For those who missed it on the tempffml!

*****
   Lines Of Destiny

   A Sailor Moon/Ranma 1/2  Crossover

   By Louis-Philippe Giroux
   <Phoenix@upc.qc.ca>

   Thank you for all your comments!  Keep'em coming!
   C&C is always welcome!!!

   Sailor Moon was created by Naoko Takeuchi and Ranma 1/2 by Rumiko
Takahashi.  Please don't sue me.


Chapter 5 (version 5.0)

   Ranma and Akane's search for an apartment wasn't going as well as they
had initially hoped.  The few places that were available were either too
expensive or too run-down.  It was getting late when they decided to call
it a day.
   They stopped in a restaurant located near Mizuharo University.  After
the waitress left, they settled back, waiting for their orders to arrive.
   "Finding a decent apartment doesn't look like it's going to be easy,"
said Akane.
   "Yeah, not to mention that the rent is enormous.  Mom and Dad said
they'd help with the money for the first year, but after that, we'll be on
our own.  Mom called it 'practicing the art of financial management' before
we actually take over the Dojo," said Ranma.
   "So what if we *do* have to find jobs?  It's not that bad and besides,
I'm sure there will be plenty of job offers posted on the University campus
tomorrow."
   Ranma grimaced.  "Speaking of tomorrow, maybe we shouldn't stay up too
late tonight.  I want to get some sleep to be able to get in a little
practice tomorrow morning before registration."
   Akane nodded.  "Do you mind if I spar with you?  I don't want to lose my
edge either."  She paused, becoming serious.  "And this time, I want it to
be *real* practice, not one of those fake practice sessions you've been
giving me for the last year, okay?"
   Ranma winced inwardly.  During the last year, Akane had insisted that
Ranma spar with her.  Ranma had reluctantly agreed, but had constantly been
holding back, knowing he would likely hurt Akane.  It now seemed that Akane
had known about it all along.  Things could get ugly...
   Ranma frowned a little:  "Look, I just don't want to hurt you..."
   Akane would have none of it.  "No buts, Ranma!  I need to get better if
I'm going to run the dojo with you when we graduate!" she insisted.  Seeing
Ranma waver, Akane used her most devastating weapon against Ranma (next to
her mallet): the kawaii puppy-dog look.
   Ranma's resolve crumbled to dust when he saw her use that look.  He
hated it, but he could never resist it when she looked at him like that.
"All right, all right, you win.  We'll spar for real," he said, defeated.
   Akane's smile widened and she leaned over the table to kiss Ranma.
"Thanks, Ranma," she said.
   Ranma tried to frown at the illegal use of her kawaii smile, but could
only manage a wry smile and a shake of the head.
   The waitress then arrived with their meals and they dug in, speaking of
mundane things.  After the meal was finished, they resumed
apartment-hunting for a while, but came up as empty-handed as before.

