Previous version of this was full of minor glitches; an out of date draft
was sent.

                         
The Distant Past, at the End of an Age:

  Isis was a short woman, slender with short, blue 
black hair.  As the end of all things approached, she was 
out in the garden watering the roses; with her powers, it 
was easy to call up a cloud and make a microstorm for 
them.  It comforted her and soothed her fears, though at 
the same time, it made her wonder what was the fate of 
Zoicite, her fiancee, who had brought her the roses that 
she had put in the garden.

  Well, if I see an army of trees marching with Beryl, 
I'll know what's happened to him, she thought.  There were 
rumors that four of the Guardians had gone over to Beryl.  
She prayed the rumors were untrue.
                      
  There were footsteps behind her, and then Sif said, "I 
see we had the same idea."

  Isis laughed and turned to the tall, auburn haired 
woman.  Sif had forsaken her usual courtly garb for the 
simple leather jerkin and pants she wore when gardening.  
She had a shovel in one hand and a trowel in the other.  
"Yes.  I just wanted to make sure the roses were okay."

  "Did you ever finish that painting of the eight of us?"  
Sif asked as she started checking some of the other 
flowers for weeds and pulling them up.

  "Yes.  Princess Serenity wished I had put her and 
Endymion in it as well, but I couldn't remember what his 
nose looked like."  She sounded faintly embarrassed.  "Also, 
I ran out of space, really.  Four couples is enough for one 
painting."

  "You'll have to show it to me later.  It might be all 
we have of them after this," Sif said, yanking up more 
weeds.  "Stupid little things, I tell them not to grow here 
or they'll have to die, but they just won't listen."

  Isis paused and stared up at the Earth, hanging high 
in the sky.  "You think they have turned, then?"

  "How many times have you known Pluto to be
wrong?  They've turned, and we'll probably have to kill them." 
Her voice was very, very calm.

  "How can you be so...so unbothered by  it?"  Isis
asked with pain in her voice.

  "Because if I let myself think about it, I'd be curled 
up in a ball in my closet crying until it's all over," Sif said.  
"When we beat Beryl, I'm going to carve her into tiny bits 
and feed her to the dogs for what she's done."  Her voice 
heated up measurably.  "But I can't do anything yet but 
wait.  Without the other kingdoms, we can't launch an 
offensive,  and they're all having their own crisis.  We'll 
have to face Beryl alone."

  Isis shuddered.  "She is opening the Trods.  I can feel 
it.  I think she'll be here tomorrow.  I've told the Queen, 
but..."

  "I know.  All we can do is watch and wait.  For 
tomorrow, we may die."  She glared at a small bush trying 
to grow in the midst of the violets.  "Except for these 
plants, who may well die today."  The bush tried to hide, 
which didn't work very well, since it couldn't move.  She 
sighed.  "I'll just move you, okay?  But in the future, stay 
in your own bed."

  The baby rose bush nodded, and soon was moved to
a new home.

*****************

  Children of Fire
  A Sailor Moon/Ranma Elseworld

  Chapter 6:  Memories3

  http://www.maison-otaku.net/~rhea/SMR/

  By
  John Biles

*****************

  "Everyone, I'd like you all to say hello to our new 
student, Mei'ou Setsuna," Godai-sensei said.  

  "Hello, Mei'ou-san," everyone said.

  She bowed and smiled.  "Hi."  She then turned and 
smiled very brightly at Ranma, who shifted uncomfortably.  
Several other people noticed this and whispering ran round 
the room like wildfire.

  "I'm sure you'll all do your best to make her feel 
welcome,"  Godai-sensei said.  "Now, back to work for all 
of us."

  Setsuna came over and sat down in the seat next to 
Ranma that he was sure hadn't been empty yesterday, but 
was now.  "I'm so glad I finally got all the paperwork out 
of the way for the transfer.  It was like trying to row 
upstream with a spoon."

  He laughed.  "I've had to do that, after Pop managed 
to lose the paddles for the canoe, back when we had one."

  She smiled.  "Tell me about it."

  He started into the story, and had just gotten to the 
part where Pop was wrestling the alligator when a shadow 
fell over him.  Looking up, he saw Godai-sensei.  "You can 
finish your tale in the hallway, while holding buckets," he 
said.  "You too, Mei'ou-san."

  Ranma grumbled, but headed outside with Setsuna.  
"Geez, mistress of time, ya coulda warned me!  You should 
have known that was coming."

  She giggled.  "This way, you can tell me in peace."

  "..."

  "So then what happened?"

  Ranma pouted.  "Hrmph.  Go observe a future where
I finished it."

  They finished filling their buckets and assumed the 
position.  

  "Pouting doesn't become you, Ru...Ranma."

  "Don't call me Ruby.  Don't even think it," Ranma
said firmly, not looking at her.

  "Why does it bother you so much?"

  "Cause it shows you ain't seeing me, you're seeing a 
memory.  Bugs the hell out of me."

  There was silence for a minute or two, then Setsuna 
said, "I'm sorry.  I am patient in most things, but I have 
waited for you for so long..."  Her voice was faint and 
wistful.

  "You ain't been waiting for me.  You've been waiting 
for Ruby, and we're not totally the same, even if he was 
me."  Ranma tried to hold himself back; she sounded very 
sad, and he didn't like hurting a girl's feelings.  "Do I gotta 
write it on your hand or something?"

  She sagged.  "You hate me."

  "I do not hate you!  Don't overreact!  I just can't take 
this being treated like some dead dude!"  He paused.  "That 
didn't sound quite right.  I just...I don't feel like you really 
know anything about ME."

  "Your name is Ranma Saotome.  You were born in 
Hokkaido because your family went on vacation and you 
were born three weeks earlier than anticipated.  They 
were afraid you would die, but you pulled through and grew 
up healthy.  When you were six, your father had a 
premonition that Happousai was going to escape, so he 
sent your mother to stay with her brother, and took you off 
on a training trip.  Three months later, you met Ukyou 
and..."

  Ranma's eyes widened.  "Whoa, whoa...Who's this 
Happousai character?  And I thought Pop took me off on a 
training trip because he promised Mom he'd make a man of 
me."

  "He's a perverted old man who was one of the
several idiots your father trained under.  Your father
imprisoned him in a cave a long time ago, with the help of
Soun Tendo, Kasumi's father.  I suppose he's roaming
around Japan looking for your father right now."

  "Well, Pop's safe from him, then, but why'd Pop 
imprison him?"

  "I don't know, but I'd guess it was because he thought 
it was the only way to get away from him.  Anyway, for 
six months, you and your father followed the Kuonjis 
around until..."

  Ranma interrupted her.  "How do you know all this?"

  "I checked in on you periodically as you were growing 
up.  That was during my guardianship of the Time Tunnel.  
Then, when I was finally able to lay down my guardianship 
in Crystal Tokyo, I sent myself back through time to be 
reborn in this time, so I could be the same age as you.  
However, because I'm the senshi of Time, I have all my 
memories, unlike the other Senshi.  It didn't quite work out 
like it was supposed to, though."

  "You could say that," Ranma said.

  "No, no, I mean, I popped into existence as a sixteen 
year old about four months ago.  No family, no past, just a 
few legal records, a house, and some money.  And a 
reversion to...umm..."  She looked embarrassed.  "I really 
didn't used to be so...hyper.  Not since the first time I was 
this age.  And I just keep...being able to see the future 
doesn't always help.  Look, how about if we just...try going 
out on a date?"

  Suspicion twinged through Ranma.  "Just a date?"

  "Yeah.  I promise I won't call you Ruby."

  "The movie can't be any of that disgusting mushy 
stuff."

  "How about the Lord of the Rings movie?"

  He blinked.  "That doesn't come out until a year from 
now, right?"

  Setsuna grinned.  "You forget who you're talking to."

  A twinge of conscience went off.  "Isn't that an 
abuse of our powers?"

  "It's not like we're going to prevent the movie being 
shown or anything.  We won't be changing history."

  Ranma thought for a moment.  "Right.  Sounds great 
to me."

  "Yes!"  Setsuna posed triumphantly.  Unfortunately, 
she was still holding her buckets, which meant that water 
went flying everywhere.

  Ranma-chan said, "Just freaking great.  Keep an eye 
out while I go get some hot water, okay?"

  "I can fix this," Setsuna said.

  "You can?"

  She put down her now empty buckets and got out her 
transformation pen and concentrated on it with her eyes 
closed.  It flared with light, and Ranma's uniform suddenly 
turned into the standard school fuku.  "There you go."

  He hung his head.  "I want to be a boy, not to be 
correctly dressed to be a girl!"

  "Oh.  Well, since it's my fault, you can stay here and 
be good, and I'll go get the hot water.  That way, I'll get in 
trouble instead of you if Godai-sensei checks."

  "Right."

  She got back before anyone checked, and he turned 
back to normal.  The fuku turned back into his uniform.  
"Thanks for that," Ranma said.

  "You'd have looked pretty silly in that fuku," Setsuna 
said.                      

  "Naah, he wouldn't have known who I was."

  Godai-sensei stuck his head out the door.  "Clean up 
that water!"

  "Yes, Sensei," they said, then sighed and went to
work.

************

  Ukyou frowned.  She had the feeling someone was 
staring at her; she'd had that feeling the last few days, but 
she could never spot who it was, if anyone.  It was getting 
worse, although she suspected it was simply because she 
was playing soccer, and people were, naturally enough, 
staring at her because she had the ball.

  She drove it down the field, and kicked in the goal 
past the goalie, and her team went wild, cheering.  The 
bell rang for lunch while she was still grinning.  Time 
enough to go back to her room and change while the dorm 
was empty.  She headed back, only to see a small tree 
coming down the stairs when she reached the base.
  
  It paused, and a feminine head popped out.  "You!  I 
know you!"

  Ukyou scratched her head.  "You do?"

  "I've seen you in my dreams!  But you're even better 
looking than I dreamed!"  Hearts flashed in her eyes.

  Ukyou wondered how this crazy woman had gotten 
into the middle of her dorm.  "Uhhh..."  She started to back 
up.

  "My name's Tsubasa!  Marry me!"  The tree charged 
down the stairs.

  Ukyou, being unarmed, did the sensible thing.  She 
ran.

*****************

  "Well, it looks like you've fully recovered," Dr. Tofu 
said to Kasumi.

  Damn, she thought.  Now I don't have any more 
excuses to come back.  I wish I could...no, he'd never like a 
tomboy like me, she thought.  Her brain whirled for a 
while, then she said, "I guess I won't need to come back, 
then?"

  "Feel free to drop in and say hello, but you don't need 
my services any more.  Not until your next fight, anyway," 
he said, smiling.  "I've heard there's a tournament coming 
up.  Are you going to be entering it?"

  She nodded.  "In a month or so.  I've already signed
up.  You'll come see me, won't you?"

  "Of course," he said.  "You'll do your father's memory 
proud, I'm sure."

  "I've been trying to think of some way to raise 
enough money to rebuild the dojo, but the only thing I have 
worth that much is the land the dojo stood on."  She 
sighed.  "The prize from this tournament would be a start 
towards that."

  "Good luck!"

  "Thank you," she replied, smiling.    

************

  Nephrite examined the energy gathering in his 
laboratory.  The experiment in chaining ghosts to his will 
seemed to be working, although the ghosts tended to be 
easily distracted.  Once the stars had led him to the 
haunted graveyard, it had been easy to bend six or so 
ghosts to his will and send them forth to feed on the life 
force of the living.  Somewhat harder to force them to 
hand over that life force afterwards, though.  

  The most effective of them was a deranged mother
who used impersonations of other people's mothers to lure
them into her arms, then drained their  life. Unlike the others,
she didn't get distracted quite so easily, and she'd evaded the
ghost-sweeper woman who'd slain two of them.  

  He needed the energy input; his search for the Silver 
Crystal ate energy to a degree he found incredible.  
Someone had hidden it very, very well.  The extra energy let
him use his youma for searching instead of energy gathering.

  The ghost dog arrived, and dropped five bones at his 
feet, then coughed up a smidgen of energy to add to the 
pool.  He frowned.  The thing was obsessed with bones.  He 
found it rather morbid.

  "Teaching your pet to fetch for you?" Zoicite said.  

  Nephrite looked up and saw Zoicite floating in the air 
in one of his usual wasteful displays of energy.  Zoicite 
would never walk when flying would do, and teleporting 
was even better.  "Well, after watching you fetch and carry 
for Kunzite, I thought I could train this dog to take your 
place and spare him a lot of aggravation." 

  Zoicite's face turned beet red.  "How dare you 
compare me to a dog!"  His voice suddenly rose three 
octaves.  "All you ever do is skulk in this cathedral and 
consult star charts, while Kunzite and I are out gathering 
energy and trying to find the Silver Crystal."

  "Finding the crystal is MY job," he said.  "And you've 
turned into a woman again.  Lack of control of your own 
magic.  Tsk."

  Zoisite focused her will, and turned back into a man.  
"Dammit, I hate that."  Being a powerful wielder of life-
force magics had its drawbacks.  He could grow the only 
garden of flowers in the Dark Kingdom, but it carried a 
price.

  "Did you come to make a fool of yourself, or is there 
some other reason you came?" Nephrite asked.

  "Tourmaline and Jadeite are plotting together," 
Zoicite said.  "They've found the Princess and are planning 
a strike to get hold of her," he continued, settling to the 
ground.  "We plan to pre-empt them."

  "Have fun," he said.  "I think she's probably sending 
you on a wild goose chase."

  "Are you going to sit back and let this upstart show 
us all up?"

