her way through the pain with big breaths, Ranma inhaled 
deeply and quietly. She was not sure why she needed to be quiet, but 
something said to her that things were not right. Something other 
than the pain and the fact that she was female, in a bed, and no 
longer on top of Mugen Tower attacking Master Pharaoh 90.

Looking down at herself, she flipped off the warm, comfortable 
blanket and was no longer surprised at her pain. Somehow, someone had 
managed to force her body - the size of a normal twelve year old girl 
- into a set of warm pyjamas that were many sizes too small for her. 
She was literally bursting out of them, but the extra stitching in 
places had made some of the seams strong enough that they did not 
break, only cause her great pain.

As silent as a feather on the wind, Ranma slipped from the bed and 
began to remove her clothes. She was half done when she froze in mid-
movement. She remembered. In every, horrible, mind numbing detail she 
remembered what had been done to her for the last three months. The 
first month after Mugen was a complete mystery, but the rest she 
could recall as clearly as anything in her life. Still shaking from 
the shock of it all, Ranma sat on the bed and wrapped the blanket 
around her quivering shoulders.

The witches had won. That much was obvious. They had won and Queen 
Serenity was dead. She had to be dead; Ranma's queen would never have 
allowed the three witches to do this sort of thing to him (or her) if 
she had been alive. 

Ranma and Queen Serenity had gone into the portal to defeat Master 
Pharaoh 90. That much was perfectly clear, the rest was painfully 
obvious by deduction from the memories that Ranma possessed. They had 
beaten Pharaoh 90; that evil being was Master of nothing now, 
otherwise the Earth would not be here, that much Ranma knew with 
ease. Equally obvious was the fact that Ranma's ultimate Sailor 
attack was too much for her to cope with after that day's trauma. 

Evidently the witches had found her in a weakened and probably 
unconscious condition. Who knows, maybe they found the queen that way 
too. Ranma could easily envisage Michiru and Haruka standing over the 
unconscious girl and looking down on her with the same cold 
detachment that they had shown with Ukyo's Heart Crystal so long ago. 

"Can we use her?"

"No, she's too good; too pure. We could never break her."

Setsuna's voice would come from behind them. She always seemed to 
lurk in the shadows. "Then kill her."

And they would. 

Ranma, of course, would have been another matter. Ranma knew that she 
was not as pure and unsullied as Queen Serenity. She would have the 
weaknesses that they could exploit. Anyone that could fall for 
Mistress 9's lies would be easy prey for a deception as carefully 
created as the three witches'.

How they had changed Ranma into a six year old and erased her 
memories did not really matter. All that mattered was the fact that 
they had succeeded. It was not sufficient that they killed her, they 
wanted to turn her into one of them. They wanted an obedient pawn 
bent to their will. Ranma knew from overheard conversations that they 
knew 'Hotaru' would be exceptionally powerful when she grew up. 
Sometimes, when they thought she could no hear, Ranma could remember 
Michiru and Haruka saying how important it was that 'Hotaru' grew up 
correctly so that she would only use her power "the right way".

"The right way". Their way! It was an audacious plan, since the evil 
witches would have had no idea about Ranma's curse. Magically change 
the super powered Sailor into a little girl then brainwash her for 
six years. Pretend to be the ideal parents and she would be putty in 
your hand when you finally make your bid for power. Elegant, simple 
and it almost worked.

The three witches - Michiru, Haruka and Setsuna - had never known to 
factor in the curse. Spring Of The Drowned Young Girl. Some of the 
most potent magic that Ranma had ever heard of in her entire life. 
Powered by the magical energies of Sailor Saturn's soul, this spring 
had made Ranma stay the same age for the last four hundred years. 
Never ageing a day in his girl form, it was proof against almost any 
magic that he had tried.

Even with his co-operation, Mistress 9 had taken years to break the 
spell and split his body. When he had recovered his cursed form and 
destroyed Mistress 9, the curse must have still been weak, the 
magical bonds shattered by the power of Mistress 9's arduous work. 
Combined with the devastating power of Ranma's own spell to destroy 
Master Pharaoh 90, she would have been easy prey for witches, and 
they would never have known about the curse.

That was the one piece of luck in this whole sorry tale. The power of 
the curse that Ranma had hated all those years became the one thing 
that saved her from becoming an indoctrinated slave. Now that the 
curse had received sufficient time to stabilise itself, it had gone 
to work. In one single evening, it had restored Ranma to the body of 
Sailor Saturn's mundane form: the girl recently known as Hotaru. With 
the restoration of her body came the restoration of her mind. Ranma 
remembered, and she was not happy.

The fact that the curse's overnight growth was the cause of her 
current painfully small attire was of scant comfort. She knew that 
she was living in a house with at least two of the witches, possibly 
three since she was vague on whether Setsuna stayed there on a 
regular basis. There really was only one thing that she could do in a 
situation like this. As much as Ranma hated the idea of killing 
people, no-one deserved it more than those three.

Setsuna had access to the Gates of Time and used those powers with 
wild and reckless abandon. Together the three of them were 
responsible for her friend Kikyo's death, not to mention doubtless 
others that Ranma had never seen. They had killed his queen, attacked 
him without provocation and not least of all, they had ruined any 
possible chance of a relationship with Rei. Worst of all, they had 
not been content to kill him like an honourable enemy. Instead they 
had gone to such lengths to destroy his mind so that they could turn 
Ranma into a weapon bound to them by ties of loyalty, love and 
ignorance.

Ripping off the last shreds of the pyjamas, Ranma knotted the blanket 
around her shoulders as a cloak and stood up. They needed to die, and 
Ranma knew just the spell to use. Ever since she had fought the 
Daimon and used her Dragon Slave, she had known that it was too 
powerful to use in the city. The person who had taught him magic - 
Lina Inverse - had hinted at other spells almost as powerful like the 
Gaav Flare, but she had died of old age before she was able to pass 
on all her knowledge. With that in mind, Ranma had been working on a 
way to focus and enhance the Dragon Slave.

Even after months of study and thought, Ranma still only had a 
partial solution. He could limit the size of a Dragon Slave, but it 
did not concentrate the power at all. The containment section of the 
spell simply prevented portions of Ruby Eye Shabranigdo's power from 
entering the world. That did not matter, even a normal strength 
Dragon Slave should be sufficient to destroy those horrible women. 

The other problem with the containment spell for the Dragon Slave was 
time. It would take almost two hours to cast the containment, which 
made it totally useless for combat. Ranma would have dearly loved to 
be able to cast a spell with the full potency of the Dragon Slave but 
limited to only a dozen meters across, it would have been ideal for 
fighting Daimons or Witches. Maybe Lina would have been able to cast 
it quickly or been able to advise Ranma how to refine her spell, but 
she was not here, so Ranma would have to make do with what she had.

A quick glance at the clock made Ranma smile in a most frightening 
and sinister manner. A quarter to eleven. A reasonable guess would 
place that as the time that she had gone to fight Pharaoh 90. Yet 
another indicator that the witches had taken advantage of his 
weakened state. It was, however, a good indicator that people would 
be asleep. Ranma's smile broadened as she remembered that the women 
she lived with liked to sleep till at least seven or eight in the 
morning. That gave Ranma a good nine hours to set things in motion.

