here's the story. Hope you... enjoy! Mwahahahahaha!


SMARTALECK PRODUCTIONS

Destiny

By arun<arundude1@yahoo.com> <arun2110@sancharnet.in>

Chapter09 <Originally completed on 12/09/2001>
<REVISION #0>

This is a Ranma 1/2 - Sailor Moon crossover with
certain aspects of Ramayana.

Disclaimers:

Rumiko Takahashi and Shogukkan own Ranma and the cast
members of Ranma 1/2. Rumiko Takahashi is one of the
most brilliant people to walk on the face of this
earth. We the fans of the anime world are forever
indebted to her for giving us Ranma and co. Thank you
Rumiko Takahashi for bringing laughter back into our
lives.

Naoko Takeuchi, Toei animation and KODANSHA, owns
sailor Moon and its characters.

I do not own the characters of both these shows, nor
do I even pretend to own them. This work of fiction is
but a tribute to the above anime shows.

Guys:

"..." Normal Japanese speech.

*...* Thoughts.

{{...}} Telephone conversation.

+...+ Panda signs.

<...> Amazon dailect.

Author's notes:

Here's the nineth chapter. This chapter is a fill in
and sets the stage for future events.

This chapter deals with Setsuna, the events Ranma set
in motion in the last chapter and how the sailors deal
with Mamoru's death. The whole deal with death thing
is not well done and I apologize for it. Had to deal
with the death of a close relative and all.

I hope everyone of you likes this chapter. As usual,
C&C are welcome.

Dedication:

This chapter is dedicated to my mother's elder sister,
who passed away just a week ago and to the brave
soldiers who are fighting to make the world a better
place for _Americans_ in Afganisthan.

May they stick a fragmentation gernade up Osama Bin
Laden's and Mullah Mohammed Omar or whatever his name
might be's rear.

Now, on with the story...

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

Twilight...

Splash!

"Wake up, sleepy head."

A very wet and irritated Ryuu threw of the blankets at
glared at his sensei. He had been about to say
something rude, but thankfully, he had controlled
himself.

"Whaddya do that for, sensei?"

"It's time for your daily practice. Come on, get up
and get dressed. I will meet you in the dojo in ten
minutes."

Ryuu glared wordlessly at him. It wasn't even four in
the morning yet. What were they going to do at four in
the morning?

Ranma smirked at his student's discomfiture and walked
out of the room.

"Stupid, sensei," muttered Ryuu.

Thwap!

+Boy, don't you know not to disturb your father's
beauty sleep? Oh, the shame of it all, my son doesn't
respect his elders,+ complained Genma-panda with his
board.

"Shove it, pops."

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

Ranma smiled evilly as he opened the door to Akane's
bedroom. The girl had thought that the training was
hard under the aging grandmaster of Anything Goes.
Well, he was going to prove her wrong.

He peeped in to verify that she wasn't naked or
something and then stepped into the room.

*The bucket of water is a great idea. I can't think of
a better way to get up in the morning.*

The night before, he had filled three buckets with
water and then left them on the roof. Now, the water
was frigidly cold and Akane was in for a rude
awakening.

"Wake up, sleepy head," whispered Ranma.

Akane swatted at him in her sleep and snuggled deeper
into her blankets.

"Wake up, Akane-chan. It's time to practice the art."
Again, the words were whispered.

"Go away," muttered Akane in her sleep.

"If that is the way you want it, then who am I to
refuse," Ranma said and dumped the water on Akane.

"EEEEEEYYYYAAAAAHHHH!" screamed Akane as the ice-cold
water made contact with her skin. She shot upright in
her bed and her head darted to and fro for signs of
danger.

"Good morning, Akane-chan."

"You pervert! What are you doing in my room?"

Ranma's smile did not fade. In fact, it grew bigger.

"First, I am your sensei, and you will address me as
sensei and not as pervert. Second, you have five
minutes to get into your dress and join Ryuu and
Shampoo in the dojo. You don't want to be late for my
class, Akane-chan," Ranma said with a huge predatory
smile and walked out of the room.

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

Five minutes later...

Ranma sat in the lotus position with his eyes closed
in the center of the dojo.

Ryuu was the first to come in, followed shortly by
Shampoo. Akane was the last to enter. All three of
them looked sleepy and pissed. Akane even went to the
extent of openly glared at him.

Ranma opened his eyes and looked at his watch. "You
are all forty three seconds late," he stated.

"..."

"As punishment for your tardiness, each of you will do
a thousand push-ups. That will be all for today."

"What?"

"It seems that Akane did not understand me. Very well,
all three of you will do two thousand push-ups."

Ryuu's eyes widened to the size of saucers. *What had
I done to merit this punishment?* he wondered. He eyed
Shampoo from the corner of his eyes and saw that she
was taking the punishment as stoically as was expected
of an Amazon.

Akane was another matter altogether. She looked ready
to burst a vein and he could literally see the steam
rising out of her ears.

"Why you?"

"Looks like Akane still does not understand me. She
will do three thousand push-ups and the other two will
do two thousand and five hundreds."

Akane sputtered.

"Akane to the mats, now. It seems that your mind has
yet to comprehend the fact that I am the sensei.
Perhaps a match will decide who is the better fighter
and thus the master between the two of us. I guarantee
you though, I will not go easy on you like Ryuu."

Akane muttered something with her head hung low.

"What did you say, Akane? I did not hear you."

"I am sorry for my behavior, sensei," said Akane, a
little louder than before.

Ranma looked at her for what seemed like an eternity
and then nodded. "See to it that you do not repeat the
same mistake again. Now, do the three thousand
push-ups," said Ranma and turned to leave. "Oh, I
almost forgot. After you are done here, all three of
you meet elder Cologne. Hopefully, she will teach you
something."

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

Akane sat in front of the breakfast table, her hands
simply at rest. It appeared to the others that she was
not interested in eating. But the truth was far from
it.

Akane was starved and very rightly so, but she could
not summon the strength to pick up the chopsticks.
Even if she had the strength, she wondered whether she
would have been able to pick them up, for her hands
were hurting her so. In fact, her whole body ached all
over and she was sure that she would not be able to
move her body for another week or so.

The other two had fared better than she had. Much
better, in fact, if the speed at which they were
guzzling their food was any indication.

Ranma spared her a look from his seat on the table.
The look on his eyes was unfathomable. Akane looked at
him pleadingly. She wanted to quit this training
regimen. Her body could not take much more, but her
pride forbade her.

Ranma put his chopsticks down and took a sip of water.

"Akane, why are you not eating?" he asked.

"I am not feeling very hungry, sensei," she bluffed.
She'd rather die then admit that she could not take
his training.

Ranma shook his head condescendingly. "Akane, you will
never be a good liar. Just tell the truth from now
on."

The others stopped eating to follow the conversation.

*He is trying to humiliate me,* thought Akane. *I am
not going to give him that satisfaction, not in front
of my family.*

"To tell you the truth, sensei, I was lost in
thought," she said and painfully picked up her
chopsticks, trying her very best to not show that she
was incapable of even that simple task.

"Your thoughts will not go anywhere, Akane, but your
food will. Never neglect your breakfast."

"Hai, sensei."

"Good then. Shampoo, will you pass me the pork buns."

Shampoo did readily, wincing as the muscles in her
right arm protested in pain. One thing was for sure -
she was never going to be late for Ranma-sensei's
class again.

"Thank you, Shampoo." Ranma turned his attention
towards Genma. "Saotome-sensei..."

Genma paused in his eating. "Yes, Qin-san."

"I think that the day is just right for visiting the
local shrine and getting the blessings of the Kami for
your new job."

Genma thought about it for a second. "I think, I will,
Qin-san. Tendo, old friend, how about coming to the
shrine with me?"

"I will be very glad to, Saotome."

"What new job?" asked Nabiki.

Genma begun to sweat. *Oh, no.*

Unfortunately, before he could warn the others, Ranma
answered.

"Well, I offered Saotome-sensei a job as a training
instructor in a new dojo that I have recently
acquired."

"Is that so, uncle?" asked Nabiki with a disconcerting
smile on her face.

"Yes, hehehehe," replied Genma and laughed nervously.
*Oh, my God, I am so dead.*

"It's about time," said Nabiki, her smile growing even
more. *My money returned to its rightful owner, that
is!*

Nabiki continued to interrogate Genma for the rest of
breakfast. She had that same disconcerting smile on
her face all along and everyone followed it as closely
as they could, happy to see the panda suffer the same
fate they had, so many times before.

Lost in the conversation, they did not pay attention
to the passage of time.

Kasumi, however, kept track it. She looked at Ranma
and gave him a smile. This was going to be their
revenge for the hard time that the others had put them
through, at breakfast, the day before.

>From his seat, Ranma caught Kasumi's evil smile, but
could not fathom her reasons behind it. He realized,
however, that he would be first hand witness to her
plot soon enough and thus, kept his peace.

Kasumi's smile changed to the sweet one that adorned
her face almost always and she addressed Akane. "Oh,
my, Akane, aren't you late for school?"

That brought Akane out of her dream world. She started
out of her stupor and the food in her plate
disappeared rapidly as did the food in Ryuu's,
Nabiki's and Shampoo's.

"Oh, I almost forgot about that. Thanks for reminding
me, Kasumi," said Akane, donned her bag and all, and
disappeared.

Ryuu and the others followed her lead, quickly wishing
their goodbyes to their family and friends.

Minutes passed. Everyone in the table sat as they
were, with their eyes darting back and forth from the
clock to Kasumi. Finally, Ranma burst into laughter.

Kasumi made a show of looking at the clock and acted
as though she was amazed.

"My, they are half an hour early."

Soun could not believe his eyes. What he had seen just
now, he had given all hope of seeing years ago. His
eldest daughter's behavior was downright mean and
surely had the spirit of a Tendo inside her. He was so
happy.

"You can say that again," managed Ranma in between
spurts of laughter.

Watching the exchange between the two, Genma's brain
caught up with him and he smiled gratefully at Kasumi.
"Thank you, Kasumi-chan. You were a big help."

"You are most welcome, uncle." Kasumi daintily
introduced several succulent looking morsels to her
mouth. "I am sure that they would not mind. After all,
they will be early for school, for once."

Ranma paused in his laughing spree for a second to
look at Kasumi and then fell down to the floor,
clutching his stomach as another fit of laughter hit
him.

Cologne followed shortly thereafter.

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

The last half an hour had been really boring for Ryuu.
There were Akane and Shampoo to keep him company, of
course, but one can stand the company of women only
that long. And surely, for a macho boy such as him,
even spending a little time with them was like hell on
Earth.

It was bad enough that the majority of the people at
home were women, but he expected better at school.
Luck did not favor him, however, for as it happened
they were the first on campus.

He had tried a kata to drive away the boredom, but his
mind had not been in it and he had stopped. No use
doing the katas when he was not focused on them. It
seemed to him that fate had ordained that he be bored
this morning and therefore, he had endured it.

Ryuu did not hate women. In fact, with the huge levels
of hormones flooding his body, he was finding himself
attracted to them like never before. Even that
attraction had its limits though and he had reached
it. Surrounded by beautiful women all the time was a
sure thing to destroy one's libido, though at first
the effects were the opposite on one's system. In
simple speech, Ryuu and his hormones were fed up with
women, for the time being, that is.

That was why Ryuu disappeared in a cloud of dust as
soon as he laid eyes on Ami and the others.

"Hi, Ami-chan," said Akane walking forward to meet the
Sailor senshi.

Ami smile faintly at her new friends.

"Hi, Akane-chan."

"What happened to you? You look like you were run over
by a truck."

"I haven't been getting a lot of sleep for the past
four days..." replied Ami and yawned. No matter what
she tried, those dreams or rather, those nightmares,
always managed to wake her up.

"Worried about something, Ami-chan?"

Ami nodded once. "I guess so. Usagi's boyfriend, a
close friend of mine was killed in the attack and what
more, we all witnessed it."

"That's horrible."

"Is too, too bad," added Shampoo.

"Usagi is taking it the worst. She has not spoken a
single word this morning."

"Is that right, Mako-chan?"

Makoto nodded dumbly. She too, was caught in the same
world Usagi seemed to be lost in.

"Poor dear," Akane said, her cramps and sores
forgotten, and hugged Usagi. "I am so sorry for you."

Usagi sniffled and her eyes watered.

"Don't cry now, Usagi-chan. Everything will turn out
to be all right. I remember the time that my mother
passed away. I was distraught too... I thought that my
world was destroyed, but it was not. Somehow, I
survived and I am sure that you will too."

