________________________
    /                        \
    |  Vengeance And A Half   |
    \________________________/

Thanks to my pre-readers:
Ben
aevan			  http://aevan.virtualave.net
Kevin D. Hammel     http://www.anime.sobhrach.com/~khammel/
Blood Blade         http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Towers/5920
Mike Rever
Robert MacNab

Visit my website at
dzillman@ozemail.com.au
http://www.ozemail.com.au/~dzillman/fire

What has happened:
The time travel of Prince Diamond and the Inner Senshi at the end of 
Sailor Moon R has caused a paradox. Now the Outer Senshi are awake, the 
Death Busters are active, and the Dark Moon Family are still trying to 
conquer the world. In a desperate bid to stop a Daimon from gaining her 
Heart Crystal, the Outer Senshi were responsible for Akane's death. Now 
Nabiki and Genma are providing support for the growing team seeking to 
defeat the demons and the Senshi.  

Feeling beset from all sides, the Inner Senshi must contend not only 
with the violent Sailors Uranus and Neptune who are set against them. 
They face Ranma and Ryoga, the unknown and lethal quantity of Sailor 
Saturn, the Death Busters and their Daimons, and the fact that Chibi-
Usa is now Black Lady, one of the front line fighters for their dread 
enemy, the Dark Moon Kingdom.


Part 4: Friendships Frozen In Time
==================================

Sailor Uranus gave a short sharp nod. They had successfully concluded 
another defence of Tokyo against one of the Witches 5's Daimons. That 
in itself would have been sufficient to make her happy, but this 
afternoon's fight had been even better than usual. They had defeated 
the Daimon without a single serious injury to any of the civilians. No 
corpses littered the battlefield, and no body parts sat around, 
detached from their usual owners.

This had been the sort of victory that she knew that she could be proud 
of once Sailor Uranus transformed back into Tenou Haruka. All too often 
it seemed that being Sailor Uranus called upon her to do things that 
she did not want to, deep within her heart. Saving the world was a 
terrible burden. Each time she went into battle Sailor Uranus knew that 
she needed to make the hard choices, to ensure that there would be a 
tomorrow worth fighting for. A tomorrow where humans and the Moon 
Kingdom ruled in peace. 

The high and noble thoughts of defending that peace was something that 
was able to protect Sailor Uranus' battle hardened soul. Used to 
fighting the forces of darkness for hundreds of years, Sailor Uranus 
was easily able to understand the need for sacrifice. What was one life, 
a hundred lives when compared to a world population of six billion? It 
was those billions of lives that mattered, not the individual, no 
matter how much it hurt her ordinary self.

Defending the world was one thing that Sailor Uranus could do with a 
clear conscience, but there was another part of her personality that 
continually vied for control. These impulses were fought by everything 
that remained of the original Tenou Haruka once she transformed. 
Alluring, treasonous thoughts. Thoughts that were seductive and 
tempting, calling to her every moment of her life as a Sailor. Thoughts 
of Sailor Neptune.

How simple it would be to cast aside Michiru. How beautiful to return 
to that intimate state with her one-time lover, Sailor Neptune. The 
chance to have someone to share the burden of guilt with, someone to 
plan with, someone to share the pain of their often Pyrrhic victories. 
Haruka knew that she could turn to Michiru and her beautiful friend 
would listen and understand anything that she said, but she did not 
want to do that. There was no way that Haruka could explain to Michiru 
that she was really a cold-blooded soldier, defending the world each 
evening. She could not share that blood on her hands with someone as 
innocent as Michiru. Instead, Haruka would suffer alone.

Sailor Uranus desperately wanted to cling to the past and once again be 
with Sailor Neptune, but she fought the impulses. She would remain true 
to Michiru. That little piece of her soul and her virtue would remain 
untainted. No matter what actions she might be called upon to perform 
as Sailor Uranus, she would be able to look her lover in the eye and 
say with all her heart that she was the only one that mattered.

While it was not unusual for the green haired Senshi to try to talk to 
her blonde counterpart after battle, normally the strong Senshi would 
depart as soon as the battle was over. This time, Uranus' ruminations 
had succeeded in holding her in place long enough for Neptune to get 
close. From this distance, there would be no way that Uranus would be 
able to get past her without resorting to force in some fashion, and 
both girls knew that would never happen. Uranus might be denying her 
love with all her strength, but it remained strong nonetheless.

"Sailor Uranus! We have to talk! Why do you keep running away from me?"

Wracked with the bitterness of torn love and loyalties, Uranus' words 
came out sharper than she intended. "I'll fight together with you and 
that's all. Don't expect anything else from me."

"C-Can't you feel it? Don't you remember what it used to be like?"

"Of course I can feel it! I can feel it right to my bones every time I 
see you or hear your voice. I can feel this accursed love for you every 
moment of the day, and I don't want it."

This had been the one true fear of Sailor Neptune. That Sailor Uranus 
did not remember anything of their life together in the Moon Kingdom. 
Neptune knew that she remembered everything she had been even after she 
transformed. For her, being attracted to another girl was not a world-
shattering affair. Having learned that love can exist regardless of 
their physical shapes, Michiru had embraced the idea of resurrecting 
her love for Uranus. 

She knew that it would hurt Haruka horribly when they broke up, but it 
was better for everyone in the long run. Baring misadventure - which 
seemed quite likely at the moment - she and Uranus would live almost 
forever. Haruka... Haruka would grow old and die, fading like a flower 
while Michiru stayed forever young. It would be better for both of them 
if Michiru spared her that pain and allowed Haruka to find someone to 
love that she could have an ordinary life with.

Now that she had finally managed to confront Uranus, all her hopes were 
ashes. Despite the fact that Uranus could remember their love, she 
obviously did not want it. Although Neptune had such high hopes, it 
seemed that probability had worked against her. The chance that the 
woman who had become Sailor Uranus was a lesbian was very low. Now it 
appeared that the thought of loving Sailor Neptune caused Uranus great 
distress, because the powerful Senshi was clenching and unclenching her 
fists while her strong shoulders shook in restrained emotion.

Tentatively, Neptune took a step forwards. "Is... Is there someone 
else?"

"You better believe there is! There is someone so perfect, so precious 
that I would never give her up. I would never abandon her for anything 
you could offer me. So just get out of my way and leave me alone. I'll 
be here when you need me to protect Tokyo, but that's all. Understand?"

"No... Please..." Holding one hand forward, Neptune tried to stop her 
taller compatriot with words alone, but the Senshi in the deep blue 
skirt tossed her hair and looked away. As Uranus walked past, both 
their hearts tore, but neither stopped her. 

Uranus had just released the breath she had been holding when she felt 
a hand on her arm. She thought that she had managed to escape, but 
Sailor Neptune spun her around so that they were face-to-face. Standing 
close, so close that she could see Neptune's deep breaths cause her bow 
to rise and fall, Uranus felt her resolve weaken. Fixing an image of 
Michiru in her mind and a scowl on her face, Uranus glared at the girl 
in green and white.

"You just don't listen, do you?"

With a determined look on her face, Neptune took another step closer. 
"I can't let it end like this. I have to try!"

With that, she threw herself at the larger girl, wrapping her thin, 
strong arms around the body she knew so well in her memories. Lips met 
warmly, and Neptune fell into unparalleled bliss as her kiss was 
returned with full vigour. 

Only minutes passed before they separated, but to the two lovers it was 
an eternity of perfection. All that existed in the world was each 
other; the touch, the taste, the smell. After thousands of years of 
being apart by the ultimate finality of death, they had bridged the gap 
and been reunited. No thoughts were spared for anything but the person 
they each held. Other loves, other hates, petty things such as saving 
the world were all washed aside by the tidal wave of emotion and 
pleasure that they rode.

Gasping for breath, drained by the pleasure of renewed contact, they 
broke slightly. Still they held each other like a drowning sailor 
clutches a life preserver, but now they had enough room to look at the 
other's face and smile as they drew in the breath of life, flavoured by 
the lingering taste of someone else's mouth.

The slightest of frowns flicked across the tall Senshi's face. Running 
her tongue across her lips once, she looked down slightly. "M-Michiru?"

"H-Haruka?"

This time when they dived back into each other, there was no doubt. 
They each knew that no-one felt or acted quite the same as the one they 
knew so well. No-one else carried all of the indefinable qualities that 
makes you love someone. Even without words, they answered each other 
and knew that there really must be a god that watched over all things 
and made sure that there really was justice in the universe. 

Each woman was willing to do everything necessary to save the world. 
They would sacrifice themselves, their pride, and their very humanity. 
The one thing they balked at was their love, and they had just found 
that all their fears were ungrounded. The one they loved now, and the 
one they had been destined to love from their past live were one and 
the same. Perfection had never tasted so sweet nor been so warm when 
held tightly against yourself.

*	*	*

The sun was directly overhead as Cologne pogo-ed through the entrance 
to the Tendo's yard. She had spent the morning with Shampoo, training 
the girl until she dropped. Mousse was no better, having fallen over 
from constant use as a training dummy. Cologne shook her head and 
decided that there was no point in understanding a mere man. Why on 
earth he though it was such a great honour that Shampoo said she needed 
a target to practice on, and wanted him, she could not understand.

Leaving Shampoo to rest and Mousse to heal, Cologne had headed for her 
next task of the day. It had always fallen to the matriarchs of the 
tribe to ensure things ran smoothly, and this was no exception. She 
knew that she could talk rings around Ranma and convince him the sky 
was red if she wanted to, but this was a different matter. This was 
matter of the heart, a matter of family. Her Son-In-Law's honour was 
his strongest characteristic, and if he felt that it had been slighted 
by whatever Shampoo had said, her granddaughter might be in for some 
difficulty.

On the other hand, if he did not think that, then there would be little 
or no difficulty setting things up so that her charge could get her man. 
Ranma was as much a man as any other she knew; weak willed and unable 
to think clearly when presented with a pretty girl. When she combined 
that with his generous nature, she would have no trouble getting 
Shampoo added to his quest.

Not hearing any sounds of training, Cologne moved around to the back of 
the house, then walked through the seldom used gate for challengers. It 
was not that she was afraid of being found; it was simply that her task 
would be easier if she could get Ranma by himself and badger him into a 
decision before someone with more wits about them stepped in.

Since her nose told her that Kasumi did not have lunch ready yet, and 
there was no-one fighting, that left two places he would likely be. 
Either the bath, or his bedroom. She considered dropping by the bath 
first and checking, but she remembered a report Shampoo some time ago 
where she had said that Ranma clammed up at the sight of a pretty girl 
in the bath with him. If he acted that way about Shampoo, then he would 
surely be able to do no less for someone as attractive and youthful 
looking as her.

Brushing her long hair out of her face and smiling at the though of 
Ranma blushing in front of her, she decided to skip the bath. It would 
be best to keep him at ease. To put things on a relaxed footing. Maybe 
she could catch him while he was having a nap.

After a moment's hesitation to allow Kasumi to return to the kitchen, 
Cologne dashed through the living room and up the stairs to the bedroom. 
Although she had hoped to find him asleep, seeing him come out of his 
bedroom was almost as good. As long as he did not get any good advice 
from Nabiki, he should be fairly malleable. 