First, though, Ranma needed to prepare. Not the least of which was 
seeing if she could duplicate some of Mistress 9's work on his curse. 
Maybe curse was not the right word anymore. After so long, he had 
regained his memories of being Sailor Saturn. She was a girl, there 
was no doubt about that, and Ranma was Sailor Saturn. However, Ranma 
was also Saturn Knight, and he had been brought up as a boy. Even if 
she had the capability of curing herself, Ranma no longer really 
desired it. Eliminating his girl side would be... wrong somehow. Not 
murder, maybe more like suicide.

Ranma's curse had reverted to its fully active level which was why 
none of the witches had noticed the connection between Hotaru and 
Ranma. It would have been hard to cultivate the mindless adoration 
that they so obviously desired if they tried pouring boiling water on 
the little girl. Furthermore, unless Cologne-chan had told them, they 
would have had no reason to suspect that 'Hotaru' would have been 
affected by hot water in any way.

Despite Ranma's desire to keep his girl side, there was no reason to 
remain a girl all the time, since his soul also was half boy. The 
magic of the curse had only just regained enough strength to restore 
Ranma to her proper age, finally breaking the effects of the magic 
that had caused her excessive youth. Furthermore, he only wanted to 
go part way to breaking the curse. Halfway, perhaps, just like he had 
been used to recently. With Mistress 9 having already done the work 
once and Ranma having access to the full power of Sailor Saturn 
combined with the delicacy of his own magical abilities, a partial 
cure should be no great difficulty.

Sitting on the bed with the blanket around her small shoulders to 
keep her warm, Ranma meditated and worked her own magic. It took a 
little over an hour, but it was time well spent. Changing sex would 
be as close as the nearest hot and cold taps from now on. Just as 
importantly, the time it took to cast allowed anyone else in the 
house to be soundly asleep. By the time she had finished, Ranma had 
discovered an additional bonus: she could now extend Sailor Saturn's 
longevity to her boy form as well. If she wanted it, near immortality 
was within her grasp.

Stealing quietly from her room on delicate feet, Ranma did not spare 
a single glance backwards. She did not want to remember any of the 
joy and happiness associated with that place. It was all just part of 
the horrid deception perpetrated against her. As she walked down the 
hallway, Ranma turned her head and looked away from a picture hung on 
the wall. She had enjoyed the time shown in the picture so much, it 
hurt her when she looked at it with an adults eyes and realised that 
her entire time here was built on lies and evil.

By the time Ranma silently pushed open the door to the master 
bedroom, she had already identified Setsuna as the only other person 
sleeping in the house. Crisp memories of recent months told her that 
she was lucky to have encountered the woman here, but Ranma was never 
one to resent good luck. Leaning her head past the doorway, Ranma 
clenched her jaw, sending small muscles rippling up and down her 
cheek. 

There they were: Michiru and Haruka. They were the worst of them all. 
Setsuna was a threat to humanity; Mistress 9 and the Witches 5 wanted 
to kill people but them... They seemed to take constant pleasure in 
the destruction of her mind and rebuilding it in their own warped 
way. Be impossibly good parents and make the kid dote on you. No 
ordinary twelve year old would have been able to resist their 
pressures. The two women's plot was so despicable that it made her 
ill.

Two women....

Ranma closed the door behind her and leaned against the wall. Two 
women. Michiru and Haruka were both women. Ranma knew that, but it 
had always been quite obvious to Ranma that Michiru had not known 
about Haruka's nature. After all, even Ranma had been able to see how 
smitten the green haired woman had been with the taller blonde. 
But... they were both women...

Seeing them both lying in bed, naked, holding each other made Ranma's 
head reel with confusion. Michiru definitely knew the sex of her 
friend, it would have been impossible to miss. But they were in bed 
together... It did not make any sense. Ranma and Akane used to hold 
each other even when Ranma had been in his girl form, but he was 
really a guy. Even then, there would be no reason for those two to be 
together since there was no way that a female Haruka could provide a 
man's love.

Ranma realised that since she looked like a little girl, no-one ever 
discussed sex in her presence. She knew that there were lots of 
"special tricks" that she had never known. Equally, Akane had been as 
traditional as Ranma had been when he was young. Despite all of that, 
two women together just did not make sense.

Unless...

Ranma's eyebrows knitted together in a very cute frown as she padded 
downstairs. The lengths that these two would go to sickened her. Just 
to make it look like they were a normal family, those two women were 
obviously pretending to be man and wife. Well, soon it would all be 
over, and their dastardly actions would all be for naught.

Ranma moved through the laundry like a ghost. Running the hot water 
tap made a little noise, but with the door closed, it would not 
penetrate far. By midnight Ranma was wearing a reasonably fitting set 
of Haruka's plainest clothes and was a man again. He had completed 
his reconnaissance and was sure there was no-one but the guilty in 
the house. Stepping back into the main living room, he cleared a 
space on the table and put his plan in motion.

No-one was perfect, and Ranma was quite willing to admit that 
somehow, by some extraordinary set of circumstances, this was all a 
big misunderstanding. If it was not for the risk of waking the 
witches, he would have laughed aloud at the suggestion, but he knew 
that it was better to be safe than sorry. So... What he needed was a 
trap. Something that would kill the witches with 100% certainty, but 
be able to be defused by him and him alone.

Aside from magical combat, magical traps seemed to have been 
something that had caused the mighty Lina Inverse no end of troubles. 
Naturally she had taught Ranma what seemed like a million and one 
ways to escape from traps, just in case he ever suffered the same 
problems. The simple fact that he had never encountered one single 
magical trap in over two hundred years by that stage did not matter. 
Traps had been on the curriculum and now he was glad for it. Because 
once you know how to defuse a trap, you know how to set it.

Settling down on the floor in front of the table, Ranma began to 
weave energy in the air. Over the next six hours he built his trap, 
elegant in its simplicity. The entire trap was based around the 
containment spell for the Dragon Slave. If the trap was sprung, the 
spell would be able to escape and activate, destroying the entire 
house; the Dragon Slave's terrible power limited only by the 
containment zone. 

A beautiful trap really, sure to kill almost anyone. _Almost_ anyone. 
Ranma remembered his failure to kill Setsuna in the tower at Mugen 
Academy. All three of the witches had powerful magic and may well be 
stronger or smarter than he was willing to give them credit for. What 
if they found a way to contract the Dragon Slave's area further 
before the trap was sprung? What if there was some other way out that 
he had not considered?

The answer was obvious: do something they would never think of, and 
could not notice. Just like any magic user, he was sure in his heart 
that none of the three witches realised the power of the human 
spirit. That was why his trap was designed to hold not just the 
Dragon Slave, but also a Shi Shi Hokodon. When the trap was sprung - 
or when it finally decayed and activated itself - both magical and Ki 
attacks would scour the house of evil.

Six o'clock. Ranma was ready. The trap was sitting in front of him, 
glowing with a soft orange light. Settled on the table were strands 
of magic: triggers for the trap. Once he had thrown them, they would 
be active and anyone that moved them would instantly spring the trap 
with deadly results. Now all that was needed was to arm the trap and 
place the Ki and magic needed into it to make it a deadly weapon.

Concentrating on all the evil that had been done to him, Ranma begun 
to build the heavy Ki needed for the Shi Shi Hokodon. He remembered 
how he had lost Sailor Mars to someone unknown. He remembered how 
Mistress 9 had tricked him. How the witches had brainwashed him. All 
the pain in his life...

Glowing brightly in a sick, shifting green colour, Ranma placed his 
hands over the innocuous looking trap. Looking nothing more than a 
glowing orange urn, it should not have been able to hold this much 
power, but he knew it would. "SHI SHI HOKODON!"