   Back at the Hikawa Shrine, six young girls, a university student and two
Moon Cats had been having an interesting, if only moderately informative,
discussion about Ranma and Akane.  Speculations were flying around on the
source of Ranma and Akane's mysterious abilities, but answers were not
plentiful.
   "Why don't we just ask him when he gets back?" suggested Usagi.
   Makoto shook her head.  "He didn't say anything about his abilities when
he spoke to Rei and me.  Do you really think he'll tell us all about it,
Usagi-chan?"
   Usagi looked sheepish.
   "Don't worry, Usagi," said Ami.  "I'm sure we'll find something."
   "So Mamoru, you think Ranma might be your reincarnated sister from the
days of the Moon Kingdom?" asked Rei.
   Mamoru held his hands up.  "I didn't say that, at least not exactly.  I
mentioned that Ranma reminded me of someone, but it's Hotaru who made the
connection.  I don't even know if the person I've been dreaming about
recently *is* Akana, though it would make sense."
   Rei looked at Hotaru questioningly.  Hotaru sighed: "I have difficulty
believing it myself, especially since Akana's not even supposed to have
been reincarnated.  It's probably just a freak coincidence."
   Minako had a pensive look on her face.  Slowly, she turned to Ami.
"Ami," she asked, "Your computer was built in the days of the Moon Kingdom,
wasn't it?  Would you by any chance have a picture of Akana somewhere on
your computer?"
   Ami raised an eyebrow.  "Maybe.  I'll see what I can come up with."  She
took out her transformation pen and shouted: "Mercury Star Power, make up!"
Mere seconds later, Sailor Mercury replaced Ami Mizuno and with that, she
started typing away on her computer.
   Rei turned to Hotaru: "And you say his wife looks like your brother from
the Moon Kingdom."
   Hotaru nodded sadly.  "Yes.  She looks a lot like Kanma, especially when
she did that hammer trick of hers"  Hotaru started shaking her head.  "But
Akane can't be Kanma, and neither can Ranma be Akana, because they both
died before the end of the Moon Kingdom."
   Makoto let out an exasperated sigh.  "Kanma, Ranma, Akane and Akana!  Is
it only me or does anyone else here thinks this is a very weird
coincidence?"
   "Is it coincidence to begin with?" replied Minako with an arched eyebrow.
   Hotaru looked disturbed.
   Luna moved forward and sat in front od Hotaru.  "How can you be
absolutely sure they died if no one ever found their bodies?"
   "Kanma used to correspond with me all the time, no matter where I was,"
said Hotaru.  "His messages stopped a few months before the end of the Moon
Kingdom, at the same time as the first Youma invasions began.  Our home was
among the first ones that were destroyed.  If he *had* survived, he
would've found a way to tell me, I'm sure of that."
   Luna didn't look so convinced.
   "What about Akana?" asked Mamoru.  "If she *is* dead, why would I be
having dreams of her now?"
   Hotaru sighed.  "I don't know.  Maybe you're just reliving memories of
your past life.  It doesn't necessarily mean anything.  All I know about
Akana is that she disappeared not long after receiving her powers as Sailor
Terra."  Hotaru got up from her kneeling position.  "Mamoru, the only one
who could give you a more complete answer would be Akana herself; I'm
sorry."
   Mamoru turned to Luna, who understood the implied question.  "I'm sorry,
Mamoru.  Despite the fact that Artemis and I have, somewhat suddenly,
recovered a few of our memories concerning your sister, we don't know much
more about her disappearance than Hotaru does."
   There was a moment of uncomfortable silence, broken by a small gasp from
Sailor Mercury.  "Makoto, Minako," she said, eyes fixed on the computer,
"I'm starting to believe the names *might* mean something after all."
   Mamoru instantly got up and headed towards Ami, as did the others in the
room.  Seeing that everyone was going to crowd around her, Ami decided
satisfy everyone at the same time.  "Just wait a second and I'll give you a
picture everyone can see at the same time."  Before anyone could ask what
she meant, a three-dimensional image of Akana was floating in front of them.
   "How did you do that?" asked Makoto.
   Sailor Mercury smiled.  "When our powers were upgraded during the fight
with Pharaoh 90, so was my computer."
   "Nice feature," quipped Makoto.