"Hey, Old Ghoul. What are you here for?"

"Just to talk, Son-In-Law. Just to talk."

Closing the screen door behind him, Ranma advance toward Cologne. For a 
moment she feared that he was far angrier than he looked, but she could 
not sense any hostility in his aura or his movements. When he began to 
walk past her, she turned and watched silently.

"What do you want to talk about, Old Ghoul? I've got a lot of training 
to get done, and I ain't got time to stand around waiting all day." 

Well, his manners had not improved at all, she noted as she bopped him 
on the head with her staff. "I just thought I might speak to you while 
you are still alive. If you are going out to fight demons and I can 
still hit you that easily, I had better start putting away money for 
flowers to put on your grave."

A strange light came into Ranma's eyes, and the side of his mouth 
curled into a grin. Looking more determined and less humorous than he 
normally did, Ranma jumped down to the bottom of the stairs and 
beckoned to the ancient Amazon. "Now that almost sounds like a 
challenge. You wanna come down here and give me a bit of practice?"

Cologne could not resist giving a brief, delicate laugh as she 
descended the stairs. More accurately, she thought it was delicate, to 
anyone else in hearing range, it was a spine chilling cackle that made 
hairs stand up all over your body. Once she was in the living room, she 
leaned forwards slightly and beckoned him. 

"Please, Son-In-Law. I look forward to seeing how much you have learned 
since we last played together."

Ranma gave her a glare and rolled his eyes. "Not in here, Ghoul. 
Outside. Do you have any idea how much it costs Nabiki to repair this 
place?"

"Of course. I simply had no idea that you either knew or cared."

"Um... Actually I don't know. It's just we're trying to save some money 
so we can figure out where the demons are." Outside on the grass, Ranma 
clenched a fist and stared at it with frightening intensity. "Any other 
day, Old Ghoul, I wouldn't care. But Nabiki says it's the only way we 
can find the people who killed Akane. For that... For that I'd do 
anything."

Cologne kept her face calm, but inside she was grinning from ear to ear. 
If she had written a script for him to forgive Shampoo, it would not 
have gone any smoother than it was now. Joining him on the grass, she 
pointed the thin end of her stick in his general direction. "Well 
then... Let's see if there is any point in her hard work."

With that, she leapt. Lunging forwards with her staff, Cologne rapidly 
began to hear the familiar ripping sound of her cane rapidly displacing 
air. One of her oldest tricks, she knew that her Son-In-Law would be 
able to beat it, but it motivated him to move.

Move he did, with a speed that she had only seen him use when female. 
Bouncing over one set of strikes, he landed closer to her then 
proceeded to do the limbo under another line of attacks. Before she 
considered possible, he was lashing out, trying to trip her with a leg 
strike. Concentrating on her own inner strength, Cologne let the 
freedom and glory of fighting grasp her, and was quickly moving past 
the boy, aiming for a strike to his back.

Again she was surprised when she missed. He might not have been fast 
enough to turn and dodge her, but he had improved. Acting on the 
instinct that promised to make him truly great one day, Ranma had 
flexed his back, while he simultaneously moved and retaliated. She 
hopped several times until she was standing on one of the rocks 
boarding the Koi pond. Once there, she proceeded to take his measure, 
swapping blows and blocks at the best rate he could manage.

This time she let her smile reach her face, and the pleasure was 
completely unfeigned. The boy's father may have been an idiot, but he 
had done amazing things with the lad. Although Cologne liked to take 
much of the credit for his improvement in recent months, there could be 
no doubt that Ranma had excelled without her. He was not capable of 
beating her yet, but she could feel that time approaching faster every 
day.

Nothing brought out the best in Shampoo's husband like a challenge, and 
judging by how much he had improved in such a short time, the challenge 
must be nothing short of inhuman. Already he was faster, stronger and 
seemed to pay less attention to her blows than just a few weeks ago. 
How could she possibly let someone this fine fail to improve her 
tribe's gene-pool?

Before fatigue had a chance to set in, Cologne manoeuvred herself to 
dump him in the pond. If she had been pleasantly surprised before, she 
was delighted now. In an attempt to end the training quickly, she had 
honestly tried to tip him in the water. Without holding back, and 
without making things easy for him, she had sincerely tried. What made 
her smile was the fact that he managed to block her. Only once, but he 
had definitely taken the first step to that time when he was the 
superior fighter. True, she got him on the second time, but it was a 
significant step forwards.

Coughing and spluttering, the cute red-head sat up in the pond and 
glared at her. "What did you do that for? Now I'm all wet!"

"Ha! You talk about taking on the Sailor Senshi and their monstrous 
adversaries, but one frail old woman can beat you. How sad."

Shaking her small fist, Ranma did not look at all threatening, but 
Cologne too was proof that looks not only can be deceiving, but often 
are. "You want to try that again? This time it'll be you taking a 
swim!"

Cologne hopped backwards several paces to avoids the water that was 
being splashed around. Closing her eyes and placing a concerned mask on 
her face, she waited a few moments for Ranma to calm. Once the red-head 
had hoisted herself out of the pond and was wringing her shirt out, 
Cologne opened her eyes again and looked at her future relative through 
thinly opened lids.

"You are good, Son-In-Law. But you are not good enough. By yourself, 
you have no hope." 

"Feh. Doesn't matter. I could beat them myself if I needed to, but I 
don't. With Ryoga around, the two of us can take care of anything."

Leaning forwards, Cologne placed herself just millimetres from Ranma's 
face, much to the girl's disquiet. "Then if you have the Hibiki boy 
with you, surely you would not object to my Shampoo joining you?"

For a moment, Ranma's face clouded, but almost as quickly it cleared. 
"So long as she don't say nothing about Akane. Sure, the offer still 
stands."

"The... Offer?..."

Now it was Ranma's turn to look confused. "Yeah, she came over the 
other day. I guess I got a bit upset cause of what she said about Akane, 
but I can remember I asked her to help fight too."

"You did?"

"Sure! It's not as though she's as good as I am, but I know she can 
look after herself. I told her the next time I saw her, I hoped she was 
fighting beside me. Or something like that..."

"I see... Perhaps I should go and tell Shampoo. She seems to have 
misunderstood what you said."

Ranma shrugged. "Ahh, it can happen to anybody. I was upset, she 
probably got confused or something. Besides, you know me, Old Ghoul. It 
ain't like it's easy to make me mad at you."

Nodding her head, Cologne decided to accept his statement at face value 
and not try to make his view of events match up with Shampoo's. She 
knew that her great granddaughter was not as astute an observer as she 
was, but it was not like Shampoo to confuse the situation that grossly. 
Perhaps if Ranma had been that upset, he truly did not remember what he 
had said in anger.

"Very well then. I shall send her over as soon as she completes today's 
training. Good day, Son-In-Law."

*	*	*

Kaiou Michiru, otherwise known as the elegant Sailor Neptune, looked at 
the spill of short blonde hair that covered the head next to her. She 
had a hard time accepting just how close she had come to losing 
everything. If she had broken off with Haruka before she had made peace 
with Sailor Uranus, who knows where things would have been now? 

Her delicate eyebrows drew together slightly in an unusual display of 
concern as she slowly reached across and gently ran a knuckle along her 
partner's cheek, collecting the moisture there. "I'm sorry, Haruka. I... 
I could remember what we had together before, and I wanted it back so 
badly. Can you forgive me for wanting Sailor Uranus so much? I never 
wanted to make you cry."

Haruka took the hand and gently kissed it. "It's not that. I wanted you 
just as much. It's just... I hurt so much. Inside. Every time I go out 
there as Sailor Uranus, someone gets hurt or killed. I don't know how I 
can keep doing it."

"You can do it for the same reason I can. Because we have to. I we 
don't stop the Death Busters from gathering the Heart Crystals and 
whatever they are looking for in them, who will? We're the only ones 
that can keep everyone safe."

Haruka turned around and grabbed Michiru in a tight hug, burying her 
head in her lover's shoulder. For long moments, she just sat there, her 
strong body heaving with the shudders of her sobbing. Michiru held her 
tightly, letting the girl know that she was there, but waiting until 
Haruka was ready to speak. Eventually her patience paid off, as Haruka 
took several deep breaths and spoke again.

"I hate it."

"What? What do you hate, Haruka?"

"I hate the Sailor Senshi. I hate the Death Busters, I hate the Inners, 
and most of all I hate Sailor Uranus. I wish I'd never gotten the power. 
I wish I was just the same girl you knew a month a go. I wish we both 
we. We were so happy then. Why did this have to happen to us? Gods, I 
hate all this fighting."

"Shhh... It's OK. I'm here with you, and you'll never be alone again. 
I'll be with you. Whenever you need me, I'll be with you in a fight. 
Come on, Haruka. You do a great job as Sailor Uranus. No-one else could 
possibly do what you do. Every time I go into battle, my knees are 
knocking and I feel so scared, but you bring me through. All I need to 
do is look at you and I know that I have nothing to worry about, even 
when we were fighting Sailor Saturn I knew you could bring us through. 
You've so calm and magnificent. I know you're the one with all the 
strength to get the job done."

"How do you do it, Michiru? How do you find the strength to do what we 
need to? Whenever I'm Sailor Uranus, it's so easy. So easy to look at 
the bigger picture and understand the sacrifices that have to be made 
for the greater good. But afterwards... I can see their faces, Michiru. 
They're all watching me, saying 'Have you saved the world yet? Was my 
sacrifice necessary?'"

"I can do it because you're there for me, Haruka. When we're in battle, 
you always seem to know exactly the right decisions to make, as though 
you had done it a thousand times before. Maybe... Maybe afterwards, I 
can be there for you. You don't have to carry everything by yourself. 
We're a team now. Nothing can pull apart Neptune and Uranus."

There was silence for a while, and Michiru luxuriated in the feeling of 
another's heart beating so close to her own. After Haruka had composed 
herself, she pulled back from the other girl slightly, but still held 
her tightly, like a woman clutching the last handhold at the edge of a 
precipice.

"Will we always be a team?"

"Always. We found our way back together after being dead for thousands 
of years. Nothing can keep us apart. Together we will keep the Moon 
Kingdom safe, just like we did in the old days."

Haruka snorted. "It's dead. The Kingdom is gone, the Queen is dead. 
It's all over."

"No! That's not true. What about the Inner Senshi? We know they're 
alive. You just need to look in the newspaper to hear about them."

"You're wrong. The Inners might be back, but the Queen is still dead, 
and the Kingdom is no more. Look at them, read about it. It's all there, 
stretching back for months. There is no 'Inner Senshi' any more. That 
team is gone. They're all calling themselves Princess This or Princess 
That. Moon Kingdom? Hah! They've carved it up into their own little 
playrooms."

"No, that can't be true. Remember the other day? We saw them when we 
attacked Black Lady, they..." Michiru trailed off. That was probably 
the worst example of team effort she could have picked in the whole 
world. What could she say? 'We saw them work together when they ganged 
up against us to let one of the Kingdom's enemies escape.' That would 
have done so much to support her argument.