Shaking from the exertion of limiting his blast to just the right 
power, Ranma sent a blaze of green energy from his hands and into the 
trap. After three seconds it was done and he inhaled deeply. Almost 
certainly his shout had woken people, because he could hear some 
sounds of movement from above. Well, if that did not wake the house, 
this certainly would:

	"Darkness beyond twilight,"
	"Crimson beyond blood that flows,"
	"Buried in the flow of time."
	"In thy great name,"
	"I pledge myself to darkness."
	"Let all the fools,"
	"Who stand in our way,"
	"Be destroyed"
	"By the power you and I possess."
	"DRAGON SLAVE!"

The brilliant pink beam of irresistible magic had just finished 
coursing into the trap when Setsuna burst into the room. She was dark 
green silk pyjamas that perfectly set off her hair; just the sort of 
thing that you would want to wear at your funeral. Entering the room 
in time to see Ranma finishing casting his spell, she glared at him 
and instantly pulled out her henshin stick. Setsuna had no idea what 
Hotaru's brother was doing here, but she could feel the evil energies 
he had been playing with, and could tell instantly that he was not on 
her side.

Setsuna was raising the stick to the ceiling when Ranma reached to 
the table and lifted what looked like a glowing ball of thick orange 
yarn. Before she could transform, he had thrown it at her, causing 
Setsuna to instinctively block. Amazingly, there was no pain or 
discomfort, just a slight stiffness as the yarn seemed to harden on 
contact. Snorting in derision, she was just about to drop her guard 
and resume her transformation when her eyes tracked the path of the 
glowing magical strands. 

What had once been loose coils of magical energy were now rigid rods 
leading straight to the glowing bottle or urn on the table. Even 
without the improved magical vision given by her Senshi 
transformation, Setsuna could see the bottle fray and shake slightly 
with her slightest movement. The Time Guardian's eyes went wide and 
she looked at Ranma with amazement and horror, but without moving a 
muscle.

"Yes, that's right you... Ah! More guests!"

"Michiru! Haruka! No!"

Setsuna cried out for them to stay away, but it was too late. Just 
like Setsuna, the pair had recklessly changed into their living room, 
and they were snared instantly. Michiru quickly understood their 
predicament, but Haruka was slower on the uptake. She was only just 
prevented from blowing them all sky high by the frantic calls of the 
other two women. For a moment she stopped and glared at Ranma.

"What have you done with Hotaru-chan?"

Ranma ignored her. He had been rather worried that one of the three 
of them would have tripped the trap immediately, killing him with it. 
It was dangerous to have done it this way, but it was the only way 
that he could be sure that he would get all three. 

"You will notice that you are now attached to my little trap here. 
Your slightest movement will detonate the spells that I have locked 
in there. So I really suggest you remain perfectly still."

"Why? What did we ever do to you?"

"Wh---? Yo---!" Ranma spluttered incoherently for several moments. 
"For all of your crimes, this is your punishment. In six hours that 
trap will open of its own accord, then you and everything else in 
this house will be destroyed instantly."

Turning on his heel, Ranma strode to the door and pulled it open. 
Recovering from the shock of the early morning attack, Michiru 
finally gathered her wits. She and Haruka had visited Hotaru's room 
before coming down here, only to find the little bedroom empty and 
the tattered remains of the small girl's night clothes scattered 
across the floor.

"Wait! What have you done with my Hotaru-chan?"

"Your Hotaru-chan? YOUR Hotaru-chan?! _YOURS!_ She's dead! She never 
even existed! You'll never see _your_ Hotaru-chan again!"

Ranma was too filled with rage, too busy staking out the front door 
and slamming it behind him to notice what had happened behind him. 
All three women had gone as white as sheets, Michiru had almost 
collapsed on the floor detonating the trap instantly as visions of a 
murdered little girl filled her head. If he had spared the time to 
look at the women and seen the utter defeat and hopelessness on 
Michiru's face as she sobbed "no" again and again, he would have 
changed his opinions instantly.

After a few moments of shock, Haruka turned a bright beetroot red and 
began to shake in anger. "When I get out of here I am going to find 
that bastard, and I am going to tear him apart! He killed our little 
Hotaru! There is _nowhere_ dark enough that he will be able to hide 
from me!"

All three continued to suffer the loss of their adopted daughter in 
their own way until Setsuna broke the silence. "I've got my henshin 
stick out, but I can't transform without moving. I can't even enter 
the Time Stream without setting this thing off!"

Haruka swivelled her eyes as far as she could without moving her 
head. "Do you know what's on the table? Can we afford to just let it 
go off?"

Protected by the arms that she had raised, Setsuna's head was free of 
any of the entangling magic. She shook it dolefully. "No. I'm almost 
certain that I saw him casting a Dragon Slave into there. If we let 
this thing explode, us, and every house for a kilometre around us 
will become nothing more than a memory.
"We have to diffuse it, and we have to do it fast. If we let it go 
off in six hours, only the Kami know how many people will die."

There was silence as they looked at the glowing, magical urn on the 
table. It seemed to be fraying slightly at the edges even as they 
stood there.

*	*	*

There were not many stairs leading up to the shrine, but to Ranma, it 
seemed as tall as Mt Everest. It had been four months since his 
memories had been stolen, and he could remember a few times that Rei 
had innocently visited the people that had kidnapped him and tried to 

destroy his memories. She may not have said it directly, but he could 
remember Rei asking why Ranma had run out on her. 

That was the crux of the problem. He knew that he had been kidnapped 
against his will, but how could he possibly convey that Rei? She had 
always had a hot temper. Would he even be able to get a word in 
edgeways when they met?

Brushing his hair back, he made sure that it was neatly in its 
ponytail. Placing one foot on the first step, Ranma look up the 
stairs to the temple and took a deep breath. It would be hard, he 
knew it would be hard, but the most important things in life were 
always hard to obtain. Inhaling deeply, he held his breath for a 
moment then released it as he began to walk. 

For the last four hundred years he had held himself aloft from any 
women that he met. In his life he had loved Akane as much as any 
mortal man possibly could, and the loss of that one woman had almost 
killed him. For four hundred years he had managed to stave off the 
prospect of falling in love again. If he fell in love he knew that it 
would be doomed to end the same way that it had with Akane. As he 
stayed eternally young, the woman he loved would be doomed to grow 
older and die in his arms.

The struggle to save himself from repeating the pain of that loss had 
failed when he had met both Rei and Sailor Mars. He knew now - with 
his memories of being Sailor Saturn - that Sailor Mars would have 
been perfect for him. Sailor Mars also possessed the magical 
abilities to stay young forever, together they would never need to 
worry about growing old. Mars had made it painfully clear to him that 
she did not love him, that in fact she cared for someone else. Those 
where her very words, so long ago: "Saturn Knight, there is someone 
else..."

With Mars gone from the picture, it should have been easier to resist 
the temptation offered by Rei. "She'll reject you too." "You don't 
want to see her grow old." "She could not have been as perfect as 
Sailor Mars." All these things and more Ranma had repeated to himself 
trying to strengthen his resolution, but it had crumbled when she had 
reached out and made herself the one to take the first real step in 
their relationship. 

That was why he was here now. She believed he had abandoned her, 
betrayed her even. He knew the unending pain that he would one day 
face if he went back to her, but he could not just run away. Hino Rei 
meant too much to him, and it would torment him till the day he died 
if he did not get the chance to tell her of the love that he felt. 

Walking up the stairs his footfalls had softened into the silence in 
which he usually walked. Perfected over hundreds of years of 
practice, he had mastered the art of silent movement. His presence 
was so unnoticeable that he was now less than three feet from Rei and 
watching from behind as she worked at keeping the shrine clean.