"Thank you, Akane-chan."

"You are welcome. Now, let's get you to your class
before they start."

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

"Miss. Tsuniko, Miss. Aino, Miss. Mizuno and Miss.
Kino."

The four girls stood up.

"What is this I have been hearing about you four, all
day?" asked Ranma.

Silence.

"It seems like all four of you girls have not been
paying attention to the classes today. And to top it
all, you are late for PE class. What, may I ask, is
the reason for this tardiness?"

"We do not feel well, sensei," replied Ami.

Ranma shook his head.

"Miss. Mizuno, you have to tell a better lie than
that."

Silence.

"Hmmm... Miss. Mizuno, this seems to be the first spot
on your otherwise flawless record at this school. I am
therefore willing to overlook your tardiness for
today. Make sure that you are never late to my class
again."

"Hai, sensei."

"You may take your seat."

Ami sat down with a visible breath of relief.

"And what do I do with the three of you?" Ranma asked
the others. "All three of you are not the most
exemplary of students in both the behavior and
academic departments. What do you think that I should
do with you?"

"Sensei, I ask that Usagi be excused for her
tardiness," volunteered Makoto. "Her boyfriend was
killed in the attack, right in front of her eyes."

"Is this true, Miss. Tsuniko?"

Usagi shook her head a little.

Ranma gave her a thoughtful look. "You are excused
then." He turned towards the other two. "The both of
you will do five laps around the school and then you
will report back to class."

"Hai, sensei."

"Get moving."

The two ran out at a brisk pace.

"Now, today we are going to..."

"Excuse me, sensei."

Ranma turned towards the door and glared at Ryuu.

"And what kept you from being early for class, Mr.
Saotome?"

"..."

"You will do ten laps around the school then. If you
run fast enough, you might catch up with your friends,
Miss. Aino and Miss. Kino."

"Hai, sensei." Ryuu turned and ran off.

Ranma turned towards the class and addressed them once
again. "As I was saying before I was so rudely
interrupted, we are going to review your knowledge of
kempo today. I want all of you to split up into pairs
and join me in the training hall," said Ranma and
walked out of the classroom.

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

"Damn."

Huff. Huff.

"Damn."

"Will you quit it already, Mako-chan?"

Minako blanched visibly when Makoto glared at her.
Makoto was not on her list of favorite people when the
girl was mad and right now, she was.

"Hey, we were the ones at fault. We shouldn't have
been late for class," Minako said. She was not known
to be the one known to give into reason in the group,
but it appeared that she had to don that role now, if
she wanted Makoto to remain reasonable and not give in
to her anger.

"So... We still had a good reason for being late. It
is not everyday that you get your asses kicked and
witness two of your friends die right in front of your
eyes. In my book, that goddamn well qualifies as a
good reason, anyday."

"It does, Mako-chan, but sensei does not know about it
and we cannot fault him for that, can we?"

Makoto's anger visibly faded at the remark.

"I guess you are right. But, still..."

"I know, Mako-chan. I just wish, sensei could have cut
us some slack."

"Yeah, me too."

The two jogged in silence for a couple of seconds,
breathing sporadically in the most atrocious manner
possible. Although Makoto was a martial artist, she
still had a long way to go in perfecting her breathing
and such.

"Hey, guys, wait up."

Makoto turned and saw Ryuu waving at them from fifty
or so yards back. The two of them slowed down for him
to catch up with them and when he did, they looked at
him questioningly.

"I was late for the class," explained Ryuu.

"Oh."

"I have to do ten laps. What about you guys?" asked
Ryuu trying to strike up a conversation. His muscles
were sore from the morning and he was having trouble
keeping his pace. *Perhaps talking will help me some.
After all, they say that words make the long journey
short.*

"Ten laps? We got five laps. Why were you late
anyhow?" asked Minako, back to her cheerful self,
though it was a lot less cheerful than normal.

"I had my reasons. Had to help Akane and all."

"What is wrong with Akane-chan?"

"She is bascially all right. Just a little sore from
this morning, is all."

"What did you guys do this morning?" asked Makoto,
joining the conversation. Anything that was capable of
making Akane Tendo must be pretty hard.

"Nothing... All right, it wasn't nothing," said Ryuu
noticing the stares that the two were giving him.
"Sensei wanted us to get up early in the morning to
train. Apparently, Akane thought otherwise. Sensei
disagreed with her and she had to do three thousand
push-ups."

"Three thousand," chorused the two in disbelief.

"Yeah. Me and Shampoo got off a little easy - we only
had to do two thousand five hundred. We did, but Akane
does not have the same endurance that we do and she is
sore all over."

"Poor Akane-san," said Makoto, her eyes lit with
admiration at the feat that her hero had performed.

"Hey," complained Ryuu. "What am I? Dead meat?"

"Aw, don't worry about her, Ryuu-chan. You have got me
to keep you company," said Minako and snuggled up to
him.

"Gaaaaaah!" screamed Ryuu and disappeared in a cloud
of dust.

"What did I say?" Minako said aloud.

The two jogged the next two laps around the school in
silence. Each was lost in her own thoughts and each
started to speak several times during the course of
the laps, but refrained from doing so.

Finally, Minako broke the silence.

"Mako-chan, I am afraid."

"Huh?"

"That thing defeated us without a second thought. It
was as if we were cannon fodder to it. What if one of
them shows up again?"

"We will fight it, Mina-chan, just like we have fought
against Beryl and the others and we will win in the
end, like we always have."

"How can you be so hopeful, Mako-chan? You saw the way
it dealt with me, Usagi and even you, the best fighter
in the group. How can we stand against such as thing
as that?"

"I don't know how we will be able to stand against
their kind, Mina-chan, but I do know one thing: We can
never give up hope. You have to believe in yourself
and you have to believe in what you are fighting for
and if your belief is strong enough, you will find the
strength to win the fight.

"When my parents died, I was alone. I had never been
alone in my life before and I was terrified. They
placed me in a state run orphanage. Life there was so
different from what I was used to and for a time, I
was afraid; afraid of both loving others and afraid to
move on with my life, but in the end, I did and it
made my stronger. Putting your past behind and moving
forward will not be easy... I can vouch for that, but
you have to. If you want to survive, you have to."

Minako became silent, thinking about what Makoto had
just said. Finally she spoke.

"I feel bad about Usagi. She is in so much pain and I
don't know how to help her. I want to, but I do not
know how."

"I feel the same way, Mina-chan. She has lost so
much... Mamoru, Chibi-Usa... They are dead and she is
grieving. I can see that she has the same expression
on her face as I did, when mother and father died. She
needs us to be there for her and most of all, she
needs our friendship. You can help by being there for
her, Mina-chan. It might not seem like much, though in
the end, it will be the most important thing you can
do for her, at least, right now."

Minako nodded and they continued the rest of the way
in silence.

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

"No, you are doing it all wrong," said Ranma in
exasperation. How many times would he have to explain
to the girl before she caught on? "The block is too
high, the leg movements totally in adequate and where
is the balance or for that matter, the power behind
the blows."

Usagi's eyes watered.

"I am sorry, sensei. No matter how hard I try, I get
it wrong."

Ranma sighed. He really wanted the girl to get over
her loss and he was trying very hard to help her, but
she just was not responding. Did she not know that the
best way to get over her pain was to concentrate on
something else? Time would heal the wounds. All she
had to do was stand aside and let time do the job.

Seeing her eyes water, he did the only thing he knew
would work.

"Alright. Naru, please up with Makoto or someone else.
Usagi is going to spar with me."

Naru nodded and ran off.

"Now, Usagi, I want you to look at me and follow my
movements."

"Hai, sensei."

Ranma went through the same block and punch sequence
Usagi had executed. "Now, did you see the way the
block and the punch were executed."

Usagi nodded.

"What do you think was different about it?"

"The movements were fluid and there was a feeling of
strength in them."

"That is correct. You see, Usagi, martial arts is
about gaining mastery of your body. As your control
over your body and mind increases, your skills at the
art will improve. Now, I want you to execute the same
block and punch sequence, only this time, I want you
to go about it real slow."

"Hai, sensei."

Ranma waited until she was done and then posed his
question. "Was there a difference between the way your
body reacted before and the way it is reacting now?"

Usagi thought about it. "Hai, sensei. There was more
power and I did not lose my balance when setting
myself up for the punch."

"Good. Why do you think it was better this time
around?"

Usagi's eyebrows furrowed in thought. She remained so
for nearly a minute during which Ranma had to control
himself from blurting out the answer.

"I was better because I was not concentrating on
moving in the correct way?" she volunteered.

Ranma just about jumped into the air, yelping in joy.
Finally, he thought, she had learned her first and
most important lesson.

"Yes, that is correct. You did well, because you were
not thinking about how the blow might fall and all the
other petty nuances, you were so worried about. You
will do just fine in Kempo and for that matter, in any
other type of martial arts if you remember that simple
rule: Do not think too much about the fight or the
blow or whatever you are doing. Just react and all you
had learnt will come to you instinctively."

"Hai, sensei."

The bell rang just then. Ranma clapped his hands and
the students stopped their sparring.

"The early morning classes I spoke about during the
last class will be conducted from tomorrow onwards. Do
not, I repeat, do not be late for it. The punishment
that Miss. Kino and the others received today will be
the least of your concerns should you miss the class."

"Hai, sensei," chorused everyone.

Ranma nodded. "Class dismissed. Miss. Tsuniko, will
you stay behind. I need to have a talk with you."

The students filed out of the room, murmuring their
gossips.

Ranma arranged some paperwork and leaned back against
his chair.

"Miss. Tsuniko, how are doing?"

"Fine, sensei."

"I, for one, have direct experience with the loss of a
loved one and I know you are going through a pretty
rough period. If you need anything, anything at all,
feel free to call me. I am here."

"Hai, sensei."

"Good. See to it that your boyfriend's death doesn't
affect your grades. Yours can't get any worse than it
already is and you cannot afford to let your grades
lag behind this year, or for that matter, the next
four years. They will play a huge role in shaping your
future, Miss. Tsuniko, these examination hell years,
but I am sure that you already know of this."

"Hai, sensei."

Ranma nodded. "I will be here if you need me, Miss.
Tsuniko as are the other teachers. Dismissed."

Usagi left the hall, walking briskly and Ranma stared
at her back, long after she had disappeared. He felt
sorry for the girl, but there was only so much that he
and her friends could do for her.

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

Lunch, always one of the happiest times of Juuban high
was unusually melancholy.

Usagi, the infamous motor-mouth of Juuban High, sat
under her favorite tree, her chopsticks idly picking
at the boiled grains of rice in her lunch box. Her
mood was reflected on the other sailors and thus, the
Nerima crew.

Minako chose to break the silence. "Artemis said, he
and Luna had something important to tell us and we
should all gather at Rei's shrine this evening," she
said.

Ami's eyes widened in shock. Surely, the girl was not
so dimwitted as to risk revealing their secret
identities to their friends at school. "Mina-chan!"

Minako caught the look on Ami's and Makoto's faces and
blushed at her obvious slip.

"Oops!" she said and covered her mouth with her hand.

Ami truly felt like hitting her head against the
nearest pole until, either her head or the pole broke.
"Mina-chan," she said sweetly, glaring daggers at the
blonde.

"Hehehehe," Minako laughed nervously like a deer
caught in the floodlights.

That sent the group into an uneasy silence, again.
Akane, Ryuu and Shampoo simply could not understand
what their new friends were talking about, and the
sailor scouts were afraid of revealing anything.

Of course, Ryuu being the sensitive individual in the
group, chose the most appropriate subject to break the
silence.

"Hey, Mako-chan," Ryuu said, breaking the silence. "Do
you have a second bento?"

Makoto nodded slightly. "Yes, I do, Ryuu-chan, but I
was kinda hoping that Usagi would want it," she said
and looked meaningfully at Usagi.

"Oh, Usagi-chan, you do not want that second bento, do
you? You have hardly touched your lunch today," Ryuu
said without missing a beat.

Thunk! Thunk!

Ryuu glared at Akane and Shampoo, rubbing the two sore
spots on his head.

"Whaddya do that for, psycho-tomboys?"

"Ryuu keep quiet, if he know what be good for him."

"Psycho?"

Ryuu cringed. Maybe he had aired his views a little
too fast and a little too openly.

Seeing Ami's pleading look, the two girls calmed
themselves down, though Akane couldn't resist taking a
shot at Ryuu.

"Ryuu no baka. She was trying to cheer Usagi up with
giving her food."