Then again, that was the only time they had seen the Inners work as a 
team. The rest of the time they had needed to rely on the newspapers, 
the same as anyone else. Considering the danger of the Senshi's enemies 
currently, it took a particularly brave or foolhardy reporter to stick 
around and do a story on the magical girls. That meant that the best 
information they had was that the Inner Senshi were a fragmented joke, 
fighting each other as much as they fought their enemies, like rabid 
dogs fighting over dinner table scraps. The Earth might not be much 
compared to the might the of the Moon Kingdom at its peak, but it was 
all they had. 

"They fought against us as a team, if you remember." Michiru nodded, 
indicating her recollection of Haruka's statement. "Do you remember 
what the papers said about them fighting together?"

"Not really, I only skimmed a few articles. Something about the fact 
that they did not do it often."

This time Haruka nodded. "Not just that. They also only did it against 
their worst enemies; the strongest of foes. What does that say about 
us?"

"But... But we're Sailor Senshi too! We can't be their enemies! We're 
trying to protect the Moon Kingdom and everyone on Earth."

"But yet they still attacked us. They attacked _us_ so that someone who 
wants to conquer the world could escape."

The girl with the green hair was silent, stunned mute by the 
implications of what had been said. "They did... They would rather turn 
on their fellow Senshi than allow a deadly and powerful threat to the 
world to be neutralised."
 
Neither spoke for a long time. Minutes ticked by on the old clock 
opposite the couch. As the long hand swung past another numeral, 
Michiru finally spoke. 

"Are they really the Inner Senshi anymore? I know that when we got our 
memories back, there are bits missing. I can still feel it. There's so 
much I can remember, but then there are these blank bits, as though 
someone stole a page out of a book, the memories just stop so suddenly. 
I remember the royal ball... I remember _a_ royal ball. I can't 
remember when it was, or why we were there, or even who the guests were. 
It's disturbing."

"Do you think that the Inners might have forgotten who they were? That 
their allegiance to the Queen is gone?"

Michiru nodded. "It must be. If Queen Serenity was alive again today, 
would she tolerate what has happened? Could she possibly have let the 
Inners, _her_ Senshi, go wild like they have?"

"No. It's gone. The Moon Kingdom is dead. Queen Serenity is dead. 
Everything we fought for is gone. We're all that remains. We are the 
only ones that understand how great things were, what a paradise could 
be... We're the only ones that can fight to get it back again."

"You're right. Maybe that's our really duty. Not just to save the world, 
but to bring it something better. To bring the Moon Kingdom back. To... 
To find a new Queen Serenity. Someone capable for fighting for her 
people. Capable of loving them the way she did."

It was a sobering thought. Not exactly regicide, since the Queen was 
dead, and certainly not treason since they were acting for the good of 
the Kingdom and everyone in the world. After thinking on it, Michiru 
looked up at Haruka to see her equally deep in thought.

"Can we do it?"

"Do we have any choice? We've got three self appointed Princesses 
running around, and evil pouring out of every crevice in Tokyo. They 
might be doing their best to loot the corpse of the Kingdom, but that's 
no reason we have to let them get away with it. 
"I know you, Sailor Neptune. You and I, we can do it together, because 
we have to. We might be the only people on the whole planet with the 
power and the determination to get the job done. Together, we'll clean 
this city of the evil infesting it, we'll get rid of the usurpers, and 
we'll find a new Queen of the Moon Kingdom."

There was a short chuckle before Michiru replied. "And what shall we do 
after lunch, dear?"

"I'm serious."

"I know you are. We always talk about needing to make scarifies to save 
the world, well, this is one sacrifice we can make by ourselves. No-one 
will thank us, maybe not for hundreds of years. No-one will appreciate 
what we are doing, but we'll do it anyway, because it's what needs to 
be done. Only..."

"Only, who will be the new Queen Serenity?" Haruka finished the 
sentence. "I wish I knew. We can't. We're soldiers. I... I don't think 
we could sit in a throne and decide the things Serenity used to. I... I 
really don't know who could fill her shoes."

"But we'll start anyway. Well get rid of the Death Busters. Get rid of 
the Dark Moon Family, and get rid of those interfering, childish Inner 
Senshi. We'll do it because we have to. No matter what the cost."

"No matter what the cost."

*	*	*

"Nabiki!" Kasumi called up the stairs to her sister. "Ranma's not out 
in the yard. Can you see if he's in his room? It's time for lunch."

Levering herself off her bed, Nabiki rubbed her face, feeling stiff and 
dirty. She had been home for about twenty minutes, and had wanted to 
get a quick nap before lunch and heading out again. It was too 
dangerous to try and sell her wares at night, so that meant she needed 
to take advantage of the daylight and do her selling then. 

She knew that she should still be out there, selling her fake charms 
and wards to the lunch crowds, but at the moment, she could not face it. 
Less than two weeks since her sister's death, she was still suffering 
from her broken arm, and every night recently had been a late one as 
she waited for her avenging heroes to return home, safe and sound. Even 
just the exertion of calling out to customers and parting the losers 
from their money had drained her.

That was the real reason she had come home for a long lunch break. She 
knew she needed the rest. A month ago, making money was the be-all and 
end-all of her existence. Simply making money was the end, not the 
means. If she had thought of a scam like this a month before, she would 
have taken to the job with a spring in her step and a laugh in her 
voice. Now it was a job, and it wore at her in ways she never expected, 
and still could not understand.

The hardship of earning money to support their private rebellion 
against evil was something she was more than content to suffer. From 
what Kasumi told her, she would shortly be feeding six or more hungry 
martial artists, not to mention keeping them outfitted in medical and 
training supplies. That sort of money quickly added up, and if she 
wanted to keep her network of informants and 'allies' active, it would 
need regular greasing also.

All of that meant that she should have been out selling wards to 
gullible salary men, but she could not face the lunch-time crowds at 
the moment. All she wanted was a short nap to make up for lost sleep, 
and some of her sister's delicious cooking. Planting her feet on the 
floor she inhaled deeply and braced herself on the edge of her bed. She 
was supposed to be the strong one, the one in charge, the one that 
could handle her emotions, and thinking of something as trivial as 
cooking almost sent her into a crying fit?

Akane had always been so... determined... when it came to cooking. 
Nabiki could not count the number of times she had run out of the house 
in fear, leaving Ranma to suffer Akane's ministrations. How is it 
possible that a cool, collected business-woman like her could be almost 
reduced to tears by something as simple as this? She needed to focus... 
Focus on doing what needed to be done, on doing everything she could to 
support Ranma, Ryoga and any one of their friends that might possibly 
turn up. 

Clenching her fist, Nabiki frowned in determination. Let them raise an 
army! She did not know how, but she would find a way to support it. She 
would get them whatever they needed, and she would be there for them. 
She might not have been able to protect Akane like any good sister 
could have done, but she would look out for the rest of her family, and 
anyone else she could. Only time would show that they were doing the 
right thing, but Nabiki knew that time was a resource they had very 
little of. 

But as they said, time was money. If she could provide the money, they 
could cut the time they needed for so many things. Better information, 
radios so they could stay in contact, training, reinforcements, any of 
a million things. Knowledge was power, and it was one power that Nabiki 
wielded with a level of skill that rivalled Ranma's skill in martial 
arts. She could... She _would_ do her part in getting the justice her 
sister deserved.

Having taken more time to pull herself together than she would have 
liked, Nabiki began to move. Stomping her feet slightly as she put on 
her slippers, she subtly let her big sister know that she was up and 
moving. Sure that Kasumi would be calling out a reminder to her any 
minute now, Nabiki rapidly made her way to Ranma's room.

Without bothering to knock - what did he have to hide that she had not 
seen (or photographed) before - she pulled open the door to his room. 
It was quite obvious that Ranma was not there immediately, but she 
studied his futon bed for several long moments before slowly pulling 
the door closed and heading down stairs. There was always something 
about Ranma that kept her thinking. Even when he was not around, events 
seemed to follow him and cause confusion.

Once she reached the ground floor, she noticed that Ranma was already 
seated at the table, along with his father, Ryoga and Kasumi. Her 
father was already finished. He had not been eating much recently, and 
after his meals he had recently been going out to their back room where 
they kept the shrines to both Akane and their mother. Her father would 
say a few quick words to them in private, then continue with the 
gardening or whatever physical activity caught his attention that day.

On the outside, Tendo Soun looked like he was coping better with 
Akane's death than with their mother's, but his behaviour worried 
Nabiki. Sometimes, the things you cannot see are the most important 
ones. Where were the tears, the grief, the sobbing? She knew her father 
was no longer a healthy man, but she could not deal with that problem 
as well at the moment. Ranma first, demons second. Then she could worry 
about her father. He would survive that long with just Kasumi's help. 
At least, she hoped he could.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Nabiki. When Ranma came inside, and I hadn't heard 
anything from you in so long, I assumed you wanted to keep sleeping. 
I'm sorry we started without you."

Nabiki nodded once and sat down opposite the cute red-head. "Having 
water problems again, Ranma-chan?"

"Stupid Pop's fault. Stupid Old Man's got some sorta idea about 
teaching me the Bakusai Tenketsu." The girl rolled her left shoulder 
once in an exaggerated movement. "Damn, that still hurts."

"But, Saotome-san... You don't know how to teach the Bakusai Tenketsu... 
Do you?"

Genma pushed his glasses up on his face and gave Kasumi a proud look. 
"Ahh, again you underestimate me. Over the years, I have taught Ranma a 
vast number of techniques that I had no sound knowledge of. Under my 
guidance, Ranma cannot fail to master the dreaded exploding point 
technique! Ahh, the ancient and wondrous techniques I have taught him."

"Like the Neko-Ken?" Nabiki enquired archly.

"Yes, exactly like the N... Well, maybe not quite like that, but 
similar in many respects."

Giving a low moan, Ranma slumped onto the table and covered her head 
with her arms. "Ohh... I can just see it now. A week from today, I'll 
have a terrible fear of boulders, and whenever I encounter one, I'm 
gunna think I'm a rock!"

Genma scratched his chin, suddenly deep in thought. "Hmmm... The 
dreaded Boulder-Ken. Yes, Boy. Now that you mention it, there is 
another technique I want to---"

"No way! Ain't now way I'm tryin' any more of your dumb ideas!"

"Just a thought! Just a thought!... We can always try it later, when 
you remember how to respect your father..."

Ranma just grunted at that, deciding that the best way to end the issue 
was just to ignore her father. 'Boulder-Ken? How bad could his stupid 
names get? Next he would be calling his attacks things like World 
Shaking or Mountain Of A Thousand Fists. Something corny like that.' 

After a moment's quiet to digest the recent conversation, everyone 
resumed eating. Everyone, that is, aside from Nabiki. She calmly 
watched Ranma for a moment, biding her time as the girl shovelled food 
into the insatiable opening she called a mouth. It was only as Ranma's 
hand reached for her cup of green tea that Nabiki spoke.

"Ranma-kun. I do have one little question for you..." Ranma gave a 
questioning grunt and looked at the older girl over the edge of her 
teacup. "Who's the strange girl in your bed?"

"Blarrg!" Tea sprayed everywhere, and most especially over Ranma's 
father, who had predictably tried to take advantage of Ranma's 
distraction to lean in and grab some food. "You what?!"

"Not me, Ranma-kun. You. I might just be able to understand it if you 
had Ukyo there, she might have been hurt in training. But this is 
someone completely new. Care to explain?"