Rei's long black hair, so clean that it seemed to shine in the 
morning light, was tied back today. The gorgeous river of black that 
normally cascaded unhampered all the way down her lean body was held 
at the nape of her neck in a simple white piece of cloth. Dressed in 
the apparel of a priestess, Rei looked the part perfectly, with 
bright red, wide pants, and a seemingly oversized white shirt. 
Occasionally he would catch a glimpse of the side of her face or the 
back of her neck as she worked, and he held his breath, enthralled by 
the majesty of her simple motions.

"Rei-san." The effect was nothing short of electric. In mid-sweep she 
stopped and stood as still as a statue. He had not even realised that 
he had spoken, since he was so absorbed in just looking at her.

"I..."

With the ponderous slowness that seems to come at every pivotal 
point, Rei turned, the broom falling from her loose fingers. Watching 
as the woman he loved turned, Ranma swore that he could have counted 
every single hair on her head in the time it took for her to face 
him. At first as Rei turned, her face was pale and drawn, but he 
could see the colour and animation returning quickly. When she 
finally stopped, he could almost see small thunderclouds forming in 
response to her expression.

Caught in her big eyes, Ranma did not even see the hand that caught 
him across the side of the face and knocked him to the ground. From 
his supine position, Ranma looked up at Rei and half brought a hand 
to his face, the shock of the blow stinging more than the actual 
pain.

"Wh---"

"You _bastard_!" Rei's cheeks coloured a bright, fiery read as she 
realised just how strong the language was that she had used. "You run 
out on me for four months and you think you can just come back in 
here? Get out! Get out! I never want to see you again!"

"No..." His throat was dry and the word barely came out as a whisper. 
Rei would not have heard it anyway. Before she had finished, she had 
already turned and run back for the house. One billowing white sleeve 
was held across her face, soaking up the tears that surely 
accompanied the sounds of her crying.

Still sitting stunned on the ground, Ranma distantly heard a rice 
paper door slam shut on its runners. With one hand he delicately 
touched the side of his face where she had struck him. The pain was 
gone, but the burning feel of her touch was not something that he 
would quickly forget. A small, incoherent sound escaped his throat as 
he realised what had just happened: she hated him. The woman that he 
loved, a woman he was willing to love despite the centuries of pain 
that he knew it would bring; she hated him.

Levering himself to his feet, Ranma began to glow a dangerous green 
colour as his emotions took over from his control. All blame for this 
simply fell onto one group of people. If those witches had been 
willing to leave him alone, this would never have happened. If they 
had even been satisfied with killing him, at least Rei could have 
rested easily with the knowledge of his death rather than his 
apparent desertion. The quick death he had planned was too good for 
them! He would go back to their home and torment those witches until 
at last the trap detonated and ended all their pain!

He was two steps from where he had fallen when he stopped short. Mr 
Tendo had never let a student give up. His father had drummed in the 
idea of perseverance above everything. Akane would never have married 
a man who quit at the first sign of trouble. But yet here he was, 
preparing to run away from his pain at the first sign of hardship.

It was not hard to find Rei again. He could have followed the sounds 
of her crying throughout the shrine. Standing outside the thin door, 
he could not help but think how easily he could have beaten his way 
through it. Tendo Ranma was a master at more forms of martial arts 
than most people had even heard of. He was as strong as ten men, 
empowered with more Ki than he knew what to do with, and he was the 
holder of some of the most dangerous magical knowledge to ever exist. 
For all of that, it would not help him in the slightest to get 
through a thin door that was paper and thin wood.

"Rei-san! Please. You have to listen to me. It's not my fault..."

There was a brief sound of small fists hitting the wooden floor in 
pained frustration. "Stop it! Just go away!"

"Please! I have to make you understand."

"Understand? Oh, I understand all right. I talked with Ukyo after you 
ran off. She understood everything too. I was just like after you ran 
off when you got engaged to her. Wasn't it?"

"No! It was never---"

"It was! Don't try lying to me! I asked you on just one little date 
and it was too much. You just had to run away and leave me alone 
again! You couldn’t even say 'no' to my face, you coward!"

"That's not true! I wanted---"

"Liar! Leave me alone!"

For a time Ranma was silent. Nothing he said seemed to be reaching 
her. If he could not even get her to listen to him, there was no 
chance of him ever explain what had truly happened. Looking down past 
hands he had impotently clenched into fists, he watched the door 
shake in time with the deep, body wracking sobs that came from beyond 
it.

Gathering himself once more, Ranma took a guess. He knew that Rei and 
Chibi-Usa had been two of Hotaru's friends. Perhaps, just perhaps, 
they had been back to Tomoe Souichi's house and seen what had been in 
his bedroom.

"Back before... Before things happened, you gave me a note that asked 
me to go out with you." As he talked, his voice rose to cover the 
sounds she was making. It was vital that she heard what he had to 
say. If he could not convince her with this, he would stand outside 
this door all day if necessary and keep trying.

"I never got a chance to say 'yes', things happened just too soon. 
But... did you ever go into Hotaru's room at her home?" Silence 
greeted his question. It was better than crying or abuse. "In her 
cupboard, on the top shelf, there was a dress. It was made out of red 
silk. The same silk that I always use in my shirts. _I_ made that 
dress. I made it for you... Rei-chan."

There was more silence. Suddenly the door slide open. Just and inch 
or so, but it was enough for him to see Rei's bloodshot eyes peering 
out at him. They looked up at him with fear and anxiousness. Written 
large all over her face was the clear statement that if the next 
words out of his mouth were not the ones she wanted to hear, she 
would never speak to him again.

"You made it? What was it like?"

Ranma closed his eyes and smiled as he remembered how much he had 
enjoyed making the dress for Rei. If he was lucky there was still 
hope that he might some day see her wearing it. "I did. It was long, 
it would have come down all the way to your ankles if you wore heels. 
And the back was low, really low. I... I wanted to show everyone what 
a nice back you have..."

She blushed. It was not the red of her furious anger from earlier, 
but a rosy blush that every embarrassed school girl gets when she has 
been complimented. "I... I have a nice back?"

"Well," Ranma said, plucking at one of her long, white sleeves. "It's 
a bit hard to tell in this... but yes, you do. All that sweeping and 
stuff must have helped build your muscles. It looks real nice, brings 
out the tomboy in you I guess."

It was only when he saw the shocked look of hurt on her face that he 
realise what he had said. This time, as the door slid shut, he 
grabbed it in an iron grip and stopped it dead. "Wait! Rei-chan... 
I'm sorry. It... It was something I always used to call Akane. She 
was always my tomboy, so big and tough and macho.
"From the first time I saw you I felt something. I don't know what it 
was... It was more than just desire, I knew that I needed you."

Kneeling down on the wooden veranda just outside the door, Ranma 
looked around timidly then slowly took one of Rei's hands. She just 
watched silently, waiting for him to continue. As she sat there, he 
watched her pretty face and watched as every single emotion he knew 
of played across its elegant lines. For the moment, her face had 
settled into an expression of hope.

"That was why I called you a tomboy all the time. I knew you hated 
it, and the only way I could stop myself was by always trying to keep 
you away. I just knew that it would hurt too much if I ever allowed 
myself to get close."

"Why? What could be so wrong about being nice to me for a change?"

