Ranma, Sailor Moon 1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Not even Genma could sell me the rights to Ranma ½ or Sailor Moon

Author's Note: This is the sequel to The Prince of the Planets .

Hotaru woke up just as the sun started to shine through her window. Gently rubbing the sleep from her eyes, Hotaru took a moment to think about the changes that her life had recently undergone. Less then a month ago she had been Hotaru Tomoe, daughter of a widower mad scientist. For the most part it hadn't been too bad of a life for Hotaru, but it had been a lonely life for the most part. This was due to the fact that her father had been more distant ever since the accident that claimed Hotaru's mother and the fact that Hotaru had been ostracized from her peer group.

Now however Hotaru was Hotaru Saotome, daughter of Nodoka Saotome and little sister to Ranma Saotome. Hotaru now had a loving mother and a very protective big brother who both treated her like she had been born in the family. She had also received the friendship of Ranma and Usagi's friends very quickly after she had been adopted. Another thing that Hotaru had quickly grown to like about her new family was the fact that Hotaru now went to a different school where her classmates were very friendly and helpful.

Turning her head to her nightstand, Hotaru shed a single tear as she looked at the picture that was there. The picture had been taken about 6 months before the accident that had claimed the life of her birth mother and had eventually destroyed her original family. Even though the love of Hotaru's new family and friends had done much to heal her heart, it still hurt for her to think about the end of the Tomoe family. Hotaru knew that she had effectively been an orphan ever since that accident and her father had been merged or absorbed into a demon. However part of Hotaru felt that she was responsible for her father's death a month ago.

Shaking those somber thoughts out of her head, Hotaru got out of bed and quickly changed. Now wearing a cheerful but very modest dress, Hotaru left her room and headed downstairs. When Hotaru arrived in the kitchen she saw that Nodoka and Makoto were busily working on breakfast. Nodoka and Makoto then spotted Hotaru and Nodoka said, "Good morning Hotaru. Would you like to help finish making breakfast?" Hotaru very quickly accepted the offer by nodding her head and then went over to put on her apron that was hanging on a hook to the side of the kitchen.

Nodoka watched Hotaru walk over to her apron and Nodoka felt a small smile grace her lips. The Saotome matriarch waited a moment as Hotaru tried to tie her apron in the back, but Hotaru was having trouble getting the bow on properly. "Here Hotaru," Nodoka said as she walked over to the slightly petite young woman. Gently placing her hands on Hotaru's hands, Nodoka guided Hotaru's hands in making the bow properly. Nodoka then walked around Hotaru so she could see her daughter's face. Looking into her daughter's eyes Nodoka sweetly said, "Don't worry right now Hotaru about getting the bow exactly right. It took me several months to get it just right, especially with the frills that we all have on these aprons."

Wrapping her arms around Nodoka, Hotaru softly said, "I love you mom." Hotaru truly meant it when she said that she loved Nodoka as a mother. She also didn't feel any shame in saying it as Hotaru was sure that her birth mother would have been happy that she had found such a wonderful woman to be her new mother. Nodoka had immediately offered to adopt Hotaru when she had found out that Hotaru had become orphaned. The fact that Nodoka only knew about Hotaru for less then a day hadn't mattered to auburn haired woman and that was part of the reason why Hotaru had so quickly come to love Nodoka as her new mother.

Standing up again, Nodoka merrily led Hotaru over to the counter so they could help Makoto in making breakfast. As the three girls worked on making breakfast Nodoka let her mind wander over how things had changed in the last month. Besides adopting Hotaru, for which Nodoka had always been extremely delighted with herself for doing, Makoto had moved in. Things had been fun at first simply due to the fact that the Saotome house was only designed with three bedrooms. However things were quickly sorted out with Ryoga moving back in to his parents' old house. Although the boy had claimed it was because he wanted to have a better chance of catching his parents, Nodoka suspected that Ryoga had just wanted to escape being so outmanned. Once Ryoga had left Ranma gave up his old bedroom and moved into the smallest bedroom leaving his old room to Makoto and Hotaru.

After directing Hotaru to put several ingredients back in the cabinet Nodoka carried the dirty dishes over to the sink. She then turned the water on so that the dishes could soak during breakfast. Once Nodoka heard Makoto say that the table was set she started to walk towards Makoto. As Nodoka walked towards the table she though about the last full-time female in the house. Personally Nodoka had a hard time describing her relationship with Makoto. Parental help books sadly did not have a section on dealing with your child's last incarnation's reincarnated mother.

Luckily however, Makoto had found a way to seamlessly integrate herself into the Saotome family. Ranma for his part apparently considered Makoto to be a sort of cousin/young aunt. In fact, Ranma had used the term "Aunty Makoto" a few times in a friendly teasing manner. Nodoka herself had slowly come to view Makoto as a sort of much younger sister. To Makoto and the family's friends, this was a never ending source of friendly ammunition for jokes.

Sitting down at the head of the table, Nodoka looked on at the girls with a proud smile. Her family may have been different and rather unorthodox but it was her family. For some reason that Nodoka did not know the kami had decided to give her back her family after making that foolish agreement with Genma years ago. Nodoka soon ended that line of thinking when Ranma came in from his morning practice and the family started to eat.

* * *

Usagi and Ranma were sitting in the park on a picnic blanket having lunch in peace. Ranma was eating his sandwich propped up by a tree while Usagi was lying on her belly merrily swinging her feet back and forth. Both teenagers were happily enjoying their casual date in the park. It was a time when both Ranma and Usagi could forget about the unique things in their lives and could simply be a young couple in love. Neither of them really wanted to change how their lives had ended up; otherwise they might not have met each other and that was a very upsetting thought. Still, it was great to pretend to be an everyday couple for a little while.

Looking up after she finished chewing a bite of her sandwich, Usagi casually said, "Ranma, how am I doing in my martial arts training in your opinion?" This was something that Usagi was genuinely concerned about because it tied into Scout business. After the confrontation with the Death Busters, Usagi had privately sworn to make sure she would be able to defend the people of Tokyo to the best of her abilities. Martial Arts, besides being a way to spend time with Ranma, was the best way for her to prepare for the next attackers whoever they may be or whenever they appeared. That some other evil threat would eventual appear was something that Usagi was certain about. She no longer had any illusions that she could possibly defeat evil forever like she did at the end of the Dark Kingdom crisis.

Ranma closed his eyes for a second to think about Usagi's question and then he opened his eyes. Staring strait into Usagi's light blue eyes Ranma said in a surprisingly gentle manner, "You're doing alright Usagi for only 6 weeks of practice. I will admit that your training has been difficult at times but that's because of me. As your teacher I should have realized sooner that you're unsuited for the Saotome School of Anything Goes, that style is simply too aggressive for your personality. I know that we're making up for those earlier mistakes as we cobble together the Tsukino School of Anything Goes for you Usagi. Still, everything is going wonderful Usagi so don't worry."

On hearing Ranma's honest opinion of her skills Usagi's cheeks gained a hint of pink. Usagi had been putting the most amount of effort in martial arts training out of all the inner scouts and she was proud to know that she wasn't wasting her time. Makoto, who at times was Usagi's sparing partner, had the second strongest training drive out of the inner scouts. Rei was in the third slot as far as Usagi knew and had apparently gotten Herb to supervise Rei's training. Ami was trailing in fourth place in terms of martial arts training while Minako was dead last. Personally Usagi didn't have any problems with Ami's current skill level due to the fact that Ami was support rather then a front line fighter. However Minako was another story and Usagi was planning to chew her fellow blonde out once school was over on Monday.

Usagi, once her cheeks returned to their normal complexion, lazily reached into the picnic basket and pulled out a bag of cookies. With a half-eaten cookie in her hand Usagi then said, "So what do you think about the up coming school events Ranma?" Looking at the blank expression in Ranma's eyes Usagi realized that Ranma had completely forgotten about the events. Shaking her head with a playful smile on her face Usagi said, "Ranma, Ranma, you really need to remember these things dear. After all, what would your mother think if you depended on me to tell you when these kinds of events were coming up?"

Ranma closed his eyes, took a gulp of his soda that was originally lying out of Usagi's sight, and shrugged his shoulders. He then said in a very board manner, "Mom would probably just praise me for realizing that it's the Queen not the King who rules the castle. After that Mom would start asking me when she could expect to see any princes or princesses in the castle." As he said this Ranma was congratulating himself in his head for keeping a strait face as he said this to Usagi. While Ranma was annoyed that he had forgotten about the upcoming school events, he just couldn't pass up the opportunity to make a joke that Usagi had set herself up for.

Prince Nephelite had been quite the joker and had been known for his clever wit. Ranma had slowly discovered that he had absorbed this aspect of Nephelite's personality along with his past life's powers and knowledge. However Ranma had only shown this part of his personality when he was alone with Usagi and even then he mostly just played the part of an ignorant jock. Usagi always knew that he was joking when he did this and that was part of the humor in Ranma's mind.

After blushing for a second because of the remark about princes and princesses, Usagi got up and walked towards Ranma. She stopped in front of Ranma, leaned over so that she was eyelevel with him and then Usagi flicked her finger on Ranma's forehead. As Usagi watched Ranma slowly rub his forehead she said in a jokingly motherly voice, "Ah is the big, strong king wounded? Maybe the lady of the castle should kiss the wound to make it all better?" Ranma's eyes quickly meet Usagi's and they quickly conveyed the message of touché.

Plopping down on the grass next to Ranma, Usagi laid her head on Ranma's shoulder and sighed. Usagi then said in a friendly but still serious tone, "All joking aside Ranma you really shouldn't have forgotten about these upcoming events. First there is the fall dance next month. While the dance will be having modern music for dancing, all the people who go to the dance are supposed to wear traditional Japanese robes. Also the history professor said that he will give extra credit to all students who show up in the appropriate outfit for their ancestors' social station and bring written proof. It doesn't matter to the professor whether it's the appropriate garb for a student's paternal or maternal line just as long as it is the appropriate garb and there's proof."

"Then there is the City wide school sponsored martial arts tournament that starts a month after the dance with the ward primaries. The members of the school team that represents each ward will each receive a 30,000 yen scholarship to the collage of their choice in Japan. According to tournament rules each team is to only have five members. Any replacements for team members who can't make it to the tournament are to be chosen by the principal. From what I read on the flyer on Friday our principal has decided that our school's team is to be decided by a mini tournament supervised by the gym teacher if we have more applicants then team slots. Also, the team members who win the tournament will get an additional 500,000 yen each for their scholarships!"

"And last but not least there is that school sponsored vacation to Okinawa during the winter break. The vacation lasts for 10 days and for most of that time the students can do whatever they want. True, all students have to write a 3,000 word paper on Okinawa's unique culture before they can sign up for the trip but it's still a great deal. I'm thinking about taking the trip if Setsuna can't detect anything that may need Sailor Moon's attention during that timeframe. Even if Setsuna gives the clear, I'm only planning on trying to go on the trip if you're planning on joining me Ranma. After all, it's better and so much safer for a girl to go with her girlfriend to the beach then to go alone."

While he was enjoying the feel of Usagi's head on his shoulder, Ranma thought about the school events. Ranma then wrapped his arm around Usagi and said, "The dance sounds wonderful Usagi. If you want we can compare our genealogies to see if it's possible for us to go as a matched pair. Otherwise I'll just go with whatever you choose as the outfit princess." There was a part of Ranma that didn't want to go to the dance but he knew that it would make Usagi happy so that settled the matter.

Ranma knew that Usagi would want to hear the rest of his thoughts and so continued to talk. "I'm definitely going to try out for that tournament Usagi. That kind of money is just too good to pass up when it comes to scholarship funds. Also, there's the chance that if I enter this tournament I might be able to impress the sponsors of the tournament. Those people are most likely going to be the ones I'll be going to for collage money in a few years. Besides, it sounds like it could be fun! As for the winter vacation to Okinawa, let me think on it a little bit Usagi."

Usagi gave a small contented sigh as she snuggled a little closer to Ranma. His response to the school functions was pretty much what Usagi had expected. The fact that Usagi could predict what Ranma would do in some situations didn't bother her at all. And as far as Usagi was concerned, life didn't get much better then this. That is being able to spend time with her boyfriend, doing reasonably well in her studies, and not having to worry about defending the city. Usagi knew that eventually she and Ranma would have to defend the city so Usagi was determined to enjoy the peace while it lasted.

* * *

Ami and Rei were sitting in Rei's living room just lounging about after school. Their book bags were lying on the coffee table with several books sticking out of Rei's bag. Sitting next to the book bags was a cookie plate and a small pitcher of tea. Both girls were reclining on the furniture; Rei was on the couch while Ami had taken the love seat. In the background the TV was on and showing an episode of Five-Star Squadron Dairanger.

"So Rei," Ami started to inquire after she had a sip of tea, "How are things between you and Herb?" To Ami's amusement, Rei turned her head to face Ami and raised an eyebrow in a questioning way. Before Rei could voice the question Ami clarified, "Your relationship Rei. What is your and Herb's relationship?"

Rei set her tea cup down on the coffee table and waved it around in a slightly dismissive manner. "Herb and I don't have a 'relationship' Ami, we're strictly amicable housemates and that's all." Rei then paused for a moment, brought her previously waving hand to rest on her chin, and then continued. "I'm just glad that he isn't some macho pig, no offense meant Ami, or a loser like some _other princes _I could name."

Ami just shook her head and then said, "Don't try to fool me Rei I know you too well. Don't forget that I was at the park last week when Ranma and Herb were sparing. Your eyes were practically glued to Herb's chest as those two fought. Personally I thought your expression was absolutely hilarious when the fight went into the pond. Of course, you did give Herb a tongue lashing over at almost immediately afterwards. Couldn't you have waited until we had gotten Ranma and Herb out of the pond before laying into the poor boy?"

At this point Rei started to blush as she remembered the incident that Ami was talking about. About two weeks after the Death Busters were taken care of Ranma and Herb had decided to have a match in the park so they could see which of them was stronger. The only limits on the match were that they couldn't permanently maim each other and that they couldn't use any Chi techniques. Since it had been an unusually hot day both boys had been fighting without their shirts on.

Rei shook her head trying to drive the images of a sweaty half-naked Herb out of her mind. Quickly glancing over to where Ami was sitting Rei saw the small smirk on Ami's face. A tic started to develop above Rei's right eye as she realized was Ami was trying to do. Right at that moment Rei realized how much Ami had changed since she had first met the girl. Gone was the shy bookworm genius and in her place was a confident, clever, but still private, young woman. In an attempt to save face Rei said in a grudging manner, "So Herb is a decent looking young man. A girl can walk for four blocks and see two dozen decent looking men on posters and billboards."

As she refilled her tea cup Ami thought about what Rei had just told her. It was obvious to Ami that Rei was still trying to fool herself in regards to how she felt about Herb. Personally Ami thought that Rei was being completely stupid with trying to pretend that her feelings didn't exist. Although Ami had never really had a boyfriend before meeting Ryoga, she had always known when she had a crush on a boy. The only reason why Ami hadn't had any previous boyfriends was because she had been too shy to ask any of her previous crushes out. Well there also was the fact that she spent so much time studying so she could become a doctor even before Scout duties were added on, but that was only a minor piece of the equation.

Ami then took a sip of her tea and said, "If you say so Rei, if you say so. However, I would like to remind you that there is that dance coming up next month. That dance is shaping up to be one of the biggest events the school is hosting this year and it IS the biggest event that people like you or I would likely find interesting. It would be such a shame for you to show up to the dance without a date, especially when you have one of the 'top 5 hottest guys' in the school staying over. So do yourself a favor Rei and ask Herb to the dance. Whether you go as friends or go as dates doesn't matter, but I can assure you re that you will regret it if you let this chance go by you."

Knowing that it would be unwise to peruse the conversation any further, Ami decided to change the conversation. "Have you noticed Rei that we have been watching a Five-Star Squadron Dairanger marathon since we got to your house?" Rei nodded her head to answer Ami's question thankful that the conversation was changing. Putting a single finger on her cheek, Ami then said, "Why are we watching this show in the first place? I mean, our life is a sentai show."

* * *

Minako was sitting on a stool with a large Mountain Dew in front of her and a large amount of annoyance surrounding her. The source of Minako's annoyance was the fact that Usagi was complaining about Minako's lack of progress in martial arts. Correction, Minako mentally groused it was the 'lack of effort' that Minako was putting into her training. To think that Usagi, whose dreams used to vary between being a bride and being a princess, would say something like that to Minako just seemed so wrong. It was times like these that Minako was able to truly see how much Usagi had changed from that naïve starry eyed girl.

The thing really annoyed Minako about the whole situation was the fact that Usagi was right. Being honest with herself on the matter Minako knew that had fallen to bottom of the barrel in terms of her combat ability compared to the other scouts. Usagi and Ranma surpassing her abilities hadn't bother Minako at all; the High Royal senshi, when they actually fought, had always been the strongest senshi among the Sailor Scouts in the Silver Millennium. As for Ranma, well Minako knew that her reincarnated godson was simply an impossibility that had somehow happened and had completely shot the power curve.

Still Minako also knew that didn't excuse the fact that all the other inners had surpassed her abilities. However in Minako's mind it wasn't fair for Usagi to compare Minako's progress to any of the other inners. After all she didn't have a boyfriend or a family member that was a martial arts master that could make wire-fu movies look like a warm up routine to teach her. Also, it wasn't like she could just go to the gym and sign up for karate lessons. The oh-so-annoying-monsters-of-the-week all seemed to have a knack for ruining regular events like extra-curricular lessons.

Unknown to Minako, Mousse had been keeping an eye on the blonde. Mousse had recognized Minako as one of Usagi's friends although he didn't know Minako's name. Not wanting to have an unhappy girl in his establishment, Mousse turned to the kitchen and called out, "Hey Yon. Two number threes and a little emperor's delight at table number 7. I'm going to man the counter." Almost immediately Mousse received an affirmative from the shadow clone and then Mousse headed over to where Minako was sitting. Mousse then said to Minako when he saw that she had noticed his presence, "You're one of Usagi Tsukino's friends right?"

Minako slowly nodded her head and then said in a defensively curious tone, "Yes I'm one of Usagi's friends and the name's Minako by the way. How do you know Usagi?"

Mousse then gave a small chuckle and said, "I'm an old associate of Usagi's boyfriend Ranma so I know both of them. In fact those two show up here when they eat out on their dates often enough that they have a semi-reserved booth. Now that the inquisition is over, can you tell me what's eating at you?"

At that moment Minako remembered that she heard about this restaurant from Usagi so what Mousse had told her was very possible. Minako then decided, for some reason that she didn't know at the time, to tell Mousse about the situation. "As I'm sure you've noticed, it can be quite dangerous at times for your average citizen here in Juuban. It was decided by my friends and me that we should start studying martial arts so we could defend ourselves better. Well earlier today Usagi started to complain to me that I wasn't holding up to my end of the agreement. It's just so unfair! Usagi and Makoto are learning from Ranma, Rei has Herb teaching her, and Ami is being tutored by her boyfriend Ryoga. This whole situation frustrates me; how do they expect me to 'hold up my end of the agreement' when they have tutors like that and I don't!"

Minako's situation struck a cord in Mousse's heart as he knew from experience what it was like to watch other people flourish under tutors while your own progress was much slower. Knowing that his mother's ghost would probably scold him for eternity if he didn't do anything to help, Mousse took off his glasses and carefully cleaned them. While he was cleaning Mousse said, "Earlier I said I was an 'old associate' of Ranma rather then an old friend. That's because for a while in the past Ranma and I fought a lot. Why we fought no longer matters, but what I think would matter to you is the fact that I was able to hold my own against Ranma."

At this little revelation Minako started to pay closer attention to what Mousse had to say. "Now I will admit that it's currently unlikely that I would be able to beat Ranma, at least without going for the kill that is. What I'm trying to say is that if you would like Minako I will tutor you in martial arts."

This offer immediately brightened up Minako's day. However Minako was also curious as to why a complete stranger would offer to help her. "That sounds wonderful Mousse, but why are you making offering this without asking for anything?" Minako said genuinely hoping that offer wasn't too good to be true.

Mousse gave a soft sigh and then said, "Chaos follows Ranma around life flies follow a horse. Not even the craziness that the Sailor Scouts generate can possibly hide Ranma from his luck forever. When trouble finds Ranma, and I'm sure that it will find him, his friends and associates tend to sucked into the mayhem as well. Since you're a friend of Ranma's girlfriend your likely to be involved in at least some of Ranma's misadventures."

Pausing for a moment to look Minako strait in the eye, Mousse said, "I'm ashamed of that fact that I've caused a few of Ranma's misadventures in the past. Some of the stunts that I pulled back in those days could have ruined innocent peoples' lives forever. Now the kami may have sent me a fitting punishment for my stupidity, but I still try to make up for my earlier follies. Helping a person who's pretty much assured of getting stuck in similar misadventures gain the skills to make it out of those situations is one way that I can continue to make up for my earlier mistakes."

Minako vary carefully went over why Mousse wanted to help her out. Part of Minako wanted to tell Mousse to get lost, but this was only a very small part of her. Past conversations that Minako had had with her friends then came to Minako's mind. Both Ryoga and Herb had admitted to making some ill advised decisions in their pasts that could have seriously hurt other people. If those to could be sorry for those mistakes Minako mused, why couldn't Mousse also be sorry as well? Flashing Mousse a bright smile Minako, said chipper voice, "Alright Mousse you've got a student. When do we start?"

* * *

Back in Nerima, Happosai was sitting in his room at the Tendo house with a sack full of his liberated loot and a lit pipe in his hand. Currently the infamous grand master of the Anything Goes School was thinking about the situation in Nerima. When Happosai had returned from a bikini exhibition in Hokkaido two months ago he had been shocked to see how much things had changed. Sure Happosai had been shocked to hear that Akane had been shipped off to military school and that Ranma had declared that the two families wouldn't be joined. However, Happosai hadn't bothered to worry about the situation too much. With Ranma gone, Happosai had been able to collect his darlings without that disrespectful boy's interference.

Lately however Happosai had found himself getting bored with his raids. Where the thrill in the hunt Happosai was wondering when he had hit every house in the ward. As much as he didn't want to admit it, Nerima had completely lost its entertainment value. And so here Happosai was, pondering what he could do to continue to enjoy his golden years.

Suddenly the proverbial light bulb went off for Happosai. If Nerima had become boring, then Happosai simply needed to move his operations. But where to set up shop that was the question that Happosai wanted to know. Snapping his fingers, Happosai remembered that article he had seen about the Sailor Scouts in Juuban. Superheroes wouldn't dare harm a harmless old man like himself and would be able to provide him with hours of entertainment. Look out Juuban because Happosai was coming to town!


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Ranma or Sailor Moon. If I did then the scouts wouldn't using their uniforms except for a seduction routine.

Ranma, Ryoga, and Herb were all sitting on the bleachers in the gym with their gym uniforms on. Their class was currently playing basketball for gym and to be fair to the other students the teacher had told them to hit the bench. Personally Ranma was a little annoyed at not being able to play, but Ranma could understand why the teacher had requested that the three of them sit the game out. It's not much of a game when a person can make a three point shoot from the other end of the court if their so inclined.

Still, there were some benefits to having to sit on the benches as far as Ranma was concerned. Mostly those benefits centered on the fact that the benches provided a great viewing angle of where the girls' game was going on and the fact that he could watch that game without getting into trouble. Like any teenage boy, Ranma could appreciate some of the finer things in life. Currently the 'finer things in life' for Ranma right now meant enjoying how good Usagi looked in her school gym outfit while making that jump-shot.

Ryoga was sitting to Ranma's left and Ryoga was currently sporting a fanged grin. He had spotted where Ranma's gaze was directed and for a second Ryoga had thought about teasing Ranma about it. However Ryoga decided against teasing Ranma simply because he knew that Ranma would probably turn the tables on him by bringing Ami into play.

As he thought about the situation a bit, Ryoga couldn't help but marvel at how much Ranma and he had changed over the past few months. Back in Nerima, Ranma looking at a girl like he currently was looking at Usagi would have caused major problems. Problems, Ryoga was ashamed to admit, that he would have aggravated for one inane reason or another. Now that both of them lived in Juban they were able to act like regular teenagers.

The remaining member of the trio, Herb, was currently lounging on his bench enjoying the feeling of being just a regular teenager. Well as regular a teenager that a cursed prince from a semi-mythic tribe can be. Herb knew on an unconscious level that his life would never be 'normal', but he was perfectly content to just enjoy the moment. It was a skill that Herb had quickly learned from his liege -Ranma; Herb mentally corrected himself, and had been grateful to learn. From what Herb had observed Juban was a great place to perfect that ability as one needed it to stay sane after so many monster attacks.

Juban, and Japan for that matter, was a strange place to Herb that could easily leave him confused. Out of all the confusing things in Juban, the thing that confused Herb the most was currently trying to steal the basketball from Usagi. Rei Hino was a mystery wrapped in an enigma surrounded by a puzzle as far as Herb was concerned. Women on principal seemed confusing to Herb, but Rei took that to a whole other level. And yet as confusing as Rei was to Herb, he just felt compelled to try and solve the mystery that surrounded her.

While Herb was thinking about Rei, he remembered the letter that his father had sent a few days ago. Over all, Herb's father had been pleased to hear about Herb's progress in school and in life in general. The fact that Prince Nephelite's reincarnation had been found and that Herb had befriended Ranma was something that Herb's old man was ecstatic about. There was only one thing in the letter that Herb was not exactly thrilled about. In order to further "broaden his horizons" Herb's father had told Herb that Herb was expected to attend all school events that the average student was expected to attend. Lay men's terms: you're going to that dance son whether you want to or not. This was a bit of a problem for Herb as he had no idea HOW he was supposed to ask a girl out to a dance!

Luckily for Herb, he had two friends on the bleachers with him who he knew would be at the dance. After offering a slient prayer of thanks to the kami that he had learned to humble himself enough to ask for help, Herb said just loud enough for Ranma and Ryoga to hear him, "Can I get your advice guys?" Ranma and Ryoga then turned their gaze from the girl's basketball game towards Herb. Seeing that he had their attention Herb calmly said, "I want to know how a guy asks a girl out? You see my father wants me to go to the dance this month and I have absolutely no clue how to go about getting a date."

Herb's two companions looked at each other for a second as if in silent communication and then nodded their heads. Ranma then looked at Herb and said, "That's a difficult question Herb. From my limited personal experience and from what Usagi had told me, the best thing to do is to ask a girl up front. But, you can't be blunt about it or beat around the bush. If you already have a girl in mind-" and at this point Ranma paused to smirk at Herb, "-you're half-way there already. Just go up to the girl when she seems to be in a good mood and politely ask her. Oh remember to look at the girl's face during the conversation. Usagi told me that one of the biggest complaints she's been hearing from various girls in school are that too many guys are undressing the girls with their eyes while their talking to the girls."

Herb nodded his head as he listened to what Ranma was telling him and he scowled a bit when Ranma mentioned that last fact. Due to being a girl at times, Herb had developed a great dislike for perverted actions or actions that made women uncomfortable. In Musk culture women were traditionally sequestered from non-relatives, but they were still respected. Letting go of his annoyance over what his hormonal-controlled piers were doing, Herb let out a sigh of relief. Most of Ranma's advice was stuff that Herb had thought of at least passing before asking for help. However, this told Herb that he was on the right track towards asking Rei out. Now if only Herb could figure out where his courage had run off to he would be in business.

* * *

After school let out Ranma and Usagi walked towards Usagi's house along their usual route. As usual Ranma was walking on the fence post while Usagi was walking in front of Ranma on the fence for a change. Thanks to her training Usagi had managed to gain enough skill that Ranma had suggested that she try walking on the fence. At first Usagi had some trouble finding her balance as she walk, but that only lasting for a few minutes.

For his part Ranma was admiring Usagi's progress as she walked. Usagi hadn't wobbled at all once she had gotten the hang of fence beam walking. Well there was one incident about half a block ago, but that was deliberate on her part as she wanted to feel Ranma catch her in his arms. Ranma knew why Usagi was so driven to learn martial arts and was very proud of her for that drive. Her desire to protect the people of the city was in Ranma's mind a far better reason to start learning martial arts then to be the best like he started out with.

Looking at Usagi as she calmly walked along the fence made Ranma think about how his life had changed over the past few months. For just a moment, Ranma felt debited to Akane. Before that moment Ranma never would have believed that he would have had a kind thought for his ex-fiancé If it wasn't for her breaking the Tendo-Saotome pact he would never have met Usagi.

Thinking about Akane brought the rest of the old Nerima crew to the forefront of Ranma's mind. One thing that Ranma was sure of was that it was only a matter of time before they managed to find him again and then there would be a reckoning. Ranma figured that out of his old acquaintances that he hadn't heard from only Kasumi, Nabiki, and Cologne had a reasonable chance of leaving without causing a ruckus. Kasumi would leave because violence was not her preferred course of action. Nabiki might cause a bit of a stink for show, but Ranma figured that Nabiki would just be happy to have him out of the Tendo house and away from her life. Cologne might still want him in her tribe, however Ranma figured that Cologne wouldn't want to tangle with the Musk to try and get him.