"Oh, that's just... Um... Oh, damn! I can't remember her name. Gimme a 
second, I should have gotten her for lunch."

Putting action to words, Ranma was up and out of the room before anyone 
other Nabiki had recovered from their surprise. After a moment, the 
smirking Nabiki felt a slight tug on the corner of her sleeve and 
turned to find herself facing a concerned Kasumi.

"You don't really think he brought home a girl for _that_, do you? I... 
I thought, Ranma-kun..."

"It's OK, Kasumi. When I saw her before, she looked way to young for 
Ranma to be interested in her. My guess is that she was probably a 
victim of a demon attack or something. You know how obsessive he's been 
getting. If you combine that with the way he's always looking out for 
people, I'm amazed he hasn't rebuilt the dojo into a military academy 
for demon hunters and their victims. I'm sure he could make a fortune 
at it if he did it right."

Any further comment by Kasumi was forestalled by Ranma's return. In her 
arms she carried quite a small girl, barely a teenager, if that. The 
girl, although awake, still looked very tired, and was unusually pale. 
Kneeling down beside the table, Ranma gently set the girl on the floor 
and started bringing over a plate and piling food onto it.

"Come on, this is why you were so sick. You've gotta eat right, 
otherwise you'll never grow up to be big and strong like me."

"Yes, Ranma-san, but..." There was a definite tone of admiration in the 
voice that was obvious to anyone who was more observant than the Koi 
outside. This meant that neither Ranma nor her father noticed the way 
the little girl looked at the red-head, nor did they hear the 
worshipful tone in her voice. Ryoga ignored it. It was simply another 
sad case of a poor girl smitten by Saotome's womanising charms. Kasumi 
spotted it, and thought how nice it was that the younger generation was 
still so respectful, even to someone uncouth like Ranma. It was very 
nice the way the little girl managed to show her appreciation for the 
efforts made on her part.

Nabiki, on the other hand, immediately became suspicious. There had to 
be something much more to this than they had already figured out. She 
knew that Ranma was good, and quite awe inspiring in her martial arts, 
but she also knew that Ranma would quickly undo any good impression as 
soon as she had opened her mouth. To have someone still looking up to 
Ranma this way meant that they could not have had any sort of 
significant conversation yet. This in turn lead to the conclusion that 
Ranma must have brought the girl home while she was either asleep, or - 
judging by her pallor - while she was too sick to talk. If that was the 
case, why had Ranma brought her here rather than to a hospital?

Seeing Ranma hovering over the small girl, having loaded the plate with 
as much food as Genma would usually eat, Nabiki decided it was time to 
get the answers that she needed. "So, going to introduce us to your 
friend?"

Giving a guilty start, Ranma rounded on the rest of the family, as 
though she had only just realised that they were there. Grinning 
sheepishly, Ranma scratched the back of her head and gave a nervous 
chuckle. "Ahh... Heh, heh, heh. Um, this is Nabiki, Kasumi, Ryoga, and 
that's Pop. Gotta be nice to Kasumi, she's the one that made all this 
great food."

Kasumi beamed, especially when their guest swallowed her mouthful and 
gave a big smile. "It's very nice, thank you, Kasumi-san."

"It's my pleasure, Little One."

There was silence for a few heartbeats. "I was actually more interested 
in knowing her name, Ranma."

"Oh... Um..."

Just before Nabiki could tear into Ranma for bringing home someone 
whose name she did not know, the little girl spoke up again. "My name's 
Hotaru. Tomoe Hotaru. Pleased to meet you."

While Kasumi was busy bowing in greetings, Nabiki nailed Ranma with the 
fiercest glare she could muster. "And what could possibly be so 
important about Miss Tomoe Hotaru that you had to bring her here? I 
could see she is sick, but why not just take her to a doctor?"

"Nabiki!" Kasumi said, scandalised that someone would talk that way in 
front of a guest.

"I couldn't do that! She's the girl I was telling you about from the 
other night. Quiet Girl, or something. She's one of the magical girls, 
a good one. I couldn't just leave her out there. What if the Senshi had 
found her? Do you think they would have taken her in and given her 
somewhere to stay?"

"Ranma-san! It's supposed to be a secret! And my name is Silence Girl!"

"Huh? What's supposed to be a secret?"

"Who I am!" She said, with a tone of exasperation, as though it was the 
most obvious thing in the world. "All magical girls are supposed to 
keep their identities secret."

"But you told me the first time we met."

"Mouu... You rescued me. I... I thought you wanted to be on my side, 
that you could help me bring peace to Tokyo. You were so fast, I was 
sure that you must have been a magical girl, but... But you didn't even 
want to tell me what you secret identity was."

"Oh, man! I told you before. I ain't got no secret identity. I'm just 
me, I certainly ain't no magical _girl_, and I got this way by training, 
lots of really hard training. Right, Old Man?"

"Hmmm..." Genma tried to look wise. "No, Boy. You've been slacking in 
your training too much recently. Mind you... If this is what one of the 
Sailor Senshi look like, I don't think Ukyo has anything to worry 
about."

Incredibly, Hotaru paled even further at the name Sailor Senshi. When 
Ranma had bumped into her earlier in the day while out for a short run, 
he had seen how sick she was, and offered to carry her back to her 
parent's place. When Hotaru explained about her father being taken over 
by evil, and her fleeing into the city, Ranma had listened then offered 
to let her stay at the Tendo's. On the way back to the compound, he had 
told her all about the ruthless and deadly Senshi, and the demons that 
were invading. If she wanted peace with these people, it was only fair 
that she realised the hardened, implacable foes she would be dealing 
with.

"She ain't one of the Senshi, Old Man, and don't you forget it! She's 
never heard of them, she don't dress like one, and she sure don't act 
like one. Besides, if she was one of the Senshi, why would two of them 
have been doing their level best to kill her the first time we met?"
 
"You're far too trusting, Ranma. How do you know she was not sent to 
infiltrate us and discover our plans?"

Ryoga, who had been silent until now, finally spoke up. "Come on, 
Nabiki. Only you can think like that. Ranma met her, what, the day 
after we fought the Sailors? Would they really have gone to all that 
effort in such a short time, just for us?"

"No... No, I guess you're right. Besides, it doesn't fit their pattern 
at all. Everything I've read so far suggests they just turn up and 
start attacking whatever it is they are after that day. You're probably 
right."

"And remember Black Lady. She wasn't one of the Senshi either."

Ranma laughed. "Are you back on her again? This mysterious woman that 
only you've seen? Are you sure you were even in Japan at the time, P-
Chan?"

"Why, you!..."

Growling like a grizzly bear woken from a comfortable nap, Ryoga surged 
to his feet and came at Ranma. Seeing his anger directed at her idol, 
Hotaru quailed. Although she knew how important it was to all magical 
girls to kept their identities secret, this might be the only way she 
could protect Ranma-san. After being saved by Ranma-san twice in such a 
short period, Hotaru wanted to show her that she also had what it took 
to be a magical girl. Ryoga had barely gained his feet when Hotaru 
thrust her hand into the air and called out a phrase they would 
remember for the rest of their lives:

"Saturn Eternal Power! MAKE UP!"

Despite her illness, Hotaru seemed to almost levitate to her feet. 
Indeed, she hovered a good ten centimetres clear of the ground as she 
was bathed in an intense white light. She rotated on the spot, turning 
her head and basking in the light, seeming to relish something beyond 
their comprehension. Since it was the first time they had ever 
witnessed something of this nature, everyone was stunned speechless and 
held motionless by the spectacle. 

It was one thing for Mousse to produce a few knives or chains from 
within his bulky, voluminous robes, but what Hotaru was doing was 
another matter entirely. She had been wearing a quite ordinary school 
uniform, but somehow she made that completely disappear. Without any 
actions that could be remotely construed as getting dressed, the girl 
was covered in a white bodysuit, and short blue skirt. Replacing her 
stockings and shoes were a pair of big blue boots, that would have been 
impossible to hide in her previous clothing. Of course, all this said 
nothing of the seven foot tall, bladed pole arm that she now possessed.

As usual, Nabiki was the first to gather her wits and speak. "I don't 
get it... Why did it paint your nails purple only to give you gloves?"

Or perhaps she was just the first to speak.

Blushing slightly, Hotaru looked at the floor and nervously played with 
her fingers, while holding the Silence Glaive in front of her, like a 
psychological shield. "I... I don't know. All I know is that I 
collapsed one day a week ago, and suddenly I have all these powers. I 
don't even know why..." 

Seeing their guest was about to break into tears, Kasumi skittered 
around the table and wrapped the small girl in a motherly embrace. 
"It's all right, Little One. You don't need to worry. You're here now, 
and I'm sure Ranma and Ryoga will make sure you're safe. Won't you?"

Both the martial artists nodded, along with Genma. He might be greedy, 
and he might be cowardly, but the sight of a small, defenceless girl in 
tears was enough to weaken the resolve of even the most hard-hearted of 
men. 

Seeking to cheer up the girl, Kasumi smiled, and used her happiest 
voice. "And what was the name you were using again? It was something 
very pretty..."

"It was Si... Oh, it's just Hotaru. I... I don't even deserve a name. I 
couldn't help Daddy, and I couldn't stop those two girls. If... If 
Ranma-san is so much better then I am, why should I have a special 
name?" With that, Hotaru gave up the pretence of trying to hold back 
the tears and caved in. All of the pain - emotional and physical - the 
strain of living outside, even just the simple fear that had driven her 
for the last few days suddenly came crashing down. Giving one final 
hiccough at the end of her speech, Hotaru grabbed on tight and let the 
tears flow.

"Oh! Ranma-san! I want my Daddy back!"

Needless to say, Kasumi was not the only one that was surprised when 
the girl she had been comforting suddenly lurched out of her arms and 
clung onto Ranma. The boy-turned-girl martial artist frantically began 
looking around for someone to explain his actions to, but no violent 
tomboys showed their faces at this most embarrassing of situations. 
After waving her arms for a moment, Ranma finally caved into the 
desperation of her guest and placed her arms around Hotaru's shoulders. 
Ranma stood there, supporting and rocking the girl slightly, trying to 
calm her enough that they could resume their conversation - and their 
lunch.

While Hotaru tried to pull herself back together, Nabiki looked on with 
a coldly emotionless expression. Inside, she was just as touched as 
anyone else by Hotaru's story, but she knew the importance of keeping 
those feelings hidden. The instant she showed what she felt, she would 
be vulnerable to Hotaru's naive charm. Something about this had 
disturbed her right from the beginning, and Nabiki was only just 
beginning to understand what it was.

Watching Ranma and Hotaru together finally cleared it up for her. Ranma 
was his usual self; uncomfortable with any close contact or intense 
feelings. The red-head was sitting there, looking lost, tentatively 
patting the little girl on the back, obviously wishing that Hotaru had 
chosen Kasumi to be the her pillar of strength. Hotaru on the other 
hand was completely the opposite. Although she was obviously distraught, 
she showed no signs of discomfort holding Ranma so close. From what she 
had gathered so far, Hotaru did not strike her as a man-hunter, nor had 
she known Ranma long enough to become one of the many women that 
decided his curse did not matter.