  "The Princess is not my job.  And if Tourmaline's 
working with Jadeite, I'd put odds on..."  The dog slobbered 
on Nephrite's leg.  "But I'll let you use this dog."

  Zoicite frowned.  "You'll regret this."

  "Not as much as I regret not picking my ghosts more 
carefully."  

  "You should use your youma; they're not as stupid as 
a dog-ghost," Zoicite said.

  "And they don't try to..."  He pushed the dog away. 
"Do whatever this thing is trying to do."

  Zoicite grinned.  "Shall I send her into heat for you?  
You seem to be her type."

  "No.  Get out."

  "As you like."  Zoicite vanished in a spray of petals. 

  I'm surrounded by freaks, Nephrite thought.  "GET
OFF MY LEG!"

************

  Ukyou sprinted across campus with the tree-girl in 
hot pursuit, running right through dozens of small knots of 
people eating lunch and chatting.  Finally, she found 
Haruka, who was eating lunch with some friends of hers 
from the track team.  "Help!  There's a dryad after me or 
something!"

  Everyone stared at her as if she was insane.

  "I'm not kidding!"

  The door of the locker room swung open, and the 
small mobile tree entered.  "Has anyone seen...ahah!  There 
you are!"

  The track team boggled in unison.  Haruka said, "Did 
you try to cut her down or something?"

  "Ahah!"  Ukyou said.  "Come and get me!" she
shouted at the tree, then took off through the far side of the
locker room.

  The tree gave chase through the twisty, bendy 
corridors of the gymnasium, then down a staircase and 
into the school orchard, where one of the odder clubs of 
the school met.  They were all dressed in red and black 
plaid flannel shirts, denim pants, and funky hats, busily 
having an argument about proper saw use.  It was the 
lumberjack club, who had planted the school an orchard so 
they could periodically practice in it.  

  Ukyou said, "This tree is after me."

  They turned as one and stared at Tsubasa with 
hunger in their eyes.

  She watched the tree-girl flee into the distance 
with the club giving chase.  "Man, I've got five minutes to 
shower and change," she said after she looked at her 
watch.  "There goes lunch."

************

  Ami laid on the bed and stared at the ceiling.  What 
do I tell Kasumi?  How do I tell Kasumi?  I don't have any 
real proof, and what little evidence I have, I can't tell her 
how I collected it.  

  There were footsteps at the door, and then it opened. 

Her mother said, "Ami, are you okay?  Kasumi said you've 
looked worried all day."

  "I'm just...trying to decide whether to tell someone 
something when I don't know if it's true."

  Her mother, who was tall and elegant, came over to 
Ami's bed, and sat down by her daughter.  "You want to talk 
about it?"

  Ami thought about it for a few seconds and came up 
with a way to sort of explain things.  "I saw a man at Rei's 
temple the other day.  He looked like...Uncle Soun."

  Ami's mother's eyes widened.  "It must be a 
coincidence."

  "Probably, but...I mean...Mother, do we have any real 
idea what happened to her parents and sisters?  
Anything....anything at all?"

  "They didn't die when the dojo blew up.  Beyond 
that...not much.  I don't think they staged it to fake their 
own death; it makes no sense, and most of their stuff was 
still there in the rubble, including their luggage.  I can't 
really believe Kasumi's story about the evil troll, but at 
the same time...I thought at first it might have been some 
sort of sloppy kidnapping, but no ransom was ever 
demanded."  

  She scratched her head and sighed.  "There's no
answer that makes sense.  They would never have left 
without Kasumi willingly, no one had any reason to kidnap 
them, and there were no corpses left behind.  And the 
explosion appeared to have taken place on the porch.  
Porches don't explode."  She turned and stared at the 
picture over Ami's desk, which showed the two families 
together, taken when Ami was four years old.  "Soichiro 
cried for a week.  Not that he would let anyone see it.  Your 
father loved his sister very much, although he never really 
liked your uncle.  They were just too different."

  A thought struck Ami.  "Do you know why Kasumi 
doesn't like Ranma's family?"

  Ami's mother flopped down on the bed next to Ami.  
"I see we're going to be here a while."  She rolled over on 
one side to face her daughter.  "Your aunt Michiko and 
Ranma's mother, Nodoka, were roommates at...I forget 
which college.  That's when they met Soun and Genma, who 
were apprenticed to this total freak of a man named 
Happousai, this little withered..."  She looked thoughtful 
for a moment, then continued.  "I only met him once...I had 
to burn the clothing I was wearing afterwards."  She 
shuddered.

  "Anyway, they'd both done a lot of...not very good 
things under the influence of the old man, and all his 
students have a pretty bad reputation in the martial arts 
community.  But after they met Michiko and Nodoka, they 
rebelled against him and left him.  Ranma's father went to 
a temple to atone, while Soun's parents called him to come 
prepare to run the family dojo.  He married Michiko and 
Nodoka married Genma.  Michiko and Soun had three kids:  
Kasumi, Nabiki, and Akane."

  "Anyway, after the Tendos vanished, Kasumi came
to 
stay with us, and Genma panicked.  He took Nodoka to stay 
with her brother, an architect named Nobuyuki.  Then he 
vanished one night with Ranma and never came back."

  Ami stared in surprise.  "That's just....why?"

  "I have no idea.  I'd be interested to find out why.  
Anyway, his mother is one of the people who trained 
Kasumi, and I know she's not very pleased with her ex-
husband."

  "They got a divorce?"

  "She did.  It wasn't easy, but Nodoka's family has a 
lot of pull, somehow.  I don't know if Genma even knows 
about it."

  Ami paled slightly.  "I'm pretty sure Ranma doesn't.  
Does she hate him too?"

  "I don't think so.  I'm sure she wouldn't blame a six 
year old for his father's actions."

  "I think...I think maybe I ought to get Ranma so you 
could tell him about this."

  "I'd been meaning to bring it up when I heard Kasumi 
ran into him, but I never seem to be around when you...oh, I 
meant to ask you...I have some time off coming up.  I was 
thinking the three of us could go have a special family day 
this Saturday.  Dr. Masamichi got me some tickets to some 
plays, and one of them is coming up; I thought we could go 
to it.  And if there's anywhere you'd like to go as a family, 
we could do that too."

  Ami's face lit up.  "That would be great!"  

  Kasumi appeared at the door.  "Dinner is served.  
What's this about a play?"

  "This Saturday.  Would you like to go?"

  "Sure!"  She smiled brightly.  "But right now, come 
on, dinner's getting cold."

*************

  "Pop did WHAT?" Ranma shouted.

  They had gone to a park to talk so as to avoid any 
potential scenes with their respective housemates.  Ami's 
mom, who had reverted to her maiden name of Reiko 
Toranaga, said, "Abandoned her.  He said he'd come back 
once things died down, but he never did."

  Ranma suddenly remembered what Setsuna had told 
him; he'd been aggravated enough that he had managed to 
forget half of it.  "I thought she went to stay with her 
brother.  Pop always told me we'd go back once I was 
ready."  Although I'm not sure what I was supposed to be 
'ready' for, he thought.

  "She did.  But he never came back.  So she divorced 
him."

  Ranma stared in shock.  "She...did?"

  Reiko nodded.  "I doubt he knows about it, though. 
So  where is he, anyway?"

  Ranma twitched.  "Well, I guess I have to explain the 
whole thing..."

  A handy sprinkler did the trick.  "You see, we went to 
these cursed springs..."

  "Oh my."

***************

  "Should I tell her?" Ami asked her mother later that 
day.

  "I'm not sure.  Ranma's father..."  She shook her
head.  "To think something like that exists for real...did you
know about what happened to his father?"

  Ami nodded.

  "Come with me."

  They went into the back storage room, which was 
piled full of crates and boxes and old furniture and several 
old easels with half-finished canvasses on them.  Ami's 
mother opened several boxes until she found the object of 
her quest.  "Here it is."

  It was a photo album, full of faded and battered 
photos.  "Here he is," she said, paging through the book 
until she found one that showed her with a tiny old man 
half-down her shirt.  "I nearly killed your father for taking 
this picture," she said.  "I only kept it so I could show the 
cops.  His name was Happousai."

  "He's...small."

  "Lethal.  And a total underwear freak.  If you see him, 
call the police."

  Ami nodded.  

  "When Ranma's father returns, I'm going to have a 
few choice words with him."  Her voice was sharper than 
usual.  "If he knows something about what happened...we'll 
get it out of him.  And if it was his fault..."  Her voice grew 
sharper yet, "He'll pay."

*************

  Jadeite walked into his casino, which was still 
under reconstruction.  The big 'Jade Dragon' sign was up 
already; he liked the design.  Workers bustled about, 
rebuilding the interior.  And among them stood the oddball 
who Jadeite had hired to run the place.

  The man had no real name, and Jadeite suspected
his appearance was fake as well; no one could possibly 
actually look like a king from a deck of cards.  They called 
him the Gambling King, and Jadeite believed it.  The man 
had beaten Jadeite at cards with Jadeite cheating with 
magic; that was good enough for Jadite.  "Ahh, Mr. Stanton.  
And where's your lovely wife?"

  "Taking care of other business," he said.  "How soon 
will we be ready?"

  "A month at best, if nothing goes wrong," the 
Gambling King said.  "Have you found the Saotome boy
yet?"

  "Not yet," Jadeite said.  "Still checking through all 
the possibilities.  Should take less than a week.  So why 
are you looking for him, anyway?"

  "I have a gambling debt to collect, of course.  He 
signed over his future inheritance to me."

  Jadeite resisted the urge to roll his eyes at the man.  
As if the kid would remember or honor it.  "I don't see your 
ninjas anywhere."

  "They wouldn't be doing their job very well if you 
did, now would they?" the Gambling King said, laughing 
with his booming voice.  He snapped his fingers, "Konatsu!  
Come forth!"

  Suddenly, a tall, slender girl in a kimono stood at his 
elbow, holding a plate with cookies, two cups, and a teapot 
still releasing steam.  "Do you like sugar in your tea, sir?"

  "Two lumps please," Jadeite said.

  "Lemon," the Gambling King said.  "This is Konatsu, 
who is one of my best ninjas."

  Jadeite took the tea Konatsu offered to him.  "How 
did you get your own ninjas, anyway?"

  "They were all given to me to pay off gambling debts 
I was owed.  Except for the hog-calling disaster, they've 
been quite useful.  So, let's talk about how we're going to 
split the profits."

************

  "Dinner's ready," Usagi said from outside Ranma's 
tent.  

  There was only silence.

  She stuck her head in.  "Ranma, dinner is...Ranma?"  
There was no Ranma, although she was pretty sure she'd 
seen him come home earlier from wherever he'd been.

************

  Ken looked over at his roommate, who for once 
looked utterly, completely normal, seated at his desk, 
working hard on math homework.  "You done the bio 
homework yet?" he asked.

  "Not yet."

  "So how come you ain't a tree or something?"

  "Tree costume got wrecked and..."  For a moment,
his usually cheerful voice faltered.  "I'll take my chances with 
the evil spirits for a little while.  I gotta...Have you ever 
been in love, Ken?"

  "Not anything too serious.  Had a few dates, kinda 
sorta dated this one girl.  Got my eye on another one right 
now."  There was a knock at the window.  "Let Ranma in, 
will ya?" Ken asked Tsubasa.

  Tsubasa nodded.  He went to the window, and
opened 
it.  "Hi, I'm Kurenai Tsubasa.  Nice to..."  He blinked.  Do I 
know this guy? he asked himself.

  Ranma stared back.  I've met this guy before, he 
thought.  And not just when he was a...whatever he was 
when I came over last time.  "I'm Saotome Ranma.  Nice to 
meet ya."  He shook Tsubasa's hand and felt a tiny jolt that 
made them both jump, then slipped into the room.  "Gotta 
hate static electricity."

  "Yeah," Tsubasa said, going back to his homework.

  "I've decided that when we divy up your fiancees, I 
want Rei," Ken said.  "She's a fox, and I wouldn't have to 
beat her in a fight first."

  "Wise people don't date Kitsune," Tsubasa said.  
"Trust me."

  "Uh...okay," Ranma said, sitting down on Ken's bed. 
"I just...I may have to really beat the hell out of Pop, but I'm 
not sure if it's all true, and I don't know who would...oh 
wait, I know who to ask."  He got up.  "Yeah, she'd know.  
Guess I'll see you later, Ken."

  "..."

  Ranma vanished out the window.  

  Ken turned to Tsubasa, "Did you understand that?"

  "No."

  "Me neither.  So who have you got a crush on?"

  "I don't know her name."

  "What school does she go to?"

  "This one."

  Ken's eyes widened.  "She's a woman...attending 
here?"

  "Most people wouldn't ever notice, but I've got a 
knack."

  "I've noticed."

************

  Setsuna was in the throes of trying to defeat the 
game 'Bust-A-Move' when there was a rapping at her living 
room window.  She knew who it was without looking; even 
without time powers, she could have simply deduced it.  
"Come in, Ranma," she said.

  He came in.  "I talked to Ami's mom and she said..."

  "That your father abandoned your mother."

  "Yeah.  I just...I mean, did he?"

  "Well, I don't know what he was thinking...I can't read 
minds.  But I know he took her to her brother because he 
had a premonition.  Perhaps it was the promptings of 
destiny."  She paused the game and turned to face Ranma, 
gesturing to the couch she was sitting on.

  He came over and sat down.  "Destiny doesn't talk to 
people."

  "Well, he is usually mute, but...you know what I
mean.  Perhaps your father has a little of your power; it's
often like that with magical warriors.  While he has done
many bad things, but I don't think he would just abandon your 
mother for no good reason.  But you'll have to ask him 
why."  She scooted a little closer to him.  "I wish I could 
help you more, Ranma," she said, emphasizing his name.  