"Oh," said Ryuu as the light shone at the end of the
dark tunnel. "Hey, don't look at me. I spent most of
my time on the road with my old man..."

The others looked at him disbelievingly, prompting
Ryuu to continue.

"If anything like this ever happened to me, pops would
have told me to suck it up and get on with life."

More disbelieving looks.

"I am telling the truth," said Ryuu earnestly.

"As impossibe as that sounds, I believe you," Ami
said.

"'Cause it is the truth. Now, Mina-chan, you do not
need that sushi, do you?"

Minako shook her head dumbly.

"Great, because I want it."

Several seconds and crunches later.

"Yum. This sushi's great, Mina-chan." He turned his
head slightly to face Usagi. "Umm... Usagi, I don't
have experience with this kinda stuff, but I am sorry
that you lost your boyfriend and all."

"Thank you, Ryuu-kun," Usagi said putting on a faint
smile for his sake.

Ryuu began to scratch the back of his neck and begun
to stutter. He had never been good at this kind of
thing, anyway.

"You are welcome," Ryuu said in his politest manner.

The girls looked at him adoringly. Minako and Makoto
almost swooned. If Mamoru was alive, they would have,
but since he wasn't and he hadn't dead for very long,
they thought that some restraint on their hunk chasing
hormones was necessary.

Not noticing the dreamy looks on almost all the girls'
faces, Ryuu turned towards Akane. "That is what I am
supposed to say, isn't it?"

Akane groaned in frustration and Shampoo giggled,
though she was very surprised by this sudden turn of
events. It took a violent maniac of great strength to
pound the smallest of manners into Ryuu and by the
way, he had acted just now, it must have been one of
the most violent people on Earth who had taught him
that.

"Hey, where's Ryouga-kun?" asked Makoto out of
nowhere.

"He is visiting his relations," lied Akane. She did
not want to be humiliated in front of little girls.

"He is? I thought Ryouga was lost and couldn't find
his way home."

Thunk!

"Whaddya do that for?"

And so continued the lunch with Ryuu periodically
putting his foot in his mouth in an effort to try to
cheer Usagi up.

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

"Ah, Ranma-sensei, would you mind joining us for
lunch?" asked Ichijiro Ogawa.

Ranma looked at his fellow teacher and smiled. There
was Juniro-sensei, Kobayashi-sensei and of course,
Ichijiro Ogawa. The man was new to the school, just as
he was, but already he had made many friends. Truly,
he could learn something from such a character.

"Don't mind if I do, Ogawa-sensei," Ranma said and
seated himself admist the group.

"So, Qin-san, how is our school?" asked
Kobayashi-sensei.

"Please call me Ranma, Kobayashi-san. The school is
great... a pleasant experience, I might add."

"Pleasant? Ranma, I have heard this school described
as a number of things, but pleasant has never been
amongst them," said Kobayashi.

"Yes, it is strange that you should find this school
pleasant, what with the monsters and sailor scouts
running around blowing things up," added
Juniro-sensei.

"Ah, there you are mistaken. My life, before I came
here, was boring to a tedious extent. I joined this
school because I wanted some excitement in life."

"You Chinese certainly seem a strange lot," observed
Ogawa with a smirk.

"But you are wrong," replied Ranma. "We are just the
same as you, a little different in our manners, but
that is to be expected given our government and our
way of life."

"True," agreed the others.

"In fact, I have spent the last ten years of my life
in Japan and am more than well versed in the Japanese
culture. It's just that I hate being conformal..."
Ranma said and took a bite out of his chicken
sandwich. He had spent the last fifty odd years in
Japan, but he decided, they did not need to know that.
It might distance them or something, he thought. The
last time he had mentioned his true age to anyone, it
had brought him enough trouble to make him wary of
telling the truth about his age. The man, a zealot
priest of the orthodox church, had declared Ranma as
possessed and ordered an exorcism. To say the least,
Ranma had not appreciated the ceremony and therafter,
had kept his thoughts to himself.

"Ah, that is understandable," agreed Kobayashi-sensei.

"I am glad that you find it so, Kobayashi-san."

"I hear you are an expert martial artist, Ranma, would
you mind sparring with me sometime?" asked Ogawa,
changing the subject to the one that interested him
most - the martial arts prowess of their new
colleague. He had heard some rumors and wanted to know
whether they were true or not.

Ranma wiped his lips with a tissue and smiled. "Of
course, Ogawa-san. It would my pleasure to spar with a
champion like you."

"Huh?" said the other two in surprise. Ogawa, the
sweet-spoken history teacher, a champion in martial
arts? What is going on here?

"Hmmm... I see Ogawa-san has not told you. He came
third in the Japanese Kempo championship," filled in
Ranma.

"Is that so, Ichijiro?" asked Juniro-sensei.

"Hai."

"Why didn't you tell us?"

"I did not want to look like I was bragging or
anything." Ogawa said and turned towards Ranma.
"Sensei, I have heard rumors among the students that
you can manipulate ki, is that true?"

Ranma nodded. "Yes, a little."

"Wow! I had always thought the stuff about ki
manipulation were just legends," Ogawa said in wonder.

The other two nodded in agreement with him. Their
respect for Ranma had increased by just that much
after hearing what Ogawa had to say.

"I can tell you with certainty it is not,
Ogawa-sensei," assured Ranma trying his best not to
look proud and egotistic. The Japanese really hated
foreigners who lauded it over them.

"Can you show us, Ranma?" asked Ogawa.

"Sure." Ranma stretched out his hand and formed a
basketball-sized ball of pure ki.

"Amazing," said everyone. "How do you do it?"

"It is easy actually. The first time is a little
hard," *though I never had any trouble with my first
time,* "but it gets easier after that."

"Is this your most powerful," asked Kobayashi-sensei,
peering wondrously at the glowing ball. Every teacher
in the staff room was now gathered around Ranma,
murmuring amongst themselves.

Ranma shook his head. "No, I can make them a lot more
powerful than this one, though I think this one will
suffice for this occasion."

"Will you teach me?" asked Ogawa.

"Sure. I don't see any reason, why I should not. I
can't teach you this method of accessing ki, though.
It is a secret of the Chinese Amazons and I swore that
I would never teach it to any outsiders save the ones,
the council of elders had granted me permission to
teach."

"Amazons?" asked Juniro-sensei in surprise. He had
thought there was no such thing as Amazons. "Surely,
they are the stuffs of legends."

Again, there were excited murmurs around the table.

"I am afraid not, Juniro-san. The Amazons of
Joketsuzoku are very real. In fact, I am one of them."

"Huh?"

"I was born Japanese, but due to some unavoidable
circumstances, I was separated from my parents at a
very young age. The Amazons adopted me into their
tribe and they raised me."

"Oh!"

"They are a nice people once you get to know them. A
little queer and a little rough around the edges, but
they are decent. Xian Pu, one of the new students, is
the daughter of the matriarch of the Amazons, in
fact."

The bell rang then, marking the end of the lunch
break. Ranma got up hurriedly.

"Oops! Gotta go. Have a P.E. class to attend to,"
Ranma said and left the others in a hurry.

The teachers did not stop discussing about the latest
addition to their ranks long after he had left.

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

Ami spent the rest of the afternoon, scarcely
listening to the classes - a very rare event to those
who knew her. She received a disbelieving stare or two
from the other students as the teacher caught her
dreaming, twice in the middle of the class, but she
ignored all of them. She had more important reasons to
worry about.

For the first time ever, they had lost a teammate, one
who could not be retrieved from the hands of death
even with Usagi's magic. It brought her own mortality
into the limelight more than ever before. She had
encountered death before, but it had never been so
personal. Sure, her father had died when she was very
young and his death was a greater loss to her than
Mamoru's, but she was unaware of the world around her
then and she had not even missed her father until a
couple of years after his death. By then, she had
gotten used to life without her father. His death had
become bearable, and she had scarcely noted his
absence. Now, it was as if death itself was standing
at her door and she was not able to do anything about
it.

Her own fears of mortality aside, there were bigger
things and people in bigger pain to worry about. Her
friend, companion and princess to be, Usagi had lost
the two most important things in her life and she did
not know how best to deal with it. Nor did she know
how best to help Usagi. Usagi was heartbroken and
withering away, right in front of her eyes and there
was nothing she could do about it. Usagi's loss was
terrible indeed and she hoped that no one would ever
come to know the same pain that the girl was feeling.
To lose the one you love most and to lose your child
in the same incident was more than anyone could bear
and remain sane.

And Ami knew, knowing her friends the way she did,
that Usagi was blaming herself for the whole mess. She
had caught look on Usagi's face. She hated herself for
what had transpired that evening in the shopping
district..

Usagi was having self-doubts and she was sure that the
rest of the team was having them too. Never before had
they been beaten so thoroughly as though they were so
many little pieces of cannon fodder. It did not help
matters any that she, the weakest in the group had
succeeded where the others had failed and ended up
saving the day. She, Ami, the weakest of them all, who
could not even summon the strength to defeat a daemon
on her luckiest day, had went against the 'Ashura, as
their rescuer had called it, in an one-on-one fight
and emerged unscathed, while the rest had been
pulverized and beaten into the ground.

There were other factors to be taken in, too. Morale
was at an all time low and everyone, herself included,
was mourning the loss of Chibi-Usa and her father.
They did not have the slightest idea of who their
assailants were and why they had attacked them. They
did not know their enemies numbers and they did not
know whether their enemies could field those things in
higher concentrations or not. And they did not have
the slightest clue as to how they can counter this new
enemy. The situation could not have looked grimmer and
it made Ami wonder whether they were going to survive
the coming battle or not.

For now, all her hopes rested on the meeting that the
Moon cats had called. Maybe they could provide some of
the much-needed information about their enemies and
perhaps their allies.

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

"Setsuna..." hollered Michiru from the kitchen.

Seconds ticked by in silence while she waited for a
reply from the green haired, pain in the ass, guardian
of the gates of time. None came and Michiru remembered
that they had not seen Setsuna since the day they
fought that thing.

She missed her. Even though she found it almost
impossible to believe herself, she missed the bitchy,
ever so vague, Miss. I-am-holier-than-thou, Setsuna.
Maybe it was because the green-haired woman grew on
you with time and maybe it wasn't, but the fact was,
Michiru missed Setsuna's cold presence around the
house.

"Setsuna," she whispered to herself. What had happened
to their friend and teammate?

"Hey, Michiru, you want something?" Haruka asked,
popping her head into the kitchen. *Is everything all
right?* She had heard Michiru's cry for Setsuna and
had figured something was wrong. Michiru wasn't
normally so forgetful.

Michiru caught the verbal and the normal
communication. She took a deep breath, lest she burst
into tears and began.

"No, everything's fine..." *Who am I kidding?*
"Everything's not fine, Haruka. We need to find
Setsuna and fast. I can't get rid of the feeling that
something terrible has happened to her," Michiru
finished in near hysterical tones.

"Calm down, Michiru. Hotaru's at home. We do not want
to scare her," soothed Haruka. She approached Michiru
and put her arms around her in a hug.

Sniffle. "I just cannot get rid of this awful feeling
that something very bad has happened to her, Haruka. I
just can't."

"I know, Michiru. I have been feeling the same way
too," Michiru said, nestled between Haruka's
surprisingly powerful arms. For a woman, Haruka sure
did have some muscles.

"You think... you think, maybe we should look for
her."

"Where are we going to look, Michiru? Setsuna never
told us how she spent her free time and we have always
assumed that she spent all her time at the time gates.
I'd say that we have as much chance of finding her as
we have of finding a needle in a haystack and that is
assuming that she spends a lot of her time in the real
world. If she spends all her time at the time gates,
like we assumed all along, then we the chances of us
finding her are next to nothing."

Michiru nodded.

"But we just can't sit around and do nothing. I feel
so hopeless if we do. You saw what that thing did to
the inners. They are no match for it Haruka and
neither are we without Setsuna. We might be the only
ones capable of stopping that... that thing and for
that we need Setsuna."

"True. However, I think that we need not fear. I am
sure Setsuna is all right... she always is, though if
it will set your mind at peace, we can attend the
meeting at Rei's house this evening. It must be pretty
important - Luna invited us there, after all."

Michiru considered attending the meeting, but that
prospect did not seem so interesting as it had in the
morning. The only thing that would set her mind at
rest now was finding Setsuna and making sure, she was
safe. "Please, Haruka, you just have to trust me on
this. Setsuna is in horrible danger and she needs our
help."