With a smirk, Nabiki climbed to her feet and headed for the kitchen. 
The only conclusion she could draw was that Hotaru was missing a 
particularly important piece of information about her saviour, and 
Nabiki intended to be the one to reveal it. That would prove once and 
for all whether this girl had really come to them intent on evil, or if 
it had been the accidental meeting they were suppose to believe. If she 
poured hot water on Ranma and Hotaru was surprised, everything would be 
fine. If Hotaru took her idol's sex change in stride, then she must 
have been forewarned; which means that she knew about them before their 
first meeting, and that would mean...

Back from the kitchen, Nabiki held the kettle in front of her with her 
left hand, trying to look as innocent as she could. "Hotaru-chan? I 
don't want you to get the wrong idea, but you might want to consider 
this, before you start wishing you were like Ranma-kun."

With that, Nabiki poured a liberal dose of hot water over Ranma's head. 
Hotaru - who had been largely ignoring Nabiki and enjoying the feeling 
of being warm and protected - gasped as she felt Ranma move in ways no 
normal girl should be able to. The arms holding her lengthened, and 
their muscles became as hard as rock. The waist her arms had been 
wrapped around suddenly grew, filling out and feeling even stronger. 

Pulling back slightly, Hotaru looked up at her idol, the beautiful, 
powerful Ranma-san. Hotaru blinked twice, trying to clear the view in 
front of her. Ranma-san was a boy. Ranma-san was definitely a boy. She 
blinked again and checked. Ranma-san was still a boy. A slightly 
nervous looking boy, but Hotaru had no doubts that Nabiki had somehow 
turned Ranma-san into a boy.

"Kya!!!" She screamed, backing up rapidly while she summoned her weapon. 
With shaking knees, Hotaru stood by the door and pointed the business 
end of the Silence Glaive at Nabiki. "You are a witch! You... You're 
the same as Kaolinite! She took away my Daddy, and you just changed 
Ranma-san into a boy! How could you do that? Change her back! Change 
her back!"

Now it was Nabiki's turn to blink in surprise. This was not quite the 
reaction she had expected. It proved that Hotaru had not been spying on 
them, but after Ranma and Ryoga's reports on the strength of magical 
girl's attacks, the last place she wanted to be was on the business end 
of one of their weapons. 

Before she could stammer out a response, Ranma had moved. Placing 
himself between Hotaru and Nabiki, he stepped forwards until the sharp 
point on the Silence Glaive just touched his chest. "Shh... It's OK, 
Hotaru. There's no need to get all upset or nothing. It's just my curse. 
Come on, put the weapon down, and we can talk about it. Ryoga! Don't 
move!"

Hotaru's eyes flicked to where Ryoga had been edging around the side of 
her, only to see that Ranma-san's father was also there. What had she 
gotten herself into? She sniffled slightly and backed up. "But... But 
she turned you into a boy, Ranma-san! What... What if she wants to do 
that to me next?"

Ranma gave a chuckle, and that did more to reassure Hotaru than any 
number of explanations. It was an honest laugh, bright and cheerful; 
untainted by gloating or malice. "It ain't like that, Hotaru-chan. It's 
a curse I've got. Hot water changes me back into a guy. It's what I was 
trying to tell you before."

Realisation dawned on Hotaru, and her face lit up as relief washed over 
it. "I... I understand now. You really are a magical girl like me. 
But... But some evil witch cursed you to change into a boy. Oh, Ranma-
san! I'm so sorry for you!" 

Again she hid her weapon, and moved in to comfort poor Ranma-san. 
Hotaru was even more inspired by the way that Ranma-san was so strong 
even with such a terrible curse. Before she managed to reach Ranma and 
give him a comforting hug, the boy kneeled down and placed his hands on 
her shoulders, looking at her seriously.

"No, you still don't understand. I ain't a magical girl, I ain't a girl 
of any sort. I'm a guy, and I'm a martial artist. When I was training 
in China, I got cursed. Now I turn into a girl when I get splashed with 
cold water."

Hotaru hung her head and looked away. "I... I'm sorry. I thought... I 
thought you were a real girl. I.. I was so stupid... I... Excuse me, 
please!"

With that, she turned and dashed out of the room, a few silvery tears 
falling softly to the mats in the wake of her passage. Concern written 
all over his face, Ranma stood up and took a step in her direction 
before he felt the gentle but sure hand of Kasumi on his shoulder. 

"Don't worry, Ranma-kun. I'll have a talk to Hotaru-chan. I'm sure she 
just is feeling a little silly at the moment. I'm sure it will be all 
right."

As Kasumi left the room, everyone watched, confusion preventing people 
from talking for long moments as they tried to take in what they had 
seen. Eventually, Nabiki spoke: "You always have such interesting 
friends, don't you, Ranma-kun?"

*	*	*

The house was quiet out the back, where Genma eventually found Soun. 
The tall, lanky man was trimming and tidying the grass on the side of 
the rear entrance to the compound. Genma smiled in memory of the first 
time he had been here. Out the front, there was a sign requesting 
visitors to come around to here "to challenge the owner to battle". 
This was obviously the path they would use. 

Or would have used, had there been anyone capable of defending the dojo. 
Although Genma and Ranma were both highly competent martial artists, 
without the claim of Ranma's marriage to Akane, neither had a right to 
defend the dojo. Since the idea of Nabiki or the gentle Kasumi fighting 
a dojo challenger was simple ludicrous, that left Soun as the dojo's 
one defender. 

"I remember a young man from many years ago, not much older than Ranma, 
he was. A great martial artist." Genma began. 

Soun looked up at his friend, then looked away again. Lack of hunger 
had reduced the thin man further, and Genma knew that he was not the 
only one concerned for the man's health. Coughing once, Genma tried 
again. "Trained under the harshest of masters, he was a warrior of 
great power. A tower of strength to all who knew him. I wonder what 
happened to him?"

"He failed, Old Friend. He failed."

"Really?" Genma pretended to look around for a moment. "You must be 
thinking of a different man to the one I knew. The man I knew still has 
much to live for. People who depend on him."

Soun stiffened slightly and looked back at Genma. "My daughter is dead, 
Saotome-kun. Killed because I could not defend her or teach her well 
enough. What sort of a father does that make me?"

"It makes you human. What makes you great is the way you raised your 
daughter. She was a martial artist, she understood the way of honour. 
What would have thought of your training if Akane had run and left 
Nabiki instead?"

With a growl, Soun clenched his fists, rose, and advanced on Genma. "My 
little girl was not at fault! Akane acted with honour! My little girl 
died saving her sister, fighting monsters that should never have 
existed! It was my fault! If I had been there, if I had not let her go 
out..."

"Akane is gone, Soun. My friend, we will love her forever, but nothing 
can bring her back. But you have two more beautiful daughters, and they 
need you. It hurts them to see you like this, slowly fading away. Don't 
forget about the living, Old Friend. There is still much to be done."

Soun snorted and turned away. "What can I do? I am weak. I'm not half 
of the martial artist I once was when I trained under the master. I---"

"You can help me. Teaching Ranma half of the Yama Sen Ken would be 
worse than nothing at all. Heh... Even if I knew half the technique to 
still be able to teach it. But you, my friend. You know me better than 
anyone else in the world. Together... Together we will bring it back."

"You mean... You want me to train with you? I've seen you fight with 
Ranma... I know I'm not up to your standard any more."

"Bah. It's like falling off a log. You'll remember soon enough. Come, 
attack me. Since the Master is still at the beach, we have some time to 
train together like we once did. Together we can bring back the 
techniques that have been lost to the world. With the Saotome Secret 
techniques at our fingertips, who would dare to attack your children 
again? Who would be able to hurt my heir?"

Soun looked down at his hands, slowly opening and closing his fists. It 
had been so long since he had used them seriously. Oh, at times he had 
sallied forth with his friend to battle the Master or something like 
that, but he could not even remember the last time he had seriously 
fought anyone. Dimly, he could hear Genma continuing to speak behind 
him.

"When we are not training the kids, we will work together. We will try 
what I can remember, and we will create my Secret Techniques again. I 
shall write them down this time, so that they will never be forgotten. 
And once we are ready, we shall teach them to Ranma and to your girls 
too. Stand by me, Soun. Tell me the Tendo School is not yet dead."

Maybe... Maybe Genma was right. He still had two daughters to protect. 
He still had the chance to make his mark on the world. Closing his 
hands into fists, Soun turned back to Genma and looked him in the eye. 
For the first time in two weeks, his face held an emotion other than 
hopelessness. 

Determination.

*	*	*

The Dark Moon Family was not what it once was. Before it had been a 
real family, with children, life and hope. In the same way that Queen 
Serenity of the future had destroyed so much and taken so much from 
Prince Diamond and his family, so the Sailor Senshi had done the same 
in this era.

The poor Ayakashi Sisters' minds had been destroyed in this time, 
Wiseman had told them. When they failed to destroy the Senshi, their 
leader Sailor Moon had used her magic to brainwash them, sealing away 
their powers and reducing them to mortals. Worse still she ruined their 
once proud and determined minds, making them willing and compliant 
members of today's society. These women were of Diamond's blood, 
refugees like himself from Crystal Tokyo; to see them reduce to such a 
petty, menial state distressed the Prince no end.

The indignities did not stop there. Rubeus, a man as close as a brother 
to Diamond had been slain by more of Serenity's "justice". Imprisoned 
within his spaceship, he had been left to die by the Senshi. For all of 
Queen Serenity's talk of love and justice, the Wiseman had shown 
Diamond the truth of those statements. The Queen of the future held 
everyone in thrall, making the supplicant populous of Crystal Tokyo 
believe they had paradise. In the same way, the Moon Princess of this 
era was just as much an iron fist within a velvet glove.

Although Sailor Moon hid behind pretty speeches and a face so angelic 
that it tempted Diamond to distraction every time he saw her, Diamond 
had no choice but to believe the evidence that was presented to him by 
the Wiseman. Shortly after they had fled to the past to be able to put 
a permanent stop to Serenity's conquest and supposed "world peace", 
Wiseman had shown all of the Dark Moon Family the truth about what had 
led up to Emerald's death.

Wiseman carefully showed Diamond how Serenity and Sailor Moon had 
contrived to manipulate the almost defenceless Emerald into donning a 
special crown. That crown had only been designed for the true rulers of 
the Dark Moon Family; only Diamond himself would have been able to cope 
with the power which it gave you access to. Wiseman said that Moon had 
known full well what the effect of that crown would be, and had 
replayed the scene from that point onwards so that they could all watch 
it in exquisite detail.

Everyone one in the room had seen the tortured contortions of Emerald 
as she suffered from the massive quantity of power being routed to her 
from the Dark Crystal. Nemesis, that dark crystal planet that provided 
all their power in the future had been too much, and Emerald had 
snapped. Distorted by the power, she had turned into a dragon, a beast 
with only one thought in its pain wracked mind: kill Sailor Moon, the 
architect of its pain.

Needless to say, everyone in the room had been shocked and horrified 
with the casual way the Senshi had attacked the dragon that had been 
Emerald. Once you accepted Wiseman's statement that they had 
orchestrated they whole affair to allow them to kill Emerald, it became 
even worse. The way that Wiseman froze the last frame of the battle's 
replay touched them all. Clearly on the screen in front of them, they 
could see the smiling, pleased faces of Sailor Jupiter and Sailor Moon. 
Twin murderers, enemies of everyone, and most especially enemies of the 
Dark Moon Family.