  "Mom divorced him."

  Setsuna blinked in surprise.  "She did?"  After a few 
seconds, she continued, "I suppose so.  If she thinks she 
was...the last I saw of her, she was at her brother's, but I 
don't know if she still lives there."

  "Mrs. Mizuno told me that she was still living with 
her brother and his son.  I was thinking about going to see 
Mom, but she might...I mean...I dunno."  He stared at the 
ground.

  Setsuna smothered her instincts to comfort him 
more than he would be able to handle, but it wasn't easy.  
She simply put a hand on his shoulder.  "I think you should 
go see your Mom, although maybe you should wait until we 
get your father..."  She slapped her forehead.  "We could 
just teleport to the zoo and get him.  It's not like they can 
really own him, so it won't be stealing.  And faster too."

  "We can?" Ranma asked.

  She stood up.  "Once you're at the height of your 
power, you'll be able to teleport interplanetary distances.  
Crossing to America would be easy.  You know where he is, 
right?"

  "Right," he said.

  She held out a hand.  "Let's go."

  He stood and took her hand, feeling the softness of 
her skin.  "Okay, how do we do it?"

  "Just think about where you're going, then shout, 
'Guardian Teleport'!"

  "Do I need to transform first?"

  "Hmm.  If we show up in the middle of a zoo with 
people in it transformed...But probably we should."  She 
pulled out her transformation pen.  "PLUTO POWER, MAKE 
UP!"

  "Guardian Power, Transform!" he shouted.  

  They transformed, then Guardian Saturn fixed the 
image in his mind.  "GUARDIAN TELEPORT!"

  The world winked out, and a zoo winked in.  Stars 
twinkled over head and buildings and animal dens spread 
out all around them.  The zoo was very quiet, and the air 
was cool.  Guardian Saturn leaned against a railing.  He 
felt rather drained, but didn't want to show it.

  "Well, that's one less problem," Pluto said.  "Hmm.  
It's going to take a while to find your father."

  They searched for a while, and eventually found the 
panda den, which held a single disgruntled looking female 
panda.  "That ain't Pop," G. Saturn said.  

  "But he has to be here.  Unless the Zoo sold him?"

  Guardian. Saturn sighed.  "No way to find out with
everyone gone.  I'll call them in the morning, I guess."

  "Well, let's go home."  She took his hand again.  "We 
had to try."

  "Thanks," he said.

  "No problem.  SAILOR TELEPORT!"  There was a
flash, and they returned to her house, then another set of
flashes as they detransformed.

  She said, "Ever played Bust-A-Move?"

  "Nope."

  "Want to try it?" she asked hopefully.

  "Uh, sure," he said.

  She was soon crushed by his superior virtual
dancing.  Over and over.  Finally, she looked over at him 
suspiciously.  "You'd never played this before?"

  "I guess I've just got rhythm."  His stomach rumbled.  
"And the munchies."

  "I foresee a pizza in our future.  Sound good to you?"

  "Sounds GREAT to me," he said.  

  She went to place the order, and he amused himself 
with the Sega Saturn.  She then returned.  "They'll be here 
in twenty three minutes," she said.  "Just enough time for 
me to avenge myself."

  "Just enough time for you to be crushed."

  Ranma proved the better prophet.  The pizza arrived 
right on time, and they adjourned to the small dinner table 
and proceeded to pig out.  Once Ranma was sated, he said, 
"I'm betting Pop escaped."

  "Makes sense," she said.  "They probably tried to 
make him breed with the female one."

  "..."

  She went and got a tin of cookies out of the 
cupboard.  "Chocolate chip and raisin cookies.  You want 
some?"

  "They're my favorite," he said, taking three and 
eating them in seconds.

  She sat down and took one, eating it slowly.  "Me 
too," she said.  "I only bake them once a week now, or I 
start eating them like they were popcorn.  I'll make you 
some tomorrow."

  "Cool."

  She handed him a napkin.  "There's chocolate at the 
corner of your mouth."

  He wiped.

  "The other corner."

  He wiped again, then reached over and wiped the 
corner of her mouth.  "You too."

  He touched me, she thought, then whacked herself 
mentally for getting so excited about it.  Don't do anything 
stupid, she told herself.  Stay calm.  "Well, I can't beat you 
at Bust-A-Move, but I bet I can crush you at...no, on second 
thought, you'd likely beat me at Mortal Kombat."

  He grinned.  "Naturally."  He got up.  "I better get 
home and do my homework."

  "..."

  "What, you forgot about your homework?"

  Setsuna looked nervous.  "I haven't quite gotten into 
the 'school' habit yet."

  He laughed.  "Better get to it.  Thanks for
everything."

  She went to the door with him.  "Come on over any 
time you want," she said.  "If you want to study or goof off 
or...anything."

  "Okay," he said.  "We're doing training tomorrow, 
right?"

  "Right, Ranma."

  "See ya then, Setsuna!"  He headed out the door and 
into the night.

  I wish I could help him with his parents, she thought.  
But at least we had a fun time, and I didn't goof up.  I may 
just pull this off after all.

*********

  Usagi and Shampoo were sparring in the yard when 
Ranma arrived home.  "I saved dinner for you in the fridge," 
Usagi said, then ducked a bonbori swipe at her head.

  "Ate pizza at Setsuna's," he replied.  "Now I gotta do 
homework.  Bleah."

  "Usagi spent a long time cooking you dinner," 
Shampoo said sharply.

  "Had to go think about some stuff," Ranma said, 
disappearing into his tent.

  Shampoo frowned at the tent.  She turned to Usagi.  
"We need to do something."

  "It doesn't bother me," Usagi said, not sounding very
sincere.

  Shampoo simply frowned.
  
************

  Rei woke in the middle of the night, although she 
didn't know why.  There had been a dream, something about 
forgetting to bring any lunch to school and having to go 
hungry, but it had dissolved in flame and her eyes had 
snapped open.  She laid there for a few minutes, then got 
up and decided to wander around mindlessly until she felt 
tired.  

  She heard noises outside, so she went to take a look, 
and found Usagi running through some kind of staff-
fighting kata.  For a few minutes, she simply watched the 
fluid motions, then finally, Rei said, "Go to bed."

  Usagi started and whacked herself in the head.  
"What are you doing up?"

  "Couldn't sleep."

  "Me either.  I just had this vague feeling like there 
was trouble on the horizon."  She yawned.  "Looks like the 
wear myself out plan is working."

  Rei laughed.  "You'd better get some sleep, if you're 
gonna spar with Ranma in the morning like you usually do."

  "You ought to join us some morning," Usagi said, 
heading over towards Rei.

  "I'm not ready yet," Rei said.  "I've got a ways to go 
to catch up.  Plus, unlike you, I have to go to school in the 
morning."

  "Ranma doesn't have any trouble making it to
school."

  "That's because he can run about ten times faster 
than me."

  Usagi reached the door.  "I'm glad I don't have to go; 
it sounds boring."

  "It's good for you," Rei said sharply.  

  "Not for me.  Goodnight, Rei," she said, smiling 
brightly, then sprinting off down the hall out of sight.

  I suppose honesty is a virtue, Rei thought.

************

  Ranma walked to Setsuna's house with her after 
school; Ukyou was supposed to meet them there for 
training.  She changed out of her school uniform with a 
wave of her hand once she got inside.  He said, "Can you 
teach me that trick?"

  "My version only works for women.  But once 
D...Ukyou figures it out for herself, she can teach you."  She 
paused.  "The Guardian way of doing it."

  "I just wanna get rid of that damn skirt when I'm in 
girl-Guardian form."  He sat down at the kitchen table.  

  Setsuna brought him some cookies.  "I meant to
bring these to school and let you have them.  We'll probably
end up eating them all." She sat down.  "We have half an
hour until Ukyou gets here."

  "Half an hour?  Shouldn't take that long."

  Setsuna shrugged.  "Something holds her up, but it 
happens before her arrival.  I just know when she gets 
here.  You want to start training, or go play another 
game?"

  "Let's get going," he said, after eating a cookie.  "I'll 
go get my fire going while you put these up."

  She nodded.

************

  "Master Kunou, I have some interesting news," 
Sasuke said.

  "What sort of news?" Kunou asked.  He was at his 
desk, puzzling over a literature assignment.  He found the 
book he was supposed to read to be both incomprehensible 
and boring, so he was glad, for once, to be interrupted.

  "As you commanded, I have done some spying upon 
your enemies."

  "And?"

  Sasuke produced a small book of photos.  "They are 
not as they seem, my lord."

  Kunou looked at the first picture and blinked, then 
paged through the book faster and faster.  "But...they 
attend a boys' school."

  "Which would likely be displeased to discover their 
deception."

  Kunou smiled.  "Yes, it is my duty as a samurai to 
bring the truth to light.  That it also will cast out two 
enemies merely makes my duty all the sweeter."

  "As you wish, my lord," Sasuke said.  "It shall be 
done."

*********** 

  Pluto took a foot to the gut and went flying, bounced 
off a tree, then dropped to her feet in a crouch.  "Very 
good.  I knew it was coming, but couldn't react fast 
enough."

  "You knew it was coming?"  Guardian Saturn
sounded 
disappointed.

  "I have several seconds warning on your most likely 
actions," she said.  "But I lacked the skill to construct a 
defense that could stop you."

  Fighting a precognitive foe...a martial artist's worst 
nightmare, he thought.  "Can I learn that?"

  "It's hard for men, although your ability to 'read' 
moves will probably gradually be augmented by some 
limited precognition," she said.  "Your speed is definitely 
improving, though.  And your skill...you fight very well for 
someone your age."

  He grinned.  "Damn straight."

  "Not well enough, though," she said, suddenly 
teleporting behind him and kicking him in the butt.  He 
went sprawling for about two seconds, then rolled over, 
hooked her feet with his, and backflipped, sending her 
sailing across the yard into the wall.  She flopped over, 
rather sill.

  "Hah, you c...hey!"  He ran over.  "You okay?"

  Silence.


  He knelt down by her.  "Oh shit, I didn't think I 
flipped you that hard."  He put his hands on her shoulders.  
"Sounds like you're...aaaahhh..."  She suddenly moved, 
tossing him across the yard, then got to her feet.

  He landed on his feet.  "Don't do that!"

  She grinned.  "Make me stop."

  He charged, faster than she'd anticipated, a blur that 
tickled her temporal sense.  Before she knew what hit her, 
she was in the air, then slamming into the ground, with 
him pinning her arms.  "You asked for it."  He grinned 
confidently.

  Her pulse began to pound, and her breathing sped
up.  She hadn't been this close to him since...She tried to
stifle the memory, but it was too late.  She started to blush.

  "Hey, you okay?  You're getting red in the face."

  "It's just...I mean..."  Her self-control cracked, and 
she leaned her head up to kiss him.  She expected he'd jump 
away, but to her surprise, he leaned into it, and for a few 
seconds they kissed passionately.  Then he jumped back 
away from her, looking shocked.

  "I...uh...don't do that!"

  She sat up, feeling winded and excited all at once.  
"A kiss to the victor," she said faintly, then smiled.  He 
liked it.  I could tell, she thought.  I shouldn't have, but...I 
had to.  Yes, that's it.  "But I won't do it again."

  "Good.  I mean...You're a good kisser, but I mean...it 
just..."  He was growing progressively more incoherent, and 
she consulted the most likely outcomes if she moved in on 
him and kissed him again.  The odds were against her, so 
she simply stood up.  "Ready for another round?"  A 
premonition of an impending visitor struck her.

  "I think I'd rather try working on my speed."

  "Well, you certainly got it to work when you took me 
down."

  Ukyou vaulted over the fence.  "Sorry I'm late.  
Someone was following me and I had to lose them."

  Pluto frowned.  "Youma?"

  "Mailbox."

  "..."

  "Apparently some freak who does disguises has
taken an interest in me," Ukyou said.  "Don't worry about it."

  "Ken's roommate?"

  "I have no idea."

  Pluto frowned.  "Does he know you're a woman?"

  "Not a clue."

  "This could have great potential for disaster," Pluto 
said.  "I don't need precognitive powers to know that.  But 
for now...let's do some more training."

***********
  
  Kasumi backflipped three times, landed, spun a half-
circle and kicked at waist-level, followed by three 
punches, then dropping low and doing a sweep.  She then 
flipped forward to her original position, just in time to 
nearly land on Ami.  "Hi, Ami," she said.

  Ami jumped backwards into a tree and fell down.  
"Next time, I'll yell from the porch."

  "Sorry about that," Kasumi said.  "What's up?"

  With aid from Kasumi, Ami got up.  "I...I have 
something to tell you, but I'm...well...I saw...a man who 
looked like your father at Rei's temple a few days ago."  

  Kasumi's eyes widened.  "You did?"

  Ami nodded.  "I didn't want to say anything until 
I...checked the photo albums and talked to Mother, but it 
looked like him."

  "What did he do?  Why was he there?  Where did he 
go?"  Kasumi was starting to become frantic.

  "He came to that silly duel Usagi and Rei had."

  "The one where the riot broke out?"

  Ami nodded.  "I lost track of him in the chaos."  I 
wish I could tell her everything, but I can't explain how I 
know it or why I think he's working for the Dark Kingdom, 
she thought.  

  Kasumi bounced about, looking rather ridiculous.  
"You should have told me earlier!"

  "I only had a vague suspicion, and I didn't want to get 
your hopes up."