With the regular and true nutcases of Nerima: Kuno, Kodaichi, Shampoo, and even Uyko, Ranma was expecting a great deal of trouble. Kuno and Kodaichi could be taken in on assault and battery charges if they tried to attack Ranma or anyone he held dear. Those loons may have some weight with things in Nerima, but not in Juban. Uyko could probably be handled in the same way as the Kunos although Ranma was hoping it wouldn't have to come to that. Shampoo was another matter. If she went into 'obstacles are for killing' mode of thinking in regards to Usagi Ranma knew that he would try to put her down, permanently.

That he could and would go to that level if Usagi was at risk was something that genuinely frightened Ranma. In fact after the Death Buster incident was over Ranma begged Luna to use her mind-scan abilities to find out why he could act so viciously when Usagi's safety was at stake. What Luna had told him after she had preformed the scan had surprised Ranma, but in the end had made a great deal of sense. During the Neko-ken, Ranma had the mentality of a cat grafted into him. That cat mentality had been destroyed when Ranma had merged with his past incarnation, but pieces of that mentality had survived and mutated.

Those cat mentality fragments, which were now a permanent part of Ranma's psyche, had morphed to more closely resemble the mentality of a Nemean Lion from Jupiter then a house cat. Male Nemean Lions, from what Ranma could remember, were well renowned in the Silver Millennium for how ferociously they protected their mates. It was that fierce raging desire to protect Usagi in his psyche that caused Ranma to be so vicious towards all people who wanted to harm her. Given what he knew about Shampoo, It would only make sense that Ranma would be willing to kill her if the Amazon genuinely tried to harm Usagi.

Ranma then glanced at Usagi again as she was hopping off the fence so she could cross the street and he felt his troubles wash away. He might have to be on the watch for the cat fragments in his personality for the rest of his life, but there was a bright side Ranma mused. Even lions and tigers could become gentle creatures thanks to a good trainer. For Ranma, Usagi was the trainer who could turn the more unwanted cat aspect in his mind from a fierce tiger into a gentle kitty cat. It was something that Ranma would never tell Usagi about, but still silently thanked her for it just the same.

* * *

Nodoka and Ikuko were sitting at the Tsukino dinner table enjoying some tea. The two mothers could hear the sounds of a videogame being played in the Tsukino family room. Ikuko put her tea down on the table and said, "I'm glade that we have these afternoon tea visits Nodoka. It's just wonderful at times to have an old friend around to talk to about the everyday things that go on here."

Nodoka took a sip of her tea and then replied, "I enjoy these visits as well Ikuko." Pausing for a moment in thought, Nodoka then said, "One of the things that I really like about these visits is that it gives Hotaru a chance to play with Shingo. Hotaru has been doing better since I adopted her, but she still is quite the loner. Its understandable considering the fact that Usagi and Ranma were apparently the first friends that Hotaru has had since her birthmother died. She's made some good acquaintances at her new school, but I do wish that she would open up more with her classmates. From what I can tell the only real friend that Hotaru has right now besides Makoto, Ranma, Usagi, and their friends is Shingo."

Placing her teacup down on the table Ikuko said, "Just give her some more time Nodoka. Not everyone can be as extroverted as you were in School. Hotaru has a circle of friends who accept her for who she is and that is enough for now. The fact that Hotaru is a 'tag along' to the group shouldn't worry you given the fact that Hotaru is viewed as 'Hotaru' to the group and not 'Ranma's little sister'. Still, I'm glade that you like bringing Hotaru over to play with Shingo. I actually think that he enjoys having Hotaru over to play."

This little bit of news caused Nodoka to blink her eyes in surprise. "He enjoys playing with Hotaru? I thought that a boy his age would rather play with other guys then with a girl." Nodoka said in mild surprise. From what Nodoka had observed when she had gone to sign Hotaru up for school, the gender split was still there for the most part in Hotaru and Shingo's grade level. True the boys in Shingo's class seemed to hold the Sailor Scouts in great respect, but Nodoka didn't see that as too important. Both boys and girls at that age tend to show a great deal of respect or at least admiration for a far older man or woman while still wanting to have nothing to do with the opposite gender that was around their age.

Ikuko just gave Nodoka a small shrug and said, "That's what I've seen so far. All those two do is play video games when Hotaru is over so it may just be that Shingo is happy to have someone to play video games with. I doubt that this is the case however, due to the fact that Shingo spends a lot of time helping Hotaru learn all the little tricks in his games. Shingo usually just either pounds his friends when there in verse mode or he leaves them hanging when there is a part of the game they can't figure out."

Both mothers were silent after that as they let that information sink into their brains. For the most part Nodoka and Ikuko were happy that all of their kids were able to get along. However, there was a little romantic girl inside each of them that thought that it was 'SOO CUTE' for Shingo and Hotaru to be friends. The conversation slowed down after these thoughts crossed Nodoka and Ikuko's minds.

* * *

Carrying a tray loaded with his dinner, Ryoga calmly walked from the kitchen to the family room of the Hibiki family house. One of the benefits of living by yourself that Ryoga knew of was being able to eat dinner wherever you want to without getting in trouble. There weren't too many things that Ryoga knew of that made living alone acceptable and this was one of those few things. Ryoga would much rather be living with friends like he had been at the Saotome household, but that wasn't really an option. With Makoto and Hotaru moving in with the Saotomes that home was just getting too crowded for Ryoga. He may be friends with Ranma, but sharing a small room with Ranma would be purgatory in Ryoga's mind.

And so Ryoga had moved back here, to his family home in order to correct the living space problem that had developed at the Saotome household. Privately Ryoga thought that 'house' was a better description of the Hibiki estate then 'home' since he was the only person who lived in the place. Even though Ryoga had been in Juban for almost 2 months, he hadn't received one word from either of his parents. One of Ryoga's biggest dreams at the moment, and it was something he had only revealed to Ami, was to be able to take his parents to those monks to correct the Hibiki teleportation abilities. That way, Ryoga and his parents could finally be a true family again; rather then blood-related acquaintances.

Giving off an annoyed snort, Ryoga stopped thinking about his parents for the moment. He then sat down on the Lazi-Boy chair in the family room and put his feet up. Ryoga then turned down the volume of the TV so that he wouldn't loose his hearing and started to eat. As a cook, Ryoga was pretty much limited to cooking soups and other dishes that could be cooked in a pot of boiling water so for tonight Ryoga was having Ramen. As Ryoga ate his noodles he paid half-attention to the TV which was currently showing an episode of Ninja Squadron Kakuranger.

For the most part, Ryoga was thinking about Ami while he ate. Thanks to Moouse's advice he had been able to save his and Ami's friendship. After a few days of awkwardness due to the circumstances that had caused his curse to be revealed to Ami everything was back on track. Once the awkwardness was gone Ryoga had somehow managed to get enough guts to ask Ami out to Moouse's place for lunch and to his immense joy Ami had accepted. Ever since that date the two of them had been together and by the end of that week the entire school knew that they were together thanks to the grapevine.

There was just one thing about his and Ami's relationship that, for lack of a better word, bothered Ryoga. Ami seemed to have a secret that she didn't want him to know about. Since Ami's secret didn't seem to be connected to their relationship and she was trying to keep it a secret Ryoga was perfectly willing to not bring it up. It would be hypocritical of him to demand to know what Ami was hiding as he had hidden his curse from Ami and Ryoga knew that. Still, Ryoga couldn't help wishing that Ami confide what her secret was to him.

Finishing off the last of his noodles, Ryoga brushed his thoughts on Ami's secret to the side. Ryoga was then just about to turn off the TV and clean his dishes when he heard the sound of someone landing on his roof. This sound worried Ryoga because he, Ranma, and Herb all stuck to the sidewalks or fences when traveling around Juban. Ryoga's worries were amplified when he heard a voice he had been hoping to never hear again said, "Come to Happy my beauties!"

* * *

Herb was furious and he was currently chasing after an annoying little imp. This _thing _had the nerve to break into the Hino house and steal Rei's unmentionables. What made the situation so aggravating to Herb, besides the fact that the act itself was infuriating, was the fact that he had been _this_ close to asking Rei out to the dance! It had taken Herb hours to get everything set up so that Rei could be in a great mood when he asked her to go out with him and now all that effort was wasted.

Right now Herb would have liked nothing more then to use his 'Flying Sword of the Dragon' attack on this old man. Unfortunately for Herb, Happosai was an agile little troublemaker so there was a high chance that any Chi attacks would miss. Herb's wallet couldn't finance the re-building of a roof right now so Herb was reduced to running/flying after Happosai.

On his part Happosai was having a great time as he ran across the roofs. Juban had SO many more precious darlings to be 'liberated' then Nerima ever did. Sure there was that annoying teen that was trying to pound him, but that only made the liberation run all the more fun. Sparing a quick glance backwards as he jumped across a street Happosai considered his follower. This brat didn't seem to be as skilled as Ranma was in chasing after him, but the new brat was still pretty good. Maybe this new brat could be whipped up into a semi-useful disciple? Personally Happosai didn't particularly care about that at the moment and he crowed as he landed on the new roof, "Come to Happy my beauties!"

Happosai quickly ran across the roof of the house he was on and then jumped off the roof. While in mid-air, Happosai turned around and taunted Herb by saying, "Na, Na, you're a hundred years too young to try and catch me sonny." After tossing that insult out at Herb, Happosai decided to stick his tongue out at Herb to further insult Herb. Since there was no possible way that Herb could catch him, Happosai felt that he could insult Herb as much as he wanted to.

All of a saddened Happosai's merry making came to a screeching halt as the Oompa-Loompa reject collided with a wall of muscle. Before Happosai could recover from his momentary daze, he was roughly picked up by the scruff of his neck. Happosai then got another shock when he was raised so Happosai could see who was holding him. "Ryoga," Happosai gasped out in shock, "Why are you here in Juban?!" This made absolutely no sense to Happosai because as far as he could reason Ryoga should either be in China or Nerima.

While looking at the pervert he had in his hands Ryoga started to growl. He had teleported onto this roof so he could see what exactly Happosai was up to even though Ryoga had a pretty good idea of what was going on beforehand. The over-sized bag that Happosai had been carrying which had a bra sticking out of it from its place on the roof was enough evidence to tell Ryoga what was going on. Ryoga then glanced towards his roof and saw Herb standing on the roof. Considering the fact that Herb was in his male form, Ryoga assumed that Happosai had hit Rei's bedroom during his raid.

Suddenly a very satifying idea came to Ryoga's mind that caused him to smirk like the Grinch. "Hey Herb," Ryoga called out, "Are you up to a game of volleyball? I've got the ball right here." As he said the last part Ryoga held Happosai out so Herb could see. From the angle that he was held at, Happosai could see the grin on Herb's face when Ryoga mentioned playing volleyball. Over all Happosai did not like how his current situation was apparently turning out.

* * *

Luna casually walked into Usagi's room and saw that Usagi was at her desk apparently hard at work on something. Personally Luna was extremely happy with how Usagi had been maturing and was proud to be the advisor of this new Usagi. While she had been proud of Usagi before these changes, Luna had been a little annoyed with how Usagi had first acted when they had met. Moon cats were after all supposed to be advisors, not babysitters. While glancing over to a small framed photo of Ranma that Usagi had on her desk, Luna gave a small prayer of thanks to Queen Serenity for send Prince Nephelite forward with the princess and the scouts.

Hoping onto Usagi's bed, Luna then tried to discreetly see what Usagi was working on. Since Usagi liked to do her homework with Ranma and Ranma didn't normally leave Usagi until both of their homework was completed, Luna knew that Usagi wasn't working on homework. Sadly for Luna's pride, Luna wasn't nearly as stealthy as she thought she was. Usagi turned around to look at Luna and said, "Now what are you doing Luna?"

Deciding to save her dignity Luna calmly sat down on her back feet and said, "I was trying to see what you're working on Usagi. If there is any way I can help you with what you're working on I was going to offer to help."

Usagi gave Luna a small smile and then picked Luna up so that she could place Luna in her lap. Once Luna was in Usagi's lap, Usagi said in her usual caring voice, "Thanks for wanting to help me Luna. In fact, I think that you might be able to help me with what I'm doing." After saying that, Usagi picked up the book on her desk and showed it to Luna. The book was a detailed atlas of the Moon that Usagi had checked out of the school library.

Luna looked at the Lunar Atlas, but she couldn't figure out what Usagi was trying to do. Carefully hopping off of Usagi's lap to the floor and then jumping up to Usagi's desk, Luna maneuvered herself so she could look Usagi in the eye. Luna then scratched her head and said, "I'm sorry Usagi, but I can't help you out. I can't even figure out what it is that you're working on."

Usagi then set the Lunar Atlas down on the table and said, "That's okay Luna. What I'm trying to do is locate the various lunar cities from the Silver Millennium and get their coordinates. It's been a bit tricky since astronomers don't have the equipment yet to detect magical camouflage. However, I have managed to figure out the locations of 7 large Silver Millennium settlements from my fragmented memory."

After waiting for a moment to let the shock of what she was doing to pass from Luna, Usagi showed Luna a notebook that had cuneiform-like symbols drawn on its open page. Usagi then proudly smiled at Luna and said, "I've been writing down which settlements I've located and where they are here in this notebook. Since I've written everything down in Ancient Lunarian script I don't have to worry about someone discovering that I'm Sailor Moon if I were to loose this notebook. My plan is to ask Ranma tomorrow if he wouldn't mind coming with me on a little date to the Moon. I don't want to take any of the others because Ranma and I are the only ones who have enough power to make the jump back to Earth by ourselves right now if something were to go wrong."

Luna carefully considered what Usagi was telling her before saying anything. Part of Luna was screaming against leaving Usagi completely alone with Ranma. That part of Luna was the overly protective part of Luna that wanted to make sure that nothing 'scandalous' happened to Usagi or anything that could be construed as 'scandalous' to have happened. As the princess's and the queen's advisor one of Luna's duties had been to keep an eye on the court grapevine and pruneit where necessary.

Luckily Luna's more rational mind was able to prevent that knee-jerk reaction and see the logic behind Usagi's decision. More to the point, Luna could see the necessity for Usagi to go to the Moon. There were likely dozens of Silver Millennium relics on the Moon alone that had survived Beryl's assault thanks to being underground, camouflaged, and/or shielded. While those relics were safe from prying eyes for now, no one could be sure that they would always be safe. Those relics would be an unknown security risk for the Sailor Scouts until the relics were secured and Luna was mentally kicking herself for not realizing that sooner.

Looking strait into Usagi's eyes Luna calmly said, "I approve of your decision Usagi. The lunar ruins need to be checked out and it would be better to do that now during a time of peace then while we are under attack by enemy forces. My advice is for you and Ranma to start your explorations at the Lunar Palace. At the very least the royal databanks will be intact even if nothing else of the palace has survived." Luna saw the questioning look on Usagi's face and gave a small smirk before saying, "Think about it Usagi. How could the Mercury Computer have EVERY bit of information that the scouts have needed when they needed it? Its constantly updating itself with the information stored in the royal databanks."

* * *

Happosai was currently lying in a dumpster moaning in pain and cursing the kami for his day. All he had wanted to do today was enjoy his golden years by freeing his precious darlings from those girls who were obviously mistreating them. It was practically a civic duty as far as Happosai was concerned and he was happy to discharge that duty.

Unfortunately, there were two people living in the ward who didn't seem to know about this little duty. Ryoga and Herb had spent over half an hour playing volleyball across the roofs of Juban with Happosai as their ball before Herb had spiked Happosai into the dumpster he was in. Never before in his life had Happosai ever been as humiliated as he had been by Herb and Ryoga. Ranma hadn't managed to humiliate Happosai to this degree back in Nerima. Just the thought of those to insolent teens caused Happosai's blood to boil as he lay in the garbage. One thing was for sure in Happosai's mind, he would avenge himself on those two brats and make their lives worse then they could ever imagine.

Happosai was in such a rage that he wasn't paying any attention to his surroundings. Thus, he never notices the unearthly black fog that had started to fill the alley that he was currently in. The fog blocked Happosai's dumpster from any possible observer's sight for a minute before dissipating. When the fog dissipated everything in the alley was exactly the same except for one thing: Happosai was gone.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclamer: Even Moouse without his glasses could tell you that my name is not that of the people who wrote Ranma or Sailor Moon.

On a gorgeous morning Makoto, Ranma, and Usagi were walking to their high school. The three of them were walking in a single row with Ranma in the middle and both girls on either side of him. Usagi was on Ranma's right while Makoto was walking on Ranma's left and thus closer to the street. Ever since Makoto had moved in with the Saotomes she had joined Ranma and Usagi on their morning walks to school. In the afternoons Ranma and Usagi walked home by themselves because Makoto had an after school that she attended for half an hour after school got out.

As the trio was walking Makoto and Usagi were talking about the upcoming school dance that would be held in two weeks. Ranma, like any other guy, was keeping his mouth shut and was hoping that the girls didn't drag him into their conversation. Even though he was a girl practically half the time, Ranma couldn't for his life understand girl speak. Besides, over half the conversation was apparently Makoto talking about how she couldn't find a date yet. THAT was not a conversation that Ranma wanted ANY part in or to even hear.

Luckily for Ranma's continued sound state of mind, the high school soon came into the trio's view. Makoto at that point ended her conversation with Usagi and quickly sped off towards the school while saying hurried goodbyes. Ranma and Usagi did not take any offense at Makoto's hasty departure because they knew that Makoto wanted to check the notice board. This was a fairly standard part of the routine for the three of them and so the royal reincarnated couple really didn't bat an eye at it.

Before the two of them entered into the school courtyard, Usagi quickly looked around and then whispered to Ranma, "Ranma, can we talk about something I found out about our favorite night club?" Instantly Ranma recognized his and Usagi's code word for anything relating to the Sailor Scouts.

The two of them then headed over to one of the walls of the school and Ranma wrapped his arms around Usagi. No one would pay any attention to the two of them now because it was a rather common sight at the school for couples to hang out at the walls before class. Once they were at the wall Ranma leaned his head down and softly placed a kiss on Usagi's lips. After he kissed her for a few seconds both for show and his own personal pleasure Ranma pulled back slightly so he could speak. "What is it that you wanted to talk to me about Usagi?"

In her usual soft and loving voice Usagi quietly replied, "I've been going over my memories back from when you and I played princes and princesses back when we were little kids. I was thinking that it would be a great idea to go and visit that old playground for old time's sake. Since you and I are the only ones of our old friends who can remember how to get to that playground, I was thinking that the two of us could go and visit the grounds by ourselves. Hopefully we could do it after school today?"

Ranma carefully and very quickly thought over what Usagi was telling him. Naturally it was all in code since they didn't want to chance someone overhearing them in such a public location. Usagi apparently wanted the two of them to go and visit several of the old Silver Millennium ruins. Personally Ranma thought that Usagi had a great idea. He would have suggested such a thing weeks ago if he had known any of the locations of the ruins. While Prince Nephelite had practically been a genius, he had only been a little over five Silver Standard Years old (a little over 11 years old when converted to Earth years) when he died.

Making up his mind, Ranma started to nuzzle Usagi's cheek by her ear. While he was doing this Ranma softly whispered into Usagi's ear, "That sounds like a wonderful idea. Let's just remember to tell Makoto that were going out for a bit and that the gang can call us while were out on our date." The two of them then got in one more kiss before heading in to school.

* * *

Herb was sitting in on one of the many benches outside on the school lawn slowly munching on his lunch. Every so often he would glance over to where Rei was sitting with her friends. The benches that the school had outside could only sit four comfortably or six crowded together. Thus Herb, Ranma, and Ryoga were sitting at one bench while Rei and the rest of the girls sat together on a bench nearby.

While the girls' were chatting very seriously about one thing or another, the guys' were eating in practical silence. This was perfectly acceptable to Herb because he needed the quite to think. Looming over Herb's mind was the fact that the school dance was in two weeks and he had still not asked Rei to go to the dance with him. In all honesty Herb thought it was really pathetic that he could face daemons in battle but he couldn't ask a girl out. After all daemons could kill a person and destroy everything in the city, a girl could only tell him-

Oh who was he kidding with the macho act? Rei telling him no to the dance was far worse then having to fight daemons and Herb knew it. Daemons could kill a man and that would be extremely painful. However a girl can rip a guy's heart out, grind it into small pieces, and give it back as coleslaw with just a single word. Herb knew that women could do this to men all too well thanks to his former betrothed.

That was why; Herb realized as he ate his lunch, he was so afraid of asking Rei to the dance. The rejection of his former betrothed due to his curse had wounded Herb far more then he wanted to admit. Rei had accepted him as a friend and had still accepted him when she had found out about his curse. However there was a deep seeded fear within his mind that had made it practically impossible for Herb to approach Rei in a possibly romantic manner. Herb was afraid that Rei would reject him because of his curse and he knew it.

In an effort to get over that fear, Herb turned to look at Ranma for a second. Ranma and he shared the same curse and they had both been romantically scorned in the past. How Ranma had found the courage to put his heart on the line again was something that Herb desperately wanted to know. The fact that Ranma and Usagi shared a connection in their past lives did not really, as far as Herb could see, have anything to do with the fact that the two were now together. It might have given Ranma and Usagi a few more common things, but they had gotten together on their own.

What Ranma and Usagi had together, Herb wanted to have with Rei. There was just something about the fiery shrine maiden that called out to Herb. It wasn't Rei's beauty that called out to Herb although she was extremely beautiful. Rather, Herb was drawn to Rei's determination and fiery spirit. She was like one of the powerful dragons that he was descended from born as a human.

Then to the surprise of his table companions, Herb suddenly put his eating utensil on his plate and stood up. Herb then left the table and started heading over towards where Rei and the other girls were sitting. As far as Herb was concerned things between him and Rei were going to be hammered out right now. He would be devastated if Rei were to reject him and Herb knew that. However, Herb also knew that he couldn't stand the uncertainty that he was currently in regarding Rei.

As Herb approached Rei, the chatter at the girls' table started to quite down and then disappeared when Herb arrived. Rei had been carefully watching Herb as he approached because she instinctively knew that he was coming over to talk to her. With her eyes gently but still sternly looking at Herb, Rei waited for Herb to say why he had come over.

Herb was suddenly hit with a wave of panic now that Rei was looking at him. Luckily Herb was able to keep his cool and he started to speak. Although there was a great deal of nervousness in Herb's voice he was still able to speak clearly and calmly. "Rei, would you mind having me as your escort to the upcoming school dance?"

Instantly everything around her seemed to stop for Rei after she heard Herb's request. While she had been secretly hoping that something like this would happen, Rei hadn't consciously been expecting to be asked to the dance. She was the ice priestess of the school after all. A small smile started to creep across Rei's face as she looked at Herb and she softly said, "I'll go to the dance with you Herb."

* * *

After school was over Ranma and Usagi were calmly waiting up on the school roof. They had used to confusion of everyone leaving the school for the day to discreetly head up to the roof for a place to transform in peace. Ranma took a quick look around the roof just to be on the safe side before he calmly said, "the coast is clear. Let's transform and head out." Usagi nodded her head and then she and Ranma started their transformations.

Once the Ranma and Usagi's transformation sequences were finished Usagi gave Ranma a once over. There was just something about Ran- er the Jovian Paladin's outfit that made her want to wrap her arms around his neck and start to kiss him. At times this little fact annoyed Usagi because she had been working towards being more professional when being Sailor Moon. However, Usagi didn't get too worked up about this fact since she hadn't been distracted in the slightest when she needed to do her duties. Besides, her own uniform seemed to be just as distracting to Ranma if his occasional glances to her rear were any indication.

In a rather business like manner Ranma calmly said, "Alright then Usagi, how do we get to the Moon? I've never use anything like the Sailor Teleport and I don't know exactly where on the Moon we're going to go to."

At this Usagi started to blush a bit as she had forgotten those little facts about Ranma. Once her blush had disappeared a few seconds after appearing, Usagi started to slowly walk towards Ranma while talking. "Don't worry about those things now Ranma. The Sailor Teleport is relatively simple once you know how to use it. What you have to do is picture where you want to go, know where that place is in relation to where you currently are, and they picture a beam connecting those two points. After concentrating on this for several seconds the senshi magic will respond and transfer you to where you want to go. Thanks to a few of my past memories awakening I don't need to picture where I want to go and can just use a series of coordinates."

While Usagi's explanation answered some of Ranma's questions, he still had wanted to know more. Ranma tilted his head in a questioning manner and said, "I still don't get it Usagi. How am I supposed to go to the Moon if I don't know where I'm supposed to go? Also, why don't all the sailor scouts use the teleporting abilities if it's so simple?"

On hearing Ranma's questions Usagi started to scratch her head and she said in a slightly embarrassed manner, "Oops. Sorry about forgetting about that Ranma." After Usagi calmed down she continued by saying, "You don't need to worry about where to go on the way up to the Moon. I will be the one actively manipulating the Sailor Teleport and you will 'piggy back' on my 'signal'. When we head home you can teleport yourself back on your own since you will have both travel points. As to why the other sailor scouts don't use the sailor teleport: power restraints. From what I can remember, most of the other senshi just don't generate enough power to use the Sailor Teleport by themselves. Even you and I don't have the kind of power to use the Sailor Teleport by ourselves on a mere whim. We can use the teleport, but we need to be careful when we use it so we don't exhaust ourselves."

This answer made everything a lot clearer to Ranma. He then moved closer to Usagi so that they could start the Sailor Teleport. While Prince Nephelite had never actually used the Sailor Teleport, he had seen the spell in action several times. Thus Ranma knew where he needed to be so that Usagi could start the teleport. With their hands held together Ranma and Usagi concentrated on going to the Moon. After a few seconds a glow of light surrounded them and then the light suddenly became a bright flash.

* * *

Argentaniople had once been hailed as the most beautiful city in the Solar System. Founded by Queen Selene III as the new capital of the Silver Millennium to replace the old capital of her great-great-grandmother Queen Selene I, Argentaniople had been carefully planed out to be a symbol of the Silver Millennium's endurance. The city had been carefully zoned by the best architects of the Millennium so that the city would be both beautiful and aesthetic. At its zenith Argentaniople could proudly boast a population of over 20 million.

When Ranma and Usagi arrived in Argentaniople they were greeted by an absolute mess. Argentaniople's crystal and silver skyscrapers that had surrounded the royal palace like a great crown were burnt out ruins. The ground that the duo was standing on was scorched soil and cracked pavement; not the luscious grass and perfectly aligned stone patios that once existed. Even the air around Ranma and Usagi was depressing by being stale and thin. It wasn't too thin to cause a normal person breathing problems, but one could quickly tire out due to the atmosphere.

Almost immediately after they had arrived, Ranma turned and looked at Usagi. Thanks to the fact that Prince Nephelite had still been alive when the queen caste her spell Ranma knew what the devastation to Argentaniople would be like. At that moment Ranma was worried about how Usagi would take the destruction of Argentaniople. It was one thing to intellectually know about something terrible, but it was a completely different thing to be confronted by a terrible event face to face.

Usagi, who had died midway through the fight, was in fact devastated by what she saw. Even though Usagi had intellectually known that Argentaniople would be in ruins her heart hadn't really accepted the idea of the city's destruction. As foolish and illogical as it was a small part of Usagi had been secretly hoping that Argentaniople wouldn't be ruins. That part of Usagi had been hoping that for some magical reason that she hadn't remembered yet that the city would be repaired. Now faced with the undeniable proof of Argentaniople's destruction that part of Usagi's heart broke.

For his part, Ranma just silently hugged Usagi and let her cry in his arms. While Usagi was a good leader for the Sailor Scouts and had the potential to become a wonderful ruler if she ever decided to go that route, she was first and foremost a young woman with a large heart. In Ranma's mind scenes like the one they were currently in were something that Usagi should never have to see. That Usagi could go to places like this even knowing how she would react so that she do something to help others in Ranma's mind spoke a great deal about her character.

Once Usagi had managed to calm down and didn't need Ranma the physically support her, the two of them started their explorations. For some unknown reason the two of them had just started walking in the direction of the royal palace. Part of Ranma had started to wonder why they had started walking towards the palace for no real reason. However, Ranma didn't voice this to Usagi and he had decided to stick to quiet observations. From his observations Ranma noticed that the air became easier to breathe and that here and there a few lichens, funguses, and mosses were starting to grow.

The fact that these plants were growing was something that Ranma made sure to burn into his memory. Since the atmosphere had become better the closer they got to the palace and now plants were starting to appear that meant something amazing had happened. Somehow, although Ranma couldn't even think of a reason, some of the Moon's life sustaining magic had remained from the fall.

* * *

At the steps of the royal palace the spirit of Queen Serenity calmly waited for Usagi and Ranma to reach the palace. When the duo had teleported into Argetaniople her spirit had been called back to the Moon. Her time here on the Moon would undoubtedly be short, but Queen Serenity fully accepted that fact. The dead after all did not belong in the world of the living. Still, Queen Serenity was happy that she would be able to spend a little bit of time with her daughter.

As Ranma and Usagi rounded a fallen column that brought the duo in front of the palace steps, Serenity floated down the steps to greet them. "Hello daughter, hello Prince Nephelite or rather Ranma," Queen Serenity said in a caring tone that Usagi had inherited from her. On seeing the surprised looks on Ranma and Usagi's faces Queen Serenity's lips formed a small smile. She then continued on saying, "The dead have ways of observing those that they cared for while alive. I have watched both of your lives with great interest and I have been proud at what I have seen you two become. Please tell Setsuna when you get the chance that she's not of the hook for the bet and I expect her to give the money to Usagi."