Haruka looked into her lover's eyes. She saw the storm
of fear,  anxiety and hope that rippled inside her
eyes and she made her decision. It turned out to be
awfully easy to make - much easier than she had
thought it would be. If searching for Setsuna was what
it would take to set Michiru's mind at rest then that
was what she would do. They could always get the
update from Ami or someone else, anyways.

Having made her decision, Haruka took a deep breath
and spoke.

"All right, Michiru, you win. We will search for
Setsuna."

Hope flared and won inside Michiru's heart as soon as
she heard those words. She hugged Haruka tightly and
gave her a little grateful peck on her cheeks.

"Thank you, Haruka. Thank you so much."

Haruka patted Michiru's hair and kissed he forehead
through the hair. "Come on, we haven't got the time to
fool around." *Though I'd very much love to,* she
added mentally. "You search Setsuna's room and see
whether you can find any evidence about her
activities. I am guessing that she does not spend most
of her time in the gates of time."

"Okay," Michiru said, grinning widely.

"And while you are at it, I will see whether any of
our neighbors can take care of Hotaru while we are
gone."

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

Michiru took a deep breath to calm her fear of the
unknown and turned the doorknob. She really was going
where no one in the house had ever gone before -
Setsuna's room. She opened the door and gasped...

Setsuna's room was impeccable. Nothing was out of
place and there was not even a single scratch on
anything. Nor was the bed sheets ruffled or a fleck of
dirt to be found. It was truly impeccable in every
way.

And Michiru could not believe he eyes. It looked like
nothing had been touched for months, though there were
no cow webs to prove her hypothesis. How could anyone
live in such a way, she asked herself and her mind
came up empty-handed after debating the merits and
demerits of such a life for the better part of
half-a-minute.

*Let's see... Where would I keep my address book if I
were Setsuna, assuming she had one?*

Normal people would have kept the damn thing in plain
sight, Michiru knew, but she also knew that Setsuna
was anything but normal. The woman gave a completely
new meaning to the word bitch as did Haruka, when she
chose to be. And her secretiveness left a lot to be
desired.

*My best guess is Miss. Secret kept it over the closet
or something...*

Michiru stood on her toes and rummaged over the
closet. Her suspicions proved right and she removed a
slightly dusty address book.

"Hey, Haruka, I think I have found something," she
hollered into the doorway.

"What is it?" came the subdued reply.

"I think it is Setsuna's address book."

"I am coming."

There were sounds of running feet and Haruka appeared
at the door momentarily. She was slightly out of
breath as she had run the whole way from the other end
of the house.

"Where is it?" she asked.

"Here," Michiru said and handed the object to Haruka.

"I didn't think that she'd have an address book. Where
did you find it anyway?"

"Over the closet."

"Figures. I always thought that she was weird."

Michiru gave Haruka a strange look. "Yah huh? Weird?
You thought she was weird? I mean, the secretiveness,
the bitchiness, the cold aloofness, and... and you
suspected that she was weird?" she said unbelievingly.

"Yes. Is there anything wrong with what I did?"

Michiru groaned inwardly and decided to keep her
thoughts on the subject to herself.

"Hey, Michiru, look at this. I think we are on to
something," Haruka spoke excitedly.

And indeed, they were. There were only a couple of
entries on the address book and all of them were in
the Setagaya-ku.

"Indeed, we are. Why don't we pay Miss. Kurume a
visit?"

"Yes, I think we will," said Haruka, smiling broadly.
If Miss. Kurume wasn't Setsuna then why should she
have the same social security number as Setsuna. *So,
Setsuna had been living two lives, one, a normal woman
and the other, a super-bitch all along.*

"Come, Haruka, we do not want to keep Miss. Kurume
waiting now, do we?" Michiru said, her face mirroring
Haruka's smile. Everything was going to be all right,
now that they had found Setsuna.

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

What is the worst thing that could happen to a person?
His/her own death?

Perhaps, or perhaps not. When you are dead, everything
stops. Everything includes: the pain, the anger, the
love, the hatred, the hope, the despair and the joy
that makes us what we are. We become part of a greater
whole and peace places it calming hands on us. An
eternity without emotions may seem like hell, but
would it be too great a price to pay for the
soul-calming peace and the sense of being that
accompanies death?

Some would agree and some would not, but for those
troubled by pain and despair through their lives,
death is heaven. They expect it and they yearn for it.
They rise every morning hoping that today would be the
day death came knocking to their doorstep.

Are such people sick? No, they are not. Death, to
them, is but the cessation of the endless flood of
pain and despair that is their life. To them, who have
no hope and who have endured a world of misery and
pain, death is nirvana. Can we deny them then, their
heaven?

No, we cannot. Provided their suffering is profound
enough to warrant their quest for death, we must do
everything to make them see the wonder that is life
and if we cannot, then we have to aid them in their
search for death.

However, we cannot simply ease the pain people feel by
showing them death's loving embrace. We have to find
for ourselves whether the pain is so great that the
man or woman would be better of dead. If they are,
death is the most humane thing we can offer.

Reason plays a huge role in the above decision and
mankind's actions have proved again and again, over
the ages, we are not a reasonable race. We give into
our emotions too much to think in the cold-hearted,
logical way that is needed to make the choice - a
choice, which could mean the difference between life
and death for another individual.

We have to measure the pain, the strength of the heart
and soul and most of all, we have to measure his/her
love for life. Are the quantities given above
measurable?

The truth in life is: people suffer. Whether they do
so willingly or unwillingly is in their psyche, but
everyone suffers once in a while. It is part of what
makes us human. Would anyone be the same person they
grow up to be if they had not suffered in their life?

Maybe it is part of some grand cosmic law that wants
everything in life to be in perfect balance. And here
again, we have to ask ourselves a question about how
balanced we feel our life is.

Humans, as a species, have developed a fine knack of
seeing the negative side of things and thus, they
focus on the state of unrest in their lives. All
through the ages, they have failed to see or rather,
forgotten to see the tender moments in life. How many
of us wake up in the early morning to see the sunrise?
Most of us do not. Why? Because, we'd rather spend the
time sleeping in bed. The reason we give ourselves is:
It is too cold in the morning or some such nonsense.
What better example do we need than this simple truth?
Instead of appreciating the innocent beauty of the
rising sun, we complain about the cold. What does this
tell about our species?

These were the thoughts that ran through Rei's mind as
she sat in the couch, waiting. Her thoughts had taken
such a morbid path because of the recent attack and
their subsequent loss.

Her friends had arrived, but no one was speaking. This
was the first time they had gathered together since
the attack and for once, Rei and even the talkative
Minako and Makoto were silent.

Usagi sat by Rei, silent with a thoughtful look on her
face. A copy of the latest volume of her favorite
manga was nearby, but she seemed disinterested in it.
In fact, her eyes and face had lost that ever-present
glint of liveliness in them that so characterized
Usagi. It was as if she had given up her will to live.

The Moon cats were there and they too, were silent. As
was Ami. Her eyes were fixed on the legs of a chair
and she was gazing at the very interesting dust spots
on them.

"Luna, why did you call the meeting?" Rei said at
length, breaking the uncomfortable silence.

Ami perked up at the question and gave the Moon cats
her full attention.

"Yeah, why?" asked Minako.

"Well..." begun Luna.

"Well..." mirrored Ami.

"I had a talk with Usagi yesterday, and me and
Artemis... we think that we may know who our enemies
are."

"You do?" Ami asked surprised that the cats would know
about such monsters as the ones they had fought.

"Yes, we think we do, at least."

"What are you waiting for then, an open invitation to
tell us?" Rei said, a little angry at the cats for not
telling them sooner.

"Okay," cringed Artemis. Why did the women in his life
have to be ditzes or spitfires? Can't they make them
normal in heaven?

"Say it already," Makoto said. She too, hated being
kept in the dark.

"Well, why don't you say it Luna?"

"Grrr."

"All right," Artemis said, his voice as meek as they
come. "How much of the Moon kingdom's history do you
girls remember?"

"Not much," answered Ami for everyone. "We remember
bits and pieces of the important events of the Silver
Millennium, but we do not remember much about the
history. My computer lacks in that department too, and
we do not have a way of filling up the blank spots."

Artemis nodded. "I thought that much. Your memories
from your past life will filter through slowly and I
am afraid that it might even take centuries. Your
powers will increase with your memories and when all
of your memories filter through, your power will reach
its peak."

"You mean we will become more powerful as time
passes."

"Yes, but not by much. I am not sure about how big the
increase in power will be, but Luna says it will not
be by much. Apparently, you are tapping into about
three-fourths of your power right now..."

The sailors nodded.

"Anyways, me and Luna have most of our memories from
the Silver Millennium intact. And I think that it is
time we told you what we remember..."

Luna nudged Artemis, but for the first time since
anyone could remember, Artemis stared her down.

"They need to know this, Luna, if they are to have the
smallest chance of surviving what is to come," he said
staunchly.

Luna nodded in acceptance without voicing a word in
reply.

"The Silver Millennium was by no means perfect,"
Artemis said after clearing his mouth. "It was like
all other kingdoms that have existed since then and
before it. There were intrigues, instances of
injustice and you know, the whole nine yards of any
kingdom that you might see today. The difference:
Things were a whole lot peaceful and just, then."

Ami nodded while the others stared in surprise. They
had always thought that the Silver Millennium was
perfect in everyway. As for Ami, she had always known
that the perfect images Luna portrayed of the Silver
Millennium were part lies and thus Artemis's
revelation came as no surprise to her.

Artemis continued. "Back before the Moon Kingdom was
created, mankind had colonized the planets in the
solar system. Each inhabited planet and moon had a
governing body of its own. The planets and the moons
with the biggest populations even had their own kings
and queens. Wars between the planets were frequent and
cost a lot of lives.

"It was in this atmosphere that Queen Marguerite the
first took in the reins of the kingdom that ruled the
Moon. She was outspoken and she was just. Her
ancestors had always maintained good relations with
all the other kingdoms and naturally, Queen Marguerite
continued where they left off.

"During the first two decades of her rule, the entire
solar system was at peace. Then some unknown force
attacked the planets. The kingdoms joined together to
ward off the attack. They tried and they failed. The
enemy used magic and though the warriors of the
kingdoms knew magic too, their magic was woefully
insufficient to counter the magic wielded by the
enemy.

"In desperation they asked the Gods for help and the
Gods answered. They gave each of the planets defenders
against the menace. These defenders were the sailor
senshi. The sailor senshi defeated the demon hordes
and peace descended upon the solar system once more.

"The rulers of the kingdom got along better and trade
prospered. They came to realize that there were other
forces out there that would do anything to destroy
humanity and they signed pacts to unite together in
their defense against this common enemy.

"When Queen Marguerite died, her daughter Princess
Serenity ascended to the throne. Scarcely, a decade
later, all the kingdoms opted to join together under a
common ruler. They elected Serenity as that ruler with
the other rulers acting as advisors.

"The people were still adjusting to the change of
power when the Moon kingdom was attacked once more.
This time, even the combined might of the senshi was
unable to hold off the attackers... so powerful were
they.

"Finally, when it looked like all was lost Serenity
sacrificed her life and banished the 'Ashuras' into
another plane..."

"Ashuras?" Ami all but shouted. Her surprise was
understandable. After all, the man had addressed the
six-handed monsters with the very same name. "That was
the name the man used to address the six-handed
monsters."

"Yes, the Ashuras were six-handed and they were
warriors whose skill in the battlefield was even
greater than the senshi."

"But... But... If Serenity-sama had banished them,
then why are they here now?" Minako asked.

Artemis looked at Minako in surprise and no small
amount of admiration. The girl was finally learning to
think on her own.

"There were legends... there were legends about how
Serenity-sama managed to cast the Ashuras and their
leader into another plane... legends that say
Serenity-sama was helped by Kami-sama himself..."

"Kami-sama? You are kidding me, right?"

"I am afraid not, Rei-chan. Apparently, the Ashuras
and their leader were powerful beyond our wildest
imagination, and without the help of Kami-sama help,
the Silver Millennium and thus humanity may not exist
at all today."

"Wow!" Makoto said in utter awe. "How can anyone be
that powerful?"

"The Ashuras were, Mako-chan." Artemis paused. "The
legends also go on to say that Serenity-sama, with all
her power, did not have the power to ban the Ashuras
permanently. The best she could do was ban them
temporarily. She did and the Ashura's were imprisoned.
Since the ban was temporary, we always thought they
might return some day..."

"They have returned then," stated Ami.

"Yes. It would appear so."

"How can we stop them?" asked Rei.