  Kasumi paused and looked thoughtful, then said, 
"Well, if Father is around, then he ought to be able to find 
me here.  Which means it probably wasn't him.  There's lot 
of men in Tokyo with moustaches and long hair."

  Ami said, "If I find out more, I'll let you know."

  Kasumi nodded.  "Thank you."

******************

  "So, you think you do like him?"  Naoko asked Rei.  
They were sequestered in Rei's room, with Naoko trying to 
help Rei with some science homework.  

  "I...I enjoyed watching that movie with him.  And 
when he's not hanging around every other woman in the 
universe, it's fun to be with him.  And he is kinda 
handsome.  But he's got a mouth the size of Honshu, and he 
can be rude and thoughtless and a complete jerk."  Rei 
flopped back in her chair, which nearly fell down.  "But 
sometimes he's...I dunno.  I think my past life hated him, 
but I don't understand why.  Sometimes he makes me crazy, 
but sometimes he can be nice."

  "Well, we're a continuation of the book, not the same 
chapter repeated," Naoko said.   "Your past life put you 
where you were when you started this one, but you've 
probably had experiences that helped reshape you so maybe 
he's less annoying to you the way you are now.  Or maybe 
he became less annoying this time around.  And I know he 
doesn't want us thinking he's just Ruby with new flesh."  
She looked thoughtful; Rei half expected her to forget she 
wasn't alone and begin to ramble soon.

  "Have you ever seen him with no shirt?  The way he 
moves and..."  Rei blushed.  "Did I really say that?"

  Naoko blushed as well.  "Yeah, he does look good
like that."  

  "Setsuna's the one who really worries me.  I mean,
he was really in love with her hard in the past, and I keep 
thinking that as more of it comes back to him, he'll just 
fall for her again."  Rei leaned forward, elbows on the 
table.  "And since we fought all the time in the past..."

  "Then get him now.  You've got to go for him before 
he can lose any of himself," Naoko said.  "You ought to 
just...go find him right now and kiss him."

  Rei's eyes widened.  "No way.  I mean, 
I...like...he'd...he'd laugh at me."

  "I guess it is kinda bold," she said.  "I know I couldn't 
do it."

  "Or what if he gets the idea I'm easy or something?"

  "From a kiss?"

  Rei drummed her fingers on the table.  "He spends a 
lot of time with Ukyou these days."

  "Well, they are both Guardians and old friends," 
Naoko said.  "I mean, I've spent a lot of time with Ami, and 
no one thinks we're dating."  Rei gave her a funny look, and 
Naoko blushed.  "That was not a hint!  I was just trying to 
parallel."

  "Hmm.  I still wanna know why Ukyou's still living 
with Haruka when Haruka's a guy," Rei said.  "Something 
funny's going on."

  "Well, maybe she has nowhere else to go?"

  "True, but..."

  Ranma stuck his head in the door.  "Hey, Rei, got a 
minute?"

  "Uh, I guess," she said.

  "Usagi keeps trying to claim Xena is historical, and I 
need someone who knows better to tell her.  She won't 
believe me."

  "You should be doing homework,"  Rei said, getting
up.

  "I'm done already.  Dunno how," he said.  "I coulda 
sworn I'd been working for hours, but I got it all done in 
about half..."  He trailed off and stared at Rei.

  She stared back, "Can you teach me that trick?"

  "When I figure out how I did it."  He took her by the 
hand.  "C'mon, we gotta knock some sense into Usagi and 
Shampoo's heads."

  As they went down the hallway, she tried to work up 
the courage to kiss him, and to decide if she really wanted 
to kiss him.  I wonder if he even realizes he's holding my 
hand, she thought.  Probably not.  Hmm.  Maybe I should
kiss him in front of Usagi and Shampoo.  That would show
them, she thought.  

  She worked up the courage to kiss him just as they 
came into the living room, where Grandpa, Usagi, and 
Shampoo were watching Xena.  Courage suddenly departed, 
and all she could do was wonder where it went.  Grandpa 
said, "Holding hands!  How romantic!"  

  In about three seconds, she and Ranma were at far 
sides of the room.  "I was just trying to get her to come 
tell you all she's wrong."

  "Yeah!  Xena is just fiction!"

  Shampoo shook her head.  "Shampoo already read
this story in Amazon chronicles.  Is true."

  "Big sister knows her Amazon history," Usagi said, 
petting her mother, who had curled up in her lap.  "Isn't 
that right, Mom?"

  "Mrrr...whatz?"

  "That means yes."

  "You can't have any," Ikuko-neko announced, then 
went back to sleep.

  Grandpa said, "I'm sure she knows her Amazon 
history better than we do."

  "Well, be that way!"  Rei announced.  "I'm gonna go 
study."  She stomped off, feeling aggravated.

  To her surprise, she heard footsteps, and turned to 
see Ranma following her.  "You're right," he said.  "But I 
guess Grandpa doesn't feel like an argument."

  She nodded.  "He's probably doing it just to
aggravate 
me."

  "Yeah, Grandpa's like that."  He paused.  "Oh,
Setsuna and I discovered Pop musta escaped from the zoo. 
He's probably...oh hey, I could get Ami to track him.  Anyway, 
he'll probably be back soon and like...I dunno.  He and 
Grandpa'll probably try something.  And..."  He stared at the 
ground.  "If I beat him up, don't be surprised, okay?"  He 
turned to go.

  Rei put a hand on his shoulder.  "Is something 
wrong?"

  "Yeah, I gotta beat some answers out of Pop about 
some stuff.  Nothing you gotta worry about.  Other than..."  
He stared off at the wall.  "I'm gonna go watch Xena.  Even 
if Shampoo's full of it."

  She steeled herself, stepped forward, and closed her 
eyes, leaning forward to kiss him.  However, where her 
lips were supposed to meet his, they met air.  She lost her 
balance, opened her eyes, and fell forward, ending up on 
her hands and knees.

  Ranma turned back from halfway down the hall.  
"Hey, whaddya fall down for?"

  "Nothing," she said, getting up and frowning.  "Forget 
it."  She stomped off, cursing the fates.

*************

  "What?  How can you do this?"  Michiru shouted at 
her parents.  They were in one of the three parlours, the 
small blue one, which was mostly used for card games and 
family disasters.  

  Her mother, Noriko, who was tall, thin, elegant, and 
blue-green haired like her daughter, said, "The Kunous have 
huge amounts of money, and a son who is such an idiot that 
you'll be able to make him do whatever you want.  And they 
have a lot of status and wish to try marrying into a sane 
family.  Your children will inherit your sanity and their 
status."

  Her father, Hayao, who was short and dark haired 
with bright green eyes and rather less elegant than her 
mother, said, "He's also handsome and a musician.  You 
have something in common.  And he's quite in love with you 
from what your uncle Shige says."

  "But I'm not in love with him."  Michiru stared at her 
parents.  "This is so...completely old-fashioned!"

  "Don't be selfish.  We've always given you everything 
you wanted.  Now it's your turn to reciprocate," her mother 
said.  "But I'll make you a proposal.  Find someone else 
acceptable to us before you graduate high school, and we'll 
find a way to wiggle out of this.  Until then, you will treat 
him as your fiancee and spend time with him.  You might 
change your mind."

  "Your mother and I didn't hit it off at first, but we 
grew on each other," her father said, reaching over and 
squeezing his wife's hand.

  I'm doomed, Michiru thought.  Although if we wait 
until after high school, I can move out if I have to.  But 
nearly two years with Kunou...I'll end up in the asylum with 
his father.  "Well, if it's the best I can get, I'll take it."

  Her mother sighed.  "Michiru, part of being rich is 
that sometimes you have to do things you don't like to stay 
that way.  I love you, but it's our duty as parents to take 
measures to..."

  "Whatever," she said, getting up.  "Time for me to 
start hunting, I guess."

  She walked out, and her father turned to her fretting 
mother, "She didn't break anything, so that's a good sign."

  Noriko laughed.  "She's probably going to go make 
another statuette of you buried under a sixteen ton weight, 
like she did when you grounded her for sneaking out of the 
house at 2 AM when she was twelve."

  He laughed as well.  "I suppose we should have 
waited until we returned to announce it."

  "What's done is done.  She has the chance now to
find someone better herself.  But since she would never have 
picked a man on her own..."  Her mother sighed.  "It's the 
only way to ensure the family name is carried on."

  Hayao frowned.  "Are you really sure that she's..."

  "With her looks, she could have any man she
wanted, if she wanted a man.  And you know she has male
friends; it's not like she can't find one to match her interests. 
But more importantly, she and Yui weren't so discreet as 
they thought they were."

  His eyes widened.  "Her and...Hmm.  I guess that
isn't that surprising, but..."  He sighed and got up.  "Time for
me to attend to business, dear."

  "And I as well," she replied, leaning over and kissing 
him on the lips.  They left to go about their work.

**************

  Usagi waved goodbye to the group of schoolkids who 
she had just helped give a tour of the temple to.  "Bye!  
Hope you had fun!"

  Many of them waved happily, and their teacher
waved as well.  As they headed down the steps, an attractive 
young lady, a few years older than Usagi with long brown 
hair in a pony-tail, came up the steps.  She was wearing a 
purple blouse and blue slacks, neither of which quite fit 
right.  Her eyes were hidden by sunglasses, and she looked 
nervous.  

  Usagi walked up to her.  "Hi, welcome to the Hikawa 
Temple.  Hino-sama 's busy with another tour group right
now, but can I help you?"

  The woman stared at her, then said, "I was just..."  
She looked about.  "I'm not sure why I'm here."

  "Oh, that's a pretty deep philosophical question.  I'd 
better get Hino-sama."  Usagi turned to go.

  The woman put a hand on her shoulder.  "No, I
meant that I wasn't quite...I heard someone I know was here
a while back, but...I don't know what I expected to find."  

  "Well, I might have seen him or her.  What was he 
like?"

  "A moustache, long black hair, blue eyes..." She 
frowned.  "I haven't seen him in a long time."

  "That covers a lot of people.  Is he an old boyfriend 
of yours?"

  The woman blinked, then laughed.  "No.  My father.  
He...vanished a long time ago, and my cousin...I shouldn't 
have come."  She turned to go.

  "No, no, I want to help you if I can," Usagi said, 
guiding her towards the porch.  "Why don't you sit down and 
tell me the whole story?  I'm Tsukino Usagi.  What's your 
name?"

  "Tendo Kasumi."  She looked around nervously.  
"Ranma isn't here, is he?"

  "He's in school," Usagi said.  "You know him?"

  "Yes," Kasumi said faintly.  She sat down on the 
porch with Usagi.  "It all started when I was nine years 
old, and I went to play at a friend's house..."

***************

  "Mom dear, how are you doing?" Tourmaline asked, 
hugging her mother from behind.  

  Moonstone was in the process of examining some 
crystals through a microscope, and as a result, nearly 
poked her eye out.  "Not when I'm at the microscope, dear."  
She turned around.  "So what are you going to beg me for 
this time?"  Her eyes twinkled.

  "Mom, I don't ALWAYS come ask you for
something," Tourmaline said.  "I just wanted to tell you that
Feldspar's doing very well in her job.  And made a friend,
much to my surprise."

  Moonstone's voice had just a tiny edge to it when she 
said, "Your sister does have a fair number of friends, such 
as Magnetite and Rose Quartz.  It would seem to be that 
you were the one who..."

  Tourmaline stared at the floor.  "That's not what I 
meant.  I meant, she's befriended one of my girls and is 
trying to teach her how to fight.  She seems to have 
convinced herself Margaret is one of us.  Which isn't true; I 
already checked.  In fact, she's organized a class for the 
entire staff."

  Her mother's mouth twitched.  Tourmaline knew her 
mother didn't approve of this scheme.  "A much better 
occupation for them."

  "Mother, we need energy.  And it's not like I'm forcing 
any of them to do this.  They're free to quit whenever they 
like, except for my youma...who don't want to."  Tourmaline 
tried once again to figure out why she always came apart 
whenever she had to argue with her mother.  I've faced 
down Beryl and gotten away with lying off my ass to 
Metallia, she thought.  I can bend Jadeite into knots and 
play Nephrite and Kunzite for fools.  But get around Mom 
and...

  To her surprise, her mother simply nodded.  "I know, 
and I'm very grateful you saved your sister.  And your 
father as well."  She put a hand on Tourmaline's shoulder.  
"But you've got to be careful.  There comes a point where 
you end up justifying anything whatsoever if you justify 
things by what they're supposed to accomplish."

  "I've found eight more of our people," Tourmaline 
said.  "And initiated them.  Through my...businesses."

  "Just answer one thing.  Do you work the customers 
yourself?"

  Tourmaline's eyes got big.  "I'm still a...virgin.  You 
know I promised Daddy I wouldn't...do anything like that."  
Her face turned red.  "And even if I wasn't..."

  Her mother simply stared at her.

  "What?"

  "So you have no problems getting people to do
something you won't do for moral reasons?"  Her gaze was
quite piercing.

  Tourmaline stared at the floor for a long time.  
Finally, she said, "Daddy told you about Kasumi, didn't he?"

  "Yes," she said.  "Have you checked?"

  "She's staying with the Mizunos.  Have you and
Daddy decided what to do?"

  "I'm surprised you haven't already grabbed her," 
Moonstone said dryly.

  "I just know we can't bring Feldspar in on 
this...Feldspar beat her up a while back.  If she sees 
Feldspar...I mean, we don't want to hide my sister, but..."

  "Your father and I have been talking about how to 
approach her.  But it's no rush.  She's in good hands with 
Reiko and Soichiro."  There was clear affection in her voice
when she spoke their names.  