   Meanwhile, Ranma and Akane were slowly walking back to the shrine.  They
were getting close when, as fate would have it, rain started to fall.
Unfortunately, the rain was sudden enough so that Ranma was unable to get
anywhere before the change was triggered.  Fortunately, the street was
almost deserted, so no one witnessed the change.
   "I *hate* it when this happens!" Ranma-chan said in a digusted voice,
while slightly readjusting her cloth belt to fit her slimmer waist.
   Akane shook her head.  "This is going to be a bit of problem, you know.
We'll have to wait until the rain stops to go back to the shrine."
   "Don't I know it," replied Ranma-chan in a dull voice.  She looked
around and saw a small cafe.  "Let's wait out the rain in there, okay?  If
my clothes get too wet, hot water won't be of any use, I'll just turn right
back into a girl."
   Akane nodded and they headed towards the cafe.  Akane took the time to
take a good look at Ranma-chan's figure.  Ranma-chan's body was no longer
as short as it used to be.  While Ranma's male form merely looked a bit
more mature, Ranma's female form had had a growth spurt during the last
year which now put her just below Ranma's male form.  Her face had also
matured, as she no longer looked like a young girl anymore.  She looked
like an eighteen-year old young woman and was no less beautiful because of
it.   The only other characteristic that has truly changed was the lenght
of Ranma's pigtail.  For some reason, Ranma had decided not to trim his
pigtail, and it now reached down a bit past down his shoulders, as it no
longer curled upwards (though Akane privately thought the long pigtail
looked better when he was female).
   When they went inside the small cafe, they noticed it was empty, except
for a young couple who was sitting together, having tea.  The man was a bit
taller than Ranma and had short, sandy blond hair, while the girl
shoulder-length turquoise hair that looked beautiful on her.  Akane tried
to remember where she had seen a girl with turquoise hair before, but
couldn't quite place it.
   They chose a table and each ordered a cup of tea while they waited for
the rain to end.  Akane initiated conversation in a low voice, since she
didn't want to attract attention. "Ranma, we're going to have to find a way
to explain your female side to your cousin, you know.  The way you attract
water is going to make it very difficult to keep your curse hidden."
   Ranma-chan scowled.  "I have no intention of explaining my curse to Rei,
Akane, and that's final. I don't need her to think of me as a freak and
besides, we'll only be there for a few days, remember?  She doesn't have to
know anything."
   Akane shook her head.  "That's a good thought," she said,  "but know
very well you'll eventually get soaked.  You're a water magnet, remember
your own words?" she finished with a small smile.  She looked down for an
instant, deep in thought for a second and then looked back up with a grin.
"If you really don't want her to know your secret, I could just simply
introduce you as my 'cousin Ranko'.  It's not as if we've never done it
before."
   Ranma-chan sighed.  "It'll have to do, I guess," she said in a resigned
tone. "Well, at least it's not as if I don't have a lot of experience
pretending I'm someone I'm not," she added wryly.
   Silently, they went back to drinking their tea.  A few minutes later,
four suspicious-looking men entered the cafe and imediately spotted
Ranma-chan and Akane.  Two of the men went towards the other couple while
the other two came towards Akane and Ranma-chan.
   "Hey there, beautiful, wanna have a fun night tonight?"  said the first
one to Ranma-chan, while the other man kept an eye on Akane.
   "Get lost before I break your hands, moron," Ranma-chan replied without
even looking at him.  A barely audible sigh emanated from Akane's lips.
   The man seemed taken aback by Ranma-chan's response, but kept going,
nonetheless.  "I know you want to have fun.  I know a nice hotel nearby..."
he said in what was supposed to be a suave voice.  He was about to put his
hand on Ranma-chan's shoulder when she loked at him with a glare that could
melt reinforced titanium.
   "If you keep this up, the only place you'll be going to is a hospital.
Now get *lost!*" Ranma-chan snapped.
   The other man started snickering at his companion's lack of success.
The first man, however, decided to make a last attempt on Ranma-chan.
   "Come on, I'll show you a good time..." he started when he put his hand
on Ranma-chan's shoulder.
   "I warned you..." Ranma-chan growled.  Before the either one of the men
could blink, she grabbed the hand that was on her shoulder, squeezed and
twisted the hand.  Hard.
   The snickers of amusement from the second man turned to a gasp when he
saw the red-haired girl grab his friend's hand and squeeze.  He heard
several snapping sounds and before he could do anything, his friend was
laying on his knees on the floor, holding his hand and howling in pain.
The second man pulled out a knife and was about to pounce on Ranma-chan
when he felt a strong blow to his head and collapsed.
   Ranma-chan looked from the man who was on his knees gasping, to the
second man who was lying on the floor unconscious and finally to Akane, who
was holding one of her bigger mallets over the unconscious man's head.
   "I could've taken him, you know" Ranma-chan told Akane flatly.
   "True," Akane said, throwing a disgusted look at the fallen men, "but
they were getting on my nerves too, Ranma."
   Ranma-chan smirked, but suddenly stopped when she realized that the
other two men were harassing the couple at the other table were now looking
at her.  Behind the counter, the cafe's owner was growing increasingly
worried.
   "Kisamara!" one of them yelled.  They both pulled out switchblades and
one of them ran straight at Ranma-chan while the other stood back and
pointed his switchblade in a threatening manner towards the other couple.
   Ranma-chan decided to end it as quickly as possible.  Before the man had
taken another step, Ranma-chan had already disarmed him with a quick
spear-handed punch and was twisting his arm backwards.
   "Take you friends with you and leave *now*, unless you want me to show
you how creative I can get when I'm *really* pissed off," said Ranma-chan