"Because... Because if I started being nice, I would never be able to 
stop. I didn't want to fall in love again, I just couldn't help it. I 
had to keep you away by calling you names and things, but you came to 
me anyway, Rei-chan"

"You just called me 'Rei-chan' again." She smiled and squeezed his 
hand briefly. "Does this mean that you don't want to keep me away 
anymore?"

"I couldn't stay away if I tried. No-one in the world could keep me 
away from you now, Rei-chan."

"But I still don't understand. Was it too soon after Akane? Couldn't 
you have just waited? I... We don't need to rush things... I'm still 
at school after all."

"Too soon? No that's the exact opposite of the problem. It's my... 
well, call it my curse, but I'm not sure if that's the right word for 
it now. Part of my curse kept me young for a long, long time. Did you 
ever see the pictures in Hotaru's room?"

"You mean the ones of... No! You don't mean that... But Ami-chan said 
that they were over three hundred years old!"

Ranma nodded sadly. "I watched, every day, as my beloved Akane grew 
older and older, while I stayed exactly the same. For so long, I was 
frightened that if I ever loved someone again, I'd have to go through 
that all over once more. I tried to stay away from you, Rei-chan. I 
really did. But... I couldn't resist you. You are too perfect."

"Oh, Ranma." It was almost a sigh, and before he knew it, Rei was 
nestled against his chest. Rei was not sure why she believed him so 
easily, but she did. Maybe it was the little things that had seemed 
so strange in the past. The fact that someone his age could know 
Cologne, but never have met Shampoo. Even stranger was the fact that 
he was supposed to be just as skilled as Cologne, despite the old 
woman's age. Then there was the fact that he was so well travelled 
with friends all over the world. And the fact that he still seemed to 
be the same age as he had been when Ukyo had known him... just like 
his sister.

The whole idea of immortality should have been hard for her to 
swallow. Rei knew that she should not have believed in the very idea 
that someone could live for hundreds of years, but she had seen proof 
of it herself. It was not long ago that she and the rest of the 
Senshi had travelled a thousand years into the future to a time when 
they were all still alive. It was a big jump from accepting a Senshi 
as immortal to accepting Ranma as an immortal, but it was a much 
smaller leap than accepting eternal life in the first instance.

Ranma still had not managed to explain why he had gone away for four 
months, but he was glad that Rei seemed to have forgiven him. For 
once in his life, he had said the right things. Their relationship 
would never be solid until he had bared all his secrets and she had 
forgiven him for his mistakes, but for the moment he was content. 
Wrapping his arms around the girl who was leaning against him, he 
rested his head on hers and inhaled the smells of her shampoo and her 
fresh, clean hair.

Closing his eyes briefly, he relaxed in the feeling of warmth and 
satisfaction. This was worth it. Every moment of the pain that would 
surely follow, it was all worth it for a simple moment like this. 
Moved by the beauty of the situation, Ranma spoke the words that he 
remembered learning so long ago. Words that seemed too poignant. 

"What Earthly beauty distilled /
Than the single rose /
Withering on the virgin thorn /
That live, grows and dies /
In single blessedness?"

In the time it took to say those few short words, Rei had gone stiff 
and the wind seemed to turn chill. Withdrawing from him slightly, she 
looked up at Ranma with shaking eyes. Ranma was baffled. What could 
possibly scare her so much about a single verse of poetry?

"Wh- Where did you hear that?"

"I... I don't really know. It was a long time ago. I was just a kid 
back then. Why? Do you recognise it? I can't remember ever actually 
saying to anyone in centuries."

"No... I mean, yes, I do recognise it, but you never said it.  You 
wrote it down, didn't you?"

"What? Yes.  How did you kno..."

Ranma didn't finish as Rei jerked her hand from his grasp and backed 
away, scrambling to her feet.  "No."  It was the barest whisper but 
it screamed in his ears.  He saw once again the tears forming in her 
eyes and her shoulders begin to shake.  

"No!  Why does it always have to happen to me?!?  Why can't there be 
anyone for _me_?"  Ranma tried to reach out to her, to comfort her, 
to try to find out what had her so distraught, but she flinched away 
from his hand.  "No!  Don't come any closer.  Just go away.  Please!  
I can't take it anymore."

"Rei-chan!  What's wrong?  What did I say?"

Rei looked up to meet Ranma's gaze,  wiping the tears from her eyes 
only to have them quickly replaced.  "You're Saturn Knight, aren't 
you."

"H-How did you know?"

He never got his answer as Rei retreated with such horror and total 
misery in her eyes  that Ranma was unable to move.  When Rei finally 
turned and ran sobbing to her room, Ranma was released from the 
hypnotic effect that her words held over him.  Lurching to his feet, 
he followed her through the house.

"What is it? I don't understand. Is there something wrong with being 
Saturn Knight? Is there something wrong with me?"

Her bedroom door was closed, so Ranma raised his voice to shout at 
the woman who had just run from him. "Rei-chan! Tell me what's wrong! 
Tell me what I did!"

Rei's voice was muffled, and more than just the door would account 
for. If he understood girls at all by this time, Ranma would have bet 
money that Rei was lying on her bed, crying into a pillow. "No! It's 
not you. I just can't..."

That was not enough answer, and Ranma went through the thin plywood 
door like it was not even there. Kneeling down next to the bed, he 
placed a single, warm hand on the middle of her back. "Rei-chan. 
Please. You have to tell me what the problem is. I can't help unless 
you tell me. And you have to tell me. I'll be your shadow for the 
next fifty years if I have to, but I won’t give up on the woman that 
I love."

When Rei spared a moment to look up from her pillow, the sight of 
tears running down her flushed cheeks tore at his heart. Something 
was hurting Rei, and Ranma could not stop it. It tore at his heart to 
watch her cry, making him grind his teeth in impotent anger. Ranma 
did not know what the problem was, but when he found out who was 
responsible, he would... he would do something very nasty indeed.

Seeing the dogged determination on his face, Rei sighed once and sat 
up on the bed. She was careful to make sure that they were not close 
enough to touch, because if they did, what little determination she 
had would desert her.

"It's Sailor Saturn."

"What about Sailor Saturn?" Ranma asked in a wary tone.

"She's Saturn Knight's wife. Your wife. When she wakes up, the two of 
you... the two... the... It's fate! There's nothing I can do to stop 
it! I can't compete for her love with you, because I know I'll lose."

When Ranma's brows settled into a fierce expression, she briefly 
wondered if she had crossed some unseen line. She had tried to tell 
Saturn Knight about his wife the night that Sailor Mars had broken up 
with him, but she did not think that he had listened to her. Without 
warning, her breath was stolen from her as Ranma grabbed her hand and 
pulled her to her feet.

"All right. It's time for you to see the rest of my curse. Then 
you'll understand that Sailor Saturn is nothing to me. Nothing!" Rei 
was unresisting as he pulled her along and back to the kitchen. She 
did not know what else he wanted to show her, but nothing could hope 
to fix this problem.

Leaving her to lean in the doorway, Ranma began searching cupboards. 
It did not take him long to find a glass, and he filled it with 
water. To Rei's confusion, he held it above his head and looked her 
in the eye, holding her by the force of his gaze. 

"Cold water!" With that, he upended the glass over his head. In a 
matter of seconds, Ranma shrunk; his powerfully muscular frame 
dropped away leaving a more slender one in its place, the now over 
sized clothes flopping everywhere. Where Rei had just come up to 
Ranma's chin, the figure before her now just barely came up to hers.

"Cold water Rei-chan. Every time I touch cold water I turn into a 
young girl. This is why I've stayed young, even after four hundred 
years, because this girl form of mine never ages."