  "They got divorced.  She's staying with Reiko," 
Tourmaline said.  

  "Divorced?"  Moonstone's eyes got big.  "But...they 
were always...so close.  I mean, it's just...hard to imagine.  
Why?"  Her voice wavered a bit.

  "I don't know.  Incompatible temperaments was the 
impression I got."  Tourmaline wrinkled her nose.  "If you 
and Dad ever...I'd...I feel sorry for Ami."

  Moonstone frowned, looking thoughtful..  "Have you
checked her yet?"

  Tourmaline blinked.  "What?"

  "Ami.  And Reiko too for that matter.  They could be 
of our kind."

  Tourmaline looked uncomfortable.  "I hadn't thought 
of that."

  "Well, it would simplify matters greatly," Moonstone 
said.  Best not to make her more uncomfortable, Moonstone 
thought.  Tourmaline has never liked being shown she 
didn't think of something.  "Otherwise, Reiko and Ami will 
be distraught when Kasumi vanishes.  Unless your father 
and I show up in our old identities, but that would raise 
many questions as well.  Although I wish I could let my
brother know I'm alive."

  "Do you ever wonder..."  Tourmaline stared off at the 
wall.  "I mean...What if Daddy had stopped Happousai before 
he started his ritual?"

  "We'd have lived out our lives in blissful ignorance, 
unaware that our ancient enemies were on their way to 
taking control of the world that rightfully belongs to us.  I 
suppose Kasumi would be engaged to your father's old 
friend Saotome Genma's son.  Assuming Genma didn't get 
himself killed first.  The most recklessly foolish man I've 
ever met."  She shrugged.  "What is, is.  Except for losing 
Kasumi, we're better off this way.  And soon Kasumi will 
come back to us."

  Tourmaline twitched.  "His son Ranma?"

  "Yes, he..." A light went on in her head.  "He was the 
boy who was..."

  "The duel that my sister and father and her foolish 
friends interrupted, yes."  Tourmaline shook her head.  
"Kasumi would have had to marry him?"

  "Well, one of you.  Assuming I let your father go 
through with it.  Genma did clean up his act before he 
married Nodoka, though.  Hmmm....now she had the mettle 
to be one of us.  I'll have to have your father look into it."

  "Sometimes I just...I had to grow up very fast," 
Tourmaline said faintly.

  Her mother stepped forward and embraced her.  "I 
know.  And I'm very proud of you, even if I wish you didn't 
do some things you do.  We both love you very much."

  "I love you too, Mommy," Tourmaline said, remaining 
in the embrace for a while.  "Well, I've got to go back to 
work.  Keeping up several mortal identities to run all my 
schemes takes up a lot of time."

  "If you ever need a fake mother, let me know," 
Moonstone said, laughing.

  "Hmm...Now there's an idea," Tourmaline said.  "See 
you later."  She turned and departed.

***********

  "That's awful.  I turned my family into cats, but it's 
not the same thing," Usagi said to Kasumi, putting a hand 
on her shoulder.

  "What?" Kasumi asked confusedly.

  Usagi called her father over.  He jumped up on the 
porch.  "Good day.  I'm Usagi's father, Tsukino Kenji.  I've 
been a cat for ten years now, thanks to her."

  "..."

  "Well, if I knew what he smelled like, I could 
probably tell you if he'd been here recently.  This cat body 
does have some advantages."

  "You talk..."  Kasumi stared in shock.

  "Pool of drowned Mo...Magical Cat, or whatever
breed I am exactly.  I can talk and I have the full range of cat 
senses.  Plus, I can smell supernatural evils, not that I 
meet many of those.  I don't need glasses anymore, but I 
see only in black and white; I feel like I'm in some movie 
from the thirties sometimes."  He climbed up into Kasumi's 
lap.  She petted him.  "And sometimes I get weird cat 
instincts."

  Kasumi laughed.  "Maybe I should take you over to
my old house and see what you can sniff out."

  "Sure," he said.  "I don't have anything to do but
sleep today."

  Kasumi got up.  "I don't know if there'd really be 
anything to find there, but...it can't hurt."

  "Let's go," Usagi said.

  "You need to stay here and take care of visitors," 
Kenji-neko said.  "Especially since Shampoo is gone 
looking for that boy."

  Usagi pouted, but stayed.

************

  Jadeite was startled from his contemplation by the 
sound of two mangled bodies falling to the floor of his 
meditation chamber.  This wasn't normal, although the 
mangled ones being Turquoise and Diamond made it less 
abnormal.  Even their armor had bruises.  "I take it the 
mission went poorly."

  "You could say that," Diamond said, not bothering to 
rise.

  "She chased us a hundred miles back to Tokyo," 
Turquoise said, also still lying on the ground.  
"Unfortunately, a young boy had already awakened the 
demon of the cave and somehow bound it to his will with 
his magic sword.  And I got beaten up by his aunt.  I want 
some candy," she moaned, reverting to her little-girl form.  

  Jadeite tossed her some rock candy he kept for such 
occasions.  "You two have a remarkable knack for 
surviving disasters."

  "Nothing like being beaten up by an old friend's wife," 
Diamond said, sitting up.  "Makes me wonder what 
happened to Saotome."

  "So the demon is controlled by some boy?" Jadeite 
asked.

  "Yes.  I suggest we ignore it; the Senshi don't seem 
to have any awareness of her.  For once they didn't show 
up."

  "Hmm...wait.  You mentioned this swordswoman was 
a Saotome?"

  "Eh?  Yes, the wife an old friend of mine I haven't 
seen in years."

  "Hmm.  Tell me more."

  "Well, it all started when we trained under 
Happousai..."

***********

    Kenji-neko finished sniffing around the grounds of 
the former dojo.  "Hasn't been any supernatural evils here 
lately," he said.  "Just the faintest tang of something long 
ago.  No out of the ordinary scents here."

  Kasumi sat down on a sizable rock and sighed. 
"Back to square one."

  "Maybe.  I'm sure he'll come looking for you if he is 
around, and since you live with one of your relatives, he'll 
know where to look."  He came over and perched on another 
nearby rock.

  "I hope so," she said.  

************

  Rei sprinted up the steps.  Having just discovered a 
movie she'd been wanting to see for months was now out, 
she had decided to see if Ranma wanted to go see it with 
her.  This required getting to Ranma before the 
competition could.  

  Usagi was in the yard doing hand-stands for no 
apparent reason while Shampoo tried to balance on one 
foot on top of a three foot staff.  Rei paused, staring at 
them, then said, "Is Ranma home yet?"

  "He called and said he was gonna be off hanging out 
with Ken tonight," Usagi said, then did a back flip and 
landed on her hands again.  

  Rei ground her teeth.  How inconsiderate of him not 
to use his time powers to know he was needed here 
tonight, she thought.  Well, might as well make the best of 
it.  I can call Ami and...hmmm.  "Hey, Usagi, wanna catch a 
movie with me and Ami?"

  "Sure," Usagi said.  

  "You too, Shampoo, if you want to come."

  "Shampoo is going hunting for that handsome boy," 
Shampoo said.  "He keeps not being home when Shampoo 
goes looking for him."

  "Ahh.  Good luck.  He was a looker," Rei said.

  "Yep.  I'd be jealous if Ranma wasn't cuter," Usagi 
said.

  Rei twitched quietly.  "Movie's at seven."

  "I'll be ready!"

**********

  Ranma felt guilty about lying to Usagi, but it was the 
best way to avoid some sort of floating riot.  Shampoo had 
forced him to promise to take Usagi out the next night 
before she'd let Usagi on the phone; he felt the need to
atone, and that would do nicely.  "Yep, I'm ready to go," he
said.  He'd changed out of his uniform and into a red t-shirt
and blue jeans.  

  Setsuna seemed faintly disappointed by his outfit; 
she was wearing a nice blue dress.  "Okay.  Take my hand, 
and I'll open the gate of time."

  He took her hand, and in seconds, they were gone.

************

  Ukyou showed up just as Rei and Usagi were at the 
foot of the steps.  "Is Ranma home?"

  "He's out with Ken," Usagi said.  "Wanna come see a 
movie with us?"

  "Sure," Ukyou said.  

************

  Haruka was working on her bike when Vice-Principal 
Taiho found her.  "Haruka, I need to talk to you."

  She blinked.  "Huh?"

  "Please come to my office."  His voice was calm, but 
with a hint of disapproval.

  She frowned and followed him.

************

  Spending time with Tatewaki was not Michiru's idea 
of a fun way to spend Friday night.  Her family and the 
Kunous were spending an evening together, which was 
mildly surreal for Michiru since only her parents were in 
attendance, as Kunou's father was still in the asylum and 
his mother was dead.  

  His manners were impeccable, and so were
Kodachi's, although she could feel the thinly veiled hostility
coming through towards her, though not her parents.  She'd
seen Kodachi glaring at Mamoru as well earlier; apparently
the greening of the garden displeased her.  Michiru liked that, 
but thought the Kunou house had looked better before it 
had been painted the same color as her hair.

  She sat to Kunou's right on a stool, holding her 
violin, while Kodachi sat to Kunou's left, ready to play her 
harp.  Kunou was seated at the piano.  Michiru glanced at 
them, then began to play for the audience, which consisted 
of her parents, her uncle Shige, Kunou's personal ninja 
Sasuke, Mamoru, two male cousins of Kunou whose names 
she hadn't learned yet, and her cousin Anju.  

  They played for about an hour, moving from one
piece to another as if they had always played together. 
Kunou and Kodachi seemed quite calm and collected, unlike
their normal state of being, and the proverb about music 
soothing the savage beast came to her mind.  A pity I can't 
play constantly, she thought.

  Finally, they finished, and the audience applauded.  
Kodachi smiled the most normal looking smile, perhaps the 
most normal expression that Michiru had ever seen on her, 
and for a moment, she seemed utterly, completely normal.  
Michiru stopped looking; she wanted to keep that memory.  

  Shige said to her parents, "I told you."

  "I'm impressed," her father said.  "You're all very 
good."

  Kodachi bowed.  "Thank you."

  "Never has a woman so bewitched me with her skill 
at the violin," Kunou said, getting up from the piano and 
coming over to her.  She tensed slightly, expecting the 
inevitable effort to embrace her, but instead, he walked 
past her to her parents.  "I understand you play as well," he 
said to her mother.

  "Yes," she said.  

  "I would be honored if you would play a piece for us 
with your daughter," he said. 

  "I'm afraid I didn't bring my violin," she replied.

  He pointed to the four up on the wall.  "These 
belonged to my mother.  They have been left lonely to 
gather dust since she died.  I think she would be glad to 
see someone use them.  I have tried to give them to your 
daughter, but she won't take them."

  Michiru blushed.  "I can't just let you give me a 
Stradivarius.  I mean...they're too valuable to just give 
away."

  "An unused instrument, like an unused talent, has no 
value," Kunou said.  "Some things are meant to be used, not 
simply looked at."

  Michiru's mother began to tune the Stradivarius, 
holding it very carefully.  "I thank you for your trust in 
me."

  "A fair flower such as your daughter could only 
spring from solid, trustworthy stock," he said.  "I know you 
will not damage it."

  "Actually, with recessives, a fairly ugly flower 
could be the parent of a lovely one," Mamoru said, then 
everyone stared at him.  "Umm...never mind."

  "And beauty is oft in the eye of the beholder," 
Kodachi said, glaring at her brother for a moment, then 
saying, "I would like to hear you play it," to Michiru's 
mother.

  "Alright.  What would you like to play, daughter?"  
she asked Michiru.

  "Sakura," Michiru replied.

  "Just give me a minute, then."

*************

  A year in the future, Tokyo still looked much the 
same to Ranma.  The theatre was a little dirtier, and gum 
had finished taking control of its floor.  But apparently 
monsters had yet to reduce the city to rubble.  A thought 
struck Ranma.  "Hey, you know how this all turns out, don't 
you?"

  "I'm sure most of the audience knows how it turns 
out, but wants to see it live.  I, on the other hand, was 
unable to read it while sitting in the time tunnel, so I'm 
ready to find out how it ends; I got to watch someone start 
it, but not finish it."

  Ranma laughed and moved forward as their position 
in the ticket line inexorably but far too slowly crept 
towards the actual ticket seller.  "No, I mean, you told me 
you lived through all this to the future, then sent yourself 
back to be reborn.  So you've already seen how we beat the 
Dark Kingdom, who I end up marrying...all that."  Which 
must mean I end up with her, or she wouldn't be wasting 
her time, he thought.

  She shook her head.  "Time is a tricksome thing.  I 
lived in the Time Tunnel for 25,000 years, but I did not 
experience all that time.  I would have gone mad, for I 
could only watch the world, not touch it.  I spent most of 
those years in a trance, drinking in the world 
subconsciously, letting the tunnel guide me in what I 
viewed.  Many of those things, I still do not understand, 
and much of it I remember only vaguely."  

  "But you said you checked up on me when I was 
young."

  "Yes.  The Tunnel responded to my desire to see
you, but it showed me only snatches.  Most of my viewing
was, I think, intended to enable me to function in this time 
when I returned here.  As to the future...I did not want to 
know my own future too well once I got the chance to live 
again.  I wanted to be able to live without feeling I was 
just puppeting out something I had already watched."

  "I know only a few things.  One day, this city will be 
known as Crystal Tokyo in an age of grace and peace, a 
time when a new Pluto arises and I was able to lay down 
my guardianship.  I know who will rule, but I was 
forbidden to speak of it.  As soon as the new Pluto came 
forward to take up the job, I laid down my guardianship 
and Neo-Serenity aided me in returning to the past for 
rebirth, that I might finally truly live.  I have spent 
millennia watching people live, unable to do anything but 
guard the tunnel with a few brief interludes of beating 
people in the head."  She laughed. "I was actually glad to be 
attacked.  It beat being in a trance for centuries."