Usagi and Ranma were naturally confused by the queen's request, but they didn't really give it much thought. In their lives the fact that a ghost was asking them to collect a bet for it wasn't that weird. Usagi then said with a hint of her confusion in her voice, "Uh mother, why are you here? While it's great to see you again, I honestly never expected to see you again after you appeared when the crystal was found."

Queen Serenity gave Usagi a soft smile and then said, "To be honest dear I never expected to see you again until you had crossed the river yourself. However, I have some information that I need to pass on to you my dear." The queen then paused for a moment and turned to look at Ranma before continuing to talk. "What I need to tell my daughter is for her ears only at the moment. Perhaps you could go look at the main library in the Mercury Wing Ranma. I'm sure that you will find many useful things there while I tell Usagi what I need to tell her."

Ranma immediately nodded his head and softly said, "Alright Aunt Serenity." He then gave Usagi a tender hung and headed off towards the Mercury Wing. The fact that Queen Serenity didn't want him to hear what she wanted to talk to Usagi about did not bother Ranma at all. It would be hypocritical of him to want to keep his secrets from other people and to demand to know something that he had been asked to keep out of. Besides, Ranma knew that he could trust the queen to keep Usagi safe.

Once Ranma had gone up the steps and had disappeared down a corridor, Queen Serenity turned to Usagi and said with a raised eyebrow, "handsome, strong, protective, and knows when mind his own business. You certainly know how to pick good boyfriends dear." This little comment caused Usagi to blush slightly. Her present mother Ikuko and Aunty Nodoka had often said similar comments when she was in earshot and 'overheard'. While it great that the most important female figures in her life approved of her choice for a boyfriend, Usagi really wished that they find a less embarrassing manner of showing it!

The gentle old spirit then placed her hand on Usagi's shoulder and said, "Follow me Usagi. I have much to show you and not a lot of time to show it to you." With that said, Queen Serenity then turned and floated up the stairs into the palace. Usagi almost immediately started to follow her past mother's spirit. Both of them quickly and silently moved through the palace towards their destination. Every now and then Usagi would see something in the palace that would trigger a childhood memory from when she was Princess Serenity.

By the time that Queen Serenity stopped at closed door at the end of a hall Usagi knew exactly where she was. Queen Serenity had led Usagi through the Lunar Wing of the palace to the royal quarters. Before Usagi could ask Queen Serenity why they were at this particular door Queen Serenity started to speak. "If you would please go into your quarters dear I can explain why we are here."

At hearing Queen Serenity refer to the royal quarters as hers, Usagi felt a slight pain of loss. When she had been Princess Serenity this room had always been 'Mom's room'. The fact that Usagi was the queen, technically the princess regent, of the Moon and not the princess of Moon was not something that Usagi had ever really thought about. It was a piece of her fairy tale view of the Silver Millennium that had somehow remained with Usagi when she took off her rose colored glasses.

However, Usagi was able to push aside her feelings of loss and go into _her _quarters. Once Usagi had entered her quarters she looked around the room and took in the sight. The room was like something out of a Renaissance ruler's dream. There were frescos on all four walls and the ceiling while the floor was covered in polished wood. Here and there in the room were several pieces of sculpture that looked more like the kind found in the Baroque Period then the Renaissance that the rest of the room seemed to look like.

After giving a moment for Usagi to look around the room Queen Serenity cleared her throat and said, "Please come over here daughter." At this Usagi turned and saw her mother floating by a statue of a couple sharing a kiss. Queen Serenity then continued by saying, "Please come over here Usagi. There is a special passage here in your quarters that will take us to the place that I want to show you. In order to activate this passage you must place your hand on the female figure in this statue's breast and say 'Lunar light, lunar love, lunar life.'" On seeing the surprised look on Usagi's face the old spirit said with a bit of humor in her voice, "Don't be so surprised my daughter. A secret passage only works if no one but the intended user can find it."

* * *

Once Usagi had activated the secret passageway she and Queen Serenity had headed down a stairway that had appeared in the floor. The stairway was made out of granite blocks that were smoothly cut and expertly placed together. Inside several blocks at regular intervals were crystals that gave off enough light to make the stairway friendly and not spooky. Thanks to the fact that she had started to pay better attention to things around her Usagi noticed something interesting about the stairway. The stairway was big enough that two people could walk side by side.

Queen Serenity, who was floating next to Usagi, started to speak after a few minutes of silence. "What I am about to tell you Usagi is something that has been passed down from mother to daughter in the royal families ever since our ancestors arrived in this system. As you may or may not remember, only the Earth naturally supports higher life in this system. All of the worlds in the Silver Millennium were made habitable through the use of magic."

The stairs disappeared as the queen said this and she continued to speak as she and Usagi walked down a tunnel. "Almost everyone back in the Silver Millennium simply assumed that the spells used to transform our worlds into livable worlds were permanent. This was something that the high queens and the lesser queens of the Silver Millennium had fostered among our subject. It is also one of the greatest lies that has ever concocted."

Upon seeing the surprised and shocked, but not horrified as the queen had partially expected, look on Usagi's face Queen Serenity continued. "It is impossible to cast a spell that would permanently make an uninhabitable planet habitable. What our ancestors did was they manipulated the ley lines of the Moon and other worlds so that magically induced ecosystem was established. However, spell started to fade about 100 Silver Standard years after it had been cast."

Usagi wanted to know how her Lunarian ancestors had managed to keep the Silver Millennium worlds habitable until the fall. However, Queen Serenity had stopped talking and Usagi didn't want to pester her mother. Thus, the two of them walked in complete silence until they emerged from the tunnel and came into a large circular room. Looking around the room Usagi noticed that the roof of the room was a carved stone dome. Also, the room was completely empty except for a large stone altar that was in the center of the room.

As Queen Serenity led Usagi towards the altar, Usagi noticed that the altar wasn't like any altar she had ever seen. The first thing that Usagi had noticed was that it was very large in terms of its top surface area. However, that a trivial matter compared to something else that Usagi had noticed about the altar. While the altar was apparently made out of some type of stone, the top of the altar had been covered in a white matted material. This material wasn't lying on the altar like a piece of cloth and was actually a part of the altar itself.

Before Usagi could voice her confusion Queen Serenity started to explain. "This altar and similar altars on each of the settled worlds was our ancestor's answer to the failing magically induced ecosystem. With these altars the queens of the various worlds can with their kings renew the ancient magic and keep their worlds habitable. Originally this altar was connected to a temple that Queen Selene I had constructed to in order to keep the altar's existence a secret. Queen Selene III moved the capital here after the Regency War so that the Lunarian queen would have quicker access to the altar."

While a few of her questions had been answered, Usagi was still confused about several things. She then calmly asked her mother's spirit, "Why did you ask Ranma to leave us Mother? I don't see why he shouldn't be here to see this altar as well. It's not like Ranma would tell anyone about this altar. Besides, no one lives on the Moon anymore and practically anyone would lock me up in a mental institution if I were to calm that this altar exists. Therefore keeping the fact that this altar can make the habitable from Ranma doesn't make much sense."

To Usagi's surprise Queen Serenity wrapped her ghostly arms around Usagi's neck. While hugging Usagi the queen softly said, "You make a good point dear. However, I felt that it would be less embarrassing for you if I was to explain what you need to do in order to use the altar to revive the ecosystem without Ranma here." Queen Serenity then ended the hug, floated back a few feet, and started to talk in an unusually stern tone while glaring at Usagi. "And I expect young lady, that you will NOT revive the Moon's ecosystem for a few years. Unless of course there is a reason why you need the Moon habitable earlier and it better be an extremely important reason dear."

This caused Usagi to become even more confused and led to Usagi letting out a stream of questions. "Why don't you want me to revive the ecosystem? Isn't that why you showed this altar to me? How could Ranma being here while you explain what to do embarrass me?"

Usagi's confusion caused Queen Serenity to soften her glare back into her usual soft and caring gaze. The queen then calmly said, "I understand your confusion Usagi so let me explain it to you. Now I'm going in a more round about way then my mother did for me, but I think this is the better method. As you have noticed various aspect of Silver Millennium society has been emulated different Earth cultures. The 'ancient' peoples of the area of land known as Mesopotamia emulated what the queens and kings of the Silver Millennium did to renew the ancient magic in their fertility rituals. Specifically, they emulated the kings and queens with their so called 'sacred marriages' in the fertility rituals."

For a few seconds Usagi just stared blankly at Queen Serenity as she tried to figure out what the old queen was alluding to. Usagi's eyes then bulged out a bit and her cheeks gained a red hue as a memory from her history class came up. All that Usagi could think of at that moment was that her mother was right: it would have been almost mortifying if Ranma had been here when she found out.

* * *

Author's Notes: for those of you who don't know what Usagi and Queen Serenity are talking about go to gatewaytobabylon/essays/fertilitysacremarriage to find out. And remember, THIS IS A TEEN FIC!


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own Ranma or Sailor Moon. If I did then Mamoru's alternate form besides Prince Endymion would be something out of Ronin Warriors and not some dressed up clown with a pimp cane.

When Usagi returned to her royal quarters from the altar room she immediately closed the hidden passageway. That corridor and all that it contained was not something that Usagi wanted to have to deal with today or any time in the near future. Part of Usagi wanted to go find Ranma and see what he had found out while the two of them were separated. At the same time however, a part of Usagi wanted to take a closer look at her quarters. Everything in this room and almost everything in the palace was technically her property after all and Usagi was curious about what she had.

In the end Usagi decide to look around her quarters for a bit and then go find Ranma. The first thing that Usagi looked at was the large walk-in closet that was attached to the main bedroom. All the clothes inside the closet had been preserved from the Silver Millennium era due thanks to magic and seemed to only need some relatively small adjustments in order to fit Usagi. The outfits that were in that closet were, to use the cliché, fit for a queen. As Usagi neared the back of the closet she spotted an extremely risqué outfit that she was sure had never left the royal quarters once in had been brought in.

Not wanting to have to go into therapy over picturing her mother in that outfit, Usagi decided to end her exploration of the closet. After emerging from the closet Usagi headed over towards the large vanity and sat down in the chair next to it. There was a small hologram off to the side of embedded mirror of the vanity that showed Queen Serenity and Usagi's father from that time King Priam. As a tear trickled down Usagi's face she pressed a button on the hologram's stand and turned the picture off. Usagi knew that it would just be too hard for her to deal with seeing pictures of past incarnation's parents at the moment.

While still sitting at the vanity, Usagi turned her head and look at a head manqué. The manqué had no real features and held a plain gold crown with three small points. That crown was the casual royal working crown that was only worn by the High Queen or the Princess Regent of the Silver Millennium when not attending a major state function. Usagi picked the crown up with both hands, looked at it for a moment, and then casually twilled it around once in her hands.

Despite the disrespectful manner with which Usagi treated the crown, she was afraid of it. To be more precise Usagi was afraid of the power and responsibility that the crown represented. She stared at the crown for a few minutes and then said with a snort, "Get over it Usagi. You knew ever since it was discovered that you were the moon princess that one day you'd be faced with something like this. Own up to your responsibilities like a real person and don't act like some air headed ninny."

Usagi then striated up her posture, gently placed the crown on her head, and said an ancient Lunarian prayer. "Oh Goddesses of the great heavens grant me thy wisdom and thy beauty. Ancestors, whose blood flows through my veins, guide my feet along my path. To both the celestial and the ancestral I ask for aid. Give help to this unworthy one so that I might not fail in the tasks that have been given to me."

* * *

Currently Ranma was in the main palace library sitting on one of the chairs in the room reading a book. At first the Lunarian script had been completely unreadable to Ranma, but Nephelite's memories of how to read Lunarian had quickly resurfaced thus allowing Ranma to using the library. Currently Ranma was reading a book that talked about the palace and all of the various magical systems that had been incorporated into the palace. Prince Nephelite might have been a prodigy back in the Silver Millennium, but he had still been a kid. Many of the things in the old tome were things that Ranma figure would be very useful to know that Prince Nephelite had no knowledge of.

Thanks to his training, Ranma heard the sound of Usagi walking down the hall towards him. Ranma carefully put the book down in his lap when he heard that sound and patiently waited for Usagi to enter the room. When Usagi opened the door to the library and walked in Ranma immediately noticed the crown that Usagi was wearing. Just like Usagi, Ranma knew exactly what Usagi had done by putting on that crown. He then said in a supportive voice, "I guess it's time for us to start accepting our responsibilities eh Sama'shiliadia."

For a split second Usagi was confused by the word Ranma had addressed her by. However, her memories as princess Serenity quickly supplied the definition to that word. Sama'shiliadia was an ancient Lunarian word that was a very dear and intimate way of saying princess regent. That word was only used by a princess regent's inner court or by someone that the princess regent was in love with that she hadn't bedded. Usagi wondered how Ranma could have known that word until she remembered that all titles and their proper context were taught to each member of the upper classes in the Silver Millennium around by a person's fourth birthday. This was done in order to avoid a faux pas.

Usagi slowly walked across the room towards Ranma, leaned down, and gently placed a kiss on his lips. She had a smile on her lips and Usagi then said, "Thank you Ranma. I know that words aren't your strong suit, but it's wonderful to hear how much you care for me every once and awhile." In response to Usagi's complement Ranma's cheeks started to turn pink which just caused Usagi to chuckle a little bit. Once Usagi stopped chuckling she walked around Ranma, wrapped her arms around his neck, and then pleasantly asked, "What are you looking at Ranma?"

While subtly pressing his cheek closer to one of Usagi's arms Ranma said, "Just an old book about the palace. It's actually pretty fascinating when you sit down and read the book. There's a lot here in the palace that I sure neither of us remember and this book explains those things." Ranma then pause for a second to open the book and turn to a particular page. "For example it says here that there is a room over in the Pluto wing of the palace that is some sort of war room."

This little fact interested Usagi because from what she had read in her military books she knew that information can be critical in combat. The war room would probably have a good deal of information and if even a tenth of it was still relevant then that information would have to be secured. Usagi calmly removed her arms from Ranma, walked back into his line of sight, and then said, "Let's go Ranma. I would say that we still have about an hour before we'll need to go home and take care of our 'normal' lives. That gives us plenty of time to go to that war room and at least give it a quick inspection."

Ranma calmly closed the book and while still holding it got up. The duo then left the library and headed towards their new destination. Since Ranma knew where the war room was he was walking about half a foot in front of Usagi. When they got to the door of the war room in the Pluto Wing it suddenly opened up. This surprised Usagi but Ranma calmly explained what had happened, "The door to the war room can magically sense who we are. Due to our active senshi crystals we have automatic clearance to go into this room. Once inside you, as the princess regent, can override the standard security clearance list and make it suit your preferences."

As Usagi and Ranma were walking into the war room Usagi didn't give too much thought to what Ranma had just told her. She knew that it was important and had filed it away in her memory, but for now Usagi felt she had more important matters to focus on. The war room itself was a circular room with the outer rim lined with computer consoles. In the center of the room was a smooth nearly clear crystal stalagmite that was about level with Usagi's chest. To Usagi's surprise the Silver Crystal suddenly left her broach and floated over to the stalagmite.

Usagi was just about to go over and grab the Silver Crystal when Ranma placed a hand on her shoulder. "Relax Usagi nothing's wrong," Ranma said while giving her a friendly smile. "I forgot to mention it to you on our way here, but that crystal stalagmite is specially designed to work with the Silver Crystal. Its purpose is to display information for the queen to use and the Silver Crystal works with the crystal stalagmite to verify that the queen is present in this room. The Silver Crystal is still 'attached' to you as the fact that you are still in your Sailor Moon form shows and the Silver Crystal will return to you when you want to leave the room."

This made sense to Usagi as she knew that any practical government would insure that government secrets would stay secure. Usagi then slowly approached the crystal stalagmite and wondered how she was supposed to use it. One of the biggest things that Usagi was hoping to learn from the crystal once she figured out how to use it was what kind of information was stored on the Sailor Scouts.

Suddenly the Silver Crystal light up and the light filled the entire war room forcing the duo to close their eyes. When Usagi and Ranma opened their eyes they were greeted by holographic images of the Sailor Scouts in uniform along with holographic images of themselves in uniform. The holographic images were standing in a circle surround the duo with Ranma's holographic form standing slightly behind and two the right of Sailor Jupiter.

As Usagi looked at the images of her friends and comrades her eyes stopped on Sailor Saturn's image. Unlike the other Sailor Scouts whose faces were crystal clear, Sailor Saturn's face was blurry. In fact Usagi couldn't even say what the color of Sailor Saturn's hair was or even the style it was done in. Usagi then turned to Ranma and said, "Uh Ranma, can you see Sailor Saturn's face or is it burry for you as well?"

Ranma took a step closer to the image of Sailor Saturn, gave it a good hard glance, and then shook his head. He then turned to face Usagi and said, "I can't see her face as well Usagi. Maybe its part of the senshi magic that's causing us to not be able to see her face? After all, people can't see our faces due to our senshi magic until they either catch us transforming or we tell them who we are."

Usagi nodded her head as she listened to Ranma explain his little theory. However, even though Usagi could understand Ranma's theory she wasn't happy at it. She wanted to know who Sailor Saturn was and she wanted to know now. Even if Sailor Saturn was still unawake, and this was highly likely, Usagi wanted to at least know who Sailor Saturn was. If she knew who Sailor Saturn was then the other Sailor Scouts could either start to train Saturn or protect her. After all, it wasn't like a civilian Sailor Saturn could protect herself from any potential enemies.

The crystal stalagmite sensed Usagi's thoughts about civilian and Saturn. Quickly responding as it was programmed the crystal suddenly gave off a flash of light. Due to fact that Usagi and Ranma were standing with their backs to the stalagmite they weren't blinded this time. However, they were completely shocked when they saw Sailor Saturn's image change into Hotaru Saotome's image.

* * *

Up on the roof of the roof of Mousse's restaurant while his clone's worked below, the original Mousse was busy training Minako. Today Mousse was going over some intermediate sword katas. When he had first started to train Minako Mousse had quickly determined that unarmed combat was not her specialty. Sure Minako had a nasty jump kick and a pretty good left hook, but she just couldn't move past being a brawler.

However, armed combat was an entirely different story for Minako. Mousse had discovered this on the first day of training when he had gone downstairs to check on something in the kitchen and had accidentally left a bokken near Minako. When Mousse had returned to check on Minako he was greeted to the sight of Minako doing a very basic kata with the bokken. Minako's face had at the time shown that she was a little unsure about what she was doing, but her body seemed to respond to the weapon instinctively.

After Mousse had observed Minako for a few minutes he had revealed that he had been watching her practice. Since that day Mousse had trained Minako almost solely in swordsmanship. He had mixed in a little strength and stamina training as well, but that was mainly to help Minako use her growing swordsmanship to its fullest capacity. And Minako's swordsmanship was growing at an almost unbelievable rate since she had started learning from Mousse.

In fact, Minako's growth was so great that it was starting to draw Mousse's suspicions. Oh Mousse fully believed Minako when she said that she never had any swordsmanship lessons in her life when he had discreetly asked her if she had ever had any training. However, Mousse also knew that people don't get that good with a weapon so quickly after starting to learn. Not even Ranma had a learning curve that high when it came to Minako learning swordsmanship.

There were several possibilities that could explain why Minako had so much innate skill with a blade. Of the various possibilities Mousse knew about and given the type of person that Minako was, Mousse was personally leaning towards reincarnation. In the Amazon's 3000 year history there were a few cases of 'old souls' appearing. Old soul was a term used by the Amazons to describe a reincarnated person. From what Mousse could recall, old souls seemed to carry with them some skill from their previous incarnation into their new life.

To test his hypothesis, Mousse had thrown in several beginning katas from very different styles. Minako was able to quickly master those katas from styles that focused on slashing at an opponent, but she had an only slightly above average learning curve for styles that were built around hacking or stabbing an opponent. Now this didn't mean that Minako had to be an old soul, but Mousse knew it definitely increased the odds of her being one.

In the end of course whither Minako was or wasn't an old soul did not really matter to Mousse. Minako was his student and she was also his friend. Mousse had never had many friends back in the Amazon village and there was no way that he going to risk loosing one just because of something that might not actually be. Besides, it wasn't as if being an old soul was a bad thing. According to what Mousse remembered from the tribe's lore mistress, old souls were perfectly normal people except for those areas that overlapped from their past life in which they typically excelled.

With a small shake of his head Mousse ended his musings and turned his attention back on Minako. Currently she was going through the final moves of the kata that Mousse had told her to do. Mousse quickly focused in on different parts of Minako's body, made sure that her muscles were moving how they were supposed to, and then moved on to the next part of her. Just after Minako finished the last move in the kata Mousse spoke. "Very good Minako, you did very well today. Tomorrow we will start sparing if you feel up to it. If you don't feel up to it then we just have to go over the katas you know until you are confident enough in your abilities so that we can move to the next step."

Minako nodded her head and then said as she brushed a stray hair back into place, "Starting to spar sounds like a good idea to me. After all I'm not doing all of this to be some sort of poster girl in a kendo hobbyist's magazine." This comment gave Mousse the image of Kuno drooling over a large poster of Minako in a kendo outfit. For some strange reason that image gave Mousse the sudden urge to go hit Kuno.

As Minako was placing her bokken into a traveling case she looked up at Mousse. She then paused for a moment as if considering something and then said, "Uh Mousse? I was wondering about something." Once Minako had Mousse's attention she continued on, "You see my school is having a dance in about a week or so and I was wondering if you wouldn't mind going with me to the dance. All of my friends are going to the dance and I promised them that I'd show up, but I don't particularly want to go to the dance by myself even though I'm sure that there will be many people going by themselves. I hope you don't take offense at this Mousse, but you're the only decent boy my age that I know who isn't going to the dance with their girlfriend. The other guys that I know of at school would pretty much expect me to be an air-headed manikin and I'd rather go alone then go with one of them."

Mousse sat where he was, placed his right hand under his chin, and thought about Minako's question. After a moment Mousse removed his hand and said, "Alright Minako, I'll go with you to the dance. Who knows, it might be fun to just be a regular teen for a bit."

A bright smile appeared on Minako's face when she heard Mousse's response. Minako had to walk by Mousse in order to get to the door and when she did she gave him a friendly hug. She then gave him a small peck on the cheek, winked at him, and promptly left the roof. Mousse just stood where he was for a few minutes as if he was trying to process what had just happened. He then shrugged and said, "Wasn't expecting that. But then, what do I know about women."

* * *

Rei had just finished sweeping the steps from the shrine to the sidewalk and with her broom still in her hand she walked over to the mailbox. After taking the mail out of the mailbox and putting it under her arm Rei headed up the stairs. As soon as Rei reached her house she leaned her broom on the wall and started to look at the mail.

About 90 of the mail was junk mail as usual with a few thank-you letters from past visitors to the shrine. However, there was one small wrapped package that caught Rei's attention. The package was wrapped in non-descript brown packaging paper, but the wrapping of the package was sealed with a wax seal of the Musk Dynasty. Immediately Rei decided that the package must be for Herb and so she headed over to the 'backyard' of the shrine to find Herb.

When Rei got to the part of the shrine grounds were Herb was at she stopped and stared. Herb was in the middle of doing one handed handstand pushups on a small wooden post. After watching Herb for a minute and admiring how he looked, Rei gave a polite cough to get Herb's attention. Rei then politely said after she saw that she had gotten Herb's attention, "Sorry for disrupting you Herb, but I have a letter here that I'm pretty sure is for you."

Herb pushed himself off of the post with his one hand, back flipped, and then landed about two feet away from the post facing Rei. Even though Rei knew that she shouldn't be surprised by such a display of super-human abilities from Herb, she was still amazed at what he had just done. Rei then silently walked over to Herb and handed the package over. He then broke the seal on the package and tore off the wrapping.

Inside the package were a folded letter and a small wooden box. Herb carefully read the letter and then carefully folded the letter back up. Once the letter was folded up again Herb looked over at Rei. Upon seeing the curious look on her face Herb sighed and said, "It's a letter from my father. The High Council of the Musk Dynasty along with my father has apparently decided to grant the title of Warlord to Ranma Saotome. Among the Musk, the title of Warlord has similar connotations as the Japanese title of Shogun. The two offices aren't exactly the same, but they are very similar. Inside this box is a pendant that I'm supposed to give to Ranma to show his new status as the Musk Warlord."

Rei nodded her head as she listened to what Herb was telling her. Except for Usagi and possibly Setsuna, Rei knew the most about the situation between Ranma and the Musk people. However, Rei didn't know how Herb personally was taking the situation. In a surprisingly soft manner Rei quietly asked, "What do you think Herb? Are you alright with the council's decision? How do you feel about Ranma having that much power among your people?"

While Herb might not be used to someone trying to comfort him over a possibly troubling situation, he was certainly able to appreciate what Rei was trying to do by asking him those question. Since Herb knew that Rei most likely wouldn't let him go without getting answers to her questions he calmly started to reply. "To be perfectly honest, I've been expecting that something would be done once news of Nephelite's rebirth reached the tribe ever since I found out about Ranma's past incarnation. Making Ranma the Warlord is probably the least disruptive choice for the Musk Dynasty."

* * *

Usagi and Ranma were walking down the street towards Usagi's house in silence. After the revelation of who Sailor Saturn was, the two of them had mutually and subconsciously decided to end their visit to the Moon. Surprisingly the street that they were walking on was completely empty. The two of them had been traveling in silence since they had found out about Saturn, but Usagi decided to break the silence as they turned around a corner. "Ranma," Usagi started to say in a quiet manner, "What are we going to do about Saturn? She is your sister after all. Do we tell her or what?"

Ranma paused in mid-step when he heard Usagi's question. He then shook his head and said, "I don't know Usagi. If she was some stranger or even someone our age that we knew like your acquaintance Naru everything would be straightforward. But instead, she's my little sis! How am I supposed to act? How would you act Usagi if you had found out that Shingo was in a similar situation?"

Trying to remove some of Ranma's building anger and moodiness Usagi said, "Well if I Shingo had turned out to be Saturn I would probably order a whole bunch of instant Nyannichuan. After all, I wouldn't want him to be mortified every time he had to transform." When Usagi turned to look at Ranma's face she saw him shooting her a dead-pan look. She then put her hands up in a placating manner and said, "Just trying to lighten your mood Ranma."

Usagi then sighed and spoke in a more somber manner. "Truthfully Ranma, I don't know what I'd do if I found Shingo in the kind of situation that Hotaru's in. While I don't always get along with Shingo, I love him deeply and don't want to see him get harmed. And if there is one thing that Hotaru's new status will insure, it's that there is a very high chance of her getting seriously hurt."

While he was nodding his head Ranma solemnly said, "That's exactly it Usagi. I don't want to see Hotaru hurt and I know that's exactly what would happen if she was to take up the mantle of Saturn. However," Ranma paused for a second and his voice got a resigned tone when he continued on. "I also know that not telling Hotaru would hurt both her and everyone else. Like it or not, the world will most likely need Saturn one day when some new threat decides to rear its head. If I don't train Hotaru now, how can I face myself later in life if she gets crippled or killed because she wasn't trained enough?"

"When you put it like that Ranma, there's really only one thing you can do." Usagi softly said while wrapping her arm around Ranma. "Tell Auntie Nodoka about Saturn and have Hotaru join in our martial arts lessons. That way Hotaru will at least have some training under her belt before she joins the team. Martial Arts training definitely helped you out when you joined the gang."

* * *

About five minutes after Ranma and Usagi had finished talking about Hotaru they reached Usagi's house. Since Ranma wanted to get home because his mother would be serving dinner in half an hour, he gave Usagi a quick goodbye kiss and headed home. Usagi stood at her doorstep politely waving goodbye to Ranma until he disappeared around the corner and then she went inside. She then took her shoes off and headed up to her room so that she could take care of some homework that she needed to do. As Usagi was walking up the stairs she spotted her parents in the kitchen and Usagi cheerfully said, "Hi Mom, Hi Dad."

Kenji, who had been sitting at the dinning table while Ikuko worked on preparing part of dinner, turned to face Usagi. He then gave Usagi a firm fatherly look and said in a questioning and also loving tone, "And where have you been Usagi? School was over two hours ago."

Usagi didn't miss a beat and cheerfully said, "I was hanging out at the park with Ranma Dad. After hanging out at the park for about an hour and a half we decided to take the long way to here. We stayed away from 29th Street just like you always tell me."

Ikuko then entered the conversation saying, "That's nice Usagi. Just so you know supper will be in about 40 minutes." Usagi then nodded her head and headed up the stairs to take care of her schoolwork. Once Usagi was out of hearing range, Ikuko turned to face Kenji with her hands on her hips. Ikuko then said in a scolding tone, "What's with trying to give Usagi the third degree dear? You never use to do this when Usagi would come home after hanging out with her friends."

Kenji then calmly said, "True, but that was when she just hung out with friends like that girl Naru or any of her other female friends. It's a completely different thing when she is hanging out with a boy."

"Kenji dear," Ikuko said in a very sweet manner which made Kenji realize that he was in the dog house. "Why does it make any difference if Usagi comes home at this time, which might I remind you is still within her curfew, after spending time with her boyfriend verses her other friends? Would it have made you feel any better if Ranma had spent the entire time in his cursed form?"