Everyone had been disturbed by that death scene, but none more that 
Emerald. Witnessing your own insanity and death was not a nice thing, 
and she could only be glad that it had not really happened to her. The 
Wiseman had explained that it all had to do with time travel, and 
therefore it was Sailor Pluto's fault. Obviously her machinations in 
the time stream had failed this time, because Emerald was quite well 
and alive. When Prince Diamond and his entourage had come back to 
Sailor Moon's era, they had arrived before Emerald left.

That was the one bright spot in this whole rebellion. The Dark Moon 
Family, although grievously wounded by the loss of their beloved 
sisters and Rubeus, was still strong, and would not be defeated by 
someone as petty as Sailor Moon and her Sailor Senshi. Now that he had 
seen the strength of the Sailor Senshi - especially the unified team he 
had faced in the future - Diamond had not shirked with his assistance 
of Emerald. Although she had fought the Senshi as individuals or small 
teams, apparently their trip to the future had unified their spirit. 
This made it all the more fortunate that Diamond had upgraded the 
strength of the Droids that Emerald produced. 

Since she had fought the Senshi as individuals, Emerald had been 
fortunate enough to accumulate a number of victories. Over the weeks 
that she had fought the girls, Emerald had managed to start a small 
trickle of Dark Energy from the future back into the present. Soon that 
trickle would become as stream, then a flood. With the new and improved 
Droids that the Senshi were just beginning to face, and Black Lady 
duplicating Emerald's effort, soon they would have no chance of failure.

Black Lady, now there was someone the whole family could be proud of. 
Wiseman had done a magnificent job with her, allowing her to see 
through the web of lies and illusion that Queen Serenity and Sailor 
Moon had woven. However, rather than waste a valuable person as Sailor 
Moon had done when she used her magic to brainwash the four sisters, 
the Wiseman had gained them an ally.

Black Lady was now a staunch opponent of the Queen and Sailor Moon. The 
rabbit's own power had been multiplied many times by the access to the 
Dark Crystal. Here again, Serenity's blood showed through, 
demonstrating the girl's capacity for power and destruction. Although 
Wiseman had advanced her physical age to make her a better ally, there 
could be no doubt that Black Lady was born to rule. Unlike Emerald, 
there was no chance of Black Lady being driven insane if she had total 
control over the Dark Crystal. Like Diamond and Serenity, Black Lady 
was born to handle power.

Although he still longed for the beautiful and vulnerable appearing 
Sailor Moon, Diamond feared that she was beyond his grasp. He would 
continue to try to make her see the error of her ways and accept his 
leadership, but that may not be possible. Should he fail in that 
endeavour...

Diamond's eye's flicked to the luxurious form of Black Lady who was 
reclining on a chair made from Luna-P. She had the bearing, the power 
and the looks of a Queen. All she was missing at the moment was the 
intelligence and experience that time would bring, and a land to hold 
dominion over. Diamond had plans to rectify that last one, and if 
Sailor Moon could not be made to see reason, then he could wait for 
Black Lady to grow out of her childish petulance.

"Wiseman! You called us all here for a reason, I assume?"

"Indeed." Wiseman spoke softly, forcing everyone else to be silent so 
that they could hear. The room - hidden from the Senshi's prying eyes - 
contained the entire remnants of the Family. Diamond, Sapphire, Emerald, 
Black Lady and their adviser, the Wiseman. Less than half the number 
they started with, but still retaining almost all the power the Dark 
Moon Family ever possessed.

"I have asked you here to show you how we shall win this war." 

With that, the Wiseman turned the glowing, constantly colour-shifting 
ball in his hands. With a sudden rush, the ball expanded, holding them 
within a world of changing, pastel colours. Beneath their feet, a map 
of present-day Tokyo was revealed. Looking down, as though from a great 
height, they could see everything, set out in perfect detail.

"With Emerald, Diamond and Black Lady all here, the Senshi are 
completely incapable of defeating us. Were we to work as individuals, 
even I could not say if we would triumph. But now, together, as a 
family, we cannot fail."

Emerald smirked and then spared Black Lady a withering look before 
fluttering her eyelashes at Diamond. "I'm sure that you are right, 
Wiseman, but do we really need someone like this? If Diamond-sama and 
myself worked together - closely together - I'm sure that we could do 
everything that we need."

A soft growl issued from deep within the Wiseman's grey cowl, then 
there was silence for several long moments. Although Emerald could not 
see his face, she could feel the Wiseman's piercing eyes bore through 
her. When he eventually spoke, it was in a voice all the more alarming 
for its calm measured tone.

"You forget yourself, Emerald. It is not your place to question my 
orders, merely to obey them."

"Y-Yes, Wiseman."

"Very well." There was no sign of movement within the shadows that hid 
the Wiseman's face, but the feeling of scrutiny passed with an almost 
palpable easing. "The key to our victory is strategy. We can already 
overwhelm the Senshi if we need to, but it is unlikely the opportunity 
will present itself."

With a gesture of one of the Wiseman's oddly glowing hands, a selection 
of glowing points appeared on the map. "These are the Crystal Points, 
the foundations of Crystal Tokyo. Although the Senshi are familiar with 
them due to the four sister's failure, we shall strike again. If you 
succeed, then Crystal Tokyo will never be able to be built and our 
victory is assured. Black Lady, I leave this in your capable hands."

Black Lady bowed her head briefly and looked on with a slight smile as 
the Wiseman continued to outline his plan for victory. "Emerald. 
Despite your limited success to date, you shall continue with your plan 
to exploit the weak points in space and time. For each weak point that 
you manage to conquer and place a fragment of the Dark Crystal, we 
shall be able to bring through more and more energy."

Rotating slightly, the Wiseman faced the last member of his plan. 
"Prince Diamond. You shall attack these points. When we secure them, I 
will be fully capable of bringing through all the Dark Crystal energy 
we will ever need. The future we all know and hate will never come into 
existence."

"Now it is you who forgets himself, Wiseman. I am not your lackey to be 
ordered about. This is my rebellion, and I am its leader. You may 
proceed with the rest of your plan, but I have other tasks to complete. 
Out there is Sailor Moon, I will ensure that she either joins us as my 
wife, or shall never be a threat to us again."

"As you wish, my prince. It was merely a suggestion. The power of my 
plan is its beauty and simplicity. Should any one person succeed, we 
will have won. Even without any individual completing their role, soon 
we shall bring through enough Dark Energy to render Queen Serenity's 
future impossible. Nothing shall stand in our way!"

As everyone laughed at the thought of victory of Serenity and her 
Senshi, the Wiseman bowed. Darkness captured the room as the Wiseman 
released his magic and the glowing map faded. As the light returned and 
people again began moving, he looked out of the folds of his cloak and 
thought murderous things. "Very well, _Prince_ Diamond. I shall find 
another pawn to play the role I need. No-one shall hold me from my 
destiny."

*	*	*

No-one expected it to happen the way that it did, but in hindsight, it 
could have occurred no other way. Sailor Moon was fundamentally of too 
good heart to even consider starting a war against the Outer Senshi. 
She had heard all of the arguments about their violent nature, she had 
seen the newspaper reports that portrayed the Outers as being as bad as 
the demons they fought. 

Even the Outer Senshi did not really want to start a fight against 
Sailor Moon and her Senshi. Although they had actively opposed the 
older girls before, the Senshi's attitude towards their princesses was 
hard to disregard. Furthermore, sheer logic stated that it was better 
to avoid enlarging their present conflict even further. The Outers knew 
that they had time on their side. Once the present evil was dealt with, 
there would be plenty of time to remove the pretender to the throne, 
and find a suitable candidate that they could sponsor as the new Moon 
Queen.

So it started in much the same way as so many other wars in history. 
Both sides began with misconceptions about the other side, which primed 
them mentally to see only one possible reason for their counterpart's 
actions. A few misunderstood words, a little over-enthusiasm, and a 
momentary lapse in judgement, and a city was plunged into a new war 
that it could never comprehend.

When the Outer Senshi saw Emerald sucking the life out of people to 
power her Dark Crystal statue, they understood immediately what needed 
to be done. This woman - obviously evil - needed to be stopped. She 
needed to be stopped now, before she became too powerful for them to 
defeat. Without the backing of other Senshi - even Pluto or Saturn - 
the risk of Emerald's statue growing off people's energy then being 
used against them was too great a risk. 

When Sailor Moon and her Senshi saw Emerald and her magically growing 
statue, they had the familiarity of experience with them. By now, they 
could hardly count the number of times they had fought the evil woman. 
Moon giggled slightly as she ran towards the fight, thinking that 
Mercury could probably tell them exactly how many times they had fought 
Emerald and every other bad guy they had ever faced. It was nice to be 
able to count on Mercury like that.

Despite the fact that she did not have Sailor Mercury's remarkable 
memory, nor Sailor Mars' ability to see the future, Moon knew from 
experience what was needed of her. Soon Emerald's statue would be large 
enough and powerful enough to summon a Droid. While it would tax them 
inordinately to be able to defeat the Droid, it was the safest option 
in the long run. An attack on the statue at the moment could only 
shatter it, something they would rather avoid with that many innocent 
people nearby. Simply by defeating the Droid, they could cause the 
statue to fall, turn black and harmlessly collapse into dust.

That was why Sailor Moon panicked when she saw the Outer Senshi. By the 
time the Inners were close enough to engage their enemy, the Outers 
were already engaging, ready to rip into the statue and reduce the 
threat to just Emerald. Sailor Moon knew what would happen if they did 
that, people would die; innocent people. Destroying the statue that 
close to civilians would be like dropping a glass bowl filled with 
overripe tomatoes. Sailor Moon knew, she had done that very thing only 
a few weeks ago when she was trying to help her mother clean out the 
fridge. Sharp, deadly shards would slice straight through anything, and 
all that would remain was a terrible, messy pile of red remains. 
Looking at the sleeping faces of the people Emerald had drained for the 
energy, Moon knew she could never allow it to happen.

Faster on the uptake and quicker to realise the horrible implications 
of the Outer's preparedness, Moon was in front of the team and moving 
into harm's way before her guardians could stop her. While assorted 
pretty soldiers called out for her to stop, Sailor Moon dashed through 
the circle of unconscious people, interposing herself between the Dark 
Crystal and the oncoming energy of the World Shaking unleashed by 
Sailor Uranus.

"No! She has to be able to summon the Droid! Ahhh---!"

To the Outers, this was the final evidence they needed. Here was Sailor 
Moon, purported champion of love and justice willing to risk her life 
to save an edifice of evil. Willing to risk major bodily harm while 
proclaiming the need for enemy to be able to advance their numbers.

It was equally clear what had happened from the Inner's perspective. 
Sailor Moon, again demonstrating those rare flashes of brilliance that 
made her the princess had seen what they all missed: the safety of 
those near the Crystal. Not only had she tried to warn the Outers, who 
obviously did not care about the innocents, she also risked herself. 
That risk became an actuality in their eyes when Sailor Uranus 
callously blasted their leader, forever labelling them as enemies of 
the Moon Kingdom.