  "Yeah, I'd go nuts if all I could do was watch people."

  "I don't know how we win, although I know we do.  I 
don't know if you marry me or Rei or Usagi or Ukyou or 
Haruka or Kunou or Mamoru.  I don't know how this movie 
will end.  And I like it that way.  I can see a few minutes 
ahead into the future now, and I can see vaguer 
possibilities beyond that, but that's all.  I couldn't stand it 
if I knew how everything had to be, although some 
Setsunas know.  There are many worlds, and many of them 
have a Pluto.  But I can't see how most of those can bear to 
be alive."  She shook her head.  "We're here for a date, and 
if you don't like being called Ruby, I don't want to think 
about being Pluto.  I want to be just Setsuna with Ranma."

  Ranma blinked, then smiled.  "Amen to that.  So, you 
think the Balrog will look cool?"

  "It had better for what we're paying."  She pointed to 
the ticket price listings.

  Ranma groaned.  "That's one thing about the future I 
did NOT want to know."

**************

  The movie trip had turned into a large ladies' night 
out, with Usagi, Rei, Ukyou, Ami, Naoko, and Naru all going 
to the movie together.  It got five thumbs up, but Ukyou 
was disappointed by a lack of explosions.  Afterwards, 
they went out to eat, and then Naoko suggested going by 
her house, since her mother wanted to meet Usagi, Rei, and 
Ami, after listening to her daughter talk about them. 

  This met with general agreement, so they went on 
over.  Naoko's house was way out on the fringes of Tokyo in 
one of the suburbs.  Thus, her family had a quite substantial
lot, and a substantial house of modern design, two stories tall
with a nicely kept lawn.  It was surrounded by a high stone
wall, although several trees poked over it.

  Inside, the house was rather sparsely decorated, 
although all the furniture was well made and beautiful.  
The living room, however, was full of couches and chairs, 
and Naoko's mother had just finished a batch of chocolate 
chip cookies which were waiting for them on the coffee 
table.

  Like her daughter, Naoko's mother wore thick 
glasses, but unlike her, she was fairly thin, had thick, 
brown hair that ran down to the mid-point of her shoulder-
blades, and she was wearing a lab coat over her light red 
blouse, blue skirt, and black belt.  Her name tag was still 
on the lab coat:  'Dr. Kikubi Saiko'.  "It's nice to finally meet 
all of you."  She peered at each of them, then pointed to 
Ami.  "You must be Ami."

  Ami nodded.  "Mizuno Ami.  Nice to meet you!"

  "And you must be Usagi," she said, pointing at Rei.

  Rei blinked and Usagi laughed.  "No, I'm Usagi.  This
is Rei," she said, pointing to Rei.

  "Oh, I thought she said you were Chinese.  Although I 
suppose your hair would be more purple if that was the 
case."

  Usagi said, "I'm Japanese, but I was adopted into an 
Amazon tribe."

  "Oh, okay.  Would anyone like some tea?"

  "Yes, please," Naru said.

  Naoko's mother counted the orders that ensued and 
headed for the kitchen while everyone dug into the 
cookies, especially Usagi, who was a two-fisted snacker.  

  Naru said to Naoko, "Your mother has a very nice 
wedding ring."

  Naoko blinked.  "You noticed it?"

  "Mom's a jeweller, so I've learned quite a bit.  But I'd 
imagine they must have paid a lot to get a ring made out of 
four different metals.  Red gold, white gold, yellow gold, 
and silver, right?"

  "Umm...I think so."

  Saiko returned with tea for everyone.  "Talking about 
my ring?"

  "Yeah," Naoko said.  "What metals does it use?"

  "Your friend got it right.  It's four interwoven clouds 
made out of different metals.  Very valuable, but at the 
same time, I have to practically shove it in someone's face 
for most people to be able to really see all the details."  
She came over to Naru and held out her hand so Naru could 
take a closer look. "The only reason my husband could 
afford it was that it and the matching ring were family 
heirlooms.  We were the sixth couple to wear it.  I wear it 
in memory of him now, but once Naoko is ready to get 
married, I'll pass it on to her and her husband-to-be."

  "Good thing it was the right size for you," Naru said.  
"Resizing a ring like that would be hard."

  She laughed.  "Family tradition claims they're 
magical, so they always fit if the love is true."

  "Wow, that's really romantic," Usagi said.  "I wish my 
family had rings like that.  Although I guess Mom and Dad 
would have a hard time wearing them now."

  "Why?"  Naoko's mother asked.

  "Because I..."  Usagi began, but Rei put a hand over
her mouth.  

  "Her mother has a skin condition that flares up 
when various metals touch it," Rei lied.  Let's not tell 
anyone else about the talking cats, she thought.  "It's quite 
bad."

  Usagi blinked.  "She does?"

  Naoko nodded.  "Horrible.  Some sort of allergy."

  Naru and Ukyou looked confused, then caught on.  "It 
gives her hives," Ukyou said.

  "And rashes," Naru said.  "She can't even wear her 
wedding ring."

  "That's horrible," Saiko said.  She finally sat down on 
one of the nice plush chairs.  "I understand you attend T&A 
Academy, Rei," she said to Rei.

  Rei nodded.  "It's very nice."

  "Do they have a good science program?"

  "I don't know; I want to write music and sing," Rei 
said.  "The music program is very good."

  "Oooh, sing for us, Rei!"  Naru said.

  "Yeah!"  Usagi said.

  It took only a little effort to get Rei to sing, and 
soon music filled the air.

*****************

  Michiru played along with her mother, wishing they 
always got along as well as when they played a piece.  I 
can't believe they've stuck me with this engagement, she 
thought.  But I guess the whole family has the delusion 
that arranged marriages always lead to true love 
somehow.  Feh.

  Having repeated this thought enough times for one 
day, she let the music take her away, losing herself in it 
and in the joy of listening to her mother play on such a 
finely crafted instrument.  Her mother had often been poor 
at maternal duties, but she could play better than anyone 
else Michiru knew (personally, anyway).  

  She looked out into the audience, and saw them all 
rapt with attention; it was gratifying, although she was 
sure it was mainly her mother they were listening to.  And 
then she saw Kodachi in the back of the audience, and saw 
she was crying silently.

  She missed a few notes with the realization, and had 
to scramble to get back on the beat.  Why is she crying?  
This isn't a sad piece, she thought.  Why would she...oh.  
Maybe this wasn't such a good idea.

  They finished the song, and Kodachi briefly bawled 
loudly, then ran crying from the room.  Everyone stared in 
surprise, and Kunou rose.  "My apologies.  I had forgotten 
the name of that piece, but it was one that Mother and 
Grandmother used to play together, and well..."  He sighed.  
"I will go find her."  He turned and departed with Sasuke 
tagging along behind him.

  Michiru's mother looked embarrassed.  "I didn't mean 
to..."

  "It's not your fault, Mother," she said, putting down 
her violin.  

  "You should go help him," her father said.

  "I don't think she wants my comforting her," Michiru 
said.  "She's rather irritated with me at the moment."

  "I haven't seen her cry in years," Kunou's dark haired 
cousin Mendo said.  "But she did ask you to play.  Perhaps it 
was her way of trying to apologize."

  Kunou swiftly returned.  "My sister has decided to 
hide herself.  This will take long enough that I think it 
best we call this evening of festivities at an end, as it 
may take me hours to find her.  I am very sorry."  He bowed 
to Michiru's parents.  "It is a pleasure to meet you."  He 
turned to Michiru, taking her hand and kissing it before she 
could stop him.  She could feel his hand tremble.  "I hope I 
will see you again soon, weaver of musical magic."

  "I'm sorry," she said to Kunou.  "If I had known..."

  "It is not your fault," he said.  "I should have 
recognized the name of the tune.  And you played it 
beautifully.  Mother would have wept for joy to hear it."  
He bowed again.  "Sasuke will show you to the door." He 
turned to Mamoru.  "Chiba, if you will assist me?"

  Mamoru blinked.  "Okay."  He turned to Michiru's 
parents.  "Nice to meet you."  He then followed Kunou out.

  "Nice to meet you," Michiru's mother said to Kunou's 
cousins.  "Let's go," she said to Sasuke.

  Michiru and her folks said goodbye to her cousin as 
well, then they all departed en masse.

**************

  Once the movie was over, Setsuna said, "Let's go 
dancing!"

  "I...uh...don't know nothing about dancing," Ranma
said.

  "What, you can crush me at Bust-A-Move, but you 
can't dance?"

  "Ain't no preprogrammed moves I can do with the 
right buttons in real life," Ranma said as they walked 
down the street.  "I ain't never been dancing.  Except stupid 
folk dancing in gym class."

  "o/~ Swing your partner round the floor, hit him in 
the head with a two-by-four o/~" Setsuna sang briefly, 
then laughed.  "Well, all I remember is some dances from 
the Moon Kingdom and waltzing, but I'm willing to learn.  
C'mon, it'll be fun."

  "Pop said that about cliff diving too," Ranma said 
warily.

  She grabbed him by the arm.  "C'mon."  He found 
himself sliding towards a building labelled 'Disco Moebius'.  

  "Okay, okay, ya ain't gotta drag me like I'm a sack of 
potatoes," he said.  "Let's boogie."

**************

  Rei singing had turned into a karaoke fest when 
Naoko's mother had rolled in a karaoke machine.  In some 
cases, this was good, such as Ami singing 'The Rainbow 
Connection'.  In other cases it was pure evil, such as Usagi 
and Naru singing 'I Want to be a Star' in unison with bad 
dancing.

  Ukyou gave a heartfelt rendition of 'Eye of the Tiger', 
but would thankfully not be quitting her day job any time 
soon.  Saiko's performance of 'Weird Science', on the other 
hand, was quite skillful.  Then Naoko took the mike.

  She looked around at everyone and visibily shrank.  
"Do I have to?" she asked.

  "Hey, Usagi and I didn't stop even when Ukyou faked 
her own death," Naru said.  "It'll be fun.  You want me to 
sing with you?"

  "Do you think you would?" Naoko asked nervously.

  "Sure," she said, coming forward.  "What 'cha want to 
sing?"

  Naoko looked along the list of titles they had.  "This 
one," she said, pointing.  

  Naru blinked.  "Okay."

  And so they began to sing.  

              "Masquerade!
            Paper faces on parade ...
            Masquerade!
            Hide your face,
            so the world will
            never find you!"

  No one would ever accuse Naoko of greatness in her 
singing, but it was heartfelt.  The same could be said of Naru.

              "Masquerade!
            Every face a different shade ...
            Masquerade!
            Look around -
            there's another
            mask behind you!"

              "Flash of mauve ...
            Splash of puce ...
            Fool and king ...
            Ghoul and goose ...
            Green and black ...
            Queen and priest ...
            Trace of rouge ...
            Face of beast ..."

  And they sang on into the night.

**************

  "You search the back, I'll search the front,"  Kunou 
said to Mamoru.  "And Sasuke can search inside the house.  
But be careful; I can feel that some foul sorcery is at work 
again here."

  Mamoru frowned.  "What happened at the race was 
just an accident."

  "It was no accident, and there is something loose 
within the grounds.  Can you not feel it in the wind?"  
Kunou asked, his face utterly serious and dark.  "Kodachi 
running away was no sorcery, but I fear something may 
seek to prey upon her."  He paused.  "We do not have time 
for me to arm you.  If something comes upon you, call me 
for help."  He thought a moment and grabbed a lawn gnome, 
handing it to Mamoru.  "This should help you hold it off 
until I can come."  He turned and departed.

  Mamoru stared at the grinning lawn gnome.  "How do
I get into things like this?"  The cool breeze made his flesh 
crawl slightly, but the lawn gnome did not reply.

**************

  Kodachi stood on the roof, not entirely clear on how 
she got there, looking down at the sea of green that 
surrounded her home.  Her beloved black roses had been 
confined to a handful of bushes in one far corner where 
they couldn't be easily seen, along with the blackberry 
bushes.  The very house testified to Michiru's powers, now 
matching her hair.

  If her brother hadn't done things like this every time 
a woman had smiled at him and stayed near him for more 
than ten seconds, she would have concluded the woman 
was a witch.  At least before she had heard her play.  Her 
only magic was her music, but that was powerful magic in 
itself.  

  For a few minutes, her mother had come back to life, 
along with her grandmother, and together they had played 
Kodachi one last tune, the one she had always asked them 
to play.  Somehow, the aqua haired enchantress had known 
the song Kodachi most loved in all the world.  She had 
played it with grace, in perfect unity with her mother, the 
unity Kodachi craved but had lacked all these years.  

  It must be wonderful to live like that, Kodachi 
thought as she stared down at what had once been her 
garden.  To be able to have such a perfect creative union, 
like two halves of one whole.  She hugged herself, feeling 
a faint chill from the night air.  The thought of such a 
thing was both terrifying and attractive to her.  In the few 
fragments of memory she still held from her childhood, 
she knew she had once had such moments with her own 
mother; whenever she played, it was a quest to remember 
those times.  

  She screamed silently at the stars above.  Why? 
Why did she have to leave us?  And why couldn't we go with 
her?  The stars gave no answer, and the rabbit of the moon 
ignored her, continuing to pound out his dinner.  The 
memory of her once-beautiful garden mocked her...without 
even trying, without even wanting to, her brother's fiancee 
was taking away everything she had.  