"You... you look just like Hotaru." Rei was almost shocked 
speechless. Ranma could not really be Hotaru, could he? Because all 
the Senshi knew that Hotaru was really Sailor Saturn. If Ranma was 
Sailor Saturn... well, the whole idea just did not make sense.

"More than just look like her!" With that, the small, female Ranma's 
shape blurred slightly. Briefly covered in glowing light her form was 
obscured. When the light cleared after no more than a second, Rei 
could see the shape of Sailor Saturn. While she was the smallest 
Senshi, she held herself with the bearing befitting a warrior of the 
highest calibre. Rei had never seen Sailor Saturn herself, only 
Usagi, Mamoru and the Outers had. However, they had all provided 
descriptions of what to look for the next time that she awoke. Rei's 
biggest question was how Ranma had known how to look like her.

"Oh, Ranma, that's very nice, but it doesn’t really fix anything. I 
know that Saturn Knight has some magic. Even if you can cast an 
illusion and make yourself look like Sailor Saturn, it's not the 
same."

"But I am Sailor Saturn! What do you want me to do? Use the Silence 
Glaive and level half the city to prove it?"

"No, but... but you can't be Sailor Saturn. You're a boy. Besides, 
when the Senshi transform, they are spectacular! All the lights and 
the power and... you just can't be."

With an equal lack of fanfare to when Ranma had made himself look 
like Sailor Saturn, he reverted to being a look alike of Hotaru. 
"You've got to mean the disguise field. When you turn that off, it 
can be pretty spectacular. All right, try this."

With that, Ranma produced a small stick from somewhere. Even though 
she could only see it briefly, Rei instantly recognised it as a 
Henshin stick. Could Ranma possibly have been telling the truth? 
Along with their normal identities, the Henshin sticks were one of 
the Senshi's most closely guarded secrets. It was not that they 
needed to be concealed, it was simply that once you had transformed, 
there was no further need of the stick. No-one ever got to see their 
Henshin sticks, so how did Ranma know how to make his look so 
accurate?

Any further thoughts she had on the matter were quickly overridden 
when Ranma raised the Henshin stick and called out her transformation 
phrase. "Saturn Crystal Power! Make Up!"

Immediately Ranma was surrounded by blasting fireworks of brilliant 
blue energy. Raising one leg up with her knee bent, the unclad girl 
rotated on the spot, bathed in light and power. Rei could not help 
but watch as she saw the Senshi uniform appear over the girl in the 
same sequence that she was so used to feeling herself. Bodysuit, 
boots, skirt and jewellery. The girl had everything that a Senshi 
should have, including the fact that she held the massive Silence 
Glaive in one hand as she struck a pose at the end of the 
transformation.

Rei blinked a couple of times. She blinked a couple more times, just 
be sure that the vision in front of her did not go away. Ranma was 
Sailor Saturn. She had seen it with her own eyes. With just a glass 
of water, Ranma had been able to transform into Hotaru, and she was 
Sailor Saturn. Rei had just seen the transformation in front of her, 
and she could still hardly grasp it. 

She still could not wrap her mind around the idea when Sailor Saturn 
stepped forward and gave the priestess the Silence Glaive to hold. 
Just as she had always expected, the Glaive was solid and heavy, cool 
to the touch from its pure iron construction. Hard and irrefutable, 
the Silence Glaive was a proof that assured her of the reality of the 
situation. Proof that the man she loved was really a girl, and she 
was really Sailor Saturn.

Looking back from the Glaive to Hotaru, Rei blinked a few more times 
and offered the big weapon back to its owner. The short girl took the 
massively outsized weapon and made it vanish as negligently as she 
dismissed her own Senshi uniform. Rei gaped like a fish out of water 
at the spectacle. "What? How?... I mean, how did you transform before 
without using you Henshin stick, Hotaru?"

"I'm Ranma, not Hotaru, well, not really. But I don't really 
transform, even when I use the stick. I'm always Sailor Saturn, no 
matter what I look like. I'm always Saturn Knight, and I'm always 
Ranma. All I need to do is summon the uniform to look right."

Seeing that she was still confused, Ranma tried a different tack. 
"All right, you know I'm a martial artist. I'm a martial artist 
whether I'm wearing a Gi or not. If I wear a Gi, I look like a 
martial artist, but I'm still the same person with the same 
abilities. It's the same with Sailor Saturn. When I'm a girl, I 
summon the Sailor uniform. When I'm a guy, I summon the Knight's 
uniform. All the Henshin stick does is help to hide my powers when 
I'm not in uniform. Maybe the other Sailors haven't mastered that, 
but I can hide my power without using a magical device."

Looking at Rei's closed thoughtful face, Ranma drew some hot water 
from the tap and doused himself, growing so that he fit his clothes 
properly again. Mistaking her thoughts for fear, Ranma reached out 
and gently held her shoulder.

"See, Rei-chan. You have nothing to fear from Sailor Saturn. But... 
But there are other people out there that you might need to be afraid 
of. Bad people. Evil people who might try and hurt you if they 
thought you knew who Sailor Saturn was. So you're going to have to 
keep it secret. You can't tell anyone, for your own safety."

"Rei-chan? Are you still listening?"

Gradually she drew herself back from her thoughts and threw her arms 
around him, burying her head on his rock hard chest. "Oh, Ranma. I 
feel so stupid. All of this time I could have been with Saturn 
Knight. I could have been with you, and it was all this horrible 
misunderstanding. I'm sorry Ranma. I'm so sorry."

"Hey, wait up. There's no need to be sorry. You couldn’t have known 
about this until I told you just now."

"But... Maybe if I'd asked you in the first place, you never would 
have run away from me. I just assumed the same thing that everyone 
else did. We all thought that Hotaru was your sister. I never 
realised that Sailor Saturn and Saturn Knight were the same person. 
Oh, if I had just waited one more day before I drove you away..."

"Hey, you never drove me away!"

"I did! I did, and it's all my fault. I was the one that told you 
that Saturn Knight had someone else. I'm Sailor Mars."

"You... You're Sailor Mars?... Oh, my fiery little Sailor!" With a 
whoop of joy, Ranma picked up his love by the waist and swung her 
around the room laughing with joy. After only a few circuits, he 
stopped and hesitantly put her down.

"But... If you're Sailor Mars... You were the one that told me that 
you had someone else. Does... Does this mean that you don’t want me?"

Grabbing him again with all the strength of a wrestler, Rei held onto 
him for all that she was worth. "I do want you. I want you more than 
anything. It was always Saturn Knight that had someone else. He had 
Sailor Saturn. I... I can't believe that I was so afraid of you 
falling in love with yourself!"

"Well, I am pretty good, you know."

In the middle of the kitchen, Rei stood and held the man that she 
thought she had lost forever. Ranma too held onto the woman that he 
loved. Each of them had found both of the soul mates that they 
thought they had lost. Ranma had Rei and Sailor Mars, while Rei had 
both Ranma and Saturn Knight. Rei squeezed him even harder when she 
realised what else his presence meant. Sailor Saturn had awoken 
again. The Senshi were a full team once more, with one warrior per 
planet. Rei knew that the Outers would be so proud.

"And I guess that explains where you've been for the past four 
months."

Despite the sunshine in her voice, Ranma immediately clouded over. 
His voice was firm and harsh. "Well, you don't need to worry about 
them anymore. I've dealt with those three witches. They'll never 
bother anyone again."