Ikuko then sighed and said in a softer tone, "I know you don't like the fact that Usagi is dating dear. There are times I occasionally don't like to think about the fact that my little girl has a boyfriend. However, we have to remember that Usagi's isn't a little girl anymore and that she is at the age where she is interested in things like boys. At least you and I can take some comfort in the fact that Usagi is interested in a decent young man who treats her with respect."

Knowing that his wife had him, Kenji let his shoulders slump and then he leaned back into his chair. "It's not fair Ikuko," Kenji said, "it feels like only yesterday that Usagi was sitting on my lap with a children's beginner book in that cute little pink dress that your mother made for her asking me to help her read the kanji."

There was a soft smile on Ikuko's face as she looked over at Kenji and the utterly confused look on his face. Ikuko then walked over to where Kenji was sitting and she wrapped her arms around his neck. She then said in a soft and comforting manner, "I know dear, I know."


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: It's obvious that I don't own Ranma or Sailor Moon because if I did then ether Genma or Ranma would have had the sense to learn Chinese before their trip to China!

Nodoka stood outside the door to Ranma's room and lightly tapped on the door. Earlier at dinner Nodoka had noticed that Ranma seemed to have something on his mind that was making him mildly depressed. Ranma had brushed off any questions from Makoto or Hotaru about what was bugging him by simply claiming that it had been a long day for him. This answer had been enough to stratify Makoto and Hotaru, but Nodoka knew that there was more to what was bugging Ranma besides a long day. It was a skill that all mothers had and Nodoka was no exception.

After getting a muffled approval to come in, Nodoka slowly opened the door and looked around Ranma's room. Nodoka was able to quickly spot Ranma as he was sitting on his bed with his arms wrapped around his legs. This sight worried Nodoka because Ranma didn't do this ball routine unless something was really bugging him. She calmly walked over to Ranma's bed, sat down next him, and then gave him a gentle hug. While she had her arms wrapped around Ranma Nodoka said, "What's wrong Ranma?"

Ranma said in a calm tone, "Earlier today Usagi and I started to explore the ruins of the Silver Millennium on the Moon. It was just some preliminary exploring so that we could get a rough idea about what was in one spot. One of the more important things that we discovered during our visit was an intact Silver Millennium war room. The magic in the war room was able to give us up to date information on ALL of the planetary senshi that were reborn. Thanks to the magic in that room Usagi and I discovered who Sailor Saturn's reincarnation is." Ranma then looked strait into Nodoka's eyes as he said, "Hotaru is Sailor Saturn."

That little piece of information caused Nodoka's eyes to widen. Nodoka had always felt bad that fate had given such young people like the Sailor Scouts the task of protecting the city from evil. However, it was one thing for such a task to be given to Ranma and it was something entirely different for Hotaru to be given such a task. Ranma, from what Nodoka could see, had both the physical training and the mental fortitude to deal with such a burden. Hotaru however was a rather frail physically and her mentality wasn't suited for battle.

Nodoka's thoughts then drifted to the Inner Scouts and she compared them to her earlier argument. As much as Nodoka didn't want to admit it, all of the Inner Scouts hadn't been really fit to take up their tasks when they started. In the end, even though she didn't want to say it, Nodoka knew what she needed to tell Ranma. "I know you don't want this Ranma, but you need to train Hotaru so that she can take her place as Sailor Saturn."

Letting out a resigned sight, Ranma put his hands behind his head and lay back on his bed. He then slowly said as if he was talking more to himself then he was to Nodoka, "Getting Hotaru to train shouldn't be too difficult. For the first few months I'll have to focus on increasing her strength, speed, and endurance. Perhaps I should go see if Mousse wouldn't mind teaching Hotaru how to wield a naginata. That way Hotaru will be able to use the Silence Glaive as a weapon like it's supposed to be used instead of just as a focusing talisman."

While Ranma continued to list the possible training methods for Hotaru Nodoka quietly left the room. Nodoka was content that she had managed to help Ranma out of the trouble that this situation was bringing him. As she left the room, Nodoka promised herself that she wouldn't reveal Hotaru's status to the girl. That was something that was better left to Ranma and Usagi in Nodoka's opinion.

* * *

Setsuna was in the kitchen of the Outers' house preparing a small platter of snacks. Usagi had contacted Setsuna yesterday and had asked if she and Ranma could come over to talk with Setsuna. Naturally Setsuna had agreed to Usagi's request and she was making the platter because Setsuna liked to have a few snacks available when discussing business. Having a platter out to snack on was something that her mother used to do back in the Silver Millennium that Setsuna continued to do. It made Setsuna feel like her mother was with her again helping to advise her.

As she was finishing the final touches to the snack platter the time senshi thought about her two housemates. Haruka and Michiru were both out of town because of a concert and a race that they were appearing in. Having Sailor Neptune and Sailor Uranus out of town suited Setsuna just fine. True the duo had been easier to live with ever since Usagi had cut them down to size. However, there was still a great deal of friction between the other two Outers and the Inners. Mostly the friction was due to Haruka and her dislike for Ranma, but Michiru also had a little bit of trouble dealing with the Inners even if she was more civil about it. Having those two in the house while Usagi and Ranma were over was just asking for trouble.

The doorbell rang just as Setsuna set the platter down on the kitchen table. She then calmly walked to the door and opened it. Ranma and Usagi were calmly standing on the welcome mat waiting for Setsuna to let them in. Like any good host Setsuna smiled and said, "Welcome you two. I've got some snacks in the kitchen so lets head over there and talk." The royal couple smiled at Setsuna and quickly followed her into the kitchen. Once all three were seated at the table Setsuna said, "Okay you two, what do you want to talk to me about that you wanted to talk about privately."

Usagi, after having a cracker or two, spoke up for Ranma and herself. "For the past week or so Setsuna Ranma and I have been exploring the ruins of Argentaniople. Do to time constraints with our other responsibilities we have only explored a tiny fraction, but our explorations have given us an idea. We want to resurrect the Silver Millennium."

Setsuna nearly chocked on the cheese wedge that she had been eating when Usagi said this. In an excited and shocked tone Setsuna said, "Y-you want to resurrect the Silver Millennium? How?" This idea didn't make any sense to Setsuna. It was magically impossible to craft a spell to resurrect the people of the Silver Millennium. Setsuna knew this because shortly after The Fall she had spent a century trying to craft such a spell.

Ranma calmly answered Setsuna's question. "We've only started tossing this idea around two days ago and you're the first one to hear about it. What we want to do is get various peoples from Earth to immigrate to the old cities under Usagi's rule. Argentaniople would be the starting point from which the old kingdom would be reborn. From there we would move on to repair the other old cities both on the Moon and on the other worlds."

"Now we both know that there are several things that we would need to take care of before we could start this plan. Luckily we have several years to prepare because Usagi said it will take that long before she will be able to cast the spell needed to revive the Moon's ecosystem." At this Setsuna sent Uasagi a knowing smirk while Ranma continued on obliviously. "There are three major issues that Usagi and I can think of right off the bat. One Usagi needs further education to be a responsible head of state. Two Argentaniople will need to be repaired so that the new subjects aren't moving into a war zone. Finally, we need to figure out a way to insure that the Neo-Silver Millennium isn't annexed by any of the existing states on Earth."

At that point Usagi took over the conversation and said, "The first two problems we have a general idea of how to handle. For instance I plan to take several different courses in high school and college to help me prepare to take the throne. We think that we might be able to repair enough of the city for the initial population by creating a few simple repair droids with the factory that we found intact. However, we just can't see how we can solve the third problem.

For a moment Setsuna just sat there and thought about the whole situation. The resurrection of the Silver Millennium, it was almost too much for her to believe after so many centuries. Setsuna had avoided visiting all of the ruins because the memories of all who had once lived there made it too painful. But now, that pain was starting to disappear as Setsuna started to embrace the idea of a Neo-Silver Millennium reborn from the old one's ashes.

Instantly Setsuna's eyes narrowed as she thought about the problem that Usagi and Ranma had brought up. How to handle the countries of Earth was definitely a serious problem that needed the greatest of care. Such a thing could be done, but it required a great deal of careful planning. That planning was something that Setsuna was determined to do because she did not want to fail her princess. With a calm and wise voice Setsuna said, "I think I can figure out what to do about the third problem. Of course it will take me some time so I will get back to you once I have figured it out."

The duo look at each other, nodded their heads, and then Usagi responded, "That's all we were hoping for Setsuna. Can you keep this under your hat though? Ranma and I aren't planning on telling the other scouts until we have a solid plan to present to them."

Setsuna nodded her head and said, "I understand Usagi. Now, may I suggest that you and little nephy go out and have some fun? Tomorrow at the dance I will be one of the teacher chaperones attending and I do look forward to seeing you two attending. If you want to talk to me then for any reason just look for the Geisha in the emerald green dress." On seeing the surprised looks Usagi was shooting her Setsuna smiled her head and continued on. "I once worked as a Geisha in the 16th century so that I could get close to several key political leaders at the time. That persona is listed in the government records as my ancestor."

* * *

The party at the high school was currently going in high swing when a black mist appeared on the school room. When the mist receded, Happosai's diminutive form was visible. However, anyone who had previously encountered Happosai would have been shocked to see him now. The old pervert's skin was now a pale blue color and seemed to be composed of scales. Happosai's left hand and his right eye looked like the belonged on a reptile instead of on a human. Finally Happosai, who was an extremely well conditioned martial artist, was breathing heavily.

In a raspy and slightly reptilian voice Happosai muttered, "So weak, need energy." Inside his mind Happosai ranted and raved. When that black flog had taken him after his humiliating defeat Happosai hadn't really known what to expect. To his horror Happosai had found himself chained to a table and treated like a lab rat. Happosai couldn't remember who had done this to him, but he did recall hearing the person who did this to him mention something about hanyo. All Happosai could think of was that the person must have been referring to what he had been turned into.

All Happosai could think about at the moment however was trying to go to Jyusenkyo to go get a curse. He didn't care which curse it was just so long as he could get out this abomination that his body had become. Ever since his body had been mutated Happosai had felt a dark and evil presence in his mind trying to take control of his body. Now some people might claim that Happosai was a dark and evil presence himself, but this presence was totally different. Compared to this presence, Happosai could be considered a saint.

As another spasm racked Happosai's body he said, "Damn it! I don't have the strength to fight this thing off anymore." Pulling out a scrap piece of paper, Happosai began to furiously write. Once he was done Happosai smirked and said, "I might be seen as a petty little imp and perhaps I am, but I refuse to become a monster." Happosai then gathered all the energy that he had left into his daemonic hand and pressed the hand to the roof. Thanks to what he had gleamed from the dark presence in his mind Happosai knew that he could create foot soldiers to soften up his enemies.

Two to three dozen generic humanlike figures suddenly appeared around Happosai. With a shrill like voice Happosai said to this figures, "Attack the people below us." The summoned creatures all nodded their heads and left the roof to begin the assault causing Happosai to smirk. Creating those soldiers had completely drained Happosai's life energy insuring that he and most importantly the dark presence in his mind wouldn't be around anyone. Also, he had created those soldiers in such a way that they would be fairly weak and thus easily to destroy. With his dying breath Happosai said, "I just wish I could have been comforted by Ranko and her bosom one last time."

* * *

Herb, Mousse, Ryoga, and Ranma were all hanging out around the drink stand. The four of them had just spent the last half hour on the dance floor with their dates and they were glad to be able to rest for a bit. After he had drained his cup of punch Ryoga stated what was on all four of their minds. "What is it about girls' and the dance floor? I don't know about you guys, but I feel like I've gone through several martial arts tournaments in a row."

At that point Ranma added his two cents, "You're absolutely right Ryoga. However, you've got to admit that the companionship on the dance floor is a whole lot better then what we could hope to find at a martial arts tournament." The four young men then turned to look at where their dates were over at the buffet. After they gave their dates a quick once over a unanimous "agreed" was said. Ranma then poured two cups of punch and started to walk over to Usagi.

Just as Ranma hading Usagi one of the cups a loud feminine shriek pierced the gym. Immediately following the shriek silvery masked humanoids came in through all of the windows and doors. As Ranma got into a defensive stance and assessed the situation he quietly muttered so that only Usagi could hear him, "That's it I'm contacting our agents. I distinctly remember our contracts stating that we are not supposed to have to deal with Super Sentai foot soldiers rejects." Despite the seriousness of the situation Usagi couldn't help smiling at Ranma's joke.

While most of the students were in a panic over the party crashers, Ranma and his friends quickly got to work taking out the trash. Ryoga had transported himself over to the father set of gym doors where several of the creatures had gathered and he started to tear into them. Mousse took on the role of sharp shooter and turned the attackers on the benchers into shish kebob. Herb covered the other main door that led into the school. As for Ranma, he was protecting the frightened students from the few attackers that had gotten by his friends.

Usagi and the rest of the Sailor Scouts were stuck with keeping their classmates from completely loosing all common sense because of the attack. It was all that they could do because there was no way for them to sneak away to transform. To the rest of the Inners' surprise, Usagi had somehow managed to take control of the situation and was calmly giving out directions. "Don't huttle together that might make it easier for one of these things to attack us. Everyone standing by the second dinner buffet table, move to the left now so that Mousse has a clear shot. Will someone please turn off the music, we don't need 'Kung Fu fighting' playing in the background."

Thanks to a combo of Usagi's directions along with Ranma and his friend's martial arts skill all of the attackers were disposed of without any serious harm to the student body. The last creature was disposed of by Ranma snapping its neck and he calmly looked on as it turned into dust like all of the others. Setsuna, being the only teacher who wasn't whimpering under a table, grabbed a microphone. In a very calm manner Setsuna said, "We've all been a witness to a monster attack before so we all know the drill. Was anyone transformed into a monster? Has anyone been drained of their energy by the attackers? Did anyone witness a fellow student having a gem/crystal/item pulled out of that person's body?"

Upon receiving a negative from all of the students Setsuna pulled out an insurance claim form and started to fill it out. As she was filling it out Setsuna called out, "Alright then. Due to school regulations the dance is sadly over. Ignoring the monster attack, I hope on behalf of all of the teachers that you all enjoyed the dance. For those of you who were trying to earn extra credit with the history teacher don't worry. Your names have been recorded and you should see those points by the end of the week."

* * *

An hour or so after the attack on the school, the Inners, Ranma, Herb, and Setsuna were all gathered at the Hikawa Shrine. Everyone was currently looking at Ami as she worked on the Mercury Computer. Ami let out a small sigh and then closed the Mercury Computer. She then said, "Its official. Those things that attacked the dance were a type of low class youma. What's more, the dust left behind from these creatures' shows signs that they were deliberately made flawed. One example of this is the fact that those creatures couldn't drain energy from people."

Setsuna then said, "That defiantly makes the note more credible." Everyone lowered their head at the mentioning of the note. After the rest of the students had vacated the gym due to the attack, the eight of them had looked all over the area for clues as to why the attack happened. Makoto had been the one to discover Happosai's corpse and his hastily scribbled note. All the note had said was: sorry of this attack, but I need to keep the darkness that is inside of me from escaping. Hope no one was seriously hurt by the attack I tried to make them as flawed as possible so that they are easy to destroy. Their creation was the only thing I was sure of that would cause my death and prevent the darkness from tacking control. –Happosai.

While all of scouts had been saddened that someone had died, Ranma was the most affected by Happosai's death with Herb in distant second. Both of them had never liked the old goat and they had honestly thought that they'd be glade to hear that Happosai kicked the bucket. However, now that they were face to face with Happosai's death all they could feel was emptiness. According to Ami's scans of Happosai's corpse the old pervert had artificially transformed into a hanyo and that the process, from what Ami could make of her scans, had to have been incredibly painful. How could they say anything against Happosai now that the man was dead after suffering so much?

It was Usagi who broke the uncomfortable silence by saying, "Tomorrow we'll cremate Happosai's body in secret. If we let the authorities know they'll probably have the man's corpse on a dissection table in a lab somewhere. And I expect all of you to be there for the ceremony; the man has alerted us to the fact that there is something out there that is up to no good. At the very least he deserves our respect for that." Everyone in the room nodded their heads solemnly showing that they approved of Usagi's decision.

After a moment of silence Minako said, "So what do we do now? I mean, we know that there is something evil out there. What are we going to do about the evil?"

Setsuna then calmly said, "And what would you suggest we do Minako? This is the first sign we have that something like this is happening. We know absolutely nothing about who our enemy is, what their goals are, or when they might attack. All we can do is to continue on with our lives and prepare for the day when our enemy decides to reveal itself to us."

Ami then asked, "Can't you track this new enemy Setsuna? With the Time Gates at your disposal shouldn't it be relatively easy to locate the enemy? If you could give us the location of the enemy then we could take them out while they are hopefully still weak."

With a sad shake of her head Setsuna replied, "It sounds simple in theory, but in reality what you're asking about is almost impossible. When looking into either the past or the myriad of potential futures the Time Gates can best be thought of like a CD player reading a CD. The Gates can easily locate general time events like say the school dance or a battle. However tracking an individual to, from, or during an event is extremely difficult. That is one of major reasons, besides potential morality of the situation, why the line of Sailor Plutos are called the 'Guardians of Time' and not 'Temporal Troubleshooters'."

Usagi took control of the situation and said in a commanding and yet still friendly tone, "Here's the situation. We will wait for this new enemy to come out of hiding and then we will eliminate it quickly. In the meantime we will have to stay focused on our training and stay alert for any signs of enemy activity." Usagi then paused for a second to look at Ranma as she said, "What of Saturn Ranma? Do you think that it's advisable that we awaken her now?"

Ignoring the surprised and shocked looks that almost all of the other scouts were sending him Ranma said, "Negative Usagi. Sailor Saturn is for all intents and purposes a magical artillery piece. Her powers are designed to be used for taking out numerous enemies in groups ranging from platoon size to an entire division. Bringing Saturn into an urban combat zone now would just result in heavy civilian casualties and property damage. I will need several more weeks to a few months to insure that she is properly trained so that she can contribute to the city's defense."

Usagi looked strait into Ranma's eyes as if she was trying to find something out. Before one of the other scouts could ask what was going on Usagi gave Ranma a small smile. "Your right Ranma," Usagi calmly said with her warm voice. "It is better for us if we keep Sailor Saturn in reserve for now. However, if things get too bad then Sailor Saturn will be awakened and I sincerely hope that it doesn't come to that." After saying that Usagi's tone became very serious as she continued on talking this time addressing her fellow inners. "I know that you all are curious about who is Sailor Saturn's reincarnation, but you are NOT to inquire about Saturn's identity. If you THINK you might know who she is you are to keep your opinions to yourselves." The meeting ended not long after Usagi's edict about Sailor Saturn.

* * *

Shingo was walking through the park when his eyes caught sight of something moving in his peripheral vision. When he turned his head Shingo was surprised to see Hotaru standing in the grass swinging a very large stick. Correction, Shingo realized that Hotaru was swinging some kind of wooden practice naginata. Being curious as to why Hotaru would be doing such a thing Shingo headed over and said, "What ya doing Hotaru?"

Hotaru was surprised at Shingo's little remark because she had been so focused on her kata and she started to loose her balance. Luckily Shingo quickly hurried over and he had helped Hotaru keep her balance by holding her in his arms. Once Hotaru had gotten her balance back the two realized the position they were in and they quickly separated with sheepish looks on their faces. Shingo then said with a minor pink tint on his cheeks, "Ah Hotaru? Why were you practicing with that naginata?"

In a meek manner Hotaru answered, "About two weeks ago Ranma approached me and offered to train me to defend myself. Since I didn't want to get hurt by bullies anymore and I wanted to spend some more time with Ranma I accepted. Mostly he's been helping me with physical conditioning since I'm, well." At this point Shingo nodded his head to let Hotaru know that he got the idea so she wouldn't have mention how frail she was. Continuing on Hotaru said, "In addition to my physical training, Ranma's been training me in using the naginata."

Shingo then said in a friendly tone, "That's cool Hotaru. You're probably the only person in the school who has a big sibling that is capable and willing to train you so congratulations!" Hotaru's face turned a few shades pinker as she listened to Shingo's congratulations to her situation. Completely oblivious to Hotaru's current state, Shingo then continued to speak. "Is Ranma around here Hotaru or are you just trying to get in a little extra practice to impress him?"

Thankful that the conversation had shifted away from her and what she was doing, Hotaru happily answer Shingo. "Oh Ranma's around here and Usagi is here as well. After Ranma told me what he wanted me to do, he and Usagi left to go spar."

A friendly, if slightly mischievous, look crossed Shingo's face and he said, "Hotaru, why don't we go and watch our siblings spar?" Hotaru was a little nervous at the idea of leaving before she finished the routine Ranma had given her, but she quickly agreed to join Shingo. The two younger siblings then snuck off in the direction that Hotaru remembered their siblings walking off in. Soon enough the duo heard the sounds of a fight going on and they hid in a large bush.

On the other side of the bush Ranma and Usagi were sparing. Since the spar was mainly for Usagi's benefit Ranma was fighting just a tad better then her while she was going all out. As Shingo watch the spar progress he almost couldn't believe that his sister was Ranma's opponent. She was just so good, especially for the amount of time that she had been training. It was just almost inconceivable to Shingo that the klutz could be so graceful.

Hotaru noticed the shocked look on Shingo's face as both of them stuck their heads out of the bush. She then cheerfully said, "Ranma's a good teacher isn't he? I remember watching when Ranma first started to teach Usagi martial arts. She tripped two or three times, couldn't block a punch at all, and she had a great deal of trouble with getting her attacks to connect. As you can see your sister has come a long way since then."

Ten minutes after Hotaru and Shingo started to observe the spar Ranma ended the match by sweeping Usagi's legs and grabbing her into his arms. Usagi then pouted and said, "No fair Ranma! I was just starting to win the match."

Ranma just chuckled and said, "Sorry Usagi. Just remember what they say, All's fair in love and war."

Usagi got a twinkle in her eye and she said, "Oh really Ranma? I suppose as the victor your hoping for a little reward?" She then wrapped her arms around Ranma's neck and lean her head closer to Ranma like she was going to kiss him. Just as Usagi was about to kiss Ranma she swung her legs into the side of Ranma's leg causing him to loose his balance. By the time Ranma realized what Usagi had done his back was on the ground with Usagi sitting on him. With a mirthful voice Usagi said before kissing Ranma, "All's fair in love and war Ranma." She then broke the kiss off for just a second to whisper into Ranma's ear, "Especially love."

The two onlookers watched as Ranma and Usagi's sparring session turned into a make-out session. At that point Shingo pulled his head out of the bush and said goodbye to Hotaru. Shingo might have thought that Ranma was a cool guy even with the curse and Shingo was fine with the idea of Ranma dating Usagi. However, that did not mean that Shingo was okay with the idea of watching Ranma having a make-out session with his sister. There are just some things that are better to be avoided then to pay for the extensive psychiatric help that would be needed to correct the mental damage.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: If you think I own Ranma or Sailor Moon then you need to take a dip in Spring of Drowned Rational Person.

Ami was walking to Ryoga's house with a gym bag over her shoulders. Today was her and Ryoga's martial arts training session and the gym bag was holding a set of her clothes that she could change into once the training was over. While other girls might be shocked that quiet little Ami would be willing to take a shower and change her clothes when there was a guy in the same building Ami didn't give it too much thought. At least, she didn't give it too much thought when it was only Ryoga. Her boyfriend had always made sure to stay downstairs when use used the upstairs bathroom. Besides, a part of Ami's mind brought up, it wasn't like he hadn't seen her in the nude before.

That traitorous thought caused Ami to stop in mid-step as she fought to keep down a nuclear blush. Both of them had agreed not to mention 'The Incident' to each other or to anyone else since neither of them wanted to bring it up again. Once Ami had gotten her blush under control she resumed walking and quickly came to Ryoga's house. When Ami got to Ryoga's house she pulled out a loose brick in the wall by the front door and removed the spare house key. After she unlocked the door Ami put the key back in its hiding spot.

Now inside Ryoga's house, Ami re-locked the front door and headed towards the living room. When she got there she casually placed her gym bag on the couch and then looked around for Ryoga. Since he wasn't in the kitchen Ami decided to look for him in the back yard. Sure enough Ryoga was outside in the small backyard already working out. Ami didn't immediately join him outside and instead she just watched him workout.

To Ami's surprise, she saw Ryoga pull back his left fist and the fist started to glow. From where she was standing Ami could see Ryoga's face and she noticed the intense look of concentration on it. She silently watched as Ryoga launched his left fist, kicked up a small ball at the same time, and called out, "Shishi Bakusai Tenketsu Ken!" Although she didn't shout it out for fear of ruining Ryoga's concentration, Ami was cheering him on. Hopefully, she prayed, today would be the day that Ryoga finally mastered the Shishi Bakusai Tenketsu Ken for both hands.

Time seemed to slow down for Ami as she watched Ryoga's fist connect with the small ball he had thrown earlier. Just as Ami had been hoping, the ball quivered and then sailed forward with a small flash of Chi coming from Ryoga's fist. Ami had seen Ryoga do this dozens of times with right hand so she knew that he had succeeded in performing the Shishi Bakusai Tenketsu Ken.

Ryoga looked at his fist after he had preformed the attack and he almost couldn't believe that he had succeeded. When he had first started trying to use the Shishi Bakusai Tenketsu Ken with his left fist almost two months ago he had been expecting it to only take him a few days to a week or so to master. Sadly, that was not the case as Ryoga had soon realized. The Shishi Bakusai Tenketsu Ken was an extension of the Bakusai Tenketsu which Ryoga had learned from the Amazons. However, what Ryoga hadn't realized at first was one needed to be able to perform the Bakusai Tenketsu first before they could move on to his variant.

The stumbling block for Ryoga and the reason why learning the Bakusai Tenketsu was so important was because he only used the Bakusai Tenketsu with his right hand. Thus, Ryoga had to first learn how to use the Bakusai Tenketsu with his left hand before he moved on to his own technique. Needless to say it had been a challenge for Ryoga to learn to use the Bakusai Tenketsu in the city without causing property damage, but he had managed to pull it off.

Suddenly Ryoga heard the sound of someone clapping and he turned around to see who was there. To his surprise and pleasure Ami was the one who was clapping. Ami the walked up and said, "Good job Ryoga. I'm glade that you finally managed to master that technique since I know how much you wanted to master it." She then gave Ryoga a quick kiss on the check and said, "So do you want to start my lessons now Ryoga or go out and celebrate?"

Now that was quiet the conundrum for Ryoga. On the one hand he could train with Ami which he loved to do while on the other hand he and Ami could go out on a date. After thinking it over for a minute Ryoga said, "Why don't we have your training session like we plan and then afterwards go out to eat? I don't want you to fall behind do to my success dear." Ami agreed to this and showed it by getting into a defensive stance.

* * *

"What am I supposed to do now?"

"The instructions say that after replacing the mage stone you have to connect the stone to the secondary stabilizing crystal."

"Which one is it?"

"The book shows a picture of a small blue crystal that must be the stabilizing crystal."

"Uh Usagi, there are five different small blue crystals here. Can you be more specific?"

Usagi looked down at the technical book in front of her and carefully observed the picture of the stabilizing crystal. After she finished her examination she called out, "Okay Ranma. The stabilizing crystal is a seven-sided rectangular crystal with a rounded end on one side and a pointed end on the other. According to the diagram the stabilizing crystal should be near the main mana flow conduit with the pointed end in the crystal holder."

Ranma and Usagi were in one of the major factories of Argentaniople in the middle of trying to repair one of the assembly lines. The factory that the royal duo was working in was a civilian factory that had assembled simple robots. Well technically it manufactured golems, but to Ranma and Usagi they were robots. To their immense joy Ranma and Usagi had discovered that the factory's computer allowed them design robots that, while within a certain level of simplicity, would be able to repair Argentaniople for them. The only snag that was stopping the duo from creating an army of robots to repair the city was the fact that the assembly lines had been damaged in the attack.

For the past week Ranma and Usagi had spent every free moment they could in the factory working to get the least damaged assembly line up and running. Even martial arts training had taken a secondary place to getting the assembly line repaired. Happosai's death had triggered their danger alarms and was the reason for their dedication to restoring Argentaniople. The old capital might be needed as place for refugees if the unknown enemy favored a more destructive style of combat. Of course both of them, Usagi in particular for several reasons that she didn't share with Ranma, hoped that it wouldn't come to that.

Currently Ranma had his head and upper body inside one of the larger machines in the assembly line. Once they got this particular machine fixed the assembly line would be operational. Just as Usagi was going to ask Ranma if he needed any further advice when she heard him said, "Almost there got it!" Usagi happily watched as first the machine Ranma was working on and then the entire assembly line became illuminated. At last they had gotten this thing up and running so that the robots could take care of the rest.

One of the many reasons why getting the line up and running was important to Usagi was because of her senshi uniform. The Sailor Scouts' uniform was a very cute outfit and was usable for both formal occasions and combat. However, it was just not suited for grease monkey work. It was the bows and frills that were the cause of the problem. Those things got caught in all of the various parts of the machines all the time. After one particularly bad snag a week ago that caused a large and embarrassing portion of her blouse to be ripped off, it had been unanimously agreed that she would stick to reading the instructions only.

Ranma then pulled himself out of the machine he had been working on and started to replace the panel. Very quickly he screwed the panel back in place and then he started to clean his face off with a rag that Usagi provided him. Once his face was clear of all the dust that was on it he said, "Man I hope we don't have to repair anything like this again anytime soon. When we start allowing people to immigrate to the city we need to remember to offer special incentives for engineers."