  She wanted to kill the woman, to feed her to Mr. 
Green Turtle, but she couldn't.  A being of such surpassing 
beauty, one who could make her remember...she couldn't 
strike at such a one.  Michiru had given her one of her 
memories back, and to Kodachi, that was a treasure beyond 
price.  And so she didn't know what to do.  The woman was 
shattering her world beyond repair, and then, to give such 
a gift...

  She sat down near the edge and flopped onto her 
back, staring up into the gracefully black heavens.  Kodachi 
loved the night.  And then she cried her eyes out.

*************

    Disco Moebius was a maelstrom of pounding music 
and gyrating bodies, but moving through mobs was 
something Ranma did well.  He felt like an utter idiot, 
since he didn't know what he was doing, and efforts to 
imitate those around him was futile, because he swiftly 
deduced they didn't know either; it rather looked to him 
like an entire room full of epileptics all having seizures at 
once.  Setsuna also clearly didn't know what she was 
doing, but she seemed to enjoy that.

  After a little while, he simply started doing the 
moves he remembered from the Bust-A-Move game for lack 
of a better idea.  This went on for far too long.  

  And then the music stopped, and about half the 
bodies vanished off the floor in seconds, and then Setsuna 
was right in front of him instead of a few feet away, and 
her hands were taking his, and they were in a dance 
position he knew, though he didn't know when he had 
learned it.  Most of the other couples that were left on the 
floor were getting close, closer than the two of them in 
fact.  

  Slow music began, and without a word, they danced 
with her smiling at him, and him nervously smiling back.  
After fumbling a few steps, the moves suddenly clicked 
into place for him.  Their feet moved together, him 
advancing, her retreating.  Slow, slow, quick, quick went 
the steps.  From a promenade into a simple box, then 
spinning her as they advanced, and to his surprise, her 
spinning him.

  Gradually, they circumnavigated the floor, moving 
into more and more elaborate dance combinations as the 
song played, the words a blur in their minds.  There was 
only each other, the music, and the dance, all else was but 
a background, a distraction from their unity.  

  And then the music died, and the mobs returned, and 
Ranma found himself once again in the land of random 
twitching, wondering where he had just been.  Four more 
times, they moved back and forth, from a dream of perfect 
dance to a sea of happy frenzy.  

  Ranma was starting to feel hideously disoriented.  
The flashing lights, the writhing bodies, the smoke and 
strange smells, the seemingly random motions, all of it 
was stripping him of his ability to think clearly.  

  The world changed again, and he entered the land of 
slow dancing, running more on instinct than on thought, a 
land much like the one he entered when he fought, for 
there too he worked from instinct instead of conscious 
thought, constantly improvising and responding to his 
environment.  It was a comfortable place to be; it felt 
right.

  They spun round the floor, always touching, but not 
always close to one another, moving far out to where only 
a single pair of intertwined fingers joined them, and 
closing back in to nearly embrace.  It was a circle, a beat, 
a pulse, of moving away and closing back in, a constantly 
changing union.  They did not speak, the music was their 
voice.

  He flowed with his instincts through the intricacy 
they built up from simple steps, accepting it all and 
enjoying it greatly.  Conscious thought hovered distantly, 
merely observing.  And thus it was that when he pulled her 
in close for a kiss, he didn't see it coming until it 
happened.  From the way her eyes widened, she likely 
hadn't seen it either.  

  It terrified him.  He hadn't even vaguely intended to 
do it, but his body had apparently decided that was a 
standard move.  So much for trusting his instincts.  
However, his body didn't hand over control until it finished 
kissing her and her knees sagged, and she stared in happy 
surprise.

  "Ranma," she whispered.  

  She started to say something else, but all he could 
do was panic, utterly and abjectly.  When Ranma wanted to 
run, few things could stop him.  Teens and college students 
went flying as he fled, leaving her staring in shock.

***************

  And Rei's turn came round to sing again.  She hunted
through the list of available songs like a lioness stalking her
prey.  Soon, the gazelle was run down, and she began to
sing.

  "I don't know how to love him...
  What to do, how to move him
  I've been changed, yes, really changed...
  In these past few days
  When I've seen myself
  I seem like someone else

  Rei's eyes were closed, the lyrics coming from
memory, her voice powerful in a way none of them had heard
before, even with the earlier songs.

       "I don't know how to take this...
  I don't see why he moves me
  He's a man
  He's just a man
  And I've had so many
  Men before
  In very many ways
  He's just one more"

  For a moment, her lips pursed in an ironic smile, and
then the state of near-rapture returned.

        "Should I bring him down?
  Should I scream and shout?
  Should I speak of love?
  Let my feelings out?
  I never thought I'd come to this!
  What's it all about?"

  Her voice shook a bit as she sung, and then took on
a hint of irony.

  "Don't you think it's rather funny
  I should be in this position?
  I'm the one
  Who's always been
  So calm so cool
  No lover's fool
  Running every show
  He scares me so"

        "I never thought I'd come to this!
  What's it all about?"

  Her voice rose, a passionate mixture of fear and
hope.

        "Yet...
  If he said he loved me
  I'd be lost
  I'd be frightened
  I couldn't cope
  Just couldn't cope
  I'd turn my head
  I'd back away
  I wouldn't want to know"

  Her voice dipped as she headed into the finale,
finally whispering as she sang the last line.

  "He scares me so
  I want him so
  I love him so"

  Her eyes opened, and silently, she went over to plop
down on the couch as everyone else applauded.  Usagi was
smiling at her, so she smiled back, though she wasn't sure if
she wanted to smile, cry, or both.  Then she vanished into a
fog of her own thoughts as Ukyou got up and mangled 'Stop
in the Name of Love'.  Sadly, no one stopped Ukyou in the
name of taste. 

***************

  Kodachi's tears were interrupted by a voice.  "My 
daughter, why are you crying?"

  She knew that voice, but it was utterly impossible 
for it to be real.  Her mother had been dead for ten years.  
Sitting up, she looked and saw a ghostly figure, much like 
her mother, clad in blue and green, with white feathery 
wings, floating about four feet from the edge of the roof.  
It looked like her mother, but it couldn't be.  

  "What are you?"

  "Your mother," the spectral figure said.  "I heard your 
summons.  I've come to take you to be with me."

  Her eyes widened, and she swallowed nervously.  
"You have?"  She wanted desperately to believe it, but it 
just couldn't be real.  If it was, why had her mother waited 
so long to come for her?

  "I am sorry I took so long, but I had to wait until you 
were old enough to make the decision to stay or to go for 
yourself.  A small child can't choose wisely, but you're old 
enough to decide."  She smiled brightly at Kodachi.  "Will 
you come with me?"

  Hope overcame fear and doubt in Kodachi, and she 
sprang to her feet, ready to run to her mother.  "Yes.  
There's nothing for me here now," she said.  She tried to 
run forward, but someone was holding her arm.  "Let go of 
me."

  "No," Kunou said.  He levelled his bokken at the 
floating woman.  "You are not our mother."

  "Let her go," the woman said.  "She wishes to join me 
of her own free will."

  Kodachi began to pound on him, and Kunou's best 
effort at stoicism began to crack.  "This is for your own 
good!" he snapped.  

  "I want to be with mother!  You don't care about me!  
Let me GO!!!!"

  Kunou winced at that.  "Of course I care about you, 
sister, or I'd let this monster have you."

  "If you cared, you wouldn't take away everything I 
have and give it to some green haired bitch who is just 
after your money!"  Kodachi's voice began to rise towards 
hysteria.  "She doesn't even like you, and she's so utterly 
perfect, I CAN'T STAND HER!!!"  She wrenched loose, only
to be tripped by her brother and picked up by her feet.  

  "She's a monster!" he said.  "Can't you feel it?"

  "You called our mother a monster!"  She produced a 
bag of powder from one sleeve and slammed it into his 
face.  Paralysis poison engulfed his head, and he froze up 
in seconds.  Her gymnastics training enabled her to easily 
flip clear and get to her feet.  "Have fun with your WHORE, 
brother dear," Kodachi snarled, then turned to the woman.  
"I'm ready."

  The woman held out her arms to Kodachi.  "Just
come to me."

  Kodachi sprang forward, jumping, not walking, arcing 
across the narrow space between them, and then plunging 
right through her towards the ground below.  As she passed 
through the woman, she felt suddenly weak, as if part of 
her very life had been wrenched from her, and as she 
plummeted towards the ground below, she suddenly 
realized her brother had been right.  

  She closed her eyes, and prayed she would survive 
the fall.  Instead, strong arms caught her, and when her 
eyes opened, two sparkling blue eyes behind a black mask 
were staring into hers.  A handsome masked man in a 
tuxedo was holding her, one of the most handsome men 
she'd ever seen.  Her heart pounded, and she didn't want 
him to put her down.  He asked, "Are you okay?"

  "I'm...fine," she said faintly.  Maybe this is heaven, 
she thought.  Whatever it is, I don't want it to stop.

  And then he let her down gently, and pointed up at 
the roof with his cane.  She could see the spectral figure 
hovering over her prone brother, although all that could be 
seen of Tatewaki was his feet.  

  "Looks like your brother is in trouble.  I'll handle 
this."  He hefted a lawn gnome that was lying by his feet 
and tossed it at the spectral woman.  It nailed her in the 
head, and she tumbled away from Tatewaki, turning in the 
air to face them.  Her face was dark and distorted now, her 
eyes two burning fires, with bloody fangs in her mouth.  

  She plunged towards them, clawed hands 
outstretched, howling horribly, shining a silvery purple in 
the moonlight.  He reached over to a nearby rose bush and 
plucked a rose, kissed it, then hurled it at her.  The rose 
plunged through the ghost-woman's forehead as a hurled 
gymnastics pin flew through her right shoulder.  It howled 
and dissolved into a spray of silver light which rose into 
the sky towards the moon and faded away.

  The man turned and looked at her.  "I see you like to 
take care of yourself."

  "I'm rather used to having to take care of the men 
around here," Kodachi said shyly.  "You...What's your
name?"

  "I...I don't know.  Although a woman called 
me...Endymion once," he said.  "You'd best get a ladder so 
we can get your brother off the roof.  It paralzyed him 
pretty well, it looks like."

  Kodachi stared at the ground; obviously he hadn't 
seen the fight.  "I'll go get the ladder I used.  I'm Kunou 
Kodachi.  And you..."  She couldn't say it, but she knew in 
her heart, this was the man she was destined to marry.  
Finally, a man had come into her life, in just the sort of 
romantic way she'd always hoped for.  "I'm going to marry 
you one day."

  He stared in shock, and then she ran off to get the 
ladder.  But when she returned, he was gone.  He tricked 
me, she thought.  It made her appreciate him all the more 
for his intelligence.  He would be a difficult catch, she 
thought.  But worth it.  She hummed a happy tune as she 
climbed the ladder to get her brother down.  Purpose had 
returned to her life. 

***************

  Setsuna found Ranma a few blocks away in a park, 
curled up against a tree, fifty feet up on a branch.  She 
began slowly climbing up the tree.  "I'm sorry, Ranma, I 
didn't mean to...I mean...whatever you're mad about."

  "It's not all your fault.  I just...I want to go home.  
And try to figure out how to not turn into my old self."  He 
shrank in on himself a bit more.  "It's worse than my curse; 
I can avoid cold water, or go get hot water, but I got the 
feeling this is a one-way trip.  If I turn back into Ruby, 
that's it, Ranma's gone.  I wanna be me."

  She managed to clamber up onto another branch, 
nearly falling three times.  "Everything I loved about you is 
the same," she said.

  "And that's even scarier.  It's like I can't get away 
from my past or change or nothing.  It's like..."  He turned 
to face her.  "I like you, but I can't tell if I really like you, 
or if it's just Ruby taking over another chunk of my head," 
he said.  "Ain't nothing worse than being pissed at 
yourself."

  This, on the other hand, she thought, wasn't like him 
at all.  Ruby never went around doubting himself like that.  
He wasn't completely confident or totally arrogant, but no 
one but her and Diamond ever got to see any of his fears.  
But then, maybe he wouldn't show how he felt if it had 
been one of the others like the Princess or Eowyn.  

  Nor did she have any clue what to say.  Her instincts 
said to draw him close and comfort him, but her 
precognition and her common sense both said that would 
lead to disaster.  "You have to come to terms with your 
past, Ranma.  Some of it will inevitably surface as your 
powers grow and memories return.  But then, sometimes 
we all revert to childhood when those memories are 
triggered too.  Remembering Ruby, having him as part of 
you, is no different from Ranma the five year old being 
part of you.  He is you, and what you feel is part of you, 
and you just have to deal with it.  I can't wave my fingers 
and make you forget everything."

  "You don't know what it's like!" he snapped.  "It's like 
suddenly I turn into some kind of puppet!"

  "Bullshit," she said flatly, getting irritated.  "Your 
past self can't MAKE you do anything.  Ruby is dead, he's 
just part of your memories!  He's not out there yanking you 
around!  You can't hide from having been him, but don't 
blame your own indecision on your past life!  I love you, 
but sometimes I want to beat the crap out of you!  Ruby 
loved me.  That doesn't mean you have to, but if you try 
denying how you feel because you're afraid you're just 
repeating yourself, then you're going to have a pretty DAMN 
HARD TIME dealing with any of us you knew before!  I don't 
see you saying you can't be friends with Ukyou because you 
were friends with Diamond!"

  Ranma tried to recoil, fell off the branch, snagged it 
with his feet, and hung upside feeling like a moron.  
"Damn."