in a threatening voice.  She subconsciously "saw" the fourth man coming
towards her, but she didn't even have to move.
   As soon as the other man turned his attention to Ranma-chan, the blond
man shot up from his seat and swiftly kicked the switchblade away from the
last man's hands.  The last man tried to rush him, but the blond man merely
sidestepped and executed a throw which sent the man on the floor.  It
wasn't long before the blond man had him in a choke hold.
   The blond man's companion, the beautiful girl with turquoise hair slowly
rose up, a smile on her lips, and addressed the two helpless men.  "I
suggest you take the nice lady's advice and leave before something really
bad happens.  Wouldn't you agree, Haruka?"
   The blond man, Haruka, nodded with a grin: "Why of course Michiru, you
know I don't like violence any more than you do."
   Ranma-chan raised an eyebrow at Haruka, but decided instead to address
the man who was helplessly struggling in her arms.  "We're giving you ten
seconds to pick up your friends and leave before I start getting angry.  I
strongly suggest you use the time wisely."  She then released the man and
shoved him torwards his two companions who were being watched over by
Akane.  Haruka also shoved his captive forward.
   The men looked back at her, violence in their eyes.  One of them even
had the courage (or downright stupidity) to take a step back towards
Ranma-chan, who lost patience.  If she knocked the man out now, *she* would
be the one who would have to drag him outside.  She summoned her battle
aura and let it flare menacingly around her.
   "You've got five seconds left..." Ranma-chan said in a tight voice.
   As soon as they saw Ranma-chan's aura flare around her (not that they
were sure what to make of it, except that it was very probably dangerous),
the men suddenly decided it might be better for their long-term health to
leave the cafe before the red-haired girl decided to fulfill her threats.
They quickly picked their companions and left, looking back fearfully at
Ranma-chan.
   As the four men were leaving, Ranma-chan idly considered hastening their
departure with a Ki blast, but restrained herself and dissipated her aura.
She sighed.  "Idiots..." she said under her voice.
   Behind the counter, the owner blew a sigh of relief at not having had
*too* much of a commotion and decided to ignore the fact that the
red-haired tenant had been glowing like a street lamp just a second ago.
   While Akane was making her way towards the group, minus mallet,
Ranma-chan turned towards Haruka:  "Are you okay?  You weren't bad out
there.  You've got nice moves," she finished with a small grin.
   "Obviously not as nice as some of yours," replied Haruka, with a grin of
his own.  "I'm Ten'ou Haruka," he said, "and my lovely companion is Kaiou
Michiru," he finished.
   Ranma-chan intruduced herself and Akane.  "I'm Tendo Ranko and this is
Saotome Akane.  Pleased to meet you."
   "Kaiou Michiru...  The violonist?" asked Akane in a questioning voice.
   "Yes, I do play the violin now and then," Michiru replied with a ghost
of a smile.
   "It's an honor to meet you Kaiou-san!" Akane said with excitement.  "I
really like your music!"
   Michiru's smile widened.  "Thank you very much."
   Haruka was a little miffed that Akane had not recognized *her* name, but
seeing Michiru and Akane deep in their own conversation, she decided not to
interrupt.  Haruka turned to Ranma-chan.  "So, where exactly did you learn
those moves *you* did back there?" he asked, intrigued with some of the
moves he had seen Ranma-chan use.
   Ranma-chan shrugged.  "I've studied martial arts since I was old enough
to walk, so I know a little of everything."
   Haruka raised an eyebrow.  "A little?  Sounds to me like you're being
very modest, Tendo-san.  I don't know a lot of people who could possibly
move as fast as you do and generate auras," he said.  *Well, except for the
other Senshi, of course,* he added silently.
   Ranma-chan eyed Haruka wearily.  *You're getting a little _too_ curious
for my taste, Ten'ou-san...* she thought.  "Anyone can achieve that level
of speed with enough training and as for the aura, it was just a...
hypnotic suggestion.  I'm rather good at them." she lied out loud.
   Haruka nodded absently. *A hypnotic suggestion, Tendo-san? Yeah right!
You're definitely hiding something.*
   Ranma-chan turned towards Akane before Haruka could continue probing for
questions.  "Akane, the rain's stopped.  We should be heading back before
it's too late.  We've got registration tomorrow, so we should turn in
early," she said, slightly stressing the last part.
   Akane stopped talking with Michiru just long enough to notice Ranma-chan
looking at her with a 'let's get out of here quick!' expression.  She was
about to ask out loud what was the problem, but thought better of it.
Reluctantly, she turned back to Michiru and apologized.  "I really enjoyed
talking with you, Kaiou-san, but Ranko's right; we really should be going."
   Michiru looked disappointed for the briefest of moments, but smiled
again.  "Oh well, I also liked talking with you; maybe we'll get another
chance someday."
   "I hope so," replied Akane.
   And so, Ranma-chan and Akane made their way to the counter, where
Ranma-chan ordered a cup of hot water to go, which the owner of the cafe
was more than happy to provide.
   As soon as they left the cafe, Ranma-chan turned to Akane:  "Let's move
fast, I don't want them following us.  That Ten'ou guy was a bit too
curious about my martial arts abilities."
   While they ran across the street until they were out of sight, Akane
glared at Ranma-chan.  "If you'd merely knocked the moron out the
old-fashioned way instead of scaring him off with your battle aura,
Ten'ou-san wouldn't have *had* cause to become suspicious in the first
place!" replied a slightly angry Akane.  "Because of you, I didn't get to
do a good first impression with Michiru-san."
   "Speaking of her, just how do you know her, anyway?" asked Ranma-chan.
   "Some of us happen to like music, Ranma.  Kaiou Michiru is one of the
most talented violin players around."
   Ranma-chan decided not to pursue the matter any further as they kept a
rapid pace towards the Hikawa Shrine.