Moon rolled along the ground for several meters, her arms and legs 
flopping in an uncontrolled manner. Her scream, cut short in mid-voice, 
was enough to spur the others to action. Trying to briefly ignore the 
charred appearance of the girl's chest and stomach where she had caught 
the blast, the Inners devoted their efforts to securing the area enough 
so that they could rescue the fallen heroine.

Mars, Venus, Mercury and Jupiter had lined up, with anger in their eyes. 
With death in her eyes and fire in her heart, Sailor Mars pointed a 
finger at the two Sailors facing them off to the side of the statue. 
"If you think you can get away with attacking Sailor Moon, you're in 
for a big surprise, you creeps. I'm going to make you burn for that 
one! BURNING MANDALA!"

Searing circles of fire began to spray from Mars' extended hands. 
Crossing the distance to the unprepared Outer Senshi, they quickly sent 
the bigger girls diving out of the way, seeking cover from the heat. 
With their leader lying in a smoking heap at the feet of a rapidly 
forming Droid, the Inner Senshi were of one mind, and quickly followed 
Mars' example.

Lightning, ice, and orange energy flew across the ground in rapid 
succession, ruffling the clothes of the unconscious civilians when they 
came too close, but otherwise leaving them unharmed. Some girls take 
care of bystanders when they open fire, and none of the Inners would 
even contemplate avenging Moon at the cost of hurting the people they 
were protecting from the Outers. The Outers themselves were entirely 
another matter.

Each of the Inners was the reincarnation of a woman who had sworn to 
give her life to defend their princess. Time and again they had 
demonstrated that same devotion to the reborn Sailor Moon, and these 
women, their purported allies had spat on that ideal. To attack the 
pretty sailor suited defender of love and justice was something 
reserved for enemies of the Moon Kingdom and the Sailor Senshi. By that 
one, hasty action, the Outer Senshi had clearly branded themselves 
traitors in the eyes of the Inners. 

Sailor Moon might see things differently - she often did - but she was 
unconscious at the moment. Almost the very instant that Sailor Uranus' 
golden globe struck the fair Sailor Moon in the chest, Tuxedo Kamen had 
leapt from his position hidden on a nearby roof. Although his cape 
fluttered majestically in the breeze like it always did, this time no-
one paid him any attention. His normal practice of distracting an enemy 
with a well placed rose was equally ignored for the expediency of speed. 
His one true love was injured and unmoving, and he needed to reach her 
side as soon as possible.

The quiet dignity that the injured Moon bore her injury was one of the 
greatest motivators for Tuxedo Kamen's speed. Had she been only lightly 
wounded, she would have been screaming and crying, creating enough of a 
tantrum that the whole of Tokyo would have known about it. If her 
injury had been a serious one, the masked defender knew that all it 
would have done was exposed the true metal that made his love great. 
Only in her greatest adversity did Moon's power reach its peak. If she 
was hurt and capable of lifting only a single finger, Tuxedo Kamen knew 
she would have found some way to stand beside her friends and protect 
the innocents she had taken to blast to save.

Sailor Moon was silent, and that scared him. Moon was never quiet. When 
he reached the ground, Tuxedo Kamen ignored the sounds of vigorous 
battle behind him and spread his cloak protectively over Sailor Moon. 
She was injured and unconscious, but she was breathing, and that was 
enough to garner a sigh of relief. After checking her pulse, the man in 
the tuxedo held the smaller girl close to him and breathed deeply. It 
was just like this girl; get horribly injured while he was watching 
just to protect some people she had never met before. Perhaps that was 
why he loved her.

Not quite knowing what alerted him to the attack, Tuxedo Kamen jumped, 
carrying Sailor Moon in his hands. Landing with a turn and a flourish 
that swirled his cape behind him, Tuxedo Kamen took in the sight of the 
Droid with slitted eyes. "To attack the defenceless citizens of Tokyo 
is unacceptable, minion of the Dark Moon. To fight in league with those 
who would harm Sailor Moon, you place you life in grave danger. Leave 
now and perhaps you will live to see this day's end."

Needless to say, the Droid was not in the least perturbed by the 
prince's threat. With the uncaring Emerald pulling its strings, the 
Droid would have attacked him regardless of what its preferences may 
have been. From Emerald's point of view, the Droid was an expendable 
solider, and a burdened Tuxedo Kamen with a stricken Moon was too 
tempting to ignore.

When the Droid bellowed once more and charged him, Tuxedo Kamen jumped 
almost straight up, his cape spread out behind him like a blood red 
stain on the darkening sky as he slowly moved overhead. In the darkness, 
his mask and passenger seemed to almost shine whitely, a brilliance in 
the darkness. As he touched down on another roof, the gallant hero took 
only a single moment to taste of his princess' lips before jumping back 
to the street below. 

Extending his cane to slightly over a meter, Tuxedo Kamen felt a slight 
quiver of fear inside, but crushed it completely with the necessity of 
duty. Fighting these monsters was the Senshi's speciality, not his. He 
aided, and he knew that he could hold his own for a while, but he did 
not have the impact of their magic, and their was no way that he could 
truly expect to win.

His first blows against the Droid washed away his fears. The Droid was 
neither particularly fast, nor was it an intellectual giant. It would 
be child's play for someone of his skill and magical dexterity to be 
able to avoid it for almost any period, and he could take it apart at 
his leisure. His third run in for an attack was abruptly cut short when 
the Droid demonstrated a remarkable ability to extend its arms by a 
staggering length, and with a speed that defied observation. Before he 
knew what had hit him, Tuxedo Kamen was flying backwards across the 
street, trying to come to terms with a new pain in his jaw, and the 
salty tang of blood in his mouth.

One hit does not win a battle, however, and Tuxedo Kamen climbed back 
to his feet well before the Droid could make good on its victory. 
"Savour that hit. It will be the last one your going to get."

A more wary and cautious Tuxedo Kamen continued to hold the Droid at 
bay while the Inner Senshi battled their outer planet sister soldiers. 
Two Outer Senshi, both confident in their powers were not really a good 
match for four Inners, even though the girls were enraged over the 
attack on Sailor Moon.

The Outer's might not have had the recent combat experience of the 
Inner Senshi who had been fighting Beryl and the Dark Moon Family for 
almost a year, but the older girls were naturally more capable, and 
they possessed one big advantage. The Outers had Sailor Uranus, and she 
was a warrior through and through. Sailor Uranus was veteran of 
uncountable number of battles, often against foes both more numerous 
and more powerful than the Inners. Sailor Uranus was experienced, and 
in this battle, that made a big difference.

Unhindered by conscience or pity, Sailor Uranus directed herself and 
Sailor Neptune in the art of battle with a skill grown in battles 
millennia past. To Uranus - and by extension Neptune - these were not 
living breathing people, the Inners were just targets. They were 
obstacles to be destroyed, enemies of the Moon Kingdom and all it stood 
for. There was never any hesitation on Uranus' behalf when it came time 
to fire deadly magic at the other girls. Equally, when she saw the 
advantages of using the civilians as a effective lever against the 
Inners, she used that too. If it cost a few innocent lives to destroy 
the Inner Senshi, that was a price she could accept. The Inners 
represented one of the greatest threats to the success of the Outers, 
and the final victory of the Outer Senshi's protection of the planet 
and the Kingdom mattered more than the lives of a few insignificant 
people.

It did not take too long before the girls of the Inner Senshi were all 
battered and worn. Unlike Sailor Moon, when Jupiter and Mercury had 
been hit by the World Shaking, they were able to have prepared their 
defences in time, and the blasts hurt but did not cripple them to the 
same extent that it had done to their leader. That was not to say that 
either of them were feeling in top shape, but it did let them keep 
fighting. It also placed a continuingly increasing burden on Sailor 
Venus, the only Inner Senshi who was unhurt by anything more than near 
misses. 

Mars, who had done so well at the start of the fight had made the 
mistake of concentrating on Sailor Uranus when she had found a small 
opening. This had left her wide open for Neptune's Deep Submerge, and 
now she was moving at a dangerously slow pace, her ribs grinding in a 
most unpleasant fashion with every step or sharp move. Moves of that 
sort also seemed to happen in abundance as she hopped and turned, 
valiantly trying to avoid any more of the magical punishment metered 
out by the bigger girls.

When Sailor Mercury was hit by a lucky combination of two very near 
misses of the Outer's magic, she was knocked to ground stunned. Only 
Jupiter's vigilance and quick thinking rescued the quiet Senshi before 
a follow up attack landed in the freshly vacated space. "Are you all 
right, Mercury?"

"I... I'm fine, Jupiter... Just leave me here. You need to stop that 
Droid and the Outers before anyone else gets hurt."

"You've got to be kidding! I can't leave you here! If I did that, the 
first second my back was turned, they'd be gunning for you."

"You have to, Sailor Jupiter! I can't let you be slowed down by me, 
they would just get us both. Just think about what Sailor Moon would 
want us to do. We have to save all those innocent people."

Jupiter looked hesitant for a moment, then she gave a short sharp nod. 
"Venus! Mars! Grab a couple of people from near the Crystal! We have to 
get out of here!"

With a short squawk of surprise, Sailor Mercury again found herself 
scooped up in Jupiter's arms as the tall girl carried her away from the 
Outers at her best possible speed. With only the slightest of slowing, 
Jupiter curved past the ring of unconscious people around the Crystal 
and snagged a body. Grunting with exertions, Jupiter's breath came 
quickly and deeply as she sprinted off down the street.

Moving like the well-oiled team that they were, Venus and Mars were 
quick to understand what Jupiter wanted. Neither of them liked it - 
actually, they hated the idea of defeat and fleeing the battlefield - 
but they had no choice. Without Sailor Moon, the Outer Senshi out 
matched them. Perhaps if they had Tuxedo Kamen with them, they could 
have won, but he too was busy fighting a losing battle against the 
Droid as a delaying action. 

With a expression of fierce determination on her pretty face, Sailor 
Venus called down a Venus Crescent Beam Shower between herself and the 
Outers. Making the spectacular magic display roll backwards towards the 
Outers, Venus did her best to buy them the time they needed to escape. 
Not intending to make a martyr of herself, Venus ended the draining 
magic attack before she exhausted herself and turned and ran. Angry 
voices rang out behind her, but that did not stop her from taking time 
to grab a couple of people and follow Mars' red shoes around a corner 
and down the street.

As the Outer's magical blasts began to strike near Sailor Venus, 
Emerald lost her amused expression. Those dangerous blasts were far too 
close for comfort to her precious Crystal. Knowing that the wounded 
Tuxedo Kamen would be likely to make a retreat with his friends taking 
Sailor Moon with him, Emerald commanded the Droid to shift its 
attentions to the two Outer Senshi.

A relatively slow moving target, the Droid would have been an easy shot 
for Sailor Moon's Moon Princess Halation, her standard Droid killer. 
That same speed put it at a disadvantage when fighting the sprightly 
Outer Senshi. Their powerful attacks carved large chunks from the Droid, 
making it bellow in pain, but this was one of Diamond's improved models, 
and it would not fall quickly.