Usagi then said, "I agree with you there Ranma. Now why don't you go back to the palace and take a shower. The residual life support magic on the palace does insure that all of the palace's utilities work and I don't think you want to show up at Aunty Nodoka's house all covered in dust." Ranma gave Usagi a mock salute and then snuck a kiss in when she pretended to glare at him for the solute before he headed off back to the palace.

After Ranma had disappeared from sight Usagi headed over to the factory's main computer. Once she was sitting down she imputed the final commands to start the production of the repair robots that she and Ranma had already prepared. Usagi then leaned back in her chair and thought about how things were going. To help herself think Usagi started to talk to herself. "What do I do next? Thanks to the robots Argentaniople should be fully repaired with a month or so."

"However, even though the city will be repaired in a month or so there is still the fact that only the palace and its grounds can support human life right now. Unfortunately I can't expand that magical field or cast another spell to make the entire city capable of sustaining human life. The Millennials never bothered to create such a spell and by the time I study spell theory enough to create one I might as well just use the altar."

Letting out a small sigh Usagi then said, "Maybe I should focus on more manageable goals. Perhaps I should set up one of those transport circles at home so that my family can escape to the palace if something comes up. But if I did that, I would have to reveal that I'm Sailor Moon to my parents. Also, I don't think I should tell my parents about being Sailor Moon until I talk to the other scouts about it. They should have some input into the situation as well. I'll bring that up in the weekly meeting latter this week."

* * *

Emperor Akihito of Japan was sitting down for a light breakfast when he noticed a strange portal open up in front of him. The emperor was about to call for his guards when he saw Sailor Pluto step out of the portal which promptly closed behind her. Although Emperor Akihito was a little nervous at the fact that his security had been compromised, he didn't panic. After all the Sailor Scouts, who the woman in front of him seemed to be a member of, had protected Japan against supernatural threats that the Japanese government didn't really want to admit were occurring.

In a very calm and dignified way that befitted his position Emperor Akihito said, "Good morning. Forgive me if I sound rude, but I don't recognize you. You look like one of those Sailor Scouts my wife loves to talk about. However, you aren't Sailor Mercury, Venus, Moon, Mars, or Jupiter."

Setsuna gave the emperor a gracious bow and said, "My name is Sailor Pluto, Emperor Akihito. It is not surprising that you did not recognize me since my duties do not normally have me on the front lines defending Earth from supernatural threats. No doubt you are wondering why I am here. Perhaps, if you told me what you are currently aware of about our group I can then fill in what you will need to know so that we can talk about why I was sent here."

The emperor, although he didn't show it, was very curious about why the Sailor Scouts were approaching him. He knew everything that the Japanese government knew about the Sailor Scouts thanks to his various contacts. However, the government only knew a tad bit more about the Sailor Scouts then what everyone else in Japan knew about the group. In a very polite manner Emperor Akihito said, "I and the Japanese government are aware that the Sailor Scouts are from someplace known as 'The Silver Millennium' and that Sailor Moon is also referred to as 'The Moon Princess'. However, neither I nor my government contacts know what these terms refer to or really anything else about your organization. The government of Japan's official policy is to deny that the scouts, along with any other supernatural phenomenon, exist."

Nodding her head Setsuna said, "An understandable policy given the fact that JSDF is not equipped to defend against supernatural enemies. Moving on to the explanations, the Silver Millennium is the name of a magical interplanetary kingdom that controlled everything in the Sol system except for Earth at the time of its destruction some 10,000 years ago. The last queen of the Silver Millennium, Queen Serenity, managed to seal up the demon that was used to destroy the Silver Millennium and send the souls of her court forward to this time to be reborn. Just so you know the demon that Queen Serenity sealed away has since been slain by Sailor Moon. The reason why Sailor Moon is also referred to as the Moon Princess is because she is the reincarnated crown princess of the Silver Millennium."

"By now Emperor Akihito you must be wondering why I have told you this. Simply put, my leader Sailor Moon is planning on resurrecting the Silver Millennium on the Moon and the other worlds in this solar system. Humanity, even with its rapid technological progress, is still not advanced enough permanently establish themselves on any of the other worlds in this system. Even a small lunar outpost is decades away given the leaders of Earth's current lukewarm attitude towards space."

"What my princess is planning on doing is to use the magic of the Silver Millennium to return the Moon and eventually the other worlds in this system to the life-sustaining status that they once had. Do to the nature of the magic used to first bring those worlds to life only Sailor Moon, and her corresponding vassals for each planet, can revive those worlds so that they have an ecosystem similar to Earth's. Currently only Sailor Moon, Jovian Paladin, I, and now you Emperor Akihito are aware of these plans. The other Sailor Scouts are not aware of these plans yet because Sailor Moon wants them to enjoy being teenage girls without the weight that their position as her vassal queens brings."

Thanks to his experience with handling politicians the emperor was starting to get a general idea about where this conversation was going. In a very polite manner he said, "Am I correct in assuming Ms. Pluto that your princess is hoping for my help in her endeavor to revive her kingdom?" Upon seeing Setsuna nod her head the emperor continued, "Might I ask what your princess believes I can do to help her? I may be the emperor of Japan, but I do not have any official power that can help Sailor Moon."

Setsuna smiled and said, "Sailor Moon is very much aware of your official powers or rather the lack there of. However, it is because of your connections and unofficial political power that I was asked to talk to you. My princess is aware that there will be political trouble here on Earth when she first announces the rebirth of the Silver Millennium and starts allowing immigrants to come. To mitigate this she is hoping that you, and other people with similar political pull, would be willing to talk to various political leaders and convince them to not cause a lot of hassles for the Neo-Silver Millennium."

After carefully considering what Sailor Pluto had told him for a few minutes the emperor said, "I think I understand the situation Ms. Pluto. Please tell your princess that she has the Chrysanthemum Throne's support for this endeavor. This is provide of course that she promises to rule justly and agrees to continue to protect Japan against supernatural threats until such time as the Japanese Government can protect the people of Japan against those same threats. Also and a more personal note, do you think she could be persuaded to give an autograph photo of herself in her uniform? My wife is a big fan of Sailor Moon and it would make a wonderful anniversary present."

* * *

Kasumi walked into the Tendo house with today's mail in her hands. As she was sorting the mail she noticed that one envelope was addressed to Genma. Very politely Kasumi called out, "Uncle Genma, there is a letter for you."

Genma appeared around the corner and wearily accepted the letter from Kasumi. Even though Genma had come to accept responsibility for his ill advised actions, he didn't like having to deal with the consequences when they found him. The consequences got especially difficult for Genma to deal with when the Tendo family got roped in. As the only people Genma knew he could count on Soun, Kasumi, and even Nabiki had become very important to Genma. They were the only family Genma had left and he didn't want them harmed because of his foolishness.

After carefully opening the envelope just incase it was booby trapped, Genma pulled out the letter inside and began to read it. The few remaining strands of hair on Genma's head stuck out in shock when Genma read the first few lines and realized that the letter was from Nodoka. Once he had gotten over his fear that she would suddenly jump out demanding that he commit seppuku, Genma found the letter very fascinating. In it Nodoka talked to him about how things were going for her over in Juuban.

To Genma's absolute astonishment Ranma was actually living at home with Nodoka. He then started to cry when he read that Nodoka had actually known about both their curses before Ranma had left the Tendos. That really drove home to Genma just how pathetic a man he had been in those days. Once Genma stopped his near pity party he found himself absorbed in Nodoka's letter.

It interested Genma that Nodoka had adopted a girl and that another young girl was living in the house after Nodoka and Ranma befriended the older orphan. But, the biggest surprise for Genma was the fact that Ranma had a new girlfriend and that the girl in question was Usagi Tsukino. Genma suddenly remembered the little pig-tailed girl Nodoka's friend Ikuko used to bring over when she visited Nodoka. Considering how cute little Usagi had been and how Ikuko looked, Genma figured that Ranma now had a very lovely girlfriend.

In gruff manner Genma said, "The boy deserves it after the shit I put him through." As far as Genma was concerned Ranma deserved to have a good life with friends and a caring girlfriend, who hopefully would become his wife, at his side. Unlike Soun, Genma didn't have any fears about his school's survival since he was sure Ranma would pass it on. Nodoka's letter, even though it was painful for Genma to admit that he had caused Ranma so much trouble, showed that Ranma growing into an excellent young man.

Near the end of the letter Nodoka mentioned that Ranma was going to be in the City-wide martial arts tournament that was starting up two weeks from today. Nodoka had listed which school Ranma was going to and where the Juuban preliminaries were to be held. She had even included a ticket for him with the letter. Obviously Nodoka was trying to repair the rift in the Saotome family by using the tournament to bring the family together.

Personally, Genma had no idea what he wanted to do or should do about the tournament. He really wanted to go and see Ranma win the tournament so that he could take pride in his son's achievement. At the same time Genma also felt that he had no business intruding upon Ranma's life now that the boy was finally going somewhere. And yet Nodoka, who by anyone's standards should have divorced him, wanted to try and make them a family again. What to do, what to do.

* * *

Usagi and Ranma were standing in the park watching Hotaru practice with her wooden naginata. The two of them had finished their own spar and were now casually talking as they watched Hotaru. Both of them had been surprised at Hotaru's amazing aptitude with using the naginata. Ranma didn't care at all about why Hotaru became so skilled while Usagi had the theory that it was some connection that Hotaru had with her powers and the Silence Glaive.

The duo's conversation about the upcoming preliminaries ended when Usagi changed the conversation. "Ranma," Usagi started to say just a little nervously, "Do you think we should tell Hotaru that she's Sailor Saturn? It would help her training if she knew what she was capable of doing as Saturn and we can take her to the Moon so she can train some of her more destructive spells. Also, I'm worried that she might feel like we're manipulating her if we reveal what she is at a latter date."

For a few minutes Ranma just stood where he was thinking about what Usagi had told him. As much as the protective brother in him didn't want to admit it, Usagi had a very good point. Hotaru might start to feel resentment towards them and the rest of the Sailor Scouts if they kept what she was a secret from her. In a sad and resigned tone Ranma said, "Okay Usagi you're right. How do you recommend we approach telling all of this to Hotaru?"

While giving Ranma a knowing smile Usagi said, "Just follow my lead Ranma. I've given this a great deal of thought since I know you would probably try to put it off." When he heard that, Ranma started to blush because he knew that Usagi had read him like a book. The two of them then headed over to where Hotaru was practing. Once Hotaru had noticed them and had stopped her exercise Usagi politely said, "Hotaru? Would you mind following Ranma and I? There's something the three of us need to talk about with you."

Hotaru was surprised by Usagi's request, but she didn't worry about it too much. Her big brother and Usagi hadn't ever led her astray before. Besides, they had trusted her when she had discovered that she was partially possessed so it was only fair that she return the favor. "Uh Usagi," Hotaru began, "Should I bring my practice nagianta or should I leave it here?" Before Usagi could say anything on that matter, Ranma ended the matter by placing the item in question in his hidden weapons' pocket.

The trio then walked a bit further into the park so that Ranma and Usagi could be sure that they wouldn't be overheard. Once they were in a suitable spot Usagi started to speak. "Hotaru what I'm about to tell you may be a little hard for you to accept or believe, but it will be the truth I promise you." Usagi then pulled out her brooch and said her transformation phrase. Once the transformation light ended a second latter Usagi was standing in her Sailor Moon outfit.

Hotaru almost couldn't believe her eyes when she saw Usagi transform into Sailor Moon. She hadn't mentioned it to anyone, but Hotaru had always hero worshiped Sailor Moon ever since she had first heard of the superhero. What lonely outcast girl wouldn't admire a strong superhero that had saved the world and was around her age? Even after Hotaru had become friends with Ranma and Usagi she had still continued to greatly admire Sailor Moon.

Now that she had found out that Usagi, who Hotaru view as an older sister, was Sailor Moon Hotaru didn't know how to act. With a slight stutter Hotaru said, "Y-You're Sailor Moon Usagi?" Upon seeing Sailor- er Usagi nod her head Hotaru turned to face Ranma. Remembering all of the media hype that had been going on about Sailor Moon and Jovian Paladin; Hotaru made the next logical connection. With a more confident voice Hotaru said, "Ranma, you're Jovian Paladin correct?" Ranma didn't say anything, but he did nod his head to answer her question. Then in a confused manner Hotaru said, "Why are you telling me this Usagi? Aren't superheroes supposed to keep their identity secret?"

Usagi was touched that Hotaru considered her to be a superhero, but she didn't show it as she continued on talking. "There's a very good reason why I'm revealing all of this to you Hotaru. About a month ago traveled to the remains of the Silver Millennium and discovered something very important. There was a room in the ruins that allowed us to check up on ALL of the Sailor Scouts, even ones that we were not aware of at the time. You are a Sailor Scout Hotaru who just hasn't awakened her power yet."

After she said that Usagi leaned over and gave Hotaru a hug. While the two were hugging Usagi softly said, "I know that this is a shock Hotaru. Right now you're probably thinking 'there must be some mistake, there's no way I can be a Sailor Scout'. You may not believe it, but I was the same way when I first found out that I was Sailor Moon. Trust me Hotaru when I say that you are a Sailor Scout. The only reason you haven't awaken your powers yet is you haven't been given the key to unlock them."

Then Usagi let go of the hug and moved so she was half an arm's length away from Hotaru. Next Usagi raised her right hand and pressed two fingers of that hand on Hotaru's forehead just above her eyes. Concentrating very hard Usagi called upon one the powers that she had as the princess regent. As princess regent Usagi take the place of a planetary queen and summon an un-awakened scout's transformation pen or call back a transformation pen that another scout had lost.

Ranma was watching the girls and he noticed a silvery glow that started to come off of Usagi's fingertips. The symbol for Saturn then appeared on Hotaru's forehead partially covered by Usagi's fingers. Slowly Usagi started to pull her fingers away from Hotaru's forehead and to Ranma's surprise he saw a purple transformation pen being drawn out of the Saturn symbol. Once the pen was completely out of the symbol Usagi quickly snatched it and presented it to Hotaru. She then cheerfully said, "Here you go Hotaru. This is your transformation pen. All you need to do is hold it in your hand, say 'Saturn Planet Power, Make Up' and you'll transform into Sailor Saturn."

Hotaru looked at the transformation pen she had been handed and she started to feel weak in the knees. Part of her still couldn't believe that this was all real. Another part of her was giddy with excitement that her secret fantasy had come true. With these two conflicting thoughts in mind Hotaru warily raised the pen up in the air and said, "Saturn Planet Power, Make Up!" She then felt the rush as an incredible surge of power filled her while her vision was covered in a blinding light.

When Hotaru's vision returned to her she raised her hands and immediately noticed the gloves she was wearing. This caused Hotaru to look over herself as she took in the sights of her new outfit. After Hotaru had quickly accepted the fact that she had transformed into a Sailor Scout she noticed the Silence Glaive that was resting in the bend of her right elbow. She quickly grabbed the Silence Glaive and held it tightly. The weapon/talisman seemed very familiar to Hotaru like it was an old friend or a precious item she hadn't seen in years.

Ranma let Hotaru have a moment of silence so she could mentally process everything that had happened. After that moment was over Ranma said, "This is one of the main reasons why I've been having you train with that naginata sis. I hope you don't feel that I've been manipulating you." Once Hotaru sent Ranma a smile to answer his question he continued on. "Just so you know Hotaru Mom is aware that you are a Sailor Scout just like I am Jovian Paladin. You won't have to worry about keeping this a secret at home because Makoto is Sailor Jupiter. She doesn't know, although I'm sure that she suspects, that you're Sailor Saturn, but she'll find out tonight. Now I think that you and Usagi should turn back into your civilian forms so that we don't attract too much attention. There is much that we still need to talk to you about in regards to the Sailor Scouts."

* * *

Author's Notes: Emperor Akihito is the reigning Emperor of Japan and has been the Emperor since 1990.


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: Attention all people who can't think rationally, I don't own either Ranma or Sailor Moon. For those of you who were already intelligent enough to know that, isn't it sad that we have to announce this?

The inners, Herb, and Setsuna were sitting in Rei's house waiting for Ranma and Usagi to show up. It was about time for the weekly meeting and although the duo weren't late, they were normally here by now. Rei was looking out the door towards the shrine's steps trying to see if she could spot Ranma or Usagi. Just as they were scheduled to being the meeting Rei smiled and said, "I see them coming up the steps now." Everyone then turned to look towards the door and they watched as the duo walked into the room.

Usagi and Ranma quickly took off their shoes and then they sat down on the loveseat that had been left unoccupied for them. Once everyone in the room was sitting down Usagi smiled and said, "Sorry for being late everyone. Ranma and I were delayed because we wanted to make sure that something was working before we told you all about it." The Inners all nodded their heads to show that they forgave the duo while Setsuna and Herb felt that there was nothing to forgive. Setsuna felt this because she had a good hunch about what had held the duo up. On the other hand Herb felt that there was only a very short list of things that he could reprimand Ranma, and by extension Usagi, on and this wasn't on the list.

Seeing that she had everyone's attention Usagi continued on, "For the past few weeks Ranma and I have been exploring the capital of the Silver Millennium." Usagi had to stop talking for a moment because of the various outbursts of surprise from the other Inners. Once the Inners had calmed down a bit Usagi was able to resume speaking. "Ranma and I haven't mentioned this before because it was safer at first if just the two of us explored the ruins. We can transport from the Earth to the Moon by ourselves and could have carried the other if one of us ended up injured. You four on the other hand need all of you in order to perform the Sailor Teleport. If one of you had been injured, Ranma and I would have had to transport all of you back to the Earth."

Ami, Rei, Makoto, and Minako then looked down at the floor with disappointment on their faces. None of them, although with Rei one would have trouble getting her to confess, ever wanted to be a burden to Usagi. They were her friends and her guards; the mere thought that their presence could have potentially caused problems for Usagi was a very painful blow to them. The Inners' reaction wasn't just because of their past lives because Usagi had managed to earn a special place in each of their hearts by her own actions.

Usagi didn't want her friends to be sad and quickly said, "Cheer up girls. The reason why Ranma and I were late is because we were installing a transport pad in his home. With that pad, and any others that we install, you can all go back and forth from here to Argentaniople." She then sat back and watched as the proverbial light bulb turned on for her four friends as they remembered or realized that Argentaniople was the name of the capital city of the Silver Millennium.

Ranma then took over the conversation when all of the scouts had made the connection. "Argentaniople and our new ease in getting to it open up an important option that we all need to talk about. The royal palace in Argentaniople and the immediate grounds around the palace are capable of supporting human life. We can use the transport pads to get our families out of harms way if things go south in the upcoming fight against our unknown adversary. Now we have a way to insure that our families and loved ones are safe, but to do that we need to tell them about what we are."

After Ranma stopped talking the room was so silent that one could have heard the sound of a pin dropping. Inside each of the Inners a fierce mental war was being waged. On the one hand they now had a chance to insure that their families would be safe from harm. Although it had never been brought up all of the Inners had suffered reoccurring nightmares of their families dying because of a monster attack. However, none of them wanted to tell their families because they didn't want their families to worry about them. Also, they were afraid that their parents would try and stop them from fulfilling their duties as Sailor Scouts in some mistaken attempt to protect them.

Slowly Ami, Minako, Rei, and Makoto made up their minds and looked at each other. The other three girls focused their gaze on Minako who politely nodded her head. Minako then turned to face Usagi and she said, "When do we tell our families?"

* * *

Kenji and Ikuko were sitting at the kitchen table having some coffee and just enjoying the quiet moment. Shingo was over at the Saotomes because he was helping Hotaru set up a new game system that Nodoka had gotten. Usagi was upstairs in her room and both the elder Tsukinos figured that Usagi was working on some homework assignment. They deeply loved each other, had a wonderful home and they had two wonderful children. What more could they honestly wish for?

Ikuko then got up and headed over to the coffee pot so that she could refill her and Kenji's coffee cups. Just as Ikuko had grabbed the half-filled coffee pot she noticed Usagi coming down the stairs. With a pleasant smile Ikuko called out, "Hello Usagi. How's your studying coming?"

Usagi walked over to the table and sat down. In her usual cheerful manner she said, "Oh my studying for school is coming along fine Mom. In fact I've finished all of my assignments an hour ago." Immediately after Usagi said this she got polite congratulations from both of her parents. Once the congratulations were over Usagi said, "Mom, Dad, can you come upstairs? I've got something in my room that I want to show you."

The elder Tsukinos quickly looked at each other and nodded their heads. Both of them then turned to look at Usagi and Ikuko said, "Sure then dear. Your father and I will be right up there in just a moment." Usagi gently bit the bottom of her lip for a moment as if she was considering something. She then nodded her head and headed upstairs. Ikuko turned to Kenji and said, "Lets go see what our little rabbit is up to. It's obvious that she's nervous about how we'll take what she wants to show up. However, judging from her body language I don't think it's anything that will cause us to be disappointed in her."

As a concerned father worrying about his only daughter Kenji could come up with a 1001 different things that could have happened to make Usagi nervous about showing something to her parents. Naturally Kenji didn't voice these concerns because he didn't want to upset Ikuko and because 99 of those ideas seemed impossible to him. The two of them then got and headed towards Usagi's room. When they got to Usagi's door Kenji knocked on it and he said, "We're here Usagi. What did you want to show us?"

Usagi then opened the door and cheerfully said, "Come in Mom and Dad, come in." Once Usagi had gotten out of the doorway her parents quickly walked inside and noticed something strange on the floor. It looked like a large square of carpeting had been taken out of Usagi's bedroom floor and had been replaced with another set of carpeting. Only this new carpeting was covered in a giant silver Flower of Life geometric pattern. Kenji and Ikuko were about to comment on the sudden redecoration of the floor when Usagi said, "I know you two have questions. They will be answered shortly, but in order to answer those questions I need you two to step inside the Fower of Life on the floor."

Both of Usagi's parents were deeply worried about what was going on. In the back of their minds they were both wondering how on earth Usagi could have done this renovation so quickly without causing any noise. That fact wasn't helping them deal with the situation at hand. Luckily, both Kenji and Ikuko had better then average tolerance for the bizarre and they were willing to go along with Usagi for now. However, Usagi had better have a VERY good reason for why all of this was happening.

Once the elder Tuskinos were standing inside the Flower of Life Usagi joined them inside the circle. Standing in front of her parents Usagi pulled out a small black oval that looked like it was made out of some time of a mineral. Usagi then brought the oval near her mouth and firmly said, "Jihel'masume, Argentaniople Val'heilma sepritor Selene."

Before either Ikuko or Kenji could as Usagi what she was muttering they noticed a faint glow coming from the ground. The glow was coming from the silver lines that made up the Flower of Life that they were standing on. Both parents were frozen by surprise as they watched the glow from the floor get brighter and brighter. Suddenly the glow turned into a brilliant flash that caused Kenji and Ikuko to close their eyes.

When they opened their eyes both parents noticed that they weren't in Usagi's room anymore. Currently the three Tuskinos were standing on a raised platform next to the wall of a large room. The entire room seemed to be made out of marble and to the Tsukinos' left and right were large marble columns. A rapidly dimming glow coming from the floor alerted the elder Tsukinos to the fact that they were standing in another Flower of Life.

Once the shock of their sudden transportation wore off a bit both of Usagi's parents turned to look at their little girl. Kenji spoke in a very calm manner, actually he wasn't calm at all it was just that he didn't want to frighten Usagi, and said, "Where are we Usagi? Your mother and I aren't going anywhere until we get some answers young lady."

Usagi turned to look at her parents and she nodded her head. In a very quiet manner Usagi said, "I was going to tell you two in just a moment why we're here. Currently we're in the main transport room of the royal palace of the Silver Millennium in the city of Argentaniople." Seeing the slight disbelief and surprise in her parents eyes Usagi sighed and said, "My boyfriend is cursed to turn into a girl with a body that most of my classmates would kill to have. We live in a city that is regularly attacked by various sorts of monsters; so regularly in fact that most people don't even freak out anymore when an attack happens. Is it really that big of a stretch that I would have a magical transporter pad in my bedroom?"

Kenji and Ikuko looked at each other while they considered Usagi's words. When put in that context, a magical transporter pad really wasn't that hard to accept. True it begged the question of HOW Usagi had gotten the magical transporter, but it was still something they could accept. Now the only question on their minds was what was Usagi bringing them into and how far down did this crazy rabbit-hole go?

* * *

Ranma was standing in the royal audience chamber of the palace with his back to the throne watching the small gathering in the room as he waited for Usagi to show up with her parents. Quickly scanning the small group Ranma spotted Shingo standing off to the side talking with Hotaru. Out of those currently in the room who had not been aware of the Sailor Scouts identity Shingo was doing the best with coping with the situation. Rei's grandfather, her father wasn't at the palace, was coming in second place in dealing with being transported to the Moon.

Minako's parents were causing quite the commotion demanding to know what was going on and why they were here. Ami's mother on the other hand seemed to be in some kind of shock as if she thought that all of this just couldn't be real. Ranma was starting to wonder just where Ami and Minako's parents had been these past few months. Honestly, this only a 3 on his weirdness meter which when converted to the average resident of Juban's weirdness meter only came out to a 6.4. Now if there were a dozen or so mooncats doing a rendition of river dance in the audience hall right now then the parents freaking out would be understandable to Ranma.

Just when Ranma was about to go looking for some Advil one of the side doors opened up. All thirteen people in the audience chamber then turned to watch as Usagi and her parents walked into the room. Usagi calmly walked through the small crowd which her parents melted into and she headed towards the empty throne. Everyone watched as Usagi sat down on the throne and her plain working crown appeared on her head. Those with past lives, or information on the Silver Millennium in Nodoka and Herb's cases, knew that the crown had appeared as result of Usagi's magic interacting with the magic in the throne. Shingo and the other new people just wondered why the crown had appeared and figured it had something to do with the situation they were now in.

Looking out on the group in front of her Usagi smiled and softly said, "Welcome everyone. No doubt most of you are wondering what is going on and where exactly you currently are." Usagi then laid her left hand on the armrest of her throne and concentrated. A small silver glow lightly covered her hand and then the stone roof above everyone started to retract. One of the previous queens of the Silver Millennium, Usagi couldn't remember which one at the moment, had always preferred the open air. So during her reign that queen had renovated the roof of the audience chamber so that the stone roof could be retracted so that only a clear crystal secondary roof remained.

Everyone, including Usagi, looked up at the now visible sky and saw the Earth majestically hanging in the sky. Quickly returning her gaze to the assembled group, Usagi noticed that all of the parents except for Nodoka looked like they were about to have a heart attack. Usagi let out a series of polite coughs to focus everyone's attention back on her. Once everyone was looking at her again she continued, "This is not a trick and you are not dreaming. We really are in a palace that is on the Moon. Right now you are probably thinking in your minds that this place cannot exist since scientists would have obviously discovered it by now. For those of you who are thinking this just remember these words: 'There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.'"

"About 10,000 years ago by Earth's calendar a grand magical kingdom was destroyed. Just before she died the last Queen of this kingdom, Queen Serenity IV, cast a spell that would guide the souls of her court as they were reincarnated so that they could more easily regain their former abilities. She did this for many reasons that will not be discussed at this time due to the reasons complex natures. You and everyone else in Juuban already know a bit about some of these reincarnated souls because they are the Sailor Scouts. However, you are all here because you all have a close connection to the Sailor Scouts."

"Princess Mnemosyne of Mercury was reborn as Ami Mizuno and is known as Sailor Mercury. Minako Aino, who is Sailor Venus, is the reincarnation of Princess Astarte of Venus. In her past life Sailor Mars, who in this life goes by Rei Hino, was known as Princess Larentia of Mars. Princess Hippolyta of Jupiter known to everyone as Sailor Jupiter was reborn as Makoto Kino. Princess Hippolyta's son Prince Nephelite of Jupiter and Lord of the Four Moons was reborn as my boyfriend Ranma Saotome and is well known as the Jovian Paladin. For those of you who haven't met me, my name is Usagi Tsukino. You've probably have heard of my alter ego Sailor Moon and in my last life I was Princess Serenity, heir to the Silver Millennium ruled by Queen Serenity IV who in that lifetime was my mother."

"As you might have guessed, most of us have been aware of our past lives for almost two years now. However, it has only been since Ranma joined up with us that I along with the rest of my comrades and friends have been able to have more then a few vague recollections of our past lives. Thanks to this increased awareness about our past lives we were able to locate this palace and collect the transport pads that we used to bring everyone here. We are telling and showing you all of this because we finally have a place that we'll know that you'll be safe at in any future attacks. None of us wanted to keep this hidden from you, but we didn't want to tell you all this until we knew that you could be safe."

Usagi had purposefully neglected to mention that Hotaru was Sailor Saturn and thus the reincarnation of Princess Parvati of Saturn. Currently only she, Nodoka, Ranma, Setsuna, Makoto, and Hotaru herself were aware of exactly who Hotaru truly was. The secrecy surrounding Sailor Saturn was deliberately set up by Usagi so that Hotaru would remain anonymous. Sailor Saturn, due to her WMD magical abilities, was a very important person who needed to be protected and nothing worked better at the moment then anonymity.