"The legends were not clear about that point. It was
always assumed that Kami-sama would once again come to
our aid when the Ashuras returned..."

"I will kill them," interrupted Usagi's voice.

Everyone turned towards Usagi. Her face was filled
with cold hatred and she stared straight, her eyes
unfocused and staring into oblivion.

"I will kill them all," she whispered again. "And
everything will be all right then."

"Usagi..." tried Luna.

Usagi looked at Luna in the eye and smiled. "What is
it, Luna?"

"Are you feeling fine?"

"Of course, I am. I just lost Mamoru and my daughter,
but I am going to see them very soon. So, everything
is going to be just fine."

"Usagi..."

But Usagi was not paying attention to her anymore,
lost in her own little world as she was, the girl
hummed a little tune to herself.

*Poor girl.*

Tears came willingly to their eyes on seeing the level
their friend had been reduced to. Rei, perhaps the
closest in their tight knit group to Usagi, sat
herself by the blonde's side and laid a comforting
hand on her shoulder. She pulled Usagi close and
hugged the grieving girl lightly.

"I am sorry, Usagi. I was not there when you needed me
the most. I am so sorry," she whispered into Usagi's
ear. Rei's last vestiges of self-control broke down
and she cried on her friend's shoulder.

Usagi broke down and cried to her hearts content.
Afterwards, when she was done with crying, Rei and the
others fed her, and told her stories until she fell
asleep.

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

"Oyabun..."

"Yes, Jisaburo."

Jisaburo was not the man he had been, a scant two days
ago. He was afraid of what that 'man' was capable of,
and what oyabun would do to him once he learnt how he
had let that man push him around.

"I am sorry to disturb you, oyabun, but I have an
important matter to discuss with you," said Jisaburo,
grimacing slightly as the dull pain in his hand
increased a little.

"Sit down, Jisaburo. You don't look well. Tell me who
did this to you. I simply will not tolerate such
treatment to my employees."

Jisaburo winced. So, the news of his weakness had
traveled to oyabun. He had not felt this low since
'father.' "Thank you, oyabun." *Kami, what is oyabun
going to do to me?*

"Please have a drink. You look like you met with a
ghost or something," suggested oyabun.

"Thank you, oyabun."

"Plain or..."

"Plain, oyabun."

Oyabun filled the drink and sat down in his seat.

"So tell me about this man who did this to you," he
said with no small amount of menace in his voice.

"I was at the pleasure house when this... this man
came. He did not mention his name, but he easily took
out both Yammakaro and Seijio. He was in his early
twenties. He was tall, had blue eyes and it was as
though he was death itself. He said that he was acting
for another party and that we should lay off
Nabiki-san if we knew what was good for us."

"He said that."

"Yes, oyabun. He broke my arm too, to show us he meant
business." *Please let him buy this.*

Oyabun took a nice long sip of his drink and sighed in
contentment. He had that brooding look on his face for
almost a minute. Finally, he opened his desk and took
out a photo.

"Is this the man?" he asked Jisaburo, handing over the
photo to him.

To say Jisaburo was surprised was saying it lightly,
for in that photo was the very man who had threatened
him and broke his arm.

"How? How did you know it was him, oyabun?" he asked
in absolute wonder. Of course, his doubts were
baseless. There was no one more powerful than the
Yakuza in Japan with the exception of the Japanese
government.

Oyabun took a deep cleansing breath. His fears weren't
baseless, after all. If Qin-san was the one they were
up against, then they had little chance of negotiating
on equal terms, let alone turning the situation
around.

"I thought as much. His name is Ranma Qin and he is
quite popular amongst the families."

"He is?"

"Of course, Qin-san has helped us a lot in the past.
In fact, the Yamaguchi family owes him many a favor."

"He has and we do?"

"Oh, yes. Now, tell me what did he want with Nabiki
Tendo?"

"He wants us to leave Nabiki-san alone, oyabun. I made
it clear to him that you would consider no such thing,
but he did not listen. He said that he was not asking
us to release her or any such thing like that. He said
that he was ordering us to give up whatever future
plans we might have for the girl."

"Hmmm... But why would he want Nabiki? She has no use
for him... no use, at all. Tell me more about this
friend of his, Jisaburo."

"He did not say anything about his friend, oyabun. In
fact, the only time he referred to his friend was when
he said that his friend had asked him to help Nabiki."

"Strange. Could it be that Nabiki Tendo's father is
this friend?" wondered oyabun aloud. There was merit
to such a line of thought, but why would Nabiki's poor
excuse of a father want to mess with them so late in
the game. *It is definitely the stupidest thing I have
ever seen. You do not try to rescue your lamb from the
lion's den, it just doesn't work that way.*

"Oyabun?"

Oyabun was lost in thought and did not answer.
Finally, he lost the thoughtful expression on his face
and picked up a cigar from his desk. He bit off one
end (a habit born from his younger days in America.)
and lit it before addressing Jisaburo.

"You will tell Nabiki that she is fired."

"Oyabun?" Jisaburo said, not sure whether he had heard
correctly or not. Was the Yakuza going to give up one
of its brightest members so easily? Surely, he was
mistaken. Oyabun could not have said it. Nabiki-san
was the hope for the Yamaguchi family's future.

Oyabun continued as though Jisaburo had not spoken.
"She is to have no more contact with us or any of the
family men. At least not in the foreseeable future.
Tell her oyabun said so."

"Huh?"

"Don't just stare and blubber, Jisaburo. There are a
lot of things to do and too little time to do them.
Make my instructions perfectly clear to Nabiki Tendo.
She is to contact no one until I give her the
all-clear signal personally. Is that understood?"

Jisaburo nodded vigorously and smiled broadly.
Apparently, this Ranma was too powerful to be
confronted directly by the family right now. That did
not mean they were going to give him what he wanted,
of course. They would sit and wait until they were
powerful enough and then they would take him on and
win. Oh, yes, Ranma was going to get his just desserts
for crossing the family's path.

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

"Excuse me, kind sir."

The man, obviously a middle-aged white collared
worker, stopped in his tracks and eyed Ryouga
speculatively. It was refreshing to meet a young man
who knew his manners these days.

"Yes, young man."

"Kind sir, I would be most grateful if you would point
me the direction to Tokyo."

"Huh?" Maybe the young man was not raised as well as
he had believed at first. If he had been, he would not
be playing games with him.

Ryouga knew the look only too well. "Kind sir," he
tried again. "I have trouble with directions and I
easily get lost. Would you be kind enough to point me
to Tokyo?"

The man looked at Ryouga strangely and nodded.
"Alright, kid, I believe you. Tokyo is thirty miles
that way."

Ryouga let out the breath that he had been holding.
Normally, when he asked people for directions they
would act as though he was crazy or something. Maybe
it was because he did not explain about his particular
disability to them.

"Thank you, kind sir."

"Whatever, kid," waved the young man.

Ryouga smiled at his good fortune and begun walking in
the direction opposite to the one the man had pointed
to. The man just shook his head. Kids were so weird
these days.

Ryouga had not taken a couple of steps when the man
shouted a warning. Ryouga looked up just in time to
see a huge pig trying to ram him. He dropped his
umbrella and braced himself for impact.

The pig ran or rather wobbled towards Ryouga at top
speed and hit him head on.

Bham!

The dust cloud settled and the man summoned the
strength to scream in horror. Surely, the kid was dead
from the collision with the immovable object that was
the pig.

People gathered to watch the queer man who screamed
like a little child and faster than one could believe
possible, a sizeable crowd had gathered around the
man. The man realized too late, how silly he must look
to the people in the crowd. He stopped screaming and
looked around sheepishly, wishing with all his heart
that he was dead and buried ten meters deep.

"Man, what a weak pig?" came a voice from the midst of
the dust cloud.

Everyone turned their attention towards the dust cloud
just in time for a burst of wind to blow it away and
reveal the scene behind. The pig, all thousand pounds
of it, was still there, but it was not conscious. The
ground underneath its hoofs was shattered, but it had
not managed to push Ryouga back by even an inch. It
now lay unconscious, with blood sprouting from its
nose where Ryouga had punched it.

Less than thirty yards away...

"Katsu-chan, where are you?" Akari said as she
searched for her errant sumo pig. Oh, how she wished
grandpa had never made her promise to marry the man
who beat her beloved Katsu-chan in a fight. If she had
not made that promise then perhaps she could have been
out shopping with some cute boy her age, rather than
chasing after Katsu-chan.

The pig raised its head weakly and managed a futile
'bwee'.

Akari pushed through the crowd and when she was
through, stared dumbfounded at the scene that greeted
her. Katsu-chan, her strong, thousand pound sumo pig,
was lying on the ground in defeat with blood sprouting
out of its nose. Akari did not know whether she should
leap into the air in joy or whether she should
collapse onto the ground and cry for her poor
Katsu-chan. What kind of sick psycho would hit and
kill poor Katsu-chan, and run away?

"Ummm... Sorry, madam. Your pig, ummm... your pig
tried to ram me and I had to stop him," Ryouga
apologized.

Akari looked at the young man and blushed. He was
definitely cute and he had beaten Katsu-chan. *Oh,
joy,* now the promise made to her grandfather will be
fulfilled and she'd be gaining a cute fianc�e too.

Of course, Ryouga mistook the blush as a sign of an
impending case of a crying woman, level#1000.

"I am sorry, madam. I just could not move out of the
way in time," he tried. The girl did not buy his
story, it seemed, for tears were brimming in her eyes.

*Oh, dear Kami-sama, please let her believe this.* "My
name is Ryouga Hibiki and I am willing to make
repartitions for the medical treatments," he
explained. Perhaps the pig was the girl's only source
of livelihood in this dark and cold world, and he had
ruined it.

"Ryouga Hibiki..." mouthed Akari, trying to memorize
the name and the feel of it in her mouth. *He is cute
and he has a lovely name to boot.*

Ryouga thought that the rapidly reddening cheeks were
signs of his impending doom and cringed involuntarily.
Kami knew how bad Akane-chan was when he had done
something bad, and he was sure that this strange girl
would make the worst Akane-chan could dish out look
like a lovely walk in the park. Praying to the Kami in
heaven above and the demons in hell below, Ryouga
closed his eyes and waited for the onslaught of
mind-numbing pain.

It never came.

Glomp!

Instead, Ryouga found himself turning blue due to an
acute shortage of oxygen in his blood stream. The girl
was a lot stronger than her fragile body seemed to
suggest and kami, she could hug.

"Must... Breathe," Ryouga squeaked as his face rapidly
displayed all shades of a rainbow.

Akari released Ryouga from the hug and kissed him
silly, literally. The ever-lost boy could not handle
the huge amount of signals that synapses from parts of
his body were sending him. He developed a nosebleed
and thankfully, drifted into the comforting embrace of
unconsciousness.

"Hehehe!" giggled Akari. Ryouga-kun was sure swell and
he tasted neat, too.

The crowd that had gathered watched the proceedings
with merriment. Most of the boys had not gotten such a
great show all their lives and some of the girls were
even seeing their knights in shining armor racing cute
horses around their heads.

Akari was oblivious to all of this. She summoned
Katsu-chan, who hefted the unconscious and slightly
bleeding Ryouga, and carried him off into a
well-imagined sunset.

Boy, had she gotten a big one or what? *Oh,
grandfather would have been so proud to see me with my
fianc�e.*

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

Haruka drove her sports car down the narrow streets of
the Setagaya-ku. Well, drove was not the most
appropriate word to describe her driving. Haruka raced
through the narrow streets of Setagaya-ku -described
the situation more nicely.

Michiru was, of course, a proud veteran of Haruka's
driving antics, but even she was afraid of the
maniacal glee on Haruka's face and that weird, almost
fearful glint on Haruka's eyes as she turned around
impossible corners, did a belly roll and a lot of
other things that any sane man or woman would have
deemed impossible.

To compound Michiru's fears, the seat belt was a
little loose, and her grip on the door and the
dashboard of the car was steadily loosening as the
journey progressed. Now, one must remember that
Michiru was Sailor Neptune, one of the outer senshi
and definitely one of the most powerful amongst the
senshi. And Michiru was one of the bravest people
alive, having the strength of mind and body to give up
her life long dream to do what was right. She was also
one of the few people on the planet who were not
afraid of standing within a mile of a daemon or
whatever that the Negaverse threw at the general
population. However, on this particular occasion, all
the bravery and inner strength that had stood her in
good stead against the minions of the Negaverse
failed, and Michiru was reduced to a blubbering mass
of bones and muscles.