Tired already from their casual release of large quantities of magic 
against the Inners, the Outers took some serious lumps from the speed 
hitting Droid before they managed to get the better of it. As Emerald 
watched from on high, Sailor Neptune and Uranus traded blows and magic 
with the Droid, leaving the street and nearby building a shattered ruin 
from the effect of their attacks. Every time Sailor Uranus cast her 
World Shaking, the yellow ball of magical energy would burrow through 
the ground just below the surface, cracking and ruining the road before 
it finally burst up to impact its target. Neptune's Deep Submerge was 
not much better, as the excess energy would typically damage everything 
around the target.

The Outer Senshi did eventually win, causing Emerald to flutter her fan 
and curse in anger before disappearing. As the Droid turned to dust and 
its energy crystal turned dark and lifeless, the Dark Crystal statue 
that Emerald had created fell to the street and shrank down to 
miniature size before it too harmlessly vanished. 

The Outer Senshi cared little for these minor details. They had 
succeeded. They were sore, cut or burnt in many places and about to 
collapse from exhaustion, but they had won. They had driven off both 
the treacherous Inner Senshi, defeated a Droid, and prevented Emerald 
from completing another stage of her mystifying plan. Quitting the 
battlefield, the Outers sought somewhere to hide and change back into 
their normal forms. Every step hurt more that way, but it was much more 
inconspicuous to see two school girls walking along than it was to see 
a pair of battle weary Senshi.

Of all the parties involved in the battle, none really felt that they 
had much to be happy about, despite their minor victories. Emerald had 
just seen the Senshi fighting amongst themselves apparently in an 
effort to protect her statue. The Inner Senshi had saved numerous 
people, and the Droid was defeated, but they too had lost a battle. 
Sailor Moon was already recovering, but it was their first defeat in 
such a manner. The Outers too had little to be happy about. No-one had 
died this time, but that had little to do with their actions. Instead, 
they had resoundingly verified the Inners as their enemies, and the 
mastermind behind the Droid has escaped again.

It was battle that had no true winners, only losers.

*	*	*

Kasumi stepped out onto the back porch of the Tendo home and watched 
Ranma and Ryoga's audience of one. Little Hotaru-chan was kneeling on 
the wooden porch, watching the two boys fight with an expression of 
amazed awe on her face. Kasumi could not help but smile as she watched 
the young girl. She looked so sweet and innocent sitting there, as 
though there was not a care in the world and the terrible fight that 
the boys were training for was all just a bad dream. 

After lunch, when Nabiki had gone out again to raise some money, Kasumi 
had been stunned to see Ranma come upstairs and send Hotaru off to bed 
again, demanding that she get some rest. Kasumi could not remember the 
last time she had seen him quite so firm and demanding, while being so 
compassionate at the same time. He had always shown the compassionate 
side when Akane had been injured, but he had tried to hide it behind a 
protective barrier. Things were obviously different with Hotaru, since 
the little girl seemed so weak and defenceless. It brought out the 
protective guardian in anyone. 

Kasumi had chased Ranma out of the room before he put Hotaru to bed and 
sent him downstairs with a promise that she would get Hotaru to rest. 
Rather than let the little girl go back to sleep in her torn and dirty 
clothes, Kasumi had brought in one of her oversized T-shirts. The shirt 
that had been big on Kasumi would be a full-size, warm dress for the 
child, and Kasumi promised to give it to her as soon as she had a bath 
and was clean enough to wear it. Naturally, Hotaru had not taken much 
convincing, and shortly she was back in bed, snug, clean and warm.

That had been a couple of hours ago, and Kasumi had retired from the 
room to clean and repair Hotaru's clothes. The reason she had 
eventually ventured out onto the porch was to watch Ranma and Ryoga 
train, in much the same way that Hotaru was doing. It brought 
bittersweet tears to her eyes to think of how loyally Ranma and his 
friends tried to do the right thing by Akane. She knew that if he had 
been there, he would have saved Akane, but...

"Kasumi-neechan? Why are you crying?"

Kasumi brushed a tear and returned with a smile. "I was just worried 
about our boys out there. I should be worried about you too, little 
firefly, sneaking out of bed like that."

Looking at the ground, Hotaru spoke softly. "I'm sorry, Kasumi-neechan. 
I woke up, and when I heard Ranma-san down here, I had to come and 
watch. He... He's so amazing!"

Relaxing for a moment, Kasumi sat next to Hotaru and placed an arm 
around her shoulder. Being with Ranma for so many months, she realised 
she was beginning to accept his amazing feats as ordinary. For a while, 
she let herself forget the past, and the incredible feats she had seen 
Ranma perform on a daily basis, and instead tried to see it through 
fresh eyes; eyes innocent and unbiased like Hotaru's.

"He is very good, isn't he. They both are really."

A nod. "Ranma-san is better. Ranma-san is the _best_."

"Well, he is very good. Ohhh! Look at that jump! He's so clever." 
Kasumi took a moment to watch as Ranma gracefully landed behind Ryoga 
and sent a few punches into the bigger boy's back. "But there are other 
people out there that might be better."

Hotaru shook her head. There was a certain fire in her eyes as she 
watched Ranma. "No way. No-one is better than Ranma-san. He's the best. 
He might not be as powerful as I am, but I bet he can do more. It's so 
cool. Do you think being able to jump like that is more fun than 
flying?"

"I'm not sure, Hotaru-chan. I can't do either of them. Can you?"

"I can..." Sparing a look from the combatants, Kasumi looked down at 
where Hotaru was staring at her lap and playing with the yellow fabric 
of the oversized shirt she was wearing.

"Why so sad, Hotaru-chan? I thought you would have been happy to be 
able to fly. I know I would. Can you imagine what it would be like, 
sailing through the sky with all those pretty little birds? Watching 
the clouds pass beneath you. Nothing to worry about but you and the air 
around you. Some days I wish I could fly."

Hearing the small giggle, Kasumi knew she had managed to relieve the 
girl again, bringing her back from whatever depressing thought had 
begun to enter her pretty little head. "That's so pretty, Kasumi-
neechan. I'm not strong enough to carry someone now, but when I'm 
bigger, you'll be my first passenger. I promise. We'll go up see all 
the clouds and birds and all the pretty things."

"That's very generous of you, Hotaru-chan. Thank you, I shall look 
forward to it. Hmmm. I think those boys are looking rather hot. Do you 
think we should get them a drink?"

"Nnn." Hotaru nodded, and started to stand, but Kasumi shushed her and 
left her to watch Ranma and Ryoga while she went to fetch some chilled 
tea. In just a couple of minutes, Kasumi returned with a tray laden 
with a pitcher of chilled tea and four glasses. Since her father and 
Saotome-san were out the back, she would take some to them later.

As Kasumi set the tray down and began to pour she hesitated and then 
spoke in a gentle voice. "A few minutes ago, you said that Ranma was 
very good, but he was not as powerful as you. Does this mean you have 
one of those magical attacks Nabiki has been telling us about?"

"Yes, Kasumi-neechan." Hotaru said as she moved another glass closer 
for Kasumi to pour into. "I've got two of them."

Carefully, and making sure she did not sound worried, Kasumi gently 
asked the question that had been tumbling around in her mind since 
Hotaru had transformed at lunch time. "What does your attack do, 
Hotaru-chan? How much does it affect?"

"Everything."

Kasumi's hand had only the slightest shiver, a credit to her implacable 
calm. "What do you mean, 'everything'?"

Holding onto a glass filled with cold tea and colder ice-cubes, Hotaru 
looked up and met Kasumi's eyes with her own guileless purple ones. 
"Everything. The whole world. Everything, all gone. Why do I have an 
attack like that, Kasumi-neechan? What can I ever need it for?"

"I... I don't know, Hotaru-chan. I... Why don't you give that drink to 
Ranma-kun. He looks very hot, jumping around out there." With a nod and 
smile, Hotaru rushed to her feet and ran the short distance into the 
yard to where they boys were. "Oh, you poor dear. You poor, poor 
child."

As soon as Ranma heard Hotaru's eager voice call out to him, he 
signalled Ryoga to stop and they settled back to the ground. For a 
moment he watched the way that she ran to him, holding the glass 
inviting liquid that was already beading moisture around the outside. 

"Ranma-san! I brought a drink for you." She said slightly breathlessly.

"Thank you, Hotaru-chan." Ranma reached down to take the glass, 
slightly alarmed at the way Hotaru was breathing heavily at such a 
short run. Literally, the distance could not have been more than ten 
meters, but already she was puffing slightly. 'Surely that can't be 
normal,' he thought.

"Hey, don't I get one too?" Ryoga asked with a friendly teasing note in 
his usually gruff voice.

"Here you are, Ryoga-kun. And one for you too, Hotaru-chan."

"Thanks, Kasumi-san."
"Thank you, Kasumi-neechan."

After taking a long swallow of his drink, Ranma glanced down and 
noticed the way that Hotaru was just staring at him, not even noticing 
her drink. "What? Is there something on my shirt?"

Hotaru giggled and blushed, looking away. "That was so cool, Ranma-san. 
That was even better than when you rescued me."

"Heh! See, Ryoga? Someone recognises who's the best when they see 'em."

Ryoga gave a snort. "Ahh, she just doesn't know the difference. All 
that jumping around and stuff isn't what a real fight is about."

"Hey, laugh it up, P-Chan. I'll show you who's the best next time we 
meet the Senshi. _That's_ a real challenge for you."

Looking down into her drink, Hotaru ventured boldly to defend her hero. 
"I know you're the best, Ranma-san. I bet there's no-one in the whole 
wide world that's better than you are. You're so clever, and fast, and 
you can turn into a girl. I wish I was as good as you are."

"Hey, ain't everyone can be as good as Saotome Ranma!"

Beside him, Ryoga snickered. "You didn't even notice the fact that she 
thinks you're great because you turn into a girl. Some tough warrior 
that makes you."

"Oh, yeah? You want to back that up?"

Hotaru looked up at Ryoga and blinked a couple of times. "Oh... I 
understand. You wish you could turn into something with cold water like 
Ranma-san. Don't worry, Ryoga-san. I'm sure you'll be OK even if you 
have to fight as a boy."

Now it was Ranma's turn to smirk at Ryoga's distress. How do you tell a 
twelve-year-old girl that you turn into a cute little pig? How do you 
tell her that you had been using that form for so long to be close to 
the one woman you loved, a woman who was now dead? 

Hotaru in turn was looking at Ranma again, and in her sight, rose 
gardens seemed to burst into bloom all around him. Ranma-san was so 
kind. He probably knew that Ryoga wished he could change into a girl 
like Ranma-san. All the heroes in her manga were girls, and Ranma-san 
must be so happy that he could be act like a proper magical girl and 
save the world with her.

Ranma was just beginning to feel the habitual nervous twitch he had 
developed from overly attentive and adoring fiancees when a familiar 
voice rang out through the Tendo compound. "Hey, Ran-chan! Is this 
Kasumi's cousin or something?"

Kasumi turned at the sound of her name and beamed in greeting. "Oh! 
Hello, Ukyo. I'm sorry I don't have another glass for you out here. But 
you are welcome to join us for some iced-tea in a minute. May I 
introduce Hotaru? She will be staying with us for a while, and has a 
very interesting story to tell you..."

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End Of Chapter