* * *

About twenty minutes after Usagi's speech all of the parents and one grandparent were sitting down in a small conference room that they had been led to. This was so that the parents could deal with the shock of everything while near people who had gone through everything that they had gone through. Everyone was sitting at the circular conference table with a cup of hot tea next to them. For a few moments the conference room was silent, but then Mr. Aino broke the silence. In a slightly shell shocked manner he said, "How could something like this happen? What's going on with my little girl? How can we deal with this?"

Nodoka took a sip of her tea and then calmly answered, "That was a rather silly question Mr. Aino." Immediately the Ainos and Mrs. Mizuno glared at Nodoka while the Tsukinos gave their old friend wary glances. After placing her tea cup down on the table Nodoka calmly said, "Must I remind you all about the wheel of reincarnation? It is after all a concept of Buddhism that I am sure you all must know a little bit about. Our children may remember one of their past lives while we do not, but that doesn't mean that they are to be treated differently. They are still our children except that they are hopefully a little wiser then the average teenager."

Shigeru Hino nodded his head and said, "Mrs. Saotome is correct. Our children have been, are, and always will be our children. They just are special in a unique way that we will have to learn to accept. If other parents can easily accept a blind, mute, or a deformed child how can we not accept that our children have this unique condition." The elder Hino's sage words caused everyone else in the room to nod their heads. Carefully fingering his tea cup Shigeru said, "There is one thing however that puzzles me. Why were you so calm Mrs. Saotome? Even given your son's 'unique' situation outside of this business I would have expected you to have some shock at what has happened."

The Ainos and Mrs. Mizuno were confused about what the elder Hino was implying, but Nodoka and the Tsukinos understood what he was saying. Nodoka shrugged her shoulders and replied, "That's because I was already aware of what Usagi just told us." Immediately after Nodoka said that she raised her hand to signal for silence. Then she closed her eyes and explained why she already knew what was going on. "When he first started to aid the Sailor Scouts Ranma was acting independently. It was during this time period where he was working by himself that Ranma revealed that he is the Jovian Paladin to me."

"Once Ranma joined up with the Sailor Scouts I quickly learned most of the other Scouts' identity. If you know who one Sailor Scout is it is very easy to learn who the rest of them are. It is because of this fact that the 'Inners', as our children are sometimes referred to, can be so easily identified as long as just one of them is known that none of them told you earlier. If one Scout revealed herself, the rest of the Scouts and Ranma would have been forcibly revealed as well."

Nodoka then turned to face the Tsukinos and she said, "I really wanted to tell you about Usagi. However, it wasn't my secret to tell. Since I was the only parent who knew about the Scouts, I got to know a good deal about each of them. They may be superheroes, but our children are still children who need the comfort of a parent or a close confidant. As long as we continue to trust our children, understand that they have an unusual life, and provide a shoulder to cry on or an ear to listen to their troubles everything will be alright."

Mrs. Mizuno had been sitting in her seat carefully considering what she had been told and what she had observed so far. Everything that Mrs. Mizuno had seen or heard today made sense to her except for one thing. While it was probably something minor compared to what had been revealed to them, Mrs. Mizuno couldn't get it out of her mind. She needed to know what was going on so that she could fully understand the situation at hand. In a very polite manner Mrs. Mizuno said, "Who was that man standing off to the side in armor and why is he here?"

Suddenly a voice replied out of no where that caused all of the parents to jump in surprise. "That young man's name is Prince Herb of the Musk Dynasty." Everyone then turned to the source of the voice and saw Setsuna leaning against the wall in her Sailor Pluto outfit. Setsuna started walking towards the conference table while she continued to explain. "Herb is here because he and his people are the descendents of one of General Nephrite's, Prince Nephelite's father, legionary companies. The Musk people bound to Ranma Saotome as his warriors and subjects due to their ancestors' oaths of loyalty to General Nephrite."

Mrs. Aino then spoke up, "You mean to tell me that because of an oath given by an ancestor over 10,000 years ago that boy Herb is Ranma's subject? That's absurd! No sane person would honor a promise made 10,000 years ago even if that person somehow managed to live that long. How can these Musk people be treated seriously if they do such a thing and to someone who's the reincarnation not the actual person to whom the promise was made to?"

A tic started to develop over Setsuna's eyebrow as she listened to Minako's mother go on and on. Finally Setsuna had enough and she coldly said, "I would suggest child that you think before you speak. The Musk people take their honor very seriously. It does not to them that the vow of loyalty was given over 10,000 years ago to General Nephrite. The vow was inherited by Prince Nephelite who is Ranma Saotome. And as for your assumption that no sane person would honor a promise made over 10,000 years ago well," Setsuna then stood up before continuing on. "I AM over 10,000 Earth years old and sanity has never once in my life been called into question. My Name is Princess Setsuna of Pluto also known to those aware of my existence as Sailor Pluto and the sole survivor of the Silver Millennium. As the heir to the Silver Throne, Usagi has my loyalty and my allegiance."

* * *

Usagi, along with her parents and Shingo, was walking silently towards her quarters in the palace. Currently the Tuskinos were alone because each family was having some private time to themselves so that both parent and child could come to terms with the new dynamic in their relationships. When the four of them arrived at the door to Usagi's quarters Usagi turned around and said, "These are the royal quarters of the lunar palace. Since I am the princess regent of the Silver Millennium, even though that kingdom technically doesn't exist for now, these are now my quarters in the palace. This will offer us a nice quiet place to talk. Please be patent if I seem distant at times while we talk. I occasionally have flashes when I'm in here about my lifetime as Princess Serenity."

Kenji and Ikuko looked at each other and nodded their heads. After Setsuna had chewed Mrs. Aino out at the conference Nodoka had given everyone an in depth crash course in how to help your child deal with sudden memories from a past life. One of the biggest things that Nodoka had stressed was the fact that memories involving a person's relationships with other people in their past life can be especially distressing when confronted with the present life's equivalent relationships. Considering the fact that Nodoka lived with the person who was her son's mother in another lifetime, everyone was willing to accept her word at face value.

The Tsukinos walked into Usagi's home away from home and sat down in the small sitting area of the quarters. Shingo let out a small whistle as he looked around the room and said, "Great place sis. I knew you would eventually go somewhere with your life once you got your act together. However, I never expected you to get this far in your life." Shingo's honest praise caused Usagi to blush slightly since she had never expected it.

Ikuko looked around and then said, "Your brother is right Usagi you have come very far." After she said this Ikuko's eye caught sight a painting that was hanging on a wall. She had spotted the painting because it stood out from the mural on the wall behind it. The painting showed a woman with lavender hair wearing regal clothing standing next to a similarly dress near-middle aged man. Between the two adults was a little girl who was wearing a small version of the dress that the woman in the painting wore. When she looked at the face of the little girl in the painting Ikuko felt like she was looking at a ghost. It was Usagi there in the painting staring back at her.

Very quickly Ikuko closed her eyes and reminded herself that the room she was in had belonged to Princess Serenity's mother. It was perfectly reasonable to expect that the queen would have had some sort of family photo or in this case a family portrait done. Even though Ikuko intellectually knew that she should have expected to see such an image, she had been unprepared for Usagi and Princess Serenity to look so much like."

Usagi noticed her mother's gaze and the subsequent confusion that followed. Since Usagi knew the exact layout of her quarters, it wasn't that hard to figure out what had caused this reaction. In soft voice Usagi said, "So you noticed that painting over there. I must admit that I was surprised as well when I saw it. Everyone else looks slightly different then they did in their past life although they still look pretty much the same. I hope it doesn't cause you any trouble Mom and Dad."

Kenji shook his head and said, "The fact that you look just like you did in your last lifetime doesn't bother us Usagi. I will admit that it is a little strange, but it's not nearly as strange as when I first saw Ranma's curse activate." Shingo gave a little snort of agreement at that, but he didn't say anything. Then with an uncertain tone Kenji said, "Usagi, what was your personal life like back in the Silver Millennium? How were things when you weren't in the public's eye?"

It was obvious to Usagi that her father wanted to know about Queen Serenity and King Priam, but was too afraid to say it. Not that Usagi blamed him because she knew that she would have been curious if she was in her father's position. With a gentle smile Usagi said, "Back in the Silver Millennium, Mother and Father were very busy all the time. It just came with the job of ruling a kingdom. However, they both tried to spend mealtimes and at least one hour a day with me. Once, or occasionally twice if things were running smoothly, a month Mother and Father would schedule an entire day where we could just be a family without the hassles that came with being the high royal family. I really think that you would have gotten along great with Mother and Father if you could have met them Mom and Dad."

Both Ikuko and Kenji felt a twinge of jealousy when they first heard Usagi refer to Queen Serenity and King Priam as mother and father. However, that jealousy was quickly destroyed since it was obvious that Usagi loved both them and her past life's parents equally. They would just have to learn to share their daughter's parental affections with the ghosts of her past. Not that this was really surprising to the elder Tsukinos or all that difficult given how big Usagi's heart was. Besides, compared to what Nodoka had to deal with they got off easy.

* * *

Author's Note: on the Silver Millennium names of the scouts: Mnemosyne is the mother of the muses. Astarte is the name of a Semitic goddess of sex and fertility. Larentia is the name of a minor goddess who helped Romulus found Rome in several myths. Hippolyta is the name frequently used as the name of the Amazonian queen in Greek mythology. Parvati is the name of the Hindu god Shiva's wife.


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: If I owned Ranma or Sailor Moon thing would have been different for those series. For example the Scouts would have had better advisors then a pair of amnesic cats.

Ranma walked into the family dinning room/kitchen just as Nodoka, Makoto, and Hotaru were setting the table for breakfast. He felt very embarrassed that he had slept in while the girls of the house were preparing breakfast. However, in Ranma's defense he had been up late last night helping Usagi and Setsuna repair a few small problems that had cropped up in the repair robots. Only he and those two had any real experience and/or memory of working with the magical constructs to be of any use in taking care of the problem for now.

The other Inners had started to study the techno-magical nature of the Silver Millennium, but none of the areas those four were looking at handled the repair robots. Even if they were interested in repairing the robots there was still the fact that their frills could get caught on the machines. That was why Ranma was up so late; he was the only one who could do the repairs without worrying about his uniform catching on something.

Just as Ranma sat down in his usual spot Makoto came around and set a full plate down in front of him. Turning to look at Makoto Ranma said, "Thanks Auntie." Makoto started to frown and then Ranma blinked his eyes. With a confused look on his face Ranma said, "What? I've been calling you Aunt Makoto for weeks now. Why are you bugged about in now?"

Makoto then lightly smacked Ranma on the head with two fingers and said, "It's Aunt Makoto or Makoto to you nephew not Auntie. Unlike Nodoka, I don't like being referred to as Auntie by others. Or do I need to bring out 'Mr. Oberon' to remind you Ranma?" When Ranma heard Makoto mention Nephelite's favorite stuffed animal his cheeks started to become red from embarrassment. He could take on the Orrochi dead tired and win. However his mom, both past and present, was the one person(s) he could never hope to best.

Nodoka then spoke up and said, "Enough of that you two its time to eat." The four members of the Saotome household then sat down and started to eat breakfast. After Nodoka had eaten about a third of her meal she said, "So son, are you ready for the tournament today?"

Ranma resisted the urge to smack his head because he forgot that today was the day of the Juuban preliminaries. Forgetting that today was the day of the tournament wasn't all that serious for Ranma considering the fact that he hadn't planed on or needed a special training routine for the tournament. Still, it was rather embarrassing for Ranma to forget these things.

Not wanting anyone to realize that he had forgotten about the tournament Ranma calmly and promptly replied, "Yes I'm ready. Between Me, Ryoga, and Herb, our school is assured to win the preliminaries if not the whole tournament. Now I'm not saying that our other two teammates, whoever they are, and the competition are losers. It's just if any of the other people at the tournament saw one of our full-out fights they would probably think that they had been teleported into a martial arts manga." Everyone else at the table nodded their heads and they had to agree with Ranma's statement. While everyone living in Juuban was pretty much desensitized to monster attacks, the same couldn't be said about ridiculously over powered martial artists.

Nodoka then said, "I'm very glad to hear that you are so confident son. Just try and remember to not underestimate your opponents because that could cost you the tournament. After Ranma nodded his head to show that he understood Nodoka continued on, "By the way Ranma. I have invited your father to come to the tournament."

Upon hearing that his father might show up Ranma started to get nervous. He then looked at his mother and asked, "Was that a good idea mom? No offense, but Pops and I didn't depart under the best of circumstances. Wouldn't he just try to force me back to Nerima in order to 'unite the schools?' I really don't want to have to mess up a good tournament just to correct that old panda."

Nodoka shook her head and replied, "Don't be so quick to assume that your father would do that Ranma. Now before you bring up your personal experiences, I've been in contact with Doctor Tofu ever since you arrived here. According to the doctor, Genma has become very repentant over what he did you since the incident that sent you here. It is my hope that you and he can put your problems in the past so that all five of us can be a family. Please Ranma; try to get along with your father for my sake?"

This news caused Ranma to pause and think. Part of him, the part that resented the neko-ken and all the other bonehead training sessions, didn't want to believe that Genma could be repentant about anything. Ranma did love Genma, but at the same time he held a great deal of mistrust towards his father. Finally after a few minutes Ranma sighed and said, "Okay Mom, I'll try to get along with Pops. However if he tries anything funny then Usagi will be getting a custom Panda fur coat."

* * *

Genma walked up to the front door of the small stadium that was hosting the Juuban preliminaries and presented his ticket. Instead of his usual dirty gi Genma was wearing a black hamaka and a clean blue silk shirt. He had figured that it would be a good idea to dress up today. At the very least it would show that he had some respect for the fact that Ranma was entering the tournament.

After consulting his ticket stub a few times Genma was able to make his way over to his seating area. Just as Genma turned the corner he spotted Ranma sitting on the ledge between the seating and where the contestants were to wait talking to a lovely young girl. Although Genma tried to keep up his tough macho façade, a single tear slid down his check. The sight of Ranma hugging the blond pig-tailed girl and the two sharing a gentle chaste kiss really affected Genma. Suddenly a voice behind Genma said, "It brings back memories doesn't it Genma?"

Recognizing the voice that was talking to him Genma replied, "It sure does Nodoka." The pudgy marital artist then turned around to face his estranged wife. With a far away look in his eye Genma continued, "Twenty-three years ago in the lot behind nutty Natsume's shop. Those two foreigners in the exchange program didn't understand how they were supposed to treat a lady. I can still remember how you cheered me on as I fought those two. That day was the day-"

Nodoka smiled and calmly finished Genma sentence, "It was the day that I kissed you for the first time." She then smiled and continued on, "You had been trying to get my attention since school had started the previous semester. How many idiotic things did you try that year to get me to notice you, twenty, forty, or was it sixty?"

Genma then blushed and said, "In my defense, the clown suit riding the unicycle was Soun's idea. Come to think of it, I think he suggested it just to see if I was desperate enough to actually try it." Nodoka started to giggle a little as she remembered that particular stunt that Genma had tried. Once she had stopped giggling Genma said more solemnly, "Sorry for not acting like a good husband Nodoka. I've truly been a jackass for the last decade plus."

Seeing the honest repentance on Genma's face Nodoka gently kissed Genma on the cheek and said, "All is forgiven dear. I think you've managed to make up for your past mistakes. Besides, it all seems to have worked out in the end. Ranma seems to have forgiven you as well, but I don't think that he will ever forget."

With a small sigh leaving his lips Genma said, "I deserve far worse then I've suffered Nodoka. Being viewed with a little mistrust by Ranma isn't that high of a price compared to I should have to pay. At least I have the comfort of knowing that he has turned out alright in the end. It's also great to see that the boy has a girlfriend who loves him."

This remark made Nodoka smile and she said, "The two are very much in love. In fact, Usagi isn't put off by Ranma's curse and I've seen her kiss Ranma on the lips when he was in his cursed form. According to what Ikuko's pumped out of Usagi, the little dear wouldn't leave Ranma if his curse got locked and she normally doesn't swing that way. When Usagi looks at Ranma in his cursed form she doesn't see a boy in a girl's body or something like that, she just sees the person that she's in love with."

Genma started to smile a bit when he heard Nodoka say that. Thanks to the locking ladle incident Genma had become aware, even if it was only in nightmares, of the possibility of Ranma being stuck as a girl. Before Genma had only been mildly worried about this possibility because of the fact that it would have stopped all hope for the family line to continue. Even at his worst back then Genma wouldn't have tried to engage Ranma to a guy. At least, he sincerely hopped that he hadn't been that depraved and thoughtless that he could have done that.

Speaking of the locking lade, Genma suddenly noticed one of the other competitors that was on Ranma's team. Although Genma had only actually seen Herb's girl form, he was still able to id the Musk prince. In a nervous whisper Genma said as he pointed to Herb, "Nodoka, what is that boy doing here?"

Nodoka followed Genma's finger to where Herb was standing and she smiled. "Don't worry dear," Nodoka said in a soothing manner, "Herb isn't about to cause any trouble for Ranma. He's here as an exchange student because his father decided that the prince needed to expand his horizons. In fact, Herb and Ranma have become very good friends since Herb came back to Japan. You see that medallion that Ranma is wearing?" Genma glanced over to Ranma and saw the pendant hanging from the boy's neck. After Nodoka saw that Genma and seen the medallion she said, "It was a gift of Herb. That medallion states that Ranma now has a position in the upper levels of the Musk hierarchy."

Not knowing what to say, Genma decided to stay quiet. It was something new that Genma had started to do since he and Ranma had parted paths. To Genma's surprise he had found that over 80 of his problems could be prevent if he just took a step back and thought about the situation. This trick didn't work on the other 20 because that was from his earlier problems finding him.

To Genma's surprise, Nodoka latched onto his arm and said, "Now why don't we go down and talk with everybody dear. This is supposed to be a family event after all. Besides, I want you to meet our daughter Hotaru. She's a little frail, but she is just the sweetest person you will ever meet. And you should see how Ranma looks after her. If you didn't know better you could swear that they were biological siblings." And so ready or not, Genma was lead down to where the rest of the family was at.

* * *

Just as Ranma placed a small kiss on Usagi's cheek he noticed his father walking towards him. Part of Ranma was angered that his father was walking next to his mother. This was mainly because in his mind the two ways of parenting that Nodoka and Genma represented were opposites. Thus to that part of Ranma his mother and his father shouldn't be that close. However, the more rational part of Ranma accepted that his mother was trying to repair the Saotome family. As long as Pops didn't do anything stupid, Ranma's more rational part reasoned, he would be courteous as well. Besides, another part of Ranma really wanted Genma's repentance to be genuine.

Ranma was brought out of his introspection by Usagi tightening her hug slightly. The tightened hug didn't hurt Ranma at all, but it did remind him that he had Usagi there with him. After receiving that reminder, Ranma turned to look strait into Usagi's eyes. For a moment the two of them just looked at each other as if they were discussing something. Once the moment passed Usagi nodded her head and walked over to Nodoka. Usagi said hello to Genma and then she politely directed Nodoka away.

Now without their better halves, the Father-Son duo just silently stared at each other. There was an uncomfortable air of tension surrounding the duo as neither was quite sure how they should start this conversation. Finally Genma broke down and said, "It's good to see you Ranma. Your mother has told me a little bit about how things have gone for here in Juuban. I know that you probably won't believe me, but I'm proud of you Ranma. You've grown into a young man of good character and you managed to find a very good girlfriend. Hang on to her son because a good woman like your girlfriend or your mother is something very special."

Genma's comment about Nodoka and Usagi being very special hit a nerve for Ranma. While he fully agreed that Nodoka and Usagi were special, the younger Saotome was angered that his father said that given what the elder Saotome had done. In a frosty tone Ranma said, "What gives you the right to say that Pops? You LEFT mom 10 years ago and dragged me along with you! If mom was so special to you, why did you leave? Why?" At this point Ranma's anger had left him and he was starting to cry. Ranma wasn't speaking as a young man; he was speaking like a hurt and scared child.

The hurt and pain in Ranma's voice cut at Genma's heart even more then Ranma's words had. With his head bowed low Genma said, "Ranma, I messed up. During my training journeys with the master I started to pick up a few of his bad habits particularly when it came to responsibility. When I first started planning our trip it was only supposed to be a few weeks. But then, things started to come up at home that I was having trouble dealing with. Even though those problems had mostly been solved by the time our trip was supposed to start I got scared and used the trip as an excuse to get out of there. I honestly thought at the time that after two months you and I would return home. However, once we were on the road the fear of those problems occurring again hit me."

Genma then kneeled in front of Ranma and said, "I am so sorry son. After we had started the training trip I pretty much fell into what I remembered from my old training trips. Every time I did something stupid to you because of 'The Art' it hurt me, but I always rationalized it as something that was needed. Even so, I did feel guilt at what I did to you and that guilt drove me stay farther away from your mother. Because I stayed farther away from your mother I mimicked the master's training more and more. It was a vicious circle that you were the victim of. I don't think that I can ever repay you for what I did to you, but I hope you can find it within you to give me the chance to try."

Slowly Ranma's face softened as he listened to what his father told him. While Genma's actions at times had been almost inexcusable, Ranma could understand why they had occurred. It also cleared something up for Ranma that had been bugging him for some time now. When his parents married his father apparently didn't act like Ranma remembered the man acting during the last years of the trip. Pops, at least how Ranma view his father, was the result of a decade of problems spiraling out of control. Now that Po-, er, his father had started to correct those problems Ranma was willing to try and help. Ranma placed and on his father's shoulder and said, "Hey Dad, let's go talk to the rest of the family for a few minutes before matches start."

* * *

The stadium was packed to the brim with people who had come to watch the tournament. When it was time for the tournament to start the lights in the stadium dimmed so that the referee under a single overhead light was much more noticeable. This referee tapped his mike and said, "Welcome ladies and gentlemen to the First Special Wards Scholastic Martial Arts Tournament. You here today will get to watch the Juuban preliminaries to see which team will go on to represent Juuban in the Finals. Before this tournament can begin I have been asked by the sponsors to say a few words about this tournament."

"This tournament was created in order to show that even in these modern times there are still those young people who carry the spirit of the ancient warriors of Japan. In these modern times the ways of those old warriors may seem obsolete, but we must never forget them. Because, if we forget those warriors and what they truly stood for we forget an important part of whom we are as a people. All participants of this tournament are students from the local high schools who have been trained in at least one form of the martial arts. It does not matter what form of martial art the student practices be it kendo, kempo, other eastern arts like tai chi, or even western arts like kickboxing. All forms are accepted here because even if the form is different, the spirit is still the same."

"Naturally, such an all-encompassing tournament may seem a bit hectic so let me explain the rules. The members of the various teams will fight in one-on-one matches between two teams. As soon a member of one team is knocked out, steps outside the ring, or surrenders, another member of the team will take that person's place. A team will be eliminated when all five members have either lost the same round or none of the team members are fit to continue on as determined by the doctors standing by. All weapons users are using non-lethal training versions of their particular weapon or weapons of choice. Other then those few rules this tournament is a free for all. Now let's enjoy the SHOW!"

After the applause of the crowd died down the ref/announcer said, "And now for the first set of matches. Our contestants are the team from Takeuchi High School verses the team from Togashi High School. Starting of the line up for Takeuchi High for this round we have Ranma Saotome while his opponent from Togashi High is Sai Minamoto. According to the bios on their sign up sheets, Ranma Saotome practices his family's version of Anything Goes Marital Arts which is a primarily aerial art form while Sai Minamoto is a master of bojutsu."

Ranma and Sai walked onto the raised circular ring and politely bowed to each other. Instantly afterward the two of them took defensive stances and started to circle around each other. After a few circles around the ring Ranma started to do a few faints so he could judge Sai's abilities. Each faint was carefully chosen by Ranma to test Sai's reaction time and how good the staff user was at reading his movements.

Once Ranma had felt that he knew enough about Sai's abilities he made his move. Leaping high into the air Ranma made it almost painfully obvious that he was aiming for a head kick. Sai, just like Ranma hoping, immediately swung his staff to hit Ranma in mid-air. Then when the staff was less then a foot away from him, Ranma grabbed it with both hands. He then used his momentum to flip over the staff and hit Sai in the small of his back with both feet.

Sai was a very good martial artist and many of the students at Togashi High respected him for his skills. However, Sai had never heard of, or even suspected, the move that Ranma had just used. Thus he was completely unprepared for the attack and between it and his collision with the ring he was knocked out. Ranma in the mean time got off of Sai's back and casually swung the boy over his shoulders. He then carried Sai over to the Togashi High end of the ring and handed the unconscious boy to the other members of the Togashi team. Those team members carefully carried Sai over to the nurse station and were now very nervous about their upcoming fights.

* * *

Unknown to anyone, Genma had picked up an unwanted shadow from Nerima. Shampoo had been watching the Tendo house in order to look for signs of where Ranma had gone. Ranma had been gone for almost two days before she had found out that he was missing. Even though the Amazon Champion didn't want to admit it even in her mind those two days had been more then enough time for Ranma's trail to disappear amid the chaos of the city. So she had been left with no other option except to watch the Tendo dojo and pray that Ranma would contact the occupants of the house.

Finally just before Shampoo was going to give up hope of getting anything out of the dojo, a letter had been delivered to Genma. Shampoo hadn't been able to get her hands on that letter, but she knew from her observations that what it contained was important to the Panda Man. Going by what she knew of the lazy bum, the purple haired warrior figured that the letter must have something to do with Ranma. So Shampoo had watched Genma like a hawk and waited to see what he was going to do. When the portly man left his normal routine today Shampoo had activated her curse and carefully followed him.

And just like she had hopped, Genma had led her strait to Ranma. However, Shampoo had become enraged when she saw that blonde floozy hanging off of Ranma. He was hers by Amazon law! She had put up with Spatula Girl and Kitchen Destroyer trying to get Ranma since they did have a claim on her husband. Even though Amazon Law was far superior to Japanese Law, Shampoo did recognize that she would have to show some respect for those inferior laws. Her grandmother had insisted on that point so thoroughly that even Mousse, blind bat that he was, would have understood.

But this, this, this bimbo didn't have an arraigned marriage with Ranma! Shampoo knew that because about a month before Ranma had left Nerima she had managed to extract a list of all the girls that Genma had engaged Ranma to. While the list was very extensive, none of the girls on the list except for Spatula Girl and Kitchen Destroyer lived in Tokyo. That meant that the urchin hanging off of her husband was a poacher and if there was one thing that an Amazon couldn't tolerate it was a poacher, especially of the relationship kind.

At first Shampoo had wanted to go in charging to show that blonde that you don't try to steal an Amazonian husband. Sadly for that plan, her cat body was not that intimidating and she knew it. This had given Shampoo enough time to cool off to make up a new plan. She would watch the tournament from her current spot up here on the hanging ceiling lights and then follow her husband back to wherever he was staying at. If that floozy tried to get it the way, well obstacles had to be removed one way or the other.

Suddenly a voice from behind Shampoo said, "What do you think you are doing Shampoo of the Chinese Amazons?" Since Shampoo had never expected to meet anyone up here, much less someone who knew her name, she lost 8 of her nine lives to fright. Quickly turning around to face whoever was talking to her, Shampoo was shocked to see a black cat with a crescent moon on its forehead. This made the Amazon a little nervous because she had never heard of a cat like creature that could talk.

Luna looked at Shampoo and thought about how she could take care of this whole mess. Thanks to scanning Ranma's mind and a few talks with Pluto the lunar advisor knew that Shampoo could be a major thorn in the Sailor Scouts side. A thorn that could cause the Sailor Scouts too much trouble if the unknown enemy started to make its move. When Luna had spotted the purple haired cat she had become determined to stop that problem from happening. Hopefully, Shampoo would be willing to listen to reason.

After carefully thinking about what she should say Luna said, "Look Shampoo, Things are very different here in Juuban then they were in Nerima. Ranma doesn't want anything to do with the people living in Juuban including you. I've heard him say that many times as I've watched him from the shadows. The young man seems to be a good catch as far you human girls are concerned, but you won't be able to catch him. He doesn't want you Shampoo."

There purple haired cat's response to this was to shake her head. Luna then decided to try a slightly different approach. In a much more serious tone Luna said, "What will you do Shampoo when you go down there, try to hug Ranma, and he refuses your advances? Will you try to 'remove the obstacle' and hurt someone that is very precious to Ranma? How do you think he will feel if you attack that girl he was holding earlier? Do you think that he will just sit back and let you hurt her?"

"You know that the answer to that is No. Ranma will not allow you to hurt anyone precious to him, especially that girl. If any harm fall on her head you you're the cause Shampoo, Ranma will hunt you down and KILL you. Don't think for a second that if that if that situation came up that you can use your fellow Amazons as a shield to hide from Ranma's wrath. Not only is Ranma fare stronger then you remember, but he has joined the Musk Dynasty. Do you really think that the elders of your tribe will allow you to continue chasing after Ranma when it will risk a war with the Musk?"

Shampoo heard what the talking cat was saying and refused to listen to the words. There was no way that an Amazon husband, even one as unorthodox as Ranma, would ever ally themselves with the Musk. Who'd want to join a bunch of chauvinistic half animal men? This creature, she reasoned, must be some sort of demon sent to confuse and mislead her. Obviously the floozy was some sort of witch who had sent this creature out to try and keep her away from Ranma. The witch was probably afraid that the presence of his wife would break the spell he was under. Once this demon was taken care of, Shampoo vowed, she'd move on to taking care of the witch.