   Inside the cafe, as soon as Ranma-chan and Akane left, Michiru and
Haruka looked at each other and nodded.  Without a word, Michiru left some
money on the counter and she and Haruka went outside to follow Ranma-chan
and Akane.  When they got out of the cafe, though, Ranma-chan and Akane
were long gone.
   "Well, *that* was interesting, ne, Michiru?"
   Michiru gave Haruka a dry look.  "It could have been even more
interesting if you hadn't pressed Ranko-san for answers.  I was was
starting to have a very interesting conversation with Akane-san."  She
paused for a few seconds.  "Maybe it doesn't really matter, anyway," she
said with a smile.
   Haruka looked at Michiru and raised an eyebrow in question.  Michiru
smiled even more.  "We have a *much* better way to find out the truth than
to stalk them."  While Haruka was giving her the odd eye, she searched
through her purse and came out with an item that made Haruka smile wickedly.
   The Aqua Mirror.


Author's notes:

- Some people tell me Ranma-chan's body should've finished growing a long
time ago.  My answer is simply that Ranko's body is essentially magical, so
I can loosen up the rules if I wish.

- Can Ranma-chan crush a person's fist just by squeezing?  According to
several examples in the manga, she is quite strong enough to do so.

- Haruka: in the manga, she's supposedly an hermaphrodite.  In my story,
she's female, though I *will* be referring to her in the male gender when
in Ranma's presence (until he figures out the truth).  I also know she
plays the piano, but Akane was more interested in Michiru's talent that in
Haruka's.

- Tendo vs Tendou.  I like Tendo better.  Sue me.  :)

- Ranma vs. Ranko vs. Ranma-chan.  I thought for a *long* time about this
one and I found out that "Ranko" was seriously grating on my nerves after a
while, so I'll use Ranma-chan (even if it's a Nettism).  I received posts
from people who wanted me to use each name, but in the end, Ranma-chan won.
Sorry to those I upset.

- Did Michiru and Haruka see Akane mallet the second punk?  Not completely.
They were busy with two punks of their own, remember?

- Why didn't Ranma-chan just knock the punk out instead?  She just got wet,
she's cranky and it's that time of the month (kidding). She's just fed up
of that kind of thing happening to her and is being increasingly hostile
about it.

- Can Mercury's computer really do holographic projections?  The short
answer is no (at least not that I know of).  I wanted Mercury's computer to
be capable of holographic projection and the power-up seemed like a good
excuse.

End Chapter 5

**********************
* The Phoenix Reborn *              Jordanite and Mystical
**********************                  Freak at Large

Louis-Philippe Giroux
Phoenix@upc.qc.ca

Phoenix's Den at http://pages.upc.qc.ca/phoenix/phoenix.html  or
                 http://www.upc.qc.ca/~phoenix/phoenix.html

- Police in Wichita, Kansas, arrested a 22-year-old man at an
airport hotel after he tried to pass two (counterfeit) $16 bills.