Rei went cold. Saturn Knight and the Outers had never gotten along. 
If Hotaru woke up there with all of Ranma's memories, who knows what 
she did? "What... What happened?"

"Nothing... yet. But they knew who I was, Rei-chan! They tried to 
destroy my mind so that they could make me into their own little 
puppet."

"What?! No, that's not true!"

"It is true, Rei-chan. I was there. I can remember every detail of 
the last three months. Every instant of their deception is burned 
into my brain forever. They are evil, horrible people and I'm going 
to make sure that they burn in hell for what they did."

"What did they do? They always seemed too nice. I thought they really 
loved little Hotaru."

"Exactly! That's exactly what they wanted you, me, and everyone to 
think. That's how I knew they were faking it! No-one could possibly 
be that nice all the time."

"Umm... That doesn't exactly make sense..."

"All right then, where are your parents?"

"Well, my father is an important politician. He's away at the moment-
--"

"See! And my Pop took me away from my mother when I was five years 
old. His idea of good parenting was taking me on a ten year training 
journey and selling me off for food. My mother's idea of being a good 
parent was to try and enforce a contract which required me to commit 
ritual suicide if I did not grow up to be a man amongst men."

Rei looked blank for a moment, so Ranma snorted then elaborated. "I 
turn into a twelve year old girl, Rei-chan. How much of a man was 
that? From the day I was sixteen until the day she died, I had to 
spend the rest of my life hiding from my mother in shame. I know what 
real parents are like Rei-chan, I've seen a lot of them. No-one is 
naturally as nice as those two. They're always going: 'Do you want an 
ice-cream, Hotaru-chan?' 'Are you all right, Hotaru-chan?' Always 
playing games and hovering over me. It's not normal!"

Rei took his hand and tried to get him to relax slightly. "Hey, it's 
OK. Really. Just calm down. I guess that you just didn’t know the 
right sort of parents, that's all. I'm sure that there are lots of 
them that are just as good as Michiru and Haruka."

"All right, can you name some? How about Mako-chan's?"

"That's probably not the best example. Both of them died in a plane 
crash a few years ago."

"Humph. Leave poor little Mako-chan by herself, then go off on a 
holiday without her. Sure it was coincidence, but what's the bet that 
if they did it to her when she was that young, they would have been 
doing it all the time when she was older? OK, how about Ami's 
parents? Why don't we ever see them?"

"Well, they're divorced, but Ami's mother is a doctor, so she has to 
work really long shifts at the hospital some times..."

"Making everyone else in the world more important to her than her own 
daughter and I'm not even going to start on her father. I've seen Ami 
moping around some times. That's why she likes the rest of you girls 
so much. You're the family that she doesn't have at home."

"All right, all right! Enough with the thing about the parents. I 
know I can find you some examples, you've just got to give me some 
time. But what's so bad about them? I know they seem a little bit 
stuck up, but they're not bad when you get to know them."

"All right, how this then. They're both women."

"Umm... Yeah... And?"

"They're pretending to be a family! Both of them are pretending that 
Haruka is a guy so it can look like a real family. If that isn’t 
trying to deceive me, then what is?"

Rei could not quite hold back a brief chuckle. "You're upset because 
they're lesbians? Oh, come on, Ranma. Be a little bit broad minded. 
They're not bad people just because they're different."

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

"Michiru and Haruka. The love each other."

"Well, I'm sure Michiru did until she found out that Haruka was 
really a girl."

"She's always known that Haruka was a girl. What's the problem?"

"But..." Ranma floundered. For several long moments he opened and 
closed him mouth doing an excellent impression of a Koi fish gulping 
at the surface of a pond. "But they're both girls..."

"And they love each other..." She tried to lead him to the logical 
conclusion.

"I don't get it."

Rei smacked her forehead with her palm. "What is your problem, Ranma? 
They're both girls and they love each other! What is so hard to 
understand about that?"

"Rei-chan, for most of my life I've been a twelve year old girl and 
I've lived in monasteries. I just don't get it."

"Well, maybe you'll just have to trust me on this one. Two girls 
loving each other is completely OK."

"I still don't understand."

Growling in frustration, Rei grabbed a double handful of his lapels 
and began to shake. "You don't have to understand. You just have to 
accept it. Now what else is your problem? They're basically pretty 
good."

"You don't know them the way that I do. I've watched them. When they 
weren't around the real Sailors, then they would get up to their 
dirty tricks. Haruka and Michiru, they killed my best friend Kikyo. 
They let her die in cold blood trying to steal her Heart Crystal. 
They would have done the same thing to Ucchan if I hadn't stopped 
them."

"No... No, that's not true. You have to believe me. They did 
everything they could to save that girl. If... If... if that Dragon 
Slave hadn't destroyed her heart crystal, they might have been able 
to catch the Daimon and get the Crystal back. You can't blame them 
for that; Michiru-san had nightmares about it for weeks."

"_I_ cast that Dragon Slave, and I only did it after the Crystal had 
been destroyed. If those two had paid more attention to killing the 
Daimon than to stealing innocent girls' Heart Crystals, that never 
would have happened."

"I... I can't say that you're wrong. I couldn't agree with what they 
did, but they were doing the best that they could under the 
circumstances. If Mistress 9 had managed to get the Holy Grail back 
then, we all would have been dead. The Outers were the only ones who 
could have stopped them."

Ranma narrowed his brows. Something was beginning to sound just a 
little odd in their conversation. "Outers?"

"Sorry, I mean the Outer Senshi. The Sailor Senshi that are named for 
the outermost planets of the solar system. Uranus, Neptune and 
Pluto."

"Phew! That's good. For a moment there I was worried that you were 
talking about the three women I was. Haruka, Michiru and Setsuna."

"Ranma, they are the Outer Senshi. Why else would they dress that 
way?"

"I thought that they were fakes! Everyone knows that there are only 
the five Sailor girls and Queen Serenity."

Rei glanced down and counted off her fingers for a moment. "Don't you 
mean five Senshi, and one of them will be Queen Serenity?"

"No, there's... umm... orange skirt, blue skirt, Sailor Moon, Queen 
Serenity, green skirt and, of course, the pretty soldier Sailor 
Mars!"

"You know, they do have names too."

"They do? What are they?"

Rei groaned and pretended to cry against his shoulder. It was a very 
nice shoulder to lean on, and only the fear that her friends might be 
in danger convinced her to lift her head and continue the 
conversation. "You can be so thick some times. We're all named after 
the planets. Didn't it ever occur to you to wonder why you were 
called Sailor Saturn or Saturn Knight?"

"Uh... no?"

Rei brushed her hair back and moved to a slightly more comfortable 
position. "But back to the Senshi. Why do you keep saying that there 
is Sailor Moon and Queen Serenity? They're the same person."

"No they aren't. The Queen's got long blonde hair, but Sailor Moon 
has pink hair and is a foot shorter. But this doesn't help us with 
those three witches. I mean, it doesn’t help us with the Outer 
Senshi. I admit it, maybe I was wrong to plant a bomb at their place, 
but even if---"

"A BOMB?!"

"Ahh, yeah... Didn’t I mention that?"

"NO! You most certainly did not! Come on, we have to diffuse it."

"Sorry, Rei-chan. Before I came here, I thought the Queen was dead. I 
believe what you've said, I honestly do. But the condition I put on 

setting them free was the fact that Queen Serenity would have to be 
the person who told me to. Even then, I don’t think I should let 
Setsuna go free, she's just too dangerous."

"Well, how long do we have?"

"I dunno... Thirty, maybe forty minutes."

"What? That bomb is going to go off in half an hour?"