Luna saw the look in Shampoo's eyes as the purple haired cat hissed and the moon cat knew that diplomacy had failed. She then slowly unsheathed a single claw on her right front paw. Just as Luna had suspected Shampoo leapt towards her with claws fully extended and teeth bared. With surprisingly graceful skill Luna rolled away from Shampoo and nicked the purple cat with her single claw. Almost instantly Shampoo felt her muscles freeze up and she collapsed onto her side.

With a sad resigned look on her face Luna walked over to Shampoo and felt for the other cat's pulse. Shampoo was dead just like Luna had expected. The poison sealed within that claw was potent enough to kill an elephant. As a secret member of palace security, Luna had sometimes had to remove dangerous members of the Lunar Court. She then mournfully said, "I really didn't want to do this Shampoo. From what I've heard you could have been lived to be a great person. However, you just had to have things your way and damn the consequences." Even if she had sometimes had to kill dangerous individuals that were attempting to overthrow the government, Luna had never liked this business. The only reason why she had been a secret member of palace security was because of her unparallel access to the Queen and the royal family.

Burning the location of Shampoo's death into her mind, Luna left to go back to Usagi. She would return in the evening to remove and dispose of Shampoo's body. Anyone who knew Shampoo would notice the girl missing, spend a few days, weeks, or even months searching for the girl, and then decide that she had run away. No one, especially Usagi or Ranma, would know what had occurred here today and the true events surrounding Shampoo's disappearance. Never again would another Beryl rise up, at least, not if Luna could help it.


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I don't own Ranma or Sailor Moon. I read them in the library or online.

Minako was woken up by her alarm clock and then she proceeded to get ready for the day. Once she had finished getting dress the princess of Venus headed downstairs. When Minako got downstairs she saw her parents sitting down at the table waiting for her with breakfast sitting on the table. The youngest member of the Aino family quickly joined her parents at the table and then the family started to eat breakfast.

The revelation that Minako was Sailor Venus had had a profound effect on the Aino household. It had forced Mr. and Mrs. Aino to take a good hard look at their lives and their priorities. Much to their cringe, the elder Ainos had found out that they had become very self-absorbed. For the past few years the family had really been a trio of individuals who lived under the same roof rather then an actual family. Mr. Aino had been focused on his business career, Mrs. Aino on her social life, and Minako had been busy with her Scout business. After being forced to see how they were acting, the Ainos had come together and repaired the damage they had been doing to themselves.

Now they hadn't become some sort picture perfect ideal family. However, the Ainos had become a lot closer to each other and they really were a family now. If Minako had known that her parents would have become closer as a consequence of revealing that she was Sailor Venus she probably would have tried to reveal this to them years ago. Only Artemis knew, but Minako had been slightly jealous of Usagi and how close the princess was with her parents. The closeness that she now shared with her parents was like a dream come true.

Sure there were some things about her parent's increased attention to her that could get annoying. Her parents constantly wanting to know where she had been wherever she went out was at the top of the list of things that were annoying. Still, even those requests about where she was made Minako feel good because it showed that her parents cared about her. No matter what they might try to show on TV, having parents who are interested in your day was far preferable to parents who didn't care what their child did.

During the breakfast conversation Mr. Aino said, "Minako dear, I was reading the newspaper earlier today and I found something that might be a little worrisome. Hopefully I'm overreacting, but it might have some connection with your Scout business." Instantly Minako turned and gave her father her undivided attention. Mr. Aino continued on saying, "According the Yomiuri Shimbun there has been a suspicious drop in the number of homeless people living in the Wards. In fact, the number of homeless people is the lowest it's been in a century."

Instantly alarm bells started to go off in Minako's head as several facts connected in her mind. There was an enemy out there that they currently had no information. Happosai had been turned into some sort of half daemonic entity that had been labeled a hanyo. People all over Tokyo were mysteriously disappearing. Minako might not be the sharpest knife in the drawer and she knew it. However, even she could tell that something was stinky in Detroit. Nodding her head she said, "Thanks for telling me this dad. This is a very important piece of news that I plan to tell everyone at the meeting today."

* * *

The typical crew was sitting in the shrine listening to what Minako was telling them about the possible connection to the upcoming threat. When Minako was finished speaking an uncomfortable silence descended upon the group. Setsuna was the first person to recover and she said somberly, "This isn't good. There are over 8 million people living in the special wards alone. I don't know the exact demographics, but to see a major drop in the homeless people we have to be talking about hundreds possibly even thousands. If these people are being turned into hanyos then we'll be facing a very dangerous enemy."

Ami then decided to add her own thoughts on the situation. "What makes this all the more dangerous is the fact that we don't know how strong these hanyos could possibly be or if their power levels differ at all. There are only two things I can say about the hanyos given what I could learn from Happosai. First is that Happosai's transformation can best be described as 'experimental' like his body was used as a test bed to see what worked and what didn't. The other thing is that if the process used on Happosai was used on an ordinary person without any modifications then the person's physical abilities would improve by 400-500 and they were gain magical attacks. How strong those magical attacks would be I can't say for sure, but I suspect that the attacks could possibly be as strong as the attacks that the possessed Jadeite or Nephrite used when we confronted them."

Usagi's face hardened as she thought about what all of this could mean when they battled whoever their new enemy was. Turning to Setsuna Usagi said, "Get Neptune and Uranus back here ASAP. If they refuse to come or if they refuse to follow my orders precisely in this situation, then they're gone. I'm going to need every available soldier I can get and I will need to be able to trust that my orders will be follow. If that's too inconvenient for them then I'll declare their thrones forfeit and grant their worlds to more worthy individuals."

While all of the other Scouts winced at the thought of loosing their status as Sailor Scouts, Setsuna was the only Scout who truly understood what Usagi had just decreed. Correction, Usagi knew exactly what she was saying and what the consequences would be. The look in the princess's eye as she made the decree stated that to Setsuna. If there other members of the royal houses of Neptune and Uranus then the process would relatively harmless to Haruka and Michiru. In fact if this was the case then Haruka and Michiru still would be able to transform into their senshi forms.

However, all of the Scouts except for Makoto were the sole members of the planetary royal houses living. If Usagi divested one of them of their powers then the princess would be declaring that particular house extinct and elevating a new house to the position. Such things were almost unheard of for most of the Silver Millennium's existence though it did happen every so often during the earlier periods of the Millennium. The backlash that resulted from having the mana lines forcibly closed because of house being declared extinct was horrible for the person it was done to. According to the ancient records all the individuals who had had their houses declared extinct died rather quickly from something akin to severe radiation poisoning because of the backlash. It was said that not even a constant full powered healing spell from the Silver Crystal could save or resurrect those who died in that manner.

Forcing herself to think of less gruesome things, Setsuna hummed for a moment. She then said, "While I agree that Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune would be helpful, I am still worried. This new enemy has so far used a completely new set of tactics and we have no reason to believe that the enemy will use more familiar tactics in battle. If the enemy strikes en mass we could very well die even with the other Outers including Saturn helping us. What we need most are other options to help defend the city."

Herb's eyes light up and he said, "The General's Armory." Seeing the looks of confusing that he was receiving from everyone else in the room Herb started to clarify. "The Founders of the Musk Dynasty as you know were the remains of General Nephrite's army. My ancestor, the first King of the Musk, gathered as many of the old Earth Kingdom's weapons as he could and sealed them in various armories across the globe set so they could only be opened by Prince Nephelite's reincarnation. The largest of those armories is located in the heart of the Musk dynasty and is known as the General's Armory. It is believed that the armory was originally the main armory used by General Nephrite when he had to operate in the Far East. No one knows exactly what's in the Armory, but it is our best bet at finding something that could help us."

Setsuna immediately nodded her head and said, "He's right princess it is our best bet. The old Earth Kingdom along with the previous Terran realms that eventually formed the Kingdom had a lot of firepower. If it wasn't for the simple facts that Terrans didn't have a way of creating their own interplanetary transport system and the fact that they weren't sure if our ancestors hadn't woven any sort of 'surprises' in the biospheres of our worlds then the Terrans could have conquered the Silver Millennium if they wanted to."

Seeing the look of shock on the most of her friends faces Setsuna elaborated. "The Sailor Senshi might have been far stronger then any Terran Soldier, but they were only 9 warriors. When it came to foot soldiers the Earth Kingdom had more, theirs were better trained, and better armed then the Silver Millennium. This was partially because the Earth Kingdom believed that the best way to preserve peace was to prepare for war while the Silver Millennium set its military up as more of a peacekeeping force against occasional daemonic raids. Metallia provided Beryl with a way to get to the Silver Millennium and a way to control the Earth Kingdom Armies. During The Fall the Youma that Beryl controlled were mainly used as distractions and sabotage."

Usagi forced her surprise at Setsuna's revelation down and said, "We need to get those weapons. Even a bunch of swords charmed to be able to cut daemonic creatures would be helpful at this point. Ranma and Herb should teleport over to the Musk Lands and check out that armory. Setsuna, after you send Neptune and Uranus back our way I want you go contact the Emperor and tell him all that we know. Hopefully the armory will have some weapons that we can distribute to the JSDF and the local police. Everyone else, we'll alert our families that we might need to evacuate and then I want all of us to start combing the Palace's library. Maybe there's something there that we can use." With that said the meeting ended and everyone left to go to their posts.

* * *

Lime and Mint were standing in the courtyard of the Musk Palace bored with their guard duty. Herb's father King Tso had the two of them doing a lot of unpleasant guard duties for the past few months. Neither of them liked latrine duty and the like, but they understood that they were in deep shit with King Tso for messing up Herb's meeting with his then perspective bride. The fact that they had been promoted to palace guard duty showed that at least the King wasn't going to cleave their heads if he saw them. Still, guard duty was extremely boring and both of them were wishing that something would happen.

As the old saying goes, be careful what you wish for because you just might get it. Thanks to their animal heritages Lime and Mint were alerted to the rapid buildup of magic a second before they saw a blinding flash of light. Quickly recovering from their surprise, Lime and Mint got into attack positions if whoever had caused the light was hostile. Suddenly they heard Herb's voice hollering out, "Too slow you two. Have you been letting your skills rust ever since I went away?"

Both of Herb's bodyguards blinked their eyes and then said, "Lord Herb? You've returned?" They then looked at where the bright light had been and saw Herb and Ranma standing in front of them. Herb was wearing his usual dragon hide armor while Ranma was in his Jovian Paladin uniform with his Warlord medallion showing. Lime and Mint quickly noticed the medallion and said in reverent tones, "Lord Herb is he?"

Herb nodded his head and said, "This is Ranma Saotome, the reincarnation of Prince Nephelite." To Ranma's surprise Lime and Mint immediately fell to their knees before him and then proceeded to prostrate themselves towards him. Ranma turned to Herb and silently pleaded with the dragon prince to do something about the prostrated guards. Herb shrugged his shoulders knowing that there was nothing he could do about his guards. While not all the Musk would be as expressive as Lime and Mint were towards Ranma, the emotions they were showing were pretty much standard among the Musk.

Quickly turning to face the palace doors Herb said, "Let's hurry Ranma. My father King Tso should be in the main audience chamber. After we talk to him we should head down and open the General's Armory." With that said, Herb opened the large wooden doors to the main chamber and Ranma quickly followed. For about a minute or so after the two princes left Lime and Mint continued to prostrate themselves before they realized that Ranma was gone. They then quickly returned to their guard posts.

Inside the palace, King Tso was busy listening to two of his councilors arguing over which type of rice should be grown next year as the main royal reserve crop. Personally King Tso thought the whole argument was rather pointless and wished that they'd just shut up. The only reason he hadn't tabled this conversation already was because he knew that the next item on the agenda today was even more pointless. It was times like these that make King Tso remember how his father had said that the worst job anyone could ever have was being king.

Suddenly King Tso's Chi senses went off and he turned to look at the entrance of the audience hall. The king could sense that Herb was nearby and was accompanied by a strong person. Make that a very strong person, if what he was sensing about the person was true. A few seconds latter Herb and his companion entered the audience chamber and the room became completely silent. There was an aura or a feel surrounding Herb's companion, who King Tso immediately recognized as the Jovian Paladin a.k.a. Ranma Saotome that all the Musk in the room seemed to instinctively recognize. This wasn't very surprising as their bestial heritage made them far more sensitive to spiritual phenomenon. Not even the biggest skeptics in the court could argue that Ranma was anyone other then the longed for Heir of the General.

As the guards and the other Musk in the room kneeled to show their respect, King Tso got up off his throne and approached the duo. In a respectful and reverent, yet still equal, tone King Tso said, "Greetings Warlord Ranma Saotome. It is my honor to welcome you here to the heart of the Musk Dynasty. If I may inquire, what has caused you to leave Japan? While I am grateful that you have honored us with your presence, we weren't expecting you to come here so soon. The earliest that we were expecting your arrival was the coming summer if my son managed to get you to come over for a short visit."

Remembering the hasty lessons that Herb had given him Ranma said, "The honor is mine King Tso of the Musk Dynasty and steward of the Seiryu Legion. While I am glade to visit the Musk, I wish it was under better circumstances. Recently I and my allies in Japan have uncovered evidence that a new enemy is preparing to strike. Given the projections of what we are most likely facing when this enemy decides to reveal itself, I and my allies have been looking for methods to help the Japanese people defend themselves. For that reason, I have come here in order to access the armory that your ancestor the first steward prepared."

King Tso started to frown as he heard why Ranma and his son had traveled here. Thanks to his TV the king was well aware of what was going on in Juuban and the idea of a battle being fought in a city of that size did not sit well with him. Fights between two groups of warriors were one thing, but fighting in such a place that there would be civilian casualties was distasteful to say the least. King Tso nodded his head and then said, "Follow me Warlord Saotome. I will show you where the entrance to the General's Armory is located.

The royal trio, Herb being silently told by Ranma's glance to follow, silently walked through the Musk Palace until they reached a dead end in the basement of the palace. When they got to that point King Tso tapped a brick in the wall causing the wall to slide away. After walking about 300 meters or so the trio arrived at a massive set of carved stone doors. In front of the doors was a smooth circular stone post that was about chest high. King Tso turned to Ranma and said, "This is the Armory. In order to access it you will need to put your right hand on the post, say your current incarnation's name, and then your past incarnation's name."

Ranma nodded his head and slowly approached the pillar. He then placed his hand on the pillar and said, "I am Ranma Saotome. In my last incarnation I went by the name Prince Nephelite from the royal house of Jupiter." A glowing circle appeared under Ranma's feet and then disappeared. Then the sound of a giant mechanical lock unlocking was heard. Finally the doors slowly swung open with a slight hiss. When the steam disappeared so that the trio could see inside they were greeted by rows and rows of various weapons, armor, and other useful items.

* * *

Usagi was sitting in the palace's war room at one of the computer terminals trying to find anything in the database that could be used against a potential enemy. To Usagi's great annoyance and sadness she wasn't having any luck in her search. Over all there were two major problems that she had uncovered in her search. The first snag that Usagi had encountered was that there had only been one armory on the Moon and that armory had been completely destroyed during The Fall. Supposedly there were other armories on the gas giants that might still be intact, but that led to problem number two. All the other worlds in the Solar System were currently inaccessible.

The reason why the other worlds were inaccessible to the Sailor Scouts was fairly simple. During The Fall, the interplanetary transit system had been completely trashed. In order to get the teleportation pads that were currently connecting the Sailor Scouts' homes to the Moon Palace Usagi and Ranma had had to manufacture new pads and establish the connection points. To get working teleportation pads for the other worlds they would have to go to those worlds and establish the connection points. Using the Sailor Teleport to travel to those worlds was out of the question because of two reasons. First, they didn't have any precise location to transport to. Secondly none of the Sailor Scouts was skilled enough in the Sailor Teleport to safely factor in the extra considerations of planetary rotation and orbital positioning that occurred in interplanetary teleportation. So until they could find a spaceship to transport them to the other worlds in the system whatever was on those worlds might as well not exist.

Suddenly Usagi's communicator started to ring and she quickly picked it up. The princess then flipped the lid of the communicator open and said, "Who is this?" Silently Usagi was praying that it was one of the Inners calling to say they had found a workable spaceship or it was Ranma with good news. When Usagi saw Ranma's face appear on her communicator screen she started to redouble her prayers that he had found a pile of useful weapons.

It seemed that the kami were listening to Usagi's prayers today because Ranma immediately said, "I have great news Usagi. This armory that I'm in has a large stash of very useful weapons. From what I've been able find out so far the weapons here use a mixture of environmental Chi and the internal chi of the user in order to work. For instance there are these glove-like devices that can fire off an energy blast that is as strong as my Moko Dan Ha using only a fraction of the wearer's chi that I need to use for my chi attack. There are safety features on the gloves that prevent the user from firing more blasts then the user's chi can support without going in the chi supply necessary to sustain a person's life. According to the notes for these gloves the average healthy person can use the gloves about once to twice a minute. Stronger and better trained people can fire off even more blasts per minute then that."

Usagi nodded her head and then cheerfully said, "That's wonderful news Ranma! If it's alright on your end I can send Setsuna over to delver some of those devices to the JSDF, the police, or whatever agency is supposed to be handling this situation. Sadly I and the rest of the Scouts haven't been able to turn up anything useful for the present situation we're in. The full list of the weapons that you've found can wait in person Ranma. If you don't mind though, did you find anything in that armory besides weapons?"

Ranma gave Usagi one of his confident smiles and said, "If fact we did Usagi. Besides the weapons this place has armor that can be used, the plans to build more of these weapons, and even a few machines to construct the devices like the gloves I mentioned. Obviously Herb's ancestor wanted to make sure I could restore my father's legion from the ground up if I had to."

"There's still a lot of stuff here that I need to sort through and I also need to meet with the Musk Council to decide how many warriors I'll be bringing back to Japan with me. Word of what's coming up has already spread to the average Musk citizen and many of them see fighting in this upcoming confrontation as a great honor. I swear it's almost like I'm in the middle of camp of zealots preparing for a holy war. Love you, bye for now." With that Ranma closed the connection and the screen became a regular mirror again.

After looking at her image in the mirror for a few seconds, Usagi sighed and closed her communicator. According to Herb the Musk people had been hoping for Prince Nephelite's return for over 10,000 years. When Usagi thought about that and considered the fact that the Musk Dynasty was a very militaristic society it wasn't that hard to see what was going on down there. In a sense Ranma was in the middle of a bunch of zealots preparing for a holy war. Usagi was not very concerned about the emotional charge among the Musk. She trusted that Ranma would be able to guide the Musk people in a positive progression. However, if one of the governments down there did something stupid to direct the Musk at them instead of whatever enemy was out there then Usagi was planning to stay on the Moon until that mess settled.

Returning her thoughts to present, Usagi thought about what everyone was doing. Setsuna was collecting the twits and telling the Japanese government to check their insurance policies. Ami and Minako were combing the library to see if there was anything useful there while Rei and Makoto where preparing the palace to receive refugees if it became necessary. That left Usagi with currently nothing to do. After thinking for a minute Usagi grumbled, "I guess I'll go make sure that the altar and all of its connections are properly working. Knowing my luck I'll end up having to use the blasted thing to provide living space for the refugees."

* * *

In an underground lair Mistress Kaolinite looked on with a detached look as yet another batch of worthless humans were shoved into the transformation chambers. The human scum's screams and pleases for mercy fell on deaf ears as one of the hanyos who had thrown them into the chambers grunted and started the daemonic rebirth process. These humans were completely unworthy of the honor that they had of being reborn as one of her hanyos.

As the transformation process started, Mistress Kaolinite's mind wandered back to the circumstances of her birth. When the Sailor Scouts had assaulted the Death Busters' base, the pathetic Kaolinite had been mortally wounded. However, before Kaolinite could die Mistress 9's disembodied spirit had arrived in an attempt to warn the Death Busters of that the Sailor Scouts were on to the group. Due to an explosion Kaolinite had been sent flying into Mistress 9. Thanks to a spare experimental daemon egg that Kaolinite had been carrying both Kaolinite and Mistress 9 had been fused together when the hit each other.

Unlike her 'mothers', Mistress Kaolinite did not care about bringing Pharaoh 90 to Earth. In fact, she was ecstatic that the entity was still stuck in the Tau Ceti star system because the entity's plans interfered with her own. Very shortly after her birth Mistress Kaolinite had realized that she was the first of an entirely new race; one which was supposed to be the new master of the Earth. It was only natural that the hanyos take over the world. The ancient reptiles, the dinosaurs, the mastodons, etc had all had their time as the dominate life form on this planet before man had taken over. Humanity's time was simply up.

For the first couple of days after her birth Mistress Kaolinite had busied herself with setting up a base for herself and figuring out how to increase her race. It would be too dangerous to merely rely on the natural increasing of her race from having children. Besides, she didn't want to play Eve and more to the point there hadn't been a male of her new species to breed with. So Mistress Kaolinite had proceeded to try and find a way to duplicate the circumstances of her birth using the humans as a base. Sadly her first series of experiments were complete disasters that resulted in the loss of both the hanyo and the human base.

However, about two months ago Mistress Kaolinite had found the missing element that she needed when working on the subject that referred to himself as Happosai. Using the data that had been collected from that subject, Mistress Kaolinite had been able to start creating more of her race. At first she had moved slowly collecting one or two humans a day to transform, but as her people's numbers increased she had been able to collect more and more at a single time. Now her people's numbers were reaching a critical level and the next phase of the plan could be started.

Once enough hanyos existed Mistress Kaolinite planed to exterminate humanity. Absorbing humanity into the hanyo race was out of the question. Not only did the thought of using humans a base for her race's birth sicken Mistress Kaolinite, but there were just too many humans in her mind. Eradicating almost 6 billion humans so that 100 million hanyos could have adequate living space seemed perfectly reasonable, they were after all only humans.

* * *

Author's Notes: Yomiuri Shimbun is one of the 5 major national newspapers in Japan. Also, there is a food joke in the Musk King's name.


	10. Chapter 10

Ranma opened his eyes as the first warm rays of the sun trickled through the stain glass windows. When Ranma got up he blinked his eyes several times and wondered where he was since this room obviously wasn't his bedroom back home. First off the room was far bigger then his cozy room back home. The walls here were made out of carve dull reddish/orange stones with granite flooring. There were several gothic arched windows on the wall to his left and the windows were made up of multi-colored stained glass that was arranged in simple geometric patterns. All of the furniture in the room was masterfully carved out of mahogany. Finally the bed he was sleeping in was at least king-sized with a very soft and warm fur comforter.

As Ranma looked around the room he suddenly remember where he was. He was in the third finest bedroom in the Musk Palace and the best room that had been available for use. The first and second best bedrooms belonged to King Tso and Herb respectively. According to Herb, Ranma's station as the Warlord demanded nothing less then the quarters he was given.

The reason why Ranma was currently staying at the Musk Palace was simple: the Musk needed him here. Ranma's rebirth and then his arrival in the Musk territory were creating major shocks to the Musk people and their society. If Ranma had just taken off after going through the armory yesterday the Musk might have been thrown into complete chaos. So out of duty to his subjects, Ranma had remained here instead of going back to Juuban. Good thing that Setsuna had filled out that absentee from school because of mystical adventure form for him.

Ranma turned to look at the grandfather clock to his right and then said, "Okay what do I have to do today? Oh yah, I've got about 70 minutes to change and eat breakfast before my briefing with King Tso on the Musk's current strengths, weakness, and other vital information. That briefing goes on till lunch and after a quick lunch break I'll have a two hour class with Herb on the battle commands that the Musk use. Then I'll need to go down to the armory to help retrieve several items that have a separate security system protecting them. After I'm done with that is dinner where I'll have to deal with petty nobles jockeying for political clout."

Without meaning to Ranma let out a small groan of frustration before he continued to talk to himself. "'It's good to be the King' my foot. If it wasn't for the fact that King Tso cares so much about the Musk people's welfare I'd almost swear that he's trying his hardest to become a figurehead while shoving the job of ruling on me. At least I should be able to get some practice in after dinner." Then with a little grumbling Ranma got out of bed and got ready to face the day.

* * *

About an hour or so after the sun set a haggard Ranma dragged his feet back into his room and plopped down in one of his chairs. Ranma had been left mentally and physically exhausted by today's activities. What made the whole situation worse for Ranma was that until the enemy attacked all he could look forward to was a constant repeat of today. The practice time that Ranma had managed to get wasn't that bad. Actually it was a blast for Ranma since Herb had started to teach him the basics of flying. What really been draining was the meetings he had been in for most of the day.

To Ranma's surprise he suddenly heard Usagi's voice saying, "Long day huh." Ranma immediately started looking around his room to try and find Usagi. Since his communicator wasn't on the only way he could hear her voice was if she was in the room. After a few seconds of searching he spotted Usagi leaning against the wall in on of the corners of his room.

Ranma wondered why Usagi was in his room and he said, "So Usagi, what brings you to this neck of the woods? Don't get me wrong because I'm happy to see you here, but why are you here? You're supposed to be in Tokyo coordinating with Setsuna for the city's defense and on the Moon trying to get everything ready if we need to evacuate people to the palace."

Usagi sighed and shyly said, "I'm here right now so I can prepare the Moon if we need to use it as an evacuation point. You see, I need to tell you something about the restoration spell that is needed to restore the Moon's biosphere because I'll need your help." Seeing the confused looked on Ranma's face made Usagi wish she didn't have to talk to him about this. But common sense, as much as Usagi wish it didn't, dictated that Ranma needed to be aware of how to restore the Moon. As embarrassing as this was, it would be far better Ranma knew what was needed ahead of time instead just springing it on him in the middle of a crisis.

Somehow Usagi was able to gather her courage and said, "Please understand Ranma that this is difficult for me to say and very embarrassing. There's a hidden chamber under the palace with a large altar like platform inside. That altar is connected to the magical ley lines of the Moon and it is used to activate and maintain the Moon's biosphere. However, the altar can only use by the royal house providing a specific type of energy. This energy is the life generating energy released through sex." By the time Usagi had finished saying this, her entire face was red from embarrassment.

It was a good thing that Ranma had already been sitting down because otherwise he would have fallen on his rear when he heard Usagi's announcement. At the moment Ranma was really wishing that he had either misheard Usagi or that she had made a mistake. With a wary tone Ranma asked, "Is there any other type of energy that this altar can use?"

Usagi slowly shook her head and said with her eyes diverted away from him, "No Ranma. I've read every bit of information that I could find on the altar and its counterparts on the other worlds. I've even talked to Setsuna about the altar. The fact is that no other type of energy possesses the necessary subtle properties to be used by the Altars. In fact the Altar's job is collect, refine, and magnify that energy so that it can be injected into the ley lines. Also, it needs to be hetero because that's the only type of, you know, that can lead to new life."

All Ranma could think when he heard Usagi's explanation was that he should have expected something like this to come up. Things had been going far too well for him the past few months so obviously fate was preparing to send a major curve ball his way. Ranma then nodded his head and said, "Well thanks, I guess, for telling me this Usagi. Hopefully things won't come to that."

Usagi walked closer to Ranma and their eyes locked onto each other. She then said in a shy tone, "Ranma let's be reasonable. We both know that things will come to that in this upcoming fight. Oh we say that the fight won't get that bad to ease our friends' fears, but we know our luck isn't that good. As of today the number of missing people is over 200,000 people. Even the local authorities in Tokyo realize that something big is going to go down soon."

"Dear can, oh this is so embarrassing." Usagi seemed to have lost the courage to say whatever it was that she wanted to tell Ranma. However, before Ranma could ask Usagi what she was trying to say she managed to find her confidence again. With flushed cheeks the princess whispered, "C-can I see you, you know, in the buff? I don't want to embarrass you or do this, but I'm afraid that if I don't get used to the sight of you like that before hand that I'll waste time when we need to restore the biosphere do to surprise." Then Usagi's cheeks somehow became even redder as she continued on. "T-to be fair I'll let you see me as well."

For a minute Ranma sat in his chair completely unresponsive to the outside world as he tried to sort out his thoughts. This was not what Ranma wanted in his relationship with Usagi. He wanted to romance her as she deserved, lovingly, tenderly, with respect, and giving her as much dignity as he could. Was that really too much to ask for? Apparently it was. However, Ranma could understand where Usagi was coming from and so his said, "How do you want to do this?"

Usagi looked around the room and then back to Ranma before saying, "C-can we do this in the bathroom with you being in your female form when we undress? It will be easier for me to take off my clothes if, well, if there aren't any 'guys' in sight. Besides if we take a bath during this time it will be easier to deal with then if we're just standing around looking at each other."

Ranma nodded his head and got out of the chair. He then offered his arm to Usagi like they were going out for a walk. Even though there was a tiny part of Ranma's mind that was dancing for joy at the thought of seeing Usagi's body and the majority of his mind was nervous at what was going to happen, he still wanted to try and be a gentleman about the whole thing. Usagi grabbed Ranma's arm happy that he was apparently trying to make the best of this situation.

When the two entered the lavish bathroom that was attached to Ranma's bedroom Usagi grabbed a glass of cold water that was sitting on the sink and splashed Ranma. Obviously Usagi, even though she was extremely nervous about this whole thing, had been preparing for this. Since Ranma couldn't think of any words that would make this situation any better he immediately started to undress. At first Usagi was stunned seeing Ranma undressing before her, but then she remembered why she was here and she started to strip as well.