"Haruka..." Michiru screamed as her life flashed once
again, in front of her eyes.

There was no reply and before she could summon the
courage and the energy to scream once more, Haruka
executed yet another ninety-degree turn at near
hundred miles an hour. When the whimpers of pure
terror died away, Michiru gathered all her remaining
strength and put it into her scream. She had to make
it count for it might be her last chance at staying
alive.

"Haruka..."

The scream was loud was putting it lightly. So loud
was it that in the decades to follow, the people
living in that particular neighborhood would have an
unusually high number of cases of tinnitus.

"Yeah, what is it?" Haruka asked, releasing the
pressure on the accelerator just a little so that she
could be heard over the din. Apparently, Haruka had
missed the terrified tone in Michiru's scream.

"Could you park here?"

Haruka gave her the look.

"I mean, what if Setsuna heard us coming and
disappeared into the time-stream or something."

Haruka thought about it. What Michiru was saying
sounded true in a weird sort of way. Setsuna was not
the sanest person around, after all.

"Alright. We will walk from here. The house is only a
few blocks away... Are you sure you can walk the
distance?" she asked in a teasing tone.

"Hmmph! Look who's talking,
Miss-I-have-to-use-my-sports-car-to-go-to-the-bathroom."

"Feh," Haruka said and dismissed the accusation with a
wave of her hand. She was not that bad.

Of course, that little wave made Michiru see angels
again. They were slow enough, but the bus coming
straight at them with its horns blaring, was not.

"Watch where you are driving," she screamed, her face
turning deathly pale.

"Of course, I watch where we are going," Haruka
replied and at the last second, maneuvered out of the
way.

Michiru let out a deep breath and composed herself.
This was definitely the last time she was ever going
on a drive with that crazy bit... err... Haruka.

Finally, with a one hundred and eighty-degree turn,
Haruka parked the car. Immediately, Michiru ran out of
the vehicle and emptied her stomach's contents on the
ground.

"I am never again going on a drive with you, ever,"
Michiru said weakly.

Haruka flashed her, her brightest smile and kissed the
greenhead on the cheek.

"Are you sure, you don't want to ride in this thing
again? There are fringe benefits, which I know, you
would love very much."

Michiru blushed at the statement and pushed Haruka
away.

"Never again."

"Oh, shuck! I wanted those fringe benefits too,"
Haruka pouted.

"Aw, poor baby, honey-bun will make it all better,
tonight."

Haruka immediately brightened up.

"Do we have to search for Setsuna today? I am sure
that she would not have gone anywhere, tomorrow."

Michiru caught Haruka by her earlobe and begun pulling
her away from the car.

"Yes, we do."

"Damn!"

"Haruka, what have I told you about such language?"

"Sorry dear," apologized Haruka meekly.

"Come, we must ask someone for directions."

"I am coming dear... Ouch!"

Michiru smirked at kept walking. Haruka would do
whatever she wanted for the rest of the day. In that
way, she supposed, Haruka was so much like a man.

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

Her name was Aiko Kimura Okada. She was middle-aged,
5'3" and had one of the most beautiful and lustrous
mane of black hair in all of Japan. And everyone, who
knew her were jealous of her hair.

She had a wonderful husband and she had two wonderful
children - a son and a daughter to be exact. She
worked as a cartoonist in one of the many animation
companies of Japan and to top it all off, her job paid
well.

She had her circle of close-knit friends and she had
her enemies. She was, in every way, a normal person
and she was as normal as anyone can be with a quirk or
two in between. One of them was her love of walking.

In fact, she could not live without it. When she had
finished high school, she had trekked across Japan on
foot. The journey was unpublished and largely unknown
to the Japanese public, just the way Aiko wanted it to
be.

She had not undertaken the journey to be on the news
or on the front page of some newspaper. She had done
it for herself and that was the way she wanted it to
remain - her little achievement.

That had been nearly twenty years in the past. Now,
twenty years later, the love for walking had not
diminished in her soul and she still walked five
miles, daily, enjoying the sights and sounds of
day-to-day activities as the world moved on around
her.

*Looks like sundown today will be more spectacular
than usual,* thought Aiko contentedly. Just then, a
car sped around the far corner of the street and
stopped midway through it.

Immediately, a greenhead rushed out and puked on the
street. Aiko, a volunteer in the local EMT force,
rushed towards the woman, a good three hundred yards
or so from her. She had crossed half the distance when
the greenhead got up and joined her blonde boyfriend.

Aiko slowed down as the woman was not in evident
danger, but still continued towards the duo at a brisk
pace, ready to rush forward in the off chance the
woman was ill. Seeing the two interact, she realized
that everything was all right and slowed down to her
normal speed, though she continued to observe them
just in case anything was wrong.

The couple seemed to notice her and the greenhead led
her blonde boyfriend towards her by his ears. As they
drew nearer, their speech became clearer and Aiko
realized her mistake.

"Let go of me, ditz."

"Oh, I am a ditz now, aye!"

"Ouch! I did not mean it, I swear. Ahhh!"

"Just for that, you are going to spend the night on
the couch."

"I am sorry, Michiru. Please forgive me, pretty
please."

Giggle. "Oh, all right. But you aren't going to get
any, tonight. Now, come, perhaps that lady can direct
us to Kurume's place."

Aiko blushed. Those too were obviously same sex
partners. The jeans pant and the sweater that the
blonde one was wearing would have fooled anyone, but
it did not fool Aiko. She had enough knowledge of the
human anatomy to tell the difference between the two
sexes even when some attempt was being made to conceal
it.

"Excuse us, Miss."

"Yes?"

"We are looking for a friend's apartment and we got
lost searching for it. Could you please point us to
her place?"

"I would be most happy to, Miss..."

"My name is Michiru and this is my friend, Haruka."

"Nice to meet you, Miss. Michiru and you too, Miss.
Haruka."

"Thank you, madam."

"Now, what is the name of your friend and where does
she live?"

"Her name is Amatersu Kurume and she lives in the
Kojiro apartments."

"Kojiro apartments, aye, well then, all you have to do
is take that bend over there and drive straight for
about a minute or two. You can't miss it. The building
is huge."

"Thank you, Miss..."

"Mrs. actually, Mrs. Okaga."

"Thank you for your kind help, Mrs. Okaga."

"No problem, dear, and next time use the restroom or
the thrash bin," Aiko said pointing to where Michiru
had puked.

Michiru flushed in embarrassment and after thanking
her one more time, dragged her girlfriend away. Both
of them had beet red faces and both scampered away as
fast as they could.

Apparently, the two of them were too embarrassed to
even take their car, preferring to walk the whole
distance.

Aiko waited until they were gone before bursting out
into laughter. She could not laugh in their presence
as it would have made them lose more face, but as soon
as they were gone, she could not hold it any longer
and burst into laughter.

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

Michiru had never been so embarrassed in her life.
True, she had been caught in a number of embarrassing
situations before, like the time when she and Haruka
were caught red-handed behind the bushes at school,
but even that had been no where as embarrassing as the
current one.

Worse, she could actually hear the woman laughing
behind them. Obviously, she thought they were too far
away to hear her, but they were not and Michiru
tightened her hold on Haruka's ear by just that much,
walking as fast as she could. Haruka followed, whining
and complaining all the while. However, she could do
nothing as Haruka had her tightly by her ears and she
followed as fast as she could.

As soon as they made the bend, Michiru slowed down and
released Haruka.

"It is all your fault," she accused.

"My fault. How is it supposed to be my fault? You were
the one who puked."

"And who made me dizzy with her crazy driving?"
retorted Michiru acidly. In her mind, she had already
decided that if Haruka had not driven so crazily, she
would not have puked in the middle of the road. Of
course, Michiru forgot that the very hot Mexican food
she had eaten on the way was partly responsible as
well.

"If my driving was so crazy then maybe you should not
have gotten into the car with me."

"Maybe you are right," Michiru said, tears brimming in
her eyes. Why was Haruka being so mean?

"Michiru, don't cry."

"I hate you."

"Michiru..."

"Waaaaaah! Leave me alone."

"Come on, Michiru, I did not mean it, I swear." *Is it
just me or am I using the phrase frequently. I have
already used it twice, today,* thought Haruka.

"Waaaaaah!"

Haruka had seen Michiru cry before, but it had never
been this bad. And she was not surprised by Michiru's
behavior at all. Even she felt like having a good cry
with the way things were going, what with Mamoru's
death, Setsuna's disappearance and all the other
things that were happening too fast for them to
handle.

"I am truly sorry, Michiru. Please forgive me."

She did not care that their behavior was attracting
attention, anymore. All that mattered to her now, was
Michiru's distress and she was prepared to do anything
to make things better for Michiru and for them.

Michiru sniffled and her tears slowed down to a
tickle.

"Please, honey-buns, forgive me," Haruka said and
kneeled in front of Michiru. She took Michiru's hand
in hers and gazed into deep blue eyes. Then she
apologized in the most macho way she knew. "Forgive
me, pretty mamma."

Michiru's tears dried up completely on hearing those
words and a small smile replaced the distressed look
on her face.

Having accomplished the most important task, Haruka
stood up and continued with her wooing.

"I love you and I am sorry that I hurt you. Please
forgive me. I promise, I will never do such a thing
again."

Michiru's smile increased a thousand-fold, until
Haruka's entire world seemed to be made only of that
smile and nothing else.

"You mean it?"

"Of course, I do. What would I ever do without you?"

"You love me lots?"

"Yes," Haruka said tenderly. "I love you lots."

"How much?"

"With all my heart and with all my soul, I love you
now and I will love you till the end of time and then
I will love you even after time had ended."

Michiru leapt at Haruka and hugged her tightly.

"I love you too, you know."

""Yes, I know, honey-buns. I have known all along that
I am the woman for you."

"Me too."

"I know, darling."

Michiru released the hug and Haruka closed the
distance between them until their lips were melded
into one. Haruka's tongue darted into Michiru's mouth
and probed her with a fervor that had never been there
before. Michiru too, returned the kiss with more
enthusiasm than ever before.

Finally, they parted, each gasping for air with goofy
expressions on their faces.

"Whooweee! What a gal?" shouted someone.

It was then that the two of them became aware of the
crowd, which had formed around them. Several men and
all the teenagers were catcalling and even a couple of
the women had joined them too. But that was not the
most embarrassing thing about the whole situation. The
girl in her mid-twenties, who was waving her bra
around was.

It was not surprising then that Michiru and Haruka
made fast tracks and owed to never even speak about
Setagaya-ku again.

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

Bee-boop! Bee-boop!

{{Tendo}}

{{Ah, Tendo-san, how are you?}}

{{Jisaburo-san?}}

{{Yes, it's I, Jisaburo.}}

{{What a pleasant surprise? It's not everyday that you
call me.}}

{{...}}

{{So, tell me, Jisaburo-san, what's the reason behind
this call?}}

{{Ah, you see, Tendo-san...}}

{{Please, Jisaburo-san, forgive my rudeness, but would
you please cut to the chase. I have a rather important
business to attend to.}}

{{Yes, Tendo-san.}}

{{Well...}}

{{Oyabun wanted me to pass on some information to you,
Tendo-san.}}

{{Ah, I see.}} She did not see anything at all.

{{It's like this, Tendo-san. Oyabun wants you to know
that as of today, you no longer work for the Yamaguchi
family.}}

{{...}}

{{The reasons are complicated, Tendo-san, but know
that oyabun has not given up on you, yet and will
probably never do.}}

{{Try me, Jisaburo-san.}}

{{Ah...}}

{{Jisaburo-san,}} Nabiki said sweetly. {{I think that
it would be in your best interest to tell me what
exactly is going on.}}

{{Ah, you see, I can't...}}

{{Please, Jisaburo-san, I insist that you do.}}

{{Well...}}

{{Well what, Jisaburo-san?}}

Jisaburo took a deep breath on the other side of the
line.

{{There's someone out there who wants the Yamaguchi
family out of your life, Tendo-san.}}

Nabiki laughed.