  Setsuna tried to reach over and pull him up, toppled, 
and ended up hanging from the same branch as him by one 
hand.  "Double damn."

  The branch creaked and cracked.

  "Triple damn!!!"

  It snapped and they tumbled to the ground.  Ranma 
flipped himself around to catch Setsuna and land on his 
feet, though he was surprised he managed it in such a 
short drop.  He put her down.  "I met Ukyou long before I 
knew about..."

  "Yes, but would you have hit it off so well if you 
hadn't known each other before?  Would she have become 
so attached to you so quickly if this was the first life you 
met in?  I mean, she only knew you a few months, but then 
hunted for you for years.  And you and Rei squabble like you 
and Eowyn did."  Ranma winced when she said that.  "But it 
doesn't have to be the same.  You're a far better fighter 
than Ruby was when he was your age.  Despite the 
squabbling, you and Rei like each other more than Eowyn 
and Ruby did.  And Usagi is very different as well in 
several ways."

  A thought struck Ranma.  "She ain't another guy 
guardian reborn as a woman, is she?"

  Setsuna blinked, then laughed.  "No.  Sapphire and 
Opal are out there, but they are both male, I think."

  "I just ain't comfortable with all this.  I had a lot of 
fun tonight, but I just...I don't feel like I can trust my 
instincts right now, and for a martial artist, that's really 
bad, ya know?"

  She sighed.  "Don't be afraid of what you feel, 
Ranma."

  "I just ain't so sure it's me feeling it.  Let's go home, 
okay?"

  "Okay."  She reached out and took his hand.  "I won't 
push you."  Because I know that will just make you get 
more stubborn, she thought.  "I had fun tonight."

  "Me too, until..."  He shook his head.  "Let's go."

  The gate came, and they went.

*************

  Michiru went to the phone, wondering who was 
calling her so late.  "Hello?"

  "This is your fiancee," Kunou said.  "Keep an eye out 
for any spectral beings who look like your mother and try 
to make you walk off a roof or drain your life force.  We 
had an incident here."

  "..."  I must be dreaming, Michiru thought.  

  "I sensed the same foul sorcery I felt at the race.  I 
suggest you stay away from my house until I can be sure 
we've found whoever is behind this and deal with him."

  "Kunou, there's no such thing as sorcery, and if there 
was, I wouldn't let it push me around," Michiru said.  "Did 
you find your sister?"

  "She's bouncing around the house telling everyone 
she's found the man she intends to marry."

  "..."

  "Apparently he is named 'Endymion'.  I know of no 
such family.  Have you heard of them?"

  "Sounds vaguely Greek."

  "Hmm.  Father would never approve.  So I will give it 
my blessing.  He apparently defeated the ghost 
impersonating our mother.  Fortunately, Kodachi and I were 
largely unhurt.  Unfortunately, we lost a lawn gnome and 
some of Kodachi's remaining black roses got ahold of 
Mamoru.  However, we believe he should heal.  Sasuke is 
doctoring him right now."

  "..."

  "While I appreciate your brave desire to defy the foul 
sorcery that has taken place, I suggest you stay home for a 
time.  I will come and visit you; I have been wanting to see 
your fair estates anyway.  But first I must make sure no 
more ghosts attack.  Can you recommend a good temple?"

  "I understand the Hikawa Shrine has a noted exorcist 
and a psychic priestess," Michiru said.

  "Excellent.  Perhaps she can get to the bottom of 
this.  In conclusion, I bid you farewell, my aqua-tressed 
vision of ethereal beauty.  May you dream pleasant 
dreams."  

  "Goodnight, Kunou."  I suggest you seek therapy, she 
thought.  "Thank you for hosting the party tonight."

  "It was my pleasure.  And tell your mother that 
Kodachi said she would like to hear her play again some 
time."

  "But she ran off crying..."  Michiru began.

  "If I understood my sister, I would probably be all-
knowing," Kunou said.  "Goodnight, my dear."

  "Goodnight, Kunou."

  "Please, call me Tatewaki."

  "Goodnight, Tatewaki-kun.  May your home remain 
free of angry ghosts."

  "And yours as well."  He hung up, leaving her to 
wonder what planet she was actually living on.

***********

  Ukyou straggled into the dorm at 2 AM; the karaoke 
session had lasted just about forever.  The dorm mother 
stared at her.  "Where have you been?  Vice-Principal 
Taiho has been looking for you for hours."

  "Went over to a friend's house."

  "Well, go to bed.  I'm sure he can chew you out in the 
morning."

  Ukyou nodded and headed upstairs.  To her surprise, 
she found Haruka busily packing up all her stuff, looking 
exhausted and cranky.  "Hey, you moving out?"

  "We both are," Haruka said.

  "What?"

  "Someone leaked we're women to the school 
administration.  And I lost 50,000 yen to my old man."  She 
sat down on her bed.  "He told me I'd finally blow it this 
year, and I guess he was right.  Dunno what the hell I'm 
gonna do about getting into another school at this point."

  Ukyou sat down on her bed.  "I don't know where I'm 
gonna go.  Dad's living in Osaka, and I could only afford this 
place because I won a years' free tuition in that martial 
arts tournament they had last year.  I wanna stay near 
Ranchan, but..."

  "You can come live with us for a few days, and
maybe  ask him if you can move in at the temple.  They've
already got most of his other women living there," Haruka
said.  "Well, I'm going to bed.  Where were you, anyway? 
You and Ranma go off to a love hotel or something?"

  Ukyou blushed and sat down on her bed.  "Karaoke 
with Ami and Naoko and Rei and Naru and Usagi."

  Haruka nodded.  "See you in the morning."

************

  Usagi and Rei got home around 2 AM as well; they 
could hear Ranma snoring in his tent as they headed around 
it into the house.  Rei said, "That was a lot of fun."

  Usagi nodded.  "Naoko's mother was a good singer.  
Especially that one song, whatever it was."

  "'Witchy Woman', I think," Rei said.  "Although
having a woman sing it was kinda weird."

  "We oughta do fun stuff like this more often," Usagi 
said.  

  "Some of us have school," Rei said flatly, then 
softened.  "But yeah, it was fun.  I never used to have many 
friends."

  Usagi blinked.  "You didn't?  Why?"

  "Everyone tended to think I was kinda creepy
because 
of my visions and my ravens and everything."  Rei stared at 
the paper walls, afraid to look at Usagi's face.

  Usagi reached over and squeezed her shoulder. 
"Well, I think you're cool.  I wish I could talk to birds."

  Rei turned to her.  "I used to wish I couldn't, so I 
could have a normal life, but now I'm glad, because of the 
friends I have.  It's nice having someone around the temple 
besides just me and Grandpa and Phobos and Deimos."

  "Yeah.  I hope Ranma had as much fun with Ken as
we had," Usagi said.

  "Guys don't know anything about having fun," Rei
said.  
"They probably watched soccer all night or something."

  Usagi yawned.  "Goodnight, Rei."

  "Goodnight, Usagi."

*************

  Ranma was surprised to find himself and Shampoo 
the only people at breakfast.  "How was your night?" she 
asked.

  "I shoulda gone out with Usagi," he replied.

  "Now you're learning," she said.  "Fight fate and it 
will destroy you.  Accept it and you can guide it.  Cheerios 
or Wheaties?"

  "Which one's my destiny?"

  "Many things are not predestined."

  Ranma laughed.  "Cheerios it is.  Fate be damned.  
With milk."

  "The gods destroy people who put milk in their 
cereal," Shampoo said, fixing him a bowl of Cheerios with 
milk, then putting out some more milk for the cats and 
popping two frozen waffles in the toaster.  "So what was 
wrong with your night?"

  "You ever have flashbacks to your past lives?" he 
asked her, then shoveled many Cheerios into his mouth.

  "When Shampoo visited the cave of the oracle, 
Shampoo learned she is only Once-born, unlike little sister 
Usagi or great-grandmother.  What's it like?"  She went 
and fixed herself a glass of milk and some apples while 
the waffles toasted.

  "It's like...I dunno what's me, and what used to be me 
sometimes.  It sucks."

  "Great-Grandmother say that people are reborn until 
they get the story of their lives right.  When everyone 
manages that, the world will vanish and be replaced with a 
potato."  She paused.  "That's not right."  The waffles 
popped up, so she took them out and began buttering them 
and adding honey and syrup.  "Anyway, if you don't 
understand your past lives, you'll just make same 
mistakes over and over."  

  He ate some more of his Cheerios, then said, "It's 
like...I get these feelings and don't know if they're real or 
just memories.  Bugs the hell out of me."

  "Shampoo think you in trouble if you can't tell 
difference between real and remembered feelings."  She 
came over to the table and started cutting her waffles 
into small squares.  

  "It's like I'm re-experiencing stuff.  And it comes and 
goes.  Sometimes when I'm around various people, I feel 
stuff I don't feel the rest of the time."

  "Like when you go on dates with Setsuna."

  "Yeah, exa..."  He stared at her.

  "Ranma is a lousy liar," she said, staring at him.  
"Shampoo is starting to wonder if she should convince little  
sister to forget about you."

  He winced.  "I ain't never asked her to try to get me 
to marry her.  And the whole dinner thing wasn't my fault.  
I didn't say I'd be home for dinner."

  She continued to glare.

  Ranma had never been good at standing up to angry 
women.  "Okay, okay, I'll tell her when she wakes up."

  "Good."  Shampoo took a bite of her waffles. 
"Better."

*************

  "...so it all just went wonky.  I wish I knew if I was 
going crazy or going to just turn into Ruby one morning or 
what.  I hate this.  Anyway, so I like, shouldn't have lied to 
you," he said.  "Sorry about that."

  "It's okay," Usagi said.  They were sitting on the 
porch.  "I had a really fun time with Rei and everyone."  She 
leaned over and hugged him and he froze up.  "You can take 
me and Rei out tonight as an apology."

  "Uh...okay," he said.  "No dancing."

  She laughed.  "I don't know any Japanese dances 
anyway.  Hmm...we could go swimming."

  He blinked.  "On a date?"

  "Okay, maybe not."

  Shampoo came out on the porch.  "Phone for
Ranma.  
It's Ukyou."

  He nodded and rose.  "I'll be right back."

*************

  Ami's mother looked over at her daughter, who was 
yawning over breakfast.  They and Kasumi had gone out for 
breakfast as the first stage of a day of fun together.  
"Tired, dear?"

  "I was up late at Naoko's," she said.  "Doing
karaoke."

  "Oooh, that would be fun," Reiko said.  "Michiko and 
Nodoka and I used to love to sing together, although we 
didn't have karaoke machines back then.  I think Michiko 
and Nodoka even tried to break into the idol singer 
business, but it didn't work out."

  "Mother used to sing to us all the time," Kasumi said, 
smiling.  "Father would try to sing with her, but he was 
awful.  Really awful."  She sagged.  "I tried going to the 
temple, but I couldn't find any clues."

  "He'll come around," Reiko said.  "If he's really alive, 
he'll come for you," she said.  

  "I hope so," she said.

***********

  "Hey, Grandpa," Ranma said to Grandpa Hino, who
was making himself breakfast.  "Mind if Ukyou stays with us a 
while?  She got kicked out of her school for being a girl."

  "If she's willing to be an acolyte for a while, that's 
fine.  We could use a refreshment stand."

  "He says ya gotta run a refreshment stand for the 
temple if you come."  He listened to her reply.  "She says 
yes," he said to Grandpa.

  "Ask her if she can get here in time to make me 
something better than Cheerios.  Someone ate all my 
waffles."

  "He wants to know if you can get here in time to 
make him a decent breakfast."  Ranma listened.  "She says 
she'll try."

  "Good.  I'll be busy punishing whoever ate my 
waffles."

  "It was Shampoo," Ranma said.  

  "Vengeance will be mine."  Grandpa left, stifling a 
yawn.

***********

  Everyone but Feldspar was yawning at the family 
meeting in the parental quarters.  "Geez, am I am the only 
one who remembered to go to bed?" she asked.

  "One of my ladies is pregnant somehow," Tourmaline 
said, yawning so hard she almost fell out of her chair.  
"She called me at three AM, and then I spent two hours 
convincing her I wasn't going to...I dunno WHAT she thought 
I would do.  I've gotten virtually no sleep, so we'd better 
hurry before I pass out."

  "I never sleep well after a fight," Diamond said 
simply.

  "I was up late conducting an experiment," Moonstone 
said, yawning.  "Anyway, maybe we should adjourn this 
until we've all had more sleep."

  "No, we've kept Feldspar in the dark long enough," 
Tourmaline said.  "We've found our sister, and we need to 
decide how to bring her back into the family."

  "She's the one who called herself 'Akane', right?"  
Feldspar asked.  She'd been suspecting something like this
for a while.  

  "Yes," Tourmaline said.

  "Good.  She's a strong fighter."  Feldspar smiled. 
"It'd be nice to have a less flimsy sister."

  Tourmaline stuck out her tongue at Feldspar.  "It'd be 
nice to have one who..."

  "Shush," Moonstone said.  "Anyway, we...we... 
.yaaaaawww wnnnn...have several options.  We 
don't have to decide immediately, but..."

  "I have a clever plan," Tourmaline announced.

  "I won't dress up as a Jehovah's Witness this time," 
Feldspar said.

  Their parents stared blankly at them.

  "Don't ask," Tourmaline said.  "I'm still trying to 
forget about that clever plan."

  "Not as hard as I am," Feldspar replied.


John Biles
Emperor of all He Surveys
http://www.tass.org/~rhea/falcon.html

"He who breaks a thing to find out what it is, has left the path of
wisdom."
     -Gandalf 



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