Once both of them were in their birthday suits Usagi turned on the water faucet for the bathtub and climbed inside. Usagi then turned to Ranma and said, "Get in here Ranma. The water won't be warm enough to trigger your curse for a few minutes. If I can't get used to your male form when that happens I'll be in serious trouble when we use the altar." Since Usagi was calling all of the shots Ranma nodded his head and got in the still mostly dry tub.

The couple quickly started talking about what had happened to them since they had talked yesterday. Not only did it allow them to share vital information like the fact that Ryoga and Mousse had been issued Palm Blasters, but it also put them more at ease with everything then if they had been silent. In fact, Usagi had become so involved in the conversation that it wasn't until she had to stop and turn off the faucet that she realized that Ranma was back to his male form.

Things became a little difficult for Usagi after she had made that realization about Ranma's form. Luckily Ranma was able to help calm her down by using some very carefully chosen words. After that, the two of them broke out the bars of soap and started to scrub themselves. Once Usagi and Ranma finished their bath they got out of the tub and dried themselves off. As soon as Usagi finished dressing she gave Ranma a quick peck on the cheek and then teleported out of the bathroom. That kiss was the only physical contact that occurred between the two of them after they had entered the bathroom.

* * *

On exactly 6:06:06 PM the following day the normal buzz of city life was destroyed by a massive series of explosions that racked the Special Wards of Tokyo. Pandemonium reigned in the streets as the shocked citizens of the various wards reacted to suddenly finding themselves in the middle of a war zone. The explosions weren't just haphazardly placed throughout the wards. Rather the sites of the explosions were carefully chosen to isolate the wards from the rest of Japan. Every road, rail line, dock, airport, and most of the utility lines that led out of the wards were destroyed. This had been done by suicide daemons that had been specially created for this purpose.

Before any police or firefighters could start to respond to the explosions the Hanyos started their offensive. The Hanyos attacked in groups of 7-10 Hanyos and there were almost 10 times that many lower class personal monster summons in the groups. If one was to look at the Hanyos' troop locations on a map that person would see that the Hanyos had encircled the wards only stopping at the ocean front. Over all it was a relatively simple plan involving a blitzkrieg assault that would force the citizens of the wards to retreat into each other thus causing even further chaos.

The immediate loss of life in those first few minutes of the attack was horrific. Everything and everyone in the wards became part of a mystical shooting range where the Hanyos seemed to be trying to outdo each other in the number of kills they or their summons racked up. There wasn't any sort of resistance along the initial massacre line because everyone was too busy trying to run and hide to try and defend themselves. Unlike the people living in Juuban, the people living on the edges of the wards were not used to supernatural confrontations. Even the people living on the edge of Nerima were panicking since they had never been involved in the chaos that could be found in the center of the ward.

What made this massacre even worse was the fact that for the first few minutes no one outside of those under attack knew that this was even happening. The emergency frequencies and lines were congested due to all of the explosions and the Hanyos killed the police too fast for an emergency message about the attack to be sent. Also, the Mercury Computer's sensors didn't have nearly enough range to detect the Hanyos from their current location.

Setsuna was the first person outside of those under attack to find out about the attack thanks to her being at the Time Gates. She immediately teleported back to Juuban flipped opened her communicator and said, "The enemy is attacking! They've formed a circle around all of the wards and are pushing inwards. No resistance has been formed yet. Casualties are rising fast!"

Immediately all of the scouts started rambling like chickens with their heads cut off; even Neptune and Uranus were rambling. The rambling was understandable since all of the Scouts previous battles were more like skirmishes in a gang war with the bad guys. This on the other hand was a real battle with an actual army attacking.

Luckily Usagi was able to quickly regain her calm and she started issuing orders. "Rei head down and defend Ota, Ami you've got Setagaya, Minako report to Suginami, Makoto hurry over to Itabashi, Huraka go to Kita, Michiru defend Adachi, Hotaru time to make your debut in Katsushika, and I'll head over to Edogawa. Before you head over to Setagaya Ami I want you to contact Mousse and Ryoga to get them to go defend Nerima. Setsuna, your job is to coordinate our defenses with the Japanese government so go alert them of the attack if their not already aware of it. Everyone, unless I counteract something that Setsuna says you are to treat everything she tells you as a direct order from me."

"Also Setsuna, I want you to contact Ranma and tell him to bring his troops over here NOW. Tell Ranma that I want him to divide his troops into two groups with one group being twice as big as the other. The smaller group is to transport into central wards and start preparing defenses there. The larger group is to be divided into small groups to assist in the defense and evacuation of the outer wards. Now let's move out and remember that people's lives are at stake here!"

* * *

Emperor Akihito in the middle of a friendly conversation with the Prime Minister of Japan when Setsuna teleported into the room. Naturally the Prime Minister was shocked at her sudden appearance inside the secured room. However, the Prime Minister's shock increased even more when he saw that the Emperor's bodyguards hadn't reacted at all to Sailor Pluto's arrival. What the Prime Minister didn't know was that the Emperor had previously ordered his guards to not immediately point their guns at anyone who magically teleported into certain rooms of the Imperial Palace.

Setsuna gave the Emperor a quick and yet still respectful bow before she immediately started to speak. "I'm sorry to inform you Emperor Akihito, but the Special Wards are under attack. As I speak every Sailor Scout along with the Moon Princess is heading out to try and slow down the enemy's advance. However, we are spread too thin and sadly most of the Scouts can't teleport by themselves. This means that many of the outer wards will be undefended by a Sailor Scout for at least 10 minutes due to the distance between the closest teleportation rings we've managed to set up and the encroaching battlefront."

"The Jovian Paladin has been notified about the situation and is mobilizing his subjects to come to our aid. Unfortunately he said that it will take him at least 15 minutes to mobilize his troops and to prepare the teleportation gates that he'll be using to bring his troops over here for use. I've been instructed by my princess to act the coordinator between the Scouts and the Japanese government so that we can work together towards our common goal of protecting the people."

While Setsuna was briefing the Emperor on the current situation the Prime Minister was busy contacting the Minister of Defense. Even though the government of Japan did not officially recognize the existence of the Sailor Scouts the Prime Minister knew better then to doubt Sailor Pluto's word about the attack. If the Scouts were saying than an attack was occurring then an attack must be occurring. As soon as he heard the Minister of Defense's voice on his cell phone the Prime Minister said, "We have Code Tsukiyomi. I repeat we have a confirmed Code Tsukiyomi in the outermost of the Special Wards."

Just because the Japanese government officially denied the existence of all supernatural phenomena didn't mean that the government hadn't attempted to figure out a way to defend Japan against supernatural foes. Sure the vigilante supernatural defenders that always cropped up to combat those threats did a wonderful job in keeping those threats minimal and out of the public eye. However, the Japanese government also knew that there was a chance that the vigilantes could be defeated by the supernatural foes they battled. Code Tsukiyomi was the government's codeword for any scenario in which the Sailor Scouts were either killed or were being overwhelmed by supernatural foes.

At its heart the plan to deal with a Code Tsukiyomi was very simple: launch every missile and explosive ordinance you can find at the monster and pray that the monster is destroyed. Now the Prime Minister and everyone else who knew about Code Tsukiyomi knew that the government's response plan wasn't that great of a plan. However, it was the best that could be done considering the circumstances. Surprisingly it is actually very difficult to discreetly funnel into a project that most of the public would believe is complete hogwash. Also, the fact that the Japanese government hadn't been able to get its hands on actual useful samples of malevolent supernatural beasts meant that the most the government had to work with was observation and conjecture.

When the Prime Minister finished making his call he then turned to face the Emperor and the minister said, "Your Imperial Highness might I suggest that you come with me to a secure facility? If you or your family should be lost in this battle it would be a serious blow to the Japanese people."

Emperor Akihito closed his eyes and said, "Gather my wife and my family so that they can be taken to a secure location. I will be remaining here in the palace." The emperor then opened his eyes, looked strait at the Prime Minister, and continued on. "My father did not abandon the palace during the fire bombings of WWII and I will not abandon the palace now."

The Prime Minister nodded his head and let the subject drop. If the Emperor had decided to remain then that was the Emperor's right. Then the Prime Minister looked at Setsuna before saying, "Sailor Pluto, will you please follow me. We will be better able to coordinate our defense and counterattack at the facility."

Before Setsuna responded to the Prime Minister she turned to face the emperor and said, "Good luck your highness. Just so you know the Sailor Scouts have a backup plan of transporting everyone to a safe location if the enemy cannot be stopped. If things reach that point please consider joining in the evacuation. Many of the people will be terrified and your presence would calm them down."

The Emperor nodded his head and calmly said, "I shall consider your proposal Sailor Pluto. However, for the moment my place is here in the palace where by my presence here I can fortify the citizens' moral. If I should not survive this conflict I trust that your Moon Princess will be able to insure the survival of my subjects until they can return to their homes."

Setsuna nodded her head and turned to face the Prime Minister. In her no nonsense tone she said, "Well then. I believe we have to moving there isn't a second to lose."

* * *

Ranma calmly walked beside Herb, who was wearing his usual dragon armor, in his senshi form as the duo headed towards a balcony. When they reached the balcony both boys looked down at the troops standing below them. There were over six thousand of the best troops the Musk had to offer standing at attention for Ranma. Each of them had been outfitted with the best weapons and armor that could be found in the armory.

As Ranma stared out at the army he tried to think of something that was appropriate to say. These soldiers were willing to risk their lives for people that they had never met just because he asked them to. At the very least he should say something that showed just how grateful he was that they were doing this. However, no matter how hard Ranma tried he couldn't think of anything to say. Finally he prayed to Nephrite's spirit asking his past life's father for the words to say.

Thankfully Nephrite seemed to be listening in the afterlife because Ranma suddenly found the words to say. In a confident tone Ranma called out, "For millennia the mighty dragon of the Seiryu Legion has slumbered in this valley waiting for the day when its strength would be needed once again. Well, that day has finally arrived."

"In the east a large army of creatures has risen up and is attacking the people of Tokyo. These creatures seem to desire only one thing: the death of every man, woman, and child that they can find. Our allies the Sailor Scouts can't hope to defend the city against the vast number of creatures that are attacking. The leader of the Sailor Scouts has asked us to aid the Scouts in defeating these monsters. Even though the odds are not in our favor we shall come to the Scouts assistance. With our honor and our training we shall prevail!"

A thunderous roar of approval rose from the assembled troops letting Ranma know that his words had been the right ones. The troops then immediately about faced and started marching towards the teleportation devices that would open the gates that they would use to get to Tokyo. Before heading over to the teleportation pads themselves, Ranma and Herb locked eyes with each other. Silently each prince sent the other the simple message of watch your back. They both knew that things in Tokyo were about to become hell on Earth.


	11. Chapter 11

Over at the Tendo household, Genma and Soun immediately sensed that something horribly wrong was occurring. The two looked at each other and quickly nodded their heads. Genma said, "You get your daughters and head to Juban. I'll stay here and try to help hold back whatever is coming in." Soun was about to protest when Genma firmly said, "Ranma still has his mother if I die, but your daughters will only have each other if you die. Now get going!"

As much as Soun wanted to argue otherwise, he knew that Genma was correct. The feeling they were getting from the west wasn't the typical crazy Nerima adventure feeling. It was a hell-on-earth sort of feeling. While getting up from the shogi table, Soun softly said, "Please make it out alive, old friend."

Genma gruffly replied, "Don't get sappy on me Soun. We can't have you crying up a storm when you trying to get the girls out of here. Besides, I'm too slippery for anyone to kill. Now get moving." Once Soun had left the room, Genma sighed and said, "Goodbye old friend. I will miss our shogi games." The old martial artist then pulled out some paper and began composing his death poem. There was just something in the feeling that Genma was getting that made his death seem like a very real possibility.

Once the poem was completed, Genma folded it up and placed on the shogi board. Genma hoped that when the Tendos returned after this calamity and he died, they could deliver it to Ranma. For a second, Genma just sat in his chair staring at the poem. If he died today, was that all he would leave behind him? It wasn't like Genma had anything to his name, except for his martial arts. Genma shook his head and said, enough of this sentimental nonsense. Nothing's going to cause trouble here in Nerima if I have anything to say about it."

Immediately after saying that, Genma stood up and bounded out the door towards the west. For the first few hundred meters, everything was peaceful. Then the normal peace and quiet was shattered by the cries of a stampede. If Genma had been limited to the streets, he would have been swept away by the mob. Luckily, Genma wasn't limited to two dimensions and he quickly started running across the rooftops. Once Genma got past the front of the mob he let out, "What the hell?"

Hell was fairly accurate description of the devastation in front of Genma. The Hanyos were blasting buildings and people like they were trying to just drive them forward. Meanwhile the daemons were acting like hunting dogs. They were at the mob's heels and shredded anyone who tried to resist. In all of his life, Genma had never seen a more horrifying sight.

Suddenly there was a purple flash of light and two figures suddenly appeared between the daemons and the panicked mob. Genma squinted for a second and realized that the mysterious arrivals were Ryoga and Mousse. In spite of the situation, Genma couldn't help grinning. If the heavy hitters of the NWC were getting involved, then there was a chance that things might not be so doomed after all.

Ryoga spotted Genma up on a half-collapsed roof and hollered out, "Get down here and lend a hand Genma. We need to hold these things off until Ranma can arrive with reinforcements." Genma's answer was to fire off a barrage of vacuum blades as he ducked for cover. Both of the younger fighters quickly followed suit and in that area the Hanyos' advance was halted.

All throughout the special wards, the Sailor Scouts were stretched beyond their limits. There were simply too many enemies stretched over too large of an area. Even Sailor Moon was having trouble holding the hanyos off long enough for people to escape. As Usagi looked on from her hiding spot at the seemingly endless amounts of daemons and their hanyo masters, she tried to figure out what to do. If the Scouts were to survive, let alone defend the civilians, they needed a miracle and they needed it now.

Suddenly a miracle arrived in the form of a squadron of F/A-18 Hornets. The squad was one of many that had been hastily organized to respond to the Code Tsukiyomi. Usagi breathlessly watched as the squad unleashed a spread of air to ground missiles. As everything in Usagi's sight exploded from the missiles, she prayed that the enemy was incinerated.

As the smoke cleared, Usagi saw that the strike was a partial success. The daemons had been destroyed by the attack, but the hanyos had survived. Usagi was about to try blasting the hanyos to take advantage of any wounds they might have. Unfortunately, half of the hanyos kept her pinned down, while the other half created more daemons. Sailor Moon let out an unladylike curse and switched on her communicator. Above the roar of the hanyos' attacks Usagi commanded, "Setsuna! Tell the military to increase the intensity of their attacks."

Setsuna immediately responded, "Will do princess. Do you have any further orders?"

Usagi immediately responded, "Yes! Tell the Scouts to fall back to where the secondary Musk line is supposed to form. We're no good fighting separately like this. The military has to stall the advance. It's the only way we can hope to save these peoples' lives." In the back of Usagi's mind, she knew that this move would write off hundreds of people's lives. What made this even harder for Usagi was the fact that the lives lost by the Scouts retreating would only be a fraction of the lives that could already be written off.

With a tear in her eye, Usagi bolted away from the hanyos and crashed through a nearby window. She used the building's interior as a shield before she crashed through another window and rolled out onto the street. The reincarnated princess then ran down a side alley, ran up a fire escape, and started running across the rooftops.

A series of vortexes suddenly opened up on either side of Usagi as far as the eye could see. Usagi heard a battle cry coming from the nearest vortex as the Musk warriors poured out onto the battlefield. Even though the Musk warriors were outnumbered by the hanyos and deamons, they were able to keep the enemy at bay. This epic feat was achieved thanks to the Musk's training and the weapons they had received from the General's vault. Usagi helped out where she could by providing artillery fire.

For a time, the combined forces of the US military and the Musk warriors were able to keep the enemy at bay. But ever so slowly, the front line was being pushed back before Usagi's eyes. After Usagi jumped to another rooftop to stay behind the Musk line, the communicator started ringing again. In a testy manner Usagi hissed, "What is it Setsuna? I'm a little busy trying to keep this area of the front from collapsing."

Setsuna regretfully said, "Bad news princess. While satellite imaging shows that most of the population is behind the second line, there are still thousands who aren't save yet. Apparently, the enemy was holding some troops in reserved because about 4,000 more enemy soldiers are heading towards the front line. The squads currently in the air have exhausted their armaments and are heading back to resupply. You'll be without air support for at least ten minutes."

Usagi thought for a moment and then asked, "How are the other sections of the line holding up?"

Much to Usagi's dismay, Setsuna replied, "It's looking pretty grim princess. Some sections of the line have collapsed completely, while others are buckling heavily. The only parts of the line that aren't too badly stressed are where Ranma and Hotaru are fighting at. There just aren't enough Musk warriors to repel the enemy army. Ranma's already called several companies from the second line to reinforce some of the main lines of retreat."

As the decimated company of warriors below routed, Usagi closed her eyes and sighed. Usagi then hit a button on her communicator and said, "Ranma, its time for plan B."

Ranma and Usagi appeared in the empty royal palace's main teleportation hall. Usagi quickly took charge as soon as the vestiges of the teleportation spells ended. In a collected manner that she didn't actually possess, Usagi said, "Follow me Ranma. The altar is this way." Ranma nodded his head and nervously followed Usagi's directions. What else was he supposed to do? What else could he say?

As the duo quickly rounded a corner towards the royal suite, Ranma said, "Do you want to get married? When this is all over I mean." Usagi stopped in her tracks and turned to face Ranma. In an unsure manner, Ranma continued on. "I know that you wouldn't do this if we had any other choice and you wanted to save yourself for marriage."

Usagi's face broke out into a soft smile and she said, "So you want to turn me into an honest woman after you and I go at it like animals?" Ranma started to blush and Usagi quickly gave him a peck on the cheek. As Usagi straitened up she said, "Thanks Ranma. I would be honored to be your wife."

Very quickly the two of them reached the royal bedroom, and Usagi activated the hidden passageway switch. Once the passage way had been revealed, Ranma and Usagi slowly started to walk down the steps. As they were walking, Usagi shyly said, "Ranma? When you take me, take me as quickly as you can."

Instantly Ranma stopped walking and worriedly blurted out, "But that will hurt you Usagi!" Right then and there, Ranma wondered how this could be even more messed up. Not only did he have to take away one of Usagi's dreams because of the hanyo attack, but now Usagi was basically asking him to make it as horrible as possible. Ranma had been hoping to at least insure that the whole experience wasn't too bad for Usagi, and now she decided to add this?

Usagi could see what Ranma was thinking by the look in his eyes. She wrapped her arm around him and softly said, "I don't want to have to do it like this either. However, the bitter truth is that people are dying every second that we delay. I'm the only one could can cast a spell to transport everyone up here at once so as soon as the Moon's habitable I need to leave."

Ranma nodded his head and said, "I know that Usagi. It's just that I want to at least do something right about this whole thing. This whole thing, it just feels wrong to me. I know we need to do it, but I don't want to well-"

Catching what Ranma was trying to say, Usagi finished the statement by saying, "You don't want to just get off and leave me with the raw end of the deal." Ranma just nodded his head sheepishly. Usagi gave him another smile and said, "I understand. How about when this is all said and done, the two of us go to my quarters and you show me how you wanted our first time to go? The horse will have already left the barn as they say."

Usagi nodded her head towards the bottom of the stairs and said, "Stop pouting Ranma about that poor pun. Consider it an advance on what you're about to do to me; your sore pride for my sore backside. Now, let's hurry up and get to that altar."

Setsuna was standing near a video monitor that had live air coverage of Tokyo trying to process what she was seeing while still doing her job. When Setsuna had first arrived at the command center with the Prime Minister several of the officers had given her strange looks. Not that Setsuna really blamed the men, since it wasn't every day that an urban superhero in a skimpy outfit walked into a military command center. However, once Setsuna had sat down and started relaying information, everyone acted like she was a part of the team.

The manner in which everyone was handling the current crisis was, at least in Setsuna's mind, a testament to the officers' training. Sure everyone was worried about the lives being lost because of the attacks, but they weren't losing their heads over the situation. Considering that Tokyo was experiencing a massive battle strait out of a fantasy novel that was quite amazing.

One of the officers in the rows of computers near Setsuna suddenly called out, "Primary line in Suginami has completely collapsed. Survivors are moving towards secondary lines. Rerouting squads 13 and 14 to provide cover fire for retreat."

Setsuna immediately activated her communicator and said, "Minako, what is happening? Why did your line break?"

Minako quickly responded by yelling over the sounds of the battle, "Bad news Setsuna. The hanyos blew up something, possibly a large gas tank, near the line. They then charged the line and were able to break through before we could plug up the hole."

To Setsuna's surprise, the general in charge of the base walked by and said loud enough for Minako to hear as well, "Rally what troops you can miss, and get to the secondary line. It was only a matter of time before the primary broke so don't fret. We need as many soldiers as we can get on the secondary line to defend the civilians."

Once Minako cut her transmission, the general turned to Setsuna and said, "Where are Sailor Moon and Jovian Paladin? According to the reports I received from the Japanese government, those two are the strongest members of your team Sailor Pluto. Why did they leave the battlefield?"

It was obvious to Setsuna that the general wasn't angry at the princess and Ranma. However, the general was annoyed that he didn't know where two valuable military assets were for the battle. She quickly, politely said, "Sailor Moon and Jovian Paladin have a backup plan incase we need to evacuate everyone out of the wards. However, it takes some time for this back up plan to get ready to be used. Sailor Moon made the call to switch to this plan and pulled Jovian Paladin to help her get everything ready."

The general nodded his head understanding the need to prepare a backup plan. Sure, the general wished that he had been brought into the loop sooner, but he could understand why Sailor Moon and Jovian Paladin were gone. Curious about the plan, the general asked, "How do those two plan to evacuate several million people?"

Before Setsuna could answer, an aid ran up to the general and practically shouted out, "Sir! Something is happening on the Moon!"

Naturally, the general turned around and berated the aid, "The Moon? We've got demons attacking Tokyo, our aircraft are stretched to the limit trying to help magical girls and mystical warriors defend the civilians, and you come in here talking about the Moon? Son, you need to get your priorities strait. Leave the stargazing until after the battle's over."

Setsuna immediately jumped in and said, "Wait! What's happening to the Moon?"

The aid turned to look at Setsuna and he nervously answered, "Well ma'am, the Moon's changing. I don't know what's going on, but there are reports of forests, plains, lakes, and even oceans suddenly sprouting like magic on the Moon. No one has a clue why this is happening."

Setsuna turned to look at the general and she happily stated, "General, that's my princess's plan B starting to work. Any moment now Sailor Moon will cast a spell to transport everyone inside Tokyo to the Moon. If I were you, I'd get on the phone and get both the Prime Minister and the President to approve a nuclear strike on Tokyo as soon as everyone is transported. Don't worry about the radiation since the princess can remove it later when this whole mess is over."

With an intrigued looked on his face, the general said, "Do you realize the media fallout that will be generated if we go through with that plan?" After Setsuna nodded her head the general smirked and said, "Why not? Let's see if the politicos are willing to blast these demons strait to hell."

Nodoka, Ikuko, and Kenji were trying desperately to keep the mass of people near them calm. Even though they were several km behind the secondary line, practically everyone was panicking. This was understandable considering the fact that most people were from other wards and unused to the craziness that people in Juuban and Nerima had to face. The parents were trying their hardest to calm people down, but they were getting only minimal success. Pretty much everyone who had fled here was desperately trying to leave. Perhaps those people thought they could leave by plane or boat?

Ami's mother was kneeling near an ambulance a few feet away from Nodoka and the Tsukinos. Currently Mrs. Mizuno was working with the nurses from the ambulance treating several dozen wounded. Some of the wounded had been caught by the hanyos' attacks, but most had been injured by mob as it made its way to the inner wards. Mrs. Mizuno prayed to the kami for help as she injected some morphine into a man who had been slammed into a window. The suffering she was seeing and the devastation that she knew was coming was almost too much for her to bear.

Rei's grandfather was also near the ambulance. However, he had the much more morbid duty of helping the terminal cases come to terms with death. The normally jovial old priest couldn't even keep up a mask of happiness. He remembered his elder brother's tales of fighting in WWII. Was this despair and hopelessness what those people in China and Indochina felt like when the army conquered them?

Mr. and Mrs. Aino were across the street from the other parents trying to keep about two dozen children safely corralled. All of the kids had been separated from their parents by the mob. There was no way that these little ones would make it to safety if this got worse on the front. The Ainos had been grouping the kids so they could lead the kids to safety. What made this whole situation worse for the Ainos was the fact that they didn't know if Minako was still alive or not.

Suddenly, there was a blinding light that forced everybody to close their eyes. When everyone could look again, the huge mass of people discovered that they weren't in Tokyo anymore. Instead of smashed between massive skyscrapers, the huge mass of worried people was standing in a vast plain. No one in the vast throng of people, except for those few who had personal experiences with magic, could understand what had happened.

Ever so slowly, a few members of the mob looked up at the sky and gasped in surprise. There was the Earth hanging serenely in the sky. North America was plainly in view leaving no doubts that it was the Earth in the sky. These people quickly turned to their neighbors and pointed at the heavens. Soon, everyone was staring up at the Earth wondering what was going on.

An enormous image of Sailor Moon suddenly appeared as the massive crowd's attention was focused on the Earth. Sailor Moon bowed her head and firmly said, "Hello citizens of Tokyo. Many of you know who I am, but for those of you who do not I am known as Sailor Moon. However, what many of you do not know is that I am also the reincarnation of Princess Serenity and heir to the Moon. Because the surprise attack was too much for me, my allies, and the military to handle, I have used my magic to restore the Moon's biosphere and transport you all to safety."

"Everyone please remain calm. You are all safe now and there is no way for the enemy to reach you. Act in an orderly manner and tend to the injured. As it will probably be at least several days until you can return to Tokyo, you may stay at one of the recently restored cities here on the Moon. The Sailor Scouts will lead you all towards the city. Listen to them, to the Musk warriors who have been protecting you, and to the surviving police. Things are crazy now, but they will soon be settled if you all remain calm."

"Treat this as a chance to see things no one else has seen. You're the first people not connected to the Silver Millennium to set foot on the Moon in over forty years. Do not worry about food; Jovian Paladin is contacting his subjects as I speak to bring over food for you. The food will be waiting for you when you reach the city."

"-Thousands in San Francisco and Los Angeles are protesting against the mass murder of sentient creatures by the Sailor Scouts. -Currently China is lodging a complaint to the United Nations about foreign nationals operating bases in its territory. –Several of the more militate clerics in the Middle East are calling for a jihad against the Neo Silver Millennium claiming that it is a satanic regime that has infested the heavens. -In an amazing turn of events, the Pope and the Patriarch of Constantinople have called for a joint council to handle the issue of whether or not certain types of magic are acceptable. –Stocks in oil and heavy industries have plummeted as talks of 'techno-magic' technologies have been announced. –The president of the United States-"

With a quick press of a button, Ranma turned of the TV and said, "You know Usagi, its funny when you think about it. We get 700 channels on this new TV, and there's nothing to watch."

Currently Ranma and Usagi were in the royal bedroom lying on their emperor sized bed. Ranma was lying top of the sheets on the left side of the bed with the TV zapper in his hand. Usagi was lying under the covers of the right side reading a textbook on management. As Ranma turned to look at Usagi, his attention was drawn to her breasts. Usagi wasn't wearing a nightshirt since it was just the two of them in the room and their suite had been locked for the evening. She did it deliberately because she knew how much the sight of her bare breasts got to Ranma.

Apparently, Usagi was extremely adventurous when it came to relaxing in the bedroom. It was a side of Usagi that only Ranma got to see or know about. Ranma figured that his wife was like this because it was a way for her to relax after an exhaustive day running the government. Of course, Ranma wasn't about to complain if that's how Usagi wanted to blow off some steam.

Usagi put her textbook down and said, "What did you expect Ranma? There's never anything good on TV. Even with the ginzushou, I can't find a decent show to watch." The couple quickly burst into giggles at Usagi's joke.

Ever since the Battle of Tokyo a month ago, Usagi and Ranma's lives had changed forever. Among the many changes that had happened in their lives, Ranma and Usagi's identities as Sailor Moon and Jovian Paladin had been revealed to the world. This was a by product of their assuming control of the Neo Silver Millennium. That had been a bit of a challenge as there were many people on Earth who didn't like the idea of an absolute monarchy being established on the moon. However, with the Musk as the NSM's military and a several hundred million dollar price tag to get to the Moon without the NSM's approval, those people couldn't really do much.

Ranma casually put the TV remote on the bed table and leaned over to capture Usagi's lips. As far as Ranma was concerned, Usagi being his wife was one of the few good things to come out of the post Battle of Tokyo craziness. Ranma and Usagi had quickly created and signed a marriage contract while they had been waiting for the refugees from Tokyo to arrive in the capital city. Both of them figured that it would be easier for the other nations to accept the NSM if its rulers were married to each other. Besides, Ranma really didn't want Kenji to find out that he was bedding Usagi without a ring on her finger.

After a few minutes of kissing, Usagi gently pushed Ranma away a bit and said, "You know dear, you and I must have the craziest lives ever. But, I wouldn't trade our lives for anything. After all, I got you because of it." With that said, Usagi proceeded to show Ranma just how grateful she was to have him in her life.


End file.