"Well, unless they've been stupid enough to set it off already." 
Ranma tried to explain it to her, but Rei was no longer listening. 
Tapping on her wrist communicator, Rei opened a direct line to Sailor 
Moon, the girl Ranma thought of as Queen Serenity.

"Oh, Sailor Moon. I really need you to come over to the temple, right 
now."

"But, Reeeiiii! Mum's just come home with some ice-cream! Can't I 
come over later?"

Rei's eyebrows drew together and she leaned so close to the 
communicator that she could almost touch Usagi through it. "If Sailor 
Moon does not come here RIGHT NOW, then Sailor Saturn is going to 
kill all three of the Outer Senshi! This would be really, really, 
_really_ bad."

"Oh wow! Sailor Saturn is awake again! That is so cool! I'll be right 
over Rei-chan! I'll even bring her some ice-cream."

Disconnecting the call, Rei looked up at her boyfriend. Was it too 
soon to be calling Ranma her boyfriend yet? Really, they had been 
seeing each other for quite a while now and... She snuggled up beside 
him and wrapped his arm around her shoulder. Rei decided she could 
definitely call him her boyfriend. "All right. We have Sailor Moon... 
Sorry, we have Queen Serenity coming over to tell you it's OK. Now, 
Why do you hate Setsuna so much that you want to kill her? I can 
understand the feeling perfectly, I've just never acted on it 
before."

Ranma scratched at the base of his pony tail. "Well, it goes like 
this. She's got access to the Gates of Time. The woman who taught me 
all the magic I know, she was called Lina Inverse. Lina spent a lot 
of time telling me just how dangerous those Gates were. Now Setsuna 
not only has access to them, but I've felt her use them lots of 
times. If we don't get rid of her now, she'll kill us all soon, even 
if only by accident."

"Sai--- Queen Serenity trusts her. Who do you trust more: Queen 
Serenity or Lina Inverse?"

"Umm..."

*	*	*

When the door opened, three sets of eyes immediately tracked to it. 
If they were lucky, it might be help, but there could not be more 
than ten minutes left before Ranma's bomb went off. Soon there would 
be nothing left but ashes. When the Outer Senshi saw a small girl 
with her hair cut in a neat, shoulder length bob, and deep, 
expressive, purple eyes, they began screaming in panic.

"No! Hotaru! Run!"
"Quick, get away from here as fast as you can!"
"Don't worry about us! You have to save yourself!"

Without looking at the three women still held in thrall by the 
glowing strands of her trap, Hotaru walked to the centre of the room 
and stood next to the magical bomb that she had created. The first 
thing to do was to change the size of the Dragon Slave. There might 
have been some way to dispel it completely, but Ranma did not think 
that there was enough time for that now. However, changing the blast 
radius to make it a five centimetre wide Dragon Slave would work just 
as well; other than the fact that they would need to repair the roof 
and floor in a little while.

Before she drained the Ki back into her body, Ranma took a look 
around at the three women. For so long they had pretended to be her 
parents. They had tried to raise her to be the sort of girl that they 
wanted. Haruka looked glad to see her. It was hard to tell what 
Setsuna felt, she was obviously in great pain from having to keep her 
arms in an unnatural position for the last six hours; the muscles 
looked like they were cramping very badly. If she did not deserve so 
much more, Ranma might have almost felt sorry for her.

Michiru... Michiru looked like a soul that had gone through hell. It 
had been only six hours, but already he skin had gone sallow and 
waxy. When Ranma had left them that morning, he had told them that 
their Hotaru was dead. It seemed that Michiru had taken that much 
worse than he would have believed possible. Even just having Hotaru 
in the room - and in risk - had returned colour to her cheeks. Ranma 
was sure that if he left the room right now and let them all die, 
Michiru would die with a smile on her face, knowing that her adopted 
daughter was safe.

Ignoring the pleas and yells, Hotaru placed one palm right next to 
the almost fragmented magical urn that held her spells and Ki. The 
only dangerous thing left in there was the Shi Shi Hokodon that he 
had fired this morning, and that could easily be reabsorbed by the 
person who had fired it. In a thin river of green, the heavy Ki 
channelled itself back from the urn and into her small palm. There 
was no danger in this, considering the size of the Ki blast compared 
to his total reserves, but it was a depressing activity. In effect he 
was bringing back all the hatred, anger and depression that he had 
forced out this morning.

Being on the opposite side of the room from the women, they could not 
really see what she was doing. Without waiting another moment, Ranma 
ran one hand through a supporting beam of energy and detonated the 
trap. The women's cries of fear acted as backing vocals to the 
scorching sounds of the Dragon Slave. Only five centimetres wide, it 
was still almost one hundred meters tall. A column of deadly pink 
energy seared through the floor, table, ceiling and roof. But that 
was all. Moments later there was a brief second of silence as 
everyone realised that they were still alive.

With a speed faster than she believed possible, Ranma was swarmed by 
the older girls. Each of them was crying in relief, and Michiru 
almost fractured her ribs she was hugging the little girl so tightly. 
The whole time she held her, Michiru kept sobbing how they thought 
that they had lost her.

After enduring the outpouring of feeling for as long as she could, 
Ranma released herself and backed away slightly, holding up a small 
thermos that she had borrowed from Rei.

"Michiru-mama. Haruka-papa. Setsuna-mama. We have to talk."

---
End of Destiny's Child

Thank you very much for reading Destiny's Child. It has taken quite a 
while to write, and I greatly appreciate all of the encouraging mail 
that I received along the way.

Firstly I must thank Takeuchi Naoko and Takahashi Rumiko for their 
brilliant works. Then I must also thank all of the people that pre-
read sections of this story. I realise that I list them at the start 
of each story, but each chapter comes out better than the last 
because of their advice and comments.

Lastly, a bit for the trivia buffs. I subscribe to the Alfred 
Hitchcock school of self insertion. Look in Chapter 18: Fight! 
Setting An Example. In the paragraph starting "Instantly, Hotaru was 
rolling back" there is a guy mentioned. That's me! Look for me in 
future works. I should be just as easy to spot.

---
End of Author's bit



Epilogue requests:

1) let's look at Ukyou. It might be okay as is, but someday, Ranma & 
Ukyou will have to resolve the fiancee thing AND Ranma needs to come 
clean on Hotaru.

2) Hotaru's adoptive parents. I want to hear the give and take 
between Ranma, Haruka, Michiru, AND Setsuna. I want to see their 
faces as they react to what's said on both sides. Would Rei & Usagi 
be useful additions to the scene? I don’t know.

3) Cologne needs to know what happened to Ranma. I am certain that 
Ranma would spare no expense to visit Joketsuzoku with Rei at the 
earliest possible convenience. I do not see how either Shampoo or 
Cologne can peruse the engagement after what Shampoo did to RANMA. To 
me, Cologne being tossed aside before the last act is a tragedy. 
Please let Ranma (Soap?) return to patch things up & let Cologne know 
he/she is alive… PLEASE?

4) post epilogue of Setsuna looking back at the whole thing, related 
to the fact 'future' Setsuna laughed at the first Setsuna regarding 
info on Ranma and Hotaru

5) Ranma telling Chibi-Usa

6) Rei introducing Ranma to the rest of the Senshi "Really USAGI is 
my Queen?!?!" Rei introducing Ranma to the Senshi. Ami: I'm sorry 
that's just not possible.

7) DC +1000 years.

8) Ranma's training with Lina Inverse

7) What the Outers thought about and did while they were in the 
house.