{{Jisaburo-san, don't tell me that oyabun is afraid of
a lone man.}}

{{You don't understand, Tendo-san. This man is very
powerful and oyabun wants him to believe that he has
things going his way until we are powerful enough to
move against him.}}

{{Oh!}}

{{That is why oyabun wanted me to tell you to contact
no one from the family until he or I call you and say
that everything is safe.}}

{{Hmmm... Who is the man that dares to cross swords
with the Yamaguchi family?}}

{{I don't know much about him, Tendo-san. But whoever
or whatever he is, he is big trouble. I have never
seen oyabun this worried about anything in my life. He
broke into my office, Tendo-san and he overpowered my
guards. He threatened me in my office... Can you
believe that? He threatened me and he broke my arm as
a warning.}}

{{Yes, yes, Jisaburo-san,}} Nabiki said tiredly. {{But
what I really want to know is his name.}} Pause.
{{Don't tell me that you don't know what his name
is.}}

{{His name is Ranma Qin. He is tall, has black hair,
blue eyes and he is extremely dangerous. If you see
him, Tendo-san, I suggest that you hide yourself.}}

{{...}}

{{Tendo-san?}}

{{I am here, Jisaburo-san. Ranma Qin, is it?}}

{{Yes, Tendo-san. Oyabun knows him by reputation and
through experience. He says that the family owes Ranma
a lot of favors for what he has done for the family in
the past.}}

{{Thank you, Jisaburo-san. That is all, isn't it?}}

Hesitation. {{Yes, that is all, Tendo-san.}}

Without another word, Nabiki pocketed the phone and
placed her ledgers inside her safe. She then locked it
and hid the keys in a chosen spot. Then she
straightened her shorts and T-shirt and walked out of
the room. She and their host were going to have a long
talk.

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

Shampoo slid through the kata within the walls of the
dojo. The kata, one of the most difficult ones to
perform in the Amazon Wu Shu, was definitely one of
the finest ever created.

She had been introduced to it, three years before and
even after all this time, she had not mastered it to
her satisfaction, though her mastery of the kata was
enough to make many a girl in the village jealous.
Now, Ranma-sensei was helping her and pacing her
movements and she was finally mastering it.

Before, she had tried everything that had come to her
mind in her efforts to master the kata, but she had
always failed. She could execute it, but there was
something, a sine qua non if you may, that was always
missing in her performance. And now, for the first
time ever, she was mastering it as it was meant to be.

Unlike the other katas that she had learnt over the
years, this kata could not be performed in the correct
way if it was executed at the same speed and power.
Rather, she had to slow down and speed up repeatedly
at irregular intervals and at precise places in the
kata to make it work the way it was supposed to.

That required complete concentration on her part on
the kata at hand and she found the feeling of raw
power that coursed through her veins exhilarating, and
at the same time fearful. It amazed her, how well her
body reacted and how much strength it could muster.

"That's enough for today, Xian Pu."

<Yes, sensei.>

Ranma shook his head. "You will use Japanese to
communicate while you are in this country, Xian Pu. It
will go a long way in helping you perfect your
Japanese, which I am ashamed to say, is simply
atrocious."

"Hai, sensei."

Ranma nodded. "Good. I think you did rather well,
today, considering what you were trying to master."

"I no master it still?"

"The correct wording is: I haven't mastered it yet?,
Xian Pu.

"No, you haven't mastered it. Trust me, you will feel
it in your soul when you have mastered it."

Shampoo nodded. She understood what Ranma-sensei was
saying. She had experienced such in the past.

Ranma smiled. It appeared that his student understood
what he was saying, which meant that she had
experienced the feeling in the past. *I will make a
warrior out of you yet, granddaughter.*

"Now, go freshen up and get ready for supper."

"Hai, sensei."

Shampoo bowed to her sensei and ran out of the dojo,
happily bouncing all the way.

Ranma was about to follow her lead when Nabiki entered
the hall.

"Hello, Nabiki."

"Hello," Nabiki said in return and glared at him.

"Is there anything you want?"

"Yes, I do. I think that we need to have a talk."

Ranma grinned good-naturedly.

"And what is it that you want to talk to me about?"

"Let's cut to the chase, Qin-san, I don't want you
messing around with me or my activities. It is none of
your business and I think you will do well to keep it
in mind."

Ranma's grin increased further.

"Ah, Nabiki..."

"Don't 'Ah' me. I want you to stay away my life. It
does not concern you how I choose to live it and
that's the bottom line. Understand?"

"But Nabiki-chan," Ranma said condescendingly. "It
does concern me."

Nabiki looked at Ranma as though he had grown a huge
horn or two.

"Don't Nabiki-chan me and you are kidding right?"

"No, I am not. You see, Nabiki-chan," Ranma folded his
arms against his chest and smirked for all his worth,
enjoying every moment of the confrontation. "It does
concern me. I teach your little sister and Ryuuken
Saotome, who is honor bound to marry a Tendo. As such,
any dishonor that falls upon you or your family
reflects on me and I cannot let that happen."

Nabiki glared at him in return.

"Stay the hell away from me, Qin-san. It would be much
better for your health that way."

Ranma's smirk grew even bigger. "Ah, I get it now.
They kicked you out of the Yamaguchi family, didn't
they?"

"I warn you, Qin-san, stay out of my way if you know
what is good for you."

"They have," Ranma stated victoriously.

Nabiki turned her back to him and walked out of the
dojo. At the entrance, she stopped and turned towards
him.

"I'd watch my back if I were you, Qin-san. Last I
heard, it was the easiest thing in the world to stick
a knife behind one's back."

"I always have, Nabiki-chan. And thank you for your
concern for my safety."

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

Bee-boop! Bee-boop! Bee-boop! Bee-boop!

{{Hello.}}

{{Hi there.}}

{{Miaka... Long time no hear. How long has it been
since we last talked, anyway?}}

{{Three months... I think.}}

{{Yeah! So, how are things going with you?}}

{{I am doing fine. And I got a boyfriend now... He's
cute too.}}

{{Boyfriend... my, my. you certainly have been busy.}}

Giggle. {{Yeah, you might say that.}}

{{What does he do for a living?}}

{{He's an attorney in one of Kobe's top firms.}}

{{Great.}}

{{How are you doing?}}

{{Everything's great. I was promoted. I am the new
section chief of the designing department.}}

{{Really?}}

{{Yeah!}}

{{That is just great.}}

{{How is Ryoko?}}

{{She is doing great. She's got a job at a restaurant
chain... just what she wanted all along.}}

{{So...}}

{{Oops! Time is running out. Gotta go, Achika. See
you.}}

{{Hey,}} Achika said wounded. Why would Miaka want to
cut the conversation short? Had she done something to
anger her friend? {{What's the rush?}}

{{Sorry, Achika-chan, but I got a really big date in
an hour and I have to prepare for it.}}

Giggle. {{Date... All right then. I will be expecting
a call from you tonight with all the juicy information
about how it went.}}

Miaka sighed on the other side of the line. *I knew it
would come down to this, once I told her about the
date.* {{All right. You win.}}

{{Bye, Miaka-chan. Hope the date goes well.}}

{{Thanks, Achika-chan. See ya later.}}

Click.

Achika placed the phone on the receiver with a smile
on her face. She glanced at the watch and stood up. It
was time to prepare the evening meal.

*What shall we have for dinner... I think sashimi
would be great,* she thought to herself and entered
the kitchen.

The kitchen lacked in the electronics department, but
was well furnished, otherwise. Achika had never been
one to depend on 'modern' appliances, preferring the
tried and tested utensils of the old.

She did not hate electronic equipments, but she did
not trust them either. In fact, the refrigerator was
about the only thing that she would willingly allow
into the kitchen if she had anything to say about it.

She remembered from her younger days, images of her
father calling her his angel and everyone who knew her
would whole-heartedly agree with him. She was kind,
good natured, gentle and she was beautiful...
everything that a man would ever dream for and more.
Her sense of humor was also famous among her circle of
close knit friends and she was one of the best
practical jokers in all of Japan - at least, she
believed herself to be one of the best.

She was gregarious, and out going, making friends
wherever she went and with whomever she met. It was
one of her gifts, her friends said, converting even
the most hardhearted people into fiercely loyal
friends.

Achika was, in essence, the kind of woman who every
man stops in the midst of the street to propose
marriage. She was perfect in all ways, but one. She
went missing for long periods of time and she never
revealed where she had disappeared to. Everyone
assumed that she was visiting her parents or something
like that.

The truth was Achika's parents had died quite a while
ago. She hardly remembered anything about them, except
for tiny bits and pieces that surfaced once in a while
from her subconscious. She remembered a kind, gentle
man, who would do anything for his wife and daughter.
She remembered spending lazy days with him, doing
nothing and sitting under the moonlight with her
father by her side in the midst of a wood.

She remembered darker things too, though she did not
know what they meant. In her dreams at night, she
remembered a time during which she had killed people
with her bare hands and she always woke from the
nightmares with sweat covering her body and the
blankets wet from it.

She was horrified of these dreams as she was horrified
of the cold-hearted persona that she portrayed in
them, but no matter what she did, the dreams did not
go away. They were always there, just at the edge of
her consciousness, pushing against the barriers she
had raised around herself like the unrelenting tide.
Somedays, she could hold the dreams at bay and on
other days, she could not. But the dreams would always
come back, with her in different times, killing
strangers - people who had done nothing to her and did
not in the least deserve what she did to them.

The dreams seemed so real and perhaps, that was the
worst thing about them. She could feel the wind
blowing against her face and she would feel the heat
from the sun's life giving rays. She could see the
fear in the hearts of her victims and she could hear
her heart beating like a raging animal inside her
chest as she crushed their windpipes.

The victims never did anything to defend themselves
against her attacks and she felt sorry for them. Pity
for their loved ones was always there, but something
in her heart, something that she could not understand
and did not ever want to understand, kept her hands
from releasing their throats and giving them their
life back.

She had consulted many a psychologist, but she had
never been able to get rid of the guilt nor have they
been able to find the cause of her dreams. They were
sure that the cause was buried in the darkest corners
of her unconsciousness, but try what they may, they
could not bring it out. One of them had even asked her
to become his research subject of sorts.

Her friends did not know of this part of her life and
if she had her way, they would never find out. The
dreams were her's and she did not want them to know
lest it affected the friendship she had cultivated
with them over the years. They were all she had and
she did not want to lose them. She convinced herself
with that reasoning, though the truth was, a part of
her mind did not want to share it with them.

She kept the dreams to herself because they were her
dark secret. They had always been her burden and even
though she knew in her heart that the revelation would
not cost her the bonds of love she shared with her
friends, she did not want to share it with them for
she wanted it to be her burden and no one else.

Achika cleaned the vegetables and was about to start
dicing them, when the bell rang. She untied the apron
and placed it on the kitchen counter. She washed her
hands and walked to the door to greet her visitors.

"Hello?" Achika said questioningly. She had never seen
the couple that stood at her doorsteps and she was
confused. Maybe they had gotten the wrong address or
something.

The two stood with their mouths open, unable to speak
a word. However, their faces conveyed their reaction
more than any words ever could have. There was relief,
joy and more relief. In fact, Achika had never seen so
much joy and relief on anyone's face ever before.

"Hello?" she asked once again.

That managed to shake the blonde one out of the
trance.

"Is this the place where Miss. Kurume lives?" *What
kind of stupid question is that? Of course, this is
where she lives. She is there standing right in front
of you.*

"Yes, I am she."

This shook the green-haired one out of her stupor.

"Sorry to bother you, Miss. Kurume. My name is Michiru
Kaiou and this is Haruka Tenou. Can we come in,
please." Michiru did not know what Haruka was thinking
or what Setsuna was doing playing dumb with them, but
she was determined to play along as long as she could.

Achika measured them with her eyes. They sure did not
look like thieves to her.

"Sure, why not? Please, come in." Achika said and
opened the door wide for them. *Why do I have the
nagging feeling that I know them?*

"Thank you, Miss. Kurume," Michiru said and stepped
into the house.

Haruka shot her a strange look, but followed her as
Achika led them into the hall.

"Please take a seat. I will go and get some tea."

The duo nodded. Why was Setsuna acting as though she
did not know them?

"Would you prefer green tea or..."

Michiru interrupted. "Green tea would be perfect, Miss
Kurume."

"Please call me Achika-chan. All my friends call me
that," Achika said and flashed the two a friendly
smile.

The two of them smiled back.

"We would like green tea, Achika-chan."

Achika smiled brightly and left the room. Haruka
waited until her frame disappeared behind the door
before elbowing Michiru in her chest.

"Hey, why did you hit me?" Michiru said, peeved at
Haruka's behavior.

"Why did you call her Miss. Kurume? We both know full
well she is Setsuna."

"Me? You were the one who started it, so I just played
along with you."

"Hey, I was overwhelmed by her sight."

"So was I."

Both shot each other the look.

"Do you think?" said both in unison.

"Oh, my God!" said Michiru.

"She does not remember us," finished Haruka.

"But... But how?"

"Do you know what this means?"

"That thing is still alive."

Haruka nodded.

"We are in big trouble. We have got to tell the
princess."

Nod. "They might be in serious danger and they do not
even know about it."

Just then, Achika aka Setsuna arrived with a tray of
biscuits and steaming cups of tea.

"Please, help yourselves."

"Thank you," Michiru said and looked strangely at her.

Achika felt uncomfortable under the gaze. Why were the
two of them looking at her like that? Was there
anything wrong with her hair or dress? She did a quick
check and found nothing wrong.

"Excuse me, but is there anything wrong with me?"

"Huh?" Haruka said. "No, there is nothing wrong with
you."

"Then would you mind not looking at me like that. It
gives me the creeps."

"Oh," said the two in unison and turned their gazes
towards the tea table.

"These cookies are very nice."

"Thank you. They are homemade," Achika said, slightly
proud of her cooking skills. Her friends had said that
cookies were definitely some of the best in the world.

"Are they? You must be some wonderful cook. Can you
please share the recipe," Michiru said.

Haruka was quick to elbow her lover in the chest.
Michiru shot her a nasty glance, but Haruka did not
pay attention to it.

"Do you mind? We got little time on our hands."

"Oh!" Michiru said embarrassedly. It was just that
seeing Setsuna as a homely woman was so... strange.
And where did she learn to bake such superb cookies?

Achika stared at her two visitors unable to comprehend
what they were talking about.

"You have to excuse my friend here. She really gets
carried away sometimes," Haruka apologized.

"Oh!" Achika said with no small amount of confusion
written on her face. What was wrong with making a
conversation?

Seeing the confusion on their host's face, Haruka
sighed inwardly.

"You really do not remember, do you?"

"Huh? Remember what?"

"Remember who you are?"

"What are you talking about? Of course, I remember who
I am. I am Achika Kurume."

Haruka sadly shook her head.

"No, you are not," Michiru said and Haruka nodded in
agreement.

"Huh?"

"Your real name is Setsuna Meiou and you are a sailor
scout."

"You are kidding, right?"

Both of them shook their heads.

"No, we are not."

"Are the two of you some kind of sickos or something?"
Normally, she would not be so rude, but these people
were telling her the life she had lived from the day
she was born was a lie.

"Setsuna..."

"Get out of my house."

"Please, let us explain everything to you."

"Get out," Achika shouted. She was Achika Kurume and
no one else.

"Please..."

"Get out before I call the police," Achika shouted.

Michiru looked at her pleadingly.

"You know this is true, deep inside your heart. Please
give us a chance. There is something very powerful out
there and we will not be able to stop it without you."

Achika looked at her for the longest moment. Finally,
she nodded. For reasons that she would not understand,
a tiny part of her was telling her they were right and
she was one of the sailor scouts.

"Alright. You have five minutes and after that, if you
had not proved anything, I am going to ask you to
leave and failing that, I will call the police."

Michiru immediately brightened.

"Thank you. Thank you so much. We will not disappoint
you, Setsuna," Michiru said joyously.

"My name is Achika and I think you will do well to
remember that," Achika said coldly.

"But..."

"My name is Achika Kurume and nothing else."

Michiru nodded and lowered her head.

"You will need to hurry. Time is running out."

Michiru nodded and turned towards Haruka.

"I think we'd better get started then."

Haruka nodded and both of them took out their henshin
pens and transformed into their alter egos.

"Now, do you believe?" Haruka asked.

"All that showed me is the fact that the two of you
are witches. It did not tell me anything about me
being a sailor scout."

"But you are," Michiru said.

Setsuna shot her an evil eye. "I will believe it when
I see it, thank you."

"Setsuna..."

"My name is Achika Kurume," Achika said coldly,
glaring daggers at Michiru.

"All right, Achika. We'll have it your way," Haruka
said. "You want irrefutable proof that you are one of
the sailor scouts, then you got it."

"Hollow words, such as the ones you use, are useless
without evidence, girl."

"We will see, _Achika._" Haruka turned to Michiru.
"Michiru, can you use your mirror to show Miss.
I-don't-believe-you here, her life as a sailor."

"I think so."

"Then do it."

Michiru nodded and pulled out her mirror. "NEPTUNE
REFLECTION!"

The mirror seemed to balloon out and images of the
battles they had fought with Setsuna as well as images
from their home begun to run.

Achika gasped. That was her, no doubt, but how could
she know they were not pulling a fast one on her. They
were self-confessed witches, after all.

"Big deal," she said, putting on a straight face. "You
are witches and you could have used your power to do
that, for all I know."

"What is it going to take, before we convince you to
believe us?" Haruka said annoyed and exasperated by
Achika's behavior.

"Show me something I could not refute. Show me
something I know without a shadow of doubt is me."

Haruka looked at her with appraising eyes and nodded.

"You asked for it," Haruka said and placed her hands
on Achika's temples. "MIND MELD!"

And then it started  - the memories. They all came
back rushing to her. The people she loved, her duties,
her friends, her victims, her queen... everything came
back.

Achika dropped to her knees and looked at her hands,
silvery drops of regret flowing from her eyes. She
glanced up at Haruka and Michiru, who were looking at
her with pity and infinite love in their eyes. She
recognized them now. They were her friends and
teammates. She remembered her life as Achika and she
remembered her life as Setsuna. Which was true and
which was not, she could not quite ascertain.

"What have you done to me? Who am I?"

Michiru answered her, her voice dripping with
compassion, love and... joy.

"We have made you whole and you are now, what you have
always been. You are Setsuna Meiou, guardian of the
gates of time, advisor and protector of the crown of
the Moon Kingdom. You are the remnant of that which
died a long time ago and you are part of that which is
being reborn once more. You are one of the sailor
scouts. You are Sailor Pluto."

"Why? Achika asked, as the painful memories filtered
into her mind. She was no longer a sweet, friendly
designer. She was a cold-blooded murderer the likes of
which the world had never seen before and will never
see again. Why had they done this to her? Why had they
stolen away her innocence?

"Because," Haruka said. "This is who you are, Setsuna.
I know that you hate me now, but know this, Setsuna
Meiou, whatever it was that you have lost now, is but
a small price to pay for the billions of lives and the
millennia of peace, prosperity and love that the
future we have ordained will bring for humanity. Our
sacrifice is but small compared to what we will
achieve and our innocence irrelevant."

Achika did not answer. She did not even glance at
Haruka when she addressed her. Instead, she looked
into her hands, her soft, milk-white hands. Hands
which had killed so many people that she could still
taste, smell and see their crimson blood coating them,
millennia after she had killed them. Finally, she
understood.

She understood what Haruka meant. Her innocence, sweet
and wonderful as it was, was a small price to pay for
the things they were going to accomplish. Yes, she
understood them, perfectly.

She dared to look at her friends and nodded, her face
set in grim determination. She would not fail in her
task at hand.

"Let's go then," she said without a trace of emotion
in her face. The old Setsuna had returned.

"Yes, let's go," Michiru said. She felt bad about
stealing Achika's innocence a second time, but it
could not be helped. These were the sacrifices they
had to make for the future. Sure, it made sense when
others said, it was acceptable for one to suffer for a
thousand to live, but it felt unfair when they had to
be the ones who had to suffer for the thousand to
live.

Achika nodded. She took out her henshin rod and said,
"Pluto planet power makeup!"

And nothing happened.

"Wha... what the..." sputtered Haruka.

"What? Why is it not working?" Achika asked.

"Try again," Haruka said, with no small amount of
dread. All evening she had felt a queasiness in her
stomach and now, her worst fears were realized. She
knew without a shadow of doubt, they had lost Sailor
Pluto. However, in desperation, she clung to hope and
prayed to the kami to restore Pluto to her former
position among the sailors.

Michiru looked ready to burst into tears and Haruka
pulled her to her side to comfort her. Achika looked
at the two of them, her eyes filled with equal amounts
of hope and despair, and tried again.

"Pluto planet power makeup!"

Again, there were no bright light shows, which left a
green-haired woman in sailor fuku small enough to
cause nosebleeds in men.

"Oh God... Oh God... Oh God..." Michiru said
repeatedly.

"He took it away," gasped Achika and released the
henshin rod, which fell to the floor with a nice
clatter.

Haruka nodded grimly. "It would appear so..." she said
trying to hold back tears.

"I am sorry..."

"Huh?"

"I failed all of you. I am sorry," Achika said and a
single drop of tear trickled down her cheeks.

"You did not fail us, Setsuna," comforted Haruka.

Achika did not answer. She kept her head lowered,
allowing the tears to fall freely to the ground.

"Look at me, Setsuna... You are our friend and you
could never fail us. We know you tried your best. We
do not feel ashamed of you. You gave it your all and
we feel honored to have been able to fight beside
you."

"Thank you," Achika said sincerely.

"We'd better get going then. Feel free to visit us
anytime you want... Achika. We know, Hotaru will be
glad to see you."

Achika nodded.

Haruka was about to leave the room with a wordless
Michiru by her side, when Achika stopped them.

"Could you... could you take the pain away?" she asked
pleadingly.

Haruka nodded slowly. "Guess this means goodbye
forever then."

Achika nodded in reply.

"Goodbye, Set... Achika, we will miss you," Michiru
managed before breaking down.

"Goodbye. Tell Hotaru and the princess, I miss them."

"We will, Achika."

"Are you ready?" Haruka asked.

Achika nodded. "I guess so." Tears begun to fall
freely.

Haruka stepped towards her and placed her hands on
Achika's temples. She opened her mouth to say
something and then closed it.

"I love you and I will miss you," Haruka said and
hugged Achika. Michiru joined the group hug and all
three of them cried to their hearts content.

"Bye, Achika."

"Bye."

Haruka looked at Achika for affirmation and she
nodded.

"LUNAR REMELD!"

And everything turned dark.

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

Rants:

Before you flame me or anything, let me explain things
a little. I am calling Setsuna, Achika because it is a
symbolic way (in my demented mind, that is) of telling
you guys she is no longer Sailor Pluto. The telephone
conversation is to show that Setsuna has a new life
and the memories about the visits to the psychologists
were put in place by Kami-sama aka 'Father.'

The Japanese students and most other Asian student is
familiar with Examination hell. These 'Examination
hell' years play an important part in selecting
courses in college and students are put under
tremendous amounts of stress. I am not kidding here,
boys and girls. I know people whose son's and
daughter's committed suicide because they failed in
these exams or got low grades.

Why is there a small role for Shampoo in this chapter?
Well, there is no small role. *grins evilly.*

About Oyabun knowing Ranma thingy - well, you did not
think Ranma lived for two thousand years without
getting involved with the Yakuza or things of that
sort, did you?

Why do Akari and Ryouga meet? You will find out in the
chapters to come.

Finally...

I would like to take this oppurtunity to prostrate
myself in front of my pre-readers. Thank you, guys!
This couldn't have been possible without all of you:
jakub [jpilecki@poczta.onet.pl] Kaz
[kazblah945@aol.com] Madcat [madcat08@hotmail.com]
Brain [bmccullough@nucles.com] James Merritt
[j.merritt1@home.com] Philip Penty
[plainswaker@hotmail.com] Nathan Shuker
[rezantis@hotmail.com] Zero [shinzero@home.com]
Alexander Cheezem[cheezeA@CLEMSON.EDU]

The story is hosted at the following sites: 1. Mine
(http://samrtaleck.anifics.com) 2. Lady cosmos
(http://www.crosswinds.net/~ladycosmos/) 3. Rakhal's
Penultimate Ranma Fanfic index
(http://www.rakhal.com/FFIndex/lstmain.html) 4. FFML
archives
(http://miniarchive.dyndns.org:123/cgi-bin/MiniArchive.exe)
5. Mediaminer fanfic archives
(www.mediaminer.org/fanfic)

Hints for you readers from the author:

Hint #1: Arun doesnot write to a schedule, he really
has to spend a lot of time with his psychiatrist.

Hint #2: (for those out standing critics out
there[;)])Call Arun anything you want in your mail
provided (though he won't) he has the right to call
you by these same names. Arun appreciates constructive
negative comments and he really loves the positive
comments. Its the 'Go to hell you mother F***ing Freak
of nature' and such that he hates. Please send me your
negative comments though I would be most grateful if
you would tone down the I hate you part a little.

Hint #3: The truth is out there, hey, don't ask me
where but is out there since Fox 'spooky' Mulder says
so.

Hint #4: There is no hint #4.

Hint #5: Read the author's rants section if there is
one. It would clear some of yer questions as well as
create some totally unrelated ones. 




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